“Yeah, sure,” Tyler mumbled.
Will took a swig of his Coke. “After practice, we went to the ice-cream store for milkshakes. Keith was all jumpy and huddled in the corner when a white pickup went by real slow. I asked him who it was, and he just shook his head.”
“Could you see who was driving?”
“It was a guy, maybe twenty-five or so, but I couldn’t tell you much beyond that. I didn’t get a good look through the tinted windows. I probably wouldn’t have even remembered that much if Keith hadn’t been acting so weird.”
Parker growled low in this throat, and his ruff stood on end. He stepped away from Will to place his front paws toward the creek.
Jane swiveled with her hand on her gun. “What is it, boy?”
Reid moved to her side. “You see anything?”
The brush rustled, and a large bull alligator charged from the vegetation. Parker lowered his head to charge and uttered a volley of ferocious barks. Jane drew her gun, but the dog had the situation under control. He forced the alligator back to the water, then trotted back with his tail high.
Will petted his head. “Good dog.”
The school bell rang, and the boys jumped up to toss their trash in the barrel. “Gotta go,” Will said.
Reid watched them walk toward the door. Jane touched his arm, and he turned to look at her.
Her eyes were soft. “That’s some son we’ve got. I love the way he was trying to take care of Tyler.”
“He’s always been that way. Little kids are drawn to him, and I’ve seen him make the rounds at school functions, making sure any new kids aren’t feeling left out. I can’t even claim any credit for it. It’s just who he is.”
He’d take that tender expression in her eyes over the contemptuous one any day, even when the tenderness wasn’t directed at him but at Will.
She patted her leg to attract Parker, and the dog whined after Will. “Come on, Parker.” With the dog in tow, she walked beside Reid back to the parking lot. “You hear anything from Lauren?”
Was she asking because of Will or because she cared about him? Reid didn’t really care which it was—the fact that she was asking something personal was a major win. “Not a thing.”
“Good. I hope she stays away from Will.”
That put Reid in his place, but at least the ice between them might have thawed a degree or two.
“Let’s go talk to Dex. We can eat our subs on the way there.”
Seven
Jane didn’t like having her son in the middle of this investigation.
She glanced at Dex’s address while they gulped down their sandwiches sitting on a bench in front of Island Bling on Oyster Bay Road. The French Quarter–style building’s white facade appeared freshly painted, and it gleamed against the wrought-iron railing.
Her fingers itched to draw Reid’s profile as he stared across the street toward the boardwalk, but she didn’t have her sketch pad and pencil. She tossed some bread to the gulls. “You replace your boat yet? Never mind. It’s not my business.”
“I’m looking, but I haven’t found the right one yet.”
His boat had been destroyed by an explosion a few weeks ago, and she knew Will missed being out on the water.
“You want one the same size?”
“Will wants bigger.” He smiled and shook his head. “That boy would live on a boat if we let him.” He tossed the last of his bread to the gulls. “I’m ready if you are.”
“This way.” Dex’s apartment was above Island Bling. An iron staircase on the south side of the store ran up to his place, and Parker whined when she stepped onto it. “He hates open iron stairs. His toenails get caught in the perforated metal treads. My metal steps are solid, but even they took some time to coax him into navigating.”
Reid paused. “I can talk to Dex alone if you like. He was comfortable enough with me yesterday.”
“I want to be there too.” She looked across the street. “Let me see if there’s someone who will watch Parker for a few minutes along the water. You can wait here if you like.”
“I’ll come along.”
The heat that flooded her cheeks had nothing to do with the sunshine. He never made her feel she had to hurry to keep up with his long legs, and she allowed herself to slow down and enjoy the walk down the French Quarter alley lined with small shops along the brick pavement leading to the boardwalk. The three-story buildings set at ground level were painted white stucco with black trim and iron details. Charming balconies overlooked the shady alley, and she waved at several people lounging in chairs.
Victor Armstrong’s car approached, and his pale-blue eyes skewered her as he drove past. He was a big man in his fifties and had opposed Jane’s appointment as chief of police. As a commercial real estate agent, he was well-known in town.
He slowed and stopped beside her. “Good job on the last case, Jane.”
He didn’t call her chief, but he never did. “Thanks, Victor. I appreciate the vote of confidence.”
He snorted. “Confidence is the last thing I have in you. I’m just giving credit where credit is due.” He accelerated away from her without another word.
She doubted she’d ever win him over.
The scent of the bay wafted toward them, and Pete, the pelican she’d rescued, swooped down to land on the pier. He swallowed down a fish, then peered at her with his black eyes. “Sorry, buddy, I don’t have any fish for you today.” The pelican seemed to give a derisive squawk before flying into the cloudless sky.
Alfie Smith, an old shrimper who was a fixture around town, lifted his hand from where he sat on a wooden bench by the water.
She waved to him. “Hey, Alfie, you going to be here awhile?”
He stretched out his legs clad in long pants stuffed into rubber boots that used to be white. “Sure thing, Chief. Seacow is in dry dock getting the hull fixed. I ain’t going nowhere.”
“I thought your daughter wanted you to quit shrimping anyway.”
He shrugged. “She only thinks she’s the boss of me. The old ticker is still chugging along. I’d rather keel over on my boat than sitting in my chair in the house.”
She smiled and nodded. “I’m with you.” She touched Parker’s head. “Would you mind if Parker hung out with you for a few minutes? I need to conduct an interview, and he doesn’t want to climb the open metal stairs.”
His rheumy blue eyes blinked and he gazed past her shoulder. “This about that boy throwing hisself off the oil platform?”
The coconut telegraph at work again. “What have you heard about it?” Sometimes rumors in a small town could lead to a gold nugget of information.
“That boy used to go shrimping with me. I saw him last time he was ashore. He spouted some nonsense about terrorists, but that don’t make no sense. What would a terrorist gain by doing that here? I told him to dig deeper, that sabotage could be lots of things.”
“Any idea of the identity of the men he overheard?” Reid asked.
“Nope. But you gotta stop it if it’s coming. My nephew, he was aboard a platform that caught fire. His lungs still ain’t no good. That heat and smoke wrecked his health. And the burns . . .” Alfie winced and shook his head. “It’s a terrible thing to be burned.”
His gaze went over her shoulder, and she heard shouting. She turned to see Victor waving his arms and yelling at someone getting out of a red sports car.
Victor thrust out his chin aggressively. “I had my blinker on to pull into that space. Back out of there right now.”
The woman shook her blonde hair. “I was here first.” She stalked past him and disappeared into Island Bling.
Alfie muttered something, and Jane turned back to him. “What did you say?”
“Just that he’s always meaner than cat dirt this time of year.”
She didn’t like Victor enough to waste her time with more questions. “He’s always mean.”
Alfie nodded toward the alley behind her. “Yonder comes the guy you wanted to
talk to.”
She swung around and saw a burly guy in knee-length orange trunks headed their way with a paddleboard.
Reid muttered, “That’s Dex.”
She eyed Alfie. “How’d you know?”
Alfie stuck a toothpick in his mouth. “He’s the only one ’round here who works the platform. Had to be him.”
“Maybe I should hire you as a detective, Alfie. We’re shorthanded.” She nudged Reid. “Let’s get to him before he enters the water.”
Reid stepped out and lifted his hand. “Hey, Dex.”
The big guy rested the tip of the paddleboard on the boardwalk and wiped the perspiration from his forehead. “I need to leg it if I want to catch the waves. Whatcha need, guv’nor?”
Reid jutted a thumb toward Jane. “The chief has a few questions about Keith McDonald. We found out you were Keith’s bunkmate. You could have told me that on Monday.”
Dex scowled. “This is a load of codswallop. I don’t know anythin’.”
“I’ll make it short then,” Jane said. “What was in the manila envelope you gave Keith?”
The florid color washed out of the big man’s face. “I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.”
“Not true, buddy,” Reid said. “We have a witness who saw you give Keith a manila envelope and told him to keep it secret.”
Dex’s blue eyes narrowed. “You talked to Bonnie. Look, this ’as nothin’ to do with Keith’s suicide, guv’nor. I want to keep my job.” He picked up his paddleboard.
Jane stepped in front of him. “Were you threatening Bonnie?”
“Me? No! Some bloke paid me to deliver the envelope. No big deal.”
“What bloke?”
“I don’t know ’is name. Never seen ’im before.”
“What’d he look like?”
“Muscular like he worked out. In ’is twenties. He ’ad a small scar on ’is lip like maybe he’d ’ad a cleft palate as a child. Like I said, I’d never seen ’im before, but he offered me a thousand bucks to give it to Keith in front of Bonnie. So I did.”
Jane put her hand on his arm. “Is Bonnie in danger? You warned Keith to keep an eye on her.”
“If she goes blabbin’ to the wrong bloke, she’s in for a world of hurt. That bloke’s brown eyes looked sharp enough to cut you.” He ran toward the water and didn’t glance back. He dove under the waves, pushing his board under too.
“We have to find that envelope.” Jane turned toward the buildings and called Parker to her side. “I’m going to get a court order to search Keith’s premises. We have probable cause that he might not have gone over the side willingly.”
“You don’t have a body.”
“But I know the judge, and I think I can convince him. Ruby might let me circumvent all that, though. I’ll see if she’ll give permission and hand me a key.”
Everything about this smelled off, and she’d seen the flash of fear in Dex’s eyes when Reid mentioned Bonnie.
* * *
Jane’s nerves were on high alert.
She inserted Keith’s key, obtained from Ruby, into the lock and pushed into his apartment. The space was part of a complex on the edge of town and was a studio with a queen bed occupying a bump out of the minuscule living room and kitchen.
Discarded clothing lay draped on the love seat and armchair, and another pile was heaped on the edge of the bed.
Reid entered behind her with Parker and waved his hand in front of his nose. “Whew, stinks in here. He must not have taken out the garbage before he went to the platform last time.”
The dog sniffed the air and went to the overflowing trash. “No, Parker,” Jane said. He gave her an offended look and plopped down, resting his head on his paws.
Reid stepped to the thermostat on the wall and kicked down the air. The compressor hummed to life.
Jane glanced around. “This place hasn’t been tossed. It’s just guy-messy.”
“Hey, some of us are neat freaks.” He went to the small desk along one wall and opened a drawer.
Jane didn’t think Keith would have put something sensitive in the most likely place. Hands on hips, she searched for a good hiding place. Not under the mattress, not under the love seat cushions. The kitchen.
She pulled on Nitrile gloves, then went to the kitchen, pulled out drawers, and opened cabinets. The stainless-steel cookie jar held only stale macaroons. She pushed aside a few bowls of moldy leftovers and rummaged through browning fruit in the bottom bin, then opened the freezer door. It was stuffed full of frozen pizzas and other microwavable meals. She pulled them all out and placed them on the counter, then inspected them one by one. They were all sealed tightly except for one large pepperoni pizza that had a loose flap. She opened it.
Bingo.
She pulled out the manila envelope. “Reid, I found it!”
He came into the kitchen and watched as she opened the envelope and pulled out the contents. “Pictures?”
She cleared a spot on the counter and fanned them out. They were pictures of a woman. She gasped when she recognized the red hair. “They’re pictures of Bonnie.”
“And they were taken with a high-powered lens. Someone was stalking her.”
“Several look like they are in her bedroom. She’s changing her jeans.” At least she was partially clothed. She probably shut her blinds when completely disrobing. “Dex seemed afraid.”
“And Bonnie was convinced Keith broke up with her to protect her. She was right. This seems like a warning that he could hurt Bonnie at any time.”
Jane nodded and snapped pictures of the photos with her phone, then gathered up the pictures and stuffed them back in the envelope. “Let’s see if there’s any other evidence in the apartment.”
She and Reid spread out to search different areas. She found a stash of money in a cookie jar, his bank records in a box under the bed, and not much else. Reid came up empty-handed too.
She pulled off her gloves with a snap and balled them up. “I need to talk to Bonnie again and see if she has any idea someone was watching her. Or if she’s seen these pictures. I’ll drop this packet off to Forensics on the way to the coffee shop to see if Nora can find any DNA or prints.”
Reid stepped to the thermostat and turned off the air again. “Do you know if Bonnie is working this afternoon?”
“She usually works all day and gets off at five.” Jane glanced at her watch. “We’d better hurry. It’s already three, and you’ll need to pick up Will after practice.” She patted her leg. “Come, Parker.”
The dog got up and trotted toward her. Reid followed them out into the sunshine.
“The killer was trying to intimidate Keith to back off by threatening his girl. The threat was effective enough that he broke up with Bonnie.”
“I don’t blame him. I’d do pretty much anything—” He broke off and opened the back door to let in Parker before he climbed into the passenger seat.
Do anything? What did he mean? Had he meant to insinuate threatening her would make him do something?
Maybe she didn’t want to know. She got behind the wheel and headed for the station. Reid glanced at her but didn’t continue his thought. She said nothing during the drive and parked in the lot.
“I’ll meet you at the coffee shop.” She shut off the vehicle and let the dog out.
“I’ll take Parker with me,” Reid said. “You want a coffee?”
She wiped the perspiration from her forehead. “I’ll have an iced one.”
She found Olivia at the dispatch station on the way in and stopped to speak to her. Olivia swung around in the chair and nearly toppled out of it.
Jane grabbed hold of her. “Whoa, you okay?”
“A little weak and shaky today.” Olivia’s smile held a wobble.
Jane squatted beside her. “Go on home, Olivia.”
“We’re too shorthanded. I’m fine.”
“I can call in a temp.”
“I’d rather be here than stuck at home wondering what’s h
appening here.” She squeezed Jane’s hand. “You worry too much. No matter what happens, it’s going to be okay.”
Jane’s eyes burned. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“Even if I die, it’s not over, you know.”
Jane wasn’t so sure of that. Though she’d been going to the first service at church with Olivia, she wasn’t ready to say she believed any of what she’d heard. Olivia’s faith was so strong—how did she manage to walk this path without wavering? If Jane were facing a diagnosis like this, she’d be doubting all the so-called love she’d read about in the Bible.
“You still reading The Screwtape Letters?” Olivia asked.
Jane nodded. “Nearly finished with it. ‘Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy’s will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.’”
“I don’t feel abandoned. It’s not about this life, Jane. God is still with me.”
And maybe he was. Jane would give anything if she could help Olivia somehow, but all she could do was helplessly watch it play out.
Eight
These pictures would rock Bonnie.
Pelican Brews held teenagers hanging out after school, but most of them lounged in chairs near the windows, so Reid found a quiet corner by the display of mugs and teas near the back. He left Parker at the table and approached the counter. Three baristas were working, and he spotted Bonnie’s bright hair.
There was no line, so he ordered their drinks. When Bonnie handed him the order, he leaned over the counter to speak softly. “Chief Hardy is coming over and needs to talk to you. Can you take a break?”
Her smile faltered, and she tucked a red curl behind her ear. “I can ask to get off work early. I’m due a little time anyway. I came in for a friend this morning before my shift started.” Her gaze went over his shoulder. “Here she comes now. Let me tell my manager I’m taking off.”
He nodded and carried the coffees to the table. A rowdy group of laughing teens shouldered out the door and nearly knocked Jane over. He watched her reprimand them and grinned. She was like a tiny drill sergeant. Underestimating her was never wise.
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