Sunny Side Up (Lake Erie Mysteries Book 1)

by Maureen K. Howard

  “Here, here!” Clifton, Sirena and I agreed all at once. June and Jack came in a half beat later.

  Winter survival stories gave way to summer plans for cruise destinations, picnics, parties, and for some of us, new shopping adventures. Sirena and June got into an animated conversation, swapping stories about entrepreneurship, freelancing, and the trials and joys of being self-employed single women. June practically had to sit on her hands because I could tell she wanted to write everything down. She was getting some great information on the new store owner on the island that she could easily incorporate into her article. Luckily her memory was even better than her shorthand.

  “Cliff, are you up for an evening smoke?” Hamm slipped a sleek leather case from his pocket and removed two of his favorite cigars, offering one to Clifton.

  “Man, thanks. I would love to but I’m not sure I could hold a cigar between these water balloon lips of mine at this point, and my lungs are feeling a little tight after that stupid shrimp fiasco. I’ll have to take a rain check.”

  “It sucks to be you, Sterling.” I did not just say that out loud. I really needed to be careful. If I had another martini, I was sure to get myself in trouble. I was surprised Cliff actually made that self-deprecating remark. Maybe Sirena was having a positive effect on him. Miracles do happen.

  “How about you then, Jack? A good cigar is always better with company.”

  “I couldn’t agree more, but one a day’s my limit, and after talking to you earlier, I went home and enjoyed one of my own on my deck. Perfect way to finish off a five mile run, right?”

  “Well, as Harry Callahan always said, ‘A man’s got to know his limitations.’”

  “Mash, right? Now that was a classic TV show. I wish there were programs on now that were intelligent and entertaining instead of just ‘reality’ shows that are as far from real as you can get.”

  “I can appreciate that, Jack. You’re a man after my own heart. Then if you all don’t mind, I think I’ll just take a walk down toward the boats and smoke this by myself. There’s something to be said for peace and quiet as well, especially after all of the shopping excitement I had to endure today.”

  “There is that.” I did a double-take when Jack replied with one of Hamm’s famous sayings. I wasn’t sure what to think about that.

  Hamm gave my hand a squeeze and pressed a wad of bills into my fist. “Have another drink on me.” I smiled up at my husband and gave him a return hand squeeze. I was fine with him leaving. We had been married for twenty-two years. That doesn’t happen without some give and take.

  Clifton’s wistful gaze in the direction of the marina was proof of where he would rather be. Who was he to complain? He was with the most beautiful woman on the island. And she didn’t even run screaming when he morphed into a shrimp-induced, misshapen monster.

  Just about then, Sirena excused herself from the table. “I’ll be right back, Clifton. Nature calls. I’ll have another of the same if the waiter comes by while I’m gone.”

  As she headed toward the door, I saw her take her cell phone from a deep pocket in her diaphanous skirt and quickly scroll through her text messages. For a split second, her face was reflected in the glass door leading to the inside of the restaurant where the restrooms were located. I couldn’t know what she saw, but her expression reminded me of a brewing thunderstorm.

  While Sirena was still in the restroom, our second round of drinks arrived. “Those look wonderful!” I paid the waiter and added a generous tip with the money Hamm had slipped me before he headed back toward the lure of his cigar.

  “I know that guy,” Morgan announced. “I’m surprised he doesn’t perform in much bigger venues. He’s really talented.” The guitarist on the patio who had been strumming island tunes and entertaining the diners stopped singing and stood up to make an announcement.

  June had a comment of her own before the entertainer spoke. “It seems like there are several people around here with big city talents who would rather concentrate on living a simpler life than chasing fame and fortune.”

  Jack gave her an appraising look, but before he could come back with a response, the announcement began.

  “The final entry into the drawing for couples to win a chance to be named Island King and Queen in the upcoming Memorial Day parade will be ending in five minutes. Both entrants must to be present at the bar to register, so grab your partner and get on over!”

  Cliff craned his neck in the direction Sirena had gone and was practically vibrating with urgency. I could tell that his need for fame and validation was getting the best of him. He wanted in that contest in the worst way. Sirena hadn’t yet returned when the final call was being made to enter. Before I knew what hit me, Cliff grabbed my arm, pulled me to my feet, and started dragging me between tables and mildly startled diners toward the bar.

  “What in the name of King Kong are you doing, Sterling? Let go of me! We’re going to kill ourselves dodging tables like this.”

  “You have to sign up with me in Sirena’s place for Island King and Queen Francie. Come on, hurry!”

  “Oh you are going to owe me big time for this, Clifton.”

  We made it to the registration table by the bar at the very last second. We each filled out an entry form, with me standing in for Sirena. I completed Sirena’s entry with the information Cliff whispered to me line by line. Once the ballots were secured and sealed in the official envelope, I began winding my way back to our table. I didn’t wait for Clifton to catch up, but I did decide he would be buying my next drink.

  When I got back to our table, I noticed June had moved over so she was sitting right beside Jack Morgan. They were both happily humming along off-key to Faith Hill’s “Sunshine and Summertime” that was playing through the speakers while the emcee was finishing up his contest preparations. I settled back into my chair and returned to my drink. Sirena’s chair was still vacant.

  “Maybe you should go check on Sirena. Do you think she’s okay?” Clifton was tapping his thumbs and index fingers nervously on the table. I was sipping my martini, and June and Morgan were still oblivious to their surroundings as well as their lack of musical talent.

  “Do you think she ditched me?” I had never heard Clifton express even the smallest amount of self-doubt, so this got my attention. Before I could decide whether to be nice or snarky, Sirena strolled back toward the table.

  “Sorry I took so long. There was a line. Oh, drinks! Don’t mind if I do.”

  She reached for the vodka martini on the table but then changed her mind. “Why would they put a lemon in a perfectly good drink?” she half-whispered to herself. I was the only one who heard her comment, and I wasn’t even positive that was what she said. “On second thought, I think I’ll pass on the drink. Cliff, darling, maybe we should call it a night. You had quite an eventful evening already, and I’ve got a long day ahead of me tomorrow.”

  “It would be a shame to leave fresh drinks on the table. Let’s just stay a few more minutes. I can drive you back to your boutique or your house in under five minutes.”

  Leave it to Clifton. One minute he was all worried about his new girlfriend’s true feelings toward him and the next he’s taking the risk of making her mad over a drink, more specifically, a free drink.

  Sirena sat back down, gave Cliff a little forced smile, and picked up her martini glass. She swirled the drink in the glass, raised it to her lips, then set it back down in front of her without taking a sip. Her mind was most definitely somewhere else.

  Remembering the look on her face when she checked her phone on her way to the restroom, I was debating about whether to ask her if everything was all right or to keep my mouth shut and mind my own business. Before I could make up my mind, the tooth-jangling wail of sirens sliced through the peaceful air—many sirens: fire, police, and ambulance, all streaking past us in the direction of the marina.

  Cocktail conversation morphed into excited, curious, and fearful speculation all around us. Cell ph
ones lit up like lighters at a rock concert. Everyone was trying to be the first to discover what the event was that was causing this spectacular disruption.

  Jack’s brow furrowed. He squinted down at the screen of his smart phone.

  “I’ve got to go. Obviously something is going on, and the police chief wants me to head over to the station. I guess they can use all the help they can get. If you all will excuse me.”

  We didn’t even get the chance to pump him for information. He was up and on the sidewalk even before June could form words. Amazing, I know.

  Jack hesitated for just a second on the street, then called over the fence, “Hey, Cliff! I need to borrow your car.”

  Clifton didn’t hesitate. He also was not about to toss his keys to a virtual stranger who moments ago was nose-to-nose with his wife, okay, ex-wife. He sprinted to the curb and leapt into the driver’s seat of his sports car. “Where to, Detective? Clifton Sterling at your service!”

  Jack didn’t have time to argue. He got in the passenger’s seat, and the tires squealed as they sped off.

  June and I stared at one another, baffled at the sudden turn of events. Sirena’s gaze was locked on some invisible point down the street. Other patrons were shuffling out of their seats to get a better look at who-knows-what.

  “What should we do now?” I didn’t have a plan.

  June looked at Sirena and me then down at the three perfectly executed martinis standing at attention on the table.

  “Well, I have to agree with Cliff for once on this one. It would be a shame to let these drinks go to waste. We can’t do anything to help since we don’t even have a clue about what’s going on.”

  “That sounds reasonable to me. We can head back to the boat once all the commotion dies down. Maybe Hammond saw something and can fill us in when we get back.”

  Sirena’s nose wrinkled as she pushed herself away from the table. “Suit yourself, ladies. I really think I need to go.”

  I could not identify either the strange look on her face or the words she mumbled to herself as she left.

  “What do you think that was all about? She seemed awfully distracted.”

  Chapter Ten

  June sipped her drink, appreciating its soothing effect, then replied, “Well, what do you expect? She’s left sitting here with her new squeeze’s former partner. Awkward! Plus, she doesn’t know us at all, and finally, she’s probably genuinely worried about her store. Everyone seems to be heading in that direction. It is a shame about her cocktail though.”

  I watched Sirena stride resolutely away from us. “Hey, check it out, June. She isn’t a goddess after all. She has toilet paper stuck to the seat of her skirt.”

  “Hmmm. Looks more like a dryer sheet to me.”

  The excitement was winding down almost as quickly as it had begun. We sipped our drinks and speculated on all the possible causes for the mad rush.

  “Maybe we should be a little more concerned. Everyone was headed in the direction of the marina. I hope our boat is okay. Maybe there was a big bust and they captured those minnow bandits Hamm told me about. Maybe they had guns or there was a fight.”

  “What the heck are you talking about? What’s a minnow bandit?”

  “Oh, sorry. I never got the chance to tell you. It’s a pretty strange story. Morgan asked us to be on the lookout for…”

  June interrupted. “Jack is really interesting, don’t you think? Cute too. I’m sure whatever the commotion was, he has it handled. Do you think he’ll be back?”

  “Don’t you want to hear about the minnow bandits? I thought you wanted to hear about the minnow bandits.”

  “On second thought, Francie, you probably need to tone down the drama on this one. Someone probably tripped and broke an ankle. It doesn’t take much to get people all riled up around here.”

  “You’re probably right.” I sighed. “I’m probably overreacting.”

  Then in unison, we reached toward the center of the table for Sirena’s abandoned martini. It was indeed a shame to waste it.

  June and I shared Sirena’s abandoned drink. Neither of us was particularly fussy about the variety of fruit added to our drinks as long as the vodka is top shelf, and it was. After that, it was definitely time to think about heading home for the night.

  We giggled and wove our way back to the marina, and I was proud to say I only slipped off the curb twice. As petite as June was, she was surprisingly steady on her feet and kept me pointed in the right direction—for the most part.

  It was about a half mile from the downtown bar to the marina, so we had time to rehash the events of the evening, and speculate on the source of all the excitement.

  “I can’t wait to get the real scoop from Hamm,” I announced. “He always remembers details and is a master of insignificant facts. I’m sure he’ll have the whole thing figured out before we get back to the boat or hear any reports from the news.”

  June nodded in agreement but didn’t answer. She was focused on the job at hand and stepped up the pace.

  “First things first, Francie. Let’s just concentrate on getting back for now.”

  The rest of the walk was unremarkable. The cool night air and exercise had sobered us up, and by the time we got to our dock, the effect of the two and a half martinis had all but worn off.

  There were no lights on inside the boat. This was odd since by now it was quite late.

  “Hammond, what are you doing in the dark? Hamm? Honey?”

  Within seconds of getting onboard and flipping on a light, it was obvious that Hammond was not in the cabin. If I wasn’t sober a minute ago, I most definitely was now. I hurried back out to the cockpit and scanned the dock, thinking maybe he was enjoying the view while finishing his cigar. He wasn’t on the dock, so I looked out toward the lake.

  “There you are!” He was just now arriving from the grassy area that led to the small strip of beach and the lake beyond.

  I stepped off the boat and onto the dock, planning to meet him halfway. When he got close enough to hear me, I began to speak again.

  “I was getting worried. Did you find out…?”

  I stopped mid-sentence when I finally got close enough to see Hamm’s appearance. He was carrying his shoes, his cargo shorts were torn, and there was a dark stain on the front of his new shirt.

  “What the… Where the… Why do you smell like a campfire?”

  I was at a loss. In all of our years together, I had never seen Hammond so disheveled. I had, however, seen that look on his face before. “Get the front lines ready. We’re leaving. Now!”

  “Are you sure you want to do that, Hamm? I’ve had a few drinks and don’t think I’m really steady on my feet enough to be manning lines and fenders in the dark. It’s really late, hon. why don’t you just get some sleep and we can talk about this in the morning?”

  “Whatever.” Hamm didn’t say anything else, but I was relieved when he walked past me and headed into the boat. He closed the cabin door behind him.

  I didn’t know yet the source of Hamm’s foul mood or the cause of his uncharacteristic appearance, but I did know that now was not the time ask him about it. I also knew that any attempt to engage my husband in civil conversation would probably result in tears on my part, so I left him alone and joined June, who was sitting at the picnic table on the dock in front of the boat.

  “So what was that all about? Did I do something to piss him off? I thought I was behaving. This is probably all my fault as usual.”

  “It is so not your fault!” I was confident of this at least. Something much bigger was eating Hamm, and by the end of the weekend, we would both know what it was. I was more than wide-awake now. Sleep didn’t seem to be an option in my immediate future.

  “It’s such a beautiful night. How about I open a bottle of wine and we can sit out here for a while? I should probably give Hamm some space right now. He doesn’t seem to want company.”

  “That’s an understatement. Are you sure he won’t get mad
if we hang out for a while?”

  “June, he’s not mad at you, or at me for that matter. I’m sure he’ll tell me all about whatever happened to get him so upset it in the morning.”

  “Okay then, I wouldn’t mind a glass of wine.”

  I waited about five minutes before I quietly went aboard the boat to grab a bottle of wine, two glasses, and an opener. Hamm was snoring softly on the couch, still wearing his dirty, torn clothing and smelling like he had been roasting marshmallows at a campfire. He didn’t even stir, and I was back on the dock in no time.

  I opened the bottle and poured each of us a generous portion of Fandango. It was a red blend I hadn’t tried before, but my brother Jim, a wine merchant, gave it to me for my birthday in March, and since he knew what I liked, I was sure it would be nice. We weren’t disappointed.

  The bright moon was high in the sky, reflecting in the water and creating an otherworldly effect on our surroundings. We sat quietly in our own thoughts, sipping our drinks for a few minutes, but since girlfriends are not capable of extended periods of silence, unless they are fighting, June leaned over and whispered, “What do you think about all of the commotion earlier? I wonder where Clifton and the detective ended up. Did you think Sirena was acting kind of odd? And you’ve really got to be wondering what on earth happened to Hamm. I feel like we stepped into the Twilight Zone.”

  We hadn’t even been on the island for a full day, but it seemed like ages since that peaceful cruise across the lake. We must have talked for over an hour, replaying the events of the day until we had exhausted nearly every possible explanation, and the contents of our bottle as well.

  I had just stood up and picked up the empty bottle when the sound of a powerful outboard motor broke the peaceful atmosphere. “Quick, June, get down!”

  “What are you flipping out about, Francie? It’s just a boat.”

  I never did fill June in on the details of the strange request Hammond had received from Detective Morgan while we were inside Ruby’s Treasure Chest.