by Marja McGraw
The woman looked uncomfortable, but told him she’d seen his brother come by that evening, too. She couldn’t remember which man had been the last visitor, but sometime later she heard the nurse quarreling with someone. The old lady’s voice was filled with contempt when she referred to the “nurse”. She began to say something further on the subject of Vincente’s nurses, but when he tightened his lips she bit her tongue, knowing him to be a cruel man.
At Vincente’s insistence, she admitted that she didn’t know whom the nurse was arguing with because she’d only heard the female voice. He was tempted to throttle the neighboring busybody. He told her she was a worthless old woman. She hung her head and returned to her home, wishing she’d kept the information to herself.
The old man spat on the ground in contempt before turning his back on the woman’s house.
2003
The treasure? It wasn’t really important at the moment. A treasure hunt would be fun, but I had other business to take care of first. I reminded myself that I had other clients, not just my mother. Those clients had needs, too, even if they did owe me money.
I drove home thinking about an old murder, treasure hunting and, of course, Pete. I couldn’t stop thinking about Pete. I wished he were here, going over the clues with me. I was missing something. There was some little piece of the puzzle that wasn’t falling into place. I had a gut feeling that the piece was right at my fingertips. I just couldn’t focus on it.
Arriving home, I climbed the stairs to my apartment, carrying a couple of bags of groceries. The phone rang as I unlocked the door. The jangling stopped and I could hear a voice leaving a message.
I set the sacks on the sink and checked the answering machine.
“Sandi, this is Pete. Rick took some time off and drove up to Tahoe to spend a couple of days fishing with me, so I won’t be back as soon as I planned. Give me a call on the cell phone.” There was a pause. “Love you.”
I was glad to hear Rick Mason had driven up to spend time with Pete. Maybe that ol’ male bonding would be the best thing for him right now. At least Rick would understand what Pete was going through.
While I put the groceries away, I played the message again so I could hear the “Love you” part. Smiling, I picked up the receiver and dialed Pete’s cell phone number.
“That was quick,” he said, answering my call.
“How’d you know it was me?”
“Just a hunch. Where’ve you been?”
“I had to take care of some business, one of our newer cases. And I stopped at the store to pick up some milk and stuff.” I didn’t want to mention I’d been following Cleveland, which is exactly what Pete had asked me not to do.
“Oh. Anyway, I guess I’ll be gone a few days longer than I planned on. Do you need me there for anything?”
“No,” I lied. I needed him, but not in the way he meant. I could tell he missed me already because he’d only been gone a short time and already sounded like it had been a week. “I can take care of things while you’re gone. You and Rick have a good time, and don’t bring home any fish.”
Pete chuckled. “We’ll only catch what we can eat while we’re here.”
“Oh,” I said, remembering my mother. “You’re not going to believe what happened.”
“What?”
“My mother and Frank were married in Laughlin. And they’re moving to a place called Bullhead City, in Arizona. Can you believe that?”
“Well, tell them I said congratulations.” I thought he sounded relieved. What did he think I was going to tell him? “We’ll take them out for a special dinner when I get home. Bullhead City, huh? I’ve been there. Do they know how hot it gets?”
“How hot does it get there?” I asked, feeling like the straight man in a joke.
“When I was there it was over a hundred twenty degrees.”
No joke with a temperature that high. “It was over a hundred twenty? Good grief.” I let that sink in for a second. “You realize, don’t you, that they’ll only be living about five hours away from here?” Proximity was more important than temperature in my mind.
Pete chuckled again. “I’m sure Frank can keep your mother under control.”
“Don’t bet on it,” I said with trepidation. “That woman has a mind of her own. No one controls her unless she wants them to.”
“I have a feeling she wants Frank to take over.”
“You don’t know my mother very well, do you?” I asked.
While we were talking, someone knocked on the door. I carried the phone with me and answered it, after looking through the peephole.
“Stanley is here,” I said, opening the door. “Hi, Stanley. Come on in and have a seat.” I pointed at the couch.
“Stan.” He corrected me.
“Stan is here,” I said, repeating myself and wondering what he wanted.
Pete laughed. We said a few last words, with Pete telling me he’d keep in touch and reminding me to stay out of trouble.
I crossed my fingers and said, “I’ll certainly try.” I pushed the Off button on the receiver and hung up.
Turning, I looked at Stanley. I’d had him on my mind a lot. Pete and I had discussed him and the fact that he seemed to be willing to help us with research. Stanley was good at researching people, places and things.
“What can I do for you, Stan?”
“Nothing. I just thought I’d check in to ask if you need my services. I know how busy you and Pete have been.”
I realized how much Stanley wanted to remain involved. Pete and I had half-heartedly discussed a plan involving Stanley, and now that I thought about it, the plan felt right. I decided it was time to mention something to Stanley that had been on my mind for the past few days.
“Stan, you’ve been a great help to Pete and me. You’re turning into quite the investigator.”
He beamed. I’d complimented him and I’d referred to him as an investigator. What’s more, I’d called him Stan without being reminded.
“I’ll do whatever I can to further your endeavors. All you have to do is tell me what you need, and I’ll find it,” he said with confidence.
“Stan, would you like a part-time job doing research for the business? I can’t hire you full-time, but maybe you could do some checking for me when you’re not busy at the card company. You seem to have a good working knowledge of the Internet.”
“I’d be delighted, Sandi. Why, you wouldn’t even have to pay me. I enjoy conducting research for you.”
No pay? It was tempting. “No, I’ll pay you. I don’t want you doing this for free. Let’s say that today was your first day. You can come into the office tomorrow and fill out some employment forms for me.”
“I’ll be there with bells on, as soon as I finish my day at the other job.” His chest seemed to puff up.
“Great.” I knew that Stanley would do a thorough job on any assignment I gave him. I also knew that he secretly longed to be an investigator, and I understood that feeling.
“By the way, I followed the white car this evening. Had a talk with Ham’s friend. I found out his name is Cleveland.” I needed to discuss this with someone, and Stanley was available.
“You did?” He sounded surprised. “You actually spoke to the man?”
“Yes, I did.”
He let the thought roll around his brain for a moment before he grinned. “I wish I’d been with you. You might have needed assistance, you know.”
“It worked out okay. I also found out why they’ve been hounding me.”
Stanley sat up straighter, ready to hear the scoop. “What was their purpose in keeping you under surveillance?”
I smiled. Only Stanley would pose the question that way.
“Ham was at the restaurant the night you joined us, the night my mother arrived. Apparently he overheard our conversation, and they want Vincente’s treasure.”
Stanley sucked breath. “Oh, my goodness.”
“Yeah. Can you remember anything about our conve
rsation that night? I’m trying to figure out just how much he might have heard.”
“I recall that we discussed your mother’s request to solve the family scandal. Sorry, the family murder. No, the old murder. No one in the family was murdered,” he said, correcting himself. “I also remember you mentioned the buried treasure. I don’t recall how much detail you supplied.”
“Hmm. Pete might remember something, but I don’t want to bother him with this right now.” If I asked him what he remembered, he’d want to know why I was asking. That would eventually lead to my meeting with Cleveland, and big trouble for me. I had to help Pete get past his feelings of protectiveness. He needed to understand that I could take care of myself. There are times a partner comes in handy, like during the confrontation with Amanda’s stalker, but that’s not always the case.
“Where is Pete, by the way?” Stanley asked.
“He drove up to Lake Tahoe for a few days. Oh, that’s right. You don’t know what happened.”
“Something happened?”
“Well, to make a long story short, we were handling a stalker case. We had a run-in with the bad guy, and Pete shot and killed him.”
Stanley looked shocked. “You say that so matter-of-factly.”
“He didn’t mean to kill the guy,” I added quickly, “but the man lunged at Pete and the gun went off.” I didn’t really want to go into more detail than that.
“I see.” Stanley rubbed his chin. “So Pete decided he needed some down time, is that right?” He understood.
“That’s right. A friend met him up there and they’re going to go fishing for a few days. You know, unwind.”
“Ah.”
“So, back to Cleveland, he said they’re not going to give up. They want the ‘loot’ and they plan on taking it away from me any way they can when I find it.”
“I believe I’ll take a few days of vacation from my other job and keep an eye on you. It’s what Pete would want,” Stanley said, pursing his lips and nodding his head. He really was feeling his oats.
“Now, Stan, I can take care of myself.”
“I know you can, Sandi, but there’s safety in numbers, isn’t that so?” Stanley asked.
Chapter Thirty-five
Safety in numbers. Hadn’t I said that to myself recently? Maybe he was right, although I had a hard time picturing Stanley as my bodyguard. Mentally, I struggled with this scenario for a minute. Stanley remained quiet, allowing me time to think things through.
“Okay.” I had a feeling I’d be watching out for him more than he’d be guarding me. Maybe I could keep him tied up with busy work.
“Wonderful. Where do we begin?” he asked.
“We begin with you going to the courthouse tomorrow to find that estate information for me. I’m hoping it will give me some insight. Now, go home and get a good night’s sleep. I have a feeling we’re going to be pretty busy for the next few days.”
Stanley left and I fixed myself a peanut butter, bacon and tomato sandwich. I wasn’t in the mood for a big dinner. Checking the TV listings, I saw that Arsenic and Old Lace had just started on the old movie channel. I’m a big Cary Grant fan, so I poured a glass of milk to go with my sandwich and planted myself on the couch in front of the television. I needed my own downtime.
After watching the movie, I went to bed and tried to sleep. No luck. As soon as my head hit the pillow, my brain kicked into high gear. I thought about hiring Stanley, which reminded me about his visit to the courthouse, which in turn made me think of Vincente. That led my mind to the old murder, which made me think about poor Merced and everything she had to go through because of Vincente, which brought me to all the people watching each other at Merced’s house.
Merced’s house would be mine soon. There was an attic full of items to be gone through. Was there any possibility that some of Merced’s things might still be in the attic? Stranger things have happened. This, then, led me to thoughts of the treasure. Could it be stored away in the attic? Nah, no way. Thinking of the treasure caused Ham and Cleveland to do a quick two-step through my brain.
Then back to the attic. Pete would help me clean it out. Pete was staying at Lake Tahoe to unwind after killing a stalker. Stalker? I’d had a stalker in my life once and had taken care of the situation myself.
I could take care of the Ham and Cleveland situation, too, although they weren’t really stalkers to my way of thinking, and I could do it without help from Pete or anyone else. Except that Stanley, no Stan, wanted to help. I hoped he wouldn’t get in the way. I really shouldn’t let a wannabe investigator try to help me. What if…
My head was spinning. How could I make the jumble of thoughts go away? I started singing a song, mentally, trying to block it all out. Then I couldn’t stop thinking the tune. How do you think a tune? You sing it in your head.
The next thing I knew, the alarm was ringing and it was time to get up and start a new day. Wow! What a night.
After eating a light breakfast and showering, I drove to my office. Stanley was waiting for me in the parking lot.
“Guess I’d better have a key to the office made for you.” I unlocked the door. We entered the building and I turned on the lights.
“That would be beneficial. You look tired this morning.”
“I am.” I felt sluggish, right down to my toes. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at work?”
“I called in and took the day off. I have investigations to conduct, and I’ve already been to the courthouse.”
“So did you find out anything?” I asked.
“Not really. There are records, and the clerk is going to do a search for them. She suggested I return in two days. I informed her I’d be back tomorrow.”
“Stan, you’re really are becoming quite the aggressive investigator. I’m proud of you. Don’t alienate her though, or you’ll never see those records.”
“I’ve been thinking about our conversation of last night,” Stanley said. “I don’t believe we really said too much about the treasure at dinner on the night in question. You didn’t seem to have much information on the subject at that time.”
“You’re probably right.” I punched the coffeemaker’s On button. “I still don’t know much, but I’m going to do my best to figure out both problems – the old murder and the treasure. And I sure hope I can get rid of Ham and Cleveland in the process.” Freshly made coffee would bring me to a higher level of alertness. I stared at the coffeemaker, willing it to finish brewing my salvation.
“Cleveland is back,” Stanley commented, casually glancing out the window.
“Boy, am I ever surprised.” Yeah, right. Now that Cleveland and I had spoken to each other, I guess he didn’t feel the need to try to be subtle. He was parked directly in front of the office.
“Would you like me to ask him to leave?” Stanley wasn’t a confrontational person. I knew this offer was made with tongue in cheek. It made me appreciate him even more.
“No, it won’t do any good. They’re going to keep buzzing around me like a couple of annoying mosquitoes. Maybe I’ll go buy some bug spray.” Brave talk. Ham gave me the impression he might be dangerous, but Cleveland struck me as the silly sidekick.
Stanley chuckled. “You are a bit grouchy this morning, aren’t you?”
“Sorry. I’ll be better after my coffee.”
I was finally able to pour us each a cup of java and sit down at my desk.
“What’s on the agenda for today?” Stanley asked.
“Well, Stan, why don’t you check the Internet and see if there’s anything else about old buried treasure in Los Angeles. It’s a long shot, but who knows? There could be something there.”
“I’m on it.” He sat down at Pete’s desk and turned on the computer.
“I’m going out for a while. Gotta get a couple of things taken care of on other cases. Be back in awhile.”
“Okay.” He was already engrossed in the information he was searching for on the Internet. He waved, vaguely
, in my direction.
Leaving the office, I drove toward an address that an attorney I occasionally worked for had given me. His case involved a personal injury lawsuit, and I wanted to scope out the claimant’s house before beginning surveillance.
Glancing at the rearview mirror, I saw Cleveland right on my tail. So much for surveillance. There was no way I could watch someone with him tailing me. It was time to take care of business.
I drove to a used car lot. I’d been thinking about changing cars, and now was the time. I needed a vehicle with a V8 engine and something more nondescript than my current red car. I parked and walked onto the lot. Turning, I waved at Cleveland, who had parked right behind me. He waved back.
A used car salesman approached me. “What can I do for you, little lady?”
“Nothing.”
He pushed. “What are you looking for? I’ll bet you’d like a cute little sports car. Am I right?”
“No.”
“How about – ”
“Leave me alone,” I said. “I’ll call you if I find what I’m looking for.”
He took a good look at the cranky expression on my face. “Just holler when you need me. I’ll be right over there.” I paid no attention to where he was pointing.
I hated used car salesmen. Couldn’t help it. Pushy people. But I knew this particular lot had a fairly decent reputation. They actually fixed the cars up before they sold them. And their prices weren’t too bad.
I roamed around and kicked a few tires, figuratively speaking. I don’t know a lot about engines, but I glanced under a few hoods and generally tried to act like I knew what I was doing. Then I saw it. My nondescript dream car. I checked the paperwork taped to the window. Yep, it was a V8, just like I wanted. It was a Ford Crown Victoria, two years old, and medium blue in color. The price was affordable.
I called over the salesman. He came running, barely able to contain himself.
“I’d like to take this car for a drive, and I’d like to have my mechanic take a look under the hood. Can we do that?” I asked.
