Permanent Sunset (6 page)

Within three minutes, they were all herded into two taxis. Henry and Gavin got into one, which would drop them at the Ten Villas van parked on Gifft Hill outside of Henry’s condo. Henry would then drive Gavin to the Westin, where he could be reunited with Lisa and his daughters at his mother’s unit.

Sabrina was pleased at how quickly she and Henry had been able to pull a plan of sorts together. They’d worked together so well when establishing Ten Villas that Sabrina had been surprised by their conflict over whether to add Villa Nirvana to their roster. Now she felt they were back in sync again and could manage this crisis unified.

She and the remainder of the Keating family plus the company CFO were now headed in the second taxi to Ten Villas’ only vacant house. Villa Bella Vista was located high atop Bordeaux Mountain, the highest point on St. John. Deep in the rainforest, Bordeaux had a mystical feel to it. Driving under the heavy shelter of locust, hog plum, and
yellow prickle trees, climbing nearly to the peak to arrive at Bella Vista, Sabrina always felt as if she had entered the world of the fairy tales of her youth. Surely, this was the land of Hansel and Gretel.

The Keating clan sat in silence as Sabrina made phone calls along the way. Zeus restaurant would deliver some of the food to Villa Nirvana to keep Detective Hodge and his crew happy, but the remainder would be brought to Bella Vista, where she and Henry could at least feed the miserable Keatings. Henry would join her after dropping off ghastly Gavin, as Sabrina was beginning to think of him. He would also grab the lost-and-found pile and bring it along for the family.

Sabrina had been ready to chuck the pile of clothing and other items guests had left behind and didn’t want to pay to have shipped back to them, but Henry’s experience with the airlines paid off again. “Are you kidding me? Do you know how often we’ll have guests arrive who will have had the airlines lose their luggage? They’ll be thrilled with a few togs to see them through until their bags have been located or they can go shopping.”

Pulling into the shaded circular driveway, Sabrina was surprised to hear the sound of splashing. The villa was supposed to be vacant. She knew it had been cleaned the day before after a party of eight returned home to Toronto, so there shouldn’t be any Ten Villa staff present. Besides, she’d put everyone on duty at the wedding extravaganza.

While the Keatings disembarked from the taxi, Sabrina strode up the walkway, which was bordered on each side by shaded gardens, took her keys off her belt, and opened the door to the large great room with its cathedral ceiling. She continued to walk through toward the French doors at the rear of the room that led to the pool overlooking the British Virgin Islands. The majestic view was so incredible that she had often thought it unreal.

But the view she was treated to at that moment wasn’t quite as majestic, nor was it unreal—two plentiful, bare white asses bounding out of the pool, heading through the gate and onto a path, which eventually led back to the road.

“What the hell was that?” Sean asked, coming up behind Sabrina.

“Oh dear lord,” Kate said.

“I told you we should have kept our business on the mainland, Jack” Paul Blanchard sounded tired and grouchy.

“For once, I feel shapely,” Heather said, chuckling.

Sabrina didn’t bother trying to chase the duo, one female and the other clearly male from the sight of his bouncing parts, even from the rear. Why did this lunacy have to happen today? But maybe some comic relief was just what was needed.

“Meet the skinny-dippers, folks. They check out the villa rental schedules online to see which are occupied and hit the pools where no one is staying and skinny-dip, or as some have said, ‘chunky-dunk.’ No one knows who they are and it’s driving everyone crazy. I’ll bet they
left their signature,” Sabrina said, coming closer to the pool and pointing to a floating red hibiscus.

Normally, this would be when Sabrina would show guests around the home and help them with their luggage. But there was no protocol for what to do when guests were displaced from a villa where a murder had occurred. She had no food to offer, but she was sure there was a stash of alcohol in the bar left over from the previous guests. There always was. You just never knew what it would consist of. Definitely time to offer drinks, although it could hardly be called “happy hour.”

“Can I offer everyone a drink while we wait for the food to arrive?”

No one declined, so Sabrina played bartender, fixing the drinks with what she had on hand. She was delighted to find decent scotch and vodka along with the usual vacationer’s choices: banana rum, guavaberry vodka, and anything Kenny Chesney had ever been reported to sip while on island.

“Please join us, Sabrina,” Kate said.

“Of course. You’ve had a difficult day too, dear,” Jack said.

Sabrina poured herself a stiff vodka on the rocks, not missing the lemon slice she normally insisted on. Sabrina had never sat in the late afternoon sun in the great room of Bella Vista. She rarely sat in any of the Ten Villas, always preoccupied with details related to their guests’ arrivals and departures. Now she could appreciate the design of the
house, the subtlety of the deep-mahogany-trimmed walls coupled with couches and chairs covered with contrasting shades of green plant prints that gave the impression you were sitting in the cool of a garden, even as the last of the tropical sun beat down through the skylights. Sitting in a chair opposite Paul Blanchard, she realized they hadn’t been formally introduced.

“Mr. Blanchard, I know this is a little late, but I’m Sabrina Salter. We were never actually introduced. I only met the family.”

“Oh, but I am family. Jack and I are first cousins,” Paul said, after taking a slug of Scotch half the size of the tumbler.

“Our mothers were sisters,” Jack said, sounding like the drink was doing its magic.

This, Sabrina realized, was an opportunity for her to learn more about the Keating family and, more importantly, Elena. If it were true that Elena had been murdered, it would mean Sabrina had the misfortune of finding two homicide victims within several months, which not only would be bad for business but also might make her a target in the media. She needed to learn more about the people in Elena’s life so she could fit the pieces together and figure out how and why she was killed. She had learned from her experience when Carter Johnson was murdered that tiny pieces of information join together to form a mosaic that would eventually lead to the killer.

The sun was fading and would soon begin to set, which would probably remind Sean about the wedding
that should be taking place. Sabrina needed to engage the family in conversation quickly before he became emotional again. Neil was so slick at getting information out of people that they never realized they were divulging what they thought were their well-kept secrets. Henry was a little less adroit, but his directness had a charm of its own. Sabrina didn’t think she had the social skills to seduce information from these people, who had far more poise than she could ever hope for. But she plunged in any way.

“Sean, I really haven’t had a chance to say how sorry I am about what happened to Elena. This must be awful for you. I only met her a few times, so I don’t really know what she was like,” Sabrina said, feeling guilty for her disingenuousness. She could see Kate glancing at Sean to monitor his reaction. Sometimes it helped people to talk about lost ones.

“Smartest woman I ever met. But she’s the one who taught me that brains are not enough. You have to have vision, too. That’s what I needed help with. Hell, before her, I was just trying to find prime locations where Keating Construction could build parking garages with as many spaces as could fit. They had about as much charm as stacked plastic ice cube trays. Elena asked tough questions. Did I want parking garages to be my legacy? I never even thought about having a legacy until her.”

“There’s nothing wrong with building parking garages, Sean. People need places to park their cars, right,
Jack?” Paul said, emptying his tumbler and heading over to the bar to help himself to a refill.

“Yes, we’ve made a damn good living building garages. But Elena did bring some fresh thinking to the company, including recognizing the tax advantages of moving our headquarters from San Francisco to St. Thomas,” Jack said.

“She was brilliant. She went to Babson undergraduate and Harvard Business School for her MBA. Here I was, barely able to get out of Golden Gate University with an undergraduate degree. I couldn’t believe she was interested in me. We were so lucky when she decided to join the company,” Sean said. Sabrina took his empty glass with hers and headed to the bar for refills.

“I think she was the lucky one,” Heather said. “You’re smart, adorable, and totally charming, baby brother. No, Elena was getting herself a good deal between you as a husband and becoming a permanent part of the company.”

“Those are really great schools she attended. Babson and Harvard Business. I’m from Boston originally, and I know you don’t get better than that. I couldn’t help but hear she came from a poor childhood in Puerto Rico. She must have gotten good scholarships,” Sabrina said, marveling that she was actually getting information. She needed to find out as much as possible about Elena so this story would be over before it ever got out and hot.

“She did. She grew up in the Louis Llorens Torres
caserio
, the absolute worst project in Puerto Rico. When she was a teenager, Elena’s family died in an explosion set off
by some drug lords after a deal with someone in her building went sour. The only reason she escaped was that she was staying with a classmate in another part of the
caserio
doing a school project. She said that if she hadn’t been orphaned in that fire, she never would have gotten the scholarship to a private girls’ academy, which ended up being her ticket to Babson and beyond,” Sean said, accepting his refilled glass back from Sabrina.

“Maybe we can establish a scholarship fund in her memory, dear,” Kate said softly.

“Of course we can. That would be a lovely tribute,” Jack said, in an obvious effort to comfort his grieving son.

Sean stood and rushed over to the French doors, which overlooked the tropical shade garden at the front of the house. He pulled open the glass doors, letting the fragrance from the jasmine and gardenia plants rush in.

“But I don’t want to start a scholarship fund. I want to be standing in this sunset at Villa Nirvana marrying Elena. I don’t want her to be dead. I don’t ever want to see another sunset without her,” Sean said, bending over in a wail that Sabrina felt in her chest.

Kate and Jack rushed to Sean, each taking one of his arms.

“Let me show you a room where Sean can lie down and get some rest,” Sabrina said, rising to lead them off to the bedroom closest to the great room. The sound of a sobbing man suffering a permanent sunset filled her ears and heart as the real sun sank below the horizon.

Henry cursed under his breath when he saw that he and Gavin had drawn a lime-green safari cab named “Mr. Terrific,” driven by the most obnoxious cab driver on island, which was quite a distinction given the tight competition. Cutthroat, aggressive, and rude, cab drivers seemed to learn their manners from tourists and then some.

“Good afternoon,” Henry greeted Mr. Terrific with the customary greeting on island. “Hi” and even “hello” were not considered proper. “Good morning,” “good afternoon,” “good day,” and “good evening” were what worked on St. John. Mr. Terrific didn’t bother to respond. Gavin skipped the greeting part all together.

Two miles later, Henry emerged from the back of the cab at Trade Wind Estates.

“Thank you,” Henry said, stepping down from the open-air seat.

“That will be fifteen dollars,” Mr. Terrific said.

“We already paid you in advance,” Henry started toward the gate to his condo community.

“That was for the island tour. This was a transport.” Mr. Terrific pointed his index finger at Henry.

“The island tour would have taken you two hours. All you did was drive us two miles for five minutes.” Henry looked over at Gavin, who had a smirk on his face. Henry couldn’t tell who Gavin was rooting for.

Then Mr. Terrific started with the f-bombs for which he was famous. The litany continued growing louder and louder even as Henry peeled money from his wallet before the neighbors came out and he got thrown out of his place by the condo association.

Mr. Terrific peeled out of the condo entrance while uttering a new string of expletives.

“Don’t you have somewhere else I can stay? It’s going to be awfully crowded there with the girls and Lisa,” Gavin said as Henry hit the code to open the gate to his complex on Gifft Hill.

“No, we’re full. And so are the Westin and Caneel Bay, mostly because of the wedding. We’re lucky to have Bella Vista for the rest of the family. Besides, won’t your family want you with them during such a difficult time? Elena’s death has to be a shock for everyone.” Henry led Gavin up a slight hill to his unit, where the Ten Villa van awaited them. He hadn’t liked Gavin from the first time he met him, when Gavin arrived by helicopter two days before at
Villa Nirvana. Seeing the bruises on Lisa’s arms this morning didn’t improve Henry’s opinion of him.

“Our bags are in the rear,” Gavin had told him, ignoring Henry’s “Welcome to St. John” greeting. Gavin had gotten off the helicopter without bothering to assist Lisa or his three little girls.

“They’ll be fine. The kids barely knew her. Lisa thought she was cold. My mother only met her once. I’m the only one who really knew Elena.”

Henry let Gavin into the van, starting the ignition and getting the air conditioning going. The late afternoon sun was relentless, and Gavin was definitely the kind of guy who didn’t like to sweat.

“So how well did you know Elena? Did you work with her at the company?”

“I’m the one who hired her. I knew she had what the company needed the moment I met her,” Gavin said. Henry was surprised to detect a note of sadness in his voice, although Gavin was probably mourning not Elena but her value to the business.

“Where did you find her?”

“We met at a business conference about exploring borders for companies looking to expand. She had some great ideas. Actually, in many ways, they were quite simple, so much so that they were easy to overlook,” Gavin said, as if off in another world. The incongruity between Gavin’s callous initial reaction to Elena’s death and now his near
reverence for her business acumen confused Henry. The guy was odd, at best.

“So how is it your mother came to St. John if she wasn’t invited to the wedding?” Henry asked, knowing it was a question Gavin probably wouldn’t like, but not really caring much about what he thought at this point.

Gavin surprised him by chuckling.

“One thing I do know, Henry, is this—I have no idea why my mother does anything.”

They pulled into the Westin complex, stopping at the gatehouse to find out where Anneka’s unit was. Henry stopped at the curb outside of the condo and got out of the van to properly dispose of his human cargo. Gavin was about his age, Henry figured, but they had absolutely nothing in common, and he had no desire to spend more than another second with the man.

“There you go, Gavin. We’ll be in touch about what happens next and when you can get your stuff out of Nirvana,” Henry said, opening Gavin’s door.

Gavin stepped out and reached over the door to pluck a piece of paper from under the van’s windshield wiper.

“Looks like you got yourself a ticket somewhere, Henry,” Gavin said, giving him a smug smile and handing him a scrap of yellow paper.

Henry stepped back into the van, wondering what he’d done to earn the ticket, especially one he hadn’t noticed. He and Sabrina had been careful not to get tickets because they were very expensive on island and almost impossible
to appeal in Superior Court, but they had gotten a few unavoidable ones that cost them about seventy-five dollars each. This one didn’t look anything like the others he’d gotten. Henry unfolded the ticket to see it wasn’t a ticket at all.