Nothing Is Negotiable

by Mark Bentsen

  “Good. I’ve got to go back to the shop for a while. Let me know if you need anything else.”

  Chapter 20

  As Luke headed to town he pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket. Mitzi had circled Marinel Hayes. She was the first person he’d visit. Earlier he had picked up a city map when he returned his rental car.

  Her address was easy to find and less than five minutes later he pulled up to a small bungalow on the north side of town. There was a light blue Honda parked in a one-car garage beside the house. Luke parked the Jeep in front and walked up the sidewalk. As he passed the large picture window he saw a TV on inside where Wheel of Fortune was blaring.

  When he rang the doorbell, the sound was muted, and a thin, attractive, fiftyish woman with beautiful green eyes opened the door. He remembered her from the clinic. She smiled widely, showing perfect teeth, and said, “Hi,” as if she was expecting him.

  This is not the woman Mitzi had described. She wasn’t supposed to be attractive and perky. “I’m looking for Marinel Hayes.”

  “I’m Marinel.” She was short, maybe five feet on a good day and wore her brunette hair frosted, in a spiky kind of hairdo.

  “Miss Hayes, I’m Luke Wakefield from Texas and here on vacation. I have a big problem and I was hoping you could help me out.”

  The smile disappeared in a flash. “Well if you’re here for money you can forget it because I don’t give money to beggars. So you can just go.” The door slammed.

  Through the front door he said, “No, ma’am, it’s nothing like that. I’m trying to find my wife. She disappeared from the clinic on Tuesday. I believe you were there at the same time she was. I was hoping you might remember something that will help me find her.”

  It was silent for a few seconds then the door opened a few inches. Marinel, peeked out, and said, “I was there on Tuesday. What do you mean she disappeared?”

  Luke started to explain what happened and Marinel’s face lit up. She interrupted him, “I remember you. You asked Monica where you wife was, and she said she had already gone.”

  “Right, I asked the recep—”

  “And you still haven’t found her?”

  “No ma’am, I haven’t and I—”

  “Well, isn’t that strange. ” Marinel pulled the door open wide. “Come in. I don’t know how I can help but I’ll try. And call me Marinel, everybody does. What was your name?”

  “Luke Wakefield, ma’am. I—”

  “Luke, have a seat over there,” she pointed to the sofa as she walked toward the kitchen, “I just got in from working in the yard a few minutes ago and I’m having me a little cocktail, can I get you one? It sure helps me relax.”

  “No ma’am, I’m fine. What I really need is—”

  “Now, let’s go back to the beginning,” she said as she came back and sat on the edge of the sofa facing him, an amber-colored drink in hand. “I remember seeing you and your wife come in. Her hair is beautiful. Is that her natural color?”

  “Yes it is, but—”

  “I thought so. But, you know, the clinic was really busy that day. It’s been a mess since Mrs. Milligan died. She ran that place for almost thirty years and Lord, did she do a good job. She died last winter—heart attack. She was seventy-nine years old but she wouldn’t retire.

  “Marinel, did you see—”

  “She worked for Dr. Duncan for twenty-eight years... or was it twenty-nine? Anyway, that doesn’t matter. It was a long time. But, now Mitzi runs it. She’s really doing a good job. She used to work for a doctor in Calgary. That’s how she got the job. Have you met her?”

  “Yes, ma’am I did, but—”

  “I thought you would,” she said, a knowing grin on her face. “She’s a looker, that’s for sure. Men notice her right away,” Marinel said raising her eyebrows.

  Luke tried to get her back on track. “Marinel, you said you remember seeing my wife, right?”

  “Oh, uh, well, yes I do. What was your wife’s name?”

  Luke did not like the past tense reference. He said, “My wife’s name is Bonnie.”

  “Wasn’t she kind of tall?”

  Maybe tall to you, he thought. “Yes ma’am, about five-eight. We were sitting against the wall over near the water fountain.”

  “I always sit right next to the check-in counter. That way I can say hello to my friends when they are checking in or out, you know. I’ve lived in this town all my life, I know just about everyone here.”

  Mitzi said she seemed to know everything that went on in town. Maybe that’s why she knows so much—she listens in on everyone’s conversations.

  “Do you remember them calling my wife in to see the doctor?”

  “No, I don’t remember that. I probably went in to see the doctor before she did.”

  “So after you saw the doctor, did you leave?”

  “No, my car was down at Merle’s Service Station getting the oil changed and the tires rotated. I do it every three thousand miles. They said it wouldn’t be ready ’til noon, so I didn’t see any reason to leave. I just stayed there in the air conditioning. We’ve had such a hot summer. I think it’s the humidity ’cause when the rain started—”

  “Do you remember my wife coming out to the reception area after she saw the doctor?”

  “I think so. When she came out she had some kind of brace on her arm. Did she break her arm? How’d that happen?”

  “No, she sprained her thumb.” He ignored the other question. “So then what happened?”

  “She gave Monica her credit card, some kind of gold card I think, maybe a MasterCard. And just before she left, Rita, that’s Dr. Duncan’s nurse, said the doctor had something else to tell her, so she went back to the doctor’s office.”

  “Then what? Did you see her come back out?”

  Her eyes drifted to the side as she thought about it. “No, I don’t think so, but I can’t remember for sure. My friend Joyce Pratt was there. Joyce’s husband was mayor for two terms... got beat last time. Joyce may be my friend but, glory be, her husband was a horrible mayor. They say he sold out to big business... you know, that mobile home factory. But anyway, we started talking about cars. Joyce is going to buy a new car and she was asking me about my Honda. Those Hondas are really good cars. Have you ever had one?”

  Luke could see why this lady wasn’t married—she never shut up long enough for someone to ask her. “Marinel, could we stay on the subject please? When did you leave the doctor’s office?”

  “Right at twelve, a few minutes after you did.”

  “So you saw me leave?”

  “Oh, yeah. You were the only one in the clinic I didn’t know that day... so I remember you.”

  “How long before I got there did Bonnie go back with Rita?”

  “I don’t know, five minutes, maybe ten.”

  “I see. And after I left, did you see my wife again?”

  “No, but I could have been talking to Joyce when she came out.”

  “But you noticed me and you weren’t watching for me, right?”

  “But you’re a man, and I notice men.” Coyly, she looked down at the floor, “Especially the nice-looking ones... you know, just like you noticed Mitzi. Know what I mean?”

  Luke forced a grin and said, “Yeah, I think so. But don’t you think you would have noticed her if she had come out?”

  “I’m pretty sure I would have, but I couldn’t swear to it.” She got up and walked toward the kitchen rattling the ice cubes in her empty glass and said, “Are you ready for one yet?”

  Luke needed one now. “Sure, I’ll have whatever you’re having.” When she came back she was carrying a couple of translucent gold drinks in short cocktail glasses. She put his on a paper napkin on the coffee table in front of him.

  “So tell me, Marinel, if Bonnie went back in to see the doctor, and didn’t come back out into the waiting room, is there a back door or another way to get out?”

  “Oh sure, there’re two other doors. There’s
a door at the end of the hallway that opens out into the alley.”

  “Do patients ever leave that way?” Luke picked up his drink and sipped it. Something sweet. Too sweet for him.

  “I never have. I think it’s mostly employees that use it because they park in the alley parking lot. The other door is from Dr. Duncan’s apartment and opens into the alley, too.”

  “What do you mean, his apartment?”

  “Oh. I guess you wouldn’t know about that. He has an apartment, it’s kind of behind that vacant building next door.

  “You mean that closed-up store next door?”

  “Yeah, Computer Solutions. They closed last year, but the building is kind of deceiving. The computer store only occupied the front part of the building. The back half is Dr. Duncan’s apartment.”

  “How do you know this?”

  “I used to be manager of a Commercial Cleaning Service here in Cardston. We cleaned lots of the businesses around town, including the clinic and the computer store.”

  “So there’s an apartment connected to his office?”

  “That’s right. See, Dr. Duncan owns the whole block. Twenty years ago he lived up in the mountains and during the winter the roads are dangerous. They’re covered with ice and snow, so he remodeled that building and put an apartment back there so he didn’t have to make that dangerous drive home every night during the winter.”

  “But, he doesn’t live there now?”

  “After his wife died he moved to town, so he hasn’t used it for at least ten years.”

  “What do they use it for now?”

  “I don’t know, but they use it for something because I think I saw the carpet cleaners there a couple of days ago.”

  “When was that?”

  She tapped on her nose and thought. “I guess it was the day I went to the doctor. Because I had just picked up my car at Merle’s and when I drove past the clinic I saw a white van in the alley. Two people were putting one of those long rolled-up carpets in the back of it.”

  Luke scooted onto the edge of the sofa and turned directly to face her. “You’re sure it was a carpet?”

  “I guess so. It took two people to carry it.”

  “What carpet cleaners? Did you see the name?”

  “Well, I said carpet cleaners, but I don’t know for sure. All I know is that it was a silver van.”

  “I thought you said white.” Luke felt like his star witness was falling apart on the stand. The more he wanted her to be sure the less she wanted to commit.

  “Well, either silver or white. A light color. I can’t remember for sure. It might have been gold.”

  Luke made a mental note to check out the carpet cleaners in town. “From what I’ve heard,” he said, “Dr. Duncan is a pillar of the community. Everyone loves him.”

  “That’s true, he’s wonderful. He’s been the ‘Citizen of the Year’ at least five times. Maybe more.”

  “Let’s go back to the clinic for a minute. Did you see Willy Standalone leave?”

  “Oh yeah. Willy and Little John left together, a few minutes before you came back. I know that because I remember thinking that you were lucky he didn’t start a fight. He’s a troublemaker. Did you know he went to prison for killing a man?”

  “I heard that, but—”

  “That’s not the only one, either. They say he killed someone else too but they don’t have any proof.”

  “Is there any—”

  “He was messing with another man’s wife and—”

  “Marinel, we’re getting off track here.” Luke knew she would ramble all night if he didn’t keep her focused. “Is there anything else you remember about that morning? About Willy or Bonnie or anything that might be unusual?”

  “I’m sure there’s something I’m forgetting.” Marinel got up and walked back toward the kitchen. “Let me think about it, how’s your drink?”

  “I really need to talk to some other people tonight,” he said as he stood up and moved toward the door.

  Marinel stepped out of the kitchen with a bottle of Southern Comfort, “Why don’t you have another drink. I’m sure I can think of something else you need to know.”

  “I think I’ve got enough for now, Marinel.”

  “Don’t you want to know about the other man Willy killed?”

  “Not right now,” he assured her as he opened the door. “But if I do, I’ll call. Okay?”

  “Okay,” she said, seemingly disappointed. “Anytime.”

  Chapter 21

  Luke left Marinel determined to find the carpet cleaning company and ask them some questions. Inside the grocery store he found a pay phone and telephone book. In the yellow pages, there were half a dozen carpet cleaners were listed, but none in Cardston. All were in Lethbridge. He ripped out the page and stuffed it in his pocket so he could make some calls when he got back to the bunkhouse.

  Luke called the next two people on the list. At the first one a kid answered and said no one was home but him and he got an answering machine at the other.

  He checked his watch and saw it was getting close to eight. He was starving. For dinner, he’d buy the biggest T-bone he could find. He’d throw it on the pit and sit on the porch and watch the sun go down. It would give him time to think this through.

  At the grocery store, it took only a few minutes to find a steak, a premade salad and a twelve pack of beer. Luke left the store and walked to the parking lot on the side of the building. As he walked down the sidewalk he could hear someone coming up behind him. They sounded like they were in a hurry so he stepped over closer to the building for them to pass. Then suddenly he was hit in the back by what felt like the front line of the Dallas Cowboys.

  He flew into the brick wall. First his shoulder hit, then his face. His body ricocheted off and he tripped and landed face first, on the pavement. The groceries and beer scattered all around him.

  Luke turned to see what hit him. There were two men coming at him; the closest one was Willy Standalone and he had fire in his eyes. The other one was someone Luke had never seen before. He hung back, a cigarette dangling between his lips. He was tall and lanky with long, oily dark hair.

  Luke tried to scramble to his feet, but before he could, Willy grabbed him by the neck of the shirt and waistband of his jeans and slung him down the sidewalk. Luke broke the fall with his hands, but skidded along the concrete, the skin scraping off his palms.

  Willy kept coming.

  “Wait a minute,” Luke said, as he rolled over, gasping for air.

  Willy didn’t stop. Luke had been in his share of fights in his life and knew he had to get out in the open. He rolled off the sidewalk and crawled between two cars. Quickly he got to his feet and started backing up.

  “What the hell are you doing?”

  Willy didn’t speak and Luke kept backing away from him. But the other guy had come around and blocked his escape, so Luke circled one of the cars until he was back on the sidewalk. Now he was trapped. Luke backed up against the wall so he could see both of them. As they closed in on him, Luke bolted. He jumped on the hood of the car in front of him, and scrambled toward the roof. Willy’s hand grabbed his leg and yanked him back onto the hood, off the car, and slammed him against the wall, as easy as if he were a bag of charcoal.

  With one hand pressed hard against Luke’s throat, Willy lowered himself to Luke’s height and put his face in Luke’s. “I don’t like you.”

  Luke was gagging. He coughed out, “I don’t even know you.”

  “You told the cops I did something to your wife.”

  “No, I didn’t.”

  Willy stabbed a finger repeatedly into Luke’s forehead. “Don’t you fucking lie to me, you little piece of shit. I didn’t do nothing to that bitch of yours and now the cops are on my ass. You want to know how much it pisses me off?” Willy tightened his grip, and pushed Luke’s head harder and higher against the wall. His toes barely touched the ground.

  Luke’s throat was squeezed shut and he couldn�
�t breathe. Luke pushed and pulled at Willy’s hands and fingers, trying to break his grip, but it was no use. Willy was too strong.

  With his free hand, Willy pointed his finger at Luke’s nose and said, “I don’t know who you are or where you came from, and I don’t really care. All I know is you’re fucking with the wrong Indian.”

  Luke sucked hard for a breath. With just enough air he choked out, “I didn’t do anything.”

  Suddenly Willy’s grip tightened even more. His fingers dug into Luke’s neck and the pain was unbearable. Luke was afraid he was going to rip out his windpipe.

  Luke couldn’t take much more. He couldn’t breathe and though he tried to pry Willy’s hand from his throat he knew it was futile. His arms dropped to his side, things were going dark. Slowly his eyes closed.

  Whack! Out of nowhere, something crashed into Willy’s head. His grip loosened and he fell to the ground. Luke sucked in a lungful of air.

  “Let him go, you big fucking douche bag.”

  Luke knew that nasally voice. It was Queenie, the homeless woman he had seen the day before in the alley. He hoped she had her friends with her.

  Whack! The attack on Willy continued. This time Luke recognized Doc’s aluminum crutch as it crashed onto Willy’s head.

  “Goddamn it,” Willy screamed as he backed up and kicked. “Get off me, you fucking runt.” Queenie was on him like a bulldog on a buffalo. Her legs and arms wrapped around his huge leg and she bit him while he spun around, kicking, like he was trying to shake off a mad Chihuahua. The harder he kicked the harder she bit. Doc drew back the crutch to swing again.

  “Joey, get this bitch off of me,” Willy yelled, then noticed his friend had his own problems. The twelve-pack that Luke had bought was strewn across the sidewalk and Griz picked the cans up and threw them at Joey, one after another, with deadly accuracy.

  Doc’s crutch came down on Willy’s head again, but this time Willy grabbed it, ripped it from his grasp, and slung it in the opposite direction. Doc quickly retreated like a cowardly dog, out of Willy’s reach. But Willy was more interested in Queenie.

  “Damn it, Queenie. Quit biting me.”