“What?” For just a second or two, I couldn’t breathe.
“I know. It’s not right. But politics being what it is, it could happen. There are people who say they heard Bebe make threats.”
“Impossible!”
He hesitated. “Come on, Mele. We both heard her say some pretty rough and angry things about Starflower. You can’t deny that.”
“I’ll deny it all day. You don’t really think she did all those things Star was accusing her of, do you?”
“No. Nothing I’ve found gives any evidence along those lines. I’m pretty sure Bebe is clean.”
“Pretty sure?”
“Well—I’m a cop, Mele. You can’t ask me to throw away all my skepticism.”
“Bebe would never do anything underhanded and she definitely didn’t kill Star. On purpose anyway.”
“But she did make a few threats she shouldn’t have.” He sighed. “Facts are facts,” he said quietly. “So anyway, I think you ought to be with her.”
“Absolutely. Thanks for letting me know. Bye.”
I hung up and got back on the main road and headed for home, so angry at life and fate—and politicians—that I could spit.
Chapter Sixteen
Bebe looked like she’d totally given herself over to mourning. She was sitting in a chair in the living room, curled up like someone trying to make the world go away. I told her what I’d heard from Roy.
“Have you heard anything on this from Captain Stone?” I asked her.
She shook her head. “No. He’s out of town.”
That just riled me. “So when you actually need him, he’s incommunicado. Typical.”
She didn’t answer. She was too miserable.
I made her a lunch—chicken salad on artisanal olive bread. A sandwich to die for. She picked at it quietly, then went to her room.
I felt so awful for her. But I was so tired myself. I was yawning every thirty seconds and feeling like I couldn’t keep my eyes open. Funny—I didn’t usually get this way in midday. But right now I was thinking a nap wouldn’t hurt. I dragged myself to my own room and flopped on the bed. I was out like a light before I knew what hit me.
And then I was dreaming.
I knew right away this wasn’t an ordinary dream. I could feel the difference. I was walking down a long, long hallway, past windows that opened onto beautiful gardens. I heard birds and a soft background music that seemed to add to my lethargy. All I wanted to do was sleep and they kept making me walk down this hall.
Who? I had no idea. But I knew it was something I had to do.
Then, Dante showed up. He was a little way ahead, waiting for me, smiling. As I reached him, he took my hand and pulled me close.
“Finally,” he said, his green eyes glowing as he took in all of me with his gaze. “I feel like I’ve been waiting for you forever.”
I wanted to ask what he meant, but we were walking faster now. He was holding my hand and we were almost running, as though we were trying to catch something that was due to leave in just a few seconds.
“Where are we going?” I asked him.
“Home,” he said, a quaver in his voice, and I looked ahead to see what he meant.
The end of the hallway looked like a break in the clouds, like the sun peeking through the mist, like a secret entrance to paradise.
“Oh,” I said, yearning toward it.
But Dante held me back. “Not yet,” he said. “You can’t go there yet.”
A gong sounded, that same sound I’d heard with him before. He turned as though to answer a call.
“I have to go,” he said, pulling me close. “I can’t stay with you right now. Be careful, Mele. There’s danger. I won’t be there for you this time. Take care.”
He seemed to fade into the mist. I cried out, reaching for him. I felt so deserted, so all alone. But then I realized I was in my own bed, in my own room, and the dream had melted away like summer snow.
And then I went back to sleep.
When I woke, the dream was still vivid in my mind. It felt so real. I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.
But I didn’t have time to deal with it. It was after two and I had things I wanted to get done. But first, I knew I needed a good run to clear the cobwebs. I pulled on running shorts and a t-shirt and went out the front door and into the vineyards.
The fog had poured into the valley, coating everything with a soft, gray pillow. Sounds were muffled and things were hard to see. Before long, I was a bit disoriented, not sure which way was toward the winery vats and which way was toward downtown. And then I began to realize there was a car following my progress, running along the access road.
Oh great. Just what I needed.
I turned toward the interior, skimming along the border with the Miyaki Farms flower fields, then turning into the vineyard again, dodging stakes and grape plant tendrils that seemed to reach for me as I passed.
I looked back over my shoulder, but the fog was too thick to see the access road, so I didn’t know if the car was still hanging around. And then I saw a form coming toward me, running fast, and I knew the car had stopped but the man in it was going to catch me if I didn’t do something quick.
My heart was pounding and I ran as fast as I dared, considering the things I had to dodge to make my way between the grape vines. He was gaining on me. I made a sharp turn to the left and headed off in a new direction, but he stuck like glue. I wasn’t going to outrun him. I knew it was time to start thinking about defensive measures once he caught me.
What would possibly work? Maybe if I grabbed a grape stake, pulled it out of the ground and swung on him. Or maybe try to grab some of the wire that the vines were tied up with and… do what exactly? I was almost in panic mode. What was I going to do?
He was getting closer and he was yelling at me. My heart was pounding so hard, at first I couldn’t make out the words. Then I realized he was calling my name.
“Mele! Mele Keahi! Wait a minute!”
I looked back, still not slacking. I wasn’t sure I knew who this was.
“Will you just wait a minute?” he called, sounding annoyed as all hell. Did men who planned to kill you sound annoyed when you didn’t stand in one spot and let them? Hmm. It was something to consider.
“Stop, would you? You’re killing me here. I need to talk to you.”
Okay, that sounded fairly non-threatening. I slowed down, but I was determined to stay out of reach as long as I could.
“Wh…what about?” I called back to him.
He stopped and leaned against a post, trying to catch his breath. I stayed where I was.
“What do you want?” I said.
He took a deep breath and seemed to rally a bit. He looked at me and said, “I know you took those letters from Star’s little shed. I saw you take them.” He shook his head, still winded. “Listen, I need those letters. You’re going to have to give them to me. It’s a matter of life and death.”
I was going to be okay—still out of breath and aching, but okay. This man was not going to try to kill me. That was a real relief.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean my wife will kill me if she finds out about them.”
“Oh.”
“No, really. She can be tough as nails. You don’t know her.”
I steadied myself and finally got back to steady breathing. I was going to need it in order to manage a conversation like this.
“You’re Karl, right?”
He nodded and I felt like laughing. What a terror I’d just been through. And all for nothing. All for good old Karl.
“Actually, I just met your wife today. She didn’t look like a killer to me.”
“Oh yeah? I guess you don’t know about that incident with the honey bees.”
“Your wife did that?”
“Yes she did. Everybody knows it. When she gets mad, look out!”
“Wow. And here I thought it had to be Star’s sister.”
He shrugged. �
�Well, Margie was the one who gave Cindy the idea. They’ve been best friends forever.”
Fancy that. The things you learned about people in a small town.
“Now, I’ve got to have those letters. If she reads about them in the paper, I’m screwed.”
“Karl, you had an affair with Star for almost a year. Your wife tried to poison her with killer honeybees. I think the cat is out of the bag on that one. She knows.”
He let out a long sigh and straightened. “You don’t understand. I promised her it was over and if she sees those letters, it’ll look like I broke my word to her.” His long face had a haunted look. “Star just wouldn’t leave me alone. It was over, it was definitely over, but she was always after me. If those letters come out…”
“Karl, I’m sorry, but I can’t help you. Those letters are in the control of the North Destiny Bay police department. You’ll have to go talk to them.”
He swore so pathetically, I almost felt sorry for him. But I needed confirmation of things. “Hey, you were the one coming down from Star’s house with the flashlight yesterday evening, right?”
He nodded. “That was me. I saw you down there on the slope. I figured you probably had the letters. I thought I was going to catch you but you ran into the house where the apprentices live and then a car came up the drive and I decided to split and try to catch you later.”
I shook my head and shrugged. “Hey. Sorry, man.”
He looked at me hesitantly. “You did have them at the time, right?”
I nodded, hoping that didn’t set him off again. “But I gave them up to the police.”
He looked pained. “Did you read them? Which ones were they?”
I considered lying about having read them, but who would believe that? “There was one from almost a year ago, one from last fall, and then one from about a week ago.”
He grimaced. “How bad do they seem?”
I almost laughed. Confrontations with men you thought wanted to kill you usually didn’t end like this.
“Actually, the first one is rather sweet. The second one is just normal. Could have been between friends. And the third one is you telling her to back off. I don’t think those letters are going to drive your wife crazy at this point. I mean, she knows about it now, and to tell you the truth, those letters are downright tame.”
“Really?” He looked relieved. “You think so?”
I nodded.
“Okay.” He started to look like a man ready to get back to his normal life. He took a couple of steps, then turned back. “Well, it’s all going to come out now. So I might as well tell you. I was there that night.”
That sent a chill through me. “Where?”
“At Star’s. I wanted to get the letters from her right then. I knew she’d kept some and I just wasn’t sure which ones. But by the time I got there, she wasn’t home. I guess she was down on the lower driveway already. I didn’t see her. But I did see someone else.”
My heart lurched. “Who?”
“Jason Moon. Her husband. And believe me, I got out of there as fast as I could.”
He turned to go again and I called after him. “So you didn’t see exactly what happened?”
“Nope,” he called back. “I didn’t see a thing.”
Was he telling the truth? How could I tell? Within seconds he’d been swallowed up by the fog. I turned and ran for home, hoping my instincts would guide me because the fog was getting worse.
Jason Moon? Jason Moon? He couldn’t have been at the scene of the accident. He didn’t arrive until the next day. At least, that was what he’d told everyone.
I went in the house and found Bebe was gone. Going out back, I looked for Aunty Jane, but she had decided to be as unhelpful as possible and was nowhere to be found. All I got was a good squawking from Barnaby the parrot.
My phone buzzed. I picked up. It was Jill, talking like an undercover detective conveying information in a rough, semi-whisper.
“Hey, Mele, you’ve got to get right over here. Star’s husband is here having an iced frappe’ and his car is out in the parking lot, unlocked.”
“How do you know?”
“I watched him try to use the remote and fail when he first got here. He swore at it a lot, but came on in anyway. Get over here and do your thing, girl! This is your chance. The man’s car needs to be gone over with a fine tooth comb.”
“Oh Jill, I’m trying to find Bebe right now. She’s had some bad news and I can’t just go off until I make sure she’s okay. But I’ll be there as soon as I can get there.”
“Oh whatever! I’ll do it myself.” And she hung up.
“Wait! Jill!” But it was too late to stop her. I only hoped he didn’t catch her at it and get nasty.
Jason Moon, huh? Suddenly he seemed to be front and center in this thing.
I found Bebe. She was wandering around in the fog like a lost soul but she was okay. I showed her the picture of Karl on the dance brochure, even though there wasn’t much point anymore.
She nodded. “Yup. That’s Karl.”
“He’s not the one you saw that night?”
“Nope.”
“Okay.” I hesitated. “Did you ever know Jason Moon?”
“Star’s husband? No, I don’t think so.”
Just wrapping up details. After all, Karl had said he was there. But she knew it wasn’t him, so that was that. We seemed to be back to Jason Moon. I made sure she could handle things on her own and then I left her and dashed over to see what had happened with Jill’s reconnaissance mission.
I didn’t see any sign of Jason’s car when I got there.
I didn't see any sign of Jason's car when I got there. The spot where Jill said he'd be was empty.
I went into M4M, calling, "Jill?"
One of her little barista's piped up, "She stepped out a couple minutes ago."
I blanched. Oh, no, oh no. I could see the scene in my head: Jill poking in the car, glancing over her shoulder. She ducks in... then whamp! Jason Moon, mad dog killer, shoves her in, clomps her on the head.
Barely able to breathe, I pulled out my cell, and dialed. “Pick up, pick up, pick up!” I was getting desperate. And then.... and on the third ring she did.
"Oh, Jill, thank God. I was so worried..." Then I stopped.
She wasn't talking on the other end. There was just breathing. Heavy, hard breathing.
"Jill?"
A husky, bizarre sounding voice came through the speaker. "Your little friend was poking in where she didn't belong."
I gasped. No words were coming out. I needed to shout. I need to threaten him. I know cops. I'm a detective myself. He can't just--
Heavy air breathed down on my neck. A voice whispered right in my ear.
"Boo."
I screamed so loud I'm sure the windows of M4M shook. Somebody dropped a plate, and everybody turned to look.
I turned, too, and saw grinning Jill there behind me, her phone in her hand.
"So totally worth it."
"Jill!" I shouted, clouting her. She kept laughing.
"I did it!" she said, her eyes dancing with pride.
I caught my breath, resolved to completely friend-divorce her later.
“I did the car stuff, too.”
“Did you find anything?”
She shrugged. “How do I know? I found what was there.” She sighed. “There was no gun, and I looked hard for that one. It was pretty boring, actually. There wasn’t that much stuff.”
“Did you jot down notes?” I asked, not sure how she had planned this out. She’ll have to read my book.
“Of course not.” She pulled out her smart phone and waved it at me. “I made a little movie of every item in the car.” She pressed a button and began to play it on the little screen.
“You’re a genius,” I told her, laughing. Sure enough, I could see everything and if I needed to, I could zoom in and get details.
“Well look at that. A car rental agreement.” I squinted at the data. Sur
e enough, he’d rented the car, right there in town, the afternoon of the day Star was killed. Karl had been telling the truth. “And what’s that?” A pencil, a matchbook, a wad of gum wrappers. “Looks like Spearmint.” I looked up at Jill. “There was a spearmint wrapper at the scene!”
“No kidding.” She blinked at me. “Is that good?”
“Uh…” I was getting a little confused. “I don’t know.”
“Do you think he was involved?”
“I’m beginning to wonder.”
So… What would a private detective do next? Question Jason? Seemed logical. But I didn’t even know where he was staying.
“What direction did he go in when he left here?” I asked Jill.
She looked at me blankly. “I don’t know. I was serving customers.”
What now? I could spend an hour calling motels in the area or I could….
For some reason, the accident site was calling to me. I know I’d just been there that morning and hadn’t found anything, but I just had this feeling that I needed to be there. Maybe it was finely honed detective instinct, or maybe Hawaiian magic. Whatever it was that was calling me, I listened. So I went.
Chapter Seventeen
The fog was starting to burn off. As I snaked slowly up the winding road to Star’s area, I tried to take in everything, hoping for a breakthrough. I came around that fateful corner, staring at the mirror, heart beating as I came around and knew I was where Star had been hit, just days before. I pulled my car over and got out. I could see the apprentices’ house just over the rise. I knew Danny had left town, but what of the other two? The house looked dark, cold and lonely.
And so did Star’s house, up the hill.
And then I noticed a black cat, sitting at the edge of the eucalyptus trees, washing his paws.
“Sami?” I said quietly, not wanting to startle him and make him run away. “Is that you?”
He looked up and seemed to sigh, then stood and started to scamper toward me, tail high.
“Sami!”
I was thrilled. It was him!
“Where have you been? Bebe is almost crazy with missing you, you little jerk.” But I was so happy. I went toward him and then crouched when he was a couple of feet away, holding my hand out to him so that he could check out who I really was. Cats are so suspicious of imposters.
A Ghost in Time (Destiny Bay Cozy Mysteries Book 3) Page 11