“Why?”
“She’s not a bad person.”
“I know.” He squeezed her arm. “It’s clear that this is bigger than Sheryl. I think the Saving Tomorrow Initiative was involved.”
Mel brushed her hair back and started to get up. He pulled her down.
“Where are you going?”
“I should get back to work.”
“No. Stay here.”
“Thank you for telling me what happened.”
“I’m sorry I told you. I didn’t want to get you involved.”
“I’m glad you did.”
“To be honest, I am too. We’ll figure out what happened.”
“It will connect.”
He thought of something to say. It was corny. Sappy. It would scare her off. Make her reconsider and see him for what he was. But he still tasted the orange. He still had her in his arms, for now. Why not say it?
“It will connect,” he said. “But I’m glad we did already.”
She laughed a little and rolled her eyes. But then she put her hand on the back of his neck again. Softly, they kissed in the middle of the beach, in the middle of the day.
CHAPTER 32
“Coconut! It’s our old friend Jacob! Be nice!”
The dog scampered around Jerry Rubenstein, wrapping the leash around his body like string tied around a Christmas tree. He was small at the top and big at the base. He laughed and untangled himself from the leash.
“He loves to put daddy in a leash, don’t you Coconut?”
The dog sniffed Jake’s feet and barked.
“I guess that’s a yes.”
“Come inside.”
Jerry guided him inside the office. A portrait five feet high and five feet wide was hanging over a large wooden desk. Jake stared until Jerry saw where he was looking.
“Do you like it?”
“I’ve never seen such a large portrait of a dog.”
“That’s Coconut I. Coconut II’s mommy. Isn’t that right, Coconut?”
The dog looked at the portrait and barked a few times. He looked almost identical to the dog in the painting. Jake laughed a little.
“You love dogs, Jerry. Don’t you?”
“They love me. I just give it back.”
He laughed and clapped Jake on the back. The bruises hurt a little, but they didn’t hurt as much as they would have the day before. Jake started walking toward the chair in front of the desk, but Jerry directed him to a couch and chair on the other side of the room.
“We have to be able to relax. We’re having a conversation, not making a deal.”
They sat down. Jake quickly. Jerry took a little longer. The dog jumped up on the couch and onto Jerry’s lap. He started petting it absentmindedly.
“We enjoyed the article about the Palmstead Homes.”
“You did?”
“Immensely. Thank you for writing it.”
“My editor cut it down a little. But it stayed mostly intact.”
“Will you be talking to Simeon?”
“Oh, we already spoke a while ago. I interviewed him over lunch.”
“Did it go well?”
He’d told Simeon Rothschild that his new name was Harold Longwood.
“It went well enough.”
“That’s good.” Jerry leaned forward, depressing the cushions on the large couch. “Jake, I don’t mean to be impolite. But I can’t help but notice your face.”
A day later the marks had just started to fade. He knew they wouldn’t be gone for a while.
“Right.” He touched a bruise. “In some ways, that’s what I wanted to speak with you about. I’m trying to get to the bottom of something. It doesn’t involve you in any way. But I need someone who’s a decent source.”
“I see. Is what we say today off the record?”
“Of course.”
“Then I’d be happy to tell you anything. What happened?”
Jake touched another one of the bruises. He knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t help himself.
“I’m starting to learn about the Saving Tomorrow Initiative.”
“Did they do this to you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why not?”
“Because I didn’t see who attacked me. Even if I did, I don’t think that I’d know what party was responsible.”
“They are definitely radical enough.”
“Do you know anything about them?”
He stroked his chin and then pet the dog with the same hand. Both of them looked concerned.
“Well, they’re new. I’d never heard of them before the past few months, so I don’t know much. To be honest, Coconut and I only seem to hear bad things about the group. Every time we walk around one of the Palmstead communities, someone tells us about a new outrageous commercial. Always complaints. Everyone thinks they are overboard in their rhetoric.”
“And you don’t have an opinion?”
“We’re looking at expanding into some new regions outside of Sarasota. So we don’t have a dog in the fight, do we Coconut?”
The dog tilted his head and grabbed at the couch’s fabric with a paw. Jake followed up.
“So most people don’t approve of their message?”
“I think they would approve of the message. Before this group came around, most people wanted to save the wetlands from development. But now I think that those commercials have turned people against the cause. Before them, people were seriously considering what they wanted to do about the wetlands. But this group acts so outlandishly that it’s hard for anyone to agree.”
“I see.”
“I mean, can you take them seriously based on their commercials? Or if they possibly attacked you?”
“No. I can’t respect them, that’s certain.”
“Exactly. Their techniques aren’t appropriate to their audience. The people who live here appreciate respect, not dogma. They’ve got time to think about the issues, and they don’t want to be talked down to.”
Jake rubbed his shoulders with his hands.
“It’s just all so bizarre that any of this is happening.”
“It is.” The dog began to burrow between two cushions, and Jerry gently pulled him out. “How did you start investigating this group in the first place?”
“Well, I wasn’t investigating them. I was investigating the death of a woman.”
“The death?”
“The murder.” He was probably saying too much. But he didn’t have time to hold back. “I think someone was killed.”
“And you’ve traced it to this group?”
