“They sounded kinda like snowbirds speak when they want to make us believe they’re just good old folks like us.”
“So they were Yankees gone native?”
“That’s it.” He smiled. “Didn’t fool me for a second. We say ‘yawl’ and Yankees say ‘you all.’ They was ‘you all’ guys.”
“You’re scum.” Alex looked as if he wanted to punch him.
“They made me do it. I didn’t want to, but I was out of money, and I needed supplies.”
Alex looked at me. “So he’s a drug addict as well as a kidnapper.”
Madeleine stepped forward. “Of sorts. What he means by supplies is peanut butter. He’s totally addicted.”
“We’re not finished here yet, Bradley. A few more questions and you’re free to go.” I couldn’t stand his smell one more minute.
“Don’t make me say anything else. Those guys are real mean. See my face?”
I nodded.
“They did that.”
“Then you did meet with them.”
“They had their faces covered. I had to give them the ransom, didn’t I? They sure weren’t happy it wasn’t all there, and they accused me of taking it. So they beat me around a bit. I guess I convinced them I didn’t do nothing. They told me they’d call if they needed me. They grabbed the money and took off.”
“You’re lucky to be alive. These men don’t fool around.” Alex sounded eager to scare him into saying more. It was great to have him in my corner.
“Distinguishing marks, tattoos, scars on their hands?” Alex was asking the right questions. We just weren’t getting much in the way of useful information.
“Nope.”
Alex grabbed his shirt and shook him. “You’ve got to give us something. It’s for your own good. They might decide to come back and do more than beat you.”
Bradley’s face turned white. “Well, I can tell you this. One was a big guy and the other, shorter and smaller.”
“Both were guys?” Call me suspicious, but I wasn’t convinced Sophia and Boris weren’t in on this somehow, especially after I saw Boris look for that missing glove, the one I’d pulled off the hand of one of the ninjas who attacked Jerry and me and stole the money.
“I don’t know. I didn’t hear the small one’s voice.”
Damn. We were no closer to finding out the identity of these guys than before the kidnapping, yet Nappi was convinced that all of these events were related. So was I but I couldn’t see how.
I gave Bradley a few bucks for more peanut butter so he wouldn’t starve before we got back to him or take another kidnapping job, and we told him to make himself available for when the cops decided to talk with him. I assured him I’d help him out by telling the authorities how he’d cooperated. Madeleine said she wanted him hanged for feeding her peanut butter for two days straight.
Madeleine and Dan returned to the bar to continue getting acquainted on the dance floor. Since I didn’t hear from her the rest of the night, I assumed she hadn’t hurt him. Alex and I went back to my place, talked for a while, then turned our attentions toward one another. It was his cell that rang when our lips made first contact. I leaned in to hear the caller.
“Hey, buddy. It’s me, Jerry. Eve seems to have turned off both her phones for the night, so I told Nappi I’d call you, that you wouldn’t mind.”
“I do mind.”
“But this is important, too important to wait until tomorrow. Tell Eve that the kidnappers called Sophia and Boris.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Listen, buddy. I’m not trying to one up you, but let me tell you from my experience being married to the gal, she doesn’t take kindly to being left out of stuff, especially stuff she thinks is her stuff.”
Alex gave me a funny look and then sighed. “Fine.” He handed the phone over to me.
Nappi came on the line. “The kidnappers contacted the siblings with their final demand of half a million dollars. I was there when the call came in. I insisted they put me on the line. It was a woman with an accent, sounded Russian to me, although she disguised her voice by holding something over the receiver. Boris said it was the same person who got in touch before.”
“Now we have confirmation of the kidnapping not filtered through Sophia and Boris. What did you think?” I asked.
“I think she’s serious. She refused to let me talk with the sister. I think they’re getting anxious, worried the sister is too much of a liability. They might just kill her.”
“Did you do what you said you would if you made contact?”
“I offered the woman half that sum. She thought I was kidding, but I assured her I was not. I told her to take it or leave it, that I had the money, not Sophia and Boris, and that was all I’d offer them. I think the woman understood I was now in charge.”
“And?”
“She said she’d get back to me. I don’t think she’s running the show. I think she’s checking with someone.”
“Sophia and Boris must be horrified. They didn’t know you would do that, did they?”
“No, they did not. Now we just sit and wait.”
“How did Darlene react?”
“I thought she’d swallow her cannoli whole. That woman sure can eat, can’t she?”
“Are we any closer to solving this thing?”
“Maybe.”
I told him about my evening at the Busted Boot.
“We’ll have to decide which of these two we tackle first. Tomorrow at the Biscuit?”
“Nappi, aren’t you tired of the food there?”
“Okay. How about the Mexican restaurant?”
“I’m getting my car back tomorrow,” I said. “I don’t want to take the chance someone will decide to blow up this one too. I think I’m burrito phobic.”
“Your place then?”
“Take out?”
“I’ll cook.” He hung up.
Alex sat on the couch with one of those looks on his face. “What now?”
I had no choice but to tell him. Some of it, not everything.
“So you’re still dancing with the Russian mob.” He crossed his arms and shook his head.
“No. I’m not the one. Nappi is.”
“Right. And he’s such an ethical character, trustworthy, law abiding. It’s pretty clear to me that I’d have a better chance spending time with you if I killed someone, kidnapped someone, or blew up your car.”
“I would never forgive you for doing that to my car. It would not win my heart.”
“What would?”
“One of your kisses would go a long way toward making me reconsider if I like you better than I like chasing criminals.”
He reached for me. The phone didn’t ring, the doorbell didn’t ring. No one fell through my roof. But he didn’t kiss me.
“I’ve been withholding from you too,” he said.
“What?”
“I’ve got to get back on the road tonight. I’m due in court in Pensacola early tomorrow morning to testify in this case I’ve been working on.”
Alex and I couldn’t catch a break. Alex’s testifying against criminals and my snooping into murder and kidnapping seemed to always get in the way of a night of uninterrupted romance. I hoped Madeleine and Dan were faring better in the romance department than I. I wished them no serious injuries and a few passionate embraces. Someone should get lucky tonight.
Chapter 19
After Alex left, I couldn’t sleep, so I got out of bed and went to the kitchen for a glass of water. Since my brain wouldn’t turn off, I made a list of who the kidnappers might be, assuming that whoever did the kidnappings could also be my uncle’s killer. The list included almost everyone I knew except for those I loved: Grandy, Max. Madeleine, and Alex. I knew Madeleine might like Darlene to be first on the suspects’ list, but she was with us when my uncle was killed, and she had no reason to kill him, or at least I couldn’t think of one. Darlene believed Sophia and Boris’ story about the Russian mob and so did Winston. Fr
om what Nappi discovered tonight, I concluded the kidnapping was real. Madeleine’s certainly was.
Sophia and Boris weren’t on the airboat ride, so they might be the killers. They were Russians. Maybe they were in cahoots with the kidnappers. How that could be, I didn’t know.
Given what the peanut butter man told us about his bosses, I was almost certain it had to be the Hardy brothers who were responsible for Madeleine’s kidnapping. They might well be working for the mob Winston was delivering the money for. If they’d lost it, then they’d have plenty of incentive to obtain it from somewhere. Hiring a good ol’ boy like Bradley to do the dirty work was just their style.
Either the Hardy brothers or Sophia and Boris might be the ninja couple who robbed Jerry of the money Nappi loaned me, although I couldn’t see either of the brothers as light enough on their feet or heavy enough in the brains department to make the hit on Jerry. I still liked Boris for the one-gloved ninja.
Finally, there was the unknown factor: the Russian mob. Until Nappi spoke with one of them on the phone, no one except for Sophia and Boris had been in touch with them. Now I could almost feel their malevolence in the orchestration of the kidnapping, and I felt genuine concern for Sophia and Boris’ sister. How awful it must be for them. I knew how I’d felt when Madeleine went missing. I hoped Nappi knew what he was doing taking over as point man for them.
My head hurt from trying to untangle suspects and motives, kidnappings from murder.
I had to include some other people I wanted to trust, but knew better than to exclude from my suspect list. Otherwise I couldn’t see the whole picture. I hated to write down their names but the Egrets, grandfather and grandson, knew the swamps better than anyone. They had reason to hate the Hardys, and they were capable of finding and hiding the money.
I looked at the names remaining on the list: Nappi and Jerry, unlikely suspects. They both cared for me in their own ways, and they certainly wouldn’t harm my uncle. Nappi was a made man and Jerry his lackey. My pen remained posed over their names, then I scratched through them. I went back over the list, my sleep-deprived brain wandering in circles. Just before I fell asleep I’d almost convinced myself that none of it mattered. Madeleine was safe, and Nappi was working to rescue the sister. Of course he would succeed. If I shared with Frida my suspicions about the Hardy brothers being behind Madeleine’s kidnapping and why, she might arrest them, or they might suffer some horrible fate at the hands of Winston’s mob connections. The money Winston carried appeared to be lost forever, but it was mob money, both satchels of it. That left my uncle still dead, the murder unsolved. Did it matter? It did to me.
The next morning, while I was rereading my list of suspects, someone knocked on the door. I’d fallen asleep at the kitchen table. I unfolded my achy body from the chair and hobbled to the front door. As I passed the mirror in the entryway, I caught a glimpse of myself. The pen imprint on my cheek told me I’d fallen asleep on it.
“Who’s there?”
“Sammy.”
I swung open the door. He looked at me with his eyebrows raised in disbelief.
“I know I look bad, but that bad?
“What’s that line on your face?”
“I slept on a pencil.”
“Rough night, huh?”
“I’ll make coffee.”
He stepped into the room, but seemed antsy, as if he wanted to turn around and dash out the door.
“I can’t stay. I’ve got to get back to the business. Grandfather sent me. We have something we want to give you.”
I hadn’t noticed the duffel in his hand until now. It looked familiar, despite the mud on it and a few rips and tears in the side. One of the carry straps was gone too.
He dropped it on the floor and looked at me with trepidation in his eyes.
I met his look with a stern face. “Is all the money in it?”
“I guess.”
“Where?”
“It washed ashore near my uncle’s old fishing shack where the river takes a turn eastward.”
I reconsidered my earlier impulse to remove the Egrets from my list of suspects.
“Like Grandfather told you. The swamp takes things, then gives them back.”
“Don’t hand me that line of Indian mumbo jumbo. Why did you take this? You created nothing but trouble for a lot of people.”
“Okay, okay. The swamp didn’t take it. The explanation is pretty simple. Some kids in the tribe saw your uncle dump it off. They got excited and took it, even more excited when they found the money in it, then terrified because they knew it wasn’t theirs. They didn’t know what to do, so they hid it for a while, then finally told their parents. The parents came to us for help, and Grandfather said we would take care of it.”
“You should have taken it to the cops and spun this story for them to laugh at.” I knew I was being mean to him. I could see the truth in his face, but I was crazy with lack of sleep and with how losing this money had probably resulted in Madeleine’s kidnapping and worse. It had to be connected to my uncle’s murder somehow. I dropped my gaze to the floor and refused to meet his eyes. I wanted to believe him, but could I?
“I’m going. Believe what you want to believe.” He shoved the duffel toward me with the toe of his shoe as if it was contaminated with some disgusting virus. He slammed the door, leaving me with half a million soggy dollars at my feet. Well, wasn’t this a fine mess?
I determined not to make a move until I talked with Nappi tonight, but for now, I had a business to run. I shoved the duffel into the back of my bedroom closet, took a quick shower and headed for the shop.
When I arrived at the shop Madeleine had already opened the doors. And we had another visitor. Frida.
“Okay, Eve. Let’s talk. Actually, I mean you talk and I’ll listen. I’m sure you have a lot to tell me.”
Oops. From the expression of complete certainty on her face, it was clear Frida had done her homework on my uncle. I had no idea how much she knew so I couldn’t decide what to tell her and what to keep to myself. Anything to do with ransom money was off the table for discussion with the cops, and Frida was a cop. The rest of the story I would be safe spilling.
Frida leaned against the counter in the back room. “Just to get you in the mood for chatting, I can tell you this. Winston’s phone, a ‘burner’ I believe it’s called, was meant to be destroyed, but instead found its way into your couch, probably fell out of Winston’s pocket the morning of the airboat ride. It had some interesting numbers on it. Contacts for his business. All mob related. Nothing from his personal life. Nappi’s number was there. Did you know they were doing business together?”
I know I looked shocked, but not for the reason Frida suspected. Nappi had lied to me. He said they never used the phone, that they only met in person.
“So here’s where I’m at in this investigation. The only contact in that phone who has direct ties to this area of the country is your Mr. Napolitani. Aside from him, a known family man, the other possibilities for Winston’s killer or killers have to be the Hardys. We know they were working for someone, and we’re certain their airboat business was only a front for drugs, money transport or other illegal activities. Now they’re in the wind. We’d like to have a chat with them, like the one we had with your friend, Nappi. Can you help us with that?”
I shook my head.
“Okay, then is there anything you can fill us in on that we don’t know?”
“There was money involved.” I thought about the bag filled with cash that I’d moved into the back of my closet. Not that money.
I swallowed. “Here’s all I know. Winston made a deal with his bosses to do a final job for them before he retired.”
Frida let out a snort of a laugh. “No one retires from the mob.”
“They do if they can get someone in the mob to broker the deal.”
“Nappi. So you’re saying that’s why his number was on Winston’s burner?”
Well, no, I was not saying that
, but it was fine with me if Frida thought so. I’d deal with Nappi later. Tonight, over pasta and clam sauce.
“Winston was to deliver a large sum of money for his bosses to someone here. I think it was the Hardys.” There, I said it.
Frida smiled. “Bingo. He left the money in the swamp, and it got taken or lost or misplaced or something. The mob got mad and killed him.” She paused, giving me time to collect the pieces of a story I could tell her.
“Nappi told you as he did me that the mob never kills someone because that person takes their money. They get it back first; then they may kill the individual. Or worse. I don’t think the mob did in my uncle.”
“Just testing out a theory, but I know you’re right. The bullet that killed him according to ballistics probably came from a rifle, maybe a Kalashnikov. Not the way the mob does hits.”
Well, not the American mob but Russian mob, maybe.
“Okay, Eve, you tell me. Who do you think killed him?”
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t either, but I’m going to keep the pressure on to find the Hardys, and I’ll be talking on and off with Mr. Napolitani. They’re my best leads.”
“So you don’t think Nappi did it?”
“He produced an alibi for the time. Of course, he could have had your uncle killed.”
I shook my head.
“You still trust that guy? You are one naïve woman. We had to drop the charges because of the alibi, but he’s still on my radar.”
Mine, too. Why had he lied to me and told me he and Winston never made phone contact? He seemed so certain his number wouldn’t turn up on my uncle’s burner phone.
Frida left, cautioning me again about continuing my friendship with Nappi. If only she knew he was cooking me dinner at my place tonight. I contemplated telling her, but thought better of it.
The store was busy, giving Madeleine and me little time to talk about Frida’s visit. The last time I promised to drop by our clients in West Palm I’d reneged and came back with nothing to add to our stock. After all the sales today, our store looked as if we had just had an “everything must go” event and were about to close up shop forever.
Dead in the Water Page 18
