Death By Blue Water (A Hayden Kent Mystery Book 1) (9 page)

Fifteen

The squat pine wood building of the County Recorder’s Office shimmered in the heat. Hayden tried to find a parking space out of the sun. The information was available online, but she didn’t want to leave a trail if the police charged her and took her computer. She wanted to see what was going on with the deed on Richard’s family’s house.

“Hey Hayden, what are you doing here?” Mallory greeted her. Hayden saw sympathy in her best friend’s eyes. The two women had been in high school together. Now both worked as paralegals for high-powered attorneys. Mallory got up and hugged her friend. “I’ve heard. Can I do anything?”

Hayden loved her friend even more for not asking about details. “You and everyone else. Thanks for the offer but there’s nothing to do. Talk about lousy timing on a dive. I really picked a winner. How much is on the street? I’ve been busy trying to make sense of it all. I haven’t read the papers. I pulled my landline out of the wall and I don’t even turn my cell on. I think I’ve had voicemail from every newspaper in the country. Please call us back.” Hayden raised her pitch and used a wheedling tone. “Like they’re my friends. But Grant’s been great.”

Hayden sat down beside Mallory and looked her straight in the eyes. “Know what, I do have a favor to ask, since you’re here. Can I use your sign-in? I don’t want anyone to be able to trace what I’m doing.”

“Of course,” Mallory answered at once, not even stopping to ask why she didn’t want to use her own. “Well, now I know why you haven’t called me back. I thought you’d left town for a couple of days, gone to visit your friends in Lakeland.”

“They haven’t told me not to leave town.” Hayden snorted. “At least not yet, and I don’t intend to run.” She reached into her tote and pulled out a legal pad. “Can you check the property history for Dwight and Ruth Anderson on Big Pine Key?”

Mallory’s eyes grew large but she typed her log on information into the computer in front of her. “Now what? Where do you want me to start?”

“I need the first purchase by an Anderson. I don’t care about anything before that.”

While her friend located the documents, Hayden sat back and looked out the window. Every time someone walked into the media room she looked up, thinking the sheriff’s office was coming for her. Since her interrogation, she felt and saw things with much more clarity. The wood of the chairs felt rough on her back. She detected the scent of mold in the room, probably from the old documents stored on the high shelves. She thought this must be what it’s like in the last moments before death. Everything becomes sweeter and sharper at the same time. More immediate.

Mallory handed her the computer printout. There were three items listed. “Let me know if you want me to request copies.”

Hayden studied the information. Sure enough, the Andersons owned property on Big Pine. The deeds dated from the 1950s. Hayden didn’t recognize the names, and figured they had to be Kevin’s grandparents. Good time for investing, considering current values. Those properties now must be worth a fortune.

They’d passed to his parents from probate. So the very senior Andersons never lived on any of the properties. Kevin’s parents held one house and the vacant lot in their own names. The second house they owned jointly with their son, Richard and his wife, Elena.

That meant the property was theirs and Elena’s if Richard died. It was strange the elder Andersons wanted to change the deed so quickly. Why the rush?

Hayden stood and walked to the desk near the window that held the Keys telephone directory. She flipped to Anderson. Her eyes followed her finger down until she hit the R’s. Richard and Elena. The address was the same as on the deed record. Based on the phone book, Richard was still married. At last something Kevin had told her was the truth.

Obviously, the Andersons didn’t want her to think she had any participation in the house. Okay, hate the daughter-in-law, but the grandchildren? That was low. Hayden idly rubbed her shoe up the back of her ankle as she stood at the desk. She jumped when she felt a hand gently touch her shoulder.

“Sorry, Hayd. I saw by your feet you were deep in thought.” Mallory smiled and handed Hayden another deed record. “Seems these people have the same arrangement with Kevin. Did you know he owned a house?”

“Um, no. I didn’t. Also in Big Pine?”

“Nope, Marathon. The house he told you belonged to his roommate.”

Hayden rolled her eyes. “Seems the only thing he told the truth about was his brother’s family. Christ, I belong in the dumb bunny category. Talk about not knowing how to pick men. Or maybe I pick them prime. Who knows? I wonder if he has a roommate at all. I never met one. Maybe he and this Samantha person knew each other all along. Then again, maybe there is no Samantha person.”

“You still got his stuff?”

“What there is of it, yes. Maybe he had some decency after all. He never moved in. I would have loved it if he had. All he left was some dive gear, a couple of changes of clothes, and his electronics. That’s it. What was so important his brother had to come get it? Did he think I was going to sabotage his regulator? Put sand in his air tanks? What?”

“I was glad when it ended.”

Hayden looked up at her friend. That took her by surprise. She had no idea Mallory didn’t like Kevin. The three dove often together and Mallory came frequently to barbecues at Hayden’s house. And while Kevin wasn’t crazy about Mallory, he’d always been cordial enough to her face.

Mallory was studying a wide sheet of paper and turning it from side to side. “Hayd, what’s the name of the woman Kevin took up with? Samantha what?”

“Don’t know, Pennington, Pen something. Why?”

“Penmartin?”

“Yes. That’s it.” Hayden came around and looked over Mallory’s shoulder. “She lives next door to Richard. Looks like the corner lot with water on two sides. Great location. What’s the year on that plat? Your hand is covering it up.”

“It’s current. Do you want me to pull the deeds?”

Chewing the inside of her lip, Hayden tried to think why it would matter. If this Samantha character lived next door to the Anderson property all her life, who cared? Kevin hadn’t grown up there, so he said. Then again, why lie? Could she be the mysterious roommate? What did it matter if she knew the Andersons?

“No, I guess it doesn’t matter. This isn’t about Kevin.”

“Hayd, why don’t you stay with me for a while? Tiger’s welcome too, of course.”

Hayden hugged her friend. “Thanks. I would love to, except I don’t want to drag you into this. And, this is going to sound stupid: I would feel as if I were cheating. I guess I don’t want to give anyone the satisfaction of thinking I’m on the run.”

Mallory wrinkled her brow. “On the run? I don’t understand, what do you mean?”

Hayden grabbed her friend’s arm and led her over to a secluded table. She couldn’t believe Mallory didn’t know the police suspected her of murdering Richard. She’d thought her problems were universal knowledge. She didn’t know if she was relieved or upset to be wrong. “What did the papers say about me?”

“That you found a body. Richard Anderson’s body. You’d broken up with his brother recently. There’s some innuendo but that’s about it.”

Hayden threw her head back and started laughing. “I’m sorry, Mallory,” Hayden sputtered when she could talk again. “The cops seem to think I killed Richard. No one else but me. At least the last time I found a body…”

Mallory raised an eyebrow. “That was eons ago. The poor woman in the crate on the side of the Turnpike. God, I’d nearly forgotten about that. Nobody can think that has anything to do with this.”

“No, but this feels different. Back then, they didn’t consider me a suspect past the first five minutes. This time, they think I killed Richard.”

“Why?”

“Why? Because Kevin dumped me, and Richard was supposed to pick his stuff up for him. Because Richard was going to sell me his boat. Because I was at Falkner Marina on the night he died.”

Mallory’s eyes widened and the color drained from her face. “Why were you at the marina?”

“Damned if I know. I had a migraine. I woke up there.”

“You don’t remember…”

“Anything,” Hayden finished for her.

Mallory and Hayden locked eyes as the sounds of a struggle in the lobby filled their ears. Hayden thought one of the voices sounded like Janice Kirby. “Oh no,” she whispered half under her breath. “Mallory, please, feed Tiger Cat for me.”

Hayden saw the confusion cross Mallory’s face but was relieved when she nodded her head in agreement. “Of course, Hayden...but why? What’s going on?”

“That’s the FWC cop who came out when I found the body. I guess she’s here for me.” Hayden was embarrassed to taste a tear as it touched her lips. She hadn’t realized she was crying.

A screaming blonde-haired woman burst into the room followed closely by Janice Kirby.

Sixteen

The two friends watched in horror as the officer raised her hand. The blonde-haired woman pulled out of her grasp and continued racing through the media room to the information desk. Hayden scrubbed her damp palms against her thighs. The scene unfolding in the Recorder’s Office added more melodrama to her fears than she thought possible.

The slash pine walls of the old building absorbed the sound rather than reflecting it back into the room the way modern wallboard did. Hayden looked up and saw the old roughhewn trusses overhead.
Even if it does harbor scorpions, the old-style conch construction had its good points
.

Mallory grabbed Hayden’s arm. “Come on,” she hissed, “let’s get out of the line of fire. I don’t know what this is all about, but it ain’t about you.”

Hayden felt torn. She didn’t know whether she should go, stay, or try to talk to the officer. As she watched, other people in the media room picked up their belongings and either left or faded deeper into the stacks that lined the room.

Janice continued chasing after the blonde. She hadn’t reached for her gun. Hayden wondered if this was a nod to public safety or because she didn’t feel threatened.

The blonde stopped at the information desk. “I’m Elena Anderson,” she sobbed to the elderly woman in a flowered dress behind the counter. “I need to know if I own my house. I got this letter from my in-laws today. I lost my husband, then I got this letter, please, you have to—” The blonde woman crumpled and slid down the desk towards the floor.

Janice Kirby grabbed the Anderson woman before she hit her head on the pine wood of the information desk. The information officer, her eyes the size of saucers, opened and closed her mouth like a beached grouper. Not a sound emerged. For a brief moment, Hayden feared the woman would join Elena in a faint.

The two friends looked at each other. “Elena Anderson, Richard’s wife,” Mallory leaned close and whispered to Hayden.

“What’s she doing with the officer, I wonder?” Hayden resolved to speak with Kirby and find out why she’d tracked Richard’s wife. Did the police consider her a suspect too? Or maybe Kirby delivered the letter. But why use a marine officer? Why not a delivery service or process server if it was that kind of letter? “It doesn’t make any sense.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” Kirby spoke to the woman behind the counter. “My sister is upset. She lost her husband recently. And she’s pregnant. And now she’s afraid she might lose her house.”

The news that Richard’s wife was expecting hit Hayden like a punch. Here she’d been wondering about her being a suspect. But the last thing Hayden wanted was a scene with a grieving pregnant widow.

Janice turned from the counter, bearing the weight of her sister. She seemed to scan the room. Hayden couldn’t help herself. She got up. She’d always been willing to help people. She couldn’t do any less now. Coming alongside the officer, she took half the burden from her shoulder. “Let me help, there’s a bench over there.”

The woman behind the counter got ahold of herself. “Wait, I’ll get some water. There’s a couch in the break room. Do you think you can get her in there?”

Janice and Hayden followed the older woman past the desk and through a door marked “Employees Only.” The couch was located under a shut tight window. The unit air conditioner whined, protesting the humidity in the air it tried to cool. Like many old Florida rooms, this one held the scent of salt. Hayden noticed there was a refrigerator and water cooler standing in the corner. She went over and filled a cup. Since Elena had not regained consciousness, she offered the cup to Janice.

Hayden saw recognition dawn as the officer took the water.

“You’ve been having a rough week, too.” She smiled. “Lousy luck that you found the body. I don’t know what Monroe County is thinking. You were dating his brother, weren’t you?”

Instead of answering, Hayden occupied herself by looking down at Elena half folded on the couch.

A look of concern crossed the police officer’s face. Behind her, the receptionist bounced up and down on her toes hoping for a better view. “Help me get her in a more comfortable position.” Janice dipped a paper towel in the cold water and began to stroke her sister’s forehead.

Then Janice pulled out the brick shaped radio from its holster on her belt. She keyed it, requested medical assistance, and explained the situation, omitting her relationship to the victim. In the moment it took to speak to the dispatcher, Janice seemed to become a professional again.

“Look in there.” She gestured to a bathroom with her chin. “See if they have a first aid kit. If they do, bring me the ammonia caps.”

Mallory came in carrying the first aid kit. “The lady from the information desk got this. They keep it under the desk. Will something in here help?”

Hayden took the pouch, unzipped it and rummaged through, looking for the requested caps. They were in the very bottom. She handed an envelope to Janice, who ripped it open with her teeth and grasped the small capsule inside. An acrid smell filled the humid room as the welcome sound of sirens approached. Waving the broken capsule under her sister’s nose, she was rewarded with a grimace.

Elena’s eyes opened. “What happened? Where...No.” She shot bolt upright. “I want to find out, Janice. You are my sister, and you are a cop. Why aren’t you helping me?” Janice opened her mouth at the same time the paramedics rushed in.