I walked Brad out to his car. “Call me for anything.”
He wrapped his arms around me in a fierce hug.
Chapter Thirty-One
Fab gripped the steering wheel, blowing down the Overseas in a snit over my mention of getting hamburgers from Roscoe’s. “That’s a greasy pit, and we’d have to eat in the car.” Indignation blanketed her face.
My phone rang, and GC popped up on the screen. I put my fingers to my lips and answered, hitting the speaker, not saying anything.
“Grow up,” he barked. “I can hear you breathing, and it sounds like you’re panting.”
“What do you want? I’m taking a page from your phone manners booklet.”
He snorted. “Got a case for you. Warning: It comes with a weirdo label.”
“Family member? Friend?”
“Out-of-state client.”
Fab and I exchanged shrugs.
“Does that mean we get paid?” Fab shouted.
“Something better than cash—my goodwill.”
“Got a rule for you. We will never give up the right to tell you, ‘Oh hell no.’ We also reserve the right to add future rules that you’ll agree to without any ’tudiness. Agreed? If not, you can hang up now.”
“My attitude? What about yours, Pot?”
“I prefer Kettle.”
Fab covered her mouth and laughed.
“Here are my rules: Your safety is foremost, and you’re not to do anything to put yourselves in jeopardy. A ‘yes, sir’ from both of you will be sufficient.”
Fab growled so loud that, instead of sounding like one annoyed dog, she sounded like a pack.
I laughed. “I’m sure you heard—Fab answered for both of us.”
“The client is worried about her sister. Turns out she’s been missing for two years. Somehow, the client managed to get an address for the sister’s boyfriend at the time, and he’s here in the Keys.”
“Two years?” I said incredulously. “Has the client been looking this whole time or did it just dawn on her that she hadn’t talked to her sis in a while?”
“The answer isn’t relevant to the case. Anything else?” His tone told me he was tired of the conversation.
“You disconnect, and the answer is, ‘Hell no, we won’t work for you.’ What is it that you want us to do—hold the man at gunpoint and question him until we know his sock size?” Fab smiled, so she liked the idea. “Or are you suggesting, in a not-very-direct way, that this case may involve murder?”
“I’m saying be prepared for anything. The sister seems to think foul play is involved, but when I talked to her, she’d either been drinking or wasn’t stable in general, and it zapped my patience trying to get details out of her.”
“Text over the pertinent info,” I said. “I’ll discuss it with my partner and get back to you. When do you need this completed?”
GC grumbled something unintelligible. Then, “Today,” he snapped. “Listen up, I’ve got the info for you. I’m about to impart everything you need to know to get the job done pronto.”
I reached across the dashboard and grabbed the GPS. “What’s the address? You can text me the rest.”
GC rattled off the address as fast as he could, barely intelligible.
“I didn’t get any of that,” I grouched. “Text whatever you’ve got.”
“Steven Smith is the man’s name,” he said. “I’ve also got a picture.”
“If it’s an alias, it’s not very original,” Fab said. “What do you know about Steve, so we know what we’re getting into?”
“Name’s legit. Checked him out, no criminal record. He’s been employed at a local hospital for the last ten years, no blemishes on his file, exemplary employee. The house he lives in is in a good neighborhood and part of a family trust.” He paused. “I just sent pictures of Steve and the missing woman, Merry Winters.”
“We should have something for you in a couple of days,” I said, knowing it would annoy him since he expected service at the snap of his fingers.
“This afternoon,” he barked.
“I’ll text if I learn anything. I’m surprised you stayed on the phone this long, knowing how much you hate talking.”
“Sooner on this case would be better.” He disconnected.
“Put the home address in GPS,” Fab said. “Maybe it’s close. Call the hospital and see if he’s working. No, that’s not a good idea. Not sure how they’d track down an orderly—it’s not like he’s going to have his own office—and I don’t want to get him fired.”
“Take the turn two exits past the city limits of Tarpon Cove.” I directed after looking at what came up on the GPS. I didn’t dare turn on the sound—Fab found it so annoying, the GPS would end up in the street. “It’s an area of older, well-kept homes that have survived more than a few storms. Plus, I’m sure plenty of new construction, as that seems to be the trend.”
“First we knock, and if Stevie answers, we inquire about our dear friend Madison.”
I rolled my eyes. “A better name would be Fab.”
“If he doesn’t answer, then we snoop around. How close the neighbors are and whether anyone’s loitering about will determine whether I use my lockpick.” Fab eased off the highway and made a hard right at the first signal.
“There’s another possibility.” I turned and scoped out the houses as Fab cruised past. “Merry answers the door. With our track record, though, that would be too easy.”
“If it’s a different woman, we stick to the same story. Except maybe she’s got a forwarding for Merry or an idea where to start looking.”
“If it’s another woman, go into PI mode. Or do what comes naturally and scare the devil out her, and get the information that way.”
“You’re mean.”
“It happens.” I flashed her a cheeky smile.
Fab pulled into a four-block tract of homes and turned on the first street. There were few variations on the two-story houses, and all had open garage space underneath. Some were more weathered by nature than others.
Steven Smith lived in the middle of the block in a grey A-frame on stilts with a wraparound deck, a large grey shed was the only thing at ground level. No cars anywhere on the property made it an easy guess that no one was home.
We parked in the front and got out.
“Plan P: I pick the lock, you stall anyone who shows up,” Fab said, thoroughly amusing herself.
“You’re forgetting, in that plan of yours, that we first check out the perimeter before any picking. You need an exit that doesn’t involve jumping out a second-floor window and hoping to land on a branch of one of the trees.” Glancing around, I saw there was one tree and no shrubbery. “You’d be lucky if all you did was break a bone or six.” I winced at my memory of tree climbing.
“If the worst happens, I’ll fight my way out.” Fab made a couple of air-chops.
“At least you didn’t say shoot.” I shot her an evil glare and followed her to the stairs. “If whoever interrupted you wasn’t a complete nimrod, they’d get my license number. Next stop, a jail cell.”
“Let’s get this over with.”
“Hold on.” I grabbed at her shirt and came up empty. “I say we wait and see if Steven shows up. It’s past shift-change for hospitals, and he could show up any minute. If not, we question the neighbors, starting with the old guy in the rocking chair across the street. Whip out your dude magnet, and he’ll be putty in your hands, telling you everything you want to know.”
Fab shook her head, barely halting on her way up the steps.
Hanging onto the railing, I ventured up a few steps, figuring I could be lookout from midway up.
Fab turned the knob on the front door, shaking it. She cupped her hands and peered in the small window. Seconds passed, then she circled the deck, peering in every window that didn’t have coverings. “There’s a back door,” she called, coming around the corner. “Locked.”
Bored, I walked back to the SUV, one eye on Fab and the other on th
e street. “Car coming,” I yelled up to her. To my frustration, it passed the house and kept going. I eyed the man across the street, who hadn’t moved—from my vantage point, it was hard to tell if he was awake. I’d hate to interrupt his snooze just to slow Fab down in breaking and entering.
Nothing ventured… Might as well try. Heading down the driveway, I paused to yell, “Hold up,” to Fab, seeing her hand coming out of her back pocket. She’d be inside before I got to the middle of the street.
Weaseling information out of the neighbor could turn out to be helpful or make him suspicious. Too late. She’d disappeared inside. I looked back at the guy across the street—he was slumped over in his chair and hadn’t woken up. I leaned against the car door, hoping Steven didn’t come home until Fab came back out.
To my surprise, Fab shot back out the door and down the steps in under a minute. Even though she had experience, I suspected that was the fastest housebreaking ever, unless she found something. “Did you go through all the drawers and closets?”
Fab bent over, hands on her knees, and took a deep breath.
Dread washed over me. “Please tell me Steven isn’t dead.”
“If he is, he didn’t croak inside the house. But…”
An electric car motored quietly into the driveway, parking next to us. “Hi, ladies,” the good-sized fellow said as he got out. He bore a resemblance to the photo GC’d sent over, the blue scrubs and flattop another clue. “You waiting on me?”
“If you’re Steven Smith,” Fab said.
His easygoing stance changed to fidgety. “That depends on who wants to know.”
“We’re here about Merry Winters. Do you mind answering a few questions?” Fab asked politely, a tone she didn’t often use.
He motioned for us to follow him upstairs.
“Have a seat over there.” He pointed to the front deck, opened the door just enough to squeeze through, and slammed it shut, the lock turning with a click.
“Do you think he’ll come back out?” Fab asked. “Or just call the police?”
“Depends on what he’s got to hide.”
“You’re not going to believe—”
The door opened, and Steven came out. He double-checked to make sure it locked behind him, then walked around to the front of the deck, sliding onto the bench at the picnic table. We sat in chairs on the opposite side, facing him.
“Merry, huh?” Steven shifted his stare between us. “Haven’t heard that name in a while. Not sure how much help I can be.”
“Merry Winter’s family is trying to find her, and someone we spoke to mentioned you as a friend,” Fab said.
“Family? Now there’s a surprise. You probably don’t know this, but Merry and I met while she was a patient at University Hospital and became good friends. To my knowledge, Merry never had a single visitor, and she was there two months. After she was discharged, I never saw her again. That was a year ago.”
Even though the man wasn’t being obvious about it, it was clear he was describing a painful time. I heard him faintly whisper, “I loved her.”
“Any idea where she might have gone?” Fab asked.
Steven shook his head and stood. “If that’s all?”
“Sit back down,” Fab ordered.
I’d wondered how long it would take for “nice girl” to hit the road. I was about to find out what Fab had found in that house.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do.” Steven puffed out his chest and slid off the bench. “I can pick up your scrawny butt and pitch you over the railing in a flash.”
“Don’t be stupid.” Fab jumped up and whipped out her gun, pointing it at him. “I know what you’ve got in the princess bedroom.”
He wisely held up his hands, stepping back. The fear on his face was replaced by outrage. “You’re not taking her from me. I love her.”
“Murdering a woman is a felony and carries a life sentence, and that’s if you’re lucky.” Fab gestured with her gun. “Sit.”
“Murder?” he shrieked, backing up towards the house. “No. Oh, hell no. I’ve never hurt anyone in my life, nor have I done anything illegal.”
I raised my hand. “Odd woman out here would like someone to fill her in.” They both ignored me.
“Is the dead woman in the bedroom Merry? It’s hard to make an ID on a mummy.”
Steven continued to back up until he hit the sliding glass door. “How much for the two of you to go away and forget you were ever here? I don’t have a lot of money, but I can make payments.”
“Like that’s even possible,” Fab yelled.
“Is the body inside Merry or not?” I asked.
“Yes,” he snapped. “Satisfied? Merry wasn’t murdered, and I can prove it. Pull a copy of her death certificate, and you’ll find out she died of a massive heart attack while in the hospital.” He swiped at his eyes.
“Sorry.” It was the best I could come up with while wondering how long Merry had been dead and whether it was the year ago he’d mentioned. “Merry’s sister claims she been trying to find her for two years and must have had a pretty poor PI for that death certificate to go unnoticed.”
“That’s bull,” Steven blurted. “Where was this so-called sister when Merry was in the hospital dying? There were no attempts to claim the body. If we hadn’t married hours before she died, she’d have been given an indigent burial. Thrown in a hole somewhere.”
“It’s very sweet of you to give Merry a funeral service.”
Fab coughed. Her look left no doubt I’d lost my mind.
“I promised Merry that I would take care of her, and I have.” A low rumble came from his chest. “Now what? You take her and do what? She didn’t want to be buried, and she likes it right where she is—her spirit told me so.”
“Tell us about your love story.” Okay, lame question, but it seemed to calm him down and earn me some indignation from Fab.
“Merry and I knew it wouldn’t be long. I did some research, and found Preacher Pink online to perform the ceremony.”
“Marvin Pink?” I gulped back my gasp. There was a name I’d hoped to never hear again.
“Very nice man. He rushed right over.”
I bet he did. Now wasn’t a good time to tell him the marriage probably wasn’t legal.
“Merry passed away later that night. Preacher Pink hung around, and we were able to have a short funeral service. Thankfully, instead of her being shipped off to the county, I was able to intervene and call my friend, who works as a driver at a local funeral home. He got the night crew to clean her up and transported her here. The bedroom wasn’t decorated as it is now, but Merry didn’t seem to mind.”
“That’s quite the love story.” I squirmed, unable to make eye contact with the man.
“Merry’s the center of my world. She waits for me to get home, eager to hear about my day.”
“Where else would she go?” Fab snapped.
In Florida, it was lawful to bury your loved one in the yard, providing you got the appropriate permit. Keep them in the house? He wouldn’t be the first person I’d known to do that, but that person had had their loved one embalmed before the body snatch.
“How did you stave off deterioration?” I wrinkled my nose. “The smell must’ve been overwhelming.”
“He did something to her,” Fab accused.
“I preserved her.” Duh in Steven’s tone.
Fab leaned forward. “How?”
Of course she’d be interested in that!
“As her skin deteriorated, I replaced it with silk, stuffed the body to retain her shape, and used perfume to disguise the smell.” He smiled, as though reliving those moments.
Looking down, I squeezed my eyes closed, not wanting that image burned in my mind as it was Fab’s.
“You did a decent job,” Fab said. “Merry looks mummified.”
High praise from Fab.
“What are you going to do?” Steven jabbed his finger at us. “Take her from me? You’ll have to call the po
lice, and you broke into my house—I’ll press charges. I’ll be in trouble, but I don’t care. You’re not putting her in any hole.”
I looked at Fab, silently asking her the same question.
The silence stretched out.
“Nothing,” Fab said. “You said there’s a death certificate?”
He nodded. “Filed in Miami-Dade. I have one in the house, if you want to see it.”
“That’s not necessary. If your story checks out, you can forget today ever happened. If you’re full of it, I won’t be back, but the police will.”
“We’ll let the sister know that she passed—that should satisfy her. It would be up to her to pursue it after that, and that would be costly.”
Steven leaped on Fab, engulfing her in a bear hug.
Fab growled and shoved him on his butt.
I bit my lower lip. No one would believe what had just happened without pictures.
“You made the right decision.” Steven’s face glowed. “I’ll continue to take good care of Merry. Would you like to say your good-byes to her in person?”
“No, thank you,” I said over my shoulder as I struggled not to run to the steps.
“Your partner is squeamish around dead people,” Steven said in a soft, reverent voice. “Not like the two of us.”
I grasped the handrail, thinking about taking the steps two at a time, but I didn’t want to fall and by some fluke be stuck here. Even though I had a head start, Fab was seconds behind me in slamming the car door. I waved out the window as Fab threw the SUV in reverse.
“What do we tell GC?” I asked.
“Order a copy of that death certificate and slip it under his door, now that we know where he lives—case closed.” At the end of the block, Fab eased off the gas and downed the rest of her water, rubbing her eyes. “The bedroom was decorated for a little girl. The mural on the wall was forest-themed, with a woman sitting on a throne, complete with a crown, surrounded by animals. It wasn’t creepy until I caught sight of the dead person propped up in the bed. Snapped a couple of pics and got out as fast as I could.”
Psycho in Paradise (Florida Keys Mystery Series Book 15) Page 20