Board Stiff: A Dead-End Job Mystery Read Online Free PDF Page B

to his dieting wife. She shifted her camcorder back toward Sunny Jim’s, watching the trailer. No one approached. Ten minutes later, Phil and Jim were back.
    “Ceci fell off the board twice, but she seems fine now that she’s up,” Phil told Jim.
    “She has more confidence when her husband isn’t around,” Jim said.
    “Who wouldn’t?” Phil said. “Where is he?”
    Daniel was draped on a green lounge, chomping a cheeseburger. A cold beer sweated by his side.
    I hope that food turns into lard that sticks on you forever, Helen thought. It will go well with your fat head.
    She could see Ceci’s paddleboard moving steadily out on the water. Ceci was getting as far away from her husband as she could.
    Helen shifted her camcorder back to the castle builders. Father and son were carefully picking shells from the bucket and embedding them along the castle’s walls and towers.
    Sunny Jim had a sudden rush of customers. Two giggling women in bikinis wanted boards. “We’re taking a mental health day,” the tall brunette in the skimpy yellow suit said.
    “Because we’re crazy!” her friend in pink said.
    Behind them were two young men with charming Aussie accents. They were carrying their boards to the ocean when someone cried from the pier, “A dolphin! A dolphin!”
    Helen saw a pair of dolphins playing near the far end of the pier. Anglers tossed the dolphins bait and fresh-caught fish.
    “Here, Flipper!” someone said. The restaurant customers and servers ran out to see the dolphins. Helen saw a red-suited figure paddle toward the pier.
    “No, Ceci!” Jim yelled.
    Was she trying to get a better look at the dolphins? Was she strong enough to paddle against the wind?
    The lifeguard blew her whistle, then called on her bullhorn, “Turn away from the pier, ma’am. Turn away from the pier.”
    “Turn back! Ceci, don’t go there,” Jim screamed and waved, but she didn’t seem to hear. Her yellow paddleboard was heading straight toward the pier.
    Now even her husband had abandoned his food. “Honeybunch, no!” Daniel shouted. “Go back.”
    The wind blew sand in Helen’s eyes and a sandwich wrapper skimmed along the sand. The west wind had picked up. This was no soft ocean breeze. Helen wasn’t sure if Ceci tried to turn back or simply lost her balance. But she definitely saw Ceci lurch, then tumble off the paddleboard.
    She did not get back on.

CHAPTER 5
    “R escue Tower Three! Rescue Tower Three!” the female lifeguard shouted into her radio, then jumped on her ATV and headed toward the pier.
    The lifeguard in the tower south of hers took up the call on his radio: “Rescue Tower Four. One victim near the pier.” The second guard had short, dark hair and a slender, wiry strength.
    Now both guards were roaring toward the pier. Ceci’s yellow paddleboard bumped against the pier pilings, but Helen saw no sign of her—not even a glimpse of her red suit in the swirling water.
    “Watch the shop, Phil,” Sunny Jim said. “I’m going to save her.” He hauled a paddleboard off the rack and sprinted for the water. Ceci’s husband, Daniel, grabbed another board and paddle and ran after him. “Where’s my wife?” he screamed at Jim. “I don’t see her.”
    “We’ll paddle out together and look for her,” Jim said, hopping on his board with a practiced move. Daniel tried the same maneuver and fell into the water.
    “Hey! Can I get some help here?” A beefy man slammed his fist down on the trailer’s plywood desk, and the iPad and laptop jumped. “I said I want to rent a board. I’m trying to give you some business.” He waved his credit card.
    “Not now,” Phil said. “There’s a rescue going on. A woman is in danger. You’ll be in the way.”
    “Not going nowhere near there,” Mr. Beefy said. “Take my card and let me rent a board.”
    Helen saw Phil block the entrance to the paddleboard trailer. “I’m sorry, sir,” he said. “You’ll have to come back later.”
    “I don’t