Page 5 of Bait and Switch
“I told them it wasn’t an emergency,” he griped when he reached the spot where the other two men waited. “Sirens means we’re going to have everyone on the island with a scanner stopping by to see what’s going on.”
It was mid-November. Nothing of interest was going on until the Heartstone Celebration of Togetherness that took place the last weekend of the month. It was the community’s way of celebrating the Indigenous peoples who had populated Heartstone long before Europeans arrived. The first few years, it had been met with resistance, but any more it was something folks looked forward to, and it brought the community together. But since it was still a while away, police activity now would not be ignored.
“If one of the responders is Rizzi or Emmett Spurring, sirens are inevitable. You know how they like to hear the sounds of their own bells and whistles,” Elton said.
Casey glanced over at Karne, who looked like he wanted to disappear into the pilings or run for the hills but was forcing his feet to stay put. He felt a smidge of pity for him. A smidge.
“So, what are we telling them about this Vale guy?” Casey asked.
“What do you mean, what are we telling them?” Karne demanded.
“You know this guy, or you did?” Elton asked, looking at Charming. Apparently, he hadn’t filled Elton in while Casey had been taking care of Bowie.
A multitude of emotions flashed quickly across his face, the final one of which Casey recognized as resignation.
“Yeah, we were”—he paused and waggled his head, possibly considering word choice—“together for a while. I can’t hide that we knew each other,” Karne said slowly. “But it was over. We still had some loose ends to tie up, but I haven’t seen him in person for several weeks.”
Something—guilt, fear, maybe both—sparked in Karne’s eyes but disappeared before Casey knew what it was for certain. Regardless, there was more that he wasn’t telling them.
“You didn’t kill him?” Elton asked Gabe directly. Lundin’s gut said that Gabriel was being honest when he’d said he hadn’t, but a person couldn’t always trust their instinct alone, or the word of a grifter.
“No, I didn’t.” Karne sounded offended that Elton had asked the same question that Casey had earlier. “I’ve never killed anyone. Jesus Christ.”
“Who did the breaking up?” Elton asked.
“Meh, it was mutual. We stayed living at the same address because we were both too lazy to move, and it worked all right. Up until it didn’t. I didn’t tell him where I was headed when I left town, so his appearance here was a surprise. A big surprise. How did he know where to find me?”
“But he showed up, didn’t he? Because this is definitely the same person who stopped by last week,” Lundin pointed out.
“Yeah, but he never came back. I’d think you would know.”
Restlessly, Karne moved closer to theShangri-Laagain, staring at his ex. His body language screamed upset and disturbed. With a full-body shudder, Karne jammed his hands into his pockets.
Elton moved to stand by Karne’s side, eyeing the corpse again.
Casey didn’t want to think that Karne could be a killer—after all, Elton and Bowie both liked him. But then, so did he.
Dammit.
A thought struck him, making him want to smack himself in the forehead. Pulling his phone from his pocket again, Casey tapped the screen to access the single security camera, which unfortunately faced the gate and parking lot. Quickly, he scrolled through the most recent feed. The camera only activated when there was motion, and no one but himself and Karne had left or entered through the locked gate that morning. He scanned back through the week, and it stayed the same; in fact, Karne had only left a few times, returning with bags Casey recognized from the store.
Tucking his phone back into his coat pocket, Casey crossed his arms over his chest and considered what Karne was telling them and what he wasn’t. Casey added up the other bits and pieces he’d figured out about the man since his arrival on Heartstone. “You and the dead guy were both con men?” It wasn’t really a question.
Karne turned to him and Casey was on the receiving end of another Look. He probably should have combusted right where he was standing. Good thing Casey was as practiced at giving looks as he was at taking them.
“When you put it like that,fine.” Karne growled the words and stepped closer to Casey again. “Peter and I were in the same line of business, but I am done with that. However”—he twisted his torso to scowl at the heap that was theShangri-Laand its cargo—“it is possible others involved in our last business endeavor might have had some complaints.”
Casey lifted one eyebrow. “Could thesebusiness partnershave done this? Do you know if Vale had other enemies?”
“Of course, he had other enemies,” Karne snapped. “And no, I don’t know who they are. We did not have that kind of relationship. And yes, our final group project could have resulted in this.”
Casey was tempted to ask what kind of relationship he and Vale had had because it sure as hell didn’t sound like much of a personal one. But with lights flashing and sirens screaming, two TCSO cruisers screeched to a halt on the road in front of the marina. They partially blocked the street, as well as blocking in the three vehicles already parked in the lot. Islanders were going to have a lot of questions.
“I think we keep it simple when we talk to them,” Elton said thoughtfully. “We know that Gabe didn’t do this.”
Did they, though?
Casey met Karne’s glance and knew Karne was thinking that Casey probably wouldn’t argue if the deputies decided to take him in for questioning. That thinking was on Casey. Karne bugged the crap out of him, but he would never condone harassment of an innocent person. Maybe it was time to tell him more about what happened with his brother.
