Page 25

“I need to ask you a strange question,” I said.

I was sipping on a latte in Whitlock’s SUV, outside 2 Little Figs coffee shop.

“In my opinion, there are no strange questions,” Whitlock said. “What’s up?”

“Dominic and Noelle had a balcony off the side of their bedroom.”

“Yes, I remember.”

“When you searched the house, did you find anything there, aside from a couple of chairs?”

Whitlock gave the question some thought. “As a matter of fact, we did. Why do you ask?”

“No reason.”

Whitlock didn’t seem to be buying it. He tipped his head to the side, looking at me like he suspected I was withholding something from him. I thought back to the dream I’d had, about what Noelle had said about me leaning into my dreams, realizing they are a gift, and trusting them more.

“I ... ahh, I’ve talked to you about some of the dreams I’ve had in the past,” I said. “I don’t know why I still get nervous about mentioning new ones. I guess I still feel a bit weird about them as a whole.”

He reached for his coffee and turned toward me. “Can I share something with you?”

“Sure.”

“When your father was alive, we got to talking one night when we were doing a stakeout. He told me you woke up in the middle of the night after having a bad dream. He heard you crying, and he went to your room. Do you remember?”

“I don’t. What was the dream about?”

“You told him you dreamed about a man drowning a woman in a pool. You remembered she had blond hair and wore a red dress. You also described a ring the man was wearing. It was silver and had a skull on it.”

“Wow, I can’t believe I don’t remember.”

“The next day, we received a call about a homicide. When we got to the house, we found a woman floating in the pool. Blond hair, red dress.”

“And the man with the ring?”

“It took a few months, but then we got a good lead on a suspect. We went to the guy’s house to bring him in for questioning. First thing we noticed was the ring he was wearing—silver with a skull.”

I was in shock.

“I wonder why my father never mentioned that to me,” I said.

“You were so young at the time. I think your father thought it best not to burden you with the weight of your clairvoyant moment. He didn’t even tell your mother.”

“What age was I at the time?”

“You couldn’t have been any older than six.”

Six years old.

It was a lot to take in.

My earliest memory of having these kinds of dreams was when I was ten. At the time, I didn’t talk to anyone about it. I feared no one would believe me. I also worried I’d be made fun of, so I stuck to the people I trusted—my parents.

“What did you find on the balcony?” I asked.

He glanced at me, a huge grin on his face as he said, “You tell me, kiddo.”

“Champagne on ice. I think Noelle put it outside during the engagement party or just prior to it. My guess is she’d intended on sharing it with Dominic later that night. She said it was a special bottle, not like the others.”

“Anything else about the dream? That is, if you feel like talking about it.”

“Nothing that adds to our investigation right now. What about you? Do you have anything new to share?”

“All roads have led to dead ends, as far as we’re concerned.”

“Foley was supposed to talk to Donnelly, the chief of police in Santa Maria, about the women who came forward about their abuse. Has he met with him yet?”

“Donnelly’s on vacation. He’ll be back in a few days. Say, what was your take on Gabe Romero?”

“Before I met him in person, I thought he’d be our prime suspect,” I said.

“And now?”

“Unless he’s mastered the art of putting on a good facade, I don’t think he’s involved. Most people don’t change. They are who they are. But Gabe, he’s ... well, not like I expected him to be.”

“I agree. Anyone else you’re looking at?”

“Owen Beaumont,” I said. “He’s the nephew of the multimillionaire Alexander Beaumont. He works at Royal Palms, the tennis club. Last year, he was promoted to head of the accounting department. It seems he’s been giving himself a five-finger discount with some of the club’s money.”

“Stealing from the club, eh? How do you know?”

I finished my mocha, setting the cup in the holder. “Noelle used to teach tennis lessons at the club once a week. She became friends with one of their employees, Annie Jackson, who’d been hired to assist Owen. Before I go any further, I should mention Annie is afraid Noelle may have been murdered because Annie told her about the missing money. If it is related, and I’m not sure if it is yet, she’s worried someone will come after her next. I’ve had to tell a few lies to protect her. So far, it seems to be working.”

“Gotcha.”

“Right after Annie was hired, she started to suspect Owen was skimming off the top. After catching him tearing a blank check out of the company checkbook, she told Noelle what she thought was going on.”

“Did Noelle do something about it ... or?”

“She told Zoey over lunch one day. My guess is she was trying to figure out how best to handle the situation. What I don’t know is whether she confronted Owen about it or not.”

“Have you asked him?”

“I haven’t. I decided to go a different route. This morning, I paid a visit to Alexander after learning he has a vested interest in the club. He also was responsible for Owen getting the accounting position.”

“What did he have to say?”

“When I told him what his nephew has been up to, and I showed him proof of it, he acted surprised. Well, not surprised ... maybe more disappointed than anything.”

“What made you decide to go to him first?”

“Given his family is well known, I wanted to give him the opportunity to handle it in a discreet manor. I also wanted to gauge his reaction to the news, face to face. He alleges he had no idea Owen had been taking money from the club.”

“Do you believe him?”

“I want to believe him, but I can’t rule him out as a suspect. Not yet.”

Whitlock raised a brow. “A suspect? What are you thinking?”

“It’s nothing more than a theory right now. Alexander told me Noelle tried to speak with him, but she couldn’t before she died. What if he’s lying? What if she did speak to him and told him what she knew? Dominic and Noelle were on the wealthy side too. It’s easy to believe the two families mingled in the same circles. Alexander even admitted Noelle and his late wife were friends.”

“Ahh, so your theory is Noelle went to see Alexander, and to protect the family, he ... what, killed her?”

“I don’t see him getting his hands dirty.”

“He hired someone to do it for him, then.”

“Like I said, it’s just a theory. My other theory is Noelle may have confronted Owen herself, but the more thought I’ve given it, the more I believe she wouldn’t have gone to him.”

“Why not?”

“If she told Owen what she knew, it’s possible he would have figured out Noelle learned the information through Annie, since they were friends.”

“Can’t the same be said for Alexander?”

“Get this, to my knowledge, Alexander doesn’t know Annie was hired to assist Owen with his job.”

“How do you know?”

“He made no mention of her during our visit. And when I questioned Clark, the club manager about it today, he admitted he hasn’t told him about her.”

“Why not?”

“Given Alexander handpicked his nephew for the position when it became available, it may anger him to learn Clark hired him an accounting assistant because his nephew isn’t the greatest at his job.”

“Makes sense.” Whitlock’s attention shifted from me to a butterfly fluttering across the windshield. “Did you know most adult butterflies live less than a few weeks?”

“I did not.”

“At least it’s longer than the life of a mayfly. Their life span as adults is a single day.”

“Glad I’m not a mayfly.”

“You and me both. What’s on the agenda for the rest of your day?”

“I thought I’d head over to the women’s center and talk to Barbara Adams. She runs the place. I want to know more about one of the women who visited the clinic and then disappeared. Noelle thought about hiring a private detective to find her.”

“Any idea why?”

“When she entered the clinic, she had a lot of bruising, and it was obvious she’d been beaten. After seeing the doctor, the woman fled. She hasn’t been seen since.”

“Huh, makes sense Noelle would want to hire someone to find her. Wonder if they ever did.”

I grabbed my coffee cup, opened the door, and hopped out, saying, “If I find anything out, I’ll let you know. Thanks for the coffee.”