“There’s no point in us being more than friends, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like you, and you can come to me anytime for help.”
“I don’t need your help and I know that you don’t really want to be around me, so stop acting so nice.”
She grabbed up her paperwork and left the office in a huff. Randy saw her leaving and shook his head.
“That girl is moving too fast?”
“What do you mean?” I said.
“She’s got paper on a skip wanted for aggravated assault. The dude is six-foot-five and two-eighty. The cops also suspect him of killing a stripper, but they can’t prove it.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah, George and I tried to talk her out of it, but she said that she could handle it.”
I found a copy of the paperwork on Blondie’s skip and Randy wasn’t exaggerating. The man’s name was Virgil Boggs and he was bad news. I had no idea what Blondie was thinking, but I thought that maybe she was trying to prove something, just who she was trying to prove it to, I didn’t know.
I copied Boggs’ info, his known hangouts, associates, that sort of thing, and went off to track down Blondie, while she tracked down Boggs.
I found her car in the parking lot of a strip club. It was one of Boggs’ hangouts. Blondie wasn’t in the car and I wondered if she went inside to search for Boggs. With her looks, she’d have no problem getting work in the club as a server or a bartender. Such positions were always all female in these clubs and had a high turnover rate.
For a moment, I wondered if she was thinking of working as a dancer. It would be a desperate move, but if Boggs showed up, she’d be sure to see him.
After a few minutes went by and I still hadn’t seen her, I was thinking about going inside to look for her. That’s when I saw something twinkle in the trees at the rear of the club. I grabbed my binoculars and took a closer look.
It was Blondie. She was hiding in the trees at the back of the club and using a camera with a telephoto lens to keep an eye on the rear entrance. The twinkle I saw came from light reflecting off a silver bracelet with charms that she always wore on her wrist. She must have felt certain that if Boggs showed up, he would enter by the rear. He was said to be close friends with the club’s owner and the office entrance was in the back.
For her sake, I hoped that Boggs was a thousand miles away. She was too inexperienced to go after a man like that, and to do so in a place where he had friends was just foolish.
The lot encircled the club. From where Blondie was positioned, I realized that she could see the front entrance as well. Her camera could zoom in on the drivers when they entered the property and take their pictures. She didn’t seem to know that I was there. That told me that she had just gotten into position. I hoped no one had spotted her, but that bracelet twinkled constantly in the sunlight.
I was just lowering my binoculars when I spotted it. It was the black Chevy Silverado again. It was parked out on the narrow access road that led to the strip club’s parking lot. I started my engine. I was preparing to ride over and confront the driver, when I saw three men headed for the trees where Blondie was hiding. She must have been spotted.
I turned off the engine, hopped out of the cab and ran toward them with my gun at my side. As I got closer, I saw that one of the men was carrying a modified break-action shotgun, a Mossberg. He had the twin barrels sawed down to nubs. If he fired that at Blondie, he’d be sure to kill her.
I heard an engine start out on the road. It was the black pickup. Not good, that meant that I was seconds away from being caught in the middle.
The man standing to the left of the man with the shotgun fired a pistol toward Blondie’s last position. I heard her scream. Whether it was from pain or fright I didn’t know, but I had to distract them before they killed her.
There was a green dumpster near the fence. I ran for it just as I let loose a shout.
“Over here!”
I slipped behind the dumpster just as the pistol fired and a bullet BINGED! off the metal as it ricocheted. It was followed by the BAROOM! of a shotgun blast, as metal pellets bombarded the other side of the dumpster.
I dropped to my stomach. The dumpster rode atop metal castors and sat four inches off the ground. From that angle, I could only see them to just below their knees, but I remembered that the man with the shotgun was wearing khakis, and so it was his legs that I aimed for.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
I fired the shots and heard an agonized scream that told me at least one of the shots hit its target. I turned my head and saw that the black pickup was entering the lot. That was followed by the club’s front doors opening, and two more men came out with guns. If the driver of the pickup didn’t get me, then, those two surely would.
The two new men began firing at me as more bullets hit the other side of the dumpster.
C’mon, Blondie, give me a little help.
Just as I had that thought, the two men firing at me from the front of the club went down. A barrage of bullets stitched across their torsos, and I knew that they were dead before they fell. The shots had not come from Blondie; they came from the black pickup.
Whoever was inside that truck had just saved my life, so I turned my attention on the two men closing in on the dumpster.
I fired more shots between the metal wheels and heard a cry of pain, as one of my shots blew apart a foot, then I rolled three times to my right, clear of the dumpster, and shot the last man in the chest.
“Blondie!” No answer. Shit! I wanted so badly to check on her, but first I had to know who was in the pickup. I crept toward the tinted side window, which was in a down position, and with my gun loose, but ready, I peeked inside.
“I should have known.”
“Hey Chica, what’s happening?”
The driver of the black pickup was Ramón.
Chapter 5
As Ramón stepped out of the truck, the curious patrons and a couple of the strip club’s dancers began venturing out the front door.
“Call 9-1-1,” I shouted to one girl, who was all but naked. She nodded her head and ran back inside. There were three dead and two wounded. I said a prayer that they be the only casualties.
“Blondie!”
“Blue? Blue is that you?”
She sounded like a scared child.
“It’s me honey, come on out, it’s safe.”
She stepped out from among the trees like a frightened deer, then, she spotted me and ran over and hugged me.
“Oh God, that was so scary. When I saw the man with the shotgun I thought I was dead, and then I dropped my gun and couldn’t find it.”
“Blondie, are you all right? Were you hit?”
“No, but that was a close call. You saved me, Blue, you saved my life.”
She raised her head and kissed me lightly on the lips. Ramón raise an eyebrow as he watched us.
“Blondie, this is Ramón; he saved both of us.”
She eased away from me, looked over at Ramón, and smiled.
“Are you a bounty hunter, too?”
Ramón laughed. “Not quite, by the way, the wounded man over there, the one who was firing the handgun, that’s Virgil Boggs, I think he’s wanted, and so was the dude with the shotgun, Michael Conte.”
“Blonde was tracking Boggs, but I don’t know Conte, what is he wanted for?”
“He was accused of gun trafficking, but he skipped bail, that was weeks ago, and it happened in Oklahoma.”
My eyes widened. “This place must be a fugitive magnet.”
“It is, Chica; rumor is that the owner can get you a fake DL that looks like the real thing.”
“What’s a DL?” Blondie said.
“A driver’s license,” I said.
The ambulance came first, followed by the cops. I knew that the rest of the day was shot. Three dead bodies can cause a load of paperwork and eat up a lot of time.
Ramón was right about Conte being wanted, and also about the bar being a marketplace for p
hony ID’s. When the whole mess was finally sorted through, Blondie was awarded the bounty on Boggs. It was a good one, eight grand.
Afterward, we stood in the police parking lot, while talking.
Blondie shook her head vigorously.
“I can’t take the money; it really should go to you two. If you and Ramón hadn’t shown up I never would have seen a penny of it. I’d probably be dead.”
I thought for a moment, then came up with a solution.
“If it’s all right with Ramón, I’d like to donate the money to that fund that Ron started for the murdered bounty hunters. I’m sure their families could use it.”
Blondie smiled, and I was happy to see it. I really did like the girl a lot and wanted to remain friends.
“That’s a great idea, Blue. Ramón, are you okay with that?”
“Whatever Blue wants to do is fine by me, and that serial killer is the reason I was here at all. I was keeping an eye out for Blue.”
I stared at him. “Is that why you were following me around, you were worried?”
“Of course, I watch out for my friends, well, make that friend; you’re pretty much the only one I have here.”
I placed a hand on his arm.
“I’m going to walk Blondie to her car; I’ll be right back, and we’ll talk.”
“Sounds good.”
Blondie’s car was four spaces away. As she started the engine, I leaned in and talked to her.
“Are we friends again, or are you still pissed at me?”
“I’m sorry about that, all of it. I never should have pressured you and I know you don’t feel that way about me.”
“No, but I still like you, don’t forget that. Unlike Ramón, I can’t have enough friends.”
“Thank you again, Blue, and goodnight.”
I watched her drive away. When I turned around, Ramón was right there.
He smiled. “Hungry?”
“I’m starved.”
“Let me get this straight, you were following me because you were worried that I might become the serial killer’s next victim?”
“I was looking out for you,” Ramón said.
“You don’t think I can take care of myself?”
“You take care of yourself better than anyone I’ve ever known. I was just hanging around to lend a hand, like today.”
“I appreciate it, of course, hell Ramón, you saved my life, but I do wonder about your motives.”
“My motives?”
I cocked my head. “Do you have a thing for me?”
“Have you looked in a mirror lately, Chica?”
“I’m not talking about physical attraction; I’m talking about something deeper.”
He shrugged. “I care about you, sue me.”
I ran a hand through my hair. First Blondie, and now Ramón. Who knew I was so irresistible? Although, I had to admit, Ramón was much more my type. He was muscular, handsome, and had a great sense of humor.
After having seen him interact with Amy, Becca’s young daughter, I also knew that there was a kind heart inside Ramón. There was something else, some part of him emerged when he was around Amy that seemed… better? Truer? I don’t know exactly, but whenever I saw that part of him emerge I felt drawn to him. But, I wasn’t available. So, nothing could ever happen between us. However, I also didn’t want to lose him as a friend.
“You know that I’m seeing Gary, right?”
He laughed. “This wasn’t about me hitting on you. I was just looking out for you, and I’d like to think that if some nut job was running around killing unbelievably handsome Hispanic men, that you would look out for me too.”
I laughed. “Unbelievably handsome Hispanic men who are modest no doubt.”
He laughed along and the tension broke.
“I thank you for looking out for me and being my friend.”
“You’re welcome, now tell me, what’s the deal with the cutie?”
“I really can’t say, but she’s a friend.”
“Ah, unrequited love, say no more.”
“I won’t. Now, where did that waiter go to?”
I went into the office the next day and Ron introduced me to Joe Ryan’s wife, who was unfortunately now his widow. I was shocked by how young she was. I had heard that Joe had married a younger woman his second time around, but I had no idea that she was as young as Blondie. She was also very good-looking. Even the long black dress she wore couldn’t hide her figure.
Savannah Ryan was on her way out when I came in, and I offered her my condolences.
“Thank you, Miss Steele, and it’s nice to finally put a face to the name. Joe spoke highly of you.”
“He was a friend, and I’ll miss him.”
“Yes, well, I should get going.”
After saying goodbye to her, Ron and I walked over to his desk.
“It’s so sad that she’s a widow at such a young age,” I said.
“Yeah, Joe was twenty years older than her, but he still died too young, and now the cops think that it may have been Brenda who was responsible.”
“Brenda?”
“Brenda has been arrested for suspicion of murder, Blue.”
“They can’t really think it’s Brenda, can they? I mean why would she do it?”
Ron sat behind his desk and shook his head sadly.
“I can’t believe it either, but I’ve lived long enough to know that anything is possible. They also say that there’s blood evidence. They’re testing it to see if it’s Burt’s.”
I sighed as I settled into one of the chairs in front of the desk.
“Poor Burt, did you know that I’ve known him since I was a kid?”
“Yeah, he told me that, said that you were as much like your father as a girl could be. He and your dad were close, weren’t they? He talks about him a lot.”
“Yeah, they were close, and were actually partners once.”
“Speaking of partners, Blondie was here earlier. She told me about the donation, thank you for that, it will take the fund past the fifty grand mark.”
“You’re welcome, but that was actually Blondie’s money. Boggs was her capture. By the way, where is she?”
“She’s doing a ride-along with George and Randy, helping them to transport two female prisoners back to lock-up.”
“That’s good.”
“Why is that good, because it’s relatively safe? Blue baby, tell me what really happened yesterday.”
“Ron, I don’t feel comfortable talking behind her back.”
“Honey, I’ve lost three, possibly four people this month, I sure as hell don’t want to lose another. Help me out here; I need to know if she’s got what it takes.”
“I’ll tell you what happened, then I’ll let you decide what it means, okay.”
“Fair enough.”
“It sounds like she froze; she also showed damn poor judgment in going after a man like Boggs alone.”
“She’s young,” I said. “And you have to make mistakes to learn from them.”
“That’s true enough, and I made many at her age, still, I’d appreciate it a great deal if you would keep looking out for her. There’s no one better she could learn from.”
“Listen Ron, as long as we are discussing Blondie, tell me more about her father.”
“Matt Holden? Why?”
“I’m just trying to understand Blondie better by knowing more about her past. I remember that you said her father was mean, how mean?”
“I told you that I banned him from working here, but I didn’t tell you the whole story. He used to beat his wife, but she never pressed charges and so I had no idea that it was happening. Then, one day she gets fed up when he started in on his little daughter, Susan, who is now Blondie. That’s when I found out about it, and so I stopped using him. I won’t have someone like that working for me.”
“And you said he’s dead?”
“Yeah, after the wife got rid of him, he snuck back into the house one night, raped her, and
then blew his brains out in her bed. I remember that they thought she had killed him, but she came up clean for gunshot residue, and so they ruled it a suicide. Blondie was there, poor girl, she must have heard the shot. She was only a kid, ten at the most.”
“Wow, that’s some childhood; I’ll keep her under my wing, Ron.”
“Like I said before, there’s no one better she could learn from.”
I grabbed my purse and stood.
“Thanks for the compliment.”
“It’s well-earned, Blue, and many times over.”
I left there with a couple of minor skips who would likely be sitting at home watching TV when I came for them, but hey, they can’t all be high-profile.
As I drove along, I thought about something that Ron said about losing four people. They were four, yes, but they were also the four who Blondie and I had trouble finding that day at the refinery. I began to wonder if somehow there was a connection. If there was, how did it involve this insane serial killer? And Blondie, what a father she had, I guessed that explained the faded scars I saw on her back.
My phone rang. I checked the caller ID and was surprised by the name I saw.
“Brenda?”
“Yeah, it’s me, Blue, and I guess you know that I was arrested.”
“I heard.”
“I’m out now, and I need to talk to you; it’s important.”
“What’s it about?”
“I think I know who the serial killer is.”
“The police seem to think it’s you.”
“Blue, you know me, why the hell would I start killing my friends?”
“Why the hell would anybody kill them; it’s all insane.”
“I need to talk to you, alone, but we can do it out in public if you’re worried.”
“How about Trinity Park, near the Mark Twain statue, say one o’clock?”
“Can we do it sooner?”
“I’m tracking down a skip and I’m parking near his house right now. If I catch him, I’ll need time to process him.”
“This is really important, Blue, and… I’m scared.”
Blue Steele Box Set Page 13