Cactus Island, A Stan Turner Mystery Vol 8

by William Manchee

CHAPTER 29

  SCANDAL

  When I looked at my calendar, it suddenly hit me that Steven's trial was less than a month away. Time was running out and I needed to settle on a defense strategy very soon. The frenzy over the possible alien aircraft landing on Cactus Island had subsided for the moment, but as the trial drew closer it was bound to flare up again. My indecision was over the P-38 Lightning. Could it have been mistaken for a spaceship? Should I be spending the precious little time left before trial continuing down that path or was it just a rabbit trail? My brain told me to forget about it, but my gut told me to stay on it. In cases like that my gut instinct usually prevailed.

  Late one afternoon Jodie brought me some of the reports we had ordered. I eagerly looked through them. There were reports on the Weatherford Airport, the Confederate Air Force personnel who worked at the airport, and the drilling report on the Possum Kingdom NW #7 Prospect. According to the first report, the Weatherford Airport was a privately owned facility that had been in operation about fifteen years. It catered to the needs of the local business community and the general public. There was no commercial traffic going in and out of the facility, hence little federal interference with its operations.

  The facility was owned by a company called Weatherford Aviation, Inc. of Mineral Wells, Texas. While quickly scanning the nine member board of directors, Robert Swanson's name caught my attention. He and his wife, Lauren, had hosted the very interesting dinner party before Stephen's first court appearance. Was it a coincidence that he was a part owner in the Weatherford Airport?

  Glancing through the report on the Possum Kingdom NW #7 Prospect, the well that had been drilled near the accident site, I discovered that drilling had begun on precisely the same day as the accident. The operator of the well was listed as Gary Queen. I buzzed Maria and asked her to track down Mr. Queen for me.

  In the Weatherford Airport personnel report I reviewed Adam Peterson's employment history which further piqued my curiosity. It seemed the automobile dealership that Adam worked for was also owned by Robert Swanson. I started to wonder if the little dinner party the Swansons had thrown for us was part of some kind of plan. What was going on between Adam Peterson and Robert Swanson and how did the P-38 fit in? That made Jodie's assignment to make a connection with Adam's copilot that much more important. I called her into my office.

  "How are you coming with your investigation of Carl Brooks?" I asked.

  "Oh, well, I've read over the background check that Paul sent me and I've done some research on Weatherford so I can pretend to be a local girl. Now I just need to run into him at one of his hangouts."

  "Where does he hang out?"

  "Well, he's divorced so he usually goes to a restaurant and bar named the Stockyard Stampede. It's kind of a hangout for cowboys and ranch hands. He usually eats dinner there and then hangs around for an hour or two."

  "I need you to concentrate on locating the P-38 Lightning. I think it's going to be critical to our case."

  I told Jodie about the connection between Adam Peterson and Carl Brooks and Rose's suspicion that the P-38 may not have crashed after all. She said not to worry, if it was still in one piece she'd find it. Then she changed the subject.

  "What's going on with Paula and Alex?"

  "What do you mean?" I said, feigning ignorance.

  "Well, I know Alex was reassigned, but Maria says he's been calling her several times a day."

  "Jesus. You've got to be kidding."

  "No. I'm afraid not."

  "You don't think her and Alex are—?"

  "Well, it doesn't look good."

  "Oh, my God. Does Bart know?"

  "I don't think so and let's hope he doesn't find out. I think it was just a moment of weakness on her part, you know, with Bart out of town and everything. She doesn't have any feelings for Alex. I'm sure."

  "What should we do?" Jodie asked.

  "Just tell Maria not to put any of the calls through to her. I'll tell Paul to talk to Alex. Hopefully that'll be the end of it."

   Jodie nodded and left. Maria poked her head in. "I've got Gary Queen on the line."

  "Oh, good," I said and picked up the phone. Queen confirmed that his production company had started drilling Possum Kingdom NW #7 on the day of accident, but that neither he nor his men even knew that an accident had taken place since they were on the opposite side of the road working on the noisy rig.

  After hanging up with Queen, I called Paul Thayer and asked him to do a background check on Robert Swanson. I needed to learn as much as possible about him if I was going to figure out what he was up to. I also asked Paul to have a talk with Alex.

  "Alex quit," he said. "I doubt he'd listen to me even if I were able to talk to him."

  That bit of news disturbed me. Now I'd have to track Alex down myself and tell him to lay off Paula.

  I tried the number Paul had given me for Alex but the line was busy. I tried again five minutes later and it was still busy. When I heard the busy signal again ten minutes later, I decided to go pay Alex a visit. I dreaded confronting him, but I knew I had to put a stop to his apparent obsession with seducing Paula, before it destroyed her marriage.

   Thirty-five minutes later I stood in front of Alex's apartment. I knocked, but there was no answer. I could hear people talking inside so I knocked again. Finally, the door cracked open and Alex peered out warily.

  "Stan? What are you doing here?"

  "I need to have a talk with you for a moment. Can I come in?"

  "Well, I'm busy. We'll have to talk later."

  "Listen, I tried to call you by phone but you either have long telephone conversations or your phone is off the hook."

  "It's off the hook for a reason. I'm busy and I don't want to be disturbed."

  "Listen, I'm sorry to bother you, but I came all the way over here because it's important. I need to talk to you now. It won't take but a minute. It's about Paula."

  "What about her?"

  "Let me come in or step outside. It's kind of awkward talking through the door."

  "Just spit it out or I'm closing the door."

  "Okay," I groaned. "You've got to stop calling Paula. You know she's a married woman."

  "Hey, it's a free country and I'll call whoever I want."

  "No, you won't. You violated your duty and trust as a security officer when you seduced Paula. If you ever want to become a police officer, you'd better back off."

  Alex stepped outside wearing only boxer shorts. "Are you threatening me?" he said angrily.

  "No, I'm advising you of the likely result of stalking a former client."

  "Stalking?"

  Suddenly the door flew open. Paula, clad only in a T-shirt, glared at me angrily. "What the hell are you doing here?"

  My eyes were drawn to her long sexy legs and bare feet. I didn't know what to say. "Paula? . . . Shit. . . . I thought you were done with Alex."

  "Stan, just leave. This is none of your business."

  "Yeah, get the hell out of here," Alex said. "Before I kick your ass."

  I turned to Alex. "You'll never make it through the academy. You're not fit to be a police officer."

  Alex's fist came out of nowhere landing a right punch to my face that sent me sprawling onto the pavement. Pain resonated through my head and I felt dazed as I tried to pull myself up. Paula ran over to me and pulled me into her bosom. "Stan, are you okay?" She turned to Alex. "You son of a bitch! What's wrong with you? Are you some kind of animal?"

  Alex gritted his teeth."Leave him there! Come back inside."

  "No. He needs medical attention. Call an ambulance."

  "No, that won't be necessary," I moaned. "I'll be okay."

  Paula stroked my hair and looked into my eyes, "I'm sorry, Stan. I never dreamed something like this would happen. Are you going to be okay?"

  "Yes," I said trying to get up. I was feeling a little dizzy but I made it to my feet. I rubbed my sore eye and when I pulled my hand away I saw blood. "Okay, maybe I
will need to see a doctor. I think I saw a Primacare not too far from here."

  Paula helped me to the car then went back inside Alex's place to get her things. I heard them screaming at each other inside. When it seemed to take her too long to come out, I started to go in after her, but then she suddenly walked out the door. Forty minutes later the Primacare doctor was suturing the gash over my right eye. My vision seemed okay although the pain was intense. The doctor said I was lucky, the blow could have blinded me in that eye.

  Paula repeatedly expressed her regrets about the incident and concern for my health.

  "Don't worry about it. My eye will heal and the pain will subside. I'm sorry I interfered"

  "No. I'm glad you did. From the first day I met Alex he's been hitting on me. I tried to ignore it, but he was very persistent. When I took him home the other night, I was so tired I just didn't have the strength to resist him."

  "Don't worry. Alex will never bother you again."

  On the way home I got to thinking about the wisdom in being truthful about what had just happened. It would be very difficult to explain to Bart and Rebekah and if the press got wind of it, well I didn't even want to think about that. "Listen. Maybe we should keep what just happened to ourselves," I said. "I don't want you to get in trouble with Bart and I don't know what I'm going to tell Rebekah."

  "Sounds good to me, but how are you going to explain your face?"

  "I don't know—I tripped and fell down some stairs?"

  "Hmm. I don't know, maybe you could say you got into a barroom brawl."

  "I don't frequent bars too often. Besides, in a bar there'd be witnesses. The press would probably want to talk to one of them, and in the process figure out I had lied."

  "Didn't you get hit in the face one time when you went with Reggie to the batting cages?"

  "Right. I got distracted about the time a fast ball was coming in high and tight."

  "There you go."

  "But I don't usually go to the batting cages alone. I usually go with one of the boys."

  "What the hell—you were stressed out and decided to work it out with a bat and a ball. Who could dispute that? There are a lot of batting cages around so you could have gone to any one of them."

  "Okay. I guess that'll work. I've been known to go bowling during the middle of the day when I'm stressed out. Why not go to the batting cages?"

   When I got home and told Rebekah what had happened she seemed skeptical but didn't challenge my explanation. I felt bad about lying to her, but I couldn't handle the interrogation that would follow if I told her the truth. The whole incident was better forgotten. Unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen. When we turned on the nightly news, my altercation with Alex was the lead story.

  "Good evening. This is Amanda James with the Metroplex Evening News. Tonight's top story: Are Stan Turner and Paula Waters more than partners in their law firm of Turner & Waters? That's the question many people are asking today after Stan Turner was decked by Ms. Water's apparent new boyfriend, bodyguard Alex Garcia. According to Garcia, Turner showed up while the two were alone together and threatened Garcia if he continued to date Ms. Waters. The two apparently came to blows and Turner ended up in a local Primacare facility for treatment.

  "Channel 7 News also learned that Alex Garcia is a reporter for Globe Inquirer who was trying to get the inside scoop on the defense of Steven Caldwell. Channel 7 News this afternoon attempted to talk to Ms. Water's husband, Collin County Assistant District Attorney Bart Williams but he declined comment."

  Rebekah stood up. "You son of a bitch!"

  "This is bullshit," I said. "Don't believe a word of it."

  "You lied to me!"

  I took a deep breath and said, "Yes, but—"

  Rebekah stormed off, leaving me struggling to breathe. Paula and I had been set up, and with one quick blow Alex Garcia may have destroyed us both and imperiled Steven Caldwell's defense. My mind whirled trying to fathom all the implications of what had just happened. How could Paul Thayer have allowed Alex to infiltrate his organization?