Much Ado About Felines (Whales and Tails Mystery Book 4) (10 page)

Once I’d broken the news to Danny’s group that there wasn’t going to be a tour that afternoon, I decided I’d better fill Tara in on what was going on. I knew she’d be upset, but I also knew she’d eventually find out and be even madder that I hadn’t kept her in the loop. We decided to meet with Finn to come up with a strategy to track Danny down, so we closed Coffee Cat Books and headed out to my cabin.

“I checked Danny’s phone records,” Finn informed us once Cody, Tara, Finn, and I had gathered around my kitchen table. Destiny was tired, so she’d headed up to my bedroom to take a nap with Beatrice, who still had yet to make her move.

“The last call to his cell that was answered was on Sunday morning at six a.m. It lasted less than a minute, and it looks as if his phone was turned off after he completed that call.”

“Who did he speak to?” I asked.

“Melanie Hannigan.”

Melanie was a waitress at O’Malley’s who Danny dated occasionally.

“Did you talk to her?” I asked.

Finn nodded. She said she was lonely and wanted some company, so she called Danny, and he turned her down. It was obvious she was lying, but I could tell she was scared.”

“Can’t you force her to talk?” I asked.

“How am I supposed to do that?”

“Torture,” I suggested.

Finn raised one eyebrow.

“If Danny is mixed up in whatever got Jimmy killed and Garrett beat up, maybe we should start to look for a link between the three,” Tara said.

I’d really expected Tara to be having a major meltdown, but she actually seemed to be keeping it together better than I was. Even when we were kids, Tara had been good in a crisis. One minute after it had passed and things were okay, she’d have a complete meltdown, but during the actual event she’d always been a real trooper.

“I can think of two links between Jimmy, Garrett, and Danny,” I began. “They all owned boats and they all hung out at O’Malley’s. Prior to her death, Roxi was also spending a lot of time at the bar. It seems like O’Malley’s is the key. We need to get Melanie to talk.”

“Let me try,” Cody offered.

I frowned. “Why you? I’m Danny’s sister. Maybe I can play on her emotions.”

“Melanie isn’t the type to care about the fact that Danny’s little sister is upset,” Cody pointed out. “She’s been hitting on me ever since I returned to the island. I think I can use that to get her to talk.”

“Cody’s right. He has the best shot,” Finn agreed.

Cody slid off the bar stool he was sitting on and headed toward the door. “I’ll call you as soon as I know anything.”

And with that he was gone.

“So what about us?” Tara asked Finn. “How can Cait and I help?”

“If I suggested that you wait here until Cody and I get back to you, I don’t suppose you’d comply?”

“I don’t suppose we would,” I answered.

“Look, whoever is behind all this is dangerous. I really do think you should let me take care of it.”

I looked at Finn. “What exactly is your plan?”

“You correctly stated that the links between all three men were O’Malley’s and the fact that they owned boats. Cody is talking to Melanie, so I’m going to pay a visit to all three boats to take another look around. Maybe I’ll find something that might provide a clue as to what might be going on. I need the two of you to stay here.”

I glanced at Tara but didn’t answer.

“Besides, you have a pregnant teenager to look after,” Finn added.

“Very well. We’ll wait here for now. But you need to promise to check in with us within the next hour.”

“Okay,” Finn reluctantly agreed. “I’ll check in.”

“By the way,” I stopped Finn as he got up to leave, “were you able to speak to Greg?”

“I was. He confirmed that he’d been giving Roxi money: one large sum of ten grand, as well as several smaller amounts, as he was able to dig up the money. He’s convinced he and Roxi had a serious relationship, and that she wanted him to move in with her. I asked him if he knew she’d sold her boat and planned to leave the island, and he seemed genuinely distressed. I think he really thought they were going to live happily ever after, but it looks like she was just scamming him for the money.”

“It sounds like Roxi might have cracked under the pressure. The Roxi I knew before Jimmy’s death wouldn’t have acted the way she apparently did toward the end.”

“If you want my opinion, I think in the beginning she did owe this thug a bunch of money. She shared her sob story with a few people like Ernie and Tony and then realized how easy it was to get people to give her money. I think she became addicted to the rush involved with milking good people out of their hard-earned cash, so she kept doing it even after she’d paid off the debt.”

“So you don’t think the hit man killed her?”

“Honestly, I don’t. The evidence indicates that Roxi had paid off Jimmy’s debt. At this point, I’m betting on a jealous wife.”

Finn called twenty minutes later to say that Garrett’s boat was no longer tied to the dock. He hadn’t looked for it earlier that day because he’d found Garrett half dead in his living room. It was Finn’s opinion that whoever had beaten Garrett up most likely took the boat. Finn had called the coast guard and provided a description of the boat. Then he’d headed over to Danny’s boat to see what he could find there.

I for one was tired of waiting around for Finn or Cody to find Danny, so I’d decided to take matters into my own hands and head to O’Malley’s while Tara stayed with Destiny. I was just about to pull onto the highway from the peninsula road when Cody drove up from the opposite direction. He indicated he had news, so I turned around and followed him back to the cabin.

“Did Melanie have anything to say?” I asked.

“Actually, she did.” Cody poured himself a glass of water. “She admitted that she’d called Danny on Sunday morning and told him that she was in trouble. She’d asked him to meet her at the bar, although she was safe at home, nowhere near the bar.”

I frowned. “Why?”

“She said a man she knows only as Hawk came by her place and threatened to kill her if she didn’t do what he asked. He told her he wanted to talk to Danny, so she called him, as she was ordered to do.”

“Danny could be in real danger,” Tara screeched. “I can’t believe she set him up like that.”

“Melanie is scared of this Hawk character, and it seems she has good reason to be. She thinks he’s behind Jimmy’s death.”

“Okay, let’s back up a bit,” I said. “Who is this Hawk and why would he kill Jimmy?”

Cody slid onto a bar stool across from where I was standing. “Melanie doesn’t have all the facts. What she does know is that Jimmy showed up at the bar with a man he introduced as Hawk about a month before he died. At first the pair seemed to be friends, and based on the way they sequestered themselves in a corner booth to chat, she believes they were into something together. A few days after Jimmy was killed in the auto accident, Melanie saw Hawk at the bar with Garrett. She said the two men had been meeting every couple of weeks there since then.”

“What about Danny?” I asked.

“Melanie says no. She swears that whatever was going on seemed to be between Jimmy and Hawk, and then Garrett and Hawk.”

“So what were they up to?” Tara asked.

“She swears she had no idea. She did say that a few days before Jimmy was killed she noticed there was a tension between him and Hawk. She saw them arguing in the parking lot two nights before Jimmy’s accident, although she was too far away to hear what the fight was about. When Jimmy died she initially thought this Hawk guy had killed him, but then Finn and everyone else said his death was an accident, so she kept her mouth shut.”

“When was the last time she saw Hawk?” I asked.

“When he showed up in her bedroom early on Sunday morning.”

“He was in her bedroom?” Tara gasped.

“Melanie told me she was sound asleep but was awakened by someone putting a hand over her mouth. She opened her eyes and saw someone standing over her. Once her eyes adjusted to the darkness she realized it was Hawk. He had a gun and threatened to kill her unless she called Danny and told him to meet her at the bar. She panicked and did as he asked. She regretted what she’d done and had been hiding out, waiting for Danny to resurface ever since.”

“That was Sunday. This is Tuesday. She could have called Finn or me or
someone
once Hawk left her place,” I insisted.

“I agree. She’s pretty traumatized. I don’t think she knew what to do.”

“Did Melanie know why this Hawk wanted to talk to Danny?” Tara asked.

“She said she didn’t.”

“Finn called to say Garrett’s boat is gone. What if this Hawk needed a boat for some reason and needed someone who knew how to pilot a boat the size of Garrett’s?” Tara asked. “Maybe he argued with Garrett and the outcome was that Garrett was beaten and left for dead, so Hawk decided to find someone else in the area who would be able to pilot Garrett’s boat. Danny hangs out at O’Malley’s, so Hawk would most likely know who he was. He’d most likely know that he knows his way around boats, so he kidnapped him.”

“Yeah, but Danny went missing on Sunday. Today is Tuesday,” I said again. “Where has he been for three days?”

No one answered.

“I’m really worried about Danny. I don’t think I can just sit here and wait for whatever’s going to happen to happen,” I insisted.

“What do you want to do?” Cody asked.

“I don’t know. Take Danny’s boat and look for Garrett’s boat?”

“Why don’t we see if O’Malley knows anything?” Cody suggested. “Just because Melanie didn’t know what Jimmy, Garrett, and Hawk were up to doesn’t mean O’Malley doesn’t.”

Cody and I headed to O’Malley’s while Tara stayed behind with Destiny.

It took my eyes a minute to adjust from the bright sunshine after I walked into the dark bar. The bar was almost always full during its operating hours, but at this time of day the place was completely deserted. O’Malley’s was old-fashioned, with dark wood, a rustic atmosphere, and dart boards on the wall. Unlike many of the bars I’d frequented in Seattle, it was completely devoid of plants, fish, or artsy décor. While O’Malley’s carried a good selection of liquor, most customers were there for a beer or a shot.

“O’Malley, are you here?” I called as I entered the deserted bar.

“Hang on, I’m in the back,” a voice responded.

Cody and I sat down on adjacent bar stools, waiting for the bar owner to appear. The rustic place held a lot of good memories for me. I’d come here on my twenty-first birthday; most islanders did. It was sort of a local rite of passage. I’d had my first shot and, as far as my mother needed to know, my first beer. I’d celebrated other milestones in the large booth in the corner, which was a perfect place to meet up with friends.

“Hey, Cait; Cody. What’s up?”

“We wanted to chat with you about the recent rash of insanity that’s hit the island if you have a minute,” Cody began.

“I guess I could take a break.” O’Malley held up a bottle of good Irish whiskey. “Shot?”

“No thanks,” Cody and I both answered.

O’Malley poured a shot for himself and leaned on the bar across from us. “So what’s on your mind?”

“We’ve learned that both Jimmy and Garrett were meeting with a man in the bar that so far I’ve only heard referred to as Hawk,” I began.

O’Malley nodded. “I know the guy you’re talking about.”

“Do you know anything about him? How long he’s been on the island? Where he came from?” I asked.

“I’d never seen him before he showed up maybe a month before Jimmy’s accident. I don’t know where he’s from originally, but he’s tall and thin, with dark hair and a beard.”

“Do you have any idea what he and Jimmy and Garrett might have been up to?”

“No, not really. They always kept their voices low, and it does get noisy in here. If I had to guess I’d say smuggling was at the heart of their relationship.”

“Smuggling? Smuggling what?”

O’Malley shrugged. “Drugs, artifacts, jewels, people. Who knows? Seemed like this Hawk character was more interested in the boats Jimmy and Garrett could provide than the men themselves.”

That actually made sense. International water wasn’t all that far away, and once you smuggled whatever it was you were bringing onto the island, it would be easy to transport it to the mainland via the ferry or even a private boat. From there you could take it anywhere and never have to go through customs or border patrol.

“Danny is missing,” I blurted out. I really hadn’t planned to share this piece of information with O’Malley; I wasn’t 100 percent sure he wasn’t somehow involved in this whole thing, but I found myself saying it anyway.

“Missing? Since when?” O’Malley looked surprised, so perhaps he really didn’t know what was going on.

Cody filled him in on what Melanie had told him.

“Please, if you can think of anything,” I begged. “If Hawk has Danny we need to figure out what he’s up to.”

“I’m sorry, but I really have no idea why he’d want Danny or where he might have taken him.”