Stiff in the Sand

by Winnie Reed

  “How did you do it without getting blood all over yourself?” I had to know. I just had to.

  And darned if she didn’t look proud of herself. “Well, for one thing, I put a couple of painkillers in James’s champagne earlier in the night. He was feeling very, very good toward the end there, I’d bet. Those things don’t mix, you know. You’ll notice, or you might have, that Robbie only took a tiny sip of his drink.”

  “So he really was taking them heavily?”

  “Ah, naw.” She waved her free hand. “I only told you that so you’d think he was out of his mind. He was taking them for back pain after an old injury. Stress exacerbates the pain, but that’s all. Only as much as he needed. Always playing it safe, my husband. Except when he didn’t. When he made terrible choices.”

  “So you knew James would be a pushover because of the drugs and champagne.”

  “Literally,” she snorted. “I pushed him over when I followed him outside. And he laughed, you know. He thought it was funny. He was so sleepy; he said that. No wonder, when he’d taken a couple of opiates along with alcohol. He was almost unconscious when I did it. One thrust of the knife and his eyes popped open, but it was too late. Bye-bye, scumbag. I grabbed the paperwork as an afterthought, but he hadn’t even signed it so it didn’t matter, really.”

  “Why weren’t your prints on the knife?”

  “Duh. I wore gloves from the kitchen. I’m not a doofus. Haven’t you figured that out by now? I thought this through.”

  “Obviously. You fooled just about everybody.”

  “Just about.” She waved the gun. “Come on. I think you’re going for a swim.”

  “I didn’t wear my suit.”

  “Ha, ha. Move.” She was in front of me in an instant, hauling me to my feet.

  “Jeez, you’re strong,” I observed.

  “Yeah, once I added weight training to my workouts, that made all difference. It totally transformed my body.” She yanked me toward the doors leading out to the patio and pool. “You’re slim enough, but you could use some toning. Well, too late now.”

  “What are you gonna do? Shoot me and leave me on the beach? I mean, that’s going to look suspicious, isn’t it?”

  “You’re going to drown, dummy. I’m going to make you swim out as far as you can, and you’re going to drown. Or else I’ll shoot you. I’m an excellent shot.”

  It was dark, with only a sliver of a moon. But the lights from the sign atop the hotel tower provided enough illumination that she’d be able to see me in the water.

  “It’s still going to look suspicious, no matter how I died,” I warned her. “My car is here.”

  “I’ll get rid of it.”

  “Deke knows I was coming. So does my best friend. You won’t get away with it.”

  “That’s what you think. I’ve gotten away with it so far.” She dragged me toward the dunes. I could hear the waves crashing further ahead, just like I’d heard them that fateful night.

  This was another fateful night, wasn’t it? I was going to drown. Even if I tried to swim away in the dark, she could follow me down the beach. I’d eventually tire, cramp up, go under. What a stupid way to die, but I was the one who’d be stupid enough to drive up with a plate of lemon bars and no backup.

  “Come on.” She led me to the water’s edge, where it lapped up onto the sand. Cold, of course, since it was still April. I shivered as it swirled around my ankles.

  “Keep moving,” she ordered, nudging me with the gun in my back. “Go. Get out there. Don’t bother trying to fight because you know I could take you down in a heartbeat. Too much time baking, not enough working out.”

  “I get it. You’re super great at lifting weights. Jeez.” That got me another poke in the back with the gun, and I took another step into the water. Then another one, shivering and on the verge of tears. Was this really happening? Was I going to die this way?

  No. I wasn’t. I couldn’t go down without a fight. It was time to put those self-defense classes to use.

  And the freezing cold water, too.

  I turned, bending, and scooped up as much water and sand as I could hold before throwing it in Aubrey’s face. She shrieked, her free hand going to her eyes.

  I grabbed her wrist, pointing the gun upward. She squeezed the trigger and it went off, making me jump. At least it wasn’t pointed at me.

  We fell into the water, shrieking at the cold and at each other. I took a handful of her hair and thrust her head under the surface while trying as hard as I could to get the gun out of her hand. When the water receded, she sputtered and cursed and elbowed me in the ribs hard enough to knock the wind from my lungs.

  She took advantage, throwing herself at me, knocking me onto my back. No matter what, I was not about to let go of her wrist.

  Not even when another wave rolled in and covered my face. I kicked and squirmed, holding my breath, pushing on her arm so she couldn’t lower it to fire at me. But I was getting weaker all the time.

  “Aubrey Klein! This is the Paradise City Police Department!” A floodlight found us, blinding me with its brilliance. “Drop the weapon!”

  I knew that voice, coming through the bullhorn. So somebody found Detective Joe, after all.

  I also knew the man who dashed over moments later and pulled me to my feet.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked, dazed and waterlogged and soaking wet and shaking as Deke wrapped me in his very warm arms.

  “I was on my way down from my parents’ house when I called. You hung up before I had the chance to tell you. I finally got a hold of Joe, and he told me to meet him here.”

  “Not a moment too soon,” I observed, teeth chattering as he led me away from the water while two police officers took Aubrey into custody.

  “Emma Harmon.” Joe Sullivan looked me up and down before wrapping me in a blanket which I very deeply appreciated just then. “You’re determined to be the death of me, aren’t you?”

  “Or the death of myself,” I tried to joke. “It was nice hearing you yell at Aubrey and not me just now, though.”

  He chuckled, shaking his head. “I have to admit, nobody noticed the sand on Aubrey Klein’s feet in that photo. Excellent detective work,” he said to Deke, shaking his hand.

  “And Robbie will be free now?” I asked, watching Aubrey as the police led her to a waiting car.

  “As soon as the paperwork is processed,” Joe promised. “I can’t imagine it’ll be easy for him, finding out his wife framed him for murder.”

  I hadn’t thought of it in so many words until then, and hearing it from Joe brought tears to my eyes. She’d framed my friend, somebody she was supposed to love.

  I wished I’d had the chance to drown her.

  “Come on,” Joe beckoned. “Let’s get you into the ambulance and to the hospital to get checked out.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “It’s procedure when somebody is half-drowned,” he assured me. “Imagine how much more work I’d have to do if you ended up getting sick because we were negligent.”

  “Ha, ha.” I looked over my shoulder to where Deke stood, hands in his pockets. “I guess I won’t be seeing you tomorrow,” I called out, a little sad.

  “You never know,” he replied with a grin. I wondered what that meant.

  Joe helped me into the ambulance, standing outside as I settled onto a gurney. “I called your father, and he’s on his way,” he explained.

  “Oof. I can’t wait to get an earful from him,” I groaned, shivering in spite of the blanket.

  “Yeah, well. Sometimes when people make us angry, it’s because we care and don’t wanna see them get hurt. Just… keep that in mind.” He held my gaze for a long moment in which I forgot to breathe before taking a step back. “Be more careful from now on, Miss Harmon.”

  “Will do, Detective Sullivan.” I watched him return to his team, where he barked orders like the tough cookie he was.

  But even the toughest cookies could have a soft center. I su
spected he was one of them.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  The last thing I expected to see on Sunday morning was a certain bleach blonde bimbo sliding an envelope under my windshield wiper as I stepped outside, ready to head to the café.

  It was barely dawn, and she wore a black hoodie and yoga pants. Maybe she was on her way to an actual exercise class, or maybe she was out for a run.

  Or maybe she wanted to be sneaky and leave a note while she thought I was sleeping. Silly girl. She didn’t know the first thing about me.

  Of course, I never learned her name while she was scrambling out of my bed, half-naked, so we both had things to learn.

  “Excuse me?” I whispered, having sneaked up behind her. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  She jumped with a tiny squeal. Yes, I knew that squeal well. Exactly the sound she’d made when I discovered her and Landon. “I’m—I mean, I—that is—”

  I had forgotten all about the note on my windshield after almost drowning on Friday night. “So it was you, warning me to watch my back. Why? What did I do to you? What is even your name?”

  “Naomi,” she whispered, wide-eyed. So she was all talk and no action. Or, rather, all threats and no action. She hadn’t even tried to run away.

  “Okay, Naomi. Why the notes? What did I do to deserve this? It isn’t enough that you were with my boyfriend in my bed? That I found you there? That my life took a nosedive for a hot minute?”

  “What were you doing with him last weekend?” she challenged. “One of my friends saw you outside with him. Talking. He looked like he was apologizing.”

  “Huh? Oh! You mean when he came over and I wouldn’t even let him upstairs because he doesn’t deserve to step foot in what used to be our apartment? That was nothing. That was him trying to get on my good side. It didn’t work.”

  “It didn’t?”

  “No. And that’s it? You heard I was talking to your man, and it made you threaten me? That’s a lot of suspicion when you’ve only been with him a few weeks. And don’t tell me it went on for longer than that, because I don’t wanna hear about it.” Darned if she hadn’t looked like she was going to do just that, too.

  I almost wanted to hug the girl. She was so insecure. And wow, had I matured, since the last thing I wanted to do before that point was hug her. But face-to-face on the sidewalk in the early hours of the morning—when I’d had a near-death experience two days earlier—I had the chance to see things through different eyes.

  “Naomi, I don’t have any feelings for Landon anymore except regret that I didn’t see him for who he was before you did me a favor by showing me,” I assured her with a smile. “If you don’t trust him, that’s on you. Believe me when I say he’s all yours. Okay?”

  She nodded, eyes still wide.

  “Take the note with you,” I ordered. “I don’t wanna see what was inside the envelope. We’ll pretend this never happened. Deal?”

  “Deal,” she whispered.

  “Okay. I’m going to work. See you… hopefully never.” But I knew better as I turned away to walk the familiar route to Mom’s café. In a small town, there was exactly no chance of not running into each other. It was the risk I took.

  And walking along the early morning streets reminded me of why I took such a risk. How could I not when there was so much history around me? Not just the town’s history, which was rich enough, but my personal history. I was part of the tapestry, and it was part of me.

  When I arrived at the café, as a few of the other business owners on Main Street began pulling up their metal grates to welcome the morning, I heard my mother giving orders in the kitchen.

  “No, see, you need to beat the butter and sugar together long enough that it’s fluffy and the color lightens. That means it’s fully incorporated. And that you’ve whipped air into the mixture, which results in a lighter finished product.”

  I tiptoed to the swinging door, pushing it open just enough to peer inside. And what I saw was enough to make me clap a hand over my mouth to quiet my laughter.

  Deke wore an apron over his usual button-down and jeans, taking advice from my mother on how to properly cream butter and sugar. “Now, add the eggs one at a time, making sure to mix each one in thoroughly before adding the next.”

  He frowned in concentration, dropping one egg at a time into the bowl of the stand mixer. Mom nodded in approval while Darcy poured batter into muffin cups.

  I couldn’t resist. I had to know what was happening. “Excuse me?” I called out as I entered the kitchen. “Did I come to the wrong café?”

  Mom practically tackled me. “I told you not to come in so early today! You need your rest, young lady!”

  “Yes, but you know I can’t sleep late. Somebody made sure of that as I was growing up.” I patted her back, then turned my attention to Deke. “I didn’t know you hired more help.”

  “Darcy, can you assist me with putting the chairs in place outside?” Mom asked, practically dragging my sister away from her work and leaving a puddle of muffin batter on the prep table.

  “She’s very subtle,” Deke chuckled once we were alone.

  “Yeah, subtlety is her strong suit,” I agreed. “What are you doing here at this godawful hour of the morning, with powdered sugar all over you?” Indeed, he’d streaked it on his cheeks, his chin, his apron. I thought there might have been some in his hair, too.

  “Since I couldn’t get a hold of you yesterday, I wanted to be sure you couldn’t avoid me forever. This seemed as likely a place to find you as any.”

  “That’s a pretty big sacrifice to make, just so you could see me,” I pointed out. “And if you had tried to call today, I probably would’ve answered. I had statements to make yesterday, good-intentioned neighbors to avoid…”

  “I’m sure you were very busy,” he grinned. “Still, I’m not big on patience.”

  He came around the table, standing in front of me. “I never did get to tell you how relieved I was that we made it to the beach when we did. Before anything happened.”

  “I’m glad, too,” I smiled up at him. “I’m glad you were on your way when we talked. I’m glad you kept trying to get a hold of the police. I’m glad I had you on my side during this mess. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

  “Even though I tried to convince you to move on and forget it?”

  “You’re forgiven,” I sighed, reaching up to brush sugar from his chest. “You’re also a mess. Maybe it’s a good thing you didn’t go into the candy business.”

  “And maybe it’s a good thing you’re not a comedienne.” He took me by the waist, pulling me closer, while I cupped a hand around the back of his neck and pulled him down for a kiss made even sweeter thanks to the sugar on his lips.

  His firm, skilled, delicious lips.

  “Hmm,” I grinned as I pulled away. “Not bad.”

  “You’re only saying that because of the sugar,” he winked. “I’ll have to walk around with packets of it in my pockets the next time I’m back in town. But that won’t be for a while, since Haute Cuisine is sending me to Seattle tomorrow, then Houston.”

  “Maybe we’ll meet up somewhere in between,” I suggested. “If not, you know where to find me. Right here.”

  “I’ll make a point of it,” he promised before another quick kiss sealed the deal. This one was even sweeter, and it didn’t have anything to do with sugar.

  “Emma? You have a visitor!” Mom called out in an overly loud voice.

  I groaned, though maybe it was for the best. Who knew what might’ve happened if we hadn’t been interrupted?

  “Robbie!” I managed to forget Deke’s very nice mouth when I found Robbie Klein standing at the counter.

  He held his arms out for a hug, kissing my cheek. “I had to come down and thank you. It’s been a whirlwind, or I would’ve reached out yesterday.”

  “It was a whirlwind for me, too,” I confessed. “I’m so glad you’re free.”

  His smile wasn’t complete
ly bright, and I understood why. It had to be deeply conflicting, knowing it was his wife who’d put him in jail. But he looked better than he had just a few short days earlier, and that was a good start in my book.

  Deke shook his hand. “Glad to see you free. What do you plan to do now? Or have you even given it any thought?”

  “I have to admit, there’s a lot in the air at the moment. Kyle swears he had no idea what Aubrey was doing, and she swears the same thing. He wants to stay on at the restaurant, and I don’t see any reason why he shouldn’t when none of this was his fault.”

  That was the Robbie I knew. That was what I couldn’t get anybody else to understand before then. He didn’t have a vengeful bone in his body.

  “Otherwise, I have lawyers to help figure out the business end of things. I’d imagine I could sell to a management group and let them deal with that headache. I only want to run the restaurant. That’s all that’s ever interested me.”

  “The reviews that have come in so far are glowing,” Mom assured him. “I’ve been following along.”

  “That’s good to hear,” he smiled.

  “No big surprise. You have a hit on your hands, I’m sure of it.” I gave him another hug. He deserved it. He deserved so much after what he’d been through.

  “Promise you two will come in sometime soon for dinner,” he said, looking to both me and Deke. “My treat.”

  Deke’s brows lifted as he looked my way. “How’s that sound to you?”

  To me? Knowing my mother was listening and that news of this would spread like wildfire, there was still only one response that felt right. “Sounds like a date.”

  Keep reading for an excerpt from the next Winnie Reed Cape Hope Mysteries selection.

  Excerpt: Corpse in a Crate

  Cape Hope Mysteries Book Two

  Emma’s got a few days off and what better way to spend them than joining her best friend Raina on trip to a bed and breakfast Raina’s former—maybe not so former?—crush is opening. Who knows, maybe she’ll get a scoop for the blog. Wouldn’t hurt to turn this into a working assignment.