Death Blow

by Emma Rose Watts

  “Or he caught a taxi.”

  She nodded. “All right, thanks, Reznik.”

  “By the way, what are you up to this evening?” he asked.

  “Going out for a bite to eat.”

  “With Duke?”

  “Who?”

  “The guy you were seen with on the weekend.” She didn’t reply quick enough so he made an assumption. “You did know his name, right?”

  “Oh course. Anyway, how did you know about that?”

  “People talk.”

  “That’s what I’ve been told.”

  “So?”

  “Reznik. We work together. That’s it. Thanks for the info,” she said before ending the call. She wasn’t going to open up to him. She would have never heard the end of it. She stood there for a few seconds chewing over the information. This certainly was in line with what Iris had said about the guys arriving at the bar around ten. She was keen to find out what was on Donnie’s surveillance. This could be the smoking gun.

  After getting changed she headed out to meet Ben. It took less than three minutes, as it was a quick drive south on US-319 over the Charlie McKissack Cut channel. Darkness had fallen and all the lights of the boats on the bay lit up the night like a hundred fireflies. A crescent moon drooped overhead and a sky full of stars stretched out to the horizon. It was quiet and peaceful, certainly a vast difference to the nightlife in the big city which never slept. At times she appreciated it and then there were moments she longed for the steady buzz of traffic, honking of horns and the convenience that came from living in New York.

  As she pulled into the parking lot which was packed with trucks, SUVs and cars, she spotted Ben standing beside his Jaguar SUV. It was a rich ruby-red color with smooth lines. It stood out from the rest of the fishing trucks and family minivans. She parked alongside him and hopped out. Unlike most people, who usually had one look for work and another for going out, Ben always looked sharp. His wardrobe was mostly shirts, jeans, khaki pants and dress clothes. However he was wearing a black V-neck T-shirt, a pair of aviator glasses, jeans and flip flops.

  “That’s a first,” she said pointing to his feet. “We match.”

  “Well I didn’t fancy dressing up.”

  She cocked her head and caught her reflection in the window. Fortunately she hadn’t decided to overdress. She stuck to a pair of jeans, with a white blouse and a pair of flip flops.

  “Well, shall we?” she said.

  He didn’t look overly excited to see her and she didn’t blame him. It was going to take a couple of drinks to cut through the awkwardness.

  Crazy Hoggs was a large 12 x 80 portable building with clapboard sides, and a large wooden sign with neon lettering. The words Crazy Hoggs were lit up in pink, with a hog devouring a rack of ribs. The sound of rock music seeped out as they got closer to the door. Ben reached forward and pulled it open for her and she gave a nod as she walked in. The smell of BBQ and beer attacked their nostrils. The place was buzzing. There were several patrons waiting to be seated, and most of the thirty tables and booths were filled. A waitress came over and asked how many, she stuck up two fingers and they were guided over to a booth by the window that didn’t give them much of a view. It was a treeless stretch with grass that looked like it had withered in the sun.

  Ben snatched up a menu and cast his eyes down as she took a seat across from him.

  “I appreciate you returning my call,” she said.

  “Not a problem.”

  “Look, um, Ben, about today.”

  He waved her off. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

  “No. I do. It wasn’t right. I was just joking around and…” He looked up from his menu. “I guess what I’m trying to say is… I’m sorry.”

  He nodded. “You don’t need to apologize.”

  She scooped up her menu and glazed over the selection of items: smoked chicken, shrimp, oysters, tilapia, clams, grouper, ribeye, and a lot more. “No I shouldn’t have made you feel uncomfortable.”

  “You didn’t actually. You turned me on,” he said without even looking at her.

  A smile flickered on her face. She wasn’t sure how to respond to that. He waited a second and then his eyes met hers. “I’m kidding.”

  She laughed as a waitress came over to take their order. She went with a dish of shrimp and veggies and he opted for the ribeye. Both ordered a bottle of Budweiser. When the waitress took away the menus she glanced around the place. “You ever been here?”

  “A couple of times with my kid.”

  “I’m curious, where is he tonight?”

  “With his grandmother.”

  “Do you think I’ll ever get a chance to meet him?”

  “Clients don’t meet my kid.”

  She nodded slowly studying his face before he broke into a grin.

  “You’re kidding again.”

  “Gotcha! Of course you can meet him but fair warning he might want to show you a few of his moves.”

  “Dance moves?”

  “MMA moves. I’ve got him enrolled in a class in Apalachicola that teaches it.”

  A young guy, mid-twenties, came over with their drinks and set the sweating bottles down on a couple of beer mats. Condensation ran down the side making a circle at the bottom.

  “How’s he like it?” she asked, taking a swig of her drink.

  “Absolutely loves it. You know, I tried enrolling him in baseball.”

  “Right, I saw the Little League photo on your desk.”

  “Yeah well that only lasted a month. He gave it up. I tried music. He took up the guitar a few years back and was all about learning Nirvana tunes. The guitar has been sitting gathering dust in his room for the past year. But MMA. He loves it. And his teacher says he’s a real natural for it.”

  “Sometimes the best you can do is throw a whole bunch of stuff at the wall and see which one sticks.”

  He nodded taking a hard pull on his beer and turning it around in his hands. He looked relaxed and content.

  “So um. That guy I was with on the weekend, he came back,” she said.

  His eyebrows shot up. “Oh? How did that go?”

  “You’d have to ask him. I twisted his arm and tossed him off the boat.”

  He smiled. “That good?”

  “Well he broke the rules.”

  “Rules?” He frowned and a small smirk danced on his lips. She suddenly realized she’d blurted it out. Now she was going to have to tell him. She squirmed in her seat and took a large gulp of her drink.

  “Quite the sunset we had tonight,” she said trying to change the topic.

  “Skylar. Rules?”

  He wouldn’t let it go. Of course not, she’d piqued his curiosity.

  She made a waving gesture with her hand as if it didn’t mean anything. “It’s just a few guidelines that I stick to when it comes to meeting guys.”

  “Like?”

  “You know…” she tried to skirt around it, hoping that if she bought herself enough time the waitress would return. “I think I might get another drink. What about you?”

  “Skylar.”

  “Okay. Okay! Rule number one, no personal questions. Rule number two, don’t tell me your name, and rule number three, no second date.”

  He laughed.

  “I knew it. This is why I didn’t want to tell you,” she said.

  “No I just think it’s funny.”

  “Of course you do.”

  “No I mean, how can you go on a date if you don’t tell each other your name? What do you refer to him as? Guy number two?” He chuckled. “And if you don’t tell them any personal information, what do you talk about?”

  “Lots of things.”

  “Like?”

  “You know… their life.”

  “Ah… so the rules only apply to you. Not to them.”

  “Well, yeah. I can’t be having people knowing all my business.”

  “You tell it to me.”

  “Only on Monday.”
r />   He scoffed. “Oh so every other day is off limits?”

  “Yep!” She laughed.

  He shifted in his seat rolling the beer bottle in front of him around in the palm of his hands and enjoying grilling her. “And what about the last one? No second date? What happens if you like the guy?”

  “Doesn’t matter.”

  “Oh.” He pulled a face. “What if the guy likes you?”

  “Doesn’t matter.”

  “So how do you ever expect to find someone new, Skylar?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t.”

  He studied her face and there was a long pause. “I know this isn’t one of our sessions but c’mon, Skylar, eventually you’ll want to find someone new.”

  “Yeah? So why haven’t you?”

  She let the question linger in the air as he stared at her. For a second she thought she had overstepped the line again. Ben nodded. “Okay. You want to know?”

  “Yeah I do. It’s been six years since you lost her. I don’t even know her name but you know everything about me.”

  “Everything?” he asked.

  “Almost.”

  He nodded and glanced out the window as a few cars rolled in and out of the parking lot.

  “To be honest I don’t know why. There you go,” Ben said.

  “What was her name?”

  He looked back at her again. “Amelia.”

  “What was she like?”

  He smiled and breathed in deeply taking another drink. “She was the kind of woman that could walk into a room and brighten everyone up. She was very outgoing. She grew up around these parts. I knew her from way back in the day. High school I mean. We dated a few times and then she went her way and I went mine when college started. After completing it in New York, which is where I met Scot, I moved back home. A year later she returned and opened up a Wellness Spa and Hair Salon in Apalachicola but she lived here in Carrabelle. I ran into her while I was out getting lunch. I figured she would be with someone but she wasn’t. She’d dated on and off but nothing serious.”

  “So you started dating and the rest was history, right?”

  “No, I was seeing someone at the time.”

  Skylar rocked her head back. “Oh, well isn’t that something. So how did that all come together in the end?”

  “The gal I was dating before her wanted out of Carrabelle. I didn’t.”

  “She didn’t cheat on you?”

  “Nope. We just grew apart, I guess.”

  “Happens,” Skylar said.

  The waitress came over with their meals and they tucked in. Her stomach grumbled and her mouth watered as she looked down at the huge plate with monster sized shrimp. She’d always been fond of them especially on salad. “Wow, you think they could get bigger plates?” she said jokingly.

  “They like to feed you well down in Florida,” he said.

  “New York’s the same.”

  They spent a few minutes eating before she brought up the question.

  “You’ve never tried getting out there?” Skylar asked. “Dating I mean.”

  “Oh yeah. Once.”

  “How did it go?”

  He paused before taking a bite of steak. “I’ll tell you at the end of the night.” He took a bite and she smiled. Both of them only had one drink that evening which was a record for Skylar and they stayed for several hours and had coffee before heading out.

  Out in the parking lot Skylar fumbled with the keys to her truck.

  “So… thank you for dinner,” Ben said.

  “Anytime. Did you…”

  “I’ve got to get home, pick up Jared.”

  She nodded. “Right. Of course,” she said. She pressed the button on the car fob and unlocked the truck.

  “Skylar. It’s not that I wouldn’t love to come back with you. Believe me. I would love to,” he said, his eyes scanning her and making it clear that he was into her. “But, it’s probably best we…”

  “Take things slow?”

  “Actually I was going to say, keep things professional. You being my client and all.”

  She nodded. “Oh. Right. Yeah. Totally.” She popped open the door on her truck and hopped in. “Well, goodnight then.”

  “Goodnight, Skylar.”

  She remained in her truck for a few seconds and waited until he had pulled out of the lot before she fired up the engine. She liked the way she felt around him and it felt good to have cleared the air. Perhaps in time something would develop between them.

  Chapter 9

  Strangely she didn’t dream of Alex that night, neither did she drink anymore when she returned home. When Skylar awoke the next morning to the gentle sway of the water below the catamaran she was pleased to not hear the sound of rap music or laughter. She remained in bed for another five minutes waiting for her alarm clock to go off. It was close to seven. She had a few errands to run that morning, one of which was to hit the gym before she started her shift. Squeezing in time to stay in shape had become the one thing that had kept her sane throughout all the change in her life. Running and strength building kept her in shape and allowed her to stay on top of the strain of day-to-day responsibilities.

  After taking a quick shower and slipping into some yoga pants, sneakers and a hoodie she made herself a quick green smoothie, knocked it back and headed out for a run. She’d got into a habit of every other day taking a run along the water. If she didn’t set her clock, though, it didn’t happen. On the days she slept in she wasn’t hard on herself and would just make up for it on the weekend. She headed onto the deck to stretch out and saw Carl drinking coffee on his boat beside hers.

  “No banjo this morning, Carl?”

  “Broke two strings. Need to get into town today.”

  She nodded. “I can pick them up for you, if you like?”

  “Would you? I’ll pay you when you get back. My legs aren’t what they used to be.”

  “Not a problem.”

  She hopped off the boat and made her way down. A waft of marijuana hit her and she knew Edith was hitting the blunt again. Of course it was for medical usage so no one could complain. Edith was in her sixties. Her husband had passed six years ago and left her a boat. She had quite a life. When she was twenty-six, after graduating college and meeting her late husband, they had set off on a cruise for a year in the hopes of getting it out of their system and returning to Carrabelle to work. But it never happened. They got the bug, as she said, and ended up working all kinds of jobs around the world to support their first love – sailing. Recently, Skylar had seen Edith come out from time to time and go over to Carl’s and have a beer. Skylar was sure they had something going on and for her sake, she hoped it was something good. Both of them deserved someone.

  As she broke into a run and picked up the pace, she had only made it to the end of the dock when she saw Donnie waiting by his SUV.

  “Morning, Donnie. Not open yet?”

  “Waiting for Carrabelle Police to show up.”

  She slowed down and walked over. “Why?”

  “My place was broken into last night.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah, they smashed a window around back.”

  “What did they take?”

  “Well that’s the strange part. They didn’t take anything. At least not that I can see. I had money in a safe. That was untouched and all of my product is still there. I can’t figure it out.” Skylar immediately thought of her conversation with Dawson.

  “Donnie. I might have an idea. You want to let me in?” she said motioning to the door.

  “It’s already open.”

  He screwed up his face and led the way. Once inside she asked him where he kept his surveillance recordings. He took her out back and down a small corridor and into a room that doubled as an office. As soon as he walked in he groaned. “Oh great, that cost me thousands of dollars.”

  All that was there was a small monitor, all the equipment had been taken.

  “Please tell me you keep backup
s.”

  “No. Everything was on that computer.”

  “Shoot.”

  “Why? What’s up?”

  She fished out her phone and called Harvey. This day wasn’t going as planned. When he answered he sounded his joyful self. “Reid, you up already?”

  “Listen. We’ve got a problem,” she said.

  Skylar brought him up to speed on her conversation with the frat boys the day before.

  “So you think he broke in?”

  “I don’t think. I know they did. I just have to find proof. And without video footage we are kinda screwed.” She cursed. “I was banking on that footage.”

  “Well we’ll have to speak with them today. By the way Iris’s father was here last night. Man, was he irate. We kept her in overnight because of the gun and we’re trying to get her before a judge today but I don’t think it’s going to happen. Chances are the lawyer will get her bail.”

  “What? But we have her gun and her prints.”

  “Seems her father knows people in high places. He was making all kinds of threats.”

  She saw Carrabelle Police arrive. One of the officers was Miles. “Hold on a second, Harv,” she said placing her hand over the phone and let Miles know what had been taken and who she thought was responsible.

  “We’ll dust for prints,” he said.

  “All right but chances are there won’t be any,” she said. Skylar made her way out and headed for the yacht owned by the frat boys.

  “Harvey. I’ll be in soon. I’m just going to pay these boys a little visit.”

  “Skylar.”

  She hung up before he could give her the third degree about what not to do. Skylar jogged along the dock and hopped up onto the boat and made her way down into the saloon. The door was already open. Inside it was a total state. Bottles of beer all over the place, pizza boxes on the counter, half-eaten chicken wings tossed into the sink and a small baggie of dope on the counter. There were two guys sleeping, one of whom was Dawson.

  “Hey wake up!”

  They didn’t move so she went over to the sink, emptied the remainder of a pitcher of beer and filled it with water, and then proceeded to toss it over Dawson and the other guy.

  Dawson let out a yell. “Wahhh, what the hell?”