True Faith

True Faith Tru North Adventure Series Book 1 Mark Stone 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 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Untitled 1 19 Hours Before Missing They didn’t like it when I stood on top of the buoy. The Southernmost Point Buoy was a huge deal in Key West. You might not have heard of it if you lived in, say, Colorado or Utah. Hell, it might have even escaped your attention from further up north in the great state of Florida, but people come from miles around to stare at it. And when I’m standing on top of it, they’re also staring at me. Now, you might think I’m the kind of guy who likes to be the center of attention, and the truth is, that you probably wouldn’t be incorrect in presuming this. I always had been, and probably always would be, the sort of man who didn’t shy away from a crowd. As a rule, I liked people. I liked getting to know them, and while standing atop the Southernmost Point Buoy wasn’t the best way to become intimately familiar with each member of the thirty or forty member crowd that stood below me right now, that really wasn’t my goal right now. The attention I wanted today wasn’t for myself, at least, not entirely. “Two for one hurricanes at The Busted Compass for the next ninety minutes,” I yelled, cupping my hands over my mouth. “The first fifteen people through the door get three for one, and my bartender is really bad at his job.He doesn’t know when to stop pouring the rum.” I nodded, smiling at the crowd. “I’m gonna have to fire him eventually, but ‘eventually’ isn’t today. So, have fun!” A murmur started through the crowd about halfway through my sentence. To the surprise of absolutely no one, rum was a popular thing in Key West. Getting three rum heavy drinks for the price of one was an even more popular thing. I grinned as the crowd started to turn and head toward my bar in droves, feeling particularly proud of myself. We were three minutes away from happy hour, and I loved the idea of opening the doors to a rush of customers. Still smiling, I looked up at my bar, at the giant mechanical sign shaped like a broken compass. The arm of the thing spun around and around, really giving credence to the ‘busted’ piece of The Busted Compass’s name. I couldn’t believe the place was less than a year old and already turning a profit. To say I was on top of the world was an understatement, and from where I stood, it seemed like no one was going to bring me down. “Truman North, get your ass down from there!” A voice that was more familiar than either of us would have liked sounded at me. I didn’t need to look down to know who it was. This was a game he and I played on an almost daily basis. With the grin still plastered across my lips, I looked down at Officer Ryan Partley. He had his police hat on and a nightstick in his hand, though we both knew he wasn’t going to use it. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” I asked the only person coming toward me in a sea of people rushing off for drink bargains. “Same reason as yesterday and the day before,” Ryan said. “Get your ass off the buoy, Tru. You know they don’t like it.” I shook my head. Ryan and I had different kinds of days. Some days, I did what he asked, hopping down off the buoy and going on about my business. Other days, I liked to make the man earn his paycheck. I decided as I looked down at him that today was going to be one of the latter days. ‘And who is the ‘they’ you’re talking about?” I asked. “Would you mean the city council or some other kinds of ‘high ups’ in Key West? Because it seems to me that those are the very same people who would stand profit from small businesses doing well around here, especially in what’s considered an off season.” Ryan sighed loudly, his shoulders slumping with the exhale. “Come on, Tru. Don’t make me tase you.” I laughed a little bit despite myself. He wasn’t going to tase me. I knew it. He knew it. He knew I knew it. Still, he was a beat cop. He was supposed to keep the peace, and even though standing on top of the buoy and offering delicious drinks and huge savings wasn’t exactly a murder spree, it wasn’t considered peaceful either. I’d had my fun, and got my point across. My bar was crawling with enough customers to make sure today was more than profitable. So, I shrugged at the man and climbed down. “You know Key West doesn’t have an off season anymore,” Ryan said, as though that was the part of my sentence that he should have been listening to. “We get ten times more snowbirds after Christmas than we did when I was growing up. It’s like no one wants to stay home anymore.” “Can you blame them? This place is perfect,” I said, settling next to the man. With his shaggy blond hair and square jaw, Ryan looked like the quintessential surfer boy you might expect to find lounging around the beach, and I had no doubt he had been one of them at some point. Unlike myself, Ryan grew up here. This was his home turf. Not unlike myself, he loved this place so