Paradise Crime Thrillers Box Set

by Toby Neal

  Sophie shrugged. “As long as it helps. All of these kinds of things take time, resources, and manpower. I’m glad they don’t expect us to do all that, too.”

  They wended through downtown Hilo towards the suburbs at the back. The houses became small ranch style dwellings, many of them with fenced yards and opulent displays of orchids, ferns, and other tropical growth. The warm humidity of Hilo lent itself to supersized plants and shades of green everywhere.

  Shirley Mandig’s home was typical of the area. Set off of a small, residential side road, the dwelling was a plantation style cube with a lanai in the front, thick with potted orchids. They parked in the driveway, settled the dogs with cracked windows and water, and walked up three wooden stairs to the front porch. A small yappy dog announced their arrival from inside the house.

  Jake knocked, and both he and Sophie held up their Security Solutions IDs for the woman to see when she arrived to look at them through a screen door. “We’re here to talk to you about your sighting of Julie Weathersby.”

  The middle-aged Filipina woman wore a purple velour sweat suit, a ton of gold jewelry, and house slippers. Her quizzical look cleared up, and she opened the door. “Please, come in.”

  The dog, a fuzzy, indeterminate breed, sniffed around their legs as Jake followed the woman’s square-hipped figure into the house. She gestured to a dining room table, and they took vinyl-covered chairs and sat. A sharp tang of vinegar flavored the air. Sophie pointed to a cutting board, covered with green mangoes in various stages of disembowelment. “Are you making pickled mango?”

  Mandig nodded. “I am. Every year the tree in back drops more mango than I can give away, so I harvest early. I always leave some of them to mature, but pickled mango makes a good Christmas gift. Let me get you some tea.”

  The two women chatted about the making of strange foods as Jake assessed the modest kitchen, not upgraded since it was built in the 1970s, if the avocado-colored appliances and fake brick linoleum were anything to go by. Mandig brought Jake a cup of hot tea. He smiled and sipped it, to be polite.

  Surprisingly fragrant and sweet, the tea was delicious. Jake slurped and finished it, and finally, during a lull in the conversation, he addressed Mandig where she stood at the cutting board, peeling green mangoes.

  “Tell us about seeing Julie Weathersby.”

  “Oh, so unexpected. I never know what to think.” The woman’s voice had a lilt of pidgin. “I work at Volcanoes Park gift shop. I was heading home from work, and I saw this woman staggering down the road. She waving her arms. She was wearing only bra and panty. I thought she was drunk. I admit, I was small-kine judgmental.” The knife she was using to cut the mangoes whacked into the cutting board. “I wish I had stopped, tried to help her. Seeing her like that, I just thought she . . . I don’t know what I thought.”

  “Was there anyone chasing her, or with her?” Sophie asked sharply.

  “No. She was alone. She maybe was trying to get help. I don’t know.” Mandig’s voice had gone low.

  “We know Julie was robbed and abandoned on the side of a road. We found her possessions and clothes and they are at the Hilo Police Station. This is the first confirmation we’ve had that she’s alive,” Jake said, keeping his tone warm and complimentary. “Very important news. Thank you for coming forward. Can you identify the area where you saw her?”

  “I did notice it because it was so funny-kine to see someone out in that area, no clothes, li’dat. She was walking toward Hilo on the side of the road. I remember thinking that if I had to call anyone for her I should know where she was. So I noticed the mile marker, but I never had no bars, so I never called the cops.” She named the same road the Weathersby girl had been abandoned on.

  Jake and Sophie exchanged a quick look and Jake took down the mile marker number and the street name. He thanked Mandig, and they stood up and headed for the door. Mandig held up a jar of mango. “You like?”

  “Thanks.” Jake took the jar. “You’ve been very helpful.”

  Sophie was right behind him. She touched Mandig’s arm. “I hope you will stop and do the right thing in the future if you see an almost naked woman waving for help. She was probably trying to escape her attackers and running for her life.”

  Mandig ducked her head and crossed herself in a very Catholic gesture. “I pray that girl is safe and that God forgives me for driving past her.”

  “Well, at least you called to report it. That’s something.” Sophie pushed out ahead of Jake, and let the screen door bang behind her. The woman’s soft face crumpled and her chin wobbled.

  That was his girl Sophie. Never one to varnish the truth or coddle anyone’s feelings. Jake smiled at Mandig. “Thanks for the mango. I’m sure it’s delicious.” He restrained himself from saying anything further. Nothing would help. “And thank you for contacting us.” He turned and followed Sophie out to the Jeep.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Sophie’s phone alerted her to an incoming text as she reached the vehicle parked in Mandig’s driveway. She took the phone out of her pocket and checked it as she waited for Jake to unlock the Jeep.

  The text was blunt and to the point. “This is Connor. I am hard at work on the Witness Protection leak. I expect to know more by next week. If you want to call me for information to share with the detectives, you can reach me at this number.”

  Sophie’s stomach dropped.

  The last thing she wanted to do was speak with Connor—but she did want to know who had killed that family. And it would be great to have something to share with Freitan that would lend her and Jake credibility.

  But was it worth it to have to talk to him?

  “No way.” Marcella’s voice said in her mind. “Don’t talk to him. Don’t give him a way in.”

  Sophie quickly texted back. “I want the information. Send a file to me through DAVID so I can inform the detectives of anything that will be useful. I know everyone on the investigation will appreciate it.”

  She wasn’t going to say she would appreciate it. She wasn’t going to say anything personal.

  But a little part of her was glad that something would be done about that breach in security that was leading to so much loss of life and legal implications.

  Jake arrived and unlocked the Jeep. “You didn’t have to be so hard on that woman. She was probably afraid to pick up someone acting crazy on the side of the road when she was all by herself in her car. Lotta meth heads around here.”

  “I have a bad feeling about what happened to Julie Weathersby after Mandig saw her. Why is Julie still gone? Why hasn’t there been a ransom demand if someone has her? I think she’s dead.” Sophie got into the Jeep. Doggy smells surrounded her. Wagging tails thrashed the inside of the car.

  “I’ve had a bad feeling ever since we found her backpack and boots. I thought we’d find her body after that.”

  “We still might. And now we know where to look.” Sophie folded her hands on her lap. The last of the good feelings left over from being with Jake that morning had evaporated.

  They drove in tense silence to the turn off they had last made in a pouring rainstorm. The area looked much prettier in sunshine; spears of light penetrated the jungle canopy overhead and trailing vines made decorative curtains from the trees. Sophie noticed ripe passionfruit growing wild, the yellow spheres as random and eye-catching as Christmas tree balls against the shades of green.

  “There’s the mile marker.” He pulled the Jeep over onto the shoulder near the mile marker Mandig had named, being careful not to get too close to the drainage ditch beside the road. “She said it was on the right.”

  “Let’s let the dogs out,” Sophie said. They were at least a mile from where they had found Julie’s backpack. This would have been rough terrain for Julie to traverse, barefoot and at night.

  The stream gurgled beside the road, and the streetlights along the way were far apart. Sophie could imagine the young woman’s terrified flight after fighting off attackers, getting to the
road, and trying to attract the attention of a passing car. “If I were her, I would want to stay off the main road in case my pursuers came after me. I would work my way along the edge of the road, hidden, and come out to try to flag down cars but stay hidden unless I was sure they were not the perps.” Ginger, on her leash, nosed in the long, tangled grass beside the road. She tugged toward the ditch hidden by the grass.

  “Sounds reasonable.” Jake let Tank out, but kept him on his leash. The two of them walked slowly along the road, stopping to look around the area periodically.

  Ginger gave a sudden, sharp bark, and yanked hard on Sophie’s arm, displaying the same intensity she had when she had discovered the body dump. Sophie’s stomach knotted around her breakfast as the dog dragged her down the road, several hundred yards from the mile marker. Ginger jumped off the pavement toward the overgrown ditch and thrust her face down into the trench, digging at the shielding growth with her paws.

  The smell of decomp hit Sophie’s nose, and she recoiled, covering her mouth and nose with a hand.

  She didn’t want to look.

  She didn’t want this to be the outcome of their search for a vibrant young woman.

  Jake arrived. He pushed her back. “Let me see.”

  Sophie let him, giving in to cowardice. She hauled Ginger back and sat on the nearby pavement.

  Jake parted the heavy plant growth, looked down into the ditch, and turned back. His eyes were the dark gray of storm clouds, and his mouth was tight. “It’s her.”

  Ginger leaned against Sophie, panting, her jaws open in a happy grin, her tongue lolling. The dog had found what Sophie was looking for, and expected praise. Sophie stroked Ginger’s chest, her shoulder, her silky ears. “Good girl.” She couldn’t say that phrase without hearing it in her mother’s voice. “Good girl.”

  Jake took his phone out, checking for signal, and called the detectives. Sophie could hear his voice but the words were jumbled, a distant thunder, meaningless.

  She took a few more deep breaths of fresh air, braced herself mentally, and moved forward to look.

  The body lay face down, an inch or two of water running over it. Good-sized rocks had been used to hold the corpse down beneath the flow. The nude, bloated body was dressed in a black bra and panties. Long brown hair streamed like water weeds. The water somewhat quenched the smell, but not entirely.

  Guessing by the bloated level of decomposition, Julie had been dead a week or so. That fit with the timeline they’d established. “May her killer be broken on the wheel of karma, frying in hell for eternity,” she cursed softly.

  Ginger, nosing around beside Sophie, lifted her head to sniff the air. She gave a loud bark and charged off again, yanking her leash so hard it tore the skin of Sophie’s palm. The dog galloped down the road, the leash bouncing off the pavement. Tank, excited by this new game, broke loose from Jake and ran after her.

  Sophie stood up. “Ginger!”

  Jake shook his head. “That dog is ridiculous.”

  “Not if she is finding another body,” Sophie said. “She seems to have a nose for cadavers.”

  Jake shot her a quick glance, and then squeezed her shoulder. “This happened long before we got here. We’re helping by finding them.”

  “Too little, too late. A good American saying,” Sophie muttered.

  “Go. Fetch those dogs. I will stay with the body until the detectives get here,” Jake said. “Call me if you find anything.”

  Sophie nodded, and jogged down the road.

  When she caught up with her dog, half a mile or so away, Ginger was down in the ditch, splashing, barking and digging at the grate of a culvert passing beneath the road as Tank looked on.

  Sophie caught her collar, and Tank’s, and pulled both dogs back and away from the ditch. She tied the animals to a nearby tree.

  She needed to see what was down there. There was a good chance something had washed down the ditch and come to rest against that grate, and the flowing water and overgrown bushes hid what it might be. She took off her shoes and socks, rolled up her yoga pants, and pushed down through the bushes toward the grate shielding the culvert.

  The pile of submerged human bones pressed against the metal by a flow of water was anticlimactic after the intense emotion of finding Julie’s body.

  Sophie got out her phone to try to call Jake or the detectives, but couldn’t get a signal.

  She climbed back out of the ditch, smoothing her muddy clothing and rinsing her scratched hands, and sat down with the dogs.

  Was the stream a dump site? It certainly seemed possible. Maybe they were about to solve some of the disappearances. But who was behind them? One serial killer, or some kind of crime ring?

  Julie had been dumped off by the couple who robbed her. Then she’d been attacked and stripped of her clothing. She had escaped, and been captured again. Was it the same couple doing all of it, or multiple perpetrators?

  No one had benefited from Julie’s death that Sophie could tell, at first glance at least. Her parents hadn’t paid a ransom; they’d never been contacted. Chernobiac had been fishing to extort but hadn’t implemented his scheme yet; and who were the people driving the black SUV that took Chernobiac’s cash?

  The unmarked SUV that Freitan and Wong drove sped by, a light flashing on the dash. Sophie continued to wait as the medical examiner’s van and a squad car soon followed.

  Finally, Jake jogged down the road toward her. Sophie rose and walked toward him, and he saw the answer on her face. He lifted a walkie-talkie they must’ve given him and said, “Sophie found something more.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Jake took his sweatshirt out of the Jeep and wrapped it around Sophie’s shoulders. She was hunched in on herself, clearly taking the girl’s death hard.

  Jake felt it too, a numbness in the extremities, a lead ball in his belly. They watched from a distance as Freitan and Wong directed the uniforms to secure the area and the ME, clad in rubber boots and a coverall, got down into the stream with the body.

  More vehicles arrived. Several police officers, dressed in waders, started down the narrow stream with poles in hand to probe for more remains.

  “This could be major,” Jake said.

  “Yes. There might be more bodies here.” Sophie’s phone dinged and she glanced at it. “Can you give me a ride back to town? I’m supposed to meet Dr. Wilson for a counseling appointment I set up yesterday.” She sighed. “I should have taken my own car.”

  “It’s no problem.” Jake really didn’t want her going off on her own without him. “Well, you’ll have even more to talk to her about today.”

  “Yes, unfortunately. I had planned to . . . do more research before I met with her. But I haven’t had time.”

  “It’s been nonstop, yeah. Hop in the Jeep. I’ll tell Freitan where she can reach us if she needs anything more.”

  Sophie nodded and headed toward the Jeep with the dogs.

  Freitan was conferring with the ME on the muddy creek bank as Jake walked over to the detective. “Hey. We have to go back to town for an appointment. Anything else we can do to assist?”

  “Nah. You two have done quite enough. Or I should say, that Lab has,” Freitan said. “She could be a cadaver dog! Was she trained or something?”

  “Not that anyone can tell,” Jake said. “She’s a rescue dog, and generally badly behaved.” He pointed to the waterlogged corpse as it was being lifted into a body bag. “That was our client. How would you like us to inform the parents?”

  “It’s a murder investigation, now. We will do the informing. Preferably in person. What you can do is get the parents over to the Big Island. Tell them there have been some developments and the police need to talk to them personally, ASAP. We’ll take it from there.” Freitan was abrupt but no longer condescending as she met Jake’s gaze squarely. For once, she wasn’t eying him like a steak at a barbeque.

  “Really appreciate your breaking this open.” Wong said. “Can we get the contact info
for the witness that tipped you to this location?”

  Jake scrolled through his phone to Mandig’s contact information and sent it via text over to Wong. “We’d like to keep helping however we can. And please let us know of any new developments—like if you find any more remains in this stream. Sophie’s really into solving some more of the missing persons cases.”

  “We’ll let you know,” Freitan said. “Stay close.”

  Jake headed back to the Jeep.

  Sophie was already seated inside, texting, but she put her phone away with a furtive gesture as soon as he arrived.

  Not good. He’d lay money that she was in touch with Alika right now. His mood darkened.

  “Just partners with benefits,” he muttered as he got in and slammed the door. “Not a bit fucking jealous.”

  “What did you say?” Sophie’s eyes had dark circles under them and her honey-brown skin had that gray cast it got when she was stressed. He checked the digital clock on the dash—it was two p.m. Time had flown when they weren’t having fun.

  “You need something to eat before I take you to Dr. Wilson,” Jake said. He turned on the Jeep and the engine roared in a satisfying way. “You look peaked.”

  “You are not my parent to worry about my eating habits. And what is peaked?”

  “No, definitely not your parent. Peaked is . . .” His mother had used that term when he was little. “A Midwestern thing. Means you seem weak. Sickly, I guess.” Jake pulled the vehicle off the shoulder, frustrated. “My mama thought food was the answer to every illness, and I like to see you eat. So, sue me.”

  “I see no purpose in suing you for such a silly thing.” Sophie petted his leg like he was one of the dogs. “Your mama was likely a wise woman to raise such a competent son.”

  “Is that a compliment?” Stupid as it was, her petting and praise perked him up. “I live for the crumbs of your positive regard.”