Pier Pressure: A fun and fast-paced private investigator cozy mystery/beach read (Maggie PI Mysteries Book 4)

by Rose Pressey

  His gaze remained focused on the darkness outside. “She’s a big girl, she can handle herself.”

  “Are you sure? It’s been a long time. She should be back by now. What if something happened to her?”

  He turned to face me. “Do you think I’m that stupid? You just want me to leave you alone in here so you can do something.”

  “What’s to do in here?” I asked.

  He smirked. “Not going to happen.”

  “Okay, if you don’t care enough about her to check on her. That’s not a nice thing to do. A real man would check on her.” I figured playing up to his macho vibe would get to him.

  He hurried over to me, grabbed me by the arm, and yanked me with him to the door. “If I have to check on her then you’re going with me.”

  That was fine with me. That would give me a chance to get away.

  He pulled me with him onto the porch and down the steps. We almost tumbled down them, he moved so fast.

  “How will you see her? It’s dark out here.”

  “You don’t say,” he said sarcastically. He scanned the area. Cora was nowhere in sight.

  “Maybe she left you,” I said.

  “She wouldn’t do that,” he snapped.

  “She killed her husband. What’s to say you’re not next? Just wait until she takes out an insurance policy on you.”

  He looked at me. Now I knew I was getting to him. Holding my arm, Garrett yanked me with him. As we moved around the side of the house, I saw something scurry under some of the seagrass. I was hoping it was a crab, although I still didn’t like those things either. Darkness surrounded us and the only illumination came from the house. It did little to light up the outside though. I had no idea where he thought he was taking me. I hoped he wouldn’t toss me into the swamp area. That would be one of the worst ways to die. I’d rather be tossed in the ocean. Or maybe not. I wouldn’t even think about having to pick.

  “It really isn’t necessary to hold hands. Don’t you think maybe Cora will get jealous?”

  He yanked on me even harder. I just couldn’t help messing with him. I mean, if they were going to kill me anyway I might as well have a little bit of fun with them on my way out. All joking aside, I really wondered where Cora had gone and what had happened to her. The car was still parked under the house. If she went anywhere she had to be with someone else or she was walking. Maybe she had taken off down the beach.

  “You need to walk faster,” he barked.

  “I’m moving as fast as I can. I have short legs and they can’t cover as much ground as yours.”

  “You’re talking too much. Shut up,” he snapped.

  I felt like he was beginning to crack under the stress. I should keep up my talking. It would either make him angrier and he would try to hurt me or he would give up and let me go. I had to take the chance that it would work out to my advantage.

  Movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention again. This time it wasn’t a crab, although she was crabby sometimes. Dorothy was hiding behind one of the tall batches of seagrass. What was she doing here? I hoped that Garrett didn’t see her. I just wanted Dorothy to be safe. She put her index finger up to her mouth, warning me to keep quiet. As if I was going to say anything. I glanced to her right and spotted Morton. Garrett looked back at me. I smirked at him to throw him off so that he wouldn’t look over and see Dorothy and Morton.

  He eyed me suspiciously and then yanked on my arm again. “Hurry up.”

  What was Dorothy going to do? This was just going to get them hurt. Something else caught my attention to my right. Abby was hiding on the other side. Had they come together? Was she here to help me? When I spotted Cora in front of Abby I realized they might be working together.

  But then Abby pulled out her gun and aimed it at Cora. “Put your hands up and don’t move.”

  Cora thrust her hands in the air.

  Dorothy burst out from behind the grass and aimed a gun at Garrett. “Let her go and I won’t shoot you.”

  I couldn’t believe my eyes. Where had Dorothy gotten a gun?

  “Why should I let her go? You won’t really use that thing,” Garret said with sarcasm in his voice. “I bet it’s not even real.”

  Dorothy moved her aim away from Garrett and fired a shot. The sound of the bullet whizzed through the air.

  “Dorothy,” I yelled. “I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to do that.”

  I had to get that gun away from her.

  “I’m not?” she asked.

  “No.”.I shook my head.

  It had worked though. Garrett didn’t make a move after releasing his grip on my arm

  I ran over to Dorothy and Morton. “Dorothy, what are you doing here?”

  “I came to save your patootie,” she said.

  “Where did you get a gun?”

  “It’s Morton’s.”

  Morton nodded. “Evening, Maggie.”

  “I’m not sure cataracts and guns are a good mix. Never mind,” I said with a wave of my hand.

  Sirens and lights descended on the area. Jake jumped out of his car and ran toward me. Abby had placed Cora in handcuffs.

  “I went by the pier looking for you. I had my suspicions about these two and wanted to make sure you were okay. I didn’t see you though,” Abby said.

  “That’s because I was in the ocean,” I said.

  That explained why I’d seen Abby walking away. They weren’t working together after all. She hadn’t been the one who pushed me in the water. Garrett had lured me there and Cora had pushed me in. That still didn’t explain why she had been so afraid of the men who had tried to run over her. I had to find out what that was all about.

  “How did you end up here?” I asked.

  “I had traced the fireworks back to the doctor, but he had been forced to buy them by Cora.”

  “So he bought the fireworks that almost killed him?”

  “It looks that way, yes,” Abby said.

  “Why did you want to hide from the men who almost hit us?” I asked.

  Jake stared at Abby too, as if he was really interested in her answer.

  “I panicked, okay? Something happened. I can’t explain it and I don’t want to talk about it.” Abby turned and hurried away toward the police cars.

  “Will she be okay?” I asked.

  Jake nodded. “I’ll talk with her.”

  “Maggie, what happened? I got your message and was trying to call you. Abby called for backup.”

  “It’s a long story,” I said and then blew the hair out of my eyes.

  He wrapped his arms around me. “I have plenty of time. Why don’t you tell me everything?”

  ***

  Cora had hired me in the hopes that I would find someone else was the killer. She wanted to throw the police off her trail. She figured if I told Jake that someone else was the killer he would believe me. Cora had wanted to frame Dr. Dean for the murder. She’d even tricked him into buying the fireworks so she and Garrett could make the bomb. She’d only had an affair with him for the specific reason of framing him for this murder. Not to mention she was set to gain a sizeable amount of insurance money after her husband’s death.

  Apparently Cora thought I was a bad detective and would completely miss the mark on solving the case. As if I wouldn’t track her down as the killer. Jake had been right all along. So far he hadn’t uttered an ‘I told you so’, and I was hoping he wouldn’t. I suppose I had wanted to believe Cora because I wanted to solve the case. It had been too easy to assume that she was really the killer.

  Garrett had helped make the bombs. Cora and Garrett had slipped and left the fireworks packaging and receipt at Garrett’s place. They’d meant to plant those at the doctor’s house. Cora had grown impatient and angry with Dean when he questioned her about her husband’s death. She’d turned on him, reporting him for drugs that he didn’t have, and then trying to kill him too.

  Jake had asked Dr. Dean Perriman why he’d tried to hit me with his
car. He claimed he never did and that Dorothy overreacted when she’d pulled me out of the way. Actually, I could see Dorothy doing that. Dean had followed me because he’d been convinced that I was stalking him. I hoped that Abby would be all right. Jake said stress was getting to her and had caused her to freak out about the men who had almost hit us. She hadn’t known them, but the incident had made her panic.

  So in the end cases didn’t always make sense when dealing with an evil mind. Someone willing to murder didn’t always make the most logical decisions. I’d learned that first hand.

  The End

  About the Author

  Rose Pressey is a USA Today bestselling author. She enjoys writing quirky and fun novels with a paranormal twist. The paranormal has always captured her interest. The thought of finding answers to the unexplained fascinates her.

  When she’s not writing about werewolves, vampires and every other supernatural creature, she loves eating cupcakes with sprinkles, reading, spending time with family, and listening to oldies from the fifties.

  Rose suffers from Psoriatic Arthritis and has knee replacements. She might just set the world record for joint replacements. She’s soon having her hips replaced, elbows, and at least one shoulder.

  Rose lives in the beautiful commonwealth of Kentucky with her husband, son, and two sassy Chihuahuas.

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