Killer Beach Reads

by Gemma Halliday Publishing

  "So what do we do?" she asked.

  "We wait," I said. "It's all we can do. Tyler will call as soon as he knows something. Don't panic until there's something to panic about."

  The coffeepot beeped, and I got to my feet.

  "This is a nightmare." Mandy pressed the palms of her hands against her eyes. "I find a handsome man, enjoy a couple of dances, and then he winds up dead, and I'm more than likely going to be named a suspect. I'm never going out again."

  I couldn't blame her. If we'd just stayed at my place as I'd suggested then none of this would be happening. But this really wasn't the time for I-told-you-so's.

  Instead, I poured three cups of coffee, added cream and sugar, and sat them on the kitchen table. "I say we have some coffee and then get cleaned up. After that, we can head to the office and see what we can dig up on Derek."

  "How? We don't even have a last name on the guy," Kelly asked as she rolled off of the couch, then stood and stumbled into the kitchen.

  "I'll call Tyler. He has to have a last name on the guy. After all, he had to have his ID on him to buy drinks at the bar."

  "Do you think Tyler will give you any information? You did promise to let him handle this case," Kelly reminded me.

  "I'll tell him that we're just curious as to who he was."

  "Do you really think that will work?" Mandy raised a brow.

  I shrugged. "It can't hurt to try."

  My purse was on the floor behind the couch where I'd dropped it, so I made my way back to it and pulled out my cell phone. A quick glimpse at that screen showed no new calls or messages, which meant Tyler didn't have any news to share with me yet. I dialed his number anyway.

  On the third ring he answered, "Hey, Barb."

  "You sound tired."

  "That's an understatement. Are you alright?" he asked, sounding as if he was doing his best to stifle a yawn.

  "Yes, I'm fine. We gave our statements, and we're all back at my place. Have you found anything?"

  "We know his name was Derek Johnson. He was thirty-six, and he was a cop."

  "A cop?" I raised my voice. "What do you mean he was a cop?"

  "I mean he was a cop. I didn't know him because he was with another precinct, but he was most definitely a cop. We found his badge in his wallet."

  This was not good. My stomach rolled with uneasiness. "What about the surveillance tapes?"

  "You mean the surveillance cameras that were rolling but not recording?" he asked sarcastically.

  "You have got to be kidding me. Why on earth would a place as popular as Club O'Shea not have the cameras recording?" Sometimes I thought intelligence evaporated when some people hit a certain age.

  "The owner said that when the manager put a new tape in the machine last week he must've forgotten to restart the recording. How he forgot, I have no idea."

  "What about Mandy?"

  Tyler signed. "So far, all of the people we talked to who admit to seeing Derek and Mandy said they were pretty into each other, but that's all we've gathered. She's safe for now, but we may have a few more questions for her."

  "I'll let her know. We're going to be at the office for a little while today, I could stop and grab you some food if you'd like?" His hours were long and tedious, and I couldn't help but want to help him out any way I could.

  "I just grabbed a bite, but thank you anyway. Stay out of trouble, and I'll call you later if I find out anything else."

  "Be careful."

  "Will do, babe."

  He disconnected the call, and I breathed a sigh of relief before turning back to Mandy and Kelly's expectant faces. "You're in the clear so far."

  Mandy leaned back in her seat.

  "What else did Tyler say?" Kelly asked.

  "Let's get cleaned up and grab something to eat. Once we're at the office, I'll tell you everything."

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Being in the office on a Saturday morning was a rarity.

  Unless I'd been staking out an address trying to get a photo of some cheater, I was at home, in my comfy bed until at least eight o'clock on Saturdays.

  Yes, I said eight o'clock. With a job like mine, that's sleeping in.

  We tossed our purses beside my desk and took our seats.

  I felt as if I'd been dragged behind a band of out of control horses, but I wanted to get this situation sorted out to the best of my ability to ease not only Mandy's mind about being the last person to see Derek alive, but to ease mine as well. I knew Mandy wasn't a killer, but my word wouldn't be enough to prove her innocence

  Kelly was the first to speak. "So, what news did Tyler have?" She sat her coffee and the paper bag she held on my desk.

  I sat the matching paper bag I held down next to hers and took a sip of my much-needed caramel macchiato.

  "Some good and some bad," I hedged. "It appears that Derek's last name was Johnson, and he was a cop."

  "Why didn't Tyler recognize him at the club?" Mandy asked.

  "He didn't know him. Apparently Derek was a cop with another precinct. He and Tyler had never met."

  My stomach chose that moment to let out a loud rumble. I reached into the paper bag and began removing our breakfast.

  "Is Mandy in the clear?" Kelly took one of the breakfast sandwiches and began unwrapping it.

  "So far. There isn't any evidence that suggests she killed Derek that Tyler told me about. At this point, all they have is that you two spent some time together at the club and that you were the last person to see him alive, that we know of. Unless they can prove that you two were in the restroom together, they can't charge you with his murder."

  "Good." Mandy nodded and reached for a packet of salsa. "They won't find anything, because I didn't kill the guy."

  "We know you didn't." Kelly said around a mouthful of eggs and cheese.

  I fired up my computer. "But, for curiosity's sake, let's see what we can find out about dearly departed Derek."

  I opened Google and keyed in Derek Johnson.

  Thousands of hits appeared and I immediately knew we'd have to trim them down if we wanted to find anything, so I added our city and the word police.

  A moment later a large picture of Derek appeared with the headline, "Hero Saves Child." I scrolled down more and was greeted with much the same thing. There were newspaper articles listing many more accomplishments. Derek's promotion to detective, saving his partner during an armed robbery, stopping a home invasion, and ultimately saving a young girl's life in the process.

  "Well," I sighed. "It looks as if our dead guy was a real saint." I read off some of the stories I'd found on our guy to the girls.

  "So why would someone kill him? Do you think it was someone he sent to jail?" Mandy asked.

  "Possibly." I sipped my coffee. "Just looking at all of the good he did in these articles, it's not too far-fetched to think that some criminal killed him out of revenge for thwarting their plans. But I think we should look a little deeper, just in case."

  Just in case he was a saint on the outside and a piranha on the inside.

  I looked over a few more articles about him, all said basically the same thing. He was a decorated officer, always willing to lend a helping hand.

  "Was he married?" Kelly asked.

  "I don't know," I said. "There are a lot of pictures here, but they're all of him and his colleagues."

  "We could check the public records," Mandy offered, then sipped the last of her coffee.

  "That's a great idea." I had the link to the public records website saved on my computer browser's toolbar. I hit the link then typed in Derek Johnson.

  "Well, it looks like he was married to a woman named Wanda. This license is dated June 15, 2010."

  "So, he's been married for the last five years. Anything else? Is there a home address?"

  I scanned the page for other hits on the name. "Not on the marriage license, but there's one on the divorce decree."

  That got the girls' attention and they sat up a little straighter in thei
r seats.

  "So our saint was divorced?" Kelly frowned. "Does that decree list a reason?"

  "Sure does, and you'll never guess what that reason is."

  Mandy drummed her fingers on the edge of my desk. "Irreconcilable differences?"

  I scrolled down the page and the further I read, the more surprised I became. I nodded, "Yeah, that's the listed reason for the divorce, but there's more."

  "How much more?" Kelly asked.

  "It looks as though Saint Derek had been arrested three times in the last year for domestic violence."

  "What? Really?" Mandy gasped.

  "Why wasn't there an article about that?" Kelly frowned. "Surely that would've been one story the media would have loved to sink their teeth into. Decorated detective jailed for domestic assault, there's no way they'd turn that headline down."

  I shook my head and sipped my coffee. "It never reached the papers because the charges never stuck. Apparently, the wife dropped the charges before he could be tossed in the clink."

  "Why?" Kelly and Mandy asked in unison.

  "I don't have a clue." I let my thought hang in the air. Nothing about Dead Derek made sense to me, and the more I learned about him, the more I wanted to know who killed him and why. It would be easy to jump to the conclusion that his wife did it. Battered wife kills abusive husband? It had Lifetime Movie written all over it, but it didn't feel right to me.

  I peered past Kelly and Mandy and out the plate-glass window overlooking the sidewalk and Main Street.

  "I think we should talk to the wife. She may not know anything at all, or she might know everything. Either way, I think we need to talk to her."

  "I thought you were going to leave this to Tyler?"

  I glanced over at Kelly and sighed. "I was."

  "And now?"

  "Now I think I need to do all that I can to get Mandy out of jail."

  They both gave me a confused look.

  I remained silent as Tyler and two uniformed officers entered my office.

  "Barb. I'm sorry."

  "Oh no…" Mandy breathed.

  "I'm sorry, Mandy, but you're under arrest for the murder of Derek Johnson."

  "Stay calm, and go with them," I told her gently. "Kelly and I will meet you at the station and find out what your bail will be set at. We'll get you out as soon as we can."

  She nodded, a sheen of tears glistening her eyes. "You know I didn't kill him Barb."

  "I know, and I'll prove it."

  The officers handcuffed Mandy and led her from my office.

  "This is complete bull. Mandy didn't kill anyone!" Kelly wailed, but no one was listening.

  "What did they find?" I asked, trying with all of my might to keep my cool and not go berserk on Tyler. I knew what was happening wasn't his fault, but I still wanted to rail against someone.

  "Her fingerprints were on the bathroom stall that the body was found in."

  "That's it? She already told you that she was in the restroom last night. She very well could've used that stall before Derek was killed."

  Tyler frowned. "I know, but there was something else.

  "What?"

  "It looks like Derek was killed with a purse strap. A chain-woven purse strap like the purse Mandy was carrying last night, and if that's not enough, there's a witness who says they saw Mandy and Derek enter the restroom together but only saw Mandy come out."

  "Let's go. We can't let her sit in jail all day."

  "You'll have to. It's Saturday, she won't go before a judge until Monday morning at the earliest." Tyler burst our bubble.

  I couldn't imagine soft little Mandy behind bars for even a minute, let alone two days.

  "She didn't kill him, Tyler. You know Mandy isn't a murderer."

  Tyler grabbed my shoulders gently. "It doesn't matter what I know. It's what I can prove, and right now the evidence is against her. We have two witnesses spotting Mandy and Derek together in the restroom and the purse strap.

  "What if the marks on his neck don't match the strap on her purse?" I asked.

  "Let's hope that they don't. That'll help, but it's the witness that I'm worried about. I'm sorry, Barb. I'm still investigating. I'll do everything I can to clear her name, but at this point, I can't make any promises." He kissed my forehead, and for a split second I felt like collapsing against him. Mandy was like a sister to me, imagining life with her behind bars pierced my heart.

  Instead of falling apart against Tyler as I so desperately wanted to, I grabbed my purse and hustled past him to where Kelly was waiting at the door.

  "Barb, don't do anything stupid. You have to trust me. If Mandy is innocent, I'll prove it." Tyler called behind me.

  I knew that Tyler was indeed an excellent detective, but the fate of my friend's life was in the balance.

  I turned to face Tyler. His dark hair was slightly disheveled, his clothing was wrinkled, and he had about three days' worth of bags under his eyes. He looked exhausted, which was all the more reason for me to get off my rear and get this case solved.

  I walked back to him, tiptoed up and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

  "I don't doubt your abilities. I know you're an amazing detective, but Mandy is my friend. I can't sit around here doing nothing while she's wasting away in jail under a murder charge and not just for any murder, the murder of a cop."

  He frowned down at me.

  "You do your job, and I'll do mine." I said firmly.

  "Barb," he growled a warning behind me, but I was already halfway out of the office with Kelly hot on my heels.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  "What's the address again?"

  Kelly flipped over the printout and rattled off the address.

  The trip to the station only lasted fifteen minutes. They refused to let us see Mandy until Tyler arrived. He let us see her long enough for me to explain to her about the evidence they'd found and about the witnesses.

  Mandy was, of course, a nervous wreck, and who could blame her? She was being accused of killing a cop. I wasn't even the one in trouble, and I'd already gone through two caramel macchiatos before 10:00 a.m.

  "I don't know how questioning the wife will help." Kelly argued. "If she wasn't at the club, what will she have to tell us?"

  I wasn't sure myself, but after seeing the domestic disturbance reports I had a feeling that she could at least tell us something about her ex-husband's demeanor.

  "I'm thinking that maybe she can give us some idea as to what kind of person her ex-husband was. She might be able to tell us who he would hang out with, anything shady he might've been into."

  "At this point, any little bit of information helps," Kelly finished my thought.

  "Exactly."

  "What we really need is the name of that witness," Kelly said. "You know they're lying about seeing Mandy and Derek enter that restroom. Why would someone lie about something like that?"

  I shook my head. "I don't know what they would get out of lying about something like that—"

  "Unless they were involved with what happened." Kelly sat up in her seat, her eyes bright.

  "We need to talk to that witness," I agreed.

  Kelly nodded curtly.

  But talking to the witness was easier said than done. No one at the station would divulge who they were. Even Tyler had denied us the name and whereabouts of the witness. There was only so much Tyler had to tell me out of professional courtesy, and with him upset that I'd taken on this case against his wishes, I was certain that he would remain tightlipped about any further evidence he found unless it helped Mandy in any way. I knew he worried about my safety, but I was a trained professional. He was just going to have to learn to accept that.

  I followed the instructions on the GPS and turned off onto Bettencourt Lane.

  "Talking to those witnesses is easier said than done."

  "There has to be a way to find out who and where they are." Kelly nibbled her thumbnail.

  "I think I know a way." I didn't like to use my contact
inside the precinct any more than absolutely necessary. Not only because should she ever get caught she would lose her job, but she was also, for all intents and purposes, my aunt.

  I fished in my purse without taking my eyes off of the road and found my cell phone. I pulled to the side of the road, hit the speed dial for my Aunt Mona, and then pulled back out onto the road.

  She answered on the third ring.

  "I've been waiting for you to call me."

  "Sorry, I've been a bit busy."

  "Oh, don't I know it," Mona continued. "I saw them haul your friend Mandy in here. I tried to get your attention but you and that officer were going at it over you not being allowed back to see her."

  "I'm sorry. This is just so insane. We all know that Mandy didn't kill that man."

  "Well, I know that, sweetie, and I'm sure with you and Tyler both working the case the truth will come out soon enough."

  I cleared my throat. "That's part of the reason I called you. Tyler wouldn't give me the names of the witnesses."

  "I see," she replied quietly.

  "They're lying about seeing Mandy and Derek enter the restroom together, and the way we see it, the only reason they would choose to lie about something like that was if they were somehow involved with the murder."

  "Oh, I see," Mona perked up. "That does make sense. You think someone, possibly these witnesses, are framing Mandy for the murder."

  "Yes, but we need to know who they are, find out why they're framing her, and then gather enough evidence to turn them in and free Mandy."

  "And you want me to find out who the witnesses are. Is that right?" I could hear the grin in Mona's voice. Mona was a bit of a daredevil. An adrenaline junkie, if you will. She'd been my mom's best friend since grade school, and even after my mother's death, she mothered me as though I were one of her own.

  "If you will, please."

  "I can do it. Where are you now?" she asked.

  "Kelly and I are on our way to question the dead guy's ex-wife. We figure that she might be able to tell us something about her ex's extracurricular activities. Maybe point us in the direction of someone who might want him dead."