That caught his attention. His jaw tightened and he curled his lips under. “What are you insinuating? That Carole’s having a thing with Ed? That’s ridiculous. Besides, you said yourself she told you he was a client. She was probably just over there getting some papers signed. I’m beginning to think you’re trying to get even with me or something.”
I plopped down beside him. “Look, I don’t want to do this. Let’s not fight about it. I do want to run something by you, see what you think.” Without owning up to the spying trip to the modeling agency or the espionage attempt Charli and I had just botched, I told Tim my suspicions about Big Ed. When I finished talking, he scoffed at the idea.
“I don’t think so. What I think is that he’s lining up another job. He’s meeting with Carole to make sure his money stuff is in order. He’s missing work when he’s clearly not sick, but he’s not exactly in hiding. You’ve seen him out in public, the last time at the ball game with half the people in Glenvar, including Herb, his boss. If he was involved in the murder, it seems to me like he’d be holed up somewhere, not popping up all over town.”
It was plausible, but I still couldn’t shake the feeling that somehow Big Ed was connected with Sabrina, even if he wasn’t the one who killed her.
“Anything new happening with the investigation?” I asked.
“Not really. I did try again today to convince Winger that the thing at the ball field was really an attack, but he still isn’t buying it. Man, Marty, that guy really doesn’t care for you. He thinks you’re some sort of thrill-seeker or that you’ve got Histrionic Personality Disorder.”
“What the heck is that?”
“It’s when people are always seeking attention by putting themselves in the middle of drama.”
“I hope the heck you gave him grief for that. You know better, Tim. I’ve just had this wild run of ghastly luck lately. You gotta admit, I’ve had way more bad mojo than any one person ought to have to endure. I sure wish I knew what I’ve done to deserve it.”
He put his arm across my shoulders and gave me a little head noogie. “I know, babe. You do seem to be on a really bad losing streak. But, c’mon. Some of it, you bring on yourself. Don’t think for a minute that I believe you and Charli were out by the river to let nature soothe your souls. If I had to guess, I’d say y’all were snooping around in places you’ve got no business being.”
I started to protest – to give my lie – but he stopped me. He put his hand under my chin and held it so that I had no choice but to look at him.
“Marty, I’m telling you this as clearly as I can and I mean it with every fiber of my being. Please, please, please, for the love of all that’s good, stop playing detective. If anything happened to you or Charli, I don’t think I could go on. You’re my best friend. I love you. I thought I’d lost you on Monday and I never want to relive those feelings again.”
I couldn’t meet his eyes. I wanted to. I wanted to reassure him, give him a hug, tell him I loved him too, but I couldn’t. I don’t know why. Maybe I thought that if I did, he’d get the wrong idea. Maybe it was because of the weird thoughts I’d been having about him. Whatever it was, it cost me more than I could have dreamed it would. I looked down, hoping he wouldn’t notice the tears welling up in my eyes.
“Sure, buddy. Sure,” I said. “I hear you.”
Right after going back and saving Sabrina, that would be time travel moment number one.
19
Charli had to run a few errands related to her potential purchase of the gift shop and told me she’d grab a salad while she was out, then meet me at Sabrina’s place at seven. Tim and I went over to Pilazzo’s for dinner. Sitting in a booth at the back was Big Ed, alone this time. He was nursing a beer and looked like the weight of the world was on his shoulders.
When I said hello, he nearly jumped out of his skin, but, shockingly, he stayed put for a change. “Oh, hey, Marts. Thanks for grub earlier today. I was taking a nap when you came by or I’d a let you in.”
“No worries. How are you feeling? On the mend?”
He did the fake cough thing again. “Oh, yeah. I guess. Having a tough time shaking it. You know how it is. But I’m going to be back at work tonight. Herbie give me an ultimatum. Say, Marts, you thinking of bailing?”
“Probably. Of course, the way things in the industry have been, jobs are few and far between. They cut my hours and went back on their promise about the health insurance, so I’m having to take on a part-time job. Luckily, my sister is most likely going to buy the Glenvar Gift Shop, so she’s going to help me out. What about you?”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do. I talked to my, uh, Carole, about my money situation and she told me I needed to stop getting hitched. And, to find a real job. Either that or rob a bank.” He did the fake chuckle thing, slugged down the last of his beer, and stood up.
“Well, nice seeing you Marts. I’m going to head on down the road and tuck it in for a bit. See you in the morning bright and early.” He pulled some bills out of his wallet and dropped them on the table. When he did, one the cards for Model Magnifica fell out with them.
“Oh, hey, I haven’t had a chance to tell you. I went down to the modeling agency today. Met with Alejandro. Well, A.J. I guess he goes by. I didn’t realize you knew him that first day.”
Ed’s forehead beaded up with perspiration and his face mottled. “Oh. Me and the little dude, we go way back. Met him through my sister when she was in high school. He took some photos of her for a couple of beauty pageant things. So, you decided to try it? Might be the way to earn even more of that extra dough you’re needing. A.J., he’s good at what he does. Probably going to be heading off to the big city soon.”
“That’s what Tessa said. You know Tessa?”
When I mentioned Tessa, his face went from mottled to bright red. “Sure. Everybody knows Tess. Me and Tess, well, we’ve known each other longer than I’ve known A.J. Met her when she was a kid on the pageant circuit with my sis. Guess you could say she’s about my best friend in the whole world. Love that little girl. I’d do anything for her. Well, better jet. Later, Marts.”
Ed and Tessa. The combination of those two made even less sense to me than the thought of Ed and Carole. Or Tim and Carole, for that matter. She was so skinny, it seemed like he’d break her if they tried to do anything. Not to mention the fact that he was older, poorer, and definitely not anywhere close to her attractiveness level.
Tim, who’d been talking to a couple of his pals, motioned for me to go out and grab us a spot on the patio. A few minutes later he joined me at a table in the back corner, bringing two piping bowls of Dave’s awesome potato soup and a couple of frosty bottles of root beer.
“What was Big Ed having to say?” he asked.
I filled him in. “I guess I must have misheard him that first day. I thought he was asking who Alejandro was; instead he was just wondering what he was doing at the station. Oh well, looks like you were right about him. He said he’s job-hunting. He’s looking to move on before the ship goes on down.”
We hung out at Pilazzo’s for about an hour, then Tim drove me over to meet Charli at Sabrina’s place so we could do the inventory and start cleaning. We made plans to meet up at Charli’s to watch a movie later and he left.
Charli stood in the middle of the living room, her hands on her hips, looking sad, when I got inside. “I can’t believe how stark and sterile this place is. It’s worse than I pictured. She really didn’t have anything, did she?”
“Wait until you see her bedroom and her closet. Oh, I did find one thing. It was in a box of winter clothes.”
I went to get the program, but it wasn’t there. Weird. I knew I’d put it back. Or had I? I looked through the other boxes and her drawers, pulling out the clothes as I went and stacking them in the empty boxes and some other ones Charli had brought. It made me feel terrible, knowing that Sabrina’s things were mostly going to be thrown out or donated to charity.
Charli had sta
rted in the bathroom, then moved to the kitchen and after about forty-five minutes, joined me in the bedroom.
“I sorted and inventoried everything,” she said. “There really wasn’t much; just some basic pots and pans and utensils and a few canned goods. I’m glad you guys tossed all the food the other night. The fridge is cleaned out except for a couple of boxes of baking soda. What do you want me to do?”
I was nearly finished with the closet, so I told Charli to strip the bedding. We had decided to toss it, since the sheets were threadbare and the comforter and pillows weren’t in the best of shape.
“Marty,” she called a few minutes later, “look.” She held up yet another card. “I found it wedged down in the bed frame. I swear, these things are like fruit flies. I think they’re multiplying and following us around.”
She handed it to me. It was similar to the ones I’d seen, except this one had one of Tessa’s naked pictures on it. On the back was printed a different website address and a phone number, and “Betty and David Thomas” and “Charlottesville” hand written in a precise block letters and underlined twice.
“We need to check this site out when we get back to your place. Do you think we should call the number?”
“I’ll call tomorrow. I’m going to look it up in the reverse directory and see what I can find out first. Then, I’ll try and think of a cover story. I wonder how it got stuck in Sabrina’s bed frame?”
I shrugged. “Who knows. I find all sorts of odd stuff underneath mine all the time. It probably fell out of her purse or something one day. Oh, and I still haven’t found that University of Raleigh media guide. I wonder where it went? I was sure I put it back in the box with the sweaters. Carole must have come back in to look for more financial papers and taken it. Oh well. I’m not going to worry about it. Are you ready to call it a night?”
We moved the last of the boxes into the living room, locked up, and went back to Charli’s. Once inside, I grabbed a root beer, and followed Charli back to the office We planned to look up the website written on the back of the card we’d found at Sabrina’s while I waited for Tim to show up and she waited for John and the kids to call.
We both wished, desperately, that we hadn’t checked the website. It was the gateway to a sex chat, porn site. Charli clicked it off immediately.
“I’m going to be sick. Why on earth would Tessa be advertising a website like that? And why would a card for it have been in Sabrina’s bed frame?”
“Money, would be my guess. I mean, she doesn’t strike me as really caring how she gets it, just so long as she does. Maybe she gave it to Mark Donavan and he dropped the card. Now that I look at it, this isn’t Sabrina’s writing. Hers is precise, but really tiny and not block letters like this. It’s not Tessa’s either. She writes real big and round, with loops and swirls.”
Charli was in the midst of wiping the history of the computer and deleting cookies. “That would certainly make more sense. I’m actually afraid to call this number now. What if it’s the same thing as the website, you know, some perverted sex line?”
“Do that reverse directory thing you were talking about. Maybe you can find out that way.”
Charli went to another website and typed in the number. “That’s strange. It’s listed as belonging to Model Magnifica. Do you think Model Magnifica is a front for that website? I’ll give it a try tomorrow. I don’t want to call from here or use my cell phone, though. Does the library still have a pay phone?”
“I think so. I haven’t been in there in awhile. I hope so. It’s the only place in town that I can even remember seeing one in a couple of years.”
Charli’s landline rang, so I left her alone to talk to John and the kids.
Tim showed up, movie and brownies in hand a minute or so later. We went into Charli’s family room and I stuck the movie in the Blu-Ray and turned it on. While I was doing that, Tim made himself comfortable. His feet were propped up on the rustic bench Charli has in front of her sofa, and he was gobbling up one of the brownies. He had on an old pair of gym shorts and a tight t-shirt that showed off his abs quite nicely. I shook my head, wondering how I’d managed to miss the fact that he had developed a six-pack for as long as I had. Then, I realized what I was thinking and about whom I was thinking it, and suddenly felt really, really awkward.
I flopped down in a big wing chair, as far away from him and his killer abs as I could get and still be in the same room. He asked about Sabrina’s and I shot the breeze, trying to keep my eyes from straying off his face. At last, I sort of knew how Herb felt around well-built women. It was embarrassing.
“You want to go to bowling or something tomorrow night?” He was roughhousing a bit with Delbert, causing the big guy to act like a cat-nip crazed kitten.
“I can’t. Maybe next week.”
I still hadn’t told Tim about my plans to go camping out at the lake with Harry. I knew he’d pitch a royal fit, so I’d been waiting until the opportunity presented itself. I was right. It took me about an hour to get him calmed down and another half-hour to convince him that I’d be fine in Harry’s company, even out in the woods. He left in a foul mood, even though I told him I’d call him and text him every three hours so that he’d know I was okay.
He was still mad at me the next day when I called after I got off work. “Don’t forget your promise to text,” he said. “I mean it, Marty. If I don’t hear from you, I’m coming out there and bringing you home, even if I have to hog-tie you.”
I promised, but I wasn’t happy about it. It made me feel like a junior high kid whose parents don’t trust her.
Despite what he’d told me, Ed had not been there when I arrived at work. Herb was livid. He told me that Ed had called about three, waking up Georgina, and begging Herb to come in to watch the station. As soon as I settled in, Herb put the show on voice track, a pre-recorded show, and left, muttering that he was going to retire come effing hell or high water.
I enjoyed the peace and quiet until time to go on the air. Giselle, as usual, showed up just in time to slither into the booth. The show sucked about as bad as it had all week, but the good part was that I could leave as soon as I finished my time and I didn’t have to be back until six A.M. on Monday.
After work, I went back to Charli’s and took an extra long nap. At two-thirty, I loaded my bigger backpack with a change of clothes and some sweats in case it got cold during the night, then stopped at Pilazzo’s and bought a couple of subs, a sloppy, over-filled one for me and a plain ham and cheese on wheat for Harry. I also loaded up on an assortment of chips, sodas, and giant cookies. If I was going to be out in nature hiking and biking and crap like that, I was going to need energy. Lots and lots of energy.
20
Harry was nowhere to be seen when I arrived out at the lake, but his Jeep was in a space back by the restroom, right next to Mark Donavan’s pick-up. I pulled in next to the truck and went over to check with the park caretaker to see if Harry had left any sort of message for me. The shed that served as an office was locked. A sign was posted on the front saying that he was out sick and to stick any fees owed into one of the special envelopes and stuff the envelope through the slot in the door.
I headed over to the log bench overlooking the water to wait for Harry. Thirty minutes later, I was getting bored and the mosquitoes were getting full. I pulled out my phone to send Tim his first text, letting him know I was alive. He immediately texted back, asking if I was sure I really wanted to camp out. We went back and forth several times and finally I got tired of it, texted “ttyl”, and stuffed the phone in my pocket.
I heard what sounded like crashing on the path off to the left, which wound up a hill and disappeared into the woods. Probably Harry. I decided to walk a bit further around to see if I could spot him. There was a small stream flowing into the lake and someone had constructed a rickety looking footbridge. No sign of him. I wasn’t sure if I trusted the little bridge, but the crashing was on the other side. I decided not to take the chance. In
stead, I walked out onto the fishing pier that jutted about ten feet out into the lake. The mosquitoes weren’t any less pesky out there, but at the very least I could hang my feet in the water and stay cool.
Just as I bent down to take off my sandals, something slammed into my back, and the next thing I knew, I was flailing around in the murky water. I managed to somehow grab hold of the edge of the wooden pier, all the while snorting and coughing and choking on the fishy-tasting water. I tried in vain to hoist myself up, but my meager arm muscles, still a bit sore from Monday’s kayaking extravaganza, weren’t up to the job.
Luckily, Mark Donavan showed up then and helped me out. My thin t-shirt clung to me and I’m sure I looked like a drowned rat. I know I felt like one.
“Thanks,” I said, once I’d finally stopped sputtering and coughing.
“No problem. How’d you end up in there anyway?”
Good question. How had I ended up in there? I looked around to figure out what had hit me, but didn’t see anything. “A rock maybe? Or a big bird? I don’t know. One minute I was leaning over to pull off my shoe and the next, something smacked me in the back and I went tumbling.”
Could it have been a rock thrown by, say, a star baseball player? Standing there with Mark made me nervous. Maybe he was the one who’d knocked me in the water. Maybe he was the one who’d knocked me out at the stadium. Harry had said he didn’t dress out. He could have easily slipped the note to the kid, snuck up on me, and hit me with a bat or a ball or something. I fumbled around looking for my phone, but it was gone.
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