Page 41 of Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds

“Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent.”

—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Case of Identity

An annoying, steady noise broke into my subconscious, pulling me out of a deep sleep. I groaned, managed to open my eyes a

I put a pillow back over my head, but a knocking noise cut through the layers of feathers and cotton.

I sat up, dropped the pillow, and heard my name outside the glass doors. I’d lowered the blinds, hoping to sleep. My entire

body ached as I pushed the button to open the blinds.

Brie stood there and motioned for me to open the door.

My knees creaked as I hobbled the ten feet over to the door and opened it. I turned and shuffled back to the bed and collapsed,

face-first.

“I’ll make coffee.” Brie walked over to the kitchenette.

“You shouldn’t be here.” My voice was scratchy.

“I’m so mad at my dad,” Brie said. “I didn’t know he was going to talk to you until Sherry told me. I would have come last night,

but we got into it and—well—they’re getting married.”

She blinked back tears.

“He told me,” I said.

“I told him it wasn’t okay to act like a Neanderthal and embarrass you, embarrass me , like he did.”

“He was nice and apologetic, but worried. He’s right—if you’d fallen and were hurt—”

“I didn’t, and I wasn’t, and you weren’t, and I swear Gino made a much bigger deal about it than it was.”

“Why did Gino talk to your dad anyway?”

“Because he’s a jerk.”

I told her what Gino had said to me driving back to the resort yesterday and the veiled threat.

“That’s so totally messed up,” Brie said.

“Your dad’s right. You can’t be in the middle of this, and he doesn’t even know what we’re doing. Unless you told him?” I

was relieved when Brie shook her head, though in some ways I wanted a neutral third party to assess what we knew.

“Nope. My dad is a great guy, but he’s very much law and order. Let the authorities handle it, he’d say, and then totally

side with Gino because he’s in charge.”

“What do you think of Tristan?” I asked.

Brie shrugged. “He’s fine. I don’t really know him. You’d think he was fake, always asking is everything good, are you happy, please come back, can we get you anything else

to make your visit perfect. Total kiss-ass. But he’s also nice when he doesn’t have to be. Like last night, he drove me back,

and he seemed genuinely interested in me, not in a creepy way.” She paused. “After Ethan Valentine bought the island and renovated

everything, and it was our first time back, Kalise told my dad that she and Tristan had a lot of autonomy to make the resort

work, but if it failed, there would be no second chance. I think you falling in the hole really shook him up.”

I understood Valentine’s thoughts on the matter. He was an entrepreneur and would expect success; he wasn’t in hospitality,

so he would keep on or hire the best people to run the business. If it failed, you cut your losses. You don’t pour good money

after bad. You don’t factor in sunk costs when making a business decision. It was a rule of thumb I followed when I gave advice

to my clients.

“It’s a lot of pressure, but this year Kalise seems more at ease, so I think things are going well. And the resort is sold out for the next year.”

“How do you know?”

Brie grinned. “People say a lot of shit around me when they don’t know I’m listening.”

“Was the resort thriving before Valentine bought it?”

She shrugged. “It was old. A bunch of rooms couldn’t be rented because of plumbing issues, and the cottages were crappy. But

the beach is gorgeous, and the pool has always been nice, and it’s private. We came because Dad and I have a lot of memories

here. Now, in addition to the resort getting a total facelift, they also have more stuff to do—the Sky Bar is new, they put

in more trails, completely redid the cottages, have the sunset cruises, the luau, fishing trips, better food, expanded the

spa. Tomorrow we’re going to an uninhabited island and snorkeling. I did it last year, and it was awesome. You should come.”

I hesitated, thinking about how her father might not approve.

Brie seemed to know what I was thinking and said, “My dad and Sherry are coming. And—” She bit her lip and looked at her mug.

“And?” I prompted when she didn’t finish her sentence.

“I need to find out what Sherry is up to. Like, Tristan acts fake but he isn’t? She acts authentic, but it’s a lie. She doesn’t

love my dad, but he doesn’t see it. He’s lonely because I’m leaving, and that’s why he proposed. She says what he wants to

hear.”

“She seduced him.”

“Yes! He’s not that old—only forty-two. I’m not opposed to him remarrying, just not her .”

I wondered if I believed that. Brie might not think any woman was good enough for her dad. It had just been the two of them

since she was five. Still, Sherry’s background and behavior were suspicious.

“Maybe you should talk to your dad about how you feel,” I said.

Brie snorted. “Yeah, nope . Awkward.”

“It doesn’t have to be. Maybe something along the lines of, ‘Dad, I want you to be happy, but I don’t think Sherry’s the woman who can do that for you.’”

She blanched. “Oh, God, no.” She shivered as if imagining the conversation. “Anyway, maybe you can help.”

“Me? How?”

“Break them up.”

I laughed. I couldn’t help it. “That’s not me.”

“I don’t mean throw yourself at him,” Brie said with an eye roll, “but find something on her.”

“We already did.”

“But he knows all that. I mean, she made it sound totally normal that she’s divorced from one rich guy and that her second rich husband

is dead from ‘natural causes,’” she said with air quotes. “But it’s so not normal. I think she blew through all her money, so she’s hunting the Next Rich Guy to support her. I can’t let that be

my dad.”

“You think Diana knew something about Sherry that she didn’t want your dad to know?” I asked.

Brie nodded and pulled out her phone. She read, “‘Money or love? Money, of course—he’s worth a small fortune. Does he know

all the dirt on his new girlfriend?’”

It was one of the first comments Diana had written, followed by financial details.

“This is my dad,” Brie continued. “She’s talking about my dad and Sherry. Using your code, Sherry would be number 1913—she

wrote that number twice. Did you notice this?” Brie turned her phone to face me.

Diana had written: Small fortune from 1913 with patience.

“What if,” Brie said, “Diana approached Sherry and blackmailed her? Remember when I told you that Sherry and I went to the

spa Saturday and saw Diana there?”

“Yeah,” I said, vaguely remembering the conversation.

“Well, Sherry was tense and told Diana they’d catch up later.”

“And you asked if she knew her.” The conversation was coming back to me. “She said a business thing years ago and changed the subject.”

“Exactly. But what kind of business? Sherry has an interior decorating company in Arizona and does next to nothing with it,

and Diana sold antiques in New Orleans or something. But they’re the same age. Look at this.”

Brie flipped through her screenshots and found one she had highlighted, turned her phone so I could read.

There was a symbol that looked vaguely familiar, like Greek letters, and then Diana had written: Wedding bells in the near future. For old times’ sake I’ll wait to get paid. Can’t wait to tell my #1.

“I think #1 is Amber,” Brie said.

“I think you’re right,” I said. “She mentioned her #1 being late.”

“These are Greek symbols. Delta Gamma. A sorority. So I did a little research.”

“They went to the same college.”

“No, but they are both thirty-two and members of the same sorority, though different colleges. They could have met, or known of each other, right? And Diana must

have known something serious about Sherry.” Brie paused, then added, “Do you think Sherry killed her?”

I had been suspicious of Sherry because of her actions. But now that Brie said it out loud... maybe.

“I don’t know,” I finally said. “If the secret was bad enough?” I rubbed my eyes and poured more coffee. “I followed her yesterday

on St. John.”

“Yeah, you told me. She gave some sketchy guy cash.”

“That, and on the ferry coming back, it was just her and me, and she told me to leave her family alone.”

“That woman!” Brie exclaimed. “I’m not her family. I can’t let her marry my dad. I need to tell him about the creep.”

“We don’t have proof. We barely have circumstantial evidence. Maybe if we can find evidence that she knew Diana and didn’t

say anything? Yet, that seems weak.”

“Going to St. John yesterday? Totally not planned . And she didn’t come back with anything—no shopping spree. She told my dad she went sightseeing, but she was paying off some

guy? For what?”

“I don’t know.” I sounded like a broken record. “Don’t say anything, because we don’t have enough information. I can possibly

look at her finances, but I have to think about how to do it.”

“I can get you anything you want.”

“I can’t legally access her accounts without her permission, and I’m not going to lose my license. There are some things that

are public record. I just don’t know if I’ll be able to find something to help make your case.”

“I don’t want her to kill my dad,” Brie said. “And I really think she might if she doesn’t get everything she wants.”

Her fear sounded real.

“Let me see what I can learn,” I said. “We have time before the wedding, right?”

“They’re talking about August, right before I go to college. Six weeks from now.”

“That’s fast.”

“Way fast. That’s why I need you to break them up.”

“Brie—”

“Not seduce my dad or anything.”

“Oh, darn,” I said sarcastically and rolled my eyes.

“But she really doesn’t like you. Maybe we can find a way to make her explode so my dad sees her for who she is. I’ll think

on it.”

I changed the subject and asked, “How do we find out if Ethan Valentine is on the island? Maybe his uncle Luis?”

Brie shrugged. “Luis is great, but he’s kind of... I don’t know, an odd old guy. He talks in riddles half the time. Kalise