Chapter 20

 

Dorothy and I arrived at the beach, ready for our paddleboard tour. I had high hopes that I would be much better at this than I was at the surfing. I was pretty confident that Dorothy would beat all of us, based upon her performance with surfing. I wasn’t going to let up with Kenneth and Roland Bailey. I knew there had to be a connection between the surf guys and Kevan Willoughby.   

“All right, if everyone’s ready you can grab your board and go ahead and get in the water,” Kenneth said. “You’ll find your paddles right next to the board.”

I wasn’t sure if this would lead to any help for the investigation, but Dorothy said that all work and no play… something, something. I didn’t remember. I hadn’t been listening. At least I had gotten a chance to wear that new cute swimsuit I bought with the red polka dots. Dorothy was already in the water. I didn’t know how she moved so quickly.

“Come on, Maggie,” she said waving.

I splashed into the water and managed to get on top of the board. Everyone else was waiting for me. At least I had the paddles to help me get my balance, unlike with the surfboard. My legs shook and the board swayed back and forth on the water. With a bit more effort I was now in the upright position.

The instructor stared at me. “Okay, now if everyone is ready to go, we can get on with this.”

So I wasn’t so coordinated on a surfboard. I could do other things, like I was really good at solving cases. Okay, I was mildly competent at solving cases. I would have already been dead by now if it hadn’t been for that.

“Don’t look so worried, Maggie,” Dorothy said. “You’ll be just fine. Though if you fall in the water this time I’m not sure Jake will be here to save you from Jaws, so try not to do that, okay?”

Putting the paddles into the water, I moved with ease like gliding a spoon through liquid. Well, not quite that effortless, but at least I didn’t have to try to navigate the waves. We were headed out down the canal to have a look around. Kenneth was telling us about all the things we’d see. A breeze carried across the water and over my skin. The sun beat down on us and I was thankful that I’d put on lots of sunscreen. I saw the shore ahead of us.

At least it wasn’t far because I didn’t think I would be able to handle much more of the paddling. My arms were already tired. Plus, we still had to go back once we reached the turnaround point. Everyone was paying attention to the paddling and not watching me, so that was better than the surfing lessons. I wasn’t entertainment for them this time. Well, not yet, anyway. If I fell off the board, I certainly would be.

“Oh, wow, look,” Dorothy said. “There’s a dolphin over there.”

I looked to my right and saw it going up and down in the water. The beautiful sky stretched out endlessly. Dorothy was right. This was a much-needed break from all of the stress that had been going on for a while. Maybe this would help me possibly figure out a way to solve the case. Though right now I wanted to push that out of my mind.

No more thinking of it right now. At this moment, I would enjoy the beauty around me. I took in a deep breath of the salt air. Yes, I was certainly glad that I’d come today. I had tried to avoid it, but now that we’d almost reached the shore again I was glad I’d come. This had given me time to relax and reflect on the past few days.

I couldn’t get over the surroundings. Yes, I’d been in Miami for some time now, but rarely did I slow down long enough to enjoy my surroundings. It was like a tropical oasis around us with palm trees, the sandy beach, and the water lapping up on the shore. People dotted the sand like decorations on a canvas. Some were laying out on loungers, others tossing colorful beach balls back and forth, while other beachgoers frolicked in the glistening blue water. I could spend a lot of time here. Preferably with Jake. I couldn’t believe I’d just thought that.

We came up onto the shore and I got off the board, placing the paddles down on the sand. The guide gathered us around and instructed us on what we would be doing first. He was going to show us around and let us check out the coastline. Forget the paddle boarding. I could use just sitting under one of those palm trees with a book.

“You’ll see a lot of great things here,” he said. “So make sure to keep your eyes open.”

Most of the people here were probably tourists. My reason for being here was to find a killer. Plus, I always kept my eyes open. That was part of the job. I always had to be on the lookout because I never knew when danger would be right around the corner.

No sooner had the thought left my head when the sound of a boat caught my attention. I looked to my right. The boat was near the shore. What were they doing? There were a couple of men and they stood up in the boat, looking directly at us. It was Roland and Kevan. I was almost sure of that, but since they were a good distance away I couldn’t be sure. Instantly, I got a bad feeling about this. Did Roland have a gun in his hand?

I screamed, “Everybody get down!”

Of course panic ensued, people screaming and everybody dropping to the ground. Roland and Kevan had to have followed me here. They wanted me dead. Why else did Roland have a gun? Unfortunately, I didn’t have my weapon this time. Kenneth had lured me out here so that Roland and Kevan could show up and shoot me. I’d wondered why he’d called and suggested a paddleboard trip. Dorothy had loved the idea and insisted. I should have gone with my instincts.   

“Grab your surfboard and use that as a shield,” Dorothy said.

“They’re not bulletproof, Dorothy,” I yelled.

“You can’t blame me for trying,” she said.

I had to think of a way to get us out of this. They wanted me dead. I surveyed the surroundings for Kenneth, but didn’t spot him. 

“Why don’t I hear gunshots?” someone asked.

I peeked up. Yes, why hadn’t they fired shots? I supposed I had yelled for everyone to get down in a hurry. Better safe than sorry though. The men were still there. Maybe the gun wouldn’t shoot. Roland and Kevan appeared to be yelling at each other.

It looked as if I had lucked out this time. Kevan jumped behind the helm. The boat sped away. The other paddle boarders peeked up now that they thought it was safe.

Kenneth had appeared from whatever hiding spot he’d found. One of the clients pulled out his phone. He had a phone? Why was he just now calling for help?

“The police are on their way.” The man looked at me. “Do you know those men? It seemed as if they were targeting you.”

“Yes, I believe I do.” I stared at Kenneth while I spoke.

That was all the answer I would give. Everyone was still terrified as they talked amongst themselves. They were definitely keeping their distance. Dorothy was standing beside the group. I narrowed my eyes at her.

She noticed me watching her. “Oh… sorry.”

Soon boats arrived with ‘Police’ marked on the side. Police also rushed along the beach toward us. One of the men on the boats was Jake. Ugh. I hadn’t expected to see him out here. Of course I hadn’t expected men to show up with guns either. He got off the boat and walked straight toward me. I became acutely aware that I wore nothing but my swimsuit. Jake was professional though so I had to act professional too.

Jake walked up to me. “Maggie, are you all right? What happened?”

I crossed my arms in front of my chest, as if that would help conceal my body. Why did the suit have to be so small? Bad idea with that purchase. Jake tried not to look, but I caught him checking me out a couple times.

“It was Roland Bailey and Kevan Willoughby. Roland owns the surf shop. I’m sure that Kenneth lured me out here so they could kill me. They had to have followed me out here.”

“We’ll get to the bottom of this. In the meantime, I think you need some protection.”

For some reason, I thought he said something else. “Well, I wish I had clothing, but it is a beach and I was in the water.” I tossed my hands up.

His lips slipped into a flirtatious grin. At that moment, it clicked what he’d really said. 

“That’s not what you said, is it?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No, I said you need police protection.”

“What? No way, Jake. I can handle myself.”

“I realize you can handle yourself, but I have a feeling this is much bigger than we realize,” he said.