If the Hoshi Maru was a residential house, then the aft quarters were its granny flat or poorer sibling. All the necessities of the forward hull of the ship were there, including a galley, beds, eating space, and some books. But instead of being surrounded by creature comforts, the place looked barren, and constructed out of necessity. At a guess, Sam figured the place was a shelter for fishermen during nightshift or in bad weather, to have a break.
The galley had large bottles of water and hundreds of cans of tinned food. As the flashlight beam skittered around the cupboards and living space, it became obvious that someone had been eating, drinking, and existing in the region for some time — but that person had also been careful to keep the place clean so that he could continue to live in it despite the harsh conditions.
In the ceiling above, Sam noticed several holes had been chiseled to increase the ventilation of the otherwise stale air, and also to provide a meager light source.
Sam searched the space for a few more minutes, before nearly concluding that there was nothing more to be learned for having discovered the monster’s inner sanctum.
He turned to leave, and the beam of his flashlight caught the reflection of writings on the wall beside the hatch. It reminded Sam of a daily set of goals or objectives that one might post on their bedroom door to remind themselves of their simple purpose each day.
Sam stared at the writing.
It was a list of seven names.
The top four had been crossed out. The last one in that was Patrick Jenkins — Guinevere’s brother. There were three names below it.
DR. JIM PATTERSON
DEXTER CUNNINGHAM
JASON FAULKNER
Chapter Twenty-Five
Sheriff Gebhart was in a bad mood.
It might have had something to do with getting very little sleep the night before, but it didn’t. Instead it had everything to do with what had happened to her investigation. She glanced at the roadblock she was protecting like some rookie deputy. It was positioned on the Wilson River Highway — the main road running through the Tillamook State Forest.
Despite her years of training, all the fighting she had endured to achieve her position and prove that she was the right person for the job, at the end of the day she had been placed on watch duty, to oversee the shutdown of the forest to all civilians until the Defense Department could determine what the hell was really going on.
What made it worse, the FBI and the two teams of Rangers who were operating in the area, were treating her as an outsider, shutting her out from everything to do with the investigation. She watched a blue Porsche Cayenne approach. Its driver was in a business suit and looked unimpressed at the diversion. She almost took pleasure in turning him around, and redirecting him north to I-26.
When the car had left, she felt better.
Somehow the thought arose that no one ever truly controls their fate. Even the rich sometimes have their plans shut down — or in this case, at least diverted a couple hundred miles. Strangely, it put her at peace, and made her realize that being removed from the case might actually be a bit of a blessing in disguise. After all, there had been multiple deaths now and still no one had any real answers. The longer this went on the more of a political nightmare it would become. Heads would roll if things went badly — and by the looks of things, things had already gone badly.
No. They can keep it. She was there to serve the good people of Tillamook. Whatever was going on here, was clearly a federal issue. Someone had screwed up big if the Secretary of Defense had become involved in the investigation.
Her cell phone rang.
She grinned. It was likely to be another update. She answered it. “Sheriff Gebhart speaking.”
It was a friend of hers, Scott Meyers. “Emilee, I think I have a lead on the case that you’re working on.”
“I’m not working on any specific case.”
“I thought there was a murder in the Tillamook State Forest. When we spoke yesterday, you said the body was set up the same way the skeletons were set up in the wreck of the Hoshi Maru… you even said something big was happening, the FBI and two teams of Rangers were squabbling over jurisdiction.”
“Something big is happening. I’m just not a part of it.”
“They cut you off?”
Emilee made a half smile to herself. “Yeah. My whole department has been placed on babysitting duties, making sure no civilian inadvertently enters the area.”
“I’m sorry. That’s pretty lousy.”
“Forget about it. It’s all right. When things go bad with this one, someone’s going to be crucified over it, so it’s probably better that that someone’s not me.”
“All right… all right. I just have a strange question about your case… I mean, the case you were working on.”
“Scott! I said I’m out of the loop.”
“It’s okay. Just hear me out.”
“What?”
“The man in the forest. The first one you said was an older man in a log house. The recluse scientist…”
Her eyes narrowed on a squirrel playing on the branch of an oak tree. “What about him?”
“What was his name?”
“Scott. You know I can’t release that kind of information. His next of kin haven’t even been notified yet.”
“Was his name Dr. Jim Patterson?”
That made her quiet. “All right. I understand. I’ll pass it on to the FBI, but they’re not interested in talking to me. I’m just here to make sure no one wanders into the place…”
“I was right, wasn’t I?”
“You know I can’t say that!”
Scott was persistent. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
“It might have been a no.”
“I don’t think so.”
Emilee sighed heavily. “Scott, how did you know that name?”
Scott said, “Because that name was next in a list of seven names found on board the Hoshi Maru. The four names before it were all scratched out, leaving just three. We don’t know who the first three were, but the fourth one was a man named Patrick Jenkins, who died on the ship.”
“What are you saying… whatever got off the Hoshi Maru had made a list of people to murder?”
“It looks like it,” Scott said. “Patrick Jenkins was on that list. He was a British expat living in Japan. Jim Patterson was the next on that list, and now he’s dead. That leaves just two more names. Two people who could live anywhere in the world.”
“Scott,” Emilee’s voice became firm. “Listen to me. You need to contact the FBI over this. That’s an execution list. Someone needs to get those seven names and find out what they all have in common. This is no longer a local issue. Someone in the FBI needs to locate the two remaining survivors and get to them first.”
“It’s okay. Calm down. There’s a maritime consultant who’s taken over the investigation of the Hoshi Maru under the direct orders of the Secretary of Defense.”
“Margaret Walsh, our Secretary of Defense?”
“Yes.”
“I thought it was just an idle threat that she was interested in this case. Now you’re telling me she has already assigned someone to investigate the Hoshi Maru?”
“Yeah, that’s what I was trying to get at. It was her man, Reilly, who discovered the seven names on the execution list.”
Gebhart arched an eyebrow. “Do you mean Sam Reilly? The maritime and hydrology consultant?”
“That’s the one. Why? Do you know him?”
“Kind of. He happened to be in the forest when the killing first started. In fact, he was the one to call 911.”