Chapter Thirty-Two
I'd never fallen asleep on the air before -- it's sort of a DJ's nightmare kind of thing -- but I guess there's a first time for everything. I still can't believe it happened. It's a good thing that my cell phone rang and woke me up. Otherwise, I might still be sleeping, snoring away.
As soon as I heard the phone, I realized what had happened. I checked my screen and saw that it was Tim. I was about to call him back when the station phone rang, (well, the light on it blinked showing it was ringing), stopped ringing, then immediately started again.
"Hello. Uh, I mean, WRRR, you're on the air with the Magnificent Marty. Talk to me." I said. They weren't really on the air, but it's what I usually say whenever a call comes in.
The voice was muffled. "Stop messing where you ain't got no business, or you'll be sorry." Whoever it was hung up right away.
I didn't think a whole lot about it. At least at first. DJs get crank calls all the time. When the second one came in, I started to get an uneasy feeling. By the time I hung up from the third one, I couldn't shake the feeling that it was more than just a prank.
I jotted down the number off the caller-id screen. We've been begging Herb to put in a better security system, but he says Georgina doesn't want to lay out the bucks. Sadly, he’s probably right.
I called Tim. He answered on the third ring. "You want me to check it out?" he asked, after I'd told him about the phone call.
"Please." I gave him the number.
"You staying at Charli's again tonight?"
"Yes. Will you come over here and follow me to her house? I'm really scared."
"It's about damn time you got scared," he said roughly. His voice softened. "Of course I'll come over. Wait for me inside."
Somehow, I made it through the rest of the shift. When I turned over the chair to the overnight guy, I felt completely drained. I grabbed my tote-bag and went out to the lobby. Tim was just outside the entrance door, leaning against the wall, his hands jammed down in his pockets. He had on a pair of shorts, a faded blue t-shirt, and a GPD hat pulled low over his eyes. He grinned when he saw me.
I went out the door. "Thanks, pal."
He tilted the hat back on his head so I could see his eyes. "No big deal."
I grabbed him and gave him a quick little hug. "Yes, it is a big deal. I mean, it seems like every time I turn around, I'm having to get you to come rescue me. I just want you to know that I really do appreciate it. You're a real good guy. I don't know what I'd do without you."
I stood on my tiptoes so I could kiss him on the cheek. Just as I moved in to kiss him, he turned his head and the kiss landed on his lips. I pulled my head back and looked at him. He blushed.
"Sorry. Accident." he said, stammering. He jerked away and backed up.
I fiddled with the straps of my bag, not able to meet his eyes. "So, you wanna follow me or should I follow you?" What else could I say?
"You lead, I'll follow."
When we got to Charli's house, I went inside and grabbed a couple of bottles of beer and a bag of chips. Tim waited on her front porch. Charli's house was dark, except for the porch light and a light over the kitchen sink. She'd left a note for me on the counter, telling me I could sleep on the sofa bed in the family room. I tip-toed back outside.
"Here." I handed Tim one of the beers and sat on the steps next to him.
It was a steamy, sultry night. The neighborhood was quiet. A light foggy haze around the street lights diffused the glow. I leaned back on my elbows and looked up at the sky. I picked out the brightest star and squeezed my eyes shut. "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight," I chanted, "please let Vanessa be okay."
I opened my eyes and looked over at Tim. He was peeling the label off his beer bottle.
"I hope y'all find her," I said.
"Me too. I'm going to file the report first thing in the morning."
"Sounds like a plan." I took a sip of my beer and looked back up at the sky. A few clouds partially obscured the stars. It didn't look like rain.
"I almost forgot to tell you," Tim said. "Those phone calls, they came from a disposable cell phone. One of those you get at the convenience store."
"Damn. I was hoping you'd find out who made them."
He ripped open the bag of chips and scarfed down a handful. "Sorry."
"Me too." I stifled a yawn. "I'm going to have to get some sleep."
"Sure thing. I'll see you tomorrow."
I drained the rest of my beer and stood up. "Thanks for coming to my rescue. Again."
He stood up and handed me the bag of chips. "Anytime. Uh, Marty, uh, about that, uh, about, you know, before..."
I waved my hand. "Don't worry about it. Accidents happen. I know it didn't mean anything."
He did the guppy impression, looked down, swallowed hard, then looked back up at me. "Yeah. Sure. Okay. So long as you know that. G'nite."
I stood inside the front door and watched him drive away. In fact, I stood there for a long time after he disappeared from sight. Watching. Wondering.
It started at five thirty in the morning. First, little Jaelyn woke up. I have to admit, she was pretty sweet. I could hear her chattering to her dolls for about forty-five minutes. At six-fifteen, it stopped being cute. Some sort of internal alarm apparently went off.
"Up!" she yelled. "Momma, want up. Daddy, want up. Up! Want up!"
I pulled the pillow over my head and tried to ignore her. Delbert, sensing a serious possibility of getting food, hopped up on the bed, meowed loudly, and batted at my head. All the noise woke Kevin, Mark, and Vanessa's two kids. They clamored down the hall and into the family room, hollering in their high-pitched, kid voices. All four of them piled on top of me and started tickling..
"Off! Get off! All of you. Right now!" I couldn't stop laughing.
Charli stuck her head around the doorway. "Hey! Y'all settle down. Geez, Marty, did you have to get them so wound up so early in the morning?"
I threw my pillow at her. She ducked back out in the hallway, laughing. I randomly tickled a kid or two, tossed back the covers, and escaped from the wriggly, giggly tangle of kid arms and legs.
Charli was in the kitchen making a pot of coffee. She gave me a big smile. "I probably should have warned you about my littlest angel."
"She gets up this early every morning?" I asked.
"Every. Single. Morning." She poured us each a glass of juice. "Are you going to Mass with us this morning?"
"I don't think so. I'd probably fall asleep. I'll go to the eleven o'clock service." I sipped my juice. "Did John make it back?"
"No. He had a late meeting. He should be back sometime this afternoon." She handed me a pesto bagel slathered with cream cheese.
"Tim's going to file a missing persons report on Vanessa this morning. I guess we have to tell him about that newspaper clipping and that other piece of paper I found. Did Daddy know what it was?"
"He said Mom was right. Said it was some sort of betting slip. Where do you suppose it came from?"
I shrugged. "I don't have a clue."
The kids were running around squealing and yelling, as usual. I don't know how Charli can stand all that noise all the time. My head was killing me. She settled the five of them around the table with bowls of cereal and juice in spill-proof cups. I downed the rest of my bagel and poured another cup of coffee.
I desperately needed ibuprofen. I went in the family room and dug down in my tote to find some. It was like looking for a logical thought in one of Herb's marketing schemes. I ended up dumping everything out on the bed.
Zach's pictures lay in the midst of all my junk. "Shoot! I must of stuck those in by mistake," I said to Delbert.
I pulled the pictures out and looked through them again. The one of Steve and Zach depressed me. Zach looked so happy and carefree. I hoped that he was okay. I decided to call Fred later on and check.
There were several pictures that I hadn't looked at before. They were mostly group
shots: team members clowning around, accepting their trophy, that sort of thing. All except the last one, that is.
"Charli. Hey, Charli, look at this."
She leaned against the counter, sipping her coffee and watching the kids eat. "You look like you won the lottery or something. What's up?"
"Here. Look at this picture." I handed her the snapshot.
Her eyes bugged out. "Where did you get this?"
"Zach's car. When we were going up to the lake. I was looking at them but we got to their place before I got all the way through the stack. I stuck them down in my tote bag by accident."
Charli was still staring at the picture. "Zach took this? I find that hard to believe."
"No. He said Beth was using his camera some that day. She probably took it." I pulled the picture out of Charli's hand and looked at it again. "Do you think that Fred and..." I couldn't finish the sentence.
Charli chuckled. "Well, I wouldn't want to make any bets based on this, but they say a picture is worth a thousand words."
"That's what I think, too." I took the picture back from Charli. "Do you think I oughta ask her?"
"I don't know. Why don't you run it by Tim, see what he thinks."
"No. You know Tim. He'll want to turn it over to Detective Luray. I don't want to do that yet. I mean, it might not be what it looks like."
We finished drinking our coffee and discussed the amazing photograph. The one of Nancy Winslow and Fred Thompson sharing a passionate kiss.
The Madams of Mischief: Doom Divas Book # 1 Page 32