by Sam Cameron
“I forget to tell you that I have credit,” she said.
Robin was looking up her credit on their antiquated computer when Liam came out of the office, bristling with impatience.
“If he’s not involved, then who is?” he asked.
Mrs. Porter gave him a curious look and said, “Hello! You’re new to the island, aren’t you?”
“He’s just visiting,” Robin said, mentally urging the computer to work faster. To Liam she said, “I’ll be there in a minute.”
“We don’t have a minute,” he said impatiently.
Two other customers lined up behind Mrs. Porter. Luckily, Sean chose that moment to return from the Dumpster. When he saw Liam, he stopped short. The other customers hadn’t recognized Liam yet, but it was only a matter of time.
“There you are,” Robin said to Sean. “Can you take our visitor into the office for a few minutes?”
Sean’s gaping expression turned to Robin, then to Liam. “Yeah, sure.”
“Great,” Liam muttered. “Joe Hardy.”
Robin rushed as fast as she could through the rest of the customers. She was pretty sure she gave Mrs. Porter too much credit and rang up the wrong price for the next guy, but finally she was able to turn the lock on the front door and switch the hanging sign to Closed.
Liam and Sean were standing in the office. Liam was on his phone and Sean was fidgeting. As usual, there were books piled everywhere, making it impossible to sit down.
“The FBI isn’t happy I left Key West,” Liam said when he hung up. “I told them how much I cared about their happiness.”
Robin moved a pile of books from a chair to the desk. It started to slide, but her quick save kept it from cascading to the floor.
“About your trailer,” Robin said. “Who had the access code?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Humor me,” she said.
“Alex, Juliet, Karen, and Nate. He’s the driver. He was at the party all night—the big guy with the orange shirt.”
Robin asked, “No one else? Who cleaned the bathrooms and took out the garbage?”
“Kelly,” Liam said impatiently. “She was at the party, too. But she doesn’t have the code—he lets her in and out. No one else that I know of, unless Juliet gave it to her boyfriend. Who we should be looking for.”
Robin leaned back slightly on the desk. The recently moved pile slid off and toppled to the floor, several hardcovers thudding like rocks.
“I’ll get it,” Sean said, crouching down.
“What about Cayleigh?” Robin asked. “She’s your assistant.”
Liam’s gaze flickered toward the door. “No.”
“Why not?” Robin asked.
Liam weighed his answer for a moment. Beside Robin, Sean picked up a piece of paper that had fluttered to the floor from one of the books. People were always leaving things between pages—receipts, notes, shopping lists. Mostly they got thrown away, but sometimes a vintage postcard was worth saving and posting to the bulletin board.
“On our last movie, some information got out that shouldn’t have,” Liam said reluctantly. “I don’t want to think it’s her, but when Alex showed up I couldn’t take the chance. I changed the code Sunday night, after dinner.”
Robin tried to imagine that conversation. “How did she take it?”
“She said she understood. You seriously think she’s involved in this somehow?”
“The first time I met her, Wednesday morning, she was trying to get into your trailer.”
Liam frowned. “But she was at the party last night. She couldn’t be on that boat, too.”
Robin thought back to the party. She remembered Cayleigh at the beginning, wearing that long sparkling dress. But she couldn’t remember seeing her during the awards. Then again, perception was a tricky thing. She’d been watching Molly, mostly, so even if she’d seen Cayleigh, she wouldn’t necessarily have registered it in her memory.
Sean said, “Hey, look at this,” and held out a piece of faded paper. It was covered with old cursive writing, in pencil, with a blue dolphin in the letterhead.
“What about it?” Liam asked.
Robin was equally perplexed. “So?”
Sean said, “Look at the letterhead. This is from a marina on Big Pine.”
Big Pine Key wasn’t far down the Overseas Highway. Robin rarely stopped there for anything more than gas, but it was bigger than Fisher Key, with several marinas, boatyards, and waterfront hotels.
“Okay, so what?” Robin asked.
Sean gave her a look that said he was about to be brilliant again. “The first ransom note. It had a dolphin on it. Maybe it wasn’t Lagoon Resort stationery at all. Maybe it came from Big Pine.”
Robin ran her finger over the dolphin and turned to Liam.
“Karen said she gave the note to Michael Lake,” Robin said. “Can you call him?”
Liam pulled out his phone.
Ten minutes later, the fax machine in Mrs. Anderson’s office began spitting out a piece of paper. On the letterhead was a black and white dolphin similar to the stationery Sean had found, but the marina address was missing. Robin read the words but the only important part was the dolphin.
“What now?” Liam asked.
Robin said, “You go back to Key West and we go check out Big Pine Key.”
Liam smiled without humor. “Not very likely. We’re coming with you.”
Robin asked, “We?”
*
Molly was waiting outside in the driver’s seat of a cherry red convertible. Her yellow T-shirt made her look sallow, or maybe that was the hangover. She was drinking from a big bottle of water and wore sunglasses against the glaring sun.
“My license is suspended,” Liam said with a shrug. “Someone had to drive.”
“Hi,” Robin said awkwardly.
“Hi,” Molly replied.
Liam slid into the passenger seat. “Let’s go.”
Robin took the seat behind him so that she could watch Molly in profile. Sean took the seat behind Molly so he could watch Liam. Molly asked, “Where are we going?” and Robin gave her directions to head south on the Overseas Highway.
Sean volunteered to call the marina. After a few moments of listening, he said, “It’s a recording. They’re closed for the day.”
Liam pulled out his phone, too. “I’m going to try and find Cayleigh in Key West.”
“She left last night,” Molly said. “I saw her leaving. She said she was driving up to Miami to spend the night at a motel and flying out on a seven a.m. flight to North Dakota.”
“What time was that?” Robin asked.
Molly pursed her lips in thought. “I don’t know. Before the awards?”
“Her family lives in Fargo,” Liam said. “Her plane should have landed hours ago, but she’s not answering.”
Sean said, “Maybe they don’t have cell phone reception in North Dakota.”
“Maybe she’s counting on that as an alibi,” Robin said.
Molly’s eyes went wide. “Cayleigh? You think she’s a suspect?”
“She’s got no reason to kidnap anyone,” Liam said. “She likes her job, she’s moving up in the business, and she knows I’d give her a good recommendation if she wanted to leave and go somewhere else.”
Robin didn’t have an answer for that. She didn’t have an answer for a lot of the stupid things that people did.
“Alex said she was a ball of frustrated ambition.”
Liam asked, “Isn’t everyone?”
“Maybe she’s a stalker fangirl,” Sean suggested.
“What kind of information got released during your last movie?” Robin asked.
“Little stuff. Script pages, cameo photos from the set. Where our hotel was. It would all show up on the Internet gossip sites, and one fan site in particular.”
Robin felt a tingling at the back of her skull. “Which site?”
“I don’t remember her name exactly,” Liam said. �
�Monique? Monica?”
“Monica Mell!” Sean exclaimed. “You think your assistant was giving information to her?”
“I don’t know, but I wasn’t happy that pictures of the accident showed up online while I was in the hospital. Neither was Michael. He said if it was Cayleigh, she’d never be allowed on one of his sets again. If she found out…” Liam trailed off.
“Then maybe this is about revenge,” Robin said. “Check and see if she’s updated today.”
A moment later, Sean said, “No. Nothing.”
Liam turned around in his seat and looked at Sean. “You read those sites?”
“Not more than three or four times a day,” Sean said uncomfortably.
Views of the ocean gave way to grassy scrub and low trees as the Overseas Highway turned onto Big Pine Key. It was another mile or two before a scattering of gas stations, hardware stores, and old motels appeared. Molly followed Robin’s directions and turned right, passing the library and Winn Dixie supermarket. The road eventually hooked around again to the gravel parking lot of the Blue Dolphin Marina. The boats here were mostly small pleasure craft or fishing boats, with a few charters for the tourists. There was no sign of the white cabin cruiser from Key West.
The office was closed. The only sign of life was a brown pelican standing on a railing and eyeing the ocean with a beady gaze. Robin spied a bored guard sitting in a pickup truck and playing with a Nintendo DS. He was amenable to questions.
“Don’t know anyone named Jake Montell,” he said. “And white cabin cruisers are like seagulls around here.”
“He’s got a big mermaid tattoo on him,” Molly said.
The guard, who was maybe thirty years old or so, scratched at the polyester shirt of his uniform. “Oh, him? Kid with the mermaid. Yeah, he was here last week. Haven’t seen him or his boat since.”
Liam asked, “Do you know the name of his boat?”
“Nah, never learned it,” the guard said. His gaze turned sharp. “Don’t I know you?”
“Only if you’ve seen my movies,” Liam said, and gave the man a charming smile. “Is there any way we can find out the name of that boat?”
This close to Liam, Robin could see that his smile wasn’t the full wattage one he used in private or with Austin. This was more like a half-strength version. But it worked well enough on the guard, who made a call to the marina manager. She showed up a short time later, fell for Liam’s charm like a giddy schoolgirl, and went to go look in the office files for him.
“The name of the boat is the Daisy Deedle,” the manager reported. “Owner registered as Martin Huber.”
Liam frowned. Molly asked, “Wasn’t Daisy Deedle a character in Rhoda Dakota?”
“You’re thinking of Dizzy Doodle in season one,” Sean said. “But Martin Huber was definitely the name of Rhoda’s uncle in season two. You think Jake’s a crazy stalker fan, too?”
The manager said, “I haven’t seen the boat since, but I can make some calls.”
Robin said to Sean, “Call the Key West Police Department and ask for Boyle. Give her the name of the boat. Maybe she’ll talk to you.” To Liam she added, “The Coast Guard will put out an alert and start searching marinas.”
“Can’t we search, too?” Liam asked.
“We don’t have a boat,” Sean said. “Or a pilot’s license.”
Liam looked mutinous. “I’ll hire someone.”
And he could, easily, because money and fame would get you anywhere. But there was another option, too. Robin joined the pelican in studying the flat calm water of the Gulf of Mexico. She said, “You don’t have to hire anyone. Let me call our friends.”
Chapter Twenty-seven
If Denny and Steven Anderson felt any awe at all in meeting Liam Norcott, they hid it pretty well.
“Nice to meet you,” was all Steven said, shaking Liam’s hand after helping him aboard the Sleuth-hound. “I’m Steven.”
“Robin says you’re going into the SEALS,” Liam replied, because Robin had briefed him on the drive back to Fisher Key and to the Anderson house. “That’s a pretty tough job.”
Steven grinned. “Not as tough as ducking thousands of screaming fans.”
Denny came down from the bridge and offered his hand, too. “Sorry to meet this way.”
Liam asked, “Denny, right? Coast Guard Academy?”
Denny nodded. “We’ll do what we can to find your friends.”
“I appreciate it. I’ll pay for your gas, your time, whatever,” Liam replied.
“Gas is fine,” Denny said with a glance toward Robin. “We owe her.”
It was nice of him to admit it. Robin couldn’t count how many times she’d helped the twins out. Beside her, Molly cleared her throat and waited to be introduced.
“This is Molly,” Robin said belatedly. “She worked on the movie.”
“Nice to meet you both,” Molly said.
Robin wasn’t so sure it was a good idea to bring Molly on the trip. Aside from residual awkwardness, what if they actually did manage to find Juliet and Austin? Things tended to get dangerous fast whenever the Anderson twins were involved. Before she could gently suggest Molly stay with the car, Sean’s phone rang.
“Key West Police,” Sean said. He answered. “Hello?”
A moment, and then he handed the phone to Robin. “It’s for you.”
“Tell me you are not looking for the Daisy Deedle,” Boyle said ominously when Robin answered.
“I’m in Fisher Key,” Robin replied. That wasn’t a lie. “Any news?”
“Is Liam Norcott with you?”
“Yes, I’ll put him on speakerphone.” Robin tapped her screen. “We’re both here, listening.”
Boyle’s voice was strained. “The FBI and Coast Guard are looking for the Daisy Deedle right now. All we need you to do is wait for word—”
Liam took Sean’s phone and threw it into the ocean.
“That’s what I think about sitting and waiting,” he said. And then, at Sean’s expression, he said, “I’ll buy you a new one.”
Denny nodded as if he’d do the same exact thing. “Let’s go look at the charts.”
Liam followed Denny into the cabin. Steven said to Robin, “Feisty. I like him,” and followed as well.
At the table in the galley, Denny spread out some waterproof charts of the keys. Robin had never paid much attention to seamanship, preferring to keep her feet on land, but she recognized the Lower Keys, greater Miami, and the Bahamas.
“If they left Key West last night, they could be anywhere by now—up the coast, over to Nassau, or anywhere on thousands of square miles of open ocean. Any way to narrow down the possibilities?” Denny asked.
Liam shook his head. Robin said, “Jake likes Big Pine Key. Maybe he’ll stick close to it.”
“Okay,” Denny studied the chart. “There’s only three big marinas, but a lot of little coves where you could hide a boat. We’re going to lose daylight in less than two hours.”
Liam went up to the wheelhouse with Denny. Steven pulled out a cooler of sandwiches and drinks and said, “Help yourself,” which Robin appreciated because she was absolutely starving. Luckily, there were vegetarian options wedged between the tuna and beef sandwiches. Judging by Sean’s enthusiasm, he was hungry, too. Molly stayed a respectable distance from the food.
“I’m never eating again,” she said.
“Still hung over?” Robin asked.
“I’ve sworn off alcohol for the rest of my life.” Molly glanced out the porthole at the waves and braced one hand on the kitchenette. “Is there a ladies’ room?”
Steven pointed her to the lavatory. A moment after the door closed, they all heard Molly retching. Robin put down her sandwich.
“What’s the deal with these friends of his?” Steven asked, reaching into the cooler. “Regular friends or more than friends?”
Robin arched an eyebrow. “Does it matter? They’re important to him.”
Steven popped open a root beer and took a
long swallow. “Guess not. So what are they to you?”
She thought about the last conversation she’d had with either of them. “They’re important to me, too.”
“And her?” Steven asked, nodded toward the lavatory.
Robin scowled. “Don’t you have a deck to swab or something?”
Steven grinned and left the galley. Molly emerged from the lavatory looking green.
“I never got seasick before,” she said.
Sean rummaged through a cabinet. “Denny sometimes keeps ginger slices around.”
While Molly sucked on the ginger slices, Robin watched the ocean pass by outside. Denny steered them under the Seven Mile Bridge. Seen from below, the apex was a graceful vault of weathered concrete, hardly intimidating. They passed through the cut of the Old Seven Mile Bridge as well, where Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis had once filmed a movie. The weather was absolutely perfect for boating. Dozens of sailboats and pleasure craft dotted the turquoise water between Fisher Key and Big Pine. Sunset was going to be glorious, but also devastating—there was no use searching after dark, not with so many coves and bays to cover.
“Better?” Robin asked Molly. Sean had gone to join Steven on deck, leaving the two of them alone at the small table.
“Yes,” Molly said. “Sorry I’m such a pain.”
“You’re not,” Robin said. “I’m not the seagoing type myself.”
“But you didn’t barf.”
“I don’t have a hangover.”
“I guess I was pretty silly last night, huh?” Molly turned her gaze out the porthole. “Here I was making a big deal out of things and I didn’t know the police had told you to keep quiet.”
Robin didn’t like thinking about the parking lot. “You couldn’t have known.”
“Do you think they’re okay? Juliet and Alex Austin?”
If Liam had been there, Robin would be tempted to put on a positive expression. As it was, she admitted, “I don’t know.”
Liam came down the galley steps. He was wearing binoculars around his neck and looked unsettled. Robin wondered what he and Denny had been talking about. They had a lot in common, what with the secrecy and fear of coming out.
