by Ava Mallory
“Well, that went better than I expected.” I said, referring to the shift Amy and I had just finished.
She laughed. “I suppose. You know everyone was told to keep quiet about the murder? They think Eli did it.” She shivered, although the temperature outside was well above eighty degrees.
“You know him better than I do. Is he capable of murder? Does he have a violent history?” I asked.
She shook her head, her large hazel eyes were fixed on the guard tower in front of us.
“Did you know the guard well?” I asked, believing I saw sadness on her face.
“Mike wasn't the easiest guy to get along with, but he and I had no problems. He just had a chip on his shoulder after the divorce and his accident. When he was a cop, he wasn't on anyone's list of favorite cops, but he was alright.” She said.
“How long has it been since he was a cop?” A lot of officers moonlight as security guards or retire from the force and take jobs as guards. I didn't think Mike's situation was any different.
“He was still a cop when I started here. I used to see him around town all the time. I mean, it's a small town, so basically everyone knows everyone. When Mike and Lou moved here from Chicago, they were these two brawny, tough guys. They were something else.” She laughed, recalling that time not so long ago.
My curiosity was piqued. “Mike and Lou both moved here from Chicago at the same time? Why?” What would make two Chicago police officers pick up and move to some small town across the country? Was there some kind of police officer exchange program that I didn't know anything about?
Amy opened her mouth to speak, but changed her mind. She shrugged and said, “Who knows why we do any of the stuff we do.”
Our conversation stopped there. Her body language changed after I asked my last question. The sadness I'd seen disappeared. She stood straighter. The tears that had formed in her eyes as she spoke about Mike and Lou dried up.
We continued walking toward our cars. Both of us instinctively picking up our pace as we got closer to the guard tower. Two different guards were sitting in a car near the tower, manning the entrance. They nodded in our direction as we rushed by, but either Amy hadn't noticed or she was in a hurry because she didn't acknowledge them.
When she reached her car, she said, “So, we're off tonight. I'll see you tomorrow. I don't know how or why, but we ended up with the worst schedule possible.” She grinned and got into her car, promptly starting it and driving away.
I hadn't even given too much thought to the schedule, I was handed earlier. They had me scheduled for training every other day, which meant that I'd work, sleep a day away, then, work again. That was a horrible schedule, but who was I to complain? Yet.
It took me a few minutes before I started my car. Unlike most cars on the road, my car required special care. It was older than my daughter and rarely ran smoothly, but I loved it. Sometimes, I had to coax it to start, even with a new engine. My friends and family begged me to get rid of the old Honda, but I just couldn't. I was one of those people that liked to hold on to things and to people. Heck, my ex-husband and I still spoke to each other a few times a week. We were friends. There was no way he and I could ever have stayed married, but we did truly care for each other.
Anyway, my car needed to be sweet talked into doing many things, but I couldn't bring myself to let her go. Yes, she's a her and her name changes all the time, depending on my mood and hers.
Most of the assignments I took were based on what new part or parts my car needed at the time. For instance, my last assignment netted me a new engine. This placement, I was hoping, would pay for new tires all the way around and new brakes. The only thing is, I had to make sure that I didn't get myself excused before I could cover the cost of my repairs. The way things were looking, I thought at best, I might be able to squeeze out one tire, if I didn't get sent to prison first, of course.
After I'd given Gertrude – that's what I'd decided to call my car this time around – a few minutes to think about starting, I decided to make my way around to the other parking lot and see what it looked like in the light of day. Maybe I'd been mistaken about what it was Mike could see on the security cameras. I'd feel horrible if I knew that I'd been angry with him for no good reason. I had to confirm for myself.
As I pulled out of my parking space, I noticed that the security vehicle with the guards in it, moved behind me. Are they following me?
I shrugged. I wasn't surprised by their suspicion, just a little annoyed by it. I drove slowly through the near empty lot. It wasn't quite seven in the morning, so there would have been no reason for many other vehicles or people around.
When I reached the other lot, I tried to assess which space I'd parked in the other night. From what I could tell, I was a pretty good distance from the front outpatient doors. I hadn't noticed a sign out front the other night, but in my defense, the howling wind and the massive downpour really didn't allow me to see or hear too much, other than the killer dog, Phoebe, and her curious owner.
The guards watched from a safe distance as I got out of my car and followed what I believed to be the same path I'd taken the other night. I kept an eye out for security cameras and there were plenty of them on this side of the campus. I made a mental note to check the cameras in the other lot, nearer the guard tower.
As I approached the front entrance on foot, I could hear the engine of the security vehicle. They were in movement. I figured as much, because if I were a security guard, I'd want to know what everyone was doing at all times and there was something kind of fun about having armed guards see me as some sort of a threat. What they didn't know was the first sight of a spider or any other variety of creatures and I'd be out of there like nobody's business. Although, I had aspirations of being a runner someday, the reality was unless I were being chased by someone brandishing a weapon or a giant spider landed on my head, the chances of me running anywhere were null and void. True story.
While I kept my eyes peeled on the camera up above my head, I hadn't noticed the people sitting in the lobby, watching me curiously through the window. I must have looked like a loon to them.
When one of the employees tapped on the glass to get my attention, I nearly leaped out of my skin.
Where did she come from?
After I screamed like a banshee, I offered her a friendly wave and had the sudden urge to flash my name badge at her. She read it and smiled before turning to the patients waiting to be seen for their appointments and saying something that made them all burst out in laughter.
The guards in the vehicle honked to get my attention. One of them called out, “You lost?”
I tried the brightest smile I could conjure up so early in the morning and turned to answer them. “No. I just wanted to see what it looked like over here during daylight hours.”
They looked at each other. I could see that they were contemplating whether or not to believe my story, but they quickly let it go and drove on, but not too far. I saw them park in the next parking lot over, where they could still keep an eye on me from a safe distance.
I took the opportunity to sneak between the buildings to follow the trail I'd taken the other day. Just as I thought, there were cameras strategically placed near the roofs to capture any activity between them and the adjacent building. As much as I wanted to convince myself that maybe Mike hadn't noticed me lurking on the lot, I couldn't. All it did was prove that he was a lazy jerk.
“Great! Smile you're on candid camera, Mercy.” I said out loud.
“And, they say I'm crazy. You always talk to yourself?” A voice coming from somewhere behind me started laughing.
I turned, my heart ready to leap from my chest. “Eli?” He stood on the other side of a window, in what looked like a maintenance building. “What are you doing in there?”
“Quiet!” He hissed at me. “Are you trying to get me arrested?”
I lowered my voice and moved closer to him, but not close enough for him to be able to get his
hands on me and do who knows what with me. I was virtually defenseless. Ruby and my daughter, Diana, kept urging me to take self-defense classes, but up until recently, I didn't think I needed self-defense classes. It's not like I wandered the streets at night or frequented seedy locations. I'm a middle aged woman with a bad knee and an aversion to the outdoors on most days.
“What are you doing?” Eli looked me up and down, shaking his head at my stance. “I'm not going to hurt you. You can put your fists down and, by the way, your thumbs shouldn't be tucked into your balled up fist. That's a good way to get them broken.”
Embarrassed, I put my hands down to my sides and gave him my sternest voice. “Do you realize what kind of trouble you're in? They think you...”
He interrupted me. “I know what they think, but I swear, I didn't have anything to do with that. I didn't like that dude, but I didn't kill him.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. In my heart of hearts, I didn't believe that Eli could be capable of murder, but at the same time, I didn't know him. My gut feeling just told me to reserve judgment until later.
“Then, what happened? How did you get out and what in the world are you doing here of all places? You didn't run very far.” I looked around to see if the security guards had spotted us yet. They wouldn't have been able to see Eli from the parking lot. At worst, I'd look like I was talking to myself. That was better than the alternative. I could be going to jail for aiding and abetting a murder suspect.
Eli said, “I've been in here so much, I know the place inside and out. It doesn't take a genius to get out of there, especially when Captain Mafioso didn't even bother to latch the door behind him. Easy peasy.”
“But you were in restraints.” I distinctly remembered fastening them as we'd been trained. “And, we took your clothes.”
He started laughing. In a whiny voice, he said, “Oh, these are too tight. They are hurting me. You're cutting off circulation.”
I rolled my eyes at him. The kid was sneakier than I thought. “So, you faked that?”
“Every last word of it. You should have checked my chart. I'm really good at doing a lot of things in the Lame House of Crazies.” He laughed again. This time louder. If this weren't so serious, I'd be able to laugh about it too, but I couldn't. I didn't want to egg him on. He was in trouble and, unfortunately, I was going to have to turn him in.
Before we realized what was happening, the guards had their weapons drawn and were making their way toward me, coming from either direction.
Eli looked from side to side, then, took off running inside the building, leaving me standing there like a fool.
“Put your hands up!” The guards yelled.
“I...” I started, turning to face one of them, but he screamed at me louder.
I complied.
When they reached me, one of them was speaking into a radio, telling the person on the other end that they'd found me and Eli Pardo between the buildings together.
“Put your hands behind your back.”
I closed my eyes. Eli left me to face the guards alone.
How was I going to get out of this mess?
“I didn't do anything wrong. I was about to turn him in.” I tried, but that didn't stop them from placing handcuffs on my wrists.
“Sure, you were. You were going to be totally transparent. That's why your little boyfriend there is hiding inside a building and your trampling through bushes again.” The guard started laughing.
Over the radio, I heard someone say, “We got him. Police are on their way.”
Another guard yelled from the sidewalk, “Great catch guys. That was awesome. Good work!”
I wanted to say something, but I kept my mouth shut. Eli stared straight ahead, almost like he could see right through everyone. I wondered what he was thinking and I prayed that I hadn't been duped by him yet again.
*
“What part of doing as you're told and stay out of trouble do you not understand? I can't believe this? Did you know he was there the whole time? Mercy, what has gotten into you?” Rollie paced around the room, seething with anger.
Outside of his office, the phones were ringing non-stop. Given the way he was behaving, I was willing to bet that some of those phone calls were from the media.
“Rollie, you have to believe me. I was only out there because I... I...” The truth wasn't going to help me much. It still made me look suspicious, so I shut my mouth.
His secretary opened the door and announced that Lou had arrived with a detective.
My life is over!
Lou had a smirk on his face. “Mercy.”
I put my head down. No point in being nice. I'm sure he was about to give me some bad news.
Rollie spoke up first, “Listen, Lou, I don't believe that she had any idea that's where Mr. Pardo was hiding.”
What? Was he defending me?
“Can you at least hear her out first? I've known her for a few years and I can't think of any reason to believe she'd be guilty of anything more than being a busy body with too much time on her hands and a lot of nerve.” He gave me a sideways glance, but I couldn't blame him. He was right.
Lou asked him to leave the room, so he could speak to me alone. He sat down in front of me.
“When did you first meet Eli Pardo?” He asked.
“I met him when you brought him in the other night.” I answered.
Why doesn't he remember that?
He sighed. “I'm going to ask you one more time. When did you first meet him?”
Beads of sweat formed on the back of my neck. Lou was an intimidating man when he wanted to be. “I told you, I just met him. I didn't know...”
He yelled, “How much money did he offer you?”
Money? What is he talking about?
“What money? I don't know anything about any money.” I didn't know where he was going with this line of questioning. I thought we were talking about a murder. What was he implying?
“Then, why did you kill him? How did you know Mr. Slowicki?” Lou moved closer to me. I could feel him breathing on my face.
“Kill? I didn't kill anyone. What is going on here? All I did was take a walk between the buildings to see something, then, Eli appeared out of nowhere. I don't know why he was there or how he escaped. I surely don't know anything about a murder. Why would you even think that? What evidence do you have?” I was beginning to panic and feared I'd never recover.
He smiled. “We have you on camera. You were the only person wandering around between the buildings that night. Were you scoping out the area? And, we have you on camera arguing with the victim and trying to cover your tracks.”
I protested. “No, that's not what that was!”
“Really? Enlighten me, then.” Lou's face was mere centimeters from mine. This wasn't going well.
Chapter Five
I stared at the ceiling. I don't know how many hours I'd been lying in the same position, but I'm pretty sure that my arms and legs were no longer going to be able to function. I guess it could be worse, I could be staring at the ceiling of a cramped jail cell right now.
It had been six hours since I'd been questioned and I still couldn't shake the feeling that things were about to get so much worse for me. At least, I could be thankful that I had the night off. Maybe cooler heads would prevail and I wouldn't find myself staring at the business end of gun. What I needed to do was find the real killer or determine whether or not Eli was the real killer and perhaps some of the pressure on me would finally wane and I'd be able to return to my somewhat boring life.
I'd have to remember that I felt this way the next time my car died or I forget to pay my electricity bill again. Not that anything like that happened too often, but it did happen from time to time, especially after I engaged in another holiday decoration war with my very competitive neighbors at Lake Villa, the manufactured home community I'd called home since I'd graduated from college.
Not even my ex-husband could get me to move out of my home. Bu
t, it wasn't for lack of trying. I could be a little stubborn when I wanted to and when it came to my life, my car, my child, and my double wide beauty – my home – I had a tendency to go all Mama Bear on someone who wanted me to part ways with any of them.
“How does one find a killer?” I mused.
I'd read enough mysteries and watched enough detective shows to think I had what it took to hunt for a killer. I just wasn't quite sure where to start when all roads seemed to lead to me and Eli.
I grabbed my notebook out of smock pocket and began writing a to-do list like no other. First on the list, find out how the guard died. Next was to find out everything I could about Eli.