by Jennie Marts
“It’s fine.” Zoey cuddled the little poodle against her chest.
“All right, let’s go. I’m just going to leave my car here for now,” Mac said. “The fewer ways Pat can trace me, the better.”
Johnny pulled out on the road and headed for the hotel.
Mac fingered the cotton scrubs shirt she wore. “I can see now how you two slipped out of the hospital without anyone noticing.”
Edna was still wearing the white doctor’s lab coat. “Don’t worry. I’ll return these to the hospital later. We didn’t steal them. I just borrowed them for a bit.” She pointed to a plastic sack sitting in the seat next to Zoey. “I brought you some more clothes again. You need to start calling me Amazon the way I deliver.”
“How about if I call you my life saver? Seriously, Gram, you may have actually helped to save my life tonight. And thank you for the clothes.”
Her grandmother reached over the seat and patted her leg. “I love you, honey. I would do anything for you. I also brought you some prescription ibuprofen that your grandpa had left over from when he broke his leg. They’ll make you tired, but they’ll help with the pain.”
Zoey had been trying to ignore the dull throbbing pain in her arm. A headache had been threatening in her temples, and she dug through the bag and found the bottle of capsules.
Edna passed her a bottle of water, and she took two, then leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes. She smiled as she felt Mac take her hand, the warmth of its solid pressure giving her reassurance that everything would be okay.
Ten minutes later they pulled into the parking lot of the Travel Inn. Johnny parked the car behind the hotel, and he and Edna offered to go and get them checked in. “You stay here. We’ll be right back.”
Mac handed him some cash. “I’ll keep an eye on her.”
The pills had made her drowsy, and Zoey could have curled up in the back seat and slept until morning.
Her grandparents returned a few minutes later. Mac opened the back door and handed Edna the two dogs then grabbed the rest of the bags.
Johnny opened the back door of the car and helped Zoey out. “Scooter was on duty at the desk, and he must think pretty highly of your grandmother. He let her register as Nancy Drew and gave us a Two for the Price of One deal on the room. I don’t know if he’s allowed to do that, but I handed him your cash, and he gave me two keys to adjoining rooms. And he called me ‘dude’ like five times.”
Zoey smiled. “Yeah, he likes that word.” She leaned on her grandfather as they made their way through the back of the hotel to their rooms.
Mac unlocked the doors and let them in. She heard him tell her grandparents that they’d see them in the morning as she headed for the bathroom.
Turning on the light, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Oh geez. She was a mess. A purple bruise colored the side of her forehead, and her eyes looked sunken and fatigued. Her face was pale and drawn, and her hair was mussed.
Grabbing a wash cloth, she wet it and washed her face. The cool water felt good. But the medicine coupled with the events of the day had completely exhausted her.
“You okay?” Mac asked as she stepped out of the bathroom a few minutes later.
She nodded, not able to muster enough energy to actually answer. Stumbling to the bed, she toed off her shoes, pulled back the covers, and sank into the mattress. She felt Mac slide into the other side and pull her against his solid body.
He smoothed her hair and laid a soft kiss on her cheek. “Just sleep. You’re safe with me.”
As she drifted off, she felt safe. Safe in his arms.
For now.
Chapter Twenty
Zoey blinked her eyes open as she heard muted voices coming from the room next door. Disoriented, she looked around the motel room, trying to decipher where she was. Another blink, and it all came back to her.
Sitting up, she saw she was alone in the room. Mac’s side of the bed was empty. She got up and trudged to the adjoining door of the neighboring room.
Pushing it open, the smell of breakfast hit her as she took in the room full of people. Edna, Johnny, Mac, Sunny, Jake, Cassie, and Piper were seated around the motel room. The two dogs were curled together on the bed, and a spread of breakfast sandwiches, juice, and donuts covered the small dinette table.
“Good morning, sunshine.” Mac poured her a cup of coffee from a box on the table and crossed the room to place it in her hands. He grinned down at her. “You awake?”
She took a sip of the warm coffee. “Not yet. But I’m working on it. What’s going on in here?”
“Edna called me this morning and told me what was going on,” Sunny said. “We brought breakfast and some supplies.”
“I told them not to come,” Edna said. “But they insisted.”
Cassie handed her a plastic sack. “I brought you some things. Why don’t you take a shower and get dressed. You’ll feel better after a shower and some breakfast.”
Zoey looked into the bag and wanted to weep at Cassie’s thoughtfulness. The hotel would have shampoo and conditioner, but Cassie had brought her a razor, scented body lotion, a few hair products and a new toothbrush and toothpaste. Just what she needed to feel like a human again. “Thank you.”
Mac guided her into the bathroom. His chin carried the scruff of a day’s worth of beard, but he smelled like soap, and she assumed he must have already showered. He wore the same jeans as the night before, but had changed to a soft faded blue T-shirt. “Jake loaned me a clean shirt. And he and Sunny brought clothes for your grandparents. They’re really good friends. They all are.”
She nodded. “Yes. They are. So are you.”
He smiled at her. “Thanks. Do you need a really good friend to help you take a shower?”
She grinned back. “Yes. But it’s probably not the best idea with my grandparents and half the book club in the next room. If you could just help me cover up the bandages on my arm, I can probably handle it myself.”
He helped her pull the shirt over her head, being careful to avoid her injured arm. It might have been sexy standing in front of him in her lacy bra if it weren’t for the myriad of bruises and scrapes covering her arms and torso.
“I’m a mess,” she said, looking down at her battered body.
“A beautiful mess.” He gave her a quick kiss, then dumped the items in the plastic bag onto the corner of the tub and secured the plastic around her bandaged arm. “This will have to do for now. It won’t hurt if it gets a little wet. I don’t trust taking you back to the hospital today. But Sunny also brought over some fresh bandages and I’m fairly skilled at first aid, so I’ll redress your arm when you get out.”
“Thanks.” She took another sip of coffee, letting the caffeine work its magic. “I won’t take long, and I’ll be careful of my arm.”
“Take as long as you like. I’ll be right outside if you need me.” He pulled the door shut behind him.
Turning on the water, she dropped the rest of her clothes and stepped under the warm spray. The combination of the hot water and the shower products revived her, and she felt so much better as she pulled back the curtain and reached for a towel.
Her heart filled as she saw her clean clothes, a bottle of ibuprofen, a fresh cup of coffee, and a donut sitting neatly on the counter. Mac seemed to know exactly what she needed.
The donut was a great start, but what she needed now was to figure out a way to get her life back. To catch these guys that were after her, and to find a way to feel safe again.
As she got dressed and brushed her teeth and hair, she had a feeling that Edna was in the next room devising such a plan.
She was right.
Ten minutes later, she stepped back into the adjoining hotel room and sat on the edge of the bed next to her grandmother. “Well, have you got it all figured out yet?”
Her grandmother pursed her lips. “We’re working on it.”
Cassie wrapped a breakfast sandwich in a napkin and passed it to Zoey.
“We know we’ve got to find a way to catch all of these guys together. We need to prove that this Pat Callahan is in on this, too. That he’s the one who tried to kill you.” She winced when she said the word ‘kill’.
Zoey took a bite of the sandwich. The combination of egg, bacon, and cheese was the perfect thing she needed to get her strength back. It seemed bacon was the answer to a lot of problems. “What if I arranged a meeting with him? Wore a wire and got him to admit he was the one who shot me?”
“Use yourself as bait, you mean?” Mac asked. “Not a chance. There’s no way I’m letting you put yourself in danger like that.”
She bristled at the command and his directive that he wouldn’t “let her” do something. But she knew it was coming from a place of protectiveness, not conceit. And frankly, facing Pat Callahan again scared the living daylights out of her.
“If anything, I should face him and try to get him to talk,” Mac suggested.
“No way,” Jake said. “You can’t even talk about him without waves of anger coming off of you. He’d know right away you were onto him. And I’m afraid if we let you in the same room with him, you’d end up killing him yourself.”
“True.”
“We need someone that he would trust,” Zoey said. “That is already part of their world and wouldn’t cause suspicion.”
A knock sounded at the door, and they all froze.
No one was supposed to know they were there.
Mac pulled his gun from its holster and gestured for Jake to open the door.
Jake crossed the room, his muscles tense as he pulled open the door.
“Hey, dudes. I just got off my shift and wanted to check on Zoey.” Scooter sauntered into the room, oblivious of Mac and Jake’s vigilance. He spied the breakfast items on the table. “Hey, are those donuts from that bakery down on Main? I love their chocolate glazed ones.”
“Help yourself,” Piper said, passing him the box.
Zoey looked around the room, watching as each person realized the weed-smoking gold mine that had just wandered into the room. “Oh, Scooter. We were wondering if you might be able to help us with something.”
“Sure,” he answered around a mouthful of donut. “What’s up?”
“We’ve discovered the identity of the guy who was sent to kill me, and we think he works for Leon Molloy.”
Scooter’s mouth dropped open. “Kill you?”
“Zoey was kidnapped outside of The Joint the other night,” Mac explained. “I got her back, but Leon’s guys found us again and shot Zoey.”
“In the arm,” she said. “I’m fine.”
Scooter wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. “Look, I just grow grass for the guy. I’m not involved in any kidnapping or shooting at anyone. Do you think I had something to do with this?”
“No, of course not,” Edna said. “We’re not accusing you. We just want to know if you’d be willing to help us catch the guys that are involved.”
He shrugged his bony shoulders. “What would I have to do?”
Mac sat next to him on the side of the bed. “Have you ever seen a guy around Leon that’s about my height and age, maybe a little taller, kind of a tough blond-headed Irish guy?”
“You mean Pat?”
Mac nodded. “Yep. That’s exactly who I mean. Did you know Pat’s a cop? A dirty one, evidently.”
“You’re shittin’ me. Dude. No way.”
“Way. And we need to find a time and a place that we can catch Pat and Leon together.”
Scooter picked up another donut, apparently more at ease now that he knew he wasn’t in trouble. “That’s easy. It’ll be tonight. They transfer cash and crops every Saturday night. They all meet at one of the grow houses, and these big guys take cases full of cash. They also pick up product and take it to the recreational stores to restock them.”
“What do mean by big guys? Do you know who they are?”
“No, but they’re the same guys every week. And I’ve seen them at the weed bar, too. I can’t figure them out though. Sometimes they’re dressed like body guards, and sometimes they wear business suits.”
“Business suits?” Zoey asked. She gave Mac a knowing look. “Like the guys at Cavelli Commerce. That’s got to be where the discrepancies in the audit were coming from. There were large sums of cash being deposited into dummy corporations.”
“Leon is half-brothers with the Cavellis,” Mac told the group. “That’s the connection we’ve been looking for. The same guys must be working for both Leon and the Cavellis.” He looked at Scooter. “What else do you know about these guys and what they do?”
Scooter shrugged. “Not much. It’s not like we sit around and talk to each other. I know they’re the muscle, like the security guys. Leon packages up all the cash that he can’t deposit in the banks, and they guard it and move it like the armored truck guys. It’s like they transport the cash.”
“But where do they transport it to?”
Scooter shrugged again. “I don’t know. Someplace in Denver. Some financial company. I think the guys are related to Leon somehow. Like his step-brothers or cousins or something. Must be the guys you’re talking about.”
“What time do they usually make the transfer?”
“Um, they usually meet around nine or so. Leon likes to get home in time to watch the news.”
Zoey leaned forward. “So, we need to catch them in the act. Maybe we could have Scooter wear a wire?”
“No,” Edna said. “That’s too dangerous. We need to get some kind of surveillance equipment in there. I saw a show once where they prosecuted a robber because he got caught on the family’s nanny cam.”
“Gram, we can’t put a nanny cam inside of a grow house. They might be a little suspicious if a teddy bear were sitting on the table with them.”
Mac held up his hand. “Hold on. Edna might be on to something. Not necessarily a nanny cam, but something similar. If we could get some kind of recording device in there, we could prove that they were the ones that came after Zoey.”
“What about the money-laundering? Don’t we want to get that evidence as well?” Edna asked.
“Yeah, that would be great, too. But if we can get them for the murder of Jimmy Two-Fingers and the attempted murder of Zoey, that would be enough to put them away for a long time.”
“So, you do want to catch them with a teddy bear?” Scooter asked.
“No,” Jake said. “Teddy bears are old school nanny cams. They have so many more sophisticated cams now. We have several down at our PI office. They put spy cams in potted plants, clocks, DVD players, and even cereal boxes.”
“That’s great,” Zoey said. “But we still can’t have Scooter waltz in there with a potted plant or a DVD player. What’s he going to do? Ask if anyone wants to watch a movie? Or see if maybe they’re in the mood for some Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal?”
“Dude, I love Cinnamon Toast Crunch,” Scooter said. “I’m always in the mood for cereal.”
“I think Jake’s got the right idea. We don’t have to use a potted plant. They have other things. Things that are so common, you wouldn’t even notice them. I’ve seen spy cams in a bottle of water. What could you get your hands on today, Jake?”
Jake rubbed his chin. “I’d have to check with my partner, Finn, but I know we’ve got some different ones we’ve used on surveillance jobs before. We’ve got the bottle of water one you were talking about. And a coffee cup. We’ve got some watches and a ball cap.”
“Those would work,” Mac said. “It would be easy enough for Scooter to carry a bottle of water and a coffee cup in with him. Then we could have a couple of recording devices in place. Would you be up for that, Scooter?”
He nodded. “Sure, that doesn’t seem too hard. I could wear a baseball cap too, if that would help. Then I could try to look at whoever was talking.”
Edna rested a hand on his Scooter’s shoulder. “We don’t want you to do anything that’s going to put you at unnecessary risk.”
“I work for guys that are killing people,” he said. “I think helping to catch them and finding another rec distributor is going to be a pretty good risk for me.”
“I agree,” Mac said. “These guys are into way more than just recreational grass. You’re better off working with someone else anyway.”
“Aren’t we overlooking an important piece of this, though?” Zoey asked. “We’re talking about how dangerous these guys are and yet, we’re going after them with a water bottle spy-cam, a few guys, and a book club. Shouldn’t this be where we call in the authorities? Or get some help from the police department?”
Mac grimaced. “Ordinarily I would say yes. But I don’t know how deep this thing goes. I would never have believed that Pat would be in on this. I don’t know how many other guys in my department could be on the take from these guys. Damn it, I just don’t know who to trust.”
“I can help with that,” Jake said. “I’ve got some guys that I used to work with in the FBI that I’d trust with my life.”
Mac picked up Zoey’s hand. “It’s not my life that I’m worried about.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Mac pulled the nondescript van up to the curb outside the warehouse. The exterior of the van was faded and had a blue logo advertising Joe’s Plumbing, but the inside was state of the art. Jake and Finney used the van often in their private detective agency work.
Jake had also contacted some of his friends in the FBI, and they were setting up around the perimeter of the warehouse. Between the money-laundering and the attempted murder, the Feds were more than willing to step in and help on the case.
They’d also brought some sophisticated listening devices of their own and were each wearing a headset that connected to Jake inside the van.
The warehouse was on the edge of town, a large brick building with a steel garage door on one end and an entry door on the side. Scooter had drawn them a crude schematic of the layout of the grow house so they had an idea of how things were set up inside. The plants and tables were toward the back, away from the doors and the loading area, which worked out well as it would hopefully keep the growers out of harm’s way.