Chapter Twenty-One #2
Trey had known Mickey since they went to prep school together and he was all too familiar with the man’s inability to see the use in helping anybody in this life but himself.
And he had a string of ex-wives to prove it.
Still, he knew Mickey wasn’t hurting for money, so it was unlikely he’d cared about the reality show one way or another.
“So, the country club,” he said thoughtfully. “Haven’t they been bought out by an outfit in Miami?”
“Yeah, but back then it was still the Fontenot brothers.” Humor laced Bobby’s voice. “I remember they were madder than a couple of roosters locked in the same henhouse. But it wasn’t long after that they got the offer from Miami.”
“I guess that just leaves the Island View Inn and the Sand Dollar,” Trey said thoughtfully. “I can’t imagine Delia and Bridget O’Brien coming after Khaki over something like this.”
Delia O’Brien ran the Island View Inn, the only B&B on the island, which had been her pride and joy for the past twenty-odd years.
She ran the place with her younger and even more reserved sister, Bridget, and the two had been favorites at the holidays because they always gave out the best candy at Halloween and made the most delicious Christmas cookies on the island.
They certainly weren’t the sort anyone would suspect of trying to strong-arm anyone into falling in with their business plans.
“Yeah, I got the feeling those two weren’t all that into the reality show people either. Besides, I think the B&B was one of the only places on island that could give the short-termers a run for their money.”
“That just leaves the Sand Dollar.” Trey had always thought Frank Barbier, the mayor, was an okay guy.
And his business seemed to be doing well since he started getting a good bit of business from folks who flocked to the bird sanctuary.
It seemed like they were having some kind of festival or migration celebration every other weekend these days.
But when he mentioned this to Bobby, his friend snorted.
“That’s all at a deep discount, my friend.
He’s barely breaking even. And he was livid when Khaki refused to even listen to Louise’s pitch.
I’ve never seen him madder before or since.
But for a while there, I thought he might do Khaki actual harm. ”
Trey was caught up short. “What do you mean Louise’s pitch? What does Frank’s girlfriend have to do with it?”
“Oh,” Bobby sounded apologetic. “I guess you wouldn’t have known about that since you weren’t here.
Louise was the producer for the ghost reality show.
Somehow, she and Frank got involved while she was here and they’ve been together ever since.
But I thought since she lived here full time now that she was done with the producing work. ”
Trey felt sick. “So Frank was angry with Khaki because he was missing out on the money he needed, and on top of that, he was sleeping with the producer of the show. Do I have that right?”
“Pretty much. I mean, you weren’t the only one around here who was done dirty in a divorce.
” Bobby’s tone wasn’t unkind, but he’d never had trouble letting Trey know when his privilege was showing.
“The difference between you and Frank is that you had family money to fall back on. Frank had the motel and even that is mortgaged to the hilt. He’s been trying to get some of the other island business owners to change their minds now that Khaki is out of the way.
I mean, he knows Callie has to stay here for a year at least, but he keeps saying he’s got a plan. ”
Did that plan involve threatening Callie until she decided even a million dollars wasn’t worth the frights and threats she’d been receiving since her arrival on the island? “Man, didn’t you think this might be helpful for me to know?” Trey asked his oldest friend in frustration.
“I’m sorry, man,” Bobby said apologetically. “I really thought you knew. But now it makes a lot more sense why somebody—I guess Frank—was so interested in getting you and Callie out of there. He was trying to get his girlfriend to restart the negotiations for the reality show again.”
“I need to find Callie and then I need to talk to Frank.” Trey didn’t have time to wait around jabbing. If Frank saw Callie as the obstacle in the way of his money grab, then he must be getting desperate.
But before Trey could hang up, Bobby stopped him. “What do you mean you need to find Callie? She should be home by now.”
Trey felt a stab of alarm in his gut. “Yeah, I know. She left the public library almost an hour ago before it started storming.”
“Yeah, and Tricia just walked in from the shop and when she heard I was talking to you, she wanted to know if Callie had made it home okay. She said she saw her loading her bike into a truck and assumed she was going to catch a ride.”
Blowing out a breath, Trey sagged in relief. “Thank God. She isn’t back yet, so I was starting to worry. She must be riding out the storm somewhere.”
“No. Trey.” Bobby’s usual easygoing manner had been replaced with alarm. “You don’t understand. She was catching a ride from Frank Barbier.”