Heavenly Honeymoon (Zoe Donovan Mysteries Book 15) (4 page)

As I continued on, I enjoyed the plethora of tropical birds that frequented the center of the island, where the beach gave way to an elevation in altitude, as well as dense foliage that seemed as deadly as it was beautiful. The path I traveled wound its way along the edge of the jungle before curving back toward the sea. I hoped I’d be given the opportunity to wander deeper into the island before we were scheduled to leave. If the birds and foliage along the perimeter of the jungle was this beautiful it must be breathtaking in the interior.

By the time I made it back to the house Zak was off the phone and walking on the beach in front of the house with Charlie. He was throwing a stick to my tiny friend, who was having a blast chasing it into the gentle surf.

“There’s my beautiful bride.” Zak pulled me into his arms and kissed me as I walked up behind him.

“Did you miss me?”

“You have no idea. You know, this is the first time we’ve truly been alone since we’ve been married.”

“We’ve been alone.” I kissed his neck to remind him of our wedding night.

“Alone behind a locked door with four other people in the house, but not alone alone.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. It is nice that the kids are occupied for the day. I wish we could just enjoy our alone time, but I really don’t want to go back to that jail, so I think we might need to do some investigating.”

“We will,” Zak promised. “After.”

“After what?”

“You’ll see.” He grinned as he pulled a backpack onto his shoulders and grabbed my hand. He led me to the gate dividing the VIP section from the rest of the resort and then past the gatehouse dividing the village from the resort toward a narrow path leading away from the sea, toward the interior of the island. Charlie followed along beside us, happily chasing birds as the open air of the sea gave way to the density of the large tropical plants that grew in abundance.

“Have you stopped to wonder about all the security the resort provides?” I asked as we wound our way through the thick foliage.

“What do you mean?” Zak asked.

“Not only is there an armed guard at the gatehouse that must be passed to gain entry to the resort but there’s an additional gate separating the area where we’re staying from the rest of the resort.”

“The resort is frequented by wealthy people who come to the island to escape the rigors of everyday life. Visitors include public figures such as politicians and celebrities. I think Jensen just wants to make sure his guests are granted the privacy they seek.”

“Yeah, I guess I can see that.” I’d had very limited yet disastrous dealings with paparazzi; I couldn’t imagine what it must be like to try to have a normal vacation if you were a famous movie star or athlete.

Zak continued to pull me deeper and deeper into the jungle. I could tell by the grin on his face that he was up to something special. “Where are we going?” I asked as I swatted at a spider of unknown origin that had found its way onto my arm.

“It’s a surprise.” Zak continued to pull me along by the hand.

“Is it far?”

“No. Actually, we’re almost there. In fact, I think you can hear it now.”

I paused to listen. “It sounds like water.”

Zak began walking again and I followed along behind. The jungle was beautiful, but the farther we traveled away from the coolness of the sea breeze the hotter and more humid it became.

Eventually, we came to a gated area with “Private Property” signs lining the fence. Zak punched a code into the gate, which slid open. I followed him into the fenced-in area and the gate slid closed behind us.

“Is it okay that we’re in here?” I asked.

“I cleared it with Jensen. In fact, it was his idea. There are parts of the island that are restricted from the resort guests, due mainly to the fragile ecosystem he’s trying to preserve.”

We walked for another ten minutes and then the jungle gave way to one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen. A large waterfall cascaded down a small mountain and emptied into a pond. Flowering plants lined the pool, and perched in nearby trees were the monkeys I’d been hoping to see.

“Wow, this is beautiful.”

Zak took my hand and pulled me toward the pool of clear, cool water.

“Are you sure we’re alone?” I asked as he slid his hand up my back and under my shirt.

“I’m sure,” Zak responded as he pulled my tank top over my head.

“And there are no cameras?” I couldn’t help but remember the photo of me that had ended up in a popular gossip magazine the week before our wedding.

“No cameras and no spectators . . . well, except for the monkeys,” Zak assured me as he continued to undress us both.

Once we were both free of our clothing we slipped into the cool water, which felt like heaven against my hot skin.

I put my arms around Zak’s neck and kissed him. “You know, I think this is one of the best ideas you’ve ever had.”

Zak grinned as he pulled me against his body. “Actually,” he kissed his way down my neck and onto my shoulder, “I’m about to show you the best idea I’ve ever had.”

“I can’t remember the last time I was this relaxed,” I said an hour later as Zak and I sat on beach towels he’d placed on a large flat rock. He really did have all sorts of good ideas.

“How are the sandwiches?” he asked as I devoured the lunch he’d prepared.

“Really good. Where did you get the fresh rolls?”

“I had some brought over from the restaurant. They threw in some pastries, which are some of the best I’ve ever tasted. I wasn’t sure they’d survive the trip, so they’re waiting for us at the house.”

I must have let my smile slip as I remembered the murder investigation that was also waiting for us at the house because Zak squeezed my hand and reassured me that, one way or another, we were both getting off the island.

“It looks like there’s a cave up there on the mountain,” I commented as I tried to focus on enjoying the rest of our trip into the jungle.

Zak looked where I was pointing. “That must be the cave Jensen told me about. It’s been outfitted to provide shelter for resort guests during hurricanes or tropical storms. I guess this mountain is the tallest on the island. We actually climbed almost a thousand feet up the mountain during our hike from the house, and the cave is another thousand feet up.”

“Is the mountain accessible from other parts of the island?” I wondered.

Zak frowned. “I’m not sure. Why do you ask?”

“It’s just that we had to go through the private gate to get here. I was just wondering where the locals went in a storm.”

“Good question.”

“Did you know that many of the locals refer to Jensen Ewing as the dictator?”

Zak hadn’t heard, so I shared what I’d learned about the history of the resort and its impact on the island and the people who lived here before Jensen bought the land. I could see Zak hadn’t really considered this side of things. His smile had faded to a frown by the time I’d completed my monologue.

“Not that there aren’t locals who are happy that Jensen developed the island. Oria told me that her friend, Leta, was thrilled to move into the housing he provided when he built the resort, and I’m sure there are others as well. It’s been eighteen years since the resort opened, and construction began several years before that, so I imagine folks have mostly settled into their new situation. Still, if it was Jensen who was dead and not Ricardo Jimenez, I would definitely look at the social climate as one of the top two motives.”

“Top two? What other motive are you referring to?”

“Good old-fashioned jealousy. Did you know that Jensen has a mistress? More than one, it seems. Della is the mother of his child, but if what Talin told me is correct, she isn’t his only lover.”

Zak frowned. “I don’t know Jensen all that well. We worked together on the software for the resort several years ago, but we never discussed anything really personal. Still, I have to admit I’m surprised. He seems to have genuine affection for Della.”

“Talin indicated that having mistresses is almost expected when you have as much money as Jensen does.”

Zak took my hand in his and looked me in the eye. “I have a lot more money than Jensen and I promise you that I have no plans to make room in our lives for a mistress.”

I smiled. “Good.”

“I guess we should head back,” Zak suggested reluctantly. “We really do need to figure out who killed Jimenez before someone gets it in their head that you’re a risk to the populace. I’m kind of surprised no one has been talking about the murder today. From what I can find out this is the first homicide in a decade. You’d think it would be big news.”

“Jensen might have persuaded everyone to keep it hushed up. I can’t imagine it would be a good thing for the resort guests to know they were trapped on the island with a killer. We really should talk to the kids when they get home from their ride.”

Zak got up and began gathering our supplies. “Yeah, I agree. I think they’ll take it okay as long as we keep a casual attitude about the whole thing. It seems like it should be fairly easy to figure this out. We were on a boat in the middle of the ocean with seventeen people on board. It’s safe to assume Ricardo didn’t stab himself in the back, and I’m also assuming neither you nor I did it, which leaves us with fourteen suspects. I bet we can narrow that down quite a bit if we put our minds to it.”

“What about the man I saw? The one no one else did? He took the knife and said he would exchange it. It has to have been him who killed Ricardo.”

Zak looked at me with a furrowed brow. “I’m not doubting that you saw a dark-skinned man dressed in black, but there doesn’t currently seem to be any evidence to support it.”

“I know what I saw.”

“I believe you. I really do. It’s just that after you were taken away they interviewed everyone, one person at a time. They left me until last, so I was able to watch each person as he or she was escorted into the office where the interviews took place. There really wasn’t anyone who fit your description.”

“Maybe he was hiding in one of the bedrooms.”

“They searched the entire yacht. Thoroughly. The only people on board were the seventeen they’ve accounted for. If you did see a dark-skinned man dressed in black he somehow disappeared before the yacht docked.”

“Maybe he dove overboard and swam to shore,” I suggested.

Zak looked doubtful. Then he smiled and squeezed my hand. “Don’t worry; we’ll get to the bottom of this.”

After we returned to the house, showered, changed into clean clothes, and made a pitcher of sangria—who says you can’t work and vacation at the same time?—Zak brought his computer out on to our private patio and set up a work station in the shade. We still had three hours until we needed to pick up the kids and we were determined to narrow the suspect field during that time.

Zak had managed to get the official list of passengers on board the yacht from Talin, so we decided that was as good a place as any to start. We’d been miles out to sea, so it only made sense that someone on the yacht had committed the deed.

“In addition to the twelve us of who dined that evening,” Zak began, “there were five people on board.”

I opened my mouth to speak.

“Six, if we include your mystery man.”

I knew all that. I’d gone over it time and time again with Talin, but Zak hadn’t been in the room at the time, so I sat quietly while he caught up. The first thing he did was pull up a blank document on his computer and begin listing the names, which included Zak and me; Jensen and Della; Ricardo and his date, Stefana; Dezi and Lucinda; Charles and Piper Belmont; and the businessman from Korea, Park Lee, and his wife, Kim.

Also on board were Captain Jack, Sebastian the chef, and his two waitstaff, Kai and Rosa. The bartender, Jerrell, and my mystery man rounded out the list. If you eliminated the victim, Zak, and myself, that gave us fourteen suspects. If you added in my mystery man that brought the total to fifteen.

“So where do we start?” I asked, once he’d keyboarded the list to his Word document.

“I think we have to begin with the victim. If we can learn why he was there and who he might have come into contact with before dinner, maybe we can uncover a motive.”

Made sense to me.

“We know the guy was a lowlife jerk,” I began.

Zak looked at me. “Should I add you back to the list?” he teased.

“No. I just don’t like that he kicked Charlie, and I don’t like that he bet on dog fights. The guy had no morals. Chandella,” I shouted.

Zak looked confused. “I’m not following your line of reasoning. What is a chandella?”

“It’s not a what, it’s a who. She’s Jensen’s mistress, or at least one of them. I saw Ricardo arguing with a tall dark-haired woman when Charlie and I were out jogging yesterday. When I described her to Talin, he said it sounded like Chandella. I saw Ricardo grab her and drag her into a breezeway, but when I went to investigate she was gone. I saw him walking toward the hotel but didn’t see where she disappeared to. She seemed pretty mad.”

“Chandella wasn’t on the yacht,” Zak pointed out.

“No, but maybe Jensen found out that Ricardo was messing with his mistress and put an end to it.”

Zak frowned. “I don’t know. Jensen orchestrated the entire evening. He was responsible for everyone who was on board. Why would he participate in an act to defend his mistress with his wife on board?”

“Her presence suggests that jealousy wasn’t a motive in Ricardo’s death. Maybe she was a smoke screen. Maybe we all were.”

“Maybe,” Zak admitted. “We’ll keep Jensen on the list, but I doubt Della did it. She’s pretty far along in her pregnancy.”

I thought about it. “Maybe she didn’t plunge the knife into the man’s back, but she could have been working with the killer. She certainly would have the ability to sneak someone on board ahead of time and then hide them so no one knew they were there. Someone like my dark-skinned man, for example.”

“Okay, we’ll leave her on the list for now,” Zak agreed. “So back to Jimenez. Let’s see if he’d been on the island before.”

“How are you going to figure that out?” I asked.

“I can access passport information as well as resort records to see if he’s stayed here before. It’ll take a few minutes.”

“He seemed to know a lot of people, so I’m betting he’s a regular visitor. I think I’ll call Ellie while you’re doing that. I can’t help but wonder how her trip is going. The suspense of not knowing is making me nuts.”

“Okay. Tell her hi for me.”

I took the phone and walked over to the rock wall separating the patio from the beach. I didn’t want to disturb Zak while he worked and I didn’t want to have to monitor what I said to my best friend. Zak tended to side with Levi in the fact that he believed the opportunity he was being offered was too good to pass up. I, on the other hand, sided with Ellie in her desire for the best friend unit to remain intact. Besides, I really didn’t see how Ellie could choose between her home and her boyfriend.

“So how are things going?” I asked as soon as she picked up.

“They’re going. Levi met with the head coach yesterday and he really liked what he had to say. He promised me that he would sleep on it for a day or two, but I can tell he’s already made up his mind. I overheard him talking to the new principal at the high school. He wouldn’t share this information with him if he weren’t planning to give notice.”

I felt my heart sink. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m not sure what I’m going to do in the long run, but for now I’m staying put in Ashton Falls. I love Levi, but I love living in the boathouse and I love my business. My mom is in Ashton Falls, as is my best friend in the whole world. I don’t see how I can leave.”

I could tell that Ellie was crying, but I didn’t say anything. I wished I could be there with her while she dealt with this life-altering situation.

“Have you told Levi that you aren’t going to move with him?” I asked.

“Sort of. I told him that I wanted to stay in Ashton Falls. He thinks we can keep our relationship going long distance, and while I agree we can keep the friends part of us alive from four hundred miles apart, I really don’t think we can keep the couple thing going.”

I hated to admit it, but I had to agree with Ellie. Long-distance relationships rarely stood the test of time.

“Maybe he’ll hate it,” I suggested. “Maybe once he gets there the novelty will wear off and he’ll want to come home.”

“Maybe.”

“Are you back in Ashton Falls?” I asked.

“I am. I flew home earlier today and Mom picked me up in Bryton Lake. Levi decided to stay for a few more days. He wanted a chance to actually work out with the team to get a feel for how everyone interacted before he officially quit his job at the high school. At first I was really upset that we weren’t going to have this time together, but now I think it might be for the best. I need some time to process everything.”

“I wish I could be there with you. I hate to think of you all alone. I’d come home early, but I’ve been forbidden to leave the island.”

“Zoe Donovan, what did you do?”

“It’s not what I actually did; it’s more what everyone seems to think I did.”

“Please don’t tell me you’re mixed up in a murder.”

I remained silent. She’d said not to tell her.

“You
are
mixed up in a murder,” Ellie concluded. “How on earth did you manage to do that? You’ve only been on the island for a couple of days.”

I explained about the events leading up to my arrest and then I explained, in excruciatingly painful detail, about my horrible evening in jail.

“You used a newspaper as toilet paper?” Ellie laughed.

“It’s not like I had a choice. I had on a tiny silk dress that barely covered anything, so I had on minimal undergarments, and I couldn’t risk drippage.”

Ellie laughed even harder. I was glad my horrible night could bring some light into her dark day. I guess, looking back, it
was
sort of funny, although it most definitely hadn’t been amusing at the time.

“I should have come with you as planned.” Ellie sighed. “It sounds like your murder investigation is a lot more interesting than my imploding romance.”

“Maybe you can still come,” I suggested. “If Coop isn’t busy I’m sure Zak will send him to pick you up. You can be here by tomorrow morning. The fourth bedroom is totally empty.”

“Do you have any idea how much that would cost?”

“Zak won’t mind. Will you come?”

Ellie hesitated. I knew she was considering it. “I’ve already arranged for coverage at the restaurant, and I’m sure Tiffany won’t mind if I take Shep back over to your place.”

My assistant, Tiffany Middleton, was staying at the house to take care of Zak’s dog Bella, as well as my cats, Marlow and Spade. She’d kept Levi’s dog, Karloff, and Shep as well while they were visiting the college.

“El?” I persuaded.

“Okay. If Zak really doesn’t mind paying a fortune for me to get there, and if Coop really is available.”

“I’ll check into it and call you back.”

As expected, Zak was more than happy to send Coop for Ellie, and Coop was fine with fetching her. Although Coop owns a private jet service catering to businessmen on the go and has many clients, I’m pretty sure Zak is his best customer, so I was certain Coop would be willing to do anything within his power to keep him happy. I called Ellie back and informed her that Coop would be waiting for her at the Bryton Falls airport later that evening. It would be good to have her around while we tried to balance fun with investigation.

Then I called Jeremy Fisher, who had been doing such a fantastic job managing Zoe’s Zoo that he no longer really needed me, though, if I was honest with myself, I still needed to be needed. Does that make any sense?

“Hey, Jeremy,” I said when he answered the phone.

“Zoe, how’s the trip?”

“Eventful.” I filled him in.

“You need to be careful. Other countries don’t have the same type of justice system we do. Proving guilt isn’t necessarily a requirement for locking someone up.”

“Trust me, I’ve thought of that. How are things at the Zoo?”

Jeremy filled me in on the two bear cubs that had been transferred out and the mountain lion that had been transferred in. “I got a call this morning, asking if we could take some rescues from a puppy mill that was recently shut down. We have room for fifteen dogs, but that will max us out. The woman I spoke to is looking to place forty dogs, so she’s pretty desperate.”

“Take them, have them checked out for health issues, and then put the word out that we have dogs to place. We already have a clinic planned for when I get back. If you need the extra space see if you can find a few locals to foster some of our longer-term residents.”

“Okay, I’ll call the woman back when we’re done. She’ll be relieved we can take so many.”

“Sometimes I think we need to expand our domestic section to accommodate more animals, and then as soon as I actually start planning an expansion we empty out and have plenty of room.”

“We normally have plenty of room,” Jeremy reminded me. “It’s all but impossible to plan for these brief influxes when there’s a large rescue operation underway.”

“Call Nick Benson,” I suggested. ‘The last time I spoke to him, he told me he was thinking about getting another dog. Maybe he’s ready. And even if he isn’t, maybe he’ll be willing to foster a couple of dogs for the short term. I bet my pappy will foster a dog or two as well.”

“I’ll take care of everything,” Jeremy assured me. “You enjoy your honeymoon. And Zoe . . . try to stay out of trouble.”

“I will,” I promised. “I’ll call you in a couple of days.”

I hung up with Jeremy and returned to Zak, who’d managed to dig up some information on our murder victim while I was on the phone.

“Ricardo Jimenez works for a firm that sells restaurant supplies to large resorts such as this one. He visits the island every couple of months but usually only stays for a couple of days. As far as I can tell, he’s held his current position for five years.”

“So he would be familiar with the island and the staff,” I said as a seagull landed on the patio next to my chair. The little buggers had been regular visitors ever since they’d discovered there was a very messy little boy who tended to leave crumbs everywhere staying in the house.

“Looks like,” Zak confirmed.

“So any of the staff members on the yacht could have motive to kill him,” I concluded.

“It’s possible.”

“What about the others?” I asked. “Are any of them regulars on the island?”

“Based on lodging records, it appears that both Park and Kim Lee and Charles and Piper Belmont are regular visitors to the island. In fact, it looks like Charles and Piper spend time here almost every year. I didn’t find any previous records for Dezi and Lucinda, and I think I remember them saying it was their first visit.”

“What about Ricardo’s date, Stefana?”

“I didn’t find lodging records for anyone by that name. I’d say you were correct in your assumption that she’s some type of paid escort. It’s very possible the two could have had dates in the past, although they didn’t seem to know each other all that well. She could be new to the area.”

“So what does this all mean?” I asked.

“At this point it doesn’t mean anything, but it’s a start, and we both know we have to start somewhere.”

I looked out over the calm sea. It was a beautiful afternoon. It seemed crazy to spend it digging into the murder of a man I felt little sympathy for, but I really did want to see the crime solved so I could go home in a week as planned.