Hiding Tom Hawk

by Robert Neil Baker

“We’re going to telephone Tony Sartorelli and taunt him to come to us?”

  “Kill or be killed, Tomahawk.” This from Gary, who’d obviously been listening to Dani. “We’ll make this house into a steel trap, and spring it on him.”

  Tom saw a major flaw. “We can’t use this place. The police are probably on the verge of coming back and throwing a net over us. We need another place.”

  Beth shook her head. “I’m not leaving my house. I have to run my inn.”

  Gary scowled. “For whom? Robert and Renada won’t be back soon. When he called he was sobbing that his mother is sick with food poisoning. Imagine. I would have thought you’d need an elephant gun to bring that old crone down. Anyway, other than the people in this room, you’ve only got that one new Harold guy to worry about. Aunt Mildred can cover for you.”

  “Why would she do that? She’s pissed at all of us.”

  “She’ll help because she owns a piece of this place. Don’t look at me that way, guys. I had to sell to her. It’s a long story.”

  “Aren’t they all? You didn’t even see a need to tell me when you did this?” She balled her fists.

  Dani put her imposing physical presence between them before Beth could attack her cousin. “You two can settle that later. Tom is right. We can’t do it here. We pick another place and let Tony find out about it. Tom and I will watch for him to arrive at the airport. We’ll follow him to the trap where you and Gary will be waiting.”

  “Waiting where? Where won’t the cops find us in this little town?” Beth was softening a bit.

  “Gary, what about your factory, where we put Harvey?” Dani suggested.

  “It’s been closed. If we suddenly move in people will notice and ask questions.”

  “Mildred’s then,” she decreed.

  Gary shook his head. “She can’t have police poking around either. She depends on that cash crop of hers. I would be embarrassed too. To keep her electricity bill looking reasonable, we bring in some of the power she needs from my mine property. Robert wired it up.”

  “I hope nobody died when he turned it on,” Dani said unkindly. “Anyway, if she’s just growing pot she probably wouldn’t even do time.”

  “Don’t count on it. We’re in Michigan, not California, Dani.”

  Tom had been drumming the table nervously. He stopped now. “We have a place to go, a cabin on the big lake. The guys who rented it won’t need it anymore. In fact, it’s a place Tony might head to without any prompting.” He described Harv and Marv’s rustic retreat.

  Beth nodded. “I like it. You can live with it, Dani?”

  “Yeah, I guess. Let’s do it.”

  “Gary?”

  “Sounds perfect.”

  “Then it’s settled. Let’s get to work on building a trap out there for our pal, Tony,” Tom said. “Our other problem is Wyatt. He’s obsessed with Beth, and he may try to snatch her again. At the least he could get in the way.”

  Gary nodded agreement. “Plus, Beth told that crazy kid I shafted him and he’s after me.”

  “Sorry about that,” Beth apologized. “What do we do, Tom?”

  “I think if we all talk to him we can settle him down. I’m going back to that campsite now, so I can catch him when he comes back for his stuff. I figure he’ll wait at least an hour, but I’ve got to get out there.”

  “I’m coming with you,” Gary said.

  They reached the campground twenty minutes later, less than fifty minutes after Wyatt had slipped away from Tom. His site was cleaned out. Gary cleared his throat. “You might want to stop underestimating him, Tomahawk.”

  “Yeah, you may have a point.”

  ****

  The next morning Tom and Dani entered the Chamber of Commerce office at the back door with Mildred’s key. They closed the front blinds and she took up the telephone. “It’s six a.m. in L.A. Just waking Tony up should make him mad as hell.”

  The office, small as it was, had an extension phone and Tom picked up as Tony’s number rang. It rang seven times. “Who the hell is this? What time—six frigging o’clock!”

  “Hi, Tony. It’s Danielle. Guess who’s with me, doll face? It’s Tom Hawk, the sweeper from your pizza parlor, do you remember?”

  “Dani? Who did you say you’re with?”

  “With Tom Hawk, the fellow who found the tiny body you were roasting. I wish you’d introduced me to this guy when you hired him. We get along so well and he’s so well endowed, if you get my drift. Oh sorry, that’s a touchy point with you, isn’t it, babe?”

  “Dani, you witch, you’re lying. You get right back here and maybe I’ll forget how you let me down. I don’t believe you’re with Hawk, not for a minute.”

  “Oh, you don’t. Say hello, Tom.”

  “Hey there, Tony, lose your tan in the jailhouse? Been cooking any of your friends lately?”

  “Aw, this can’t be. No, no, no, Dani, you’re not doing this.”

  “But I am. As you know, your brothers are here too, sweetie. But they’re just holed up in a lakeshore cabin day after day. Have they got some kinky thing going between them?”

  “I can’t reach them. You stop that dirty talk. You go to hell.”

  “If that’s the way you feel, bye-bye.”

  “Wait, Dani, we can make a deal. The Marine’s testimony won’t convict me. This ADA is a moron. All I want is my autobiography back and then I’ll leave you and the Marine alone.”

  She looked at Tom, who shrugged. “We don’t know what you’re talking about, Tony. We’ve gotta run. Tom and I are going on a picnic on a real private beach, if you get my drift. See you in court.”

  “You filthy, cheating, worthless…”

  Dani hung up and grinned at Tom. “What do you think?”

  “I think he got your drift. What was that autobiography business?”

  “I have no idea, the man can barely write a complete English sentence, but I’ve never heard him so mad. He’ll be here on the airplane tomorrow morning. Will he have a gun, do you think?”

  “I doubt it. It’s risky now. They’re starting to search passengers and luggage because of the Cuban skyjackings. I’m amazed Renada chanced it. Maybe she didn’t know.”

  “He could get a gun here.”

  “There’s only one gun store. I was about to go there when Renada gave me hers. Tomorrow’s Saturday. I’ll call and find out find out if it’s even going to be open then.”

  He did, and it wasn’t. Mildred slipped into the office. “Well?” she demanded.

  “We invited our friend Tony to visit, and we think he’s on his way.”

  “You two are certifiably nuts. Anyway, I was just at the coffee shop. Will Clubb was in there.”

  “Who?”

  “Detective William Clubb. Quit smirking. You call him Billy Clubb only at your great peril. He’s the only one down at that police station bright enough to find his way to the office every morning. Our local cops have soured on you, Tom. They now surmise that maybe you did the L.A. oven murder yourself, and killed this Angelo character here to cover up.”

  “Swell. I suppose they’re accusing me of drowning Marv, too.”

  “No. They’re all talking about the boat sinking, but there’s no word about finding a body. Maybe he got trapped inside and they’ll find him when they get a diver down there. Regardless, if you’re done with my telephone, I’d rather you moved on.”

  Dani smiled. “We’re as good as gone. Thanks for everything. We’ve got a few surprises to prepare for Tony when he gets to his brothers’ cabin.”

  “Yup, you’re as crazy as pet coons, both of you, and Beth and Gary too. I’ll be here for a while if you really need something. Just don’t get seen by anybody, Rob—Tom.”

  ****

  Harold sang tunelessly to himself as he shaved. Angelo and Marv were history and Harv must be laying low.

  His trip last night to see Renada, hiding from Horst at the Matthews mansion near Calumet, had gone so well. He’d been braced for a confron
tation with the dolt Robert over her, but the fellow had been at the hospital with his mother. She’d been stricken the night before right after Renada had prepared a special dinner celebrating their partnership in the planned new B&B.

  Renada said Mother Matthews had mild diverticulitis that the fools at the hospital misdiagnosed as food poisoning. Fortunately Robert’s mother had already signed the necessary business documents before dinner, and Renada and Robert would be able to proceed without his mother’s involvement.

  Harold had inquired politely if Mrs. Matthews was expected to recover, and Renada had doubted it. She suspected that it was a weakness in the family genes, and Robert was likely to be stricken in the future. After he had suppressed unworthy suspicions, they’d gone out for a surprisingly good dinner. Back at the Matthews house, they’d found a magnificent side bedroom with a garden view in which to complete a magical evening.

  When he’d returned to the Kessler Inn well after dark, he’d briefly met his charming young landlady and her unimpressive grocer cousin, who had both seemed preoccupied. Hawk and Dani had been said to be in their rooms and he had not seen any sign of them. It had been hard to care. He had Renada.

  Now a warm and golden autumnal Friday morning lay before him. He floated down the stairs to greet Beth Kessler and have a real breakfast, but a small elderly woman greeted him instead. “Morning.”

  “Yeah, good morning, where’s Miss Kessler?”

  “She was called away. I’m her aunt Mildred. Have a seat and I’ll bring coffee.”

  “What about the other guests?”

  “They ate early and went out. How do you want your eggs?”

  “Over easy. Will you be here all day?”

  “No, I’m here only for breakfast. Beth will telephone you later to see if you need anything.”

  Odd. Then again, maybe this wasn’t so bad. As soon as this old broad left, he could go through Hawk’s and Dani’s rooms with a fine tooth comb and maybe find Tony’s tape. A local newspaper lay on the table. A bottom right column item caught his eye. “Chief denies rumor of reservation casino.”

  Harold showed it to the old woman when she brought his food. “Casinos aren’t legal here, are they? I mean, they’re only legal in Nevada.”

  “Uncle Sam in his infinite wisdom has apparently decided the Indians can build them anywhere they want on their tribal lands.”

  “That’s nuts. How are they going to make money when most Indians are broke?”

  “The casinos will be open to anybody. They could make a ton of money.”

  “Unbelievable. This is just here in Michigan, right?”

  “It’s the whole country as I understand it. You use catsup?”

  “No. This is crazy. Business people have put millions into casinos in Nevada.”

  “So I hear. By business people, you mean the Mafia, I presume?”

  Harold tugged at his collar. How had it gotten so tight? “There’s no such thing as the Mafia.”

  “As you say. Anyway, lots of redskins think they’re going to be driving Cadillacs like yours. Nice car, by the way. I’ve always had Chryslers. I like Cadillacs, but Chryslers go faster.” She checked her watch.

  “Is that a fact?” he scoffed. “Look, I can clean up these dishes myself if you want to leave.”

  “That works for me. I’m out of here.” She was in her car and on her way in minutes. He needed to call Las Vegas, talk to Stinky at the casino, and find out if his invested money, almost all of his legit money, was safe from Indian attack. The whole country was going to hell. The Democrats were running a socialist commie-loving fool for president and only Richard Nixon stood between America and ruin.

  ****

  After the Mildred woman left it took Harold ten minutes to find where Beth Kessler hid her master key. He might have been legit for fourteen years now, but he hadn’t totally lost his touch. He searched Hawk’s room and Dani’s room thoroughly, but there was nothing. Dani might have the tape with her. Hawk might have the tape with him. They sure didn’t have it in their rooms. Would they risk hiding it somewhere else in a house that was being remodeled? He started searching the entire house, minus rooms that were under construction or empty.

  Ninety frantic minutes later he had gone through the place completely. It was amazing how little dirt he found on anybody. Stuff in Beth Kessler’s room confirmed that she was near bankruptcy. Stuff in Gary Grant’s room confirmed that he had a piece of this inn and he had recently sold a piece of that piece to the great-aunt. They were all in the same leaky boat, vulnerable for him and Renada to take over on the cheap, if they wanted to expand to owning two inns.

  He found a newspaper article confirming what the old woman had said about Indian casinos. This was going to be a huge problem, and he couldn’t reach Stinky. Oh, to live in the old days, when the army had whole platoons of soldiers dedicated to massacring Indians. What were his tax dollars going to, anyway?

  Most importantly, he found no tape, no rambling dictation by the idiot Tony Sartorelli. Tony, a huge Marlon Brando fan, had watched The Godfather two more times after Harold had taken him to see it. He might have put everything on that tape. It went way back, back to when Harold was not the respectable businessman he had long ago become. Made public, the tape might destroy him.

  He found a straw to clutch at. What if Marv recovered the tape before Hawk and Beth Kessler sent him to Davey Jones’ Locker? From everything Renada had revealed, Marv had never gotten into this house, but how would they know? There were too many questions without answers. There was that cabin the twins had rented! He needed to go out and search it.

  Marv’s driving notes were garbled. He got lost, got bad instructions from a bewhiskered old fart with a singsong accent and got lost again, and finally found the place after noon. He had the sense to leave his car at the road and walk carefully down the long overgrown driveway in case. Good thing too, because he saw four cars parked around the cabin. Obviously, Marv’s body had been found. Obviously the cars belonged to the local authorities who were tossing the joint. Oh good gracious, if the tape was there, they would probably find it.

  Harold retreated swiftly; his fists balled and his face flushed scarlet with anger. Once he had started up his car he shouted to the closed windows, “Tony, you freaking shithead. What have you done?” He didn’t owe Reverend Timmy-Bob a wooden nickel for this outburst, because Tony Sartorelli was only describable as a freaking shithead.

  He went back to the Kessler Inn and telephoned Renada, but she was tied up with some Matthews B&B negotiations. What now? Would he have to kill Tony himself? It was one thing to hire professional help, but to do it himself? He shuddered and pain seared his gut. His ulcer was coming on strong.

  ****

  Tom, Dani, Gary, and Beth, her ankle improved, worked feverishly all Friday afternoon preparing the cabin for Tony’s arrival. They had two guns: Mildred’s shotgun and the little pistol from Renada. Gary had taken Dani’s handgun after Tom had knocked her out with that ravioli, but it had been lost in the grocery store fire.

  The cabin was stoutly built, but not easily defensible. Terrain sloped up on two sides to tree lines that could conceal a marksman. The front windows were too large and the door lock was primitive. The building did back up to a big drainage ditch to the south, pretty much eliminating that direction of attack, and there was a pretty clear line of fire in that and two other directions from the three windows. The blank north wall was a problem, so Dani cut a small gun port in it.

  They had a few rounds for Renada’s pistol and many rounds for Mildred’s shotgun. Tom led the others through a brief target practice session using the shotgun. Beth, while no Marine, was a good shot. Dani did reasonably well and claimed she could be better with a pistol. Gary was likely to injure himself with a long gun and he would have the pistol Renada had given to Tom.

  The complete plan had several stages. Dani and Tom would see Tony arrive at the terminal. If he was alone and unarmed, they’d try to overwhelm and captu
re him there, probably after he got keys to a rental car. If not, they’d telephone a warning to the cabin and follow him out of the airport in two cars, Dani’s and the little Nash. Once he made the turn into the cabin drive they would leave one car to block the road and take the other to join the battle.

  The gateway in the fence was very narrow. They were confident Tony would stop before driving through it, and likely get out of his car. There, faced with Beth and Gary exiting the cabin armed with both guns, and with Tom and Dani driving up behind him he would have to surrender.

  At his mine Gary had located some old explosives sealed in the now-brittle original plastic and brought them to the cabin. He’d even found some dog-eared instructions on fusing them for remote detonation. He proposed burying these in the driveway outside the narrow gate in the fence, with wires to detonate them leading back to the cabin. They would have only to touch a couple wires together as Tony reached the gate. The explosion, if it went off, should disable Tony and his car.

  “Cool,” said Dani.

  Beth protested first. “No, no way. That could be murder, Gary.”

  Tom didn’t like it either. “I want him alive. Just the fact that he tracked us here will be the extra proof the prosecutors might need.”

  Gary yielded, but pouted for hours.

  When the preparations were complete, Beth and Gary seemed so eager for the adventure that Tom wondered if they knew at all what they were getting into. Dani, by contrast, was moody and anxious. She sat in a corner Adirondack chair listening to her music tapes on her portable player, complaining that the one built into her car had better sound quality, and that half the tapes she had filched from Tony were sappy Sicilian ballads. She said Tony’s Italian ancestors weren’t from Sicily. They had come from the north of Italy near the western border, and Tony worried they might even have actually been French.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Harold’s Friday kept getting worse. He had finally contacted Stinky at his casino on the strip to warn of coming competition from red Indians. Stinky hadn’t heard of this, but he did tell Harold that Tony Sartorelli had been released from jail the day before. It was rumored Tony would go to Michigan to kill Hawk and anyone close to him.