by Jenn Vakey
She turned to him, wide-eyed with amusement, and reached out and touched the wall. After a few seconds, she shook her head and said, “I’ve got nothing. If there’s a body up there, I’m not seeing anything about it. And because I love you, if we do find something, I’ll leave it entirely in the incapable hands of Sergeant Perez.”
Ben’s deep laugh echoed off through the mountains around them. “Even if I didn’t know you better than that, the way you phrased it would make me not believe you for a second. But if you think you’re really up to it, then let’s go.”
“Sounds good. I’ll race you to the top.”
Chapter Five
“Not a word,” Rilynne said. Despite the annoyance in her voice, Ben was still chuckling where he stood beside her. “If you want to enjoy any of the activities you’re supposed to while on a honeymoon, you will stop that right now.”
He seemed to try for a moment, but it didn’t work. After just a second of silence, he uttered an almost inaudible apology before the low chuckles began again. He tried to hide them, but it was no use. His entire body shuddered with each laugh, and they didn’t seem to be slowing.
“Benjamin Davis, I swear if you don’t stop, I’m going to…” Rilynne said angrily, but the door opened before she could finish.
“Well, Mrs. Davis, it isn’t broken. You do have a pretty good sprain, though, so try to limit the usage of it. You said you’re right handed, correct?” Dr. Forrest asked. Rilynne nodded. She still felt a wave of rage coursing through her, so she thought it best not to talk. He opened up a cabinet behind him and pulled something out. “Good. Then you don’t have to worry about trying to write or anything with your left one. Since you’re on vacation and you’re helping out with that nasty business of ours, I’m going to put it in a brace that will be easy to take on and off. I’m also going to throw in an extra one. They won’t get damaged by getting wet. You won’t want to leave it on after that, though, so take it off and put the dry one on. That way you can still enjoy our island without risk of hurting your wrist further. No more rock climbing. At least not until you’re fully healed.”
“I’ll keep an eye on her,” Ben said, watching Dr. Forrest strap the brace onto Rilynne’s wrist.
When he finished, he handed Ben the extra one and walked back out of the room. She was glad he had finally stopped chuckling at her, but the smirk on his face left her with the strong desire to punch him.
“Come on, honey,” he said, brushing the hair out of her face. “You have to admit it was pretty funny. I mean, we both know you’re clumsy, but I’ve never seen anything so spectacular. At least not in person.”
Rilynne glared up at him. She didn’t agree. “We have a long way to go before I see this as funny. You’re lucky all I ended up with was a sprained wrist. If I hadn’t been as quick, I wouldn’t have caught the rope in time and I’d have fallen all the way down.”
“But you didn’t,” he countered.
“You dropped a snake on me!” she yelled. “A poisonous snake! It’s a miracle it didn’t bite me.”
Ben stepped in front of her and ran his hands up and down her thighs. “I didn’t drop the snake on you. I didn’t expect the rock to come loose when I stepped on it, and I really didn’t expect there to be a snake that would fall out of the little crevice it had been tucked in. You did a fantastic job avoiding the rock that fell, and you recovered after that snake landed on you better than I thought you would. When I saw it hit you, I thought for sure you were going down. You’re amazing.”
Rilynne pushed him back and slid off the edge of the table. “Sucking up to me isn’t going to help. I knew you were trying to kill me. When scuba diving didn’t work, you decided to throw a snake at me, knowing there was a good chance I would either get bitten or I would fall. I see through your games.”
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in, not slowed in the slightest by the fight she put up. After a few seconds of trying to push him away, she gave in and dropped her head down against his chest. “If you tell the guys about this, I’ll hurt you.”
Ben laughed again. “Trust me, Rye. It’s not something they would give you a hard time for. It’s not like you slipped and fell. Something happened that was completely out of your control and you were able to walk away with limited damage.” He kissed her on the top of the head before sliding his arm around her shoulder and leading her toward the door.
“You’re kidding, right?” she said. “This is exactly the kind of thing they would make jokes about. If they were willing to tease both of us when you ended up getting shot, they won’t hesitate to use this.”
He seemed to consider it for a moment before responding. “Okay, so you’re probably right. If I agree to never mention it to anyone back home, will it make up for me dropping the snake on you?”
“See! You admit it!” she declared.
Ben laughed. “Do you want to just call it a day and head back to the house?”
Rilynne shook her head without needing to think it over. “Sergeant Perez is planning on heading over to the bed and breakfast the victim was restoring. I want to be there when he talks to the person in charge. If anyone is going to know what she’s been up to while in Spicer Island, that will probably be the best place to start.”
“I’ll have him come pick us up on his way then,” Ben stated. He pulled out his phone to call Perez while Rilynne went to the front desk to take care of the bill. When she finished and walked out the front door, she was surprised to see Perez already waiting outside with Ben.
“Let’s go,” he said, not mentioning her injured wrist at all. She had a feeling Ben had either filled him in on what had happened or had told him not to ask. As she climbed into the car, she decided on the former. Perez was still not happy about their presence, and she had a feeling he would take advantage of any opportunity to push her buttons.
The bed and breakfast was on the other end of the island from where they were staying. When they pulled up, Rilynne could see why an expert had been brought in to oversee the project. The building looked like the old plantation homes she’d read about. Large white pillars surrounded the beautiful building. From what she could see, nearly every window on the second floor was actually a door that led to the balcony that wrapped around the whole of the building. The deep green curtains that dressed each window and door stood out against the white of the building, leaving an elegant look she hadn’t expected.
Ben pulled her door open and took her by the hand to help her out. He didn’t let go until they stepped through the large front door.
“Is this place open?” Rilynne asked as she looked around, though she already knew the answer. The furniture in the parlor to the right was covered in plastic sheeting, and there were pieces of the walls removed in several locations that she could see. Aside from the look of destruction within it, it was still a magnificent sight.
“The owner closed it a few months back,” Perez said dryly. “They had originally planned on remodeling it while still remaining open, but they ran into some issues. The word is there was some termite damage and they ended up needing to open up more walls than they had expected. Instead of doing it in sections and dragging it out, the owner decided just to shut down and take care of everything at once.”
“Is the owner meeting us here?” she asked. She was actually surprised to see no one around.
He shook his head but still looked down to his watch. “The owner doesn’t live here. Holly, the manager who’s been running it for the last few years, should be around here somewhere. That’s her car out front.”
“You didn’t tell her we were coming?” Ben asked.
“Nope,” Perez responded shortly, apparently annoyed by the constant stream of questions.
Not wanting to irritate him further, Rilynne turned her attention back to the room around them. Aside from the construction, it looked just how she’d imagined a plantation house would, down to the large wooden double doors between the rooms.
“Sor
ry, Luis, but we aren’t open yet,” a young girl said as she walked up toward them. She wasn’t at all what Rilynne had been expecting. Possibly due to the age of the victim or the grandness of the plantation house, she had pictured someone older. Just by looking at her, Rilynne didn’t think she could be any older than her mid twenties.
She rubbed her hands with a small towel before tossing it over her shoulder and extending her hand to greet him. “At this rate, we might never get back up and running. My contractor quit last week, and then the woman overseeing the remodel decided to take the last few days off. If she’s not back in the next day or so, I’m going to have to start looking for a replacement for her. But I’m just venting,” she stated, apparently realizing there were other people in the room with them. “I can definitely point you to a few good places to stay on the island.”
“We’re not actually here for a room, Holly,” Perez said. His tone was gentler than she had heard it. “We’re here about Caitlin Burton. She’s who was overseeing the renovations, correct?”
“That’s right,” Holly answered. Her expression turned to concern almost immediately. “She isn’t in any kind of trouble, is she? Whatever it was, I’m sure she didn’t have anything to do with it. She might be slacking a little on her responsibilities, but she’s having some problems at home so that isn’t surprising. She doesn’t really strike me as the kind to get involved in anything that would require your attention.”
“When was the last time you saw Mrs. Burton?” Rilynne asked before Perez could say anything else. He glared at her begrudgingly, but seemed to understand the merit of her question.
Holly thought about it a moment as she reached up and ran her hand down her short ponytail. “Four days ago. She was pretty upset about her husband going back to the states I think. She was usually pretty chatty, but that day she pretty much just kept to herself. I’d heard about her husband, so I figured that was the reason she seemed so distracted. I was hoping having the weekend off might help, but she didn’t show up yesterday morning for work.”
“Do you know what exactly happened between her and her husband?” Rilynne asked with a bit of a nosey tone. She folded her arms and leaned forward, doing her best to come off in a way that would inspire a gossipy conversation. It worked.
Holly looked around as if she were about to do something wrong, then leaned in slightly toward her. “From what I heard, they had a huge fight just before he left. It was so loud that a few people actually heard it while walking down the street near their house. I don’t know what it was it was about, but he took a boat out the next day. I don’t think they were doing all that well even before that, though. She never really talked about him, and the few times she did, she didn’t have the best things to say. So what happened to her?”
“I’m afraid she’s been killed, Holly,” Perez said. “Did you know anyone who she had a problem with? Anyone who she might have wanted to hurt her?”
“No,” Holly said with a quick gasp, dropping down into the chair behind her. “Like I said, she was a nice lady. From what I saw, she got along with everyone. She was strict, but she was always very pleasant and outgoing. Are you sure she wasn’t in an accident or something? She really liked to go out on hikes. Maybe she just got lost and is alive out there somewhere.”
“I’m afraid we found her body yesterday,” Rilynne stated. She could see Holly was upset by the news, so she didn’t offer any specifics.
Holly just looked down at her lap, seemingly unable to respond. Rilynne patted her gently on the shoulder before motioning Ben to follow her. Leaving Sergeant Perez with Holly, they stepped out onto the porch.
“I’ve never liked watching those things,” Ben said, leading them to the large swing at the end. “They always make me think of when the police showed up at my school to tell me my parents had been killed.”
Rilynne dropped her head down on his shoulder as they sat down. As their wedding approached, Ben started talking more and more about his parents. She would have given anything for him to have them at their wedding. With Ben talking about the prospect of them being parents in the near future, he seemed to be thinking his own only more often.
“I’ve never really been comfortable with them myself,” Rilynne stated. “It’s really the only part of my job that I don’t like. Well, aside from the fact that someone has to be killed in order for me to even do my job. At least we didn’t have to be there when her daughter was notified.”
“Should we head back in there?” Ben asked.
Rilynne glanced through the window behind them. She could see Holly sitting where they had left her, and Sergeant Perez talking, though she couldn’t make out what he was saying. “We’ll let him handle this,” she replied. “She was pretty upset, so it will be easier for her to talk to someone she knows. Besides, I think she told us pretty much everything useful. I would really like a chance to talk to the victim’s husband. If they were on the rocks, it could give him a reason to want to see her dead. I want to find out when he left, or even if he really left at all. Convincing everyone you went back home when you really stayed would give a pretty good alibi. We’ll see if Perez has a way of verifying his trip.”
Just then, Sergeant Perez emerged through the front door. He didn’t hold the same bitterness about him that he had before. Instead, he just looked sad. “I’ll call around to the different ships on the island and see who transported the husband back to Hawaii, or if anyone brought him back before Mrs. Burton was killed. There are only a few that make the trip and they usually keep good records.”
“I’ll have his financial records pulled as well,” Rilynne offered. Ben stood and reached down to help her to her feet. She reached out first with her left hand, forgetting momentarily about the brace, before switching to her right. After rolling her eyes at her own injury, she continued. “Between those and his phone records, we should be able to determine where he was when his wife was killed. He will be here tomorrow, correct?”
Perez nodded. As he walked back toward the car, his cold demeanor started to come back. By the time he pulled the door open, he was back to harsh man he’d been since their meeting. “The daughter will be here too. Her business partner is going to try to make it down, but I might end up having to do a video conference with him. His daughter’s having a baby, and he didn’t want to leave before it happened.”
“Are you sure she didn’t have anything to do with it?” Ben asked, motioning to the bed and breakfast as he climbed in and pulled the car door shut.
Rilynne and Perez both turned around to face him.
“Holly didn’t have anything to gain in the victim’s death,” Perez stated firmly. “The property is closed to the public during the renovations, which have to be overseen. If they don’t get completed and the bed and breakfast closes, Holly will be out of a job. The only reason she came here from the states a few years ago was to run it when the current owner decided turn it into a business. If it’s closed down, she will pretty much have to start over again.”
“Why do you ask?” Rilynne asked.
Ben seemed to be mulling over something for a moment before finally shrugging. “Something just seemed off. I can’t really put my finger on it, though.”
“Was it something about the renovations that seemed odd, or was it Holly?” Rilynne pushed.
Ben shrugged again. He didn’t seem to have an answer. After a few seconds more, Rilynne turned back around and left her husband with his thoughts. When she did, she tried to think back over everything herself. The house was a bit of a mess, but nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary for a renovation. Holly showed genuine shock when they told her the victim had been killed. She was also had a fairly petite figure. Even if something had happened between her and the victim, Rilynne didn’t see her as capable of being able to move the body around, let alone when it was chained to the refrigerator. If she had seen the same thing her husband had, it didn’t have the same effect on her.
Perez didn’t ask where they w
ould like to go before driving straight to their house. While Rilynne hadn’t intended on going back to the station, the fact Perez felt the need to take the option out for them was deeply satisfying.
He didn’t say a word as they climbed out of the car. The moment the doors were both shut, he wiped back out of the driveway, sending gravel flying as he sped away.
“I don’t really know what to make of him,” Rilynne said as they watched his tail lights disappear around a curve. “Does it seem to you like he’s trying way too hard to get us off this case? It seems like more than just the normal resentment for someone else butting in on an investigation.”
Ben slid his arm around her waist and steered her toward the porch. “I’ve seen you do worse.”
Rilynne looked up at him, trying to make sense of his statement. She’d had several cases that turned into joint investigations over the years, many that she wasn’t pleased about, but none of them had been during her time in Addison Valley. Even then, she had always fought hard to keep from letting her frustrations show.
“Selena Young,” he said, smirking at the dumbfounded look she donned. It didn’t last long on her face, though.
“You’re joking!” she exclaimed, laughing at the absurdity of his claim. “First of all, that situation is nothing like this one. Selena Young wasn’t in law enforcement. She was a psychic, and a fake one at that. Second, I didn’t act anything like the way Perez has been acting.”
It was now Ben who held the look of disbelief. “I honestly thought you were going to up and drag her out of the office by her hair. I don’t think anyone would have been surprised if you had. If you were actually trying to hide your dislike for her, you were incredibly unsuccessful.”
“I…” Rilynne started, but couldn’t even start on an argument. “Was I really that bad?” she asked, feeling guilty when she looked at it from his perspective. If she had been anything like Perez had been during the past two days, she was both embarrassed and ashamed.