Sapphire Beach Paperback Bundle (Books 7-12), Paperbacks

Hurricanes and Homicide: Chapter 1

“Finally!” Connie Petretta said to her friend and employee, Grace Jenkins, as she placed her hammer back in the toolbox. “All of the windows are boarded up, and Just Jewelry is as ready for Hurricane Emery as it ever will be.”

At least Connie hoped so.

Meteorologists had predicted that Emery would be a Category 3 hurricane and that the winds would start to pick up later that afternoon. The Gulf-front town in southwest Florida Connie had called home for the past year-and-a-half would be in the thick of the storm in a few days. But judging from the steadily increasing winds and rain, Hurricane Emery was arriving more quickly than anticipated.

August was going out with a boom.

Grace peeked her head out the front door. “The winds are getting stronger, and county officials just issued a shelter-in-place order. We need to get home right away and hunker down.”

Connie and Grace lived next door to one another in their condominium building, which was called Palm Paradise. They had been neighbors since Connie’s Aunt Concetta had passed away, leaving Connie her Gulf-front condo.

Ginger, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel she unofficially inherited along with her aunt’s condo, looked up at Connie with her trusting brown eyes. She was patiently watching her master from her doggie bed at the back of the store. “I agree. Ginger looks like she wants to get home, too.”

“Before we head out, let’s check on Ruby,” Grace said, pulling on her yellow rain slicker and slipping the hood over her head.

Connie did the same with her own powder blue slicker, then she picked up Ginger and protectively tucked her beneath her jacket while she followed Grace next door to Ruby’s souvenir shop. Ruby and one of her employees, Daisy, were about to leave.

“We’ve battened down the hatches,” Ruby said when she saw Connie and Grace. “It’s time to get out of here. I don’t like the looks of this storm.”

No sooner did the words come from Ruby’s lips than a peal of thunder sounded, and Ginger trembled in Connie’s arms.

“We just wanted to make sure you didn’t need any help before we left,” Grace said, “but it looks like you have everything under control.”

“Yes, Mickey called this morning to check on us, but I told him Daisy and I could handle it. I think he’s afraid of losing his properties to the storm before he has a chance to unload them.”

Mickey Miranda owned the buildings that housed both Connie’s and Ruby’s shops, as well as several other commercial properties in the downtown area. He and his wife, Susan, had been up north visiting Mickey’s brother for the summer, and had just returned to Sapphire Beach the day before. Much to the chagrin of Connie and Ruby, Mickey was planning to sell the properties as soon as he got back in town. The women were concerned that the new owners would require them to move when their leases expired in January and neither wanted that. They loved being neighbors and enjoyed a prime location, which was just a couple of blocks from the beach.

Besides, before opening her jewelry shop, Connie had spent a good chunk of her savings renovating the store. The last thing she wanted was to start over in another location.

But there was no time to dwell on that. They needed to get safely home and out of the hurricane.

“We’re anxious to get out of here, too,” Grace said. “We’ll see you on the flip side.”

After Ruby locked up her shop, she and Daisy hopped into their cars and drove away.

“Grace, get into the car,” Connie said, unlocking her silver Jetta with her fob key. “I’ll lock up the shop really quickly, so we can get out of here.” Since they lived right next door to each other and they hadn’t planned to stay long at the store, Connie and Grace took one car that morning.

Grace slid into the passenger seat, and Connie locked the door to the store. She stroked Ginger’s silky back. “Don’t worry, sweet girl. I’ll have you home in no time.”

Since Connie had parked her car directly in front of Just Jewelry, she put Ginger down on the ground. Then she said a quick prayer that her beloved shop would remain undamaged by the impending hurricane.

Grace pulled her hood over her head and exited the front seat to open the back door for Ginger.

Connie laughed at the sight of Grace, her yellow hood pulled tightly around her face, dripping with water.

Grace gave Connie a thumbs up, and Connie nudged Ginger in the direction of the car.

Just as Ginger was about to jump into the backseat, another crash of thunder sounded in the distance. A terrified Ginger bolted away from the car and down the alley that led to the back of Connie’s store.

“Oh no!” Connie said to Grace. “The poor dog is terrified. I’ll be right back.”

She was about to sprint after Ginger when she heard a voice yelling from across the street.

“Connie, stop!”

She turned around and through the torrential rains, saw Gallagher waving his arms and running towards her. “You need to get home. They’re telling everyone to get off the roads right away.” Gallagher was the owner of Gallagher’s Tropical Shack, the thatched-roof restaurant across the street from Just Jewelry.

“Not without Ginger,” Connie yelled.

“You get Grace home. I’ll find Ginger and drop her off at Palm Paradise on my way home.”

Connie started to protest, but Gallagher had already disappeared down the alley.

“I’ll wait for you at the front entrance,” Connie yelled into the air, not sure if he would even hear her over the wind and rain. She was tempted to run after him, but Gallagher was a man of his word, and Connie really needed to get Grace home. If anything ever happened to Grace because Connie had kept her out in the storm too long, she would never forgive herself.

Drenched to the bone, Connie got into the driver’s seat. She glanced one more time at Just Jewelry before starting the car. “Let’s hope our little shop is still standing the next time we see it.”

Hurricane Emery was the first major storm since Connie moved to Sapphire Beach. She was confident that her home would remain safe, since Palm Paradise had been built after Hurricane Andrew. In 1992, Hurricane Andrew, which was a Category 5 storm when it hit landfall, had destroyed about sixty-three thousand homes and damaged another hundred thousand. His 175 miles-per-hour winds had flattened entire neighborhoods, leading to stringent building codes, so Connie knew her home was solid. But she wasn’t as confident about her shop. Even a Category 3 could do some serious damage to older structures.

Connie and Grace had spent yesterday bringing all of Connie’s inventory home and storing it away, preparing for a worst-case scenario. After all the hard work Connie and her Fair Trade artisans put into creating their jewelry pieces, she wasn’t taking any chances.

The one-mile stretch that separated Connie’s shop from her home was already treacherous. Visibility was poor and many leaves and small branches littered Sapphire Beach Boulevard. About halfway home, they passed a car accident and could hear an ambulance approaching in the distance. Connie drove in silence, not daring to take her attention off the road.

“Look, your knuckles are white from gripping the wheel so tightly,” Grace said as Connie punched in the pass code to gain entrance into the underground garage.

Relieved to be home, Connie pulled into her designated parking space, then they climbed the stairs into the elegant lobby, waving at Gertrude, who was anxiously watching her neighbors return to safety. Gertrude was an octogenarian who lived in Palm Paradise and with whom Connie had become friends. She was also the great-aunt of Elyse Miller, one of Connie’s best friends in Sapphire Beach.

Connie and Grace waited by the front entrance and watched through the glass double doors for Gallagher and Ginger. Jessica, the management company employee who kept office hours on the premises, also stood watching the parking lot with a young boy.

“You two made it back just in the nick of time,” Jessica said. “The authorities are requesting that everyone get off the road as quickly as possible. It looks like Hurricane Emery is coming sooner than anticipated.”

Grace explained how Ginger ran off and that Gallagher would be arriving any minute to drop her off.

“He’d better hurry,” the boy said. “Mom and I are stuck here until the storm is over.”

“You must be the famous Robbie,” Connie said. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you from your mom. I’m Connie, and this is Grace.”

“Hi,” Robbie said.

“This is Concetta’s niece,” Jessica explained. “Concetta is the kind woman who used to bake us those Italian cookies all the time.”

“Do you bake cookies, too?” Robbie asked.

“Not nearly as well as my aunt used to. But since it looks like we’re going to be stuck indoors for the next few days, how about if I promise to give it a shot? Maybe you can help, since you’re staying here, too.”

“Deal,” Robbie said.

After what felt like an eternity, Gallagher finally arrived in his beat-up old Honda. He pulled up a few yards from the door and ran toward Connie holding a trembling and wet Ginger in his arms.

“Your delivery, Ma’am,” Gallagher said, handing her to Connie.

Ginger licked Connie’s face and wagged her tail, clearly excited to be reunited with her owner.

Connie gave her a squeeze, then hugged Gallagher. “Thank goodness. I would never have forgiven myself if anything happened to you or Ginger.”

Connie placed the dog on the floor, and Robbie bent down to scratch Ginger’s wet head.

As Robbie greeted Ginger, a man with salt-and-pepper hair who appeared to be in his late fifties came running from the outdoor parking lot, his arms loaded with soggy brown paper grocery bags.

Everyone stepped back so he could take shelter.

The three women couldn’t help but notice that his bags were filled with ice cream, chips, and cookies.

The man chuckled. “I figured we might be trapped inside for a while, and I don’t like to be caught without snacks.”

“A man after my own heart,” Grace said.

“Tony, why on earth didn’t you park in the underground garage?” Jessica asked.

Each unit had an assigned underground parking spot, as well as one in the outdoor parking lot.

Tony shrugged his wet shoulders. “I just wanted to get out of the elements as quickly as possible, but you’re right. That’s what I should have done. Oh well. I’m not moving it now.” Then he disappeared into the stairwell on the other side of the lobby.

“You’d better get home too, Gallagher,” Jessica said.

“I know. The roads are getting worse by the minute. But before I leave, I want to check something out on the side of the building. I thought I heard a moaning sound coming from the shrubs.”

“That’s strange,” Connie said. “Are you sure?”

“Between the gusting wind and the pouring rain, I’m not sure of anything, but I need to at least check. Someone could have been hit with a flying object with this wind.”

“I’ll come with you,” Connie said.

“Be careful,” Jessica warned.

Connie waved back at Jessica to indicate that they would.

They walked around the cement pathway leading from the front entrance to the back of Palm Paradise, where the swimming pool was located.

When they arrived about halfway down the side of the building, Gallagher stopped short and pointed at the bushes. A pair of black sneakers poked out from the shrubs and pointed upward.

“Somebody must have lost their shoes,” Gallagher said.

Something didn’t seem right to Connie. “With all this wind, how are those shoes remaining upright? Wait a minute…”

Connie bent down and squeezed the shoes.

They were attached to a person.