Mobsters and Lobsters (A Hooked & Cooked Cozy Mystery Series Book 2)

by Lyndsey Cole

  Finally she turned to look at Hannah. “Is Mom going to move again?”

  Hannah’s antenna went up. This could be an innocent question since moving often was all that Olivia had ever known, or she might have picked up on something Ruby and Hannah talked about. “I don’t think so, honey, why are you asking?”

  “I like it here. With you and Cal and Petunia and Nellie. And Theodore.”

  “You know what Cal told me?” Olivia had just given Hannah the perfect opening to change the subject away from moving.

  Olivia shook her head.

  “He thinks Theodore misses you. Cal has been busy and hasn’t had much time for him lately.”

  A tear slid down Olivia’s cheek. “Poor Theodore. It’s no fun to be lonely. Maybe Theodore could visit with me for a while. We could keep each other company,” she said hopefully.

  “I think that’s a wonderful idea.” Hannah pulled into the Bayside Marina parking lot. “Ask Cal. I bet he’ll say it’s okay.”

  Hannah carried the pizza boxes with one arm and held Olivia’s hand with the other as they walked down the dock to Cal’s boat. Olivia pointed to the back of one boat and worked out the words—“On the Rocks,” she proudly read.

  “I didn’t know you could read already,” Hannah said. “How about this next boat?” She pointed to the back of the boat next to Cal’s before she even looked at the words.

  “Sink or Swim,” Olivia slowly sounded out. She looked up at Hannah. “Why would anyone choose to sink instead of swim?” Her five year old logic couldn’t make any sense of those words.

  The words gave Hannah a chill. “Kind of silly, isn’t it?” Hannah said, moving Olivia forward. There was only one reason that Hannah could imagine sinking instead of swimming as a vision of Lenny’s body floating in the ocean entered her brain. There was no choice in that situation.

  “What does Cal’s boat say? I can’t figure out the first word,” Olivia asked.

  “Seas the Day,” Hannah said.

  Olivia reached her hand out and grabbed a fistful of air. “Here. This is all I can fit in my hand.” She carefully attempted to transfer the air in her hand to Hannah. “Did you get it all?”

  Hannah snapped her hand closed. “I sure did. Thanks.”

  Olivia leaped onto the back of Cal’s boat without waiting for Hannah to help her. Her short legs barely made it across the open space and Hannah felt her breath catch. Without a word, she followed Olivia’s example and realized that her niece was showing her how to seize this day without sinking. Clever girl.

  “Who do I hear jumping onto my boat?” Cal’s voice asked from inside the cabin. “Are those fish jumping aboard?”

  “No, silly. It’s me and Hannah. Hannah has the pizza so I jumped across all by myself. Where’s Theodore? Hannah told me he’s been lonely.” Olivia looked up at Cal with big round innocent eyes.

  “She did, did she? Well, she’s right. I told Theodore that you were coming to visit and he’s waiting up the ladder on my bed.” Cal took the pizza boxes from Hannah and set them on his small table next to a couple of cold beers.

  Olivia shimmied up the ladder. “There you are, Theodore. Would you like to come home with me for a visit?”

  “Hmmm, sounds like my teddy bear has an admirer,” Cal said. “Maybe it’s time to pass him on to someone that needs him more than I do. What do you think, Hannah?”

  “Olivia loves Theodore. She’d give him a good home for sure, and I think she’s feeling a little insecure at the moment.”

  “About what?” Cal’s voice was laced with concern.

  Hannah slid pizza onto a plate for herself and whispered to Cal, “She asked me if her mom was going to move again.” Hannah shook her head. “She’s done enough moving. Olivia’s in kindergarten now and it’s time they put down some roots.”

  Cal poured a Sam Adams into a mug for himself and one for Hannah. “Why would Ruby move? She has a cute house. You’re close to help out with Olivia. Is she getting enough freelance writing assignments for the paper?”

  “Work isn’t the issue. She’s helping me, too. I can’t keep up with the paperwork, and she’s way more organized than I am.” Cheese dripped down Hannah’s chin after she bit the tip of the triangle off. Fanning her mouth she warned, “It’s hot, be careful.”

  Cal drank some beer instead. “Why would she move, then? You didn’t answer that part of my question.”

  Hannah set her pizza down and inhaled a deep breath. “I can’t talk about it now with—” She nodded her head toward the loft. “Big ears, you know?”

  Olivia, with Theodore tucked under her arm, descended the ladder from Cal’s sleeping area. “I’m hungry.”

  “Well, slide right in here between us. I have a piece of cheese pizza all cooled off and ready for you. Is Theodore hungry too?” Hannah asked.

  Olivia scrunched up her face and, with a serious voice, told Hannah, “He can’t eat. He’s only a teddy bear.”

  Cal hid his chuckle behind his hand. “Olivia, I’ve been thinking. Poor Theodore sits up on my pillow all day and I think he might like a change of scenery. Would you like to take him to your house for a visit?”

  Olivia’s eyes widened to the size of Theodore’s round bear ears. She squeezed him tight. “Really?” She held Theodore in front of her face. “What do you think, Theodore?” She shook the teddy bear and made his head nod up and down. Olivia smiled. A big, happy smile. “Theodore says yes!”

  “That’s settled then,” Cal said. He winked at Hannah.

  Olivia gobbled down her pizza and climbed the ladder again with Theodore in her arms. “We’re gonna look out the little window and watch the ocean,” she said to anyone who was listening.

  Cal helped himself to another slice of pizza and another cold beer. He held a bottle toward Hannah. She nodded. “Sure, why not? It’s been a long day.”

  “You do look kind of stressed. Does it have something to do with your missing guest?” Cal kept his eyes on Hannah’s face. She looked away. “Tell me what’s going on. I want to help.”

  “I know, but it’s not my secret to share.”

  “Fair enough.”

  Hannah asked Cal about the rest of the repairs on the snack bar as they relaxed and finished their beers. They gentle rocking of the boat was soothing. Finally, Cal stacked the plates and put them in the sink. “I’ll wash these later after I walk you two beautiful ladies to your chariot.”

  Olivia leaned over the top of the ladder and scrunched up her face. “We don’t have a chariot. We came in a car.” She scooted down the ladder.

  Cal rested his hand on Olivia’s head. “Chariot is a fancy term for your car. Doesn’t it sound like more fun?”

  Olivia shrugged. “I dunno.” She held Theodore tightly to her chest and skipped to the back of the boat. “You’re coming to my house tonight. Hang on to me so you don’t fall in the water.”

  “And you hang on to me so you don’t fall in,” Cal said as he caught up and held Olivia’s hand.

  They jumped from the back of Cal’s boat to the dock and waited for Hannah to join them. She inhaled deeply. “What a beautiful clear night. Look at all those stars.”

  Olivia tilted her head back and counted as she stabbed her finger from star to star. She got to ten. “What’s next?”

  “Eleven,” Hannah absentmindedly answered. What is next, she wondered, but numbers weren’t on her mind at the moment.

  Cal slipped his free hand around Hannah’s waist and leaned toward her ear. “Don’t forget, I’m always available if there’s anything you want to talk about. Don’t try to figure it out by yourself.”

  Hannah heard his words but remained silent, lost in her thoughts of what Lenny’s disappearance could mean.

  “Chase told me something interesting earlier,” Cal said.

  “Since when are you and Chase chatting buddies?” They walked toward Hannah’s car leaning against each other.

  “I ran into him when all the police were here and the helicopter wa
s leaving for another search. He needed someone to complain to about how all the police activity was bad for his marina.”

  Hannah matched her pace to Cal’s and waited for him to continue.

  “He told me you and Ruby came by asking him if he had information about the body. It got him thinking and he remembered seeing the missing guy, Lenny, arguing with a short fat guy before he left in the boat.”

  Hannah stopped. Olivia ran ahead to the car and climbed in the front seat with Theodore.

  “Short and fat? That’s how Pam described the body of the dead guy they found. So the dead guy and Lenny were here at the marina together.”

  Cal let go of Hannah’s waist. “Who is this Lenny guy? Do you know him? I thought he was just a random guest at the cottages,” he said with an edge to his voice.

  “That’s what I thought, too,” Hannah said, barely above a whisper. “Turns out I couldn’t have been more wrong.”

  Cal’s hand tightened on Hannah’s arm. “Tell me what’s going on. Are you in some kind of danger?”

  She shook her head as she stared at Cal. “Ruby is.”

  Chapter 8

  Light brightened Hannah’s office window when she returned to her cottage and carried a sleepy five year old and a well-worn teddy bear inside.

  “Did you have fun?” Ruby asked as she returned to the side of the cottage where Hannah lived and closed the office door.

  Olivia’s head rested on Hannah’s shoulder but she managed to give her mom a smile and a nod. Hannah transferred Olivia to Ruby’s arms and unrolled a camping mattress on the floor. “Olivia and Theodore can sleep here.”

  “Cal managed to part with his teddy bear?” Ruby smiled. She tucked the blanket around both Olivia and Theodore. Nellie curled up on the pad near Olivia’s feet.

  “He did.” Hannah pulled her bedroom door almost closed. She left it opened a crack so Olivia wouldn’t be scared if she woke up.

  Hannah took a beer out of her fridge, handed it to Ruby, and offered her the leftover pizza. “I suppose you didn’t eat anything while we were gone.”

  Ruby flipped the box top open and ate a piece of the now cold pizza, using the box as her plate. “This isn’t bad.” She ate a second piece.

  Hannah waited patiently for Ruby to fill her stomach before she brought up her conversation with Olivia. “She’s worried you’re planning to move again, you know.”

  Ruby drained the beer. “I don’t want to leave but I have to.”

  Hannah jumped out of her chair and paced in her small room. “No! You can’t keep doing this to Olivia. She’s in school now. You have to stop running away.”

  Ruby’s face fell into her hands and tears streamed down her cheeks. “What if he takes her away from me, Hannah?”

  “Doesn’t Olivia deserve to know who her dad is?”

  Ruby stood up, walked into Hannah’s office, and returned with her iPad. “I transferred the images from Lenny’s camera. There’s stuff on here you need to see.” Ruby scrolled through the images, stopping at several. “Look at all these photos of me and Olivia. He’s been stalking me for weeks at least. Possibly looking for a pattern in my daily routine. And this one shows a short fat guy. It looks like the same house where I met Lenny earlier this week.” She stopped to stare at Hannah.

  “Is there more?”

  Ruby enlarged an image of a map. Hannah moved the iPad closer to her face. “I’ve seen something like this. Pearl has a map she claims came from Great Aunt Caroline. A treasure map. And Jack has one I found in Great Aunt Caroline’s stuff right after I moved in.”

  They both jumped at the sound of a quiet knock on the cottage door. Ruby looked at Hannah, her eyes wide and her jaw clenched. “Who is it?” she whispered.

  Hannah went to the door and cracked it slightly. “Oh, Jack, come on in.” She pulled the door wider. Hannah heard Ruby let out her breath.

  “I saw lights on. Is it too late to entice you to join me with some decaf and one of Meg’s brownies? It’s Caroline’s recipe.”

  “Come on in. We were just,” Hannah glanced at Ruby, “talking.”

  Jack set his coffee carafe on the table and waited for Hannah to get mugs, cream, and sugar. “Pam stopped by my house earlier.”

  Hannah’s hand stopped midair on its way to pouring the coffee. She set the carafe back down and forgot about it.

  “Yeah, she’ll be stopping here tomorrow with more questions. For Ruby. She’s pretty convinced that Ruby knows Lenny DiMarco. Want to tell me what’s going on?” Jack finished pouring the coffee.

  The sisters exchanged their look. Hannah nodded slightly. “Tell him, Ruby. Jack might have some good advice.”

  “Lenny is Olivia’s dad,” Ruby said in one rushed exhale.

  Jack leaned forward. “Oh. You lied to protect Olivia.”

  “How do you know I lied?” Ruby demanded to know.

  “Pam told me. She suspected it after finding so many photos of you and Olivia in Lenny’s car. And you don’t have a very strong poker face.” He blew on his steaming coffee. “She’s not happy about it but, under the circumstances, she’ll probably understand. You know, the whole protective mama bear thing.” He took a sip. “He’s probably out of your life anyway. No one believes he could have survived in the cold water.”

  Another look passed between Hannah and Ruby.

  Jack didn’t miss it. “What else? Are you going to tell me he’s not dead?” His eyes searched Ruby’s face, then Hannah’s. “Do you have evidence?”

  Hannah walked to her closet and pulled the turquoise t-shirt out. “Lenny was wearing this the day he rented the boat.”

  Jack shrugged. “It could have washed ashore.”

  “And buried itself?” Hannah asked. “Petunia rooted it out several feet off the trail to the rocky point. Along with some peanut butter cracker wrappers.” She threw the t-shirt on the table and pulled the wrappers from her jeans pocket. “I don’t think this t-shirt buried itself.”

  Jack leaned back in his chair and folded his arms behind his head. “Interesting. Any idea what he might be up to? If he’s still alive?”

  Hannah leaned toward Jack. “Do you remember that treasure map I found in Caroline’s stuff after I moved in? Do you still have it? Ruby thinks that’s what brought Lenny here to Hooks Harbor.”

  He flicked his wrist. “Have you two lost your minds? A treasure map? Caroline liked to plant crazy ideas and watch people scramble for the answer. I think that treasure map is a giant hoax, and if she’s watching from somewhere, she’s having a good old laugh.”

  “You didn’t answer the question. Do you still have it?”

  “Sure I do. I’ll dig it out when I get home.” He stood up. “You two better get some sleep and figure out how you’re going to explain all this to Pam. I’ll come over early and make you some coffee—strong and dark. You’ll need it.”

  “Jack? No one knew about Lenny and Olivia. Not even Lenny, as far as I know,” Ruby said.

  “If he didn’t know about Olivia, what was he doing in Hooks Harbor?” Jack paused with his hand on the doorknob, his eyes on Ruby.

  “The treasure map. He came searching for the treasure. I’m positive of that.”

  “So it’s a coincidence that you just happened to be here too?” Jack shook his head. “Sounds fishy.” He pulled the door closed quietly.

  “He’s right, you know,” Hannah said. “In this whole big wide world, you and a buried treasure end up in the same place?”

  Ruby scrolled back to the photo of the short fat guy and tapped the screen with her fingernail. “Do you think he could be the connection? We have to find out who he is.”

  Hannah sat back and sighed. “We won’t get any information from Pam.” She drummed her fingers on the table. “This is a long shot, but I’ll talk to Pearl tomorrow. She knows people.” Hannah put her fingers up and made air quotes around the word people.

  Ruby’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of people?”

  “Remember you told me Lenny
had connections to the mob?”

  Ruby nodded.

  “Jack told me that Pearl’s first husband had ties to the mob, too. And he’s here in town with some not too intelligent looking thugs. Never mind Pearl’s grandson, Rocky.”

  Ruby smacked her forehead. “Rocky? I forgot to tell you. A guy named Rocky stopped in the office when you and Olivia were having dinner at Cal’s boat. He said he was looking for Doll Face.” Ruby smirked and wiggled her left eyebrow. “Is that you by any chance?”

  Hannah groaned and rolled her eyes. “What did he want?”

  “You. He was quite disappointed when I said you were gone. But he sat down, made himself at home, and took a pack of cigarettes from his rolled up t-shirt sleeve. Who still does that?”

  “At least he had his shirt on and didn’t strut in like some kind of peacock on the prowl,” Hannah said.

  Ruby laughed. “He does have the strut down pretty good. What’s his story anyway?”

  “I might actually have to be nice to him. Pearl, in her completely unsubtle way, let me know she thinks her grandson would be the perfect match for me. It might be the key to getting her help.”

  Ruby laughed so hard she made a mad dash for the bathroom and yelled through the closed door. “All that beer and coffee was not a good combination for my bladder.”

  “Keep laughing and you’ll be the one that has to cozy up to Rocky to get information from Pearl.”

  The laughter stopped. Almost. One muffled snort broke the silence.

  When Ruby returned, she said, “He is sort of cute in a, what do you call it?” She put her finger on her chin. “I’ve got it, a harmless hoodlum kind of way. I don’t think he’s the type that will want to listen to you read poetry while you sit under the stars with him.”

  Hannah playfully slapped her sister. “Laugh all you want but he could end up helping us.”

  “I can’t believe you’d use that poor love-struck puppy to your advantage. Reminds me of how you treated that boy in high school.”

  Hannah’s mouth fell open. “That’s such an exaggeration. He helped me with my homework and I—”