Tequila for Two: An Althea Rose Mystery (The Althea Rose Series Book 2)

by Tricia O'Malley

  “You think it’s a setup,” Beau said.

  I shrugged. “Could be. I don’t know. I will say that, in my brief time around Horace, he’s ordered me around and tried to steal power from me, both of which I do not like, so you pretty much know where he stands with me.”

  “So what now?” Beau asked.

  “Tomorrow night we go back to the beach.” I shrugged as Miss Elva and Luna both gaped at me. “What? We have nothing else to go on. Might as well get a feel for it,” I said.

  “Why not tonight?”

  “I’ve reached my limit of crazy for the night. It’s a full moon, and we’ve had enough shit go down. I want my pajamas, a glass of wine, Hank, and a good night’s sleep before I drown Sienna in the morning.”

  “Girl, you’d better get your jealousy in check real quick. Sienna isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and you know it,” Beau called.

  Didn’t I just.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  AFTER A VERY disgruntled night of sleep – even Hank got annoyed with my tossing and turning and eventually hopped from my bed to go sleep on his own – I glared at my phone when it blared the alarm.

  Cash hadn’t called last night, which had annoyed me even more. I’d been studiously working on not being a clingy girlfriend, so I hadn’t texted him either. Let him wonder just what I was up to.

  Hank seemed to sense my crankiness, and he tilted his head at me as he pawed to get up on the bed.

  “Sorry, buddy,” I said, reaching down to pull him up onto the bed for a quick snuggle.

  Nothing makes you feel better in the morning than sweet puppy snuggles. Feeling marginally better, I got up and took a quick rinse in the shower to clear my head, and shaved all the pertinent spots. The thought of Sienna in her neon bikini stopped my hand when I went to pull my usual dive swimsuit out of the drawer. Typically I wore a pretty skimpy swimsuit that fit easily under my skin wetsuit for diving. My hand hovered over my bikini as doubts flooded in about being directly compared to Sienna’s svelte figure.

  Annoyed with myself for feeling insecure, I grabbed my bikini anyway. Just because I had a few extra pounds on my body didn’t mean I wasn’t gorgeous. Wondering why I couldn’t channel Miss Elva’s confidence, I slipped the suit on and pulled a simple tank dress cover-up over it.

  “Let’s get you breakfast,” I said to Hank and he snorted in agreement as he raced down the steps in front of me, his little body wriggling in joy for his most favorite part of the day.

  “Sit,” I ordered, standing above his bowl with a scoop of food in my hand. Hank sat obediently.

  “Good boy. Now, moonwalk.”

  Hank crouched and then lifting one paw high, he began to move backwards slowly, alternating which paw he lifted high.

  “Yes!” I shouted and Hank responded to my excitement with a howl as he whipped his little body in circles.

  Okay, we might have been a little over-excited, but we’d been working on moonwalk for a while.

  Upon further reflection, maybe it’s better that I stay single, I thought as I poured myself a quick cup of coffee from the pot I’d set on timer the night before.

  Sliding the back door open, I packed my dive bag as Hank did his business. I was still feeling somewhat cranky from lack of sleep, but I was also worried about what was going to happen next with the murderer. My thoughts flashed back to the scene at the festival last night. I wondered what had happened to Horace, and whether the crowd of people had kicked him out last night or if the crowd had welcomed him back into the fold?

  My phone buzzed with an incoming text.

  “I checked on Miss Elva. Nothing eventful through the night. Rafe stayed up and watched. I’m safe too. You?”

  I loved Luna. She was so pragmatic, always thinking ahead.

  “All good. Will text you after diving. You know. To let you know that I didn’t kill Sienna.”

  “Please don’t. I wanted to get a pedicure today, not deal with you and the cops.”

  “Fine, fine, fiiiiine.” I texted back, laughing as I locked up my house and reached in the drawer for a squeaky toy for Hank.

  “Ohh, a lobster today. Rock lobsta!” I sang, like the dork that I am, then threw the lobster across the room as I made my way out the front the door.

  Hopping on my beach cruiser, I pedaled my way through the streets, which were quiet this early in the morning. Deciding to cruise past Miss Elva’s house, I turned on her street, biking slowly as I approached her house, enjoying the light breeze on my face.

  I saw Rafe sitting on the front porch, almost as if he was waiting for me.

  “Hey Rafe,” I said quietly, looking around to make sure nobody else was on their front porches. I didn’t want to look like a crazy person talking to myself.

  “Miss Elva wanted me to wait for you,” Rafe said by way of greeting.

  “Oh great. What now, and where is she?”

  “My queen needs her beauty sleep,” Rafe explained.

  “Go on,” I gestured to Rafe.

  “She wanted me to give you this,” Rafe said, pointing at a small pouch that sat next to him on the railing. I immediately raised my hands and shook my head, as fear crept down my spine.

  “Last time she had me carry a pouch, I got kidnapped.”

  “From what I understand, the pouch is what saved you,” Rafe argued back.

  Well, shit. The ghost had a point.

  “I don’t like this, Rafe,” I said, leaving my bike and going up the railing to pick up the small leather pouch. I could feel the power humming from it and could only imagine what Miss Elva had put in it.

  “She was up late working on this. She said wait until the dark to use it. You’ll know when,” Rafe shrugged.

  “This just made my day a whole lot worse,” I grumbled, picking up the pouch and carefully putting it into the pocket of my dive bag.

  “At least you have protection,” Rafe pointed out.

  “Yeah, but from what? That’s what I’m worried about.”

  “Maybe from a shark,” Rafe said, and I slid a glance at him as I got on my bike.

  “Nice to see your sense of humor is intact,” I said, waving goodbye as I continued on my way to the wharf.

  A shark was the last thing I was worried about.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  I COULDN’T HELP it – I cringed when I walked down the floating dock, waving at the fisherman stocking their boats with bait, as I got to the end and saw Sienna kissing Trace.

  Gauntlet thrown, Sienna, gauntlet thrown.

  Now I was glad I’d worn my skimpy bikini. Let’s show this stick of a girl what a real woman looks like, I thought uncharitably as I cleared my throat loudly before hopping onto Trace’s dive boat.

  “Oh, hey Althea,” Sienna said sweetly, and I smiled brightly at her. I wondered what she would do if I walked over and wrapped my arms around Trace and pulled him in for a big kiss.

  My thoughts must have shown on my face because Trace’s eyes narrowed at the corners and he shook his head slightly at me.

  “Hey, Sienna,” I said, moving past her to put my bag on a bench at the back. Without really thinking about it, I began to go through our morning routine. I unpacked my bag and hooked my regulator up to my tank, threading the regulator hoses through my BCD. When Trace started the boat’s engines, I walked to the front and hopped onto the dock, crouching to unravel the rope from where it wound around the hook on the dock. As Trace reversed slowly, I held the rope and walked towards the end of the dock, jumping easily back onto the boat at the last minute. Sienna watched all of this carefully, her eyes darting between Trace and me, and I knew she was assessing our established relationship patterns.

  “Where are we going today?” I asked, stopping on my way from the front of the boat back towards where my stuff lay on a bench. Trace stood at the wheel, motoring us from the channel that would feed us out into the ocean.

  “I was thinking just out to Shipwreck Reef,” Trace said sheepishly and I tilted my head at
him.

  “If you’re just going to take us to a snorkeling spot, I could’ve stayed home,” I said, annoyed that I’d gotten up to go on a shallow water dive.

  “But he said it would be a good spot for me to do my check-out dive,” Sienna said, looking back and forth between us.

  “You know I can’t take her where we usually go. That’s a little too advanced for her,” Trace said, pleading with me to be nice.

  “Just how often do you guys really go diving?” Sienna asked, her tone annoyed.

  “Twice a week, usually,” I said, smiling at her.

  “Really? I didn’t know that,” Sienna said, her eyes on Trace. He just shrugged.

  “It’s nice to get out early before my day fills up with clients. I like to have a little peace in the water,” Trace explained.

  “With her,” Sienna asked pointedly.

  “Yes, with me. I have thousands of dives under my belt and I’m also an accomplished underwater photographer. Trace doesn’t have to worry about me in the water like he would with you,” I said, not softening the sting in my words.

  “Well, then I’ll just have to catch up, won’t I?” Sienna said, raising an eyebrow at me and standing her ground.

  “You do that,” I muttered as I finished checking my gear over and pulled my camera from its case. Shipwreck Reef was only a short ride away and I could already see the buoy marker bobbing in the water ahead of us. Pulling my dress over my head, I tucked it into my bag and walked to the front of the boat, not caring that both Sienna and Trace watched me in my little bikini.

  The sun was already warm against my skin, even this early in the day. The wind was kicking up a bit from the west, and I wondered if we’d have any hurricanes coming our way this season. The large white ball of a buoy bobbed on shimmering aquamarine water, signaling that the reef was close and that the depth was shallow.

  Oh well. Maybe I’d get some good macro shots while Trace dealt with Sienna.

  I hooked the buoy line to the boat and then moved past Sienna, not caring that she was watching my every move. At this point, she should have been paying attention to how Trace was hooking up her gear instead of worrying about what I was doing. I slid into my skin wetsuit, pulling it all the way up and leaving the back loose.

  “Can you zip me?” I asked sweetly, turning my back to Trace. Trace zipped me so quickly he almost caught my skin, and I shot a glare over my shoulder at him.

  “I know this reef pretty well, so I’ll just let you two do your thing.”

  Sitting down on the bench, I slid my arms into the BCD vest and worked my straps closed, watching as Sienna slid her neon-clad body into a wetsuit, smiling up at Trace as he zipped her.

  Damn it. They were cute together.

  But I would never do this again, I decided, standing hunched over from the weight of the tank on my back.

  “Shit, Thea, let me help,” Trace said, rushing to my side to assist with the heavy tank.

  “It’s fine,” I said, crouching down until I sat at the loading platform. Trace stayed silent as he handed me my fins. Attaching both to my feet, I slid my mask over my face and tested my regulator, checking my dive computer one more time to make sure that I had full air.

  “Ready?” Trace asked.

  “Yup.”

  I stood with Trace’s help and stepped to the edge of the platform. I could hear Trace lecturing Sienna behind me as I held my regulator and mask to my face with one hand, and my underwater camera in the other. I waited until the boat dipped low and then took a giant stride into the water, briefly going under the surface and then bobbing to the top, buoyant from the air I had filled my BCD vest with. Turning, I flashed Trace the OK sign.

  “See, Sienna? That was a giant stride entry. And did you see how she immediately flashed me the okay sign? You want to be in constant communication with your dive buddies.”

  I turned my head away from the boat, unable to watch Sienna running her hands up Trace’s chest as he talked to her like she was a baby. Letting the air out of my BCD, I began my descent.

  Into my happy place.

  There’s nothing quite like diving to take your mind off of anything going wrong in your world, I thought as I made it to the bottom fairly quickly. Checking my dive computer I saw that I was only at 43 feet of depth, and I rolled my eyes. Luckily, this reef was a healthy one so I adjusted my camera to set up for macro shots, knowing I’d have time to get up close and personal with some of the smaller marine lifeforms that hung out under ledges.

  I was having some fun taking pictures of a grouper in a cleaning station under a ledge when I heard a scream tear through the water.

  Whipping around, I saw Trace forcibly holding the regulator to Sienna’s mouth as she screamed into it, bubbles all but free flowing around her head. Her body jerked back and forth as she flailed her arms, pointing off in the distance as Trace tried to calm her down.

  Rolling onto my back, I looked to see what the fuss was about.

  I was rewarded with the sight of a black-tipped reef shark in the distance, and I almost choked with laughter. The more Sienna struggled and flailed about in the water, the more she was going to look like a distressed fish. And you know what sharks like to eat?

  Injured fish.

  Smiling to myself, I kicked closer to the shark, adjusting my settings on my camera for a wide-angle shot. Holding the camera up, I took picture after picture as the shark swerved its way closer, curious to see what all the fuss was about.

  I almost doubled over in laughter when Sienna’s fin caught Trace between the legs and I saw him reach to cup himself. He grabbed between his legs and I could see his eyes wincing in pain behind his mask.

  I bet he wished he’d dived with just me this morning, I thought, smiling at him with my eyes as he pulled Sienna back to the boat, forcing her to hover for a safety stop while she kicked in panicked circles.

  The shark soon grew bored and moseyed off, and I saluted it silently for giving me one of the best laughs I’d had in a long time.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  ON THE WAY back in, Sienna shot me dirty looks while she swallowed down the residual sobs that still shuddered through her.

  “You know, reef sharks aren’t all that dangerous,” I offered, unwrapping a granola bar as the boat bounced through the waves.

  “It’s a shark. You promised there wouldn’t be sharks,” Sienna shot a glare at Trace, her towel wrapped tightly around her shoulders.

  “Well, Sienna, he really can’t control that. It’s the ocean. That’s where the sharks live. As well as the whales, the stingrays, and the moray eels. I mean, that’s their home. What were you expecting when you went in the ocean?”

  “I don’t know. I just thought I’d see a turtle or like a clown fish, like Nemo,” Sienna said, swiping a fist across her eyes.

  “Clown fish aren’t even found here…” I trailed off as Trace shook his head at me. He didn’t want me to talk sense into her? Fine, he could deal with it himself then.

  I busied myself with rinsing my camera equipment in the freshwater bin, secretly hoping I’d gotten the shot of Sienna nailing Trace with her fin between his legs. That one might be a framer, I thought with a wicked smile as I packed up and unhooked my regulators.

  “Looks like we got company,” Trace said grumpily as he slowed the boat’s approach to the dock. My head snapped up at his tone and I turned, shading my eyes as I saw who was standing waiting for me at the dock.

  “Cash!” I might have squealed a bit.

  Trace shot a disgusted glance at me.

  “That guy.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  ALL MY NASTY thoughts about Trace and Sienna left my head as I drank in the sight of Cash standing next to another man on the dock. He looked good, like someone I wanted to climb all over, but I reined my libido in as I waved at him.

  Cash waved back, his teeth flashing white against his tan skin, his dark hair cropped close to his head. Though aviators shielded his eyes from the
sun, I knew them to be a crystal-clear grey. At over six feet tall and with enough muscles to make any red-blooded woman drool, he all but turned me to putty when he was around.

  I grinned at him foolishly as I waited for Trace to dock the boat, tossing Cash the line so he could tie us up.

  “Who’s that?” Sienna asked.

  “My boyfriend,” I said, watching as her eyes widened a bit as she swept her eyes over Cash.

  I mean, it wasn’t like Trace wasn’t something to look at either. But just because you’re on a diet doesn’t mean you can’t look at the menu, right?

  I hopped off the boat, stumbling a bit as the dock dipped when I landed. Cash caught me.

  “Hey,” I said, grinning a little too widely as I looked up at him. Sure, I probably looked a mess with my hair wild from the salt water and mask marks on my face, but I didn’t care. I was just happy to have Cash in front of me.

  “Hey yourself,” he said, before dipping his head and sliding a kiss across my lips. He tasted good, like sunshine and sin, and I leaned into him for just a moment, his very essence threatening to pull me under.

  “Geez, guys, get a room,” Trace called, pulling me from my moment.

  Really, Trace?

  I turned and shot him a glare, one hand on my hip. I’d refrained from saying anything when Sienna had been practically crawling all over him all day, and he’s going to interrupt my one hello kiss? Please.

  I opened my mouth to say something, but Cash pulled me back to him, brushing another kiss across my lips while he pulled me closer into his body before raising his head to look at Trace.

  “Nice to see you as always, Trace,” Cash called, the warm timbre of his voice echoing against my ear pressed to his chest. There was something about Cash that made me feel all dainty and feminine, when actually I was far from being either of those things.

  Trace just nodded at him before turning to Sienna. I pulled back and smiled stupidly up at Cash.

  “I wasn’t expecting you so early,” I gushed, not wanting to sound like I was gushing, but unable to conceal how excited I was to see him.