Designer Detective (A Fiona Marlowe Mystery)

by Thelen, Marjorie

  Jake coughed and sat up and moved his head gingerly. “I don’t know where Cody is. He disappeared when some guy showed up looking for him.”

  “That was me,” Ivan said. “He slipped outta that garage, and we can’t find him.”

  Jake shrugged. “Easy come, easy go.”

  “Don’t be a wiseass or I slug you again. Your girlfriend here and you need to come clean with us or we get creative how we extract information from you.”

  My cell phone started ringing in my purse.

  “Someone is trying to get a hold of me,” I said, stating the obvious.

  The phone kept ringing.

  “Will someone please answer the phone?” said Jake. “My head hurts.”

  “Nobody answer anything.”

  “I think I should. They are going to know something isn’t right if I don’t answer. Don’t forget the two men at the door.” Oops, I let that one slip.

  “Two men?” said Onions. “You said only one.”

  “I miscounted. There’s two men at the door waiting to take me to the airport.”

  The phone kept ringing.

  “Check the ID. Tell us who is trying to call you.”

  I fished in my purse and looked at the ID. “Don’t know,” I said. “I don’t recognize the number.”

  Before Onions could tell me what to do, I answered it.

  “Miss Marlowe?” said Hudson.

  Onions moved closer and put the tip of the blade under my ear and pressed. Jake was watching and yelled, “Hey, get that knife away from Fiona.”

  Onions slapped the phone from my hand onto the floor and stomped on it. I only hoped Hudson had heard the exchange.

  “Now look what you’ve done. You’ve ruined my phone,” I said. “I liked that phone, and it cost a lot of money.”

  “Shut up,” Onions said. “I should bang your head in right now. Who was on the phone?”

  I shrugged. “A heavy breather. No one spoke. I think I’m being stalked.”

  “Fat chance,” said Onions.

  I think he was getting a little frustrated. I didn’t want to push him too far. With my newfound respect and total astonishment that Hudson was ‘one of ours’, I knew he must be working the case. That didn’t help wounded Jake and me. I didn’t know how much longer we could hold them off. That knife was sharp as sharks’ teeth.

  Onions motioned to Ivan, and the two of them retreated for a conference to the corner of the room out of view of the window. Jake and I exchanged glances.

  “Can you get up?” I asked him, taking his arm.

  “Hold on, let me try myself. Maybe I can make it to a sitting position on the bed.”

  “Don’t try anything funny,” Onions barked at us.

  “Wouldn’t think of it,” I said. “Jake is merely trying to sit up.”

  Jake pushed and I tugged until he was able to sit on the bed. He rotated his neck. I checked for cuts but found none. He’d have a nice bruise on his neck though from the hand chop. I sat beside him and put my arm around his shoulders, then leaned in for what I hoped looked like a kiss. I whispered in his ear, “Hudson’s waiting at the door. He’s the one who called.”

  Onions yelled, “Shut your mouth.”

  “I was only giving Jake a little kiss to make things better.”

  The two came back to stand before us.

  “You both are going to leave with those guys at the door. You will not tell them anyone is in this room, do you understand? You get five minutes to get down the hall and out the main entrance. Do not try to give us the slip because we’re following you.”

  He flipped open a cell phone and dialed. “Ratko? Send some of the boys to the front entrance right away. We got two of them, the girl and the big guy, so watch for them. Some guys are here to escort the girl to the airport. Tell the boys to be in front to head them off.”

  “All right, let’s go,” Onions said to us.

  The only thing Jake and I could do was play along and hope. At the moment my brain wasn’t working fast enough to formulate an escape plan. Jake managed to stand. I grabbed my carry on and his arm, and we shuffled to the door.

  “Wait,” Onions said. He positioned the knife at Jake’s throat. Don’t get funny on us. You go with these guys, but if you try anything funny, the girl gets it in the head.” He made a finger gun and pointed it at my head. “Pop, pop. Get it?”

  Jake nodded once. We made it to the door, and I opened it. Standing across the hall was Hudson and the short, wiry guy with the buzz cut.

  “We’re ready,” I said.

  “This way,” said Hudson, pointing to the right, not acknowledging that he knew me. “We’ll go to the elevator.”

  As we cleared the door, the one to the room across the hall exploded open, and two guys in suits with guns lunged into our room before the door closed. Hudson shoved us against the wall.

  We heard a cry, then another. No shots were fired. Then everything was quiet.

  A typical day at your five star hotel.

  Chapter 16

  Hudson herded us in a half run to the elevator.

  “Their friends are waiting to meet us at the main entrance,” I said, trying to catch my breath after we gained the relative safety of the down elevator. As far as I knew, the two attack guys were still in the room with Onions and Ivan. No one had been in hot pursuit.

  “I’m pleased to hear that more men are coming,” he said with his usual smile, not even winded, looking very spy in black windbreaker and gray slacks.

  I was having a panic attack myself.

  “You are?” I said.

  “By all means,” Hudson said. “They are coming out of the woodwork now, as the saying goes. We will catch them at their game. You performed your role as bait splendidly. I apologize for the terrible ordeal, but you helped catch two of the gang we’re targeting.”

  “We were bait? Hudson, those guys threatened to cut body parts off Jake, if we didn’t tell them where the rifles were. They had knives. Jake got a head chop out of the deal.”

  Jake seemed to be coming back to life after the run down the hall. He was rubbing and rotating his neck.

  “It was all in the line of duty,” he said. “No permanent harm done.”

  Hudson examined Jake’s neck. “You have a nasty welt, but I rather suspect you’ll live. We will need your continued cooperation. Those fellows think you know where the rifles are. We’re going to pretend to take them there.”

  “I thought we were going to the airport,” I said. “Alice said we’d be removed from harm’s way. I’m going to Australia. I have the ticket right here.” I tapped my bag. “Jake and Opal are going back to Oregon.”

  “Right. But before you do, we need you to be a decoy of sorts.”

  “I don’t like the sound of this.”

  The elevator door opened before I had more time to protest.

  Hudson hustled us to the sitting area of the main lobby done in colors of maroon, yellow and gray with lots of sharp corners and pointy designs in the carpet. I was trying to look cosmopolitan and together, but I felt more like a bag lady.

  “I’m sorry,” Hudson said, “I didn’t introduce you to my associate. This is Mike.” Hudson motioned to Mike who didn’t look like he could knock over a flea.

  “Mike is going to drive. All four of us will be going together ostensibly to the airport.”

  “Hudson,” I said, “some guys are set to kidnap us in front of the hotel right now.”

  “No, they won’t,” said Hudson. “We will exit the main entrance so the men can see you. We are trying to force their hand and get them moving.”

  “Hold on,” I said. “Those guys said Cody didn’t deliver on the rifles, that half are missing. They think we know where the rifles are. They might kill us.”

  “Not if I can help it.” Hudson smiled his warm, comforting smile again.

  I was not comforted.

  Hudson said, “Cody couldn’t deliver the rifles because I concealed them so these men would com
e after the rifles. It was a way to draw them out in the open, to make a move, so that we can catch them in the act. We’ll be grateful if you continue to play along. It will be just a matter of one more car ride.”

  “Let me understand,” Jake said, “we draw these guys out by becoming targets.”

  “Not quite. We have people monitoring your every move who will come to your aid if anything goes wrong. Trust me.”

  “That’s asking a lot,” I said.

  Hudson took my hand. “I know none of this makes much sense to you. I may never be able to explain everything, but I am asking this one last favor.”

  I heaved a great suffering sigh and looked at Jake.

  He shrugged and said, “Lead the way.”

  Mike peeled off to get the car. Hudson led us out the main entrance, and we stood outside under the portico in clear view, sitting ducks. The morning mist swirled around rush hour traffic already in full swing along Route Seven, although it was barely light.

  “Keep smiling,” said Hudson. “Let’s appear a joyous group. Not a care in the world.”

  Jake said, “I could use a drink. I’d settle for some strong coffee.”

  I said, “I would like to know how you managed to deceive us for so long, Hudson.”

  He smiled. “It was my job.”

  “Why did you say you needed an alibi?”

  “Opal and Jake thought I needed an alibi so I played along. Jake especially didn’t want you to leave.”

  We both looked at Jake who kept his eyes on the horizon.

  “I had to play along,” said Hudson, “you must understand. These men set the fire. Cody egged them on, telling them about the receipts and the incriminating evidence in Albert’s study. They got carried away and nearly burned the place down. It’s a terrible tragedy to destroy a fine house like that. I must say, I had some anxious moments with the police till we got that sorted out.”

  A dark gray Suburban pulled in front of the entrance.

  “Here we are.” Hudson said. “Now the fun begins. Maybe we’ll get into a high-speed chase. I do so love them.”

  “High-speed chase?” I said, as he helped me into the back seat. Jake got in the other side. “It didn’t say anything in my contract about a high speed chase.”

  Hudson jumped in the front seat, and we pulled out slowly as if taunting the other guys to follow us in full view of the bustling world of Tysons Corners. Two cars fell in behind, one a brown Chevy, the other a dark green SUV. I counted it lucky no one shot at us so far.

  “Those guys must be confused,” I said. “The other two were supposed to be with us.”

  Mike and Hudson kept moving their heads an inch or two side to side, monitoring the rear view mirrors.

  “Confusion is good,” said Hudson. “What counts is that they are following us.”

  We turned right on Route Seven, heading west through the surreal world of Tysons Corners strip malls and car dealerships. Jake’s hand reached over and covered mine on the seat. I looked at him and managed a weak smile. The gesture calmed my wired tight nerves for a nanosecond.

  “What about Opal and the boys?” Jake said.

  “Yes,” I said, “Alice is supposed to help Jake and Opal get to Oregon. We can’t leave Opal behind. Hudson, do you know where she is?”

  “When the boys and I came back from our late night outing, I arranged for them to pick Opal up and head out to Oregon in their truck.” He checked his watch. “They’ll have been on the road for hours by now. We’ll contact them to make sure all is well as soon as we catch a few more criminals.”

  “That’s a relief. Hudson, might I ask for whom you work?” I said.

  “All I can say is that I’m on loan. We are trying to break an intricate crime organization that spans a number of countries. This sting operation is one link in the chain. Now that we are on the move, the dominoes are falling. Everything will turn out just fine, you’ll see.”

  “I wish I could feel as confident.”

  Mike set an easy pace through the Tysons area, stopping at nearly every light. Traffic was bumper to bumper. It was the usual Northern Virginia snarl. Hudson and Mike checked mirrors and peered about, exchanging a terse word or two. Apparently, the brown Chevy was behind us.

  I glanced at the car beside me. It was a large truck that looked a lot like the truck Jake’s buddies were driving. I nudged Jake and pointed. Lo, there sat one of the boys at the wheel, giant cowboy hat fixed firmly on his head. Opal waved at us through the back window.

  Jake said, “Hudson, to your right.”

  Hudson glanced over and did a double take. “I say, there are your friends. And there is Miss Opal. I thought they would be far afield at this hour. How extraordinary. I thought the Geronimo unit was taking care of them.”

  Mike leaned forward and looked. “Geronimo said everything was good to go. I guess they got delayed. I hope they don’t follow us.”

  “I don’t want to draw attention to them,” said Hudson.

  Opal rolled down her window and waved, trying to shout to us. I rolled my window down to hear her.

  “Fiona, it is so good to see you. Thanks for coming back. And there is Hudson. Well, I never. Is Jake with you?”

  I could barely hear her over the traffic.

  Hudson turned around. “Please, Miss Marlowe, please. Try not to draw attention to Miss Opal. We don’t want anything to jeopardize our plans.”

  “Opal,” I said, motioning with my hand, “you go on. We’ll catch up with you later. We’ll be in touch. Go on now.”

  She nodded and rolled up the window. They forged ahead in traffic.

  I leaned forward to speak to Hudson. “I hope this doesn’t mean that plans are going awry.”

  “Nothing to worry about Miss Marlowe, we are on track to wrap this caper up today.”

  “Great. That’s really comforting.”

  Jake said, “I could use a cup of coffee.”

  “Me, too,” I said. “Are they still following? Maybe we could talk the boys into breakfast and coffee. We could talk rifles.”

  “Watch out,” said Mike as he swerved to avoid the car in front that had hit its brakes. A head-wrenching crunch reverberated through the car. The car behind smacked into us. The car to the left of us swerved to miss the guy in front of him and skidded sideways into us. The sound of screeching metal, squealing brakes and angry shouts swirled around us.

  “You all right, Fiona?” Jake said, as we jerked to a stop.

  “I think so.”

  We pivoted around surveying the damage. Crumpled cars and red faces hemmed us in. People got out of their cars. No one was moving in the westbound lane. The eastbound lane slowed to a crawl as people rubbernecked to see what kind of fool traffic pile up had happened this time.

  Hudson said to Mike, “I say, isn’t that the people from the Geronimo unit in that late model Ford truck?”

  Mike looked and cursed a few choice words under his breath. “Man, they never follow instructions. They weren’t supposed to be with us out here. They were supposed to have the other folks on the road. What are they doing here?”

  Hudson shook his head. “They are so very unreliable. You would think with all their funding they’d be able to have better trained people.”

  He turned to us. “Wait here. We will reconnoiter and ascertain what is to be done.”

  Mike got out with him. Both stuck their hands in the pockets as only men can do and walked to the Ford truck.

  Jake put his arm around me. “Looks like we might be here for awhile. I wonder if these seats recline. Want to sleep with me, Fiona?”

  He kissed me softly on my hair, and I couldn’t help but snuggle against him. “Sounds tempting. We never did resolve whose room we’d end up in last night. What a night. What happens next?”

  “Haven’t a clue. I’d say we are caught in forces beyond our control, and the vise is closing. How I got here from a ranch in beautiful southeast Oregon is beyond me. It all started with Albert croaking.”
r />   “Yes, and you know we still don’t know who murdered him, or if he opted out himself.”

  By this time everyone had gotten out of their cars and were milling about, looking at damage, talking to other motorists. Hands waved. Voices rose.

  “Look, Jake, the Ford truck guys are talking to Mike and Hudson. Maybe the confederation of agencies is battling this one out. I’ve heard of that, federal agencies fighting over whose jurisdiction has the upper hand.”

  “Don’t know. What do you say we split and find some coffee?”

  “Do you think we should? What about the guys following us?”

  “We’ll be careful and be back before anyone misses us.”

  Chapter 17

  We walked through the milling motorists and found a little dive called the Silver Diner opened on a side street and settled into a booth. The waitress brought coffee with the menus. I sighed in contentment and ordered a cinnamon bun to revitalize my soul. Jake ordered steak and eggs.

  “Now what?” I said. “I have my ticket to Australia. Opal is on her way to Oregon with the boys. The estate may never be settled, but we don’t have to worry about that. We may never know how Albert died. So we’re off the hook, as far as I can tell.”

  “Not quite,” said Jake. “The rifles are missing, and the bad guys are still looking for them, us and Cody.”

  “Yes, but we can walk away, and the mysterious confederation can take care of everything.”

  “You can walk away. I have to live with Opal and Cody. Opal doesn’t realize how bad the charges are going to be against Cody. That might be for the best. I’m glad she’s leaving because she is forever trying to protect him. I’m going to call the boys and see where they are.”

  He flipped open his cell phone. I was envious. Mine was smashed on the floor of the hotel room, and I hated deciding on a new one, there are so many. Maybe I’d get an IPhone this time.

  “Where are you? Why are you going there? No, turn around. You can’t take Opal to New York no matter what she says she wants to do. You take her home, you hear? I know she’s your boss, but she has funny ideas these days. It’s her medication.”