Murder in the Bahamas: An Anna Winters Cozy Mystery (Murder in Parasise Book 2) (5 page)

Finally relieved from the desk, Anna made her way toward the stairwell to get into Goran’s room unnoticed. She didn’t want to risk being seen by anyone and she knew he wouldn’t be back for some time.

Just to be certain, Anna had asked the girl at the front desk to call her cell phone if he showed up sooner. That way, she could leave Goran’s room before he returned. The last thing she needed right now was to have a surprise that could get her killed.

Arriving at his door, she looked around to make sure there wasn’t anyone around. Then swiping her card, the door unlocked and she stepped in. The room was relatively tidy. On the desk was an open laptop computer. Taking a chance, she ran her finger along the mouse pad, surprised that the computer hadn’t been locked.

Pulling out the chair, she decided to go through his computer to see what she could find. Her heart pounded as she clicked on the tiny inbox icon and a series of e-mails pulled up. The one at the top of the list was an e-mail from Director X. Clicking on it, she started reading.

“G –

You are being called to duty once again. No one must find out what you are doing. The murder at the hotel was unfortunate, but necessary. Meet me at 147 West Sunset Dr.

Come alone. The hotel has cops swarming all over but the front desk clerk doesn’t care. You should be able to sneak by just fine. This is in regard to the Nassau deal.

Director X”

Anna looked over the message a few times. 147 West Sunset Drive wasn’t far from the hotel. She could walk to it with ease. She almost wanted to see first-hand what Goran was up to, but she already had one gun pulled on her today. The thought of having a second gun pulled on her didn’t seem very appealing.

Nassau was the capital of the Bahamas and Anna wondered what could be going down in the capital city. Sneaking through the front doors to check out the situation seemed like the thing to do. If there was anything the police could do, she’d call them, but they were busy combing the grounds right now and she didn’t want to have them go on what could ultimately be a wild goose chase.

She quickly jotted down the address on a piece of paper and left the room. Making her way to the stairwell, she knew she needed to do everything she could to avoid begin caught. As she walked to the lobby, Anna kept a steady pace as she avoided the bar and peeked at the Front Desk. The young woman who had stepped in had her back turned to the front door and Anna crept toward it when a firm hand landed on her shoulders. Anna turned in terror.

“I wasn’t doing anything.” The words rushed out of Anna.

“You were about to leave.” Pauline sighed. “Where are you going?”

“Does it matter?” Anna asked coldly.

“I deserve that.” Pauline frowned. “I’m sorry for what I said. I realize I wasn’t being fair to you. When I heard a woman had been found beaten up on the beach, I thought it was you and I realized I didn’t want you to die thinking I didn’t still care about you.”

“I wouldn’t think that.” Anna smiled.

“I hope not.” Pauline continued. “You mean the world to me. We’ve been good friends for years. I admire you and don’t want anything to happen between us. I hope you really can forgive me and that we can move past this.”

“All is well in my book.” Anna smiled. “I wouldn’t trade you for anyone else in this world. You are a good friend. Sometimes friends fight, I get that. I’m just glad we can move forward now.”

“Now, where are you going?” Pauline asked. “I know you are leaving but you need to tell me where. That way, if you aren’t back in a couple of hours, I can call in a tip.”

“Get a pen.” Anna laughed.

Pauline pulled an order pad and a pen out of her pocket. “The special of the day is?”

“147 West Sunset Drive.” Anna replied.

“That is just up the way.” Pauline replied. “Is there someone else we don’t know about that could have killed Mr. Weathersby?”

“Goran is going there about some deal going down.” Anna replied. “I am not sure what kind of deal but it has to do with Nassau.”

“The capital?” Pauline said thoughtfully. “What would be there that the Serbian mafia could want? This is so weird, Anna.”

“I agree.” Anna nodded. “But if that is where Goran is and something comes from this meeting, it will be worth it in the end.”

“Just be careful.” Pauline pleaded.

“I will.” Anna promised.

With that, Anna ducked her head and made her way to the front doors. After checking no-one was watching, she slipped through them and out of the hotel. Looking around, she saw a dozen cop cars parked in the entry way and the front entrance was blocked, but there didn’t appear to be anyone out in the area.

Deciding it was now or never, she hurried down the pavement toward the street. A quick glance at each vehicle, confirmed they were unoccupied. When she reached the two cop cars blocking the entrance, she paused for a second, realized they were empty, and continued.

A taxicab was passing by and she flagged it down. As the car pulled over, she got into the back seat. “Address?” the man asked without turning around to greet her.

“147 West Sunset Drive.” Anna replied.

The cab travelled westbound and Anna looked out the window. As they sped down the road, she watched as the ocean appeared to move in the distance.

“What happened at the hotel?” the cab drive asked.

Anna looked up and at the long dreadlocked black hair of the man driving. “A series of unfortunate events.” Anna replied.

“Before you, I took a man to the same address.” the man replied. “He said a man and a woman died there. Is that true?”

“I can honestly say that statement isn’t true at all.” Anna replied. “There was something going on at the beach, but no-one died.”

“The hotel never has anything illegal happen.” the cab driver sighed. “It was interesting to think there could be a murder going on.”

“Murder isn’t interesting at all.” Anna offered. “It is heart-breaking and upsetting, but never exciting.” Pulling up to the address, the man continued to look forward.

“The cab ride is free.” His voice was even.

“I don’t mind paying you.” Anna replied and began to fish out her wallet.

“The cab is funded by this address.” the man boomed. “You need to get out and take care of the business you have here but I need to leave.”

Anna left the cab and before she could say another word, the man took off with the back door still open. Hitting his brakes, the door shut and he continued on his way.

“That’s a bit unsettling.” Anna said aloud, then realized she wasn’t talking to anyone in particular. Anna reached the front door and pushed on it gently, it quietly opened without any problems.

Deciding that she might as well go for it, she crept into the building. The front room was decorated with a single desk with a computer on top of it. Along one side of the room was a couch that had a magazine table next to it. It appeared to be a standard waiting room.

Walking over to the desk, Anna looked for some paperwork, then noticed the screen. There was a considerable amount of dust on the screen. Looking around, she realized that the building hadn’t been used for quite some time.

“What are you doing here?” a man shouted behind her. Anna held still.

“Housekeeping.” Anna replied.

“I know you.” The man spoke slowly, placing his hand on her shoulder, and turning her around.

“Goran.” she whispered. “I was just here to set up an appointment. Someone told me this was a doctor’s office.”

“Well.” Goran began. “Your lie would be believable if this had been three years ago, you had said dentist instead of doctor and the hotel wasn’t on lockdown.”

“Oh.” Anna whimpered. “You know, I could just leave and we won’t have to worry about this.”

Goran shook his head and pulled out a gun. Pointing it at Anna’s side, he poked her in the ribs with it. “Sit.” he ordered.

Anna looked down at the chair. There was a layer of dust on top of it and she reached down to sweep it off and felt the gun press against her head.

“I said sit.” Goran’s voice became more annoyed.

Anna obediently sat and cringed. She didn’t like the idea sitting in years of built up dust. She watched as Goran walked behind her, took her hands, and cuffed her to the back of the chair.

“You have a gun, I wasn’t going anywhere.” Anna said.

“I guess we just have to be sure.” Goran replied. "I don’t like people snooping around."

“Well I wasn’t−” Anna began and was cut off when the front door slammed opened. Branko walked through the door and looked confused.

“What is she doing here?” he asked.

“She is snooping.” Goran replied. “More importantly, what are you doing here?”

“I followed her here.” Branko offered. “She ditched me in a cab, but the cabbie who picked her up knew where she was dropped off and brought me here.”

“Why did you follow me?” Anna asked.

“Because I want to know who killed Charles Weathersby.” Branko replied. “The killer beat up my wife.”

“Wendy is hurt?” Goran asked, tears in his eyes. “What happened?”

“Someone broke her jaw and snapped her wrist.” Branko spoke with a growl. “They won’t let me be with her either. She is under police protection and we aren’t supposed to be here right now.”

“Darko sent me a note to meet him here.” Goran replied.

“Wait, Darko is Director X?” Anna asked.

“How do you know about that?” Branko asked with concern on his face.

“I guess I might have been snooping through e-mails and saw it.” Anna replied. “But I don’t know about Nassau or anything else.”

“If Darko knows that she knows, he’ll kill her.” Goran warned.

“A more important question is when did you start working for the Serbian mafia?” Branko asked. “I got out for a reason. I don’t want my brother there, too.”

“Darko warned me if I didn’t, he’d kill you.” Goran replied. “All of this is for you.”

Branko hugged his brother warmly. “You always were the crazy one.”

“This is touching, and I don’t want to die,” Anna butted in. “But there is a question I have.”

“What?” Goran asked, slightly annoyed.

“Why did Darko blame you for the check that was made out to him for $100,000 from CharlesWeathersby’s checkbook?”

“What?” Goran replied. “I didn’t write a check to Darko. That doesn’t make sense. Darko owns me, I am one of his team members. I didn’t think we stole money from dead men. “

Branko walked up to the chair and removed the cuffs from Anna’s wrists. “I don’t want a third person getting hurt. We need to go. If Darko sees us here, you’re going to die. I’ll probably die, too. He doesn’t like surprises.”

Goran nodded. “Forget everything you know. It’s in your best interest.”

With that, Branko motioned for Anna to head out the door and the men took off. But in her mind, Anna wondered what else was going on. Something still didn’t make sense to her.

“We need to be careful going back in.” Branko warned Anna.

Nodding, Anna pressed on the front doors to the hotel and crept inside. Both looked around and no one seemed to notice they had returned.

“Let’s go to the bar.” Branko whispered.

Anna followed the man to the beach bar where they sat down at a table. Kevin nodded at her and brought her a ginger ale and a glass of black rum to Branko.

“I didn’t order this.” Branko replied.

“It’s courtesy of the house.” Kevin responded with a smile. Branko nodded and took a sip.

“You must have a great deal of pull around here.” he spoke carefully.

“I don’t have as much pull as people would like to believe,” she said, her voice firm. “We need to clear up a few things.”

“I know.” he began. “I feel it is important to come clean to you. Only because that is the only way we can figure out who the killer is. I’m ready to see Wendy but the only way I can do that is if you find the killer.”

“So, open up and be honest with me. Tell me about the deal with Darko by the pool.” Anna replied. “We both know I was there. What was going on?”

“Darko is opening up an auto sales business here in the Bahamas. It is technically illegal for me to supply him with the vehicles. However, I didn’t want to cause any kind of trouble for Wendy and I know the Serbian mafia doesn’t take no for an answer. So, I decided to throw caution to the wind and agreed to the business deal. I did it to protect my family. I knew I had no other choice.”

“That would explain things.” Anna agreed.

“The initial lot would be set up under my name. Darko would use my connections to get the cars for next to nothing from the manufacturers. He wouldn’t have to pay import or export taxes on them as there is a fleet of ships the Serbian mafia would use to smuggle them in and make everything look legit. Once that was done, he would sell them for a considerable profit and make quite a bit of money for himself in the process. This would be a monthly venture and all I had to do was allow him to use my accounts. If that meant leaving Wendy and me alone, I was fine with it.”

“Would you he pay you?” Anna asked.

“Fair question.” Branko sighed. “He would be paying me, yes. But it would only be enough to cover the debts to the manufacturers. That way, I could continue to get the vehicles and the transactions took place through me. “

“What was your beef with Charles?” Anna continued.

“I’ve told you, I knew about what he did to Wendy. I know that he wasn’t a good man.” Branko began. “I fought with him right before he died. He wanted me to give the business over to him because it was making a profit and he wanted to keep an eye on it so his daughter wouldn’t get screwed over by the Serbian mafia.”

Branko turned his head for a moment and his jaw dropped. Anna turned her head to see Wendy being pushed in a wheelchair along a path by an armed officer.

“Wendy!” Branko cried and rushed over to her. He kissed the woman on her cheek and she forced the best smile she could. “Are you okay?”

Wendy pointed with her right hand at the white erase board on her lap. Given that she was left handed, she very slowly wrote,
Sort of
, with a black marker. Then nodded and erased it.

“Shouldn’t she still be in the hospital, Officer?” Anna asked.

The man in uniform scratched his red haired head and shrugged. “They wanted to let her go. They set her wrist, gave her something for pain, and said she could talk as soon as the swelling went down in her face. It looks worse than it actually is. But she does need plenty of rest and you need to watch her. If something does happen, you need to make sure she goes back to the emergency room right away.”

“Thank God for miracles!” Branko exclaimed. “We will do everything we can to watch over her. I am just so thankful she is alive. I should have kept a better eye on her.”

Anna nodded. “There is something that needs to be addressed, Wendy, don’t you think?” Wendy shook her head.

Anna pressed again.

“I know about the check.” Anna began. “You were the one who wrote it, weren’t you?” Wendy dipped her head and nodded.

“Why did you write the check out to Darko?” Wendy began to write on the white board.

I asked my father for the money first. He said no, but I knew where he kept the checkbook. Once he was dead, the money was mine anyway.

Anna read the note and then nodded. Wendy erased the text. “What was the money for, Wendy?”

Darko told me that Branko had a debt owed to him. If it wasn’t paid, he would kill my husband. I
didn’t want that to happen.

“But I don’t owe him money.” Branko replied. “He lied to you to steal money from you. If I get my hands on him –”

“Choose your words carefully, Branko.” Anna warned. “If he ends up dead, you’ll become a suspect in his murder.”

But he said he loaned you money for sports betting. He said you weren’t paying him. I know the car dealership was going good.

“It is going good.” Branko kissed his wife. “I am just glad you are fine. Nothing else matters.”

“It does matter though.” Another voice was heard in the room.

Everyone turned to see Goran among them.

“I need to open up and be honest right now.” Goran spoke cautiously. “There are people in this room who will not like me by the time I am done, but I need to be honest with you all.”

“Darko actually owes me the money.” Goran began. “I told him I could wait for payment. The wedding was for my brother and his wife, and transactions could be taken care of later. Darko didn’t want to hear that and told me I was delaying to hold it over his head. So, he threatened me and that was the last time I spoke to him before he gave me the $100,000 he owed me today.”

“You said he owned you.” Anna protested. “Why would you lie?”

“Simple.” Goran replied. “If you had known the truth, you wouldn’t have left. I needed to get you out of there right away. I didn’t need anything else going on. You know about another secret I have, too. I saw you running away from the tent last night. Your red hair does stand out in the moonlight.”

“What were you doing at the tents?” Branko demanded. “Wendy was down by the tents last night.”

“Your wife and I have been having an affair for months.” Goran sighed. “But it was for all the wrong reasons. She thought she was saving your life by sleeping with me. Darko had her convinced this was the only way he would let you live, as interest for the debts you owed him. I thought she loved me, but she never said the words. She always seemed to be there almost as if required to be.”

“Is this true?” Branko asked.

Wendy nodded and wrote.

Darko said he’d kill you if I said a word to you. I was trying to protect you.

“I feel betrayed.” Branko whispered. “but your hearts were in the right place. I can’t be mad at you for what another person forced you to do. When did you know, Goran?”

“Just minutes ago.” Goran replied. “I was talking with Darko and finishing up our transaction. He asked me how I was enjoying the interest. I asked him what he meant. He said he had told Wendy to pretend to be interested in me. It broke my heart but it all started to make sense.”

“This is like one insane soap opera.” Anna replied. Everyone turned to look at her.

“Continue.” she sighed.

“There isn’t really too much more to say.” Goran shrugged his shoulders. “You know what happened and that is all there is to it.”

No, there is something else.
Wendy wrote.

“What else is there, Wendy?” Anna asked.

My father was Darko's target. He wanted my father dead and I was supposed to help him.

“Hold up.” Anna replied. “You killed your father?”

No, I didn’t. I was supposed to help kill him but I couldn’t go through with it.

“Why not?” Anna demanded. “Why did you have a change of heart all of the sudden? What changed for you?”

I realized he loved me. That what he did, he was truly sorry for. I couldn’t blame him for all these years.

“But Darko wanted him dead?” Anna asked. “So, did he kill your father?”

I don’t know who killed my father.

Anna looked around and tried to make sense of things. The only problem she had was that Darko never attended the wedding. She didn’t see him until later at the pool. Shaking her head, she couldn’t put things together in her mind.

“Was he anywhere at the reception?” Anna asked.

“I didn’t see him.” Goran replied.

“He wasn’t invited to the wedding or the reception.” Branko added.

“Then how did he get in and poison the black rum?” Anna asked.

“Maybe it was when Charles set down the glass and fought with Branko.” Kevin piped in from behind them. “Darko is the man with the scar on his face, right? He was talking to Cassandra around the time she ordered the black rum for Charles.”

“He must have picked up on the fact the rum was for him from her.” Anna replied. “She told him that Charles would be drinking it. He kept a close eye on everything and then put the poison in the glass.”

“It makes sense.” Branko replied.

“So does that mean we get something?” Kevin asked. “I’d like a bonus in my check.”

“The murder hasn’t been solved, yet.” Anna replied. “We just have a suspect. But we need to get him to confess and I have an idea.”

“We fight him like ninjas?” Kevin asked.

“No, we need to get a confession and I know just what to do. I need you guys to call Detective Mateo Newhold. I have a plan.”

“Oh, God.” Pauline replied from the side of the room.

“Pauline!” Anna smiled.

“Is there going to be another gun in your face?” Pauline asked. “I am not sure I can handle this again.”

“I’ll tell you after the fact.” Anna smiled. “But for this to work, everyone needs to be sure to get their part exactly right.”

“But can we trust them?” Pauline asked.

“I’m game for making this happen.” Kevin replied.

“Kevin, you need to tend the bar.” Anna sighed. “I don’t want you to get hurt. You’re still a kid.”

“But I am tough.” Kevin pouted. “Fine. If anyone needs drinks, I’ll be back here.”

“Why don’t you take Wendy to your room, Branko?” Anna pointed at the man. Branko nodded and reached for Wendy’s wheelchair.

“I’ll go with you.” the officer replied. “She is a key witness right now. Until we are certain Darko is the killer, I cannot leave her alone.”

Branko nodded his head and the three took off toward the elevator.

“What about me?”' Goran asked.

“I’m here, too." Pauline offered.

"This is what we're going to do." Anna began

With that, Anna drew the two in close and explained her plan. She knew it was risky allowing people into the loop who had ties to Darko and could turn on her, causing her death, but it was a chance she had to take. Otherwise, the killer might just escape.