Chapter 26
The Minerva returned to dock just after seven p.m.
As Stone, Dino, Josie, and Commander Choi reached the end of the pier, Stone asked, “Can I interest anyone in dinner at Patroon’s?”
“I could eat,” Dino said.
“Me, too,” Josie said.
“Thank you for the offer, Mr. Barrington, but I need to get back,” Choi said. “With what we found out, I think we might be able to get permission for a salvage crew to bring up the Amanda Jae.”
“Next time, then,” Stone said.
Choi gave him a nod, said goodbye, then hurried off.
“She’ll make a good detective,” Stone said.
“You think I was kidding when I told her to call me?” Dino asked.
“I was just reinforcing the idea.”
They found Stone’s Bentley waiting for them when they reached the street.
“Patroon’s, Fred, if you don’t mind,” Stone said, after he, Josie, and Dino were settled in the car.
“Very good, sir,” Fred replied.
Twenty minutes later, they were seated at the restaurant, their orders placed.
“All right,” Josie said. “I’ve been holding this question in and am going to burst if I don’t ask.”
“Far be it from me to be the one who causes you injury,” Stone said. “Go ahead and ask.”
“Do you think one of Trenton Sidney’s heirs had him killed?”
“They would definitely have motive,” Dino said. “How many are there?”
“Four,” Stone said. “His three children and his alma mater.”
“My money’s on one of the kids,” Dino said.
“How were their relationships with him?” Josie asked.
“His daughter never met him,” Stone said.
“Could she have acted out of spite?”
“She didn’t know he was her dad until I told her last week. She hadn’t even heard of him before that.”
“Then I guess it couldn’t be her.”
“Unless she’s lying about not knowing, and had him killed,” Dino said.
“First, he didn’t abandon her,” Stone said. “Until a couple months ago, he didn’t know she existed, either. Second, and more importantly, she is a schoolteacher.”
“I’ve known plenty of spiteful schoolteachers.”
“Perhaps, but I find it very unlikely she could have afforded the kind of person who could pull off sinking a yacht.”
“Unless she offered to split her inheritance with him.”
“An inheritance she would have only known about if she talked to Trenton or me ahead of time. Which she hadn’t.”
Dino still didn’t look convinced.
“What about the other two?” Josie asked.
“Both sons. Ryan, the younger one, didn’t impress me as someone who wanted his father dead. His brother, Aaron, however, I’m not so sure.”
“He didn’t like his father?”
“I don’t know a thing about their relationship. What I do know is that in the previous version of Trenton’s will, Aaron was to inherit a much larger share of the estate and was not pleased to hear that was no longer the case.”
“Let me guess,” Dino said. “He didn’t know there was a new will.”
“Gold star,” Stone said.
“Did he know about the daughter?” Josie asked. “I mean, his sister.”
“Half sister, and not until I read the will.”
“How very dramatic.”
“Maybe you can work a scene like that into one of your movies,” Dino suggested.
“I’ll give it some thought,” Josie said with a smirk.
Drinks arrived and their dinner soon after.
Once they’d finished eating, dessert was offered, but they were all feeling the effects of the long day, so they politely declined.
They left in the Bentley, Fred dropping Dino off first.
When they reached Josie’s hotel, Stone said, “Thank you again for making today happen.”
“You’re welcome, though I’m wondering if doing so might have stirred up a hornet’s nest.”
“It was a nest that needed stirring.”
“You’ll let me know how it all plays out?”
“For a future movie?”
She grimaced. “Not the kind of films I usually make.”
“I’ll keep you posted.”
“Thanks.” She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Just so you know. I head back to L.A. on Friday.”
“Dinner on Thursday, then?”
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
She climbed out, gave him a wave, and disappeared into the hotel.
“Home, Mr. Barrington?” Fred asked.
“Please.”
Stone closed his eyes and, before the Bentley had pulled back onto the street, fell sound asleep.
Five hours later, and fifteen hundred miles to the south, a Zodiac Cadet tender left a fishing trawler just off the coast of Key West and headed toward Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park on the southwest end of island.
A hundred yards from shore, one of the four men on board cut the motor, and two others deployed oars to bring them in as silently as possible. Manny Lloyd, the leader of the group, was sure the area would be unoccupied at this hour, but people in his line of work could never be too cautious.
Once the boat was secured on shore, Manny and his men removed the black overalls they’d been wearing, revealing the leisure attire typically worn by those on the island.
Not typical were the weapons they carried under their shirts, and the extra gear in a duffel bag that one of his men carried over his shoulder.
Manny had arranged for an SUV to be waiting for them. They found a Jeep Cherokee parked where promised, its key fob on top of the right front tire.
They drove into town. Even in the early hour, there were still groups of people out and about, laughing and stumbling and in one case bent over double beside a parked car.
It didn’t take long to reach the street where Stone Barrington’s Key West house was located. The block was quiet, the houses dark and still.
“I don’t see any security,” one of the men said as they drove by Barrington’s place.
That didn’t surprise Manny.
Dame Felicity would want to keep as low a profile as possible. Obvious security would bring unwanted attention.
That did not mean there would be no security at all, however.
Manny parked the SUV a couple blocks away, then said, “Send it up.”
One of the men removed a small drone from the duffel and passed it and its controller to the man in the front passenger seat. That man then flew the aircraft out the window and into the night.
A minute later, he said, “Over the target,” then turned the controller so Manny could see the monitor.
The drone was high enough above Barrington’s property that Manny could see the entire lot. There were two separate buildings and a swimming pool, and except for some ground lighting, the place was completely dark.
“Thermal,” Manny said.
The man switched the camera to thermal imagining mode.
“Are you sure you got the right place?” Manny asked.
“Positive,” the man said.
Manny frowned.
Though the camera wasn’t top of the line so was spotty at best at seeing into buildings, its thermal imaging mode should have exposed anyone standing in the outside area between the buildings.
Only, there were no bright spots to indicate the presence of a person. Even if Felicity was keeping a low profile, she should have had security patrolling the property.
Either Dame Felicity was playing it so close to the vest that her guards were restricted to the inside of the buildings, or she wasn’t there at all. The idea that she would have no security at all was so ludicrous, Manny did not even consider it.
“Let’s check it out,” he said, then climbed out of the car.
They approached Barrington’s place via the property next door. Before going over the wall that separated the two, they checked the area via the drone again.
Not a soul in sight.
Manny nodded, and they scaled the wall one by one, then crouched and listened for movement.
All was quiet and still. In fact, to Manny, it was too still.
He made a hand gesture, and his men headed to the larger building’s nearest entrance.
His electronics expert used a handheld device to check for an alarm. One was detected, but shockingly, it was not armed.
Manny did not like that at all and almost gave the order to bug out. But after a moment’s hesitation, he motioned for the door to be opened.
Instead of splitting into smaller groups, like Manny had planned, he kept everyone together as they searched from room to room, their weapons ready.
All were empty.
The other building turned out to be a glorified master suite, but it, too, was unoccupied, with no sign that anyone was using the space.
It was clear that what Manny had suspected was true.
Dame Felicity was not staying there.