Read Online Cowabunga Christmas by Anna Celeste Burke - Free Book Online Page A

bright, was he?” Brien said, as he shook his head.
    “Not
bright at all. Willow kept putting the pressure on him to wise up, stop what he
was doing, and get rid of the merchandise piling up in her shack. Owen blew a
gasket one night and claimed he wasn’t as dumb as she thought he was. He had
worked it out, had made connections —as in internet connections. Willow
has no idea who Owen was talking about, but whoever it was had set up an
online auction site to sell the counterfeit goods.”
    “Wow,
okay. That would be a way to move merchandise. Not too fast, and he’d have to
have a partner with computer skills, like you, Kim.”
    “I
agree. That didn’t stop Willow. She kept arguing that the crew he was going up
against wouldn’t let him get away with it. Finally, she gave Owen an ultimatum—stop
the thievery or end their relationship. That’s when he got all testy, pointing
out others’ misdeeds. The Sheriff Taylor bit Mick mentioned had to do with Opie
suddenly ragging on his neighbors about dope-smoking at Sanctuary Grove. That’s
what they call it, by the way, Sanctuary Grove.”
    “Yeah,
I know. Mick called it that too. He says it was named that before the resort
was built because the monks let them hang out there. Even after the resort
developers complained about it, the monks made them agree to leave the
inhabitants of Sanctuary Grove alone. Willow was precedent wasn’t she, Kim? She
knew the runners would catch on to what Owen was doing.” I went blank for a
second trying to translate that question about Willow being precedent.
    “Do
you mean prescient, Brien? Are you saying Willow was prescient, as in prophetic
or clairvoyant?”
    “Exactly!
Like she had the power to see into the future.”
    “Well,
I don’t believe it required special powers to see that Owen was cruisin’ for a bruisin,’
Moondoggie. Your hunch about Owen’s scheming getting complicated is a good one.
Mix that with his not being too bright and you’ve got a deadly combo. I do love
it when you let one of those five-dollar words roll off your tongue.” I
smooched him. What I loved was the effort he made to venture to the farthest
reaches of his vocabulary. No one tried harder than Brien to express himself. I
hope that’s not too patronizing. I don’t mean it that way at all. I tried to
get us back on track.
    “More
complications means, more crooks, and more people who could have had it in for
Opie. If his bosses at Corsario’s Hideaway confiscated his stash of knock-offs,
and he protested, that could have resulted in a confrontation. Or he could have
had a falling out with his partner running the internet site. We can’t overlook
the fact that Owen also ticked off his pals in Sanctuary Grove, so they could
have helped take him down. He really crossed the line when he destroyed a
private plot of marijuana plants the smokers were cultivating.”
    “Whoa,
Kim, you’re right. That could have gotten a Sanctuary Grove member angry enough
to squeal on Owen, or maybe even take more extreme measures on their own.”
    “Since
he was killed at the resort, I’m leaning toward the idea that someone ratted on
Owen to the counterfeit ring. My money’s on Mick as the snitch.” That brought
Brien to an abrupt halt.
    “Mitch?
What makes you say that?”
    “It’s
obvious there was no love lost between Mick and Owen. Plus, I caught Mick
staring at Willow more than once. It could be he felt he had a better chance
with her if Owen went away. Mick fancies himself the boss, and Willow says even
after Mick told Owen to get out and stay out, Owen kept showing up. Mick’s a
smart guy, so if Owen caught on to the guys running goods through the cove, I
doubt Mick missed it. Willow said as much—that they all knew something was
going on in the cove before Owen clued her in on it. I bet Mick figured out Owen
was doing more than spearfishing in the cove. Until Owen had his melt down it
was live and let live, you know? Willow told me Mick vowed