Crime Wave Page 21

  I knew he was fighting back the laughter.

  My eyes linked with his. “I guess you could say that.”

  He snorted as he walked away. Within a few seconds, I’d gotten quite a few looks from the other officers. After giving my statement to the police, I sat on the curb and waited for Jake to finish talking with the other police. They had already started teasing him about having the private eye save him. What could I say? It was all in a day’s work.

  Jake sat down beside me. He smelled good and looked even better. “Thanks for what you did,” he said without looking over at me.

  “You’re welcome,” I said softly. “You would have done the same for me, although it’s your job to help save me if I was in that situation, but whatever.” I chuckled. “Why were you following Matt Cooper?”

  “I found the car that had been following you. It belonged to some guy named Chuck Moore. Anyway, I found out that he had a connection to Matt Cooper.”

  “So you basically listened to me and figured it out.” I didn’t hide the satisfaction in my voice.

  “Something like that…so what are you going to do now?” he asked.

  “I think I need a shower and a margarita.”

  “Well, I meant in the long term, but a cold drink sounds good right now too.”

  “In the long term? I’ll keep doing what I’m doing now. I already have another case,” I said proudly.

  “Well, it looks like your first case was a success, but let’s hope that your next case is a little less dramatic.”

  I ran my hand through my hair. “If it gets any worse than this, I wouldn’t know what to do.”

  “So why don’t you let me buy you that margarita?” He flashed that sexy lopsided grin again.

  The dimples appeared on his cheeks. Damn him.

  “Well, I guess I could go for just one drink.” I held up my index finger.

  “Let me finish up here and I’ll be ready.” He pushed to his feet.

  I nodded and smiled to myself as I watched him walk away.

  Jake and I went to the little bar around the corner from my apartment. They made the tastiest and coldest margaritas that I’d ever had. Jake pulled out the stool for me as we sat at the bar. It felt strange to be sitting next to him in this social situation.

  He ordered our drinks and turned to me. “It’s about time you changed that sign on your office door, don’t you think? You’re in business for good now, right?”

  I took a sip of my refreshing drink. “I think I’m officially a private eye now.”

  He held his glass up for a salute. “And a damn good one too.”

  Our eyes met and we looked at each other in silence for a long moment. I was pretty sure that my cheeks were blushing. I took a sip of my drink so that I wouldn’t have to answer. I was at a loss for words.

  We finished the drink and Jake walked me back to my apartment.

  When I opened the door, Jake said, “Stay out of trouble, Thomas.”

  “Yeah, right.” I watched Jake walk away and wondered if I’d ever see him again.

  ***

  It turned out that Matt had hired the bodybuilders to intimidate me. He’d have killed me if that was what it took though. Thank goodness it hadn’t come to that.

  Sam and Arthur had discovered Matt was taking money for bribes. The man who followed me was someone who Keith had hired. Matt had demanded Chuck kill Arthur to repay Chuck’s debt to Matt.

  Matt Cooper had invested in the condos, but that wasn’t the reason why he killed Arthur and Thomas. He killed Arthur because Arthur was having an affair with Matt’s wife. He’d had Thomas killed because he was going to tell the police that Matt had killed Arthur.

  Matt had been outraged that Arthur had been having an affair with his wife. So it was never about Arthur moving out of the condo after all, although that couldn’t have helped the matter either. Allison had started her affair with Sam Louis to seek revenge against Arthur for his affair. It was tragic that it had come to that. Chuck Moore confessed and Matt Cooper had been arrested. Thank goodness that Allison Abbott had been immediately released from jail.

  Epilogue

  The next day, I was sitting at my desk listening to Dorothy talk about the next Bunco game and her latest knitting project, Allison stopped by to thank me. She opened the door carrying a big bouquet of mixed flowers with shades of red, pink, and purple.

  “They’re beautiful,” I said taking the flowers from her. “But you didn’t have to do that.”

  “You saved my life. Flowers don’t seem like quite enough for something like that,” she insisted.

  “You hired me to find out who killed your husband and that’s exactly what I did,” I tried to hide my excitement so that I wouldn’t seem completely unprofessional.

  “You’re good at your job,” she said with a bright wide smile.

  With the case settled, I took the afternoon off. I’d picked up a red, blue, yellow, and white striped beach umbrella and a red-and–white polka-dot beach chair at the shop across the street from the beach. Purely by accident, the beach chair matched my red-and-white polka-dot bikini. I had, however, painted my toes a bright red to match the swimsuit. I’d probably dip my feet in the water, but I was still recovering from seeing Thomas Shaw’s body washed up on shore. It would take a while to get that vision out of my head, if I ever did.

  Maneuvering around the many tanning bodies, I found a good spot to set up camp. I set up the chair and umbrella on the warm white sand, then slathered on my sunscreen. Grabbing my Kindle, and cold drink, I settled down for a relaxing afternoon.

  I had decided to take Dorothy’s advice and stop and smell the ocean breeze once in a while. Ever since I’d taken over the agency, I’d been a bit obsessed with making the business successful. It had only been a week, but I felt I was off to a good start. But if I didn’t stop to take a break once in a while, what was the point? There were quite a few people crowding the beach, but I’d planned on popping in my earbuds and cranking up the iPod and tuning them out. A guy in a shiny blue Speedo winked as he walked by. I diverted my attention and pretended that I hadn’t noticed.

  I grabbed my beach tote and reached inside for my binoculars. I’d brought them so that I could look at the ships along the coast. I definitely wasn’t going to check out the hot guys walking up and down the beach. Holding the binoculars up to my eyes, I scanned the coastline until I spotted a boat. It wasn’t far from shore so I had a pretty good view of what was going on around the ship. I focused in on the gleaming white and blue boat as it steadily moved across the water.

  At first sight, the ship appeared to be empty. I moved my binoculars across the length of the boat. Movement finally caught my attention and I moved my snooping to the right just a tad. The binoculars almost fell out of my hands. I couldn’t believe what I saw. A man led a woman across the boat. Well, he more or less dragged her across the deck of the boat. Her hands were bound behind her back and a blindfold covered her eyes. She had long black hair and wore a white bikini. The man was heavyset with dark hair. He wore a white shirt and dark blue shorts.

  What the hell was going on? Had the man kidnapped the woman? What was he going to do to her? As the boat moved, I caught only a glimpse of the name on the back. Vita was the last word, but what did the rest say? Unfortunately, I didn’t have access to a boat and couldn’t save the woman on my own, so I had to call the police right away.

  I threw my binoculars down and grabbed my phone.

  “Mind if I join you?” The male voice drifted across the ocean air.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked as I clutched my chest.

  Jake’s gaze raked over my exposed body. I suddenly felt naked in the polka-dot bikini. It was like being out there in my underwear. Sunshine shimmered over his handsome face. He looked different in olive green cargo shorts and a faded red T-shirt.

  “I thought I’d drop by and say hello. Dorothy said you were on the beach. She actually brought me right out here to where you w
ere.” He looked over his shoulder and waved.

  I looked back and saw Dorothy standing there with a huge smile on her face, waving at us. I’d get her for this later. I’d fill in her crossword puzzle with an ink pen. But there wasn’t time to argue about Jake being there now. I had other things to worry about. Like the woman who was currently in danger.

  About The Author

  Rose Pressey is an Amazon and Barnes and Noble Top 100 bestselling author. She enjoys writing quirky and fun novels with a paranormal twist. The paranormal has always captured her interest. The thought of finding answers to the unexplained fascinates her.

  When she’s not writing about werewolves, vampires and every other supernatural creature, she loves eating cupcakes with sprinkles, reading, spending time with family, and listening to oldies from the fifties.

  Rose suffers from Psoriatic Arthritis and has knee replacements. She might just set the world record for joint replacements. She’s soon having her hips replaced, elbows, and at least one shoulder.

  Rose lives in the beautiful commonwealth of Kentucky with her husband, son, and three sassy Chihuahuas.

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