“It is a special place, and close to my heart. This is my place for getting my balance back when things go a little off kilter. And, Aiden … I’ll look forward to that dance.” Smiling at him, Megan put the car in gear and pulled out onto the main road.
They drove back off the island and headed north about twenty minutes to the BBQ Stop, a favorite eatery, which many came for miles to enjoy. Once there, Megan parked, and they went to the pickup window to retrieve their dinner orders. The smell was wonderful, and Aiden didn’t know how he was going to be able to wait to return to Megan’s before he would be able to enjoy the meal. Instead of getting directly back into the car like Aiden did, Megan went to the rear and opened the trunk. There she placed the takeout containers into a cooler that she always kept in the car. Explaining that it would be easier on Barney if he did not have to smell the mouth-watering aromas all the way home, she then got in the car. It went without being said that it would be easier on them, as well. Megan took the most direct and fastest way home, her hungry stomach urging her on.
When they arrived at the house, Megan could have sworn that Paul had been waiting at the front door for their return the way he had the door open so fast. Laughing, they all went into the kitchen; where Lucy had set the table and sat down to enjoy their dinner.
It did not take long for Aiden to agree with the others that this was the best barbeque he had ever had. As they ate, Lucy and Paul gave Aiden more details on the history of Neptune’s Trident and the citrus industry that had shaped their town. It was a lively meal that they all enjoyed as they joked and got to know each other better.
After dinner was over, and the kitchen cleaned up, Aiden and Paul used the table to spread out maps of the town and surrounding areas. It did not take them long to become totally engrossed in the details of each map, as Aiden asked Paul specifics about the routes in and around Neptune’s Trident. While the men were busy with the maps, Megan and Lucy were pouring over the RSVP list for tomorrow’s party. Mrs. Potter had somehow gotten her hands on the list of attendees for the party and had sent it over to Lucy while Megan and Aiden had been out at Neptune’s Trident. She had even included some handwritten notes about her personal impressions of some of the people that they may not have known.
As the women found some names of people they did not recognize, Aiden promised them that he would print out pictures from his FBI sources to help them all be able to identify strangers at the party and any information obtainable about those singled out on the list.
The two women finished going over the list before the men were done, but Megan interrupted them anyways. Breaking away from the maps, Aiden did as he had promised and got the information on a half dozen names Megan and Lucy had highlighted from the guest list. Within fifteen minutes, he was able to print out from his laptop both pictures and bios of potential suspects as determined by the women. Handing the sheets to Megan, Aiden suggested they memorize the faces and become familiar with each person’s background. He noted that some of the names were the same as what he and Paul had picked out when they had gone over their list earlier that day. Nodding her head in agreement, Megan watched as Aiden quickly become engrossed again with map details.
The four of them continued going over all the information they had accumulated over the last few days until they found that they had everything formulated and were at the point of just repeating themselves. Deciding it was time to call it a night, Lucy and Paul gave Megan a hug goodnight, and saying good bye to Aiden, they left for home. It was not much longer after the gate had closed behind their car that Megan was making sure the spare room had fresh towels and then she was bidding Aiden good night, as well.
Chapter Twenty Three
Saturday
For the third morning in a row, Megan woke to the sound of a man wandering around her kitchen. It was a bit disconcerting, after so many years of it just being her and Emma, and lately just herself and the animals. Yet knowing that it was Aiden out there getting the coffee ready did not make her feel nervous, actually it made her smile to herself. She found herself impatient to start her day in his company.
Pushing the cats out of her way, Megan got out of bed, grabbed some clothes and went into the bathroom to get ready for the day. After a quick shower, she dressed, braided her hair and headed out to grab a cup of the coffee she could now smell brewing from the kitchen. Opening her bedroom door, she found Barney waiting for her, doing his little happy dance around her feet as she walked down the hall.
Walking into the kitchen, she found Aiden sitting at the table, with coffee and a bowl of cereal in front of him, Fred was at his feet patiently waiting for Aiden to drop something down to him. Smiling at him, Megan went directly to the coffeemaker and poured herself a large cup.
“Good morning, Aiden. Don’t let that dog guilt trip you into feeding him at the table: he knows better. Fred, go lay down.”
Looking up at her with the saddest eyes that only a basset hound could pull off, Fred got to his feet and went over to lay down by the sliding patio door. Without being told, Barney joined him, confident that Megan would reward his good behavior when she finished her coffee.
“Good morning to you, too. I didn’t wake you did I? I already took the dogs for a walk around the property and talked to the security detail. It was a quiet night. Maybe having the murderers in jail will make tonight go a bit more smoothly. Oh, your paper is over on the counter. I didn’t open it; I prefer to get my news from my own sources.”
“Thanks, Aiden. I’m sure the dogs loved every minute of their walk. You really don’t read the paper?”
“Not usually, I find that the newsfeeds I get through my government contacts are much more accurate and thorough.”
“That may be true, but how do you find out about the human interest side of things. Facts can be a tad cold and boring. I mean, do you get to read about the outcome of the hometown games, or the latest exposition of the Garden Club, or the reviews from the high school play? These are the items that make the news interesting and personal. This is where you can get a feeling about the people around you.”
Shaking her head, Megan picked up the paper and groaned out loud.
“On the other hand, a small town paper may not have the professional reporting results that you are used to … Kim Heart has been at it again. I don’t know which headline is more offensive. Look at this, Aiden, the girl is a problem.”
Megan walked over to the table and laid the now opened paper so that Aiden could see the headlines on the front page. He looked over at her and shook his head as he read the print.
NEPTUNE’S TRIDENT BEACH PARTY: WILL IT BE A FUNDRAISER OR A HURRICANE PARTY??
And the second more disturbing headline…
MEGAN CASSIDY SEEN WITH SHERIFF GREEN: SUSPECT OR WITNESS??
“I can’t read it, Aiden, how bad is it?”
“Well, I’ll give you this … a small town paper is at the very least interesting. Sit down and quit pacing. Give me a second to read this, Megan.”
Megan pulled out a chair and sat down next to Aiden, waiting impatiently while he quickly read over the two articles. After a few moments, he looked up at her reassuringly. Folding the paper back up, he sighed and smiled at Megan.
“Okay, you are right on two accounts: Kim Heart is a menace with words, and there is interesting stuff in a small town paper. Here’s the gist of what she has to report: Tropical storm warnings and watches have been announced for the entire lower coast of Florida, Arlene is expected to become a hurricane by this afternoon, but her track has changed slightly more south, so she is expected to hit more along the southern coast rather than here. Consequently the fundraiser will go on as planned unless there is another change in the storm’s direction. By the way, just what is a hurricane party?”
Megan laughed out loud at the confused expression on Aiden’s face as he asked his question. Taking a sip of her coffee, she prepared to explain to him this uniquely southern tradition.
“I believ
e it began as a way for neighbors to help each other during a time of need. At the onslaught of the storm, families and friends would gather at the strongest-built house in the neighborhood. This was before the time of all the strict building codes that were put into effect after hurricane Andrew hit the Homestead area. Everyone would bring whatever supplies they had on hand to share with each other. Perishable foods were also brought to share, since the power was likely to go out. Lots of grilling and eating went on and of course after the hurricane the ‘party’ would continue as neighbors helped neighbors cleanup from the storm. It was often easiest to have one central ‘kitchen’ for everyone. During the late seventies, early eighties it did become more of a party and less of a survival event. Lots of beer and liquor were consumed and the term ‘hurricane party’ came to mean an excuse for some actual wild partying. Storms weren’t taken very seriously until Andrew woke up the entire state of Florida and made the government take notice of the type of poor quality mass construction that had been going on along the coastlines.”
Aiden shook his head and mumbled “only in the south” before he turned their attention to the second headline in the morning Daily Press.
“The second article is complete speculation. She doesn’t have any hard facts to report, so she is using open-ended questions and vague statements about what she perceives as truth. How does her editor let her get away with this anyway? And when did she get this picture of you with the sheriff in the diner from the other morning?”
Megan frowned at the picture of the sheriff and her standing by the table in the diner. It looked as if the sheriff was guiding her away from her chair.
“That’s the second picture she has published of me that I don’t recall seeing her take. She’s good. As to printing what she wants in the Daily Press … well Granddaddy is the owner of the newspaper and not too many people who work there dare question his favorite grandchild.”
“Aaaaah that explains a lot. This could actually work in our favor though, Megan. It can raise doubt in the minds of those behind JT’s death as to if the sheriff has a firm grip on the investigation. It might make them over confident and cause them to make mistakes. Don’t worry about how it makes you look, she is going to have to print the truth, and then she will look ridiculous.”
“Sure, but in the meantime….”
“Have faith, this will work out,” Aiden reassured her. Getting up from his chair, he walked over to where they had left the printouts from the night before, grabbed them, and brought the pile back to the table with him.
“I know we left this up to you and Lucy to sort out the names on the RSVP list for the party and that you were able to find half a dozen that you were not familiar with. Don’t think that I was so involved with those maps that I wasn’t aware of what you and Lucy were working on. I went over the printouts that my contact was able to send me, and I think I have two, possibly three names that should be our prime suspects. All three of them work or own large investment firms. As far as I have been able to determine, only two of these men seem to have any connection to each other. I just have a gut feeling about the third person. There doesn’t seem to be any connection in any way to the others, but when cross referencing, the three of them always seen to be in attendance of the same fundraisers, connected to the same political agendas and in roundabout way have interests in some of the largest developments across the country. There are a large number of these real estate developments that seem to have some sort of controversy attached to them and the way they were formed.”
Aiden pulled three pictures from the stack and placed them on the table in front of Megan, face down. Turning over the first of the three, he began a rundown of the information that he had on them.
“This gentleman is from the Lauderdale area. He seems to specialize in country club deals. Mr. Richmore’s company has made a reputation for going into older developments where he buys the existing club house and the majority of the homes and then tears them down for reconstruction. He then has new luxury homes built around a high-end, pricey country club, often putting in a larger golf course. Where he really makes his money is up-selling the clubs amenities … membership, golf fees, access to the development, and association fees. The few homes that he hasn’t bought soon find themselves unable to keep up with the fees associated in living in the development and end up selling at a loss. He then turns over the country club to a management company and moves on to the next project.”
“Nice guy. I bet he was our guy with the southern voice on the tape JT left. He sounded like a smooth talker, just the kind to talk someone out of their home.”
“That would be correct. Now meet our friendly New Yorker - Anthony Barneto. His specialty is the management. His company is the one that takes over after Mr. Richmore moves on to the next project. But Barneto doesn’t just manage; he has a reputation for strong-arming the associations under his contracts into higher costs and more and more fees. The homeowners are trapped into memberships that are just too expensive, but are so tied into the life of their community that they can’t get out of paying. There have been some questionable resolutions to homeowner’s complaints, but nothing that Barneto can be charged with.”
“So, together these two have the homeowners in a position that is like the proverbial rock and a hard place. But why Neptune’s Trident?”
“From what my contacts have been able to dig up, it looks like the last few projects these two have worked on are more commercial resort types. They get people to invest in this big dream of luxury and continued revenue and then some ‘glitch’ keeps the project from moving forward. By the way, they have made sure that all investments are non-refundable.”
Megan was silent for a moment as she thought over what Aiden had just told her and all the facts that they knew so far. So much was riding on Neptune’s Trident. Why would they take a chance in a small town where their whole plan could be so easily exposed?
“Aiden, do you remember the conversation on the tape? They were trying to get JT to sign off on some paperwork as if he was his uncle. That has to be the angle. They get all the investors to get excited about the project, thinking that it has the backing of the councilman, they put up their money and then: bam. Somehow it is revealed that the signature is John II, not John Sr. Add to that the fact that the property is actually in a trust for the township and not eligible to be sold and the deal falls through. They probably secure mostly out-of-town investors, but have to have some from Citrus Beach on the books to make the deal look authentic. The investors lose all their money, and the men behind the scheme walk away millions of dollars richer. By the time things get sorted out, they are long gone, and JT is left taking all the blame.”
“You’re right. And JT was the perfect patsy: he wanted to prove to his uncle he was ready to take over the business, and I truly believe he did want to help Citrus Beach. He was just too impatient and inexperienced to ask for advice. Somehow Leslie Black was working with these men to get JT involved, and she was put in place to keep him in line, too. But he started to question the methods and end results: and that got him killed.”
The two of them exchange pleased looks as they worked out how things might have worked. They were getting closer to finding the truth, and they both knew it. Aiden was pleased with how well they worked together. He was used to working solo and had for many years, but he found that he was really enjoying bouncing ideas off Megan and listening to her thoughts on the case. He could easily get used to this kind of teamwork. As for Megan, she found herself looking at things differently than she usually did, including her habits of doing things on her own and making the decisions for someone else. She wasn’t sure just how she felt about this, but was surprised to find that she did not hate it.
“All right, that takes care of the first two pictures you’re showing me, but what about the third picture, flip it over and let’s see why your instincts are screaming that something is going on with him.”
Without a word, Aiden flipp
ed over the picture and enjoyed seeing the look of astonishment on Megan’s face when she saw the picture was of a well-dressed woman in her mid-seventies.
“You’re kidding. Why her, Aiden? My goodness, she could be my mother.”
“There is just something that is setting off my internal red light about her. I’ve learned over the years to pay close attention when I get this feeling. It has literally saved my life a number of times. There are a lot of connections that are subtle and probably wouldn’t be noticed by anyone else who wasn’t looking hard at everyone. She’s the one, Megan. This woman is the mastermind behind all these scams that are taking money away from investors. And she is the one who ordered JT’s murder.”
“So, we’ll trust those gut feelings of yours. Tell me more about her and how she is connected to all of this.”
Aiden put his hand over Megan’s hand and gave it a grateful squeeze. It was a sign of a good partnership that she would accept his explanation, no matter how illogical it sounded, without question, and he appreciated it.
As he went over all the points that lead to the older woman being connected to the other men, the scam involving Neptune’s Trident and the murder of JT, Megan kept looking back at the picture. There was something about her face. Megan knew she had never met the woman before, but she reminded her of someone.
They went over the pictures and backgrounds a few more times, until Aiden was sure that they would both be able to spot the three suspects without any problems. Then Megan reminded him that they were supposed to be meeting Lucy and Paul at Mrs. Potters shortly. Gathering the materials they had on hand, Aiden and Megan got ready to head out. Glancing over at the dogs, they saw that the two house cats had curled up with Fred, all sound asleep, but Barney was watching them intently. Looking over at Megan, Aiden waited to see if the puppy would be included in their trip. Megan did not even hesitate in grabbing his leash. She knew that Mrs. Potter would have been very disappointed if she showed up without Barney. He had captured the older woman’s heart, and she always had a special treat or toy put aside for his visits.
Murder For Neptune's Trident...A Citrus Beach Mystery (Citrus Beach Mysteries Book 1) Page 20
