The Crystal Pelican by Gregory Payette

Author:Gregory Payette
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: private investigator mystery series, mystery books, mystery series, florida crime series, private investigator, clean mystery series, cozy
Publisher: 8 Flags Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2019-12-23T00:00:00+00:00

I SAT AT THE BAR FOR a quick drink but to also talk to Billy. He was one of those people you could talk to. And he’d actually listen. And when asked—only when asked—he’d give you his advice. And it was usually pretty good.

“Didn’t see you upstairs this morning,” he said as he poured Jack into my glass.

“Just got back from the detention center,” I said. “Philip’s brother Frank got arrested for stealing his neighbor’s car.”

“He stole his neighbor’s car?”

I nodded. “He used the word ‘borrowed’ but that’s not the way I saw it. The judge won’t see it that way either, unless the woman decides to drop the charges for some reason.” I sipped my drink. “He did it right in front of me, so I could help put him away for a bit if I wanted to.”

“Why wouldn’t you?”

“I went there to see what he knows about Philip. And about this clown Charles Weiss.”

“Frank’s the one who pulled the gun on you?”

I had my glass up under my mouth. “Yeah, that was Frank.”

Billy poured four drafts of beer from the tap, held all four mugs together and carried them across the bar without spilling a drop.

He walked back over and leaned with his hands down on the bar in front of me. “But he’s not the one who shot you?”

“I don’t think so.”

“No leads yet on who did?”

I shook my head. “Not yet.”

Billy crouched down behind the bar and came up with an unopened bottle of Jack, cracked the top and put it up on the shelf behind the bar. “Did you meet your friend last night?” he said.

“Kathleen?” I nodded. “She’s married.”

“Oh.”

I lifted my glass. “Separated, I guess. But her husband knows about me.”

“She said that?”

I nodded. “Alex thinks I’m being paranoid, but there’s a little part of me wonders if this had something to do with me being shot.”

“You mean, it might not be connected to Philip?” Billy tilted his head a bit. “Really?”

I shrugged my shoulder. “I don’t know. I was sure it had to do with Philip. I mean, why would the husband show up out in Neptune Beach, like I’m ever out there...”

“I’d have to side with Alex. You’re being paranoid.”

“Then the boat blows up...I start to wonder, maybe—”

“Henry, they kidnapped his fiancé. Are you trying to say the explosion’s not related?”

I felt my face get twisted. “A coincidence?”

Billy shook his head, pulled the towel from over his shoulder and wiped out the glasses he pulled from the dishwasher behind the bar. He nodded toward my empty glass. “Another?”

I pushed my glass forward.

Chloe—Billy’s most loyal employee who he considers family—walked in from the kitchen, tying her smock around her waist. “Sorry I’m late,” she said, seeming out of breath. “Hey Henry.” She gave me a big smile.

Chloe had recently graduated from college, but kept working for Billy. She was smart. But like Billy, she enjoyed being behind the bar. It didn’t hurt that her boyfriend, Jake, was in charge of the kitchen.

“Henry, someone was in here looking for you a couple of days ago.

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