37

by David Achord

  The shoes and belt were a Christmas gift from the Goldman family; I never would have spent that much on a pair of shoes. The rest I bought for myself. Checking myself one last time in the mirror, I headed out.

  The Beaumont Law Firm was not located downtown, like most other law offices. Instead, they had an office located off of Murphy Avenue, west of downtown. It was still a pricey rent district, but traffic wasn’t as bad and they even had a free parking lot.

  They had no receptionist and I was buzzed in as I approached the door. Chad Beaumont and Cassandra Beaumont-Price met me in the lobby and introduced themselves. I liked them immediately, probably because they had a fresh pot of coffee ready. They were a brother and sister team, both in their forties, a little on the heavyset side, probably from too much time sitting behind a desk; nevertheless, they were pleasant people.

  “It’s a one-man law firm,” Chad said. “And we believe he’s a scammer. We have two clients who have slip-and-fall lawsuits against and we have had one other similar case a couple of years ago.”

  “In addition, he has sued numerous retail businesses for so-called ADA violations. Each time it is the same client, an African-American man who is confined to a wheelchair.”

  “Our clients are willing to take a stand,” Cassandra said. “And, we want you to find enough evidence for us to file a complaint with the Board of Professional Responsibility so we can get this shyster disbarred.”

  We discussed the case at length and they had already compiled a thick dossier on this particular attorney. I told them I believed my partners and I could bring the case to a successful conclusion in a month or less. We worked out an agreement of a flat fee based on that and worked out a contract. Cassandra did not like my boilerplate template contracts and generously offered to “fix them up” for me. I readily agreed.

  As soon as I got to the car, I called Anna. “Okay, we’ve got the case.”

  “Is Marti going to be involved?” she asked. When I said yes, I heard a gleeful shout in the background, which I assumed was Marti.

  “When do we start?” Anna asked.

  “Next week,” I answered. “We’ll sit down and go over everything soon and lay out a game plan. So, you need to put in some work hours on Esther’s case and finish it up.”

  “You got it, boss. Are you going to help out?”

  “Only if I am released by the FBI. Otherwise, I can only help in the background.”

  We spoke a couple of more minutes before ending the call. I had to smile; the two of them were excited to work a case together.

  It wasn’t even noon yet. I had the rest of the day free but that did not mean I could do whatever I wanted. If I went to Mick’s, I’d smell like cigar smoke. If I tried to work on the Belew case, I may get tied up the rest of the day and into the night. If I worked on my new car, I’d get all dirty and grimy and may not be able to wash up to be respectable. Nope, I wasn’t going to do anything that would possibly jeopardize the big date with Al. I’d already messed up one date; I wasn’t going to mess this one up.

  I did the safe thing and went home, whereupon I spent the rest of the day reading.

  Chapter 39

  When Al answered the door, I think my jaw may have dropped open. She was wearing a black dress that clung to her figure like saran wrap. Her legs were tanned, lean, and muscular. Hell, her quadriceps were better developed than most men.

  “Wow,” I exclaimed. She responded with a triumphant smile.

  “Like what you see?”

  “Yes, absolutely. You look incredible.”

  “Better than Debbie?” she asked with an arched eyebrow.

  “Oh yeah, most definitely,” I answered.

  She smiled at that. A triumphant smile. She kissed me on the cheek and grabbed my arm.

  “Let’s go. I’m famished.”

  We went to an upscale restaurant in an area known as the Gulch.

  “Their specialty is sushi and Asian fusion,” Al had told me. It was pricey, but that was okay. Since my lawsuit settlement, I’d pampered myself a little more than usual. No more taking a date to Burger King.

  We ordered drinks and appetizers of shitake dumplings and sushi for our entrees.

  “I could never take my boys here,” Al said. “Look at the price of the dumplings. I’d spend a week’s salary feeding them here.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, it’s pricey. I suppose you’re worth it though.”

  She smirked. “You better believe I’m worth it.” She gestured with her drink. “I’d rather have another drink, but if you want wine or sake, I’m good with that.”

  I looked at my cocktail, a kamikaze with a singular round ice cube. It was not my usual flavor, but I liked it. “I believe I’ll have another one of these,” I said. We reordered and continued chatting.

  “How long have you been working out of an ambulance?” I asked.

  “I started when I was eighteen. I was a young EMT when I met Hank. He was the medical officer on his special forces team and we had a class together. We hit it off immediately and he asked me to marry him on our first date.” She smiled at the memory.

  “I was pregnant with Steffen when we got married, and then a year later, Sterling came along. So, I was a stay-at-home soccer mom until Hank’s death. By then, the boys were old enough where I could go back to work. That’s been almost three years now. What about you and your wife?”

  I shook my head slightly. “She was a few years younger than me and had a little bit of a wild, zany streak.”

  “That turned you on, didn’t it,” Al surmised.

  “Oh, heck yeah. Looking back, I could see the red flags, but love is blind, I guess.”

  “What about your girlfriend? The one that was killed by her ex-husband?”

  “Simone.”

  “Yeah, how did you two meet?”

  “I have a good friend who has a law firm. She was his paralegal and personal assistant. And, I guess I was a little bit like Hank was when he first met you. I was smitten from the get-go.”

  “Tell me about her. Smart and beautiful?” She said it with a playful smile.

  “Yes, she was. She had a daughter that was Steffen’s age. She was a sweet kid and the two of them were like two peas in a pod.”

  “That was a shame what happened to them,” she said.

  “Yes, it was. She’d been divorced from her husband for several years. She wasn’t hitting him up for alimony or child support, so it didn’t make any sense.”

  “He was probably still in love with her,” she surmised.

  I nodded in agreement. “Yeah, probably.”

  “I must confess, I still miss Hank. I mean, when that little whore showed up at the funeral, it made me start thinking about certain occasions where, looking back, he was probably with her or somebody else, but I still miss him.”

  “Perfectly understandable,” I said and thought back to my wife, Marcia. After her death, I had romanticized her and our relationship, purposely overlooking her faults. It wasn’t until I learned of her affair that my adoration of her memory came crashing down.

  Al raised her drink. “Alright, the best thing we can do is move on, right? Here’s to new relationships.”

  “Here, here,” I said and clinked her glass with mine.

  My phone rang and I let it go to voicemail. It immediately rang again. Curious, I looked at the caller ID. It simply read ‘unknown caller.’

  “Is it someone important?” Al asked.

  “I have no idea. No matter. They can leave a message.”

  When the phone rang a third time, Al insisted I answer it.

  “Ironcutter Investigations, this better be damned important,” I said in annoyance. There was a long pause before the person on the other end of the line spoke. The man had a distinct accent.

  “Ah, I recognize the name and the voice. Thomas Ironcutter. The man who pries into the secrets of others.”

  When I recognized the voice, my mouth went dry.

  Chapter 40


  “Well, if it isn’t Wolf turd,” I exclaimed. Al stopped in mid-bite and stared in puzzlement. There was another long pause before I heard a condescending chuckle.

  “I have been thinking of you, Thomas Ironcutter,” he said.

  “I’ve been thinking of you as well, Wolf. Why haven’t you and your gay buddies killed yourselves yet?”

  There was another slight chuckle. “Did you know I was her man?”

  “Yeah, about that, aren’t you gay?”

  “I am not a homosexual!” Wolf suddenly shouted. I continued pressing him.

  “And Lilith is your first cousin, isn’t she? Is that what gay gypsies do, bang their cousin in between boyfriends?

  I could hear him breathing heavily through the phone and guessed he was angry.

  “You are the reason she is dead. She told me all about you,” he said.

  “Why did you kill her, Wolf?”

  “She betrayed me. She betrayed her family.” There was a pause. “We will meet again one day, Thomas Ironcutter.”

  “Where are you?” I asked. “I’ll gladly come to you.”

  Another chuckle. “I am closer than you may think,” he said.

  “If I get a chance, I’m going to rip you apart,” I growled. There was silence now and after a moment, the line disconnected. I looked at my phone a moment before putting it away.

  “What in the world was that about?” Al asked.

  “Nothing.”

  “You threatened to dismember someone, that’s nothing?” she asked with a slight, questioning grin.

  “Let’s finish our dinner,” I said.

  By the look in her eye, my tone probably made it sound like an order, but I wasn’t concerned. I needed to get her back to her house, drop her off, and talk to Ronald. And then my dumbass remembered the wonderful technology of texting. I picked up my phone off of the table and began texting Ronald as fast as my fingers would allow.

  “Thomas, what is going on?”

  I looked up in irritation. Her expression was also one of irritation. We were both irritated, go figure.

  “Look, I’m sorry about this, but that phone conversation I just had was from a murder and kidnapping suspect. He called to taunt me.”

  “How does he know your phone number?” she asked.

  I arched an eyebrow. “Well, I’ve been told all you have to do is plug my name in Google and all sorts of stuff comes up. Besides, my phone number is listed on my PI business, so maybe that’s how.”

  “So, why is he calling you in particular?” she pressed.

  I hesitated before responding. Why indeed? Was it because he knew about Lilith and me? How much did he know? My phone buzzed before I could offer an answer.

  “What’s up, Ronald?” I asked.

  “It looks like a burner phone, so all I can tell you right now is the nearest tower it pinged.”

  “Okay, which tower?”

  “It looks like it’s located on State Route 52 near I-65. I’m looking at Google Earth now. There are a couple of businesses right off of the interstate, but mostly it’s rural.”

  When Ronald had given the rough location where the tower was, the hair on the back of my neck stood up. The sonofabitch was at the Red River where his buddy had wrecked. I was sure of it. Ronald was still talking, but I was no longer listening and ended the call.

  I got the waiter’s attention with a slight but urgent wave. He brought the ticket to me immediately. I tossed cash onto the table. It was a generous tip.

  “C’mon, we have to go,” I said and made a head motion toward the door.

  Al did not move. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what the hell is going on.”

  “Well then, I apologize for all of this, but I have to go.” I stood and walked toward the exit.

  I made it to my car when I heard the clicking of her shoes on the asphalt. I clicked my key fob and the door to my Explorer unlocked as Al reached me. She grabbed me by the shoulder and spun me around. I was absently surprised at how strong she was.

  “Are you really going to leave me?” she demanded.

  “I’m sorry, but yes. I’ve got to go.”

  “And what the hell should I do?” she asked in the same indignant tone.

  “Do you need money for a taxi or for Uber?” I asked. I pulled my arm out of her grasp and started to reach for my wallet, but she quickly grabbed my hand with both of hers and held on tightly.

  “Thomas, stop. I did nothing to deserve being treated this way,” she said. There was a mixture of anger and pain in her expression. I immediately felt guilty and absently let out a frustrated sigh.

  “You’re right. I’m being an ass and I apologize, but I really have to leave. It’s an emergency.”

  She stepped in between me and the door. “Tell me. Tell me what is so important that you have to treat me like shit.”

  I let out a sigh. “I told you, he’s a murder suspect.”

  “Then call the cops,” she rejoined.

  “If only it was that simple. There’s much more to it,” I countered.

  “Tell me. I deserve to know,” she pressed.

  I hesitated a moment, but then decided to tell her.

  “Alright. For the past month, I’ve been helping with an investigation of a group of men who have been abducting women for the purpose of trafficking them. They have murdered at least two people that we know of and have abducted over thirty women.” I tapped my phone. “The person I spoke with goes by the nom de guerre of Wolf. He’s the ringleader. He just called me from a burner phone which pinged a tower near Portland. I think I know where he may be and I’m going to him.”

  “Why?” Al asked. “I mean, why don’t you call the police, or the FBI?”

  “Because, if I have the chance, I’m going to find out where those missing women are and then I’m going to kill him.”

  Al reached out and gently took my hands in hers. She waited until I made eye contact before speaking.

  “Do you even know where you’re going and what you’re going to do when you get there?” she asked.

  I took a deep breath. Maybe two.

  “I have an idea or two, still working on it.”

  She arched an eyebrow and stared at me with those blue eyes. “You don’t strike me as the impulsive type. What are you going to do, just jump in your car and start driving?”

  “Do you remember when I stood you up and I explained about the river rescue?” I asked. She nodded. “Alright, that’s where he is. I don’t know what he’s doing there, but that’s where his phone pinged at.”

  “So, that’s where you’re going?” she asked. “Has it crossed your mind that he may be trying to taunt you and lure you up there to set you up?”

  “It’s entirely possible,” I admitted after a few seconds. “But I have to go anyway.”

  “He’s suspected of two murders and you’re going after him alone,” she remarked. “An old west showdown, right?”

  “Well, it’s a little more than that. Wolf is a martial arts expert and he has two other men with him.”

  She stared, wondering if I was making up a tall tale. She then frowned. “You remind me of my husband. His balls were the size of melons too and it got him killed.” She then walked around to the passenger side.

  “Unlock the door, Thomas. I’m not going to let you do this by yourself.”

  I briefly debated on simply driving off without her, but instead hit the unlock button on the fob and the two of us got in. Shutting my door, I turned to her. “Listen, I can’t let you get involved in my escapade. Like you said, it’s probably not the best idea in the world.”

  “Which is why you need me with you. Do you have a backup gun?”

  “Um, yes, I do. Why?” I asked. She stuck her hand out. I reached down and pulled my Glock 43 out of my ankle holster.

  “It’s probably too late to ask, but do you know how to use one?”

  She responded by taking it, checking the magazine, and then performing a press check, all
while keeping the barrel pointed in a safe direction. “Yep. If you ever want to go to the range together, maybe we can make a friendly wager.” She pointed toward the road. “What are we waiting on?”

  I made a halfhearted effort to talk her out of it, but she was stubborn, far more stubborn than me.

  Once I got clear of Nashville traffic, I stepped on it and arrived in a little over forty minutes. While I was driving, I brought Al up to speed.

  “I want you to know what you’re getting into, but I have to tell you, all of this is confidential information.”

  “Even the part involving you and Lilith?” she asked.

  “I only told them we had a brief friendship,” I said.

  “It sounds like it was a little more than that,” she replied.

  I frowned. “I don’t know about that. It was definitely brief and there were no commitments.”

  “A friend with benefits then,” she surmised.

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “Is that how you prefer your relationships with women?”

  I shrugged in the dark. “For this particular situation, it worked for both of us. Both of us had our own personal issues we were dealing with and found comfort with each other. There was nothing more to it.”

  “I see,” she said. I could see her staring at me out of the corner of my eye. “How do you view us, Thomas?”

  I weighed my response carefully before speaking. “You’re a beautiful woman. You’re smart, you have a great career job, and I happened to know from firsthand experience you’re very good at it. I don’t know your sons all that well, but they seem like good kids, which means you’re a good mom. And, I must admit, the first night I met you, I had an attraction toward you.”

  “Do you see us as friends with benefits?” she asked.

  I glanced over at her. She was smiling now.

  “I think that’s one of those what you call a bait question,” I said with a laugh.

  We talked at length and soon we were approaching our destination. I pointed through the windshield. “The Red River is up ahead.”

  “Explain to me what happened again with the wreck.”