Rock Wolf Investigations: Boxset

by Dee Bridgnorth

  “Fine,” Laurie said, continuing to be quiet. “I’m very sorry that I ignored your concerns. I’m not trying to slack off. I don’t know if you realize the full amount of pressure that falls on me when there is a chronic problem going on. I have to answer for every single incident to corporate. Like the other night, when I had to ask the candle store manager to reopen and replace the broken jar candles? I have to account for that lost revenue to the store and to corporate.”

  “Corporate,” Josh scoffed. He made a face and glared down at her. “You’re too soft with them by half. If I was dealing with those flunkies, they would be dancing to my tune.”

  Laurie nodded her head, but she didn’t actually agree with what he was saying. Sometimes she wished Josh would try to understand things from her point of view. After all, it was her ass on the line every time he made a decision “in the field,” as he liked to call it. When he got after someone or really made someone angry, it was Laurie who got the phone call.

  She stood up and wrapped the remaining half of her muffin in a napkin. She had thought about taking it with her to eat later, but the look that Josh was giving her convinced her otherwise. So, tossing her empty cup and the remainder of her muffin in the garbage, Laurie left the coffee shop with Josh stomping along beside her.

  His presence was baleful and unpleasant. Laurie felt her stomach knot with tension and she wondered if she was going to be able to eat lunch in a few hours after this interview. Probably not. She’d been having stomach pains lately that felt almost like ulcers. She wasn’t sleeping well. This whole thing with the skateboarders was taking a toll on her personally. She wanted the entire situation wrapped up and yet she didn’t know what to make of it. Josh wanted her to get rid of the security guy, yet it had been Younger Adair to clear up the ruckus last night. Those kinds of results couldn’t be ignored. Not when they were right in her face.

  “Morning, morning,” Josh said as he nodded to the shoppers beginning to mosey their way down the promenade toward their target stores.

  Josh bent over to smile at the face of a baby in a stroller and Laurie had the most awful feeling that he was like a politician trying to kiss babies and woo old people in an effort to convince them he was their savior. “Hello there, young lady,” Josh gushed. “Aren’t you just a doll?”

  The parents seemed perfectly happy to have their toddler admired and why not? Josh seemed perfectly amicable and even friendly to the customers. His presence was like a huge security blanket. He was a man whose demeanor expressed he had it all under control.

  At the end of the day, what else did Laurie have to go on?

  Chapter Eleven

  Younger made certain that he was ready to go at exactly the appointed time. Ready to go as in at the security office of Branson Landing waiting for… well for whatever. He didn’t have a plan. He’d had a plan the day before and that hadn’t gone nearly the way he had anticipated. In fact, it was quite possible that nothing on this job was going to go the way Younger anticipated because he had a very strong feeling the skateboarders weren’t actually the problem in this office.

  “What are you doing here?”

  The gruff voice could only belong to one man. Mister Josh Bentley. The retired colonel was gazing at Younger like something sticky he had just picked up outside on the sole of his shoe. That expression one person gives another when they are looking at the last person they would like to see in this circumstance. But Younger didn’t care what Josh Bentley wanted or expected. That wasn’t what Younger had been hired to handle.

  Younger decided to go for cheerful. “Ms. Talcott asked me to report at two o’clock and so here I am.”

  Younger’s cheer, no matter how fake, had an immediate and negative effect on Bentley. The man’s scowl made his leathery, lined face look even darker. His eyebrows lowered so fiercely that Younger was pretty sure Bentley had just significantly reduced his own field of vision. The man put his hands on his hips and Younger knew if Bentley had had a weapon handy, he would have been using it.

  “You’re reporting?” Bentley sneered. “How cute. So, you’re supposed to be the consultant but you’re just reporting for duty like some new employee. Fine, I’ll give you a duty. Go walk the mall a few times then call it a day and go home. We’ll pay your company a nice hourly wage for your time.”

  Younger tilted his head to one side and wondered how this pissing contest was going to work out. “Sorry, Mr. Bentley, but Rock Wolf Investigations is a consulting firm and not a temp agency. That wasn’t the deal when Ms. Talcott hired us to help her with this situation.”

  “Yeah? Well we don’t need your help,” Bentley shot back. He walked over to what was likely his desk. It was oddly cluttered for a former army colonel. Younger had never known any enlisted officers to have a messy desk. Ever. Bentley sat down in his chair and kicked his feet back. Then he laced his fingers behind his head. “You just stand there at parade rest then and wait for the boss to get back. She had to handle a situation down at one of the stores.”

  Great. Younger really had no interest in staying there to continue the pointless push and shove. At some point he was bound to lose his temper fending off Bentley’s rudeness and then things would get really messy. Younger would get rude, Bentley would get ruder, and in all likelihood, there would be a yelling match and Younger would win and Bentley would be even worse. It was not a good idea for Younger to hang around and do nothing while he waited for Laurie Talcott. Even though it was quite apparent this was what Bentley was doing. A whole lot of nothing.

  Younger turned on his heel toward the door.

  “Hey! Where do you think you’re going, soldier?” Bentley shouted.

  Younger did not turn around when he reached for the door. “I’m not a soldier and I’m not under your command, sir. I’m going to find Ms. Talcott. You said to walk the mall. I suppose I just will.”

  “You can’t leave without my permission!” Bentley’s feet hit the floor but he did not stand up. “You don’t just get to walk away from me!”

  But Younger did. He pushed the door open and walked back out into the muggy afternoon heat. He nodded to a few tourists and savored the sound of light music playing on the PA system and the fact that he could no longer hear Bentley’s yelling in the background. He headed in the opposite direction of an Irish pub located on the corner nearest the main highway out in front of the Landing and turned the corner onto the main vein of the Promenade.

  Younger wasn’t entirely sure what he was looking for. Nothing. Everything. He was trying to observe what this place might be like under normal circumstances. To get a feel for the rhythm of it. For the most part it seemed like a rather happy atmosphere. The people were all glad to be there. They were eagerly walking in and out of stores. The clerks were smiling in the windows. Nobody looked grouchy. There were a few kiosks in the center of the promenade offering things like helicopter toys that you launched into the air with a long plastic strip. The hawkers were showing kids how to use the toy and demonstrating just how high the little things could go.

  There were people everywhere. Hordes of them. Even when, for a moment, the sidewalk looked more or less empty, it wasn’t. It only took a moment or two for a few doors to open and tourists and shoppers to spill out onto the promenade carrying huge shopping bags bulging out the sides with their purchases. There were smiles and laughter as they went to their next target destination with an eagerness that Younger found himself envying.

  “What are you doing out here?”

  This time it was Laurie Talcott’s low voice coming from somewhere behind Younger’s left shoulder. He turned and smiled at her. “Just having a look around. I wanted to get a feel for the place during the day. You know? Every outlet mall or theater or amusement park has a rhythm. That’s the sort of thing you use when you’re trying to come up with a good security plan.”

  “Oh? And what’s our rhythm here?” She fell into step beside Younger as he continued walking away from the security office and Josh
Bentley’s hostile behavior.

  In the distance, Younger could see the boats on their trailers parked in front of the sporting goods store. There were more than a few shoppers out there taking a peek. Big men in shorts and sandals with T-shirts and hats advertising their favorite sporting goods company. This place had money. That was the vibe it put off.

  “It’s the rhythm of money,” Younger quietly informed Laurie Talcott. He stopped walking and felt her do the same. Then he threw his head back and looked up at the second and third floors of the buildings, which were obviously occupied by condos. “Look at this place. It’s designed to be posh.”

  Laurie pursed her lips and looked thoughtful. “Midwestern posh perhaps, but you’re right. It was certainly meant to be upscale.”

  “And they’ve managed it. You’ve got an eclectic mix of boutique stores that sell trendy clothing and jewelry.” He turned and waved at another shop. “Unique stores that sell crap that’s usually only purchased on infomercials and the Home Shopping Network.” Then he made a rather grand gesture at the boats. “Or, you can come here and spend nearly thirty grand on a fishing boat.”

  Laurie now looked thoughtful. “You live and work here. I’m assuming that anyway. I would think that you’ve noticed by now that this town is absolutely saturated with tourists. We cater to them. We have toy museums and a mirror maze and enough miniature golf places to play a different one every night of the week. There are shopping malls and outlet malls and Christmas-themed stores and wineries and that’s what we do. We provide a place for people to spend their money.” She was nodding at Younger and then she stopped and held out her hands. “But I’m not sure how that affects our current situation. What does that have to do with a bunch of skateboard-riding teenaged delinquents?”

  “Did you ever get a call back about the skateboard we took last night? Any parents give you a call? Any kids come in to try to claim it?” Younger was honestly curious. He was pretty sure he had a gut feeling about the way this would play out.

  Except that Laurie Talcott suddenly looked very interested in the gold links of the dainty feminine wristwatch she wore on her left wrist. That did not bode well. Not at all. Younger had to clear his throat and stare at her to get her to come back to the conversation.

  “I did take the skateboard to my office last evening,” Laurie told him. “I put it behind my desk and put a note on it that it wasn’t to be handed out to anyone but a parent or guardian. Someone over eighteen.”

  “Okay?” Younger prompted. He gazed at her for a moment and wondered what had gone wrong. It seemed like she had done exactly what he suggested. “And someone came to claim it?”

  Laurie was wringing her hands. This did not seem to be going in a good direction. “Well, there was a cell phone number painted onto the underside of the skateboard by one of the wheel tracks.”

  “Excellent,” Younger said with surprise. “What was the prefix? Kimberling City? Blue Eye? Lampe? Hollister? I’m guessing these kids don’t come from inside Branson city limits.”

  “Hollister,” Laurie said quickly. “The cell phone prefix was Hollister. But when we called, it was actually a kid’s cell phone.”

  “Ah.” Younger processed this. His mind was going in a hundred directions, but each one of them had a productive outcome.

  “And then the kid came in and Josh gave him the skateboard.”

  Except that one. That possibility had a very negative outcome. The possibility that one of Laurie’s employees would just pat a vandal on the head, give him back his weapon of choice, and then send him on his merry way. Great. They’d had an opportunity to get a bit of extra information and leverage where these kids were concerned, and Josh Bentley had thrown it way thanks to his ego. At least that’s what Younger was guessing had happened.

  “Don’t look at me that way,” Laurie whispered to Younger. “I—I did what I thought was best.”

  Younger frowned and tilted his head to look at her for another moment. What was with her? She was two different people. That was his gut feeling on the situation. One of them was tough and practical and dedicated, the sort of woman who came marching into the office of Rock Wolf Investigations and demanded they help her with her case. Yet the other one was standing in front of him on the promenade looking like a whipped puppy.

  “What’s going on here, Ms. Talcott?” Younger deliberately kept his voice calm. There was a strange undertone in this conversation that he didn’t like. Fear. He could smell it and the scent made him uneasy.

  She fidgeted with her watch again. Had she been wearing a watch before? Younger could not remember. Perhaps it didn’t matter. “What do you mean? There’s nothing going on as you put it. My manager decided. He gave the young man a stern talking to, extracted a promise that he would never come back here with his skateboard again, and then told him if he was seen here vandalizing property or pestering customers, we would call his parents.”

  “And you got a phone number for his parents?”

  Laurie’s intense blue eyes widened just a fraction. “Well, no. But we will at that time. When we catch him again.”

  “Uh huh. And that’s really likely, isn’t it?” Younger raised his eyebrows at her and waited. He wasn’t trying to shame her or anything. He was truly interested to know the strategy. “Do you honestly believe the kid is just done with harassing your customers? Or will he suddenly become the background vandal and someone else will take the stage?”

  Laurie’s mouth opened and then closed again. She looked uncomfortable. “I’m—I’m not sure what Josh’s strategy is. I know that he has one. He’s very on top of this matter.”

  “And that has been super helpful to you so far. Right?” Younger prompted. He was getting mildly irritated now. It was like the woman had no idea what she was dealing with here. Or like she was simultaneously trying to let everyone run the show. “When you came into our office the other morning, you were on fire. You were decisive and bossy to the point that I was afraid it would be difficult to work with you because you already had such firm ideas about what you wanted to happen and how you wanted it to happen. Since that moment, you have dissolved into this sort of apathetic state of indecision that is doing nothing for this investigation.”

  Younger stared at her for a long moment. Her lips were parted and she was panting a little as though she were struggling not to either lose her temper or cry. Maybe both. That happened with some people. He watched several different expressions cross her features until she finally seemed to settle on anger.

  “You don’t get to tell me what to do!” she snapped. Her index finger was in the air and she looked mad as hell. “You don’t get to make judgments about my—er—my judgments. You don’t get to do that. You don’t know all of the different things that I have to deal with when it comes to this job. It’s—it’s complicated!”

  “Okay. It’s complicated.” Younger held out his hands. “When you decide to take my recommendations seriously, come back to the office and let me know. Until then, you seem determined to handle this on your own anyway. So, happy trails.”

  Younger turned on his heel and strode off down the promenade in the opposite direction of the boats and the sporting goods store. He was going to go back to the office and wait until she called him back. There was no doubt in his mind that she would. The woman was in desperate need of help. She just hadn’t figure out how bad she needed it yet.

  As Younger passed the turnoff for the security office, he spotted Josh Bentley standing out in front of the office as though he had been waiting for Younger to come sailing by. Younger gave the man a big wave. It was all bluster of course. But really the point was to make the other man wonder. Why was Younger so cheerful? Why did he seem as though this were all part of the plan? But of course, instead of waving back the surly old army colonel scowled instead. Younger could not put his finger on what was happening here but he knew there was something fishy going on.

  Chapter Twelve

  Two days. It had been two d
ays since Younger had just walked away from Laurie Talcott and she felt as though she had been living on pins and needles every second since. It was getting closer and closer to the weekend. That thought consumed her most of the time. As darkness fell on that Thursday evening, Laurie was pretty sure she was about to lose it. The seven o’clock fire and water show was getting ready to kick off with a bang and Laurie’s fingernails were bitten down to the quick.

  “What’s eating you?” Josh asked as he walked up behind Laurie with a cup of iced coffee in hand. He handed her a cup and she took it because it gave her something to do with her hands.

  The two of them sipped from their drinks as though this were just another day. Just another no big deal day. That’s how he acted at least. Laurie’s arms were tightly folded against her chest. She knew the pose was defensive. She wasn’t stupid. She’d had some psychology in her business classes and she knew exactly how she felt and what she was doing and why. Well, she didn’t really know why. The part that was missing was the why Josh didn’t realize this was a big deal.

  “Are you kidding me right now?” Laurie’s voice came out tight as though even her vocal chords were trying to lock everything down. “You don’t feel a little tense about tonight?”

  “No.” His expression was pure arrogance. She could see it from the corner of her eye and it grated on her nerves. “Why would it?”

  Why would it? He could not be serious. Laurie took a ragged breath to remind him of their recent disasters. “Because last night those little hooligans stood down there throwing food into the water cannons and you and your men were up here on the promenade strutting back and forth doing nothing!” But Laurie wasn’t done. “And the night before that they were over at the ice cream parlor on the corner stealing samples and harassing the customers until we had two women nearly in hysterics! And where were all of my security personnel? Doing a sweep of the parking lot because some more of the little pranksters were stealing windshield wipers off of our customer’s cars!”