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“Do you think whoever killed Trevor might come after Annisa?” I asked, wishing that Aiden and I hadn’t agreed to help her. I sighed, thinking about the bad coincidence of running into Annisa at the restaurant. I was sure the only reason why she came up to us was because she saw that I was on a date and wanted to get in the middle of our relationship.
Had we never said anything to her about the trip, she wouldn’t have tried to get her scuba diving certification. But it was too late for any regrets, and Aiden and I were in knee deep in her mess.
I was distracted from going down a self-pity spiral by the sight of a confectionary shop. The colorful display of candy and the wide variety of chocolates were tempting.
“Do you want one?” he asked when he saw me eyeing the fudge squares.
“The Rocky Road Fudge is my favorite, but we don’t have time to stop. We need to get to Sully’s,” I said, giving him a regretful look.
“You’re right,” he said. I still had to pinch myself at my luck meeting Aiden on the bachelorette trip. Not only was he a scuba diver, but he was a genuinely nice guy who didn’t mind helping me get my friends out of trouble.
With one more wistful look, I placed my hand on Aiden’s back to guide him away from the delicious sight. “Maybe we can get one after we talk to Sully,” I said.
Aiden’s eye lit up at that thought, and we moved on to the end of the shopping zone where Sully’s store was located.
But when we got to the shop, Aiden let out a grunt. “It looks closed,” he said, motioning toward the dimness inside. Even though there was a sign that said, Yes, We’re Open, the lights were turned off. Among all the brightly lit shops, the darkened store stood out.
“There’s only one way to find out.” I grabbed the doorknob and twisted. It was locked. I jiggled it again, but it didn’t budge. “Hmm…that’s strange. According to the posted store hours, the shop should still be open.” I pointed to the sign that read the closing time was eight o’clock.
Not wanting to give up so easily, I cupped my hands and placed them on the window. I leaned in, rested my forehead on my hands, and tried to see if anyone was inside. “I don’t see anyone, and even the lights in the back office are off. I think Sully’s gone for the day,” I said and frowned.
“He might be on an afternoon dive,” Aiden said and tilted his head as he thought about the possibility of Sully’s absence. He had a hopeful look.
I hated to dash his theory. “We just came from the beach, and there weren’t any cars in the parking lot.”
“That’s true,” Aiden said.
“Should we wait around a few minutes or come back?” I looked at my watch. It was only 4:40 p.m. “It’s possible that he went out to run errands, and he’ll come back when he’s done. Why would a business owner close early and lose the business?”
Then again, when I recalled the condition of his equipment, I thought maybe not. I hadn’t had a chance to tell Aiden about what we saw in Sully’s shop, so I said, “When Julia and I were here earlier, we had a chance to look at his stuff. I was completely surprised by how old his gear was and how messy his shop was. It looked like he has had that stuff for ages, and it didn’t look anything like the pictures I saw on the website.”
“That’s concerning, and I wish I’d come in to sign up for the dives,” he said, lamenting his decision not to check out the dive shop ahead of time.
“You couldn’t have known, and a lot of people book diving trips without seeing the dive shop beforehand. I mean, there are so many visitors that come to Monterey, and I’m sure that they signed up without stepping inside the store, too,” I said, and from Aiden’s relieved expression, I’d managed to reassure him that it wasn’t his fault.
“So, what did you say you wanted to buy when you came here with Julia?” Aiden asked.
“I told Sully I wanted to look at a bat wing-style buoyancy control device like the one you had,” I said.
“Really?” Aiden asked in surprise. “I thought you liked the jacket style.”
“I do, but it was the first thing that popped into my mind when Julia and I were thinking about a reason to talk to Sully. Plus, I did like how streamlined your BCD was, so I thought it was a good excuse.”
“Did he have any in stock?”
“No, he didn’t. In fact, he only had the jacket-style BCDs, and they were the older models. I’m surprised that he had them displayed. I’m not a shop owner, but if my stuff was old and not in good condition, I wouldn’t have it out on the floor in the first place,” I said and shuddered from the memory of the moldy smell permeating from the equipment.
Aiden looked irritated again at himself and said, “I wish I’d done a more thorough search before I signed up with Sully’s shop for the Bay dive.”
“Don’t beat yourself up. His website was great, and you would’ve never known from the pictures online how bad the place really was,” I said, wanting to cheer him up.
“Still…” He gave a rueful grin.
“I know. I told Julia the same thing.” I patted his arm in understanding.
Aiden placed his arm around my waist. “Let’s head back to the car. This is a bummer.”
“I agree.” Throwing one last glance around the darkened dive shop, I said, “We’ll have to come back here to return the key.” I looked up and said, “Let’s go meet Julia and Annisa at Trevor’s apartment.” Miss Diva Diver has a lot to explain, I thought as I shook my head slowly at Aiden.
