No Place for Vengeance Read online

  “I never said I was, either,” whispered Olivia.

  “But you think you are, don’t you?” Frank replied. “You think you’re better and smarter than all of us down here.”

  “No, I don’t,” Olivia tried to reply, but to her horror, Frank swiftly got up from the stool and in the flash of a second fled the restaurant. He flew out onto the deck, down the stairs, across the sand, and, before she knew it, was gone from sight.

  Stunned, Olivia sat still a moment and stared. What had frightened him so? Where was he headed now? Olivia immediately took out her phone and called the police station.

  Thankfully, Mike picked right up.

  “Frank just ran away in the middle of an interview,” she breathed.

  “The guide on Amanda’s tour?” Mike sounded shaken.

  “That’s right. He’s definitely hiding something, or something about this has scared him to death. You’ve got to find out more.”

  “We’ll pick him up right away.” Mike was all over it.

  “Have you spoken to him yet?” Olivia was shaken as well.

  “Yeah, we have, just briefly,” Mike said. “But his running away like this is something else.”

  “Take him in for questioning right away,” Olivia urged.

  “Don’t worry, we will,” Mike replied.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Olivia finished her coffee and left the Blue Marlin to make her way to the police station. Key Largo was small enough that they should be able to find Frank and take him in no time. As she got into a taxi, her phone rang. Weston was on the other end, confirming it.

  “Good work,” Weston said the moment Olivia picked up. “We’ve got Frank in custody and are bringing him in right now. Come on down to the station and join us for the grilling.”

  Olivia was grateful to be included. “I’m on my way,” she said “Thanks for letting me know.”

  “You’re doing a terrific job, Olivia,” Weston replied in a gruff tone. “And at least we’re working on dry land now, not in that lousy swamp.”

  *

  Olivia sat in the interrogation room with a few others waiting for the police to arrive with Frank. When they finally walked in Frank looked hot, sweaty, and frazzled. The minute he saw Olivia, he threw her a vicious glance.

  “She’s the reason I’m here, isn’t she?” he burst out. “I knew no good would come from talking to her.”

  “Sit down and be quiet.” A cop standing beside him pushed him down into the chair.

  “I didn’t do anything to anyone,” Frank insisted. “You got no proof, you got nothing.”

  “This is just a regular interrogation,” Mike quickly intervened.

  “You got me once on a lousy case of shoplifting,” Frank continued, “but that was it. It came to nothing. You let me go.”

  “That’s not why you’re here now,” Mike stopped him.

  “No, that’s right. I’m here because of her!” Frank pointed at Olivia furiously.

  “You’re here because you were one of the last ones to see Amanda alive,” Weston swiftly interrupted, as Tommy, another officer, entered the room.

  Tommy walked straight up to Frank. He seemed to know him.

  “I talked to you about this before,” Frank said loudly. “I told you everything I know.”

  “Yes, you did,” Tommy tried to reassure him. “Just answer the questions they’ve got for you now and you’ll be fine.”

  “They’re trying to lock me up.” Frank’s voice became shrill.

  “No, they’re not. They just have questions for you.” Tommy spoke in a soothing tone.

  “Okay,” Frank sat up straighter and stared at the police. “Go ahead, ask me!”

  Olivia watched in fascination. Frank was a loose wire, if ever she saw one. Of course it was possible that he was this anxious just because police were around. In and of itself, his volatility didn’t mean he was guilty, Olivia reminded herself.

  “Why’d you run away from Olivia in the middle of an interview?” Tommy started.

  Frank didn’t blink an eye. “Because I didn’t like her. She irritated me. I was in my rights to get away.”

  “Did Amanda also irritate you?” Weston stood up and joined in.

  Frank seemed surprised by the question. “Not at all. There’s no comparison between them. Amanda was nice, she was pretty. Olivia’s a shrew. She’s mean as they come.”

  Olivia blanched, wondering what the police officers would think about her now. What in the world had she had done to make Frank feel that way? She had no idea.

  “Why was Olivia mean? Because she kept asking you questions?” Weston got into it with him.

  “That’s right!” Frank replied. “She shot one question at me after another. Wouldn’t cut it out.”

  “That’s her job,” Mike informed him. “Olivia’s not here to win a popularity contest.”

  “Well, I didn’t like it,” Frank retorted. “Women like that get under my skin.”

  “Did Amanda also didn’t get under your skin?” Mike spoke forcefully now.

  “Not at all. Why should she?” Frank looked confused.

  “You told Olivia that Amanda was talking to a nice-looking guy on the tour, Denton.” Mike pursued it.

  “So, Olivia told you everything I said?” Frank bared his teeth. “You’re telling me she’s also a snitch?”

  “She’s a terrific detective, that’s what she is,” Weston snapped at him.

  “Of course she told us what you said. That’s her job, isn’t it?” Mike added.

  “Yeah, so what?” Frank looked bewildered. “Let her talk to whoever the hell she wants to. Just not me.”

  “You’re sure you weren’t jealous of Amanda and Denton?” Mike continued.

  Frank suddenly guffawed. “Me, jealous? Of what?”

  “You got someone in your life for yourself, Frank?” Mike was turning up the heat.

  “I sure do,” Frank snapped, “I got all I want. The girls like me.”

  “But do you like them? That’s the question, isn’t it?” Mike snapped back.

  “I like them just fine if they do what I want.” Frank suddenly came to life.

  “And if they don’t?” Weston burst in.

  Frank guffawed again. “That’s my business.”

  Olivia was disturbed by the line of questioning, but found it interesting at the same time. They were trying to get at any underlying motive Frank could have had, for seeing to it that Amanda hadn’t returned from the swamp.

  “Tell us more about Amanda.” Tommy stepped in then.

  “There’s nothing else to tell,” Frank uttered. “I told you all I know already. She was a passenger on that lousy tour. She hung out with Denton. When it was time for a break, she wanted to go out alone on the trails.”

  “You’ve seen passengers do that before?” Tommy asked. “Do people get off the boat during the breaks?”

  “As a matter of fact, no! I haven’t seen it myself,” Frank retorted. “But so what?”

  The officers all suddenly looked at each other at the same moment. Every question brought them to a dead end. Where were they going with this, anyway?

  But suddenly, Frank continued himself, unruffled, “After Amanda didn’t come back, I put in a call into the cops right away. Where’s the crime in that?”

  “None at all that I can see,” Tommy reassured him again. “So, why did you really run away from Olivia while you were talking? Tell us that and it will go better for you.”

  “You’re sure?” asked Frank.

  “Positive,” said Tommy.

  Frank cringed. “Listen, my little lady isn’t happy catching me talking to other gals alone. That’s who she is! And she can be a tiger about it, if you know what I mean. She also happens to work right near the Blue Marlin. It suddenly hit me that for all I knew she was out for her morning stroll. The last thing I needed was to have her spot me sitting there, talking to Olivia. I’d have hell to pay then.”

  Tommy wrinkled his brow. “You’re telling me now that you didn’t want your girlfriend to find you and Olivia together alone? That’s why you ran away?”

  “Something like that.” Frank seemed to feel better.

  “But you told us a different story a minute ago. You said you ran away because you couldn’t stand Olivia,” Tommy went on.

  Frank made a sour face. “That too,” he replied. “Lots of things were working on me at the same time. I’ve had enough aggravation with this situation to last me. I don’t need my girlfriend upset with me too.”

  “Okay. So, tell us what you think happened to Amanda. Just for the record,” Mike broke in.

  “How the hell do I know?” Frank repeated.

  “What’s your guess?”

  “My guess is the gators got her.” Frank’s voice lowered. “Look, people come down to the glades at their own risk. Some like tormenting the animals, they think they’re better than them. But you know what I’ve learned after all these years here? No one’s smarter than the animals! In fact, the alligators and crocs are much smarter than us.”

  Olivia shivered, shaken by Frank’s vehemence.

  “Lots of people don’t even see the danger down here.” Frank was on a roll. “They think the gators and crocs are toys or playthings. If they go too far, these folks can find out different pretty fast. So, that’s what I think happened.”

  “Anything else?” Tommy joined in now.

  “No,” said Frank. “Except maybe Amanda ran into one of the guys on the trail.”

  “Doubtful.” Tommy shook his head.

  “What guys?” asked Olivia, alert and distressed.

  Frank turned to straight to Olivia. “There’s loonies that sometimes drift around the swamp. Some of them are much worse than the gators. They’re rotten sex addicts too.” Frank seemed to be enjoying taunting her.

  Stunned, Olivia looked at Weston for more information. Weston just shrugged and made light of it, though.

  “Yes, of course, we get our fair share of perverts in these parts,” he said, “but there’s absolutely no reason to think one of them was out there in the swamps. It doesn’t make sense. They very, very rarely go there. Why would they? There’s no reason to dwell on that idea at all. It’s a detour if I ever saw one.”

  Frank waved his hand back and forth, taunting the police now. “Sure, don’t tell anyone about those fellas, it’s not good for business, is it? Or anything else, is it?”

  Mike and Tommy grimaced then at the same moment.

  “Okay, you listen to me, Frank,” Mike said then. “I have nothing here to hold you, but I’m letting you know you’re still part of this investigation anyway.”

  Frank bristled. “Why the hell am I? Because I was guide on her boat for a few hours?”

  “Because we need any lead we can get. Go home and think about it carefully. Think hard! Remember whatever you can remember and bring it to us as soon as possible!” Mike added.

  “I told you everything I know.” Frank looked around the room, agitated, as if hunting for a way to get out. “Don’t put your lousy problems on my shoulders. I got enough of my own. And whatever you do, don’t sit around waiting for me to solve the mystery! That’s up to you.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  There was no way they could hold Frank and the cops let him go. “He’s not guilty of anything but being a nervous wreck,” Tommy was the first to comment.

  “He’s nervous for a reason, though, isn’t he?” Mike joined in.

  “Frank’s always nervous,” Tommy said. “What do we have on him though? Nothing.”

  “He lied to us,” Weston commented. “First he said he ran away because of Olivia, then he changed his story to blaming his girlfriend.”

  “That’s not a lie,” Tommy objected. “He told only half the truth in the beginning. More came out later.”

  “Then he switched again and tried to blame it on a few of the pervs that drift around,” Weston added. “He was obviously grasping at straws.”

  “He also told me to meet him at the Blue Marlin,” Olivia chimed in. “If his girlfriend was close by and he didn’t want her to see us, why did he choose that spot?”

  A short moment of silence fell upon them all.

  “Good point,” Tommy had to agree. “Frank probably chose the Blue Marlin because he works close by. As I recall he helps on the diving boats. Most likely he couldn’t take more time away right now.”

  Olivia still felt jarred by the entire encounter. “Frank’s a loose wire if I ever saw one,” she commented.

  “He has no record of ever hurting anybody.” Tommy seemed dead set on protecting him. But Olivia did feel better to hear that.

  “It’s good we brought him in,” Mike seemed to be winding up the meeting. “What about this Denton guy, who Amanda was on the tour with? Anybody talk to him?”

  “I spoke to him at length,” Weston informed them. “He’s a nice guy, smart and interesting. Frank was right, he’s a filmmaker. Denton came down from Washington to scout locations for a film he’s making on sudden death.”

  “Sudden death?” Olivia exclaimed.

  “Really?” Mike also found that troubling. “Well, he got more than he bargained for, didn’t he? He got a real life story.”

  “Yeah, and he seemed pretty shook up about it,” Weston continued. “He kept saying he couldn’t believe what happened. Amanda was such a fun person, so beautiful and alive.”

  “What else did he say?” Mike was all over it now.

  “He said she was interesting to talk to and enjoying the tour thoroughly. She was upset when the boat stopped where it did and wasn’t going any further. She was intrigued by what lay just a little ahead.”

  “I heard she was hoping to see a Nile croc,” said Olivia.

  “Yes, that’s right,” Weston continued. “Denton mentioned that. But he said that mostly Olivia kept repeating that she didn’t want to miss even one thing that was out there waiting for her. She had no idea when she’d been back again.”

  “That was a premonition,” Tommy murmured then. “People have them all the time before they die.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Weston replied. “Denton made a point of saying that she

  didn’t seem to have any sense of danger up ahead. She felt completely at home in the swamp.”

  “Lots of tourists feel at home and don’t sense danger,” Mike commented.

  “That’s good,” Tommy added. “Most of them are safe and sound.”

  “Except when they’re not,” Mike added, getting ready to go now.

  Olivia stood up then, eager to leave and sort everything out slowly. Was she herself aware of the danger she was in? She felt oddly at home here also.

  “Let’s go for some coffee,” Weston quickly suggested to Olivia as she began walking to the door.

  Olivia stopped, surprised by the offer. “Sure,” she agreed, “we can go for a little while.” It was always good to talk and find out what Weston had on his mind.

  *

  Weston took Olivia to a small café around the corner, ordered some coffee, and they sat down outside under a shady tree.

  “Quite a case, isn’t it?” Weston started, probing for Olivia’s response. He seemed genuinely interested in her feelings about it.

  “It’s hard,” she replied. “I don’t have a good enough take on Amanda yet. I plan to go back to speak more to her husband.”

  “That’s a good idea.” Weston nodded.

  “And I can’t help feeling I should go back to the swamp again, too,” Olivia murmured.

  Weston’s face grew tight. “That’s too much. There are plenty of groups searching every inch of the territory. Including trained dogs. They haven’t found a thing either, not a shred of evidence.”

  “Could be all the more reason for me to go,” said Olivia, feeling the swamp calling to her, and not sure why.

  Weston looked at Olivia oddly. “You seem incredibly driven,” he said, as their coffee arrived.

  “I’m incredibly thorough,” Olivia corrected him.

  “I heard that your fiancé was murdered down here,” Weston continued. “That had to be a terrible shock.”

  Olivia was startled by his comment. “Yes, of course, Todd’s death was a terrible shock,” she said. “But it was a while ago. I’ve dealt with it.”

  “These things can take time,” Weston replied. “The aftereffects of shocks can hang on for a very long time.”

  Olivia suddenly felt uneasy. Was he implying that she was still in shock, that there was something wrong with her?

  “Are you saying I’m doing this work because I’m in shock?” she asked, offended.

  “No, not at all,” Weston quickly corrected himself. “You’re doing a great job. But it’s also possible to be too driven. Then you can’t let something go when you should, like wanting to return to the swamp! That can become an obsession. Obsessions drag you down, stop you from focusing where you should. A good cop needs to know what’s important and what’s not.”

  Olivia recognized what Weston was saying was true. But she didn’t feel it applied to her. This wasn’t the time to let go of searching in the swamp. Not by a long shot.

  “What’s wrong with obsessions?” Olivia took Weston on. “Absolutely nothing. They can even be good if they don’t let you rest until you find the killer. Or find a person who’s still alive.”

  “You’re different from most women I’ve met,” Weston said slowly. “You’re smart, but also foolhardy.”

  Olivia didn’t like that. She drank the rest of her coffee and decided to let him think what he wanted. There was no reason to get into an argument with him. She had no intention of sitting here defending herself.

  “Tell me about every hut and structure within a few miles of those swamps.” Olivia returned to the main issue, the search for Amanda.

  Weston went along. “There’s a hut about five miles down the trail. It’s a bigger fishing shack that’s mostly abandoned these days.”

  “Mostly?” Olivia raised her eyebrows.