Death Drops Read online

  I thought he might be sleeping and didn’t say anything as we walked past, but Qigong spotted him and scampered onto the blanket, slathering him with a big, sloppy kiss. He opened his eyes. “Hey, buddy! Hey, Dr. McQuade.”

  “Hi, Stephen. Nick, Stephen is helping out at Nature’s Way. Have you two met?”

  Nick reached down and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, Stephen. How do you like working at the store?”

  Stephen leaned on his elbows. He had a pretty good tan going. “It’s great. I’m really glad to be out of Nature’s Best and away from Milton.”

  “We were just talking about him. Do you think he’s, well, dangerous?” I was concerned for Nick’s safety and mine.

  Stephen sat back up, reached behind him for his sunglasses, and put them on. “Depends on what kind of mood he’s in.” He waved to someone out in the water. I turned to look and realized it was Tad Polumbo.

  “I didn’t know you two were friends.”

  “Oh, yeah, ever since they moved out here.”

  “But you don’t hold a grudge against Aunt Claire, like he and his family do?” If he did, I wondered why he was working for me now.

  He shook his head. “No, not at all. It sounded to me like a simple mistake. Sue should have told your aunt everything.”

  Tad, wearing orange swim trunks, waded out of the water. Droplets streamed from his buff body. He walked over the hard stone beach as easily as if it were sand and came over to us. When he did, Qigong started barking. Did he recognize him? Was he the one who had broken into the store? Or was it the color orange that set him off, the same color T-shirt the intruder had been wearing? Dogs see colors as if at dusk, but it was a really bright orange.

  “Knock it off,” Tad said, and picked up a big rock.

  Nick plucked it out of his hand and threw it on the ground. “Leave the dog alone, son.”

  “I’m not your son. Back off, old man.”

  “We don’t want any trouble, Tad,” I said, picking up Qigong, who stopped barking. “Not after the other night. We were just talking to Stephen here.”

  “I don’t know why you’re working for her,” Tad said, grabbing a towel that matched his swimsuit and giving me a nasty look. “Her aunt almost killed me, man. You know that. She screwed over your aunt Helen, too.”

  Stephen was the nephew of Helen from Helen’s Organics? He was certainly much nicer to be around than she was.

  “I can’t deal with Gavin, dude. I told you that. And my aunt Helen is doing fine. Why don’t you take another dip and cool off?”

  “Maybe I will. But when I get back, you two had better be gone.” Tad threw down his towel and headed back in. When he got to the shore, he turned around, gave me one final death stare, and dove into the crisp blue water.

  chapter twenty-five

  Dear Dr. McQuade,

  I’ve tried everything I can think of, short of putting a lock on my refrigerator, to lose weight. Are there any natural remedies that can help me battle the bulge?

  Signed,

  Can’t Fit Into My Jeans

  Dear Can’t Fit Into My Jeans,

  You can get your metabolism revved up by drinking green tea. The caffeine it contains helps the body burn fat faster. It’s also chock-full of antioxidants. Another good choice is yerba maté, a tea from South America. It will give you energy and appease your appetite.

  Signed,

  Willow McQuade, ND

  On the way back to the store, I got a call from my sister, complaining about my mother, then one from my mother, complaining about my sister. I told my sister, who was worried that my mother was doing too much after her recent hospital stint, to let Mom go at her own pace. And I told my mother to pace herself and not do too much. That seemed to settle things. If only.

  I decided to call Janice to see if she’d admit to taking the money from the till, but her voice mail was full. I’d just put my iPhone back into my pocket when it rang again. Randy McCarty from Green Focus.

  “Dr. McQuade, I have news.”

  I held my breath as I climbed the steps and entered Nature’s Way. “What is it?” I said as I sat in my desk chair and put Jackson’s prescription down on the blotter.

  “We’ve found Dr. Neville,” he said. “At his hotel in Chicago.”

  “And?”

  “He did not have the formula.”

  I felt all the hope whoosh out of me. “So that’s that, then.”

  “Maybe, maybe not. We’re going to keep our man on him when he returns to the East End. We’ll see what we find. Please keep me posted on any developments there.”

  I said I would and ended the call, feeling deflated. I really had hoped that Dr. Neville was our man. I needed to update Jackson on everything that had happened and give him his prescription, so I picked up the white package and headed upstairs, Qigong trailing after me.

  When I reached the third floor, I heard voices coming from Jackson’s room. I thought it was Jackson and Hector talking, but as I stepped into the room, I found someone else. “Simon,” I said, feeling my stomach lurch. “What are you doing here?”

  He patted Jackson on the shoulder. “Just checking on Jackson here.”

  Jackson arched an eyebrow suggestively. “He has news, Willow.”

  More news? I’d had my fill for one day. I handed Jackson the prescription and a glass of water. He opened the bottle and quickly downed two. I noticed a plate with half a garden burger on the night table. Someone had provided lunch.

  Simon sat on Hector’s bed, making himself at home. He wore tan shorts and a cool Greenport T-shirt with a big flounder on the front. With his sunglasses pushed on top of his head, he looked very L.A. “I’ve just made an offer on a house. It’s a waterfront property. Really sweet.”

  Wonderful. “Why are you buying a house here?”

  He stood and came over to me. “I’ve been so productive that my agent and I thought it was a good idea. My business manager agrees it’s a good investment. So I went for it. Isn’t that great?”

  “Where is the house, exactly?” I asked, hoping it was at least not in Greenport.

  “It’s on the Sound, on Moores Lane North, in Greenport, Willow,” Jackson said.

  Life was just getting better and better. It was not outside the realm of possibility that he had made this move to try and win me back. But I had moved on, with Jackson.

  “That’s why I called you,” he said, and put his arm around me. “Did you get my message?”

  “I’ve been a little busy,” I said, pulling away from him and moving closer to Jackson. “Actually, I need to talk to him, if you don’t mind.”

  “You need to talk about the big case? Are you two still working together?”

  “Yes, we are,” Jackson said, giving him a hard stare.

  Simon registered this, and his eyebrows arched like two apostrophes. “Oh, so you two—”

  “Are seeing each other, yes,” Jackson said, cutting him off. “So if you don’t mind.”

  “Actually, I do,” Simon said. “I mean, you may be a nice guy, but who knows you like I do, Willow?” he asked, turning to me. “You know what? I think maybe I should help you with this. You know how smart I am. Besides, it might make a terrific book.”

  “No, Simon,” I said, and went to the door. “Please excuse us now.”

  He took the not-so-subtle hint and walked over to me. “I’ll call you later,” he said, and then whispered in my ear, “I don’t give up that easily.”

  “Simon,” I said, gritting my teeth. “That’s really not necessary.”

  He kissed me on the cheek. “I want to.” He turned to Jackson. “I’m pulling for you, buddy.” He pushed past me and left.

  “Sorry he bothered you.”

  “He bothered you more than he bothered me. You okay?” He pulled me down next to him on the bed.

  “I guess. I should be used to his shenanigans by now, but he’s just so annoying,” I said. Not to mention that I didn’t need anything else stressing me out
right now.

  “Agreed,” Jackson said.

  I blew out a breath. “Let’s focus on the investigation.” I told him about McCarty’s call and the events of the morning, especially Tad.

  “He’s angry. And so are a lot of other people. With me sidelined, I really think you need to back off the case,” Jackson said.

  “You know I can’t do that,” I said, feeling frustrated. “I’m going to try to do some work. I’ll check on you in a bit.”

  “Willow, I want you to seriously think about letting this go,” Jackson said. “I’m worried about you.”

  “I promise you I won’t do anything rash. I just need to calm down. Work helps me relax.”

  He smiled at me. “Why don’t you try a nice cup of herbal tea?”

  I leaned down, gave him a kiss on the lips, and said, “Who’s the doctor here?”

  I took Jackson’s advice and brewed up a nice cup of ginkgo biloba tea to clear my mind before going into the office. Ginkgo biloba promotes circulation in the brain. This, in turn, improves brain function and also oxygenates the blood, which boosts memory. Plus, the antioxidants it contains reduce the damage from free radicals, causing aging. So all in all, a good tea to drink.

  I settled in at my desk and surfed the net for new research about the benefits of herbs, fruits, and vegetables and practices like yoga to blog about and worked on new questions and answers for the website. I also tried to flesh out an idea I had for a piece about natural remedies for dogs and cats. I’d use Qigong as my real-life example. But even with that brain-boosting tea, it was hard to concentrate. I picked Qigong’s red ball off the desk and threw it over to him. But it dropped in the recycling bin instead. I retrieved the ball and we had a little game of fetch in the office while I reviewed the case in my mind.

  When Qigong tired of the game, I went back to the computer and worked my way through the rest of the Fresh Face e-mails but didn’t find anything of importance. I rechecked all of Claire’s files again, too, but it was fruitless, so I moved on to bills that needed to be paid, including a new one with the balance due to Helen—which reminded me to call SAVES about her cats—and from other suppliers demanding payment.

  There was nothing to be done about the bills at the moment, so I turned my mind to the case again. What should my next step be? I thought about it for a moment, and then did a search for local AA meetings. The meeting Nick had mentioned was tonight. It might be a good idea to stop by and see what Gavin and Dan were up to.

  But first I checked in the kitchen for something for Jackson to eat. Luckily, we had plenty of chicken soup with garlic and ginger left. That would make a good start. I toasted up some sprouted-grain muffins and brought it all upstairs on a tray. I found Jackson sitting up in bed. His color had improved and he seemed more robust.

  “You look like you’re feeling better,” I said, handing him the tray.

  “I feel better,” he said. “It must have been that visit from your ex.” He gave me a sly look and tucked into the soup.

  “That must be it,” I said, sitting on Hector’s bed.

  Jackson glanced at me over the bowl of soup. “How did you make out?”

  I told him about my unsuccessful afternoon’s work. “I couldn’t find anything. It’s so frustrating.”

  “So what are you planning to do?” He bit into the muffin, slathered with butter.

  I sat up a little straighter. “What makes you think I’m planning something?”

  He rolled his eyes. “Please, I’m a trained detective. You’ve got an idea.”

  “I was thinking of going to the AA meeting tonight. Maybe I can find out more about Gavin and Dan. I still think they’re our best suspects.”

  “An AA meeting? Tonight?”

  “Yes.”

  Jackson took another bite of muffin. “That’s my home meeting.”

  I tried to keep my facial expression neutral.

  Jackson, though, looked surprised. “You knew I went to AA?”

  “Mike let it slip. But it’s no big deal. I know AA works for lots of people.”

  “Worked for me. After the accident, I kind of went down the tubes. AA helped get me back on track. But I don’t know what you’re going to find out about Gavin or Dan there. Besides, it could be dangerous. I’ll go instead.”

  “Danger is my middle name. You stay put.” I leaned over and kissed him. “But I will be careful.”

  I pulled into the parking lot of the Methodist church, parked between two VW Beetles, and headed around to the side entrance. The website said that this was an open AA meeting, which meant that anyone could attend, so I felt okay about being here but uneasy about Gavin and Dan. As I entered, I spotted them on the far side of the room in the back row. I didn’t see Nick, but I guessed that would have been too much to hope for. I’d have to give him time to realize he needed help.

  The room was full of men and women seated in rows of wooden chairs. At the front of the room were banners with the twelve steps and twelve traditions. The leader of the meeting sat at a table below the banners, AA’s Big Book in front of him. I slipped into a chair on the far side and slumped down in my seat, not wanting Gavin or Dan to see me, and turned off my cell phone.

  The leader started the meeting, and then people shared their experience, strength, and hope. Gavin and Dan stayed mum. An hour later, the meeting almost over, I slipped out and headed back to my car to wait. My plan was to follow them and see what happened.

  But as the two men crossed the parking lot, a police cruiser pulled in and stopped in front of my car. Detectives Coyle and Koren got out. I ducked down in my seat and tried to listen.

  “Gavin Milton, Dan Polumbo, you are under arrest,” Koren said.

  Thinking they were arresting them for Aunt Claire’s murder, I grabbed the door handle and got out of the car.

  “What’s this about?” Dan Polumbo said as Coyle clicked the cuffs on.

  “You know why we’re here,” Koren said.

  “This is total BS,” Gavin said as Coyle cuffed him as well.

  I went over to the four men. “What are you arresting them for? Aunt Claire’s murder?”

  “Dr. McQuade.” Detective Koren sighed. “This has nothing to do with you. Please step away.”

  “Claire?” Dan said, lurching for me, red-faced and angry. “You’re related to that woman who almost killed my son?”

  “You’ve got that all wrong,” I said. “My aunt did not do anything wrong. Your wife didn’t tell her about Tad’s asthma.”

  “Get her out of my face, Koren,” Polumbo said. “Or I’ll do something I might regret.”

  “Put them in the car, Coyle,” Koren said. He pulled me aside. “Why are you here?”

  “I thought maybe I could find something out about those two. Please tell me what’s happening! I assume the chief told you my concerns.”

  “Yes, he told me.” He blew out a breath, resigned. “Milton and Polumbo have been running a betting parlor out of Polly’s Peaceful Yoga and that new pet store on Front Street. They’ve been rotating locations.”

  I took this in, feeling stunned. So Milton and Polumbo were involved with the pet shop boys? Good news for the animal activists. And that’s what Janice’s payment to Gavin had been about, too. “Are Polly and Janice involved?”

  “No comment.”

  “But I need to know. Do you have any evidence connecting any of them to Aunt Claire’s murder? Did they shoot Jackson?”

  “I have no information on that yet,” Koren said. “But you need to stay out of this. Go home, Dr. McQuade.”

  “But . . .” I had so many questions that needed answers.

  Koren got into the passenger seat of the cruiser. “Good night, Dr. McQuade,” he said pointedly, closing the door. The car drove off, leaving me standing there, feeling frustrated.

  When I got home, Jackson’s door was partially open and I peeked in. If he was awake, I wanted to give him an update. He was snoring, so it would have to wait. Qigong spotted me, th
ough, and jumped off the bed. He followed me into Aunt Claire’s room, where I found a note from Allie saying that she and Hector had decided to run into New York for a new age expo featuring products they might want to sell to clients. Good idea. They’d stay the night with friends in Brooklyn.

  I changed into a T-shirt and shorts and snuggled under the sheets with Qigong at my feet and Ginger and Ginkgo at my back. I was more than ready for a good night’s sleep, but it would have been more fun to have Jackson with me.

  I woke up two hours later, when the door to my room opened. My heart started to beat wildly. Had Gavin and Dan been released and come back to seek revenge? But it was Jackson, who padded across the floor to the bed.

  “I thought you were sleeping,” I said. “You snore.”

  He rubbed his shoulder. “Pain woke me up. Since I was awake, I just wanted to check and make sure you were okay. How did it go?”

  I told him about the cops arresting Gavin and Dan and their connection to the pet shop boys.

  “Maybe they’re good for the murder, too,” Jackson said as he sat on the edge of the bed. Qigong jumped on my stomach and licked his face.

  “Maybe.”

  “Willow McQuade, what are you thinking?” He peered into my eyes.

  “My gut tells me this isn’t over. Not by a long shot.”

  Jackson thought about this. “For tonight it is.” He leaned over and kissed me. “We both need to rest,” he said, and then sat up and looked around the room. “Hey, where’s Allie?”

  “She and Hector went into New York for a new age expo.”

  “So Allie’s not here?”

  “No,” I said, putting my hand on his face. “Did you take something for the pain?”

  He climbed into bed with me and pulled me close. “I thought I’d try the natural approach first.”

  chapter twenty-six

  Dear Dr. McQuade,

  After I eat anything, especially chocolate or potato chips, I get terrible heartburn. What can I do to feel better?

  Signed,