Murder For Neptune's Trident...A Citrus Beach Mystery (Citrus Beach Mysteries Book 1)

by Victoria LK Williams

  “When I talked to Carol, she was just as shocked as I was. I really don’t think this had anything to do with the Bloomquest property at all. It just happened out there on the river near her home. Those men did not look as if they had interest in any of the homes they were passing.”

  As the three of them stood talking, one of the officers Megan recognized as a parent of one of her daughter’s friends approached them.

  “Excuse me, sir. I have an update to report.”

  “Go ahead, Sean.”

  “So far we have no activity seen at any of the occupied homes. However, a bait boat was found tied up to the Rogers’ dock up closer to the causeway. The Rogers say the boat is not theirs and they have never seen it before. I think it might be the boat Ms. Cassidy saw yesterday!”

  “Yes, you’re probably right. The Rogers’ property is the closest to the causeway. I would hazard a guess that they had a car parked on the causeway. Sean, have a team tow the boat to the impound area and process it for any prints or anything else they may find that will help us. Have a picture sent to me so I can show it to Megan here, maybe she will be able to identify it and we can have a solid lead to work on.”

  “I’ll get right on it, Sir.” Tipping his hat in an old fashioned manner to Megan and Paul, Officer Sean Young turned and left the three of them, talking into his phone as he walked away to convey the sheriff’s orders to the officers at the Rogers’ dock.

  Turning to the sheriff, Megan noticed the concerned look on his face. Realizing just how much lay on his shoulders, she tried to make him feel better.

  “Even if they made a clean getaway, at least they didn’t try to enter the Rogers’ home. How did the media find out about this so fast, I thought we would have a little time this morning before they showed up?”

  Looking at Megan, the sheriff gave a gruff laugh. “It’s a small town, Megan. Someone listened in on a scanner, or knew someone who was called out to the site. It only takes a phone call and the gossip lines are buzzing. I’m going to have to speak to the media soon, especially with these killers on the loose and entering private property. I need to worry about citizens’ safety first and just maybe someone may have seen something we can use to catch them.”

  “Don’t you think they’d be long gone by now?”

  “Until we find that body and get some more information that could help us understand what went on here yesterday, I’m going under the assumption that the shooters are still around with unfinished business. We are flying blind until there is more evidence and a body. And, Megan … they may consider you unfinished business.”

  “I’ve been trying not to think about that, Sheriff.”

  “Well, let’s be smart and think about everything. You are going to have police protection around the clock until I say otherwise. I want you to limit your activities to as few locations as possible and I’m going to need a daily itinerary of your plans, as well. I’ve already spoken to Carol Bloomquest, and she is going to have security patrols on her property, as she told you. I think a number of the residences along this stretch of beach are also doing the same, at least those still in town. A number of my off-duty officers will be picking up some extra work for the next few days.”

  “That’s good to know, Sheriff. I was planning on contacting our clients and suggesting the same thing. If you want to forward a list of men who would want the extra work to my office, we can help with that. I’m not happy about having to limit my activities, but I can see that it makes sense and, of course I want to cooperate any way I can,” Megan answered.

  Hearing his name being called down by the shore, the sheriff asked Megan and Paul to go in the house and wait for his return in case he had more questions for him. Not waiting for an answer, he turned and walked towards his waiting men. Looking at each other, Megan nodded to the house and started walking in that direction.

  Entering the back door, Megan walked to the alarm pad and tapped in the code, with no hesitation today. Turning to her cousin, she gave a half-hearted smile.

  “So, I’ve never been called “unfinished business” before. Many other things, but not that. Sheriff Green has a lot on his shoulders with this one. I don’t think we’ve ever had a murder on the island before. He is going to get a lot of heat from the homeowners and the town officials to resolve this quickly.”

  “You’re right. People are going to be jumpy too. We’ll have to make sure all our staff are on their toes and in uniform. I’m thinking that it might be a good idea for everyone to work in pairs or teams. It might not be as efficient, but safety is more important.”

  “I agree. I think I’m also going to have Lois give scheduled clients a courtesy call this afternoon so that they will be expecting us. Do you want to have her do the same for your clients?”

  “That would be great, I would appreciate her help. I can email that to her right now. It was a good idea we had to combine administration with your company, Megan. Janice is so organized and I trust her with anything I throw her way. It’s great that she works so well with Eric.”

  “Yeah, she’s fabulous. My life is so organized now that I actually have time to enjoy my work.”

  Paul gave her a quick smile before turning serious. Giving her a look that allowed for no misunderstanding, Paul pointed Megan to the table and chair in front of the window and indicated that she take a seat. Pulling out the chair across from hers, Paul sat down.

  “I know how independent you are, as well as stubborn, but right now let’s get something straight. I am worried about your safety. The sheriff is right; you need to limit the places you go and make sure that when you are not in a secure, locked place that there is someone with you. And I don’t mean my wife: the two of you can get in too much trouble under normal circumstances. Neither of you needs to put yourself at unnecessary risk. Work and home should be the only places you go for the next few days. As a matter of fact, I think you should stay with us.”

  Even though she knew he was right, Megan was not happy with being told what to do. She was quite capable of making her own decisions and thought she should at least have a say in the matter.

  “I don’t need to stay with the two of you. Our property has a security gate and alarm system. Besides, I’ll be getting police protection, as well. We can be smart about our movements without getting all nervous and jerky. Anyways, I still think they’re long gone. Why risk sticking around a small town where strangers are sure to be noticed? I’ll agree to limit my normal running around until we know that there is an actual threat to my safety.”

  “See, there’s that stubbornness rearing its head. You may think that you will be fine at home on your own, but how are you going to handle things when that news circus out front of Carol’s sets its sights on you and brings your life into the limelight for anyone to follow? Anyone: as in suspected killers wanting to silence their only witness? Besides you can only spread our small police force so thin before they run out of men to patrol. Why not be proactive and help the sheriff?”

  “Paul, I’m not staying at your house. You know as well as I do that we have state of the art security and with those two dogs, no one is going to creep up on me without my knowledge. I’ll spend the next few days working in the office catching up on paperwork and, when I’m not working, I’ll limit my time outdoors to the bare minimum. Can we agree to that?”

  Giving her a frustrated look, he nodded, knowing that this was the best he was going to get at this time. With no solid threat to hold over her head, he knew that Megan was not going to give in any more than she had. He did make a mental note to adjust his workers' schedules so that there would be someone on site with her at all times. He could play the office catch-up game, as well. Deciding to be productive while they waited for an update on the activity by the river, Paul pulled out his Smartphone and began to compose an email to Janice.

  Megan raised her eyebrows in disbelief that he would give into her argument so easily. Not wanting to stir things back up, she grabbed the remote f
or the kitchen TV and turned on the local station to find out what was going on in the area. As she expected, the news crews out front of the Bloomquest home were reporting “breaking news.” Since they knew even less than Megan, she found their information a bit lacking. Still it annoyed her that so much focus was being placed at her client’s home. No specific names were reported, but if you were familiar with the area it would not be hard to narrow down which house they were broadcasting from.

  After watching for a few minutes, Megan grew restless. Turning the TV off, she got up and walked to the larger bay window in the family room where she had a clearer view of the river’s shoreline. She could see that there did not seem to be any change in the activity pattern she had seen earlier and realized that everyone was in a wait-and-see mode until a body was found. Deciding that she may as well get something accomplished, Megan told Paul that she was going to go through the house and do checks on her list to make sure all was ready for when Carol did return. As she left the room, Megan heard Paul’s phone ring, so she just waved to him, pointing towards the stairway to indicate where she was heading. Nodding to her that he understood, Paul picked up his phone.

  As Megan walked through the upper floor where the bedrooms were, she wasn’t surprised to find that Carol’s niece had left her room in a typical teenage disaster. The bedspread was tossed on the floor and the pillows were piled up at the end of the bed, clearly used to prop up the girl while she either watched TV, or talked on the phone. Empty glasses and dirty plates littered the dresser and used bath towels left a trail to the bathroom. Megan knew that she had already scheduled to have a cleaning crew come through later today, but she bent over and picked up the moist towels and draped them over the bathtub so that the rug would not get damp. Remembering her own daughter’s similar habits, she just sighed: no reason to get frustrated over something that was just naturally going to happen.

  After putting the towels on the tub’s edge, Megan checked the doors to the balcony to make sure they were securely closed and locked and then went on to Carol’s room. This room always took Megan’s breath away. Decorated in an old fashioned style, it could have been like you walked through a doorway into a turn of the century lady’s private room. Feminine elegance, delicate lace, all in whites and creams, was in abundance in the room. Pictures of southern women strolling along the grounds of a plantation dressed in their finest gowns were on the walls and in one corner stood a custom shelf unit filled with hats: Derby style hats and lacy parasols that just cried to be admired. It was a stark contrast to the active, modern woman that Megan knew Carol to be.

  As usual, everything was in perfect order in the room, nothing out of place or to show that just yesterday it had been occupied. Sighing, Megan thought of the clutter in her own bedroom. Just once she would like to enjoy this type of haven at her own home, but having two dogs, cats, and a desk in her room would never allow for that. Walking over to the balcony doors in Carol’s room, Megan double checked to be sure they were also securely locked. Leaving the room behind her, she continued down the hall to make sure the remaining rooms at that level were secure.

  Checking the next two, the rooms were quickly completed. As she started to the last door, Megan heard the downstairs door open and close, followed by Paul calling her name. Hurrying to the top of the stairs, she called to him that she was on her way down. Moving quickly down the wide staircase, Megan could hear her cousin and the sheriff talking in the kitchen. As she entered the kitchen, the look she saw on the sheriff’s face told her all she needed to know: the body had been found.

  “Is it someone we know, Sheriff?” This was the first thought to pop into her head and it was uttered before Megan even thought it through.

  “I’m pretty sure I know who it is, but I need a positive ID before it can be official. If it’s who I think it is, then, no you probably have not met him yet. We are going to need to bring the body up through the Bloomquest property, and I want you to confirm to the best of your ability that this is the same person you saw in the boat. Just a general confirmation, you were too far away to see his face clearly, right?”

  “I’m sorry, but I didn’t see his face and was really too far away to see any details about his appearance. I’ll do what I have to do to help, Sheriff,” Megan told the man, her face growing pale with the thought of what he was asking her to do.

  “Thank you, Megan. We’ll make it as comfortable as possible for you and Paul will be right there with you. If you would meet us out by the garage in about ten minutes, we will be ready for you. After you have confirmed it’s the body, we will transport him to the morgue. I will go out and make my statement to the media next. I would like for you two to remain here inside for at least the next hour. By that time, I figure the media will have cleared out and you will be able to leave without having your pictures taken and plastered everywhere for our possible suspects to see. Paul, I would like you to drive yourselves directly to either your home or office and remain there until I can get a surveillance team together and in place for Megan’s protection. Please plan on as little travel activity as possible for the next day or two. Now, if you will excuse me, I’m needed outside.”

  Giving her a reassuring smile, the sheriff moved towards the door, straightening his posture as he prepared himself for the work ahead of him. Megan watched him leave, not envying the job he had ahead of him, nor the awful task ahead of her. As if he could feel her fear, Paul put a comforting arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick hug of reassurance. Staring after the sheriff’s retreating back they were both startled by the ringing of Megan’s phone. Pulling away from her cousin, Megan answered her phone on its third ring. It was Janice.

  “Megan, are you aware of what is going on out front of the Bloomquest home? The media is having a field day out there trying to figure out what is happening.”

  “Oh, I’m aware of it, Janice. That’s part of what the meeting will be about. Just prepare yourself; it’s going to get a lot worse. The sheriff will be making a statement in about ten to fifteen minutes, but I can tell you that there was a murder out on the river in back of the house last night.”

  “Oh, my, gosh. Are you right there in the middle of all of this?”

  “Yes, I was there yesterday when it happened. I’ll give everyone the details at once during our meeting. We are going to need to schedule security here for the next couple of days at the least. Once the media takes off with the murder story, I’ll bet that a number of our clients are going to want to beef up their security, so be ready. The sheriff has said that some of the officers will be willing to do off duty-work, so that will help, but let’s get that business out of Palm Beach that we use when we have dignitaries in town on standby, so we’re ready. And, Janice, I know I don’t have to tell you, but if we start getting calls from anyone other than clients, all we will be saying is ‘no comment.’ If it gets too out of hand, turn the phones off. We will contact our clients first thing anyways.”

  “Sounds like a plan. I’ll see you when you get here. I’m going to activate the gate, so only those of you that have a clicker and the staff with their codes can get in. Just in case someone makes the connection of Bloomquest to us. Don’t worry any more than you have to, Megan. We’ll all pull together on this.”

  Reassured that she did not have to worry about what was going on back at the office, Megan checked her watch and then motioned to Paul that it was time for her to meet the sheriff. Side by side, they left the house and walked to where they were expected. The next twenty minutes were the hardest Megan had gone through since her husband’s death. After confirming that the body was the same one that she had seen based on size and clothing, she then had to give her statement again to see if she had remembered anything else. After that, she was sent back into the house to wait for the sheriff to give his statement to the press and for the grounds to clear in front of the house.

  Watching the story break on the news from the calmness of the living room, Megan was surprised to see
that the crowd outside had grown even larger than when she and Paul had arrived. For a small town, this was big news, especially when it involves an island residence. She was glad that they had been forewarned to stay out of the way for a while. She was also pleased to see that the police were doing a great job of keeping the press contained to the road and not allowing access down the drive to the front of the house. As they watched, they saw that Kim Heart from the Daily Press was right up front with the reporters from the TV stations, trying to record every word being said and throwing out questions right and left. Once the sheriff had finished his statement and answered what few questions he could, the news conference was over, and the media began to clear away from the Bloomquest property. Turning off the TV, Megan turned her attention to the surveillance cameras that monitored the front of the property. Seeing Kim Heart open the door of her Kia, Megan breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn’t sure why, but she found that she had a really uneasy feeling about the woman. Somehow Megan just knew that where Kim Heart was involved, there would be problems for her.

  An hour later, Megan and Paul locked the house up behind them and got ready to leave to head to the office. This time, Megan drove her own car, pulling out of the garage a few minutes after Paul pulled out of the driveway. With her windows rolled down, Megan waited until the garage door was completely closed and then followed Paul, not bothering to look around her as she left the property. If only she had, she may have noticed the branches on the Oleander hedge separate as her car was photographed leaving.

  Chapter Five

  By half past noon, Megan had once again told her story about her part in the murder investigation, this time to her staff and Paul’s key employees who were all gathered in the conference room, eating the lunch that Lucy and Janice had set out. As she finished recanting the events of the last twenty-four hours, there was a stunned silence in the room and then questions and explanations were coming from everyone. With the noise level rising, Megan stopped talking and just let the staff go at it. It took a few minutes, but one by one the others in the room ran out of questions and opinions and the room became quiet and more controlled.