My eyes had caught it, with help from a telephoto lens. The third body bag at The Tideline crime scene. Teresa Barga had ended our short-term relationship several years ago. For eight months we had spent almost every night together at her Shipyard townhouse or in my cottage, depending on our moods and schedules. I probably had loved her. She had not closed out our affair gracefully. Her head was turned when an old college boyfriend showed up in town. He was a scam artist and a loser. Worse, not long after recapturing her heart, he was murdered by a woman he had been blackmailing. After that mess Teresa and I kept our distance until a complication no one could have foreseen. Tim Rutledge, my younger brother, hit town in a swirl of typical Keys misbehavior. In the first week of his drunken visit, he met and charmed Teresa in a restaurant over breakfast. I viewed their intense, short-term romance with certain opinions regarding their motivations. Events forced me into acceptance before the couple’s inevitable split and Tim’s departure for the mainland.
What do You think about The Quick Adios (Times Six)?
