Killer Beach Reads

by Gemma Halliday Publishing

  Max figured it wouldn't be the first time he'd been called a pain in the neck. And he doubted very much it would be the last. "Neither myself nor my siblings will get in your way. In fact, I would bet you'll hardly know we're here. We make it our business to fade into the woodwork."

  The one wearing the housedress, sandals and baseball cap spoke this time. "I guess that will be okay as long as you let us get first dibs on interrogating the bad guys."

  "We've watched that movie Reds with Helen Mirren at least twenty times, so we know how it's done," T-shirt lady said.

  Max nodded. "I'm sure you do, but let us do the hard stuff okay?"

  "I don't know…do you have a gun?" the taller one in the blue blouse asked.

  "Yes."

  "Well that's good. How about a knife?" baseball cap lady asked.

  "That's my sister's specialty."

  "Sounds like my kind of woman. Do you think she'd show us how to throw one? I've always wanted to learn that," baseball cap lady said.

  He glanced at the ladies and smiled. "I imagine Sabrina could be enticed to give you a few lessons."

  "How about your other sibling? Male or female? What's their specialty?" T-shirt lady asked.

  "My brother, Jake, is more or less a jack of all trades." Although Max would be loath to admit that to him.

  The taller one guffawed. "That's a polite way of saying he's a screw up."

  "But I bet he's easy on the eyes like this one," baseball hat lady added.

  For a moment or two Max thought about warning his siblings but quickly thought better of it. He only wished he could sit back and enjoy the fun once they got there.

  "Let's start over. I'm Max Shaw, and I'm here to make sure you ladies are safe."

  "I'm Annie," the tallest one in the blue blouse said.

  "And I'm Lois." The one in the T-shirt and sweats still held the gun as she spoke.

  "And I'm Gertie." This one wore sandals and a housedress and had a Red Sox baseball cap on her head.

  "May I ask why you were looking for a gun?" Max knew there was a reason, and there was a fifty-fifty chance they might tell him why.

  The threesome exchanged looks. Annie spoke again. "We're conducting a little investigation of our own and figured we needed some protection. Even if the gun is small, it should scare whoever's after us away."

  "Do you know why you were threatened?"

  "We're quite successful," Lois answered.

  "A lot of people are successful, but people aren't threatening to kill them." There was something they knew but weren't saying. He had to wonder why.

  "True enough. But there are many in our circle who are jealous of our success," Annie said.

  "Enough of this speculation nonsense. I want to see what gadgets you have to help find the bad guys. In fact, I spotted a suspicious looking pipe in the backyard. Do you think it might be a pipe bomb meant to splat us all over the countryside?" Gertie asked.

  Max straightened his shoulders. "Why don't you show me what you found?"

  They all walked downstairs and out the patio doors towards the back of the home. The three of them chatted about their meeting while he tried to process all he'd learned and hadn't learned so far: They were hiding something. And they didn't seem real nervous about being threatened.

  "There. That thing sticking out of the ground." Gertie pointed to a metal piece. "You shouldn't get to close, Max. It might blow us all to smithereens."

  Max bent down to examine the metal object. "It looks like a broken off piece of the sprinkler system."

  "Maybe you should try one of your gadgets on it just to make sure," Gertie suggested.

  "Pipe bombs are usually attached to something with a trigger in it, like the engine of your car. When you turn on the car it triggers the mechanism." Max hoped they bought his explanation.

  They nodded their acquiescence, or at least he hoped that's what it was. "Maybe you need to check underneath our car then." Gertie adjusted her baseball cap. "You can never be too careful."

  Max figured it was going to be a very long three days.

  CHAPTER THREE

  "The true professional has arrived." Jake walked inside the house and spotted Max immersed in conversation with three women at a massive dining room table inside the even more massive house. The table had to sit at least thirty people, so they had crowded onto one end. Was that his big brother drinking tea? That would be a shocker, but that's what it looked like. He barely stifled the laugh. "Tea, big bro?"

  Max turned in his seat. "Hot toddy. The ladies arrived early, and I met them while I was out on my morning run."

  "Hot toddy? I like the way you ladies roll." Jake took a seat at the table.

  "We were just talking strategy with your brother," a lady in a blue print blouse spoke. She introduced herself as Annie. "We don't have a clue but figure the notes were sent by the same person based on the same paper and printer."

  "I'm Gertie. Let me get your lunch. We put it in the warming drawer for you." She adjusted her cap as she got up. She returned seconds later with a plate of something that looked like pretzel bread with ham and cheese oozing out the sides.

  "I honestly don't know which one of you is more handsome." The third lady, who called herself Lois, sat down next to Jake and patted his hand.

  "Well, that would be me, of course," Jake answered and smirked at Max.

  "We have a room made up for you for the night. I heard the three of you are taking turns staying here, even if the idea is really quite silly," Annie said.

  He glanced at Max. "Yep, I'll be here tonight. My sister tomorrow and Max will be here your last night. If you want to leave the house, it would probably be better if the three of us went with you. There's always safety in numbers."

  "And you guys are packing," Gertie said. "Max said our gun wouldn't do the trick. We needed something with more firepower."

  "Do you have a gun as well?" Annie asked.

  "Yep. The three of you will be safe with me." Jake figured this would be the easiest non-paying job ever.

  "But we have to take care of business at some point," Lois said.

  "You never did tell me what you meet about once a year," Max said.

  "It's kind of a secret," Annie responded.

  Jake and Max exchanged looks. "Perfectly understandable. We don't need to know unless you think it has something to do with the threats."

  "We're sure it does. We quite successful at what we do," Lois said.

  "So you think it's someone who's jealous of your success?" Max asked.

  "Absolutely. We know darn well they are," Gertie added.

  "Have you come up with a list of suspects?" Jake was curious enough to keep them talking to see if the ladies might respond to his question.

  "Not yet. We were planning on working on that with you after Maxie leaves," Lois said.

  On cue, Max rose from his chair. "Well, ladies it's been a pleasure. I leave you in very capable hands. Sabrina and I can be here in less than ten seconds if something goes wrong and you're in need of reinforcements."

  "You and Sabrina come back for dinner around seven-thirty. We've got some steaks marinating in the refrigerator," Annie said.

  "Looking forward to it. I'll bring some wine." Without another word, Max left.

  "Well ladies, what are your thoughts about the list of suspects? If you don't mind me saying, none of you seem overly concerned about the situation." Jake couldn't help but notice how relaxed they were which didn't ring true considering their age and the fact somebody had sent them death threats.

  "Let's say we've made a lot of enemies," Gertie volunteered.

  "I find that hard to believe. You seem like nice people to me. Are you sure the notes are legit?"

  "We all got the same thing in our emails from an untraceable account. And then received hard copies in our mailboxes. Without postmarks of course," Lois said.

  "Do you ladies live close to each other?" And why did these ladies have enemies? That was the part that made n
o sense to Jake.

  "Fairly close, but we're all pretty busy. That's why we meet up once a year to get back on track and fine tune our skills, if you know what I mean," Lois said.

  Jake couldn't help but wonder what she meant by that, but he also knew they weren't ready to divulge what their secret yearly meeting was all about. If he wanted to know, he'd have to dive into investigative mode, and he wasn't sure he was curious enough to tackle that obstacle.

  "I already put the screws to Cliff, and it seems like he doesn't know anything," Gertie said.

  "When you say 'put the screws,' what exactly do you mean?" Okay, Jake had to admit he was a little curious. Maybe the curiosity had something to do with his line of work, or maybe it had something to do with the uniqueness of these three.

  "Threatened to report him for cheating at Bingo. That will get him banned for a good six months or so," Annie said. "And he still didn't admit his guilt, so we've eliminated him from the suspect list."

  "Anybody else you've eliminated?"

  Gertie shook her head. "Not really. The way we figure it, everyone's fair game. But we plan on being prepared which is why we were looking for the weapon. That was before we knew Anthony stuck his nose into our business." She pointed with her thumb towards Annie.

  "My son, Anthony, works for the Department of Justice and tends to be a little overprotective."

  "In other words, butts his nose in where it doesn't belong." Lois rolled her eyes.

  He needed to get them back on track. "Did you say you had a weapon?" This whole thing made him more curious by the moment.

  "We were searching for it when your brother surprised us. While I think he called it a pea shooter or something like that," Lois retrieved the weapon from her pocket, "it might deter somebody in a pinch."

  This sure as hell wasn't the normal run of the mill assignment. Not by a long shot. No doubt he'd earn every bit of the money he wasn't making. Then again, bragging rights with his siblings after figuring out what the ladies were up to was what life was all about for him.

  "Let's formulate a list and work from there." He clicked on his phone and went to the notes section. "Both males and females I assume?"

  "Mostly men," Annie said.

  * * *

  After Jake helped the ladies clear up the dishes and tea cups, they went off to their rooms to rest. Jake settled into the couch and opened his laptop to Skype. He wanted to check in with Tessa who would be returning from London in a couple of days. Since it was close to eight o'clock her time, she was probably settling in for the night.

  "Hey, babe," he offered. When her face lit up the screen, Jake felt an uncharacteristic tightening in his chest. This thing between them was getting more complicated by the second.

  "Hey, yourself. What have you been up to?"

  "If I told you, you wouldn't believe it." He smiled as she took a sip of wine and propped up some pillows behind her, revealing enough skin for him to remember vividly how long it had been since they'd been together. Somehow he managed to stifle the groan when the strap of whatever silky thing she wore slipped off her shoulder, revealing another sliver or two of skin.

  "Jake, hurry. I think Annie's in trouble." Gertie came bustling into the room and tapped him on the shoulder.

  "Gotta go." Jake slammed closed his laptop and took off. Adrenaline kicked in seconds later as he charged through the French doors and into the backyard. "Where the hell is she?" While the ocean was less than fifty feet away, there was a swath of bushes giving some privacy to the backyard. Even more privacy when the woman in question was diminutive.

  "We heard her holler from that direction." Gertie carried what looked like a rolling pin, and Lois had a frying pan as they both followed behind him.

  "Annie?" he called her name and went stomping through the thicket. If he lost her, he'd never forgive himself.

  "Over here." Delicately veined pink fingers waived in the air. "I scared him away with my pepper spray," she shouted as she held the cylinder high in the air.

  Jake followed her lead and found Annie, red-eyed with the smell of the spray wafting in the air around her. She seemed a little shaky, so he steadied her by her elbows. "Do you know where he went? Do you know who your attacker was?"

  She shook her head and leaned on Jake. "I was looking for some wildflowers for the table this evening and bam—there he was. He grabbed me from behind, but I managed to give him a good squirt, and he ran off." She rubbed her nose. "I think I might have been a little too close and caught a backdraft of sorts. Maybe I should get one of those stun guns instead."

  Jake ground his teeth together. He should have known better than to trust that resting excuse they'd given him. "Next time you need to wander off to pick some flowers or something, let me know, and I'll come with you." The thought of any of these women wielding a stun gun was too frightening to imagine.

  "We were just about to start our meeting when all this happened."

  He shook his head. "Didn't you tell me you were resting?"

  "None of us are nappers. We freshened up, and then Annie called for help."

  "None of you should be wandering off on your own. It's not safe. Pepper spray is not going to deter somebody stronger and more powerful than you."

  "That's why I think a stun gun is the way to go. We probably could get one shipped here by Amazon in nothing flat," Annie said.

  "I heard they have drones now," Gertie said.

  Lois waved her frying pan laden hand in the air. "No, that's in the future."

  Jake could only suck in a breath and dig deep for a little patience. "We're here to prevent anything from happening. And you all are our responsibility."

  Annie tsked. "Geez, I'm old enough to be your grandmother, Jake."

  He'd never had a grandmother but would imagine one with the Shaw lineage would be equally as stubborn as these three. "That might be true, but it doesn't necessarily translate to being able to overcome somebody bent on harming you."

  "Every year it's the same thing," Lois said.

  "We have our meeting, and somebody is anxious to spoil our fun," Gertie added.

  "So why is this year different?" Maybe they'd give him a clue as to what they were up to.

  The threesome glanced at each other and shrugged. Finally, Lois spoke, "I guess every year we get better and better, so somebody's always anxious to cut into our action."

  "Speaking of which, ladies, grab your laptops. We better get going if we want to get our deals completed and our contracts negotiated," Gertie said as she motioned them towards the office.

  Deals? Contracts? What are earth could they be talking about?

  "See ya, Jake." Gertie saluted as they marched into the office and locked the door behind them.

  Annie opened the door a few moments later. "Jake, could you be a dear and grab that pot of tea on the stove and the brandy as well."

  "Sure." He sauntered into the kitchen and grabbed the tea, cups, and brandy put them on the serving tray a few moments later. He knocked on the door. "Here you are, ladies."

  After they closed and locked the door again, he decided to do a little recognizance. Had he been lulled into complacency because of their age? Maybe he should start thinking outside the box and figure about what they were up to that would cause them to be threatened.

  Checking their rooms might give him a clue. He started with Annie's room and found a few dresses hanging in the closest and some pics of more than likely grandkids on her dresser, but on her nightstand was a book called The Art of Deception. He thumbed through the pages and found various ideas on false identities and running cons.

  Gertie's room was messier, with clothes lying on the bed and jewelry and purses on the dresser. Amongst the chaos he spotted what looked like a rudimentary lock-picking case.

  Still shaking his head from that revelation, he went to Lois' room. In the top drawer of her dresser he found a nine millimeter handgun. Number one, why had they gone after the pea shooter, as his brother had called it, rather tha
n this gun?

  He hated to eavesdrop, but how else was he supposed to figure out if this whole thing was real or not? The nonsense with Annie seemed off to him. She wasn't really hurt except for getting too close to a dose of pepper spray.

  With more questions than answers, he walked down the stairs and listened by the door. Music played in the background drowning out most of their conversation. He caught a few words here and there.

  Planning

  Execution

  Loaded

  Killing

  Strategy

  Instigate

  Tied up

  Poison

  Curious words for women their age. What if they were some kind of senior assassin squad? That would explain a lot. He shook his head. The idea was ludicrous. More than a little crazy. Even though he didn't want to jump the gun, he sent off a text to his siblings to tell them what he'd found and get their opinion.

  What do you think is going on with these ladies?

  Don't have a clue, Max responded.

  They went behind closed doors with their pot of tea and snifter full of brandy, Jake said.

  Those ladies like their brandy that's for sure, Max said.

  I know this sounds weird, but their conversation…is about killing. Do you think they could be assassins for the geriatric crowd?

  You're out of your mind, Jake and Sabrina both responded this time.

  I would say you'd need a break from work, but you don't work that hard, Max said.

  I found a gun in Lois' room. What eighty-year-old carries a nine millimeter?

  What were you doing looking inside their rooms? Max asked.

  Recognizance.

  Maybe she forgot it was there, Sabrina said.

  Yeah, I'm sure that's what happened.

  Okay that's probably not it, but maybe somebody gave it to her after the threat. Or maybe she bought it for on the trip. She didn't know we were going to be there, Max said.

  And maybe they bury the bodies on the beach or dump them into the ocean.