Getting to East Bay Marina was her priority, so Jordan quickly drove through the town, continued another mile, and turned left on Copper Lake Road. According to Google Maps, the marina was one and a half miles down the road. As she approached the marina, it was Copper Lake itself that first came into view.
Jordan’s first hint at the presence of the lake was an occasional patch of water visible through the trees. But after following the curve of the road to the left, the trees mostly gave way to the lake’s shore, the lake expanding in almost every direction. To the west, Jordan estimated the far shore to be well over a mile away.
A peninsula blocked much of the northern view of the lake, but as Jordan crested a small hill and descended the far side, several large buildings that could only be East Bay Marina greeted her.
The size of the marina seemed appropriate for Copper Lake. As the lake, already wide at this location, stretched and snaked for what would be several miles to the north, the large marina appeared as its own community, occupying dozens of acres. Jordan entered a parking lot in front of a large building with floor-to-ceiling windows. Inside, she could see what had to be at least ten boats. Clearly a showroom, designed to entice people to either buy their first boat or upgrade to a new model.
To the right of the showroom parking lot was a gated entrance to a much larger parking lot. This lot provided access to the marina’s docks, as well as another large chalet-style building. In the distance, beyond the interior parking lot, Jordan could see many large trees, a playground, barbecue pits, and picnic tables arranged across the property. At the far end of the interior parking lot was a boat launch, though there were no boats going in or out as Jordan pulled in.
Jordan wasn’t sure exactly how she’d get to the interior of the marina to meet Kasey. She checked her phone and saw that she had two text messages. The first was from Travis. He had called Kasey’s brother and told him to tell Kasey that Jordan would come up today. The second was from Kasey. She said she was working at the marina bar and had arranged for Jordan to have visitor access. She just had to check in at the gatehouse.
It was always a bonus when someone thought ahead to prevent a problem from arising. Jordan got out of her car into the warm air. She could see the gatehouse and walked over, smiling at what was obviously a high school student manning the gate. He was trim and muscular and sported board shorts and an official East Bay Marina golf shirt.
“Hi there,” Jordan said, sounding much more upbeat than she actually felt.
“Hey,” the gate boy responded. “Can I help you?”
“I bet you can. I’m here to visit one of the staff. Kasey said she put me on a visitor list. Can you see if I’m on it?”
“Sure can. What’s your name?”
Jordan hesitated a moment, recalling Travis saying that she was a minor star. She hoped it hadn’t gotten to the point where people would actually recognize her name. “Jordan Reed.”
“OK, let’s see.” The gate boy repeated Jordan’s name a few times as he looked on the list. No sign of name recognition.
Jordan, sometimes you can be so stupid. Of course some high school kid won’t know your name.
“Here it is,” he said. “You’re good to go. I’ll open the gate for you.”
“Thanks. Is the marina bar easy to find?”
The gate boy smiled. “Sure. It’s on the close end of the next building, facing the lake. You can’t miss it.”
Jordan got into her car, drove through the open gate, and parked in the large parking lot.
Getting out of her car and seeing the main grounds for the first time, one thing was for sure: the owner or manager made sure the grounds were in good condition. The landscaping was beautiful, with lush green grass, several beds of flowers and plants, and dozens of tall oak and maple trees. Hardly a leaf or blade of grass seemed out of place. Jordan followed a walkway that headed where she needed to go, and within a minute, she rounded the corner of the building and saw the marina bar. It looked to be a bar and restaurant, with both interior and patio seating. At the far end of the patio was a long rectangular bar that served from all four sides. It was an impressive layout.
There were two bartenders working, one male and the other female. Jordan approached the side of the bar closest to the female bartender and took a seat. When the bartender glanced her way, Jordan spoke first.
“You wouldn’t happen to be Kasey, would you? I’m Jordan and am supposed to meet her today.”
“That’s me,” the girl said with a big smile. Jordan thought she was barely old enough to be able to work at a bar. But maybe it was just her stunning good looks that made her look young. Long, straight blond hair framed a face that should have adorned magazine covers. From what Jordan could see, Kasey’s body was fashion-runway worthy, though her feminine curves might not fit the traditional model stereotype. Kasey wore loose-fitting board shorts and a red tank top with the marina logo on the left side.
“Great, nice to meet you,” Jordan said.
“Likewise. Would you like a drink?”
“I’d love one. How about a gin and tonic? No ice and a slice of lemon.”
“Coming right up.”
A moment later, Kasey brought the drink and a bowl of pretzels.
“Thanks, Kasey.”
“Actually, thank you. I couldn’t believe it when my brother told me that there was actually a reporter coming to investigate the dead fish. Things are pretty dull around here, so it will be cool to have some excitement.”
Jordan didn’t like the sound of that. It was always easier to do her job if no one knew she was actually doing her job. She hoped this bouncy post-teenager didn’t Instagram her arrival for all to see.
“Well, your brother knows a good friend of mine, so I figured it couldn’t hurt to come take a look.” Simple, harmless lies like that one flowed easily for Jordan. “I’m not sure how much you know about how reporters work, but usually the fewer people who know what I’m doing, the better. How many people do you think know I’m here?”
“Just two. Me and Derek. He’s the one who found the fish and is also a water-sports instructor here. My brother, Karl, obviously knows, but he lives in Marlborough, so we won’t see him around. He has other plans for the Fourth.”
Jordan recalled Travis mentioning that someone from the marina had found the fish. Now she had a name. “OK. How many people know about the fish?”
“Funny you should ask. In a small lake town like this, you’d think everyone would know in a day or two. But when Derek found the dead fish, he told his dad. His dad said he’d look into it and told Derek not to talk about it to anyone. The next day, the fish were gone. He couldn’t even see any evidence that they had even been there. That was two days ago.”
The hair on the back of Jordan’s neck stood up. She had been down the cover-up road before and knew what it looked like.
“You’re right, that sounds strange. But why would Derek tell his dad?”
“Right. How could you know? His dad’s the police chief.”
“For real? So Derek told his dad, the chief, and then the dead fish disappeared?”
“That’s what happened.”
“If Derek was supposed to keep quiet, why tell you?”