“The leaf we’re looking for can’t possibly be…” I trailed off as I saw what Landon was gesturing towards. Next to all the real leaves in the tree, there was an ornament leaf dangling from a low-hanging branch. The ornament blended in remarkably well and, if Landon hadn’t spotted it, I wasn’t sure that I would have found it.
Landon grabbed the ornament. It opened it, revealing two keys inside.
We cautiously opened the gate and the front door, each with a separate key. There weren’t any other security measures that prohibited our entrance, so I took that as a good sign.
The door led us into the living room, which proved to be plain and boring. There were no pictures or decorative artwork hanging on the walls. The walls were white and ordinary, with non-imaginative furniture adorning the room. The exterior of the house was beautiful and I was disappointed that the interior didn’t match that beauty.
It wasn’t even cozy couches and warm blankets. It was just a cold, dark room. I flicked on the flashlight on my phone at the same time that Landon flipped on the lights.
He raised his eyebrows. “Sophia said we could come here.”
“That’s true,” I said. The uninviting room made me feel like I had to hide my actions, but Landon had a point. We had permission to be here. This wasn’t trespassing.
I stepped into the kitchen, where a greasy pizza box sat on the counter with crusts and crumbs still inside.
“He definitely lived here. This isn’t a decoy house,” I said.
“Unless Bentley put a lot of effort into the decor,” Landon pointed out. “There’s no doubt that someone lives here—but is it because he wants us to think that? Bentley’s big fence was a decoy. This could be an elaborate scheme. We could be watched right now. I bet there are hidden cameras everywhere.”
“Who would be watching us? Bentley’s dead.” I inspected the pizza crusts. “These would be moldy if they had been left out for a long time.”
“What are we looking for?”
“I have no idea,” I murmured. “Anything that could lead us to the killer.”
The one-story house had three bedrooms. The rumpled bed in one of them indicated Bentley’s personal bedroom. The other two had cardboard boxes and filing cabinets strewn about. A box with the label, Natasha Silva, caught my interest.
Inside the box was a phone, jewelry, and papers. The phone was dead, but there was a charger next to it. I plugged it into a socket in the wall as I read through the papers. It was just as Natasha had said. The messages, the threats.
“Once you win that contest, you’ve won’t have to worry about any of this anymore.” Landon gestured to the documents. “That’s got to feel good.”
I grimaced. “Now I’ve got to tackle my student loans. If I win the contest.”
Landon whistled. “That’s not fun.”
Frowning, I said, “You speak like you don’t have any.”
My earlier assumption of Landon having it all was back in full force. Something about his easy-going demeanor made me suspicious. Other than having to decide whether or not to accept a job offer, what were the skeletons in Landon’s closet?
Maybe it was because I’d hidden my debt for so long that I looked at other people with a critical eye. If I could hide owing a loan shark money, what could other people hide?
Landon’s life looked great on the outside. But, was it just great to me because he wasn’t in debt? Or was he hiding something as well?
Landon gave a low chuckle. “I paid my way through college working as a card dealer and bartender. My academic scholarship helped a lot.”
I stared at him. “When did you sleep? You must have been insanely busy.”
Landon shoved his hands in his pockets. “Yeah, it was too much. It got me to where I wanted, though, so it all worked out.”
As I learned more and more about Landon, it became increasingly clear what a hard, dedicated worker he was. Landon went after his goals at a steady pace—and achieved them! He didn’t make foolish decisions like taking out a loan from a shady loan shark.
Landon ran his fingers through his sandy-blond hair. “Sometimes I wish I would have taken more chances. Maybe traveled to an exotic location or just worked less and had more fun. You own a bar! That’s a dream lots of people talk about and never follow through on. You did.”
It hadn’t occurred to me that Landon found my life as exciting as I found his appealing. The grass was greener on the other side for both of us. That made me feel good. If I had to be in debt and find a murderer, then at least I’d make an adventure out of it.
I rummaged through the filing cabinet, seeing a bunch of names labeled on folders. I opened a couple of the folders, finding documents of past clients. They were records of what they owed Bentley and whether or not the debt had been paid off. One of them was labeled, Donna Barber, and I set it aside. Why would Bentley need a folder on his mother?
I had to go through the more pressing folders first. I had no time for satisfying my curiosity. One of the folders marked Duncan stood out to me. That name sounded familiar. Why?
Reading through the document, I discovered that Duncan owed Bentley a large sum and had gone on the run to avoid paying it off. Duncan had been out of the state for at least a year now and, according to the handwritten notes on the paper, couldn’t be found. Duncan had covered his tracks well.
Natasha had claimed that she and her ex were on good terms. She insisted that Duncan was stepping up with his daughter. Not being in the same state would make that difficult. Was Duncan still keeping in touch with Abigail? Or had he run off on her the same as he did his debt?
If Natasha knew that, then why was she lying? Her story didn’t add up.
I needed to talk to her again.
What else could she be hiding?
CHAPTER TWENTY
Landon and I continued to rummage through various files and boxes. Bentley may have been a shady loan shark, but his documents appeared to be up to date and accurate. At least he had that going for him.
I found my own file and shuddered at the sight of my debt written out on paper. It wasn’t the prettiest sight.
As I put it away, I thought I heard a noise coming from another room. I quickly brushed that idea out of my mind. It was only Landon and I here.
I moved on to Evan Clay’s file. His papers correlated with what he had told Maya and I. There was one odd thing about, though. In a hastily written scrawl, Natasha Silva’s name was written on the file. There was no explanation to why and further perusing of the documents inside gave no clues or hints.
Suddenly, there was a crashing sound. Landon and I both froze.
Maybe there was someone else lurking, after all.
I pressed a finger to my lips, peering out of the room. A light was on in the kitchen. We hadn’t turned on any kitchen lights.
“Someone’s in the house,” I whispered to Landon, whose eyes widened. “Let’s go,” I mouthed.
We crept down the dark hallway. We made it to the door and I had one hand on the handle when the lights suddenly flicked on, illuminating a familiar figure.
“Micah!” I exclaimed. “This is where you’ve been hiding.”
Micah’s button-down shirt was wrinkled and he was missing his chain necklace. His droopy, sad eyes were frantic and worried.
“I didn’t kill Bentley,” Micah said immediately.
“You’re not the picture of innocence,” I replied, not believing him. Saying you didn’t do something didn’t make it true. I needed hard evidence to determine whether or not Micah was involved in Bentley’s death.
Micah sighed. “I know it looks bad. I’ve got a history of anger issues and I’m no fan of Bentley Barber. I knew it was only a matter of time before I could get accused, so I had to go into hiding. I figured that if I stayed out of sight for long enough, the police would be forced to keep searching and find the real killer.”
“So, you’re laying low in a murder victim’s house?” I asked.
“
What better place to hide than where you’d least expect to find me?”
“How did you get in?” asked Landon, frowning.
“Hopped the back gate and broke a window. With a fence like Bentley’s, you wouldn’t think twice about some shattered glass. He was obviously trying to protect his house from intruders,” said Micah.
As Micah talked, I faked a coughing fit and turned around. As I did so, I quickly and sneakily sent a text to Henry. If I was going to be caught in a creepy house with a murderer, then I wanted someone to know about it.
“We know about your gambling and questionable past,” I said. “You killed Bentley Barber because you didn’t want to pay your debts.”
“No!” Micah insisted. “That’s not it, not at all.”
“Then what is it?” asked Landon.
“Do I know you? You look familiar,” Micah asked Landon.
“Vegas,” said Landon. “I used to deal you cards.”
A look of dawning realization appeared on Micah’s face. “That’s how you figured out I have gambling debts. Had gambling debts. I paid them off.” His voice took on a hardened tone.
“You had a phone call at Blue Hawaii,” I said. “It sounded like you still have debts.”
“I don’t, no matter what Sophia thinks. I thought I was done with the Barber family until Bentley turns up dead and his sister is insisting that she’s going to collect what I supposedly owe.” Micah’s teddy bear figure changed dramatically as he grew angry. He was appearing more like a provoked grizzly bear with every word.
Micah’s fingers brushed his collarbone. “I gave her a chain necklace to buy some time. I shouldn’t have had to do that, though. I settled my debts. I’m living a new life now. I moved here to get some peace, but my peace keeps getting interrupted.”
“What about the wire? Bentley was strangled with fishing wire. The rope noose was put around his neck after he was dead,” I said.
“What?” asked Micah blankly.
“I found wire hidden in your yard. Explain that,” I said flatly.
Micah scratched his head. “I forgot about that. That’s right, I do have wire hidden in my yard. It’s not fishing wire, though. It’s strings for a guitar. There’s a kid on my street, Brayden, who’s a promising musician. I was going to give him some new strings for his birthday, but he came over to show off a piece he’d learned when I was wrapping the present. I panicked and threw the wire under some rocks because I was outside at the time. I couldn’t ruin the surprise for Brayden.”
“That’s quite a story,” I said, unsure of how truthful Micah was being. His explanation seemed sound, but what if he was tricking us? Micah had the foresight to hide in the least likely place he would be found. He could have come up with a plausible fake alibi as well.
Micah opened his mouth like he wanted to roar in frustration. Instead, he disappeared into the room Landon and I had just left.
I took the opportunity to check my phone. It was lit up with multiple messages from Henry.
Get out of there.
I’m coming.
Are you safe?
I’m at the front. I’m coming in.
There was a loud screeching noise coming from the front of the house, which I presumed was the large fence scraping the ground as it opened.
“What did you do?” asked Micah, pale with horror.
“Detective Chang will be here in seconds,” I said. “I had to contact him.”
Micah was at a loss for words. He threw a file at us before running towards the back door. “I’m not going to prison for a crime I didn’t commit.”
I called after him. “We can explain that. Let’s talk this out.”
“I can’t take that risk!” Micah yelled as the door slammed shut.
Henry stormed into the house moments later. “Where is he?”
I waved my hand in the direction Micah disappeared. “Gone.”
Henry raced after Micah as I opened the file labeled Micah Robinson. “He paid off his debt a while ago,” I said, reading it.
Landon peered over my shoulder. “He was telling the truth.”
Henry returned a little while later without Micah. “He escaped. Did you know there’s a whole other entrance behind Bentley’s house?” Henry suddenly frowned. “Why are you here in the first place?”
I held up the keys. “Sophia Barber gave us these. And Micah gave us this.” I handed him the folder.
Henry riffled through the papers inside. “This changes everything. And nothing. He may not be in debt anymore, but that doesn’t mean that Micah can’t hold a grudge.”
Henry’s fierce stance was softening as he realized that no one was in danger. “We’re nowhere close to Halloween. Break into haunted houses in October instead of the summer.”
“We have keys,” I said, rolling my eyes.
After filling Henry in on everything that happened, Landon and I went out the back entrance as Henry finished investigating the place.
Night had fallen and the stars were bright and shiny.
“Look.” Landon took my hand and gently pointed it to the sky. “Orion.”
His warm hand was on the forefront of my mind, but I forced myself to pay attention to what he was showing me. “I don’t see it,” I said.
Landon laughed. “You can’t see it yet. It should show up a few hours before dawn, but it’ll be there eventually.”
“That’s right, Orion shows up then in the summer.” I did a double-take. “You’re getting good at this.”
Landon gave me a shy smile. “I listened to your advice. My client and I discussed stars before I mentioned my gruesome dead body story. She taught me how to find Orion and told me to show it to someone I wanted to impress. Of course, I probably should have waited to show you the actual constellation instead of pointing out where it will show up. But with our luck, we’ll find another dead body at that hour.”
I squeezed Landon’s hand. I wanted to say that his gesture was special and I appreciated his thoughtfulness and it was a sweet move. Instead, all that came out was, “Seven of the stars in that constellation are some of the most distant ones we can see with our naked eyes.”
Landon carefully let go of my hand. “Is that so?”
“Yeah.” I wanted to scream.
What was I doing? I could fix this. All I had to do was explain myself. One simple conversation would solve everything. Except there was nothing simple about the thoughts racing in my head.
I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t know how to trust someone so trustworthy. I usually kept my dates at a distance. We never lasted long because I couldn’t open up and allow myself to fall for them.
I wasn’t willing to drag them into my messy life.
But Landon? He didn’t mind my faults. He was fine with them. He understood that no one was perfect.
I opened my mouth, but before I could say anything, Landon backed off. He was taking my confusing reaction as rejection. I didn’t mean it that way, but it was too late.
Henry joined us and I didn’t get the chance to explain myself because I wanted to talk to Landon without Henry present. As the three of us left Bentley’s property, I glanced at the stars.
They had been so promising a couple minutes ago. Now, they twinkled with suspicion and misunderstandings.
Ugh. I needed to get my act together.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Maya frowned as she adjusted her pendant necklace. “You just froze?”
“I didn’t know what to do! It suddenly became so real. I looked at Landon and saw a guy who’s trustworthy and honest and fun to be around and froze. I’m so used to making bad decisions that I couldn’t bring myself to make a good one,” I said.
Maya nodded her head sympathetically. “Talk to him. He’ll understand.”
“I haven’t been able to reach him,” I said. “He has a meeting tonight with Clare Tran, but I’m not sure if it’s happening now or in an hour. I think he’s giving her his decisions on whether or not he wants
to take the job.”
“Do you know what he’s going to do?”
“I have no idea,” I said miserably.
We were at the final function of the pirate convention. Maya had, last-minute, coordinated a party for the pirates in the dining area of Sandy Turtle. There were plenty of drinks and appetizers to go around. Everyone had their best pirate gear on and Shawn was wearing his college sash again.
Maya made sure that everyone knew that any pirate who came back to Sandy Turtle would get a one-time discount on a room, which everyone loved.
“This is definitely going to be an annual event,” said Madison, proudly surveying the fruits of her labor. “I can’t believe it came together so well, especially with all the setbacks we had. Speaking of which, I need to get the music playing.” Maya gravitated toward a shrimp platter. “I’ll be back in a minute. Do you want any?”
“I’ll join you,” said Madison. They indulged on shrimp while I spotted a guy that I both wanted to and didn’t want to talk to.
Landon Stone was dressed in normal clothes, without any pirate gear. He was cordial and friendly, without any hint of awkwardness between us when we greeted each other. From his end, anyway. I’m sure I was making it awkward enough for the both of us.
How was he acting so normal?
He excused himself to talk to a fellow pirate and I suddenly understood. He was in sales pitch mode. Landon was laughing and having a good time, but I detected a hint of sadness in his blue eyes.
Colton Bradley’s sudden appearance, however, distracted me.
“Colton!” I exclaimed. “I didn’t realize you were a pirate.”
“I’m not,” he said grimly. “I came here to warn you. Donna Barber is coming for you. If you don’t have the money you owed Bentley, then things won’t be good for you.”
“Sophia’s collecting it, not Donna,” I said slowly.
“Word around Golden Hibiscus is that Donna’s fed up with waiting and has decided to take matters into her own hands. Several of my regulars have skipped town for the time being until this is sorted out.”
A feeling of dread overcame me. I didn’t have the money. I wouldn’t be able to come up with it in time.
Murder and a Blue Hawaii (A Blue Hawaii Mystery Book 1) Page 12
