“You played Mata Hari? You said you’d never do that again.”
Michele’s laugh tinkled. “It was worth it this time. Darwin is incredibly smart and sophisticated. Quite a challenge. But like most men who think they’re what every woman wants, he got loose-lipped when trying to impress. Especially when plied with drinks. Or other intoxicants.”
Tina’s eyes widened as she looked between Michele and Hank.
Hank rolled his eyes. “You may have noticed, Michele likes to be outrageous and shock people. She probably checked Darwin out on-line, found something I missed, or something that turned up after I left.”
Michele pouted. Tina couldn’t tell if it was serious pout or a fake one. “Actually I used both methods. I’m a professional, after all.”
The question is, Tina thought, a professional what?
Hank laughed. “Indeed.” He raised his glass to Michele, then took a long swallow of his Scotch. “So you convinced Rudy that Darwin is a mole. We really don’t need the details.”
“Oh, not in front of the children?” Michele raised an eyebrow at Tina.
Tina grasp on her glass tightened. She made a conscious effort to loosen it.
“Um, Michele,” Hank said. “Be careful. Tina has a gun and knows how to use it. I’m guessing you haven’t bothered to check her out on-line.”
Michele looked startled, and then her eyes narrowed. “No, never crossed my mind to do that.” She picked up her martini glass. “Stupid of me,” she muttered.
Hank ignored the comment. “So why are you here? Why have you been following me? Us? What the hell. Have you really been following Tina and not me?”
Michele laughed. “Men. So self-absorbed. You less than most, I admit. But it still took you this long to think of that?”
The waiter brought their drinks and salads. After he left, Tina stirred the dressing more evenly into her greens. “Why would Michele follow me?”
“I have no idea.” Hank put salt and pepper on his salad, a habit Tina had never gotten used to.
“Well,” Michele said, “after I blew the whistle on old Darwin, Rudy didn’t like having me around. In my research, I found a thin, very thin, thread leading to Newport. I decided to follow up on it, both to let you know you were right, and to see what I could find out here.”
“Took you long enough to let me know,” Hank grumbled.
“I found it more fun to watch what you were doing.”
“I’m sure. But why didn’t Rudy get in touch with me himself?”
“I’m not sure. Give you both some time, probably. He’s of course unsettled by what Darwin was doing. Questioning his judgment about him. And you. Eating lots of Snickers bars.”
“Well, I’m not at all anxious to go back to work with the man.”
“I don’t blame you. He’s brilliant, but difficult.”
“You like the challenge, though,” Hank said.
“Well, sure.”
“Okay.” Hank put his fork down and took his a sip of Scotch. “Let’s get back to this thread you found. Any more since you get here?”
“It involved old houses with secret spaces.”
Tina suppressed a gasp. So her speculation about how the space was used currently may have been on the mark. She knew the people who dealt in slaves were ruthless. But she’d hoped, after learning that it had once been used for abused women, that that was the answer. Either way, she wondered how Leslie would feel about living there when this was all over.
“You have any specific addresses for these houses?” Hank asked. “Is Leslie’s one of them?”
“Leslie’s address didn’t come up. However, a certain Mrs. Hendricks’s did. I only put that together when I got here and saw you two go into her house. All I had was a street name.”
“Oh.” Tina saw Sophie in her mind’s eye and shrank back from the image. She looked at Hank. “You don’t think Sophie…”
“Did you get any sense that she’d been abused sexually? You’re the expert here.”
Tina shook her head. “She did tell us about the woman slapping her and said it was the only time anyone had hurt her.”
“Yes. And she didn’t shy away from me. I think she would if a man had hurt her that way.”
“Agreed.” Tina looked at her empty daiquiri glass with regret. But two drinks was her limit. She took a sip of water.
“Did you two learn anything else from Sophie?”
“Only that she opened the cellar door for the people who have been getting in.” Hank pushed his empty salad plate away. “And that one woman slapped her in the face.”
Michele scowled. “These people are scum of the earth. We need to stop them.”
“Can’t argue with that,” Hank said. “So, what else did you dig up?”
“This group is completely quiet on-line. Cell phone communication is different, but spotty. Most use disposable phones, but I get the feeling that some are so attached to their expensive ones that they use them sometimes when they shouldn’t. That’s how I found the Newport connection, and Mrs. Hendricks’s street name. I need to know what your Lisbeth has uncovered about Hendricks and her house, if anything.”
Hank sighed. “Mrs. Hendricks is all buttoned up. Won’t talk at all. Very smart of her. They’ve searched her house. But I wonder if they looked for a secret room there.”
“I hope so.” Michele stopped talking while their server took away the salad plates and set down their dinners.
After he left, Tina asked Hank, “Lisbeth didn’t say?”
“We haven’t had much time to talk. I’ll call her now and ask.” Hank rose from the table and walked over toward the rest rooms.
And left Tina and Michele staring at each other. Finally, Tina said, “You and Hank known each other long?”
Michele smiled. “Not nearly as long as you’ve know him. But long enough.”
Tina reframed from rolling her eyes. “You like playing games, don’t you?”
“I was a whizz at Monopoly when younger. Now it’s chess.”
“I’m not surprised. Hank and I used to play checkers a lot.”
Michele laughed. “Touché.”
After that they ate silently until Hank came back. He sat down. “Lisbeth said they tried to find a secret room in the Hendricks’s house, but had no luck. She called Mr. Hall.” He tuned to Michele. “You know who Mr. Hall is, the architect?”
Michele nodded.
Hank shook his head. “Of course you do. He’s meeting Lisbeth there tomorrow morning to see what he can find. Mrs. Hendricks still won’t talk. She did demand to know where Sophie has been taken. Of course, she’s not being given that information.”
“Is it possible she’ll find out somehow?” Tina stopped buttering her roll to look at Hank.
He wouldn’t meet her gaze. “Anything’s possible. I called a friend of mine to watch the house.”
Tina sighed with relief. “What more can we do?”
Both Michele and Hank stared at her.
“You,” Hank said, ”can eat your dinner, go home, and get some sleep.”
Tina felt her face flush with anger. She pointed the knife she was buttering her roll with at him. “My friend is in danger. A little girl. My old lover.”
Michele suppressed a laugh and looked at Hank to see his reaction.
Tina ignored her. She knew Hank wouldn’t give away his feelings. “Even my own town. All in danger from these…these sleazebags who are trafficking in human beings—women and children. Maybe even some of your own gender, Mr. Silver.”
“Dangerous sleazebags, Ms. Shaw. I know you’ve been lucky in some past situations, but this is way beyond your skill set.”
“Lucky? That’s all you think it was?” Tina sputtered. She stood up, grabbed her purse, and walked toward the exit.
“Where are you going?” Hank barely raised his voice, but she still heard him, and ignored him.
Why and how could he make her so angry? She found the cab company’s phone number in her cell
and contacted them. She knew Hank was scrambling to pay the bill, and she walked briskly outside into the fresh air. Nippier air than when they’d arrived.
She shivered and stood by the door, waiting for her ride. Hank and Michele came out just as the cab pulled up. She walked over to it.
“Tina.”
She turned around to look at Hank. Shook her head. As she turned to get in the taxi she noticed the man she’d seen before lurking near the entrance. She hesitated, staring at him.
He stared back with cold eyes. She shivered again, this time not from the outdoor temperature. She grabbed the door handle and fumbled it open. Inside, she gave the driver her address, then hit Hank’s number on her cell.
When he answered, she said, “Don’t turn around. There’s a man watching you. I’ve noticed him before. Tall, thin, brown hair. The coldest, scariest eyes I’ve ever seen. Good hunting.”
She ended the call and leaned back in her seat. Maybe Hank was right, damn him. Maybe she was out of her league.
CHAPTER 47
Tina found Uncle Bob standing at the counter watching the coffee maker drip when she came downstairs the next morning, rubbing her bleary eyes, and tying her chenille robe’s belt more securely around herself. She’s been too discouraged to get dressed just yet.
Princess nudged Uncle Bob’s thigh, and he turned to see why. His face broke out into a big grin when he saw her. “Morning, kumquat. Sleep well?”
“So-so. How about you?”
“I always sleep well. Don’t hear a thing after I take out my hearing aids, one of the very few advantages of deafness.”
Tina nodded, surprised her uncle mentioned his hearing loss. Usually he ignored the subject. “That coffee almost ready?”
“Any minute now.”
Tina poured herself some orange juice and popped an English muffin into the toaster. “You’re not making bacon and eggs again this morning?”
“Nope. I’ve decided to take a vacation. You’ll have to rough it with cereal.”
Tina smiled. Since Uncle Bob usually burned the bacon and undercooked the eggs, she was happy to “rough it.”
“I smell coffee.” Laura came into the room, dressed for the day. Tina felt like a frump in comparison.
Everyone said good morning, and after they fixed what they wanted to eat, sat down.
“You look tired,” Laura said to Tina.
“It’s been a rough few days.”
“What’s happened since we last talked?” Laura poured milk onto her cereal, not looking at Tina.
Tina debated how much to tell. But once she got started, she couldn’t seem to stop. She glossed over the details about Sophie and didn’t mention the scary man she’s spotted, apparently following either Hank or her.
Laura shook her head and frowned when Tina wound down.
“Well,” Laura said, “I’ve been talking to a few of my friends about their houses--those who live in the historical ones. Several say they know of secret rooms or have heard rumors that the house had one, but they’ve never found it.”
“Are the ones who found them using them for anything in particular now?”
“Yes. One of the husbands collects guns and hides them there. Another woman has a lot of antique silver, plus some expensive, inherited jewelry. One just stores stuff in it. She says it’s totally unorganized. And one made a fancy panic room. It’s stocked with survival gear and food.”
“Do they know what the original purposes were?”
“No one is really sure, except Wanda Smalling. She says they found lots and lots of liquor bottles, some still full. They figure it was used during prohibition. But the space could be original, so no telling what it was used for before that.”
“How did all these woman find out about the secret rooms?” Uncle Bob asked.
“Some were told after they bought the houses. Katie Mathews lives in a house originally built by one of her ancestors, like Leslie. But in her case, the history was handed down. A couple of people have done renovations and found them. Not all of them are rooms. They’re just spaces between joists where small items can be stashed. No one I talked to had such a large space all along the whole side of the house like you found at Leslie’s.”
“Amazing.” Tina looked at Uncle Bob. “You been going around this house looking for a secret room?”
“How’d you guess?” He and Laura laughed. “I had your mother research how to find them on-line. Except for those hidden closets in the attic, nothing else so far.”
“How did you find out about those closets, anyway?” Tina asked her mother.
“The people we bought the house from came by after we moved in and showed them to us. They didn’t mention anything else, so I doubt we’d find more.”
“Was their family the original owner?”
“I think so.”
“You never know.” Uncle Bob stood up and began to clear away the dishes.
Laura smiled at Tina. “This’ll keep him busy for a good while.”
“What’d you say?” Uncle Bob turned.
“Nothing. Nothing.”
“Don’t give me that. Nothing is more annoying than being told someone said nothing when it’s obvious they said something. Now, what was it?”
Laura laughed. “I just told Tina that hunting for secret spaces will keep you occupied.”
“Really now. I’ll have the last laugh if I find one.”
Laura stood up. “If you find one, you can decide what to do with it. How’s that?”
Uncle Bob looked thoughtful. “That’s great. It would depend on the size of the space…”
“That’s true.” Laura turned to Tina. “I’m guessing Hank has told you to back off from the investigation. I hope you are doing what he says, if not what I say.”
“Well, it appears that right now I can’t do anything, and if he stops sharing information with me, that won’t help. I think I’ll go see Leslie. Find out how she’s doing.”
“That’s a great idea. I imagine she’s back at work.”
“I’ll call to make sure before heading out.”
Tina helped Uncle Bob clean up, then went to her bedroom to call Leslie. “What are you going to do today?”
“Hi, Tina. I’m going to the shop. It got busy yesterday, so I need to be here. How are you?”
“I’m good. Found out more about what went on with Hank in New York. We need to catch up. When do you plan to take a break? I can bring lunch, or we could go out. Will Amelia be there helping you?”
“Yes, she will, and has agreed to work some overtime. I promised Brandon and the parents that I would only come in for a few hours. I’m going to quit around three. Why don’t we meet then?”
“That would be fine.” But Tina wondered what she was going to do to fill up the time until then. Then she remembered her idea about moving out of the old family home. Maybe she’d visit a Realtor and see what was available. “Where should we meet?”
“That a good question. Before, we could meet at my house. I need a break from the parents, and I’m not sure I want to deal with answering questions from anyone else, like your mom or Uncle Bob.”
“I don’t blame you. How about a walk on Easton’s Beach? I haven’t checked the weather yet this morning, but since yesterday was so glorious, I have high hopes for today.”
“It’s cooler than yesterday, but great for a walk if we bundle up. How about I meet you there around three-fifteen?”
“Sounds like a plan. Now, tell me how you and Brandon are doing.”
“I’m fine. No after affects from the drug they gave me. A little more tired than usual, but that might be because of the emotional toll. Brandon called this morning, and he’s feeling about the same way as I do. We compared notes.” Leslie laughed. “The police searched his place yesterday, dusted for fingerprints. They were non-committal about learning anything to help find out who drugged him.” No laughter remained in her voice.
“Well, I’m just glad you’re both okay. We’ll t
alk more on the beach.”
After they hung up, Tina got dressed, her thoughts whirling with worry about Leslie and Brandon. To distract herself, she went down to the office to look up Realtors on her computer.
She’d just decided on one when her mother entered the room. “What are your plans for the day? Did you call Leslie?”
Tina tucked the paper she’d printed out about the Realtor into her pocket. “Leslie and I are going for a walk on the beach mid-afternoon. What are you going to do?”
“It’s Lunch Bunch day, so that will take up a few hours. Then I’m going shopping for a new outfit.”
“Oh? What’s the occasion?”
“None. I just have a hankering for a new dress with all new accessories.”
Tina grinned. “I’m all shopped out. I need to find something to do with myself since the organizing business is not taking off. I know, I’ll work with one of those ghost buster teams.”
Laura did not look amused. “Seriously?”
Tina thought a moment. “I don’t think so—I just thought of it. But you never know.”
“Oh, Tina.” Laura shook her head and walked toward the hallway. “Have a nice day. Think of something more practical. Volunteer at the library or something.”
“Yeah.” Tina had another thought. Maybe she could learn to renovate old homes. Flip them. Her mother wouldn’t approve of that, either. Well, she wouldn’t dismiss that idea too quickly. See what the Realtor would come up with. She could still live at home while making the renovations. Her mother would approve of the part about still living at home. But she really should decide what she wanted to tell the Realtor before she showed up. She sat at her desk, thinking for a while. She decided to start by looking at some old Victorians. She grew up in one, and she’d always loved them. If one she wanted needed fixing up, to stay in her price range, she’d consider it.
She walked to the bottom of the stairs and called up. “I’m going out. Don’t know when I’ll be home.”
She heard her mother say something, but couldn’t quite make it out. Shrugging, she went to the hall closet to get a coat. She checked the weather on her phone and decided on a medium-weight dark blue jacket.
Cluttered Attic Secrets (Tina Tales) Page 21