Murder at Jade Cove (Cedar Bay Cozy Mystery Book 2) (17 page)

“Did Gabe know about
Carlos?”

“Yes. I told him Carlos
had provided the money to build the marijuana farm Jeff built on the back of
the property. I told him how Carlos told me he’d paid for the plants, the
irrigation, and furnished the workers. In return, Jeff was to pay Carlos half
the profits over the years. When the crop burned to the ground, Carlos demanded
his money back. I told him how Carlos had threated to kill both Brandon and me
if I didn’t pay him back.

“I knew Carlos was coming
tonight and I needed to have a million and a half dollars to pay him off so I
told Gabe no, I wouldn’t give him the money. He couldn’t believe it when I
showed him the suitcase stuffed with the cash. He screamed and yelled at me and
demanded that I give him the money, telling me that if I really loved him I’d
trust him with it. I told him it wasn’t that at all, I just wasn’t ready to
make such a big decision on such short notice. I told him I needed some time to
think about it. I said I needed to have the money to pay off Carlos before I
did anything with the rest of the money. We had a big argument and when he left
the house he was furious.” She started sobbing.

Kelly turned to Mike.
“Well, that explains why Gabe killed Carlos. He didn’t want him to have any of
Marcy’s money. He needed it all. It also explains why he killed Jeff. It was
pretty much what we’d talked about. He thought he would either gain access to
the right to develop the ranch into a hotel and spa or he would get Marcy to
give him the insurance money. Either way he gets out of the financial jam he
was in.”

She turned back to Marcy,
“I hate to tell you this, but I think you need to know that Gabe was planning
on killing you so he could get the insurance money. Before Mike arrived and
while I was outside the shack, right after he killed Carlos, he started
swearing and I overheard him say ‘Marcy, get back out there. I need that money
and the only way I’m going to get it from you is when you’re dead.’ He knew
you’d packed half of the insurance settlement cash in the suitcase you were
going to give to Carlos. I’m sure his plan was that after he killed you he
would go to your house and steal the suitcase with the cash in it as well as
all the rest of the cash from the insurance settlement. It would be easy for
him to do as it would only take a couple of minutes for him to stop at the
ranch house and grab the money.

“Gabe would be free to
walk out the front door with three million dollars in cash and no one would
ever know he had even been here. His financial problems would be solved, just
like that. The authorities, meaning Sheriff Mike, would probably think it was a
professional gangland style hit aimed at Carlos by some Mexican drug cartel and
you just got in the way so they took you out too. It would look like the cartel
assassin grabbed the cash and was probably back in Mexico. You’re safe now. No one
can hurt you. Carlos is dead and Gabe is in jail. I’ll stay with you tonight
until your sister gets here,” Kelly said, putting her arm around Marcy.

“You both must think I’m a
fool,” Marcy said, sobbing. “The thing is, I really loved Gabe and I thought he
loved me. I’ve loved him since we were engaged before I met Jeff. I was
heartbroken when he broke up with me and married that woman in Sunset Bay. I
married Jeff on the rebound. My life has become a living nightmare.”

“Marcy, we don’t think
you’re a fool at all. Please go on and tell us what happened,” Mike said.

She took a deep breath and
continued, “That’s about it. I called Gabe several times on his cell phone
after he left this evening. I wanted to apologize to him, but he had his phone
turned off. A few minutes before the time Carlos told me he’d be here, I heard
a car pull into the driveway. A moment later I heard a gunshot, and then I
opened the front door and saw Carlos lying on the ground, obviously dead. I
started to go to him when your deputy yelled at me to get back in the house.
The deputy knelt down behind his car. That’s just about everything.”

“Here, Marcy. Take these
aspirin. As hard as you’ve been crying, you’re going to have a horrible
headache,” Kelly said, taking a bottle of aspirin out of her purse.

“Does Brandon have to know
about this? It will kill him to think his father was dealing with a Mexican
drug cartel mobster and that his mother always loved Gabe and not his father.”

Mike was silent for a few
moments before he answered her. “Marcy, it will be public knowledge that Gabe
killed both Jeff and Carlos. I can’t do anything about that. It will probably
come out that Carlos was trying to get money from you and that Jeff owed him
some money. That’s not unusual. Often there’s bad blood when business deals
don’t work out, particularly when there’s some sort of criminal enterprise
involved. Hopefully, the reason Jeff owed him money can be kept sealed. There’s
a good chance Gabe’s lawyer will agree to a plea bargain and the case will never
proceed to a public trial. As far as you loving Gabe while you were married to
Jeff, I don’t think there’s any reason for that to come out. A good case could
be made that Gabe loved you and was jealous when he overheard you talking to
Carlos on the phone and making an appointment to see him tonight. If the case
doesn’t go to a public trial, I think we could say that Gabe was jealous and
that was the reason he killed Carlos. Kelly, what do you think?”

“I think the less Brandon
has to deal with, the better. There’s no reason to call him tonight. Marcy, I
can call him tomorrow for you if you’d like, or you can call him, or maybe your
sister could. What happened here is not really relevant to him, other than it
happened on property he now owns. Does that sound about right to both of you?”

Mike and Marcy both
nodded. Mike stood up, put on his Stetson, and walked over to the door. “Kelly,
I’ve got to get the paperwork done on Gabe and oversee the call to his
attorney. Rebel and I will be home later. You’re going to stay here until
Marcy’s sister comes, right?”

“Yes. I’ll see you at
home.”

“Marcy,” Mike said, “when
you’ve had a little time to process everything that’s happened tonight, I think
you’re going to be pretty grateful you had the presence of mind to call me
earlier tonight and tell me Carlos was coming to the ranch. And remember, a
fool wouldn’t have done that.”

He walked out the door and
saw that the coroner was getting ready to transport Carlos’ body to the morgue.
The front yard and the driveway were filled with crime scene investigators
gathering evidence. Marcy and Kelly overheard Mike say to one of the
investigators, “I’m pretty sure this 30-30 rifle is the murder weapon. I picked
it up with my handkerchief so the prints on it should be Gabe Lewis’. I think
if you compare the bullet that killed Carlos to a sample bullet fired from this
gun, you’ll find they match. I think you’ll also find a match with the bullet
that killed Jeff Black.”

Kelly stayed with Marcy until her
sister got to the ranch shortly after midnight. It was well past her usual
bedtime when she was finally able get to bed with just a few hours for sleep
before she had to get up and be at the coffee shop by 6:00 a.m. As the first
light of dawn crept into the bedroom, she looked over at Mike who was sleeping
peacefully beside her. He’d been asleep when she’d come home late last night.

I’ll get more of the
details about what happened with Gabe when I see him later today or this
evening. Poor Marcy. It must have been devastating to find out the man you’ve
loved for twenty years was going to kill you. Plus, he was the man who
destroyed her marriage and caused her to become dependent on her son’s
benevolence. I’ll never understand why people make some of the choices they do.
Of course, it’s always a lot easier to sit back and Monday morning quarterback
when it’s not you it’s happening to. Thank heavens I’ve never been in Marcy’s
situation.

Roxie, Madison, and
Charlie were waiting for her at the coffee shop door when she pulled into the
parking lot. She was barraged with questions from them as soon as she was
within earshot.

“I haven’t talked to Mike
this morning, so I really can’t comment on what happened last night. And I’d
like to know how the three of you already seem to know a lot about what
happened out at Black’s ranch last night.”

“Kelly, it used to be that
we Indians communicated with one another by using tom-toms to get the word out.
Now it’s as simple as a cell phone call,” Charlie said. “Glad the whole thing
is over and everyone will know that no tribal members were involved in Jeff
Black’s murder. I know we were under suspicion.”

“I can’t comment on that,
but I can tell you that there is conclusive proof that no tribe member was
involved and I’m glad. I’ve come to really like your dad, Chief Many Trees.”

“Yeah, he feels the same
way. Said he just might make you an honorary member of the tribe since, from
what we hear, you cleared us of any involvement.”

“Sorry, but no comment,”
she said as she unlocked the door and the four of them entered the coffee shop.
In just a few moments the smell of coffee permeated the coffee shop and the
lights cut through the semi-darkness of the early morning hour, bathing the
coffee shop and the pier in a soft warm glow. “Better get ready for a busy day.
You know how it is. Any time something major happens in this town, everyone
wants to come to Kelly’s Koffee Shop and talk about it. Think this is going to
be one of those days.”

Kelly was right. Charlie
cooked non-stop while Kelly and Roxie took orders and served them continuously
throughout the morning. “Wish this was one of those mornings when Madison
didn’t have classes at her cosmetology school. Too bad she had to leave to go
there. I sure could use her now,” Kelly said to Roxie as the two of them almost
collided when they both tried to go through the swinging kitchen doors at the
same time.

“I know, but from what she
tells me, she loves it, and she’s really doing well. Sounds like life is
looking up for the kid now that her dad’s stopped drinking and she’s become
involved with the church. I couldn’t be happier for her. She deserves to have
something good in her life,” Roxie said.

“No argument there, plus
she’s a huge help to me. I guess she’s going to start helping out Wanda at her
beauty shop in the afternoons after she finishes work here at the coffee shop.
Imagine she’ll start working there when she gets her license. They do grow up,
don’t they? Guess I’ll have to look for a replacement in a few months,” Kelly
said as she walked into the kitchen to check on some orders.

Roxie stuck her head
through the doors. “Kelly, Mike just pulled up. Thought you’d want to know.”

“Thanks, Roxie.” She
walked out of the kitchen and saw him just as he was opening the front door.
She waved him over. “Better grab that table. It’s been crazy all morning and
the lunchtime group will start arriving any minute now.” She looked up as the
door again opened. “See, I was right. Doc’s always the first one here.” She
waved to Doc and Lucky, motioning them over.

“Doc, you’re just in time
to hear what happened last night. And this must be Lucky,” Mike said, bending
down to the pet the little puppy. Rebel had walked over to Mike as soon as he
opened the door and put his paw on Mike’s leg as if to say, “What about me? I
could use some petting or an ear scratch.”

“Yeah, when I went to the
clinic this morning I heard there was a little excitement out at the Black’s
ranch last night. Kind of figured you two were involved. What happened?”

Mike filled Doc in on the
events of the previous evening at Black’s ranch. “Kelly, got time to sit for a
minute?” Mike said. “I need to bring you up to date on what’s happening. Doc,
you can stay if you want.”

“I’ll make time,” Kelly
said. “Just give me a minute to tell Roxie I’m taking a break.” She walked over
to Roxie and then hurried back to the table. “Shoot. I’m all ears. Don’t leave
anything out. You were sound asleep when I got home last night and I didn’t
want to wake you up this morning.”

“After I left you last
night I drove to the jail. Rich had put Gabe in a jail cell and he was
screaming and yelling that he wanted to call his lawyer, so I let him make a
phone call. Surprisingly, he called his wife, not his lawyer. Guess he decided
he’d rather get out of jail first and then talk to his lawyer. Long story
short, he told his wife he’d been arrested and he was in jail. Said she needed
to come over to Cedar Bay immediately and bail him out. She refused. Rich and I
could overhear her tell him he could stay there for the rest of his life for
all she cared. She told him she’d call his attorney for him.”

“Wow!” Kelly said. “That
took some courage. I’d heard that she’d talked to her lawyer about getting a
divorce. Guess she’s going through with it.”

“That would be my guess,”
Mike said. “Gabe spent the night in jail and he was not a happy man. His lawyer
came this morning and talked to him. I don’t know what they said to one another
because that’s privileged information, but it must have had something to do with
Gabe’s financial problems, because he’s still in jail. He hasn’t made bail
yet.”

“What happens now?” Doc
asked.

“Well, he’s being
arraigned this afternoon and he’ll no doubt plead not guilty. If he still can’t
make bail, he’ll go back to jail until he’s tried for murder or his attorney
negotiates a plea bargain with the District Attorney. Either way, I don’t think
we’ll be seeing much of Gabe Lewis for a long time.”