Murder is a Beach (Maggie, PI Mysteries)

by Pressey, Rose

  In one way, it seemed like forever before Jake showed up with the other police, but in another way, it seemed like he was there instantly. The lights from the police cars flooded the area and I spotted Jake running my way.

  “We got it from here, Maggie,” he called out.

  Apparently Dorothy’s phone had worked after all. The moment I lowered my gun was when my hands finally started shaking. It must have been the adrenaline that I was now noticing running through my veins.

  I moved over to Dorothy. “Are you okay?” I asked.

  She had a death grip on her pocket book. “I’m fine now. That will teach him to grab me,” she said, shooting another nasty look the men’s way.

  “I’m sorry that I put you in that danger,” I said.

  She waved off my comment. “You’re just lucky that you have me.”

  I smiled. “Yes, I am lucky.”

  Jake stepped into the water and grabbed the man by his shirt. He dragged him onto the sand, like he was luring in a fish. I watched as he handcuffed him and released him to another officer.

  Spencer was finally able to climb to his feet. His hands were cuffed as well and he was escorted away. It was only now that I began to notice my surroundings again. I’d been so consumed in my struggle with the man that I’d forgotten we were at the edge of the water. The stars twinkled in the sky and the water rushed at the sand.

  “At least you were able to keep your purse safe,” I said.

  Dorothy patted the bag. “No one was getting at this baby. This is my lifeline.” She reached in her purse and fumbled around, finally dragging out a mint. She pushed it at me. “Here, take this. It will calm your nerves.”

  I waved it away. “I don’t want it, thanks.”

  “It will help you. Take it,” she insisted.

  “But I don’t want it. I’m not stressed now,” I said.

  “Oh, hogwash. Of course you are. That man almost killed you. Now take the mint.” She shoved it at me again.

  I sighed and took the mint, then reluctantly popped it in my mouth. This one didn’t have a wrapper either.

  Jake walked over to us.

  “Looks like you found me after all,” I said.

  He shook his head. “It wasn’t easy. Why didn’t you wait for me?” he asked.

  “I didn’t have time. I almost lost them. Now aren’t you glad I didn’t wait?”

  “Not really. You all could have been killed,” he said.

  “But I wasn’t, so now everything is fine.” I smiled.

  “We had just learned more about this guy. I was moving in on him,” Jake said.

  “But I figured it out first.” I stood a little straighter.

  He smiled. “Maybe we should have you on the police force.”

  I shrugged. “Maybe you should.”

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  “Apparently, Kristin had been blackmailed to run the drugs for her boyfriend. She didn’t know what she was involved in. Spencer was working for her at the Captain’s Quarters and told his dealer. They realized she was working for the competition. They told Kristin’s boyfriend they would kill her if he didn’t get out of the area. He didn’t believe them, so he sent her to do his dirty work again and they really killed her,” Jake explained.

  I shook my head. “That is terrible.”

  “Thank goodness we figured it out before it was too late,” Dorothy said. Her expression turned bleak. “Did you find any clues about Mr. Grant?”

  I looked at Jake and was afraid to hear his answer. “Did they say where he was?”

  Jake stared for a moment, and then said, “They said they have nothing to do with his disappearance. They didn’t know who he was.”

  I frowned. “That isn’t possible. Where else would he be?”

  “We still don’t know if he left on his own,” he said.

  “Oh, don’t be ridiculous. Of course he didn’t leave on his own.” Dorothy said.

  I ran my hand through my hair. “This doesn’t make sense. He wouldn’t just leave his business.”

  Jake shook his head. “I know and we’ll try to find him.”

  “Well, at least you are on the same page as me with this,” I said with relief.

  He smiled. “Are you okay?”

  I nodded. “I’m feeling great.”

  We walked away from the water. I thought I’d seen enough of water and the beach for the day. Once again I had to go home and get out of wet clothing.

  Jake walked me to my car. Dorothy had already gotten in, but she didn’t bother reaching for the knitting needles this time.

  “This is the second time you’ve seen me all wet,” I said.

  He looked me up and down. “It’s not a bad look on you.”

  I couldn’t hold back a smile. “Thank you for getting here so quickly.”

  “It’s my job,” he said.

  I stared at him. “Is that the only reason why you got here so quickly? Because it’s your job?”

  Jake touched my chin with his fingers, then leaned down and placed his lips against mine. My pulse skittered alarmingly. For the second time tonight adrenaline raced through my body, but this was for an entirely different reason. His lips were soft against mine and felt oh so good. He didn’t just a kiss me, but he caressed my mouth with his lips.

  Jake leaned back and looked me in the eyes. “I’d planned on asking you if you wanted to go for a walk along the beach tonight, but this isn’t what I had in mind.”

  I chuckled. “I would hope not.”

  “Listen, I need to wrap things up here. Can I call you later?” he asked.

  I nodded. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

  For once I could drive home and not have to worry about who might be following me. It had been nonstop craziness since I’d arrived in Miami. What happened to the simple lost love or deadbeat parent cases? I really needed one of those right now.

  After dropping Dorothy off, I headed home, showered and collapsed into bed. Jake’s kiss still lingered on my lips.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Kristin’s killer might have been found, but we still had to find Mr. Grant. Dorothy and I had returned to the restaurant. I still hadn’t figured out what Megan had been talking about when we’d overheard her in the break room. Dorothy and I had decided to follow that lead. It was the only thing we had.

  Megan walked out of the restaurant and jumped in her car. Dorothy and I exchanged a look.

  “Are you ready?” I asked.

  Dorothy nodded. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”

  I had no idea if following Megan would do any good, but it couldn’t hurt. Maybe if I was lucky I’d find out something…something that she didn’t want to tell me.

  Megan backed her car out of the spot and I waited a few minutes before pulling out behind her. I didn’t want to her to see me. It was hard to stay far enough behind a car and not lose them in the process. But I was becoming an old pro at this by now.

  Dorothy and I followed her through the streets of downtown Miami and for a minute I was sure she had noticed me.

  “I think our cover is blown,” I said.

  Dorothy had been knitting and totally not paying attention. She was still on edge about Mr. Grant, and so was I.

  “What makes you say that?” she asked, looking at me over the top of her glasses.

  “Megan sped up,” I said.

  Dorothy went back to knitting. “She’s probably just driving the speed limit. You should try it sometime.”

  “Just because I don’t want to drive at warp speed doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with my driving,” I said.

  Megan turned onto a street and finally came to a stop in front of a house.

  Dorothy looked up. “Where are we?”

  “You should have been paying attention. What if I need your help to get out of here?”

  “You were driving. Why would you need my help getting out of here?”

  “Never mind,” I said.

  Dorothy and I w
atched as Megan got out of the car and walked up to the nice house. She rang the doorbell and I was anxious to see who would answer the door. After a couple seconds, the door finally opened and I was surprised to see Justin, the owner of the restaurant.

  Apparently, Megan hadn’t lied when she said she’d been having a relationship with him.

  “I hope she isn’t in there long,” Dorothy said.

  “We should plan on her being in here for a while because I think something is going on between the two. Romantically, you know.”

  “Please, I don’t want the details.” Dorothy rummaged through her purse. “It’s a good thing I brought snacks. Do you want some trail mix?” She shoved a handful toward me.

  I looked over at her and scowled. After a second, I said, “Yeah, I’ll take some of the trail mix.”

  Dorothy gave me a smug, satisfied smile. So she was right to bring snacks. It had been a long morning and I hadn’t eaten much. I grabbed a handful and continued to watch the house.

  “There is no telling how long we could be out here waiting for them to come out,” Dorothy said as she munched on the mix.

  “This is part of the job,” I said.

  When she finished chewing, she said, “I think we should go up there and look in the windows.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. What if they see us? How would I explain that we were peeking in the windows?” I asked.

  “Oh, we won’t get caught. We can just go up there and listen. We don’t have to actually look in the window.”

  I paused. “Well, okay, I guess I am tired of sitting here.”

  Dorothy and I got out of the car and hurried up to the house. I hid behind a small scrub while Dorothy hid behind an even smaller one. I doubted either of us was concealed from view, but it felt good to have some kind of shield.

  “We need to go closer if we want to hear anything,” I said, motioning for Dorothy to follow.

  “Maybe we should find the bedroom and listen outside the window,” Dorothy said.

  “Ew, no way. I don’t want to solve the case that badly,” I said.

  Okay, I did want to solve the case badly and I’d probably do what I had to, but I hoped to find an easier way.

  Dorothy and I maneuvered over to one of the windows like a couple of cat burglars. Well, I hurried, but Dorothy had more of a shuffle thing going on, although she got there pretty darn quickly all the same. I leaned up close to the window and listened.

  “I don’t hear anything,” I said.

  Even if I had wanted to look in the windows, I wouldn’t have been able to because the blinds were closed and there was no way to see in.

  “I don’t hear anything either,” Dorothy said. “What do we do now?”

  As I was thinking of a fix for our dilemma, sound came from the side of the house. A neighbor was in his backyard.

  “Let’s get out of here before we’re caught or they call the police,” I said.

  We jumped into the car just in time because Megan was coming out of the front door. I’d fastened my seat belt and was ready to drive off, thinking she’d be in there all night. Megan got in her car, never glancing over and noticing my car. I’d give her just a little bit of time and then I’d take off behind her, although there probably was no point because I’d already followed her here. There was probably no other reason to follow her. I’d have to give up.

  Within another couple seconds, Justin stepped out the front door and got behind the wheel of his car. Now I had no choice but to follow him. I’d abandon my mission of spying on Megan and trail after him instead. I wouldn’t have followed him if I hadn’t noticed the Grant Jewelers bag in his hand. It was probably nothing, but I was curious just the same.

  “Did you see his bag?” Dorothy asked as she sat up straighter in her seat.

  I nodded. “Yeah, I saw it.”

  It seemed as though following people around was all I was doing and it wasn’t really giving me any answers. Maybe I should give up on this private eye tactic. There had to be a better way to find the info, I just hadn’t found it yet.

  Dorothy and I watched as Justin sat in his car for a moment. Megan had already driven down the street, so it was too late to change my mind and follow her instead. I guess he wasn’t waiting to follow her because she’d already left him behind. Finally he backed his car down the driveway.

  I pulled out slowly and followed him out of the subdivision and through downtown. When he stopped at a bank ATM, I pulled up to the curb and waited. Luckily, he still hadn’t noticed me. Justin pulled out again, driving even faster than Dorothy. Maybe I should have let her drive so that we could have kept up.

  “You’re going to have to speed it up if you don’t want to lose him,” she said.

  I nodded. “Yeah, I know. Everyone is driving too fast.”

  She shook her head and went back to the knitting. I was about to abandon this mission because I couldn’t keep up, but I pushed through, managing to get closer to him again. I wasn’t a quitter.

  Chapter Forty

  He turned onto another street and I had a suspicion of where he was headed. When he turned into the marina parking lot, I knew that I had been right. Why was he going there? I hoped that I was about to find out. Maybe it was a coincidence because, after all, a lot of people had boats and a lot of people knew people with boats. Not to mention he could be doing something else at the marina because there were other shops here. I parked my car not, taking my eyes off the spot where he parked. I jumped out as soon as she did.

  After following Justin, I realized that the trip was truly getting me nowhere. Justin was sitting on a bench near the marina. It looked as if he was waiting for someone, but after ten minutes I was no longer patient enough to find out exactly who he was meeting.

  “That was a waste of time. Come on. Let’s go back to Mr. Grant’s house,” I said.

  Dorothy draped her giant pocket book over her arm and marched across the parking lot.

  “What are we going to do when we get there?” she asked.

  “We’ll just look for a clue. Maybe he had an appointment with someone. He probably has a schedule or a cell phone. If he left that behind then we know something happened.”

  “Don’t you think the police looked for that?”

  I scowled. “Are you serious? I doubt they looked for anything. They think he just took off,” I said.

  Dorothy nodded. “But Jake doesn’t believe that.”

  “That still doesn’t mean anything,” I said.

  Dorothy and I made the quick drive back to Mr. Grant’s house. I hadn’t expected to see the police car in the driveway. It wasn’t Jake’s car, but it was a police car, nonetheless. There were no other cars, well, not that I saw anyway.

  “What do you think that means?” Dorothy pointed at the police car.

  “I guess Jake really did take me seriously,” I said.

  “I think they know more than they are telling us,” Dorothy said.

  “Well, if that’s true, then I’d better find out from Jake.”

  Okay, he didn’t owe me anything, but I hoped that he would share something this important with me. Since the police were there, we couldn’t get in.

  Dorothy and I pulled out of the driveway.

  “Now what do we do?” Dorothy asked with frustration in her voice.

  I tapped the steering wheel with my fingers. “I don’t know. Let me think about this one.”

  I had to think of something soon because I didn’t want to drive around in circles.

  “How about we go back to the marina and see if Justin is still there. He can’t sit on that bench all day,” I said.

  Dorothy nodded. “If he’s still there we should just confront him and ask if he knew Mr. Grant.”

  “That’s exactly what I was thinking,” I said.

  I pointed the car in the direction of the marina and within a short time I was circling the parking lot looking for a space. I squeezed the car in between a deliver
y truck and a SUV.

  “I don’t think I can get out. The car is too close for the door to open. I’m not that skinny,” Dorothy said with a frown.

  I shoved the key back in the ignition and pulled out. “I’ll drive back around and get a better shot at pulling in.”

  I circled the lot again and made my way back to the spot, but just as I was about to pull in, a black Porsche whizzed across the lot and zipped into the spot as if I hadn’t even been sitting there. For a moment I wondered if I was suddenly invisible.

  “What a jerk,” Dorothy said.

  She shook her fist at him. I expected her to pull out her knitting needles and threaten to poke him in the butt with them. He glared at us as we sat there.

  “Hey, that’s the guy from Mr. Grant’s house.” Dorothy yelled at him as he walked away. “Get back here, you dirtbag.”

  “How sure are you?” I asked.

  “I’m positive. Hurry up,” she said. “He’s going to get away.”

  “I don’t know what to do. I can’t find a spot to park the car.”

  “Let me out and I’ll follow him while you find a place to park this jalopy.” She gestured.

  “That’s too dangerous,” I said.

  “We don’t have any other options.” She’d already opened the car door.

  “Okay, but turn that giant old-lady phone of yours on so I can find you.”

  She nodded and hopped out of the car. I didn’t have a good feeling about this, but I didn’t have any other options. After circling around another time, I finally found a spot and whipped my car in.

  I hurried to across the parking lot and finally caught up with Dorothy. She’d done a good job of keeping up with him, but he was steadily putting distance between us. It was hard trying to keep the pace of this guy. He was a fast walker and our short legs were having a hard time keeping his pace.

  “I wish he would slow down. Where’s the fire?” Dorothy said.

  We rounded the corner and spotted him walking down the sidewalk.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  She nodded. “Oh yeah, I’m as fit as a twenty-year-old. Let’s see where he’s headed,” she said, motioning for us to continue with a tilt of her head.