by Ava Mallory
Diana took a drink of her orange juice. “So?”
“So, no.” I poured myself a cup of coffee. “I'll call him later.”
She clapped her hands. “Yay! Mom's got a boyfriend!”
I shook my head. “No, I don't.”
“Okay, Mom. You can keep telling yourself that, but a man doesn't call you that often because he wants to be friends. Does he know you almost got yourself arrested again?” Diana asked.
“I've never been arrested and he knows a little, not everything.” I answered, hoping she didn't see the heat rise in my face.
“You're blushing. That's so cute.” She jumped up and hugged me, kissing me on the cheek. “Mom's got a boyfriend.”
I needed to change the subject. “After you're dressed and ready, let's go see if we can find this Alma lady.”
My phone rang just then. It was the hospital.
“Hello?” I answered.
Rollie cleared his throat. “Hello, Mercedes. I just wanted to let you know that when you come in tonight, you and Amy will be assigned to the females on the ward and Rose will handle the police holds and the males.”
Why was he calling me to tell me that?
“Is this you vouching for me again?” I asked.
“You can thank Karen for that. This is the plan. Do you think you could stick to it for a change?” He wasn't kidding.
“Yes, definitely. Is Eli being held there?” I hadn't heard anything about him since he'd been arrested.
Rollie sighed. “Mercy, leave it alone.”
“Okay, will do. Thanks for the heads up and I'm really sorry about all of this.” I said quickly.
Rollie mumbled under his breath, then hung up.
“Everything alright?” Diana asked.
“I have no idea.” I answered. “Let's go find this woman before something else happens.”
Chapter Six
I'd told myself to leave and leave quickly. It was going to do no good to lollygag. I just hoped that Gertrude – my car – would cooperate with me on this rainy Saturday morning. I figured, with it being Easter weekend, I probably wouldn't have to contend with the same police officers that I'd encountered over the last few days. Lou Benetto had to take a day off sometime.
Boy, was I wrong. I'd just barely stepped out the door when Lou pulled up in his squad car.
“How was your night?” He asked, flashing a sinister smile at me.
“Fine.” I answered, unsure of what he was getting at. Nothing had happened overnight. I stayed clear of the police holds. I remained close to Amy all night long. We dealt with the female patients only and didn't have one problem.
“So, you didn't kill anyone's spouse?” He sneered.
Ah, that's where he was going with this.
I stood my ground. He wasn't going to intimidate me with the information he thought he had. “I've never killed anyone. Maybe, you should be more worried about people who help their friends stalk their ex-wives.”
His cheeks reddened and I knew it wasn't because he was embarrassed that I knew that information.
He stared at me, the veins in his neck bulging out. I held my breath as I waited for him to respond, but after a full minute – I counted the seconds – he laughed. “Get in.” He opened the passenger side door.
I asked, “In front?” Why that was my first concern, I had no idea, but for some reason, it felt pretty important.
“Yes, in front.” He answered.
“No offense, but I'm not entirely comfortable with that. I'm sure you can understand my trepidation.” No way was I getting in his squad car unless I was under arrest and, as far as I could tell, I wasn't under arrest.
“Fine.” He stepped out, slamming his car door behind him. “Why are you making this so difficult? I just want to talk to you.”
I took a step back, to make sure we'd be in clear view of security cameras. I'm not sure that would help, but it was something to latch onto at this point.
“I'm not going to hurt you. Now stop acting like that.”
I still didn't trust him and, quite frankly, I'm not sure I ever would, not after what Brandi had told me about him.
“It's raining.” If he wasn't going to let me go based on fear, then, I thought the weather would be a nice, safe alternative.
He ignored my remark. “I figured you had something to do with that. Some of the girls were telling me that Brandi was answering a bunch of questions about Mike.”
“We didn't ask her much. She just started talking.” I said.
He smiled. “Yeah, that sounds like her alright. Do you mind telling me what you thought you'd accomplish? She just lost the love of her life.”
Were we talking about the same woman? The way Brandi spoke about Mike didn't read true love to me.
Lou noticed the look on my face and added, “Brandi doesn't know what's good for her. She's a bit dramatic. By the way, Mike wasn't stalking her. That's not what that was and, as far as I'm concerned, she never heard of this place until my ex mentioned it years ago.”
“Oh, well, that's not how she sees it.” I answered.
“I suppose if you're incredibly self-centered and narcissistic, you wouldn't see any reasonable explanation for much.” He said, leaning up against the side of the building. I could see his tension in his body release a little as he continued talking about his friend's life with Brandi.
“I told him when he met her that she was going to be the death of him.” He stopped, realizing what he'd just said. “Brandi was a perfume girl in a department store. She was cute. Really good looking, but not worth all the hassle. Mike, though, he couldn't stay away from her. He bought so much cologne, he had to give it away to homeless guys on the street. It was just a way to stay close to Brandi.”
“Sounds expensive.” I said.
“He was always out of money. We'd get paid and he'd be broke the next day. The thing is, even after they got married, that never changed. Brandi thought he was rich. By her standards, he was. She was a girl from the south side and he was a guy from the suburbs. His Polish family was in no way prepared for the likes of her. You should have seen their faces when the blonde bombshell walked in their house, with fake nails, fake eyelashes, fake hair, and fake boobs.”
I could only imagine. I had to laugh. I would have paid money to have seen that.
“Well, it seems like they figured it out. She said they had kids.” I said.
He put his head back. “The kids. They aren't kids anymore. River is sixteen. Moe is fourteen and Falcon is thirteen.”
I nearly choked on my tongue. “Are those their names or nicknames?”
“Nope, that's what she named them.” He laughed. “Mike about threw a fit over the name Moe, but she liked it and it fits her now.”
“Moe is a girl?” I thought I hadn't heard him right.
“Moe is a girl. River is a boy and Falcon is the baby girl.” He said.
“Their last name is Slowicki?” I felt sorry for them. Those names were so unusual.
“Don't get me started. Brandi's last name was Never Miss A Shot, so the kid's last name is hyphenated.” He paused to let me put the whole last name together.
“Their last name is Never Miss A Shot – Slowicki?” Now, I'd heard it all.
After I recovered from that stunning revelation, Lou walked back to his car. “Looks like I'm not the only one digging into someone's past.”
I grinned. “I guess not.”
He climbed into his car and drove off. I had no idea what just transpired. Did we agree to disagree or were we still going to butt heads until this case was solved?
*
I slept for ten hours before my stomach started grumbling. Before I opened my eyes, I could smell one of my all-time favorite meals cooking – Italian sausage lasagna.
“You're awake.” Diana peeked in the door. “Are you hungry yet?”
I was starving. I couldn't get up fast enough. It would have been easier, if I'd remembered that Barney was with me, but my brain h
adn't yet caught up with my body and I tripped right over his sleeping body.
When I stayed on the ground a little longer than necessary, Diana felt pity on me and stopped laughing long enough to help me, saying, “Don't wake Barney up.”
“Oh, thanks, worry about the dog, not my broken hip or anything.” To think, I raised this child and the dog had only been in our lives a few months. Go figure!
After I took a quick shower to wake myself up, Diana and I sat down to eat dinner.
“This is delicious!” I said, as I helped myself to a second serving.
“Do you think it's boyfriend quality?” Diana asked.
I almost choked. “What? Boyfriend? Are you seeing someone?”
Diana rolled her eyes. “Not me, Mom. You. Do you think that the sheriff likes lasagna?”
She wasn't going to let up. She really wanted me to admit that I liked Charlie. That wasn't going to happen. Of course I liked him, but not in the way she was hoping I did. At least, I didn't think so.
“Why are you so interested in me dating? What's going on?” I asked.
She smiled and walked out of the room. “I'll be right back.”
Okay. What was that about?
She came back, carrying my cell phone in her hand. “Call him. He's called you three times today.”
I concentrated on my food.
“Mom?”
I took another bite.
She placed the phone in front of me. She'd hit 'call' on the phone already.
Charlie answered on the first ring. “Wagner here.”
“Hello.” I said with Diana coaxing me to speak. To her, I said, “I don't need you to tell me what to say.”
Charlie laughed, “What's going on there?”
“Nothing.” I answered quickly, moving away from Diana.
“You know, there's a lot of people watching what's happening over there. Are you okay?” He asked.
“I'm doing okay, I guess. I still have a job.” I answered.
Charlie asked the million dollar question. “Are they still treating you like a suspect?”
I laughed nervously. “I'm not sure.”
“You're not sure or you're not telling me?” Sometimes I forgot that Charlie was a sheriff. He could tell when I wasn't being entirely truthful, but I didn't see the sense in stirring things up further.
“With Diana and Barney here things are feeling a lot better. I think I have a regular private eye staying with me.” I said loud enough for her to hear.
Charlie's tone changed. “Now, both of you think you can investigate this? That's it, I'm going to California. Mercy, you can't run around like you are in charge. Murder is serious business and this cop – what's his name? Well, he doesn't sound like the kind of guy you want to make your enemy.”
“No. You don't need to come to California.” I protested.
Diana came running from the bedroom. “Yes, come to California. Mom's gone rogue.”
What was she trying to do to me? Charlie and I were just friends. The last thing I needed in my life was someone else to have to worry about. I had my daughter, my friends, and my patients. What else did I need?
“Ignore her, please.” I said, while Diana proceeded to raise her voice, just to get a rise out of me.
Charlie laughed it off and changed the subject, thankfully. “Now, I don't know how to get you to understand this, but interfering with an active investigation is a crime. Everywhere. You don't know what you're up against and neither one of you has any business questioning witnesses or family members.”
A part of me did feel a tad bit guilty about taking matters into my own hands, but it was pretty obvious that no one else was going to look elsewhere for a guilty party.
“We haven't done anything wrong. We never really got a chance to ask the guard's ex-wife any questions. She just started talking and talking.” I explained.
“Ex-wives are real good for that. I know.” Charlie groaned. He'd been divorced for over twenty years and had two adult children. He never really spoke about that too much, but then again, he was a man and they weren't exactly known for being open books.
“Hey, no ex-wife bashing. I happen to be the ideal ex-wife.” I said without realizing how ridiculous that sounded.
“Do you hear yourself when you speak, Mercy? You might want to check your hearing aids.” Charlie laughed.
“Anyway, I'm not worried about Lou. I don't have anything to hide.” I said.
“He's who you should be worrying about. He called me yesterday asking questions about you. I didn't tell him much, but I don't think it mattered. If he was any good, he would have already done his homework and probably had all the information right in front of him.” Charlie said as my blood began to boil.
“He called you?” I asked, surprised. “You were the one who told him about Nebraska?”
“I did no such thing.” Charlie protested. “Remember, I live in a small town. It wouldn't be too hard to figure out what happened and when.”
We spoke for a few minutes more, comparing notes about what I'd learned about Mike and what Lou had said to me, while Charlie got me up to date with what he'd been asked to divulge about me.
While we were doing that, Diana did a quick web search and pulled up dozens of articles about me or the company I worked for. Most of them were positive, thankfully, but the last 'situation' I was in, completely detracted from all the good I'd done. Someone would have to have read the entire article to know how that case ended, but in this day and age, people rarely bothered to read that far down a page anymore. I was doomed. No wonder Lou thought I was as guilty as they come.
I spent the rest of the morning going over every possible scenario that could go wrong. Brandi had been a wealth of information, but neither Diana nor I knew what to do with that information.
I'd asked Charlie not to come out to California. I didn't see what good that would do any of us and I was in no way prepared to entertain guests while I was under investigation for a crime. Well, that is probably a bit dramatic, but at the moment, I didn't know how else to define it.
“Want to go search for that Alma lady again?” Diana asked after we'd exhausted the only options we could think of.
“Where?” I asked, feeling defeated.
“By the hospital. Isn't that where you saw her when you first got here? She has to live nearby. Let's take Barney for a walk and see if we can find her. Besides, she owns a Chow Chow, there can't be that many around here, can there?”
*
In the light of day, the neighborhood surrounding the hospital didn't look so bad. It looked rather affluent. I found that to be odd. Not that I was in the know or anything, but nothing about Alma read wealthy to me.
I suppose that I must have looked like a walking zombie to her though. After being out in the rain for so long, I must have scared the living daylights out of her. It's no wonder that her dog was barking up a storm.
“Wow, this is beautiful!” Diana stared up a large new build about a block from the psychiatric hospital.
“I've never seen a house that large.” I said, unable to believe my eyes. This home was like something out of the pages of the latest design magazine. “Who do you think lives here?”
Diana looked up at it, with stars in her eyes. What I wouldn't have given to have been able to give her the life I imagined the home owners led.
“Someone pretentious, probably.” She answered finally.
I didn't know where that answer came from until I noticed the car pulling into the drive. It was a Pleasant Cove squad car. I suddenly felt faint.
Lou got out of the car, smiling at us. “What do we have here?”
Diana looked at me. “Did we do something wrong?”
I whispered. “No, but that's the police captain.”
Lou held out his hand. “I'm sorry, but did I invite you for Easter dinner?”
Now, I was really going to faint.
“This is your house?” I looked back at the grand home and quickly
changed my opinion of the house. It was atrocious.
“Sure is. This is why we moved here. Isn't it great?” He puffed out his chest, showing how proud he was of being the owner of this home.
Diana answered. “It is gorgeous!”
“As are you.” Lou winked at her, causing her to blush and my skin to crawl.