by Cindy Bell
Eddy took a step back. He remembered Samantha’s warning about not getting arrested. He began wishing he had asked her to join him. She was much better at talking to people than he was. She had a way of putting everyone at ease.
“I’m sorry to bother you, Terry. Just remember that if it’s an inside job, the sooner the truth is told, the better off everyone is.”
“How dare you!” She slammed her door closed without the slightest concern for Eddy’s fingertips. Eddy managed to release the door just before his hand would have been caught. Terry roared out of the driveway. Eddy was left in a cloud of exhaust fumes and pollen. He waved his hand in front of his face and willed himself not to sneeze.
“Well, that did not go well.” He frowned. The one thing he felt he had accomplished was ensuring that Terry would never speak to him again. He guessed he would be lucky if he wasn’t banned from the bank, which would be very inconvenient as it was the only branch in the area. As he trudged back towards his car, his phone began to ring. He was relieved to see that it was Walt. He hoped that he would have some good news for him.
“I have something for you.” Walt sounded quite proud of himself. Eddy couldn’t help but smile at his tone.
“What is it?” He started the car. He wanted to be able to make a quick getaway in case Terry really had called the police.
“Well, I looked through the phone records you gave me.”
“And?” Eddy pressed.
“There was one particular number that Karl called often since the robbery. From what I can tell the first time Karl called the number was shortly after the robbery,” Walt explained. “The first and only time he received a call from this number was on the day he stopped working at the prison. The number is registered to a person named Charlie Deloney.”
“Wow.” Eddy was impressed. “How did you figure all of that out so fast?”
“Do I ask you how you get that cop look that makes people confess anything you ask them to?”
“Cop look? I don’t have a cop look.”
Eddy pulled the phone away from his ear as Walt laughed loudly into it. “Okay, if you say so. Do you want Charlie’s address?”
“Yes please.” Eddy pulled out his notebook and jotted down Charlie’s address right under Terry’s. “Thanks Walt.” He hung up the phone. Eddy stared at the address for a moment. Seeing Terry’s address reminded him of Samantha, and how much better she was at talking to people than he was. He had regretted not having her with him when he spoke to Terry. He dialed her number.
“Hello? Did you talk to Terry?”
“Yes, I did. I didn’t get very much information though. Are you dressed?”
“Am I dressed? What kind of question is that? Of course I’m dressed.”
“Okay, I’ll be there in fifteen minutes to pick you up.”
“Oh. Okay.” Her tone became eager. “I’ll be here.”
Eddy smiled at her enthusiasm. She could make even the most tedious investigation feel like an adventure.
Chapter 8
When Eddy pulled into Samantha’s driveway, his cell phone began to ring.
“I’m here, Samantha, I’m right out front.”
“Eddy, it’s Detective Brunner.”
Eddy snapped to attention. “Oh Detective, sorry. Have you found out something about the robbery?”
“No. Actually, I might be forced to open an entirely different case.”
“What’s that?”
“A stalking case, and you would be the prime suspect.”
“Ouch.”
“Yes ouch. That’s exactly how I felt when I was told that the bank teller had reported she was being harassed by you. You’re lucky I snatched the case up before it could get filed. You need to stay away from Terry Carlil, do you understand?”
“Yes, I understand.” Eddy frowned. He didn’t think he’d get any more information out of her anyway. If she was willing to go to the police then she wasn’t likely involved in the robbery. He sighed as yet another suspect was crossed off his list.
“Eddy, I know that you’re determined to look into this investigation. But there are procedures that have to be followed. So, before you go getting yourself tangled up in something you can’t get out of, just think about the consequences.”
“Will do, Detective.” Eddy quickly hung up the phone. He stared down at it for a moment, then shook his head. Samantha opened the passenger door just as he did.
“You all right?” She frowned as she sat down in the car. “You look like you just got caught with your hand in the cookie jar.”
“Maybe I did.” Eddy laughed a little. “Let’s just say we can’t expect too much support from Detective Brunner.”
“Well, that’s no surprise. He’s awfully green.”
“That’s one way of putting it.” Eddy turned on the engine. “Although, I’m starting to wonder if it’s just youth, or that he really doesn’t care about this case.”
“Detective Brunner?”
“From the get go on this case he’s been dropping the ball. I don’t know, it just makes me wonder.”
Samantha frowned. “Do you really think he’d be intentionally sabotaging the case?”
“I don’t know.” Eddy gazed out through the windshield. “I don’t want to think it.”
“What motive could he have?” Samantha’s brow furrowed.
“Have you ever seen a detective’s paycheck, Samantha? It’s not pretty.” Eddy’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “I just hope it’s not the case.”
“We’ll just have to keep our eyes and ears open. Until we have proof, we have to give him the benefit of the doubt.”
“You’re right.” Eddy shifted the car into reverse.
“Where are we going?” Samantha looked over her shoulder.
“Walt gave me a lead on someone that Karl started calling often just after the robbery and the only time the person called him was the day he left the prison. It might be nothing, but I think it’s worth looking into. Maybe it’s the same person that paid off some of his mortgage. If someone directed him to get a job at the bank, then they might have supplemented his income.”
“That would explain the move.” Samantha nodded.
“The name is Charlie Deloney. Other than that I don’t have any information on him. It might just be a coincidence, but if our theory is correct and Karl was coerced into assisting with the robbery then it’s definitely worth looking into. Someone with that much influence could be a very dangerous man.” He accelerated just a little past the speed limit. He wanted to get to the address and see if they could prove their theory.
“Honestly, if we are correct, whoever came up with a plan like this must have been a mastermind. Let me check and see if Charlie Deloney is associated with any of the prisoners that were recently paroled.” As she chatted on the phone with someone she knew from the parole department, Eddy maneuvered his way through traffic. By the time Samantha hung up the phone he pulled the car to a stop in front of a house.
“Dead end with the parole department.” Samantha tucked her phone back into her purse.
“This is the address.” Eddy gripped the steering wheel tightly. He glanced over at Samantha. Even though she was a capable and intelligent person, he had difficulty with putting her at any kind of risk. “Should I bother asking you to stay in the car?”
“You can ask,” she said as she opened the car door.
Eddy got out of the car and looked at the small house. With its peeling paint and untended garden it certainly didn’t scream bank robber. But Eddy knew that didn’t mean anything. He followed Samantha towards the house.
“So remember, we’re going to scope it out. No accusations.”
“I have plenty of experience getting information out of people, Eddy. Remember?” She smiled sweetly at him. He wasn’t sure that he had ever seen a more dangerous expression. He followed right behind her on the way to the house. As they walked past the car in the driveway Eddy instinctively peered inside. Th
ere was nothing on the backseat aside from a few empty, paper coffee cups. When they reached the front door Samantha knocked, then glanced over her shoulder at Eddy. Eddy nodded to reassure her just as the door swung open.
“May I help you?” The woman’s face was distorted by the old, dusty screen in the storm door. However, Eddy assessed her as being in her mid-thirties with short, brown hair.
“Hi. I’m so sorry to bother you. We’re looking for Charlie.” Samantha turned her charming smile on the woman.
“Who are you?”
Eddy braced himself. The woman was not denying that she knew any Charlie, but she was clearly suspicious about why they were there.
Eddy’s strength was in interrogation and brute force, something he didn’t want to use in this situation. He hoped that Samantha would be able to come up with something to get them in the door, or at least a lead to where Charlie might be.
“I just want to speak to Charlie,” Samantha said with a smile.
“Oh, is that so?” The woman leaned forward on the door which made it creak open. “About what?”
“We’re old friends and I just want to talk to him, catch up.”
“You’re old friends with Charlie?”
“Yes.”
Eddy sensed that something was off. “Could you just let us know where we might be able to find him?”
“Well, that depends.”
“Depends on what?” Samantha asked.
“It depends on whether you are looking for Charlie or you are looking for a man.”
“What?” Eddy said as he exchanged a quick glance with Samantha.
“I think you two should leave.” She let go of the screen door and it banged shut. The heavy, wooden door banged shut right behind it. Eddy heard the click of a lock being turned into place.
“It seems like she’s not the talkative type.” Samantha shook her head.
“She might not be, but she knows Charlie.” Eddy passed his gaze over the house again. “It’s a small place. If she lives with him, she’s probably a wife or a girlfriend. She’s going to cover for him.”
“So, is it a loss?” Samantha frowned.
“No, I think we should stakeout the house.” Eddy gestured towards the street. “Let’s give her some space. Charlie is going to want to come home, eventually.”
“Good idea.” Samantha nodded. The two walked casually back to the car.
“Let’s pick up some supplies then we’ll come back here and keep an eye on the house.”
Eddy held the door open for Samantha. Once she was settled he closed it. When he turned on the car, he noticed a flutter of the curtains in the house. The woman was watching to make sure that they left.
“Are you sure that she knows Charlie?”
Eddy nodded. “She knows him all right and if we watch the house we’ll find him.”
* * *
After Eddy and Samantha had stocked up on chips, soda, and magazines they drove back towards the house.
“Pull in there.” Samantha gestured to a coffee shop. “I’ll get us a coffee.”
“Thanks,” Eddy said as he pulled up outside the shop. He hadn’t even noticed it from the road. Eddy watched as Samantha walked into the small coffee shop. Eddy laughed to himself as he thought of how different it was doing a stakeout with someone like Samantha as opposed to one of his old partners. She always ensured that they were well-nourished no matter what the circumstances were. Samantha walked out shortly after with two cups of coffee.
“All set,” she said as she opened the door.
“Thanks.” Eddy took his cup from her. He noticed that the cup had the same design as the cups on the backseat of the car at Charlie’s house. He guessed that Charlie might be a regular.
Eddy drove back to Charlie’s house which was at the end of the street. He parked the car a few houses down. It gave him a clear view of the driveway, but enough distance that the woman would not be able to see the car.
“How long do you think it will be?” Samantha thumbed through a magazine, but her eyes were locked on the house.
“Don’t know.” Eddy continued to stare out through the windshield. He had a tendency to get tunnel vision on a stakeout.
“I hope it’s not too long.” Samantha sighed and leaned her head back against the seat. “Stakeouts were always my least favorite part of an investigation.”
“Sometimes I forget that you had to do so many of the same things I did. Interesting isn’t it? Our careers were so different, but some of the tasks were so similar.”
“I don’t think our careers were as different as you think. There were many times that I stopped a crime, and many times you did.”
“Maybe so, but I never got a prisoner out of jail.” Eddy cleared his throat. An awkward silence fell between them. Samantha’s advocacy for wrongfully convicted criminals was a tense subject between them. The quiet shattered when she chomped down on a chip. A moment later a car rolled down the street and then turned into Charlie’s driveway. As the car drove past them Eddy noticed a man inside that could have easily met the description of the robber. Since he had not seen the robber’s face it was hard to say for sure, but the build was similar enough for him to want to check it out.
“I’m going to get closer so I can see who is getting out of the car.”
“You’re not leaving me here.” Samantha frowned.
“Listen, I get that you’re a strong and liberated woman, Samantha, but you’re also an experienced investigator, which means that you know two people can make a lot more commotion and risk being exposed than one.” He raised an eyebrow. “Can you argue with that?”
Samantha opened her mouth as if she was thinking about attempting to. Then she closed her mouth again. She shook her head. Eddy’s lips curled upward as he savored a rare triumph, then he opened the car door and stepped out.
“The keys are still in the ignition. If anything goes haywire get out of here, understand?”
Samantha nodded, but she didn’t meet his eyes. Eddy had no doubt that she would not leave him behind, no matter what happened.
Chapter 9
Eddy made his way along the front sidewalk as quietly as he could. With the limitations of his body he was no longer as lithe as he had once been. But flexibility had never been his strong suit. Using force to stop a criminal from hurting someone was. He summoned all of his finesse as he heard a car door slam shut. Eddy ducked back behind a tree as the man approached the front door. It only took him a moment to recognize who it was. It was not who he had expected, and also not the bank robber. The man banged on the front door.
“Charlie!” He shouted.
Eddy knew that he was the security guard from the bank, Karl. He was looking for Charlie, which meant that there was indeed a connection between the two of them. However, that didn’t explain everything. Especially when the door swung open and the woman that Eddy had spoken to earlier stepped out.
“Stop making such a racket. Do you think that we need the attention of everyone in the neighborhood?” Her voice dripped with fury.
“You’re not returning my calls!”
“I warned you to stop calling me. You should never have come here.” She looked towards the road. Eddy ducked further behind the tree and hoped that he hadn’t been spotted. “Did anyone see you?”
“No. No one saw me. Charlie, things are getting out of hand.”
Charlie? Eddy peeked around the side of the tree. Only then did it strike him that a female could be named Charlie as well. The thought had never occurred to him and they had been in too much of a hurry for Samantha to have the chance to do any proper research. Eddy felt a mixture of relief and confusion. They had found Charlie, but she clearly was not the robber. Neither was the security guard that was still arguing with her.
“You need to go home. Go home and turn off your phone. Turn off your television. Everything is going to be just fine. But you have to disconnect from the chaos.”
“But, Charlie please…”
“Go home,” she growled. Eddy could hear the fury in her voice. He knew that she was not making a suggestion, but forcibly instructing him to go home.
The two stared hard at each other for a moment. Eddy half-expected a fight to break out. Instead Karl hung his head. He turned and walked back to his car. It was clear that Charlie had won the battle. She remained outside the door with her arms folded across her chest until Karl backed all the way out of the driveway. Only then did she go back into the house. Eddy continued to wait a few minutes longer just in case she was peering out the window. Once he thought the coast was clear he headed back to the car. Samantha popped open the driver’s side door for him. Eddy settled into the seat and then turned to meet her eyes.
“Well?” She smiled with the kind of eagerness that only a journalist could have. “Did you find out anything?”
“I found out that Charlie is not a man.”
“What?” Samantha laughed. When his expression didn’t change her eyes widened. “Wait, are you serious?”
“Yup. The woman that answered the door was Charlie all along. That isn’t even the best part.” He paused, as he knew she enjoyed a little drama.
“What is it?” Samantha demanded.
“The person who came to visit her was Karl, the security guard. They are definitely working together.” Samantha stared at Eddy for a moment as she processed the information.
“Can we call Detective Brunner to pick them up?”
“No, I don’t think that would be a good idea. I heard enough for me to be suspicious, but they didn’t really say anything incriminating. If we send Brunner in too soon then they will be tipped off and we may never find out the truth.” Eddy decided not to remind her that he was already on very thin ice with Detective Brunner.
“What is the truth, what do you think?” Samantha looked over at him as he drove towards Sage Gardens.