“Irene and Eleanor are okay?”
“Sure. I’m watching a game on television, and they’re out in the backyard having some private time.”
“Humor me, Jerry. Go check on them.”
“I’ve got Big Randy, one of Nappi’s men, out there keeping an eye on them. They’re fine.”
“Just do it,” I said, yelling into the phone.
“What a grump.” I heard the back slider open and then silence, followed by Jerry’s voice again. “Oh, no.”
“What?” I demanded.
There were background noises of someone moving, then silence.
“Jerry?”
A minute passed. I could tell from the sounds coming through the line that we were still connected.
Finally, I heard Jerry’s voice again, no longer cheery but shaky.
“They’re gone, and Big Randy is out cold.”
“Freddie took them, and right under your nose while you were watching television. Jerry, Jerry, Jerry.”
“Don’t start on me, Eve. I feel awful.”
“Well, good then. Maybe you’ll be inclined to be more willing to help me save your girlfriend.”
“Of course I will. Tell me how.”
“We’ll be there soon. See how badly hurt Randy is and do what you can for him until we arrive.”
“Gone?” asked Lionel.
I nodded.
Lionel stomped on the accelerator. I watched the speedometer hit sixty in a thirty mph zone and said, “Do you have a driver’s license?” I grabbed onto the armrest to stabilize myself as we rounded a corner.
“Who’s going to stop a tribal police car?”
We swung into the driveway next to Eleanor’s rental house. Jerry ran out to meet us.
“Randy’s coming around. He should be checked out by a doctor at some point, but it’s not critical right now.”
“Hop in. We’re off to the shop to pick up some items. I just called Grandy and asked her to meet us there.”
Jerry gave Lionel Egret an uneasy smile and jumped into the backseat with Brenda.
“I know your daughter,” he said.
“Which one?” she asked. He gave me a questioning look.
Grandy opened the shop door to greet us. She hugged Brenda, who seemed to remember her or thought she did. I was just happy that Brenda acted content to be in Grandy’s care. I raced through the shop, pulling items of clothing off the rounds and racks and tossing them over my shoulder at Jerry while I explained what was happening.
Grandy looked at me in horror. “That horrible man,” she said, referring to Freddie. She glanced at Brenda and mouthed the words, “Does she know about Eleanor and Irene?”
I shook my head.
“Well, I’ll tell you one thing, my dear. You are not going out there without me,” Grandy announced.
“You need to stay here and take care of Brenda. There are enough lives at risk. No sense in adding to the count.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“I’m going to do just as Freddie said except that Jerry will be playing the part of Brenda. He does women very well, don’t you Jerry?”
Jerry dropped the clothing he was holding and his mouth dropped open in surprise. “Wait a minute. You didn’t tell me I’d have to dress up as a woman. That was a onetime thing. I’m not doing it again.”
Jerry had dressed as a woman so he wouldn’t be recognized when he met me at a rest area on the turnpike. He’d looked so good he fooled even me.
“I thought you wanted to help Eleanor.”
He hung his head. “Okay. I’ll do it, just this once … for her.”
“Consider yourself lucky. You won’t have to squeeze your feet into high-heeled shoes.” I tossed him a pair of high-topped sneakers in red canvas. “These should fit.” I pointed to the dressing rooms. “And be quick about it.”
When he emerged wearing a pair of elastic-waist pants, a flowered blouse, the sneakers, and a brown wig, he looked very much like someone’s mother. Anyone knowing Brenda would not have been fooled, but I didn’t think Freddie and his goons had gotten a very good look at her in the swamp. They were too busy killing Henry to pay much attention to the woman shaking in terror at his side. I wanted them to believe the woman I presented to them was Brenda Montrose. I believed the tumbled-down shack in the shadows of the swamp would provide poor enough lighting that Jerry wouldn’t be recognized. I wasn’t planning on any of us settling in there for a long conversation.
I traded Brenda’s blue cardigan for a sweater in the shop and tossed hers to Jerry. “Put this on too,” I told him. He looked even more matronly in the oversized sweater.
“Not my choice for what a mother should wear, but it will do,” I said.
Lionel almost grinned.
I hugged Grandy and told Brenda I would be back with her daughter and mother. She gave me a confused look, but Grandy put her arm around Brenda’s shoulders and the woman leaned into her. “You look very much like someone I know, but I can’t remember who.”
“That’s okay, dearie. It will come back to you,” Grandy said. “Eve—”
“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”
Lionel, Jerry-as-Brenda, and I got back into the tribal police car and began the short journey to the airboat business where we would take the boat out to the shack. There was no way to get there by road. I took my cell from my pocket and called Frida.
“What are you doing, Eve? I’m sitting here with these tribal guys guarding me until they get the word from Lionel to let me go.”
I told her what was happening. “I can’t give you precise directions to the shack, but I’m guessing you can track my phone to locate me. Am I right?”
“It’s not as easy as you think, Eve. I guess the techie back at the office can get a read on your phone and convey it to me, but—”
“You’ll have to come by canoe from the airboat business location. It’s closest to the shack. Don’t use an airboat or any other motor or Freddie will hear you.”
“I’m not an idiot, Eve. I can figure that out.”
“Okay. Sorry. We’re getting into the airboat now. Freddie is expecting me in,” I looked at my watch, “less than thirty minutes.”
“Can you drive an airboat, Eve?”
“No, but ….” I wanted to say that Jerry or Lionel could, but I was supposed to be with Brenda and no one else. Suddenly my clever plan went all to pieces.
I stood at the edge of the canal and looked at the airboat. Lionel seemed to catch on to what was happening.
“I don’t have the time to paddle my Brenda stand-in and me out to the shack, and Freddie knows I can’t run an airboat. We are so screwed.”
Chapter 23
“The Rileys down the road have a motorboat. I’m sure they would loan it to us,” Lionel said.
We jumped back into the car and sped out of the drive and onto the road. A sod truck pulled in front of us. Lionel steered into the passing lane and managed to get around the truck, playing an unintentional game of chicken with a pickup coming from the other direction. We pulled up in front of the Riley’s house to find no car there.
“The Rileys aren’t home,” I said, kicking the dirt at my feet.
“Leave a note. We’ll just borrow the boat.” Jerry grabbed his wig off the car seat and ran to a small boat pulled onto the canal’s bank.
“I’m not leaving a damn note,” I said. “And put your damn wig back on.”
“It’s hot.”
“Too bad.” I jumped into the boat. Lionel pulled the starter cord and the engine sputtered, caught for a moment, then died.
“Check to make certain it’s not out of gas,” said Jerry.
Lionel grunted and ignored him, pulling the cord once more. Again it sputtered and died.
I looked at my watch. We were almost out of time.
“Once more,” said Lionel.
I nervously played with the amulet I wore around my neck, the charm Grandfather had given me for protection
.
The engine came to life, and we were off down the canal. Would Frida be far behind?
At the bend just before the shack, Lionel turned the boat over to me, slipped over the side, and waded to shore.
“I wonder how many goons Freddie has with him?” asked Jerry as we pulled back into the waterway.
“I’m guessing at least two. He came across as a pretty arrogant guy, so I bet he thinks a skinny gal along with three other women plus a couple of Indians will pose no problem for three men with guns.”
“Your plan is set up to include you, me, Lionel—all of us with no weapons—and your family—also with no weapons and undoubtedly tied up or restrained in some way—to do what? Our firepower comes from Frida and her men … if she finds us in time. Maybe we should rethink this.”
“You got anything better, buddy?” And there it was. Jerry and I sounded just like we did when we were married. Isn’t it wonderful how some things never change?
I pulled the boat into the small landing that led to the path up to the shack. I knew we were being watched. I could feel it. Something moved just to one side of the pathway as we got out of the boat. I was prepared to see Freddie step in front of me, blocking my way and demanding that his men frisk us for weapons. Instead I caught sight of the mama gator who liked to hang out here. She moved farther into the underbrush, but I knew she continued to watch us. She must be riled up with all these humans around. I wondered if she had a nest nearby. Babies to guard made her unpredictable. Behind me something made a splash in the water. Jerry heard it too, and we both turned. Nothing was there except the widening circles where an animal had dived. I had hoped it might be Frida arriving.
“Don’t worry, my dear,” I said as if speaking to Brenda. “It’s a turtle.”
“That better be all it is,” said Freddie, stepping onto the path in front of me.
“We’re here,” I said. “Now, where is my family?” I stood in front of Jerry, as if protecting a frail woman.
“Can’t you do better than that, Ms. Appel?”
“What do you have in mind?” I asked.
“I’m sure you know my intentions. I have a contract with a very rich man. He has no intention of sharing his family wealth with his father’s bastard daughter and her offspring. But this doesn’t have to involve your family.”
“You know they’re part of my family, so of course this involves me, but maybe we can find a way around this.” I was stalling for time, waiting for Lionel to appear, followed by Frida and her gang.
Behind Freddie stood two men holding handguns. I couldn’t tell what kind, and I didn’t know if they had other weapons.
“I need to determine if you’re armed,” said Freddie, signaling to one of his men.
“Just a minute. I need to see if everyone is all right.”
Freddie laughed. “Sure. Why not?”
He nodded to one of the men, who turned toward the shack at the exact moment Lionel Egret rushed him and knocked the goon’s gun from his hand. The other man turned and fired his weapon at Lionel, who sank to the ground with a groan. Freddie continued to point his weapon at me, ignoring the person he thought was Brenda behind me. Suddenly Jerry pulled a gun out from under his skirt and fired at Freddie. And missed. But the distraction gave Lionel enough time to grab the gun on the ground and fire at him as well as get a shot off at the man who had shot him.
“What the …?” said Freddie, surprised to see Brenda aim a gun at him. The shot whizzed by his ear and found a target in the second goon. Both of Freddie’s men were down. I hesitated only a moment. With Freddie’s attention divided between Jerry and the men behind him, I realized my opportunity. In that second, I delivered a kick to Freddie’s midsection. With an “oof,” he doubled over, but still held his weapon. He aimed at Jerry, but I gave him another kick with my other foot. This one knocked him backwards, but he still held his gun, unable to aim as he worked to regain his balance. I grabbed the gun Jerry still held.
“Give me that,” I said, and without hesitation, I shot Freddie. My aim wasn’t very good, the bullet having been delivered, as was my usual firing stance, with my eyes squeezed shut. But it did the trick. Freddie let go of his gun and grabbed for his thigh, where my shot hit him.
“You crazy bitch!” he yelled, “Another couple inches to the left and I wouldn’t be a man anymore.”
“Huh. I never thought you were much of a man to begin with,” I said. I looked in Lionel’s direction. Freddie’s two sidekicks seemed to be out of commission. Both lay on the ground, one groaning in pain, the other face down in the dirt, unmoving. Jerry had grabbed both their guns and was standing over them.
“Is Lionel okay?” I asked. I bent down and picked up Freddie’s gun, which I aimed at him. I was worried he might have another one concealed somewhere, perhaps under all that bleeding he was doing.
Freddie seemed to have lost his lust for gunplay once he saw his buddies were no longer in the game. He began to crawl off the side of the path into the woods. Suddenly I heard a hiss. The mama gator was cutting off Freddie’s retreat. Freddie saw her too.
“Shoot the damn thing, will you?” yelled Freddie, his voice several octaves above its normal already high range. Was that from fear or had I injured his manhood?
“Don’t you know the kill area on an alligator is on the top of the head between the eyes, and it’s about the size of a quarter in diameter? You just experienced how lousy a shot I am. I can’t help you, I’m afraid,” I said, pleasure almost making me giddy enough to jump up and down.
It sounded to me as if Freddie was crying. “For the love of …” he said, choking on his fear, “help me.”
“Glad to,” said a voice from behind me, “but I’m not tackling a mad gator.” It was Frida.
“Nice timing. Where were you?” I asked.
“It took us a while to find the paddles to the canoe at the airboat business. We got lucky and located them under the counter in the chickee hut. Otherwise we’d still be searching.” She looked down at Freddie and across the clearing at his men. “I guess you didn’t need my help after all.”
Freddie and the gator seemed to be at a standoff. Maybe the gator was just fascinated by the sound of a man sobbing and begging for mercy.
“I’m guessing she wonders what mobster tastes like,” said Frida.
I decided to leave Freddie’s fate to the alligator. “Just keep calm and don’t let her sense your fear. And don’t make any sudden moves. I think she’s worried you’re after her young,” I told Freddie as I moved beyond him to give the alligator a wide berth. Frida followed me to where Lionel was sitting up, holding his arm.
“How are you doing?” I asked. He growled something at me that I interpreted to mean “fine.” I rushed into the shack, afraid of what I might find, but Sammy ran to me and hugged me while the boys surrounded us and joined in. I smiled at Eleanor and Irene. “You two all right?” I asked, holding out a hand to them, which Irene grabbed. Eleanor smiled at me for a moment then caught sight of Jerry, who ran to her and gathered her into his arms.
Irene stepped forward and said to Jerry, “You’re not my daughter. Where is she? That Freddie guy said she would be here.”
Eleanor withdrew from Jerry’s arms. “She’s okay, isn’t she?”
“She’s with Grandy at the shop,” I said.
The only one in the shack who seemed to be unsurprised to see me was Grandfather Egret. He was happy—that I could tell—but he looked as if my appearance confirmed what he already had known would happen. I smiled at him as he walked over to us to join in the group hug.
“Hey, everybody,” said Sammy. “Back off. You’re squishing my baby.” Did he mean me or the little one?
“Who’s that?” I asked, pointing to a man sitting as far back in the shack as he could manage.
“Oh, him,” said Sammy. “That’s another of Freddie’s men, but he’s so terrified of being in the swamps that he’s been back there trembling and talking to himself for hours. I
think he’s in shock.”
Frida entered the shack and checked to see if the man in the corner was armed. She removed a handgun and called to one of her men to cuff the frightened man.
Then she grinned at everyone. “Are we okay here?” We nodded. “Good. Lionel’s wound is not life-threatening and neither is Freddie’s, but I’ve called for a helicopter to airlift them both to the hospital. I should leave your father out here to the swamp critters instead,” she said to Sammy. “He had tribal cops hold me and my officers at the casino while he made his getaway using a tribal police car.”
“You’re not going to do anything to him, are you?” I asked. “He risked his life for us, and he was doing what he had to for his family.”
“I know that, but I’m not going to tell him I’m going easy on him. The man needs to be taught a lesson. He can’t take police authority for granted just because we’re on his land.”
“I think it’s far too late to teach Lionel Egret anything he doesn’t want to learn,” I said.
“She’s right. He’s too stubborn. Like someone else I know.” Grandfather gave me a look and clucked his tongue.
I tried for a look of innocence, something I have yet to perfect.
When we walked into the shop, Grandy rushed over and enveloped me in one of her warm hugs. “Thank heavens you’re all right.”
Behind her, Brenda stepped forward, and Irene stood for a moment as if too paralyzed to move or say anything. Then she held out one hand and said, “Brenda.”
Brenda continued to hold back until Eleanor grabbed both hers and Irene’s hands in hers. “Your mother, Mom.”
A look of doubt crossed Brenda’s face, but it soon brightened to one of joy. The three women came together in a clumsy hug, but it was a hug, and I was grateful for that.
Frida entered the shop and observed the reunion, her lips forming a half smile as if she, too, was happy to see the family reunited. Her eyes expressed something else—concern that she would have to interfere with their newfound happiness.
Killer Tied Page 22