by Emma Watts
“Both Matt and Gloria were down there in the water, right?” I asked.
She nodded.
“So was Rick, his son?” I asked. “All three of them had problems with Daniel.”
“Rick too?”
“He stayed neutral through the whole divorce, not picking a side, but he was a momma’s boy and he would do anything for her.”
“Even kill his own father?”
“You said it, I didn’t. Look, I have to get going. Thank you for the coffee but there are funeral arrangements to be made. Hopefully they will release the body soon and I can make sure that his death was not in vain by making sure that Gloria doesn’t get a penny.”
“So she knows about it.”
“Like I said. The map was stolen. Put two and two together. I think this whole thing will lead back to her.”
She seemed pretty convinced that Gloria was behind it but that might have just come from butting heads with the woman. Divorce was a messy event and based on the little I’d learned about Gloria I was beginning to wonder myself how innocent the woman was.
I nodded slowly as she got up and brushed herself off and then extended a hand. I shook it and saw her out the door. I watched as Nina got into an old Ford SUV and pulled away. I was just about to close the door when I saw Detective Hunter down at the harbor. He was speaking with Liam outside his office. I wanted to chat to him, dig in a little and find out what they’d managed to unearth, but without Ivy around to keep an eye on the shop, that wasn’t happening. I closed the door and watched from behind the window. Though the town might have had its fair share of oddballs, it was beginning to grow on me.
Chapter 9
When Ivy returned she was juggling six bags and looked as if her arms were about to snap off. “A little help,” she said, kicking the door open with one foot and stopping the backswing with her right shoulder.
I jumped up and hurried over to give her a hand.
“What is all of this?”
“New clothes. I have a date tonight.”
“With who?”
She grinned. “Henry Starling.”
I took a few bags from her and let out a huge gasp. “My brother’s butler?”
“That would be the one,” she said pushing her way past me.
“But he’s younger than you?”
“A woman of my age can’t be picky. Besides, the chemistry is there. He makes me laugh and well I enjoy his company and…” She stopped speaking and looked up at a photograph behind the counter. I’d been meaning to ask her who the man in the suit was but hadn’t got around to it. She picked it up and brushed off the dust.
“Who is that?”
“Vigo. My husband. He passed away ten years ago.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“He was quite the man. He was Russian. Loved his vodka and could sing and dance like no one I’ve ever met. However, that all might change this evening,” she said putting his photograph back down and gazing at herself in the mirror.
“So what did you buy?”
“Five dresses, six pairs of shoes and a new coat. Take a look but don’t criticize.”
I chuckled as I waded through it. She didn’t have bad taste, actually. “Nice.”
“You like it?”
“I think he will. Though I would probably go for the black dress. The red might send the wrong signal.” She scooped out the red dress.
“Then the red dress it shall be.”
“But—”
“My dear, at my age I’m lucky if I’m able to send out any signal. I don’t have time to mess around with men. I know what I want. I think he knows what he wants. Let’s do this,” she said heading out back. Before she left the room, she paused and peered over her shoulder. “Mr. Jenkins? Where are you?”
“Oh about that.”
Before I could tell her how I’d probably turned Mr. Jenkins against me for life, the door let out a jangle and in came Detective Hunter and the fiery redhead.
“Well I’ll be. This is a first,” Ivy declared.
“Ivy, good to see you,” Scott said before looking my way. “And, Kelly, wasn’t it?”
I felt my stomach do a few flips. “That’s right.”
The redhead coughed and Scott turned and introduced his partner. “Oh, Kelly, this is Detective Hazel Roberts.” She gave me a cold glare but leaned in and shook my hand. She tightened her grip and held on to my hand for what was an uncomfortably long time. “Pleased to meet you.”
“Likewise,” I said gazing down at my hand and then back at her face as if to make it clear that she was hurting my hand. She released it, smiled, stepped back and began looking at books while Scott leaned against the counter. He had this old-school charm to him.
“Anything I can help you find?” I asked.
“Actually we were visiting some stores in the area to see if we could obtain your surveillance footage from the last few days.”
“Don’t you require a warrant for that?” I asked.
He smirked. “You know your law. But things work a little differently in this town. Folks generally are more than willing to help out. So… Ivy, you got that?” he asked shouting over my shoulder before meeting my eyes again. “So how’s your first day working out?”
“How do you know it’s my first day?”
“I asked around.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Really?” His gaze penetrated me. “Do you do that with all newcomers?”
“What?”
“Yeah, he does, but only the ones that look a little suspicious,” Hazel said, eyeing me before putting a book back on the shelf.
“Hazel,” Scott said.
“Just saying. It’s true.”
“Don’t listen to her.”
Ivy came in from out back and handed over a VHS.
“Dear me, Ivy, you do know the future has arrived, right?” he asked glancing down at the old tape.
“Can’t be bothered to update. I’m too old for it. However, one day once Kelly here takes over perhaps you’ll have more to choose from.”
“Oh you are taking over?” he asked. His eyebrows shot up.
“Well that’s still to be determined. In the meantime I’m helping out here.”
“You didn’t want to work for your brother?” he asked.
“Would you?”
He smiled back flashing those pearly whites of his. “Good point.”
Without taking his eyes off me he handed over the tapes to Hazel.
“So any progress with the death of Daniel?”
“We are getting there. Slowly but surely. These things take time. They can’t be rushed. Everyone wants answers immediately, but the truth is to be found…”
“… in the small details,” I added, finishing off what I assumed he was going to say.
He pointed at me and smiled. “Exactly.”
“Let’s go, Hunter,” Hazel said heading towards the door.
“You go, I’ll be out there in a minute.”
“We really need to…”
“Hazel.”
She puffed out her cheeks and exited the store. “She tends to be a little high-strung, a little too gung-ho you might say. She has her eye on the job of chief. I keep telling her that the chances of her landing that are one in a million. My father thinks I’m going to take over after he leaves office, but he has another thing coming.”
“You don’t want the job?”
“Too much politics. I deal with enough of it right now. At least this way I get to handle cases and get out here in the community. That’s my thing. Chatting to good folks like yourself.” His eyes dropped to my hand. “Not married, Kelly?”
“No.”
He nodded. Ivy lurked nearby smirking.
“But I’m guessing there is some guy in your life, right?”
I was just about to respond when the door to the store swung open and in rolled my brother and the drop-dead gorgeous River Hudson. Both of them were holding video cameras and bellowing at the to
p of their voices like they’d had one too many coffees.
“There she is!” River said.
Scott turned and smiled and gave a shake of his head. “Well I guess we can continue this conversation another time.” I had a sense he was on the verge of asking me something but with the ruckus in the store caused by Jamie and his loony hot friend, it put a damper on whatever he was about to ask.
“Hey sis, heard you were looking for me.” He hopped up onto the counter and tossed some kind of candy from his pocket into his mouth. “Ivy, you should let us do an episode on your store. We could prank a few of your customers. You know, have them come in and then make it look like the place was possessed by a spirit,” he said.
“Jamie. Get off the counter,” I said.
He jumped down. “So what did you want?”
I looked over to Ivy who was leaning against a bookshelf with Mr. Jenkins in her arms and stroking his head. She smiled. “Yeah, Kelly, what did you want to tell him?”
“Actually I was thinking we could go out for dinner tonight. Maybe you could take me to one of those nice restaurants you were talking about. We could catch up and such.”
Okay, I wasn’t just going to blurt it out, not with Ivy standing there. I already had a sense that she knew what I was going to tell him.
“You know, sis, I would love to do that but I have a hot date tonight.”
“You as well?” Ivy asked.
That got a laugh out of him. “Are you telling me you scored big, Ivy?”
“Henry is taking me out,” she replied.
“Are you kidding me? You?”
I slapped Jamie on the arm. He wasn’t exactly the most tactful.
“Yes. Me,” she replied turning on her heels with her eyes narrowed and marching off into the back of the store.
“Great, you put your foot in it there, Jamie,” River said.
“Jamie, I really need to speak with you.”
“And you will. Look, we’ll do it sometime this week. I promise, sis. But I just have a lot on my plate right now with…” He mumbled to himself and started heading for the exit. “You know what, I have a better idea. River will take you out. Won’t you, brother?”
My eyes widened.
“Oh I don’t think Debbie would be too pleased about that,” I said.
I also didn’t think she would be too pleased about the woman I saw entering the shower that morning. How many of these women did he have on the go?
“Debbie and I aren’t an item,” River said sliding over and leaning against the counter. I caught a whiff of his cologne. It was sweet and nutty, and had a hint of pine. “And I would love to take her out.”
“I bet you would,” Jamie said eyeing him. “You just keep your hands off her.”
“Jamie,” I said. Not that I would have minded his hands on me but… well, you know, the very mention of it by my brother made me feel like I was his younger sibling when it was the other way around.
“Ah, we’ll be fine, won’t we? I have just the thing in mind as well.”
I didn’t know what to say. Both of them stared at me and I just swallowed. “Okay. I guess so.” The only reason I wanted to go out was to talk to Jamie about our parents and Ivy and well, pretty much everything that seemed odd about this town, but I wasn’t going to turn down a hot date either.
“Okay, I’ll swing by tonight around seven. That sound good?” River asked.
I nodded and smiled as he followed my brother out. They began laughing about something Jamie showed him on his video camera. From beyond the window I watched them hop into a green Ferrari. The engine roared, and they tore away leaving behind a plume of smoke, and the smell of tires seeping in through the window.
“Well, it seems I’m not the only one with a date tonight,” Ivy said nudging me as she emerged from out back to show me her black dress. “What do you think?”
It was a low-cut number, and it was revealing a little too much cleavage but she looked happy so I just nodded and told her that I thought it was a winner.
She squeezed my arm. “Kelly. I have to say. It’s nice having you here. It’s been a bit lonely since Vigo died, so it’s nice to have some company.” I smiled as Ivy walked out back muttering to Mr. Jenkins about how things were going to change around here. I had to admit, after the year I’d been through with Brian, it was nice to feel wanted even if it was by a dotty lady with magic powers and a hot surfer with too many women.
Chapter 10
River was a smooth guy. I’d been out on dates with a number of guys over the years prior to getting married to Brian and none of them could come close to what River had planned for me that evening. Somehow he’d managed to swing it so that we would eat inside the Cape Tomlin Lighthouse. Of course all the food had been ordered but the fact that he’d gone to all the trouble to make arrangements was something else.
He’d picked me up in a red Ferrari and asked me to wear a blindfold while he took me to the spot. At first I was a little hesitant, but he told me no harm was going to come to me and I would love it.
After a bumpy journey, he opened the door and took my hand and I could hear the crashing of waves. To be honest, I thought he was going to throw me off the cliff, but I never told him that.
He slipped off the blindfold.
“What do you think?”
“Nice. Where’s the restaurant?”
“Ah, you’ll see.” He guided me into the lighthouse and up the stone steps to the floor that once had the light inside of it. From there we could see out across the water. Waves crashed against the jagged rocks and a wind whipped against the windows. On the floor he’d laid out a red plaid blanket. Several candles flickered nearby. And he had a stack of white food boxes and a couple of plates, along with two bottles of wine, a red and a white. I had to admit it was pretty smooth.
“I wasn’t sure what you wanted, so I just bought everything on the menu.”
“Everything?”
“Pretty much.”
“River, you really didn’t have to do all of this.”
“I wanted to.”
I took a seat, and he asked what wine I wanted. I opted for red. As he twisted a corkscrew into the top, I eyed him and smiled. “My brother didn’t put you up to this, did he? You arranged this with him?”
“What would make you say that?”
“I know my brother.”
He yanked the cork from the bottle and poured out a glass. “Okay, I admit I was hoping to spend some time getting to know you.”
“And what about Debbie?”
“Debbie has had a thing for me for a while but she’s more like a sister.”
“Do you take shots off your sister’s stomach?”
He laughed. “No, you know what I mean.”
“Then what about the woman in the shower this morning?”
“Ah right, well, yeah. I guess you could say we spent the night together, but it’s nothing serious.”
I shook my head and downed the glass and went to get up.
“Where are you going?”
“I appreciate all the effort you went to tonight but I’m not into being another woman who keeps your bed warm.”
“Kelly. Please. Stay. It’s not like that.”
“Then what is it? I only wanted to go out with my brother so I could talk to him and catch up on a few important matters. I don’t appreciate being pushed into a corner and I certainly don’t wish to become another notch on your belt.”
He smiled. “My belt? I don’t wear one.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You know what I mean.”
I headed out.
“But all the food is going to go cold. At least have something to eat. I promise I won’t put the moves on you and I will have you back to your brother’s place by ten.”
I stopped on the third step down and looked back. “No moves.”
He threw his hands up. “You have my word.”
I was hungry and well it would have been a real waste.
�
��Okay.”
I’m kind of glad I stayed as not only did I find out more about him and his background, but I learned a lot about the town, its history and those involved with the death of Daniel Moon.
“I picked up some Italian, Chinese, seafood and even some of Adele’s soup,” he said.
I laughed. “I heard Adele is a bit of a hard nut to crack.”
“Oh she’s not that bad. Just don’t mention the war, or say anything negative about her soup and you’ll be fine. So what’s it going to be?”
“I’ll go for the Chinese.”
“Good choice.”
He pulled down a box and started dishing up the food. “So Jamie mentioned you recently got divorced.”
“I hope that’s not the line you use when you take women out as that’s a real buzz killer.”
He laughed. “Sorry, we can change the subject.”
“It’s okay. Yeah. I was married for six years to him.”
“He cheat on you?”
“Not that I know of. I think we just grew apart. I was busy, so was he and well, you know how things go. Unless you have things in common, you soon just become like ships in the night, just passing by each other.”
“Until you crash into the rocks,” he said.
“Something like that.”
“So what are you after in a guy?”
“At this age, money doesn’t impress me. Though it’s nice to feel some sense of financial security. To be honest, I’m just looking for someone who is kind.”
“I can respect that,” he said handing a plate over to me and then laying down on his side and digging into rice and chicken balls.
“And what about you?” I asked. “You ever been married?”
“Haven’t found the right woman yet.”
“But with all the success that you’ve found online you must have your pick of hundreds of women.”
“Which explains the woman in the shower this morning.”
“So are you just picky?”
“Aren’t you?” he asked tossing the question back.