Death on Mt Pleasant

by Steve McMillen

  “Damn, now I remember. That’s Rick! He’s a pilot I met not too long ago.”

  “Don’t you want to say hello? I thought she was your girlfriend.”

  “No, ex-girlfriend.” We vanish around the corner as they pass by.

  I am having mixed thoughts about seeing Beverly. My heart and body is telling me it would sure be nice to spend some quality time with her but my brain is telling me she could be a stone-cold killer. I’m not sure which part is going to win out.

  Later, as we are walking into our hotel, TC bends down to pick up a piece of paper in the grass. He’s big on litter control. He looks at it and says, “Oh, my God, look at this.”

  I take the flyer and say, “You have got to be kidding me, that’s Stephanie, is she here also? I thought you said you saw her in Georgetown?”

  TC replies, “No, I said I thought I saw her in Georgetown.”

  I get my phone and dial the number on the flyer. A woman answers, “This is Cathy, how may I help you?”

  I am stunned speechless, but quickly recover and sternly respond, “We need to talk.”

  Beverly hesitates, and then hangs up.

  I know it is Beverly, I recognize her voice. My life is turning into a zoo. I am going to need a referee and a scorekeeper to keep track of all of the players. Beverly, Rick, Stephanie, Dr. Jon, and Ginny Ridlinger. I wonder who else is going to show up? In addition, here I am without a weapon.

  Things continue to go downhill. When we walk into TC’s room, we can’t believe our eyes. The place has been ransacked. Someone was looking for something. It is a good thing TC put the briefcase with the $24,000 in the hotel safe. We both look at each other at the same time. He calls the front desk and they confirm the briefcase is still there. I go over to my room and it also has been turned upside down.

  I know it couldn’t have been Mr. Plum and his crew; they were trying to kill us at the time, so who else would know we had the money, if that’s what they were looking for?

  It actually was Mr. Plum. He had hired two local hoodlums to get the briefcase back while they were at the marina. Mr. Plum, when registering, had asked for a second key to both rooms. He called after TC and Mickke D left the marina on the salvage boat. The only problem was that a surveillance camera showed the two men entering each room. The Royal Police Force had both men in custody within two hours of our call about the break in. They both confessed after being shown the tape and a picture of Mr. Plum.

  Chapter 71: Ginny is Surprised

  Ginny and Moozie finish their second drink and decide to take a couple of chairs and journey over to the beach for some catching up in the sun. Also, they think maybe someone there will know something about that explosion. They opt to take iced tea with them this time instead of booze. They find a nice sunny location not far from the water where they talk for about thirty minutes and mutually agree that maybe it’s time for a power nap.

  Ginny closes her eyes for not more than five minutes when she, for some unknown reason, opens them again. Her eyes widen. There, walking on the beach not twenty feet in front of her is a man, who looks exactly like Von Spineback. He’s with some woman she has never seen. Thankfully, they do not look her way. She crosses her legs and pulls her borrowed sun hat down over her eyes.

  All of a sudden, she decides it might be nice to breathe, and she gasps for air, which wakes up Moozie. “I think I’m ready to head back to the condo Moozie, I need to pee.”

  “Yeah, me too. Hey, are you allright?” Moozie asks.

  “I’m good, just had a quick nightmare.”

  On their walk back to the condo, Ginny asks, “Say Moozie, do you own a gun?”

  “A gun, hell I own three handguns, an assault rifle, and a shotgun. Do you want to go down to the range and burn off some magazines?”

  “No, but I wonder if I could borrow one of your handguns while I’m here. I always carried back in the States, and I’m beginning to feel naked without one.”

  “Well girlfriend, I certainly don’t want you running around naked. I’ve got a snub nose .38 that will fit great in your purse.”

  “Thanks Moozie, I feel safer already.”

  Many thoughts are running through Ginny’s head. She can’t believe she may have just seen Von and if it was him, why would he be in Antigua and who was that woman walking with him? Should she call him? If she does, and it wasn’t him, then he may find out where she is, and that would not be a good thing. On the other hand, if it was him, that would even be a worse thing.

  Chapter 72: Beverly and Rick

  Beverly and Rick land safely at the airport. They immediately check with the tower on the status of the two people they saw waving next to the exploded boat. They are told that two men were picked up just minutes ago and both appear to be unhurt. They are also told that the local police would like to speak with them since they were witnesses to the explosion.

  They grab a quick lunch, make some calls on Stephanie sightings, pass out some more flyers, and then about mid-afternoon go to the police station to give their statements. Beverly is hesitant; she is not sure it is a good idea. She knows her identity is solid but she’s not sure about Rick. He assures her he is clean and will pass muster.

  As they walk through the sliding glass doors into the Royal Police Force station, Beverly has one of those strange feelings that someone or something is just not right. She looks around and sees nothing that alarms her.

  They meet with the inspector in charge of the boat explosion and he asks some rather simple questions and takes their statements. Rick asks if they have identified the two people in the water and if they are okay.

  The inspector replies, “Both of them seem to be fine. They are from Myrtle Beach, in the States, a Mr. Cadium and a Mr. MacCandlish, who is a private investigator. They were here for a possible salvage operation. They are both lucky to be alive.”

  Even though she is sitting down, Beverly feels weak in the knees and steadies herself against her chair. Rick asks with a frown on his face, “What were their first names?”

  The inspector opens a file folder and replies, “One of them was Thomas and the other one’s name was Mickke. Why, do you know them? They just left about ten minutes before you came in.”

  Beverly now knows where her odd feeling came from.

  “No, I guess not. Are you ready? ”He asks, looking at a flush-faced Beverly.

  As they move toward the door, the inspector asks, “By the way, why are you two in Antigua?”

  They both stop dead in their tracks and look at each other. Beverly snaps back to attention. She returns to where the inspector is standing, gives him her biggest smile, and pulls out a flyer from her purse. As she hands it to him, she says, “I’m looking for my missing sister. If you see her, please let me know.”

  Once outside, Rick turns to Beverly, “You’re not going to believe this, but the guy named Mickke is the same guy I met in Colombia and the same person who told me about Myrtle Beach.”

  “That’s great Rick, I’m happy for you. Now let’s get the hell out of here.”

  Chapter 73: Mr. Fredrick

  Detective Reynolds is finally having a good day. His forensic people found information on the thumb drive that they found taped under one of the desk drawers in Mr. Peterson’s apartment. It seems as if Stuart Peterson wanted to keep track of his escapades. It contained a complete list of what seems to be Stuart’s clients, targets, and payments received. The list of clients included a Fredrick, a Jon, and a Von. The only problem is that the targets have no names. They seem to be noted by initials and there are no last names of his clients: Von – SA = $25,000. Jon – AC = $500. Fredrick – DR = $10,000. The list contains fifteen entries and Officer Frederick seems to have been his best client. They will now need to check into any unsolved killings in the central Ohio area and see if any of the names match the initials. Detective Reynolds wonders if SA stands for Sissy Adams?

  He contacts the District Attorney and asks for an opinion. He is told the real pro
blem is that none of it will stand up in court because there are no last names and the initials and first names could belong to anyone. And, the biggest concern is that Stuart Peterson is dead. He is told he will probably need confessions.

  Detective Reynolds opts to interrogate Mr. Fredrick again. His attorney is present. “Mr. Fredrick, we found a thumb drive in Stuart Peterson’s apartment and your name was listed on it with a lot of other names along with payments to Mr. Peterson. What is that about?”

  The attorney answers, “Could I have a copy of that, detective?”

  “We are still analyzing it at this time, but I’ll get you a copy when we’re finished. And again,” looking back at Mr. Fredrick, “tell me why you were up on Mt. Pleasant that morning with an assault rifle, Mr. Fredrick.”

  Mr. Fredrick just glares at Detective Reynolds and his attorney answers again, “Detective we’ve been through this before. My client just happened to be driving by when he heard what sounded like gunshots coming from the top of the mountain. Being a law-abiding person with a security background, he decided to help out with a possible problem.”

  “And why did he have an assault rifle with him?”

  “He opened his trunk and grabbed the first weapon he saw.”

  Detective Reynolds continues, “And why did he say ‘he should have shot him when he had a chance’?”

  “Detective, had you read my client his rights before you possibly heard him say that? No, you didn’t, so it won’t be admissible in court. Now, is there anything else? I think we’re finished here.”

  As they are getting up to leave, Mr. Frederick pounds his fist on the table and yells at Detective Reynolds. “You know what, detective? If the police did their job and got all of these drug dealers, dope heads, and pimps off the streets, I would not have to hire people like Stuart Peterson to do it.”

  His attorney grabs his arm and yells out, “Be quiet! Don’t say another word.”

  Mr. Fredrick does not obey. “I had some very good friends killed in a drive-by shooting where the shooters got the wrong address. Did the police find out who did it? No, but I did, and now they will never go to the wrong address, or any address, again.”

  Detective Reynolds jumps into the ruckus, “Well, Mr. Fredrick, why didn’t you tell the police what you found and allow the justice system to do its job?”

  “Because even if they were convicted, they would just spend life in jail and we the taxpayers would be paying for it.”

  Detective Reynolds says, “Well, Mr. Fredrick, let me ask you this, you say the shooters got the wrong address. What if you found the wrong shooters and had the wrong people killed?”

  Mr. Fredrick starts to answer but then shuts up as two police officers arrive. Detective Reynolds tells them to take Mr. Fredrick away. “Counselor, your client is being charged with intent to commit murder.”

  Next on Detective Reynolds’ list of things to do is to arrest Von Spineback. He knows it won’t stick at this point in time but he wants to rattle his cage a little bit. He needs to get him in Fairfield County to serve the arrest warrant so he goes out to the company’s temporary office, a doublewide mobile home on West Fair Avenue. He tells the only person there, a geologist named Foreman, to call Von and tell him there is a problem and to get here as soon as possible. He has Mr. Foreman hang up before Von can ask any questions. Von arrives about 30 minutes later. Detective Reynolds is waiting for him. “Mr. Spineback, I have a warrant for your arrest. Cuff him, Turtle, and read him his rights.”

  Von Spineback has a confused look on his face. “What are you arresting me for? I need to call my attorney.”

  “In due time Mr. Spineback, in due time.”

  Von looks back as he goes out the door and says, “Foreman, you’re fired.”

  Chapter 74: Liz

  Liz Woodkark has been doing her due diligence on Beverly’s case. She has discovered that the three men who bought TC’s boat from the three women, who Stephanie supposedly killed, have all been murdered. The only witnesses say it was a woman. It seems as if no one, including British Intelligence, has put two and two together, which seems strange to her. She checks into the relatives of the murdered women and no one stands out as a cold-blooded revenge killer. That leaves Stephanie. However, if Stephanie had killed the girls, then why kill the men? However, if she somehow found out the men had killed the girls, then Stephanie would have a possible revenge motive.

  She calls Beverly and tells her to back off for now but to stay in the area. Beverly wishes she had told her to come home. That would solve one big problem, the possibility of running into TC or Mickke D. She opts not to tell Liz about them being in Antigua.

  Chapter 75: Time to Leave

  I awake to a bolt of lightning flashing across the open curtain window in my room, followed by a crash of thunder. The clock on the stand by my bed reads 4:15 in bright red digital numbers. I was having one of my bad nightmares so the early morning wake-up call is welcome. Since I do not want to fall back into the nightmare mode, I get up, go to the bathroom, and get a drink of water. I sit in the dark in a comfortable chair while staring out the window watching Mother Nature’s fireworks display with vivid sound effects.

  My thoughts keep going back to Beverly. What is she doing in Antigua and why was Rick with her? I figure he does contract work for the military and the CIA, so maybe that’s the connection. I don’t want to believe she killed Terry Graf in Myrtle Beach, but I know everything points to her. Also, I’ve seen her in action on the Boardwalk. She was well-trained by someone.

  I must have dozed off, because the next thing I know, its 7:00 and I have a crick in my neck. I shower and meet TC for breakfast at 8:00. At 8:30, my phone rings. It’s the inspector from the Royal Police Force. He tells me we have been cleared and we can pick up our passports and my .45 anytime. I relay the message to TC and we decide to go directly to the police station and get our passports and my weapon.

  The inspector tells us after Interpol checked into Mr. Plum’s background, they discovered he was Colombian and close friends of the Valdez cartel family. With that information and the confession from the two men who sacked our rooms, Mr. Plum will be in jail for a long time.

  We thank the inspector, take our passports and my weapon, and start to leave the station. The inspector calls out, “Oh, I forgot to tell you, there was a man and woman in here, right after you left the other day, who I think knows you. A woman named Cathy and her friend Rick. Do you know them?”

  I look at TC, turn, and answer, “Sorry, names don’t ring a bell, but thanks for letting us know.”

  We begin to leave again and the inspector asks, “By the way, what was in the briefcase the two men were looking for?”

  Again, I look at TC. He responds, “Oh, just some paperwork and maps pertaining to a possible salvage job.”

  He smiles at us and says, “Enjoy your visit to Antigua, gentlemen. I trust you will be leaving our beautiful island before long?”

  We wave, turn, and leave the building. Once outside, I say to TC, “I think I’ve had enough fun, what do you say we take the inspector’s advice and head back to Myrtle Beach?”

  “I was thinking the same thing. I’ll make the arrangements this afternoon. Maybe it’s time to start looking for Captain Swinely’s buried treasure again.”

  He’s thinking about buried treasure and I am thinking to myself that I hope I don’t have to make another trip to Colombia.

  Chapter 76: Von is Out

  Von Spineback calls his attorney and is out on bail the same afternoon he is arrested by Detective Reynolds. They charged him with conspiring to commit murder. That was the good news. Things begin going downhill for Von after that. The arrest sets in motion a series of high-level meetings at Wilmont Oil & Gas Company that end with Von being relieved of his position as president of the company. He is offered a very small buyout package and he has to divest himself of all of his interest in the wells he has invested in which were already drilled in Fairfield County. The company
is having enough public relations problems without their president accused of ordering the killing of a local reporter. Von is given two hours to clean out his office, turn in his keys, and leave the building.

  Von is devastated. He had planned everything so well and if it had all come together, he would be set for life. Now, he has to prepare for his day in court. He realizes they don’t have much of a case against him. He knows of only three possible witnesses who could bring him down: Ginny Ridlinger, Robert Dane, and his secretary Marian. Each of them knows of a connection between him and Stuart Peterson although probably only circumstantial. If they don’t testify, he is free and clear.

  After the price of oil hits rock bottom, Wilmont Oil & Gas decides to sell all of their interest in the Fairfield County project for a nice profit and over-rides. The purchase of the Anchor Hocking Distribution Center is no longer on the table.

  Chapter 77: Ginny and Dr. Jon

  The day after seeing who she thought was Von Spineback on the beach, Ginny and Moozie decide to have lunch at an outdoor deli close to Moozie’s condo. They have been having a great time catching up on each other’s past lives, but Ginny can’t get Von out of her mind. She placed Moozie’s .38 in her purse yesterday and it is still there. She can’t decide if she wants to go back to Lancaster or take her chances here in Antigua with Moozie, who has offered her a job and a place to live.

  Von has called her every day at least once since she left town and she just allows the call to go to voicemail and then deletes it. She remembers that Von spent a lot of time with Stuart and he always said how much he admired the way Stuart got things done. He never left any loose ends. She truthfully believes that he would do whatever it takes to keep from going to jail. That could mean getting rid of all witnesses, which includes her.

  They both have a cobb salad for lunch and split a bottle of wine. They then opt to take a stroll on the beach to justify the wine. After about ten minutes, Ginny suddenly stops and says to Moozie, “Oh, my God, get ready to call 911.”