“It’s an address,” Alexandra said.
Maggie pulled her phone from her pocket and typed the address into Google. She scrolled down a few screens. “This is weird,” she said.
“What is it?”
“It’s that hotel project deal that Britney’s friend went to jail for.”
“Really?”
Alexandra left the bench to stand behind Maggie and better see what she was seeing.
“There’s a whole article here saying some of the investors who were ripped off were from Brazil.”
“Oh,” Alex said, “shit.”
Maggie stopped reading and looked at Alex.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Alex stepped back, obviously deep in thought, and obviously bothered with the finding.
“You know something about this, don’t you, Alex?”
Alex remained silent. Maggie couldn’t read her. She decided not to push it.
“Let’s go get a drink,” Maggie suggested.
“Good idea. But I need to run home for a minute. I’ll be right behind you.”
Maggie didn’t have an opportunity to respond. Alex had already turned back toward the rear door.
Chapter 5
House Cabernet
The club bar was unusually quiet for this time in the afternoon. The summer weather often had that effect on the full-time residents who chose to stay home rather than face the torrential rain. The sounds of ’70s rock welcomed Maggie as she entered the side door, looking a bit frazzled but ready for a drink. The music was an improvement from the elevator music that used to play throughout the clubhouse when Maggie had first joined the club.
Maggie took her usual seat at the end of the bar. “Where are the guys?” she asked Fonzie.
Fonzie wiped a wine glass before he set the glass in front of her then filled it with the house Cabernet.
“They’re in the locker room playing cards,” he said.
“The locker room?”
“Apparently the gentlemen in the men’s card room complained that ‘our guys’ were too loud. So the party moved into the locker room.”
Maggie stared hard at Fonzie. “Seriously?”
“They removed a bank of lockers, moved some benches and set up a table; they even installed a phone so they can just call when they need a drink.” He pointed to the wall phone behind the bar.
“I’m surprised the board approved that,” Maggie said.
“Well, that’s a whole other issue,” Fonzie said, rolling his eyes.
“What’s an issue?” Alex asked. She sat down on the bar stool next to Maggie.
Maggie pointed to the empty round table in the corner. “The guys,” she said.
Fonzie silently placed a glass in front of Alex. “Cabernet?”
Alex smiled to him. “No, I think I’ll have a sauvignon blanc.”
Fonzie quickly moved the wider wine glass aside and replaced it with a white wine glass. He pulled the bottle from the cooler below the bar and poured a generous glass.
“Thank you, sweetie,” Alex said. She lifted her glass to Maggie. “Cheers.”
“Cheers.” They each took a sip from their glass. “That was a quick trip home.”
“I changed my mind,” Alex said with the same unreadable face.
“I am so confused,” Maggie said.
“Where’s Britney?” Alex asked, changing the subject.
“I just got a text. She had an appointment on the island,” Maggie said. “She’ll be here soon.”
“I wonder if it’s the Breakers Hotel? I love the Breakers,” Alex said.
“Who doesn’t?”
“So where are the guys?” Alex pointed to the table in the corner.
“You’re not going to believe this. They’re in the men’s locker room, playing cards.”
Maggie scoffed. “What? Why?”
“The old fuddy-duddies in the card room complained that they were too loud, so they modified the men’s locker room, turning it into a private card area just for the guys.”
“Of course they did. Lord help us if we have a little fun around this place.”
Maggie smiled. “No fun allowed.”
Alex nodded then took a sip of her sauvignon blanc. Then she set the glass down and turned to Fonzie. “Can I get a chicken salad for lunch?”
“Of course,” the bartender said. “Anything else?” He walked over to the computer and touched the screen a few times, shaking his head.
“Nope, that’s it.”
“Lunch?” he asked Maggie.
“No thanks, Fonz. I’m trying to lose a few pounds.”
As the two women continued chatting, the wall phone rang. Fonzie picked it up before the second ring. He made a few notes in a small notebook.
Maggie’s phone chimed, indicating a text. She picked it up to check the message. “Britney’s here,” she said.
Fonzie was busy making a tray full of drinks he had set on the bar just as Britney walked in through the dining room. She kissed Maggie on each cheek. Then she kissed Alexandra on each cheek too. Finally she sat on the stool on the other side of Maggie.
“What’s up, ladies?”
“Not much,” Alex said. “I can’t stay too long. Nail appointment.”
Britney held up her hand, showing off her Tiffany-blue fingernails. “I need to make one.” The next moment she noticed Fonzie coming out from behind the bar with a tray of drinks.
“Where you going with those drinks?” Britney asked, looking around.
“The men’s locker room,” Fonzie said.
“The men’s locker room?”
“The guys got kicked out of the card room for being loud.” Maggie explained.
“You have got to be kidding.”
Both Maggie and Alex shook their heads.
Britney set her purse on top of the bar, but instead of remaining in her seat she stood and followed Fonzie.
“Let me help you with the door,” she said, smiling wide.
Watching Britney from the bar, Maggie and Alexandra just looked at each other.
A few minutes later, Fonzie and Britney came back, chatting.
“Oh, you girls are not going to believe this…”
“What?” they said, again in unison.
“They have a whole set up in there,” Britney said. “It’s great.”
“You went in the men’s locker room?” Maggie asked.
Britney shrugged. “Who was going to stop me?”
“That’s true,” Maggie said “But they’re usually in here eating lunch by now.”
“They got a late start. They had to wait for the rained-out golfers to clear out,” she said.
Maggie shook her head. “That’s crazy,” she said.
“That isn’t anything. Try taking a cookie out of the women’s card room,” Alex said.
They all laughed.
“I have an idea,” Maggie said.
“Bring it,” Britney replied.
“Let’s finish the list of suspects we started in the limo the other day.” Maggie pulled out her phone, swiping until she came to the list. “I only have Rodney and Alan,” she said.
Britney dug around in her new oversized Louis Vuitton and pulled out a small notebook. “We need to do an Agatha Christie and get all the suspects in the same room.”
“How are we going to do that?” Alex asked.
“A dinner party,” Maggie said.
Both Maggie and Britney looked at Alex with wide smiles.
“You know we don’t cook,” Britney said.
“You do have the biggest house,” Maggie replied.
“Come on, Alex…” Britney said. “We’ll pitch in.”
“You don’t have to convince me.” Alex winked at her friends. “I’m the hostess with the mostess.”
“So…who’s coming to dinner?”
“So, we have Rodney, of course,” Britney said. “I mean he was there when it happened. Maybe he was so drunk he thought he was aimin
g at the tree and instead he hit Marco.”
“You would have to be pretty drunk to shoot a guy and then fall asleep,” Alex observed.
“Who else?” Maggie asked.
“Doc,” Britney said.
“Why Doc?”
“There’s definitely something going on between them. I was at O’Malley’s last week and they were sitting at opposite sides of the bar and never even acknowledged each other.”
“I actually thought they were good friends,” Maggie said.
“Friends is a good word for it,” Britney acknowledged. “…Or you could describe it more like a drug dealer–customer kind of relationship.”
“I thought Doc wasn’t dealing anymore?” Alexandra said.
“Maybe he owes him money or something; but whenever they’re in the same room, they avoid each other like the plague,” Britney said.
“Okay, definitely add him. Who else?” Maggie asked.
“How about his sister, Angie?” Britney said. “She did find the body.”
“Probably an unlikely suspect,” Maggie noted, “but you know what they say: usually murders are committed by someone close to the victim.”
Alex shook her head. “I doubt she would show, her brother just died.”
“Yeah,” Maggie agreed. “But did you know she moved in with Wendy, Marco’s ex-girlfriend?”
“That’s weird. I didn’t even know they knew each other,” Britney said.
Alexandra smiled. “Let’s add Wendy to the list.”
“Definitely. She’s a good one.” ” Britney wrote it down.
“There has to be more to that story than we know,” Maggie noted.
“Do you think he really sexually harassed her?”
“Of course…I believe it,” Alex said. “Marco thinks he’s God’s gift to women. He would never take no for an answer.”
“Thought…” Maggie said. “Past tense.”
“Wendy was my favorite golf pro,” Maggie said, “I was sad when she left. We actually became friends and hung out.”
“She was my favorite too,” Britney said. “Can you think of anyone else?”
“That’s it,” Maggie said.
“We need at least one more. The table seats eight, it won’t look right if we have an empty chair,” Alex noted.
Maggie thought for a moment. “Who else would be a good suspect?”
They sat quietly for a few minutes.
“Alan?” Britney asked. “The president of the board?”
“Definitely, he is one of our suspects.” Maggie nodded to Alex. “Write him down.”
“This is going to be so good,” Britney said.
Alex turned to more practical matters. “Eight people is a lot…who can we get to help out?”
“I can ask my housekeeper,” Maggie suggested. “She does this kind of thing sometimes.”
“Fonzie,” Alex called out, “do you know anyone who would be willing to work a party? Basically, they would just help serve food, pour drinks, and get the dishes in the dishwasher.”
Fonzie raised his hand as though answering a question in grade school. “I’ll do it,” he said.
“Really? That would be great,” she said, “are you available next Friday?”
“I’ll be there.” He nodded.
Just then the guys came through the locker room door, carrying their empty glasses. Fonzie immediately started lining up glasses, preparing fresh drinks.
“Ladies.”
Each of the six men repeated the one-word salutation as they walked past Alex, Maggie, and Britney, kissing each of the three women on their cheeks before sitting at the large round table near the window—their regular spot for holding court.
“Who’s the big winner today?” Maggie asked.
“Lenny took all our money today,” Doc replied.
Alex looked at Doc unsurely. “I didn’t know Lenny even played cards with you guys.”
“I don’t,” Lenny said. “Obviously it’s beginner’s luck.”
“Hey, Britney,” Doc now asked, “do you know a guy named Brandon?”
“Brandon is a common name for guys my age,” Britney said. “I must know a dozen guys named Brandon.” She moved her pocketbook in front of her, making room next to her.
“I went to school with his father,” Doc explained. “We had lunch the other day and he said that you dated his son.”
“Huh,” Britney said, “don’t recall a Brandon…”
“He’s in jail,” Doc said.
“Really, what did he do?”
“He was involved in some financial scam involving selling green cards to foreign investors.”
“It’s called an EB-5 investment,” Lenny spoke up. “A person can invest at least a half a million in a capital project at a company he doesn’t work for and get a fast-tracked visa.”
“It’s that new hotel,” Doc explained. “I guess he was collecting the money from investors, but instead of spending it on the project, he was spending it on himself. He bought a million-dollar home, a Ferrari, and whatever else.”
“I think it might be the Brandon who owns the cigar bar down the street,” Britney said.
Doc nodded. “That’s him,” he said.
“You know Marco hung out at that cigar bar…I wonder if there is any connection?” Alex asked.
Lenny laughed. “Who knew boring Boca could be this interesting?”
Maggie leaned over to Britney and whispered softly: “That’s the guy you were telling us about.”
“Yeah,” Britney whispered back.
“We should go talk to him in jail…”
“Oh, hell no,” Britney replied, still whispering. “I need to shake that connection as soon as possible.”
“Do you know more about this than you’re saying?”
“I can’t talk about it. I honestly thought it all went away…Let’s talk about it later.”
“Darn it!” Maggie replied. “I’ve never visited anyone behind bars before.”
“Hopefully, they’ll find whoever killed Marco so everything can get back to normal!” Alex said.
“I hope there’s a connection,” Maggie said.
Britney raised an eyebrow. “Why are you so excited about all this?”
“My book, of course. This is motivating me to write. I have a million ideas in my head. I need to get it all on paper.”
“You should talk to Larry, he was a New York City detective,” Alex said.
“Really?”
Alex nodded. “I heard he actually dated Wendy after she left the club.”
Maggie looked at the overly tanned white-haired man sitting at the table. Larry was not a small guy: he took up most of the space at his section of table. Maggie had heard that he played football for Florida State before he had joined the NYPD. He was single, and he could have been an option for Maggie; but as soon as she saw his “type” of girl, she settled for friendship. She was too old and much too thick.
“How are we going to contact Wendy?” Britney asked.
“I got this,” Maggie said.
As soon as Larry went to the restroom, Maggie waited a minute before excusing herself to go to the ladies’ room. She took her time looking at the art hanging on the walls just outside the restrooms when Larry came out.
“Hey, Larry,” Maggie said.
“Hey, Maggs, what’s up?”
“Not much, my golf game sucks, but otherwise life is good.”
Larry nodded his head in agreement. “Golf is one of those games you play for fun. If you take it too seriously, you’ll just be frustrated.”
“I need to take a few lessons,” Maggie said. “I sure wish Wendy was still here. She was so much better than the guys.”
“She was good,” Larry said. “I have her number if you want to give her a call.” He pulled his phone from his pocket.
“That would be great,” Maggie said.
“Here you go.” Larry forwarded the contact.
Maggie replied, “Thanks, I’ll
text her now. But I sure wish she were still here.”
Larry smiled. “Well, maybe she can come back now.”
“Why?”
“The asshole is dead. I don’t know what he did, but it’s his fault she’s gone.”
Maggie looked curiously at Larry. She considered asking another question but decided against it. “Well, thanks again for the number.” She turned and walked into the ladies’ room. She texted a short message to Wendy then waited a few minutes by the sink before heading out.
Chapter 6
Shot of Tequila
The next day, Maggie met Wendy at Southern Hills, a favorite public golf course in Boca where Wendy was able to give private lessons. It was one of those days that even in the summer made Boca feel like paradise. It was still hot but the breeze made the morning air feel tolerable.
“Thank you for doing this,” Maggie said. “You’re so much better than those pros at the club. You were one of the few people I could talk to when I moved to Boca.”
“We have had some good talks,” Wendy acknowledged.
“Mostly me telling you my problems.” Maggie laughed. “You’re like a hair stylist with a five-iron instead of a curling iron.”
“How are you doing with that five-iron?” Wendy asked.
“Much better considering I never even took the cover off of it before I took lessons with you.” She laughed again. “We need to get together more, both professionally and just for fun.”
“Sounds great. I’m only working three days a week now so I have plenty of time.”
“Only three days?”
“I’m going back to school to get my personal trainer certificate.”
Wendy pulled a few clubs from Maggie’s bag. Maggie felt like a giant standing next to her; the golf pro was a petite five foot two. Wendy was also at least fifteen years younger—and in a lot better shape than Maggie.
“That’s cool,” Maggie said. “I’ll hire you.”
When she had first moved to Florida, Maggie attempted to fight her age. She had tried to get in good enough shape to look like she was forty again; but fighting the slow decline of her body—as most women in Boca did—had proved too exhausting. Maybe having Wendy as her trainer would allow her to get motivated again.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do but never had the means,” Wendy said. “Funny how things work out sometimes.”
Behind The Gates (A Maggie McFarlin Mystery Book 1) Page 5
