Citrus Beach Mystery: Box Set

Chapter Four-2

Agreeing to keep in touch, Megan ended the call with a smile on her face. Looking over at Paul, she laughed and commented on how well Carol took the news of a murder on her property. Hitting the speed dial on her phone, Megan waited to be connected to her assistant, Janice. A few years older than Megan’s daughter, Janice was an organized whirlwind that not only kept their subcontractors in line, but kept the office running smoothly.

“Good morning, Janice, sorry to call so early on a Saturday, but we have a bit of a problem developing,” Megan said when Janice answered her home phone.

“I figured you would be calling after I saw the weather report last night, Megan. Not to worry, it’s not a problem, just an unexpected challenge.”

“I knew I could count on you to keep everything in perspective,” said Megan, laughing. “I would like to get as many of the team in at noon for a planning meeting. I thought if we shot for lunch, it would work for most of us. I’m having food brought in, and we’ll keep it short and sweet. I don’t want to take away from everyone’s day off. We also have another item to go over other than the potential storm.”

“I’ll start calling everyone right away. Don’t worry about taking a bit of our weekend. We all know what’s expected of us this time of year. Although, it does seem to be getting off to an early start.”

“That’s for sure,” Megan agreed. “I need to be out at the Bloomquest residence this morning. Can you open up the office and get things set up for me?”

“Of course. Do what you need to do, and I’ll have everything under control here. If I have any questions, I’ll give you a call. You call me if you think of anything else we need. I’ll print off a copy of our hurricane procedures for everyone to refer to as well as the clients’ special needs lists. All you have to do is walk through the door and tell us when to start our action plan.”

“Thanks so much, Janice. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Megan relaxed a bit as she hung up her phone, knowing that Janice would do as she promised, and everything would run smoothly at the office. Now she could only hope the rest of her morning would be as problem free.

“Got things rolling?” asked Paul as she stuffed her phone into the front pocket of her purse.

“As much as I can for now. Paul, do you think they have recovered the body yet?”

“We’ll know shortly. Let’s hope we can just get in and out without any surprises.”

Looking out her window, she saw they weren’t far away and nodded her head in agreement with Paul’s wish. With nothing to do but wait until they arrived, she began to play over in her head the images of yesterday’s events. Everything seemed clearer to her today, especially the remembrance of the two men tossing a third into the river. Paul left her to her thoughts, knowing that, in a few moments, she would have to deal with the reality of being the only witness to a murder.

As they neared the drive into the Bloomquest property, Paul had to slow down to a crawl. Either side of the road had both official and media vehicles parked along the shoulder. There were two policemen standing at the entrance to the drive to prevent unauthorized persons onto the property. Paul lowered his window as he turned into the drive and one of the cops stepped up to the side of the car. The two men recognized each other and the officer relaxed a little.

“Good morning, Paul, Ms. Cassidy. The sheriff left word that you were to go on in and park in the garage like you did last night. Looks like the media has gotten a whiff of a possible story, and he wants you both out of the limelight. Not that it’s gonna be possible for very long, but he wants to try.”

But even as they were speaking, a car door opened on a Kia with the logo of the Daily Press emblazoned on its side, and a woman got out and hurried across the street to their car.

“Paul Cassidy, is that you? And is that Megan with you? Do you have any information you would like to share with me for our readers? This is Carol Bloomquest’s home, isn’t it? Has there been a robbery or has someone been hurt?”

Her rapid-fire questions made all three of them groan in frustration. Talking to Paul in an undertone, the officer took a step to block the reporter’s clear view of them.

“Go on and head back. I’ll run interference with Miss Heart. Again.”

Rolling his window back up, Paul shook his head in pity for the officer left behind to deal with the pesky Miss Heart. Young, beautiful, and aggressive, she viewed her job at the local paper as a stepping stone to bigger and better things. She was pushy and not above stretching the truth to make her story more sensational. Staying out of her way was the best way to stay out of one of her fabricated news stories.

Paul drove the car past the main driveway and entered the side drive leading to the garages. As they came into view of the backyard, they could see the activity level was starting to pick up. Parking the car, he pointed out where Sheriff Green was standing by the pool and turned off the engine.

“You ready for this, Megan?” he asked with concern, wishing she didn’t have to be here in case they found the missing body.

Megan took a deep breath, and opened the car door to step out. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. I hope today we will find some answers. I really hope he wasn’t someone we knew. It’s bad enough to deal with murder, but it would be just awful if he were a member of our community. I know I didn’t recognize him, but in this small town, I have a feeling we may know of his family at the very least.”

“Well, if we do know the family, we will be there to support them. Let’s head towards the pool. The sheriff has seen us, and I’m sure wants to talk to you again.”

Somberly, the two headed across the lawn to the pool terrace and the group of officers talking to Sheriff Green. He glanced up at their approach and with a quick word of instruction, dismissed his men, giving Megan and Paul his full attention. He took in Megan’s worried expression and tried to reassure her.

“How are you doing this morning, Megan? Did you get any rest? Has anything else come to mind about what happened yesterday?”

Megan smiled at him, noticing that he did not look as if he’d gotten any sleep himself. She knew that, in this small town, a murder was more than just another headline in the morning paper. Everyone was connected to each other through family, friendships, or business. The man had a lot on his shoulders and would be under a lot of pressure to find out just what was going on in their little town, and quickly.

“I’m fine. Have there been any new developments?” She just couldn’t bring herself to ask if there was a body yet.

“No, sorry to say we haven’t found anything yet. I have officers going door to door along both sides of the river to see if anyone saw anything, or if there are any signs of unusual activity at the seasonal residences. The divers are moving downstream, past the homes to continue their search. Were you able to contact Mrs. Bloomquest? Did she have any information that might be relative to why this took place near her property?”

“When I talked to Carol, she was just as shocked as I was. I really don’t think this had anything to do with the Bloomquest property at all. It just happened out there on the river near her home. Those men didn’t seem as if they had any interest in any of the homes they were passing.”

As the three of them stood talking, one of the officers Megan recognized as a parent of one of her daughter’s friends approached them.

“Excuse me, sir. I have an update to report.”

“Go ahead, Sean.”

“So far we have no activity seen at any of the occupied homes. However, a bait boat was found tied up to the Rogers’ dock up closer to the causeway. The Rogers say the boat is not theirs, and they have never seen it before. I think it might be the boat Ms. Cassidy saw yesterday.”

“You’re probably right. The Rogers’ property is the closest to the causeway. I would hazard a guess that they had a car parked on the causeway. Sean, have a team tow the boat to the impound area and process it for any prints or anything else they may find that will help us. Have a picture sent to me so I can show it to Megan here. Maybe she will be able to identify it, and we can have a solid lead to work on.”

“I’ll get right on it, sir.” Tipping his hat in an old-fashioned manner to Megan and Paul, Officer Sean Young turned and left the three of them, talking into his phone as he walked away to convey the sheriff’s orders to the officers at the Roger’s dock.

Turning to the sheriff, Megan noticed the concerned expression on his face. Realizing just how much lay on his shoulders, she tried to make him feel better.

“Even if they made a clean getaway, at least they didn’t try to enter the Rogers’ home. How did the media find out about this so fast? I thought we would have a little time this morning before they showed up here.”

Looking at Megan, the sheriff gave a gruff laugh. “It’s a small-town, Megan. Someone listened in on a scanner, or knew someone who was called out to the site. It only takes a phone call and the gossip lines are buzzing. I’m going to have to speak to the media soon, especially with these killers on the loose and entering private property. I need to worry about citizens’ safety first, and just maybe someone may have seen something we can use to catch them.”

“Don’t you think they’d be long gone by now?”

“Until we find that body and get some more information that could help us understand what went on here yesterday, I’m going under the assumption that the shooters are still around with unfinished business. We are flying blind until there is more evidence and a body. And, Megan, they may consider you unfinished business.”

“I’ve been trying not to think about that, Sheriff.”

“Well, let’s be smart and think about everything. You are going to have police protection until I say otherwise. I want you to limit your activities to as few locations as possible, and I’m going to need a daily itinerary of your plans as well. I’ve already spoken to Carol Bloomquest, and she is going to have security patrols on her property, as she told you. I think several the residences along this stretch of beach are also doing the same, at least those still in town. A few of my off-duty officers will be picking up some extra work for the next few days.”

“That’s good to know, Sheriff. I was planning on contacting our clients and suggesting the same thing. If you want to forward a list of men who would want the extra work to my office, we can help with that. I’m not happy about having to limit my activities, but I can see that it makes sense, and of course I want to cooperate any way I can,” Megan answered

Hearing his name being called down by the shore, the sheriff asked Megan and Paul to go in the house and wait for his return in case he had more questions for them. Not waiting for an answer, he turned and walked towards his waiting men. Looking at Paul, Megan nodded to the house and started walking in that direction.

Entering the back door, Megan walked to the alarm pad and tapped in the code with no hesitation today. Turning to her cousin, she gave a half-hearted smile.

“So, I’ve never been called unfinished business before. Many other things, but not that. Sheriff Green has a lot on his shoulders with this one. I don’t think we’ve ever had a murder on the island before. He’s going to get a lot of heat from the homeowners and the town officials to resolve this quickly.”