by Andrew Gruse
Ty smiled. “Yikes. You can’t stay here anymore. What are you going to do?”
Zack shook his head. “Get some sleep somewhere. I don’t know where yet.” He extended his hand. “Agent Campbell, thank you for your help. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to attempt to live in anonymity.”
Ty shook his hand. “You bet. I’m serious about you working for us, Stack. We could use good men like you.”
Zack smirked. The bar for being defined as a good man certainly has been lowered. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks.”
“I think I’ll hang around. It looks like you’ll need a ride somewhere,” Campbell said.
“Thanks again. I appreciate that. I’ll go see what’s going on.”
Zack got out of the car, and Campbell observed the scene. Zack, exhausted from no sleep for what seemed like an eternity, took a deep breath and walked to Julie. She met him with a hug.
“What’s going on?”
“We’ve been evicted,” Julie said. “All of our stuff is probably ruined, and they won’t let anyone inside to collect anything. Molly is not very happy, as you can see. Her car is toast, too. She basically just lost everything.” She looked at him, a tear came to her eye, and she hugged him again. “You look tired, honey.”
He held her, took in the scent of her hair, the softness against his cheek, the warmth of her body and the tightness of her grip. He let out a deep breath. “I am.”
Molly finally left the officer with a smile and walked to Zack and Julie. “We’ll be out of here in a few moments. My bedroom wasn’t damaged so I can get some clothes. Jules, we’re the same size, so you can borrow some clothes from me.” She looked at Zack. “Sorry about your things. Ruined. But, they are letting me grab some wine from the cellar.”
Zack thought of his belongings. Binoculars, spotting scope, a camera, bird books, clothes, bathroom kit, all gone. His watch, wallet, and two guns were the only things he had left. “Well, that’s just great.”
“And then, where?” Julie asked.
“Hobby,” Molly said. “They have a relic of a hotel there. We just need a ride.”
“I got that covered,” Zack said and pointed to Campbell.
“Good. Help me with the wine, Zack. You look like you could use it.”
The hotel in Hobby wasn’t the relic Molly described. It was old; the exterior was the brick building erected in the late 1800s and still had the Hobby Hotel block cemented near the top. Over the years, it evolved into something else, mostly being abandoned for the ’70s through the ’90s, but the elders of Hobby decided the downtown district was the only thing they had to get visitors, so the investments started at the hotel.
The main floor was a restaurant/bar along with a coffee shop off to the side that kept people coming in daily. The second level housed a few residents of Hobby, at a premium cost to maintain the quality of the building, and the third floor remained a renovated hotel with twelve rooms.
Zack and Julie approached the counter, which was separate from the bar downstairs. The setup included a stairwell and included an elevator, but the traditional wide, wooden, red-carpeted staircase on the outside wall gave it a historical touch. Large glass partition windows separated the lobby from the restaurant and bar.
The person behind the counter, a middle-aged man, stared at Zack and Julie, and a gradual smile crept over his face. “Can I help you two?”
“We’d like a room for the night,” Zack said. “Maybe two. We’re not sure how long we’ll be around.” Zack looked at Molly. “She’ll need a room, too.”
The man smiled. “You two aren’t from around here, are you?”
“If we were, would we need a room?”
The man slightly embarrassed but redeemed himself. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. We have nothing against out of town people here in Hobby. Your money isn’t any worse than ours, right?” He laughed. “What I mean is, I know who you are.”
“Oh no,” Julie said, silent enough that the man didn’t hear, but Zack did.
“You’re the couple that caused all the trouble over in Clyde, aren’t you?”
Zack took a deep breath. “Trouble is a relative term. We just inadvertently ended up in the middle of it.”
“He has a knack for that,” Julie added.
“Do you have a room with a king?” Zack asked.
The man smiled. “We sure do. But you aren’t getting that room. I’m giving you our honeymoon suite, on the house!” He looked at Molly. “And since you’re with them, you aren’t paying for your room either.”
The three looked at each other. “Look, we really just want a low key room, no fuss, no nothing,” Zack said. “We’ll pay.”
“No, you won’t!” The man said, elated at the people in front of him. “You don’t realize what you did for the town of Hobby! You nailed those corrupt bastards to the wall. Ag Cen just phoned our mayor. They’re building here. The school is being renovated now that Clyde’s has been closed permanently. You saved this town, Mr. Stack,” he said. “Your name is Stack, right?”
Zack nodded. Things are happening fast. Maybe some things are better in small towns.
The man laughed. “Yes, you did, yes sirree,” the man said as the typed into the computer. “You can stay here as long as you like. I promise you this: the people of Hobby will welcome you three with open arms! Hell, you probably won’t be able to buy your own meal as long as you’re here.”
“Thank you,” Julie said after realizing that Zack’s mind was shutting down.
“Here’s the key to the room. Just up the elevator to the third floor, take a right and last door at the end of the hallway. If the room isn’t to your liking, you let me know, and we’ll find something that is.” The man positively beamed. “Can one of you just sign here, and I’ll need a credit card to swipe. You won’t be charged, of course, but in case of damages, you know.”
Zack smiled. He pulled a card out of his wallet. “The hospitality is already waning.”
“Oh, no sir, nonsense,” the man said. “Legal purposes, that’s all.” He winked at Zack. “Do you need help with your bags?”
“We have none,” Zack said. “Is there a store around here we can get some things like you know, underwear, shaving cream, a toothbrush?”
The man smiled. “We got it here in Hobby. Don’t you worry. I’ll tell you what, I will send up a menu in a few minutes, after you three settle in your rooms, for lunch, on the house, of course, brought to your room and since you’re staying in the honeymoon suite, are you married?”
“Engaged,” Zack said.
“Then I’ll send up a bottle of our finest chilled champagne. If you’d like, I can send up the judge for your nuptials.”
“We’re not even dressed properly, but I’m game,” Zack said. He looked at Jules and smiled.
“We’ll pass on the judge for now,” she said.
The man laughed. “Of course. Just the champagne, and if you have any other needs or wants, why you just call me down here, and I’ll take care of it.” The elation showed. He let out a wild cowboy type ‘yeehaw’ and finished on the computer.
“How about a car? We have no wheels,” Molly said.
“Oh, sure. I heard there was a little blowup this morning. It seems a couple cars were crushed, huh?”
Zack felt weary, and the weight of his own body wore him down fast.
The man didn’t wait for an answer. “I’ll call Ed. He owns the dealership here in town. I’m sure he can set you up with a rental or help you with an insurance claim. You name it. Ed is the man around here when it comes to vehicles.” He smiled, and Molly said something to him that Zack didn’t pay attention to. “Don’t you worry, folks. We treat visitors like royalty here in Hobby. Enjoy your stay here in Hobby.”
Zack smiled and nodded. “I may retire here.”
Twenty minutes later, the man knocked on the door of the suite with the champagne. Zack, freshly showered, was sound asleep on the bed.
* * * *
Julie wanted him close to her. She wanted to feel him. All of him and Jules did. Now, she had to watch him leave.
“Why are you going to the hospital?”
Zack shrugged. “Agent Campbell of the FBI either found out I frauded the government and is going to arrest me, or he just likes me,” he said. “I don’t know. I do know,” Zack stood and clipped the strap over the handle of his handgun, “that I should see Derek. He’s going home today. And Orb and Deputy Frank are there so.” Zack held his hands out to say he didn’t know. “I don’t know. Maybe Campbell thinks I need closure on this whole damn thing.”
“You need to rest. You look exhausted. Just stay here with me today. We need to talk. Then, we’ll sip some champagne, make love, relax, make more love. Sound good?”
Zack walked to her and kissed her. “Sounds fantastic, and I want nothing more than to do that. But I have to do this. You look tired, honey. Take a nap when I’m gone. You’re totally safe here. Hell, the whole town of Hobby has your back. I’ll be back in a few hours. Keep the champagne chilled.” He kissed her again.
“Zack, we need to talk.”
“Honey, I know, and we will. But I have to do this. I’m sorry.” He wanted to kick himself for leaving her. But he needed to see this through. “I love you. More than you know.” He smiled and kissed her again. “After I get back, we only do what you want, ok? I’m done thinking for a while.”
* * * *
The thirty-minute ride to the hospital Agent Ty Campbell of the FBI decided would be an excellent time to let Zack know that the FBI had a decent file already on Zack Stack. To Zack’s relief, it wasn’t decent enough.
“I need to thank you, Stack,” Campbell said as he drove on the straight state highway. “We’ve been looking for that ring for some time now. You made a case for me.”
“So, you don’t need me anymore, right?”
“These guys have been running a child sex trafficking ring right through Clyde. Right under our noses. Abduct some kid from Chicago, or Milwaukee, Northwest Indiana, some big area, then hide them in Clyde under the earth for a few days. We start looking elsewhere, and they ship them further south and sell them to the highest bidder,” Ty said. “Sick, isn’t it?”
Words couldn’t describe how Zack felt about that.
“Anyway, the three we nabbed yesterday were mules, but they may lead us to some big players. It never seems to end, but hopefully, we’ll be able to reunite some families and at least slow that shit down around here,” Ty said.
“I hope so.”
“How the hell did you end up in the middle of it?”
Zack shook his head. “I was asked to find Derek,” Zack said.
“And the fire? I mean, if you hadn’t stuck your nose into that,” Ty trailed off.
Zack was equally as perplexed about that question. “Jules wanted to stop to listen to a band.”
Campbell laughed. “You’re too modest, Stack. I did some digging on you. You have an interesting history.”
Zack finally took his eyes off the passing fields and looked at Campbell.
“You spent four months in Europe just to find a person who skipped bail? We have ties with agencies all over the world to help us with that,” Ty said.
“That one was personal,” Zack said and realized Ty wanted an explanation. “I was framed for the murder of the very person that hired me to find out her husband was cheating on her. Turns out, the man embezzled a bunch from the company he worked for, had a mistress, and convinced his wife that she was going to die if she didn’t just go along with his sordid scheme.”
“What was that?”
“The guy didn’t want to go to jail for embezzlement or lose half or more of his wealth to his pissed off wife, so he convinced her that she could have it all if she moved to Europe with him and his lover. They opened a coffee and brownie shop in Amsterdam, yes, the good brownies, under fake names,” Zack hesitated to realize the irony of him commenting on fake names, “and planned to live out their days as a threesome. At least that’s what Dougie boy wanted.”
“How the hell did you find one person in all of Amsterdam?”
Zack smiled. “Katie Granders has a nice ass, and she always wears a thong. But Katie also wears low rider jeans, so when she bent over, there was the whale tail along with a really stunning tattoo of a phoenix rising right above her ass. She made sure I saw it several times,” Zack said.
“This Katie Granders like you or something?”
“I don’t know. Katie told me she was trying to seduce me so she could tell her husband she screwed me to see if he’d get jealous.”
“Did you?”
Zack smiled. “I didn’t realize she was trying to seduce me. I just wanted her to sign a check so I could keep my business running. But it was all a ruse. They were using me,” Zack said. “And then they killed a nameless, faceless hooker, dumped her in a swamp and made it look like she was Katie and that I killed her.” Zack scoffed. “Glad I didn’t realize she was seducing me and wanted me to sleep with her. They probably would have put my DNA on the hooker somehow. Anyway, after I convinced an outstanding Baltimore police captain that I was innocent, he sent me to Europe to find her.” Zack realized again he wasn't candid here, but at this point, Zack knew that caution was the better part of valor.
“Which brings me back to my original question about how did you find her?”
“Well, after thinking about it while watching incredibly beautiful women in almost nothing bikinis in Southern France along the Mediterranean, I realized I was looking at it all wrong.” Zack looked at Ty.
“You mean her ass.”
“Exactly. And the fact that you don’t see a lot of brunettes in Amsterdam and Katie was a brunette. So, Andre and I spent a lot of time in and out of coffee shops and bars and restaurants staring at women’s asses. I kind of felt like a pervert at times but lo and behold, one morning Andre dropped his keys in front of a stunning blonde, she bent over in front of me, and there was a phoenix rising staring back at me. No whale tale. I guess Katie switched to commando that day. So, we took her in, gave her some options, she confessed to everything, and helped us set up a sting to nab her husband Doug and his mistress.”
Ty turned off the street into the hospital parking lot. “Sounds like good detective work.”
Zack smiled. “It was luck. Then, I staked out the inside of the apartment and neglected to check the drawer of a hallway table which Granders hid a .38 revolver. After I beat his ass and threw him across the room, he smashed into the table, retrieved the gun, and put a slug in my chest.” Zack looked at Ty. Ty parked the car and turned off the ignition. “Not good detective work right there. I had a vest on and never made that mistake again.” Zack recalled the Glock he found in Senator Rosler’s desk. “Andre made sure I’d never forget.”
Ty laughed. “I wouldn’t forget a lesson like that either. Listen, I owe you a big thanks and at least a drink or favor or something. But seriously consider coming to work for us.”
“Let’s get this over with, so I can get back to Jules. She’s the only thing I want right now.”
“Fair enough.”
CHAPTER 57
The first stop was Derek Willows. Zack entered the room and saw the teenager sitting up in bed, his grandmother beside him, along with his girlfriend, Brittany. Zack smiled.
“Come in,” Derek said.
Zack entered and received gratitude and a hug from his grandmother and the girlfriend.
“I just wanted to stop by, see how you’re doing and wish you well,” Zack said.
“I’ll be fine,” Derek said reserved. “I’m just glad my grandmother hired you to find me.”
“Yeah,”
Zack said and saw the grandmother pull her checkbook out of her purse. “About that,” he said, “The way I recall it, she asked me to help. And I did. I’m sorry it took so long,” Zack paused and knew what Derek suffered through in the tunnels. “But I’m glad you’re safe now.”
“We don’t have much, Mr. Stack,” Derek said.
Zack smiled. “Derek, I think you misunderstood me. This is what we call gratis.”
The grandmother smiled.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s on the house,” Zack said. “You just concentrate on healing. Get things right and figure out your future. It’s a bright one from what I learned about you.”
“Mr. Stack, I already decided what I want to do. I want to be like you,” Derek said.
“Oh, Derek, I think you can set your sights a lot higher than me.”
“I mean, I want to help people. I want to work to make sure what happened to me,” Derek paused, “doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
I just wanted to see a bird and be with Jules. There is nothing altruistic about that. Zack smiled. “Well, listen, there are some FBI men outside who want to talk to you. Tell Agent Campbell about your plan. He can help you.”
* * * *
Zack left that room in search of Orb when he saw Deputy Lou in the hallway. Lou smiled at Zack and approached him. He offered his hand and shook Zack’s hand firmly.
“Mr. Stack, I’m surprised I didn’t see you in town earlier. I figured you’d end up here and was going to offer you a ride.”
“Thanks, Lou, but I had a different taxi service today.”
“You staying in Clyde? There are rooms open at the Orbison Motel.”
Zack shook his head. “No, we, uhh, relocated.”
“Over in Hobby, huh?” Lou shook his head. “How come?”
“Well, to be honest, I didn’t think we’d be very welcome in Clyde now that things have kind of fallen apart there,” Zack said.
“Oh, you mean because the town is dead now. Hell,” Lou said, “I suppose there might be a few upset, but most are glad. No one liked Mayor Perks, and if you weren’t one of his cronies, you were nothing. With him and his bunch locked up, well,” Lou shrugged.
