by Laura Hern
Chapter 8
Lainey was catching up on emails and completing paperwork for a couple of cases she had been assigned when her cell phone rang. The caller ID showed it to be a private caller. She had been getting so many robocalls that she usually didn’t answer and blocked the number from calling again. But something told her to pick up this time.
“Hello?”
“Is this Lainey Maynard?” The somewhat familiar voice answered.
“Yes, it is. May I help you?”
“This is Raymond Sullivan,” he began. “I think my life has been threatened and I want you to investigate.”
Lainey swallowed hard. “Threatened? How?”
“I’d rather not discuss this over the phone. I am heading to our plant in Cokato and will be there in about 30 minutes. How long will it take you to get there?” Raymond asked.
“I’ll be there in under an hour,” Lainey replied.
She quickly got her things together and headed to the plant. She was thankful that no police were monitoring the 60 mph speed limit on Hwy 12 this morning as she pushed her cruise up to 80.
She arrived at the plant main entrance, pushed the intercom to give her name and the door was instantly unlocked.
As she walked into the reception area, a security guard stopped her to ask for her ID. She handed him her driver’s license. He checked the name against a log book and handed back her license.
“Mr. Sullivan is waiting for you. Please, follow me.”
Lainey obediently followed through several electronically locked doors and into a large conference room.
Sitting at one end of the long, hardwood table was Raymond Sullivan holding what looked like a medium-sized cup of coffee.
“Please, come in Lainey,” Raymond said motioning for the guard to leave. “I thought you might like coffee.”
Lainey smiled before she caught herself.
Stick to business, Lainey. Don’t get distracted.
“That was very kind, Raymond, and certainly not necessary. I do appreciate it.” Lainey sat down in the chair next to him.
Raymond nodded and smiled. “I believe it is a sugar-free mocha Frappuccino.”
She smiled again.
“What happened to make you think your life has been threatened?” She asked as she pulled out her iPad.
“In many of our poultry stores or at the plant sites, we have a small museum detailing a brief history of Sullivan’s Best Poultry and how the products have evolved over the years.”
“We have a few tee shirts and novelty items visitors can purchase, but they are there to promote goodwill and to thank people in our communities.”
“I see,” Lainey said as she took notes.
“In the flagship museum is my Dad’s first poultry delivery truck. We like to drive it in local parades from time to time and therefore keep it in good running condition…” he paused.
Lainey looked up. “I’m sorry, Raymond. I am listening, but I like to keep good notes,” she said apologetically.
He nodded and continued. “A plant manager took it in for repairs a few days ago and I was driving it back to the museum yesterday afternoon.”
Lainey purposely stopped writing to look into Raymond’s eyes. She saw worry, maybe fear.
“I noticed the truck was not handling like it always did. Something was different about the acceleration of the engine when I would come to a stop.”
Lainey waited for him to continued.
“I was close to my home and took the truck into my personal auto mechanic. They put the truck on their diagnostic machine and found that the brakes and accelerator had been modified and were malfunctioning,” Raymond sat forward and waited for Lainey to respond.
“Did the mechanic think it was an error or fault of the repairman? What machine shop did the work?” Lainey asked.
Raymond hesitated before stating, “My mechanic says it was intentional. The shop that did the work was Austin’s Bang or Bump shop.”
Lainey’s jaw dropped open. “As in Chuck Austin’s Bang or Bump shop?” She asked.
Raymond nodded. “An odd coincidence?”
“I don’t know,” Lainey replied. “Is that the shop that always works on the truck?”
“No, it was taken there because it was close to the plant where it had been stored for the holiday parades.”
Lainey paused briefly. “I have spoken to Ben Sargent, a respected local law enforcement professional concerning Mary Reynolds Chase’s thoughts about your brothers being murdered. I think we need to call him and let him know of this. Will that be all right with you?”
Raymond hesitated. “I still am not totally convinced of the idea of planned murders, but I am also not a person who buries their head in the sand, either. At this point, it is not in my or the company’s best interest to become fodder for the tabloids or news stations unnecessarily.”
Lainey agreed. “I understand. I am sure that Sarge would never jeopardize your privacy. May I have your permission to call him? Would you be willing to speak with him?”
“All right.” He wrote down his personal cell phone number. “Please have him call this number only. Not my office.”
“Of course. Please do not drive or touch the car until you have spoken to Sarge. I think he may want to look at it as well.”
Raymond nodded. “Thank you for coming on such short notice.”
“Not a problem. Please, call me anytime,” she answered.
Lainey started to stand, putting her hand out to shake Raymond’s, making sure not to tip over the coffee cup still sitting the table.
He shook her hand. “I’ll look for your friend’s call.”
Feeling more confident that she was getting solid evidence for Sarge, she hurried down the hallway. As she was walking past the security guard’s desk, she turned slightly intending thank him. Instead, as she turned, her elbow bumped the edge of the desk, and her coffee cup once again was emptied onto the floor.
“Oh, I am terribly sorry!” She muttered to the guard. The guard shook his head. “It’s quite all right. Mr. Sullivan said to have a janitor handy while you were in the building.”
She could feel her face flush. “Um, thank you!” She said as she embarrassingly hurried out the front door, leaving the cup and coffee on the floor behind her.
Lainey started her car and immediately called Sarge. He was silent for a moment after she had told him the details Raymond shared with her. She did not mention the possible life insurance beneficiary connection with the case nor her plan to sneak into Chuck’s repair shop and look around.
“I want to speak with Raymond as soon as possible,” he said and added, “This information could provide evidence to reopen the Sullivan deaths, but I caution you that I said could provide. Let’s not count our chickens before they hatch.”
Lainey tried to quell the excitement in her voice. “I understand.”
“And Lainey,” Sarge said with that deep, scolding tone in his voice, “Don’t do any more investigating until I contact you. Is that clear? It could be dangerous.”
“Of course, Sarge.” Lainey lied. Searching Austin’s shop was more important than ever and nothing, not even a stern warning from Sarge would stop her from going this evening.
Lainey drove up to Mary’s house a few minutes early and Mary was waiting for her.
“Are you sure you want to do this, Mary?”
The scowl on Mary’s face said it was not going to be a pleasant experience.
“Let’s get this over with,” she sighed as she walked to her car. “I’m doing this for Doug.”
“I will park away from the sight line of Ann’s front door and wait behind the trees until I see you go inside.”
Mary nodded. “How will you know when I am leaving?”
That is something Lainey had been thinking about all day. What kind of signal could Mary give that she could hear if she was still inside the shop?
“Are you taking your cell phone?” Lainey asked.
“Yes.”
“Type my cell phone number in as if you were going to call. Then when you leave, hit the call button as soon as possible. If I’m not in my car as you drive past, wait fifteen minutes to hear from me.” Lainey stated.
“What if I don’t hear from you in fifteen minutes?”
“Call Sarge at the police station. Tell him where I am and that I may need help.”
Mary had a worried look on her face. “What happens if you get caught in the shop? Or if I can’t reach Sarge?”
Lainey swallowed hard. “If Sarge doesn’t answer, call 911.”
Mary nodded.
The thick woods on either side of the road to Ann’s cabin allowed no light to shine through and the blackness made the early evening hour seem like midnight.
Lainey parked her car on the main road a block away from Ann’s driveway. As she walked down the dark, snowy driveway she could see Mary getting out of her car. Lainey stood behind a clump of trees where she could see the front door and the shop.
Mary knocked on the door and even from a distance, Lainey could hear the conversation.
“What are you doing here?” Ann asked as she opened the door.
Mary, standing very upright replied, “I want to talk about Doug’s will.” For a moment, both women stood glaring at each other and Lainey thought Ann might slam the door instead of letting Mary inside.
Finally, Mary walked into the house. Lainey wasted no time and ran over to the shop.
Now to find a way in!
She tried the front door. It was locked as were the front two windows. Lainey crept along the side of the shop and found a back entrance. Sure enough, it was open. She turned on her cell phone flashlight, pointed it toward the ground, and walked in.
The smell of gasoline, motor oil, and grease stung her nose. Inside the large room were a couple of cars on lifts surrounded by various machines, tools, and electric cords. Metal storage cabinets lined one outside wall and she noticed a small paint booth area in the opposite corner.
Toward the front of the building was a large walled-off section that she thought was the office. As she walked toward the room, she tripped over a large trash can and the loud clanging noise it made as it hit the cement floor made her heart skip a beat.
“I hope no one heard that!” She sighed and bent down to pick up the can and the trash that had spilled out.
“Old Chuck must like Burger King, a lot,” she said to herself as she picked up a dozen or so empty burger boxes.
She looked around once more before going inside the office just to make sure no one had entered. Once inside, she noticed the room had no windows, so she shut the door and turned on the light switch.
The room had been sectioned off with the first area as the check-in space. She walked behind the counter and saw it was covered with dirt, grease, clipboards, pens, and newspapers. There were no file cabinets or anything she could use in this area.
Lainey opened the door behind the counter into what looked like Chuck’s office. She sat in his desk chair and hurriedly looked through the desk draws. Besides being full of tire pressure gages, pens, keychains, and scraps of paper, she found nothing that would be evidence of any kind.
She thought for a moment. “Where would I hide evidence if I was going to murder someone?” She said aloud. She looked around again to see if she had missed something.
The walls were covered with pictures of all sizes of racing cars and drivers. Lainey walked over to look at them and saw that Chuck was standing with the drivers in several of them. It was then that she noticed one of the pictures was not of a race car and was hanging a bit crooked.
“Now why would Chuck put a picture of a fishing boat in the middle of a bunch of race cars?” She thought. When she tried to take the picture off the wall for a closer look, it wouldn’t budge. She pulled harder and turned it to the right to help loosen it.
She heard a loud ‘click’ behind her as she turned the picture. Turning around quickly, she saw a small door opening behind the desk that she had not noticed before. This door only had handles on the inside.
Lainey pulled the door open and what she saw made her skin crawl.
“Holy smokes,” she exclaimed as she stood facing a tilted gurney with large examination lights hanging above it. She saw a metal operating room tray with instruments on it, boxes of disposable gloves and boxes of plastic sandwich bags. The horrific realization hit her. “It’s a small autopsy room!” She gasped.
Lainey’s heart was racing. She started taking pictures with her phone camera and noticed a couple of hazardous waste containers. She grabbed a paper towel and opened the first one. She snapped a couple of pictures of the contents and then she stopped dead in her tracks.
The light she had turned on when she entered the front part of the office suddenly shut off and the only light visible was her cell phone. She quickly turned off her flashlight and ducked under the exam table to hide. She hardly breathed and her heart pounded wildly inside her chest.
Lainey was afraid the light from her phone would bring the person directly to her if she tried to call or text for help. So she waited. She heard no footsteps or voices.
Tiny beads of sweat trickled down her forehead into her eyes. She didn’t dare look at her phone to see how much time had passed since the light had turned off, although it felt like hours. Was Mary still inside the house? Or did she see that Lainey was not in her car if she had left? Would she call Sarge if she hadn’t heard from Lainey fifteen minutes after that?
Lainey’s mind was racing as she fought herself to stay calm and still. More time passed and she knew she had to do something.
She turned on her cell phone and sent a text to Mary. “Are you still in the house? I’m still in the shop!”
Mary did not respond. After a few minutes more, Lainey knew she had to get out of the shop. She slowly got out from under the table, grabbed one of the small waste containers and made her way back through the hidden door, the office and the shop area to the back door she had entered. She saw no one.
Once she was outside, she looked at the cabin and saw that Mary was walking to her car. Lainey waited for her to back out and once her car lights were gone, she ran back to where her car was parked.
Safely inside her car, her cell phone rang, and it was Mary.
“You need to get out of the shop! I’m on my way home!” Mary was shouting into the phone.
“Mary, it’s okay. I’m in my car and heading back to my house.” Lainey said as calmly as she could, but she knew her voice was shaking.
“What did you find? You sound scared. What happened?” Mary probed Lainey for answers.
“I’m fine. I don’t know for sure what I found and need to regroup.” Lainey said. “How did it go with Ann?”
“She is deviously cunning, and it was obvious she told nothing but lies to me. I told her I had to think before signing over my share of Doug’s life insurance to her. It’ll be a cold day in hell before I speak to her again,” Mary declared angrily.
“I understand and appreciate your help, Mary,” Lainey said. “Once I find out anything, I will let you know.”
When Lainey got inside her own home, she didn’t reach for coffee this time. She sat down with Powie on her lap, took in a deep breath, and tried to relax. Suddenly the fear, anxiety, and sheer terror she had been hiding inside overwhelmed her and her eyes burned as tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Pull it together, Lainey!” She scolded herself. “You’re okay.” She kept wondering who could have turned the light off in Chuck’s office. Suddenly it dawned on her that the light must have been on a timer.
“Of course!” She exclaimed aloud. “It’s like my utility room light. Once turned on, it turns off automatically after a certain length of time.”
The ring of her cell phone startled her. She looked at the caller ID. It was Sarge.
“Hello, Sarge,” Lainey said. “Did you speak to Raymond?”
“Lainey, this is not a social ca
ll.” Sarge began. “Did I not tell you to stop snooping around on this case?” He demanded.
Lainey was not expecting that and did not answer him right away.
“Ann Reynolds has just called in a complaint of someone very similar to your description breaking into their auto shop this evening,” he said angrily.
Lainey’s mind was racing. She knew Sarge would not settle for any excuses trying to hide things. She took a deep breath in and said, “Did she see anyone?”
Sarge didn’t answer.
“Do you have evidence of someone breaking inside?” she asked Sarge again, not wanting to admit to anything just yet.
“She doesn’t have hard evidence, but thought she saw a woman running down her driveway toward the street carrying something,” he stated flatly. “Does that happen to ring a bell with you?”
Lainey again said nothing.
“Be at my office in fifteen minutes… and bring whatever it was you took from there.”
Chapter 9
Sarge was waiting in the police station reception area when Lainey entered.
“Hello, Sarge,” Lainey greeted. Sarge simply nodded, knocked on the window for the dispatcher to open the door, and motioned for Lainey to go inside.
She followed him in silence down the now familiar hallway to his office. Once inside, he closed the door and sat down behind his desk.
As a kind of peace offering, Lainey put the waste container she took from Chuck Austin’s shop on his desk and sat down. The stony expression on Sarge’s face did not change, and for several moments the two people starred at each other.
“You blinked first!”, Lainey said teasingly, smiling and pointing her finger at him and said teasingly, trying to lighten the mood.
“This is not a game, Lainey!” Sarge barked as he stood up with his hands on his hips. “What in heaven’s name did you think you were doing? Do you realize the danger you were in or the position you put me in?” He asked as he paced back and forth.