Blowout

by Colleen Cross

  Uncle Harry arched his brows. “Huh?”

  “History just repeated itself, Uncle Harry. Only this time, with a happy ending. This time, the thief hadn’t gotten away.” Further details of Frank’s crime would no doubt emerge in the coming weeks, but Kat had already pieced most of it together.

  After Frank killed his wife and daughter, he had headed south on a second boat he had hidden nearby. He sailed through the Gulf Islands and crossed the border from Canada into the United States. He had arrived at Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands within hours of sending Melinda and Emily to their watery graves.

  He laid low there for a few weeks, sleeping aboard his boat and watching for a boat that was unattended. That’s when he noticed the Catalyst. The boat was unoccupied and wouldn’t be missed. He hired Pete and the others, wharf rats who asked no questions and wanted none in return.

  He painted over Catalyst’s name with The Financier and steered clear of police. As long as he didn’t stay anywhere long, no one questioned his presence on the yacht.

  His Bellissima Blowout scam was dreamt up when he walked into Gia’s downtown salon. She was simply the first woman gullible enough to fall for his charms.

  The rest was history.

  It had been a long weekend, even though it was only Saturday night. Kat couldn’t wait to get to the hotel they had booked overnight. They would return to Vancouver tomorrow, and she wouldn’t be leaving again any time soon.

  “You got a good story, Jace?” Harry clamped a hand on Jace’s shoulder.

  “Oh boy, do I ever.” Jace smiled. “A treasure trove of stories.”

  41

  Three weeks had passed since Raphael’s arrest, but it seemed like yesterday. They had decided to celebrate Gia’s close call with an end-of-summer barbeque. A chill hung in the air as the sun sank low on the horizon. Kat pulled her shawl around her shoulders. She always looked forward to autumn as a time of new beginnings and fresh starts. No one deserved one more than Gia. She was just grateful that her friend had gotten a second chance.

  Jace and Harry manned the barbeque, while Kat and Gia sat at the patio table and nursed their margaritas. Their house was a big step down from The Financier, but at least they came by it honestly.

  “A toast.” Kat clinked her glass against Gia’s. “We’re safe and sound, and so is our money.”

  “Thank goodness,” Gia said. “I’m so glad you talked some sense into me. I didn’t want to believe it, but in the end you were right. Raphael—I mean Frank—really was just after my money.”

  “I wish things hadn’t turned out the way they did. It must have felt like a fairy tale.”

  Gia stared wistfully off in the distance. “It was like a dream. How did I manage to get so brainwashed? I know…drop dead gorgeous, smart, and rich too. He just made me feel so special, Kat. Like I was a movie star or something. It’s bittersweet, but in my heart I knew he was too good for someone like me.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Gia. You were too good for him.”

  The gate latch clicked and they both turned. Pete beamed and waved hello as he headed towards Jace and Uncle Harry at the barbeque.

  “Now there’s someone else who deserves a new start,” Gia said. “Just think, if you weren’t lost in that cave, we wouldn’t have gotten to know Pete.”

  Kat nodded. “Sometimes people aren’t who they appear to be.” Pete was a case in point. He was just someone who had lost his way and lost hope.

  Pete had abandoned ship, but he hadn’t forgotten them. His fear of police stemmed from previous run-ins years ago when he was homeless. He had spent a few decades doing odd jobs, whatever work he could get. Uncle Harry had found him a place to stay nearby, in a small walk-up apartment. He had a job as caretaker and handyman, in exchange for free rent.

  “Next time I’ll listen to you before I give all my money to some guy I just met. I can’t believe you got it back,” Gia said.

  Kat waved her hand in dismissal. “I just typed a few keystrokes. You and the radio made all the difference.”

  Gia laughed. “I can’t actually believe I did that. The drugs must have still been in my system.”

  “You seemed pretty focused to me,” Kat said. “I’m just glad everything worked out in the end.”

  “Hard to believe I fell for it.” Gia sipped her drink. “Everything about that guy was just a façade, with other people’s money. I still can’t believe he murdered his family. And to think I could have been next.” Gia stroked her neck absent-mindedly. “Do you really think he would have killed me, Kat?”

  “Sooner or later.”

  “That sounds so flippant.”

  “Of course he would. He killed Melinda after a four-year marriage. You meant nothing to him.”

  Gia sucked in her breath “Really, Kat? You should work on your bluntness.”

  “People like that have no feelings for anyone but themselves. Frank was a cold-hearted, cold-blooded killer. My words might be harsh, but it’s good to face the truth.” Melinda’s wallet was the key that unlocked Frank’s deception. It surprised Kat that he had even kept it. He probably saw it more as a trophy than anything else, since there wasn’t a sentimental bone in his body.

  “Some girls have all the luck.” Gia twirled her hair in her fingers as she sat opposite Kat. “Me, not so much.”

  “I have to disagree,” Kat said. “You’ve got a wonderful life. Look at everything you’ve got.”

  Gia smiled. “And to think I almost lost it all because of that jerk.”

  The men joined them at the table with platefuls of steaks and baked potatoes.

  Uncle Harry spooned coleslaw onto his plate and turned to Pete. “Why were you hanging around the Friday Harbor marina if you don’t work on boats?”

  “I never said I didn’t work on boats,” Pete said. “Just that I didn’t crew.”

  Harry frowned.

  “I do custom millwork, carpentry, that kind of stuff. I hang around the marina and word gets around.” He paused. “I work cheap.”

  “I think I can get you some more work. If you want it, that is.” Gia turned to Kat. “I’m glad you got my money back. I’ve got another investment lined up.”

  “Gia, don’t do it. You and I have the worst luck.” Uncle Harry rose and headed back to the barbeque.

  “Not that kind of investment, Harry. I’m renovating my salon. The best investment I can make is in myself, and I think Pete here can help me.”

  “I can take a look tomorrow.” Pete chewed a mouthful of steak.

  “All good.” Kat turned to Gia. “I’m glad everything’s okay now.”

  “Almost everything,” Gia said. “Except that I’m still married to that jerk.”

  “Maybe, maybe not,” Kat said.

  Gia brightened. “What do you mean, maybe not?”

  “I called a lawyer friend. Your case is a bit complicated, but basically Raphael couldn’t marry you since he’s already married to someone else.”

  Gia gasped. “But they weren’t married anymore. I mean, she was…dead.”

  “Poor Melinda. It’s true that she had already passed before your wedding ceremony.”

  “Then I don’t see how…”

  “A death certificate hadn’t been issued yet. As a widower, he wasn’t free to marry anyone else until that certificate was issued. That meant your marriage wasn’t legal in the first place.” She flashed back to the news reports and shuddered to think that Gia might have suffered the same fate. “Aside from that, the marriage license was issued to Raphael, not Frank. The marriage isn’t valid because of his misrepresentation.”

  Gia beamed. “I’m not married after all?”

  “That’s right. You don’t have to get annulled or divorced or anything like that.”

  “Told you I was lucky,” Gia said.

  “You call that lucky?” Kat laughed. “Too bad you weren’t lucky enough to avoid him in the first place.”

  “I’ve learned my lesson. I won’t trust ever
y hot-looking guy, and I won’t be marrying one, either. At least not any time soon.”

  “What’s this about getting married?” Uncle Harry returned to his seat with a second steak. “I’m available for wedding ceremonies later this month.”

  “Relax, Harry,” Gia said. “I am not tying the knot. I’ve decided I don’t need a man at any cost. They’re kind of an expensive habit.”

  “You’re doing great on your own,” Kat agreed. “That’s the reason Raphael targeted you in the first place.”

  “And next time, I call the shots.” Gia giggled. “I want a man who wants me for me, not for my money.”

  “I’m glad to see you’ve come to your senses,” Harry interjected. “I knew the guy was trouble from the first moment I saw him.”

  Kat raised her brows. “Is that so?”

  “Yep. But there’s nothing wrong with tying the knot. I hoped to convince another couple.”

  “You mean Kat and Jace?” Gia turned to Kat. “Why not? We can have the ceremony right here. We can go dress shopping tomorrow.”

  Harry rubbed his hands together. “I’ll wear my tux. First time in twenty years. I hope it still fits.”

  Jace smiled at Kat. “We’re getting hitched?”

  “Can I straighten your hair?” Gia turned to Kat. “I’ve got a new product I want to try on you.”

  “Over my dead body.” Kat ran her hand through her hair. “I like my hair just the way it is.”

  She turned to her uncle and smiled. “I promise you’ll be the first to know when we do tie the knot.” She and Jace weren’t purposely keeping their plans a secret, but they weren’t ready to share them yet, either. Timing was everything, and sometimes the best plans were no plans at all.

  Did you love Blowout? Get the next in the series, Greenwash

  www.colleencross.com

  Afterword

  Author’s Note

  This is a work of fiction, but with some fascinating historical facts woven in. The historical figures in my story are all but forgotten today, but history always repeats, and this story is no different.

  The best thing about writing fiction is that you can make stuff up. The second best thing is researching facts and imagining a first-hand experience. So what is fact and what is fiction?

  Raphael and Gia’s story is pure fiction, although similar deceptions in love and money occur all the time. I wish they didn’t, but they do. Pete is also purely fictional and is not Brother XII’s descendant.

  Brother XII is fact. He was a real person, and the story is mostly fact with just a few fictional twists thrown in. His real name was Arthur Edward Wilson. West coast sailors traveling along Canada’s Pacific Coast will recognize the Brother XII name and be familiar with Pirates Cove, De Courcy Island, and Valdes Island.

  Brother XII (his preferred spelling, not mine) established the Aquarian Foundation at Cedar-by-the-Sea on Vancouver Island near Nanaimo, British Columbia in the 1920s. Brother XII and his notorious cult were famous worldwide for their Armageddon predictions in the 1920s and 1930s, yet today they are largely forgotten.

  When his cult attracted too much scrutiny, he and his followers moved offshore to the much smaller Valdez and De Courcy Islands. I’ve focused the story mostly on De Courcy Island, rather than the multiple locations for simplicity. I’ve also changed the geography, topography, and cave locations to fit the modern day story.

  Charismatic people like Brother XII appear with surprising regularity throughout history. Every few years they trick gullible people with belief systems, combining cult of personality, mysticism, and religion. They capitalize on our desire to be part of something larger than ourselves. Too often it has tragic results.

  The buried gold in the Mason jars is fact according to corroborated accounts from the 1920s. Whether it still lays buried is another story. Although the estimated half-ton of gold coins was too heavy for Brother XII to take with him on his trawler, it’s very unlikely the gold stores remained untouched and hidden over the decade or so that his cult was active. I also doubt it remains on the island, though the myth persists. More likely he depleted the gold stores gradually over the years and took whatever remained when he left De Courcy Island for good in 1933.

  Or maybe I’m wrong and some lucky person will discover the gold treasure. At a thousand dollars an ounce, it would be worth more than fifteen million dollars today.

  The undersea passage between two islands is fact. In my story it connects De Courcy and Valdes Islands. In reality, the undersea tunnel connects the Valdes Island cave to Thetis Island, not De Courcy. The subterranean passage is two hundred feet below the cave entrances. The passage was well-known and used by local Coast Salish First Nations people for ceremonial initiation rites for at least hundreds, and probably thousands, of years, until a late nineteenth-century earthquake rendered it impassible. It would have been blocked in Brother XII’s day, too. But if it wasn’t, I suspect he would have hidden his gold coins there.

  And you already know Kat, Jace, and Harry are fiction. They exist only in my imagination but they are very real to me!

  I hope you enjoyed reading Blowout, the third book in the Katerina Carter Fraud Thriller series and the sixth Katerina Carter story overall. You can check out the related Katerina Carter Color of Money series for more. As long as readers like you enjoy my stories, I will continue to write them. If you loved Blowout, please consider leaving a short review. Feedback helps me to decide whether to continue writing a series.

  You can stay up to date on my latest releases by signing up for my twice-yearly newsletter at www.colleencross.com

  Also by Colleen Cross

  Westwick Witches Cozy Mysteries

  Witch You Well

  Rags to Witches

  Witch and Famous

  Christmas Witch List

  * * *

  Katerina Carter Fraud Legal Thrillers

  Exit Strategy

  Game Theory

  Blowout

  Greenwash

  Red Handed

  Blue Moon

  * * *

  Nonfiction

  Anatomy of a Ponzi Scheme