“So now we wait. I think we’ve gone over as much as we can here. Let’s pack it up and head back to your office. By then I should have feedback on Leslie Black’s background and an analysis of the pictures I took of the ledger from the office.”
Nodding her head in agreement, Megan began to put the printouts back into her tote bag. Glancing at her watch, she was surprised at how long they had been at the town hall. It had been hours since she had talked with Paul or any of her crew, and she decided to call in before they left. She still had to come up with a solution for keeping Lucy and Paul safely away from her. She just knew Paul was going to be stubborn about this. Picking the easier phone call, Megan dialed her assistant’s phone first.
“Hi, Janice. I just wanted to check in and see if you needed anything.”
“Not really, Megan. We are working right down our list. Have you had any time to catch the latest forecast for the storm?”
Guiltily Megan realized that she hadn’t even thought about the approaching storm since she had left her office that morning. Telling Janice she hadn’t, she apologized and waited for an update from her organized co-worker.
“Don’t be silly, you have other things on your mind that are a little more pressing. Like finding a killer. Okay, the last report still shows Arlene is heading in our direction, and she has increased her speed considerably. Thankfully, a fast-moving storm may not be as much of a worry as one that has lots of time to keep developing and getting stronger. Following the protocols you have set up, we are shutting up all the homes under contract now and taking the next step to secure the residents still here. Everyone has been at it all day and they have agreed to stay a few hours later to get as much as they can done.”
“That’s excellent, Janice. You guys are wonderful. It’s best we get as much done as possible. Once the storm gets too close, the authorities are not going to allow traffic on the island.”
“You’re right. We have also been getting calls from our year-round residents that they are going to go out of town for the duration of the storm and that we can go ahead and take care of their property too. That brings up another problem … what are you planning on doing at the Bloomquest estate? And what are you going to do about a certain out-of-town guest?”
At Janice’s question, Megan looked over at Aidan, and the wheels began turning with the formation of an idea. Not giving Janice a direct answer, she told her she would work something out and let her know what was decided. After going over a few more day-to-day details of her business, Megan finished her conversation with Janice and hung up.
“Everything okay with work, Megan?” he asked when she remained silent after ending her call.
“Oh, yes. Thanks for asking … I was just thinking. We are in agreement after today’s truck incident that I still have a target on my back right?”
“That goes without saying. And it also means I’m not letting you out of my sight either. You and I are going to be attached at the hip until this is over, so you’d better get used to my company.”
“Wow, are you sure that’s necessary? But it does solve this problem I have with Paul and Lucy. They both insist on being on guard duty when you aren’t around, and that is just crazy! That is putting them in danger that they are not equipped to handle. I need to convince them that I will be safer if they keep their distance and do not become part of the target. If you are with me then there is no way for them to argue with this point. I don’t want to be worried about them and lose my concentration on what we are doing as we investigate.”
“I can honestly assure your cousins that you will be as safe as possible under my care. I don’t want anything to happen to you, Megan. If, at any time, I think that things are getting out of hand, I’ll pull you out of it. Even if I have to have the sheriff put you in protective custody!”
“Don’t be ridiculous! Besides, we are going to get to the bottom of this quickly. Listen, I have a suggestion that will keep us together and help out my crew. Why don’t you plan on staying at my house? There’s plenty of room, and we also have extra security on site. We can go out to Carol’s and pick up your stuff now, and that way my crew can get Carol’s house completely closed up for the approaching storm. Plus if the house is storm-proofed, I won’t need to risk the safety of a security guard out there. Can you work with this plan of action?”
Aiden looked at Megan and agreed with her plan. If anything, it was actually a relief that she had suggested he stay at her home tonight, because he had been prepared to argue for it. Helping her gather the last of their materials, he told her he would talk to Paul himself to let him know of their plans as they drove to Carol’s.
After talking to Paul, Aiden agreed with his suggestion that they would all meet in a public place for breakfast the next morning. It wasn’t a long ride to Carol’s, and neither of them had much to say, each occupied with their own thoughts. They were met at the entrance by the security guard and after being told everything was quiet on the property, Aiden drove the truck to the back of the property and right up to the entry of the guest house. Getting out, together they walked in through the front door.
“It’ll just take me a moment to throw my stuff back into my bag. I didn’t really unpack last night. “
“Go ahead. I’m gonna get a bottle of iced tea for the road. Carol always has me stock the fridge. Do you want anything?”
“Sure, bottled water would be great, thanks.”
As Aiden headed to the bedroom, Megan entered the kitchen. There she could see that Aiden had indeed dropped everything when she had called that morning. Moving to the sink, she dumped the coffee left in the pot and rinsed the dishes on the counter. Setting them on a towel to drip dry, she then opened the refrigerator and grabbed the two drinks. Walking back to the front door, she met Aiden, who was as quick as he had promised. Minutes later, after locking the door behind them, they were heading back out to the front property entrance. Waving good bye to the guard, they turned onto the main road and headed towards the bridge off the island.
Chapter Fourteen
They were just coming off the causeway bridge when Aiden grabbed his phone and hit the speed-dial number he had set for Sheriff Green earlier that day. Megan looked at him in bewilderment until she heard what he had to say to the other man.
“Sheriff, do you have an officer on patrol by the bridge area? I would like to get an escort out to Megan’s property. I believe that we’ve picked up a tail that needs to be scared off.”
Megan didn’t hear the sheriff’s end of the conversation, but within moments there was a patrol car pulling behind their truck. Shortly after that she saw the sheriff himself swing in front of them. Looking out the back window, she saw a nondescript sedan behind the patrol car pull into the left turning lane and make a U-turn.
“Aiden, are you sure we were being followed? I didn’t see a black truck, just that sedan.”
“I’m sure they were tailing us, Megan. I thought I had spotted them when we left the town hall, but I wasn’t sure. But when we left Carol’s property, they were pulled off the side of the road about the equivalent of half a city block from her drive. They have had time to switch cars, thinking that they wouldn’t be detected. I wanted to see what they would do, but I also don’t want to lead them right to your front door without some kind of backup. We just found out that they do not want a confrontation with the police in the vicinity. We’ll accept our escort to your home and be on guard against any unwanted visitors this evening.”
Megan nodded that she understood what Aiden was saying. She also breathed a silent prayer of thanks that Aiden had been with her and driving. She would have still been looking for a black truck, never thinking that there might be a switch of vehicles.
The drive out to her home was swift and uneventful with their police escort. As they pulled into the drive leading to her gate, the car behind them honked its horn and kept driving on. The sheriff pulled up alongside them and rolled down his windows.
“Aiden,
thanks for the heads-up. We’ve got another car trailing them, but we aren’t going to be able to pull them over and charge them with anything. Just keep your eyes open when you’re out. I’ll have regular patrols here at Megan’s throughout the night. Are you two both here for the rest of the evening?”
“Yes, we are working on some paper trails and will stay busy with that tonight. Listen we’re meeting up with Paul and his wife in the morning for breakfast, do you want to join us and I can go over what we come up with on this end?”
The sheriff agreed with Aiden’s suggestion and after making sure the gate closed behind them, pulled away as they drove up to Megan’s house.
Getting out of the truck, Megan could hear her dogs barking with excitement over her return. It had been a lonely day for them with no one on the property except the security guards.
“I’ll apologize now; the puppy is going to want a lot of attention to make up for being left alone today. Hope you like animals, there are plenty here.”
“Not a problem. I actually love animals. That was always the one regret I had about my job … I traveled so much that it made having a pet impossible. So I look forward to playing with yours this evening. Here let me hold the screen while you unlock the front door.”
Moving in front of Aiden while he held the screened door open, Megan opened the door and braced herself for the energetic ball of fur that danced circles around their feet. After Aiden had officially met each of the dogs and gave them a bit of attention, things quieted down, and they were able to relax in the family room. By silent agreement, they kept their conversation off of JT and spoke of general things, continuing to get to know each other better.
It was close to 10:00 pm when they received the call from Brandon they had been waiting for. A light supper had been eaten and cleaned up, the dogs had gone for a nice walk and Megan and Aiden were looking over the printouts once again when Aiden’s phone rang.
After the normal niceties were over, Aiden explained what was going on and put Brandon on speaker so that Megan could join in the conversation. After introducing the two of them, Aiden asked Brandon for permission to open the envelope.
“Thank you, Megan, for insisting my dad talk to me first. But, Dad’s right on assuming I would say go for it. If there is any chance that there are answers in that envelope, then I don’t want you to have any more delays. JT would have known that I would share anything pedantic with my dad. So go ahead and open it, Dad, let’s see what was so important to JT.”
Nodding to Aiden to proceed, Megan held her breath as he carefully opened the envelope’s seal. She could sense the tenseness from Brandon as if he was sitting right across from her with his father. Turning the envelope upside down, Aiden let the items inside slide out onto the table in front of him.
Sitting in front of them was an old fashioned mini cassette recorder and a folded paper, obviously from an ordinary office legal pad. Megan couldn’t remember when the last time was she had seen one of these recorders: probably when she first started her business. They were rarely used anymore: cellphones had the same capacity and better audio results. Aiden reached out and unfolded the paper and found JT’s handwriting scrawled across the page. Clearing his throat, he started to read out loud.
“Brandon, I’m hoping that you are never going to have to find this on your own. If you do that means that I am not able to tell you this information in person and something has turned really ugly … either I’m seriously hurt or dead.
I’ve gotten in over my head, again. I really had good intentions and wanted my actions to help my family and new community. But as usual, I tried to take shortcuts, and I’m sure that the people that I have gotten caught up with are doing something illegal and destructive to Citrus Beach. Once I figured this out, it was too late to back away, so I’m taking precautions that will hopefully point the way to a solution.
I need you to listen carefully to the conversations that I have recorded. I’ve also kept copies of some files at home and taken pictures. I’ll get those downloaded from the camera when I’m done with this letter.
Brandon, get your dad to look into this before too much time goes by, and events are put into play that can’t be undone. You’ll understand more after you hear what I did.
Please let my aunt and uncle know that I did have the best intentions for everyone. I hope that you and your dad can figure this out so that my aunt and uncle will understand, and things can be put right. Thanks, bro, you’re the best friend a guy could have, and I trust you will fix my mistakes, John.”
Chapter Fifteen
There was silence when Aiden finished reading the letter; then Megan heard Brandon give a low whistle.
“Holy Crap! Dad, he knew he was messing with something that could get him killed! Why didn’t he call us for help?”
“We’ll figure this out, son. I’m going to try and play back what he recorded, and hopefully we will have something more to work with. You okay with this?”
“Yeah, I guess if JT thought this was important, then we need to hear it.”
Aiden turned to Megan and pointed to her phone.
“Megan, can you record this? We are going to have to turn all the original evidence over to Sheriff Green in the morning, and I am going to want to review this as we go along.”
Megan nodded her head in agreement, and set up the phone to start recording. Once she was ready, she waved her hand to indicate that Aiden should start the recorder.
At first they could only hear the sound of shuffling paper, but after a few seconds the muffled sounds of male voices came across the speakers. It became more audible as the voices moved in closer range of the recorder. As they listened, they could also hear the third voice of a woman….
“JT, they’re here. I’ve given you the paperwork outlining the plans, now is the time for you to be filled in on the details. This is a great opportunity, JT. You can really help everyone if we push this through, and your uncle will never know what has gone on to get the property ready for commercial development!”
“Thank you. Gentlemen, please have a seat. I’ve had a few minutes to look over your plans, and I have some concerns that you will need to address before I agree to move forward with everything.”(John II)
(They could hear the sounds of bodies settling down into the leather sofa and high heels walking across the room. Then a smooth southern male voice and a rough male voice, with a possible New York accent, were heard talking to JT.)
(Southern voice) “Now John, we can work through your concerns, the important thing is to get a move on this project before we miss the window for our investors to get on board.”
(Rough voice) “Johnny-boy; the sweet lady over there in the corner has assured us that you are on board. I really hope you are not gonna back out on us now. It’s too late for us to find someone else, and I really don’t think you want to face these investors if they end up losing money because you had second thoughts.”
(Woman’s voice) “Gentlemen, please. JT is not going to change his mind. We just need you to clarify a few points, and then everything will move forward. JT understands how much time and effort, not to mention money, has gone into this already. Today we sign the papers and Neptune’s Trident becomes Florida’s next exclusive playground for the idle wealthy.” (Megan gasped as she recognized the woman’s voice as that of Leslie Black)
(Southern voice) “That’s right John … just think of the jobs and money that we will be bringing to Citrus Beach. You’ll be able to open that art museum and bring in A-List entertainment. There will be more money for the charities you are so fond of, too”
(Rough voice) “You betcha: high-rise hotels, shops, offshore casinos. Why we are just hopping full of ideas to bring money in. And you, my boy, will come out looking like a hero, a rich hero at that!”
(John) “That all sounds good on paper, gentleman, but how are you proposing that we work around the town council. They are going to oppose this project every step of the way.”
<
br /> (Southern voice) “We just need you to sign the paperwork. If you just leave off that “II” on your signature, everyone will think that the chairman of the council has put his approval on everything. And with his leaving for that extended vacation in Europe, no one will be able to question him directly. The rest of the council will follow like sheep to their shearing.”
“But….”
JT’s objection was cut off by the sound of papers being moved around and then the recorder sounds were severely muffled, as if a heavy cloth had been thrown over it. Megan and Aiden looked at each other waiting for more to come from JT’s recorder, but there was no more clear conversation to be heard. Brandon anxiously asked his father what could be done next.
“Brandon, this gives us a direction to start focusing on. Thank you for letting us get into this package. Trust us to do the best we can to clear this up. It sounds as if JT was re-thinking his position on these dealings, so maybe in the process we can fix what he was trying to.” Aiden reassured his son.
After a few more minutes on the phone, with the three of them tossing out random thoughts about what John was involved with, Brandon said goodbye. Promising to keep him updated, Megan and Aiden also said their goodbyes and hung up the phone.
“That was Leslie Black we heard, right? Can we get the sheriff to arrest her?”
“For what, Megan? Just the fact that you are asking me if it was Leslie tells me we couldn’t positively identify her voice. The quality of that recording wasn’t clear enough for a voice match with even the most sophisticated agency equipment. And what could we arrest her for? Being part of a business meeting? It won’t fly, Megan. We are going to have to take the conversation apart word by word and try and get to the killer from that end.”
“I can’t stand only getting bits and pieces of the puzzle! I’ve never liked puzzles, too many pieces that could fit, but never a compromise; it always has to be perfect to show the complete picture.”
Murder For Neptune's Trident...A Citrus Beach Mystery (Citrus Beach Mysteries Book 1) Page 13
