by Mary Ellis
‘A million? That’s not what Liam thought they would split.’
‘Yeah, well, Liam was odd-man-out. For years I kept tabs on Lester Owens to make sure his savings account hadn’t skyrocketed. He’s been broke for sixteen years. Then, after your partner came to see me, I checked out Owens again.’
‘Finish telling me this in your car. I think I can find Kate.’ Eric grabbed his computer and ran toward the elevator with Mendez at his heels. ‘I stuck a GPS tracker under the bumper of her car. If the thing works like it should, we should be able to pull up her location from the company’s website. Someone in her office helped me set this up.’ Inside Mendez’s sedan, he started tapping keys on the laptop.
‘Wow, you’re not a very trusting partner. Or does this have to do with the “boyfriend” part?’
‘Pretty much both again. You’d understand if you knew Kate better.’ Once on the website for Price Investigations, Eric typed in his twelve-digit registration number, hit enter, and sat back while the database searched for the signal. ‘Okay, tell me what changed for Lester Owens?’
‘Both his kids moved out, his wife died this past spring, and last week he quit his job without giving notice. So today when I went to chat with him, the front door was unlocked and it looked like he’d packed in a hurry. I’ve got an APB out on his pickup truck.’
‘Where’s he been stashing the loot all these years?’ Eric didn’t take his eyes off the screen.
‘Who knows? Maybe it was buried in his yard. But I also found out that Owens inherited a warehouse when his dad died. Before I went to look at it, I wanted to check on Miss Weller, to make sure her sort-of partner–boyfriend was still her bodyguard.’ Mendez scowled at Eric.
Before Eric could retaliate, his laptop dinged, indicating the website had found Kate’s vehicle. ‘Head to 1452 Eleventh Street.’
Mendez muttered an expletive. ‘That’s the address of his father’s defunct factory.’ The detective radioed the dispatcher and repeated the address. ‘All patrol cars must proceed cautiously and silently. Lester Owens has a hostage and should be presumed armed and dangerous.’ To Eric he said, ‘You wait here. I’ll keep you informed.’
‘No way, I’m coming along.’
‘Stop wasting my time. This is police business.’
‘If Owens moves Kate to a different location, I’ve got the best way to track her.’
‘Fine,’ Mendez snapped, ‘but you’ll stay in the car. I don’t need a civilian getting in the way.’ He peeled from the parking lot of the Vacation Inn and Suites.
‘Agreed.’
It took ten agonizing minutes to reach the rundown neighborhood and another four to locate the correct building. When they stopped in front of the abandoned warehouse, the first responders were leaning against their vehicles. They straightened when Mendez and Eric jumped out and approached.
‘What are you waiting for?’ Mendez hissed. ‘Owens has a woman in there he means to kill if he hasn’t already.’
‘I’ve assessed the building,’ said one officer, stepping forward. ‘There’s a door in back and one on the side, plus these garage doors. Without knowledge of the building’s layout, we were waiting for your command, Detective.’
Mendez, as well as Eric, gazed up at the four-story building: No windows on this side other than the garage doors which sat flush to ground. They had no idea what was happening inside. ‘Block this exit with your vehicles and don’t let anyone get past you.’ Mendez pointed at two officers. ‘You come in through the back, while you and I will take the side entrance as quietly as possible. Manfredi, stay with the vehicles. Don’t go heroic on me,’ Mendez said over his shoulder as everyone scrambled into place.
Or you’ll do what – arrest me? The moment Mendez and the officers disappeared around the building, Eric headed to the opposite side, where a narrow alley separated the factory from the apartment building next door. Eric spotted an open window on the factory’s fourth floor, along with a rusty fire escape still bolted to the exterior. At one time the metal steps could be used to go up to the roof or down to the ground in an emergency. Now the steps dangled twelve feet in the air. Eric picked his way through the trash, trying not to breathe. With few other options, he stacked two plastic milk crates atop an overturned garbage can, hoping they would hold his weight. He had no time to consider if the fire escape would crumble into orange dust or if he could fit through the window if he got that far.
But with Kate’s life at stake, Eric sucked in a deep breath and climbed the precarious stack, grabbed the bottom step and with every bit of strength, pulled himself up. The stack swayed but didn’t fall. The steps creaked and groaned, but supported his two hundred pounds.
‘Hey!’ A voice said from below. ‘Where do you think you’re going? You were ordered to stay by the cars.’
Eric looked down at a red-faced cop, one of the officers told to watch the front entrance. ‘My partner’s inside with a psychopath. I’m going in to find her. Either shoot me or follow me up.’ Eric turned his back and squeezed through the window. When he glanced down, the officer was already pulling himself onto the fire escape.
It took a full minute for his eyes to adjust to the dim, dusty interior. And a minute more before Eric could breathe without coughing. By this time, the cop had crawled through the window.
‘What’s your name?’ the cop asked in a hoarse whisper.
‘Eric. What’s yours?’
‘Officer Frank Hegarty. I’m taking the lead. You got that?’ Drawing his weapon, he motioned toward a set of stairs thirty feet away. ‘Try not to make a sound.’
‘Got it.’ Eric pulled his gun from an ankle holster.
The cop’s eyes rounded. ‘You got a permit for that, PI?’
‘Nope. Like I said, my partner is down there.’
‘Then try not to shoot anyone. Let’s go find her.’
It’s not that Eric didn’t trust Officer Hegarty, but he would do whatever necessary to save Kate and deal with the consequences later.
As silently as possible, the two big men crept down the first and second sets of stairs. Unlike the empty top level, floors three and two were strewn with abandoned machinery and equipment, probably too archaic to have resale value, along with shipping orders from better days at All-Best Tool and Die Company. No footprints in the dust indicated Lester Owens hadn’t brought Kate to either of these levels.
As they crept down the last fifteen steps to the first floor, Officer Hegarty motioned for them to stop and listen. Eric wiped his sweaty palm on his jeans, trying not to make a sound. But as they reached the bottom stairwell with guns drawn, their arrival didn’t come as a surprise to Owens.
‘Welcome, join us,’ Owens sneered. ‘Look, Katie-girl, your boyfriend and Pensacola’s finest have come to your rescue. Isn’t that sweet?’
In an instant, Eric took in the surroundings. In a filthy office, Kate sat stiffly in a chair, lashed to an iron pipe. Her feet were bound, her blouse half-buttoned, and her face streaked with tears. Owens stood behind Kate with his left hand around her neck, spiking Eric’s blood pressure into the danger zone.
‘Lester Owens, step away from that woman.’ Officer Hegarty leveled his service weapon at him.
‘No, I don’t think so.’ Owens lifted his right hand, where a large handgun was pointed at Kate’s ribs. ‘Put down your weapons, or this pretty girl will suffer a gruesome end. She’s been very uncooperative anyway.’
For half a minute, no one moved. Eric locked eyes with Kate, while the cop drew a bead on the killer’s forehead.
‘Lay your guns on the ground!’ Owens yelled so loud, pigeons roosting in the empty warehouse took flight. ‘Or I blow a hole in her head. I’m either leaving here today or some of you are dying with me.’
Eric took another look at Kate and lowered his gun to the floor. Hegarty hesitated a moment longer, then he too lowered his weapon. ‘Fine, take the money and get out. That’s what you want, isn’t it?’
‘What I want?’ Owe
ns screamed. ‘What I want is my wife back and Liam Weller and his worthless sister dead.’ Spittle flew from Owens’s mouth. ‘It was a perfect plan if those stupid hicks had just done what they were told. I have waited all this time and these two are still messing up my life.’
Suddenly, the jangle of a cell phone jarred everyone’s attention, but brought a smile to Owens’s face. ‘Know what that sound means, missy?’ He grabbed Kate by the chin. ‘Your jailbird brother is dead. Nobody else has this number but my cousin, who just happens to be a guard at Santa Rosa. At least I’ll know one Weller has been dealt with when I leave here. You, I’ll take along for a bit of insurance.’ Roughly he pulled Kate to her feet, unlocked the handcuff from the pole and attached it to her other wrist. ‘If either of you makes a move, my gun goes off.’
Eric and the cop exchanged glances. With Owens’s gun stuck in her ribs, neither had time to reach their weapon. As Eric helplessly watched, Owens released the handcuffs at her ankles, then yanked on the ropes until they came loose.
Kate winced in pain but didn’t cry out. ‘Could you at least tell me where we’re going, Mr Owens?’ she asked. ‘So my mom and dad know where to find my body. I deserve a decent burial, same as your late wife.’
Owens dragged Kate by her cuffs toward the main part of the warehouse. ‘You ain’t got no parents. They were killed in a car accident. You’re the last Weller left in these parts.’ He laughed manically.
‘I do too have parents – Dolores and Ken. I fostered with them until I left for …’ Kate stopped short, her mouth pulling into a grimace. ‘I think I’m going to be sick.’ Suddenly she doubled over and began to retch.
Just as suddenly, Officer Hegarty bent for his weapon and shot Lester Owens squarely in the forehead. The man staggered a bit and then crumpled, dead long before he hit the floor.
Freed from her captor, Kate ran to Eric, her fake nausea gone. ‘Look at you – my partner, the hero!’ She turned her face up to his.
Eric wrapped his arms around her. ‘Officer Hegarty shot the guy. All I did was crawl through an open window.’
Hegarty dug the key from Owens’s pocket and released Kate’s wrists. ‘Look, Manfredi, part-time partner, part-time boyfriend, put your gun away before Mendez sees it. You’ve never seen that guy mad before.’
Just as Eric slipped his gun into the ankle holster, Mendez with two other cops reached their part of the warehouse. Mendez looked at Owens in a pool of blood on the floor, then looked at his officer and finally looked at them. ‘What do we have here?’ he murmured.
‘He left me with no choice, Detective,’ Officer Hegarty explained.
‘Put it all in your report. Are you all right, Miss Weller?’ Mendez asked Kate. ‘Nobody told me Owens’s father owned only half the building. It wasn’t easy getting through from the other half.’
‘I’m fine, Lieutenant Mendez, thanks to your officer and Mr Manfredi.’
‘I’d get a new partner if I were you. This one doesn’t know how to follow orders.’ Mendez scowled at Eric.
‘True, but every now and then he comes in handy.’ Kate smiled at him.
‘Look at what Owens stuck in Miss Weller’s trunk.’ The other cop who’d been watching the garage doors held up a duffle bag. ‘Looks like we found the million dollars.’
‘Wow, who gets to keep that?’ Kate asked.
‘You can always put in a finders-keepers claim and fight the insurance company for it. But for now, I need to get both of your statements.’
‘No, we need to get ahold of someone at Santa Rosa Correctional,’ Kate said, remembering what Owens had said with frightening clarity. ‘Owens left my phone out in my car.’ She and Eric sprinted toward the open garage doors.
‘Don’t go anywhere, you two,’ Mendez called.
‘Thanks, Eric,’ she said when they reached her Toyota. ‘Pay no attention to him. As partners go, I think you’re pretty awesome.’
As soon as Kate found her phone in the back seat, she dialed the number for Santa Rosa and asked for Elias Murphy in the infirmary. She held her breath until someone picked up the other end.
‘Infirmary,’ barked an elderly voice.
‘Doctor Murphy? This is Kate Weller. Did you get my message? Were you able to move my brother someplace safe? I didn’t know who else to call.’
‘Yes, Miss Weller, Liam is here now, recovering from a sudden bout of the Zika virus. Would you like to speak to him?’
Kate opened her mouth to answer, but not a sound came out as tears ran down her cheeks. Helplessly, she handed the phone to Eric.
‘Doctor Murphy, this is her partner. At the moment Kate is very emotional. Could you put her brother on?’
‘Hello. Is this Eric?’ asked a deep voice. ‘Tell my sister to stop crying. I feel fine. As viruses go, this one ain’t bad.’
Since she had heard every word Liam said, she grabbed the phone from Eric. ‘Excuse me for worrying about you, Liam Weller.’
‘Settle down, Katie. I’m not a pregnant woman, so I should survive the Zika virus without permanent consequences.’ Liam sounded like her brother used to – dismissive of any attempt to care about him.
‘Fine, I’m not worried. So I shouldn’t bother to visit tomorrow?’ Kate made sure she sounded just as obstinate as him.
‘I would love it if you visited. But they won’t let you into the infirmary with something so contagious.’
‘When we hang up, talk to Dr Murphy. I think you’re about to make a miraculous recovery.’
Liam paused while he considered. ‘I’m starting to understand why I don’t feel sick. So if you do come tomorrow, bring Eric with you. I want to meet the man who can put up with such a crybaby.’
Kate handed the phone back to Eric as her eyes filled with tears again. Tomorrow would be soon enough for snappy comebacks. Today she planned to just let the tears fall. Liam was alive and well. And maybe, someday, she would get her brother back.
‘Hey, Liam? This is Eric again. We’ll both see you tomorrow. In the meantime, better do everything the good doctor says.’ Eric hung up and handed her back the phone.
For a while they sat in her Toyota, running the air conditioning and waiting for Detective Mendez to take their statements. When he finished with them, Eric drove back to the hotel, while Kate tried to process everything that had just happened. For the first time, she tried to picture her future without Lester Owens or anyone else threatening her. She could come and go without looking over her shoulder or checking her rearview mirror.
I no longer need a bodyguard.
That realization hit her hard. ‘I suppose you’ll be heading back to Charleston soon,’ she said when Eric pulled into the Vacation Inn and Suites.
‘Well, as you pointed out earlier, it is my home while your home is here. It’s too bad, really, but maybe we can stay Facebook friends.’ Eric turned off the ignition and handed her the keys.
‘But I don’t want to stay here. Pensacola no longer feels like home.’
‘Where would you like to go, Kate?’ Eric looked downright perplexed.
‘I’m hoping that suite above your restaurant is still available.’ She turned toward him.
‘I could possibly ask my parents if they’ve rented it or not, but what about your brother? Liam doesn’t get out of jail just because the ringleader set him up.’
‘I can drive from Charleston to Milton every time Liam is up for parole. Maybe Detective Mendez and the DA will speak on his behalf. And when Liam’s released, he’ll probably be ready for a fresh start too.’
‘What would you do in Charleston? You can barely cook ramen noodles.’
‘Maybe I’ll open a satellite office for Nate Price. With Lester Owens dead, I don’t want to be a roving PI anymore. Then, in my spare time, I can teach you what I know about investigations. Or weren’t you serious about leaving the family business someday?’
Eric arched an eyebrow. ‘Oh, I was dead serious. Do you think Beth can teach me to shoot like her?’
&nb
sp; ‘Beth has a God-given gift, but I know she’ll do her best. What do you say, Eric? Will you call Alfonzo about the rental?’
At long last, he smiled. ‘I will, if you’re serious about letting me be your partner. There are lots of variables here – Nate’s willingness to open another office, Beth’s willingness to take on another trainee, plus my parents’ willingness to rent you the apartment. If you recall, a lot of bad things happened when you lived upstairs.’
‘I understand, and I promise to train you no matter what happens with Nate or the suite. If necessary, I’ll pitch a tent behind the restaurant until the tenant moves out.’ Kate offered her hand to clinch the deal.
‘In that case I’ll put in a good word with my parents. After all, you do need a real home now that you adopted Charley Crump’s pink geranium. But I do have one more contingency.’
‘Name it.’
‘You’ll say nothing about me eventually leaving Bella Trattoria. I’ll tell my parents when I’m ready to go work for Nate or whomever.’
‘Agree.’ Kate’s outstretched hand remained in mid-air.
‘Then you have yourself a partner.’ Eric shook with bone-crushing intensity.
Kate didn’t mind. Broken bones healed. But she wasn’t taking any more chances with a friendship … or any other kind of relationship any time soon.
