by Rose Pressey
“It really wasn’t necessary,” Abby said. “Things are fine.” Her tone was matter-of-fact.
“Nevertheless, I thought I would do it for Jake,” I said through a forced smile.
Thank goodness the waiter returned with our food. That would help fill some of the void. As I sank my fork into my food it felt as if someone was watching me. I glanced over, but didn’t see anyone looking in my direction. I went back to my food. The feeling persisted. I looked over again and that was when I spotted the little face staring out at me from behind the large potted plant in the other corner of the room. Dorothy was hiding behind that plant.
I placed my fork and napkin on the table. “Will you excuse me for just a moment?”
She stared at me. “Sure,” she said with a wave of her fork.
I pushed to my feet and then crossed the room. Dorothy had hunkered down behind the planter, but I knew she was still behind the plant. Luckily, no one was sitting in this part of the dining room.
I stopped in front of the potted plant and tapped my foot against the floor. “Exactly what do you think you’re doing?”
Dorothy didn’t answer. I knew she was trying her best not to move. I moved the plant leaves apart, exposing Dorothy as she huddled back there. I stared at her. She finally met my stare.
She chuckled. “Maggie, what are you doing here?”
I quirked an eyebrow. “What am I doing here? More like what are you doing here? Come out from behind there.” I motioned.
Dorothy stood and moved around the plant. I glanced over and noticed Abby watching us.
“Do you want to explain to me what is going on?” I placed my hands on my hips.
Movement caught my attention from the right. When I looked over, Morton had peeked inside the restaurant’s door. Dorothy motioned him away. He hurried back out the door.
“Well, at least now I know how you got here.”
Dorothy tossed her hands up. “Okay, I knew you were up to something and I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Dorothy, I am fine. I just didn’t want you to…”
“Blow your cover,” she finished my sentence.
Okay so I’d said that phrase a few times.
“You should have more confidence in me.” When I glanced over at Abby she looked as if she was losing patience with me. “I’ll be fine. Let me finish lunch and I’ll be back at the office. Why don’t you get lunch with Morty?”
Dorothy stared at me for a moment. “Fine, but don’t be too much longer or I will have to come back for you. I don’t trust her.” Dorothy shot a glare in Abby’s direction.
“I promise I won’t be much longer,” I said.
Dorothy glared at Abby as she walked out of the restaurant.
I went back over to the table. “Sorry about that.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Sure, everything is fine.”
My food had gotten cold, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t much in the mood for eating anyway. Abby had finished hers. It looked as if this lunch was close to being over. I hadn’t made much progress in befriending Abby. I would have to try harder.
“So how’s the case going with the boat explosion?” I asked.
Of course I regretted that as soon as the words left my lips. Dorothy would have kicked me under the table if she had been there. Lucky for my shins, she wasn’t.
Abby stared at me. “Look, if you’re trying to get me to give you information about the case, then I can’t.”
I scoffed. “Abby, I’m a little offended that you would think I was trying such a thing.”
She shrugged. “Sorry.”
That was all she had to say? The waiter came over and interrupted our nonexistent conversation. I insisted on paying for the lunch. Abby didn’t offer anyway.
“I’ll walk with you outside,” I said.
She shrugged again. She wasn’t much of a talker. I wondered if she talked more with Jake. I hoped so because if not I felt sorry for him. We stepped out into the bright sunshine. I spotted her car nearby so I walked with her.
“Thanks again for coming to lunch with me. We’ll have to do this again sometime.”
She quirked an eyebrow. “Yeah, sure.”
I wondered if she had any other friends. We’d almost made it to her car when out of nowhere a car came speeding by. I grabbed Abby and tossed her out of the way before I jumped on her. The wind was knocked out of me when I hit the pavement.
That car had come out of nowhere. It looked as if they had been aiming right for us. It had been quick, but I thought for sure that I’d gotten a look at the men in the car. Furthermore, I thought that I recognized one of them. Was that Garrett Smith?
Why would he be after me now? Just because I was trying to help Cora? I supposed that was the only reason. I was glad that Dorothy and Morton weren’t here.
Abby jumped to her feet. The next thing I knew she had grabbed me by the arm and was pulling me across the parking lot.
“Where are we going?” I asked, trying to keep up with her.
“We have to get away from them.”
“Them? Who are they?”
She acted as if she knew them. Abby opened the door of a nearby store and practically shoved me inside. Why was she hiding from them? Wouldn’t she just call for backup? This was highly suspicious behavior. The employees watched us as we ran through the store. Abby flashed her badge. The employees held their hands up as if they were being arrested.
“Don’t do that,” Abby yelled.
They put their hands down.
When we reached the dressing rooms, Abby opened the door. “Come on, we can hide in here.”
I frowned as I scanned the room. “Who are we hiding from?”
“Just get in here,” she demanded.
Abby and I huddled in the tiny dressing room. I noticed the tartar sauce on her shirt. So Abby wasn’t so perfect after all. It was so odd that she was hiding from the men who had almost hit us. Was she afraid? Had the event triggered some kind of panic within her? I couldn’t blame her for that, but I wasn’t sure what to do.
“Should I call Jake?” I asked.
“No, don’t do that,” she whispered. “We’ll just wait here for a bit and then it will be safe to come out.”
I stared at her, completely confused. “Okay, if you say so.”
Someone walked by the door. All I saw was their feet. Abby noticed it too. She backed up against the wall of the dressing room. Her eyes were wide and she looked panicked.
“Why are we in here?” I asked.
Now I was beginning to be panicked too. The room seemed even smaller and hotter now.
“Are you okay in there?” the woman asked.
“We’re fine,” Abby yelled out.
“Okay, this is too weird,” I said. “We have to go.”
I practically had to drag Abby out of the tiny room. She scanned the space as I pulled her to the exit. The employees stared at us.
“Everything is fine here.” I waved. “Nothing to see.”
Was Abby having some kind of breakdown? I needed to tell Jake about this as soon as possible. I opened the door and stepped out onto the sidewalk. Abby stayed at the door’s entrance, just over the threshold of the store.
I motioned. “Come on, Abby, you can come out how.”
She stared at me. I motioned again. Finally, she stepped out. She paused and looked to the left and then to the right.
“I don’t think anyone is around. We are safe.” I grabbed her by the hand.
As I forced her to walk down the sidewalk she scanned our surroundings. I knew she’d been in dangerous situations before, so what made this time any different? I walked her over to her car.
“Should I call Jake now?” I asked.
She waved off the suggestion. “That won’t be necessary. I’ll call in and report what happened.”
We should have called right when it had happened. Maybe then the officers could have caught up to the car that had almost hit us.
She opened her car door and climbed behind the wheel.
“Well, thanks again for everything,” she said with a forced smile.
I couldn’t get over her strange behavior, but I couldn’t force her to tell me what was wrong. I didn’t care what she said, I was calling Jake as soon as I got into the car. Well, maybe I would get out of here first. It was kind of strange knowing someone had tried to hit us. What if they came back?
As I walked away from Abby’s car she pulled out of the parking lot. Wasn’t she supposed to make sure that I got to my car safely? I walked across the lot and slipped into my car. The more I thought about what had happened the more I felt something just wasn’t right.
I started the car and hurried away from the restaurant. It gave me the creeps the more I thought about it. It was almost as if Abby had known the men who had almost hit us. Wouldn’t she have told me who they were? I supposed if Abby had something to hide she wouldn’t have divulged any secrets. When I reached another shopping center parking lot I pulled in. I couldn’t wait any longer to call Jake. Unfortunately, Jake hadn’t answered. I left him a message that it was important that I speak with him. He’d probably wonder what I’d gotten myself into this time.
Chapter 19
As I walked along the beach with the breeze in my hair, my cell phone rang. I moved toward the sidewalk area so that I could answer. There was no way that I would hear the person with the waves crashing in my ears. I didn’t recognize the number. When I reached the sidewalk I picked up the call.
“Maggie, P.I.?” the male voice asked.
I looked around as if the person might be hiding behind one of the nearby palm trees. “This is Maggie.”
“I need you to meet me at the pier,” he said.
“Who is this?” I asked.
“That doesn’t matter. I just need you to meet me.”
“Well, I think it matters a lot. I’m not in the habit of meeting strangers,” I said.
“I have some information about a case that you’re working on,” the man said.
“What case?” I asked.
“Meet me and I’ll tell you.”
“I can’t understand why you can’t just tell me over the phone,” I said.
He paused for a moment and then he said, “There’s something that I want to show you.”
“Tell me or show me?” Was this guy just making up stuff as he went?
“I’ll meet you there in twenty minutes,” he said.
“I haven’t agreed to meet you.”
There was no noise on the other end of the line.
“Hello?” I said.
Still there was no answer. I looked at my phone screen. The call had ended. Now I had to know what this was all about. I hoped it wasn’t some kind of setup. After all, I had almost been hit by a car. I supposed meeting at the pier would be okay though.
It wasn’t a long walk so I headed out toward the pier. He’d said he had info about the case and something he wanted to show me. What could it be? I walked down the sidewalk, looking at the faces to see if anyone was watching me. No one was paying attention. I continued my walk toward the water. My anxiety increased the closer I got. There was nothing to worry about, I told myself. Everything was fine. It was probably someone who wanted to remain nameless. He would probably show me photos or something. I hoped that whatever it was that it was truly relevant to the case. I looked over my shoulder to see if anyone was back there.
I didn’t notice anyone watching me or attempting to walk up behind me. I looked ahead and there was no one paying attention to me that way either. I walked up to the pier and stopped. I looked at the time on my phone. It had already been twenty minutes. Was I too late? I had just arrived—there was no way that I’d missed this person. I dialed the number but it went to a voicemail box that said it hadn’t been set up yet. This was just another odd thing about this situation. I wasn’t sure how much longer I would wait. I decided to walk out on the pier while I waited. Surely the person would see me out there if he arrived. After all, he had told me to meet him at the pier.
The whitecaps moved across the water. The warm breeze blew across my skin. If nothing else this was a beautiful evening walk. If this person didn’t show up though I would always wonder about what he’d wanted to tell me. As I walked down the pier I glanced back to see if anyone was coming. I was still alone. It was odd to be here alone, but this was an isolated part of the beach.
I stood at the end of the pier and stared down at the water. I almost forgot that I was supposed to meet someone here. I closed my eyes and let the wind drift across my skin. The setting sun warmed my skin. It was easy to get lost in the moment.
The sound of footsteps traveled across the wind. Then I felt a presence behind me. Before I got a chance to look over my shoulder and see who was there I was pushed from behind.
I screamed as I fell toward the water. Then I hit the ocean. I went underneath. It was as if the wind had been knocked out of me. For a moment I couldn’t believe what had happened. Then I realized this wasn’t a dream and I had to do something to get out of there before I drowned or, even worse, a shark ate me. That was when the panic set in. And I knew what would happen if I panicked.
The water lapped against me. It was getting choppier by the second. Or maybe that was just my imagination. At least I could still see the shore. It could have been worse, I supposed. Just thinking about my surroundings made my heart beat faster. I had to remain calm or this would mean lights out for me. No matter how much I told myself that, it wasn’t quite working out that way though. What would I do? I wasn’t the best swimmer. I supposed I had no choice but to swim. No one was coming to save me this time. Jake wouldn’t magically appear. Would he? No, he hadn’t followed me this time. I supposed he had felt I was frustrated with him and stopped. Now was the time when I needed to be saved the most. It was do or die time.
I could float here in the ocean and drown or I could swim to shore. Why hadn’t anyone noticed me being pushed? This was it. I was going to drown out here. I’d moved to Miami and then drowned in the Atlantic. That sounded like my luck.
I started moving my arms and kicking my legs. The doggy paddle wouldn’t cut it in this situation. I’d gotten myself in quite a pickle this time. I had plenty of time to think about what I’d done wrong. I should have never blindly agreed to meet the person at a secluded location. It seemed as if someone wanted me dead. This had been an easy way for them to get rid of me. They must have assumed that I wasn’t a good swimmer. Or maybe someone they knew had figured out I wasn’t a good swimmer. How would anyone know?
That was when it hit me. I’d told two different people recently that I couldn’t swim well. One was my client Cora, who was currently apparently missing. Then the other person—Abby. I’d told Abby during a brief conversation we’d had while standing at the beach a few weeks ago. She’d shown up while Jake and I had been relaxing in the sun. Apparently there had been an urgent matter that made her drag him away. Sometimes I thought she made up stuff just for that purpose.
Cora wasn’t missing at all. Would she do something as terrible as that? Had she had someone call me to meet there on purpose? Or had it been a coincidence and she had followed me to the pier? She could have seen the opportunity and used it. Though the person who’d called me had never shown up, at least not that I knew. Maybe they hadn’t seen me in the water and had left.
Just when I thought I couldn’t swim any longer I made it back to the shore. It had been touch and go there for a while. I’d thought for sure that I saw fins. I stumbled to the shore and tossed the seaweed from around my neck. I collapsed onto the sand. I had to catch my breath. I was completely exhausted. There was a couple in the distance. They didn’t look over and see me, though even if they did they’d probably just think I was lounging on the beach.
I pulled the cell phone from my pocket. How it hadn’t fallen out I had no idea. Of course it no longer worked. Now I couldn’t even call for help if I wanted to.
I wasn’t sure if I was going to tell Jake about this. Then he really would think I couldn’t take care of myself. At the moment I was beginning to wonder if I could or not too.
I had to get back to my car. I didn’t want to be out here alone. Dorothy and Jake were probably both wondering what had happened to me.
I crawled a few inches and then managed to get to my feet. My legs wobbled a little. I headed across the sand back toward where I had parked the car. When I looked ahead I spotted a woman. It was hard to make out for sure, but I thought it looked like Cora from behind, with the long blonde hair. Then again it kind of looked like Abby too. Maybe I was so tired that I was imagining things. The woman disappeared around the corner and out of view. Now I would never know. Unless she was waiting for me. Maybe she would attack again.
I also didn’t see a man looking for me either. Yes, I thought for sure that I had been tricked. I made it to my car and locked the doors once I was in. I pulled out of the parking lot and headed for my apartment. I would have to get a new phone tomorrow. I’d have to use the phone somewhere else to call Jake. I supposed I should stop by Dorothy’s and let her know that I was okay. She would be worried if I didn’t answer my phone. And I was sure she had tried to text already. She loved to text.
Chapter 20
I couldn’t get over the distinct voice the man on the phone had had. He had to have been disguising his voice. It was too high-pitched and almost like a cartoon character. He would have been better off not disguising his voice at all. I wouldn’t have been nearly as suspicious if he’d talked in a normal voice.
Regardless, I would probably never hear from him again. The person who’d pushed me probably thought I was floating at sea right now as fish food. It would take a lot more than that to get rid of me. I would at least try to track down the phone number the man had called from, but I suspected it was a disposable phone.
I arrived at my apartment building and couldn’t wait to get inside and get out of the wet clothing. I parked the car and headed across the street toward the building. It was always difficult to find a parking spot around here. That sensation of being watched followed me as I headed for my apartment. Don’t tell me the man had followed me here too. That was when it hit me.
