by Lyndsey Cole
Hannah ignored the big duffel bag and opened a smaller camera bag, hoping she might find a clue if he had left his camera behind. A beautiful professional looking Nikon camera sat nestled inside the bag.
Her fingers hesitated before snatching up the camera and hitting the power button. What if Lenny returned, she thought. This was completely inappropriate. She stood up and looked toward the driveway. No one in sight.
Hannah scrolled through the digital images and froze. What met her eyes made absolutely no sense. Why did Lenny have images of Ruby on his camera? Was he stalking her?
She quickly returned the camera to its case, her fingers fumbling with the zipper. She slung the bag over her shoulder and hustled to her office. She stashed the bag under the big desk that once belonged to her Great Aunt Caroline. Hannah wondered what other secrets that old scarred desk hid over the years.
The sound of sirens got louder and louder. Hannah’s body trembled. What if she stole evidence, or what if it wasn’t Lenny’s capsized boat and he returned to find his camera bag missing? She called Ruby.
Without a hello, Hannah said, “Get over here quick. Without Olivia.”
“What’s going on?” Ruby asked.
“Just hurry.” Hannah disconnected the call as she saw Officer Pam Larson walking toward the office escorted by Cal.
She inhaled a deep calming breath and let it out slowly before Pam pulled the door open.
Pam stood with her hands on her hips. “What mess did you fall into now?” she sneered.
Jack barged in behind Pam and Cal. “I heard the siren. What happened?”
Pam looked at her father. “I don’t know yet. She,” Pam waved her hand at Hannah, “called in a report of a capsized boat. The chief is out investigating now. I got sent here to question Ms. Holiday.”
Hannah needed fresh air. With everyone crowded into her small office, she suddenly felt light headed. “My guests, Aaron and Laura Masterson, told me to call the police. They saw the capsized boat.” She moved toward the door, hoping everyone would get the message and exit.
“Where are they?” Pam asked.
“I told them to wait in Cottage Four.”
Miraculously, Jack, Cal, and Pam walked outside. Hannah followed, letting the fresh air revive her.
“Are you all right?” Cal held Hannah’s arm. “You look like you’re about to faint.”
She waved her hand in front of her face. “I’m better. The fresh air is helping.”
Cal and Hannah lingered behind the others as Jack led his daughter to Cottage Four. Cal asked quietly. “What’s going on? A capsized boat isn’t so unusual.”
“I’m not sure. I need to talk to Ruby about something I found.” Hannah hesitated. “Something that Lenny left here.”
Cal’s eyes widened. “Lenny? The guy renting a boat?”
“Yeah. Didn’t you say the area he was going to could be treacherous?”
“I did. But lots of people are out on the water. What’s the chance it’s his boat? That’s what you’re thinking, right?”
She nodded. They were close enough to hear Pam talking to Aaron about what he saw and where they were walking.
Pam’s radio blasted a message. “Capsized boat found and identified. Rented by a Lenny DiMarco.”
Hannah gripped Cal’s arm. “I have to go back and wait for Ruby.”
“Wait a minute, Ms. Holiday.” Pam’s icy voice stopped Hannah in her tracks. “Dad just told me Lenny DiMarco was registered to stay here. Did he ever arrive?”
“Ah, yeah, he did, but his cottage wasn’t ready so he dropped off a bag and left. He said he would be back later.” Her hands were shaking. She knew she was hiding what could be evidence under her desk.
“Where’s the bag?”
“Cottage Two.”
“Did anyone look at it?”
“No.” Hannah felt sweat drip down her side. That wasn’t a lie. No one went through that bag. She would be in a boatload of trouble if Pam discovered Hannah was hiding the camera bag. Too late to worry about that now.
“Get me the bag. Meet me in your office.” Pam didn’t mince words, or her attitude. Hannah went to retrieve Lenny’s bag. Something about the way he had looked at her earlier made her skin crawl. Had he been stalking her and Ruby? Why?
Cal jogged to keep up. “You’re hiding something. It’s written all over your face. You better pull yourself together before Pam gets to your office.”
Hannah stopped and turned on Cal. “If you want to help, head Ruby off before she walks into my office. Send her to Jack’s house to wait.”
Cal said nothing but headed to the road.
“Cal?”
He stopped and turned around.
“Thank you, Cal. I can’t tell you more because I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m afraid Ruby might be in trouble.”
He nodded and picked up his pace just as Ruby’s car drove into sight.
Hannah picked up Lenny’s bag, surprised at how light it was, and carried it to her office. Her curiosity was killing her to open the bag and look inside but she resisted. Instead, she opened a bottle of water and chugged half of it. She certainly didn’t need her mouth to go dry while she was being grilled by Pam.
Footsteps stomped up the office porch steps. “The bag?” Pam said as she pointed to Lenny’s duffle on Hannah’s desk.
“Yes.”
“If he shows up, tell him I’ve got it at the police station.”
“And if he doesn’t?” Hannah asked.
Pam turned back to face Hannah with her head cocked to one side. “What is it to you?”
Hannah shrugged and forced herself to keep her mouth shut. She didn’t want to ratchet up any higher on Pam’s radar.
“I suppose if we find a body, you might have to identify him. Who else in town knows this guy?”
“Maybe Chase Fuller from the marina. Lenny told me he was renting a boat there.”
“That’s helpful. I’ll go find out what Chase knows.”
Pam left. With the duffle and no thank you.
Jack eyed Hannah. “Where’s Cal? He scurried off like he was on a mission. And you look like you swallowed a canary. I doubt Pam missed that look on your face. What are you not telling her?”
“You don’t want to know, Jack. Pam’s your daughter. And a police officer. Besides, it might be nothing.”
Ruby pushed the door open and entered with Cal right behind. “What’s going on? You tell me to hurry, then Cal sends me to hide out at Jack’s house. Have you gone mad, Hannah?”
Jack and Cal sat down. Should she ask them to leave? They’d always had her back in the past.
Three sets of eyes bored into her. Waiting for an explanation. Hannah pulled the camera bag from its hiding spot. She placed it on the desk and unzipped the bag.
Ruby stroked her chin and raised her eyes to Hannah’s.
“Do you know a guy named Lenny DiMarco?” Hannah asked, her voice deathly quiet.
Ruby barely nodded her head yes.
“You’ve seen this camera before?”
Again she nodded and whispered. “Why do you have it?”
“We probably shouldn’t have this conversation here.”
Jack stood up. “I’ll make coffee at my house. Cal can keep an eye on the office and call you if another problem pops up.”
“Another problem?” Hannah said with raised eyebrows. She laughed because if she didn’t, she’d probably cry. She pulled her long braid and chewed on the end. She had three days to get her snack bar through the building inspection or she’d miss her grand opening. A water line burst in one of the cottages. At least, as far as she knew, that problem was taken care of. And now, Ruby had some explaining to do. Nothing else could go wrong, right?
Cal reluctantly said he’d get back to the repairs on the snack bar and watch the office. Hannah didn’t stop him.
Finally, she was alone with Ruby. “Who is Lenny DiMarco? How do you know him?”
Ruby slumped into a chair
. “I can’t tell you.”
Hannah sat down and zipped the camera bag closed. “Okay. I’ll just hand this over to Officer Larson along with the duffle bag she already confiscated.”
Ruby jumped up. “Why is that bag even here? Or his duffle bag?” Her fingers combed through her short brown hair. “Was he renting one of the cottages?”
“He was. I’m not sure if he’ll be back or not since the boat he rented was found capsized.”
“And Lenny?” Ruby asked, her eyes wide.
Hannah shrugged. “I don’t know. But let’s get back to this camera. I looked through some of the images.”
Ruby’s face fell into her hands. “Don’t tell me what you found. How bad is it?”
Hannah stood up and walked around her desk. She crouched in front of Ruby. “I have no idea how bad it is. The first question should be—why are there photos of you on his camera? I took the bag on impulse when I heard a boat had capsized. I’m in trouble whether he comes back or not. If Pam finds out, she’ll hound me out of town for tampering with evidence, and if Lenny comes back he could give me some pretty bad publicity for stealing his stuff. Now, did I expose myself to those kinds of problems, to protect you I might add, for nothing?”
“Lenny is Olivia’s dad.” Ruby mumbled. “He doesn’t know. He can’t find out.”
Hannah shook Ruby’s shoulders. “What did you say?”
“I left for the past two days to try to appease him. He was holed up in someone’s house about ten miles from here and he said if I didn’t go visit, he’d come find me.” Ruby finally looked at Hannah. “Find me and Olivia.”
“Lenny? That’s the guy you’ve been running and hiding from these last five years since Olivia was born? Why? He’s gorgeous. When I saw him it even crossed my mind that he was just your type.”
“Yeah, well, looks are deceiving. Turns out he’s a slimy operator who will do anything for a buck. And I mean anything. I had to protect Olivia. What was he doing renting a boat?”
Hannah sat back in her chair. “Lenny didn’t give me his detailed itinerary. All he said was he planned to explore the coastline. Any idea what he was looking for?”
Ruby unzipped the camera bag. “I bet there’s a clue here.” She searched through the images and stopped to show one to Hannah. “Here’s an image of a map. Once, he mentioned a treasure map that would make him rich. I assumed it was just more of his grandiose schemes, but maybe he was after some kind of treasure. Does this map make any sense to you?”
Hannah studied the image. “Not really, but the shoreline isn’t my specialty. Cal or Jack might recognize something.”
“We can’t tell them about Lenny. No one can know Olivia is his child.”
“What else aren’t you telling me, Ruby?”
Ruby’s face went pale and her foot jiggled until her shoe flopped off. “Let’s get some of Jack’s coffee before it’s cold.”
They left the office and walked slowly toward Jack’s house.
Ruby broke the silence and her words couldn’t have shocked Hannah more. “Lenny has connections to the mob.”
Chapter 3
Wednesday ended. Finally. When Hannah opened her eyes Thursday morning, she considered closing them and staying in bed. But it was a new day, she felt refreshed, and Nellie whined to go outside. Blue sky again. The peaceful sound of waves crashed on the beach and a salty breeze blew through the partly opened window. Today had to be filled with less drama. Right?
Wrong!
Hannah couldn’t believe her eyes.
A red Mazda Miata convertible screeched to a halt in front of her snack bar.
Hannah blinked. Was she awake or dreaming? Or had her mind finally crashed over the deep end?
A miniature pig, wearing pink sunglasses and a sunhat, sat in the passenger seat of the convertible.
Hannah closed her eyes and shook her head. After counting to ten, she opened them, expecting blue sky and the peaceful ocean view to be all that met her eyes.
No such luck.
A voice hollered from the driver’s seat. “Am I on time?”
“Excuse me?” Hannah asked.
“Am I on time? I got a letter from Caroline Holiday inviting me to meet the new owner of her cottages.” The woman removed her scarf to reveal purple streaked silver hair, neatly curled but slightly flattened. She said something to her passenger before she opened the car door and climbed out. The passenger responded with a snort.
As Hannah watched the unfolding scene, she realized her mouth was hanging open. Who was this person and what was up with the pig? And the biggest question of all was—when did Great Aunt Caroline send a letter to this person? Hannah didn’t know she would inherit the ocean-side property on the coast of Maine until the lawyer called her after Caroline died last year. Did Caroline have all this planned before she died?
“Hello,” the woman said, waving her hand in front of Hannah’s face. “Where’s Caroline?”
“Why is there a pig in your car?”
The woman’s hands flew up. “Oh. Of course. Petunia needs to get out. We’ve been driving all night.” She opened the passenger door and the small pig hopped out and started to root around in the sand.
Nellie sniffed the pig and wagged her tail. She got down on her two front paws in a play bow and the pig charged. Hannah was speechless. The woman screeched with delight and the pig chased Nellie.
The woman brought her attention back to Hannah. “It looks like Petunia found a friend. I’m guessing Caroline isn’t here at the moment? Where should I put my stuff?”
Hannah watched as Jack walked around the convertible and carefully wiped a speck of dirt off the hood. “Did you trade in your old Volvo for this beauty, Hannah?”
Hannah shook her head and nodded toward the purple haired old lady standing next to her.
“Jack? Is that you? Haven’t seen you in a million years! Remember when you, me, and Caroline went skinny dipping and shocked all her guests?”
“Pearl Amato?”
Pearl flicked her wrist. “Pearl Martini now. Tony Amato and I split up thirty years ago. The only plus from that marriage is Rocky.” She eyed Hannah. “He’s about your age, honey. Are you looking for a man?”
“You have a son my age?” Hannah asked with her eyes opened wide.
“Oh no, honey. He’s my grandson.”
Jack saved Hannah. “What in tarnation are you doing here, Pearl? Caroline’s going to be mighty pissed that you didn’t come before she kicked the bucket.”
The color under Pearl’s heavily powdered face drained away. “Dead? Caroline is dead? When? Why didn’t anyone tell me?” She held up a letter. “I got this from her just a couple of weeks ago.”
Jack snatched the letter from Pearl’s hand. “That doesn’t make sense. It must have gotten lost in the mail somewhere. Caroline died last year.” He studied the letter and read out loud, “Pearl, come meet the new owner of my cottages. You can stay for as long as you like.” Jack looked up. “Something doesn’t add up. It was postmarked on March twelfth of this year—that’s a year after she died. Exactly.”
Before they could come up with any more speculation about Great Aunt Caroline, Sherry Wolfe screamed and jumped behind Jack. She wrapped her arms around his waist and held on tight. “What’s that pig doing? Is it going to hurt me?”
“Hurt you?” Pearl huffed in a most grumpy tone. “Your screaming probably scarred her for life. And let go of Jack. You aren’t his type.” Pearl crouched down. “Come to mommy my wittle snufflebug.” She dug around in her skirt pocket and extracted a handful of grapes that Petunia gobbled from her hand.
Pearl hooked a leash onto Petunia’s harness and stood up. “So, which cottage are we staying in?”
Sherry pointed at Petunia. “If that swine stays here, I’m leaving.”
“Don’t slam the door on your way out,” Pearl said and headed to the office. “I’ll wait in there for someone to help me.”
Sherry glared at Hannah. “Well?”
Hannah’s head was spinning. This day started with more drama than she wanted in a whole month. “I’m sorry Mrs. Wolfe. This, um, visitor dropped in unexpectedly, but since she was invited by my Great Aunt Caroline who left this beautiful business to me, I feel I have to honor the invitation. But don’t worry, I will insist that Petunia doesn’t bother you.” What she left unsaid was that she wouldn’t be surprised if a ton of bother followed Pearl and Petunia to her beautiful ocean cottages.
“Well, I’ll trust you to keep a tight ship here,” she complained as she checked her watch. “I’ll have to walk double time to keep on my schedule.”
Jack and Hannah watched Sherry’s receding figure walk at a brisk pace, her backpack reflecting the morning sun.
Hannah jabbed Jack in the side. “What were you telling me about a red convertible yesterday? Maybe you and Pearl? Meant to be?”
“I don’t think so. She’s a wild one, a friend of Caroline’s from waaaay back. I only met her the one time we went skinny dipping, but Caroline shared a lot more stories that will never pass these lips.” He moved his fingers as if zipping his mouth closed.
“Maybe she’s changed,” Hannah said with one eyebrow up.
“Maybe not. Did you look at her? Purple hair, purple eye shadow, a hippy dippy skirt, and a pig? She’s more woman than I can manage. Everything screams loud and obnoxious.” Jack lowered his voice. “Caroline told me Pearl’s first husband, Tony Amato, had ties to the mob. Can you imagine what Pam would say about that?”
Hannah laughed. “Okay. You’ve made your point. Thanks for the background info. I’ll see if I can get her to stay at the Paradise Inn instead of here. I’m booked. There are no empty cottages.”
“Not technically,” Jack stated. “But Cottage Two looks pretty empty to me. What do you think happened to that Lenny guy? If he’s the one in that capsized boat, you’ll have an empty cottage for Pearl.”
Cal’s truck drove in loaded with new beams for the snack bar. “Looks like I’m late for the party. Whose flashy convertible is this?”
“Don’t ask,” Jack said.
“You’ll meet her soon enough I’m sure,” Hannah added.
“Her?” Cal asked with too much enthusiasm.