“Ja, that is correct.”
“Walker told you all this, confided in you, right there in the bar?”
“He has very big mouth when he drinks.”
“Okay, so Dietrich gets pissed off at being blackmailed. He desperately wants to find the documents Walker has in his possession. He wants these papers so badly that he commands a lackey to kidnap an entire family. This flunky he sends tortures them to learn the whereabouts of all this Nazi crap that would expose his sorry ass to the world. But the plan doesn’t work. Dietrich comes up empty because his little gutless minion kills Walker and Livvy without learning the location of this cache. Have I got it straight so far?”
“Ja. I want my diary back.”
“We’ll get to that in a minute. So Dietrich is still looking for these papers?”
Hugo’s accent thickened. “Ja, ja. Dietrich keeps looking. He needs the diary, which you claim to have, to find the gold and the documents to keep from losing all he’s built over the years. His wealth, his dynasty, his assets depend on keeping his secret. If it were to get out, become public knowledge where his money came from…everything Dietrich has would crumble into nothing. Dietrich would be branded an outcast by all those he values.”
Mitch met Hugo’s eyes, clearer and bluer today than they were yesterday. “Then following the logic of that, there are three possibilities as to where these papers could be. One, Walker put them somewhere and the stash of documents are still hidden because Dietrich murdered them all before anyone gave up the location.”
Mitch laid a hand over his heart. “Now me, my personal opinion, killing and torturing little kids, and then not getting what you want out of it, is incredibly stupid. Dumbest move I ever heard of, a flat-out blunder on Dietrich’s part. And they say this man is a genius at business?” He turned to Jackson. “You ever heard of anyone so stupid?”
“I’d go with sadistic and cruel with a major case of stupid.”
“Exactly. Now where was I? Oh, yeah. The second possibility is that someone else stole the stuff from Walker before he was murdered. Of course, there is a third option. Mr. Reiner here is lying through his pearly whites, and this is a cleverly constructed pile of shit.”
“Again, you think I lie?”
“As a matter of fact I do. Here’s what we’re gonna do for now. Your ass is gonna sit on my boat under heavy guard until you make a believer out of all of us. So far, that hasn’t happened. And until it does, your ass isn’t going anywhere. Are we clear?”
“Kidnapping is what this is,” Hugo muttered as Walsh led him back to his cabin. “I want my diary back!”
After Hugo was safely out of earshot, Jackson pointed out, “Here’s something to consider. Hugo was in rags when we found him. But I noticed today when he was talking, his teeth are in pristine condition. His nails look like he’s had a manicure recently. And there are no calluses on his hands. Shouldn’t a man living off the grid have teeth that need work, uneven nails, and rough hands? Does anyone else find that odd?”
Garret went over to the coffee pot and filled a mug almost to the rim. “I find this whole damn thing odd. What if all we really have is Hugo’s boat and not Hugo?”
Mitch pondered that as he drank deeply from his own cup. “Call your friend on Shock Island and get him to go over that tub with a microscope.”
“I’ll do that. I hate to bring this up but we know Livvy was having an affair with Nathan. Could that bastard have found the papers or taken them out of the safe deposit box and now he and these documents are God knows where?”
“I don’t know. But as long as we can’t put our hands on them it means we have to keep searching, maybe tear the house upside down again. Because if we fail to turn anything up, we can’t hold Hugo indefinitely.”
“It’s a waste of time to search the house,” Garret stated. “There’s one thing we know with certainty. If Livvy and Walker had known where those documents were, they’d have handed them over in a heartbeat to save their lives. They wouldn’t have let Blake and Ally die.”
“Which means Walker might’ve had the papers at one time and someone stole them,” Jackson said. “Are we all picturing Nathan in that role?”
“I believe we are.”
Afterward, Garret jacked up his music and locked himself away from the rest of the world in the solace of his dad’s workshop to think. If his mother needed shelving in the utility room, he damn well intended to give her shelving while he could.
In the humidity he was sweating like a pig in his T-shirt and shorts. Not to mention the pair of safety glasses he had on made his head hurt. He should’ve hit the surf instead of closing himself off inside four walls.
He stood in front of a table saw with a cast-iron top in the middle and steel wings on the side. It was his father’s pride and joy. He might not have been the carpenter his father was, but Garret slid a long piece of red oak through the blade, listened as the saw ripped through the wood.
Tanner came in holding two bottles of water, handed one off. “You’re making me look bad, Garret Davis.”
Garret reached to flip the switch on the saw to off and raised his goggles. He twisted off the cap and gulped down half the bottle.
“I noticed you slept here last night.”
“If you know all that, then you know why. Anniston went to Royce, had a nice little talk. She revealed everything we’d discussed because she’s come to the conclusion the man should be trusted.”
“Your mother and I have disagreements all the time.”
“Yeah, but they’re usually about whether or not it’s time to put on a new roof. Or shelving. Or how much to put away in savings. This is a fundamental problem between us.”
“You think so? When all this happened, your mother was convinced Royce couldn’t have been involved. As I recall, it pissed me off.”
“There you go. The difference is Mom didn’t go to Royce behind your back and tell him stuff he’d never have known otherwise. Anniston did. I feel like she betrayed the case we’ve worked so hard on. And me.”
Tanner scratched his ear. “Maybe she was right to meet with him, to reveal Baskin for what he is. Maybe Royce didn’t have anything to do with the murders. Maybe Walker did keep him in the dark about this treasure hunt for gold.”
“Maybe. But as I see it that’s not the point. She didn’t value my opinion enough to take it under consideration. She put her trust in a man I warned her about. In fact, we all warned her.”
“That’s because we’ve known him longer.”
“That’s right. And our opinion should’ve mattered, should’ve carried more weight.”
Anniston had been leaning up against the doorframe, listening. “You’re right. I should have considered how you felt.” She looked around the workshop at all the lumber and tools and machinery. “You’re a man of many talents.” She sent a smile toward Tanner. “You both are.”
“You’re just now figuring that out?” Tanner said.
He slapped his son on the back with pride. “This one is a true wonder. All my kids were talented, but this guy was always willing to help out his old man, get his hands dirty doing some type of carpentry job. Whether it was cabinets or knocking out a wall. Every time he comes back home, he never fails to find his way into the workshop and take the time to build something for his mother.”
Garret sent him a crooked grin. “It’s okay, Dad. You don’t have to tout my good points. Anniston’s already seen my temper.”
She placed her arms across her chest in a gesture of surrender. “I’m here to apologize.”
Tanner started for the door. “I’ll leave you to it unless you need a referee.”
“We’ll be fine,” Anniston assured him.
“Why are you apologizing exactly?” Garret wanted to know.
She let out a sigh. “Because I got caught up. Whether or not I’m taking your money now, today, doesn’t matter. You’re still my client. I should’ve respected your wishes and not gone anywhere near Mr. Buchana
n other than to interview him about the specifics of the case. It was unprofessional on my part. Even though I do disagree with you, I shouldn’t have disclosed anything to him, certainly not aspects of the case. I’m very sorry. I meant well. You’re welcome to replace me with Sebastian.”
“Oh, for God’s sake. I was pissed and thought you were way out of line, but you don’t have to quit over it.” He went over, linked his fingers with hers, drew her in for a kiss.
“Just so you know, Reiner’s fingerprints didn’t show up in any databases. They checked Interpol, nothing.”
“I was afraid of that.” His cell phone went off. “I gotta take this. It’s about Reiner’s boat.”
Listening to the caller, Garret nodded through most of the conversation until it was time to hang up. “Thanks, Gary. I appreciate you looking. I’m sorry I pulled you into all this. I know you were just doing me a favor. Okay. Talk to you soon.”
Ending the call, he turned to Anniston. “I asked Gary to recheck Reiner’s skiff. Gary didn’t find anything suspicious except a blood splatter near the galley. It could be fish blood.”
“We could test it.”
“We could spend time doing that, but if you’d seen this old tub…it reeked with all kinds of stinky smells. So it’s not surprising Reiner gutted his fish in the galley.”
“Shouldn’t that be done on deck?”
“Normally. But this guy calling himself Reiner is different, beyond odd. He’s just not adding up.”
“That gut instinct thing?”
“Yeah. If you don’t listen to your gut, what else do you have?”
“There’s another reason I came by. It may not be related, but it’s weird. This morning a fisherman found two bodies floating near Sugarloaf Key, very near the spot where you found Reiner.”
“Coincidence?”
“I wonder.”
“Maybe we should tell the others and let them decide for themselves.”
Within the hour everyone, except Raine, had assembled in Lenore’s dining room. She’d put out a tray of snacks—pretzels and veggies with smoky jalapeño-ranch dressing for dipping. Tanner had made the iced tea and lemonade. But no one seemed to be interested in food.
“So other than the small amount of blood Gary found in the galley, there was nothing out of the ordinary on the Schneewind,” Garret explained. “But the two bodies washing up are problematic. What if the remains have something to do with this guy we have locked up? What if he’s as murderous as Baskin and Dandridge?”
“My line of thought exactly,” Mitch decided. “Reiner was in the vicinity. And we don’t know for sure who he is exactly.”
“Since the fingerprints were a bust, I’ll keep checking with county to get the autopsy results on both of the unidentified remains. I don’t even know if they were male or female, if they drowned or suffered trauma. This is all very preliminary information picked up from a news report,” Anniston prompted. “Maybe it’s time to remind you that you’re in a gray area by keeping that man a prisoner on your boat.”
“What do you suggest we do, call the authorities and hand Reiner over to them? Which authorities would that be exactly? Or have you changed your mind about Sinclair, too?” Mitch asked.
Lots of attitude, Anniston decided. “I’ve apologized to Garret about my visit to Buchanan. I’ll apologize to everyone here again. It was wrong of me. There? Satisfied? I’m not suggesting calling Sinclair, nor would I, but we have to turn over the man you have on board to someone…eventually.”
“If it comes to that, I prefer taking him back to his sailboat and letting him resume his wandering lifestyle. I prefer that to handing him over to someone I don’t trust…like Sinclair.” Mitch crossed his arms over his chest. “Satisfied?”
“I believe I am,” Anniston said.
“What about that Willis Hartman guy Raine found online?” Garret asked. “Anything on him?”
“Other than his date of death? No. I found an obituary that showed a Willis Hartman dying in 1992 here in southern Florida around the time Dandridge showed up in Indigo Key. Other than that, nothing. His daughter still runs the website Raine found. But it’ll take a trip up to Port Saint Lucie to talk to her.”
“I could do that,” Sebastian began. “But there could be another more important factor right now. I had a long talk with Walsh. I took the information he gave me and ran with it. I think he’s onto something. Baskin is likely using a private chat room with encrypted code to communicate with his buddies. I could hack my way in, but first I’d have to get access to one of his computers, or that of his cohorts. Since Royce let me into the guesthouse once, we could ask him again, and obtain the IP address of the chat room that way. By posing as the administrator I could monitor their posts.”
“Are we okay with asking Royce for another favor?” Anniston asked.
Garret met Mitch’s eyes to see if they were on the same page. “As long as we get something out of it, I suppose so.”
There was another matter she needed to bring up. “You already know that Dack suspected the type of caliber that was used to kill Ryan came from a SIG-made P210. Turns out, the same caliber gun was also used to take down Dack. I ran Baskin’s name through a state database. And what do you know? He owns a registered P210.”
“We’re getting closer,” Garret noted.
Anniston went over her notes. “I’m just full of information today. I mentioned before that Royce told me where Dietrich is staying while he’s here on the Key. I think we should…”
Garret sat up straighter. “That’s right. I forgot about that. Where is he?”
“You won’t believe it. The property is less than a quarter of a mile from where Jackson and Tessa were shot at, very near the preserve.”
“That big estate that sits behind iron gates?” Jackson asked. “What does he do, watch the preserve from his window waiting for the bulldozers to show up?”
“Probably. The place has boat access,” Sebastian added. “So potentially it could be checked out from the water.”
“That sounds fine by me,” Mitch said. “I want my turn at questioning Dietrich. Garret got to get in Oakerson’s face, Jackson went head to head with Baskin, Raine got Frawley to talk, and even Mom and Dad had the satisfaction of watching Dandridge squirm. I want my chance at Dietrich.”
The wheels started turning in Garret’s brain. “And you’ll get it, but not right now. The timing’s wrong for a face to face. But I have a better idea. Instead of that, what if I went on a little scavenger hunt inside the premises?”
Garret turned to Sebastian. “Could you get me the floor plan of that place? Any kind of pictures would help. Maybe it’s been for sale or for rent at other times. If so, there should be photos online of the house.”
“I’ll see what I can do. But why?”
Anniston thought she already knew the answer. “You’re going in there to steal from Dietrich?”
“Not unless I find something worthy of taking the risk. Stealing isn’t the goal. I think it’s important to know what he keeps in that house. Maybe see if he already has the documents. I’ll go room by room and see what I can find, get the lay of the land.”
Anniston didn’t like the sound of that. “It’s too dangerous, Garret.”
“I know what I’m doing. You guys take care of getting back into the guesthouse or wherever Baskin has a laptop. You might consider his string of businesses, even the used car lot. It’s vital we break that communication code. I’ll take care of finding out anything I can about Dietrich.”
Mitch took out his phone as if expecting a call. “Does anyone know where Raine is? I know it’s her day off but she should be here by now.”
“I haven’t talked to her all day. Usually she calls the restaurant to make sure everything’s running smoothly, but not today,” Tessa offered.
“I haven’t talked to her since we got back from Dack’s funeral,” Anniston admitted.
Mitch sent Raine a string of text messages that went unans
wered. He grew impatient first and then broke out into worry. He began to call around looking for Raine but no one had heard from her. “Okay, this is nuts. I’m going over to the houseboat.”
“What’s that all about?” Jackson asked after Mitch left. “If he thinks he can prod Raine into being a part of this, he’s mistaken.”
“She’s been pulling away since that night at the gun range,” Tessa suggested. “She’s not too keen on being around Indigos at the moment. No offense.”
Lenore grabbed a carrot stick and swiped it through the dip. “None taken. But I think it’s just one Indigo she butts heads with more than anyone else. It must be difficult for her to have such strong feelings for Mitch and only see him once a year.”
Anniston turned to study Garret’s mother. “Raine is fine with seeing him once a year. The problem comes from having to be around him so much during this ordeal. Repressed emotions and all.”
Garret didn’t get it. “Am I hearing you right? The only feeling Raine has for Mitch begins and ends with loathing.”
“Men. Raine still carries that love she had for him as an adolescent. She can’t help how she feels,” Anniston told him.
Garret frowned. “If you say so, but personally, I think she just hates his guts, has for years.”
Chapter Twenty-Six - Heat
Mitch stood on Raine’s deck and knocked on the door of her houseboat, painted aqua-blue with a bright cerulean trim. An improvement, he decided, over Danny’s color scheme—ugly white. Leave it to Raine to go bold. She’d always had a bohemian spirit, an avant-garde approach to life. It’s one reason he’d been drawn to her in high school.
No one told Raine Manning what to do or how to do it. That’s why he’d been so surprised when he’d learned that she’d let herself get roped into taking on the duties of running The Blue Taco. She’d always said she’d never get stuck behind the counter taking orders for life. And yet, she seemed happy doing just that. Which just goes to show you how much people could change, Mitch thought.
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