Killer Beach Reads

by Gemma Halliday Publishing

  "Marvin died from a gunshot wound to the head." Thayer blurted out before he'd even reached the shelter of Marion's front porch.

  Gilda released a sharp breath. "How did they find that out so fast?"

  "When they found his body in the rubble, half his brain was missing."

  Marion gagged. "That would do it. Thanks for sharing."

  Thayer smirked. "Doc worked on him. He said Marvin had no smoke in his lungs."

  "So he was dead before the fire started." Gilda offered him a glass of lemonade.

  "Yeah." Thayer accepted the glass and took a long drink, then gagged and wiped his lips. "Whoa. What on earth is in this stuff?"

  Marion chuckled. "You're better off not knowing."

  "Then I'm not going to ask or tell anyone you were trying to get me drunk." Thayer glanced at Gilda. "How did Mick's surgery go?"

  Gilda swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. "We don't know yet. They're trying to put his shoulder back together. We're guessing he won't be able to train for several months."

  "I'm sorry to hear that." Thayer actually sounded like he meant that. "He and I got off to a bad start, but he's a good guy. Let me know when you hear anything. Do you have any idea why he was there?"

  Gilda closed her eyes, picturing Mick as he'd emerged from the rubble.

  Kane cleared his throat. "No. He wasn't able to tell us anything, nor can he hear anything. The blast must have burst his eardrums."

  "Crap." Thayer took another swig of lemonade.

  "Careful, if you drink any more of that stuff, you won't be able to go back to work today." Gilda smiled.

  Thayer nodded. "You're not kidding. You don't happen to know where Mrs. Watson, the lady who ran the consignment store is, do you?"

  Marion pointed toward her front door. "In my guest room sleeping off shock and a tall glass of lemonade. I can call you when she wakes up."

  "I'd appreciate that." Thayer set his glass on the table and backed away. "I'd also like the recipe for your lemonade for my next weekend off."

  Kane sat back in the wicker chair, which groaned beneath him. "You might not want to drive for the next few hours. Judging by Gilda, this stuff has long-lasting effects."

  Gilda grimaced, suddenly so tired she could hardly keep her eyes open. "It's not that bad."

  Marion nodded. "Coupled with shock and a lack of food, it is. Why don't I go order us a couple pizzas and some wings?"

  "Sounds good," Thayer said, "but I have to get back to work."

  "Another time then, mate." Kane saluted him with two fingers. "Thanks for stopping by."

  As soon as Thayer left, Marion got off the porch swing to go inside. "Any favorites?"

  "Nope." Kane smiled. "Order whatever you'd like, love. I'll buy."

  Marion glanced at Gilda. "I may have to give dating this guy a chance after all."

  Once Marion went inside, Kane lunged across the porch to sit next to Gilda on the swing. "I have a question for you, love."

  She pressed a hand to his chest and pushed him away. "No, I won't sleep with you."

  He raised both eyebrows. "That wasn't my question, but I'm glad we cleared the air."

  Gilda buried her face in her hands. "I'm sorry. I just—"

  "No worries, love, you've had a couple drinks and I had it coming." Kane sipped his lemonade. "I was going to ask why someone would want to kill this Marvin guy. Was he really that bad of a bloke?"

  She sighed. "I have no idea. I really didn't know him, but I feel awful for his grandma."

  "Yeah, the old girl's taking it hard. Maybe I'll ask around at the school to see if anyone knew him." He met her gaze. "Coming from me, everyone would just shrug it off. Whereas coming from you…"

  "They'd think I was trying to solve mysteries again and tell me to go home and play in my flower garden."

  "Mick doesn't call you Sherlock for no good reason." Kane winked.

  "Actually, that's a good idea." Gilda's head buzzed from the surge of alcohol in her system. "Whoever killed Marvin, Mick may have been a witness. Hopefully, we can talk to Mick soon and find out what he was doing there, and what he saw."

  Kane grinned and raised his glass. "I've hit a nerve. Sherlock is back in action."

  She nudged him. "I may have to sober up a bit first though."

  "No matter. Marvin isn't going anywhere and Mick will be in surgery a while longer before he's into recovery. Chances are Doc won't let us in to see him for a couple more hours."

  Gilda leaned away from him. "So what do you suggest we do?"

  He draped his arm across the back of the porch swing. "Lunch, a little more lemonade, then you can show off that bikini."

  She gasped. "What? I told you I'm not going to sleep with you."

  "A swim, love." He met her gaze, then studied her from head to toe. "Although now that you mentioned it, I'm starting to think you're in denial and you really do want to be more than just my friend."

  Gilda moved as far away from him on the swing as she could.

  "Pizza is on the way. Any word from the hospital yet?" Marion stepped out onto the porch. "Gilda, are you okay? You look a little pale. Maybe you should go lie down."

  Kane gave Gilda a sly smile then checked his phone. "Nothing from the hospital yet. We're assuming Mick's still in surgery though."

  Marion picked up the pitcher. "More lemonade?"

  "Sure." Kane held out his glass. "How well did you know Marvin, love?"

  "He was creepy and always hit on me whenever I saw him." Marion refilled his glass. "I do know he was really good with computers. People would always ask his advice when they had problems with their hard drives. If he didn't have an answer, his buddy Henry did."

  "But did he have any enemies?" Gilda covered her glass with one hand. "Maybe someone who didn't like him or someone strange who was hanging around town lately?"

  "You mean aside from the thousand or so tourists?" Marion asked. "Nope. No other strangers that I noticed." She sat in the wicker chair and sipped her drink. "Mrs. Watson was talking in her sleep though. Do either of you know someone named Brutus or Bruce? She was mumbling, so I'm really not sure which it is."

  Kane's cell phone rang at the same instant their pizza delivery arrived. He walked across the lawn away from them while he listened, his jaw growing tight and his shoulders tensing until they rose up a full inch. When he returned to the porch, he tossed back half a glass of lemonade.

  "What's going on?" Gilda winced.

  Kane appeared to force a smile. "Mick's about halfway through surgery. I was right, there's damage to his artery as well as to the muscles. The nurse said everything is going well, and he should be out in the next hour. He should be out about the same time his parents arrive in town."

  "We should eat and get back to the hospital soon then." Gilda reached for a can of soda and recognize the delivery man as one of Mick's former students. Cory? Colby?

  "Hey, Gilda." The delivery man smiled. "I heard about the explosion. How's Sensei Mick?"

  Tears filled her eyes. "He's still in surgery, but should be out soon. He was so close to the blast that he can't hear a thing. Kane figures Mick's eardrums burst."

  Kane frowned. "That and he probably hit his head and has no idea what happened."

  She studied the delivery man, who was about Marvin's age. "Did you know Marvin Watson? His grandma owned the consignment shop."

  "Not really." The delivery man flinched then shook his head as his left eye began to twitch. "I met him a couple times. Weasel-like little guy with shifty eyes and a scar on his neck, right? Mrs. W kept him on a pretty short leash. The guy couldn't even scratch his nose without asking her first."

  "That sounds more like a prison sentence than anything." Gilda bit her lower lip in thought. "I hear he didn't have very many friends, and most of the time he was on his computer. What if he was killed for something he had on his computer, something he was doing online, then—"

  "I wouldn't know. As I said, I didn't know the guy." The delivery man
backed down the steps and practically ran to his car.

  "Yet he's edgy and runs like a scared mouse," Kane said. "You have great theories, Sherlock, but how would you prove anything?" He turned to Gilda and narrowed his eyes. "Marvin's gone, and so is his computer."

  She met his gaze. "Unless the police found it in the rubble."

  "Wait a sec, love." Kane held up a hand. "Do you think creepy, henpecked little Marvin got into some trouble and someone took his computer before they blew up the building?"

  "It's possible." She nodded.

  "And how do you plan to find his missing computer?" Marion asked. "Do you know anything about hacking or even tracing computers?"

  "No, but I know someone who does." Gilda searched through her phone until she found the number she was looking for. "I'll give him a call. Maybe we can go chat with him after we check on Mick."

  Kane grabbed a slice of pizza. "Now I get why Mick told me to stay away from you. Lady, you're trouble."

  "Does that mean you don't want to help me?" she asked.

  He grinned. "Just call me Watson, Sherlock. Let's go catch a bad guy."

  CHAPTER THREE

  "Mick's surgery went well, even though he's lost a lot of blood." Doc adjusted the intravenous line running from the back of Mick's hand to a clear bag hanging near his head. "We managed to clean up most of the damage, but it'll be some time before he can train. He'll also need someone to take care of him for a few days until the wound starts to heal."

  Kane patted Gilda's shoulder. "No worries, mate. He's already got a nurse lined up once his parents leave in a few days. They just stopped at his condo to get him a few things, they'll be here soon."

  Doc smiled. "That's good. Someone will show you and them how to take care of his stitches before you take him home."

  "How long until his hearing returns?" Gilda asked.

  "That we don't know." Doc met her gaze. "It could be short term or something that he'll suffer with for the rest of his life. Do you know how close he was to the blast?"

  Kane frowned. "No, we were hoping to talk to him and find out what happened."

  "Getting any answers from him may take some time." Doc nodded. "I will have someone bring in a notepad and marker. The anesthetic has worn off, but he may sleep for a while yet. We've given him some painkillers for now."

  Gilda brushed back Mick's dark, sweaty hair. "Is it okay if we sit with him for a while?"

  Kane nodded. "You go ahead. I'll go meet with the computer geek. Just give me an address where to find him."

  She blew out a sharp breath. "Oh, yeah. Him."

  Doc raised his gray eyebrows. "Computer geek? Are the two of you doing a little investigative work?"

  Gilda winced. "Yes."

  "You know I don't normally like when you go running off chasing shadows," Doc said. "But Dorothy, Mrs. Watson, needs all the help she can get. Go keep Kane out of trouble. I'll be sure to call you when he wakes up, Gilda. Just be careful."

  Fifteen minutes later, Henry Lott, one of Mick's karate students, gawked at Gilda through the screen door of his mother's house. "You want me to do what?"

  "We need you to help us track down Marvin Watson," Kane said.

  "Did you try the funeral home?" Henry frowned.

  Gilda rolled her eyes. "He means to trace Marvin's computer, or at least what he was doing on his computer before the consignment shop building blew up."

  Henry sighed. "Did the guys at the tech store put you up to this? Man, you brag about hacking one lousy government site and they send all kinds of crazy things your way."

  Kane pulled open the screen door to yank Henry outside. "The lady is asking you for a big favor here, mate. Marvin is dead and Sensei Mick is in critical condition. The least you could do is take her seriously."

  Gilda met Kane's gaze, surprised he'd elevated Mick's medical condition to get them both inside. Did he know more than he was letting on?

  "Fine. I'll help." Henry growled. "But I have to go to work soon, so this can't take long."

  The three of them—Gilda, Kane, and Henry—gathered around Henry's computer while he tapped the keyboard and opened screens Gilda had never seen before. Screens with the logo for the local police force. She guessed he'd hacked in to get access to information only Marvin, his killer, and the FBI had ever seen before. She shifted her weight and glanced at Henry. "You're pretty good at this."

  "Yup. I can hack into just about any computer out there." Henry grinned. "Even yours."

  Gilda cringed. "Good thing I don't have one."

  "Yeah, but the karate school does."

  The area surrounding Henry's computer desk was littered with candy bar wrappers and empty soda cans. He'd thumbtacked several pictures of people to the wall around his desk. She assumed they were Henry's friends—including Marvin and the pizza delivery man, both of whom had mugged for the camera with beer cans in hand.

  "Who is that guy?" Gilda asked. "He used to train with Mick at the school, right?"

  Henry glanced up. "Yeah. Cory had to quit training to work an extra job when his dad died a couple years ago. His mom fell into a bottle of rum and he had to bring in the money and take care of his younger brother."

  "That's tough." Kane pointed to something on the screen. "What's that? It looks like a bank account number."

  "Just some code. Marvin's pass codes, to be precise." Henry closed the internet window and opened a new one. "He wasn't all that smart, you know." He pulled up another screen filled with numbers and digits that meant nothing to Gilda. "He left a pretty obvious trail."

  Kane raised his eyebrows. "He did?"

  Henry pointed to the screen and talked in what seemed like a foreign language, then glanced back at their blank faces and stopped. "I guess there's no point in telling you everything since neither of you has a clue what I'm talking about anyway."

  "Give us the English version," Kane said.

  Henry spun his chair around to face them. "Marvin was pirating movies and uploading them to various sites for profit."

  Kane groaned. "That's it?"

  Gilda gasped. "What do you mean 'that's it'? It's illegal."

  He hesitated and met Gilda's gaze. "Marvin was one of those guys who'd go to a theater, videotape an entire movie, and either load it to the internet or burn it to discs. Yeah, it's a federal offense, but nothing big league. End of story."

  Gilda sat back. "Is that worth someone killing him over?"

  Henry snorted. "Only if you're a Hollywood director and it's a major blockbuster. Unfortunately, it's pretty commonplace these days."

  "I'm actually disappointed." Kane sighed. "We could have stayed at the hospital and not missed a thing."

  "Me too." Gilda stood. "Thanks anyway, Henry. Let me know if you hear anything else?"

  "Of course." Henry logged off his computer, avoiding her gaze as he shuffled papers on his desk. "I didn't know Marvin very well, but I'm sure he was a nice guy. Tell Mrs. Watson I send my condolences. I'll stop by to see her soon."

  She glanced back at the photo of Henry, Marvin, and Cory one more time. They appeared to be far more than mere acquaintances. "Who took that picture?"

  Henry shrugged. "A friend. I went to some party Marvin and Cory were at."

  Why would both Henry and Cory lie about knowing Marvin so well? Had they been part of his pirating ring?

  As she turned away, one of the papers on his desk caught Gilda's eye. A small poster for an auction site Henry must have printed with the date and time smudged on the corner of the page. Someone had circled errors in the ad to be corrected. "What's this?"

  "Junk mail." Henry tossed it toward the overflowing wastebasket. "I get these things at least fifty times a day."

  "I've never checked one of those sites out. Can you get good stuff off them?" Kane asked.

  Henry edged between them and the garbage can and ushered them outside. "Some of them. I've got a buddy who swears by them. He got his new laptop from one. Top of the line."

  Kane stopped. "Doe
s this buddy have a name? I'd like to talk to him. I could use a new laptop as well."

  "I'll let him know you're interested. Sorry, I've got to get ready for work." Henry practically pushed them outside, then locked the door.

  Gilda folded her arms across her stomach. "Does Henry's behavior seem a little suspicious to you?"

  "No." Kane smirked. "I've been pushed out of people's homes before. Just not by someone half my size. What was the name of that auction place again? I really could use a new computer."

  She huffed. "First, I think we need to talk to Cory. For someone Henry barely knows, there were an awful lot of pictures of the two of them together."

  "Yeah." He followed her toward the street. "Quite a few of Marvin too. What do you think your pal Henry's hiding?"

  "I don't know, but they have to be mixed up in this somehow." Gilda turned in the direction of her house to freshen up. She planned to return to the hospital to check on Mick again even though they hadn't heard from Doc yet. "But Henry did say something about stopping by to see Mrs. Watson. I'm curious to see if he or Cory show up at Marvin's funeral."

  CHAPTER FOUR

  After spending a late night at the hospital with Mick's parents watching Mick become more and more agitated over not being able to move his arm or hear anything they said, Gilda had gone home for a few precious hours of restless sleep. She'd showered and managed to pour a cup of coffee when someone banged on her front door.

  She rubbed her eyes and shuffled across the living room to the front door, then stood in the open doorway and gawked, caught off guard by the way Kane's pale green shirt seemed to make his turquoise eyes even brighter. Her knees wobbled. "What are you doing here?"

  "G'day to you too. You alright, love?" Kane smelled like soap and wore a broad smile. "I thought I'd walk you over to the funeral home. I know Mick would have come if he could, so…"

  "Marvin's funeral. I'll be right out." She slapped her forehead and ran for the bedroom, getting ready in less than five minutes. Then she reached for her purse and locked the front door, a habit she'd never had until the past year.