Читать книгу Too Many Crooks Spoil the Plot - Sarah Osborne - Страница 13

Chapter Six

The kids woke up early the next morning. I could hear them talking in the breakfast nook. Lucie was telling Jason to sit down and be quiet. It was six a.m. My alarm was set to go off in fifteen minutes. I jumped up, grabbed my bathrobe, and headed for the kitchen.

“You’re up early.” I gave them each a kiss. “What have you done, Lucie? I was going to make breakfast—you didn’t have to.”

“Oh, I always make breakfast,” Lucie said. “My mom sleeps in, and I get me and Jason ready for school.” She hesitated, and I could see she was trying not to cry. “Jason, take your bowl to the sink and brush your teeth.” She spoke in a voice that could have been Ellie’s, and Jason did as he was told.

“May I have some cereal along with you?”

“Yes. Do you want toast, Aunt Di? My mom always had toast and black coffee.” Lucie teared up.

I hugged her and stroked her hair. She leaned against me and let me treat her like the sad little girl she was.

“I miss my mom,” she cried. “She didn’t say goodbye to me.”

“I miss her too. The last thing she said to me was about you and Jason—how much she loved you and that she wanted me to keep you safe.”

Lucie dried her eyes with the back of her hand. “She said I was a very good cook.”

“I couldn’t make anything except chocolate chip cookies when I was your age. I think cereal will be fine for me this morning. Some Cheerios and maybe a banana and some milk. I’ll get it.”

“No, Aunt Di, I’ll get it for you.” Lucie dashed to the refrigerator, brought out the carton of milk, and put it on the table. She handed me a banana and placed a bowl and spoon in front of me.

“You are going to make me very lazy.”

She smiled and sat down beside me. “Is there a bus we can take to school, Aunt Di?”

“There probably is, but I’m going to drive you. And remember Lurleen is going to pick you up after school. Wait for her in the office. I’ll let the principal and teachers know about that. Can you pick Jason up at his classroom?”

“Of course.” Lucie gave me a look. “You know, Aunt Di, we can walk home.”

I shook my head. “I know you can, but Lurleen wants to pick you up and you’ll stay with her until I get home.”

Jason came back into the breakfast room in time to hear our conversation. “I want my mommy to pick me up,” he said.

“Hush,” Lucie said. “Mommy is far away. She can’t pick you up.”

Jason came over and climbed onto my lap. “When will she come home?” he asked me.

I rocked him. “Your mommy can’t come home. I’m sorry, baby.”

Jason sat up. “I’m not a baby. I’m Superman. I will bring her home. You’ll see.”

He jumped off my lap and headed to the bedroom where his Superman and Spider-Man were undoubtedly waiting for him. Lucie got up and didn’t seem to know if she should follow him or clean up in the kitchen.

“I’ll clean up. You help Jason. We’ll leave in half an hour.”

The kids were ready ten minutes before I was. Lucie had a backpack by the door for each of them. She gathered them up, took Jason’s hand, and waited while I opened the door and ushered them outside. I locked the door and headed for my Corolla.

Parked down the street I saw a magnificent matte-black Dodge Ram. I nudged Jason whose eyes grew wide at the sight of the truck. It was a real beauty built for off-road capacity, something my father would have loved. I could hear the conversation he’d have had with my mother: “Need a new truck for the farm—might as well be a looker.” And I could hear my mother’s disdainful response: “Nonsense, George. Won’t stay new for half a minute. Not the way we work our trucks. A waste of good money.” She was right, of course, but right wasn’t always fun, and I don’t think my dad got to have much fun on the farm.

“Maybe it’s time I get a new car,” I said to both of them.

Jason’s eyes lit up, but Lucie shook her head.

“I love your car,” Lucie said. “I remember it from the time we stayed with you in Florida.”

“You have a very good memory. It’s ten years old. Older than you. I hang onto things as long as I can.” Maybe I had a little more of my mother in me than I cared to admit.

“Me too,” Lucie said, as she climbed into the car. “See my locket? My mom gave me that and told me to keep it safe forever.”

“It’s beautiful, Luce. What’s inside it?”

Lucie carefully opened it up and showed me the miniature pictures. “It’s a picture of Mom and Dad when they didn’t fight all the time.”

I held Lucie’s hand as I studied the pictures. Ellie, smiling, looked beautiful. John, also smiling, looked the way I remembered him—round face, glasses, and hair as blond as Lucie’s. Briefly I wondered where Jason got his dark hair and complexion. “I’m glad you have that, Lucie.” I closed the case.

“Everyone buckled?” I asked before I got in the driver’s seat. They were. As we pulled out of the driveway, the Dodge truck roared to life. The driver tailgated me to the light at Highland. That was weird. I made a right turn. He gunned his engine and stayed behind me. I looked in my rearview mirror, but all I could see were tinted windows.

Something was terribly wrong. I felt my grip tighten on the steering wheel, my focus sharpen. It was the feeling I had when I entered the room of a very sick child. You knew in an instant that something wasn’t right.

I took a quick right turn onto a side street to see if the truck was following us.

I didn’t have to wait long. He turned, barely missing my back fender. I pulled over in front of a house, hoping he’d drive past. Instead, he pulled up beside me and lowered the passenger-side window. He shouted something, but I couldn’t make out what he said over the revving engine. I craned my neck to get a better look and thought I saw someone in the passenger seat. The driver pulled ahead of me to block me in. He had a gun rack on the back of the truck with two shiny rifles.

Lucie screamed. “It’s him. The man with the scar. The man who hurt Mommy.”

“Get down, both of you,” I yelled. They ducked, and I backed up. I swerved around the truck and took off down the narrow road, careening right at the first street I found. I turned again, floored the engine back to Highland, and took a left in front of a Miata whose driver slowed down long enough to give me the finger. The truck had to wait for three more cars before it could get on the road behind me. I tore down Highland, hoping a police car would spot me. No such luck. Traffic slowed at Virginia-Highland and the truck managed to pull up on my left. This time I heard what the guy shouted at me. “Pull over. We gotta talk.”

Not likely, I thought. I fishtailed right on Virginia and plowed through a 25 m.p.h. zone. Three more blocks and I skidded left on Monroe. I didn’t exactly have a plan, but if I could get to Ponce de Leon, maybe someone would pick me up for speeding. The truck stayed on my tail.

I was all adrenalin. The kids remained crouched in the back seat, Lucie’s doing for sure. I turned right on Ponce and for a moment I thought I’d lost him. But in a heartbeat he was behind me again. If I braked, he braked. If I pulled around a car, he was waiting for me on the other side. A cat-and-mouse game. Where were the damn cops when you needed them? I was close to Peachtree when I finally heard the siren. The policeman pulled me over and the truck sped by. But not before I made out the first three letters of the license plate.

“Sh—oot,” I said. “I only got the letters.”

“I got the numbers, Aunt Di,” Lucie said. “Five, three, two.”

I could have hugged her. “You’re a wonder, Luce.”

The officer didn’t believe my story until I mentioned Detective Mason Garrett by name. Then he went to his car, made a call, and came back to us two minutes later.

“Detective Garrett says I’m to escort you to his office.”

During the drive Lucie was silent, but Jason couldn’t stop talking. “A cop. See his car? See the lights? Wow, Aunt Ditie. A real cop. Is he ’resting us?”

“No, Jason, he’s not arresting us. He’s helping us. He’s taking us to see Detective Garrett.”

I saw Jason’s worried look in the rearview mirror.

“He took my Transformer.”

“He’ll give it back when he’s done looking at it,” I said.

“Detective Garrett will protect us,” Lucie said. She sat up a little straighter in the back seat and patted Jason’s arm as if he were frightened. But he wasn’t the least bit frightened. The people who were scared to death were me and Lucie.

The patrolman led us to Mason’s office. Mason (or was it Detective Garrett given the circumstances) brought us inside. “Bring a couple more chairs, will you, Joe?”

Joe did, and the three of us sat down. Mason closed the door and took notes on what happened. “You got his license,” he said. “Great. Did you get a good look at him?”

I shook my head. “Lucie said it was the man with the scar. William. Lurleen recognized his description when we talked yesterday. She said it had to be Billy Joe Sandler, grandson to William Sandler, Senior.”

Mason let out a soft whistle. I didn’t know cops really did that. “I got your message. We know him well,” he said. “We’ll get an all-points bulletin out on the truck. We’ll track down Billy Joe with or without his truck. He’s always causing trouble, usually when he’s drunk. We pick him up and Sandler’s lawyers get him off with no charges. This is more serious. We’ll bring him in, don’t worry.”

I nodded. “I think there was another man in the truck but I couldn’t make him out. Could you, Lucie?”

Lucie shook her head and stared at her hands.

Mason and I had a chance to talk privately while the kids got hot chocolate out of a machine and sat with a policewoman who clearly had children of her own. They were peppering her with questions—or Jason was anyway. “Are you a real cop? Girls can’t be cops—they aren’t strong enough. Not strong like me.” I heard Lucie’s voice in the background trying to smooth the waters while the policewoman patiently answered all of Jason’s questions.

“I’m not sure what to do to keep the kids safe. I can take care of myself, but I don’t want to put the kids at risk. Do we need to move in with a friend or into a hotel for a while? This guy clearly knows where we live and is after the kids for some reason.”

“Or after you,” Mason said. “He may think you have whatever it is he wants. I’m going to give you protection for a while. I’ll have a police car make circuits by your house during the day and at night you’ll have a PI.”

“A private investigator? Is that something I should pay for? I’m happy to do it for the kids’ sake.”

“No, no,” Garrett said. “I know a guy owes me a favor—Danny Devalle. He’s as good as they get. Part of my job is to keep you and the children safe.”

Before I could say anything, he stood up and started to walk me down the hall to the kids. “I’d like to come by tonight to introduce you to Dan and see how you’re doing. I’m getting a new Transformer for Jason, so maybe I can bring that along as well.”

“Are detectives allowed to have dinner with people they’re protecting?” I asked.

“You mean me or Dan?”

I blushed. “I meant you, but Dan could come as well.”

“I’m sure he’ll be busy, but detectives like me can do what they like off duty except consort with a suspect. I get off work around seven unless something comes up. Always a possibility unfortunately.”

“I understand. Come when you’re done. I may feed the kids earlier, but they’ll be happy to see you. ‘Consort with a suspect’—that’s a quaint phrase.”

“What, are you an English major? Anyway, you should be pleased. It means you’re not a suspect. By the way,” he said, “you did say you weren’t attached, didn’t you?”

“I’m pretty sure you did some kind of background check on me,” I said. “You probably know I’ve never been married. And no, I don’t have anyone special in my life right now. What about you?”

Mason shook his head.

It was far too early for any involvement, but I couldn’t help the warm glow that filled an empty spot in my heart. Mason seemed to read my mind.

“Tonight is not a date,” he said. “More of a check-in.”

I nodded. “A check-in. Good. I’m not taking the kids to school. I don’t want them out of my sight.”

“Agreed. Can you stay with someone else until we bring Billy Joe in for questioning?”

I nodded and called Lurleen. She said she was delighted for the company. I gave Mason her address and cell phone number.

“Good. That’s where I’ll meet you with Danny tonight.”

I told the kids we were all going to spend the day with Lurleen.

“What about school?” Lucie asked. “Mom never let us miss school.”

“It’s okay, Luce. One day won’t hurt. I’ll go to school and get your assignments. You can work on them at Lurleen’s.”

Lucie looked relieved.

Mason rode down the elevator with us and saw us to our car. He told the kids how much they had helped with the investigation. He squeezed my hand and told me not to worry.

We got to Lurleen’s around ten. Once the kids were settled into her spare bedroom, I told her what had happened.

“Billy Joe has always been a bad apple,” she said, “but why is he going after you and the kids?”

“That’s the question. There was someone else in the car. Lucie said she didn’t see who it was, but I’m just not sure Lucie is telling me all she knows.”

“I’ll see if I can find out anything.” She shook her head and appeared to be lost in thought. “I know how awful it is to be afraid to tell the truth.”

I looked at her. “You do?”

She hesitated and for a moment I thought she might reveal something to me. Something about her past—the real past she never talked about. I had my own suspicions about that. Why would someone need to make up an entire history unless their real childhood was too miserable to talk about?

Instead she said, “Of course I know. I watch TV, all the news regarding children and abuse. You can go on to work; we’ll be fine. No one knows the kids are here.”

“Thanks. I’ll stop by the clinic and see if they need me, but first I’m going to the school. I want to let them know what’s happening.”

Lurleen gave me a hug. She seemed to have dropped all of her French mannerisms. When things got serious, Lurleen became all business. I imagined it was how she behaved at Sandler’s as an accountant for all those years.

I talked with the principal at the children’s school. Fortunately she knew me from previous interactions. Several refugee families had settled in the area, and we’d spoken from time to time about difficulties the children were having. That was over the phone—this was the first time we’d met in person. I liked the look of her. A large, tall woman, in charge, but with a warmth that came through as she asked for details about the children’s situation.

“I hope they won’t be out of school for long,” I said. “If any adult asks about the kids, could you let me know?”

“Of course.” She took down my contact number.

The classroom teachers were equally concerned. I gathered up work assignments for two days and asked if anyone had been around the classroom asking for the children.

Lucie’s teacher said no. Jason’s teacher took a moment to answer.

“It’s odd now I think of it. Some man, dark haired, did approach Jason in the playground. I told him he had to go through the office. Jason didn’t seem frightened of him though. I’m sorry I don’t know his name or any more about him.”

“Did the man have a scar?”

She shook her head. “No scar that I could see. Is that important?”

“It might be. Thank you. If you see the man again, please let me know.”

I called Mason with the latest news. He was there and took my call. “We haven’t found Billy Joe yet, but we will. It’s only a matter of time. I’ll send someone over to the school to talk with the teacher.”

We left it at that. I drove home, dropped off the worksheets for the kids, and called the clinic.

“I thought you couldn’t come today,” Vic said. “If you are free for the afternoon, I could use the help. We’re slammed.”

“Go, go, go,” Lurleen said when I asked her about leaving. “We’re fine.”

I kissed the kids goodbye and headed for work. Every few seconds I checked my rearview mirror, but no one seemed to be following me.