"It's a date," I said in an optimistic voice.
Catalina ended the call, and I slipped the phone back into my pocket with a grin on my face. Catalina was a good-looking woman. There was no denying it. Jumping out of a perfectly good airplane and hurtling toward Earth with her didn't sound like a terrible idea.
I gave Jack an update.
"Be careful with that one. She looks like trouble."
Catalina most certainly looked like the good kind of trouble. Wealthy, adventurous, breathtakingly gorgeous—what was there not to love?
We hopped into the Porsche and headed back to the marina at Diver Down. JD and I took a seat at the bar and chatted with Teagan. She’d seen the chaos at the mall on the news and had plenty of questions. We still didn’t have many answers, but I caught her up to speed.
“I can’t seem to connect the two crimes,” I said. “Dustin said he doesn’t know anyone named Evelyn Ellington.”
“Somebody could be lying to you,” she said.
“At this point, I expect it.”
After we ate, JD and I walked back to theAvventura. He urged me to call Harvey, and I did. He answered after a few rings.
“Harvey, Tyson Wild. I’m here with Jack Donovan. You’re on speaker. How are you?”
“I’ve been worse.” Harvey had a gravelly voice and didn’t seem too enthused about anything at the moment.
“Is this a good time to talk?”
“Depends what we’re talking about.”
I chuckled. “I hear you’re thinking about selling Sonic Temple.”
“Not much to sell at this point. But it is a prime location.”
“Indeed, and it deserves a full restoration.”
"I suppose you think you're going to be the one to restore it?"
"The thought had crossed my mind.”
"It's important to me that the legacy lives on. I don't want it to become condos or a fast-food restaurant. It's been a staple of this island for a long time. I just don't know if I've got it in me to go through the construction phase, deal with all the contractors, the permits, the headaches. It's not like it was when I first built it. Now everybody's got their hand out.”
"It's a lot of work," I said.
"Tell me what your plan for it would be.”
"It was a great venue. The best on the island. JD and I want to make it bigger and better and continue what you've built.” I detailed some of our plans.
Jack went into his spiel.
Harvey seemed somewhat impressed. "I'm not gonna lie. I like where you're going with this. I know how much you two careabout the island and the music. I can't think of better stewards to take it on. But that venue was a part of me. I'm not entirely sure I want to let it go. And then there is the matter of price. It is a valuable piece of land, and the goodwill and history are priceless."
"I have no doubt we could come to an agreement that would be hard to say no to."
"That's what I like to hear.” He exhaled a breath. "There's no particular rush to start rebuilding, but I am paying property tax on a piece of land that's not making money.”
"The sooner we can break ground on new construction, the better.” I paused. "But take some time and think about it. Put together some numbers you would feel comfortable with, and we’ll touch base again in a few weeks.”
"I’ll do that. Thanks for the call.”
“See you, Harvey,” Jack said.
