The Devil's Dwelling

by Jean Avery Brown

  “We questioned Sassy last week about one of her masseuse and were coming back to get more info out of her.”

  “You get out of here. I don’t want you involved with a murder.” Sheriff Reagan demanded.

  “You got it. We are all but gone.”

  TWENTY-ONE

  The maroon Chrysler passed us as we headed across town. I put the accelerator down and caught up with him and pulled along side.

  “Would you look at that? It’s Marty Martin and his got a gun pointed at us.”

  Mona, pulled her 38 out of her bag and lowered it on him. I stayed beside him as best I could.

  “For crissake what’s he doing?” He jerked his wheel toward the side of my Blazer. I reacted pulling but knew I would have to turn into him or be put off the road.

  “This looks like a game of chicken.” He fired off one shot. It danced across the windshield. Mona took a couple of pot shots leaving the Chrysler with a couple of memory markers in the fender. Marty took his eyes off the road and hit the gravel. His maroon Chrysler was in a cloud of dust. Last we saw he was going sideways down the highway.

  “What’s Marty doing playing ‘chicken’ with us? What’s he doing on this side of town? You’d think he would be hiding out. Or, at least have enough respect for Maxine to not make such a scene.” I had a lot of questions that needed to be answered. First who killed

  Maxine and why? Now, who killed Sassy and why? We seem to be missing a strategic link to these murders.”

  We cranked up the music and headed out to check on some other massage parlors.

  Mona opened the phone book to the yellow pages under Massage.

  “We still have a lot to cover if we are going to talk to all the massage parlor owners.”

  “We’ll stop visiting the parlors when we find Natasha.”

  My phone rang. It was a private number. “I answered in my voice of authority. Tiffany here.”

  A voice came over the phone line. “You left a message at my massage parlor a few days ago.”

  “Yes, I did. Thanks for calling me.”

  “Do you need an appointment?”

  “As a matter of fact I do. My masseuse moved to a new location and I can’t seem to find where she might be working. She has long red hair. She wouldn’t happen to be one of your masseuse?”

  “She was till I caught the sonnabitch helping herself in the cash box. I fired her a couple days ago. Natasha McGuire is her name or at least that’s what she told me. I don’t think you want to use her. I have another girl that gives a very relaxing massage. Can I put you down with her?”

  “I’ll have to call back to schedule. What’s your name and the name of your parlor?”

  “Chelsea’s Massage Parlor.”

  I took the name and number remembering where I left the note.

  “We are right on Natasha’s tail. Let‘s call it a day.”

  I dropped Mona off at her apartment and headed on home. I drove into the apartment parking lot as the flower delivery truck was pulling in. He stepped from his van and asked. “Are you Tiffany?” He inquired looking at his delivery sheet.

  “Yes, I’m Tiffany.” I thought no way can he be delivering flowers to me. Sheriff Randy, Hayden or for that fact Brad wouldn’t have cause to send flowers. I hope it isn’t my stalker or my secret admirer.

  “Can I read the note before I accept them?”

  “That’s not customary but I guess that will be okay.”

  I removed the sealed small envelope from the plastic fork stuck in the bouquet poking above the top of the flowers.

  The note read. You smell wonderful. Your secret admirer.

  “Oh shit! I can’t accept these flowers.” I opened my bag, found a twenty dollar bill and handed the delivery man. “You tell your boss I will not accept flowers from this guy.”

  “Okay, ma’am I’ll tell him.”

  The delivery man loaded the flowers back into the delivery van, slide the side door shut, jumped in the van and sped away.

  I pushed the fob button and locked the Blazer.

  I read the card in my mind. I smell good. We’ll I’m glad I smell good but what man has been close enough to smell me that I don’t know? Maybe I know the jerk. I laughed…Maybe it’s Mr. Sinclair.

  Mr. Sinclair opened the foyer door for me.

  “You hauling in any bad guys these days?” He let the door close and put his hands in his front pocket pulling his shoulders forward. The change in his pocket rattled from his shaking hands.

  “I’ll let you know if I get a real mean one.” I patted him on the back and made my way up the stairs.

  No, I thought, it isn’t Mr. Sinclair. I’m sure his libido died years ago.

  I opened my apartment door. Music was coming from the bedroom. That’s weird Bailey didn’t greet me. I took my Glock from my bag and tiptoed to the door. I put my ear against the door and listened. Music was all I could hear. I pushed the door open. There Hayden lay on my bed dressed in his full uniform. Black jeans, black button down shirt and black boots with his hands behind his head. Bailey was curled up beside him. Flopping his tail on the comforter.

  “Hayden!” I yelled. I dropped my bag on the floor and put my hands on my hips.

  “What the heck are you doing in my bed. In my apartment for that matter?”

  “Bailey and I were napping until you woke us.” He threw his legs over the side of the bed grabbed my hand and pulled my face down to meet his face. He gently kissed me. “I’ve been missing you.”

  “That’s sweet but that’s not the reason you are here.” I took his hand and pulled him off the bed. I wasn’t going to roll in the hay with him before I got a shower.

  We walked into the kitchen, I open the frig and peered inside. ‘I have beer, you want a beer.”

  “I can’t refuse a bottle of beer.” He tapped the counter.

  I tossed Hayden a bottle of beer and set next to him at the bar. “Okay, why are you here?”

  “Can’t a guy come by to see his girl without an invitation?” He pulled the cap off the beer with his teeth and spun the lid on the counter.

  “Word’s on the street Marty Martin is after you. They are saying he thinks you killed Maxine.”

  “he thinks I killed Maxine, why would I kill Maxine?” I put my hand to my chest. My heart was pumping on overdrive.

  “You were seen at the scene of the murder.” Again he spun the bottle cap on the counter.

  I slapped the cap to the counter. “Be serious with me, this isn’t funny.”

  “That’s why I’m here. You need to stay at my place. Marty knows where you live and when he gets the nerve up he will be here.”

  I didn’t dare tell Hayden about today’s incident with Marty.

  “I can’t run and hide from every idiot out there. I also have a stalker and an admirer. He’s sent me flowers two times. The first time I thought Randy had sent them. I opened the card and it said. My eyes are on you. From your secret admirer. Isn’t that creepy and when I pulled in the parking lot a while ago the flower delivery man had flowers for me. I read the card and sent them back.”

  “What did the card read?”

  “You smell good. From your secret admirer.”

  “This sounds like a real psycho. For your safety you need to go home with me. Look, you can have the guest room. You can come and go as you please. No strings attached unless of course you might want some and that I might consider.”

  “I’ll be okay, I have my Glock. Marty surely won’t hurt me.” I put my head in my hands. “This is crazy.”

  “There’s going to be an art show and we are transporting some very expensive paintings we have stored at Hayden Store All to the gallery in Little Rock. I’d like for you to go with me. We’ll be gone for two days. No one will know where you are and I’ll have a dozen men with me guarding the paintings.”

  “When will you be leaving?” What am I thinking? Going out of town with thirteen men in a caravan.

  Tomorrow afternoon about on
e. The drive will take about an hour. The men will set the show up. I’ll put them on guard detail and you and I will spend the night in a nice place away from the guys.”

  “It’ll be nice to take a breather from this crazy life. I’ll meet you at your place at 12:30 tomorrow. I need to get my clothes ready to go and call Mona and let her in on my adventure.”

  “I’d rather you didn’t mention to Mona or anyone about the art show. The trip to and from Little Rock can be dangerous. We will have six Hummers transporting the artwork. You and I will travel in the Viper.”

  Bailey was pacing the floor in need of relieving himself. “I’ll just tell Mona we are going out of town for pleasure. Right now I have to take Bailey out to hike and poop before dark.”

  I took the leash from the hook and hooked up Bailey. “You wanna come?”

  “No, I better get back to the office. I’ve got some last minute things to go over with the surveillance crew.”

  “You take your Glock with you to the park.” Hayden kissed my forehead and patted me on the rear. “You take care of yourself. We’ll get this matter taken care of when we get back.”

  Bailey and I jogged to the park. I unhooked Bailey and let him run in the park. I didn’t see any guys around leaving me feeling pretty safe. A vehicle drove up and I looked over my shoulder. It was the Jeep. Sheesh, I wonder why he’s here? There were a few dogs in the park. Bailey was having a good time chasing and cornering them. They would yelp and he would wiggle his tail and all was fine. I’m beginning to think his a tease.

  A voice from my back startled me. “Bailey likes to intimidate the little dogs and then run away.”

  Shit it was the big woman Bailey took down a few weeks ago.

  “Yeah, he loves to play. But his a good guard dog. If anyone tries to get too close to me he comes between us and usually growls.” I stepped back from the woman.

  “Do you enjoy coming to the park?” Her eyes were on Bailey as she spoke to me.

  “I like to jog but I don’t care about taking Bailey to the park to hike and poop.” I knew the minute I said I like to jog I was in trouble.

  “I like to jog too. Maybe we could jog together.”

  “You jog?” This woman does not jog. She would have a coronary. I thought to myself.

  “I know I’m pretty big to be jogging but it would do me good to get some exercise.” She stretched her arms behind her back and shook them out.

  “We’ll see but I’m pretty busy.”

  “Bailey get over here.” Bailey came running and jumped on ‘the woman’ knocking her on her butt. Jumped on and slobbering all over her face.

  “Get the damn dog off me.” She jumped up and wiped her face with the back of her hand.

  “I told you if anyone comes too close to me he gets in between.”

  “Bailey!” I grabbed his collar and pulled him off. Hooked him up and we were on our way home.

  I called Mona and told her I was taking a couple days off to be with Hayden. “He thinks I need to get away.”

  “You take a couple days off too. You’ve been going since you started with the company.” I suggested.

  “Don’t worry about me you have a good time.”

  Can you drop over and take Bailey out for his hike and poop? His dog food is on the counter and the water bowl is usually about empty.”

  “I’ll take care of Bailey.”

  “I’ll only be gone one night. I’ll be back day after tomorrow in the afternoon. I’ll call when I get home. And I’ll have my cell phone if you need me.”

  “You go girl and have a good time.”

  I hung up the phone and scurried around the house going through my closet trying to decide what to wear.

  TWENTY-TWO

  I pulled off the road and stopped in front of the steel gate, pushed my fob button Hayden had given me, the highly secured steel door rolled up. I drove through and behind me the door rolled down, latched and locked. The drive sloped down taking me to the basement parking facility for Hayden employees. I got out of the Blazer with my Coach overnighter and my bag. I walked toward the elevator, pushed the button and the door opened. The elevator was filled with a dozen men dressed in black. Black jeans, tight tee shirts with ‘Hayden Store All’ across the back. Some were wearing jackets with the same logo on the back. Each jacket sported the man’s name. A gun was resting on each mans side. I stepped back while they filed out. A row of black Hummers were parked face out along the side wall. They teamed up two to a Hummer. I tried not to be too nosey. I stepped in the cold steel elevator and pushed the button for the main floor. The door opened and Larry was setting at his desk watching a dozen monitors.

  Not knowing where I should be. I walked over to Larry, plopped my bags on the counter overlooking Larry‘s space.

  “Good afternoon Larry. Is Hayden around?”

  “Good morning Tiffany. Hayden is in his office finalizing the transport of the artwork.”

  “I’ll just have a seat over here.” I pointed to the black leather sofa along the wall. I picked up a magazine. Sports illustrated and flipped through the pages. After about five minutes Hayden walked from his office looking quite dapper in his black jeans, black button down shirt with Hayden Store All on the pocket and black boots. I fit in well with my jeans, black slip over top and black boots.

  Hayden tossed me a cap with his logo on the front. “We’re going to put the top down on the Viper. You’ll need the cap.”

  I took a look at the cap, found a hair tie at the bottom of my bag and pulled my hair up in a ponytail, slipped the cap on and pulled the pony tail through the open slot in the back. Little good it did to blow my hair straight this morning. With the top down it will be kinky curly by the time we reach Little Rock. Hayden picked up my Coach overnighter and dropped his shoulder to the side. What do you have in this?” He laughed. He took my hand lifting me from the sofa. “Let’s go Babe.”

  We stepped out the door. The Black Viper and six black Hummer’s were lined up along the sidewalk with the Viper in lead. Hayden opened the Viper door helping me in. Walked around to the driver’s side and slid in the leather seat. He took a pair of sunglasses from the glove box and fashioned them on his face. An earpiece was clipped to his ear. He pushed a button on the earpiece. “Everyone ready?”

  Hayden started the Viper and the rumble vibrated through my body. He dropped it in gear and slowly emerged onto the street. The Hummer’s were following closely. We merged onto the interstate, Hayden dropped the Viper in a lower gear, and stomped on the accelerator. The G-force set me back in my seat. I felt like my skin was stretched across my face. Not bad I thought, instant facelift. Hayden slowed down waiting for the convoy of Hummer’s.

  I looked over at Hayden. His face looked like it had been chiseled by a sculpture. Handsome is the only word to describe him. Hayden is a man dedicating his life to his business. He doesn’t allow anyone to get too close.

  I’ve known Hayden since high school. He lived in the corner house down the street from my folks which is now a rental, with people moving in and out every few months. His parents died in a head-on collision when Hayden was attending college across the country. Hayden graduated with a degree in business and marketing and moved back to Conway to take over his dad’s storage business.

  Hayden placed his hand on my knee and slowly moved up toward my ‘Twinkie’. I smiled at him and laid my head on his shoulder. We didn’t do much talking since the noise from the wind hindered hearing each other.

  The convoy pulled into Little Rock and stopped in front of a large old historical building with concrete steps leading up to the front entry doors. A pair of large lions carved from granite were on situated on each side of the of the doorway.

  Hayden stopped the Viper and made a phone call. “We will be right there.” I heard him say. He drove to the rear of the building. A security guard was at the gate. He looked over Hayden’s credentials and opened the gate. We entered the parking garage with the six Hummer’s following. The s
ecurity guard closed and locked the gate behind us.

  The security guard unlocked the combination door and we entered the building. He escorted us to an office. Hayden’s men stayed with the Hummer’s and I waited in the foyer while Hayden took care of business behind the closed office door.

  The caretaker of the building showed Hayden where to hang the paintings. A half dozen guards emerged from the building to assist and escort Hayden’s men to unload the paintings.

  One by one the paintings were unloaded and put on a dolly with four wheels and rolled into the gallery. Half of Hayden’s men stayed with the vehicles and the other half escorted the paintings to the gallery. The caretaker signed off on Hayden’s form after he inspected the paintings.

  Two hours after our initial arrival Hayden announced to the crew. You are free for the night. I’ve made reservations for you across the street at the Little Rock Hilton. Your reservations for dinner are at 6 pm. He looked at his watch. Looks like you have time to check in, get out of your uniforms and make it to dinner.

  The Hummer’s were left behind the locked gate. The guard opened the gate for Hayden to take the Viper out of the locked area.

  Hayden took the road leading us into the country. He turned off the main road onto a winding road climbing a mountain and came upon a quaint Bed and Breakfast called The Garden of Love nestled among tall pine trees on top a mountain. The view was spectacular over looking a beautiful valley.

  Myrtle and Henry greeted us at the front door.

  “Good evening Mr. and Mrs. Hayden welcome to our Garden of Love. We hope you find your stay comfortable.”

  “Good evening. I’m sure we will.” Hayden politely said as we shook hands with our hosts.

  “Dinner will be served at seven this evening. A list of the times we serve our meals is on the chalk board on the front porch. Feel free to wonder through the house and gardens. You will be staying in the Princess room.” The line rolled out her lips as if she had said it a thousand times.