Page 35 of An Amateur Sleuth's Guide to Murder

He listened and then nodded. When he hung up, he turned at the next road. “We’re heading out to the bay and Marina Taco Tavern.”

Meg would have danced with joy at the choice, but she was too tired. “I love that place. Margarita, here I come. Do you think they’d mind if I found a hot tub and had them deliver the drinks there?”

“It would be an interesting end to the night,” Dalton said.

Meg turned to look up at his face. He was grinning. “Get your mind out of the gutter. My shoulders are killing me.”

“Hard work has that effect on people.”

At the restaurant, Meg waited for the orders to be taken and the margaritas to be delivered before she turned to Natasha. “So tell me what happened between you and Meade?”

Natasha leaned her head back and groaned. “What have you already heard?”

“I’ve heard that you owed him money and he took advantage of that by asking for favors.” Meg licked some of the salt off the rim of her glass before taking a drink. Salty, sweet, and frozen. It was the best. “Like driving him to Lilly’s the night he died.”

“Okay, so you know everything.” Natasha glared at Dalton, assuming he was Meg’s source of gossip. “I told him that night that I had the money to pay him back and he would get it on Monday. And this was the last favor I’d ever have to do for him.”

“Did you wait for him at the house?”

Natasha shook her head. “He was mad that I was going to pay him back. He loved people owing him. It was like he owned them. Anyway, after I told him he’d have his money on Monday, he got out and slammed the door. Then he went in through the back gate at Summer Break.”

“That gate’s locked,” Meg responded. Where had Meade gotten the code?

CHAPTER14

Sometimes the answer is in plain sight. Cameras are everywhere.

Meg had taken Watson out one last time when she’d got home, then she’d crashed. The next morning she wasn’t expected at the bookstore until later, and her assignment for Lilly wasn’t due until Tuesday. She slept in. She even turned off the alarm.

A pounding woke her and Watson up. Barking furiously, Watson jumped off the bed. Meg grabbed her phone to check the time. Seven. In the morning. On a Saturday. It had to be her mother. She needed to move farther away. First Romain, now Mom. “Shut up, Watson.”

Watson looked at her with sad puppy dog eyes. He was trying to save her life. So he ignored her direction and ran to the door to continue his barking. Meg wrapped a robe around her jammies and went to open the door.

“I take it you forgot we were going this morning?” Dalton stood there in shorts and a tank. He held a large cup from A Taste of Magic. “I’ve got cookies in the truck to take with us. Along with some water and sodas in a cooler.”

“Where are we going again?” Meg didn’t bother to try to explain. She had forgotten. So much for planning a fake murder this morning before she went to work. She opened the door wider and took the coffee. “I’m due at the bookstore at three.”

“Which is why we’re going early.” Dalton looked down at Watson. “I take it he needs to be walked.”

“Please. I’ll get ready. What’s the temp?” She eyed his shorts as she sipped her coffee. Dalton wore shorts a lot. She couldn’t always just match what he was wearing.

“Beautiful, but take a jacket. I know you can get chilled, especially on the water.” He put Watson’s leash on the dog’s collar. “We’ll be back in a few minutes. Go get ready. I want to be out on the water by eight.”

“I don’t remember agreeing to this,” she called after him as he started down the stairs.

After pulling her hair back into a ponytail, she brushed her teeth. She leaned closer to the mirror. Her green eyes didn’t look as tired as she felt. Which was a good thing. At least she was alive and acting like it. Not sitting around, stewing over Romain. Of course, it was hard to miss the man, since he’d been on the island to see her twice since he’d come home from Italy.

She decided to split the difference and wore capris and slip-on shoes. Then she put on a T-shirt and topped the outfit with a zip-up sweat jacket with the Island Books logo. She and Junior both had a wardrobe filled with branded clothing from the store. Mom gave it out for birthdays, Christmas, and just because. Which worked well now that Meg was working at the shop. Before she felt like a walking billboard for her mom’s business.

Meg walked out of the bedroom, dressed, with a bit of coffee still in her cup. She glanced at the coffee maker, but she knew Dalton probably wanted to leave. He was packing Watson’s tote bag. “So it’s okay if he comes, too?”

“Sure. Emmett has a dog he brings along to lessons. There’s even a life jacket on board for him.” He zipped up the bag. “Ready to go? Do you need to go potty?”

“I hope you’re asking Watson,” Meg responded as she grabbed her wallet. “Should I take a suit?”

“We’ll probably be back before it warms up enough that you’d want to swim.” He had his coffee cup now, too. “Do you want to refill your coffee? We can make a pot.”

She shook her head. “Thanks, but I’m good. Unless you need more?”

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