5- The lighthouse (ii)
CLAIRE
Holt’s expression darkened “I’m telling you, girl, that’s all you’re getting. Nothing more. You want answers? Go dig through the docks like the nosy little city mouse you are, but don’t come crying to me when you get what you deserve”
I leaned in slightly, refusing to be pushed back. “I’m not asking for favors. I’m asking for information as a private detective.You were around him. Just tell me one thing—anything—that can point me in the right direction.”
He let out a laugh“I ain't telling you anything more
Don’t let me catch you bothering my crew again. I’ll throw you off this pier myself before you even open your mouth. Get out, city girl, and stay out.”
My jaw tightened, but I kept my face calm. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing me shake
“I’m not leaving until I know something concrete. Cal didn’t just vanish. Something happened. Tell me.”
Holt’s eyes narrowed . Then, with a sudden crack, he slammed his massive hand down on the table beside him. The table shook under the blow and a mug toppled and rolled onto the floor, spilling stale coffee across the board.
The sound was enough to make me step back without thinking, every of my instinct on edge.
“I said leave!” His voice boomed through the shed,it was deeper than before, more full of a warning that left no room for doubt. “Out! And don’t come back, or I swear—”
For a moment, I thought of pushing one more time, of calling his bluff. But the way his hand curled into a fist told me this wasn’t a bluff.
I forced myself to breathe, keeping my voice calm “Fine. But you should know something, Holt. Cal mattered to people. If you know more than you’re saying, it’ll come out sooner or later. And when it does, I’ll be right back here.”
His lips twitched, somewhere between a smirk and a snarl, but he didn’t answer.
I took that as my cue. Slowly, I backed toward the doors.
---
For a moment, I just stood there on the pier, breathing hard, i was desperately fighting the urge to punch the railing until my knuckles bled. Holt had shut me down — hard. But I had learned something, even if he hadn’t realized he’d given it away.
He knew I was here for Cal.And he was afraid enough to try to silence me.
That meant there were answers somewhere.
I started walking back down the pier. That’s when it happened.
I nearly collided with him.
An old man came hobbling around the corner, hunched over. He wore a worn-out coat with patches and a wool . In his hands, he carried a heavy basket that smelled of old fish.
“Watch where you’re stomping, girl!” he barked,
. “Nearly bowled me over with your feet!”
I froze, raising my hands slightly. “Sorry,” I said. “Didn’t mean to get in your way.”
He squinted up at me. Then his face twisted. It was filled with Recognition. Disdain. The same look I’d seen all morning.
“Outsider,” he spat, almost like the word itself was poison. “Always sniffing around, thinking you’ll find what you’re after. You won’t. Nothing here for you but cold and fog. Best turn your boots back to wherever you came from.”
“I’m not looking for trouble,” I said carefully. “I just want to ask you something. About Cal Rourke.”
At the mention of the name, his whole body went stiff. His lips turned into something between a sneer and a frown
““Watch where you’re stomping, girl!” he barked, voice rough as gravel. “Nearly bowled me over with your feet!”
I froze, raising my hands slightly. “Sorry,” I said. “Didn’t mean to get in your way.”
He squinted up at me, watery eyes catching the dim light. Then his face twisted. Recognition. Disdain. The same look I’d seen all morning.
“Outsider,” he spat, like the word burned his tongue. “Always sniffing around, thinking you’ll dig up answers. You won’t. There’s nothing here but salt and rot. Best turn your boots back to wherever you came from.”
“I’m not looking for trouble,” I said carefully. “I just want to ask you something. About Cal Rourke.”
At the name, his mouth curled into a sneer.
“Cal,” he said, letting out a harsh laugh. “That useless drunk. Man’s been a wreck for years. Forty going on eighty, thanks to the bottle. Couldn’t hold his nets, couldn’t hold his liquor either. Spent more nights on the pier with a flask than on his boat.”
I tilted my head. “You sound like you knew him well.”
“Knew him enough to know he was no fisherman,” the man snapped. “He was dead weight. Crew wouldn’t touch him, captains wouldn’t hire him. Always swaying, stinking of cheap whiskey. Boat of his own rotting at the dock, same as him.”
His eyes narrowed,his voice was souring even more. “And when he wasn’t drinking, he was gawking at that damned lighthouse. Stood there staring like it had something to say.
Never lifted a hand to help—just stood slack-jawed, watching the beam cut through the fog. Said it ‘cleared his head.’”
The man spat over the boards. “All it cleared was what little sense he had left.”
My chest tightened. “So he went often?”
“Often enough,” the old man grumbled. “Night after night, like a moth to the flame. Never worked it, never earned it. Just stared. Like he was waiting for it to save him.” He let out a bitter snort. “Lighthouse don’t save drunks. It just shows you how lost you already are.”
He jabbed a crooked finger at me. “That man wasted his life, same as he wasted everyone’s time who ever tried to trust him. Best thing the sea could’ve done was swallow him whole.CauseThat lighthouse took too much of him. .”
I leaned in slightly. “What do you mean by that? swallow him?”
The old man’s eyes flashed with sudden anger. “You’ll twist my words, city girl! That’s what you people do. Don’t go sniffing around my meaning. I said enough.”
“But—”
“No!” His voice cracked. “You think you’ll solve something here? Think you’ll stitch this town’s troubles together with your clever questions? Cal Rourke is gone.That’s the truth of it. Now leave an old man to his business!”
He shuffled past me, muttering curses until he disappeared into the docks.
I stood there a moment longer, Cal had been at the lighthouse.
And if he’d gone missing… maybe that was where it started.
I glanced down the waterfront. The cliffs rose in the distance and somewhe
re above them, hidden by the fog, the lighthouse waited.
I had my next step.
The lighthouse.