Authors: Deborah Brown
“Mostly, I’m tired of the way you two treated Zach. I’m going to my room before I say something I can’t take back. Good night.”
Chapter 25
Making my way downstairs, I could smell the coffee brewing. “Morning, Mother,” I kissed her cheek. “Any pecan rolls left?”
“I went out early and got some more, there on the counter.”
“Where’s Brad?” I asked, taking a roll from the plate. If you had a favorite anything, Mother had it for you when you came to visit.
“Still asleep. We stayed up late talking, and we shared a cigar.”
“I’m going to shower and head home after breakfast. Zach and I are meeting for lunch. Maybe we’ll spend the day together.”
“How are you feeling? You look better than yesterday.”
“I feel good,” I reassured her. “I guess I needed the sleep.”
“You are secretive, Madison.” She sounded worried.
“I’m going to work on that. Can you keep my secrets and not interfere with my decisions?”
“I can keep secrets. I can try on the other.”
I gave her a big hug. “I’ll be back soon. We can go to lunch and shop.”
I put my dishes in the dishwasher, then showered. I pulled on a coral smocked summer dress and matching flip-flops, which had big flowers between the toes. “Come on, Jazz, time to go home.”
Brad sat in the kitchen drinking coffee. “I’ll carry the cat and your bag out to the car,” he offered.
Mother pointed to the familiar pink box and said, “The bakery box is for you. Do I know my daughter or what?”
“You’re the best. I love being spoiled. I have so much more appreciation as an adult.”
“Promise you’ll do this again,” Mother said.
“Come and stay with me for a few days. We could do an overnight trip to Key West. Now that would be some
shopping
.”
“Sounds like fun. Be nice to your brother on the way out.”
I hugged Mother and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I love you.”
“How mad are you?” Brad asked, once we were outside.
“Give Zach a chance. He’s no Dickhead. You’ll like him.”
“I figured out pretty quickly that he’s no Dickhead. I liked the fact he took the grilling when he could’ve told me to stick it. I can see he likes you.”
“We need to do the family dinner thing; get together and barbecue at my house.”
“Your house. Now that sounds weird.” He seemed a little sad.
“It does, doesn’t it? You’re welcome anytime. Nothing’s changed from the way Elizabeth left everything. Just more seashells.”
“You and your seashells,” he shook his head. “Keep in better touch and I won’t worry so much.”
“You too,” I gave him a big hug. “Love you.”
“Back at you.”
* * *
“We’re in the kitchen,” Zach called out.
We? Now was not the time to ask them to wait to be invited inside. I never made an issue of it before, accepting people walking into my house as normal. I walked in the kitchen to find Zach, Axe, and Fab were standing around the kitchen island.
“Is there anything more to bring in?” Axe asked, heading outside.
“My bag and Jazz’s stuff.”
“Stay here,” Axe told me. “The food just arrived.”
I turned to Zach. “Take out?”
“From Jake’s bar,” he said, pointing to the familiar containers.
“Poor guy. Jake’s aware you’re all here, and he doesn’t have any idea what’s going on.”
“At least he can keep his mouth shut, unlike Moron,” Fab laughed. “I heard he met your brother and shared way too much information.”
“I can’t wait to meet this Moron fellow. I thought Brad would have a stroke. Thankfully, he wasn’t up on the latest or, it could’ve been a lot worse,” I said.
“What did you tell your family?” Fab asked.
“Nothing. Although they both commented on how much I’ve changed since the move. How I’ve gotten more secretive.”
“Their finding out is inevitable. Then what?” Fab questioned.
“Lots of hard feelings. I’ll think about it tomorrow or the day after. Like Scarlett.”
Axe pushed open the door for the second time. “How does the damn cat have more traveling gear than you do?” he asked, coming in with Jazz’s stuff.
“Damn cat? I hope he pees on your leg.”
“What a nasty smell,” Zach laughed.
“Did Jake send over chicken enchiladas?” I asked, heading over to the counter where the food containers were stacked.
“I joked with Jake to send your favorite. He just sent a container marked with your name. So how much time do you spend at Jake’s?” Zach asked with a raised eyebrow.
A male voice called out, “Anyone home?”
“We’re in the kitchen,” Zach yelled.
Kevin came walking through the door. He had on rumpled blue jeans, a white golf shirt, and his hair was messy. Who’d guess that under that sheriff’s uniform he had such a great body?
“Something smells good.”
“Jake’s. There’s enough food for ten people,” Zach told him. “Get a plate.”
“Hey, Madison, how are you doing?” Kevin asked.
“Not as freaked out as yesterday.”
“What’s happening with the investigation at The Cottages?” Zach asked.
“The dead guy was ID’d as one Oscar Wyatt,” Kevin announced. “He got released from a prison in Georgia about a month ago. Theft, burglary, your basic small-time con with a lengthy rap sheet. We’re working the theory that he ripped off the wrong guy, who got mad enough to put a .38 in the back of his head.”
“Any tie to The Cottages? Any unusual spike in local crime?” Zach questioned.
“No more than usual. Same as always. Auto burglaries, personal property theft, drunkenness in one form or another, nothing new there,” Kevin answered. “We showed his picture around. No one stepped forward to identify him. As a matter of fact, no one claims to have ever seen him in town anywhere.”
“What’s a low-level criminal with no known associations doing here in The Cove?” Zach was surprised. “New people always get noticed.”
“We couldn’t find any information on him after he left prison. He dropped off the map, which isn’t uncommon.” Kevin said.
“Why was Harder working so hard to tie Madison to this guy?” Axe asked.
“I’ve been wondering the same thing,” I said.
“It’s no secret he hates Zach. Big disappointment to him that Neal Cooper didn’t kill you,” Kevin laughed, looking at Zach. “The more interesting part is the manager at The Cottages pointed the finger at you,” Kevin said, turning to me.
“Why would he do that?” Zach asked.
“He doesn’t like me either, and the feeling is mutual,” I said quietly. All eyes were on me. “But I didn’t realize he disliked me enough to accuse me of murder.”
“Blaming someone for murder goes beyond dislike,” Axe said.
“His attitude has never made any sense to me.” This morning I’d been happy to come back home. I changed my mind. I should’ve stayed at my mother’s and fessed up. I do crises better in numbers.
“He told Harder you sneak around the property at all hours,” Kevin relayed. “Go in and out of your tenants’ cottages when you know they’re not home.”
“Everything Will said in his statement were the same accusations that had been made against Will and his partner.” I found it hard to believe all of this was happening.
“He also told Harder that you and Spoon have some sort of secret business dealings,” Kevin continued. “And that you let an ex-con move in, that you claim is a family member, demanded copies of all of the keys, and that’s when the body showed up. Harder was jerking you around because he could. You were never a serious suspect.” Kevin popped the top on his beer.
“Will definitely hates you, he made that clear,” Kevin said, looking at me. “Harder and I figured he took one or two facts, and embellished them into a big story. We’d both pretty much discounted everything he said by the time we cleared the doorstep.”
“Harder wanted me to come in for an interview, and he changed his mind. What happened?” I asked, trying to control my temper and my fear.
“Harder and Tucker are not only friends, but they’re business partners,” Kevin answered. “Right now they’re working on some big real estate deal. My informant at headquarters told me that Tucker wanted you jerked around and out of his hair. He has plans for The Cottages that don’t include you running them.”
“Once Harder was notified of the time of death, he verified your alibi, and moved on to other leads. I also heard he got a call from the chief, and the chief told him to back off unless he had something solid. Anyone you know call in a favor?” Kevin asked, looking at Zach.
“My attorney, Cruz Campion,” Zach answered. “Cruz and Chief Reese play golf together on a regular basis. Cruz called the chief to make him aware he’d replaced Tucker Davis. He requested that if Harder needed to speak with Madison again, call him directly, and he’d set up a meeting.”
“What do you know about Will?” Fab asked me.
“Nothing really. Tucker hired him after Elizabeth died. One of the tenants accused him of the same things he accused me of doing. He threatens the tenants, sneaks around the property and the neighborhood. He got into a fight because he was accused of going into one of the units. No one at The Cottages likes him,” I told everyone.
“What’s Will’s last name? I’ll give the info to my skip tracer and see what she comes up with,” Zach suggested.
“Will Todd. Don’t forget to run Forrest.”
“And who’s Forrest?” Zach asked.
“Will’s roommate, partner or whatever. Nobody seems to know his last name. Joseph seems convinced Forrest is a nickname, and thinks he’s wanted. Spoon told me about seeing Forrest slinking around the neighborhood. He pointed out that, when those two moved in, break-ins went on the rise,” I volunteered.
“How did you find out all of this information?” Zach asked.
I smiled. “People talk to me.”
Zach shook his head and popped open a beer.
“Both Harder and I have been to Will’s several times,” Kevin spoke up. “We were under the impression he lived alone. We didn’t have cause to search the residence, and curiosity doesn’t get you a search warrant.”
“I wish you’d told me all of this sooner,” Zach said to me.
“Told you what, exactly?” I asked. “And when?” I raised my eyebrows. “While you were chasing bad guys and being shot? Is that when I should’ve casually mentioned that Tucker and Will are a pain in my butt?”
“I still don’t understand why this Will guy would go so far out of his way to implicate Madison. He’d have to know that his words would come back to haunt him sooner or later,” Fab said.
“At least you’re not asking why I didn’t tell Zach anything sooner.”
Kevin and Axe laughed.
“Let’s run a check on this Oscar Wyatt guy,” Zach said, making a note.
“If anything about Forrest pops up, call me,” Kevin said.
“I’m also going to have Anoui check into any business dealings between Tucker and Harder,” Zach said.
“Who’s Anoui?” I asked.
“A computer whiz who works for me. She does all of the skips, and can find someone even if they live under a rock,” Zach said.
“Your people have the most amazing talents,” I complimented as I winked at Fab.
“She’s a total babe,” Kevin whispered to himself, looking at Fab. “Careful what you learn from her. You could go to jail.”
Fab stared at Kevin, who reddened. “I heard that.”
He likes her
; I almost laughed. Fab was entirely too much woman for Kevin, even if she were available.
“Axe and I are going to go kick the bushes,” Zach told me. “Keep me in the loop if you find out anything new,” he said to Kevin, and rose to leave. Zach gave me a quick kiss.
“What do you want Fab and I to do?” I asked.
“You two can clean up,” Zach said, as they slammed the door, laughing.
“Funny, ha-ha. Jokes on them. No leftovers for them. You need to take some home, or I’ll have to start taking two walks a day. Sorry you got stuck babysitting again,” I told her, while we cleaned up.
“Zach’s worried about you,” Fab said, putting the rest of the food in the refrigerator. “It’s always worrisome when someone tries to pin a murder on you for no apparent reason.”
“He has a reason. But what is it?”
“Good question.”
“Well, girlfriend, we could sit here and stare at one another, or we could go to The Cottages and snoop around on our own.”
“I think Zach wants us to stay put.”
“How often do you do what Zach tells you? Aren’t you the least bit curious of what’s going on?”
“Are you sure about this?”
I laughed. “Absolutely.”
Chapter 26
Yellow caution tape cordoned off Cottage Nine. “Police tape isn’t very good for business,” I said. “I wouldn’t stay in a place where a murder had occurred, even if it is beachfront.”
“Which one is Will’s?” Fab asked.
“Last one on the left,” I pointed.
“Find out if he’s at home,” Fab instructed me. “If not, call me while I do a little snooping.” She disappeared down the side of the building.
I walked over to Joseph’s and stuck my head in the door. “Anyone home?”
“Come on in!” Joseph yelled, walking into the living room.
“Is Will around?” I asked.
“He drove out about ten minutes ago. Why? What’s going on?”
“I’d just like to walk around the place without him following me. And, better yet, I don’t want him finding out I was here.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket. “Let me answer this.” I said, pretending to take a call. Instead, I went outside, called Fab, and told her Will had left. “Be careful.”
Back inside, I asked, “What’s the latest on the dead guy? Anyone figure out how he ended up in number Nine?”
Joseph hesitated, “Nothing new. I never laid eyes on the guy before.”
I was surprised. “How did you get a look at him?”
“Harder asked me to identify him to see if he was from this area. He hoped I might recognize him. I was relieved I didn’t know the guy.”
“Good friends with Harder, are you?”
“He’s not a bad guy. He just has an unpopular job to do. You were never a serious suspect.”