Island of Deceit

by Candice Poarch

  But later, Harper kept thinking about Elliot’s murder. Andrew had moved back into the house with Minerva. Who would gain from Elliot’s murder? Sonya would if she could snatch Andrew, but Sonya insisted she didn’t kill Elliot. She’d shot at him, but she’d missed and shot Barbara. She’d sworn she’d lost the gun and that she was with someone else who’d left Norfolk for the holidays. The gun she’d held on Barbara hadn’t killed anyone.

  Harper raked a hand over his head and went to the evidence room.

  Harper and Alyssa knocked on Minerva’s door.

  Minerva peeked through the curtains and opened the door wide for them.

  “Evening, Sheriff. Naomi told me you caught Sonya and that guy she’s been hanging with. I’m glad you caught my husband’s murderer. I feel a whole lot better now.”

  Andrew lumbered into the room.

  “How’re you doing, Andrew?” Harper asked.

  Alyssa came forward. “Minerva Stone, you’re under arrest for the murder of your husband.”

  Minerva took a step back. “Are you crazy?”

  Alyssa turned her and clipped on cuffs as she read her her rights.

  “Mama didn’t kill nobody,” Andrew said.

  “Stand back,” Harper ordered.

  “Mama?”

  “They’re wrong, son. Call my lawyer. There’s no way I killed your father. You know how much I loved him. You can’t tie me to Elliot’s murder.”

  “Your fingerprints were on the clip,” Harper said. “You wiped them off the gun, but you forgot the clip. You see, it’s the little details that mess you up every time.”

  “Mama?” Andrew looked puzzled. “How could you kill Daddy? He loved you…I thought…Why?”

  Looking at her son, all the fight drained out of Minerva.

  “Don’t you understand? Your daddy never did right by you. He was just using us. Sitting around, planning all this mess while he waited for you to get your money. You’d never have control of it,” she said. “I was going to take you to Detroit to live with my family. My brothers would have been good to you, not put you down all the time like Elliot.”

  “But, Mama.”

  “I was tired of him messing up things. Getting us in trouble. With him gone, we could stop this nonsense.” She shook her head. “Dear God. It worked for Wanda Fisher. Why couldn’t it work for me?”

  Harper looked at her, incredulous. She used Wanda as her guide? The crazy woman who chopped up her husband to fit in the freezer? “You thought you’d get away with it because of Wanda?”

  “It sounded real good when Hoyt Claxton told us about it at dinner.”

  Harper shook his head. Who would have thought this was a copycat killing?

  After they booked Minerva, Alyssa turned to Harper, shaking her head. “It pays to treat your women folk right.”

  “Don’t worry. I’m going to treat Barbara like a queen.”

  “Jordan called. The person with the bowl didn’t show up.”

  “Where was he supposed to meet her?”

  “In Virginia Beach. I’ve already called my contact there, but she didn’t give him much to go on.” She sighed. “Now that these murders are tied up, I’m going to try to find Grandma’s bowl before she disowns me.”

  “I thought she already did that.”

  Later, when Harper returned home and had taken his shower, Barbara had started the fire in the outside fireplace. A bottle of wine was chilling and two glasses were on the table along with a midnight snack. And she was already wrapped up in the blanket. He smiled. She was definitely the woman for him.

  He snuggled in beside her and drew her against his chest, enjoying her pleasing scent and her softness. This was the life, he thought as he nuzzled her neck before he kissed her there.

  “Umm.” He turned her in his arms, kissed her long and hard. “Did I tell you how happy I am to spend the holiday with you?”

  “You must have forgotten.”

  “Let me remind you,” he said, drawing her close again and kissing her.

  “Oh, Harper. I’m so happy.”

  For a while they enjoyed being with each other while they gazed toward the ocean.

  “Okay, talk to me. I’ve been hearing rumors.”

  Harper sighed, hating to release this good feeling. “This is the most bizarre set of crimes.” He told her about Minerva. “It seems Boyd turned them on to your grandmother. Sonya was Andrew’s girlfriend, but she’d tried to do a con on Boyd. But he acted like he was wealthy and he has family members with money, but Boyd actually was broke. He and Sonya got involved in a relationship and decided to put their heads together to scam the Stones after they conned your grandmother.

  “But Sonya knew about Andrew’s trust fund and knew she’d never get her hands on it while Elliot was alive. Plus, Elliot was holding out on her. If Minerva hadn’t killed Elliot first, she would have killed him.”

  Barbara shook her head. “It is so much easier to work a legitimate job than to go through all that. And why didn’t Minerva just leave Elliot and take Andrew with her?”

  “Elliot would have never let that happen.”

  Barbara shook her head.

  Harper’s mother, sister-in-law, and Liane were cooking Christmas dinner while Barbara and Harper talked.

  “You’re going to have to turn the money over to me,” Harper said.

  “First you have to prove it isn’t my money. Elliot’s dead. It’s in my account and I can do what I want with it.”

  “You’re being unreasonable. You know that money belongs to those women.”

  “Of course I do. And it’s going to them, just not through the court system. I still need the rest of the money, Harper,” Barbara said. “I want you to find it.”

  “If I find it, I have to turn it in. Along with your money. You know that.”

  “You can’t do that,” Barbara said.

  “Why not?”

  “You know why.”

  Incredulous, Harper glared at her. “I’m an officer of the law. I can’t turn the money over to you to distribute as you see fit.”

  “You asked me to trust you. I trust you to do the right thing, and you know the only option is to give that money to the people who need it.”

  “Are you crazy? It’s my job to uphold the law, not break it. I can’t do that. Even for you.”

  “What would you do if somebody did it to your mother?”

  Harper sighed heavily. “That’s hitting below the belt.”

  “Well?” When he didn’t respond, she said, “Fine. Just stay out of my way because if I have to dig up this entire island, I’m going to find that money for those seniors.”

  “You are the most impossible…” Harper hopped off the chair, then paced back and forth in front of her. “You are out of your damn mind,” he shouted.

  “Now you know.”

  Suddenly, he turned on her. “If I do this, I want a New Year’s Eve wedding.”

  “What?”

  He loomed over her, every muscle of his body tense. “Either put up or shut up, Barbara. New Year’s Eve. Yes or no.”

  “You know you aren’t being fair.”

  “First you want me to show leniency with Andrew. Now I’m supposed to find that money and turn it over to you.”

  “Not to me. To the people whom it belongs to. You might be the law, but I’m going for justice.”

  “I don’t give a damn about the reason. It’s still against the law. If I’m going against the law, I’m getting something out of it. You.” He kissed her with all the pent-up emotions storming through him.

  “Yes or no.”

  “You are crazy, Harper,” she said, but he only glared with a stubborn façade. Barbara sighed. “Yes. But you know giving the money to the seniors is the right thing to do, Harper. And giving me an ultimatum isn’t fair.”

  “You always got to have the last word, don’t you? The only one I’m hearing is the ‘yes.’ And you need to get yourself a wedding dress, sweetheart. Time is passing.”
He stormed off.

  Barbara heard the motor rev and tires peeling out the driveway.

  “Did I hear Harper say something about a wedding dress?” Liane asked, coming outside.

  Barbara rolled her eyes. “Yes.”

  “So, when are you getting married?”

  “New Year’s Eve.”

  Liane was silent as she gazed at Barbara suspiciously. “You’re referring to a year from now, right?”

  “A week from now.”

  “Are you crazy?”

  Anger rode Harper as he drove toward the artist colony. Barbara was the most impossible woman he’d ever met, Harper thought. Of course it was right for those seniors to get their money, but there was a right way to do things—through the legal system. Laws were made for a reason.

  The thing was, the legal system would take years. And the women needed the money now. But you couldn’t bend the law every time it didn’t suit you. Chaos would reign.

  Then he smiled, the anger rushing out of him. He was getting married. He’d have her right under his thumb where he wanted her.

  Get real. Barbara would never be an easy woman to live with. But that didn’t matter. He loved her. And everything else was just collateral.

  He’d thought about Sonya and Boyd a lot. They were coming to the island. Not leaving. Why would they come to the island when they knew everyone was searching for them—unless they’d left the money here?

  And since they were caught near Barbara’s house…Harper changed directions.

  EPILOGUE

  It was close to midnight New Year’s Eve. Barbara wore her white suit and Harper looked handsome in his black suit. Their wedding was held in the B&B’s magnificent living room and the reception was a sit-down dinner in Cornell’s restaurant.

  Barbara thought they would have a small, intimate celebration, but it turned out to be huge. How they’d decorated the place so beautifully and prepared a dinner for three hundred people on such short notice, Barbara couldn’t imagine. Sam had done a wonderful job with the flowers. And Cornell had pulled out all the stops for the dinner.

  While she was getting her strength back, Barbara still wasn’t up to par and hadn’t been much help.

  A few friends had come from New York and Liane’s parents arrived, too. The room was full of islanders.

  “Mrs. Porterfield,” Harper said later while he poured glasses of champagne for them both. They were now at his house.

  “Revenge can be so sweet,” he said.

  “You, Mr. Porterfield, didn’t complete your part of the bargain. I didn’t get my money. Yet, you insisted on going through with the wedding.”

  “I did what you asked. I looked for your money.”

  “But you didn’t find it.”

  With a self-righteous look, he asked, “Are you pleased with the outcome?”

  She nodded. Truthfully, she loved Harper and she was exactly where she wanted to be.

  “I still haven’t given you your wedding gift,” he said.

  “Oh, Harper. You’ve given me so much. And I haven’t given you a thing.”

  “You’ve given me more than I’ve ever dreamed for.” From the closet, he retrieved two boxes wrapped in gold and white wedding paper and set them on the comforter.

  “What’s this?” she asked, as she began to tear the paper.

  “Take a look.”

  Barbara tore the paper completely away and opened the first box.

  “Harper? Oh, my gosh. You found it.”

  “Yes, I did,” he said with a smug look.

  “Where?”

  “At your house.”

  “My house?” she asked, puzzled.

  “They’d left the money there when they made the mad dash away.”

  “Oh, the seniors are going to be so happy.”

  “Are you happy?”

  She pulled his head to hers and kissed him. “I’m very happy.”

  “I’m not talking about the money. Are you happy to be married to me?”

  Barbara’s smile was open and warm. “You are perfect for me. I couldn’t be happier.”

  “That doesn’t mean I’m going to let you boss me around, woman.”

  “Oh?” She ran a finger along his collar. “What if I ask you nicely to take me to bed? Would that be considered bossy?”

  “Absolutely,” he said, his eyes darkened with desire. “And your wish is my command.”

  Barbara laughed.

  Dear Reader,

  I hope you enjoyed Barbara and Harper’s story, the third title in the series “Quest for the Golden Bowl.” I wrote a plus-sized woman into Island of Deceit. I wanted a strong character secure in herself and her capabilities. She makes no apology for her size and doesn’t take crap from anyone else about it either.

  The first title in the “Golden Bowl” series, Golden Night, featured Gabrielle Long and Cornell Price. The second title, Long, Hot Nights, featured Alyssa Claxton and Jordan Ellis. The theme of the series is family history, so I hope you are talking to your older family members to gather your family’s interesting stories or writing your own family history.

  Stay tuned for the fourth title featuring Lisa Claxton, a troubled character from Golden Night. In book four, Lisa comes into her own and we discover the cause of her sour disposition. We’ve already seen her making changes, but her story is truly a transformation.

  Please visit my web page: www.CandicePoarch.com.

  You may contact me at: readers@CandicePoarch.com.

  Or write to me at: P.O. Box 291, Springfield, VA 22150.

  With warm regards,

  Candice Poarch

  DAFINA BOOKS are published by

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

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  New York, NY 10018

  Copyright © 2010 by Candice Poarch

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

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  ISBN: 978-0-7582-6753-5