Harbor Cove Murders, page 16
“Forget retiring. We can do this before we are fifty.”
Cooper did not doubt that Adele would accomplish anything she set her mind to, and if it included a house like this with her, he couldn’t ask for anything more. “Babe, I’d take a straw hut with you as long as we were together.” He meant that as cheesy as it sounded.
She smiled at him. “I can’t live in a hut.”
They walked right to the front door which had been left slightly ajar. Cooper had expected servants or a housekeeper or someone other than Lyle to come to the door. He knocked on the door, which only caused it to swing further open and Lyle was standing there in board shorts and a white tee-shirt. He was barefoot and his hair looked like it hadn’t been combed in a few days.
“Come on in.” He extended his hand to Cooper and then to Adele. “I’m Lyle. Good thing you caught me when you did. I was down at the beach on the paddleboard and going to head back out again soon. Can I get you something to drink?”
Cooper stood there momentarily shocked into silence. He wasn’t sure what he had been expecting but this wasn’t it. “I’m sorry,” he said finally, stumbling over his words. “I’m surprised you’d be willing to speak to us.”
“Why?” Then he laughed and showed off a row of perfectly straight white teeth that looked even more so against his tanned face. He had a ruggedly handsome quality that shone through in the magazine photos Cooper had seen of the man. “I know you’re probably expecting some stuffy business suit guy or the cocky tech whiz they make me out to be in the media. It’s all for show. Mostly, I hang out here and fly to Cali when it’s necessary but never more than that. I much prefer the outdoors, but we all have to make a living some way.”
“You’ve certainly done that,” Adele said, sneaking a peek around him at the rest of the house.
“Would you like a tour before we talk?” They declined but Lyle insisted and walked them through the home. He even explained some of the renovations he had done himself. They finally settled on the back pool deck.
Lyle relaxed back in a chair with his legs kicked out in front of him and his arms hanging loose at his sides. All of his body language screamed that he had nothing to hide. “What can I help you with?”
Cooper took in the moment, sitting on the pool deck of a tech billionaire overlooking gorgeous blue water while gearing up to ask him about five missing young women. It was a surreal moment, to say the least. “As I said, we are looking into the disappearances of the young women that have happened over the last year. We heard that you were spending time with Freya Reid and your name came up during the investigation.”
“I knew Freya,” he admitted. His eyes flickered up as if recalling the memory. “She was a sweet young woman. I met her while I was out for dinner one night. She was the quiet one among her friends. I don’t know anything about her disappearance though.”
“When was the last time you saw her before she disappeared?”
Lyle pursed his lips. “I don’t know that I can say for sure. I don’t know when she disappeared. I know that the last time we saw each other, she went out on my boat with me. Her friends were getting annoyed that she was spending so much time with me, so she told me she needed to focus more on them. She said she’d call me before she went back to Scotland and maybe we could hang out before she left. I never heard from her again. It was a few days later that her friends called accusing me of all sorts of things. I kept the voicemails if you want to hear them.”
Adele leaned forward slightly in her chair as if she didn’t believe what she was hearing. “You kept the voicemails?”
“My lawyer advised me to.” Lyle took a deep breath and then waved his hand in the air dismissively. “I meet a lot of women here – older, younger, all legal though. I know my reputation is a bit of a playboy. I’m in my early forties and like to have fun. I’ve never married and don’t have kids. I work hard and play even harder. I met someone whose company I enjoyed and all of a sudden, her friends are calling me to accuse me of taking advantage of her, kidnapping her, and killing her. I was blown away by the accusations. I called my lawyer immediately. He told me to save the voicemails.”
Adele raised her eyebrows. “Were you concerned for Freya?”
“Of course. Before her friends left me all the voicemails, I had answered the phone and when they told me she was missing, I offered to do whatever I could to help find her. They wouldn’t give me any information though. They didn’t tell me where they last saw her or anything I could go on. I was going to offer to meet them or go with them to the cops, but then they started accusing me of being involved and I backed off.”
“You were worried about your reputation?” Cooper asked but he knew the answer.
“Yeah,” he said his tone even. “I had to be. I have several companies and it’s not just my reputation I have to worry about. I’m an entire brand, and if my companies suffer, my employees suffer. I know I seem carefree, but that’s a lot riding on my shoulders. I knew Freya for a few days. This wasn’t a relationship that was going on for months or even weeks. I distanced myself because I felt I had to.”
Cooper took a moment to see things from his perspective. It made sense to Cooper why Lyle would distance himself. He hadn’t come here thinking the man was guilty and maybe he was being swayed too easily. He didn’t think this was the killer though. He hadn’t been the one to speak to Freya’s friends, it had been Adele. He turned to her. “Based on your conversations with her friends, do you have questions?”
“Did Freya say anything about anyone bothering them? Did she express any concerns to you while she was here?”
Lyle bit on his bottom lip. “It’s hard to say. I didn’t know her that well. She seemed to drink less than her friends. She didn’t get high like the rest of them either. Freya seemed a bit more mature than the young women she was with. As I said, quieter too. I think that’s what attracted me to her. She was an intelligent young woman.” Lyle looked over at them. “I’ll tell you a surprising fact. I never had sex with her. I wanted to. Any red-blooded man would, but that wasn’t my interest in her. Once she was away from her friends, she was funny and outgoing, and smart. I enjoyed her company for a few days and that was that, no more or less.”
“So, you have no idea what happened to her?” Adele asked.
“I don’t. I wish I did. I hate to think that something bad has happened to her. I just don’t know.”
Cooper would hate it if he was wrong later, but he believed him. It wasn’t just Freya that he had been seen with though. There had been Ruby Wallis too, according to the witness who spoke to Luke that morning. Cooper shifted gears. “Freya isn’t the only reason we are here. It’s come to our attention that you were also seen with Ruby Wallis – one of the other young women who disappeared.”
Gone was Lyle’s affable demeanor. He pushed himself up in his chair. “I did meet her. I’m not going to sit here and deny it. There’s no point. My involvement with Ruby was much shorter than my time with Freya and much different. I met Ruby at a bar near the beach and we had a one-night stand that turned into the next day. We went to brunch together and then hung out on the beach and my boat that afternoon. That was it. I didn’t see her after that day. Ruby and I didn’t have much in common… besides, well you know.”
“Sex.” Adele was never one to mince words.
Lyle looked over at her and nodded. “I don’t have an explanation for this if that’s why you’re here.”
“This being your connection to two missing women spaced several months apart?” Adele looked to Cooper when she spoke. “Ruby went missing first over the summer and then Freya in February, is that correct?”
Cooper said those were the facts before turning to Lyle. “As you can see, you either have the worst luck in the world or there is something more going on here.”
Lyle shrugged as if he had no other explanation. “Worst luck in the world I’m afraid.”
Adele wasn’t satisfied with that answer. She pushed harder. “Is there a reason you didn’t come forward and speak to Ruby’s family after she went missing?”
“I did,” Lyle insisted. “Her father came here to speak to me just like you are today. I had been out of the country for a time and hadn’t heard that Ruby was missing. When he showed up here, I let him in and told him what I knew. I offered him a place to stay while he was here in St. Thomas looking for her. He slept in one of my spare bedrooms.”
Cooper was shocked. “I spoke to Ruby’s father and he never mentioned your name.”
“Probably because he knew I had nothing to do with his daughter’s disappearance. He was staying in a rundown hotel, which was all he could afford, and then when he got my name, he moved up here with me. He ran out of time, leads, and cash. I offered to give him money to stay, but he felt like there was no point. There was nothing more for him to do.”
Cooper digested what he was hearing. “Where were you the night Ruby disappeared?”
“With friends who were staying with me at the time. I gave Ruby’s father their names and numbers and it checked out. I don’t know what more I could do at this point. I have no idea what happened to either Ruby or Freya.” Lyle stood from the chair and shoved his hands in his pockets. He looked out at the ocean and then back at Cooper and Adele. “I’ve been with more women than is probably sane. I wish I could help, but I don’t know anything.”
Cooper stood along with Adele. “Not that we don’t believe you, but do you mind if I call one of those friends and check it out for myself?”
“I’d expect nothing less from a good investigator.” Lyle walked past them into the house and then went to the kitchen. He jotted a name and number down on a notepad and then ripped off the page and handed it to Cooper.
He thanked Lyle. “One last question. Did you meet or have any interaction with any of the other missing women?”
“I’ve been watching the news and I didn’t meet them that I remember. I can’t rule out that I didn’t say hello or buy someone a drink. I can say with certainty that I don’t remember any of the others.”
With that, Cooper and Adele left Lyle Blaylock’s home with only a little more information than they went in with. If anything, Cooper left feeling like they had crossed one suspect off the list.
CHAPTER 24
Before Riley left to track down a known researcher on sex trafficking at the local university, she had followed up with a dog handler who promised Luke they’d be there by eleven that morning. He moved up the meeting with Bill and Ava and explained to them he needed an article of clothing belonging to Laurie.
Ava provided him a tee-shirt from Laurie’s suitcase. It was one she had worn in St. Thomas and Ava found tucked away with other laundry from the trip. Ava didn’t want to meet the dog handler or be involved in the process. She thought it would be too hard to bear, which Luke understood.
Luke assured Bill he didn’t need to be involved either, but he stoically said that he had to be there. At ten-fifty, the two of them walked to the front of the hotel and met with Margaret, the dog handler, and her dog, Gus.
When she was done explaining the process, Bill asked, “Do you think this many days after her disappearance that the dog will be able to pick up her scent?”
“We will do our best and if for some reason it’s not working, we will discuss other options.”
Luke assumed that the other option was a cadaver dog and he didn’t want to go down that road with Bill and Ava right now. “As Riley might have told you, the last place Laurie was known to be was a side door to the hotel. Would you like to start there?”
“That’s a great place to start.” Together they all walked to the side of the building to the door Laurie was seen at on surveillance video. Margaret held out the tee-shirt so Gus could get Laurie’s scent and then he went to work. He indicated that Laurie had been at the side door, which they knew. Then Gus took off toward the front of the hotel, exactly where Samuel Fletcher had said he directed Laurie. Instead of going into the hotel’s front door or the scent ending, Gus went clear around to the other side of the hotel and down a narrow gangway.
Luke had never been in this area before. It was so small that only one person could walk at a time, so he and Bill followed behind Margaret and Gus single file all the way.
“I don’t understand,” Bill said as they were walking. Luke had no idea either so there wasn’t much he could offer. Margaret assured them that Gus was hot on the trail and by his behavior, the scent was still strong.
They kept going until Gus encountered a side door. He sat down right in front of it and looked up at Margaret. She tugged at the door and opened it to reveal a small industrial-looking hallway that led to another door.
Luke, who hadn’t known the door was there, was surprised that the door had opened at all. He stepped inside the hallway behind Margaret and saw a door up ahead that said staff only. “Wait here for a second,” he said and then stepped around Bill and went back outside.
He needed to get his bearings. Directly across from the door was a high wooden fence with a latched door. He unlatched it and pushed it open to reveal a wide parking lot. Luke assumed that this was the trucking entrance where supplies were brought in and trash was taken out. He hadn’t considered that before. The hotel was such a huge resort and the staff only areas were tucked so far away from guests that it was out of sight out of mind.
Given Gus went into the hotel instead of toward the gate and side parking lot, he latched the gate closed and went back into the hotel. Once inside, he met up with Margaret and Bill who remained standing at the staff only door. “Let’s follow wherever Gus leads us.”
Margaret gave Gus a command and then opened the door for him, which led to another hallway. This time the sounds of pots and pans slamming around and people barking orders at one another echoed through the hallway. The aroma of food wafted through the air.
As they passed by one door, Luke opened it and stuck his head inside. A man standing over a pot on the stove looked his way. “You’re not supposed to be back here.”
Luke explained who he was and what he was doing back there. “Is that door to the outside always unlocked?”
The man called someone else over to take his place and then came to Luke. He shooed him back into the hallway. “It’s generally unlocked during the day, why?” He saw Margaret with the dog and grew visibly upset. “You can’t have animals back here. What do you think you’re doing?”
“This is a search dog following the scent of Laurie Presley, the missing young woman from the hotel,” Luke told him again. “We are following her scent and she came through that side door.”
“No. Impossible,” the man said. “No one but staff comes through that door.”
Luke ran a hand over his head and blew out a frustrated breath. “We came through that door and you said it’s unlocked most of the time. Laurie appears to have come to that door the night she disappeared. Does anyone lock that door at night?”
The man shrugged. “I don’t work late, but I assume they are supposed to. We all have a key though.”
“Everyone who works back here has a key to that door?” Luke asked, not understanding what he meant.
The man confirmed. “Every supervisor or anyone opening or closing the kitchen has a key. The kitchen opens at four in the morning to start preparing breakfast and room service closes at ten. Most staff are gone by eleven and the door should be locked. Whether it is or not, I have no idea.” The man waved Luke off with his hand. “I have things to do. Finish up and then get out of the staff area.”
Luke pointed down the hall. “Where does this hallway lead?”
The man turned his head. “There is a stockroom, administrative offices, and a small staff quarter with some rooms for those who may need to spend the night.” He didn’t finish explaining even when Luke started to ask another question. He turned back to the kitchen door and disappeared.
Luke wasn’t in the mood to press his luck. He walked back to Margaret and Bill who were waiting for him. “Let’s proceed and we can circle back and ask questions if we need to.”
Gus started following the trail that led down the hallway, past all the offices that the man from the kitchen had indicated, and then they followed the hall to a dead end. They had no choice but to turn left and follow the hall. They came to another door and Gus waited until Margaret opened it.
The hallway widened beyond the door, more like the hallways on the upper floors of the hotel. There were rooms on either side with doors that were shut. Luke tried one and found it locked. He tried another and it too was locked. Gus walked past five doors on both sides and then stopped on the right at the sixth. He sat and looked up at Margaret.
“Laurie was here,” she said to Luke. “Gus indicates that she was here and he is never wrong.”
“Why would my daughter be here?” Bill asked, seeming as confused as Luke.
“I don’t know.” Luke had no idea what was behind the door. The last thing he wanted was to open the door and find Laurie’s body with her father standing there with them. “Bill, come with me and we can find Vic who can explain this area of the hotel to us.”
Bill turned to the door, tried it even though Margaret had, and when it still didn’t open, he followed Luke back out of that section of the hallway. It took Luke a moment to find his way back to the main lobby. Once there, he asked Bill to take a seat while he tracked down Vic.
At the front desk, Luke asked for him and was directed to a back office behind the desk. Luke knocked on the door. “Vic,” he said, opening it without waiting to be invited in. “I need to speak to you.”
Vic was sitting behind the desk staring at the computer. He raised his eyes to Luke and took in his concerned expression. “Did something happen?”
“We have the search dog here today and it followed Laurie’s scent from the door she was last seen on surveillance around the front of the building to the side staff entrance. The dog then led us past the kitchen and administrative offices to another hallway that looks like it might be rooms. Help me understand what that area is.”
