Sunshine Beach by Wendy Wax

permission to work on the property,” Maddie reminded them. “This is Renée we’re talking about. Their father died under suspicious circumstances more than sixty years ago, but it doesn’t sound like she or her sister are anywhere near over it.” Maddie looked out over the Gulf, but all she saw was Renée Franklin’s troubled face. “Surely we don’t want to exploit her the way the network’s been exploiting us.”
    â€œNo, of course not,” Avery said. “I’ve asked Chase and Jeff to keep an eye open for potential projects, and I’m planning to check out the beach communities within driving distance of Bella Flora, but I don’t know that we’re going to have much of a choice,” Avery said. “And who knows, maybe if we renovated the hotel, Renée and her sister could reach some sort of agreement. Maybe then they could sell it and be done with it.”
    â€œGod, I just keep thinking what it must have felt like living so close to the place where such a horrible thing happened,” Nikki said. “Renée’s always seemed so upbeat and positive. I would have never guessed she had such a tragedy in her past.”
    â€œNo,” Maddie said. “A lot of wounds aren’t at all visible.” Weren’t they all a walking testimonial to that?
    â€œWell, all we’re going to do today is take a look,” Avery said. “There’s no harm in that.”
    They were within hailing distance of the Don CeSar when Kyra angled the stroller toward the dunes she’d pointed out earlier. The catamaran’s hardware clanged against the metal mast with a hollow ring, and the sea oats that surrounded the dunes swayed gently as they made their way through the softer sand.
    Kyra extracted Dustin from the stroller, handed him into Maddie’s arms, then retrieved her video camera from her backpack. Hefting it onto her shoulder, she led Maddie, Avery, and Nikki between the dunes. They stopped in front of the low concrete wall for several long moments trying to absorb what lay before them.
    Maddie shivered slightly. Instinctively they moved closer together as they followed Kyra through the opening in the low concrete wall.

Chapter Seven

    Maddie took in the drifts of sand and refuse that covered the gouged concrete pool deck and piled high against the corners of the L-shaped building. The scarred trash-filled pool gaped at them openmouthed. Brown-skirted palm trees, bulging bushes, and flowering vines had woven themselves into a thick green wall that blotted out the neighboring properties. The encroaching vegetation clung to the building and had taken root in the cracked concrete. The ends of a tarp that covered most of the building’s flat roof snapped against its restraints like a sail against the wind. The sky was still blue and the sun still shone, but its angle cast long shadows across the abandoned property. It felt as if they’d stepped from one world into another.
    â€œI can’t decide if this is just sad or creepy,” Avery said, though Maddie could see her eyeing the low-slung building, as if applying a mental tape measure.
    â€œI don’t think you have to choose,” Nikki said. “It’s both.” Her voice had dropped to a whisper. “I thought Bella Flora looked bad when we first saw her, but she had great bones. Renée was right. This looks like a teardown to me.”
    There was the crunch of feet on gritty concrete and they looked up to see John Franklin approaching from the rear of the property. The Realtor leaned heavily on his cane, placing it carefully before each step.
    â€œI wish you all could have seen the property in its heyday,” he said when he’d reached them. “I lifeguarded here on weekends in the winter when it was filled with snowbirds and over the summer break for the local beach club members. My platform was right there.” He pointed to a spot