Nicole raised her middle finger to them.

“Better put that away,” Matt yelled from across the water. He stood shirtless on the bow of his boat, his toned stomach tapering to his swimsuit, the band of which rested low on his hips. His chest hair ran to his navel and then down to the band of his trunks. Nicole admitted, as tired as she was of high school boys, Matt Wellington still piqued her interest. She’d secretly watched all the boys last weekend, determining Matt to be the only man among them.

“Or what?” Nicole shouted.

“Or I’ll come over there and put it away for you.”

Nicole simply smiled behind her big aviator sunglasses and kept her middle finger raised, then lifted her hand higher. Without hesitation, Matt dove into the bay and freestyled over to Rachel’s boat, lifting himself effortlessly out of the water and onto the back platform. His body poured water as he climbed onto the boat. Jessica and Rachel laughed as he approached.

“You’re screwed, Nic,” Jessica said.

“Don’t fucking touch me,” Nicole said, but her smile betrayed the aggressive voice she fronted. And she meant for it to. She wanted his hands on her.

Matt picked her up, towel and all, while Nicole screamed. With her in his arms, he jumped into the water. This brought some hollers from the surrounding boats as everyone watched the show. They splashed into the bay, Nicole grabbing for her sunglasses before they sank, Matt collecting the towel as he surfaced.

“You’re an ass,” Nicole said in the water.

“You gave me the finger. Next time, heed my warning.”

Nicole rolled onto her back and floated, her sunglasses back on her face. “I’m too tired to swim. Float me over to your boat.”

Matt came up behind her, grabbed her lifeguard-style, and swam her to the back of his boat.

“You guys have beer?”

“Yeah,” Matt said. “We snuck a few from my dad’s stash in the garage.”

Nicole rolled over in the water and wrapped her arms around his neck, her chest against his back. “Good. Carry me up, I need a one.”

Matt pulled his athletic frame up the boat’s ladder with Nicole hanging on him. Once up, Nicole released her grip and Matt wrung out her towel, laying it over the railing to dry. He high-fived his two buddies when he walked into the cockpit.

“Meatheads,” Nicole said. “Get me a beer.”

Matt walked down three steps into the cabin and opened a cooler that was built into the countertop. He popped the top on a Bud Light and handed it to Nicole as he walked back up the stairs.

“Keep it low just in case the cops come around.”

Nicole sat on the seat in front of the steering wheel. She chugged half her beer in a series of five swallows meant to impress Matt and his two wrestling buddies. She belched loudly.

“So what are you losers doing tonight?”

“Hanging here this afternoon,” Matt said. “We might go to Sullivan’s, he’s having people over. Or maybe into town. The street festival’s going on. Supposed to be live music. How about you guys?”

Nicole shrugged. “Don’t know yet. We’re just hanging at Rachel’s. We talked about the street fest.” She chugged the rest of her beer. “You have enough for Jess and Rachel?”

“Yeah,” Matt said.

Nicole looked over at Rachel’s boat, which was twenty yards away. “Why don’t you two sneak up on them. They’ll freak,” Nicole said to Matt’s friends.

Matt’s buddies laughed and then looked over at Jessica and Rachel, who were sunbathing, eyes closed and lying on their backs. Like two obedient dogs, Matt’s friends nodded at Nicole’s suggestion and quietly slipped into the water to start their stealth approach.

Nicole watched them for a minute as they made their way over; then she looked at Matt. “I need another beer.”

“You drink like a sailor.”

Matt headed below deck. Nicole stood from the captain’s seat and followed him. There was little below deck, just a small space occupied by a half fridge, a small counter and sink, and cabinets for storage. But for Nicole, it was perfect.

“Boo,” she said just as Matt was reaching for a beer.

He turned quickly and they were face-to-face in the small area. Nicole’s body had partially dried in the sun while she drank her first beer, but her hair was still wet and slicked back and dripping down her shoulders. Quickly, she wrapped her arms around his neck and locked her fingers.

Instinctively, he put his hands on her waist. “What’s up, Cutty?”

“You didn’t even look at me the other night,” she said in a pouty voice.

“When?”

“At your party when we all went out to the platform.”

Matt laughed. “Trust me, everyone was looking at everyone. It was too dark to see anything.”

Nicole smiled and raised her eyebrows. “So you did look?”

Matt nodded. “Guilty.”

“Did I look fat?”

“That’s a stupid question.”

“Then how come you ended up hooking up with what’s-her-face?”

“Megan? She’s cool. We’re both off to Duke after the summer.”

“So she’s your girlfriend?”

“I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Good,” Nicole said as she leaned forward and kissed his lips.

Matt kissed back for a few seconds. “This is not a good idea,” he said.

“Why?” Nicole stared into his eyes. “I mean, if you don’t have a girlfriend.” She kissed him again and ran her hands down his back and then around to the front of his suit, pinching her fingers between his skin and the band of his trunks.

He grabbed her hands and laughed. “What’s gotten into you?”

“You wanna go to college without getting any this summer?”

“Who says I’m not getting any? You don’t know my history.”

“True. But I know your future if you keep hooking up with Megan McDonald. It’s called celibacy.” She leaned in and kissed him again, biting his lower lip. “But . . .” More kissing as she pulled her hand free from his grasp and ran her fingers over the front of his shorts. “If you need some action before you leave for school, just remember, not all Emerson Bay girls are prude princesses.”

They heard screaming and laughing as Matt’s friends ambushed Jessica and Rachel and tossed them into the bay.

“Uh-oh,” Nicole said, flicking him in the crotch, which caused Matt to flinch. “You missed your opportunity.” She pulsed her eyebrows and licked her lips, tilted her head and gave a sad face. “Too bad. Would’ve been fun.”

She reached past him into the cooler, grabbed three beers, and walked up the steps and into the sunlight.

CHAPTER 16

July 2016

Three Weeks Before the Abduction

Coleman’s Brewery was abandoned in the 1930s, ravaged by Prohibition and unable to overcome the Great Depression. The brewery tried to stay afloat by offering its customers a place to smoke cigars and play billiards and snooker. Of course, the unspoken promise of bootlegger whiskey was the real draw. The occasional pint of Coleman’s lager, which was secretly brewed and greatly sought after, made an appearance from time to time. It was just enough to keep the doors open during The Noble Experiment. But when the Depression hit, Cole Coleman was unable to stay current on bribes. By the mid-thirties, Coleman’s closed its doors for good.

Eighty years later, the abandoned shell of the brewery still stood in the old industrial section on the west side of Emerson Bay. The Roanoke River ran north-south through Emerson Bay and separated the city into east and west halves. The east side flourished as a bayside community with yacht clubs and waterfront homes and beach access and a hip downtown area. The west side fell into disrepair. It was a place where freight trains passed in the dead of night, where streetlamps long ago spent their filaments and were never considered for replacement. West Bay was where weeds pushed through sidewalk cracks and potholes grew deeper in the streets. The police had given up patrolling the Cove, where Coleman’s was located along with other forsaken buildings from long ago, because nothing much happened there besides winos taking shelter in the crumbling buildings and an occasional stray dog walking the streets. Dark and isolated, it was the perfect place for the Capture Club’s meetings. And scary as hell, Nicole was discovering.