“What about Charlie?”
“I went back to the boat, and he denied kicking her. He said he hadn’t heard her fall overboard.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“The tension between the four of us had been building, and I didn’t want to add more. What if I saw wrong from the dinghy?”
“Is there something else you’re not telling me?”
“I’m not sure Darren killed Nicole, either,” Jake said.
Shannon wondered if Jake was playing with the notes on the table in an effort to avoid eye contact with her. His accusations were getting on her nerves.
“Charlie was sleeping with Nicole,” Jake said.
“Don’t tell me you think he killed her and poisoned Peanut. Now you’re getting way out of hand.”
“I do think he poisoned her.”
“You’re impossible.”
“I’m not. Hear me out.” Jake told her what he’d heard Charlie saying to the Top to Bottom employee.
Shannon nodded slowly and added a note to her list indicating Charlie might have poisoned Peanut. The problem was that she couldn’t believe he’d poison Peanut just to hurt her or Debi, and even so, it was a big jump from poisoning a dog to killing a woman. But…
“Do you have your phone here?”
Shannon nodded.
Jake held out his hand. “Can I see it for a sec? Something’s been bothering me about the text Nicole sent you. How would she know you’d come?” He clicked on the sent text messages and found a reply to Nicole. “Look at this.”
I’ll be there.
“It was sent at eleven on the day she was killed. I take it you didn’t send this?”
Shannon ran her finger along the edge of her phone. “No.”
“So who did?”
“I don’t know.”
“Charlie?”
“Don’t say anything more. You are so wrong. I don’t care what this looks like, but Charlie is my cousin. I grew up thinking he was my brother. I know he’s not capable of killing anyone. Besides, Darren knew I used my phone to text. Remember the first time he was on our boat and you made fun of me? He’s also been on our boat uninvited.”
“Shannon, you need to consider this. I’m pretty sure she was murdered.”
“I don’t need to do anything.” Shannon slammed the cover of her laptop and picked up her papers. “I’ve had enough of this conversation. I’m going to pick up Debi and go to town.”
“You two should have dinner on this side of the bay. There could be a thunderstorm tonight.”
“Stop worrying. Look at the blue sky. There won’t be any storm.”
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Shannon
Peace and Plenty Restaurant
George Town
Shannon and Debi ate dinner at a table overlooking the bay. The Peace and Plenty restaurant was all pastels and local paintings. The restful environment contrasted with the emotions whirling inside Shannon. An order of cracked conch sat half eaten on Shannon’s plate. She’d overestimated the amount of seafood she could eat. Debi finished the last bite of a grouper sandwich and wiped her lips with a napkin.
The skies darkened, but she wasn’t worried yet.
Now that Debi’s meal was consumed, Shannon said, “I think it’s time for you to tell me why, even after Mom and Dad died, you didn’t tell me I’m your daughter.”
“It’s complicated.”
“Can you try to explain? I’m confused. I don’t know if I should be angry with you or love you more.”
Debi smiled. “I hope it’s the latter. Try to remember how young I was when you were born. A teenager is not always mature enough to make the right choices. I thought I was doing what was best for all of us.”
A gust of wind whipped Shannon’s hair across her cheek. Using the hair elastic wrapped around her wrist, she tied her tresses into a ponytail.
“You probably were. But that was then. What about later? Why keep up the fiction?”
“At first, it was because I promised Veronica I would never tell you. I missed her so much after she died. She was a good person. The best I’ve ever met. I didn’t want to be disloyal to her memory. She was more of a mother to me than my own mom. She never judged me when I got into trouble. Instead, she offered a solution. She had a big heart.”
“I remember that about her.”
“How could I go back on my promise to her?”
“Weren’t you ever tempted?”
“Every day. But we were close. You loved me. Before your parents died, I was the best aunt. They used to refer to me as the magic aunt. I had a way with you. I didn’t want to lose that. I was afraid if I told you who I was, we wouldn’t be as close. You were dealing with so much. A ten-year-old shouldn’t have to deal with the death of her parents. By the time you were a teen, I thought having to cope with a change in identity might be too much to handle. I didn’t want to risk you flying off in anger. Teens aren’t known for rational emotional responses.”
“Did you treat me differently than Charlie?”
“I tried not to.”
“But you did sometimes. Is that why he’s so angry?”
“Partly. Charlie has other issues. Ones that we kept private.”
“Like?”
“I’m not sure I should talk about it. It’s really for Charlie to tell you.”
“What about Bobby?”
“You can’t call him Uncle anymore?”
Shannon took in Debi’s sad face. “He’s not my uncle, but I can’t call him Dad either. It’s not that I want to hurt you, it’s just it doesn’t feel right. Did Bobby want to tell me he was my birth father?”
“He did. We fought about it. He thought we should tell you the minute you moved in with us. I didn’t want to hurt Charlie anymore than he already was hurt. He’d feel even more alone by losing a sister along with his parents. I owed Veronica and Kevin more than that. I couldn’t be selfish.”
“Why did Bobby come sailing without you?”
Debi swiveled a stir stick between her fingers and watched the sky darken. “The clouds are blowing in. Do you think Jake was right about a storm?”
“No. It’s just a few clouds. Can you answer me?”
Lightning flashed on the horizon, but no sound of thunder reached them. In a second, the clouds turned from gray to white and back to gray.
“He said either we told you or we were splitting up. He couldn’t live with the secret any longer.”
Shannon’s gut tightened so quickly it hurt. Did she mean Bobby committed suicide? She couldn’t face asking the question.
“Keeping my identity from me was more important than your marriage.”
“Yes. No. I don’t know. I thought he’d give in.”
The tablecloth lifted and flopped over Shannon’s plate. The wind buffeted the table, and Shannon put her hands on her wine glass to prevent it from falling over.
“People kept telling us Bobby wasn’t sure his wife was coming to the Bahamas. I never believed it was true. When he died, was he still angry at you?”
Debi placed her palm over her face and closed her eyes. “It hurts me to think about that. We had such a good life together, and for it to end…for it to end when we weren’t speaking to each other. I wish I had just one more chance to talk to Bobby, to tell him you finally know he’s your father.”
Shannon reached across the table and put her hand over Debi’s. “He knows you loved him.” Heavy raindrops hit the umbrella protecting their table. “We better go.”
CHAPTER FIFTY
Jake
A Dog’s Cat, Sand Dollar Anchorage
Poker night at a Dolphin’s Hideaway gave Jake something to do while the women had dinner in town. He needed to let his mind wander and maybe come up with some answers. Sometimes looking at a problem straight on didn’t work for him.
Texas Hold ’Em attracted thirty to forty sailors every Tuesday and Thursday night. Dinner orders in by five, sitting at a card table by six.
The regimented timing made Jake smile. How many people went cruising to add freedom to their lives, then added a tight schedule right back in? A lifetime of habits was hard to break. And that made him think of Charlie. He’d have to ask Shannon if Charlie had violent tendencies while growing up. Poisoning a dog out of nowhere didn’t fit. Debi would know but seemed too loyal to Charlie to tell.
Jake dropped two chips on the table. As big blind, he hoped the dealer passed him good cards. Giving the cards a slight flip so only he could see them, he contained a smile. Pocket aces. The flop came up. Three clubs. He held the ace of clubs. He doubled his bet when the fourth card showed a club. He slow bet his way to sucker the others in and took the chips after the river. His expression never changed.
Pocket aces hadn’t been the winning hand, but his flush had. Pocket aces. Pocket gloves. Shannon had pocketed his glove, and Charlie knew about it. He understood Shannon didn’t think he killed Nicole, but why wouldn’t Charlie be suspicious? He barely even followed up on Shannon finding his glove at the scene of the drowning. He’d hassled Shannon a bit, but not enough. Did Charlie plant the glove hoping Shannon would turn on Jake? But for what reason?
Wind blew through the open doorway, and he slapped his hand on his cards. The others at the table did the same. The restaurant overlooked the harbor. Waves capped into the dinghy dock, making the rubber boats bounce into one another.
Jake’s concentration wandered from the game. He went all in after the chip up and lost. He finished his beer and headed back to A Dog’s Cat. Another sailor was leaving at the same time, and Jake asked for a ride. Just as he stepped into the guy’s dinghy at the restaurant’s dock, the first of the raindrops hit the water. He turned and surveyed the sky. Dark clouds filled the eastern half. The predicted thunderstorm drew closer. Shannon and Debi better be on their way to the boat, or they were in for a wet ride.
Lightning lit the sky in rapid succession along the horizon. By the time Jake reached A Dog’s Cat, rain fell in heavy drops and soaked him to the skin. He entered the cockpit, shook his head, and sent spray in all directions. Charlie’s dinghy tied to a stern cleat told him Charlie was on board.
Whining emanated from the starboard cabin. Piddles. He stomped into the main salon.
“What did you do to her?”
Charlie sat at the dinette with a chart book of the Turks and Caicos spread in front of him. The overhead lights were on but not the anchor light.
“Nothing. She’s whining because you came home.”
Jake flicked on the anchor light, strode to Debi’s cabin, and lifted Piddles into the salon. She looked fine, so maybe Charlie was telling the truth. She could be afraid of the storm. Piddles snuggled into his chest, burying her nose in his neck. “So why’d you kill Nicole?”
“Drop dead. What’s that? Some cop technique to catch me off guard?”
Jake stood with his back to the stairs. “You answered the text she sent Shannon and then deleted it. You forgot to empty the trash.”
Charlie’s face turned red, and after a slight hesitation, he said, “What are you talking about?”
“I think you know what I’m talking about. What I don’t get is what your motive was.”
“I don’t have a motive because I didn’t kill her.”
“Just like you didn’t poison Piddles?”
“What’s with you? I told you I didn’t do that.”
“I think it’s time you left. For good.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I have more right to be here than you.”
“I saw you in town talking to the guy from Top to Bottom. I know you bought rat poison. So why would you want to hurt the dog? To get at Debi? You must have a reason.”
Charlie stood. A bead of sweat formed on his forehead, and Jake knew he was pushing the guy to the limit. Sometimes that worked, and a felon would confess. Sometimes not.
Jake placed Piddles underneath the table, out of the way. “What did Nicole know about you? It must have been bad. Was it something about Bobby?”
Charlie slammed his palm on the table and stepped toward Jake.
Jake puffed his chest and widened his step, readying himself for an attack. Piddles whined.
“Did you kill Bobby, too?”
Charlie exploded at Jake. Jake dodged to the left, and Piddles stepped underneath his foot. He avoided stepping on her but lost his balance. He fell straight backward. His head hit the edge of the desk three steps below. He tried not to lose consciousness, but darkness overtook him.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
Twenty-Nine-Year-Old Man
Sand Dollar
Today
Charlie stares at Jake. His head rests on the floor of the starboard cabin. His feet are still in the main salon. He’s unconscious, but is he dead? Charlie doesn’t really care, except that it will take a lot of hard work to get Jake over board.
Peanut is hiding by Jake’s side, licking his face. He ignores her.
The image causes Charlie’s video brain to take over. He’s seeing Bobby now.
Bobby and Charlie are a few hours out of George Town and heading toward Rum Cay.
Waterfall is under power. The seas are glass. The autopilot is steering, and Charlie is on watch. He sits in the cockpit, planning his revenge. He’s going to secretly tape Bobby’s confession and share it with Debi from the first place they land where he can send an email. He doesn’t care if Bobby goes to jail, but he wants to ruin his life. Just like Bobby ruined his.
Bobby steps through the companionway carrying two fishing rods.
“We might as well put the rods out. Tuna run through here. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”
He walks to the stern and places a rod in each holder. He rigs a dead ballyhoo for bait on the first rod and lets it out. He does the same to the second. Now all they have to do is wait for the sound of the reel running.
Charlie sits behind the wheel. “I’m getting my memory back.” He pushes the record button on his phone he’s stuck in his front pocket.
Bobby chuckles. “Says the man who remembers everything.”
“I mean from before my parents died.”
Bobby sits still and doesn’t answer Charlie.
“Did you hear me?”
“Yeah. I heard you.”
“Aren’t you curious about what I’m remembering?”
“Sure. It’ll be good for you to have more memories of your parents.”
“The weird thing about my memory is it works backward in time. Until recently, my perfect memory only started when the police arrived at the door to tell the babysitter Mom and Dad were dead. The first thing I remembered from before is a man coming to the door and fighting with Dad.”
“That’s too bad. It’d be nice for you to remember what great parents they were.”
Sweat drips from Charlie’s armpits. Without any wind, the humidity was getting to him. He only came on this trip to trap Bobby into admitting what he’d done, not because he wanted adventure, and sitting on a stinking hot sailboat with the engines running certainly isn’t fun.
Long Island is visible far on the horizon. Through the haze of the heat, the island trees shimmer, making Charlie think of a tiny oasis offering a sanctuary he can never reach.
“My dad and I had a ritual,” Charlie begins. “When he and Mom went out, he would always sneak back into the house and hug me goodnight. I would hide on the stairs, waiting.”
“That’s a good memory. Sounds like Kevin. Do you think your mom knew?”
“As a kid, I didn’t. I was sure it was our secret. But now, I know she must have, and that makes it even better. On that last night, I was sitting on the stairs, waiting.”
Bobby readies the fish bag, clipping it to the lifelines on the port side.
“Are you going to ask what I heard?” Charlie asks.
Bobby stares at the lines off the back of the boat and doesn’t look at Charlie. “That would be an odd thing to ask.”
“Not if you were there, too.”
“Me? You think I was there?”
“I know you were.”
“Charlie, I don’t think you’re remembering this correctly.”
“You know how my memory works. I remember exactly what happens, right down to the smallest detail.”
Bobby lets a line out further and tests the tension with his thumb.
“Are you ever going to tell Shannon she’s your daughter?”
“She’s not—”
“Don’t lie. I’ve figured it out. You came to our house to ask for her back like she was a piece of furniture you lent my parents. Dad told you to get lost. You got angry.”
“That’s not what happened.”
“So you admit you were there.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Do you even feel bad that you killed them?”
“Now you’ve gone too far. They died in a car accident. You know that.”
“Only because you forced them off the road. I read the police reports. A car just like yours was seen leaving the accident.”
“You came to visit me to talk about this?”
“I did.”
“Alright.” Bobby moves to the cockpit and sits with Charlie. “Debi and I were so young when we had Shannon. As I got older, I got more and more desperate to tell her I was her real father.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. Kevin was her real dad. You were her uncle.”
“Okay. I hear you. I tried to be a good uncle. To both of you.”
The humidity prickles Charlie’s skin. He’s over heating and knows he should get some water, but he can’t tear himself away from Bobby.
“Why did I get more money in my parent’s will than Shannon did?”
“Debi and I had an agreement with Kevin and Veronica. If something happened, their will would favor you. We promised we would make up the difference since Shannon was our daughter. Our will is a third to you and two-thirds to Shannon.”
“Why did you come to our door that night?”
“Debi wouldn’t let me tell Shannon, so I pleaded with Kevin.”
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