Waiting and Watching

by Darcy Darvill

  “Well, she tried to drug me with a Valium this morning, but other than that she is loving the mystery surrounding Beth Vreeland. And she’s become just about indispensable. Would you believe she’s a retired private investigator?”

  “It looks like she’s come along at just the right time, and she sounds just like all the other women who can’t resist your charms.”

  “Well, she’s definitely taken up all my time lately. Not that I mind. She’s a real firecracker. If she were about thirty years younger…”

  “Well,” Connie said, “she sounds like a lot of fun and apparently knows her business. I say keep her on the case. If there’s something to find out about the impersonator, I bet Sylvia will uncover it. She definitely has her eyes and ears open.”

  “Yeah, but I worry about her doing something crazy.”

  “Like what?”

  “Well, she’s been watching the Vreeland apartment and last night she followed one of the occupants in a taxi into a rather dangerous area of the city. It was after midnight and she was alone, except for the cab driver. She’s not afraid to take chances and that worries me.”

  “Does she drive?” Connie asked.

  “No, thank God. She doesn’t have a car or a license anymore.”

  “I think I’d like to meet Sylvia next time I’m out there. So far, she’s come up with some smart ideas and may have more.”

  “How’s Andrew?”

  “He’s great, but really busy trying to play catch-up since his stay in Cincinnati. Things have been so crazy I haven’t even had time to talk to you about Andrew. I guess this is as good a time as any. I’m making plans to move to New York. Do you think it’s a wise decision?”

  “Isn’t that a bit fast? You two must have done some serious talking once I left the inn.”

  “We did, once things settled down and I overcame my shock over Martin, I realized there was no life for me to go back to in Utah. I haven’t been living, only existing and I didn’t realize it until I saw Andrew again. I can honestly say I’m happy and it’s the first time I’ve been happy since my life disintegrated in 1964. I’m going to visit him in a few days, so I’ll see how that goes.”

  “You know I love Andrew like a brother. My heart leaped when I saw him again. He’s the long lost family member I’ve always missed. But Connie, do you really know him now? It’s been twenty-two years and people change. I want you both to be happy, but get reacquainted with him first.”

  “I will. This trip to New York will help me to see him in his own environment and we’ll have lots of time to talk. I can’t wait to see where he lives and works. I promise I’ll try to slow this down if I can. I just can’t help but think I’m making up for lost time. And thanks for saying you love him, too. I can’t even tell you what joy that brings me.”

  “Well, have a wonderful trip and give my love to Andrew. Call me when you get back so I can have the full report.”

  “You know I will.”

  Chapter 34

  Todd Bridgeland came through his front door on his return home from work. He kissed his wife, Nancy, asked what was for dinner and immediately began opening the mail. He put the stack of mail down next to the phone on the kitchen desk and saw a scrap of paper with the name Vreeland and a phone number next to it. “What’s this?” Todd asked Nancy.

  “Nothing really. Some guy was looking for our old realtor, Beth Vreeland, and wondered if we knew how to contact her. He said it was really important he reach her.”

  “I don’t think we’ve heard from Beth Vreeland in about twenty years,” Todd said.

  “I know. I told him that, but I said if I heard anything about her I’d call him. Actually, I just took his number to be polite.”

  “Well,” Todd said. “We may as well throw it out since we can’t help him,” and with that he surreptitiously slipped the note into his pocket.

  Chapter 35

  Tuesday—September 23, 1986

  Julio returned to his office after an intense court hearing. He checked his answering machine and heard a message from Todd Bridgeland with a phone number. Julio called him back.

  “Todd Bridgeland here.”

  “Hi, Todd. My name is Julio Harriman. I left a message with your wife regarding the whereabouts of Beth Vreeland. Do you have some information that can help me locate her?”

  “I may,” Todd replied. “First, I’d like to know how you got my name and number.”

  “That’s a fair question.” Julio’s mind was racing for an explanation. “I’m an attorney and we obtained a client list of Beth Vreeland’s, and your name was on that list with an address in Omaha,” Julio said confidently.

  “Then, may I ask you why you’re looking for her?” Todd asked.

  “She was a friend of my parents back in Cincinnati.”

  “Why do your parents need to contact her?” Todd asked.

  Julio was beginning to get irritated with all of Todd’s questions and wondering why Todd was so interested in knowing his intentions regarding Beth Vreeland.

  Julio replied, “It’s regarding a murder investigation.”

  “And you think Beth can help you with that?” Todd asked.

  “It’s possible she could.”

  “Well, Julio, I don’t have a phone number for her, but she contacts me from time to time. I could give her a message to call you if I should ever hear from her,” Todd replied.

  “About how long has it been since you last heard from her?”

  Todd replied, “I just heard from her about a month ago.”

  Julio kept his composure.

  “All I know is that she’s in southern Florida somewhere, but I can’t remember what city. Is she considered a suspect in this murder?” Todd asked.

  “Well, at this point,” Julio remarked, “we haven’t ruled her out.”

  “Does Beth have a criminal record?” Todd asked.

  “Not that I know of.”

  “She always seemed a little shady to me,” Todd said.

  “Really? In what way?”

  “I’m not sure exactly. She just has a suspicious manner about her.”

  “Thanks, Todd. That’s even more of a reason to let me know if you hear from her. If you could pass along the message that I’m trying to contact her, I’d appreciate it.”

  “I’ll do that,” Todd replied and then hung up.

  Chapter 36

  Wednesday—September 24, 1986

  The following day, Julio groaned as he looked at the pile of work and new phone messages on his desk. He thumbed through the messages and recognized all the names but one. This message said: Regarding Mrs. Vreeland. Julio quickly dialed the number of a Max Ferguson.

  “Hello, this is Max.”

  “Hello, I’m Julio Harriman, and I’m returning your call regarding Mrs. Vreeland.”

  “Thanks,” Max said. “I’m a private investigator and you had left messages for two of my clients to call you regarding Mrs. Vreeland. I’m calling on their behalf. What can I help you with?”

  “Well,” Julio said, “I am unofficially looking into an old murder case in Cincinnati, Ohio. The victims were my parents, and I think there might have been some connection between my father and Mrs. Vreeland, so I’m trying to track her down. I’ve come across some odd things about her. I guess my first question to you, Max, would be—do you know if she’s still alive?”

  “As far as I know she is. My investigation involving her was about twenty years ago. However, just recently two of my clients contacted me, and they say she’s very much alive.”

  “Okay Max. I realize due to the confidentiality of your clients, you can’t tell me much. However, you might find some of my discoveries of interest. Where are you located?”

  “I’m in southern Florida and I take it by your area code that you’re nearby,” Max said.

  “That’s correct. However, if you could contact your clients and see if they would be interested in learning more about her, then let me know. Maybe if we put our informat
ion together, we may be able to put together a more all-around picture of Mrs. Vreeland and her whereabouts.”

  “I can certainly contact them and see if they want to pursue this.”

  “I would appreciate that,” Julio said.

  “I’ll get back to you, Julio.”

  Chapter 37

  Julio couldn’t help the shocked look on his face when he met his two fellow attorneys at a gas station near The Lower Level bar. These two button-down attorneys were in head-to-toe leather and riding Harley-Davidson hogs. The big guy, Otto, yelled, “Hey, Harriman, if you don’t mind, we’ll take our bikes and meet you there. I have a feeling you may not last too long with that crowd.”

  “Yeah, well, I don’t think I’m going. I’ve been thinking about it and this guy could recognize me. It wasn’t that long ago that he and I were in the elevator together, just the two of us.”

  “Well,” Patrick said. “How are we going to do this then?”

  “I don’t know,” Julio said. “It sounds like I’m wimping out, but it’s not like I’m unwilling to take a grenade for the cause, but he really could recognize me. Look at me. I’d stick out like a sore thumb. And, by the way guys, I’m lovin’ the leather look.”

  “Listen Harriman, we don’t let too many guys see us this way out of the office, but we like you,” Patrick said.

  “Now, you’re scaring me,” Julio said. “Should I take that as a compliment or a threat?”

  “Relax, Harriman. I mean, we trust that you’ll keep our little secret. However, you’d be shocked to know who we see in these bars sometimes. We’d tell you, but we leather ladies are discreet.” Otto laughed.

  “Well, you can tell that to your pants, ’cause they’re missing an ass.”

  “Good one, Harriman.”

  Laughing out loud, Julio said. “Seriously, I can’t believe you’re wearing leather pants with the ass cut out.”

  “Relax Harriman. It’s the style. Now, tell us what we’re looking for again.”

  “The car is an 85 black Cadillac Seville with the license plate number I LV2 SEL. His mother is a realtor, hence the vanity plate. All I know is that the guy is my height or taller and thin.”

  “Yeah Harriman, that will be easy—a tall, thin gay guy in a gay bar. Why don’t you give us something difficult?”

  “You’ll really owe us if we get anywhere on this,” Otto said, shaking his head.

  “How about taking it easy on me, guys?”

  “A couple gift certificates from Frederick’s of Hollywood will suffice,” Otto said with a wink.

  “Yeah. Whatever, and guys, if there’s any way you can get a beer bottle with his finger prints on it, it would be helpful,” Julio said with a smile.

  “Anything else, Harriman?” Patrick asked.

  “Nope, that’s it. Now get those bare asses back on those hogs and make mama proud,” Julio said.

  Chapter 38

  Julio’s home phone rang at nearly midnight. It was the call he’d been waiting for.

  “Hey man, it’s your bare-assed buddie,” Otto said.

  “What’s up? Did you score?” Julio asked.

  “You don’t want to know what’s up, and of course we scored,” Otto bantered back.

  “I should have known better than to ask that. Of course you scored. Those butt-less leather pants on a hangar could score.” Julio laughed.

  “We found your guy.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah. His name’s Sammy Vreeland. We saw him get out of a black 1985 Cadillac Seville with the tacky vanity plate I LV2 SEL.

  “You’re shittin’ me. He must be Beth’s kid,” Julio said.

  “You sent the right guys in to get the job done. We’d love to have you come over and collect the bottle, but we’ll just bring it into work tomorrow,” Otto said.

  “You mean you actually got his beer bottle?” Julio asked. “You guys are great—all joking aside, let me know what I can do to return the favor. Thanks guys. See you tomorrow.”

  Chapter 39

  Later that morning Julio called Connie to let her know about the bottle. He assured her it was in a Ziploc bag and would be handled cautiously. Connie suggested Julio call Sgt. Reynolds to ask him to check the fingerprints and see if Sammy had any kind of criminal record. “You can express mail him the bottle,” Connie suggested.

  “Just keep in mind this could be a dead end, so don’t get your hopes up.”

  Regardless, they agreed the mystery surrounding Beth Vreeland was worth checking out.

  “Reynolds’s told me he went through the file again after my incident with Martin. He wasn't in school the day of the murders,” Connie said. There was a note from his mother saying he was sick at home that whole week. He’s going to dig further into the file to see why Martin was eliminated as a suspect back then.”

  “It was probably because the police were so convinced Andrew was their guy,” Julio said. They weren’t going to waste their time looking for any other possible suspects.”

  “Reynolds also told me that Beth Vreeland claimed she was on her way to meet clients. The clients confirmed they had an appointment with her at nine that morning and to the best of their knowledge she was on time or maybe just a few minutes late.”

  Julio said, “Depending on where she was meeting her clients, she still may have had time to do it.”

  “I agree,” Connie said. “We need to find out more about her to better understand Dad and his connection with her.”

  “Alright,” Julio said. “I’ll get to the bottom of this he/she Vreeland deal.”

  “Great and while you’re doing that, I’m going to be spending a romantic weekend with Andrew in New York.”

  “Well, have a great time Connie. You deserve it.”

  Chapter 40

  Thursday—September25, 1986

  Julio was waiting by the designated phone booth near The Lower Level when he received the call he was waiting for.

  “Sammy just walked in.”

  “Thanks, Otto. I’ll be right over.”

  Julio nervously walked into The Lower Level and spotted Otto right away. “Where is he?” Julio asked. Otto pointed towards the bar.

  Julio saw a thin, drugged-out looking guy who was leaning on the bar smoking a cigarette. He walked over to him and asked if he could buy Sammy a drink in exchange for some small talk. Sammy accepted the drink and they walked over to a booth. Julio had a feeling Sammy didn’t recognize him from the elevator and more likely had him pegged as a new trick.

  As they sat down in the booth, Julio caught a glimpse of his attorney buddy Patrick slow dancing with some guy. The whole scene gave him a frightening feeling of being in a far out Fellini movie. Julio introduced himself to Sammy and said he wanted to ask him a few questions. Sammy immediately jumped up and started walking away from the booth. Julio grabbed his arm and said. “I’m not with the police or narcotics and I’m not here to threaten you. Please just hear me out. I intend to pay you for your time and all I want to do is talk.” With that, Sammy sat back down; his hands shaking as he lit a cigarette.

  Julio decided to go with his gut and assume that Sammy is Beth Vreeland’s son. He started out cautiously. “Listen Sammy, I’m just a regular guy whose parents knew your mother in Cincinnati.”

  “So what does that have to do with me?” Sammy snarled.

  “Did your mother ever mention a man named Dr. John Harriman?” Julio asked.

  “What’s it worth to you?”

  Julio took out a one hundred dollar bill and laid it on the table. “Look Sammy, I intend to give you this for the time you’re spending with me now. I know you and your mother have been running a scam and extorting money from your mother’s married lovers. I’m not planning to blow the whistle on you, if I can help it. I just need to know where your mother is.”

  “I honestly don’t know and that’s the truth,” Sammy said as he tucked the hundred dollar bill into his pocket. “Hell, she comes and goes as she pleases. When I don
’t see her, she’s usually shacked up. She’s been gone for months. This guy either has plenty of money or a huge dick.”

  “Look man, it’s none of my business, but I can’t help but notice you look pretty strung out.”

  “You’re right. It’s none of your business. Thanks for the beer,” Sammy said, making a move to leave.

  Julio quickly pulled out another hundred and said, “Just a few more minutes and this is yours, too.” Sammy’s eyes lit up and he sat back down.

  “Look Sammy, your Mother and my Father were involved somehow in Cincinnati. I think they were having an affair. My parents were murdered and your mother might be able to give me some insight into who killed them.”

  “So let me get this straight. You think my mother killed your parents?”

  “Doubtful, but she may know something about who did.”

  “Look, like I told you before; my mother comes and goes as she pleases. I spent my whole life traveling from place to place because of my mother’s selfish whims,” Sammy whined.

  “Alright. I concede that you don’t know where she is. I can’t help thinking you’re still living off her schemes and now you’ve got another way of existing which doesn’t look too healthy to me.” A waiter, naked except for a leather thong, came up to the table and asked if they wanted another beer. Julio nodded yes.

  “What do you care, anyway?” Sammy asked, taking a long pull on his cigarette.

  “I guess in some way, you and I are both victims of our parents. You must have had a tough life and you deserved more,” Julio said.

  “How do you know my life is so bad?”

  “It’s pretty obvious. You have track marks all over your arms and you’re turning tricks in here. It doesn’t look good to me, that’s all. I understand being gay, but this place is a sleazy, bottom-of-the barrel kind of place.”

  “Ironically, this is where I feel the most comfortable. I finally found men like me, men who accept me for what I am. You’re right. It wasn’t easy growing up a shy, skinny, gay guy. I had few friends and my mother left me alone most of the time. The only thing she needed me for was to help her pull off her scams.”