by Jen Talty
Palmetto isn’t convinced. “I’m going to have to ask you not to take any trips out of town until we clear this up.”
“We’re going on our honeymoon next week,” Jessica says with a high-pitched whine.
“Hopefully we’ll have everything worked out by then,” Palmetto says. “By the way, why are you driving a rental?”
“I was in an accident, and my car is in the shop,” Jessica says.
I pause briefly, glancing up.
“When was the accident?” Palmetto doesn’t miss a thing.
“Two weeks ago,” Jessica says.
“I’ll be in touch.” Palmetto takes Annabel by the arm.
I follow along, satisfied that I’ve made sure Palmetto knows that’s not the man I saw, but annoyed we are still no closer to finding out who the wedding caper thief is and who ran Annabel off the road.
“Craig is a member of Palm Gardens Country Club.” Annabel plopped herself down on Ethan’s sofa, staring at the ocean. The sun glistened across the waves as they crashed onto the shore. “Don’t you think it’s weird that it keeps coming back to that?”
"Trouble thinks that is important, so it’s a clue I’m going to take seriously, and I think you should consider staying with me tonight.”
“I think you’re overreacting.” The only reason she agreed to hang out at Ethan’s place while he finished his shift had been because she figured she’d make him a nice home-cooked meal. Rosie said that he often ordered take-out, or occasionally went to one of the local restaurants by himself. “I’m not sleeping here.”
“It’s my job to overreact,” Ethan said, setting a bowl of grilled snapper he’d brought home on the floor for Trouble. “There are too many coincidental things happening. I know they’re connected somehow, and it all comes back to that storage unit and maybe the country club.”
“Which was owned by Dawn, the stuck-up wedding planner who is moving in with my ex-boyfriend.”
Ethan slipped his gun off, setting it on the counter before easing onto the sofa. “I don’t believe Dawn cancelled that unit, and she said she had never been engaged. I need to talk to her family this afternoon right after I scarf down this pizza, and I’d rather have you here when I’m gone.”
“I can hang here this afternoon, but I’m not sleeping here tonight.”
“Fine,” he said a little too curtly. He leaned over the table and snagged a slice of pizza.
“What’s really bothering you?” she asked.
“Too many clues, not enough answers. We’ve got Peter the photographer who has access to a ton of weddings, and he showed up at the storage unit wearing a shirt with the same logo of the man outside your unit.”
“I would have recognized him.”
“I didn’t, and I’m trained to notice everything. He had hidden his face well.” Ethan tossed the crust back in the box. “Then there’s Dawn. She rented the unit. Has access to weddings. Bought a dress and a ring, though she denies it. But I don’t believe for one second that she was the person in the car.”
“Me neither.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “And then there is Craig. A member of the golf course.”
“And he gets invited to a ton of weddings, but I have no idea if he goes.”
“Not to mention he’s got an ex with an ax to grind and commitment issues. Right now, he’s top on my list. But the bigger question there is how did he get that unit and not have his name on it? And does he know Dawn, even a little?” He dropped his head onto the back of the sofa. “I just gave myself a headache.”
She patted his leg. “You better get back to work.”
Annabel sat on the sofa with her computer on her lap. She had three different browser tabs open with three separate searches.
One for her boss, Craig, and his girlfriend.
One for Peter.
And one for Dawn. The woman liked herself a little too much. Selfies were plastered all over social media, including images with Devin.
That had to drive him nuts. He not only hated his picture taken, but he didn’t like social media one bit.
Dawn also had a ton of pictures of her and Peter. That didn’t seem out of the ordinary. Even when it was on her personal page and not her business page, where she posted images of happy couples who had used her services.
Trouble sat next to her, staring at the computer screen as well.
“Do you see anything?”
As she scrolled through the images on Facebook, she kept an eye out for a man wearing a baseball cap. Or anything related to golf.
Trouble pressed his paw on the arrow keys, scrolling upward.
“What are you doing?” She’d seen Trouble do heaps of amazing things, but this took the cake.
He leaned over her lap and placed his nose on an image. She’d seen the YouTube video of the frogs flicking their tongues at earthworms on a cell phone, but surely Trouble wasn’t identifying someone from an image on Facebook…was he?
Gently, she pushed him away and clicked on the image, making it larger. In the picture, Dawn pursed her lips, as if she were blowing a kiss. She had her free hand looped over the shoulder of an unfamiliar woman, doing the same thing. In the background were a couple of other people. Annabel enlarged the image, and her mouth dropped open, and goosebumps ran up and down her arms.
The hat.
That had to be the hat. But she couldn’t make out who wore it, since whoever it was had his chin dropped toward his chest just enough to cast his face in total shadow.
Her phone buzzed, making her jump. “Crap,” she mumbled. She picked up her phone, noting a flashing text from Tara.
Tara: Hey. The strange guy that used to be in your unit has one at the Public Storage facility in Rivera Beach on Route 1.
That wasn’t the nicest section of town to be in at any time of day, but she had seen the notice about the auction this morning.
Annabel: Can you snap his picture?
Tara: I tried, but he kept his head down, and I was too far away to scream, hey, are you the weird dude with all the wedding stuff?
Annabel’s phone vibrated as two images were sent in text. She tapped them open, stretching them as wide as she could. The man wore a baseball cop with the visor curled and pulled deep over his face. What little hair she could see was dark in color.
Only, it had to be the same man on her computer screen.
Annabel: Yeah. Can’t tell much from that. Where is he?
Tara: In his unit with the door closed.
The facility was ten-minute drive, tops. She had to go to the store anyway, so she’d drive instead of walking.
Annabel: I’m on my way. Text or call if he’s leaving before I get there.
Tara: I’ll wait for you!
She grabbed her purse and Ethan’s keys. Trouble raced to the door, obviously not wanting to be left alone. It would be nice to have company. Now she just needed to shoot Ethan a text.
Maybe she should call.
She stepped into the hallway. “Hey, Siri, call Ethan Ferris.”
It went straight to voicemail.
Damn.
She tucked her purse under her arm.
Annabel: Go to the Public Storage facility on Route 1 in Rivera Beach near Blue Harran. Tara is there and she thinks the guy who kept all the wedding stuff has a new unit there.
She’d call him again when she got there.
“Let’s go, Trouble. We’ve got a mystery to solve.”
Ethan was ten minutes from his condo when his phone rang. The number that flashed across the screen wasn’t one he recognized, but he answered it anyway. “Officer Ferris.”
“Hi. This is Dawn Lancaster.”
That wasn’t a call he had expected. “What can I do for you?”
“We need to talk.”
“About?” He’d suspected that Dawn had either been lying or omitting important information. The only question now was why?
“Can you meet me at the Starbucks just over the bridge on Indiantow
n?”
Ethan made a quick U-turn and headed back in the direction of the beach on Indiantown. “I’ll be there in five minutes.” He set his phone to silent before putting it in the holder.
Just his luck, he hit every light, making him three minutes late. By the time he got to the door of the coffee shop, Dawn had situated herself at a table facing the road.
“What’s on your mind?” he asked, taking a seat.
She fiddled with the paper mug, twisting it in her hands while she stared at it. “I didn’t want to say anything in front of Devin.”
“I see.”
Those two deserved each other.
“Those receipts. Those were mine only I haven’t seen them since I bought my dress and ring, which subsequently both disappeared when I called it off with my ex-boyfriend.”
In all the thefts that had been reported, the office hadn’t found one involving Dawn, and since his last visit with her, they’d started digging deeper. “When were you engaged?”
“I wasn’t.”
“Huh? Then why buy a ring and a dress?”
She let out a snicker. “I found the dress when I was shopping with a client. I had a few glasses of champagne and next thing I knew, I had bought a dress. And a ring for myself.”
“Do you want to tell me about the rest of the merchandise in your storage locker?”
“It’s not mine. Not anymore. I stopped paying for it and let my ex-boyfriend, who thought we were engaged when I bought them, use the unit. I just stopped paying for it without telling him.”
Ethan pinched the bridge of his nose. “Wait a minute. You’re saying your boyfriend didn’t know you weren’t engaged to him? How does that happen?”
Dawn had the decency to blush. “He was shooting the shopping excursion for the client. You know, taking photos of the various dresses, of her clowning around, drinking champagne, toasting the absent groom, that kind of thing. It was all for her wedding video.”
“And?”
“Well, it was a wealthy client, okay? And I kind of got into the party mood of things and drank too much. She goaded me into trying on dresses, and I truly did fall in love with one.” She glanced up at him then back down at her coffee cup. “So I bought it.”
Ethan sat back in his chair, arms crossed at his chest, and frowned. “I’m still not getting it.”
She let out a long sigh. “Because up until your sister’s wedding, I had been seeing Peter and—”
“Peter Sulkie? The photographer?”
She nodded. “When I bought the dress…and the ring…he just assumed that it was my answer to the question.”
“The question?”
Dawn lifted her gaze and stared at him.
“Oh. Oh. The question. So he’d asked you to marry him before and…”
“And I kept dodging an answer.”
“You didn’t think it was unkind to lead him on like that?”
A look of genuine regret settled over her features. “It wasn’t intentional. The day had been so much fun, and Peter and I ended up having one of the most romantic nights of our relationship and somehow I just never got the words out so…” She shrugged.
“And you didn’t think to tell me this before now?”
“I had been breaking up with him left and right, but he just never quit. He wouldn’t believe that I didn’t want to get married. That was until he found out about me and Devin that night. Only Devin didn’t know about him, nor the items I bought, and I didn’t think Devin would understand.”
Ethan didn’t give a crap what Devin comprehended. “Do you think Peter could have stolen your ring and dress?”
“I don’t know. He’s been acting weird. I mean, before he was clingy, and jealous, and always calling me in the middle of the night. But since that night, he acts like we never even dated. Which is fine. Only I got a bunch of anonymous emails with pictures of Devin with other women.”
Ethan shouldn’t be shocked for one second, but he couldn’t feel sorry for Dawn. She was a grown-up and knew about Devin’s past. She had made her own bed. “You think they came from him?”
“I do. But only because he saw me one day staring at some of them, and I was really upset. He was right there to console me. He took me out for a drink and next thing I know, I wake up in my bed, alone and naked. I swear to God, he drugged me. But he took pictures and threatened to send them to Devin. Instead of telling Devin what happened, I panicked. I decided to start my life over. I didn’t tell anyone about selling the business or moving until last week, after I got notice they were auctioning the storage unit.”
Ethan let out a long breath. “You can still press charges against Peter, if you want.”
“He called me today.”
“What did he want?” Ethan asked.
“He told me he would forgive me if I just went back to him. If not, Devin would get the images. He gave me until tomorrow.”
“I take it you told Devin?”
“He’s so pissed, he’s got fire coming out of his ears. It was all I could do to keep him from going off half-cocked.”
“How do you know he didn’t?” Ethan stood. He could very well see Devin showing up at Peter’s place of work, pounding the shit out of him.
“Because he’s sitting in there.” She indicated the main door to the coffee shop with a jerk of her head.
Ethan squinted, but sure enough, there sat Devin, not looking very happy. Ethan couldn’t blame the man. “I’m going to send an officer to take your statement. I need all this in writing. And I want you to file charges. The more we have on him, the longer he’ll go away.”
She nodded. “I’m sorry I didn’t come forward sooner.”
“You’re here now. That’s something.”
Chapter Fifteen
Ethan stepped from the photography store and greeted Palmetto with a handshake. His heart raced as if he’d just finished a marathon. With each new twist and turn of this case, the more he worried Annabel would get hurt in the crossfire.
“Where is Peter?” Palmetto asked.
“His employee said he went to pick up his car, but he told me he only drove that one.” Ethan nodded toward the vehicle with the business logo plastered all over it.
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” Palmetto said. “I got a hit on a repair to a blue, four-door Honda Civic, license plate number ABT-982.”
Ethan’s pulsed shot to new heights. “And?”
“It’s registered to Janette Mullen.”
“Who the hell is that?” Ethan’s euphoria deflated as if someone stuck a pin in a balloon.
“Peter Sulkie’s sister.”
“Jesus Christ. Now I know he’s our guy,” Ethan said, clenching his fists.
“I interviewed her, and she’s mad as hell. She lent him the car a week ago and hasn’t seen it since.”
“That’s got to be the car that ran Annabel off the road. And I bet he knows she bought the unit. I saw him lurking around the facility earlier. Even Trouble was suspicious of him.”
“Oh. The cat. One damn smart cat. Both sales receipts the cat found, the one at Annabel’s condo and the one from Public Storage, had the same prints on them. I’ll bet you dollars to donuts that they match Peter Sulkie.”
“We don’t know for sure?”
“There wasn’t a match in the system. My guess is our boy has never been in trouble with the law before.”
“We have enough for a warrant.” Ethan reached in his back pocket. His phone had buzzed twice since he’d been inside the store. “Crap.” He shook his head, swiping at the messaging flashing on his screen.
“What is it?” Palmetto asked.
“Annabel’s friend says she saw Peter at a new storage unit, and Annabel is on her way there.” Ethan glanced at his watch. “She called ten minutes ago and texted shortly after that. She could be pulling into the new storage facility now.”
“Let’s go, sirens on.”
“Just lights and turn them off before we get there.
I don’t want to spook him if he’s there. Annabel wouldn’t engage.”
“I didn’t think she’d go there either,” Palmetto said as he raced to the driver’s side of his patrol car.
Annabel had always been as curious as a cat, Ethan thought. Let’s hope she brought the smart little guy with her.
Annabel broke out in a cold sweat the second she pulled into the lot and her eyes caught the car that had run her off the road in front of one of the buildings, across from Tara’s limo.
Tara stepped from her unit and waved.
Trouble pressed his paws on the dashboard and hissed. He must have recognized the car, too.
Her phone buzzed.
Tara: The code for the gate is 9987623. His unit is right across from mine. He’s still in it.
Annabel pulled up to the keypad at the gate of the storage facility and with a trembling finger, entered the code.
Trouble remained on high alert as he shifted to the window, eyeing the dark car. She pulled in behind the limo, slamming the car in park. Tara scurried over, her hand protectively splayed over her belly.
“It’s good to see you again.” Annabel stepped from the car. Her heart pounded like a jackhammer ripping through the cement.
Trouble leapt from the car and scurried to the side, staring across the lot.
She pulled out her phone, thankful to see a text from Ethan. “My cop friend is on his way.”
“I’m not sure he’s got a temperature controlled unit, so it’s got to be hotter than hell in there,” Tara said.
“Did you happen to see what he brought in?”
“A couple of boxes, that’s it.”
“How long has he been here?” Annabel sat on the chair Tara offered, glancing around at the unit filled with really old, musty furniture. She sneezed.
Twice.
“Only about twenty minutes.”
The limo driver eased from the driver’s side. “Mrs. Rivers. I need to use the bathroom. I’ll be right back. Can I get you something from the vending machines in the office?”