Pier Pressure

by Rose Pressey

  What is happening there? Don’t let him sit too close to you. Oh and don’t let him try to hold your hand.

  Did she think I was a rookie at this? I felt confident that I could protect myself. He started telling me that I had pretty eyes and hair. He paused as if he was waiting for me to compliment him in return. After a while I moved the conversation to where I wanted it to be.

  “You know, I was out here on the water recently when something tragic happened.”

  “Oh, yeah?” He studied my face. “What happened?”

  “There was an explosion. A boat blew up.” I watched his face for a reaction, but before I had a chance to read it something caught my attention.

  “Please stop the boat.” The loud voice came over the speaker.

  I looked back and spotted the boat behind us. It was marked POLICE on the side.

  Dean stopped the boat as he was told.

  “What is all of this about?” I asked. My anxiety was even higher now.

  “I have no idea,” he said.

  I had a feeling he knew exactly why he was being stopped by the police. The boat came closer to us. At least now I felt a little better. I really was nervous being out here with him. I had started to question whether it was really worth the trip just to try to get him to confess. It would have been a better idea to meet him in a public place. It was too late for that now though.

  Now that the boat was near I saw who was on it. What was Jake doing here? How had he known that I was out here? I swore I’d thought Jake was following me. Maybe that was why I’d felt as if I was being followed.

  Jake made eye contact with me. He didn’t look happy. That was when I remembered I was wearing my disguise again. Being stopped by the police on the water was strange. It wasn’t as if Dean had been speeding. This had to be something serious. Did they have evidence that led them to believe that he had killed Robert? Maybe they were going to arrest him for the murder right now. Dean looked as if he wanted to jump off the boat. He had nowhere to go.

  Jake stepped onto the boat. “Please turn around and place your hands behind your back.”

  I did as I was told. “Not you, Maggie, I mean, ma’am,” Jake said.

  At least he hadn’t revealed my true identity. Jake placed the handcuffs on the doctor. Another officer came on board and took the doctor off.

  “What is going on here?” I asked.

  “I could ask you the same question,” Jake said.

  “I think you know what I’m doing without me even having to answer.”

  He studied my face. “You got that right. Do you have any idea how dangerous this is?”

  “I have some idea, yes. It comes with my job,” I said. “So are you going to tell me why you re arresting him?”

  “We’re taking him in on suspicion of selling drugs.”

  “What? How did you find that out?” I asked.

  “We have our ways,” Jake said. “Why don’t you get on the boat with us?”

  I was glad to get off this houseboat. It was giving me the creeps. The sun had set now and darkness had almost taken over. I was glad I wouldn’t be out here in the dark. The endless dark sky made me feel vulnerable. I didn’t like that feeling in the least. The more I thought about the fact that I’d been alone on that boat with Dean in the dark the more fear took over. What if Jake hadn’t come alone when he had? The thought sent a shiver down my spine. That was all over now though and I shouldn’t worry about it.

  Chapter 14

  I found out that Garrett Smith, the guy I’d thought had kidnapped Cora, gave plane tours of Miami along the coast. That thought terrified me. I’d never liked airplanes. They were too small or they were too big. They were too loud. Mostly they were too far up in the sky. I could plummet to my death so much faster than any other form of transportation. Sure, I could be smashed in a car crash, but at least I’d be on the ground. I didn’t like the idea of falling from the sky. It was an irrational thought, but I digressed.

  None of that mattered right now. Needless to say, I was going to have to talk to this guy. Jake had let Garrett’s name slip. Dorothy was trying to convince me that the best way to talk to Garrett was to be enclosed in a tiny little space, ie the tiny little airplane. Dorothy told me to stop being a baby and suck it up. Just get on the plane. I felt like pouting for a bit, but nonetheless now we were at the airstrip where we would get on the plane.

  “Look at it this way,” Dorothy said. “It’s only a thirty-minute plane crash, er, I mean ride.”

  My eyes widened. “Why did you say ‘plane crash?’”

  “It was a slip of the tongue,” she said.

  “I think I can’t breathe. I’m hyperventilating.” I pulled at the neck of my t-shirt.

  She grabbed me by the arms and shook me. “Get a hold of yourself, woman.”

  I assumed the man standing by the plane was the one we wanted to talk to, but as we approached I realized it wasn’t the man I’d seen with Cora. He smiled and waved us over.

  “Well, he seems friendly enough,” Dorothy said.

  “Yes, I suppose that is something,” I said sarcastically. “That’s not the guy we want to talk to though.”

  “Maybe he’s filling in for him,” she said.

  “What will be even worse is if he knows the guy and discovers why we’re on the plane was because we wanted to question him about a murder.”

  “Then don’t start questioning him right away. Don’t let him realize what you’re doing.”

  “I have to hurry up and ask him questions.”

  “Well, try to be discreet about it,” Dorothy said.

  She was one to talk about being discreet. She was always blurting out things. We walked up to the man. He had dark hair and was tall and slender. I peered up at the sky and thought about how within a few minutes I would be up there among the clouds. My stomach turned again. The man kept his eyes focused on me as if his stare would keep me from running away. That wasn’t necessarily true. Once I got on the plane though I would be trapped. I wondered if he had parachutes in case we needed them.

  “I hope he knows what he’s doing,” I whispered to Dorothy. She waved off my comment.

  “Hello, ladies. Are you here for the tour?” He grinned from ear to ear. .

  “Yes, we are,” I said through a fake smile. “Is Garrett Smith here?”

  “I’m Garrett Smith.” He stuck out his hand.

  Oh, great. I’d gotten the wrong Garrett Smith. I should have guessed there could have been more than one. There was no need to go on the trip now. I turned to walk away and Dorothy grabbed me.

  “First time flying?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “First time on a small plane. How could you tell?”

  “You’re shaking a little and your face is a bit green.”

  Great, and I hadn’t even gotten on the plane yet.

  “You’ll be fine.” Dorothy patted me on the back.

  “Dorothy, we don’t have to go now,” I whispered.

  “We can’t leave him now,” she said under her breath. “That would be rude.”

  I’d rather be considered rude than go up there.

  “When you get up there and see all the beautiful sights you all won’t have a worry in the world,” Garrett said.

  He didn’t know me very well, did he?

  “Is this your grandmother?” He looked at Dorothy.

  “No, we’re sisters,” she said with a smile.

  He quirked an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything.

  “Don’t mind her. Yes, this is my grandmother,” I said, looping my arm through hers.

  We got into the plane and buckled the seat belts. It was even smaller than I’d anticipated. Dorothy had forced me to sit in the front. She said I would be able to cope better up there. I wasn’t sure if I believed her. Anyway, Garrett started the plane and before I knew it we were taking off. I was holding on for my life. I wasn’t sure this was a good idea because I couldn’t speak at the moment.

  Though I mus
t admit once we were up there it was stunningly beautiful. The coastline stretched out endlessly. Beautiful blue water and white sandy beaches stretched below us. Tall condos lined the space until we moved on to a more sparse area. Garrett pointed out things like Star Island, Coconut Grove, the art deco district, and South Beach. Plus, he was giving us history and facts.

  Did this guy ever stop talking? He was making me even more nervous with his constant chatter. It looked as if this was truly be a pointless trip.

  All of a sudden the plane sputtered. My body froze. I looked over at Garrett. He didn’t look at me.

  “What just happened?” I asked.

  Garrett didn’t look at me and he didn’t answer. I glanced back at Dorothy. She shrugged a little bit. Okay, maybe it was just a little blip, nothing to panic about. He didn’t seem to be worried and neither did Dorothy, although she never worried about much anyway.

  I had just settled down when the plane did it again. It wasn’t stopping. I was completely panicked now. How could I get out of here? Could I jump? Would I land in the water? No, that was a bad idea.

  “Don’t worry, ladies, everything will be just fine. We’re just going to make an emergency landing.” He adjusted various knobs that I hoped still worked.

  “An emergency landing?” I looked back at Dorothy. “See, I told you this was a bad idea. This is all your fault.”

  “Don’t you talk to me that way,” she said, waving her finger. “I didn’t make this plane go down.”

  “Yes, but you told me to get on here.”

  “Calm down, ladies, everything will be just fine.” Tension filled the pilot’s words.

  “Don’t make him upset. He’s trying to land a plane before we crash and die.”

  “Dorothy, you’re not helping,” I yelled.

  The tiny little plane swayed back and forth as I held on to the seat. My life flashed before my eyes. I thought of all the things that I would miss out on if we died now. The plane chugged along. I wasn’t sure if it was running out of gas. Why hadn’t he checked that before we left? I tried to remember to breathe in and out so that I wouldn’t faint. Maybe it would be better if I had fainted, then I wouldn’t know when we crashed.

  Garrett held onto the plane’s yoke as it shook, with the plane still swaying back and forth, although we were coming closer to the water now.

  “Is the landing gear in place? This is a seaplane, right?” I asked.

  He didn’t answer, which wasn’t a good sign.

  If there was no landing gear and this wasn’t a seaplane we could hit the water and the plane could fall apart. We’d be floating at sea like Tom Hanks in Castaway. I’d be lucky if I had a soccer ball to talk to.

  Then, with a sudden blast, the plane hit the water. I wasn’t sure if I passed out for a moment or what. It was all a blur. I glanced back at Dorothy. She was just looking out the window, as if this was no big deal. I was surprised she wasn’t knitting. Garrett was still trying to maneuver the plane, but we were on water now. I guessed that was better than the sky. The plane floated and I tried to calm my speeding heart rate.

  “Are we in the clear now?” I asked.

  Garrett looked over at me. “We’re fine.”

  Finally, I released the breath that I’d been holding.

  Dorothy patted the pilot on the shoulder. “Good job, man, good job.”

  “Yeah, great job,” I said.

  I was still in a daze. I just wanted off this thing.

  When we got back to the shore the police were waiting. It was no big surprise, but I saw Jake standing there. Trouble seemed to follow me everywhere I went, and I hadn’t even gotten to ask the guy a question. Jake would know why we were on this plane. That was what I got for letting Dorothy talk me into these things. Sweat beaded on my forehead. My body shook from the adrenaline. I was just glad we hadn’t landed far away in the middle of the ocean and became stranded or even worse. I couldn’t even act casual this time. I just shrugged and tossed my hands up. I surrendered this time. I had no excuse of how I’d gotten into this mess this time. He’d have to accept whatever reason I told him.

  Chapter 15

  The alert notification on my phone chimed loudly and I almost fell backward out of my chair. I admit I had been drifting off to sleep as I sat at my desk in my office. Dorothy and I had grabbed food and brought it back to the office. Now I was trying to think of my next move.

  When I looked at my phone that decision had been made for me. The text was an alert that Cora’s car had moved. I would be able to follow her. The car was actually not far away, but headed in the opposite direction. I’d have to move quickly if I wanted to catch up with her. Apparently she wasn’t coming to speak with me.

  I tried calling her phone, but like the times before it went straight to voicemail. Her mailbox was full at this point, so I figured she wasn’t checking messages.

  When I jumped up from my chair I woke Dorothy. She’d been dozing at her desk too. The knitting needles fell from her hands and the ball of yarn rolled across the floor.

  “What happened? What day is this? Where am I?” Dorothy had a dazed look in her eyes.

  “Dorothy you’re at the office with me.” I waved my arm, motioning for her to get up.

  “Oh, right, right.” She jumped to her feet. Dorothy grabbed her bag and then the knitting needles.

  I picked up the yarn and shoved it into her bag. “We have to follow Cora’s car right now.”

  Dorothy and I dashed out to the car.

  “Do you think she got away from her captor?” Dorothy asked as she fastened her seatbelt.

  “I don’t think so,” I said, starting the car. “She still isn’t answering her phone. I feel confident that she would answer the phone if she was away from the captor.”

  “So you think it was the person who took her who’s driving the car?” Dorothy asked.

  “That would make sense, I suppose. I wish she’d answer the phone. I hope that she’s in that car and that we find her.” I pulled out onto the street and punched the gas pedal.

  “Fingers crossed,” Dorothy said.

  I handed Dorothy my phone. “Keep track of where the car goes.”

  Dorothy gave a little salute. “It looks as if the car just turned into a parking lot.” Dorothy showed me the phone. “Oh, she just parked the car… or someone just parked the car.”

  The more we drove the longer it seemed to take.

  “How much further does it say on the map?” I asked.

  “One more mile,” Dorothy said.

  We made it through a yellow light and I came to the turn-off for the parking lot where it said the car would be located. There were a lot of designer shops in the area. Was she shopping right now? I turned into the parking lot.

  “Maybe the person who took her has her credit cards and now wants to take a little shopping spree,” Dorothy said.

  “Oh, good point,” I said. “First we have to find the car though. If it’s not even here then we would be looking around for nothing.”

  “Are you telling me that this thing on your phone isn’t even accurate?” Dorothy frowned.

  “I think it works, but you never know.”

  “Oh, wonderful,” Dorothy said in a sarcastic tone.

  I circled the parking lot and didn’t see her car. I was getting worried that we wouldn’t find it after all. I’d make another trip around the parking lot before I gave up. Maybe I had overlooked it.

  “We’re looking for a black Mercedes, right?” Dorothy asked.

  “Yes, black,” I said as I circled the parking lot again.

  “Wait just a minute. Is that her car?” Dorothy pointed.

  “Oh, good eyes, Dorothy.” I headed in the direction of the parked car.

  “Morton might have cataracts, but I don’t,” Dorothy said.

  I chuckled. “Your eyesight is fine.” I didn’t mention the reading glasses perched on the top of her head.

  I pulled up behind the car. Of course no one was in the car,
but I hadn’t expected to find the person in the car right now. That didn’t mean they were far away from the car though. I got out of my car and walked over to her car. I scanned the area to see if anyone was around or watching me. Dorothy got out and followed me to the car. I peeked into the windows. The car was a mess. I wondered if it had looked like that before or if this was someone else’s doing.

  “So the person who drove this here has to be around somewhere, right?” I asked.

  “Probably?” Dorothy asked instead of giving an answer.

  “I suppose we should look around for her. The shops are over there.” I pointed in the direction of all the buildings. “We’ll look for her.”

  Dorothy didn’t look as if she thought this was such a good idea. I thought it was worth a shot though. It only made sense that we should check the area for her. We walked around the palm trees and along the paved path.

  “These places are nice,” Dorothy said, peering up at all the sights.

  The first shop we came to was Louis Vuitton.

  “We should check in there first.” I pointed and headed toward the door.

  Dorothy strolled in as I held the door open. The space was open and light, so it made it easy to see that she wasn’t in the store. Though if someone had kidnapped her I might be looking for abductors too. Did anyone look suspicious? Not that I could tell. Handbags were displayed in glass shelves around the room. Other cases had wallets, jewelry, scarves, and other items. Our shoes clicked against the light colored hardwood floor. I had hoped to be silent as I entered. I didn’t want to draw attention to us.

  Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows that lined the front of the store. Unfortunately, there were no racks of clothing in the front to hide behind.

  “That one is pretty.” I pointed. “I wonder how much it costs.”

  “Ten million dollars,” Dorothy answered. “Now come on before they kick us out of here.”

  “They won’t kick us out.” I glanced around and saw a sales associate looking at us.