He pulled me close in a rib-cracking embrace and buried his face in my hair. I held him just as tightly, one hand flush against his back, the other still holding my wine glass.
I had my priorities in order.
Chapter Twelve
Turned out Mac’s full name was McKenzie Elizabeth Taylor the second, which I found out when I met her mother, McKenzie Elizabeth Taylor, private investigator.
Her voice was rich and husky tinged with native Bostonian, though it was a little lighter than some. She actually pronounced her rs most of the time. “It’s actually spelled like the Scottish last name, which means attractive. So my mother must have been high as a flipping kite when she decided to name me, attractive Elizabeth Taylor. I sure as hell was when I decided to carry on the family insanity. She’s been Mac since preschool though.”
“She’s a great kid, my sons adore her.” Well, one of them did, though I wasn’t ready to delve into detail on that front. Instead, I smiled and took a hit off my coffee cup. We had agreed to meet up at a little diner halfway between Hudson and Boston and the place had the greatest coffee this side of New York City.
McKenzie the first had long red hair and piercing green eyes. Not hazel like Neil’s but a deep almost spooky jade green that seemed to see right through me. I wondered if they were colored contacts, but thought not. She was tall for a woman and well-proportioned for her size. She appeared strong and ultra-feminine at the same time, though her attitude was all business. “So, Mrs. Phillips, what can I do for you?”
“Call me Maggie,” I said. “I was hoping I could hire you to investigate a few people.”
“The Dale family? I saw their name on my browser yesterday and knew Mac had been by.” McKenzie raised one elegant eyebrow in question.
I nodded. “Their father, Chester, might have been murdered. He left his estate to his granddaughter and her aunts and uncle aren’t happy about it. Mac did a background check on them for me but that’s only brought up more questions. What I really want to know is do any of these people have a motive for murder.”
McKenzie drummed long, graceful fingers on the table. Her nails were cut short, not bitten off, but this wasn’t a woman who messed around with manicures on a regular basis. “Computers are good but my daughter puts too much stock in them. A more thorough background investigation, like talking to neighbors and coworkers might unearth something that’s not logged into a database.”
I made a face. What she was proposing would require some serious man-hours, and my budget didn’t have much room in it for an expense that might be for nothing. “I don’t know what your usual rates are but—”
McKenzie waved me off as though I were talking nonsense. “Don’t worry about it. It’ll be nice to catch a break from following cheating spouses and busting insurance fraud. Besides, you and your husband have been good to my kid. That’s payment enough.”
I hadn’t expected that and smiled in thanks. “Here’s my cell number and Mac knows where we live so you can stop by at any time. Someone there usually knows how to find me.”
McKenzie took the card I pushed toward her and her lips twitched. “The Laundry Hag cleaning services?”
“It’s a long story.”
“I hear that.”
I rose and reached for my purse. She got up too, towering over me. “I’ll call you when I find out anything on the Dale family.”
“I got this,” I said as the waitress approached with our check.
She smiled and headed towards the restroom.
I dug a five out of my bag and left it on the table, then headed out to my Mini, which was parked around back. On the way, I texted my bi-hourly check in to Neil, who was at home with Mae. On my way home.
He wrote back a second later. Out of TP. Love you.
Frick, it looked like Walmart just got added to the day’s to-do list. Oh well, at least it was on the way home.
Need anything else? Ask the boys.
Nope. The reply was so quick I knew he hadn’t bothered to ask them. Ugh, I’d have to call them from the store.
Some jackass in a van had ignored all the other open spaces in the diner’s lot and parked beside me. He was seriously over the line, so close that I couldn’t even fit between the vehicles, never mind open the door wide enough to get in. “Oh, for the love of Pete.”
I looked back at the diner and cursed. Damn it, if Walmart was in my future I really didn’t want to have a confrontation with whatever knuckle-dragger drove something that looked a little bit rapey. I’d had a van like that a year ago and a man had died in the back. Nothing good came with those vehicles.
Nope, it was decided. I’d just climb in through the passenger’s side, over the gearshift and be on my merry way. Tossing my bag in the back, I climbed in feet first, then ducked my head. Fully inside, I stepped one foot over the gearshift, my face pressed to the roof. Okay, now what?
Oh yeah, I had to shut the passenger’s side door.
I was sweating and cursing as I maneuvered my bulk around inside of the car. My nose bonked the interior light, turning the thing on and my knee hit the horn, which made me jump.
“Gotcha,” I said as my hand gripped the little indent on the door. I pulled but it didn’t budge. Frowning, I pulled harder. “What the hell?”
I turned to see what the door was stuck on and nearly peed my pants. Two scary-looking goons held the door firmly open.
“Quick, grab her!” Goon one said.
Hands reached into the car for me. I screamed bloody murder as they tried to drag me out of the Mini and managed to lock one foot through the steering wheel, determined to keep myself in the car. “Let go!”
“Hey!” Another voice, this one female called out. “Maggie?”
McKenzie. “Help me!” I shrieked.
The hands were even more insistent and I could feel myself losing my tenuous hold on the steering wheel. I didn’t want to think about what would happen if they got me into that van.
There was a loud pop like a car backfiring, and something pinged over the top of the Mini. “The crazy bitch is shooting at us.”
“Let her go or the next one goes through the back of your skull.” McKenzie’s voice was low and deadly.
The hands dropped me like I’d burned them and I landed half in the car, half out of it. My hands were the only thing that prevented me from splitting my skull open on the asphalt. I heard the sounds of running feet, slamming doors and then a large engine turning over as the van roared to life. It took off down the grassy embankment and crossed two lanes of traffic to head west.
Then another set of hands, this one gentle, helped ease me to the ground. I blinked against the sun, wincing.
“Are you hurt? Do you need me to call an ambulance?” McKenzie already had her phone out.
“No. I’m okay. Just a little scraped up.” I sat up. “Good thing you came out when you did. Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.” McKenzie reached out a hand and helped me to my feet.
“You shot at me?” I asked in a daze.
She waved at me as though I were talking crazy. “I was off by several feet. Any idea who those guys were?”
I shook my head. “My first guess is kidnappers.”
She frowned. “You didn’t happen to get the license plate numbers did you?”
I studied my palms which looked even worse than usual, raw and red from impact and all road rashy. “Sorry, I was busy not being abducted.”
“Damn. Can you describe them at all?”
I thought about it for a second. “Big guys. One smelled like garlic and the other one had a Jersey accent. Any chance you have a medical kit in your car?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.” Sirens sounded in the distance, though coming closer. “I discharged a weapon in public, so we’re going to need to talk with the cops. How much do you want them to know?”
I thought about it for a second as she dug a utility backpack out the trunk of her Challenger. “Everything. I have nothing to
hide.”
She made a face as she poured some antiseptic onto a gauze pad “What?” I asked.
“Cops won’t be subtle about digging around the Dales and they’ll be cagier if they know the police are watching them.”
I could see flashing blue lights now. “So what do I tell them?”
“Don’t mention the attempted kidnapping, at least not yet. Tell them you were being carjacked and I came out and scared them off.”
I looked at her in a whole new light. “You’re pretty fast off the mark, aren’t you?’
She shrugged, as though her fibbing superpower was no biggie. “I’ve had to deal with cops plenty in my line of work. They’re good to have on your side but they play by a certain set of rules that I don’t. It’s all about the end result.”
“You sound just like my husband. Ouch, that stings.” I winced as she cleaned my scrapes.
McKenzie smiled as the first police car roared into the diner’s parking lot. “He must be a smart man.”
“You lied to the cops?” Neil stared at me, thunderstruck. “And then you went to Walmart?”
“Keep your voice down, you’ll wake the baby.” I hissed at him and set the mega pack of bath tissue on the counter. “And you said we needed this so yes, I did indeed brave the wilds of Walmart. Some things just can’t be put off until tomorrow. What’s the big deal?”
“The big deal,” Neil growled as he crowded me back against the counter, “Is that you were almost kidnapped.”
“We don’t know that for sure.” I shoved against his chest. The man was immovable and I sighed. “They could have been trying to carjack me.”
“Look me in the eye and tell me you think those guys would go after your dented Mini over McKenzie’s brand new Challenger.”
I frowned at him. “How‘d you know she drives a Challenger?”
“She dropped Mac off at work. Sue me for eye-humping a hot car.”
“As long as that was all you were eye-humping,” I said dryly.
He got in my face. “Don’t you dare change the subject, Maggie.”
I lifted my chin. “What the hell is the subject, Neil?”
His eyes narrowed to menacing slits. “That you were almost abducted and deliberately obstructed an official investigation and then went to the goddamn store like it was no big fucking deal. I’ve been struggling to keep myself check, telling myself that you were smart enough to ask for help but you have to meet me in the middle sometimes damn you!”
There was a squawk through the baby monitor and I ducked under his arm to go comfort Mae. “Now see what you did?”
I could feel him breathing on the back of my neck all the way down the hall. In truth, I was badly shaken and wasn’t really sure I had done the right thing by going along with McKenzie’s plan. The words obstruction of justice kept floating around in my head.
But the police didn’t believe Chester Dale had been murdered. According to Detective Capri, Sarah’s grandfather had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure a year ago and the death had been due to natural causes, as his doctor of thirty years had confirmed.
I picked Mae up out of the crib and cuddled her close, murmuring incoherently. If Chester hadn’t been murdered and the carbon monoxide leak at the Dale estate had been an accident, why would someone try to kidnap me?
“It doesn’t make any sense otherwise,” I whispered to Neil, who was pacing the confines of our room like a caged lion. “If I’m not on to something with the Dales, why would someone try to abduct me?”
He stopped and slowly turned to face me. “You’re kidding me, right? You think the fact that a couple of creeps in a van tried to snatch you off the street to take you God knows where and do God alone knows what to you is a good sign?”
“I didn’t say it was good, just that it meant I was on to something.” I murmured.
Mae let out a wail and I made a face at my husband. “You need to go calm down in another room. Your energy is upsetting her.”
He snorted. “You’ve been spending too much time with Sylvia.”
I glared at him. “I mean it, Neil. You look like you’re about to detonate. Go or we’re never going to get her back to sleep.”
He closed his eyes, then dropped his head. If it wasn’t a gesture of defeat it was pretty damn close. “We’re not done discussing this.”
“Can’t wait for round two,” I chirped.
He rolled his eyes, took a deep breath and then kissed me on top of my head. “You’re making me crazy, you know that, right? I’m ripping my hair out by the handfuls here.”
“I’m not doing any of it on purpose,” I told him.
“That doesn’t make it better,” he huffed out a breath and then left, shutting the door behind him.
I sat on the bed with my back against the headboard and Mae pressed up against me. Slowly her eyelids started to relax and her cries subsided. I sang “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” and “Mary had a Little Lamb,” through twice before her breathing evened out into the steady inhales and exhales of sleep.
I cuddled her close for a long time because while I held her against my heartbeat, I was safe from what had happened in the diner parking lot. My thoughts, my entire being was focused only on her and the rest she needed to help her grow.
The door opened and Neil came back in. Without a word he took her from me and set her down in the crib. My hands started to shake, followed by my whole body in some sort of delayed shock.
Still silent, Neil climbed onto the bed next to me and wrapped his arms around me, holding me the same way I’d held the baby only moments ago.
“I...I can’t,” I tried to explain but my teeth started chattering. “I was so scared.”
“Let it go,” he soothed, holding me tighter. “I’ve got you. You’re safe.”
He was right. Logically I knew that, but logic didn’t have anything to do with my reaction. In our home, in his arms, I was safe. No one and nothing could touch me when he held me so close. And it was okay for me to go to pieces because I knew Neil would put them back together.
The tears rolled down my cheeks silently as all the possibilities of what would’ve happened to me flooded my mind just as they had done in the car. Interrogated, raped, tortured, who knows what fate had been waiting for me? And the biggest fear of all.
“What if they try again?” I whispered when I could talk. “What if next time they take me?”
Neil just shook his head. “I won’t let it happen. No matter what it takes, I’ll keep you safe.”
Chapter Thirteen
I winced as another gunshot went off. “I’m not so sure about this.”
Neil smiled and leaned over me to pick out a target. “You’re just nervous.”
Yeah, nervous that I might accidentally kill someone or shoot a toe off. We’d just sat through a course video on range safety and I was frantically trying to remember all the rules, but the loud booms from the echoing room were drowning out everything except a growing sense of dread.
Neil had his own safety goggles and ear protection of course and now he offered me the safety equipment he’d just rented for me. I wrinkled my nose as I stared at the items which looked well used and never cleaned. “What about germs? I’ve got Lysol wipes in the car. Just give me a sec.”
“Maggie,” Neil glowered at me. He looked particularly rakish with the earphones around his neck and his sidearm strapped to his hip. I could tell from the stubborn tilt of his chin that he’d go back out to the store portion of the range and buy me new safety gear before he’d let me out of his sight.
“Fine,” Taking a tissue from my pocket, I wiped the things down as best I could and the put the goggles on. Another shot went off and I flinched again. Maybe because the course was indoors or perhaps it was the fact I’d just seen McKenzie fire a sidearm in a real-life situation yesterday, but each round made me jump higher than the one before. How could anyone get used to this? My heart hammered with fear. I doubted I would ever be as adept at handling
firearms as Neil or the private investigator.
“It’ll help once we get the headphones on,” Seeing my distress, Neil spoke softly in an effort to reassure me. “Remember what I showed you at home about sighting and aiming?”
“Dot in the basket,” I repeated automatically. Neil’s current sidearm was a Glock, though he had offered to rent a revolver for me to see which I preferred. I’d declined, not wanting to prolong the outing.
Neil picked up two paper targets and then turned to me. “You remember how to take the clip out and eject the live round from the chamber?”
I did and nodded.
He nodded back. “Okay, I’ll go first so you know what to expect, then reload for you. Remember, the weapon needs to point downlane the entire time even unloaded and don’t put your finger on the trigger until you’re ready to fire. Got it?”
“Yeah.” Another round and I jolted again. Damn it, this wasn’t going to go well.
Neil set his own hearing protection in place and then pointed to mine. I followed suit and the next shot was distinctly muffled. Better.
At least until he opened the door between the front office and the range and the noise grew exponentially again. I tried sucking in a deep breath but it puffed out as the next shot went off. At least my feet stayed on the ground.
There were two other men using the range and the floor was littered with shell casings. Neil selected a lane two down from one of those currently in use. The second man used what looked like a push broom sans bristles to scrape several shell casings together and out of the walking path. I stood back and watched as Neil loaded the live ammunition he’d just purchased into the empty clip.
Whatever sidearm the guy two down from Neil used ejected shell casings into the front part of our booth. I flinched as one struck the partition besides Neil’s head but he didn’t even look up. The man had nerves of steel.
Then he did look up, used the clothespins to fasten the target in place and move it a good distance down the lane. He stood, posture arrow straight and then sighted. He lowered his arms, inserted the clip and then sighted again. There was a pause and then the bang as he fired. His casing didn’t fly nearly the distance as the other guy’s had, but I saw the hole in the target dead center of the bull’s-eye.
Hung Out to Dry: The Misadventures of the Laundry Hag, #4 Page 11