Larkin's Landing_A Tombora Springs Mystery

by SK Wee

  As soon as breakfast was over, he got his jacket and turned back to us. “I have to go for just an hour or so. Everything is fine, I just have to help Cal install some equipment at the Landing and I’ll be right back.” I wanted to go with him, but realized I couldn’t leave his family alone to amuse themselves.

  “Hurry back, Logan,” I told him as I walked him to the door.

  Then I heard from behind me the saccharine sweet voice of Tiffany. “Yes, sweetie, hurry back to us.” Almost made me gag but I put a smile on my face and nodded in agreement.

  The next couple of hours I kept them busy by showing them the nursery that was still in-progress. Neither Logan nor I wanted to know the gender of the baby ahead of time so some of the décor would wait until after the birth. Tiffany opposed nearly everything unless I specifically stated Logan had chosen it. Then she would applaud the choice. It was almost lunchtime when Logan returned and he quickly whispered, “Everything is fine.” I could breathe a little easier.

  During lunch, Leo brought out all sorts of legal documents. He said he wanted to make sure everything was seen to for the child. I just looked confused. “Wait a minute, we don’t need any of this. I am not nor will I ever make any claim on Logan or his family. We’ve already discussed this. These are my choices to make, nobody else’s.”

  “Please, Fee, these are for everyone’s protection. They are just normal documents when a child is involved.” Leo was beginning to look uncomfortable. The documents that he described seemed to be protecting his assets from any claim my child or I would make. When I looked at Tiffany, she gave me a chilling look.

  Logan spoke up in my defense, “Fee has complete control over the child and its future, Father. If you want to leave the papers here, I’ll look through them but I don’t think any of that is necessary in our case. Fee doesn’t want anything from me, let alone you. Let’s leave it at that. It took me weeks to talk her into staying here when I go back to work, she is quite self-sufficient and doesn’t want to depend on anyone.” I was surprised at how much he understood me at that moment. My love for him grew every day I knew him.

  Leo seemed to consider Logan’s words and started to gather all the papers. “Whatever you think, son. I tend to agree with you about your young lady. She’s like a force of nature.” Tiffany seemed to simmer with anger.

  When my parents arrived, I was busy working on dinner preparations and left the introductions to Logan. Logan had only met my father once before and that hadn’t gone very well at all, but I knew my mother would have spent a fair amount of time and energy trying to cajole him into thinking better of the father of his future grandchild. When I glanced over I noticed my father and Leo seemed to be getting along just fine. My mother wouldn’t have anything at all in common with Tiffany, but I knew she was nice to everyone she met and usually could find some common ground if she searched far enough.

  The meal I had planned was fairly simple. I knew my parents wouldn’t like a fancy meal and though I loved to try new recipes, I decided to make the tried and true meatballs with garlic red potatoes and a light salad. Leo raved over the meal, and Tiffany picked here and there with a sour look on her face. Let her go hungry was my thought.

  After dinner, we all relaxed outside on the deck. The nighttime noises calmed my nerves and it seemed like everything had gone as well as it could. My parents didn’t stay very much longer and I walked them to their car. My mom gave me a great hug and I knew exactly what she meant by it. The witch will be gone soon!

  The following morning, Logan helped them pack up their rented car so they could make it back to the airport. I saw no further sign of the papers Leo had wanted me to look at, and I believed he must have realized that there was no need for them.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Tara

  The day of the Halloween party had arrived and thus far, Cal had no clue what his costume would be. Mark made sure it was fresh and clean and I couldn’t wait for Cal to try it on. I knew he would look extremely sexy and made sure that the cape was big enough so I could cover him up if too many women began to leer at him. I’m generally not a jealous person, but I had no idea on how many of these women Cal had once dated or if he may have residual feelings left for any of them.

  “Hmm . . . you smell good.” Cal had managed to sneak up behind me while I was in my little dream world.

  “Cal! You surprised me. Are you ready to try your costume on, big boy?” I grinned at him knowing he would not want to wear it.

  “Okay, but where is yours? I’m not going to be the only one wearing one.”

  “Oh, I’ll be dressed to match you, don’t worry. Come on, I can’t wait any longer to see my stud muffin in his true form.”

  “Huh? Stud muffin? Tara, this isn’t sounding too good. We don’t have to wear costumes.” Cal followed me into my bedroom where I had his new duds all laid out. He stared at the getup for a while before he began to back out of the room.

  “Come on now,” I said before he made more than a couple of steps. “You said I could pick the costumes. You’re going to make one sexy Batman, I promise you. Mine will complement yours. Batgirl, not Robin.” I pulled him back into the room and started undoing the buttons on his shirt while rubbing myself alongside his body. My man was ready to get out of his uniform, though it might be a while before he put his costume on.

  “Sweetheart, I just don’t think I’ll be comfortable in that costume, but if you’re going to look just as ridiculous, then I won’t feel alone.”

  By the time we finally got into our costumes we were running late. I think Cal really liked my outfit. He didn’t make any comment, but the open mouth and bit of drool said it all. He looked even better than I imagined and I had no idea how I would keep my hands off him all evening.

  “Do me and yourself a favor, Batman, and keep the cape covering as much as possible or my hands—along with other body parts—will need to explore those tights. How many women are going to be there? I’ll need to fight them off.”

  “I’ll certainly try to keep my merchandise well covered, but what about yours? My God, Tara! You look irresistible.”

  “Well, we better at least attempt to get down the road. We may have to stop a few times along the way. Hehe!” Thank goodness for the capes! When we came downstairs, Mark and Karl were in the kitchen fixing dinner.

  “Well, it does look good on Cal, but I still like it better on Mark.” Karl had a rather lecherous look as he glanced from Cal to his lover.

  “Well, you had better say that,” Mark answered. “You two have a great time. We won’t wait up.”

  “Thanks, boys. I’m sure we will.” We made our way out the back door and Batman led me to his car, a blue Chevy sedan, which looked nothing like the Batmobile.

  The trip would take about an hour and a half and the roads were good. Cal looked almost sinister in his Batman mask, but he was such a good sport that even though the headpiece was rubbing against the roof of the car when he turned his head, he still kept it on and even grinned as we went down the road.

  We were barely out of the township when we came upon an apparently stalled vehicle alongside the county road. An older man stood next to the raised hood of an older cargo van and a younger man paced in front, trying to wave us over. Cal was always one to help anyone in need and quickly pulled his car over to lend a hand. I hoped the men wouldn’t laugh at Batman to the rescue but when Cal got out, I don’t even think it entered his mind that he was in a costume. He was so intent on helping fellow travelers. I pulled the visor down and was checking my lipstick when I heard the shot. I think my heart stopped at that moment.

  As I quickly turned to look back at where Cal should have been, the door was jerked open and the younger man grabbed me and began to pull me out. When he realized I still had my seatbelt on he swore in my ear, his breath smelled of stale tobacco and something sour. He quickly had the seatbelt removed and hauled me out of the car and forced me back toward the van. That was when I saw Cal lying off to t
he side. I screamed and called his name but the man holding me slugged and shook me.

  “Shut yer yap! He’s already dead, and you will be too if you don’t be still and git inside here.” He shoved me into the side door of the van and as soon as he jumped in and closed the door, the older man tore off down the road.

  “Where are you taking me? What is going on? I don’t even know you.” I was so confused, and possibly in shock with the events I just witnessed.

  “Hehe, boss, I just killed Batman and now I gonna get me some Batwoman.” The disgusting guy started pawing at me, grabbing for my breast. I scooted back and covered myself as well as I could with the cape but he still came after me.

  “Leave her, Butch.” The driver yelled without turning his head. “Tie her up so you can watch the roads. We don’t have time for you to screw around with her.”

  “But, boss, I don’t think it would take me long. She is one hot little bitch. I wonder why Mel never brought her in. She could have made us some serious money.”

  “I said to leave her alone.” This time he did turn to look at Butch, and his anger was evident. “We need her help, and you’re not going to ruin that.” The old man sounded like he was not used to any sort of insubordination and his orders were always followed. The younger man grabbed some rope and began to tie my arms behind my back. Though I tried to wriggle away he yanked my arms together with such force that I wondered if my shoulder would pop out. As soon as he had my arms secured, he went to my feet. All the while his eyes raked over my body. He made sure the cape was no longer hiding anything from him, and then he began running his dirty hands up my legs and I tried my hardest to kick him aside.

  “Leave me be, you pig! I don’t know who the hell you are, but I can assure you that you will not get away with this.” My kick did, in fact, cause a bit of damage but he was soon back in front of me looking meaner and uglier. I took the chance and angled my feet for another swift kick right to his groin area. Contact! His painful grunt was music to my ears.

  “You bitch! You’ll pay dearly for that. When I take you, and I definitely will, there won’t be anything gentle about it. In fact, you may not even survive the encounter.”

  “Dammit, Butch, I told you to leave her alone. Now watch the side roads in case someone is looking for us.” Butch gave me another nasty glare and then began to look around through the side and back windows. Without the distraction, my mind went straight to Cal and the last vision of his body lying in the ditch with blood coming out of a head wound. Hope against hope that somehow he survived, but the reality of the situation was clear. Cal was shot in the head at near point-blank range. How could anyone survive that?

  As we continued down the road, I closed my eyes and tried to come up with a solution to my problem. I had no idea where they were taking me, but I now knew they were associates of my father and brother. I was willing to bet they were the ones that had called and they needed some information from me. But what? I didn’t know anything about the operation but somehow they must think I did. Could I possibly fool them into trusting me?

  After about an hour, the driver turned to the right and onto what must have been a dirt road. Butch was no longer watching the roads and came back to sit next to me.

  “We’re almost home, my little sex kitten. Soon, very soon, you’ll get yours. It’s no more Batman for you, baby! You’re gonna be gitting some Superman.” Butch must have gotten some feeling back in his groin as he rubbed the area proudly. I looked away feeling sick to my stomach. I needed to come up with some sort of plan and soon.

  Once the van came to a halt, Butch opened the back door and grabbed my arm causing intense pain to spike across my shoulder. As I hissed, the older man stood next to the door.

  “Butch, you better not have harmed her. We may need her as a bargaining chip yet and I’m not going to allow you to damage the prize. Come along, Tara. We are enjoying your father’s hunting cabin while I search through his belongings. I bet you have never even been here. Butch, cut the rope on her feet. I don’t believe she’ll pose much threat to us.”

  “Thank you, sir.” He seemed reasonable and I needed an ally. My mind was going in several directions. I just hoped he would take the bait. “We may even be after the same things from my dear father. In fact, we may be able to help each other out. I already have someone getting access to his records and hidden files.” I took a chance that this may be what they were after. I felt like my father probably held these men by more than blind loyalty. He would have possession of incriminating documents to keep them in line.

  “Well now, that is interesting and maybe we can work together quite nicely. Your father owes me plenty and I’m not leaving the area unless I’m satisfied.”

  “That makes two of us.” It was working! “He owes me big time. You keep that creep of yours away from me, and I’m sure we can work something out.” Playing this word game with a mob boss was probably not the smartest move I ever made, but the thought of Cal lying in the ditch gave me the courage to play any game. If nothing else, I would die trying to bring these two to justice for killing Cal. I owed it to him, I couldn’t yet think of him as being gone but I knew these two needed to be stopped.

  Though my arms were still tied behind my back, I walked up onto the front porch following the man like I owned the place. “So you haven’t found anything here at all? I would think this would be a great place for him to hide his treasure.”

  “Nope, nothing at all.” The old man looked over at me with a hint of suspicion, and I held my breath. “I really didn’t think he would leave anything in plain sight. This cabin was used for many secret meetings but it still is legally in his name, and the FBI may have found out about it. It doesn’t look like they put the pieces together though. Our search was the first through here. Come on, let’s get you settled in and we can talk about your ideas.” Hearing that the FBI didn’t know about this place was a little discouraging. Logan wouldn’t know to look for me here once they figured out that I was taken.

  When I entered the cabin, I noticed that it had been thoroughly ransacked. They must have gone through every nook and cranny not caring how they left things. The leader led me over to a couch and moved some things out of the way so I could sit down.

  “Listen, I’m obviously not going anywhere and I really do want to get even with my father. I would be much more comfortable if you could untie my hands and also I would like to possibly grab an old shirt of his to wear so our friend doesn’t get out of hand.” He looked me over and must have believed me to be safe. After releasing my hands, he showed me where I could find some spare clothes. I quickly grabbed a large sweatshirt with matching pants, which would cover most of my costume. Hopefully, it would do the trick.

  “Butch, get some coffee going and nuke that pizza from yesterday. Sit down, Tara. Now, what exactly have you been searching for?” I followed him back out to the couch and plopped down like I was at an afternoon tea.

  “Well, you probably know that along with my brother, his other son was also indicted on prescription fraud charges. His wife is an acquaintance of my business partner and she knows of a storage facility that was used.” I had come up with the bare bones of an idea and hoped it would work. “I have my partner attempting to discover more information from her, but she is trying to remain inconspicuous about her questions. So far she knows Dale rented a storage unit east of town, but we’re trying to pin down the exact place and unit number.” We were not doing any such thing and there may not even be a storage facility east of town, but I needed to take the chance that he would allow me to contact Fee about the unit.

  “Hmm . . . that might be where he stored the documents. Yes, that would be a perfect place. This unit was rented by his son? The doctor?” When I studied the look on his face, something else became clear. I believed this man and Pastor Dale were related, probably brothers. Now, how could I use that information to help me?

  “Yes, his wife has access to his unit and mentioned it to my associate
, who planned on volunteering to check it out. I’m not sure what they may have stored in there. I had hoped some of his ill-gained fortune was hidden away. I don’t much care about any documents or drugs. I don’t have the connections to do anything with those things.” Butch set the pizza down on the coffee table and sat down next to me, closer than I would have liked. I moved as far as the sofa would allow.

  “Ah, come on, sweetheart! I won’t bite. Boss, I bet we could get the wife and bring her here too.” Butch bit into his pizza and then offered the same piece to me.

  “No thanks, I’m really not hungry.”

  With his mouth still full, he snickered, “Afraid of my germs? You’ll be getting more than that from me real soon, lover.”

  “Not if you want my help.” It was the only thing I had to bargain with at this point even though I couldn’t help them at all. They didn’t yet know that.

  “Oh, I think we’ll get your help once I’m finished with you.” Butch put one of his greasy hands on my leg and the other was pulling on the sweatshirt. I had hoped the old man would get him in line but he was just sitting there in deep thought.

  “Keep your dirty paws off me! I’m not going to help you one bit!” I stood up to move to a different chair or possibly out of the room.

  “Butch, I told you to leave her alone and I meant it. We will follow this lead. I don’t want to involve Dale’s daughter-in-law if we can help it. We need to get what we came for and leave the area quickly. You killed the cop and they will be hunting for us already. I’m almost positive they won’t find us here, but we need to finish our business and get back to Vegas.” He gave Butch a sharp look and then turned back to me. I had decided to sit on one of the kitchen stools, away from groping hands.

  “If I can get hold of my friend, I’ll make sure we get that information immediately. They may be monitoring her phone calls though. Do you have a burn phone? I need something that can’t be traced.” I knew they wouldn’t let me use my cell phone so I made it sound like it was my idea. Hopefully, he would trust me even more.