Mangroves and Murder: An Enchanted Coast Magical Mystery

by Maher Tegan

  Everything clicked into place, and I shook my head. Poor Marty had gone from being a car salesman barely scraping by, to a kept man rolling in the dough and living the good life with the woman he loved, to being killed by a moneygrubber. Though I wasn't sure whether Xavier or Bella had been the one to actually strangle him, I was now sure one of them had done it and they were equal partners in the coverup.

  I was startled from my thoughts when my phone dinged with an incoming text, then another, then another. Marco and the bartender in the lounge hadn't seen Xavier, but my friend Lily in the casino said he'd already slammed his first martini and was halfway through his second.

  It looked like I had solid place to start, and if he was drinking like that, he was a man with a story to tell.

  I made a beeline toward the elevator and ran all out toward the casino. Okay, maybe running all out is an exaggeration, but I did pick my pace up to a steady trot. When I made it to the casino, Lily was polishing wineglasses. There were several people at the long wood-and-brass bar, but she nodded her head toward an athletic-looking middle-aged blonde guy hunched over a martini glass at the end.

  I'd ditched the blue hair, floppy hat, and sunglasses on my way down because I figured I'd fit in much better without them. This time, I wanted to be seen.

  I tossed my purse up on the bar in front of the stool beside him and took a seat. Lily came over and winked at me. "What can I get for you today, ma'am?"

  I winked back at her and motioned toward Xavier with my thumb. "I'll have what he's having."

  "One dirty vodka martini coming up," she said, then turned to head toward the speed rack where the vodka was.

  I turned to Xavier. "Hey! This place is great, isn't it? I just got here last night, but so far, I've hit it for a cool grand here at the roulette table, and I had a good time last night at their tiki bar. Have you been there yet?"

  He cast me a begrudging glance before turning his gaze back to his glass, and I thought for a second that he was going to flat-out ignore me. He didn't though. "No, I can't say that I have. I'm not much of a beach guy."

  That was funny considering he had to have been on the beach when he saw Jackson get in the boat with Marty. I let it slide for the moment though.

  "I don't mean to be forward, but I don't see a ring. Are you here by yourself?"

  Lily sat my martini down on a cocktail napkin in front of me, and I thanked her.

  He shook his head. "No, I'm here with my family."

  I was hoping he'd be a little more talkative since he was on his second martini, but it looked like I had my work cut out for me. I wasn't even sure where to take the conversation, so I winged it.

  "Yeah, I'm here with my family too. My mom, my dad, and my sister. Your family must be about like mine if you're here at the bar by yourself."

  Finally, I got a small, self-deprecating smile from him. He nodded and took another drink of his martini. "Something like that. I guess the old saying about not being able to pick who you're related to is true."

  I huffed an indelicate breath. "You got that right. Not only is my sister whiny, she's the baby of the family and their favorite. I'm not even sure why they invited me on this vacation because it's not like we spend much time together normally."

  He nodded. "I know exactly what you mean. My sister's the family darling, too, and I spend most of my time playing second fiddle to her."

  "What about your wife?" He hadn't said he was married, so I was giving him a little rope.

  He gave me a humorless grin and tossed back the rest of his drink. "We're not exactly in a great spot. Our marriage has been a dumpster fire for the past year or two. We had some issues with our business, and it seems like she's not quite as interested now that I'm … not the person I was when she married me."

  Funny that he paused before saying he wasn't the same person. I guess it wouldn't have looked too good for a guy to admit he crashed the family business and had possibly driven a gold-digging wife to commit murder and then make him cover it up before she left him.

  I didn't have any proof of the gold-digging part, but I also hadn't seen anything about Bella having her own money in any of the articles I'd read. Everybody just always referred to her as Xavier's wife or Sandra’s sister-in-law, and I had to think that if she had any credentials of her own, they'd have mentioned them.

  I held my martini glass toward him and clinked his glass with mine. "And that's why I'm single. I have yet to find anybody who's interested in me rather than my family money."

  That seemed to warm him up a little bit, and he turned toward me and held out his hand. Maybe Bella wasn’t the only gold-digger. "Xavier Keller. Nice to meet you."

  I accepted his hand and he held mine a few seconds longer than socially necessary. I wondered if it was because he found me attractive, or if he was interested in learning more about the family money. If I had to bet, I’d say a little of both with the latter weighing heavier. "Sarah Gibbons. Nice to meet you. This is my first time here, and I was a little shaken up to hear that somebody been murdered. Have you heard anything about that?"

  He flinched just a little bit. "Yeah, I've heard about it. They have someone in custody though, so you don't have to be worried about walking around the resort by yourself."

  I did my best to school my features. It wouldn't do for me to look surprised. I was though, seeing as how he'd omitted any reference to the fact that he was related to the guy that was killed or that he was the eyewitness. "Oh, I hadn't heard that. I heard they had a suspect in custody but that a group of werewolves were playing volleyball with the guy at the time he was supposed to be killing the dude."

  He whipped his head toward me, and his eyes flashed. "That's just a rumor. They caught the merman who did it, so you don't have to worry about it. If you hear anything else like that, ignore it because there’s no truth there."

  I was bummed. I'd figured for sure I'd be able to get him to crack, but he was holding tight to his story. Since he obviously wasn't head over heels in love with his wife, that made me wonder if he was the one who'd killed Marty. Or maybe he was just in for a penny, in for a pound because he'd have to admit he was lying if he gave her up. Or maybe he didn’t want the stain on the family name, though that didn’t seem to be much of a priority to him.

  Still, I found it strange that he hadn't admitted to the relationship. Maybe I'd give him an hour or so to down a couple more martinis and try again.

  I finished my drink, and when I went to pull my wallet out of my purse, Lily waved me off. "You want me to charge that to your room?"

  I grinned at her because she was telling me she wasn't going to charge me for the drink. It was one of the great things about being a bartender. One hand washed the other, and I'd hooked her up at the tiki a time or two. The resort policy on staff shift drinks was pretty loose since people weren’t prone to taking advantage of it. Blake didn't mind if we threw each other free drink every now and again, and I wasn't about to say no to not shelling out fifteen bucks for a martini I hadn't wanted to begin with.

  "That'll be great. Here's your tip though." I pulled a five out of my wallet and laid it on the bar before I gathered my things and slid off the stool. "Good luck with your family, Xavier, and maybe I'll see you around."

  "Leaving so soon?" he asked, turning toward me with a disappointed expression. "You just got here."

  My stomach turned in disgust. Not only was he a potential murderer, he was also a cheater. It didn't matter to me that he and his wife weren't getting along. He was still married, so it was slimy of him to act like he was still on the market.

  "Thanks, but I'm gonna have to pass. I wanna go down and check out the tiki bar. See what it's like in the daytime."

  I wandered toward the exit, not sure what to do next. That question answered itself when Tempest spoke to me through our link.

  "You might wanna come down to the Tiki. Bobby just showed up here, and he's looking pretty ragged."

  You know what they say. When a doo
r closes, a window opens. "I'll be right there. I just talked to Xavier, but I didn't get anything out of him other than the fact that he's a slimeball."

  "Well, it's not like that's a shocker. Dimitri is stalling Bobby, so put the pedal to the metal and get down here."

  I smiled at her use of language she'd picked up mostly from television. "I'm on my way."

  Hopefully, my conversation with Bobby would go better than the one I’d just had with Xavier. Otherwise, I was going to have to track down a werewolf or three and see if I could find one whose integrity outweighed his greed.

  Chapter 15

  The moment I stepped outside, it felt like I'd opened a furnace door. It was hot as blue blazes, and between the torture I'd put my body through in the sauna and gym and the alcohol I'd tossed on my empty stomach, I was a little queasy.

  Margo was busy talking to one of the cooks from Marco's, so I just waved at her as I passed. I was kinda glad because I was anxious to get to the tiki before Bobby either left or got so smashed he wouldn't be able to tell me anything.

  Thankfully, it only took me about two minutes to get there, but even so, my shirt was already sticking to my back. Since I'd already talked to all the rich folks, I checked to make sure Bobby was still sitting at the bar. Dimitri motioned toward a husky redheaded guy and nodded, so I slipped into the office to change into the spare shorts and tank top I kept there. It wasn't uncommon for somebody, including myself, to spill a drink on me, and wearing a strawberry daiquiri or piña colada for the remainder of a twelve-hour shift was miserable. We had a little bank of lockers where we all kept a change of clothes.

  Once I changed and stuffed the blouse and capris into the locker, I headed out to the bar. I was happy to see that there weren't very many people there despite the fact that the resort was still fairly full. Apparently, the spring break crowd had left, and everybody else was off enjoying some other aspect of the resort. We were often slow through the day except for at lunch, and I was glad to have a quiet space to talk to Bobby.

  I smiled gratefully at Dimitri as he poured me a glass of his special citrus cucumber water and slid it across the bar to the stool beside Bobby.

  "Thanks," I said, climbing up onto the stool. "Would you order me a Philly cheesesteak and fries, too? It's about a million degrees out here, and I just came from the gym. Before that, I was in the sauna, so I feel like every spare drop of liquid in my body evaporated."

  Dimitri raised a brow at me. He was as allergic to exercise as I was, so I was sure he was wondering what I was blathering on about. "Wow, sounds like you've had quite the day. Have you taken up a new fitness routine?"

  I grinned. "No, today was a special occasion. I won't be repeating the entire sauna experience, but at least now I can say I’ve been there, done it, and do not recommend."

  He smoothed his blue hair back and laughed. "Should I get you the T-shirt? Because I feel like if you spent time in the sauna and went to the gym in the same day, you've surpassed your personal record, sugar. I feel like that deserves some recognition."

  Bobby smiled, though I noticed it didn't quite make it all the way to his eyes. There, there was only sorrow.

  "Yeah, I know how you feel." He motioned to his slightly fluffy form, and this time his smile stretched the rest of the the way to his eyes. "Most of my exercise comes from lifting twelve ounces at a time."

  I laughed at his reference to drinking beer. "Yeah, mine too. And let me tell you, it's much more enjoyable than anything I've done so far today."

  With the ice broken, I decided to poke a little bit and see what he'd tell me about the murder.

  "So," I said after I'd downed half of my water. "Isn't it awful about that guy who got killed?"

  He picked at the soggy cardboard coaster in front of him, and his voice was soft when he answered. "Yeah. Awful."

  I was really starting to wonder if I'd lost my knack for conversation. Everybody I'd spoken to other than Sandra had required a whole lot more work for me than usual. That might have had something to do with the fact that two of them were covering up a murder, though. This man just seemed sad.

  "I heard he was here with friends and his family," I said reaching across the bar and plucking out a pineapple wedge from the garnish tray. "It must be terrible for them."

  Bobby had his elbows on the bar and was hunched over his drink like a man who was carrying the weight of the world. "It is, and yeah, he was here with friends and family. Well, his family and friend. Singular. That would be me. We've been tight for almost a decade, and I miss him already. We worked together before he got married and didn’t need a job anymore."

  Dimitri stood in front of us washing glasses. "I’m sorry for your loss. At least they caught the guy who did it, right? That has to be some relief. Security here is top-notch."

  I love that man. Bartenders were expected to know everything, and so far, Bobby didn't have a clue as to who I was. The scuttlebutt sounded much more authentic coming from a bartender than it would've from a random stranger.

  Bobby barked out a humorless laugh. "Yeah, or so they say."

  My ears perked up, and I did my best to keep from showing how interested I was in that statement.

  Dimitri, on the other hand, had no such qualms. "You sound like you're not so sure. Has something changed?"

  Bobby shook his head and hunched back over his drink. "Pay me no mind. I'm just kind of gobsmacked by the whole situation, and I can't wrap my head around the fact that I'm never going to see him again."

  Bobby struck me as a guy who was used to talking to bartenders, so I went out on a limb and introduced myself. “I’m Destiny. I’m one of the bartenders here.” No need to add on the part about being a manager. I didn’t want to come across as an authority figure.

  He nodded his head. "Bobby Mackey. Nice to meet you."

  "Yeah, you too," I replied. "I'm sorry it's under these circumstances, though. This place really is great, and I hate that something so horrible happened to your friend while you were here."

  He pulled his gaze from his drink and glanced over at me again. "Marty would have liked you. He was the sort of guy who'd never met a stranger either, so you two would've had that in common."

  I wasn't sure if he meant that as a compliment, but I decided to take it as one. "Thanks. I'm sure I would've liked him, too. I ran into Sandra this morning, and she told me a little bit about him."

  I figured that was a better way to put it than to confess that I'd track her down and stalked her into the sauna.

  "What did you two like to do together? How did you meet?"

  He slugged back the last quarter of his beer and motioned for Demitri to get him another. "I met him on a fishing charter. We were fishin’ for marlin, and he caught the biggest one. He sold cars and I worked on them, so we got to talkin’."

  He gazed out toward the ocean, but somehow I knew that wasn't what he was seeing. "We exchanged numbers, and everything kind of went from there. We went to the Bahamas together, and while we were there, he found a gold coin. As it turned out, we were far enough out that we were in international waters, so he got to keep it."

  Dimitri took Bobby's empty glass and replaced it with a full one along with a fresh coaster. "Oh, that sounds like a blast. My boyfriend and I like to take his metal detector down to the beach sometimes. We've found a few cool things. Nothin’ big enough that we can quit our day jobs, but it's kinda nice to make up stories about who stuff might have belonged to."

  Bobby grinned. "It's funny you mention that, because that's kinda where the coin led. We started researching where it might've come from, and we decided to start looking for some of the shipwrecks that we learned about."

  For the first time since I'd gotten there, excitement replaced the sadness that had weighed him down. "Do you have any idea how many wrecks there are out there? Ones that nobody's ever discovered? There are people out there who do nothin’ but that for a living. Some of them have been lookin’ for the same wreck for decades."


  Honestly, I saw the appeal and it. "I watched some documentaries on that, and it looks like something that would be really fun to do. It takes a boatload of money, though. Don't you had to have like special radars and all that stuff?"

  He nodded and took a drink of his beer. "Yeah. Marty bought us a boat then equipped it with everything we needed to look for treasures in shallow water. Did you know that Spanish galleons sank in a hurricane off the coast of Florida and dumped the equivalent of millions of dollars in gold coins into the ocean when their ships wrecked?"

  My food came, and Dimitri slid it in front of me along with a stack of napkins. Tempest, who'd been napping in her little bed behind the bar with the fan turned on her, popped her head up then bounced around and hopped up on the stool beside me. I quirked a brow at her. "Didn't you just eat?"

  She didn't bother to tear her gaze away from my food as she answered. "Yeah, but that was a cheeseburger. You ordered a Philly."

  She said that like it made all the difference in the world. "How can you possibly still be hungry? I know you probably had key lime pie, too."

  Dimitri was making a point of nodding his head. "And extra pickles."

  I lowered my brows at her. "Did you have onion rings? Or onions on your burger?"

  Dimitri answered before she could, waving his finger in the air. "Oh, hell no. That's what she ordered, but that's not what she got. I can't have her in here runnin’ off all the guests. The last thing we need is somebody callin’ in a hazmat team."

  Bobby laughed with delight.

  "Oh," Dimitri said, flapping his hand at Bobby, "you think we're kiddin' and that this is all funny. Honey, let me tell you, that tiny little fox sittin' there should have her butt registered as a weapon of mass destruction."

  Tempests snickered, then turned her full attention on me. "You haven’t answer my question. Are you gonna give me some of that sandwich?"