Audrey watched her lover sob uncontrollably. She put her arms around her and held her close. “I have a plan. We cannot let the cops know what has happened here. I need your help. Do you think you can help me?”
“Yes, it is all my fault. What do you want me to do?” Joan asked through sobs.
“We need to take the body far away from here. She looked at Joan.
“Yes. Yes. She replied.
“Good. Go and get your car and meet me here in ten minutes. I have to take care of a few things. “
Audrey watched Joan disappear into the night. She immediately went into her work mode collecting a bucket of water with bleach. In the shed she grabbed a large plastic bag and ties, put on a pair of latex gloves and wheeled out the furniture dolly.
Checking Frankie’s pockets she removed a wallet and a key then put the body in the bag and tied it securely. She threw the bucket of bleach and water over the blood on the grass. Then put the body bag on the dolly and pushed it up to Joan’s car.
“Where is her car do you think?” Joan asked as she came over to help.
“Maybe she left it on the road and walked up the drive. You can’t miss it. It’s one of those new cute Nissan, Jukes. Bright yellow. She must have made a fortune to own a car like that.”
There was no sign of the car on the peninsula road. They continued down to the Hihi beach and noticed a yellow car parked by a motel room at the Holiday Camp. “That’s it! Perfect.” Audrey said removing a key from her pocket. “I wondered what this key was for. Park over there, opposite the campgrounds, I am going to collect her things and drive her car. Follow me.”
Audrey opened the motel room with Frankie’s key. Once inside she repacked Frankie’s overnight bag, picked up her phone and car keys and left the motel key on the coffee table.
They drove for more than four hours into the night. Audrey read all of Frankie’s text messages, mostly brothel business. Looks like the business was going really well. I wonder who inherits Frankie’s business? Her address was easy to find. It was a nice modern home on Lake Pupuke on the North Shore. As she drove up the driveway she pressed the garage door opener and realized there was enough room for two cars. She waved Joan into the garage and closed the doors. There was a door leading into the laundry and another door out the back leading to the lake.
“What luck!” Joan said. “We can put the body in the lake. It will look as though she has drowned.”
“Not with a bullet in her head.” Audrey said. “Wait here while I check inside. She took Frankie’s overnight bag and keys.
Audrey walked through Frankie’s well kept home using her torch to navigate through the darkened rooms. The light shone on a group of photos on the mantelpiece. She glanced at the photos, left the bag and keys and went to join Joan outside.
It wasn’t easy to remove the body and drag it through the laundry and out the back door towards the lake. They removed the body from the bag and dragged her through the bush to the water’s edge. The body sank slowly into the murky waters.
They were exhausted. Audrey did a mental check. Everything was taken care of. They drove back to the cabins and arrived about mid-day.
“Get some sleep.” She said to Joan. “I’ll just lock up and join you.”
Joan was in shock. Thank God she had Audrey. What would I have done without her? She fell on Audrey’s bed fully clothed and fell into a deep, troubled sleep.
C H A P T E R 3 7
Detective Bromley knocked on the door of the cabin. There was no one in the office. He looked at the time. It was three o’clock in the afternoon. Where the hell is she? Her car is here. He knocked again, even louder. The curtains were closed blocking any view inside. He began to get worried. Why are the curtains closed in the middle of the afternoon? He walked around the cottage and tried the back door. It was locked.
Then he saw her. She opened a window and peered out. He had obviously woken her. “Oh, hello, Detective, I am not feeling well. Can I help you with anything?”
“I need to talk to you.” He replied walking to the window. “Have you seen anyone lurking around your property lately?”
“You mean other than the two guys you just arrested?” she replied.
“Well, yes. I am afraid that there is a situation and I am going to have one of our guys keep an eye on your property until we can resolve it.”
“What sort of situation? Audrey asked still holding open the window and feeling rather embarrassed by her lack of clothing and her feeble attempt of holding a towel as a cover-up.
“It appears that there may be more cocaine than we expected. Ben Williams has made a confession. We will be bringing in drug dogs and the National Drug Intelligence Bureau is now involved with the case. We are getting a warrant to search your property, Bruce’s property next door and the beaches. We will begin the search tomorrow morning at nine o’clock. I am sorry, Audrey, for the inconvenience. Please inform your guests. All cabins will also be searched.”
“When is my bodyguard arriving?” she asked.
“He won’t disturb you. He will be at your entrance. He will do a walk about during the night – just to check on things.”
Audrey had no choice. “Thanks Detective, I appreciate your help. I have been worried here with everything that has been going on. Would you mind if I’m not here when you search? I promised a friend we’d go shopping in Whangarei. My guests are departing early tomorrow morning so you will have the place to yourself.
“Sounds like a good idea.” The Detective said. “I hope you feel better soon.”
Audrey shut the window and turned to Joan who was awake and listening nervously.
“Don’t worry, Joan. Go back to sleep. We have a busy night ahead of us.”
“I am not surprised Ben ratted. He wouldn’t hesitate if he could get a lighter sentence. What a shit! Joan said, as she snuggled up to Audrey. “He had better not get off scot free.”
Audrey didn’t answer. How the hell am I going to move the coke?
C H A P T E R 3 8
It was almost midnight before the water tank emptied five thousand gallons of pure rainwater into the native bush nearby. It was a slow and frustrating process. Audrey had already confessed her drug-stealing episode to Joan who took it surprising well, considering the circumstances. “I can’t believe you did it?” she said in shocked amazement. “You took the whole ninety kilos and hid it at the bottom of your water tank! It serves them bloody right! I wish I could have seen Ben’s face when he realized that his precious fortune disappeared before his eyes.”
Audrey would not have told Joan if she didn’t need her help. But there was no way she could move the coke without her. The police were monitoring the property and the constable on duty had already walked the property a couple of times. Audrey was pleased the tank water ran down a steep bank towards the bay. It was unlikely the cops would notice the spill. If they did she would simply say that she had a leak in one of the pipes leading to the cabins. Thank God I have two other tanks to provide the water to the property otherwise I would be in deep shit.
When the tank was completely drained and Joan was on lookout, she descended into the dark, damp depths below. Using her headlamp she divided the coke bags into five groups attaching ropes to each group. Why didn’t I do this before I dropped them in the bloody tank? She heard the constable’s car driving down the ridge towards her. Fuck! She froze and waited. Does he know I am here? She waited, not moving. Finally she heard the car drive away. She waited another few minutes not daring to move. She heard steps climbing up the ladder on the outside of the tank. I’m screwed!
“All clear” she heard Joan whisper down the opening.
Audrey hadn’t realized she had stopped breathing. “Shit that was close,” she whispered climbing to the top of the ladder and squeezing through the small opening while cursing her more than ample boobs. She handed Joan the ropes and together they pulled the bundles up and over the tank to rest on the blue plastic tarpaulin on the ground. Le
aving any trace of cocaine would be a disaster.
Joan went on the lookout for Constable nosey bugger. She found him on the other side of the ridge having a smoke.
“What are you doing up so late?” asked the constable.
“I am a late to bed sorta girl.” She replied.
“Looks like a nice place to stay.” He said looking over at the cabins.
“Yes. I came to enjoy some peace and quiet. Didn’t expect to be caught up in a drug raid.”
“Yes, sorry about that. Once the place has been thoroughly searched things should go back to normal.”
“How long do you think it will take?” she asked
“I would expect the dogs can cover the whole property in one day. We will be starting with this property and the property next door and then divers will search the bay and beaches,” he said putting out his cigarette. “Well, I will be at the front gate if anyone should need me. Goodnight.”
Joan watched him get into his car and head off down the driveway. We should have at least an hour.
Audrey was grateful for Joan’s help. She is such a trouper. Audrey had seen how the policeman eyed Joan. She was beautiful. No wonder she was so successful as an escort. By admitting her past, Joan had become even more desirable in her eyes, desirable and useful. Now Audrey had everything she needed to turn their coke find into a future. A future she and Joan could make together.
The plan was to leave the property at dawn before the cops arrived. There were just a few loose ends to clear away, so to speak.
C H A P T E R 3 9
Superintendent Peter Barton had been leaving messages for Frankie Perkins at her office and on her cell phone. Her office said she hadn’t been back in for a few days. Where the hell is the woman? He knew Detective Bromley had seen her leaving Tiromoana a couple of days ago and apparently no one had seen or heard of her since. Barton immediately obtained a warrant to search her home, car and property.
The Organized Crime Unit and a drug dog handler arrived at Frankie Perkins’s riverside home and used their warrant to gain access. They found her yellow Nissan parked in the garage and her purse, keys and cell phone lying on the table inside the kitchen. The back door was unlocked. There was no sign of Perkins. After a full search of the house and the back yard they discovered the woman lying facedown in the lake at the edge of the property. Forensics was called and the body later released to the coroner. He presumed she had been shot in the head by the Glock 42, found in the lake by the body. Was it suicide or murder?
The police needed to notify the next of kin. There appeared to be a daughter, Staci, who was living in the Auckland area. They tracked her down and broke the news that her mother’s body has just been discovered at her home and asked her to come into the station to help them with their inquiries.
Staci Goodman was a stunning twenty year old. She was also an owner and operator of a successful brothel in Auckland. She didn’t have much contact with her mother even though they were in the same business and she was her only child. Staci had left home at an early age. She had never gotten along with her mother. You couldn’t have two more different family members. Staci was feminine and strikingly attractive. Frankie, on the other hand, was masculine and butch. You wouldn’t know they were related.
In the interview with Staci, she appeared shocked that her mother was connected with the recent cocaine scandal. She had not talked to her for months. Now, with her mother gone, Staci would inherit her mother’s business. It was a red flag to the cops. Staci had a lot to gain with her mother’s death. She was definitely a person of interest; they would need to keep her under surveillance.
Superintendent Peter Barton had a lot on his mind: 90 kilos of cocaine were missing, a dead woman’s body, two Hispanics held on weapon charges and six men on cocaine possession and trafficking. If the drug dogs could not find the drugs at Frankie Perkins’s, maybe it was stashed at Hihi. He knew Detective Bromley and the Organized Drug Team were doing a complete search of the area. Of course, the coke could be well gone by now. Shipped to Australia, Mexico or anywhere throughout the globe. Fucking cocaine. We don’t want it in New Zealand. It’s bad enough with the Meth problem.
C H A P T E R 4 0
It was just daylight when Audrey and Joan headed out in the Rav 4 for a day of shopping in Whangarei. They had a whole day planned, breakfast by the waterfront, shopping, movies at noon and lunch at the Thai Restaurant. Audrey wanted to stop at a garden nursery and purchase a few bags of compost and plants for a new garden. They may even take a stroll along the hills overlooking the city. The women had planned to make a day of it and return to the cabins upon dark.
To their surprise, the constable was not at the gate and there was no sign of him or the police. It was going to be a beautiful day. Already the sky was blue without a cloud to be seen. The fact that they had ninety kilos of cocaine lying in the back disguised as animal fodder didn’t dampen their spirits in the slightest. They should be well gone before the police arrived in full force to do their search.
Detective Bromley arrived at Tiromoana Cabins an hour early to ensure that all the guests were gone and the keys to the cabins were where Audrey said she would leave them, in the planter box by the office door. They were, and he unlocked the cabins, cottage and office in preparation for the beginning of an expected long and tedious day. He did a walk around the property and waited for the crew to arrive. The constable on duty had left at dawn and reported a quiet night, nothing out of the ordinary.
By noon the dogs had found nothing. They had reacted to a scent in the Kiwi cabin but Bromley knew that was where they had found the one-kilo bag of cocaine. No sign of the ninety kilos. The dogs and their handlers had walked the whole fourteen acres including the native bush areas and the paths to the private beaches. The beaches also proved to be void of any drugs. They moved on to Bromley’s uncle’s property next door. It was disappointing. By day’s end not a grain of cocaine was found. Was Ben Williams full of shit? Was there only the one-kilo of coke? Was the whole story simply told for a ‘get out of jail free’ card?
Detective Bromley and his Uncle sat outside drinking a beer and contemplated the whole drug trafficking scenario. “You know, Jimmy, the bloody scumbags must have picked up the coke in their boat and brought it to shore. Do you believe William’s story about the hundred kilos or do you think he is full of it?”
“I just don’t know. How the hell could someone drive into Tiromoana, know where the drugs were stashed, remove almost a hundred kilos of the stuff and leave with no trace? It just doesn’t make sense.”
“Do you think the brothel owner took the stash and that is why she was killed?” Bruce Bromley surmised.
“Maybe. Whoever killed her got up close and personal. She was shot at close range right through the forehead. She must have pissed off someone. She certainly had a load of luggage when I saw her at Tiromoana. Surely she didn’t remove the coke in front of my own eyes.” Surely not!
“Sounds like she had something to do with it. What is going on with the two Hispanic guys? Do you think they were responsible for importing the stuff?”
“We don’t have any proof they were tied up with the cocaine and they couldn’t have been responsible for the woman’s death. We had them locked up at the estimated time of her death. We are arranging to have a guy go undercover as Steve Mills’ cellmate. If nothing else, maybe we will be able to confirm Williams’ story. Shit! Look at the time. I promised Mary I would be home for a movie night with the girls.” Detective Bromley stood to leave. “Catch you later.”
As he made his way down the long driveway onto the gravel road he saw Audrey entering her driveway next door. He made a quick turn and followed her.
Audrey pulled into her car park and saw Detective Bromley pull in behind her. “Hello Detective. How did the search go?”
“It was a long day. Unfortunately we didn’t find anything that would help us with our investigation” He looked in her car and saw it loaded with sacks and g
arden supplies. “I see you have been busy.”
“Yes, we had a wonderful day. I don’t think you have met Joan,” she said introducing Joan as she stepped out of the car.
“Why, yes. You are Ben Williams, wife. It’s nice to see you again. Are you staying here?” He said, obviously surprised.
“Yes I am.” said Joan. “Audrey has been kind enough to let me stay awhile.”
“Well, I am on my way. I have locked up the buildings and put the keys back. Sorry for the inconvenience. Have a nice night.”
The two women watched his car disappear down the long tree lined driveway and took a deep breath. If only he knew what was staring him in the face.
C H A P T E R 4 1
Ben Williams was restless. He hadn’t heard from anyone after he spilled his guts. Even his lawyer was keeping quiet. Being a snitch in jail was a death sentence. His cellmate, Hemi Heke, was a member of the Black Power gang. They were rivals with the Headhunters. The prison was a cesspool of corruption. Gangs formed in groups in the main grounds. Ben, Steve and the boys kept pretty much to themselves. Steve had a new cellmate they called ‘Fuckface’, due to his facial scars and tattoos. He was a mean looking dude. He didn’t seem to have any affiliation to any gang although the guys had heard that he was a member of the Cobras.
Have they talked to Frankie yet? God she must be pissed off!! And where is the fucking coke? I need to talk to Rick and find out what the hell is going on? Hemi thought they must have been working with the Cobras or Headhunters and was shocked when Ben confided in him that a Mexican drug cartel had set up a brothel chain to distribute the drugs.
The Murder Trail: The Audrey Murders - Book Three Page 7