The Coral Killer

by Anna Travis

  “Wow,” Ian muttered. “That kinda thing could really mess a kid up, huh?”

  Ruby rolled her eyes a bit and shrugged.

  “Well, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry I made a snap judgment about you the other day,” Ian said, speaking quickly. “I mean, in my defense, things often look worse than they are. I mean, when I pulled up just now, if I didn’t know you, I’d have thought you and Kylie were drunk!”

  “Sheesh,” Ruby said. “That’s some apology.”

  “Sorry,” Ian said. He rubbed his hand over his face. “I didn’t have sisters.”

  Ruby shrugged as his phone buzzed.

  “Do you need to get that?”

  Ian shook his head. “Probably just Judah. You can answer him if you want.”

  He tossed the phone at her and Ruby swiped it to see that it was, indeed, Judah. She tapped out a quick answer.

  Riding with your roommate back to Grannie’s. I’m fine. <3 Rubix.

  She stuck his phone in a cup holder and exhaled as they pulled into her parent’s driveway. Ian parked next to Kylie. He gave her a serious look.

  “Look,” he said. “Just give me a minute to get her statement, and I’ll take you home, okay?”

  Man, those are blue, she thought, and then shook herself. “Cause you need my statement too, right?”

  “Yeah,” he admitted. “And ‘cause I want to wake up in one piece. My roommates take this whole brother thing to the next level.”

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Ian turned the truck out of her parent’s driveway and back onto the road. This guy was a piece of work. Sure, he had tried to apologize, but in the process, he said he thought she was drunk! And whatever points he might have scored for looking out for her and Kylie were sponged away by his statement that he was only doing it so that Judah and Joseph wouldn’t hang him for abandoning their sisters.

  Ruby folded her arms and stared out the window. They rolled along in silence, until Ian glanced at his phone.

  “Rubix?” he asked. “Is that auto correct?”

  “No,” she muttered, annoyed with herself for slipping and sharing something so personal. “It’s a nickname. But nobody calls me that but daddy and the boys, though.” She frowned, as if daring him to use their name for her.

  He didn’t.

  “How’d you get it?” he asked.

  “I’m good with puzzles,” she admitted.

  “Ah. Well…” he stammered, trying to fill the uncomfortable silence. “Kylie seems to bounce back pretty quick, doesn’t she?”

  “That’s what dad hoped for when he named her Kylie,” Ruby said. “It means boomerang. And that’s just how she is! Otherwise she’d be shopping for a Jeep right now!”

  “What’s that got to do with anything?”

  “Nowhere to hide in a Jeep,” Ruby said with a shrug. “Even for a snake.”

  It was quiet for a minute, and then Ian cleared his throat.

  “So,” he said, turning the music down. “Want to tell me what happened?”

  Ruby sniffed. “Not really.”

  “Okay… Well, you have to. I need a statement,” he said, the blue eyes darting towards her again.

  “Oh,” Ruby said. It was very annoying that she could not tell if he really wanted to know what had happened to her or if he just needed an official report.

  Stupid blue eyes, she thought. Then she cleared her throat and told him what had happened in the Rookie Mobile.

  “So, what about at Gilligan’s?” he asked.

  Ruby heaved a sigh. Obviously Kylie had been pretty chatty.

  “Come on, Ruby,” Ian said. “I know you’re working the case. We could help each other out. Especially if you really are good with puzzles.”

  “Really?” Ruby finally turned to look at him.

  “Sure,” he said. “I’ll go first. The lady you were trying to deliver to, her name is Ms. Mavis, and she has an alibi for the morning.”

  “Do you have a time of the murder?” Ruby asked.

  “Best guess, really. It takes forever to get stuff back from the lab,” Ian said. “Nothing like you see on TV.”

  “So, what was her alibi?”

  Ian dragged a hand through his hair.

  “Well, between you and me,” he said, “She was at the bank trying to straighten some credit fraud out. She’s on their camera feed for a couple hours.”

  Ruby’s breath caught.

  “What?” he asked, turning those sharp blue eyes on her again. “Does that mean something to you?”

  The eyes flicked back to the road, and Ruby folded her hands together, just to have something else to look at.

  “Yeah,” she admitted. “There’s a guy here, named Cameron. He’s an investigator for some big credit company. Said he’s looking into some scam being run down here. I actually saw him pretending to be broke down in front of the Cove the morning of the murder. He was watching the place.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Cause he showed up at the beach to rent a board from me, and I asked him,” Ruby said.

  “And he just told you that?” Ian said.

  “Well, at the time he had more important things on his mind than keeping secrets,” Ruby said. “Like the fact that he was drifting out to sea. He was pretty relieved to see me when I paddled out to rescue him…”

  “Ah,” Ian muttered. “I can see how that would make someone more communicative.”

  “And here I thought it was my sparkling personality,” Ruby said.

  Ian choked down a laugh, not sure if she was joking or not.

  “I’m kidding,” she said, and Ian exhaled with relief.

  “So? What else did you learn from Cameron?”

  “I doubt that’s his real name,” Ruby said. “It’s just whatever the credit company prints on one of the cards he uses to check for scammers. The guy has resources. If he’d murdered someone, he’d be long gone. Plus, he insisted that ‘dead bodies’ were ‘not his department.’”

  Ruby put little air quotes up as she spoke.

  “Kinda creepy, now that I think about it,” she said.

  “Hmmm…” Ian said. “So, there’s this credit guy, who has no motive, Ms. Mavis, who has no means, and the ex-boyfriend, who has motive.”

  “I don’t think it was the ex, either,” Ruby interrupted.

  Ian’s eyes widened at her, even as he pulled into one of the parking spots Grannie had carved up at the front of her property for the charter patrons.

  “Well, the guy’s name is Patrick. He was horrible, hateful, and capable, but totally clueless. He didn’t know who I was when we met at Gilligan’s…” Ruby paused in thought. “Besides, he didn’t have time to put the snake in the Rookie Mobile after he found out who I was… Much less find one. Or print a note.”

  They got out of the truck and Ruby headed towards the dock. She glanced at Ian.

  “I’m good now, really,” Ruby said. “Thanks for getting me home.”

  “Where are you going?” he asked.

  Ruby pointed down to the dock where her grandmother was standing. Grannie West smiled and waved at the pair of them.

  Ruby glanced at her watch. “Joe should be here any minute,” she said. “Grannie asked me to meet the adventure charter when they returned.”

  For some reason, Ian Prescott turned to follow her, and Ruby looked at him with suspicion.

  “Shouldn’t you be getting to work?” she asked.

  “I work out of the truck, remember?” he said with a shrug.

  “Oh, right.”

  “So, where’s Joe been, exactly? I didn’t really catch where he was going… Judah and I have been on different shifts the last few days.”

  “He’s been camping in the Bahamas,” Ruby said, a hint of envy in her voice. “Grannie came up with this great idea for a new type of charter. People love going over there, but some people don’t really want to go just to shop. They want to explore! So she kind of put it out there, and next thing you know he was taking a whole gro
up camping on some mountainside for a few days.”

  “Wow,” Ian muttered. “Maybe I got into the wrong line of work.”

  “No kidding,” Ruby said with a laugh. She pointed at a small dot above the Indian River. “Look, here he comes now.”

  A buzzing sound filled the air, growing louder and louder as the Sea Otter came into view. The buzzing became a loud droning as the plane tilted its belly toward the water.

  A smile spread across Ruby’s face as its floats met the water and Joe waved from the cockpit. She waved back as he turned the plane toward the dock, the props blasting little waves as he pulled up.

  Joe cut the engines, and Ruby saw him glance out the window. His smile turned to a look of suspicion as he caught sight of the deputy standing next to her.

  Ruby turned away quickly, to help Grannie secure the Otter to their dock. Then the door popped open and Joe began helping the passengers off.

  Ruby smiled and waved as the little group unloaded. She sent them off the dock and over to the grass to wait for their things. West’s Quests had learned not to allow the passengers to unload gear. Too many things ended up at the bottom of the sea that way!

  At last Joe jumped down and hugged Ruby. She squeezed him back and patted his scruffy, unshaven chin.

  Joe was not as tall or lanky as Judah, but Ruby’s little brother had outgrown her years ago. She didn’t mind though.

  “Better let go, Rubix,” he said with a laugh that went right up to his brown eyes. “I know I stink!”

  “Nah,” Ruby said. “You smell like campfire. My favorite.”

  She let go, and Joe pecked Grannie’s cheek.

  “Hey, Prescott!” he said, turning to shake hands with Ian. “To what do I owe the welcome wagon?”

  Ian shook Joe’s hand back, unaware that Joe was watching his every move as they unloaded the plane and filled Joe in on the murder. Ruby groaned inwardly. Joe did not need to be suspicious. There was nothing here to see.

  Thankfully one of the campers spoke up.

  “What?” the man asked with a frown. “What’s that about murder?”

  “Oh,” Ruby said as she passed him his backpack, trying to act casual. “They found a cleaning lady dead over at the Sandy Turtle Cove. It was very sad.”

  “A cleaning lady!” the man said, the color draining out of his face.

  “Yes,” Ruby said. “Right after y’all took off the other day.”

  “But what’s murder got to do with it?”

  “Oh,” Ruby said, unsure if this was general knowledge yet. “Well, they think someone was mad at her and killed her. I’m sure it’s in the papers or something.”

  Grannie darted in, handing out more gear.

  “Enough murder talk, dear!” she said in a sing-song voice. Then Grannie dropped her voice to a whisper and leaned towards Ruby. “You’re upsetting Mr. Taylor, just when he’s becoming quite the return customer!”

  The older woman cleared her throat.

  “We’ll see you Friday, Mr. Taylor,” Grannie said. “Now! Tell me everyone, what was the best part of the trip?”

  A chorus of excited voices rang out, each sharing their highlights. Ruby listened as the party chatted on their way towards the cars parked at the top of the property. They laughed and told stories, and smiled at the talk of hot showers. Mr. Taylor said not a word, and Ruby couldn’t help but notice that he was still rather pale when he drove away.

  Chapter Ten

  R uby pulled up to the guard gate at the Sandy Turtle Cove bright and early Friday morning. The guard on duty pointed to his clipboard and waved her through with a smile. That was the benefit to hauling a bright aqua trailer everywhere you needed to deliver a kayak: they started to recognize you.

  Ruby frowned to herself as she turned the Jeep onto Driftwood Drive. She would have been happy to never, ever see that road again, much less make a delivery to it. Yet, here she was, stopping five houses down, to bring Dwayne Taylor a kayak.

  She pulled the Jeep and trailer over to the side of the little road and scratched Angel’s head.

  “Whatever this guy does,” she said to the dog, “He must be making bank to go on charter trips and rent gear so much.”

  Angel made a short little bark back, as if she agreed, and then planted her tail in the seat to wait for her owner.

  “Yeah, I don’t blame you, girl.”

  Ruby climbed out of the Jeep and stopped sharp. Mr. Taylor’s car was in the driveway under the house, but it was piled so full of stuff that she could not see in the back window.

  She heard a grunting noise, and leaned around the car to see a man lugging a heavy box down the concrete stairs.

  “Mr. Taylor?” Ruby asked in surprise. Dwayne Taylor did not look ready for a fun weekend of paddling.

  Dwayne Taylor’s dark eyes skimmed over Ruby.

  “What do you want?” he asked.

  “It’s me, Ruby… From West’s Quests,” she said. “You ordered a kayak for the weekend, remember?”

  “What? Oh, yeah,” Taylor muttered, and continued towards his car. He shoved the box in and eyed Ruby. “You can just deliver it then, okay? I’m kind of busy today.”

  He turned and went back into the house, but before Ruby could even begin to get the trailer open, Taylor was back with a trash bag full of stuff.

  “Er, are you going somewhere?” she asked as he stuffed the bag into his car.

  “What? Oh, yeah,” he said again, starting towards the steps.

  Ruby stopped by the car. Something was not adding up. Why would he order a rental and then take off? She peered in the car, which was crammed full. It looked as if he was clearing out.

  Dwayne Taylor came back downstairs with another bag and his keys. He tossed the bag in the car and rubbed a hand through his hair.

  “Are you sure you still want the rental?” Ruby asked with a frown. “Cause I’d rather not unload it if you’re skipping town.”

  Dwayne stopped short and faced her, obviously trying not to look upset. Ruby reached for her phone.

  “Wait, wait!” he held up his hands, the keys jingling. He looked desperate. Desperate enough to make a deal.

  “Look,” she said. “You level with me and I won’t call the police till you’re out of sight. What’s going on? Did you have something to do with the murder?”

  “Hey! No, way did I kill Nancy!” he said, talking fast. “Besides, you said they found her after the plane took off. I wasn’t even here!”

  Ruby frowned.

  “That doesn’t mean you didn’t kill her before you headed to West’s Quests,” she said. “You could have used your phone to schedule the delivery while you were checking in with the charter flight!”

  “No way, girl!” he said. “You’re not pinning this on me! Nancy and I were partners! I wouldn’t want her dead!”

  “Partners?” Ruby’s eyebrow shot up and she planted her hands on her hips. So that was what the lame ex-boyfriend had been jealous of. Nancy hadn’t found a new boyfriend, she’d picked up a business partner.

  “Well, sort-of,” Dwayne said, edging towards the driver’s seat. “She had a good thing going, but she slipped up and scammed me while I was on vacation two months back! She had no way of knowing I’d be able to track who was using my cards.”

  “So you killed her for it?” Ruby pressed.

  “No! I told you!” he wrenched open the driver door, but Ruby waved her phone in his face. “I told her if she’d cut me in on her scam, I wouldn’t turn her in. Just a little cash for my silence.”

  “How much cash?”

  “Well… er, enough to stay on vacation as long as I like!” he said. “Why should I go home and sit in that stuffy office? The credit company’s pay it all back anyway!”

  “That’s what you think!” Ruby said. “They hunt greedy people like you down! They have people on Leyenda right now!”

  “That’s why I’ve got to get out of here!” Dwayne said, his eyes darting around nervously, as if the credit company
might be more dangerous than the cops.

  “Look, girl,” he said as he climbed into his car. “I’m outta here!”

  And with another frightened look around, Mr. Taylor slammed the car door and peeled out of the driveway.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Ruby exhaled and shook her head. She went back and shut the trailer, but stopped suddenly as she realized someone was watching her from a couple houses away.

  “Grumpy!” she muttered to herself. Here was her chance to find out who he really was! She turned sharply and headed towards him, just as she noticed he was hanging up his cell phone. He marched towards her, a frown on his face.

  “Hi, Mr. Peters,” Ruby said, hoping he’d take the bait and correct her with his true name.

  “Name’s not Peters!” Grumpy said. He crossed his arms. “You’re causing a ruckus, young lady! What’s going on out here?”

  “Me?” Ruby frowned back and pointed in the direction Mr. Taylor had driven. “That guy ordered a rental and forgot all about it! He’s skipping town!”

  Grumpy glanced at the empty driveway and chuckled happily.

  “Good! Another renter out of my hair! That guy was loud!” He rubbed his aging hands together. “Now take your big, blue trailer and head home! You’re blocking my driveway!”

  Ruby glanced at the driveway, which she was most certainly not blocking.

  “Wait, just a minute,” she said, trying to lighten her voice. Grumpy was not going to be bullied into sharing information. Maybe she could sweeten him into talking.

  But Grumpy turned sharp brown eyes on Ruby.

  “Don’t you ‘just a minute’ me, Missy!” he said. “I’ve had my peace disturbed quite enough for one morning! This ain’t a closed community for nothing!”

  Ruby held up a finger to argue, but just then they heard the soft hum of a golf cart. Ruby groaned. “You called security?”

  Grumpy grinned.

  “Rather sharp for a ginger, ain’t ya, Missy?” He chuckled as the guards pulled up, and Ruby glared at him.

  “What seems to be the trouble, Mr. Gambino?”

  “Nothing Tucker,” he said. “Miss West’s Quests here had somebody cancel a rental on her. She was just leaving.”