Gray Ghost (The Bill Dix Detective Series Book 1) by C.L. Swinney Page B

“Come on. Out with it, mon.” Bubba saw Roger examining Dix and Petersen. “It’s okay, they’re cool.”
    Roger hesitated a moment. “Okay, we need to talk somewhere private.”
    “ How about the boat shack at the end of the dock?” Bubba pointed to the far south end of the property.
    They grabbed a few beers and cigars and strolled to meet the others, trying to look casual.
    Dix turned to Petersen. “This is a fine mess you got me into.”
    They argued all the way as to who was to blame for their involvement.
    Roger opened a beer and sat down. “Bubba, this has nothing to do with your momma or papa.” He motioned to the other chairs. “Get comfortable. This will take a while.”
    Roger looked at Dix and Petersen.
    Dix held out his hand. “I’m Bill Dix, and this is my partner, Steve Petersen.”
    “ I’m Roger Fellows. You should know I don’t trust strangers, but since Bubba says you’re cool, I guess you’re okay.”
    Dix nodded. “Thanks.”
    Roger took another gulp from his can. “A few hours ago, my son, Tommy, was looking out at the sea as he was procrastinating about doing his homework. He thought he saw a piece of dry grass, about the size of a rabbit, move up and down. Tommy thought the grass seemed sort of strange. He said it looked like it didn’t belong. He watched it for ten more minutes, but it didn’t move again.”
    Roger stood up and started to pace. “Tommy was still curious, so he just kept staring out at sea and at the patch of grass. After a while, he got off his lazy butt and walked out toward where he thought he’d seen movement earlier. He got about a hundred yards away and saw it move again.”
    Bubba looked from Dix to Petersen. “His kid knows this whole island. If he said it didn’t belong, then it didn’t.”
    Roger nodded. “When it moved again, Tommy came to get me.”
    Bubba grew impatient. “Where you going with this?” He knew his friend was long winded.
    Roger replied, “Damn, mon, you always want everything right now. I’m getting to it, and I’m sure it has to do with Sean and Preston.”
    Everyone froze.
    Dix raised an eyebrow. “What makes you think that?” Roger didn’t answer but continued. “So, like I said, Tommy thought something was up, so he backed off and came to get me. I went to see what he was looking at and watched for about ten, fifteen minutes. I didn’t see a thing and was getting ready to tell Tommy he was crazy when I thought I saw movement through my binoculars. Sure as heck, it looked like a patch of longer grass and brush that was different than the surrounding area. At first I dismissed it, figuring I may be seeing things. But, since I’m into plants and such, and I wasn’t doing much, I figured I’d go check it out anyway.”
    Roger took a deep breath and continued. “It took me a long time to get to about fifty yards from the patch. I was hoping to catch a rabbit, so I was real slow and deliberate. The patch began to take shape the closer I got to it. When I was about forty yards away, it was obvious the area didn’t fit in.” Petersen scratched his chin. “Why was that?”
    “ It was about the size of a person. I thought maybe someone tried to dump a body.”
    Dix leaned forward. “Do people dump bodies out here a lot?”
    “ No, but it happens sometimes.” Roger shrugged. Peterson said, “Okay. So what else happened?”
    Roger appeared to think a moment. “I grabbed my binoculars and looked out in the water in front of the shape.” He pointed to the detectives. “I saw you guys in two boats. Except you weren’t fishing, and I didn’t see Wilfred.”
    The men looked at each other.
    “ Then I had a thought. Word on the street was Sean and Preston were killed by a large caliber round. Some folks speculated about a high-powered rifle. I stopped moving, thinking a person with a gun might be hiding there.”
    Bubba sat forward. “So then what happened?”
    “ I’m gettin’ there. I didn’t have my gun, but