The Beachside Cafe (Saltwater Secrets Book 3)

by Sage Parker

  THE BEACHSIDE CAFE

  SALTWATER SECRETS BOOK 3

  SAGE PARKER

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  Copyright © 2020 by Sage Parker

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without prior written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

  The book is a work of fiction. The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  Books by Sage Parker

  About the Author

  ONE

  Jaymee Lent laid back, stretched out on the full-length deck chair, relishing in the warmth of the sun on her face. The motion of the boat rocked her gently. It was a sensation she never got tired of. Doug, her soon-to-be ex-husband, hadn’t wanted a boat but was willing to go on a cruise every other year, so Jaymee had taken it upon herself to go sailing whenever she felt like it, usually taking her daughter, Cheyenne, with her.

  Cheyenne wasn’t on this boat ride, though. Doug had been missing for a month now and Jaymee had decided to investigate his disappearance herself, with the help of Cameron Smith, an investor in Jaymee’s oceanside restaurant called Saltwater Café.

  Just before she left Grand Bay for her weekend mini-vacation with Cameron, Jaymee had signed the papers for her divorce. If Doug was ever found, she expected him to sign. She would divorce him whether he was found or not.

  In the last four weeks, Jaymee had discovered some things about her husband that made it impossible for her to remain married to him. Twenty-one years down the tubes.

  It hadn’t been a happy marriage at the end anyway. It was run-of-the-mill, a boring couple in their forties who had no interest in each other at all. She’d thought Doug was trying to rekindle something in their marriage when he told her his plan to buy a building for her to use for the oceanside café she’d dreamed of for so long.

  He’d gotten investors, one of which was Cameron Smith, and let her have free reign over everything, from design, to furniture, to appliances. It was all hers. She’d thought her life was perfect. A husband who wanted to fall in love again, her own dream business, a successful daughter… It had all seemed perfect.

  And then Doug disappeared. Cameron came into the picture, an investor and a private investigator. During their searches, they discovered Doug was not the upstanding character he made himself out to be. In fact, he was a blackmailer. He had six people on his blackmail list, five men and one woman.

  Cameron and Jaymee had eliminated one person from the list, Martin Granger, as a suspect in Doug’s disappearance. They discovered during their interview with him that he had an alibi. Their personal assessments of him were similar – he just wasn’t that kind of man.

  Cameron had surprised Jaymee Friday afternoon when he met her outside her lawyer’s office. He’d taken her there and waited in the deli across the road while she did her divorce stuff. He was more than happy to take her there and wait. It may have only been a month, but Cameron’s feelings for Jaymee had grown stronger every day until he felt he was hopelessly in love with her.

  And he hadn’t held back when telling her. He practically accosted her that day when she came out of the office. He’d bought a bouquet of brightly colored flowers – she’d expressed her admiration for them in the grocery store one day – and told her they’d been working too hard. He wanted a vacation. Just a weekend. And he wanted her to come with him.

  Of course she had to say yes. Who turned down vacations? Especially on a private mini-yacht?

  Jaymee smiled.

  It was Cameron’s boat and they were free to do whatever they wanted the whole weekend.

  She turned her head and shielded her eyes when she heard the door to the lower deck open and Cameron’s footsteps on the stairs. He emerged from the lower deck, a cocktail in each hand. He smiled wide, his perfect skin glowing, his white teeth flashing.

  “There you are,” he said. “I’ve brought you something cool and refreshing to drink. I call it the Sunset. You’ve got to try it.”

  He gave her a uniquely shaped glass containing an orange and red mixture with several squares of ice floating in it along with a cherry.

  “This looks delicious.” She lifted it up and scanned the colors as they mixed and floated inside. She got the sense there was orange juice involved in this drink. “It looks like a sunset, too, with the orange and red and yellow colors.”

  Cameron nodded. “Yep, that’s why I call it that. Go ahead and taste it.”

  She put the glass to her lips and took a sip. It was a delightful taste. She let it roll over her tongue and down her throat. She closed her eyes briefly and smiled. “Oh, this is delicious. I taste the orange juice. It’s so mild. But I can taste alcohol. What is it? Vodka? Rum?”

  Cameron’s grin remained as if permanent. The look of delight on his face pleased Jaymee. She loved seeing that look in his eyes, like he was overjoyed just seeing her, just being happy in her presence. It filled her heart to feel so loved. She really didn’t think Doug had ever looked at her like Cameron did. Not even when they were dating 21 years ago.

  “It’s Vodka. It’s basically a Screwdriver with a splash of grenadine and some ice.”

  Jaymee took another sip, once again enjoying the taste on her tongue. “I like it a lot. I think I’ll be drinking more of these.”

  Cameron nodded. “That’s great. I’m glad you like it.” He took a healthy swallow from his own glass. “I get teased by my guy friends over this drink, you know.”

  “Oh?” Jaymee lifted her eyebrows, letting her eyes drink in the deliciousness of his face the way her tongue did with the drink. “Why’s that?”

  “I developed it for my grandmother. I mean, when I was in my early twenties, I was dabbling in cocktail development. I was working as a bartender at a high-end restaurant and making bank. But I wanted my own signature drink. And my grandma used to help me try things out. This is a simple drink to make and easy to remember and it just has a little extra flavor to it. The grenadine kind of dampens down the hit of the OJ, right?”

  Jaymee thought about it for a few seconds and nodded. “Yes. You’re right.”

  “Because orange juice packs a pretty good punch, if you think about it,” Cameron continued. “And Screwdrivers were a bit strong for Grandma. So I threw in the grenadine one day and viola! My grandmother’s favorite drink until she died ten years ago.”

  “What a great story!” Jaymee said, giving him a warm smile. “You were close to your grandmother?”

  Cameron was already seated on a deck chair next to Jaymee’s. He nodded as he turned to stretch his long legs over the bottom half of the chair. She couldn’t help running her eyes down his body, noticing how in shape h
e was. Her insides twisted with desire. She looked back up to his face, hoping she wasn’t blushing furiously.

  If she was, he didn’t notice or say anything. He took another swallow from his glass and said, “I was. I loved Granny. She was the best. She took care of me when my mom and dad were on business trips and vacations alone. We had the best times together. It was a shame when I lost her but the woman was, like, a hundred, so it was no surprise.”

  Jaymee was taking a drink when he said that and almost choked, sitting forward and holding one hand under her mouth in case anything came out. She turned her head to look at him, her eyebrows raised.

  He laughed softly. “You okay? She wasn’t really a hundred, Jaymee. I don’t know how old she was. She was old. Real old.”

  Jaymee swallowed the rest of the drink in her mouth and let out a laugh of her own. “I don’t know why that struck me as so funny, Cam. I pictured you with a little, tiny, ancient woman drinking vodka cocktails. So funny!”

  Cameron just shook his head, the loving look on his face warming Jaymee’s heart.

  TWO

  Jaymee held her purse on her lap, sitting on the very edge of the chair. She expected her lawyer, Noah Elliott, would call her into his office at any moment. He was almost always on time, rarely leaving his clients waiting outside for long.

  When his secretary, Samantha, nodded at her, she stood up and went in Noah’s office, opening the door silently and stepping through. Every time she came in his office, she felt like she was walking into the lap of luxury. Noah was very successful and his office décor spoke that in volumes. Jaymee had never used his private bathroom but she was willing to bet there were gold handles on the sink, and the toilet, too.

  She’d admired Noah’s work when friends got divorced over the years. He was tough but fair and wouldn’t let injustice stand. She’d personally seen him decimate an opposing witness on the stand who was trying to use the children as leverage, as pawns in a cruel game. He was a good man who just happened to be a lawyer.

  She’d only been in Noah’s office a few times over the years, acting as a witness in a deposition for friends and small businesses she supported. In the last week, she’d been to see Noah three times. This was the third time. She’d decided to scan the wall of pictures, which she hadn’t had a chance to do before.

  The left wall in Noah’s office was covered about three quarters of the way from the bottom to the top with pictures of Noah’s past accomplishments, celebrities and figures of notoriety he’d had the pleasure of meeting, and news clippings of big wins for him and his firm.

  Cheyenne was an assistant at the firm and worked with the various lawyers, Noah’s colleagues. It was because of Jaymee’s admiration for Noah that Cheyenne had taken an interest in law to begin with. She’d heard Jaymee saying over the years that the industry needed a complete overhaul to get rid of corrupt, greedy ambulance chasers. Noah was one of the good ones and, without her mother’s knowledge, Cheyenne had taken up studying law before she was even out of high school.

  Noah was seated behind his desk, his head down as he scanned the paper in front of him. He glanced up when she came in and watched her go to the wall.

  “Good morning, Jaymee,” he said, his strong voice booming across the room. She turned her head and smiled at him.

  “Good morning, Noah. How are you doing?”

  “I never complain,” Noah replied with a smile. “You look stunning after your vacation. How are you feeling? Cameron doing good?”

  Jaymee nodded, her eyes straying back to the pictures. She was very interested in seeing who Noah had shaken hands with in the past. That was often a reflection of what kind of values a person has. Certain celebrities and people of authority turn the stomach, while others lift up the spirits.

  She was halfway down the wall when one of the pictures caught her eye. It wasn’t really the picture that caught her eye. It was the caption underneath.

  E-Commerce Conference with Dylan Lianetti

  There was a picture of Noah, shaking hands with another man, both of them facing the camera and smiling into it. Noah’s hand was up on Dylan’s back. They were dressed professionally and Jaymee didn’t detect friendship in the smile or the grip they had on each other’s hands.

  It was the name that struck her. She was certain it was one of the names on the blackmail list.

  Her heart raced briefly. She glanced back at Noah, who seemed to be busy finishing something up. He was probably grateful she was distracted by the pictures. She prayed he wasn’t involved in the situation. But she had to find out.

  She tapped the picture with her fingers. “When was this?” she asked.

  Noah looked up and focused on the picture, narrowing his eyes. “Uh… I guess about five years ago? Might have been more. We went to law school together. Drifted apart after, though. He went in a different direction than I did.”

  Jaymee stared at the picture, taking in Dylan’s face closely. “What does that mean?”

  Noah sat back, lifting his reading glasses till they were on top of his head, pushing his salt and pepper hair up. He squeezed his eyes shut, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and fingers. “Oh, he started covering for big corporations that were screwing their employees, investors, shareholders, stuff like that. Basically, he became a mob lawyer. Not for the real mob, you understand, but clients like that. Dylan defends the kind of people who steal other people’s research for profit. I don’t like that kind of work and I don’t like the lawyers that defend them and their lawless acts.”

  The IDL came to Jaymee’s mind. The Intersectional Dynamics Laboratories had come into the spotlight when Jaymee and Cameron found information about IDL on Doug’s laptop after he went missing. They were tied to the vial of poison Jaymee had found under the dresser the day Doug disappeared and a second vial found on two brothers who vandalized Jaymee’s café.

  They had yet to put the pieces together but Jaymee felt they were progressing nicely. Everything seemed to be pointing to IDL. Doug worked there for years but had left the company roughly five years ago.

  Jaymee turned away from the picture and moved to the chair on the other side of Noah’s desk. He sat forward, clasping his hands together. “Why the sudden interest? You know him?”

  “I think he’s tied to Doug’s disappearance actually,” Jaymee replied bluntly.

  She had Noah’s full attention. “Really? How?”

  Jaymee considered whether she should tell the lawyer what Doug had been up to. After a few moments, she decided it was best not to mention the details. They needed to get through their investigation without hinderances that a lawyer – even a good one like Noah – might present.

  “He used to work with Doug. Dylan Lianetti. We found his name in the files on Doug’s computer. Him with a few other clients that Doug might have been screwing over. People who have a reason to harm Doug.”

  Noah looked fascinated. “Really. Wow. I never would have guessed. Doug didn’t seem like the corrupt type to me.”

  Jaymee scoffed, shaking her head. “Me neither. Unfortunately, he had us both fooled.” She felt like a fool, too. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

  “Don’t blame yourself for believing in the man,” Noah said. “I’m sure he had good qualities. You wouldn’t have married him if he didn’t. And I can assure you, you’re a fine judge of character. You’re smart. He was just a really good liar and you really loved him.”

  Jaymee nodded, giving him a reluctant look. “Yes. I really did.”

  Twenty minutes later, Jaymee was leaving Noah’s office, her cell phone pressed up against her ear, murmuring for Cameron to pick up. When he did, she launched into the information she’d just found out.

  “What do you want to do?” Cameron asked.

  “Meet me at the café on 9th and Jamison. We can think of a plan there.”

  She hung up and moved quickly down the street, dropping her phone in her purse. She was within walking distance from the café and was there te
n minutes before Cameron.

  Jaymee’s impatience made her irritable and she fumed that he was taking so long. But the moment she saw his Jeep pull up to the curb, she felt better. She was anxious for him to get inside so they could brainstorm. She’d already thought of something and wanted to put it past him.

  She met him at the door, practically hopping on her toes. “Cameron! Come on. I think I know what to do. Or at least, maybe we could try… come on, sit down.”

  Cameron chuckled, giving her an amused look that made her heart do flips in her chest. She pushed away the feeling of attraction, tapping the table in between them.

  “So I was thinking that since we know Dylan Lianetti works for IDL, I should set up an appointment with him.”

  Cameron frowned. “What are you talking about? Why would you need to talk to him? And why would he bother to talk to you?”

  Jaymee pulled her eyebrows together. “Are you questioning my investigative skills?”

  Cameron blinked rapidly, his face relaxing into an amused look that made Jaymee’s heart skip a beat. “You have investigative skills?”

  Jaymee gasped and slapped playfully at his arm. “Pay attention, please. This is not a joke. I am getting a divorce. I might not be exactly pleased with Noah’s services. I want to check out this Dylan. And if he gives off the right vibe, I’ll let him know I am Doug’s wife and see how he reacts to that information.”

  Cameron nodded. “That’s all well and good. But you’re not going anywhere without me, least of all to the office of a man who might be an abductor, a mad scientist, a killer or all three.”

  THREE