Dungeon Building

by Melinda Barron

  Evelyn took a step away from her friend. She’d never seen the older woman like this. There was obviously something besides the burglary going on. “Madeline, I—”

  Madeline closed the distance. She poked her finger into Evelyn’s chest and said, “You will help me, or you will regret it. I know what Logan likes in the bedroom. He dated a friend of mine in Denver. I’ll spread the most vicious rumors about you that anyone in this town has ever heard. You’ll be out of a job, and you’ll have to leave Clearwater.”

  Anger almost made Evelyn say something she shouldn’t. Instead, she stepped around Madeline. “This conversation is over.”

  Evelyn headed for the building. She heard Madeline call her name, telling her she’d regret her choice. But Evelyn ignored her, making her way to the building. When she was inside, she stopped and took a deep breath.

  “What the hell?” Marsha asked. “I could hear her yelling in here.”

  “Obviously, Madeline is in some sort of trouble.” She told Marsha about what the mayor’s wife wanted.

  The two women exchanged looks. “I’m not calling Logan about this,” Evelyn said. “If I get more packages, sure, I’ll turn them over, after I see what’s in them. But I’m under no obligation to tell him what just happened.”

  “You’re right. But we need to do some checking on Madeline, see what we can find out. Want me to do some digging?”

  “By digging you mean talk to the gossips?”

  Marsha puffed out her chest. “I know the best ones in town, ones that know how to find out things that not a lot of people know.”

  It didn’t take but a minute for Evelyn to make her decision. “Do it. I’ll take care of things this morning, and you and I can meet for lunch and discuss what you’ve dug up.”

  Marsha dashed to her desk and picked up her purse. She was already dialing her cell phone as she pushed her way out the door.

  Evelyn sat down at her desk. The encounter had shaken her. She’d been accosted by many people about running stories and reporting arrests, but she’d never had someone who had always been so nice to her turn into such a vile creature.

  “Evelyn.” She turned to see Jack, one of the pressmen, standing at her desk.

  “Yes?” she said, even as she asked herself, what now? He handed her a brown paper box. “This was outside the pressroom door this morning. It has your name on it.”

  “Thanks, Jack.” She took it from him. If Penn were here, he would be screaming about fingerprints. She set it on her desk, then turned to watch Jack walk back to the pressroom. The paper didn’t run today, but they were printing a small weekly from a neighboring town. It was the only reason the pressmen came to work on Mondays. If they hadn’t, there was no telling when the package might be found.

  The more she thought about it, there was no telling how long it had been there, since nobody had been at the office since Friday afternoon.

  Now she had a dilemma. She could call Logan, and have him confiscate whatever was in the box. Or she could call Marsha and tell her to get back to the building. Or she could put the box under her desk and let Marsha work her magic and see what she could find out this morning. Then they could open it together.

  After careful consideration she opted for the latter. She put the box under her desk and turned to the phone that had just started to ring. It promised to be a busy morning.

  * * * *

  “You want to repeat that?” Evelyn turned away from Mark Parker, the sports editor. He rarely came in on Mondays, but today would have been the day. She held the phone closer.

  “I said I need to talk to you, now.” Marsha sounded as if she’d just seen a ghost. “Privately. Very privately.”

  “So the newsroom is a no-go?” Evelyn asked.

  “Meet me at your house, as soon as you can,” Marsha replied.

  The phone went dead. For the first time that day, Evelyn was glad Mark was there to man the phones. “I have to go to a meeting,” she told him. “I think I’ve handled all the ‘I was arrested this weekend’ calls, but if you get any more, tell them to call back tomorrow.”

  “Will do,” he said. Evelyn wished she had his ability to blow off everything. She went to the business office, where the main phone calls were handled, and told them she and Marsha were both going to be out of the office for a while.

  “Try to take messages instead of sending calls to Mark.” She turned toward the door. Then she stopped and turned back. Jack finding the package this morning presented her with a problem, one she needed to cover now. “I’m sure I don’t have to remind everyone that tampering with someone’s mail is a federal offense. If you talk about any letters or packages that arrive in this office with anyone, they’d better have a subpoena in their hands. If not, you’ll be out of a job.”

  This time she did leave, proud that she’d managed to, hopefully, put the fear of God into the staff.

  Once in the newsroom she gathered up her things, including the package Jack had given her that morning. She headed out the door, only to run into Logan.

  “Where you going, Inky?”

  “Nowhere.” She tried to keep the box to her side. It was light, and not very big, smaller than a shoebox.

  “I thought we might have lunch together,” he said. “We have some dungeon planning to do.”

  He was so close to her she thought he might lean down and kiss her. Instead, he said, “What’s in your hand? Not something I sent you. They shouldn’t be here yet.”

  “Just a…nothing.”

  “You’re a bad liar,” he said with a smile. “What is it?”

  Evelyn leaned against the door frame. “I haven’t opened it, and I have an appointment with Marsha. This is business, Logan. I don’t have to give it to you.”

  Their gazes locked, and for a minute she thought he would demand that she give it to him. But then he smiled. “I’m proud of you, Inky, for standing up for your rights in this. I also expect you to give it to us if it’s something important that will help solve the burglary.”

  “I will,” she said solemnly. “I promise.”

  He pushed open the door, and she hurried out. He was right on her heels. “I will see you tonight,” he said. “Is it my turn to cook?”

  “Which means takeout?” she said with a laugh.

  “Burgers and fries?”

  “Cheeseburgers,” she said as she opened her door. She closed it and then opened it again. “No onions on mine.”

  LOGAN WATCHED HER drive off. She hadn’t been out of the parking lot thirty seconds, and he was just walking back to his truck, when Penn drove up. He exited his vehicle as if it were on fire.

  “Where’s your girlfriend?”

  “Not my turn to watch her,” Logan shot back. “She’s an adult, and I don’t have a tracker on her.”

  Penn pushed past him and went into the building. When he came back out, Logan could tell he was pissed. “Where is she?”

  “Why?”

  “Because I know she has a package that I want to see.”

  “And how do you know that?”

  Penn’s lips curled into a sneer. “Because I have sources inside the building. They saw her carrying something out.”

  “Then why did you go inside? Did you think it was some sort of ruse, that she left and came back?”

  Logan could see that Penn was trying to think of a comeback. “I don’t think you’re taking this seriously enough,” the captain finally said.

  “I am,” Logan answered. “But I know that Evelyn has a job to do. I also know that she is under no obligation to give us what is sent to her. Obviously someone wants to use her to solve a problem they have, or at least that’s how I see it. It’s our job to find out who that someone is, and solve the burglary with our detective skills.”

  “I know you’re living with her,” Penn said.

  “You know, Captain, with all due respect, I feel like I’m back in junior high when I talk to you. I’m not sure what it is about my relationship with Evelyn that
pisses you off, but it’s none of your business. I thought I made that clear the other night.”

  “You want to hit me, Logan?”

  “Yeah, I do.” Logan took a step back. “But I like my job too much. Perhaps we need to take this situation to Jesse’s office and see what he thinks about you egging me on, because that’s exactly what you’re doing.”

  Logan turned toward his truck. That’s when he saw a delivery vehicle turn the corner and pull up in front of the newspaper. The driver went into the back and came out with a package.

  Suddenly Logan’s plan to send Evelyn’s gifts to the newspaper didn’t seem like such a good one. He’d made sure to put delivery dates on all of the orders, and it was for later in the week. But some places ignored things like that. And there was one specific thing he’d ordered last week that could be arriving today.

  The driver headed toward the building. Penn put out his arm to stop him.

  “Who is that for?”

  The driver looked confused. He studied Penn, but from the look he gave the captain, Logan knew the driver could hold his own. “I’m sorry, sir, but I’m not allowed to give out information about packages; not unless you have a subpoena.”

  Penn took a step back. Then he headed toward his car. “Where you going?” Logan yelled after him.

  “To talk to the judge,” he answered.

  The driver shrugged and headed into the building.

  Logan put his hands on his hips and exhaled loudly. “Nothing like small-town politics to brighten up a Monday morning.”

  When the driver came back out, his hands were free. Logan heaved a sigh of relief. He’d made sure all the packages he sent to Evelyn had to be signed for by her, and only her. He needed to call some businesses and change things around.

  They would build their dungeon, but he’d have the items sent to him. Things were just too dicey around here to risk their secret getting out in Clearwater.

  * * * *

  “Is that even possible that sweet Madeline could be into this kind of thing?” The shock in Marsha’s voice made Evelyn laugh.

  “Yes, it is.” She looked at the older woman, then down at the photo of Madeline Rusin, getting fucked by two men at once, and neither one of them was her husband.

  Another photo showed her taking it doggy style while she sucked a man’s cock. That photo featured two totally different men than the ones in the previous picture.

  With the photos had been a note. Tell Madeline to bring the money to the same place, or these photos will be delivered to every person in Clearwater.

  “I wonder where she’s at?” Marsha asked. “I don’t recognize any of these men.”

  There were four photos in all, featuring six different men. Or at least Evelyn thought it was six men, since one was a close-up of Madeline being double penetrated. “I would say Denver,” Evelyn said. “But I have no facts to back it up. She’s obviously being blackmailed.”

  “You think?” Marsha responded. “I talked to my sources, and not one of them mentioned anything like this.”

  “Then why were you so gung ho to get me alone?” Evelyn pointed at the pictures. “This is pretty bad.”

  Marsha cleared her throat. “Because one of my major sources said she heard a rumor that Madeline hired a hit man to kill Charlie.”

  The bottom dropped out of Evelyn’s stomach. “What?”

  “Before you panic, she also heard that she’d cancelled it.” Marsha shrugged. “She said that’s why she didn’t call the cops.”

  Evelyn wasn’t sure what to do next. The good citizen in her said to call Charlie and warn him. She thought about calling Logan and telling him. The pictures were obviously what Madeline had been looking for that morning when she’d accosted Evelyn in the parking lot.

  They wouldn’t have been taken from the house, because there was no way Madeline would have kept them there.

  “Here’s what I think,” Marsha said. “Madeline obviously likes to mix things up a bit. She found a place where she could play, and they are blackmailing her.”

  “What about the other thing?”

  “No clue,” Marsha said. “But I think we should call Logan and tell him that part, just in case. If something happened to Charlie, I would never forgive myself.”

  “Me neither.” Evelyn thought for a moment before she said, “I don’t want to believe she would hurt Charlie, but after how nasty she turned today…”

  “Call him,” Marsha said.

  Evelyn hit his number on speed dial. When Logan answered, she asked him to come to the house.

  “Business, or pleasure?”

  “Business,” she answered. “And please come alone. Don’t bring Penn.”

  “On my way.”

  Evelyn picked up the box and started to stuff the photos back inside. She had to figure out what to do with the photos.

  “Hey, I hear you’re have a new bathroom downstairs. Can I see it while we wait?”

  “Sure.” She stood, and it hit her that the workers were not there this morning. “They’re supposed to be working.”

  They headed down the stairs, Evelyn in the lead. When they reached the bathroom, Evelyn stopped so fast that Marsha ran into her.

  The space was totally finished. They must have been in there this morning, because when she’d left, the tub hadn’t been in place. There was a note on the counter.

  Marsha snatched it up. “Logan and Evelyn,” she read, rolling her eyes at Evelyn, “we hope you’re pleased with the work. Please don’t use the units for a few days to allow things to set properly. Let me know if there are any problems. Sparky.”

  Marsha shook the paper. “Logan and Evelyn, sitting in a tree…”

  Evelyn laughed. “You’re horrible.”

  “So it is true he’s living here now?” Marsha looked as if she were hot for the gossip.

  “He stays here a lot, yes.”

  Marsha propped her hip against the counter. “Define a lot.”

  “Um,” Evelyn stammered. “Every night?”

  Hearing it out loud drove Marsha’s point home. Evelyn and Logan had only been “together” for a week now, and he was living here.

  “I think things like this are called fate,” Marsha said as she left the bathroom. Evelyn stared into the mirror. Was it fate that she and Logan were together? How had it happened so fast? Was she so horny that she’d taken the first man who came along, or were the two of them that compatible?

  She wished she knew. It was something the two of them needed to talk about. She pondered what had facilitated the bond. Maybe the fact that they’d known each other for three years?

  Evelyn was deciding the best way to approach the subject with Logan when Marsha’s voice rang out in the empty basement.

  “What the hell is all this?”

  Evelyn’s head jerked up as if someone had slapped her. In the mirror she could see the shocked expression on her face.

  “Marsha!” she called out as she rushed into the basement. But it was too late. Marsha had already picked up one of the smaller boxes and opened it.

  “Are these clothespins? Are you going to start hanging your wash outside?” Marsha held up the item. “There are holes in them. Why?”

  “Please.” Evelyn grabbed it out of her hand. “These are…don’t!”

  But it was too late again. Marsha had already picked up another, larger box, and opened it. She pulled out the leather cat that was inside.

  “Oh my,” she said. It dangled from her fingers, the knotted ends touching the box where it had been stored.

  Evelyn wanted to melt into the ground. Marsha put it back in the box and closed the lid.

  “Please don’t think…badly of me.”

  For a minute, she thought Marsha would chastise her. Instead, her friend said, “To each his own. At least the two of you are single, unlike Madeline and her men.”

  Marsha headed back toward the stairs. “Did you get that stuff from Tucker?”

  Evelyn put her hands on her hi
ps. “How did you…?”

  Marsha’s laugh made Evelyn want to scream. “I’ve heard he has a talent for that type of thing. We all have our secrets, Evelyn. It’s turning out to be a hell of a Monday, isn’t it?”

  Chapter Eight

  “So Marsha found the boxes?” Evelyn didn’t share Logan’s amusement at the situation.

  “Yes, she did.” She was sitting in her living room, her burger settling nicely in her tummy.

  “Did you tell her we were building our own dungeon?”

  Evelyn tried not to laugh at Logan’s question. “She didn’t seem to want to know what we were doing.”

  He sat straight up as if someone had goosed him. “Marsha didn’t want to know something? I don’t believe it.”

  They both laughed as he leaned back into the sofa. “So Madeline’s gone?” she asked him.

  “We looked everywhere for her. Part of her closet had been cleaned out, and her car is missing. We’ve got an alert out for it.”

  “And Charlie?”

  “Shocked, pissed.” Logan picked up his beer. She hadn’t touched hers. “He doesn’t believe us, of course. His wife would never do anything like that. We must be out of our minds. He thought the photos were faked. When we told him Madeline wanted to have him killed, he stormed out of the station.”

  Giving Logan the photos had been an easy decision. After all, she couldn’t print them. She was surprised Charlie thought they were faked.

  “Let’s change the subject,” she said. “Tell me about the murder in Benson.”

  He shrugged. “A forty-three-year-old man named Dickey Manes. Someone used a baseball bat on him and ransacked his house. The weird part is they left the high-dollar items, like the TV and such. They took money out of his wallet, but left his credit cards, took a few other items, and basically tore up the rest of the house.”

  “Sounds like what happened at Charlie and Madeline’s house.”

  “Somewhat,” Logan agreed. “But there was no pee-stained furniture.”

  “Yuck.” Evelyn wanted to settle against his shoulders, feel his arms around her like she had every night this week. Time to change the subject again.