“It was called that when we bought the place,” Ava said. “My ex thought it sounded cute too. I wasn’t too sure, but you wouldn’t believe what it costs to get a new neon sign. Even back then. So we kept the name. It’s grown on me over the years. And of course, our regulars like it. They hate change. If I so much as bring in a new kind of coffee maker in the kitchens, they raise hell about it.”

“You’ve owned this place for a while then?”

“Oh yeah. Over thirty-five years. What kind of work do you do, Ms. Hill?”

“Nothing too exciting. I’m a civil servant. I punch a clock.”

“Just looking for a little sunshine, huh? I bet it’s still cold back up north. I’ll tell you, I don’t miss those winters.”

“Yeah, it’s nasty cold,” Vikki said. The sun was starting to go down. There was a large palm tree in the middle of the courtyard, and she could see a small group of people gathering there in lawn chairs. “What’s going on out there?”

The manager craned her neck to see. “Oh, that’s just the happy hour group. I don’t allow smoking anywhere else on the property, but they’ll gather out there and have a drink. Strictly BYOB. You’re welcome to join them. I can introduce you.”

“Maybe later,” Vikki said vaguely. She picked up her key. “My room is where?”

“Right down at the end of the breezeway,” Ava DeCurtis said. “Turn left when you walk out the door here. Let me know if there’s anything you need. And welcome to the Murmuring Surf.”

The room was nothing to write home about. It was clean, though, and there was a palm tree right outside her door. She stripped off the heavy black sweater and jeans she’d worn on the plane. It was seventy-two degrees outside, and she’d been roasting since she stepped out of the airport in Tampa.

Telling herself she needed to canvass the area, she dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, and put on the rubber flip-flops she’d bought at the airport gift shop, and a pair of oversize sunglasses.

She walked toward a strip of palm trees that divided the motel property from the beach. There was a row of lounge chairs facing the water, and just beyond were the sparkling turquoise waters of the Gulf of Mexico.