“I can understand that. Who tipped the police off? Why’d they go to the house?”
“Those are great questions,” Cassidy said. “We don’t know. Nor do we know how to find out.”
“Come inside.” He motioned for them to follow. “Let’s listen to the scanner.”
“But this would have happened more than an hour ago,” Cassidy said, not sure his plan would work.
“I record stuff.”
Cassidy was impressed. She wasn’t aware that people could do that. Nor that people would want to, but if it worked to their advantage . . .
They followed him inside his place. It was a simple little cottage, complete with police memorabilia from his time as chief. Pictures of Mac with famous celebrities who’d come into town adorned the walls, along with some hunting rifles and stuffed fish and deer heads.
All in all, the entire place screamed Mac.
Cassidy wondered for a minute if he’d ever been married or if he’d always been a bachelor. She’d have to find those things out later—if Mac was willing to share. There was still so much she didn’t know about him.
He sat down at a thick desk pushed against the living room wall and pulled out some kind of rectangular box the size of a TV remote control. He played with a few buttons and then hit Play.
Ty and Cassidy stood behind him, waiting anxiously to hear what he found. Sure enough, an hour-and-a-half ago a call went out.
“We’ve got a 10-62 on a house on Sea Oats,” the dispatcher said. “It’s at 202384.”
Chief Bozeman’s voice came on the line. “Any more details?”
“A neighbor reported a break-in that’s in progress.”
“Details on this neighbor?”
“He was anonymous and didn’t wish to leave his name. Didn’t want to start trouble, he said.”
“I’m on my way.”
Mac hit stop and then twirled in his office chair to face them. “I guess that wasn’t much help.”
“Are anonymous tips typical for things like this?” Ty asked.
Mac shrugged. “Fairly. People don’t want to be seen as a snitch, especially if they’re uncertain about the outcome.”
“It seems like it would be unusual for someone to call the police on Skye, though,” Cassidy said, her mind whirling. “I mean, she said the front door was unlocked so she stepped inside. The average Joe passing by wouldn’t think she was breaking in. Most people around here are vacationers, after all, so it’s not like they would recognize that she didn’t live there.”
“Maybe you should double-check with your friend and see if her story matches up.” Mac shrugged, but his eyes made it obvious he thought there was more to the story.
“It’s not a bad idea,” Ty said. “Skye was awfully frantic when she talked to us. Maybe she left a detail out.”
“It wouldn’t hurt to question some of the neighbors also and ask if they saw anything,” Cassidy said. “I mean, that makes sense to me.”
“Let me guess.” Ty grinned. “Sue Grafton?”
“Of course,” Cassidy responded lightly. She needed to read more of Kinsey Millhone and the Alphabet series, just in case anyone ever tried to discuss plot points with her. She couldn’t let a mystery novel series—one she claimed to have read but hadn’t—blow her cover.
“I’m telling you.” Mac clamped his hand on Cassidy’s shoulder. “This girl has the chops to be a top-notch investigator. The way she solved that last murder here on the island . . . it was one for the books. Very Perry Mason-like.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. It was all Chief Bozeman. I just had to pry the answers out of him.” In reality, Cassidy had utilized every ounce of her acting skills to pull it off without drawing attention to herself.
Mac grunted, and Cassidy could tell he didn’t believe her.
“I can say this,” he continued. “I know the guy who owns the house at 202384 Sea Oats. As soon as the scene is cleared, how about we all go take a look?”
Excitement surged through Cassidy, but she tried to tamp it down. “I’ve never seen a crime scene before. But as long as I’m with y’all, I think I’ll be okay.”
She threw the “y’all” in because she was supposed to be from Texas. An old classmate who’d moved from Texas to Seattle had always talked like that, so she used it every once in a while to hopefully solidify her cover.
“That sounds great,” Ty said. “Call us. I know Skye is freaked out, so anything we can do to put her at ease would be appreciated.”
Once Cassidy and Ty were back in his truck, they made no effort to leave. Instead they sat there, each processing their own thoughts.
“I guess there’s nothing else we can do at this point,” Ty said. “Questioning the neighbors while the police are most likely processing the scene seems like a bad idea.”
“I agree. If we do that, we should wait until later so we don’t raise suspicions. I guess we should go check on Skye in the meantime.”
“Sounds like a plan.” He cranked his engine.
Cassidy knew this was her chance to ask Ty the other questions that had been pressing on her. He wasn’t getting out of this that easily.
She crossed her arms. “You ready to tell me why I’m your girlfriend?”
As he sighed, a pallor came over him and he put the truck back into Park. He rolled his window down to let some of the frisky breeze from the approaching storm cool them.
“I’m sorry about that,” he started, rubbing his neck. “I shouldn’t have placed you in that position. I panicked.”
“I didn’t think you ever panicked.” Navy SEALs didn’t panic, did they?
He shrugged and stared out the window, all of his features tight with stress. “I suppose I do when it comes to the people I love.”
“Would you mind starting at the beginning? Because I don’t know what pretending to be your girlfriend has to do with the people you love.”
He ran a hand over his face and turned toward her. His brown eyes pleaded with her to understand. But she saw another emotion there too. Grief.
“My mom has battled cancer for the past ten years,” he started. “Ovarian. She was in recovery and then it came back, and now she’s in recovery again. In the middle of that, I was stationed in the Middle East, which is very stressful for any parent to have a child over there. And, as if that wasn’t enough, my younger brother got caught up with the wrong crowd. Started doing drugs and pretty much shut us out of his life.”
Against her better instincts, Cassidy reached over and squeezed his arm. His story was surprising . . . and gut-wrenching. “I’m so sorry, Ty.”
“Yeah, it’s been a tough several years for my family. And my mom . . . well, she can’t seem to catch a break.”
“And this is where your ‘girlfriend’ comes in?” Cassidy kept her voice soft, realizing how much pain this conversation must be churning up.
“My mom likes to worry about me—like any good mother, I guess. When she called me a few months ago, I told her I’d met a girl.”
“But you hadn’t?”
Ty shook his head. “No, I did meet someone—her name was Sarah—and I went on a few dates with her. But she was only here on vacation and left at the end of her two weeks. It was fun, but we both knew it was nothing more. We didn’t have a strong enough connection to keep it going long-distance.”
His words caused an unidentifiable emotion to rise in Cassidy. Satisfaction? Jealousy? Curiosity? She wasn’t sure.
“Anyway, when I told my mom I’d finally gone on a date again, she was so happy. I mean, over the moon. She thinks everyone should be happily married like she and my father are. I know this might sound strange, but it made me feel like I was doing something positive for her. It’s crazy, but I thought maybe she could finally relax and enjoy herself if she wasn’t worrying about me.”
“I suppose I can see that.” It seemed like the whole charade had started as a considerate gesture. But how had that gesture turned so wrong?
> “I realize there’s such a thing as a lie of omission, and I hate lies. I really hate them.”
“I remember that.” How could she forget? Cassidy was living one herself.
“But I didn’t bother to correct her. I figured I’d tell her eventually. But when she got out of the car today . . . she looked so happy. We know the chances of this cancer coming back are likely, Cassidy. I just wanted to allow her some joy in the moment. I never should have pulled you into it.”
Her mind raced. She wasn’t Cady Matthews here. She was Cassidy Livingston. And with her new identity, she needed to be all in. She wouldn’t do anything to compromise her standards, but she could . . .
“How about this? For the week they’re here, you and I are dating,” Cassidy said.
Ty’s voice rose in pitch as he turned to her. “Really?”
“Really. Then you won’t be lying, and your mom can enjoy herself.”
“You would do that for me?” His eyebrows jammed together in doubt.
“It’s kind of sweet that you’re looking out for your mom like that.” They said how a man treated his mom was the way he’d treat his wife one day. That meant Ty would bend over backward to make some woman happy. Someone was going to be a very lucky lady.
“Thank you, Cassidy. That . . . that means a lot to me. More than you know.”
She shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. What was one more story in her already long list of hidden truths? “I mean, as long as when this is done we can go back to not liking each other.”
He grinned. “Absolutely.”
She wagged a finger at him. “And no funny business.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it. Besides, I like brunettes. Quiet ones. With short hair.”
Why did that both disappoint and delight Cassidy? Disappoint because she was a blonde and delight because she was really a brunette? It didn’t matter because there wasn’t anything between them, and there never would be.
“Now, let’s get back to Skye.” Cassidy patted his cheek. “. . . sweetheart.”
Chapter 4
Ty kept replaying Cassidy’s surprise offer.
In his gut, he didn’t feel good about deceiving his mom. He knew better than to lie. But seeing his mom smile again was worth it. And, it was like Cassidy said, they were dating now. Even if it was as a ruse.
He wrestled with the thoughts as he pulled up to Cassidy’s house. He’d have to have a long talk with God about this later. And he’d have to have a long talk with himself, as well, because something about the idea of dating Cassidy brought him more delight than necessary.
Women were just trouble, and he’d be wise to remember that. He’d already had his heart broken once—by his ex-fiancée—and he planned to stay single for a long, long time as a result. That would not make his mom feel any better, however.
With Cassidy by his side, they climbed the steps to her place and saw Austin, Lisa, and Skye were all there, sitting in a circle in the living room area. Skye’s face was still red and puffy, and everyone else seemed somber as well.
Skye’s face perked when they walked in, and she jumped to her feet. “Well?”
“Whoever reported you was anonymous.” Ty paused just inside the door. “But Chief Mac knows the owner of the house. As soon as the police release the crime scene, he’s going to let us go in.”
“How will that help?” Skye wrung her hands together, appearing on the verge of collapse.
“We may find something that will indicate what happened,” Ty said, finding a strange strength in having Cassidy beside him. “If Buddy is . . . dead . . . maybe we’ll find something to indicate why someone would kill him.”
Skye sank back on the couch, and Austin slid an arm around her shoulders. “Like what? And wouldn’t the police have found something there?”
“It’s hard to say,” Ty told her. “They could have missed something. Maybe letters or photos.”
Ty’s stomach clenched as Skye’s face turned even paler. There was something she wasn’t telling them.
“What is it?” Ty prodded.
She buried her face in her hands. “I wrote him some letters. Nasty letters.”
Cassidy exchanged a look with Ty before asking, “What did these letters say?”
“That I hoped he died.” Skye released a half moan, half cry.
Ty’s stomach clenched tighter. “That’s not good.”
“I know! We even talked about keeping our anger in check at Bible study last week. I don’t know what got into me. I was just so mad. I haven’t been this angry in a long time. I mean, I’ve really been working on controlling my temper, but the passionate side of me overpowered the temperate side and . . .”
Cassidy knelt in front of Skye and kept her voice low. “Did you do anything to indicate you broke in, Skye? Were there any reasons someone would call the police? You said earlier you knocked and the door opened, that it wasn’t latched.”
Skye’s face slipped to an even paler shade of white. “Well, I may have pounded on his door and shouted for him to come outside.”
“What was so urgent that you needed to confront him right then and there?” Ty left his post by the door and moved toward the couch, closer to Skye and Cassidy.
“I found out about that spy he’d sent over to my stand. I wanted to tell him what I thought about his dirty tactics.”
Ty glanced around the room, desperately wishing he could help his friend. Chief Bozeman probably wouldn’t do Skye any favors. The man was a bumbling idiot most of the time.
He hadn’t wanted to believe that, but the facts had stacked up and proven it over and over again.
“Has anyone else had any encounters with this man?” Ty asked, feeling like he was at one of his strategic planning meetings he had as a SEAL before any big mission.
The rest of the gang shook their heads.
“How about a picture?” Ty said. “I need to know what Buddy Macklemore looks like. Especially if he’s still alive.”
Cassidy hurried over to the desktop computer set up in the corner. She typed in a few things and then leaned back so everyone could see the screen. “Here he is.”
Buddy’s picture stared back at him. The man was probably in his late forties. He had a prominent double chin, ginger hair, and dancing green eyes. He appeared to carry thirty extra pounds but, based on the grin on his face, that didn’t bother him.
“Anything else about him online?” Ty asked, stepping closer to Cassidy.
“It says here on his social media page that he’s from Buffalo, New York. He owned his own business up there.” Cassidy squinted at the screen. “It looks like an electronics business, but I can’t be sure. I don’t see any mention of a spouse or children, but he does look like an all-around social guy. He has a lot of pictures of himself with a lot of different people—at restaurants, parties, ball games, etc.”
“Any connections between him and this area?” Ty moved a stack of Sue Grafton novels from the heavy end table and leaned against it. “That’s what I’m curious about. Why did he choose Lantern Beach of all places to come set up shop?”
Cassidy typed a few more things in, her slender fingers flying over the keyboard. “No, I don’t see anything. He hasn’t even mentioned his new fruit stand. Wait.” She paused. “Wait, this is weird.”
“What is it?” Ty leaned closer.
“He actually has two pages on Facebook,” Cassidy said. “One is under Buddy Macklemore, but the other is under Big Buds. He was tagged twice in one of these pictures. That’s the only way I know. When I go to this other site, he mentions the produce stand and coming to Lantern Beach. He calls the island Paradise and says he’s living the life finally.”
“It’s not entirely unusual for people to give up everything and come here,” Lisa said. “That’s what I did.”
She’d given up her career as a scientist to become a chef specializing in weird food combinations.
“But you’d been here before,” Ty said. “You vacationed here as a c
hild.”
“It’s true, but it’s still not unusual.” Lisa shrugged. “Everyone fantasizes about island life.”
“We need to find out who else Buddy knew around here and see if they can tell us why exactly he came to Lantern Beach,” Ty said. “If there is a good reason. Everyone, keep your eyes and ears open around town. We all know how people talk.”
Before he could say anything more, his phone buzzed. It was his mom, and she wanted to take him and Cassidy to lunch.
Ty was jumping from one problem to another. Except this second problem he’d created himself.
Cassidy had been in the car with Del Chambers for only five minutes, and she was already fascinated by the woman.
Whereas Ty was reserved and purposeful, Del . . . she laughed easily. Boisterously. And she seemed so happy, just like Ty had said.
Did that mean she wasn’t always like this? Had cancer and the estrangement of her son stripped her of joy for a season?
Ty sat beside Cassidy in the backseat of the station wagon, his arm draped across the back of the seat. Cassidy knew he still wasn’t comfortable with the deception, and she had to admire that about him. Some people lied without a second thought, which made them the scariest kind of liars. At least Ty felt bad about it.
Del talked about how beautiful the area was and about how much she’d enjoyed the drive here and how many memories the cottage brought back to her. From what Cassidy gathered, the house had once belonged to Del’s father, and she’d spent many summers here while growing up.
Cassidy enjoyed the opportunity to listen, especially since she was having trouble gravitating her thoughts away from Skye and the situation with Buddy.
Finally, they pulled up to a small restaurant called The Docks, located on the water right off a little boardwalk area in town. Even though the weather might turn bad at any minute, Ty’s parents insisted on eating outside, and they got a table on the patio overlooking the water.
The whole area downtown was quaint and lovely. Beside the ocean was a wooden boardwalk with benches, swings, and little shower and rinsing areas. The first line of shops and restaurants stretched parallel to that boardwalk, followed by another sidewalk and then another row of restaurants and shops. A few little amusement-type rides like a miniature Ferris wheel and a carousel were a little farther down, and in the far distance an abandoned lighthouse stood guard over all of it.
Lantern Beach Mysteries Box Set Page 22
