Peril in Pensacola

by Lucy Quinn

  “The robbers didn’t get it! You know what this means?” Evie asked.

  Dora nodded as she moved to tear the envelope open.

  Evie snatched it back. “Don’t you dare! That’s addressed to me. Don’t you know it’s illegal to tamper with the mail?”

  Dora glanced around the mail truck, looking at the piles of letters and packages strewn about before raising her eyebrows at her friend. They’d already crossed the line when it came to breaking postal laws.

  Evie gave her a smirk and tore the package open. Then she let out a squeal as she unfolded the tissue paper and held up the purple-and-turquoise silk scarf Dora had gotten her. “I love it!” She draped it around her neck as Dora reached for the flash drive that had fallen into Evie’s lap and gripped it tightly in her palm. Evie leaned over and embraced Dora. “You’re the best friend ever. I don’t know how I’d ever live without you. Thank you.”

  Dora patted her friend on the back, but she didn’t feel an ounce of the same joy Evie did. Not only was she in grave danger, she’d also managed to pull her best friend and an innocent mailman into the fray. The summer heat that had made her skin damp with sweat as they delivered the mail couldn’t warm up her heart because the chill of the danger she and Evie faced was too cold to ignore.

  8

  Evie’s concern over Dora’s state of mind was multiplied when she noticed how pale her friend was, and she wondered if the beads of sweat on her brow were actually from the Pensacola heat. She supposed it was a natural reaction to the last forty-eight hours. Not only were they in danger from Marco Franklin and whoever he was involved with, but they now had to figure out how to save an innocent man. Tempted as she was to call the police and let them handle it, she was afraid Dora was right. Brian and other members of the police force were likely corrupt, and they had no idea who they could trust.

  Evie reached for her friend’s clenched hand to find her fingers were ice cold. “Honey.” She tried to loosen the death grip Dora had on the flash drive. “I don’t think it’s safe to keep this on us. Do you?”

  Dora shook her head. “Nothing is safe, Evie.” She swallowed hard. “Marco and his goons are going to kill me. You. And Billy—”

  Dora’s phone vibrated in her pocket with a call, and she pulled out her cell to see who it was. The moment she looked at it she let out a little scream and dropped her phone.

  It clattered on the floor before Evie snatched it up. “Marco Franklin? Are you freaking kidding me? Does that lowlife think you’re actually going to answer?”

  “Maybe I should.” Dora whined. “Maybe—”

  “No.”

  “But—”

  “Shhh,” Evie said, determined to calm her friend. “C’mon now. There’s nothing good that can come from talking to Marco.” She opened up Dora’s phone and clicked on the contact info for Marco so she could block his calls. “We’re smart women. We can figure this out. We just need to hide this for a while until we know who we can trust. There has to be someone in law enforcement in this town who isn’t dirty. The only question is where?”

  “Don’t ask me, Evie. Clearly, my judgement isn’t to be trusted. You know how smart I am? I’m so smart I worked there for months before I saw Marco’s money laundering scheme even though it was right in front of my eyes.” Dora’s voice raised an octave as she continued. “How the heck is someone like me supposed to stay alive when we can’t even ask anyone for help?”

  “Trusting people doesn’t make you stupid. It makes you human.” Evie tried again to get Dora to relax her fingers, and this time it worked. She lifted the small orange flash drive from Dora’s palm and replaced it with Dora’s phone. “We need a good hiding spot for this.”

  Sunshine let out a bark, and Evie glanced down to see the pup was leaning against Dora, offering comfort. Dora absent mindedly stroked the dog as Evie marveled at how clever her puppy was grabbing the right mail for each house as they made their way through the neighborhood delivering it.

  Evie glanced down at the package in her lap and imagined what might be inside. Perhaps it was a present. And maybe it was for the woman’s birthday the way Evie’s package had been for hers. It made Evie imagine how happy some woman named Gertie Bonatelli would be when she received her gift. It really was amazing that you could send things all over the world right from your very own— “That’s it! Dora, I know what to do with the flash drive.”

  She yanked the keys out of the mail truck’s ignition and began to run the sharp edge of a key along the taped seam of the package in her lap.

  “What are you doing?” Dora’s tone turned sarcastic. “Tampering with the mail?”

  “We’re going to send Gertie here a little surprise. One that we’re going to be there to get.”

  “What?”

  The remaining tape popped when Evie tugged the box open and pulled out something wrapped in tissue. She removed the paper to reveal what appeared to be a Buddha statue, but a slot at the top of his head proved it was actually a piggy bank. “This is perfect!” She turned the bank over to remove the rubber stopper. A moment later, the flash drive clattered when she dropped it inside.

  “Hold on,” Dora said. She grabbed the bank and pulled the flash drive out to wrap it in tissue before putting it back inside the Buddha where it was now unable to move or rattle. She looked at Evie with a hint of smile. “I think this can work.”

  “Me too,” Evie said, grinning at her. “See? We can totally do this.”

  Dora frowned. “Maybe we can. But we’ve got a mess to clean up before we head on over to New Orleans to pay Gertie a visit.”

  “We certainly do. First, we finish delivering the mail.” This got a confirmation bark from Sunshine. “Who knew canines were so invested in the USPS? Do you think that’s why they chase mailmen? I bet they have a sixth sense for it. Maybe they know the guy isn’t doing his job right.”

  “Evie!”

  Evie sighed. Dora had an annoying habit of pulling her out of her riffs, which was a shame because it was where she often found her best ideas. “Once we finish with the mail, we need to free Billy.”

  “Right,” Dora said with renewed confidence that made Evie’s shoulders fall in relief. “Does Billy have family?”

  Evie shook her head, happy to have a competent Dora back. “He lives alone. His closest relatives are in Montana. Why?”

  “Good. Since today is Saturday, that means once we deliver all the mail, we can return the truck to the post office.”

  Evie perked up. She’d had a quick stint as a mailwoman at one point a few years ago and understood how the system worked. “I know just where to drop off outgoing mail, so we’re sure Gertie’s package gets delivered, and then we have until Monday before anyone will know Billy’s missing.”

  “By which time we should have set him free,” Dora said.

  Evie held up a hand for a high five. “We’ve so got this!”

  Dora’s palm smacked hers but then Dora frowned. “There’s only one problem. We don’t know where Billy is being held.”

  Evie said, “I bet it’s at one of the businesses you found in Marco’s files that they’re using to launder the money. From what you said, they’re all shady enough that a kidnapped man wouldn’t draw much attention.”

  Dora narrowed her eyes at Evie. “You’re a little too good at this. But I think you’re right.”

  Evie grinned as she basked in the praise, and she decided to capitalize on her moment. “Do you want me to drive now?”

  Dora snorted in her denial. “Fat chance.” She took the keys from Evie’s hand and slid them back in the ignition before winking at Sunshine. “We’d better get moving. We’ve got mail to deliver.”

  Sunshine let out a happy bark before rushing over to the pile of mail to resume her job.

  9

  Dora rolled her eyes at Evie as she tugged on the short, plaid schoolgirl skirt Evie had insisted she put on. “I don’t see how wearing this is going to help me blend in. I’m supposed to be your
manager.”

  After Evie and Dora had delivered the mail and returned the truck and the outgoing mail, all while keeping up the ruse Billy was fine, they moved on to the next step of their plan. They were going to visit the strip club Marco was using as one of his money laundering venues in search of Billy. Evie suggested that cries of pain were awfully similar to those of passion and that maybe it would be easier to hide Billy that way. Since Dora had zero experience with strip clubs, she agreed to Evie’s plan. Evie’s reasoning sounded valid to her.

  Evie said, “You’re playing my manager because you’ve got a head for money. Wait…” She grinned. “There’s a bad joke in there somewhere. Give me a minute.”

  “Evie!” Dora cried with impatience. “Just give me the knee socks.” As she tugged them on, she mumbled, “If anyone dares to ask me to hit them one more time, they’re going to see a meltdown that would make Britney proud.”

  “Damn. I’d like to see that, too,” Evie said as she twisted in front of her full-length mirror to check out her backside. She was clad in a red sequin dress that barely covered her enough to be decent.

  Dora studied her for a moment. “Do I want to know why you even own a dress like that?”

  “Trace has a taste for—”

  “Stop right there.” Dora held her palm up. “I think I’d rather leave the reason up to my imagination.”

  “Suit yourself,” Evie said before she smacked herself on the rump. “I swear I get hotter every year.”

  “Ugh.” Dora took a look at her ridiculous get up and tugged the white button-down shirt that was tied at her midriff closer to the waistband of her skirt. “And I get fatter.”

  “What the heck are you talking about?” Evie asked. She was getting a little tired of Dora’s constant drive toward perfection. Five pounds in either direction was nothing to be concerned about, yet her friend was a stickler for staying within a three-pound range to the point of near obsession. Although she supposed that had a lot to do with Dora’s need for control and not so much about her self-worth. “You are so getting hit on when we go to that club, so hush up girl and let’s get out of here.”

  Evie scooped Sunshine into her arms and started for the door.

  “You’re not bringing your dog, are you?” Dora asked, eyeing her as if she had two heads.

  “I have to,” Evie insisted, unwilling to leave her precious pup home alone. “What if Marco comes looking for you? If he only finds Sunshine, he might take his wrath out on her.”

  Dora went pale and swallowed.

  “I’m sorry, honey!” Evie said quickly. “I didn’t mean to freak you out. I’m sure I’m being paranoid. You know how I am about Sunshine. She’s just so precious and protective. I’m afraid I’d be worried about her the whole time. She can just ride along with us.”

  “All right,” Dora said and took a deep, fortifying breath. “You’re probably right. It’s better if she’s with us. Besides, she’s our lucky charm. Without her, we might never have found the package in the mail truck.”

  “That’s the spirit.” Evie patted her pup’s head and darted outside with Dora right behind her.

  Once they got in Evie’s car, reality set in. Getting dressed to go out was a fun thing that had made Evie forget the seriousness of what they were about to do. She’d enjoyed glamming Dora up to look more like a wild woman than the straightlaced accountant she normally was, but once they’d applied the last coat of lipstick, the harsh truth about what lay ahead fell over the two women like a lead blanket.

  Sunshine sat in Evie’s lap as her mistress pulled out of her driveway in the dark of night. Evie said, “Run over the plan one more time with me.”

  “Okay,” Dora said. “We’re going to go in and ask to talk to the owner, Dirk Jones. I’ll say we’re new to the area and I have a stable of girls he might be interested in. You are going to be the sample.” She paused. “You do have panties on under that, right? Because what if he wants you to strip?”

  “Relax,” Evie said, even though she was far from following her own advice. “You know I’ve never been a modest person.” To appease Dora, she added. “But don’t worry. I have on panties and pasties.”

  “Pasties?” Dora let out a sigh. “Remind me why we picked the strip club to check out first?”

  “Screams. And—”

  “That was a rhetorical question.” Dora sighed. “I’m sorry. Here you are being above and beyond the best friend in the world, on your thirtieth birthday no less, and I’m giving you a hard time about it. I’m just nervous.”

  Evie understood completely, and to lessen the tension, she asked, “Did you just say hard time? Because…” She waggled her eyebrows at Dora and got the intended effect when her friend laughed.

  They drove in silence for a while, and Evie noticed Dora gazing out the window at the seedier section of Pensacola. It wasn’t an area Evie frequented either, but she had a feeling Dora was a lot more uncomfortable than she was. “Hey,” she said as she reached over and grabbed her best friend’s hand. “There’s nothing we can’t get through. Think of all the things we’ve already survived.”

  Dora squeezed her fingers. “We have had a few adventures, haven’t we?”

  “It was definitely your turn,” Evie said.

  “Yeah? Well, this one’s a doozy. You’re welcome to bail at any time.”

  “Never,” Evie said. “Remember our first day of kindergarten?” As if either of them could ever forget. That was the day Dora and Evie met. She recalled the way Dora had noticed Evie crying when her mother had left her in the classroom. She’d walked over, grabbed Evie’s hand and said, “Don’t cry. I’ll be your friend.” The two had been best friends ever since.

  “I do.”

  10

  Evie pulled into the parking lot of the strip club, and red light from the neon sign flashed over their heads as she parked in a spot under it. “Then you need to remember that we’ve stuck by each other through a whole lot. Remember bedazzled jeans?”

  Dora nodded. “Crimped hair.”

  “Ugh,” Evie said. “And denim everything.”

  “Oh my god, low rise jeans. Remember how you couldn’t sit down without showing off your butt crack?”

  “See?” Evie asked. “We’ve already survived flashing our coin slots. We can totally do this.”

  Dora laughed with her. “Okay. But next year? Let’s just drink too many margaritas for your birthday. I’ll even match you drink for drink and brave the hangover from hell.”

  “Oh man, you’re daring me with tequila? Bring it, sister,” Evie joked.

  Dora blew out a breath and reached into her bra to hoist her breasts higher. “Bring it, I will.” She gave Evie a serious look. “You remember what this guy looks like?”

  Evie nodded. They’d found a picture of Dirk on the internet so they’d be able to spot him.

  Dora smiled at Evie and said, “Good. Let’s do this.”

  While Evie clutched Sunshine with one arm, the two women marched in time with each other toward the club entrance, their heels clicking on the pavement like a tribal beat. It occurred to Evie that Dora had agreed to their scheme a lot faster than usual, and she suspected it had everything to do with the danger she knew she was in. Danger Evie had every intention of helping Dora get out of unscathed. She’d meant it when she said she owed her best friend.

  Nobody had ever believed in her the way Dora did. And nobody else had stuck with her through her many failures. Evie couldn’t count the number of jobs she’d burned through, but what she did remember was that Dora had been there to help her pick up the pieces and move on every single time. She’d done the same for Evie when it came to her broken heart too.

  So, when Dora pushed their way into the strip club, Evie was determined to do whatever it took to get Billy free and Dora one step closer to proving her innocence. Anything.

  Dora took the lead, her shoulders back and her head held high, surprising Evie. She was exuding self-confidence and determination. Good,
Evie thought, but an ache had formed in her gut. This wasn’t exactly the nicest part of town, and Evie knew better than anyone that these weren’t the type of people that cared to be messed with. They just needed to get the information they came for and then get the heck out of there.

  “There he is.” Dora paused and jerked her head toward a tall, dark-haired man at the end of the bar. “That’s Dirk.” She turned and glanced at Evie and Sunshine. “Give her to me. You can’t audition with a dog in your arms.”

  Evie shook her head. “Not until after we talk to Dirk. It wouldn’t be professional for my manager to be carrying a small dog.” Though Evie highly doubted Dirk Jones would give one flying fig about Sunshine. As long as Evie was willing to take it off, she was certain that was all he’d care about.

  “Hey, gorgeous,” a tall man with muscles that went on for days said to Dora, sliding up next to her and resting a hand on her hip. Dora stiffened, but before she could tell him to back off, he produced a one-hundred dollar bill and tucked it into her cleavage. “How about a lap dance before the rest of the punks in here wake up and notice you?”

  Evie smirked as Dora pulled the bill out of her cleavage and held it out to the man. “I’m not a stripper.” She waved to Evie. “I manage Candy over here, and right now we need to go talk to the boss man.”

  The Ken doll glanced over at the bar and frowned. “Jones appears to be busy.” Then he glanced back at Dora. “It sure looks like you’re dressed to shake that ass tonight.”

  “I—”

  Evie grabbed the bill Dora was still holding and tucked it into her bra. “She’d love to. Dora, go give the man the dance he’s asking for.”

  “What? No, I’m not—” Dora started.

  “Give us just one sec,” Evie said, smiling brightly at the man as she hooked her arm through Dora’s and tugged her away a few feet.

  “What are you thinking?” Dora hissed, keeping a wary eye on her admirer.