Hang Ten Australian Cozy Mystery Boxed Set

by Stacey Alabaster

  But I stared down at it. It looked fine. Then I tried to move it. It bent in the right direction. And no bone.

  Matt pulled me up and I wrapped my arms around my shoulders and hugged him while an incredibly disgruntled Sergeant Wells led Mayor Strang to the police car.

  Matt was staring down at me. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s get you home.”

  “There’s somewhere else I’ve got to be,” I said, before I kissed him on the check and sprinted back to the beach.

  24

  Alyson

  This was my moment.

  I looked back over my shoulder. All I needed was a teammate to make this official. But I would do it on my own if I had to—break the rules and seek permission later.

  But there she was, running across the sand toward me. “Wait!” she said, overtaking the Swedes, who were desperately trying to rip the wheels off a poor skateboarder’s board. But the skater pushed Mr. Swede into the sand.

  “Hey!” I called out to him with a shrug as Claire and I crossed the finish line together. “At least you’ll come in second! Not such a bad position.”

  And in third place that day was Matt and Anna. Of course, that was just by default since there were literally no other teams there to take part.

  I grinned for the camera. As soon as the flash went off, I realized how tired and dead my arms were and dropped the trophy into the sand. Now that the mayor’s tricks had been uncovered, the council said they would honor the prize money. But it would take them a while to organize it.

  I wasn’t going to hold my breath. If the mayor was desperate enough to kill so that he didn’t have to pay five thousand dollars, the Eden Bay economy must have been in a worse state than I thought.

  As long as I had the win, that was all I really cared about. And now, time for bed.

  “Come on,” Claire said, putting an arm over my shoulder. “I think we’ve earned a big breakfast at Captain Eightball’s, don’t you?”

  What was a few more hours without sleep if it meant spending it with my best friend?

  Epilogue

  Three Weeks Later

  Claire

  There was a customer at the door. I had to close the bookshop early that day, though. I was getting ready for a fight.

  I nervously stuck my head out the door to tell the customer to come back tomorrow, then realized it was Alyson.

  “I’ve got the meeting with Dawn Petts-Jones about the will,” I said, pointing to the suit I was wearing and the briefcase I was carrying.

  “Oh, right, good luck,” Alyson said as pushed in through the front door. She stared at my outfit. “I didn’t think you were dressed any different than usual.”

  “So you’re not hear to wish me good luck then?”

  “Er, sure. Good luck.” But that wasn’t what Alyson had come to talk to me about.

  She looked deadly serious. “Claire. I think that Troy has been paying off Wells, paying off the cops, so that he can cut corners and get the mall built and opened quicker.” She looked at me pleadingly. “Claire, please, the opening of the mall is today. There’s a big ceremony. We have to do something.”

  I hesitated. Bad timing. But she needed me. “I guess I can postpone my meeting with the solicitor,” I said, putting my briefcase on the ground with a sigh. Dawn Petts-Jones was going to chew my ear off. I was relieved when I got her answering message instead

  We arrived at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. There was an excited crowd with their credit cards ready.

  “Are you sure your theory is right?” I asked Alyson.

  “How else did he get this built so quickly?” she asked. “Plus, I KNOW there is something weird going on with him and Wells. There is corruption in this town, Claire, and we have to stop it before it gets any worse or any higher.”

  I nodded at her. “Okay. Let’s say you’re right,” I said to Alyson. “What are you going to do about it?” The mall was already there. It was standing right in front of us. Built. Ready. Open.

  She started to move toward the stage. “I am going to stand up and say something, for one thing. Right into the mic. So everyone knows.”

  But Troy’s speech had already begun.

  “…now that I have you all here…” He paused for dramatic effect, and Alyson and I looked at each other. I had a feeling that this announcement was about more than just the mall.

  “This town needs a new mayor. And I am her to announce that I will be running.”

  There was a cheer from the crowd. Well. From everyone besides Alyson and I.

  Alyson crossed her arms. “Yeah? Well, he is going to have a fight on his hands.”

  Slaying in Sydney

  Hang Ten Cozy Mystery, Book 7

  1

  Claire

  A mermaid with long, cascading pink hair waved good-bye to us. “You’re leaving Eden Bay — Come back soon!” the new sign read. The sun hit the mermaid’s psychedelic tail and I had to put my shades down. I recognized the design, though. “How much did you get paid for that?” I asked Alyson as I took the turn onto the highway that would take us out of Eden Bay and back into real civilization: Sydney. And I could not wait. Less than a two hour’s drive in the Porsche and we would be back in the land of designer boutiques, twenty-four-hour bars and restaurants, and culture.

  “Ah, I did it for free,” Alyson said with a little shrug.

  I groaned. “They took advantage of you, Alyson! You should have charged.”

  But my harebrained, twenty-six-year-old best friend who was accompanying me on this journey had an even more harebrained scheme to run for mayor, so she was doing all that she could to butter up the town. Still, giving away her artwork for free was a terrible business decision. Artwork, surfboard designs mostly, was how Alyson made her income. Her surfing sure didn’t pay anything.

  The sign well in the background, I decided to focus on the road ahead. Sydney had been my home for almost a decade and I couldn’t wait to get back, even if there was something terrifying waiting for me there. Which there kind of was: a mysterious cousin called Bianca who I had never met. Or even known existed until a few weeks earlier.

  The Porsche was glistening in the sun. I always got a little thrill when fellow motorists slowed their own cars and craned their necks to stare in envy. “Isn’t she a beauty?” I asked Alyson, turning my head towards her to check her reaction. In the side mirror I could see the gold sheen. Limited edition. Only twenty of us in Australia owned one of these.

  “I don’t see what all the fuss is about. I would have been just as happy to take the bus,” Alyson said as her hair cascaded in the wind with the top down. Yeah, good luck getting that with a bus. I waited a moment, but Alyson remained tight-lipped, refusing to give the car the compliments it deserved.

  At least I had a car. At least I knew how to drive. Unlike a certain someone sitting next to me.

  She ought to have been grateful for the lift. The whole reason Alyson was even tagging along was because she had been offered a wild card entry into an international surfing competition being held on Bondi Beach. The whole thing had been very short notice and if not for the coincidental fact that I was also heading to Sydney that weekend, she would have been walking along the highway at that moment trying to hitch a ride.

  “You look nervous,” I pointed out as we got closer and passed a sign saying we were only 30 miles away. “Intimidated by the big city?” I tried not to grin again.

  “No,” she said defensively and sunk down in the passenger seat again. But I knew that Alyson Foulkes was going to be a fish out of water in Sydney. Kinda like Crocodile Dundee, blinded by the bright lights. She might try to pay for things with seashells. Okay, maybe not that bad, but I giggled thinking about it and Alyson asked what was so funny.

  “Just thinking about an episode of a podcast I was listening to this morning,” I said.

  “Sounds thrilling.”

  We were getting closer, so I told Alyson to get the address of the place where we were staying so I coul
d punch it into my GPS. And I braced myself.

  There was one little hitch with our whole ‘holiday in Sydney’ plan. The organizers of Alyson’s surfing competition were providing the accommodation for her and told her she could bring a friend or partner along. Her wildcard entry afforded her something of a total scholarship—five nights in a hotel, all expenses including meals, and a per diem of a hundred dollars. But as I said, this was a problem. I could only assume that this free, organized accommodation was going to involve two lumpy mattresses, some dirty linen, and possibly a rat problem.

  I hadn’t told Alyson yet, but if the room was not up to my standards, I intended on checking straight out and finding somewhere with a five-star rating for myself. That had been my original plan for my weekend away. But I would drop her off at the budget motel first, and make sure she was safe and that there weren’t too many cockroaches. Huge cockroach problem in Sydney. You had to pay $500 a night just to make sure you didn’t have to deal with them.

  I was following the directions on the GPS, sure that there had been a glitch or something. The address was right on Bondi Beach. So, either we were staying at a $15 a night backpacker’s hostel or we were staying at a hotel that was fit for a queen. I slowed the Porsche as we approached the sign out front. “The Onyx.”

  “Whoa.” Was that gold plating outside the lobby? And inside. Wow. My Porsche was right at home here. I stepped out of it and couldn’t believe how well it matched. “This is a real Claire style accommodation.” Still, I eyed the valet carefully as he opened the door of my car and tried not to think about the fact that he would speed off as soon as he was out of eyeshot. Oh well. If there were any scratches to the paint, I would complain and make them fix it. Easily sorted.

  “How is the surfing competition paying for this?” I murmured as we rolled our suitcases up to the lobby entrance. We were only a few meters from the beach. There were already signs up for the surf competition and cordoned-off areas for surfers and camera crews only. My awe then turned to skepticism. “There’s been some sort of mix-up.”

  Alyson jumped to the conclusion that I meant that the room wasn’t meant for her at all. Telling. She was probably insecure about her place as a wildcard participant. Or just insecure in general. “They haven’t gotten me mixed up with someone else, silly. There’s no other Alyson Foulkes in the competition.”

  “No, I mean you have mixed it up. You’ve read the name of the hotel or the address wrong. Double-check it.” She had probably read “The Onyx” for “The One Dollar Motel’” or something. I was sure we were meant to check into a one-star dive with a lumpy mattress and a vending machine in the hallway.

  But this was the place. “See?” she said, shoving the itinerary in my face. But until we actually checked in at the reception desk and Alyson’s ID was accepted, I wouldn’t believe it.

  “So, can I check in now?” Alyson seemed a little worried because we had arrived before 2pm. She also tugged self-consciously at her midriff shirt that showed her belly. In a five-star hotel that shirt did look a little tacky. However, this was Bondi Beach, where even the richest of folks walked around in bikinis and flipflops in the middle of the day.

  “You don’t have to worry about a thing, Miss Foulkes,” the concierge said with a welcoming smile. “Now, would you like someone to take your bags up to your room for you?”

  The suite was big enough to sleep six people, but you could have fit a crew of ten in there. It was at least twice as big as my flat back home, and I lived in a luxury apartment building. Our suite had three separate sleeping areas, so I wouldn’t even have to be disturbed by Alyson’s snoring. I’d brought my earplugs along, but believe me, they barely help. She sounds like a bulldozer. But this place was huge. I was still sure there had been a mix-up of some sort. There was no way this was meant for Alyson. Why would a wild card entrant in a surf comp get accommodation that was more fit for a pop star or a traveling president?

  It didn’t add up.

  I politely offered to take the second smallest room, seeing as this was Alyson’s treat. The walls seemed pretty thick as well. Pretty soundproof.

  Or maybe not.

  I’d decided to catch up on the latest episode of my favorite podcast while unpacking, a new true crime murder series, but the screams I was hearing didn’t seem to be coming from the podcast. I paused it and double-checked. When there was silence for a second or so, I figured I must have been wrong and they must have been part of the episode. There to set the atmosphere.

  Nope. There it was again. Not part of the podcast.

  “Did you hear that?” I asked Alyson, popping my head back into the common area. “It sounds like screaming.”

  Alyson rolled her eyes. “I know what your game is, missy. Stop trying to make problems where there are none. You’re not changing rooms.”

  “No, I’m serious,” I said, heading over to the wall. “It sounds like there are screams coming from the other side of the wall.”

  Alyson just put her sunglasses on and smiled at me. “I’m going to the rooftop pool. You can join me if you ever decide to stop being a wet blanket.”

  I sighed and told her I would see her up there when I was done. I couldn’t relax while I was stressing about getting creases in my best blazers and I glanced at her own pile and sighed. Alyson’s idea of ‘unpacking’ meant tipping her suitcase out all over the bed and letting the items drop to the floor in a puddle that everyone else had to step over. I always liked to fully unpack, even if I was only going to be in a location for a day or two. “I’ll see you there in a bit,” I said, not really meaning it. I was still concerned about the fact that someone in the room next door sounded like they were being tortured.

  But now there was complete silence. Maybe I was imagining it after all. I sighed. Could Alyson have been making a very valid point? Was I more intent on complaining than actually enjoying myself?

  It was just that my meeting Bianca later that evening was in the back of my mind. I was finding it hard to just let go and relax. My bookshop was in peril. She had a claim to it. A valid claim, apparently. And until I actually met with her, I had no idea what her game plan was.

  But outside, there was sun, and nothing but blue skies. And it was a perfect ninety-five degrees. Swimming was starting to sound pretty tempting.

  Come on, Claire, enjoy yourself!

  I decided to skip the last bit of unpacking and pulled out my white bikini from my still half-full case. I held it up in front of the mirror and nodded. Why not have some fun!

  I was feeling a little like a movie star as I sashayed down the hall to the exclusive elevator that would take me to the top floor. Only members of the top five levels had access to the rooftop facilities, including the pool. There were apparently free cocktails and champagne on offer as well. Those could certainly up the fun factor.

  I passed the room next door and paused, just for a moment, when I saw that the door was open a crack.

  I jumped back when it started to open further.

  There was a maid backing her way out with the tray still fully loaded with towels and soaps. She had quite distinctive pink hair and was wearing the Onyx black uniform that all the staff had. I was shocked to see that she was crying. “Are you okay?” I asked. She was shaking and her hand was over her mouth. She used the other arm to shakily point inside the room.

  “There is… There is…” She just kept saying that, unable to form a full sentence, or to utter the unutterable truth.

  Whatever was inside that room, it had given this poor woman the fright of her life.

  I gulped and took a step into the room to see this terrible thing.

  I hadn’t been imagining things. There had been screams coming from the room next door all right. And now I saw who those screens had belonged to.

  A young, blonde woman who was now dead.

  2

  Alyson

  I sipped on a Tequila Sunrise and sighed in contentment as I kicked back on the pool chair. Just one d
rink and then I would sink into the sparkling water. I deserved a holiday! Maybe I was being a bit greedy, really. It wasn’t like I didn’t already come from a town that other people visited for a holiday, and my very existence was pretty much like a 24/7 vacation. Just surf, sand, and designing surfboards. Still, a change of scenery was always fun, and it was hotter in Sydney than Eden Bay now that we were further north. The hotter the better as far as I was concerned.

  I took another sip of my cocktail and tried to keep my nerves about the surfing comp in check. It was nothing different to what I did every day, I told myself. It was just that this time, there would be cameras from all over the world filming it and the chance to take home twenty thousand dollars at the end. No big deal at all. Just what I did every day.

  The waiter who had brought my drink let me know that he was knocking off his shift and suddenly, I was the only person on the rooftop. An eerie silence enveloped me.

  Ooh, being left alone with my own thoughts was doing nothing to quell the nerves rising like a wave in my stomach. Where was my best friend?

  I glanced around. Still no sight of Claire. Not surprising. She would be checking the hotel room closets for any sign of dust and calling reception as soon as she found any. Probably asking for a fluffier pillow and some sugar-free mints to replace the complimentary dinner ones. Unlike other people on vacation, Claire did not know how to have fun.

  That said, I was the only person sitting at the pool. Like, no other guests at all. It was starting to get a little creepy, and I started to wonder if I really was allowed to be up there. I mean, who did I think I was? I was just a girl from Eden Bay who was a bit good at surfing and here I was at a five-star hotel, all expenses paid? The wild card ticket had been a real shock, especially all the free stuff that had come along with it. A lot of expectation for me to do well. I put down the cocktail and stared at it as it sat on the ledge. There was a lot of sugar in that fancy glass.