“Nope. No trouble at all Bella. I insist. I’m an old man and what else do I got to do anyway.” Bella walked slowly to the front door with Graham following behind her. She took her time walking over the tall overgrown grass growing along the worn path to the front of the house.
“It’s going to be a lot of work Izzy,” he huffed and puffed behind her.
* * *
And it had been. That first day and night Bella had serious misgivings. She needed a better broom, a shovel, and some paint she concluded within the hour. By night fall, she knew she needed some plywood, and one window was broken so it would need to be fixed or boarded up. She definitely would need to take Graham up on his offer, and began to mentally make a list. Oh, and that reminded her, she needed some pens and paper too.
When Graham showed up the next day it look like she hadn’t even made a dent in what needed to be done. Almost as if reading her mind he arrived with garbage bags, a shovel and a wheelbarrow and several large brooms. She almost cried when she saw him. He hadn’t stayed long, he saw she was overcome with emotion, but again he promised to return the next day. And he had.
When he came the next day he fixed her porch and she had all the debris from inside the house that was falling apart hauled out into a pile in the yard. She was finally making a dent. Just clearing out all she couldn’t use had made a big difference. He promised to bring up one of his nephews and load the pickup and bring it all to the dump. Again, he came to her rescue. The man was an angel sent by her mom to look after her, she thought on more than one occasion.
That day she thanked him profusely and invited him to stay for lunch. She didn’t have much, not even electricity. But they enjoyed a peanut butter sandwich and a glass of warm lemonade.
Those first two weeks had flown. Graham had stopped in every day a couple of times with one of his nephews who helped her with some task or another that needed to get done by someone a bit stronger than she. Other times he brought more supplies, and sometimes he just brought food. But each and every time she felt blessed to have him show up out of the mist of the mountains in the morning to break the monotony of her days. And they seemed to fly. She was so grateful, and not just because of the errands, or the food that was much more appetizing than her staple of peanut butter sandwiches, crackers, apples, and beef jerky, but the company was welcome too.
Bella also gave him money for the supplies he brought. At first he refused to accept it but she had insisted. She told him she had some money but she needed to make it last. He never asked any questions. Not even about her not getting the electricity hooked up although he did mention he thought the electricity would still work.
Her only reply was yeah you’re probably right. The reason she hadn’t hooked it up though was because she didn’t know how she was going to get around having an electrical account without showing her identification. She needed some kind of identification, and that she didn’t have. Two days later when Graham showed up he flicked on the switch and she was blessedly surrounded by warm light. She’d been startled at first, but he quickly explained his niece worked at the electric company and he’d made a call. Her bill, in the name of Izzy Perdue, would come to him until she had a way to get to town and get her own mailbox. Again she thanked him. And to Bella it seemed like she would always be thanking Graham.
“Bella, my people are all about helping each other. We are a community. You’ll find us all approachable. All we expect is if there’s an opportunity for you to help someone else then you do it.”
Bella choked back her tears but promised him the first opportunity she saw to help another human being she would take it. When he left that day she slipped two hundred dollars into the front pocket of his shirt to pay for the cost of hooking up the electricity. He’d not only gotten her electricity, he’d gotten her a new identity. The man was truly a gift.
He just shook his head at her, gave her a gentle hug and departed.
* * *
In her third week she regretted not tackling the upstairs loft first. The dust came down in waves on her clean kitchen and living area. She had no appliances yet and thought about asking Graham to take her to a few secondhand shops, but the hotplate he brought was definitely most welcome. It was nice to have warm food on occasion. He had also brought her a small cooler that plugged into the wall. It only held a few bottles of iced tea, milk and eggs, but it did the job. Even these small luxuries she cherished.
Using towels she soaked in a bucket of water she was able to get most of the dust and debris removed from the loft without creating a larger mess below. Broken items were thrown out of the upstairs window into the ever-growing trash pile below. Graham promised to cart everything to the dump again in a few days.
All the furniture that wasn’t made out of solid wood was practically rotted. But she had a kitchen table and three chairs. Two small dressers. And one bedframe.
She was still sleeping on her bed roll Graham had encouraged her to buy and she planned on moving it up into the loft that night.
By the end of the third week the place was livable. Though he wouldn’t be needed as much, she knew she would miss Graham’s daily visits terribly. He stopped by every morning and usually left by noon. But she still had a ton of projects she wanted to do that would keep her busy.
She planned to work on the outside of the property too, fixing it up. She even asked Graham about paint. The next day he showed up with three five gallon buckets. “The place looks good Bella, but this project is going to take you weeks. I’ll bring you a ladder tomorrow.” Again when he left she slipped money into his pocket. That’s when he told her tomorrow evening he’d be leaving for a few days. She couldn’t hide the disappointment that crossed her face.
“Don’t worry Izzy. I’ll be back. I’m just going to another powwow in South Carolina. These are important activities for our younger generation. It’s one of the ways we can teach them about our culture.” Graham was special. He was always telling her stories, and she cherished him sharing this part of himself with her. Her father had been half Native American and she never had learned about her own heritage from him. He’d died when she was still a toddler.
“I understand Graham. It’s just that I’ve got used to you being around.” Bella attempted to mask the disappointment from her voice.
He smiled down on her kindly. “I’ll be by tomorrow and bring you the ladder. You’ll have plenty to keep you busy around here. And I’ll have Clara come by and check up on you,” he promised.
* * *
The next day he showed up with the ladder as promised. With his friendship, and her occasional visits to Clara, she was getting comfortable. Soon, she hoped, she’d be able to breathe again, and to not jump in the middle of the night when she heard the slightest noise. With Graham leaving, fear pervaded her thoughts once more; around the next corner the police would find her and all of what she was doing would be for naught.
Chapter 6
Chasing His Tail
Blaze was absolutely disgusted with himself. It’d been weeks and still they had no leads on the whereabouts of Miss Bella Chase. He’d spent three days in Tallahassee chasing his tail. They’d found Bella’s mom’s Toyota Camry in a Walmart parking lot. It was open 24 hours so no one had picked up on the abandoned vehicle right away. The girl was smart. He’d give her that. With cars coming and going all day and all night long in a university town, no one had noticed the dumped car. It wasn’t until an older gentleman, who had inadvertently scraped the side of the vehicle while pulling out of his parking space, had done the right thing and reported the accident. He’d gone inside the store to have the car’s owner paged, and when no one came in response to the call, the Walmart manager had taken his information and kept a close eye on Bella’s car for the next twenty-four hours. The car sat there for another day and only then did the manager call the police to report an abandoned vehicle.
Once the car had been brought to the police lot and been entered into the system, they were finally
alerted. Blaze had gone to Tallahassee in the hopes of tracking her from there, but he’d had no luck. He checked the bus stations and the airport. He even made all the rounds of the taxi cab services in the area flashing her picture around.
After he struck out there, a thought had come to him that had given him a break. He asked the Walmart manager to give him the tape recordings of the parking lot. He spent six hours reviewing them and finally got his first glimpse of Bella Chase—she was a knockout. She’d actually gone into the store. He watched her on the inside cameras shopping for some clothing. She made her purchases with cash. Then she walked out of the store, and out into the parking lot, but instead of going to her vehicle she kept walking right out of his line of vision.
Without any other leads, he canvassed the area. He flashed her picture in a few restaurants and some of the smaller stores nearby. Again, he struck out. The girl had simply vanished.
* * *
All in all, three days in Tallahassee had turned up nothing. After that he headed to Tennessee. Andreas and Angela believed she would go there next. The girl had been born and raised in Memphis. So that’s where he went.
He’d gone to her hometown, her neighborhood, her old high school. Looking at her yearbook and the clubs she joined, he tried to get an idea of the type of girl she had been. Also to see who she had hung out with, socialized with. The girl didn’t have any family left. All had either died or moved on.
Her mother had sold their house. A young family was living there now. The few close friends she had in high school were married and living elsewhere. It seemed like another dead-end. After four days he headed back home to Tampa.
It was two weeks later and they still had nothing. The trial for the Roman brothers was coming up. It would have been her trial too. The young men’s attorney was in the news daily. He kept making a stink about her disappearance and the police not doing anything about it. His clients, he claimed, were getting a raw deal just because of who their father was.
“Fuck!” Andreas exclaimed, shutting off the television mounted on his office wall. “I can’t believe we can’t fucking find her.”
“You’ll find her,” Angela retorted walking into his office with a big stack of papers and nodding at Blaze who sat on the sofa against the far wall.
“From your lips . . .” Blaze muttered under his breath feeling like a fool.
“Hey, this isn’t your fault,” Andreas put in. “I took this case because I felt bad for her mother. I should’ve done my homework a little better. Then maybe we’d have some idea where she went.”
“Maybe I could go back to Tallahassee. Look around again,” Blaze offered, but was not convinced he’d find anything new. The trail would be too cold by now. Three weeks was a long time for people to remember seeing a face in the crowd even if it was as beautiful as Miss Chase.
“I don’t think that will be necessary,” Angela quipped raising one perfectly manicured and penciled in eyebrow. Both men looked up at her suddenly as she placed the heavy stack of papers she was carrying on the corner of Andreas’s desk. She picked up the manila folder from the top and handed it to Andreas. He just looked at her and gave her a slow smile.
“What’s that?” Blaze was suddenly very interested. “Did you find us a lead?”
“I think she did,” Andrea’s mumbled already scanning the contents of the folder.
“What is it?” he asked getting up and coming around the corner of the desk so he could look at what was in the mysterious file that had Andreas all of a sudden very interested.
“Looks like a Last Will and Testament to me.” Andreas broke into a grin and shut the folder handing it to Blaze. “And a lead.”
“Whose is it?” he asked, already scanning the contents expecting it to be her mother’s. But that wasn’t the case. It was her aunt’s. He scanned the document.
He’d known Bella’s aunt had passed away in an automobile accident nearly a year ago. Her will had taken that long to go through probate. Her sole beneficiaries were her sister and her niece Bella, and since she didn’t have a trust it had gone through the courts. Probate courts were the worse, and took the longest. These papers had been filed months ago, and just now had been settled and distribution granted after the state took their share.
According to the document he held in his hand, Bella and her mom were splitting a small life insurance policy, 100Gs, they got all the jewelry the aunt had owned, and a house. A house? He scanned the document again. Zeroing in on those words. He thought the aunt had lived in a rented condominium after moving to Florida. He flipped to the next page which listed the property named in the will. BINGO. There was a property in North Carolina. He had a place to look. Cherokee, North Carolina. Nowhere near where he had been looking.
He shut the file and looked up at a beaming Angela. Andreas was making coffee humming. Blaze shook his head. Andreas humming?
He put the file down. “I’ll go pack a bag. Ang, can you . . .”
“I’m on it,” she replied over her shoulder already leaving the office and headed out to her desk in the reception area.
“How did she . . .” And again, he was unable to finish his sentence. But this time it was Andreas who interrupted him.
“She’s that good. That’s why I hired her. She is a whiz on the computer, and scans all the lists of court hearings which I have asked her to do. She must have recognized the aunt’s last name. Hard to forget. Her married name was Poman. Married a Polish guy.”
“Exactly,” they heard her comment from the other room. “I think I need a raise.”
Andreas rolled his eyes. “I just gave you one four months ago. Now get back to work.”
“I’m on it. Quit your yammering. I’m pulling up the lot number now. Getting a physical address, your highness. Shall I book the plane as well?”
“Yes,” Blaze intercepted her next question. “Call or text me with the details.”
“I’m on it,” she called again cheerily.
“I’d give her another raise. She just may have saved us 100Gs on this bond. She’s worth every penny.”
“Thank you,” she called out. “At least someone appreciates my skills.”
“I appreciate your skills. But you just got a raise. Now enough,” Andreas grumbled, shutting the door before Blaze could leave.
“What’s up?” he asked arching his eyebrow.
“I want a word before you head out. I’m a bit concerned about you going this alone.”
“Come on, I can handle this. She’s just some girl.”
“Yeah, but I have a feeling this could get messy. The Romans are involved and I’ve done some digging on my own. Daddy Vincent Roman is pretty pissed his sons are up on these charges. From the news, I figure he is putting up the money for that big mouth shark attorney who’s been blabbering about an unfair trial.”
“And your point . . .”
“My point is he might be looking for her too. So, you might not be the only one out there snooping around. We are shorthanded right now. Nikko just got back from Maine. He is still recovering. I can send Gio with you, but . . .”
“No, you need him here. I can handle this. If I need help, I’ll call. You know that.”
Andreas looked Blaze over. This brother was nothing if not efficient. He was also straight laced, and didn’t make mistakes. Even though he had every confidence in him, something about this case just didn’t feel right to Andreas. “Uh, I don’t know,” he wavered.
Blaze just shook his head. “Come on. You know me, Andy. If I need help, I’ll call. My phone is always charged. It’s North Carolina, and very close to Tennessee. I know the place, unfortunately. Nicole was from around there. But, I’ll play it cool, and keep my head down. And, I’ll keep my eyes open. As soon as I get there, I’ll get myself a gun too, if that will make you feel better. There are plenty of places where I know I can get something quickly, especially if we make the arrangements ahead of time.”
“Good idea. Get me a name, and I’ll ha
ve Angela fax over what you’ll need, and our license, and then something will be waiting for you when you get off the plane.” Andreas relented, but not without a few more words of precaution. “But, call. Keep your eyes open, and if you see or suspect anything you call for back up.” Andreas pointed at Blaze until he saw him nod, then got up from his desk. He went round and clapped his brother on the back walking him to the door and opening it.
Angela was already looking up. When the door opened, she got up and handed him some papers. “The address and some maps of the area.”
“God, you’re good woman,” he teased the older woman.
“Don’t I know it,” she narrowed her eyes at Andreas and made the comment in an exasperated tone to further needle Andreas who she seemed to like to torture.
“I know it too, Ang, but no raise until next year. You just got one!” He turned on his heel and went to his office grumbling the whole way, and slammed the door behind him for good measure.
Blaze could not help but laugh. This was the norm in the office. Pushy Angela and grumpy Andreas were quite the tag team. It was like watching an episode of the Honeymooners sometimes. She loved to annoy him, and he always took the bait.
“You know I’d work here for less than what he pays me, and he pays me well. I just love to get under his skin,” she laughed.
“I know that. I just can’t figure out why he hasn’t figured that out too.” Blaze folded the sheets of paper in half, and put it inside his breast pocket. “Thanks for this,” he added as an afterthought and began to head to the front door. “Oh, I’m gonna need a gun, can you get me something near the airport and text me the location?”
“Will do,” she nodded already typing on her computer. “And, you’re welcome. I just bug him because everyone else yesses him all the time. He needs someone to push his buttons and light a fire under him.” Angela sighed.
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” He momentarily thought of his brother’s lack of a social life. Kind of like his own. Someone like Angela would be perfect for him though, but she was ten years older, happily married with three nearly grown children. And although Andreas did enjoy his dalliances from time to time, they were never permanent, and never serious. He nodded once more in parting before turning to the door.
The Bounty Hunters: The Marino Bros.: Box Set Page 30