In Too Deep

by Rose Pressey

  In Too Deep

  Maggie P.I. Mystery

  By Rose Pressey

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form, (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, incidents, places, and brands are the product of the author’s imagination and not to be construed as real. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  Index

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 1

  Lounging on the beach with the warmth of the summer sun and a gentle breeze caressing my skin did wonders for my state of mind. Staring out at the expanse of the blue water, I just couldn’t think of anything that would ruin this day.

  The beach was crowded today, but I tried to ignore the activity—the music of neighboring sunbathers, children playing nearby, the guy who kept zipping up and down the water on his jet ski. I wasn’t positive, but I thought he was trying to impress the striking brunette in front of me. She was transfixed by a book and hadn’t looked his way. He might as well give up.

  My assistant Dorothy Raye sat on the golden sand beside me. She’d donned a big floppy straw hat, black cat-eyed sunglasses, and her blue and white polka dot swimsuit. She was currently working a crossword puzzle—with an ink pen. That was pretty much her pastime all the time, except for when she was knitting or helping me solve crime. She was supposed to be my assistant at my private investigation agency, but mostly she was just there to tell me when I was doing something wrong.

  Was it any wonder that I made mistakes? I’d been thrown into this profession. When my uncle Griffin Thomas had left me his private detective agency, I’d had no clue what I was doing. However, in a short time, I had managed to find a few murderers and not get myself killed in the process, or anyone else I loved for that matter. I thought that was pretty good.

  Of course, my boyfriend Jake Jackson, a detective with the Miami-Dade Police Department, had a few things to say about my investigative skills. But I just ignored those. I planned to keep on doing what I was doing, which currently was enjoying my time off. Dorothy and I had wrapped up early for the day and we’d decided to take a trip out onto the beach. Nothing could ruin this day for us.

  That was until just a few seconds later.

  “He stole my bag,” Dorothy yelled as she waved her arms.

  She jumped up from her lounge chair as if it was on fire. I’d had no idea Dorothy could move that fast. Looking to my left, I saw the man running with Dorothy’s bag clutched in his hands. No one else on the beach seemed to notice Dorothy’s yelling or that the guy was running with the bag. Dorothy could have been screaming that a shark was in the water and I doubted anyone would even notice.

  Jumping up from my lounge chair, I took off across the sand in my yellow bikini and bare feet, chasing after this guy like I was some kind of competitive runner. Sadly, I’d never won any trophies for my athletic ability, or should I say lack of athletic ability. I could definitely win a medal for coming in last.

  The current subject of my pursuit was wearing black shorts and a white T-shirt. He had short dark hair and was probably six foot two. Undoubtedly this was the description I’d give the police. Wait. No need to give a description. I fully intended on catching this guy.

  At six foot two, he had a whole extra foot on me. This man’s legs were longer, and he moved a lot faster than me. I held my ground though and closed the distance between us. Okay, only because he had slowed down to move onto the sidewalk.

  Now he headed around the side of a building. Of course, I wasn’t wearing shoes and my feet were hot against the pavement. Plus, I was running along the street in my bikini, which was kind of awkward. More people watched me now, but they still weren’t offering to stop this guy. Why did they think I was chasing him? Like it was some kind of beach game of tag?

  “Stop,” I yelled.

  Of course he wouldn’t stop, but it seemed like the right thing to say at the moment. Maybe if other people heard my command they’d offer to step in and lend a hand. No such luck though. The guy continued running down the sidewalk. This side road had limited traffic.

  A black sports car had stopped up ahead. Someone opened the passenger side door. Within seconds, the guy had jumped into the passenger side with Dorothy’s purse still in his arms. Before the car door was even completely shut, the car sped away.

  Unfortunately, it was too far away for me to get their license plate number. The car zoomed around the side of the building, turning onto the street up ahead. I stood on the sidewalk trying to catch my breath. A few people strolled by, casting weird looks my way. But hey, we were close to the beach, what did they expect me to wear—my winter gear? Maybe they were staring because I’d been running down the sidewalk like a lunatic. Yeah, that was probably it.

  Well, that was that. I supposed Dorothy would never see her purse again. Wouldn’t they be surprised when all they found inside the bag was crossword puzzle books, knitting needles, yarn, and a ton of peppermint candies? I wished I could see their faces when they realized there was nothing valuable. They’d think Dorothy owned stock in a peppermint candy factory.

  How would I break the news to Dorothy? She counted on me to fix things. This was one thing I couldn’t fix. I wasn’t looking forward to telling Dorothy the outcome. Feeling a bit defeated, I walked back toward the beach at a much slower pace. The hot pavement sizzled my bare feet. When I rounded the corner, I spotted Dorothy headed down the sidewalk toward me. She had all our belongings gathered in her arms, which included towels, water bottles, lounge chairs, and even the umbrella.

  “Are you okay, Maggie? Did you get my bag back?” Dorothy stared at me with big brown eyes.

  “Sorry, Dorothy, they got away. I promise to buy you new puzzle books, knitting supplies, and candy.” I took the lounge chairs from her.

  Her eyes widened. “Oh, no.”

  “What’s wrong?” I asked with a bit of worry.

  “There was something more in that bag,” she said.

  “What was in the bag, Dorothy?” My voice was a bit more panicked now.

  What else could she have in there? She liked to keep the items in her bag a secret, but I’d seen part of the contents once—I promise I hadn’t been snooping. Dorothy had dropped her bag and frantically gathered up the stuff before I’d had a chance to help.

  “I had cash in that bag, Maggie,” Dorothy said.

  “What?” I asked in a loud voice.

  “I had money in the bag,” she repeated. “Lots of money.”

  Panic set in. I had no idea what to do.

  “Why would you have money in the bag?”

  “If you can’t keep money in your bag
then what can you keep?” Dorothy asked.

  “I thought you knew better than to keep money in your purse. How much money are we talking about here?”

  “About ten thousand dollars.”

  Chapter 2

  My legs almost buckled out from under me. I wobbled just a bit.

  She fanned me with her paperback romance novel. “Breathe, Maggie, breathe. Don’t die on me now.”

  I steadied myself. “Okay, I’m calm. Why do you have ten grand in your purse at the beach? They don’t charge for the beach view. And if they did it wouldn’t cost that much.”

  “I had taken the money out of one bank account and was going to put it in another. I just didn’t like that bank. They have bad customer service and their fees went up. When you asked me to go to the beach, I decided I could go to the bank later.”

  I smacked my forehead with my hand in dramatic fashion. “Oh, Dorothy. I think I’m going to be sick.”

  “You can’t get sick. You have to get my money back,” she said.

  Dorothy was right. I had to stay calm and figure this out. Freaking out would not help the situation.

  “Okay, don’t panic,” I said. “We’ll get the money back.”

  The chances of getting that money back were slim. I’d told Dorothy that so she would remain calm. Although she looked calm for someone who had lost ten grand. I was the one freaking out.

  “How will we get the money back?” Dorothy asked.

  “First we will call the police and report it stolen.” I pulled my swimsuit cover-up over my body.

  “You’ll call Jake?”

  “Absolutely. I’ll call him right now,” I said.

  What would Jake say about this? It seemed like Dorothy and I were always in trouble. This time totally wasn’t our fault. What were the odds a man would steal Dorothy’s bag the one time she had that much cash in there? Yeah, I was suspicious.

  “I hope he can do something right away,” Dorothy said, releasing a deep breath.

  I pulled my phone from my tote bag and tried to steady my hand. Touching the screen was difficult with a shaky hand. I touched the screen, dialing Jake’s number.

  “How’s the beach?” Jake asked.

  “Not so great,” I said in a panicked voice.

  “Oh, no, Maggie, what’s wrong?”

  He sounded disappointed. Maybe he’d been expecting a call like this from me.

  “Dorothy just had her bag stolen,” I said.

  “Well, that’s terrible,” he said. “I guess she’s upset about losing her yarn and candies.”

  “This is not funny,” I said. “She just lost ten thousand dollars.”

  Silence filled the other end of the phone and then Jake chuckled. “Wow, this is a joke, right? Good one, Maggie.”

  “I’m completely serious, Jake. You have to get here right away. I chased the perp, but he got into a black car and took off. I didn’t get the license plate because it was too far away.”

  “What kind of car did he get into?” Jake asked.

  “It was a black Lexus. The vehicle headed east on Palm Tree Boulevard. The guy who stole the bag was tall with dark hair. He wore a white t-shirt and dark shorts.”

  “Where are you located?” Jake asked. He’d turned on his professional detective voice.

  “We’re close to my office, but I ran down a couple blocks. We’re at the corner of Starfish.”

  “I’ll be there right away,” he said.

  After ending the call with Jake, I stood there wondering what the heck we would do next. Dorothy and I just stood there on the sidewalk in silence with all of our belongings. Well, minus the bag.

  “Would you like for me to call Morty?” I asked.

  Morty had been Dorothy’s boyfriend for quite some time now.

  “No need to upset him at the moment. I’ll have to tell him later. He’ll think I’m awfully stupid for doing this,” Dorothy said around a sigh.

  “Mistakes happen, Dorothy. We just learn from them, that’s all. Now you’ll know to never to do anything like that again.”

  She didn’t answer so I hoped she was agreeing with me. Within minutes, I spotted Jake hurrying down the sidewalk toward us.

  “Oh, thank goodness he’s here,” Dorothy said. “Maybe the police located the car.”

  “Are you all right, Maggie and Dorothy?” Jake asked when he approached.

  I nodded. “We’re fine, I guess. Any news on the car? Have they located it yet?”

  “Not yet, but don’t give up hope. We’ll find it,” he said.

  I knew he wanted to know why there was that much money in Dorothy’s bag. Of course I would explain everything to him later.

  “We need to file a report, if you’d like to come down to the station.” Jake looked from Dorothy to me.

  “Whatever it takes,” Dorothy said with a wave of her hand.

  “We just need to stop by my office first so that we can change our clothing. If that’s okay?” I asked.

  “Absolutely. I’ll drive you back over there. I parked just around the corner,” he said, motioning down the sidewalk.

  Jake gathered up our things and we followed him down the sidewalk toward his car. I was still trying to wrap my mind around what had happened. I felt bad that I hadn’t caught up with the guy. I’d try my best to make it up to her.

  We climbed into the cruiser with Jake and he drove us back to my office. The small parking lot next to the tiny building was empty now. I shared the space with the other small buildings around. People tried to park there for the beach, but the owners of the place kept most people from doing that.

  “We’ll just change quickly and be right back,” I said, unbuckling the seatbelt.

  “Take your time,” Jake said.

  Dorothy and I got out of the car and headed toward my office. The area was picture-perfect with surrounding palm trees and the bright blue sky. As soon as I approached the door, I knew something was wrong. It was slightly ajar. I definitely hadn’t left it that way.

  I put my arm out. “Stop right there, Dorothy. Something’s wrong.”

  “What is it, Maggie?” she asked.

  I motioned for her not to move and be quiet as I eased over to the door. Dorothy trailed along behind me. I glanced back, but Jake wasn’t watching us. He seemed to be on his phone. Of course he had no reason to suspect that anything would be wrong right now. As I stepped up to the door, my adrenaline had definitely ramped up.

  I eased the door open just a bit. Right away I saw there was a huge problem. Someone had broken into my office. The file cabinets’ drawers were all pulled out. Files and their contents were scattered all over the floor. My desk was a mess and the chairs had been toppled over. Who would do something like this?

  When I turned around, Dorothy was right behind me. I bumped right into her, knocking her peppermint candy from her hand and to the ground. Dorothy screamed out as if I’d startled her too.

  “Dorothy, you scared me.” I clutched my chest.

  “I scared you? You just gave my heart a stress test.”

  “Someone broke into the office,” I said, pointing over my shoulder.

  “I see that,” she said.

  “I have to tell Jake.” I rushed down the path.

  “Who would do this?” Dorothy asked. “This is a mess,” she said as I hurried toward Jake’s car.

  Jake looked to his left and noticed me running toward him. He hopped out of his car.

  “Is something wrong?” he asked as he closed the distance between us.

  “Unfortunately, yes. Someone broke into my office,” I said breathlessly.

  His eyes widened and he ran toward the office. Once at the office, he stood at the door taking in the whole scene just as I had.

  “Do you notice anything missing?” he asked.

  “My laptop,” I said.

  “Did you lock the door when you left?” he asked.

  I gave him that look as if to say, Are you serious?

  “I had to ask,”
he said.

  He looked at Dorothy. I knew what he was thinking. That maybe Dorothy had forgotten to secure the door. But I specifically remembered locking the door. So someone had to use a key to get in, right? There were no signs of forced entry. The door wasn’t broken, and the lock was still intact. The windows were shut and locked. That was when it hit me.

  I turned to Jake. “Do you think someone used Dorothy’s key from her stolen purse?”

  We both looked at Dorothy.

  “Dorothy, did you have information about where you work?” Jake asked.

  “Nothing at all,” she said. “It’s not like I have a badge or something.”

  “I thought maybe you had business cards,” Jake said.

  Dorothy pointed at me. “She won’t give me those either.”

  “This is not a time to discuss business cards again, Dorothy,” I said.

  Could it be possible that someone had taken Dorothy’s bag on purpose knowing that she would have a key to my office? No, that was preposterous. There was absolutely no way, right? It was just a crime of convenience. Her bag had been right there. The guy had seen it and decided to take it. Although it had had a huge sum of money. Perhaps they had followed her from the bank. She had come straight to the office after going to the bank. They knew where she worked because of that. After they found the key, they thought they would swing back over and steal something from the office. Yes, this was all making sense now.