Murder is a Beach (Maggie, PI Mysteries)

by Pressey, Rose

  “Stay there. I’ll be right back,” he called over his shoulder.

  Considering I had no idea where he was running to, I didn’t think he’d have to worry about me going anywhere. Although, I hated just standing around…and I kind of wanted to know what he was doing. Had he seen someone? I doubted he would take off running like that for a cat, so my guess was that he’d seen someone. Was that person alone? I looked to my side, but didn’t see anything.

  So even though Jake had asked me to stay there and wait for him, I decided to do the opposite. I took off in a run down the pathway. There was a sidewalk in the courtyard that went around all the apartments’ doors. I scanned the area as I ran, but it was dark and hard to see. They needed to add more lighting to this area. The one light at the front of the building was just not enough. When I reached the end of the path, I stopped to catch my breath.

  As I scanned the area, I didn’t see Jake. I was beginning to get nervous. What was he doing? Had something serious happened?

  “Jake?” I whispered.

  Of course he didn’t answer. I guessed the only option I had at this point was to turn around and go back to my apartment. Maybe Jake was already there waiting for me. I knew the first thing he’d ask would be why I hadn’t waited for him. He would know the answer to that question, but it still wouldn’t stop him from asking.

  I turned around to walk back to my apartment, but stopped in my tracks. A man had walked out in front of me. I’d been looking down at the time and had seen his dark shoes first. I slowly looked up at him. I released a deep breath when I realized it was my neighbor. He was holding a black trash bag. I’d only seen him a few times before, but was thankful to run into him this time. Maybe Jake had spotted my neighbor and thought it was the bad guy.

  I smiled. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t see you.”

  “That’s okay. Sorry if I startled you.” He stared at me.

  I looked down at his trash bag. “So are you on your way to the Dumpster?”

  That was a stupid question.

  He nodded.

  “Did you see someone else go past? A tall guy with dark hair? He may or may not have had a gun in his hand,” I said.

  My neighbor’s eyes widened. “Is there a problem?”

  I waved off his concern. “No, he’s a police officer. We thought we heard a strange noise.”

  He stared at me blankly.

  “Anyway, have you seen anything strange lately? Anyone you don’t recognize hanging around?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “No.”

  He was a man of little words.

  “Well, thanks anyway. I’m headed back to my apartment,” I said and motioned over his shoulder.

  He nodded and stepped around me. I turned and watched him walk away. He was a bit odd, but I guessed he was just the quiet type. After watching him for a few seconds, I headed down the path back to my apartment. I hoped Jake was there waiting for me. Stars twinkled like rhinestones in the night sky. With Jake missing, I felt very much alone under those stars.

  I’d almost made it back to the door when I felt someone grasp my shoulder. I grabbed the person’s arm, spun around, and in one swift movement, slammed my attacker onto the ground. I’d practiced that move many times, but I’d never known if I’d be able to do it when I was actually in a life or death situation. It was good to know that I in fact could pull off that move.

  Unfortunately, I’d just slammed Jake to the ground. He climbed to his feet.

  “Nice move,” he said.

  I rushed over to him. “I’m so sorry.”

  “No.” He waved off my apology. “I know better than to startle someone like that.”

  “Well, you did grab my shoulder,” I said.

  “Actually, it was more of a tap on the shoulder,” he countered.

  I studied his face for a moment. Okay, I guessed he was right. It hadn’t been a complete grab, and maybe I’d overreacted just a little.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “I thought you were going to wait here for me?” he asked.

  “Why would I do that?” I said. “What if you needed my help?”

  “I am law enforcement. I’m kind of used to taking care of myself.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I guess you have a point. So what did you see? Why did you take off?”

  “I thought I saw a man…now I’m not so sure. It may have been another resident.”

  “You didn’t grab my neighbor, did you?”

  “Just a little bit.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I think he was just taking his trash out.”

  I shook my head. That guy is never going to talk to me again.

  Before I had a chance to turn the key the door pushed open. Jake and I exchanged a look, and then he motioned for me to step back. The speed at which he drew his gun out of its holster was especially impressive. I knew that I’d locked my door, so that could mean only one thing: someone had broken in to my apartment.

  Jake motioned for me to stay back while he walked into my place. I didn’t want him going in there alone, but he seemed intent on carrying out his law enforcement inclinations. So I stayed by the door. It wasn’t like it was going to take him long to search the place. He stood in the middle of the room with his gun in his hand. Night cast a shadow over the room, but I could make out his silhouette.

  After a couple seconds, Jake moved back toward the door and flipped the light switch. Nothing happened. The lights were out.

  “Do you have a flashlight?” he asked.

  “Only on my phone,” I said, retrieving the phone from my pocket and clicking on the app.

  The small light lit a path through my apartment. Jake moved over to the closet and stepped to the side. After a brief pause, he yanked the door open. Thank goodness no one was there, so he moved over to the bed. He leaned down and looked underneath.

  “No one is in here,” he said when he stepped closer to me.

  “I don’t know how the door could have gotten open.”

  “Where is the circuit breaker?”

  “It’s right over here.” I moved into the room and over to the far wall.

  I held my phone up while he opened the box and flipped the switch. Light flooded the room. Jake looked around and I was suddenly aware of just how small the room was. I picked up the shirt I’d left on the chair that morning and stuffed it in the desk drawer.

  “Well, no one is here. Does anything seem out of place?” He looked around the room instead of looking at me.

  I tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear. “No, nothing seems to be missing.”

  “You must have left the door unlocked and it somehow blew open,” he said.

  I nodded. “I guess so.”

  I knew that I’d locked the door, but I had no way to prove that, so I’d let it go. I wondered if I should tell him about seeing the guy from the restaurant watching me. No, I would handle it myself. I felt as if I was close to discovering something important on the case and didn’t want to lose my momentum now.

  “Thank you for checking everyone out,” I said.

  Jake moved past me. His clean and masculine smell circled me in his wake. When Jake reached the door, he turned around to face me. “You’ll make sure to lock your door when I leave?” he asked.

  I stepped over to the door and nodded. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

  He stared for a moment, and then said, “Good night, Maggie.”

  Chapter Twenty

  The next day found Dorothy and I back the investigation. Within a few seconds we made our way to the dock. I counted down to the third boat and sure enough, it was there. I didn’t see the woman though, so I stepped closer. I was standing by the ramp to the boat when the woman came up behind us.

  “May I help you?” she asked.

  I flashed my wallet, which had nothing official in it, but she wouldn’t know that. “Maggie Thomas, P.I.” I rushed the words, hoping that she wouldn’t understand what I’d said. “We’d like to ask you some
questions about Kristin Grant.”

  Dorothy leaned close. “You just showed her your Bath and Body Works gift card.”

  I stood a little straighter, hoping that would make up for my flub.

  The woman’s expression turned. “Yeah, what do you want to know?”

  “You were friends with her?” I asked.

  She nodded. “Yes, we’ve known each other for about a year now. I met her here at the restaurant, but she spent a lot of time here.”

  “With her boyfriend?” I asked.

  Her eyes widened. “Yes. His boat is sometimes docked right next to mine.”

  “But he doesn’t leave his boat here all the time?” I asked.

  “No, just when the spot is empty,” she said.

  I pulled out the picture. “Do you happen to know the other people in this photo of you?” I pointed.

  “I don’t know the other woman,” she said.

  I found that hard to believe, but I pressed on with questioning. “What about him?”

  “You mean the hairy arm behind us?”

  “Yes,” I said.

  She looked at me with a quirked eyebrow. “That’s her boyfriend, I guess.”

  “Do you know his name?” I asked.

  She nodded. “His name was Sam.”

  That was the name I was hoping she would say. “Do you know anything else about him?” I pressed.

  “I know he was pressuring Kristin into doing something that she didn’t want to do, but she wouldn’t tell me what. She said she didn’t want to get me involved.”

  “What do you think it was?” I asked.

  “I really have no idea. Kristin was a private person. We talked about general things, but never anything too personal.”

  I paused and looked out at the water. It looked as if this conversation wasn’t going to produce any new information.

  “Thanks for the information,” I said.

  Dorothy and I walked away. After a few steps, Dorothy turned around. ‘By the way, tell the woman at the travel agency that we’re sorry for lying.”

  I looped my arm through Dorothy’s. “Come on, Grandma. You talk too much.”

  Dorothy scowled.

  As Dorothy and I made it away from the boat, I felt eyes on me. I looked back at the woman and she was focused on something else and didn’t notice at me. But that sensation remained. I took a couple more steps and glanced to my right. That was when I noticed the middle-aged man was watching Dorothy and me as we walked by. I looked away, hoping that he would stop staring, but I still felt his eyes on me. Taking a quick peek again, once again I found the dark-haired man staring at us. Was he looking at someone else? I peered over to my left, but didn’t see anyone.

  He was definitely scrutinizing us. I quickened my step.

  “Come on, Dorothy, that strange man is watching us. He’s making me nervous.”

  Dorothy looked over in the direction.

  “Don’t look at him,” I said.

  “Okay, but he’s coming after us,” she replied.

  I had hoped that I’d heard her wrong, but when I glanced over my shoulder and saw the man walking briskly toward us, I knew that she’d spoken the truth. It was time for us to get the heck out of there. What did he want with us? I’d done nothing wrong…not yet anyway.

  We made it to the end of the dock when the man yelled at us.

  “Excuse me.” He waved his arms.

  Okay, that didn’t sound like a threatening comment, but I wasn’t going to take a chance. He called out again, but I ignored him. Instead, I focused on getting to the parking lot. We’d just turned to our left when the man jumped out in front of us. With one swift kick, I knocked him down. That would serve him right for trying to attack two women. Who did he think he was anyway? What a creep. He’d think twice before attacking another woman.

  The man clutched his side and looked up at me. “I need to talk with you about the woman on the boat,” he said breathlessly.

  I glanced over at Dorothy.

  “Oops,” she said.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  He nodded.

  “I’m sorry. Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

  He sat up. “It was my fault.”

  Yeah, it kind of was his fault. Could he blame me for thinking that he was about to attack us? After another couple of seconds he stood.

  “What did you want to tell us?” I asked.

  “I overheard your conversation with the woman on the boat.”

  I quirked an eyebrow. “Oh, yeah?”

  He nodded. “Yes, you were asking about the woman who was killed and her boyfriend.”

  “Yes, that’s right,” I replied.

  He rubbed his side again. “I saw him here on the day that the young woman was killed. He was talking with that woman on the boat.”

  “Are you sure about that?” I asked.

  “I’m positive. I have the boat slip right next to hers. I overheard them talking,” he said.

  It seemed that this man did a lot of listening.

  “So what were they talking about?” I asked.

  “Oh, well, he was asking her out and they were flirting.”

  I looked at Dorothy. She had a huge frown on her face.

  The man nodded. “Anyway, she was definitely talking to him on the day of the woman’s death.”

  “So has he been back here since?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “That I don’t know. But he was around here a lot.”

  I supposed that didn’t automatically mean he was guilty of something, just because he had been here. It was suspicious though. If she was having a romantic relationship with the boyfriend, she had certainly hidden it well from me.

  “I don’t normally listen to people’s conversations, in case you were wondering,” he added.

  I waved off his comment. “Hey, it’s none of my business.”

  “You say he came around here often?” Dorothy asked.

  “Yes, everyone knew them here because they were loud.”

  “Did you see the woman who was murdered?” I asked.

  His eyes widened. “She was murdered? I hadn’t heard that yet.”

  I didn’t answer. Maybe I’d said too much already.

  He continued, “Yes, I had seen her here before. Like I said, I am right next to the boat where they were.”

  I nodded. “I really appreciate your help.”

  “No problem,” he said. “I figured you were the police. I always thought that guy was trouble. Now that I know the police are asking about him that just confirms that I was right.”

  I didn’t bother correcting him.

  “Oh, the woman is headed this way,” he said.

  I looked back and saw that she was in fact headed our way. I couldn’t tell if she was watching us though. I didn’t want to cause any problems for this man. She’d probably want to know why I was speaking with him.

  “If we just step over here and maybe she won’t see us,” he said, pointing toward a small building.

  Dorothy and I moved over beside the building. The man peeked out. It was as if he was afraid of her. Had she said something to him in the past?

  After a couple of seconds, he glanced at us. “She walked on past.”

  “Did she say something to you in the past?” I asked.

  “Well, she had warned me not to listen to her conversations.”

  “Oh,” I said with a nod. “Thanks again for the information.”

  He smiled. “It was my pleasure to help.”

  “I’m sorry about kicking you.” I pointed.

  He patted his stomach. “I’m tough.”

  Dorothy and I waved goodbye and headed toward the parking lot. Now he had me nervous and looking for her. I had to figure out if what he said was true. It wouldn’t do any good for me to confront her. She would just tell me what I wanted to hear.

  When Dorothy and I returned to the parking lot, a car alarm was going off. As I neared, I realized it was my car that was making
that noise. A man ran away, but he was already so far away that I couldn’t tell who he was. Of course I had my suspicions. Why was this guy following me if not for the fact that he knew who I was? I didn’t know for sure that he’d been by my car, but what other reason would he have for running? I hurried over, turning off the loud alarm, and looked around the car.

  Dorothy stood beside me. Nothing seemed to be out of place. The windows weren’t smashed and all the tires still had the same amount of air in them as when I’d parked the car.

  “What do you think that was about?” I asked Dorothy.

  She adjusted the pocket book on her arm. “Maybe someone was just breaking into cars looking for something to steal.”

  I wished she was right, but it had happened twice now, so that made it a little less like a coincidence. It gave me the creeps to know that he had been messing around my car.

  “It looks like we at least scared him away.” I unlocked the car and we climbed in.

  I shoved the key into the ignition and turned it. Nothing happened. The car tried to start and despite my best efforts, turning the key and pumping the gas, nothing happened.

  “I thought you replaced the battery,” she said.

  “I did.” I turned the ignition again.

  “It sounds like it was a bad one.” She took out her needles.

  I leaned my head back against the headrest. This was not going as I’d planned. What would Magnum have done?

  “What are we going to do now?” I asked.

  “Well, for one, you need to get a reliable car. I mean, a private eye can’t go driving around in a rattletrap,” Dorothy said.

  “Duly noted, but what do we do in the meantime?” I asked.

  “There’s only one thing we can do.”

  “What’s that?” I looked at her for an answer.

  “We have to call Jake.” She stared me right in the eyes.

  I waved my hands. “Oh, no. No way.”

  “Have you kissed him yet?” she asked.

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “You need to get it over with if you haven’t. Now pick up that sparkly thing you call a phone and call him to come and get us.”

  Doing as I was told, I pulled out my phone and punched in his number. Dorothy stared at me. “What?” I asked.