I shook my head. The pieces were falling into place now. “Well, that’s kind of the thing. I didn’t tell her I detested Pam. I told her we’d always love each other. I didn’t want to sound like a dick, you know?”
I sat back down and Earnestine flew from Francesca’s shoulder to mine, but I hardly even noticed as my brain began to put the pieces of the puzzle together. “I don’t know why we didn’t think about her before, but Mack was the last one to see Al before he disappeared. And we watched all that security footage and we never saw another vehicle leave that we could tell had Al or any of Dexter’s other known goons in it.”
“Right?”
“Well, what if Al was in the car with Mack?”
“We watched the security footage, Danny. There wasn’t anyone else in the car.”
I shrugged. “He could’ve been in the trunk.” I took a deep breath and smiled. “Oh my God, Frankie. What if Mack was Dexter’s informant?”
Francesca swished her lips to the side as she thought about it. “But what about last night? Mack was abducted too. She had that big bump on her face. Remember? That girl was a mess when we found her. You really think they’d knock her around if it was all fake?”
“They would’ve wanted to make it look real. Right? If they returned her to us without a single scratch, that might’ve been suspicious.”
Francesca thought about it for a long moment. “You seriously think she could be the informant?”
I shrugged. “I mean, I don’t know. How wild would that be? Mack’s new to the resort. I don’t know a heck of a lot about her, to be honest. All I know is that her aunt and uncle are wealthy and have a nice place they’re letting her stay until she gets on her feet.”
Francesca nodded like she was getting it now. “You know, if she did nab Al, maybe she’s in this more than just being Dexter’s informant. Maybe she’s a part of this whole thing.”
My eyes widened. I’d been played! I slammed a hand down on my leg. “I can’t believe it. I was sleeping with the fucking enemy! What an idiot I’ve been!”
Francesca held out a hand to steady me. “You just take a deep breath. We don’t know it was Mack. We need to find out more about her before we go making any accusations.”
“Maybe we should pay her a little visit.”
Francesca’s eyes brightened. “You know where she lives?”
“I do. She’s staying at her aunt and uncle’s vacation villa. It’s not far away. I’ll get the exact address from Human Resources.”
“Well, then, what are we waiting for? I think we have a serious lead to investigate!” Francesca opened the front door and lowered the bird to the porch railing. She patted her leg. “Come on, Hugo. It’s time to tell your new friend goodbye. We’re outta here.”
40
After dropping Hugo off at Courtney’s doggie daycare center just down the street from Francesca’s apartment, we stopped by her apartment so she could change her clothes, brush her teeth, and grab the Ruger LC9 she kept in her nightstand, along with some extra ammunition.
“You know, the smart move would’ve been to buy your own weapon with a little of that found money,” she said, sticking her head out of the bathroom while brushing her teeth. “It seems like trouble follows you wherever you go.”
“Weapons are for amateurs.” I smiled at her and lifted both arms to curl my biceps in front of her. “Who needs a 9mm when they’ve got guns like these?”
Francesca couldn’t help herself. Toothpaste sprayed out of her mouth as she laughed. “Oh my gosh, Danny! You’re hilarious.”
When she disappeared back inside the bathroom, I twisted my wrists and looked down at my biceps. While my arms weren’t as big as they’d been when I was working out every day back in the States, they still showed a little definition. Okay, maybe I’d put on a few pounds and lost a little muscle over the last several weeks of resort living. I shook my head and decided then and there that when this was all over, I was going to start visiting the resort’s on-site gym daily.
After we left her apartment, the next stop was Bubba’s Supa Valu Station around the corner from her place for a quick gas up and breakfast. Then we headed towards the Avalonian Peninsula, where one of Paradise Isle’s most exclusive residential communities was located. Mack’s family owned a vacation villa along the southern edge of the peninsula on the idyllic turquoise waters of Herman’s Bay.
As we wound our way down the tree-lined tropical street where mansions and vacation villas dotted the beachfront and lush, intricately manicured lawns were second to none, I peeled back the wrapper of my second Snickers bar and bit off a third of the candy bar in one bite.
“That’s what you eat for breakfast?” asked Francesca, one brow lifted.
With my window open, I leaned back into her seat. The warmth of the island air blew through my hair and made me miss having my own vehicle to drive whenever the urge struck. “Breakfast of champions,” I said through a mouthful of chocolate and caramel-covered nougat.
She took a sip of her iced vanilla latte and shook her head. “That’s not very healthy.”
“Like that crap’s healthy?” I asked, gesturing towards her coffee.
“Hey, I had a yogurt and some granola,” she said, chuckling at me.
I shook my head and took two big swigs from my extra-large fountain Dr. Pepper. “Listen. Life’s too short to eat yogurt and granola. I’d rather die young drinking Dr. Pepper and tequila than to live forever because I choked down yogurt and salad, or whatever else you skinny chicks eat.”
She looked out her window. “The way you’re going, that might just be your undoing.”
“Drinking Dr. Pepper?”
“Drinking tequila!” she said. “Maybe you’re blind to it, but you had seven empty tequila bottles at your place. Seven! And that’s not even including the whiskey bottles! Danny, you’ve been on the island less than two months. I don’t think I’ve downed seven tequila bottles in my life.”
“Seven bottles?” I shrugged. “That’s like a bottle a week. That’s not that much.”
“Whatever. I’m all for living your best life, but all I’m saying is, that can’t be good for your liver.”
“My liver’s impenetrable.” I shot her a cocky grin.
“No one’s liver is impenetrable. Maybe you should take it down a notch.”
“We’ve only been hanging out a few days, and already you’re telling me to quit drinking so much?” I lifted my left hand to stare at it, flicking my wrist back and forth. “Fuck! I don’t even get a ring before the nagging starts.”
She swatted at me playfully. “Shut it. I’m just giving you some friendly advice.”
I reached over and squeezed the hand that had landed on the gear shifter between us. “I know you are. And I appreciate your friendly advice. I appreciate everything you’ve done to help me. You’re a really great person, Francesca Cruz.”
She shot me one of her killer smiles. “Thanks, Danny. I appreciate that.”
The car fell silent for a moment.
Feeling uncomfortable, I had to break the silence. “So, we going in guns blazing or what?”
“You really think that’s wise?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t done many stakeouts in my career. In fact, this might be a first.”
“Yeah, well, unfortunately, I haven’t had a lot of experience with this either. Sergeant Gibson doesn’t have a lot of faith in me. He keeps me on a pretty tight leash.”
“What an asshole.”
She shrugged and turned the vehicle down a long driveway. “I’m used to it. My brothers don’t have a lot of faith in me either.”
“Yeah, I noticed. What’s up with that?”
She let out a heavy sigh. “I’m the baby, obviously.”
“So? What does birth order have to do with it? I’m the oldest. I hear that’s supposed to mean I’m responsible or something. I think it’s pretty obvious that the rules of birth order don’t apply to everyone.”
> “I don’t know about that. You’re also the only. That’s different.”
“Regardless, it shouldn’t matter that you’re the baby. You’re an adult, and you’re a kick-ass chick. I have faith in you. Your brothers should too.”
“Thanks,” she said, staring ahead at the road. “But when it comes to my family, they don’t see me as a kick-ass chick. They just see me as a girl, and I think brothers by nature want to protect their kid sisters.”
“Seems like they just don’t even want you in this line of work.”
“It’s kind of a long story. I’ll tell you about it sometime.” Francesca pulled the car to a stop a few yards in front of a set of black wrought-iron gates.
And I was suddenly curious to learn more about the woman sitting beside me. “Promise you’ll tell me?”
Her head bobbed. “Promise.”
I nodded and turned my attention to the property in front of us. On either side of the gates, a row of neatly trimmed ficuses lined the property. Hot-pink bougainvillea flowed like hot lava over one side. I vaguely wished it grew over the other side too to suit my innate need for symmetry. There was no guard shack, simply a pair of black swinging gates likely activated by a remote control in Mack’s vehicle or inside the house somewhere.
She looked over at me. “Here we are. Got a key?”
I climbed out of the car. “It’s not Fort Knox. I’m sure we’ll find a way in.”
She sucked in her breath. “Danny! I’m a cop. I can’t break into someone’s house.”
“Frankie!” I mocked in a high-pitched voice matching hers. “How did you think we were getting in?”
Wilting slightly, she shrugged. “I thought Mack would be home, and we’d just ask to speak to her.”
I groaned. “Look, Al’s life is in jeopardy. I’m not gonna wait around for the maid to invite us in so we can calmly ask Mack a few questions. We need answers now! We need to find him before these lunatics decide a finger isn’t the only thing he should lose.”
“I get that, but I could lose my job if I’m caught breaking into the place.”
I sighed. “Wait here, then. I’ll be right back.”
41
Several minutes later, the gates swung open and I strolled through them grinning like a Cheshire cat. I gave Francesca a low bow. “Madame. I’d like to formally invite you inside. No breaking in required.”
“Well, that was quick.”
“What did I tell you? I’m fast,” I said, grinning ear to ear.
Sauntering up to me, she slowed beside me and winked. “You do everything that fast?”
My heart stopped for a split second as a coy smile formed across my face. “Ha-ha, no. Definitely not everything. There are certainly a few things I prefer to take my time on.”
Her chin jutted out slightly as she looked up at me. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Laughter trailed behind Francesca as she walked away. Even that tiny bit of flirting had my testosterone pumping wildly through my veins. Wiping tiny dots of perspiration off my brow with the back of my hand, I shoved the feeling down and followed her up the flower-lined driveway. I led her to the mansion’s side garage entrance, which I’d discovered to be unlocked.
“The garage is empty. I’m pretty sure no one is here,” I whispered as we made our way into the house through a long marble-tiled corridor that ended at the kitchen. The kitchen, which was fully equipped with every modern stainless-steel appliance, long granite counters, and antique white cabinets, looked completely spic and span, like no one had cooked anything in it in days. We went from there to the living room. The ocean-facing wall had been fitted with floor-to-ceiling windows and French doors that led out to an oversized deck overlooking the bay. Sleek furnishings made the meager rattan settee in my cottage look like the furnishings of a homeless man.
“Wooow,” said Francesca, her eyes wide.
“Yeah,” I whispered. “So this is what millions buys a person.” I tried not to think about the fact that I could’ve lived like this if it weren’t for the fact that I would soon be giving away my millions to rescue Al and my ex. The fact pained me to no end, but the thought of me and Evelyn having to live life without Al pained me even more.
“Should we split up?” asked Francesca, looking around.
I shook my head. “Oh, hell no. We’re sticking together.” Not only did I not want something happening to her, but I also didn’t want something happening to me, and I figured we were better as a team. “Let’s go this way. We’ll check all the bedrooms.” I pointed towards a long hallway.
It took us a solid fifteen minutes to explore the entire house, bouncing from room to room, each one more impressive than the last. The master suite had been my favorite, as it boasted a full-size hot tub, his-and-hers jetted showers, and walk-in closets the size of my apartment back in Kansas City. When we were done searching the main house, we ended the tour back in the kitchen.
“Now what?” asked Francesca. The disappointment on her face mirrored the disappointment I felt in my heart. I think we’d both been hoping to find Mack, or at least some clue that told us whether or not she’d been Dexter’s informant.
“I don’t know.” Shaking my head, I sighed as I stared out the window at the beautifully serene water in the bay. I pointed at a little cottage-style boathouse just off the pier. “We could check down at the boathouse.”
Francesca looked out the window and followed my finger. She brightened. “Oh, for sure. That’s where I’d hang out if I had a place like this. Let’s go.”
We went outside to the deck and took the stairs down to the backyard. Just off the patio at the bottom of the stairs was a carpet of lush green grass. A pool sat between the patio and a small putting green, and a stone path woven with moss led down to the beach. Partway there, the path forked. The left trail led down to the beach while the right trail led to the pier and the boathouse. We took the right fork and soon found ourselves standing in front of the boathouse.
It was a small cottage, about the size of the one I lived in at the Seacoast Majestic, but this cottage was newer, with crisp grey lap siding and white window trim and shutters. Surrounded by green island vegetation and colorful flora with the dock and the turquoise waters behind it, the cottage looked like it should grace the cover of a vacation magazine.
“It’s crazy. Their boathouse is nicer than my apartment,” said Francesca.
“It’s nicer than my resort cottage,” I agreed in awe. “Hell, it’s nicer than my folks’ place back in the States.”
We found the door locked, but a quick search under the rocks around the stone path revealed the hide-a-key had not been so cleverly hidden. “Amateurs,” I said with a grin, holding up the key.
Inside, the boat house was simply decorated. It was obvious it was used as a beach destination. Sand covered the tile floor, beach blankets were strung out over the furniture, and a big inflatable yellow duck sat staring out the window in the living room. This was the first real sign we’d seen in the entire house that the villa was actually being lived in.
A wall of photographs in the living room caught my eye. “Frankie, check this out.”
Framed photographs of family members enjoying various parts of the villa covered the wall. Pictures of what I had to assume were aunts and uncles, cousins and friends sitting in padded Adirondack chairs down at the beach were numerous.
Francesca tapped me on the shoulder. “Danny, check it out.”
I looked over her shoulder. A man and a woman holding a champagne bottle stood on the deck of a yacht. She pointed at the photo. “It’s a yacht christening.”
My eyes were mesmerized by the picture. The yacht looked very familiar. “Do all yachts look alike?” I asked, having never been around them much in my life.
“Some do,” she said. “Is that the one you were on?”
“I can’t be completely sure, but it really looks like it,” I admitted. I pointed to the name printed along the front hull. “Better Late T
han Never.” My eyes widened as my jaw dropped.
“You recognize that name?”
“Mack mentioned that once. She said it was her aunt’s motto.”
“You’re kidding.”
I shook my head as another picture on the wall caught my eye. I zoomed in on it. “Look at this.”
“You recognize those girls?”
The photo was of two teenage girls wearing swimsuits. Their hair was wet and their arms were slung casually around each other’s shoulders, and they both were cheesing out for the camera. But it wasn’t the girls that caught my eye. It was the thing on the wall between them. Between the two faces, a brass rhinoceros bust hanging on the wall photobombed the picture. “I don’t know the girls, but something about that rhinoceros bust has set a bell off in my head, and I’m trying to understand why.”
And then it hit me.
I sucked in my breath.
“What!”
“When I woke up on the yacht, I was in a stateroom. It was dark, so I had to crawl around to find my way to the door, and at one point, I hit my head on this—this thing. I wasn’t exactly sure what it was. It had this horn and ears and I…” I wagged my finger at the picture. “It was a rhinoceros.”
“This rhinoceros?”
“Wow. Yeah, I think it was that rhinoceros. I think that picture was taken on the yacht that I was on, and I think this is a picture of that yacht!”
Francesca beamed. “Oh my gosh, Danny. We’ve got ’em!”
I threw my arms around her excitedly. “We’ve got ’em!”
When we parted, Francesca took a step back and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket.
“Who are you calling?”
“I’m calling my brothers. They have to have seen this yacht. Now that we have a name and a picture? There’s no way they can hide from us. If they’re in the waters around the area, someone’s bound to have seen them. We’re going to find them, Danny! And we’re going to bring them home!”
Drunk on a Boat Page 22