by Patricia Fry
“What is it?” Tyrone demanded. “It’s not mine. I haven’t lived here for forty years. You can’t pin anything on me.”
Chapter 10
Craig cuffed Tyrone’s wrists in front of him and ordered him to sit at a table in the interrogation room of the sheriff’s station. He sat across from the prisoner and began asking him a battery of questions. One officer stood nearby.
It took Tyrone a while, but he finally decided he had little to lose by telling his story. “You see, my father didn’t like Ronnie Griffith coming around my sister.”
“And you?” Craig asked.
Tyrone stared at Craig for a moment before saying, “I learned early on how to get along with the old man. You did what he said. Go against him and he’d make your life a miserable hell. He forced me to help him create a place at the furniture store where we could take Griffith. Parts of that old building were soundproof, you know. It was built that way. Well, Dad and I made a chamber where we hid him out…”
“Hid Ronnie?”
Tyrone nodded. “I was supposed to figure out a way to kill him and get rid of the body so he’d never be found.” He rubbed his eyes. “Well, I got kind of fond of the guy, actually, and I kept him hidden in that chamber for a week or so until I could figure out what to do.”
“And what did you do? How did you kill him and where did you bury him?”
Tyrone leaned forward and shook his head. He looked at Craig. “I didn’t do it. I couldn’t do it, I tell you. So I made him promise that he’d leave the area forever and never contact my sister in any way or she would suffer worse than he’d suffered in that chamber.”
“You tortured him?” Craig asked.
“No.” Tyrone took a breath and said quietly, “Dad hurt him sometimes when he’d come in. He kept pressuring me to get rid of him.” He frowned. “I guess Ronnie didn’t like being kept tied up like that. It had to be real uncomfortable.” As if forcing himself to remember, he said, “I noticed Dad made the restraints pretty tight. Sometimes Ronnie bled, but I didn’t dare loosen the ropes and stuff or I’d be in for it.” He pounded the table. “I couldn’t kill him, but I had to make it look like I did or the old man would kill me.” He stared into Craig’s eyes. “I’m sure of that. He had it in him to do it.”
“So you let Ronnie go if he’d promise never to contact your sister again?”
Tyrone nodded. “Yeah. Like I said, I told him it would get real ugly for Gail if he ever came around again. I guess he believed me, because he skedaddled.”
“He must have loved your sister very much,” Craig said, quietly.
“Yeah, yeah, I guess he did. Too bad things didn’t work out for them, but that’s the way it had to be.”
“Why did you keep coming back here and hurting your sister?” Craig asked. “It was you who assaulted her a few weeks ago, right?” Without waiting for Tyrone’s response, Craig said, “And you did that before. Why?”
“I had to make sure Ronnie knew I meant business.”
“How’s that?” Craig asked.
Tyrone let out a breath and said, as if under duress, “I took pictures and sent them to him.”
“You took pictures of your sister after you’d beaten her up?”
Tyrone nodded. “Yeah, I couldn’t have him sneaking back into town to see Gail; my dad would have killed me, I told you.”
“So you hurt your sister?”
“Yeah, if a little pounding on her would save my neck, why not? It kept Ronnie away from her, didn’t it?”
Craig sat quietly for a few moments, then said, “Tyrone, you don’t seem to have any remorse.”
“Not really. Life has been hard on me and I never had time to give a damn about other people, if you know what I mean.” When Tyrone felt Craig staring at him, he squirmed in his chair.
“Look at me,” Craig insisted. “Look at me!” Craig waited. When Tyrone finally raised his eyes and held his stare for a couple of seconds, Craig said quietly, “Tyrone, you must have had an ounce of consideration for others, or you would have done what your dad told to you to do. It must have taken courage to do that.”
The prisoner nodded. “Yeah, I guess so.”
“Did he beat you?” Craig asked, his voice filled with compassion.
“Not so much when I got older, ’cause I learned how to get along with him.” He smirked and squirmed in the chair. “I have to say he made me what I am today.”
“Tyrone, listen to me,” Craig said. “There’s still time for you to make things right. Tell me where Ronnie Griffith is. You must know if you’ve been sending him photographs.”
“Will I get off if I tell you?” Tyrone asked.
“No, I’m afraid not, but I can tell you that things will certainly go better for you if I find Ronnie Griffith alive and well. If you can’t muster a shred of decency toward your sister, who has suffered all these years because of you,” Craig paused, “maybe you’ll be interested in saving your own hide. Now tell me where he is.”
When Tyrone hesitated, Craig said, “I told you things might go easier for you if you lead us to Ronnie Griffith,” he leaned forward, his face inches from the prisoner’s, “but, Tyrone, I can sure as hell promise you that if you don’t, things will definitely get ugly. You think you’ve had a rough life? You ain’t seen nothing yet!”
Tyrone shifted in his chair. “Okay, okay. I might as well do something in my life that’s halfway decent.” He avoided eye contact when saying, “He lives outside Denver, Colorado. He goes by the name Darren Sparks.”
“Great! Do you have an address, phone number?”
“In my phone,” he said, gesturing with his head toward his shirt pocket.
Craig removed the handcuffs and allowed Tyrone to scroll through his phone. “Here it is,” Tyrone said. “You go there and you’ll see for yourself that he’s alive. I just spoke with him a couple of weeks ago.”
“Why?” Craig asked.
“I made it a habit over the years to remind him of our deal, that’s all.”
“So you’ve been harassing the poor guy?”
Tyrone shrugged and leaned back in his chair.
“Book him!” Craig called out.
“What are the charges, sir?” the officer asked.
“Kidnapping, torture, harassment, and leave it opened-ended because I may come up with additional charges.”
“Sure, Detective,” the officer said, leading Tyrone away.
****
“I’d rather see for myself before you say anything to Miss Allen,” Craig told Savannah later that day.
“Don’t you think she can identify Ronnie Griffith?” she asked. “Take her with you to Denver. Or have him send a photo.”
“No. We’re doing it my way. I’m leaving this evening, and I hope to return with a nice gift for your friend.”
Savannah shivered. “Oh, I’m so excited!”
“Don’t be,” Craig said. “I’ve seen too many of these things blow up in my face. We get faulty information or one of the lovebirds is married or has fallen out of love—you know.” He paused. “It could be that Tyrone is lying through his teeth. No, Savannah, these things don’t all have happy endings.”
Savannah spoke confidently. “Rochelle sees a rainbow ending. That’s what I’m expecting.”
Craig let out a sigh and muttered, “You romantics.”
“When will you be back? I want to make sure Gail has something nice to wear. Hey, maybe I’ll take her for a spa day. We’ll have a makeover.”
“Do you actually think her hairdo will make a difference to this guy? That is if we locate him?”
“She’ll hate me forever if she finds out I knew about this and didn’t at least encourage her to fix herself up some. Sure, if the fire’s still burning, they won’t look at each other and see wrinkles, the extra pounds, or the graying hair, but I want my girl to feel that she looks her very best.”
“Okay, Savannah,” he said. “Do what you have to do.”
“You know I
will. Now, when do you plan to be back with him?”
“How about this,” Craig said. “I’ll call you as soon as I know that. But I imagine, if it all works out, it’ll be sometime tomorrow evening.”
“Perfect!” She giggled. “Oh, this is going to be so much fun.”
****
“You’ve looked at your phone a dozen times this morning,” Michael observed over breakfast the next day.
Savannah smiled.
“Did you make an appointment at the spa?” Gladys asked.
“Sure did. We’re all set on this end.” She looked at her phone again. “Gads, I wish Craig would call.”
“When was he supposed to arrive in Denver?” Michael asked.
“He was scheduled to land around eight this morning. He should have found Ronnie by now. It’s ten thirty there.”
“Maybe not. People move and the information the prisoner gave could be wrong.”
“I sure hope not.”
“Does Gail know her brother’s in jail?” he asked.
“Probably. We both watched Craig haul him off in handcuffs.”
Just then Savannah’s phone rang. She looked at the screen. “Oh darn, it’s Gail. Hello, Gail.”
“Hi. I think we caught another cat overnight.”
“Oh yes, the cats,” Savannah said. “Great. So we only have what…?”
“Two more left,” Gail said. “The two wiliest of them all. Want me to take this one to the clinic?”
“Take it? How? You mean have Adele drive you?”
“No,” Gail said, her tone accelerated. “I bought a car.”
“You did? Wow! That’s exciting news.”
“My life is exciting,” Gail said. “I just have so much going on and so much to look forward to—my nice new home, a phone, a car, new friends, a possible volunteer job at Ragsdale Cat Ranch, I’m learning to cook…and all because of you, Savannah.”
“Awww. How sweet. What kind of car did you get?”
“Antonio calls it a run-around car. It was his son’s. Runs good. Do you think I can trust Antonio?” Gail asked.
“Absolutely. I’m not sure he knows much about cars, but he’s certainly honorable. Yeah, you can take the cat to the clinic if you want to. Bud should be there. Michael’s going in later today. Oh, and don’t forget about our spa date.”
“I won’t,” Gail said less than enthusiastically. “You know, I’ve never done anything like this before. The closest I ever came to it was when I was around six. Adele and I sneaked into her mother’s bedroom and used her lipstick. That was a mistake.”
Savannah laughed. “Yeah, it usually is.”
Gail admitted, “I have to tell you, I’m a little apprehensive about someone giving me a facial, doing my hair, and all. I’ve only had one store-bought haircut and that was maybe five years ago, when Adele insisted I go with her.”
“Did you like it?” Savannah asked.
“Yeah, I liked the cut and sure, it was a nice experience.”
“Then you’ll love our spa day and we’ll be doing it together, which makes it even more fun.”
“Okay,” Gail said. “Well, let me get this cat to the clinic, then shall I come over there? Our appointment’s at ten, right? I can pick you up.”
“Okay, see you about nine forty-five.”
But by nine forty-five Craig still hadn’t called. Savannah continued to check her phone on the way to the spa. They had a short wait in the lobby, and that’s when her phone chimed. “Hi,” she said. “What’s up?”
“Well, I found him, but he was sure not eager to reveal his identity. When I convinced him that Abe was dead and Tyrone was in jail and that nothing at all bad was going to happen to Gail, he caved.”
“Oh, good,” Savannah said. “So how did you find things there? I mean…”
“Is she with you?” Craig asked.
“Yes, we’re at the spa now.”
Gail smiled at her.
“Okay,” Craig said. “Here’s the dope: he claims he has never married. He worked as a postman in the Denver area all his life, just recently retired, and he’s very eager to reunite with Gail. He was pleased to hear that she’s single and still waiting for him.”
“That’s so…” Savannah started excitedly. She looked at Gail and cleared her throat. “That sounds good. So when will I see you?”
“We’ll be back in Hammond by suppertime.”
“Great. Hey, come by our house, will you? I’ll…um…have it there waiting for you.”
“Good thinking,” Craig said. “Neutral ground. Excellent.” He chuckled. “Okay, see you two beauty queens around six this evening.”
“Shall I wait dinner for you?” she asked.
“I’m thinking not,” Craig said. “You go ahead and eat. We’ll eat before we get there. I’m sure they’ll want to get reacquainted without an audience.”
“Of course.”
“Are you having company for supper?” Gail asked, after Savannah ended the call.
“Yes, you. I think we should finish off a fun spa day with a nice big salmon salad for supper, with crunchy bread. Sound good?”
“Sure does,” Gail said. “Who else did you invite?”
“Oh, just Detective Craig. He’s stopping by to drop something off, but he declined dinner. So, it’ll just my family and you. Okay with you?”
“Of course,” she said. “I’m sure I’ll be too relaxed to cook. I might even be too relaxed to eat.”
The women laughed.
****
“You look stunning,” Savannah said when Gail approached her in the lobby later that afternoon. “I’ve never seen you with makeup.”
“I’ve never seen me with makeup, either,” Gail quipped.
“You have wonderful skin, but the makeup really makes your eyes pop. That hairstyle’s great on you. Do you like it?”
“I love it!” Gail said almost giddily. “I feel like a fairy princess.”
Savannah laughed.
“And look at you,” Gail said. “But then, you’re always beautiful.”
“You don’t look a day over forty-nine,” the receptionist said to Gail. She grinned. “And I know your age, because you put it on the form you filled out when you came in.” As if sharing a secret, she said, “You didn’t look your age when you came in, and you sure don’t look it now. You girls going out on the town tonight?” she asked.
Gail shook her head. “Just having dinner together, that’s all. I think this spa day was designed to perk me up and I have to say, it sure worked.” She reached for the receptionist’s hand and squeezed it. “Thank you so much. Tell everyone thank you.”
“Sure will.” On their way out of the spa, Gail studied her hands. “How in the world can I continue my work at the house with nails like these?” She giggled. “They’re so pretty.” She turned to Savannah. “I’ve never ever had a manicure,” She looked at her feet. “or a pedicure. I feel so pampered.”
Savannah gave Gail a one-armed hug. “You deserve it. All women deserve a day of pampering once in a while.”
“Do you mean women do this sort of thing on a regular basis?” she asked.
Savannah smiled. She climbed into Gail’s car and checked the time on her phone. Four fifteen. She started to slip her phone back into her pocket when she felt it vibrate. It’s Craig. She read the text: “Plane landed on time, can you believe it? We should be there between five thirty and six.”
Savannah smiled. She looked at Gail. “Are you hungry?”
“After that wonderful lunch they served us this afternoon?” she said. “I sure didn’t expect that. It was delicious and so healthy.”
“Of course. A healthy body relies on healthy food. You’ll be able to eat a salad, won’t you? I made a nice salad this morning. Mom will add the poached salmon when we get there.”
“More healthy food. Sounds good.” Gail faced Savannah briefly. “Do you always eat dinner so early? I usually eat around six.”
“It just depends on wh
at’s going on that particular day or evening,” Savannah said.
****
Their homecoming did not go unnoticed. Gladys eagerly greeted the two women and complimented their new hairdos and subtle makeup. She studied Savannah’s face. “Your skin looks so refreshed.” She looked at Gail. “Both of you. Did you get a facial?”
“Sure did,” Gail said. She swooned. “It was divine.”
“Your hands, Mommy,” Lily said. “You have paint. I want paint.”
“It’s nail polish, punkin. Do you like the color?” Savannah asked.
Lily nodded.
“How about Gail’s color?” Savannah asked. “Do you like the color on Gail’s nails?”
Gail offered Lily her hands and Lily scrutinized them. She looked up at Gail. “Blue?” she questioned.
“Why blue?” Gladys asked.
“Hey,” Gail said, “I figured if I was going to do this, I might as well be daring.” She giggled. “Savannah talked me out of putting a pink rinse on my hair.”
“And I advised against her getting a tattoo,” Savannah said, laughing.
Gladys looked wide-eyed at their guest. “Oh my.”
“Well, hello,” Michael said, when he stepped in from work.
When Lily saw him, she ran to him, hollering, “Daddy! Grammy, Daddy’s home!”
“I see that,” Gladys said. They smiled at each other.
He eyed the other two women, asking, “And who are our guests?”
“Michael,” Savannah scolded.
“Do you know me?” he teased. “Gladys, I don’t think I’ve met this beautiful creature. Would you introduce me before my wife gets home?”
Lily stood watching him. “Daddy, that’s Mommy. Look, she has pretty fingernails.”
“This is Mommy?” he asked. “Nice to meet you Mommy.” He turned to Gail. “And who is this teenager?”
All three women laughed, then Gladys asked, “Is anyone hungry, or don’t you want to disturb your makeup?”
