Footprints in the Sand

by Mary Jane Clark

  Piper nodded in sympathy. She was aware that the police had found Levi’s cell phone near Shelley Hart’s grave, but she wasn’t about to bring up the possibility that Levi had killed himself because he was a murder suspect.

  Chapter 80

  Nora and Walter walked along the winding paths, quietly enjoying the wildly overgrown paradise. Royal palms, banana trees, staghorn ferns, various cacti, strangler figs, bald cypress, and all manner of exotic plants flourished in the botanical garden.

  “Will you look at that bulrush?” said Walter, marveling at the tall stalks and the full, feathery heads. “You know, Nora, that fluffy, pollenlike stuff can be crushed and separated from the rest of the plant and used as medicine to stop bleeding.”

  “Is that so?” asked Nora absentmindedly.

  “Yes. You can buy it at Asian markets. The Eastern world is so beyond the West on holistic and herbal healing. I’d rather take something natural than chemical any day, wouldn’t you?”

  “I suppose so, Walter.”

  He stared at her. Nora was usually so enthusiastic and eager to talk. All afternoon she’d been taciturn and standoffish. He decided to try another approach.

  “I’m hot and thirsty,” he said. “Let’s go get something.”

  They walked together to the Flamingo Café.

  “What will it be?” asked Walter, looking up at the menu board.

  “I’ll have ice cream,” answered Nora. “Chocolate. I’ll wait at that picnic table.”

  When he brought the refreshments over, Walter blurted out, “Okay, Nora, what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.”

  He sat on the wooden bench. “Please don’t say ‘Nothing.’ You’ve barely said a word to me all day.”

  Nora looked directly into his eyes. “All right, if you want to know the truth, I’m very worried, Walter.”

  “I knew it,” he said adamantly. “I knew that something was bothering you. What?”

  She spoke softly. “I don’t know if I can trust you, Walter. I’m afraid that you aren’t the man I thought you were.”

  He recoiled as if struck. “What do you mean?” he asked in disbelief.

  Nora stuck the plastic spoon into her ice cream and pushed the cup away. She crossed her arms and leaned forward. “When I heard at the condo meeting last night that blackmail was being used to get people to sell you their property, I felt sick to my stomach.”

  “But didn’t you also hear me say that I knew nothing about it?” he asked with urgency in his voice. “That was something Shelley cooked up all on her own. I didn’t have anything to do with it.”

  Nora shook her head slowly. “I know you, Walter. You’re very savvy. You didn’t become so successful by not being aware of what your employees were doing.”

  “Not this time, Nora. You have to believe me. I didn’t know.”

  Nora narrowed her eyes as she assessed him. “You swear you weren’t involved, that you didn’t condone it?”

  Walter took her hand. “These months with you have been the happiest I can ever remember. You have to know I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize our relationship. You mean too much to me.”

  Chapter 81

  The tropical-bird show starred Frosty, the high-wire-balancing, bicycling septuagenarian cockatoo who in his younger days had been on The Ed Sullivan Show. There was an African gray parrot with an ample vocabulary and a very evil laugh. One by one, all kinds of different gorgeous birds were brought out by the trainer, who put them through their paces and explained their habits and habitats. The crowd in the amphitheater oohed, aahed, and applauded with enthusiasm.

  “These beautiful and very smart birds have been rescued or donated,” explained the trainer as he stood on the stage with a jewel-toned parrot on his arm. “In fact, many of the animals here at Sarasota Jungle Gardens had been abused, injured, or rescued from inhumane conditions before they came to us. Some outgrew or outlived their owners. All of them are checked out by our vets, inoculated, and put on special diets. They will have sanctuary here for the rest of their lives.”

  At the end of the show, the trainer invited the audience to come to the stage for a closer look at the birds. Piper grabbed her iPhone from her purse and hurried down the steps, joining the others who had gathered around. As she snapped pictures, her attention was focused on the birds. She had no inkling that a man was dropping something into the purse she’d left on the floor beside her seat.

  Chapter 82

  Isaac drove to his spot in the employee parking area on the southern side of the inn. He saw a young woman in a blue dress and a white bonnet sitting on a trike near the kitchen entrance. He was stunned when he recognized Miriam.

  She straightened when she saw Isaac, got off the trike, and ran to her estranged uncle.

  “I am so sorry,” she whispered as she hugged him.

  “Me, too,” said Isaac, holding on to her tightly. He was caught off guard by Miriam’s sudden affection. “I can’t believe Levi’s gone.”

  Miriam pulled away a bit and looked into Isaac’s face. “Yes, I am heartbroken about Levi. But it is only now that I understand how horrible it was for you when you left. I am sorry for what you have been put through, Uncle Isaac. What I and everyone else did to you. I never fully realized how painful it was to be shunned, to know that everyone was judging you and disapproving of you and ganging up on you. Just like they are doing to Levi now. I cannot stand what they are saying about him in Pinecraft.”

  Isaac nodded. “I really appreciate that, Miriam. But for me all that is ancient history. I have another life now, and I never miss the Plain ways. I guess you don’t fully get over being ostracized, but mostly I just wished the people I cared about could be part of my life. Your brother was the only one who dared.”

  “I know,” said Miriam, sniffling. “Levi was such a good person. I could tell he was struggling with something earlier this week. I just assumed it was rumspringa and that he wanted to leave us.”

  Isaac put his hand up in protest. “Wait, Miriam. I may not be Amish anymore, but I never tried to influence him to leave.”

  Miriam brushed a tear off her cheek. “I know that now. Levi did not kill himself because he did not want to be Amish. He killed himself because . . .” Miriam began to sob uncontrollably.

  “What, Miriam? What is it?” asked Isaac.

  After a few minutes, Miriam gained control of herself and reached into her apron pocket. “I want you to hold on to this,” she said.

  Isaac took a folded paper from her.

  “It is Levi’s note,” she said as he opened it.

  The handwriting on the lined paper was clear and meticulous, as if Levi didn’t want there to be any possibility of doubt that anything would be misread or misinterpreted. There was no salutation.

  I KILLED SHELLEY HART AND I CANNOT LIVE WITH THE GUILT.

  IT IS BETTER FOR EVERYONE IF I LEAVE THIS WORLD.

  Isaac looked up from the page. He said nothing.

  “I do not want Levi’s memory tarnished or my parents to be mortified any further,” said Miriam. “Bad enough their son took his own life, but to find out he was a murderer? How could they survive that? I want you to hold on to it, Uncle Isaac. I want to be able to truthfully say I do not have it.”

  “Yes, you should be kept out of it, Miriam. Levi would want it that way.”

  As he folded the note and put it into his pocket, Isaac wasn’t sure what he was going to do with it. But for the first time since he’d left the Amish world behind, he started weeping.

  Chapter 83

  The Gulf of Mexico beckoned invitingly as Piper stood with her parents on the Whispering Sands patio. It had been a long day, what with getting up early to bake the cake, spending the afternoon in the heat at Jungle Gardens, and, most of all, hearing about Levi’s suicide and the murder of the waitress who seemed to be somehow tied
to Shelley’s death.

  “Want to go for a little swim with me?” Piper asked her parents.

  “I don’t think so, sweetheart,” said Terri. “I just want to go to our room and relax for a while.”

  “Me, too,” said Vin. “But you really shouldn’t go into the water now, Piper. It’s feeding time, and you have that cut on your leg. Sharks are attracted to blood.”

  “Dad. Seriously. Sharks?”

  “They’re out there, Piper.”

  “I haven’t heard of any shark attacks on Siesta Beach.”

  “You can’t be too careful.”

  “Really? I didn’t know that,” Piper quipped. When she saw her father’s brow furrow, she softened. “I’ll be careful, Dad. I promise.”

  She walked them to their room and then traveled on to the end of the long hallway. When she got to her door, Piper opened her purse. Reaching in for the room’s key card, she felt something cool and slimy. She immediately pulled out her hand.

  “What the . . . ?”

  Piper yanked the sides of the bag apart and stared in at the contents. Two beady little eyes stared up at her. Instantly she dropped the purse on the floor and retreated several steps. Her heart pounded as she waited to see if whatever was in there came out.

  She detected no movement. Piper inched forward and finally got up the courage to reach down and pick up the purse. She held it out from her body as she turned it upside down and emptied its contents on the floor. Her wallet, brush, tissues, lip gloss, and key card came tumbling out. Some dark reptilian creature with a long notched tail plopped down on top of the pile.

  “Ugh!” She grimaced, drawing back again. “What is that?”

  She peered long and hard, eventually realizing that not only was the creature not moving, it was not alive at all. It was a rubber alligator, a toy.

  Piper shook her head, wondering who would think that this was funny and trying to figure out when the alligator could have been put in her purse.

  Hilarious.

  She picked up the toy, marveling at how lifelike it looked. The skin even felt similar to that of the little alligator she’d held at Jungle Gardens that afternoon. But unlike the living reptile, which had had its snout taped shut, the replica’s mouth could be opened.

  There was something at the back of its throat!

  Piper reached in and pulled it out. A piece of paper had been wadded into a little ball and stuffed in the alligator’s jaws.

  Withdrawing the crumpled ball, Piper flattened out the paper and stared at the word written in jagged, angry-looking script. PIPER.

  Chapter 84

  The server placed a gin and tonic on the table in front of Kathy and a beer in front of Dan. The couple held hands as they sat in the outdoor seating area at Marina Jack’s and gazed at the red-tinged sky.

  “It looks like it’s going to be a beautiful sunset tonight,” said Dan. “And we’re supposed to have great days tomorrow and Saturday. Our wedding day is going to be perfect, Kath.”

  “I’m glad Piper got a ride back to Whispering Sands with her parents,” said Kathy. “It gives us a chance to talk.”

  He looked at her, sensing by her tone that she was about to discuss something serious. Dan took a swallow of beer and waited.

  “Dan, do you think we should go ahead with the wedding right now?”

  Dan leaned forward, his dark eyes opened wide. “What do you mean? Everything is all set. People have traveled from miles away to get here. We’ve been planning it for months.”

  “That was before Shelley.” Kathy took a sip of her drink. “And before Levi and Roz.”

  “Oh, yeah, and let’s not forget the waitress at Alligator Alley,” Dan said sarcastically. “Hold on a minute, let me call the sheriff and see if there’s any new development that could make us cancel the most important day in our lives.”

  “Don’t be angry.”

  Dan dropped her hand and hit the table with his fist. “Damn it, Kathy. I am angry. I’m furious that all this is going on just as our wedding is about to happen. But I was thinking, in spite of it all, that you’d still want to get married.”

  Kathy flinched. “I do,” she said softly. “It’s just not the way I wanted it to happen.”

  “So now what? We call it off because a few things haven’t gone our way?”

  “A few things, Dan?”

  Dan took a deep breath and tried to compose himself. “Look, sweetheart,” he said, clasping her hand again and looking into her brown eyes. “Sometimes the tragic and unexpected will happen. The most important thing is that we love each other, Kathy. I feel pretty confident that we’ll have lots of happiness along the road, but our love can see us through the worst times. I guess this is our first test.”

  Chapter 85

  The air was cooling down, and a gentle breeze was flowing in from the Gulf. Piper spread her towel on the sand and adjusted the top of her bikini. As she stuck her foot in the water, she wondered if she really wanted to take a swim after all.

  Then she thought of that Katharine Hepburn bio she’d read. Apparently Hepburn really enjoyed swimming in frigid temperatures almost daily. She also took cold baths at night.

  If Kate could take the Long Island Sound in March, I can do the Gulf of Mexico in February, Piper thought.

  Bracing herself, she made her way into the surf. She inhaled deeply and dove beneath an incoming wave.

  The initial shock was jolting. She winced as the salt water hit the cut on her leg. But as her body quickly adjusted to the water temperature, Piper felt better. An invigorating swim was what she needed to melt away the stress of the day.

  She took long strokes, swimming parallel to the beach. When she began to feel uneasy at how far she was from Whispering Sands and the possibility of anyone’s seeing her if she got into trouble, she turned around and swam back toward the inn. She kicked harder, knowing that she hadn’t exercised all week and had been eating way too much sugar.

  Thoughts raced in her mind, one after another.

  The Amish pies.

  Levi.

  Shelley.

  The waitress.

  Three people dead.

  And an elderly woman attacked. Why? Because she knew too much?

  Flipping over, Piper floated on her back, staring up at the darkening sky. Who had stuck the alligator into her bag? She tried to remember. The only time she’d been parted from the purse was at the bird show when she went down to take pictures. If the creepy toy had been placed in it then, it meant that someone with them in the park this afternoon had done it. Had someone felt that Piper needed to be scared off? Could that person be Shelley Hart’s killer?

  If the alligator was supposed to be a warning of some kind, the threat was accomplishing just the opposite of what was intended. Piper got out of the water feeling emboldened and defiant. She was going to go to the Alligator Alley Bar & Grill and see what she could find out.

  There was a problem, though. She needed a car but didn’t dare tell her parents her destination. They would go out of their minds.

  Piper dried off, knowing exactly which person she was going to call. It surprised her.

  Chapter 86

  What’s the matter?” asked Terri. “Don’t you like your shrimp?”

  “It’s fine,” said Piper.

  “Then why aren’t you eating it?” asked Vin as he reached over to Piper’s plate, speared a shrimp with his fork and popped it into his mouth.

  “Vin, your cholesterol,” Terri warned.

  “Yeah, but it’s low in fat and a good source of omega-3s.” Vin smiled with satisfaction.

  Piper couldn’t wait for dinner to be over. She appeared to be listening to her parents’ chatter about Jungle Gardens, but her mind was elsewhere. There was no way she was going to tell them about the warning she’d found in her purse.

&nb
sp; When the conversation turned to the wedding, her father mentioned, once again, how wrong it was that Kathy and Dan were getting married by a justice of the peace.

  Piper finally spoke. “They asked the priest,” she said. “But he wouldn’t perform the ceremony on the beach.”

  “So what’s more important?” asked Vin. “Getting married on the beach or getting married in God’s house by God’s minister on earth?”

  “I think God will be fine with it either way,” said Piper.

  “Yeah? Then why is all this crap happening?” asked Vin. “Ever think God is trying to register his disapproval?”

  “Um . . . am I on camera?” she asked. “That’s completely ridiculous, Dad.”

  “Is it? I wonder.”

  “What happened to your ‘totally random’ theory?” asked Piper. “Just the other night, you were saying that Kathy and Dan’s meeting on the turtle-nesting beach was a totally random event. When I said it was fated, you scoffed.”

  “That was different.”

  “Why?”

  Vin paused and then shrugged as he answered. “Because I said so.”

  What are we going to do now?” asked Terri as they left the restaurant. “Want to catch a movie?”

  “You guys go,” said Piper. “I’m really tired. Would you just drop me off at the inn?”

  When she returned to her room, she hurriedly changed into jeans and a striped sweater. While she waited for the call signaling that her ride had arrived, she studied the crumpled piece of paper with her name on it. She was speculating on the writer’s identity when her cell phone sounded. She rolled up the paper, stuck it back in the alligator’s mouth, tossed the toy reptile on the bed, and hurried out the door.

  Brad O’Hara’s car was the same dark, dirty mess it had been when he drove Piper to the doctor’s office the day before. There were fast-food wrappers strewn about. Empty water bottles and used paper coffee cups were scattered on the floor. The windshield was streaked with dirt, save for the crescents cleared by the wipers.