Mobsters and Lobsters (A Hooked & Cooked Cozy Mystery Series Book 2) (17 page)

Rocky hesitated. “All right.” He held the phone out but pulled it back as Hannah reached for it. “No funny business,” he said before he finally gave her the phone.

Hannah made a quick decision and hit Pam’s number instead. If Rocky heard her answer, at least she might sound like Pearl from where he stood across the room. “What?” Pam’s voice rang loud and clear in Hannah’s ear.

“Listen, Pearl,” Hannah blurted out. “Rocky’s bringing me to the pub. He said I need to be there for the drawing so people don’t get suspicious.” Hannah kept her eyes on Rocky’s face and relaxed slightly when the edge of his mouth twitched up into a grin. He nodded and gave her two thumbs up. She nodded with the phone tight against her ear. “Yeah. That’s right.”

Hannah slipped the phone in her own pocket at the same time she gave Rocky the message. “Pearl said she’ll talk to you when you get me there. She said it’s a
smart
idea.”

Rocky’s face broke into a big smile. “Smart, huh? It’s about time she gives me some credit. Let’s go, Doll Face.”

Hannah let out a deep silent exhale. She could relax. Rocky took her story hook, line, and sinker. Now she only had to get back to the pub without Pam interfering. Pam’s words on the phone to Hannah were—
I hope you know what you’re doing.
Hannah had the same thought.

Rocky led the way. He stopped suddenly and Hannah smacked right into his back. She stepped sideways and peeked around to see what happened. This might be interesting, she thought.

Rocky looked at Hannah. “What are
they
doing here? Haven’t these two been staying at your cottages?”

Hannah nodded her head. “Yeah, but I have no idea why they’re here. Just play it cool and ask them what they want. Or do you want me to talk to them?”

He used his elbow to push Hannah in front of him. “You talk to them. They’re your guests.”

Laura slid out of the driver’s side of her car. “We watched you sneak away from the pub and decided to follow you. It got pretty exciting when you climbed through the window.”

Sherry stepped from the passenger side. “Yeah, you know, follow the trail to the money, or buried treasure in this case.” She giggled.

“Sorry to disappoint you two sleuths, but I’m heading back to the pub right now. Where’s Aaron?” Hannah asked, pretending she didn’t already know about the rift between Aaron and Laura.

Laura flicked her wrist dismissively. “He’s not interested in the buried treasure like,” she glanced at Sherry, “we are. He decided to take a walk on the beach instead.”

Right, Hannah thought. “You left him at the cottages? How do you know he’s not searching for the treasure on his own?” She smiled with satisfaction when both their faces fell. “Maybe you’d better get back and keep an eye on him.”

Rocky finally found his voice. “Let’s all stick together. I don’t like the idea of anyone stealing that treasure away from me. Come on. You two in my car with Doll Face.”

Doll Face
? Hannah saw Laura mouth the name to Sherry. They both covered their mouths.

“I better grab my tote,” Laura giggled.

When she opened the back door, Rocky’s eyes lit up. “Are those snacks? I’m starving.”

Laura handed the basket to Rocky. “Help yourself.” She slung her canvas tote over her shoulder and slid into the backseat of Rocky’s car. “My girlfriends aren’t gonna believe this cloak and dagger stuff,” she said to Sherry. “And if I win the buried treasure?” She squealed with excitement.

Rocky dropped the basket on Hannah’s lap after he dug around and came up with some peanut butter cups. “Want anything, Doll Face?”

Hannah shook her head. Her stomach was tied in knots. She wasn’t going to send any high fat snacks down to turn the knots into cement blocks. What did she get herself into? Any of these three people could be a killer. Although the way Laura was acting like such a ninny, Hannah doubted whether she could have committed cold blooded murder. Twice.

She let her hand rest on her pocket with Ruby’s phone. At least she might have a chance to get a call off in an emergency. With that thought, the phone rang. Silence fell inside the car.

“It must be Pearl. Answer it,” Rocky ordered.

“Pearl?” Hannah let herself breathe when she heard Pam’s voice ask her what was going on. “Yeah, we’re on our way, Pearl. Wait for us at the pub.” Hannah put the phone away from ear and whispered to Rocky, “Want me to tell her anything else?”

“Yeah. Tell her I’m expecting her to tell me all the details about Marco and Lenny. I don’t plan to take the rap for something she did.”

Hannah relayed the message. She hesitated before she hit disconnect, wanting to keep the call on speaker phone, but that could be too risky. Laura giggled in the back seat and Sherry talked nonstop about how much money they would get for this story.

“It’ll be
huge
,” Sherry said. “Especially with the photos you have.”

Hannah turned around and looked at Laura in the backseat. “Photos?”

“Yeah. Here, take a look.” She handed her phone to Hannah.

Hannah scanned through Laura’s photos of the capsized boat, something floating in the water, Rocky digging holes, and even Hannah climbing through the bathroom window. Some tabloid would blow the photos up and have a field day with them. Great, Hannah groaned. Her butt might end up on the front page of some daily rag. “Did you show these to the police?” Hannah asked Laura.

“Of course not! Sherry told me to keep them secret if I want to make some money off them.” Sherry grabbed the phone back.

Rocky tried to pull into the Pub and Pool Hall parking lot. It was still packed. He had to back up and park on the side of the road leading to the pub. Hannah craned her neck around. Where were Pam and Cal, she wondered. Didn’t they follow Rocky? She really was hoping for some reinforcements, especially once Rocky found out that she hadn’t actually talked to Pearl. Well, with all these people around, at least Hannah felt safer.

“Let’s go, Doll Face. Almost time to pull out that winning raffle ticket. I can feel it. I know I’ve got the winner.” Rocky pumped his fist in the air for emphasis.

“Not so fast, big guy,” Laura said. “I’ve got the winner. Me and Sherry went in on a lot of tickets together.”

“Oh yeah? Where are
your
tickets?” Rocky asked, his fingers twitching with anticipation.

Laura held up her canvas tote covered with bright red lobsters but Sherry tried to pull it away. “Don’t show him, you fool.”

Too late. Rocky reached for the bag but Laura spun away from him. Sherry grabbed it from Laura and ran toward the pub, clutching the precious bag under her arm. Rocky chased after Sherry, catching her and one strap of the tote that hung down. They each pulled but the stitching on the cloth bag couldn’t handle the stress. Raffle tickets fluttered around Rocky’s and Sherry’s feet. Laura screeched, “All my tickets.”

Ruby, Pam, and Cal caught up with Hannah as she leaned on Rocky’s car. “Where’d the rest of your gang disappear to in such a hurry?” Pam asked.

Hannah pointed to the three stooges just outside the pub door, shoving each other as they tried to scoop up the scattered raffle tickets. “Serves them right,” Hannah said.

A red Mazda Miata with the top down streaked out of the parking lot. “I wonder where Pearl’s going in such a hurry,” Hannah said.

“She won’t get far. I have a roadblock set up to get her for kidnapping Ruby and Olivia,” Pam said.

“What about murder?” Hannah asked.

“Maybe that, too. But if it’s not her, I’m keeping an eye on those others.” Pam took long strides toward the pub.

Suddenly, Hannah grabbed Ruby’s arm. “Where’s Olivia?”

“Jack took her to his house. She was ready for some food and a nap. I wanted to make sure you were all right.” Ruby wrapped her arms around Hannah and squeezed her until she gasped. “Thanks for putting your life on the line for us. I don’t think Rocky was planning to hurt us, but I wasn’t sure about Pearl. She’s crazy.”

Chapter 22

The sound of sirens filled Hannah’s ears like it was music.

“I don’t think we’ll have to worry about Pearl. The police must have that crazy, purple-haired lady in handcuffs.” Hannah’s stomach growled. She pulled out the gift basket from the front seat of Rocky’s car and held it in the air. “Anyone want a snack?”

Cal’s eyes lit up. “Sure, what have you got in there?”

Hannah tipped the basket over onto the hood of Rocky’s car. “I don’t think Laura will mind. Her husband said it was a bunch of stale stuff from Sherry.”

Ruby pushed the pile of snacks around and sorted them—chocolate candy, sugary fruity candy, peppermints, and various packages of crackers. Absentmindedly, she opened a bag of chocolate candies and popped a handful in her mouth. She stuffed a couple more bags in her pocket. “For Olivia,” she explained.

“Sure,” Hannah teased. “I know you and your chocolate addiction.”

“And what about your peanut butter obsession?” Ruby responded as she pushed several packages of peanut butter crackers into Hannah’s pocket.

“Leave some for me,” Cal said. He took something from each pile. “I like it all.”

The country music that had been blaring through the outside speakers suddenly went quiet. Cal pushed both Hannah and Ruby away from the junk food. “We’d better get inside. It’s almost time for the drawing.”

“If nothing else, I hope we raised a lot of money for the library,” Hannah said on their way inside.

“And, here she is, Hannah Holiday.” Michael’s voice raised above all the chatter in the pub. “Our own keeper of the buried treasure map. Will you do the honors?” Michael held up a huge clear jug stuffed full of the raffle tickets.

As Hannah moved through the crowd, Rocky quickly leaned toward her and whispered, “No funny stuff, Doll Face.”

Hannah shot him a glare and kept walking to the bar. Michael pointed to a stool for her to stand on so everyone could see what was happening. Hoots and hollers erupted from around the pub. “Most excitement in Hooks Harbor since Caroline accidentally, as she said, ran into Chase Fuller’s pride and joy with her little dinghy.” Someone else laughed. “Yeah, she put a hole right through the back and it sank so fast Chase had to swim to shore. Lucky for him, she didn’t run him over.” A group of locals laughed so hard Hannah thought they might spray their beer all over everyone standing near them.

“Okay, then.” Hannah tried to get the attention of the crowd back on the raffle tickets. She stuck her hand into the jug and stirred it around until she felt one ticket that she decided should be the winner. She pulled it out and held it over her head. “Is everyone ready?”

She paused before reading the number. “The winning ticket is 312268.”

From the back of the pub, one of the locals held his arm up. “I don’t believe it,” he yelled. “I’ve never won anything before.”

Hannah recognized Pete, Michael’s friend, who rescued them after Meg’s tire blew out. She smiled to herself, glad that one of the locals was the winner. And, someone big and bulky enough to intimidate Rocky if he got any crooked ideas about taking the map for himself.

Meg handed Hannah a slip of paper. Hannah held her hand up. “Don’t leave yet. Thank you all for helping raise twenty five hundred dollars for the Hooks Harbor Library. In addition to a generous one thousand dollar donation,” Hannah glanced quickly at Rocky’s scowling face, “the raffle raised an additional fifteen hundred dollars.”

Cal climbed up next to Hannah. “Don’t forget about the delicious food you all enjoyed here today. Hannah’s snack bar should be open for business as soon as the final inspection is done. Today was a tease for your taste buds. Make sure to stop by and see what else she’ll be serving.”

The floor was littered with discarded raffle tickets. The crowd got back to their conversations, pool playing, drinking, and eating.

Pete approached Hannah. He timidly gave her a big bear hug. She pulled the map from where it was still tucked under her shirt and the waist band of her jeans, chuckling that Rocky never even looked for it when he found her after she snuck through the bathroom window.

Pete refused to take the map from Hannah. “Nope. I don’t even want the map. I like the
idea
of a buried treasure. It’s much more exciting to wonder what it is. I bet Caroline buried a bunch of old shells or something like that anyway.”

Hannah was speechless. After all the drama, greed, and murder connected to the map, here was someone who couldn’t care less about it. She shook her head and squeezed Pete’s arm. “Maybe we’ll raffle it off again next year. I’m sure the library can always use donations.”

Hannah checked the time. She was tired. She scanned the room looking for Cal or someone to give her a ride back to her cottages.

“That was exciting,” Sherry said, sidling up next to Hannah. “And the best part? You still have the map. What a generous guy the winner is.” She stood quietly next to Hannah for a minute. “Are you looking for someone?”

Hannah sighed. “I am. Suddenly I’m exhausted and I need a ride back to my cottages.”

“I’m heading that way myself. I’d be happy to give you a ride.” Sherry smiled.