Change of Address

by Rick Polad

  I put on my shoes without lacing them, grabbed my keys and headed for the door. I was halfway there when I stopped, thought for a second, and went back for Dad’s gun. I grabbed it and the bullets.

  I ran to the car, stuffed the gun and bullets into the glove compartment and sped off. I was a good half hour from the center. When I got to the Eisenhower Expressway, I should have turned west to go to the center, but continued straight towards the track. If Marty was missing, Ronny was involved. The police would handle things at the center.

  I continued down Cicero and, after running a few lights, came to the racetrack. It was crawling with police. The front gate was blocked and traffic was being turned away. A uniformed officer waved me on. I pulled onto the sidewalk and he started yelling at me to move. When I didn’t, he drew his weapon and started toward me. I held my hands up in the air.

  “Keep your hands up and get out of the car.”

  Two other officers had joined him. Unfortunately, I didn’t recognize anybody. He opened my door and backed away. “Officer, I...”

  “Shut up. Slow and easy. Turn around and lean over with your hands on top of the car.” I wondered why I was getting the harsh treatment.

  I wanted to get back to the stables. I also wanted to avoid getting shot. “Officer, my name is Spencer Manning. I need to get back to the stables to see Searg... Lieutenant Powolski. I know where he is and what he’s doing.”

  He started to respond and was stopped by one of the other officers who asked if I had ID. I said I did. He said to get it out slowly. I did. He got on his radio and got ahold of Stosh and explained the situation. The response was, “Shit, send him back.”

  The second officer handed back my wallet. The first glared at me. I glared back. Tough as nails. The tires spun in the gravel and I fishtailed through the parking lot. The first cop yelled something after me. I don’t think it was very complimentary.

  The employee parking area was full of flashing red lights. And more were added as an ambulance came up behind me. This didn’t look like something that was under control. I thought of Marty and Kelly. I tried not to think. A throng was gathered at the entrance to the stable area. Whatever had happened was over. Rosie met me as I ran toward the stable.

  “Spencer, calm down. It’s all over.”

  “Who is hurt?”

  “Ronny Press. Shot. He’s not going to make it.”

  “I need to talk to him.” I was glad it was just him but I needed to get to him while he could talk. “Did you catch him with the stuff?”

  “We got him. He moved bales around and then started pulling one apart and pulling out packs of cocaine. The evidence guys are all over the place. We should really stay out of the way Spence.”

  “There’s a little girl missing, Rosie, and I think he knows where she is.”

  She didn’t think twice. She started pushing us through the crowd.

  “How did he get shot?” We moved through the crowd.

  “One of the detectives told him to drop the stuff and lie down. He pulled a gun and started shooting. He missed. We didn’t.”

  Ronny was lying in the dirt outside the stall. Stosh saw us coming and met us about twenty feet away.

  “Spencer, I told you to stay away from here. There’s...”

  “Stosh, Marty is missing. Beef went to pick her up from day care and she wasn’t there. No one remembers seeing her go with anyone.”

  His anger dissipated. “And you figure Ronny knows something?”

  I nodded. “Can I talk to him?”

  “You can try. But you’d better hurry.”

  I bent down next to a bloody Ronny Press. His clothes were shredded and bloody in too many places to count. I started to feel sorry for him and then remembered Bobby’s body. His eyes were closed.

  I called his name. No response. I tried again as the paramedics came up and tried to push me out of the way. Stosh told us to work around each other. As a paramedic cut open his shirt, he opened his eyes.

  “Ronny. Ronny, can you hear me?”

  A faint “Yeah” was all I got.

  “What did you do with Marty?”

  Glazed eyes opened and rolled slowly toward me and tried to focus. They didn’t.

  “Marty,” I repeated. “You remember? Elizabeth’s little girl?”

  “Sure,” he sputtered. “So what?”

  “She’s missing. I figure you know where she is.”

  “You’re full of...” He coughed and winced with pain.

  I wanted to punch him. “Where is she, Ronny?”

  “I got no idea. I didn’t...” Another cough.

  “You like kidnapping. You’ve done it before. Come on Ronny. Do something nice before you die. That little girl doesn’t deserve to rot wherever you’ve got her.”

  He tried again to focus but he just looked right through me. “Yeah we grabbed your girlfriend,” he said with a gurgle as his breath formed words through the blood in his throat. “But I don’t mess with kids, man.” His breath came in fast spurts. The medic was applying bandages and setting up an IV. “I liked that kid. If she’s missing, it wasn’t me, man—it wasn’t.” A last gasp of breath rushed out of his mouth. His head slowly rolled to the side and hung at an odd angle with eyes open and staring. A fly landed on the corner of his open mouth and crawled inside his lower lip, probably wondering why it wasn’t being swatted—if flies could wonder.

  One less bad guy on the earth. And despite how bad this bad guy was, I did feel something that leaned toward sadness. But I didn’t have time for sadness. If Ronny wasn’t lying, then where was Marty? I told Stosh I was going to Ronny’s apartment. He said I wasn’t, that they would handle it and he wasn’t kidding. I told him to let me know what happened at the apartment and started back to my car. As I walked, I scanned the crowd for Kelly. I didn’t see her. Halfway to the car, Rosie caught up to me.

  She linked her arm through mine. “Spencer, is there anything I can do to help?”

  “No, thanks Rosie. Stosh is checking Ronny’s apartment. After that I don’t know where she could be. I must be missing something.”

  “Does this have anything to do with your visit to the mayor?”

  “Not unless he’s doing a great acting job and is really a kidnapper. No, I don’t think so.”

  “Spencer, sometimes things are not as they seem. I’m not saying he had anything to do with the little girl, but people can be good actors.”

  I leaned on the car and looked at her. “I’ll remember that. But geez, I can’t believe he would fool me that easily. If he did, I should find another line of work.”

  She gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “You’ll figure it out. Keep digging. That’s all detective work is. Sometimes you get a revelation, but usually it’s just talking to everyone you can think of and accumulating piles of data and notes. I’ve gotta get back to work. If I can do anything, let me know.”

  “Thanks Rosie. You’re the best.”

  She waved as she walked back to the stable. I opened the door and sat down. A little dustdevil spun in the parking lot as the warm wind picked up from the southwest. As a detective, I had a lot to be happy about; I’d found out who Marty’s father was and I’d fed Stosh the information he needed to shut down the drug ring at the track. So my first case had turned out pretty well. But all that meant nothing if I couldn’t find Marty. I felt so helpless. Was there something I was missing or could she have been grabbed by a total stranger for no reason at all? Kids do get kidnapped. But I reminded myself that I didn’t believe in coincidences. The dustdevil collapsed on itself as it lost its energy source. Despite Stosh’s warning, I decided to drive to Ronny’s apartment. I couldn’t sit and do nothing. As I swung my legs into the car my pager went off. It was Maxine. I found a phone and called her.

  “Spencer, it’s Maxine. I’ve just had a talk with Ethyl. I think you should talk to her. Can you come over?”

  “I’m a little busy, Maxine,” I said dejectedly.

  “But I think i
t might be important.”

  I wasn’t interested in Ethyl and almost said so but managed to be polite. “What does she want to talk about? The tickets?”

  “No. We were talking about the night Elizabeth was killed. I brought up the fight Elizabeth had with her brother and Ethyl said, ‘Brother, that was no brother!’ Spencer, she says it was a woman Beth was fighting with.”

  “A woman?” I figured Ethyl’d had a few too many sips of lemonade. “But we know it was Beef; he admitted he was there and they fought.”

  “Yes. That’s what I told her, but listen to this. She says the fight she heard was about one in the morning. Whoever that woman was saw her alive. All you have to do is find out who she was.”

  I remembered the words Ethyl had said she heard: “You can’t have her, she’s mine.” I knew who the lady was and I knew who had Marty.

  “Maxine you are a doll. I owe you big time. I gotta go. I’ll explain it to you later.” I called Happy Trails and asked if the balloon lady had been there today. She was, but she had left.

  Leaving the car door open, I headed for the stable at a dead run and pushed my way through the crowd. Stosh was standing with two plainclothes cops watching the evidence men.

  “Stosh, I need to know...” I said breathlessly.

  “Spencer, slow down. I told you I’d let you know as soon as I heard about the apartment. We’re trying to...”

  I put up my hand. “No. I need something else,” and pulled him aside.

  “Spencer. Am I on your payroll? You want to use my department, join it!” he said with an angry edge to his voice. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m busy here.”

  “I need to know if the mayor’s wife is at home.”

  He gave me a puzzled look. “And why would that be?”

  “I think she has Marty.”

  “Are you crazy?”

  “For the mayor’s sake, I hope so. For Marty’s, I hope not.”

  Now he pulled me farther away from the men. “You’re saying the mayor’s wife grabbed the kid?”

  “Well, yes. But there are extenuating circumstances.”

  He rolled his eyes. “And those are?”

  “It’s too long to go into. I need to find Marty. If the mayor’s wife has her, at least we know she wasn’t grabbed by some nut who stuffed her in a dumpster. Given the choices, I’m hoping it’s the mayor’s wife.”

  “God. You’re out on a limb here with assumptions, Spencer. Do you know what could happen if you’re wrong?”

  “Yeah, nothing. The only person I’m telling is you. I just want to know if she’s home. And you can find out.”

  “And how is that?”

  “Call your surveillance team and ask.”

  “Surveillance team? You making more assumptions?”

  “I guess. But I figure they’re pretty good.”

  “And if she’s home, then what?”

  “Then I pay a visit.”

  “And if she isn’t?”

  “Then we look for her.”

  “We?”

  “Okay, me. But either way, you have no liability.”

  He shook his head. “Stand here and don’t move and don’t bother anybody.” He walked away muttering something under his breath.

  I watched as two men in plain clothes picked through the straw and placed bits in plastic bags. Stosh was back in less than two minutes.

  “She’s not there. Left at ten this morning and hasn’t returned.”

  “Thanks.” I glanced at my watch. Almost two.

  “Now what? I can’t...”

  “Now I look somewhere else.”

  “Good. Call me if you find anything. And for chrissake be careful. And watch who you accuse!”

  I was already running back between the rows of stalls. There was only one other place I knew to look and it would take me five hours to get there, if I drove fast. I was stopped by the crowd. Rosie was standing with several uniformed policemen who were trying to keep the workers back.

  “Spencer, why the hurry?”

  “I’m still looking for Marty and I think I know where to look.” I started to fight back through the crowd.

  “Hey, you want help?” she yelled after me.

  “Aren’t you working?”

  “This is pretty well wrapped up and someone else can do the paperwork. I think I can get some personal time.”

  “Sure. But I’m in a hurry.”

  “Let me check and I’ll be right with you. Where we going?”

  “Wisconsin.”

  A look of surprise filled her face. “Okay, what the hell.” She called Stosh on her radio and asked for some personal time. He said okay and told her not to let me boss her around. Not too dumb that Lieutenant. She turned to her partner and told him she’d be in tomorrow.

  “Let’s go,” she said as she started to clear a path. “We need to stop at my place so I can change. Your car?”

  I nodded.

  Rolling the windows down to let out the heat, we headed for the track entrance which was still congested. The officer at the gate was having a tough day. This time he was getting an argument from Kelly. When she saw my car she hurried over.

  “Spencer, what’s going on?”

  “The drug ring is in for bad times.”

  “Did you get him?”

  “Well, actually Stosh got him. The important thing is they are got.”

  She said hi to Rosie. “Can I get back there?”

  Rosie said she would talk to the officer and got out of the car.

  “Where are you two off to?”

  “Marty is missing. Wasn’t at the center when Beef went to pick her up.”

  “Oh Spencer, I’m so sorry. That poor little girl.”

  “I think I know where to look.”

  “Good luck. I hope you find her.”

  “Me too.”

  Rosie got back in the car and told Kelly it was okay to go on in.

  “Thanks Rosie. You’ll find her, Spence.” She leaned down and gave me what she called a good luck kiss. I wondered if it was to let Rosie know who was who. I kinda hoped that anyway.

  The officer cleared the crowd for us and we headed north on Cicero.

  Chapter 42

  After stopping for gas we got on the tollway and headed north. We had plenty of time to talk and I figured that Rosie knew enough already to trust her with the whole story. I started at the beginning with my hunt for Marty’s father and told her about the mayor and Ronny and about Louise wanting kids, but the mayor being unable to oblige. Somewhere along the way Louise went nuts, or at least half nuts. Then Ronny broke into the safe at the summer house and Louise found pictures of Marty and the canceled checks. I was again assuming that she had found them but the assumption fit my theory so I kept it. I told her the mayor had sent me up to search the place. From there on, the story was my take on what I thought had happened. And I was betting my take was right. I figured Louise had put two and two together and had gotten four or at least her version of four which added up to the mayor fathering a child with another woman. And Louise figured that she deserved the kid more than Beth and twisted her brain into thinking that the kid was really hers and was willing to commit murder to prove it.

  So Louise tracked down Marty and followed her to the day-care center where she volunteered to help.

  Rosie had been listening quietly up till now. She asked a logical question.

  “Doesn’t the center think it strange that the mayor’s wife is volunteering at their center?”

  “No. They are thrilled. Mrs. Grey has a long history of volunteer work with kids and support for kid’s organizations. Don’t you watch the news?”

  “I try not to. Politics isn’t one of my favorite topics.”

  “Mine either. Before this, I was lucky to know the mayor’s name.”

  “Okay, so she volunteers and buddies up with Marty.”

  “Right. Marty said there was some woman at the center who she liked a lot. Must have been Louise. She h
as a perfect chance to sneak out with the kid. No one would question her being there or paying special attention to Marty, and Marty would go off with her without a fuss.”

  “Should we notify the Wisconsin cops?” Rosie asked.

  “I don’t think so. Marty is safe unless Louise feels threatened. The cops would want to get involved and would scare her.”

  We were both quiet as I slowed down for the tollbooth before the Wisconsin border.

  As I pulled away, hitting 70 as fast as I could, I asked, “So what do you think?”

  She pulled one foot up under her on the seat and laid her hand on my leg. “I think your reasoning is pretty sound. It’s kind of scary that that could happen. But there is one good thing about it.”

  “And that is?”

  “If Mrs. Grey thinks Marty is hers, she isn’t going to hurt her.”

  “I hope not, Rosie. But if this turns out to be the way it looks, she is a dangerous woman and a good shot. If she was willing to kill to get Marty, she’ll be willing to kill to keep her.” I took her hand. “You still want to come?”

  “Well, I’m not going to let you go alone. Tell me how the place is laid out.”

  I did. She made me promise I would let her run the show. I did.

  We were passing the turnoff to Billy Mitchell airfield and coming up on Milwaukee. “Spencer, you realize I have no jurisdiction in Wisconsin and your license is no good there either.”

  “Yes, it is. I didn’t know where I wanted to set up practice so I got a license in both states.”

  “Well we’re going up against someone who probably has a gun.”

  “Right. But we’ve got her outnumbered.”

  “What are we going to do, share my gun?”

  I told her to open the glove compartment and told her whose it was.

  “Did you change the registration?”

  “No. I’ve been meaning to.”

  “Meaning to doesn’t count. You can’t use that, Spencer. Do you have any idea how badly screwed we are if something bad goes down here. I can see the headline now: ‘Mayor’s Wife Killed by Ex-Police Chief’s Gun’. Sounds great doesn’t it? Spencer, I think we should call somebody if she is there.”