by CeeCee James
There was that man again, coming behind Rob. He grabbed Rob under the arms and, with forceful kicks, pulled him up. Rob released me, and I weakly kicked too, my lungs burning for air.
And then I was through the surface, gasping, coughing. I swam to the side, my ears rushing with the roar of my blood. My fingers grazed the bank and dug in. Exhausted, I lay my face against the cool rock and breathed.
I still heard splashing behind me, and then a man’s voice. Grumbling. Angry. I lifted my head and turned to look.
It was the homeless man from earlier. He dragged Rob out of the water and up the bank like a fish, coughing, and sputtering. The homeless man rolled Rob over to his side, and Rob vomited up the water he had swallowed.
I rested my head down on my arm and continued to catch my breath. I was too tired to climb out of the water, and my body bobbed with the ripples.
You’re okay. Just take slow, deep breaths. I closed my eyes. A weariness descended over me like I’d never felt before.
“Young lady!” The man called. “You get out of that water. Climb out right now. You can do it.”
I glanced up again. The man was on Rob’s back, quickly unlacing one of Rob’s shoes. He saw my look and nodded. “You can do it. Nice and easy. Come sit up here on the bank. Then we don’t have to worry none about you.”
With the lace free, the man wound it tightly around Rob’s wrists. “Don’t want you going anywhere, do we? Because we know you, oh yes, don’t we? You’re the one that brought that nice young girl down here. Ol’ Billy Bailey wasn’t going to just sit back and watch you do it again, now was he? No sir. Not me. No sir.” He knotted it tight and set to freeing the lace from the remaining shoe.
Using hand over hand, I dragged myself down to where the bank was low enough so that I could climb out. My body felt like it weighed a thousand pounds as I hauled myself out of the water. I flopped over in the dirt.
I could hear Billy Bailey muttering to himself. “Got those feet nice and tied, don’t we? Ho boy, Billy still knows how to tie a knot. Yes, he does. He ties a good one, yes sir.”
I rolled over and stared at the sky. The sun had nearly set, and the moon was out, just a sliver of a fingernail above me. Next to it, I saw the morning star. It glittered especially bright tonight, or maybe everything seemed more glorious after living through the nightmare of the last hour.
I’m alive. Safe.
Chapter 26
The next day, I woke up to the sun, which had risen over my window sill, splaying warm light over my face. My throat felt raw from all the water I’d sucked in and hacked out the night before, and my muscles sore like I’d just hiked up a mountain, but otherwise—I felt delightful.
I ran my bare toes against the soft sheets and cuddled my pillow tighter. Gratitude at being alive filled my very essence.
“Bingo! Confound you! That was Maisie’s!” Momma’s voice rang through the house from what sounded like the kitchen. A smile creased my lips. Lifting my arms above my head, I gave a good stretch and then sat up.
The scent of pancakes or waffles greeted me. I closed my eyes and breathed, really enjoying being present in the moment. I could hear the birds outside calling to each other, Momma’s fiddling noise making breakfast, and the soft tick of the clock.
So many good things around me.
I slowly climbed out of bed. Ohhh. Well, now. There’s some new muscles that I didn’t even know I had. Hunched over, I made my way to where my bathrobe lay discarded on the back of a chair and put it on. Then, with my hands on my lower back, I slowly straightened.
I feel like the tin man on Wizard of Oz. I smiled grimly. Think I need something more than oil to help me. I shuffled out of my room and down the hall.
Bingo peeked out of the kitchen doorway.
“Hi, sweetheart,” I said. I was too stiff to crouch. He’d have to wait for his morning pets. “How’s my good boy?”
“He’s decidedly not being a good boy.” Momma’s gaze was indignant. “He somehow hopped up on that chair and snuck your pancake right off your plate.”
I looked at the offending empty plate, now holding just a few crumbs. “Aww, that’s okay, Momma. Everyone needs to celebrate.”
“Speaking of celebrating,” Momma reached over and swatted my behind with the spatula. “the next time the police bring you home looking like a drowned rat, you’ll be celebrating by sending me to an early grave.”
She meant it as a joke, but I didn’t have the heart to laugh. The memory of Momma’s scared face was too painful. “I’m not planning on ever having that happen again,” I reassured her.
She handed me a fresh plate with a new steaming pancake. I took it, grateful, and soon had it smothered in butter and syrup. The first bite was heaven and drove out all thoughts for a few seconds while I chewed.
“So that young man is in jail now, is he?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Attempted murder, kidnapping, use of a biological weapon. It’s going to be a while before he gets out.”
“Sad,” she shook her head. “I hate to see promising lives like that wasted.”
“Well,” I said, cutting another bite. “He had a choice. No matter how bad things get, everyone has a choice.”
Momma walked to the fridge in tottering steps. She retrieved the orange juice and a glass from the cupboard. Her red hair puffed out on one side in the way that said Bingo must have had more than his share of the pillow the night before. I smiled as she offered me the glass.
“Thank you, Momma.”
“So, it was good ol’ Billy Bailey that came to the rescue, huh?”
I took a sip, puckering at the tart taste of the juice. Small sips and swallow gently. “Yeah. I guess he has a camp out there. The church is quiet, but still close enough to town.” After pondering a moment, I continued, “I hope he gets the recognition he deserves. He didn’t have to help me.”
“It’s just too bad he didn’t help that poor Natalie girl.”
“He came too late. He was actually watching me when I found her.”
Momma’s eyes went round. “I hope that teaches you from going out bushwhacking in places you don’t belong.”
“I don’t know. It seems to me you can find danger anywhere. Even among the cream of society.”
“Pish,” Momma said. “I guess that’s true enough. Your grandma always used to say ‘Be wary of the snakes mixed in with the people, but also know that angels walk among us, too.’”
“Billy Bailey sure was mine last night.” I was feeling a bit introspective. “Rob and Billy, light and dark. Just like the original story.”
“What’s that?” Momma asked.
“Luciana and Tom Bones, and the jealous lover who killed her. Light and dark.”
“Full circle with the right ending,” Momma concluded, sitting next to me with her own pancake. Bingo came over and sat with a hopeful look.
Momma scowled at him. “No treats for you!”
I reached over and scratched the chagrined dog’s ears. We finished eating, and I eased up out of my chair, still sore but feeling better.
“By the way,” I rinsed my plate at the sink, raising my voice over the running water. “Scott is coming by later. I think Ruby is bringing him.”
“He’s doing that much better! That’s wonderful!” Momma beamed.
“Yeah, he mentioned yesterday the hospital was releasing him today.”
Just before I left the kitchen, I saw Momma refill her pocket with a handful of vanilla wafers. No snacks for Bingo, my left foot.
It was an hour later before Scott and Ruby showed up. Scott looked good, thinner, but definitely on the mend.
“You ready?” Ruby asked. When I nodded, the three of us headed out to the parking lot and over to Ruby’s car.
“You sure you want to do this?” she asked. I nodded again.
Ten minutes later we were parked at the Holy King Church. I took them through the building and out to the path in the back. The three of us walked down to the bank by the p
ool.
The bank was muddy and torn up from the events of last night. I walked over and stared into the depths of the water. A shiver ran down my spine at the memory of its cold grip. Poor Luciana.
Ruby glanced around like a cat with a long tail in a house of rocking chairs. “Can you hurry? I don’t like this place. At. All.”
I looked around but couldn’t see what she saw. Despite the near disaster of last night, the flowers were bobbing dabs of color, the ocean waves swooshed in the background, the green of the light, the place still felt magical.
“Just one second.” I walked over to the edge of the pool and studied the rocks.
There it was. I lay down on my belly and reached for the red rock. I pushed it aside to reveal something glittering. I stuck my finger in the space and fished for a second, eventually looping it.
I pulled it out and turned toward my friends. Natalie's necklace dangled from my finger.
Ruby’s mouth dropped. “How did you know that would be here?”
“Rob said it was on her when they arrived. When I saw the flowers, I knew this is where it’d happened.”
“How could you possibly have known that?”
“I wasn’t positive, but I had a good feeling. This is where he became distracted. He’d been picking flowers to put in her hair. She must have slipped it off and hid it there.”
“How did you know it was that rock?”
“When I was climbing along the bank last night, I thought I saw something red in there.”
“It was dark out, how could you have seen it?”
I shook my head. “I don't know, but I swear the ruby was glowing.”
“It’s like Luciana wanted her necklace found,” Ruby breathed out. She rubbed her arms. “Okay. That’s enough for me. Let’s go.”
“Relax,” I said. “It was probably only the light reflecting off the pool. Just enough to catch the red.” But even I cast a look over my shoulder at the water.
“Yeah. Anyway. Going now!” She marched ahead of us. Scott and I looked at each other and smiled.
“She’s so superstitious,” I said.
“Superstitions have kept me alive. Now let’s go!” she yelled.
I looked at Scott. “One question.”
He groaned. “Not this again.”
“Why didn’t you tell me the necklace William stole was fake?”
Scott kicked at the ground. “I’m sorry. I really didn’t know what was going on. When I found the necklace in William’s pocket, the first thing I did was check my gun safe. It wasn’t there. So, I really didn’t know what to think.”
“So he never did break into your safe then?”
“No. Natalie took it to go meet Rob. William must have really just been coming by to get help, like he’d said.”
I handed the necklace to Scott, who put it around his neck. “I’m wearing this until Natalie gets home,” he said.
“How much longer?” We walked back up the path to the car.
“I don’t know, but she’s making progress by the hour. It could be just a few days. We’re really quite lucky. What Rob didn’t know was that the toxin deteriorates with air. It had already been exposed to air by the time Natalie and William came into contact with it. And it was even weaker by the time I touched it.”
“That was weak?” I shuddered. “That stuff is terrible. Hard to believe it exists in wildlife.”
“Nature can be brutal,” he said, opening the car door for me. “But nothing compared to mankind.”
I thought about Billy Bailey, “But maybe it can’t be as kind, either.”
Later that day found me soaking in the sunshine at the cabana at the pool. Mr. Phillips had generously agreed to an extra day off after the night’s experiences, and I was taking full advantage of it.
The pool area had about twenty guests scattered about under umbrellas. The water was filled with young couples and kids. This time of year, Oceanside’s two waterslides were a big hit.
Momma sat next to me, wearing a bright purple dress, a giant sun hat, and sunglasses, in the style of a movie star, gracing her face.
Next to her was a glass of sweet tea.
I had a matching glass from which I sipped carefully, but my throat was already feeling better.
“So, how did William get involved in all of this?” Momma asked.
“He ran into Rob down in Miami. They were in the same gambling ring. William racked up a debt and, in repayment to Rob, was supposed to steal the Fairchilds’ necklace for him. Rob had wanted it ever since Natalie broke up with him.”
Momma gave me her “I don’t understand, and you better speak up, Missy,” stare, so I continued. “Natalie's family had used it as leverage to control her for years. And then they used it to turn Natalie against Rob.”
“But the necklace that William stole was a fake.”
I nodded. “Scott had taken it a year earlier. Natalie had given him a replica to replace it with to put in the safe. The Fairchilds never were the wiser, but Natalie was finally out from under their thumb.” I sighed. “And Rob planned to kill both Natalie and Scott in revenge for her ratting him out to the police, as well as what the Fairchilds did to him. William was collateral damage to cover his tracks.”
“What about that suicide note, then?”
I shook my head, confused. “I don’t know. It could have been Rob who sent it. Or, more likely, it was Marcie, trying to clear up the family name.”
Momma tsked and picked up her drink.
I turned my face up to the sun and soaked in more rays.
A shadow fell over me. I looked up, squinting, at Clarissa.
“Hi,” I said.
“You look like you’re enjoying yourself.” She smiled and handed me an envelope. “This came for you.”
I picked at it the sealed edge to open it. Clarissa smiled at me in a way that told me she knew what it said.
“All right, you goof. What’s in the envelope?” I asked.
“An invitation.” A voice came from over my shoulder.
I sat up to turn around. Jake Phillips stood there, hands casually in his shorts pockets, wearing a crisp button-up shirt.
“It’s for dinner, with me.” His green eyes crinkled with a smile. “You have any plans Friday night?”
Oh, my! If my chest didn't already ache, I would have blamed the pain on his heart-stopping smile.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Momma sit up, interested. “Maisie, darlin’, you better go with him, or I will!”
“Momma!”
The End
Thank you for reading Oceanside Hotel Mystery’s book 2, Deadly Reservations- Keep your eye out for more of Maisie’s adventures in book 3 in just a few weeks!
In the meant time, take a trip back to Maisie’s hometown in the Angel Lake Mystery series.
The Sweet Taste of Murder
The Bitter Taste of Betrayal
The Sour Taste of Suspicion
The Honeyed Taste of Deception
The Tempting Taste of Danger
And last but not least, my own personal story that I share in Ghost No More. Winner of 2016 Metamorph Publishing best memoir. You can read all these books for free with Prime or Kindle Unlimited. Have a great day.