Death on the Beach Page 7

  All that being said, I feel that Dixie is being a tiny bit naïve.

  “He did trick all of us while he was doing his sleep study.” I remind her.

  She shrugs. “I know. But I still think it’s unlike him to be sneaking around down here with some nefarious motive.”

  “Actually, I agree with Dixie.” Ben says. “I just wish he’d call me back so we could get some clarification on what’s going on here.”

  Ben tries calling Vlad yet again and, when there was no answer, leaves another voice mail. As do Dixie and I.

  Since none of us has actually laid eyes on Vlad, it’s entirely possible he isn't in Destin at all and that Alex had told me that he was for some nefarious reason of his own. But that still doesn’t answer the question of why he isn’t returning our calls.

  I did wonder briefly if maybe Vlad is dead too, but then dismiss the idea.

  As our conversation and speculation lull, Ben's cell phone rings.

  Thinking it might be Vlad finally calling back, my heart skips a beat. Maybe we’ll get some answers.

  "It's Todd." Ben says, sounding surprised as he looks at the caller ID on his phone.

  I feel surprise, too. What could he have turned up in the couple of hours since Ben had given him the assignment?

  "Really!" Ben says. "Uh huh. Uh huh. Do you have a link to the information? Okay. Send it to me."

  He disconnects from the call with a grim look. "Todd hasn't gotten a full background report. It takes longer than this. However, he did find some information that he thought was pretty interesting and wanted us to know about it. He's sending me the link."

  "What's it all about?" I ask.

  "I'm waiting on the link to come through." answers Ben, keeping a close watch on his phone.

  "Well, geez! We're not going to be able to see diddlysquat on a phone screen. Send it to Dixie's email address when you get the link. She brought her laptop on this trip."

  Ben glances at Dixie who nods. "Yep. I sure did. And Lily Gayle has given me a hard time about it until just now."

  Patience has never been my long suit. As we’re waiting, I'd have sworn I heard the theme music from Jeopardy playing in the background.

  At last, Ben's phone dings. He opens the message and forwards it to Dixie's email.

  We all wait impatiently—ugh! more waiting—for the link to arrive in Dixie's mailbox. Once it does, we crowd around the laptop, heads touching, as Dixie clicks on the link Todd had sent.

  The first thing I notice is the black and white photo of Alex wearing a very nice looking suit. Then the headline caught my eye proclaiming that he was under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for fraud.

  Dixie, Ben and I breathe each other’s air as we all read the article.

  It seems that Alex had sold shares of stock in his company that was dedicated to sequencing genes to discover any genetic mutation lingering on anyone DNA strand. It sounds very similar to what Vlad’s doing in Mercy and I wonder about that. Had Vlad gotten a grant and Alex been turned down and resorted to selling shares to raise money?

  Reading further, I discover that Alex's sister is named as a co-defendant in the case. So now, the intense argument I'd overheard while waiting on my massage began to make perfect sense.

  Well. Well. Well.

  Greed. Fraud. This was as good as an old episode of Dallas. With the Landers' instead of the Ewing's' playing the key roles. What else had Alex been up to in addition to trying to get information from me without showing his hand?

  And, who had he crossed on that journey? Someone willing to commit murder, obviously. If only I had more clues about who that could be. Perhaps the bleached-blonde bimbo Alex's sister had referred to?

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Feeling the need for some alone time, I walk along the sand straight into the rising sun. I haven't been alone since before Dixie and I made the trip here. Being someone who values alone time, I'm been more than ready for it.

  I have that creepy-crawly feeling at the back of my neck that I get when someone is watching me and figure Ben is back there somewhere keeping an eye on me. As long as I didn't see him, it’s okay. I can still feel free and alone.

  However, even walking along the wet sand at the edge of the ocean, feeling the waves come in to cover my feet, and then recede can't take my focus away from the matter at hand for very long.

  Then like evil genies from a bottle, the gray haired couple appear on the beach ahead of me. Walking an intercept path. Had they been watching the beach waiting to see if I'd show up? I hadn't made a conscious decision to meet them. And I sure as shootin' don't have the five thousand dollars they told me they wanted to keep quiet.

  Well. No time like the present, as they say. I'll just meet them here in the open and inform them straight up that I'm not going to be manipulated by them.

  As we came within speaking distance of each other, the man said, "Did you bring the money? I don't see a bag and we don't accept checks."

  That got a laugh out of me. Yessiree. Cash only for these shysters.

  The woman took offense at my laughing and said with a sneer, "You won't be laughing for much longer if you haven't got that money. We'll go straight to the police department when we leave this here beach."

  That just tripped my trigger. Hands on hips, I lean in toward them. "Y'all just go right on ahead and do it. I'm 'bout sick to death of everyone threatening me 'round here."

  Just as I turn to walk away from them, a blur of motion passes me and tackles the man to the ground. The woman screams bloody murder.

  It takes me a minute, but I recognize Ben in a camo hat, beige t-shirt and khaki shorts. He must've been following me from a distance and tryin' to blend in with the sand in that outfit. However, I’m proud to know that my radar is still on track with knowing when someone was watching me.

  Ben hauls the man to his feet as the woman jumps him from behind and starts flailing away with her fists. Ben attempts to dodge the blows and still hang on to the man.

  Oh, no you don't. Not my cousin.

  And I jump into the fray swinging both fists at the woman to get her off Ben. I've taken a few self-protection classes over the years, but this gig is nothing like that. It’s dirty dog fighting.

  The woman has Ben around the neck and I jump forward and bite her arm as hard as I can to make her let go. She yelps, drops from Ben’s back and then takes a swing at me. I block her with my forearm and manage to sweep her feet out from under her, but she takes me down with her and we both roll in the wet sand coughing and gagging as a wave sweeps in and over us.

  "Undercover police!" Ben shouts, flashing his sheriff's badge from Mercy. And that was all she wrote. Both of them stopp struggling. I lay gasping in the wet sand as the woman rolls away from me. Ben stands, legs splayed, next to the man.

  "Now." Ben says in his sternest voice. "How about the two of you tell me what you think you're doing extorting money from innocent citizens.

  The woman bursts into tears, wailing, "She's not innocent. She's his girlfriend. She's probably got our retirement money stashed away somewhere for herself."

  I scramble to my feet, checking for blood and not finding any. I smile. I still know how to fight. "I am not that man's girlfriend! I just met him two days ago. And I surely don't have anyone's retirement money stashed away anywhere."

  "I saw a picture in the newspaper with the two of you together. Then I saw the two of you together at Harbor Walk Village yesterday." The woman insists.

  "Now, Betsy." Says the man. "That newspaper picture didn't show the woman's face."

  "Well, she was a blonde. Like this floozy here." Says the woman.

  Before I could step over and pop this crazy lady a fist right in the kisser, Ben intervenes.

  "Why don't the two of you tell me who you are and exactly what's going on here."

  "I'm Bill Carpenter and this here is my wife, Betsy." He gestures to the woman. "We live in Chattanooga, Tennessee and we're down here on a
little vacation. When we spotted that sidewinder that stole our retirement money, we thought it was the Lord's gift to us. An opportunity to get our money back." He frowns. "Reckon the Lord don't work like that though. That man got hisself killed before we could confront him about our money he stole."

  "You invested your retirement money in his research?" I ask, trying to scrape some of the wet sand off my clothes. It was working its way inside against my skin and itching like the devil.

  "We sure did ma'am. A big chunk of what we'd put by for our old age." Betsy Carpenter says. "I'm sure sorry we tried to rob you to get a piece of our money back. But, we honestly thought you were his girlfriend."

  I give her a weak smile. "I'm real sorry that happened to y'all. Nobody deserves to be taken advantage of like that." I rubbed more wet sand from my clothes. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not mad as a hornet at what you tried to pull on me.”

  The woman blushes. "We did wrong and we're sorry."

  Ben gives me a look that tells me to stop talking, so I do. There’s nothing to gain from being mean to these people.

  "Let's all just call it a day and go on with our lives." Ben says.

  "You mean you're not going to arrest us?" Bill Carpenter asks in surprise.

  "The two of you are free to go for right now." Ben gives them a stern look, failing to mention that he doesn’t have any authority here to arrest anyone. "But make yourselves available for any future questions. And leave this woman alone. She's not involved in Alex Landers' fraud scheme."

  We watch in silence as the Carpenters make their way up through the loose sand toward one of the condo buildings. They look just a little pitiful sliding in the loose sand as they made their way up the beach. I feel a stab of pity for them, but I’m glad Ben has called their bluff.

  "That was pretty slick of you to flash your badge and tell them you're an undercover cop.” I tell him. “Good thing they didn't look too close at the badge."

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Once we make our own way back to the condo, Ben leaves to have a chat with the local police about the attempted extortion. So, once again, Dixie and I sit on the balcony enjoying the gorgeous view.

  We've been very lucky to have sunny weather each day we'd been here. No crazy tropical storms—or worse yet a hurricane—have blown up in the Gulf and headed this way.

  I finish describing the fight on the beach to Dixie and she bursts out laughing so hard she's nearly in tears.

  "Oh my!" She giggles. "I really wish I'd seen that. Or better yet had my cell phone with me and videoed it. Especially you biting that poor woman's arm."

  She goes off into another fit of laughter.

  "If you can get a grip on yourself, I want to use your laptop to see if we can find that picture of Alex with the woman they thought was his girlfriend."

  Dixie wipes her now streaming eyes, "Okay. Okay. I'm calm."

  Another snort of laughter bursts out as she reaches for her laptop. "Sorry! Sorry!I promise I'm under control."

  "Coulda fooled me." I mutter.

  She fires up the computer, gets the internet connection and looks at me. "How do you think we should word the search?"

  I think it over as another snort of laughter bursts from her. She clamps her lips together and shakes her head.

  I decide to ignore her continued lack of control in the hopes it will disappear quicker if we don’t linger over it any more. "Try Alex Landers, entrepreneur and girlfriend."

  Dixie types and hits enter.

  "Looks like we got some hits." She clicks on the first entry. It turns out to be a photo at a gala event in New York. Alex Landers in a tux and, sure enough, a blonde with her face turned away by his side.

  "The caption says, Alex Landers and girlfriend at the annual Met Gala. And the date is 2019."

  “Shoot. I wish it had her name.” Pulling the computer closer so I could get a better look at the picture I squint in an effort to make out any features on the woman's face. But it’s turned too far away from the camera. Her hair is twisted up so I can't even get a good idea of how long it is or if it's layered. In addition, even though I read the short article below the photo, it still didn’t give a name for the girlfriend. "Well, crap on a cracker."

  I push the computer back toward Dixie. "That woman's butt is obviously wider than mine."

  "Stop being so catty, Lily Gayle."

  "Nothing catty about it. It's the truth."

  "Well, her boobs are bigger than yours, too. And I don't hear you mentioning that fact."

  Before I can make a scathing remark about camera angles and exaggerations because it them , the door to the condo opens and Ben walks in.

  "That's taken care of.” He says, running his hand over his already messy hair. An indicator he’s annoyed with the situation. “I don't really think that couple had anything to do with the murder, but I did my duty reporting what I know." He rubs his hands together as though he’s washing them free of the situation. "Now I'm starving. How about dinner out somewhere?"

  "I found a place called Destin Delicious on the internet and it's got a bunch of five star ratings." Dixie says with a smirk in my direction. A dig at my comments about her bringing the laptop.

  "Sounds good. Let's go." Ben enthuses.

  Dixie looks over at me. "And it's not on the list of recommended places the concierge gave us." She fluffs her hair. "Just sayin'."

  "Nobody likes a smartass, Dixie." I remind her on our way out the door.

  As we exit our elevator, I see Lynette getting on an elevator across from us. She's wearing a big floppy hat, oversize sunglasses and a bikini that shows up a really great figure. She’d certainly aged well.

  "She didn't have that cleavage in college." I remark.

  "For goodness sake, Lily Gayle. What's got into you with all the mean remarks lately?" Dixie asks. "She got you off the hook with the police. And she's and old friend. You should be nicer."

  "She didn't used to be blonde, either." I say and Dixie just sighs in resignation.

  I couldn't resist dragging my cousin into the conversation. "Didn't you think she looked pretty hot, Ben? She told me to tell you she thinks you’re lookin’ good these days."

  He opens the car door and motions me in. "I have no time to be looking at hot women because my insane cousin can't seem to keep herself out of trouble long enough for me to relax."

  "Hey! Maybe she's Alex's girlfriend."

  "Don't be ridiculous, Lily Gayle. How would a Mississippi lawyer end up with a venture capitalist from Boston?" Dixie asks sarcastically. "Besides, she got you off the hook for the murder. If she's his girlfriend would she do that?"

  Dixie adds, "I just realized we haven't seen Alex's sister since the murder. Poor thing. She's probably trying to make all the arrangements by herself. I'm going to make sure I knock on the door at the condo and see if I can find her and offer to help with anything I can to make her burden easier."

  "Don't be silly, Dixie. You don't even know her. In addition, her brother was a jerk. And a criminal. And so is she. Why would you get mixed up in that mess?

  "Because it's the right thing to do. You know it is, too."

  I sigh. Dixie is right. "Okay. Okay. I'll offer to help her, too."

  "You most definitely will not." Insists Ben. "You aren't completely off the hook for this murder just yet. You can't be seen having contact with his sister." He glanced over at Dixie. "You either. You're her best friend. It could be misconstrued."

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  The next morning, I sit with Dixie in the condo after Ben has gone off to the local police department again to see if they’ll allow me to go home on my own recognizance. Or his.

  I sigh. I seem to be doing that a lot these days. We’ve hardly spent any time on the beach since that first day and only had some great seafood once. Plus, I have a twitchy feelin' that Vlad is around here somewhere and that he's got some answers we need to know.

  "Dixie, let's go see if we can find Vlad."

 
She looks askance at me. "And where do you propose we look? We don't have the first idea 'bout where he's hidin' out. And, clearly, he doesn't want to see us or he'd've returned at least one of our calls by now."

  "Okay. Fine. Take me for a ride down the main strip out there. I'd like to get one of those thick milkshakes they serve at that little place down toward the end."

  Dixie roll her eyes. "I don't know why you think you can trick me, Lily Gayle. We've been knowing each other since diapers and you're clear as a pane of glass to me." She picks up her keys. "But since you're goin' stir crazy here and you won't let me rest till you get your way, let's hit the road."

  As we cruise along the main thoroughfare, I keep a sharp eye out for Vlad. It'll be a miracle if I spot him. However, maybe today is my day for a miracle. And, as though in answer to a prayer, I spot him heading into a souvenir shop just as we pass it.

  "Turn around!" I shout at Dixie, turning to try and keep the man in sight. "I just saw Vlad going into that store back there.

  "The odds of that actually being Vlad are astronomical." Dixie says, but slows to turn off the heavily traveled street.

  As she swings the car back in the direction we'd come, I say, "We need to head to Vegas when we leave here, because I promise you its Vlad."

  Dixie just sighs as she pulls into a parking spot.

  "Here's the plan." I say to her as we walk across the parking lot.

  "Why do those words scare the crap out of me right now?" She interrupts.

  I give her a look. "Here's the plan. We're going to slip in there quietly and sneak around until we spot Vlad. Then, we're going to spy on him and see what he's up to."

  "Maybe he's buying himself a t-shirt." Dixie says. "It is a souvenir shop after all. See all those t-shirts hanging up in there?"

  I ignore her meaningless chatter. "Regardless. We've got him cornered now and we're going to get some answers." I tell her. "Come on."