“New hairdo?”
Barb patted the back of her hair like she was all pleased with it. “Yeah, you like it?”
“I preferred the full head of silver but hey, it might grow on me.” Skylar tossed a piece of grass and smiled. She knew it would rile her up but that was the intention. After their last run-in they hadn’t spoken to each other and Barb had made it clear that she was unwanted in her café. Childish? Of course it was but some folks were quite particular about where they expected residents to shop. Barb stood over her blocking out the sun.
“You mind?” she asked, motioning to the grass beside her.
“I don’t know. I tend to prefer people sitting on the left of me,” she said jokingly. Barb picked up on it and smiled and took a seat. She leaned back on her hands gazing up at the sun.
“Gorgeous day.”
“That it is. What do you want, Barb?”
“Can’t I sit here and just enjoy the weather?”
“Barb?” Skylar asked again knowing that she hadn’t just stopped to chit-chat.
“Okay, rumor has it that Harvey was seen at the Vagabond.”
“Seriously, Barb. Do you not have like a hobby or something to keep you interested? Surely all your time can’t be spent on checking up on where people go to get their morning cup of joe?”
“Actually I was hoping you could pass on a message to Harvey.”
“What, that he’s banned from your establishment as well? At this rate you’ll have no one left.”
“I was going to say that I didn’t mind. A friend of mine saw him down there and he said he was acting all nervous and worried. Let him know that it’s fine.”
“Why don’t you?” Skylar asked.
“Because I have a feeling he won’t come back out of fear of what I will say.”
“Fear?” Skylar laughed. “You are talking about a grown ass man.”
Barb cut her a look. “You really have no worries, do you?”
“Oh believe me I have my worries and based on the numerous conversations with you, Barb, I’m worried about your mental health.”
She laughed which was quite the opposite of what Skylar thought she would do. She was used to her flying off the handle over the smallest remark. Barb picked a piece of grass and placed it between her lips like a cigarette and chewed on it a little. “I’ve been the only café in this town, or at least the only one that people have come to, for as long as I can remember. I admit, seeing Vagabond open up riled me up but since our last conversation—”
“Spat, you mean?”
“Call it that if you wish,” Barb said. “But I realized that perhaps I’ve acted a little over the top.”
“You think?” Skylar smirked looking up at the deep blue sky and watching a cluster of clouds slowly drift by.
“Anyway, I have decided that I am going to reach out to Donnie Who.”
“Donnie Wu,” Skylar said, correcting her.
“Is that his name? Dear me, I’ve been calling him Donnie Who since he arrived. No wonder he gave me a strange look when I saw him today.”
“Are you sure that wasn’t your hairstyle he was reacting to?”
Barb nudged her and smiled. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that what matters to me most is the people. I’m just like anyone else, Skylar, I get jealous when new competition shows up in town, but I’m starting to see that perhaps it’s a good thing. How can people really know what’s good without the bad, right?”
“Are you suggesting Donnie’s coffee is bad?”
“Of course not. Well, maybe just a little but that’s for a customer to decide, not me.”
Skylar looked at her. “You know what, Barb. I think Donnie would be pleased to hear you say that.”
“Well let’s not jump the gun here. I’m not going down there and telling him that, that’s for sure. Oh no, but people like yourself, regular customers, yeah. It’s time for some change.”
“I’m pleased to hear you say that.”
As they were talking the garage’s tow truck came down the road.
“Ooh, that’s me.”
“Are you sure I can’t give you a ride?” Barb asked.
Skylar looked at her then at Jim and raised a finger. “Give me a second to bring Jim up to speed and sure, I’ll grab a lift. I appreciate that.”
“It’s the least I can do. And Skylar.”
Skylar went to walk away.
“I’m sorry for how I treated you at the café.”
Skylar knew that it took a lot for her to say that. “Hey, if I spoke out of line, I’m sorry too. Let’s forget about it, huh?”
She nodded. Once she had given Jim the lowdown on her piece of junk and handed over the keys, she hopped into Barb’s air-conditioned, brand-new SUV and headed back to the station to collect one of the cruisers.
Thirty minutes later she finally arrived outside Nancy’s home. She pushed out and strolled up to the door looking around for the groundskeepers. She figured they would be out there trimming the grass and hedges to perfection but the place was quiet. Skylar gave a short knock on the door and waited. When she got no answer she tried again. She pressed the buzzer this time and moved around to the window and looked inside. She turned and noticed that her SUV wasn’t in the driveway. Assuming that she might be in the rear, maybe taking a dip in the pool, she made her way around soaking in the sight of her well-landscaped property.
As she reached the rear, she noticed no one was in the pool. That’s when she heard the sound of rustling, like tree leaves being crunched. She looked up at the large vine that covered the east side of the house and noticed someone climbing in through an open window. The bottom half of their body was hanging out while the rest of them was inside.
“Hey!” Skylar yelled. “What the hell are you doing up there?”
The person stopped moving, and she made her way over to the trellis. She placed her foot on it to see how sturdy it was. She wasn’t overweight but she had her concerns about climbing up.
“You might want to climb back out. I’m from Franklin Sheriff’s Office.”
The person shuffled until they were closer to the window frame and then stuck their head out. It was a guy. “You don’t look like a cop,” he said.
Skylar held up her badge. “Come on down.”
The guy looked to be late-teens. He had a full head of hair, short, spiky, and an athletic frame. He was wearing a baseball cap with the Florida Bobcats logo on the front, a Metallica T-shirt and ripped jeans. Once his boots hit the ground, Skylar stepped in and grabbed him by the wrist clamping a handcuff on one wrist before he could do anything.
“Who are you? And what are you doing breaking into Mrs. Hammond’s house?”
“I’m her son.”
“Son? But she didn’t mention you.”
“I doubt she would, I don’t live with her,” he said dropping his head. “Look, are you going to tell her about this?”
Skylar looked up at the window with a pinched brow. “Uh, let me think about that?” She paused for a second. “Yes. Now you want to tell me what’s going on?”
“I forgot my key. Okay?”
“So you don’t live with her but you have a key to her place?”
He nodded. “She lets me stay here on days when things aren’t so good.”
“So good?”
“With my father.”
That’s when the penny dropped. “So Nancy was previously married?”
“She was until a year ago. Her and my father didn’t exactly get along.”
“And where is your father’s home?”
“Port St. Joe.”
“You got ID on you?”
“Yeah in my front pocket.”
“You got any syringes, a knife or anything that’s liable to stick me?” Skylar asked before fishing into his pocket and pulling out his wallet. Once it was out she flipped it open and took a look at a school card. It had his image and date of birth. He had just turned eighteen and went by the name Conor Tamlin.
“Tamlin. Does your father own Tamlin Auto Salvage?”
“Yeah, you used it?”
She scoffed. “You could say that.”
Jim’s garage had given her a price on a new transmission for her truck a while back and she had considered it but decided it might be cheaper to find a used one and just pay to have them install it, so she’d called around to some of the auto salvages in the area — Tamlin was one of them.
“How did you get here? I didn’t see any vehicle out front.”
He made a gesture with his head towards a cluster of pine trees near the back. There was a dirt bike leaning up against a tree.
“Nice bike.”
“Just got it.”
She nodded. “Shouldn’t you be at school?”
He shrugged. “I don’t go much.”
“How come?”
“I’m going to work for my father once I’m out. I have a guaranteed job. It’s the last year of school. What’s the point?”
“There is always a point,” she said. Skylar took the cuffs off him and he rubbed his wrist.
“You mind if I have a cigarette?” he asked.
“It’s your lungs.”
He snorted as he pulled out a pack and tapped one out.
Chapter 14
They walked to the porch at the back of the house and he took a seat. “So you heard about your mother’s husband then, I gather?”
“I did,” he said snapping his Zippo lighter shut and taking a hard drag.
“Did you get on with him?” Skylar asked.
“He was okay in small doses. I didn’t like the way he treated my mother at times but then again I could say the same for my own father.”
Skylar nodded and gazed out at the immaculate yard that had a water fountain that resembled an angel, a huge shed at the far end and a full-size swimming pool. What it must be like to have money, she thought.
“So what happened between your mother and father?”
“Nothing. Well, I mean they had their arguments like any couple do but she was swept up by Nick. I think because he was a lawyer she thought he had an endless stream of money.”
Skylar gave a confused look. “But didn’t she come into some money recently?”
“In the last six months. Yeah. But before that she didn’t have two cents to rub together.”
“But your father can’t be exactly broke?”
“No he’s not but he isn’t rich either. Look, I love my mother but she has always cared more about what other people think than those in front of her. Being married to a lawyer. It carries a certain prestige, don’t you think?”
“Maybe,” Skylar replied. She contemplated what that might mean. If she was married to him for the prestige, why would she go to the trouble of killing him? If she’d come into money, again, why kill him? Something about it all didn’t add up. Skylar glanced at her watch. The day was trailing away from her and she still had to speak with Nancy, and Keith.
“I’m guessing you know your mother is at work, right?”
He nodded.
“Where does she work?”
“A Cut Above. It’s off the main stretch here in Apalachicola.”
Wendy Owen’s condo was crawling with cops. Harvey updated the lieutenant but hadn’t managed to get a license plate off the vehicle. Fortunately surveillance caught it on camera and Miami police had put out an APB on the vehicle — though the chances of them finding it were slim to none. It had probably been stolen and was now in some ditch on fire.
Harvey glanced down at Wendy’s lifeless body and shook his head.
“We were right here. This shouldn’t have happened.”
“You don’t have eyes in the back of your head, detective,” Lieutenant Moore said. “Trust me, if I came down on myself every time we let a suspect slip through our fingers, I’d be in a mental hospital.”
That didn’t make him feel any better. No doubt Davenport would hear about this and he’d add it to his long list of shortcomings. He groaned and stood up. Hanson came over and twisted a phone around. “We’re in luck. I redialed the last number she phoned before she was shot and spoke to an older lady who lives about two miles north of here. Seems it’s Bo’s mother. While she doesn’t want her son to get into trouble, she doesn’t want him dead. She told us that he’s stepped out but should be home in about half an hour.”
“You got the address?”
“No, I hung up,” Hanson said. “What do you think?” He laughed and so did the lieutenant. Harvey shook his head and made a beeline for the door. Hanson was quick to catch up. “Don’t you think we should get in SWAT for this one?”
“Not unless you think mother dearest is planning on pulling out an AK-15,” Harvey said jokingly.
“After what we just went through, that’s not funny.”
“We’ll be fine.”
“That’s what you said on the way in here. Now look at this mess.”
Chapter 15
Nancy was hard at work when Skylar walked through the door. A bell above let out a shrill and she glanced her way, then rolled her eyes. “What now?”
“Just a moment of your time.”
“Can’t you see I’m working?”
“So am I,” Skylar replied.
Nancy turned to an African American woman. “Addison, can you take over here?” She then patted the customer on the arm. “I’ll be right back.” Nancy led the way into the rear where there was a small lunch room. It was cramped with just enough room for a table, two chairs, a sink and a small fridge. Nancy dropped down onto a chair and scooped up a pack of smokes. She lit up and blew smoke out the side of her mouth before crossing her arms.
“So?”
Skylar brought out her notepad and flicked through. “I just wanted to confirm where you were on the night of Nick’s death. Yeah, silly me I ended up scribbling down what you said but can’t make head or tails of it.”
She sighed.
“I finished work at five, went out for a drink with David Manning my boss and was home by six.”
“And you never went out again that night?”
“Exactly.”
“Strange, that must mean you have a doppelganger because cameras in the area picked you up entering Ruby’s Bar an hour after your husband and then leaving before him. And the autopsy results show that your husband was actually poisoned using nothing more than common antifreeze, which I might add is readily available to anyone, including yourself.”
She clenched her jaw and looked down at the ground for a second.
“Okay, I admit I was there but I didn’t poison him.”
“No? But you knew he was cheating on you. You knew there was a risk he might divorce you and then all that money that he’d been earning would go bye-bye.”
“I told you. I didn’t need his money. I had my own.”
Skylar pushed away from the wall. “Ah yes, the inheritance. Your father, right?”
“Exactly.”
Skylar stared at her. Even though they didn’t have good surveillance of the inside, Nancy didn’t know that. She was going to use a reverse tactic and pretend they did have it.
“And so why did you go there?”
She exhaled hard. “Look, Nick could be an ass but I loved him and I just couldn’t keep repeating the same cycle of him going out after work and spending time with other women. I was going to give him an ultimatum.”
“And did you?”
“Well you have surveillance, don’t you?”
“Yeah we do but I’m curious to know why you didn’t.”
Skylar was reaching. It was very possible she did speak to him but call it a gut instinct she got a sense that at the last minute she decided not to.
“Because I didn’t want to look like a fool. He’d already drunk too much and he was with someone.”
“Keith?”
She nodded.
“So you were aware then of the situation that Keith placed your husband in?”
“Somewhat.
My husband didn’t share case files with me, if that’s what you’re asking?” She tapped her cigarette into the ashtray. A guy came into the room, he was dressed all spiffy looking in a bright green shirt, black pants and overly polished shoes.
“Any trouble, Nancy?”
“No, it’s okay, David.”
“Ah, David Manning, I presume?”
His brow pinched. “That’s right. What’s going on? Who are you?”
Skylar put out her hand. “Detective Reid. I’m sorry to hold up Nancy here but I just had a few questions for her. If you don’t mind stepping out that would be great. Oh but don’t go far, I’ve been meaning to get around to you and while I’m here I might as well kill two love birds with one stone.”
David frowned.
“Oh, did I say love birds? I meant birds. Sorry.”
He pursed his lips and exited the room. Skylar turned back to Nancy. “So I’m to believe that you went over there to confront him but nothing came of it.”
“Exactly.”
Skylar nodded. “Good-looking son you have.”
Nancy straightened up in her seat.
“Oh I saw him at your house earlier. Yeah, I got quite a view as he tried to enter through a second-floor window. Surprising he didn’t fall and break his neck.”
“He was there?”
“Still is as far as I know.”
She scooped up her phone and Skylar leaned on the table in front of her. “Keith White. What is your association to him?”
“He was a friend and client of Nick’s.”
“So you do know his clients. Do you know Bo Gonzales as well?”
“No. Nick brought Keith around a few times for dinner. They would smoke cigars in the parlor after supper and discuss business. I didn’t really chat to him beyond small talk.”
“But you saw him there that night,” Skylar said.
“Where are you going with this?”
“It seems that it’s possible that Keith might have had a motive for killing your husband. Do you recall Nick acting strange in the few months leading up to his death?”
Dead Drop Page 11