Debra Burroughs - Paradise Valley 06 - The Harbor of Lies

by Debra Burroughs

  “Huh?” The chief scratched his head. “What do you mean by that?”

  “We’ve saved computer data on CDs for what, the last twenty years? But think about it—what is a more current way of saving that information nowadays?” she asked. “A smaller, more portable way…”

  As if the light bulb came on in Colin’s mind, he sat up straight in his seat. “A thumb drive.”

  “A what, now?” the chief asked.

  “A thumb drive, Chief,” Emily repeated. “A tiny device you plug into one of the USB ports on your computer.”

  The chief studied his computer, his head bobbing from side to side as he checked it out. “A USB port?”

  “So, instead of looking for a CD,” Colin reasoned aloud, “maybe Ben actually stored his boss’s financial data on a thumb drive, and we should be looking for that.”

  “Or heaven forbid, a cloud drive,” Emily mused. “But let’s not go there yet.”

  “A cloud drive?” the chief questioned with a frown. He got no reply.

  “If he hid it in a cloud drive, we’re SOL,” Colin said.

  “It would be easy enough for him to save it to a portable thumb drive,” Emily continued, “and they come in all kinds of fun shapes and sizes now. Sometimes they don’t even look like a thumb drive.”

  “That’s right,” Colin agreed. “I’ve seen them look like different bobbles you’d hang on a key ring or a lanyard.”

  New information should make the search easier, but this only made it more difficult. The drive could be disguised as any number of other items.

  “The thumb drive could have been on Ben’s key ring,” Emily offered.

  “We didn’t find a set of keys in his room,” Colin said, “so he may have had them with him when he died.”

  The chief leaned back in his chair. “I’ll give the ME a call. She would still have Ben’s personal effects.”

  “Assuming whoever killed him didn’t get their hands on it,” Colin said.

  “Or perhaps he may have given it to someone else for safekeeping,” Emily suggested.

  “But who?” the chief asked. “Ella? Pastor Jansen? His secretary?”

  “Whitley?” Emily’s eyes lit up and she scooted to the edge of her chair. “Listen, guys, what if it looks like a sparkly pendant dangling on a chain and it’s hanging around a certain young redhead’s pretty little neck?”

  ~*~

  Emily’s phone jangled in her pocket. She didn’t recognize the number, so she answered it with some curiosity. “Hello?”

  “Emily, I’m glad I caught you. This is Whitley.”

  “Oh. Hello, Whitley.” Speak of the devil. Emily glanced at Colin and then the chief before speaking into the phone. “Is everything okay?”

  “You had asked yesterday if I knew of anyone else that Ben was close to, or someone who may have had a problem with him. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner, but there were a few times I knew of that he had met with Brian Henderson.”

  Emily’s brother-in-law? How could he be connected with this? Susan and the children would be devastated if he had something to do with Ben’s demise.

  “Brian Henderson?” She eyed Colin. His face twisted into a puzzled expression at the name. “And they argued?”

  “It’s probably nothing,” Whitley continued, “but I did see them quarreling once in the parking lot a couple of weeks or so ago. Brian looked pretty angry. So did Ben.”

  “But, Whitley, Brian was in a car accident about that long ago. Are you sure it was him?”

  The chief was looking a bit curious now too.

  “I’m positive. As a matter of fact, I think it may have been the day of the accident, now that you mention it.” Whitley paused. “Sorry, I’d forgotten about it until after I saw you this afternoon and something jogged my memory about Brian. He’s related to you, right?”

  “Yes, he’s my brother-in-law. Do you know Brian and Susan?”

  “No, not really, but I know the chief’s wife and she’s good friends with your sister. You know small towns, everyone knows everyone else’s business whether you want them to or not.”

  “How very true.” Emily thought fondly of her own small town for a moment, then brought her focus back to the case. “Anything else you can remember?”

  “No, that’s about it. I’ll call you if anything else comes to mind.”

  “Hey, Whitley, before you go,” Emily exchanged a glance with Colin, “I can’t stop thinking about that beautiful pendant you’re wearing. I’d love to get one for myself before we leave Rock Harbor. Do you happen to know where Ben got that one?”

  “No, he never said. He did say it was valuable, though, and that I should be very careful with it. You might try some of the nicer jewelry shops on the island.”

  “I’ll do that. Thanks.” After she hung up, Emily filled Colin and the chief in on her conversation.

  “We need to get a closer look at that pendant.” Colin stood. “With the Feds’ star witness gone, it might be just what they’re looking for to put Mr. Dominick away.”

  “Don’t get your hopes up until we know,” Emily warned. “It might be nothing more than a necklace, but you’re right, until we can get our hands on it, we really won’t know.” She had better figure out a way to get a closer look at it, because Colin could never leave a detail like that hanging.

  “She swears she saw Ben arguing with Susan’s husband the day of the car accident?” Colin asked.

  “Yes, but she didn’t know what it was about.” Emily retrieved her jacket from the coat hooks and slid it on.

  Colin checked his watch. “We’ve got some time before I have to meet Alex down at the dock. Why don’t we go pay your brother-in-law a visit, Emily?”

  She handed him his coat. “While you’re out fishing, I’ll see if I can get a better look at Whitley’s necklace.”

  The chief’s chair creaked as he rose from it. “You’ll let me know if either of you learn anything, won’t you?”

  “Sure.” Colin nodded, shrugging his coat on.

  “I’ll stay in front of the computer and take a gander at the video a few more times,” the chief said. “Maybe something will pop up—who knows?”

  ~*~

  Brian and Colin had never met, so Emily happily made the introductions around the hospital bed. They chatted casually for a few minutes, talking about the last-minute wedding Susan had organized and how Brian wished he could be at the ceremony.

  Keenly aware of the time, Emily steered the conversation to the fact that she and Colin were helping the Chief of Police with Ben Kinney’s murder investigation. “Brian, someone told me today that they saw you arguing with Ben a couple of weeks ago and it looked pretty heated.”

  “Really, Emily? I’ve been laying in this hospital bed for the past two weeks. Are you saying you think maybe I killed him?”

  “No, it’s not that,” she was quick to say. “I was just hoping you could tell us what the argument was about, then maybe it would shed some light on his state of mind and the events leading up to the murder.”

  “It was a personal matter.” Brian’s lips grew tight. “It couldn’t have had anything to do with why he was killed.”

  “That’s probably true, but you never know,” Colin said. “Sometimes what seems totally unconnected could provide a missing clue. What have we got to lose?”

  Brian answered Colin with a slight nod of his head.

  “So…” Emily said, rolling her hand as a gesture urging him to let the story out.

  Brian looked out the window, to the sky of gray clouds, the expression in his eyes appearing strained as he thought about what he was going to say.

  “Brian?” she softly urged.

  He brought his gaze back in and settled it on Emily. “Like I told you, it was personal.”

  “I’d never want to pry, but this is important.” Was it something embarrassing? Something about Susan?

  Brian pulled in a deep breath and blew it out. “Okay, but promise me yo
u’ll keep this under your hat.”

  Tiny hairs bristled on the back of her neck. Had he been stepping out on her sister, or something equally as shameful, and that’s why he seemed so reluctant to admit it?

  “Sure,” Colin quickly responded. “Mums the word.”

  Colin’s hasty agreement irritated Emily—what did he have at stake? Of course he could jump right in and make that promise, it wasn’t his sister Brian might be talking about. Emily held her breath.

  “Ben is my cousin.” He paused and a shadow of sadness passed over his face. “Or, at least, he was.”

  Emily exhaled, grateful it was not something worse. “Why do you want to keep that a secret?”

  “Because he’s a criminal, of course. I knew he was lying to the whole town, not telling anyone who he really was, but I couldn’t turn him in. He’s family, you know?”

  “How does Mayor McCormack know him?” Colin asked.

  “How? That’s easy. She’s his mother.”

  “His mother? She told us she was…” Colin cast a glance at Emily. “Well, it doesn’t matter now. So that makes Mayor McCormack your aunt.”

  “Sort of.”

  Emily tilted her head as a frown formed on her brow. “I don’t understand. What do you mean sort of?”

  “Ben’s father and my mother were brother and sister. Uncle Charles died when Ben was about four. Ella raised him by herself in New Hampshire. We were close when we were growing up, but then they moved away when he was about twelve. We lost track of each other.”

  “So you didn’t keep in contact with Mrs. McCormack either?” Emily asked.

  “No, and she wasn’t McCormack then, she was Kingston. It wasn’t until Susan and I moved to the island that I found out she lived here with her second husband. We’re cordial with each other, but it’s not like we’re really family anymore.”

  “So what about Ben?” Colin inquired.

  “I’d seen his picture on Internet news sites, you know, about the arrest and the trial and stuff. And I remember all the press coverage when he disappeared, and how the FBI was hunting for him. So, when he showed up in Rock Harbor, I knew right away who he was. He looked pretty much the same as when we were kids, only taller, darker hair, with a five o’clock shadow.”

  “Wouldn’t anyone else in town recognize him from the news?” Emily asked.

  “The news photos showed him with short, neat hair and dressed in a business suit. By the time he came to Rock Harbor, his hair had grown out a bit and hung down on his forehead, kind of loose and shaggy.”

  Emily recalled thinking his wavy brown hair was a bit unkempt when they first met.

  “And sometimes he wore glasses, which I think were just plain glass, to change his appearance,” Brian added.

  “Okay, so you recognized him and nobody else did, that you know of,” Colin said, showing a little impatience at the pace of the story. “But what was the fight about?”

  “I was trying to get him to turn himself in. I figured if the Feds wanted him to testify against a big dog, there could be someone looking to kill him. Not only was he putting himself in danger, but his mother and maybe other people in town.”

  “Like you and your family?” Colin questioned.

  “That’s right. I have Susan and the kids to think about, but he wouldn’t do it.”

  “When’s the last time you saw him?” Emily asked.

  “I stopped by the bed and breakfast that evening after work to try again to talk some sense into him, get him to see he needed to turn himself in before someone got hurt, but no, he wouldn’t budge.” Brian ran a hand through his hair, sadness pooling in his eyes—or was it something else? His gaze drifted out the window again, his bottom lip quivering. “Why wouldn’t he listen to me?”

  Emily gently took hold of one of Brian’s hands, hoping to calm him enough to get him to continue opening up. “Then what happened?”

  Brian closed his eyes briefly, his features twisting as if he was reliving the moment in his mind, then his face relaxed and he opened his eyes. His serious gaze moved back to Emily. “I drove home. Or, at least, I tried to. That’s the night someone ran me off the road.”

  Chapter 17

  Brian laid in the hospital bed recounting the accident to Colin, as he had to Emily when she’d come to visit him a couple of days before.

  “You honestly think it was just a drunk driver trying to pass you?” Colin questioned.

  “At the time I did, but now…” He looked down at his hands folded across his abdomen and shook his head slowly.

  “But why you?” Emily asked.

  Colin gave her a slight nod. “That’s what I was wondering too, Brian. Why you?”

  “I have no idea.” Brian rubbed a couple of fingers over his forehead, closing his eyes, as if his head was aching. “I’ve been laying here for days wracking my brain, trying to figure that out.”

  “Maybe…” Emily lifted Brian’s chin and slowly moved his face to the side to study his profile. Then she gently pulled it back to look at him straight on. “Same face shape, same wavy brown hair, same build. You know,” she crossed her arms and took a step back to study him further, “you and Ben look enough alike that you could pass for brothers.”

  “Brothers?” Colin’s eyes lit up. He must have figured out where she was going. “You said you left the bed and breakfast and were heading home when the accident happened?”

  “That’s right.”

  “And it was already dark?” she questioned.

  “Yeah.”

  “What do you drive, Brian?” Emily asked.

  “A dark green Subaru Forester. Why?”

  “And Ben?” Colin asked.

  “Ella loaned him her car, a Forester too, a little older than mine but still in good shape.”

  “What color?”

  “Dark blue.”

  Emily’s and Colin’s eyes met. That had to be it.

  “What?” Brian groaned.

  “In the dark,” Emily explained, “maybe whoever ran your car into the ravine thought you were Ben. You were coming from the B and B, after all. And with all the other similarities…”

  ~*~

  “Hmm, so this is the boat you’re going ocean fishing in?” Emily stood on the edge of the dock and admired the sleek vessel while her three girlfriends milled around, oohing and aahing over the different boats.

  “Yes, ma’am,” the captain said from the boat. “She’s a Sea Ray 370 Express Cruiser with plenty of elbow room and a steady glide.”

  “And you’re not concerned about the storm some people are saying is coming in?” Emily quirked an eyebrow at Colin, though her question was for the captain.

  “I check the weather regularly, ma’am, and they say the storm’s headed out to sea. We’re not going that far out, so no worries.” The captain started up the engine.

  “Besides,” Colin puffed out his chest, “what’s a little wind and rain among men?” He added a few manly grunts for effect.

  Alex grunted too, then they had a good laugh.

  “Hmm.” Emily wasn’t convinced, but she wasn’t going to play the nagging wife when they weren’t even married yet.

  “We’ll be fine, Emily,” Alex added. “Don’t worry so much.”

  Isabel didn’t look convinced either. “For landlubbers, you guys are taking this pretty well.”

  “Give me a kiss for good luck, Isabel, and we’ll be back before you know it.”

  She did as her husband requested and added a hug for good measure.

  “Don’t I get a kiss too?” Colin asked.

  “Heck no,” Alex snapped. “Get your own woman.”

  Colin tucked a free hand around Emily’s waist and grinned. “I was referring to my woman.”

  Emily cupped his face between her hands and kissed him softly. “Make sure you come back to me, Colin.”

  “Get aboard, fellas, if you’re still planning on going,” the captain called out as he began to untie the boat from the dock.

 
; Colin and Alex stepped over the gangway and took their seats, decked out for a cold, damp afternoon of fishing.

  The girls stood on the dock and waved as the men sped away on the choppy gray waters, a flock of seagulls squawking overhead.

  “Now,” Maggie said in a low voice, leaning close to Emily, “which one is the inn manager’s boat?”

  Emily’s gaze drifted around as she surveyed the boats along the dock, spotting the surly Rosco Ciminella moving about on the Hoosier Daddy. “Three slips down, but don’t look now,” she said, keeping her voice down. “One of the workers is on the boat.”

  “Okay,” Maggie whispered.

  “Just glance at it as we pass by. With a little luck, you can get Eric to bring you down here later, like we planned.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  ~*~

  Susan phoned Emily to let her know that she hadn’t yet located a minister to marry them, but not to worry, she would find one. Her wedding dress was being pressed at the cleaners, and Susan would pick it up in the morning and bring it by the inn.

  “That man of yours is behaving himself, isn’t he?”

  “Behaving himself?” What did she mean by that? The hanky-panky speech again?

  “He’s a sexy guy, that Colin Andrews,” Susan said. “Testosterone oozing out all over, just waiting to have his way with you.”

  “Do you actually hear yourself when you talk?” Emily asked, not at all trying to couch the sarcasm.

  “You know what I mean.”

  “Well, I can’t argue, he is a sexy hunk of a man.” Emily let out a little giggle as she thought of his smoky hazel eyes, his handsome face, that rock-hard body. The thought of it was beginning to get her excited. She took a deep breath to calm herself. “But he’s a whole lot more than that, Susan. He’s the best man I know.”

  “Hey!” Susan chided. “My Brian isn’t exactly chopped liver.”

  “No, he’s not, of course. He’s wonderful—for you.”

  “I have to agree with you, Emily, your Colin is a fine man and I believe you two will be very happy. You deserve it after all you’ve been through.”

  Emily sensed her sister had stopped the sentence just short of saying after all she’d been through with Evan.