Chapter 30
“I think you’re going the wrong way, Maggie,” Dorothy yelled.
“I know that, Dorothy,” I yelled back.
“You’re just going in circles,” she said.
“I know that, Dorothy.”
I hoped Dorothy kept Annie from getting loose from the rope.
“How are you doing over there, Morty?” I called out.
“Just fine, Maggie, but maybe I should drive the boat.”
“No way.”
The last thing I needed was for Morty to take us to the Bermuda Triangle with his cataracts. I released a deep breath when I finally had the boat pointed in the right direction, I just hoped that I didn’t accidentally hit another boat on my way. It would be a tight squeeze at the dock.
I navigated the boat to the dock and somehow managed to get in between a couple of other ones without scraping the sides or clipping anything.
“Great job, Maggie,” Dorothy said. “I really had my doubts that you could do this.”
I smirked. “You should never have doubts about me.”
“When will I learn?” she asked.
“How are you hanging in there, Morty?” I asked.
“Just fine,” he said, giving a thumbs up.
“What about you, Annie? Are you all right?” I smirked.
She glared at me. “I’ll get out of here and then I’m going to kill you.”
“Yeah, right,” I said. “The police will be here soon and then you’re going to jail.”
I liked taunting her now that I knew she couldn’t get us. Thank goodness we were back at the dock. I was also glad that this was over with. Now maybe I wouldn’t have to look over my shoulder every second.
The sirens sounded and before I knew it Jake had arrived. He had other officers with him of course. He jumped out of the car and ran down the boat. I was helping Morty off when Jake arrived. Jake helped Morty the rest of the way and then Dorothy. The other officers ran onto the boat.
“Are you all right, Maggie? I can’t believe this is happening,” Jake said.
“Well, it was touch and go there for a while, but I managed to overcome Annie and navigate the boat back. Well, I had help from Morty and Dorothy.”
Jake shook his head. “I don’t think even with all of these officers around that we would’ve been able to do what you all did.”
“It’s a talent,” I said with a wink. “I’m just glad you’re here to get rid of her. She’s a mean one. Of course, most murderers are, right?”
Jake shook his head again like he still couldn’t believe what had happened.
They had Annie in handcuffs now and took her off the boat. She glared at me as she walked by.
“I’ll get back at you for this,” she said.
“Fat chance of that,” I said.
“Maybe you shouldn’t do that,” Jake said.
“Well, she deserves it,” I said. “It’s good to see her in handcuffs instead of me.”
I’d never let him live that down. All along the killer was right there next door. Of course, we’d had no way of knowing.
I was glad that the boat’s owner would get it back unharmed.
“You’re really good at driving the boat,” Jake said.
“I’m getting some practice now,” I said. “Nonetheless, it was definitely stressful.”
“I’m proud of you. Although I wish you wouldn’t get in such dangerous situations,” Jake said.
“It comes with the job,” I said.
I watched as they escorted Annie to the police car and put her in the back. She was still watching me, which of course gave me the creeps. Soon enough she would be in jail. She wouldn’t be able to get to me then.
Jake hugged me again. “So you want to tell me how this all went down?”
I didn’t even know where to start. I supposed I just had to start at the beginning.
After giving him the basics of what had happened, I said, “That’s when Morty jumped on Annie. And he was crushing me and then Dorothy somehow got the gun. She was shaking it everywhere.”
“I was not,” Dorothy said.
Jake was shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe the whole story. “I guess you would have had to have been there to really appreciate how it all went down,” I said.
“I guess I would have,” he said.
“I’m just glad it’s all over now,” I said.
We moved closer to Morty and Dorothy.
“Are you guys all right?” I asked.
“I’m just fine. Never better,” Dorothy said.
“Well, you all are my heroes,” I said. “What would I do without you?”
“Probably be in a lot of trouble,” Dorothy said.
Movement caught my attention and I realized that Abby was walking toward us. She had her eyes focused on me and I assumed she wanted to talk.
“Good morning, Abby,” I said when she walked up.
“Maggie,” she greeted me.
“I just wanted to let you know that I’m sorry if I accused you of breaking into my office.”
“It’s quite all right,” she said. “It’s understandable. I guess we haven’t gotten along that well. I wasn’t exactly all that nice to you.”
“Can we start all over?” I asked.
She smiled. “Yes, that would be good.”
It was an unusual gesture for her. Nevertheless, I appreciated that she did it. And I really hoped that we could start over. Jake seemed happy about it too. I knew he wanted me to get along with his partner.
“I’m glad that you two have straightened things out,” he said.
I wasn’t sure that we were best friends yet, but it was definitely a start.
“I guess we can get out of here and let the owner of the boat know things are fine,” Jake said.
“Like there was ever a doubt,” I said.
When I looked over I spotted the reporter rushing toward the dock.
“Oh no, she found me again,” I said, ducking behind Jake.
Jake peered over and noticed Vanessa’s hurried walk. “Don’t worry. I’ll handle this.”
Thank goodness Jake could talk to her this time. Her stare was fixed on me though and I knew she determined to get to me. Jake headed her way. He motioned toward the cameraman to stop filming. After a few seconds, the cameraman lowered the camera. I could tell he was hesitant, but ultimately, he complied. I guessed he didn’t want to argue with Jake, considering this was a crime scene.
Vanessa frowned and then spun around and stomped away. It wasn’t totally over though because I saw that she was headed over to the police car to get footage of Annie in the backseat of the car. I passed by Vanessa as I headed for Jake’s car, but she didn’t harass me to answer questions this time. However, she glared at me instead. She’d obviously taken a disliking to me. I supposed that she loathed me because I hadn’t wanted to answer her questions.
As I walked away I happened to look down. I spotted a phone on the ground near a scrub. Reaching down I picked it up. When the screen lit up I recognized the person in the background photo. It was Vanessa. Was this her phone? I immediately went to the settings and saw her name listed as the owner. She had a selfie as her background? I had a picture of the beach as my background. But whatever. I wasn’t sure how she managed to lose her phone. I figured she was the type of person who had it attached to her twenty-four seven. I wondered what kind of crazy stuff I could find on her phone.
When I glanced over I saw her still trying to get a shot of Annie in the back of the police car. I touched her phone’s screen and went to the photos. Yes, I was snoopy. After all that she put me through I figured I could have a little look around and not feel guilty. When I saw the saved videos, I realized right away that they were of me. She had been the one sending the messages with the videos.
How could she do that? And why? Dorothy was talking to Morty and Jake was talking to one of the police officers. I couldn’t wait to show him what I’d found. Sure I was little embarrassed to admit I had been snooping, but I would have to get over that. This was just too good not to share. Why was she doing this? Was she trying to scare me and if so what was the purpose of that? Just the thought sent a shiver down my spine.
I scrolled through her contacts and realized she even had my phone number listed. No doubt she’d been the one to call and not say anything.
When Jake stepped over, I handed him the phone. “Take a look at this. Vanessa Carl’s phone. The videos of me are on there. She was obviously the one who sent them.”
Jake frowned as he perused the contents of her phone. “Why would she do this?”
I blew the hair out of my eyes. “I’d like the answer to that.”
My attention went back to Vanessa. She was still trying to get someone to speak on camera. No one was taking her up on that offer. I hoped that Dorothy didn’t get near Vanessa. Dorothy would probably be persuaded by the lure of the limelight. Suddenly Vanessa lowered her microphone and started searching her pockets. She said something to the cameraman. He shook his head. Next, she surveyed the ground. Now I knew she was frantically searching for her phone.
When my gaze met with Vanessa’s I knew she realized I’d found her phone. I waved the phone through the air and she hurried over toward us.
Now that she stood in front of us she chuckled. “Oh, thank you so much for finding my phone for me.”
I pretended to hand it to her, but then I pulled it back.
She scowled. “Can I have my phone please?”
“Not so fast,” I said. “Before I return it I have some questions. Why are there videos of me on your phone?”
A nervous laugh slipped from her lips. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“You don’t know what I mean?” hiding the frustration in my voice was impossible. “Would you like for me to show you the video? You really should lock your phone. I mean, if you’d had a passcode on there I would never have gotten in and noticed the plethora of evidence. But now you’re caught. So you might as well just confess.”
Jake stood beside me as we waited for her response.
“We’re waiting.” I quirked an eyebrow.
“Maggie, I recommend taking out a restraining order against Ms. Carl,” Jake said.
She narrowed her big blue eyes. “That’s not necessary. It’s not like I’m stalking her.”
“Oh no?” I said. “What about all the phone calls?”
“There weren’t that many calls. I only called you like twice.”
“So you admit making the calls? I asked.
“If you’d like to press charges, Maggie, we can arrange for that,” Jake said.
Vanessa’s mouth dropped. “What kind of charges? I did nothing wrong.”
“I really don’t think that pressing charges will be necessary, Jake,” I said. “As long as she leaves me alone. This case is over now so there’s no reason to contact me.”
“Exactly,” she said. “I have no reason to contact you. It’s not like you have anything interesting to say.”
I stared at her for a moment. “Well as long as we understand each other. No more contact with me. No more following me around and videoing me. That’s just weird.”
She looked as if she hated to be called out for this. “No more of any of that.”
“I don’t understand why you were doing this in the first place,” I said.
She sighed. “I just wanted to scare you a little bit. Maybe get you to talk that way. If I really put the pressure on you then you would confess to the crime. I thought maybe you thought someone was onto you. Then you would have to get the truth off your chest.”
“You really thought I was guilty of murder?” I asked.
“Well I was doing this with everyone who I thought might be a suspect. I wanted to fish out the real killer.”
Apparently, I had some competition on my hands in the private eye department. But Vanessa had a crazy way of doing things. I liked my way much better, even though I did some questionable things, I didn’t harass people or stalk them.
“As long as you understand that you can’t continue to contact Ms. Thomas,” Jake said.
“I completely understand,” she said around a sigh.
I handed her the phone. She snatched it from my hand and then walked away.
“Well that explains that,” I said.
Jake wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”
“As if there was ever any doubt,” I said, taking in a whiff of Jake’s spicy cologne.
Looking over Jake’s shoulder I was a bit surprised to see the men I’d seen at Annie’s house. The ones Dorothy and I had the slip. We’d driven off leaving them scratching their heads. I guessed my private eye skills had allowed me to outsmart them. I smiled at my accomplishment.
“What’s so funny?” Jake asked.
“Those guys over there.” I gestured. “They were at Annie’s house asking about her. They thought I was her.” I laughed. “Dorothy and I took off and I bet they never knew what hit them.”
Jake chuckled. “It’s funny, right?”
“Oh, it’s funny.” I quirked an eyebrow. “Wait. What do you mean by that?”
“It’s funny because they’re with the FBI and they knew who you were. I spoke with them. When they told me what happened, I knew right away it was you.”
I narrowed my eyes. Jake thought he was so clever. Just because I didn’t get everything right didn’t mean I wasn’t a fantastic private eye.
***
Dorothy and I sat under the palm tree peering out at the magnificent ocean. A breeze carried across the wind caressing our warm skin. We had piña coladas in hand. Waves rolled in to shore.
“This is the life, Dorothy,” I said after taking a sip of my drink.
“You can say that again.” Dorothy adjusted her giant floppy straw hat.
“We survived another case,” I said.
Dorothy sighed. “Just barely. That was a close one this time. I think we’re due for a bit of relaxation.”
Movement in the water caught my attention. It looked as if a man was waving his arms.
“Dorothy,” I said, sitting up. “Is that man calling for help? Do you think he’s drowning? I think he’s in danger.”
Dorothy lowered her sunglasses. “As a matter of fact, I think he is in danger.”
I jumped up and ran toward the water. What was I thinking? I wasn’t exactly an Olympic swimmer. I surely wasn’t qualified to be a lifeguard. Nevertheless, I had to do something. There was no time to call the police. I jumped in the water and attempted to swim toward the man, I tried to push the thoughts of how many sharks were in the water to the back of my mind. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted someone else swimming.
“Dorothy!” I yelled breathlessly. “What are you doing?”
She didn’t answer. Instead she kept on track toward the drowning man. I continued swimming that way, but the doggy paddle wasn’t getting me far. Dorothy had reached the man now. How had she managed that?
I suppose my adrenaline had finally kicked in because I swam up to them now.
“Don’t worry, we’ll help you,” I said.
The dark-haired man remained quiet as he tried to keep from slipping under the water. Dorothy and I clutched onto the man.
“Hold on to us,” I said.
I wasn’t sure if he had the strength. For that matter, I wasn’t sure I had the strength. Dorothy seemed to have enough for all of us.
We swam our way back to shore and then collapsed onto the sand. A gathering of people had formed now.
“I called for an ambulance,” a woman called out.
The man we’d dragged in from the water had seaweed draped around his neck.
“Are you all right?” I asked, pushing the wet hair out of my eyes.
With a crazed look in his eyes, he said, “You have to help me. They’re trying to kill me.”
I frowned. “Who are they?”
“I don’t know who they are, but they kidnapped me. I jumped off the boat and swam toward the shore.”
I scanned the water for a boat. There were several out there, but there was no way to be sure at the moment if one of those was the one this man claimed took him. Just when I thought things had calmed down another mystery had washed ashore.
The end.