Ty rushed over and knelt beside her, his eyes wide with concern and drive. “Are you okay?”
Cassidy nodded, not caring a lick how she felt right now. Her mind was solely on catching Stan. “Yes, now go get him.”
He took off, sand flying behind his feet as he rushed down the beach toward the fleeing figure.
Lisa appeared and helped her up, confusion written all over her features. “What happened?”
“Good question.” Cassidy’s gaze fixated on the chase in the distance. Ty tackled Stan in the sand. She’d known he would—it was a no-brainer that the former Navy SEAL would easily catch the middle-aged investor.
Now this would be the moment of truth.
“Excuse me,” Cassidy said. “And call Chief Bozeman. He’s going to want to be here for this.”
She ran toward Ty, excitement pulsing through her at the possibility of finally getting some answers. Because she was close. So close.
She had determined the motive. The means. The opportunity.
Now she just had to prove it.
Cassidy stopped near Ty and Stan and caught her breath. Could she possibly be out of shape after only being gone from Seattle for a week? She glanced back at the crowds, noticing that everyone had frozen, watching the scene unfold. She’d guess it was only a matter of moments before they gravitated toward the confrontation.
Ty pulled Stan to his feet but still gripped one of his arms, probably in case the man tried to run again. Tension crackled between the men.
“It’s not how it looks,” Stan said, waving his hands in the air. “I’ve already talked to the police about it.”
Just as Cassidy suspected, everyone gathered around them, eagerly watching the scene play out. Most people were suckers when it came to spectating drama.
“What’s that mean?” Ty demanded, a steely determination in his voice.
“I mean, I was going to go out boating. I was going to catch up with Sarge and Phil so we could talk. But I hate the water.”
There were a lot of people around here who hated water or got seasick or couldn’t swim.
“So why go after them on a boat? Why not wait until they got back to dry land?” Cassidy asked. “Wouldn’t that make more sense?”
“That was my question also. I asked it as soon as I started out into the ocean. I knew it was a bad, bad idea.” Stan took several quick breaths, like he couldn’t get air into his lungs.
“So what happened?” Ty asked.
“I came back.” Sweat scattered across his forehead. “I couldn’t handle it.”
Cassidy wasn’t sure she was buying it. “If you came back and you’re innocent, why did you just push me down?”
His eyes flickered toward her. “I’ve been waiting all week for someone to come arrest me. I know how it looks. I know how everything is adding up.”
Ty leered even closer, skepticism evident in his gaze. “What was so urgent that you had to talk about it to Sarge and Phil right then?”
Stan’s hands flew in the air with obvious frustration. “I thought Sarge was somehow manipulating my accounts. I wanted to know if it was true.”
Cassidy shifted, trying to think it all through. “Why would you think that?”
“Because several of my clients had called upset with me because their accounts weren’t performing. And Sarge was acting secretive. It was the only thing I could think of. I didn’t want to cause trouble, but I needed to know the truth.”
“Is that really the reason or was it because you thought Sarge and Madison were seeing each other?” Cassidy asked.
Madison gasped behind her. “I wasn’t seeing Sarge.”
“Then why did you meet at the beach?” Cassidy asked. “In fact, you drove to a more secluded beach so no one would see you.”
More gasps sounded around her.
“Because I wondered if someone at the firm was messing with clients’ accounts,” she said. “You know I work for Hamby Investments too. I’d noticed discrepancies in some of the accounts.”
“And you didn’t talk to your husband about it?” A wrinkle formed between Ty’s eyebrows, and he nodded toward Stan. “Because you and this guy are married, right?”
Madison crossed her arms and nodded. “We are. But I didn’t know whom to trust. Besides, Stan and I haven’t exactly been speaking to each other a lot lately, but getting divorced seems too complicated right now.”
“So you told Sarge instead?”
“No, I tried to feel him out and see if he was the one responsible. But he got all weird about it. Then that lady backed into his car. Before we could chat again, he went boating.”
At least they were on the right track. Something shady was definitely going on at Hamby. The question was: who had killed because of it? The answer was easy. Whoever was taking money from clients.
As everyone began to quibble around her, Cassidy’s phone buzzed. She stepped away and saw that she had a text.
From Diane.
Her pulse spiked when she read the words. “Urgent. Watch this.”
Cassidy clicked on the link and her mouth dropped open. Those mysterious numbers had led to some kind of hidden web address, a private site that Sarge had set up before he died. A video link was on the home page—a video of Sarge sharing everything he’d learned about Hamby and the people who worked there.
This was the smoking gun they’d been looking for. Now Cassidy needed to figure out the best way to reveal what she’d just learned.
As the group continued to squabble, Chief Bozeman arrived, followed by Mac. If Cassidy had to guess, the former police chief probably had a police scanner.
“What’s going on here?” Bozeman asked, joining the circle.
Everyone quieted and shifted awkwardly, each throwing eye daggers at each other.
Stan wiped the sand from his arms and scowled at the crowd, ending at Ty—who still hadn’t let him go. “Nothing.”
But there was more going on here.
Things were beginning to click in Cassidy’s head. She just needed to get the chief to realize it. She knew who the killer was. She also knew his motive, his means, and his opportunity. Thanks to this video from Sarge, she had proof.
“I know why you’re here,” Cassidy announced, looking at the chief.
Everyone turned toward her, including Ty who cast her a questioning look. She nodded, silently asking him to trust her.
“You do?” The chief’s brow wrinkled. “We’ve only met once, right?”
Mac’s eyes twinkled as he watched the exchange.
“Of course,” Cassidy said. “Because you’ve realized who the real killer is.”
“I have?” He scanned everyone in the crowd, as if watching for their reaction and trying to gauge his own reaction. His response had been a question—but only partially, probably to leave room for the argument that he already had the killer in custody if it came down to it.
The man had pride, and Cassidy needed to use that to her advantage.
Cassidy stepped toward him, ready to push him in the right direction. “Chief, you are a brilliant man. I applaud you showing up right now before everyone in this group left to go back to Maryland.”
Lisa shot her a look. Sure, Cassidy told Lisa to call the chief, but not everyone here knew that. And they didn’t need to.
“You realized the killer was someone with Hamby Investments,” Cassidy continued. “Phil was the natural choice, but you’ve had your doubts—some nagging suspicions that you were missing something.”
“I have?” He shook his head quickly. “I mean, I have. A good cop is constantly evaluating cases.”
“Exactly. That’s why you also suspected Stan. He did go out boating after Sarge and Phil left, which made him a really great suspect.”
“That’s . . . that’s right. I did. But he came back too early. The timeline didn’t match up.”
“You even suspected Lydia, Sarge’s ex-wife,” Cassidy said. “But she had an alibi.”
“That’s right also. You always look at spouses and exes.”
“When that money dropped into the Goodlattes’ account, you even thought it might be Diane. Money, after all, is a huge motive for most murders.”
His face turned red. “Of course I considered her. Again, any good cop would.”
“But then you realized it wasn’t Diane.” Cassidy glanced around the crowd, each one of them waiting with rapt attention. The whole gang was here—including the real killer. She just had to play her cards right in order to reveal him without revealing herself. “There was someone else who made more sense. That’s why you came here right now. You knew you couldn’t bungle the island’s first murder in thirty years.”
“Right.” He stared at her, as if trying to use mental telepathy. “I did want to explore every possibility. The truth is of utmost importance to me.”
“That’s why you realized that the real killer was . . . Walter Hamby.”
Walter’s eyes widened, and he stepped back. “What are you implying, chief?”
The chief’s bottom lip dropped open slightly, and he rubbed his hands—which were probably clammy—against his pants. “I’m getting to it.”
He looked back at Cassidy and waited, as if his curiosity had superseded his good sense.
Not surprising.
“You thought you were clever,” Cassidy continued. “You hired ‘bodyguards.’ But they weren’t really bodyguards. They were hitmen hired to kill Sarge, who was about to spill the beans about your recent activity.”
Walter scoffed and looked around. “That’s ridiculous. I would never do something like that.”
Annalise gasped. “Walter?”
“Chief, I know I’m taking the words from your mouth,” Cassidy continued before things derailed.
“No, please continue.” He nodded quickly, urgently . . . desperately.
“Sarge knew Walter was embezzling funds from the company—but not from his own clients. From other people’s. Sarge didn’t know who to trust—not Madison who’s just looking to get more money from her divorce.”
Madison crossed her arms and scowled.
“Not Stan because he has no backbone,” Cassidy said.
Stan’s shoulders deflated even more.
“So he decided to tell Phil. You couldn’t let that happen, Walter, so you needed to take care of both of them. That’s why you encouraged them to go out—you even paid for it—even though you knew a storm was coming. You needed that as a cover. You probably checked the weather as soon as you got here to find the perfect evening.”
Walter said nothing. Nor did everyone else—they just listened.
More pieces of the story clicked together in Cassidy’s mind. “You had your men go out in a boat as well. Phil fell overboard, but Sarge dragged him back inside. Phil hadn’t regained consciousness yet, though, when your guys showed up.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Walter scoffed.
Cassidy didn’t slow down. “Your hired gun killed Sarge before putting his gun in Phil’s hand and firing off a shot to leave the residue. You were probably going to kill them both, but Phil ended up being the perfect scapegoat. I’m guessing your guys called you with an update and you directed them to do that. Then they threw Phil overboard in hopes that the ocean would claim him. To your surprise, he survived. Also to your surprise, their boat and the boat your hitmen were in collided and part of that boat broke off.”
“Chief?” Mac asked.
Bozeman tucked his shirt into his pants. “It’s like she’s reading my mind. Mr. Hamby obviously put up the reward money to throw us off his trail.”
“You guys don’t know what you’re talking about,” Walter said. “You don’t have a lick of proof to back any of this up.”
“Sure we do,” Cassidy said. “I mean, the police chief does. For example, those hitmen were staying at the house where I’m currently staying. They left a picture of Sarge at the house, and Walter made them go back to retrieve it. He knew if anyone found it, they’d reopen this investigation. In fact, he was so angry about it then he sent his other guy to finish off the one who’d left the photo. There was probably more to it. Maybe he was threatening to come forward with the truth. Maybe he asked for money to keep his mouth shut.”
Walter raised his chin. “Again, that’s all speculation.”
“Maybe that is. But this isn’t.” She pressed play on her phone and held up the video of Sarge. “Not only is there a video on this site that he left behind, but he also attached documents with pages and pages of proof about how Mr. Hamby has been stealing money and setting up the other investors at his firm.”
“Walter?” Annalise asked. “Tell me it’s not true.”
He glanced around silently. Finally, his features sagged with defeat. “It’s true. I’ve been taking money to help pay for your extravagant lifestyle. Our expenses have grown to be more than we can sustain, but I didn’t want to break that to you.”
“Walter . . .” Her voice cracked, and she swung her head back and forth.
Diane stepped up beside her and put a hand on her back. Where had she come from? It didn’t matter. The two women hugged.
“Walter Hamby, you’re under arrest . . .” the chief started.
As they walked away, Mac turned to Cassidy. “You know, I think you’d make a good little officer, Cassidy. Have you ever considered it?”
Cassidy shook her head, ignoring the swell of pride in her. “No interest.”
“Well, maybe you can just be like neighborhood watch . . . on steroids. Or should I say neighborhood watch on a sugar high?” He grinned.
She smiled. “Sure. I think I can handle that. Crime prevention starts with people watching out for neighbors.”
“I couldn’t agree more. Good job here.”
“It was all Bozeman.”
Mac snorted. “Sure it was.”
Just then, Serena appeared with a camera. As she snapped a picture, Cassidy raised her hand to block her face.
“What in heaven’s name are you doing, child?” Mac stared at Serena like he was ready to arrest her.
“I just got another part-time job as a beat reporter for the local newspaper.” Serena grinned, looking overly proud of herself. “This is my first assignment.”
The last thing Cassidy needed was her picture in the paper. Hopefully her hand had gone up and blocked her face in time. Besides . . . “Aren’t you supposed to be working for me right now?”
Serena shrugged. “I figured it couldn’t hurt anything to snap a quick picture . . .”
Cassidy didn’t have time to argue right now. But they were going to need to have a long talk later.
After the chief had questioned everyone and gotten statements—and Walter had been led away in handcuffs—Cassidy turned to walk away.
Before she made it three steps, Diane called her. As Cassidy turned, Diane threw her arms around her.
“Thank you so much,” she said, more tears running down her face. These appeared to be happy tears. “The chief said he was releasing Phil.”
“I’m so glad to hear that.”
“This wouldn’t have happened without you. I can’t say thank you enough.” Her gaze went to Ty. “Thanks to both of you.”
“You’re welcome,” Ty said.
Diane turned toward Cassidy. “If you ever give up your career in ice cream sales, maybe you should look into becoming a detective.”
Cassidy smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Diane rushed away, obviously anxious to get to her husband. Cassidy walked back toward Ty’s truck, in no hurry to be gone. Ty seemed to share the sentiment as he strolled beside her.
“I have to agree with Diane: that was pretty impressive back there,” Ty said, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his black cargo shorts.
Cassidy shrugged. “It was nothing. I’m guessing that website we found in the necklace will have all the information that’s needed to put Walter away for life. I think Sarge gave it to Diane, fearing that if something happened to him, she would find that site. It was almost like an insurance policy.”
“Clever on his part. But why didn’t he just go to the police himself? Why did he make things so complicated?”
“I think it’s a lot harder for people to be whistleblowers than most people think,” Cassidy said. “They’re turning against their circle of friends. They’re putting their job at risk. And if they’re wrong, they could lose everything.”
“Is that right?”
Cassidy snapped back to her ditzy persona. “I mean, that’s what I read in one of those Sue Grafton novels.”
Ty glanced at her. “I never realized they were so helpful to solving crimes. Listen to you. I’m going to start calling you Sherlock.”
Watch yourself, Cassidy. Don’t blow this. “You don’t have to do that. It was mostly luck.”
“I don’t know if I’d say that.” Ty paused at his truck and leaned against it. The look in his eyes made it clear he was still thinking things through. “What about those guys we saw at the lighthouse? How are they connected?”
That was a great question. “I’m not sure. I say we keep our eyes open. There’s nothing to report yet—we can’t prove anything. It’s not illegal to meet at night. Right? I mean, that’s what makes sense to me.”
“You’re right.” Ty turned toward her, something shifting in his gaze. “I guess neither of us gets that reward money.”
Cassidy frowned. Though she hadn’t really needed the money, she’d known that Ty had wanted it. “I’m sorry. I know you were counting on it for your nonprofit.”
“I’d be foolish to count on something like that for the nonprofit. But I thought it might be worth a shot.”
She studied him, admiring how the sun hit his face and highlighted all the intriguing angles there. Guilt flooded her again.
Ryan. She was dating Ryan. And besides, she could hardly stand Ty. Most of the time. Maybe less now than when they’d first met.
Her emotions were getting the best of her again, which was never good.
She cleared her throat. “You have any other ideas on how to raise the capital you need?”
“No, not yet. But I’m only just starting. It will all work out one way or another.”
An idea lingered in the back of Cassidy’s head. Her father’s company gave out grants to a certain number of nonprofits per year. If Ty could apply . . . it could really help him get his idea off the ground. But somehow Cassidy would have to recuse herself from the process.
She needed to think the idea through a bit more. “That’s great. I hope it does.”
At the thought of her father’s company, Cassidy’s mind went back to Larry. Had his vacation here on the island really been an unfortunate coincidence? Right now, she had to believe it was. But she’d keep her eyes wide open in the meantime.
Ty shifted again, but his gaze never left her. “You know, Cassidy, we make a pretty good team—when we’re not at each other’s throats.”
She smiled, remembering the progression of their friendship—if that’s what she’d call it. They were still more like acquaintances, but somehow they felt like more. “I agree. We could make a good team—as long as you don’t rub me the wrong way.”
Ty raised his eyebrows. “You mean, as long as you don’t rub me the wrong way.”
They stared at each other and smiled, sharing a knowing look.
Maybe being here on Lantern Beach wasn’t that bad after all. But Cassidy couldn’t forget the bigger issue at hand: there was a bounty out for her life and a group of ruthless gang members trying to track her down for revenge.
The end was far from sight, and somehow she had to make herself invisible for the next few months. If the past week had proven anything, it was that being invisible was harder than she’d ever anticipated.