by Kait Carson
Holding the address propped in front of her on the steering wheel, Hayden identified Elena’s house as the two-story home built up on stilts. Hurricane Georges’ hit the area pretty hard back in the late 1990s. A lot of homes were lost, especially this close to the ocean. The rebuilds were all on stilts so they could qualify for hurricane insurance. The lower levels used for parking, storage, and sometimes illegal guest quarters.
“Holy guacamole, that’s some house,” Hayden said. The blue and white home seemed to extend back almost to the lagoon edge. There was a built-up area she saw from the driveway that held what looked to be a swimming pool. The lot to the east held nothing but closely clipped grass and some palm trees. The lot size was big, at least ten thousand square feet. Something should have been on it, or maybe had been prior to Georges. Next to the empty lot loomed a house identical to the one Hayden stood in front of now, except it was green and white. Obviously, the Andersons harbored desires of building a compound. Now that real estate prices in the Keys were so depressed in the wake of the foreclosure crisis, they might still pull it off.
She didn’t want to look at the house on the west. The Penmartin house.
“It won’t bite,” Mallory said as if reading her friend’s mind. “In fact, it looks like no one is home. I don’t see Kevin’s car. You can look, get it out of your system. It’s kind of pretty.”
Hayden forced herself to turn and look at the house. It must have escaped George’s wrath. The house sprawled over the lot mingling several Keys styles. Originally, it looked like it was a ranch house. Someone added a second story and two pointy eyebrow dormers. A roof deck extended out over the garage. On top of the dormers, a widow’s walk surrounded by a white fence perched precariously looking out over the lagoon. Sitting behind the house was what looked like a fifty foot Bertram. Blinding white and gorgeous in the afternoon sun. A dive flag hung limply from the mast. Unusual for a Bertram. They were more often rigged for fishing.
Dragging her gaze from her rival’s house, Hayden said, “Let’s go. I think Elena is expecting us.”
The woman must have been standing behind the door. Up close, Hayden noticed the ethereal quality some women get when they’re expecting. She looked like a natural blonde. Her skin was tan, though, and didn’t look like it would burn easily.
“My sister told me I should trust you. Talk to you. The children are at school. We can talk alone. Come, follow me into the kitchen, we’ll be comfortable there.”
“Mrs. Anderson.”
“No, Elena. Mrs. Anderson is my mother-in-law.” Elena’s mouth settled into an unattractive scowl.
“OK, Elena. I used to date your brother-in-law, Kevin.” Hayden wasn’t sure what Janice told her sister. She didn’t want there to be any false pretenses or expectations on Elena’s part. “That’s why Richard called me. To come get Kevin’s belongings, and to show me a boat he had for sale. I’m a paralegal—not the police—and I’m not sure what questions to ask you. Why do you think the police suspect you?”
“Police, no. I don’t know they suspect me. Oh, maybe, because I’m the wife and because Richard, well, sometimes he would...” Elena looked down at the little bump in her lap and plucked her skirt with her fingers. She looked back at Hayden and then to Mallory. Her blue green eyes were saucer-sized, and shiny with unshed tears. “Get a little out of hand.” She finished.
“Did he hit you?” Mallory asked gently.
Hayden was relieved Mallory was willing to take over the questioning. This was more her area of expertise.
Elena looked Mallory directly in the face. “Yes. Sometimes he did. We fought a lot. I think he must have complained to his parents, they want to kick me out of the house. Let me get some coffee.” Elena rose and walked to the cupboard and took down three mugs. Carrying them in one hand, she went to the coffee pot and proceeded to fill all three. “Cream, sugar?”
“What did you do before you were married?” Hayden asked.
“Waitress.” Elena smiled. “The three mugs gave me away?”
“Why would they want to throw their grandchildren out? Especially their unborn grandchild?” Hayden voiced the question that had nagged at her since Grant told her about the Anderson’s plans.
Coloring deeply, Elena said “They don’t like their...what they call brown grandchildren. They don’t like me because I’m Cuban. And maybe because of the waitress thing, a little. Richard came home one night. I don’t know where he went. He came back with the boat. It was late. He was upset. He came into the bed and well...” She waved her hand back and forth, blushing deeply. Finally she said, “He took me. Things had been bad for a long time. It was the first time in a long time and the last time ever. That’s how I got this little baby, the one I’m carrying. He said the baby wasn’t his. I don’t know if he told his parents that too. I wanted to leave but I didn’t know where to go. It was bad between us. I loved him though.”
Hayden looked at Mallory and shrugged slightly. This line of questioning was getting them nowhere. She had motive. But could she kill her husband, even accidentally, and be so calm about it?
“I had a restraining order. Janice made me get it. She was right. That cop, the one we saw on the ocean. He must have found out about that.”
“What cop?” Mallory asked quickly before Elena got off on a tangent and Hayden forgot. “Who did you see? Was it when you and Richard were on a boat?”
“No, when I went with Janice on her patrol boat. We went out to where you found Richard. I was miserable. I brought flowers to toss on the site.”
“Who saw you?” Hayden asked. Elena should never have been in Janice’s boat. The FWC forbade civilians on board, unless they were in trouble or under arrest. Even Hayden knew that. No wonder Elena was reluctant to discuss how the police associated her with the murder.
“Janice called him Paul. We tied on to his boat. Janice didn’t know it was him when we tied on. It was just another boat out on the water, no markings. We tied on while I scattered the flowers. He came up from his dive. He saw us. You won’t tell, will you? I don’t want Janice in trouble. This is my trouble. I begged her.”
“Why?”
“Why don’t tell? I don’t understand.”
Hayden got up from the table and walked to the window, the sound of diesel engines starting attracted her attention. The big white Bertram next door belched exhaust.
“No, why did you go out with him that night? You went in the boat, didn’t you?”
Elena nodded. “The night he died, I decided I had to prove to him the baby was his. I wanted to make my marriage work. He was going out on his boat. I asked him to take me. He didn’t want to. Finally, he did. It was a mistake.”
Her voice broke and she inhaled deeply. She rose and walked to the refrigerator and poured herself an orange juice. When she sat at the table, she plucked a paper napkin from a holder made of Popsicle sticks and folded the napkin into a fan.
Hayden moved from her place at the window and placed a hand on Elena’s shoulder. “I can only guess how hard this must be for you. But if you don’t help us, we can’t help you. Did you tell Janice Richard asked you to go fishing and you agreed?”
Elena looked up at Hayden, her eyes swimming with tears. “Yes. I lied. I was afraid what she would think if she knew I begged him.” She looked down at her hands and lifted her fingers one by one. Then she said, “Richard and I were out on the boat, we fought, he said he was leaving and I couldn’t keep him. We said a lot of awful things. He hit me. I fell and hit my head on something in the boat. I woke up on the dock. He’d put me in a chair. The boat was gone. Richard was gone and I never saw him again. If he died that night, it was my fault. I upset him. I wanted to put the flowers to say,” Elena shrugged a little, “to say I was sorry.”
Kneeling down in front of the woman, Hayden said, “Did you tell the man, Paul, about this?”
“No. I was trembling when he caught us. I told Janice, about the fight I mean, but I don’t know if he heard. He kept looking at me like he was measuring me for a dress. Janice was holding me and telling me it would be all right. I don’t remember everything that happened when he was there. I was upset.”
“If you were out cold, you couldn’t have killed your husband,” Mallory said.
Elena frantically plucked at the napkin she had so painstakingly folded. Hayden watched in fascination, fully expecting her to tear it into shreds. A quick glance at Mallory told her she was just as confused by the woman’s actions. So far, everything was pretty straightforward. She was a suspect because she was the wife. Albeit a pregnant one. That didn’t change the history of violence.
The color drained from Elena’s face and a light sweat broke out along her forehead. “I’m, I’m sorry. I feel a little…” The pregnant woman slumped forward. Hayden grabbed her just in time to keep her head from smashing into the table. Mallory jumped up to look for the telephone.
Hayden propped the woman back in the chair and went to the sink for water and a wet towel. The window faced the Penmartins’. Glancing out, she noticed a large silver car parked in the driveway and wished it was some kind of rescue vehicle. Bringing the water and a towel to the stricken woman, she began to wipe her forehead, neck and wrists. Elena moaned and stirred. “Stay quiet, we’re calling for an ambulance. Help will be here soon. Has this happened before? Have you had anything to eat?”
“No,” Elena moaned.
“Let me get you some...”
“No, no ambulance. I’m fine. I have to show you something. Help me out to the dock.”
“No way, Elena. You can’t go out in this heat right now. Stay here and let the paramedics check you. You won’t have to go with them if you don’t need to. Stay here.”
“No.” She pushed herself up from the table using what seemed to be the full strength of both her hands and arms. She swayed slightly when she gained her feet. Determined to go outside, Hayden took one arm and Mallory the other. They allowed Elena Anderson to lead them out to the dock.
“The water here is deep, at least thirty feet. They used to have sailboats here.” Elena shook both women off her arms and walked right to the end of the dock. Pointing down she said, “Look.”
Following her finger, the two women barely made out the top of a submerged boat.
Twenty-Eight
Hayden and Mallory stared at the boat lying deep beneath the murky water of the lagoon. Neither woman said anything. Hayden glanced up at the sound of approaching vehicles. Seeing the ambulance and a Monroe County Sheriff’s Office car, she took Elena’s arm and led her back to the house patio before the cars pulled up into the driveway. Mallory went around front to direct the paramedics to the backyard and the pregnant woman.
Elena gazed up into Hayden’s face. “So you see. I did it. Not you, me. And that cop, Paul, he knows it.”
“Elena, if you killed him, how did the boat get back here, and why do you think Paul knows? Do you know how to drive—” Hayden stopped talking as the gurney rounded the corner.
Two paramedics, both women, rushed to Elena’s side. One slapped a blood pressure cuff on her exposed arm. The other swiped her forehead with a contact thermometer, glanced at the readout and shone a light in her eyes. Neither spoke. As Hayden watched them, she thought they made their job look like a ballet.
“Tell us what happened. Did you feel lightheaded, did you see spots, and did you feel dizzy? Is this your first pregnancy? Has this happened before? What were you doing before you fainted? How do you feel now?”
Laughing at the barrage of questions, Elena said, “I always get this way. This is my third pregnancy. I stop driving after the second month. Things tunnel down and boom, I’m flat. These two young ladies were here, they called you while I was still out. I’m fine now, really. If they hadn’t called you while I was out, I wouldn’t have let them call you. I’m fine. I’ll go lay down for a while and I’ll be even better. This will pass by the fourth month. Then I’ll be right as rain.”
“Mrs. Anderson?” The paramedic looked up to see Elena nod. “I’m sorry. I know you just lost your husband. Have you seen your doctor?”
“Yes, he suggests I go on as normally as possible. I have two other children to think of too.”
“Your vital signs are normal now. If this is usual for your pregnancies, and if you’re sure you don’t want us to take you to the hospital...”
Elena shook her head in reply.
“Then please sign this release and we’ll be on our way. If you feel faint again, call us.”
Hayden escorted the paramedics to the front of the house. As she turned to come back, she noticed the Penmartins’ driveway was empty. She searched her memory for the sound of an engine starting. She couldn’t decide if she’d heard one or not immediately after the paramedics arrived. Now the excitement was over, she realized the boat engine was also silent.
Mallory met Hayden as she rounded the corner of the house. “Wow. Now what? Do we tell her sister, the police, or the Coast Guard?”
“Or nobody?” Hayden asked as she saw Elena come up behind Mallory.
“I’m very tired now. If you don’t mind, I’d like to get some rest.”
“We understand, but one question,” Hayden said. “Do you know how to drive a boat?”
“I never have. I never liked them. In fact, I’m a little afraid of them. It looks like I managed though. How else could it be there? I know to turn the little copper things and make it sink. That I know. Maybe I knew enough to drive it here. Maybe I did what they think I did. I’ll tell you this though. No. Never mind. I’m tired. Thank you for coming.” She turned and walked back to the house.
“Elena, wait,” Hayden called out.
The woman turned and looked back over her shoulder, her face creased with tiredness.
“How do you know it’s Richard’s boat down there?”
“Where else would it be, Hayden? No one knows where it is, and I have a sunken boat at my dock.” Elena continued her slow walk to her door.
“Did you see a silver car next door?” Hayden asked Mallory. “Looked like a Crown Vic. Like the one in front of my house this morning.”
“Hayden.”
“No, seriously. Did you see a car next door?”
“Nope, but I thought I heard one start up after the paramedics got here, just after the boat engine went quiet. I wondered because I didn’t see anyone leave the boat, even though we were in the backyard. Who knows, probably a cleaning person at the house.”
Mallory stood outside Hayden’s Tahoe and waited for the air conditioner to take the worst of the heat out. “You’d think they’d invent something that would do this automatically. Finger your remote, the alarm goes off, the doors unlock and the car cooler takes down the heat.” She grimaced as she touched the dash. “Nope, still too hot.”
“OK, girl, now you’ve figured out how to make a million dollars, I want a piece of the action when you patent it.”
Mallory stuck her tongue out and climbed up on the running board.
“This will get you off the hook, Hayden. We need to tell someone.”
“Do you think she’s crazy?”
“No. Why?”
“This is turning into a double blackout murder. What are the odds the two likely suspects blacked out on the same night?”
Mallory chewed her lower lip. “I missed the implications of that. Coincidence? Unless Janice told her, she couldn’t know about your blackout. What do you think of her story?”
“I don’t think she did it. I think she’s being set up too.”
“Great, let the police prove that. What’s wrong with you? And what are you intending to tell Janice?”
“Mallory, something’s not righ
t. Okay, they had a lousy marriage. He beat her and was going to divorce her or she him. I think it happened exactly the way she said. I don’t think she killed him. We don’t know if that’s his boat down there and we don’t know if the boat down there is recent. Georges could have pushed it up under the dock. There’s enough clearance for them to park two Makos, one on top of the other and still have that boat down there. If she hates boats the way she says, she probably didn’t spend much time on the dock and no time inspecting what was under it. No. Something else happened.”
“What are you thinking of doing?”
“Diving the Humboldt. Then I’m thinking of having you call the Coast Guard, say you’re getting information for my case and ask to see their investigation file. Think they’ll bite?”
“No, but I’ll try. Don’t forget my tanks.”
Twenty-Nine
“You girls sure you want to do this today?” Cappy pointed over his shoulder with his chin. “That sky is looking a bit low. I think we’re gettin’ some weather. You two may get bounced around some.”
“You up for jumping the buoy in seas? It’s too darn hard to hook it on a day like today any other way,” Mallory said.
“Yeah, this old man will do that for you but I want you to know what you’re up against. It’s liable to be six foot rollers if this storm keeps approaching. I think we’ll be back before it hits though.”
“Back? You mean we’re just doing one dive?” Hayden put her hand to her heart pretending she couldn’t stand the thought of only having one dive.
“You want a second one, you’ll get a second one. We’ll see how you feel after the first. We should have the place to ourselves. At least I have your tanks all set up and good to go.” He pointed to the four tanks secured by the bungees lining the side of the boat. “I picked them up this morning since Seahorse said they were through hydro, so they’ve been inspected for another year. I was going to drop them off for you tonight, save you a trip on the weekend. Mal, I’ve set two of mine up for you. No charge.”