Murder on the Half Shell (A Red Carpet Catering Mystery Book 2)

by Shawn Reilly Simmons

  “It’s a different world.” Changing the subject, Joey said, “You ready to go for a swim?”

  Penelope gazed out at the ocean, marveling at how it appeared to go on forever until it just dropped off at the edge of the sky. “I’m ready if you are,” she said.

  Chapter 12

  Max, Penelope and Joey took a left on Ocean Avenue and headed towards Josie’s Shrimp Shack for dinner. Arlena had decided to stay behind on the boat and read, the idea of hanging out at Josie’s unappealing to her. The open-air bar looked like it was pieced together with driftwood. Multicolored hurricane lamps made from mason jars hung from wooden beams underneath the thatched roof. Waxy cream-colored candles, nestled in sand from the beach, flickered in more mason jars, illuminating each of the tables.

  “You can sit anywhere you like,” a woman called to them from across the main room.

  They made their way out onto the deck, choosing a square wooden table near the railing in the corner. Penelope gathered her long skirt in her hands before sliding across the bench to her seat, being careful not to pull her long sundress on any splinters.

  The same woman who’d greeted them approached their table, tucking a dark curl behind her ear. She wore a black Josie’s Shrimp Shack shirt and a short black apron tied tightly at her waist. After they made their drink orders she said, “We have a shrimp feast special tonight, all you can eat for thirty a head. Comes with fries and coleslaw too. If you’re interested in our other items, they’re listed on the back of the menu. But I highly recommend the shrimp. It’s the best deal on the beach tonight. Let me get those beers for you,” she said, turning on her white sneakered heel.

  The waitress came back with their drinks and they placed their orders, shrimp feasts all around. “Your first batch will be up shortly. My name’s Jen. If you need anything just yell or wave me down. I’ll be around all night.” She moved away quickly to greet new guests at the door.

  “She’s got a lot of running to do,” Penelope said. Most of the seats inside were filled and the patio was filling up too. Besides the bartender Jen seemed to be the only one waiting on customers. Just then a strum of guitar strings sounded over the loud speakers as a man’s voice checked the mike.

  “Sounds like the band is tuning up,” Max said.

  Jen returned with their food and drinks, setting everything down quickly in front of them and turning to go.

  Max called after her, “Excuse me, who’s getting ready to play in there?”

  Jen’s expression softened. “That’s my old man, Jonny, and his friends. He loves getting up there and singing. They do some pretty good classic rock covers.” With that she moved away to help a nearby table.

  “I’m going to head to the ladies room, excuse me,” Penelope said after polishing off a few shrimp. Joey and Max both stood up briefly when she left.

  The restaurant’s interior was covered in dark wood paneling, a large square bar taking up the majority of the space. A row of tall two-top tables with stools pushed under them lined the back wall. Black and white photos of people in bathing suits lounging on the deck at Josie’s hung around the room. Judging from the variety of swimwear and hairstyles, Penelope guessed the photos spanned several decades.

  A stage was angled in the front corner, facing out over a scuffed linoleum dance floor. The band was setting up, flinging microphone cords and amp cables around and tuning up their guitars. Penelope popped into the ladies room, then was almost knocked over by Jen as she emerged back into the narrow hallway. Jen apologized and hurried past, pushing her way into the kitchen at the end of the hallway. Catching a glimpse of a familiar young man standing at the counter, Penelope went to the door and pushed it open wide enough to duck her head inside.

  “Regan, hey,” Penelope said, waving from the doorway.

  Regan stood behind a steel table in the middle of the kitchen, picking through a pile of shrimp.

  Regan looked up with a surprised smile. “What’re you doing here, Boss?”

  “Having dinner with some friends,” Penelope said, stepping all the way into the kitchen.

  Jen was busy at the back counter, pulling shrimp from the steamer, dusting them with seasoning and filling up clean baskets for service. She had a cordless phone wedged between her ear and shoulder as she worked. “We close at two a.m.…Yes, there’s live music tonight…Okay, no, no reservations, just come on down…Okay, see you then.” She pulled off her plastic glove and ended the call, hanging the phone back in its cradle on the wall. When she saw Penelope in the kitchen she froze and said, “Did you need something, hon?”

  Regan introduced Jen to Penelope, who turned out to be his mother.

  “Oh, it’s nice to meet you. Regan just loves working on that set.” She excused herself as the phone rang again, grabbing it and a tray of shrimp before pushing her way back out the kitchen door.

  “Regan, can I ask you something?” Penelope said after she’d gone. She watched him sort through the shrimp and saw he was quick and efficient about it.

  “Sure,” Regan said, pausing for a minute and looking at up her.

  “Did you hear what happened to Rebekkah and Sabena?”

  “Yeah, I did,” Regan said, looking back down at the shrimp and resuming his sorting. His shoulders stiffened under his Josie’s t-shirt. “I had to talk to the police today. This lady cop came in here and asked me a bunch of questions.”

  “Detective Torres?”

  “Yeah, that’s her,” Regan said.

  “Were you with Rebekkah and Sabena on Friday night? Francis said you offered to get them home safely. Did something happen?” Penelope kept her tone neutral, worried she might scare him into silence.

  “Yes,” Regan said after a moment. “That crawfish guy with the French name? He came over and started talking to us. Like talking to all of us, but mostly talking to Sabena. He said he had no way to get home and that he’d give us beer if I gave him a ride.” Regan looked down at the shrimp in front of him as he spoke.

  Penelope’s heart sank and she took a breath. “What happened after that? Did you drive him home?”

  “Yeah, I did,” Regan said quietly.

  “And the girls? Did you give them a ride too?” Penelope prodded. Outside, the band had started playing their version of the old Beach Boys song “I Get Around.”

  “That’s the part that I feel really bad about, but, yeah, they came along for the ride to that dude’s house. He was pretty drunk and kept trying to give me a beer while I was driving. I can’t do anything like that. My parents are cool about me having a drink or two, but they’d flip out and take my car away if I got caught drinking and driving.”

  Penelope nodded. “Were Rebekkah and Sabena drinking?”

  Regan nodded and leaned against the counter behind him. He pulled his plastic gloves off and folded his arms at his chest. “That’s the messed-up part,” he said. “I was hanging out with them before we left and they seemed fine, just drinking water. And then suddenly they’re wasted. Rebekkah said something like ‘that vodka we drank,’ and I got the feeling they’d spiked their water bottles. Sabena said she swiped some pharms from her mom too.”

  “Pharms?” Penelope said.

  “Yeah, you know. Pills,” Regan said. “Swiping a pill or two from your parents’ medicine cabinet is the safest way to catch a buzz. They never miss them.”

  Penelope paused as the kitchen door swung open again. Jen rushed in. “We just sat three new tables. We got enough picked through for a few hours?”

  “Yeah, Mom,” Regan said.

  “Good. Hey, go listen to your dad play for a while. Put that shrimp in the walk-in and take a break. I’ll let you know if I need you again. Go have some fun.” She squeezed him on the arm and went back out the door.

  “Did you end up taking the girls home after you dropped Emilio at his ho
use?” Penelope asked when they were alone again.

  “No,” Regan said, shaking his head. “They shared a beer in the car on the way out there, but when we got to the other side of the island I had to pull over because Sabena got sick. She was really upset, thought she was going to get into trouble with her mom for being drunk. I get the feeling she isn’t a very experienced partier. She was upset about something…something about her boyfriend. Honestly they were drunk so I tried to tune them out. I offered to take them somewhere else, but they just both kept saying that they were going to get killed when they got home.”

  Penelope closed her eyes. “What happened after that?”

  “I didn’t want to leave them with that guy, but he said he knew you, like, for a long time. He was your teacher or something? And that his wife was cool with the girls coming in and sobering up for a while. He said Rebekkah and Sabena could stay at his place until they all felt better and then he would drive them home. I saw a big white pickup truck parked at the house. He said they only needed an hour or two and some water. Rebekkah said they’d text their moms saying they were staying at each other’s houses for the night, and then they’d slip back into her bedroom after her parents fell asleep.”

  Penelope felt sick to her stomach and put a hand on the steel table, focusing on the cool metal.

  “So the last time you saw them they were at Emilio’s house?”

  “Well, they were heading inside. I watched him unlock the door, to make sure they weren’t locked out, and then I took off.”

  “They didn’t invite you in?” Penelope asked.

  “They did, but I had to get home. And I’d had enough teenage drama at that point,” Regan said.

  “Did you tell all of that to Detective Torres?”

  “Yeah. She made a call after that and left in a hurry,” Regan said. “I didn’t want to rat anybody out, but I didn’t want them thinking I was messing around with those girls either. I’m an adult now. Messing around with a sixteen-year-old, even if she’s your girlfriend, can get you in serious trouble.”

  “Regan, do you remember seeing me early on Saturday morning up on the avenue?” Penelope asked.

  “When…Saturday morning?” Regan said, a blush coming to his cheeks.

  “Yes, around seven thirty I found you passed out outside of Rose’s. I helped you onto the park bench, but then you were gone when I came back out to check on you.”

  “Oh, that. Yeah, I did end up partying a little bit more on my own after I got back. But I didn’t drive,” Regan said, regaining some of his composure. “I went to Aunt Rose’s for a pack of cigarettes, and I guess I fell asleep.”

  “Rose is your aunt?” Penelope asked.

  “No, but she’s practically family. My dad’s parents passed away when he was young. She and my grandma were close, and she stepped in to help out with stuff for him, school and whatnot. We spend the holidays with her, you know, family stuff. I help her out with the rental cabins too, cleaning them out when people leave or helping show them to new renters.”

  “Regan,” Penelope said. “You’re an adult and I’m not trying to make you feel like you’re not, but you know it isn’t safe to drink until you pass out, right?”

  “I’m really embarrassed that you saw me that way,” Regan said, picking up a dishtowel and twisting it around his fist. “That was one night when I just let myself go. But I don’t do that all the time. You can trust me. I hope you still want me to work for you.”

  Penelope sighed. “I think you have real potential. I’m just worried about you. You have to take better care of yourself. But yeah, I’d like to see you at work on Tuesday.”

  “Thanks, Miss Sutherland, I promise I won’t act like a fool again.”

  “Good,” Penelope said. The band started playing “Good Lovin’” to a round of cheers from the bar patrons. “I should get back to my friends. Are you coming out?”

  “Yeah, I’m right behind you,” he said, pulling off his apron.

  They walked out to the bar area together. Regan leaned down and shouted over the music, pointing at the lead singer. “That’s my dad, Jonny. He’s the front man and the other guys are his two best friends.”

  Jonny gripped his microphone with both hands, holding it close to his lips. He was tall and slim with shoulder-length black hair that whipped around as he sang. A full-grown version of Regan, he looked to be in his mid-forties.

  “You look a lot like your dad,” Penelope shouted over the music.

  Regan pointed to a picture over the bar. It was a large black and white photograph of a woman sitting on the beach in a one-piece bathing suit, smiling serenely, a chubby baby waving from her lap. Judging from her hair and sunglasses, Penelope guessed the picture was from the late sixties or early seventies. “That’s my grandmother, Josie Daniels. People say I look a lot like her. That’s my dad when he was a baby. Josie opened up the Shrimp Shack right before that picture was taken, but passed away soon after that. We carry it on in her name. Keep the tradition of shrimp on the beach.” Someone at the bar caught Regan’s attention and Penelope followed his gaze. Max and Gavin were sitting together at the bar, laughing about something.

  “Max just arrived on the island the other day,” Penelope shouted over the music.

  “He’s in the movie?” Regan asked, taking another look. “I’ve seen his reality show.”

  “Yep. Arlena always tries to get him parts in her projects.”

  “I’m going out for a smoke,” Regan said, stepping away from her and heading to the patio. He pulled a silver cigarette box from his pocket with a distinctive holographic on the side that glinted in the dim lights.

  “Where did you get those?” Penelope asked, following him outside.

  “Rose’s,” Regan said. “She’s the only one who sells smokes on the island.”

  “You should think about quitting,” Penelope said, trying to sound like a friend and not a preachy adult.

  Regan smiled and shrugged. “I will.”

  Penelope returned to her table, where Joey sat alone.

  “I thought you ditched me,” Joey said. He looked content. The relaxed atmosphere of the beach seemed to be agreeing with him.

  “No way,” Penelope said, glancing at Regan smoking at the far end of the patio. “I was talking with one of my helpers. Joey, Emilio was with those girls Friday night at his house. Regan drove them all there after the party.”

  “That doesn’t sound good, Penny,” Joey said, his relaxed expression hardening.

  “I know,” Penelope said. “I’m at a loss as to how to feel.”

  Joey grabbed her hand and squeezed her fingers between his. Penelope fell silent and stared towards the bar, just as the band finished another song. Jen stepped up on the stage and sang a soulful version of “Gold Dust Woman,” the room falling silent except for her voice.

  “You ready to go?” Joey asked, after the song was finished.

  Penelope realized she had been quiet for a while, going over everything she had learned about Emilio in her mind, trying to fit all of the different stories together.

  “Yeah, let’s go,” Penelope said. She slid out from the booth and waved goodbye to Regan on the way out.

  Chapter 13

  The next morning, Penelope and Joey decided to have breakfast at the Inn and then pick up his cabin rental keys from Rose afterwards.

  “Good morning, Penelope,” Jeanne said as she greeted them at the hostess podium.

  Penelope introduced Joey to Jeanne who then led them to a table near the window. She wore pale green Capri pants and a matching short jacket with a white t-shirt underneath. Penelope thought she always managed to look professional and comfortable at the same time. “We haven’t had this many new people on Andrea Island for as long as I can remember,” Jeanne said as she handed them their menus. �
��And that’s a long time. Coffee for you both?”

  They nodded and she hurried away, returning with a carafe a few minutes later. Joey and Penelope made their breakfast orders and sat drinking their coffee and watching the water. The dining room was about half-full, Penelope recognizing all of the other diners as members of the film crew.

  “This is the only hotel on the island?” Joey asked, looking up at the ceiling.

  Penelope nodded. “Jeanne took it over from her parents, and they did from her grandparents. She grew up here and now she’s in charge.”

  Jeanne came over with their plates of eggs, bacon and hash browns. “You all should come to the Happiest Hour tonight. Have a cocktail with us before dinner.”

  Jeanne threw a cocktail party every evening on the rooftop deck of the Inn for both her guests and friends on the island. Penelope had attended a few, along with most of the rest of the cast and crew.

  “Maybe we will,” Penelope said. “Joey’s going to get settled into his cabin today, but I’m sure we’ll want to get out later.”

  “Are you with the film crew?” Jeanne asked.

  “No, ma’am,” Joey said, setting down his coffee mug. “I’m just visiting Penny for a few days.”

  “What do you do for work back home?” Jeanne asked.

  “I work for the city,” Joey said, glancing away from her.

  “He’s a homicide detective,” Penelope said, lowering her voice. Joey didn’t always feel comfortable announcing that he was a detective, especially when he was off duty.

  Jeanne raised a hand to her heart. “My stars, a homicide detective?” Jeanne’s cheerful smile faltered a bit, then she recovered.

  “Yes, ma’am. New Jersey PD,” Joey said, giving her a quick smile.

  “Welcome to our island,” Jeanne said, shifting back into hospitality mode. “We’re getting all kinds of folks around here lately.”

  “Jeanne, have you heard any updates about Sabena and Rebekkah? Do you know how they’re doing?” Penelope said.