A Time to Swill

by Sherry Harris

  I took a drink of water and tried both again, this time in reverse order. The crowd in the bar was quiet. I mulled the tastes over in my mind.

  “Both are delicious,” I said. The crowd cheered. “But this one,” I pointed at the first one I’d tried, “wins by a hair.”

  Michael held up Vivi’s hand as if she’d just won a boxing match. When he dropped her hand Vivi strutted around the bar with her hands clasped above her head. She looked at Joaquín, made an “L” for loser with her fingers, and held it to her forehead. He tapped a fist to his chest as if he was wounded. Then he bowed to her several times.

  “I told you turbinado sugar in the simple syrup was the key ingredient,” Vivi said to Joaquín.

  I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. Steve walked in from the deck. That sobered me up fast. Vivi, Joaquín, and Michael all turned around and spotted him.

  “Well, well,” Vivi said. “If it isn’t my brand-new partner.”

  Steve stopped, and for a moment the arrogant look on his face flashed to surprise. It didn’t last.

  “Sounds like you’re coming around,” Steve said.

  He sounded disappointed.

  Vivi gave a snort of laughter. “You wish. We know that you faked the will and the emails.” Vivi looked at the silver watch on her wrist. “I’m guessing your lawyer is with the federal prosecutor right now turning state’s evidence.”

  “You’re being ridiculous,” Steve said, but his usual bluster had an edge of uncertainty to it.

  “Am I, Chloe?” Vivi asked.

  “Nope. Was it wire fraud, mail fraud, and impersonating a military officer? I can’t quite remember the exact charges,” I said. “Oh, look, there’s the deputy now.”

  Steve paled and whipped around. Of course no deputy was there. That was wishful thinking on my part.

  Steve turned back to us. “We’ll just see about that.” Then he hightailed it out of the Sea Glass.

  “George said it would take a while for the case to go to court, Vivi,” I said.

  “Steve isn’t the only one who can bluff,” Vivi said.

  I guessed he wasn’t.

  “Daiquiris on the house,” Vivi called out. “Let’s get this party started.”

  “Classic daiquiris,” Joaquín added.

  * * *

  After work I walked down to Two Bobs to look for Ann, still smiling from the drink-off and the satisfaction of seeing Steve run out of the bar. This time Ann was at her regular table and alone. I sat down across from her.

  “We need to talk,” I said. It sounded like a bad line from a D-list movie.

  “Agreed. But not here.”

  “I thought you always conducted business here.”

  “There’s business and there’s this.” She gestured between us. “I don’t want anyone to overhear us.”

  CHAPTER 39

  “Your place or mine?” I asked. That sounded like a bad line too. Maybe I should take up writing terrible screenplays. I had no idea where Ann lived, but it would be interesting to find out. I pictured her living on a three-masted ship tucked in a quiet cove somewhere. One that could glide out quietly in the night to do whatever Ann needed to do.

  “Your place. I’ll meet you in thirty minutes.”

  * * *

  Before Ann showed up I scrubbed off my makeup and showered off the remnants of my day—strawberry daiquiris were surprisingly sticky, or at least the one I made was. Rookie mistake, not putting the lid of the blender on and having the drink spray all over me.

  I changed into old leggings and a Chicago Bears sweatshirt that I’d stolen from a long-ago boyfriend. It was soft and comfy. When I heard a car pull up I peeked out the drapes to confirm it was Ann. I was still worried that Jed and his gang had somehow figured out that it was Ann and me in the woods.

  Ann climbed out of the passenger side of her Jeep. Why did she have a driver again? It made me wonder what she had planned after she left here. Or maybe she was worried about Jed too. Whatever she was doing after our conversation at Two Bobs I hoped it hadn’t involved me. I opened the door and let her in. We sat in the living room, on opposite ends of the couch.

  “Do you want anything to drink?” I asked. Ever the hostess. My mom would be so proud.

  “No. Have you been okay?” Ann asked. “No one’s following you?”

  “If they are, I haven’t noticed.” I paused. “We have to tell someone what happened. What we saw at the camp.”

  Ann nodded. I was surprised.

  “I agree,” she said. “I’ve been trying to figure out who.”

  I could understand her reluctance after what had happened with the Secret Service agent. “You’re sure your friend isn’t running an undercover op?”

  “He’s been around too much. They would have brought someone else in to infiltrate Jed’s organization.”

  That made sense. “What about reaching out to Deputy Biffle? He seems like a straight arrow, but you’ve lived here longer than I have.” I didn’t really know much about Ann, or how long she’d lived here, or where she’d lived before.

  Ann did a slow nod. “Let’s call him.”

  “Right now?”

  “Yes. I think they’re moving camps tonight. It would be best to catch them in the act.”

  That explained the driver and the Jeep. I took out the card Deputy Biffle had given me with his cell phone number on it. I hoped I wasn’t waking him up. I didn’t want to reach him through the sheriff’s office.

  “Biffle.”

  He sounded alert. “This is Chloe Jackson. I have some information that I think has something to do with Blake Farwell’s death. Can you come over?”

  There was a pause. I assumed he was thinking it over.

  “I’ll be over in ten.”

  I ended the call and turned to Ann. “He’s on his way.”

  Ann got out her phone and sent a text. Seconds later I heard the Jeep start up and leave. Ann Williams, international woman of mystery. Whatever. I didn’t really care what she did or didn’t want Biffle to see.

  We waited in silence until he knocked on the door. Ann seemed a little tense, but I was too. I got up and let him in. Biffle’s eyes swept the room and settled on Ann. His facial expression didn’t change, but I thought I noticed a slight tensing of his shoulders. Hmmm, did they have a past? Deputy Biffle didn’t wear a wedding ring. Straight-and-narrow Biffle and bend-the-rules Ann would be an interesting combination for a couple.

  I went through my hostess routine, which he rejected. We sat at my kitchen table and filled him in on what had happened the other night. Well, “we” was a stretch. I did most of the talking, starting with my conversation with Oscar Hickle, telling him about seeing Jed Farwell and the Secret Service agent, and ending with us getting away. I left out the part about getting picked up and driven home.

  Deputy Biffle deserved an Oscar nomination for playing a wooden board. His facial expression was set to neutral, and he barely moved. If it wasn’t for the occasional blink or breath, I’d have thought he was in a trance. Oh, or maybe spellbound by Ann. I shoved that thought aside to focus on next steps.

  “This is all conjecture, but what if the smuggling ring has been around for years?” I asked. “The Fair Winds somehow came upon something that night that they shouldn’t have. Maybe the smuggling operation. Blake threw in with his brother to survive.”

  “He was probably supposed to kill Chloe,” Ann said. “But for some reason didn’t.”

  It was strange to hear the thing I’d been worrying about voiced out loud. I wondered if I’d ever have an answer to that question.

  “We didn’t know who to trust.” That’s what I finished with. Neither Ann nor I mentioned Rip and the red boat. Maybe some small part of both of us hoped he wasn’t involved.

  Deputy Biffle studied Ann for a moment. From anyone else the look would be nothing. But because it was Deputy Biffle I assumed that this was an expression of great surprise. He was surprised Ann trusted him. This was getting bette
r and better.

  Ann finally spoke. “We think they’re moving tonight.”

  “We need to go in quiet, but we’ll need a few more people,” Deputy Biffle said.

  “People you trust, Dan.”

  That was the first time I’d ever heard Deputy Biffle’s first name. I looked back and forth between them. Caught a momentary softening of both their features. Or maybe I was just tired and imagining things.

  “I’ll call a couple of people,” Deputy Biffle said.

  “I’ll meet you in forty-five minutes. I’ll be your guide. Observation only,” Ann said.

  That confirmed they had some kind of history. “Do you want me to come along?” I asked.

  “No.” They said it in unison, and then they left.

  * * *

  A knock on my door at six thirty Friday morning surprised me as I was getting ready to head out on my run. I opened the door and found Ann standing there, with two cups of coffee no less. She held one out to me. That was when I noticed a bruise on her cheekbone.

  “Thanks,” I said. “Living room or porch?”

  “Let’s sit on the porch.”

  Once we’d settled on the porch Ann seemed content to take in the view. The sun was rising with some showy pinks and oranges. Gulls were swooping and calling, a line of pelicans flew by skimming the water. It felt like heaven must as a gentle breeze blew the salty Gulf scent to us.

  “What happened?” I asked. While Ann might be content to take in the scene, I was antsy as a kid waiting for the next page of a beloved book to be read. “I thought you were there to observe only.” I tapped my cheekbone in the place she had her bruise.

  Ann did a minisnort, which seemed so un-Ann like. “That’s what I told Biffle so I could go with him.”

  Hmmm, she was back to Biffle instead of Dan. Maybe he wasn’t too happy with her. I got that, because Ann was driving me crazy. “How did you get the bruise?”

  “I tackled the man who snuck up on me the other night. No one gets the jump on me.” She took a drink of her coffee. “If you hadn’t been watching the cabin, it would have been bad. So he had some payback coming. When I saw him make a run for it I stopped him.”

  “Let me guess, you have a small bruise and he has a large one.”

  “Several. I also heard his shoulder might be dislocated. He must have stumbled on something in the dark.”

  Humph. I was guessing the only dark thing he stumbled on was Ann in her black outfit. “Who else was out there?”

  “They’ve got Jed and the Secret Service agent in custody. Plus the others I saw out there that night. The Secret Service agent was already pleading that he was undercover, but I don’t still buy it.”

  “How many of you were out there to round up everyone?”

  “Biffle obviously, me, two other Walton County deputies, and the police chief from Fort Walton Beach, Chuck Hooker.”

  “Why the police chief?”

  Ann raised and dropped her shoulder. “He and Biffle go way back, I guess. Because of you lots of guns are off the street, turtles have been saved, and a long-running liquor-smuggling operation has been broken up. Hopefully, Biffle will get confessions out of some of the men and the tangled mystery of the Fair Winds will finally be resolved.” Ann downed the last of her coffee. “Have a good run. You don’t need to see me out.”

  That was about as near as Ann got to thanking someone. It felt pretty darn good to be me right now. I finished my coffee watching the sun rise. After some stretches I set out on my run wondering when I’d hear anything about arrests.

  CHAPTER 40

  Deputy Biffle had a smug smile on his face as he sipped a beer at the Sea Glass. He’d stopped in just before we closed—out of uniform for once, although his jeans and short-sleeved shirt had crisp ironing marks. Ann, Joaquín, Michael, Vivi, and I sat with him at a high-top table. Deputy Biffle’s back was to the wall. Before the bar opened I’d filled Joaquín, Michael, and Vivi in on what had happened the other night on the bayou and what Ann had told me this morning.

  Vivi had been shocked and disappointed that Jed Farwell had been involved. The heritage business owners were so close.

  For once Deputy Biffle didn’t have his aviator sunglasses on. As I put a beer in front of him, I noticed that his gaze lingered briefly on the bruise on Ann’s cheek. She’d lifted her chin a bit as he did it.

  “Jed Farwell sang like he was Renée Fleming singing Bellini’s ‘Casta Diva.’ ”

  My eyebrows wanted to pop up in surprise, but I managed to keep my facial expression set to neutral. I never would have guessed Deputy Biffle was an opera fan. People down here in the Panhandle continued to surprise me, making me realize my Yankee self had biases I wasn’t aware of.

  “I can’t believe he talked,” I said. Everyone else nodded. I also couldn’t believe Deputy Biffle was in here filling us in.

  “A lighter sentence for giving up a bigger fish,” he said.

  “The Secret Service agent?” I asked. I glanced at Ann. She wasn’t fooled easily, so I knew that having the Secret Service agent double-cross her stung.

  “Yes.” He took a drink of his beer as if it was the best thing he’d ever tasted. “Although Jed doesn’t realize some of the other people we picked up are talking too.”

  “What happened on the Fair Winds the night it disappeared?” Vivi asked. Deep lines cut across her forehead.

  She’d lost friends that night, and maybe more when Blake Farwell disappeared. I thought again of the wistful look on her face when I’d first mentioned him to her.

  “According to one of the men we brought in, the Fair Winds inadvertently came upon Jed and the smugglers transferring liquor from one boat to another. It was a common practice, so if law enforcement was on to one boat, they’d switch things up. When the suspected boat showed up at port it was free of anything illegal.”

  “So they’ve been at this a long time, and up until Vivi started asking questions about possible liquor smuggling in June, no one knew,” Ann added.

  “How could no one know for so long?” I asked.

  “Because they kept moving their operation around,” Biffle said. “They stayed out of Emerald Cove because it was too close to home, but their greed got in their way.”

  “But why did they kill Cartland, Susan, and Raquel?” Joaquín asked.

  “Witnesses. Cartland was shot and killed right away when he tried to get one of the smugglers’ guns. They dumped him overboard,” Biffle said. “Then they tried to stage some debris and a scarf to look like the boat had blown up.”

  So, Rip’s dad was a hero and his son a smuggler. How ironic was that?

  “Blake didn’t know what his brother was up to until that night. After Cartland was killed Blake got the women to agree that they wouldn’t tell anyone. But Jed didn’t trust them, so he took them to a remote island in South Florida where he had an encampment. Raquel tried to swim away and perished not long after they were taken to the island. Susan pretended to fall in love with Jed. They had an affair for years sailing the Fair Winds together, until she was caught trying to radio for help.”

  “But why were her remains on the boat? It couldn’t have been floating alone for years,” I said.

  “It’s disgusting. She was a warning to those who interacted with Jed and Blake of what would happen to them if they were crossed. They’ve been using the boat for years in southern Florida. Painting it and repainting it with different names.”

  “Who shot at me when Rip and I went out looking for the Fair Winds?” I asked. I knew it wasn’t Jed because he’d been out on a charter.

  “Some of Jed’s men. They swear they were just trying to scare you off so they could retrieve a duffel full of money that was left behind when Blake abandoned the Fair Winds during a storm.”

  We were all pale and quiet when Deputy Biffle finished.

  “What about the Fair Winds ending up on the beach here?” Vivi asked.

  “I did some digging and found out that last summer ther
e was a Mayday call from the Fair Winds during a hurricane down in southern Florida. The Coast Guard rescued a man—I’m convinced it was Blake Farwell, but he was using a false name.”

  “So the Fair Winds has just been drifting around since then?” Joaquín asked.

  “It was. It might have gotten caught in the Loop Current, and then the storm blew it this way. It’s not the first time an abandoned boat has ended up in this area,” Biffle said.

  “Why did Blake stay in town after he saved Chloe?” Vivi asked.

  “We brought Jed’s son in for an interview. He turned on his father pretty quick when we explained how things were shaking out.”

  Jeez, there were more people turning on one another than in And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie.

  “According to Jed’s son, Jed was tired of Blake’s screwups, like leaving the cash behind when Blake was rescued from the Fair Winds. Also, Blake was tired of being on the run and wanted to get out of the business. So he could return, Blake came up with a story that he’d been kidnapped by smugglers and hit over the head and had been wandering around with amnesia all this time. Jed didn’t react well to that.”

  “Maybe that’s why Blake didn’t kill me,” I said.

  “I’m not sure,” Deputy Biffle said. “Maybe he wanted to redeem some of his wrongs. We’ll never know for sure.”

  Or maybe Blake wanted to win Vivi back.

  Biffle finished his beer. “Most of this will be coming out in the next few days. Until then you don’t know a thing. We’re working with the Coast Guard special agents to build the cases. They’re still looking into the stain you spotted on the floor, Chloe, and why Raquel’s ring was there. We might not ever have an answer to that.”

  We all nodded. Deputy Biffle strode out of the Sea Glass looking like a happy man. He’d closed a few cases. The aftermath would linger for a long time. Ann stood up. She looked at me and gave me a quick flick of her head.

  “I need to get going,” she said. “Vivi, if you need anything get hold of me. I can’t imagine what you must be feeling.”