Dawn Stewardson
Page 14
“Give it up, Leroy. Ben and I are friends, but for some reason we never really talked much about that robbery. We got going on it the other night, though, over a few beers. And that’s why I showed up here after all these months.”
“Whadda you mean, that’s why?”
Sully shrugged. “What do you think I mean?”
“How do I know? I don’t even know who this Ben guy is.”
“No? Well that’s really strange, because Ben sure knows who you are.”
“Yeah?” A smirk crept across Leroy’s face. “Yeah, well I guess that’s ’cuz I’m such a popular guy, huh? People know me who I never even hearda.”
Sully resisted the urge to wipe that smirk off the boy’s face and went for broke. “Ben knows who really planned that bank job, Leroy. He knows all the details. He even knows something about it you don’t. Something that’s really going to make you mad when you find out.”
The smirk vanished. There was a long silence. Eventually Leroy said, “What? What does this Ben guy know that I don’t?”
Sully uttered another silent “Bingo.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Cornering Ben Ludendorf in his lair
VISITING THE Gravesville Juvenile Correctional Institution took longer than Sully had originally anticipated because, after his session with Leroy, he’d felt obliged to talk with Howard Carter again.
He’d had to tell the man that Leroy had admitted being paid to rob that bank. Carter, of course, would be informing the police. And they, in due course, would pay Leroy a visit.
By that point, maybe Leroy would be ready to admit he knew the name Ben Ludendorf. As Sully had told the boy, the more Leroy cooperated with the police, the better it would be for him.
But since Leroy had stuck to the story that he’d never even heard of Ben Ludendorf, Sully still only had his suspicions that Ben and Dirk Blackstone were behind the crime. He didn’t have facts. Nothing he felt he should be talking to the police about personally. He certainly intended to talk to Ben Ludendorf, though. Just as soon as he could.
At any rate, it was late afternoon when Sully and Billy stopped by old Zeke Scrouthy’s place to pick up the other boys, and past six before they got back to the lodge.
Once they’d piled out of the van, Sully asked Freckles to feed Roxy, who, given the enthusiasm of her greeting, must have decided she’d been abandoned forever. Then he put Hoops in charge of dinner—even though he knew that would result in peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
He didn’t want to take the time to come up with a better menu. He was too eager to tell Lauren about his visit with Leroy.
Heading down to his office, he glanced over to make sure the window was closed. He doubted Billy would ever dare spy on him again, but there were no certainties with kids.
After dialing Lauren’s number, he waited impatiently through three rings before she answered. When she did, her “Hello” started his heart beating faster.
“Hi,” he said. “Everything all right there?”
“Sully?”
He could hear her smile when she said his name. It made him wish she were here with him instead of four hours away.
“I was going to phone you later,” she said, “because Elliot’s contact got back to me this afternoon. That bank account in Newcomb is in Ben Ludendorf’s name.”
“Good. I’d decided it had to be, but it’s nice to know for sure.”
“You’d decided because…”
“Because I went to see Leroy today.”
“Oh…and?”
“You want the long version or the short?”
“Medium.”
He laughed. “Well, it took a while, but I finally got the truth out of him. A good part of it, at least.”
“How? No, wait, you can tell me all about your wonderful interrogation skills on Saturday. For now, just tell me what you found out.”
“Well, we were right about somebody paying him to rob the bank.”
“Was it Ben Ludendorf or Dirk Blackstone?”
“Neither of them directly. Not unless one of them was pretending to be some guy named Gus. According to Leroy, this Gus fellow approached him only a couple of days after he arrived at Eagles Roost, offering him twenty thousand dollars to pull off the robbery—plus he’d get to keep whatever he took the bank for. That’s an awful lot of money to a fifteen-year-old,” he added, not sure if Lauren would realize that.
“Yes, of course,” she said.
“So there was no way he even considered passing on the idea.”
“He wasn’t worried about getting caught?”
“Oh, sure. But he figured if he did, he’d get lenient treatment because he was still a juvenile. So the risk was worth it to him.”
“And what happened to the money?”
“Well, the police recovered what he’d taken from the bank. He still had it on him. But they didn’t know anything about the twenty thousand, because Leroy’s story was that the bank job was entirely his idea.”
“So he’s got twenty thousand dollars hidden away someplace?”
“Only half of it. The deal Gus made with him was that he’d get paid in two halves. Ten thousand before the robbery, ten after.”
“Which explains the bank account,” Lauren murmured. “That ten thousand is the second half, right?”
“I think it’s got to be. Gus gave Leroy a name and address—the guy who’d have the second ten thousand for him. And Gus said that even if he got caught, even if he got put away, the money would still be waiting for him after he’d done his time. Once he got out, all he’d have to do was go see this person and ask for a package for Leroy.”
“And I assume this person was Ben?”
“That’s what I assume, too. The kid wouldn’t say, but I could tell he knew Ben’s name, even though he didn’t admit it.”
“So Ben is looking after a bank robber’s money for him? Sully, he could probably be disbarred for his part in this.”
“I know. And I think that’s exactly what’s going to make him tell me who Dirk Blackstone is. And why he wants Eagles Roost so badly.”
LAUREN SAT WITH the phone to her ear, hesitating. She didn’t want Sully to feel she was trying to push her way in where she didn’t belong, but she really wanted to be there when he talked to Ben Ludendorf.
At last she said, “Sully, you’ll go to see Ben, won’t you? I mean, you won’t just phone him.”
“No, I’ll go see him.”
“Well, when you do, I’d like to go with you.”
She used the pause at his end to try to organize her arguments. They were still pretty disorganized, though, when he said, “Any particular reason?”
“A couple, actually.” She took a deep breath, wishing they were face-to-face. She found it hard to discuss her feelings under the best of circumstances, let alone via long distance.
“I know you didn’t believe this at first,” she finally said, “but I’ve always felt badly about your losing your funding. And now that I’ve gotten to know the boys, now that I’ve gotten to know you, I feel even worse. So if I can help…
“Sully, if I went with you, then at the very least you’d have a witness to what was said. And if Ben denies knowing anything, we might get further if there were two of us asking questions. You know, the old two-heads-are-better-than-one theory?”
“It’s not a bad theory,” he said slowly.
But that didn’t tell her what he thought about the idea of her going along.
“And if Ben’s story is what we figure,” she pressed, “it would let me explain to the board members how you were set up. I’m sure that would almost guarantee they’d reinstate your funding next year. Especially if I’d talked with Ben in person. Then I’d be telling them what I heard him say—so they couldn’t suspect you might have twisted the facts to suit yourself.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Sully allowed.
She still didn’t think, though, he was entirely convinced he should let her go w
ith him, so she decided she’d better tell him the rest, even though she didn’t want to.
“Sully, there’s another reason I’d like to be there, but I’m afraid it’s very selfish. You see…oh, this is difficult to explain, but my father doesn’t think I’m a very competent person. If I could do something, though, something that would show him I am, if I was involved in blowing the whistle on Ben and whoever this Dirk Blackstone is, my father might finally realize I’m not just bungling my way through life. I know that sounds dumb, but—”
“No,” Sully said. “No, it doesn’t sound dumb. I understand what you mean.”
She exhaled slowly. After seeing how well he understood the way his kids thought, maybe she shouldn’t be so surprised that he was as good with adults. But it seemed strange that her own father was always telling her he couldn’t understand her thinking when a man she’d known for such a short while could.
“The only problem,” he was saying when she forced her mind back to his words, “is that we’re pushed for time. After I talked to Leroy, I told the administrator what I’d learned. I didn’t figure withholding information was a smart idea.”
“No, but if you told him about Ben—”
“I didn’t. As far as Ben’s concerned, we’ve got nothing but our suspicions, and I wouldn’t make any accusations based solely on them. But when the police talk to Leroy, they’ll tell him they know he was paid off—which will probably make him tell them about Ben.”
“But why? If he says anything about that ten thousand, he’ll never see it.”
“No, but at this stage he probably won’t see it anyway. And I pointed out that if he cooperates he might at least get a few months knocked off his time. At any rate, I want to talk to Ben before the police do, so I was going to phone him tonight, see if I could set up a meeting for the morning.”
“Yes. Yes, of course. I’ll call Rosalie and tell her I won’t be in tomorrow, that she’ll have to reschedule my appointments. And I haven’t heard a word about my car, but I can order a limo for first thing in the morning. If I get there about ten, would that be okay?”
“Ten would be fine.”
Once they’d said their goodbyes, Lauren sat with the cordless in her hand, worrying about the funny tone that had crept into Sully’s voice after she’d told him when to expect her. If she’d been able to see his expression she might have known what it meant. Long distance, though…
Deciding she wasn’t at all fond of long distance, she carried the phone across the living room and put it back on its base. Unless she remembered to do that, she was forever trying to find the thing.
Then Killer appeared from somewhere, me-owing that he’d like attention. The little guy was getting friendlier by the day, and when she picked him up he immediately went into his purring-and-kneading mode.
Absently stroking the cat, she wandered over to the windows and stood gazing down at what her father called her “million-dollar view of Central Park.” Her thoughts, though, were two hundred miles away.
There was one more reason she’d wanted to go to Ben’s with Sully. She’d never have told him, but it was an excuse to see him again and she desperately wanted to. She was missing him like crazy.
Since she’d left the lodge on Saturday, she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him for more than three minutes at a time. Hadn’t been able to stop recalling how he kissed her, or how his touch made her feel.
He was the only man she’d ever met who made her feel as if she belonged in his arms. And if it weren’t for the problem of all those differences between them…
She’d been spending a lot of time thinking about everything Sully had said, especially about how awfully unlikely it was that any relationship they got into would last. But despite knowing he was right, that feeling of not wanting to just walk away had been getting stronger and stronger.
In fact, she’d been counting the hours until Saturday, thinking there was an eternity of them still to go. Now, though, she no longer had to wait until Saturday. Now she’d be seeing Sully in the morning.
She closed her eyes and continued stroking Killer—and feeling as if she’d just been given a Christmas present in July.
AFTER HE’D HUNG UP from talking with Lauren, Sully sat staring at nothing, letting his thoughts drift. No matter where they drifted, though, they kept returning to her.
Maybe part of her reason for wanting to help him was selfish, but she was honest enough to admit it. He liked that. And it didn’t take away from the fact that she did want to help—which he liked even better. It made him feel good inside.
So did the prospect of seeing her again, days before he’d expected to. But the idea of her casually taking another limo, all the way from New York City… There were so many reasons he shouldn’t let himself fall for the woman, but he kept forgetting about them.
“You just can’t keep doing that, Sullivan,” he muttered. “It’s only going to land you into trouble.”
Talking out loud to himself, he discovered, helped him manage to keep those reasons well in mind through the evening and into the next morning. To be more specific, he managed it until the moment Lauren’s limo pulled into the clearing.
Once she’d arrived, though, he had trouble thinking about anything except how much he wanted to take her into his arms and kiss her.
Unfortunately, there was no opportunity. With five boys and a limo driver on the scene, he had to make do with one delicious hello kiss when they left the others outside and came into the lodge. Then she went to freshen up before they drove to North Head, leaving him alone in the lounge.
Glancing out the front window, he saw that the driver had raised the limo’s hood. All five boys were crowded around him, peering in at the engine, even though only Freckles had shown any previous interest in auto mechanics.
He stood watching them until he heard Lauren’s footsteps coming back down the hall. She appeared in the doorway just as he turned from the window.
“Do I look all right?” she asked.
She was wearing a pale gray suit and a cool, collected expression. Combined, the look clearly said she belonged in the big city.
Not a bad look for visiting a country-bumpkin lawyer. When Ben saw her he wouldn’t know what was going on, especially since Sully hadn’t mentioned he’d be bringing anyone with him.
“You look sensational,” he told her. That made her smile, and her smile made his heart skip a couple of beats.
“Should we take a few minutes to plan our strategy?”
He shook his head. “We don’t know what Ben’s initial reaction will be, so I think we’ll just have to play things by ear. But he assumed I wanted to get together to talk about selling Eagles Roost. And since I didn’t tell him any different, we’ll have the element of surprise going for us. So why don’t I just start the ball rolling and you jump in when you spot an opening you like.”
As they stepped out onto the porch and started down the stairs, he began having doubts about his idea of using the limo for their trip to Ben’s, began thinking maybe they should take his van, after all.
He forced the thought away, reminding himself why he’d figured using the limo was a good idea in the first place. Limousines weren’t exactly commonplace in North Head, so their pulling up at Ben’s in one was bound to throw the lawyer off-balance. Then he’d see Lauren and…
And that meant going the whole nine yards was the right approach. They might need every possible advantage, so why not arrive in style? And this certainly was style. The limo that had come for Lauren on Saturday had been a conservative navy town car. This one was a white stretch job that was almost as long as the Van Slyke Building was wide.
Spotting them, the driver quickly shooed the boys away and closed the hood, then hurried to open the back door.
“All right,” Sully said, giving the kids his best stern look as Lauren slid inside. “We won’t be long, and I don’t want any funny business while we’re gone. Everyone stays around the lodge.”
Freckles forced his eyes off the car long enough to ask, “How come you won’t tell us where you’re goin’?”
“I did tell you. At least twelve times. We’ve got an appointment in town.”
“But you didn’t tell us what kind of appointment,” Freckles pressed.
Billy looked as if he was about to put in his two cents worth, then clearly thought better of it. He’d been treading very lightly the past few days.
“I didn’t tell you,” Sully said, “because it’s adult business. Now, remember, you all stay right here until we get back.”
He climbed into the limo and reached to close the door. The driver beat him to it, though, so he just leaned back into the seat and casually glanced around, pretending he’d ridden in a hundred different limos.
The plush seat they were sitting on faced forward, with at least a mile of leg room. Opposite them, beneath the opaque window that separated them from the driver, were a couple of single seats—on either side of a stainless-steel bar fridge. Sitting above that were a miniature television and a stereo system.
The car’s ceiling was the bluish-black of a night sky. And when the driver started the engine, little lights began twinkling above, like dozens of tiny stars. Sully couldn’t help looking at Lauren.
She gave him a wry smile. “If I’d had my choice, we wouldn’t have the top of the line. I think the stars are overkill. But since I only ordered it last night, I had to take what was available.”
Nodding, he looked out at the boys. The dark windows prevented them from seeing in, but they were all waving as the car started off. He watched them through the rear window until the limo reached the curve in the road and they disappeared from sight, then he turned to look at Lauren once more.
She smiled again. This time, he didn’t smile back. He just couldn’t manage it. Earlier, when he’d seen the limo driving into the clearing, he’d felt absurdly happy. And when they’d gotten into the lodge and she’d kissed him, he’d been floating on air. But riding in the limo with her had brought him back to earth with a thud.