by Jason Deas
Benny ascended the two metal stairs and offered his hand. “Benny James. I’m sorry for your loss, sir.”
“Shane Mitchell. Thank you for your condolences.” Something in the man’s head clicked and he said, “Oh my God. I seen you on TV. Gina!” he yelled. “We got us a real live celebrity on the porch here.”
Benny heard rustling from inside the mobile home and a woman in her late forties or early fifties came out. She wore a robe that almost matched the baby blue trailer’s color. Kindness radiated from her small, sad smile. Blond curls framed her face as she apologized for still being in her robe in the middle of the day. Benny couldn’t help but notice her perfectly manicured feet and fingers and the whiff of sweet perfume. Her face was soft, with a little extra weight, but she had obviously been quite a beauty in her prime. Today, however, she was still a grieving mother.
“Gina Mitchell,” she said, extending her hand to Benny.
“Benny James.”
“I know. Our cable got cut off, but before it did we used to see you on TV from time to time. We especially liked when you were on Rachael Martin’s show. I had a bet with Shane that something was going on between the two of you. A woman can tell things like that.”
“She is a pretty woman and a very good journalist,” Benny said, trying to avoid answering the question.
“So, does Shane owe me a back rub or do I have to rub his feet?” she asked, not letting it go.
“Shane,” Benny said. “You owe her a back rub, buddy.”
“You old dog,” Shane said as smoke shot out of his nostrils. He stubbed out what was left of his cigarette. “Come on in the house. I guess you got some questions to ask us.”
“Thank you for being so understanding.”
As they entered the house, Benny immediately noticed the walls were absolutely covered with framed photographs. Shelves also lined the walls displaying the biggest collection of trophies he had ever seen. The room was a shrine to the mother-daughter beauty queens.
“Feel free to look around a minute while I get dressed and Shane puts on a shirt.” Gina lovingly touched a framed photograph of her late daughter. Shane put an arm around her shoulder and led her into the bedroom
Benny began his examination of the room with the trophies. They were from various beauty pageants. From the inscriptions, Benny surmised that Stephanie had been in beauty pageants from about the time she could walk.
There were trophies from a wide range of different organizations and regions. Benny imagined Gina carting her all over the state to compete and wondered where the motivation came from to expend the energy it must have required to do so. His question was quickly answered as he inspected some photographs and found one of a young Gina as Miss South East. The trophy standing beside her was almost as big as she was, and if the size of the trophy meant anything, it was a pretty high honor.
Benny continued to inspect the photographs and saw just as many of Gina as he did of Stephanie. Benny even saw Shane in a few as he stood next to one of his girls in the afterglow of a victory. As he continued around the room, he studied the center wall at the back of the living room. A neon Laguna Lager sign glowed with orange and yellow lettering, with two lime green palm trees curving inward on both sides. Photographs and posters of the different advertising campaigns encircled the neon sign and Stephanie was the centerpiece of each and every one. Inspecting them all carefully, he could clearly see why the images incensed some, as a handful of the poses and bikinis were quite racy.
Shane and Gina came out of the bedroom. Benny did his best to conceal his amusement. Gina was dressed to kill and Shane looked ready for a rodeo. For them, it was their Sunday best. Stephanie deserved no less.
“Real beauty, wasn’t she? Took after my Gina, thank God.”
“She had his beautiful blue eyes.” Gina held her husband’s hand.
“Two beautiful girls.” Benny smiled gently down at Gina.
“Why don’t we sit in the kitchen.” Gina pulled a tissue out of her jean pocket and dabbed at the corner of an eye. “It’s the coolest part of the house at this time of day.”
Benny realized both were having trouble holding it together. These poor people. They’ve just buried their daughter. I could have waited another day.
The three walked through the threshold leading into the kitchen, with Gina leading the way and Shane a step behind. Once in the kitchen, they both turned to get Benny’s reaction to its contents. Benny stood still for a moment, taking it all in and trying to process what he was seeing. Lining the room, stacked at four and five high were cases of Laguna Lager. Benny quickly estimated that there must have been four or five hundred cases of beer.
“Can I get you a beer?” Shane offered.
“No, thank you.”
“How about some sweet tea?”
“That sounds good. Are you going to make me ask why you have enough beer for the whole town? You know, most people don’t keep 500 cases of beer in their kitchen?”
“Well,” Shane’s voice was flat, “after Stephanie was killed, the boss from over at Laguna Lager came over with flowers and his condolences. He said he wished the company could do a little more to show their appreciation for all Stephanie’s work she done for them, but they had just lost a bunch of money on a batch of beer.
“He said a machine had glued the labels on wrong and it would be too much work to take them off and for some reason or another they couldn’t put another one on top. He did have a final check Stephanie hadn’t picked up for an appearance she made at a boat show. It was for less than five hundred dollars. I told him we didn’t really have money for a funeral and we were having to borrow.”
Gina set a cold glass of tea in front of Benny as Shane paused to light a cigarette. He didn’t ask Benny if he minded, and in actuality, Benny liked the smell. It reminded him of his parents, who were heavy smokers. Benny took a sip of iced tea and instantly felt a cavity coming on.
After inhaling deeply on his cigarette, Shane continued. “Almost as soon as I finished telling the Laguna Lager guy that we didn’t have the money for the funeral, his eyes lit up. He said that although his company couldn’t sell the beer, nothing said that I couldn’t if he gave me the batch. He said I’d have to be careful since I don’t have a license to sell beer, but if I was careful it might just work.
“When he said it, I was thinking it might be a hundred cases or something like that. I had no idea what it meant to make a batch of beer. We sell it ten dollars a case or one dollar a beer if you just want one or two. Some folks in the neighborhood come by every day for a beer or two after work. Kind of like running a bar—we actually call it the Flamingo Lounge.”
“Well, that was awfully nice of him to do that for you.”
“Sure was,” Gina said as Shane nodded his head.
“I don’t know if you’re aware or not,” Benny said, taking another sip of tea, “but I’m not officially working this case for any law enforcement agency.”
Gina and Shane nodded.
“I’ve been hired by the Reverend Jim to help find his son. He seems to believe I will be able to find him before the police or the FBI.”
“You will,” Shane said.
“Oh yeah,” Gina agreed.
“I just want to be clear and for you to know that you do not have to help me or answer my questions if you don’t want to. Do you both understand?” Shane and Gina both said they understood. “I would be very grateful for your help, though. Will you help me?”
“Damn straight we’re gonna help you,” Shane said. “Right, Gina?”
“Of course.”
“Thank you. Now, I’m probably going to ask you a bunch of questions you’ve already been asked a number of times.”
“Someone murdered my beautiful baby girl.” Gina’s eyes filled with tears. “Whatever we can do to help you find whoever did this, so they won’t be able to do it again. Whoever did this needs to pay for what he’s done.”
There was a knock on the door and B
enny heard a voice call in saying, “Need three.”
Shane grabbed three beers out of the fridge and quickly went to the door for the transaction. When he came back, he opened one of the cases and put a few more beers in the fridge. When he sat back down, Benny pulled a small notepad out of his pocket and for the next two hours he asked them every question from every angle of the story he could imagine. At the end of the questioning, unfortunately, Benny did not feel closer to any answers.
Standing to go, Benny thanked Shane and Gina profusely for their time and after saying no two or three times, finally agreed to take a case of beer.
Benny shook hands with Shane and gave Gina a hug.
“Can I ask you a favor?” Gina questioned.
“Sure,” Benny answered.
“As you can see, we like pictures.”
“I have noticed.”
“Can Shane take a picture of you and me?”
“I would be honored.”
Shane pulled a point and shoot camera out of a drawer in the living room. Benny put his arm around Gina. Shane took three shots in case somebody blinked and showed Gina the results on the camera’s little screen. Gina smiled with pleasure.
“You’re only the second famous person we’ve ever met. One time a few years ago at one of Stephanie’s appearances we had the pleasure of meeting Geraldo Rivera. I know you gotta run, but can I show you the picture real fast?”
“Sure.”
“It’s in Stephanie’s old room. Follow me.”
Benny followed Gina into Stephanie’s room. The room looked as though it had not been touched since the day she last walked out of it. All of her personal belongings still cluttered the room and Benny even noticed a pair of bedroom slippers sticking out from underneath the bed. In the picture of her with Geraldo Rivera, she was not looking at the camera, but at the journalist. He had clearly said something funny in the moments before the picture was snapped, because Stephanie was looking up at him with sheer pleasure and the beginning of a hearty laugh.
“Great picture,” Benny said.
“I think I love it so much because it shows her sense of humor. She had a great sense of humor.”
“I bet she did.”
As he turned to exit the room, something on her dresser caught his eye.
“This is odd,” Benny said, pointing to the bizarre object.
“Somebody used to send those to her in the mail all the time. Must have been a fan of hers or something. Most of them she threw away after a day or two, because she thought they were creepy, but she really liked that one.
In the middle of the dresser, as though slithering across, sat a braided snake.
Chapter 19
As Benny headed back north on I-95, he spotted what looked like an unmarked police car behind him. Just as he pulled his eyes down toward the speedometer to see how fast he was going, the blue lights flashed. He had only been going ten miles per hour over the limit.
Benny steered the car to the side of the road and waited patiently for the officer to emerge from the vehicle. The door to the police car opened, and Jessica Flynn got out. Benny would have rather received a ticket than the interrogation he was about to endure.
“Can I see your license and registration?”
“Really?”
“No, I’m just kidding. Unlock the passenger door and let me in.”
It was already unlocked, so Benny leaned over, grabbed the door handle, and pushed the door open for her.
“What a gentleman,” Jessica said.
“Have you been following me again?”
“Unfortunately, that was the detail I was assigned this morning. I don’t like it anymore than you do. Don’t you think I’d rather be pursuing my own leads instead of following you around as you play catch-up?”
“I’m not playing catch-up. I’m just trying to figure out what you guys missed.”
“And what have we missed?”
“For starters, did you know that Stephanie met Geraldo?” Benny joked.
“Yeah, Mrs. Mitchell showed me that picture, too.”
“Did she ask to have her picture made with you?”
“Get over yourself.”
Jessica glanced in the back seat and saw the case of Laguna Lager.
“You took one of those cases too?”
“They almost forced it on me.”
“It’s actually pretty darn good.”
“You took one?”
“I don’t think they were going to let me leave without it.” She batted her eyelashes and tried to feign innocence. “I’m not as much of a goody two-shoes as you might think,” Jessica said as she took her fingernail and ran it across Benny’s leg.
“Stop it,” Benny said as he pushed her hand away. He repositioned himself in his seat and pulled his shirt down as he did not want her to see what she was doing to him.
“Would you rather we got a room at The Breakers?”
“Very funny.”
“Are you surprised I know about that?”
“I would be surprised if you didn’t. It was all over the news.”
“I was too young to see that,” Jessica said, smiling coyly. “I’m even a few years younger than Rachael.” She touched him again. “I know you like them young.”
Benny exploded. “Get out of the goddamn car!”
“Tah tah,” Jessica said, opening the door. Before walking back to her car, she leaned in the door and whispered, “There’s something happening in your pants. Just let me know if you need help with that later.” With that, she strutted back to her car as Benny watched her every move in the rearview mirror.
Benny watched her pull out first and waited a good two or three minutes before he headed out. He didn’t want to pass her on the road. It was rare that Benny let someone get under his skin, but she had done just that.
He tried not to think about her, but he did, the entire way back to the hotel. She was definitely under his skin.
Since it looked as though Benny would be staying in town for at least the next couple of days, he needed to make sure it was fine with Dirk to keep driving the Trans Am. He sure hoped it was OK as he would rather walk than go back to the peach colored heap.
When Benny pulled into the lot, he immediately noticed Dirk about forty or so feet in the air, standing in the basket of a lift, waving his arms. He stopped flapping his arms back and forth when he saw Benny and even from as far away as he was, Benny could see the relief on his face.
Benny peered up at Dirk and couldn’t help grinning. Something was obviously not right.
“How’s it going?” Benny called up to him.
“Been better.”
“Looks like you’re in a bit of a predicament.”
“You could say that. I need you to help get me down.”
“No problem. Do you think I can keep the car for a few more days?” Benny yelled up to him.
“You help get me down, you can keep it for a few more days free of charge.”
“No, I wouldn’t do that. I’ll pay. I’ve just gotten kind of attached to it, and I think I’ll be around a little longer than I first intended. Now how do I let you down?”
“There is a manual release button somewhere under the ignition box.”
“OK. Wouldn’t it have made sense to put the manual release button up there where the person who is stuck could actually use it?”
“You would think. I guess most people don’t use one of these alone.”
Benny found the manual release knob and pushed it hard. The lift jerked, and Benny heard the noise of the hydraulics as the basket started to ease toward the ground, and the enormous arm began to fold and descend. Dirk gripped the sides of the basket as though he was on a roller coaster and about to shoot down a giant hill.
Once he was on the ground, Benny said, “If you wanted a good view of the city there are other ways to get one.”
“Very funny. That’s what you call a very unhappy and sneaky customer.”
“Huh?”
“I had a customer rent this from me yesterday, and the cunning old coot said he needed to show me something. Didn’t say he was angry or anything like that because he knew if he did, I wouldn’t have fallen for his dirty trick. So, I climbed in the basket and he cranked it up. Before I knew it, he had pushed the lever to raise the arm. When he had it all the way extended, he turned it off and threw the key on the roof of my building. He said this was the biggest piece of crap he had ever used, and I should be ashamed of myself for letting people risk their lives with it. He climbed in his car and drove away.”
“You should get one of those boxes for anonymous complaints.”
“This customer was way past an anonymous complaint. He might have taken an anonymous dump in the complaint box.”
“That’s a disgusting thought,” Benny said, trying to get the image out of his mind.
The office area had a speaker loosely hanging outside the front door. A ringing phone echoed across the lot. Dirk jumped from the basket and ran toward the building, calling over his shoulder for Benny to follow him inside. Benny laughed. It was funny to see someone running at full sprint in cowboy boots. Benny hadn’t been inside the office and wondered what strange things he might find. If it held anything like the contents of the lot, it would be an eclectic mix at best.
The inside of the office was strange indeed. It looked more like a pawn shop than a place to rent items. Benny expected a rental place to have mainly tools and things of that nature. He first noticed the jewelry case. Rolexes, diamond earrings, gaudy necklaces, and other expensive looking items filled the case. Tables and shelves also filled the room with everything from stereos to sleeping bags. High-end video equipment, fishing poles, shoes, sports jerseys, and costumes galore.
When Dirk hung up the phone, all Benny could say was, “Really?”
“You’d be surprised at the things people will rent.”
“Who rents a Rolex?”
“Guy on a first date.”
“Makes sense,” Benny said. “Shoes? Who is going to rent shoes?”
