Death on the Bella Constance (A Jesse Watson Mystery Series Book 6)

by Ann Mullen

  “Yes, ma’am, Mrs. Constance. I’ll get him right away.”

  Bella walked back out into the waiting room and said, “He’ll be right with us.”

  “Are you one of those rich Americans who donated millions to this clinic?” I asked with a smile on my face. “Or, do people just automatically jump when you say so?”

  “Both, my dear.” She smiled back at me.

  A minute later, before we had time to sit down, a tall, handsome man with a white doctor’s coat walked out into the waiting room and greeted Bella and Loukas. His skin was tanned from living on the island, and his body showed no signs of fat anywhere that I could see.

  “I’m sorry to pull you away from your patient, Dr. Welsh, but we have an emergency,” Loukas said. “My bodyguard has a gunshot wound to the arm, and Savannah needs stitches in her hand. We had a little accident.”

  “I would say so,” the doctor replied. “You know I have to report gunshot wounds to the police.”

  “Oh, I’m sure they’re well aware by now, but do what you must. We had a security detail following us. There have been death threats on my life.”

  “More threats? Don’t they get tired of trying to bump you off?” The doctor chuckled, and then turned to one of the girls behind the glass enclosure and motioned to her. She hustled to his command.

  “Ask Dr. Voight to finish up with my patient. It’s Mrs. Waterfield. He’ll know what to do. Tell him I have two people who are bleeding and need emergency care immediately.”

  “Yes, sir,” the girl replied and hurriedly left the room.

  “Okay, everyone follow me.”

  “All of us?” Utah asked. “Why do I have to go?”

  “Because in about two minutes this place is going to be crawling with cops,” Loukas said. “And you’re the last person I want to be running off at the mouth.”

  “The cops can’t go past these doors,” Dr. Welsh added. “That will buy you some time to decide what you want to tell them.” He looked at Loukas. “We’d better move quickly. I’ll stitch up the young lady’s hand while your bodyguard’s arm is cleaned and x-rayed. Then I’ll fix him up.”

  We walked through a door and down a hallway that led to a large nurse’s station in the middle of the room. Other hallways led off in four different directions. Closed doors spaced evenly apart lined the hallways.

  “This reminds me of Greene Family Medicine,” Savannah said. “Their new office in Ruckersville is set up just like this. It’s nice, just like your clinic, Dr. Welsh.”

  “Thank you,” he replied.

  “You can call me Savannah,” she said.

  “I thought you looked familiar,” the doctor replied. “You’re Savannah Kelley! My wife reads all your books! It’s an honor to meet you.” The doctor stopped gushing and said, “Now, let’s have a look at that hand. When I’m finished with you, the scarring will be minimal. If you ever get your palm read you can tell the psychic that tiny little scar in your lifeline was just a bump in the road of life.” The two of them turned and walked down the hallway.

  Bump in the road, huh? Now, isn’t that a coincidence? Another possible suspect. There goes my suspicious mind, again.

  The rest of us were shown into a large conference room by a cheerful young lady dressed in scrubs bearing designs of the characters in Peter Pan. She must be the one who examines the children who are brought here, I thought to myself.

  When the Peter Pan lady walked out of the room, Loukas closed the door, turned to us, and then said, “As you all just heard, I hired a security detail to watch over us while we were on the island.”

  The ding-ding of the door alarm chimed, and a few seconds later, it chimed again… and then again… and again.

  “That must be the security detail I hired,” Loukas said. “It’s about time they got here.”

  “Maybe someone heard the shot and reported it to the police,” Billy said. “It could be the police.”

  “Let’s hope so,” Loukas said. “I’d like to have a word with them.”

  Loukas wasn’t happy. Not only had he hired a security team for extra protection, but I’m sure he had expected the police to do their job as well, thus doubling our safety coverage.

  “If the detail dropped the ball, I’m sure there were plenty of people on this island who would’ve noticed when a bus got hit by a sniper. They would’ve heard the shot. Someone should’ve reported the incident by now. Why hadn’t they?” I asked Loukas. “Why didn’t we alert the police as soon as the bus was attacked?”

  Loukas turned to me and replied, “I knew my team was out there, and they were instructed to immediately call the police if something happened. I’m sure the cops are in the waiting room along with my team.” He looked at Billy. “I want you and McCoy to come with me to give my report to the cops about what happened. I chose not to take our injured to the hospital because it was too far away, and I have no idea who could have done this.” He looked at McCoy and said, “I’ll leave it up to you to let me know what questions I shouldn’t answer. I don’t anticipate a problem in that department, but just in case…”

  “Sure,” McCoy said. “I’ll make sure everything is done legally, and if it turns out anyone in this group needs legal representation, I will handle that as well.” He looked around the room.

  “What does that mean?” a furious Bertie asked. “Why would we need your services? We didn’t do anything wrong!”

  “I think what Mr. Kelley meant, Bertie,” Dorothy started to say when McCoy interrupted her.

  “All I meant was that I’m a lawyer, and if anyone needs my help, I’m here for them. Anything could go wrong when one is on vacation.” He looked at Bertie and smiled. “I didn’t mean anything accusatory about it, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

  “Then why…”

  “Enough,” Loukas said, silencing the room. He motioned to Billy and McCoy, and then looked at me and said, “Please stay close to Bella for me, Jesse.”

  “Sure. I’ll tie a rope around her if I have to.” I put my arm around Bella and added. “We’ll take care of each other.”

  Loukas looked at Bella. “Don’t go anywhere, Bella. I must insist. I know how you like to slip off and nose around. Don’t do it. Jesse will be here for moral support and to make sure you don’t.”

  I wondered why he didn’t ask Bella’s personal bodyguard, Allison, or one of his daughters until he added, “I know you’ll lie to Allison and the girls, but Jesse will see right through you. She won’t buy your fabricated tales. I know I can count on her to keep you straight.”

  I laughed. “Go ahead,” I said to Loukas. “You’re right. She can’t get away with lying to me. It’s in my blood to automatically suspect she has something up her sleeve. I’ll stick to her like glue.”

  “If you think you’re going to the bathroom with me, you’re wrong,” Bella joked. “I have certain demands when it comes to my privacy!”

  “All right, Minnie. Am I going to have to call you that? You’re acting just like her.”

  “You wait until I meet your mother, young lady. I’m going to tell…”

  Loukas, Billy, and McCoy left the room to go out and talk with the police. I could just imagine how that conversation was going to go.

  Ten minutes later, Savannah walked out of the examination room with her hand bandaged.

  “I’ve stitched her hand, and she’s going to be fine,” Dr. Welsh said. “Now, I must attend to my other patient.” He immediately took leave.

  “Does it hurt?” Bertie asked as she walked over to Savannah. “I hope you don’t think I had anything to do with the shooting, because I didn’t, and I don’t know who did.”

  Surprised, Savannah said, “Of course, I don’t, Bertie. Why would you say that?”

  “Well…” Bertie’s words lingered as she looked at me. “Some people think one of us might be a killer.”

  “Don’t look at me!” I said, defiantly. “I never accuse anyone without reason, and I never pointed the finger
at you. As a matter-of-fact, I never suspected you of anything. Should I?” I lied. I suspected something wasn’t right about that woman from day one. Annoying people such as her usually have a reason to be that way. Either they’re sad souls, unhappy with their life, or just plain hateful people. I didn’t, however, think she was a hateful person. I figured she just never got the attention she wanted out of life. Too bad. Sometimes that’s the way life goes. As long as she wasn’t the type to cause trouble to get what she wanted, I could deal with her obnoxious ways.

  “Bertie,” I continued. “Admit it. When McCoy offered his services to us, you were the one who got defensive. Why don’t you just tell Savannah the truth? McCoy was the one who got you all riled up, so don’t insinuate that it was me. You should know by now that I’m not going to let it slide. If you try to put the blame on me with your eyes or your mannerisms, you should be well-advised that I am not weak, and I will stand up for myself.”

  Bertie was flabbergasted that I stood up to her. Apparently, very few people ever did, probably because she’d bore them to death trying to prove she was right.

  “Ladies, please,” Bella said in a soothing voice, calming the situation. “What does it matter? The important thing is that everyone’s all right. Oh, here comes the doctor. Let’s hope the news is good.”

  “Jacob is one tough fellow—and lucky. The bullet went right through his bicep and never touched the bone. I cleaned his wounds, stitched them up, and gave him a shot of penicillin. Amazingly, he never flinched once. Yes, he’s one tough hombre.”

  “And he’s dedicated,” Bella said almost in tears. “He’d take a bullet for me or Loukas.”

  “He did,” I said. “You’re lucky to have that kind of dedication, Bella. All these guys, and Allison, would lay down their lives for you. That’s one of the things I noticed about them. I can tell from the way they act. They’re not just protecting you. They genuinely care about you and Loukas.”

  “You’re correct,” Allison agreed. “Bella and Loukas aren’t just our bosses, they’re our friends. We love them as we do our own family. I can tell you one thing—if I’m going to eat a bullet for someone—I’m going to be the one who chooses who I die for.”

  “Yeah,” Bella added. “When we hired Allison, she was the one who did the interviewing. She specifically said that no matter how much money she was offered, if she didn’t like the person, she wouldn’t take the job. She asked Loukas and me more questions than I had ever considered asking her. We hit it off right away. And then when she suggested her brother, Jacob, for Loukas, well… I couldn’t wait to meet him. I knew that if he was anything like her, I’d love him. She won me over with her determination to be in charge, because she should be when it comes to our safety. Anyone who will let me plow right over them isn’t worth having.” She smiled warmly at Allison.

  “So, Jacob is your brother?” I asked. “I didn’t know that. That’s been hidden well. And believe me, Billy and I checked you guys out. I guess we didn’t dig deep enough. We thought it might be a waste of time. You just never know, do you? Life can sure throw a few surprises at you.”

  “I’m divorced, but I still go by my married name.”

  “See, if we had dug deeper, we would’ve found that out.”

  “Jacob will be out in a minute,” Dr. Welsh said. “I think he’s trying to hit on my nurse.”

  We chuckled.

  “Ah, here he is now,” Bella said, gleefully. She walked up to him, looked at his bandaged arm and said, “Thank you so much, Jacob. You saved my husband’s life. I’m forever in your debt. Does it hurt badly?”

  “Yes,” Jacob responded. “It hurts so bad that I think I need a night off. Yeah, rest, that’s what I need.”

  Bella looked at him funny and said, “Jacob, you’ve never asked for time off before. Did that nurse agree to go out with you?”

  “You know she did,” he said, smiling. “How could she resist? I’m charming, good-looking, brilliant…”

  Bella looked at me and asked me where my boots were. We both laughed, got the crowd going, too, and then our laughter was quelled when Loukas, Billy, and McCoy walked back into the room.

  “How did it go?” Bella asked as she hurried over to her husband.

  I knew without a shadow of a doubt that whatever he was about to say would be the tell-all. If there was a guilty party in this room, I would see it on someone’s face. I watched everyone as closely as I could, concentrating on Bertie and Utah the most.

  “They caught a suspect!” Loukas blurted out. “They have him in custody. The police will get to the bottom of this quickly.”

  Bertie’s expression showed both surprise and fear. When Utah glanced over at her with that guilty look on his face, I knew we had those two dead-to-right. They were the ones who tried to kill Loukas! I was sure of it. I scanned the room looking for more guilty faces, but found none… except Billy’s. I saw something on his face that didn’t sit right. Either Loukas was telling a lie so as to trick someone into doing or saying something incriminating, or they actually had the guy in custody, and Loukas knew who he was… and so did Billy and McCoy. They were playing a cat and mouse game—a game I had become very good at playing.

  “That’s wonderful!” I said. “We can all relax a little. Who’s the guy?”

  “As much as I hate to say this, he’s one of the crew members on the Bella Constance. Kody Franklin.”

  I looked around the room. The anticipation of what was to come next showed on Bertie and Utah’s faces. They were definitely the guilty ones! I couldn’t wait to talk with Billy about those two.

  “I remember him,” I said. “He was the guy who served us drinks and appetizers by the pool.” I looked at Billy. “Remember him?”

  “Yes, I do. Seemed like a nice kid.”

  “So, what happened? How did they catch him?”

  “The security detail caught him. They were on dune buggies. Everybody rides them on the beach, and on the road they ride scooters. Kody chose a dune buggy for his getaway. It seems that as Kody was running, he turned, and then fired on the detail. Fortunately, he missed. The team went into action. They chased him down, and as they got close—Kody was already fleeing in his dune buggy—he hit something on the beach, flipped the buggy, and it came crashing down on him. An ambulance was called to the scene, and Kody was rushed to the hospital. He’s reported to be suffering from head trauma, but they think he might make it. The next twenty-four hours will tell.”

  “If he does survive, what’s going to happen to him?”

  “He’s on British soil. He’s in their hands for the time being.”

  “Is he conscious? Can they question him?”

  “I’m not sure, but if he is, they’ll get the truth out of him. He’ll be heavily guarded, but Constable Daily told me I could go to the hospital if I wanted to.”

  “Are you going?”

  “I have nothing to say to Kody,” Loukas said. “I’ll wait to hear from the constable or Jamison, the head of the security team. Jamison will be the one who gets to the truth. I have confidence in him. He has his ways.”

  “Are we free to go?” Bella asked. “Savannah looks as if she needs to get out of here, and Jacob has a date.”

  “I knew you’d be all right,” Loukas said as he turned to look at Jacob. “You saved my life. I knew I could count on you.” Loukas shook Jacob’s hand—the one that didn’t have a gunshot wound to the bicep.

  “I was doing my job, sir,” Jacob replied. “And I was mighty proud to do it. I’d take a bullet for you any day. Oh, that’s right, I did.”

  “We’d better hurry,” Loukas said with a smile. “We wouldn’t want Jacob to miss out on his date. He deserves some time off.”

  Dr. Welsh returned and said, “Unlike Savannah’s injury, Jacob’s will result in substantial scarring.”

  “I’ll see to it he’s taken care of,” Loukas responded. “If he needs surgery to fix the scars, we’ll see to it that he gets it.”

  Dr.
Welsh motioned for Loukas to follow him. They had a private discussion for a few minutes, and then the doctor bid us farewell.

  “I don’t hope to see any of you back here again for a while.”

  The cops were gone, none of the rest of us were questioned, and we were free to leave. We all turned and walked away, filing out of the clinic as quickly as possible. Ollie and his tour bus were waiting for us.

  “Would you like to go anywhere else?” he asked Bella and Loukas.

  “I think we’re finished for the day,” Loukas replied.

  Ollie took us back to the ship where we all gladly got off the bus, waving to him as we did. Billy made it a point to slip him a twenty and thank him for his services. Loukas pulled out a hundred-dollar bill and gave that to him also. McCoy, Steven, and Jeff followed suit. The rest of the tightwads offered nothing.

  “I’m not paying him a dime!” Bertie hissed as she walked with her sisters toward the ship. “Getting shot at was not part of the deal!”

  “It wasn’t his fault,” Mabel said. “He was just driving the bus. He had nothing to do with what happened.” Their chatter continued until they were no longer in sight.

  I was glad they were gone. I liked Mabel, and since Dorothy took her spill and had been injured, she was tolerable. I guess she was in pain and didn’t feel like going at it with Bertie, which made life better for everyone around. But Bertie was another story. When I first met her I thought she was just one of those people who complained about everything, but basically had a good heart. Now, I know better. She’s not only a grouchy, old hag, she’s dangerous. She hides her dark side well, but not from me. I see right through her. I couldn’t wait to tell Billy. On this excursion, I saw things he didn’t, and maybe, he saw things I didn’t. Once we had a chance to talk, we would put the pieces of this puzzle together. We would find the culprit, and I had a feeling Bertie’s name would be at the top of the list!

  As we made our way on board, I looked around and saw the beauty of Bermuda, not what had happened today. The sun was low in the sky, making the colorful landscape a sight to behold. The pastel-colored buildings were something new to me, and so was the pink tint of the smooth, sandy beaches. It was truly a vacationer’s heaven. Of course, one would need to bring plenty of money to spend. Bermuda isn’t a cheap place to visit, but then again, I guess none of the best vacation spots are.