“There is another option.” The older ex-cop detailed an alternate route that sounded like a decent solution.
From there, father and daughter went over a strategy, including how best to approach the four in question. Since she’d decided to leave out Royce, Sinclair, and Dietrich for this first round, that meant Baskin, Dandridge, Frawley, and Oakerson had to be dealt with as a unit.
After hanging up the call, she went to work formulating a exhaustive list of questions using key phrases that would fit all four. Gauging the responses would be critical. She itched to do it herself, but had to admit even Lenore had expressed an interest in taking point. The woman had even called dibs on questioning Dandridge.
Anniston wanted to please her clients. But that was only part of making up her mind. The main reason was simpler. Who had a greater stake in the outcome than the family? All she had to do was work on getting them to contain their emotions.
Not a small task.
So with that in mind, she’d do everything she could to make sure they were successful, even if she had to hold rehearsals to get the participants to follow the same script.
When it came down to the three men she’d shoved to the side, Anniston had already formed an opinion about Sinclair and Royce. Royce was certainly cunning, but she didn’t think he’d have any part in murdering his own son. Sinclair, on the other hand, had a history of violence. Plus, the police chief didn’t much like the Indigos. According to Garret, Sinclair had started out in friendly mode, only to slide into a defensive bear within a matter of days. And to hear the family tell it, Sinclair himself had gone to great lengths to make sure the Indigos knew he’d switched sides.
Which left the wealthy industrialist Werner Dietrich as the major wild card.
After a solid five hours of work on the project, Anniston closed her laptop to get ready for dinner with Garret. She refused to call it a date. But it wasn’t a client meeting, either.
When he texted her with an ETA, she jumped in the shower and afterward slathered on fragrant lotion before spending half an hour fussing with her hair.
All the while she primped, she realized she was a little too excited about going out just to eat dinner. The eagerness she felt tipped more toward a sexual heat bordering on full-blown anticipation. Her stomach fluttered like a teenager’s getting ready for her first car date.
Annoyed with herself, she finished with her makeup and looked at the clock. She grabbed her purse and dashed out the door, unable to fully tamp down her enthusiasm.
Chapter Nine - Heat
It hadn’t been a good day inside the Indigo house. First Royce had showed up. Then Anniston had delivered the devastating news about Livvy and Ally. And now, Tessa had to deal with more pain.
Garret was glad to be out of there, even for thirty minutes.
When he rolled up to the hotel in Mitch’s pickup, there she was waiting for him outside in the courtyard. She’d put on a creamy sleeveless georgette dress with soft turquoise blossoms. Her hair was up. She’d somehow managed to tame all those tresses into a sophisticated twist that reminded him of the one time he’d attended an art gallery opening in Paris.
He’d spent the evening surrounded by celebrities with a few icons thrown into the mix. It was enough glitz and glamour to last a lifetime. Thank God he’d come to his senses enough to never get dragged into that scene again.
Indigo Key was as far from that star-studded gala as he could get. And for the first time in a long time, Garret realized this was exactly where he wanted to be. The City of Love was nice and all, but nothing compared to that laidback world he’d come from.
Honking the horn when he came to a stop, he finished his perusal. Deep in appreciation, he saw Anniston had worn stacked-heel sandals on her feet. Big silver hoop earrings dangled from her ears. The bracelets on her wrists bunched with pops of blue-green. She looked ready for an elegant night out in one of the best restaurants in town.
“Wow, you look really hot,” Garret proclaimed when she joined him in the front seat. She wafted into the car on a burst of Chanel. Knowing he’d have to disappoint her, he breathed in her perfume and added, “You have a great pair of legs there, Anniston.”
“Aren’t you sweet? Thanks.” She made a quick study of his demeanor and decided there was a degree of distress hanging between them. She thought she knew why. “How’s Tessa?”
“Not good. But then, why would she be? She gets yanked back and forth in all this.” He twined his fingers around hers. “You’ve had a busy day. Everyone wants to know, but they’re afraid to ask—will finding Ryan’s…head… shed any light on how he died?”
“Yes.”
“Just that simple, huh? Then I guess there was some type of trauma visible.”
“Gunshot wounds are usually hard to hide.”
“Ah. Really? Raine didn’t mention that to Tessa.”
“Raine didn’t know. Maybe it’s best if no one else does either.”
“She did mention there was a crowd standing around. That nugget’s likely been passed around a dozen times or so since this morning.”
“Nope, no one got close enough to see specifics. Dack and I made sure of that. What about your parents? How are they doing?”
“Ah. Well. About that. You’ll get to ask them yourself. Change of plans. Personally, I’ve never seen them this devastated. Not even last spring when they buried my grandmother. They’re coming to terms with having to plan another funeral. It’s painful to watch. That’s why I’m afraid we’ll have to put our evening out on hold, at least having dinner by ourselves. My mother insists I bring you back to the house. Neighbors have been dropping in all day and leaving enough Jell-O salad and macaroni casseroles to last us through the zombie apocalypse. Mom wouldn’t hear of us going out to a restaurant with so much food on hand. She wants you to help us eat it.”
Anniston stifled a laugh. “It’s okay. I don’t mind your family. Did Royce manage to change your dad’s mind…about anything?”
“That’s another thing. My parents aren’t sure what to believe. Royce came across convincing enough. Does that mean he was telling the truth? Not in my book. You know who’s been MIA from stopping in to pay his condolences, though? Dandridge.”
“What could he say? Livvy and Ally damn sure didn’t take off for Maui all this time. And, your father did insult the pants off Boone, which is not a great visual.” She let out a half laugh. “If we aren’t going out, we should probably circle back to the hotel so I can grab my laptop. It has the questionnaire I came up with, plus all my notes. It’ll be harder to make my case without them.”
He squeezed her fingers as he veered the pickup to the curb. “I have faith in your ability to wing it. Just know that the house may be full of people. You may not even get the chance to bring it up.”
That turned out to be true for the next hour. Anniston noted Lenore and Tanner looked tired but still managed to work up the energy to mingle with longtime friends and keep up a stoic attitude.
Lenore’s best friend, Jule Mae Harriman, took over the chores in the kitchen. With help from Raine and Tessa, all three women dished out food, then worked to wash and dry a stack of plates.
Anniston walked up to Tessa and wrapped her up. “I’m so sorry my discovery dredged all this up for you.”
“It’s okay. Maybe it’ll lead to Ryan’s killer. I just don’t know how the crime scene techs could’ve missed seeing such a thing there.”
“Dack’s trying to figure that out, too.” Anniston pitched in and made a pitcher of fresh lemonade. She made the rounds refilling glasses. She cut pans of brownies into individual pieces and handed them out to young and old alike. It was a reminder that small-town neighbor showed up for neighbor, at least in these parts they did.
Anniston settled back with a glass of iced tea to admire the youngest Indigo son. She could easily admit that Garret was more than a mystery to her. Even as she watched, he was deep in conversation with Cara, a girl he’d dated back in high school. Sh
e knew a little of the history because Cara had mentioned that time of her life with great fondness. Unlike the animosity Raine showed toward Mitch, Cara seemed happy to catch up, reminiscing about teachers and students.
Even Cara’s husband Wayne, got into the discussion, grilling Garret on the best place to look for treasure.
“Whoa, you’re asking the wrong brother. That’s Mitch’s department,” Garret declared. “Now if you want to know the best places to surf, I can hook you up.”
“Hmm, that’s what I thought,” Wayne responded. “Which is the reason I never could figure out why Walker didn’t seek out advice from his own in-laws about something he considered so important.”
That got Garret’s full attention. He put aside the high school reunion banter and focused on Wayne’s comment. “What do you mean?”
Wayne looked puzzled. “You know, last summer when the buzz was all about looking for gold, there were a few days when I considered chucking my bartending job and throwing in with Walker.”
Cara leaned in, patted Wayne’s arm. “But I put a stop to that kind of silly talk. Wayne and I have been thinking about having a baby. I wasn’t going to let him waste our savings on something so stupid, especially after Walker mentioned to Wayne how much it would take to go in as a partner, I put my foot down on that.”
Wayne nodded. “I couldn’t afford twenty grand, let alone fifty.”
Mitch and Jackson overheard the exchange and moved to within Wayne’s circle. “Fifty grand to partner up?” Mitch asked. “That’s a steep entry fee. How long had this talk been going on?”
“Pretty much all summer long. It was the main topic of conversation around here for months. I even know who started it, that old sailor, Hugo Reiner. The last time I saw Walker, he was in the bar buying drinks for the guy. Those two always seemed to have their heads together at the back table talking about latitudes and longitudes. Reiner did quite the sales job.”
Garret traded looks with his brothers. But it was Mitch who seemed to know the most about Hugo. “That guy must be pushing ninety, old as dirt. Speaks with an accent. I don’t remember where he came from exactly, just that he’s been hanging around town since I was a kid.”
“How come I don’t remember him?” Jackson asked.
“I’m surprised at that. I thought everybody along the southern Keys knew Hugo. He’s hard to forget. He has this old ketch, a relic that hauls him up and down the coast and back and forth to the Caribbean. He has this collection of gold stories he sells for drinks, hoping to land someone gullible enough to believe his tall tales and fork over a grubstake. I thought the guy had probably died by now.”
Wayne scowled into his lemonade. “No way. That old sailor’s been coming to Mattito’s ever since I started there, probably five years or more. He comes and goes like clockwork, mostly moors that old bucket he calls a boat during the summer months here, sometimes hangs around until the fall. Last time I saw the old guy was before Walker went missing. That was about three weeks ago.”
Garret looked at Wayne with disgust. “Why didn’t you mention this sooner?”
Wayne’s sheepish look said it all. “Didn’t think it was all that important. Like everyone else, I just thought Walker and Livvy had gone on vacation and they’d be back. Cara and I talked about it. She tried to convince me it was something more serious. It never occurred to me they wouldn’t be coming back. All this time…they were…you know…out in the Gulf.”
Garret broke away to huddle with his brothers in a corner of the dining room. “When do all these people plan to leave? I’d like to tell them to just go far away.”
“That’s the way I feel,” Mitch admitted.
Jackson was the voice of reason. “They’re here because they care about Mom and Dad and don’t know what else to do. Mom and Dad need them during this time. Hell, we all need some reassurance that Livvy and Ally were loved by the people in town.”
“Why do you always have to do that?” Mitch bristled, impatience floating to the surface.
“Do what?”
“Be the good guy,” Mitch began. “I want all these people to go away so we can put our efforts toward finding the truth. For the past twenty-four hours all we’ve done is stand around. I’m tired of it, tired of doing nothing.”
“This isn’t doing nothing,” Jackson insisted. “It’s coming together as a community, showing Mom and Dad, us, how they felt about Livvy and Ally.” He dipped his hands in his pockets and turned to face Mitch. “If Wayne’s right, it sounds like Walker fell for Hugo’s pitch. We need to find this Hugo. What’s the name of his boat?”
Mitch scratched his forehead. “I don’t remember the name. But we need to spend some serious time finding someone who does. And we can’t do that farting around here.”
Garret realized they were all getting antsy. He raked fingers through his hair, caught sight of Anniston watching him from across the room.
As their eyes locked, lust stormed through him. It stirred an appetite he didn’t recognize. Maybe it was the somber mood or something darker that had him crossing to her. He reached out his hand, tugged her out of the chair where she’d gotten comfortable.
He was oblivious to anyone else around as he angled his head to taste her mouth. She’d obviously nibbled on the fudge. She tasted silky sweet. He took his time with the flavor, setting a trail down the side of her neck, before moving to her ear.
Caught off guard by the display of affection, Anniston whispered, “Garret, what are you doing? People will talk.” She tried to push him back a step, but he was like an unmovable brick wall. “What about your parents’ guests?”
“Let them get their own women.”
She saw the wild look in his eyes and recognized the feral way he moved, like a tiger on the scent of its prey. She let him capture her hand and tug her past the kitchen and out into the backyard so they could at least be alone. If his plan was to make out, it was best to do it away from the prying eyes of those who tended to gossip about such things.
The easygoing man who’d picked her up at the hotel had disappeared. In his place was a guy who acted like he didn’t give a damn about protocol or correctness. It occurred to her this was a side of him that scared her just a little bit. “Garret, say something. Where are we going?”
“You’ll see. Somewhere quiet. Away from all these people.”
Outside, the sun took its final bow over the water in a bath of crimson and violet, its showy froth drifting to the color of merlot. Only the slimmest crescent moon could’ve carved out a chunk of the deep purple to get noticed. So that when the stars began to glitter, they looked like eager bits of white ice winking back at earth from the deepest blue of space.
It would be an October evening made for honeysuckle and jasmine, wood smoke and fire, he decided.
He twirled her in a dance to the corner of the lawn where a hammock hung between two giant magnolias. It wasn’t until he looked down at her face that he saw the concern in her eyes. He took hold of her chin. “What’s wrong?”
“You’re scaring me just a little.”
“Me? Why on earth would you say that?”
“Because I’ve seen that look on your face before. You get very intense.”
“I get intense when I think about you.”
“Oh. I thought…”
His face broke into a grin. “You’ve obviously had a stressful day. You need to relax. That’s why I think you should get off your feet.” Without another word, he seized her waist and swung her into the nylon netting of the hammock in one fluid motion.
She squealed at the unexpected movement and toppled into the dip of the sling. There was no time to think about anything else but the fall as his arms locked around her. She felt her hair tumble out of its clip and lightly punched his bicep. “Do you know what a tough time I had getting my hair to look like this?”
He combed a few strands away from her face so he could see those sharp, dark eyes. “I’ve never seen you look more beautiful than you do
right this minute.”
She took his face in both hands, pressed her lips to his. He tasted like sweet divinity with a streak of devil’s food cake. “I’d get out of this thing if I thought I could climb over you.”
He dawdled over her mouth, kissing each corner. “Why would you want to? It’s like a cocoon.” With great care, he touched his lips to her forehead. “Put all the bad stuff out of your brain and go with the flow. Close your eyes. Don’t think about what you saw today.”
She put her head on his chest, listened to the beat of his heart while they swayed back and forth to the motion. She let him nuzzle her throat while the night sounds played around them. There was a lilting chorus of crickets that brought out the playful fireflies. A string of bullfrogs broke into song trying to serenade a potential mate. From somewhere in the distance, she heard noises coming from the harbor, a seagull fighting for its supper, a horn sounding from a tugboat.
Just when she thought she had him pegged, he surprised her by singing softly in her ear. She recognized the lyrics to This Must Be the Place and poked him in the ribs. “You’re a closet romantic. You should let that guy out more often.”
His fingers traced along the curve of her breast, taking pleasure in its warmth. He took her hand and inched it toward the front of his pants. “It’s no secret I want you, Anniston.”
She breathed out a sigh, letting the night capture the promise. “It has to be soon.”
Their solitude was broken when both of them heard voices whirring nearby. Lenore and Tanner were bidding farewell to the neighbors and slowly the others came drifting out of the house to join them.
She glanced up at the million diamond stars twinkling and took delight in the moment they’d shared. “Thank you for this.”
“My pleasure.” Their privacy had been too brief. Garret lifted his head and saw his brothers pulling up chairs around a circular fire pit. Jackson used kindling to build up the flame while Mitch brought over more wood.
The Indigo Brothers Trilogy Boxed Set Page 43