Dangerous Depths (31 page)

I knew that the current administration in the
BVI had written a set of policies about development in response to
the islanders’ concerns. Few wanted to see the islands turned into
another Saint Thomas, teaming with visitors in three-thousand-room
hotels, beaches littered with umbrellas under which tourists sipped
rum punch. Getting Freeman elected would insure that would change.
With political power and favors brokered, policies could be
manipulated or just plain ignored.

But the law was another matter, and
destroying habitat of the sea turtle was against the law. Freeman
had managed to keep people off the island for years, but he would
have known that he’d have to eliminate the turtles before he could
start building. He couldn’t hide them from every construction
worker who set foot on the island and he couldn’t pay everyone off.
When Liam and Tom arrived to begin the survey of nesting grounds,
he must have realized that he had to eliminate the turtles before
someone discovered them. No wonder he’d hired a guard and been so
insistent that no one was allowed on the island.

Freeman would have wanted Eleanor and Teddy
Billings off Flower when he decided to eliminate the turtles.
Accusing him of stealing was a good way to get rid of him. But
Billings wasn’t about to let it go. He’d realized something was
going on and he’d been determined to find out what it was. When he
snuck ashore he’d found that dead turtle. More than likely he’d
also found the ruined nests and broken into the shed to discover
the poison. He may have actually been stupid enough to tell Freeman
he was going to talk with Betty Welsh. Freeman and Reidman had to
kill him or lose everything.

But what about Elyse? She’d been up at Flower
that Sunday to take water samples. She’d found something—poison
pellets, a dead turtle, something. Unfortunately she’d probably
told Reidman about it. So he’d dropped sleeping pills in her tea,
rigged the boat, and took off, crushing Daisy’s sand castle as he
hurried across the beach.

The trouble was, this was all speculation.
The land transactions were there in black and white, but there was
no law against buying property or setting up a corporation. With
some investigation though, the kind that Betty was so good at,
their plans would be exposed.

It would mean the loss of the election and
the fortune they would have made on the development, maybe even
short jail time because of the turtles. It wasn’t enough. They had
killed to protect their investment. I wanted these guys in jail for
life for killing Elyse, but I didn’t have a shred of evidence. They
had covered their tracks well. No weapons, prints, or witnesses
could identify them.

It was dark by the time I pulled the door to
the records office closed, stepping from icy air-conditioning into
a blanket of mugginess. Businesses were shut down tight, lights
off, the sidewalk deserted. Across the street in the alley, a trash
can suddenly clattered to the ground and rolled to a halt. I
overreacted, pulling my .38 as a scrawny grey cat darted out of the
darkness and scurried down the sidewalk, tail pointed to the
sky.

I holstered the gun and headed past the alley
toward Main, hoping to find a cab. A fleeting gust of wind swirled
though the vacant street, blowing dust and paper across my shoes.
By the time I felt his presence, it was too late. The man emerged
from the shadows of the doorway, gun raised.

“Don’t try it,” he said, as I reached for my
weapon. “I won’t hesitate to shoot.”

“Carr? What the hell?”

“Sorry, Hannah. Hand me the gun, real slow,”
he said, moving into the light.

Edmund Carr, my dive partner? Another piece
fell into place. “Guess you were right in the middle of this, huh,
Ed? Since you work at the bank you were able to transfer funds and
properties.”

“That’s right. I helped Reidman and Freeman
get those properties real cheap, foreclosing on overdue loans.”

I remembered the man in his office that day,
desperate for an extension that Carr was not about to give him.

“Come on, Ed. You can’t get away with this.
Just put the gun down.” I tried to reason. It didn’t work.

“I said I’ll shoot,” he warned again,
pointing the damned gun at my chest.

Staring at Carr, I decided to gamble hoping
that he wouldn’t be fast enough to stop me. He was a banker after
all, not a cop, and he’d made the mistake of moving in too close.
When I moved to unholster my gun with my right hand, his eyes
followed. In one quick swipe, my left elbow made contact with his
face, and I felt the distinctive cracking of bone. I knew I’d
broken his nose. His gun skittered across the walk. I was reaching
for my weapon when I suddenly felt hard steel pressed to the back
of my head.

“Hold it right there, Sampson. Just drop it.”
I let the .38 fall from my fingers and turned.

It was Alex Reidman. “Just give me an
excuse,” he said, jamming the gun into my temple. “Jesus, Carr,
can’t you do anything right?”

Carr stumbled to his feet, pressed his hand
against his nose and glared. “God dammit, Sampson. You’ll pay for
this,” he said, swiping blood away with his shirtsleeve.

“Not now, just go get the damned car,”
Reidman said.

A couple of minutes later, Carr pulled up to
the curb in a classic red BMW convertible, dented and scraped.
Daisy’s car. I figured the rest of the paint was on my Rambler.

“This your car, Alex?”

“Yep, I keep it garaged except for occasions
like this.”

“Yeah, or when you’re rigging boats to
explode or shoving needles into someone’s arm?”

“That’s right— and I’m not too happy with the
dents you put in it. Now just get the hell in.”

Reidman opened the back door and shoved me
onto the seat. Carr climbed in beside me.

“Thought this was supposed to be a
no-brainer,” Carr said as Reidman hit the gas and swerved out of
the lot.

“Don’t worry, you’ll survive. Next time,
don’t get so close to her damned elbow.”

“So what are we going to do?” Carr said,
glancing nervously out the back window.

“We’ll meet Freeman over at Flower as we
planned. No one’s going to miss Sampson until tomorrow and they
certainly won’t be looking for her out there.”

Reidman pulled into the marina at Road
Harbor. “Go down and fire up the boat. I’ll bring Sampson.”

“Why don’t we just shoot her here?” Carr
said.

“Not a good idea. Shots will bring the cops
to the docks. Besides, we might need her.”

I could see the wheels turning. Reidman was
working on a scheme to end any investigation into the deaths of
Elyse and Billings. It would involve keeping me alive until he
could work out the details.

Freeman was standing on the dock on Flower
Island when Carr pulled up and cut the engines. He’d probably heard
the cigarette boat’s noisy rumble all the way up at the house. He
shone his flashlight on the boat, the beam cutting across my
face.

“What the hell is she doing with you?” He
didn’t wait for an answer. “Get her inside,” Freeman ordered, and
stormed up the path. No doubt who was in charge here. Carr jumped
onto the dock and I followed, noticing the keys that he’d left
dangling from the ignition. Reidman was right behind me jamming the
damned gun in my ribs.

“Hey, take it easy, Alex,” I said, glaring at
him over my shoulder.

Sylvia was standing at the door when the four
of us came up the path.

“Neville?” She was confused when she realized
that Reidman had a gun pointed at me. “What is going on? Why is
Detective Sampson here? Who is that man?” she asked, referring to
Carr. I could hear the fear rising with each question.

“Calm down, Sylvia. This is Edmund Carr. We
have a little business with Sampson here. You just go on out to the
kitchen, darling.”

Jeez, what a condescending jerk. Sylvia
wasn’t putting up with it either. Freeman had clearly crossed a
line.

“Don’t think you can dismiss me that way,”
she said. “What kind of trouble are you in?”

“Seems the detective is upset about the
turtles. We need to set her straight.”

“I told you poisoning those turtles was a bad
idea,” she said.

“Worse was killing Billings and going after
Elyse,” I said before Freeman could stop me. A little discord among
this group could only do me good.

“Keep your damned mouth shut.” Freeman swung
at me, connected, and sent me crashing into a coffee table.

“What is she talking about, Neville?”
Obviously, Sylvia hadn’t been informed of all her husband’s
activities.

“Come on, Sylvia,” I said, sitting up on my
knees and wiping the blood from my bottom lip. “Surely you know
that Neville won’t let anything stand in the way of his ambition?
Or do you just pretend it isn’t happening, like you do with his
philandering?”

Sylvia dropped into a nearby chair,
stunned.

“You need to keep your damned mouth shut or
else I’ll shut it permanently,” Freeman said.

I ignored him. “Alex, you know you’ll be the
one charged with killing Elyse. I bet Freeman’s kept his hands
clean when it came to murdering her and Billings. Let me guess—he
sent you and Carr out to kill Billings while he was being seen at
some campaign event by dozens of people.”

“I know what you’re doing, Sampson,” Reidman
said. “It won’t work. Freeman and I have been partners for some
time now. We need each other. You think I’d come down to this
godforsaken place to retire and open a restaurant?

“I met Freeman when he came to New York
looking for funding two years ago. He had his plan all worked out—a
multimillion-dollar resort complex that catered to the wealthy. But
he needed a partner, someone who could help bring in financing and
ensure his election. This is just the beginning of a very lucrative
relationship for both of us. Once Freeman is elected, well, let’s
just say we’ll make millions.”

“What if he doesn’t win?”

“Oh, he’ll win. Paying to make sure of that
has taken only chump change. A few payoffs here, a few threats
there. We’ve got the election in our pockets.”

“I switched my gaze to Carr who was leaning
against the far wall, smoking. “How the hell did you get involved
in this, Ed?” I said.

Reidman didn’t give Carr the chance to
respond. “Ed here helped us acquire those properties,” he said.
“Very convenient having the VP in charge of loans. Half his
accounts are in arrears. All he had to do was pressure the owners
of the properties we wanted. They were real willing to sell at a
reasonable price when he threatened to foreclose.”

“Guess Billings’ boat didn’t just shift in
the current and tumble over that embankment when we were diving,
did it, Ed?”

“Hey, I’m real sorry about that, but you
should never had gone back in there after that turtle. Can’t
believe you made it out.”

“Are you the one who tried to break into my
trunk?”

Carr just smirked.

“You know, Ed, I’m beginning to get the
picture here. And guess what, you’re the one who’s expendable—more
than expendable. Now that all the land has been acquired, these two
don’t need your services anymore.”

“Shut the fuck up, Sampson,” Reidman said.
Finally I had hit a nerve.

“Come on, Ed, don’t you see it? They are
going to pin all of this on you and step away free of any
implication that they have done anything. You’re the only one we
can tie to Billings’s boat. I told you to quit smoking—DNA tests
came in this morning. They indicate that the cigarette butt I
retrieved from the
Lila B
was yours, and we found the
crowbar, your prints, Billings’s blood. Stark is getting a warrant.
He’s probably at your apartment as we speak.” I could lie with the
best of them.

Carr was getting nervous. He looked at
Reidman, then Freeman, and realized I could be right. I kept
talking.

“Sure, they shoot me, put the gun in your
hand and then kill you. Freeman calls the cops afterward, says you
brought me out here—God knows why, probably thought the island was
deserted—and kill me. Freeman says he heard the shot, grabbed the
gun he keeps for protection, came running, and shot you—too late to
save me though. With the right spin, he could turn it all his way.
Make himself a hero. After all, he got the guy who killed me and
Teddy Billings, probably Elyse too.”

“How will you lay the blame on Carr though?”
I said, turning to Freeman. “I mean, what’s his motive?”

I was making it up as I went, but I could
tell I wasn’t too far off. So could Carr. He had lifted his gun and
pointed it at Neville’s chest.

“Come on, Ed,” Freeman said, holding his
hands in front of him. “You’re letting her get to you.”

Suddenly a shot reverberated through the room
from behind me. Carr put his hand to his chest and looked amazed
when it came away bloody. Reidman fired again, this time a direct
shot to the head. Carr went down hard and didn’t move.

“You’ve got a big mouth, Sampson,” Reidman
said, pointing the gun at me. “But hell, that’s done. Just like you
said, Carr has served his purpose. We have the properties we need.
We’ve set it up just as you’ve suggested. We’ve already planted a
needle and some potassium chloride in his apartment.”

“Dunn won’t buy it. Neither will Stark. They
will want to know why,” I said. “Why Elyse? Why Billings? And why
me?”

“Don’t worry about it, Sampson. We’ll figure
it out. Maybe Elyse and Billings both saw Carr doing something
illegal, like poaching turtles. Hell, maybe it was a love
triangle—Elyse and Billings involved and Carr a jealous former
lover. I like that idea.”

“Yeah, you would, having been in similar
situations yourself,” I said. “But you’ll never convince anyone
with those stories.”

“I’ll make sure that there aren’t a lot of
questions. And why should there be? Everything will be tied up in a
neat little package, law and order restored.”