"You sound like you have a bit of an attitude, Detective. Something you want to talk about, something you'd like to share?"
"If I did I'd have to use language not appropriate around a lady. Another time."
"Oh my stars," Stella said in a sweet, southern accent. She fluttered her eyelashes and breathed, "Please don't damage my virgin ears."
Parker laughed. "How's your stomach and your ribs, CJ?"
"Not bad right now. How's your arm?"
"Feels like I've been shot. Other than that, I should be playing golf by tomorrow."
"You play golf?"
"No. But once my badge is removed I might as well take it up."
"That or pickle ball."
Parker snorted.
The door opened and Josh stepped out. "How the hell did you get onto this so fast and what the hell are you doing here?"
"I'm glad you beat us here. Means there's some hope for you."
Josh just stared at him.
"Eddie Hall is important to my investigation, Josh. You know that. We just need a few minutes with him. Agent Taffer did tell you that he okayed our continuing with our investigation, didn't he?"
"He did."
"Did he also tell you that I made a promise that anything I discovered that might be relevant to the UIRA thing would be shared with our good friends on the bureau."
"That, he didn't tell me, but I would assume you'd do the right thing, Dad."
"I've got information to share."
Josh's expression didn't change as he continued to stare at his father.
"Do you want to hear it?"
"I'm waiting."
"Can we come in?"
"You can tell me right here."
"I need to be able to speak with Ed Hall first. My questions to him may help you."
"In what way?"
"You know how it goes, Josh. One question can lead to other questions depending on the answers. One doesn't know all the questions until he starts hearing the answers. It's a process."
Josh blew out a lungful of air. "Wait." He went back inside.
The cop stepped back out and crossed his arms. At 6'2" CJ usually towered over people. With this cop, though, he felt small.
"What do you bench-press?" CJ asked him.
"About three-twenty," the cop said.
"When I was wearing blue I was doing maybe two-seventy."
"Not bad for your size." The cop looked at Parker.
"I'm not even going there," Parker said.
They all looked at Stella.
"I maybe can do that in ounces," she said.
The cop grinned. "Where were you a cop?" he said to CJ.
"Tucson, Arizona."
"Hot there."
"Hot here."
"You've that dry heat, though."
"And somehow or other people seem to think that's better. I've never gotten that."
"It gets hot, you sweat," the cop said. "Drink lots of fluid and wear a hat. Enjoy air-conditioning when you can."
"Exactly," CJ said. "Tucson and Tampa. Like twins."
The cop snorted.
The door opened and Josh poked his head out. "Get your asses in here."
"Your son always talk to you like that?" Parker said.
"I think he got it from his mother."
Agent Coulter sat in a straight-backed chair facing a man sitting in the middle of an overstuffed sofa, elbows on knees, head in hands, nearly bald head glowing under the overhead lights and rotating fan.
"Mister Hall," Josh said.
The man looked up.
"This is Clinton Washburn. He'd like to ask you a few questions."
CJ grimaced at the use of his full name. While Stella and Parker held back, he moved to take the chair next to Coulter.
"First of all, Eddie, I want to say how sorry I am for your loss. I don't know if the agents have told you who I am. I'm the one who discovered Eveleen earlier this afternoon."
"I know who you are," Hall said. "Eveleen..." He cleared his throat and started again. "Eveleen told me about you... you came to Florida searching for Douglas." He blinked and swallowed. "When he died she was going to hire you to find out who killed him."
"That's right."
"Did the same person kill Eveleen?"
CJ looked toward Agent Coulter and then back at Ed Hall. "I think that's in the hands of the FBI now. I'm pursuing other matters that may or may not be related."
Hall continued to look at CJ, not saying anything.
"We had assumed that you and Eveleen were together."
"We were. She spent the night here. This morning she wanted to go to church." He looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath. "I don't do... not into church and all that. Had a fight about it. We don't normally fight, but... things been tense... Doug murdered." He looked at the floor and shook his head. "I dropped her off at church. She said she'd get a ride home. I should have stayed with her. We parted... both of us in anger."
"I get the picture. Again, I'm very sorry. The two of you owned Coffee Bean Boutique together, is that right?"
"Actually, it was Eveleen's business, her investment. I had citizenship so we became partners. Partners... name only."
"But you were also partners in life. You were a couple."
His shoulders seemed to slump even more. "On and off."
"No intentions of ever getting married?"
Hall shook his head. "No. Had talked about it. Just the other day, in fact."
"Other day. When?"
"The day...." Hall looked to the side, in thought, then back down at the floor. "Ah, Tuesday I think. She asked me."
"She asked you? To marry her?"
"Yes."
"What did you say?"
"I had to think about it."
"Why's that?"
He shrugged. "It was complicated."
CJ studied Ed Hall for a few seconds. "So, she wanted to marry, but you didn't. How well did you know Eveleen?"
Hall looked at CJ. "What do you mean, how well did I know her?"
"Simple question, I'd think. You had a relationship, a romantic relationship I assume. What did you know about her past? How long did you know her?"
"Ah... she moved here in 2005." His gaze returned to the floor. He pushed his fingers through what little hair he had and continued. "We got to know each other and started the business in 2006. I guess you could say that's when our relationship started. It really wasn't all that romantic."
"Did she ever talk about her life back in, say, the late sixties, when she lived in Northern Ireland?"
He sat back and looked at some point behind CJ. "A little, though she lived in Ireland, not Northern Ireland. Why?"
"Before Douglas showed up did she ever mention that she had a son?"
Hall blinked rapidly for a few seconds before responding. "No. I can't say she ever did."
CJ looked over his shoulder at Stella, considering where he was going to go next.
"Until...." Hall said.
CJ swung back to him. "Until?"
"Until Douglas was killed. That's when she told me he was her son."
"You didn't know?"
"No."
"Did she happen to mention who the father was?"
Rapid blinking again. "No."
"Were you curious?"
Hall's gaze fell back to the floor. "It was her business."
CJ turned his head toward Josh this time, who was standing behind Coulter. He winked and came back to Ed Hall.
"When did you sell your house in Apollo Beach?"
Hall's head came up like he'd been poked with a needle, the forest of red hair on his arms seeming to come to attention. A few seconds passed and CJ thought he was going to deny ever owning such a house. Then Hall said, "Three years ago."
"Why?"
"Why did I sell it?"
CJ nodded.
"It was too expensive. I needed something a bit smaller."
"Did it have a boat dock?"
"Yes, it did.
It was a waste of money. I didn't have a boat nor any desire for one."
"Why did you buy it to begin with?"
"Seemed like a good idea at the time." Hall straightened up and looked at Agent Coulter. "I don't see what this has to do with Eveleen."
"Please just answer the questions, Mister Hall," Coulter said.
CJ leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands in front of him. "Are you sure Eveleen didn't happen to mention who Douglas' father was? Weren't you even a bit curious?"
Hall's mouth flopped for a few seconds. "Yes... I... she didn't say... I assumed she was married once. None of my business."
"Douglas was forty-three years old, which means he was born in 1969."
Ed Hall's eyes seemed to go out of focus for a few seconds as though he was mentally confirming CJ's calculation. When it appeared that he wasn't going to return to the interview anytime soon, CJ shifted the subject again.
"You bought the Apollo Beach house in 2004 and sold it in, what, 2009?"
Hall slowly came back to CJ, considered the question and said, "Something like that."
"I imagine you took quite a loss. Wasn't the market still in free-fall about that time? Nobody was selling or buying homes in 2009 unless it was a foreclosure or rock-bottom for some other reason."
"Investors were buying things up. I got lucky. And I got a steal on this place."
"An investor bought your Apollo Beach home?"
"I think it was an investor."
"What was his name?"
"I don't remember."
"What was the address?"
Eddie Hall seemed to sit up a little straighter, his voice becoming clearer. "I don't remember."
"You don't remember the address of a home that you lived in only three years ago?"
Hall shrugged. "It'll probably come to me in a bit, but right now, I don't remember."
CJ sat back and then stood. "Thank you for your time, Mister Hall."
The trio and the two agents stepped outside, while the Clearwater cop went in.
"You have something to run with, now," CJ said to Josh and Coulter.
Coulter was already punching buttons on his phone. As he stepped out of earshot he was heard saying, "We need to dig into real estate data for Apollo Beach."
"He could at least say thanks."
"Thanks, Dad," Josh said. "Did you learn anything as far as what you're looking for?"
CJ shrugged. "Maybe. I've a bit of suspicion that I'm not ready to voice just yet."
"Like what?"
"That's why I said, not ready to voice."
"Okay. So, what now?"
"I don't know." CJ looked at his watch and then at Parker and Stella. "We've got a dinner invite tonight from Detective DuPont's wife, and it's been a very long day."
"Great. Why don't I meet up with you all later tonight at the hotel or, if not, at breakfast in the morning?"
They hugged. "Stop finding dead bodies, please, Dad," Josh said.
"I'll try my best."
In the car, Stella started the engine, set the AC for full blast and said, "Where to now?"
"My place for dinner, as CJ told his son," DuPont said. "Let's talk along the way. Hand me the GPS and I'll input the address."
"So, what are your thoughts on Ed Hall?" CJ said to the detective after Stella had replaced the GPS and started maneuvering the car out of the neighborhood.
"He's hiding something."
"No doubt. But what?"
"Did you see how he blinked his eyes every time you mentioned Douglas?" Stella said. "I think he knows a lot more about that then he's letting on."
"The question is," DuPont said, "if he is avoiding saying something about who Douglas' father was, why? Douglas is dead. Eveleen is dead. What's the big deal?"
"Maybe he's Douglas' father?" Stella said.
CJ looked out his window trying to suppress a smile.
"What are the odds?" DuPont said.
Stella looked over at CJ, back at the road and then at CJ again. "You're smiling because you think I'm right. That's what you were not yet ready to voice, isn't it?" She came to a stop sign, glanced at the GPS and flipped on her turn signal. "You're thinking that Eddie Hall is Douglas' father."
"Okay, you've got me," CJ said. "The thing is, I've met Douglas. Other than not carrying the weight that Hall carries, their features are similar enough. Although Hall is near bald, with the bushy, red eyebrows and hairy arms, you can tell he had red hair. Douglas had a serious receding hair line and it was red. Had the same eyebrows to match."
"They're both Irish," DuPont said. "Red hair is almost a given. Doesn't make them father and son."
"Jaws are nearly the same, square and determined. And then there are the eyes. I think I could see Douglas in those eyes. Add in the way he blinked every time he answered a question about Douglas, and I've got a pretty good suspect."
"Why wouldn't he admit it?"
"That's a great question, isn't it. The next thing to do is to point blank ask him if he's Douglas' father. If he denies it, there isn't much more I can do. It's not like he's breaking the law. It really is his business."
They road along in silence for a time and then CJ said, "Maybe what he's denying is that he knew Eveleen 43 years ago. He'd certainly have to know her to have fathered a child with her back in 1969."
"Do you think he was telling the truth when he said he didn't know Eveleen had a son until she told him?" Stella said.
"You mean she became pregnant and then she gave birth without him even knowing about it?" CJ said.
"It could be that he knew about it, but when she gave it up for adoption she may have told him that the baby died in childbirth. Thirty-five years later they run into each other again here in Florida and their love affair reignites. He puts old troubles behind them, doesn't even think enough about it to bring it up. Different lifetime."
"Still, why deny to us that he knew her back then?"
Stella seemed to consider CJ's question for a time, then said, "Maybe what he's hiding has nothing to do with Eveleen."
"What do you mean?" DuPont said.
"It could have something to do with the UIRA, or something only slightly related, but a secret is a secret."
Further talk about Ed Hall stalled and then DuPont said, "Don't turn there. The GPS will screw you up. Go to the next light and turn."
Stella exchanged a look with CJ. He grinned. She rolled her eyes, flipped off her turn signal and continued straight, as DuPont had suggested.
CJ wanted to say something more about what Ed Hall's secret might be, but other than possibly being Douglas' father, he wasn't sure where else to go with it. Instead, he decided that the best thing to do was to put it on the backburner where it could continue to simmer. Maybe the next time he pulled it out he'd see something. To break the silence, CJ said, "You've got some great kids there, Parker."
"Yeah. They do have their moments," DuPont said and then went on to brag about their school activities and sports involvement–CJ inserted several stories about Josh and Trish when they were of the same ages–until they turned into a circular driveway in west-central St. Petersburg.
The younger of the two boys, Scott, stepped out onto the porch as they all got out of the car. "Mom said you're cookin'," he announced to his dad.
"Then that must be the case. What is it I'm cookin'?"
"Cheeseburgers."
"Is the grill hot?"
"No. I don't think so."
"I think, then, someone has to make it hot."
"You want me to do that?"
"You know what to do?"
"Turn the gas on. Hold the button for three seconds and listen for the ignition. If it doesn't ignite turn the gas off and wait two minutes before trying again."
"What did you do, memorize it?"
"No." Scott grinned.
"Go do it!"
The screen door slammed behind Scott, almost in Stella's face. Parker shook his head. "He's got lighting the gr
ill down. We're still working on manners." He reached with his good arm and pulled the door open. "After you."
Chapter 29
The four adults sat watching the setting sun light up a trio of palm trees on the other side of a small lake behind DuPont's house, reusable plastic plates and utensils stacked to the side, the grill cooling, kids off doing whatever it is kids do.
"I love the palm trees," Stella said. "It's a refreshing change from giant cactus. Your view here is wonderful."
"Our little piece of heaven," Gracie said.
"You should see Gracie's painting of this very scene," Parker said.
"You paint?" Stella said.
Gracie shrugged her shoulders and tilted her head. "A little here and there."
"The one I'm talking about," Parker said, "you might have noticed when you came in the door... in the entryway."
"Foyer," Gracie said.
"Par-done me," Parker said. "In the fa-yay."
Stella turned her head as though she could see the artwork in question. "Oh! I remember." She looked across the lake once more. "I need to go look at it again."
With that the two women went into the house.
"You definitely have a nice home here," CJ said.
"We're financially comfortable with it only because Gracie's mother passed away early last year. She had a place down in Sarasota that turned a little bit of equity into cash, enough for us to put a sizeable down payment on this."
"Must have been tough on Gracie to lose her mom," CJ said.
"She had Gracie late in life. She was seventy-eight when she died. Had a lot of issues that finally took her down. In a way, it was a relief for both Gracie and her mother."
CJ nodded. After taking a slug on his beer, he said, "So, how serious are you about the PI business?"
Parker considered the question for a time. "You know how some people come up with a life-changing idea and then don't do anything about it, or they put it aside until suddenly there comes a sign that tells them to get off their asses and make it happen?"
CJ just tilted his head as though saying he understood, though maybe he didn't.
"Until recently, I was that first person, the one who has had an idea for some time but who had done absolutely nothing about it. Then you fell into my lap and I was elevated to the second person. You, CJ Washburn, are my sign."
Sailing into Death (CJ Washburn, PI Book 2) Page 20