Read Jason Deas - Benny James 03 - Brushed Away for Free Online Page B

see?” Vernon asked.
    “I do and I’m wondering the same thing you are.”
    Tied to the side of Rene’s boat was a speed boat, pointing outward, with mud covering the bow. Benny eyed the vessel and surmised it was an incredibly expensive boat. The mud on the bow fit exactly what Benny and Vernon were looking for. Benny and Vernon eyed each other as their faces turned solemn.
    Benny tied the boat up in one of the slips designated for visitors. He got out of the boat first and steadied it as Vernon jumped from the boat to the dock. Benny wanted to say something but held his tongue as he was glad Vernon didn’t end up in the water.
    As they neared the row of boats where Rene’s was docked, Benny threw his arm out in front of Vernon and pulled him back and out of sight.
    “What?” Vernon asked.
    “See the boat moving?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Somebody heavy is walking. Maybe they’re leaving.”
    “If we walk up to the front door and knock we can see who is in there with her,” Vernon said.
    “Yes we can. But if we see them leave on their own and she doesn’t tell us they were there, we catch her in a lie.”
    “What does she have to lie about?”
    “That’s what we’re trying to find out.”
    “Are you suspicious of everybody?”
    “Yep,” Benny said. “Even you.”
    Vernon gave him a look.
    “Oh, that’s right, you don’t know anything about boats. You can’t be the person who drove the boat and parked it on the sand.”
    “I’ve created a pretty good alibi for myself, huh?”
    “You’re a genius.”
    The sound of a door opening pushed the men back and out of sight. A loud voice echoed through the covered slips, and Benny recognized the voice as the owner of the marina, Big E. He had an unmistakable lazy southern drawl. A moment later, Big E emerged from the sailboat and laughed. He walked around to the back of Rene’s sailboat and boarded his speedboat. He said something else which Benny and Vernon could not quite make out, fired up his boat, and made some waves.  Rene went back inside her sailboat and shut the door.
    “Let’s go,” Vernon said.
    “No. We don’t want her to know we saw him leave. Let’s wait a few minutes.”
    “You seriously think she may have had something to do with this?”
    “I don’t know, but I learned this lesson the hard way, remember?”
    “Oh yeah.”
    Once upon a time, Benny had been king of the FBI. He’d been investigating a case in which the dean of a prominent university was murdered. A letter opener had been inserted into his heart. Benny was the lead investigator. He put himself in charge of investigating the dean’s daughter. As it all turned out, they got involved romantically, and she wound up being the one responsible for the murder. Oops.
    “Let’s wait five minutes,” Benny suggested.
    “OK. Do you know Big E personally?”
    “I’ve talked to him a couple of times. He’s what I call ‘Old Boy Money.’”
    “What does that mean?”
    “His parents and grandparents owned a lot of the land around the lake before it was a popular place. They sold it a little bit at a time as they needed the cash. As you can imagine, as time went by, the prices climbed. Lakefront property is expensive and they owned almost half of the land that surrounded this lake. When the grandparents died, they passed it on to Big E’s parents and as they have aged it seems as though he’s inherited the kingdom. He has a brother, but he’s in a penitentiary in Colorado. They’ve sold most of the land beside the marina and the surrounding thirty acres. He’s got that in his back pocket if he ever needs some cash, but the rents from the slips bring in major cash, I imagine. How come you don’t know him? Seems like he would have needed you at some point”
    “His marina is in a different county.”
    “That’s right.”
    “Can we go now?”
    “I’ll follow you,” Benny said.
    Vernon knocked on Rene’s door after carefully climbing aboard. She answered with wide