Too Many Crooks Spoil the Plot

by Sarah Osborne

  I climbed off Sandler, grabbed the gun, and pointed it at him. He moaned and twitched. I kept the gun pointed at him as I turned on an overhead light in the foyer. Then I moved to Tommy. With my free hand I felt for a pulse. Strong. He opened his eyes as I searched for his wounds.

  He tried to sit up and sank back down again. “My shoulder,” he said.

  There was a round hole in his left shoulder with a small amount of blood oozing from it.

  “You’ll be all right,” I said. “Lie still. I’ll call for help.”

  I could see both men clearly. Tommy slumped against the wall beside the door. Sandler on the floor, his head against the doorframe. He’d stopped moving. His eyes were open. He looked dead, but I’d seen too many movies where the bad guy acted dead and then sprang into action. I wasn’t going to touch him until I had some protection. I called 911 and waited.

  Seconds later I heard the mechanical hum of the elevator. And then the ding as the door opened. Three armed policemen burst into the foyer, their guns drawn. I motioned them to Sandler.

  They took a look at him. Felt for a pulse. “He’s dead, miss. See the back of his head?”

  I looked at the blood forming a halo around Sandler’s head. I saw his eyes looking toward heaven. The only time those eyes would have looked in that direction.

  “How did you get here so fast?” I asked.

  “Detective Garrett called. He’s on his way.”

  Oscar poked his head out of the elevator. He looked ashen. “Someone in the next apartment heard shots, and before I could call the police, they arrived.” He looked at Tommy. Then he looked at me holding a gun.

  “It’s all right, Oscar,” Tommy said. “My sister saved my life. Again.”

  I looked at him. “What do you mean by again?”

  Tommy smiled a wan smile. “We’ll talk when I feel better.”

  Chapter Forty-one

  The paramedics arrived and took over. I watched as they ministered to Tommy and took him away on a gurney.

  “You all right, miss?” One of the officers came over to remove the gun I still held in my hand. He escorted me to a sofa in the living room.

  “Tommy will be furious if I mess up his sofa,” I said. “Better take me to the kitchen. I may be bloody.”

  “Huh? You got hit?”

  I realized then I was not all right. I wasn’t thinking clearly. “I’m fine, I promise you. I didn’t get hit. I’m a doctor. Tommy’s sister.”

  “Tommy? The young man with the shoulder wound?”

  “Yes.”

  “If you’re up to it I’ll take your statement,” he said.

  At that moment we both heard the hum of the elevator and the click as it opened. Mason entered the apartment and found me in the living room. “I’ll take the statement, officer. Officer Hernandez, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, sir.” He beamed at the recognition and left the room.

  Mason picked me up and hugged me until I couldn’t breathe. Then he set me gently back down in the chair. “Oh, my God, Ditie. I heard it was a 187 and all I could think about was what if I lost you. Don’t ever do that to me again.”

  “A 187?”

  “A homicide.”

  “I will do my best never to do that again.” Idle words given what happened to me a few months later, but that’s a different story.

  Mason listened as I told him about Sandler’s confession. “That’s in line with what we heard from Marie and Kathleen. Marie didn’t know Sandler was guilty of anything except trying to help her escape, but she had her doubts. She was supposed to supply Sandler with an alibi for the time Billy Joe was killed.

  “Kathleen Sandler was a different story. She broke down. Not as tough as she looks. She’s been worried about her grandfather for the past two years—afraid he was slipping into dementia like his father. He was making bad decisions, spending money inappropriately.”

  “Phil Brockton’s dad is a concierge doc for the Sandler family—available at their beck and call. Phil almost let something slip about the health of one of them. I assumed it was Billy Joe, but I’ll bet it was about Sandler Senior. Phil’s dad probably knew Sandler was deteriorating.”

  “Maybe so. But Sandler was determined to keep the reins and wouldn’t listen to reason. Kathleen was planning to replace him.”

  “And he got word of it?” I said.

  “Your brother was supposed to convince him it was for the good of the company. Some kind of miracle worker, your brother. But even he couldn’t get Sandler to play nice. Kathleen never said her grandfather was behind the killings or the espionage—the loyalty issue—but I think she knew it was him. The chief of police didn’t want to believe it either, but he heard the interviews. He’d seen Sandler change over the years.”

  Mason looked at me and apparently saw how exhausted I was. “I’ll take you home, and then we’ll go to the hospital to check on Tommy.”

  “My house, please,” I said. “I don’t want the kids to see me like this.”

  We left the kitchen and walked around the police tape that marked off most of the apartment. Mason got me home in twenty minutes. I showered and changed. It was good to be in my own house, poking through my own closet for something to wear. By the time we got to the hospital, Tommy was about to go into surgery.

  They said I could have a few minutes with him. They were waiting on a CT scan. Mason left us alone.

  I took Tommy’s hand, and he squeezed it. “Thanks, Mabel,” he said.

  “You’re welcome. You had me scared. I wasn’t always sure which side you were on.”

  “I know,” Tommy said. “You’ve had a lot of reasons to mistrust me. And you never really knew who I was.”

  “You said that before. What do you mean by that?”

  “You never knew why Mother sent me away, did you?”

  I shook my head. “I assumed she thought you were hanging around with the wrong crowd.”

  Tommy smiled. “The wrong crowd to our mother were guys like me. The other boys who didn’t quite fit into an Iowa farming community.”

  “Guys like you?” Pieces fell into place. Tommy would pretend to be whatever our mother wanted him to be—the kid who loved to hunt, the kid who would do whatever our mother wanted him to do. But he hid most of himself from her and from the rest of us. Tommy would disappear for hours. I assumed he was in the woods with his friends but maybe he was somewhere else. He dated girls, like Ellie, but never seemed to care much about them.

  “Yes,” Tommy said. “I’m gay. Mother couldn’t stand that. She sent me away to get straightened out.” He laughed bitterly. “Just made me more bent I’m afraid. And a little craftier at hiding it.”

  “You never told me. You couldn’t think I’d care?”

  Tommy shook his head. “I got so used to keeping secrets, I didn’t get around to telling you the truth. We were never that close, you know. Mother saw to that as well. I wrote you from boarding school, and you never wrote me back. You didn’t get my letters, did you?”

  I shook my head. “I thought you left us for a new life and wanted nothing to do with me.”

  “All I ever wanted was your approval,” Tommy said. “I think that bothered Mother as well. It was one reason she was so hard on you. I was supposed to be the man of the family. The one who would always stand by her. And only her. I was supposed to make up for Dad’s softness.”

  “Tommy, I’m sorry.”

  “It doesn’t matter anymore. Thank God for that.”

  “Do you have someone?” I asked.

  “I thought I did. But that all went south. I caught him in a gay bar playing up to some young dude. You remember the morning I came in beat up? That’s what that was all about. I was drunk, and I lost it to a guy twice my size.”

  “Oh, Tommy. But you’re a hero now.”

  Tommy shook his hea
d. “That’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Sandler called me in to work his scam for him. I knew it didn’t feel right, but I couldn’t put my finger on what was wrong. I didn’t want to know. That’s the truth. When Ellie got murdered, everything changed for me. I got her involved in this, and it cost her her life. Then Billy Joe died, and Charlie freaked out. It was all I could do to keep him in line.

  “All along, Sandler kept saying we were so close to finding the mastermind. What he meant was he was so close to having it all. Walking away with the product information he could sell to the highest bidder anonymously while he kept his hands clean and framed someone else. Then he’d go after his competitor, take him to court, and save his new product. He’d look like the star—keep his power, his company, and his money. I knew how his mind worked. I just didn’t want to see it. So, Ditie, I’m no hero. If I were, Ellie would still be alive.”

  “I’m not sure about that, Tommy,” I said. “I loved Ellie, but she was always after the money. Did she decide she’d go for the highest bidder instead of staying with your plan?”

  “I don’t know. The people who could tell us are dead.”

  “Where is Charlie Flack?” I asked.

  “In police custody. For his own good. He’s gotten immunity for his testimony. He knew it was Sandler in the end and kept that to himself. He was terrified he’d be the next one killed.”

  The nurse stuck his head in the room. “Time to get you to surgery,” he said.

  I kissed Tommy on the cheek, and he didn’t flinch.

  Two nurses entered the room and asked me to leave. I watched from the doorway as they gave Tommy a sedative through his IV and helped him onto the gurney.

  I found Mason in the small waiting room off the surgical wing. He handed me a cup of coffee.

  “You have time to stay with me?” I asked.

  “Yes. They understand it’s a family matter, and I have to stay.”

  We talked about the case, the kids.

  “I still don’t understand,” I said. “How could Sandler take the company he loved and sell a secret to the highest bidder?”

  “He was a desperate man,” Mason said. “And a bitter one. The board was ready to replace him, and he wasn’t ready to go. It was always more about him than the company. It crushed Kathleen to learn the truth.”

  “Why did he get the chief of police involved?” I asked.

  “A foolish move. Sandler was arrogant. Thought he could manipulate the chief. They were old friends. He thought he could limit the number of police involved and feed them the information he wanted them to have. That was one reason I was taken off the case. I might cause trouble for Sandler.”

  Suddenly, I could barely keep my eyes open. Mason saw it and stopped talking. He put his arm around me and I rested my head on his shoulder. Some time later, he nudged me awake. A surgeon was standing in front of me.

  “Dr. Brown?”

  I nodded.

  “Your brother came through surgery fine. No complications and remarkably little damage. He’ll be back in his room in forty-five minutes or so.”

  I thanked him and told Mason to get back to work.

  “It’s six o’clock in the morning,” he said.

  I looked at my watch. We’d been in the waiting room most of the night.

  “Still, you must have a million things to handle. And I’ll bet you and your captain have a lot of catching up to do. I’m fine now. Lurleen can bring me home.”

  Reluctantly he left me there. I waited half an hour, and then I called Lurleen. She picked up on the first ring.

  “I have been so worried, chérie. Mason called us, but still I was so worried. Are you all right?”

  “I’m good, Lurleen, and Tommy’s going to be fine.”

  “I’m so relieved. Now to know Tommy’s okay, well, life is perfect. I will bake a cake to celebrate.”

  “Maybe I should bake the cake. I have a great recipe for a strawberry one. Lucie can help. Is she there?”

  “Hanging by the phone.”

  Lurleen handed me over to Lucie.

  “Hi, sweetheart. I’ll be coming home soon. Are you and Jason okay?”

  “Oh, yes. Now that I’m talking to you.”

  “Good. We’ll have a lot of baking to do when I get back. Maybe Lurleen can pick me up in an hour and bring you and Jason with her. We’ll stop off at a store and get what we need.”

  “Okay, but Jason has plans. Uncle Dan promised to teach him how to play football today.”

  “Fine. Then it will just be us girls.”

  I went up to see Tommy in his room. He was groggy but conscious.

  “I never told you about saving my life before, did I?” he managed to say.

  “No, you never did.”

  “Mother found all the stuff I’d stolen from Mr. Pinchley’s pharmacy. I did it just to prove I could. Mother was going to beat me within an inch of my life, and then you appeared. You said you’d taken all of it to give to your friends. You’d hidden it in my room, and you were really sorry. You were too old to get a beating, so Mother marched you over to Mr. Pinchley’s and you had to work there for free on the weekends until school let out.”

  “I’d forgotten that.”

  “Well, I didn’t. I never stole another thing. Ever.” He drifted off.

  I kissed him goodbye and promised to take him home when he was released the following morning. Then I waited for Lurleen and Lucie at the ER entrance to Piedmont Hospital.

  Chapter Forty-two

  We stayed at Eddie’s one more night.

  I called Vic to let her know I’d be back at work the next day.

  “We’ve missed you,” she said. “And the teenager you worried about—Beza—seems to be doing well. All her blood work came back within normal limits. No hidden infections. Her complaints were just what you suspected—psychological, based on problems at home. And it seems the problem uncle has left the house. She has an appointment for tomorrow, so you can see for yourself.”

  “I feel as if I’ve been gone a month,” I said.

  “Only a few days actually. We’ll be glad to have you back and in one piece. Are you sure you’re ready?”

  “The sooner the kids and I get into our normal routine, the better. I’m glad I still have a job!”

  “As long as you want it,” Victoria assured me. “I hope for a long time.”

  Lurleen was standing beside me as I hung up the phone.

  “All’s well in the clinic,” I said. “The girl I was worried about seems to be out of danger. The ‘uncle’ is gone. I’ll see her tomorrow.”

  Lurleen looked almost as relieved as I felt. “I’m glad for her. A lot of kids aren’t so lucky.”

  “Sometimes I get the feeling you’re talking about yourself, Lurleen. I hope you’ll tell me about that one day.”

  “Maybe . . . someday. If I ever tell anyone, it will be you.”

  We hugged and turned our attention to the grand celebration we’d planned for the evening. My strawberry cake was a big hit. Lurleen and I filled it with prizes wrapped in wax paper, so it became a fortune-telling cake. That was Lurleen’s idea. She and I carefully marked each piece of cake so that everyone got the right fortune, and then we warned people to find the fortune before they started eating the cake.

  Jason unwrapped a tiny superhero action figure—I didn’t know they made them that small. He would do heroic things when he grew up. Lucie, a tiny book. She would be a best-selling author. Dan got a dime. He’d be rich. Mason unwrapped a shiny penny for good luck.

  “I’ve had plenty of that already,” he said, looking at me.

  We gave Eddie a small plastic dog. She’d fallen in love with Hermione. I promised that Lucie, Jason, and I would go with her to the pound to pick out a dog just for her. I selected the prize for Lurleen as she did for me. Hers was a tiny
plastic globe, meaning she would travel the world. And what did Lurleen get for me? A miniature family, of course. A boy, a girl, a mother, and a father. All carefully wrapped in wax paper. It made me cry.

  When the kids were asleep, we talked once more about the case. There was one loose end bothering me. What was all the fuss about the Transformer? What did it have to do with anything?

  “I can answer that,” Lurleen said with a broad smile. She glanced at Mason.

  “Be my guest.”

  “Sandler was all about security. Employees were checked and double checked coming and going. Ellie could never have sneaked a memory card out of there. But her son Jason could. For all his paranoia, Sandler never thought to check the children from day care. They were free to come and go with toys and backpacks. Occasionally, security might check a backpack or two, but a secret compartment in an action figure? No way.”

  “A masterful deduction,” Mason said, “and right on target.”

  Lurleen beamed. She turned to Dan. “Maybe I can help you on a case sometime.”

  Dan looked less than happy. “I’m kind of a loner when it comes to work.”

  “Well then, I guess it will just be you and me, Ditie. I’ll keep my eyes open for someone who needs our help.”

  “Right now I think we have our hands full,” I said. “I’m going to need your help taking care of Jason and Lucie.”

  “Of course. Bien sur,” Lurleen said. “But if something should fall in my lap, I’ll let you know.”

  We drank champagne to celebrate the end of harrowing times and made an early night of it.

  Eddie had the children up at seven—fed and dressed by the time I came downstairs. Their backpacks stood ready by the door along with a small suitcase for each child.

  “I found these in the attic,” Eddie assured me. “This way the children can come for a visit whenever they like.”

  I had my own suitcase in hand. Lurleen and Dan promised to come back and pick up the rest of our stuff. We were good to go by seven thirty.