“What do you mean our line of questioning?” Sheski said. “Mike and I’ll do the interviews.”
“That’s if he comes back to work tomorrow,” Pat said. “He’s liable to try to farm out this new baby thing and stay home awhile. Maybe drag it on and on to get some time off.” She stared Sheski down.
“If this is your way of trying to find out what I know about when he’s coming in, it won’t work because I don’t know. According to departmental policy, he could stay home for weeks if he wanted. He’s entitled to it. And what do you want with him anyway? You’ve had your eye on him from the start.”
Sheski was getting angry and it was showing. He’d never before met a co-worker like her who was so inconsiderate of others.
“I don’t know what you mean. All I care about is getting our work done. You heard the Captain. We have a timeline and Harrisburg is watching and waiting. What part of that don’t you two understand?”
Sheski started to respond when the telephone rang. Three rings, pause, three rings again. An outside line. Giving Pat a dirty look, he picked it up and identified himself.
He turned his back to Pat and conversed with the caller. It was a short call.
“Well, there’s your answer. That was Mike. He’ll be back in tomorrow. And even though you don’t care, he says his wife and son are still doing fine.”
Pat struck a pose. Hands on hips and sneered. “Its not that I don’t care. It’s just that, unlike you two old-timers I plan on going somewhere in my career. I have no intention of staying a Sergeant or Lieutenant for that matter. I won’t stop at Captain like old Paul out there either, popping antacids all day because the job gets to him. People don’t give me indigestion, Sheski. I’m way ahead of them and I’m too smart. I’ve got my back covered and I’m going straight to the top. I plan on being Commissioner someday. Then you two’ll be working for me. Who knows how high up I can go in politics. Maybe even run for public office some day. I could become Governor.”
“I’d never vote for you,” Sheski said. “And no one else I know would, either.”
He winced at the unthinkable. Neither he nor Mike, nor anyone else would be safe from her if her dreams were realized.
Pat’s ‘step all over everyone’ attitude was nothing knew to Sheski. He’d witnessed it before at jobs he had - employees who’d aggressively clawed their way to the top on the backs of others.
Sheski laughed aloud at Pat. He was sure he and Mike would retire before she had a chance to be their boss. “Your fantasizing is holding up the job,” he said with a smirk. He started working on the interviews he and Mike would do the next day.
After work when she was in her apartment alone, Pat made some calls.
Time to put the pressure on. Rattle some chains from the past. People owe me and it’s time for them to pay up.
First, she dialed her father for some VIP phone numbers. After getting what she wanted, she made herself a whiskey sour, kicked off her shoes and worked the phones.
She called Johnny Sommers, candidate for the Senate and one of the governor’s most trusted political allies. Good old Johnny boy.
“What do you want?” Johnny said when he heard who was calling. “I’m busy.” He pushed the button on his recorder and wrote Pat’s name on a pad. He made a sour face and showed it to his aide.
“Johnny, that’s no way to talk to one of your favorite ex-girlfriends,” Pat said.
“You were never my favorite and never will be. And I’m married again, remember? The operative word here is ‘Ex.’ Like I said, whaddya’ want?” He knew she didn’t telephone to rehash old times, especially since his relationship with her cost him his first marriage. Then she dumped me when someone wealthier and better-connected came along.
“Look, Johnny. I’m here at the barracks working on a case the governor put his personal stamp on and I just want to talk to you about it, that’s all.”
“The Teen Lovers Case. We’ve all heard about it. My watch is ticking so speak up and get to the point.”
“I don’t like the two lieutenants who are on the case with me, that’s what. I figured you might be able to help me.” She took another sip of her drink. “You know, pull some strings or something. For old times sake.”
“Won’t they play your little games? Is that it? Does one of them have some connections you wanted to plug into? Or maybe you wanted some of your kind of fun and neither of them fell for it? Must be two smart cops.”
“No. It’s more like, if I work this case myself, I can get all the credit when I solve it,” Pat said, raising her voice. “Look. I tried getting rid of them one way, but it didn’t work. I’ll have to change my tactics and get some help. Now, let me get to the point. We both know I could still make some big waves for you, Johnny boy. Daddy is entrenched down there at the capital where they don’t know everything you did in your past. And I bet your new bride doesn’t know everything about your past either. Especially the part where I come in.”
“Wrong. I told her all about you. See, I knew sooner or later, you’d turn up again. Your kind always do. So I made sure she understood about my mistake of getting involved with you and I promised her I’d not be making the same mistake again. It still pains me my first wife hadn’t forgiven me. When she found out who you were and what you were like, she couldn’t bear to think of me taking up with someone like you. She was repulsed. That’ll never happen again.”
“So, whine about it to someone who cares. That’s all in the past. This is now. I could come see you and we could talk this over like old friends,” Pat said in her sexiest voice. “You remember how good we were together, don’t you? I’ll come anytime.”
“Wrong again. I don’t want you getting within a mile of me. Got it? And how’d you get this number?” He’d see to it he’d change the number and someone will pay for giving his private phone number to her. He was ready to hang up when she said the magic words.
“Haight Ashbury. 1965.”
“What did you say?” he asked.
“You heard me, Johnny boy. Haight Ashbury. 1965. Bet your new bride doesn’t know about that, does she? Hmmm, Johnny boy?”
“No one else knows about it except you, Pat. You know that. We discussed it when we were seeing each other. And I’m not sure how you found out about it.” He paused. “How did you find out?”
“Never mind. I know lots of things I’m not supposed to know. And I know lots more about you.”
“Okay, what do you want?”
“Now you’re talking,” She took a long sip from the glass. “I want these two cops pulled from the case. Now. So I can step in and get the gold star for solving it.”
“I’ll see what I can do. Just keep your mouth shut,” Johnny said. “And don’t ever call me again. Ever.”
“I hope I don’t have to,” Pat said. “I want to see some results real soon. And, I don’t want this to land on Daddy’s doorstep. Keep him out of it. I still use him once in awhile to get things done for me and I don’t want someone pressuring him because my old boyfriend Johnny got involved.” She laughed out loud.
Pat hung up the phone and punched her fist in the air victoriously.
I still got it!
Johnny decided to deal with Pat this one last time. She never really knew who she was messing with. I’d have thought she’d have figured it out, considering what happened at Haight Ashbury.
Johnny called his cell-phone provider and got his number changed. Then he made some phone calls. His old friends Jamie and Carl, fresh out of jail, were happy to hear from their buddy and get a paying job.
Their eyes lit up when they heard what Johnny wanted from them.
“Hey Johnny,” Jamie said. “Good to hear from you.”
“Glad you’re free again,” Johnny said. “Hook up with Carl and take care of some business for me. I’m bringing in Jackie, too.”
“Okay. You know you can count on us,” Jamie said.
Johnny’s twin brother Jackie, back in the country from an
overseas job, was ready and willing to help his brother out.
“Search every inch of her home,” Johnny told him. “I want everything examined. If you so much as find my initials anywhere, grab them. Take everything that references me, Haight Ashbury, 1965 and anything else you think needs taken. Check her computer, her mail, even her diary, if she has one. She used to have a safe in her pantry. Get it open and grab anything that needs grabbing. You know what to do. Leave no prints and make it look like it’s never been touched.”
“Gotcha,” Jackie said. “Anything else?”
“Tail her for awhile to see who’s she hanging with. Take some time to follow those two state cops she’s working with on the Teen Lovers case, too. I don’t think they’re involved in this, but I want to be sure. Take a kid with you so they don’t get suspicious. Take Carl’s son Jimmy. He’ll provide some cover.”
“You got it, Johnny. Should I go with Jamie and Carl on their job?”
“Nah. They’ll be fine. This is nothing new to them. The fewer involved in their end of this, the better.”
Chapter Twelve
Tuesday
“Hey, Lana, Cindy. How’re you two doing?” Barbara Clark brushed past the other patrons at the Bridge Stop Diner and went to her friends seated in their favorite booth near the window. She took off her coat, draped it over her seat and pushed in next to Lana. Barbara spoke in a low tone. “I got a call from the State Police a couple days ago. I know you two were called, too. They’re opening up the Teen Lovers murder case. Can you imagine?”
Not stopping to hear their reply, she went on. “After all these years, someone wants to reopen that horrible crime. Said it was top secret and we weren’t to tell anyone else about it. One of you should’ve called me and warned me. I had no idea. They want to interview me. I’m so nervous. What do they think it is any of us would know? I hope they don’t suspect one of us.”
“We didn’t call you because we were told not to tell anyone. And if you let us get a word in, maybe we can tell you what we know,” Cindy said. “Someone at the State Capitol wants this case solved and they’ve made it a priority for the state police. Very hush hush.”
“Hey, speaking of the state police, I hear Mike’s wife had her baby,” Barbara said. “How about that. She had a little boy.”
“He’s beautiful,” Lana said. “I was there when he took his first breath.”
Barbara asked again. “So, getting back to the police. What do they think we know, Lana? It was so long ago. We were all at Linda’s house, remember? We were having such fun. Her mother, God rest her soul, had made a cake and decorations like roller skates. We used to love roller skating then. And we all kept bugging poor Shirley. Remember how we were watching her every move? She had a date with that dreamy Joey Beck. God, he was cute.”
“Slow down, a little. They just want to interview us, that’s all,” Lana said.
“Jeez, we were just little girls then,” Cindy said. “And I thought you didn’t remember much about that night.”
“I guess I was wrong. I remember more than I thought,” Barbara replied.
Lana looked distracted and stopped attending to her friends.
“What’s wrong? Barbara Asked. “You’re not listening to a word we’re saying.”
“Do you hear that song?” Lana said, referring to the music playing in the diner.
Her friends sat still, monitoring the music and tuning out the noise around them.
As each one recognized what Lana was referring to, their expressions changed.
Through the speakers, the diners were listening to a female vocalist with a velvety voice, romantically singing a love song from long ago.
“That’s Shirley and Joey’s song,” Lana said. “I remember it because Linda and I played it over and over that night. It was one of Shirley’s records. We talked her into giving it to us to play, along with her record player. Remember? In return, we did the dishes for her and promised to stay out of her way so she could get ready for her date. Oh my gosh …”
The female vocalist belted out the final stanza as the friends listened.
“The song takes me right back to that night,” Barbara said, breaking the spell that the oldie had cast on them. “Remember how she came out and yelled at us for playing it over and over? We kept replaying some of her other records, too. We’d play them and then take the arm with the needle on it and place it back on the records to hear them again. I think we scratched them, didn’t we?”
“Vinyl. It scratched easily. She was hopping mad,” Cindy said. “We thought it was funny then. Now I realize what a nuisance we were. I wonder what happened to all of Shirley’s records and things. That was so long ago. I wonder if her dad or sister kept any of them.”
“I used to have some souvenirs from that party in a box in the cellar,” Barbara said. “They were with my high school stuff. When Hurricane Agnes came through in 1972, she took it all away in the floodwaters. All those mementos were ruined. My yearbooks and photographs, too.”
“That’s too bad. I still have mine,” Lana said. “It made me sad, looking at those things again. Thinking about that night and how horribly it ended.”
“Hey, maybe we can look at them together sometime,” Barbara said. “I’d love to see all that stuff again.”
“The police have everything,” Lana said. “Once this is over, I’ll get it all returned and we can go through them together.”
“I didn’t save any of those things,” Cindy said. “I’m just not a saver like you two, but I’d like a look at it sometime. I’ll never forget that night. I remember it clearly. We were all laughing and joking around. Following Shirley all over the place, teasing her. Remember how we kept opening her bedroom door to see what she was doing? The last thing she ever said to us was ‘Stop scratching my records. And stop following me around. I’m telling mother on you.’ Remember?”
“I sure do.” Barbara added. “She kept yelling at us. Remember when Mr. Adams came upstairs earlier in the day and he and Shirley got into that argument? They were screaming at each other. Remember how we held each others hands because we were scared?”
“I’d forgotten that,” Cindy said.
“Shirley called him a cheater and said she hated him,” Barbara said. “She said she knew he always hated her. And she said she was gonna tell her mother on him. Whatever any of that meant.”
Lana didn’t answer although she was sure she knew now what had been going on.
“She said she was going to tell her mother on him when she got home from her date with Joey that night,” Barbara said. “That’s when he repeated she wasn’t allowed to go out with Joey that night or any night. After he went back to work at the store, her mother let her go out anyway. I remember us watching Shirley get into the car with Joey. That was the last we ever saw her. Their families were devastated when they got the bad news. I felt so sorry for them. Linda was a nice girl and really suffered through it all. Hey, whatever happened to her?”
“The last I heard, she was living in Philadelphia,” Cindy said. “She’s married and has a couple kids.”
A commotion in the back of the diner got their attention. There was laughter and loud voices as some regular patrons gathered around a table near the back door. They were responding to comments by one of them.
“That’s Evan Haynes back there with Jerry Smithson and some others,” Barbara said. “Evan’s been watching us since he came in. Nothing new there. Every time we’re here when he comes in, we seem to get his attention. I wonder why.” She shot Lana a glance. “Uh oh, here he comes. Nothing new about that, either.”
Evan moved forward toward them, past the other booths and tables, stopping occasionally to say a few words to some of the others gathered for coffee and conversation.
People greeted him warmly, talking about local news.
“Uh oh,” Barbara said again.
“Stop saying that,” Lana said.
“I bet he wants to know all about your engagement
, Lana,” Barbara said. “Wait and see. That’s what he’ll get around to asking about. Who wants to take my bet? Huh? Anyone?”
Lana looked down at the diamond ring. She picked up her coffee and took a drink. Even though she and Evan dated, she was never in love with him. His feelings for her had always been stronger than her feelings for him so she’d broken off the relationship. She knew it wasn’t going anywhere on her part and she didn’t want to lead him on.
That was before she met Sheski.
Attorney Haynes stood next to Barbara but was looking at Lana. “Hi you three. How are all of you?” He asked, his eyes still on Lana.
“I’m fine,” said Cindy.
Barbara went next. “Me, too.”
“Hi Evan,” Lana said, her left hand on her lap. “Good to see you.”
“Hi yourself,” he said softly. “It’s always good to see you. I hear congratulations are in order for you and Sheski.” He looked down at her left hand.
Lana blushed. “Yes. Thank you.” She showed him the ring.
Evan took hold of the offered hand and observed the ring. As he always did with Lana, he continued to hold her hand a few seconds too long while he spoke. “He’s a lucky man, Lana. I hope you’ll be very happy. You’re lucky, too. I’ve known Sheski a long time. He’s a nice guy.”
Lana took her hand back and thanked him. “What’s new with you?” she asked, changing the subject.
“Not much. My work keeps me busy. I just wanted to stop by and say hello.” He looked back at the table where he’d been seated. “I better get back there before Smithson hustles the place for clients and scares everyone out of here. If he keeps it up the owners won’t let us come back in.”
Attorney Jerry Smithson was known locally as a tireless self-promoter to the point of being obnoxious. He was always trying to get more business for his firm.
The three friends looked to where Evan was gesturing and sure enough, there was Smithson, talking in depth to an uncomfortable-looking patron.
“Take care,” Evan said directly to Lana. He looked at her friends. “I’ll see all of you later.” He walked back to his table, his step a little less lively than earlier.
TEEN LOVERS: Murder Along the River Page 9