by Gayle Trent
At Neil’s apartment, our apprehension grew when he didn’t answer the door. Fortunately, the supervisor was working at the apartment next door.
“Hey! Excuse me!” Ben called.
The stocky man, who had an air of irritability, blew out a breath as he turned. “What?”
“My friend Neil left work sick today, and now he isn’t answering the door. Could you let us inside?”
“Maybe he went to the doctor.”
While it was true that we didn’t see Neil’s car in the parking lot, we wanted to get into his apartment to see if there was any indication that he’d taken Lucas and Leslie.
“You can stay with us the whole time,” I said. “We just want to make sure he isn’t lying in there unconscious and in need of medical attention.”
With a scowl, the manager lumbered over , flipped through some keys, and unlocked the door. “I don’t have time to babysit you. If he ain’t in there, you’d better be out in two minutes, or I’m calling the cops.” He held up two stubby, dirty fingers. “Two minutes.”
“Neil!” Ben called, for the benefit of the manager. “You here, buddy?”
The door opened into the living room. The apartment had an open floor plan. To the right of the living room was the kitchen. There was a hallway beyond the living room that led to bedrooms on either side. Ben took the room to the left, and I took the room to the right.
The room I entered was an office. One wall was almost entirely covered with corkboard. Pinned to it was a homemade poster with the heading “Master Plan.” Beneath Neil’s master plan was a list of his accomplishments: Complete high school with a 4.0 GPA. Attend UT. Graduate UT with a 4.0 GPA. Work on small newspaper. Become editor of small newspaper. Become editor of a larger newspaper. There were more items on the list, but those were enough to make me even more concerned than I was already.
There were checkmarks after the first two. “Graduate UT with a 4.0 GPA” had an asterisk after it and the note “3.85.”
Surrounding the master plan were photos and mementos of his accomplishments. One clipping stood out. It was an announcement for All Up in Your Business magazine. Beside the announcement was an index card on which Neil had written, “Once Ben leaves Brea Ridge for this gig, the editor position is mine. Biding my time.”
“Ben, let’s go!” I hurried into the hallway. “We have to find Neil. I think he has Lucas and Leslie.”
“Why? What’d you find?”
I told him what I’d seen, and we hurried back outside. I ran headlong into the manager who’d used his “two minutes” to grab a cold beer. The bottle was open, and when we collided, he spilled the entire thing all over me.
“Geez, lady, watch where you’re going.”
I glared at him momentarily and headed for Ben’s Jeep.
“You call Mark while I drive,” he said. “We’ll run by your house so you can change your shirt.”
Mark was listed in my contacts, so I was able to reach him quickly. “Ben and I went to Neil’s apartment. He wasn’t there, but we had the supervisor let us in. I found evidence that he wants to be editor of the Chronicle. I think he’s hoping to derail the wedding in the hope that Ben will reconsider taking the job with Nickie Zane.”
“I discovered that Neil has a half-brother who graduated with Todd. His name is Harry Richmond, and I was just getting ready to go see him.”
“Where?”
“He works as a waiter at Dakota’s.”
“Head to Dakota’s,” I told Ben. “We’ll meet you there, Mark.”
Ben pulled into my driveway, and I barely waited for him to put the vehicle in park before I hopped out and hurried to the door. I went inside and began removing the sopping, smelly blouse. A button popped off and rolled under the island.
“Darn! I need to find that so Sparrow or Sally doesn’t swallow it,” I said.
I had to get on all fours and crawl up under the island to reach the button. I grabbed the button and happened to look up. Secured to the underside of the island was a tiny black box.
Using my nails to pry off the box. Examining it, I scooted out from under the island, stood, and took the device over to the counter where I could get a better look at it. I wasn’t sure what it was, but the thought that it could be some sort of listening transmitter gave me goosebumps.
I hurried into the bathroom and washed the sticky beer off my torso.
The thought occurred to me—could they see me as well? I shuddered and tried to hustle.
Leaving the blouse in the bathtub, I hurried to the bedroom, shed my bra, and tossed it into the hamper. As quickly as I could, I put on a clean bra and t-shirt.
When I returned to the kitchen, Ben was staring at the tiny black box. He put his finger to his lips. “Let’s go.” He ushered me out the door. “If I’m not mistaken, that’s a listening device.”
“That’s what I thought too.”
“But, first things first. Let’s worry about Lucas and Leslie, and we’ll deal with whatever that little black box is as soon as the kids are safe.”
* * *
When Ben and I arrived at Dakota’s, Mark, Myra, and China were already there. The hostess put us at a table that seated six. As she walked away, Mark said, “I’ve already requested Harry as our server.”
“Thanks,” Ben said.
I wondered briefly what Harry had taken in college that had led him to a job here at Dakota’s. Maybe he was forced to work a second job because the one for which he’d earned his degree didn’t pay enough.
Moments later, Harry joined us. He was tall and thin with shoulder-length, dark blond hair, and he looked nothing like Neil. I’d have never made a connection between the two of them without knowing they were half-brothers.
“Hey, there. I’m Harry, and I’ll be your server today. What can I start you off with to drink?”
“Actually, we’d like to talk with you about your brother Neil,” said Mark.
Harry stiffened. “Half-brother.”
I stood to better appeal to him. “Please. We think Neil might have kidnapped my niece and nephew. Do you think he’s capable of doing something like that?”
“It’s possible. Neil has some emotional problems. But, rest assured, if he has the kids, he won’t hurt them.”
That would be easier to believe if we weren’t pretty sure that Neil had killed Todd and Monty.
“Why do you say that?” asked China.
“Because I know Neil,” said Harry. “Yeah, he gets crazy sometimes and does things that make no sense to anyone except him, but he’s never been violent toward anyone or anything. He isn’t dangerous.”
“If he did take the kids, where would he go?” Myra asked. “Ben and Daphne have checked, and they aren’t at Neil’s apartment.”
“He’d take them somewhere they’d feel safe. Have you tried calling him?”
“Yes,” said Ben. “But he isn’t answering.”
“Let me try.” Harry put down his pad and pen and got out his cell phone. He punched in Neil’s number. After a pause, he said, “Hey, Neil. Where are you, buddy?” Pause. “Anybody with you?” Pause. “That’s good, man, but their parents are worried. I’ll have them come meet you there, okay?” He ended the call. “They’re at the movie theater in Bristol.”
“Thank God.” I took out my phone. “I’ll let Violet know.”
* * *
Leslie and Lucas were smiling when they emerged from the theater. When they spotted all of us waiting, they both ran to embrace Ben.
“Thanks so much for treating us to pizza and a movie, Uncle Ben!” said Lucas. “I was feeling left out since I can’t go to the bachelor party, and this more than made up for it.”
“And thank you for including me too,” Leslie said. “Uncle Neil said you wanted to do something special for the two of us.” She looked around. “Where is he, by the way?”
“He had to go talk with some people,” said Jason.
Violet enveloped both of her children in a hug once they
’d let go of Ben. She held them and cried.
“Gosh, Mom.” Lucas scoffed. “We weren’t gone that long.”
“It felt like forever,” she said.
Ben’s contact at the precinct later told us that Neil vowed that he had nothing to do with the deaths of Todd Martin and Monty Harlow. He claimed to know nothing about the plot to swindle me. But, then again, he’d also tried to pass off taking the twins for pizza and a movie as a “nice gesture.”
He said he knew Ben was busy and that Ben would’ve suggested it had he thought of it. He hadn’t realized Violet would be so concerned.
When confronted with the fact that he’d called Violet and made demands, he said he’d only been joking. The Brea Ridge Police Department did not find his antics amusing. He’d been charged with kidnapping and extortion and was in jail awaiting arraignment.
In my mind, I pictured Neil. Short, a tad on the pudgy side, brown hair, blue eyes, glasses…usually wearing khakis, a polo, and loafers. He appeared to be the personification of mild mannered. And yet, he’d kidnapped my sister’s children.
Granted, they never knew they’d been kidnapped. But who knows what would’ve happened after the movie? Would Neil have bound and gagged Lucas and Leslie had they started wanting to go home? Harry had told us that Neil wasn’t violent but that he was emotionally unbalanced.
If Neil was telling the truth and hadn’t murdered Todd and Monty, then their killer was still out there. And I had no idea whether or not he still wanted something.
* * *
With the crisis averted, Ben went back to work to finish up a few things and to decide what to tell his staff about Neil. Obviously, the assistant editor wouldn’t be back in the office, so the staff had to be told something. But Ben wasn’t exactly sure what to say. He told me he’d think about it on the way.
He also had to decide whether or not to run the story of the kidnapping in the Chronicle. He didn’t want Lucas or Leslie to realize that they’d been in danger. And we didn’t have the full story yet about Neil’s mental state and whether or not he was capable of violence. But, even though the Amber Alert had been rescinded, the residents of Brea Ridge needed to know why every road leading out of the town had been blocked yesterday.
Leaving Ben to wrestle with his problems, I went home to work on the wedding cake. I had two days to assemble and decorate the cake. Mark and Myra came with me so he could look at the black box to determine whether or not Ben had been right about it being a bug.
Once we were in the kitchen, I whistled and banged pans around as if I was working. If there was someone listening to me, we didn’t want him to know I was wise to him.
If I’d thought my acting nonchalant was bad, I quickly realized that I wasn’t in it with Myra.
“Hello, Daphne, our dear friend!” She winked as if I needed to be clued in as to what she was doing. “How relieved we are that the children were found alive and well at the cinema! Mark and I thought we should come over and see if you and Ben would like to go out and enjoy a celebratory dinner with us.”
I pointed out the device to Mark. He examined it and nodded.
Myra’s eyes got as big as saucers. “So! Daphne! What do you say? To dinner, I mean.”
“I’d love to?” I looked at Mark.
He nodded.
“Yes! I’d love to!” If anyone was listening, he surely thought that Myra and I were idiots.
We stepped outside to the carport.
“What do you think?” I whispered to Mark.
“It’s definitely a listening device.” He spoke in a normal voice. “I want you to leave it as is for now. I’m going to contact Ben and see if his friend on the police force can let me look at the cell phones of Neil, Todd, and Monty. I can tell whether any of those cell phones have the software for the device installed on their phones.”
“That’s how this person has been listening to me? Through a cell phone?”
“Most likely.” He turned and kissed Myra. “I’ll grab a burger on the way. You two go and have a good dinner.”
“I don’t think so! I’ll call China and see if she can bring that shotgun of hers over here. If there’s anybody listening on that thing in there, we just told them that Daphne wasn’t going to be home.”
“That’s right. I’ll stay here in the carport.” I unfolded a plastic rocking chair and sat down to hammer home my point. “You two go on to dinner and then to the jail or wherever. I’ll wait here.”
Myra wasn’t having that. “Mark, you run me to town, and we’ll get us all some burgers. Then you bring me back here and drop me off. You can call me on my cell as soon as you and Ben know something.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Having China bring the shotgun and our keeping vigil on the carport had done us no good whatsoever yesterday. When Mark and Ben got to my house, they said that no cell phone had been found on Todd, and neither of the ones on Monty or Neil had the transmitter software installed.
The general consensus was that Todd had stuck the bug under the counter when he’d come to my house that day. The software must have been on his phone, which had not been in his hotel room when he was taken to the morgue. That meant that now either someone else had his phone or the phone was in Todd’s truck in the impound yard.
Either way, I had a wedding cake to finish and no time to worry about things that could possibly go wrong. At least no one was eavesdropping on us now. Mark had taken a hammer and smashed the listening device to bits.
It was now half past four in the afternoon, and I’d been working on the cake all day. I had the tiers iced, covered in fondant, and stacked. In addition, I’d done the Australian string work on three out of five of the tiers.
I stretched and admired my work. The cake was looking great, if I did say so myself. Although, I didn’t actually say it—I just thought it.
Ben and the guys were enjoying the bachelor party tonight. That meant that after I got the cake finished, I could soak in the bathtub for at least thirty minutes, get out, and put on my fluffy white robe—so what if it was August? I had the air conditioner on. Plus, I could eat ice cream right from the carton. And I could watch some sappy love story or a crime drama—no, scratch that. I’d had enough crime and drama this week. I’d go with a romantic comedy.
I massaged my tiring hands for a minute, and then I picked up my piping bag. As I twirled the cake on the turntable and piped the bottom border on the second to the top tier, the song lyrics, “round and around we go” popped into my head. I couldn’t for the life of me remember the name of the song or any of the rest of the lyrics. Maybe I’d been smelling sugar for too long.
Anyway, I’d just finished piping that border when someone knocked on the side door. I figured it was Myra.
“Come on in!” I called.
The doorknob rattled. “Can’t.” It was a male voice—an unfamiliar male voice. “It’s locked.”
“Just a minute then.” I put down the piping bag and went to the door. It was Jeff, McElroy Haynes’ worker. I didn’t open the door. “Is Mr. Haynes making you bug me again?”
“Not this time,” he said with a grin. “I was just in the area working on another stove, and I thought I ought to stop by and make sure everything is all right with yours. I know tomorrow is your wedding, and I don’t want you to be inconvenienced on the big day.”
“No chance. The cake is almost finished.”
“Can I see it?”
I felt silly saying no, but there was something about this guy that was suddenly making the hair on the back of my neck stand up. “Sure. Come to the wedding tomorrow.”
“Aw, you won’t let me get a peek at it before then?”
“Afraid not,” I said. “No one gets to see the cake before the big day—except me, of course.”
The grin disappeared. “Let me in, Daphne.”
“No, and if you don’t get off my porch right now, I’m calling the police.”
“By the time they get here, you’ll be dead.” He rais
ed his hand to show me that he held a gun.
I ducked and moved farther into the kitchen. Before I could reach my phone, Jeff shot the window of the door. Glass flew back into the room. Irrationally, I was glad that the cake wasn’t in the direct line of fire.
Or maybe it wasn’t such an irrational thought. I’d worked hard on that cake.
Why hadn’t I put on my telephone headset today? Because I hadn’t wanted to be disturbed, that’s why. That hadn’t turned out well.
I looked around the kitchen for my cell phone and realized I must’ve left it in the living room. Running to the living room, I heard the doorknob jiggling in the kitchen. Jeff must’ve been able to knock out enough of the window to get his hand through and unlock the door.
He was quick. Before I could get to my phone, he tackled me.
I fought, but I was no match for him. He pinned my arms to my sides and lay on top of me. I thrashed until my limbs were rubbery.
“Please. You have to go. My fiancé will be here any minute.”
“You’re lying. I know the bachelor party is this evening.”
“The bug. It was you.”
“Actually, it was your stupid ex-husband,” Jeff said. “Why he didn’t smack you around that day he came here and make him give you the ring is beyond me.”
“That’s what all this is about? His grandmother’s engagement ring?” I scoffed. “That thing probably came from a five-and-dime store. If it had been worth anything, do you think Todd would’ve given it to me?”
“It was worth something—is worth something—over ten thousand dollars to be exact.”
“You’re insane.” I had a flash of inspiration. “But if you’ll let me up, I’ll get you the stupid ring.”
“Get it. And be quick about it.” Jeff rolled off of me and jerked me to my feet. He took the gun out of the back of his jeans where he’d apparently stashed it before he tackled me.
