Debra Burroughs - Paradise Valley 06 - The Harbor of Lies (18 page)

Chapter 17

Brian laid in the hospital bed recounting the accident to Colin, as he had to Emily when she’d come to visit him a couple of days before.

“You honestly think it was just a drunk driver trying to pass you?” Colin questioned.

“At the time I did, but now…” He looked down at his hands folded across his abdomen and shook his head slowly.

“But why you?” Emily asked.

Colin gave her a slight nod. “That’s what I was wondering too, Brian. Why you?”

“I have no idea.” Brian rubbed a couple of fingers over his forehead, closing his eyes, as if his head was aching. “I’ve been laying here for days wracking my brain, trying to figure that out.”

“Maybe…” Emily lifted Brian’s chin and slowly moved his face to the side to study his profile. Then she gently pulled it back to look at him straight on. “Same face shape, same wavy brown hair, same build. You know,” she crossed her arms and took a step back to study him further, “you and Ben look enough alike that you could pass for brothers.”

“Brothers?” Colin’s eyes lit up. He must have figured out where she was going. “You said you left the bed and breakfast and were heading home when the accident happened?”

“That’s right.”

“And it was already dark?” she questioned.

“Yeah.”

“What do you drive, Brian?” Emily asked.

“A dark green Subaru Forester. Why?”

“And Ben?” Colin asked.

“Ella loaned him her car, a Forester too, a little older than mine but still in good shape.”

“What color?”

“Dark blue.”

Emily’s and Colin’s eyes met. That had to be it.

“What?” Brian groaned.

“In the dark,” Emily explained, “maybe whoever ran your car into the ravine thought you were Ben. You were coming from the B and B, after all. And with all the other similarities…”

~*~

“Hmm, so this is the boat you’re going ocean fishing in?” Emily stood on the edge of the dock and admired the sleek vessel while her three girlfriends milled around, oohing and aahing over the different boats.

“Yes, ma’am,” the captain said from the boat. “She’s a Sea Ray 370 Express Cruiser with plenty of elbow room and a steady glide.”

“And you’re not concerned about the storm some people are saying is coming in?” Emily quirked an eyebrow at Colin, though her question was for the captain.

“I check the weather regularly, ma’am, and they say the storm’s headed out to sea. We’re not going that far out, so no worries.” The captain started up the engine.

“Besides,” Colin puffed out his chest, “what’s a little wind and rain among men?” He added a few manly grunts for effect.

Alex grunted too, then they had a good laugh.

“Hmm.” Emily wasn’t convinced, but she wasn’t going to play the nagging wife when they weren’t even married yet.

“We’ll be fine, Emily,” Alex added. “Don’t worry so much.”

Isabel didn’t look convinced either. “For landlubbers, you guys are taking this pretty well.”

“Give me a kiss for good luck, Isabel, and we’ll be back before you know it.”

She did as her husband requested and added a hug for good measure.

“Don’t I get a kiss too?” Colin asked.

“Heck no,” Alex snapped. “Get your own woman.”

Colin tucked a free hand around Emily’s waist and grinned. “I was referring to my woman.”

Emily cupped his face between her hands and kissed him softly. “Make sure you come back to me, Colin.”

“Get aboard, fellas, if you’re still planning on going,” the captain called out as he began to untie the boat from the dock.

Colin and Alex stepped over the gangway and took their seats, decked out for a cold, damp afternoon of fishing.

The girls stood on the dock and waved as the men sped away on the choppy gray waters, a flock of seagulls squawking overhead.

“Now,” Maggie said in a low voice, leaning close to Emily, “which one is the inn manager’s boat?”

Emily’s gaze drifted around as she surveyed the boats along the dock, spotting the surly Rosco Ciminella moving about on the Hoosier Daddy. “Three slips down, but don’t look now,” she said, keeping her voice down. “One of the workers is on the boat.”

“Okay,” Maggie whispered.

“Just glance at it as we pass by. With a little luck, you can get Eric to bring you down here later, like we planned.”

“I’ll do my best.”

~*~

Susan phoned Emily to let her know that she hadn’t yet located a minister to marry them, but not to worry, she would find one. Her wedding dress was being pressed at the cleaners, and Susan would pick it up in the morning and bring it by the inn.

“That man of yours is behaving himself, isn’t he?”

“Behaving himself?” What did she mean by that? The hanky-panky speech again?

“He’s a sexy guy, that Colin Andrews,” Susan said. “Testosterone oozing out all over, just waiting to have his way with you.”

“Do you actually hear yourself when you talk?” Emily asked, not at all trying to couch the sarcasm.

“You know what I mean.”

“Well, I can’t argue, he is a sexy hunk of a man.” Emily let out a little giggle as she thought of his smoky hazel eyes, his handsome face, that rock-hard body. The thought of it was beginning to get her excited. She took a deep breath to calm herself. “But he’s a whole lot more than that, Susan. He’s the best man I know.”

“Hey!” Susan chided. “My Brian isn’t exactly chopped liver.”

“No, he’s not, of course. He’s wonderful—for you.”

“I have to agree with you, Emily, your Colin is a fine man and I believe you two will be very happy. You deserve it after all you’ve been through.”

Emily sensed her sister had stopped the sentence just short of saying after all she’d been through with Evan.

“Now, about the rehearsal dinner—”

“Do you mind if we skip the rehearsal dinner, Sis?” Emily asked.

“What? Why?”

“The girls want to take me out for some fun, a little bachelorette party, they said, before I become an old married lady. Oh, and, of course, you’re invited too.”

Susan grew quiet. That wasn’t a good sign.

“Susan?”

“I’m here.” Her voice was high and thin.

“I hope you don’t mind. Camille’s daughter is here from college, and Colin’s mom should be here by then too. We plan to take them with us. Won’t you come too? We’ll make a party of it.”

“I might join you later.” Susan gave a soft sigh. “I’ll text you when I’m free and you can let me know where you all are.”

When she’s free? She was planning to be available for the rehearsal dinner she had planned, which was nothing more than all of them having dinner together in a reserved back room of some restaurant. It sounded more like Emily had hurt her sister’s feelings. “Look, Susan, I know you made plans, and I hate to change things at the last minute, but—”

“No, no. I’ll simply cancel our reservations and you can do what you want.” Susan’s words were cool and quick. “Like I said, text me.”

“Okay.” She hadn’t meant to throw a wet blanket on Susan’s plans, but the bachelorette party sounded like so much more fun. Maybe Susan would change her mind and join them.

~*~

Camille and Maggie decided to head over to Southwest Harbor to do a little shopping. Some of the locals had told them it was the best shopping on the island and they were both eager to check it out.

Emily and Isabel chose to stop in at the West Street Café for a quick bite of lunch and something warm to drink. The nippy breeze and drizzly gray day made a cup of hot coffee and some clam chowder sound absolutely perfect.

The interior of the café was done in a cheery yellow, with white paint trimming the large windows that ran across the front and all along one side. The hostess sat them in one of the red vinyl booths by a window, giving them a view of the street and part of the wharf. The place was fairly empty and quiet, it being early afternoon, and the delicious scent of bacon and cinnamon rolls hung in the air.

“With the wedding tomorrow, time is running out for you to help solve this case,” Isabel said, once they were served their orders. “While the guys are off fishing, I wondered if there was anything I could help you work on.”

Emily stirred sugar into her coffee. “That’s hard to say, not knowing if Ben was murdered to keep him from testifying in New York, or if he was digging around in this heroin trafficking mess.”

She shared with Isabel all that she and Colin had discovered so far. “Ben’s secretary thinks it’s her fault he’s dead because she’s the one who told him about the heroin.”

“What does the police chief have to say about all this?”

“Alvin? Not much. He’s pretty green when it comes to murder investigations. He’s never been part of one and he’s soaking up what we tell him like a sponge.”

“So you and Colin are doing most of the work?”

“Well, trying to keep it in an advisory capacity. We don’t want to overstep. Chief Nelson, back home, said he doesn’t mind us helping Chief Taylor, but in the end, the investigation has to be his responsibility—not ours. Colin is trying to get Alvin to think things through with us.”

“That young chief will appreciate that when you guys are gone.”

“So, now that I’ve brought you up to speed on where we are, Isabel, what do you think? Murdered by a hired assassin for the kingpin in New York or killed by the drug runners?”

Isabel gave her a pensive look before answering. “I always like to say that forensic evidence doesn’t lie, but the problem is, you don’t have any. No blood, no hairs, no clear video.”

“What did cops do fifty years ago, before we had a fingerprint database and DNA testing?” Emily gave her head a light shake and took a sip of her coffee.

“Fifty years ago? Heck, even twenty years ago. The technology keeps getting better all the time. But years ago, before all that, they had to go primarily on eyewitness testimony, motive, and opportunity to commit the crime.”

“Well, for us, eyewitness testimony is out—we’ve got none of that so far. That video tape was so grainy and obscured, it could have been Big Foot and we couldn’t tell.”

Isabel chuckled.

“And motive?” Emily continued. “Again, it’s a toss-up—to stop Ben from testifying against some powerful people, or to keep him from exposing the heroin business in this area—take your pick.”

“That only leaves opportunity.” Isabel set her cup down. “Who had opportunity that night, between six and eight pm?”

“Whitley, his secretary, for one, but she was in love with the man.”

“That doesn’t mean she couldn’t have done it,” Isabel said. “Love is one of the top motives for murder. Now, who else can we add to the list?”

“If Whitley was right about the drugs, then I’d say Eric Malone or his men, Rosco or Caleb. But if it was about the trial, then it could be anyone wanting to collect the bounty.”

“Do we know why Ben was outside of the inn?”

“To meet someone maybe?”

“Do you know if the chief checked Ben’s phone records?”

“They tried. Colin mentioned that they couldn’t find that he had phone service, at least not one in any of his names. Maybe the chief can have some of his men check calls made to and from the bed and breakfast.”

“And the church,” Isabel added. “He could have made calls from his office. Each extension should have its own number. But he’ll probably need a warrant.”

“But if it was someone who came to town specifically to kill Ben for the reward, how will we ever figure out who it was? They could have slipped into town, done the job, and left before anyone even knew they were here. It’s not like they have security cameras on the roads around here. Hmmm…” Emily tapped a quick beat on the table. “Isabel, did I tell you about Susan’s husband?”

“The guy with two broken legs?”

“Yes, Brian.”

Emily explained to Isabel that Brian had confessed that Ben was his cousin, and that he had confirmed what Whitley had told them about the two men arguing earlier in the day before he was forced off the road and into the ravine. She also mentioned her own conclusion that Brian and Ben had a distinct family resemblance and drove similar vehicles.

“And you think a hit man mixed Brian up with Ben?”

“It is possible, don’t you think?” Emily took a spoonful of her chowder.

“Well…” Isabel pursed her lips as she thought about it. “Similar cars, similar-looking men, in the dark, leaving the bed and breakfast where Ben lived…anything’s possible.”

“See our quandary? There’s nothing clear cut pointing to a specific suspect. Only wild fingers pointing in all different directions.” Emily ran a frustrated hand through her hair. “Maybe the same person who ran Brian off the road came back later and finished the job.”

“All right, you’re looking stressed over this. Let’s talk about something else for a while,” Isabel suggested. “I find that getting my mind on other things, and then coming back to the case, helps me look at it with fresh eyes.”

“That’s my wish for Colin.” Emily gazed out the window, toward the bay as a small flock of seagulls flew overhead. “It’ll do him good to be out fishing for a few hours, clear his head, you know?”

“And how about you, Emily? Getting nervous about the wedding tomorrow?”

Emily turned back to Isabel and smiled. “Excited more than nervous, but…”

Isabel took a sip and set her coffee cup down. “But what?”

“But I can’t seem to get away from these visions of Evan. They had better go away once we’re married.”

“He’s still bothering you?”

Emily glanced out the window again, watching a cuddling young couple stroll by. “Yeah. This morning, I swear I got a whiff of his aftershave again.”

“I wish he would leave you alone—his ghost, I mean, you know? I wish his ghost would quit haunting you.”

Emily nodded, bringing her gaze back inside. “Me too, but I don’t believe in ghosts.”

“Then what?”

“Imagination is a powerful thing, Isabel. With the wedding planning and everything, I think I’m manifesting images from the last time I got married. That time, I never entertained the idea of something going wrong, and then Evan almost stood me up, so this time I think I am preparing myself for anything. I think it is simply old memories being stirred up.”