Cozy Mystery: Life's a Beach Read Online Free PDF Page A

through the handbag one more time.
    “Holy cow. Mel, look at these!” Amber’s voice told me something was wrong.
    I scrolled the messages indicated by Amber and blanched. Yeah, I saw why she sounded so afraid now. Tina had been getting threats from Tony to keep her mouth shut or face the consequences for three days now. The last one demanded to know where she was because it was time to assure him she still loved him.

4
    U sing some of the apps , sites, and tricks I’d learned as a junior lawyer and researcher I tracked Tony down to a cheap motel not far from where we were staying. That didn’t make me feel very safe at all. It appeared he didn’t know where we were though so that helped.
    I feel as though I’ve been on an emotional roller coaster for the last month. Wait, no, that isn’t right is it? I can’t believe all of this has happened in only a few days! Sighing I ran my hands through my hair, put my elbows back on the desk, and stared at my computer screen. So far I’d found out some pretty creepy information about Tony. Creepy as in pervy, not scary, although when you put it all altogether it was rather scary.
    I’d managed to trace the email the man used to several swinger websites. If you don’t know what those are, they’re websites for people, usually couples, to meet up and swap sex partners. He sounded like a real charmer. I’d also learned the man had arrest records for breaking and entering, fraud, prostitution, human trafficking, and drug trafficking. Not a winner in my books.
    I told Amber about my findings and we agreed that we were going to keep the information about Tina’s drug stash to ourselves for now. This Tony sounded like he could give us all problems if we handed over the stash. I hate to say I was a coward but I knew enough about the world to know that people like him weren’t to be trifled with. It was all well and good to be a Good Samaritan but getting your head kicked in over drugs and money you didn’t have anything to do with was just silly.
    We went to see Tina the day after she was admitted into the hospital but she wouldn’t speak to us. The moment we arrived she just started to quietly cry, tears streaming from her eyes as she stared out of the window of the visiting area. We thought she was comatose or catatonic, something like that, but the nurse assured us Tina’s reaction was only because of us. I felt terrible and wanted to leave. Not because I felt guilty about Tina being in there or something bad about myself, but because I felt we were making our friend much worse.
    Amber and I had another of those unspoken conversations and we soon left Tina but we agreed we’d be back the next day if they released her. We went home and arranged to stay for a few days longer, just in case, and spent a lot of time feeling useless and helpless. I kept investigating Tony and found he had arrest warrants in several states but nothing that would take him off the radar permanently, mainly petty things.
    “You know, I have no idea why that man isn’t sitting in jail already.” Amber spoke the exact words I’d been thinking as we sat in the surf, that afternoon. “How does a man commit that many crimes and still get lenient sentences?”
    “I don’t know sweetie. If I had to guess I’d say it’s a sign of the times. Jails are full of prisoners now and even if the justice system has turned into a business for profits there’s only so many they can house.” I thought about the numbers and spoke again.
    “Do you know America has one of the highest prison populations in the world and we don’t even have the highest population in total?” Amber looked over at me in surprise.
    “Really? What’s that about?” She asked.
    “Mainly petty drug crimes, things that wouldn’t have even been blinked at 100 years ago because marijuana was considered a plant and nothing more, are now crimes that garner a lot of time.”
    “Wow, that’s insane.” Amber responded and I could