Lemons 02 A Touch of Danger by Grant Fieldgrove Read Free Book Online Page A

to take?” She laughed then got back to business. I shot her half-ass, sarcastic smile.
    “Anyway,” she continued, “after his wife’s death he was linked to several well-known faces around Hollywood, but so far as I can tell, no one really has a bad thing to say about him. He spends time here at the beach just a few weeks out of the year, but contributes tons to local charities and such here.”
    “Well, that explains the police’s behavior.”
    “Yeah. And when he’s not at work, he is home with his adopted kids.”
    “Where are the kids now?”
    “I imagine he has a nanny or the housekeeper watches them. I really have no idea.”
    “Does he still own the house his wife was killed in?”
    “I think,” she replied. “It says here he spends his time there and here when he’s not working. So yeah, that leads me to believe that is still his primary residence.”
    “Hmm. Does it say the address?”
    “Nice try.”
    “Does it at least say the Housekeepers name in any of the articles?”
    “Actually, yes it does. Here. Inez Valenzuela.”
    “Well, I think we need to have a word with Inez Valenzuela.”
    “What makes you think ol’ Inez will be willing to speak to you, IF, and that’s a big if, you can even locate her. I’m sure she’s had more than her fair share of reporters trying to get at her over the years.”
    “Ah, well you see, a few months back, on that missing girl case, I learned a little trick. You offer the person at the door five dollars and they just invite you on in.”
    “Jesus.”
    10.
    The kids woke up shortly after our little discussion and it was time for me to make good on my bribe. We all got back in the car, except for poor Wrecker who was still too sore to move, and headed back in to Pismo. My promise was ice cream for dinner and I was happy to make good on it.
    After the kids were satisfied, Elise got a call from Jamie. Her and her daughter had arrived in town and we told them we would meet them back at the motel where she had already reserved a room.
    We stopped by a gas station, picked up a six-pack of bottled mojitos for the adults and some juice for the kids, and arrived at the motel to see Jamie and child sitting in the car outside our rooms. Elise ran over to them, gave Jamie a big hug, and thanked her again for making the trip. We left the kids and Wrecker in the room to watch cartoons and get ready for bed, I grabbed three chairs, and we adults sat right outside the front door, enjoying the clean, night air. While drinking our horrible mojitos, we filled Jamie in on the whole story. She seemed really excited to be a part of it, even if she was just the babysitter.
    We decided to retire to our rooms and call it a night, but right when I closed my door I ran back out and knocked on Elise’s.
    “What’d ya forget,” she asked.
    “Hold on. We need Jamie already.” I yelled out to her as she was reaching into her car to grab her suitcase. “Change of plans, James. We need ya already. She and Calen came walking back over to us, Jamie’s smile was wide and devilish.
    “What’s the plan?” she asked.
    “E and I need to get down to that beach. It is a long shot, but I’m pretty sure that asshole dropped that rock he used to kill her with when he bent over to drag her out into the ocean. If he saw me, maybe he got spooked, finished with the body then took off to go work on an alibi. We need that rock.”
    “Archie, it’s dark out. We will never find it, for one thing. And second, how the heck would we even get down there? And third, who is to say someone isn’t watching and waiting for you to come back?”
    “I don’t have an answer to any of those questions, so we’re just going to have to wing it. Do you still have that wind-up flashlight in your car that I got you for emergencies?”
    “Um, yeah, I think so. No.”
    “No?”
    “Yeah, sorry. I took it out, it was always rolling around and it was annoying.”
    Jamie spoke up and told us she had a light in