Much Ado About Felines (Whales and Tails Mystery Book 4) (7 page)

The heavy rain continued as the morning wore on. Tara and I decided there was no use staying open; Becky had been the only customer we’d had all day, so she decided to take some of the paperwork she had been trying to catch up on home with her and I decided to pay a visit to Roxi’s best friend Stacy. Because today was Monday, Tara arranged to meet me at the cabin later in the day for
Cooking With Cathy
.

Stacy worked at the local thrift store. Luckily, she was alone in the store when I arrived. It appeared as if the entire town of Pelican Bay was deserted, most likely due to the storm.

“Cait, I’m so glad you stopped in,” Stacy greeted me. “You’re the first customer I’ve had all day.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty dead out there. We closed the bookstore. Maybe you should do the same. I doubt anyone is going to be out shopping in this weather.”

“I’d love to close, but unlike you, I’m just an employee, not an owner, so it isn’t up to me. What can I get for you?”

“Actually, I’m just here to ask about Roxi.”

“Figured you’d be working with Finn again. I don’t know if I can add anything to what I’ve already told him, though.”

“Do you happen to know what it was Jimmy got himself involved in before he died?”

Stacy frowned. “Not really. All I know is that Roxi was concerned about some business deal Jimmy had become involved in. He was pretty vague about exactly what it was, which made her really uncomfortable, but he assured her that he was going to make a bunch of money in a short amount of time and they could finally fix their boat. You heard his winch blew up and his engine was on its last leg?”

“Yeah, I heard.”

“Anyway, after the car accident a man showed up and informed Roxi that Jimmy had twenty thousand dollars that didn’t belong to him. She insisted that she didn’t know anything about any twenty grand and she certainly didn’t have it, but the guy didn’t seem to care. He just told her that she’d better find a way to come up with it or bad things were going to come her way. Roxi was scared to death of this guy, and I know she tried everything she could think of to get the money.”

“Do you think the guy who was trying to collect the twenty grand is the one who killed her?” I asked.

“Honestly, I have no idea.”

“Did you know Roxi sold Jimmy’s boat and planned to move at the end of the month?”

“What? No, she never said anything about moving. Are you sure?”

“No, I’m not sure. Becky Wood told me that’s what Trace told her.”

“I know Roxi and Trace were messing around. I’m pretty sure he gave her some money. In fact, I’m pretty sure there were several men on the island who gave Roxi money in the past couple of months. Roxi was my best friend and I cared about her, but I feel like there was something going on that she wasn’t telling me about.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I don’t know exactly. Roxi just seemed different the last couple of weeks before she died. She said everything was fine, but I knew her well enough to tell she was hiding something. I just wish I’d tried harder to figure out what that something was.”

“Your cat has been sitting staring out the window ever since I’ve been here,” Tara commented later that evening as she poured nuts into the chocolate. “It’s almost like she’s looking for something, or maybe waiting for someone.”

I glanced at Beatrice. She had been peering intently at something for the past hour in spite of the fact that it was still raining and there really wasn’t anything to see. Still, I did hope she knew something I didn’t. To be honest, I kept waiting for her to do something, anything that might point us in a direction. Bella had said Beatrice would take me where I needed to go, but so far she hadn’t taken me any farther than the sofa.

“Maybe she’s getting ready to make her move, whatever that might be,” I said. “At this point Cody and I need all the help we can get.”

“Have you talked to Finn?” Tara asked.

“We stopped in to chat with him after we had lunch. He said he had a few ideas he was looking in to, but he declined to offer specifics. I think he’s as stumped as we are.”

“And Ernie didn’t know anything?” Tara began measuring the flour she would need to add to the first layer of the caramel brownies we were making. We were cooking along with Cathy, though we both seemed to be too distracted to pay much attention to the banter portion of the show tonight.

“Not really. He did confirm that Jimmy left Roxi with a debt she was unable to pay. He didn’t know the total amount or who it was owed to, but he did share that Roxi came to work one day maybe six weeks ago with a black eye. At first she claimed she’d run into an open cabinet door, but she later admitted that Jimmy had gotten into debt to some bad men who were intent on collecting despite the fact that Jimmy was dead. Ernie said he gave her five thousand dollars, but he didn’t think it was enough to get her out of the hole completely. Ernie believes Roxi died as a result of her inability to pay the remainder, but Finn doesn’t agree.”

“No?” Tara poured the batter she’d been mixing into a casserole dish. “Why not?”

“He told us it seemed obvious that whoever killed Roxi and then buried her in her own grave was trying to hide the body. He said most of the time back-alley money lenders trying to collect a debt look to make a statement by displaying the body in a public place, where it can serve as a warning to others who may be behind on their payments.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

“Besides, Stacy indicated that the total amount of the debt was twenty grand. We know Ernie gave Roxi five, and Stacy thought there were others who gave her money as well. It seems like a money lender would have a bit more patience if Roxi was making payments.”

“Yeah, I have to agree. And now that Roxi is dead the guy has no way to collect the balance. Did you preheat the oven?” Tara asked.

I nodded.

“Knowing that Jimmy owed these less-than-law-abiding citizens a chunk of cash makes me wonder if his accident was really an accident at all,” Tara mused.

“Finn said the same thing. He’s taking another look at Jimmy’s accident.”

“Let’s start gathering the ingredients for the casserole while the dessert bakes,” Tara suggested. “What time are the guys getting here?”

“Should be any minute now. In fact, I thought Danny would be here by now because I know he didn’t have any tours today. I expected to find him camped out here when I got home. He usually doesn’t stay on the boat when it’s storming.”

“Maybe he stopped off over at O’Malley’s,” Tara offered.

I shrugged. “I guess he might have.”

I began grating the first of the three types of cheese we planned to use.

“So how do you think it’s working out for all of us now that Coffee Cat Books has officially taken over the scheduling for Danny?” Tara asked.

“I don’t know. I guess it’s working out okay. Why do you ask?”

Tara put a pan of water on the stove to boil. “Danny is very disorganized.”

“Yeah, so? He’s always been disorganized.”

“Maybe, but I guess I hadn’t realized just how bad it was until we started scheduling for him full-time. I’m afraid his lack of follow-through is not only going to negatively affect Hart of the Sea Tours but Coffee Cat Books as well.”

I stopped what I was doing to look directly at Tara. “What do you mean?”

“Visitors come to us to book their tours. We’re the face they see and will remember if something goes wrong. Danny messed up the start time on two tours in the past two weeks. In both of those instances it was simply because he didn’t bother to check his messages, and in both cases it was me who had to listen to the customer complain. I think if we’re going to continue to do this for Danny you need to talk to him.”

“Me? Why me?”

“He’s your brother. Besides, I’ve tried to talk to him and he just blows me off. If he can’t get his act together I really think we should tell him that we can no longer handle his scheduling.”

I took a deep breath. Tara was right; Danny wasn’t all that good about checking his messages on a regular basis and he did tend to miss important updates about the tours that were scheduled. But he’d only messed up the start time on two tours since we’d been handling the scheduling for him, and in both cases the groups who had booked charters had ended up compensated and happy.

I suspected the tension between Tara and Danny had to do with more than two messed-up charters. The fact that Tara happened to bring the whole thing up on the heels of her suggesting that Danny might be hanging out at O’Malley’s seemed as good an indicator as any that she was having a hard time really letting go of Danny even though they’d come to an agreement about it.

“Okay, I’ll talk to him,” I agreed.

“Thank you. And be firm.”

“I’ll try. And as long as we’re on the subject of schedules, I have other news.”

Tara looked at me with suspicion in her eye. I couldn’t really blame her. I hadn’t been the most reliable partner. “What kind of news?”

“Bitzy has decided to take some time for herself now that her husband has officially left her for another woman and everyone knows about it, and I was asked to take over the Tuesday and Thursday cardio classes. At least temporarily.”

Tara frowned. “Are you going to?”

“I don’t know. I wanted to talk to you before I decided. I hate to see the class just dissolve, and I know that’s exactly what will happen if they can’t find a replacement. But I know that taking the class is something we decided to do together. If I teach I’m afraid it might not be as much fun for you.”

“Half the fun
was
hiding out in the back of the room together complaining about Bitzy,” Tara admitted.

“Exactly. The other problem is that if I’m teaching I won’t be able to cut out of class early like we’ve been doing to open the store on time.”

Tara bit her lip as she poured the pasta into the boiling water. I know how she likes to think each and every decision through as if it might be the most important of her life.

“We already discussed opening later over the winter,” Tara began, “so I don’t think not being able to leave early will be a problem. And I have to admit it won’t be as fun without you to complain to, but I also hate to see the class end, so I think you should do it. When would you start?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Then I guess I’d better figure out a new buddy to hang back and complain about you with.”

I hugged Tara. “Thanks. I think I’d like to try this.”

The lights in the cabin flickered as thunder sounded in the distance. I hoped the electricity wouldn’t go out before we finished making the delicious meal we were preparing or we’d be serving peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner.

“It looks like Cody just pulled into the drive,” Tara said.

I went to the door and opened it as first Max and then Cody came trotting in.

“It’s really coming down out there,” he said as he shook the rain from his jacket and then hung it up to dry. “I hope we don’t end up with flooding in the low-lying areas.”

“But if we do you’ll end up with an additional story for the midweek edition of the paper,” I pointed out as I dried Max and then filled his food and water dishes.

“True. It’s odd, though, when you start to look at everything that occurs on the island, good or bad, as a potential story.”

Cody opened the refrigerator and took out a beer. “Danny’s not here?”

“No, not yet,” I answered. “Did you and Max dig up any new leads today?”

“Maybe one of us should call Danny to see if he’s still planning to come for dinner,” Tara said. “The casserole is almost done.”

“I’ll call him,” I offered. I let the phone ring until the answering machine came on and then left a message.

“If he isn’t here by the time the food is done we’ll start without him,” I decided.

“It’ll be his loss,” Cody said. “It smells wonderful in here.”

“We made a bunch. If Danny doesn’t show we’ll have a ton left. Why don’t you take some to Mr. Parsons?” I suggested.

“I’m sure he’d enjoy that. I thought about asking him if he wanted to come along tonight, but he mentioned that Banjo and Summer were going to stop by this evening. They’re bringing Chinese food to go with the soap opera marathon they have planned.”

“It’s odd the way they watch those old tapes over and over again,” I commented.

“I have to admit they’re kind of addicting,” Cody said. “I’d never even seen a soap opera prior to moving in with Mr. Parsons, but now I find I quite enjoy them.”

“Oh, brother,” I groaned.

“It’s really no different than—” Cody began but was interrupted when his cell phone rang.

“Is it Danny?” Tara asked.

“Finn.” Cody answered the call. “Hey, what’s up?”

I watched Cody’s face as he listened to whatever Finn was telling him. He was frowning.

“Okay, thanks,” he said.

“What is it?” I asked after he hung up, hoping the call hadn’t been bad news about Danny.

“Brianna Sommers called Finn in hysterics. It seems she found out that Tony had not only been spending time with Roxi before she died but he gave her their entire life savings. Brianna freaked out and threw a vase at his head. It knocked him out.”

“Is he okay?”

“His head wound was severe enough that he’s having him airlifted to the hospital in Seattle. Brianna is a total mess and Finn’s afraid that if she doesn’t get a grip she could hurt the baby. He wants me to go over to her place to help calm her down while he deals with arranging for the medevac.”

“Why you?” I asked.

“Brianna is asking for me.”

I knew Cody and Brianna had dated in high school. I guess I could see why she might turn to him now.

“If you need anything don’t hesitate to call,” I offered. “Brianna has to be eight months along. I hope she doesn’t go into labor.”

“Yeah, me too.” Cody kissed me on the cheek. “I’ll call you later.”