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Killer Beach Reads

Page 87

by Gemma Halliday Publishing


  "I'm Barb, and this is my friend Kelly. I'm a private investigator."

  "You working a case?" her eyes lit up, and I saw an opening.

  "Yeah, our friend was arrested for a murder she didn't commit."

  "Bummer." Cindy shook her head. "So, why come here?" She gestured around us.

  "I think the person who was killed frequented this place."

  "Oh, really? Who was the victim? I might be able to help."

  I took a sip of my water then sat it back down before saying, "Derek Johnson."

  Cindy rolled her eyes and tossed the rag she'd been holding on the bar top.

  "That d-bag? I'm not surprised he went off and got himself killed."

  I shared a look with Kelly. "So, I'm guessing you knew him?"

  "Hey, Patty, I'm taking a break," Cindy called out to a smiling woman at the end of the bar then exited from behind the bar as another woman took her place.

  "Come with me." She motioned for us to follow her.

  We hopped off our barstools and followed Cindy down a long hallway and into a brightly lit room at the end. There were women coming and going in a flurry of activity. The room was littered with feather boas, killer high heels, and more makeup than I'd ever know what to do with.

  Cindy led us to the back of the room.

  "Have a seat," she pointed at a long leather sofa as she lowered herself into a matching chair. "You want to know about Derek?"

  I nodded. "Our friend made the mistake of dancing a few times with him last night and then was arrested for his murder this morning." I leaned my elbows on my knees and recited the entire story to her.

  "Good grief, that's a mess."

  "Tell me about it. That's why we need to know anything you or anyone else can tell us about Derek, and who might've wanted him dead."

  "There's a list of women who hated Derek a mile long." She shook her head. "I never got involved with him myself, but I know a couple of girls here did, and man, did they regret it."

  "How so?" Kelly asked.

  "Just a sec." She held up a finger. "Candy, Pepper, come here a sec."

  A moment later we were joined by two more women who made me feel as if I was sitting there in a potato sack and dunce cap.

  "This is Barb and Kelly."

  "I'm Pepper." A tall redhead introduced herself.

  "And I'm Candy." Candy was on the shorter side and had a thick mass of long, black curls cascading down her back.

  "They're here asking questions about Derek," Cindy continued.

  "I heard he got himself killed," Pepper said and popped her gum.

  A girl after my own heart. "Anything you can tell us about him would help us out."

  "Their friend was arrested for his murder, but she didn't do it," Cindy explained.

  "No one should blame her even if she did," Candy said.

  "Why is that?" I asked.

  Cindy flipped her hair over her shoulder. "He came in when he wasn't working or gambling down at the track. He was a good looking guy, you know, so the girls were all over him."

  "Then we started dating," Pepper said. "It wasn't long before I realized he was only after money. We all make a pretty good living here, and he was after it. When I stopped lending him money, he dropped me like a hot rock."

  "Then he moved on and did the same thing to me," Candy chimed in. "Then another one of the girls who used to work here, except she didn't take it lying down."

  "What do you mean?" Kelly asked.

  Cindy answered. "She knew what kind of dog Derek was, but she was head over heels in love with the guy. She gave him whatever he wanted until she actually ran out of money. After that, she was caught stealing money from the club, and the manager fired her."

  "Where is she now?"

  "No clue. Derek dumped her the day she was fired from this place, and none of us have seen her since, but man, she was obsessed with the guy. It was nearing stalker territory there at the end," Pepper said.

  "What was her name?"

  "She used a stage name, said she didn't want any of the customers to be able to find out who she really was, for safety reasons," Cindy said. "She was known here as Layla, but you'd have to look at her paperwork to get her real name."

  "That would be great," I said.

  "Well, you're in luck because I'm acting manager until Donnie gets back tomorrow night. Follow me."

  We followed Cindy across the hall. She pulled a key on a chain from around her neck and unlocked the office.

  "We have to get back to work. It was nice meeting you two," Pepper said with a smile then trotted away.

  "Come back anytime!" Candy waved and followed Pepper.

  We stepped inside behind Cindy and watched as she unlocked the filing cabinet. She thumbed through several folders then pulled one out and laid it on the desk.

  "If we use a stage name, it's printed on a tab on our folder." She explained and pointed to the sticker on the top of the folder that read Layla.

  "Take a look." She pushed the folder toward me.

  I flipped it open and froze.

  "What is it?" Kelly asked and leaned over to examine the picture in the file.

  "That's Lucy, the maid I talked to at Derek's apartment this morning. She told me that she didn't really know Derek, that she only cleaned his apartment a couple of days a week."

  "Well, she lied." Cindy stated the obvious. "Unless she went so far as to really become a maid at her ex's apartment building and really, how many men would allow their crazy ex to clean their place?"

  She had a point. "You're right, Cindy." I shook my head. "But if she killed Derek, why would she be hanging around his apartment?"

  "Beats me." She waved one hand in the air. "When I say that chick was crazy, I'm not exaggerating. There's no telling what she would do, or how far she'd go to get what she wanted."

  "Do you think she killed Derek?" Kelly asked. "Do you think that's why she lied?"

  "My money would be on her," Cindy answered.

  "I don't know. Maybe." I flipped the folder closed. "I think we need to call Tyler."

  Normally, I'd go back to the apartments and see if I could find Lucy again and ask some questions, but if she lied to me once she'd lie to me again, and the way Cindy had described her, she wasn't a stable person. The more I thought about it, the more I liked Lucy the Liar as Derek's killer, but I needed proof, which at the moment I was running short on.

  I pulled out my cell phone and switched on the camera. "May I?"

  "Shoot," Cindy said and made a gun with her thumb and forefinger.

  I clicked a few pictures of Lucy's file for future reference, then slid it back across the desk to Cindy.

  "Thanks. You've been a huge help." I pulled a card out of my purse and handed it to her. "If you need anything, just give me a call."

  "Will do." Cindy smiled and shoved the card in the waist of her skirt.

  We made our way through the crowded floor and out the main entrance. We walked to the end of the block and stopped. The excitement of possibly proving Mandy's innocence had my heart thundering in my chest.

  "Now what?" Kelly asked.

  I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket. "I'm calling Tyler. He needs to know what we've discovered."

  "The more I think about it, the more I like Lucy as the killer."

  I shook my head, pressed the phone to my ear. The call went straight to voicemail.

  "Tyler, this is Barb. Call me as soon as you get this. I think I found something that could help save Mandy."

  I disconnected the call and shoved the phone back into my pocket. "I say we head back to the office and see what we can dig up on this Lucy chick while we wait for Tyler's call."

  "Sounds good." Kelly gave me a thumbs-up and we finished making our way to the car.

  * * *

  It was nearing midnight when I finally gave up my hunt for information on Lucy and powered off my computer.

  "Nothing?"

  "Nothing. And to make matters even more weird, I
can't find a current address. I searched the address she gave to the club on her application, and it shows up as a Quick Mart convenient store." I leaned back in my desk chair and rubbed my eyes. "She doesn't even have a speeding ticket. I checked everything I could get my hands on, and she's squeaky clean." I shook my head. "Valedictorian of her class, working her way through school, apparently at Double Down, small town girl, and that's the most I could find on the woman. I just don't get it."

  "So, she lied about where she lives, and just because she's clean on paper doesn't mean she isn't hiding something," Kelly said. "A lot of bad guys out there were clean on paper before being caught."

  "I know." I drummed my fingers on the desk, "I know, but at this point I'm not sure where to go or what to do." My agitation rose. Our innocent friend was sitting in jail with a murder charge hanging over her head, I was at the end of my rope, and Tyler still hadn't called me back. A part of me was worried about him. He was a great detective, but even the best were hurt, or even killed, in the line of duty. The other part of me wanted to hunt him down and kick his rump for not hurrying to return my call.

  "Even though it isn't much, let's look at what we do know," Kelly said as she leaned forward. "We know, according to Cindy, that Lucy was practically obsessed with Derek."

  "And we know that she lied to me when she told me she was his maid, and that she didn't really know him," I added. "Then what was she doing at his apartment?"

  "That's the question, isn't it? Was she looting the place like some crazy ex looking for something of value or mementos to remember him by? What if we question her?" Kelly asked.

  "I don't think that's a good idea, not at the moment." I shook my head. "If she did kill Derek, or knows who did, then our questioning her could scare her away before Tyler is able to talk to her again. Then any leverage we had to get Mandy out of jail would be in the breeze."

  "So you're saying that we're stuck, at least until Tyler does what he can with the info we give him."

  I nodded. "All I know to do now is get this information to Tyler until we can get the name of that witness from Mona, and I have no idea how long that will be."

  "This sucks," Kelly sighed and rested her head in her hands.

  My sentiments exactly.

  I was seriously considering never having a girls' night out again.

  CHAPTER NINE

  The buzzing of my cell phone ripped me out of a fitful sleep. I'd dropped Kelly off at her place around two o'clock in the morning, then made my way back to my place where I promptly fell into bed. My mind was a myriad of questions, none of which I had answers for.

  I groped around on the nightstand for my phone but came up empty handed. Then I remembered that in my sleep-derived haze I'd most likely left the buzzing thing in my pants pocket. I rolled out of the bed and onto the floor, fished the phone out of my pocket, and read the display.

  "It's Mona."

  "Mona, what's going on?" The light streaming through the blinds burned my eyes, and I reached up to wipe them.

  "I have a name for you," she said in a hurry. "I'm at the precinct, so I have to hurry. You got a pen?"

  "I'm good. Who is it?" I asked, now wide awake.

  "Her name is Lucy Wentworth. She said she works at the Double Down Club out in Long End."

  Bingo. "Thanks, Mona. You're the best."

  "You're welcome, baby girl. Just be careful out there."

  "I will." I ended the call, sprang to my feet, and hurried to the closet where I grabbed a T-shirt and jeans. I needed to get Kelly. Either Cindy had lied to me, and Lucy still worked at the club, or Lucy was lying to the cops about her place of employment, which wasn't too far-fetched. After all, she was lying about seeing Mandy and Derek enter the restroom together the night Derek died.

  My cat Mickey ran from the room meowing as if I was a wild person ransacking the house as I tripped while sliding on a pair of Converse and trying to dial Kelly's number at the same time.

  "What's up?" she answered groggily on the third ring.

  "Mona got us the name of the witness. You'll never believe who it is."

  "Lucy?" Kelly guessed.

  "The one and only. I'll pick you up in ten minutes."

  The drive to Kelly's place took less than the ten minutes I'd quoted, and she was waiting on me at the curb. She didn't bother to let me come to a complete stop before opening the car door and jumping inside.

  "Where are we headed? What's our next move?"

  "Tyler hasn't called me back, and to be honest, I'm getting a bit worried, but we can't sit around waiting for him. I think we need to go back to Derek's apartment building and see if Lucy is lurking around. If so, we need to ask a few questions about the night Derek died."

  Kelly frowned. "I thought you said that we'd frighten her off if we questioned her again?"

  I nodded. "Yes, but I have a plan. If we happen to find her, I'll let it slip that the police charged Mandy and that they aren't looking for any other suspects. If she feels a sense of security, even if it's false, maybe she'll slip up and tell us something she withheld from the cops. And if she does, that's even more evidence to funnel to Tyler."

  "When he finally decides to call you back," Kelly said.

  Traffic wasn't as busy as usual, and I chalked it up to the fact that it was a Sunday morning and barely past eight o'clock. We made it to Derek's apartment in under twenty minutes. I pulled the car into the parking lot.

  "Let's go talk to the manager and see what he can tell us about Lucy."

  "Do you think he'll be here? It's 8:30 on a Sunday morning."

  "We can hope." I unlocked the car doors and stepped out. Kelly followed my actions, and we made our way to the office. Much to my surprise, the door was unlocked.

  We stepped inside and were greeted by a tall, elderly man with greying hair and a well-groomed beard.

  "Good morning. I'm Mr. Johansen, the apartment manager. How can I help you ladies?"

  I stepped forward and introduced us. "I'm Barb Jackson, and this is my friend Kelly. We're investigating the murder of Derek Johnson."

  "Sad business that was." Mr. Johansen shook his head. "He was a quiet man, always paid his rent on time and didn't make any trouble."

  "Mr. Johansen, we're looking for a woman named Lucy. She's about five-feet-five inches, and maybe one-hundred-and-fifteen pounds. She has long dark hair and dark brown eyes."

  He squinted his light green eyes and frowned. "I'm sorry ladies, but I don't know anyone matching that description. Is she a suspect?"

  "Maybe," I told him the truth the way I saw it. "If you happen to see anyone matching that description around here, will you please give me a call?" I reached into my pocket and handed him a business card.

  "Absolutely. You ladies be careful out there."

  We left the office and made our way back to the car.

  "Now what?" Kelly asked.

  I stared out the windshield for the longest time trying to figure out what to do next. We didn't have an actual address for Lucy, so it wasn't as if we could track her down at her place. If I took the information that we did have to the police station, it would get tossed on Tyler's desk until he finally decided to show up and take a look at it, and at the snail's pace he was taking to call me back, there was no telling how long that would take.

  "I don't know. The only other place I can think of that Lucy might pay a visit to is the Double Down Club."

  Kelly shook her head. "It's Sunday—do you really think anyone is going to be there?"

  I shrugged. "I honestly have no idea. The sign on the door said open 24/7, so I guess it's worth a shot. While we're there we can talk to Cindy and see if she might know where we can find Lucy."

  "It's worth a shot."

  * * *

  We pulled into the parking lot of the Double Down Club and I was beyond shocked to see several cars in the parking lot.

  Kelly and I shared a look, then exited the car and made our way into the club.

  The main stage
was deserted, but there were several scantily clad women walking the floors delivering drinks and making small talk with the customers. The bar was basically deserted, but I wasn't surprised with it being so early in the morning. I nudged Kelly, walked to the bar, and took a seat on one of several empty stools. It took only a moment before the bartender spotted us.

  "What can I get you ladies?"

  "Actually, we're looking for someone who was working last night, but we're not sure where to find her."

  The bartender pursed her full lips and twisted a strand of pitch-black hair around her forefinger. "Well, we have a couple of girls who stayed over to work a double. Two of our girls were a no show. Who are you looking for?"

  "Cindy."

  "Oh, why are you looking for her?"

  Before I could give an answer, Cindy spotted us.

  "Hey, girls! What's happening?" she asked with a smile and cheer that was way too much for a non-morning person such as me. "Did you find Lucy?"

  "That's why we're here," I said and hopped off the barstool. "Can we talk?"

  Her smile faltered, but she nodded. "Sure, let's go back to the office."

  We followed her back down the same hallway as the night before and into the same office.

  "What's going on, ladies?" she asked as she turned to face us from behind the desk.

  "We can't find Lucy, and its imperative that we do. We think she has something to do with Derek's death."

  "Did you try the address listed on her file?" Cindy raised an eyebrow.

  "Fake," Kelly said. "It's some convenience store at the edge of town."

  Cindy shook her head. "As I said before, she seemed a bit off in the head to me, so I'm not surprised that she lied on her application."

  "The thing is," I said, "she is the sole witness in Derek's murder case. She said she saw our friend lead Derek into the restroom and then watched her leave alone."

  "Which was a lie," she stated.

  "Yes. I've tried to get the information you've given us to my contact inside the precinct, but he hasn't gotten back in touch with me. We wanted to talk to Lucy, to see if she'd let something slip, but we have no idea where to find her. If we can't find her, I doubt the cops can either."

 

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