Page 29 of Mother-Daughter Murder Night

Ramirez swallowed a snort. Nicoletti’s voice broke the spell. “Do you have contact information for this Tatiana?” he demanded.

Paul blinked and turned toward the older man. “I . . . uh, it was just a onetime deal.”

Nicoletti insisted. “Last name?”

Paul shook his head.

“She had a boat docked at the marina?”

“A seventy-footer. She was anchored out in the ocean, over by the old fuel dock they decommissioned last year.”

Ramirez grimaced. “Shit.”

Nicoletti looked at her.

“They don’t require registration for boats that drop anchor out there.”

Nicoletti turned back to Paul. “Did anyone see you with this Tatiana?”

“Sorry, man. It was just us, the dolphins, and the deep blue forever.”

Paul’s unkempt hair flopped over one eye. He struck Lana as a man-child, someone who could flash hot or cold but preferred to spend his time floating in a warm bath. What kind of secrets could he be hiding?

Before she had enough time to seriously contemplate the possibilities, the detectives ended their interview. They’d extracted a promise from Paul that he’d stay in the area, that he wouldn’t go out on any more strange boats with strange women without at least getting their phone number, and that he’d stop handing out old life jackets like candy. They told him he was cleared to reopen for business that Sunday, as long as he agreed to let Detective Ramirez come that day to observe the Kayak Shack in action.

Ramirez looked less than thrilled when her partner volunteered her for this assignment. She eyed the boats hanging overhead, patting her tight bun as if the wind had already started wreaking havoc on her hair.

“What if you accompany Jacqueline on her tours on Sunday?” Lana suggested. She curled a strand of wig behind her ear. “She’s Paul’s best guide. You’ll see how safe she is, how responsible. And I’m sure she’d feel more comfortable with an officer like you in her boat.”

“If you want, I can hook you up with a sweet discount on a new wet suit,” Paul said, motioning to a rack of hot-pink neoprene.

Ramirez pulled her blazer tight around her waist. “I’m good, thank you. See you Sunday.”

The detectives extracted themselves from their camping chairs, Nicoletti leaving his flipped on its side like a wounded animal.

“Wait,” Lana said, when they got to the door. “I’m sorry to impose, but could you give me a ride home?”

Everyone looked at her, the detectives in surprise, Paul in cool assessment.

“Only if you’re leaving now; I thought it might be easier for everyone.” Lana turned to Paul. “I’m sure you have work to do.” He nodded, saying nothing.

Ramirez gave her jacket a tug. “Fine. But no more questions about the case.”

“Of course.” All Lana wanted was a safe place to think about what had happened. And getting into Paul’s car alone no longer felt like the best option.

Chapter Sixteen

“WHERE WERE YOU?”

Lana walked in exhausted from the ordeal with Paul and the cops, ready to yank off her wig and flop into bed like a dead fish. Instead, she was accosted by a raging woman with a grocery bag who bore an uncanny resemblance to her daughter.

But it couldn’t be Beth. Her daughter was like a hermit crab: able to defend herself if provoked, but lacking a killer instinct. Lana ticked through her mental Rolodex of past fights—the big ones—full of operatic shouts, thrown chairs, and door-slamming accusations. Plenty started by her ex-husband. A few launched by fiery boyfriends and business associates. None by Beth.

“Ma? Where have you been?” Beth repeated.

Lana smiled lazily and kicked off her heels. “I’m not your daughter.”

Beth banged a case of Diet Coke down onto the counter. “I know that. My daughter is out on the back porch, doing her chemistry homework. My daughter came home from school on time. And when my daughter noticed you weren’t here, weren’t answering your phone, she called me. And I raced home early from work to find that my mother with cancer was indeed missing. So I went to get groceries and look for you in ditches along the road while my daughter waited here, wondering what the heck had happened to her grandma.”