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AS I’D DONE FOR AS many years as I can remember, I rolled out of bed as soon as the sun cracked the horizon. I’d always been that way, whether I could actually see the sun or not.
I jumped from my bed and pulled on my shorts, picked up a t-shirt I’d thrown on the back of the stool in the galley and made myself a cup of coffee. As I slipped into my Sperrys, I sent Alex a text with my free hand:
You awake?
While I was down at Angela’s house, Alex had gone out with Mike Stone. As she’d said more than once, she and the detective were nothing more than friends. I assumed it was true, considering he knew her father and was probably closer to his age than to Alex’s.
But it still bothered me when she went out with him. Not just Mike, and the fact I didn’t like him. It actually bothered me when she was out with any man. Not that it happened often. But when she did—even an old friend of hers like Mike—something about it bothered me. Even if I tried to ignore it.
I sipped my coffee and took it up and out onto the dock. I turned my chair toward the East where the sun was just starting to rise up over the river. You couldn’t ask for a better view.
I thought about John and Michelle Thompson. And I wondered about the bartender who seemed to have feelings for him, whether they were innocent or not. She made it clear he was more than just a man who’d sit at her bar. I thought about John’s brother—who I still hadn’t had a chance to talk to after our brief meeting at Thompson Insurance.
My phone buzzed and I pulled it from my pocket. I had a text from Alex, answering my question:
I am now.
A moment later the phone rang. I answered right away. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”
She took a few long seconds to answer, and yawned into the phone. “Actually, yes. You did.”
I sipped my coffee and looked out east along the river. “You’re missing a beautiful sunrise.”
“I’m missing a beautiful sleep.”
I laughed. “Sorry.”
Alex was quiet for a moment. “You say you wake up early because you like that everyone else is asleep.”
I looked out at the fishing boats leaving the marina. “Not the fisherman.”
“Right. But then why do you always call me to see if I’m awake?”
“I didn’t call you. I sent a text.”
Alex sighed into the phone.
“Listen, my head is spinning. I need to talk.”
“You mean, about John Thompson?”
“Yes, what else?”
“I don’t know, maybe...”
“Something Angela said to me, has me thinking.”
“What’d she say?”
I sipped my coffee then dumped it down between the cracks on the dock. “Why don’t you get dressed, take a ride to the marina. If you hurry you can catch the sunrise.” I thought for a moment. “I don’t have any tea for you. Maybe you can pick one up on the way?”
Alex was quiet for a moment. The phone sounded muffled, like she’d rolled over on top of it. “I gotta walk Raz, take a shower...Give me an hour.”
“You’ll miss the sunrise.”
“That’s okay. Give me an hour.” She hung up.
A moment later a text came through:
meet me at the Coffee Ground in one hour.
––––––––
I SAT ON THE PATIO outside The Coffee Ground, a trendy coffee place right on West Bay. Halfway through my first cup of coffee, Alex finally showed up in flip flops and shorts with a white tank top.
“Morning, Sunshine,” I said.
Alex looked down at me through her sunglasses and seemed to struggle with a smile. The line between her lips was straight and tight. “It’s too early.” She pulled out the chair across from me and plopped down into her seat.
“Come on. It’s good for you.”
“So is sleep.”
“Okay, well you’re up now.” I started to stand from my seat. “Let me get you a tea.”
She waved me off and stood from her chair. “I got it. Be right back.”
I leaned back into my chair and sipped my coffee. I looked toward the street and, even though it was barely past six, the commuters were already out on the road. The only way to beat the traffic in Jacksonville was to get up and out early. And the only way to beat the people trying to beat the traffic was to get up before the sun.
Alex sat back down and sipped from her cup.
“What’d you get?”
“Green and Black. I need the extra caffeine.”
“Green by itself is gross anyway. It’s like sipping from a leaf-clogged gutter.”
She held the cup with both hands and took off her sunglasses. Her eyes were down toward the table, the steam coming up into her face. She raised her eyes to mine. “How was the meeting with Angela?”
“She’d already been a bottle of wine into the night when I got there.”
“Your kind of woman.”
I gave Alex a look.
“It’s the house Angela and John lived in. It’s less than half the size of Michelle Thompson’s but nicer. Has character.”
“A man on his third wife...having a house that big fits the personality.” She lifted her cup and sipped her tea. “Did Angela give you any indication there’s more to the story than a man who forgot to wear his helmet?”
I nodded. “We talked about Roy. In fact he called her, told her what’d happened with me and his kid. Sounds like I broke his nose.”
“Oh, that’s not good. And you said he was already a little hostile toward the idea of her hiring a private investigator...”
I nodded. “Something else she said that caught my ear...Right before I left, she said when she first found out John had died, her first thought was that someone must’ve killed him.”
Alex’s eyes went wide. “Did she elaborate?”
“Not really. No names, if that’s what you mean. But it sounds like John might’ve had his share of enemies.”
Alex leaned back and folded her arms at her chest.
“Roy and John were friends, but total opposites, from what it sounds like. She said Roy was a man’s-man. And John, well...He rides his bike...plays the piano. He hung out at a bar where...” I thought for a moment. “A place where I guess I don’t see a wealthy guy like him fitting in.”
“But his friend’s son owns the place. Doesn’t that explain why he hangs out there?”
I picked up my coffee and looked past Alex. “The way Lydia acted...I don’t know. I can’t stop wondering—” I paused, not sure it made sense to even say what I’d wanted to.
“Wondering what?”
“She acted like they were...I don’t know. I guess I wouldn’t mind asking her right out if there was something between them.”
“But you’re just making an assumption?”
I nodded. “Of course.”
“And you said she was young?”
“Early twenties, I’d say. But maybe that’s his thing.”
Alex made a face. “Young women?”
I nodded.
“I imagine she’s attractive?”
“Very.”
Alex rolled her eyes. “You could’ve just said yes or no.”
“You asked. I’m just saying, she’s pretty. A bit flirtatious.”
“Why, did she hit on you?” Alex laughed. “If she likes older men...”
I shook my head. “No.”
We both sat quiet for a moment, sipping our drinks. The odor from the cars started to affect my enjoyment of the outdoor patio.
I looked at my watch. “Do you want to come with me to John’s brother’s house? I’d like to catch him before he goes to work. Angela said he doesn’t get in until nine or ten. So if he’s up, now would be a good time to swing by.”
Alex nodded as we both got up from the table. “I’ll drive,” she said.
“Good, ‘cause I walked here.”
As we walked side-by-side to her Jeep I turned to her and said, “So how was your date with the detective?”
She sighed and let her shoulders drop as she looked up toward the sky. “How many times do I have to tell you, it’s never a date when I go out with Mike. We’re friends. And even if there was more to it...” She let that hang without saying another word about it. “But he did come right out and ask if you had anything to do with John Thompson’s case. He’d heard you were doing some investigating.”
“What’d you say?”
She shrugged. “I wasn’t going to lie to him.”
“No?”
“Don’t worry, I told him you were doing some insurance work for Angela.”
“Does he know you’re helping me?”
We both stepped up into her Jeep and she stuck the key in the ignition.
“I didn’t tell him I was helping you. But the look he gave me...he knew I was lying.”