Killer Honeymoon

by Traci Tyne Hilton

  “And if next of kin is stuck in a cult…”

  “But they might not be. Next of kin, or whatever, could be Aunt Daisy.”

  “What do you know about this cult thing in Arizona?”

  “The ministry I work for focuses on rescuing girls around the world from modern slavery, so we’ve talked about this group before. It’s an offshoot of LDS, though they would claim they are the true church and LDS are apostate. There is definitely not good blood between the groups. But this one, the leader is in prison for sex crimes against children, yet the people still follow his directions and consider him a prophet.”

  Jane shivered. “Okay, I think I know the group you’re talking about.”

  “They practice polygamy—one man, many women.”

  “Do you think a handful of modern teenagers could be convinced to run off to join some old guy’s harem?” Jane watched the ocean as it rolled over the sand. “I can’t imagine it.”

  “I guess it depends on how they were used to hearing about God at home. Maybe the handsome young strangers had a persuasive case.”

  “Or maybe it’s unrelated. Maybe they all drove off to Disneyland. Maybe they went to Mexico and were kidnapped. Maybe anything. Maybe the guy died in our shed because it was a warm place to sleep.”

  “In August?”

  “True. He didn’t need shelter in August.”

  “And there was the bullet hole in the body board.”

  “We’ve seen Hannah. I still think Daisy is our next best bet. She knows more about what her nephews and their friend were doing here than anyone else.”

  “I’ll see whoever you want to see. But if she escaped a cult and is hiding, she might not want to tell a couple of private detectives in training all of her secrets.”

  “But she might, if she’s scared for her daughters.”

  Jake stopped and took her into his arms. “I’m thankful for your optimistic outlook. That is exactly what the world needs.”

  Jane leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed. She didn’t know how to survive a life surrounded by crime and murder if she didn’t have an optimistic outlook.

  In the distance she heard the sound of feet slamming against the hard wet sand, and someone calling out her name.

  Taylor caught up with them on the beach, her hand pressed to her side. “Coco was poisoned.”

  “Uh.” Jane looked at Jake. Jake looked away. “Listen, we are so sorry. We brought that beer and then the lady who made it said it was too yeasty and not to drink it.”

  “No, not that. It was alcohol poisoning.”

  “Is she going to be okay?”

  “Yeah, but she didn’t drink that much. One beer before you got there, and like half of the one you gave her.”

  “But she was acting kind of…I don’t know. She seemed like she had had a lot to drink.”

  “That’s her usually. She’s like that. Gets all riled up and stuff. But see, if she didn’t drink enough to get alcohol poisoning on her own, then someone poisoned her.”

  “How?”

  Taylor looked grim. “If they had spiked her drink with denatured alcohol, they could have done it.”

  “Because denatured alcohol has that poison stuff in it?”

  “Exactly. You a chemist too?” Taylor looked at Jake with new appreciation.

  Jane tried to remember what she had learned in high school science class about not drinking rubbing alcohol. It was treated with a poison so it could be sold and used and not considered a beverage. Wouldn’t that stuff taste awful? And would it function just like alcohol poisoning?

  “No, a fund-raiser.” Jake laughed. “Not even remotely science minded.”

  “In addition to being poisoned, rubbing alcohol is also one hundred forty proof, so a dash added to another drink would be enough to send anyone over the edge.” Taylor took a deep breath. “Someone found a way to poison her with alcohol, and this is how they could have done it.”

  “So who?”

  “Mason was hanging out by the beer all night. He could have messed with her drink.”

  “But why?”

  “Don’t know.”

  “What about the guitar guy?”

  “Miller? I guess he could have, he brought water bottles. Maybe he gave her tainted water.”

  “There was a bottle in the fire. Who tossed it there?”

  “But if it had been in the water, she would have tasted it.”

  “Maybe not. She put one of those flavor-packet thingies in hers.”

  “So possibly Mason and the beer or maybe Miller and the water. Why would Miller have done it?”

  “I don’t know. I’m the budding chemist, you’re the detectives.”

  “Walk to the house with us. We need to talk to my boss.”

  Flora and Rocky joined them at the cottage, and the five sat at the round table in front of the picture window. They could see the ocean and the white crests of waves as they crashed against the beach.

  “How long had Coco been at the bonfire before she got sick?” Rocky’s voice was matter of fact, though his eyes held concern for the girl.

  “Only about fifteen minutes.”

  “Did she drive there or walk?”

  “She walked.”

  “She could have consumed quite a bit of alcohol before she got there.”

  Taylor shook her head. “No, we walked together. I picked her up at work on the way.”

  “And there’s no way she would have been drinking at work?”

  “It’s not like her. She likes her job. Child care.”

  “Eric and Mason fought the night before. Coco asked about Eric and then got sick. Does Eric know something that someone wants to keep quiet?”

  “Mason was the one who fought with him. What would Eric know that Mason wouldn’t want to get out?”

  “No, you’ve got the wrong end of it. If Mason hadn’t fought Eric, Coco would never have asked about him.”

  “True. Maybe Coco had been invited to the runaway party, but rejected them?”

  “Maybe.” Taylor twirled her ponytail around her finger. “Maybe she did. That guy, Amos, I remember him talking about it one night with Coco.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me that before?” Jane asked.

  “I didn’t get the whole story. I just know he said something about his brother, Levi, and it sounded like he was annoyed, like their car wasn’t going to make it.”

  “Amos was trying to talk Coco out of going?”

  “I don’t know. I remember him saying something about a car not being up to it, and then afterwards, after everyone left, I realized what he was talking about. So maybe he had invited her, or wanted to invite her and couldn’t. Or maybe he was just complaining about his car.”

  “That’s too many maybes.”

  “I know. Plus they took Cherry’s car anyway. And that’s why I didn’t mention it before.”

  “I met with Judy, but there was no identification on the body,” Flora said.

  Jane shifted in her seat. It seemed like all she had were unanswered questions. “Were his fingerprints destroyed? Did they try his dental records?”

  Flora’s eyes held deep sympathy. “There was little skin left at all after three weeks exposed. They found some fingerprints on his belt, maybe from his putting it on. But they didn’t match anything in the system.”

  “But what about the teeth?”

  “It takes time to search dental records.” Flora sighed. “But he didn’t have any dental work. His teeth were crooked, but in good condition. No fillings of any kind. Looked like a small cavity on one tooth, so we think he might not have been going to a dentist. Certainly not to an orthodontist.”

  “Ryder had terribly crooked teeth. He was really handsome, but when he smiled, one of his teeth crossed over the other one in front, a little bit, and he had one of those high-up eyeteeth. I remember it so clearly, because I couldn’t take my eyes off of him until he smiled, and then when he did, I still couldn’t take my eyes off of him, but n
ot in a good way.”

  “But that means you could identify him, right?” Jane grinned at Taylor.

  “Maybe so. We can ask. But if he was using a pseudonym…” Taylor frowned. “I know I’d recognize his teeth, but do I really know who he was?”

  “If Taylor can ID him as the person she met, they could make a sketch of him and then circulate it. Surely someone has reported a missing person.”

  Flora reached across the table and put her hand on Jane’s. Jane jumped at the unexpected touch. “If what you said about the potential connection to Warren Jeffs is true, then there will be no record of this boy. No birth certificate, no missing persons report. This group is known for disowning their young men. They don’t want the competition for brides.”

  “That can’t be true.” Jane shook her head.

  “It’s spoken of freely, by people who know, and boys who are trying to rebuild their lives. They call themselves the lost boys.”

  “How could a mama kick her son out for such a reason?”

  “I’m sure that’s not the reason they give,” Rocky added.

  “And I’m sure it’s not easy on the mamas.” Flora shook her head.

  “Or the papas,” Rocky said, a suspicious shine in his eye. “We know what we know from several exposé news reports by Lisa Ling and others. We don’t want to defame anyone, but what we’re sharing is open knowledge. If the body in your shed is a lost boy, no one is looking for him, and you’ll never find out who he really was.”

  Jane swallowed. What a way to die. Disowned by your family, abandoned by your community, and killed by your friends. “But it might not be him.” She lifted her eyebrows hopefully. “It could be something else entirely.

  Flora glanced at Taylor. “It would be useful to see if you could identify him by his teeth.”

  “It would be even better if Daisy Smith could.”

  CHAPTER 9

  Flora and Rocky took Taylor to the medical examiner’s office to see if she could be of use with identifying the body, and Jane went to see Daisy Smith.

  A girl Jane guessed to be about ten answered the door.

  “Good afternoon.” Jane smiled at the kid.

  “Mo-om!” the girl hollered. “It’s another reporter.” She stepped aside.

  Jane went in without contradicting the girl.

  A woman whose unlined face and shiny hair looked too young to be the mom of teenagers met Jane in the front room. Her hair was in a messy bun on the back of her head. She smiled, but not with her eyes. “How can I help you?”

  “I’m not actually a reporter.” Jane handed over one of the Senior Corp of Retired Investigator cards. “My husband and I—” Jane blushed “—are staying at our house here in town. The house where the body was found.”

  “I see.” Daisy sat down. She stared at the card. “Somebody hid their murder victim in a detective’s shed. That’s bad planning.” She looked up and smiled again, but there was no light in her eyes at all. Not even a glimmer of appreciation at the irony.

  Jane sat across from her. “We’ve been asking around, and our questions led us to you. Not as the killer, of course, but maybe as next of kin for the deceased.”

  Daisy swallowed, hard. “What do you mean?”

  “The timing is such that he might be one of your nephews who were visiting. No other young men are missing, not even in nearby towns.”

  She pressed her hand to her mouth but didn’t speak.

  “If it was your nephew…you’re our best bet at a DNA identification. Is that right?”

  She nodded slowly. “But it’s not one of the boys.” She took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders.

  “Can you be sure?”

  “Skye texted two weeks ago.” Daisy folded her hands together and squeezed her fingers until her knuckles were white. “Said she had reception and a bit of battery. Told me she loved me. Said everything was cool.” Daisy exhaled. “If there had been a crisis, she would have used our code word. You know how some families have those. She would have used it, but she didn’t. No one is dead.”

  “What about their friend Ryder?”

  “If someone had died…if they were in danger, Skye would have let me know.”

  “Where do you think they went?”

  She pressed her pink lips together.

  Jane proceeded with a quiet, careful voice. “Do you think they went back to Colorado City?”

  Daisy stood up. “Get on back outside, Mia.” She pushed her daughter towards the door.

  The girl ran out without protest.

  Daisy walked to the brick fireplace and rested her hand on it. “Not Colorado City.”

  She didn’t deny the implication. Jane relaxed a little. They were getting somewhere.

  “We weren’t from that group. A different group.” She turned to Jane with wide, pale eyes, still afraid. “Kind of like them, but different leaders, different rules. Up in the hills, by ourselves.”

  “Do you think your nephews went back?”

  “They couldn’t go back.”

  Lost boys.

  “They all just wanted an adventure. Just a bunch of kids. They aren’t getting into trouble.” Her eyes begged Jane to believe.

  “So you don’t think there’s any chance the body is Ryder?”

  “Ryder is a good boy. A real sweet young man. No one would want to hurt him.”

  “Do you know him well?”

  “I’ve been here a long time. Ryder was just a baby when I…left. But I know his ma…and his daddy. And I know him, now. He’s a good one. No reason to quarrel.”

  “So you don’t think it might be him?”

  “No. Not him.”

  “And not one of your nephews, either?”

  “But why would it have been?” Something in her tone changed—a challenge. “Just because they weren’t from here? Or were…from somewhere different, everyone thinks bad things? They’re all good kids and they’ll be back in time for school to start.”

  “Of course they will.” Jane remained in her seat. Daisy was trying to convince herself the kids were safe. What was she really afraid of? “If they didn’t go back home, where do you think they went?”

  Daisy nodded. “Yes. Right. They went somewhere. A road trip. They always like to go camping. So they might have driven somewhere, maybe central Oregon, to camp.”

  “They could have.” Jane smiled. “Or maybe they’re somewhere closer?”

  “Maybe. Lots of woods to camp in around here.”

  “But camping for three weeks?”

  “They’re young. Young people do things…” She moved back to the chair, slowly, and sat down. “They’re all good kids. After Skye texted, I felt better. She doesn’t lie. She wouldn’t, so they’re fine and they’ll be back real soon.”

  “Before I go, has anyone heard of any other young men gone missing? Besides your three?”

  “People come from all over the world to visit the Oregon coast. I’m sorry that you found this…person on your property, but I don’t know anything.” She settled her hands on the arms of her chair like she was going to stand up but was moving in slow motion.

  Jane stood instead. “I’d still like to talk to your daughters and your nephews. They left in the night, just around the same time we think this man died. They may have seen something or heard something. If you hear from Skye again, could you have her contact me? My number is on the card.” She indicated the card that Daisy had set on the table next to her.

  “I’ll mention it.”

  Jane let herself out.

  As she rounded the corner, a small person barreled into her.

  “Whoa.” Jane reached for the girl to steady herself.

  Mia grinned from ear to ear. “Keep walking in case Mom peeks.”

  “What’s up?”

  “Ryder was really, really mad at Levi and Amos. Like superdy mad. He yelled at them a lot on the beach the night they left.”

  Jane stopped. “What did he yell?”

  “Kee
p walking.” Mia tugged on Jane’s hand. “I couldn’t hear super well because I was hiding in the bushes, but I know he said something about them being stupid and that they were jerks just like their dad. Or that they were something just like their dad. I don’t know exactly.”

  Jane stopped again. “Do you think they went back home?”

  “No way. They said so to Mom. They said they got kicked out and needed a place to start over, and Mom cried a lot and hugged them and they hugged her, but they didn’t cry. And they hung out with sis and Skye and all of their friends, and it was going great until Ryder got here.”

  “What changed?”

  “Ryder didn’t want anyone to leave.”

  “Did your mom really like Ryder, or was she just saying that?”

  “Oh yeah, she really, really liked him. He’s her baby brother, but from another mother.”

  “He’s your uncle?”

  Mia shook her head. “I guess.”

  “Do you think Skye meant it when she said everything was fine?”

  “Oh no, definitely not.”

  “Mi-a!” Daisy’s voice carried well as she called for her daughter.

  “Shoot, I’ve got to run.”

  “But real fast, why don’t you think she meant it?”

  “’Cause she didn’t write it. Gotta run! Find my sisters!” Mia spun on the wheelie-heels of her shoes and raced back toward her house.

  Jane wanted to find Mia’s sisters. She really, really wanted to.

  Jake brought burgers and shakes back to the house for dinner.

  “I think we need to head to the woods.” Jane sipped a chocolate malted milkshake. The day was perfect honeymoon weather. Hot but not humid. Perfect for holding hands and strolling on the beach and going back to their air-conditioned beach house to be…alone.

  “Are we one hundred percent confident that Hannah isn’t crazy?” Jake asked.

  “I’d say eighty percent confident.”

  “And I’m at least eighty percent confident that we have no idea how to find lost people in the woods. Plus it’s been almost a whole month now. Even if she had seen Rose, I doubt they’re all still just chillin’ in the coast range, hanging out in the trees.” Jake dipped one of the fat steak fries in Jane’s malted.