by Kathi Daley
“I’d love to check it out sometime. Maybe when Lambert returns from his trip.”
“I got a copy if you want to check it out,” Dilly offered. “I live just down the street.”
“I’d like that.” Kyle smiled.
Dilly had obviously been drinking and I wasn’t thrilled about going to his house, but I wasn’t alone and I guess it wouldn’t hurt to take a look around and see if anything stood out as suspicious.
“We can just walk if you want,” Dilly suggested. “It’s really close.”
“Sounds good to me,” I answered.
Dilly chugged his beer before he got up from the table, waved to the bartender, and led us out of the building.
“So how long has Lambert been out of the country?” I asked as we made our way down the street.
“Long time. He left on May 15th, right after our trip to Gull Island. He should be back in a couple weeks.”
If that were true then Lambert at least couldn’t be the killer since, based on the timeline I’d put together, Buck had only been missing since May 30th.
“I know you said that Lambert does computer stuff. What do you do for a living?” I asked.
“Little of this, little of that. Right now I’m between jobs, but I just got back from visiting my cousin in Kansas. He gave me five grand to help him build a room onto his house. Not bad for a month’s work. Here we are.” Dilly stopped in front of a dilapidated old house. “It’s not much, but it’s home.”
Dilly’s house was old and rundown. The moment he opened the door I was hit with the stench of alcohol and rotting food. I really did want to solve Buck’s murder, but it sounded as if Dilly and Lambert were both out of town when Buck was killed, so if their alibis checked out, they couldn’t be the killer we were looking for anyway.
“You know,” I said as the overwhelming urge to gag overtook me, “I think I’ll just wait out here in the fresh air. I’m afraid I might be allergic to something in your house.”
Dilly shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He turned to look at Kyle. “You coming?”
Kyle glanced at me with a look of resignation on his face. “I’d love to take a quick look at what you have, although we can’t stay long.”
“Just a few minutes,” I warned, “or we’ll be late for that appointment we really shouldn’t be late for.”
By the time Kyle and I returned from Charleston, Doc had picked up the girls from camp. I prepared a light dinner for the others, after which Kyle and I tried to decide on our next move in what I was beginning to refer to as our murder case. I had to admit I was beginning to feel torn. Part of me felt I should be putting all my energy into trying to stop Greg Norton and Destination Properties’ plans, while another wanted to put all my efforts into figuring out what had happened to Buck. I supposed that until the renovation of the resort got underway I could try to do both.
In terms of the murder investigation I had two pressing questions: who had killed Buck and why the deputy was lying to cover up the fact that Buck’s death really had been a murder. Grandpa had been at the museum with Meg that day and he’d broached the subject of Deputy Savage’s reputation in the community. Meg had assured him the man was not only well liked but was a respected law enforcement officer who spent a good deal of his spare time volunteering for various organizations on the island.
After dinner was over and the dishes had been washed and put away, I settled the girls in front of the television so Kyle, Doc, Grandpa, and I could discuss the first matter at hand, which, as it turned out, revolved around the deputy.
“If we’re going to operate on the assumption that Deputy Savage knows who murdered Buck and is indeed covering up the murder, maybe the key to this whole thing is in figuring out who it is the deputy cares enough about to lie for,” Kyle suggested. “Is Savage married?”
“Meg said he’s single and childless, although he does have siblings: two brothers and a sister. One of the brothers and the sister live on the island and the other brother lives in Charleston,” Grandpa reported.
“Do you think Meg found it odd that you were asking all these personal questions about Deputy Savage?”
“No, because I didn’t just ask about him. It was slow at the museum today, so I took advantage of the downtime to ask about pretty much everyone I’ve met since I’ve been here.” My grandfather looked at Kyle. “Did you know Willow has a daughter?”
“Yeah, she introduced us. Cute little thing. Her dad is out of the picture, so Willow is raising her alone, although I have a feeling she might have her eye on someone to take on the dad role.”
“Do you know who that is?” I had to ask.
“She didn’t say and I don’t know her well enough to ask. You know, there’s a boy at the kids’ camp named Rory Savage. I wonder if he’s any relation to the good deputy.”
“Rory is his nephew,” Grandpa confirmed. “Deputy Savage’s brother has three children. The deputy coaches Rory’s baseball team.”
I wondered where Savage found the time to do so much volunteer work and said as much to the others.
“Meg commented that most of the time there isn’t a lot of crime to deal with on the island. I guess the low crime rate allows him to multitask. She made a joke about the fact that he’s been known to show up at a crime scene wearing his softball uniform.”
“You really did manage to dig up quite a bit of information in just a couple of hours,” I said.
“Meg likes to talk, and I was motivated to listen. The thing is, the more she talked about Savage, the more certain I became that if he’s covering up a murder he must have a really good reason to do it. He seems like an all-around good guy.”
“Yeah, something isn’t jiving.” I looked at Doc. “Are you sure the damage to the skull couldn’t have occurred as the result of a fall?”
“I’m sure.”
“Okay.” I looked around the table. “Now that we have all this new information, where do we start?”
“I talked to Meg some more about this Norton fellow,” my grandfather said. “She suggested that you might want to have a discussion with the mayor prior to Thursday’s meeting.”
“Okay. Who is the mayor?”
“A woman named Betty Sue Bell. Meg said she owns Betty Boop’s, a hair salon on Cove Street.”
“The contractor is coming by in the morning, but I’ll go by after that to see what she has to say about this whole thing.”
“Contractor?” Ben asked.
“A man by the name of Jack Long. When I spoke to Garrett just before we left to head east he mentioned that Jack would be stopping by on the morning of the twenty-first to discuss what needs to be done. It seems the two of them have already had a preliminary conversation, but Garrett indicated that Jack wanted to do a complete inventory of the existing infrastructure before they settled on a plan.”
“Makes sense. I took a walk around today and couldn’t help but notice that a few of the cabins are in really bad shape.”
We ironed out the details for the following day and then both Grandpa Ben and Doc headed into the house, while Kyle and I retired to the deck with glasses of wine. It really was a beautiful evening. The moon was shining on the water, creating a serene environment.
“Don’t let me forget to tuck Blackbeard in before we head in for the night,” Kyle said.
“Blackbeard asked about you this morning. I think he might have a little birdie crush,” I teased.
“He asked about me?”
“When I went in to feed him, he repeatedly asked for Captain Kyle.”
“I know parrots are supposed to simply mimic what they hear, but I swear, that bird has a mind of its own, although the Captain Kyle thing came from Gracie.”
I laughed. “Were you playing pirate again?”
Kyle blushed. “When we got home from camp yesterday I decided to take the dogs for
a walk. Gracie wanted to go and she asked if we could bring Blackbeard. I found a tether that goes around his leg so you can take him outdoors and not worry about him flying away, so I agreed to take him. When I opened the door to the cage he said, ‘Play with pretty boy,’ and Gracie told him my name was Captain Kyle. He called me Captain Kyle for the entire walk. I’m not sure he has a crush on me though. He told me to walk the plank several times during the twenty minutes we were on the beach.”
“That’s funny. Garrett must watch pirate movies. Either that or he plays pirate with Blackbeard as well. It’s really amazing the way he seems to really be talking to us and not just repeating random words.”
“He actually has a pretty large vocabulary.”
“When I was a kid I had a friend with a parrot. The bird’s name was Rodney. Rodney could talk, but it never felt like he was communicating. To be honest I remember thinking the bird was a pest. He was loud and messy and I really couldn’t understand why anyone would want to own such a creature. But Blackbeard is different. If you told me that Blackbeard was really a handsome prince who had a spell cast on him turning him into a bird, I’d totally buy it.”
“Why is it that all the stories about people being turned into animals involved handsome princes?” Kyle wondered.
“I guess so the beautiful princess will have a strong enough motive to want to kiss a hundred frogs trying to find the right one. Personally, the prince would have to have a lot more going on for him than just being handsome for me to kiss a pond full of frogs.”
Kyle laughed. “Oh, and what qualities would this fairytale prince need to possess to get your attention?”
I took a sip of my wine and leaned back in my chair. “If I was going to kiss a frog to free a prince, I’d want the prince to be someone who was capable of being a partner in life and not just arm candy. He’d need to care about me and my sisters and he’d need to be interested in becoming part of a readymade family and not just riding off into the sunset with the beautiful princess. He’d have to love animals, have a good sense of humor, and embrace everyday moments like the first snow or a perfect sunset. He’d need to be open to possibilities and he’d need to find magic in the little things like stolen kisses and fuzzy mittens. And most of all, he’d need to have a kind heart and gentle spirit.”
“Anything else?”
“He’d need to be loyal and trustworthy like a dog, but a better kisser.”
“Sounds like you’ve thought about this.”
I frowned. “Yeah. I guess I have.” I turned my head to the side so I was looking directly at Kyle. “The thing is, that even if you find Prince Charming and he’s everything that you ever thought you’d want, sometimes that isn’t enough. My grandmother used to say that love isn’t logical, that sometimes you just have to trust your heart to find the other half of itself.”
Kyle leaned in until his lips were only inches from mine. “How will you know?”
“You’ll know.”
Chapter 10
Wednesday, June 21
When Jack Long arrived the next morning in his faded blue jeans, tight blue t-shirt, smoky gray eyes, and dark blond hair, I knew for certain that Kyle’s almost kiss had affected me more than I wanted to admit. Not only had I dreamed about that moment for most of the night, but Jack was exactly my type, yet I found I felt nothing when he smiled at me with his sexy grin or winked at me. Maybe Jenna was right. Maybe Kyle was the one I’d been waiting for. If Gracie hadn’t interrupted us at the exact moment of our almost kiss, maybe I’d know for sure whether or not it would be Kyle’s kiss that would break the curse and wake the dormant half of my heart.
“Ms. Jensen?”
“You can call me Tj.” I forced my attention back to the matter at hand. “I know you’ve spoken to Garrett and have a general idea as to what needs to be done.”
“We had a dialogue about the project, but I wanted to get a look at the place before I made my recommendations. Do you happen to know if the cabins are locked?”
“They are. Just let me get the keys and I’ll show you around.”
“Thanks. I’d appreciate it. Are you enjoying island life so far?”
All three dogs wandered over to check out the visitor. Echo stayed by my side, but Trooper and Pumpkin went in for the scratch behind the ears, which Jack seemed happy to provide.
“It’s a beautiful place, and in spite of the body we discovered in the attic on the day we arrived, I’ve enjoyed my time here very much so far.”
“I heard you stumbled on old Buck. It’s a shame what happened to him. He was an odd sort, but a nicer guy you wouldn’t find.”
“Odd?” I asked as I opened the side door and let myself into the kitchen, where the keys were located in a cabinet.
“Maybe odd isn’t the right word. The guy was friendlier than most, but at times he appeared to be a bit too friendly, if you know what I mean.”
“Too friendly?” I found the keys we would need and we headed back out into the warm sunshine. I was beginning to see a pattern. Almost every person I’d spoken to had described Buck as too friendly.
“For example, we had a big scare last summer when Buck struck up a conversation with a four-year-old he came across while he was walking down the street. The carnival was in town and the child was crying because his mom said she was too busy to take him. Buck felt bad for the kid, so he offered to accompany him and even pay for the rides. The problem was that he didn’t think to inform the child’s mother of his intention. When she went outside to look for her son and couldn’t find him, she thought he’d been kidnapped. Luckily, he was found safe and sound at the carnival with Buck, but only after half the island had dropped everything to look for him.”
“Yikes.”
“Yikes is right. The woman was a visitor and wanted to charge Buck with kidnapping, but Deputy Savage managed to talk her out of it. He also had a long talk with Buck, who seemed to understand what he’d done wrong. At least, he hadn’t taken off with any more kids that I know of.”
I would die if Ashley or Gracie disappeared, but I could see where a simple man would think he was doing a nice thing by taking the child to the carnival when his mother couldn’t.
“It seems the locals all pitched in to take care of Buck.”
“That’s mostly true, although there were a few who didn’t see eye to eye with him. Generally speaking, we like to take care of our own around here, and Buck was one of us, no matter his limitations. Garrett too. That’s why I want to be sure we come up with a plan that will help ensure that Garrett’s desires concerning the resort are met to the best of our abilities.”
I was liking this guy more and more. It turned out that not only was Jack Long very good-looking, he was also knowledgeable about the renovation processes, and funny and friendly to boot.
“The main problem I see is we need to make the necessary repairs that will attract a buyer who’ll be interested in maintaining the integrity of the resort without spending so much on the project that any interested party would never be able to afford the price Garrett would need to charge to recover his investment.”
“Do you have any idea why Garrett let the property slide into such a state of disrepair?” I asked.
“I think the decay occurred over time. When you’re around something every day you tend not to notice that the floors need refinishing and the exterior of the cabins have begun to deteriorate. Garrett had medical issues even before his stroke and the maintenance must have gotten to be too much for him. He should have hired someone to keep the place up years ago, but he’d always been a hands-on guy who probably convinced himself that just because he wasn’t up to a big project one year he might be the next, so he put it on the back burner.”
I looked around at everything I could see. The property itself was spectacular, but Jack was correct that the structures were going to need a lot of work, maybe more than Ga
rrett could afford.
“I guess you’ve heard that Destination Properties has launched a campaign to try to pressure Garrett into selling so they can build a megaresort on the property.”
“I’ve heard. To be honest I’d hate to see him sell to Destination Properties, but from a financial standpoint it makes a lot of sense.”
“Have you discussed this with Garrett?”
“Actually, I have. He’s adamant that he isn’t going to sell to the company, so I agreed to help him with this project, although I do think it’s important to do the renovations as inexpensively as possible just in case.”
“Just in case of what?”
“Just in case Greg Norton gets his way. He doesn’t strike me as the type to take no for an answer.”
“What are you going to suggest to Garrett?”
“I’m not sure. It almost makes the most sense to tear down the cabins in the worst condition and focus on the ones that require less work. Fewer cabins in good repair could actually prove to be more marketable than more cabins in a state of disrepair. The thing I’m uncertain about is how many cabins are necessary to make the cash flow work from a rental standpoint. Garrett might be better off subdividing the land and selling the cabins off individually rather than trying to sell the property as a resort. If he wants to protect the integrity of the land, he’s going to have a hard time finding a buyer who’s willing to maintain the rustic feel of the place and yet can afford to purchase the whole enchilada. I’d like to take a few days to draw up a plan for Garrett to consider before we begin work.”
I shrugged. “It’s okay with me if it’s okay with Garrett. I have another project I’m working on anyway.”
“Great. I’m going to take some measurements and make some notes, then I’ll call Garrett this afternoon. I should be able to have something to him by next week.”
“Sounds good.” I decided to walk Jack back to his truck, which was filled with baseball equipment. “You coach baseball?”
“I play softball.”