Jason Deas - Cameron Caldwell 01 - Private Eye Read online

  There it was again, the second time he’d been called boy. Cam bit his lip and pressed his arm to his side so he wouldn’t reach across the bar and slap the arrogant ass off his stool.

  “I own this town and I won’t be told that I can’t build anything by some two-bit hillbilly bootleggers. When I build my ski slope, people will come here from all over the southeast to dump money into my town.”

  “And what if it doesn’t work out the way you plan?”

  “Shoot,” Billy said, tilting his drink back and slamming it hard against the bar top. He got up without thanking Cam for the information and walked toward the door. “They get in my way again and I’ll kill those two,” he said, leaving without a goodbye.

  Chapter Ten

  “I think you guys are in real danger,” Cam told Daphne. “He seemed really pissed. He said something about killing you and Claude.”

  “He probably says that every day.”

  “Why don’t you guys call it quits after this batch of shine? This just seems like it’s getting too risky. I wouldn’t mess with him.”

  “He’s all talk.”

  “No, he’s not,” Cam said, grabbing her hand. “You think he killed your father. You may be right. He killed Chief Lee.”

  “He what?” Daphne stopped and dropped the stack of menus in her hand.

  “He killed Chief Lee. I saw it in his eyes this morning.”

  “What about my daddy?”

  “I can’t see two things. I’m sorry. If a person has done a bunch of horrible things I can only see the last one.”

  “Will you keep trying to find out?”

  “Of course I will, but if he killed Chief Lee and he killed your father, what makes you think he won’t take you and Claude out as well?”

  “That would be too many murders. He would be caught.”

  “He doesn’t see it that way. He thinks he’s above the law. He even told me he owns this town.”

  “I’ll talk to Claude. We do have more money than we could ever spend. If nothing else, maybe we could sell out to Hank.”

  “Please talk to him, tonight.”

  “I will.”

  “Promise me.”

  “I promise.” Daphne picked the menus up off the floor. “You ready to go home?” Cam nodded. “Do we need to stop by the liquor store?”

  “Nope.”

  Daphne drove into Cam’s driveway.

  “Do you even have a car?” she asked, as the engine idled.

  “Of course I do.”

  “Do you ever use it?”

  “Rarely. I don’t drink and drive.”

  Daphne smiled.

  “Do you want to come inside to see what your brother did?”

  Daphne shut the engine off. “Sure.”

  Cam opened the door and let her enter first. She looked around and nodded her head. “It’s very Claude. Do you like it?”

  “I love it.” Cam set a bag down on the counter and pulled out the bottle of Jimmy Buffett tequila. “Can I offer you a drink?”

  “I don’t do tequila.”

  “It’s not tequila. It’s your product.”

  “Oh. No. Do you have any beer?”

  Cam walked to the fridge and looked inside. He wasn’t sure if he had consumed all the beer or not. “You’re in luck. I have about eleven beers.”

  Daphne laughed. “I’ll start with one. I’d drink shine with you, but I have to be at the diner at five a.m.”

  “How do you drink this stuff?”

  “Straight. On ice. There are a bunch of ways. I suggest on ice.”

  Cam handed her a beer and walked back into the kitchen. He opened the freezer door and grabbed a few ice cubes and plopped them in a glass. He opened the bottle and sniffed. Pouring the clear liquid over the ice, he then recapped the bottle. Daphne was sitting on the couch. He took a seat next to her. She watched him carefully.

  “What?”

  “Take a sip. Tell me what you think.”

  Cam took a tiny sip. He waited and took a big one. “Whoa! That’s smooth but it feels like there’s a freight train running down my throat toward my stomach.”

  “There is,” Daphne said, laughing. She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. She set them on the table next to the couch. “My glasses hurt my eyes by the end of the day.” She looked at Cam.

  He was about to take another drink when he paused. “You look different without your glasses.”

  “How so?”

  Cam stumbled on his words. “I … I don’t know. Just different.” He looked back to his glass and took another sip.

  “You’ve never told me anything about your personal life,” Daphne set her beer down.

  “Not much to tell. I was almost married once. Almost.”

  “She cheated on you?”

  “Yeah. And I saw it in her eyes.” Cam finished his first drink and got up to make a second.

  “If you’ve never had that before you might want to wait a minute to see how it affects you.”

  Cam lifted his head in acknowledgement but continued on with his task.

  “Make me one.”

  “What happened to five a.m.?”

  “I can take just one. I might have to crash here on the couch, but one won’t kill me.”

  Cam got out another glass and ice cubes to match. As he poured their drinks he took another look at Daphne and swore she was getting more beautiful by the second. Don’t do it. Don’t do it. Don’t do it.

  They sat down with their drinks.

  “What about you? Ever been married or in a serious relationship?”

  “Married, no. Serious relationship, yes.”

  “And? What happened?”

  “It just didn’t work out. He moved and wanted me to go with him. I chose to stay.”

  Cam saw the sadness in her eyes. “I’m sorry it didn’t work out.” A wave flew through his body of the likes he had never felt before. It felt good and mysterious. Warm and friendly. He reached out and grabbed the side of Daphne’s face and pulled her to him. As his lips found hers, his left hand grabbed at her hips and pulled her closer. A moment later she was on top of him as Cam’s hands ran up inside her shirt. Her body ground against his. A second wave hit Cam and he popped up, tossing her to the other side of the couch.

  “What the fuck is happening? Oh my God, this feels so good and horrible all at the same time. Daphne?”

  “I’m right here,” she said, grabbing his hand.

  “I want to take a bath.”

  “OK.”

  “Will you bring me another drink?”

  “Are you sure you need one?”

  “If you don’t get it for me, I’ll get it myself.”

  “Run the water. I’ll get it.”

  Daphne heard the water run as she poured Cam a new drink. She wondered what she would think and feel when she would bring him his drink and see him lying naked in the tub. She slowly opened the bathroom door and found him submerged, fully clothed, in the bath. She handed him his drink and went to make one more for herself. Tomorrow, we’re closed.

  She sat on the toilet seat with her new drink and watched Cam in the tub. He had removed his shirt. She squeezed some water out of it and put it in the sink. He splashed water on his face and told her how good it felt. He even asked her if it felt good. “Does my face feel good?”

  “You said it did.”

  “Oh yeah. It does.” Cam studied his hands. He looked at Daphne. “Do you want to see my room?”

  “I do.”

  Cam left his clothes in the tub and walked to his bedroom with Daphne in tow. Once in his room, he wrapped his arms around her and didn’t let go until both of them were fully satisfied and spent.

  Chapter Eleven

  Claude walked into Cam’s room to find Cam and Daphne in a tangled mess of sheets. They were both dead to the world.

  “Excuse me,” Claude tried softly.

  “Hello!” he said a little louder.

  “Wake up!” he finally yelled when
neither of them had moved.

  They both sat up groggily. Neither of them had any idea where they were. They looked across the bed at each other and down to the bed. Memories started flooding in and they both looked back to Claude.

  “Billy is dead, and I need a sandwich.”

  “I’m sorry, we’re closed,” Daphne said, getting out of bed, looking for her clothes.

  “Billy Prescott is dead?” Cam pulled the covers up around himself.

  “You can say that again.”

  “My head hurts too bad to say anything twice.”

  “Billy Prescott is dead. Or he’s missing a hand and can’t seem to find his way to the hospital. Chief Gomez found his hand on the main drag on her way into work this morning. Had his stupid softball World Series ring on his finger. Do you remember when he set up that dumbass tournament?” Claude turned his attention to Daphne who was almost dressed.

  Cam snapped his fingers to get his attention. “So what you’re saying is that they found Billy’s hand, but can’t find Billy? And the rest of him hasn’t made its way to a hospital, so he must be dead?”

  “Bang,” Claude pointed his index finger at him. “How do you like your eggs?”

  “Over easy.”

  “I only do scrambled,” Claude said, walking out of the room.

  Daphne spun as she searched for her shirt. She looked on her knees. She looked all around the floor. When she neared Cam’s side of the bed he reached out, grabbed her arm, and pulled her onto the bed with him. She lay on top of him with her head looking up to him.

  “This wasn’t a one time thing,” Cam said, looking into her eyes.

  “It was for me.”

  “What?”

  “I haven’t told you everything about my past relationship and I’m not ready right now for more trouble.”

  Cam nodded his head. “OK. Can we talk more about it later?”

  “Sure.”

  “I’m trouble, huh?” Cam asked. Daphne just raised her eyebrows.

  “Let’s go see what happened last night,” Cam said, tossing Daphne her shirt, which had been under the covers.

  Over breakfast, Cam asked, “So how’d you hear about it?”

  “Well, I went to Daphne’s for breakfast as usual and there was a crowd gathered at the door. I told them you were sick and I put a sign on the door saying so.”

  “Thanks,” Daphne said.

  “You’ve never been late before or even closed to my recollection, so I figured you wouldn’t make it today. Little did I know I’d find you here. I checked your house first. But, I’m so happy for you two,” he said with a big smile.

  “It’s not like that,” Cam said buttering a piece of toast. “Your sister thinks I’m trouble.”

  “You are,” Claude agreed.

  “He has issues,” Daphne said, giving Cam a wink.

  “He’s got a whole subscription,” Claude agreed.

  “The drinking, the feelings he has for Blanca …”

  “Wait a minute,” Cam protested.

  “I thought you said we were going to talk about this later?”

  “Oh, right.”

  “No, no, keep going—this is gold,” Claude tried grabbing another piece of bacon.

  “Why don’t you get back to telling us how you found out about Billy Prescott’s death,” Cam suggested.

  “If I have to.” He paused to swallow. “So, as people were milling about, Turner pulled up. He had just been at Hank’s station where he heard about it. He said that one of Hank’s customers had seen Blanca throwing up on the side of the road. The customer stopped to see what was going on and noticed the bloody hand. He called his friend Jeffrey at the paper who was on his way to breakfast and he rerouted and got all the details. Jeffrey recognized the ring.”

  “I guess he would since he covered the story when Billy put on that stupid tournament,” Daphne said.

  “Jeffrey also found the knife.”

  “What knife?” both Cam and Daphne queried in unison.

  “Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the knife. Jeffrey called EMS thinking the hand might be able to be saved in case whomever it belonged to was still alive. He said while he was on the phone with them and Blanca was gathering her wits he paced the side of the road. He’s a Vietnam vet, so he’s seen ugly before. The bloody hand didn’t bother him. As he did, he noticed the morning sun shining on something near, and when he checked it out, he found a bloody knife.”

  “Did he describe it?” Cam asked.

  “Yeah. He said it had a long blade with a seated back.”

  Images of Billy stabbing Chief Lee shot through Cam’s mind and the knife matched.

  “That’s Billy’s knife!”

  “How do you know?” Daphne asked.

  “He was wearing it on his belt yesterday when he came to my office.”

  “He took it out for you to see?” Daphne asked, before it hit her that Cam had seen the knife in his mind.

  “I know knives,” Cam lied.

  “Oh,” she said, recovering, “right. Well, this should be an exciting day in Miner’s Bluff.”

  “Especially for you,” Claude said, to Daphne.

  “And why’s that?”

  “Blanca heard you didn’t make it in to work today and she wants to talk to you as soon as you surface.”

  Daphne beat Blanca to the punch and drove straight to the police station after breakfast. She didn’t want to give her the pleasure of finding her first.

  Daphne walked into the station and spotted Blanca. “Feeling better?” she asked.

  “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I heard you were sick this morning and I was just checking,” Daphne said, feigning innocence.

  “Have you ever seen a bloody severed hand?” Blanca asked defensively.

  “Can’t say that I have. I heard you wanted to talk with me.”

  “Let’s go to my office.”

  Blanca’s office had absolutely no personality. No pictures, no color, just bricks and mortar.

  “Where were you last night?”

  Daphne wanted to tell her more than anything that she was in Cam’s bed, but decided to play hardball for a while instead.

  “With a friend. Why?”

  “Why? Really? Why? Well, I’ll tell you why. Your number one enemy is dead. That’s why.”

  “So you found a body?”

  Blanca gave her a sinister look. “No. But let’s be real about this. We found Billy’s hand, but not Billy. We’ve called every hospital within a hundred miles. He’s dead.”

  “As long as we’re being real, tell me this. If I was going to kill Billy Prescott, why would I leave his hand and his knife in the middle of town? I don’t like him, you’re right about that, but I don’t hate him enough to cut off his hand and leave it in the middle of the road. This sounds to me like someone was trying to send a message.”

  “Why don’t you let me be the detective here and you can just answer questions.”

  “As long as you promise not to throw up on me.”

  “That’s low, Daphne. Low. What have I ever done to you to deserve that?”

  “How about suspecting me of a murder?”

  “Fine. Point taken. Let me be blunt then. Do I really think you did it? No. Do I have to do my job and cover all my bases? Yes. And unfortunately, you are one of the bases I have to cover. Billy was putting the hard-court press on you and your brother to sell land you didn’t want to sell, and he was also incredibly close to uncovering the secrets of your moonshine business.”

  “Fine. I spent the night with Cam.” Daphne watched her face. If she cared, she didn’t show it.

  “The new guy in town?”

  “Yes.”

  “And he’ll vouch for that?”

  “Yeah. It wasn’t planned. I dropped him off at home and had a drink and then another, before I knew it I had too many to drive.”

  “Are you two in a relationship?”

  “No.” Daphne swore she saw Blanc
a’s face ease.

  “The reason I ask is because people in relationships will lie for each other.”

  “Sure. I understand.”

  “Do you have anything else you think I need to know at this point?”

  “Like what?”

  “Like, who do you think did it?”

  “If I had to guess, I’d guess his ex, Alice.”

  Blanca nodded in agreement.

  Chapter Twelve

  Cam sat at the bar in his office and nursed his hangover with coffee and Baileys. Blanca pulled up in her squad car and parked. Cam walked behind the bar and waited for her to enter.

  “Belly up to the bar,” he teased when she walked inside. “What can I get for you?”

  “Something with caffeine.”

  “Consider it done.” Cam grabbed a glass, filled it with ice, and reached under the bar for a can. He popped it and filled her glass, setting the glass and the rest of the can in front of her. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

  “I think you know. Do I have to say it?”

  “Nah. You need my help. You don’t have the stomach for this type of crime.”

  “Ha ha. I guess I’m the joke of the town.”

  “Most people throw up their first time seeing something like that,” Cam consoled. “Don’t beat yourself up. And I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that—it wasn’t very nice.”

  “I guess I deserve it,” Blanca said, taking a long drink of her soda.

  “Maybe you do. People aren’t bullet proof, including you. You can act tough as nails, but life will rat you out.” Cam picked up the can next to her glass and refilled her drink.

  “I hate to say it, but I think you’re right. I got schooled this morning. I’ve seen a dead body before, a murder scene even, Chief Lee’s, but this was different somehow.”

  “It was a surprise. Your mind knew what you were walking into at Chief Lee’s house. This time it didn’t. And I have a feeling your mind likes to be in control.”

  She smiled. The first genuine smile Cam had ever gotten from her. He almost melted.

  “You’re pretty wise. A drunk, but pretty wise.”

  “I’m going to take that as a compliment.”