"So what. It'll be fun to mess with her." Barney rubbed his hands back and forth against each other and grinned.
"You mean more than you already have?" Phil couldn't ask them about Kathryn's tires because if they found out he knew her, they'd force him to tell them where she was. Or they'd follow him to her. "You're ridiculous. Don't you have better things to do with your time?"
Barney unwrapped a stick of gum, folded it into his mouth, and threw the wrapper on the ground. "Not really."
Phil stepped up onto the front porch and glared at Barney. "Pick that wrapper up. I'm not your mama."
"Whatever. Let's get this done. I'm getting hungry."
Phil unlocked the door, and the two lumbering men followed him inside the dark and stuffy cottage. He kept the blinds drawn to keep the heat out and to keep vandals from knowing the place was unoccupied.
Drew ripped off his silk button down shirt revealing a white V-neck T-shirt underneath. "It's hot in here."
"Yeah, that's summertime in Florida. I don't run the air if nobody's here. You know Ma and Pops. They don't like to waste electricity."
"Yeah, they're cheapskates." Drew laughed.
"No, they're smart with their money. They're a lot smarter with theirs than you are with yours, I'm sure." Phil clicked the thermostat to come on. His two cousins provided more than enough hot air for this tiny place.
Drew scoffed, "Maybe but I always seem to find my way to more when I need it."
"Okay, okay, you guys, let's quit with the insults and get busy moving this furniture. I hate manual labor." Barney was dressed in a yellow-checkered silk dress shirt and black dress pants, as if he was going to a business dinner. What a way not to fit in here in Cedar Key.
They began in the living room shifting the flower-patterned plush furniture and wooden end tables and coffee table to the center of the room.
Barney grunted. "Why are you painting in here?"
"It hasn't been freshened up since Grandma lived here. Ma and Pops wanted to change things around and update. They're thinking of retiring here to be close to me. Well, that’s Ma’s idea. Not sure Pops could give up his golf course."
Barney nodded as if it made sense to him. "Yeah, remember coming down here during the summer when we were younger?"
Drew whacked Phil on the back, knocking him off balance. "Yeah, those were the days."
Phil grunted and put some distance between him and his cousins. "Some days. All I remember is defending myself against you two thugs. And trying not to drown in the swimming pool. About as bad as when we used to go to Cayuga Lake."
Drew let out a whoop. "Yeah, now those were great days."
Barney closed the distance between them and pinched Phil's right cheek. "We just tried to toughen you up, Phil. You were always such a mama's boy."
"That's not true. I've just never been one to fight."
Drew glared at him with squinted eyes. "Yeah, what about in high school when you beat the snot out of Jimmy Mulligan?"
"Again, I was defending myself."
"Yeah, right."
"He's right, Drew. Phil was more the type for loving the ladies."
Phil shook his head. "Nope, I wasn't after what you guys were after."
"Your loss."
"Yeah, whatever, Drew. Let's get this finished up."
They moved the furniture to the center of each room, standing the mattresses up on their sides in the bedrooms, and then Phil had had enough of his cousins. He needed to get back to Kathryn. Maybe she'd found the gun.
"So we're done here?" Drew asked, moved to Phil's side, and held out his hand.
Phil accepted Drew's gesture. "Yeah, guess so. Thanks. I couldn't have done it without you guys." As much as he hated to admit it, he couldn't have moved everything without their brute force.
"Anything for family. Right, Drew?" Barney moved to Phil's other side and slapped him on the back.
"How about I buy you guys something cold to drink in town?" Phil took a step back and walked toward the door.
"Maybe next time. You can return the favor by calling Louie."
Phil nodded. He'd promise them anything to get rid of them.
#
Kathryn ran up the stairs to the front porch of the tree house cottage and fumbled with the key to unlock the door. She scooted inside and locked the door behind her, then leaned against it to catch her breath. Sweat poured down her face and between her shoulder blades, and her heart raced.
The cottage, streaming with sunlight, was no bigger than a single wide mobile home, decorated with salmon-colored cushioned rattan furnishings and straw mats on the tile floors. There couldn't be too many places to hide a gun in this quaint getaway, but she'd never know if she didn't get started. She began by lifting the cushions on the sofa and chairs, then bent to her knees and looked underneath all of the furniture. She lifted the mats in case there was a hidden compartment underneath any of them. Nothing. Only someone desperate to escape quickly would hide a weapon in the living area of a cottage.
She moved on to the kitchen, which looked like a tiki bar; a thatched awning balanced on cane poles and a grass skirt covered the bottom of the bar. Imitation pineapples and coconuts hung on the kitchen walls, and tiki lights lined the ceiling around the cabinets. Any other time, this scene would have brought forth a thrill from her body. Right now, there was no time for glee.
She opened each kitchen cabinet, the refrigerator, and the freezer. Empty except for essentials. In the storage closet, she dug through the mops and brooms but found nothing. The laundry room was the same except for a washer and dryer, and she found no gun underneath, behind, or inside them. In the bedroom, nothing hid underneath the mattress or the bed, behind any of the picture frames, or in the drawers or closets. She searched everywhere that could possibly have a hidden compartment. There was nothing.
Out back on the porch in the deep freezer, nothing was inside, underneath, or behind it either. She let out a scream that scared the egrets nesting in the nearby oak trees, and she covered her mouth. The gun had to be here somewhere. This was the most likely place. But she needed to be quiet or she’d disclose her location to those rotten men.
She ran down the stairs and into the yard, and searched around the giant oak tree, but there was no evidence of anything buried there. No turned up soil. No clumps of leaves. She stomped around the entire foundation and found nothing. She sighed and brushed her hair out of her eyes, the taste of sweat on her lips. This wasn't as easy as she’d thought it'd be.
At the canal, the crab traps sitting on top of the dock were empty, and there weren't any traps sunken in the water. It was hopeless. If the weapon had been anywhere near the tree house cottage, Drew and Barney would have gotten it already. Her phone chimed, and she dug it out of her pocket.
A text from Phil: I'm on my way.
She pushed her hair out of her face, sweat dripping down the side and off the end of her nose. She slapped a mosquito that buzzed around her arm then sent a text back: Okay. I didn't find anything here at the tree house.
He returned a text: I'll be right there.
Chapter Sixteen
Phil pulled up outside, and Kathryn waited for him at the top of the stairs. He opened his door and tossed his sunglasses onto the seat. "So you didn't find anything?"
She shook her head.
"All right, that's okay. We'll just keep looking." Phil joined her on the porch.
"I'm so frustrated. What if they already found it?"
"I—"
"Well, well, dear cousin. What have we here?" Drew rolled up to the driveway and jumped out of his car, Barney following him.
Phil jumped and turned around to face his cousins, goose bumps on the back of his neck. "What's your middle name?" he whispered, grabbing Kathryn's hand where it hung by her side.
"My—my middle name?" she whispered in his ear.
"Yes. Give it to me," he whispered with urgency chasing his words.
"It's Elizabeth," she whispered back.
Phil squeezed her hand and nodded to Drew and Barney as they reached the bottom step. "What do you mean?"
Drew's gaze roamed Kathryn's body from head to foot and back up again. "Who's the chick? No wonder you haven't had time to call Uncle."
Drew's eyes were clear blue, and his eyelids looked like he wore eyeliner. He had a scar over his right eye that crossed his eyebrow. Encircled in a cloud of cigarette smoke, his round face resembled Phil's, but the obvious years of smoking had aged him. And his voice, raspy and thick, was a casualty of the cigarette smoke. He looked to be taller than Phil by about an inch or two and had the build of a football player. He'd probably played in high school and smashed every player he came in contact with, even his own teammates.
Barney, with his buzzed head and acne-scarred face, towered over Phil and Drew. His eyes were blue, like Drew's, but were deeper in color. And shifty. His lips were full, and his crooked smile spoke deeply about his character. He wore a gold nugget ring on his right pinky finger and an earring in his left ear. He smelled of cheap cologne, the kind the old men in the public defender's office wore. Surprising, considering he dressed as if he came out of a high-fashion catalog.
"Not that it's any of your business, but this is Beth. I'm showing her my rental properties."
"I bet you're showing her more than that." Barney laughed.
Despite the intense fear that coursed through her body at the possibility of either of them touching her, Kathryn raised her right eyebrow and rolled her eyes at Drew's chauvinistic comment. She'd dealt with plenty of scumbags like them in the courtroom and refused to be intimidated.
"Barney!" Phil let go of her hand and shoved his hands onto his hips.
Barney tossed his hands in the air, as if to throw Phil's chastisement away. "What?"
"That's rude and inappropriate." Phil turned to Kathryn. He blew out a puff of air, and his nostrils flared. He was like the bull in the pasture beside her house. "Please excuse him." He turned back to face Barney. "You're letting her see your bad side, man."
"Yeah, well, I'd like to let her see my good side." He pushed his way past Drew, but Phil blocked him from getting to Kathryn, and her entire abdomen quaked with fear.
"Easy man." Drew grabbed his arm. "She's a client of his."
Barney shrunk back with a groan.
"Is there something I can do for you two? If not, I'd like to continue with my tour."
"We'll wait."
"For?" Phil folded his arms and spread his feet apart, like an Indian chief from an old Western.
Kathryn stepped away from Phil with trembling legs while the men strutted their peacock feathers. She didn't have to stand around and listen to this.
"We wanted to check out the place too."
"You're planning on renting it from me?"
"No man. Besides, we're family. We shouldn't have to pay to rent one of your places."
"These rentals are my livelihood. I give discounts to family members but no freebies. Listen, you guys go on into town, and I'll meet you there in a bit."
Kathryn turned away from the roosters, followed the porch around the side of the house, and pressed her body against the wall. The fact that they were Phil's relatives turned her stomach. He could be like them if he didn't let God lead his life. Just like Zeke, who only thought of himself, and Daddy, who cared too much what his colleagues and clients thought of him, Phil could be wild and untamed if it weren't for his belief in God. Was God really that important to one's life? Was she missing out on something valuable?
Drew's engine turned over, and two car doors slammed shut. Kathryn's knees buckled, and she squatted on the side porch. The porch shook at the weight of Phil bounding the rest of the way up the stairs.
"Kathryn?"
"I'm around here." Hot tears sprung from her eyes, and as Phil turned the corner, she swiped them away from her face. Why did he have to see her so vulnerable again?
Phil knelt at her side. "It's okay to cry, Kathryn."
"No, it's not. That's all I do around you. I'm not a weak person, I promise."
He took her hands in his. "I know that, Kathryn. Tears aren't a sign of weakness."
She wiped away a straggler tear that had landed on her upper arm. "They're not?"
"No, they’re not. Are you okay?"
"I thought I was, but that scared me so much. I thought they were going to force themselves on me."
"I wouldn't have let that happen. I was more afraid they were going to figure out your identity. They obviously haven't spent any time on the internet or looking at photos taken by their spies, or they would've recognized you as the A.D.A."
"Oh, man! I didn't think about them recognizing me." She pulled herself up to her feet, and Phil stood up beside her. She dusted off the back of her shorts.
“I don’t know how they didn’t recognize your car either.”
“Now that’s weird. There’s no reason why they wouldn’t have noticed that that’s the car they messed with.”
“Unless they had someone do their dirty work for them.”
“That’s a possibility. We're too dangerous for each other, Phil."
"Nonsense." He leaned in close enough to kiss her, and her heart stalled. "I happen to think we're kind of good for each other."
She ran her tongue along the back of her teeth and smiled. "The truth of that remains to be seen. The evidence states otherwise. What are we going to do?"
"That depends on what you found."
"I told you. Nothing. It's not here. They already found it, or it never was hidden here."
"Or it's still hidden."
"I don't know where it could be. I've looked everywhere."
"Let's go check out my other two condos and then go for a swim."
Kathryn's mouth fell open. This guy was crazy! "How can you think about swimming at a time like this?"
He shrugged. "I'm hot, and I'm wound tighter than the cables on Brooklyn Bridge. I need to clear my head and look at this from the killer's point of view."
"You mean your uncle's point of view?"
"Or the point of view of one of my cousins."
She slapped her thighs. "I wish someone would confess. It'd make things a whole lot easier."
"I agree. But that's not likely to happen. At least not until the weapon shows up." He reached into his shorts pocket and pulled out his keys, jingling them in the air. "I'm going to go by my house and get my swim trunks and some steaks. I'll meet you back on Airport Road."
Kathryn trailed behind Phil down the stairs to their vehicles. "I think I'll follow you. I don't want to be alone. Not even for a moment."
"Sounds good to me."
#
Kathryn followed Phil to his house and waited in her car for him to gather his things. Then they went to the rental and parked around back behind the shed again. Sadie barked at the sound of their car doors shutting. "She misses you when you're gone, doesn't she?"
"She's used to my long hours away."
"But she's had more time with you this week."
"True." Kathryn unlocked the door, and they slipped inside. Sadie ran to greet them and pawed Phil's legs.
Phil plopped his bags down on the kitchen counter and rubbed Sadie's ears. "Hey, girl. We're going for a swim." He turned to Kathryn. "Let me tenderize the steaks before we swim." He washed his hands and opened the package of steaks.
Kathryn went into the bedroom to change into her swimsuit. Good thing she'd brought her one-piece. She wasn't ready to swim in a two-piece alone with a man she'd only known for a few days.
Kathryn handed Phil a frosted glass of lemonade and took a sip from her own glass. Lounging next to him on the white teakwood chaise, with his shirtless tanned body glistening with sweat, Kathryn needed all the cooling down she could get. Maybe they should've gone into town for some sight-seeing. Or maybe she should've gone alone and taken a break from this addictive man.
She slipped her sunglasses off the top of her head and covered her eyes with t
hem. Maybe that would help distract her from Phil's masculinity. "So, um, you don't have a pool at your place?"
He licked his lips of the lemonade residue that lingered on them and smacked. "Nope, I figure with all the pools to choose from at the rentals, there's no need."
"Good point. Tell me about your place in Savannah." Did she really care about it or did she just need a huge distraction? She studied a bird on a branch in the oak tree beside the window and then shifted her gaze to him.
"It's a great place on Tybee Island. A little bungalow. I bought it when I started my practice in Savannah. I intended to stay there and rent out these units remotely, but then my plans changed. It's for sale now. That's why I was going home. I had a prospective buyer."
"I'm sorry I messed up your plans."
"No worries. I got a realtor friend to show them the place."
"Why did you decide to move here?"
"I closed my practice because of all the garbage with my family, and I didn't see the need in staying somewhere so crowded if I wasn't going to be working. Ma had asked me to manage the places since Grandma couldn't, and it just seemed like the right fit. When Grandma passed, I stayed and bought the properties from her estate."
"When did you become a P.I.? And why?"
"While I was there in Savannah, I became curious about detective work. Watching too many episodes of Law and Order, I'm sure." He laughed. "So I got my license. I haven't done much P.I. work though." He stood, adjusted his swim trunks, dropped his sunglasses on the chaise, and did a cannonball into the pool.
The splash soaked Kathryn and Sadie. "Oh, I'm going to get him!" She bolted upright, ripped her sunglasses from her face, and did a cannonball as he surfaced. When she surfaced, he splashed her in the face, and she splashed back. Sadie barked and ran the length of the pool before settling on the edge beside the pool filter. "You're a beast! Finish your story." Kathryn wiped her face and smoothed back her hair. She probably looked horrible.
Phil spit water from his mouth and laughed as he swam to the edge of the pool where Sadie sat. "When I moved here, I realized very quickly that I could make more money renting out these units than I could make as a detective or as a lawyer and avoid most of the headaches I'd had for years."
Secrets Among the Cedars (Intertwined Book 2) Page 14
