“No—”
Too late. She was already gone and was tying up the newspaper line. What a lady. Twelve minutes later she was back on the phone, cackling.
“You still here?”
Sadly. “Yup.”
“That Mabel sure can chat. The good news is, I found you a hot make-out location.”
“I’m not looking for a make-out location for myself, you know.”
“You want help or not, girlie?” I pictured her rolling her eyes through the phone.
“Sorry, go on.”
“You know the marsh area?”
“Of course.”
“Well, apparently there’s a gated off entrance into the woods from a side road back there called the red gates. The kids used to camp out back there and have parties but it was mostly used by lovers looking for a place to park.”
Boy, did I know the red gates. But that couldn’t be the spot, could it? I’d been there a hundred times. Although at the time I was more interested in boys than treasure.
“Are you sure that’s it?”
“Yes, ma’am. That was her best guess.”
***
I parked the car on the side road. It took me about ten minutes on foot to reach the place. Normally you could drive back here but I’d found the red gates chained up, so I had to climb over them–no easy task in a sundress. Marigolds blooming everywhere scented the air like musty, bitter tomato plants.
With my back to the maple trees, I surveyed the area–it looked like maybe the owner had tired of kids trashing his property. Not only were the red gates chained and locked, but he’d built a humongous workshop. Anything hidden in a shallow hole here would have been unearthed when the foundation was dug out, and if Vera had hidden the loot deep, well, then it was buried until someone decided to take this thing down.
My shoulders slumped as I headed back to my car. My only hope now was my secret meeting tonight–maybe it had something to do with all of this.
Chapter Twenty
_____________
J ust before midnight, I began my walk to the public access area to meet my mystery caller. I knew from my post caribou-bones-body trek that it would take less than thirty minutes to hike from the cabin to the south side of Bohemian Lake, and since my caller demanded secrecy, I left my car and megaphone at home and walked. I did bring my rape whistle, not that it would be useful so much out here, maybe I could throw it at someone, if need be.
I stuck to the trails on Olivia’s property right up until the access to avoid questions if someone passed me on the road. The night was still and clear; the newly risen full moon hung balloon-like in the brilliant August sky. Between the moon and the twinkling stars, I was able to find my way. I had a flashlight in my purse, but I preferred to stay hidden.
Despite the bug spray and clothing, the mosquitoes attempted to dine on me like I was an all-you-can-eat buffet. Who could blame them? I was on their turf now. Luckily there were bats on team trouble. They swooped and feasted off the mosquitos I missed, and that was a gift in my eyes.
A squirrel darted in front of me and up a tree, but otherwise, the woods were calm. The only sounds were my shoes gathering dew, the distant resonance of cars cruising far away, and cows lowing.
When I reached the spot that overlooked the public access, I crouched down and checked the time on my phone. I was twenty minutes early. I could see the windows of Gypsy Caravan Manor off in the distance. Almost all the lights were out and things were quiet.
The boat access was a different story. I spotted a petite figure moving through the woods. He or she looked like a shadow from here, but I assumed it was my informant. I squinted but couldn’t make out any more details except that the person looked alone.
Feeling slightly more confident, I stayed low to the ground and crept toward the access. I caught my breath behind a thick pine tree and tugged at the collar of my black turtleneck. I steeled myself and walked quietly and confidently across the open expanse of the boat launch and into the edge of the woods on the other side. I counted off a hundred yards as I stepped silently into the treed border and was only mildly frightened when a hand grabbed at me.
“About time you showed up!” a voice hissed. It was Kaitlyn’s older sister. Her white face glowered at me in the darkness.
“Meaghen? I’m early.” I studied her. In the moonlit dark, her hair was a nondescript brown, and I guessed her eyes were as well. She was dressed all in black, too. The last time I’d seen her we’d been swimming with Dani and Mal at the Gypsy Caravan Beach. She didn’t get along with her mother, which made her half-decent in my book, but she also wasn’t the most fun person to be around.
“Well, I was still waiting. Did you bring your spy equipment?”
I rolled my eyes. Clearly she and Eve shared the same preconceptions about me. I patted the backpack. “I brought night vision goggles and binoculars. Why didn’t you just tell me it was you on the phone? I’ve been freaking out all day wondering who I was meeting here.”
“Aren’t you a private investigator? Actually, weren’t you a cop before? Isn’t this the kind of stuff you do?”
“Yes, and the first thing we’re taught is not to be stupid. So what’s this all about? I thought you had a story for me.”
“I do. I think I do. He’s up to something, only I have no idea what.” Meaghen leaned forward, staring off in the direction of the lake.
“Who is up to something?”
“Who do you think? That slime ball my sister is dating.”
Ben. We’re spying on Ben. Meaghen didn’t like him either. Well, that definitely raised my opinion of her.
“What is it you think he’s up to and why would I care?” I asked impatiently.
“My sister told me about her little run-in with you.”
“Yeah, so?”
Meaghen grinned like a stoned pumpkin. “Let’s just say that someone you and my sister are both interested in is being cheated on.”
I was mentally stunned. “You actually think I’m interested in Ben?” I questioned. “How many times do I have to tell your sister, I don’t want anything to do with that Neanderthal?”
Meaghen straightened her spine.
“Not him. I mean my sister is obviously interested in him and whether or not Samantha’s cheating on him, but it’s who she’s cheating with that might interest you.” She smiled arrogantly. “It’s certainly someone you consider family.”
“Oh, please, Meaghen, if you try to tell me it’s my father, I am going to drown you in that lake.”
Meaghen took a step back.
“I’m not going to hurt you. Just spit it out already. The mosquitoes are biting through my leggings.”
“I’ll tell you if you promise to help me figure out what’s going on here.”
I sighed and nodded. Why not, I was already here.
Meaghen looked nervous. “Samantha’s cheating on Ben with Leif Rouse.”
“Rebel’s husband? So, let me guess: you got me out here to do Kaitlyn’s dirty work. Run Samantha out of town, leaving Ben heartbroken and available to Kaitlyn’s mending?”
“No. You do what you want. I figured that you being friends with Rebel meant you’d want to know about her scumbag husband. Also, Eve let it slip to my brother that you were trailing Leif with regards to his extracurricular activities. So, I know you were looking for this information.”
“Grrr. If Eve was a fish, she’d be a largemouth bass. So, you’re giving me information so I’ll help you with something else, is that it?”
“Yes.” Her voice seemed to shrink. “I’m worried about Kaitlyn. I overheard Ben on the phone talking about a rendezvous down here. He sounded nervous and it sounded dangerous. I think he’s into something bad and I don’t want him dragging Kaitlyn down with him.”
“I’m no fan of your sister.”
“I know, hence the information I had to offer. Anyway, you’re an investigator, you know the law, and you know martial arts. I’ll pay you to get to the bottom
of whatever he’s involved in.”
I hesitated. Landing on the same side as Kaitlyn Patone just felt wrong.
“Please, Penny. I know Kaitlyn can be difficult, but she really does have a good heart underneath. Anyway, she’s my sister and she loves that jackass, so I’ll take any help that you’ll give.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine, but we’re out of here at the first sign of trouble. I am not endangering my life or yours for Ben Baboon.”
Meaghen chuckled softly. “I knew there was a reason I liked you, Penny.”
A movement up the shore caught my eye. I pointed a couple hundred yards east of us to where it looked like one diver was helping another into the lake. They were both large, about six feet and two hundred pounds.
“See. Something’s going on.”
I looked at her, amazed. I had written her off as just another spoiled Patone, but she wasn’t as oblivious as the rest of her family. I returned my attention to the two divers.
Chapter Twenty-One
_____________
F rom my spot at the edge of the trees, I couldn’t make out the details of the scene in the water, except that the divers wore the Tate’s signature suit and yellow tank. They were both in the water but one of them was splashing loudly. “Who’s with him and what do you think they’re up to?” I whispered under my breath.
“I don’t know. That’s why I called you. I don’t exactly spend a lot of time with Ben. Anyway, you’ll have to figure the rest out on your own, as I’ve got to get back.”
“Back to where?”
“Kaitlyn’s house. I’m staying with her this weekend–that’s how I overheard Ben on the phone. He obviously had a falling out with the cheater since she was two-timing him with his buddy, so he’s now staying with Kaitlyn, too, but he sure does keep odd hours.”
We watched for another ten minutes until one of the men emerged from the water. Meaghen took off into the woods to get back to Kaitlyn, but I wasn’t paying attention to her. I was looking at the bubbles that now marked the ghoulish diver’s underwater mission.
My best guess was that one of them was Ben, but I couldn’t tell who was with him and despite what Meaghen thought of me I was not going up against multiple men in the middle of a lake. I’d just have to wait until morning and go diving and see what they’d been up to. Ben could simply be diving for the coin, although it seemed strange to do it at night. And I sure as hell didn’t buy that they were fishing.
Somebody whistled. I whipped my head around to see if it was Meaghen.
“There’s a vehicle parked on the road!” a voice I was sure belonged to Samantha Walton yelled to the large shape coming out of the water.
The shadowy diver set off at a dead run in the direction Meaghen had gone but he was still in his scuba gear and on his second step, his right flipper tripped him up and he tumbled forward.
Meaghen let out a scream.
“There’s someone out there,” Samantha shouted.
Involuntarily, I sprinted out of the trees. “Head for the fence over there!” I yelled and pointed to Meaghen who was just ahead of me now and cutting back for the fence. “We can squeeze through.”
In the dim light, it looked about ten feet away. “Hurry,” I said, before they realized we were only on foot.
Meaghen ran up and sidled through the gap. I tossed my backpack over the fence, then slid between the two pieces of wood. A second after I made it through, gunshots rang out and I heard bullets hitting the tree to our left.
“They’re shooting at us,” I said. “Haul ass!”
We sprinted across the field and back into the cover of the woods. Meaghen ran ahead of me with the flashlight, trying to pick a path through the dense foliage. I stayed on her tail, trying to run and clutch my spy bag, which is much harder than it sounds.
We burst through the brush and tumbled into a ditch, both of us rolling to the bottom before springing up the other side. We popped out of the ditch right next to a truck and next to someone who screamed.
“Good lord! You scared the crap out of me.”
“Mrs. Berns? What are you doing here?” Meaghen questioned.
“Saving your ass, obviously,” Eve said as she ran for the driver’s-side door and Meaghen and I dived into the backseat. “Get in!”
Eve started the truck and floored it, the back tires spinning on the gravel road as she shot out onto the main street.
All three of us started talking at once.
“What the hell just happened out there?” Eve asked, yanking her head around so hard that her arms followed and the giant pick-up truck lurched onto the shoulder of the road. Meaghen clung to the headrest and stared at me, her eyes wide as Eve forced the car back onto the road, apologizing the entire time.
“Holy… wow,” Meaghen said. “I never saw that coming.”
“Me neither,” I said. “I can’t believe they shot at us.”
“Did you see what they were up to?” Meaghen asked.
“No, but it was definitely Samantha’s voice I heard, so you’re probably right about Ben being involved.”
Eve wheeled to the end of the dirt road. As she was about to turn onto the main street, I grabbed her shoulder. “Slow down.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I think that’s Jesse’s truck parked back in the trees.” Which also meant he might have been the one in the water or the one shooting at us.
“The Tate boy?” Eve asked. “Why would he be involved?”
“There’s another vehicle too.” I leaned closer. It was dark, but it looked like the Arnold’s motor home.
After we dropped Meaghen off, I made Eve take me home. “So, tell me the truth, how did you know what I was up to tonight? You haven’t bugged our office, have you?”
Eve perked up. “My goodness, you’re a genius, Penny. That is a great idea. We’ll bug the mayor’s office, get ahead of that Helen Patone for a change.”
I stared at her in dismay. “I didn’t… That wasn’t… never mind.”
“So,” Eve continued, “I got the call about an hour ago from Mabel.”
“Mabel from the hair shop or from the post office?” I asked.
“Listen here. I have a network of spy’s and Mabel is code so don’t even bother trying to unveil my source,” Eve interjected. “All you need to know is that she’s the one who told me about make-out park. She’s older than dirt and nosier than Pinocchio, and knows everything that happens in Bohemian Lake before it happens.”
That was every Mabel in town. My head began to ache just a bit. “Got it. What about her?”
“She lives next door to Kaitlyn, and she’s been spying on Ben for me. She saw him loading up his truck with scuba gear. He was dressed all in black. Nothing says trouble like all black clothing.” She looked me up and down. I was wearing all black. “See what I mean.”
“So, how did you figure out where he was?”
“Oh, girl, these bones might be aging but they can still hustle. I got there in the nick of time to tail him to the boat launch. Of course, I also saw Meaghen hiking in off the road through the trees and I remembered that strange phone call I got today. The girl’s voice sounded just like Meaghen’s. I just put two and two together and figured I’d better stay close.”
She dropped me off at home but I decided after my run-in with dumb and dumber on the deck earlier that I’d be safer in company.
It was around 12:30 a.m. when I pulled up in front of Rebel’s house. The front porch light was on but that was it. It looked like no one was home–most likely because Leif had taken Rebel away to a spa, duh.
I decided to head back to the cabin. One empty house was as creepy as the next. I slept poorly after that, nightmares of Ben attacking me underwater pockmarking the few hours of sleep I scratched out. I woke near dawn, tired and crabby, Guinness snuffling at my ear, then again at 7:00 a.m. when I heard banging on my front door.
Chapter Twenty-Two
_____________
I kicked my legs ov
er the side of the bed, groaning as every muscle in my body protested. The banging started up again, making my head pound, so I headed across the cabin as quickly as my body allowed me to go. I’d barely gotten the front door unlocked before Eve pushed the door open and rushed inside.
“We got trouble,” Eve said.
I felt my stomach tighten. “Did Ben and Samantha realize it was us last night?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Eve replied. “It’s Kaitlyn. She’s having a meltdown–screaming and shouting.”
“About what? Her underwear too tight again?”
“How should I know?”
“What do you mean how should you know?” Maybe it was the early hour or the lack of caffeine, but I was grouchy. “Why in the hell are you waking me up? What does this have to do with me?”
Eve’s eyes widened. “Penelope Trubble. You are now the damn town investigator, not to mention the only reporter. So, it has everything to do with you. Now get up, investigate, and report! And move faster. Holy cow, my eighty-three-year old cousin moves faster than you.”
“Well, then call her and tell her she’s hired. I’m a woman of routine and I need coffee.”
Eve just scowled at me while I pulled on my shorts and a tank top. “Don’t you have something a little more girlie? I’m thinking the floral romper. And take your hair out of that ponytail.”
“What does it matter what I wear? And I’ve got to walk Guinness first, anyway,” I said, removing the elastic from my hair.
“Already done,” Eve replied. “Oh, yikes, maybe put your hair back up. You look like Raggedy Ann.”
I made a sound that could only be described as a growl. “I need to kick box and then I need to check out the lake to see what that group of miscreants was up to last night.”
“Darnit!” Eve thumped the side table. “I hadn’t even thought about the lake. There could be clues we’re missing out on. Quick, we need to beat the cops there. Or, maybe we should see what the cops know first. Yeah, that’s good, we’ll play it cool and head down to the cop shop. You are the detective’s new girlfriend, anyway. Just play the cute little flirt card and he’ll spill the beans like a drunk on a carnival ride.”
Murder, She Floats Page 11