Murder among the Palms

by Jade Astor

  “Darian, I’m sure you can’t reveal everything you know, but there’s no doubt police officers talk to one another differently than they talk to ordinary citizens. What aren’t they telling us? Are the people at Mermaid Towers in any danger? We’re worried about Zara—and Rikki, too, of course.”

  “Zara says the staff is freaking out,” Bodie added. “Some people are already talking about quitting.”

  “Frankly, we’re hoping Zara will walk away, too, at least for a while. For all we know, there’s some maniac running around killing hotel employees.”

  “There’s some question about exactly what happened.”

  “There always are in these types of cases.” Iris nodded. “That hotel certainly seems to be a hotbed of unpleasantries lately. No shock there, considering who was running the place.”

  “Iris is convinced that Gabrielle was a bad influence on our daughter. Can’t say I disagree. You see that guy Lampson they were kissing up to at the party last night? Slicker than an eel in baby oil, that one.”

  “I didn’t realize you’d met him,” Darian said.

  “No need to. He’s like everyone else Gabrielle surrounded herself with. Movers and shakers, at least in their own minds. How much money do people need, anyway? Gabrielle inherited a bundle when her old man went toes-up. If she’d been content with that, she might still be around to enjoy it.”

  “If it’s any consolation, Zara sounded to me like she saw right through Gabrielle’s schemes. She found them all kind of…amusing.” Darian faltered on the last word. The end result had been anything but humorous.

  “My guess is it’s a revenge thing,” Bodie said around a mouthful of banana bread. “Most murders are committed by someone the victim works with or is intimately involved with. Second most common culprit is a spurned lover. Fact.”

  “Bodie,” Iris warned.

  “Oh, sorry, Ange. I didn’t mean it would involve anyone we know, much less anyone who’d ever babysat Zara. I’d like to think I have a good sense of people, and you and Rikki are two of the best. Never suspected anything improper between her and Gabrielle for a moment.”

  “Will Rikki leave the hotel, I wonder?” Iris turned to Ange somewhat desperately. “I don’t suppose she’s said anything to you.”

  “No. We don’t talk much about her work lately.” Ange scowled. “Or about much of anything, really.”

  “Did Zara ever mention an employee named Carl?” Darian asked. “The guy who made the scene at the party, remember? Broke a few dishes. Threatened Gabrielle out loud.”

  “Oh, yes,” Iris said. “We talked about him quite a bit last night. According to Zara, Carl had it out for Gabrielle. She’d threatened to fire him several times, for what he considered unjust or even fabricated reasons, and he wasn’t shy about telling the other employees what he thought about her. I certainly hope the police start their inquiries with him. Makes sense he’d come after her violently.”

  “I can’t see the point, though,” Bodie said. “Why would he tell a roomful of people he wanted to kill her? He’d get caught in a second. Better to sneak up on her, don’t you think?”

  “Criminals aren’t always as smart as they are on TV or in movies,” Darian suggested, though he didn’t disagree. Besides, if Carl’s goal was to keep his job, killing the boss seemed an impractical solution at best.

  “Also, people can snap,” Iris said. “I’ve certainly had students I’ve failed complain to the dean about my teaching methods. It won’t help them any, but they want to hurt me anyway. People don’t always think clearly when they’re desperate.”

  “True enough,” Ange agreed. “Thankfully none of our students ever went as far as Carl apparently did.”

  “The whole thing is horrifying,” Iris continued. “It hit Zara especially hard. I didn’t think she’d be able to sleep at all, but somehow she did. Then she had bad dreams like you wouldn’t believe. She woke up thinking someone was lurking outside her window, watching. Possibly trying to break in.”

  “Are you sure it was a dream?” Darian asked, alarmed. “Should you report it to the cops?”

  “No need. I went out and checked,” Bodie said. “She woke me up screaming.”

  “Not exactly screaming,” Iris corrected.

  “Well, when it’s your child, anything’s as good as a scream. Anyhow, there was no one there. No sign of anyone trespassing. I think it was just a nightmare. Who wouldn’t have one after finding out your boss got killed?”

  Darian sensed the tension rise in the room. Iris seemed edgy. He wasn’t convinced the Larsens were as relaxed about the possibility of a trespasser as they wanted to appear.

  “You shouldn’t take any chances,” Ange said. “I don’t mean to scare you, but we all need to be on our guard.”

  “I don’t know what’s become of this town,” Bodie said, munching banana bread. “Used to be peaceful and sunny all the time. Not a care in the world. Perfect place to raise a child. You and Rikki obviously thought so, too.”

  “We did,” Ange confirmed.

  “Then Gabrielle showed up,” Iris said grimly. “At that point, everything changed.”

  The three of them murmured in agreement as she chopped the remaining hunk of banana bread into pieces.

  Soon after Bodie dropped them back off at home, a strange car pulled into the driveway. Darian was about to call out a warning to his mother when Argo stepped out of the driver’s side door.

  “I got us a rental,” Argo explained when he came inside. “Rikki arranged it at the hotel. Being a one-car household isn’t practical right now. It’s not as roomy as my SUV back home, but I’m sure we can make do.”

  “I don’t suppose there’s any news on when my car will be released,” Ange grumbled. “Not that I’m eager to get it back if it’s going to be covered in black fingerprint powder or luminol.”

  “Sorry.” Argo shook his head. “I don’t have any new information. But I did talk to Lanislaw.”

  “That’s good,” Darian started, but his voice trailed off when he noted Argo’s dour expression. “Isn’t it?”

  “We talked about our friend Carl. Lanislaw’s actively looking for him. Trouble is, he hasn’t surfaced since you and I saw him run out of the lobby. When the cops went to his supposed address, it turned out to be a residential motel he left weeks ago.”

  “Where has he been staying, then? With a friend?”

  “My guess would be at the hotel somewhere. That’s probably why he was so freaked out when Gabrielle canned him. Plenty of spots where you could hide out between shifts. Especially with some help on the inside.”

  “Kyle,” Ange and Darian surmised at the same time.

  “My thought exactly,” Argo said. “Of course, Kyle denies knowing anything about him, and insists they never spent any time together outside of work. That might technically be true, but it takes on a whole different meaning if he was stashing Carl in unused rooms.”

  “Do you think he’s still on the premises somewhere?” Ange asked.

  “He’d be crazy to stick around with cops swarming the place. Don’t worry, though. Lanislaw’s got feelers out. With any luck, he’ll turn up and they’ll take him in for questioning.”

  Ange’s shoulders slumped. “If he took off last night, he could be anywhere by now. Hiding in someone’s apartment, on a bus heading cross country, even on a boat in the middle of the ocean.”

  “Look on the bright side, Mom. If Lanislaw’s busy running Carl down, he has less time to focus on you.”

  “Fair point. Anyhow, since Argo’s back, do you mind if I jump on my computer for a while? You don’t need to sit here and babysit me. I need to prep for next semester, and I’d like to finish before Stuart Lanislaw hauls me off to the pokey.” She forced a laugh, but Darian could hear a note of genuine fear. “No access to academic databases in jail, I assume.”

  Darian started to protest, but a quirk of Argo’s brows stopped him. He interpreted the gesture to mean Argo wanted to speak to him alone
.

  “Sure, Mom. Go ahead. We can hang out by the pool while you work. Just yell if you need us.”

  “I promise I’ll keep the doors locked, the blinds down, and I won’t answer the phone if I don’t recognize the number. I’ll be perfectly safe from reporters, camera crews, nosy neighbors, and any other unsavory creatures lurking nearby. Now go and put your bathing suits on and get out of my hair. Both of you.”

  She followed them halfway down the hall before veering into the room that, until recently, she and Rikki had shared. Darian heard the lock turn from the other side.

  “Your mom’s right about one thing,” Argo said, kneeling to open his suitcase. “A swim does sound tempting after the day we’ve had. What did she mean by hiding from camera crews and reporters? Were they bothering her?”

  “Nah. That is, they didn’t get close enough. I assume some showed up at the hotel, too.”

  “Lanislaw got rid of them pretty fast. He’s closed off the beach, too, which didn’t go over very well with the tourists. Not that they were eager to stretch out on the sand. Most just wanted to see where the murder took place.”

  Darian shuddered at the ghoulish image of people in Hawaiian-style shirts aiming smart phones and cameras at the spot where they’d discovered Gabrielle. Even if Lanislaw had allowed them down there, they would no doubt be disappointed by the tidy, bloodless crime scene. “I guess he ruined their vacations. Better luck to them next time.”

  “Your mom’s stayed amazingly calm about this whole thing,” he said as he changed into the red swimming trunks he’d bought especially for the trip. Darian had looked forward to seeing him model them, preferably with glistening water droplets clinging to both the nylon and his bare skin. Okay, so the circumstances weren’t quite as relaxed as he’d envisioned. He could make the best of things. “That must have made things easier for you today.”

  “She’s putting on a brave face, but I can tell she’s worried. Strangely enough, what you found out about Carl makes me feel better. The more I think about it, the more sense it makes that he and Kyle are involved—and I mean that in both senses of the word. It would also explain why Kyle set Lanislaw on my mother’s trail. He was covering up for Carl and maybe for himself as well.”

  “That’s the way I see it, too.”

  “Does Lanislaw, though?”

  “I think he’s coming around. He’s a good cop. He won’t railroad your mom, especially not with a much better suspect in his crosshairs. Carl made things much worse for himself by running. That’s what the guilty ones often do.”

  “I’d be willing to bet Kyle knows where he is. We need to find a way to make him talk.” Darian frowned. “Too bad thumbscrews are illegal these days. And I wasn’t thinking about putting his thumb in one, if you catch my drift.”

  “Whoa!” Argo crossed his hands over the front of his bathing trunks. “Good thing I never tell you little white lies. I always figured teachers could spot them right off the bat, but I guess your methods are way more effective than raw intuition.”

  “He tried to get my mom arrested for murder! Whatever good times he and I shared in the past, I can’t forgive that.”

  “No, you shouldn’t. Darian…I hesitate to bring this up, but since I figure you’re already planning a similar tactic, I’ll make the suggestion anyway. Maybe you should talk to Kyle. See if you can get him to open up to you for old times’ sake.”

  “Ha! Those old times, as you call them, aren’t just long in the tooth now. They’re dead and buried six feet under.”

  “I get that, but maybe you could use your past connection with him. Or at least pretend you’ve started thinking fondly of him ever since you got back to Florida.”

  Darian gaped. “Wait a minute. Are you saying I should go undercover? Pretend I want to…uh…renew my acquaintance with him?”

  “I’m not saying you should put yourself in any danger. But while I was at the hotel today, and Lanislaw was telling me how stubborn Kyle was, how he seemed to be protecting Carl almost against his better judgment, it occurred to me that maybe a cop talking to him isn’t the best way to coax information out of him. Maybe an old friend would be more effective.”

  Darian turned the idea over in his mind while he stripped off his clothes and pulled on his trusty black Speedo. He was gratified by the flash of desire that crossed Argo’s face just before he snapped the elastic in place around his hips.

  “I’m flattered you think so highly of my seductive abilities,” he teased.

  Argo blushed deeply, his skin reddening all the way down to his bare chest. “I didn’t mean for you to go that far! I just thought…”

  “Argo, come here for a minute.” Darian pulled Argo into a seated position on the edge of the bed. Darian then settled himself atop Argo’s lap. No doubt about it. He hadn’t imagined Argo’s reaction to his swimsuit-clad body. “So I have a serious question to ask you.”

  “What is it?” Argo’s eyes narrowed with dread.

  Darian smoothed a hand through Argo’s short, scruffy hair. He found the rough texture more alluring than any set of sleek silk sheets could ever be.

  “Are you in a hurry to jump into the pool? Because I was thinking we could take our sweet time getting there.”

  A slow smile slid across Argo’s lips at the same time his arms closed around Darian’s upper body. “I could clear some time on my schedule. After all, we’re on vacation.”

  After an hour or so in Darian’s room, their sojourn in the pool seemed almost as pleasant. They splashed around playfully, floated in each other’s arms, and even practiced kissing under water. They didn’t go further than that, because Darian remembered how common and easy it was for one or both of his moms to stroll in at an inopportune moment. He wasn’t totally surprised, therefore, when he surfaced to find Ange by the ladder, watching and waiting.

  “Rikki texted me,” she said just as Argo’s head popped up beside Darian’s. “She’s too busy to come home for dinner. She’s going to grab something in the hotel restaurant. That means we’re on our own tonight.”

  “Should we drive down and meet her?” Darian suggested. Somehow, though, he doubted that was what Ange had in mind.

  Her scowl confirmed his skepticism. “Not exactly. Zara also called. She said she talked to Lanislaw, and he’s willing to release my car. In fact, he’s bringing it over to the hotel so I can pick it up. It should be ready in an hour or two.”

  “No problem,” said Argo. “We can drive you over in the rental car. It won’t take us long to dry off and dress.”

  Ange held up a hand. “Not necessary. I’ve already ordered an Uber. You two can stay here and make whatever you want for dinner—or better yet, go out and enjoy yourselves. I can handle this on my own.”

  “Mom, no! You’re not going to the hotel by yourself. We talked about this. Until they catch Carl—”

  “Carl is likely miles away from the hotel by now. I promise I’ll take the Uber right up to the lobby doors, keep my phone out at all times, and go right to the front desk. Argo already told us the place is full of cops, and I have no doubt Rikki’s ordered extra security on every floor. Lanislaw will be waiting for me with the car. He isn’t going to ambush me, surely. If he wanted to slap the cuffs on me, he’d simply show up here. No advantage in a public takedown in my case.”

  Though Darian didn’t find her logic especially reassuring, he couldn’t come up with a solid argument against it. It occurred to him that she might also be planning to approach Rikki at the hotel. Spending the day apart had likely been the best thing for the two of them. Maybe they were finally ready for a meaningful conversation, and it made sense to do that away from their houseguests.

  “If you’re sure,” he said doubtfully.

  “Of course I’m sure,” Ange said as she turned and walked back into the house. “What is there to worry about?”

  Chapter 10

  “I can’t believe I wasted my whole evening.” Ange attacked her scrambled eggs with quick, decisi
ve strikes of her knife and fork. The four of them had gathered in the kitchen once again, Rikki and Ange at the table and Darian and Argo dressed and ready to embark on a mission they were, for the moment, keeping quiet about. “Hours wandering around the hotel and I still don’t have my car back.”

  “What did Zara say?” Darian asked. “I assume you questioned her before you did anything else.”

  Ange scoffed. “She’d already gone home by the time I got there. When I called Iris and Bodie, she came on the line and said she never made the call. It’s not Zara I blame. It’s Lanislaw. He was playing head games with me the whole time, no matter how often he denies it.”

  “That doesn’t sounds like Lanislaw’s style,” Argo said.

  “Could it have been some kind of misunderstanding?” Darian suggested.

  “Fat chance. It was a set up. Lanislaw’s trying to psych me out. Tell him sorry, it won’t work.” Ange speared a fried potato. “At least Rikki was still around to give me a ride home.”

  “See?” Rikki turned to share a smile with Ange. Darian felt as if his day was improving already. “There are some advantages to working late.”

  “Are you sure you boys don’t want breakfast?” Ange asked when they finally looked away from each other. “You’re making me nervous, hovering over us. I feel like I’m back in Lanislaw’s cop shop.”

  “No thanks, Mom. Argo and I are going out to eat this morning.”

  Neither of his moms objected. “Have fun,” Ange called as they headed out to the rental car.

  “I’m glad Rikki’s taking the morning off,” Darian said as he buckled his seatbelt. “This would be the perfect time for them to work some stuff out.”

  “Maybe they’ll make up by the time we get back.”

  “That would be great. A lead on Carl would be even better. I’ll do my best to generate one.”

  “I look forward to it,” Argo said. “Now’s your chance to show off what you learned on that film set.”