by K. T. Tomb
“Why should I believe you?” Charlie said.
“Do you have reason not to?” Carol demurred. “Besides, whatever Mr. Lee is paying you, I can pay you more.”
“I'm not for sale. I work on principle,” Charlie said.
He turned to walk out only to discover that Carol had placed herself firmly between him and the door.
“Really?” she said, placing her hands on either side of the door frame. “How much principle does a quarter of a million dollars buy?”
Charlie stopped in his tracks.
“A quarter of a million dollars,” Carol said, enunciating the syllables. “Think about how much that would fund future projects. How many artifacts you could find and restore, returning them to their rightful place. For that amount of money, you could open the Charles Colton Museum of Ancient History, right there in San Francisco.”
“Why can't you take it back to the states?” Charlie asked. “Surely, you must travel quite a bit in your line of work.”
“Don't be silly,” Carol said. “I'm not naïve. I know I'm being watched. I'm under suspicion for smuggling. If customs found this on me, I'd be finished. You, however, are squeaky clean. They won't even glance in your direction.”
“Carol,” he said, “my answer is final. I'm not going to be helping you. I need you to step aside.”
“Hmm,” she said, still standing quite relaxed with her arms against the door frame. “I was afraid you might say that. Too bad. I like you Charlie. It's a real shame.”
Charlie sighed, tired of this charade.
“What is?” he asked. “What's a real shame?”
“What happens next,” Carol said with a smile. “You see, I'm not going to move from this door. The only way out is for you to move me out of the way. If I were to sustain any injuries in the process, that would only further the evidence that you tried to take advantage of me in my own yacht.”
“What? I didn't...”
“Of course not. Your wife is ill, is that correct? Is it chronic, what she suffers from? It's so unfortunate. Tell me, Charlie. Have you been able to consummate your marriage on this trip?”
Charlie took a step toward her.
“How dare you!”
“If I am found, bloody and bruised on the floor, I could easily explain that I had to defend myself against you attacking me. Your reputation and career would be ruined, and quite possibly your marriage...”
“Ella would never believe...”
“You are probably right,” Carol said after a moment of consideration. “It is a bit farfetched, isn't it? That is why it will be much simpler for me to just kill you instead.”
With those words, she produced a small pistol, a silver six-shooter, from behind the wall and pointed it at Charlie's forehead.
“Okay, Carol,” Charlie said, holding his hands up to her. “Let's talk about this. We can both still walk away.”
“I don't see that happening. You know I have the authentic necklace. It's only a matter of time before investigating the forgeries leads back to my source. Once that's found out, I'm dead. They'll kill me. These people don't mess around so I have no choice. If I want to live, I have to kill you.”
As she spoke, small tears began to seep out of the corners of her eyes. Charlie believed with some irony that this might be the first time he had ever seen her express a true emotion.
“If you want out, Carol. I can help you. You can get into witness protection. I know people who can help...”
Carol laughed loudly through her tears, her hand shaking slightly.
“Right,” she said. “Become another person? You see the problem there is that I like being Carol Chapman. I'm extremely successful and rich. Don't you get it? You're standing in my luxury yacht, for Christ's sake! I don't want to give this up. I worked hard. Do you even get it? I worked like hell to get to where I am today! I'm not giving this up. I'll do anything to keep all this! Even if it means I have to....” Her words dissolved as she broke into sobs and the arm holding the gun began to drop toward the floor.
Charlie took a step toward Carol. She raised the gun again, straightening her posture and strengthening her resolve. Her eyes went cold; the skin underneath them looked white.
“You're not a killer, Carol. I can see it in your eyes.” Charlie took a breath and said, “I felt it when you kissed me.”
“Don't question me, and don't mock me.”
Without another moment’s hesitation, she pulled the trigger, firing a bullet directly at Charlie Colton. The sound of breaking glass echoed through the marina.
Chapter Seven
Ella stepped under the yellow police tape surrounding the crime scene in the sitting room of the yacht. Suppressed panic raged inside her. Officers scurried here and there taking pictures and setting up numbered decals. The briefcase holding the jade necklace had been bagged and marked as evidence, along with the recording of the evening's conversation between Carol and Charlie. The police had found the recording in Charlie's pocket when they arrived on the scene. Ella found Sergeant Laurent across the room taking notes on a large clipboard.
“Ella,” he greeted her as she approached. “Are you alright? You have been through a great deal this evening.”
“A bit shaken,” she replied, “But I'll be fine, thank you.”
“You were right to call us when you did.”
“Most of it was Detective Yates' idea,” Ella said. “He should get some, if not all, of the credit.”
The Sergeant shuffled his feet and his eyes found an interesting spot over Ella's head.
“Yes, yes, of course. Yates,” he muttered.
“Um...” Ella began. “I don't mean to interrupt the investigation, but... may I see him? Are you finished with your questions?”
“Of course.”
The Sergeant led her to the door and gestured to the ambulance.
“He's there. They should be finished with their questions now. I'll walk you over.”
At the edge of the water sat two ambulances with their lights slowly revolving, casting dancing blue shadows over the hubbub. One had the back doors open with a collection of police surrounding the figure sitting with his back to her, wrapped in a brown blanket and holding a cup of hot coffee. Paramedics applied an oxygen mask to his face intermittently, and another just finished checking his blood pressure. Ella and Laurent approached.
“Gentlemen, I believe we are done here.” The sergeant spoke in an authoritative tone.
One officer glanced his way and he nodded toward Ella, who stood by watching. The officers drifted off and Ella approached the blanketed figure.
“Are you alright?” she said.
Charlie turned toward her.
“I am now,” he said, dropping the blanket and wrapping his arms around Ella.
She fell into his embrace and for a moment neither of them spoke.
“You scared me to death!” she cried finally, her voice muffled by his shoulder.
“Shh, I'm alright. It's alright...” Charlie said, in a reassuring voice. “If the police hadn't shown up when they did, I might not be able to say so. You saved my life by calling them.”
“It was Yates who thought we should follow you. I'm glad we did. He had done some research this afternoon after I spoke with him and his suspicions pointed to Carol Chapman. It was his idea to have the open phone recording the conversation as well. That made me able to hear what was happening and I called the police as soon as she started threatening you.”
Charlie chuckled. “I'm surprised you didn't call them sooner, all things considered.”
Ella smiled. “Believe me, I thought about it.”
“Where is Yates anyhow?”
“He should be at the hospital. He apparently sustained some injuries. Are you okay to walk?” Ella said.
“Yes, I'm fine. The bullet didn't even graze me,” Charlie said.
“I don't even know how that could be possible. I'm just glad you're okay,” Ella said, placing her head on his chest as
if to reassure herself with the feel of his heartbeat. “And what of Ms. Chapman?”
“She's in custody,” Charlie said. “Sergeant Laurent said they had plenty of evidence for an arrest.”
“Well, good riddance. Shall we head over to the hospital to see the detective who saved your life?”
“I would like that very much,” Charlie answered.
***
A half an hour later, Ella and Charlie walked through the swinging doors of the Cayman Island Hospital. Checking in with the front desk, they were directed to 322, the room where Lander Yates was resting comfortably. After a short trip in the elevator and down the mint green antiseptic hallways, they found the room. Ella knocked lightly on the open door.
“Are you up for visitors?” she said.
A cheery Detective Yates sat up in the bed, eating what appeared to be a large meatball sandwich. He had several napkins draped around his torso over his blue hospital gown. His left foot was elevated with a large cast wrapped around it.
“Come in,” he said in a booming voice. When he spotted Charlie he added, “Well, there's the man of the hour. I’m Detective Lander Yates; pleased to meet you.”
He wiped one hand on one of the napkins and extended it to Charlie.
“The pleasure is all mine,” Charlie said, returning a hearty handshake. “I can't believe you came through the skylight like you did. You saved my life. I owe you a huge debt, sir.”
“Nonsense,” Yates replied, waving a hand away. “That's the most fun I've had in years. I can say that now that it's all over.” He punctuated his statement with a hearty laugh.
Ella interjected. “How is your foot, Detective?”
“Broken,” he said. “I'm out of commission for six to eight weeks. But boy, seeing the look on her face was worth it.”
“So let me get this straight,” Charlie said. “Everything is a bit of a blur after she pulled the gun on me. What happened, exactly?'
“Have a seat and Ella and I can recount our end of it.”
He motioned to the visitor’s chairs next to his bed, and Ella and Charlie pulled them up to sit next to the bed.
“As you already know, you had the recorder in your pocket the whole time documenting the conversation. The wireless transfer allowed us to hear the conversation from our setup in my car.”
“In the parking lot of the marina?” Charlie asked. “It transmits that far?”
“Oh, yes,” Yates explained. “I still have most of my equipment from my days on the force. Anyhow, we were able to hear both ends of the conversation. We got her on record saying that she was involved in the smuggling ring, and that she wanted you to help her smuggle out the necklace. When she started to threaten you, that's when we called for backup. Unfortunately, they hadn't arrived yet by the time she pulled her gun on you.”
Ella had pulled her lips into a thin line hearing the details of the evening recounted.
“I hate even hearing about it again,” she said.
Charlie had his arm resting on the back of the seat and gently rubbed her shoulder in comfort.
“Honey, I'm fine,” he said.
“I know,” Ella said. “But she could have... I just don't know what I would have done.”
“But she didn't,” Charlie interrupted. “Now, I believe he was just getting to the good part?”
He motioned for the detective to continue.
“I realized that someone needed to get in there right away, and the station hadn't responded yet, so Ella and I decided to intercede. She came in the front door and I, well... as you know, I came in through the sunroof. Ella tackled her from behind, throwing off her aim and I pulled you aside, out of the line of fire. That's about the time the police arrived and secured the situation.”
Charlie raised his eyebrows toward Ella with a small smirk.
“I see.”
Ella shrugged.
“We did what we had to do. You would have done the same for me.”
“So let me understand,” Charlie said. “While they were checking my vitals, I heard one of the paramedics say that Carol had sustained a black eye during the scuffle. Would you know anything about that, Ella?”
“She must have fallen on her face,” Ella said.
“I find it hard to believe that when you tackled her onto a luxury plush carpet and Oriental rug, she landed on her face hard enough for it to bruise up like that.”
“I didn’t say she fell on the floor,” Ella insisted with a grin.
“But Mrs. Colton,” Detective Yates interjected with a thoughtful tone, “you said while we were still in the car, right around the time that she kissed Mr. Colton, you said you were going to punch her in the face. I remember that quite clearly, in fact.”
Charlie suppressed a laugh, as Ella glared at Yates.
“What will happen to her? To Ms. Chapman?” Ella asked. “What charges will be brought against her, I mean.”
Yates paused and thought.
“She will probably be able to cut a deal. If she rolls on her sources, she'll get a reduced sentence.”
“Hmm,” Ella said. “Well, Detective. We should let you get your rest. You've had a big day and we need to start packing for our flight back.”
“What a shame. Your whole trip was ruined.”
“I would hardly say it was ruined,” Ella said. “We still have all day tomorrow to go kayaking and even parasailing.”
***
The next morning, Charlie and Ella opted to stay in for the day instead, to recuperate from the adventures of the day before. They had discussed staying an extra few days to make up for the time lost to the case and had decided to take Mr. Lee’s offer to extend their time at the resort. They sat on the large porch of the hotel suite overlooking the beach. They sat in the patio chairs sipping white wine and watching the sun dancing on the lapping waves of the incoming tide.
“Do you think we did the right thing, Charlie?” Ella asked wistfully. “Taking the case like we did? We could have just as easily explained to Mr. Lee that we are on our honeymoon and there would be no business dealings. I find it oddly amusing that he wanted to hire us the way he did.”
“I had wondered the same thing, Ella,” Charlie replied. “But tell me the truth; before we were offered the case, were you starting to feel... I don't know...”
“A little bored?” Ella replied.
“Yeah,” Charlie said. “A little bored.”
“Maybe so,” Ella grinned.
“I knew it!” Charlie laughed.
“You were bored, too. Admit it,” Ella smiled back at him.
Glancing at his watch he started suddenly. “We'd better get ready. We're going to be late for brunch with Benjamin Lee.”
Ella dropped her head back onto the patio chair.
“Ugh, is that today?” she asked.
“Yes, darling,” Charlie coaxed. “When the owner of the premier resort of the Caribbean invites you to brunch, you go.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Ella said as she stood and headed off to the shower to begin getting ready.
***
Benjamin Lee opened the double doors of his office and motioned for Charlie and Ella to enter. Ella realized that the room had been converted from office to private dining suite. This time, the conference table had been covered in floor length white linen and turned into a brunch buffet, filled with colorful fruits, pineapple, mangoes, cantaloupes and other exotic fruits. Toasted brioche and other savory fare, such as grilled asparagus and roast beef and horseradish sandwiches, also graced the table. A heating unit had been brought in with piles of bacon, sausage, warm biscuits, eggs and gravy. The tables were also draped in white linens and stacks of polished porcelain plates. As soon as they entered the office, Ella noticed that a medium-sized dining table had been positioned next to the picture window. Two members of the restaurant serving staff stood quietly near the wall, ready at a moment’s notice to clear plates or refill drinks.
“Welcome,” Mr. Lee said, motioning
for them to enter.
The view from the window looked just as stunning as before. Morning fog hung below the cliff’s edge, creating an opaque rolling white blanket across the waterfalls. A server appeared with a tray of mimosas for each of them.
“This is very generous,” Charlie said. “Thank you, Mr. Lee.”
“It's nothing, nothing at all,” he replied. “It is an honor to have you as my guests. Please help yourselves.”
After filling their plates, they all settled at the dining table by the window and ate.
“I wanted to thank you both for finding the necklace. Of course, I am devastated about Ms. Chapman,” Mr. Lee said. “It is difficult to believe that a member of my team would betray me like that. But it was even more so for me because I considered Carol to be a friend. Mr. Colton, I am eager for you to get started on the curation of the museum to determine what other items are forgeries.”
“The real challenge will be to find the originals,” Charlie said. “To tell the truth, I am eager to get started, Mr. Lee.”
Mr. Lee continued. “As you may imagine, as a man of my considerable means, I am surrounded by people at all times. With the businesses as large and as far reaching as mine, there are countless persons that I have to interact with.”
Ella nodded.
“Sycophants, yes-men,” he continued. Glancing toward Ella he amended, “Yes-persons, I should say. Overreaching flattery is not gender specific.”
Ella smiled, taking a bite of pineapple. Mr. Lee continued.
“In the short time that I have known you, I have come to consider you as friends. I would only hope that the feeling is mutual.”
Ella smiled warmly and reached over to touch his arm.
“Of course we do, Mr. Lee.”
“What I can't figure out is how did Ms. Chapman get into my employ without any red flags being raised? She was hired by my own personal assistant, Shi Jing. She is always very thorough. She handles the most sophisticated acquisitions.”