Page 22 of Pirates in Calusa Cove (Everglades Overwatch #2)

“He showed up at the town hall meeting the other day, and one of the items on the docket was what to do with this place.” Bear waved his hand toward the rubble of what was left of the Crab Shack. “Old man Tomey had no family, and in his will, he left it to the town. I don’t begin to understand the legalities of that or even the possibility of the land going up for auction, but when a land developer sits in a town meeting when something like that is being discussed, I get nervous. The last thing Calusa Cove needs is a man like that building something that brings in too many outsiders and in a permanent way. I get we’re a poor town with little to offer in the way of tourism, but we don’t need someone like him.”

Hayes didn’t necessarily disagree. However, the town was hanging on by a thread, and his airboat business would benefit from the town having a bit of a facelift. Dawson had done a bang-up job with renovating Harvey’s Cabins, and now that the bed and breakfast was fully operational, it did bring more people to town, staying more than a night—but then they packed up and moved on to their final destination—wherever that might be because there was nothing to do in Calusa Cove.

Having another restaurant, a park, or any other reason to entice visitors couldn’t be seen as a bad thing. That said, Hayes understood the town’s trepidation. They didn’t want to become a highly populated area. They didn’t want condos, and they especially wanted to avoid the dreaded snowbirds. Their way of life wasn’t for the faint of heart. Their town survived on grit and hard work. Their citizens were humble, proud, and enjoyed their peaceful lives.

“Dawson didn’t mention anything about Decker being at that meeting.” Hayes polished off his water. “Decker’s told Baily he likes staying here because it’s far enough away from his job site that he can clear his head, but close enough that it’s not a bad commute.” He rolled his shoulders.

“Maybe so, but I don’t like land developers of any kind.” Bear let out a long sigh. “We had one come through a few years ago. Ask Baily about it. They wanted to buy the marina from her and all the businesses up and down that stretch of land. God only knows what they wanted to build. They put a fair amount of pressure on that girl, and I know her brother wanted her to sell, but she held her ground, something I, for one, am grateful for. I just wish it wasn’t so hard for her. Ever since that big marina down the way opened up, her business has taken a big hit.”

Hayes didn’t need to be reminded of that. It affected him and Everglades Overwatch because that marina also had an airboat tour company they now had to compete with. It was frustrating as hell. They had come to Calusa Cove to honor their fallen brother and to help his sister rebuild the family business. While they had done that, the new marina put a big damper on things.

“Baily told us about that.” Hayes nodded. “I’m still shocked at how much pressure Ken put on her. We had no idea.”

“Ken never wanted to be part of that marina,” Bear said. “He didn’t want it to be his legacy, and he didn’t want that for his sister. He always wanted her out of this town. Well, at least the Ken I knew did. But I lost touch with him, as everyone did, when he left for the Navy.”

“But you kept in touch with Fletcher.”

Bear raked a hand over the top of his soot-filled hair and cocked a brow. “It’s not like you didn’t know that since I first met you, something like ten years ago. But it always struck me as odd that when Ken came home, he acted like he was better than this place—him and that fancy wife of his.”

Hayes pulled up a few memories of the times the team had come to Calusa Cove. Ken hadn’t been filled with the same kind of fondness for the town that Fletcher had been. Where Fletcher had enjoyed taking the guys on tours and showing them his old stomping grounds, Ken could barely wait to leave.

“You didn’t like Julie?”

“I only met her a couple of times, but let's just say she looked down on me and my town.” Bear jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “We can talk more about this over a beer when our shift is done. Right now, I need you to do a preliminary search so we can start the fire investigation.”

“I’m on it.” Hayes collected his gear, snagged an extra hard hat and jacket for Dawson, and made his way toward his buddy. “Hey, man.” He shoved the hat at Dawson.

“What’s this for?” Dawson took it in his fingers and glared at Hayes.

“Preliminary search.” Hayes shrugged. “Come on.”

“Audra is going to feed me to the gators if I come home smelling like a campfire this close to the wedding.” Dawson chuckled. “She and Trinity are already worried that you’re going to reek of it and Keaton’s going to smell like fish guts.”

“Isn’t that what cologne is for?”

“Right, because we’ve all used that before.”

Hayes entered the Crab Shack first, checking for hot spots and not finding any, thankfully. He glanced toward the ceiling—what was left of it. The fire had mostly been contained to the kitchen, but there was some damage to the main eating area, and part of the roof had caved in—but that was more from years of neglect than anything else. There was an old door in the far-right corner. It was opened about two inches. Hayes stepped over a few singed two-by-fours. He tested the handle before pulling it open.

He gasped, jumping backward, stumbling over the rubble. His heart hammered in his chest. He swallowed. He’d seen dead bodies before. He’d stepped over them on the battlefield. He’d pulled one or two from a burning building or an overturned vehicle on the side of a road. He’d killed men while in the military. He’d seen his fair share of carnage, death, and destruction.

But nothing could have prepared him for a body hanging in a closet as if it were a coat.

“What the heck?” Dawson caught him before fell on his ass. “Jesus,” he mumbled. “You okay?”

“I am, but she is definitely not.” Hayes wiped the sweat from his brow as he lifted his radio and pressed the button. “Bear, we’ve got a mayday.” He let out a long breath, staring at the young woman being held up by a hanger and a rope. She had shoulder-length brown hair. Her face looked bruised and swollen. Her clothes were torn. Dried blood clung to her body like dried paint.

And she was missing her ring finger.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Bear’s voice boomed over the radio. “Good thing I sent Dawson in there with you.”

“I need to declare this a crime scene and call State.” Dawson pulled out his cell. “We need to rope off the area, and I can’t have anyone else but your investigators inside this building.”

“Yeah, I know the drill,” Hayes said.

“You should call Chloe.” Dawson pointed to the dead girl's hand. “This is the work of her killer, but I can’t make that leap right off the bat based only on a missing finger because she barely got her bosses to declare the few cases she has over decades a serial killer, and this scene doesn’t quite fit, but I don’t give a shit if you call her and muddy my waters. I doubt Lester with State will either.”

Hayes had spent a few nights—and mornings—talking about the Ringfinger killer with Chloe. To say she was obsessed would be putting it mildly. It consumed her every waking thought and probably her dreams as well. It was the case that she couldn’t crack. The one that haunted her and made her feel like a failure as an agent.

He understood. He and the rest of the team had held themselves responsible for missions that had gone sideways, for lives lost.

For Ken.

He tore his gaze from the dead girl. “My phone is in the engine truck.”

“Remy’s outside. I’m sure he and Bear have connected and are barking out orders. I’ll stay here and keep this contained until State and Remy can get inside. Let me know when Chloe and her team will get here.” Dawson rubbed the back of his neck. “And here I thought being a cop in a small town meant I wouldn’t have to work much.”

“You do know that this case will be taken right out of your hands.”

Dawson let out a dry chuckle. “Right, because I’m going to wash my hands of it. You know me better than that.”

Hayes rested his hand on his longtime friend's shoulder. “Let Chloe handle it. Enjoy your wedding and honeymoon.” He turned and made his way out of the Crab Shack, knowing damn well that Dawson wouldn’t be able to enjoy much of anything.

This murder, no matter whose jurisdiction it fell under, had happened on his watch, and Dawson would take that personally.

Once back at the engine truck, Hayes found his cell and pulled up Chloe’s contact information. He tapped the screen a little too harshly. He worried Chloe might not take his call. She’d been adamant their fling was over. As much as he didn’t want that to be the case, he had no choice but to accept her decision.

But this had nothing to do with his feelings.

“Hayes?” she answered on the first ring. “Are you okay? Is everything okay?”

He blinked. That wasn’t the greeting he’d expected. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You sound tired. What’s wrong?”

“I was called to a fire tonight, and we found a body,” he blurted out.

“That sucks.”

“The victim is missing their ring finger. Dawson called State because he doesn’t have the resources to deal with the crime scene, and while we know you’ve been working on a serial killer case, it’s not something that’s been publicized, so it wasn’t something he could just leap to. However, it could take a day or two before it lands on your desk, so we thought we would skirt the system and give you a call.”

“That’s a convoluted way of getting yourself into trouble,” Chloe mumbled. “But thanks, I appreciate it. We can be there in a couple of hours, or less.”

“We?”

“Um, yeah. Just like State, we have a team that’ll work the crime scene, deal with witnesses?—”

“Okay, that was a dumb thing for me to say.” He leaned against the hood of the engine truck as the local news crew pulled up. “Crap. You might want to hurry. Our resident busy body is here, and if she gets wind of the magnitude of this story, she’ll pull out all the stops.”

“Are you talking about Stacey Mohawk?”

“That’s the one, and last I heard, she’s got stars in her eyes—as in, she wants to be picked up by national programs. She’s twisted a few stories, trying to make a name for herself.”

“She did right by Trinity.”

“That’s because the story was over by the time she reported on it. There was nothing for her to screw up or taint. But she’s still driving Dawson nuts with the fallout from the Massey case and the bullshit around Mo and Anna. It’s as if Stacey’s trying to find ways to make their lives miserable. Mo is paying his debt to society, and Anna didn’t do anything wrong. ”

“You’re barking up the wrong tree, Hayes. Now let me go so I can gather the team and get there.”

“Okay. See you soon…and Chloe?”

“Yeah?”

“I know you said we’re done, and I respect that, but you don’t have to stay at Harvey’s Cabins or a hotel. I have a guest room; you’re welcome to stay with me.”

“I’ll take that under advisement.” The line went dead.

Hayes lifted his gaze to the night sky and let out a sigh. It was going to be a long night.

Thank you for reading Pirates of Calusa Cove by Elle James and Jen Talty. Please click here to read more of Murder in Calusa Cove