Zack shook his head. “No clue.”
“I told my mom where we were going, but she wouldn’t tell anyone.” Emily turned and headed down the long steps to the first floor.
“I didn’t tell anyone,” Zack replied.
They got to the front desk, Emily walked up. “Someone said there’s a message for us? Room 315.”
The portly balding clerk at the desk rummaged around through some files. “Emily Bon…uh.”
“Bontrager.”
“Yeah, sorry, didn’t know how to say that.”
“No one does.”
The young clerk handed her a large manila envelope and turned away.
Emily took a few steps towards the lounge area and opened the envelope, and pulled out a typed letter. Her eyes narrowed in confusion. “What the…”
“What is it?”
He watched her eyes scan the page line after line and when she was done, she looked over at him and shook her head. Disbelief was written on every part of her face. She handed Zack the letter.
He read aloud. “You think this is over, but you’re wrong. You can’t hide from me just like you couldn’t hide from him. If you go to the police with this, I will kill your mother and take the last pawn on the board. I’m coming for you, watch your back.”
Emily crossed her arms and paced back and forth. “This is a joke. Right?”
Zack was stunned. “I have no idea what to make of this.” He looked in the envelope and there was a small piece of paper at the bottom. He reached in and retrieved it. “Oh.”
“What?”
He turned the small picture so she could see it. It was Emily’s mother, sitting at a small sidewalk café table along a busy street.
Emily snatched the picture. On the backside, it simply had the word, CHECK. “What’s check mean?”
Zack raised his brow. “As in checkmate.”
Emily put her hands on top of her head and looked like she wanted to scream. “What is this?” She dropped her hands to her side and turned her palms up to face the sky. “This is not happening!”
They both stared at each other in confusion.
Chapter 36
Emily stared at the picture of her mother while Zack threw the bags in the back of the car. They’d checked out of the hotel, not really sure what to do or where to go. She wanted to call her mother, but the letter said not to contact her mother or the police. There was no move here. Her frustration was reaching a peak and she just wanted to explode.
Zack came around to the front of the car. “Ready?”
“Ready for what? Huh? What in hell are we getting ready for?”
“Emily—”
“No, you know what? Don’t try and make me feel better. I’m sick of this. I can’t take it anymore, I can’t take it. I’m done, let them kill me.” She stepped away from the car into the grass near the parking area and screamed. “You hear me, you son of a bitch? Come kill me, you chicken-shit, c’mon! What’re you waiting for? You think I’m afraid of you?” She stopped, cried, and dropped to the grass on her butt and fell to her back.
She laid there looking at the beautiful blue sky and the puffy clouds. It was a picturesque view blurred by tears. In her peripheral vision, she could see Zack standing there, leaning on the car. Part of her wanted him to come over and comfort her, but another part of her didn’t.
He stepped across the grass and stood over her. He didn’t say anything for the longest time. Then he said, “Don’t you hate it when you get a piece of orange pulp stuck in your teeth?”
She looked at him, narrowed her eyes in confusion, but didn’t say anything.
He continued. “You know those stringy pieces of membrane? I’ve got one stuck in my teeth. It’s probably going to be there all day.”
She shook her head in annoyance. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about orange pulp being stuck in my teeth. What part didn’t you understand?”
Sitting up in the grass, she shielded her eyes from the sun that was over his shoulder. “You’re insane! Do you know that?”
Zack turned his lips into a frown and slowly shook his head. “No, I don’t believe I am. I’m quite level-headed. I’d need to see some proof.”
She stood and brushed her new pink shorts off, looking at them for grass stains, but they were clean. “No, you’re nuts. We’re in the crosshairs here and you’re worried about orange pulp?”
He shrugged and flashed a half-smirk. “Something is always going to go wrong in life. That’s just the way it is. The difference between people who can weather it, and people who jump off a cliff, is the ones that weather it, know that no matter how dire the situation, they live in the moment and work for the future.”
She sighed in confusion. “You’re like the Riddler. I don’t know what that means.”
“It means that we just keep pushing forward. It means we’re not giving up. You’re frustrated, I get that. I am, too. But I don’t give up, and I know you don’t, either.”
Emily chewed on the inside of her cheek and met his eyes. “Okay, so what do we do?”
“We get aggressive. Because I don’t know about you, but I’m not running anymore. I’m sick of running.”
She nodded. “Okay, I’m down with that. But how?”
“We find out who sent that letter, and we bring the fight to them. If it’s a fake, whoever sent it is going to wish they didn’t.”
“And if it’s real?”
“Then we end it.”
***
The white sedan pulled up next to them in the parking lot and a pretty but slightly heavy brunette climbed out. Emily couldn’t help but notice she looked a little bit like her friend Tina Pissante.
They caught up to her in the middle of the hotel parking lot. Emily said, “Excuse me?”
The girl turned and looked at them with a smile. “Hi.” She was wearing her Best Western Hotels shirt and the gold pin on her chest said her name was Roxanne.
“Were you working last night?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
Emily held up the envelope. “Do you remember who brought you this?”
Roxanne nodded. “Yeah. Why?”
“What did they look like?”
Roxanne looked to Zack, then back to Emily. “Umm, they looked like the guy from Speedy Turtle Courier.”
“It was a courier service?” Emily confirmed.
“Steve. He delivers to us sometimes. They’re right up the street on Beach Bay. I know it was him because as usual, he asked me out.”
Emily smiled. “Thanks for your help.”
“Hey, wait.” Roxanne took a step towards them. “Can I ask what this is about?”
Zack offered, “We’re just wondering who sent it. Thanks for your help.”
They turned away and headed back to the car, leaving the girl wondering, but perhaps not too much.
Zack closed the door. “I guess that was easy.”
“Too easy.”
“Yeah, what’re the chances they’re going to tell us anything? We’re not cops.”
Emily stuck out her boobs and smiled. “I guess we have to hope Steve is working. And that he thinks I’m cute.”
They headed up the road and pulled into the Speedy Turtle parking lot. The green and brown building had a disproportionately large turtle on the roof, with wheels on its feet indicating speeding forward motion.
“Do you think this is the place?” Zack joked.
Emily eyed the oversized turtle. “Maybe. If only it had some sort of sign.”
“Yeah, maybe a small turtle on the door.”
They got out and went into the building. To the left of the room were art and paper supplies, greeting cards, and other examples of marketing concepts. To the right were several green bicycles dressed in Speedy Turtle graphics, parked side-by-side. They walked up to the counter and Emily smiled when she saw the nametag for Steve.
“Hi, you’re Steve,” she said.
His eyes lit up when h
e saw her. “Hi, yes, I am Steve. And you are?”
“I’m Amber.” She blinked her eyes wide and tilted her head.
“Well, hi, Amber. Do I know you?”
She smacked her tongue, “Duh, you don’t remember me?” She touched his arm. “I’m friends with Roxanne.”
He scratched at his balding head and crossed his arms. “I have to say, you look really familiar, but I don’t remember you, which is hard to believe. Someone as pretty as you would be hard to forget.”
“Oh, you’re going to make me blush, you stop.”
Steve touched his chin. “You do look really familiar; it’s killing me. Where did we meet?”
“Over at the Best Western. I was there talking to Roxy and you were delivering something. It was a while ago. But I remember Roxy saying how cute you were.”
He smiled. “She said that?”
“Oh yeah, she loves it when you ask her out.”
He rolled his eyes. “Then why does she always say no?”
“C’mon, Steve, you know us girls. We play hard to get. You have to wear us down sometimes.”
“What about you? Maybe we could go out sometime?”
This guy didn’t waste any time. “Oh, I’m flattered, really. But I couldn’t do that to Roxy.”
He nodded in understanding. “Yeah, she’s a tough nut to crack. I was thinking, maybe it would make her jealous enough to give me a chance. I’m a nice guy, I just, you know…don’t have much luck with the ladies.”
She touched his arm again in passing. “C’mon, Steve, you’re playing with me.”
“No, really. I think I come on too strong sometimes.”
Emily held her fingers up in a pinch. “Maybe a little. Let me give you a piece of advice. Girls like it when you play a little uninterested, in shows you’re confident. And trust me, Steve,” she looked at Zack with a smile, “confidence is very sexy. Just be sure of yourself and own it. And maybe I’ll talk to Roxy for you and drop a subtle hint about what a nice guy you are.”
His face lit up. “You’d do that for me?”
“Sure, no problem.”
“I’d really appreciate that.”
“It’s nothing.”
“If there’s anything I can ever do for you, just name it.”
She shrugged. “Actually, there is something. You delivered a letter last night to the Best Western, for an Emily Bontrager?”
He furled his brow.
“Emily is my sister,” she added. “She’s staying the weekend, but didn’t want to stay at our crappy apartment.”
“Oh, yeah,” he said, but didn’t offer anything else.
“I was wondering if you could tell me who sent her that letter.”
Steve frowned. “Why?”
She looked around and then back to him with a long audible sigh. “Truth is, Steve, my sister’s ex is a bit of a psycho, and there was something in that letter that freaked her out. So we wanted to know if it was him.”
Steven shrugged. “Well, I didn’t receive the letter myself, but I can look up who sent it.”
“That would be great.”
He started clicking around on the computer on his desk. “Hmm…it says here it was sent by Rook-and-Knight Logistics. It was paid in cash though, so someone was physically here.”
Emily looked over at Zack, then back to Steve. “That’s all is says?”
Steve nodded. “Sorry, that’s it. We don’t generally ask for identification to send a letter.”
“Well, what if something criminal was in there?”
Steve pointed up to the cameras. “Well, the police could see who it was, but I can’t tell you that. The camera feeds aren’t accessible to employees. Sorry. They’re locked up and only the district manager can access them.”
Emily nodded. “I understand. But that’s okay. I appreciate your help.”
She turned to walk out when Steve stopped her. “Hey, are you really going to talk to Roxanne for me?”
Emily smiled. “You can count on it.” They went outside and got back into the car. She pulled the door shut. “Rook and Knight Logistics?”
Zack started the car. “That’s definitely our guy.”
“So he’s some sort of chess player?” She clicked her seatbelt.
“Evidently.”
Emily took out her phone to do some research.
She also had one more little thing to do. Dialing the Best Western, she asked for Roxanne and put down her best pitch for Roxanne to give Steve one date. After some convincing, she actually went for it and agreed to give him one date. She called Steve at Speedy Turtle and advised him to ask her out one more time, and if she said yes, to be himself and be cool. Maybe it would work out, maybe not.
“You’re impressive,” Zack said.
She flipped her hair and joked, “I am an actress.”
Chapter 37
After some debate, Zack convinced Emily to head back to New Jersey. He felt that there might be some clues as to the identity of Harry’s partner inside his house. She was reluctant, but he could be convincing. But the main reason was to get on familiar turf. If someone was going to come at them, Zack wanted it to be on his terms.
They drove through the night and were heading back into her old neighborhood. He glanced over at Emily. She was still sleeping and had been for a couple hours now. They had enough time to break into the house before dawn.
He parked on the next street over in the lot of a small park and shut off the car. Reaching over, he touched Emily’s arm.
She woke up and looked at him. “Are we there?”
“Yeah.”
She stretched. “Do you want to sleep a little?”
“No, I’m ready to go.”
They headed out into the dark neighborhood. The streets were wide and clean and wholly suburban. Bright halogen street lamps lit the way and offered them little cover, but they reached Harry’s house in no time.
Zack looked over at Emily. Her face spoke a thousand words. “You okay?” he whispered.
She nodded. “Let’s do it.”
The smell from the burnt house in the next lot was still pungent. Zack couldn’t imagine what Emily was feeling right now, but she seemed like pure determination could carry her anywhere she ever needed to go. They slid under the crime tape and around to the back of the house. The backyard was more private and offered good cover of darkness.
Zack crept up to the back door, wondering how to get in when Emily went right over to the planters, picked up a hide-a-key rock and removed a spare key. She held up the silver piece of metal, stuck it into the back door, and entered the house.
There were neighbors across the street, so Zack was careful where he pointed his flashlight.
“This way.” Emily led him up the carpeted steps and into a large master suite. She started looking around the room and stopped, looked back to Zack. “What’re we looking for?”
Zack shined the light around the room. “Anything.”
“Kinda random.”
“It’s all I got. Hey, you know this guy, maybe you know what to look for.”
While Emily started sifting through the dressers, Zack went over to the closet and looked along the top shelf. There was nothing interesting looking. There were some empty spaces around the shelf marked with a yellow piece of tape and with a number. He didn’t have to be that smart to realize those were probably corresponding numbers to the police evidence tags for things the police had confiscated.
Sliding some clothes over to the side, he saw more of the same, some shoes and a wooden lockbox at the bottom corner. Just for the heck of it, he picked up the box. It wasn’t locked, so he peered inside.
There was nothing too special in there, except for two chess pieces, a white marble rook and a black marble knight. “Hey,” he shined the light on them towards Emily. “Guess Harry was a chess player after all.”
Emily stepped over to him and looked at the pieces. “You don’t suppose there’s a matching set somewhere?”
> “I’d bank on it. And I’d bet our accomplice has them.” Zack stuffed the pieces into his pocket and placed the box back into the closet.
***
While Zack was looking around Harry’s room, Emily wandered around the other rooms, not really sure what she was looking for. Memories of all the times she’d spent in this house were coming back with each step. Although now she didn’t want to remember them. All the time she’d spent over here as a kid seemed wasted and ugly.
At the end of the hallway, she came to the one room she’d never really spent any time in. She opened the door to Cheryl’s room and ventured inside. Her tiny flashlight lit up a pink room that looked like a twelve-year-old girl lived in it. There were posters of pop stars on one wall that were years out of date. A large mirrored vanity spanning across the other wall had several unicorn figurines. Even the bed had a pink bedspread with rainbows and butterflies.
Maybe it wasn’t as strange as she thought. After all, Cheryl had apparently been a little bit immature and strange from what she’d always known and heard. The truth is she didn’t really know her at all. When they were very young, they used to play together, but not as they got older.
She shined the light around the room some more, just checking the general layout of the place, but there wasn’t anything to see, really. Zack came in behind her.
“Find anything interesting?”
She shook her head. “Not really.” Then she did see something on the desk, but was quickly overwhelmed by the smell of smoke. Emily put her nose in the air and took a big whiff. “You smell that?”
Zack sniffed a few times. “Yeah, what is that?”
Emily went to the front of the house and saw smoke billowing up from the front porch. “Oh my God, the house is on fire.”
They hurried down the steps, but the fire had already invaded the front door of the house and was creeping up the stairs. The heat blasted them in the face and the windows to their right exploded.
Zack swung around her and kicked the railing down, leaped off the top of the steps and looked back up to her. “Jump!” She didn’t expect him to make that move, but she followed him and launched to the floor below.
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