"Champagne time." "Carson." "Carson." "Carson." "Where's my woman?" "Where's Rachel?" "Have fun with the boys." "Come on, baby." "We can play teams." "They' be shirts." "We' be skins." "Take it off!" "Take it off!" "Take it off!" "Carson, Carson." "You're late, dude." "I thought for sure you'd chicken out after that pounding I gave you last time." "How about you put your money where your mouth s?" "My money is everywhere, bitch." " How about 10,000?" " Carson, what are you doing?" "I'm just gonna show Shane why he should stick to hustling flat-feet at Blue Bay Country Club." "Where are you now?" "Par four?" "You're gonna race, aren't you?" "He's gonna race." " I'm gonna win." " This is like Divorce Court." "Only hotter." "What's it gonna be then, eh?" " Race to Bird's Point?" " I know you drive like you're blind, but I'm sure you can see I'm entertaining." " I have all day to feed you your lunch." " The number four buoy?" "Can I talk to you for a minute?" "Sweetie, it'll take 10 minutes and then we'll play that lawn bowling game you love." " You guys up for some bocce?" " Yeah!" " Let's do it." " Yeah." "It's gonna be over before the sun hits the first layer of SPF." " I might sit this one out." " You're gonna chicken out?" "Sit out, not chicken out." "I decided to take on a new skipper." " Brandi." " Yeah!" " You work at the race track?" " I gotta pay for school somehow." " What kind of shit are you pulling?" " Scared of a girl?" "I just don't wanna hear your excuses later on." "Don't worry about it." "Smoke this fool." "Careful with al that throttle." "Oh, yeah." "We should agree on a finish line." "You'll know it's over when I drop an anchor." "Damn." "Shit." "Yeah!" "Damn it." "Yeah!" "That's what I'm talking about." "How about I buy you a drink?" "With all the money you just lost, how about I buy you one?" "Stuben, are we home early?" "Stuben." "Stuben." "Coming." " Yes, sir." " Are we home early?" "Few minutes." "I noticed there wasn't much traffic on the causeway." "No, I mean from our trip." " Should we be back next week?" " Not that I know of." "No, sir." "Where does this kid get balls big enough to do this to my property?" "Let me take care of this." "Consider staying in Bal Harbour tonight." "That was a pretty bold turn." "They say fortune favors the bold." "That's what you owe us, Wheetly, a fortune." "So why are you following me again?" "You know her?" " We grew up together." " Sort of." "Her mother cleaned our house." "That's what's great about this country, right?" "We all end up sharing a beer." "Carson, you don't even know this girl." "I know how she drives a boat." "Where'd you learn that?" "My old man." " He a captain?" " He was a fisherman." " He was a lowlife." " Rach, lighten up." "You know what?" "Screw you and this Jerry Springer reject." "Rachel." "Rachel." "Shit." "Dude. you got me into this." "Can you help me out?" "Fine." "But you owe me." "Rach." "I want this entire house arrested for trespassing." "Get off my couch." "They were invited in, sir." "Stuben, how much do I give the cops every year?" "I don't have the exact figure n front of me, sir but it's large." " Well, call Captain What's-His-Name." " Blanchard." " Tell him it's payback time." "Let's just tow the cars." "It's a lot easier than getting the cops involved." " Hey, you wanna wait up?" " Hey, Hendricks." "What the hell are you doing in my home?" "Carson invited me." "Stubie." "So your dad was a fisherman." "He was the best." "He had a small boat." "It was in the family for generations." "He loved the water." "So does my father." "Boats, race cars and houses." "And not so much a fan of people." "It's because they scuff his floors and steal his booze." "Must be why he buys so many." "Cars and houses, that is." " Carson!" " Oh, busted." "Big man's here." "Seriously." "Speak of the devil." "What's up, Pops?" "If fucking up were a desirable skill, you would be president right now." "Well, if being an arrogant asshole was equally valued you'd be my vice." " This is not your frat house." " Got the foosball table." "Come on, Carson." "What am I doing wrong here?" "I don't know, Ted." "Maybe if Mom was still alive, she could help." "Is that why you invited Shane Hendricks?" "Just to piss me off?" "Just because his dad tried to screw you out of a lot of money a long time ago..." " Did." "He did screw me out of a whole lot of money." "Well, it hasn't slowed you down much, has it?" "I'm gonna stay at Bal Harbour tonight." "Poor Dad." "Slumming it as usual." "Hardly." "But you will be." "If this place isn't empty and clean by the time I get back in the morning I will cut you off." "Prom se." "Stop cheating." "Oh, yeah?" "How do you like that?" " You talk a pretty good game." " I play a good game." "All right." "Look. et me show you how it's done, okay?" "Now, shoot." "See?" "You beat me." "How about a rematch?" "I don't wanna embarrass myself all over again." "Easy there." "Why don't you let me win something for a change?" "Like what?" "A kissing contest." "Go." "Let's go, Blue Bay." "Blue." "Go." "Let's go, Blue Bay." "It was like everybody could see them, and no one's paying attention." "I'm telling you, she is such a skank." " And you're sure he kissed her." " Positive." "She's finished in Blue Bay." "What are you gonna do about him?" " What do you want?" " To spoil my baby." "Give them to your whore." "What?" "Baby, what are you talking about?" "Come on, Carson." "I know what you did last night." " I got drunk." " Oh, and you just jammed your tongue down some chick's throat?" "Who told you that?" "Are you kidding?" "I knew every girl there." " Which one of you said that?" " I did." "I saw you." "Are you gonna deny it?" "I don't know." "I might've kissed her." "I was drunk." "Shit, baby, do you think that meant anything to me, one stupid kiss?" "Do you believe me?" "Because without your trust, I'm nothing." "I asked if you believe me." "So are we good?" "If I find out that you did more than just kiss her, I'll chop your nuts off." "That's what I love about you." "Excuse me." "Sorry." "Mr. Wheetly, the police are here and they need to talk to you." "Let me guess." "about your little boat race?" "Can you come with me, please?" "Excuse me, ladies." "Officer, let me assure you whatever you heard, I was not racing my motorboat this weekend." "Carson." "Jesus." "They got you here too?" "What's the charge?" "Carson, it's your father." "What about him?" "He didn't make it." "It's okay." "We will get through this." "Detective." "Detective Walker." " You find him?" " He wasn't at home." "Answering machine said he wouldn't be back till the 25th." "That's next week." "Yeah." "I know when it is." "Thanks." "Frank, what the hell is going on here?" "This guy must be really important for you to leave your cushy chair and your view of the heliport." "He's the ninth richest man in Florida." "Judging by all the pieces he was blown into I'd say he was five of them." "This is why we don't let him talk to reporters." "They say that the most dangerous place in all of Blue Bay s right between Captain Blanchard and a microphone." " You got a cigarette?" " No." "I quit." "Yeah, me, too." "Ten years ago." "But the smell of motor oil..." "My dad used to have a shop." " I worked for him in the summers." " Frank." "Yeah." "How soon can you wrap up?" "The press is al over this." " It depends." " On what?" "On how soon we can figure out what the hell this thing is." "See, it's too old to be on a car that new." "And you see that?" "That's rust." "It's not charring from an explosion." "This is an old part." "Maybe it's part of some special racing modification." "Hey, you got any idea why a part that old would be on a car this new?" "Not that I know of." "But I don't work on it, so I can't say for sure." " Who can we ask?" " Chuck Hensler." "He's Ted's mechanic." "But he and his family are out on vacation till the 25th." " When is that?" " Next week." "Yeah." "It's the day after the 24th." "Send it to Forensics, and we'll wait on this Hensler fellow, okay?" "Good deal." "And we pray the loss is balanced by thanksgiving for the life that was shared with us." "Amen." "Amen." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "Let him be alone for a second." "I'll go talk to him." "Everything is gonna be okay, Carson." "My mom'll kill herself again when she finds out she has to spend eternity next to him." "Even if it is just his ashes." "Maybe they'll make up in heaven." "Or fight like dogs in hell." "Carson, I know this is an awful time, but there are some things we need to discuss when you're ready." "You mean the will?" "George, can you give me a few days?" "I don't think I can right now." "Yeah." "Yeah, yeah, take as long as you need." "Just a few days is all." "Yeah. whatever." "Okay." "Good." "Okay." "Well, what I'm about to say may seem like a shock but in time, I think you'll come to see it's a gift." "Not gonna tell me he left everything to a quarter horse named Pole Dancer." "Knowing your father, it would have been a dolphin named Flipper." "Your father put all the money in a trust for you and named me the executor." "And, as per the trust rules I can take a limited amount out for living expenses but you won't receive the balance until you're 30." "How's that possible?" "I saw the will when my mother died." "It didn't have any of this." "No, it didn't." "But he revised it." "You're joking, right?" "I'm afraid not." "Are you kidding me?" "Minimal expenses?" "So what does that mean?" "We'll run the house and pay for your car insurance." "Anything else, you'll have to earn yourself." "This has got to be a fucking joke now." "Baby, listen, it's okay." "We'll make do." "What about food or anything else?" "There's no way to get any more money." "Sure." "There's some exceptions." "In case of a medical emergency if you wanna go back to school or if you wanna get married or if you..." " Married?" "Yeah, yeah." "There is a provision in the trust that does give me a little leeway on distributing the funds." "I can do as I see ft to promote the marriage." "Well, I'm not getting married." "Rachel." "Rach." "It's not that I don't love you." " It's just that I feel like..." " But what, Carson?" "You're a jerk." "You know what?" "I didn't wanna marry you either." "But I just wish you didn't say no so quickly." "It's like I'm some sort of disgusting person or something." " It's not that." " Don't touch me." "You don't deserve me." "Would you put anything like this in Ted's car?" "We didn't use nothing old in that car." "Shit, Ted didn't even use the same steering wheel twice." "You have a lot of girls working the pit crews?" "More and more." "Shane Hendricks' got a girl working for him." "And a sexy one, too." "You have no idea how this wound up underneath Ted Wheetly's hood?" " I might." " You might." "Well, see, since I knew you was coming, I pulled some records." "The night before the crash, Ted Wheetly's car ended up n Shane Hendricks' garage." " And that's unusual, why?" " It never happens." " Never happens?" " Never." "Especially since Ted hated Shane and his father." " We weren't allowed to say their name." " Hang on." "They hated each other." " Why?" " I don't know." " You don't know." " Look, man, I just fix the cars, okay?" "They don't tell me the secrets." "How did the car wind up n Shane's garage?" "Beats me." "It just did." " Can I go in there?" " Yes, sir." "Got any lights in this place?" " Quaint little garage." " The best that money can buy." " Everything in here is." " Yeah, yeah, yeah." "Come on, you're a smart guy." "Te me." "Who could arrange for Wheetly's car to spend the night in a place like this?" " Fuck." " Afraid you're gonna lose your job?" "I'll take you to jai." "Who can arrange it?" "Shane's the only one who can do it." "This is his space." "How can I see what that thing sees?" "This is where we keep all the surveillance tapes." "I wanna see the night before Wheetly's car blew." "Yes, sir." "All right." "Here we go." " What was that?" "Did you see that?" " Yeah, let me back it up." "Right there." "The time code just jumped two hours." "When you say the time code jumped two hours you mean it erased two hours?" "Possibly." "This system does randomly erase materials..." "Hang on." "Hang on a second." "You're telling me that on this once-in-a-m lion night that I wanna see, two hours of footage this system randomly erased?" " It was possible." "But not likely." "Tell me something." "Who other than the guards has access to this particular system?" " Just Shane Hendricks." "Just Shane Hendricks." "Yeah." "Looks like you are not going to jail, my friend." "What?" "Rach, please, come out here and talk to me." "Okay." "What?" "You lock yourself in the bedroom for six hours." "I know." "I'm sorry." "I was furious at you." "It's not that I don't wanna marry you." "It's just that we're so young." "We have plenty of time." "I know." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry I was acting crazy." "I just can't help it sometimes." "Don't do that again." "I won't." "Close your eyes." "And think about what I'm gonna do to you when I get back." " Carson Wheetly, you're under arrest." " For what?" "For the rape of Brand Cox." "Come on, let's go." " Rape?" " She's a liar." "Yeah." "Gotta take him in." "Let's go." "Let's go." "Come on." "Call George." " Keep moving." " Call George." "This way." "Coming forward was the hardest decision a girl like me could make." "But I've a ways been a fighter and this is the most important fight of my life." "Carson Wheetly raped me." "And just because he's rich does not mean he can get away with it." "And I'd also like to thank Linda Dobson who saw it a happen and had the courage to speak out." "George, where have you been?" "I got here as soon as I could." "I made a few phone calls." "They can release you on bail tomorrow morning." "George, I'm innocent." "I swear to God." "We got drunk and kissed, but that's it." "Girl would say anything to get her claws on Carson's money." "I just wish we could pay her off." "I mean, this thing could go on forever." " Who knows how a jury will respond?" " Can't we use some of the money?" "George, I'm fighting for my life here." "My dad would've understood." "Of course, but my hands are still tied." "The terms are clear." "They don't leave a lot of room for improvisation." "Marriage, medical emergency, schooling." "Well..." "I guess we have to get married." "That's what you're saying." "I wasn't, no." "I mean, suppose it would make an easier case for the payout hard to have much of a marriage with Carson in jai, but there's no..." "Baby, I don't want you to do anything you don't wanna do." "I want to." "You're my everything." "And you're my everything, baby." "You two deserve some happiness, a one." "I'll make the arrangements." "Brandi, what would you say to a settlement offer?" "A part of me would say, "Go fuck yourself, asshole."" "You don't know what I've been through." " And the other part?" " The other part would say $25 million." "You gold-digging bitch." "Thirty?" "Thirty-five?" "What number would hurt you as much as you hurt me, Carson?" " Choke on it." " Enough." "Okay, enough." "Enough." "We're offering 2 million." "That's an insult." "I talked to the DA." "He is chomping at the bit to prosecute." "With what?" "A "he said, she said?"" ""He said, she said?"" "Linda Dobson swears she saw your guy getting rough with Brandi." "P ease, I got six guys who'll swear she was so drunk she tried to make out with a beer keg." "You've got a 50 percent chance." "I'm offering you a sure thing." "Even if she settles, the DA can still prosecute." "It's in your best interest to make sure that doesn't happen." "Once the charges are dropped, we'll offer..." " We'll make it 3 million." " I want 10." " In your dreams." " Careful, Carson." "A nice butt like that, you're gonna be very popular with the boys in the yard." "You've already committed perjury." "Let's stay away from extortion." "How about 5?" "That's $100,000." "I won't even hold it against the 5 million." " Checking in, ma'am?" " Bet your ass I am." " Do you have any bags?" " Just this." "Jesus Christ, you could've killed me." "Innocent until proven guilty." "You are guilty." "Guilty as hell." "Just as much as you are." "How'd you get in here?" "It's my father's hotel." "I've got the keys to the kingdom, thanks to you." "I could definitely get used to this." "You better." "When does the money get transferred?" "A month." "Paperwork and shit." "I still can't believe the bastard changed his will." "Enough bus ness." "Let's focus on pleasure." "I wish we could have gotten more." "That little bitch, I just wanted to smack that smile off his face." "He's not a bad guy." "He just got this crazy sense of loyalty to my old man." "And me too, I guess." "What are you complaining about?" "You've got a beautiful fiancée." "A smoking-hot girlfriend." "And a bunch of running-around money." "That's evil shit." "Criminal." "Almost as bad as setting someone up for rape." "Man, oh, man." "Shane Hendricks?" "I'm Detective Frank Walker." "I'm investigating the death of Ted Wheetly." "I thought it was an accident." "Yeah, I thought it was too, but a lot of strange shit going on." "Funny things." "Why I et the man I hate store his car in my garage." " Yeah, that's one of them." " Because Brandi Cox asked me to." " You know Brand Cox?" " Sure." "She worked my crew for six months." "Girl could strip an engine in five minutes." "Plus she looked good covered in oil." "What about Linda Dobson?" "Do you know her too?" " From around, sure." " You've seen her lately?" "Nope." "Tel me something, Shane." "Why in the world would Brandi Cox want Ted Wheetly's car stored in your fancy garage?" "She didn't say and I didn't care." "Don't say no to a hot piece of ass like that." "That illegal, detective?" "Maybe." "I got into a lot of trouble when I was a kid." "Stupid things." "Boosting cars, some pot, nothing big." " But I did learn one thing." " Really?" "What's that?" "Cops are a bunch of assholes." "You can call my attorney if you wanna talk again." ""Cops are a bunch of assholes."" "Stupid fucking hat." " You're not the pizza guy." " No, I'm Detective Frank Walker." "I'd like to ask you a few questions if I might." "Sure." "Want a drink?" "Thanks." "It's hot out here." " That's very interesting iced tea." " My mom's recipe." "Only thing she ever gave me." "Anyways, detective." "what can I do for you?" "I wanted to ask you about your relationship with Shane Hendricks." " He was my boss." " That's it?" " Yes." " But he wanted more?" "I suppose." "And you used that to get favors." "No." "Never asked him for anything." "He told me that you asked him to keep Ted's car in his garage." "He told me the only reason he agreed was because you were such a pretty girl." "I doubt he used the words "pretty girl."" "Actually, I'd put money on "hot piece of ass."" "And be that the case, detective, and I used to think this was the hottest piece of ass in Glade City." "But even if I did ask him, there's no way Shane Hendricks would ever do anything for Wheetly." "Why is that?" "Because Ted hated Shane's pops." "I hear he wanted to kill him over some bad deal in the Keys." "Well, I'll have to look into that." "Thank you." "Hey, one more thing." "Do you ever talk to Linda Dobson at all?" "No, I haven't." "I don't really know her." "Right." "Yeah." "Well, thanks for your time." "We need to talk." "This better be important enough to ruin my updo." "I got a little spooked, okay?" "A detective came to my house, I started thinking I could go to jail." "We're in this together." "We could all go." "That's bull shit." "Okay, you have a house and a brand-new Mercedes." "I'm stuck living in a shack with leaky pipes and water stains." "You are set for life." "If he dies, you inherit everything." "You're screwing me. can fee it." "No, Brandi." "That's so not true." "I haven't seen you in days." "Brandi, you knew it was gonna be like this." "Yeah, but I didn't think it was gonna be this hard." "I'm all alone, okay?" "You're out getting married." "Okay." "This is the only way that we could get you some money right now." "And then, when Carson turns 30, we hit the jackpot." "Come here." "You believe me, don't you?" "I'd like to introduce to you all Mr. and Mrs. Carson Wheetly." "Who needs a drink?" "Happy, healthy..." "Wealthy and wise." "Mrs. Wheetly." "I just wanted to say that even though we did this for practical reasons I'm really glad." "I love you." "Baby, I love you too." "We're gonna be so happy." "What do you think we should do, now that we're marred?" "I don't know." "Should we open our gifts and see how many blenders we got?" "I was thinking of something a little more fun." "Like wine glasses." "A margarita set?" "What asshole do you think forgot his keys?" "Call the valet, dickhead." "Is this a bad time?" "Are you here to arrest me again?" "It's hotter than hell out here." "Do you mind if I come in and talk for a while?" "What can I help you with, detective?" "There's been some developments in your father's case." "When's the last time you saw Shane Hendricks?" "The day before my father died." "We raced boats right outside." "Does he have something to do with this?" " I don't know, maybe." " Did you talk to him?" "Yeah, he wasn't very cooperative." "He hates cops." "You know I kind of got that." "You and he are friends, huh?" "He liked to come around and piss off my dad." "And yet, you chose to hang out with him anyway, right?" "We were friends since we were kids." "We know the same people." "Look, maybe I wanted to piss off my dad too." "Was Shane sleeping with Brandi Cox?" "How should I know?" "I never met her before the other day." "Oh, right." "Right." "She involved with this too?" "Damned if I know." "Too early to tell." "I wouldn't rule her out though." "In fact, I wouldn't rule anyone out." "You're probably anxious to get back with your wife." "Thanks for your time." "Oh, and you rest assured, young man I will find your father's killer." "He knows." "He doesn't know anything." "Did you tell him what we said?" "Yeah, that Shane hated my dad, I told him." "Then he asked about Brandi, said she was a suspect." "A suspect?" " Yeah, might be a suspect." " "Was" or "might be?"" "I don't know." "What difference does it make?" "He's on to her." "Carson, we knew he was gonna suspect Brandi." "I'm pretty sure that Brandi won't talk." "Pretty sure?" "Jesus, Rach." "You said she was 100 percent." "I know, I thought so." "But now I don't know." "I didn't wanna tell you, before the wedding she came to me and she just started talking a I this crazy stuff about how she wasn't happy with our arrangement." " She threaten you?" " This is why I didn't wanna tell you." "I knew you'd get al worked up." " Rach, did she threaten you?" " Sort of." "We gotta take care of her before Walker to gets her." "I'll set it up." "Where?" "Tonight at the hotel by the Glades." "It's okay, we can do this." "I'm worried about Walker." "Hey, cap, you got a minute?" "Yeah." "Larry, Larry, you know I can't comment on an ongoing investigation." "All right, yup, always a pleasure." "Why the hell isn't that Ted Wheetly case closed?" "Well, I was waiting for Forensics to give me a report on that piece I found at the scene." " And?" " It's an intake manifold valve from a 1998 V10." " So?" "So Ted would never let anything in his car that wasn't new." "This part in particular was recalled." "When the car hit 5000 rpm there was a good chance that it would spark up and explode." "Maybe we should all get out of Dodge, you know?" "Wait for the money to land." "Let things cool down." "I don't think Carson wants you to get a penny of his money." " The check's being sent to me." " I think he's scheming." "It's his birthright." "He doesn't want a couple of silly swamp girls to get their hands on it." "Okay, any suspects?" " Shane Hendricks." " You're not serious." " I am serious." " Do you know who his father is?" "Yes, the new ninth richest man in Miami." "When the money drops, you and me will bolt town." "We' cut our losses." "It's still $5 million." " It's plenty to get by on." " I don't wanna just get by." "We did this so we wouldn't have to." "So what are you thinking?" "It's like you said." "With Carson out of the way..." "I mean, I'm the sole heir to his trust." "I don't know about this, Rachel." "Brandi, it's a little ate now to be getting cold feet." "Don't you think?" " And you want me to bring him n?" " No, I didn't say that." "I said he was a suspect." "And no, I do not want to bring him in yet." "Not until I find out what's really going on with Brandi Cox." "The girl who got raped?" "How is she involved?" "Something about her working for Shane does not sit right with me." "I need your help." "Without it, we get nothing." "When?" "We're meeting later tonight at the hotel by the Glades." "It's okay." "We can do this." "This is Blue Bay, not Miami." "No se complaints and the occasional drunk that's about all the excitement we can handle." "I won't have a homicide cluttering up my backyard." " Now close it quick." " I'm trying to do that, captain." "Which is why I thought maybe I'd go down to the Keys, poke around a bit." "If you pay for my gas?" "Here, why don't you let me help you with that?" "That's sweet." "Hey, aren't you Adam Klotsen's cousin?" " I think I've seen you before." " No." "No." "I'm..." "I'm looking for Darlene Cox." " You a cop?" " Yeah." "Up at Blue Bay." " What do you want with Darlene?" " It's about her daughter Brand." "I'm Darlene." "What did she do?" "Nothing." "I'm part of the rape investigation." "She'd been raped?" "When's the last time you spoke to her?" "Not since she and Rachel left for school." "I just knew something bad would happen." "No, no, she's..." "She's gonna be fine." "Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" " If you think it'll help." " I think it will." "You just said that she and Rachel went to school together?" "Of course they did." "They was always together." "It was like the two of them grew from the same branch or something." "I'm a little confused." "Well, I thought that you..." "I thought you used to clean Rachel's estate." "Estate?" "You mean that old trailer up on bricks?" "Hell. the only thing that would clean that is a great big hurricane f you know what I mean." "Yeah. know what you..." "So you're telling me that Rachel and Brandi were best friends." "Ever since they were girls." "They'd go up in that cabin all day in the woods." " Doing what?" " Just being kids, I guess." "Brandi had a couple of old junkers she was working on up there." "Thing is, Rachel filled that girl's head with all sorts of things." " What kind of things?" " Like the two of them they was gonna go find themselves some rich husbands." "I don't know where they came up with that idea." "And now look what happened." "Yeah." "One more question." "Where's this old cabin in the woods?" "Anderson." "Frank Walker." "I need you to run a part number for me, all right?" "Yeah." "I got a feeling it's gonna come up as a '98 V10." "Stick to the plan, you' I be fine." "Damn." "I ain't seen you in a while." "Squeeze it." "Do it!" "Rach, now!" "Do it!" "Do you think she's gonna kill me?" "Rach, now." "You backstabbing bitch!" "I am glad did it." "You have blood all over your shirt." "Here. take it off." "I'll burn it." " Did you bring Carson's laptop?" " Yeah." "It's in the duffle bag." "Okay." "How does this sound?" ""I, Carson Wheetly, admit to killing my father, Ted Wheetly."" "Go on." ""He killed my mother." "He was a womanizer a drunk, and a violent man."" ""He got what he deserved, just like this bullet will deliver what I deserve."" "No sign of a struggle." "No other prints." "A note." "Hell, my 2-year-o d could've closed this one." "So that's it?" "Crazy rich kid kills his father can't stand himself, so he comes down here and shoots himself?" " That's it?" " Open and shut." "Yeah." "Well, why did he drive all the way down to the swamp?" "Why didn't he just shoot himself at home?" "Detective, I invited you down here as a courtesy because, well, this is your boy." "But as far as the Everglades City P.D. is concerned it's stone crab time." " Did you notify the next of kin?" " She identified the body this morning." "There you are, sir." "Can I help you, detective?" "I'm sorry for your loss." "I didn't know condolence calls were part of the job." "Must be one of the benefits of being the ninth richest person n the State of Florida." "This whole thing worked out kind of nice for you." "How all this worked out. isn't it?" "By nice you mean losing my husband?" "No, no, no." "By nice I mean by you finally nabbing yourself a rich boy and all of his riches." "So where'd you get that?" "The old cabin by your house." "The cabin where you and Brandi Cox plotted to find you a husband." " So what?" " Motive." "That doesn't prove anything, detective." "Except that I'm poor and that I pretended not to be because I was embarrassed by it." "I just wanted to find myself a good guy." "That a crime?" "No, it's not a crime." "And actually, coming from anyone but you, it might be touching." "You enjoy your trip down memory lane." "I'll see myself out." " Hello?" " Walker came by to visit." "He had the file on Cason." "How?" " He was in the cabin." " What?" "You left that there?" "Are you crazy?" " We're gonna get caught." " It's just a file." "Doesn't prove anything." "We have to stick to the plan." "I don't like this, Rach." "I'm scared." "I told you about Walker so you'd be prepared n case he came by to see you." " I'm not sure I can do this." " I wanna meet, okay?" "I need to." " We can't." "It's too risky." "I need to see you." "I'm not fucking around." "Okay, okay." " Calm down." "Where?" " The cabin." "Are you crazy?" "He's been there." "I know." "We can make sure there's nothing we need to get rid of." " All right." " One hour." "Hey." "I can't believe we used to hang out here." "Remember what else we used to do?" "Brandi, this isn't funny." "Listen, if we keep up this shit we're gonna get caught." "Sit down." "Sit down." "How long since we've been here together?" "I don't know." "A couple of years." "Look, I need to know that you're..." "You taught me so many things, remember?" "I do." "Listen, I need to know you're not gonna crack." "I'm okay, now that I see you." "Can't I move into your house?" "How do we explain that?" "We'll figure it out." "You're not gonna let up until I give in, are you?" "You need to relax." "Nice try." "Brandi, what are you doing?" "The same thing you were gonna do to me." "You think I'm stupid." "I don't know what you're talking about." "Just put the gun down." "Problem is, I don't trust you." "You always were such a se fish bitch." "No loyalty." "I've been thinking and that $5 million is plenty for me." "Call me simple." "I'm gonna get all the money." "So I'll give you everything, whatever you want." "I want you dead." "I can't have you blabbing your mouth to everyone." "It's too bad." "You really are a hot piece of ass." "Rachel." "Come on out, baby." "Rachel." "I don't even care about the money." "I just wanna see your pretty little face." "No." "No!" "Detective, a girl walked in, says she needs to talk to you." " Said it's urgent." " She give you a name?" "Rachel Thomas." "Really?" "I didn't think getting you in here would be quite this easy." "Brandi Cox tried to kill me." "Detective." "Would you excuse me for a minute?" "Hello, Brandi." "Have I got a story for you, detective." "When we were 16 one of Ted Wheetly's companies came to Glade City bought up all the commercial fishing rights." "Put Brand's father out of bus ness." "He killed himself." "Brandi wanted revenge." "My father had nothing to do with this." "I mean, yeah, he killed himself but it wasn't just because of Ted Wheetly." "Even if I did blame Wheetly, what was I gonna do about it?" "She thought she looked too trailer-trash to nab any rich white guy or any of his friends." "So she wanted me to do it for her." "I told her straight up I wasn't gonna help her." "But I started reading all this stuff about Carson and I guess you could say I fell for him." "So I came to Blue Bay to find him." "I came to Blue Bay because I knew I had to get out of the Glades." "I had a friend here." "Well, I thought I had a friend here." "Brandi was always jealous of my relationship with Carson." "From the beginning, she wanted to kill his father." "But then after she found out that Carson and me were in love she wanted to kill him, too." "I thought the whole thing was funny." "I mean. here's Rachel, this girl from the trailer park convincing all these rich kids that she was one of them." "I was proud of her until I realized her plan to kill Ted Wheetly and take his money." "She convinced Carson to kill his father." "But it was easy because Carson hated his dad." "Carson and Rachel came to me first." "He blamed his dad for king his mom." " And Carson wanted him dead." " Not at first." "But Rachel worked on him." "And in the end he did." "And when I said no, I wouldn't do it that's when they hooked up with Shane Hendricks to help them." "I said no, but it didn't matter." "Rachel got Shane Hendricks to do it." "Why, at any time, didn't you go to the police?" "Detective, I'm just a poor girl from the swamp." "I grew up thinking that a I cops wanted to do was just throw you in jail." "What the hell is going on?" "I need a bulldozer to get through a this horseshit." " Neither of them is telling the truth." " They both are." " And they're both lying their asses off." " What do you think happened?" "I think that they preyed on this innocent kid Carson." "Now he's out of the way, they're trying to screw each other out of the money." "That's what I think." "What about the other kid, Shane Hendricks?" "No, he's a dupe." "These girls are much too smart to clue in a joker like that." "What can you prove?" "Nothing." "Absolutely nothing, not yet." "I have to cut them loose." "We can't hold them without charges." " I got confessions." " Accusations, unsubstantiated ones." " One of those girls..." " The ninth richest girl in Florida." "Yeah, I know." "I know, and she's getting away with murder." "All right." "Anybody know we got the ninth richest girl in Miami in custody?" " A right, Brandi." " I have proof." "All this happened so fast that Rachel didn't get a chance to feed the evidence to the gators." "And you know where it is." "She made me promise not to tell, but I have to do the right thing." "You really expect me to believe that?" "I'm telling you the evidence is there." "Everything you need to close the case and be the hero." "Where?" "The cabin." "In that cabinet Is a blue gym bag." "Inside Is a hard drive with the security disks from Shane's garage the night of Ted's murder." "They show Carson and Rachel breaking in and rigging the car installing a jacked-up part from some V10 engine." "Rachel's shirt is In the bag, too." "And you know what?" "It's covered in Carson's blood." "You can find her wearing it in pictures at the house." "You better have ironclad proof or I' I sue this whole city." "Brandi told us all about the blue gym bag." " What blue gym bag?" " The one down at the cabin." "The one that has all the security tapes and all the bloody clothes in it." "That gym bag." "I don't know what you're talking about." "It really doesn't matter, because your face is all over the tapes and Carson's blood s all over your shirt." "That bitch set me up." "All right, listen up." "As some of you might already know. today is Frank's last day on the force." " A right, great." " A right." "Retire while you are relatively young." "That is the only advice my old man gave me that I ever decided to take." "We, we're all real proud of you, Frank." "You persisted when most of us would have stopped." "You solved the biggest homicide in Blue Bay's history." "There's no better way to go out than when you're on top." "Thank you, Captain." "Frank, turn that up a minute, will you?" "Now, as per the trust..." " Sure thing." "...money's passed to Wheetly blood." "We'll establish the Wheetly Business School at Blue Bay University." "...and the Ted Wheetly Memorial Speedway." "We will also be making a sizeable donation to the Cayman Reef Fund." "Millions of dollars to a bunch of fish." " The whole world's gone crazy." " Too crazy for me." "So tell me, Frank, what the hell are you gonna do now anyway?" "Yup." "Bingo." "Do you even know how to drive this thing?" "How hard could it be?" "I have a couple of manuals in my duffel." "The way I figure it, we just point this baby southeast give her a little gas, eventually we run into an island." "What do you say we get the hell out of this town?" "Aye, aye, Captain." "What are you doing back there?" "Re ax, Frank." "Just wanted to give you a massage." "Look, I think we need to get something straight right now, okay?" "I don't trust you, and you sure as hell shouldn't trust me." "We're not partners, we're not even really friends, and as intriguing as the whole not on is, I don't think we should have sex." "What I think we should do is get our asses to the is and split the money and then become nothing but distant memories to one another." "You're good with that?" " Okay." " Good." "Now, turn around." " What for?" " Call it morbid curiosity." "All the way." "Not armed." "No, but that does not necessarily mean that you are not dangerous." "We both know that." "Okay, no massage, no making out, no sex." "What about beer?" "Or are you some sort of puritan?" "No, beer is good." "You know what I can't he p thinking?" "There's a couple of hundred mil ion dollars worth of reef sharks right there." "I have a question for you, young lady." "How long were you plotting to kill Ted Wheetly?" "Since that cocksucker k led my father." "Just like Rachel said." "Sometimes that lying bitch told the truth." "So Rachel was trying to cheat you out of it?" "She thought she was so slick." "Hey, one more question." "Linda Dobson disappearing." "I could never figure that out." "What was that?" "No mystery." "She needed money to move to Europe so this was just the easiest way to get it." "It's always the easy answer, isn't it?" "I think we got a live one here!" "Yeah." "We are gonna be eating fish for dinner tonight." "We're a whores, aren't we, Frank?" "What are you doing?" "Oh, no." "No." "No." "No, please." "I'm a greedy bitch." "What did you expect?" "If you see one of those rich sharks, maybe it'll buy you a clue." "Asshole!" "All right, easy, tiger." "Money landed?" "Yeah, about five minutes ago it became final." "Wheetly Enterprises is dissolved, all of its assets been dispersed." "One of the larger recipients was the Cayman Reef Trust to be administered without oversight by its pres dent, yours truly and his soon-to-be smoking-hot wife." "So we're free to grow old fat, and happy?" " Oh, I don't know about that." "I have to keep you away from the lobster buffet, Mrs. Stuben." "Can't believe it's over, after al the planning." "It's, like, finally done." "Is "dead" done enough for you?" " It' I stick?" " Whatever Walker got was good." "I'll take that." "Jump on." "I'll give you a ride home." "Oh, sweetheart, you know how wobbly my sea legs are." "Come on, baby." "I want you to jump on and drop your anchor on me." "Last one home, slave for a day?" " I might just let you win." " I hope you do." "Watch out for that manifold intake valve." "We did it." "You Brandi?" " Who are you?" " I want to talk about your father." " He's dead." " I know." "Your father was a good man." "He didn't deserve to die." "I'm the guy who's gonna help you get even." "All right." "How?" "He's just perfect, right?" "I just can't believe how bad y your father treated your mother." "She must have felt there was no other way out." "He's a murderer and nobody is gonna see it like that." "He'll get what's coming to him." "They always do." "Bullshit." "Guy walks on water." "You know there is something you can do about it." "Like what?" "Breaking into Shane's garage is a piece of cake." "There's no security, no nothing." " There's no security." " None." "All you need to do is get his keys and et yourself n through the door." "How do we get his keys?" "The guy's a total horn dog." "It shouldn't be too hard." "No..." "Hey, Hendricks!" "What the hell are you doing in my home?" "Carson invited me." "Rachel." "You know that whole boat race was my idea." "It doesn't matter." "He's an idiot." "He's not that bad." "It's just..." "He gets to have all the fun." "You're mad at him." "Yeah?" "So what?" "He gets nothing unless he gets married." "He has no interest in that." "What are we supposed to do, wait 10 years?" "Oh, yeah, right." "Like that will help." "He'll totally cut us out." "Well, then we need to convince him it's in his best interest to get married." "Like if he needed to pay me off." "Like if he didn't, he'd go to jail." "All right, how?" "I could say he raped me." "You guys set me up?" "Baby, just re ax." "Listen, you're not thinking straight." "If we don't get married, we don't get a penny." "I mean this way, we get some of the trust every year plus we get a big payout up front that we can all split." " I mean, that's a win-win." " For you." "I'm in jail." "You can get out real easy." "By agreeing to get married." "If you don't I'm really afraid that Brandi's gonna go through with those charges." "She thinks you're gonna cut her out when you're 30." "What about your friend, Linda?" " Did you tell her about Dad?" " No, I didn't tell her a thing." "As far as she's concerned it was a scam to get the estate." "She just needed cash for, I don't know, her year abroad." "George, where have you been?" "I got here as soon as I could." " I'm a little worried." " About what?" "What if Walker suspects me for killing Rachel?" "We've been through this." "You shoot her, you feed her to the gators." "Plant the bag in her house and tip off the police." "I know, baby." "But what if Walker doesn't buy it?" "He seems smarter than I imagined him to be." "Then we buy him." "I have known Frank for a while now." "He's as crooked as they come." "Pretty convenient how these just happened to be there." "She's a bad crook." "Well, you're worse." "Guy lives next to the cabin, nice old trucker, invited me for a beer." "He tells me he saw you this morning carrying that bag." "He remembers you very well because he almost ran you over one day." "Memory fits you to a tee, your comp ex on, your height." "His memory is bulletproof." "How would you like an early retirement, detective?" "We did it." "How about you buy me a drink?" "How about buy you the whole damn bar?" "" ThE EnD ""