Page 51 of Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds

“For there to be betrayal, there would have to have been trust first.”

—Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games

Jason was right: a boat came for us just after dawn the next morning while we were eating the dessert we hadn’t gotten to

the night before. Dessert for breakfast was the perfect end to the best night I had ever had in my life.

The ferry captain, Eli, was piloting a speedboat. We came out onto the deck and waved at him. Eli wasn’t alone. Tristan and

Kalise were both with him.

I wore my bikini under a St. Claire polo shirt Jason had found for me, and I—straitlaced, good-girl Mia Crawford—wasn’t even

embarrassed. I didn’t regret one minute of last night, and judging by the very energetic way Jason had woken me up this morning,

neither did he.

“What happened?” Tristan asked as he and Kalise boarded the boat. They both looked concerned, as if Jason was their son who

had been out all night without calling.

“Someone sabotaged the Jet Ski and the boat, dumped the fuel, and then disabled the radio.”

“What?” Kalise said at the same time Tristan said, “Who would do that?”

“Someone in a black scuba suit with a mask was on a small boat when we came out of the cavern. It looked like one of the boats we have for guests. I couldn’t even say if it was a man or a woman. We were too far away.”

“No one checked out a boat yesterday afternoon,” Kalise said. “But they often forget to tell us.”

Tristan turned to me. “Ms. Crawford, I can assure you that life on St. Claire is hardly as precarious as you have experienced.”

“I’m fine,” I said. More than fine , I thought. I was floating.

Multiple orgasms. I thought they only happened in fiction. I was blissfully wrong.

“This is just unacceptable,” Tristan said. “We’ll find who did this. They will be fired if staff, banned from the resort if

a guest. Maybe prosecuted! This could have ended so much worse.”

Jason said, “It’s okay, Tristan. Really. No one was hurt, though I’d like to know who sabotaged my equipment.” Jason called

out to Eli, the boat captain who pulled up beside them. “Do you have extra gasoline?”

“Yes, enough to get you back to dock,” Eli shouted.

“Great. Can you get me fueled up and then take Ms. Crawford back to the resort?”

“Absolutely,” Eli said.

“I can stay,” I said. I didn’t want to leave, and that made me feel all lovestruck and needy. But I didn’t care.

Four orgasms. And one more this morning for good measure.

“Give us a sec,” Jason said to Tristan, then took my hand. We walked to the opposite end of the boat while Eli fueled.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yes, of course I’m okay. More than okay.”

I wanted to kiss him... but suddenly felt a bit self-conscious since we now had an audience.

He put his hand on my chin, made me look at him. “Mia, I had an amazing time last night, even with all the disasters. You’re

incredible in every way.”

I searched his eyes and saw truth. He rubbed his thumb over my lips; I kissed it. “It really was a fantastic night.” I sighed.

“But you’re right, I should go back with Eli.”

“I won’t be long, but I have to figure out what happened here and retrieve the Jet Ski.”

“I’d like to know, too.” Emboldened by the way he looked at me, and the way I felt inside, I said, “Tristan offered me three

free days after finding Diana’s body.”

Jason smiled. “Really? I’ll take a couple days off, and we can go island hopping.”

My heart twisted. “Well, I have to get back to work. I have responsibilities, and I could probably work remotely, but the

internet here is spotty, and I need a secure connection because of the financial end of my business. But I’ll plan another

vacation soon. Like a long weekend. And... maybe you can visit sometime. If you’re ever in New York.”

A frown touched his lips, and I think he was really disappointed that I was leaving. “It wouldn’t be a problem to get you

into Ethan Valentine’s house, if you want to stay and need to work. He has state-of-the-art everything, and, well, I know

he wouldn’t mind. I’ll, um, talk to Luis, ask him.”

“That’s really nice of you. I’d heard rumors that he wasn’t friendly—that two people were kicked off the island because they

hiked to his house.”

“I don’t remember that,” he said. “But seriously. I don’t want you to leave Tuesday.”

My heart did a flip. “Maybe.”

“I hope you stay.” He ran his fingers between my breasts. “I enjoyed everything about last night. Talking to you. Making love.”

He kissed me.

“You’re a distraction,” I said with a smile.

“A good distraction?” he asked whimsically.

“Very good.” I took his hand from my breast because all this touching was making me horny, and I wasn’t generally the type

of girl who got hot and bothered with fun petting. Clearly, Jason changed everything I had thought about sex and foreplay,

and for the better. That was an understatement.

“I meant to tell you last night when we talked about Diana’s book and then... well, we were distracted .” He grinned and kissed my neck; I continued. “When I went to St. John, I learned that one of the water taxis—not a registered

service, one piloted by a kid not even old enough to drive—brought Diana back to the island on Sunday night. He left her at

Ethan Valentine’s dock.”

Jason froze, took a small step back. “ What? ”

“Yeah, it sounds bizarre, but I believe him. He knew details, like the time he left and what she said, and that she paid him

extra to keep quiet. I don’t think that Mr. Valentine was on the island last weekend—not positive, but Luis said he was there when she arrived, and he told her no one was home. But there must have been a reason she went there. Maybe she

planned to blackmail him.”

Jason looked preoccupied.

“You okay?” I asked.

“Yeah. Sure. Just thinking.”

“Even though someone took the book from my room, I have pictures of the pages she wrote on. She wrote about Valentine—he’s

number 522—but her note was cryptic.”

Jason was looking over my shoulder, an odd expression on his face. I said, “I’m sorry. Are you friends with him? Would he

be upset?”

“Not exactly friends,” Jason said. “I need to talk to Tristan about Gino and everything you told me. Don’t worry, you’re not

getting anyone in trouble. But we need to figure out what’s going on with him, because he has been acting odd, and not just

with you.”

“Whatever you think is best,” I said, relieved that I had shared this burden with someone I trusted. “But be careful, okay?

Someone here killed Diana. I don’t want you or anyone else to get hurt.”

“I’ll find you later,” he said. Then he kissed me, but it was a quick, friendly kiss, not a romantic kiss. “You be careful

too, until we know what’s going on, okay? What are your plans? Just so I know how to reach you.”

“I promised Brie I’d go on the snorkeling trip.”

“Good. You’ll have fun. I’ll see you when you get back.”

“Okay.”

I must have sounded concerned, because now he leaned into me and gave me a hug, then kissed me. “ If you want to see me,” he added with a sly grin.

“I don’t know,” I teased. “Last night is going to be hard to top.”

“I love a challenge.”

“Jason? Ms. Crawford?”

Tristan walked around the deck and saw us in an embrace, averted his eyes. I stepped back; Jason took my hand and pulled me

to his side.

“A problem?” Jason asked.

“I don’t know yet. I was just on the radio with Gino. He’s identified a person of interest in the murder of Diana Harden.”

“Who?” Jason and I said simultaneously.

“A staff member. He’s new this season, and I was looking to speak to him about the break-in in your room, Ms. Crawford.”

The skinny teenager I confronted yesterday.

“But—” I began, and Tristan cut me off.

“I don’t know if I believe it, but I couldn’t find him yesterday after I spoke to you, and when I went to his apartment, he

wasn’t there. Eli said he’d gone to St. John on the evening ferry, so I asked Gino to look for him, just to talk to him. When

Gino searched his room, he found Ms. Harden’s cell phone.”

“What would be his motive?” Jason asked.

“I don’t know,” Tristan said, his face pinched with worry. “She was a disagreeable guest. Maybe he thought she’d have him

fired. She complained about several staff members during her short time on the island, though I didn’t field a complaint about

him specifically.”

“Who?” Jason said again.

Tristan didn’t look like he wanted to say, but cleared his throat, put his head up, and said, “Georgie Arendt.”

“Georgie?” Jason shook his head. “He’s a good kid. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“I’m only telling you what we know right now. Maybe he has a good explanation. Maybe he was scared after his confrontation with Ms. Crawford.”

Jason looked at me as if I’d kicked a puppy.

“It wasn’t really a confrontation,” I said. “The first day I arrived, I saw a young man going through my bag on the beach.

Later, I realized that a page was torn out of my book, and when I saw Georgie, I recognized him. I tried to ask him about

it, but he ran. I think he was scared of someone. He didn’t act like he’d killed anyone.”

I agreed with Jason; Georgie didn’t look like someone who could kill, though not all killers looked capable of murder.

He had run. Maybe he knew the killer, and that’s why he was scared. Maybe he knew that Gino was the killer, so when Gino started looking for him, he ran for his life.

I glanced at Jason and suspected he was thinking the same thing.

Eli called out from the other boat, “You’re all good, Jason! Ms. Crawford, care for a ride back?”

Jason said, “Go, we’ll talk later. I’ll have your things brought to your room.” He squeezed my hand, but his mind was clearly

a million miles away.

Back at my cottage , I showered, dressed, then headed to the restaurant because I was starving. While the tiramisu we had for breakfast was terrific,

I needed real food and filled my tray at the buffet. I sat in a corner and watched the birds fly from tree to tree, chirping

happily. A lot like I felt. If I could sing, I might have joined their melody.

“Ms. Crawford.”

I looked up to see Trevor Lance standing across from me.

“Can I help you?” I asked formally. He didn’t look as intimidating as yesterday; in fact, he looked as if he hadn’t slept

all night.

“You indicated yesterday that you had seen CeeCee on St. John. Can you please elaborate?”

His voice was calm, but forced, as if he was trying to be super polite when he really wanted to hit something.

“I saw her having lunch with a woman.”

“Did you know the woman?”

I bit my lip.

“Please, this is important,” he said.

“It was your ex-wife.”

He didn’t look surprised; in fact, he looked almost relieved. “Thank you,” he said quietly.

“Is something wrong?”

He put his hand on the chair across from me as if he were going to sit down, but he merely leaned on it, looking defeated.

“I’ve been had, Ms. Crawford.” I couldn’t tell if his eyes were red from tears or rage. “It serves me right.”

“Did CeeCee steal from you?”

He laughed humorlessly. “Technically, yes, but it wasn’t her idea. I should have seen it coming.”

“Your ex-wife.” I didn’t realize I’d spoken out loud until Trevor nodded.

“Funny thing is,” he said wistfully, “I still love her.”

“Your ex.”

He looked a million miles away, but he nodded and turned to leave. I asked abruptly, “Did Diana Harden blackmail you?”

He harrumphed. “She tried, saying she would call Krystal—my wife—and tell her about CeeCee. I said go ahead, I wasn’t the

only one on vacation with another woman.”

Then he left.

Brie found me as I was thinking about the exchange with Trevor Lance.

“Tell me everything ,” she demanded, grabbing a grape off my plate.

“What?” I asked, confused.

“Come on! Everyone heard you were stranded on the other side of the island last night with Jason. What happened? I want details.”

“Nope.”

“Nothing happened? Don’t believe it.”

“I’m not giving you details.”

“One thing. Just give me one juicy tidbit so I can live vicariously through you.”

I said, “Jason is a romantic.”

“Duh. That’s not a detail.”

“He kisses better than anyone I’ve ever kissed,” I said honestly.

“Kisses,” Brie said bluntly. “Just kisses?”

I made a motion of zipping my lips and throwing away the key. Brie laughed. “Okay, fine, don’t share. You have ten minutes

to finish up.” She ate a strawberry.

“Ten minutes for what?”

“Snorkeling. You promised to help me with Sherry.”

I groaned.

“You promised ,” Brie whined. “Just a little flirting. I’m not asking you to sleep with him.”

“Brie!”

She laughed. “I know you can do it. You flirted with Jason.”

I did a lot more than flirt , I thought, and bit my lip. “That’s different. I’m going to see Jason again. I don’t want him to think I’m flirting with

other men.”

“You really like him.”

A lot. More than I wanted to, if I was going to be honest with myself. Not that I would say that to Brie.

“But you are coming with us snorkeling, right?” Brie pushed.

“I said I would.”

“You don’t want to.”

“I don’t know what we can do that’s going to show your dad Sherry’s true colors.” I told her what Braden said yesterday about

Sherry’s finances. “I have no legal way to go deeper into her finances, but she’s in bankruptcy and has to sell her house.”

“It’s something.”

“She could have a sob story or a legitimate reason like her mother had expensive cancer treatments or even that she was conned.

She already hates me, so I can’t befriend her. She thinks I’m trying to steal your dad from her.”

“What if... oh, light bulb!”

I didn’t like Brie’s tone. “What?”

“You don’t have to do anything. But we can make Sherry think you’re flirting with my dad... and that he’s receptive.”

That seemed far-fetched. “How?”

“Leave it to me.”

“Brie—”

She put her hand up. “I know what I’m doing. You just need to be yourself. Change nothing.”

“All right,” I reluctantly agreed. “But if this works, I have something for you to do. I have an idea how we can find the

documents that Amber and Parker are looking for.”

“Whether it works or not, I’m all yours. Now eat fast. We have to be at the dock in five minutes.”