Annabelle Archer BoxSet, page 110
part #1 of Annabelle Archer Series
Mack and Kate stood up as I reached my chair.
“We’re going to check on the pool installation,” Mack said. “The wind is picking up, and I want to make sure it doesn’t detach from the bottom.”
Kate looped her arm through mine. “Come with us. Mack’s going to explain how they did it.”
I rubbed my bare arm as I felt the breeze. The second course hadn’t yet appeared, and I didn’t relish the thought of being left at the table with the two people on either side of me missing. “Okay, but let’s make it quick. I don’t want to miss the lobster in croute. That sounds heavenly.”
We walked from the terrace around the corner to where the pool came into view.
Mack pointed at the marble staircase. “Can you two walk to the landing and tell me if the letters are still even?”
Kate and I walked up the marble steps and paused at the landing, turning so that we had a perfect view of the long, illuminated pool.
“They’re even,” Kate called down to Mack, “but there’s an extra letter at the end.”
I felt goose bumps prick my arms as my brain registered the dark form floating at the end of the hot-pink ‘e’ at the end of ‘love.’
“That’s not a letter,” I whispered, clutching Kate’s arm to keep me steady. “That’s a body.”
20
“Do you think the person is dead?” Kate asked, stepping back from the edge of the stairs, her hands over her ears.
It was hard to hear her over Mack’s high-pitched shrieks, but I could read her lips.
“Well, I don’t think they’re swimming,” I said when Mack paused for a breath, working hard to keep the exasperation out of my voice. I felt light-headed as I made my way back down the stairs, holding tight to the cool metal railing to keep from sinking to the ground and hearing Kate’s heels slapping against the stone steps behind me.
I kept my eyes lowered so I wouldn’t have to see the lifeless form in the water as it bobbed facedown with arms stretched out to the side, but I knew the image wouldn’t leave my mind anytime soon. I pressed a hand to my mouth to keep the bile down, wishing the last thing I’d eaten hadn’t been crab jelly and caviar.
When Kate and I reached the pool level again, people had begun to gather around Mack, whose piercing shrieks had morphed into cries. I took a deep breath of the cool night air to calm myself before I joined them.
“Who is that?” Mack flung a thick arm in the direction of the pool.
I shook my head, although I knew in the pit of my stomach who was floating in the water. I’d known the instant I’d seen the bright lights illuminating the fanned-out hair.
Fern ran up to us, his black beret slipping off his head. “Don’t tell me that’s . . .”
“Jeremy Johns,” Richard said with a gasp as he reached us. “I’d know the cut of that Armani suit anywhere.”
Leave it to Richard to identify a dead body by the designer suit it wore. I’d recognized the blond hair that Jeremy usually styled in a sweep over one eye, which now looked like spun gold as it spread out on top of the blue water and was illuminated from below by the interior pool lights.
The hotel security team scurried around us until one man finally lowered himself into the water, wading out to the body and touching a single finger to Jeremy’s neck to confirm that he was, in fact, dead. I could hear a few women crying behind me, but I didn’t turn to see who they were. The only person on this trip who had liked Jeremy was Sasha, and she did not strike me as the type to shed a tear over anything. I suspected anyone who was sobbing over the dead designer was doing so to get attention.
Richard draped his jacket over my shoulders. “You’re shaking.”
“Thanks.” I pulled it tight around me, noticing my teeth chattering. I pressed them together, but my body still shook. “I’m going to sit down.”
I pushed my way through the murmuring crowd, passing Cliff and Ted with stricken faces and Dahlia, who had an arm wrapped around the doubled-over form of Carol Ann. I sank onto the nearest chair at the now-empty dinner table, and Richard sat down next to me.
“I’d just finished telling the head of hotel security why I thought Jeremy Johns should be their chief murder suspect,” I said. “I guess I was a little off base on that.”
Richard put a hand on my knee. “We all thought he was the most likely killer. I wouldn’t beat yourself up too much.”
“At least I was right about one thing. Jeremy was definitely connected to the first two victims. And connected so much that the real killer wanted him dead.”
Alan appeared from around the corner, his eyes scanning the area until they found me. “There you are.” He came over and bent down between me and Richard, causing Richard to shift his knees and give Alan a death glare. “You all right?”
I smiled at him. “I’m fine. I am getting a little tired of finding dead bodies, though. Have the police arrived yet?”
“Only one, I think.” Alan pointed to Fern, who faced away from us. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were a bit of a corpse magnet.”
I didn’t tell him how close to the mark he was, but I gave Richard a cautionary glance as he opened his mouth then shut it again.
Alan stood. “Let me get you something to drink. You look parched.”
“As long as it’s not poisoned,” I said with as much of a smile as I could muster.
“You spoil me.” Alan winked as he headed off toward a group of huddled waiters.
Richard moved his knees back into place. “Is it me, or is he a bit smothering?”
“It’s you.”
Richard frowned at me. “He’s a little too attentive, if you ask me.”
“I’m not his type, if you ask me.”
He looked over his shoulder to where Alan had walked. “Really? Interesting. Maybe he’s not so bad after all.”
I arched an eyebrow at him and held out my hand. “That was a quick change of heart. Now can I borrow your phone?”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “Why?”
“I know you have it on you, and I know you have an international calling plan.” I flicked my fingers in a beckoning motion. “Don’t play coy with me.”
He reached over and slipped his hand inside the pocket of the jacket draped over my shoulders, producing his silver iPhone and holding it out to me on his palm. “I’m going to let this slide since I know you get bossy around crime scenes.”
I took the phone from him and stood, squeezing his shoulder. “Thank you. I’m sorry for being bossy.”
He crossed his legs and leaned back in his chair. “Luckily for you, I find your overbearing tendencies charming.”
I brought up a list of recent calls and redialed the last number called, shooting Richard a look as I walked a few feet away. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised this was his most recent call considering I’d recently outed him as a spy.
“What did she do now?” Reese asked when he answered the phone, clearly thinking he was speaking to Richard.
“She didn’t do anything,” I replied, giving him a beat to recognize my voice.
“Annabelle?” Reese asked. “Why are you calling me from Richard’s phone?”
“Don’t you mean from your mole’s phone?” I asked, tapping my shoe against the stone terrace.
Silence.
“Well?” I asked.
“If you’re expecting me to apologize for enlisting your best friend, and one of the few people you listen to, to keep you from getting yourself into more danger, then you’re going to be waiting for a long time, babe.”
I spluttered for a moment, then fell silent, unnerved by his logic and by him calling me ‘babe.’ It was the first time he’d used a term of endearment, and I felt glad he couldn’t see me flush in response.
“I’d hoped he wouldn’t crack under the pressure so soon,” Reese said with a sigh.
“He let it slip by accident,” I said. “And because he was upset with me.”
“Dare I ask why?”
“Because I suspected Jeremy’s involvement in the first two murders, and I insisted on trying to get to the bottom of it. You’ll be happy to know he tried his hardest to stop me.”
“Did it work?” he asked.
I shrugged. “Yes and no. I told the security team everything I knew about Jeremy, including my theory that he killed the two victims.”
Reese let out a breath. “That’s a step in the right direction. Now let them take it from here.”
“But it doesn’t matter what I told them.” I heard my voice quiver. “We just found Jeremy floating facedown in a swimming pool. My number one suspect is now victim number three.”
“Are you telling me another person was murdered?” Reese’s voice rose. “So that’s three people in as many days?”
“I guess,” I said, trying to blink back tears as they stung the back of my eyes. “And now I’m back to square one with no idea who’s behind all of this.”
“Annabelle.” Reese had steadied his voice. “You do not need to figure out who’s behind all this. That’s the job of the police.”
I looked up at the dark sky and blinked rapidly to staunch the tears that threatened to ruin my composure. “But I don’t know how good the Balinese police are. I haven’t even talked to a detective yet. I don’t think they have a lot of murders on the island.”
“Do I need to have Richard knock you over the head and put you on a plane back to DC?”
I touched a hand to my head. “You want me to leave in the middle of all this?”
“Yes, I do.” Reese’s voice had grown loud again. “The longer you stay, the more likely you’ll become the next victim.”
I shook my head. “All the victims were connected. I don’t have any connection to that group, aside from the fact that I knew Jeremy.”
“You don’t need to have a connection if you keep poking around where you don’t belong. What if the killer finds out that you’re trying to piece it all together? Then what?”
I hadn’t really contemplated the killer getting rid of me to keep me from learning the truth. Probably because I’d been convinced that Jeremy Johns was the killer and having him taken into custody would solve everything.
“I promise to be careful,” I said.
“Promise me you’ll drop your one-woman investigation,” he responded.
I shifted the phone to my other ear. “You know, the reason I’d called you was to get some of your detective’s insights on the case.”
He laughed. “You didn’t think I was going to help you dive deeper into this mess, did you?”
I had thought I could tempt him with the prospect of an unsolved murder, but I’d clearly misread the situation.
“If it was up to me, you and all your friends would be on the next plane off that island.” His voice cracked. “I can’t stand the thought of you being halfway across the world, and I’m unable to help you. At least when you do crazy things here, I can keep an eye on you and run interference.”
Part of me was touched that he cared enough to worry so much, and the other part of me was furious he felt I needed protecting. It was hard to tell which part was winning at the moment.
“It’s sweet of you to worry, but I don’t need babysitting,” I said. “And when is the last time I did something crazy?”
He paused. “Do you really want me to answer that?”
I probably didn’t. “I’ve got my entire crew here to keep me safe. You have to admit that Buster and Mack are pretty intimidating.”
“Is there any way they’d agree to camp outside your hotel room until you leave?”
“We’re only here a few more days,” I said, spotting the head of hotel security heading my way. “I’ll be home before you know it. Right now I have to run.”
“Annabelle, I . . .”
I clicked off the phone, wishing I’d had longer to talk to Reese, and wishing I’d been able to tell him how much better I felt when I heard his voice. The second I hung up, I felt a fresh rush of panic. I tried to calm my nerves as the security officer reached me.
His face was solemn. “You were eager to share your suspicions with me about the victim, miss, but you failed to mention your public altercation with him.”
21
“Is anyone else noticing a pattern here?” Fern asked as we made our way through the thinned-out crowd in the villa.
Most of the guests had been questioned and released long ago. The only people who remained were either material witnesses like Kate and me, friends of the witnesses, or people who were loitering out of curiosity. A few waiters gathered empty glasses from tables and had begun to pull tablecloths off high cocktail tables. Candles had been snuffed out, filling the air with the faint scent of smoke and burned wax, and lights were turned up. The soft background music from earlier in the evening had been turned off. Now the only noises were the muffled clinking of plates in the kitchen and the low murmur of voices drifting up from the pool area where the police still attended the dead body.
“If you mean did we happen to notice someone turning up dead right before or during every dinner? Then yes,” Richard said, holding open the heavy wooden door as we filed outside. “That little detail stuck out in my mind.”
“Not that.” Fern tightened his black leather belt, adjusting the brass buckle embossed with a Balinese emblem that looked suspiciously official. “The pattern of Annabelle finding the bodies and getting questioned at length.”
“I didn’t find the first body.” I lifted the hem of my dress as I walked down the stone steps.
“I stand corrected,” Fern said. “You’re only a suspect in two murders.”
“Annabelle isn’t a suspect.” Kate teetered on her stilettos down the wide stairs. “Is she?”
“Of course I’m not,” I said with more confidence than I felt. “I have alibis for both murders.”
“You were with us when Dina was killed,” Kristina said as she and Brett walked out of the villa behind us.
Kate turned around quickly, clutching my arm to keep from falling down the remaining steps in her absurdly high heels. “What are you two still doing here?”
Brett shrugged. “Probably the same thing as you. Being questioned by the police.”
Kristina adjusted the strap of her black one-shoulder dress, and flipped her thick blond hair to the other side. “I think they saved us for last.”
“I’m exhausted and starving,” Brett said, sinking down onto the bottom step.
Fern snapped his fingers. “That’s right. We didn’t finish dinner.”
I put a hand to my stomach as it growled in apparent response to the reminder that I’d only eaten one bite of food in the past two hours. Unfortunately, that bite had been congealed crab and caviar, and I’d yet to get the salty taste out of my mouth.
Richard glanced at his watch. “At least room service is still available.”
Brett got to his feet as a golf cart swung into the circular drive in front of us. As it slowed to a stop, the door to the villa behind us swung open and Sasha barreled down the stairs and pushed past us.
“It’s about time,” she said as she sidestepped Kate and got into the idling cart, the chiffon layers of her dress and a perfume cloud trailing behind. “I can’t bear to stay here another minute.”
“Hey,” Kate began to protest.
Sasha waved a hand in the direction of the driveway. “You can take the next one.”
Even though there was a seat behind the brassy planner, no one made a move to join her. I studied the woman’s face to see if I could detect any trace of sadness that her assistant had been found floating facedown in the pool, but her expression displayed nothing but her usual irritation and disdain.
“We’re sorry about Jeremy,” Kristina said, breaking the silence as we waited for Sasha’s cart to drive away.
Sasha’s shoulders twitched as she dug in her purse. “He’s been nothing but a liability on this trip. If I’d known, I never would have brought him.”
“Known what?” I asked.
“He had feuds with everyone.” She produced her long electric cigarette holder and waved it at me without meeting my eyes. “With you.” She pointed it at Richard. “With him.” She leveled it at Brett. “With him.”
I looked at Brett, whose cheeks had colored.
Sasha rapped her long holder on the driver’s knee. “I’m not getting any younger here. Let’s go.”
With a lurch, the golf cart took off down the driveway and disappeared into the darkness as another cart drove up to take its place.
“We’re saved,” Kate said, heading for the cart as it slowed to a stop.
I glanced over my shoulder to see Alan coming out of the villa.
“I couldn’t find you,” he said when he spotted me. “I thought you’d gone walkabout.”
“Aren’t you coming?” Richard asked, sliding into the back seat behind Kristina and Brett.
I assessed the seating arrangements in the cart. I could squeeze in between Richard and Fern, but Alan would have to wait by himself. I shook my head. “You all go ahead. We’ll take the next one.”
Richard pursed his lips but didn’t say anything as the cart took off down the drive.
Alan grinned at me. “Thanks for waiting.”
“No worries,” I said, looking up at the black sky dotted with stars. “It’s actually nice and quiet out here.”
Alan joined me in looking up, his hands clasped behind his back. The only sound breaking the silence was the chirping of Indonesian frogs. I knew what was going on behind the heavy wooden doors of the stone villa, but in the quiet of the night I could almost forget the police, the emergency personnel, and the lifeless body of Jeremy Johns.
“You missed Sasha’s dramatic exit,” I told Alan after a few minutes.
He laughed. “I can only imagine. Did she seem upset about her friend’s death?”
“Hardly. She called him a liability.”
Alan cringed. “Ouch.”
