by Rose Pressey
I laughed. “Close. She’s a cougar.”
“Oh, right.” Dorothy started knitting again. “So how long are we going to sit here?”
I sighed. “I don’t know. I should go up there right now and talk with this guy.”
“That was the whole reason you came here in the first place, right?” Dorothy asked.
“Yes, that is the reason. Dorothy, I’m going for it.”
Her eyes widened and she stopped knitting. “You’re actually going up there?”
“Yes, that’s the reason I’m here, remember? You just reminded me of that,” I said.
“I didn’t think you’d really go through with it. This could be dangerous.”
“Since when did I let a little danger stop me?” I opened the car door.
“I think you’re getting a little overconfident,” she said.
“No, I’m not. I’m just doing my job.” I got out of the car.
Dorothy got out of the car too and headed around the back to meet me on the other side. “Maybe you should wait in the car for me, Dorothy. This could be dangerous.”
“I know it’s dangerous. I just told you it could be dangerous. You got out of the car and therefore now I have to come with you. Someone has to help protect you from yourself.”
I rolled my eyes. “Now you’re just being dramatic.”
“Why are we bickering in front of his house?” Dorothy asked.
I nodded. Right. “We should get up there.”
She sighed. “If you must.”
Dorothy followed me as I walked up to the front door. She motioned for me to knock. “Let’s get this over with so we can get out of here.”
I knocked on the door. Dorothy tapped her foot against the step as we waited. No one was answering.
“What is taking him so long?”
“Maybe he’s not home,” I said.
She gestured toward the road. “Isn’t that his car?”
I glanced back. “I think so. He might have left with someone else.”
She shrugged. “Okay, we should just leave then. We can come back some other time.”
I hated to do that, but if he wasn’t there then I had no other option. “I’ll try one more time and then we’ll leave.” I knocked on the door again.
No one answered.
“Okay, let’s go.” Dorothy pulled on my arm.
“I change my mind,” I said.
Since no one answered the door, I had to try other means to get into the house.
“You realize you can’t break into the house,” Dorothy said.
I sighed. “I suppose I can’t, can I? We can take a peek in the window though.”
“Yes, I guess there wouldn’t be any harm in that,” she said.
“Great. Let’s go over to the window.”
I scanned the area. People moved around outside their homes, but no one paid attention to us. We moved across the lawn toward the window.
“I hope he doesn’t come back when we’re peeking in his window,” Dorothy said.
“Me too,” I said.
Dorothy and I reached at the window.
“Can you see anything in there?” she whispered.
She was supposed to be on the lookout for people.
“I don’t see anything. Wait, it looks as if the furniture is knocked over.”
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“It doesn’t look good either. I should call the police, right?”
“Then you have to explain why we are looking in this man’s window.”
“True, I’ll just tell Jake the truth.”
She snorted. “You have good intentions, I suppose.”
I pulled out my phone to call, but stopped. Sirens sounded in the distance.
“I wonder what that’s all about,” I said. “Do you see anything?”
Dorothy shook her head. “I don’t see anything. Maybe there’s an accident somewhere.”
“Yes, that must be it.” I’d barely finished the sentence when a couple police cars pulled up to the curb.
“I think they’re coming here,” I said.
“Why would they do that?” Dorothy asked.
I shrugged. “Good question.”
The police jumped out of their cars. They were looking right at us.
“Put your hands in the air,” they yelled at us.
“What’s going on, Maggie?” Dorothy asked as she shoved her hands up in the air.
I did the same thing. “I don’t know, Dorothy.”
The police motioned for us to move toward them with our hands up. “Just walk slowly toward us.”
“Do as they say,” I said.
“You don’t have to tell me,” she said.
We walked toward them.
“Stop right there.”
We did as we were told. The police officers came over to us.
“Put your hands behind your backs.”
Dorothy and I exchanged a look. The next thing I knew they were placing handcuffs on us.
“What is wrong?” I asked. “What did we do?”
Were they seriously arresting us?
“We got a call about a possible break-in,” the officer said.
“And you think we were doing it?” Dorothy asked with a chuckle. “I’ll have to write this in my journal. Another thing off my bucket list.”
I glared at Dorothy. “No bucket lists. It wasn’t us. We were going to call you. The house looks as if someone broke in.”
“This isn’t sounding good for us. Maggie, you need to stop talking,” Dorothy said.
“Move over here by the car,” the officer said.
Dorothy and I moved over to the police cruiser. Now the neighbors were paying attention. When I glanced to the right I spotted Jake’s car. Oh, no, what was he doing here? I supposed someone had called him. I’d been hoping this could be our little secret… just me and the cops who had showed up.
Jake made eye contact with me right away. I couldn’t tell if he was mad. He walked across the yard toward me. I steadied myself for what was about to happen.
“Maggie, what is going on here? Why are you in handcuffs?” Jake looked at the cop. “Take them out of the cuffs.”
The officer talked with Jake. He glanced over a few times. I stood my ground and didn’t look away. Sure, a tiny part of me felt a little self-conscious because of what had happened, but I had to act confident. If I let them know I was uncomfortable it would be even worse for me. Though having my hands behind my back made this a tad embarrassing. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the officer coming over to remove the cuffs. I wiggled my hands once I was free from the restraints. At least Jake and the other officer had turned their attention away from me.
“Never a dull moment with you, Maggie,” Dorothy said, rubbing her wrist.
“You’re not so innocent in this,” I said.
Jake walked over to us. “What were you doing at the window?”
“We were just looking to see if the guy was home,” I said.
“He called me to say you were breaking in. Do you look in windows often?” Jake asked.
“Not often. Only when completely necessary,” Dorothy said.
I frowned and motioned for her to stop talking. Jake quirked an eyebrow. I had to talk myself out of this one.
“What Dorothy meant to say was of course not,” I said. “All we wanted to do was just talk to him.”
“We? Speak for yourself. It was all her idea,” Dorothy said, while pointing at me.
“A little help here would be nice, Dorothy.”
“I won’t take the blame.” She placed her hands on her hips.
“Okay, ladies, don’t argue right now, okay?”
I looked at Jake. “So why are you here? Do the other officers know that we know each other?”
He smiled. “They have some idea. They’ve heard the stories.”
“Seriously?” I asked.
He stared at me for a moment. “No, not seriously. Though some of the det
ectives have been talking.”
Yeah, probably just because of what Abby had told them.
“I didn’t come here because of you.”
What were the odds? Talk about bad luck. I would have been caught either way.
At least the cops hadn’t arrested me. Going to jail would have been more than a little humiliating. Abby would have gotten a lot of pleasure out of that. I could see her smirky smile now. A flash of Jake visiting me behind bars popped into my head. That would have been the worst. No need to dwell on that though. It hadn’t happened and with any luck it never would. I couldn’t believe Garrett had called to turn me in for an attempted break-in. I hoped he gave answers to Jake. In the meantime, I had other things to do relating to the case.
Dorothy and I hadn’t been on the road long when we spotted the Rolls-Royce.
“How many white Rolls-Royces are in this town?” Dorothy asked.
“Not that many. I don’t think this is a coincidence,” I said.
“Push the gas,” Dorothy said.
She liked to go fast. I only did it when absolutely necessary. He wasn’t driving that fast, so I didn’t think it was needed right now. The car was headed toward a place that seemed familiar. We’d made this trip before. What was going on out here? He made a few turns but I managed to keep up with him. Thank goodness he wasn’t a fast driver. He liked to cruise along. I’d do that too if I had that car.
Dorothy handed me a peppermint. “Here. I think you need this after what happened.”
I took the candy and popped it into my mouth. My hands were wrapped around the wheel tightly. I was anxious to see where he was going. There was really only one thing we could do. We had to follow this car. I couldn’t just ignore the fact that he had been around. I had a feeling he had been watching the house. No wonder I’d felt as if someone was watching us. I fell in behind the car. I kept my distance.
“It just doesn’t seem right trailing this car without Morton.”
“He is a nice car chase partner, isn’t he?” I asked. “You like him, don’t you, Dorothy?”
She waved her hand. “He’s okay.”
I laughed. “I think you think he’s more than okay.”
“He asked me to marry him.”
I swerved and a driver honked their horn. That wasn’t a good way to go unnoticed when following someone.
“What did you say to him?” I asked once I had the car straight again.
“I told him I would have to think about it. You know you can’t rush into these things,” Dorothy said.
“No, I guess you can’t do that. He is a great guy and you all have so much fun together.”
“Exactly.” Dorothy pointed. “And I don’t want to mess that up by getting married.”
“Just because you get married doesn’t mean you will mess it up.”
“It happens though. I’ve seen people get married and then they change.”
“Did that happen with your husband?”
“No, not with him. We were happy. All those years and we were happy.”
I thought Dorothy’s reluctance to get married had more to do with her deceased husband than her worry if Morton would change once they got married.
“Well, if you need to talk about it more I’m here for you.”
She patted my shoulder. “I know, dear. Thank you.”
I couldn’t believe the Rolls Royce had come to this beach house too. We pulled down the road. He had no idea that we had followed him. He turned the same way the others had turned. He was going toward the house and I had to know what was going on in there. We pulled down the street a bit, but I didn’t want to go too far down so that I wouldn’t be noticed.
Dorothy shook her head. “There is no way I am taking my chances with that alligator again. And I refuse to allow you to go out there again either.” Dorothy glared at me.
“Okay, calm down, I won’t go out there. We’ll just have to come back here later. When he leaves we can drive up there in the car.”
“Do you really think that sounds like such a good idea?” Dorothy asked. “You know, Maggie, you have good ideas sometimes, other times not so much.”
I quirked an eyebrow. “Thanks a lot, Dorothy. I think there’s a compliment in there somewhere.”
In my mind I planned to come back at night. It would be dark and they wouldn’t see me. I could drive all the way up to the car and avoid the alligator. If I turned off my headlights they wouldn’t even see the car. Dorothy didn’t even need to know.
“Okay, we’ll leave,” I said as I turned around and headed back down the road.
“It’s unlike you to give up that easily. What are you up to?” she asked.
I scoffed. “We’re leaving so they won’t see us, that’s all.”
She looked at me suspiciously. “Okay, if you say so.”
Chapter 25
I’d gone back to my place. Jake was finishing up a few things and then we were having dinner. After dinner I planned to slip away and go back to the beach house. For now I planned to take a long shower to try to relieve the stress of what had happened. I wished I had a bath to soak in, but my place couldn’t spare the space for that. There was barely room to even move in the stand-up shower.
Since I didn’t have space for a dining room table, I thought Jake and I could have a picnic outside. There was a picnic table outside in the courtyard that belonged to everyone who lived in the apartment building. I dressed in white shorts, a blue t-shirt, and my favorite pair of flip-flops. While I waited for Jake, I decided to check my email. I needed something to take my mind off things. I hoped he’d be back soon. I didn’t want to be alone right now. Not after the day I’d had.
When I checked my email I had a message from detective who had been working the case involving my father. It had been a cold case, but since I’d been looking into things again I’d gotten the police department to reopen it. Jake and I were taking a trip to Kentucky soon to speak with a man who claimed he had information about my father’s murderer. We had to wait until after this case was solved though. It would be strange going back to the place that I had lived as a young girl. It had been many years since I’d been there. My heart ached at the thought of what could have been if my father hadn’t been murdered. I missed him every day. Unfortunately, there was no way to change the past.
Dorothy texted and wanted to come get me. She said we could have dinner with Morton. As sweet as that was, I just needed a casual evening at home. My eyelids grew heavy and I almost dozed off sitting at the desk in front of my computer.
Maybe I should lie on the bed for a quick nap. No, if I did that I’d probably sleep until the morning. I really wanted to have dinner with Jake.
My phone rang and that snapped me to attention. I recognized the number and couldn’t believe my eyes. It was Cora’s number. Was it really her calling? Or did someone have her phone?
I answered the call. “Cora, is that you?”
“Yes, it’s me.”
“What are you doing? Where are you?” I asked.
“Don’t call the police, Maggie.”
That was an odd thing for her to say.
“Are you in some kind of trouble?” I asked.
“I just need you to come and get me. You can’t bring the police though.”
I didn’t like the sound of this. Cora had seemed so desperate. Now I believed all of that was a lie. I had to find out why. She wasn’t in danger at all. Unless she considered going to clubs and dancing dangerous.
“Okay, I can come and get you. Where are you?”
“Remember, don’t bring the police,” she said.
“I got it. I won’t tell anyone.”
Cora gave me the address.
“I’ll be there soon,” I said.
“Hurry,” she said and then hung up.
I wanted to tell Jake about this. Especially after what had happened on the boat today. I was torn though. Since Cora had asked me to come alone, I would do as she wished. I grabbed my handbag,
keys, and then headed for my car. It was about thirty minutes from here so I wanted to get going as soon as possible. Once in the car, I headed out down Biscayne Boulevard. I still couldn’t understand why she wanted me to come alone. I hoped this wasn’t some kind of setup. My mind went into overdrive as I made my way to the address she had given.
I hadn’t even let Dorothy know where I was headed. I’d told Jake I needed to run out for a couple things and that I would be back soon. I didn’t like that I was deceiving him, but it couldn’t be avoided. I merged off the highway and found the street she had given me. My anxiety increased the closer I got to the number. It was a high-rise with condos, though she had told me to meet her at the pool located at the back of the building. It was a weird request.
I managed to locate a parking spot. I parked the car and got out. I traveled around the building and located the pool area. It was surrounded by lounge chairs, a few palm trees, and landscaping.
There was no one at the pool. I didn’t see Cora anywhere. The pool area was surrounded by a little black fence. I walked up to the gate and entered. I scanned the area, but didn’t see a sign of anyone. The water sparkled in the setting sunshine. It would be dark soon. I really didn’t want to be here when it was dark. I didn’t really want to be here when it was light either.
I walked around the pool area. “Cora, are you here?”
What was I thinking—that she was hiding behind one of the palm trees? I was shocked that no one was at the pool area. Maybe she had stepped back into the condo building for a moment? I was getting a strange vibe from the situation. I dialed her number, but she didn’t answer. I decided to take a seat on one of the lounge chairs. If she didn’t show up soon I would walk inside and check for her.
I tapped my fingertips on the arm of the chair. Next, I checked the time on my phone. Only a minute had passed. I would give her five more minutes until I went inside looking for her. I had already decided that if I didn’t find her in there I was calling Jake. Even if she had told me not to involve the police. What other option did I have?
I checked the time on my phone one more time before someone wrapped their hand around my mouth from behind. I tried to scream, but the sound was muted by the hand. I couldn’t see who was behind me. Was it Cora? Was that why she had told me not to involve the police? I tried to get away, but the person had a good grip on me. Didn’t anyone see us struggling?