Murder is a Beach (Maggie, PI Mysteries)

by Pressey, Rose

  “Yes, and you’ll thank me later when we solve this case because of it,” she said with a wave of her finger.

  I looked over my shoulder. “You know, if you were to be my lookout, I could snoop around in his office. Maybe I’d find something,” I said.

  Dorothy pointed her index finger at me. “Or maybe you’d get caught and get both of us killed.”

  “Think positive, Dorothy.”

  “That is positive. Positive that you’ll get us killed,” she said.

  “Oh, nonsense,” I said with a wave of my hand. I jumped up and over to the door. I peeked out to see if anyone was coming our way. “It looks like the coast is clear.”

  “It seems like you’re hell-bent on getting us into trouble,” Dorothy said as she pushed to her feet. “Hurry up before someone comes.” She gestured.

  I rushed over to the office door. I was surprised that he’d left it open. Every time I’d tried before it had been locked. I thought back on what Megan had said. How would I ask Justin if he’d been doing his partner? I glanced over my shoulder one last time and Dorothy motioned for me to hurry.

  When I stepped into the office, I didn’t know where to start. I hurried over to the desk and looked at the planner that was open. I flipped back to the date of Kristin’s murder. There was a meeting for that day, but it didn’t say with whom. Just that there was a meeting. It could have been with the uniform salesman for all I knew.

  I opened the drawers and looked around, but nothing looked important for my case. There was a photo of Kristin though. It had been turned upside down in the drawer. That was odd. I was surprised he hadn’t just thrown it away since he didn’t seem too heartbroken over her death. I continued to rifle through pages, hoping I’d find the smoking gun.

  Dorothy’s coughing caught my attention and I knew that was my sign to get out of there. I shoved the drawer closed and rushed to the door. Just as I’d slipped out and halfway back to where Dorothy stood the manager walked in. He looked at me as if I’d been caught stealing the salt and pepper shakers off the tables.

  “Is everything okay back here?” he asked with a frown.

  “Why, everything is just peachy,” Dorothy said with a smile. “Maggie and I were just discussing how much we enjoy working here.”

  He looked from Dorothy to me as if I’d let it slip that Dorothy was really lying. “Yes, we love it,” I said. I glanced over at a photo of the restaurant that was hanging on the wall. “How long as this restaurant been in business?” I asked with a smile.

  He frowned. “A couple of years.”

  I nodded. “Really? So Kristin and Justin started the place?”

  He looked as if he’d seen a ghost when I mentioned her name. I hadn’t expected such a reaction from him.

  His face was pale, but he finally said, “Kristin started the place first and then Justin came into it to help.”

  I shook my head. “It’s such a shame that she was in such a terrible accident.”

  He walked back to the door, letting me know that he thought the conversation was over. It might have been over for now, but I had a lot more questions to ask him and I wouldn’t stop until I got answers.

  I followed him out the door, but he walked so quickly that I couldn’t keep up. I threw my hands up in frustration.

  “He doesn’t like to talk much to the wait staff,” Megan said.

  I turned around and was surprised to see that she was talking to me again. “I can see that,” I said after a moment.

  Now that she was speaking again, I wanted to take advantage and ask more questions about what she’d just told me. “Listen, Megan, I feel bad that you were so upset. Do you want to talk about it more? You said that you thought the co-owner and Kristin were having an affair?”

  “No, I never said that. I said that I thought she wanted him. He didn’t want her. As a matter of fact he was mad at her,” Megan said.

  “Why is that?” I asked with a frown.

  Dorothy was standing behind me. “Yeah, why is that?”

  “She wanted him out of the business. Can you believe that? After all this time and how much effort he put into this place. He wanted to buy her half of the restaurant.”

  “That is terrible,” I said, making her think that I didn’t suspect her of anything. This was great, but I wanted his side of the story.

  “Anyway, I guess he doesn’t have to worry about that now, does he?” she said matter-of-factly.

  I stared at her. I couldn’t believe her careless comment. That would be a possible motive for murder. If Kristin had said no, all he’d had to do was kill her and she’d be out of the picture. I had no idea how evil this man could be or if he was completely innocent, but I’d been hired to find the killer and getting to the bottom of his motives would put me one step closer to that goal.

  The main thing that remained was finding the man with the boat. If the owner of the restaurant was connected to the man with the boat, then that would definitely make me more suspicious. I didn’t think that the man on the boat had acted alone. Maybe it was just a gut instinct, but I got the feeling they hadn’t been alone on out there on the water that day.

  I needed to spend some time at the marina and find out more about the boat’s owner. Someone around there would be willing to talk.

  “What is going on in that mind of yours?” Dorothy asked as she stepped into the room.

  I tapped my fingers against the table. “I need to spend more time at the marina. If that man has kept his boat there then someone should be able to share a little bit of info with me.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  That evening after our shift it was time for the big Bunco night. Dorothy insisted that she pick me up for the game. I wasn’t sure I trusted her to drive after the past experiences, but I gave her another shot. The game was being held at her place, so at least I knew that I wouldn’t run into Jake. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to see him. I was kind of torn actually. If I saw him, I knew I would end up telling him everything that I’d discovered about the case, and I wasn’t giving up what I knew without him divulging what he knew about the case. And he seemed stubborn enough that I doubted he would do that. So in other words, I would end up telling him what I knew and he wouldn’t give me any info in return.

  I’d never been in Dorothy’s home before. I wasn’t sure what to expect other than lots of knitted items. Dorothy’s place was decorated with a multitude of shades of pink, from a mauve sofa to the pink mixer that set on the kitchen counter.

  “You like pink, huh?” I asked as I absorbed the view.

  There was a ton of natural light in her condo that came from the patio doors that led to the small outside space. Dorothy had insisted that I come to her place early so I could help her set up refreshments. Dorothy had mixed up margaritas for the evening and I knew we were in for a real treat when these women got a little tipsy.

  The first guests had just started to arrive and Dorothy was busy chatting with the ladies when the doorbell rang again. “Maggie, can you get the door for me?” Dorothy asked.

  I nodded and headed over to the door, fully prepared to see another of the Bunco Babes, as Dorothy called them. When I opened the door, I almost immediately shut it again. Jake was standing in front of me. For a second, I wondered if I was at the other woman’s condo because she lived at the same condo complex as Jake.

  He looked handsome in his khaki pants and blue button-down shirt. His smile spread across his face. “You look beautiful,” he said.

  I looked down at my pale yellow sundress, then looked back at him. “So do you,” I said softly. “What are you doing here?”

  “Dorothy invited me.” Jake winked at Dorothy who I assumed was smiling behind my back.

  I turned around and glared at her. She gave a little wave and wink. I stepped out of the way and let Jake into the room.

  “Hi, Jake,” the room of women called out to him in unison.

  “Hello, ladies. You’re looking lovely this evening.” One
flash of his smile and the whole room melted…including me.

  “So she talked you in to playing tonight too, huh?” I asked.

  “What do you mean too? I have a feeling you enjoy this game night as much as she does,” he said with a teasing grin.

  Of course, once again the ladies placed me next to Jake as often as possible throughout the evening. I had to admit he smelled delicious. And that sexy smile of his didn’t hurt matters either.

  We were sitting at the table and everyone seemed to be having fun, although I could tell by some of the frowns and scowls that tension was beginning to mount between the Bunco Babes. Tonight’s game was for high stakes, after all. There was a big gift bag full of items at stake. The winner got all the goodies, so the ladies were taking every roll of the dice seriously. The woman beside me tapped her fingers nervously against the table, I thought I remembered her name as Betsy, but I wasn’t one hundred percent positive. There were a lot of women here and I hadn’t memorized all the names.

  The woman leaned over toward the other lady who sat across from me. Alaina had introduced herself to me and I remembered the name because that was my mother’s best friend’s name too. Anyway, Alaina frowned at the other woman. Apparently Betsy was interested in the score pad.

  “We need to stop the game,” Betsy demanded.

  The women stopped and stared at Betsy.

  “What’s wrong, Betsy?” Dorothy asked.

  “Alaina is cheating,” Betsy said matter-of-factly.

  Gasps rang out around the room. She had just been accused of the ultimate Bunco crime. I wasn’t sure what the penalty was though.

  The women at my table jumped up. Both placed their hands on their hips and stared at each other. I watched in amazement, wondering what would happen next.

  “Dorothy, you have to do something,” Betsy insisted.

  Dorothy hurried over from her table. I was ready to get out of the room before things got ugly. I had no idea how Betsy thought Alaina was cheating, but I knew we were about to find out.

  I exchanged a look with Jake. Of course he had a smile on his face and that caused me to have to bite my lip to keep from laughing.

  Dorothy lifted her eyeglasses and peered at the score card. After a couple seconds, she looked from Alaina to Betsy. You could have heard a pin drop, definitely one of Dorothy’s knitting needles.

  We were all in suspense, wondering what she would say.

  Finally, Dorothy said, “Betsy, I don’t see any sign that Alaina is cheating. What makes you say that?”

  “She changed the numbers.” Betsy glared at Alaina.

  “She just can’t count.” Alaina narrowed her eyes.

  I was waiting to see which one would take the first punch. They’d rip the eyeglass chains off each other’s necks within seconds.

  Dorothy shrugged and placed the pad back on the metal card table. “I can’t see that she was cheating.”

  Betsy straightened. “I can’t believe that you doubt me.”

  “Well, you did accuse Donna of cheating not more than six months ago.”

  The other women around the room nodded in agreement.

  “This time is different,” she said defensively.

  “We should just go back to playing. I’m sure that everything is fine,” I said, trying to soothe the situation.

  Alaina and Betsy looked at me as they wanted me to stay out of it. I was only trying to help.

  Based on the frowns on their faces, it didn’t look as if this discussion was going to end soon. There was even further trouble when I noticed Betsy glance over at the tray of cupcakes on the nearby table. The next thing I knew, Betsy had grabbed a cupcake, but Alaina rushed over and snatched up a pretty pink confection too. The woman stood in front of each other with cupcakes in hand, ready to toss at the first cross word or glare. I looked at Jake, but he shrugged. Apparently he wasn’t getting involved.

  With their arms pulled back, I knew the cupcakes would start flying through the air soon. When one lady tossed, the other one would fire, and for all I knew, the whole room would erupt into a food fight.

  “Don’t do it, ladies,” Dorothy said. “I am not cleaning up a food mess again.”

  Again? Had this happened before? I knew they took the game seriously, but this was a little extreme. I’d seen a candle and a bag of dried prunes in the gift bag. The items were hardly worth all this trouble.

  “I’m not afraid to use this,” Betsy warned, wiggling the cupcake through the air.

  Okay, this had gone on long enough. If no one else was going to put a stop to this, then I would have to. I stepped forward and stood between the women. They looked around me.

  “Ladies, it’s not worth fighting. Now I know you all love each other, so why don’t you put the cupcakes down and just play the game.” I used my best soothing voice and offered the women a wide smile.

  Apparently, it wasn’t what they wanted to hear because neither woman surrendered their sweet-laced missiles.

  I had to take matters into my own hands. Or in this case, cupcakes into my own hands. I reached forward to remove the cupcake from Betsy’s hand. She wasn’t going down without a fight though because she tossed the cupcake in my direction. That was when Jake stepped forward and eased the cupcake from Alaina’s hand before she tossed it. Lucky for me, the cupcake missed and landed on the floor in a smashed mess.

  Dorothy marched over. “Betsy! You apologize to Maggie right now.”

  She scowled and said, “I’m sorry, Maggie. I don’t know what came over me.”

  I released a deep breath and said, “That’s okay.”

  Dorothy patted my hand. “Sorry about that, Maggie. Betsy has always had a bit of a temper.”

  “I can see that,” I said.

  When Jake and I stepped to the side, he said, “That was one dangerous game of Bunco.”

  Jake laughed.

  “Yes, it was touch and go there for a minute,” I said.

  The women sat down and immediately went back to the game. Not a word of the incident was spoken, but I had a feeling in another few months another cheating scandal would pop up. Maybe Dorothy needed to rethink providing the refreshments.

  More importantly I didn’t win the big prize tonight—I guessed that meant the women would allow me to come back again.

  It was getting late and with as many margaritas as the ladies had consumed there, was no way I was letting Dorothy get anywhere near a car to drive me home.

  “Dorothy, I need to take your car so I can go home. I can pick you up in the morning,” I said.

  “Oh no, remember no one drives my car,” she said as she stumbled over to me.

  “How am I supposed to get home?” I asked.

  Dorothy looked at Jake standing beside me. “How about Jake takes you home?” she asked with a huge smile.

  My heart sped up at just the mention of his name.

  “I’d love to take you home,” Jake said.

  Dorothy gave a satisfied smile. I knew she wasn’t really a drinker. This was just all part of her plan to get me alone with Jake. Well played, Dorothy, well played. Either Jake gave me a ride home or I would have to walk. My feet still hadn’t recovered from waiting tables so I didn’t relish the thought of walking all the way home.

  Finally, I nodded. “Okay, thanks.”

  Dorothy and the other ladies had smiles on their faces. “Have fun, kids.”

  I climbed into the passenger seat of Jake’s car and he headed toward my apartment.

  “You played well tonight,” he said as he steered the wheel.

  “Sorry that I beat you,” I said.

  He chuckled. “We’ll have to have a rematch.” I tried to hide my smile. “We haven’t had a chance to talk about the case,” he said.

  I didn’t say anything for a moment, then I finally looked at him. “You talk first.”

  He laughed. “What does that mean?”

  “I’m not telling you what I know until you tell me what you know.” I flashed a sa
tisfied smile.

  He glanced over at me. “You know something?”

  “Maybe. Do you know something?” I asked. He looked at the road and nodded. “You go first,” I said.

  “Okay, I’ll go first. We do know that Kristin was on a boat the day she died.”

  “That is your news?” I asked. “I told you that before she was even found.”

  “I know, just calm down,” he said.

  I released a deep breath. “Sorry, I got a little excited.”

  He glanced at me again. “Yeah, well, you do that a lot, but that’s one thing I like about you.”

  I bit back a smile. It was good to know that he thought one of my annoying habits was a cute quirk. Jake parked the car by my apartment. He sat there for a moment after turning off the engine. A soft breeze floated through the window. He looked like there was something he wanted to say and my heart rate increased as I wondered what he was about to tell me. The faint sound of the palm fronds brushing against the tree trunks carried across the air.

  Finally, he said, “Well, I guess I’d better walk you to your door.”

  His statement caught me off guard because I was sure that he wanted to say more. “That’s okay. I can walk by myself,” I said, opening the door.

  He opened his car door. “No, I want to walk you.”

  Jake hurried around and opened the door for me. I met his gaze as he held the door open for me. “Thank you,” I said softly.

  Jake and I walked to my door in silence. It wasn’t awkward; instead, it was oddly calming. I pulled the keys out of my purse and shoved them into the lock.

  Another sound came from over our shoulder and Jake whipped around. It could have been a cat, but then again, it could have been the murderer. I prayed it was just a cat. I was just thankful that I wasn’t alone. It was nice having someone to have my back and not having to check out the noises all by myself. Not that I wouldn’t, it was just good to have backup occasionally. I would never admit that to Jake though. It was my little secret.

  We peered out into the darkness. The sound could have come from any direction. When another noise sounded, Jake took off in a sprint. I wasn’t sure what he’d seen.