Dune House Cozy Mystery Boxed Set 2

by Cindy Bell

  “Don’t come near me.” She glared at him.

  “Suzie, it’s okay,” Paul said.

  “It’s not, Paul. He’s the one that caused all of this. He’s the one that killed Robbie.”

  “He didn’t.” Paul frowned. “Pedro did and now, we’re all in the same boat, literally. Simon’s not going to hurt you.”

  “I wish I could believe that.”

  “Let me show you.” Simon lowered the knife but stepped towards her. “I’m not going to hurt you, Suzie. I know what you must think of me, and you’re not wrong. I did a horrible thing. I kept his murderer a secret. I did try to save him. If I wasn’t involved he might never have been murdered. But I’m not going to make the same mistake again, I’m not going to let someone else die. If we’re going to survive this storm we’re all going to have to work together.”

  Suzie’s stomach churned at the thought of working with someone that was involved in a murder. She glanced over at Paul who nodded to her. With a deep sigh she turned her back to Simon. With every step he took towards her she waited for the plunge of the knife into her back. However, all she felt was the cool glide of the blade against her wrist as he slipped it between her skin and the tight ropes around it. With one sharp movement he cut her free. Her eyes filled with tears as the pain in her wrists finally eased. She rubbed them and turned back to face him.

  “Give me the knife.” She held out her hand to him.

  “What? I can free Paul.”

  “No. You’re not going anywhere near him with that knife. Give it to me and I will cut him loose.”

  “What if you decide to kill me first?” Simon stared at her.

  “Of the two of us, who has more chance of doing that?” She glared into his eyes. Simon frowned and glanced over at Paul.

  “You weren’t lying about her courage.”

  “Give her the knife, Simon. This boat is going down fast.” Paul looked towards the water that reached up to his ankles. Simon handed her the knife. Suzie hurried over to Paul and cut his hands free. Then she tucked the knife into her back pocket. There was no time to argue or even discuss their escape. The boat lurched hard to the left, then to the right, and a huge wave of water washed into the cabin. She shoved her shoulder against the door in an attempt to open it, but it wouldn’t budge.

  “We’re not going to get out this way,” Suzie said.

  “Simon, grab that ax!” Paul pointed to an ax that hung on a wall among other tools. “We’re going to hack our way out.”

  “Good idea.” Simon grabbed the ax and tossed it to Paul. Paul swung it hard at the door. He continued to swing, harder and harder, until finally the door splintered open. He made enough of an opening to get through.

  “Stay close. This boat might roll.” Paul grabbed her hand and guided her out in front of him. As soon as Suzie was outside she was hit with a deluge of rain. She tried to see past it, but it was impossible. Paul and Simon climbed out onto the deck after her. Just as they made it out, the boat surged hard to the right, and Suzie lost all sense of direction as she flew up into the air.

  Chapter 20

  Mary pulled herself to her feet, but the slippery deck of Paul’s boat made it nearly impossible to keep her footing. She wrapped her arms around the railing and clung tight. She peered through the driving rain in the direction of the last place that she saw Simon’s boat. However, all she could make out were rolling waves. She saw no sign of the boat. Her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach. Where was Suzie? All of her seasickness left her as she was sick with worry.

  “Suzie!” She screamed her name, but the roar of the wind ripped it away. She’d never experienced anything more frustrating than screaming without making much of a sound. She rushed back to the radio again and grabbed it. She hadn’t been able to hear a response from anyone. She had no idea if anyone was on the way.

  “Jason, are you out there? Jason?”

  The crackle that returned over the radio had a hint of a voice. She squeezed the radio in her hand. “Jason, please. I’m on Paul’s boat. We’re out on the water. Simon’s boat is gone, we need help out here! At the pearl farm!”

  Again the radio crackled. She still couldn’t make out what was said. To her relief the rain began to let up. It seemed to her that the wind pushed the boat far from the last place she’d seen Simon’s boat. Seconds later flashing lights in the distance drew her attention. She recognized the police boat and yelled as loud as she could.

  “Jason!” Mary waved furiously to him from the boat. “Jason!”

  The police boat drifted close to Paul’s. “Mary, are you okay? Where are Suzie and Paul?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve been searching for them. They were trapped on Simon’s boat. I tried to get to them, but the storm kept pushing me away. Jason, I’m afraid something terrible has happened.”

  Jason shaded his eyes as he looked over the water. “Knowing my cousin, she is just fine. Look. Maybe they are there, I think I see some movement.” He looked through his binoculars and pointed to a small scrap of land that couldn’t even be called an island. “I bet they’re over there. Let’s go take a look.” He offered her a hand to help her onto his boat. One of the patrol officers climbed onto Paul’s boat.

  “Take it back to the docks, but don’t let anyone else touch it. Understand?”

  “Yes sir.” He nodded as he took control of Paul’s boat. Mary clung to the sides of the seat she perched on.

  “Please hurry, Jason. This storm is terrible.”

  Jason headed for the piece of land. “Keep an eye out, Mary, if you see anyone in the water let me know.”

  “I’m looking.” Mary’s voice wavered with fear. She leaned so far forward that she could feel the spray from the water as the boat ploughed through it. Fresh tears flooded her eyes which made it hard for her to see. She blinked them back and stared hard at the water. By the time they reached the land the tears fell freely down her cheeks.

  “Are they there? Do you see them?” Jason grimaced and pulled out a pair of binoculars. He scanned as much of the land as he could see. Just when he was going to put the binoculars away he saw a big piece of cloth. It flapped in the wind that still blew hard across the water.

  “Suzie?” He shouted and climbed off the boat. Mary followed after him and scrambled to get from the water to the sand.

  “Do you see her? Where is she? Suzie! Paul!”

  “Here!” Suzie’s voice carried across the sand. Mary’s heart raced with joy. Suzie pushed herself to her feet and waved her arms above her head. “We’re here!”

  Jason jogged up to her. “Are you hurt?” He looked her over.

  “No, I’m okay. But Paul, and Simon.” She gestured to the two men on the sand beside her.

  “Paul!” Jason dropped down beside him. “Can you hear me?”

  “I can.” Paul’s voice shook as he spoke. “I’m okay, just a little tired.”

  Jason began to assess his vitals. Mary threw her arms around Suzie. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t get to you. I tried so hard.”

  “You stayed with me, Mary.” Suzie hugged her back as she peered over her shoulder at Paul who managed to sit up. “I heard you the entire time. Your voice kept me going. We made it to land, and I knew that you would be sending help.”

  “Jason, don’t fuss over me, I’m fine.” Paul waved him away, though his skin was pale and his lips tinted blue. “I swallowed a bit too much sea water that’s all. I’ll be fine once it settles.”

  “They can check that out at the hospital.” Jason looked him hard in the eyes. “No argument.”

  “No argument.” Paul held up his hands. He looked over at Simon who was still lying on the sand as a police officer administered mouth to mouth. “I had to knock him out. He fought me when I tried to pull him out of the water. I don’t know how much water he took in. He was stealing pearls from the farm with Pedro, but Pedro killed Robbie. Pedro is the murderer. You have to get him.”

  “Don’t worry about that now. We’ll ge
t him. Let’s just get you home.” Jason looked over Simon and nodded. “He’s still alive. I’ll get some back-up.” As Jason spoke into his radio Suzie pulled away from Mary and wrapped her arms around Paul. She kissed his forehead and cheek.

  “I’m so glad that you’re okay,” Paul said.

  “Me, too.” Suzie patted his back and shook her head.

  “You two gave me such a scare. I’m getting too old for this you know,” Mary said.

  “The way you handled my boat told a different story. I’m amazed that you were able to keep it afloat in that storm. If you hadn’t, who knows what might have happened.”

  “Let’s not think about that now.” Suzie sighed and closed her eyes as she held onto him. “We made it. That’s all I want to think about.”

  A wave of relief, larger than any the storm had carved from the sea gave her such a deep sense of comfort that tears flooded her eyes. She wanted nothing more than to remain there in his grasp, but the police would have questions, and the wedding needed to go on. She reluctantly pulled away and looked into both Paul and Mary’s faces in turn.

  “I love you both so much. Thank you for being here for me.”

  “We were here for each other.” Mary smiled between them. “Like we always will be.”

  Chapter 21

  Once Paul was cleared by the doctors he went back to Dune House with Suzie. At the bed and breakfast Suzie, Mary, and Paul huddled around the kitchen table. Summer poured them each a cup of tea, then joined them. Jason spoke on his cell phone a few feet away.

  “What I don’t understand is, why would Pedro kill Robbie if they were in on the thefts together?” Suzie frowned.

  “That’s not what happened. Robbie had no idea what Simon was doing. Simon said that he was taking tourists out for night trips and asked to use Robbie’s boat because it was new. He gave him part of the earnings,” Paul said.

  “That’s where Robbie got all of the money from.” Suzie shook her head.

  “Yes, only Simon was not taking tourists out. He was working with Pedro to steal pearls from the pearl farm. April alerted them when it was a suitable time, because they promised her she would get a share. She wanted to get away from her family. She met Simon through Pedro, and Simon got involved, too. But Robbie never did.”

  “So, Robbie was innocent,” Suzie smiled.

  “Yes, it seems that way.”

  “Robbie was becoming suspicious about what Simon was doing and started asking questions so Simon got worried. Robbie asked him if he could go out for the night trip with him on the day he was murdered. Simon said yes, but he sabotaged Robbie’s boat because if the boat was giving trouble then Simon had an excuse not to take it out that night without making Robbie more suspicious.”

  “Wow, complicated but clever,” Suzie said. “But the mechanic fixed it.”

  “Simon thought that Robbie would call the regular mechanic who he knew was away so he thought he would have to wait, but Robbie got Gill to look at it and it was fixed quickly.”

  “Why did Pedro kill Robbie?” Suzie asked.

  “I’m getting there,” Paul said. “Simon had stashed the pearls on Robbie’s boat because the dock was busy. He knew that the boat was fixed because Simon gave Gill a lift back. After he had dropped off Gill, Simon knew that he had to get the pearls and sabotage Robbie’s boat again, so he couldn’t take the boat out and it would just look like Gill hadn’t fixed it properly. He wore a yellow jacket to look like Gill so if anyone saw him and told Robbie, he would think that it was still Gill on his boat. But it all went wrong when Robbie came back to the boat and caught Simon getting the pearls he had stashed. Robbie then knew about the thefts at the pearl farm and he knew exactly what Simon had done.”

  “Was he going to turn him in?” Suzie asked.

  “No, according to Simon he wasn’t as long as they stopped. Simon was happy to take Robbie’s word that he would keep quiet. But Pedro came back to the boat and he didn’t trust that Robbie would keep his mouth shut and he didn’t want to give up on the money from the pearls they were stealing. Simon tried to reason with Pedro, but Pedro took the oyster shucker from the table and stabbed Robbie to get rid of the problem.”

  “How terrible.” Suzie stared hard at the table. “This entire time I’ve suspected Robbie and the truth was he was killed by a fellow fisherman, all because of money.”

  “Simon said he wanted to protect him and he tried to help Robbie. That’s how he got blood on the jacket. But he was scared of going to jail and scared that Pedro would kill him if he told the police what had happened.”

  “Why did you go to the pearl farm with Simon?” Suzie asked.

  “Simon was worried that Pedro was going to hurt April to keep her quiet so we went there to protect her,” Paul said.

  “Just awful.” Mary clutched her cup of tea.

  “The important thing is that the murder is solved, and everyone is safe.” Paul looked around the table at the group as Jason hung up his phone and joined them. “That never would have happened without all of us working together.”

  “He’s right.” Jason nodded. “If we dwell on what could have happened we won’t be able to move forward.” He looked over at Summer and smiled. He was distracted by the ring of his cell phone again. He walked away to answer it. As Suzie watched she saw his muscles relax. He strode back towards them with a smile on his face after he had hung up. “Good news. Pedro has just been arrested.”

  “That is good. We can put this all behind us,” Paul said solemnly.

  “I think we’ve weathered this storm pretty well,” Jason said.

  “Yes, we have,” Summer said. “We can always have the wedding another day.”

  “What?” Suzie shook her head. “Absolutely not. The wedding must go on.”

  “Oh Suzie, don’t you want to rest and recover from all of this? Do you really think you’ll be up for it?” Summer said.

  “Sweetheart, one of the main reasons I fought so hard was because I had this wedding to look forward to. Mary and I can get everything set up at Dune House. Your family and friends that flew from out-of-town are already settled here. Everything will be just fine, Summer. Unless you two really want to postpone, it is your day.”

  “I don’t.” Jason looked into Summer’s eyes. “The last thing I want is to go another day without being married to you. Do you think we can still do this?”

  Summer smiled and gave his hand a squeeze. “I feel the same way, Jason. If everyone is still willing, then I am more than happy to go through with it.”

  “Wonderful.” Suzie smiled with relief. “I can’t wait. Mary, you and I have some work to do.”

  “Let’s get to it.” Mary stood up. “As for you two, early to bed, and plenty of rest, hm?” She looked between Summer and Jason.

  “Yes ma’am.” Jason smiled and stood up as well.

  By the time the last of the pre-wedding preparations were completed, Suzie was exhausted. It was hard to believe that she’d survived a storm on the ocean that morning, and had a hand in a killer being arrested. She collapsed into bed, ready to sleep forever. Yet again she closed her eyes for what felt like five minutes, when she opened them again the sun glared through the window. Her heart raced. Did she oversleep? A quick glance at the clock reassured her that she woke up right on time.

  The scent of coffee and pancakes alerted her to the fact that Mary was already up and cooking breakfast for their guests. Since the wedding was in the afternoon they had offered to host a brunch for the out-of-town guests. Suzie climbed out of bed and swayed. For a moment it seemed as if she was back on the boat. As she regained her balance a surge of gratitude washed over her. What she had survived the day before was nothing short of amazing. The thought of not being able to be there for the wedding had made her determined to get through. It had all turned out well, but she wasn’t naive enough not to recognize just how lucky she was. She dressed and met Mary in the kitchen.

  “What can I help with?”

  �
�Pancakes need flipping!” She tossed her the spatula. Suzie caught it and began flipping the pancakes. Being side by side with Mary was the most natural position that she could imagine. Not long ago she didn’t even realize she was lonely, now her life was filled with warmth, excitement, and love. As the guests made their way down into the kitchen everyone buzzed with conversation about the wedding. Suzie excused herself to make some last minute phone calls to confirm things for the wedding.

  Once outside on the deck where it was a bit quieter she spotted the chairs and archway being set up on the sand. The beach would be a perfect backdrop for the wedding photographs. Despite the chaos that had led up to the day of the wedding, everything had fallen into place quite nicely. After confirming with vendors and the bakery that all deliveries would be made on time Suzie stretched her arms above her head and took a deep breath of the sea air.

  “Gorgeous.”

  She turned with a smile at the sound of Paul’s voice. When she met his eyes he wrapped his arms around her. “I almost didn’t want to say a word, but you were too beautiful to resist.”

  “Hm, sounds like you’re getting into a romantic mood from all this wedding chatter.”

  “I’m just so glad that you’re here to hold, that I’m here to hold you. That close call yesterday reminded me of just how lucky I am.” He brushed his palm along her cheek. “I hope that you feel the same way about me.”

  “I do.” She kissed him lightly on the lips. “I am very lucky. My life has changed so much, and never once could I have imagined that moving here would turn out to be such an adventure.”

  “I wish you had never been in any danger, Suzie, but I’m glad that we were there for each other when we needed each other.”

  “Me too, Paul.” She tightened her arms around his waist. “If there is ever any trouble that we face, I know that we will be able to handle it together. The only other person I’ve trusted that much is Mary.”