Another Mother

by Rodney Riesel

  Another Mother

  From the Tales of Dan Coast

  Another Mother

  From the Tales of Dan Coast

  By

  Rodney Riesel

  Published by Island Holiday Publishing

  East Greenbush, NY

  Copyright © 2019 Rodney Riesel

  All rights reserved

  First Edition

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is purely coincidental.

  Special thanks to:

  Pamela Guerriere

  Kevin Cook

  Cover Image by:

  Lufimorgan at 123rf.com

  Cover Design by:

  Connie Fitsik

  To learn about my other books friend me at

  https://www.facebook.com/rodneyriesel

  For Brenda,

  Kayleigh, Ethan

  & Peyton

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter One

  “So you're telling me your real name is Maggie Harrison?” Dan asked the young woman on the phone. A seagull screamed in the background, and Dan turned his head toward the beach.

  “Yes, that's my real name,” she replied. “I'm sorry we lied to you in Haines City.”

  “The police officer I spoke with the other night told me your father was a lawyer in West Palm Beach. Is that true?”

  “Yes.”

  “What's his name?”

  “Harrison.”

  “Right. What's his first name?”

  “Harrison. My father's name is Harrison Harrison.”

  “Well, that's just insane,” said Dan. “His parents must have been pretty cruel people.”

  “I never knew my grandparents,” said Maggie. “They died before I was born.”

  “Hold on a second. Maxine!” Dan Coast shouted. He sat in an Adirondack chair next to the fire pit in the backyard of his bungalow at 632 Beach View Street in Key West.

  Buddy, Dan's border collie and black lab mix, lay in the hot afternoon sun on the neighbor's deck. He opened one eye when he heard his master shout but closed it soon after, knowing that it was probably nothing that involved him.

  Dan picked up the tequila, Seven, and lime that was sitting on the ground to his left and took a drink. “Maxine!” he shouted again.

  The back screen door swung open and Maxine stuck her head out. “What?” she shouted.

  “What are you doing?” Dan asked.

  “Sweeping up the dust from Colt's work. You were just in here and saw me doing it.”

  Colt was Colton Masters, or as he had recently come to be known, “Rick's guy.” Colton was a local contractor who worked for Rick, and now Dan. He was thirty years old, had long blond hair, a dark tan, and rarely wore a shirt. Colt had been hired by Maxine to install a new front window and repair the hole in the ceiling. The window and ceiling were both damaged in a shootout between Dan and Red, and Melvin Jessup, the red-headed hit man. Dan had wanted to do the repairs himself, but because of a recent case, just didn't have the time.

  “Can you get me a pen?” Dan asked.

  Maxine shook her head at her fiancé’s laziness. “Sure.” She pulled her head back inside and let the door shut.

  “Hold on one second, Maggie. My secretary is grabbing me a pen.”

  “I don't have much time to talk.”

  “It'll just be a second.”

  The screen door opened again and Dan looked over.

  “Catch,” Maxine called out. She let the pen fly.

  “Really?” Dan groaned. He raised his arm as high as he could to catch the Bic ball point, but it sailed right over him. “Dammit, Maxine!”

  Maxine giggled and went back inside.

  “Boy, I'll tell ya, Maggie, good help is hard to find these days,” Dan moaned as he climbed out of his chair and went in search of the pen. He bent over and picked it up.

  “I have to go,” Maggie whispered.

  “What's a number where I can reach you?” Dan asked. He waited a few seconds. “Maggie … are you there?”

  Dan pulled his cell away from his ear and looked at the screen. Maggie had ended the call.

  “Dammit,” Dan said. He sat back down in his chair and dropped his cell on top of the morning's edition of the Key West Citizen that lay on the ground to his right. He picked his glass back up and downed the remainder of his drink. “Maxine!” Dan stared at the back door in anticipation. “Maxine!”

  “What!”

  Dan rattled the ice in his empty glass. “Will you make me another drink?”

  Maxine glared at him for a second. “Get off your dead ass and make it yourself.” She let the door slam shut behind her.

  “Ouch,” said Dan. “Put a ring on a girl's finger and she really changes.”

  “I got a finger for you right here!” she shouted back, and stuck her arm out the door.

  “Whoa.” Dan watched as Maxine's arm disappeared back into the kitchen. He stared at his glass and drank a little of the melted ice.

  Bev's back door opened.

  Score, Dan thought. Bev'll make me a drink.

  Bev stepped out onto the deck and over the dog. She stretched her arms over her head and reached for the sky. After that, she bent over and touched her toes.

  Huh, thought Dan. Pretty limber for an old lady.

  Bev wasn't really that old; she was just a few weeks away from turning sixty. Dan and Maxine had discussed throwing her a surprise birthday party for the special day, but were having a hard time deciding if she would love it, or hate it.

  “Good afternoon, neighbor!” Dan called out.

  Bev looked over and waved.

  “Care for a drink?” Dan asked.

  Bev looked at her wristwatch. “Sure,” she said. “Why not?”

  “Will ya make me one too?” Dan rattled the ice in his glass as he spoke.

  Bev shook her head. “I figured as much.” She walked across the deck and down the steps, with Buddy right behind her.

  Dan glared at his dog. “Man's best friend,” he grumbled.

  When Bev reached her lazy beach bum of a neighbor, she held out her hand for his glass.

  Dan flashed his pearly whites and handed her the empty glass. “Thank you,” he said.

  “Yeah,” Bev replied. She looked down at Buddy, who was standing next to her. “Lay down, Buddy.”

  Buddy did as he was commanded.

  “Good boy,” said Bev.

  “Yeah, good boy,” Dan mocked.

  Bev turned and made her way up the gravel path to the kitchen door.

  “Why is
it you listen to everyone but me?” Dan asked his dog.

  Buddy stretched his neck and rubbed the side of his head against Dan's shin.

  Dan leaned forward in his chair and patted the dog on the head. He let out a sigh. “You are a good boy,” he said.

  Buddy rested his head on Dan's foot, and closed his eyes.

  Dan picked the newspaper back up and read through the headlines. He finally made it to the most important part of the morning paper, the comics. He read down through the entire page before noticing that Bev had never returned with his drink. He folded the paper and dropped it back on the ground. “What the Christ?” he groaned, as he pulled himself up out of the old Adirondack chair. “What the hell is she doing in there?”

  Dan walked up the pathway and pulled open the screen door. Maxine and Bev were standing in the living room, staring out through the window, at a shirtless Colton Masters. Their arms were folded in front of them and their head were slightly cocked. It was as though the two women were admiring a piece of beautiful artwork. Dan stepped quietly into the kitchen and let the door ease shut behind him.

  Colton turned and bent over to pick up his two-foot level. Bev jabbed Maxine in the ribs with her elbow. Like a well-choreographed synchronized swim team, the ladies' heads slowly cocked in the other direction. Dan thought about how this scenario would play out if it were him and Red staring out the window at a shirtless woman.

  Dan tip-toed closer. “What's going on?” he asked.

  “I'm not doing anything!” Maxine shouted, as she spun around, startled, on her heels.

  Bev also turned around. “I was just making you that drink,” she said, and went toward the bar.

  Dan stretched his neck to see out the window. “Watchoo girls lookin' at?” he asked. “Something out there I should see?”

  Maxine's face was beet red. “We, uh … we, uh—”

  “We, uh. We, uh,” Dan aped.

  “You two disgust me, treating that poor guy like he's just some piece of meat.”

  “Hey, I'm single,” Bev said, throwing Maxine under the bus. “I don't know what her problem is.”

  “Wow, really?” said Maxine. “That's how it is?”

  Bev handed Dan his fresh drink.

  “Thanks, Bev,” Dan said. He took a sip of the drink as he glared at Maxine. “Maybe if you weren't in here gawking at the help, you could have found time to prepare my drink.”

  “I wasn't gawking,” Maxine argued. “And shut up anyway.”

  Dan laughed and walked over to give Maxine a kiss. “I'm just ribbing you. Calm down.”

  Maxine turned her head when Dan came in for the kiss. “I don't like to be ribbed.”

  “Sorry,” Dan said, and kissed her on the cheek. “They claim it's for your pleasure.”

  “You're a pig.”

  “Never said I wasn't.” Dan took another sip of his drink. “Are you gonna make yourself a drink, Bev?”

  Bev didn't answer.

  Dan turned around. “Are you gonna—”

  Bev was once again focused on the young man outside.

  Dan snapped his fingers. “Hey, dirty old lady, are you gonna make yourself a drink?”

  “Yeah, I better,” said Bev. “If I stare out that window any longer I'm going to need a cigarette.”

  Maxine giggled.

  “On that note,” Dan said, “I'm going back outside.”

  Dan was almost back to his chair when he heard his cell phone ring. He ran to the phone and picked it up. He looked at the screen; it was an unknown number again. “Hello?”

  “Mr. Coast, I only have a second,” Maggie explained.

  “But—”

  “Meet me in West Palm Beach at E.R. Bradley's Saloon on Thursday at noon.”

  “But—” The call ended. “Dammit!”

  “What's the matter?” Maxine asked. She and Bev were just walking out the back door. They each had a drink in their hand.

  Dan slid his phone back into his pocket. “I have to drive up to West Palm Thursday morning.”

  “Are you kidding?” Maxine asked.

  “Nope.”

  “You just got back.”

  “I know, but this might be important.”

  “Might be?”

  Maxine took a seat in the other Adirondack chair, and Dan got up so Bev could have his chair. He got a folding lawn chair out of the shed and sat down.

  “Let me start from the beginning,” said Dan. “On our way to Bonifay last week we stopped in a little hotel in Haines City.”

  “I remember,” said Maxine.

  “We met this young girl and guy. They said they were on the run from her father. The girl—Maggie Harrison—had some bruises on her face. They claimed her father had given them to her.”

  “That's horrible,” Bev said.

  “Long story short,” Dan continued, “early the next morning the cops showed up at the hotel. They arrested the boyfriend, and took the girl home to her father.”

  “Is the girl a minor?” Maxine asked.

  “No,” Dan answered.

  “Then what did they arrest him for?”

  “One of the cops told us that the kid had killed the girl's mother, and that he had kidnapped Maggie.”

  “Did you get the impression he had kidnapped her?” Bev asked.

  “No,” Dan replied, shaking his head. “They seemed like they were telling the truth.”

  “And that was the girl on the phone,” Maxine surmised.

  “Yes. She claims that it was her father that killed her mother, and that he set up her boyfriend. Now she thinks her father is trying to kill her.”

  “Oh my goodness,” said Bev.

  “So, you see why I have to go?”

  “I guess,” said Maxine. “But when you get back home, you better be home for a while.”

  “I promise.” Dan sat sipping his drink and thinking. “You think Colton will be done here by Thursday?”

  “I don't know,” Maxine responded. “Why do you ask?”

  “No reason,” said Dan. “Just wondering.”

  Bev snorted.

  “Shut up, Bev,” said Dan.

  Chapter Two

  Dan steered his black 2012 Porsche 911 S Cabriolet into the crushed-stone parking lot of Red's Bar and Grill, and backed into a spot across from the front door. He climbed out of the convertible and made his way across the parking lot. He walked up the steps and pushed open the door. He removed his Ray-Ban Wayfarers and hung them over the front of his black T-shirt.

  There was a couple in their sixties at a four-top to his left, and a twenty-something couple were seated at a table near them. Everyone had drinks and food, and seemed to be enjoying themselves. “Legalize It” by Peter Tosh was playing on the old Wurlitzer.

  There was also a gentleman seated by himself at the bar. He wore camouflage cargo shorts and a chocolate-brown T-shirt. The guy was about Dan's age, with black hair cut short, similar to Dan's, with a lot of gray at the temples. He appeared to Dan to be part Asian. The guy was three seats down from Dan's favorite stool. This made Dan very happy. There's nothing worse than walking into your favorite bar and seeing some other guy sitting on your favorite stool.

  The older gentleman at the four-top glanced up as Dan walked by, and nodded. Dan nodded back.

  Dan climbed aboard his stool and rested his forearms on the bar. He looked down at the other barfly's drink. It was empty.

  The guy noticed Dan looking and said, “The bartender went into the kitchen a while ago and hasn't been back.”

  Dan jumped off his stool and walked around behind the bar. He made himself a drink, and then made one for the other guy. The guy reached into his pocket for money.

  Dan put up his hand. “This one's on the house.”

  “Thanks, pal,” the guy said.

  Dan looked around the dining room. “Anybody else need a drink?”

  The two guys raised their hands.

  “What do ya got there?” Dan asked the older gentleman.

&
nbsp; “My wife and I both have LandSharks,” he replied.

  “Margarita on the rocks here,” the twenty-something called out.

  Dan made the margarita and grabbed two LandSharks out of the cooler and headed to the tables. “Here ya go, folks,” he said, placing a drink in front of each of them. “On the house.”

  They all thanked him, and Dan returned to his stool.

  The kitchen door opened. “Hey, pal,” Red said. “When did you get here?”

  “Just walked in the door,” Dan replied.

  “I see you made yourself a drink.”

  “Yut.”

  Red looked at the other guy. “You ready?”

  “I made him one too,” said Dan. “And I got the tables each a drink.”

  “Hey, thanks,” Red said. “Did you put the money in the register?”

  “I told everyone the drinks were on the house.”

  “You're a dick.”

  “My mother's dyi—”

  “Shut up.”

  Dan snickered and took a sip of his drink. “Can you have Jocko make me a fish sandwich and fries?”

  “Sure.” Red side-stepped to his right and took a few steps back. He pushed open the kitchen door. “Jocko! Order up! Fish sandwich and fries.”

  “Yeah!” Jocko hollered back.

  Red let the swinging door swing shut, and returned to the bar. He grabbed a mug off the back bar and poured himself a cup of coffee. “You been over to the hospital to see Skip?”

  “Not yet,” said Dan. “I was gonna stop over later today.”

  “I'll go with you. Should we bring him anything?”

  “Like what?”

  “I don't know.”

  “Dirty magazines,” said the guy down the bar.

  Dan looked over. “What?”

  “Dirty magazines,” he repeated. “That's what I brought one of my friends once when he was in the hospital.”

  “I'll keep that in mind. Thanks,” said Dan.

  “Don't mention it.” The guy went back to is drink.

  “The reason I stopped in—”

  “Crap,” Red interrupted.

  “Crap, what?”

  “I was just hoping you stopped in for no reason.”

  “What's that supposed to mean?”

  “Whenever there's a reason, it's never anything good. What is it this time?”