Ominous Island

by Rachel Woods

  The was a tense moment of hesitation as Tina, Jimmy, and Matt fidgeted, squirmed, and glanced everywhere except at Noelle.

  “Do I need to repeat the question?” Sophie asked.

  The trio appeared unsure and reluctant. There were more nervous glances among them before Matt cleared his throat. “Um … Dr. Bean, why are you here?”

  “I’ve only met you guys once,” Beanie said, casual and affable. “But I’m sure you remember that I’m Dr. Bean’s husband, Roland. I work with Sophie Carter at the Palmchat Gazette.”

  “Beanie and I are helping a colleague with the Eamon Taylor murder story,” Sophie said. “So that’s why Beanie is here, and Dr. Bean just tagged along. Now, the tipster is …?”

  Tina, Matt, and Jimmy still looked skeptical, but after a shrug, Tina said, “We are … all three of us. Me, Matt and Jimmy sent the anonymous tip about Kevin Cook killing Eamon Taylor.”

  Chapter Forty-One

  After coaxing the interns to take a seat in the front row, Sophie and Beanie stood in front of them, authoritative and confident as they began the questioning.

  Noelle decided to stand near the lectern, content to allow Sophie and Beanie to do what they did best without any interruption from her. The last thing she wanted to do was say something that would spook the nervous trio and send them scattering.

  “Okay, why did you guys send me the tip about Kevin Cook?” Sophie asked. “And please, don’t rush to talk at once.”

  Tina, sitting ramrod straight between Jimmy, who slouched in his seat, and Matt, who looked regretful and resigned, spoke up. “Because if anybody killed Eamon, it was Kevin.”

  “Cops arrested the wrong person,” said Jimmy, head bent, eyes avoiding Sophie and Beanie.

  “Who did the cops arrest?” Matt asked.

  Noelle tensed. So far, because of Caleb Olivier’s loyalty to Beanie and compassion toward their family, Noelle’s name had been kept out of the Palmchat Gazette. The Palmchat Pharmacy human resources department had stayed quiet though they knew the details of her arrest. Noelle was grateful she’d been spared gawking, taunts, and salacious speculation about her guilt or innocence.

  Beanie said, ”They didn’t arrest Kevin Cook. There’s really no evidence against him.”

  “Unless you guys know something you should tell the police,” Sophie said.

  Shoulders slumped, Tina said, “After Eamon was killed, the three of us discussed who could have killed him and we all agreed—Kevin Cook.”

  “But why Kevin?” Beanie asked.

  Matt said, “Kevin was really upset when Eamon got the Palmchat Pharmacy job.”

  “Upset?” Jimmy scoffed as he raised his head. “Understatement. Livid is the word. He hated that Dr. Bean gave Eamon the job.”

  “Kevin said Eamon didn’t deserve the job,” Tina said. “He said Eamon probably got the job because Eamon was good-looking and he probably—”

  “Kevin was just saying Eamon shouldn’t have gotten the job,” Matt cut in, giving Tina a warning glance. “Kevin thought he was smarter than Eamon and—”

  “What were you going to say, Tina?” asked Sophie. “You were saying that Kevin thought Eamon got the job because he was handsome and … what else?”

  Matt shook his head and crossed his arms, obviously peeved, which Sophie must have noticed because she asked, “Is there something you don’t want Tina to tell me?”

  “Not with Dr. Bean standing right there,” said Matt. “She doesn’t need to know about Kevin’s bullshit theories because they’re not true.”

  “I do want to know,” said Noelle, breaking the vow she’d made to herself to stay quiet. “What is Kevin’s bullshit theory?”

  Beanie glanced back at her, his expression wary but Noelle concentrated on the trio as she took a few steps away from the lectern.

  Tina said, “Kevin suggested that Eamon got the job because he and Dr. Bean were having an affair.”

  Noelle’s legs shook, and she regretted her decision to leave the lectern, which she could have leaned on for the support she desperately needed at that moment.

  “Kevin thought my wife and Eamon were having an affair?” Beanie asked, a hint of incredulity in his tone but Noelle heard the trace of rage, as well.

  “We didn’t believe it,” Tina said, rolling her eyes. “Kevin was just pissed about Eamon getting the job. He couldn’t believe that Eamon deserved the job and he was convinced that Eamon hadn’t gotten the job because he was capable of doing it better than Kevin.”

  “Okay, so …” Sophie paced a bit, arms folded. “What I’m hearing is a guy who was jealous and snarky. But that doesn’t necessarily make Kevin a murderer.”

  “That’s not all he said,” said Jimmy.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t be talking about this,” Matt said, worry in his gaze as he glanced at his cohorts. “I mean, we don’t want to cause problems for Kevin especially since he’s not the only one who could have killed Eamon.”

  “He’s not?” Beanie asked.

  “Who else could have killed Eamon?” asked Sophie.

  “We should tell them about Sarah,” Matt said.

  “Sarah Linde?” Beanie frowned.

  “What about Sarah?” Noelle asked.

  “Sarah could have killed Eamon,” Matt said.

  Rolling her eyes, Tina said, “You can’t seriously think that Sarah could have killed Eamon.”

  “She wrote those crazy letters,” Matt said.

  “What crazy letters?” asked Sophie.

  “Sarah wrote Eamon some letters saying she would die if she couldn't be with him,” said Jimmy. “Stupid lovesick shit.”

  “She also wrote in one of those letters that she would rip Eamon’s heart out,” said Matt.

  “Yeah, she said she’d rip out his heart not bash him over the head,” said Tina. “Sarah wasn't serious. She was just trying to get his attention.”

  “The letter said Sarah would rip Eamon’s heart out?” asked Beanie, glancing at Noelle, his gaze conveying the disturbing realization she’d come to—Sarah Linde had written the threatening love letters the police had found in Eamon’s apartment.

  “Sarah can get a little obsessively possessive when she likes a guy,” Tina said. “So, she was depressed and upset because she realized Eamon had used her for sex and wasn’t really interested.”

  “Which could be a motive for murder,” said Matt.

  Tina shook her head. “You're just trying to deflect suspicion onto Sarah because you don’t want to believe that Kevin killed Eamon.”

  Sophie said, “Jimmy, a few minutes ago, you were going to tell us something that Kevin had said, remember?”

  “He said he wanted to kill Eamon,” said Jimmy, frowning.

  Matt exhaled, rubbing his jaw.

  “It’s true.” Tina nodded. “We heard him say that.”

  “He didn’t actually say he would kill Eamon,” Matt disputed. “He didn’t use the word kill.”

  “What word did he use?” Beanie asked.

  “He said somebody should get Eamon out of our lives,” said Matt, rushing the words out as though it pained him to say them. “But we didn’t really think he was serious.”

  “Until Eamon was murdered,” said Jimmy.

  Sophie sighed. “I think we need to call the police.”

  “What? No, we can’t do that,” said Matt.

  “We have to,” said Jimmy.

  “We don’t have proof Kevin did anything,” Matt pointed out. “Just because he said he wanted to get rid of Eamon doesn’t mean he killed him.”

  “True, but the police should know that Kevin had animosity toward Eamon,” said Sophie.

  “She’s right,” said Tina, looking at Matt and then at Jimmy. “We owe it to Eamon to tell the cops what we know.”

  “Even if what we know may not be true?” Matt asked. “Don’t we owe it to Kevin to hear what he has to say?”

  Sophie pulled out her phone. “How about we let Kevin tell the police what he has to say f
or himself.”

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Worried and apprehensive, Noelle leaned a hip against the kitchen counter.

  She’d just managed to coax the boys to sleep after a fitful few hours during which Evan had been unusually fussy, and Ethan had been excessively rambunctious. There was peace in the house, finally, but discord churned in her gut.

  Two days had passed since she, Beanie and Sophie had talked to the anonymous tipster. Or, rather, the anonymous tipsters—Tina, Matt, and Jimmy. Noelle was still having problems wrapping her mind around the idea that she and Beanie had been right.

  Kevin Cook had killed Eamon and framed her for the murder.

  Maybe.

  Beanie was convinced of Kevin’s guilt and had spent the past forty-eight hours harassing Officer Fields and Detective Janvier, demanding that they arrest Kevin Cook immediately. Officer Fields, who’d driven out to the university to take the interns’ statements after Sophie’s insistent phone call, had promised to interview Kevin Cook a second time, considering the new revelations, once Kevin returned to St. Killian.

  Janvier was disinclined to believe that someone else had killed Eamon Taylor. He was convinced Noelle had killed Eamon—even though Octavia’s cousin Icarus had discovered that the burner used to send the lewd emails to Eamon had been purchased on the island of St. Cera on a date and at a time when Noelle had been working at the pharmacy.

  According to Octavia, when presented with the evidence, Janvier wouldn’t accept that it contradicted his theory of Noelle’s motive for the murder. Janvier believed Noelle had arranged for someone to purchase the phone for her.

  Janvier had told Octavia there was no evidence to support a theory of Kevin Cook as the killer. The doubts and suspicions of college students meant nothing to him.

  Noelle had been disappointed, but part of her struggled to believe Kevin had killed Eamon, as well. Initially, when she and Beanie had first begun to suspect Kevin might be guilty, Noelle had wholeheartedly agreed. She’d been desperate to find the better suspect.

  But was Kevin really the better suspect?

  Thinking about it logically and objectively, Noelle didn’t know. She wanted so much to believe in her heart Kevin was the killer, but as Janvier had said, where was the evidence? Kevin’s girlfriend, Sarah, and three of his friends, Matt, Tina, and Jimmy, had each admitted to being suspicious of him. They all believed Kevin could have killed Eamon out of envy. They’d heard Kevin express animosity toward Eamon. Saying he wanted to kill Eamon. Although, as Matt had pointed out, Kevin might not have been serious. Had Kevin been jealous of Eamon? Probably. Envy didn’t always lead to murder, though.

  Noelle turned toward the window and stared at the rose bushes she needed to tend to.

  It was possible that Kevin forced Sarah to create the ‘doctor sexy MILF’ email account so he could send fake emails to Eamon, but there was no proof. How did she know Sarah had been telling the truth about Kevin delivering a book to her? Maybe Kevin hadn’t been in their home that night. Noelle didn’t want to suspect Sarah, but after Tina’s revelation about Sarah’s secret relationship with Eamon, Noelle wasn’t sure she could trust Sarah anymore.

  Tina’s description of Sarah as obsessively possessive toward Eamon made Noelle think of the love letter found in Eamon’s apartment, one of the clues the cops had dismissed. Could Sarah have written the note? The letter had an obsessive tone and had mentioned death. I’ll rip your heart out. Could Sarah have killed Eamon because he’d spurned her? Was a woman scorned capable of cold-blooded murder?

  Noelle exhaled. The lack of physical evidence tying Kevin to the murder bothered her. The murder weapon—the shovel with the bent head—had Noelle’s fingerprints on it. The body had been found in the trunk of her car.

  Octavia had told them the police had found almost no trace evidence in Eamon’s apartment. There were no fingerprints. No DNA. Nothing to really point the police away from her and toward someone else.

  Had Kevin killed Eamon? Beanie always told her a suspect needed motive, means, and opportunity. Kevin’s motive could have been envy. Kevin was certainly capable of beating Eamon to death with a shovel. But had Kevin had the opportunity to kill Eamon?

  Kevin didn’t have an alibi during the time Eamon had been killed. Sarah had admitted to Beanie and Sophie, and the cops, that Kevin had told her to say they’d been together the day Eamon had been killed but that wasn’t true. So, where had Kevin been when Eamon was viciously murdered?

  The phone rang.

  Noelle started but was grateful for the interruption. She needed a break from the speculation and the dire directions of her thoughts. She didn’t like doubting Sarah.

  Grabbing the cordless receiver from the base on the breakfast peninsula, Noelle answered the landline.

  “Dr. Bean … it’s Kevin Cook.”

  Noelle’s heart sped up.

  Kevin said, “I think we need to talk.”

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Noelle took a deep breath. “What do we need to talk about?”

  “About Eamon Taylor’s murder,” said Kevin. “I know you think I killed him but I didn’t.”

  Noelle went to the table and sat. “Why do you think I think you killed Eamon?”

  “I know that Tina, Matt, and Jimmy talked to you and your husband and that other reporter about me,” said Kevin. “They told you that I was jealous of Eamon and—”

  “How do you know we talked to them?” Noelle asked.

  Silence.

  Waiting for Kevin to respond, Noelle heard horns honking, the roar of engines, and the low hum of background conversation. Where was he?

  “Matt told me,” said Kevin. “He’s the only one who has my back.”

  “Are you sure?” Noelle asked. “Matt said he heard you say you wanted to kill Eamon.”

  “Matt knows I was just mad about the Palmchat Pharmacy job.”

  “And about the fact that Sarah was cheating on you with Eamon,” Noelle said.

  “I didn’t care about Sarah hooking up with Eamon,” Kevin said.

  “But Sarah is your girlfriend,” said Noelle, shocked by Kevin’s dismissive tone.

  “Sarah isn’t anybody’s girlfriend.” Kevin scoffed. “She’s the pharmacy school bike, okay? Everybody’s had a ride.”

  Offended by his sexist insults, Noelle said, “Sarah was at your apartment when my husband and his colleague went to talk to you about an anonymous tip they’d received.”

  “I know all about the anonymous tip,” said Kevin. “It’s not true. And as for Sarah being at my place, she offered to apartment-sit while I went to the seminar. I don’t know what she told your husband about our relationship, but she lied.”

  “And did Sarah lie when she said you told her to lie to the police and tell them the two of you were together the say Eamon was killed?”

  More silence.

  “Kevin?” Noelle prompted.

  “Sarah didn’t lie about that,” said Kevin. “I told her to give me an alibi because I didn’t want the cops on my ass accusing me of something I didn’t do.”

  Noelle didn’t want the cops on her ass, either, but they were.

  “So where were you when Eamon was killed?”

  “At Cactus Beach,” he said. “Smoking weed. And, no, nobody can back up my story. I went out there to relax and clear my mind. I was not bashing Eamon’s head with a shovel and hacking his body into pieces. But, thanks to Tina, Sarah, Matt, and Jimmy, the cops want to talk to me.”

  “Maybe you should go to the police,” Noelle encouraged.

  “And tell them what? That there’s no way I killed Eamon? They might not believe me,” said Kevin, desperation, and fear sneaking into his tone. “They might have some evidence against me. Something somebody planted at my place to make me look guilty.”

  “Who would do something like that to you?” Noelle asked.

  “Probably that bitch Sarah,” said Kevin. “She fucks anything that moves, but she gets obsessive. Clingy. Poss
essive.”

  Possessively obsessive, Noelle thought, remembering Tina’s judgment of Sarah.

  “You ask me, Sarah could have killed Eamon,” said Kevin. “She wrote him some letters. Creepy bullshit. Eamon showed me a few. I stole a couple to show to Matt. We had a good laugh. She was writing stuff like they could be together in death or some shit. Sarah really liked Eamon. He wasn’t interested in anything except banging her.”

  Noelle cleared her throat. “Kevin, is this why you called me? You wanted to talk about—”

  “The cops arrested you for Eamon’s murder, didn’t they?”

  Saying nothing, Noelle tried to think over the roar in her head. How the hell did Kevin know about her arrest? Her name hadn’t been listed in any of Caleb Olivier’s articles.

  “If you’re wondering how I know,” said Kevin, “it’s because I have a friend who works in the HR department at Palmchat Pharmacy. She’s the director’s secretary. The cops think you killed Eamon because he was going to sue you for sexual harassment.”

  Noelle hesitated, not sure what to say.

  “I know you didn’t kill him,” Kevin said. “But I know who did, and I can prove it.”

  “You know who killed Eamon Taylor?”

  Kevin said, “It was the PC-5.”

  Her heart slamming, Noelle said, “How do you know that? What proof do you have?”

  “I have to show you the proof, or you won’t believe me,” said Kevin. “Look, I just got back from St. Croix, and I’m at the airport now but meet me at my apartment in an hour.”

  Suspicion and apprehension flooded Noelle. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Why don’t we meet at—”

  “My ride’s here, so I have to go,” said Kevin. “The proof you need to help your case is in my apartment. You want it? Then come get it …”

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Raindrops sprinkled on the windshield of the SUV as Noelle pulled into a space in the parking lot in front of Kevin Cook’s apartment building.