by Lyndsey Cole
Samantha pointed to the end of the article. “See here? It’s not too surprising that he’s involved with the big fundraiser for the Hook’s Harbor Garden Tour. That must be a lavish affair and maybe a way to find out more about this family.”
Hannah’s phone buzzed with a message from Cal, The wine guy is finally gone, want some company?
“What’s the frown for?” Samantha asked.
Hannah rolled her eyes. “Cal. I’m annoyed with him.” She ignored the text message and threw her phone onto the coffee table. She stretched her arms over her head and twisted her back until her spine cracked back into place.
“I’m not leaving until you give me the details, my dear.” Samantha raised an eyebrow, tilted her head, and pasted a mischievous grin on her face. “You’d better treat that handsome heart throb right before someone snatches him right out from under your nose.”
“It’s not anything big but I was so looking forward to just the two of us having a quiet dinner together…”
“And?”
“And a loud obnoxious boat neighbor butted in on our dinner. Mr. I-Own-a-Winery didn’t even wait for an invitation but plunked down and started to eat Cal’s veggie flatbread.”
“Ooh, tell me more. How old is he?” Samantha sat forward. She primped her silver curls as if she expected him to walk through the door any minute.
“Old enough to know better and a little younger than you, but by the flushed look on your face, I don’t think his age will stop you from hitting him with all your charm.” Hannah laughed.
“I’ll have to visit Cal’s boat and see if I can accidentally bump into Mr. Winery. Does he have another name?”
“Blake McVee. Even you will need some luck getting a word in edgewise with that nonstop talker.”
Samantha stood and stretched her petite frame to its full five feet two inches. “I know exactly how to handle a motor mouth. Tomorrow, I’ll keep an eye on Dwayne Dunn—assuming he shows up—and then I cozy up to Mr. Blake McVee. By the way, when is your cottage going to be done so I can move into this one?”
“Cal’s starting tomorrow, bright and early, but he hasn’t given me a move in date yet. You’ll have to be patient for a while longer.” Hannah smirked. “Or maybe you can share Mr. Winery’s boat.”
“That’s the best idea I’ve heard in a long time. Maybe he’ll take sympathy on an old homeless lady needing a bit of help.” Samantha slouched and leaned on the back of the chair. She did manage to look the part of an elderly woman in need of something, Hannah thought with a smile on her face.
Samantha shouldered her large canvas tote and patted Patches on her way to the door. “Aren’t you going to take a peek inside Dwayne’s backpack?”
“I haven’t been tempted.”
They both stared at the new bag. Patches rolled onto his side and Samantha picked up the backpack. “I don’t believe that for one second. Here. I’m curious even if you’re not.”
“I don’t know.” Hannah wavered. “It’s everything the guy owns. It seems too invasive and probably will make me feel even sorrier for him when all I find is some holey socks and torn boxers.”
Samantha pushed the bag into Hannah’s arms. “On the other hand, it might give you some more insight into what he’s really about. It weighs a ton. Maybe it’s full of illegal drugs or a stolen computer.”
Hannah sighed. “Or rocks. You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
Samantha shook her head.
Hannah sat down and, with a thud, she dropped the backpack on the coffee table in front of her. She slowly pulled the zipper to open the biggest compartment in the backpack. As she looked inside, a wave of surprise rushed from her eyes to the rest of her face. She pulled the bag open further and leaned closer to the opening.
“What’s in there?” Samantha asked as she leaned over Hannah’s shoulder to look for herself. “Money?” she gasped.
“Money,” Hannah confirmed as the feeling of cold fingers clutched her heart. “The last thing I ever expected to see.” She pushed her hand into the bag. “And there’s a lot of it. Where did it come from?”
Her voice was barely a whisper. All the warnings from Meg and Cal looped through her brain. She looked at Patches, asleep on her floor.
“Where is Dwayne?”
4
Morning dawned with a thick fog blanketing Hooks Harbor. Hannah was in desperate need of some of Jack’s delicious strong coffee to jump start her day. She also planned to pick his brain for more details about Dwayne Dunn. Her fitful night after Samantha left was filled with one bad dream after another as her sleeping brain continued to speculate about the origin of the money in Dwayne’s backpack.
She pulled on her favorite faded jeans, her I’d Rather Be A Mermaid t-shirt, flip-flops, and called the two dogs as she headed out the door of her cottage.
The short way to Jack’s house was only down the road but she detoured onto the beach so the dogs could chase the seagulls and she could try to clear a few of the cobwebs from her sleep-deprived brain. She grimaced when she saw a figure approaching.
“Well, hello there. Shame that you had to run out so fast last night. Cal and I had a grand old time. We even polished off another bottle of my excellent wine.”
Loud and boastful. Good thing Hannah hadn’t responded to Cal’s text since he was in no condition to drive after drinking with Blake.
“How long have you lived in this beautiful spot? I suppose that’s none of my business.” Blake laughed after Hannah failed to respond. “I think Cal was a bit upset when you disappeared so quickly. Hope I didn’t have anything to do with that.” Another laugh erupted before his babble turned into background noise.
She tuned out his chatter as she tried to enjoy a few more moments of peace. How was she going to get rid of this annoying blowhard?
His last comment jerked her back to the moment. “Who did you see last night?”
“That guy with the beagle, but his dog wasn’t with him.”
Hannah pointed at Patches. “That dog?”
“Yeah, that’s the dog, but the guy was at the marina without his dog. He was hanging around like he was waiting for someone. Or getting ready to steal something.”
Hannah ignored his suspicion. “When was that?”
“Oh,” Blake bobbed his head back and forth, “probably around nine. It was after you left. Why all the questions?”
“Probably nothing, but…yeah, probably nothing.” Hannah almost mentioned Dwayne’s backpack but decided it was none of Mr. Winery’s business what Dwayne had done. She felt a little protective of him, even with the nagging suspicion that something wasn’t right.
“Well, I locked up my boat good and tight and I’m wondering if you have a vacancy at one of your cottages. Cal told me you have the loveliest spot on the beach with a beautiful ocean view. The marina is okay but there’s too much coming and going and I’ve decided a quiet cottage would be nicer.”
“As a matter of fact, I do have one cottage that’s available. No one is in the office at the moment, though, but if you come back later in the morning, Samantha Featherstone can get you all sorted out,” Hannah said as she forced her face to stay serious. Samantha could thank her later for this stroke of luck meeting Mr. Winery.
“I’ve always fancied the name Samantha. It makes me imagine a beautiful goddess. Does she work for you?”
Hannah covered her laugh with a fake cough at the word goddess connected with Samantha. As interesting as Samantha was, goddess did not go with her personality.
“She helps out occasionally.” Hannah felt no need to share Samantha’s background of being a pretend private investigator with this guy. The ‘beautiful goddess’ could share what she wanted if she got the chance.
And something told Hannah that, one way or another, Samantha would manipulate the conversation to make sure that chance fell in her lap.
Hannah moved away from Blake toward the well-worn path to Jack’s house. She’d have to hustle now to get h
er coffee and still have a few minutes to chat with Jack before her responsibilities kicked in. Meg would be prepping at The Fishy Dish, Cal would be working on her new cottage, and, hopefully, Dwayne would be back for his first day on the job.
She knocked on Jack’s door, but with his fire alarm screeching, she decided to let herself in without waiting for an invitation. The scent of Jack’s typical breakfast hit Hannah’s nose—burnt toast, fried eggs, and coffee. She pulled the smoke alarm off the ceiling. “You really should disconnect this before you start to cook,” she suggested when she found him bent over his stove.
“Who asked you, anyway? Maybe I like that noise.”
Hannah didn’t take Jack’s brusque attitude personally. She knew he was a marshmallow on the inside.
Jack slid his eggs onto his plate, and before he turned around, he set an extra mug on the counter. “Help yourself to coffee, I’m guessing that’s what you’re here for?”
Hannah poured her coffee and added a splash of cream, no sugar. “Yup, coffee and a chat.”
“A chat about why Dwayne’s beagle is sitting here with you and Nellie?” Jack asked between bites of his toast. His eyes never left Hannah’s face as he waited for an explanation.
“Oh, you noticed,” Hannah said. “I thought you were too preoccupied with your food.” She sipped her coffee. “I don’t know what you do, but your coffee is the best.”
“Yeah, well, these eggs are awesome, too. But quit beating around the bush and tell me what’s going on. Did Dwayne give you a sob story and dump his dog on his way out of town? Finally?”
Hannah put her elbows on the table and nestled her chin on her entwined fingers. “Nothing like that. I don’t know where Dwayne is but I’m hoping he’ll be waiting to start his new job when I get back to my office.”
“Don’t hold your breath. I think everyone has already told you he’s unreliable.”
“Yes, everyone did tell me that.” She rubbed the end of her braid. “But, if he did leave, it doesn’t explain why he left a backpack full of money next to Patches. Maybe leave Patches, but why the money?”
Crumbs sprayed from Jack’s mouth. “What are you talking about? Where would Dwayne Dunn get cash? It has to be stolen.”
Hannah shook her head. She sipped her coffee while she considered her next comment. “Something doesn’t add up. If he stole the money, why leave it behind? And I got the impression that Dwayne cared more about Patches than he cared about himself. He wouldn’t abandon that dog on purpose.”
Jack carried his dishes to the sink. “Was there anything else in his backpack?”
“I didn’t tear it apart after the shock of seeing all the money. I suppose, if he doesn’t show up this morning, I’ll look for more clues inside.”
“Let’s go. I want to see the bag of money for myself.” Jack headed to the door without a backward glance.
Hannah quickly finished her coffee and rinsed her cup. She had to jog to catch up to Jack’s quick pace, with the two dogs hot on her heels. Even for all of Jack’s talk of how old he was, he was as nimble as a much younger man.
Hannah sighed with relief when she spied Meg’s puke green truck parked in the parking lot of The Fishy Dish. Her vehicles were less than reliable, which gave Hannah daily heartburn as to whether Meg would arrive for work on time or not.
At least one thing was on track for the start of Hannah’s day.
Another car caught her eye—a shiny black Porsche was snuggled next to Samantha’s royal blue Mini Cooper and dwarfed by Meg’s truck. That could only belong to one person Hannah decided, Mr. Blake Winery McVee.
He must have been serious about renting a cottage for his visit to Hooks Harbor. As much as Hannah needed her rental cottages to be filled at all times, she had a stinking suspicion that Mr. McVee would be more trouble than his money was worth.
It made her wonder for the umpteenth time how her Great Aunt Caroline handled obnoxious guests with kindness. Or maybe she didn’t.
“Hannah, where have you been?” Samantha asked when she entered the office. She fiddled with her hair like a teenager and lowered her voice. “Mr. Winery just checked into Cottage Three. You didn’t tell me how handsome he is.” She reached out and touched Hannah’s arm. “And guess what? He asked me if I would like to see his boat. I feel like I’m sixteen again.”
“Get a grip, Samantha,” Jack said as he followed Hannah inside. “You’ve already got a nickname for Hannah’s guest?”
Samantha put her hands on her hips. “For your information, Mr. Winery is the nickname Hannah gave him. They’ve already met.”
Jack flapped both hands as if he was trying to push this nonsense out of his way. “Where’s the backpack? That’s what I’m interested in.”
“Wait a minute, Jack.” Hannah turned back toward Samantha. “Is Dwayne here yet?” She could hear the hopeful tone in her own voice but the expression on Samantha’s face told her what she didn’t want to hear.
“No sighting of your mystery employee. How’s Patches doing?”
At the sound of his name, the tip of Patches’s tail wiggled but he looked up at the three people staring at him with his big brown sad eyes.
“He acts like he’s treading water,” Hannah said. She looked through the window toward the foundation of her new cottage. “It’s too quiet here. Where’s Cal?”
“I’ve been busy with getting Blake settled.” Samantha bobbed her shoulders up and down. “I don’t know. Did he leave you a message that he’d be late or something?”
Hannah checked her phone. The last message from Cal was what he left the night before, which, at the time, she chose to ignore. Now she regretted that choice.
What a silly thing to be upset about. He couldn’t help how Blake pushed himself into their dinner for two without being completely rude, and that wasn’t Cal’s style. Which was one of the many things Hannah liked about him.
“I’ll be right back. You two have everything under control for now?” Hannah asked.
Samantha and Jack nodded.
“Where are you going?” Jack asked to Hannah’s retreating back.
He didn’t get an answer.
As Hannah drove to the marina, she planned her apology to Cal for her behavior the night before. She’d blame it on being overtired, which was true-ish.
She marched down the dock toward his boat as a weight lifted off her shoulders. She was happy to be taking action on one part of her life that she could control. Her relationship with Cal meant a lot to her and she couldn’t act like a spurned teen any time she didn’t get exactly what she wanted.
When she got to his slip and there was no Seas the Day tied where it should be, the weight came crashing back down. Cal’s spot was empty.
Except for a floppy hat bobbing on the choppy waves.
Hannah’s chest tightened. Her thoughts froze. She backed away and was ready to flee to her car until instinct told her to fish the hat out of the water. If it was Dwayne’s hat, she didn’t want it to be connected to Cal in any way, shape, or form.
She searched the dock for something long enough to reach into the water with, to retrieve the floating hat. Nothing. Her heart began to race.
“Hey, aren’t I lucky this morning to bump into you twice already? I had to come back to grab a couple of things.” Blake’s loud voice boomed behind Hannah. “I checked into your cottage and met the goddess, Samantha. She acted giddy when I invited her to go out on my boat. I hope she’s not disappointed when my wife shows up. Another reason I decided to rent one of your cottages. Tiffany doesn’t like my boat. At all.”
Hannah quickly pulled herself together, hoping the concern about the hat was gone from her face. She didn’t want a protracted conversation or any probing questions from Mr. Winery.
“You’re kind of late if you’re looking for your friend, Cal. I heard him leave early this morning; before I saw you on the beach. He seemed to be in a hurry.” Blake looked at the empty boat slip and pointed to the hat. “Is that Cal’s?�
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“As a matter of fact, I was looking for something to fish it out with. He’d hate to lose it.” There was no way Blake would know that Cal wouldn’t be caught dead in a floppy hat, but it was easiest to agree with his assumption.
“Hold on, I’ve got just the item to snag it out. Be right back.”
Hannah watched Blake disappear into his boat and reappear with a long pole. As he got closer, she saw it had a sharp spear at one end. He leaned over the water and caught the hat effortlessly. With a flick of his wrist, he dropped the dripping hat at Hannah’s feet.
“There you go.” Blake chuckled, picked up his small bag, and walked off the dock.
Hannah called Cal’s phone. Her call went straight to voicemail.
Where was he? Was he ignoring her just the way she ignored him last night? Why did he leave?
She knew he liked to go fishing in the morning but he should be back and working on her cottage by now. Plus, the fog was as thick as a wool blanket earlier, which usually kept him on land.
With a last scan of the horizon, which turned up nothing new, she finally returned to her car. She tossed the soggy hat into the backseat of her car.
Her sense of dread changed to anger as she wondered what Cal knew about Dwayne.
Hannah drove as fast as she dared, back to her office and Dwayne’s backpack.
5
Hannah’s car screeched to a stop with a scattering of gravel. She made a beeline to her office, her feet barely touching the ground as she ran.
“What happened to you?” Jack asked as she entered her office. “Your face is as white as the foam on the surf.”
Nellie leaned against Hannah which brought a tiny bit of comfort to her worried thoughts. “Cal’s boat is gone.”
Samantha and Jack exchanged concerned looks but said nothing. They followed Hannah through the door connecting her office to her apartment in the other half of Cottage One.
