Citrus Beach Mystery: Box Set (eBook)

Victoria LK Williams (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2018 | 1. Auflage
593 Seiten
Publishdrive (Verlag)
978-0-00-012393-0 (ISBN)

Infos

 
Welcome to Citrus Beach! In this Florida town, the tropics aren't just about beaches and fun times. No, there's plenty of murder and mystery to be found. Megan and her beagle, Barney, seem to find themselves in the middle of the turmoil and work together to find answers. Meet Megan's family and friends as they help her solve the crime. Follow along and see if there might be romance in the sultry southern air, too. In these first three books of the series, you will find out about life in the small beachside town, from the town Matriarch to the noisy reporter, to the owner of the local diner. From flying bullets, speeding trucks, hurricanes, amnesia, drug smuggling and vendettas; Megan's life certainly can't be called dull. So, pull up a chair and join in the fun, there's a cozy mystery to be solved.

Textauszug

“Oh, my gosh!”

Megan waited for the man in the river to resurface, but there was no telltale thrashing.

Watching the two in the boat, she saw that they made no move to help, just watched the water, waiting. Then it clicked. The backfire was not from a car, but a gun. That man had been shot and thrown over, left to die. At the same instant that Megan realized just what had happened, the loud sound of some hip-hop song broke the stillness, coming from the phone in her hand. The volume was loud enough to carry across the water and was heard by the men remaining in the boat. They saw Megan standing on the bank watching them.

“Get Her!”

Megan turned and moved as fast as she could, knowing that her life was depending on it. She stuffed the still ringing phone in her pocket as she ran, and instinct took over. She kept to the shadows of the flower beds rather than cutting across the lawn. She was not fast enough to outrun a bullet and knew she had to get out of their shooting range. Running as fast as her legs could move, she headed to the security of the house. The sound of the boat motor starting told her that they were going to try cutting across the river and come upon the bank by the house. Reaching the side of the house, she turned as if compelled by a silent command to watch what was going on behind her. Megan realized that she needed to get to the safety of either her car or inside the house, but she didn’t move as she focused on the boat behind her.

She was puzzled as she watched them turn from the direction of the dock and move along the bank. Then she remembered and thanked God that. Carol’s dock was being rebuilt, and there was no way a boat could dock there. And they were not going to be able to come up on the shoreline where there had been a deliberate placement of large boulders a few feet out from the bank to ensure that Carol would have privacy and not have to worry about stray fisherman coming onto her property.

Megan heard the hull hitting one of those boulders and the men yelling to each other to find a way to get to her. As she watched in terror, the men fired off a few more shots, but either their aim was off, or she was out of range. The two men stared at the house and called out to her in warning.

“Forget what you saw if you know what’s best for you. Or we will find you and help you forget.” With a sharp turn of the wheel and a gunning of the engine, the men headed back out towards the mouth of the river.

Silence surrounded her, as if even nature was in shock over the events of the last few minutes. The shock affected Megan as well, as her knees began to shake, and a wave of dizziness overtook her. Megan fought the dizziness by breathing in deeply through her mouth, but her shaky knees forced her to the ground as she fought for composure. Slowly the sounds of nature started back up, the birds squawking as though complaining about the interruption to their normal day and the squirrels scolded her, as if to tell her to get up and do something. As she knelt on the ground, breathing deeply, she began to be aware of her surroundings and what she had just witnessed.

“Oh, my lord! Think, Megan, don’t just sit there shaking like an idiot. You need to get help,” she berated herself. Pulling herself to her feet, she glanced around her to be sure the boat and danger were no longer an immediate threat. Seeing nothing, she raced back to the river to see if the third man had resurfaced, while using her phone to dial 911.

When the dispatch operator came on the line, Megan tried to sound rational as she identified herself.

“I think you are going to need to send in the marine patrol and divers too, I still can’t see any sign of the man. Please hurry, I don’t know if the gunmen are going to come back.”

“Ms. Cassidy, your safety is important, get to a safe place, the police are in route as we speak. Stay on the line and talk to me, so I know that you are all right.”

“Sure, I’ll lock myself in the main house. Just hurry!” Turning as she spoke, Megan half-walked, half-ran back to the main house and using her key, opened the back-entry door. As she entered, the alarm went off. Frazzled, she moved to the alarm keypad to disarm the system. Her fingers at the buttons, she drew a complete blank on the code. Alarm blaring, hands shaking, mind confused, Megan lost the last of her self-control. Sliding down the wall, her hat falling to the floor at her feet, she hugged her knees as she started crying, rocking back and forth on her heels.

“Ms. Cassidy, are you still there? Ms. Cassidy?”

The repeating voice of the dispatcher drifted through Megan’s sobs, and she realized she still held the phone in her hands. Trying to gain some composure, she let the voice on the other end of the line know that she was still there and somewhat functional.

“The police officers are pulling up now, Ms. Cassidy. Let me know where you are so I can relay that information to them.”

“I’m around the back of the house, on the riverside of the property.” Even as she finished speaking, she saw four or five men running into the backyard, guns drawn. A tall older man was speaking into his headset. He nodded to his men, pointing in different directions, silently communicating instructions they all seemed to be able to follow without any problem. Without checking to see if they followed his commands, he walked to the door where Megan was now standing. Pushing open the door, he spoke reassuringly to her.

“Ms. Cassidy, it’s Sheriff Green. You know me from around town. It’s okay. I’m coming in the house. You’re safe now. My men are securing the grounds. Now let’s get this alarm off and you can tell us just what happened here”

“The code, the stupid code. I can’t remember it. I can’t think.”

“Easy now, just take a breath and think about one thing at a time. The first is you’re safe, and I’m here to help you. Come on now, take a deep breath and calm yourself. If you can’t remember the code, do you have it written somewhere? Is there a key word that will help you? Breathe Ms. Cassidy. Let’s help each other here.”

Sheriff Green’s voice had a calming effect. Megan could gather her wits and function in a more rational manner. He obviously had experience dealing with a frightened civilian before. Taking a shaky breath, Megan shook her head as if to clear it, and turned back to the alarm pad. After fumbling a bit with the buttons, she managed to enter the right code and disarm the security system. The silence that ensued was almost eerie.

“Now then, Ms. Cassidy, tell me what went on here today. Take your time and try to let me know as much as you can remember.” Taking her elbow to guide her, Sheriff Green walked Megan over to the table and chairs to sit.

Megan began to let the officer know what she had witnessed, jumping from one fact to another as if trying to ensure that she didn’t forget anything important. When she had finished, she found herself calmer, and the sheriff asked her to go over everything again. This time she found that she was more concise and filled in a few more details for the sheriff’s notes. After retelling her tale four or five times, both she and the officer were satisfied that she had related as much as she could for now.

“Now don’t over-think this, you’ll find that you are going to remember more details in time. Something is going to click and just like that, you have another fact for me. That’s normal, Ms. Cassidy. Do you think you could walk outside and take me through your actual steps? That might make a few more details come to mind.”

“Of course, whatever you need from me. I just wish I could have done more.”

Megan pushed back her chair and led the way to the backyard, pointing out the area where she had hidden while being shot at as she headed down to the river bank.

By this time, the river had several marine patrol boats there and the men were preparing to dive into the water, having found no sign of the victim on the surface. There were also a few officers on both sides of the river, walking the bank looking for signs of an injured man, or worse a body. Seeing all the activity in and along the water made the horror of what Megan had seen more real for her and her hands began to shake again.

“Ms. Cassidy, is there someone we can call for you? You should have someone here to help you, and I don’t want you to try to drive as upsetting as this has been for you. A friend? Maybe a family member?” Sheriff Green asked.

At his inquiry, Megan nodded and thought immediately of her cousin Paul. He was probably wondering what had happened to her anyways. Why hadn’t he called? Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she looked at the screen to dial his cellphone and noticed four missed calls, all from the number that she was about to dial. Then she remembered her own phone was set to silence from an earlier meeting that afternoon. Pressing the redial button, she wasn’t surprised when Paul picked up on the first ring.

“Hey, you’re really late. Everything all right?”

“Paul, can you come out to Carol’s, right away?”

“What’s wrong, Meg. Has something happened?”

Paul could hear the fear and tension in her voice, which he knew was something Megan never showed. They were cousins, but had been best friends since grade school. Sometimes he thought they knew each other better than anyone. He was signaling for a waiter to get the check even before she had a chance to answer.

“It’s...oh Paul, I saw a man get shot out here. I need to be here for...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 31.3.2018
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• ISBN-10: 0-00-012393-5 / 0000123935
• ISBN-13: 978-0-00-012393-0 / 9780000123930