Death at First Sight

by Lena Gregory

  “Sure.” Luke glanced at his watch. “I better get going if I’m going to reach all of the board members tonight, though. I’ll let you know what happens.”

  “Thank you so much. That’s great.”

  Luke leaned close enough for Cass to inhale the woodsy scent of his aftershave deep into her lungs. He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “But you’re going to owe me one.”

  Her heart fluttered and her stomach flipped. The man had a way of making everything sound like an innuendo. She looked into his eyes. Maybe he really is dangerous.

  14

  “Do you want to stop at the diner?” Bee stared into the rearview mirror at Cass, his eyes filled with hope.

  “Tank wanted to talk to you as soon as we were done.”

  His face fell, and he flopped against the back of the seat and pouted.

  Cass ignored him and turned to Stephanie. “Can you call him and ask him to come to my house?”

  Stephanie shrugged. “I guess. Why?”

  Cass could only free one hand while driving, so she massaged her right temple first then switched hands and did the left. Neither helped. “I kinda forgot about the dog.”

  “What do you mean, forgot about?” Stephanie sounded wary. Not that Cass could blame her.

  “I fed him and took him out this morning before I left, but then I was running around all day.”

  “Cass, it’s ten o’clock at night. The dog hasn’t been out since this morning?”

  “Weeell. I was busy.” The excuse sounded lame even to her own ears, and Bee’s mocking laughter filled the car.

  “Look. I’m not used to having a pet. I never had a pet as a kid. What do you want from me?”

  “Did you at least confine him this time?”

  “Yes.” Sort of.

  “You better do something with that dog before he eats your whole house.”

  “Ellie’s just going to have—oh no—Ellie.” With everything going on, Cass hadn’t even thought about her all night. She looked at the dashboard clock. No good. It was too late to call. Maybe she should ride past and see if everything seemed all right. The memory of her living room in shambles ended that thought. “I have to get in touch with her tomorrow anyway. I’ll see if she’s changed her mind about taking the dog.”

  Splatters of rain started to hit the windshield. She turned on the wipers. Great. Now she’d have to walk the dog in the rain. The swish, swish of the wipers kept time with the pounding in her head. All she wanted to do was go to bed. “Did you get ahold of Tank?”

  Stephanie frowned. “No. He didn’t answer. That’s weird, because he was very insistent about talking to Bee as soon as we were done.”

  “Does that mean you want to go to the diner?”

  “No!” Cass and Stephanie answered in unison.

  Cass pulled into the driveway, shifted into park, and turned off the car. She was out and running toward the front door before she heard either of the other car doors close. She fumbled the key in the lock but managed to get the door open without dropping the key. She stopped dead in her tracks. Holy . . . She slapped a hand over her mouth and nose and backed out onto the porch, slamming into Bee.

  “Ah, jeez, what is that smell?” He pushed her toward the door.

  “Are you crazy? I’m not going in there.” She twisted out of his grasp.

  “Well, someone has to, and it’s not going to be me.”

  Stephanie kept her distance, leaning against the porch railing in the far corner, shaking her head.

  A cold breeze blew in off the bay. If she held her breath and ran in and opened some windows, the smell should dissipate. She hoped. She inhaled deeply, filling her lungs with the fresh scent of the sea, and ran. She flung the front window open, then ran through to the kitchen. She froze in the doorway, and the breath shot from her lungs.

  She’d left the dog in the laundry room with the lower half of the Dutch door closed. He had gotten out.

  Thankfully, from what she could see, the damage was confined to one chair he’d apparently spent all day chewing apart. That she could live with. The mess in the corner by the door, she couldn’t. She gagged and covered her mouth with her hand. Tears formed in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Ugh . . . I’m not cut out to be a dog owner.

  She opened the window over the sink and bent to get the rubber gloves from the cabinet underneath. She pulled out a roll of paper towels, bleach, and a garbage bag.

  Once she had the mess cleaned up and outside in the trash, she sprayed the entire downstairs with Lysol and opened all of the windows. At least the smell was starting to lessen. Of course, she’d have to mop up all the rain soaking the floors, but better a few wet floors than that smell. She lit a few candles.

  She fed the dog and took him for a walk on the beach. It was empty this time of night, even though the rain had stopped, and she was grateful for the peace. The soothing lap of the small ripples against the shore worked to calm her nerves. The reflection of the moon danced along the surface of the water. She imagined Luke walking beside her, his strong hand enveloping her smaller one. Okay, enough of that.

  When she dismissed the images of Luke, a vision of Ellie took his place. Cass wrapped her arms tightly across her chest and whistled for the dog. She needed sleep. She needed to warn Ellie to be careful. After she found her, of course. And she needed to be done with all of this stress. She’d come back to Bay Island to eliminate the stress she’d been under. She didn’t need this.

  With that decision made, and the disaster at the house behind her, she breathed a sigh of relief, allowing the nip of the cool, salty night air to cleanse her mind. The dog followed her back to the house. “What am I going to do with you?”

  He tilted his head and perked up his ears.

  She reached out and petted his head. “I know. It wasn’t your fault. It was mine. I’m sorry I forgot about you . . .” Hmmm . . . Even if he was only going to be with her a little longer—she offered up a quick prayer—he was going to need a name. She opened the door. “Come on, fella. Time for bed. We’ll worry about everything else tomorrow.”

  Cass walked into the living room. Bee and Stephanie were waiting for her. She flopped onto the cushionless couch, propped her feet on the coffee table, and dropped her head back. “That’s it. I’m done. I don’t want to hear another word about murder, or Marge Hawkins, or Ellie, or this dang dog, or anything else.” She rubbed her eyes. It didn’t help. They burned with exhaustion. “Let the police handle the whole thing. I don’t care anymore. They can’t prove I did something I didn’t do, so I’m not going to worry about it anymore.”

  Bee and Stephanie didn’t argue. Heck, they were probably relieved she was going to stay out of the investigation. Stephanie’s cell phone rang.

  Cass stood. “I’m going to bed. Lock up on your way out.”

  Stephanie checked the caller ID and answered.

  “Bee, you can sleep in the guest room if you don’t want Tank and Stephanie to drop you off.” Cass pushed to her feet and started toward the bedroom.

  “Oh no. Are you serious?” Stephanie’s voice sounded almost shrill.

  Cass stopped. She didn’t want to know.

  “Who?”

  Keep walking. She turned around.

  “When?” Stephanie had a finger pressed against one ear and the phone pressed in a white-knuckled grip to the other.

  Cass stared at the look of horror on Stephanie’s face. Great. What now?

  “No. Don’t worry about it. I’m sure Cass will drive me home. Yes. I’ll tell him.” Stephanie said good-bye and hung up. She looked straight at Cass. “That was Tank. They just found a body on the beach by the Bay Side Hotel.”

  * * *

  The room spun. Cass’s legs gave out. She sat down hard on the coffee table, dropped her head between her knees, and crossed her arms over her hea
d.

  “Are you all right?” Bee stood over her, rubbing circles on her back.

  Ellie. She shook her head but didn’t lift it. “Who is it?”

  “They don’t know. Or at least that’s what Tank said. An unidentified woman’s body was found on the beach by the Bay Side Hotel.”

  Unidentified. Surely someone would have recognized Ellie if it was her. Cass took a deep breath and struggled to control her erratic heartbeat.

  “We’re going to have to go to Chief Langdon and tell him what we saw.” Bee’s voice shook.

  Cass finally looked up. Bee, Stephanie, and the dog stared warily at her.

  “I’m fine, guys.” Cass stood and started to pace. All three backpedaled to get out of her way. Back and forth, back and forth she paced across the small living room, hands pressed to her temples.

  She stopped to face Bee. “Look, Bee, I don’t know what’s going on with you, but you didn’t actually see anything this afternoon. I did.” She sighed. “I’ll go into the sheriff’s office tomorrow and report what I saw. There’s no sense going tonight. I’m sure they’re all out at the scene, anyway.”

  Relief visibly relaxed Bee’s stance, and he didn’t argue. They stood staring at each other for another minute before Cass turned away. Bee obviously had his secrets, but he’d been a good friend to her this past year, and she trusted him. Mostly. And even if he did kill Marge, she’d probably given him good reason.

  “Come on. I’ll drive you guys home.” She grabbed her purse and keys and started for the door, then turned back. She stared at the dog for a split second before deciding she couldn’t deal with another mess tonight.

  The dog tilted his head and his tongue dropped out the side of his mouth.

  “Yeah, come on. You can come.”

  He barked once and ran after her.

  Bee stopped when they reached the car. Cass climbed into the driver’s seat and Stephanie opened the passenger door.

  “Hey. What do you think you’re doing?” Bee said.

  Cass looked around. What was the problem now?

  “I am not sitting in back with this monster.” Bee folded his arms across his chest.

  Stephanie held the door open but didn’t get in. “You always sit in back.”

  “I know, but there’s no room back there for both of us. That dog is huge.”

  Cass studied the little silver Volkswagen Jetta. Bee was right. It would be a tight squeeze. “Well, what do you want me to do with him?” Frustration shortened her temper. “I can’t leave him here, and I’m not driving one of you home and coming back for the other. I’m backing out of this driveway in one minute. I don’t care who’s sitting where when I go, but whoever’s not in the car is spending the night.” She pulled the door shut, turned on the car, dropped her head on the wheel, and waited.

  A minute later the back driver’s side door opened and the dog hopped in, followed by a moody Bee.

  Stephanie slid in next to Cass. No one said a word.

  Cass shifted into reverse and turned to back out of the driveway . . . and found herself staring at two big heads. Laughter born from exhaustion erupted from her throat.

  Bee scowled.

  Cass laughed harder. Tears poured down her face and a cramp bit into her side. “Owww.”

  Bee ignored her and spoke to Stephanie. “I think she’s finally lost it.”

  Her laughter must have been contagious, because Bee and Stephanie soon joined her. The dog barked once. The tension that had gripped them for most of the evening finally started to ease.

  Cass sucked in a deep breath and tamped down the hysterics. “Will one of you two please get your big head out of the way so I can see to back out?”

  “Lie down, boy.” Bee put a hand on the dog’s massive head and lowered it onto his lap.

  Cass started to back up. “Do you think we oughta give that thing a name? I mean, I’m going to find Ellie tomorrow and tell her she has to take it, since I’m obviously not cut out to be a dog owner.”

  Bee snorted.

  Cass ignored him. “But I’m getting tired of calling him the dog.”

  Bee looked at the dog and petted his head. “Why don’t we call him Tank? He’s certainly built like one.”

  Stephanie bristled.

  “What? Just a thought.”

  Stephanie turned to glare at him, and Bee looked innocently back at her. “Okay, fine. What do you want to call him?”

  Stephanie studied the giant animal. “How about Warrior?”

  Cass shook her head. “I’m not chasing this thing around yelling Warrior.”

  Bee laughed. “I like Monster.”

  They tossed names around for a few more minutes—Bruiser, Giant, Chief Langdon—laughing as they got sillier.

  “I know.” Bee sat up straighter. “It should be something from a musical. Hmm . . . What about Beast?”

  “Yeah, Beast.” Stephanie looked over at Cass.

  “Beast, huh? I like it. Beast it is.”

  Beast barked once.

  “I guess he likes it, too.”

  The three of them settled into silence, and Cass watched the scenery go by, enjoying the peace and quiet of the late hour. It wasn’t often the island was this deserted.

  “It’s not that big a deal, you know.”

  “What’s not?” Cass hit the turn signal, even though there was no one around for miles, and turned onto Bee’s street. She glanced over her shoulder at him.

  He slid lower in the seat and rested his head back. “Changing my name.”

  Light, dark, light, dark. The hypnotic effect gripped her as she passed beneath streetlight after streetlight, waiting silently for him to say more. She hit the turn signal again, turned into Bee’s driveway, shifted into park, and sat quietly, waiting.

  Bee made no move to get out of the car. “Do you have any idea what it was like growing up Butch Hawkins when you’re . . . like me?”

  So he was related to Marge. Cass turned to face him. “You mean gay?”

  He studied her face. “Flamboyantly gay . . .” A self-deprecating smile touched his lips. “Feminine, sensitive. The Hawkins men are a tough breed.” Bee swiped at a tear tracking down his cheek. “Hell, so are the women.”

  An image of Marge, spine rigid as she argued, flashed into Cass’s mind.

  He focused his attention on Stephanie. “Tell Tank he can stop by tomorrow, and I’ll answer his questions.” He lifted the dog’s head from his lap and slid out. He crossed the small lawn, shoulders hunched, without ever looking back.

  15

  Cass contemplated the situation as she drove home. She and Stephanie hadn’t spoken about Bee once they’d dropped him off. Instead, Cass had remained quiet, lost in her own thoughts until she’d dropped Stephanie at her house. How had everything gotten so messed up? She was a suspect in a murder case—a chill ran through her. Bee was being accused, and was possibly guilty, of something, but she had no idea what.

  Beast snored loudly from the backseat. She looked into the rearview mirror to find red and blue lights pulsing through the night. Annoyed, she hit the turn signal and pulled to the side of the road to allow him to pass, even though he had plenty of room to go around her on the deserted road.

  The police cruiser pulled off behind her. Uh . . . oh. Had she been speeding? She watched in the side mirror as Chief Langdon climbed out, her eyes drawn to the holster hanging from his left side as he pulled up his belt.

  When he turned and started walking toward her, she sucked in a breath and looked around. The stretch of road was far from deserted—small houses lined each street of the small residential neighborhood—but at this time of night, it might as well have been. Don’t be ridiculous. What’s he going to do . . . shoot me? She rubbed her eyes, too exhausted to even think straight.

  Chief Langdon knocked on her windo
w and she rolled it down. “Hey, Chief. What’s up?” She smiled, hoping to let him know she held no hard feelings toward him for suspecting her of murder. Yeah, right.

  He didn’t smile back. “What are you doing out driving around at this time of night?”

  “I just dropped Stephanie and Bee off.” Her hands shook a little, so she put them beneath her legs, hoping he wouldn’t notice how nervous she was.

  “Keep your hands where I can see them, please.” One hand hovered over the gun at his side, the other held the flashlight trained steadily on her.

  Is he serious? Her heart rate accelerated as she whipped her hands out from beneath her legs and placed them on the steering wheel.

  “What were you three doing out so late?”

  “We . . . uh . . .” She didn’t want to mention she knew about the body, or Tank wanting to question Bee. “We were going over some stuff for Bee’s show.”

  “When are you going to give up and realize you are not—”

  “Ruff!” Beast chose that moment to stick his head between the seats.

  Langdon jumped back, the look of shock that crossed his face almost comical as he moved the light to land on Beast.

  Cass bit back a smirk.

  “Step out of the car, please.”

  What! “But I—”

  “I said get out of the car. Now.” He stepped back as he opened the door a crack. “And don’t let the dog out.”

  She moved slowly, her mind racing as she climbed out and slammed the door shut, careful to keep Beast in. “Look—”

  “Turn and face the car.” He guided her gently to the front of the car and turned her toward it. “Hands on the hood.”

  Anger surged through her. “Are you kidding me?”

  He didn’t answer.

  Adrenaline pumped wildly as he patted her down. When he finally turned her to face him, she swallowed the tirade she’d been about to let loose.

  His face burned purple with rage. “Where did you get that dog?”

  “Uhhh . . .”