Laying Ghosts (Dolly Games)

by Derek Murphy

  Chapter Thirteen

  From a confused dream of making love to Marta and being one of the guys with Julie he had seen on the tape, Carl awoke to find himself plunging on the bed, actually making love to a woman whose back was to him. He was very close to finishing and confused as to whether or not it was still a dream. Shrugging mentally, he plunged on, intent on reaching the pinnacle. As the spasms gripped him, he enveloped his partner in his arms, rolling her fully onto her stomach as he did so. Gasping as he tried to catch his breath, he laid a light kiss on the back of the woman’s neck, hoping against hope that he would awaken to find that Marta had found her way into his apartment.

  She turned her face to look at him over her shoulder, murmuring something in a lazy, drowsy voice and he was horrified to see Julie’s eyes looking back at him. Scrambling backward, he came to a sitting position on the bed and gaped at his business partner.

  “You! Julie! What happened?”

  She pretended to be still almost asleep, and brought a hand up to her eyes, rubbing them as she yawned, then let a shocked expression come to her face. Putting all her expertise as an actress into it, she feigned shock and betrayal.

  “Carl! Did you just…? Did we make love?”

  She let her expression turn into one of horror and turned away from him, bringing her knees up to her breasts as she sobbed, “I didn’t expect you to do something like this, Carl! I thought I was safe here!”

  Careful not to let the bottom of the t-shirt drop any at all, she squirmed on the bed, causing it to ruck up even further, revealing the side of one breast.

  The guilt in his voice was plain as he put a hand on her shoulder, trying to draw her back so he could see her as they talked. She jerked her shoulder out of his grasp and rolled to a kneeling position, but didn’t come fully enough erect to let the t-shirt drop below her hips.

  “I trusted you, Carl! How could you do this?”

  As shocked as she appeared to be, he said, “I’m sorry, Julie! I didn’t know it was happening!”

  “Yeah, sure! I’ll bet you were just waiting for me to let my guard down!”

  “Julie, it wasn’t like that! I promise! I never intended anything like this to happen!”

  Throwing herself face down on the pillow, she sobbed into it, satisfied that the sight of her crying would bring him to attempt to comfort her again. If he did, she was sure she would have him for the rest of the night and probably afterward. She felt the bed move as he dropped down onto an elbow on his side and put his other arm over her; his face at the back of her neck as he attempted to comfort her.

  “Shh-shh-shh, Julie. I’m sorry. Tell me what I can do to make it up to you.”

  Surreptitiously, she grasped the t-shirt, tugging it higher to bare her breasts and rolled toward him, her arms going about his neck as she sobbed. Pressing herself against him, she felt his semi-erect member still outside his pajamas, dangling against her leg. A secret smile crossed her lips as she pretended to cry and was surprised to feel real tears trickling down her face; a trick she had never been able to accomplish in acting class. She put her face up and wasn’t surprised to feel his lips on hers. At that moment, she knew she had him.

  * * *

  Stepping through the door of the bedroom, she adjusted the top of her light sweater and smiled as she saw Carl sitting at the dining table. Going to him, she leaned over his shoulder and kissed the side of his neck.

  Turning, he gently grasped her hands and drew her around in front of him. The expression on his face was one of humiliated regret and she felt an instant of foreboding.

  “What do you want to do today? I thought we might take the day off and go for a picnic in the hills. The weather won’t hold off forever. Before we know it, winter will be here.”

  He sighed and said, “Julie, we have to talk.”

  She shrugged and smiled, not wanting to believe that he was slipping out of her trap so soon. “What about?”

  “What happened last night…you know it wasn’t supposed to happen and that I didn’t mean for it to. We were asleep and I don’t know how it happened, but you got mixed up in a dream was having of Marta. I’m sorry, but this can’t go on.”

  Truly resentful and hurt, she turned it around, forgetting for the moment that it was through her machinations that they had made love at all.

  She said, “Oh, so you had your fun and now it’s time for the whore to go home! Is that it?”

  Coloring, he said, “No! That’s not it at all! You know I like you, Julie! I’ve liked you since you hired me and Ike to protect you out in Hollywood, but there can’t be anymore occurrences like last night.”

  Realizing that this really was the end and that she might have permanently endangered their working relationship, she felt real tears coming to her eyes and almost decided to confess the whole thing. The thought that such a thing would really end what they had as friends stopped her and she decided to play it out the way he thought that it had happened in the first place.

  Choking back a sob, she said, “Alright, Carl. It won’t happen again. If you ever feel that we can be more to each other, let me know. I don’t want there to be any more mixed signals between us.”

  The phone rang then and Carl walked into the other room to answer the call.

  “Hello?”

  “Carl? It’s me. I’ve got a lead on where Nelson’s mother might be but I’m tied up here, refereeing DeeDee and Barbie. Barbie wants to give the twins a bath and DeeDee won’t let her do it. It’s a damn’ battle royal over here. For fifty cents, I’d have you or Julie come over so I could get out of the house for a while.”

  “I could bring Julie over. Might take a while, though. Barbie lives way over on the other side of town.”

  “Nah, man. Don’t do that. The last thing I need is three women gettin’ all up in each other’s faces about bathing babies. Hell! I don’t see why we can’t leave ‘em be for a while. They’re clean already! I mean, the nurses at the hospital cleaned them before we brought them over here.”

  Realizing that Ike was more distracted and heavily involved in the bathing question than he wanted to admit, Carl tried to put the conversation back on track.

  “Tell me about the lead you’ve got.”

  “Oh, yeah! I was doin’ some online investigating and did you know that Mrs. Virginia Marshall-Nelson owns a couple of shell companies that not only own each other, but also own properties all over town? She’s been putting her ‘porn-money’ to good use; her investments are good enough to keep her lifestyle up to the level she enjoyed with her husband when he was alive. Almost. Some of her investments are kinda risky and she needs a steady influx of money to keep things going. That’s why she wanted all that stuff we found in the house.”

  Carl said, “I realize that the artwork and jewels might be worth quite a bit, but are they worth as much as she needs to stay afloat?”

  He could hear the sneer in Ike’s voice as he said, “Detective Lieutenant Steven Thomas held a press conference this morning regarding the recovery of a treasure trove from Webster’s house. The art historians and jewelry appraisers the city hired estimate the worth of the artifacts at a couple of hundred-million bucks! We know she got some of the jewelry out earlier and her bank records show that she sold more than a few pieces for almost twenty million dollars. She hasn’t had time to payoff her debts yet, but if we had been a little slower in getting onto her game, that money would have been gone. The Feds and the World Court have a reward program for the recovery of most of that stuff and I’m going to call Devlin and have him put in a claim for us. It might help us get the Nelsons’ suit off our backs.”

  Ike was still sidetracked and Carl said, “The lead, Ike? What is it?”

  “Oh, shit! Yeah! The lead! She owns a warehouse over by the river! It’s near where the river feeds into the bay. That place where that Russian gangster got killed last winter. I’m beginning to wonder how much she knew about what went on in her building.”

  Finally knowing
what the lead consisted of, Carl said, “Okay, I’ll bring Julie over and she can help you with DeeDee and Barbie. You’re still on paternity leave, Ike. I’ll check out the warehouse myself.”

  “Aww, man! C’mon! If I don’t get out of this place, I’ll go nuts dealing with these two women.”

  Grinning despite himself, Carl said, “You knew what those two were like when you married DeeDee, Ike. You only have yourself to blame.”

  He hung up the phone as Ike was spluttering at him and, still grinning, walked back into the dining room and felt the smile leave his lips as he saw Julie sitting, staring out the window with a somber look on her face. Walking to her, he put his hand on her shoulder and rubbed it in a circular motion in an attempt to comfort her.

  “Ike needs your help. I’m sure DeeDee could use something to distract her from dealing with her mother.”

  Desultorily, she said, “Yeah. Barbie and DeeDee never raise their voices when they’re arguing. Anybody who didn’t know them wouldn’t think there was anything wrong; they’re so civilized with each other.”

  Silent for a moment, she turned her head and rubbed her chin against Carl’s hand, like a cat, before saying, “Okay. I’ll go quietly, Carl. Just remember what I said.”

  She rose and went to the bedroom he had set aside for her use to pack the few things she had brought over while he went to his laptop to look up the address for the warehouse. Carl thought that if he was lucky, he might find Nelson’s mother there and be able to turn her over to the police. A stroke of luck like that might help to deflect some of the negative publicity that the suit brought by Chip Nelson had produced.

  * * *

  Following Carl Tanner had been child’s play. Finding him leaving his apartment with his female partner had been off-putting, but not to be totally unexpected; many men slept with their business partners if those partners were young, pretty and female. She watched as the two of them entered a house on the other side of town; one of those quiet neighborhoods full of pretty houses owned by financially stable families. The lawn was well-cared for, the flower beds full of late-summer blooming flowers and there was even a white picket fence around the front yard. She wondered who lived here. Was it one of his other partners? Or, was it the parents of the woman he was with? It didn’t really matter to her. She had decided that she wouldn’t kill him, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t kill one of his partners in the future. It was good to know that someone he was well-acquainted with lived here. Slouching down in the seat of the non-descript, battered sedan she had stolen, she settled in to watch for him to leave. She had business with him.

  * * *

  Carl didn’t want to spend anymore time at Barbie’s house than he had to. He liked Barbie, always had, but she had seemed to take it as a personal affront that he had broken things off with DeeDee when he had. There was still a certain amount of resentment on her part and she sometimes made barbed remarks that set his teeth on edge. He watched her now as she served hot apple pie to them with their coffee. He hadn’t wanted to stay long enough for this, but felt that given the circumstances, it would be better if he relaxed and took his time so she wouldn’t get the idea that he didn’t want to be there. It wasn’t that exactly, but rather that he wanted to get over to Ginny Nelson’s warehouse to search for her.

  Barbara Barton slid a plate of apple pie with ice cream on it in front of him and held a fork out for him to take and his eyes met hers. Big and liquid brown, they were even prettier than DeeDee’s eyes and as she turned away, he absently let his eyes rove over her fifty-year-old body. She had the erect carriage of a dancer, bringing to mind her short career as a stripper and he had to admit that her body would have done credit to a woman half her age. Dressed in shorts and a scoop-neck t-shirt as a nod to the season, she settled into one of the chairs around the dining table and looked at the two of them as they dug into their pie and ice cream.

  “So, Carl. What are your plans now that that girl you dumped my DeeDee for is dead?”

  DeeDee’s tired eyes opened wide and Ike and Julie kept their eyes on their plates. DeeDee said, “Mom! You can’t ask him things like that! We put all that behind us a long time ago! It’s water under the bridge, Momma!”

  Carl said, “It’s alright, DeeDee.” Turning from his pie to Barbie, he grinned raffishly and said, “I was hoping you’d let me take you to dinner sometime, Barbie. A man would look mighty prosperous with a good-lookin’ woman like you on his arm.”

  Her eyes narrowed as DeeDee seemingly choked on her pie and rose to run into the other room, muttering something about “the babies”.

  Barbie said, “You’re a charming rascal, I’ll give you that. DeeDee’s father was charming, too. He had his pick of the girls downtown anytime he wanted one of them, but that didn’t keep him from holding out for the right woman.”

  She leaned forward, crossing her arms and resting them on the tabletop as she did.

  “I worried about you when that girl was in the hospital, and when her family whisked her off to South Africa and you followed along like a lovesick puppy. DeeDee let slip that you got the call about her being dead and that you didn’t believe it, but I’m here to tell you, Carl Tanner, that you need to quit chasing after something you aren’t ever going to have. You need to find yourself a nice, young woman,” her eyes cut to Julie for a moment and she continued, “who will look after you and not let you get yourself into trouble.”

  With red cheeks, Julie quickly finished her pie and rose, excusing herself and Ike laid a hand in the middle of the table to get Barbie’s attention.

  “Barb, Carl and I have some business to discuss. Would you leave us alone for a few minutes? It’s pretty important.”

  She glared at him and rose, saying, “I’m going to go help DeeDee with my grandbabies, Isaiah Decker and when I get back, you’re going to let me talk some sense into this man.”

  When she was gone, Ike said, “I’m sorry, man. She’s been going off like that ever since we heard about Marta. She thinks you and Julie would be perfect together.”

  Finishing his pie, Carl pushed the plate away and said, “Never mind, Ike. I’m used to Barbie. She has opinions and considers it her right to voice them anytime she feels like it.”

  “Just so you know we didn’t set you up for an ambush, man.”

  “I know that, Ike. Now, is there anything you need to tell me about the warehouse?”

  Shaking his head, Ike said, “No. I think we should tell Steve and Harry about it pretty soon, though. It might go a little way toward getting the heat off us if we can prove in court that we were cooperative with the investigation.”

  Nodding, Carl said, “Okay. Give me time to get there and check it out, then call Steve and tell him about it.”

  “Okay. Are you sure you don’t want some backup?”

  Grinning, Carl said, “No, Ike. You stay here and take care of your family. When Barbie comes back and sees I’ve gone, she’ll need someone to rake over the coals.”

  Dropping his head into his hands, Ike said, “Aww, shit, man!”

  * * *

  A battered, old Ford pulled away from the curb down the street as Carl backed his pickup from Barbie’s drive and started off toward the river, his mind on what he might find there.

  The drive was uneventful and in almost no time, he found himself pulling into one of the parking lots around the massive warehouse. Exiting the truck, he went to the nearest door and spent a few seconds jimmying the padlock that secured it. As he slipped into the dark building, he didn’t see or hear the old car that pulled to a stop some hundreds of feet away.

  He was glad he was wearing jeans and athletic shoes as he walked across the concrete floor of the building. A little light made its way inside from the windows up near the roof, but not enough to really see by. Carl saw light fixtures hanging here and there but knew that to find a switch for them was to give his presence away and he didn’t want Ginny Nelson to get away.

  At the far end of the building,
he moved to the door connecting to the next building and saw that it was hanging half-open. Sliding easily through it, he frowned as he saw that lights, dim as they were, were burning in the other building. On the other side, a row of small, buildings sat huddled along the wall, like houses within the big, echoing building. He knew that these were probably the offices of whatever company had run their business out of this warehouse when it was built and seeing a dim glow in one of them, made his way there as quietly as possible.

  Drawing near, he edged to one of the windows and peeked inside, seeing that someone had been using the sofa against one wall as a bed; the blankets were still mussed from use. A lamp sat on a simple deal table and a little dorm fridge sat against the wall. There was no sign of Ginny Nelson and he wondered where she might have gone. She had evidently been here; the carton of upscale, bottled water that sat atop the fridge wouldn’t have been purchased by any night watchman.

  He tried the doorknob and found that the door wasn’t locked. Slipping inside, he gently closed the door just to its stop without letting the catch engage. A soft hum filled the little room and he wondered what made the noise. Maybe the fridge. Moving across the little room, he opened the fridge and saw a small stack of microwave dinners inside and turned to see where the microwave might be. There. In a darkened corner. On top of another table. Walking toward it, his eyes opened wide as the microwave dinged and he knew then what made the humming noise.

  The sound of a soft step behind him made him turn, but before he could complete the motion, a stun gun was pressed into his ribs and he went down, his mind losing its grip on his body. The last thing he saw was Ginny Nelson’s contorted face as she snarled down at him.

  * * *

  His eyes were fluttering open as Steve Thomas slapped him once on the cheek, jarring his head slightly, making him close his eyes again.

  “Open ‘em up, Carl! Goddamit, you’re lucky you’re tied up! If you weren’t, we’d like you for this bit of business with Ginny Nelson!”

  Carl’s tongue felt furry and two sizes too big as he mumbled, “Wha’ business?”