by David Thurlo
Margaret sat up straight, even more than before, and cleared her throat. “Nothing is going on between Jim and me. It’s not like that, at least from my side. But the reason Sam stopped hiring him for contract jobs was because Jim had started flirting with me. I never encouraged him, but one time Sam came out of his office and overhead Jim saying something suggestive to me. Sam grabbed Jim by the collar, shoved him toward the door, and told him never to come back. If he came back or tried to get in touch with me, Sam would beat him to a pulp.”
“But Jim came back?” Charlie guessed.
“No, but that confrontation scared the hell out of me. I’d never seen Sam lose it like that. He trusted me, and I’ve never let him down, but a few weeks ago I accidentally ran into Jim at Home Depot, and he immediately accused me of costing him all that business. He was the one who’d hit on me, but all of a sudden I was the troublemaker.”
Charlie nodded. “Then what happened?”
“I just turned and walked away. Sam was over in the lumber section, and I’d been looking at hardware for the kitchen cabinets, which is why we weren’t together. I hurried to the lumber counter, hoping Jim wouldn’t try and catch up to me once he saw my husband. It must have worked, because I didn’t see Jim after that.”
“But you never told Sam about it.”
Margaret shook her head. “No. I was afraid he’d go looking for the man or wait to catch him in the parking lot, and I didn’t know what might happen next. I love Sam, and I didn’t want him to get into a fight.”
Charlie thought about it for a while, wondering if Jim Eldon had any connections with the Geigers, connections that might explain the attack on Sam Randal. Anytime personal and business issues crossed paths, trouble soon followed, but unless Jim Eldon was a psycho, the whole issue just didn’t seem to make sense.
“You think Jim Eldon hired those people to attack Sam? Or am I overthinking this?” Margaret asked, her voice back to normal now.
“I doubt he’s involved. It all seems too much like a soap opera script. Still, I’m going to ask the detectives to take a closer look at Eldon,” Charlie decided.
“You going to tell Sam?”
“Not unless we get something more concrete to go on. But if you decide to tell Sam about the Home Depot incident, try to do that when someone else is around. We might need to calm your husband down to keep him from overreacting,” he advised.
They were coming up the street toward the shop, and he took a quick glance at Margaret. “Thanks for trusting me,” he said. “Things are going to work out. Don’t worry about it anymore, okay?”
“Okay.” She nodded, wiping away what was probably a tear.
He parked down the block in a customer slot at his friend Melissa’s laundry—she’d already agreed to the arrangement—and escorted Margaret down the alley to the rear entrance to FOB Pawn.
Gordon and Jake were already there, and greeted them immediately when they stepped into the short hall next to the office and storeroom. Gordon smiled and said hello.
“Jake, this is Margaret Randal, and Margaret, this is Jake Salazar. Jake knows more about this business than Gordon and I ever will,” Charlie announced, introducing their guest for the day.
“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Randal. I hope your arm is healing,” Jake said, noting the bandage before gently shaking her right hand.
“Ruth will be in around ten,” Gordon said. “She’s taking Rene for his measles booster. But she wants to meet you, Margaret.”
“Ruth and Jake have been keeping this business on an even keel, so I’ve heard. I’d like to help wherever I can be useful today,” Margaret said, looking into the office. “Just point me in the right direction and tell me what to do.”
* * *
With help from Margaret—who had years of office experience—Charlie and Gordon were able to lighten the load that Ruth and Jake had been carrying lately, and things went smoothly. Charlie managed to pull Gordon aside up front, when they were working on paperwork, and quickly filled him in on Jim Eldon. Gordon wasn’t happy about being left in the dark, but he agreed that, if nothing else, it would give him someone else to watch out for.
Unfortunately, Charlie hadn’t thought about getting a description of Eldon until they’d already arrived at the shop. They planned to ask for one when the opportunity arose.
It was midafternoon when Nancy came in through the front entrance, the bell above the door ringing her arrival. Charlie was completing the paperwork for a just-completed pawn transaction but looked up as she walked over. “Hi, Sergeant,” he greeted cheerfully. “Have any good news?”
Automatically he glanced around the room, noting the presence of a woman in her midthirties looking over some guitars with Jake. Ruth and Margaret were in the office working with the business software, and Gordon was storing away some pawn in the back.
“Anyone try to kill you today?” Nancy whispered.
“So far, so good,” Charlie answered dryly.
“Then that’s the good news. On the negative side, DuPree got a call from Detective Johnson at Rio Rancho, and they haven’t conjured up any leads from their interviews with Ray Geiger’s students and staff. And they didn’t get anything new from Lori, the former instructor you and Gordon collared. But they did get copies of the surveillance taken by the lady at the dry cleaners and sent official copies to APD. Their people are going to look them over as well.”
“What about the guy Gordon and I spotted sneaking in the back, the Yankees fan?” Charlie asked.
Nancy shrugged. “They’re adding him to their UK list. They also wanted a copy of any hits DuPree gets via NCIC or the other national databases. If the guy was a cop or a crook, or has had a background check or served in the military, we should know sometime today. Hopefully this guy isn’t just an old next-door neighbor of the Geigers.”
“Nancy, the way the guy came in through the back, then ducked out to avoid the camera getting a look at his face, makes me think there’s something hinky going on. This meet-up took place after Ray was arrested.”
“Okay. And some more bad news. There was no usable DNA from the scratch on the face of the guy we believe to be Ray Geiger. There was chemical or cross-contamination, probably from when Margaret was given first aid after getting shot. Disinfectant or something like that. Where is she, anyway?” Nancy looked around the front of the shop.
“In the office with Ruth, last time I went back there,” Charlie answered. “Maybe she’s helping Gordon in the storage room,” he suggested.
“So the failure to get DNA, along with Margaret being unable to ID Ray, makes my testimony that much more important, doesn’t it?” Charlie asked.
“Unless something else comes up that’ll guarantee a conviction. The other two guys that were involved in the Sunday incidents are dead, according to current theory, so any connection with Ray is still only circumstantial.”
Charlie looked around again, then lowered his voice. “I don’t see why Margaret couldn’t ID Ray. She was right next to him, within arm’s reach, obviously. She didn’t get a good look at his face?”
Nancy shrugged. “You’d think. DuPree and I’ve talked about that. All that we could come up with is that sometimes fear blocks it out, or maybe she was looking away, or had been twisted around somehow. She was trying to escape.”
“Yeah. Or she’s lying. Why would she not want to testify? Fear of retaliation? At first, I thought maybe, but that seems unlikely now, considering the fact that two-thirds of the home invaders are gone for good. But I might have a new suspect, based upon something Margaret confided in me this morning on our drive over here. She asked me not to tell Sam, but she realized it was time to tell the rest of us. Just in case.”
“Just in case? Tell me about it now, before we’re interrupted,” Nancy insisted.
Charlie quickly related the incidents with Jim Eldon and Margaret’s reasons for withholding the story until now.
Nancy listened closely, but when he was done, she shrugged. “
I’ll make sure we can determine the man’s alibi, if he has one. I’m not convinced this will lead us anywhere new. All this over a tasteless comment and a few lost jobs?”
“Yeah, it seems like overkill, considering what she says happened. Unless there’s a lot more she’s still holding back,” Charlie speculated.
“My instincts still point to Ray Geiger and the crew we’ve pretty much identified. This is something that could land Ray in prison, and I understand why he wouldn’t want her to identify him. But I doubt he or his father was able to threaten her directly.”
“What about through Sam, then? Last night he did get that mysterious phone threat,” Charlie reminded her.
“I suppose. And we know, unfortunately, that there might still be someone out there who’s after your hide,” Nancy said. “And it’s not likely to be Eldon.”
“Agreed. And if that ankle bracelet, monitor, or whatever, is really working, it can’t be Ray.”
“How about Frank?” Nancy suggested. “The guy has the knowledge and training and isn’t being tracked. But he has that bad leg and can’t hide the limp.”
“Then they hired it out.”
“You’re thinking Mr. Yankees? Maybe he’s just the middleman, supplying the shooter for a price.”
“Once we get an ID on the guy, we’ll have more to go on, I suppose.” Charlie looked past Nancy and saw that Margaret had come out of the office and was looking in their direction.
Chapter Nineteen
“What’s happened? Is it Sam?” Margaret exclaimed, walking quickly up the aisle toward them.
“No, Margaret. I’ve just come to see how everyone is doing, and to pass along some information to Charlie,” Nancy responded.
“About what? The guy he caught stalking Gina?”
“No, this has to do with the DNA testing of the scrapings from your fingernails when you scratched Ray Geiger’s face.”
“So he’s the guy, for sure?”
“It didn’t give us any answers, unfortunately. Either there wasn’t enough tissue or the sample was contaminated. The only DNA that could be identified was your own, from the blood from the bullet wound. That means Charlie is going to remain a target,” she added, looking directly at Margaret. “I came to remind him once more that someone is trying to kill him.”
Charlie saw the woman cringe slightly, then recover. He knew Nancy was trying to elicit a reaction that might get Margaret to open up if she was keeping any more secrets.
“I never intended to put you on the spot, Charlie. You and Gordon saved our lives. Did you tell Nancy about our talk this morning?” This time she looked straight at him, and it appeared Margaret was sincere.
Charlie nodded. “I had to, Margaret. Nancy is also in danger, and she needs to know where it might be coming from next time. As for me, I’m working hard to stay alive, and here I am among friends. Once we find out what these incidents are all about, the true motive, I think we’ll have the answers we’re looking for,” he said. “But would you mind giving us a description of Jim Eldon anyway?”
“Sure,” Margaret replied.
A few minutes later, both Charlie and Nancy had written down everything Margaret could provide, including the work clothes Eldon usually wore.
There were several awkward seconds of silence; then Margaret spoke again. “I should probably get back to helping Ruth,” she said, looking back toward the office. “Thanks for everything, Nancy.” She smiled, then walked away.
Nancy hung back.
“What did you think of her reaction?” Charlie asked softly, his eyes still on the paperwork. “Not about Eldon, I mean.”
“She didn’t seem that disappointed with the DNA news,” Nancy replied. “I wonder why I hadn’t picked up on her deception before. Is she that afraid of identifying Ray in court?”
“Despite her revelation concerning the incidents involving Eldon, I still don’t think she’s telling all she knows. When I saw Sam’s reaction to that phone call, and his explanation as to what the caller said, I wondered even more. He’s been lying about something too. Still, hearing her speculation that maybe Jim Eldon had something to do with this doesn’t wash.”
“I tend to agree with you, Charlie. When you look at all that’s happened, it’s clear that there is no simple explanation to what’s going on,” Nancy said.
“I think we should be using every database available to dig deeply into the backgrounds of everyone involved, and not just the Geigers. Sam has to be put under a microscope as well. They all came from back east, yet ended up here among a much smaller population. Coincidence, or could there be a previous connection? What if they did business together and there was a lawsuit or something? A reason for revenge, maybe?”
“I know that DuPree went pretty deep into checking up on Ray and Frank but barely scratched the surface with Sam’s background. I’ll get on that. Meanwhile, let’s see if something turns up on that guy with the cap who visited Frank. If we can get an ID…”
“We know he came to the dojo, but unfortunately, we couldn’t connect him with a vehicle. A license tag would have really helped,” Charlie said.
“As a last resort, I may have to ask Frank who the guy was.”
“Think he’d give you a straight answer?” Charlie asked.
She shook her head. “I think he’d more likely refuse to answer me at all. The very mention of the guy would just tip him off that we know or suspect something and have been going through surveillance images. I don’t have any jurisdiction in Rio Rancho, and I still believe he may have a contact in that department. If the question came from them, once Frank knows about it, we may never be able to find the guy.”
“Yeah. And ultimately, this may not have anything to do with the case. Maybe the guy is just one of his poker buddies,” Charlie said. “If he plays poker.”
* * *
Everything seemed normal at the moment, with no attacks or threats, just ordinary work, not only for him but for the Randals as well. Maybe the bad guys were working on a new plan, Charlie thought as he drove south toward Albuquerque on Highway 313, which became Fourth Street once he entered the city.
For the last three days he’d taken a different route into work from the motel in Bernalillo, just in case he was being followed, but tomorrow he’d have to repeat himself. He liked the old road he was on at the moment, less traveled, two lanes wide, hence easier to spot a tail. The only problem was, an ambush would be easier to set up and less public, which was why he kept his backup Beretta on the center console. It would be easier to deploy the weapon now, fortunately, because the cut on his finger was healing well.
He wasn’t being complacent, and he suspected his enemies were either setting him up or rallying before their next move. The lack of activity, though, was a little nerve-wracking, and he hated having to spend his nights in a motel. Traffic around the nearby tribal casino was noisy, and their business resulted in a twenty-four-hour disturbance. He’d thought about ear plugs or drowning out the activity with music, but he couldn’t afford to drown out nearby sounds. Needless to say, he hadn’t slept well and had been having those godawful dreams again. Still, it beat being shot at—probably.
Ten minutes later, he parked at Melissa’s laundry down the block. When he walked up the alley to the loading dock of FOB Pawn, Charlie saw that Jake’s SUV was there already. Gordon was babysitting the Randals again.
Charlie knocked to signal his presence before using his key to come into the shop, even though they had a camera covering the back door with a monitor in the office, so Jake could check to see who was outside. He walked into the narrow hall, then turned to lock the door behind him.
“Morning, boss,” Jake said, stepping out of the office with the cash register tray cradled in his powerful arms. “Had your second cup?”
“Hey, Jake. Not yet. Sorry if I’ve had a lousy attitude lately. I just haven’t been able to sleep more than a few hours at a time in a strange place, and it’s catching up to me. I got used to it in the
service, but I’m not as young as I used to be,” Charlie admitted, though Jake was twice his age and still full of energy nearly every day.
“It’s even harder to sleep when punks are shooting up your bedroom and planting bombs in your kitchen, I’d imagine. How are the repairs on the house going?” Jake asked, returning to the office, coffee cup in hand.
“Nestor hired an Albuquerque handyman who’s supposed to have a crew there this morning. He got an estimate on the repairs, which come to about three thousand dollars, materials and labor. The job should take about three or four days. I’m paying his insurance deductible and replacing whatever was broken.”
“Lucky the heating and cooling systems weren’t damaged. A gas line, water heater, or furnace could have been more than expensive to replace. Things could have gone boom!”
“I’ll take bullets over explosions every time, Jake. Join me for a refill?”
“Don’t mind if I do. This Italian dark roast is a winner. All it needs is a couple of sugars.”
* * *
Charlie was sitting across the desk from Jake, halfway through his coffee, when he noticed movement on the split-screen monitor. Ruth had just pulled up in her white Camry. He missed being around the woman, who always seemed to get his heart beating a little faster when she was standing close. They were usually talking shop, or about her first-grade son, Rene, but it didn’t matter what the topic was. He had never done or said anything untoward, of course—his parents had raised him better than that—but he often wished she no longer worked for FOB Pawn so he could ask her out.
Gordon kept insisting he make his move anyway, saying Ruth liked him back, but he didn’t want to create an awkward situation, especially if her answer turned out to be no. Although Ruth had been raised in an upper-class eastern home and married a millionaire, the experience had been a nightmare for her and their son. Her abusive ex-husband was now in prison, and she was still a protected witness, having provided much of the testimony and evidence that had put him away for twenty years. Ruth didn’t need any more anxiety in her life right now.
