Permanent Sunset (15 page)

“How about I buy everyone dinner? You all must be famished after such a long day. I can get us a quiet table at Zeus, if you’d like.” Neil stood up.

Sabrina knew he was uncomfortable with the level of emotion in the room, and she couldn’t blame him. Unfortunately, she felt like she might add to it by bursting into tears herself any minute. Elena’s story just hit too close to home for her. Sabrina made it a practice to shoo away thoughts of her own mother whenever one popped up in her mind, but Carmen Pagan’s sacrifice for her daughter was a strong reminder that Sabrina hadn’t been the kind of child who inspired such selfless devotion.

“Thanks, Neil, but I think I’m going take Carmen home to meet my family. I’d like to learn more about Angelica. I can understand why she tried to escape her childhood, but I don’t get why we couldn’t have finally included her mother in our lives. I tried so hard to get her to open up, but it was impossible,” Sean said.

“And I want to learn about Elena, the woman Angelica grew to be. I need to hear as much as I can so maybe I can make sense of it in my mind and in my heart. I would love to meet the family Angelica had become a part of, Sean.” Carmen took his hands in hers.

Sabrina gave her blessing for Carmen to stay at Bella Vista with the Keatings and offered anything she might need from the lost-and-found bags, but Neil had planned ahead and had her pack for a short stay. Within minutes, Sean and Carmen were off to Bella Vista. Sabrina thought about calling Kate to offer a “guess who’s coming to dinner” warning, but decided she had done enough for the family. She needed time to herself to recuperate.

“How about you two? Can I buy you dinner?” Neil asked Sabrina and Henry.

“Thanks, but I’m going to pass. I think I need some quiet time alone, to be honest,” Henry said, giving an uncharacteristically direct hint for Sabrina and Neil to leave.

Sabrina dragged herself up off the couch.

“I’ll take a rain check. I’m too tired to eat,” she said.

“I don’t know what I was thinking. You know what you need, Salty? Water, not food. Salt water. You need your nightly swim with Girlfriend and then we’ll check out your place and see if that reporter got tired of waiting for you to come back,” Neil suggested.

“She probably did. INN has been all over a breaking story in Arkansas about a woman who fed her husband a
casserole containing chopped up pieces of his dirty socks,” Henry added.

“There you go, Salty. You’ve been trumped by a pair of dirty socks.”

Sabrina chuckled. It felt wonderful to laugh after listening to Carmen’s story and watching Sean’s reaction to more revelations about Elena, who was becoming more mysterious, rather than less.

She handed the keys to the jeep to Neil.

“Here, you be the hero and drive,” she said, letting Girlfriend into the backseat, making sure she had her spare tote bag with a swim suit and a couple of towels packed in the car. “Are you going to swim, too?”

“No, I’ll pass.” When Sabrina and Girlfriend went for their nightly swim, Neil would float in the water, sometimes falling asleep, to Sabrina’s amazement.

“Good. You can be in charge of the diamond necklace,” she told him. She pulled the baggie out of her pocket, where she had almost forgotten it had been sitting since Heather pulled her stunt that morning.

They glided down into the narrow streets of Cruz Bay as the sun began to set over St. Thomas in the distance. She still marveled that no sunset was ever the same and that she never grew indifferent to them.

Buoyed at the prospect of a swim, Sabrina explained why she still had the cursed necklace. She skipped the part about her conversation with Sean and his admission that he and Elena were apparently waiting until after the
wedding to consummate their relationship, which Sabrina felt he’d disclosed unintentionally. It felt like a confidence she didn’t need to reveal.

Instead, she babbled on about her meeting with Lucy Detree and how the skinny-dippers may have left their signature in the pool at Villa Nirvana the night Elena was murdered, making them possible suspects.

“Why would a couple of chubby skinny-dippers want to kill Elena?” Neil asked.

“Why would they want to go skinny-dipping in strangers’ pools?” Sabrina countered.

She went on to tell Neil how Gavin had returned to Villa Nirvana and had tried to fire her and how Lucy Detree had actually defended her.

“That’s encouraging,” Neil said as they passed Mongoose Junction, lights beginning to twinkle from restaurants and shops against the fading light.

Sabrina finished the tale of her full day with the story about Anneka Lund acknowledging witnessing the prenup after Lucy Detree convinced her witnessing a document wasn’t a crime.

“See, that’s how someone like Hodge is counter-productive in an investigation. Why bully someone who’s got information you need when you can get it by simply explaining you need their help and cooperation? Lee Janquar would never alienate a witness, and it looks like Lucy is taking a page from his manual.”

“I just don’t get the part about Elena saying the prenup was actually to her advantage when she had been wailing for hours because she said she didn’t want to sign it. What exactly does it say?”

“I’ll show it to you later and explain,” Neil said. He pulled the jeep into the nearly empty parking lot at Hawksnest Beach, where Sabrina noticed two other jeeps were parked at opposite ends of the parking lot.

“Busy place,” she said, letting Girlfriend out of the backseat while she grabbed her tote bag. She led the dog onto the path toward the pavilion, hearing Neil’s footsteps behind her. Usually he would just hold a towel up as a screen so she could change, but if the interlopers from the parking lot were too close, Sabrina thought she might have to duck behind some trees to change into her suit.

She smelled the familiar scent of a mosquito coil burning before she saw the couple sitting at the same picnic table where she had shared lunch with Jack and Paul earlier in the afternoon. Something about the silhouettes of the couple prompted Sabrina to slow down and pause. There was just enough light left for her to see Paul Blanchard had returned to the picnic table. He was leaning in toward a woman and holding her hand on top of the table. She raised a glass and sipped what Sabrina guessed was wine.

Sabrina pivoted and placed her index finger over her lips, signaling for Neil to be silent, then pointed back to
the car. Girlfriend retreated with her, resisting just a tad as Sabrina gently tugged at her leash.

“What was that all about?” Neil asked once inside the car with the doors shut and the engine running.

“I’m not sure, but that was Paul Blanchard having a rendezvous with Anneka Lund.”

“Well there goes my swim,” Sabrina said. “Maybe I should just find a pool at an unoccupied villa like the skinny-dippers.”

“How about Maho?” Neil asked.

Sabrina agreed without hesitation. Although Maho Bay was at the far end of the North Shore beaches from Cruz Bay, it was conveniently located right next to the road. Their swim would be shorter, but she and Girlfriend would at least get one in.

“I was surprised to see Paul with Anneka. Holding hands. What’s with that?” Sabrina asked, her head throbbing from all the twists and turns in the Keating saga.

“I have no idea. We’ve learned all sorts of information, but none of it seems very helpful in finding out who killed Elena. I keep remembering what the homicide cops in LA used to say. Look for the motive because the why leads to the who. But I’m still not sure why anyone would want to kill Elena.”

“Tell me more about San Juan,” Sabrina said, thinking of David as Neil drove past the gate to Gibney Beach.

“There’s not much to tell. We didn’t find anything more than you can learn on the Internet, until you called with the information about Angelica Pagan after some great detective work. Once you passed that along, we were able to locate Carmen after talking to a few people. Well, after David talked to them.”

Neil slowed for the hairpin turn at the top of the hill before Peter Bay, much to Sabrina’s relief. Sometimes he drove a little too fast for her liking even though she’d been a crazy Boston driver once upon a time. He pulled into a parking spot in front of Maho Bay, where there were no other cars or people.

“Hallelujah, Girlfriend, we are good to go.” She slipped into her bathing suit behind a short seagrape shrub while Neil held Girlfriend. He finally released the panting dog from her leash and then took a seat at a picnic table. The sand still felt warm against her feet after a long day of full sunshine. The water was lukewarm and silky as she dove in and under to avoid the no-see-ums, which always seemed to prefer her to Neil. She felt Girlfriend splashing along next to her.

Sabrina began to swim toward Francis Bay, surprised to find herself crying as she pumped her arms and legs furiously, her chest heavy with grief. Salt from her tears stung her eyes, making her angry. The salt from the ocean had never hurt. Her ears pounded with the sound of her
heart beat against the fury of splashes until she stopped, exhausted, and floated onto her back. Kicking her legs, she headed back to the beach, Girlfriend finally catching up to her as her speed slowed.

Sabrina emerged from the water, Girlfriend at her side, bending over at the waist. She placed her hands on her knees, trying to regulate her breathing and control her tears. She didn’t want Neil to see her so out of control. So emotional.

Neil approached her with a towel, placing it over her shoulders. Sabrina remained crouched over. He rubbed her back.

“Salty? Are you okay?” he asked gently as Girlfriend began to pace.

Could she tell him, no, she was not okay? That having your mother abandon you when you’re a toddler means you’ll never be okay, even if you spend your entire life trying to learn to be normal? That seeing Carmen and the pain she suffered at the hands of a daughter who had callously deserted and betrayed her had triggered yet another painful realization? That the grandmother Sabrina had spent her entire life resenting probably had been so mortally wounded by her own daughter, she couldn’t bear to get close to her granddaughter?

Neil reached for her arms and pulled her into a big hug, the kind that made her feel safe from the world.

“There’s some good news. Your phone rang while you were in the water and when I saw it was Lucy Detree,
I answered. She said to tell you the skinny-dippers have turned themselves in and asked that you come to headquarters tomorrow morning at ten,” Neil said.

“Will Detective Hodge be there, Neil? I’m not anxious to be interviewed by him about the skinny-dippers or anything else without counsel,” Sabrina said, recovering from her emotional tailspin and reverting to survival mode.

“Not to worry, Salty. I was saving the good news for later, but I guess I can share it now.” He took her hand, leading her to the jeep. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a thick manila envelope. He started the car, turned on the heat, and pushed the overhead light on.

Sabrina thumbed through the raft of papers. A Petition for Admission, followed by an Affidavit in Support of Petition with attachments including copies of Neil’s bar card from California, his driver’s license with a bad photo of him, and his passport with an even worse photo. The very last paper was Order Allowing Admission Pro Hac Vice.

“What do all these papers mean?” Sabrina asked Neil, who was wearing a mischievous grin.

“They mean you just got yourself a lawyer. I have been qualified to represent you and Henry and Ten Villas in the investigation of the murder of Elena Consuela Soto Rodriguez. Because Sean is the technical owner of the villa you manage, he gets to be included as a party I represent,” Neil said, beaming.

“How did you manage this?” Sabrina asked. “Does this have anything to do with the fact that you’re reading a
book about the Uniform Commercial Code?” She hadn’t mentioned the book earlier because she didn’t want to appear overly curious on her first visit to Neil’s home.

“Um, no, that’s something else. This is how a court authorizes a lawyer from a different jurisdiction to enter an appearance as counsel in a case pending in its jurisdiction. David made a stop in St. Thomas on the way back from Puerto Rico so I could get it at the court house. I should have told Henry and Sean about it, but that meeting with Carmen was so intense I forgot.”

“So you’ll come with me tomorrow?” Sabrina asked, suddenly overcome by a wave of exhaustion combined with relief and the need to get out of her wet bathing suit.

“It depends. Do you think you can you come up with the retainer, Salty?” He just loved teasing her.

“And what kind of retainer are you expecting, counselor?” Sabrina asked, playing along.

“How about a grilled cheese sandwich and a Guinness at your place?”

Henry wasn’t as keen on solitude once he found himself alone. If he was honest, he had to admit he’d been disappointed when David had opted not to join everyone at his condo. Knowing David was likely at Gibney Beach Villas barely two miles away was making him restless. Having him on the same island was going to be nothing but temptation. What would Henry do if David decided to buy Larry’s plane and cottage from Cassie? And why should he be the one feeling uncomfortable? David should be wearing the hair shirt, not him.

He headed to Bar None for a bite to eat, fighting the impulse to take a right turn toward Gibney when he reached Cruz Bay. He forced himself to turn left. Normally, Henry refused to pay for parking in Cruz Bay, preferring to spend twenty minutes driving in circles until a free space opened up. But tonight was different. He was spent. He plucked five bucks from his wallet without a second thought.

He found an empty stool at the bar and ordered a Bar None painkiller, which he hoped would perform. The bar was noisy and full, mostly with tanned young people talking over the noise and music. Henry’s preference was to sit quietly and allow the din of the conversations to protect him from having to engage in them.

“Mind if I sit next to you?” a woman’s voice said from behind.

He wanted to say, “Yes, you dimwit, I do. Besides, can’t you tell, I’m gay.” Then he realized it was Heather Malzone who had approached him. Henry knew he had caused Ten Villas enough damage in the last several days, so he decided to begin rehabilitating himself.

“Heather, please join me. I was just about to order some crabmeat wontons. What would you like to drink?”

“I’ll have a double Patrón on the rocks with a slice of lime, please.”

“That bad of a day?” Henry asked after placing the order. Maybe she was rattled by Sabrina showing her the necklace.

“I suppose you know—we now have Elena’s mother with us up at Bella Vista?”

“If that’s a problem, I’m sure I can find her a spot through Julie Lasota at Virgin Villas. Ten Villas is full until Thursday.” Henry said, imagining how awkward life at Bella Vista might be.

“No, Paul is moving back to Villa Nirvana so Carmen can have his room. It’s just gotten so very weird. To be
honest, I wasn’t wild about Elena, but I never would have imagined she was living a double life. Sean is so torn apart, I can’t bear to watch it.” Heather took a hit of her drink and sighed. “God, I needed that.”

“Gavin’s back at Villa Nirvana, too. Do you know if Lisa’s returning?” Henry asked.

“I haven’t talked to Lisa, other than when the cops were there, since I watched part of
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
with her the night of the murder.”

The new bartender Henry hadn’t met yet slid the order of crabmeat wontons in front of them. They tucked into the appetizer without talking for a few minutes.

“These are incredible,” Heather said, signaling for another round of drinks. Henry decided he would have one more, but that was his limit. Besides, it looked like Heather might be needing a ride back to Bella Vista, so he thought he’d better be able to drive.

“I can’t imagine what it must have been like growing up with two brothers like Sean and Gavin,” Henry said. “Were they like most brothers, teasing you?”

“Oh no. It wasn’t like that at all. Gavin and Sean never did anything together. They were competitors. Gavin spent every other weekend with us making our lives hell. He would tell my mother and Jack these elaborate stories that had just enough truth in them that they would seem believable. They were always intended to get Sean and me in trouble. He would do mean stuff, like offer to take our new puppy for a walk, then let it off leash so it would get
lost and we would go crazy trying to find it. Gavin hated it that he had to share Jack with us and was determined to torture us.”

“Makes my life as an only child seem idyllic,” Henry said, laughing.

“The weekends when Gavin stayed home with Anneka were like vacations to us.”

“Did you have any clue Elena wasn’t the person she pretended to be?” Henry asked, changing the subject.

“Not really. At this point, I’m not sure what I believed when—” Heather was starting to slur her words.

“It sounds like you know more than you’re willing to say,” Henry suggested, not sure if he should just come out and ask her about the necklace she’d denied having in her pocket.

“Sometimes telling the truth, Henry, can be worse than telling a lie.”

“What do you mean?” Henry asked. He placed an order for a platter of Mix ’n Match Sliders and another drink for Heather. She didn’t protest.

“Let’s just say I’m happy Sean can have his memories, now that I don’t have to dispel them.”

“What about the necklace, Heather?”

“What necklace?” Heather asked, grabbing the last of the wontons.