Sandie James Mysteries Box Set

by Tessa Kelly

  I rounded yet another bend. Less than three hundred feet ahead, an overturned pickup truck barred my way. I slammed on the brakes.

  The car screeched to a halt, stopping inches in front of the truck. With a clatter, my shoulder bag flew from the passenger seat onto the floor.

  I let out a breath and unclenched my hands from the steering wheel. Then I looked around.

  The road ahead was littered with big, slimy fish that had spilled from the back of the truck. Catch of the day, just in from the ocean, as several of the fish were still alive. Torn from their element, they slapped their tails helplessly against the heated asphalt, fighting a losing battle with air and the sun.

  On both sides of the road, dense trees made certain I’d have no way of driving around the truck.

  The truck’s cabin was empty, its door thrown wide open. I peered into the shadows under the trees, but the driver was nowhere to be seen.

  What were the odds of a truck having an accident on this road of all places, right when I was returning to the hotel?

  My hand reached for my phone. I should call Geraldine, or John. Ask them to send help. Quite of their own accord, my fingers dialed Liam’s number.

  Silly. He was miles away. What could he do?

  But I couldn’t help it. I was in trouble. And troubled. And it was his voice, more than anyone else’s that I wanted to hear.

  He picked up on the second ring. “Was just thinking about you. How’s the wedding going?”

  In the rearview mirror, another truck appeared from around the bend and drove toward me. My hand tightened around the phone.

  “Uh...The wedding’s this afternoon,” I muttered, my eyes riveted to the truck.

  “Sandie?” He must’ve picked up on the tension in my voice as he sounded apprehensive. “What’s going on? Is everything okay there?”

  The new truck stopped behind me. Its doors opened and two men in worn jeans and baseball caps stepped out and headed toward me. Too late, I realized my passenger window was down.

  Chapter 10

  There was no time to roll up the window. I let the phone fall in my lap and gripped the jade necklace at my throat. My go-to response. Thinking better of it, I held the steering wheel instead, my right hand firmly on the gear stick. If anything, I could try and get away by driving in reverse. For now, my best bet was to act relaxed, like I was in control.

  One of the guys walked toward the passenger side of my car and stuck his head in, leaning on his hands. The other strolled past and stopped to stare at the spilled fish on the road. Slowly, he took off his cap and scratched his head.

  “Morning.” The guy in my window grinned. “Sorry about the truck there. My friend had a few last night, went to work straight from the pub and can’t even remember where he left his phone. You know how it is. Lucky he got overturned close to town, or he’d still be walking for help.”

  He seemed friendly and harmless enough. I let out the breath I’d been holding but stayed on alert. Because, you never know.

  “Is there another road I can take?” I asked. “I need to get to Sand Reed Hotel, there’s a wedding there this afternoon.”

  “Hmm.” He chewed the inside of his cheek. “There’s no other roads that go to Sand Reed, they’re kinda out of the way there. It’ll probably take us the better part of the afternoon to get the truck off the road. But the hotel’s just ten minutes away. You can call someone there to pick you up. Or I can run the truck home and bring my bike over, give you a ride. You’d have to leave the car here either way, though.”

  I drummed on the steering wheel, thinking. Geraldine wasn’t going to be happy about leaving her car, but it seemed that couldn’t be helped.

  Liam’s grinning face on my phone reminded me I still had him on the line. He must’ve heard the whole exchange.

  “I’ll call you back.”

  His face vanished from the screen as I hung up. It was a good photo of him. My favorite.

  I looked at the guy in my window again. He didn’t seem like a murderer, now that I was calmer. Young, maybe in his early twenties and good looking in a rugged, sunburned kind of way, with dark eyes that seemed hopeful.

  But I was on edge this morning, and more mistrustful of strangers than usual. I gave him a careful smile. “It’s nice of you to offer to drive me, but it looks like you’ve got your work cut out for you. I’ll just call someone at the hotel to pick me up.”

  He shrugged but his eyes lingered on me with a trace of regret. Remembering the stare I got from the deputy earlier, I wondered if the island’s population was short on women.

  “Well, good luck to you then. Enjoy the wedding.” The guy straightened away from the window, slowly and without taking his eyes off me. At that moment, another pickup appeared from around the bend. This one had a crane in the back. The guy made a sign for it to stop.

  “We gotta give him some room here.”

  He headed to his truck. The newcomer waited while we pulled our cars close to the tree line, giving him room to maneuver around us. The guy whose truck lay overturned sat down with his back against a pine tree. He threw his cap in the air, caught it and stuck it back on, pulling it low on his forehead. Then he yawned and closed his eyes. Amazingly, the other two seemed to treat his non-involvement as a matter of course.

  I dialed Geraldine and told her about my troubles. “Don’t come for me yourself,” I warned. “Just send someone from the hotel. You should stay with the guests.”

  She promised to do that and we hung up. Then I called Liam again. He picked up on the first ring.

  “Okay, Sandie. What’s going on there? I’m worried.”

  Despite the urgency in his voice and everything that’s happened in the last several hours, I caught myself smiling. It was good to be talking to him.

  “Liam, it’s been really crazy here.”

  I took a deep breath and told him about the sailboat, what I found there, the other’s reactions to my conclusions, and my disastrous visit to the precinct.

  It felt so good to vent, knowing he was on my side and I could confide in him. As I got to the part where I stormed out of the precinct, Liam suddenly cut across me.

  “Wait. Back up a little. You’re not still going to pursue this thing, right?”

  I blinked. “What do you mean?”

  “Your theory, that it was murder. I can tell what’s on your mind. You’re thinking of getting involved, even though the sheriff has no interest in your story.”

  “Uh...of course I am. Why do you—?”

  “You need to stay away from the investigation.” His voice turned steely and unfamiliar. There was none of the usual humor and playfulness I was used to.

  Disbelief and indignation flooded my brain. Liam had never talked to me like that before. I hadn’t even realized his voice could sound like that. I heard my own voice rising, “How can you say that? Didn’t you hear what I just told you?”

  “Stay out of it, Sandie,” he repeated, implacable. “Let the authorities handle this one.”

  I stared at Liam’s smiling face on my screen—the picture didn’t go with his new voice. The two belonged together like the fish and the asphalt. My stomach churned. I’d been so sure he would take my side, it hadn’t even occurred to me he might not.

  “Liam, I have to go.”

  My thumb moved across the phone screen, brushing his mouth before pressing the “End Call” button.

  Somewhere deep in my brain, the sane, rational part of me shook its head. Just don’t make any rash assumptions. Wait until you’ve calmed down. The rest of me was in no mood to listen. What good was reasonableness when all I wanted was to rant and rage?

  Maybe Liam had never truly been on my side anyway, not in the way I’d been hoping. That would explain why he’s never made our relationship official.

  Maybe, it was time to face reality. Some people weren’t right for each other, and no amount of wishing and hoping could change that.

  Another car appeared on the road, a sli
ck white Sedan coming from the direction of the hotel. It stopped several feet behind the overturned truck and John Edwards stuck out his head from the driver’s side, waving at me to get in.

  Pushing my hurt feelings as far back as they would go, I reached down to get my bag from the floor of the car, then rolled up the passenger window and got out.

  The guy who’d offered to drive me on his motorcycle stopped throwing the spilled fish into the truck and helped me to navigate around it without slipping.

  As we reached the Sedan, he reluctantly let go of my hand, now slimy from the contact with his. I kept it palm-up and away from my clothes.

  “Thanks. I hope you can get all this done quickly. Doesn’t look like much fun.”

  He shrugged. “Nah. We’re used to it around here.”

  Wondering if he’d meant the fisherman’s work, or drunken guys overturning their trucks, I walked around John’s car to the passenger side.

  He wrinkled his nose as I got in. “Do I smell fish?” Looking at my hand, then at the guy watching us from the road, he smiled. “Never mind, I understand.”

  “I thought the hotel would send one of their staff to pick me up,” I said stiffly.

  He gave me a quick glance as he reversed the car. “I asked to come. Really hoping to make amends for my behavior earlier.”

  “Does that mean you believe me now?” I made an effort not to sound hopeful as I stared ahead of me.

  John was silent for a long moment before answering, “Geraldine told me what Jennifer did, calling the sheriff’s office while you were there. Absolutely no excuse for it. For my part, I do apologize. I shouldn’t have acted the way I did. You have to understand, it’s terrible enough as it is. One of our guests is missing, probably dead. I’d rather the whole affair turned out to be an accident. To think it might be otherwise...” He trailed off, his fingers flexing around the steering wheel. Angry.

  “I do understand,” I said. “I wanted as much as anyone for Geraldine and Henry to have an amazing weekend. I wish people would stop acting like I want this to be something more than an accident.”

  He gave me another quick glance. “If I gave you the impression I was thinking that, I owe you a double apology. But if it is more than an accident, then the truth must come out. There’s no question about it. If you think there’s something in all of this worth investigating, I promise I won’t stand in your way again.”

  Chapter 11

  Back at the hotel, while John was parking the car I checked my phone for missed messages. Liam hadn’t called. I stuffed the phone in my pocket, annoyed with myself. Why was I checking for calls when I didn’t even know if I wanted to talk to him?

  John switched off the ignition and looked at his watch. “It’s half-past eleven. They’ll be serving lunch out on the terrace at noon. I should go and see if everything is ready.”

  I was about to follow him when I noticed Kathy walking alone down by the beach. She didn’t seem happy.

  “You go ahead. I need to talk to my sister.”

  Kathy turned around as I approached. Up close, she looked downright distraught.

  “Jeff knows I came up here with Tray,” she said before I could ask. “I don’t know how he found out, but he’s threatening to make the divorce complicated.”

  Anger stirred in the pit of my stomach but for Kathy’s sake I kept a lid on it.

  “He’s already getting the house and half your joint savings. What more does he want?”

  She swallowed. “He says he wants half of the bakery.”

  “What?” I couldn’t hold back the indignation this time. “I can’t believe him. How dare he change the agreement? You’re already giving him more than he deserves.”

  The bakery belonged to Kathy, and only to her. But it was no secret that this had always been a thorn in Jeff's side. Kathy had been afraid of him pulling a stunt like this, which was why she gladly agreed to give him the house.

  “He says he’s entitled to half of the business because he’s worked there all these years. He insists I either sell the bakery and give him half of the money, or make him a co-owner.”

  “He can’t seriously think it would work, you being co-owners when you’re getting a divorce,” I said.

  I didn’t need Kathy to tell me that selling the bakery was the last option she’d ever consider. The bakery was a part of her. She’d rather give Jeff all her money than sell it.

  But making him partner would mean they’d have to go on seeing each other after the divorce. He would have equal say in how she ran her business, would always have some measure of power over her.

  Which was what he wanted, no doubt. Except, a setup like that couldn’t possibly be good for business, and we both knew it.

  Kathy’s eyebrows puckered. “Sandie, I don’t know what to do.”

  I didn’t have the answers, so I just gave her a hug. “Don’t do anything rash, and don’t make any decisions yet. We’ll think of something together. How about that?”

  She nodded, but her mind seemed miles away. She rubbed her eyes, looking suddenly spent. “I think I’ll go upstairs and try to calm down before lunch. I don’t want others seeing me like this.”

  “Should I come with you?”

  “No.” She stared at something over my shoulder as she said it. “I think Geraldine wants to talk to you.”

  Turning, I saw Geraldine and Leonie waiting impatiently a few feet away.

  As Kathy headed to the hotel, I went to join them but my eyes fell on something glistening in the reeds by the dock. A small, rectangular object, half-buried in the sand. Probably an iPhone.

  I hurried over and picked it up. To my surprise, it wasn’t an iPhone, but an iPod. Slick and narrow with a silver cover and without a single scratch on it. The thing looked brand new.

  “What did you find there?” Coming up behind me, Geraldine peered over my shoulder.

  Next to her, Leonie leaned in for a closer look. “That’s Vincent’s! He was looking for it all morning. I thought he meant an iPhone, even asked him twice. I hadn’t seen one of these in years, didn’t even know anyone still used them.”

  “I saw him with it too,” Geraldine said. “He loves making playlists, apparently. Susan says he’s obsessed with them but I’m sure she exaggerates. He had it with him when we were watching the sunset out on the water last night.”

  Which meant, he could’ve dropped it on his way back. Or not.

  “Do you remember if he still had it when he went back to the hotel?” I asked.

  Geraldine frowned, thinking. She shrugged. “I can’t remember for sure. It was rather late, you know, and I was tired.”

  “That’s fine.” I looked the iPod over again, then put it in my bag. “I’ll give it to Vincent when I see him at lunch.” And try to find out when he had it last, hopefully without having to divulge where I’d found it.

  Looking up again, my eyes met Leonie’s. Out in the sunlight, they were a clear blue with an enviable fringe of thick, tawny lashes. Her face was tanned and smooth and without a single blemish. The flowing outfit she wore made her look tall and willowy. I wondered if her presence on the boat ever caused problems between Timothy and Majandra.

  “Leonie knows you have suspicions about the accident,” Geraldine said in a lowered voice. “It wasn’t me who told her,” she added as I frowned at her.

  “It was Jennifer,” Leonie said. “She said you think someone untied those mooring lines on purpose.”

  I suppressed a groan, imagining how that particular conversation must’ve gone.

  “Don’t get me wrong, I believe you,” Leonie added, seeing my expression.

  “Oh. You do?”

  “Sure. It wouldn’t surprise me if it turned out someone wanted Timothy dead. He was too handsy, if you know what I mean. But I don’t believe Eric could’ve done it. He’s a good man, Sandie. He’s not a killer.”

  “But what if he was sufficiently motivated?” I asked.

  She shook her head, looking adamant. �
��Not Eric. It’s just not in his nature.”

  I let it drop. Whether her conviction had to do with actual facts or simple blind loyalty to her employer, it seemed unshakable.

  “Has Timothy ever made a pass at you?” I asked instead.

  “Of course he did!” Leonie waved a hand with a disdainful eye roll. “But I’ve dealt with guys like him all my life. I know how to handle them. Besides, he’d never really try anything on the boat. Not with Majandra within earshot.”

  That made sense. Timothy was a Casanova, but he didn’t seem stupid enough to carry on with two women in such close quarters.

  “So, if it wasn’t Eric, do you have any idea who else might’ve wanted Timothy dead?”

  Leonie frowned, pulling on the edge of her sleeve as she thought. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Majandra did it.”

  “Majandra?” Geraldine gave her a skeptical look.

  “Well, didn’t you notice? She doesn’t even seem very upset that he’s missing.”

  She wasn’t wrong. Majandra, with her careful display of dabbing at her eye makeup, hadn’t impressed me as being overly grief-stricken. Then again, just because she’d been carrying on an affair with the crewman didn’t mean real feelings had been involved. Still...

  “Is that all you’re basing this on?” I asked. “It’s not much.”

  Frowning, Leonie looked away for a moment and tucked a lock of blond hair behind the ear, then looked me in the eyes again. “It’s not just that. The night we got to the island—which was Thursday—I saw Tim coming on to that pretty groundskeeper, Ashley. Later, I also saw him heading down to the staff bungalows. I think, he and Ashley might’ve had a date that night. And, if Majandra knew about it...” she trailed off with a meaning eyebrow raise.

  I nodded. Okay, now this was something. If Timothy had had a date with another woman, and Majandra found out, that would give her some serious motive.

  Jealousy. Revenge...

  “Thanks, Leonie,” I said. “That’s actually very helpful.”