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    Lyin' Fish
    Lyin' Fish
    Lyin' Fish
    Ebook128 pages1 hour

    Lyin' Fish

    By Eric Douglas

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    About this ebook

    The crew from the nationally-syndicated talk radio show ScubaRadio comes to sleepy Withrow Key for a lionfish rodeo, but immediately Jackson Pauley feels something isn’t right. “Greg the Divemaster” Holt can barely dive. When Jackson spears a lionfish, Greg grabs it and gets stung. The radio show is a disaster. When Duffy, the local bar owner, goes missing Jackson, Littlebear and Zach jump into action to unravel the mystery and save their friend.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherEric Douglas
    Release dateNov 12, 2015
    ISBN9781310669576
    Lyin' Fish
    Author

    Eric Douglas

    Life is an adventure for Eric Douglas, above and below the water and wherever in the world he ends up. Eric received a degree in Journalism from Marshall University. After working in local newspapers, honing his skills as a story teller, and following a stint as a freelance journalist in the former Soviet Union, he became a dive instructor. The ocean and diving have factored into all of his fiction works since then.As a documentarian, Eric has worked in Russia, Honduras and most recently in his home state of West Virginia, featuring the oral histories of West Virginia war veterans in the documentary West Virginia Voices of War and the companion book Common Valor.Visit his website at: www.booksbyeric.com.Eric talks about adventure and taking time to be creative, along with diving and writing, on his blog at www.booksbyeric.com. He would love it if you dropped by to say hello.You can also follow him on Twitter, get in touch on Facebook or through Google+. Lastly, you can always send him an email: eric@booksbyeric.com

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      Book preview

      Lyin' Fish - Eric Douglas

      Lyin’ Fish

      A Withrow Key Thriller Short Story

      Eric Douglas

      © First Edition August 2015 by Eric Douglas at Smashwords.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of Visibility Press, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a newspaper, magazine or journal.

      All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

      This is a Visibility Press original.

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      This is a Visibility Press original.

      Copyright © 2015 Eric Douglas

      All rights reserved.

      Table of Contents

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      Chapter 5

      Chapter 6

      Chapter 7

      Chapter 8

      Chapter 9

      Chapter 10

      Chapter 11

      Chapter 12

      Chapter 13

      Chapter 14

      Chapter 15

      Chapter 16

      Chapter 17

      Chapter 18

      Chapter 19

      Chapter 20

      Excerpt of Return to Cayman

      About the Author

      Chapter 1

      Jackson Pauley daydreamed while he hosed down the dock in front of his dive shop. It had already been a long week and the weekend was coming up. He hoped he could take a couple days off, but owning his own business didn’t always agree with his desire to relax. All of his friends from the life he had before, back in his days as a New York City firefighter, thought he sat on the beach every day, sipping rum drinks and watching beautiful women. They called him a beach bum. Truth be told, that had been Jackson’s plan when he moved to the Florida Keys. He wanted to escape and get away. Funny how life had other plans. One large group of divers had just left town and he had the evening off before a new group arrived in the morning, Saturday morning, just in time to take the morning boat out. Things were going to be hectic. Truth be told, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

      Catching a movement out of the corner of his eye, Jackson focused on the water and the reflection of another classic Keys sunset. He could see ripples and what appeared to be the silhouette of a woman, but after blinking his eyes, it was gone.

      I really need to get some sleep tonight, Jackson said, muttering to himself. I’m seeing things.

      Jackson kept looking out across the water and smiled. He might be tired, but he couldn’t think of a better view outside of his office. It wasn’t all fun and games, but it sure did have its perks. Especially when his old friends in New York were digging out of the snow.

      Withrow Key was a backwater Key in the Florida Keys. Key Largo and Islamorada to the north and Key West to the southwest left Withrow Key a wide spot in the road where people occasionally paused on their way somewhere else. And Jackson liked it that way. It was a sleepy place with one bar/restaurant, the dive shop, a grocery store, a gas station, a gift shop, and not much else. The boats in slips in the small marina were local fishing and charter boats. Or houseboats. Most of the houseboats hadn’t moved in years and never would again.

      Heading toward the dive shop, Jackson was startled when a dark SUV pulled into the gravel parking lot. Groaning inwardly, Jackson waited for the occupants to get out. He wasn’t expecting anyone this evening so he was hoping someone just needed directions. Two men got out of the SUV and looked around, without smiling, before they approached Jackson. He could see two women in the backseat. They didn’t get out, but they rolled down the windows to look around.

      How can I help you gentlemen? You need some help?

      No, we’re right where we’re supposed to be. I’m Greg the Divemaster from ScubaRadio®. You’ve probably heard of me, the passenger said with a gravelly voice. He stood 6 feet tall with dark hair, touched by gray. He had heavy eyebrows and a rough complexion. The SUV’s driver was 6’3" with broad shoulders, a clean-shaven head, and a nose that looked like it had been broken without much effort to get it reset properly.

      This is Bill the Producer. Is everything set up and ready? We don’t have a lot of time.

      They’ve definitely got that ‘face for radio’ thing down, Jackson thought as he sized the men up.

      ScubaRadio was the world’s first and only nationally syndicated radio show devoted to diving. The host, Greg the Divemaster Holt, was a rock radio veteran who started ScubaRadio as an excuse to pursue a passion for diving on company time. His irreverent approach to serving up a weekly dose of diving news and information quickly became a hit with listeners. ScubaRadio’s traveling entourage of beautiful women divers in mermaid tails also showed a bit of marketing savvy. Jackson stumbled across ScubaRadio one Saturday afternoon while scanning the talk radio dial. He subscribed to their free Podcast and listened when he could, but it had been a couple weeks.

      I’ve heard of you, of course, but I’m not sure what you’re here for or what’s supposed to be set up.

      Are you kidding me? Greg nearly shouted. I can’t believe this. You aren’t ready for us. Damn, I hate coming to these backwaters. Nothing’s ever right. The things I do for a buck.

      Hold on, Greg, Jackson said. He held his hands in front of him with a gesture to calm the man down. He wasn’t inclined to take any crap, but his experience dealing with the public had given him much more patience than he ever had before. He was willing to bend some to accommodate the stranger. I knew you were coming to town, but that was set up for next week. Not today.

      Are you kidding me? Greg repeated, shouting this time. The tourism people must have given you the wrong dates. I can’t believe it. I got my whole crew down here. We’re going to be on a liveaboard dive boat next weekend! Come on, Bill. Let’s get out of here. I’ll just tell the tourism people you weren’t ready and they’ll take it up with you. Good luck with that. Greg and Bill started walking back toward the still-open doors of the SUV.

      Jackson groaned again. He really wasn’t afraid of the tourism board, but knew Greg would turn him and Withrow Key into a skit on ScubaRadio for months to come. The last thing he needed was bad publicity and to be made a laughing stock. If there was a way to save this, he would have to figure it out.

      Hold on, Greg, Jackson said. He approached the passenger door of the SUV. What do you need? Let’s see if we can fix this.

      Man, I don’t know. Normally this stuff takes weeks to plan. How can you get it all together in a day? It’s not worth bothering.

      Jackson glanced at Bill in the driver’s seat, but the man didn’t say a word.

      Come on, Greg. That’s the advantage of a small island. We can pull stuff together pretty quickly. Try me.

      Greg thought about it for a moment, looked over at Bill, and then turned back to Jackson. He rattled off a list of things he would need for his crew. In all, there were six of them. Greg and Bill along with two ScubaRadio mermaids, Audrey and Kaitlin, along with two more assistants bringing in some of their broadcast gear by boat. They would be pulling into Withrow Key in a couple hours. Greg wanted a slip for the boat right behind Duffy’s. They needed to be close in order to access the electric and Internet necessary to uplink to the broadcast network, he explained.

      Jackson’s mood grew dark as the radio host continued to list items needed to pull off the show the next day. Greg didn’t ask for anything that wasn’t possible, but Jackson knew his plan of a relaxing evening with a beer and a burger was done. He was going to be up late making arrangements and cajoling the other businesses on the island to play along. In a way, he was happy he had the large group of divers coming to town in the morning. He was sure they would be up for whatever Greg wanted and would love being part of the program. That took care of getting an audience.

      The tourism folks want us doing lionfish rodeos and then to taste test the recipes. I’m sure you’ve heard me talking about that on ScubaRadio. I’ll need this Duffy’s place to change their menu for the day and prepare three or four different lionfish dishes, using whatever the divers catch in the morning. You got that?

      Sure, Greg. Sure, Jackson said. When is the nice Greg going to appear? He listened to the

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