Dead In Bed

by Curry, Edna

  Paul returned. “Ah, you’re dressed, good. You saw the storm?”

  I nodded, venting my frustration aloud to him.

  “You were so tired last night I didn’t want to wake you. This is supposed to last another day or so. So we’re staying right here.”

  “I suppose that’s the only solution,” I agreed.

  “The motel has a nice little breakfast room. Let’s go get some food.”

  “All right.”

  We bundled up, ducking our way through the wind and snow to the main office. Inside, in a bright little dining room, a couple of dozen other travelers were making waffles and toast.

  “This is great,” I agreed, filling Styrofoam cups with coffee and orange juice.

  We found a table in the corner and I went back to make us waffles and toast while Paul collected scrambled eggs, bacon, jelly, butter and syrup.

  We commiserated with the other travelers a bit about the sudden storm. Everyone complained that it was too early for this much snow. Besides that, the weather forecasters hadn’t given us enough warning. Typical Minnesota grousing, I thought with a laugh as I carried our food back to the table.

  “If you don’t like the weather, wait twenty minutes, it’ll change.”

  I laughed at the silly, often-quoted saying. “I sure hope so. Did you get on the internet okay last night?” I asked as we ate.

  “Yeah, fine. I saw the storm warnings, but I figured it was already too risky for you to drive home. We are better off waiting it out here. Besides, we’ll have the whole day to ourselves. How often do we get a whole day?”

  “You’re right,” I agreed.

  “I can think of plenty to keep us busy, can’t you?” he said with a sly wink.

  I laughed. “Sure,” I said, my heart tripping at the idea of spending a good share of the day in bed with him. I looked out the window at the swirling snow. “What will we do for food? This room is only open for breakfast, right?”

  “I’ve stayed in this motel before. There’s a little diner about a block down the street. We’ll probably get wet if this keeps up, but we should be able to walk there and back all right.”

  “Good.”

  On the way back to our room, I dug my laptop out of my car trunk and brought it inside. I hadn’t planned to do any work, thinking I would just be there overnight, but after all the nasty things that had happened in this case, I’d taken my laptop with me for safekeeping. Whoever was harassing me knew where I lived and I wasn’t taking any chances on them breaking in and destroying my work while I was gone.

  * * * *

  A couple of hours later, we’d satisfied our desires again in the king sized bed. I was sitting on the bed in my pajamas with my laptop, surfing the internet and checking my email via web mail.

  Paul had gotten dressed again and was sitting at the little table with his laptop. His cell phone rang. It was another of his truckers. Paul talked for a while. He dug a notebook from his pocket and paged through it as they worked out a scheduling problem.

  He seemed to run his business from his little notebook and laptop, I realized. Though I knew he kept files of stuff at his apartment and worked there at least one day out of the week while he caught up on paying the bills, doing his payroll and all the rest of the paperwork involved in interstate trucking.

  I remembered my cell phone needed charging and dug the cord out of my purse. As I pulled it out, I found the jump drive I’d tucked there when I’d made copies of Harry’s files in his apartment. Yes! I could check out those files here.

  “Sorry about that,” Paul said, hanging up his phone.

  “No problem. Who called last night? I thought I heard the phone after I went to bed.”

  “Nora,” Paul said. “She’d tried calling you at home and didn’t get an answer. She was worried about you being out in the storm.”

  Embarrassment slid through me. “So now Nora knows I’m spending a weekend in this motel with you?”

  Paul laughed. “Yeah, she does. Don’t worry. She’s cool with that, Lacey. Nothing much fazes my mother.”

  “Yeah, but…”

  “She won’t spread it all over town. Besides, who cares in this day and age?”

  “You’d be surprised. Landers is still a small town that loves to gossip.” I chewed my lip in indecision. I wanted to call Marion to see what was happening back home, but was afraid to add fuel to the fire. Not that Marion would spread gossip about me, but what she didn’t know, she couldn’t inadvertently reveal to anyone.

  “Nora had some other news,” Paul said, changing the subject.

  I eyed Paul warily. Something in his tone suggested I wasn’t going to like what he was about to tell me. “Oh? What?”

  “Bill Jones attacked Sam Carter in a bar last night. Sam’s in the hospital with a concussion.”

  “Oh, my God,” I said, my heart pounding. Was my case going down the drain? Did Sam’s employees know more than they were telling? “Ben told me Bill had a bad temper. What was he fighting with Sam about?”

  “Nora didn’t exactly know, but she heard it had something to do with the factory audit.”

  “But they haven’t had time to finish the audit, have they?”

  “Nora didn’t think so. Why don’t you call her and see if she knows anything more today?”

  I phoned Nora, but she didn’t know any more than Paul had already told me. She reminded me she wanted me and Paul to come to her house for Thanksgiving Dinner next week.

  I assured her we’d be there, thanked her and hung up, then called Marion, who always knew more local gossip than anyone else I knew.

  Marion had a few more juicy details to add. “All I know is that they were in a bar drinking. Not together, but Bill overheard Sam talking and didn’t like what he said.”

  “Oh, dear. And then?”

  “Bill says Sam claimed Bill lied about how much product the factory’s been making. Said their sales weren’t near that high. Bill hit the roof, said Sam was calling him a liar and whacked him with a chair. Sam threw some punches back. Some other guys broke up the fight and called the cops.”

  “Honestly! They are supposed to be businessmen.”

  Marion’s laughter came over the air. “I guess any man reacts when he feels insulted. So anyway, Sam’s in the hospital for observation. He has quite a few bruises as well as the concussion. I tried calling you, by the way.”

  “Oops. I guess I had my cell turned off. Sorry.”

  “You aren’t home, are you?” Marion accused. “You didn’t answer your landline, either.”

  “Ah. Well, no. I’m not.”

  “So, where are you?” I knew Marion wouldn’t give up until I told her, so with a sigh, I answered. “I’m snowed in at a motel in the Twin Cities right now.”

  Silence. “I see. And you’re snowed in with Paul, of course?”

  Heat ran up my neck. “Yes, Marion.”

  She laughed gaily, obviously pleased. “All right! Have a nice weekend. You need a break from the craziness around here. Maybe they’ll sort it all out while you’re gone.”

  “God, I hope not. That’s not what Sam hired me for.”

  “Well, right about now, I think he’d be happy to have everything resolved. I hear Ben put Bill in a cell and wanted to throw Sam in another one, but the medics insisted on taking him to the hospital.”

  “Good grief. Are you sure Sam is going to be all right?”

  “He’ll be fine. I talked to one of the nurses this morning. So stay there and stay warm until the storm clears up. And don’t start out for home too soon. I hear the wind is really whipping the snow around and the roads are pretty icy.”

  “I promise,” I told her. “I hope to get home tomorrow if they get the roads cleared.”

  I hung up and told Paul what she’d said.

  “I suppose the roads are open right now, but they’re awfully icy and with the blowing snow, no travel is advised yet,” Paul said. “Let’s stay put until tomorrow morning. Then we’ll see.�
�

  I knew he was right, so I agreed and went back to my computer. I connected the jump drive I’d loaded with files from Harry’s computer and transferred them to mine, then began digging through them, one by one.

  The file he’d named Clara didn’t have much info on it at all, just the words, ‘private search’ and ‘cash’. Her name and the time and name of the restaurant where he was to meet her. Either Harry hadn’t recorded anything more, or had filed it somewhere else.

  I spent hours digging through file after file without learning much except that Harry had even more bread and butter divorce cases than I did. Was it that way for all PI’s? Why did I do this again?

  Paul kept busy on his own laptop and cell phone, lining up loads and arranging schedules of his other trucker employees who were happily not driving in our snowy area. Several times, I heard him laugh when he explained the weather here and repeated the temperature where they were, usually in the seventies, which sounded much more pleasant to me.

  Paul grinned at me as he hung up the phone.

  I made a face at him. “Why do I live in Minnesota again?”

  He guffawed. “Wimp. You live in Minnesota because the last time you spent a few weeks traveling around the south with me, you decided there were worse things than snow and ice.”

  I wrinkled my nose and nodded. “Oh, yeah, I remember now. Like excessive heat, mosquitoes, snakes, scorpions and poisonous spiders. I’ve encountered a few of those. No thanks.” I shuddered as I pictured those things.

  “True. Not to mention Tornado Alley and hurricanes and earthquakes. So quit complaining, Sweetheart.”

  I winked at him. “We had a good time on that trip, didn’t we?”

  “Oh, yeah. That we did. Are you ready for some food?”

  I nodded, closed my laptop and slid off the bed. “As soon as I get dressed.”

  “Dress warm, that wind is still whipping up the snow out there.”

  Luckily, I had an extra sweatshirt, so I layered it under my coat.

  We headed back after enjoying a quick supper at the diner.

  “I’ll take Scamp out for her walk.”

  “I can do it,” I said, feeling guilty. “She’s my dog.”

  Paul sent me a quelling look. “I’ll do it. Stay in here where it’s warm.”

  “Okay.” I gave up, knowing you couldn’t change Paul’s mind easily when he’d decided to do something. I watched them both disappear out into the blowing snow, the door closing behind them.

  I shivered and hung up my coat and gloves to dry. In just that short walk to the diner, a lot of snow had attached itself to my clothes and was now melting into a drippy mess.

  I decided to check my answering machine at my house back in Landers. I dialed my number and was about to put in the code to listen to my messages when someone answered.

  “Who is this?” I gasped. “Someone’s in my house?”

  “Wouldn’t you like to know, bitch?” a gravelly muffled voice on the phone asked.

  “Get out of my house! What are you doing in my house?”

  “I’m looking for stuff. Where did you put the stuff you took from Harry’s car and apartment?” the voice asked.

  “I gave it to the police. Ask the sheriff!” I growled back.

  He couldn’t know only part of that was true. “You lie!”

  “I’m calling the cops. Get out of my house!” I repeated, but the line went dead.

  I plopped down onto the bed and swallowed hard. “Damn it, he’s in my house!”

  I knew Ben wouldn’t be in his office at this time of night. I didn’t want to deal with Deputy Tom. So I dialed Ben’s cell number from memory. Luckily, he picked up the phone on the second ring. With my voice still shaking, I told him about someone being in my house and answering my phone.

  Ben promised to go to my house and check it out immediately.

  “Stay put, Lacey. The storm is really whipping it up out there. Besides, he’ll know you would report him, so he’ll have taken off right after talking to you.”

  I closed my eyes and groaned in frustration. “I’m sure you’re right, Ben.”

  I hung up and went to the window to see if Paul was coming back yet. I didn’t see him and began pacing the tiny motel room, anxious to tell him.

  Then I realized I couldn’t tell Paul. He was a protector. He would insist on leaving his business and going home with me as soon as possible in the morning.

  That was silly and would accomplish nothing. I’d be fine with Ben checking out my house. Whoever it was wouldn’t be there any more anyway. In fact, I felt sure Ben was right—he had probably already left.

  “But it just makes me so mad!” I said aloud.

  I’m sure he counted on the storm to cover his entrance and cover his tracks as well. Why did he answer the phone in the first place? Why not ignore it?

  Then I realized, maybe because he knew it was me. I have caller ID, so my phone would have told him I was calling home on my cell phone. Technology could be a curse as well as a help.

  Maybe he was feeling frustrated at not finding what he wanted and just wanted to yell at me. Or scare me again, like he had with his threatening messages. I was pretty sure the perp was someone I knew and who knew me, even though he was still trying to disguise his voice.

  This was my business and my problem. I had to solve it on my own, not involve Paul. If I needed to tell him at all, it would be later, after I’d solved the case.

  By the time Paul and Scamp returned, I’d calmed myself enough to go back to working on my computer. I was still digging through Harry’s files, looking for anything that would tell me who he’d been investigating in Carter Manufacturing. But nothing in his files seemed to relate to that at all. Where had he hidden that info? Or had he written it down at all? Maybe it was only in his head. If so, it was now gone forever.

  I looked up at Paul who was unzipping his boots.

  “The weather site says the wind and snow are supposed to end around eleven tonight. So maybe by morning the plows will have cleared the roads and we can go.”

  “Maybe so,” Paul agreed. “We’ll see.”

  Chapter 15

  Back in Canton, Janine Paine went to the hospital to see Sam Carter.

  Deputy Tom was just leaving Sam’s room as Janine arrived at his door. Tom was in full uniform, including his gun and holster.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked, frowning at Tom.

  Tom’s lip curled. “I might ask you the same thing, but I won’t ’cause I already know the answer.”

  Janine glared at him. “You always were a pompous jerk, Tom, even in ninth grade.”

  He sneered, “And you were spreading your legs to one and all even then, weren’t you?”

  “Ooh,” she said, raising a hand to slap him.

  “Go ahead, hit me. Then I can charge you with assaulting an officer,” Tom taunted.

  She lowered her hand, then raised her nose. “You would love to do that, wouldn’t you? I won’t give you the satisfaction of arresting me.”

  “Suit yourself.”

  “You’ve always had it in for me, haven’t you? Ever since I refused to go out with you back in high school.”

  “Did you? I’d forgotten I’d asked you.”

  “Ha. I’ll just bet you did.” Janine lifted her nose even higher, then walked into Sam’s room.

  Sam was sitting up in bed with a tray in front of him. A bandage circled his head and an IV tube protruded from his hand. He frowned at her.

  “What were you and Tom squabbling about?”

  She went over to him, kissing him on the lips. “Nothing much, Sweetie. Just an old high school thing. How are you feeling?”

  “Much better. But the doctor says I have to stay here another day.”

  “As soon as you get home, I’ll come over and take care of you,” Janine declared.

  “Ah, no,” Sam said, flushing with embarrassment.

  Janine pouted. “What do you mean, no?”


  “I mean, I don’t think you coming over to my place is a good idea. In fact, you shouldn’t even be here. People will talk.”

  Janine laughed merrily. She fluffed her hair, then slanted him a sly glance.

  “Who cares? Clara is dead. You’re a single man now, Sam.”

  Sam shook his head and looked away, fighting back tears.

  “I care, Janine. I’m ashamed of how I didn’t honor my marriage vows. It wasn’t right.”

  Her smile disappeared. “What do you mean? Before you were all hot for me and now, you’re going to go all righteous?”

  He met her gaze. “I mean it’s over between us, Janine. It should never have started in the first place.”

  Janine’s face turned beet red. “Over? You’re saying it’s over?”

  “Yes, Janine. Over. I’m sorry.”

  Janine threw up her hands and gave a hysterical laugh. “I’m not! I hate you, you pompous ass. I never wanted to make love to you in the first place. I only did it to make Wade jealous.”

  “Wade? You’re in love with Wade Burcell?” Sam said, bewildered.

  “Yes! Not that he cares. He was in love with Clara too, just like you. What was it with that woman? She had a rich daddy, was a cheerleader, prom queen, got to go to a prestigious college and had a beautiful wedding. She had everything I never got. What did she ever do to deserve you both?”

  “I’m sorry,” Sam repeated, horror written on his face.

  Janine paced to the hospital room’s window, then swung back. She raised her chin defiantly.

  “I quit. I’ll find somewhere else to work. I can’t work at Carter Manufacturing after this.”

  “All right. Gus won’t be happy to lose you, but that would probably be best. I’ll mail you a check for two weeks’ severance pay,” Sam said, relieved.

  Janine didn’t seem to hear him. She was staring out of the window again. After a long moment, she turned back to him, a wry little smile on her face.

  “I thought if she was dead, you’d both be able to see someone else. I guess not. It was all for nothing.”

  Sam eyed her nervously. “What can I say, Janine? I loved her.”