Page 25 of Murder in Calusa Cove
“Am I going to be mad about you being a secret keeper?” Hayes cocked his head, but he had a bit of a playful grin.
“No, but Baily asked me to look into him a while back.” Chloe raised her hand. “She didn’t want either of you, Dawson, or Keaton to know because you all sometimes act like Neanderthals, and while I know you all care deeply for her, I have to admit that she’s right in this case.”
“Even I take exception to that statement.” Hayes shook his cup, lifted the lid, and peered inside before tossing it in the garbage bin on the side of the console. “Baily has been pressured before to sell that marina. She’s barely hanging on by a thread, even with our business being run out of there.”
“That’s just the tip of the iceberg,” Fletcher said. “Her dad left her buried in debt. She’s been clawing her way out ever since, and we found out her brother, who had almost nothing to do with the marina, was feeding her dad investment advice. Bad advice. But it’s one specific loan that really has me on edge.”
“What about it makes you uneasy?” Chloe asked. She’d shared drinks with Baily a few times, and the marina had come up in casual conversation. She knew Baily was struggling, but never once had she mentioned loans or bad investments. Then again, Baily wasn’t one to complain. She was proud—and stubborn—and she’d fight tooth and nail before letting go of her family’s legacy.
“I knew her dad had taken out loans to keep things afloat,” Fletcher said. “I even offered to help financially, but he wouldn’t take it. Baily won’t either—aside from what Everglades Overwatch brings in.” He held up a hand, acknowledging the boundary. “I get it. I wouldn’t take money from my parents either—not that they had any to give. But I respect her pride. She wants to do this on her own.” He paused. “However, when she finally let me look at the books, I found one loan that has a lien on the deed. It’s buried in the fine print—if she misses a certain number of payments, the lender can seize the marina. She didn’t even know.”
“Jesus, that’s a predatory loan,” Chloe muttered.
“It gets worse.” Fletcher ran a hand through his hair. “If the principal and interest aren’t fully paid off in seven years, the lender can demand full repayment—and she doesn’t have the money.” He leaned forward. “The scariest part? I’m unable to determine who owns the loan. It’s hidden behind a parent company and a tangle of LLCs. I’ve got people digging, but it looks like someone went out of their way to stay anonymous.”
“That’s shady,” Chloe said, tugging on her ponytail. “How much notice do they have to give before calling the loan?”
“Four months,” Fletcher replied.
“What about Decker Brown?” Hayes asked. “You thought he might be behind it, but we haven’t found anything that links him to the loan or the bad investments. What have you found, Chloe?”
Chloe set the tablet aside. “So far, Decker’s record is spotless. Model student through high school and college, no criminal history—not even sealed records or parking tickets. Everything he’s told Baily checks out.” She paused. “The only red flag is from his second construction job. The company accused him of stealing designs, but they were unable to prove it. Still, it hurt his reputation. He struggled for a while until a backer stepped in and helped him get his company off the ground.”
“Who backed him?” Hayes asked.
“Some rich socialite from Miami named Tessa Gilbert,” Chloe said. “My understanding is that they were in a relationship up until last year, but they haven’t been seen out together in some time. No big breakup. He’s considered the go-to guy for certain types of projects. He’s not ruthless, but he does have a reputation for going after what he wants, and he can play hardball.”
“Why didn’t we know about this Tessa person?” Fletcher muttered. “That should have come up in our research.”
“Her grandparents started an investment brokerage called Sea Glass Under the Stars,” Chloe said. “She’s never worked there. It’s owned and operated by her mother.”
“Weird name for an investment firm.” Fletcher shifted his gaze toward the water as they passed a large gator.
Chloe had lived in Florida all her life, except for the time she’d spent at Quantico and her first year as an agent. Alligators, snakes, hogs, and other wildlife didn’t generally faze her. However, out in the Everglades, they tended to make her shiver.
“What was the name of the investment company that Ken used?” Fletcher asked.
“I think it was Loggerhead Investments.” Hayes shrugged. “As I recall, he was introduced to the firm by Julie’s family, and he was always giving us tips on where to invest and what to invest in, but he never made any introduction to his broker, which was kind of weird.” Hayes palmed the steering wheel, turning the boat toward a small island. “Did you see an investment firm name in any of the paperwork Baily gave you?” he asked Fletcher.
“No, but it bothers me how much pressure Ken put on her to sell and how little we all knew about that. I get why Baily didn’t tell me, but I don’t understand why Ken never mentioned how hard he came down on her to sell. Even her father didn’t tell me, and he told me a lot.” Fletcher shook his head. “I don’t know if any of this is connected, but our fallen buddy seems to have more secrets.”
“Why would wanting his sister out from under a failing business be some kind of dark secret?” Chloe asked, lifting a hand. “I’m not saying he had the right to interfere—it’s Baily’s decision, not her brother’s, or yours for that matter, but I just don’t see what makes it so suspicious.”
“It’s tough to explain,” Fletcher said, leaning back and folding his arms across his chest. “Part of it’s just a gut feeling—a chain reaction of things that don’t sit right. I wish I could say it all started with Ken knowing about Paul Massey and his son running drugs years ago. But it’s deeper than that.” He pushed his sunglasses up onto his head. “Ken was my best friend in high school. Finding out he knew what was going on back then—and told no one—felt like a betrayal. A big one. And the way he handled things with Audra? That didn’t come from a man in love. Sure, she was in a tough spot back then, but when he found her, it was like he just wanted to wash his hands of it all. That never sat right with me.”
“Or any of us,” Hayes added with a nod.
Chloe sat on the bench in front of the center console, listening closely. She’d heard stories about Ken before, but they’d all been painted in fond, lighthearted strokes. This version was…different. Her FBI instincts stirred, prompting questions and threads she wanted to follow.
“But what went down between him and Baily bothers me even more,” Fletcher continued. “They’re family. He should’ve supported her. Instead, he undercut her. And now that she’s started letting me in, I’m seeing things that raise red flags—but there are still too many missing pieces to get the full picture.”
“Maybe I can help,” Chloe offered with a soft smile. “My job’s solving puzzles with half the pieces missing.”
“It’s a mess,” Fletcher admitted. “Ken always talked a big game about investing. And it showed—cars, boats, a beautiful house. He had more money than any of us.”
“But that could’ve come from Julie’s family,” Hayes said. “They had some money, didn’t they?”
“They did,” Fletcher said, rolling his neck. “But Ken was proud. He always told us he didn’t want to take a dime from his in-laws. He wanted to provide for his family himself. He studied the market like a religion and constantly preached to us about investing. We all took some of that advice—hell, we couldn’t have launched Everglades Overwatch without it.”
