A Justified Murder (Medlar Mystery 2)

“If we had those brats come here, we’d be telling the town that we haven’t stopped working on the case,” Jack said. “And we’d be telling whoever may or may not have gone after Captain Dakon that we are actively involved.”

“Too bad we can’t do something to make them climb out their unbarred windows,” Kate said. “Not our fault that they showed up here. Ha ha.”

“We could set a giant trap,” Jack said.

“Bait it with the juiciest gossip they’ve ever heard,” Sara said.

Kate looked at Jack. “We could use you as bait. The girls seemed to want you more than the latest Prada bag.” She waited for Jack to make his usually cutting reply, but instead, his eyes widened. “What is it?”

“Bait,” Jack said.

“The boys,” Sara said.

“Okay, so now I’m feeling left out. What are you talking about?”

Sara stood up and began cleaning the table. “If we could meet with the girls for something far removed from a murder, maybe we wouldn’t set off any alarms.”

Jack began to help put things away. “We’d say the case is closed. Done. Nothing more for us to do. We’d—as they say—get on with our lives.”

“But we’d talk to the girls in secret.” Sara smiled at Jack. “Think we can do it? Will they come?”

“Sure. But it’ll cost me.”

“Give them your Harley.”

“Over my dead body,” Jack said.

“Who?!” Kate shouted. She was still sitting and looking up at them.

“Mike,” Jack said.

“Max,” Sara said.

Kate squinted her eyes at them and they sat back down.

Sara spoke first. “Jack has some sixteen-year-old cousins who—”

“I told you I have lots of relatives,” he said. “Sorry, go on.”

“The boys are so beautiful they make Jack look like a troll.”

Kate looked at him, expecting a protest, but there was none. Instead, he nodded in agreement.

“We’ll just get them to come stay with us and ask those girls to show him around,” Sara said.

“And you think these kids will come?”

“We Wyatts are a mercenary lot. Offer them enough and they’ll move in with us.”

* * *

Jack had to pay a heavy bribe to get the boys to come to Lachlan. They knew their cousin wanted something big so they made the most of it. The negotiation went on for thirty minutes. New iPhones and iPads, of course. Max wanted to work on Jack’s construction crew during the summer. Mike wanted a summer survival camp.

Jack agreed to it all. Since the boys had only their learning permits, their mom gladly volunteered to drive them down from Sarasota that night. She said she’d stay in a hotel, see a movie, eat meals in peace, go shopping, then pick them up on Thursday morning.

“That should be enough time,” he said when he hung up.

“I’d say that two hours would do it,” Sara said.