by Diane Capri
I definitely wasn’t a great golfer, but I had played with the partners and with clients. Jeremy used to love doing business on one fancy golf course or another. He’d made sure I had plenty of lessons. I got good enough not to embarrass him or the firm, but not so good that I could beat any of them, either.
I grabbed the blanket and pulled it off Ginny. “Up and at ’em, sunshine.”
She opened her eyes and blinked sleepily at me. “You are a meanie.”
“Yup, I’m horrible.” I smiled at her. “Thanks for staying with me last night.”
“Any time.” She rolled into a sit. “I’ll make sure someone comes in and replaces the balcony door while you’re out putting those greens like a golf pro.”
I threw one of the pillows at her and then retreated into the bathroom to shower. Last thing I wanted to do was to go play nine holes of golf with a bunch of people I didn’t know. But I had to go if I wanted to stay employed at the hotel. What I really wanted to do was to continue my search for Sasha Banks. Maybe I would discover something that would prove useful to find the killer or at least a solid motive.
On my way out the door, I remembered that I hadn’t called my mother. Briefly, I considered calling while I walked. But if she picked up the phone, it would lead to a longer conversation than I had time for. Okay. So I was making excuses. And the longer I put it off, the more difficult it became to make the call. Still, I didn’t have the time at that moment.
By eight o’clock, I was standing with Justin Hamilton, Mayor Lindsey’s husband, and Pamela Bower, Steve Bower’s wife, by our cart waiting on our fourth. We were to be the second team to tee off, and we needed to be on the first hole ASAP.
“Oh, here he is,” Justin said, and I turned to see Daniel walking toward us, looking stupidly good in a pink-gray-and-white-striped polo and gray pants. How could a man look that good in golfing apparel? Didn’t seem possible.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said.
Justin shook his hand, and then Daniel turned to shake Pamela’s. “Good to see you, Pamela. It’s been a couple of years.”
She smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her green eyes. “It’s always a pleasure, Daniel. Steve tells me we almost have a deal to do some building on the mainland.”
“Yes, just a few more details to iron out, but it seems promising.”
He looked at me, and I had to fight the urge to smooth down the blue-and-white-patterned golf skirt that I’d borrowed from Ginny. She was an inch or two shorter than me, so what was a knee-length skirt to her was one that I wouldn’t dare bend over in.
“Good morning, Andi. Nice to see you without your fists and knees up.”
Justin and Pamela gave us a look.
Daniel explained, “We had a bit of a misunderstanding last night.”
“How’s your, um…leg this morning?” I couldn’t resist. The man was just too easy to tease.
“Fine. Thank you for asking.” He gave me one of his disarming smiles, and it worked. “Shall we?” He jumped into the cart, and we followed suit. Justin got behind the wheel. Pamela and I slid into the back.
Pamela seemed like a bit of a cold fish, but I hoped she would warm over the course of the day. If not, this was going to be a long nine holes. I looked her over, taking in her shiny blond locks, pulled back into a severe high ponytail, and her perfect heart-shaped face. She was probably close to forty, but I imagined she’d paid a lot to look barely thirty. In fact, she looked and smelled like money. I knew the type. I had helped several clients like her diversify their massive fortunes.
“I met your husband last night,” I said, hoping to break the ice.
She gave me a simple eyebrow raise as a response.
“I ran into him with Daniel. They were walking by the hedge maze.” Still nothing. “Have you been through the maze?”
“No. I’m not much for gardens.” Her gaze moved past me to the golf course as we neared the first hole. It was a beautiful course, lush and green, with the expanse of the lake framing it perfectly. It was probably one of the prettier courses I’d played.
Thawing Pamela out wouldn’t be easy. I needed a pickaxe to chip away at her stone-faced behavior. “Are you enjoying the conference?”
“These things aren’t really for enjoyment. They’re for making deals.”
I nodded. “You run the business with Steve?”
She looked at me then, and her upper lip came up a bit. It wasn’t quite a sneer. More smirk-like. “I am the business.”
Justin stopped the cart, and she was the first one out, grabbing her clubs. She hobbled to the tee box—looked like she had a bit of a limp. I hadn’t noticed that earlier. She took out a tee and set up her ball. I guess she was going first. She adjusted her stance, pulled back her club, and swung. There was the crack of the club hitting the ball, and then it was soaring through the air. A great shot.
Justin teed up next. While he did, Daniel leaned against the cart next to me. “Do you play golf a lot?”
I shrugged. “I’ve played my fair share.”
“Really?”
“Don’t look so surprised. I used to be a hotshot lawyer in California, remember? How do you think we got business done?” I grabbed a club and set up my shot. I lined up, squared my shoulders, and swung my driver. I was rewarded with the beautiful sound of a perfect shot. I watched as it soared, arced, and landed right next to the green, closer than anyone else had hit so far. Daniel chuckled as he went by me to set up.
The next two holes went on without a hitch. We were all playing fairly well. As a team, I imagined we were crushing it. Both Daniel and I were running one under par. On the fourth hole, Pamela sliced and sent her ball into the thicket of trees. I volunteered to help her find her ball. Lois would be proud of me, going above and beyond for a guest. I’d tell her when we were done so I could claim some suck-up points with her. I feared my job wasn’t on very steady legs right now.
As we chopped at the underbrush looking for the telltale flash of white, I decided to try to pump Pamela for information about her husband. I knew that he’d lied to me the other night. I was certain I saw him in the village with the pregnant girl. And I wanted to know why. Well, if it was anything other than my first guess—that he was probably having an affair with the girl and got her pregnant.
Which in my mind was one hell of a legitimate reason to be blackmailed. Might even drive a man to murder, I figured.
“Have you and your husband been staying at the hotel during the conference?”
“No. That’s Steve’s thing. I have a perfectly good house outside the village, so why would I pay to stay at the hotel?” She sighed. “I have other responsibilities besides drinking irresponsibly with a bunch of silly men. Raising teenagers is a thankless job.”
I nodded. “Your husband basically said the same thing last night.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Did he, now?”
“So, did you get to the hotel for the keynote?”
“Yes. Daniel always does marvelous speeches.” I detected a tinge of sarcasm in her voice as she whacked aside another clump of grass looking for her ball.
“It must be hard running a business together. I imagine it’s not always easy on a relationship.”
She eyed me then. It wasn’t a friendly look. “I’m not sure what you are insinuating.”
“I’m not insinuating anything. I’ve just always been curious about how couples handle business together.”
She sighed. “It’s not easy, that’s for sure. Especially when only one of us knows how to run a company.”
I was surprised that she offered that information so freely. Maybe she had no one to talk to about it and I seemed like a faceless entity that she might never see again, not unlike a bartender at some two-bit hotel bar.
“Yes, I can imagine that trust is probably the biggest thing you need in a business.” I knew something about that, especially as Jeremy had betrayed me, had betrayed my trust. It was on the same level as a betrayal in a marriage or a re
lationship. Trust was something I valued because I’d had a couple of other disastrous relationships, too.
Pamela looked at me and nodded. “That’s very true.”
There was a glint in her eyes that told me she knew something about betrayal, too. Did she know or suspect that her husband was having an affair? If she didn’t, I wouldn’t be the one to tell her. It wasn’t my place or my business. The last thing she’d want to hear from a stranger was that her husband was having an affair with a younger woman.
I watched her hobble over to another clump of grass and swat at it. “If your leg is bothering you, I can go get the cart,” I offered.
She shook her head. “I’m fine. It’s an old injury. I usually have my cane, but I forgot it in the rush to get here.”
“Oh, that’s a shame.”
Deciding that it was wrong of me to continue to pump her for information, I discreetly lifted my foot off her ball and nudged it to the side. I then made a motion with my club on the grass, as if I had just discovered it.
“Oh, look. I found it. You can’t play it from here.” I picked the ball up and handed it to her.
When she took the ball from my palm, I had the distinct feeling that she’d known I’d been stepping on it the whole time. Maybe she needed the reprieve from the hustle and bustle of the conference.
Without another word, she set the ball down on the grass at the edge of the tree line, lined up her club, and knocked the ball out onto the green where Justin and Daniel waited for us.
Chapter 25
When we finished the nine holes, we met up with everyone in the clubhouse. Daniel and I had both ended up with two under par. I liked that it didn’t seem to bother him that I had scored as well as he did. A lot of men took their sports too seriously and hated when women bested them. Jeremy had been like that. The one time I had beaten him when we were playing with clients, he had pouted like a child. Next time we played, I’d made sure to hold back.
Daniel bought us a round of drinks. I opted for a tall glass of ice water. I still had a headache from the whiskey. As we all cheered for a round well played, Pamela’s husband Steve joined us. He kissed his wife dutifully on the cheek then smiled at me. She wrapped her hands around his arm, more for support, I think, than anything else.
“So, how did everyone fair?”
“Andi here was our little star player,” Pamela said.
“Really?” Steve lifted an eyebrow.
“Why does everyone seem so surprised?”
Steve looked me over. “I guess you just don’t seem like someone who plays golf well.”
I had a sense that he meant I didn’t look wealthy enough to play the sport well. The Bowers were the type that respected money and power and not much else.
“Andi used to play with big-shot lawyers in California,” Daniel said with a grin.
“You’re a lawyer?” Steve asked.
Before I could answer, Daniel said, “She used to work for one of the biggest firms in California. From what I heard, she was their most hardworking and diligent associate.”
I narrowed my eyes at Daniel. Then I grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side. “Did you investigate me?”
“I always like to know who I’m dealing with.”
“I didn’t realize we had any dealings together.”
He smiled. “Not yet we don’t.” And with that, he walked away and started a conversation with another group of people.
I stared after him, wondering what the heck that meant. As my gaze roamed the clubhouse, it fell on a tall man with black hair in the corner near the door. He was staring right at me. He had a professional camera slung around his neck. The moment he saw that I noticed him, he ducked out.
I followed.
Outside the clubhouse, he lit up a cigarette and marched toward the parking lot. I ran to catch up to him.
“Hey.”
He didn’t stop.
“I’m talking to you.”
He stopped and turned around. “What?”
“What are you doing here?”
“Taking pictures of the golf tournament for the hotel. What does it look like?”
“Are you Stan Zhang?”
“Maybe. What’s it to you?” He blew his cigarette smoke into my face. I then noticed the filter on his cigarette. Marlboro.
Now, I knew well and good that lots of people smoked that brand. But I also knew when my instincts were calling out, loud and clear.
“Why have you been watching me?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He turned to leave.
I didn’t follow him; I didn’t need to. I knew he’d been the one outside of my suite on the cliffs watching me. But why? Why would a private investigator be watching me? If he’d been hired to follow me, then I needed to find out by whom and why.
Chapter 26
For the next fifteen minutes, I milled about the crowd in the clubhouse, smiling and making niceties, and then made my escape. When I returned to my suite, Ginny was there directing two burly men who were fixing the balcony door. She was flirting with the one sporting a wild beard and a cheeky grin.
In response to my questioning look, she said, “I couldn’t find Mick to fix the door. He’s gone AWOL, and Lois is livid. So I had Jeff and Clinton come over. They own the hardware store in town.”
I nodded to them both.
“How was it?”
“I finished two under par.”
“That’s pretty good. I should’ve warned you not to play well so that Lois wouldn’t sign you up for more golf tournaments.” She laughed. “But I know you would’ve played well regardless—you don’t do anything halfway.”
She was right. When I said I was going to do something, I did it to the best of my ability. In school, when the professor gave us a week to do something, I usually did it in two days, just because I could.
I went to the mini fridge and took out a bottle of water. I opened it, took a sip, and collapsed onto the sofa. Jem and Scout jumped on me, vying for my attention. They seemed a little bit upset about the intrusion into their lives, plus the loud pounding the men were doing to get the replacement door in place. I petted their little heads and was rewarded with happy purrs.
“Do you know the Bowers? Steve and Pamela?” I asked Ginny.
“Not personally. I know they own some big real estate development company. Why?”
“I golfed with Pamela. She’s a bit of a cold fish.”
“Not surprising. She’s had to work hard for her position.”
“What does that mean?”
“From the way I heard it, she basically came from nothing and worked her way into the Bower empire.”
“Really? That’s interesting.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “Andi? What are you thinking?”
I shrugged and took another sip of water. “Nothing. Just curious is all.”
Ginny picked up Jem and cuddled her. “You are never just curious about anything.”
I watched as the men finished up with the door, anxious to talk to Jeff. When I’d started talking about the Bowers, he’d perked up and even smirked when I’d mentioned Pamela being a cold fish. This was a small town on a small island; he probably had dealings with the Bowers in some capacity, considering he also worked in construction on the side.
As they packed up their tools, and Ginny leaned on the wall and flirted hard with Clinton, I handed a hammer to Jeff. He thanked me and put it into his toolbox.
“So, you must know the Bowers.”
His eyes narrowed. “Why would you say that?”
“Because you’re in construction and you reacted unfavorably when I was talking about Pamela Bower.”
He smirked. “Yeah, she’s a piece of work.”
“How so?”
“I did a job for them a few months ago.” He shook his head. “You shoulda heard her shouting at Steve. She was busting his balls about something.”
“Maybe he deserved his balls being busted.”
He nodded. “Probably. I hear the man has a hard time keeping it in his pants, if you know what I mean.”
I nodded and said nothing, but I suspected that I did know exactly what he meant.
Chapter 27
After the crew left, and Ginny with them, still chatting up Clinton, I sat on the sofa and made the call I’d been dreading. Okay, so I knew it was really late in Hong Kong. I also knew my mother turned off her phone before she went to bed at night. Which meant I didn’t expect her to answer. Call me a coward. I can live with that.
When the call bounced to voice mail, I took a deep breath and rushed through the upbeat message I’d practiced. “Hi, Mom and Dad. It’s Andi. Just wanted to let you know that I’ve…moved. I’m on…hiatus from my job at the law firm, and I’m staying on Frontenac Island at the Park Hotel for a while. Hope you’re both well. Talk later. Bye.”
I disconnected, tossed the phone onto the sofa, and opened my laptop, prepared to do some digging into the Bowers. I yawned and stretched, realizing I hadn’t had any decent sleep in days. I closed my laptop and thought about getting in a two-hour nap instead. Except I realized it was a prime opportunity right now to follow up with Steve Bower. He’d likely still be at the clubhouse.
I went down to the laundry to find Nancy first. Earlier, she’d given me all the information I needed to help her with the problem with her ex-husband. I hadn’t had a chance to go over everything thoroughly, but I’d flipped through it enough to know that her ex didn’t have a leg to stand on. She’d paid for the mortgage on the house, and he couldn’t force her to sell it. I was hoping she’d be ecstatic enough about that outcome to do me another favor.
I ran into Megan at the machines.
“Do you know where Nancy is?”
“Up on the second floor, I think.”
