by DK Herman
I got ready for the day and went to the kitchen for coffee. Poppy was up and dressed for the office. I sat next to her and greeted Gram, George, Aunt Jeannie, Jack and Laura.
The sun was shining, and the sky was blue. It was cold this morning, but the weatherman was predicting temperatures in the high forties this afternoon.
I noticed Poppy was done with her breakfast. "As soon as I'm done eating, we'll leave for the office," I said digging into my pancakes and scrapple.
When I was finished eating, I remote started my car and took my dishes to the kitchen.
Poppy and I put on our coats in the hall and walked onto the porch. The temperature was cold enough that the air hurt my face as we hurried toward my car.
"Who’s that, in your car?" Poppy asked.
"What the hell!" The window glass was coated with frost, but I could see the outline of a person, sitting in my car. "I don't know. Get back up on the front porch while I find out." I pulled my Ruger from my purse and walked carefully to the driver's door of my SUV.
I'd kept the heat on when I parked last night and the glass was slowly clearing. There was definitely, someone in my driver's seat.
As I got closer, I could see it was a man. He was wearing my sunglasses and Cloche hat, and he wasn't moving. Was he asleep? "Hey. Come out of the car, now," I said gruffly.
I knocked on the glass and he still didn't move. Keeping my gun aimed at him, I opened the door and screamed.
It was Jerry Dalton, a garrote tight around his throat. The piano wire also wrapped around the head rest, keeping him upright in the seat. His his tongue protruded from his mouth, and the stench of bowel escaped from the car. He was very dead.
ELEVEN
I stood on the front porch until the first patrol car pulled into our driveway. Then I dashed up to my room to calm down.
Buddy and Princess were in my sitting room. I sat on the couch and petted them until I stopped shaking and my heart rate dropped below one-fifty.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you last night," I told the dogs. "You were trying to tell me something, and I wouldn't listen."
"Hallie, are you in there?" Poppy called, knocking on my door.
"Yeah. Come on in." I smiled meekly when she opened the door. "I needed to be alone for a few minutes."
"Oh, I'll leave." Poppy started to close the door.
"No. You can stay," I said. "I'm better."
"That was horrible,” Poppy said with a shudder. She sat down next to me. "Did the people who have Woody, kill that man?" Her scared eyes searched mine.
Too rattled to lie, I nodded. "I think so. But as long as they need Woody to make their meth, he'll be OK."
"Are we still going to look for him?" Poppy asked hopefully.
"You bet!" I stood up and brushed at the dog hair on my clothes. "After the cops are done talking to us, we'll get somebody to take us into town, so I can rent a car."
"Are the cops going to take your car? You've only had it a few months."
"They'll give it back when they're done." I made a disgusted face and shivered. "But I'm not getting into it again until the driver's seat is replaced, and the whole car is detailed." And the cops could keep my hat and sunglasses.
I picked up my coat from the coffee table and stuffed my gun into a holster at my waist. "Let's go downstairs and get the cop's questions answered. Did you see Chief Woods?" I started down the hall with Poppy behind me.
"Yeah. Andy too."
"Good. I'll ask when they're going to search the body shop."
I reached the bottom of the stairs and saw Phil Stewart coming out of the kitchen.
"No pierogies today, but I got coffee and a chocolate chip cookie," Phil said with a grin.
I smiled back. "Where's Chief Woods?"
"Outside, at the scene." Phil munched his cookie.
The scene. I rubbed my eyes and took a deep breath. Unbelievable, my brand-new car was a murder scene. I pulled on my coat. "Thanks," I told him and headed for the front door.
"Hey, Hallie," Andy greeted me cheerfully.
"Hey," I said. "Find anything interesting?"
"Besides the dead cop in your car?"
I gave him my 'I'm stressed out, so don't mess with me,' bitch face.
"Yeah, not yet. But this area was full of crime last night." Andy leaned closer and spoke softly. "Hank reported an intruder had been in his house about eight o'clock."
My eyes widened. I hoped Andy took it for surprise. "Did he catch someone?"
"No but..." He bent even closer. "Hank said when he got back to his house and went upstairs to his room, he found a pair of his underwear on his bed. He was sure they were in a drawer. So, he looked around and found more things out of place."
"Who'd want to go through his underwear drawer?" I rolled my eyes and tsked.
Crap, I must have missed a pair when I stuffed them back into the drawer! I'll have to ask Gram if Hank knew I drove them to the bar.
"That's what I said," Andy agreed.
"Any word on the body shop warrant?" I asked, changing the subject.
"Nah, not yet." Andy rubbed his hands together. "I could use a cup of coffee. Liv have any made!"
"And cookies." I motioned toward Phil Stewart, standing in the porch with a mug in his hands.
"Come on, I'm gonna ask the Chief if he wants a cup." Andy strode toward my car.
There were six cops and the coroner clustered around my car. I recognized Kevin Grady from his file picture, and Myron Banner gave me a wave as he stood next to Chief Woods. The men parted when they saw Andy approach, with me in tow.
I fell back a pace at the sight in front of me. Dalton's body was still sitting in my passenger seat. The piano wire had been removed from his throat. It was probably in an evidence bag, along with my hat and sunglasses. But Dalton's hands still gripped my steering wheel.
"He sat out here, all night, in the cold, now his hands are frozen in place." I heard the Chief tell Andy.
There's a dead guy stuck in my car! I felt my heart rate speed up again. "Chief Woods, can I give a statement soon? Woody's still missing, and I have to rent a car and get to work." I wanted the hell out of there. I wasn't sure if I wanted my car back.
"Detective Krause is on his way. I'm sure he'll want to speak to you,” Chief Woods replied.
Detective Krause is Kasey's partner. He'd been on vacation in Hawaii the past week. Unlike Kasey, he's a decent human being. "Not Kasey?" I asked.
"Detective Kasey retired last night." Chief Woods flashed me a grin. "Remind me to thank your grandmother."
"Did you or any of the other officers want coffee?" I offered.
"I wouldn't turn down a cup," Chief Woods said.
“Me, too,” Myron Banner said. “I’m pulling some overtime this morning.”
“Who’s with your wife?” I was glad he was making some extra money, but it might be scary for Rhonda to be alone.
“My daughter’s visiting with her until I get home,” he replied.
A few of the others wanted a cup, so Andy and I headed for the house. Phil Stewart was still on the porch, sipping his coffee and chatting with Peter.
"Tell your mother, I said hello," Peter told Phil.
"Will do," Phil replied.
Hmmm. If I wasn't so cold, I'd be more curious about that conversation. I walked into the warmth of house and went straight to the kitchen. I made up a tray with half a dozen cups of coffee, sugar, cream, and plastic spoons.
"Take these cookies out with you," Liv said placing two dozen cookies on the tray.
"I'll carry it out." Andy took the tray from my hands.
I grabbed my travel cup of coffee, liberally laced with hazelnut creamer. It was too early to Irish it up, and I didn't think I could rent a car schnockered.
"Have a cookie, honey," Liv said. "It won't fix your problems, but it makes em less noticeable for a couple minutes."
"I'll have two." I kissed Liv's cheek.
"There you are, Hallie," Gram said from the k
itchen door. "When you're ready, Peter will drive you into town to pick up a rental car. I already made the arrangements with the dealer. They promised to have something green and very nice, ready for you."
"Thanks, Gram. " I gave her a hug.
"Detective Krause wants to talk to you, Hallie," Aunt Jeannie said, popping her head in the kitchen door. "I asked him to wait in the living room."
"Thanks, I'll be right there."
I went into the living room and sat down next to Detective Krause. He was about my age with brown hair and eyes. I was instantly jealous of his tan, and the relaxed expression on his face.
"The vacation looks good on you," I said.
"Thanks," he said. "It was a great week. My family and I didn't want to come home."
"I'll bet," I said.
"So, what can you tell me about the dead guy in your car." He pulled a notebook and pen out of his pocket.
"I didn't do it," I said. Ask my dogs. I was with them all night. I fought the urge to giggle.
"Any idea who did?"
"Dalton was first on my suspect Iist, for stealing the meth and strangling Marlow." I shrugged. I thought about the information Rayna sent in the email. "I recently discovered that Dalton was married to Marlowe's sister."
"That's interesting," Detective Krause said as he wrote it down.
"But they're both dead," I mused out loud.
"You know, a dead body in your car means you got too close. It's a warning," Krause said.
"I got the message." I sipped my coffee.
"Who have you pissed off lately, from your list?" Krause asked.
"Marv Deeter from the body shop is suspect number one," I said. "Tuesday, Ben and I made him nervous enough to call your ex-partner. Kasey showed up and forced us to leave the area. Then, Ben was attacked later that night."
"I heard Chief Woods is working on a warrant," Detective Krause said. He didn’t seem convinced that his ex-partner was a suspect. "Anybody else?"
"Did you know Kasey is Marv's uncle?"
"No, I didn't." Detective Krause said with raised eyebrows. "And Kasey forced you to leave the body shop?"
I nodded. "We were parked on the shoulder of the highway, watching the body shop. When Marv spotted us, he made a call." I repeated. "A few minutes later, Kasey showed up, threatening to arrest us if we didn't leave."
"I'll have to talk to Larry,” Detective Krause said grimly. "Anybody else?"
I didn't want to mention Hank, so I shook my head. "But I think there's more than one person involved."
" That's very likely," Detective Krause agreed.
"I think Dalton was in on it, and another partner killed him. But I don't know why." I sipped my coffee. "Would they sacrifice a partner, just to scare me away?"
"Anything's possible with these people. They're probably getting paranoid from snorting that garbage." Detective Krause stood up. "Can I have a cup of coffee to go?"
"Sure." I led him to the kitchen.
"Hallie," Phil Stewart said as he ran into the kitchen. "The Chief wants to know if you have an extension cord. They can't get Dalton's hands loose, so..."
I put up a hand to cut him short. I didn't want to know what they were going to do with it. "How long a cord does he need?"
"Fifty feet would do," Phil said, accepting another cookie from Liv.
"Where's Peter?" This was more his area.
"He went to his cabin," Liv said. "I'm supposed to call his cell when you're ready to go to town."
"I'll see what I can find in the garage." I grabbed my coat off the hall table and headed outside with Phil on my heels.
"Stewart, get over here and help Andy." Chief Woods' voice boomed across the driveway.
"Go ahead," I assured Phil. "If I can't find it, I'll get Peter."
Phil scampered off toward the Chief, and I hurried through the brisk air to the garage.
The door was unlocked, so I reached inside and snapped on the light switch. The fluorescent lights flickered to life, exposing Gram's dark red, 1976 Chrysler New Yorker, wrapped carefully in covers in the first bay. She never drove it anymore, but the Chrysler was my Pap's pride and joy. Gram could never bring herself to sell this last piece of him.
The second bay was empty because my aunt had left her car parked in the driveway, near mine. In the third my RV, Chitty, waited for spring. I walked to the old girl and patted her side affectionately. "Hi, Chitty. We’ll go camping this summer, I promise," I assured her.
Walking to the rear of the garage, I scanned the work bench, and the pegboard above it. Not seeing an extension cord, I moved to the far side of my RV. There I found several cords, handing from a hook. I took two of them off the wall, just in case, one wasn't long enough.
Carrying a heavy coil of extension cord in each hand, I began making my way to the exit. I almost reached the automatic sectional door that would free Chitty, when I heard heavy breathing from behind me. Before I could turn to look, something wrapped tightly around my neck, almost pulling me off my feet.
I started to panic when I couldn't breathe. My heart pounded as my vision darkened, with jagged bolts of white light around the edges. I clawed at my throat, trying to loosen what was looped around it. I was being strangled to death with a half-dozen cops fifty feet away!
My sight grew dimmer and my arms flailed wildly. I couldn’t reach my gun under my coat, but my left hand struck a box on the wall. I realized it was the button that controlled the automatic door in front of me. I pushed the button and prayed I'd last until help arrived.
When my attacker heard the click and drone of the door, he released me. I fell to the floor. Tearing the loop from my neck, my throat rasped loudly as I gasped for air. My vision brightened, and there was an excited buzzing of men's voices.
"Hallie!" I heard Andy exclaim from a distance.
The sound of feet running towards me reached my ears, and grateful tears ran down my cheeks. I lifted the object that I held in my hand and stared at it dumbly. Expecting to see a piano wire, I was surprised to see a bungee cord instead. Not that it mattered, it would still do the job, and it almost did.
Someone in a blue uniform dropped to their knees next to me. "Oh, my God. What happened?" I recognized Andy's voice, and I reached toward him.
My breath was still coming in wheezing gasps. "He...was here...in the garage." I held up the bungee cord.
"Just now?" Andy looked at the men that had gathered around us. "What are you doing here?" He asked a pair of well-formed, blue-jeaned legs.
"I heard there was trouble and came to see if I could help," Hank said as he knelt on my other side.
"This area is a crime scene," Chief Woods said. "You shouldn't be here."
"Sorry, I'll go." Hank rubbed my back. "Are you going to be OK?"
I nodded and wiped more tears away with the back of my hand. I felt snot sliding from both of my nostrils and swiped at that too. I looked up and saw concern in his blue eyes.
"I'll call you later," Hank said. And without a word to his brother, he left.
"Should I call an ambulance?" Myron Banner asked.
I shook my head. "I'll be OK," I said in a raspy voice. "But can someone check on my family without scaring them."
"Phil and I will," Myron Banner volunteered.
"Are you sure, you're OK?" Andy asked as I tried to stand.
"My throat will be sore for a while, but I'm fine," I said. "This thing," I held up the bungee cord, "stretched. Thank God it wasn't a wire." I tried to hide how vulnerable and scared I felt, but my hands shook and my legs wobbled.
"Did you see him?" Chief Woods asked.
I shook my head. "He came from behind me. I didn't see anything."
"I hope you own a turtleneck sweater," Andy teased gently. "You're already starting to bruise."
I sighed, touching my throat gently. Damn it, he was right. I pulled the collar of my coat up. "I have to get going. This bastard's getting caught." Another killer had come after me at my home, and I was pissed o
ff about it. "Please, finish processing the Dalton scene, and get that warrant for the body shop."
Kevin Grady pulled an evidence bag from his pocket and opened it. "Let's slide that bungee cord into this bag. I'll send it to the lab. Maybe it will tell us something."
I did as he asked.
"I'll call the judge again." Chief Woods pulled his phone from his pocket. "We'll shoot for this afternoon."
"I want to go inside, so my family can see that I'm alright," I told Andy.
"I'll walk you in." Andy tucked my hand into the crook of his arm, and we walked inside.
TWELVE
Myron Banner played down my attack to my family. They were under the impression that someone grabbed me from behind and I escaped. I smiled at him gratefully and asked if Peter could take me into town soon.
After telling my family that they shouldn't go out of the house alone, just to be safe, I went up to my suite. Going straight to the bathroom, I examined myself in the mirror. There was a thin, purplish ring forming on my neck.
I got out my makeup and tried concealer and foundation. No luck, it was worse than a hickey to cover. I went to my closet and pulled out a shamrock green, turtleneck, tunic sweater. With black leggings and my slouchy boots, it looked pretty good. I reapplied my lipstick and was examining my neck bruise again, when I heard a gasp behind me.
"They tried to kill you," Poppy said. She looked ready to burst into tears. "You said it was no big deal, that he grabbed you, and you got away."
"Well, that's what happened, sort of." I sat on my bed, so I could look Poppy in the eye. "I'm OK, Poppy. Please don't say anything and worry everyone. I need to be able to go out and stop this guy before he hurts anybody else."
"Like Woody." Poppy nodded.
"Yes," I said. "We have to find Woody."
"OK," she chirped. "I'll meet you at the front door in a few minutes." Poppy sped out of the room.