Chapter 6
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Chelsea said. “It’s just a sexual thing.”
I wasn’t expecting her to be so blunt. “Maybe it’s more than that for him.”
She considered it, then smirked. “I am lovable.”
You wouldn’t have to look long at that face to fall under her spell.
“If you’re thinking Elijah had some involvement, you’re on the wrong track. He was here with me until the deputies arrived.” Her brow knitted with confusion. “But you already know who shot my husband. There were a hundred witnesses.”
“A pretty foolproof alibi,” I said. “But Benjamin claims the ammunition was swapped.”
“I’d claim a lot of things, if I were in his shoes,” she said, full of doubt.
"I'll need contact information for your lover." I dug in my pocket and handed her a card. I was sure the two would back each other up. "Has Elijah ever been aboard the Mystic Voyager?”
"I don't know. You’d have to ask him.”
"Can you think of anybody who may have wanted to harm your husband besides Benjamin?"
She shrugged, then said in a sarcastic voice, "I don't know. Why don’t you talk to that woman's husband? Maybe he doesn't like his wife fooling around."
“He won’t talk to us."
She lifted a suspicious eyebrow. “Well, there’s your suspect.”
“He’s high on the list,” I said.
“I am too, I suppose.” Chelsea looked me dead in the eye. “I'm now a very wealthy woman, and my problematic husband is gone. But I can assure you, I didn't arrange to have him killed.”
"What’s your relationship like with Benjamin?"
She gave me a look. "I met him a few times at rehearsal and at the show.” She paused, then added. "You're not going to suggest there's something going on between Benjamin and me, are you?"
I smiled. “I like to keep my mind open to all possibilities."
"I'm not going to tell you how to do your job, but that's not a possibility worth considering."
“When was the last time you went to see Jonathan’s show?”
“Opening night. That was a few weeks ago. They usually run the same show for a month or two, changing up the guilty party to keep it interesting.”
"What kind of work did your husband do?"
"Well, before he retired, he bounced around the tech and aerospace industry."
"Can you be a little more specific?”
"To tell you the truth, I don't really know what he did. It was way over my head. Propulsion systems, that kind of thing.”
"For rockets?"
"He wasn't at liberty to say. Signed non-disclosure agreements. But I think rockets, missiles, drones."
I shared a look with Jack, then said to her, "Tell me about Jonathan's close friends. People he might have confided in.”
"You should talk to Greg. Really nice guy. They’ve been friends since junior high, I think.”
" Does he live here on the island?”
"Yeah. I got his number, if you want it.”
"That would be helpful.”
She texted me the contact information for Elijah and Greg.
I thanked her for the information, offered our condolences once again, then said our goodbyes.
JD and I walked back to the Porsche.
It was getting late. We headed back to Diver Down. I figured we'd catch up with Greg in the morning.
"Think she's involved?" JD asked.
I shrugged. "Maybe she was having an affair with Benjamin just to get him to off her husband.”
I'm sure Chelsea could whisper in a man's ear in a way that murder wouldn't sound like such a bad idea.
By the time we took a seat at the bar in Diver Down, Teagan had our drinks poured and waiting for us. The teal-eyed beauty was always a delight. "Rough evening?"
"A curious evening," I replied, then filled her in on the incident.
She lifted a surprised brow. "That's kind of crazy.”
"What do you think? Was it an accident, or cold-blooded murder?"
Teagan always had good intuition, though she never really liked to use her supposed psychic ability. She always felt like it was inviting bad mojo. Nothing’s free.
“Sorry,” I said. “After your last experience, I shouldn’t ask questions like that.”
“No. It’s okay. It’s part of who I am. I need to accept that.” To my surprise, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and thought about it. Her face tensed, and she struggled. After a beat, she said, "Sorry. I got nothing." She shrugged. "It comes, and it goes.”
"Well, it was worth a shot," I replied. "If anything comes to mind, let me know."
"You'll be the first to know."
"How are you holding up?” Her recent voyage was quite the adventure.
She smiled. "I’m great. It's all good."
JD and I sipped a few drinks and shot the breeze with Teagan before heading back to the boat and retiring for the evening. I took Buddy out for a quick walk. The little Jack Russell was eager to stretch his legs.
Afterward, I crawled into bed and drifted off to dreamland. My subconscious tried to put all the pieces together. It just came out as a jumbled mess that didn’t make any sense.
I woke with the sunrise. Amber shafts of light seeped through cracks in the blinds. I pulled myself out of bed, showered, brushed my teeth, got dressed, and headed down to the galley to fix breakfast.
Bacon sizzled in the pan, and I cracked fresh eggs. Coffee brewed, filling the galley with a delightful aroma.
Jack stumbled out of his stateroom with tousled hair, just in time to dish up a plate. We ate on the sky deck and took in the morning sun while it was still cool. JD and I filled our bellies, kicking around theories.
Afterward, we collected ourselves, left the boat, and hustled to the parking lot. We hopped into the Porsche and set out to find Greg Russell.