by Cindy Bell
“Thank you,” Suzie said again. “Beautiful flowers,” she added before she turned and walked away. As she was walking back to her car, her cell phone began to ring. Suzie braced herself, expecting that it might be Jason. Instead it was Mary. She answered it quickly.
“Hello?”
“The crime scene technicians are done,” Mary told her. “Did you have any luck in Parish?”
“Some,” Suzie said. “I have a name we can start with. I think we're going to need to go to the library and get Louis' help.”
“I could use a walk, I'll meet you there,” Mary offered.
“Mary, be careful,” Suzie warned her. “I think we may be dealing with people that are more dangerous than we first thought.”
Suzie hung up her phone and headed to the library in Garber.
Chapter Seven
As Suzie drove she thought about what the woman outside Antony’s office had said about Daria's father. If he had such a terrible reputation, then he would certainly be a prime suspect in Antony's murder.
When Suzie reached the library she knew that it would be a few more minutes before Mary joined her so she decided to bite the bullet and call Jason. She was hoping that if she told him the truth before he had the chance to find out for himself, he wouldn't be as angry. She dialed his number. It rang a few times. Then it went to voicemail. Suzie frowned. She decided to try again. She dialed his number, put the phone to her ear, and listened to it ring. Just when she was expecting his voicemail to pick up she heard a rapping on her window. She jumped, nearly dropping the phone. She turned quickly to see Mary peering at her through the window. Blushing, she hung up the phone and tucked it into her purse. She stepped out of her car.
“Sorry if I startled you,” Mary said.
“It's okay, my mind was just somewhere else,” Suzie replied.
“So, what did you find out?” Mary asked with interest.
“Daria's father is a very well-known man in Parish, a suspected criminal,” Suzie explained. “Maybe Louis can help us learn more about him, since he seems to know everything about everyone around here.”
“Let's find out,” Mary agreed.
When Suzie and Mary stepped into the library Louis looked up at them. He didn't smile, but he nodded. Louis was more nosy than friendly but he took his job very seriously and he was always very helpful.
“Ladies,” he said as he swiveled on his stool to face them. “How can I help you today?”
“Louis, what can you tell me about the Palov family?” Suzie asked as she leaned on his desk.
“Ah, the Palov's,” Louis smirked faintly. “They are the closest thing that Parish has to criminal royalty. They have been participating in schemes and money laundering for generations.”
“Including Dominic Palov?” Suzie asked with interest.
“Absolutely, in fact he revived the family business and made no secret of intending to pass it down to his only child, his daughter Daria,” he frowned. “Not exactly the inheritance that most people would want, but according to the Palovs this is the way that things are done in their family.”
“I find it hard to believe that the Parish police department just turns a blind eye to all of this,” Mary said with dismay.
“Actually, they don't,” Louis said. He tapped something on his keyboard and then turned the flat screen monitor to face Suzie and Mary. A newspaper article was displayed on the screen. “They've tried to pin something on Dominic Palov for years, but he always manages to come out clean. They know what they're doing, and hire the best lawyers. Wait a minute,” Louis' eyes widened. “The woman who was staying at Dune House, Daria Gable, was she Dominic Palov's daughter?” he asked.
“I believe so,” Suzie replied grimly.
“Wow,” Louis shook his head. “That should shake Garber up a bit.”
“But Antony wanted out,” Suzie said in a whisper. “I think that's what I heard them arguing about. He was trying to get Daria to agree with him.”
“That certainly would have been a very dangerous thing for him to want,” Louis shook his head. “Dominic Palov was the first of his family to branch off as well. He made his childhood friend a business partner. Prior to that, only family was allowed to participate in the business. But I doubt that Dominic would ever stand for Daria leaving the business.”
“Who is Dominic's partner?” Suzie asked.
“Well, it's hard to say if they're even still partners. It depends on what day it is. Bob Baylor is his partner's name. They don't really see eye to eye,” Louis confided. “There are more reports of the two of them going at it in public than there are of their illegal activities. Dominic and Baylor are always at odds,” he grimaced as he typed something into his computer. “Here, look at this,” he said as he pointed to a new article that came up on the screen about the men having a brawl outside a restaurant. “There are quite a few articles like this and I'm guessing that their feud might have something to do with how Antony ended up dead.”
“What about Antony?” Suzie asked. “How did he get involved? Does he have a criminal background, too?”
“He fell in love,” Louis replied matter-of-factly. “Antony wasn't even from Parish. He grew up in some southern state. But he came here for college. He was getting his degree when he first met Daria, and that was that. It sent a ripple through Parish when their engagement was announced in the newspaper. It is very unusual for a Palov to marry an outsider. It was a big scandal.”
“How romantic,” Mary said wistfully. “They went against the odds.”
“And you see where that got Antony?” Louis pushed his glasses up along his nose. “No, it's pretty clear that this was not an approved match. Of course, it was well known that Daria had her father wrapped around her finger. Her mother died when she was young, she's Dominic's only child.”
“Now, her husband is dead, and she is missing,” Suzie said thoughtfully. “There's no doubt in my mind that Dominic was involved in some way. Do you have any information on how I could find him?” she asked hopefully.
Louis froze. He stared hard at her. Mary reached into her purse and pulled out her phone. She fiddled with the keyboard as Louis spoke.
“Suzie, this is not someone you want to know. Dominic Palov is a highly dangerous man. No one finds him. He finds you,” he narrowed his eyes slightly. “Steer clear of him, trust me.”
“I think I can handle one small town criminal,” Suzie replied with disdain. “How dangerous could he be?”
“Just trust me on this one,” Louis pleaded as he met her eyes. “He's not a good guy to know.”
“All right,” Suzie assented, though it was clear to Mary that she was only doing so for Louis' sake. Suzie knew that Louis wasn't going to give her any more information, such as an address or phone number even if he had it.
“I guess we need to see if we can find a way to talk to Dominic,” Suzie sighed as she and Mary walked out of the library.
“Already found a way,” Mary said in a gleeful tone. She held up her phone. “I saw the name of the restaurant where they were arguing in the article Louis showed us. I found the address and the phone number. It said they were regulars there. So, if it’s one of Dominic's regular haunts, I'm sure we can find our way to him from there.”
“Wow, Mary,” Suzie said with pride. “That was pretty smooth.”
“I've learned a thing or two about finding out important information,” Mary said with a chuckle. “Teenagers will do that to you.”
“Well, I'm hungry, how about you?” Suzie asked with a sheepish smile.
“I could eat,” Mary agreed as they headed for the car.
Chapter Eight
As Suzie and Mary drove back to Parish, Suzie tried to call Jason again. Once more his phone was sent to voicemail after a few rings. She was getting the feeling that he was blowing her off, which meant he had probably already talked to Kirk about what she and Mary had revealed. Or maybe, he was just busy. Either way, she wasn't getting through. She hung up and
tucked her phone into her purse.
“Are you all right?” Mary asked as she glanced over at her.
“I will be, once we find Daria,” Suzie said.
Mary parked in the parking lot of the restaurant. As Suzie walked across the parking lot she glanced around for any sign of the man she had encountered at Antony's office building. She didn't notice anyone lurking.
“The main street in Parish isn’t that much different from Garber,” Mary chuckled as she opened the door of the restaurant.
“Don't say that too loud,” Suzie warned her. “You'll rile the locals.”
The restaurant was nearly empty. It was about an hour after the normal lunch rush. The décor was expensive but modest. It was just enough to make her think that the meal they served might cost a bit more than they liked to spend. Suzie frowned as they settled at their table and she glanced around the empty restaurant once more.
“I don't think there's much chance of finding him here,” she said with a sigh.
“Don't lose hope,” Mary encouraged her. “I'm sure that we'll figure something out.”
When the waitress walked over, Suzie glanced up at her with a critical eye. She didn't look like most waitresses. She was wearing a skin-tight, lacy, black mini-skirt with a matching shirt. Her heels were much too high for a server, and her make-up appeared as if it had just been applied rather than being caked on to survive a full shift.
“What can I get you, ladies?” she asked with a thick Italian accent.
“We're hoping that you could tell us where we could find Dominic Palov,” Suzie said swiftly. She watched as the woman grimaced. “We were told that he is often here.”
“I'm sorry, we're a restaurant, maybe you are mistaken about what we do here,” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Mary raised an eyebrow and then looked over at Suzie. When she turned back to the waitress she turned on her overly polite charm. “We're not mistaken, we would like some lunch. But we would also like a little friendly information,” she explained.
“The lunch you're welcome to,” the woman said sternly as she dropped menus on the table before them. “But the information, is not on the menu,” her eyes were hard as she surveyed the two of them.
As she stalked away Suzie shook her head. “I guess he's not as popular at this place as we thought he was,” she said. “It was worth a try.”
“At least we can eat,” Mary suggested.
“True,” Suzie agreed and began perusing the menu. When Suzie looked up from her menu again, a different waitress approached them. This waitress was dressed much more sensibly, with her hair pulled back in a tight ponytail.
“Can I take your order?”
“Anything you would recommend?” Mary asked politely.
“Anything that isn't going to drain my wallet?” Suzie muttered and handed the waitress her menu. “I'll just take a cup of soup.”
“Ditto,” Mary nodded and handed the waitress her menu as well. The waitress rolled her eyes slightly and nodded.
“It'll be right up,” she said as she walked away. Suzie settled back in her chair and sighed.
“I keep thinking about Daria,” she confessed. “I hope she's somewhere safe. Maybe Jason will find her.”
“I hope so,” Mary nodded. “The sooner the better. I wonder if she’s tried to contact anyone.”
“The last time I talked to Jason he said her credit cards haven't been used,” Suzie shook her head with dismay. “We know she's not answering her cell phone at all and Jason hasn't had any luck locating it.”
“It is all very strange and it doesn't bode well for her safety,” Mary mumbled. The waitress brought the two cups of soup along with a full basket of bread. She walked away for a moment and then returned with a plate, silverware, and a wine glass, which she arranged between Mary and Suzie. Suzie looked up at her with confusion.
“What's this for?” she asked.
The waitress didn't speak or even look at her. She walked away for a moment and then returned to fill the wine glass.
“Excuse me,” Mary said more firmly. “We didn't order any wine.”
The waitress glanced up briefly, looked at both of them, and then walked away.
“Strange,” Suzie said and shook her head. “Let's finish up and get out of here.”
“Agreed,” Mary said and began to spoon her soup more swiftly into her mouth.
When the chair between them was abruptly pulled out, both Suzie and Mary looked up with surprise. The man that sat down before them was dressed in a fine suit. His dark hair was perfectly combed. He had a small black mustache that was also perfectly combed. His eyes were as dark as midnight and as hard as granite. He looked directly at Suzie.
“I heard that you were looking for me,” the man said so evenly that it was impossible to detect any emotion in his voice. His dark eyes lingered on Suzie's. “My name is Dominic Palov,” he added. “I'm not sure what type of loan you need, but I'm sure I can provide it.” Suzie's heart raced at the mention of his name. Of course she had hoped to make contact with him at the restaurant, but she hadn't expected him to suddenly appear at their table. She watched as he casually picked up his glass of wine and took a sip.
“I'm not here for a loan, Dominic,” Suzie replied, holding his gaze steadily in return. “I'm here to talk about your daughter.”
“My daughter?” Dominic asked. His voice abruptly changed from smooth as silk to slightly panicked. “What about her?”
“Her husband was found dead,” Suzie explained. “She seems to be missing. Have you seen her?”
“Are you some kind of police officer or something?” he asked with some confusion. “You don't look like a police officer.”
“I'm something,” she replied seriously. “I just want to know if you've spoken with Daria.”
“I haven't,” he answered. “My daughter and I were having some difficulties understanding each other. I haven't talked to her in some time.” His eyes danced back and forth between Suzie and Mary.
“Was it about Antony?” Suzie suggested as she slid back in her chair just slightly.
“You seem to know an awful lot about me,” Dominic said as he swirled his wine in his glass. “Yet, I know nothing about either of you. Not even your names.”
“I'm Mary,” Mary supplied swiftly. “This is Suzie. We just want to help Daria.”
“Why do you have such interest in my daughter?” he asked, his eyes still settled on Suzie.
“We had the chance to meet her. She was quite kind. With her husband dead, we want to make sure that she is safe. Don't you want the same thing?” she asked him.
“Of course I do,” he said darkly. “Daria is an independent woman, but she never really understood the dangers that life could pose.”
“I'm hoping she's somewhere safe,” Suzie explained. “We're not looking to get her into any kind of trouble. We just want to know that she is safe.”
“That's thoughtful of you,” Dominic said quietly. His jaw trembled. He clenched his teeth tighter. He abruptly finished his glass of wine. “Wherever my daughter is, I'm sure she is just fine,” he said casually. Then he stood up from the table. “Your meal is on the house,” he added. “Any friend of Daria's is a friend of mine.”
As he walked away from the table Mary leaned close to Suzie.
“I'm not sure if I want to be his friend,” she whispered to her.
“It has to be better than being his enemy,” Suzie whispered back.
“Do you believe him?” Mary asked.
“I'm not sure,” Suzie replied. “But I don't think we're going to get any more information out of him.”
Mary frowned then finished her soup.
As they left the restaurant, Suzie was reaching into her purse for her cell phone yet again, to see if she might have missed a call from Jason.
As she was rummaging in her purse, she didn't notice someone walking behind her. Mary didn't either. It wasn't until they were both suddenly shoved from behi
nd that either of them realized they were being followed.
“Hey!” Suzie shouted as she stumbled around the side of the restaurant. Mary nearly lost her balance and grabbed onto the exterior wall of the restaurant to steady herself. Suzie turned around and looked up to see Dominic standing just behind them, blocking their way to the front of the restaurant. He had them isolated behind the restaurant, and no one was going to notice them being there. Of course no one knew that they had gone to lunch in Parish either, so no one would be looking for them. He looked more dangerous than ever. His eyes were wild as they jumped back and forth between Suzie and Mary.
“I needed to speak with you alone,” he explained. “I'm sorry if I frightened you.”
Suzie studied him skeptically. She was fairly certain that he was just trying to trick them.
“Well, we're alone,” Suzie said and straightened her shoulders.
“It's about Daria,” he said softly.
“Okay,” Mary nodded. “We're listening.”
“The walls have ears,” he explained as he gestured towards the restaurant. “I'm not sure who I can trust.”
“We only want to help,” Suzie reminded him, though her expression remained stoic. She and Mary were in a very vulnerable position, hidden from view, with no one to hear them if they screamed.
“I think you might be the only people that can help,” Dominic admitted. His hardened visage abruptly crumbled into despair. “I thought that I had made sure she was safe. But I guess it wasn't good enough.”
“Tell us what you mean,” Suzie said. “How did you have her safe?”
“I think Baylor's taken her,” he admitted tearfully. “I thought I had her somewhere safe, but when I came back she was gone. No one knew where I was hiding her. He must have followed me,” he shook his head.
“Why were you hiding her?” Mary asked. “Did she kill Antony?”
“What?” Dominic shook his head sharply. “No, she didn't kill him. Neither of us did. I had to keep her safe from the person who did kill Antony, and wants to kill her as well.”