by Mac Fortner
“A party?” I said. So much for hiding.
I walked Wanda back out of my room and found Dave. He was passed out on the sofa.
“Has he called anyone else for the party yet?” I asked.
“No, he was going to have me do that when I got here.”
“How about you and I have our own little party and forget about everyone else,” I said.
“Cool. What do you want to do?”
“Well, let's start with a couple of drinks,” I said. “I’ll get them.”
“Alright, now you’re talking,” she said.
I plied her with cheap bourbon and danced with her until she finally passed out in Dave’s bed. With that situation taken care of, I returned to my own bed to find Walter in it again.
I tried to get him out, but he was playing dead. He must weigh seventy-five pounds. What’s Dave feed him? He opened his eyes and looked at me, then closed them again.
Finally, I got him to move over far enough for me to slide in beside him. I guess after Dave leaves I’ll take his bed.
Chapter 49
Early the next morning, Harold Chesterfield knocked on Tracy’s door.
She peeked through the peephole, and her shoulders dropped. What now?
Opening the door, she said, “Harold, good to see you.”
“Is it?” He said.
“Come in,” she said opening the door wider and stepping aside.
He entered kissing her on the cheek as he passed. That's when he noticed her bruise.
“What happened to you?” he said.
“That crazy bitch of a girlfriend of Cams. She sucker punched me.”
Harold laughed.
“Coffee?” she offered.
“No thank you. I already had mine.”
She poured herself a cup and regarded him.
“I guess you wonder why I’m here,” he said.
“Yeah, kind of.”
“Okay,” he said. “You gave up all the jewels just to frame Cam. That is, all except the Foxhound diamond. I want it. You can return that to me and either steal the others back again or not. I don’t really care. You’ll get Cam, and I’ll get my diamond and my insurance money, which I will split with you. And the big plus is, you’ll get to live.”
Tracy stared at him unbelieving. “Do you remember when I told you that I was going to keep the Foxhound?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Well, I meant it. I’m not giving it back to you.”
“I could kill you and take it,” Harold said.
“You would never find it. It’s not that I don’t trust you, but I don’t trust you,” Tracy said. “So, you keep all the insurance money, and I’ll keep the diamond.”
“That means I went through all of this for nothing.”
“Not for nothing. You just managed to fence your diamonds and rubies through insurance. Since you stole them in the first place, you would have had a hard time selling them.”
“I didn’t steal them,” Harold said.
“Just because you stole them from a thief, doesn’t mean you didn’t steal them.”
Harold was boiling. “I’ll kill you,” he said, anger deep in his throat.
“Okay, fine, kill me,” she said. “But you better do it soon. You don’t have much time left.”
Harold slapped her. She fell to the floor and put her hand to her face.
“Get out!” she screamed pointing to the door.
Harold laughed again. “I’ll see you around,” he said and left.
~***~
I woke around eight the next morning. Sometime during the night, Walter had shifted positions in bed. Now his butt was only inches from my face.
I rolled over and sat up. This wasn’t going to work for me.
I went to the living room to see how Dave was. He and Wanda were gone.
There was a note on the table, Gone Fishin’ see you in a few days.
I felt a little relief.
I opened the refrigerator to see if maybe he had left any food to get me started, but I knew better. Dave would never think that far ahead.
To my surprise, there was a white sack with my name on it. I removed it and opened it up.
Two chocolate honey buns. Dave, you are the man. The morning seemed brighter already.
~***~
Around ten-thirty Tracy arrived at The Galleon Resort. Harold’s car was there, parked under a tree in the lot just like it was at two in the morning when she took her bag and approached the car.
Now she was back and ready.
Tracy drove down the street and parked. She called Harold.
“Yes, my dear,” he answered.
“Okay, you win, but we split,” she said.
“That was the plan from the beginning,” he said.
“Where is the diamond?”
“I’ll meet you in the parking lot by the pier,” she said. “I don’t want to be alone with you in our rooms.”
“You don’t have anything to worry about from me,” he said. “Not if you hold up your end of the deal.”
“I’ll meet you there in a half hour,” she said and hung up.
Harold got into his car and pulled out of the lot. He drove toward the pier. Tracy watched him leave and followed.
When he was pulling into the lot at the pier his phone rang again.
“You didn’t change your mind did you?” he said.
“No. I didn’t change my mind. I was just wondering why you planted that bomb on my submarine. Were you really going to kill me just to have a bigger cut?”
Harold laughed. “You can’t blame a man for trying,” he said.
“No, I guess not,” Tracy said. “I decided to give your bomb back to you.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Goodbye, Harold,” she said.
“What do you —?”
Then he realized what she meant. He opened the door, but he never got out of the car. It blew up, engulfing him in an inferno of flame.
Tracy watched the car blow up. She smiled and drove away.
~***~
Kailey arrived at the sheriff station around ten-twenty.
“I’d like to talk to Sheriff Reynolds,” she said to the Desk Sargent.
“One minute please,” he said and walked to Toby’s office.
The plan was that once she was in the office, Stacy would come in and create a diversion hopefully giving Kailey time to find the file.
“Come on in, Kailey,” Toby said from his office door.
Kailey entered and took a seat across from Toby.
“What do you want now?” Toby said.
“I would like to work with you,” she said.
“Work with me?”
“Yes, we both know Cam didn’t do any of this. I think if we work together and include Cam, we can figure this out.”
“Speaking of which,” he said. “Where is Cam? There’s a warrant out for his arrest.”
“I don’t know. He left and didn’t tell anyone.”
“Then how is he going to help?”
“He’s bound to call sooner or later. I’ll tell him you want to work with him to solve the case.”
Toby thought about this. She could get Cam back here, and then he could arrest him.
“Okay. When he calls—”
Crane came bursting into the office again, “There’s been a car bombing at the pier,” he said.
Toby jumped up. “Get everyone,” he said. “Transfer the phones to my cell.”
Crane ran back out followed by Toby. He stopped at the door and turned to Kailey, “Get Cam in here,” he said and ran out.
“Damn, Stacy. I didn’t mean that big of a diversion,” she said softly.
Kailey rummaged through the desk first. There it was, top drawer center. She opened it and shuffled through the pages quickly. She saw the name, Annika Gusarov. This was it. She tucked it under her blouse and hurriedly walked out of the office. She passed Stacy, who was on her way in.
“L
et’s go,” she said to Stacy.
Stacy did an about-face, and they walked out together.
Chapter 50
Sheriff Reynolds arrived on the scene at the pier. It looked like North Korea had decided to take aim at a poor soul’s car. It was still shooting flames twenty feet into the air.
Chief Leland was already there. They were closer, Toby thought. That’s the only reason they beat us to all the good stuff in town.
The fire department arrived a couple of minutes later and started extinguishing the blaze.
“What ya got?” Toby asked Leland.
“Car bomb,” he said. “We can’t even make the type of car yet.”
“Wonder if anyone was inside?”
“Can’t tell. I hope not.”
In a few minutes, the flames were gone, and all that remained was a burnt out shell of an unrecognizable car.
Leland and Toby walked closer and examined the car. Looking in the window first, Toby fell back and put his hand over his mouth. He managed to walk away a few steps before vomiting.
“Jesus Christ,” he said. “What is that?”
Leland took a look. There was a charred figure sitting in the driver’s seat. It resembled what could have been a human at one time. It would take a while before they were able to tell if it was a man or a woman.
Robin also got the call and showed up on the scene after the fire was out.
“Any reason to suspect terrorist?” Robin said.
“Probably not,” Leland said. “It was just one guy in his car, no one else was injured.”
She saw Toby and walked over to him. He was green.
“Ugly, isn’t it?” she said.
“Yeah.”
“I need to drop by and see you after while,” she said.
“Nothing’s changed,” he said. “You can’t have Cam’s files.”
“I’ll see you around three,” she said and left the scene.
~***~
“Tell me you didn’t blow a car up just to get Toby out of the office,” Kailey said.
Stacy laughed, “Do you think that was too much?”
Both girls laughed.
“Did you get it?” Stacy asked.
“Yeah, I did.”
“Good deal.”
“Thanks for the help.”
“I didn’t even do anything,” Stacy said.
“If you wouldn’t have agreed to help me, I wouldn’t have been in a position to get them.”
“You’re welcome then,” she said.
“Please don’t ever tell anyone we did this. Never,” Kailey said.
“I swear,” Stacy said.
“Okay, I’ll see you later today. I need to take these to Cam.”
“Alright, maybe Chad will join us in the tub tonight,” Stacy said.
“I don’t think so, Stacy. He’s happily married, and I don’t think he’s the type to fool around.”
“She’s a lucky girl.”
“Yes and so am I.”
The girls hugged and went their separate ways.
~***~
I was trying to find the dog food when Walter came sauntering into the kitchen.
He watched me going through the cabinets. I felt pressured.
Finally, I picked up his feed bowl and looked at him. He walked to a door leading to the back porch. I set the bowl back down and followed. I opened the door. He then went to a beat-up old cabinet, and in perfect form, straightened his tail, pointed his nose and raised one paw.
I opened the cabinet, and there was his food. I felt as if I didn’t have control of the house.
I also saw a bag of treats, so I opened it and took one out. I swear he smiled.
He sat down and stared at my hand. I offered the treat. He gingerly took it from my hand, turned and walked back to the kitchen, dropped it into his bowl and ate it slowly.
This dog really enjoyed life. He had his own routine, and you better adhere to it.
When he finished, I filled his bowl. He looked at the food and then at me. I bet he wants water too, I thought. I didn’t see a water bowl. I turned on the kitchen faucet and looked at him. He walked into the living room and stopped at the sofa. He went into his pose again. I got on my knees and found his water bowl under the couch.
“How did that happen,” I asked.
Thank God, he didn’t tell me.
Around noon as I was cleaning house, I heard a knock at the door. I looked at Walter, he looked at the door. We both walked slowly to the door.
I peeked through the peephole and recognized Kailey standing on the porch. I told Walter it was okay and opened the door.
Kailey came in, and I closed the door.
She hugged me and then bent down and petted Walter.
“How are you guys getting along?” she asked.
“Tell her, Walter,” I said, looking at him.
He turned and disappeared into the living room.
I didn’t want to call you. I was afraid your phone might be tapped,” Kailey said.
“I ditched it last night. I didn’t want them to trace it,” I said.
“Good,” she said. “I brought you a burner phone, and I have one too. I’ll give you my number so you can call me if you need anything.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“Have you had anything to eat yet today?” she asked me.
I wanted to lie to her but I couldn’t.
“Yes, Dave left me a donut,” I said, only telling a little lie. There were two.
“I brought you a hamburger.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I’m starving.”
We sat at the table. She pulled a sack out of a larger bag she was carrying and produced two hamburgers. She also had two soft drinks and a bag of chips.
We ate on the burger wrappers. “I’m not sure where the plates are yet,” I said.
“Probably in the overhead cabinet. Don’t you think?” she said.
Walter came back into the kitchen when he smelled the burgers. He put on his sadist's face and looked at Kailey.
It worked. She gave him the last part of her sandwich.
“I’m trying to break him of begging at the table,” I said.
“Good luck,” Kailey mused.
“What else do you have in the bag?” I inquired.
She pulled out some bread and lunch meat. A two-liter coke and a larger bag of chips. Then she pulled out a new container of dog treats. Walter seemed to recognize them instantly and walked to her side.
She opened the bag and gave him one. He repeated his previous routine.
“I’ve got one more thing,” she said.
She pulled out a file. “The fingerprint report,” she said.
“How did you manage to get these?”
“I was at the Sheriff Station when they got a call for a car bomb down at the pier. They were just lying there, so I picked them up. Then Stacy came in, and I forgot to put them back before we left.”
“You were at the Sheriff Station, and Stacy just happened to come in,” I said. “You didn’t set off a car bomb, did you?”
“Of course not, Cam. What do think we are?”
I took the report and looked through it.
“You were right,” I said.
“Yeah.”
“She’s been a very busy girl. Her brother didn’t have anything on her.”
“The family that kills together—”
“That’s what they say.”
“One more thing,” Kailey said. “Stacy says she saw someone that looked a lot like Toby swim to your boat the other night and then back to the dock. I think that’s how the jewels got placed there.”
“I would have never thought that of him.”
Chapter 51
Kailey took Walter for a walk while she was there. He perked up as soon as she took the leash off the hook on the wall.
They were gone for about fifteen minutes. She said he needed the walk. He must have been holding it in for a few days.
“I gues
s you should come over in the morning and at night,” I said.
“No problem. I missed you in bed last night. It was just Robin and me.”
I turned red, and my eyes widened. I think I was breathing harder too.
She laughed, “Just kidding,” she said. “I slept alone.”
I was trying to slow my heart and drive the picture out of my mind.
“Wow, you must be horny,” she said.
“I am now.”
“Did you have to sleep alone in that big bed?” she asked.
“No. I had to sleep with Walter in the small bed. It wasn’t pleasant.”
She laughed.
“But if you have time,” I said, “I just put clean sheets on Dave’s bed. That’s where I’m sleeping tonight. Walter doesn’t appreciate good company.”
“I always have time,” she cooed.
I took her hand and walked her to the bedroom.
~***~
Tracy was alone now. Except for one man, she was the only player left in the game, at least on her team. She didn’t know if she felt relief or panic. She had been pulling jobs for a long time with Tom Bishop. She wondered if he was going to be identified, and if he was, would they come up with Harold Chesterfield or Tom bishop?
Aaron Kingston was a loser from the get-go. He nearly got me caught on a few jobs. Now on this job he planted a bomb on my sub for Harold. I’m glad I had Harold take him out, she thought.
She changed into her swimsuit and went to the pool. She ordered a vodka straight up and opened her book. It was a beautiful day to read.
~***~
Toby returned to his office at three-fifteen. There was no sense in staying at the scene any longer. It would take weeks probably to come up with an ID on the victim. He had better things to do. He was on a real case, that could get him either sent to prison for life or make him a free man.
At four o’clock Robin Anderson was in his office again.
“What do you want now?” he said frustrated.
“I want the fingerprint file you have on Tracy Alexander,” she demanded.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”