Bikinis in Paradise (Tj Jensen Pardise Lake Mysteries) (11 page)

“
Back to Nona . . . I take it that Grandma was successful in bringing her into the social fold?”

“Not exactly.
I guess Nona was fourteen or fifteen when she moved here. She had an unsettling way about her. The combination of her sharp mind and keen sense of observation coupled with a total lack of social skills caused her to make comments that people found off-putting.”

“Off-putting how?” Tj asked as she turned onto the highway.

“She’d make statements that led people to believe she was a psychic of some sort. She claimed that she didn’t have any special powers; she just noticed things. She’d take one look at you and blurt out your deepest thoughts and secrets like they were tattooed across your forehead.”

“So people thought she was a freak.”

“Pretty much. She became friends with your grandma but never really made other friends in the area. When she was seventeen, she met a man from Vengeance. They became friends and eventually married, which was when she left Serenity. According to what Nona shared with us, they had a daughter who died giving birth to Kiara. Nona ended up raising Kiara because her father wanted nothing to do with her. I’m not entirely sure what happened after that point.”

“So you continued to see Nona after
Grandma died?”

“She didn’t come by to visit as she had when
Grandma was alive, but I’d run into her from time to time, and we’d chat. Unlike many of the people in Vengeance, she never really took to the isolation and continued to make trips into town. I actually hadn’t seen her for quite a while until a year or so ago. She showed up at the senior center and asked to join us for bingo. I recognized her and offered to introduce her around. She seems to enjoy spending time with the group and has actually made several friends since she’s been coming to play.”

“Is that where she met Hazel?”

“No. Hazel knew her from before. She was, in fact, one of the kids who teased Nona as a teenager. Hazel once told me that she very much regrets the way she treated the newcomer to our area and has gone out of her way to be nice to her.”

“Which is amazing
because Hazel is rarely nice to anyone.” Tj laughed.

“Hazel is a decent woman. She’s had a hard life. Harder than most realize. She tends to speak her mind
, which makes her seem a lot gruffer than I believe she actually is.”

“Yeah, I know you’re right. She usually has a lecture of one type or another for me when I stop by
the post office, but in my heart I know that if push came to shove, she’d be there for me.”

“
Did I mention that Roy called looking for your earlier?” Ben asked.

“No
, but I spoke to him. I was helping him interview Fenton Ridley about Tonya Overton’s death. Boggs won’t allow anything formal yet.”

“Sounds like Boggs. Does Roy suspect something?”

“He has reason to believe that Fenton and Tonya were having an affair when she first started working together.”

“Doesn’t seem like something Fenton is likely to share,” Ben commented.

“Yeah, he didn’t. If you want my opinion, he’s either innocent of the affair and the murder or a really confident liar. Not that I was able to ask him any really direct questions, but he let me know he realized what I was doing. Roy is going to keep digging. If he can find anything significant, he can use it to get Boggs to allow them to pick up Fenton for a formal interrogation.”

“Might need Dylan for that.”

“Yeah, well, I guess they can cross that bridge when they get to it,” Tj said.

“The café should be up ahead on the right,” Ben informed her.

Tj slowed the vehicle as they approached a light in the distance. It was beginning to get dark, and the section of road they’d been traveling was narrow and unlit, so the lights from the coffee shop were clearly distinguishable.

“Yup. It looks like this is it.”

She pulled into the parking lot. The coffee shop where Hazel had arranged for them to meet Nona was as dingy as it was small. Tj suspected that the only reason it even existed was because of the single-pump gas island in the front, which provided the first fueling station since leaving the larger city at the base of the mountain. Nona was waiting at a table in the corner. Ben had indicated that the woman was in her seventies, but to Tj, she looked a lot older. She had long white hair braided to her waist and wore a long skirt and a peasant top, with black work boots on her feet. Nona was hunched over the table, where she nursed a cup of some hot liquid. She reminded Tj of a fortune-teller she had seen at a carnival when she was a young girl.

There were only two other tables occupied when Ben and Tj arrived
, one by a pair of truckers Tj suspected had arrived in the two eighteen-wheelers parked in the front, and the other by four young men who looked to be of high-school age. One of the boys wore a letterman’s jacket from a high school at the foot of the mountain, so Tj imagined they were in town for the weekend.

“Thank you for meeting us,” Ben began as he slid into the booth across from the woman. “This is my granddaughter
, Tj,” he added as she sat down beside him.

“You
’re the one looking for my Kiara?” Nona looked Tj directly in the eye. She appeared to be studying her. Tj imagined that she was trying to decide whether to trust her.

“Yes
, ma’am.” Tj smiled. “Kiara came to the resort my family owns in order to participate in a beauty contest. She arrived on the bus with the others but never checked in. Have you heard from her in the past couple of days?”

The woman looked as if years of struggle had taken their toll. “I have
n’t spoken to Kiara since she ran away over a year ago. We were close once, but when things became tense, I’m afraid I wasn’t there for her the way I should have been. I didn’t even know she was coming to town.”

“Can you tell us what happened?” Tj asked. “I realize it
isn’t really any of our business, but if we can understand why she left, maybe we can figure out where she might be now.”

Nona sat quietly. Tj supposed she was
still trying to make up her mind whether to help them. “Why do you seek my Kiara? Has she done something wrong?”

“No, she hasn’t done anything wrong,” Tj answered. “We just want to make sure she’s okay. If she
’s changed her mind about the competition, we can take her name off the roster, but given the fact that she left rather abruptly, we feel it’s our responsibility to ensure her welfare.”

“I was surprised to hear she entered a b
eauty contest,” Nona admitted.

“Frannie
mentioned that Kiara wants to go to college,” Tj offered. “I understand that part of the prize is a scholarship to the college of the winner’s choice.”

“I guess that makes sense. Kiara wants to go to college m
ore than anything. She feels it’s her calling to be a doctor.”

“Is that why she left
Vengeance?”

“No, not completely.
I raised Kiara until two years ago. Her father thought I had been too lenient with the girl and decided to have her move back home with him. I fought his decision, but as her biological parent, it was his choice to do as he saw fit. After much consideration, Kiara’s father decided to marry her to a boy in the community.”

“So she ran away.”

“She did,” Nona confirmed. “I hate to admit it, but I did very little to stop her father from following through with his plan to unite the two. I realized that a union with Aaron would make Kiara’s life easier. He’s a nice young man who is well respected and popular in our community. I hoped that perhaps, as his wife, Kiara would finally gain acceptance among the group. I only wanted what was best for my granddaughter, but she didn’t see it that way. When she left Vengeance, she left us all behind.”

“Is this her fiancé
?” Ben showed Nona the drawing.

“Yes, that is Aaron
.”

“He met Kiara at the bus,” Tj informed Nona. “The two left together and she hasn’t been seen since. Could he have hurt her?”

Nona considered this. “Aaron wouldn’t hurt her. In spite of everything, I believe he loves her. It has been over a year since she left, but still he waits for her to return. Aaron is a popular young man in our settlement who could have his choice of a wife, but still he waits.”

“Might they be together somewhere?” Ben tried. “Maybe Aaron managed to talk Kiara into running away with him.”

“I saw Aaron this morning. He didn’t mention anything, but perhaps I should have a chat with him, now that I know that Kiara is missing.”

“I would really appreciate it if you’d call and let me know what you find out
.” Tj handed the elderly woman a napkin with her cell phone number written on it.

“
I’ll see what I can find out.” Nona looked at Tj. She smiled, a tired and withered smile. “Thank you for caring. I’ll be sure to contact you once I’ve spoken to Aaron. If he doesn’t know of her whereabouts, I’d appreciate it if you’d keep looking. I doubt that anyone from the village other than Aaron will care one way or the other.”

By the time Ben and Tj returned to the resort, Jenna was there talking to Doc, who had taken second place in the competition. The men decided to head to the bar, while Jenna and Tj headed toward the fire pit Tj had reserved. The beach was crowded as locals and visitors alike gathered to listen to the band. Tj hadn’t eaten dinner, so she stopped by the house to gather the wine and cheese she’d promised, while Jenna went on ahead to start the fire. When Tj arrived at the beach, she saw that their friend, Kyle Donovan, had joined Jenna as well.

“Hey
, Kyle. I thought you were on mom duty,” Tj greeted him.

Kyle’s mo
ther had decided to move to Serenity to be near her son and had been living with him while she looked for a town house to purchase. Tj had first met Kyle the previous October, when he was brought to the resort by her old friend and Kyle’s grandfather, Zachary Collins. Kyle never had the chance to meet Zachary, but the intense week that followed the man’s murder had served to bond Tj and Kyle as best friends forever.

“I needed a break,”
blond-haired, blue-eyed Kyle admitted. “I love my mom, but living with her for the past month has put a strain on our relationship. I ran into Jenna earlier in the day and she mentioned that the two of you were getting together, so I decided to join you. I hope that’s okay.”

“More than okay
.” Tj handed Kyle a glass. Luckily, she had brought several bottles of wine and extra glasses just in case she ran into anyone she knew. “I’ve missed you since your mom has been in town. Has she found a place?”

“Not yet. We’ve
looked at several very nice condos, as well as a couple of small houses, but she seems to find a problem with each one. I told her to choose something she loves, that money is no object, but she still insists on looking for a good deal.”

“She does know how much money you inherited
, doesn’t she?” Jenna asked as she poured everyone some wine. Luckily for Tj, Jenna, her lifelong best friend, had accepted Kyle into their close-knit group as easily as she had.

“I’ve never given her an exact number. Heck
, I don’t even know the exact number. I’ve used words like tens of millions, though, and she’s staying with me in the huge lakeside estate Zachary left me, so I think she gets the idea.”

“Maybe she just
likes living with her son,” Tj pointed out. “Moving to a new town after twenty years in the same place would be hard for anyone. She doesn’t really know anyone here yet, so I’m sure she’s lonely.”

Kyle tossed another log on the fire before answering. Sparks danced in the air as the heat from the burning embers ignited the sap contained within the wood.
“I guess that’s true, but I’m not sure our relationship can survive a permanent arrangement. I love the idea of her being close by so that she can be a regular part of my life, but I also need my own space. After my dad died, my mom began to focus all her attention on me. I get it; I’m all she has left. But at times her need to be involved in every part of my life can become a tad intense, if you know what I mean. I feel like I’m past the point where I want to have someone who watches what I eat and worries if I’m out too late. How do you deal with living with your dad as an adult?” Kyle asked Tj.

She
shrugged. “It’s not too bad. My dad tends to keep to himself. If I want his opinion about something, he’s always happy to sit down and talk, but he doesn’t meddle.”

“My mom has started picking out my clothes,” Kyle complained. “And she insists on doing the laundry. She caught me dumping a load in the washer without sorting or pretreating when she first moved in
, and now she removes the clothes from my hamper before it’s even full. I told her that I preferred to do my own laundry, but she insists that she wants to help out around the house since I’m letting her stay with me.”

“I wouldn’t mind someone doing my laundry
,” Jenna mused.

“She donated some of my clothes to the drive the church was having,” Kyle pointed out. “She didn’t even ask
; she just went through my closet and pulled out everything she thought was past its prime. When I complained, she told me that if I wanted to run for town council, I needed to present a certain image that didn’t include my favorite sweatshirt with the frayed wrists or my jeans with the paint stains on them.”