Cassandra (Fells Point Private Investigator Series)

by Denise Irwin

  “Since I’m tending your bar, we could use something simple. We could use the term, ‘scotch in a brandy glass.’”

  “Now tell me, who in the hell would ever order scotch in a brandy glass?”

  “No one ever would, which is why it works. If you need me, call the bar and ask for a scotch in a brandy glass. If I need you, I’ll call your office to confirm that you prefer your scotch in a brandy glass.

  “Mr. Englar, I’d like to thank you for not only hiring me, but for understanding why I’m here. I’d like to nab these assholes as quickly as I can. I do have a question if you don’t mind?”

  “What’s that?”

  “Does Authority Trucking deliver vegetables to your casino?”

  “It does. Why did you ask about them?”

  “That’s where Grossman starts working in the morning.”

  “Parson took him back?”

  “It looks like he did, if Parson’s first name is Bob. Mr. Englar you have a funny look on your face.”

  “I was just thinking about something unrelated, I’m fine. Little lady, make sure you’re careful with Grossman. He did not have the best reputation when he worked in Atlantic City, but it’s possible that he changed. People turn themselves around and lead good, productive lives. I’ll see you at some point tomorrow.”

  Before she left Englar’s office, she asked him one more question, “Mr. Englar, can I give you a name and phone number of someone to contact if something goes wrong?”

  “Of course you can. Here, write it down on this pad of paper.”

  Rebecca wrote Sam’s name and phone number on the pad and handed it back to him.

  “Is this someone with the Bureau?”

  “No he’s not. He’s the private investigator I worked with in Vegas. I trust him with my life. Mr. Englar, can you please hand me back that pad.” Rebecca wrote her real name on the pad. “This is my real name, please keep this information in a secure location, or I’ll end up a dead woman.”

  Grossman was waiting in the hall when Rebecca left Englar’s office. “How’d it go in there?”

  “Bruce, I got the job. I start tomorrow evening. So let’s go get that car.”

  “What days do you work?”

  Shit, this guy is such an asshole. “My schedule is Monday – Wednesday, 4:00 to 10:00 at night. I work Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 am until 4:00 in the afternoon. My days off are Thursday and Friday.”

  “Then we don’t need a second car.”

  Rebecca was edgy after Englar’s warning. “Are you crazy? What’s your schedule?”

  Grossman grabbed her forearm, “Don’t you ever call me crazy again. Do you understand me?”

  “Sure, I’m sorry. It was in bad taste. I’ll never call you crazy again.” However, I’m starting to wonder.

  “I forgive you. I work Wednesday to Sunday, starting at 6:00 am. I’m off Monday and Tuesday.”

  “If I don’t have a car, we’ll end up with a conflict on Saturday and Sunday. My shift starts at 11:00 which means I need to be there around 10:30 to meet with the morning bartender before he or she clocks out.”

  When Grossman didn’t respond to her, Rebecca pressed on. “Are you listening to what I’m saying? Since I can’t contact the Bureau for funding a car, you said you would pay for it and we could invoice it later.”

  Rebecca decided not to press the subject any further since it was obvious he had his own set of plans. The pit in her stomach was causing her a great deal of pain. Her intuition was telling her that she was going to need to be extremely cautious with this partner. She watched out the passenger window and kept her mouth shut.

  “I see what you’re saying. Since we both start work tomorrow, you’ll need a car. Most days I’d be home in time for you to take my car, but if I’m running late, the casino will fire you. Do you have a particular car in mind?”

  “No, but I will need a four-door, so Brutus can ride with me.”

  “Do you plan to take that beast to work with you?”

  “No I don’t, but I need a car he can in and out of, if I take him with me to a park, where he can run.”

  “If you insist, let’s go buy you a car. Rebecca, you were in that interview for a long time. What was that about?”

  “Bruce, you need to chill a little. Englar wanted to make sure I was the right person for the job. He presented a lot of rules if he hired me.”

  “Is that right? What kind of rules?”

  “He stated that he expects his staff to report to work on time. He also said if I didn’t show up for work, I’d be fired.”

  “What happens if you get sick? Will he fire you?”

  “No. If I call out sick, I’ll need to call him either the night before or early in the morning.”

  “Rebecca, there’s a used car dealer on the way home. We can stop there and pick up something for you to drive.”

  Rebecca closed her eyes and thanked whoever ran the universe, that she would have a car. If Grossman turned out to be a piece of shit, she’d have a car to get Brutus and her as far away as she could.

  Bruce talked to the salesman while Rebecca stood beside him looking like a statue. “We don’t need anything special other than my wife insists the car have four doors.”

  “Well, Mr.”

  “Grossman, name’s Grossman.”

  “Well then, Mr. Grossman, I can give you a sweet deal on this little four-door Toyota. Will you require financing? If so; I also finance my auto sales.”

  “No, I don’t. I’ll pay in cash. What’s the price?”

  “Well, let’s see, since you’ll be paying in cash, I can let you have it for let’s say, $1500. Do you want to pick it up tomorrow?”

  As Grossman pulled out his wallet, he told the dealer, “No, we’d like to drive it off the lot today.”

  “Okay then, let’s just step into my office to do the paperwork.”

  While Bruce and the salesman finalized the paperwork, Rebecca tried to think of any person she knew who carried that much cash in a wallet.

  Rebecca followed him home in her used dark green four-door Toyota Corolla. Grossman spent a long time inspecting the under carriage of the car along with the bumpers on the dealer’s lot. Since she didn’t figure him as a person who knew much about cars, she wondered what he was inspecting.

  Her criminal mind suspected he put a tracking device and possibly an FM transmitter or both either under the bumper or somewhere on the undercarriage. If there were a tracking device, he’d watch her every move when she drove the car. If there were an FM transmitter, he’d be able to listen to her cell phone calls. She cranked the radio up high and sang along with the tunes blasting out of all four speakers.

  He pulled to the side of his road so she could pull in first. Rebecca knew it was likely that he did that since he’d leave before her in the morning, but at this moment, it felt like he was trying to trap her in. She waited beside her car to walk into the house together. When he unlocked the front door, he opened the door for her to walk through first.

  “Thank you. What would you like for dinner? It might be our last opportunity to dine together since we’re both headed for work tomorrow.”

  “Rebecca, I’ll pick up dinner. Is there something you’d prefer?”

  Maybe she had been paranoid about the car and misjudged his behavior. “Are you up for Chinese?

  “If you want Chinese, then that’s what I’ll pick up. Why don’t you walk your dog and it’ll be ready when you return.”

  “That is a great plan.”

  Rebecca fed and walked Brutus. Twice, she thought about leaving now, but Grossman had put her car key in his pocket when, he left. She was in lock down and didn’t care for it one bit. Her gut told her that if he were legit, he would not have left with her car key in his pocket. What reason would he have to take the key? As she thought through the situation, she not only didn’t like him, she didn’t trust him, which is why she gave Englar, Sam’s contact information.

  Once she acknowledge
d those thoughts to herself, her confidence grew stronger. Rebecca would gather whatever evidence she needed and leave Atlantic City when he was at work. Until then, she need to put on an Academy Award winning performance, so Grossman didn’t suspect what her plans were.

  When Grossman returned with dinner, Rebecca tried to be sociable. “Bruce, do you have any brothers or sisters?”

  “No. I’m an only child. What about you?”

  Rebecca had two older brothers and a younger sister, but he didn’t need to know that. “No I don’t, I’m the only child my parents had.”

  “Well then we are destined to be together. We’re the only children in our families. Do you live near your parents?”

  She was not about to tell him she was orphaned two years ago, when her parents were killed in a car accident. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I’m within walking distance of my parents’ house. My father is retired, so he’s always volunteering for a number of hospitals and senior centers. Are your parents retired?”

  “Yes. As soon as my father retired, they moved to Florida.”

  “Do you see them often?”

  “As often as I can. Working for the Bureau in Oregon makes it tough.”

  Rebecca thought about the passing comment his neighbor made about his parents’ disappearance and tucked that thought in the back of her head. As they ate dinner, Rebecca found Bruce used his chopsticks like an expert, while she fumbled with hers.

  Rebecca giggled, “Bruce, I’m envious at the way you’re managing those chopsticks. I can barely pick up my food.”

  “I ate a lot of Chinese take-out when I was in school.”

  “Bruce, while I’m enjoying our conversation; I need to walk Brutus once more, and after that, I’m heading to bed.”

  “Walk your dog, while I throw the containers into the trash. I’m bushed myself, so I may be in bed by the time you return.”

  Rebecca heard Bruce in the kitchen. She pulled on a jogging suit and went down to join him.

  “You’re up early for someone who doesn’t go into work until 4:00 this afternoon.”

  “I wanted to wish you luck on your first day, and of course, I have a dog alarm. We’re early risers so as soon as Brutus heard you in the kitchen, he was wide awake.”

  Bruce asked, “I ran out and picked up some coffee, what do you take in your coffee?”

  “Whatever you bought yesterday will do me fine.”

  “Do you expect me to feed and walk that mutt, while you’re at work?”

  “No I don’t if it bothers you, but if you could, I would appreciate it. I won’t get home until after 10:00 and that makes it hard on him.”

  Grossman sneered at her, “I’ll feed and walk him then. I certainly wouldn’t want to make it hard on your mutt. What time does he eat?”

  “I feed him around 6:00 in the evening. If you walk him after feeding him, I’ll take him out for a night walk when I come home. Just don’t forget to take plastic bags with you. He’s a well-trained dog.”

  “What the fuck does that mean?”

  Stay calm and speak clearly. “It means when you reach a road crossing, he will immediately sit and wait for you to tell him to ‘heel’ to cross the street. He will also wait until you find an appropriate place for him to do his business. If you want we can take a practice walk before I leave for work.”

  Grossman sarcastically told her, “I am not an imbecile. I’ll figure it out.”

  Rebecca smiled at him, if that’s the way you want it that’s just fine with me, “Then it sounds to me you’re all set.”

  Once Grossman was out of the house, Rebecca took the opportunity to search his residence. If her intuition were on target, she needed proof. Rebecca was suspicious of his behavior, but that didn’t necessarily constitute he was guilty of anything criminal, but her gut told her something was very wrong.

  She thought she’d start with the basement. When she turned the doorknob she realized he had locked it, so she went up to the den to look for the key in that locked center drawer of his desk. She cautiously approached the door. Someone as slick as Bruce, could have set up an alarm or booby trap for anyone who attempted to enter the door. She’d brought an infrared device that would show any laser beams set up to protect whatever was in the den. Rebecca grabbed the device from her bag.

  She stood outside the door and turned the device on. There were laser beams that were so close together, a mouse wouldn’t be able to sneak through without setting off an alarm. When he came up to get her the spare house key, he had gone up the stairs alone, while she waited in the living room. There had to be a switch somewhere upstairs; Rebecca needed to find that device to disarm the alarm

  Those laser beams heightened her worry. There was no communication room and her new cell phone didn’t have her boss’ number in it. She grabbed a washcloth and used it to lift the house phone from its cradle. She was now so suspicious of Grossman; she didn’t want her fingerprints on the phone. When she put the phone to her ear, there wasn’t a dial tone.

  She thought about leaving and getting the hell out of Atlantic City, but she didn’t have anything concrete to work with. She could make it through the day, gather some evidence, and leave tomorrow morning.

  Rebecca spent the morning looking for a switch, but came up with nothing. The clock was ticking and Grossman would be home shortly. She’d have to be patient and pay more attention. She went into the living room and turned the television on.

  When she heard the front door close, Rebecca remained in front of the television and called out to him. “Honey, I was going to go out and pick up lunch, but I didn’t know what you like, so I decided to wait for you to come home. Tell me what you’d like and I’ll go pick it up.”

  If he let her go out to pick up lunch, she’d take Brutus with her and leave town. Rebecca would find a place to check the undercarriage of the car for some sort of tracking system that he may have placed on the car. If she had to, she and Brutus would walk. She could call Englar and tell him she’d left. It was very likely that he would send someone to pick her up.

  “I stopped in a deli and picked up sandwiches, chips, and sodas. They had some fresh baked brownies, so I grabbed a couple of them too.”

  “That works for me. Do you want to eat here in the living room or in the kitchen?”

  “The living room is fine with me. What are you watching on the television?”

  “Ah, it's just some old movie that was on. How was your morning?”

  “It was good. Most of the drivers I worked with are still there. The poor schmucks are still driving trucks, but it was nice to update them with my travels.”

  “Bruce, did you make a delivery to the Chariot today?”

  “Yes. Why do you want to know?”

  “I want to know because it’s on our list of casinos who may be receiving threats to launder money.”

  “Don’t you dare ever take that tone with me, again, or trust me you’ll regret it.”

  Brutus was lying on the floor. He calmly looked up at Rebecca waiting for her to cut him loose to attack Grossman.

  She realized that Grossman hadn’t missed Brutus looking at his master. “Bruce, I’m sorry if I spoke in an inappropriate tone. Since we are investigating the same case, sharing information is essential, so I was simply asking a question.”

  He looked at her as if she were a stupid child, who knew nothing about how things worked. “If what you want to know is if I delivered any money there, I didn’t look in any of the cartons. I need to lay low for a couple of weeks.”

  “Of course you do. This was your first day of work. It’s my guess that your first delivery would be clean.”

  “That’s right. So what did you accomplish today?”

  “Nothing yet, I walked the dog and watched the news. I think your right, so I also plan to lay low for a couple of weeks at the Chariot.”

  After lunch, Rebecca and Grossman took Brutus out for a walk. Twice he attempted to hold her hand, but she pulled away telling him, as s
he swatted at something in the air, “There sure are a lot of flies out for this time of year.” She chuckled, “I guess they know that the season is ending for them.”

  When they returned from the walk, she showered and changed her clothes for work. As she left, she told Grossman, “If you don’t want to walk Brutus, he’ll be fine until I get home.”

  “I believe I told you yesterday, that I would walk your fucking dog.”

  She smiled and left without saying another word about it.

  As Rebecca drove to the casino, the pit lodged in her stomach had grown to the size of a softball. Something was wrong. That something was very terribly wrong. For the first time ever in her career, she felt alone and isolated. Her intuition told her Grossman wasn’t trustworthy. Rule 1 was if an agent couldn’t trust her partner the entire case would end up going to hell, getting them all killed. Rebecca knew she could just drive away, but worried about leaving Brutus behind. If Grossman threatened him, Brutus would react appropriately. His training taught him to attack if provoked, but that knowledge did not alleviate her fear. Brutus did not have a gun. Grossman did.

  There were very few customers in the bar during her shift, so the numbers on the clock advanced slowly. A dealer came by halfway through Rebecca’s shift to offer her a break if she needed one.

  “Thanks, I’d love to use the restroom.”

  He laughed, “My name’s Rudy. I figured you were ready. It’s a slow night for all of us.”

  “Rudy, my name is Rebecca.”

  Rebecca took advantage of the opportunity to see the layout of the casino on her way to the employee restroom located beside the kitchen doors. She ducked into the kitchen to introduce herself. While they welcomed her to the team, Rebecca had the opportunity to look around the kitchen. She did not miss the stack of unpacked crates. If there were vegetables in those crates, they would have wilted long ago. Grossman had confided that he had a delivery to the Chariot early that morning.

  She thanked everyone for the warm welcome. The kitchen staff went back to their work, giving Rebecca the opportunity to shoot several photos. She slid her cell phone just high enough out of her pant pocket to take several pictures of the crates.