The Legend of Tabby Hollow (Whales and Tails Mystery Book 5) (2 page)

“He’s good.”

“Is he dating anyone?”

“No one serious as far as I know.”

“I’m surprised he hasn’t settled down by now. He was in such a hurry to get married and have a house full of kids when we were dating.”

I turned onto the peninsula road. “Yeah, well, I guess he hasn’t found the right person. How about you? You said you broke up with the musician. Is there a new guy in your life?”

“No. I’m painfully single at the moment. I heard you’re dating Cody West.”

“Cody and I are friends who occasionally participate in datelike activities, but I’m not sure I would say we’re dating,” I answered.

I pulled into the drive and parked in front of Maggie’s house. Our aunt had inherited the house and the land on which it sat from her father, who had inherited it from his father. Although Maggie lived alone, the house was enormous.

“The guy is a catch,” Siobhan commented as she stepped out of the car. “I know you like to take things slowly, but if I were you and I found a guy who seemed just right for me, I’d be sure to move things along before someone else came along and snatched him up.”

Maybe Siobhan had a point. Cody and I had been living in relationship limbo ever since he’d moved back to the island. We spent a lot of time together and got along fantastically. I know there’s chemistry between us. I’m not really sure why neither of us has taken the initiative to move things along to the next level.

“Thanks, Siobhan,” I said as I retrieved her bags from the backseat. “I guess part of me has been thinking the same thing; maybe I just needed to hear someone say it out loud.”

Siobhan smiled. A genuine smile. “That’s what big sisters are for.”

“This is really nice,” I commented as Cody and I walked hand in hand down the beach with my dog Max and Mr. Parsons’s dog Rambler running along beside us. Cody had moved into the third floor of Mr. Parsons’s house when he moved back to the island, and it just happened to be down the beach from the cabin where I lived on Aunt Maggie’s property.

“It is a beautiful evening,” Cody agreed, “although I’m afraid the exceptional weather we’ve been having may not last long. I hear rain is in the forecast.”

“That’s too bad. I’m not quite ready for our Indian summer to end.” I’d noticed there was a chill to the air that hadn’t been present since the previous winter. “I hope it doesn’t rain on Sunday. The kids seemed really excited about their baseball game against the parents when we were talking about it tonight. Besides, I was hoping to convince Siobhan to come so she could see everyone. It’s been forever since she’s been home.”

“Did you tell Finn she’s in town?”

“Yes. I’m afraid I made the mistake of mentioning it when I first arrived at his office and then I couldn’t get him to focus on the case at all. I feel so bad for him. It’s obvious he’s still in love with her in spite of the way she treated him.”

I couldn’t help but think back to the spring Siobhan had left the island. Cody had already gone, creating a hole of sorts in my heart, but when Siobhan up and deserted both Finn and the family, I was devastated. Of course Finn was even more heartbroken than I was, and I guess in a way it brought us even closer together. No matter what happens between Finn and Siobhan, he’ll always feel like family to me.

“I was surprised when I heard they split,” Cody commented. “They always seemed so good together. What happened anyway?”

“I’m not sure,” I said. “One minute they were engaged and Mom was busy planning the wedding of the decade, and the next thing I knew Siobhan had announced she’d been offered a job in Seattle and was moving immediately. I thought she might ask Finn to go with her, but she didn’t. When I asked her about it she said her job was going to be really intense, so she needed to focus all of her attention on it.”

“I guess that sort of makes sense.”

“Maybe. But the thing is, while Siobhan hasn’t entered into a serious relationship since she’s been living in Seattle, she does date a lot. It seems like dating would be pretty distracting as well.”

“Not necessarily,” Cody countered. “Relationships can take an emotional toll on a person, while casual dating can help you unwind without all the messy emotions.”

“So you think serious relationships can be distracting while casual dating isn’t?”

“Sometimes.”

Cody and I settled into a temporary silence as the cold water washed over our feet. I was bundled up in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, but I was still going to need to toss a match on the fire I’d laid earlier in the day when I got home. The drop in temperature once the sun sets makes for a chilly evening.

“So what do you think about our case?” I asked, deciding that I really didn’t want to think about the casual relationships Cody must have entered into during the years we were apart.

“Do we have a case?” Cody asked.

I hesitated. Did we? I really wasn’t sure.

“I don’t know; maybe, maybe not. Destiny suggested today that we should focus on trying to find out why the mayor was on the cliff in the hollow in the first place. I’m not sure how we’re going to be able to tell why he fell, but if we can determine why he was in the area that could give us a clue as to what might have been going on just prior to his death.”

“Actually, the same thought occurred to me, so I’ve done some checking,” Cody informed me. “I spoke to Glenda this morning.”

Glenda was Mayor Bradley’s secretary.

“And?” I asked.

“She said, off the record of course, that Bradley had been acting odd lately.”

“Odd how?”

“For one thing, he’d been extrasecretive. Glenda said Mayor Bradley wasn’t one to discuss his personal life in the office, but he never seemed to be hiding anything either. She shared that during the past two weeks Bradley had been closing the door between his office and hers the moment he arrived at work. In all the years she’d worked for him, she said Bradley never closed the door unless he was having a confidential conversation with someone.”

“So what’s been different the past couple of weeks?” I wondered.

“Exactly.”

“Did Glenda say anything else?” I asked.

“Only that Bradley had begun keeping erratic hours. He was coming in late and staying late. She said she drove by his office one night last week and noticed the lights on at ten thirty. Glenda speculated that he might have been having marital problems. She said he normally was an eight-to-five kind of guy, but he’d followed a similar pattern a couple of years ago when he and his wife were going through a rough patch.”

I stepped over a piece of driftwood that had washed up on the beach during the last storm. I really should move the thing. I’d tripped over it more than once during the past month.

“Did Glenda think the secrecy and the erratic hours were related?” I asked.

“She wasn’t sure, but she did say that both behaviors began at about the same time. She also said Bradley had taken to locking the door to his office when he was out.”

“So he was hiding something.”

“It would seem that way. Glenda told me that she has a key to the office. She’s had it for years. She wasn’t sure if he forgot he’d given it to her or if he simply didn’t care that she had access to his office.”

“So he might have been locking the door to keep a specific person or persons out,” I concluded.

“Most likely. Although, as Glenda indicated, he may just have forgotten she had the key.”

Max ran over to me with a stick in his mouth. He had me trained well. As he’d taught me to do, I took the stick from him and tossed it into the waves. Max went charging after it with Rambler on his heels. The dogs really were having the best time together.

“Okay, so we know Mayor Bradley was acting strangely prior to his death, and that it was totally out of character for him to even set foot in the hollow, so what we need to find out is what caused his curious behavior and how that related to the hollow.”

“In a nutshell. Glenda also mentioned the mayor had been receiving what she considered to be odd phone calls that he only answered on a burner phone she suspects he purchased for just that purpose.”

“Did she know anything about the calls?”

“No. She said he received calls on the phone a few times when he was in the front office with her, but each time he immediately went into his office and closed the door.”

“Does she happen to know where the phone is now?” I wondered.

“She said he always kept the phone in his pocket. I asked Finn if the phone had been found when the body was recovered and he said the mayor’s pockets were completely empty with the exception of a black poker chip.”

“A poker chip from where?”

“It was unmarked.”

I frowned. There was something about the black poker chip that was nagging at a memory I couldn’t quite grab hold of.

“He didn’t even have his car keys or wallet on him?” I asked.

“Not according to Finn.”

“Okay, that is odd.” I stopped walking and looked at Cody. “In fact, now that I think about it, I realize it’s strange that we didn’t find Bradley’s car near the entrance to the hollow. It’s not all that close to his home or to town, so how did he get there?”

“Good question. I guess I should suggest to Finn that he track down the vehicle, if he hasn’t already.”

Max once again brought me the stick, and I once again dutifully threw it.

“I found Bradley’s body on Monday during the late afternoon,” I continued. “When Finn arrived at the scene he told me that it looked as if Bradley had been dead since early that morning. While Coffee Cat Books is closed on Mondays during the off season, the island offices are open. Mayor Bradley should have been in his office at the time he died. I wonder if he went in and then left, or if he never went in at all on Monday.”

“That would be a good question for Glenda. I’ll call her tomorrow. Do you think his attendance in the office that morning is relevant?”

“Maybe,” I answered. “If he was in his office and then left to go to the hollow, he might have said something to Glenda before he left that could offer a clue.”

Max returned with the stick and I took it from him again. “Okay, I’ll throw it, but this is the last time. My arm is getting tired.”

I threw the stick as hard as I could and Max set off after it. If you let him, Max would play fetch for hours.

“Did Finn mention how his interview with Bradley’s wife went?” Cody asked after the dogs had gone for the stick.

“No. Once I mentioned Siobhan she was all he wanted to talk about.”

Cody and I walked in silence for a spell. It was nice to feel Cody’s big hand covering mine as the wind sent chills through my body. The sound of the water as it rolled in and out with the tide provided a soothing atmosphere with which to leave behind the stresses of the day.

“We should probably turn around,” Cody suggested. “I’d like to get back to the house to spend some time with Mr. Parsons before he goes to bed. I’ve been so busy I’ve barely had any time to spend with him and I know he appreciates the company.”

“That’s fine. I have a busy day tomorrow, so I should have an early night anyway.”

I called Max and Rambler as we turned and headed back down the beach toward my cabin. My place was small; really just a studio with a loft. But it was right on the beach, with some of the sweetest views in the area. It had originally been built as a summer cottage by Maggie’s grandfather, but when Maggie realized how badly I wanted to move out of my mother’s house, even though I had no money to do it, she’d offered to have the space converted into a year-round residence. It wasn’t as insolated as it could be, and it had a tendency to be drafty in the winter, but it had a good wood-burning stove that kept Max and me toasty warm on most days.

“I noticed Destiny seemed a little down tonight,” Cody said, changing the subject once we’d settled into our return trip.

“She had her appointment with the adoption agency. I think she’s really conflicted. I hate to see her so stressed out, but I’m not sure how I can help her any more than I already have. I feel so helpless.”

“You and Tara are doing a lot for her. I’m sure she appreciates it.”

“She told me that Tara told her she could stay with her for as long as she wanted, even after the baby’s born.”

“That’s generous of her.”

“Tara is a generous person, and it seems like she’s really bonded with Destiny. If she’s able to stay with Tara at least until she finishes school, it might allow her to keep the baby.”

“I guess it’s good to have options.”

I walked around a tree that had washed up onto the sand during the last storm. “I don’t know. In a way I feel like the fact that she actually has options is making this even harder on her.”

“It’s a big decision.” Cody squeezed my hand in what I could only assume was a gesture of comfort and support. “Any decision she makes is going to affect the rest of her life. Do you remember Tiffany Barstow?”

“Your huge seventh-grade crush. Yeah, I remember her.”

“And do you remember she moved away when Danny and I were juniors?”

“Yeah. So?”

“The reason she moved wasn’t because she decided to do a semester abroad, like she told everyone; it was because she was pregnant.”

I stopped and looked at Cody. “Pregnant? Was the baby yours?”

“No. Tiffany and I were over by eighth grade and were just friends from that point forward. The point is, I ran into her a few years ago. She told me that she’d been sent away to live with an aunt until after the baby was born. She planned to have the child and then give it up for adoption so that no one on the island would know of her indiscretion. She even had a family picked out. Her aunt had arranged for the hospital to take the baby away as soon as it was born so she wouldn’t have to see it and risk bonding with it.”

“I guess that might be easier,” I said.

“It probably would have been, but there was a storm the night the baby was born. The baby decided to come early, so there wasn’t a plan to get her to the hospital. She was alone and the roads were closed.”

“That must have been frightening.”

“I’m sure it was terrifying. She delivered her baby on her own at her aunt’s house while the storm raged outside. By the time medical personnel were able to make it through to her, she’d bonded with her daughter. Her name, coincidentally, is Destiny.”

“She kept the baby?”

Cody nodded. “She’s a beautiful little girl. Tiffany told me that keeping her daughter was the hardest decision she ever had to make. Her parents were so upset that they threatened to cut her off financially, and she almost changed her mind and went thought with the adoption at least a half a dozen times, but she stuck it out, and now she’s very glad she did. She said her life wouldn’t be the same if Destiny wasn’t a part of it. In her own words, she and her daughter were destined to be together in spite of what anyone else might have thought about it.”