Murder by the Seaside

by Julie Anne Lindsey

  His stable, reasonable voice made me want to kick him. Why did he do this to me?

  “You wanted away from your parents so bad you’d take off with seven hundred dollars to see how far you could get. I don’t know how you remember it, but I remember you crying. A lot. You wanted your parents to understand you and they didn’t. You wanted them to have regular jobs and buy clothes at stores. That’s not who they are.”

  My cheeks burned. Humiliation set my chest on fire. I’d forgotten. Or rather, I hadn’t thought of it in years. Adrian was right. I had been embarrassed by them. Worse, I had guilt to go with it. Guilt for feeling embarrassed because I loved them so much. I hated that I cared about what they wore or what they did for a living. I wanted them to push me and they never did. I needed structure and rules and security, but they gave me endless freedom and cared more about my horoscope than my GPA. Adrian knew that. He knew everything.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you applied to colleges? I could’ve done that, too. I have felt so completely naïve and stupid for a decade. How did I not think of going to college? I had the second best GPA in our graduating class.”

  I hated missing the obvious, and I’d missed that one by a mile. Not that my parents talked about college. The entire concept of college eluded me until I realized Adrian had a real plan and I was more like my parents than I could accept. Running away was a child’s plan, but I didn’t see it as that. All I saw when I was with Adrian were roses and sunshine and love. Hey, all you need is love, right? And a boyfriend, but mine bowed out.

  “How did I not know you planned to leave me for something better? I was supposed to be the smart one. The logical one. I made the plans. I wanted to be normal, but I was so far from that I couldn’t see it.” A decade of emotion ripped through me, unleashing more tears than seemed humanly possible. Adrian’s pretty blue eyes went dark and stormy. His expression became guarded.

  “I wanted normal, too—I just didn’t want to run away. I wanted to be something you’d be proud of. The night I told you about Miami, you creamed me before I could ask you to come with me. In hindsight, it would have failed horribly, but at the time, I had tunnel vision.”

  I ran a fist under my nose and blinked. Could I have been the problem? Imagine that. Humbled and deflated, I stepped toward him. Without looking into those eyes, I laid my head against his chest.

  “I waited for you to call so I could tell you I left the money in our account. I hoped you’d buy a ticket and come see me.” He pressed one huge palm against my back, bringing me closer still.

  “It’s still there. I couldn’t bring myself to use it.” A laugh slipped out. I’d thought of a million ways to punish him with the money. Sending him seven hundred dollars of manure was my favorite, but shipping and delivery costs in Miami were crazy.

  “I was all in,” I said. “You had a backup plan.”

  “In hindsight, I should’ve told you I applied to schools, and I should’ve encouraged you to do the same, but back then it felt like betrayal. You were happy with your plan, and I wanted you to be happy.”

  I wiped my eyes, letting his perspective settle in. He was right. If he’d told me, I probably would’ve felt betrayed and I’d have made sure he knew it. I had a temper back then.

  Curiosity reared its ugly head, ruining a nice moment. I turned to look at him.

  The look on his face shook me. A crease ran between his brows. His lips were tight. The corners of his eyes crinkled with worry.

  “Why’d you come home? You were out and doing pretty well—at least according to Google—but you came home.”

  The familiar cocky grin emerged. “You did an Internet search on me?”

  “Answer.”

  “I like it here. Who wouldn’t?”

  “And?”

  “I planned to run for mayor. Past tense.”

  “What? You don’t think this town will elect a murderer for mayor? Mayor murderer has a certain ring to it. I can head your campaign.”

  “No thank you. That would be suicide.”

  I pushed him away, smiling. Red flashing lights lit and dimmed outside my window.

  “Patience!” Claire’s hysterical voice screeched from the distance. Boots thumped up the outside steps. A car door slammed.

  “Go.” I whispered, flashing Adrian a warning look.

  He hesitated, looking between my face and the window.

  “Go. It’s the sheriff. I’m okay. Claire’s here.”

  His mouth tipped down on the corners. “I won’t be far.”

  One quick nod and he disappeared. The door burst open and Sebastian stared past me to where Adrian had vanished.

  Sebastian brushed past me to my bedroom. I followed him with my heart in my throat. I didn’t want him to find Adrian.

  “Were you alone a minute ago?”

  “Why? Did you see someone?” I pretended to look around the room. When I glanced back to see if he bought it, his steady brown eyes leveled on me. Uh-oh.

  “Miss Price?” Sheriff Murray called my name and I hurried into the living room to report a break-in.

  * * *

  Three hours passed before everyone left. My parents closed up shop and came running when they heard. Mom fixed lunch out of what little I had in my kitchen. Mrs. Tucker hauled milkshakes and fries over from the Tasty Cream for everyone. Dad ran for anything Mom needed to make proper sandwiches and sides. The sheriff took his time asking five thousand and twelve questions. Twice. His hands held a tremor I hadn’t noticed before. He was grayer than the other sheriffs we’d had. With all the excitement this week, maybe he should consider retirement before he had a stroke. Turned out Deputy Doofus was known as Deputy Fargas, though the former fit better than the latter in my opinion. After he examined the crime scene, he suggested I get an alarm system and better window locks. A regular Einstein.

  Sebastian hovered, listened and roamed. He was trained to see things I missed, so I kept one eye on him. He made nice with my folks and mingled with the sheriff and deputy, asking questions and gauging their responses. The sheriff made it clear in severe attitude alone that he didn’t need any help closing the case. I smelled a spitting contest on the horizon.

  Now that someone other than Adrian had broken in, I planned to nail every window shut. I’d call a locksmith and a security system sales rep. Annoying ex-boyfriends were one thing. Being tied to a chair and threatened by a guy with bad breath and a stun gun was something else entirely.

  The moment I shut the door behind my parents, the last of my guests to leave besides Claire and Sebastian, Claire exploded. “What the hell is wrong with this place? You made it out to be a fairy-tale land of sunshine and pretty ponies. This island is a nightmare. That creepy sheriff nearly ran me over an hour after we got here, and how many times has your life been threatened since then? Patience, that was only five days ago. You need to come home. Stay with me while you look for work. You can use my closet for an office. I’ll rent the apartment next door for a closet.”

  “I’m fine.” I wished I had counted every time I said that and didn’t mean it. “Wow. Only five days?”

  “Yeah.” She looked heartbroken. “Please come home.”

  “It’s not like this all the time. Whatever is going on right now isn’t normal. Something big is going on. Aren’t you even curious what it is?”

  Her expressionless face turned left and right.

  “Why do you think the sheriff’s creepy?”

  “He’s got beady little eyes under those big caterpillar brows, and he’s jumpy. Shouldn’t sheriffs be calm? You know—more like Sebastian.”

  “The sheriff’s old. His hands kinds of shake. Plus he hates me.”

  “I noticed you didn’t tell him about your chats with Perkins or Mrs. McGee and her gorgeous accessories.”

  “I didn’t want h
im to tell me to stop snooping. I need to talk to her some more. I don’t like her. She knew about the girlfriend and looked the other way so she could keep shopping. That’s weird.”

  “I don’t know. I’m thinking those shoes smelled better than a fisherman after his shift.”

  “Oh, hey, listen to this. Adrian came back here to run for mayor.” I twisted the lid off a peanut butter jar and climbed onto the couch beside her. I hadn’t been able to eat with everyone crowded around staring at me. She looked at the jar and I dug a finger in. “Politics get people pretty riled up. I wonder if Brady was involved in local politics?”

  “Honey, you’re grasping at straws. I don’t know if Adrian killed that guy or not, but I do know you aren’t safe here. You need to leave with me today.”

  “He didn’t do it. He’s trying to figure out what’s going on here, too. He knows this place, and he loves the people, even the crazy ones. Running for mayor proves it. Why would he mess up a dream like that?”

  “Are you in contact with Adrian Davis?” Sebastian’s voice boomed from the other side of my paper-thin walls. He’d been nailing my window shut.

  “What? No. No. No. Of course not. No.”

  Claire’s eyes popped. I shoved a quiet finger to my lips and smudged my face with peanut butter. She dug into my jar and wiped a fingerful on my nose.

  “Bad.” She mouthed the word.

  “It’s very quiet out there.” Sebastian stuck his head around the corner. “Something I said?”

  “Hmm?” I wiped peanut butter off my nose and jammed some in my mouth.

  “What do you think, Sebastian?” Claire asked. “Do you think this could have to do with politics?”

  “Doubtful. Big political scams are usually centered around money. From the research I’ve done, it looks like this island’s broke. Most businesses in Chincoteague rely on tourist season to get through the year and the draw of the wild pony swim every July makes up a good portion of that. Quite a few residents are transient, spending only half the year here. I don’t see a political scandal at the core of this.”

  “Brady McGee wasn’t,” I pointed out. “How’s the window coming?”

  He appraised the two of us. “I’d prefer it if you let me sleep in the bedroom tonight.”

  Claire elbowed me in my ribs.

  “You could take the couch,” he finished.

  “What about the front door?” The couch sat under my front window, two feet away from the door.

  “Too visible. If I wanted to get in here, I wouldn’t climb the steps sitting on Main Street. The bedroom window is in a shaded part of your rear yard, with tree coverage, a porch roof to climb on and it can’t be seen from the street. I’d prefer the intruder meet with me if he tries this again.”

  “Me, too.” I shivered and sucked another hunk of peanut butter off my finger.

  “Can you stop doing that?” He eyeballed my finger.

  “Why?”

  “It’s disgusting.”

  Claire laughed into my new pillow, her gift to me. The shiny gold fabric was just what my sad little apartment needed. She said she saw the pillow and thought of me. When I saw it, I thought of her, too.

  Sebastian went back to my room.

  “Come with me to talk to the mayor,” I asked Claire.

  “Uh-uh. No way, Nancy Drew. You need to stop this now.”

  “Please?” I pleaded. “Pretty please? I have to know. Sebastian says this isn’t a political scheme because political schemes are about money. What if it’s a political scheme about keeping Adrian out of office? Maybe Adrian was set up? What if whatever’s going on here is related to our elected officials and they don’t want anyone new in office poking around their shady dealings? It’s not like the mayor’s going to do anything to us at his office. Let’s see if the mayor’s hiding something.”

  “Sebastian? How long will you be?” I called.

  “Half an hour. Why?”

  “Claire and I are going for a walk to talk a little. Girl stuff.”

  “Drive.”

  I’d forgotten he didn’t like the idea of me walking around in broad daylight these days.

  I stuck my tongue out at the wall. “My car was bombed. Want me to take the Range Rover?”

  “Right.” He chuckled.

  “He has a nice laugh,” I whispered.

  “Thank you,” he called after us.

  Man, these walls were thin.

  Claire grabbed her pillow tighter and cracked up.

  “Your mom left you some wheels out front. Take those.” Sebastian said.

  I yanked the curtain open, praying my mom didn’t expect me to drive the hippie bus. She didn’t. “She left her golf cart?”

  “Ah!” Claire popped her head up beside mine and burst into hysterics. “That is so fabulous. Please, I beg you, let me take your picture in it at the stoplight? For my desk, please?”

  I grabbed my bag and headed for the door, fresh out of words. The lavender cart with Purple Pony personalized plates and deep plum seats mocked me. I closed my eyes and pretended it was an open-sided Jeep instead.

  “If you’re not back in thirty minutes, I’m coming after you,” Sebastian warned.

  I hurried out the door, refusing to acknowledge the way his words shuddered through me. Weirdest weeklong first date ever.

  Not that it was a date.

  Like most everything on the island, the town hall and mayor’s digs were packaged inside an enormous turn-of-the-century home. I drove the cart into a tiny lot behind the elaborate brick number at the center of the island. White pillars twenty feet high stood out front of the large wooden door. Inside we walked an ornate green-and-cream floral carpet runner over heavily lacquered plank flooring.

  I tapped the bell on a desk older than the house. The town librarian shuffled out to meet us. Her tightly curled white hair and signature horn-rimmed glasses on a silver chain made me smile.

  “Miss Alice! What’s my favorite librarian doing at the mayor’s office?”

  “Staying busy. I only volunteer now. Had a heart attack in oh-five.”

  “Oh.” How much more had I missed? “I’m sorry to hear that, but I’m really glad to see you. This is my friend Claire. She’s visiting from Norfolk. We wondered if the mayor’s available?”

  Alice smiled. Her skin was more translucent than I remembered. When she hugged me to her, her body felt like little more than bones beneath her simple brown dress. Claire shook her hand and we moved together toward Mayor Hayes’s study.

  “Mayor Hayes, you have visitors.” Alice bowed out, leaving us to talk.

  The mayor leaned his golf club against the wall and walked from the tiny green to his desk to have a seat. “What can I do for you two lovely ladies today?” His round face and sharp features announced his American Indian ancestry, even if his name didn’t.

  “We wondered if you could tell us who is running against you in the election this fall.”

  He looked between us. One hand stroked his shiny mahogany desktop. “I’m afraid I’ve done my terms. This election is an open book. So far as I know, Adrian Davis is in the running, as well as Beau Thompson. There could be others, but those two were the most vocal about it. Of course, now I suppose Beau’s a shoe-in.” He took a deep breath but said no more. His gaze wandered over Claire, lingering on her hands, folded primly in her lap.

  “Do you think Adrian killed Brady McGee?” I asked, jumping in feet-first. What I did best.

  “I don’t know what to think. It’s hard to understand why an innocent person would run. If he’d come to me, I would’ve represented him.”

  His walls were covered in degrees from Stanford and Brown, surrounded by certificates and photos of him with President Reagan and a lot of others I didn’t recognize.

 
“I’m glad to know that,” I said. “I don’t think he’s guilty. I think he loves Chincoteague and wants to know what’s going on before anyone else gets hurt.”

  “I hope you’re right. I’d be honored to see Davis take over my seat in office.”

  My knee bounced a mile a minute. Small talk escaped me. The only thing on my mind now was Beau Thompson. “Thank you for seeing us. I know you’re busy.” It took effort not to look at the tiny golf green. “It was nice to meet you.”

  “Anytime, ladies. Claire?”

  We stopped moving.

  “Yes, sir?”

  “If you’re ever in need of a tour guide. I’d love to show you around our fair island.”

  My jaw dropped. Her lashes fluttered. “Thank you kindly.”

  He cleared his throat and smiled. “If you need anything, Patience, I’d be happy to oblige.”

  I shot past Miss Alice on my way to the cart.

  “Who lit a fire in your pants?” Claire ran on tiptoes behind me. Her strappy, silver stiletto sandals were much cuter than they were practical.

  “What time is it?” Excitement coursed through me, raising goose bumps down both arms.

  “Four ten. Why?”

  “Good. We’ve got time.” I jammed my foot on the accelerator. We buzzed through town at twenty miles per hour. Outside Beau’s office, I rammed the cart into Park. If Beau Thompson planned to run against Adrian for mayor, that gave Beau motive to frame Adrian and get him out of the race. I didn’t know Beau well enough to decide if he’d kill for the position, but I planned to find out.

  Claire was still in the cart when I blew through the door to Thompson’s Insurance. Eep! Karen Holsten stood sipping from a coffee mug ten feet away. Her back was to me, and the line of her simple blue sundress showed off the glow of her skin and infant-sized waist. The way she stood, head back, laughing, proud, I knew where that giant ring came from. She’d set her sight on becoming Mrs. Mayor. Poor Beau Thompson—no one deserved a lifetime chained to Karen.

  “Be with you in a—” Beau called from the back office.

  His voice was cut short by the door closing at my back. I’d stop by later. When my high school nemesis wasn’t around. Karen monopolized every conversation, and I was interested in what Beau had to say.