A Deadly Pair O'Docks Read online

  I froze. I recognized Jared’s voice.

  “Uh huh. The price is firm. Forty grand, just like I told you before. Don’t try to scam me.” He hung up and the footsteps grew fainter.

  When they stopped, I poked my head out, only to see Jared standing further down the drive, staring right at me.

  “I thought I saw someone had messed with the cover, I just didn’t figure it was you.” He folded his arms across his chest.

  “Uh, yeah. Lindsay told me she was thinking about selling the boat and my father-in-law was interested, so I was checking it out for him.”

  “Do you think I’m stupid?” He reached behind his back and, walking toward me, pulled a gun out of a back holster hidden beneath his shirt. He trained it on me. “I should have guessed you’d be the one to figure it out. You were always making up excuses to ask questions. Becca thought you were just interested in all of us, but I knew something was up.”

  “I was interested in everyone—you’re Desi’s friends and I wanted to get to know you better.” My eyes were hypnotized by the barrel of the gun pointing straight at me. “That’s all.”

  “Hmm...” he said, but his tone said he didn’t believe me. “Well, it’s too late now. I can’t have you telling Lindsay that I stole her boat.”

  “It’s not stolen, it’s right here. I’m in it.” I smiled winningly at him.

  He gave me a withering look. “You know what I mean.”

  A rock rolled across the ground between us. Jared turned to see where it had come from, and I tried to make a break for it. Unfortunately, my foot caught on a rope inside the boat, and I was stuck. I wriggled my foot, but it wouldn’t come out.

  “Get in there with her,” Jared said to whoever had caused the distraction.

  I looked up. Desi stared guiltily at me. I sighed. Why had she come outside?

  Then it hit me. I’d sent her the photo of the bloodstain. I was the reason she was now in danger.

  He waved his gun at her, and she climbed inside the boat with me.

  “Give me your phones. I don’t want any calls for help.”

  We did as he asked and he pulled the covering tight across the back of the boat, sealing us in there.

  “We’re going for a little ride, ladies.” He started up the truck and drove for only a few minutes before he began to back up. I heard a splash as the trailer tires hit water.

  “Desi, we’re in Lake Elinor,” I whispered. She didn’t answer.

  She was sitting next to me on the floor of the boat, her breathing growing louder and faster. “Chocolate éclairs, cherry Danishes, walnut brownies, caramel squares. Chocolate éclairs, cherry Danishes—”

  “Desi,” I interrupted her. “He’s putting the boat in the water. We’ve got to get out of here.”

  “Chocolate éclairs, cherry Danishes...” she continued reciting.

  What was she doing? Then it hit me. Desi had severe claustrophobia. She’d told me that one time she’d accidentally locked herself in a small closet at work and passed out from anxiety. Luckily, one of the staff had needed something from the closet, or she might not have been found for a while.

  Ok. Desi wasn’t going to be much help as long as we were stuck inside the covered boat. I racked my brain. What could we do to get out of this situation? I tugged on the covering, but it was tightly secured.

  The boat continued to back up into the water. Was he going to back the whole truck into the lake? When it felt like the boat was starting to float, he stopped. I shivered despite the warm weather and the stifling heat under the red canvas.

  Jared released the bindings on the canvas and pulled it aside in front to allow him to get into the captain’s seat. I blinked at the glaring light that invaded our dark cave. Desi tried to stand under the canvas, gasping for air near the opening.

  The gun poked under the canvas, nudging her back onto the floor. “Sit down,” he barked.

  “You’re not going to get away with this,” I shouted.

  “Really? Because I did with Declan.” He backed the boat completely off the trailer then spun it around to face out into the lake. The motor roared as he zipped out to the middle.

  He yanked the cover off our heads. Desi’s face was white and her eyes panicked. I had to figure some way to get us out of there. But how? We were in the middle of a lake, and all the other boaters were down at the widest part of the lake, too far away to hear a call for help.

  “Declan found out from the business valuation that someone had been draining the dental practice’s bank accounts, didn’t he? He knew it was most likely one of his partners, but how did he find out it was you? Did he discover your gambling addiction?”

  Jared’s mouth twisted, turning his handsome face into a terrifying one. “He suspected, but he didn’t confront me until early last week. I of course told him he was crazy. But then we got stuck rooming together, and he overheard me talking to my bookie. It was hard to get out of that. He said he’d give me a week to make it right, but there was no way I could return all the money I’d taken. It was gone.”

  “So you killed him to hide your embezzlement.”

  “I couldn’t let him turn me in. I’d go to jail for sure if he and Bill pressed charges. I decided I’d have to get rid of him sometime during the week, and his fight with Lindsay at the rehearsal dinner gave me the perfect opportunity. He was so drunk, all I had to do was hit him over the head with an oar and then hold him under the water. I threw some beer bottles on the dock at the Boathouse so everyone would think he’d fallen into the water in a drunken stupor.” He frowned. “I should have done it in the Sound, and then no one would have ever suspected.”

  “So it was premeditated,” I said slowly. Color had returned to Desi’s face, and she was listening intently to our conversation.

  “I didn’t have a choice.” He cut the engine and turned to us. “Just like I don’t have a choice now.”

  “What are you going to do to us?” Desi asked.

  “You and your friend are going to have a horrible boating accident. I’ll set someone’s rowboat free on the lake, so they’ll think you went out on it and drowned.”

  I glanced at the far-off lakeshore. From this distance, the boats and kayaks looked like miniatures dotting the sand in front of the houses. There was only water surrounding us. There would be no rescue from any outside party.

  I needed to know. “So how did you get back to Lake Elinor after you dumped the boat and Declan’s body?”

  He smiled smugly. “I’d left my car in the long-term parking by the ferry. Easy enough to walk over there and retrieve it, then tell everyone the car dealership had delivered it early that morning.” He leaned over the front seat to pull the remaining canvas off the boat, fighting with it with his right hand to unhook it. His left hand trained the gun on us as he threw the canvas over our heads. “Now, time for you two to have an unfortunate accident.”

  I saw Desi reach into her pocket, then her eyes widened and she yelled, “Watch out!”

  Out of nowhere, a speedboat towing a water skier flew past us, going way too fast. Their wake rocked our boat and water splashed aboard. Desi and I were still on the floor, so we didn’t get jostled too much, but the force of the waves threw Jared off-kilter. He lost his balance on the side of the boat, and Desi took that opportunity to throw something in his face. He rubbed his eyes with the hand he’d used to brace himself, howling in pain as tears streamed down his face.

  Another wave jolted the boat and he lurched forward, smacking his head with a sickening crunch on the side of the boat, and then, as if in slow motion, slid off the boat like a sea lion diving into the ocean.

  Desi and I exchanged glances before we both stumbled to our feet and rushed over to the edge.

  “I don’t see anything.” Desi peered into the water.

  “Me neither,” I said grimly. Although Jared had been about to kill us, I didn’t want him to drown.

  “I hate to say it, but it seems fitting, considering what he did to D
eclan.” Desi’s voice held a note of shock, and she was shivering despite the heat.

  I turned in a slow circle, scanning the water for signs of life. There were none. “We should go back to the house.”

  Desi nodded. “I think he left our cell phones in the truck.” She cast another glance at the water, then climbed into the captain’s seat and started the motor.

  The closer the boat got to dry land, the better I felt. When we got to the shore, we tied up to someone’s dock and walked through some tall grass to the truck. The trailer was still in the water, and the vehicle was unlocked. Jared hadn’t been expecting to be gone long. I shuddered, remembering his body slipping under the water. We’d come too close to dying ourselves.

  I grabbed my cell phone, which was sitting on the passenger seat, and called the police. When they showed up, they gave us blankets to wrap around our shoulders and told us to sit on a bench nearby while they investigated.

  Desi and I huddled together with our blankets on. A cloud had blocked the sun, causing the temperature to drop by at least twenty degrees.

  “Do you think they’ll find him?” I asked. A police boat had been dispatched to the center of the lake, but nothing had turned up yet.

  “I don’t know. Probably not. Lake Elinor is a glacial lake and has some pretty deep trenches. They may never find him.” She stared out at the boat in the middle of the lake, which from this distance looked as small as the one Mikey had made at Sail Away camp.

  “We could have died out there. That could have been us.” I wrapped the blanket tighter around me.

  “I know.” She swiped at her eyes.

  “What was that you threw at him anyways?”

  “Glitter,” she said matter-of-factly.

  “You just happened to have glitter in your pocket?” It had done the trick nicely though.

  “Remember the paintings they did at camp of their dream boat? The ones where they could glue stuff on?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “Well, Anthony wanted glitter on his, but he ran out of time. He wouldn’t let me leave without having Ms. Shana put some glitter in a bag for him to add at home. I stuck it in my pocket and forgot it was there until we were in the boat.” She laughed. “Good thing I didn’t stick them in the washing machine with the glitter in the pocket. That would be a mess.”

  I shook my head. Sometimes the peculiar items that get shoved at moms every day could come in handy. “Well, good thing you had it.”

  “Ms. Andrews? Ms. Torres? We’re ready for you now.” A young, female police officer led us over to where they’d set up a mobile command post.

  We told them that Jared had been responsible for Declan’s death and how he’d done it. After they took our statements and released us, a policeman escorted us back to Becca’s lake house in his patrol car.

  We stood outside the lake house, unsure of what to do.

  “Should we tell them?” Desi asked, almost in a whisper.

  I glanced up at the living room windows. I didn’t see anyone, but all the cars were still there. I sighed. “Yeah, let’s go.”

  We told Lindsay and then Orson about what had happened to Jared. Orson sat down heavily on the sofa and put his head in his hands.

  Looking up, he said, “I can’t believe this. Jared? He’s one of my best friends… and Declan’s too.” His face was ashen.

  Desi went over to him and sat down next to him, wrapping her arm around his shoulders. “I know. If I hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t have believed it either.” She blanched a little thinking of our recent experience out on the lake.

  “Are you all right?” Orson asked, glancing between Desi and me.

  I nodded. “We’re ok, just a little shaken up. Actually, we’d better get home. We weren’t supposed to be out here for so long, and our families will be worried about us.”

  Desi stood. “You’ll tell Becca and Bill, right? I’d hate for them to hear about it from the police.” Her voice held unshed tears.

  “We will,” Lindsay said. Orson just closed his eyes.

  “I’ll call you later,” Desi promised.

  We got into the car and sat there for a moment, both of us gazing out at the lake.

  “It doesn’t even seem real,” I said.

  “I know.” The tears began to flow out of Desi’s eyes. “What happened to Jared to make him like that? He was always such a nice, fun-loving guy back in college.”

  “I don’t know.” I leaned over in the front seat to give her a quick hug. “It may have been a gambling addiction, or something else entirely. We’ll never know.”

  “I guess not.” Desi wiped her tears away and, without a look back, drove us away from Lake Elinor for the last time.

  21

  A little over a week later, everything was getting back to normal—in my life and at the Boathouse. Beth was back at work but had decided to cut back on some of her hours so that she could concentrate on her health. She’d offered to hire someone else to help take the extra workload off of me, but I’d deferred that decision for another month.

  “Jill, can you please go through the voicemails from last night? The requests for new bookings are coming in faster than I can contact the potential clients.” Beth lowered herself into her chair and rested her arms on the desk.

  “I can go through them this morning.” I scanned her face. She looked exhausted. “Do you need me to get you anything? Water? Coffee?”

  Beth motioned to the cups on her desk. “Nope, I’m all set. Thanks though.”

  “Sure, no problem.” I turned to leave.

  “Hey, Jill,” she said.

  I turned back around.

  “Thank you for everything you did for the Boathouse while Lincoln and I were out of commission. We both really appreciate it.”

  “Of course. But next time, do you think you could choose a time to have heart surgery that isn’t in the middle of a murder investigation?” I teased.

  She laughed. “I’ll do my best. And better yet, maybe you can stay out of the middle of murder investigations.” She raised her eyebrows at me, then pulled a file out of a drawer and laid it open on the desk. “Even with the bookings that were canceled during that time period, we’re still looking good. People snapped up those dates when they found out they’d become available. I guess what they say is true—any publicity is good publicity.”

  I remembered how it felt to have the reporters congregating outside, hungry for any tidbit to make their next story. “I don’t know about that, but I’m glad it turned out ok in the end.” I left her office and returned to mine, determined to get through all of the voicemails and e-mails before lunchtime. I’d made plans to meet Desi for a walk at lunchtime, and I needed to go home and relieve Adam of Ella-duty before meeting her at the café.

  When I got to the café, I wheeled the stroller inside. Desi was standing behind the counter with Lina, bouncing her lightly as she shifted from foot to foot.

  “Hey. Let me just tell Andrea that I’m leaving. Oh, and I have news.”

  “Good or bad?”

  Her face darkened. “A little of both.”

  What did she have to tell me? I’d seen her briefly the day before, so it was something new. By the time she rolled up with Lina’s stroller, I’d worked myself up wondering about her news.

  “What did you need to tell me?” I asked as soon as we were clear of the café.

  “Tomàs called me at work today.” She paused for dramatic effect. “They found Jared’s body. It washed ashore last night.”

  “Oh.” Now I could see why she’d said both good and bad news. I was happy to have closure but hearing that they’d found his body made his death so final. I knew it wasn’t our fault that he had died, but it still brought up bad feelings.

  “Yeah. That’s pretty much how I felt. I keep asking myself if I hadn’t thrown the glitter at him, would he have hit his head and fallen in the water? I can’t get that image of him sinking out of my head.”

  “He was going to k
ill us. I think you acted in self-defense. And it could have been solely the force of the wake that knocked him over. We don’t know.”

  “But still...”

  “Anything you did was done to save our lives and it worked. We’re here, with our babies, enjoying the sun. Let’s try to put this out of our heads now, ok?” I knew it was easier said than done, but I wanted to try to forget. “It feels good to get outside and exercise a little.” I held on to the stroller handles and leaned forward to stretch my hamstrings. Although I’d vowed to establish a more regular exercise regime this summer, all of that had gone by the wayside when I realized how busy work would be in the summer season.

  Desi laughed. “I’m joining a gym after Labor Day. Pretty soon it will be back to rain in these parts.”

  She held her face up to the sun and closed her eyes. Lina cried, snapping her out of it. She pulled the stroller shade over Lina’s face, and I did the same with Ella’s stroller. We walked along side by side, enjoying the last days of summer. Not for the first time, I reflected on how lucky I was to have a job that allowed me the flexibility to spend so much time with my kids. I knew not everyone had that luxury.

  We passed by the marina and a boat like Declan’s caught my eye. Desi saw what I was looking at.

  “Yeah, every time I see a boat now, I get a little claustrophobic. I honestly thought we were going to die in there.” She leaned down to check on her baby.

  “Me too.” I changed the subject, at least partially. “Have you heard from Becca since the wedding?”

  She brightened. “I did. She and Bill had a wonderful time on the island at some place that offers luxury cabins right on the beach.” Laughing, she said, “I keep dropping hints to Tomàs that it would be nice for our anniversary, but I’m not sure it’s getting through to him.”

  “And the dental practice? Is Bill alone there now, or did he hire another partner?” With both Declan and Jared dead, it must be strange for him there.

  “Oh. I forgot I hadn’t told you about that. Becca said he’s going to sell the practice, and they’re going to move to San Francisco. There were too many memories for him here. It was weird enough for me to have Declan murdered and Jared try to kill us, and I wasn’t even that close to them. It must be horrible for Bill.”