Dead and Breakfast (29 page)

Inez stepped back, but she didn’t dare look up at him.

Mick’s eyes appeared moist and an odd satisfaction coursed through her.

“I want my ring back,” Mick said.

Sobriety crept back in. “I don’t have it.”

Mick’s eyes widened. “Where is it?”

“I sold it.” Well, she was going to sell it. Along with some treasures she planned to steal from Duncan’s house. Inez had hoped the money would be for her and Leo to run off together, but now, it seemed, Inez would need the money to leave Key West alone. There would be no going back to the gang after this.

Mick balled his fists at his side. “This is unforgivable. You’ve made a chump out of me for the last time.” He loomed over Inez and then stepped around her, heading back toward to his group of friends.

#

Liam awoke groggy and filled with guilt. After his fight with Pops, and slinking off the Canton boat, Liam had been avoiding the old man. It wasn’t Pops’s fault he made a mess of things with Autumn. Autumn only did what she was likely to do later—dump his sorry ass for better things. Liam sighed. He had hoped things would’ve worked out.

Liam yawned and stretched as he made his way into the living room. “Pops,” he called out. Liam tripped over a beer can. “Pops.” Liam was met with silence. His heart raced. Pops slumped in his battered armchair, his head dipped to the side. Liam noticed a line of drool slinking down his grandfather’s stubbled chin.

Liam crouched and gently slapped the old man’s face. “Wake up, Pops.” His grandfather groaned. Liam relaxed only slightly until he saw an empty handle of Jack Daniels on the side table. There wasn’t even a glass. “Jeez, Pops. What did you do?”

Pops’s eyes rolled around in his head before fluttering open. His voice came out raspy and barely audible. “I’m sorry, kiddo. I had to do it. She’d never leave us in peace.” Pops closed his eyes.

Liam frantically tapped his grandfather’s face. “Pops. Wake up.” He noticed the cordless phone. “Who did you call?”

Pops began to weep. “You’ll thank me, one day. You will.”

“Pops, who did you call?”

Liam heard the sound of sirens.

#

Inez watched Mick go, her heart thumping wildly in her chest. For a moment, she was grateful there was no one to see her humiliation. Mama always said she shined like a jewel. Jewels didn’t lose their luster no matter how often they were mishandled. She would overcome this. A few classmates glanced her way, but none were so stupid as to dare approach her to fuel their gossip mill.

No one except Ralph’s sister, who watched Mick Canton with wide, appreciative eyes.

Inez flicked her dark hair off her shoulder. “You like Mick, don’t you?”

The girl raised her brows in surprise at being caught. “I-I don’t—”

“Oh, you think I don’t see how you look at him with those big eyes, following him around like a puppy dog. It’s pathetic.” Inez wasn’t sure why she was teasing the poor girl. But she was hurt, and she wanted to hurt someone else. Inez tilted her chin toward the girl’s body. “But you do know why Mick could never find someone like you attractive?”

“I’m not as pathetic as you,” the girl dared to answer.

“As long as there are beauties like me, the Mick Cantons of the world won’t have time for the likes of you.” Inez grabbed the punch bowl ladle, but the girl snatched it away first. Inez dug her red nails into the girl’s flesh, drawing pops of blood, and then let go.

The girl winced and cried out. “You’re a monster.” She pressed a linen handkerchief to the wound.

Inez ladled punch into a cup, drank it all down, and crumbled the cup in her hands. The volcano inside her rumbled. She needed a release.

The dance would not be over for a couple more hours. It was time to go to Duncan’s house and say her goodbyes.

Liam squirmed in a hard plastic chair while he waited for an officer to escort him to the interview room to see his grandfather.

“It might be a while,” the officer said not unkindly. He was an older man with salt and pepper hair and a Santa Claus body shape. His nametag read Sgt. Flips. “Is there someone you can call?”

Liam swallowed down his tears. He wanted to call Autumn, but he doubted she’d want to hear from him, especially now that Pops had been arrested for killing a woman. Liam slid his cell phone out of his back pocket and waved it at the officer. “I’ll call my dad.”

“That’s a good idea. This is a lot for a teenager to handle.”

No shit
. Liam dialed the phone number to the rehab center in North Dakota. After being patched to the operator and then to his father’s floor, he finally got a nurse on the phone. “I’m calling for Raymond Breyer. This is his son, Liam. Tell my father it’s an emergency.”

The nurse sputtered a bit before saying, “Are you okay?”

Liam stood up and paced the floor. “Yes, I’m fine. It’s his dad. My grandpa. Just tell him Pops is in trouble.”

He could hear the nurse sigh on the other end of the line. “Oh, honey,” she said softly. “I wish I could, but your dad checked out of here days ago.”

Liam closed his eyes and let out a big breath. Of course, his father couldn’t hack a few weeks in rehab. “Did he say where he was going?”

The nurse hesitated. Liam wondered if she was planning to lie to him on the phone. “He said he was going to find a woman.”

Liam fell back against the wall. The tile felt cool against his skin but did little to alleviate the rage inside. His father ditched his rehab stint to go on some wild goose chase to find his mother. Liam’s mother. She was the only woman he’d ever loved. It was probably the reason he became a truck driver so he could search the country for her.
Well, screw them both.

Liam mumbled a quick thanks before hanging up on the nurse. Sgt. Flips returned with a cup of coffee and handed it to Liam. “Did you get a hold of your dad?”

“Yup,” Liam lied.

Sgt. Flips smiled. “Good. Because your grandpa is going to need a lawyer.” Then he whispered, “And the new public defender they hired is a putz. You don’t want him.” Flips gently patted Liam on the shoulder. “You can see your grandpa for a few minutes.”

Acid churned in Liam’s stomach as Sgt. Flips led him into the interview room. There wasn’t that two-way mirror Liam expected, just a large window with crisscross lines over it.

Pops hunched in the chair. Liam remembered that the poor man had been interrogated for hours and was still hung over. He dropped into the chair across from his grandpa and slid over his cup of hot coffee. “Here, you need this more than I do.”

Pops cupped his hands around the Styrofoam. “Thanks, sport.” He took a sip of the dark liquid and stared at the wall, his eyes glazing over. “Your grandma never got over her sister’s death. Inez was like a dark cloud over our entire marriage. It didn’t seem to matter what I did, she was never happy.”

“Pops.” Liam reached for his grandfather’s hand. If the cops were recording this conversation, he didn’t want his grandfather to say anything incriminating. “Let’s not talk about this now. I need to get you a lawyer. Are any of your shuffleboard cronies lawyers?”

“Just Leonard, but he only worked with patents or copyright.”

Liam leaned back in his chair. “I could call Mick Canton.”

“No!” Pops’s outburst startled him.

“Come on, Pops. Once upon a time you were friends. He has the money to help you out.”

Pops vehemently shook his head. “I’d rather go to prison.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“I do.”

Anger bubbled beneath Liam’s skin. He wanted to leap across the table and shake Pops’s pride from him. This wasn’t just about whether Pops went to prison. It was about Liam keeping the only member of his family with him. “Mr. Fletcher,” Liam said.

“Who?”

“Mr. Fletcher,” Liam repeated. “He’s a guest at the Cayo. A friend, almost. He used to be a lawyer.”

“Don’t be bothering strangers. I’ll use the public defender.”

“He’s a putz. You don’t get a choice. I’m not letting them take you to prison.”

Pops sighed and wiped at his wet eyes. Liam had never seen his grandpa cry before. Liam choked back his own sob.

Just then, Sgt. Flips came in. “The detectives would like to resume. Will your lawyer be coming soon?”

Liam stood and nodded. “Yes, I’m calling him right now.” Liam slipped out of the room and quickly dialed the Cayo. The phone rang and Timothy answered, “Cayo Hueso Bed and Breakfast.”

“Timothy,” Liam choked out. “I need to get a hold of Mr. Fletcher.”

“You all right, lover boy?”

“No.” It took all his resolve not to burst into tears.

#

Autumn emerged from Inez’s vision disoriented. It took her a few seconds to realize she was in the Cayo’s parlor, her legs brought up tightly to her chest. She rose from the chair to retrieve her cell phone. The screen was cracked, but otherwise appeared all right. Autumn inhaled deeply and went outside to the patio to get fresh air. The vision had exhausted her and scrambled her brain. Autumn felt uncertain as to who killed Inez. As it turned out, Inez had pissed off enough friends that any one of the gang was a likely suspect.

Autumn laid down in the rusted lawn chair and stared out at the pool. By some miracle, Liam had managed to get the water to a normal pool color, rather than the green haze it had been not that long ago.

Liam. She wanted so badly for things to have worked out. For her mother to have been wrong. But the minute she saw him with Victoria, she knew. Liam’s life was cemented here in Key West. And her life was, well, she wasn’t sure. She didn’t feel like she belonged in New Jersey anymore. Her own father was counting down the days until she moved into the college dorms. Still, maybe it was all for the best. She’d be back home. She could try for a slot on the school newspaper and get some real journalism experience. Then she’d be eligible for the scholarship the following year.

Mr. Fletcher crossed her path, carrying his brown leather briefcase. He loosened his tie. He must’ve been roasting in that charcoal suit.

Were you interviewing someone?” asked Autumn.

The man raised his brows in surprise, and then scanned his clothing. A look of understand dawned on his face. “Ah, no. I was coming back from the jail. I put on my lawyer suit today.”

Now it was Autumn’s turn to be surprised. “The jail?”

Mr. Fletcher plunked down at the end of the lawn chair, his weight pushing the weathered plastic strips to their breaking point. “Liam’s grandfather has been arrested.”

Autumn swallowed a big lump in her throat. “For Inez’s murder? ”

Mr. Fletcher sighed. “Are you still going back to New Jersey?”

“I leave the eleventh.”

“I haven’t known you long, Autumn, but you seem like a real good kid. The type of person who cares about people.” He studied her. “I know Liam could use your support.”

“He has you. He has Victoria and his Conch friends. He doesn’t need me. Besides, I’m going home.”

“Don’t you think you are home?” Mr. Fletcher asked.

“My family is in New Jersey. Or at least my dad is and my soon-to-be half brother.”

“True, but you and I both know that family isn’t always blood.”

Autumn thought about that for a moment. Timothy felt like a brother to her, and he and Autumn weren’t relatives. She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. What’s done is done.”

Mr. Fletcher rose from the chair. “If you think so.”

“Aunt Glenda is selling this place,” she said.

“To who?”

“To me,” came a deep male voice. Both Autumn and Mr. Fletcher turned around to find Mick Canton standing underneath the trellis wearing a blue-collared shirt. His large frame took up the whole space.

Mr. Fletcher didn’t seem fazed. “You bought the Cayo?”

“It’s not a done deal, but it will be.” Mick smiled, showing a row of white teeth. They reminded Autumn of a shark.

“And what are your plans for the Cayo?” Mr. Fletcher asked.

“Why, to level it to the ground,” Mick said casually.

Autumn leaped out of the chair. “You can’t do that. This place is historic. It was in Uncle Duncan’s family for years. There are . . .” She caught herself before saying ghosts.

“Perhaps, young lady, there are parts of one’s past that are best left in the past,” said Mick.

“You mean Inez?” A chill crawled up her spine.

Mick flinched. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.” His voice was ice.

“I know that you were a couple.” Autumn jutted out her chin. “I also know that she broke your heart.” She swallowed a lump. “And I know about the baby. Is that why you killed her? You didn’t want to be a dad?”

“Autumn,” Mr. Fletcher warned.

Mick’s eyes flashed. “I was willing to accept my responsibility. And she didn’t just break my heart, she crushed it. She could’ve had me, she could’ve had this life. Instead, she died wanting a man who would never return her love. The Breyer men destroy everything they touch.”

Autumn approached Mick and stood her ground. “That’s not true. Not Liam.”

Mick glared at her. “Liam is just like his grandfather. The only way to save that boy is to bring him into the Canton fold.”

“What did you say to Leo Breyer to get him to confess?” Autumn said.

Mr. Fletcher raised his brow.

Mick growled. “What makes you so sure Leo Breyer is innocent? Inez loved him. She couldn’t stay away from him.”

“Were you jealous? Jealous enough to kill her?”

Mick pointed a finger at Mr. Fletcher. “I don’t like what this girl is implying.”

“Is she telling the truth?” asked Mr. Fletcher.

“No. I don’t know who killed Inez.” Mick sniffed. “Leo was the last to see her alive. He must’ve killed her.”

Autumn recalled Inez’s memory of the night of the party. “No, Mr. Canton. Leo was not the last person to see her alive.” She stared hard at the broad man. “You were.”

“There’s no way for you to know that,” he said. Except his voice didn’t sound angry, just confused. “When I left her, she was alive. Everyone was at the dance.”

“Not everyone,” said Autumn. “Somebody killed her.”

Mick stared past Autumn. “I came to have a chat with your mom, but she seems to be out. Anyway, Bernadette will be stopping by with my contractor to talk renovations. I’m going to suggest we level this place to the ground.” He sneered at Autumn before pushing past her and out the side gate.