The Mommy Detectives and the Bingo Hall Mystery

by Alathia Paris Morgan

  “Here’s a playmate for you. She’ll help keep you warm until they move you.” Zach dumped Kristi’s body on the bed, almost on top of Perri.

  Perri was surprised when he walked around the corner, and instead of leaving, came back with a blanket.

  “Can I get something to eat?” Perri asked politely.

  “When was the last time you ate something?” Zach couldn’t help but ask.

  “Saturday morning.”

  Since the cameras couldn’t hear sound, Zach spoke. “She was supposed to feed you. Let me see what I can do.”

  “She?” Perri called, but Zach had already rounded the corner and headed back upstairs.

  ------------------

  “Why haven’t you fed her? Two days with no food or water?” Zach asked angrily.

  “Because it was none of your business,” Sheila snapped. “You’re not in charge at the moment, and with that kind of attitude, I won’t be recommending you for promotion.”

  “Seriously, that’s how you want to play this? She was part of the bigger plan to get more money, so not feeding her kind of defeats the purpose of having them picked up later.” Zach spoke passionately in the women’s defense.

  “Since you’re so worked up about this, then you should go and take care of the problem.” Shelia checked out the window to be sure no one was hanging around.

  Zach stormed down the stairs with water and several granola bars.

  “It’s not much, but it might help keep your body warm until your next meal. I’ll make sure you get something for dinner.” Zach pointed toward the corner where a compost toilet sat. “Use that if you need to, and here’s some antibacterial wash. There aren’t any cameras facing the corner so you’ll have complete privacy there.

  “She may be out for a while, but she should be fine.” Zach nodded toward Kristi’s still form under the blanket. “Just continue to check on her.”

  Perri waited for him to leave before she jumped on the food he left behind.

  Not wanting to make herself sick, she only ate one of the six granola bars Zach had left and drank a small amount of water.

  Perri had been able to use the facilities in the past few days, but was glad to know the camera wasn’t watching her do it. Thankful that her hands were tied in front of her, it made the task much easier. While not healthy, it wasn’t unusual to have to wait longer periods of time as a mom, and she had only gone twice, and only when it was absolutely necessary.

  She glanced over at Kristi, who didn’t move, even when she returned and snuggled against her.

  The snow drifts helped to insulate the basement, but they weren’t known for their extremely warm benefits.

  Perri had slept until almost noon, and Kristi started to stir, which made Perri startle awake.

  “Hey, are you okay?” Perri asked her, coming awake instantly.

  Kristi just nodded her head.

  Perri put her tied hands over Kristi’s head so that she could give her a hug.

  “We’re going to be fine. Everyone will be looking for you, since I’m sure that you all have been looking for me. Well, here I am!” Perri couldn’t keep the humor out of her voice.

  “They’re going to sell us this afternoon to traffickers. We can’t let them know we’re on to them. I have a cell phone to text the gang so they can follow us,” Kristi mumbled against Perri’s coat.

  Perri took her arms from around Kristi, incredulous.

  “What do you mean? You have a cell phone?” Perri screamed in a whispered voice, blocking the camera’s view of their conversation with her back.

  “Zach is undercover, and they’re trying to get the ones who are running this thing so that they can stop the drugs that are flowing through our town.”

  She sank back onto the end of the cot, unable to handle the information that help was so close.

  “What are we supposed to do in the meantime?” Perri wrung her hands in frustration.

  “Do you know what time it is?” Kristi asked drowsily.

  Perri twisted her wrist around and pushed her coat out of the way by placing her knee to hold it where she could see the time. It was a practiced move after three days in captivity. “Twelve-twenty. Why?”

  “We’re supposed to text them around one o’clock, so make sure I don’t fall back to sleep.”

  They were startled to hear banging on the floor, like someone was moving the furniture around.

  The sounds continued for about thirty minutes, then there was absolute silence.

  “I think we should go ahead and send the text message now. I’m getting a feeling that something isn’t right upstairs.” Perri scooted back, up toward Kristi, trying to block the camera again.

  “Text them now. We don’t have much time.”

  She watched anxiously as Kristi took the phone out of her pocket and started texting.

  “There, it’s sent.”

  “Okay. Make sure it’s hidden because I don’t want to die now.”

  ------------------

  Breaking news. We have received word that a respected member of our community was found dead at his home this morning. Details are still coming in at this time, but neighbors reported seeing his car still parked in the drive, which was completely unusual for him. He works at the local high school library and volunteers his time at the senior center. Upon investigation, they found him unresponsive and called 9-1-1. We will continue to bring you updates as information is received.

  “What were you thinking?” Zach motioned toward the TV. Jumping out of his chair, he paced the length of the room.

  “You had him killed? You don’t think that this will come back and bite us?” Zach continued to stomp back and forth, not really expecting Shelia to answer him.

  “Yes. I gave the order to have him disposed of. There will be no one to link back to us. All the evidence these women have been collecting will be traced to him, and will seem like it was his operation.” Sheila raised her eyebrow at Zach’s rage.

  “You’re just going to wear yourself out. This was the only way for us to move on and continue our work elsewhere. I have big plans for you, but if you have a problem liquidating an asset…” Sheila left the threat hanging in the air.

  “No, you’re the boss. I just wish I’d had a heads-up and hadn’t been caught off guard.” Zach’s pacing slowed, but didn’t stop completely.

  “Was there really a pickup planned for the girl’s downstairs? Are you just leading me on about this, making money and being the next step in the process?” Zach loomed over her, hoping to come off as intimidating.

  “Zach, Zach, Zach. This is the plan. We leave after we wipe our prints down and no one ever knows we were here. The girls will be picked up later and the money will be wired to our account.” Sheila tilted her head, giving him an appraising look.

  “Are you ready for the next phase? If so, I expect you to go down, drug the girls, get in your car and leave. If you’re serious about moving up, then I’ll see you at the rendezvous point.” Shelia put her coat and hat on. “Oh, and Zach?” She waited until Zach was facing her. “I’ll be watching you.”

  Zach had no choice but to do as Shelia had requested. The steps creaked as he walked back down into the basement.

  “All right, ladies, I managed to get you a warm cup of coffee since the boss lady left,” Zach spoke loudly, making sure the girls were awake.

  Smiles lit their faces as they took in the cups of coffee from one of their favorite places.

  They eagerly took the cups and downed the warm, but not too hot coffee.

  “Oh, thank you, Zach. That was so sweet of you to bring coffee to the women you kidnapped,” Perri shouted at Zach. She would have thrown the coffee at him, but she was too excited to lose the warm liquid.

  “I told you he was hot. I mean, he brought something hot. What’s happening?” Kristi’s words slurred as the drugged coffee hit her already tired system.

  “Your hot guy drugged us.” Perri hadn’t drank her coffee as quickly,
but the effects were slowing her movements.

  Zach pulled the covers from the floor where they had fallen in the girls’ hurry to get the coffee from them. He gently placed the covers over both of them, and with one last glance over his shoulder, he disappeared up the stairs.

  The sound of his gold vehicle starting up could have been heard in the basement, but the only one’s listening were hidden from sight and waiting for something drastic to happen.

  Chapter 16

  Sunni and Miles had been waiting for what seemed like forever, when a car raced out of the driveway across from them.

  “Are we supposed to follow the car?” Sunni questioned, unsure of what the text had meant. “I don’t want to follow the wrong person.”

  “I think it’s a van we’re watching for. That’s what they said, but the text also said they’d be in a vehicle,” Miles countered.

  “We don’t want to miss—” Sunni was interrupted by a loud banging on the window.

  “Peas and carrots! What is Carolina doing here?” Sunni screamed at the face pressed against the window.

  “Hurry, roll down the window,” Sunni urged Miles.

  “Uh, Sunni, you have to turn the car back on for the windows to work.” Miles gestured to the keys hanging from the ignition.

  “Right.” She hurried to turn the car back on.

  “Have you guys seen Kristi or the vehicle that’s supposed to be transporting her?” Carolina asked loudly.

  “We haven’t yet. We’re hiding so they don’t know we’re onto them.” Miles put his finger to his lips to shush Carolina.

  “How did you know where we were?” Sunni asked, incredulous that Carolina had found them in the middle of, well, nowhere?

  “I just followed the directions that Kristi sent and here I am. I didn’t want to have missed all of the fun.” Carolina leaned into the car.

  A loud sound filled the air and a gold car flashed out of the driveway, and took off down the road.

  Sunni watched as Carolina backed out of the window so quickly, she landed in the snowbank behind her.

  “Hurry, we can’t lose them. I’ll be right behind you,” Carolina yelled as she scrambled to her feet and ran back to her truck parked on the side of the road.

  Another bang sounded as her truck backfired and she took off in pursuit of Zach.

  “Can I make a recommendation?” Miles raised his hand like a young student, answering without waiting for permission. “I suggest that we roll the window up and stay put until we see the truck pull in across the street.”

  “Agreed.” Sunni glanced at her watch. “It should be soon, if Kristi’s text is to be trusted.

  “Look, there it is.”

  They both watched the gray van enter the driveway across from them.

  “You don’t think the person driving the van will kill them, do you?” Sunni asked, worried.

  “I swear, you are the most worrisome person I’ve ever met, Sunni. Don’t borrow trouble until you have to.” Miles shook his head. “The world can be a terrible place, but you have to have some hope or there wouldn’t be any point in living.”

  “Their leaving.” Sunni threw the car into gear and prepared to chase after them.

  “Hold on. We have to let them get a little bit ahead of us,” Miles cautioned.

  “I’m not going to lose them,” Sunni declared, determined to get her friends back. “Hang on.”

  She peeled out and almost slid into the ditch, but let off the gas just in time. The gray van was quickly disappearing out of sight, but she was afraid to catch up to fast.

  When they slowed for the stop sign, the van had just moved across the road when a blue truck appeared and turned, following the van.

  “Tell me that Carolina did not just cut us off?”

  “Oh, I think she did.” Miles gripped the door handle harder as Sunni sped up until she was even with Carolina’s truck.

  Sunni motioned to Carolina while yelling, even though she couldn’t hear through the closed windows. “Pull over!”

  Carolina shrugged her shoulders in response and pulled ahead.

  “That little green worm.” Determined, Sunni stepped on the gas and continued to look at Carolina as they passed her and pulled in front of her, just a truck whizzed by in the other lane.

  “Cutting it a little close, don’t you think?” Miles huffed.

  The trip back into town didn’t seem to take nearly as long to Sunni as she stayed on the tail of the gray van.

  The van came to an abrupt stop and the back door opened. Two bundles were shoved out and the van took off quickly, but Sunni didn’t have time to stop without hitting them.

  She steered the vehicle into the snowbank and came to a stop, inches from the brick wall of the building on the opposite side of the street.

  There was a sickening crunch of metal as Carolina, who had been following Sunni closely, had swerved to avoid hitting the bundles in the road, only to hit the row of parked cars on the right side of the street.

  Sunni sat stunned. Miles was the first one to recover as he rushed over to the bundles.

  “Call 9-1-1,” he yelled as he excited the car.

  She looked around the floor, trying to find her cell phone. Finding it, she managed to dial and put the phone on speaker.

  “There’s been an accident. We need help. We’re on Fifth Street in the warehouse district.” She hung up, unable to deal with the questions the dispatcher continued to ask her.

  The sound of sirens filled the air as Sunni watched the bundles move in the cold snow.

  The sight of Carolina approaching the girls with a large knife spurred Sunni into action. She jumped out of the car and ran to the still bundles.

  “Carolina, why don’t you let me do that, okay?’ Sunni didn’t trust her not to kill their friends.

  “Nope, I don’t let nobody touch my protection.” Carolina bent over the bundle closest to her and cut the ropes around the blanket.

  It opened to reveal Perri’s body, with her hands tied in front of her.

  Carolina walked toward Kristi, but the sound of a cop shouting stopped her.

  “Raise your hands right now. Drop the knife.” An officer from squad #1 stood protectively behind his car door, pointing a gun in their direction.

  Sunni and Miles did as he asked, but Carolina waved her hand to gesture toward Kristi’s still bundled body.

  “Officer, we’re jusssss—” Carolina was hit with a stun gun from behind as another set of officers from squad #2 approached from the rear.

  “Don’t shoot. She was just trying to get our friends untied because they’d been kidnapped!” Miles yelled as the officers approached.

  Perri started to come to.

  “You, stay back.” He pointed at Sunni and Miles as he approached the bundle with Kristi inside. “Help me get this other bundle undone.” One of the officers from squad #2 motioned the other two officers from squad #1 forward as he took the knife from the ground next to Carolina’s still twitching body.

  “They’re right, it’s a body.” The officer felt for a pulse. “She’s alive!”

  “Hands behind your backs.” Squad #2’s other officer cuffed Miles and was joined by the squad #1 officers, who placed the cuffs on Sunni and the twitching Carolina.

  An ambulance pulled up and paramedics loaded Perri and Kristi onto stretchers. They hadn’t regained consciousness, although the cold air was speeding up the process.

  Sunni and Miles were taken to squad #1’s car, while the other officers were trying to lift Carolina to her feet so that they could get her into the vehicle.

  “I’d hate to be the person who has to share a cell with Carolina for the night after she’s been tased.” Miles grinned.

  “What are you grinning at?” Sunni fumed.

  “You remember all those messages on the internet where you put the name of the person on your list that you’d get arrested with? Or spend the night in jail with?” Miles questioned, his smile still in place.

&nb
sp; “Yes. It’s always stupid because I’d never be arrested with…” Sunni trailed off as her surroundings dawned on her.

  “Yeah, I totally never thought you’d be the one sitting in the seat next to me.” Miles laughed and pointed toward Carolina. “I know neither one of us imagined having her with us either.”

  “How do you have all this free time for those kinds of things? My kids keep me so busy that I can only post pictures for family when I actually can find time to take a picture.”

  “Sunni, I know that having two children seems harder, but sometimes using technology can actually make your life easier. When we get out of here, I’m going to setup some classes for all age groups so that everyone can learn how to use their technology.” Miles seemed satisfied with his declaration.

  “Well, if they ever let us out. I doubt they’ll let us see the light of day again.”

  “See, there you go again, always finding the worst in a situation. Don’t say anything unless the lawyer is in there. Once they question Perri and Kristi, they’ll know that we were telling the truth and let us go.” Confidence poured out of Miles at justice being served.

  “I only hope you’re right,” Sunni whispered as the officers got back into the vehicle.

  ------------------

  Perri heard whispered voices and struggled to wake up. If the plan hadn’t worked, then she and Kristi were in real danger.

  Her eyes felt heavy as she tried to open them, only to find blurry images in the room around her.

  “When is mom going to wake up?”

  “Can she hear us?”

  “Her eyes are open, Dad.”

  “Mom, what happened?”

  “Hey, everyone back up. Let her get a moment to adjust.” Gerald stood by the bed, holding her hand.

  “I’m-I’m fine, I think. How long have I been here?” Perri sat up slowly, remembering how dizzy she’d felt the last time she’d been drugged.

  “Kristi? Is she okay?” Perri took the water her daughter handed her.

  “She’s fine. They have her resting, and they gave her kids to Olive until she’s able to take care of them.” Gerald answered her unspoken question.