I let the matter hang for a second. After way too long, Sylvia laughed. “Salem, I think you have too much time on your hands.”
“You’re probably right about that. It’s just that I want to help Tony, and I’m kind of getting into this detective thing. Maybe I’ll be a private eye.”
“Or maybe you should just stick to grooming dogs. You’re good at that.”
“You’re probably right about that, too. Stick with what I’m good at. So, what was his alibi, do you know? Or has he told you?”
“He was at work, Salem. The next state. He was working. His boss vouched for him, and his boss is a very well-thought of member of the Oklahoma City community. He owns several business.”
“I see,” I said brightly. Should I push it and ask who his boss was? From the tension in Sylvia’s voice, maybe not such a good idea. “Well, that certainly makes sense. Like I said, I was just curious. Playing Nancy Drew, you know. Listen, next time you bring Tango in for a haircut, remind me to try this new conditioner Flo bought. It’s just for brown hair and it really makes it shiny.”
“Sure, Salem,” Sylvia said. “I’ll remind you.”
“You sound tired. I’m sorry to bother you so late. Get some rest.”
I hung up and chewed my lip. So Rey had the word of his boss, a supposedly upstanding member of the community. Was that really airtight? Someone’s word, no matter how upstanding they are?
It shouldn’t be, if you asked me. If it was, then Tony should be able to use my word that he would never hurt someone, except I wasn’t quite so upstanding, come to think of it.
I crawled back into bed and snuggled up with Stump. Her eyes were droopy, and I heard her snoring while I was still thinking and chewing on the end of my pen, mentally examining possibilities.
I didn’t realize I’d fallen asleep with the light on until it winked off. I couldn’t figure out what was going on until it dawned on me that there was someone else in the room, and that someone had turned off the light. Still, I wasn’t scared – probably because I was still in that la-la land between wake and sleep – until the bed creaked with that someone’s weight.
Chapter Eleven
The bed dipped at my side. That woke me up. I gasped and scrambled. I tried to scream but one strong hand grabbed my right wrist and yanked me back down. Another hand shoved my chin until my head was jammed up against the headboard and I couldn’t open my mouth. Hot fingers closed over my lips, digging in. Male fingers.
I grunted and thrashed. A knee crashed into my stomach and dug in, bearing me down into the bed. Icy panic clutched at me, and I was dead certain I was about to be raped, beaten, and killed.
Stump, bless her fierce heart, jumped on me and snapped at the man.
He took his hand off my chin long enough to backhand Stump across the room. She hit the wall with a sickening, terrifying yelp.
“Stump!” I screamed before the hand slammed back into my face. He covered my chin with his palm, his long, nasty fingers over my mouth, and shoved and twisted until I was looking straight up at the headboard, unable to see anything for the pillows I’d been sleeping on.
“Starting right now, you’re going to mind your own business,” he said, inches away from my ear, deadly calm. “You’re going to go to work, and go home, and quit asking questions. You’re in over your head, and you’re not doing Tony any good.”
I rolled my eyes around, trying to get a glimpse of something, something I could remember. But I couldn’t see anything, just feel hot breath on my cheek and ear, and smell the stench of his sweaty skin in my nose.
“Tony will be fine if you’ll just keep your fat nosy ass out of this. Got it? Mind your own business.” He gave me one last shove before bolting off of me and running down the hall. Seconds later I heard the front door open and slam shut.
If it hadn’t been for Stump, I think I would have dove under the covers and stayed there until the sun came up. I knew he was gone, but still, I was so afraid I couldn’t move. My heart beat so hard I couldn’t breathe, and every time I thought about getting up to turn on the light, everything in me screamed, “No!”
I forced myself to jump out of bed and hit the light switch, desperate to see Stump and terrified at the same time of what I was going to see.
“Stump!”
She was lurching toward the bed on three legs, whimpering.
I dove to the floor and snatched her up. She yelped and twisted around, trying to get out of my grasp.
“Oh, my baby, my baby,” I said over and over. What had he done to her? I laid her on the bed and felt her fat little body gingerly. She held her left front leg close to her body, and she whimpered again when I ran my fingers over it.
I looked frantically around the room, not sure what to do first. Call the police? But Stump needed help now. Her leg looked like it was broken. Did I take her to the all-night vet and then call the police? Call them from there?
Finally, I ran into the kitchen and got my phone off the bar – an expedition that took every remaining ounce of courage I had – and dialed 911.
“Someone’s broken into my house,” I said. “He’s gone now, but I need the police. Get Detective Sloan if you can.”
“Are you hurt, ma’am?” the operator asked.
I felt my neck and chin. They hurt, but it was probably nothing a doctor could do about it. I almost said no when I looked at Stump. “Yes, I’m hurt. He choked me.”
“I’ll have the ambulance on its way in a few seconds,” she said. “I’ll stay on the line with you until they get there.”
“Thanks,” I said weakly, sitting down hard on the bed as the strength in my legs suddenly drained. Having her on the other end of the phone wasn’t like having someone there beside me, but it would have to do.
I hugged Stump as close as I dared. “Hang on, baby,” I whispered to her, stroking her head. “Help is on the way.”
I watched out the bedroom window until I saw the cruiser turn into the Trailertopia lot. I realized at that second that I was wearing nothing but panties and a big t-shirt.
“They’re here,” I told the operator, and hung up. I laid Stump down carefully and grabbed the faded black sweats at the foot of my bed. I hopped into them on my way to the door, succeeding in knocking the heck out of my pinkie toe on the footstool as I did so. When I opened the door it was with tears in my eyes.
“You?” I blurted without thinking.
Officer Walters, the same cop who’d come when I reported Lucinda Cruz’s dead body, stared back at me.
I wish I had a cop face. No surprise, nothing catches them off guard, no big deal. I’m here and I’m in charge now, you don’t even have to think.
“What’s going on?” he asked, looking down the hallway to the second bedroom and then back in the direction of my room.
I explained what happened and told him the guy had left. The ambulance pulled up while we talked and I went to get Stump while he examined the front door.
A young skinny guy came in first carrying a toolbox – the modern equivalent of the black doctor’s bag. An older woman huffed up my deck behind him, overweight and windblown, with unruly curly hair and gray roots. That was me in fifteen years, I realized, if I didn’t make some serious lifestyle changes.
I sat on the sofa, clutching Stump for all I was worth, while the EMTs asked me questions and took my blood pressure and temperature and stuff. She was breathing hard and even when I held her up and stared straight into her eyes I knew she wasn’t seeing me.
“Can you look at my dog?” I finally asked. “The guy knocked her off the bed and I think her leg is broken.
“Honey, we’re not vets,” the lady said, but the young guy smiled. He looked familiar. I realized then where I’d seen him. He sometimes came into Lagoon Saloon, this place I used to hang out a couple of years ago. I didn’t really know him but we’d talked a few times about nothing in particular. I wondered briefly if I’d done or said anything that should embarrass me now, then I decided I didn
’t really care. I had other things to worry about at the moment.
Randy, his nametag said. I looked at him and he shrugged. “I don’t mind looking at her if you promise not to sue me.”
“Swear,” I said, handing Stump over to him.
That’s when the shakes started. As long as I had Stump in my lap I was doing okay, but as soon as he took her I started to shake all over and couldn’t stop. The lady let me grab the quilt that covered the holes in the couch and wrap myself up tight in it, although I really wasn’t cold, just vibrating out of control.
Randy looked in Stump’s eyes with his little flashlight and I didn’t like the look on his face. “You’re taking her to the vet soon?”
That was all I needed to freak completely out. “Why? What’s wrong? Is she okay?” I jumped up and grabbed my keys by the door and shouted to Walters, “I have to take my dog to the vet this second. I’ll be back in a while.”
At least now the cop face was gone. Walters actually looked a trifle panicked that I’d leave. “You can go as soon as we’re through here.”
“But she needs medical attention this second!” I shrieked. A little over the top, I know, but hey. When in my life had I been more entitled?
“She’ll probably be fine,” Randy said.
“Probably?” I wondered what would happen if I just pushed past them all and left with Stump. I decided it was worth a try.
“I’m going to wrap her leg and she’ll be okay till you can get her to the vet.” Randy said, although the look on his face looked more hopeful than convinced. I took Stump back and shoved past him – right into Bobby.
“What’s going on here?” He took my arms and steered me back into the living room.
“A guy came in and choked me and told me to mind my own business and he hit Stump and now she needs to go to the vet and this joker won’t let me go and it’s an emergency, her leg is broken and she’s got internal injuries and if anything happens to her I’m going to sue you!” I pointed at Walters.
He raised an eyebrow at Bobby.
Bobby sighed, went and mumble-mumbled to Walters for a second. Walters’ cop face was sliding fast; he clearly didn’t like whatever Bobby was mumbling. He threw a disdainful glare at me and turned back to say something to Bobby between clenched teeth.
Bobby had his back to me, leaning toward Walters and I could see he was working a hard sell of something. He shot off a couple short sentences that didn’t budge Walters. Finally, he said something that must have been his ace-in-the-hole, because Walters rolled his eyes, muttered something that sounded suspiciously profane, and shoved past Bobby.
Bobby said, “Walters is going to take your dog to the vet so we can finish your interview. Make sure you’re okay.”
“But – but…” Clearly this was the way it would have to be, but I didn’t like the idea of Stump being in the scary vet’s office without me.
“Just say thank you, Salem,” Bobby ordered.
I handed Stump over to Walters. “Thank you. Please be gentle with her.”
He gave me a look that didn’t give any promises.
“Just drop the dog off and come back,” Bobby said.
“You’re going to leave her up there by herself?” I said. “She’ll be scared…” I stopped dead at the look Walters threw over his shoulder. “Okay, okay. Thanks again.”
“You’ll be a hero, Walters,” Bobby called after him. “Get your face in the paper.”
Walters flipped him off.
“Okay, tell me exactly what happened,” Bobby said, sitting on the stool in front of me. “Every detail.”
I went through the whole thing again. Woke up, somebody on the bed, grabbing my wrist and yanking me down, knee in my stomach. Told me to mind my own business, go to work, go home, I wasn’t helping Tony…right about then I started to feel a little weird. Like I wasn’t completely there, but I didn’t know where the rest of me was. Kind of floaty.
I heard my own voice talking to Bobby and felt the EMT lady pumping up the blood pressure cuff again for like the third time, but I had very little interest in what was going on. Bobby leaned in close and stared deep into my eyes. I had spent a significant portion of my middle school life dreaming of just such a moment, but right then I didn’t care.
When I got to the part where he knocked Stump off me I decided I didn’t really want to talk anymore. In fact, I thought, it would be a good time to go back to sleep. It was, after all, the middle of the night and I’d been through a lot. I saw black spots and thought how nice it would be if they’d just blend all together and everything would go black.
“She’s going down,” Bobby said with urgency, and I felt his arms around me as I slid over. That was the last thing I heard.
When I came to I was lying on the couch with my feet on the armrests.
“You’re going to take her in, right?” Bobby was asking the EMT. He actually looked nervous. Probably he was concerned his star witness to the break-in was going to do a belly flop, but I indulged in a few seconds’ fantasy that he was really worried about me, personally. It was almost worth getting attacked for, but not quite.
I scooted around to sit up.
“Lie down,” the EMT said.
Bobby put four fingers against my chest and pushed. “Stay.”
I raised an eyebrow, but I stayed. He really did look worried. Whoever had broken in must be pretty important.
“I think I’m okay,” I said. “I just got a little woozy for a second.”
“Have you ever fainted before?” the lady asked.
“Does drinking till you pass out count?”
She shook her head.
“Then no, I haven’t.”
Bobby gnawed on his lip and looked from me to the lady. He was making me nervous. I heard a racket and looked up to see Randy bringing a gurney up my front deck. Frank was right behind him.
“What’s happening?” Frank asked.
“A guy broke in and choked me, kind of.” I turned to Randy. “There’s no way I need that thing. I don’t really even need to go to the hospital. I just needed to sit down for a second.”
“You were sitting when you passed out. You’re going in, Salem, so give it a rest.”
Bobby stood and hovered while they argued with me about the gurney until I finally got mad and stomped out to the stupid ambulance and climbed in. “Okay, I’m going, but I am not riding on the gurney.” Mostly I just didn’t want to hear Randy groan when he tried to pick it up with me on it.
Before they drove off, I asked Frank to go to the emergency vet and check on Stump. He was way more worried about her than he was about me, but that was okay, because so was I.
Bobby grilled the doctor so much he got on her nerves and she almost admitted me just to satisfy him. He even had me a little freaked out that there was something horribly wrong with me, even though I’d been there for the attack and I knew all the guy had done was shove my chin and knee me in the stomach. We finally got out of there right before daybreak. Bobby said if I was up to it I’d need to go to the station to give a report.
I really wanted to go get Stump first. But since she was with Frank, and he was practically family, I knew she’d be okay. I was exhausted, but it wasn’t as if I was going to be sleeping any time soon.
“Do you have someplace you can go for a couple of days till we catch the guy?”
I hadn’t thought about that. I didn’t feel so great about going back to my place alone.
“I can find someplace,” I said.
He looked over at me. “You’re sure?”
“Yeah. Frank won’t mind if I bunk at his place, or probably Les wouldn’t mind if I stayed with him.” I chewed my lip and thought I’d better call Les and let him know what happened. He liked to know when stuff happened with me. Not that anything like this had ever happened before.
Bobby was quiet for a few seconds. “Yeah, well, I guess it’s good you’ve got so many…people you can call on to help out.”
What wa
s with him? He stared straight ahead at the road and clenched his teeth. If I didn’t know better I’d think he was jealous.
I looked down. Nope, I was still fat. So that ruled out any possibility of jealousy.
So for the second time in a week I sat in Bobby’s office and gave a “statement.” He had me look through some books of pictures but it didn’t do a lot of good since I hadn’t seen the guy. I only had a vague sense of size – on the short side, and from the weight behind the knee in my stomach he hadn’t missed many meals – and I thought I’d detected a slight Mexican accent. Definitely not as strong as Frank’s, but the guy was used to speaking two languages.
Bobby made me repeat everything three times. Thank goodness I didn’t pass out any more, but the longer I went without seeing Stump the more worried about her I got, and the more times I told the story, the more convinced of one thing I became.
“We were on the right track,” I said.
Bobby chewed his lips. “Sounds like you were definitely on to something.”
“I knew it. I wonder what it was?”
Bobby shrugged. “There’s no telling. Who did you talk to yesterday?”
I told him about the weird way Rick Barlow had acted. Bobby remembered him, but mostly because he’d been on the scene of Rick’s little brother’s motorcycle crash six or seven years ago. “I remember it hit him really hard.”
“I guess maybe that ordeal was what changed him. He used to be loud-mouthed and obnoxious, vulgar and rude. But yesterday he was actually polite.”
Bobby gave me a funny look. “Maybe you ought to give more people a chance to be polite to you. You could be pleasantly surprised. So why were you talking to Ricky Barlow?”
“Because he was a friend of Rey’s, and Trisha said if Rey was in town, Rick had probably seen him, because they’re tight since John died. We just went over to ask if he’d seen Rey lately, and how long had it been?”
The Middle Finger of Fate (A Trailer Park Princess Cozy Mystery Book 1) Page 20