by Bob Moats
“Is Morgan from around here, I mean does he have any relatives?” Deacon asked.
I said I didn’t know, excused myself and went to interrupt Penny where she sat talking to the wide-eyed group. I asked her if she knew where Morgan was from. She thought a bit, then said he once mentioned he came from the Midwest, but no particular place. I went back to Buck and Deacon. I said I thought we should go to Morgan’s apartment to check it out. We went back around front. Buck said he put his friend Luther in charge of the compound, as he now called it. We went to Luther and told him we were leaving for a while, and not to let anyone on the property they didn’t know. He said, “No fear, man. The lady will be safe with us.”
I went to tell Penny we would be back. She kissed me from the chair and went back to her stories. This time we took Deacon’s patrol car. It looked more official even if it wasn’t authorized. I told Buck to sit in the back so he would feel at home. He grunted but did so, and we headed out. I checked the address of Morgan’s apartment on my Palm and got the location. It was in the north end of Clinton Township, not too long of a trip.
We got there and went to the manager’s office to ask about Morgan.
The lady inside said, “The police had already been here, and I told them I hadn’t seen Morgan today. They had a warrant and looked through the apartment, then left.” She looked at Deacon and assumed we were cops, too, so I played it up.
“We just need to know a few more details. Did Morgan put any references on his rental application?” I asked, like a cop.
She had his file still on the desk from the earlier police visit. Opened it and read off a couple of names. I asked her if she could write the names and addresses on a paper. She did so. I also asked if we could get into the apartment under the previous warrant. She took the keys from her desk and handed them to me. I handed them to Deacon to make it official. She gave me the paper, and I thanked her, saying we would return the keys.
We entered the apartment and started our search. We had no rubber gloves so carefully handled things. I found his desk and went through the bills and letters scattered there. I hit the replay button on his answering machine and listened. Just a couple of guys calling about bar hopping Saturday night. One from a female voice saying, you know who, call me. It kind of sounded like Waters voice that I heard on the VHS tape, but I couldn’t be sure.
As I was pulling open drawers on the desk, there was a banging on the door. Buck and Deacon came in the living room, and I signaled them to get back a little. I went to the door and could hear a voice yelling, “Open up, Davey. It’s Mick.” I looked through the peephole and saw a rather small, young guy with his hat on sideways. I hated that.
I opened the door and said, “Hey, Mick, how’s it going? Come on in.”
Mick paused for a minute and asked where Davey was. I said, “On the crapper. Come on in.”
He smiled and strutted in. I closed the door, and Buck and Deacon came around the corner. He saw Deacon’s uniform and turned to go out, but I blocked him. He raised a fist to hit me, but Deacon grabbed it and swung him around.
“That’s attempted assault, slimeball. I guess I’ll have to run you in.” Deacon twisted the kid’s arm around his back and slapped a cuff on it.
“Whoa, whoa, Officer Deacon. Let’s see what this fine young man needs before we incarcerate him,” I said, acting the part. “Just what is it you want with Davey?”
The kid looked scared but defiant. “I ain’t talking to no pigs.”
“Wow, double negative. You are a genius. Maybe you’d like a night in a cold cell with some big biker. You like that idea?”
Buck stepped around, grabbed the boy’s mouth and squeezed it, saying, “Yeah, my buddies would like his lips.”
I wanted to laugh, but held it when the kid’s eyes went big. I could see a dark stain growing around his crotch.
“OK, Slasher, let the boy be. Now, let’s try this again. What do you want from Davey?” I asked as Buck released his grip.
“OK, OK. I came to see if he still needed my van for tomorrow night. That’s all. Really!”
I wondered why Davey would need a van. For kidnapping, maybe?
“Since he’s not here, do you know where else he hangs?” Deacon asked.
“He sometimes hangs out with his loony sister up in Lake Orion. But they aren’t staying there now. Davey says it’s infested with cockroaches and needs fumigating. I don’t know where else he’d be. Maybe his mom’s house.”
That caught our attention. “Where does his mom live?”
Mick paused, looking like he was having a bad gas attack, then said, “Somewhere out in Chesterfield. I don’t know exactly.”
Buck was a bit surprised. Chesterfield was just down the road from his house.
“Is Alice Stone his mother?” Deacon asked.
“Her last name is Morgan, that’s all I know.”
“Anything else you want to say? What about Davey using your van? What for?” I grilled him good, right up to his face.
“He said he had to pick up some package and needed the room in the van. That’s all, honest.”
I nodded to Deacon, and he removed the cuff.
“I think you should just disappear for a while, Mick. Stay away from Davey if you know what’s good for you. We’re looking for him for murder. You want to be a part of that?” I pushed.
Mick’s eyes grew again, and he said he wouldn’t go anywhere near Davey.
I opened the door, and he shot out. We all laughed. Deacon said I did good and loved Buck’s Slasher part.
“I think I like this investigating.” I smiled. I thought about something I had read that the immortal Travis McGee once said: “Don’t get hooked on the feeling…investigating can be a disease.”
We locked up, took the keys back and went to find a phone book.
We found one at a convenience store on the way back up Gratiot Avenue. The highway ran through Chesterfield which had many big box stores, banks, bars and a few subdivisions. We found, amazingly, two Alice Morgans in the book. I also checked under Alice Stone, but found nothing. We took the first Alice and ran by her home. The thing about subdivisions that bugged me was the conformity and similarity of the houses. We arrived at the house and got out of the patrol car. People near the house were watching us as we plodded to the front door.
We rang the bell, and after a minute or two a young woman of about thirty answered. I had placed Deacon up front to add to the air of legitimacy. I stepped forward and asked for Alice Morgan. She looked a little worried and said she was Alice. I apologized for the intrusion and asked if she knew of an Alice Stone. She looked blank, then suddenly her eyes lit up.
“You mean my aunt. Her name is Alice, also,” she said. “She married my uncle a few years ago, and we used to laugh about having two Alices so close in the family.”
“Great. Does she have a son named Davey?” I asked.
“Yes, she does. What is this about, if I may ask?” she inquired.
“We are investigating a crime and need to speak to your aunt,” I said.
“I wish I could tell you where she was, but she disappeared about three weeks ago. We and the police have no idea where she is,” she said sadly. “They think there was foul play. My uncle thinks her son did her in, but it’s all speculation. Things got weird when Davey’s half-sister came into town.”
I looked to Buck and Deacon, and then said to her, “Do you mean Julia Waters?”
“I think that was her name. She came into their lives, and the trouble began.”
“What do you mean, trouble?”
“Well, from what my Uncle Bob said, Alice thought the Waters woman was a bad influence on Davey. They were hanging together way too much, out at bars and drinking, and there were hints of sexual contact between the two. My God, brother and sister, that’s not normal. My Aunt told her she should go away, but Uncle Bob said she kept calling Davey and wanting to see him,” Alice related. “Davey finally got tired of what he called their interference and go
t an apartment.”
I said quietly to Buck and Deacon that Julia was priming Davey for the murders. I turned back to Alice and asked, “Do you know where Davey and Julia may be staying? We can’t locate them.”
“I don’t have any idea, maybe at his apartment. I never liked Davey much. He was creepy acting. I don’t even know who his friends are. I doubt my uncle would, either. If it weren’t for my uncle, Davey would be staying at the house. It was Alice’s home when she and my uncle married. He moved in with her. Davey and my uncle didn’t get along too well, and Davey got his own apartment after his mother disappeared. This will sound morbid, but if anything happens to my uncle, I’m sure Davey would take over the house. I’ve warned him to watch out for Davey.”
I thought that Davey was too busy killing cheerleaders to bother with his stepfather. I thanked her, and Deacon gave her one of his cards in case she heard anything about Davey. We left and went to the second address for Alice to talk to her husband. It was a nice house on a well-spaced street. The yard was well groomed, and a man was out trimming hedges. We pulled into the drive, and he just stared. He looked to be in his seventies and came towards us as we got out of the patrol car, asking if we heard anything about Alice. I explained that we were on another case and didn’t know about his wife’s disappearance until we talked to his niece. He looked sad and asked what we needed. I asked him about Davey.
“He’s evil, that’s all I’ll say. Him and his slut of a sister. You cops should arrest them for incestuous fornication. My dear Alice is missing, and I think the two of them know what happened.” I could see his eyes welling up. He took a handkerchief out of a back pocket and wiped. Then he blew his nose with it.
“We were just wondering if you may know where they would be staying.” I queried.
“I have no idea and don’t care as long as they stay the hell away from me,” he barked out angrily.
I didn’t think we’d get anything more from him. We gave our sympathies and took our leave. Back in the car, I looked at the addresses of the references from the apartment manager then looked at my watch. It was now around 4 P.M., and we hadn’t accomplished much in finding our prey. Some good leads, but nothing concrete.
We decided to stop for the day and headed back. The ride was quiet, each of us in our own thoughts. When we arrived, there was no one in the yard. I got a little panicky, jumped out of the car when it came to a stop and ran to the house. I was amazed to find about twenty people all crammed into the living room watching Penny’s show that was recorded earlier. Penny saw me and came over, giving me a kiss and grinning. Buck and Deacon came in behind me, saw what was going on and joined the group to watch the show. Buck said to Penny that it was interesting to see the finished product and was thrilled when he saw a shot of himself on the screen. Everyone screamed and yelled whenever the camera caught a glimpse of him. Deacon said next time he would sit out front.
Penny laughed and whispered in my ear, “I have my first fan club. Luther is the president, and some girl called Mouse is the vice president. While I’m gone, the station is going to be running old shows. I guess they didn’t want Phil doing the show. Any luck with whatever you went off to do?”
I took her out to sit on the porch and told her of our adventures. She said that she couldn’t believe what I had told her about Davey. He had seemed so nice. I said that you couldn’t trust anyone nowadays. Except me, I added. She looked happy and contented, and I put my arm around her as we sat there taking in the sunshine.
*
Chapter Fifteen
I called my Mother and explained that Penny had invited me to visit with her family for a reunion, and I had called my brother to fill in for me for a few days. She was all thrilled that Penny said hi to her on the show. I told her since we were going to be out of town, they would be running past shows. She said to say hi to Penny, and then we hung up. I relayed the message to Penny, and we got up when everyone piled out of the house. People were chattering to her about the show and the guest, especially the women, who were interested in the beauty products. I had to back off before I was swept up in all the estrogen.
I went to Buck and Luther. They were standing in the yard talking, and Luther held his hand out to shake mine. I did.
“That’s some woman you got there, real classy and smart,” he drawled. Were all the people I came in contact lately from the south, I wondered.
“Thanks, I think I’ll keep her.” I grinned.
Buck piped up. “Yeah, but she’ll get smart and drop you for me,” he laughed. “Luther and I were just discussing our plans for guarding my fortress tonight. Penny should sleep well with us on duty.”
“So will I,” I said under my breath. To them I said, “I don’t think we should have any problems from the crazy siblings unless they followed us here from the studio. No way could they know where we are.”
Buck concurred but said we shouldn’t get careless about it. “Remember, they found the safe house with Grolich.” I agreed.
Penny had finished with her admirers, and they wandered off to start foraging for food. She came to me, excused us from Buck and Luther and pulled me toward the house. She took me into her new bedroom and pushed me back on the bed. I humorously protested but not for long.
“We’re not going to do it,” she whispered breathlessly, “not with my fan club so close. I just want a little lip action to remind me why I like you.” She bit my lower lip gently and pulled. I moved in for the kill, and we rolled around for about twenty minutes. We rested, and then she dozed off on me. I didn’t know whether to be insulted or cuddle my poor, tired little girl. I took the latter.
After a bit I slid my arm from under her and went out to the front lawn again. I asked the nearest person where Buck was. She said he and Luther went to get pizza. I was a bit ashamed I wasn’t there to help, but, knowing Buck, he wouldn’t care. Besides, he was the one still employed. I was near broke. The two of them drove back in from New Baltimore with a pile of pizza boxes, enough to feed the army camped out on the lawn.
Everyone was whooping and hollering so loud it must have woken Penny. She came out. Buck handed her a beer and a paper plate with a couple slices of pizza and accepted the kiss on his cheek she gave him. He smirked at me. I grabbed some pizza and some beer and plopped down next to Penny. After a while everyone had their fill, and they started a bonfire in the fire pit that Buck had in the front yard just as the sun was sinking.
I took a blanket off a chair from the back porch and spread it out for Penny and me. We sat by the fire, dreaming. I kissed her cheek, and she put her head on my shoulder and sighed, “Could this get any better?” I didn’t think so, but I would try to see if we could top it.
Deacon had pulled his patrol car across the front drive, by the road, to discourage any bad guys or local cops snooping around at a party of bikers. Besides, we were fairly secluded as the neighbors were spread far apart, so we weren’t going to bother anyone.
Around midnight most people had drifted off to their tents or fallen asleep on chaise lounges or blankets. Penny and I got up. She kissed Buck on the top of his head while he was trying to do a yoga mediation position on the ground. We said good night, grabbed a couple of beers and toddled off to the back bedroom.
In the near dark of the room the only light coming in through the thin curtains was from the floodlights in the back yard. We stood facing each other. She kissed my cheek, and I kissed hers, then she kissed my neck, and I kissed hers. She slowly unbuttoned my shirt and kissed my chest from the neck down to my waist. We sat on the bed and I unbuttoned her blouse and proceeded to slowly work my way around her bra with my lips and tongue, tasting her sweetness. I tugged at her bra strap with my lips and pulled it down one shoulder, then worked the other off. She reached around and tried to undo the bra clasp. I reached around, moved her hand and popped open the fasteners with one hand. She looked surprised and said, “Handy aren’t you?” I undressed her, she undressed me. We lay together in silence and took ou
r time pleasuring each other more and more until our sweaty bodies could take no more. We lay in silence again, and she slept. I lay back, popped open a beer and was thankful for such a woman. Who said old folks couldn’t make love?
I think I finally drifted off around 2 A.M. as it was the last time I looked at the clock. I woke in the morning and reached over to Penny. She wasn’t there. I pulled on my clothes and went out to see what was going on as it was deathly quiet. Penny and Buck were sitting at his small dining table, having coffee and donuts.
Buck asked if I wanted some, and I told him what I thought about coffee. He took that as a no. I bent down to Penny, gave her a smooch, sat next to her and grabbed a donut. I saw Deacon was passed out on the couch, his feet hanging off the end. I asked if everyone else was still sleeping. Looking at the clock in the kitchen, I saw it was 7:40 A.M., a time I’m not usually up by.
“Yeah, most of these people don’t open their eyes till around noon.” Buck yawned.