Death By Blue Water (A Hayden Kent Mystery Book 1) (21 page)

Thirty-Eight

The day dawned bright and hot. Outside her window sun devils shimmered over the asphalt road in front of her house.

Hayden couldn’t believe she felt this good today when she felt so bad yesterday. She padded into the kitchen, fed Tiger Cat and put the coffee on to perk. She stretched, reached her hand behind her head and felt the bandage. She read a note written in unfamiliar handwriting on the pad next to the phone. It was a reminder to see her doctor in the morning to have the bandage changed.

Her doctor’s office was on Grassy Key. He already knew she was coming after Mallory made Hayden call yesterday. She’d stop on the way to Plantation to sign the statement.

Hayden rummaged through her address book and found the card with Janice’s number on it. She wanted to find out how Elena was doing. Yesterday’s events were hard on both sisters. Glancing at the clock, she decided nine o’clock was late enough to call. Hayden dialed the number but got voicemail. She left a message of good wishes for Janice and Elena. She called Mallory at the office and told her she planned to walk over to Mallory’s house and pick up her Tahoe. Game plan for the day set, Hayden dressed and set out for Mallory’s.

Janice called Hayden’s cell phone while she was hoofing it through the hot streets. The officer sounded exhausted. Hayden knew that Monroe County advised Elena to stay available. She heard the officers tell Janice that professional courtesy was the only reason Elena was allowed to go with her instead of to jail.

Monroe County confirmed the boat behind the house was Richard’s Mako, Janice told Hayden. The FL numbers on the side of the vessel matched. The boat had no external damage, no sign of being involved in an accident. Nothing other than the damage caused when the boat filled with water because the petcocks were opened.

Current thinking held Elena killed her husband over the Humboldt and scuttled the boat in their backyard after she drove it home. They couldn’t decide if Elena made up the blackout story or if she blacked out after she scuttled the boat. Either way, they were fitting her for her husband’s murder. Janice thought they’d have a warrant today or tomorrow. She didn’t want her sister to be alone when Monroe County served the warrant.

Hayden offered to help any way she could. She gave Janice Mallory’s office number and suggested Elena talk to Ed before the warrant came down.

After she pushed the red button to disconnect the call, Hayden climbed into her truck and adjusted the seat. Once again, she remembered Falkner Marina when she’d adjusted the seat. She still couldn’t make that make sense. Starting the car she headed north on U.S. 1 to Grassy Key. Changing the bandage took a couple of minutes. Mallory was right, the paramedics had shaved her a little skullcap. At least she wore her hair short. It would take it less time to grow back and even out.

As Hayden rounded the curve from Duck Key to Long Key, she noticed a car snugged right up on her bumper, close enough so she couldn’t see much of the hood. The little bit of it she saw looked silver. The sun was so bright she couldn’t be sure. The windshield had a reflective tint. She couldn’t see the driver, or any passengers. Remembering a driving course she’d taken, she slowed down, hoping the car would pass her. The car stayed snugged up to her bumper. Hayden slowed more and started to pull over to the shoulder. Long Key Park was on either side of the road, but the shoulders were ample.

The car behind her accelerated, pulled up alongside her car and swerved towards the Tahoe.

Frantic, Hayden swerved in response to the move and then fought to keep her car from veering off the road into the borrow pit. Trying to use one eye and keep her other on the road and silver car, she searched for another car.

The silver car dropped back behind her again. Thoroughly frightened, Hayden regained control of her vehicle and sped up. She wanted to get off this unpopulated stretch of road and over the next bridge where a small town was located. The car behind her swerved around her side again.

This time it crashed into her bumper and then followed up by sideswiping her. Hayden jerked the wheel trying to avoid the collision. The motion caused her to swerve into the soft shoulder, the silver car sideswiped her again forcing her into the borrow pit.

“Oh my God,” Hayden shouted.

The Tahoe rocked on its wheels and began to tip onto its side. The whole thing seemed to happen in slow motion. The weight of the vehicle pulled it down the culvert and it landed on the passenger side door. Hayden saw the wheels spinning in the air on her side but she couldn’t see the silver car. Shaking uncontrollably, she managed to brace her feet against the console and unfasten her seat belt without tumbling into the passenger side.

She stood on the passenger side armrest for leverage and forced the driver side door open. She was pulling herself up when hands grasped her.

“Thank you, I’m so glad someone stopped,” Hayden said as she struggled to get out of the door. She turned her face to the arms that held her and smelled aftershave. The same aftershave she’d smelled in her house. The same aftershave one of the cops wore. She struggled to free herself from the grasp of the man who held her.

“Do you have her?” Hayden heard Kevin’s voice. Kevin, it had been Kevin all along. He worked with his brother, he smuggled people, and he was responsible for the death of that young woman.

“I’m trying,” Paul said. “I’m gonna shoot her, no need to get her out of here.”

“Are you nuts? Your fingerprints are all over the truck. Hurry up before someone comes by. I can’t believe no one has yet.”

Hayden managed to rip her arms from Paul’s grasp and fall back into the truck. She heard the crunch of broken window glass under her sneakers. Bending down she picked up a jagged chunk and slashed out blindly. She was gratified to see a spurt of red on the grey of her interior.

She ran as best she could to the back of the truck, scrambling over the rear seat now sideways. She reached the gate doors and swung one open. Still clutching the glass, her own hand now bleeding from the pressure of her grip, she forced her way out the back door and took off for the surrounding hardwood hammock.

Hayden felt, rather than heard the shot whiz past her. Running for her life now, she ducked into a brackish pond intending to swim underwater to the far side. When she came up for air, she heard another gunshot. This one seemed farther away.

Her breath ragged in her chest, she started running again. The beach was in front of her. She’d run out of places to run. There was no cover on the beach.

Turning back wasn’t an option. Hayden worked her way on a diagonal, back towards the road hoping she could stay under the cover of the sea grape bushes until she saw a car. Stopping to listen she realized there were no sounds of pursuit. No one seemed to be following her. Emboldened, she crept closer to the road. The flashing blue lights of a Highway Patrol vehicle strobed over the road. Tears of pain, fear, and relief flowed down her cheeks as she ran back to the police car.

“Officer, please, help me,” she cried out. The officer was rendering first aid to Paul. Kevin stood close by.

Paul spun at the sound of her voice. “That’s her. The stupid woman must be drunk. She tried to block me every time I tried to pass her. She managed to smack my bumper and then she rammed me in the side. The impact forced her off the road.”

The officer turned, and prepared to take control of Hayden. Hayden screamed. A gun in Kevin’s hand pointed at her heart. The officer spun around, quick drew his weapon, and simultaneously fired a one handed shot and keyed his mike with the other.

Kevin went down.

Paul ran for his car, the engine still running and jumped in. Gunning the motor he spun the tires and raced north on U.S. 1. The Highway Patrol officer dove for his car and yanked open the door. Hayden screamed again; Kevin writhed on the ground. The officer ran around his car, grabbed Hayden and raced with her back to his patrol unit.

“Stay here and stay down,” he ordered and shoved her to the floorboards.

Over the wail of the siren, Hayden heard him call the pursuit in, request back up and two ambulances.

Thirty-Nine

Hayden smiled at Mallory from her hospital bed.

“So, they finally got you here. Good on them.”

“Oh, yada, yada,” Hayden joked. “Between the head and the hand, I was running out of extremities. Can you believe they’re keeping me for observation? Who knew they did that in this day and age of managed care.”

“Janice is on her way up. I met her in the parking lot. Let’s wait for her. She’s thrilled. Her sister is in the clear.”

Mallory and Janice pulled up chairs. There was a soft knock on the doorframe. Hayden pulled her gaze from her friends to the door and saw Grant laden with a dozen roses, a box of Black Magic chocolate, and a huge teddy bear dressed in a Sherlock Holmes get-up. “Is this a hen party or can roosters attend?”

“Roosters with chocolate are very welcome. Grab a chair, Hayden was getting ready to tell us how this all turned out,” Mallory said.

Grant walked over and kissed Hayden on the cheek. “Well, at least you’re still alive but I’m betting you’re on medical leave until the bandages come off the hand and you can type.”

The three women laughed.

“Yep, that’s a lawyer for you. What can you do for me now?” Hayden laughed. Then she sobered and said, “It was Paul. I should have seen it. Paul and Kevin.”

Sorrow filled her eyes. “Paul used his position and directed the cutter away from the routes the go-fast boats were taking so they could avoid interdiction. In return for his trouble, he got a cut of the smuggler’s loot. For the most part, it worked to the refugees’ advantage. The go-fasts came in closer to shore giving the illegals an easier swim to shore and access to the U.S. as dry foot Cubans. Unfortunately, close is not close enough if you can’t swim, or if you get tangled in your clothes.”

“Is that what happened to the girl they found at the end of your block?” Mallory asked.

Hayden shook her head. “No, but it has happened. There’s been testimony at Krome about it.

“It looks like Paul hooked up with Richard through Samantha. She’s one of Paul’s sisters-in-law. He hardly ever spent time at the Penmartin house but when he did, he met Richard. It was right after Richard got the boat and was searching for a way to pay for it. His parents refused to help him with boat payments. Not one to give up, he concocted the story that Elena was a spendthrift. Told the Andersons that she’d gone through his trust fund and his savings. He had them convinced she spent even the children’s grocery money. They hated her. Richard made sure they never saw their grandchildren and that they blamed Elena for the estrangement. He had them believing she didn’t want them in her children’s life because they were Anglo. She wanted her children raised in a Cuban tradition.”

Janice interrupted, “My sister loves her Cuban roots but she constantly told me her kids were one hundred percent Anglo. She never even taught them to speak Spanish. She said we owed a debt of gratitude to this country and she believed raising her kids in all the American traditions was the best way to repay it.”

“Didn’t his parents ever try to talk to her, find out for themselves how she felt? These were their grandchildren, after all. Didn’t they stand for something in their lives?” Mallory asked.

Shaking her head, Janice looked at Grant. “You were their lawyer. Did they ever say anything to you?”

Sighing, Grant said, “Normally, I wouldn’t be able to answer your question, it would be covered under the attorney/client privilege. In this instance, however, I can honestly say, I had no idea. They never mentioned anything to me. In fact, I knew very little about either of the Anderson sons, and nothing of the grandchildren. So little that even though I played golf with Kevin, I didn’t make the connection between Kevin Anderson and my Anderson clients.”

Grant opened the box of chocolates and passed them around to each of the women.

“I thought I’d offer them if you weren’t going to,” he said to Hayden. A large smile lit his face and he winked. “Please continue.”

“All along Richard connived to get money for himself. He didn’t care if he had to use Elena to do it. He jumped at Paul’s scheme and Richard brought Kevin in. Kevin hooked up with them because of the diving.”

She nodded at Mallory, “You were right when you suggested that Paul was the mystery boater who showed up when Kevin dove with us. He’d write out the smuggling information on a slate. Kevin would get it to Richard. Kevin got five hundred per person. All he did to earn it was mule information about patrol sectors back to his brother. Richard got a grand, but he ran more risks. He shuttled the refugees from the go-fast to supposedly safe beaches.” Hayden paused and selected one of the dark chocolates. She bit into it and rolled her eyes. “Heaven.”

A soft knock caused all the heads in the room to turn. A woman in a white lab coat stood outside. “Why don’t you all step out for a moment? I think your patient may be released sooner than you think.”

Grant stood and headed for the door followed by Janice and Mallory, the box of chocolates still in his hands.

“Thank you,” the doctor said. “Not often I get offered something so luscious.”

A look of confusion crossed Grant’s face. He followed the direction of the doctor’s hand and began to laugh. “If this is what it takes to ransom her out, then we’re all for it. Hayden, we’ll be outside.”

The doctor inspected Hayden’s hand and went over the MRI results from the brain scan. She checked vitals and plumped up the pillow behind her neck. “If you didn’t look so cozy here, I would recommend springing you today,” the woman smiled. She raised a hand as Hayden sat up. “But you’ve got one more night in captivity. No diving until the doctor gives his okay.”

Hayden’s friends trooped in after the doctor left and settled into the same chairs they had just vacated.

“We were hoping you were going to get released,” Grant grumbled. “I guess they know you better than I thought they did.”

“You hoped,” Hayden retorted. “How do you think I feel?”

“What were you saying? About Richard?” Janice asked.

Hayden rummaged in the chocolate box. “The immigration services rarely stop fishing boats,” she continued. “Especially well-known local fishing boats in near shore waters. A go-fast is another story. And on the nights he couldn’t make it, the smugglers just came in closer believing Paul would let them know if anyone patrolled the vicinity.”

“Why Samantha? She had no real part in this. How does she figure in?” Mallory asked.

“Sam was in it for the rush. She liked the adrenaline of being involved. She muled the money from Paul to Kevin and Richard.”

“Paul killed Richard,” Janice said. “It hasn’t been announced yet, but it’s in the incident report. What tipped you?” she asked Hayden.

“The aftershave. When I recognized who wore it, it all came into focus. He was the only one who had means, motive, and opportunity. Paul was fighting for his life, personally and professionally. What does the report say?”

“The young girl who lost the bracelet died on Richard’s boat before he got near enough to a shore or shoal to drop his group. No one knows why: exposure, some underlying illness. The autopsy showed she had a bad heart and several other problems but the official cause of death is unknown. Anyway, Richard panicked. He dropped off the other refugees in deeper water than usual and in the confusion left with her still on board. He went out to sea and dumped her body. What he was thinking, no one knows.

“He called Paul in a panic telling him he had to cover for him if the body floated up and someone tried to point a finger at him. Paul thought sharks would get her, and if not, then her death would be attributed to go-fast smugglers. Of course, that’s exactly what happened. But Paul’s report helped.” The group was silent for a while each digesting the information in their own way.

“Richard noticed the bracelet. He took it off her hoping by the time she was found she’d be too decomposed for anyone to identify her. He threw the bracelet overboard on his way back in and told Paul about it. He also told him that because his risks were increasing, he wanted more money. He confronted Paul in a restaurant near the Coast Guard Station. It was late, few people were around but Paul decided Richard was a loose cannon.”

“Paul admitted all this?” Mallory asked.

“No,” Grant responded. “Kevin is implicating him. He’s looking to cut a deal.”

Janice nodded. “Richard and Paul took their discussion on the water. Paul said he wanted to fish and they’d be able to talk there. They argued, Paul knocked him out and tossed him overboard weighted by the anchor. Dumb luck that he landed on the Humboldt.

“Paul called Kevin from the boat. That’s how Kevin got the information. He threatened to set Kevin up for the murder. Paul knew Kevin denied his brother lived in South Florida and that Kevin served time years ago for assault. Framing him for the murder wasn’t too difficult.”

“Kevin decided to set me up instead,” Hayden interrupted. “Paul and Kevin were arguing about it while they were hunting me. He hoped Paul would let him continue to collect the bounties, and maybe let him take over Richard’s job. Richard told him why I’d canceled our meeting. Kevin knew how bad my migraines are. He came and got me out of the house, carried me to the car and drove me to the Marina. The keys on the table next to mine were the Mako keys. A spare set. I never touched them so when they found them, there was nothing to connect them to me. He tossed a bucket of pool water on me to try to wake me up. It failed, but I stayed wet, and the marina pool is sea water. It was dumb luck on my part that I found Richard, and the bracelet.

“Kevin saw the bracelet when he came to get the dive gear. Paul mentioned it to him when he taunted him about Richard’s death. They decided to get it back. Kevin still had a key and, he thought, the code. He didn’t realize I’d changed it. Kevin came in and found the alarm off. He replaced the bathroom battery with a dead one. He forgot the alarm hadn’t been set though. To cover his tracks he set it when he left. Unfortunately, it exposed him. When an alarm battery showed out of service, I normally bypassed it for a few days. Kevin knew that. Mallory,” she smiled at her friend, “is more anal retentive than I am. She replaced it. The bathroom window is largely concealed by shrubbery. It’s a good choice for a little breaking and entering, especially if you know the alarm is off on that zone.”

The effects of the last few days made Hayden tired. She took the bed controller and lifted the head of the bed higher. Then she rested her head back against the pillows. “What I don’t get is why Paul and Kevin tried to kill me. Why not just let me take the fall?”

“Paul knew Elena was going to be arrested for Richard’s murder. Landsdown would have shared the information with him, or have Barton do it,” Janice said. “Paul knew you’d been doing your own investigation. Kevin says he was convinced you’d figured it all out and were going to go to Landsdown and lay it out for him. When Paul and Kevin saw you going north, Paul decided Kevin was right and you had to go.”

Grant patted Hayden on the leg and said, “I’m glad you’re a tenacious woman. Let me take over from here. No matter what, there’s sufficient evidence for Kevin and Paul to serve a long time behind bars. You never know what a jury is going to do in the long run, but Kevin has confessed. Paul maintains his innocence for now. I understand the Coast Guard has evidence Paul won’t survive.

“Sam, who Kevin had been dating all along, is being indicted as an accessory to murder. You, Hayden, were nothing but a dive decoy. Kevin used you and your constant diving as an excuse to get underwater and meet with Paul. He wanted witnesses to his dives. According to him, he thought he could deny meeting Paul that way.

“Janice, the Andersons have asked me to get in touch with Elena. I’m going to her house in Big Pine as soon as I leave here. They want her to stay in the house. In fact, they’re deeding it to her. They want to get to know their grandchildren.”

The angry red line crossing Hayden’s palm was the only outward reminder of her adventure. It caught her eye as she hooked up her regulator to her tank on Cappy’s boat. She glanced at the healed wound and then at Mallory and Cappy.

“You ready to go, girl?” Cappy asked.

For an answer, Hayden balanced on the port gunnels of the little boat and looked over at Mallory opposite her on the starboard side. She gave a hard nod and leaned backwards into her back roll.

The warm water of the Atlantic closed over her head. She checked her gear to be sure it wasn’t disarrayed by hitting the water, gave Cappy the okay sign, and jackknifed her body to start her dive. The Humboldt spread out beneath her. The wheelhouse looked so close. Hayden thought she could touch it from the surface. She swam to the buoy line and waited for Mallory to catch her up. Together the two friends headed for the wreck. At the sixty-foot marker, Mallory tugged on Hayden’s arm and pointed down. The moray eel’s head protruded from the cable wheel on the bow. They’d see lots of little fish today.