Her Silent Shadow: A Gripping Psychological Suspense Collection

by Edwin Dasso

  His response was so quiet, Lida lifted her head to hear it. Blood streamed down the side of her shoulder.

  “It’s too late, little girl. It’s way too late. You should’ve known better.” Lenny raised his arm with the knife in it and came down towards her. She rolled away from him, grabbed the lamp on the floor and hit him in the face. He fell backwards, recovered, and reached for her again, but she hit him repeatedly with the heavy lamp using the strength of her one good arm and hand.

  21

  Lenny Minelli staggered out of the door and met the men on the deck. He was obviously drunk. His head was bloody and bruised. He held the gun he kept on the yacht. “What the hell are you doing on my yacht? Get off or I’ll kill you!”

  “Where is she? Where’s the girl?“ Thad Williams asked in a calm voice. “We know she’s here. Where’s she?“

  Lenny shook his head. “Ain’t nobody here. Nobody’s on the boat except for me. Now get off.” He waved an almost empty bottle of cognac at him. “Get the hell off my boat.”

  Agent Williams motioned to the police officers to move ahead. He stood about fifteen feet from Minelli. “Where’s the girl, Lenny? Where is Lida?“

  Lenny snorted, hiccupped, and staggered forward. “Where is who? What are you talking about?“ His voice was hoarse. He shouted at them and waved the gun around like a crazed lunatic. “I told you. There ain’t nobody here. The boat is empty. There’s not even any crew aboard.“ He took a step towards Mike and swayed. “I’m here alone getting’ drunk. Ain’t no crime in that.” He gave them a malevolent look, but Mike read deception in his eyes.

  Williams realized how drunk Minelli truly was. “You having a hard time standing there, aren’t you Minelli? What you been drinking?”

  Minelli stared at him. “Who the hell are you, asshole?” His voice slurred and his gun pointed to the ground.

  Agent Williams laughed and pulled out his badge. “I’m the FBI.” Williams quickly closed the distance between them and easily knocked the gun out of Lenny’s hand. He slammed the drunken mobster against the side of the deck and hissed. “Where is Lida Dewey? Tell me where she is you bastard, or I swear I’ll break your neck.”

  “Who? Who the hell is that?” Minelli feigned ignorance. He deliberately coughed in Williams’s face and the agent reeled from the smell of booze and rotten teeth.

  “Lida. The girl you’re blackmailing to cook your books.” Mike’s voice was hostile and aggressive. He moved quickly and pushed Thad Williams away. “Where’s Lida?” He banged Lenny’s head back and forth against the side of the yacht.

  “Dude, cut it out.” William’s yelled at Mike. “You wanna get me fired?” Mike grudgingly let the gangster loose.

  Lenny smiled maliciously and stumbled towards them. “You mean my brother’s whore? How do I know? She’s probably in the sack with him back at the Magnolia.”

  Mike reached for Minelli and again smashed his body against the exterior of the yacht. He pinned Lenny against the wall by the neck as the two policemen emerged from the ship. One officer shook his head. “There’s no one here. But there’s fresh blood in the main state room. It looks like she got away.”

  Mike sighed with relief. At least there was no body. He returned his focus to Minelli and again body slammed him. Lenny fell to the deck. Mike put his foot on his neck. “Where is she, Minelli. Tell me now or you’re a dead man in two minutes.“

  Lenny, one eye closed, stared up at Mike. “Who the hell are you?“

  “Someone who wants an answer. Now talk.“ Mike pressed his foot harder on Lenny’s neck until the man sputtered and gasped for breath. Minelli was purple when Mike lifted his foot. Minelli struggled to lift his hand and pointed towards shore. “Gone. She’s gone. She got away.” Minelli coughed and paused to take a breath.

  Mike nodded, took his foot off Minelli’s neck. He kicked him in the side of the head. He looked down at the man sprawled on the deck of his multi-million-dollar yacht. “You’re a pathetic bastard. You’d better hope we find her and that she’s alive and uninjured.”

  Thad Williams motioned for the local officers to take the gangster into custody. He called and ordered a forensic team to the yacht. Then he turned to Mike. “Let’s go find her. It’s very possible she’s alive.“

  Lenny, still on the floor, reached for Mike’s leg and pulled his pants. “She ain’t. She’s dead by now.” He saw the concern on Mike’s face and grinned wickedly. “But, she died happy. She made me a very happy man.” Lenny patted his crotch.

  Mike lunged toward him, but Agent Williams held him back. He worked to control his anger. He watched as the officers handcuffed Lenny. “You better hope she’s all right, Minelli, because if she isn’t, I’m coming for you.”

  Minelli glared at him and spit on Mike’s shoe. “Come on bastard, I’ll be waitin.”

  22

  Lida ran. She ran off the yacht on to the pier and stayed in the shadows. She moved as quickly as she could. At the end of the pier, she hid behind several cargo containers. Her breath was raw and ragged, the tatters of her silk blouse were damp with spreading blood. Her torn skirt barely covered her body. She used her good hand to try and stop the blood flow, but the wound was deep. She lay back against one of the storage containers as she gasped for breath. She felt her vision fade in and out. She knew she’d lost a lot of blood. She looked back at the Magnolia II, but nothing was unusual. There were no search lights and Lenny wasn’t on the deck of the yacht.

  Maybe I got away. Lida knew she had to keep moving. She stood in the shadows and ran as quickly as she could towards the sand. She recognized the lights at a large mansion about a hundred yards ahead. She slowed her run to a walk but walking in the sand fatigued her. She was weak, dizzy and short of breath. She stopped to rest again and sat on a bench at a bus stop shelter. She huddled against herself in the corner of the shelter.

  But she was free. She’d gotten away. Lida closed her eyes with gratitude, rose from the bench and crossed the Beach Road. She walked quickly towards the large mansion. She knew whoever lived there would call for help. Her journey seemed endless as the sand became harder and harder to maneuver in. She was weak from her loss of blood and her vision blurred. She sat down to rest on a large cement bench directly in front of the mansion. It wasn’t that far, not even the length of a football field, but she wasn’t sure she would make it. She was freezing cold, half-naked and exhausted from her ordeal. Her vision was impaired, and she wondered if the mansion was as close as she believed it to be. Please don’t let this mansion be a mirage. Lida allowed herself to rest until her heart settled down. Then she got up to walk the final distance. She stayed in the shadows and slowly inched her way forward until she reached the iron gates of the estate. They were locked.

  Lida was so frustrated she almost cried. Hot tears burned her eyes. Her jaw pain radiated into her ear. She walked about fifty feet and found she could slip through the shrubbery around the gate.

  Three minutes later she stood on the slate terrace. Her vision cleared as she stared at the beautiful leaded crystal glass door. The Thanksgiving wreath on the front door was beautiful and there were five cars in the driveway. She gritted her teeth, grasped the iron railing, and trudged up the six concrete and brick steps. She stood on the large covered portico and put her left arm out to ring the door bell. I’m free. I’m free. I’ve made it. Her heart jumped for joy and then relaxed. She pulled the tatters of her blouse around her and covered herself as best she could. She closed her eyes and imagined the warmth and good people inside the mansion. She imagined being at home with her parents. That’s the only place she knew she could be safe. She put her index finger on the door bell. I’m safe. I’m safe. Her thoughts jumped to Joey. She hoped he was alive.

  But she didn’t ring the bell.

  Strong arms grabbed her from behind. A second later she was in a choke hold.

  Captured. It was over.

  Tears filled her eyes. I’m not safe. Her last thoughts as she lost consciousnes
s werehow beautifully the leaded glass door reflected in the light. She even noticed the highly- carved wooden moldings in the foyer of the mansion whose inhabitants remained oblivious to her situation.

  They found Lida the next day behind a seafood processing plant five miles from the Magnolia Casino. She’d been beaten, stabbed, choked and left for dead behind a trash dumpster. Her jaw was broken, and she was unconscious. She’d endured numerous stab wounds. She was immediately transferred into the intensive care unit at Biloxi Regional Medical Center. Her condition was critical. Two days later, Bruno Delgado and Lenny Minelli were arrested and charged with her abduction and ten counts of attempted murder. Lenny had paid Bruno to wait at the end of the pier. He’d instructed Bruno to kill Lida. Bruno believed he had. Bruno was positively identified by a set of fingerprints that had formed on Lida’s cast that re-hardened while she was behind the dumpster. Lida’s cast also had fibers from the blanket and carpet on the Magnolia II.

  Epilogue

  It was the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Kat was in a pensive, but grateful mood as she sat under a large shade tree and stared into the Wolfe River in front of Mike's parents' home in Kiln, Mississippi. The Thanksgiving dinner had been postponed for several days but promised to be a wonderful reunion. Kiln was located thirty miles or so from Biloxi. Kat smiled as she watched her friends frolicking in the water. Mike had attached two tubes to the family boat and everyone floating in the tubes shrieked with laughter. She could see Allison and several other friends playing in the water. They were having a great time and really living it up. One thing about Mike’s parents and the folks in Kiln, Mississippi. They knew how to live the good life.

  "A penny for your thoughts, Kat,” a soft voice said behind her.

  Kat looked up, smiled and turned to give Barb a big hug. "How are you doing, Barb? I didn't know for sure that they’d let you out today," Kat greeted Barb with a relieved smile.

  Barb shook her head and turned towards Mike’s dad, an older image of Mike. "Mr. Chaisson here, was quite persuasive to my doctor and assured him I’d be well taken care of, and certainly not poisoned," she smiled as she pointed towards Mike senior who was headed her way with a lounge chair.

  Kat smiled. “Isn’t Mikey's family the very best? How do you feel, Barb? You look good, pale, but good," Kat noted as she checked her friend from head to toe.

  "I'm okay," she said softly. "But I'm still weak. That poison deal took a lot out of me," she admitted. “But, more importantly, how is Lida?” Tears filled her eyes. “This has been another awful trip, hasn’t it.”

  Kat nodded. “It’s been tough, but Lida is better. Much better today, in fact. She’s been through a lot emotionally. I’m worried about her recovery.”

  Mike Senior looked down at Barb and grinned. "Mama says you can stay up for about thirty minutes and then you have to lay down in the guestroom. Okay?"

  Barb nodded and smiled. "Okay. It’s a deal. I’ll never cross your wife, Big Mike, and live to hear the end of it.” She glanced out at her college friends in the water. “I'm sure I can't keep up with those party-goers out there, anyway,” she indicated as she pointed to her friends in the boat and floating on the tubes."

  Kat laughed. "I can't keep up with them, and I wasn’t poisoned." She paused for a moment and asked, "So, we heard you were poisoned with a mixture of hemlock, just like Socrates," she said with a sigh. "Do the police know who did it?"

  "Damn right they do," Mike Senior said loudly. "Poor Barb got the poison Lenny Minelli meant for Lida to get.” He looked down at the ground. “Or at least that’s what I heard from some cop friends. Lenny had his men doctor up the plates at the Gulf Grill,” he reported, an angry look on his face

  Kat felt a moment of dizziness. Lenny Minelli was a monster. No question. He’d tried to kill two of her friends in just a few days.

  “That damn mobster was determined to make that poor girl to change his books," Mike Senior said, as he pulled a canoe up from the shore. "I hate those damn casinos and the people that run them. They're nothing but a bunch of thugs, gangsters, and lowlifes." His voice was a growl.

  Barb looked surprised. "So, are you saying my lunch was meant for Lida’s lunch the day we ate at the Mississippi Grill?” She raised her eyebrows. “I hadn’t heard that.”

  Kat nodded and touched her hand. “I think the police think that. It only makes sense. Lenny Minelli had no beef with you, only Lida.”

  Barb nodded and smiled weakly. “I suppose you’re right. Poor Lida, how did she get into so much trouble.”

  Kat shook her head. “You haven’t heard this one, Barb. Lida is a FBI agent. She was working undercover at the Magnolia. They had a sting operation to put Lenny Minelli out of business.”

  “What? That’s ridiculous. Lida is the last one of us who would ever work for the FBI. I don’t believe it.”

  Kat smiled and glanced at Mike Senior. “Big Mike, can you corroborate my story?”

  “Yep.” He turned to Barb. “Your buddy Lida works for the FBI in NOLA. She was undercover.” He shook his head and grinned. “Funny how none of us figured it out.”

  “That’s because she’s good at what she does,” Kat chimed in. “Lida has always been a pretty tough girl. Always traveled and still travels the straight and narrow. I believe it now, but honestly, Barb, I was as shocked as you.” She smiled down at her friend.

  Barb shook her head. “Well, I’ve gotta think about that.”

  Kat shook her head angrily, "I can't believe the crime down here, just since we graduated from college," she ended quietly.

  "It's that damn Dixie Mafia," Mike Senior said, obviously listening to their conversation. "Before those damn casinos, there was no crime on the Gulf Coast and I mean that… no crime."

  "How is Lida?" Barb asked. "I heard she got hurt pretty bad, she said, her eyes full of tears.

  Kat nodded, "Yeah, she did. Thank goodness for Mike Senior right here,” she said as she went over and hugged Mike’s Dad, “and his connections with New Orleans Police Commander Jack François. It's true the Dixie Mafia does own most of the coast, and that a lot of law enforcement is illegal, but Jack François over in the Big Easy, is really tight with the FBI."

  "Damn right he is," Mike Chaisson said loudly. "Jack called his friends in New Orleans right away. Seems like they’d been looking at the Minelli family for quite a while, but mostly, the old man and Lenny. It took no time for them to get warrants and get those bastards arrested. They'll go away for long time," Mike Senior promised with assurance.

  Barb smiled, grateful for the lounge chair Mike Senior had set up for her. She looked up, "That’s great news, Mike?"

  Kat smiled. “Yeah. Great news. I’m happy to report Lida is surprisingly good. I got back from Biloxi a little while ago and she is moving out of Intensive Care.”

  Barb smiled. “So good to hear that, Kat.”

  “Of course, she can't eat Thanksgiving dinner, because Lenny broke her jaw. Her mouth is wired together. Other than that, she's doing well. Of course, her arm was re-broken, but the rest of her injuries were soft tissue and will heal. Even the knive wounds are coming together well. She was unconscious when they found her, but there is no head injury and that was the main worry of the doctors."

  Barb gritted her teeth and nodded, "So, that still sounds pretty bad to me, and really painful. How much longer will she be there?"

  Kat shrugged her shoulders, "I'm not sure, but I would think a few more days. Lenny Minelli’s security guy snatched her from the bathroom at the Magnolia. That’s how they got her. He’s been arrested. He left her for dead behind the trash dumpster.”

  “Damn those bastards,” Mike Senior said again as he cursed under his breath. “The NOPD and FBI say Vito and Lenny are gonna go away for years… hopefully forever for the killings and beatings they’ve done. So is that Bruno fellow. The FBI said they’d be surprised if Lenny and Vito ever get out of jail. They’ve been charged with at least ten murders.

  “Is Joe with Lida
?” Barb asked as she changed the subject. She looked exhausted and weak.

  Kat nodded. “Yeah. Joey hasn't left her side even though he's now totally in charge of the Magnolia. As Mike said, Lenny’s been arrested for murder, malicious assault, money laundering, and a bunch of stuff I don't even understand. They added Valerie Taylor’s murder and he’s suspected of even more killings. They have an FBI forensic team pulling evidence off the yacht,” Kat added. “Mike is there now with Special Agent Thad Williams."

  "Well, by damn, that makes my Thanksgiving Day complete," Mike Senior announced. "I'm gonna go get me a beer to celebrate." He looked at the ladies. "Can I get you ladies some refreshments?"

  Kat shook her head. "I've got lemonade from Mama. I’m fine."

  Barb looked up at Big Mike and grinned. "I'm okay too. I just finished the milkshake you got me when you brought me home from the hospital.” She beamed at him. “Thanks for bringing me here, Big Mike."

  Big Mike leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. “My pleasure, Barb. My pleasure indeed.” He turned and walked towards the house.

  Barb turned to Kat. "I've never known three finer people than Mike Senior, Mama, and Mikey. They’re three of the best people in the world. They’ve always been there for us, for over ten years,” she recalled, tears in her eyes.

  Kat nodded, "No argument here. They’re the best folks around. They symbolize what is good and honorable in an oftentimes dirty, vicious world.”

  Momma appeared on the deck and hollered to her husband for help. "Get up here, Mike. I need some help. And stir that pot of gumbo before you come up,” she directed. “And Kat, tell Barb she has ten more minutes before she has to come rest in the guest room.”

  “Yes, ma’am, Momma,” Kat hollered back as Barb gave her a thumbs up sign.

  Kat stood and said, "Are you all right, Barb? If you’re okay, I’m gonna go in and help Mama with the food and the table. The others should be back soon. They've been having a great time on the water."