Lenses, Lust, and Murder: A Crystal Coast Case (Crystal Coast Cases Book 2)

by A M Ialacci

  When they arrived at the Station Club, Allie went in with Ryan to alert the staff that only she would be picking him up. “No emergency contacts until further notice,” she said. Miss Stacey assured her they understood.

  When she returned to Cruz’s car, she slid into the front seat.

  “All right, what’s going on?” Cruz asked.

  “You have patience,” she said. “I appreciate that.”

  “It’s limited. What happened?”

  “First, I got a weird call last night before the intruder showed up last night.”

  “Weird how?” he asked.

  “No one spoke,” she said. “Only a chuckle at the end. A male chuckle.”

  “Not good,” Cruz asked. “We can trace the number, but it will likely be a burner phone.”

  “Also, I was looking through pictures from the night of the gala. It seems both Tim and Erika were there,” Allie said.

  “What?” Cruz said.

  “And, they know each other. They were in conversation.”

  “Let’s talk to both of them today.”

  “Any news from Charlie?”

  “They’re going to have to let Greg go, I think. Something about the blood on the coveralls being animal blood. The test on the knife was inconclusive.”

  “So no hard evidence. Kat won’t touch that,” Allie said.

  “Rightly so,” Cruz said. “I don’t think he’s our guy.”

  “Charlie still does?” Allie asked.

  “We have more evidence on him than anyone else, even without the coveralls.”

  Her cell phone rang. “Speak of the devil,” she said as she pressed the green icon.

  “Hey, Charlie. What’s up?”

  “Are you with Cruz?”

  “Yes, he picked me up today.”

  “Are you feeling okay after last night?” he asked.

  “Fine,” she said. “What’s up?”

  “You’re not going to like this,” he said.

  “What?” she said, exasperated.

  “Kat’s taking you off the case,” Charlie said.

  “What?” she asked.

  “For your own safety, she says. Because of last night. She said someone from the case may be targeting you, and she can’t afford the liability if you get hurt,” he said.

  “She can’t do that!”

  “She can,” Charlie reminded her. “And she did.”

  “But I—” Allie was about to mention the dirt she had on Kat, but she bit her tongue. Of course, she could use it to get Kat to reverse her position, but Kat had outmaneuvered her. If she released the incriminating details of her affair with Neil Guthrie in response to this, she would look like a sleaze-ball. By removing Allie for her own safety, she had the upper hand, it would seem.

  “Listen, I’m still going to keep you in the loop,” Charlie said. “There isn’t much she can do about that. But you shouldn’t be seen at the Visitor Center. At least during business hours,” Charlie said. “Dwight has been apprised of the change, and I’m sure his staff knows by now, as well.”

  “Great,” she said, unable to hide the disappointment and anger in her voice.

  “We’ll figure something out,” Charlie said.

  “Okay. Thanks for letting me know,” she said and hung up.

  “What’s going on?” Cruz asked.

  “Kat Matthews has removed me from the case for my own safety,” Allie reported.

  Cruz paused. “That’s a load of bullshit,” he said.

  “Well, that’s obvious, but she saw an opportunity and played it,” Allie said. “So I can’t be seen at the Visitor Center. During working hours,” she added. “I guess you can turn around and take me back to Charlie’s.”

  “Actually, I have a better idea,” he said, pulling a U-turn in the middle of Highway 70.

  “Whoa!” Allie said. “I’d prefer not to end up in another ditch, please!”

  “Sorry,” he said. “We need to talk to Tim and Erika, right?”

  “Yes,” she agreed.

  “Well, the suspects don’t know you’re off the case,” he said. “So we’ll interview them again away from the Visitor Center. There’s a phone call I need to make, too.”

  “All right,” she said. “Can you find out where they are? What if Tim is at the ferries?”

  “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” he said. “Let me call my team and see where those two are.”

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Cruz pulled in to a nondescript building on Bridges Street in Morehead City.

  “What’s this place?” Allie asked.

  “It’s a call center. Selling subscriptions, mostly. Erika Slater works here now.”

  “Moving up in the world,” Allie said.

  When they entered, a manager approached them. Cruz showed him his badge and asked to speak with Erika. The manager raised his eyebrows and wiped his already sweating brow before scurrying off to retrieve Erika. Allie watched as Erika listened to the wide man whispering into her free ear, then pushed her headset down onto her neck and warily glanced toward them. She stood and sauntered toward them. “Can I help you, Agent Cruz?”

  “You remember me, then?” Cruz smiled.

  “How could I forget?” She returned the smile. “It’s not every day you’re questioned by the FBI.” She touched his chest with her fingertip as she recited the letters.

  Cruz dropped his smile. “You told us you were not at the Cape the evening of the murder.”

  “That’s right,” she said. “Out with friends.”

  “Well, we have photos that tell a different story,” Allie said, turning her phone so Erika could see.

  Erika bit her lip. “Well, that doesn’t look like me.”

  “We can speak with Tim if we need to,” Cruz reminded her. “Lying at this point is not the smartest course of action.”

  Erika heaved a sigh. “Fine. I was there. I wanted to speak to Harriet but I couldn’t find her.”

  Allie and Cruz glanced at each other. It was a common story, it seemed.

  “And Tim? How do you know him?” Allie asked.

  Erika bit her lip again. “Well, we dated for a while.”

  Cruz shook his head. “Was that before or after you dated Harriet?”

  “Long before,” she said.

  “What were you talking about here?” Allie pointed again to the picture.

  “We hadn’t seen each other in a long while. Just catching up. I asked him to keep my presence there that night on the down-low and he agreed.”

  “Did you speak about Harriet?” Cruz asked.

  “No, not really. Except mentioning I couldn’t find her. He said he hadn’t seen her either.”

  “So you took your boat over?” Cruz verified.

  Erika nodded.

  “And you couldn’t find her and you went home.”

  Another nod.

  “Why lie to us about that?” Allie asked.

  “I knew with our past you’d think I was the jealous lover or something. I didn’t want you to know I was there at all.”

  “But you’re not the jealous lover?” Cruz asked.

  “No. It just didn’t end well, with us. She just… broke up with me and I didn’t hear from her again. I didn’t have any closure,” Erika said.

  “And you wanted closure,” Allie said. “Why that night?”

  “I knew she would be there.” Erika shrugged. “Her schedule was so crazy going all over the county, she was hard to pin down. That’s why she was never without that day planner.”

  Allie shot Cruz a glance.

  “Would she have carried that with her to the gala, do you think?”

  “Oh, no,” Erika said. “She’d probably leave it in her desk.”

  “Hm,” Allie said.

  “Well, thank you, Erika. Your new version of events does complicate things, so we may need to talk again,” Cruz warned.

  “Anytime,” Erika said with a smile. “Are we done here?”

  Cruz nodd
ed and she replaced her headset on her head and sauntered back to her cubicle.

  “Believe her?” Cruz asked Allie.

  “I don’t know who to believe anymore.” Allie shook her head.

  Cruz had just gotten behind the wheel when his phone rang. He pushed the green button on the screen. “He is? All right, thanks.”

  When he hung up, Allie asked, “Was that about Tim?”

  “Yes. My team said he’s leaving for lunch and said something about driving in to Ace Marine in Morehead.”

  “How do we know where he’s going for lunch?” Allie asked.

  Cruz smiled. “When you have resources, you get to study suspects, learn their routines.” He pulled out of the parking lot and headed west on Bridges.

  “Oh, yeah?”

  “Tim likes to go to the Royal James when he’s in Beaufort, but when he has to go to Morehead, he likes to have lunch at Ruddy Duck’s.”

  “Hm,” Allie said. “Not cheap like the Royal James, and a very different crowd.”

  “Good to know,” Cruz said.

  “Will he eat lunch first or hit the hardware store?”

  “We’re going to park down the street from the restaurant and watch the door,” Cruz said.

  “Ooh, like a stakeout,” Allie said.

  “I guess. A very short one.” Cruz laughed.

  They pulled into a spot on Evans Street with a clear view of the door to the restaurant. There were people waiting for tables already outside. After about ten minutes, Tim walked up, greeting a few in the crowd of people around the door and went inside.

  “Isn’t he going to have to wait for a table?” Allie asked as Cruz opened his door and slid out of his seat.

  He leaned in and said, “Nope. He sits at the bar.”

  “Ah,” Allie said, opening her own door and following Cruz inside.

  Cruz spotted Tim from the entryway and approached him, Allie a few steps behind.

  “Tim. Special Agent Nick Cruz.” He flashed his badge. “Can I have a minute of your time?”

  “Well, now that you have everyone’s attention.” Tim laughed and the crowd around him chuckled. “Sure thing. What can I help you with?”

  “Did you want to step outside, or…?”

  “I’m good right here,” Tim said.

  “All right. You said the last time we spoke that you did go to the Cape, but you couldn’t find Harriet and came back, is that correct?” Cruz asked.

  “Yes,” Tim said but didn’t elaborate.

  “Didn’t you say that you had left before the visitors had arrived?”

  “I did,” Tim agreed.

  “Well, I’m a bit confused then, because we have a picture of you at the gala, with plenty of other people around,” Cruz said, and Allie held up the photo.

  “Oh, shit,” Tim said. He looked from Cruz to Allie and chuckled. “I didn’t realize anyone was taking photos, although I should have known.”

  “Do you want to explain?”

  “Okay, so…” he started and stopped. “I had heard that Harriet was going to recommend to Dwight not to extend our contract. It’s for ten years, but we started in 2009 and I need this contract. If I don’t have it, my business basically folds. For whatever reason, Harriet had a bug up her ass about me and my company, always finding fault with everything we did.”

  “You heard this rumor, and…” Cruz prompted.

  “I felt an urgent need to talk to her. I had one of my captains bring me over before the first boat of passengers. I looked around, but couldn’t find her. I had hoped to hop back on the ferry and head back to the Visitor Center before the second boat came over because Dwight wanted me to text him when everyone had reached the island. But Erika saw me and struck up a conversation.”

  “And how do you know Erika?” Cruz asked.

  “We dated for a while. But it was ages ago. I hadn’t seen her in forever. Didn’t even know she knew Harriet.”

  “Why didn’t you tell us this before?” Allie asked.

  “Well, Erika asked me to keep her presence there a secret.”

  “Do you know how long she had been there?”

  “No idea,” he said. But I didn’t see her until I saw the rest of that first boatload of passengers.”

  “Did you ever get back to Dwight?”

  “I did. We were only running the one boat that night, so they didn’t have an onslaught of people wanting to climb the lighthouse all at once. I waited until the second boatload arrived, and then I texted Dwight to let him know the ferry was on the way to pick him up.”

  “So you talked to Erika for a while then,” Allie remarked.

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Because Dwight is in this picture. Here are you and Erika talking off to the side, and Dwight is here in this group pointing up to the lighthouse.”

  “Uh.” Tim rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, I guess so. Like I said, we hadn’t seen each other in ages.”

  “Hm,” Allie said. “Lots to catch up on.”

  Tim grimaced. “Are we done here? I gotta eat lunch and get back.”

  “We’re done for now,” Cruz said. “But this is an open investigation, and we may need to chat again. Understood?”

  Tim nodded.

  Cruz and Allie left the restaurant and went back to the car.

  “I feel like it could be any of them,” Allie said. “They’ve all lied to us so much, it’s hard to know who’s telling the truth now.”

  “I have the urge to review everything again. Do you have plans tonight?”

  “Are you asking me out?” Allie asked.

  “No.” Cruz laughed. “I was thinking you could come out after hours to the Visitor Center and we could review everything in the situation room.”

  “I can probably do that. I have to deal with my insurance company over the truck, and get a rental. And then I’ll have to make sure Sheila or Peg can keep an eye on Ryan, but you can bet I’ll be there tonight.”

  “All right,” he said. “I might have you tailed, just to be safe.”

  “What?”

  “Mike would never forgive me if anything happened to you before he gets home.”

  “Well, that’s true,” she said. “Aren’t there security cameras at the Visitor Center? Won’t someone see me tomorrow or whenever they review the tapes?”

  “I doubt anyone reviews them unless there’s some cause for alarm,” Cruz said. “And besides, Kat Matthews doesn’t get to tell me what to do.”

  “What do your superiors have to say about that?”

  “That’s the call I put in earlier. They’re deliberating.”

  “Ah,” Allie said. “A wonderful vote of confidence that it’s taking this long.”

  “Everything takes longer when the feds are involved,” Cruz joked.

  “You said it, not me,” Allie said.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Allie pulled in to the visitor lot and killed the engine on the black SUV the rental car company had given her. “I’ll fit right in with the feds,” she said. Her tail pulled in behind her and waited in the car, a few spaces away. She looked around as she stepped out but saw nothing out of place. Hers and the unmarked were the only vehicles in the lot. She texted Cruz as she hustled up to the front entrance. He met her and opened the door for her.

  “Any problems?” he asked.

  “No,” she said, searching out the security cameras and finding them in every corner.

  “I expected security cameras, but this seems like a little overkill,” she said. “It’s not like they keep money in here.”

  “I guess because it’s government property? I don’t really know,” Cruz said as they walked toward the situation room.

  “Does Dwight know you’re here?” she asked.

  “Yeah, I told him I’d probably be staying late tonight,” he said.

  They sat and reviewed the case files, every statement, every piece of evidence found, every one of the ERT’s reports. They sat, they stood, they paced, they
drank more coffee.

  “Did you think Greg was telling the truth when Charlie interrogated him?” Allie asked.

  “He didn’t show any of the classic signs of anxiety on the important questions,” Cruz said. “So I tend to believe him.”

  “Even when he said Jenny wasn’t on the boat with them?”

  “I’m not sure. I’d have to review the recording,” he said, opening up his laptop.

  “She seems an odd one to single out,” Allie said. She reviewed the pictures from the night of the murder again as Cruz watched the interrogation again. “Are you going to watch the whole thing?”

  “Might as well,” he said.

  Allie flipped through the pictures, always coming back to the one with Tim and Erika talking.

  Her phone rang and she saw it was Ryan. “Hey, bud! How’s it going with Peg?”

  “Good,” he said. “Having ice cream, watching movies.”

  “What movies?” Allie asked.

  “Pirate movies,” Ryan chuckled.

  “Of course!” She laughed.

  “Arcade soon?” he asked.

  “I thought you didn’t want to,” she said. “I thought it made you mad.”

  “Only Rodney,” he said. “‘Out of order’ sign. Can’t play today!”

  “I know,” she said, trying to head off his entire script of the situation. “That was really sneaky of him, wasn’t it, Ryan? We’ll go back soon, I promise, okay?”

  “Okay. See you soon?” he asked.

  “Soon,” she said. “Love you!” They hung up the phone. Allie studied the photo some more. “What were they talking about for so long?” she asked, so softly it was mostly to herself.

  “Huh?” Cruz asked.

  There is something about this picture. I’m missing something. It’s right here in front of me. What is it?

  “Out of Order! Can’t play today!” she mimicked Ryan’s words still running through her mind.

  She sat up straight, as if struck by a bolt of lightning. “Cruz!”

  “What?” he asked absently, still studying the screen in front of him.

  “Cruz!” she said louder, tapping the picture. “Look!”

  He tore his eyes away from the screen. “What?”

  “Look!” she repeated.