by Rose Pressey
He’d barely looked up when more gunfire rang out. He fired back. I couldn’t just sit behind this bush and do nothing. I had to return fire. I peeked up and fired at the man behind the car. I was almost sure that was Kevan Willoughby. He was clearly aiming for us. Thank goodness no one else was around to be caught in the crossfire. This man wanted us dead and I had no idea why. I didn’t recognize him. Then again, he had a scarf over the lower portion of his face. I knew he was trying to conceal his identity. What did he think he was, a cowboy? All that was missing was the hat. Jake and I didn’t speak as we fired our guns at this man. Bullets whizzed past our heads.
My heart thumped hard in my chest. The gunshots stopped. Jake inched out again and then took off running. When I looked out from behind the bush I saw the gunman running away too. He was holding his arm. It looked as if he’d been hit. Jake was chasing him and I didn’t know what to do. Should I call for police? I thought about chasing after the guy too, but I wondered if that would really do any good. I had always been a slow runner. I decided to stay put and call for backup instead.
I placed the call, hoping that I had made the right decision. Now what would I do? I eased out from behind the shrub. I looked around to see if I could locate a car this guy might have driven. Did he have an accomplice? I figured if that was the case they would have fired already. The front door was open. I supposed I could go inside and have a look around. Obviously the person we’d been tipped off about wasn’t inside the house. Or if they were they didn’t want to come outside because of the gunfight.
I had to do something to keep my mind off Jake. Where had he gone? What if the guy shot at him and his aim was better this time? I didn’t even want to think about Jake being hurt… or even worse. To keep my mind occupied I decided to see if anyone was really home. After all, the person had wanted to speak with us. I eased up the front porch and to the door. When I knocked on the door it came open. That was strange.
“Hello?” I called out.
No one answered. I inched inside the house. The place looked as if someone had been there recently. There was a laundry basket full of clothing on the sofa, as if someone had been planning to fold the clothing.
I peeked inside the kitchen. There was an open bottle of water on the table and dirty dishes in the sink. I decided to check out the bedrooms. It felt really weird looking through someone’s house, but it wasn’t the first time that I’d done it. I made my way down the hallway. The door at the end of the hallway was open. Sunshine streamed from the window into the room. When I reached the door I paused. I didn’t want to just walk in on someone. What if they were sleeping and then woke up with a stranger in their room? Though I couldn’t imagine anyone sleeping though the gunshots right outside their window.
I eased forward and peeked inside the room. A body was on the bed. Unfortunately, I knew right away that the person wasn’t just taking an afternoon nap. I recognized the man as Brett McGraw. Kevan Willoughby had killed him? So they knew each other?
I had no idea what to do now. Where were the police? I needed to check on Brett. Maybe he was still alive. Maybe he needed CPR? Yes, I definitely needed to check on him. I hoped the murderer wasn’t still in the house. I suspected Kevan had been the one who had killed him. I couldn’t believe I was at another murder scene. I didn’t want to be involved in any of this. It wasn’t like I couldn’t be involved though. Now I was in the middle of it.
I scanned the area to make sure no one was in the room. Next I moved over to the bed. His eyes were open and it appeared as if he’d been shot.
“Brett?” I called out.
There was no answer. I checked for a pulse, but there was none. I pulled out my phone to dial 911.
“I need help. Someone’s been shot,” I said as soon as the woman answered.
This was the second call in less than a couple minutes.
“The police are on the way,” she said.
The emergency dispatcher had barely finished the sentence when the sirens sounded outside the house. Thank goodness I wouldn’t be alone now. I rushed over to the window and saw the cars pull up outside. I wasn’t sure what to do? Should I run outside? Where was Jake? Was he okay? I hoped the police were looking for him too. I moved back toward the door. Should I go outside and meet the cops there? As I hurried by I noticed the top of the dresser. Right away I spotted the gold necklace. It had a heart pendant on a gold chain. I recognized it. I stopped close or a better look. Yes, that was the necklace I’d seen Skye wearing in the photo I’d seen of her.
“Police, put your hands up.”
I lifted my hands over my head. Did they think I had killed him? Now I was really starting to panic.
“Maggie, what happened?” Jake appeared in the doorway.
The police rushed over to check on the victim. Jake dashed through the door and over to me.
“I came into the house while you were gone. I discovered him like that.” My voice shook.
Jake looked over at the body on the bed.
“Did you find Kevan?” I asked.
“No, he got away. We’ll get him though.”
One of the officers came over to speak with me, but Jake motioned for them to go away.
Jake took me by the arm. “Let’s get you out of here.”
“I could use some air.” As we headed for the door I stopped. “Wait. Don’t forget to check out the necklace on the dresser. I’m sure it was Skye’s. She was wearing it in the photo I have of her. The photo from when she went missing. That’s means she’d been wearing it the night she was murdered.”
Jake looked over at the dresser. He motioned at a cop nearby. “Can you bag that?”
At least Jake was taking me seriously.
“Did you find anything else?” he asked with a grin.
“I didn’t look through anything, “I said, holding my hands up. “The necklace just popped out at me.”
Though I wish I’d had a chance. It would have been weird to do that with a dead body on the bed.
Jake crossed his arms and raised a worried eyebrow.
I held my hand up. “I promise.”
Jake and I walked outside. “You’re lucky no one else was in there,” he said. “It could have been dangerous.”
“You’re lucky that Kevan didn’t hit you with a bullet. And you’re even luckier that there were no other men waiting for you when you chased after him.”
Jake studied my face for a moment before a bright smile slid across his face. “Touché.”
At least I had proven my point.
“Thanks for looking into the necklace,” I said. “You’ll let me know what you find?”
Jake leaned against the police car. “I’ll make sure to let you know.”
Hmm. He didn’t say when he would let me know. He could mean he’d let me know a year from now. Now I needed to find Kevan. Jake would say that was too dangerous. Maybe ‘danger’should be my middle name.
Chapter 20
Dorothy and I arrived at the beach, ready for our paddleboard tour. I had high hopes that I would be much better at this than I was at the surfing. I was pretty confident that Dorothy would beat all of us, based upon her performance with surfing. I wasn’t going to let up with Kenneth and Roland Bailey. I knew there had to be a connection between the surf guys and Kevan Willoughby.
“All right, if everyone’s ready you can grab your board and go ahead and get in the water,” Kenneth said. “You’ll find your paddles right next to the board.”
I wasn’t sure if this would lead to any help for the investigation, but Dorothy said that all work and no play… something, something. I didn’t remember. I hadn’t been listening. At least I had gotten a chance to wear that new cute swimsuit I bought with the red polka dots. Dorothy was already in the water. I didn’t know how she moved so quickly.
“Come on, Maggie,” she said waving.
I splashed into the water and managed to get on top of the board. Everyone else was waiting for me. At least I had the paddl
es to help me get my balance, unlike with the surfboard. My legs shook and the board swayed back and forth on the water. With a bit more effort I was now in the upright position.
The instructor stared at me. “Okay, now if everyone is ready to go, we can get on with this.”
So I wasn’t so coordinated on a surfboard. I could do other things, like I was really good at solving cases. Okay, I was mildly competent at solving cases. I would have already been dead by now if it hadn’t been for that.
“Don’t look so worried, Maggie,” Dorothy said. “You’ll be just fine. Though if you fall in the water this time I’m not sure Jake will be here to save you from Jaws, so try not to do that, okay?”
Putting the paddles into the water, I moved with ease like gliding a spoon through liquid. Well, not quite that effortless, but at least I didn’t have to try to navigate the waves. We were headed out down the canal to have a look around. Kenneth was telling us about all the things we’d see. A breeze carried across the water and over my skin. The sun beat down on us and I was thankful that I’d put on lots of sunscreen. I saw the shore ahead of us.
At least it wasn’t far because I didn’t think I would be able to handle much more of the paddling. My arms were already tired. Plus, we still had to go back once we reached the turnaround point. Everyone was paying attention to the paddling and not watching me, so that was better than the surfing lessons. I wasn’t entertainment for them this time. Well, not yet, anyway. If I fell off the board, I certainly would be.
“Oh, wow, look,” Dorothy said. “There’s a dolphin over there.”
I looked to my right and saw it going up and down in the water. The beautiful sky stretched out endlessly. Dorothy was right. This was a much-needed break from all of the stress that had been going on for a while. Maybe this would help me possibly figure out a way to solve the case. Though right now I wanted to push that out of my mind.
No more thinking of it right now. At this moment, I would enjoy the beauty around me. I took in a deep breath of the salt air. Yes, I was certainly glad that I’d come today. I had tried to avoid it, but now that we’d almost reached the shore again I was glad I’d come. This had given me time to relax and reflect on the past few days.
I couldn’t get over the surroundings. Yes, I’d been in Miami for some time now, but rarely did I slow down long enough to enjoy my surroundings. It was like a tropical oasis around us with palm trees, the sandy beach, and the water lapping up on the shore. People dotted the sand like decorations on a canvas. Some were laying out on loungers, others tossing colorful beach balls back and forth, while other beachgoers frolicked in the glistening blue water. I could spend a lot of time here. Preferably with Jake. I couldn’t believe I’d just thought that.
We came up onto the shore and I got off the board, placing the paddles down on the sand. The guide gathered us around and instructed us on what we would be doing first. He was going to show us around and let us check out the coastline. Forget the paddle boarding. I could use just sitting under one of those palm trees with a book.
“You’ll see a lot of great things here,” he said. “So make sure to keep your eyes open.”
Most of the people here were probably tourists. My reason for being here was to find a killer. Plus, I always kept my eyes open. That was part of the job. I always had to be on the lookout because I never knew when danger would be right around the corner.
No sooner had the thought left my head when the sound of a boat caught my attention. I looked to my right. The boat was near the shore. What were they doing? There were a couple of men and they stood up in the boat, looking directly at us. It was Roland and Kevan. I was almost sure of that, but since they were a good distance away I couldn’t be sure. Instantly, I got a bad feeling about this. Did Roland have a gun in his hand?
I screamed, “Everybody get down!”
Of course panic ensued, people screaming and everybody dropping to the ground. Roland and Kevan had to have followed me here. They wanted me dead. Why else did Roland have a gun? Unfortunately, I didn’t have my weapon this time. Kenneth had lured me out here so that Roland and Kevan could show up and shoot me. I’d wondered why he’d called and suggested a paddleboard trip. Dorothy had loved the idea and insisted. I should have gone with my instincts.
“Grab your surfboard and use that as a shield,” Dorothy said.
“They’re not bulletproof, Dorothy,” I yelled.
“You can’t blame me for trying,” she said.
I had to think of a way to get us out of this. They wanted me dead. I surveyed the surroundings for Kenneth, but didn’t spot him.
“Why don’t I hear gunshots?” someone asked.
I peeked up. Yes, why hadn’t they fired shots? I supposed I had yelled for everyone to get down in a hurry. Better safe than sorry though. The men were still there. Maybe the gun wouldn’t shoot. Roland and Kevan appeared to be yelling at each other.
It looked as if I had lucked out this time. Kevan jumped behind the helm. The boat sped away. The other paddle boarders peeked up now that they thought it was safe.
Kenneth had appeared from whatever hiding spot he’d found. One of the clients pulled out his phone. He had a phone? Why was he just now calling for help?
“The police are on their way.” The man looked at me. “Do you know those men? It seemed as if they were targeting you.”
“Yes, I believe I do.” I stared at Kenneth while I spoke.
That was all the answer I would give. Everyone was still terrified as they talked amongst themselves. They were definitely keeping their distance. Dorothy was standing beside the group. I narrowed my eyes at her.
She noticed me watching her. “Oh… sorry.”
Soon boats arrived with ‘Police’ marked on the side. Police also rushed along the beach toward us. One of the men on the boats was Jake. Ugh. I hadn’t expected to see him out here. Of course I hadn’t expected men to show up with guns either. He got off the boat and walked straight toward me. I became acutely aware that I wore nothing but my swimsuit. Jake was professional though so I had to act professional too.
Jake walked up to me. “Maggie, are you all right? What happened?”
I crossed my arms in front of my chest, as if that would help conceal my body. Why did the suit have to be so small? Bad idea with that purchase. Jake tried not to look, but I caught him checking me out a couple times.
“It was Roland Bailey and Kevan Willoughby. Roland owns the surf shop. I’m sure that Kenneth lured me out here so they could kill me. They had to have followed me out here.”
“We’ll get to the bottom of this. In the meantime, I think you need some protection.”
For some reason, I thought he said something else. “Well, I wish I had clothing, but it is a beach and I was in the water.” I tossed my hands up.
His lips slipped into a flirtatious grin. At that moment, it clicked what he’d really said.
“That’s not what you said, is it?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No, I said you need police protection.”
“What? No way, Jake. I can handle myself.”
“I realize you can handle yourself, but I have a feeling this is much bigger than we realize,” he said.
Chapter 21
Dorothy and I were in a fabulous restaurant. It was definitely five-star quality. The dining room was dimly lit with fine china and glassware on the tables. A huge chandelier hung from the ceiling. The menu made my mouth water at first glance. Unfortunately, it looked as if our dining experience would be cut short. That was fine with me because we hadn’t planned on eating anyway. I knew I wouldn’t be able to afford it. We were only here because we were staking out someone. And it looked as if he was ready to leave.
Dorothy and I were going to follow him. With any luck, he wouldn’t notice we were even here. Even though he wore black sunglasses and a black Fedora hat I’d thought for sure it was Kenneth. We’d followed him from the surf shop. I got the feeling he was trying to disguise hims
elf, but I wasn’t sure why. Plus, I’d thought he’d take off the sunglasses and hat once he got in the restaurant.
“I still can’t believe you brought me out looking like this. What’s next? I have to leave the house in my hair rollers?” she asked.
“We have no time for dressing up right now. We’re watching what’s-his-face,” I said.
“Yes, and don’t you think we’re a little obvious? That we don’t belong here dressed like this?”
“What? Your outfit is perfectly presentable.” I stared at her bright orange shirt. She’d wore white Capri pants and orange sandals to complete her outfit.
“That may be so, but your choice of T-shirt and shorts isn’t the best option. Although I will commend you on selecting one that didn’t have a stain on the front.”
“Okay, that’s enough about my fashion sense. He’s getting up. We have to make a move.” I held the menu up as if that would disguise me.
As soon as the guy walked past our table, Dorothy and I got up and hurried out to the lobby. I spotted him headed toward the door.
“Come on.” I motioned for Dorothy.
Once outside, I spotted him handing his ticket to the valet. I did the same thing. I looked around to see if I spotted who owned one of the fancy cars parked out front. The cars ranged from Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Rolls Royces to Porsches. I would take any of them. Instead, I waited for the valet to bring around my Ford Focus. But hey, the car got me where I needed to go, so I couldn’t complain, right?
“We should try to stop him before he gets in the car. Your Ford had a hard time keeping up with his… whatever he drives. Maybe it’s just your driving.”
