Secrets Among the Cedars (Intertwined Book 2)
Page 11
She pressed her cheek against his. He smelled like coconuts and pineapple. The sweet scent flooded her mind, bringing her back to their picnic on the beach. "Thank you."
Phil released Kathryn and leaned against the bar with his hands in his pockets. "Let me put you in one of my rentals."
Kathryn pointed out the sliding glass door and pouted. "But the sunsets."
"You're as stubborn as they come, A.D.A. Bellamy. With that attitude and determination, you'll make it as far as you want to go. But I'm not taking no for an answer on this one. I'll put you in a unit that's private and has the best view of the sunset in all of Cedar Key."
"I'm not sure I can afford that."
"I wasn't going to charge you. However, I could use your help on a project."
"What's that?"
"I'm in the process of repainting the bedrooms and bathrooms in the unit. You interested in assisting me?"
Kathryn smiled and nodded at the idea of working as a team with him on something other than the case. "I'd love to help! We can try to figure out where the weapon is while we work."
"You're hopeless." Phil shoved his hands onto his hips.
"Yeah, I know, but I feel like we're so close now. After meeting with Mr. Ballew, I know that gun is here."
"One thing's for sure: you must be on to something or my cousins wouldn't bother with you."
"Exactly!"
"Then let's pack your bags and get you over to the other place." He looked at his watch. "I'm getting hungry for dinner. I'd like to take you to get some seafood."
"I'd like that." Kathryn hooked Sadie up to her leash and walked her to the sliding glass door.
Phil asked, "Are you ready to go to dinner now, or do you want me to give you time to pack?"
Kathryn stood at the back door and extended Sadie's leash so she could go outside alone. "If you don't mind coming back in about thirty minutes?"
Phil pulled his keys out of his front pocket. He rotated the keys on the ring until he found the one he was looking for then he removed the key and placed it on the bar. "Here's the key to the house. I'll text you the address. It's probably best if we don't head over there together anyway."
"Why?" Kathryn ducked her head out through the door and clicked to Sadie.
"I don't want Drew to find out I moved you. He obviously knows where you're staying now. I don't want him to know I know you."
"Good point." Sadie ran into the condo. When Kathryn unleashed her, she ran to Phil and begged. Kathryn laughed. "She wants her treat."
"Where are they?"
"In the puppy paw jar by the sink."
Phil opened the jar and gave a biscuit to Sadie. "I'll call Drew and find out where he and Barney are. I'll text you and let you know it's okay to go on over. Then I'll come get you for dinner." Phil winked at Kathryn and stepped out onto the porch.
Kathryn danced on her tiptoes to the bedroom to pack her bags, Sadie on her heels. Phil had held her so close, close enough to kiss her. Yet he’d held back. He was a true gentleman. Maybe too much of a gentleman. She giggled.
#
Phil flipped through his mail from the swing facing the canal. The greenish-brown brackish water lapped against the tree-lined shore, boats trolled to their docks after a day out at sea. Instead of the estuary's usual smell of sea grass and algae, dread filled the air as he waited for Drew to answer his phone. Thankfully, he hadn't been waiting for him when he returned from Kathryn's.
The ringing stopped and Phil straightened, tossing the mail on the swing beside him.
"What?"
"Well, hello to you too, Drew."
"Did you call Uncle Louie?"
Phil grabbed his forehead. He'd forgotten to call. When Kathryn called for help, he'd dropped everything and gone to her rescue. "No, I didn't get the chance. I'll call tomorrow. I doubt they'll bring him to the phone though."
"You're trying to get out of it. Aren't you?"
"Drew, I told you I'd call. I'm a man of my word."
"You've yet to prove that."
"I'll call tomorrow. When are you headed home?"
"I've got one more visit to pay to the D.A. and then I'll go. Barney is staying until she goes back to Perkins County."
"So you met her?"
"Not exactly."
"What do you mean?" Phil paced the porch.
"I sent her a message to mind her business."
Phil knew enough about what Drew had done, and he didn't want the details. "Don't tell me. I don't want to know. The more unapprised I am of your actions, the better." He squeezed the back of his neck and leaned against the railing. Drew had no conscience. He didn't care who he hurt as long as he achieved his goal.
What if the slashed tires had caused Kathryn to wreck? What if she'd died out on Highway 24? Phil would have nothing but his speculation and no proof that his cousins had been responsible. Thank You, Lord, for keeping Kathryn safe.
"Phil!"
"Sorry. Look, I've got to go. Where are you now?"
"I'm at the yacht club. Barney went clamming with a group of locals."
"Clamming?"
"Yeah, something he's always wanted to do apparently."
"Let me know when you leave. And take Barney with you."
"He won't go until she goes."
"I'm going to call him. He needs to leave her alone. She's just a woman and probably won't find what she's looking for."
"You seem awful certain of that. Maybe I should get you to take care of her and not Barney."
Phil stepped into the house and dropped on to the sofa. Should he tell Drew he'd take responsibility for getting Kathryn out of Cedar Key so they'd leave her alone?
"Yeah that's a great idea, Phil. Why don't you convince her to leave the case alone?" he snorted.
"I know what you mean by convince, and I'm not the guy for that. But I'll tell you what I will do."
"What's that?"
"I'll call Perkins County tomorrow and see what I can find out. Then I'll call Louie." After Phil hung up with Drew, he sent Kathryn a text that he'd pick her up in fifteen minutes.
#
Kathryn gripped Sadie's leash as she unlocked the door to Phil's rental. The last thing she needed was for Sadie to rush in and break something. She walked through the foyer and before she made it ten steps into the home, she gasped.
The blue two-story stucco possessed vaulted ceilings with windows from floor to ceiling along the back wall, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances in the kitchen, and ceramic tile floors throughout the downstairs. Oil paintings of ocean scenes hung on the walls in the living area, and oversized tan leather furniture waited for her to make herself comfortable. The place screamed opulence.
"Sadie, I'm not sure we're fit to stay here. We might mess this place up." Sadie woofed as if she knew what she'd said, and Kathryn laughed.
She took Sadie off her leash then explored the rest of the five-bedroom dream home. She meandered through the downstairs and upstairs rooms until she found her way back to the two-story living area and to the back porch, which overlooked Daughtry Bayou. She opened the paneled glass door and sucked in the Gulf breeze—hot and healing. A small plane took off from the runway behind the house and joined the pelicans and seagulls in the pale-blue sky, blotted with the occasional cloud.
Kathryn's phone chimed and interrupted her bliss. She unlocked the screen and pressed the messaging button.
I'm in the drive.
She didn't mind the interruption from Phil, and she appreciated his advanced warning instead of knocking on the door and scaring her. She bounced on her toes and turned away from the view. "Sadie, Phil's here!" Sadie turned in circles and whined. Kathryn returned to the front door. "I'll be right back. I’m going to get my things." She shut the door behind her and waved at Phil from the porch.
He stood beside his SUV with his keys in his hands, sunglasses covering his eyes. Were they smiling as usual behind the shades? "Is the place okay?"
Kathryn's heart beg
ged to leap out of her chest and right into Phil's hands. "Okay? It's perfect. I'm almost afraid to stay here. I might mess something up."
"Nonsense.”
“Do you think Sadie will be okay? She doesn’t normally mess things up, but I’m a little nervous with her being left in a new place without me.”
“She’ll be fine. If she messes anything up, it can be replaced. I mean, she’d not a furniture eater, right?”
“No, she’s not.” Kathryn’s chest warmed. Phil’s generosity had no end.
“You ready for some seafood?"
Kathryn tried to control the tingling that dashed throughout her body as she bounded down the stairs toward him. "Yep! Let me get my things into the house first." She popped the trunk and grabbed her grocery bags and laptop bag.
Phil reached into the trunk for her luggage.
"Thanks for helping me unload and for letting me stay here. The house truly is amazing and the view is gorgeous. No trees to block the sunsets."
"I know. It's one of my favorites. My grandparents used to stay here before they bought the other properties. Then they bought this one. When Grandpa died, Grandma stayed in a bungalow until my folks made her move back to New York."
Kathryn opened the door, and Phil followed her into the house. "What happened to the bungalow?"
"My parents own it. They stay there whenever they come for a visit. Pops doesn’t come much because he says there’s nothing to do here in Cedar Key and he thinks I abandoned the family, but Ma comes a few times a year now that Grandma is gone."
“She comes alone?”
“Sure. She loves the shops and the locals, loves to spend time at the library and read. There’s a quilt shop she goes to too. I don’t know if she’s making a quilt or if she just likes to hang out with those ladies.”
"That’s neat that she doesn’t mind traveling alone. My mom rarely goes anywhere now that she doesn’t have Dad as a travel partner. I'm sorry for your loss, by the way."
"Thanks." On the way down the stairs and to Phil’s SUV, Phil stopped.
Kathryn halted too. “What is it?” She focused her gaze on the street. Hopefully, Phil hadn’t spotted one of his cousins.
“I just thought of somewhere the gun might be.”
Kathryn grabbed Phil’s forearm. “Where?”
“It’s a longshot, but there’s an old cemetery about five minutes from here over on Gulf Blvd. You said the guy in the store said something about buried secrets. I didn’t even think about an actual cemetery.”
“Can we go?” Kathryn clapped her hands. Who cares if she looked like a child?
“Sure. I’m willing to search anywhere.”
“Now?” She batted her eyelashes. What was happening to her professional demeanor? She’d transformed into more of a woman since she’d been here than she’d ever been.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
“Yes, but I want to find that gun. If we wait until after we eat, it will be getting late. I’m not going to get stuck in an old cemetery at dark.”
Phil laughed. “Okay, we’ll go there now. We can poke around and see if anything looks disturbed.”
Kathryn would dance the rest of the way to the SUV, but why celebrate prematurely?
The entrance of the cemetery wasn’t at all what Kathryn had expected. Two nice concrete columns marked the entrance, one with a plaque with the name of the cemetery etched in it. She’d assumed it would be a neglected and overgrown parcel of land. “What’s that walkway there?” Kathryn pointed to a wooden walkway that led out into the water.
“That’s the boardwalk. A lot of people fish out there. I’ve gotten a whopper or two out of that backwater myself on occasion. We can walk it once we’ve checked out the cemetery, if you want to.”
“Okay, sure.” If they found the gun, she’d skip down the boardwalk.
Phil pulled his SUV over to the side of the path. “Let’s get out and walk. It will be easier to spot if something has been tampered with. Do you want some mosquito repellant?”
“Yes, thanks.”
They exited the vehicle, sprayed themselves with repellant, and started on the first loop around the graves. Shaded by two-hundred-year-old oaks and cedars, the graves were covered in moss and dark stains. Some had iron fences around them, some had elaborate headstones on them. Others had small plain headstones, and others had nothing but a jagged rock placed at the head of the body to represent the loved one who’d passed so long ago.
“I’m surprised these graves have survived the harsh ocean winds and the flooding that comes with hurricanes.”
“I know. When I first found this place, I remember being surprised that they would have sited a cemetery so close to the water. But I suppose in the 1800s, they didn’t think about things like that.”
“Maybe not. Do you see anything yet?”
“Not yet. Let’s keep walking. Back here in the back there are some unmarked graves. Maybe the gun is buried in or around one of them.”
Kathryn shivered. “I hate cemeteries. They are so creepy. Especially with the Spanish moss dripping from the oak trees and the cedars shadowing the graves.”
“Yeah, it’s eerie back in here. Oh, I forgot to tell you to watch out for copperheads.”
Kathryn squealed and jumped like she’d stepped on a snake. “Phil! Don’t scare me like that.”
He laughed. “Sorry. But you do have to watch out for snakes around here. They definitely can be up in these leaves.”
“Gross. I’ll just stay here on the pavement. You go fish around for the gun.”
“So you’d let me risk my life for your murder weapon?” He stabbed himself in the heart with his fists and pretended to fall back.
“Yep!” Kathryn shooed him to commence his hunt for the gun.
Kathryn and Phil walked around every loop in the cemetery and turned up nothing. Not one single hint of a disturbed or freshly dug grave.
“I’m sorry we didn’t find anything. I told you it was a longshot, but I didn’t want it to go unchecked.” Phil squeezed Kathryn’s shoulder.
“It’s not your fault they didn’t bury it here.”
“You ready to walk the boardwalk?”
Kathryn pouted. “No, can we just go to the restaurant? I’m so bummed. I just want to stuff my face with shrimp.”
Phil threw his arm over Kathryn’s shoulder and led the way to the SUV. “Anything you want, ma’am. I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”
Chapter Thirteen
Phil escorted Kathryn up the steps to the Tropical Winds restaurant near the city park where they'd run into each other on Saturday. He acted like a skittish deer, looking past people, jumping whenever a baritone voice rang out. They were at a table together, but Phil’s mind was somewhere else.
Who was Kathryn to interfere with his thoughts though? She'd been lost in plenty of her own over the last few days. She'd obsessed over solving this case, one that she no longer had any obligation to solve. She'd rehearsed over and over in her mind what she'd say to Daddy when she got home, how she'd tell him she no longer wanted to pursue his dream.
She’d also practiced her speech to Maria if Phil pursued her once she left Cedar Key, how she'd explain their meeting and their instant attraction to each other although they were on opposite sides of this case.
Kathryn shook her head. Her imagination was like a wayward runaway child. She couldn't assume Phil would want to see her once she left this island refuge. She’d do herself a favor if she forgot about these wild ideas. "Phil? You okay?"
He cleared his throat and scratched his whiskered chin. "Yeah, I'm sorry."
"What's up? You were so quiet in the car on the way over here."
“Me quiet? You were quiet too.”
Kathryn acknowledged with a nod. “Guilty as charged.”
"I'm upset that I haven’t been able to help you find the gun.”
“That’s not your fault. It’s either already been found, or it’s been removed by forces beyond our contr
ol.”
“Or it’s out there waiting for us.”
“You know that’s what I’m hoping for. What else is bothering you? You’re antsy.”
“I’m on the lookout for Drew and Barney. Barney went clamming today with the locals. Since he’s a big eater and this is the best restaurant in town, he could appear at any moment."
“Then why did we come in here?”
“I’m beginning to wonder that myself.”
Kathryn chewed on her thumbnail. "So he's not just here for business then?"
"I wouldn't say that. He's either trying to make money somehow, or he didn't really go clamming. He may have taken a boat out to where the weapon is hidden."
"Did Drew say where Barney went specifically?"
Phil’s gaze darted around the restaurant. Sweat beaded on his upper lip. "No, but he did say Barney was staying here until you leave. They're going to keep watching you, which means they'll figure out we know each other."
Kathryn shook her head. "Not good."
"No, not good.”
“Which means, Phil, it was a mistake to come out in public together.”
“We probably shouldn’t do this again. They know you're tenacious and won't give up."
"My reputation follows me everywhere, doesn't it?"
"Indeed. Drew even called you a rabid fox."
Kathryn threw her head back and laughed. "Oh, he has done his homework, hasn't he?"
"I'm afraid he knows too much about you. Too much for my liking, anyway. So we'd better stay out of public for the rest of the time you're here."
"I agree. But we've got to find that gun."
Phil nodded and gulped down his water.
The waitress took their order then Kathryn continued, "I've been thinking about what Mr. Ballew said." With her finger, she traced the border of the paper placemat on the table, a map of Cedar Key, and outlined invisible circles around the islands which surrounded this quaint place.
"What's that?"
She tapped her index finger on the table. "If the gun was hidden here because the killer, your uncle, had connections to Cedar Key, it stands to reason that you're the connection."