* * *
Tanner was at the Shanty, sitting in one of the booths. He fingered the cashier’s check and contemplated his own future. He’d be single soon and fully in charge of his life with his very own business. Finally.
“Can I get you anything while you wait?” Laura asked him. She put a hand on her hip and eyed him up and down. “Excuse me. Boss?”
“Oh, sorry,” Tanner said. “I was daydreaming. Did you call me, boss?”
“I’m not at all happy about this situation, Tanner. I want you to know that. My brother is not in his right mind. He has made what I think is a very rash decision and he’s not thinking about our future.”
“He seems to know exactly what he wants,” Tanner said. “He’s been crystal clear about that. And I thought you had another job anyway.”
“I do,” she said, “not that it’s any of your business. I teach up at the elementary school in Ogunquit. But I work here during the summers and I very much enjoy the extra income. I depend upon it.”
“And why wouldn’t you continue to work here?”
“For you?”
“Yeah,” Tanner said. “I’m not so bad. I’ve been running the Chowder House forever and the employees seem to like me. We have very little turnover.”
Laura looked unconvinced. “Maybe, but people get killed over there.”
“Oh, come on! Not people. Person. And you know as well as I do that’s not something that happens around here. When is the last time someone was murdered in Wabanaki? And it certainly had nothing to do with me.”
“I don’t know.”
“So, you’ll stay, please?”
“I don’t know, Tanner. It’s against my better judgement but I probably will, yes, because you’re going to need help figuring stuff out around here and I need the tips,” she said. “Now, do you want anything?”
“I’ll wait for Porter to get here. Maybe an iced tea.”
“Coming right up, boss.”
Tanner watched the younger Maddox walk away from the table. He knew he was going to have his hands full dealing with her, but he decided that he’d better try to be optimistic.
Porter walked into the dining room, spotted Tanner immediately, and headed to the booth. “Is that the check?”
Tanner held it up proudly. “Ta da!”
“I’ve never seen that much money in my life. Not all at once.”
“It’s all yours, buddy.”
“This is going to be good for both of us,” Porter said. He noticed a child at a nearby table staring at him and, stiffening, he turned his face toward the window. “Fucking kids.”
“They don’t know any better, Porter. Ignore him.”
“It never gets easier. All they see is a freak.” His momentary happiness, ripped away by the reminder that he scares people.
“You’re not a freak,” Tanner said. He paused to choose his next words carefully. “You’re just different.”
“Oh thanks.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to the sounds of the bustling dining room around them. The nearby child and his family had paid their check and were getting up to leave.
“As you can imagine, my wife is none too pleased with any of this. It kind of makes it all feel that much better,” Tanner said.
“That’s kind of sick, in a way,” Porter said with a smile. “But I understand. Laura is not thrilled about this little deal either. She thinks I’m throwing away the family fortune…and my future.”
“New beginnings are a good thing. I told your sister you had a plan, but I don’t actually know that you ever told me what you intend to do. What are you going to do with your time?”
“I have no fucking clue.” Porter motioned to a waitress for menus. “Let’s go through the food and I’ll tell you about everything. What to push, what makes the most profit, which items I’d consider 86-ing, that kind of thing.”
“I appreciate it. There’s a lot of similarity to my menu. I’m sure I’m going to get the hang of this pretty fast.”
“Well, we’re a lot smaller than you guys. Leaner, for sure. We turn tables faster than you guys do. And we don’t have a mail order chowder business, of course.”
“I think I can change that.”
“There’s not a lot of room in the back for extra stuff, man,” Porter said. “You can’t be filling online orders and shipping them on dry ice around the country. Not from that dinky kitchen. I hardly have room for dirty dishes back there. It’s why we use the red plastic boats and wax paper for most of the meals. Hell, we only really wash those baskets a few times a summer.”
“Dude, I’ve been in this business my entire life. I know how it works.”
“If you want to expand, you’re going to have to add on off the back.”
“That’s exactly what I intend to do eventually,” Tanner said, suddenly beaming. “This Shanty is gonna grow, buddy boy.”
“Well, good luck with that, my friend,” Porter said. “I really do wish you luck. If you’ve got the money, now’s the time. Wabanaki seems to be on everyone’s radar. And interest rates are still low.”
“Yup. You sure you want to do this? Maybe all this new notoriety Wabanaki is getting could be very good for all the businesses in town. You could make some serious money.”
“I’ll let you make the money, Tanner,” Porter said. “I’m done with the restaurant business. I’ll find something to do. I’m not worried.”
“Your new pet sitting business, maybe?”
Porter laughed. “I seriously doubt Brenda is going to pay me to feed her dogs. I think she just assumed I’d do it for free since I live next door.”
“That’s right,” Tanner said. “So, what’s it like living at my grandmother’s house anyway? You know, I’ve never even been up to the garage apartment since she renovated it. It used to be just a dusty old attic back in the day. I remember playing up there. Lots of weird old shit.”
“Now it’s just this weird old shit living up there. But it’s nice. Nicer than I deserve. It was photographed for some magazine before I moved in. It’s something. Or was. It’s kind of a mess right now, or I’d have you over.”
“My grandmother likes having you there. Added security, and all.”
“Lois has been very nice to me.” Porter stared out the window, lost in thought. “Why doesn’t she share the wealth? Your grandfather was one of the richest men in Maine.”
“It’s a long story. He was a mean sonofabitch who thought that every single one of his relatives only liked him because they wanted to be a part of the damned estate. When he finally died, I didn’t get a dime. My parents weren’t named. No one got anything except for my grandmother and there’s all kinds of stipulations on how she can spend the money. It’s all in trusts. She’s got to ask permission from some suit down in Boston every time she wants cash for something. I’m serious. Every time. It’s a damned shame. She’s got lawyers working on breaking the trusts. And they’re working for free, banking on the fact that she’ll win and pay them back later. And then some.”
“Money does strange things to people.”
“You can say that again.” Tanner slid the check across the table. “Here. What kind of strange things are you going to do with this?”
Porter thought about that for a moment. “Actually, I’m going to do my best not to be strange anymore.”
TWENTY
Leonard held open the front door of the Miami-Dade Police Department Headquarters and Skyler walked through. Together they made their way to the main reception desk and asked for Captain Frank West. They played on their respective iPhones until he appeared five minutes later and ushered them to his office down a long corridor past a row of interrogation rooms.
“You’re lucky you caught me,” the middle-aged, no-nonsense Captain said after they were seated. “It’s usually a zoo around
here but today is uncharacteristically slow, thank goodness. I actually just spoke to your sheriff an hour ago. He pretty much got me up to speed. How can I help?”
Leonard told the officer where they’d been and what they’d found so far that day. Then he unfolded the photo and slid it across the man’s desk.
The man’s eyebrows shot upward. “Well, this is going to be a lot easier than you thought. You don’t need our database. This man is very well known around here.”
“You know him?” Skyler asked.
“He’s a mob boss, isn’t he,” Leonard said. “She got mixed up with organized crime.”
“You’re jumping ahead,” Captain West said. “This is Ricardo Solis. He is a very prominent businessman here in Miami and a large contributor to local organizations and even police department causes. I’ve met him several times at charity events. Listen, many people suspect that he’s somehow tied to organized crime, but no one has ever pinned anything on him directly, but he has been seen with several people that the FBI and our department have our eyes on. Of course, just because he has friends that are connected doesn’t mean he is, I suppose.”
“Jesus Christ,” Leonard said under his breath. “What kind of business is he in?”
“I’m pretty sure he owns nearly every dry cleaners between Key West and Orlando. He’s a millionaire many times over. He has this boat. Enormous thing—unbelievably expensive. It’s something like 140 feet long. He keeps it moored at his house on Star Island where his primary residence is.”
“How on Earth would your wife meet such a man?” Skyler asked Leonard.
The Captain was confused. “Your wife?”
“Patty Little was my wife, yes sir.”
“And your father put you on the case? That’s highly irregular. Bordering on insanity.”
Leonard was clearly uncomfortable and out of his element. “We’re from a very small town and my father has a total of five deputies. No detectives. No crime lab. And he wasn’t too thrilled with the idea of me coming down here. But we were out of ideas. And resources. And I insisted.”
“I see.”
“It’s no Miami, Captain,” Skyler said. “Wabanaki has a population of just a tad over 3,000 permanent residents. More people in the summer, of course.”
“Of course,” the Captain said. “We’re seasonal around here, too, but our numbers climb in the winter. It’s slow right now, like I said. Only eight murders this week.”
“What would you do now if you were in our shoes?” Leonard asked.
“I’d go talk to Mr. Solis. But I wouldn’t accuse him of anything.”
“Well, of course not,” Leonard said. “Patty died in Maine and this Solis fellow didn’t get on the plane with her. But he did pay for the ticket.”
“You can’t just go to his house. There’s a guard gate securing the island. I can call ahead and tell them you’re coming though. That should get you in. Mr. Solis has a wife. I’d tread very carefully if she’s around.”
Skyler and Leonard exchanged looks.
After thanking the Captain, they made their way to the front lobby. They ordered an Uber and in minutes were on their way back across the causeway and to the ritzy enclave in the middle of the bay. The guard let them in immediately and directed them to the Solis mansion. Skyler was horrified by the horribly gaudy monstrosity and it just screamed of new-money to her; she knew well what old money looked like, and this wasn’t it.
They were greeted at the front door by a uniformed Latina maid. “Mr. and Mrs. Solis are not at home, Officers,” she said in perfect English. “Mr. Solis is on his boat and is not expected back until dinnertime. The lady of the house has gone up to Palm Beach with some friends. She won’t be back until Sunday.”
“I’ll leave my card,” Leonard said, handing it over. “Will you please ask Mr. Solis to call my cell when he returns? We’d really like to talk to him about an ongoing investigation.”
“It’s quite urgent,” Skyler added.
The maid looked unfazed. “I will let him know, of course,” she said evenly.
Leonard expected more from her. “We just have a few questions about someone we think he knew.”
“I understand.”
“We’d appreciate if you’d impress upon him that this is urgent. We need to talk to him before we return to Maine.”
“I will do my part,” she said, appearing to become annoyed. “Good afternoon.” She shut the large door and they were left standing in the full humidity of the Florida summer.
“Back to the hotel?” Skyler asked.
“What else do we have to do? I would like to get on the internet and learn more about this man that was spending time with my wife.”
“It’s very strange, indeed,” Skyler said as they returned to the waiting Uber vehicle. “And she’d never been down here before?”
“As far as I know, she’d never left Maine. I’m as confused as you are.”
They sat in silence as the car drove them back to the Delano.
Leonard was reading everything he could about the wealthy businessman and philanthropist on his iPhone. Leonard was dumbfounded as he found article after article and photo after photo depicting his lavish lifestyle...the celebrities he hobnobbed with…the lavish parties he threw. How did his simple, small-town wife come to be involved with a well-known multimillionaire and what did this man know about her death?
Back at the hotel, Skyler changed into her swimsuit and set herself up under an umbrella next to the pool with a magazine and a Diet Coke, while Leonard continued to read articles about Solis. He was learning as much as he could process, so he called his father’s cell.
“Hey, buddy boy. What have you found out?”
Leonard filled in the Sheriff. There was silence on the other end of the phone.
“Dad?”
“I’m here. I’m a little worried you might be over your head.”
“You think?”
“Mob ties? Come on, Leonard,” the Sheriff said. “Maybe Skyler and you should come home now.”
“And just ignore the fact that Patty was with this man in Florida? Dad, it’s the best and only lead we have. We’ve got to at least talk to Solis. And, with his wife out of town, maybe he’ll be a little more forthcoming. I have to assume that Mrs. Solis doesn’t know about any of this.”
“So, you think Patty had some kind of romantic involvement with this man?”
“I have no idea,” Leonard said. “But I saw the video. Patty was visibly upset about leaving. She didn’t appear to want to. Was he making her? I just don’t know. And I really want to know. How else are we going to put this to bed?”
“I need you to tread very carefully. I’d come down there, if you need me, but I have my hands full here.”
“Really? What’s going on now?”
“Apparently Tanner Millhouse is the one who’s been terrorizing Gerald Gains and his wife. We think he killed their alpacas, too.”
Leonard was stunned. Tanner was way too much of a momma’s boy to commit such a heinous act. “No way, Dad.”
“That’s what I thought,” the Sheriff said, “but I just got finger print analysis back from Portland on a carving knife found sticking out of Gerald’s front door. It’s got Tanner’s prints all over it.”
“And how exactly are Tanner Millhouse prints in the system? He’s Mr. Perfect.”
“Believe it or not, that golden boy was once arrested for disorderly conduct and trespassing back in high school. I assume it’s from that. He was 18 at the time.”
“Well, damn.” Leonard tried remembering Tanner being in trouble back then, but he couldn’t recall a thing. He told his father, “That’s the first I’ve heard of him being in hot water. Ever.”
“I don’t know what to tell you,” the Sheriff said. “I don’t remember it either. Listen, I need to go. Please be ext
ra careful and get home safe. And soon. Sooner than later.”
Leonard closed his laptop and stripped naked. He pulled on the new swimsuit Skyler bought him, examined himself in the full-length mirror in the bathroom, and then made his way out to the pool. He flopped down on the empty chaise lounge next to Skyler and gestured to a pool attendant.
“Yes sir?”
“Two margaritas on the rocks with salt and a few towels?”
“Room number, sir?”
Leonard gave him the number of the bungalow and the young man’s face lit up. “Right away, Mr. Little.” He bowed slightly at Skyler. “Miss Moore.” And he was off.
“What the fuck was that?” Leonard asked.
“I think the poolside bungalows are the most expensive places here,” Skyler said. “He must think we’re big shots or something. Or he’s trained very well. Or both.”
“Well damn,” Leonard said. He paused for a few seconds then turned to face Skyler. “I’m not sure I’m entirely comfortable with you paying for all of the expensive clothes and the even more expensive five-star accommodations.”
“Why can’t a woman do that from time to time?”
“She can. I’m not an antifeminist.”
“It’s not a feminism thing, Leonard. I don’t even know what that actually means anymore anyway. I just don’t get hung up about money, is all. I have it, I spend it. And I share it. Simple as that.”
“Alright. Fine.”
“So, why are we drinking at two o’clock in the afternoon?” Skyler asked.
“Why not?”
“Well, you have a point. And we are sitting by one of the most famous pools in South Beach. Did you see who’s over there?”
“No, who?” Leonard asked, squinting in the sun. “I need sunglasses.”
“It’s Jake Jameson. I mean, I’m pretty sure that’s him.”
The Maine Nemesis Page 15