by Melissa Rees
"You try anything and your friend gets it." Wagner promised, guiding them towards the waterfront and his warehouse as fast as he dared.
Chapter 45
Although Miss Pettybone and Lynn arrived at the hotel before nine, Mildred and Louise were already up and gone.
Miss Pettybone sat tapping her foot impatiently, staring at the front door of the hotel.
"They'll be here when they get here," Lynn pointed out before taking a small bite out of her watermelon. Lynn had decided if they were going o wait again, she needed nourishment and had insisted on having breakfast in the hotel's small cafe.
"I know that."
"Then relax and eat your breakfast."
"I just can't believe they took off again already."
"They do seem to enjoy themselves."
"I mean, how much shopping can they do with Louise walking with a cane?" Miss Pettybone wondered.
"Maybe Mildred carries her piggyback," Lynn joked.
"Maybe," Miss Pettybone said, absently taking a bite of sausage.
"Loraine, you didn't even hear what I said, did you?"
"What?" Miss Pettybone asked, looking over at Lynn.
Lynn attacked her eggs. "So, what are we going to do? Wait for them to show up, which may take hours, or go do something constructive?"
"What constructive things can we do? We decided to put Mildred and Louise on a plane after going to the police station."
"I don't know. But surely there's something we can do, instead of just sitting here."
Miss Pettybone chewed nervously on her bottom lip. She frowned impatiently at the bellhop who paused in front of their table.
"Miss Pettybone?"
"Yes?"
"You have a phone call. You can take in the front hall."
"Are you sure it's for me?"
"The man asked for Miss Loraine Pettybone."
"Well, that's me. Lead the way," She said, raising her eyebrows at Lynn.
She picked up the receiver and said hello.
"Is this Miss Loraine Pettybone?" A muffled voice asked.
"Yes."
"You don't know me but a gentleman paid me to make sure you received this message. He said to tell you that he was enjoying the company of your friends and that if you didn't want to cause them any harm you would leave Savannah at the earliest possible moment. He said that if you went to the police they would be killed. If you told anyone about this call, that he would kill them. He will release them after you have gone."
Stunned, Miss Pettybone gripped the phone.
"Do you understand?"
"Yes. But..."
The man had already hung up before she could finish her sentence.
Miss Pettybone felt her heart beat wildly in her chest. Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself with the table.
Her plan had gotten way out of control. It wasn't just her anymore who could get hurt, get killed. It was her friends.
She pushed herself away from the phone and walked shakily back to the table.
Lynn was bent over her toast, spreading jelly. About to tease her friend about receiving strange phone calls, she glanced up.
She gasped at Pettybone’s face and jumped up, knocking over glasses of soda and water.
"Loraine, what's wrong, what's happened? It’s not Edgar, is it?"
Miss Pettybone waved her to sit down and then slid into her seat.
"No, it's not Edgar. It’s Louise and Mildred."
“What's happened? An accident. Are they okay?"
"Know what, what man? Loraine, for crying out loud. Tell me what happened."
"Lower your voice. The man said no one could know."
She sat back to allow the waiter to clean up the mess and shook her head at Lynn.
"I’ll bring you some more drinks." The waiter said, smiling as he moved away.
Lynn leaned over and grabbed her friend's hand. "Loraine, what's wrong?"
"A man was on the phone, he said that Louise and Mildred have been kidnapped."
Lynn sank back into her seat and Lynn stared at Miss Pettybone.
"Kidnapped?"
"He said if we told anyone about the call they would be killed."
"Oh, my God, Loraine. Killed! What are we going to do?"
"I don't know. I just don't know."
Chapter 46
Wagner pushed the old lady in the wheelchair towards the center of the warehouse and then gestured for Otis to bring the redheaded woman along. Pulling Louise roughly out of the wheelchair, Wagner sat her on the floor. Motioning Mildred to turn around so he could tie her up, he twisted the rope around her hands.
“You certainly don't expect us to sit on the floor." Mildred exclaimed, looking at the dirty floor, then back at the men. “It’s filthy.”
"Sit on the floor or die." Wagner snapped.
Infuriated, Mildred eased down on the hard concrete floor. "My friend can't stay on the floor long." Mildred snapped. "She has a bad back."
Already weary of the women, Wagner walked to his desk and grabbed some pieces of cloth. Walking back to the women, he stuffed them in their mouth, and then turned back to Otis. "They will come."
"What if they don't?" Otis asked, avoiding looking at the two women. "Why are we doing this? You promised me we could leave."
"God's sake Otis, you whine more than the women. You want to lose everything we have worked for? We will leave just as soon as we can. But we need some time."
Otis tried not to cry. "So what do we do now?"
"We wait." Wagner snapped, more nervous than he wanted to admit.
"Wait for what?"
"We wait for the other two women to show up."
"What if they don't come?" Otis worried, feeling enormously embarrassed to see the women sitting on the floor. His mother would be mortified if she knew what he was taking part in.
"They'll come." Wagner snapped. "Probably not for a while, though. I’ll go get something for us to eat."
Otis glanced over at the women and raised his eyebrows, his eyes pleading with Wagner.
Wagner sighed then glanced at his watch. "It’s after one. I’ll bring them something back. You're way too soft, Otis."
Embarrassed by his weakness, Otis stared at the floor, and then nodded.
Exasperated, Wagner turned and stalked out.
Otis hurried over to the women and bent down, then took the dirty rags out of their mouth. "You have got to promise to keep quiet." Otis begged.
After running her tongue distastefully across her lips, Mildred snapped. "Why did you kidnap us? We don't have anything to do with Warren Jones."
Nervous, Otis nodded his head. "Aaron wants your friends. He doesn't care about you two."
"Then why bring us here?" Mildred demanded.
"He thinks your friends will come looking for you."
"Look, our friends are talking to the police this minute. You need to let us go."
Nervous, Otis felt tears slip down his cheeks. "I don't think so. Aaron had someone call them and warn them that he would kill you two if they go to the police."
"Sir, could you please get me something to sit on." Louise asked, moving uncomfortably around on the floor.
Otis nodded his head and rushed towards the office.
"Good thinking, Louise." Mildred said. "Now at least we have a chance to plan something."
"What are we going to do?" Louise asked, trusting Mildred entirely.
"Just play along and keep your mouth shut when the guy comes back. I’ll try to think of something."
"Okay." Louise promised, watching Otis hurry back with a couple of couch cushions under his arm.
He bent down to help them gently onto the soft cushions. Mildred could almost smell the terror in Otis's skin. If it were just him, she had no doubt that she could talk him into letting them go. But the other guy was the obvious ringleader. That and the fact that they were both obviously gay might be a problem. No feminine wiles would work here. Maybe old ladies wiles would.
"Could you get my friend her medicine out of her purse?" Mildred asked, nudging Louise with her arm.
"Of course." Otis said, anxious to help. He grabbed the purse off the wheelchair and began digging, then frowned. "I don't see any medication."
"Don't tell me you forgot your medicine?" Mildred demanded to Louise.
"It’s not in there?" Louise asked, pretending to be confused.
"No." Otis answered, still digging in the purse.
"My friend is diabetic." Mildred informed him. "If she misses her insulin, she could have real problems."
Otis looked even more distressed. He stared helplessly at the women. "I don't know what to do."
"You must release us." Mildred ordered.
Otis twisted his hands together and stared at the women. "I can't do that. Aaron will be furious."
"Do you want my friend to die?" Mildred demanded, glaring at him.
Otis shook his head and felt like throwing himself down on the floor and sobbing. "You don't understand about Aaron and me." He said.
"Look, I don't know you but you don't strike me as a killer." Mildred soothed. "I bet your mama raised you to be a good son. If you let us go, we'll go back to Mississippi. You'll never hear from us again."
At the mention of his mother, Otis began crying in earnest. "Okay, I’ll let you go if you promise to return to Mississippi immediately."
"I'd raise my hand but it's tied." Mildred pointed out.
Otis hurried behind Mildred and untied her hands, then helped her up. Turning to untie Louise, he heard Aaron returning. "Sit back down." He said, panicked.
Rushing away from the women, Otis sat down on the top of the desk. Mildred sat down and put her hands behind her back.
Aaron walked into the warehouse and frowned when he caught sight of Otis's face.
"What wrong? You've been crying."
"I think we should just take our money and go." Otis pleaded, not looking towards the women.
Wagner shook his head, then walked over to his friend and patted his back. "I know how hard this is on you, Otis. But you must see that we need to get a hold of the other women so we can talk to them."
"You're not going to hurt them?"
"Of course not." Wagner promised. "Just scare them a little."
"And you'll be nice to the women?"
"Looks like you already started being nice to them." He said. "You've removed the gags and have given them cushions to sit on. I brought them something back to eat. They're fine."
Otis smiled feeling better.
Wagner gave him a small push then said. "Now, go untie their
hands so they can eat."
Otis rushed to the women and pretended to untie Mildred's hands. "I’ll talk to him about your friend's insulin." He whispered.
Furious, Mildred clamped her lips together to keep from screaming and nodded.
***
"So, let me get this straight. Your plan is to go to the Homes Show and confront the men whom we know to be murderers and kidnappers," Lynn said, looking skeptical.
"Me. You’re not going."
"If you are going, then so am I."
"Lynn, this is serious. It was reckless and naive of me to think I could solve a murder."
"Loraine, we solved the murder. We tracked them down and cornered them. Now we should go to the police."
"The man said that Louise and Mildred would be killed if we went to the police."
"Then what are we going to do?"
"I am going to go to the Home Show and confront Wagner and Keel."
"So, we're going there and confront them, then what?"
"We will tell them, we're not leaving until they release Louise and Mildred. Then, we will be happy to go home." Miss Pettybone answered, accepting Lynn's determination to go with her.
"What if they're not there?" Lynn asked.
"Then we'll bribe someone to tell us where they are staying." Miss Pettybone said, confident they would find them at the show. "Or even if they are both not at the show, surely one of them will be. I mean they need to keep up the appearances that everything is normal. Right?"
"I don't know, Loraine. They have, in the past, deviated from the normal. They killed a man and tried to kill you. Besides, I don't see how they can let us live if we do find them. We are the only ones who can connect them with the murder of Warren Jones."
"I know. I don’t think they plan to let any of us live. We need a plan. We need to think. Let's go some place quiet."
****
After stepping out of the taxicab, Lynn and Miss Pettybone paused outside the big glass doors that led into the Home Show. Lynn nervous and a little scared and Miss Pettybone calm and resolute.
"So, we go confront Wagner and Keel and when they leave the show in panic, we follow them around until they lead us to Louise and Mildred. That's your plan?" Lynn questioned.
"That's the plan."
Lynn shook her head and stared up at the large brick building. "You don't think we should go to the police? Cause I got to tell you, you're plan isn't that great."
"Do you think we should go to the police?"
Unhappily, Lynn thought of good-nature d Louise, and as annoying and as man-loving Mildred was, she didn't deserve any of this.
"No, I guess not. What about Eli? We could tell him."
"We might have to, if this doesn't work."
Miss Pettybone briefly wondered why she had ever started any of this. Had she been so bored that the thought of something as dangerous as murder would be fun? Closing her eyes, she thought about Warren Jones. His crumpled body left to flies and maggots. Lynn was right. No one should get away with murder.
"Why don't you stay out here and watch for them to leave."
"No, Loraine, we'll both go in and confront them. They know who I am anyway. We started this together and we'll end it together."
"Okay then, let's get this over with."
***
After twenty minutes of searching for Wagner or Keel, Miss Pettybone grabbed the next person with a badge that passed by.
"Excuse me, my friend and I were supposed to meet Mr. Wagner here this afternoon. But we haven’t been able to find him."
An older man carrying a handful of papers paused and smiled good-naturally at Miss Pettybone.
"He and Mr. Keel were called away yesterday. I am sorry if they forgot to inform you. But it was an emergency."
"They went back to New York?" Miss Pettybone asked.
“I’m not sure. Pam, in the office could tell you."
"Thanks, we'll go ask her. Where might the office be?"
"Go back through the door you came in and turn left. Second door on the right."
“Thank you very much."
"You're welcome. You ladies have a nice day." He nodded pleasantly, and then hurried away.
Miss Pettybone raised her eyebrows at Lynn and started walking in the direction of the office. She pushed the door open and walked into the office, closely followed by Lynn.
The woman behind the desk glanced up and smiled a welcome.
"Excuse me, my friend and I were supposed to meet Mr. Aaron Wagner and Mr. Otis Keel this afternoon but we were told that they had an emergency and had to leave."
The young woman grimaced, and then pushed her chair away from her desk, happy for a reprieve. "That's right. I believe Mr. Wagner said they were going to fly back to New York yesterday afternoon."
"Do you have a number, so we could get in touch with them?"
"I have their cards. Hang on and I’ll get you one." She stood up and stretched before walking into an adjoining office. Coming back a few minutes later, she handed Miss Pettybone a small gray business card.
"This is their shop number. You understand that I can't give out their home numbers."
"Of course not," Miss Pettybone said, tucking the card into her purse. I’m sure this will be fine."
"Thank you." Lynn said, before walking out the door and pulling it closed behind them.
&nbs
p; They walked back outside and into the warmth of the sun.
Lynn paused on the sidewalk. "What now, Mr. Holmes?"
"Now we find a quiet place so I can call New York."
***
They settled down in their chairs and ordered drinks. Glancing around the outdoor cafe, Miss Pettybone didn't see anyone that was paying particular attention to either Lynn or her. Punching in the number on the card, she settled back.
The phone rang several times before Miss Pettybone heard a thin nasal voice come through the line.
"Wagner and Keel."
"Hi, my name is Mary Richards. I'm trying to contact either Mr. Wagner or Mr. Keel about an antique table of mine that they expressed interested in."
"Mary Richards. Like Mary Tyler Moore, huh?" The woman said, with a smile in her voice.
"Excuse me?"
“I’m sorry. You probably get that a lot. Mr. Wagner and Mr. Keel are in Savannah, Georgia until the twenty-sixth."
"Oh, someone told me they flew back yesterday."
"No, sorry, they are in Savannah. Mr. Keel called from there this morning. Did you try the Home Show?"
"Yes, we have. We were told that they flew back to New York yesterday."
"Someone got their facts wrong."
"Is there a number in Savannah where they can be reached?"
"They do have a home in Savannah but I can't give you their home telephone number. With cell phones, there is really no need for anyone to know where they live. You'll have to catch them at the show."
"That's too bad. Mr. Wagner was especially interested in my table. He seemed to think it was worth a lot of money." Miss Pettybone improvised.
"Oh, well," Pausing, the woman tried to decide what to do. "I can't give their cell phone numbers out unless you are connected with the show but you might be able to catch them at their warehouse."
"They have a warehouse in Savannah?"
"They actually keep warehouses in most of the cities the show stops in."
"May I have the address? I’ll try and catch them there."
Lynn pushed a pencil and a napkin towards her friend, and then watched as the address was jotted down.
Miss Pettybone thanked the woman and was about to hang up, when the woman continued.