by Jack Gibby
“Not a bad idea,” mused Dunn.
“And I got hooked up with this distributor guy,” Missy went on. “He’s got connections at almost every winery around here. Jake Green. That’s his name.”
“Wait, hold on,” Dunn said, holding up a hand. “Jake Green?”
“Jake Green,” affirmed Missy. “He seems a little slimy—he was already hitting on me, I think—but he’s a good person to know if we want to get in over at Laurent.”
“Jake Green is my girlfriend’s ex-husband,” Dunn said. “I met that guy recently.”
“What, really?”
“Really,” said Dunn. “Long story, but at first I thought he might punch me. Then as soon as he heard my name he mellowed out.”
“You told him your name and he backed off?” Missy asked with a hint of confusion.
“Exactly,” said Dunn. “At the time I didn’t think much of it, but after I thought about it for a bit it seemed kind of strange.”
“Like he knew your name?” Missy said.
“Yeah,” agreed Dunn. “And I don’t think Brooke told him who I was, or that she had been seeing me. It hasn’t been very long, anyhow, and it’s not his business. But it was almost as though he already knew who I was.”
“That’s really weird, Dunn,” said Missy. “Really weird.”
“Does he know that you know me?” Dunn asked.
“I really don’t know,” said Missy. “We haven’t talked about you.”
“Well, don’t,” warned Dunn. “If he’s involved in all this somehow, and knows who I am, then he definitely knows that you and I witnessed this murder together.”
“You think that Jake Green is involved with the murder?” said Missy.
“At this point, I have no idea who might be responsible,” said Dunn. “But we’ve got to be careful. Definitely keep the fact that you and I talk from this Jake Green guy. We don’t know what he knows or how deep he is in it.”
“Okay,” said Missy. “Yeah, I won’t say I know you at all.”
“Good,” said Dunn. “So what’s our next step? Where do we go now?”
“I think Chateau W. Laurent is a good place to start,” said Missy. “I’m going to get in over there and see what kind of information I can sniff out about Barnaby. I’ll have to suck up to Jake, though. I’m not sure if Laurent is on their list of wineries to commune with.”
“Their?” said Dunn. “Who’s they?”
“They,” repeated Missy. “My father, Jake, and Wes. He’s my father’s operations guy. Wes McMullin.”
“His consigliere, right?” Dunn teased.
“Right,” said Missy, not impressed.
“I’m just kidding,” said Dunn. “Somewhat. Either way, it sounds like this little group has got some big plans. Is there anything else? Anything you haven’t told me?”
Missy paused for a moment. Then she sighed and gave in.
“The distributor that Jake works for,” she said. “My father’s planning to buy it. But they don’t want the other wineries to know.”
“Ah,” said Dunn. “There we go.”
“It’s just business, Dunn,” said Missy. “It’s not sneaky or dirty. Dirty is murdering a guy.”
“Okay,” said Dunn. “You’re right. It’s just business.”
“Did you get your gun license yet?” Missy asked suddenly. “Is that all squared away?”
“I did,” Dunn replied.
“Okay, well we’ll go soon to pick you up a pistol—”
“No need,” said Dunn. “I already did that.”
“You did?”
“You mentioned that day at the range where I could pick up the same gun as you,” said Dunn. “So I went there, the guy had them in stock, and I bought it.”
“The CZ-75?” asked Missy.
“Yep,” Dunn affirmed.
“Compact?”
“That one,” he said. Missy smiled and slowly nodded.
“All right,” she said in approval. “I like it. We’ll go shooting again soon.”
“I’m game,” said Dunn.
“What does your girlfriend think?” said Missy. “She think you’re a boss?” Dunn laughed.
“She doesn’t know,” said Dunn. “It’s not her concern.”
“Well, I think you’re a boss,” teased Missy.
“Thank you,” said Dunn. “I’m glad I have your vote of confidence.”
“Any time, Dunn,” Missy said. She smiled.
“Speaking of my girlfriend,” said Dunn. “I’m meeting her for lunch at the hospital. I should get moving.”
“No problem,” said Missy. “I’ll get us in at Laurent and we’ll see where we go from there.”
“Us?” asked Dunn. “Including me?”
“Yeah, man,” said Missy. “We’re a team. You’re coming with.”
“But Jake knows me,” said Dunn. “I can’t tag along with the two of you.”
“I’ve got my wheels turning,” Missy said, pointing to her head. “Just trust me.”
“Okay,” Dunn said with trepidation. “I trust you.”
“Get out of here,” said Missy. “Go be with your sweetheart.” She had on an expression of annoyance, but it was just a ruse. After a moment, she smiled again. “I’m glad you’re back on board, Dunn.”
“Me too,” said Dunn. “I’ll talk to you soon, Missy.” He offered her another smile and then he made his exit.
Missy watched Dunn walk off, still smiling. She leaned back, arms out, hands holding to the railing behind her. Missy could feel the pressure of her pistol against her lower back. It was a gorgeous day, and she was feeling like she couldn’t be stopped now that Dunn was back on her side.
Some days later, Missy sat at her desk in the small office that had been given to her at Emperor. It was in the warehouse, near the back, and it was pretty sparse. All she had was a laptop computer on the desk, a lamp, a phone, and a wire basket for paperwork. Missy looked into her screen, focusing in our her research of all the different wineries throughout the two peninsulas. There were over forty of note, most fairly small. Emperor was one of the largest and most successful. So was Laurent.
Missy remembered hearing her father talk about how he wanted to extend Emperor over to Old Mission. He wanted a presence there. He wanted a vineyard. But a few of the larger wineries, Laurent included, always seemed to jump onto the viable land when it became available. And if another winery fell into trouble, they were always quickly bought up before Michael could make an attempt. It was infuriating for him, Missy knew this. She thought about what Dunn had said, about her family possibly being involved with John Barnaby’s murder, but she quickly dismissed it. It was ludicrous.
Her internal struggle was interrupted by Jake, popping his head into her door wearing a sly smile.
“I heard you wanted to speak with me,” he said.
“Oh,” said Missy, looking up at Jake. She smiled. “Hey Jake. Yeah, come on in.”
“Thanks,” he said. Jake entered Missy’s office and immediately yanked out the chair in front of her desk, sitting down in it.
“I did want to talk to you,” said Missy. “I’ve been going over this list I made of all the various wineries in the area, trying to think how best to tackle this project.”
“Yeah?” said Jake. “All right.”
“I was thinking I’d like to get in over at Chateau W. Laurent,” Missy said, causing Jake’s face to go a little incredulous. “I know they’re one of the big players, like us, but I want to start planting seeds over there now.”
“You’re really jumping in,” said Jake. “I think your father’s plan was more along the lines of some of the smaller spots around here on Leelanau,” he said. “Chateau W. Laurent is already quite settled with distribution, and I’m not so sure they would be on board with joining up with Emperor just yet.”
“Right,” said Missy. “But you do have connections over there?”
“Of course,” said Jake. “I’ve worked with them before, and I kno
w people there.”
“Okay, well, I want an introduction,” said Missy. “With someone in operations and distribution. Doesn’t have to be with Laurent himself.” Jake laughed.
“Yeah, I don’t think you’d get a meeting with him,” said Jake. “He and your father don’t really see eye-to-eye.”
“Not him,” Missy assured him. “Just someone else over there who might be interested in talking about building all of us up. Maybe someone who works in acquisitions or growth areas. Expansion.”
Jake furrowed his brow and paused.
“Hmm,” mused Jake. “I think I know someone.”
“Good,” Missy said and smiled.
“I’ll get a meeting for us,” said Jake. “I’ll let you know when I’ve got it sorted.”
“Just me,” countered Missy. “I want to go alone.”
“Missy, I don’t know if that’s a—”
“I’m going alone,” she said firmly. “Just get me in touch with the appropriate party over there, and I’ll coordinate.”
“You got it,” said Jake, looking a bit miffed. He pushed himself out of the chair and turned toward the door.
“Jake,” said Missy, interrupting his exit.
“Yeah?”
“You ever heard of this guy John Barnaby?” Missy asked, giving him a coy look.
“Barnaby,” said Jake. “Sounds familiar, but I don’t know.”
“Lawyer,” said Missy. “He was the guy who got shot at the marina about a month or so ago.”
“Oh, yeah,” Jake said. “Barnaby. You know, I never worked with him or anything. I remember his name from the paper or something.”
“You know I was there,” said Missy in seriousness. “I worked there at the time. I was there when he got shot. Did you know that?”
“I don’t think I did,” said Jake.
Missy looked at him, looked at his eyes, prying in to see if she could sense whether or not he was being honest. She couldn’t quite tell.
“Okay,” said Missy after another moment. “Thanks, Jake. Let me know when you’ve got me connected over at Laurent.”
“Yeah, you got it,” said Jake. He rapped his knuckles on the steel door frame of Missy’s office, gave her a half smile, and then left.
Missy smiled to herself. Laurent would be a great place to start. She might even see some familiar faces lurking around.
It was dusk. Dunn and Brooke were sitting together on Dunn’s back patio, splitting a bottle of wine. The impending evening was beautiful and calm, and the heat of the day was now being cut with a cool breeze from the bay. Dunn’s mind was all over the place. He was preoccupied with the plans he had with Missy. Despite his better judgment, which told him that he should just let it all go, he was instead trying to piece the puzzle together and figure out how everything related to the murder of John Barnaby.
“Hey!” said Brooke with a grin, waving a hand in front of Dunn’s face. “I’m right here.”
“I’m sorry,” Dunn said, giving her a smile as he came back to reality. “I’ve just got some things on my mind, that’s all.”
“Want to share?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” said Dunn. “It’s really not that important.”
“Okay,” said Brooke with a light eye-roll. She looked away from Dunn and took a sip from her glass.
“I have a question,” Dunn said suddenly.
“Maybe I have an answer,” teased Brooke.
“How much do you know about your ex-husband’s business?” Dunn asked.
“His business?” repeated Brooke. “I mean, it’s not his business. He’s just an employee.”
“I guess I meant…” Dunn said, and then paused to consider it. “I meant his involvement with the business and all the local wineries. If I ask you a couple of specifics, do you think you’d have some idea?”
“What is this?” said Brooke, setting her glass down on the table and sitting up straight. “Why do you want to know about Jake so badly?”
“Just interested,” said Dunn. “That’s all.”
Brooke looked at him for a moment, attempting to assay his intensions. She stared into his eyes, and Dunn looked at her with the most innocent expression he could muster. Once she was satisfied, Brooke relaxed back into her seat and let out a small huff.
“What are you interested in knowing?”
Dunn smiled. He sat up in his chair and looked toward her.
“He’s in distribution, right?” said Dunn.
“Yes,” said Brooke evenly.
“And he works with a lot of the wineries?” Dunn continued. “Most of them? All of them?”
“A lot of them,” said Brooke. “Mostly in-state stuff. Working out deals with big box grocers, trying to get some wineries into smaller party stores if they can handle that.”
“Party store?” said Dunn in confusion.
“Are you serious, Gannon?” Brooke said with a mild scoff. “You’ve never heard that before? In Michigan, we call liquor stores party stores.”
“Ah, yeah,” said Dunn, remembering and nodding his head. “Yeah, I knew that.”
“Sure,” Brooke said with playful sarcasm. “But anyway, yeah, he distributes Traverse City wine throughout the state and beyond.”
“So he’s probably got a decent stake in all this,” said Dunn. “Financially, I mean.”
“Yeah, of course,” said Brooke. “The more and bigger deals he can make, the more money he earns.”
“So it’s probably a good idea if he allies himself with the more prominent wineries around here,” said Dunn. “And maybe help squash the competition if it comes to that.”
“What are you implying?” Brooke said, beginning to look slightly offended.
“Do you think he could be involved somehow in that murder I saw?” Dunn asked. Immediately Brooke rolled her eyes with an obvious dramatic flourish. “I’m not saying he did it,” Dunn went on. “I think I would have recognized him. I’m just asking, is that the kind of plot you think Jake might be capable of, or at least involved in?”
“I don’t think so, Gannon,” said Brooke. “That’s ridiculous.”
“The victim was a real estate lawyer for wineries,” said Dunn. “He had just recently worked out a deal with a big winery, helping them acquire some more land. A vineyard that already existed from another struggling winery. I happen to know that this big winery—”
“Use specifics,” barked Brooke. “I’m lost already. Winery this, winery that.” She was looking rather annoyed.
“Chateau W. Laurent,” said Dunn. “They bought out some other smaller vineyard for the land. Jake works more with Emperor Vineyards and wineries on Leelanau. What I’m saying is that there is motive for one group of wineries to take umbrage with what another is doing in the name of competition.”
“Motive?” replied Brooke. “Take umbrage? Gannon, you’re nuts. You think you’re some sort of detective? You think you’re a cop?”
“No, of course not.”
“Then let the cops figure out that murder,” she said. Suddenly, Brooke’s face grew empathetic like she had finally understood what was going on. She looked to Dunn with a more relaxed expression. “Gannon, witnessing a murder like that is a pretty stressful thing. Have you thought about talking to someone about it?”
“Talking to someone?” said Dunn.
“I mean, like a therapist,” said Brooke. “A professional. Maybe you’ve got PTSD from this incident. That’s a real possibility, Gannon. It might be making you paranoid.”
“I don’t know about that,” said Dunn, his voice lowered. He drank from his glass, savoring the wine in his mouth for a moment before swallowing.
“Well, think about it,” she said. “It’s a lot to handle. You don’t need to suffer over this. And you don’t need to be the hero. I’m sure the police are doing everything they can to figure out who killed that man.”
Dunn was torn. What Brooke said made a lot of sense. He had been a little manic lately in his feelings for
this case. And maybe Missy was having a similar reaction. She had come off as manic as well. Perhaps both of them had been traumatized from witnessing the murder. But still, things were suspicious. There was no denying that. Dunn had really been threatened. That wasn’t just in his head. Maybe some other things could be dismissed as paranoia, but there were multiple times that he’d been intimidated.
“Gannon, listen,” said Brooke, smiling, putting a hand on his leg. “I like you. I’ve really enjoyed spending time with you. We get along pretty well, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“I’m just trying to look out for you,” she went on. “I am a medical professional, after all. I really do care.”
“Thank you,” said Dunn. “I appreciate that.”
“You’re welcome,” said Brooke. “So please take my advice. First, you should stop communicating with that other woman. Your paranoia and PTSD is feeding off each other, and it’s just making it worse.”
“What are you—”
“Gannon,” Brooke interrupted. “I’m not mad, I’m not jealous. I think both of you should probably talk to a therapist about what happened. And leave the police work to the police.”
Dunn didn’t know what to say, so he just remained silent.
“Second,” Brooke continued. “Let this all go. This isn’t your burden. You’re in a new town, a new stage of life, and you’ve got new things to figure out. A new relationship,” she said with a warm smile. “Embrace the good.”
“Are you staying over tonight?” Dunn asked after a beat. Brooke laughed through her big smile.
“Yes,” she said. “Yes, I’m staying over.”
“Good,” said Dunn. He grinned and he tilted his glass back to finish off what was left.
Brooke reached over and took his hand. She squeezed it, she smiled, she looked into Dunn’s eyes. Pretty lady, Dunn thought to himself. She was smart, as well. Brooke was the kind of woman that Dunn knew he should hold on to. In a way, she reminded him of his ex-wife. And not just because of the blonde hair. But Dunn knew that his investigation wouldn’t be over. Missy wouldn’t let it happen, and his curiosity and his desire to see this killer locked up was overtaking him. He’d definitely have to keep it from Brooke from now on.