by Molly Fitz
Thor gingerly lowered one paw, then the other, but kept his butt glued to the deck. As his front feet sank, he became more and more unbalanced until eventually, he had to give in and step all four paws down. He walked toward Bandit, lifting each leg super high in an exaggerated step to clear the sand.
“It’s not quicksand, Thor. You won’t sink,” I told him, laughing at his antics. He reached Bandit and lowered himself to his side. He lay there for a moment, then his orange eyes widened, and he stretched, front legs one direction, back legs the opposite. Then he purred.
“See?” Bandit chortled. “It’s nice.”
“It’s okay,” Thor replied, mimicking Bandit he rolled onto his back and wriggled in the sand.
“These guys belong to you?” Rory asked, easing himself down next to me.
“Yep. Thor.” I pointed to the big gray cat. “And Bandit,” I added, pointing to the raccoon.
“They’re cute.”
“They are. But enough stalling. Rory, I need to know how many women you were dating.”
His head jerked my way. “Oh, come on,” I complained. “Don’t act all indignant. We both know you’re a ladies' man. You’re a player. Were a player. Tell me about Daisy.”
“You know about Daisy?” His eyebrows shot up.
“I told you—I’m a PI, and my boyfriend is a detective. We will get to the bottom of this. But since I have the uncanny ability of being able to speak with you, we can get this solved quickly.” I hoped. Because as much as I enjoyed my PI work, I was on vacation and wanted to do vacation things like drink cocktails and sunbathe. Not run around searching for a killer.
Rory lifted a shoulder. “What do you want to know?”
“How long have you been dating Daisy? What happened after you left The Salty Panda?”
“We went back to my place.”
“Which is… where?” I indicated he should keep talking while I stepped inside and retrieved a notebook and pen from my tote bag.
“Staff quarters at the hotel.”
“Oh, I didn’t know the resort provided accommodation for staff.”
He snorted. “Don’t get excited. It’s not what you’re imagining. There are huts out back, sort of like shipping containers. It's nothing five-star, but they’re reasonably spacious, with enough room for a bed, kitchenette, and a bathroom at one end. Kinda like your villa but an extreme budget version.”
“Right. And these are at the back of the resort?”
“Yep, behind the kitchens. Tucked out of sight. After all, we don’t want to ruin a guest's five-star experience by seeing where the help lives.”
“Do all the staff live on-site?”
“Only those not local to the island.”
I nodded. “So. You took Daisy back to your room. Why not hers?” After all, she was a guest at the resort. I would have thought Rory would jump at the chance to spend the night in a luxurious room paid for by someone else.
“She didn’t want to go back to her room. Or, more likely, she didn’t want me in her room.”
“Why not?”
He shrugged. “No idea. Hey, it didn’t bother me. I was going to get laid either way. Location was not an issue.”
“Was this your first date with Daisy?”
“Affirmative.”
“And you usually sleep with women on the first date?”
He nodded again. “If I can.”
I blinked. “Really? Is that your game? As many conquests as possible?”
He threw up his hands. “So, I like women. So what? It’s not a crime.”
“It’s not exactly moral, is it? Sleeping with married women.”
His eyebrows shot up again. “Daisy is married?”
“No, not Daisy. Just in general. I hear you’re not selective when it comes to married versus single women.”
He leaned toward me, the cool chill of his visage brushing over me, making me shiver beneath the midday sun. “There’s one married woman I wouldn’t mind a roll in the hay with, and that’s Lauren.”
“Lauren Walsh? She’s twice your age.” And as he’d already pointed out, married.
“Age is just a number. Older women are more experienced and much more confident. Much more…” He drifted off, his lips curling into a lecherous grin as he remembered past dalliances.
“Mind out of your pants, Rory.” I snapped my fingers under his nose. “So, you and Daisy spent the night in your room. All night?”
“Correct, all night. She left when I was in the shower this morning.”
I remembered seeing Daisy at breakfast, remembered how tired she’d looked. Now I knew why… ew.
“Who else were you seeing?”
“I have a casual arrangement with Yasmin.” He held up his fist and popped up this thumb, counting. “Then there’s Daisy.” Two. “I’m working on Lauren and will have her in my bed before her vacation is over.” Three.
“What about Neve?”
“Oh, Neve is old news. Been there, done that.” He dismissed her with a wave of his hand. I pushed down the revulsion I felt at his callous attitude toward women.
“You did sleep with her?”
“Of course! Hey, if she’s going to offer it up, I’m going to take it.”
“But Neve wasn’t a guest. She’s staff. You’re going to run into her daily. Doesn’t that make it awkward?”
His mouth curled down. “Not for me. I made it very clear to her that a roll in the sheets with me is a one-off.”
“You know she likes you? In a romantic sense?”
“Look, you already know my reputation. And honestly? I don’t care. I don’t care who knows I’m a hit it and quit it type of guy.” He huffed. “Everyone is so judgey when all along they secretly wish they were brave enough to go against societal norms and just enjoy sex as it’s meant to be enjoyed. Humans were not meant to be monogamous; it simply isn’t in our nature.”
“I beg to differ,” I snapped. “But let's take a step back for a second. Basically, you’re telling me that you’re a one-night-stand type of guy, right?”
“Correct.”
“Then explain to me your casual arrangement with Yasmin? Because that sounds like it’s been more than once.”
His face lit up. “Oh, yeah, Yasmin is something else. She’s the female version of me.”
I almost fell off the deck. “What? She runs around seducing the male guests?”
“Oh, she’s much more discreet and discerning,” Rory assured me. “But she views sex as a physical need that requires no emotional connection.”
“Right.” I mulled that over. “How frequently would the two of you sleep together then?”
“Once or twice a week on average.” Another shoulder shrug. “Depending on our individual conquests. If she’s going through a dry spell, it might be more frequent. And vice versa.”
I admit I was shocked. I would never have pegged Yasmin as a hit ‘em and quit ‘em type, as Rory had so indelicately termed it.
“And neither of you get jealous? Yasmin won’t care that you slept with Daisy last night?”
He tipped back his head and laughed. “On the contrary. It spices things up.”
I held up a hand to stop him from divulging the precise details of his sexual exploits.
“Aside from Daisy, Yasmin, Neve, and Lauren, is there anyone else on rotation at the moment?”
“Neve isn’t on rotation. I told you. I’m done with her.”
“For the sake of this exercise, her name stays on the list. As does Lauren’s because, knowing you, you made your intentions very clear to her. Despite her being here on a second honeymoon with her husband, you had every intention of seducing her.”
“It all adds to the thrill of the chase.” He grinned. He was so gross. But then he sobered. “Oh. I see where you’re going with this. You think Neve may have killed me.”
“Any one of these women may have killed you, and frankly, I don’t blame them.”
“Hey, now, I thought you were on my sid
e,” he protested, pouting.
I shook my head. “I just want to solve your murder. It doesn’t mean I like you.”
Thor, who’d been rolling at my feet, snorted out a laugh. “Harsh.”
“But true,” Bandit added. “He’s not nice.”
“Hey!” Rory protested. “No need to gang up on me.” He blinked a couple times. “How the heck can I understand what they’re saying?”
I waved away his question. “Don’t worry about that. So, you’re sure there’s no one else aside from Yasmin, Neve, and Daisy?”
“Not this week.”
“And none of them have boyfriends or significant others?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
Which only left Lauren, but the two of them hadn’t done the deed. He’d died before fulfilling that particular goal. Had David worked it out and pre-empted the inevitable by killing Rory? Pretty extreme action to take and a bit of a stretch, even for me.
“Look, there’s Lauren now. With her husband and your detective.” Rory pointed, and I squinted, raising a hand to shield my eyes. Sure enough, Lauren and David strolled along the shoreline, Galloway keeping pace by their side. He was carrying something. Two furry heads swiveled in their direction, and noses lifted in the air.
“It’s Dad!” Bandit yelled. “He’s got food!”
“Fries!” Thor bellowed, leaping to his feet and bounding toward Galloway, fur and sand flying and Thor’s fear of the ocean and overall distrust of the beach forgotten.
Rory and I watched as the trio stopped and fussed over Bandit and Thor while the two furry critters tried to convince Galloway to give them food. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what they were saying. Their little begging motions gave them away.
“I swear to God you’d think I didn’t feed them.” I sighed, standing as Galloway waved goodbye to the Walshes and made his way up the beach to our villa, Thor and Bandit dancing around his heels.
“I’m going to hang with Lauren for a while,” Rory said. “Don’t want to crowd your style with your detective.”
“Pft, since when did you care about crowding someone’s style? More like you just want to perv on Lauren.”
“That too.” He crossed paths with Galloway, who didn’t notice the ghost’s presence.
“I know you didn’t really enjoy that flying fish at lunch, so I brought us some fries. Thought we could have a mini picnic on the beach,” Galloway said.
“We love fries, we love fries,” Bandit chirped, dancing crazily around his ankles, in danger of tripping him.
“You noticed that, huh?” I grinned sheepishly. I’d tried to eat the fish and cou-cou but had only managed a handful of bites. I’d spent the remainder of the time pushing the fish around my plate and trying to make it appear I’d eaten more than I had.
“I notice everything about you.”
My heart did that crazy pitty-pat thing where it flopped around in my chest before settling into a double-time rhythm. Climbing to my feet, I ducked into the villa, tossing my notebook and pen on the bed and retrieving the picnic blanket from the peg on the wall.
“Let’s risk it.” I grinned, hurrying back onto the sand.
“Risk it?”
“Sand in our fries,” I explained.
“Gotcha. Let’s go closer to the water. The sand is firmer there—less chance of sand in our fries.”
I led the way, smoothing out the picnic blanket on the firmer sand closer to the waves gently lapping the shore. Thor didn’t even notice. He was that fixated on Galloway and the box of fries he carried. I had to admit, the aroma was heady, and I was practically drooling myself.
Galloway sat behind me, stretching his long legs on either side of my hips and encouraging me to lean back against him. I took him up on the offer, picking up a fry and blowing on it so it wouldn’t burn Thor and Bandit’s mouths. I was holding it up, getting ready to snap it in two and give them half each, when there was a swoosh of wings and a loud squawk that sounded suspiciously like mine, and the fry was gone, snatched from my fingers by the seagull that had just dive-bombed us.
“Hey!” I protested with a laugh.
“Why you dirty rotten—” Thor’s fur stood on end as he glared after the seagull who was now sitting on the roof of our villa, eating his stolen fry.
“It’s okay, Thor. We have more,” I soothed, blowing on another fry, only this time keeping an eye out for seagulls.
We plowed through the fries in record time. Along with the carb overload, the warm tropical breeze, the sound of the waves gently lapping the shore, and the scent of the ocean, it’s entirely possible I dozed off to sleep. I vaguely recall Galloway changing position, so I was lying on the blanket with him spooning me. I could feel a warm, furry body curled up against my belly purring and guessed Bandit was napping on the blanket too.
“C’mon babe, we should move. The tide’s coming in.”
“Urmh,” I protested, and Galloway laughed, easing away from me and standing up, blocking the sun.
“What if I order us some coffee-based cocktails?”
“Well, that’s an offer I can’t refuse!” I sat up, brushing my hair out of my face. Good thing Galloway had woken us—the water was only a foot from the picnic blanket. Thor and Bandit were already picking their way across the sand, heading toward the villa and away from the encroaching tide.
“Scared of the water? Chickens!” screeched the seagull.
“They let any riff-raff into this place,” Thor grumbled, jumping onto the deck and trotting inside, ignoring the bird.
“What’s a riff-raff?” Bandit asked, following.
“That bird. That bird is riff-raff.” Thor sniffed with disdain.
After shaking the sand from the picnic blanket, I hung it on the hook while Galloway disposed of the fries box. He picked up the notebook I’d left on the bed.
“No new suspects then?” he asked.
“Nah,” I flopped onto the bed. “How did you do? I’m guessing they all had alibis?”
“It was pretty much how you remembered it from breakfast. Yasmin came through to grab a coffee but ended up with a smoothie. She saw Rory in the dining room but didn’t speak with him. He was talking with Lauren Walsh at the time.”
“Hmm. He was very smitten with Lauren.” It didn’t surprise me that he’d cornered her at breakfast.
“Neve was on dining room duty, clearing tables,” Galloway continued.
“Easy access for her to poison Rory.”
“Agreed. Daisy confirmed she spent the night with Rory, left his room around six. Showered and came to breakfast.”
“I didn’t notice her at the buffet, though.” I chewed my lip in thought, the sharp twinge of pain reminding me not to do that.
“We don’t know the poison was administered at the buffet,” Galloway pointed out. “She could have administered it in his room.”
“I take it Deon and Jared have searched his room?”
“They have. No sign of any poison.”
“So, if she did dose him there, she took the poison with her. And the receptacle she put it in.”
“Agreed. And if it were me—say I added the poison to a glass of water—after the victim had consumed the contents, I would have removed the glass and slipped it in with a bunch of crockery about to go into the dishwasher.”
“Maybe Neve was in on it with her? Daisy does the poisoning, takes the glass, hands it over to Neve, who puts it through the dishwasher, destroying any evidence.”
“Which would indicate the two of them have to have some sort of relationship prior to Daisy coming to the island. I’ll ring the station, get them to do background checks.” Galloway pulled out his cell phone and did precisely that. Although I couldn’t fathom the connection between a twenty-something local girl and a thirty-something tourist. Surely it wasn’t some scheme they’d cooked up at the bar one evening? Had Neve approached Daisy after seeing Rory flirt with her? Warned the other woman of his ways? And then between them, they decided
to kill him?
“Motives are pretty light,” I sighed. “Other than Rory being a womanizer, I’m not seeing why someone would want him dead.”
“Affairs of the heart are powerful motivators,” Galloway said. “The truth is, any one of his conquests could be behind his murder.”
Chapter Eight
I’m not sure when we dozed off. One minute we were stretched out on the bed talking about the case. The next thing I knew, Thor was sitting on my chest demanding to be fed, and the sun was setting, sending prisms of violet streaming through the glass doors of the villa.
“Okay, okay, get off.” I pushed the gray bundle of fluff to the floor and poured kibble into their bowls.
Galloway yawned and stretched and glanced outside. “How about a sunset stroll along the beach?” he suggested.
“Sounds good.” I ducked into the bathroom to freshen up and gulp down a couple of Tylenol. My jaw still ached from that morning's mishap, and the mirror above the hand basin confirmed the bruise was darkening beautifully. Amanda, my sister-in-law, would have a field day with this one. She constantly tried to fix my clumsiness, and events like this just added fuel to her fire.
“Oh, cheese and crackers!” I exclaimed, hand to my mouth. The door burst open, and Galloway stood there, concern written all over him.
“What? What is it? What happened?”
“I just remembered we have a photo shoot tomorrow for the Animal Antics competition. And my face looks like this!” I pointed to my bruised and battered face.
“You’re still beautiful to me.” Galloway stepped forward and kissed the tip of my nose.
“Maybe they can photoshop the dressing and bruises out?”
“Probably.”
I eyeballed him. “You wouldn’t be humoring me now, would you?”
He grinned. “Me?”
Barking out a laugh, I took the hand he held out to me. “Let’s go.”
“Where are we going?” Bandit asked, following so closely I nearly kicked her in the nose.
“Oh, do you want to come for a walk along the beach?” I asked. To be honest, I hadn’t thought they’d want to come. They’d seemed worn out after the lazy picnic.