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Danny Garrett phoned Kate early the next morning. “Hey, Beautiful, did you have breakfast yet? If not, how about joining me. It’s a wonderful morning and I was about to walk over to Café Buna in the little shopping center on Washington. Perfect weather to sit outside and enjoy a cup of their great coffee and a nice omelet or one of their other breakfasts.”
Cameron hadn’t come down yet, and Garrett’s offer sounded too tempting to pass up. If anything, the attraction to the handsome former FBI agent had grown stronger each time she saw him. She would be going back to San Francisco soon, and wasn’t about to pass up a chance to be alone with him, even if she had to call her agent and tell him she would be a little late. So what if she already had a cup of coffee and an Everything bagel?
She said, “Café Buna? I haven’t been there before. Sounds good. We’ve usually eaten breakfast here or sometimes gone over to the bagel shop.”
“It’s in the same strip mall. It used to be called The Coffee Roaster before the new owners took it over. Back then they had this huge coffee roaster and used to roast their own beans.”
“Well, I could spend about an hour, give or take a little. Then I have a full day.”
“Great. Buna is just a few doors down from Noah’s Bagels, and it’s a real hangout for many of the locals. Some of them wind up chewing the fat, so to speak, for such a long time that they not only meet for breakfast, they wind up ordering lunch as well. You’ll like it. Has character. I’ll be by in about fifteen minutes.”
Like clockwork, fifteen minutes later Garrett was at the door, and Kate was ready to go. Cameron called out “Good morning,” from the kitchen, but stayed at the kitchen table nursing a cup of coffee and enjoying a chocolate chip sweet roll.
While they were walking toward Washington, Garrett’s cell phone rang. He said, “Gotta take this. It’s Maggie. Wonder what’s up that she’s calling so early.”
After listening for a moment, he said to Kate, “I’d put this on speaker, but it would be hard for both of us to listen to while we’re walking.” After a few exclamations of “wow” and “incredible,” he finished the call, then turned to Kate and said, “This case gets stranger and stranger. I’ll share what Maggie found out when we get to the Grinder.”
A few minutes later they claimed a table with an umbrella on the paved area to the side of the eatery. It was one of those places where you order at the counter, then they deliver it to your table. He motioned her to stay put. “Hold down the fort here. I’ll get us some coffees. I love their Crab Omelette. If you like crab, I think you’d like it, too.”
“What’s in it?”
“Um, let me see. Eggs, some kind of white cheese that I think is Jack, avocado, garlic, peppers, onions, ranchero sauce and jalapenos. They serve it with multi-grain toast and hash brown potatoes or fruit. Should I order that for you, or do you want me to get a menu?”
“Sounds great. Make it two. I love crab. Then come back here and tell me what that phone call was all about. I’m dying of curiosity.”
Kate looked around at other diners in various stages of conversation. This beach community was so different than her home in San Francisco. A gentle breeze caressed the trees along the parkway and sent little funnels of sandy dust spiraling up from the blacktop. The sweet smell of jasmine filled the air. The table felt a little rickety, and the chairs were obviously rescued from secondhand stores, then painted bright colors. Everything added to the laid-back atmosphere of the place.
Garrett placed two mugs of steaming coffee on the table, then slid into the seat opposite Kate.
“Sorry to keep you wondering about Maggie’s news, but I know you’re on a time schedule, so I wanted to get our orders placed. They’re really quick here. Anyway, you will be the first to know this latest development. I promise you, it will blow everyone’s mind. Pays to have friends who love to gossip.”
“Enough of the buildup. Come on. Spill it.”
“Okay, okay. Hey, I don’t blame you for being impatient. It has gotten more and more weird since day one. Just when you think you have an idea, something else comes to light that torpedoes it. Like Shady’s body turning up in the canal, and the mystery of the missing wife, and of course, how she managed to embezzle so much money from us.”
Before Garrett could continue, a waiter leaned between them and placed plates filled with the scramble in front of each of them. He wore what appeared to be the servers’ uniforms—a tight fitting black tee shirt topped by a long white apron with Coffee Grinder scrawled across it in large script letters. He said in a cheerful voice, “Let’s see, Crab Omelette and Crab Omelette.” He chuckled. “Just wanted to make sure I didn’t mix the orders up. Enjoy.”
Between forkfuls of the eggs and crab and sips of coffee, Garrett shared the astounding news. “Maggie got a call late last night from one of her friends. She said this woman loves to be first with juicy gossip, and this is definitely juicy. She is one of the people Maggie questioned about the Shadys. Anyway, her daughter works as a travel agent at the Wonders of Travel agency on Sepulveda near LAX. The night after the Shadys disappeared, she called her mother with the news that she booked the biggest trip of her life that day—an around-the-world cruise on the Crystal Cruise line.”
“Crystal? Around-the-world? No wonder she was excited. Crystal is a very high-end line. Why a cruise like that probably costs anywhere from Thirty-Five Thousand to as much as Fifty Thousand and more. That girl will make a very healthy commission. I can understand Maggie being thrilled for her friend’s daughter, but why should that be of interest to us?”
“Here is the why, my dear. The name of the woman who booked the cruise was Briana Hanley.”
It took a few moments for that to sink in. Then the name registered. “Biana Hanley. But that’s—“
“Exactly. One of Barbara Shadys’ aliases. Maggie called her friend back and asked if she could find out more details from her daughter. Even a description of the woman. Here is where it really gets interesting.”
“I agree that this is unreal. What are the odds of our missing Black Widow booking something like that with the daughter of Maggie’s friend? Millions to one, I’d say.”
“You bet. Anyway when she called back the woman said her daughter told her the woman knew exactly what she wanted, wanted it done as quickly as possible, and booked it over the phone. Imagine booking a Fifty-Thousand Dollar cruise over the phone. The daughter couldn’t believe her luck, but somehow it all fits. The woman gave a San Francisco address that I’m sure will turn out to be something like a UPS box. The credit card she used apparently was one of those American Express cards available only to wealthy clients and by invitation—people who charge hundreds of thousands of dollars and therefore has absolutely no limit. When she took the number, the thought even went through her mind that someone was playing a trice on her. In fact, she was pretty sure it would be declined for such a high-priced purchase. But, it went through immediately without question. The cruise departs two days from now.”
Kate’s mind was on speed dial going through everything she knew so far.
They both agreed the woman had to be Barbara Shady. So many questions. If the cruise didn’t depart for two more days, where was she now?
She said out loud, “Danny, maybe she rented a car under that name or even another name. The cruise doesn’t leave for two more days. Do you suppose she’s still around here somewhere? Maybe at a hotel? We probably should tell Barrington and Nathan, but I’d like to be a little more certain that it’s her before we do. The two days gives us a little time. What a great way to disappear if you have the money. An around-the world cruise. Damn.”