Mobsters and Lobsters (A Hooked & Cooked Cozy Mystery Series Book 2) (15 page)

Rocky’s eyes brightened. “That’s the funniest part. That old lady friend of Nana’s, Caroline? She needed help finding someone. Some relative or something like that. Anyway, the guy she was looking for? Lenny? Turns out he was Marco’s cousin or second cousin or at least somehow related. Caroline paid a bundle to Nana for what turned out to be a five minute job.”

Lights were flashing in Hannah’s head. All the connections were beginning to make sense. Lenny followed Ruby right to the buried treasure location. That must have been a plus for him and his sleaze-ball cousin. The rest of the mob followed Marco and Lenny.

“How about I buy you a beer, Rocky?” She already had her hand up to get Michael’s attention and she pulled a couple of chairs to a small round table for herself and Rocky. “Make yourself comfy. I’ll be right back.”

Rocky had a wide, self-satisfied smile on his face. “I knew you’d come around, Doll Face. No one can resist Rocky’s charm.”

Hannah patted his shoulder as she moved to the bar to get the beer. Cal whispered, “What’s going on? Are you ditching me for that mobster?”

“Seriously, Cal? I’m playing to his ego to loosen his tongue. And boy oh boy, does he love to talk.”

Hannah set a beer in front of Rocky. “So, where were we?” She leaned across the small table and whispered close to Rocky’s ear, “Do you think Lenny killed Marco? Weren’t they out on that boat together?”

“I don’t know about that. I always suspected Lenny was working with someone else and he just threw the body overboard.”

“Who would that be?”

“Your sister? Ya know, find the treasure and split it two ways? She did meet him to cook up something. Cut
you
right out.” He winked at Hannah. “You and me? We could beat her to it if we team up. Whaddya think? You still got the map?”

Hannah sat back so fast the front legs of her chair lifted off the floor. Was he playing her for a fool instead of her finding out useful information? Was he smarter than she gave him credit for?

Hannah felt an arm around her shoulder. She looked up to see Cal staring at Rocky, sending a signal not to mess with her. Cal squeezed her shoulder. “Everything all right here?”

“Sure thing, dude.” Rocky stood up. “Think about it, Doll Face. I’m not going anywhere. At least not till I’ve got that map.” He patted his pocket full of money and winked at Hannah.

Chapter 19

“What was that all about?” Cal asked as he slid onto the seat vacated by Rocky. “You can close your mouth now,” he teased as he gently pinched Hannah’s lips together.

“I wish I knew the answer to your question. Just when I think I have the upper hand, they manage to twist the conversation around to make me feel like a complete and total incompetent fool.”

“They?” Cal twisted his head around in the direction where Rocky disappeared. “I thought you were talking to only one person. Or,” he smirked, “maybe just half a person.”

“
They
meaning Pearl, and now Rocky. He acts like such a doofus, but he led me right down the path to where he wanted me.”

Cal’s brow furrowed. “I’m not liking the sound of where that path is taking you.”

“The path of doubting my own sister and trying to manipulate me to help
him
find the buried treasure.”

“Oh, that’s all.” Cal wiped his brow of pretend sweat. “I thought it was some romantic path,
Doll Face
.”

Hannah slapped Cal’s arm. “Not funny, Mister.” She leaned closer to Cal. “And listen to this, he’s planning to buy the raffle tickets from everyone so he has all of them. I want that money to go to the library.”

“How about instead of a raffle, you sell the map to the highest bidder? Auction it off. I’ll get a bunch of guys to bid the price up so Rocky has to spend all his money and the library gets it. I’ll even get a spicy rumor started about what the treasure might be. Maybe . . . gold coins or jewelry or an antique silver tea set.”

“No, we can’t change the rules at this point. According to Michael, raffle tickets are selling like hot cakes. We might still be able to beat him at his own game, though. Get the rumor mill working about the treasure and that should make it harder for Rocky to buy up the tickets. Maybe there really is a valuable buried treasure out there.”

“Ha, didn’t you see the same thing I saw?” Cal checked around him to the left and right. “Worthless baubles.”

“Pearl wants the property. Maybe she knows something we haven’t figured out yet.”

Cal stood up. “Possible, but I’m leaning more toward what Meg and Jack said about it being a hoax. They were both close to Caroline. If they suspected something, don’t you think this whole search fiasco would have happened years ago? Why now?”

“Good point. With Great Aunt Caroline out of the way, Pearl figures she can manipulate me or scare me to death by kidnapping Ruby. It’s working, too.”

Cal held Hannah’s shoulders. “Listen. Ruby is worth nothing to Pearl if she hurts her. She wants a trade and she’s counting on you blinking first. I’ll get the buzz started about the map and see what kind of scum we flush out of the woodwork.” He gazed into Hannah’s eyes. “Okay?”

She nodded.

Hannah finally pushed her way through the crowd to check with Meg and find out how the lobster rolls and clam chowder were selling.

“Fantastic,” Meg said as she filled three more bowls. “I hope we don’t run out. This is whetting everyone’s appetite for when the snack bar is finally open for business.”

Hannah was relieved with that good news. “Cal got the last beam in place, so as soon as the inspector comes back we’ll be able to open.”

Meg pushed a bowl of chowder into Hannah’s hand. “You need to eat something. Circulate, say hello to everyone. And, Hannah? Wipe that worried look off your face. Channel Caroline. Be friendly, tough, and
pushy
.”

Hannah turned around and almost dumped her bowl of chowder down the front of Sherry’s neatly ironed, button down shirt. “So sorry.”

Sherry stepped to one side. “You’re just the person I’ve been looking for. I’m curious about the buried treasure map that Jack told me about. It does make for an interesting story for this little town.”

Hannah tried to sip her chowder without spilling any down the front of her own shirt, never mind on someone else. It didn’t go well. “It’s something I found when I was sorting through my great aunt’s belongings. You know, after I inherited the property.”

Sherry touched Hannah’s arm, jostling the full spoon. “Isn’t that how it always goes? You find the most unexpected item in the least likely spot. Was it hidden under a floor board or behind a fake wall?” Sherry’s eyes were wide with anticipation.

Hannah laughed. “You have a healthy imagination, Sherry. No, nothing as glamorous as all that. It was in a box filled with old letters.” Hannah moved away from the chowder table. “And I’ve learned there are other copies floating around but they are all a bit different. I’ll be selling the original map.”

Sherry clapped her hands together. “How exciting. I didn’t expect to fall into the middle of a real live exciting mystery.”

“Well, you could call it that, especially with the two murders.”

Her eyes widened. “So they
are
connected.”

Hannah shrugged. “That’s my guess. Excuse me, I have to say hello to more people.” She finished the rest of her chowder and set the bowl down. It was too much of a risk to try to circulate and eat at the same time, she realized.

“Of course,” Sherry said as she got in line for a lobster roll.

Before Hannah could make the rounds, Laura Masterson pulled on Hannah’s arm. “I wasn’t sure I was in the right place.” She looked around the inside of the pub and wrinkled her nose. “It’s a tad rundown compared to the rest of Hooks Harbor. When is the map event? I have a bit of money left from my father and I thought I’d invest it in the map. You know, in his memory. I feel like he’s right here with me,” she gushed.

Great, thought Hannah, almost laughing, a ghost to hang out with Great Aunt Caroline. Hannah had no feeling that her Great Aunt Caroline was sitting on her shoulder or whispering in her ear or in any way looking out for her. On the contrary, Great Aunt Caroline dumped this mess in Hannah’s lap when she died and left it for her to figure out.

Maybe that was the point. Great Aunt Caroline had always been an independent person, taking the less traveled path, and loving it.

With the buried treasure map she forced Hannah to go out on a limb—be creative, brave, take control of her life, get out of her comfort zone. Was that the whole point? Hannah smiled to herself. Yeah, surprise, surprise, just when she least expected it, Great Aunt Caroline
was
with her after all, pushing her to show everyone she could solve even the stickiest problem.

“What’s the smile about, Ms. Holiday?” Hannah felt warm breath near her ear.

Hannah’s smile vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

“I wouldn’t suspect you would find anything to smile about with your sister and her daughter gone missing. But you could take me up on my offer to trade Caroline’s property for them. Good deal, don’t you think?”

Hannah slowly turned her head to look straight into Pearl’s eyes. “I’ll think about it.”

Pearl laughed. “Nice bluff, dear.” She checked her watch. “You have until Rocky gets back to win the treasure map.” She moved toward Meg with a big smile as she paid for a lobster roll and bowl of clam chowder.

Meg caught Hannah’s eye and silently mouthed,
poison it?
Hannah grinned and nodded before she turned away to mingle. She searched the crowd and spotted Cal’s shaggy blond hair above most of the other patrons. She wormed her way through the crowd. As she approached, she heard the words
gold coins
and
jewelry
. If this didn’t get the raffle tickets moving, nothing would, she thought.

Hannah tapped Cal’s arm. He bent close to her face and asked, “How are you doing?”

“Pearl is here. She’s acting very cocky, like she’s holding all aces and expects me to fold at any minute, or at least by the time Rocky wins the map.”

Cal’s hand on the small of her back felt reassuring. “Let her keep thinking that.” He pulled Hannah closer. “If Pearl is here, who’s watching Ruby and Olivia?”

Hannah quickly scanned the crowd for Rocky’s dark mop of hair. Nothing. Pearl and Rocky must have switched off to give Pearl a chance to push Hannah’s fear button a little harder.

“Call Ruby’s phone. Now. She can outsmart that nit wit if he’s the only one guarding her,” Cal said as he pushed Hannah away from the crowd.

Without thinking, her fingers hit Ruby’s number. The familiar loon call for Ruby’s ring tone sounded not far from where she stood. Pearl caught Hannah’s glance and answered. Hannah’s shoulders sagged.

“You called, dear? Ready to make that deal?” Pearl held Ruby’s phone to her ear. “It would have been an amateur mistake to leave Ruby’s phone with Rocky. Don’t worry, I know all the tricks.” She disconnected the call and winked.

Hannah’s phone rang. Her heart raced with anticipation. “Jack?”

She nodded and smiled before hanging up.

“What?” Cal asked.

She slid her phone into her front jeans pocket. “Pam’s watching the house where Pearl took Ruby and Olivia. They appear to be safe for now. Pam’s waiting for the right chance to rush in. Jack said to keep Pearl here. She’s the devious one.”

Chapter 20

Hannah found Michael and asked him for help.

“Sure thing.” He snapped his fingers and two big, burly men appeared at Hannah’s side. “Tell them what you need,” Michael said before he moved away to help a customer.

Hannah felt dwarfed between Michael’s friends. She described Pearl to them. “The old lady with purple hair,” and explained their mission. “She can’t leave. Do whatever it takes.”

“You got an in with the cops? I don’t want any jail time,” the shorter guy with a nasty scar on his chin said.

“No worries. Just don’t kill her. That’s
my
reward,” Hannah whispered.

Both men raised their eyebrows in shock before breaking into big grins. Scarface softly punched her shoulder. “Just like Caroline. Happy to be of service.”

Hannah was impressed with how quickly they melted into the crowd and reappeared near Pearl. Scarface even chatted her up and must have told her a joke since she burst out laughing. Great.

Hannah called Jack. “Where are you? I want to see if I can help get Ruby and Olivia out.”

Jack told her he would call Cal and give him the address. They could come together since Cal would know exactly where the house was. Pam wouldn’t be happy, but Jack didn’t care about that at the moment. Hannah checked with Meg and Michael to be sure everything was under control before heading off to find Cal.

“Go,” Meg told Hannah. “Don’t worry about a thing here. Just be back in time for the raffle winner.”

Hannah had a brilliant idea. She got Scarface’s attention and asked him if they could get Ruby’s phone away from Pearl.

“Piece of cake. You wait by the door and I’ll pass it to you in a few minutes.”