Page 19 of Secrets in Calusa Cove

“You were there?”

“No,” Anna said, “but Mo was. He was heading out to go fishing with some buddies. He said she was exhausted, dazed, and confused. She wasn’t making much sense either. People misconstrued that she was speaking in tongues. Her clothes were covered in blood.” Anna lowered her chin. “Both hers and Victor’s blood. That’s why everyone in this town believes he’s dead, not missing.”

“But this file was sent to the FBI’s missing person division. Why?”

“No body. The evidence was circumstantial against Audra, and to be honest, Trip never believed she did it and wanted to drive that point home to everyone. He wanted to protect her. However, he wasn’t sold it was an accident, and there was a lot of pressure on him from this town to arrest someone, which was odd because, in general, most thought Victor was a fly who needed swatting. Sending that file to the Feds was his way of shutting the town up and getting help, but it went nowhere. They shipped it right back to us,” she said. “It added fuel to the fire when it came to Audra.”

“Because the Feds believed she did it or because the town wanted blood?”

“The FBI didn’t really give much of an opinion, but the town certainly has one. When you look at that file, it’s hard not to think Audra either did it or knows something.” Anna shrugged. “But again, there wasn’t enough evidence for Trip to make an arrest, and one evening, Audra waltzed into this station and asked him what would happen if she left town.”

“Jesus. What did he say?”

“He told her it would be a stupid idea. That it would make her look guilty as hell, but that he was filing it as an accident with a note that, technically, Victor was a missing person.”

Dawson flipped open the file and lifted the top page. “This report is only a few pages long.”

“I’m well aware since I printed it out for you.” She laughed. “It has our one-page report, a forensic report with the blood analysis, a two-page report regarding Audra and her wounds, the damage assessment of the boat, and the final note about it being an accident.”

Dawson rubbed his neck. “I’m really confused here. If Trip thought something nefarious happened out there, why the hell did he button this up, and who were his suspects?”

“Anyone and everyone in this town could’ve been a suspect. Even those who considered Victor a friend had a beef with the man, but nothing strong enough to scream murder. As to the second part of that question…well, Trip cared about Audra and wanted her to have peace in this town. The investigation might be bad police work, but this is a small town, and sometimes, we do things backward. Besides, Trip looked into it every chance he got,” Anna said. “He thought Victor was off his rocker, and to be honest, Victor drove Trip crazy with his conspiracy theories, right down to the one where there were pirates in the swamp. But Trip was a good man. He went out there looking for them, and you know what?”

“He never found them.”

“That’s right.” Anna nodded. “What you have to understand about Victor was the man was crazy. Harmless, but a loon. I always felt bad for Audra. I used to babysit her, especially after her mom died. That’s when Victor really started to go off the rails. Audra was always more like her dad than her mom.” Anna raised her hand. “I don’t mean crazy, not like Victor, but that girl was full of piss and vinegar and always trying to prove herself. She wrestled gators and snakes. Did crazy shit. Anyway, once she ran off like she was guilty, Trip wanted to clear her name—in case she ever came back—and bless his soul, he tried.”

“Dumb question here,” Dawson said. “If he looked into all this, why didn’t he keep a file on it somewhere?”

“Oh, he did. And not just about Victor’s case, but about other issues this town faced.” She leaned closer. “And people. Trip was weird like that. He preferred to keep a notebook full of personal sidenotes. Things that he couldn’t put in an official file.”

“Jesus. Where the fuck is it? I want to see that.”

“No idea,” Anna admitted. “When Trevor took office, it was after his father passed, and trust me, I looked for his father’s personal files. Near the end, there was tension between Trip and his son. I don’t think Trip would’ve wanted Trevor to have his notebook, but that’s me being my normal suspicious self.”

“Do you think his son would’ve destroyed it for some reason?” Dawson scanned the words on the page, which were few—just your standard cop write-up of events—and nothing jumped out at him.

“I wouldn’t put anything past Trevor.”

“Could Trevor have had anything to do with Victor going missing? Were they enemies? Have any run-ins?”

“Everyone had run-ins with Victor. He was a cross between Jenkins and Cooney, only Victor didn’t wave weapons around. He didn’t threaten to hurt anyone. But he would get in your face if he thought you were doing something wrong or if he believed you crossed him. Victor believed a lot of people in this town had done him wrong at one point or another. He was more talk than action and more concerned about his conspiracies than anything else. As far as Trevor goes, he wasn’t a cop when Victor disappeared, but he didn’t like the old man, and he didn’t like Audra.”

“Why not?”

“Because she stood up for herself. She might have been younger, but she showed him up more than once, and Trevor always believed a woman’s place is behind her man, not out in the swamp.”

“Sexist asshole,” Dawson muttered. “I can’t stand men like that.”

“Anyway, Trevor absolutely believed Audra killed him. I once heard him discussing it with Trip, telling his dad he should arrest her and then find the evidence.”

Dawson had more questions now than when he’d first learned of Victor and his sexy, redheaded daughter. There were so many questions that there was no way he could let this drop.

The front door flew open, and Paul Massey strolled in.

“Hello, Dawson.” Paul planted his hands on his hips. He wore dirty jeans and a long-sleeved plaid shirt, and he smelled like the swamp. “You had to bring me in during the middle of the challenge.”

“I didn’t call you.” He handed the file to Anna, strolled around her desk, and leaned against the counter. “But I’m guessing the two guys I arrested did?”

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