Stalked in Paradise

by Charley Marsh

  The tears were threatening again. Harriet pressed her palm against each eye and sniffed. What a lousy day. She wanted nothing more than to ball up in her favorite sweats and have a good cry. Only she couldn’t because her favorite sweats were nothing more than tatters. With a big hole in the ass.

  “You believed Lana? Knowing that she’s been chasing Alex ever since he arrived? Really, Harry, I thought you were smarter than that. She was just trying to manipulate you so you’d stay away from Alex. And apparently she succeeded.” Solly sounded disgusted.

  “At first I thought that too, but–how did she know about the kiss, Solly? She couldn’t have known unless someone told her. So Alex must have told her because I only told you about it and you wouldn’t say anything to anyone else, right?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, of course I wouldn’t tell anyone else.” Solly frowned. “It’s hard to believe that Alex would confide in Lana though. I had him pegged as more of a “go straight at ‘em” type of guy. If he didn’t like something he’d deal with it directly.”

  Harriet slumped back in the lounger. “I know, right? That’s what I thought. Imagine my surprise and embarrassment when Lana came to me today and told me I shouldn’t throw myself at him anymore because he didn’t like it. Then I come home to my cottage and find everything I own destroyed. Oh, Solly, my hippos.”

  This time she couldn’t stop the tears.

  Solly set down his wine and joined her on the lounger. Turning her toward him, he gathered her in his arms and held her while she cried. “Shhhh, honey, we’ll get to the bottom of this. We’ll get you a new wardrobe and start a new hippo family, I promise.”

  It took several minutes for Harriet to pull herself together. She rubbed her face on Solly’s tee shirt and pulled back. “Sorry. I couldn’t hold it in.”

  “No need to apologize. What’re a few tears between best friends?” He pulled his shirt away from his chest. “Well, maybe more than a few–my shirt is soaked.” As he hoped, that elicited a choked laugh. “I think I’ll change and finish making dinner. You need to eat, and while we eat we’ll discuss what to do.”

  Harriet sniffed and gave Solly a watery smile. “Thanks. What would I do without you?”

  “You’d manage. You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for, Harry. I’ll be in the kitchen. Come in when you’re ready. I’ll pull out something comfy for you to wear.”

  Back at the security office, Alex acknowledged Mary with a curt nod. The droid saluted and stood at attention, eyes focused straight ahead.

  “At ease, Mary. I have some work to attend to.”

  “Yes, sir.” She reclaimed her stool, prepared to wait all night for any guests who might request help. In the morning an identical Mary would take her place while she remained in standby mode.

  Alex thought whoever had named all of the security droids Mary should be fired. As soon as he had the time he intended to reprogram them to be a little less formal in manner and rename them.

  He keyed in the code for the wood-simulated double metal doors that protected his office, lab, and the interrogation room. It took him three angry strides to reach his office door, but it took him two tries to key in his security code and open the door.

  This wouldn’t do, he told himself as he called for his office lights. He had a killer loose on the island. He needed a cool, emotionless head to find him. He couldn’t let his attraction for Harriet get in the way of doing his job.

  He stood in the center of his office with the bagged knife and note in hand and forced himself to take several deep breaths.

  He liked Harriet. Liked her a lot if he was honest with himself–and Alex prided himself on always being honest with himself. There was the potential for more with Harriet–he felt strongly attracted to her. Unfortunately his feelings were muddling his thinking.

  He looked down at the knife, still stabbed through the note, and felt sick. At least he could eliminate Harriet from his list of suspects. She’d been at the office all day, and unless she’d destroyed her place before she left for work–no. He’d seen the glassy look of shock in her eyes. Harriet had not destroyed her own things.

  Alex stepped over to a door set in the righthand wall and placed his palm against a hidden plate. The lab door was difficult to see if you didn’t know it was there, its flat surface painted the same off-white as the rest of the office. Unless a person put their nose right up to the wall they’d never see the thin lines that showed the door’s shape.

  The palm plate lit a soft orange glow and requested his code. He recited it slowly and the orange glow flashed green. A moment later the door slid silently open. Alex stepped inside and the door slid closed behind him.

  The lab was small, with only room for one person to sit at the work station, but it was well lit and well equipped. Alex slid onto the single round, wheeled stool and lay the bagged knife on the workbench.

  He pulled on gloves and went to work. It only took a few short minutes to determine that there wasn’t a single print on either the note or the knife. The fact that the note had been computer generated and printed added to his frustration.

  Alex knew the knife was a filet knife commonly used by fisherman to gut and filet fish. There were dozens in the resort’s kitchens. At least that many more owned by employees. Fishing was a popular pasttime on the island.

  Frustrated, he pushed back from the workbench and stood. Maybe it was time to call in outside help. Four days had passed since the murder and he was no closer to finding the killer.

  He shut down the lights and closed the lab, tried to sit at his desk but sprang up again to pace his office, too restless to sit still.

  The big problem with trying to solve the murder was identifying the motive. The only person with a clear motive was Harriet and she wasn’t on the island when Bradley Higgins had been murdered.

  Solomon Ayers had the second strongest motive but Alex couldn’t see the head gardener killing for a friend, even one as close as he and Harriet appeared to be. His gut told him that Solomon was not a killer–although he’d seen enough murders to know that anybody could kill if driven to it.

  The other problem with hanging the murder on Solomon was that he had an alibi for the time of death–he’d been seen by at least three resort employees while Higgins was being strangled and hung in the specialty greenhouse.

  Alex strode to his desk and picked up the list of six employees with records. He needed to interview them as soon as possible. It was time to get their alibis for the time of the murder and the destruction of Harriet’s cottage.

  No, that wasn’t right. Frowning, Alex set the list down. The only things in the cottage that had been destroyed were Harriet’s personal belongings. The cottage itself had been left alone. Not even a glass had been broken. Nothing spilled or dumped like he would see with wanton vandalism.

  The attack on Harriet’s things had been personal and very, very angry. Out of control angry. Someone hated Bradley Higgins and Harriet Monroe. The realization chilled him. Was the perpetrator angry enough–hateful enough–to kill again?

  He was afraid the answer to that was yes.

  Chapter Twenty

  The following morning Harriet borrowed a pair of long khaki shorts and a man’s white shirt from Solly to wear to work. She rolled the shirt sleeves to her elbows and tucked in the tails, then found a belt to hold up the slightly too large shorts. Shaking her head at her image in the bathroom mirror, she pulled on her trainers and called it good.

  It was the best she could do under the circumstances.

  She would have to hunt up Cassie later and get the names of clothing shops on the mainland, she decided. She’d have to make the clothes shopping trip sooner than she’d planned but it couldn’t be helped. While she could get by wearing Solly’s clothes at home, she needed appropriate clothing for work.

  he shopping would wipe out her savings but if she focused on work outfits she could put off a shop to replenish everything until she had at banked at least two pa
ychecks.

  She still felt a little hollowed out from the previous night. Worried about her being alone, Solly had held off going to the greenhouse, hovering over Harriet until she finally pushed him out the door with a promise to call him as soon as she arrived at her office. She appreciated her friend’s concern but needed a little alone time to think.

  The walk to her office was pleasant. The sun sparkled on the aqua-blue water, birds sang in the trees, a large green and blue iguana with red eyes peered at her from a group of shrubs beside the road before withdrawing in silence.

  It looked like another glorious day in paradise. She resolved not to let some crazy person ruin that for her. The position of PR Director was the job of her dreams. No one was going to take it away from her–unless of course Mr. Wade personally sacked her for bringing trouble to the island.

  She pushed that depressing thought from her mind, breathed in the heady mix of salt air and fragrant flowers and smiled. A hot meal and a good night’s sleep on Solly’s couch had done wonders for her spirits. While not one hundred percent, she felt that she could face most anything today.

  Anything except maybe another murder.

  Don’t go there, she scolded herself. Focus on the day’s to-do list. Harriet had made lists for as long as she could remember, both mental and when she could afford to buy one, in her personal notebook. Lists helped her stay organized and gave her a sense of control over her life.

  More important, they gave her a way to keep score. It felt satisfying to cross an item off a list, to know that she had accomplished something she had set herself to do.

  “Harriet!”

  Harriet looked up from keying an idea into her notebook and realized she had reached the office building. Cassie stood out front, waiting for her.

  “Good morning, Cassie.” Harriet smiled as she slipped the notebook into the rucksack she carried instead of a handbag. “I was coming to see you later today.”

  Cassie held open the wooden door with its swirl of blue stained glass inserts and indicated that Harriet should enter first.

  “I heard what happened to your stuff,” she said, eyeing Harriet’s outfit. “It’s just terrible.”

  Harriet stopped walking. “You heard? How did you hear?”

  “I saw Lana on my way in and she told me.”

  Despite her promise to herself not to let Lana bother her, anger and hurt warred inside Harriet’s chest. Alex must not have wasted any time informing Lana last night. Which meant they’d been together. Not that she cared. And of course Lana had passed the gossip on. She wondered if everyone on the island knew about the destruction of her things.

  Cassie placed a hand on Harriet’s arm. “I know we aren’t anywhere near the same size, but I might have a few pieces you can borrow until you get the chance to shop.”

  Unexpected tears at the friendly offer pricked at Harriet’s eyes. She blinked them back and took Cassie’s hand, squeezing it gently.

  “Thank you, that’s very generous of you. That was one of the reasons I wanted to look you up later. I’m hoping you can give me the names of some decent clothing stores that won’t bankrupt me. I’m living on the last of my credits until payday.”

  “No problem. I’ll make a list of shops and addresses and have it ready for you by end of day. What was the other reason?”

  “What?”

  “You said that was one reason you wanted to see me later. What was the other reason?”

  “Right. Sorry. My brain seems to be a little frazzled still.” Let Cassie think the frazzle was all due to the attack on her belongings and nothing to do with Alex Hayes and Lana. The jerk.

  “I wanted to run some ad ideas by you. Albie took me to the amusement park day before yesterday and I’m thinking of creating an ad campaign that focuses exclusively on Braxton Holliday’s park. I thought we could run multiple series of ads focusing on different aspects of the resort, then maybe mix them up later.”

  Cassie’s eyes lit up. “I like it. Bring me what you have later today and I’ll see if I have anything useful to add to your ideas.”

  Cassie’s enthusiasm boosted Harriet’s confidence. She knew she had some good ideas, she just needed to get them organized and figure out the parts she wanted to video.

  “Good morning, Miss Montgomery, Miss Monroe. How are you ladies this beautiful morning?” The British droid looked smart in a pale beige suit with a blue shirt and tie.

  “Good morning, Jeeves,” Harriet answered. “I’m doing remarkably well, all things considered.” She wondered if even the droids had heard the gossip about her.

  “Could you please tell any visitors that I’m unavailable today? I need some uninterrupted alone time to get a project going.”

  “Yes, Miss Monroe, I certainly can.”

  Harriet started through the hall door after Cassie, then stopped and came back to the receptionist. “That includes Lana Tso, even if she’s bringing me lemonade,” she said in a whisper so Cassie wouldn’t overhear.

  “Very good, miss.” Jeeves winked at her. “Don’t you worry. You’ll get your privacy.”

  Harriet flashed the droid a smile and received one in return. She hurried after Cassie but the resort manager had already disappeared into her office. Harriet keyed herself into her own space, wished her parents’ holo a good day, and went right to work.

  She was sketching her vid ideas for the carousel ad when her office link buzzed.

  “What?” she answered, without bothering to see who it was. There was silence, then she heard someone clear their throat.

  “Is this Harriet?”

  “Yes, it’s–” Harriet looked at the link display. “Oh, Mr. Douglas, it’s you. I’m sorry. I have a tendency to get lost in my work. What can I do for you?”

  “I stopped by to see if you would have lunch with me, but Jeeves insists you are not to be disturbed. I had to remind him that humans need to eat and threaten to shut down his circuits if he didn’t let me at least call you. ”

  “Lunch?” Harriet frowned, then checked the time. It was well after the lunch hour and she suddenly felt famished. “I didn’t realize it was so late. I’d love to have lunch with you. Where should I meet you?”

  “I’m in the lobby. Why don’t we walk over to the employee canteen together and see what we can scrounge up?”

  “I’ll be there in two minutes.” Harriet cut the link and headed for her door. She looked down at Solly’s clothing and sighed. There was nothing she could do about her appearance. Hopefully Mr. Douglas would understand.

  As it turned out, Mr. Douglas not only understood, he had some great news for her.

  They sat at a small, round, bamboo table under the vine-covered lanai, away from the few employees still eating in the dining room. Harriet was enjoying a spicy rice and fish dish while Mr. Douglas ate a shrimp salad.

  She marveled at the way he made even casual resort wear look elegant on his tall, lean body. His thick, white hair was brushed back from his forehead and his blue shirt accentuated his pale blue eyes.

  “I heard about what happened to your possessions,” Mr. Douglas said after they had made a good dent in their meals. “I’m very sorry to hear that you’re being targeted.”

  So, even some of the guests had heard about her misfortune. Wonderful. Harriet gave a grim smile. “I’m sorry too, but I don’t know what I can do about it. Thank you for your concern though, Mr. Douglas.”

  “Please call me Payson. If we become friends, as I hope we will, calling me Mr. Douglas is going to become tedious very quickly.” He flashed a smile that lit his face.

  Harriet smiled back. “All right, Payson, but you must call me Harry as my friends do.”

  They made easy small talk while they finished their meals. Harriet found Payson Douglas an interesting, intelligent, relaxing companion and she enjoyed her time with him. She was about to push back from the table and make her excuses to return to work when Payson stopped her with a hand on her arm.

  “I talked to Douglas
Wade last night and told him what happened to your things. I hope you don’t mind, but it is his resort and he’s quite protective towards it and his employees. He was understandably upset and asked me to tell you that the resort will cover the cost of a new wardrobe and replace anything else that was destroyed.”

  Harriet’s mouth dropped opened. “Oh, that’s–” she shook her head. “That’s very generous of him, but I can’t accept. I don’t think that would be right. Mr. Wade isn’t the one who destroyed my things. He shouldn’t be the one who pays to replace them. Please thank him for me but I can’t let him do that.”

  Payson’s hand tightened on Harriet’s arm, keeping her in her chair.

  “Harry, Doug spends more on a single suit than he would on the cost of a wardrobe replacement for you. Accept the offer. If you don’t he might just take it upon himself to buy you new clothes and send them to you. This way you can buy what you prefer.”

  At her still-skeptical look he added, “Trust me. I know Doug. He won’t let this go until you accept.”

  Harriet patted Payson’s hand on her arm. “All right. If you’re sure. I won’t deny that I was wondering how to pay for a new wardrobe. I’m pretty much living on fumes until payday.”

  “I’ll call Douglas tonight and let him know. Shall I suggest that he simply transfer some credits into your account and you can draw on them as you need them?” Payson looked at her expectantly.

  Harriet smiled. “That would be wonderful. Please convey my gratitude to Mr. Wade and tell him I’ll return any credits I don’t spend.” What a huge relief. She would be able to replace her clothing as soon as the credits showed in her account.

  Harriet stood and dropped her napkin on her empty plate. “And thank you so much for taking me out for lunch. I would have worked all day without stopping if you hadn’t called.”