Page 30 of Secrets in Calusa Cove

“Oh no.” The hostess covered her mouth. “You’re not going to make a scene, are ya? Should I call Paul?”

“That won’t be necessary,” Dawson said. “I just need to ask those two over there a few questions.” He waggled his fingers and then zigzagged through the crowd, knowing full well that the hostess was already texting with the owner. It didn’t matter. Dawson had a good feeling about how this was going to go down.

“Hello, James. Eliot.” Dawson pushed his way through a couple of men he didn’t know and didn’t care to know, but he took full note of what they looked like and were wearing.

Remy had pulled out his notebook and pen.

God bless that man.

“Jesus Christ,” Eliot said. “Small-town cops and their harassment. Should I call my lawyer?”

“Is Paul still representing you for what happened here?” Dawson asked, but he didn’t really care about the answer. “If you call him, or any other lawyer, we’ll have to take this down to the station. Do you really want to do that? Or do you want to answer my questions?”

“Fine. Fire away.” James waved his hand dismissively.

“Where were you today during the Python Challenge?” Dawson asked.

“I spent most of it in the cabin at your establishment,” Eliot said, “doing paperwork while James here met with a client down the road at Bowmen’s Marina.” He smiled as if he’d won the spelling bee.

Jerk.

“Does your client have a name? Mind if I have a little chat with him?” Dawson asked.

“I’m happy to give you his contact information, but sorry to say, he’s already left town, heading over to St. Augustine.” Eliot shrugged, then raised his beer to his lips.

“You can give my colleague here that information.” Dawson jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Now, how about you tell me how some of your dynamite landed in Audra McCain’s boat.”

Eliot set his beer a little too aggressively on the table. He wiped his lips. “First, I don’t know anyone by that name. Second, you have all my dynamite. If you don’t, someone took it from your possession. Not mine.”

Yeah, that’s about how Dawson had thought that would go. If not that direction, then he figured Eliot and James would accuse Audra of stealing it. Either way, they would play dumb.

For now, Dawson wouldn’t press that too hard.

“Do you two boys have any plans on leaving town?” Dawson asked.

“Are you suggesting we can’t?” James asked.

“Nope.” Dawson shook his head. “Not as long as you show up for your court date. But I’d still like to know as I have some concern about how this dynamite ended up on a participant’s boat.”

Both Eliot and James laughed.

“Seriously?” James shook his head. “I think it’s obvious. Audra? Was that her name?”

As if he didn’t actually know. But Dawson would let that one slide, too.

“She had to have stolen it,” James said. “Fucking incompetent small-town cops. Have to do their jobs for them, too.”

"We’ll be in touch,” Remy said with a stern voice that Dawson didn’t hear too often. He folded his notebook and shoved it in his pocket. “Watch how many you boys have of those tonight.” He waved his hand over the pitcher of beer. “I’d hate to have to give you a DUI…on top of the charges my chief here has already arrested you for.” Remy turned on his heel and took off toward the door—or more like marched.

Dawson was two steps behind him. He had to practically jog to keep up.

“Care to tell me what set you off back there?” he asked Remy once they were standing by his patrol car.

“Audra’s a lot of things. She’ll get in your face, especially when she believes she’s right. She doesn’t know how to back down from a fight, even when it’s for her own damn good. But one thing I do know about that wild young lady is that she’s always had an affection for this town. For the Everglades. For the history of it all. It’s a deep connection that she got from her grandmother, who was a member of the same Seminole tribe my grandparents are from.” Remy waved his hand over his head. “That red hair of hers makes her unique in our culture. Not a swamp monster. Not a witch. But someone grounded in earth and fire. A deep soulful connection that we revere.”

“Was that something that Audra was taught as a child?”

Remy stared at the sky and sighed. “Her mother was raised in the white man’s world. It wasn’t until she became pregnant with Audra that she returned to her Native American roots. Her pregnancy was hard. Audra was born early, and Victor had already begun to spiral into his mental illness.” Remy wiggled his finger. “And that’s what everyone in this town needs to remember. But we’re getting sidetracked.” Remy rubbed his jaw. “Elana, Audra’s mother, was sick for most of Audra’s early childhood. She did her best to teach Audra our ways. Our connection to the Everglades. What others see as witchcraft, we see as a way to honor what the gods and spirits have given us. But people like Paul perpetuate the concept that Victor was a crackpot, and Audra was a chip off the old block.” Remy laughed. “The older she got, the more she liked to use being called an Owl Witch to keep people away. But Audra would never steal dynamite. She would have no use for it. She knows how to use a gun. She’s probably a better shot than me, but she’d rather snag a rattler with her bare hands than kill the critter.”

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