The Coral Killer

Chapter One

R uby stared at her buzzing phone in disbelief. After a moment she shook herself and tapped out a quick text back.

Very funny, David.

“Ruby?”

Ruby’s head whipped around.

“Oh, hey Grannie,” she said, trying to pin a smile on her face. “You snuck up on me.”

Grannie’s eyebrow shot up.

“I’ve called your name four times,” she said. “Is there something wrong, Ruby?”

“No,” Ruby said quickly. A little too quickly. “David’s just trying to be funny. What did you need?”

“I said we just got a delivery order,” Grannie said. She handed Ruby a sheet of paper. “It’s for Sandy Turtle Cove again. One SUP. Drop off’s at three.”

Ruby glanced at the address on the page.

“Rental or resident?”

“Rental, dear.”

“Thanks, Grannie,” Ruby said. “I’ll get right on it.”

She planted a kiss on Grannie’s cheek and grabbed her bag. Instantly, there was a whimper by Ruby’s knees, and their big Australian Shepherd licked her hand. Ruby looked down at the pouting, blue eyes.

“You can come, Angel,” Ruby said.

Angel whipped around in a tight, happy circle and dashed off to the laundry room. She was back two seconds later, with her leash in her teeth. Ruby took it, and the girl and her dog headed outside.

The phone buzzed, and Ruby stopped to frown at it with a sick, angry feeling in her stomach. A minute passed, and then the phone buzzed again.

I’m serious Ruby. Got the job. We can get a place. See how it goes.

Disappointment washed over her, and Ruby shoved the phone into her backpack. She didn’t even bother to answer. Instead Ruby pressed her lips together and headed outside before Grannie could ask her any more questions.

The bag buzzed at her again, and Ruby frowned at it before tossing both it and the leash into her Jeep. She stomped off towards the paddle shed. Maybe, if she was really lucky, somebody would steal her bag and the phone, and then she wouldn’t have to answer David.

“Yeah, right,” Ruby muttered to herself. “Like that’s going to happen in Leyenda.”

Leyenda was a small island town on the southeast coast of Florida. The locals made a living off the tourists, who came with cash to spend and left happy and sunburned.

Crime really wasn’t an issue on Leyenda.

Ruby pulled open the paddle shed, which wasn’t locked, and grabbed an adult life jacket and paddle. Then she hoisted one of the big stand up paddle boards off the rack, and headed back to the Jeep.

Ruby loved the old, green thing, and more than once she had turned down Grannie’s offers for an upgrade.

Ruby was a slender little redhead, but she was used to hauling the massive boards around, so she had the SUP strapped to the roof rack in less than five minutes.

There was a barking, and Ruby looked back towards the paddle shed. Angel was down on their empty dock, doing her best to chase away the pelicans that insisted on perching there. She shook her head at the dog and lifted the tiny whistle that hung around her neck and blew. No sound came out, but Angel’s ears perked up and the dog came racing for the Jeep.

Angel bounded in and plopped down in the passenger seat, looking thoroughly pleased with herself.

“You’re fighting a losing battle, you know, with those pelicans,” Ruby said. She shook her head, climbed up into her seat, and tightened her red ponytail. Then she turned the key and put the Jeep into gear, trying to ignore the phone buzzing in her backpack.

✽ ✽ ✽

Ruby shifted the Jeep and wound her way out of the jumbled neighborhood. Beach bungalows and mansions backed up to the Indian River, with the occasional old fashioned farmhouse like her Grannie’s thrown in the mix. Leyenda had several residential areas like this one, including the one Ruby’s parents lived in, which was just a few miles further down the island.

Ruby turned south onto A1A. Her bag buzzed again, and Angel looked down and whimpered at it.

“Yeah, I hear it. I’ll answer it when we stop,” Ruby grumbled. “See how it goes! You’d think meeting a guy flying out on a mission trip would be a sure bet!”

Ruby didn’t know whether to be furious or to cry.

Angel whimpered again and Ruby reached over to ruffle the dog’s fluffy head. She glanced at her watch. Only 2:40. Plenty of time to spare.

With a sigh, Ruby pulled off the road and wiped at the hot angry tears threatening to force their way out. “How could I leave Grannie? Just to ‘See how it goes?’ She needs me!”

The dog stared at Ruby, clearly puzzled as to why they had stopped in the middle of nowhere, and Ruby’s heart sank. She couldn’t use Grannie as an excuse.

Yes, her grandmother was a widow, but in the ten years since Granddaddy had gone to be with Jesus, Grannie West had shown herself more than able to take care of herself. The family had all thought her a bit off her rocker when she started the adventure rental company, but West’s Quests was a huge success. Grannie’s crazy idea turned out to be a real business that ran charters, eco tours, and rented out bikes, boards, and kayaks.

When Ruby finished college a few months ago, she had felt totally lost, so when Grannie invited Ruby to come take care of her and help run West’s Quests, Ruby jumped at the chance.

Over the last two months Ruby had decided that her sixty-eight year old Grannie didn’t need anyone to take care of her. In fact, Ruby had the sneaking suspicion that West’s Quests was not the only thing Grannie had going for her.

No. Ruby could not use Grannie as her excuse.

Angel whimpered again, and Ruby dug out her forever-buzzing phone.

“He sure knew all the church answers, but, but— Aagh!” She tapped out an angry response.

You know I wanted more than that.

An answer buzzed back before she could sit the phone down.

Nobody’s that old-fashioned anymore, Ruby.

I am, she tapped. You said YOU were.

The pause was longer this time, but just as she was about to put away the phone it buzzed again.

Come on, Ruby. Change your mind. Last chance…

Ruby stared at the phone. What if this really was her last chance?

Her mind started to run away with her. She could end up alone, or she could try it his way, and—

“No!” Ruby shouted at the screen, even though there was no one to hear her but the dog. She wanted to shake David. To tell him what a jerk he was for leading her on. Instead she angrily texted the best answer she could come up with.

No thanks! Have a nice life.

She shoved the phone in the glove box, where she would not hear it buzz if David answered her, and then turned to her dog as a few angry tears spilled out.

“I’m sick of dating! If God wants me to have a husband, He’ll have to find one Himself!”

Chapter Two

W hen the Sandy Turtle Cove was put in, the developers dug channels up into the island so that they could put in as many waterfront properties as humanly possible. Half of the houses were owned by residents, but the other half were used as tourist rentals. Either way, since everyone was sitting right on the water, plenty of people were happy to pay West’s Quests for door-to-door delivery.

It was impossible to miss the gated community. There were big signs along the highway, and a huge flag with a turtle scooting through sand waved from a pole at the entrance.

Ruby slowed the Jeep just as she was nearing the gate. A shiny sedan was parked on the two-lane road.

“That’s funny,” Ruby said. “That’s a pretty new car to be broken down.” She moved into the on-coming lane and pulled up next to the blue Sedan sitting half on the road and half in the ditch. The hood was propped open and a big man frowned at the engine.

“You okay, mister?” she asked.

The guy straightened up, flipping the lid shut on the cooler by his feet as he turned towards Ruby.

“Oh, yeah,” he said, mopping his forehead. He waved a sweaty hand at the engine. “It’s a rental. They said they’d send someone over, but I thought I’d have a peek while I’m waiting.”

“Oh, okay,” Ruby said. She pointed at the gatehouse leading into the Sandy Turtle Cove. “Well, if you start to get burnt out here, go knock at the gate. I’m sure they’d let you sit in the AC for a bit.”

“Aw, that’s nice, but I’m sure they’ll be here soon,” the guy said with a wide smile. “Besides, I’m working on my tan. Can’t go home without one.”

Ruby’s right eyebrow shot up. This guy was not dressed for getting a tan. But she had no desire to talk to anyone just now, so she waved goodbye and drove on to the gatehouse.

✽ ✽ ✽

Ruby rolled up to the gate and pulled out the paperwork Grannie had given her. The gatehouse door slid open and a scrawny fellow stepped out.

“Hey Jimmy,” Ruby said with a smile. “Got a SUP delivery for… Number 5801.”

“All right, Ruby. Gimme a sec,” Jimmy answered. He grabbed a clipboard from inside the little house and scanned down the list.

“Let me guess,” Ruby sighed. “They forgot to call you and say I was coming?”

Jimmy made a face. He stuck his head back in the AC and Ruby heard him call out, “Anybody get a call from 5801? Ruby’s got a delivery.”

He came back out and leaned on the Jeep.

“Sorry, Ruby, no call, no getting in,” he said.

Ruby rolled her eyes. She started to put the Jeep back in gear, but Jimmy cleared his throat.

“You still dating that guy? The one from the mainland?”

Ruby’s face flushed an she hesitated a bit too long. A light went off in Jimmy’s eyes.

Crap, crap, crap, Ruby thought.

“You know what, Ruby? I can let you in this time,” Jimmy said. “Just make sure they call when you come back to get the board, right?” He reached inside the gatehouse and pushed a button. The gate lifted and Ruby rolled through.

“Hey, Ruby?” Jimmy called.

She sighed and stopped just inside the gate so Jimmy could trot over.

“Gilligan’s has this great new rum runner drink—”

Ruby held up a hand, cutting him off.

“Sorry Jimmy,” she said. “Thanks for letting me in and all, but I’m kinda done with dating.”

She revved up the Jeep and drove away, leaving Jimmy scratching his head.

✽ ✽ ✽

All the Cove houses were on stilts, and there was a blue car parked beneath 5801 Driftwood Drive when Ruby pulled up. She stopped on the side of the road and scratched Angel’s ears.

“Well, girl, at least they’re home,” Ruby said. “We can drop this off and get today over with! Stay here.”

Angel shook her fur out and gave an obedient yip. Ruby climbed out of the Jeep, taking Grannie’s paperwork, the paddle, and the life jacket with her.

She hadn’t gotten far when a horrible smell caused her nose to wrinkle up, and the odor got worse as she walked towards the house and headed up the stairs. Something nearby smelled like rotten fish. A lot of rotten fish.

“Wow,” Ruby said, thankful she had left Angel in the Jeep. No way did she want to ride home with the dog after she rolled around in these bushes.

She hurried to the top of the stairs with its typical Sandy Turtle Cove porch and sliding glass door. Ruby glanced around. The Cove was nice enough, but it had nothing on Grannie’s one-acre farmhouse, or the one her parents lived in.

Ruby knocked on the glass and stepped back with her best don’t-shoot-me-I’m-the-paddle-girl smile.

Nothing happened.

Ruby knocked again, and squinted to look inside.

“Great,” she muttered. “All the lights are off.”

She started the timer on her watch and leaned over the railing to peek at Angel in the Jeep. West’s Quests had a wait policy: deliveries will wait twenty-five minutes, but after that Ruby could take the gear home and still charge your card for a one-day rental. Ruby plunked down on a porch chair to wait, glad she hadn’t unstrapped the board from the Jeep yet.

✽ ✽ ✽

Twenty minutes passed before Ruby heard another car pull up. Footsteps echoed up the concrete stairs and Ruby got to her feet, thankful not to have to spend another minute gagging on fish fumes.

A brunette appeared at the top of the steps and Ruby put her smile back on.

“Hi!” Ruby said.

The woman took a step back in surprise.

“Who are you?” she said with a scowl. “Is that your car in my spot?”

“Car? Um, no,” Ruby said, still trying to smile. She wiggled the paddle and held up the jacket. “I’m here with West’s Quests—”

“Who?” the brunette demanded.

“West’s Quests,” Ruby tried again. “Adventure rentals… You asked for a stand up paddleboard delivery today—”

“I never ordered any boards,” the woman said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me—”

Ruby had already stepped to the side, but the brunette pushed past her and stuck her key in the sliding glass door.

“Okay, well,” Ruby started to remind the lady about the delivery policy, but the brunette stepped inside and slammed the glass door shut behind herself.

“Wow,” Ruby said to herself as she picked up her things and headed down the stairs.

She was halfway down when the screaming started.

✽ ✽ ✽

Ruby dropped her things and dashed back up to the glass door. She flung it open and rushed over to the brunette, who was standing at the kitchen counter, still screaming.

“What’s wrong? What—”

Ruby skidded to a halt.

A woman’s body lay sprawled across the tile behind the counter.

A plastic carry tote with cleaning supplies lay beside her, its squirt bottles, scrub brushes, and other gadgets were scattered across the kitchen floor.

Ruby did not bother to bend down and check for a pulse: it was obvious she was dead.

The brunette spun around.

“Did you do this?” she shrieked. “Did you kill the cleaning lady?”

Ruby felt like she had been slapped.

“What?” she gasped. “Me? No! This is your rental!”

Ruby looked down at the body again, and this time she saw something that made the blood in her veins run cold. She grabbed the brunette and started dragging her back from the body.

“Move, lady!” Ruby shouted, but the woman twisted in her arms and started screaming again.

“Look at her hand!” Ruby said, still moving backwards as they kicked the scattered cleaning supplies and a card reader across the floor. Ruby was small, but she was strong, and she forced the brunette backwards.

The color drained out of the brunette’s face. “What is that? Why are there two holes in her hand?”

“Snakebite,” Ruby said, making herself look at the body. There were two holes, and what was worse, they looked as if the snake had gnawed on the woman for a while. Only a few snakes chew like that…

The floor shook as an older man came bounding up the stairs and into the rental, but before Ruby could say anything, the brunette gasped.

“Snake!” she shrieked, knocking Ruby and the man out of her way.

Ruby and the man both looked down in time to see a flash of yellow and red slide under the body. Ruby swallowed. There was a coral snake hiding under the body. They must have startled it when they kicked those cleaning supplies.

Ruby sucked in a breath, but the room started to spin anyway.

The old man looked at her, frowning.

“Get out, girly,” he said. “I’ll get the snake.”

“It’s… It’s poisonous,” Ruby whispered.

“I know,” he muttered. “Get out of here and call for help!”

The old man stepped towards the body and the snake. Ruby couldn’t help herself: the sight of him reaching for that snake sent her running out the door as fast as her wobbly legs could carry her.

Chapter Four

R uby dropped into a kitchen chair next to Grannie who was steadily tapping away on her laptop.

“When’s Joe getting back?” Ruby asked. Her brother was always good for a laugh, and Ruby could really use one right about now.

“Three days. He took that camping charter group to the Out Islands,” Grannie said. She snapped the machine shut and looked at her granddaughter. “Are you okay, Ruby? Why are you so pale? And what is that smell?”

Ruby gave a weak laugh and sniffed at her shirt with a frown. Rotten fish smell. Today could not get any worse.

“Rude customer?” Grannie pressed. Her eyebrow went up the same exact way Ruby’s did when she was curious about something.

“No— Well, yes, she was rude, but, no,” Ruby stammered. “There was a dead body.”

Grannie stared at her.

“Oh, Grannie! Today has just been the worst!” Ruby said. “Nobody was there when I showed up with the delivery, and when the lady did show, she was in a foul mood. And then there was a dead lady inside, with a coral snake hiding under it, and—”

“WHAT?”

“Yes! The cleaning lady was stone dead, but bit, Grannie!” Ruby said. “Corals don’t bite dead people, and people don’t die that fast from venom!”

Grannie got to her feet and turned the kettle on. She put a bag of chai tea in a mug and then added about three times as much honey as Ruby liked.

Ruby rattled on and on, explaining about the grumpy neighbor, the brunette, and the body. By the time she got to the part where the paramedic sent her home, Grannie was pushing a steaming mug of tea into her hands.

“Drink that,” she ordered. “You’re going to need the sugar.”

Ruby took a sip and whispered, “I’m so glad Angel stayed in the Jeep. It could have bit her.”

“I’ll bet the paramedic was Paul Maddox,” Grannie said, ignoring the idea of Angel getting snake bit. “Fancy him recognizing you after all this time! Well, God bless him for sending you home. You can play twenty questions tomorrow.”

Just then Ruby’s phone buzzed.

“Could be the deputy, hon,” Grannie said. “Better get it.”

Ruby hesitated.

“What’s the matter?”

“It could be David,” Ruby muttered. “I don’t want to talk to David.”

“Why not?” asked Grannie.

“I broke up with David. Right before I got to the Sandy Turtle,” Ruby said. She picked up the phone and exhaled with relief. “It’s just mama. She wants to know if we’re both coming for family dinner tonight.”

“Ruby West, do not change the subject,” Grannie said. “Why would you break up with such a nice, handsome, Christian man?”

Ruby swiped at the phone, brought up the message from David, and slid it over to Grannie.

“Oh,” Grannie said after a pause.

“No kidding,” Ruby said, reaching for the phone, but Grannie’s sharp eyes slid over the thread again, and Ruby could see her doing the math.

“Took you a bit to answer him,” Grannie said, her voice rather more compassionate than Ruby was expecting.

“I was pretty ticked.”

Ruby drank the last of her tea, but then she sighed. “And to be honest, Grannie, it was hard to tell him no. I mean, you said it yourself! Such a ‘Christian’ man! What if he’s right?”

“Ruby—”

“Oh, don’t worry Grannie,” Ruby said. “I’m not changing my mind. But I am done with dating! If God wants me to have a husband, He’ll have to find one Himself!”

Ruby crossed her arms, ready for a lecture, but something in Ruby’s tone of voice checked the older lady, and she pointed at the phone.

“Answer your mother, Ruby,” Grannie said, patting her laptop. “I’ve got some things to work on, but I think you could use a little family time. You really have had a horrible day.”

✽ ✽ ✽

Ruby fixed her ponytail, adjusted her sunglasses, and pulled back out onto A1A again. Her parents lived at the very south end of Leyenda Island, in a farmhouse on two and a half acres. Parts of the original property had been sold in chunks, and back when Grannie was raising her children there, she had planted dozens and dozens of areca palms along the fence line. Other than the driveway, the only opening Mae West had left was where their land touched the Indian River, so despite the fact that they had lots of neighbors, the house was very private.

Big, flowery bougainvilla bushes and other sprawling vines had been added to the wall of areca palms over the years, so that when Ruby’s parents had inherited the property, Mama had taken to calling the place her Nest. It was Ruby’s favorite place in the whole world.

Ruby slowed down at the front gate, relieved to be home. The scent of Mama’s jasmine vines filled the air, and Ruby took a deep breath as she shut the gate and drove around to the back of the farmhouse to park in her spot.

She climbed out of the Jeep and started towards the house just as she heard a strange whistling noise.

“Ruby!” a voice called. “Look out!”

Ruby spun just in time to see three large eggs soaring towards her. She ducked the first, but there was no avoiding the other two, and they smashed into her head and chest.

Ruby’s mouth hung open in surprise as her little brother Peter ran over to her.

“Oh, man, Ruby!” he said, his eyes as wide as the eggs that had hit her. “You walked right through my launch zone! Princess Lay-a and Hen Solo are getting so old that their eggs are brittle and Mama said I could have them for my trebuchet…”

Peter rambled on and on, half horrified that he had hit her and half totally thrilled with the success of his trebuchet.

Egg dripped down her hair and into Ruby’s eyes. She swiped at it and flung a wad of egg at her eleven-year-old brother.

“It’s okay, Peter, really,” Ruby said with a wry grin. “Give me a hug and we’ll call it even.”

Peter backed up, holding up his hands. “No way, Ruby! You’re a mess!”

Ruby reached out in mock-effort to hug her brother, but he bolted. She shook her head and started for the back porch, dripping egg all the way.

✽ ✽ ✽

Just as Ruby reached the porch, Tali danced out the door, her sandy blond braids swinging behind her. At nine years-old, slender little Talitha was the baby of the family.

“Hi, Ruby!” Tali sang, but her smile twisted as she got a better look at her big sister. “Whoa! What happened to you?”

Before Ruby could answer her mother poked her head out as well. Mrs. West’s eyes took in Ruby’s egg-smashed hair and clothing in one swift glance. She pressed her lips together and glanced out towards the hen coop.

“Oh dear,” Mama sighed. “Peter?”

Ruby nodded and tried to smile. She really didn’t want to get Peter in trouble. “It was an accident though, really, Mama.”

Her mother eyed her carefully.

“If you say so, hon,” she said. “How ‘bout you head upstairs and get a shower before Judah gets here with that new roommate of his. You can borrow a clean t-shirt of mine.”

“Aw, Mama,” Ruby moaned. “You didn’t say we were having company!” She rubbed the egg out of her eyes and thought, This day just can’t get any worse.

Mrs. West clicked her tongue.

“Ian is living at Judah and Joseph’s house,” she corrected. “That makes him kin, not company.”

Ruby sighed and nodded. She darted into the house and towards the stairs. She was halfway up to the landing when a deep bark sounded and Judah’s dog Max burst into the house. There were footsteps and greetings, and then Judah leaned his head over the rail and called upstairs.

“Hey, Rubix Cube!” he said, using his pet name for his little sister. “Oh, man, what happened to you?”

“Peter,” Ruby said with a shrug. “Testing out whatever new project Mama’s assigned him. I think they’re doing medieval history again. I’m gonna get cleaned up.”

Judah waved her on, and Ruby dashed the rest of the way up, happy he didn’t try to introduce her to the new roommate while she was covered in egg.

✽ ✽ ✽

Ruby toweled off and put on a fresh shirt, then she pulled her wet, red locks into a messy bun on the top of her head. Grabbing her egg-covered shirt, Ruby headed for the back stairs. She stopped at the laundry room, which was next to the kitchen.

She dropped off the shirt in the wash, and paused to look out the window. She could see Tali, Peter, and Phoebe out in the yard. It looked like Phoebe, who was fourteen and good with tools, was attaching Peter’s trebuchet to their tree house.

Ruby shook her head and made a mental note to quit parking within range of the tree house.

She stopped just inside the doorway of the big farm kitchen. Mama and Kylie were standing at the big prep counter, chopping salad ingredients. Over at the table, a new voice mingled with the men’s, but the new roommate’s back was to her.

Mama handed Ruby a glass of ice tea.

“Feel better, honey?” Mama asked quietly.

Ruby tried to smile. The egg was gone, but man, today had been a terrible day. Before she could say anything, she heard her father’s voice over at the table, and her ears perked up.

“So, Ian,” he said. “Judah says you’re with the Sheriff’s Department. Is the work interesting?”

The new fellow sat up, and even from behind, Ruby could see he was handsome. Great, she thought. And here I am in a messy, wet bun and borrowed clothes. Figures.

She took a sip of tea and looked over at the table. Judah, the oldest child of the West tribe, caught her eye and winked, but he didn’t interrupt his friend. Mr. West and Timothy leaned in, interested to hear what Ian had to say.

“Yes, sir, it is,” answered Ian. “I get sent all over the island parts of the county, but it can get pretty frustrating, though.”

“Really?”

Ruby watched the back of the blond, Marine haircut bob up and down.

“Well, take today,” Ian said. “A body was found, and the EMT’s just assumed it was an accident. They let one of the women go home without giving a statement!”

Ruby’s glass stopped half-way to her lips.

“They don’t know who she was?” asked Timothy, who was nineteen.

Ian sniffed and waved a hand.

“They got her phone number, but didn’t have a name for me,” he said in disbelief. “Can you imagine? Sending a suspect home without even getting their name!”

“What makes you think it was murder?” Timothy asked.

“They found a coral snake under the dead woman,” the young man said. “Which, I’m sure you know is very unusual.”

“And the paramedics let a suspect leave?” Mr. West asked.

“Yes, sir,” Ian said. “Sent her home to rest! But I think I saw the girl pulling out of the Cove. Real pale, looked upset. Very suspicious.”

Ruby’s hand tightened around her glass. A suspect?

The vegetable chopping next to Ruby ceased abruptly. Both her mother and Kylie looked at Ruby with widened eyes.

“Lots of people get nervous about dead bodies,” Mr. West said. “And snakes.” His eyes flicked over Ian’s shoulder and met Ruby’s. She saw the concern flash through his eyes, but he kept his face steady.

“Yeah,” Ian said, “The girl said she was delivering some paddle board to a renter, but the renter had no idea what she was talking about.”

Suddenly Ian snapped his fingers.

“Now that I think about it, she probably works for your family!” he said. “Red hair, about five-foot-six, skinny little thing… Know anyone like that?”

The men at the table stared at Ian in shock.

“Cause, if you do,” Ian stammered, sensing the awkward tension in the room, “I really need her name. You can’t protect crazy people like that… They seem fine, and then they snap and go and hurt people…”

The men just stared.

“You know what they say about red heads,” Ian said, trying to laugh away the sudden tension in the room. “Really, I’m gonna need her name…”

Ruby lost it. She stomped across the kitchen, towards the table.

Ian turned, surprise flooding his face as he recognized her from the morning.

“My name is Ruby West!” she shouted. Livid, Ruby flung her tea in his face. Then she slammed the glass down on the table next to him.

“You must be the worst detective on the planet!” she declared, shaking a finger in his direction. Then she stomped out of the kitchen and slammed the porch door for good measure.

The family sat, wide-eyed, staring at Ian. For a long moment, nobody moved as tea dripped off the deputy.

And then Judah spoke up.

“Ian,” he said. “If you think Ruby killed somebody with a snake, you’re wrong. Ruby can’t handle snakes.”

“Look, man, I know lots of people say that, but—”

“No,” Judah said flatly. “Ruby’s different.”

“What makes her different?” Ian said, obviously not buying it.

Mr. West nodded at his son, and Judah unstrapped his watch. Then lay his left arm across the table.

“Because of this,” he said.

Ian Prescott squinted at the two ragged scars on Judah’s wrist. His shoulders sagged and he looked up at Judah.

“Did you get bit?”

Judah didn’t say anything. He put his watch back on and looked up at his dad. Mr. West had gone to the window to watch the Jeep driving out of the yard, with his only red head at the wheel. Ian looked to the older man as well.

When Mr. West finally answered, his voice sounded far away.

“We had a coral get trapped in the van when the kids were small… One in a million chance, but it happened. We were on the highway when the thing slithered down out of Ruby’s seatbelt track and piled up on the shoulder of her booster seat.”

Mr. West looked back at the young deputy.

“Screamed her little head off. I can still hear it…” Mr. West said, clearing his throat. “Judah was only eight. He reached over and grabbed the thing… It latched on to him pretty good.”

“Corals like to chew…” Judah added.

“Judah was in the hospital for a while,” Mr. West continued, frowning at the deputy. “It was pretty close, ‘cause he was small, weight-wise. But Ruby was smaller. She wouldn’t have made it, if she had been bit… Skinny little thing…”

Chapter Five

T he sound of books thumping onto a table made Grannie West look up from her laptop. The older woman closed her computer and wandered down the hall to the library.

She came around the corner to find Ruby standing on the back of a chair, teetering precariously as she pulled book after book from the top shelf. Ruby’s jaw was clenched with determination as she picked through the books, shoving some back into their places and cramming others into the pile she had braced with one arm.

“Ruby!” Grannie asked, her eyes wide. “What on earth are you doing? What happened to dinner?”

Ruby bounced down, dropped the armload of books on the table and shoved the chair over to check the next shelf.

“Research,” Ruby muttered as she climbed back up and started pawing through the new shelf.

“Research?” Grannie repeated.

“Yes! I’m going to solve this case,” Ruby said. “And I’m going to do it before that… That… That moron of a deputy!”

The chair wobbled dangerously under Ruby and Grannie put a hand on it to brace it. Ruby took the moment to pass her a couple more books, both of which were mystery novels.

“Case? Deputy?” Grannie said. “Ruby, what are you talking about?”

“Hasn’t Daddy called you yet?” Ruby muttered. She sniffed derisively. “Probably still explaining to that… That profiling jerk why I couldn’t have murdered anyone with a snake!”

Ruby whirled around and climbed down from her perch.

“Are these all of the mystery novels, Grannie?” Ruby said, starting to flip through the books stacked on the table.

Grannie shifted her feet and glanced at the books.

“You have got a ton of these things!” Ruby said, not waiting for an answer. She shifted several into her arms. “This Eastman fellow must write a pretty good mystery! Half of them are his!”

“Ruby,” Grannie said, frowning at her. “You tell me right now: What is going on?”

“I told you, Grannie,” Ruby said. “I’m doing research. I’m going to solve this case, before Judah’s total goober of a roommate.”

“Wait,” gasped Grannie. “That lady you found today? They think it was murder?”

“Oh, it gets better than that, Grannie! The Sheriff’s deputy assigned to the case thinks it was me!” Ruby said, her voice getting angrier and angrier as she spoke. “Just because I was there. And looked upset! And have red hair! Which means I must have a temper! As if any sane person wouldn’t be upset by finding a dead body with a coral snake under it!”

Grannie put her hands on her hips, but just then the house phone started ringing in the kitchen.

“That’ll be Daddy,” Ruby said. “He can explain everything.”

“Ruby West, you do not know anything about crime solving!”

“Seriously, Grannie,” Ruby said, flipping her ponytail over her shoulder as she headed upstairs. “How hard can it be?”

✽ ✽ ✽

The next morning Ruby sat at the table, her nose pressed into a mystery novel while Grannie stood at the stove. The smell of eggs frying in butter filled the kitchen, and Angel lay under the table, hoping for some scraps.

Grannie slid a plate in front of her granddaughter, and Ruby snapped the book closed.

“Don’t those books go in order or something?” Grannie asked.

“They do,” Ruby answered, sprinkling salt on her fried egg sandwich. “I read the first one last night.”

“Oh,” Grannie said, her eyes widening.

“They’re actually pretty fun, Grannie,” Ruby said. “This Charlotte character gets into a lot of jams. I like her though.”

“Really?” Grannie asked. “How come?”

Ruby shrugged. “Just seems like someone I’d like to hang out with.” Ruby took a bite and chewed thoughtfully while Grannie sipped her tea with a smile. Ruby peeled off the crust and slid it under the table to Angel.

“What did Daddy have to say?” Ruby asked.

The smile disappeared from her Grannie’s face.

“Oh, honey,” Grannie said with a shake of her head. “He talked to Deputy Prescott, and the boy doesn’t think you murdered anyone anymore.” Grannie paused for a moment. “Did you really throw tea in his face?”

“Yes…” Ruby said, feeling sheepish. “The man thought I had temper enough to murder someone! Just because of my hair! Can you imagine?”

“Clearly you have no temper issues,” Grannie said, holding a hand over her mouth to hide her smirk.

“Ha, ha, very funny,” Ruby said, finishing off her sandwich. She pointed at the book. “You’ve read all of these, right?”

Grannie glanced at the book.

“Er, yeah, a few times,” she admitted.

“Good!” Ruby said. “You can help me. What do I do first?”

“Ruby! You’re not still going to try to figure this out, are you?” Grannie asked. “I told you the young fellow doesn’t think it was you anymore.”

“I’ve got to figure it out!” Ruby said. She got up and headed to the fridge to pull out her big water bottle. “There’s a murderer lose in Leyenda! That deputy will never figure it out, not with his detective skills!”

Ruby sat the water bottle on the table.

“You can help me, or not,” she said. “But I’m not letting this go.”

Grannie sighed in defeat.

“Well… You’re working the inlet today, right?” Grannie said, and Ruby nodded. “Start by thinking over everything you saw yesterday. When you get home, we’ll go over your suspect list.”

“Awesome!” Ruby planted a kiss on her Grannie’s cheek. “You’re the best, Grannie!”

She shoved the mystery novel in her bag, whistled for her dog, and dashed out the door before Grannie could change her mind.

✽ ✽ ✽

Ruby pulled the Jeep and trailer up to her favorite parking spot. Parking was one of the reasons Ruby got an early start: the tourists liked to sleep in, and they also tended to park their rental cars carelessly.

She opened up the trailer and hauled out the canopy tent frame. Grannie had gotten the newest model, and the thing practically set itself up. Within fifteen minutes the bright aqua shade was up, declaring that West’s Quests was open and ready for business, even though the tourists were still sleeping in their rented beds.

Ruby popped open her favorite camp chair and settled in with her book.

A short while later, a man cleared his throat.

“Er, excuse me, miss?”

“Oh, hi!” Ruby said. She looked up at the man, who seemed familiar. He was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and baggies, and his skin was a painful shade of red.

“Do you rent these things?” he asked, pointing at the rack of kayaks and boards. He stepped under the shade of the canopy and pushed his sunglasses up, revealing the only part of his face that was not burnt.

“Sure thing,” Ruby answered, trying not to stare at the unburnt circles around his eyes. She looked around for her dog, saw that Angel was off trying to herd a flock of sandpipers, and then pointed to a sign with their prices.

“Guess I better have a try,” the man said. “Can’t go home without one. How do I pay? Cash?”

“Cash is fine if you have it,” Ruby said. “But we take credit, too. It’s just as easy, and then you have proof to take home.”

“Proof is great,” the man said with a funny smile. He pulled a card out of his Velcro-ed pocket and handed it to Ruby.

Ruby dug out her phone, hit an app, and plugged in the scanner she kept in the cupholder of her camp chair. She glanced at the name on the card.

“Board or kayak?”

“Board, I guess,” he said, watching her closely.

“Okay, Mr…. Cameron,” Ruby said. She tapped some stuff into the app and then swiped his card. “I’ll charge you for an hour. If you want it longer, just take your time, and we’ll bill you for it. Sign here.”

She had him sign the electronic rental agreement and waiver that popped up on her phone, and then Ruby dropped her things into the camp chair so she could help him carry the giant stand up paddle board down to the water’s edge.

Mr. Cameron started to push the board out from shore, and Ruby laughed.

“Wait, Mr. Cameron!” she called, trotting to the trailer and back. “You need a paddle! And you better wear the life jacket.”

Ruby held the life jacket out first, not willing to trust him with the paddle till she knew he was strapped in. Cameron shoved the jacket on right over his Hawaiian shirt.

“You are entirely too helpful, Miss West,” he muttered.

Ruby froze, the paddle held halfway out.

“How do you know my name?” she asked.

“Lucky guess,” he said, clipping the last strap and pointing at the blue canopy emblazoned with West’s Quests name.

“Hey!” Ruby said suddenly. “I remember you, now! Your rental car broke down in front of Sandy Turtle Cove.” She handed him the paddle and pointed at his sun burn. “I take it you didn’t hide in the shade while you waited? Sorry. Guess I should have been pushier, you’re pretty burnt.”

“Yeah,” Cameron said. He shook his head and muttered to himself. “Entirely too helpful. I’m afraid this is an exercise in futility.”

Mr. Cameron climbed up on the board, wobbling frightfully.

“You want any help?” Ruby asked, eying him doubtfully. She had one hand on the board, and wasn’t sure if she should let go. The poor guy looked like a total fish out of water.

“May as well do the thing right,” he muttered, waving her off.

“Well, okay,” Ruby said. “Have a good time.”

She made her way back up to the canopy where a handful of tourists were gathering. None of them were nearly as burnt as Cameron, and she sent the little group off in a mix of kayaks and boards.

Ruby filled Angel’s water bowl and scanned the horizon, wondering how Mr. Cameron was getting on, but doubtful that he had gone far.

She spotted him just as he tumbled off the board and splashed into the water. By the time he managed to climb back on, he had drifted into the channel and was caught in the current.

“Oh, for pity’s sake,” Ruby muttered. “He’ll be swept out to sea at this rate.”

She picked up her pendant and whistled for Angel. Then she tossed her phone and scanner in the Jeep’s glove box. By the time Angel came bounding up, Ruby had a kayak ready to go.

“Get in, girl,” Ruby said.

The dog bounced into the front and barked happily. Ruby pushed off, jumped in, and started paddling towards Mr. Cameron.

✽ ✽ ✽

“Hey there, Mr. Cameron!” Ruby called.

The man turned, looking both vexed and relieved as he spotted Ruby.

“Would you like a little help? It can be really tough paddling back,” she said, tossing him a line.

Cameron grabbed, his frown deepening.

“Entirely too helpful,” he said again. Then he held up the rope. “What do I do with this?”

“There’s a little flap on the front end of the board. Just hook the loop in there if you can,” Ruby answered. “If it’s too wobbily I’ll pull up and get it for you.”

“No, no. I can get it,” the man muttered. He plopped down, only too happy to have an excuse to sit.

Once Cameron attached the line, Ruby turned her kayak towards shore.

“We’ll get out of the current before we start paddling back,” she explained.

“Thanks, miss,” he said. “You know… You’d have made a lot more money if you’d have let me struggle back. It would have taken me forever.”

Ruby laughed.

“I’d rather you had a good vacation,” she said. “You need any water?”

“I’ve had a good dunking, already, thank you,” Cameron muttered.

“No,” Ruby laughed again. “I mean to drink.” She held up a disposable water bottle and tossed it to him.

“I take it I’m not the first person you’ve had to rescue?” he said, sitting on the board with his useless paddle balanced across his lap.

“No, and you won’t be the last,” Ruby said, paddling steadily. She heard the sound of Velcro behind her, and then Ruby heard him swear.

Ruby gave him a look that said she did not approve.

“Sorry, miss,” Mr. Cameron said, his face turning even redder than it already was. “I was going to mark you off the list, but I just realized my phone went swimming with me.”

“Sheesh, sorry,” she said. “Wait— List? What list?”

Cameron started to swear again, but bit his lip.

“You may as well know,” he said. “I’m a credit investigator. Someone’s been scamming tourists on this island. They’re swiping cards and then using the info later to make purchases.”

“Really?” Ruby turned to face him again. “Is that why you were parked in front of the Cove?”

“Got me,” he admitted. “The Cove is one of the few things the victims have in common.”

Ruby’s eyes widened with sudden suspicion, but Mr. Cameron held his hands up.

“Look girly,” he said. “Dead bodies aren’t my department. I was watching the Cove to see who else comes and goes. You showed up yesterday, and when I asked the guard house, they said you come pretty often. But like I said, you are entirely too helpful to be robbing people blind.”

“But wouldn’t West’s Quests show up on those people’s records if it was me?”

Mr. Cameron took a long drink. “Nah. Most crooks have their own scanners. You think you’re renting from West Quests, or paying for your lunch, or whatever, but you’re really just handing over your info.”

Ruby started paddling again. So that was why he had watched her so carefully when she had swiped his card.

“Did you call in the SUP rental yesterday? For the Cove?” Ruby asked.

Cameron sat up a little straighter.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“The lady renting the apartment said she didn’t order the rental,” Ruby said. “Maybe it was the killer, then.”

She glanced back again, but Cameron held up his sun burnt hands.

“Like I said, girly… Not my department.”

Chapter Six

H ow was the beach?” Grannie asked as Ruby and Angel came in for the evening.

“Great,” Ruby said. “Lots of rentals today. Enough to take a day off, if I want!”

“Well, see if Kylie wants to babysit the canopy before you just skip it,” Grannie said. “She said she’s saving for a car of her own. Tired of the Rookie Mobile.” She waved for Ruby to follow her into the kitchen. “Oh, and I made a huge batch of that Bacon Chicken Ranch Pasta you like.”

“Yum, thanks!” Ruby said, licking her lips. She grabbed a couple of bowls, then pulled the pasta out of the fridge and started dishing it out.

“How was your book?” Grannie asked as she fixed some ice water for both of them.

“Too fun,” Ruby answered. “I totally thought it was that Peterman chick that killed the waiter, but I was all wrong.”

Ruby sat down at the table, frowning a bit.

“Maybe this mystery business is harder than you thought it would be?” Grannie ventured.

“No way, Grannie,” Ruby said with a laugh. “That’s why I’m doing research—so I don’t make rookie mistakes or miss something obvious.”

Grannie West shook her head and laughed too. Angel barked, as if to join in on the joke. Ruby scratched the dog’s head.

“Hold on, girl. We’ll pray and then I’ll get you something to eat.”

Angel whimpered and lay down, as if she knew exactly what Ruby meant, and both of the women eyed her suspiciously.

“Sometimes I swear that dog understands everything we say,” Grannie said.

“Tell me about it,” Ruby said.

They prayed for the meal, Ruby got Angel some food, and then the women started on their dinner. Ruby grinned at her bowl of pasta. Cold pasta on a hot day was good. Cold pasta with bacon was just a little bite of heaven.

“Well?” Grannie said. “What have you got so far?”

“You are not going to believe what I learned today!” Ruby said. “Did I tell you about that guy broken down in front of the Cove yesterday?”

Grannie shook her head.

“It was pretty weird,” Ruby said. “It was a rental, and they’re so new they don’t usually break down. The guy was maybe late thirties, and dressed for the city, but he tried acting like he was on vacation.”

“That is odd. Is he a suspect now?”

“Well, not really,” Ruby said with a frown. “I’m not totally crossing him off my list, but I don’t think it was him. He showed up at the beach today and rented a board. Got himself halfway out into the channel, and I had to go tow him back in. You’ll never guess why he’s on Leyenda—”

“You know I hate guessing,” Grannie said. She took another bite of pasta, refusing to play.

“Fine, fine!” Ruby said. “He investigates credit card fraud!”

Ruby told Grannie the whole story and then sat back in her chair, quite pleased with her sleuthing.

“Not bad for my first day on the case, huh?” she asked.

Grannie smirked at her.

“I really don’t think it was him,” Ruby said. “Cameron has resources. The way he kept saying ‘not my department’ makes me think that if the credit companies do have people who, er… deal with thieves, it’s not him. Someone like that wouldn’t stick around and rent paddle boards.”

Grannie got up and put the empty bowls in the sink. She started some hot water for the dishes. “I think you’re right, Ruby. He doesn’t seem to have motive, even if he was parked outside watching the Cove.” Grannie made a face and squirted soap into the sink. “To think, murder and a credit scam! Right here on Leyenda. What is the island coming too?”

Ruby got up. “I’ll get the dishes, Gran. You made dinner, and breakfast this morning!”

“So? Who else is on your suspect list?” asked Grannie.

“Well, not too many people, to be honest,” Ruby admitted. “First is the lady renting the house. I didn’t get her name, but she could have been lying about calling in the rental.”

“Nobody called it in,” Grannie said. “It came in on-line. Could have been anybody.”

“Well, that’s just peachy,” Ruby said. “I was hoping you could at least tell me if it was a man or woman.” Distracted, Ruby wiped at her face and left a trail of dish bubbles across her forehead.

“Who else?” prompted Grannie.

“Well… There’s Grumpy.”

“Grumpy?” Grannie laughed. “Ruby, you really should know who your suspects are! How else are you going to turn them in to the authorities?”

Ruby rinsed the last fork and put it in the drainer. She dried her hands and chuckled. “You’re right, Grannie. If I’m going to solve this before what’s-his-name, I better get real ID’s on people.”

“His name is Ian,” Grannie said.

“Back to Grumpy,” Ruby said with a wave. She did not want to talk about him, even if he had decided she was not a murderer. “Grumpy is the neighbor. He’s older, and like I said, pretty grumpy. But I’m putting him on the list for two reasons. First, he was on the scene extremely fast for an old guy. He must have been outside already. And second, he wasn’t afraid to grab that coral.”

“Grabbing a coral doesn’t give him motive,” Grannie said.

“No, but it gives him means,” Ruby countered. “Not everybody could pick one up.”

“What if he just picked it up because he didn’t want a deadly snake wandering lose next to his house? He might have realized it was out of venom, since it had already bit the cleaning lady.”

“Or he wanted an excuse to get his prints on the nasty thing,” Ruby said with a shiver. “Can they get fingerprints off a snake?”

Grannie pressed her hand to her full belly.

“I don’t know, and I’d rather not think about it on a full stomach,” she said firmly. “You’ll have to add that to your research. Anybody else on the list?”

“No,” Ruby said. “But maybe I can talk Kylie into hanging out with me tomorrow.”

“What’s Kylie got to do with anything?”

“Come on, Grannie!” Ruby said, blushing a bit. “I’m going to need to go investigate at the Cove, and if I go over there by myself, that gate guard Jimmy is going to think I’m looking for a date.”

“Is he nice?”

“Grannie!”

“Is he?”

“Nice enough,” Ruby admitted. “But his idea of dating is rum runners or something… And I already told you, I’m done with dating!”

Grannie cleared her throat.

“If I recall, what you said was that God would have to find you a husband, Himself,” she said with a smirk.

“Yeah, well, I may as well had stuck with David if rum is what you’re looking for,” Ruby rolled her eyes.

Grannie gave her a squeeze. “I’m just playing with you honey. I think you’re right not to go husband hunting.”

Ruby laughed.

“Husband hunting! Grannie, did you get that from those Eastman books? I swear I just read that today!”

“Must have!” Grannie said, getting to her feet and heading for the library. “Well, I suggest you get back to your research? Joe’s coming back day after tomorrow. Try to be here and greet the passengers. I swear they leave bigger tips every time you do.”

Chapter Seven

A ngel yipped twice and Ruby looked up from her mystery novel to see an old red car pulling into a nearby beach parking spot. Kylie was seventeen, and she was driving the Rookie Mobile. Two blond heads bobbed in the back seat, and Ruby smiled as Tali and Peter waved at her.

“Hey, sis!” Kylie said, as the three of them climbed out of the car and headed over to the aqua blue canopy.

“Hi, Ruby!” Peter and Tali chimed.

“What? No schoolwork today?” Ruby asked.

“Aw, Ruby, shh!” Peter said.

“Painting is hardly work, Peter,” Tali said. She rolled her nine-year-old eyes and slung a small bag down in the sand next to Ruby’s camp chair. It was bulging with brushes and water colors and two fat notebooks.

Kylie dumped her purse in Ruby’s chair.

“Can’t we swim for a bit?” asked Peter.

“Well, duh. What’d you think I brought you for?” Kylie said. She gave her brother a little shove. “I’ll help Ruby with the rentals. Don’t do anything that will get me in trouble, or I won’t bring you next time!”

Peter and Tali ran down to the water and jumped in.

“Watch’em, Angel,” Ruby said, pointing to the two youngest West children. The dog barked once, and dashed down after the kids. Ruby smiled. Both of them were very good swimmers, but Angel would keep them out of trouble.

Kylie tossed her thick braid over her shoulder and eyed her big sister.

“You doing okay, Ruby?” she asked. “The other day was pretty crazy.”

“I guess so,” Ruby shrugged.

“You haven’t been answering your phone,” Kylie said. She took a drink from Ruby’s water bottle, then picked up Ruby’s phone. She swiped at the screen.

“Aw, Kylie, you know I work at the beach,” Ruby started, but her sister laughed at her.

“You have a waterproof phone! You just don’t answer it!”

Ruby put her hands on her hips.

“Well, I keep getting some calls from a strange number, so I turned the ringer off,” she said.

Kylie held up the phone.

“You mean this strange number?”

“What? Yeah—”

“Well, that would be Deputy Ian Prescott, trying to get your statement about the murder victim you discovered,” Kylie said. She shoved the phone back in the cup holder. “Don’t worry though. I saved him to your contacts. Next time he calls, it’ll go right through.”

“What? Kylie! I don’t want that man in my contacts!”

Kylie waved her perfectly manicured nails dismissively.

“Too bad, Judah’s orders,” she said. “He’s their roommate, remember?”

Ruby stuck her tongue out at her sister, and at Judah, even though he wasn’t there.

“Very mature, Ruby,” Kylie said, clicking her tongue. A funny look spread across her face. “Well, you win. You won’t have to talk to Ian on the phone.”

Ruby’s eyes widened. Kylie never gave up this easily.

“What do you mean? Why?”

Kylie pointed over Ruby’s shoulder. Ruby spun around to see a Sheriff’s truck parked by her Jeep, and Ian Prescott headed straight towards them.

“Yeah,” Kylie muttered. “I can totally see why you wouldn’t want to hang out with him. If all cops looked like that, I’d start speeding, just so they’d pull me over!”

Ruby’s face flushed as Ian joined them. She desperately hoped he had not heard her sister.

“Morning, Kylie,” he said with a friendly nod at Kylie. “Morning, Miss West.”

“I’m sorry I haven’t answered the phone,” Ruby said quickly, hoping Kylie wouldn’t say anything else.

“No problem, Miss West,” Ian said. “Lots of people don’t answer if they don’t recognize the number.”

Kylie laughed and Ruby turned red. Miss West?

“Do you have a few moments?” Ian said. “I really need to get your statement.”

Before Ruby could say she was working, Kylie piped up.

“I can watch the rentals, Sis. You go right ahead.”

“Great, thanks, Kylie,” Ian said. He turned back to Ruby. “Let’s go talk by my truck, if you don’t mind.”

Great! Ruby thought. She’s Kylie and I’m Miss West! Where did Judah and Joe find this guy?

They reached the truck and Ian pulled a notepad out of the front seat. He eyed her carefully.

“This won’t take long, Miss West,” he said, clicking his pen.

“You can call me Ruby,” she said, suddenly feeling very awkward. He was so annoyingly tall that Ruby had to tip her head back to look up at him. The sun flashed in her eyes, and she wished she had grabbed her hat.

“Okay, Ruby,” Ian said. “I just need you to tell me what happened Monday.”

✽ ✽ ✽

It took longer than Ruby thought it would. For some reason the story had been much easier to talk about in the comfort of Grannie’s kitchen. Standing here in the sun, squinting up at this man who insisted on standing way too close, the whole thing was very different.

Maybe it was because he had thought she was a murderer. Or maybe it was because he was the competition. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he was handsome.

Either way, Ruby was relieved when he thanked her for her time and climbed back into his truck. She turned and headed back over to the canopy, where she shoved her hat on.

“So, how’d it go with Deputy Dimple?” Kylie asked with a smirk.

Ruby’s face flushed.

“Kylie! Knock it off!” She glared at her sister, then stuck her fingers in her mouth and whistled hard. Down by the water, Peter and Tali looked up. She waved them over, and gave Kylie another dark look.

“I’m just messing with you, Ruby!” Kylie said. “I know you can’t stand him.”

Peter and Tali came rushing up, dripping and laughing. Ruby flung her towel at them and pointed to a picnic table.

“Time for nature study,” she said.

Peter mopped his face off and shoved the towel at his little sister. He grabbed the art bag which caught on the camp chair as he took off running. The chair went flying, along with everything in it.

Ruby’s waterproof phone tumbled into the sand, unharmed, but Kylie’s purse was another matter. The contents scattered everywhere, and at the sight of it Ruby felt the color drain out of her face, and she barely heard Kylie shouting at their little brother.

“PETER!” Kylie yelled.

“Sorry, Kylie!” he called back, still heading for the table with Tali beside him.

“That boy!” Kylie said, turning back to collect her stuff. “He’s—Ruby? Are you okay? What’s the matter?”

Ruby shook herself.

“It just… When we found the cleaning lady, the stuff from her purse was scattered everywhere… It’s… I don’t know…”

Kylie stared at her for a moment, and then she reached over and hugged Ruby.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “It must have been pretty horrible. I shouldn’t have messed with you.”

“It’s okay,” Ruby said. She forced herself to smile at her sister, and the two girls started collecting Kylie’s sandy things.

Ruby suddenly snapped her fingers.

“There was a card scanner on the floor,” she said, her voice hushed.

“Why would a cleaning lady need a card scanner?” asked Kylie.

Ruby shook her head. “I think I know exactly why.”

✽ ✽ ✽

Kylie’s eyes were wide as sea turtle eggs.

“So you’re telling me you think the maid was robbing tourists?” she asked.

“Definitely,” Ruby nodded.

“And you think some sun-burnt credit company thug is on Leyenda, hunting down credit thieves?”

Ruby nodded again.

“And you don’t think it was him?”

“Nope.”

Kylie exhaled heavily. “I don’t know, Ruby. Maybe you better call Ian—”

“What? No way!” Ruby cried. “I mean… Well, people don’t talk to cops! I should look into things first! I really don’t have anything to report yet.”

“But you should tell him about the scanner—”

“He should know about that,” Ruby said quickly. “They would have processed it.”

“I don’t know…”

Ruby ignored her sister completely. She was too excited to have a break in the case. Maybe she really could solve it before Ian did.

“I’m gonna go over to the Sandy Turtle and do some digging,” she said. “You wanna come?”

“What? Me?” Kylie pointed over at Peter and Tali. “I’m not bringing them to investigate anything! Mom will kill me!”

“Oh! Yeah, totally,” Ruby said, stuffing her phone into her pocket and grabbing her bag and keys. “They have to get their school done… How ‘bout you watch the rentals for me?”

“I—”

“Thanks, Kylie!” Ruby called, dashing off to her Jeep. “I owe you one!”

✽ ✽ ✽

Ruby pulled right up to the gate. Jimmy slid the glass door open and stepped out into the heat with his clipboard.

“Hey, Ruby! Got another delivery?” he said.

Ruby pointed to the empty roof rack.

“Not today, Jimmy,” she said. “I’m here to see you.”

Jimmy fumbled the clipboard and it clattered to the pavement. His mouth hung open.

“I’m really shook up by what happened Monday,” Ruby said, hoping she could get Jimmy to talk without having to flirt with him. “Is the renter lady okay? I mean, we found a dead lady and a coral snake. That can totally freak a person out.”

“Oh, yeah, I think Ms. Mavis is okay,” Jimmy said, scratching his head and retrieving the clip board. “We had to find another house for her to stay in though. She pitched a fit about sleeping in a crime scene, and the higher ups didn’t want the bad P.R.”

“I’ll bet!” Ruby said. In her head she repeated Ms. Mavis several times, so she would remember the name.

“I’m just glad Nancy’s crazy ex hasn’t come around,” Jimmy said. He stuck his thumbs in his pockets and stood taller. “We’d have to keep him out, and that would be a job.”

“Nancy?”

“Yeah,” said Jimmy. “Nancy Pillisky. You know, the cleaning lady… Or at least, she used to be.”

“Oh,” Ruby answered. The memory of Nancy Pillisky dead on the floor flashed in front of Ruby’s eyes. Ruby shook herself. “I thought the maids didn’t clean places while they were being rented? Don’t they just come in between clients?”

“Usually,” Jimmy said. “Not sure what Nancy was doing over at the Driftwood place. Ms. Mavis wasn’t supposed to check out until today.”

“Mavis is leaving?” Ruby gasped.

“Well, no,” Jimmy said, running his hand across his forehead. He was starting to sweat in the sun. “The Cove gave her a free week, what with, well… you know.”

Ruby changed subjects before Jimmy could rush back to his AC unit.

“What about the boyfriend?” she asked quickly.

“Boyfriend? No, Ms. Mavis was here alone. Had some friends in for part of the trip, but no boyfriend that I saw.”

Jimmy was turning out to be a veritable wealth of information.

“Oh,” she said slowly. “What about Nancy’s boyfriend? The ex?”

“Him?” Jimmy said, trying to stand taller again. “Total loser. She dumped him a week ago. Big fight out in the parking lot, right over there…”

Jimmy pointed and whistled.

“That must have been pretty bad,” Ruby said. “Why’d she dump him?”

“Don’t reckon I know,” Jimmy said, wiping his brow again. He tugged at his polyester collar.

“Aw, come on, Jimmy, you know everything that goes on around here,” Ruby said.

Jimmy’s smile flashed back into place.

“Well…” he said, thinking it over. “She called him ‘dead weight.’ Really set old Patrick off! He shouted ‘We’ll see who’s dead weight!’ and drove off squealing his tires. You can still see the marks on the road.”

“Did you tell the deputy about all this?” Ruby asked.

“No. Why? Do you think I should?” Jimmy asked, as if the idea had never occurred to him. “Do you think it has something to do with Nancy?”

“It might,” Ruby said. She peered over the gate. “Hey, Jimmy? Do you think you could let me in? I was hoping to take a look around. You know, help settle myself over the whole thing…”

Jimmy took a step back and held the clipboard up like a shield.

“No way, Ruby! I got in hot water for letting you in here the other morning,” he said. “The higher ups found out, what with Nancy and all, and they’ll sack me if I let anyone else in!”

Ruby made a face. “Sorry Jimmy,” she said. Ruby started up the Jeep and put it in reverse. “I don’t want to get you in trouble. I really did have a delivery that day. Or at least I thought I did. That Mavis lady said she didn’t order a board.”

Jimmy lowered the clipboard and put a hand on the Jeep’s door.

“Are you snooping around Ruby?”

Ruby bit her lip.

“Yeah,” she said. “I guess I am.”

Jimmy nodded. “Nancy wasn’t perfect. But she was always nice to me and the other guards. That’s why we let her keep her lunch and her meds in the fridge here…” Jimmy hesitated, but then he added, “That Patrick guy, I think he’s a busboy at Gilligan’s.”

“Thanks, Jimmy,” Ruby said.

He nodded and let go of the Jeep.

“Wait? Meds?”

“Yeah,” Jimmy said, nodding. “She had one of those pen things. You know, for when your throat closes up.”

“An EpiPen?”

“Yeah! That’s it!” Jimmy said. “I guess we better figure out what to do with it… I’ll see you ‘round?”

Ruby smiled. “Next time I have a delivery. Thanks Jimmy.”

✽ ✽ ✽

Late that afternoon, Ruby followed her grandmother down to the paddle shed. She wanted Grannie to go over her suspect list with her, so, as tired as Ruby was, she was going along for Grannie’s daily paddle.

Ruby snapped the shed door open.

“What’ll it be today?” she asked.

“I’ll take the red SUP,” Grannie said with a grin. “Want to bring Angel?”

“Nah, I already fed her and told her to stay put,” Ruby answered as she pulled the massive red board off the shelf and lowered it onto the ground. Then she pulled a second board off the rack and backed out the door.

Grannie took one end and the two of them walked to the river’s edge. They sat the board in the grass and went back for the second SUP. Ruby reached for it, but she gave a little shriek and backed away.

“What? What is it?” Grannie asked, peering over the board. “Oh, Ruby! It’s just one of those silly new iguanas.”

Grannie poked at the eight-inch long creature and it skittered away.

“Sheesh,” Ruby said, her heart hammering in her chest. “All I saw was its head. I’ve been so jumpy lately, I thought it was a snake!”

They picked up the board and started towards the water.

Grannie shook her head. “Those crazy lizards move further north every year.”

Ruby laughed and climbed onto a board, paddle in hand. “As long as it’s not those ridiculous things that live down in the Keys! Last time we visited Uncle Teddy there was one in the tree that was four feet long! Gross!”

Grannie got on her board and the two of them pushed away from shore, heading out just far enough to go past the neighborhood docks. “So? Did you learn anything today?”

“I learned that Jimmy is a wealth of information!” Ruby said with a chuckle. She took a deep breath of salty air. “You can pretty much ask him anything!”

“That’s handy,” Grannie said.

“Yeah,” Ruby said. “I couldn’t get in, but I learned the names of both the victim and the renter.”

“What about Grumpy?”

“Didn’t get that far,” Ruby admitted. “But the victim’s ex-boyfriend is named Patrick and he works at Gilligan’s. They had a fight right in the parking lot last week… He called her dead weight!”

“People say things when they’re angry or hurt,” Grannie cautioned. “Course they also do things… Like throw drinks in somebody’s face—”

“Or murder people,” Ruby interrupted. “And Grannie! The cleaning lady had a card scanner in her purse. Why would she need that? The Cove bills people for her work. I bet the maid and her boyfriend were scoping out tourists and sneaking into the rental houses to swipe cards.”

Ruby let her board glide for a few moments.

“I think the boyfriend might have put the poisonous snake in her bag, and she just happened to find it while she was scoping out a place,” Ruby said. “I think I’ll go talk to him at Gilligan’s tomorrow, where there’s plenty of people around.”

“Good idea, about the people,” Grannie said. “But take Kylie with you, or Timothy. Or maybe Ian—”

“No. Way. Not. Happening.”

“Okay, fine. Not Ian,” Grannie said. “But make sure you’re back at three, to help me with Joe’s campers, okay?”

Ruby nodded. They paddled for a while longer as Ruby told her grandmother the other things she had learned, and then turned the boards around.

The sky started to change colors and a salty breeze pulled at Ruby’s hair. She smiled. Sunset was one of her favorite things.

Grannie smiled, too.

“You know,” the older woman said softly. “Sometimes I think it’s easier to feel close to God out here in the quiet than it is sitting in church… God just seems, well, greater, when you’re surrounded by His works.”

Ruby looked at her Grannie. She took a deep breath and watched the blazing red sun sinking down to the mainland.

“That sure beats the heck out of concrete and traffic!”

They laughed, and then paddled quietly on. Ruby watched the rings splashing around her paddle as the river grew calmer with evening, feeling that her Grannie was very, very right.

Chapter Eight

T he next day, Ruby was tucked away in the bay window in her room, reading the last page of another Eastman novel. Charlotte had discovered the killer, but only after she had managed to get herself trapped in an abandoned mine. Just as she closed the book and tossed it onto her “done” pile, Ruby’s phone started chirping like a bird.

Ruby snatched up the phone and answered it.

“Hey, Kylie. What’s up?”

“Hey, Sis! Want to get lunch together?”

Ruby’s eyes lit up. This was the perfect chance to head over to Gilligan’s. Maybe, if she got lucky, Patrick would be on shift.

“Sure thing! How about Gilligan’s?” Ruby asked. “My treat.”

“Well, all right,” Kylie said. “But only if I drive. See you in a bit.”

Ruby hung up and did a little happy dance. Then she grabbed a long, sleeved shirt to throw over her shoulders in the restaurant and headed downstairs to kiss Grannie goodbye.

✽ ✽ ✽

“This is a nice treat,” Kylie said, grinning at her sister as they scanned the lunch menus.

“Well, we did pretty well in rentals the last couple of days,” Ruby said. “And with Joe on a camping charter, the rentals are just icing on the cake. How’d you do today?”

“Plenty of tourists,” Kylie said with a smile. “I’ll be upgrading from the Rookie Mobile in no time, if you and Grannie will let me take some more shifts!”

“Well, if Joe keeps up with the charters, I’m sure Grannie won’t mind you taking some more beach shifts,” Ruby said, her smile slipping a bit.

“This would have been a great trip for you to have started helping Joe, huh?” Kylie said.

“No kidding,” Ruby said with a sigh. “Could have skipped out on that whole murder suspect deal.”

“Well,” Kylie said. “We can just forget about the whole thing and have a nice lunch, right?”

“Um, sure,” Ruby said. She lifted her menu up to hide her guilty face.

After that the waitress arrived and the two sisters ordered their meal. While they waited for their Super Conch Fritter Salads, the girls chatted about life back at the Nest.

“Well,” Kylie said. “Peter’s up to his usual antics. He was researching funeral pyres, and I’m afraid Timothy had to rescue Hen Solo from him. I know Mom loves the whole chivalry thing, but, man, sometimes I think boys and medieval history are a dangerous combo.”

Ruby laughed and took a sip of her iced tea.

“That reminds me,” Kylie said as she dug in her purse and pulled out Ruby’s clean shirt. “Here’s your shirt from the other day. Sans egg, of course.”

“Thanks,” Ruby said, shoving the shirt into her little backpack. “How’s everybody else? I didn’t exactly stick around to see how everyone’s doing this week.”

Kylie shrugged. “I’d have been out too… Course, I don’t think I could have thrown tea in his face—”

Much to Ruby’s great relief the waitress arrived with their food. When the woman left, Ruby changed the subject. “What about Tim, and Phoebe?”

“Fine, fine,” Kylie waved her hand. “Phoebe’s making lasagna this week, try not to miss. And Tim, well, I hardly understand anything he says anymore, but I think he’s cool.”

Ruby grinned and took a bite of her salad. A couple years ago Timothy had found a book about computer coding, and when he decided it was fascinating, their Dad had insisted that Mom let him learn as much as he could for schoolwork. Timothy was only nineteen, but he had learned three computer languages by the time he got his diploma. Last time Ruby saw him he was trying to explain to her that he was working on writing an app that would blast spam texts with return messages about two hundred times.

Ruby had not understood half of what he was talking about, but Tim was happy, and had certainly found a promising line of work to go into.

Kylie chatted on while Ruby ate, filling her in on the family, but Ruby noticed that her sister gracefully skirted around Judah, Joe, and their new roommate. She also said nothing about David, much to Ruby’s relief.

After a bit, the waitress came back with the bill.

Ruby pulled her wallet out and started to hand the lady her card, but stopped suddenly. Her conversation with Mr. Cameron had her a bit freaked about having her identity stolen and her debt go crazy, so she put the card back and paid with cash instead.

“That credit company guy has you spooked?” Kylie asked.

Ruby nodded, and lowered her voice.

“I’m pretty sure the person running the scam was the murder victim, but…” Ruby’s voice trailed off.

“But what?” Kylie pressed.

“Her ex-boyfriend kinda works here,” Ruby admitted. “He could have been in on it.”

“What?” Kylie’s eyebrows shot up. “Wait? Is that why you wanted to have lunch?”

“No, no!” Ruby said quickly. “You wanted to have lunch, remember? I just sort-of suggested we come here.”

Kylie crossed her arms and frowned. Ruby avoided her sister’s eyes, instead focusing on the returning waitress.

“Everything good today?” the waitress asked.

“Oh, yes, it was great,” Ruby answered. “Um, you wouldn’t happen to know if Patrick’s on shift today?”

The waitress gave Ruby a serious look.

“Yes, honey, but that man is trouble,” she said. “Always into something. I don’t know how he keeps this job!”

“Oh, well, um, the gate guard over at the Sandy Turtle Cove has some of his girlfriend’s old things,” Ruby said. “I thought someone should tell him, since they don’t have his number…”

The waitress shoved her bill folder in her apron.

“You mean ex-girlfriend, don’t you?” She made a clicking noise with her teeth and gave both the girls a hard look. “I’ll send him out here. But like I said, he’s trouble. I wouldn’t talk to him anywhere alone if I were you.”

The waitress darted away and Kylie shot her big sister a look.

“Have you lost your mind?” she hissed. “You really are investigating! Ruby! You heard that lady—”

Kylie’s mouth snapped shut suddenly, and Ruby looked up as a rough looking fellow shuffled over to their table. His hair was greasy and his shirt was stained. No wonder they kept him in the back.

“What do you want?” he said.

“Oh, um, are you Patrick?” Ruby asked, not sure how to start.

“Yeah.”

“Oh, well… I was over at the Sandy Turtle Cove the other day and—”

“You tourists?”

“No,” Ruby said quickly. Suddenly she sat up. “Look, I have some information for you. Maybe we better step outside?”

Behind his back, Kylie waved frantically and mouthed No! but the guy nodded, and the three of them got up and headed out the front door. Ruby stopped right there, certain it was safest where the other employees could see them.

“Look,” she said. “It’s probably not a big deal, but the gate guards have some of Nancy’s things. Thought you might want to come get them.”

Patrick spit at the ground.

“Don’t want her nasty stuff,” he growled.

“You don’t sound upset that she’s dead,” Ruby said, allowing a hint of accusation to creep into her voice.

“That’s cause I ain’t!” Patrick said. “We had a good scam going! And then she got all sloppy and started trying to take more for herself, and tossed me! Turned out she was the dead-weight though, didn’t it?”

Patrick laughed, but then his face changed, and he jabbed a finger at Ruby.

“Wait. Why you asking questions, Ginger?”

Ruby bristled at the slur at her hair, but she tried to hide it.

“Why does anyone ask questions?” she countered with a shrug. Trying to look tougher than she felt, she asked another question. “What do you mean she got sloppy?”

“Nancy screwed up,” he spat. “Started getting info off the residents, not just the tourists. I don’t really know how she was doing it, you know? Gadgets aint my thing.”

Ruby glanced at her sister in triumph. The cleaning lady really was the credit thief!

“Anything else, Ginger?” Patrick asked in a mocking voice.

“Yeah, just one more thing,” Ruby said with a frown. “Did you kill her?”

The greasy man actually laughed again. It was a cold, hollow sound, and it chilled Ruby to the core.

“I thought about it,” he said. “But I would’a strangled her lousy, cheatin’ neck, not risked my own self catching some dang snake!”

“Cheating?”

“Well, she said she was ditching me ‘cause she had somebody else to deal with,” Patrick laughed. “But I guess they dealt with her.”

Patrick ruffled his greasy hair, laughed again, and walked back into Gilligan’s.

Ruby grabbed her sister by the arm and headed for the Rookie Mobile. She jerked the door open and pushed Kylie in. Slamming the door, Ruby marched around to the other sided got in. Ruby heaved a sigh of relief to be away from that man. She turned on her sister, and shook a finger at Kylie.

“Don’t you ever come here again,” Ruby said, as if Gilligan’s had been Kylie’s idea. “Least not till they fire that creep, okay?”

Kylie shoved her key in the ignition.

“No kidding,” she said, and the two girls drove off.

Chapter Nine

T he Rookie Mobile rumbled along as Kylie turned the headlights on and drove over the bridge back to Leyenda Island.

“What a total creep!” Kylie said as she rolled the windows down.

“Sorry, Sis,” Ruby said. “I had no idea he’d be that kind of…”

Ruby’s voice drifted away as a piece of paper fluttered down from the visor and landed on her lap.

“Since when did you start keeping papers up here?” Ruby asked as she unfolded the paper.

“I don’t keep stuff there!” Kylie said in surprise. “You know the AC doesn’t work in this old thing. I’m always driving around with the windows down. Ruby? Ruby, what’s wrong?”

“Did you lock the car?” Ruby asked, swallowing at the lump forming in her throat.

“Come on, Ruby, you know I don’t bother locking this thing—”

“Pull over!” Ruby shouted. She held the paper up for Kylie to see. “Pull over, NOW!”

Ruby waved the page at her sister.

QUIT POKING AROUND AND YOU’LL QUIT FINDING SNAKES.

Kylie caught some of the waving letters and a look of horror came over her face. She swerved wildly into the right-hand lane. Red and blue lights flashed behind them as Kylie slammed on the brakes, pulling the car into the grass.

Ruby looked down at her feet just in time to see a small, black head poking out from beneath her seat.

“SNAKE!” she screamed, stomping at the floor. “Get out, Kylie!”

Kylie threw the Rookie Mobile into park and both girls flung their doors open. A siren whooped, but Ruby ignored it. Shaken with her worst childhood terrors, she ran for the mangrove trees.

Ruby felt the world tilt around her. The trees spun, and Ruby threw up every last bit of the lunch she had just eaten.

✽ ✽ ✽

“Ruby!” Kylie shouted. Ignoring the flashing lights, Kylie ran into the mangroves to collect her big sister. “Ruby, it’s okay!”

Ruby looked up and grabbed Kylie’s arms.

“Are you okay?” Ruby gasped. “I’m… I’m sorry, I left you…”

Kylie wrapped her arms around Ruby.

“Are you kidding?” she said. “I was right behind you!”

“Are you two crazy?” A stern voice called into the mangroves. “What’s going on?”

Ruby froze in place, her eyes closed tight as she wiped her mouth on her sleeve. She took a deep breath. Of all the cops on this planet, it had to be him.

Kylie let go of Ruby and ran over to deputy Prescott.

“Ian!” she cried. “I’m so glad it’s you! Someone put a snake in my car!”

Ruby was hurriedly checking to make sure there was no conch fritter in her hair, and she missed the anxious look he threw at both of them.

“What?” he asked. “What are you saying, Kylie?”

“There was a note in the visor, with a threat!” Kylie said, leading him back out towards the car which was wide open and still running. Ruby stopped at the tree line, unwilling to go any closer.

Kylie reached inside, grabbed the note and slammed Ruby’s door shut.

“Look!” she said.

The deputy took the paper, and this time Ruby did not miss the look on his face. He grabbed his phone and started tapping buttons.

“Did you see a snake?” he asked.

Kylie shook her head no, but Ruby nodded.

“What kind?” he asked. “Was it poisonous?”

“No, just black, I think,” Ruby said, her voice cracking. She rubbed her arms, chilled. She wished her extra shirt was not in the Rookie Mobile. Ruby stared at her sister, wondering how on earth she was taking this so calmly.

“Are your keys in the car, Kylie?”

She nodded, and Ian marched around to the driver’s side. He closed all the windows, turned the heat full blast, then shut the door.

“What’s he doing?” Kylie asked, coming to stand by Ruby.

“He’s getting the snake out,” Ruby said quietly. “It has to come out, or die from the heat.”

✽ ✽ ✽

While they waited for Kylie’s car to heat up, Ian took his phone out again.

“Now what?” Kylie asked.

“I’m letting dispatch know where I am,” Ian said. “There’s no way I’m leaving you two stranded like this, Judah will kill me.”

“Awe, I’m fine as long as it comes out,” Kylie said. She lowered her voice. “I wasn’t around when that whole thing happened with Ruby and Judah. Snakes don’t really bother me.”

“Fine,” Ian said. “But I’m still gonna follow you home. And I’m going to need a statement from you.” He waved the paper she had given him. “I’ll have them run it for prints, but I doubt they’ll get anything useful.”

Ruby felt all the blood drain out of her face, but at least the world was not spinning. She pointed at the car, where a black racer was tapping at the window.

“Go get in the truck,” Ian said to her.

Ruby clenched her teeth. Help from this man was the last thing she wanted, but she had reached her limit. There was no way she was getting back in the Rookie Mobile. Ever. But she didn’t want to leave her little sister.

“I’m fine, Rubix, really,” Kylie said. “I’ll get your stuff.”

Ruby nodded and dashed for the truck. She climbed into the cab and shut the door against the mosquitoes. The truck was still running, and the AC was blasting, along with Mozart’s Requiem. Where on earth had her brothers found this guy?

She bit her lip and watched Ian open the Rookie Mobile door. The snake slithered out, and Kylie stuck her tongue out at the black racer as it slithered off into the trees.

Ruby watched in disbelief as her little sister popped back into her car and drove off towards the Nest.

“Unbelievable,” Ruby muttered as she put on her seat belt. Of course, Kylie might not have bounced back so quick if the thing had slithered down her seat belt and onto her shoulder.

The deputy turned and marched back toward his truck, carrying Ruby’s backpack. He pulled onto the road, switched off his police lights, and followed Kylie towards the Nest.

Ruby sat there, for a minute or two, and then finally sighed.

“Thanks,” she said. “I could not have gotten back in that car.”

“Yeah, well, that’s understandable,” he said, glancing at her. “I’m going to make sure Kylie gets home okay, and then I’ll drop you off. I hope Mozart’s okay?”

“He’s not Bach, but I can deal,” Ruby said, and Ian chuckled a little.

They were quiet another minute, and then Ian spoke up.

“Did your mom really burn the van?” he asked. “The one from when you and Judah were kids?”

Ruby managed a small smile. “She wanted to. Every time we went anywhere, Judah and Joe and I wanted her to run the heater before we’d get in. Tim was just a baby, so he didn’t care. And when dad got in and found we’d put Duct tape over all the vents and seatbelt tracks, well, he sold it. Said we needed a bigger van anyway.”

“Wow,” Ian muttered. “That kinda thing could really mess a kid up, huh?”

Ruby rolled her eyes a bit and shrugged.

“Well, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry I made a snap judgment about you the other day,” Ian said, speaking quickly. “I mean, in my defense, things often look worse than they are. I mean, when I pulled up just now, if I didn’t know you, I’d have thought you and Kylie were drunk!”

“Sheesh,” Ruby said. “That’s some apology.”

“Sorry,” Ian said. He rubbed his hand over his face. “I didn’t have sisters.”

Ruby shrugged as his phone buzzed.

“Do you need to get that?”

Ian shook his head. “Probably just Judah. You can answer him if you want.”

He tossed the phone at her and Ruby swiped it to see that it was, indeed, Judah. She tapped out a quick answer.

Riding with your roommate back to Grannie’s. I’m fine. <3 Rubix.

She stuck his phone in a cup holder and exhaled as they pulled into her parent’s driveway. Ian parked next to Kylie. He gave her a serious look.

“Look,” he said. “Just give me a minute to get her statement, and I’ll take you home, okay?”

Man, those are blue, she thought, and then shook herself. “Cause you need my statement too, right?”

“Yeah,” he admitted. “And ‘cause I want to wake up in one piece. My roommates take this whole brother thing to the next level.”

✽ ✽ ✽

Ian turned the truck out of her parent’s driveway and back onto the road. This guy was a piece of work. Sure, he had tried to apologize, but in the process, he said he thought she was drunk! And whatever points he might have scored for looking out for her and Kylie were sponged away by his statement that he was only doing it so that Judah and Joseph wouldn’t hang him for abandoning their sisters.

Ruby folded her arms and stared out the window. They rolled along in silence, until Ian glanced at his phone.

“Rubix?” he asked. “Is that auto correct?”

“No,” she muttered, annoyed with herself for slipping and sharing something so personal. “It’s a nickname. But nobody calls me that but daddy and the boys, though.” She frowned, as if daring him to use their name for her.

He didn’t.

“How’d you get it?” he asked.

“I’m good with puzzles,” she admitted.

“Ah. Well…” he stammered, trying to fill the uncomfortable silence. “Kylie seems to bounce back pretty quick, doesn’t she?”

“That’s what dad hoped for when he named her Kylie,” Ruby said. “It means boomerang. And that’s just how she is! Otherwise she’d be shopping for a Jeep right now!”

“What’s that got to do with anything?”

“Nowhere to hide in a Jeep,” Ruby said with a shrug. “Even for a snake.”

It was quiet for a minute, and then Ian cleared his throat.

“So,” he said, turning the music down. “Want to tell me what happened?”

Ruby sniffed. “Not really.”

“Okay… Well, you have to. I need a statement,” he said, the blue eyes darting towards her again.

“Oh,” Ruby said. It was very annoying that she could not tell if he really wanted to know what had happened to her or if he just needed an official report.

Stupid blue eyes, she thought. Then she cleared her throat and told him what had happened in the Rookie Mobile.

“So, what about at Gilligan’s?” he asked.

Ruby heaved a sigh. Obviously Kylie had been pretty chatty.

“Come on, Ruby,” Ian said. “I know you’re working the case. We could help each other out. Especially if you really are good with puzzles.”

“Really?” Ruby finally turned to look at him.

“Sure,” he said. “I’ll go first. The lady you were trying to deliver to, her name is Ms. Mavis, and she has an alibi for the morning.”

“Do you have a time of the murder?” Ruby asked.

“Best guess, really. It takes forever to get stuff back from the lab,” Ian said. “Nothing like you see on TV.”

“So, what was her alibi?”

Ian dragged a hand through his hair.

“Well, between you and me,” he said, “She was at the bank trying to straighten some credit fraud out. She’s on their camera feed for a couple hours.”

Ruby’s breath caught.

“What?” he asked, turning those sharp blue eyes on her again. “Does that mean something to you?”

The eyes flicked back to the road, and Ruby folded her hands together, just to have something else to look at.

“Yeah,” she admitted. “There’s a guy here, named Cameron. He’s an investigator for some big credit company. Said he’s looking into some scam being run down here. I actually saw him pretending to be broke down in front of the Cove the morning of the murder. He was watching the place.”

“How do you know?”

“Cause he showed up at the beach to rent a board from me, and I asked him,” Ruby said.

“And he just told you that?” Ian said.

“Well, at the time he had more important things on his mind than keeping secrets,” Ruby said. “Like the fact that he was drifting out to sea. He was pretty relieved to see me when I paddled out to rescue him…”

“Ah,” Ian muttered. “I can see how that would make someone more communicative.”

“And here I thought it was my sparkling personality,” Ruby said.

Ian choked down a laugh, not sure if she was joking or not.

“I’m kidding,” she said, and Ian exhaled with relief.

“So? What else did you learn from Cameron?”

“I doubt that’s his real name,” Ruby said. “It’s just whatever the credit company prints on one of the cards he uses to check for scammers. The guy has resources. If he’d murdered someone, he’d be long gone. Plus, he insisted that ‘dead bodies’ were ‘not his department.’”

Ruby put little air quotes up as she spoke.

“Kinda creepy, now that I think about it,” she said.

“Hmmm…” Ian said. “So, there’s this credit guy, who has no motive, Ms. Mavis, who has no means, and the ex-boyfriend, who has motive.”

“I don’t think it was the ex, either,” Ruby interrupted.

Ian’s eyes widened at her, even as he pulled into one of the parking spots Grannie had carved up at the front of her property for the charter patrons.

“Well, the guy’s name is Patrick. He was horrible, hateful, and capable, but totally clueless. He didn’t know who I was when we met at Gilligan’s…” Ruby paused in thought. “Besides, he didn’t have time to put the snake in the Rookie Mobile after he found out who I was… Much less find one. Or print a note.”

They got out of the truck and Ruby headed towards the dock. She glanced at Ian.

“I’m good now, really,” Ruby said. “Thanks for getting me home.”

“Where are you going?” he asked.

Ruby pointed down to the dock where her grandmother was standing. Grannie West smiled and waved at the pair of them.

Ruby glanced at her watch. “Joe should be here any minute,” she said. “Grannie asked me to meet the adventure charter when they returned.”

For some reason, Ian Prescott turned to follow her, and Ruby looked at him with suspicion.

“Shouldn’t you be getting to work?” she asked.

“I work out of the truck, remember?” he said with a shrug.

“Oh, right.”

“So, where’s Joe been, exactly? I didn’t really catch where he was going… Judah and I have been on different shifts the last few days.”

“He’s been camping in the Bahamas,” Ruby said, a hint of envy in her voice. “Grannie came up with this great idea for a new type of charter. People love going over there, but some people don’t really want to go just to shop. They want to explore! So she kind of put it out there, and next thing you know he was taking a whole group camping on some mountainside for a few days.”

“Wow,” Ian muttered. “Maybe I got into the wrong line of work.”

“No kidding,” Ruby said with a laugh. She pointed at a small dot above the Indian River. “Look, here he comes now.”

A buzzing sound filled the air, growing louder and louder as the Sea Otter came into view. The buzzing became a loud droning as the plane tilted its belly toward the water.

A smile spread across Ruby’s face as its floats met the water and Joe waved from the cockpit. She waved back as he turned the plane toward the dock, the props blasting little waves as he pulled up.

Joe cut the engines, and Ruby saw him glance out the window. His smile turned to a look of suspicion as he caught sight of the deputy standing next to her.

Ruby turned away quickly, to help Grannie secure the Otter to their dock. Then the door popped open and Joe began helping the passengers off.

Ruby smiled and waved as the little group unloaded. She sent them off the dock and over to the grass to wait for their things. West’s Quests had learned not to allow the passengers to unload gear. Too many things ended up at the bottom of the sea that way!

At last Joe jumped down and hugged Ruby. She squeezed him back and patted his scruffy, unshaven chin.

Joe was not as tall or lanky as Judah, but Ruby’s little brother had outgrown her years ago. She didn’t mind though.

“Better let go, Rubix,” he said with a laugh that went right up to his brown eyes. “I know I stink!”

“Nah,” Ruby said. “You smell like campfire. My favorite.”

She let go, and Joe pecked Grannie’s cheek.

“Hey, Prescott!” he said, turning to shake hands with Ian. “To what do I owe the welcome wagon?”

Ian shook Joe’s hand back, unaware that Joe was watching his every move as they unloaded the plane and filled Joe in on the murder. Ruby groaned inwardly. Joe did not need to be suspicious. There was nothing here to see.

Thankfully one of the campers spoke up.

“What?” the man asked with a frown. “What’s that about murder?”

“Oh,” Ruby said as she passed him his backpack, trying to act casual. “They found a cleaning lady dead over at the Sandy Turtle Cove. It was very sad.”

“A cleaning lady!” the man said, the color draining out of his face.

“Yes,” Ruby said. “Right after y’all took off the other day.”

“But what’s murder got to do with it?”

“Oh,” Ruby said, unsure if this was general knowledge yet. “Well, they think someone was mad at her and killed her. I’m sure it’s in the papers or something.”

Grannie darted in, handing out more gear.

“Enough murder talk, dear!” she said in a sing-song voice. Then Grannie dropped her voice to a whisper and leaned towards Ruby. “You’re upsetting Mr. Taylor, just when he’s becoming quite the return customer!”

The older woman cleared her throat.

“We’ll see you Friday, Mr. Taylor,” Grannie said. “Now! Tell me everyone, what was the best part of the trip?”

A chorus of excited voices rang out, each sharing their highlights. Ruby listened as the party chatted on their way towards the cars parked at the top of the property. They laughed and told stories, and smiled at the talk of hot showers. Mr. Taylor said not a word, and Ruby couldn’t help but notice that he was still rather pale when he drove away.

Chapter Ten

R uby pulled up to the guard gate at the Sandy Turtle Cove bright and early Friday morning. The guard on duty pointed to his clipboard and waved her through with a smile. That was the benefit to hauling a bright aqua trailer everywhere you needed to deliver a kayak: they started to recognize you.

Ruby frowned to herself as she turned the Jeep onto Driftwood Drive. She would have been happy to never, ever see that road again, much less make a delivery to it. Yet, here she was, stopping five houses down, to bring Dwayne Taylor a kayak.

She pulled the Jeep and trailer over to the side of the little road and scratched Angel’s head.

“Whatever this guy does,” she said to the dog, “He must be making bank to go on charter trips and rent gear so much.”

Angel made a short little bark back, as if she agreed, and then planted her tail in the seat to wait for her owner.

“Yeah, I don’t blame you, girl.”

Ruby climbed out of the Jeep and stopped sharp. Mr. Taylor’s car was in the driveway under the house, but it was piled so full of stuff that she could not see in the back window.

She heard a grunting noise, and leaned around the car to see a man lugging a heavy box down the concrete stairs.

“Mr. Taylor?” Ruby asked in surprise. Dwayne Taylor did not look ready for a fun weekend of paddling.

Dwayne Taylor’s dark eyes skimmed over Ruby.

“What do you want?” he asked.

“It’s me, Ruby… From West’s Quests,” she said. “You ordered a kayak for the weekend, remember?”

“What? Oh, yeah,” Taylor muttered, and continued towards his car. He shoved the box in and eyed Ruby. “You can just deliver it then, okay? I’m kind of busy today.”

He turned and went back into the house, but before Ruby could even begin to get the trailer open, Taylor was back with a trash bag full of stuff.

“Er, are you going somewhere?” she asked as he stuffed the bag into his car.

“What? Oh, yeah,” he said again, starting towards the steps.

Ruby stopped by the car. Something was not adding up. Why would he order a rental and then take off? She peered in the car, which was crammed full. It looked as if he was clearing out.

Dwayne Taylor came back downstairs with another bag and his keys. He tossed the bag in the car and rubbed a hand through his hair.

“Are you sure you still want the rental?” Ruby asked with a frown. “Cause I’d rather not unload it if you’re skipping town.”

Dwayne stopped short and faced her, obviously trying not to look upset. Ruby reached for her phone.

“Wait, wait!” he held up his hands, the keys jingling. He looked desperate. Desperate enough to make a deal.

“Look,” she said. “You level with me and I won’t call the police till you’re out of sight. What’s going on? Did you have something to do with the murder?”

“Hey! No, way did I kill Nancy!” he said, talking fast. “Besides, you said they found her after the plane took off. I wasn’t even here!”

Ruby frowned.

“That doesn’t mean you didn’t kill her before you headed to West’s Quests,” she said. “You could have used your phone to schedule the delivery while you were checking in with the charter flight!”

“No way, girl!” he said. “You’re not pinning this on me! Nancy and I were partners! I wouldn’t want her dead!”

“Partners?” Ruby’s eyebrow shot up and she planted her hands on her hips. So that was what the lame ex-boyfriend had been jealous of. Nancy hadn’t found a new boyfriend, she’d picked up a business partner.

“Well, sort-of,” Dwayne said, edging towards the driver’s seat. “She had a good thing going, but she slipped up and scammed me while I was on vacation two months back! She had no way of knowing I’d be able to track who was using my cards.”

“So you killed her for it?” Ruby pressed.

“No! I told you!” he wrenched open the driver door, but Ruby waved her phone in his face. “I told her if she’d cut me in on her scam, I wouldn’t turn her in. Just a little cash for my silence.”

“How much cash?”

“Well… er, enough to stay on vacation as long as I like!” he said. “Why should I go home and sit in that stuffy office? The credit company’s pay it all back anyway!”

“That’s what you think!” Ruby said. “They hunt greedy people like you down! They have people on Leyenda right now!”

“That’s why I’ve got to get out of here!” Dwayne said, his eyes darting around nervously, as if the credit company might be more dangerous than the cops.

“Look, girl,” he said as he climbed into his car. “I’m outta here!”

And with another frightened look around, Mr. Taylor slammed the car door and peeled out of the driveway.

✽ ✽ ✽

Ruby exhaled and shook her head. She went back and shut the trailer, but stopped suddenly as she realized someone was watching her from a couple houses away.

“Grumpy!” she muttered to herself. Here was her chance to find out who he really was! She turned sharply and headed towards him, just as she noticed he was hanging up his cell phone. He marched towards her, a frown on his face.

“Hi, Mr. Peters,” Ruby said, hoping he’d take the bait and correct her with his true name.

“Name’s not Peters!” Grumpy said. He crossed his arms. “You’re causing a ruckus, young lady! What’s going on out here?”

“Me?” Ruby frowned back and pointed in the direction Mr. Taylor had driven. “That guy ordered a rental and forgot all about it! He’s skipping town!”

Grumpy glanced at the empty driveway and chuckled happily.

“Good! Another renter out of my hair! That guy was loud!” He rubbed his aging hands together. “Now take your big, blue trailer and head home! You’re blocking my driveway!”

Ruby glanced at the driveway, which she was most certainly not blocking.

“Wait, just a minute,” she said, trying to lighten her voice. Grumpy was not going to be bullied into sharing information. Maybe she could sweeten him into talking.

But Grumpy turned sharp brown eyes on Ruby.

“Don’t you ‘just a minute’ me, Missy!” he said. “I’ve had my peace disturbed quite enough for one morning! This ain’t a closed community for nothing!”

Ruby held up a finger to argue, but just then they heard the soft hum of a golf cart. Ruby groaned. “You called security?”

Grumpy grinned.

“Rather sharp for a ginger, ain’t ya, Missy?” He chuckled as the guards pulled up, and Ruby glared at him.

“What seems to be the trouble, Mr. Gambino?”

“Nothing Tucker,” he said. “Miss West’s Quests here had somebody cancel a rental on her. She was just leaving.”

Ruby smirked at the old man in triumph as she turned to get into her Jeep. Grumpy had gotten her kicked out, but she had gotten his real name.

✽ ✽ ✽

The minute Ruby was out of the Sandy Turtle Cove she pulled over and grabbed her phone. She scrolled through the contacts, tapped on Ian’s name and started a new thread.

Dwayne Taylor just peeled out of the STCove. Skipping town. Was blackmailing Nancy.

Not two seconds later the phone buzzed.

Thanks.

By the time Ruby was turning onto A1A she saw a cop car go speeding towards the bridge to the mainland with its lights flashing. Mr. Taylor may have been smart enough to blackmail the maid, but apparently geography was not his thing. He had been so afraid that he thought he could leave Ruby standing there with her phone and still escape an island before the cops caught up with him. She shook her head in pity, and drove home.

Chapter Eleven

S unday morning Ruby sat at the breakfast table with Grannie, ticking off her suspect list yet again. Much to her annoyance, not a single request for a rental delivery to the Sandy Turtle Cove came in all weekend, so Ruby found her investigation at a stand-still.

“Well, I guess I’m down to Mr. Taylor, Patrick the ex-boyfriend, and Grumpy Gambino,” Ruby said, holding up a finger for each. “I really don’t think it was Taylor, because he would have needed a partner to get the snake in Kylie’s car while he was on the camping charter, and his partner in crime is dead.”

“God rest her soul,” Grannie said with a shake of her head. “Perhaps Sunday’s not the day for investigating murders?”

Ruby sighed. “Maybe you’re right, Grannie. It’s not like I can learn anything new about Grumpy from outside the Cove, unless we run into him at church, as if.”

“Judge not, Ruby,” Grannie said. “Maybe he’s just a grumpy old man who needs Jesus. Come on, we’re going to be late if we sit around here gossiping any longer!”

✽ ✽ ✽

Fishers of Men was a small, cozy little church on the ocean side that had somehow managed to keep its property despite the high taxes and a constant flux of interested buyers, all of whom wanted to turn the three-acre church property into a money-making condo.

Ruby’s pastor was a gentle, older man with salt and pepper hair. Pastor Gray was just as likely to be found surfing as visiting shut-ins or those in the hospital, and he had performed many a wedding, bare-foot and wearing a Hawaiian shirt.

Ruby had known him her entire life, and once she had seen Pastor Gray laugh off an interested buyer who had come to Sunday church solely to scope the place out. When the man had informed Pastor Gray that they couldn’t possibly keep paying their bills with a congregation of sixty people, the Pastor had winked at Ruby and said cheerfully, “It’s not the sixty, it’s the One that matters. Leyenda needs Jesus more than it needs another condo.”

Ruby really liked Pastor Gray. If you met him on the street you would never guess he was clergy, because he was humble. Grannie said humble clergy men were rare creatures in-deed.

Ruby and Grannie pulled into the small parking lot at Fishers, and then headed inside the old-fashioned chapel. They said good morning to as many people as possible as they headed over to join the rest of the West clan, which took up an entire pew by themselves.

Tali jumped up and gave Ruby a huge hug.

“Hiya, Ruby!” she grinned.

“Hiya, Tali-girl,” Ruby said, tweaking her little sister’s braid. “How goes it?”

Tali’s eyes widened and she crooked a finger at Ruby, who bent down to her sister’s level. “Same as always! Peter’s already spilt coffee all over Ian, and—”

“Ian?” Ruby asked, suddenly feeling less at ease. “Was he at the Nest this morning?”

“No, Ruby, here!” Tali said in a whisper. “Peter ran right into him, knocked coffee everywhere. They went to the bathroom to mop up his shirt, Mama went to get paper towels.”

Just then Mrs. West appeared with an armload of towels. She handed them to Tali, who started mopping up the pew and the floor, and then turned to Ruby.

“Hey sweetie,” said Mrs. West. “How’s my girl today?”

“Oh, you know, Mama,” Ruby said with a smile. “Fine as always.”

Mrs. West eyed her daughter. She didn’t approve of Ruby’s recent interest in crime solving, but she knew that opposing it would only make Ruby crazier about it. Hopefully Grannie would shepherd her daughter safely through this, or give her something more exciting to focus on.

A pair of arms wrapped around Ruby from behind, and a deep voice chuckled in her ears.

“Morning, Rubix,” Judah said. “Solved the puzzle yet?”

Ruby twisted to smile up at her big brother, who was tall and lanky, but before she could say anything Grannie clucked her tongue.

“No murder on Sundays, you two,” she hissed. Then Grannie glanced behind Judah and smiled. “Hello, deputy. Nice of you to join us.”

Judah let Ruby go and she turned to see Ian behind her brother. His shirt was covered in coffee, but even still he looked annoyingly handsome. He was every bit as tall as Judah, and probably worked out just as much. She nodded at him, keenly aware that all of her brothers were watching her sharply, and then exhaled with relief as Pastor Gray turned on his mic to welcome everyone to church.

✽ ✽ ✽

It was a good service.

Ruby enjoyed the mix of hymns and praise songs, and after her week of death threats, snakes, criminals, and finding a murder victim, she especially appreciated the sermon Pastor Gray gave about Psalm 23.

She certainly needed the reminder that God was watching her, whether things were calm and peaceful, or if they felt more Shadow of Death Valley.

When Pastor Gray finished, the family filed out of church and into the sunshine with the rest of the congregation. They lingered at Ruby’s Jeep a moment, saying goodbyes and making plans for family dinner later in the week.

“Ruby, dear,” Grannie said. “I’m going to ride with your mom, and spend a little time with her and the kids, unless you need me for something?”

“Oh,” Ruby said, feeling a little deflated. She had hoped to talk through the clues again.

“No murder talk on the Sabbath,” Grannie said quietly. “You need a break.”

Sometimes Ruby swore Grannie could read her mind. Either that or Grannie’s people reading skills were off the chart. Maybe she should have been a detective.

Grannie cleared her throat and dropped her voice.

“Unless you want to talk through things with Ian, that I’d be fine with,” she said with a twinkle in her eyes.

“Grannie!” Ruby hissed. “I’m planning on figuring it out before he does!”

Grannie laughed and Ruby hurriedly changed the subject.

“I think I’ll go home and read,” Ruby said. “Enjoy the quiet. Maybe take a paddle with Angel and Jesus.”

Grannie nodded in approval and Ruby hugged the rest of her family goodbye.

“Angel?” Ian asked. He ran a hand through his short hair and waited, even though everyone else was walking away.

“The dog’s name is Angel,” Ruby said, feeling her face turn red as he lingered by the Jeep. Why wouldn’t he just move on?

“Ah,” he said. “Well, thanks for the tip yesterday.”

“Tip?” she asked, climbing into her Jeep. She pulled her skirt in and started to pull the door shut, but he was quicker than she was, and shut it for her.

He raised his eyebrows at her.

“About Dwayne Taylor ditching town,” he said. “Might not be murder, but blackmail is pretty bad too. Leyenda is one criminal fewer because of you, Ruby. You really are good at puzzles.”

Ruby stared at him. Was he actually complimenting her? No way. She frowned down at his hands in suspicion, which were still on the door. He was probably just trying to butter her up so she’d keep him in the loop of her investigation!

“Look, er… Deputy—”

“Ian,” he corrected, tucking his thumbs into his coffee-stained pockets. “I live with your brothers. Practically family.”

“Uh, yeah, well, Ian… I’m gonna go.”

Ruby started the Jeep and drove away wishing her stomach wasn’t flip-flopping.

✽ ✽ ✽

That day, Ruby stayed true to her word and took a break from investigating. She had a very nice evening reading another Eastman mystery, went for a paddle with Angel, and ate a massive salad for dinner. On her way to bed she checked the computer to see if any orders had come in for the Cove.

She put a hand on her hip and frowned at Angel.

“Rats, girl. Nothing!”

Angel stared up at her.

“Well…” Ruby said to herself. “If nothing comes in overnight, I’ll do the beach run in the morning. Joe’s on shift to baby sit the rentals for the afternoon. I can’t drive into the Cove… But, you know, Angel… I’m feeling up for another paddle.”

Chapter Twelve

T he next morning Ruby was halfway through another Eastman mystery when someone tugged on the brim of her hat. She jumped a bit, and looked up in surprise.

“Joe!” she said, swatting at him playfully. “You scared me!”

Joe dodged her easily, then sat down in the sand next to Ruby’s chair. He ran a hand through his sandy blond hair, and smiled at her. Ruby smiled back. She adored their big brother, Judah, but Joe had such an easy, care-free way about him, that she could not help but smile whenever he was around.

“What cha’ reading, Rubix?” he asked.

“I found a bazillion of these in Grannie’s library,” Ruby answered, passing him the book. “I’ve never noticed how many mystery books she has… They’re all way up on the top shelf. Grannie said she’d already read them all.”

“I didn’t know you read these,” Joe said, squinting at the cover, which showed a guy and a girl trekking through the jungle.

“Neither did I,” Ruby said with a shrug. “But the ones by Eastman are just plain fun. I’ve got another in my bag. Want it for your shift?”

Flying was Joe’s main job, but he usually covered for Ruby at least twice a week. He enjoyed talking to the families that came for vacation on Leyenda, and showing kids how to paddle around.

“Why not?” he said. “I’ll try one, if you think they really are that good.”

She dug out the other book and handed it to him. He flipped through it for a moment, then sat it on his lap and leaned back, tipping his face to the warm sun.

“Not a bad life, eh, Sis?” he asked.

Ruby looked around. They were getting paid to sit on the beach, read, and make other people smile while they got to try new things. Joe was right.

“Yeah, and I have news that you’ll like,” Ruby said.

He looked at her curious, but Ruby spoke quickly, before she could change her mind about telling him.

“I broke up with David.”

A smile spread across her little brother’s face, but Joe quickly wiped it away. “How come? Are you doing okay?”

Ruby shrugged and told him what had happened. Then she got up to put some more water in Angel’s bowl.

“You did the right thing, Ruby,” Joe said, kicking at the sand. “I never liked him anyway.”

Ruby looked up. Joe and Judah had both told her she could do better, but she had ignored both of them. But now that David was gone, if she was honest with herself, she realized she hadn’t really missed him at all.

“You had him pegged, didn’t you?” she asked.

It was Joe’s turn to shrug.

“Ruby—”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about me, Joe. I’m done with dating,” Ruby said. She blew Angel’s whistle and the dog came bounding over. “Time to go, girl. Jeep!”

Angel lapped up the water and followed the two of them over to Ruby’s Jeep. Joe gave her a wry look as he unhooked the trailer from her Jeep.

“Done with dating?” he asked. “What does that mean? Are you joining a convent or something?”

Ruby punched him on the shoulder.

“Joe!”

“Well, are you?” he laughed.

Ruby climbed up into the driver’s seat and started the Jeep. She shook her head.

“No, the next best thing though, I’m sure you’ll think,” Ruby said. “You and Judah both.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Joe said. He lifted his sunglasses, to get a better look at her. “Come clear, Rubix.”

Ruby exhaled. Once she told Judah and Joe there was no going back. They would hold her to it if they could.

“All I’ve ever wanted was a family of my own,” she said. “You and Judah and Timothy have something to shoot at. ‘Family’ isn’t exactly a career path you can find on Job Monster.”

Joe’s smile faded away.

“You’re good at what you do, Ruby,” he said. “And you have us.”

“I know,” Ruby said quietly. She swallowed at the lump in her throat. “I guess I’ve just been trying to make it happen, you know? But it’s not working. I may as well be trying to make myself taller—”

Joe snickered, in spite of himself, but he said nothing, and Ruby went on.

“I don’t want to miss out on what I do have, chasing something I may never get,” Ruby said. “I told God that if He wants me to get married and have a family, He’ll have to do the husband hunting for me. I’m done.”

Joe stared at her for a moment, and then a broad grin spread across his face.

“Well, this is excellent news, Rubix,” he said. “Any chance you can talk Kylie and the girls into doing the same?”

“Ha, ha, ha,” Ruby said. “Fat chance.”

✽ ✽ ✽

Ruby headed home to Grannie’s. Once there, she let Angel out to stretch her legs, but the dog had had enough of the heat and she quickly turned to follow Ruby into the AC.

Inside, Ruby passed by the library where she got a glimpse of Grannie typing away like a madwoman. A pair of old-fashioned headphones were clamped down over her thick gray hair.

Ruby smiled at the old woman’s back and headed to the kitchen. She made herself a sandwich and a glass of ice tea. Then she grabbed her phone and checked to see if West’s Quests had gotten any delivery orders for the Cove.

No such luck. Rats.

Ruby drummed her fingers on the table. She sat up to see if Grannie was moving around yet, but the only sound she heard was the faint clicking of computer keys.

She looked down at Angel.

“Well, girl, I suppose it’s now or never,” Ruby said. She jumped up, filled her water bottle, and headed out to the paddle shed. Five minutes later she was driving down A1A with a board on the roof rack.

✽ ✽ ✽

Ruby pulled over to a free beach access spot and turned off the Jeep. She unstrapped the board from the roof rack and lowered it gently, then she got her water bottle.

Ruby checked the sky for signs of changing weather, and then grabbed her backpack.

Her mini backpack was one of those knock-off bags made to look like that trendy Swiss backpack everyone was willing to shell out cash for. Twenty bucks had gotten Ruby her favorite shade of aqua blue, lots of pockets, and a place to stick her water bottle. The bag was not waterproof, but since Ruby rarely fell in, it got the job done.

She stuck her West’s Quests hat on, threw the pack over her shoulder, and picked up the board and paddle, feeling a bit anxious as she headed across the sand.

“Come on, Ruby,” she said as she put the board in the water and jumped on. “There’s no rule against paddling into the Cove. You’re not doing anything wrong!”

Ruby shook herself, and said a little prayer. “All right, Lord. Please help me learn something to help solve this case. I want Leyenda to be a safe place.”

✽ ✽ ✽

A short while later stilted houses came into view, and Ruby reached the first man-made canal that cut into the Sandy Turtle Cove.

“Hmm…” Ruby said with a frown. “There must be a dozen of these things!”

She paddled on, frustrated with herself for not realizing the community was going to look different from the water, and tried to guess which turn to take. Driftwood Lane was probably along the fifth or sixth canal, and she counted as she glided silently along.

At the fifth canal she turned the board and floated over the bubble net the Cove had running. The bubble nets were jets that pumped air across the entrance of the canal, trying to keep debris from floating into the community. They also frightened off some of the more skittish marine life.

Past the bubble net, the water grew calm. The stilted, concrete houses crept right up to the water, blocking most of the sky. Each house was surrounded by gravel and a few bushes, and many of them had boats tied up right outside their front door.

Ruby pulled out her water bottle and took a sip as she silently paddled along. It was easy to tell which houses belonged to residents: they had personal touches. Potted tomatoes on the balcony, humorous signs, and wind chimes gave many of them a homey feel.

The other houses looked and felt more like tiny hotels. Very clean and pretty, but not home.

She made it all the way to the end of the canal, where the sea weed floated in a gnarly heap, and sighed. She had picked the wrong canal.

Ruby paddled back out to try the next one. Soon after she floated over the next bubble net, Ruby recognized the houses on one side of the canal and a grin spread over her face.

“Bingo!” she said. “Driftwood lane!”

Ruby paddled forward, not sure what she was hoping to see. Grumpy seemed pretty observant, and he also had a lot of time on his hands. It occurred to her that if she was floating around his front door, Grumpy was bound to notice, so she paddled slowly, pretending to admire the houses and boats.

The smell of chicken on the grill wafted past, and Ruby’s stomach growled. A man was out grilling on the other side of the canal, and he waved cheerfully.

“Great,” Ruby muttered to herself. Now she was being watched. Then an idea dawned on her and Ruby put on the smile she reserved for customers. The man had a friendly look to him, and Ruby drifted towards the house, hoping to seem like she was just out for a paddle and not investigating his neighbor for murder.

“Hi!” she called. “The chicken smells good!”

“Thanks!” the man said. “What are you up to, miss? Enjoying the boats?”

“Yeah,” Ruby said. “I’ve always loved paddling up into the neighborhoods. So much to see. And things change constantly, with all the vacationers coming and going… You on vacation?”

“No,” he said. “I grew up over on the mainland, up by Jensen.” The grill sizzled and hissed, and the man flipped the chicken with a big metal spatula. “I live here now, but not sure if I’ll stay.”

“Really?” Ruby asked, her curiosity peaked. “Why not?”

“Eh, I don’t know,” he said. The man rubbed a hand through his salt and pepper hair. “I retired, but now that push comes to shove, I’m not sure I was really ready for it. The quiet’s driving me nuts. They had an opening for a science teacher, so I’m going back next week. Pretty long drive though, so I might move back.”

Ruby paddled in place. Her eyes darted towards Grumpy’s house, and she was certain she saw the curtain wiggle. She turned back to the griller.

“Is that what you taught before? Science?” Ruby asked. Maybe if she was friendly, he would give her some information on Grumpy.

“Oh, yeah,” he said. “Wouldn’t want to teach anything else!”

“You sound like my little brother,” Ruby smiled. The guy was starting to remind her of Timothy and his computers.

He waved the spatula at her.

“You look familiar. Have I seen you around here before?”

Ruby glanced over at the Driftwood Lane side of the canal and tried not to frown when she saw Grumpy’s eye peering around the curtain. Before she could answer, the teacher snapped his fingers.

“You’re the rental girl, right? With the SUP board the other week!” he said. “You found that poor cleaning lady, didn’t you?”

Ruby’s face turned crimson.

“Yeah, that was me,” she admitted.

“What on earth are you doing here then?” he asked, a look of concern spreading across his face. “I would think this place would give you the creeps.”

Ruby pulled out her water bottle and took a little drink. Her ice was long gone, and the water was starting to get warm.

“Well, to be honest,” she said, “I was hoping to find some closure.” Ruby tilted her head towards Grumpy’s house. “The neighbor came flying in when we found the cleaning lady, grabbed the snake and everything. But when I saw him in here the other day, well, he was really rude. Even got security to make sure I left. Made me wonder, you know?”

“I’ll bet,” the teacher said. He shoved his hands in his khaki pockets. “That doesn’t really add up… Are you talking about Gambino?”

“Yes!” Ruby said.

“That doesn’t surprise me a bit,” the teacher said. “Gambino is a total grump. And he’s always digging around the bushes, it’s weird.”

“Lots of people mess with their bushes,” Ruby said.

“No, not his bushes. The bushes in the rental house next to him,” the man paused. “Where you found that lady dead.”

“What? Are you sure?” Ruby asked. “Have you ever seen what he’s doing?”

The teacher shook his head, and Ruby turned her board. She frowned at Grumpy’s house and then turned her best smile at the teacher.

“Well, your grill has my stomach growling,” she said and started paddling. “I think I’m going to head home. Good luck with the teaching!”

“Thanks! Oh, hey— Wait!”

Ruby lifted her paddle out of the water, coasting a bit.

“Do y’all ever offer those eco tours?” he asked. “You know, the ones where you paddle around in kayaks and check out the science stuff?”

“Of course we do,” Ruby said.

“Man, that’s great!” he said. “The school told me I need to take the lab kids on a science trip once a semester. Maybe we could work something out?”

Ruby beamed and pointed at the logo on her hat.

“West’s Quests… Just check out the website. I’m sure we can come up with a great field trip for you, Mr…?”

“Fletcher, miss!” he called, turning back to the grill as it hissed at him again. “And thanks! I’ll check it out!”

Chapter Thirteen

G rannie met Ruby as she came in through the porch door.

“There you are, Ruby,” she said. “What have you been up to?”

Ruby hung up her keys. “I went for a paddle after Joe came to watch the rentals.”

“That’s nice dear,” Grannie said as they headed into the AC. “Do you have plans? I was thinking you could head over to the Nest early with me. Phoebe is making lasagna, and the poor dear has taken it into her head to do it from scratch.”

“Oh, my,” Ruby said with a shake of head.

“Never does anything by halves, does she?” Grannie said with a smile. “I figure we can either help Phoebe, or at the very least keep Peter out of the kitchen while she’s pressing noodles.”

Ruby laughed. Either one would be very helpful to Phoebe, who had high ambitions that were rarely restricted by practical limitations.

“Just let me rinse off and throw on some clean clothes, all right?” she said, and headed upstairs.

✽ ✽ ✽

Not long after, Ruby and Grannie pulled up into the West family driveway. Ruby parked around the back of the house and they climbed out of the Jeep. Grannie started towards the house, but Ruby grabbed her by the hand.

Ruby peeked around the side of the Jeep, scanning the yard.

“What is it?” Grannie asked.

“Just want to make sure Peter’s not testing his trebuchet…” Ruby peered up into the tree house and sighed with relief. A red hammock swaying about ten feet above the tree house.

“Peter?” Ruby called. “Is that you?”

The hammock shifted and Peter’s head popped out.

“Course it is!” he bellowed. “You know my hammock’s the red one!”

Ruby grinned up at him. “I take it we’re safe from egg launching at the moment?”

Peter saluted Ruby and Grannie.

“Proceed! Full-speed ahead! All systems go!”

The ladies shook their heads and giggled as they started for the relative safety of the porch, where they found Ruby’s mother sitting in a rocking chair.

“Hey, Mama,” Ruby said as she hugged her. “I take it Peter’s moved on from medieval history?”

Mama West laughed.

“Yes, but now he’s turned the tree house into a battleship, I think,” she said, sounding somewhat relieved. “He’s been researching the Navy lately.”

“Oh, good,” Grannie said. “I was hoping to avoid the egg trebuchet!”

“I’d keep an eye out though,” Mama said with a shake of the head. “I think he’s been pretending that thing’s a canon this week. But at least it’s bolted to the tree house—gives you an idea where to watch out!”

The women laughed, but then Ruby’s mother dropped her voice.

“Would you mind checking on Phoebe dear?” she said softly. “She knows how to make the noodles, but I think she may have forgotten how long it all takes.”

Ruby winked at her mama and went to go find her sister.

✽ ✽ ✽

A puff of flour met Ruby as she entered the kitchen.

“Hey Phoebes!” Ruby called into the fog. “How’s it going?”

Phoebe waved a hand to clear the air in front of her. There was flour in her blond hair, along with a tiny piece of egg shell.

Relief spread across her face and Phoebe pulled open a drawer. She grabbed a frilly apron and shoved it at Ruby.

“Ruffles? Really?” Ruby said, her eyebrow going up.

“Come on Rubes, tomorrow’s laundry day. I’ve kinda gone through most of the others this week,” Phoebe said, pressing the apron at Ruby. “I thought camping skills month was going to be the end of me, but the kitchen stuff is way harder than I thought it would be! Mama’s job is no joke!”

Ruby took the frilly apron and tied it on. She knew exactly how Phoebe felt. All of the West children learned to cook simple meals when they were small, but around fourteen years old the expectations went up. Both of their parents had a whole list of things that they expected their kids to be competent with before they finished high school. It made for an interesting educational experience, and it certainly got rid of any illusions that being a “grown-up” meant getting to do whatever you pleased.

“Phoebe, what on earth made you decide to do the lasagna from scratch?” Ruby asked.

Phoebe’s face turned slightly pink. She turned to the pile of flour on the work board and quickly cracked a couple eggs into it, stirring like a mad woman.

“Oh, no big deal, really,” she said lightly. “I just heard Judah and Ian talking the other day, and Judah said he was praying his future wife would be able to cook half as well as you and Kylie. Ian wanted to know if the two of you really are good cooks, or if Judah’s just biased…”

Ruby bit her lip. The man was insufferable.

“And that’s when Daddy spoke up,” Phoebe said. She dropped her voice an octave in attempt to imitate their father. “My girls have many talents! Phoebe’s working on cooking this year, too. She’s at lasagna this week, I think!”

“Phoebe, why on earth didn’t you stick with the box noodles?” Ruby asked. She stuck a hand on her hip.

Phoebe mashed harder at the new lump of pasta dough, and she blew a lock of hair out of her face.

“Well… Ian started talking about the pasta his Gramma used to make, and he and Judah just seemed really impressed by the whole thing, and, and— Aw, Ruby! What was I thinking? I can’t get it all done by dinner time!”

Phoebe pressed her hand to her face in a panic, leaving a trail of flour.

Ruby grabbed her little sister in a hug.

“Phoebe,” she said firmly. “You do not need to impress that deputy, or any other guy for that matter!”

“Deputy?” Phoebe said, looking confused. “Do you mean Ian? Eww! He’s almost twice my age! I just want Judah to talk about me the way he does you and Kylie. He thinks you two walk on the moon…”

“Ha!” Ruby said. “Well, in that case you should hear him talk about your art. As for cooking, he was just trying to keep the subject on us girls so his new roommate doesn’t find out that he and Joe cook just as well as Kylie and me. They went through the same skill list! Now, as far as dinner goes, Phoebe, you can’t be a blessing if you’re stressing ‘bout impressing—”

“You sound like Mama,” Phoebe said.

“I will take that as a compliment,” Ruby said. She reached up and picked a fragment of eggshell out of her little sister’s hair. “And now I’m going to quote daddy. ‘Play to your strengths, and work on the rest little by little.’ Peter’s still on pantry duty, right?”

Phoebe nodded. Peter had been in charge of pantry upkeep since his tenth birthday.

“Good,” Ruby said. “There will be plenty of fresh milled flour, he’s always proud of that! You make those melt-in-your-mouth butter rolls of yours, and that excellent pasta sauce of yours. I can make the noodles, and Tali is in charge of salad still, right?”

Phoebe nodded again.

Ruby clamped the pasta press tightly to the counter.

“Ruby?” Phoebe asked in a quiet voice.

Ruby looked up at her sister.

“Thanks.”

Ruby picked up the little pile of dough her sister had been struggling with.

“Phoebe girl, I’m always here for you. But don’t forget about Mama. She’s the pillar around here. How else do you think Grannie and I knew to come over early?”

Phoebe started to pull out the veggies she needed for her sauce, but then she straightened up and gave her big sister a nod. She headed out to the porch, and Ruby could just hear Phoebe ask Mama and Grannie if they wanted to keep the girls company in the kitchen.

Ruby smiled, cranked the handle on the pasta press, and made a mental note to tell Judah to be sure to compliment the sauce and rolls.

✽ ✽ ✽

Ruby had long since forgotten the frilly apron when Judah and Joe arrived, and they teased her something fierce when they saw it. She was just about to chase Joe down for a flour-covered hug when she realized the boys were not alone. They had brought their roommate, and he too was chuckling at her ridiculous apron.

She stopped dead in her tracks, sharp words forming on her tongue, and made the mistake of catching Mama’s eye.

Be nice, Mama mouthed.

Ruby gave her mother a small nod, and then a thought flashed through her mind. She really didn’t know Ian Prescott at all. He could be a total Jesus freak, or, far more likely, he was the boys’ latest rescue mission project. Maybe her brothers were dragging him everywhere, church included, because he needed Jesus.

Her conscious tweaked guiltily, and she whispered a prayer. Lord, help me not to get in the way of whatever You are doing in Ian’s life.

When she looked up, the rest of the family was heading for the big table, but Ian was standing right next to her. He gave her a wry grin.

“You praying for patience, or something?” he asked.

Ruby nearly choked. The only thing left to carry to the table was the second pan of lasagna, and she ducked her head to avoid his eyes and grabbed for it.

Ian was too quick, though, and snatched up the pan.

“I’ll get it,” he said, ignoring the fact that she had not answered his question. “So? How’s the investigation coming?”

Ruby untied her frilly apron. Was he taking her seriously, or making fun of her?

“I paddled into the Cove today,” she admitted. “Have you questioned the neighbor? Mr. Gambino?”

Ian shifted, and Ruby stared at him, wondering if the heat from the pasta pan had made its way through the pot holders yet.

“Briefly,” Ian said with a shrug. He shifted his feet and the lasagna again, but he still did not move towards the table.

“If you wanted to talk, maybe you should have offered to carry the salad,” Ruby said. She wadded up the messy apron and stuffed it in a basket full of used kitchen linens. “Well, I think it was him. I talked to another neighbor today. Found out Gambino’s always messing about in other people’s bushes. Especially the renter house we found the body in.”

Ian stared at her, obviously not convinced. Ruby felt the heat rising in her face.

“Look,” she said. “I didn’t get to tell you before, but Gambino showed up on the scene really fast. Suspiciously fast. There’s no way he had time to get out of his house, down the stairs, and up into the rental when that lady screamed. If he’s that fast, or can hear that well, then he had to have ignored the cleaning lady when she died, ‘cause you know she screamed her head off when that snake started chewing on her.”

“Chewing?” he asked, his eyes widening.

“Yeah, that’s what corals do,” Ruby said. She quirked an eyebrow at him. “Wait? Do you mean you haven’t done any research on them?” Did this guy even want to figure out who killed the cleaning lady? She jerked out a chair and thumped into it as Ian lay the lasagna on the table with the rest of the food.

He blew on his fingers with relief. “Well, I’ll talk to Gambino again tomorrow—”

“Ahem,” Mama said. She nodded towards Tali and Peter. “No murder investigations at the table. The forks have ears.”

Peter laughed, but Tali picked up her fork and twirled it around.

“Why do y’all keep saying that?” she asked. “I don’t get it.”

“Good,” Daddy said. “Phoebes, this smells delicious! Time to pray.”

Phoebe beamed as they all closed their eyes to pray. Ruby cracked her eyes open to see Grannie chuckling beside her as Tali studied her fork.

“Amen!”

For a short while there was no talk of anything but salad, rolls, and pasta as the family passed the food around the massive square table. Talk turned to life, and several conversations broke out. Ruby had sat as far away from Ian as possible, so she wouldn’t have to worry about being polite and could enjoy dinner with her family.

“So, Grannie,” her dad asked. “How’s business?”

Grannie smiled. “Oh, pretty good! The rentals are steady this time of year, but I think we really hit on something with that adventure trip Joe just flew. I was hoping to talk Timothy and Kylie into covering some of the beach rental shifts once a month… I think we could really go somewhere with the adventure camping, and there’s a lot of young girls out there who could learn a thing or two with Ruby. Could be a real ministry opportunity, you know? Run some of the trips for the big spenders, but put together some trips for girls. Maybe youth groups or something. We’d take a loss there, but I think we could make it up elsewhere. What do you think, Ruby?”

Ruby beamed. “That sounds awesome!”

People commented on the idea for a while, and Ruby drifted into a pleasant daydream about backpacking. Suddenly she remembered the eco tour and snapped back to earth.

“Oh! Grannie! I forgot to tell you,” Ruby said. “I got a lead for a school eco tour. I paddled past the Cove today, and ran into a retired teacher who was going back to work. Said he needed a field trip for the science lab students… A Mr. Fletcher.”

Before Grannie could answer, Ian Prescott jumped into the conversation.

“Fletcher?” he asked. “I had a science teacher named Fletcher. The guy hated teaching… Couldn’t wait to retire!”

“Hmmm,” Ruby frowned. “Well, must be a different Fletcher. Said he missed teaching and was going back next week. He was really nice.”

Ian frowned, and Ruby turned away icily. She stabbed at her salad, and Ian returned to the conversation nearest him.

Mama gave her a small, meaningful look, and Ruby had to pray for more patience with Ian Prescott.

Chapter Fourteen

R uby put down the phone in frustration and looked out the window. The afternoon sun beamed down hot and bright on Grannie, who was down at the dock with Angel bouncing around excitedly at her feet.

Ruby picked up the mystery she’d been reading when the phone had rung, and then dropped it back on the table. She tugged at her red braid, feeling as if someone had burst her bubble.

Well, someone had! She thought, and then got up and stomped downstairs and outside to her grandmother.

Grannie was hanging over the edge of the dock. Ruby watched as she reached into the shadows, fishing for a piece of thin rope.

“What’s up, buttercup?” Grannie’s voice floated up.

“This detective work is harder than I thought,” Ruby said with another tug at her braid.

Grannie pulled up the rope and a small wire cage emerged from the water. She stood and sat the cage onto the dock. Grannie counted an easy half-dozen blue crabs, then smiled and stretched her back.

“Check the other trap for me, will you, Ruby?” she said. “So, you’ve had a set-back in your search, I take it?”

Ruby went to the very end of the dock and hung upside down to reach the other crab line.

“Yeah,” Ruby answered as she hauled the trap up. “I was sure it was Grumpy that killed the cleaning lady.”

“What makes you think that it wasn’t?”

“I just got off the phone with Ian,” Ruby said. “He called to let me know he talked to Mr. Gambino this morning, and he’s pretty sure it wasn’t him… There’s three more in this trap.”

“Oh, good!” Grannie said. “Crabs for dinner! Dump ‘em in the bucket for me, and we can talk all about it.”

The older woman passed Ruby an empty five-gallon bucket, and Ruby shook the crabs into it. Angel barked at the empty traps as the women tossed them back into the water, and then they all headed up to the grill on the porch.

“Just another moment, hon. Let me grab the pot,” Grannie said.

She disappeared inside while Ruby guarded the bucket. Two of the crabs tried to climb out, and she gave the bucket a little kick with her foot, dropping them back in. Then she grabbed the hose and poured in a little fresh water to rinse them off.

Angel peered in the bucket and whimpered. She backed away quickly, since she had already made the mistake of sticking her nose in a crab bucket when she was a puppy.

“Here we are!” Grannie said as she reappeared with a massive pot, a long pair of tongs, and a big jar of Old Bay seasoning.

Together they filled the pot with water and put it on the grill’s side burner. Grannie shook in a pile of seasoning. “Get me one of the cans, will you?”

Ruby moved to the other end of the porch where Grannie kept a stash of beer cans for cooking. She smiled as she handed Grannie the can, knowing exactly what her grandmother would say, because she said it every single time they made crabs.

“Can’t stand the taste of this stuff for drinking,” Grannie said as she popped the can open and poured it into the pot. “But it sure makes for good crabs.”

Ruby chuckled. She knew her Grannie to enjoy the occasional glass of wine, but the older woman had a particular distaste for beer. She stole a glance at her grandmother, who at times was more of a mystery than the murder Ruby was trying to solve.

“He’s getting away!” Grannie said, pointing at the bucket. Angel whimpered and went to hide under the porch picnic table.

“Some guard dog,” Ruby said with a laugh.

“Poor thing,” Grannie said, clicking her tongue.

Ruby used the tongs to grab their catch of crabs one at a time and stuff them into the pot. Grannie put the big heavy lid on, turned on the burner, and waved for Ruby to follow her back out into the yard.

“I hate hearing them in there,” Grannie said. “But catching my own food once in a while reminds me to be grateful for the food I don’t have to process, you know?”

Ruby agreed completely. She sighed as they sat on the swing Grannie had hanging from a big royal poinciana tree. The fern-like leaves draped all around them, creating a pretty picture as they swayed in the breeze.

“So, dear, fill me in,” Grannie said. “Where are we?”

“Well, apparently Grumpy Gambino is a landscaper. He owns a company and doesn’t have to do much of it anymore, but he’s spent so much time grabbing snakes and dispatching them that the coral didn’t freak him out. Plus, he knew it wasn’t going to have enough venom for a second bit, even if it did get him.”

Grannie nodded.

“And he fessed up to what he has been up to,” Ruby said.

“What? What’s that?”

“The crazy fellow has been lining the rental house next door with fish guts—”

“You’re joking—” Grannie West gasped, then wrinkled her nose in disgust.

“Nope, he admitted it to Ian,” Ruby said. “Renters coming and going drive him nuts with their music and their parties and their jet skis and whatever else some of them get up to. Between the coons scratching at the walls and the stink of rotting fish, he was hoping to get some really bad reviews for the place, so the owner would sell it.”

Grannie shook her head.

“And people laughed at me for planting those areca palms all the way around the Nest,” Grannie said. “Hmm… Want to go over your suspects again?”

Ruby leaned back heavily. “I don’t know, Grannie. There was the boyfriend, Patrick, but I really think he didn’t do it. And Ms. Mavis, the renter lady, I really don’t think it was her. She was at the bank all morning, and I don’t think she knew the lady robbing her credit cards was sitting in her house while she was out. Someone like that would call the cops, since she was already trying to get her money back the legal way.”

“I think you’re right about that,” Grannie said. “And there’s that man from the credit company, too. Has anyone seen him lately?”

“No,” Ruby said. “I have a feeling he took off once he found out the dead lady wouldn’t be scamming anyone anymore.”

They rocked for a little while, and Ruby stared up through the poinciana branches and tugged at her braid in thought.

“There’s something missing,” Ruby said. “I may be good at puzzles, but I can’t put them together without all the pieces… I still can’t figure out why the cleaning lady was in Ms. Mavis’s rental to begin with. Mavis wasn’t checking out, so Nancy wasn’t there to clean. Whoever sent her there had to know that Mavis was at the bank… They had to know she was going to be there for a while. And why didn’t Nancy call for help? It takes forever to die from coral venom!”

“That part has me stumped, too,” Grannie said. “If you hadn’t found the snake under her, I would think she’d been bit elsewhere and just died at the rental. Has Ian heard anything back from autopsy?”

Ruby snorted.

“Ha! You know all those shows where they get results in hours? And how the detectives rush around and solve everything real fast? It’s all hogwash! Most of that stuff takes weeks, sometimes months!” Ruby said. She hesitated, and then added, “Besides, I don’t know how much Ian can tell me.”

Grannie stole a glance at Ruby. “So nice to see you two working together—”

Ruby jumped off the swing. “We should go check on the crabs, before they boil right out of the pot,” she said. She stomped off towards the porch, calling over her shoulder, “You want to watch a movie tonight, Grannie?”

Chapter Fifteen

A breeze kicked up, and Ruby felt the air pressure shift as a storm drew near to the island. Ignoring the sudden shift of weather, the two women spread some old newspapers across the porch table and dumped the bright red crabs in the center. Then they added some fresh corn on the cob and two bowls loaded with salad.

They watched the storm roll in and sat and cracked crabs and chatted and munched until dinner was finished. By the time they were done, the storm had dumped itself out. The sun was coming back out just in time to set.

“You take Angel for a good long walk,” Grannie said. “I’ll clean up tonight, and by the time you get back, we can watch that movie.”

“You pick, okay? Something… classic,” Ruby said as she went to fetch Angel’s leash. “No mysteries though.”

Grannie laughed and waved Ruby out the door.

Ruby clipped the leash on her dog, even though Angel really didn’t need it, and the two of them headed off at a pace that would wear out the Aussie and relieve Ruby’s spinning mind.

✽ ✽ ✽

When they got back, Angel gulped down a ton of water and Ruby took a quick shower. She threw on her pajamas and went to meet Grannie in the living room.

“So? What’d you pick?” Ruby asked.

“Indiana Jones!” Grannie said with a wink. She handed Ruby a bowl of fresh-popped popcorn and dropped into her favorite spot on the couch. Ruby took the bowl and snuggled up with a pillow as Grannie hit play.

She nibbled at her popcorn, not enjoying the old flick as much as she usually did. While Indy was running from dart-blowing natives, Ruby was pondering her failures in crime solving.

Why had this mystery become so important to her? Was it because she’d washed out with David and her dreams of starting a family had been snuffed out, again? Maybe she should just forget the whole thing and sit on the beach renting kayaks for the rest of her life. Maybe that’s all God had for her…

Her eyes watered, and Ruby turned her attention back to the TV, just as Indy was climbing into an open cockpit and his buddy was taking off for a quick escape. She cringed as the camera panned down to reveal the giant snake slithering across Indy’s lap.

Grannie paused the movie.

“You okay, Ruby, dear?”

Ruby gave a tiny nod.

“You should try that,” Grannie said, pointing at the screen.

“I should fly with snakes? I don’t think it’d be good for business—”

“No,” Grannie said tartly. She pointed at the frozen image of Indy shouting. “He’s afraid of them, but he never calls it that. Indy always says ‘I hate snakes.’ You should try that, Ruby. Change the way you talk about your fears… Stop letting fear stop you.”

Grannie eyed her carefully for a moment, and then started the movie back up.

✽ ✽ ✽

The next morning, Ruby woke up as a sudden thought ran through her head.

“Why didn’t I think of that before?”

She bolted upright in bed and threw off her quilt. Angel, who was sleeping at her feet, rolled over and fell off the foot of the bed.

“Sorry, girl!” she said quickly, trying to sooth the dog. “Go back to sleep,” Ruby said. “I just want to check something.” Then she shuffled over to her desk and fired up the computer.

Ruby opened up her search engine and took a deep breath. Snakes were the last thing she wanted to look at.

“Stop letting fear stop you,” she said to herself. Then she starting tapping keys. Coral snake victim image.

Pictures popped up, but none of them were dead people, just bite victims. Ruby made a face.

“Well, corals are a type of cobra, let’s try that,” she said, typing again. “Oh, yuck!” She closed the browser window quickly. “Ew, ew, ew! I hate snakes!”

Angel put her paws over her eyes.

“I just want to see what the victim looks like after they’re dead, not some gross guy kissing a cobra!”

Ruby frowned at the laptop. Images were going to get her nowhere. She needed a description.

“Stop letting fear stop you,” she told herself again. Ruby sat down at the computer and starting again, making sure to search for text only.

A short while later Angel came over and put her head in Ruby’s lap.

“Need to go out, girl?” Ruby asked, grabbing a hair tie and putting her hair up into a very, messy bun. “I need a break anyway. Everything I’m finding says cobra venom is a neurotoxin. The coral should have slowly shut down Nancy’s systems and paralyzed her long before she stopped breathing… But that takes hours and hours. Nancy had to show up at Mavis’s rental and get bit and stop breathing before Mavis got back from the bank…”

Ruby pushed back from the computer and headed downstairs to let Angel out.

✽ ✽ ✽

She found Grannie in the kitchen brewing a strong pot of tea.

“You look better this morning,” Grannie said, pushing a mug over to Ruby.

Ruby sat down across the table from her.

“I’ve made up my mind, Grannie. You were right,” Ruby said. She spoke very quickly, the words tumbling out of her. “I hate snakes. And… And I hate the idea that I might never get to have a family of my own. But I’m done letting fear stop me.”

Grannie pushed the honey across the table. She said nothing, allowing Ruby to speak without interruption.

“I’ve been on-line for an hour,” Ruby said. “I can’t find anything that sounds like what I saw when I found the body. But the thing definitely killed her. Like, really, crazy fast… Like she just stopped—”

Ruby’s voice trailed off.

“Ruby? She stopped, what? What did she stop?” Grannie said, waving a hand to get her attention.

Just then Angel barked at the door, wanting back in, and Ruby jumped nearly a foot. Ruby’s eyes focused on her Grannie.

“She stopped breathing,” Ruby said quietly.

Grannie’s eyes widened. “You said she kept an EpiPen in the guard house, didn’t you?”

Ruby nodded slowly. Then she jumped to her feet.

“I am going to solve this case, Grannie! Just you wait! And I’ll do it before Ian does! I just need all the puzzle pieces!”

Ruby marched out of the kitchen. The porch door slammed as she let the dog back in. Angel bounced into the house, picking up on Ruby’s excitement.

“Good for you, dear,” Grannie said as she got the dog’s breakfast. She smiled at Ruby with pride and then got her keys and purse.

“Where are you going, Grannie?” Ruby said. “Aren’t you going to help me figure this out? I’m so close, I can feel it!”

“I have my Bible study group this morning,” Grannie said, heading out the door. “Why don’t you give that handsome young man a call?”

“Call? Who am I calling?” Ruby asked.

“Why, Deputy Prescott, of course!” Grannie said from the porch. “You need to tell him you think Nancy died from an allergic reaction, of course. And that someone lured her to the house while Mavis was out. Someone nearby who knew the house was empty. I’m going to be late! Let me know how it goes, dear!”

“I never said he was handsome!” Ruby shouted, but Grannie was already out the door.

Chapter Sixteen

R uby got up, her mind in a buzz of excitement. The killer knew about the scam. He knew Mavis had left and gone to the bank. He knew that Nancy had an EpiPen and if he talked to Jimmy, he knew that Nancy had a bazillion allergies.

The killer lived in Sandy Turtle Cove.

He had to. He would know Mavis’s house was empty, and he lured the cleaning lady there and killed her with something that might look like a crazy accident. Whoever he was, he was smart enough to order the kayak rental and get the cops looking at someone else. Maybe even smart enough to lie about putting fish guts in the bushes.

Ruby went outside and backed the Jeep up to the trailer. She was supposed to babysit the beach rentals today. She hooked everything up, then headed back inside to pack a lunch.

Angel followed, sensing Ruby’s excitement. She bounded around, happy that Ruby was happy enough to share some leftover crab scraps as she dug in the fridge.

She had woken up early, and didn’t need to leave just yet, so she headed to the library to grab the next mystery in the series she was reading.

“I’m going to figure out the last piece of this, just you wait!” she told Angel. She put the book in her pack, and started to add her phone, but stopped.

“Maybe Grannie’s right,” she said. “Maybe I should tell Ian what I found out…”

Ruby swiped through the contacts and headed out to the porch. She hit call before she could change her mind. It rang and rang, and Ruby was just about to hang up as it went to voicemail.

“Um, hey, Ian,” she said. “It’s Ruby, and I’ve been thinking… I think Nancy died super fast because she had all those allergies, and the coral venom triggered a reaction. The killer must live nearby, and he was in there with her when she got bit… That’s why her stuff was everywhere, they must have struggled for the EpiPen …”

Ruby rattled on, feeling stupid talking to a machine.

“I really think you should look further at Grump—I mean, Mr. Gambino… Check his credit cards to see if he’s been a victim of fraud recently. Anyways, I’m rattling. I gotta go, there’s someone pulling up.”

Ruby looked up at the West’s Quests charter parking area and waved at Mr. Fletcher as she shook her phone so it would give her the hang up button. Fletcher, got out of his car, and slung his backpack over his shoulder.

“Hey! Are you here about that Eco tour?” she called as the phone finally lit up and she pressed the End Call button.

Ruby shoved the phone into her bag and turned to her dog. She pointed at the porch floor. “Wait here, Angel.”

She closed the porch door and skipped down the steps.

Mr. Fletcher smiled broadly.

“I sure am!” he said, answering her question. “The school says it’s a great idea, and we can book you for next month. There’s just one problem… I don’t know anything about paddling, and well, I don’t want to look like an idiot in front of the kids.”

Ruby chuckled. She headed down the steps and tossed her backpack into the Jeep.

“No worries, Mr. Fletcher,” she said. “I’m running early today. Want to go for a quick paddle? Get your feet wet?”

“That would be perfect,” Mr. Fletcher said. He clapped his hands and sighed with relief, then followed Ruby down to the paddle shed.

✽ ✽ ✽

Ruby smiled to herself. This was perfect! She could have Mr. Fletcher up and paddling in half an hour, and maybe then he’d be willing to get her into the Sandy Turtle Cove so she could question Grumpy again.

“All right, Mr. Fletcher,” she said. “It’s not as hard as it looks. At least not if you’re cruising around on flat water up in the mangroves! We’ll have you up in no time.”

“Thanks a bunch,” Fletcher said. “This will really help me out.”

Ruby went in the shed and pulled down a life jacket big enough to fit the science teacher. “Maybe you can do me a favor, too?”

“How so?”

“Well,” Ruby tossed Mr. Fletcher the jacket and turned to pull a paddle off the rack. “Well, maybe you could get me back into the Sandy Turtle Cove? I think there’s a killer in your neighborhood, and I want to do some more digging around.”

“I’m afraid that’s not going to happen,” Fletcher replied.

✽ ✽ ✽

Ruby’s heart began to thump in her chest, and a horrible feeling washed over her. She turned around, paddle in hand, to see Mr. Fletcher’s face. His expression had turned dreadful, and he was standing in such a way as to block the door.

Ruby swallowed, and it hit her that she had been wrong.

Dead wrong.

“It… It was you, wasn’t it?” she said, her voice shaking. “You killed that poor woman.”

Chapter Seventeen

R uby clutched the paddle in her hands. She waved it at him.

“You stay away from me!” she said, backing as far as she could go.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Fletcher said. He pulled off his backpack, unzipped it, and pulled out a small, black bag. “Nancy cleaned me out! I already had my suspicions about her stealing from the tourists, but she messed up when she robbed me! She got greedy and ruined me!”

“You could have gone to the cops,” Ruby started. Maybe if she could keep him talking, she could sneak past him somehow.

“The cops!” he snarled. “Right! They never bother to track down credit fraud! Report it and she runs, and then I’d be sitting there in debt up to my gravestone! No way—”

Ruby pulled her whistle pendant up to her lips and blew as hard as she could. Fletcher actually laughed at her silent cry for help.

“Your little whistle’s broken,” he said with a sneer, but up at the porch, Angel started barking and the sneer faltered.

“How… How did you know I was investigating?” Ruby asked, her voice trembling more than she liked. She had to keep him talking.

“That gate guard, Jimmy. Real friendly fellow,” Fletcher said. “Doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut.”

“Did you know Nancy was being blackmailed?” Ruby said.

Fletcher was turning colors he was so angry.

“You think that makes it right?” he shouted, loosening the strings of the black bag.

“No, no, of course not,” Ruby said, her heart hammering as she eyed the bag. She had a terrible feeling of what it was… He had already put a snake in Kylie’s car, and caught a coral snake to use on Nancy.

Up at the porch, Angel barked and barked. The dog was trapped, but she wasn’t giving up. Maybe one of the neighbors was home. Maybe someone would hear her barking and call the cops.

“I didn’t mean to kill Mavis, you stupid girl!” he growled. “I only wanted to put the fear of God into her! Make her give back my money… And maybe a little extra. I didn’t know she had all those stupid allergies. But you… You won’t stop digging! Now I have to do something about you.”

Fletcher turned the bag upside down.

Ruby’s world seemed to stop as something yellow, red, and black slithered out of the bag and hit the ground at Ruby’s feet.

✽ ✽ ✽

Angel barked louder and louder.

Ruby felt the blood draining out of her face. She stared at her feet in disbelief. The world tilted, threatening to spin out of control, but suddenly Grannie’s words came rushing back to her.

Stop letting your fear stop you.

Ruby choked down a breath as other words whispered to her heart.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…

Up at the house, the barking suddenly stopped.

“One little bite won’t kill me,” Ruby said faintly, half to herself, half to Fletcher.

I will fear no evil…

“It doesn’t have to,” Fletcher grinned maliciously and patted his backpack. “I brought friends. They’ll think there was a nest in this shed… Poor girl.”

For You are with me…

Ruby looked up, her eyes suddenly bright with a new found courage. She gripped the paddle hard, preparing to jump the snake and make a run for it.

Fletcher saw the change and bowed up at her, but just then there was a horrible snarl behind him.

✽ ✽ ✽

Fletcher whirled around as the Australian Shepherd lunged at him. Angel’s jaws latched around his ankle and she flipped her body around, knocking him off balance.

Ruby swung the paddle for all she was worth, and Fletcher stumbled and went down, right over his coral snake. He screamed with rage and pain, but Ruby stepped on him and launched herself out of the shed.

“Angel! HEEL!” she screamed. The Aussie dropped Fletcher’s bloody ankle and whirled about instantly. The moment the dog was out the door Ruby slammed it shut and wedged the paddle in place.

Ruby turned, adrenaline pumping through her system and urging her to run for the Jeep. She rounded the corner of the shed and looked up to see the driveway filling with flashing lights and sirens.

“Help!” she yelled. “Down here! Help!”

Car doors banged open and gravel crunched under feet as half the Sheriff’s department ran towards Ruby, but a now-familiar pair of blue eyes reached her first and Ruby threw herself into the only arms she recognized.

Chapter Eighteen

R uby sat on the porch steps, clutching a bottle of water. The sirens had stopped, but red and blue lights still flashed around her as she watched a stretcher roll past.

Mr. Fletcher was alive, but the coral had given him quite the bite, which is why he was going to the hospital, rather than the police station. One of the paramedics caught Ruby’s eye. It was Paul Maddox.

“I’m okay,” she mouthed, and the older man gave her a brief nod. Then he and his partner jerked the stretcher up into the back of their ambulance with a jolt.

“Take it easy, man!” Fletcher groaned.

The medics ignored him completely. They shared a couple words with the law enforcement, then slammed the doors shut and drove away, hitting every pothole the old road had to offer.

Angel leaned her head onto Ruby’s lap with a whimper, and Ruby wrapped her arms around the dog. She buried her head into the fur and sighed, just as a pair of feet moved closer.

Ruby looked up to see Ian standing beside her again. He nodded in the direction of the ambulance as it took off down the road.

“He fell into his own pit, I’m afraid,” Ian said.

Ruby sucked in a breath and hugged Angel tighter. Then she glanced up at the deputy, feeling rather sheepish.

“Sorry for flinging myself at you like that,” she said, her face turning a little red.

“Well, you had a lunatic trying to murder you with a bag of snakes,” he said with a frown. “You did good. And so did you, girl.” He bent over and ruffled the dog’s ears. “And I just talked with Judah, he’ll be here any second.”

“Good,” Ruby said, certain she could hear another siren in the distance. Just knowing her big brother was on the way helped. She gave Ian a weak smile. “When he gets here, you can tell him I figured the whole thing out, just like I said I would…”

Ian glanced up as a silver FWC truck pulled into sight and cut its siren off. He crossed his arms and frowned at Ruby.

“Technically, I figured it out before you did—”

“What? No way!” Ruby said.

He nodded at her, with those stupid blue eyes that made her stomach tangle into knots.

“Yes, I did,” he said. “When I checked your message, I heard you saying hello to someone. And when I heard you ask about the Eco tour before the phone disconnected, I knew it was him right away.”

“If that’s so, why did it take you so long to get here?” Ruby challenged.

“I didn’t know where you were!” he said. “I thought you worked the beach Wednesday mornings!”

Just then Judah reached them, and Ruby stood up on shaky legs. Judah wrapped his arms around his little sister, then frowned at Ian.

“What? So, you’re memorizing her schedule now?” he asked.

“Hey, man, no way!” Ian said, holding his hands up in alarm.

Ruby buried her face in her brother’s uniformed shirt and smiled. She knew by his tone he was messing with Ian. Judah kissed his sister on the top of the head, and then let go of her to give Angel a great big hug too.

Ruby sank back down onto the steps. Judah knelt down in front of her, still rubbing the dog. He caught her eyes and nodded over towards Ian. Ruby frowned but nodded at her brother. She knew that look. She was going to have to put up with Ian Prescott for a good, long while.

“You okay, Rubix?” Judah asked. She nodded, and he looked her over anxiously, as if the paramedics might have missed something. Satisfied, Judah let out a breath. “Good. The rest of the family is on their way. Mama’s fit to be tied.”

Judah stood up and turned to his room mate.

“Look, FWC has no jurisdiction for this, so I’m gonna leave her with you and get back to work. Just make sure you’re the one that gets her statement. She’s freaked out enough as it is,” he said.

“Right…” Ian said.

Judah bent down and pecked Ruby on the cheek again.

“You sure you’re okay?” he asked, just as the radio up in his truck started squawking.

“Really, I’m good,” Ruby said.

Judah nodded. He shot Ian another look, then headed back to his truck.

Ruby turned back to Ian and forced herself to smile.

“About that statement,” she said. “I say we call it a tie, since I had to rescue myself and all…”

Ian shook his head and knelt beside Ruby and her dog.

“It’s a deal,” he said. “A tie between all three of us.”

“Three?” Ruby asked, her green eyes widening.

“Yeah,” Ian said, patting the dog. “You, me, and your guardian Angel.”