I put a finger on his lips when he started to speak. “You don’t have to say a thing. Whatever love means? It definitely means good sex will be great sex. I am so thankful you’re back in my life. Just don’t let me blow it this time, okay?”
He smiled a little, then he reached for the hem of my T-shirt and slowly eased it over my head. I returned the favor, then I unhooked my bra and tossed it to my feet so I could feel his body, skin to skin.
We found the bed. Peg and every stitch of clothing made a mountain on the floor beside it. We kissed and touched and moved in ways I remembered and ways that were new, but every bit as perfect. I gasped when he entered me, and I wanted to hold him there forever.
The rain beat down on the metal roof of our little bungalow, and what had once been good was magnificent.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
We made love, took naps, then made love again, making sure it was as perfect as we’d thought. We finally rose and took showers. Apparently ecotourism was code for minimal hot water, but I didn’t care because I had a man balanced against me to keep me warm.
As we stepped outside to find our way to dinner, Teo spotted a pair of toucans I’d missed. But when he pointed, I saw two exquisitely beautiful birds at the edge of a small clearing in the trees, their yellow chests and prominent rainbow-colored beaks unmistakable.
“They came by the name of this place honestly,” he said softly.
I was prepared to watch all evening, but after a few minutes they flew away. I wondered if the management mapped out their route.
Teo put his arm around me and we made our way to the dining room. While we waited for a table, I examined the three people standing behind the bar. Two men were dark-haired and short. The woman with them seemed to be serving, not mixing drinks.
Teo had been watching, too. “We have all night.”
Dinner was a buffet of fresh vegetables, fish, several kinds of rice and a delicious assortment of small desserts. We ordered wine with our meal, and were shown to a table at the edge of the room near the bar.
“Eat slowly,” I told Teo. “Let’s wait him out.”
Unlike the toucans, Kearns didn’t show. By the time we were lingering over cups of delicious local coffee, no one who looked remotely like the mug shot was in the room either serving or eating.
“What next?” I refused yet another coffee refill and couldn’t swallow one more bite of a delicious passion fruit mousse.
“We hang out in the gazebo bar. This time of night I don’t think we have to worry about the pool, but we could swing by on the way and see if the bar’s still open.”
The pool bar was closed, and only a few people were enjoying the water. We strolled arm in arm, and at one point Teo pulled me into the shadows and kissed me. I was sorry we had other things to do tonight.
The gazebo had been transformed. Strings of lights glowed over and around the thatched roof, rafters and posts. The bar itself was softly lit, but not so softly I couldn’t make out the faces of the two bartenders. They were experts, shaking, pouring, taking orders with smiles. One was a woman with short blond hair, and the other a thin, dark-skinned man with hair pulled back in tiny braids.
We found a table away from the lights subtly illuminating the surrounding gardens. Several dozen people were enjoying the soft guitar strumming of a young man who occasionally added his voice. At one point a sound more distinctive and soulful than a pack of coyotes rang through the air, and he stopped playing and waited.
“Howler monkeys,” Teo said before I could ask. “If we’re lucky, we’ll see some before we leave.” If I hadn’t known what they were, and the monkeys had howled while I was sleeping, my sadly creative brain would have woven the eerie sounds into a nightmare.
We both ordered the ubiquitous Cerveza Imperial lager, and since we were biding our time, half an hour later our glasses were still nearly full.
I gestured to the gardens. “Is Puerto Rico this beautiful?”
“A few years ago I went back to the area where my mother’s family was from, near Ponce. They call it La Perla del Sur, the pearl of the south. She can trace fragments of her ancestry back to the French Creoles who fled the Haitian revolution. Ocean and hills and beautiful old buildings. I’ll take you there someday.”
That was as close to talking about our future as we had come. Our reunion was still tentative, like a fledgling poised uncertainly on the edge of its nest.
He asked me about the podcast, and I told him about the plan for our second season. He said he would make calls if I wanted, that he knew a few cops in the department we were researching. Delighted, I asked him about the classes he was teaching, and he described a few of his students.
I captured his hand. “We’re on our way back from the abyss, aren’t we? Somehow we’ve found lives we can be happy with. You have the kennel, and your house and your teaching. I have the podcast, my friends...” My eyes held his. “My nieces.”
“You’re in trouble there.”
“What would you say if I ended up raising them?”
“I would say it’s not my decision. And it may not be yours, either.”
“Let’s just pretend that you and I are finding our way back from our mutual abyss. Together. Would Holly and Noelle be a strike against that?”
“This is all theoretical—”
I sat back. “Spoken like a cop.”
“But theoretically,” he went on, as if I hadn’t interrupted, “how could two wonderful little girls ever be anything except another reason to be happy?”
I beamed at him. And that’s when I noticed a man strolling into the lighted area beside the bar and greeting a group of patrons with nods and pats on the back.
“Bingo.” I inclined my head. “Look who just showed up.”
He took my hand, as if we were deep into an intimate tête-à-tête, and then he turned and signaled the woman who had brought our drinks, as if that had been his intention. “Another for both of us?” he said, even though our glasses were far from empty. I watched his gaze flick to the bar and settle on the man we’d come to see.
“So, now we keep an eye on him,” Teo said after the server left. “In a minute I’m going to move beside you, like I can’t stand to be this far away.”
“Were it only true.”
“It is, but making eyes at each other isn’t the reason we’re here, right?”
“What if he leaves?”
“He went behind the bar. What’s he doing now?”
“Talking to one of the bartenders.” I smiled at Teo, as if he’d said something funny.
“Okay, I’m coming around. Pretend you’re thrilled.”
“I’m so good at pretending.” I sat back and focused on him, a slight smile, eyes sparkling. None of it was hard.
Teo pulled his chair around and took my hand and kissed it, cuddling beside me. “Now we can both keep an eye on him,” he said, his mouth against my ear. “What’s he doing?”
“Looks like he’s mixing drinks.”
“I bet he’ll be there until the bar closes.”
“Are we going to stay awake that long?”
“I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
An hour passed. As impossible as it seemed, I was hungry again. We ordered a platter of fresh vegetables, crackers and cheese. I fed Teo bites from the platter, and kissed him in between.
“Keep that up and we might need to adjourn to our room,” Teo said.
Kearns had been conversing with patrons at the bar as he served. Suddenly he came out from behind. “He’s leaving. Are we going to follow him?”
“Not yet.” Teo was watching, too. As we both looked on, Kearns began to visit tables, spending a minute or more at each one.
“Customer satisfaction survey,” I said. “But he’ll be over here before long.”
“It he asks where we’
re from, don’t say Seabank.”
“Delray Beach,” I said.
“Fine. Me, too.”
“Honeymooners?” I wiggled my eyebrows.
He held up his hand. “No ring.”
“Just lovers, then.”
“Just?”
I laughed. “Lovers on fire?”
“Tell him we’re here to relax. And then look at me the way you did this afternoon.”
“How hard will that be?”
His laughter rumbled through my body in all the places it was meant to.
We studiously ignored Kearns, but we didn’t converse, afraid, even without consulting each other, that he’d think he was interrupting. As we sipped and listened to the guitarist, he finally made it to our table. I looked up and smiled, but mentally I was checking his features against the ones in the mug shot. He was definitely our man.
“How are you enjoying this beautiful evening?” Alexander Milton Kearns had a nice smile and an open, friendly face, although he was built like a bouncer, not a bartender. With his reddish hair and freckles, he looked like a product of Ireland, but I knew from a little research that Ticos, the name for native Costa Ricans, came from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds.
“You sound like you’re from the United States.” I held out my hand. “I’m Rose, and this is my friend Matt.”
If Teo was surprised at our new names, he didn’t show it. “Great place here,” Teo said, offering his hand, too.
“I’m Alex, but my friends call me Ex. Yeah, I’ve mostly lived in the US, so I come by the accent honestly.”
“Ex for excellent? Extraordinary?” I hoped my dimples were on display, even if my clever repartee was on vacation.
“All the above. Is this your first time here?”
“Matt’s been to Costa Rica, but this is a first for me.”
“Have a wonderful time then. Make sure you schedule some of our nature walks.” Ex was already glancing toward the next table. He wished us a good evening and said if we needed anything, to let him know.
I needed plenty, and I planned to do exactly that.
If Teo and I hadn’t been keeping track of our friendly bartender, the evening would have been perfect. Still, I was sitting in paradise with the man I’d nearly lost. Even with a confrontation hanging over our heads, our surroundings were magical.
The guitarist finally called it quits for the night, and I went to tip and thank him. I stopped by the bar. “When do you close?”
“We’ll call the last round soon. But you’re welcome to sit here as long as you’d like. We do turn out the lights at midnight. And we dim the ones along the walkways, so be careful going back. Artificial light confuses the wildlife.”
I thanked him and went to tell Teo. “Not long now,” I said.
“In a little while I’m going to disappear. I’ll be in the shadows watching. When he leaves, you look at your watch, like you’re ready to call it quits for the night, and follow.”
When the call came for final drinks, I signed our check. Ten minutes later, Teo got up, kissed me and headed toward the reception area.
The server cleared what was left on all the tables, and I punched a text into my phone, as if waiting for Teo to return. In a few minutes the other bartenders wheeled bottles of liquor toward the dining room for storage, and just ten minutes later, after clearing and cleaning the bar, Ex called it quits for the night. I watched him unfold louvered shutters over what remained of the liquor supply and fasten them with a lock. He dimmed the lights before he took off, but I was more interested in his direction. I stood, looked at my watch and headed the same way.
I would bet on Teo—missing leg and all—if a fight was in the works. Still, we were in somebody else’s country. What would we tell the authorities if a fight ensued? That we’d waylaid a Costa Rican citizen because we thought he might be involved in a murder, even though we had no proof and very few facts?
By now Ex was thirty yards ahead of me, and I walked faster.
Just as I wondered where Teo was, Ex stopped in the middle of the path to remove a shoe. He held it up and shook it, as if he’d picked up a briar or stone, and at the same moment Teo appeared, coming toward him from the other direction. As I approached, I pulled out my phone and held it up when I was close enough that Ex had spotted me.
“This is something different. A smartphone holdup?” He was smiling, still the friendly bartender.
“I just want to show you a photo.” I held up the phone. My sister stared back at him.
“Remember her?” I said. “Wendy Wainwright sends her regards.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
I gave Ex just enough time to process the photo before I spoke again. “Wendy asked me to find you, only I’m not sure whatever she plans next is a good thing. I don’t know if you murdered Dr. Vítor Calvo, or if something else happened that night.”
He was no longer smiling. He turned, still holding his shoe, as if he planned to take off, but Teo was standing in his way. “Don’t go yet.” Teo put his hand on Kearns’s shoulder. “We’re just going to talk.”
Ex reached up to grab his hand, but Teo changed his stance and stepped behind him, where he was harder to dislodge.
I switched from Wendy’s photo to the text I had punched in at the table, holding it out again. “I’ve put everything I know about you into this. How you worked at one of my father’s resorts. How you were with my sister in New Mexico the night Calvo was murdered. Where you are now and what you’re doing. Unless you agree to talk to us, this will go out to the authorities in Santa Fe.”
“What good is talking to you going to do?”
This time, honesty was the best policy. “I’ll tell you, but can we do it somewhere else?”
“I’m fine right here.”
Teo dropped his hand. “We’re not trying to frame you,” he said, then he followed with a stream of Spanish. Ex looked surprised, then answered in Spanish before he turned to look at me.
I had no idea what had been said, but his expression was a shade more promising.
I took advantage. “Wendy’s my sister, and she really did ask me to find you. But I only tracked you down because I want to hear your side of what happened.”
He gave a skeptical laugh. “You don’t trust your own sister? You’re not planning to turn me in?”
“Sister or not...” I realized the irony, since Wendy fit better in the “or not” category. “We’re in your country and you have the power. No cop is going to take what we tell them seriously. Your family owns this resort. We’re foreigners. By the time somebody in New Mexico looks into this, you’ll be somewhere else.”
“So tell me again. Why should I speak to you?”
I held up my phone. “This might not work immediately, but it’s a first step.”
“I saw some benches,” Teo said. “Better to be comfortable.”
Ex was weighing his options. I had to alter the balance. “If I had to make a guess, Ex? I’d say Wendy used you. And one thing I’ve learned since Calvo’s murder? She’s good at that. In fact she’s using me right now. That’s why I ended up here.”
He didn’t look convinced, but he started toward a wildlife viewing area not far away. I trailed behind him, and Teo stayed close to his side.
Three benches formed a U on a square platform, surrounded by gardens. Beyond the end of the walkway, a body of water somewhere between a puddle and a pond sparkled in the moonlight. No rooms were nearby. I was glad both Teo and I had finished our showers with insect repellant.
He lowered himself to the bench in the middle, and Teo and I flanked him. The lights along the walkway were already growing dimmer.
Ex went right to the heart of things. “Your sister is a liar and a murderer.” He looked at me, as if expecting a protest.
No matter what I suspected, his opening salvo ca
ught me by surprise.
Teo leaned forward, guessing that I needed a moment to recover. “Why don’t you start at the beginning, like how you got involved with Wendy?”
Ex’s gaze flicked to Peg. “What happened to your leg, man? You a vet?”
Teo gave a slow nod. “Yeah, and I was a cop. I took a bullet from a murderer...seconds before I killed him.”
I managed a deep breath. “So how long have you known my sister?”
I could see Teo’s story had affected him. “We met at a resort.”
“The Autumn Mountain Club.”
“You seem to know an awful lot.”
My tone was friendly. “The better to trip you up, my dear.”
“We hit it off.”
“Hit it off. You liked the same music? You both liked to hike? She was fun in bed?”
Gone was the friendly bartender. “Are you going to listen?”
“Yes, but I need to understand. Was it casual or something more?”
“Some of both. She seemed to like me. I knew her father owned the resort. She came on to me.”
“Maybe you felt you didn’t have a choice. Like you said, our father owned the resort. Maybe your job was on the line?”
He didn’t take the easy way out. “Nothing like that. We had fun whenever she was there. And after a while, it just turned into more.”
Ex should either be responding to casting calls, or he was telling the truth. “You were falling in love? Was she?”
He glared at me. “Do you know her at all? She thought I was a big, dumb cluck. We had fun together, and she figured if she ever needed me, I’d be there.”
“How long before you figured that out?”
“Give me some credit, lady. Right from the start. You have to know people to tend bar. It’s better than a psych degree. She was never going to leave her husband and kids for me. I was just supposed to be there when she showed up.”
I wondered how anybody’s standards could be that low. “So, were you? There for her, I mean?”
A Family of Strangers Page 37
