Dead and Breakfast

by Kimberly G. Giarratano

  He hadn’t spoken to Autumn since she broke up with him several days ago. He really hadn’t spoken to anyone, choosing to mope around Pops’s house like he was in mourning. Then his phone rang, and he agreed to an invitation by the one person he should’ve been avoiding.

  “There you are. Have you been hiding?” Victoria knelt down next to him. “We’re going to dock soon. You okay?”

  “I shouldn’t be here.” He brought the bottle to his lips.

  Victoria put her hand on his hand and lowered the bottle. “Don’t be so melodramatic. Enjoy yourself. You’re with good company.” She smiled.

  Liam really did love Autumn, although she was willing to just up and leave, and she had made it perfectly clear she didn’t love him. Those words stung.

  Liam reached out for the Jack Daniels bottle and took a sip. “You know what? I think I am enjoying myself.”

  Victoria leaned in for a kiss. Liam turned away. The boat lurched and Liam slammed his head on the hard deck and then everything went black..

  When his vision cleared, Mick Canton stood over Liam and held out a bag of frozen peas for the back of his skull. Liam groaned, but waved Mick off.

  “Come on son, we’ll chat in the saloon.” Mick helped Liam to his feet and led him inside to a spacious room with shiny wood floors and built in cabinets. There were cream draperies on the windows and recessed lighting that made everything sparkle like diamonds in a jewelry store. Mick pointed to an oversized leather chair and held out the frozen peas.

  Liam dropped into to the club chair, feeling more embarrassed than in pain. He waved him off. “I’m okay.”

  “Take the peas, boy,” he said, gruffly. “I don’t want you suing me for getting a concussion on my boat.”

  Liam accepted the frozen bag. “I’m not the litigious type.”

  Mick scoffed. “Everyone’s the litigious type.” He sat down in the opposite chair and lit a cigar. Mick offered one to Liam, but he said no. Smoking had never been one of Liam’s vices.

  “Did you hear I’m buying the Cayo Hueso?” Mick asked point blank.

  Liam pressed the frozen peas to the back of his head and winced.

  “The property is becoming too much for the ladies to handle. I always tried to get Duncan to sell, but his batty wife loved the house too much.”

  Liam wanted to say that, in Duncan’s defense, it had been his childhood home, but he decided against it. He just nodded along, like a puppet, to whatever Mick said.

  Mick leaned in close. Liam smelled tobacco and alcohol on the man’s breath. “To be honest, I got the place for a song.” He reclined. “I mean, it’s run-down. It’ll need a million dollar in renovations just to be presentable.”

  Liam thought about the worn parlor chairs. The mahogany bar top in reception. The teal shutters that framed the ornate windows. It certainly had charm. “I don’t know about a million dollars.”

  Mick grinned. “It was a steal.”

  Liam shifted uneasily. First, it seemed to him pretty ridiculous, not to mention underhanded, for a nearly billionaire to be bragging about getting a property for a lot less than it was worth. Second, it sounded like Mick took advantage of Aunt Glenda’s financial situation. Liam couldn’t share in Mick’s celebration, so he just sat there like a dope.

  “Heard my Victoria is going to bankroll your endeavor.” Mick examined his cigar.

  Liam choked on the smoke. “I didn’t take her money. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

  Mick flicked the ashes into a crystal dish and shrugged. “You could always come work for me. I value loyalty, and I need someone to supervise my current scooter rental space off Petronia.” He put his cigar down and turned to Liam. “What do you say?”

  “Um, can I think about it?”

  “What’s there to think about? You’re a Breyer, Liam. Besides, a deal’s a deal.”

  Liam didn’t know what Mick was hinting at. He sank into his chair and tried to make himself look smaller. He sure felt small.

  “And you better warn your buddy, Randall. What he did amounts to grand larceny.”

  “You have to know I had no idea where he got those bikes,” said Liam.

  “I’ll keep that in mind. Provided you’re a good Canton soldier now.”

  Liam set the bag of peas on the small side table. He wasn’t sure if it was the booze talking or his possible concussion, but his curiosity would not subside. Liam looked Mick Canton straight in the eye. “Where were you the night Inez disappeared?”

  Mick blanched, but then steeled his eyes. “I was at the school dance at St. Veronica’s. Everyone was there.”

  “Did you and Inez fight?”

  “Detective Breyer,” Mick joked. “Should I get my lawyer?”

  “Only if you have something to hide. Did you fight about the pregnancy? Leo? What?”

  Mick raised his brow. “You presume to know an awful lot.” He poured himself a drink from a crystal decanter. He swirled the butterscotch-colored liquid before throwing it down his throat. “We did fight about the baby.”

  “What about the baby?” Liam had always suspected that Mick killed Inez because she was pregnant, and he didn’t want to be tied down to her, but Autumn claimed that Mick really loved Inez.

  Mick took another swig and set down the glass. “There was no baby. Inez had miscarried and then lied about it.”

  Mick tapped the ashes from his cigar, but missed his crystal ashtray. Instead, the ash fell to the man’s pressed gray pants and burned a small hole. Mick Canton didn’t even flinch.

  #

  Inez stumbled into the gymnasium, but held her head up. They were all standing on the other side, Mariana whispering into Glenda’s ear as if they were confidants.

  Inez ignored the stares of the nuns, who were too cowardly to confront her directly.

  Inez smiled and wiggled her fingers at them. She bumped into the refreshment table. The punch sloshed over the bowl and stained the white tablecloth pink. Ralph’s sister sopped up the mess with cocktail napkins.

  Mick charged toward Inez and snatched her hand, leading her out of the gym and into an empty chemistry classroom. His eyes flashed. “What’s this I hear about you kissing Leo?”

  Inez pressed her hands against his broad chest, trying to both cajole him and shove him away. “I was just playing a joke.”

  “Are you drunk?”

  Inez slipped her hand in her pocket and withdrew the flask. “It’s gin. You want some?” She giggled.

  Mick pushed the flask away. “Mariana told me something else.”

  Gin sloshed in her belly, seeking payment.

  He lowered his voice to a whisper. “She said you miscarried weeks ago.”

  “She could never keep her mouth shut!” Inez tried to brush past Mick in an attempt to leave the classroom. She wanted to strangle her sister.

  Mick grabbed Inez’s wrists. “How could you lie to me like that? I gave you my grandmother’s ring.” He ran his thumb over Inez’s finger. “Which you’re not even wearing. Do you even love me?”

  Inez stepped back, but she didn’t dare look up at him.

  Mick’s eyes appeared moist and an odd satisfaction coursed through her.

  “I want my ring back,” Mick said.

  Sobriety crept back in. “I don’t have it.”

  Mick’s eyes widened. “Where is it?”

  “I sold it.” Well, she was going to sell it. Along with some treasures she planned to steal from Duncan’s house. Inez had hoped the money would be for her and Leo to run off together, but now, it seemed, Inez would need the money to leave Key West alone. There would be no going back to the gang after this.

  Mick balled his fists at his side. “This is unforgivable. You’ve made a chump out of me for the last time.” He loomed over Inez and then stepped around her, heading back toward to his group of friends.

  #

  Liam awoke groggy and filled with guilt. After his fight with Pops, and slinking off the Canton boat, Liam had been avoidi
ng the old man. It wasn’t Pops’s fault he made a mess of things with Autumn. Autumn only did what she was likely to do later—dump his sorry ass for better things. Liam sighed. He had hoped things would’ve worked out.

  Liam yawned and stretched as he made his way into the living room. “Pops,” he called out. Liam tripped over a beer can. “Pops.” Liam was met with silence. His heart raced. Pops slumped in his battered armchair, his head dipped to the side. Liam noticed a line of drool slinking down his grandfather’s stubbled chin.

  Liam crouched and gently slapped the old man’s face. “Wake up, Pops.” His grandfather groaned. Liam relaxed only slightly until he saw an empty handle of Jack Daniels on the side table. There wasn’t even a glass. “Jeez, Pops. What did you do?”

  Pops’s eyes rolled around in his head before fluttering open. His voice came out raspy and barely audible. “I’m sorry, kiddo. I had to do it. She’d never leave us in peace.” Pops closed his eyes.

  Liam frantically tapped his grandfather’s face. “Pops. Wake up.” He noticed the cordless phone. “Who did you call?”

  Pops began to weep. “You’ll thank me, one day. You will.”

  “Pops, who did you call?”

  Liam heard the sound of sirens.

  #

  Inez watched Mick go, her heart thumping wildly in her chest. For a moment, she was grateful there was no one to see her humiliation. Mama always said she shined like a jewel. Jewels didn’t lose their luster no matter how often they were mishandled. She would overcome this. A few classmates glanced her way, but none were so stupid as to dare approach her to fuel their gossip mill.

  No one except Ralph’s sister, who watched Mick Canton with wide, appreciative eyes.

  Inez flicked her dark hair off her shoulder. “You like Mick, don’t you?”

  The girl raised her brows in surprise at being caught. “I-I don’t—”

  “Oh, you think I don’t see how you look at him with those big eyes, following him around like a puppy dog. It’s pathetic.” Inez wasn’t sure why she was teasing the poor girl. But she was hurt, and she wanted to hurt someone else. Inez tilted her chin toward the girl’s body. “But you do know why Mick could never find someone like you attractive?”

  “I’m not as pathetic as you,” the girl dared to answer.

  “As long as there are beauties like me, the Mick Cantons of the world won’t have time for the likes of you.” Inez grabbed the punch bowl ladle, but the girl snatched it away first. Inez dug her red nails into the girl’s flesh, drawing pops of blood, and then let go.

  The girl winced and cried out. “You’re a monster.” She pressed a linen handkerchief to the wound.

  Inez ladled punch into a cup, drank it all down, and crumbled the cup in her hands. The volcano inside her rumbled. She needed a release.

  The dance would not be over for a couple more hours. It was time to go to Duncan’s house and say her goodbyes.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Liam squirmed in a hard plastic chair while he waited for an officer to escort him to the interview room to see his grandfather.

  “It might be a while,” the officer said not unkindly. He was an older man with salt and pepper hair and a Santa Claus body shape. His nametag read Sgt. Flips. “Is there someone you can call?”

  Liam swallowed down his tears. He wanted to call Autumn, but he doubted she’d want to hear from him, especially now that Pops had been arrested for killing a woman. Liam slid his cell phone out of his back pocket and waved it at the officer. “I’ll call my dad.”

  “That’s a good idea. This is a lot for a teenager to handle.”

  No shit. Liam dialed the phone number to the rehab center in North Dakota. After being patched to the operator and then to his father’s floor, he finally got a nurse on the phone. “I’m calling for Raymond Breyer. This is his son, Liam. Tell my father it’s an emergency.”

  The nurse sputtered a bit before saying, “Are you okay?”

  Liam stood up and paced the floor. “Yes, I’m fine. It’s his dad. My grandpa. Just tell him Pops is in trouble.”

  He could hear the nurse sigh on the other end of the line. “Oh, honey,” she said softly. “I wish I could, but your dad checked out of here days ago.”

  Liam closed his eyes and let out a big breath. Of course, his father couldn’t hack a few weeks in rehab. “Did he say where he was going?”

  The nurse hesitated. Liam wondered if she was planning to lie to him on the phone. “He said he was going to find a woman.”

  Liam fell back against the wall. The tile felt cool against his skin but did little to alleviate the rage inside. His father ditched his rehab stint to go on some wild goose chase to find his mother. Liam’s mother. She was the only woman he’d ever loved. It was probably the reason he became a truck driver so he could search the country for her. Well, screw them both.

  Liam mumbled a quick thanks before hanging up on the nurse. Sgt. Flips returned with a cup of coffee and handed it to Liam. “Did you get a hold of your dad?”

  “Yup,” Liam lied.

  Sgt. Flips smiled. “Good. Because your grandpa is going to need a lawyer.” Then he whispered, “And the new public defender they hired is a putz. You don’t want him.” Flips gently patted Liam on the shoulder. “You can see your grandpa for a few minutes.”

  Acid churned in Liam’s stomach as Sgt. Flips led him into the interview room. There wasn’t that two-way mirror Liam expected, just a large window with crisscross lines over it.

  Pops hunched in the chair. Liam remembered that the poor man had been interrogated for hours and was still hung over. He dropped into the chair across from his grandpa and slid over his cup of hot coffee. “Here, you need this more than I do.”

  Pops cupped his hands around the Styrofoam. “Thanks, sport.” He took a sip of the dark liquid and stared at the wall, his eyes glazing over. “Your grandma never got over her sister’s death. Inez was like a dark cloud over our entire marriage. It didn’t seem to matter what I did, she was never happy.”

  “Pops.” Liam reached for his grandfather’s hand. If the cops were recording this conversation, he didn’t want his grandfather to say anything incriminating. “Let’s not talk about this now. I need to get you a lawyer. Are any of your shuffleboard cronies lawyers?”

  “Just Leonard, but he only worked with patents or copyright.”

  Liam leaned back in his chair. “I could call Mick Canton.”

  “No!” Pops’s outburst startled him.

  “Come on, Pops. Once upon a time you were friends. He has the money to help you out.”

  Pops vehemently shook his head. “I’d rather go to prison.”

  “You don’t mean that.”

  “I do.”

  Anger bubbled beneath Liam’s skin. He wanted to leap across the table and shake Pops’s pride from him. This wasn’t just about whether Pops went to prison. It was about Liam keeping the only member of his family with him. “Mr. Fletcher,” Liam said.

  “Who?”

  “Mr. Fletcher,” Liam repeated. “He’s a guest at the Cayo. A friend, almost. He used to be a lawyer.”

  “Don’t be bothering strangers. I’ll use the public defender.”

  “He’s a putz. You don’t get a choice. I’m not letting them take you to prison.”

  Pops sighed and wiped at his wet eyes. Liam had never seen his grandpa cry before. Liam choked back his own sob.

  Just then, Sgt. Flips came in. “The detectives would like to resume. Will your lawyer be coming soon?”

  Liam stood and nodded. “Yes, I’m calling him right now.” Liam slipped out of the room and quickly dialed the Cayo. The phone rang and Timothy answered, “Cayo Hueso Bed and Breakfast.”

  “Timothy,” Liam choked out. “I need to get a hold of Mr. Fletcher.”

  “You all right, lover boy?”

  “No.” It took all his resolve not to burst into tears.

  #

  Autumn emerged from Inez’s vision disoriented. It took h
er a few seconds to realize she was in the Cayo’s parlor, her legs brought up tightly to her chest. She rose from the chair to retrieve her cell phone. The screen was cracked, but otherwise appeared all right. Autumn inhaled deeply and went outside to the patio to get fresh air. The vision had exhausted her and scrambled her brain. Autumn felt uncertain as to who killed Inez. As it turned out, Inez had pissed off enough friends that any one of the gang was a likely suspect.

  Autumn laid down in the rusted lawn chair and stared out at the pool. By some miracle, Liam had managed to get the water to a normal pool color, rather than the green haze it had been not that long ago.

  Liam. She wanted so badly for things to have worked out. For her mother to have been wrong. But the minute she saw him with Victoria, she knew. Liam’s life was cemented here in Key West. And her life was, well, she wasn’t sure. She didn’t feel like she belonged in New Jersey anymore. Her own father was counting down the days until she moved into the college dorms. Still, maybe it was all for the best. She’d be back home. She could try for a slot on the school newspaper and get some real journalism experience. Then she’d be eligible for the scholarship the following year.

  Mr. Fletcher crossed her path, carrying his brown leather briefcase. He loosened his tie. He must’ve been roasting in that charcoal suit.

  Were you interviewing someone?” asked Autumn.

  The man raised his brows in surprise, and then scanned his clothing. A look of understand dawned on his face. “Ah, no. I was coming back from the jail. I put on my lawyer suit today.”

  Now it was Autumn’s turn to be surprised. “The jail?”

  Mr. Fletcher plunked down at the end of the lawn chair, his weight pushing the weathered plastic strips to their breaking point. “Liam’s grandfather has been arrested.”

  Autumn swallowed a big lump in her throat. “For Inez’s murder? ”

  Mr. Fletcher sighed. “Are you still going back to New Jersey?”

  “I leave the eleventh.”

  “I haven’t known you long, Autumn, but you seem like a real good kid. The type of person who cares about people.” He studied her. “I know Liam could use your support.”