involving a certain young lady from across the bridge that was alleged to have been last seen talking to you a few nights ago. You weren’t exactly in a part of town that would be considered very “Palm Beachy”. One of our regular informants that shares the same alley with her wrote down your car’s license plate number.”
Karl indignantly answered “Well, then I was probably just asking her directions. Why are you bothering me with this?” The detective began to look angry “There has been quite a few of her “friends” disappearing in some of the other towns too lately. Do you know anything about them?” Karl just gave him a disgusted look.
With that, his partner opened the back door of their car. Morton and two officers stood behind Karl as if to herd him in that direction. The detective advised “You have your choice. It's our car or the squad.” Morton looked around wide-eyed at the mansions at the end of the street and at the Whitestone club members going back and forth in the parking lot right next to them. “Tell me, do you really want all this fanfare?” Karl laughed. “Very well then.” He took his luggage back into his foyer and closed the door. Walking back outside with his cell phone he said “If you must go through with this charade, I can spare about a half-hour for you, but that is all.” The detective did not reply and ushered, what he knew was his prime suspect, toward the car. He carefully lowered Karl’s head under the door frame as he placed him in the back seat.
On the brief ride to headquarters, Karl had voluntarily agreed to appear in a line-up so that the informant could take a look at him. A squad was immediately dispatched to pick her up and meet them there.
Karl was very calm as he was escorted from the car to the building and led into a small room. He was not under arrest and they weren’t doing anything fancy for him. He was just told to stand against a white wall with five other men that had been left over from a previous session. Only two of them slightly resembled Karl, and one was obviously a policeman.
A middle-aged prostitute dressed in a faux leather halter top, hot pants, and shamelessly baring fresh needle marks on her arms, walked into the front corridor. She gave a toothy grin to the cops that she recognized and was directed where to go. She was told that all she needed to do was look through a small window at the top of the metal door.
As she rapidly chomped on her gum, she leaned her head in. Instantly, her eyes roved to the far end and rested on Karl. She recognized him immediately! The woman started to point and was about to speak when she became very shaky. She leaned on the door for support and held her hand above her eyebrows to take a second look. This time she could feel Karl’s eyes penetrate her through the glass. She began to feel very feverish and wondered if the meth she had just snorted was still affecting her. She asked an officer if she could sit in a chair.
Detective Morton came out of the back room and grabbed her roughly by the arm. “Well, can you identify him or not? Why the hell are you taking so long? Hurry up!”
The witness was completely consumed in fear now and was looking desperate to leave. She had enough street-smarts to know not to mess with Karl. She brashly answered the detective, “What can I say? I don’t know what the hell is going on. The guy’s not there. Let me go!” The detective pulled her from her seat and shook her “What about the car license plate number? You told us it was his car.” She cried “Please let me go. I don’t think I wrote it down right. It was dark out and I really don’t think it was even the car color I thought it was. I was really high. Come on. You have to let me leave. I am going to get sick right here!”
Detective Morton growled at the cop next to him. “OK, let her go. If I ever see that whore on the street I am going to lock her up. Don’t any of you ever tell me she is credible again.”
The detective went back in the room and brought Karl out. He apologized to him “I am sorry, but I guess you aren’t our man. I kind of doubted it anyway. A guy with your kind of money doesn’t usually need to pay for it.” Karl gave him a haughty look and said “That’s right, I don’t.” He looked disdainfully at the detective’s cheap suit and gave a parting shot “But by the looks of your threads, it looks like you probably need to.” He gave a high-pitched laugh and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket to call his driver.
As Karl left the building, the prostitute was walking right in front of him. He leered at her derrière and gave a low wolf whistle. She nervously turned around and looked back at him. Karl winked and flashed a smile at her. Terrified, the woman tried to walk faster, but her legs felt like they were melting beneath her. As she turned the next street corner, she vanished from sight.
Karl’s driver appeared and opened the door for him. He had his luggage in the trunk and they sped towards Palm Beach International. Karl sat back, put his legs up, and relaxed with a glass of fine Scotch. He had never been worried about this minor distraction and always knew that he would make it to his flight both on-time and unscathed. He was untouchable and no one would ever come close. He had always been in charge, and always would be…
20 OUT FROM THE SHADOWS
April was fast approaching and Kristen was sitting by the pool at Anthony’s. As usual, she was alone minding the fort. She didn’t care about his trips anymore and actually relished this time by herself to take care of all the final wedding preparations.
Lately, her fiancé had been going out of his way to make sure that she knew how much he loved her. All of the bumps were now smoothed out and she was ready to take on a life with him. He finally figured out how Kristen ticked and all the right things to say to her. They loved each other very much and she now accepted that it was a lasting love and that she was mature enough to handle it.
Anthony made good on his promise that Kristen could have the greatest wedding that Palm Beach had ever seen. He truly acted like he wanted to make all her dreams come true. The fact that he had modified his own life so that she could live in Palm Beach full-time and have her dream oceanfront mansion attested to this.
It was not easy, but Anthony was able to book a church on the island in time. It had been close to impossible to achieve this. Kristen had always wanted to marry there ever since she was a child and first fell in love with the town and Anthony did not want to let her down.
She was very excited about her guest list. Almost everyone had already been invited and there were only a few declines. Anthony said she could fly her favorites in on his private jet.
She began thinking of her childhood friends that she could invite at the last minute. The first person that came to mind was Michael Hansen. It had been a while since Kristen saw him at the New York dinner show. She assumed that he was still living near the North Shore and thought it would be great to have him there.
It was pretty easy to find him. She logged into Facebook and he was on there! She looked at his list of friends and saw a lot of familiar names. She then looked at his photos. There were many pictures of him at sporting events and posing with different girls. She made more inquiries and came up with his addresses and the companies he had worked for. Seems that he was now the Chief Financial Officer for a manufacturer that was headquartered in Chicago. She still didn’t see any mention about a wife anywhere. Good. Still single! She wondered if he knew his personal cell phone number was out there for all to see. It probably was long disconnected. She decided to try it anyway.
She dialed the number and it immediately went to voicemail. She waited a minute and tried again. This time it rang. Kristen became very nervous and wasn’t sure what she would say if this was still Michael’s number.
A familiar voice answered “Hello?” Kristen bubbled “Is this Michael?” She took a sip of her frosted orange juice. “It’s Kristen Stratford. How are you?” He said “Kristen! I’m glad to hear from you. Where are you calling from? Are you in Chicago?" Kristen was excited “I am down in Florida, actually Palm Beach.”
Michael was amused. “You really live there? I always knew you would end up in
that place. What have you been doing with yourself since I saw you?" Kristen couldn’t hold it back and blurted “I’m getting married!” There was an uncomfortable silence. Michael said “Really? I thought you would have already done that with that nutty cop I saw you with in New York. Actually, I thought you married that antique Bensinger long ago. Isn’t he dead now?”
He then chuckled “Who is the lucky guy? Anyone I know?” “His name is Anthony Fiore” she replied. Michael hesitated, “Anthony? You mean Tony Fiore?” He sounded upset and said “The” Tony Fiore from New York?”
“That’s him!” Kristen replied, wondering where this was leading. “Oh, that’s great” he faked. Kristen could tell Michael was unable to gather up any enthusiasm and she didn’t know why? “I want to invite you to our wedding. It’s coming up pretty fast and is kind of a last-minute thing.” Michael said “You want to invite me?
Kristen laughed “Yes silly, that’s why I am calling you." Michael answered, “I would love to come see you. I need to talk to you.” Without addressing what he had just said, Kristen kept on. “Great, just fly into Palm Beach International. We are having the wedding on the island. There are plenty of hotels near-by.”
The Devil's Intended-Love & Evil In Palm Beach Page 46