Carolyn Arnold - McKinley 02 - Vacation is Murder (5 page)

Fine Dining

BY SEVEN, THEY WERE AT a fine restaurant where the servers were dressed in black and white. Here, people either had to make a reservation or flash some bills in front of the maître d’, and, due to their impulsive decision to dine there, they had utilized the latter method.

“When I said a nice dinner, it didn’t have to be this luxurious,” Sean said.

Catherine lowered her wine glass. “Nonsense. You bought those tickets for us without a second thought.”

“I wish I had known exactly what you had in mind. I would have dressed up more.” Sara toyed with the diamond bracelet on her wrist.

Sean took her hand and savored her appearance. She wore a black, sleeveless evening gown and her hair was down, soft curls tracing her shoulders. Diamonds adorned her neckline and twinkled in the candlelight. “You are breathtaking, darling.”

“Breathtaking? Sean, you have to say that.”

He made exaggerated movements, looking left, right, and behind him. “Nope, I don’t see a gun pointed at my head.”

“Now, don’t tell me you miss
that
.” They had agreed to keep their history as private as possible, but Sara’s words, in reference to their past day jobs, must have slipped out.

“Why would you miss a gun to your head?” Earl asked.

Catherine leaned on the table, her fingers around the stem of her wine glass. “You’ve never told us what you do back in New York.”

“Albany,” Sara corrected.

Sean pressed his knee against Sara’s leg. By letting strangers know your city, you might as well hand over the GPS coordinates to your front door. While Sean tolerated Earl Spencer, he wouldn’t want him hunting them down at home.

“She’s just talking silly,” Sean said. “Teasing me.”

A touch of reddish hue kissed Sara’s cheeks.

He felt bad for embarrassing her and squeezed her hand as he addressed the Spencers. “She didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Yeah, I was just being silly.” She took a sip of wine.

Three weeks in and this could be their first argument. Sean felt to blame for it. “We were under a lot of pressure at our jobs.” Sean looked over at Sara.

She smiled at him, but squashed the expression with another sip of wine.

“So, you worked together?” Catherine asked.

“Yes. It’s how we got to know each other.” Sean didn’t think disclosing that information did any harm.

“Oh. But you didn’t meet there?”

“Nope. May I share the story, Sean?” Sara turned, slowly, to face him.

He gestured to give her the go ahead.

“We met in a park.”

“In a park.”

“Yes, and it’s the same place Sean proposed to me.” Sara glanced over, the recollection and the wine lighting the flecks of gold in her brown eyes.

Sean listened as Sara recalled their story, leaving out the parts about the inheritance and how they had spent two platonic years working side by side.

As the evening went on, the Spencers were starting to know them too well for Sean’s liking, but Sara was probably right, what damage did it do?

The meals were gourmet, and loaded with calories, but after all the day’s activities, none of them needed to be concerned. They grazed on food into the evening.

“It’s such a beautiful night. How about a walk along the beach?” Sara made the suggestion, including the Spencers with her invitation.

“I don’t know, it’s getting late. Cathy?” Earl made a point of tapping his watch face and then addressed Sean. “With the two-hour time change and all this activity, us old folks are ready to call it a night about eight. We’re already past that.”

“Earl, how often are you in Cancun?” Sara angled her head.

No man on the planet could resist that move.

Earl glanced at his wife and then back to Sara. “I suppose it would help work off dinner.”

Sara clapped quietly. “Excellent.”

“Do you really think you should, with all those gems around your neck? They are stunningly beautiful.” Catherine reached out and pinched a few stones, but with her clumsy effort, she was shuffling her feet for balance. It was apparent she was relaxed by the alcohol and in the state of loving the world.

Earl, on the other hand, was firmly intoxicated. While Sara and Sean had stopped drinking after the first glass, the Spencers had kept the liberal refills coming.

Sean placed his hand on the small of Sara’s back, guiding her out of the restaurant. “How about a quick walk around the resort grounds?” Sean started the negotiation.

“Darling, that sounds wonderful.” She turned to the Spencers. “Thank you again for a lovely meal.”

“Don’t mention it. All is fair now,” Catherine said.

Earl grumbled something, but it wasn’t discernible.

Catherine took up position beside Sara again, whisking her away as both women walked at a faster pace than the men.

Sean should have thought of an excuse to not go for a walk, but Sara had suggested it and he wanted to please his bride.

“She is a remarkable woman, Mr. McKinley.” Earl slurred his words.

“Sean is fine, please.”

“Yeah? You seem so proper for a younger man.”

“Manners are never outdated.”

“Ah, how right you are.”

“Like my wife said, thank you for dinner.”

“You don’t know how to accept things, do you?”

Sean’s pace slowed. “What do you mean?”

“Just that. You’ve both had it good your whole lives. I can tell.” He flashed a goofy, drunken smile. “Your whole story about day jobs? Good cover so you appeal to the masses.”

“It isn’t a cover story.”

“Sure it’s not. She slips into an evening gown like she was born in one. Look at you. Even you shine like a million bucks.”

“Catherine is a beautiful woman too. And you…well.”

“Ha! Save your breath about me. She makes me look good. She’s why people tolerate us.”

Earl continued speaking, not sensing that Sean was trying to communicate he should stop before he said something he’d regret. Maybe it was time for Sean and Sara to move on from Cancun, leave the Spencers behind and travel somewhere else. Since Sara had chosen Mexico, he would pick the next destination, and he was leaning toward Europe.

“Cathy and I are broke.”

Earl stopped walking and so did Sean.

“What do you mean? Your business?”

“I mean what I said. She doesn’t know. God, it would break her heart if she did. She loves the finer things. I’m worth more dead than I am alive.”

“I’m sure that’s not true. She loves you, Earl, even though you would drive me nuts.” How large was the resort property? It was starting to feel expansive.

He looked at Sean out of the corner of his eye. “I know you said that to cheer me up, but I sense I do drive you nuts.”

“Don’t be silly. You’re just reserved, and you have every right to be. Before this week you didn’t even know we existed.”

“But now I do and I don’t think life will be the same.”

“I’m not following.” The cop instinct was buzzing with a life-force of its own. Adrenaline chewed Sean’s insides, infusing a tingling sensation in his earlobes and a burning heat in his solar plexus.

“There are things a man does that can get him into trouble.”

If Earl had been confessing this to Sara, she would have been painting him a rose-colored future, but Sean didn’t possess the ability to dab white on black and declare the resulting gray as pure.

“We all do stupid things, but we can turn them around. Most of the time.”

“There was another woman.”

Sean’s mind went to the redhead with the large white hat. “She’s here and Catherine has no idea?”

“If she knew about the affair, she’d divorce me, and I’d be poorer than dirt—if that’s possible.”

“I can pay you back for dinner.” Sean reached into a pocket and pulled out a wad of bills.

Earl put his hand over Sean’s as the women turned around and smiled.

“You guys sure are moving slow,” Catherine yelled back.

“We’re just enjoying the view,” Sean said.

“He is so ador—” Catherine turned forward again, the rest of her words lost to the rush of the sea lapping against the shore.

“I don’t even know why I told you this,” Earl continued. “She wants something from me and I can’t give it to her.”

“Money?”

“Yes.” The
s
trailed and came out as a hissing noise.  “But I don’t have it. She’s going to ruin my marriage.”

Sean didn’t have the heart to say that Earl had already done that. “Your secret is safe with me.” He paused, debating whether to ask the next question, wondering if it stemmed from his lack of excitement in the professional arena these days, but he sensed there was more that Earl wasn’t saying. “Do you think you’re in danger?”

Earl slowed his pace. He didn’t say anything.

“Did she follow you here without your knowledge or did you invite her?”

“No, I didn’t do that.”

“Which one?”

“You really think I’d invite her?”

“She has to be pretty serious to follow you all the way down here.”

“You’re starting to make me nervous. I honestly don’t know why she’d come all the way here.”

Catherine and Sara were waiting under the overhang for the two men to catch up.

“How about a nightcap?” Catherine asked.

Disillusioned

SHE WATCHED THEM FROM THE corner of the lobby and sipped her glass of wine.

It was about ten when they came through. His wife was walking with a lean to the left, her cheeks reddened from alcohol, but now she sat with him, drinking more, tossing her head back in laughter to something he had said.

She had to look away. It was bad enough she had followed the urge to go after him earlier today. What had she been thinking? The boat ride over had made her sick, and by the time her stomach had finally stopped tossing, it was time for the return trip.

She could tell she had spooked Earl when she’d lost her hat at his feet that morning. And when they caught each other’s glance on the island, she thought he went a shade of green—the same one she had attained from the turmoil on the pitchy water.

On the island, Earl had been standing with a younger, handsome man and it was apparent he belonged with the other woman in the group. She got a better glance at her tonight as she waltzed through the lobby on his arm. The diamonds the woman wore likely cost more than she’d ever see in a lifetime. A woman like that didn’t wear costume jewelry, even on the streets of Cancun.

The waiter took her empty glass. “Another?”

“No, thank you.”

She needed to keep her mind clear for the next step. She was ready for this. She had primped herself in front of the mirror for hours while they ate their dinner.

Her shoulder-length red hair was pulled back into a soft bun and she wore a fitted purple evening gown that hugged her slight curves perfectly. Earl had always complimented her when she wore that color.

It was time to act.

She stood, faltering on the four-inch heels.

The waiter came back and placed a white wine on the table in front of her.

“I didn’t order this,” she said.

He smiled and jutted his head in the direction of the bar.

Her stomach lurched when she saw the man who sent her the drink. Her fear was confirmed and her prayer had gone unanswered.