by Tim Myers
I took another bite, then asked, “Did you meet April when you picked up the pizza?”
“I did. If anything, you undersold her. She’s quite an impressive woman, isn’t she?”
I laughed. “That’s a good word to describe her. What did she say when you told her I wanted credit for the pizza?”
“At first she refused, but then I saw she was just kidding. She also asked me to remind you about your selection. So it really is true, isn’t it?”
“Scout’s honor,” I said, finishing off another piece of pizza. “That was great, but I’d better get back to work if we’re going to get out of here by midnight.”
Jubal pushed his own plate away. “I’m full, too. That was wonderful, though.”
“It’s good the next day for breakfast too,” I said.
“By all means, take it home with you, then.”
“I might just take you up on that,” I said as I retrieved my list and got back to work. I was getting a second wind, so I finished up in less than an hour.
Jubal was dozing in his chair, and I coughed twice to wake him up. He looked disoriented for a second, then said, “I must have drifted off. Sorry I haven’t been much help.”
“Hey, you got the pizza, remember?” I tapped my list and added, “It’s not going to be as much as I’d hoped. I can tell you that right now.”
If he was disappointed, he hid it well. “To be honest with you, Harrison, I’d give it to you if it meant getting me out of here any sooner. Whatever you pay me will be my mad money for the first part of my trip. I’m in excellent financial shape, so don’t worry about paying too much.”
“Man, I’ve heard of reverse salesmanship, but you take it to a new level.”
He smiled. “It’s not that. I’m just happy Hans won’t get his hands on this. I would ask one favor, though.”
“Anything,” I said as I gathered up my sheets.
“I’d like cash, if you don’t mind. I never got around to opening an account around here, and I’ll convert whatever you give me into traveler’s checks at the first opportunity.”
“I can do that. I’ll swing by the bank before I come here.” I wasn’t sure about the exact total, but even if I gave him what the supplies cost, I knew I had enough in my personal account. It wasn’t that I was all that well off, but I’d managed to save a little since taking over River’s Edge, and I’d be able to pay myself back as we needed the supplies for the candleshop.
I looked at the pizza box and said, “Are you sure you don’t want this?”
“Be my guest. I’d just have to throw out what’s left if you didn’t take it.”
I picked it up and said, “We don’t want that to happen, do we? I’ll see you tomorrow, Jubal.”
“Before noon, if you can make it.”
“I’ll do my best. I can’t imagine it being a problem, but if an emergency comes up, I’ll call you. We should be able to load everything here into the back of the truck.”
We left the shop together, and I wished him a pleasant evening. He’d picked up regular Cokes, and I was used to the caffeine-free variety. I’d had two as I’d worked, and I was so wired up I doubted I’d be getting to sleep anytime soon. I thought about driving around some before going back to my apartment, and I soon found myself driving to Becka Lane’s place. I’d heard she was out of the hospital, and knowing Becka, she’d be stubbornly ensconced in her apartment instead of heading for the safety of her sister’s place. I knew if her hours were anything like they used to be, she’d still be up. Though I didn’t want her to get the wrong idea, I did feel I should check up on her.
I could see as drove up that there was a light on in her apartment. I knocked twice, and was about ready to give up when she opened the door. Becka was usually dressed stylishly in the latest fashions, but tonight she wore an old sweatshirt and faded jeans. She’d never looked prettier, in my opinion, but I knew better than to tell her that.
“Harrison, what a pleasant surprise. What brings you out here?”
“I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I’d take a chance and show up unannounced. I thought you were going to your sister’s place.”
“I’m not letting anybody scare me away from my own apartment.” She added, “I’m a mess, but you’re welcome to come in if you’d like.” Becka tried to smooth out her hair, but it was hard with one hand in a cast.
I stepped inside and she bolted the door behind me.
“Are you comfortable being here by yourself?” I asked.
“I’m fine, but I still have the feeling somebody’s watching me. It’s really eerie, you know?”
“I can’t imagine. How are you feeling otherwise?”
“I’ve been better but there’s hope in sight.” She winced as she moved to the couch.
“Did they give you anything for the pain?”
She nodded and pointed to a pair of pill bottles on the counter. “They did, but I’m trying to wait for bedtime before I take them. I’ve always been deathly afraid of pills.”
How well I knew that. When we’d been dating, I could remember Becka not even liking to take aspirin, so I knew if she was taking something for the pain, it had to be more intense than she was letting on. “Why don’t you take one now, and I’ll stay until you get drowsy,” I said.
“Would you? That would be so sweet.”
She retrieved one pill, swallowed some water to chase it, then said, “They recommend two pills at a time, but I’m getting by on one.” She came back to the couch and said, “It’s been a crazy week, hasn’t it? How’s your life been?”
“You mean besides being accused of murder in the newspaper? I’ve had a dandy time,” I said with a smile.
“You’re too funny, Harrison.” Before long she began to yawn. “I’m getting sleepy,” she said. “Those pills are pretty strong. I can’t imagine taking two.”
“Can you stay awake long enough to deadbolt your door after I’m gone?”
“I will. I promise,” she said.
I had a sudden impulse. “Becka, would you like me to stay here tonight? I could sleep on the couch.”
“Don’t be silly, I’m fine. Now go before I get too groggy to lock the door.”
I started for the door, and she leaned forward to give me a gentle peck on the cheek. “Thanks for stopping by,” she said.
I went back to my truck and headed home. I was halfway there when I realized my wallet wasn’t where it should have been. It must have fallen out of my pocket. I pulled the truck over at a used car lot and used their parking lot lights to search the floor of the cab. No luck. I’d either left it at Becka’s place or Jubal’s shop, and since I didn’t know where Jubal lived, I headed back to Becka’s. I only hoped she hadn’t fallen completely under the drug’s spell.
Someone had taken my spot in front of her building, so I parked in the visitors’ area and walked back toward Becka’s. I was nearly at her unit when I saw something moving in the bushes in front of her place.
Was it an errant reflection of discarded trash, or was there something more ominous about its presence? I knew I was probably being paranoid, but after what Becka had been through, I didn’t want to take any chances. For a moment I considered circling around the bushes and coming at the stranger from behind, but I quickly vetoed that notion. I stopped before I could be spotted and thought about what I should do. Then I realized I should find a telephone and call Morton. Let him take care of it. After all, it was his job, not mine.
I’d hoped to use Vince’s phone to call, but either he wasn’t home or, more likely, he was in too deep a sleep to hear my summons. One of these days I was going to have to break down and get a cell phone. I ran over to a nearby all-night laundermat and got the sheriff at his desk.
“Working around the clock now?” I asked, surprised to get the man himself.
“I’m just finishing up some paperwork and heading home. What’s up?” He sounded like he was dead on his feet, and I hated adding to his troubles.
As calmly as I co
uld, I said, “I think I found the man who’s been stalking Becka Lane.”
“Where are you?” he asked, the weariness suddenly gone from his voice.
“I’m close to her apartment. How soon can you get somebody over here?”
“I’m on my way home. I can get there before anyone else can. Harrison, let me handle this. Don’t try to be a hero and do something stupid.”
“Hey, that’s why I called you. Hurry though, would you? I don’t want him to get away.”
“I’ll be there in four minutes.”
We were finally going to do something about this. “Good, I’ll meet you out in front of the complex.”
“Go home, Harrison. There’s nothing else you can do.”
“Either I go with you, or I’m going after this guy right now by myself.”
He paused, then said, “You’re a real pain in my rear, you know that? Okay, you can come, as long as you promise to stay out of my way.”
Morton showed up three minutes later. He must have been flying.
“So where’s this stalker?” he asked, carrying a long thick flashlight as he got out of the patrol car.
“He’s in the bushes over by her place. Come on, follow me.”
“Fine,” he said, “but when we get close, you have to promise to stay back and let me handle it. Is that a deal?”
“I’m just here to watch.”
We moved through the bushes as quietly as we could, but I still made more noise than Morton liked. There was enough light around us so that we could see where we were going, but the details of the landscape were all washed in dark gray. I found myself silently praying as we walked that the stalker hadn’t gotten spooked for some reason and left. All I needed was Morton on my back about creating false alarms.
I thought we’d overshot the stalker hidden in the bushes, or worse yet, lost him altogether, when Morton suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. I started to say something when he shook his head quickly. Pointing ahead to the shadows, I saw what I had missed on first glance.
Becka’s stalker was still there, hovering in the bushes, patiently watching for her.
Chapter 19
Morton turned on his flashlight and illuminated the suspect’s back. “I’m Sheriff Morton. Put your hands up and turn around. Slowly.”
I saw that the man standing there had something in his hand that looked like a crowbar. He started to tense as if to turn and fight or run, and Morton wasn’t going to allow either action.
“I said drop it! I’ve got a gun at your back. You don’t stand a chance.”
The crowbar dropped to the ground and the man turned slowly around to face us.
It was Vince, Becka’s maintenance man. He said, “I’m glad you got here. I’ve been watching Becka’s place, but somebody needs to relieve me.”
“Come on, you actually think we’re going to believe you’re here to help?” Morton said.
“He has been protective of her,” I said. “I can’t imagine him threatening her.”
Morton wasn’t buying it, though. “Then why is he hiding in the bushes? Come on, you’re coming with me.”
Vince’s face got red in the light. “Get that thing out of my eyes. I told you, I’m here to watch out for her.”
“Then you’ve got nothing to worry about, do you?”
Vince said angrily, “You’re not going to cuff me. I’d rather get shot.”
Morton said icily, “It’s your call.”
I saw his hand tense on the handle and I said, “Vince, you’d better do what he says.”
“Yeah, Vince, listen to your buddy here.”
All of the fight seemed to go out of him as Morton put the cuffs on him. As we walked back to the police car, he kept protesting his innocence, but Morton acted like he couldn’t hear a word.
I said, “What should I do?”
“Go home, Harrison. We caught the bad guy.”
Vince didn’t respond to the bait. I said, “But what if you’re wrong?”
Morton replied, “Then she’s no worse off than she was before.”
I watched them drive away, then I remembered my wallet. That was just what I needed, getting a ticket for driving without a license after what had just happened. I took a chance and walked back to Becka’s, not really expecting her to answer, but not really having much choice, either.
To my surprise, she opened the door before I could even knock. “What was that all about?” she asked as I stepped inside.
“I thought you’d be asleep,” I said.
“I should have taken two pills after all. As soon as you left, I was wide awake again. I heard voices out here, but I wasn’t about to come out. Was that Vince the cop arrested?”
“He was hiding in the bushes watching your place,” I said. “He claims he was just trying to protect you, but the sheriff doesn’t believe it.”
Becka shivered. “Is your offer to stay over still open? I don’t think I’d be able to sleep a wink after this.”
“I’d be happy to stay till morning,” I said. “All I need is a blanket and a pillow and I’ll be fine.”
“Thank you, Harrison. For everything.”
I nodded, and she quickly got me settled on the couch. After we said our good nights, I lay there wondering if Vince was a protector or a stalker. If I’d gone after him by myself, I knew I would have believed his story. He was that convincing.
I’d drifted off, and Becka’s telephone brought me abruptly awake. “Hello?”
“Harrison, is that you?” It was Sheriff Morton. “What did you do, decide to move in and make yourself at home?”
“Becka was afraid to stay by herself, so I’m bunking on the couch.”
Morton said, “She had every right to be concerned. This guy’s definitely the one who’s been stalking her.”
“He confessed?” I asked, still shocked that I’d misread the super.
“Not at first, but after we ran his prints through the computer, he caved soon enough. It turns out Vince is really Vance Gregory, a man with two outstanding warrants in California. Care to guess what they were for?”
“Stalking,” I said.
“Hey, you got it right on the first try.”
I took a deep breath, then said, “You were right. I was wrong.”
“About Vince? Don’t sweat it, the guy’s a born con-man. You found him hiding in the bushes, and that brought him to our attention. You did a good thing tonight, Harrison.”
Compliments were rare enough from the sheriff, but I wasn’t in the mood to accept any. I’d completely misjudged the man. In fact, the only thing I had done right was calling the sheriff into it.
Still, Becka’s troubles were over. That was what counted. I thought about waking her up and sharing what I’d learned, but I finally decided to let her get a good night’s sleep before breaking the news to her. It was the only way I’d manage to get any more sleep that night myself, now that it looked like the threat was finally over.
Becka came out the next morning and woke me up. “Hey, don’t you have a candleshop to run?”
I glanced at the clock and saw that even if I were at my apartment, I wouldn’t make it to the studio for my appointment in time. I said, “Give me a second to get dressed, would you?”
“You never struck me as the shy type before,” she said.
“Well, I am now.”
She shrugged, then walked back into her bedroom while I hastily pulled on my pants. I was just buttoning my shirt when she walked back in again. “Are you decent yet?”
“Come on out. There’s something we need to talk about before I go.”
“Harrison, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have been teasing you. I just can’t remember sleeping that soundly.”
“You might want to sit down. I’ve got something shocking to tell you.”
She did as she was told, perching on the edge of the loveseat that matched the sofa I’d slept on. “What is it?”
“The sheriff and I found your stalker last night. He�
��s sitting in jail right now.”
A wave of emotions crossed her face. “You’re serious, aren’t you? How can that be? Who was it?”
“I told you we found the super hiding in the bushes last night. Well, it turns out Vince is wanted in California for stalking two other women. When the sheriff confronted him, he confessed to it all, including pushing you off the jogging path. He wasn’t all that pleased about you coming to me and not him.”
Becka sat there, as if she was in shock. “I don’t understand. How did you know to come back?”
“I thought I’d left my wallet here,” I confessed. “When I came back to get it, I saw someone in the bushes watching you, but he didn’t see me. I called Morton and we got him.” I was feeling a little guilty about taking all of the credit. “The guy was smooth. I was ready to believe he was just looking out for you, but the sheriff saw right through him.”
“You called Morton, though, didn’t you? Thank you, Harrison.”
She stood and kissed me solemnly. I broke it off before it could develop into anything else. I wasn’t going there again with her. “You’re most welcome. Listen, I hate to run out on you, but I’m really running late.”
“Go. I’ll be fine now.”
If I hurried, I’d just be fifteen minutes late for my appointment with Mary Fran at the television station. I couldn’t do anything about my wrinkled clothes, but I did manage to get my hair tamed before I went in. My wallet hadn’t turned up at Becka’s. I just hoped it was at Flickering Lights.
“There you are,” Mary Fran said as hurried in. “I was about to give up on you.”
“Sorry I’m late. I overslept.”
“No harm done,” she said. “I’ve got the tape set up in our editing room.”
She led me back through a hallway full of old equipment, then ducked into a room not much bigger than a telephone booth.
After explaining how to run the machinery, she said, “If you want a hard copy of something you see, just hit the print button and it comes out here. I’ve got to charge you a dollar a copy, so make sure it’s a shot you want. Good luck. Or should I say happy hunting?”
“I’ll take either one at this point,” I said.