Too Many Crooks Spoil the Plot

by Sarah Osborne

  “I have to see you before I go back to New York. You said we’d have lunch. I’m not asking for anything more.”

  “Things are complicated, Phil. You can’t just show up in my life after seven years and expect me to come running after you.”

  “I’m not asking you to do that. I need to see you. I’m—I’m confused. You could always ground me. I need your help. I need you.”

  The magic words. If Tommy were in the room, he’d be shaking his head. “Here you go again.” Instead, it was Lurleen standing beside me. Phil was talking loudly enough for Lurleen to hear every word. Don’t do it, she mouthed.

  I held the phone away from my ear and tried to shoo Lurleen back into the kitchen, but she stayed at my side—just moving her head from side to side, her wavy hair following in slow motion. No, no, no, she continued to mouth.

  “Phil, I can’t do anything right now. I’m in the middle of something. If you went to my work, which I wish you hadn’t, then you know I’m off for the rest of the week. You’ll have to call me later.”

  Phil turned cold. “If that’s the way you want it. I always thought I could count on you.” Then he hung up.

  “Good girl,” Lurleen said. “Except for the ‘call me later’ part.”

  We reentered the kitchen where Mason and Dan were waiting for us.

  “Anything I should know?” Mason asked.

  I shook my head.

  Lurleen patted Mason’s arm. “Nothing to worry about, cher ami.”

  Mason nodded at Dan, who continued with his exploits at Sandler’s. “I spoke with Barry Hampstead. That guy has a real crush on you, Lurleen.”

  “Don’t be silly. Barry loves having a crush on people. He’s just lonely. Did he have some information?”

  “Apparently everyone at Sandler’s is worried about a major shake-up in the organization. Rumors are flying. The organization is losing its share of the market. Kathleen Sandler was always assumed to be next in line, but people are starting to doubt that. She and the old man have sent some nasty e-mails to one another. You’d think people would learn that e-mails are always public information. A board of directors meeting is scheduled for the end of the week. Someone’s on the way out, according to Hampstead. His guess is that it’s Kathleen. Nothing concrete, but he’ll keep his eyes and ears open. He said to give you his best regards.”

  Lurleen smiled sweetly, and then she stopped smiling.

  “Why didn’t I think of this before. I know Kathleen Sandler. We were mah-jongg partners. I dropped out after a few months. Nothing French about the game, and everyone would get so excited but not in a good way. She kept after me for a while, begging me to come back. Said I brought a lovely European sophistication to the game. Maybe I could give her a call.”

  “It might be dangerous,” I said. “If she’s embroiled in this, you could be walking into trouble.”

  Lurleen smiled. “The idea of Kathleen being part of something illegal is impossible. She’s as straight as . . . as you, Ditie.”

  “It might help,” Mason said. “If you could arrange to meet her in a public place, a restaurant, Dan or I could be nearby. First sign of trouble, we’ll get you out of there.”

  “Ah, a secret agent,” Lurleen said. “Right up my alley.” She flicked her red hair, so that it fell over one eye.

  “Easy,” Mason said. “One interview and a few questions. That’s all.”

  “Bien sur. But how will I reach her? My cell phone is dead. She won’t pick up a number she doesn’t know.”

  “You got your phone?” Dan asked. He reached in his pocket. “I’ve got a universal charger.”

  Lurleen smiled at him. “You certainly do.”

  “I’ll leave you to it,” Mason said. “Ditie and I will be out back with the kids.”

  We barely made it to the back porch before he stopped to question me. “Anything going on with this Phil Brockton guy?”

  I shook my head.

  “I’m asking because you shouldn’t be going anywhere on your own. It’s too dangerous.”

  I smiled. “So if I invite him over here you’re fine with that?”

  “You know you can’t let anyone know where you are.” He rubbed his bald head. “Oh, I get it. You’re making fun of me.”

  “Never,” I said. “I just wondered if you had a more personal reason for not wanting Phil around.”

  “Maybe I do.”

  At that point the kids accosted us. Jason took Mason’s hand, and Lucie took mine.

  Lucie’s eyes were sparkling and her face was flushed. “We had so much fun,” she said. “Hide and seek in this big, big yard.”

  I smiled a thank-you to Eddie as we walked into the kitchen. She followed behind with Hermione and Majestic at her side.

  Once inside, she got water for the kids and animals. “It’s getting warm out there. In the summer we’ll get the sprinklers going and really have fun.”

  Eddie was talking about the future—a future that included the kids and no more fear. It couldn’t come soon enough for me.

  Mason whispered something to her, and she told Jason he needed a bath upstairs and after that she’d read to him.

  “Can you read me about Superman?” Jason asked.

  “Mason, where are the old comics you and Michael loved?”

  “I’m sure they’re in the closet, Mom, with the games. You never get rid of anything. We got tired of them, but you said they might be valuable one day.”

  “And see, I was right. Jason will enjoy them. I’ll read you one as soon as you finish with your bath,” she said, taking him by the hand.

  Lucie knew she’d been left behind for a reason. “You want me to call Jason’s dad, don’t you?” she said.

  “Just the opposite,” I said.

  “Hopefully, you’ll never have to do that,” Mason said. “But I do want to know if you have any more ideas about what Charlie Flack wants or where it might be hidden.”

  Lucie was quiet, lost in thought. “I know it’s something small. Because it was supposed to be in the Transformer, and I know my mom had a lot of hiding places. She would hide money in the sole of her shoe or in the freezer. But I don’t know where she hid this thing.”

  Lucie looked worn out.

  “I’ll take you upstairs, sweetie. Maybe you can take a nap with Jason.”

  “I’m too old for a nap,” Lucie said, rubbing her eyes.

  “Then maybe you can keep an eye on him for me.” I took her hand and led her up the stairs. Jason was in the bath, so Lucie and I sat on the bed looking at the comics Eddie had found. They were mostly old Superman comics, but one of them was Wonder Woman.

  “I wonder if this one belonged to Eddie,” I said.

  Lucie picked it up, fascinated. She snuggled up beside me. I lay back on the pillow and discovered Lucie’s monkey underneath it. I pulled him out and settled him between us. Lucie cuddled him with one arm and with the other held the comic book.

  “Read it to me,” I said.

  Lucie started reading. I closed my eyes and could hear Ellie’s voice. I was back in Iowa, helping Ellie with her math, listening to her stories. Wonder Woman had to save the world, of course—this time from a threat of world domination. She had to find a tiny key before the bad men did, hidden somewhere, that could turn on a machine that would take over people’s minds. A single mastermind would control the world. A hidden key. A machine. A mastermind. Something small enough to fit in the Transformer compartment. Important enough to kill for. Where would Ellie have hidden it?

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Eddie and Jason emerged from the bathroom. I’m not sure how Eddie managed to keep an eye on Jason in the bath and still give him his privacy, but apparently she’d pulled it off. Jason jumped on the bed in a fresh T-shirt and shorts, eager for a story. Lucie and I made room for him.

  “S
uperman!” Jason said. “Look. There are so many Superman books. One, two, three . . .” He stopped counting when he got to ten. “Can we read them all, Miss Eddie?”

  “Yes, but for now we’ll read just one. Do you know any of the words, Jason?”

  “Superman,” Jason said proudly. He pointed at the picture and the name.

  “Lucie, can you read to Jason, so Eddie and I can talk?” I asked.

  “Sure,” she said. She could barely keep her eyes open, and I was pretty certain in a minute or two they would both be sound asleep.

  Eddie and I stood in the hallway listening to the murmur of Lucie’s voice. In a little while everything was quiet. Eddie peeked in the room.

  “They’re both asleep. Jason is covered in Superman comics, and Lucie is hugging Wonder Woman, my old favorite.” She closed the door to the bedroom and stood beside me near the window looking out on the front yard. A bush of knockout red roses was blooming along the low-lying fence. The grass was a luxurious green. Everything looked peaceful and in its right place. Eddie brought me back to reality.

  “Charlie Flack and whoever he’s working with seem convinced the kids have something they want. They’re willing to take any risk to find it.”

  I nodded. “Small enough to fit in the compartment of the Transformer, even though it never made it there apparently.”

  “Yes,” Eddie said. “And related to corporate espionage. Some information that could be turned into a lot of money.”

  I turned away from the window toward Eddie. “Charlie was a biochemist. He worked in the new product division before he got fired. And Marie talked about a new product soon to be released. A game changer. Are we looking for the secret formula, details about the product? All that data could be stored on a—”

  “A flash drive,” Eddie finished for me. “That’s what we’re looking for—a flash drive.”

  “Or a memory card,” I suggested. “They could be even smaller than a flash drive. Easier to hide.”

  Of course, we couldn’t know for sure. But it all made sense. Something small enough to be stored in a Transformer action figure. Something to do with the new product Sandler’s was getting ready to unveil. Something worth thousands, if not millions, of dollars to the right buyer. Something valuable enough to kill for.

  “We have to tell Mason, and then we have to go through everything the kids own,” I said. “Ellie was clever. She could have hidden it anywhere.”

  We were halfway down the stairs when we heard Lurleen scream.

  We raced to the parlor. I was surprised the kids weren’t on our heels. Apparently the doors in this old house were solid enough to block out the sound of a woman’s scream.

  Lurleen lay on the sofa, one hand over her head. She looked exactly like a film star from a silent movie who’d just received shocking news. I could see she was breathing and in no physical distress. Dan was kneeling at her side rubbing one hand.

  Mason grabbed me as I entered the room. “Lurleen got in touch with Kathleen Sandler. She was on speakerphone, so we could hear the entire conversation. They agreed to meet for a drink after work. Then Ms. Sandler called back to say she couldn’t come—there’d been an emergency—an explosion in a lab. Some people were hurt, maybe killed. That’s when Lurleen dropped the phone and screamed. She’s convinced Marie was in the lab and died in the explosion.”

  “Is there any reason to think that?” I asked.

  “None that I could figure out. She kept murmuring that she knew something terrible had happened to Marie and now she knew what it was. Intuition, she said.”

  I went over to Lurleen. She looked up at me. “She’s dead. I know she’s dead.”

  “Why do you say that, Lurleen?”

  She sat up with difficulty. “I just know it. The way I know sometimes who’s calling when my cell phone rings before I look at the number and answer.”

  At that moment her cell phone did ring. Let it be Marie, I thought. But it was Kathleen.

  “We must have gotten disconnected,” she said, still on speakerphone. “I thought I heard a scream and then the phone went dead. Are you all right?”

  Lurleen managed a noncommittal yes.

  “The lab explosion wasn’t an explosion at all. Someone tried to break into the new product lab with a small explosive device. Must have been desperate to think they could pull it off in the middle of the day. Knocked out a guard, but he’s recovering. They didn’t get in but they did get away. Probably hurt themselves more than they hurt the door.”

  Now Lurleen was on her feet. “I’m so glad. Not about the break-in, just that no one was hurt. Can we still meet, chérie?”

  “No one’s called me chérie in a long time. I’ve missed you, Lurleen. And I definitely need a drink. Give me an hour to finish up here.”

  Lurleen hung up the phone and practically danced around the room. “Marie didn’t die in an explosion.” Then she stopped. “But we still don’t know where she is. And she’s definitely in trouble.”

  Mason turned to Dan. “Call Grady ER. See if anyone’s turned up with hand burns. Then try the other hospitals.”

  “On it,” Dan said. “Mind if I use your office, Eddie?”

  “Be my guest.” Dan disappeared down the hallway.

  “Are you up for this interview, Lurleen?” Mason asked.

  “Of course. You’ll need to give us time for a few drinks. Once Kathleen has had a couple of martinis, she gets a lot more talkative.”

  “What’s her relationship to Billy Joe?” Mason asked.

  “Cousins. She’ll be devastated about his death, of course, but they never got along. He was the black sheep of the family and Kathleen is—all white. Old-man Sandler loves her to death. He’s been grooming her to take over the company.”

  “But Dan said there were nasty e-mails between them, that she might be on her way out,” I said.

  “Kathleen stood up to the old man. She’s every bit as tough as he is, but together they run the company. He wouldn’t kick her out. Now I must get ready to see my old friend.” Lurleen left the room with a flourish. It appeared she had completely recovered from her near-death experience, or more accurately, the imagined near-death experience of her friend Marie.

  Eddie stood up. “I’m going to check on the kids.” I started to join her. “You stay here, Ditie. I can handle it.”

  I sat down again next to Mason. “Any chance I can come along?”

  Mason hesitated. “You could be my date. That would give me some cover. But if there’s a problem, you’ll have to get out of there fast. Understood? Dan and I will be focused on Lurleen and Kathleen Sandler.”

  “Got it. But why do you think there could be trouble?”

  “We have no idea who might be watching them, and despite what Lurleen thinks, we don’t know if Kathleen could be involved.”

  Eddie came down a minute later. “The kids are still sound asleep.” She sat down across from us. “Ditie and I have been talking, and I think we know what Flack and the others want. A memory card or a flash drive. Easy to hide.”

  Mason smiled and nodded his agreement. “It could contain all the information needed about the new product. But where did Ellie manage to hide it?”

  “Lucie said her mother hid money in her shoes and in the freezer. I suppose you checked all of Ellie’s clothing,” I said. “And I’m sure you combed through her apartment.”

  “I was involved with the apartment search. If there was anything there, we would have found it. I know they looked through her clothes, but now that we know what we’re looking for, we can do it again. Of course, I’m off the case, so I can’t do anything officially. But maybe I can get the word out.”

  “Ditie and I will go over everything the kids own,” Eddie said.

  At that moment, Mason’s cell went off. “It’s my captain,” he said glancing at the number. “Maybe he�
��s come to his senses.”

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Mason took the call in the kitchen. He returned a minute later.

  “It was my captain all right,” Mason said. “He wanted to know how I was doing. More likely, he wanted to know what I was doing. Then he warned me again about getting involved in something that was strictly off limits. Wanted my guarantee I’d stay out of it. It could cost me my job, he said, if I interfered. I told him I was just a sick man trying to recover. There were a lot of lies going back and forth.” Mason looked disgusted.

  “Does this change your plans?” Eddie asked.

  “Nope.”

  Dan came into the parlor to catch the end of the conversation. “A guy did turn up in the ER with minor hand burns,” he said. “He told them his name was Mark something and disappeared as soon as they finished with him.”

  “Mark. You think it was Charlie Flack?” I said.

  Both Dan and Mason nodded. Lurleen reappeared in a pencil skirt and silk blouse. “Work attire,” she said and twirled slowly so we could all admire her.

  I ran upstairs to change out of jeans and into my own work attire and to check on the kids—still asleep. Before we left, I checked with Mason about leaving one person alone with the kids.

  “My mother could guard the Hope Diamond. No one’s going to get into this house on her watch. I promise you that.”

  Eddie patted my hand. “They’re safe with me,” she said.

  Mason told Lurleen what information he wanted, and she assured him that would be no problem—she could get information from an onion.

  “I think you mean blood from a turnip,” I offered.

  “That too. But turnip is such an unromantic word. And blood is so—well—degoutant. Anyway, I could get a mute man to break his silence.”

  “I know that’s right,” Dan said, squeezing her hand.

  Lurleen drove in her car. We followed behind in Mason’s. The bar was in Buckhead and already busy. It was unlikely we’d hear any of their conversation. An attractive woman sat on a barstool finishing a martini. She was a natural blond, slender, understated, probably in her early forties.