by Rayna Morgan
Before throwing out the cake, she turned toward Lea. “Would you like a slice? I hate to see it go to waste.”
“It’s too bad you weren’t as concerned about the life you wasted when you ran Cate’s car off the road.”
The cake platter fell from the woman’s hands, landing on the floor with a crash.
“You’re in love with Mario, aren’t you?” Lea asked.
Anita slumped in a chair.
“We’re two of a kind, Mario and me. Kindred spirits. At least, we used to be,” she said bitterly.
“How did your relationship develop?”
“We shared a drink in his room one night after work. It became a nightly habit and we ended up sharing more than booze.”
“Until Cate entered the picture,” Lea guessed.
“That’s when he changed. Our good times ended.”
“Were you jealous?”
“I didn’t realize how I felt until Mario was no longer available. When I heard Cate gushing over him, it made me want him even more.”
“Did you tell Mario how you felt?”
She nodded. “The next time I saw him, I came on strong. Told him Cate was sweet but not enough woman for him.”
“How did he respond?”
“He laughed and declared Cate was more than enough. She was exactly what he wanted.”
“What did you do?”
“For several days, I did nothing. I was hurt inside, struggling to deal with my emotions. But I needed to know if Mario’s affections were reciprocated. If not, I’d wait until their fling was over.”
“When did you decide to confront his girlfriend?”
In a voice thick with guilt, she explained. “Holly asked a favor regarding a luncheon scheduled on the day she was having a dinner for Cate. She asked me to supervise cleanup so she could leave the event early.”
“Holly unknowingly provided you with details on Cate’s whereabouts as well as an alibi,” Lea said.
“It seemed like fate.” She looked like a child begging to be understood.
“Did you plan to kill her?”
She shook her head. “Never. I only wanted to know her intentions.”
“What did she tell you?”
“I didn’t have a chance to ask. When I saw her on the road in front of me, I was overcome with jealous rage. My foot hit the pedal. Before I could stop, my car slammed into hers and she veered into the ditch.”
“Why didn’t you stop to help? You might have saved her.”
“That’s a question I’ll ask the rest of my life. If I could do it over, I’d handle things differently.”
“Lives are destroyed for lack of a reset button.”
“How did you figure out it was me?”
“You were seen in Chapala. I figured that searching for Mario was more than the act of a fellow worker.”
“I thought if I were there in his time of sorrow, he’d realize how much I mean to him.”
“What do you expect will happen when he finds out you’re the cause of his sorrow?”
She responded in a voice as weary as someone twice her age. “I can only hope for another day, another voyage, another romance.”
A loud shout startled them. “Lea, where are you?”
Anita jumped up and spun toward the entrance. Her chair toppled over.
“Who’s that?” she demanded.
“My father. I told him to meet me here.”
After turning away briefly, Anita moved in front of Lea with the cake knife grasped in her hand.
Lea stared at the pointed end of the steel utensil. Fear gripped her like a case of indigestion.
In one swift move, Anita stepped behind her and grabbed her arm.
Lea grimaced as her elbow twisted. “You’re hurting me!”
“Are you expecting anyone else?”
“No,” she lied.
“Good. Now, you and I will disembark together.” She strengthened her grip on Lea’s arm. “One funny move and I’ll break it.”
They arrived at the arcade the same time as Warren.
“Tell him,” Anita growled.
“Let us pass, Dad. I’m leaving the ship with Anita.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said.
Lea felt the cake cutter press against her blouse. “She has a weapon.”
After a moment’s hesitation, her father responded. “In that case, I’ll step aside.”
He backed away from the center aisle and leaned against a pool table. “You hurt one hair on my daughter’s head, you’ll answer to me.”
“Stay out of my way and you won’t need to worry.”
They were almost through the game room when Mike Morris appeared.
“What’s going on here?” he barked.
“You lied to me,” Anita hissed in Lea’s ear.
“Let the women pass, Mike,” Warren urged. “My daughter is escorting this lady off the ship after which she’ll be set free. Am I right, Anita?”
The chilling look on the woman’s face made Mike step aside, allowing Anita to push Lea toward the exit.
“See, Anita. We’re doing things your way,” Warren assured her, looking sideways at his daughter. “Go ahead. You’re free to put your twist on things.”
An instant later, Lea jerked away from Anita, bent sideways, and delivered a kick.
Anita yelled in pain as she grabbed her knee and the serving utensil clattered to the deck.
Mike rushed forward to handcuff her.
“I expect you two at headquarters, pronto,” he hollered as he marched his prisoner up the ramp.
Lea hugged her father. “I finally got a chance to use one of the self defense tricks you taught me.”
“With your passion for sleuthing, you’ll probably use them all sooner or later.”
Chapter 40
The spicy aroma of seasoned meat rose from the corner of the patio where Warren and Paul hovered over a grill.
In the kitchen, Lea and her mother chopped vegetables while Denise Palmer stirred a pitcher of lemonade.
Sean and Jon threw a Frisbee, laughing as the Border collie raced between them and leaped into the air to catch the disc.
Mario watched Spirit roll in the grass staining his white coat green.
Mike Morris and Ralph Palmer stood to one side talking, allowing the relaxed setting of a Sunday barbecue return the participants to a sense of normalcy.
• • •
After dinner was finished and dishes were cleared from the picnic table, Jon took the dogs for a walk and the others moved to the patio.
Lea leaned closer toward the detective. “For once, my intuition was wrong. I thought you were a dirty cop.”
“I misjudged you as well,” Mike said. “I didn’t think you had it in you, but you solved Cate’s murder.”
“Give credit where credit is due,” Warren said. “Her old man had a hand in that.”
Everyone laughed.
He became more serious. “It’s my turn, Mike. I owe you an apology. I doubted you would return to being the good cop I once knew.”
Mike raised his hand. “No apology necessary. It was you busting my chops that woke me up. I knew in my gut that personal bitterness was affecting my choices and the way I conducted myself. You were right. To be the detective I should be, I had to change my way of going about it.
“I talked the chief into giving me a second chance in Vice. For reasons of secrecy, I maintained the cover of working traffic and supervised Mario on the sly.”
“Did our raising questions about Cate’s accident throw a monkey wrench in your plans?” Lea asked.
“You two showing up was the worst scenario for our undercover operation. I had no choice but to act as though we considered it a closed case.”
He bowed his head in deference to the Palmers.
“We never meant to ignore your daughter’s accident but we didn’t want the added attention to scare off the drug ring.”
“Thankfully, things ended well,” Ralph said. �
�You busted the cartel and we received the satisfaction of knowing our daughter’s killer was brought to justice.”
“Did you lose a girlfriend in the process, Mike?” Lea asked.
“I only entered a relationship with Holly to determine her part in the drug operation.”
“What time do you want Dad and me at the station tomorrow to sign our statements?”
“The earlier the better,” Mike said. “As soon as I finish the paperwork, I’m going to Chapala with Mario. He’s telling his family the truth about his activities these past months. He wants me there to back up his story in case his father doesn’t believe him.”
“I’m glad your mother and father will learn the truth,” Lea said, turning to Mario. “It must have been difficult lying to your family.”
Mario nodded. “The hardest part of being under cover is not telling people close to you what you’re doing. I had no choice. Disclosing my activities could put their lives at risk or endanger fellow officers.”
“It turned out your personal life, not your police work, put Cate at risk,” Paul observed.
“Your parents will be proud knowing you weren’t part of the drug ring, but fighting to destroy it,” Lea said. “What will happen now that your cover is blown?”
“I’ll still be instrumental in the war against drugs. My new assignment is heading a task force designed to discourage people from becoming users. My involvement with dealers now is aimed at keeping innocent victims out of their hands. I have a chance to help kids like the ones I grew up with stay away from their influence.”
Mike slapped Mario on the back. “Thanks to your work and dedication, the drug ring operating from the cruise ship was put out of business.”
Mario grinned. “Does that mean I’ll get my picture on the wall of fame at the academy?”
“Front and center,” his superior promised.
Lea adopted a more serious tone. “It will take time, Mario, but I hope you’ll be able to move on in your personal life as well.”
“Don’t worry. After discovering how much love I’m capable of feeling, I know I can find it again. My relationships before Cate were shallow. In Anita’s words, here today, gone tomorrow. She didn’t understand what I had with Cate because it’s a kind of love she never experienced.”
Warren had a request. “Now that you’re free to talk, tell us about your disappearance. Was that real or part of the plan?”
“My disappearance was staged,” Mario replied.
“We had to get him away before you spooked the drug ring and blew the roof off our investigation,” Mike explained. “We made the dealer believe Mario was on the lam so if he didn’t act quickly they might never see him again.”
“What about Holly?” Lea asked.
“You were correct in fingering Holly as laundering the money,” Mario confirmed. “She was on our radar even before you entered the picture. Mike developed a relationship with her and I renewed our old friendship to monitor her activities. The added pressure of your investigation caused her to get careless and make costly mistakes.”
“Like telling me Cate was intoxicated when she left Holly’s dinner?” Lea asked.
“Exactly,” Mike confirmed. “I told you about alcohol in Cate’s system to steer you away from our undercover operation. But when Holly gave you the same misinformation, she did so to ensure the case wouldn’t be reopened with the possibility of a deeper look into her own illegal activities.”
“There’s also her ill-conceived trip to Guadalajara,” Lea said. “Do you think she meant you harm, Mario?”
“It tipped us how far she would go to save her own skin.”
Lea posed another lingering question. “Is Jason the supplier? We presumed his trips to Lyle’s house were to pick up drug money.”
“We discovered his visits to Punta Banda were unrelated to drugs,” Mike said.
“I thought he was merely an acquaintance from the boat interested in surfing,” Mario continued. “As it turns out, Jason is a friend of my father sent to ensure my safety. No matter what I’d done, I was still my father’s son. He honored his responsibility to keep his children safe.”
“Then who was the supplier?” Lea asked.
“I didn’t know his identity,” Mario said. “That was our problem in making an arrest. He and I never met. The drugs and money were exchanged at drop-off points in Ensenada. Locations varied. The date and place were never released ahead of time. We had no way to use surveillance cameras or set up a raid.”
Mike leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
“That’s why we had no choice but to deploy Mario as a decoy. The kingpin’s desire to recover the stolen money allowed Mario to control the place and time of the meet. That’s all we needed to get our team in place for a successful bust.”
“What about Kirk and Townsend?” Sean asked. “Can my sister’s recording be used to reveal their betrayal of public trust?”
“Our only interest was determining if they were guilty of murder,” Warren said. “However, I know a top notch investigative reporter who will use the information to increase public awareness of what goes on behind the closed doors of government.”
He rubbed his hands together.
“If they thought Lea and I were tough, wait until they experience her.”
“I’ve turned the information over to proper authorities as well,” Mike said. “Although it may be a slower process than being roasted by public opinion, the assemblyman faces up to three counts of misconduct besides conflict-of-interest complaints filed with the state ethics commission. The developer faces repercussions as well.”
“Sounds like departmental as well as international boundaries were crossed in a successful collaboration of effort,” Paul said.
• • •
After the guests left, Jon and his father played video games while Barbara coddled the dogs.
Lea fixed tea and carried two mugs to the patio. She sat beside her father and stared at the blanket of stars overhead. For several minutes, the only sounds were of chirping crickets and distant freeway noise.
“Interesting word Paul used earlier,” Lea mused.
“Which word are you talking about?”
“Collaboration.”
“Are you referring to our cooperation with the police department or the police turning the political corruption matter over to the FBI?”
“I’m thinking of collaboration as in father-daughter detective agency.”
He nearly choked on his tea. “What are you talking about?”
“You know I love this work. I want to switch careers and become a full-time investigator.”
“It takes more than solving a case to warrant opening an agency.”
“It’s more than this case. I finally believe in myself enough to know I can accomplish whatever I put my mind to.”
“I’ve always known that about you. You’re the one with doubts.”
“Not since I found where my passion lies. I’ll always be practical enough to listen to my head but I’m willing now to follow my heart.”
“Listening to your head and following your heart are not meant to be exclusive,” her father told her.
“My past actions were guided by a need to be sensible and do things right.”
“That started in school when you burdened yourself to make up for Maddy’s rebellious ways. It carried over when you started a family. I wondered when you would give yourself the break of discovering what you want instead of doing what others expect of you.”
“It’s never too late. To paraphrase a guru, if I'm not true to the purpose I was sent here to serve, I may die with my music still in me.” She smiled. “I’m sure you don’t want that to happen.”
“It’s one thing to believe in yourself, but another to live in a manner which tests that claim on a daily basis,” he cautioned. “Besides, you’re not qualified to be a private investigator.”
“You’ve got the credentials to take the exam and open an
office. I’ll work as your assistant until I’ve accrued the hours to get a license.”
“How could we run an agency with you in Buena Viaje and me in San Diego?”
Lea paused, uncertain how to present her next suggestion.
He arched his eyebrows, waiting for an answer.
“The family has been talking the last couple of years about you and Mom moving to Buena Viaje,” she began.
“That was discussed when I had a stroke,” he reminded her. “As I recall, it was a conversation between your mother, your sister, and you. In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve recovered. In fact, if your mother would stop nagging me to take it easy, I’d forget it ever happened.”
“Your health isn’t the issue,” she said gently. “It’s her health that worries me.”
Warren looked toward the door to make certain they weren’t overheard.
“She’s fine, Lea. There’s no cause for concern.”
“I know, but it’s in her genes. Maddy and I would feel more comfortable if you were living closer so we can help if problems develop. Besides, you’ve mentioned numerous times that San Diego has grown too big for your liking. You enjoy the small town feel of Buena Viaje.”
“What about the house?”
“It’s more than you need now that Maddy and I are gone.”
“I disliked the constant upkeep when I was younger. Now that I have time to do it, I hate it more,” he admitted. “But your mother would never leave this house. There are too many memories. And what about her friends? It’s late in life to make new acquaintances.”
“Not for Mom. She meets people when she goes to the store for milk. And don’t forget Ida,” Lea said, referring to her snoopy neighbor.
“Yes, she always has Ida,” Warren agreed grumpily. “She and your mother can’t wait to gossip every time we visit you.”
Lea leaned closer, her voice tinged with excitement.
“Mom likes the idea of a condo on the ocean with a view of the islands.”
“You two have been conspiring behind my back,” he exclaimed.
“We found one a stone’s throw away from the harbor where you can dock your boat.”
A small smile formed at the corners of his mouth as he stroked his chin.
He sat back, knitting his brow in concentration.