Vegas or Bust: An Aggie Underhill Mystery

by Michelle Ann Hollstein

  Aggie squinted. “Miriam?” She watched the car cut back into traffic, causing the car behind it to slam on the brakes.

  Looking over, Aggie saw Jack walking quickly toward the woman. It was Miriam. Aggie was excited over her good fortune and sped up as much as she could and kept her eye on the black sedan that was three cars ahead of her. She watched as it pulled into the opposite lane. Aggie turned on her blinker and carefully squeezed into the same lane. She was thankful for all of the traffic. Having three cars in front of her and all of the people around helped to camouflage her Mercedes.

  Aggie was careful to keep at least two cars between them. She followed for about fifteen minutes. They turned down a dark street away from the strip. The casinos were older, smaller and less elaborate. They were getting farther and farther away from the busy strip and the cars that were in between the two of them had disappeared. Aggie slowed down. She didn’t want to get too close to the black sedan in case they noticed that she’d been following them. Without a warning, the black car made a sudden turn into a dark parking lot. Aggie drove past. She decided to drive down the street and then circle the block once or twice. She felt uneasy about the way the car pulled into the lot without using a turn signal. She prayed that they hadn’t noticed her tailing them.

  Driving down the dark street, Aggie took in the state of the buildings around her. There were a few fleabag motels still in business. The rest were dark and boarded up. This was obviously the older part of town. The part you didn’t want to wander around late at night alone. And here she was, following a car with one or more kidnappers, into a dark, empty street.

  “Not one of my brightest plans,” Aggie muttered. She wondered if she should just pull over and give Tom a call. She could fill him in on Miriam and tell him where the kidnappers are.

  But what if they turned around? she thought. What if they just stopped in that parking lot to see if she was following them? And then when the coast was clear, they pulled out of the lot and drove the opposite direction. That was a possibility.

  For a moment, Aggie continued to drive down the dark deserted street and was getting farther away from the parking lot the kidnappers had turned into. Abruptly she stopped her car and did a three point turn. She decided to go back to the parking lot to make sure the car was there before calling Tom. She knew he was going to give her a lecture for following the kidnappers. The least she could do was to make sure she knew exactly where they were hauled up before putting herself in that position. She hated lectures. So she might as well make sure she knew exactly where the bad guys were before making that call. Then the glory and satisfaction of putting the kidnappers behind bars where they belonged would be worth the torrid lecture.

  Once Aggie reached the dark parking lot with the yellow lit up sign that said ‘otel’ because the ‘m’ had burnt out, she turned into the lot. There was no black sedan parked in front. An old orange and beige Volkswagen van was the only vehicle there. Aggie stopped her car for a moment and sighed.

  All of this stress was for nothing, she thought, and smacked the top of the steering wheel. What should I do now?

  Looking into the dark recesses to the right of the lonely building, Aggie decided to drive around the motel and see if there might be a small reclusive lot in the back because if she were a kidnapper, that’d be where she’d want to park.

  “Bingo!” she said, smiling, when she rolled around the back of the building. There it was a black four door sedan. In fact, she was so close to the car she could see that it was a Ford Taurus. She reached for her pocketbook that was resting on the passenger seat and felt around inside for a pen. Since she was there and had the opportunity, she thought it would be a smart idea to scribble down the license plate number and give it to Tom. That way if the men left before the police arrived they could hopefully trace the car.

  “Urrr!” she growled, still groping around in her pocketbook. “Why can I never find a pen when I need one?”

  Deciding that her car probably looked suspicious just sitting there looming behind the kidnapper’s car with her headlights shining on the license plate, she decided to park two spaces over to make it look less conspicuous while searching for a pen.

  Frustrated, Aggie grabbed hold of her pocketbook and dumped out all of the contents onto the seat. She quickly moved everything around, scattering things across the seat and onto the floorboard. There was no pen to be found.

  Aggie stared at the car that was parked to her right and frowned. Maybe she should just call Tom and head back to the hotel. But then, staring at her pile of stuff scattered on the seat, she had an idea. Grabbing her phone, Aggie smiled. She had a brilliant idea.

  Hopping out of the car, phone in hand, Aggie walked over to the Black Taurus and snapped a picture of the license plate. She studied digital photo for a moment but didn’t like the way the flash bounced off the plate. Only a portion of the numbers was readable. Aggie took another photo. It still wasn’t coming out right. She decided to try something different. This time she took the photo at an angle so the flash wouldn’t bounce off the plate. She pushed the back button on the phone to examine the photo in her gallery. It worked. She had a clear picture.

  “Perfect,” she whispered, finally satisfied. She looked up from the phone and noticed the drapes to a room at the far end of the building move. Light shined through the gap in the curtains.

  Wondering if that was the room the kidnappers were in, curiosity got the better of her, and she made her way toward the window. Common sense told her not to do it, that she should leave now before she was caught, but she couldn’t help herself. She just had to have a peek. The small sliver of light in the window was so hypnotic that she couldn’t stop herself even if she wanted to.

  Her heart thudded in her ears, and her breath caught in her throat, as she stood just outside the window. Carefully, she stepped into the empty dirt flowerbed trying to put more pressure on the toes of her sandals so that her high heels wouldn’t sink in the soil. She leaned forward until her nose was inches from the dusty glass. Peeking through the small gap in the curtains, she could see a small television set on a dresser. Aggie tilted her head at an angle and tried to see if she could see from another direction, but couldn’t. The way the curtains were hung, blocked her view of anything significant.

  Aggie took a step back from the window. She figured she’d seen all that she could and she should leave before she got caught. She was just about to return to the safety of her car when she heard the low rumble of a man’s voice coming from the motel room. She couldn’t make out what he was saying, but his voice was pretty loud. Then she heard another man’s voice responding to what had been said.

  Aggie wondered if she could understand what they were saying if she went back to the window. Quietly stepping back into the flowerbed, she strained to make out what they were saying. They were laughing. She wondered what they were laughing about.

  Practically pressing her ear against the grimy window, she was able to make out a few words. “Money.” She thought she heard the word money. “Stupid woman.” That word she heard clear as day. The man with the deep voice had said “stupid woman.” She wondered if he was talking about Miriam. She figured it had to be about Miriam since they didn’t know Aggie was the one that wired them the money. If only she could hear better. She cupped her hands to the window to try and amplify their voices. She still had her phone in her hand and the jeweled clip on case accidentally clinked against the glass. Holding her breath, she waited a second, hoping the men didn’t hear it. When the men continued to talk, she knew she was okay and let out her breath.

  Just then, loud music broke the silence startling her and causing her to jump. It took her a moment to realize what was happening. The music was coming from her phone that was pressed against the window, and even worse than that, it was leaping about vibrating the glass. Wanting to silence the booming noise, Aggie touched the screen accidentally putting the phone on speaker while she stumbled over her feet trying to ge
t out of the flowerbed.

  “How do I turn this blasted thing off?” she muttered, pushing different buttons on the phone.

  “Mum? Mum, are you there?” Sarah’s voice came from the speaker. “Can you hear me? Mum?”

  Aggie looked up at the window to see a big burly bald man staring out the window at her. The man looked oddly familiar to her. She tried to place where it was she’d seen him before.

  “Um…not now Sarah…” Aggie said, walking briskly toward her car. “I’ve got to go.”

  “But Mum, why did you send…”

  “Hey!” a short, stout man stepped out of the shadows. “What you think you’re doing?”

  “Oh, uh, nothing,” Aggie answered.

  “It didn’t look like nothin’!” he barked.

  “Mum?” Sarah asked. “Are you in trouble? I hear a man’s voice. Are you okay? Is that why you sent me…”

  “Sarah, I’ve got to go,” Aggie said, fumbling with her phone while trying to turn the speaker off. “I’ll explain to you and Tom later.”

  “Tom? Mum…”

  Aggie pushed several icons on her screen trying to hang up. She was so frazzled that her brain wasn’t working. She then glanced over at her car. She wanted to make a run for it, but the man was standing between her and her Mercedes. She wondered if she’d be fast enough. The guy looked out of shape. She might be able to dodge him, jump into her car, and lock the doors. Who was she kidding? She was probably more out of shape than he was. Plus she was handicapped by the darn silver strappy heels she stupidly forgot to change out of after dinner. Her feet ached something fierce and she could feel a blister forming on the pinky toe of her right foot.

  “Well?” the man asked. “Cat got your tongue or what?”

  “It…It’s my husband, you see…” she said, carefully walking toward him. “He’s cheating on me.”

  The man narrowed his eyes as she grew closer. She might just be able to play this off long enough to get to her car.

  “Why were you lookin’ in the window?”

  “I was trying to catch him. I wanted proof. I wanted to catch him with that bimbo. I, uh, I made a mistake. I got the wrong room.”

  Just then a tall, young, skinny guy wearing a baseball cap joined the short guy. “Is that her? Is she the one spying on us?”

  “Shut up, Mikey!” the short guy barked. “She says she was lookin’ for her husband.”

  “In our window?” Mikey asked. “That’s kind of a coincidence, don’t ya think, Stanley?”

  “I said shut up!”

  Great, Aggie thought. Now the odds were really against her, two against one. She needed to convince both of them that she really was trying to catch her husband cheating. She looked back at the window and could see the burly man still watching her. She wondered how long it would take before he came out and joined them.

  “I’m sorry. I could’ve sworn…” Aggie said. She forced a few fake sniffles. She wished she was one of those people who could cry on demand. “I know…I know he’s in there with that woman!”

  Just then a loud banging made her jump. Aggie looked over her shoulder to see the burly bald man banging his fist against the window to attract their attention. He was now motioning to the two men to bring her in.

  “Come with us, lady,” Stanley said. “We need to talk.”

  “Wh..why?” Aggie asked. “Does he know where my husband is?”

  “Knock off the act!” Mikey said. “You’re only gonna make the boss more mad. Let’s go!”

  “Wh..what act?” Aggie forced herself to raise her voice. “Is this what I get? I get in trouble for my husband’s infidelity? What are you going to do? Call the police on me? Go for it! I dare you!”

  “Police?” Mike asked. “We don’t wanna call the police.”

  “Here,” Aggie said, holding her phone up for them to see as she dialed and pushed send. “I’ll just dial 911. I’ll turn myself in for being a peeping Tom!”

  “Put the phone down, lady,” Stanley said calmly. “We don’t wanna to have a problem.”

  “What?” Aggie asked. “I’m doing you a favor, aren’t I?”

  The burly man flew out of the door at the far side of the building and joined the other two men. “What’s the hold up? I thought I told you to bring this woman inside?”

  “She’s threatening to call the cops,” Stanley said.

  “Hang it up!” the burly man ordered.

  “I’m turning myself in,” Aggie said. “I’m going to tell them I’m looking for my cheating husband and got the wrong motel room.”

  “Now!” the burly man hollered, whipping out a gun and aiming it at her.

  Aggie fumbled with the phone and finally shut it off hanging it up. She prayed that the call went through to the 911 dispatchers before she powered off. Hopefully they’d be able to trace it.

  “See, it’s off!” she said, holding the phone up. She waited for the kidnappers to decide what to do with her. They began to argue.

  “Bring her inside while we make up our minds,” the burly guy nodded to Mikey. “What are you waiting for? And take that phone away from her! You should’ve done that in the first place. Moron!”

  “Joe, I think you’re makin’ a mistake,” Stanley said. “She was just lookin’ for her cheating husband.”

  The burly man sneered at Aggie and that’s when she got a good look at him. She recognized the deep purple scar that cut across his face. “A man’s business is his own. His wife should abide by that!”

  Not sure as to what she should do next, Aggie let Mikey steer her toward the side door to the motel. The other two men argued behind her as they walked down the dark dingy hall.

  “Is that her Mercedes?” Joe asked.

  “I think so,” Stanley answered.

  “It’s an expensive model. I think we may have another gold mine,” the burly man laughed. “What do ya wanna bet her husband will pay a fortune to get her back even if he is a cheater? That means he’ll have an extra guilty conscience. Just think of the loot we’ll rake in. I think we should move out of the loan shark business and into kidnapping.”

  “Maybe we can do both,” Stanley laughed. “You know, branch out a bit.”

  How’d I get myself into such a mess? Aggie wondered. She prayed that Sarah got the hint and contacted Officer Tom Wood or that the 911 phone call went through. Either one would suffice.

  “Stop where you are!” a man’s voice ordered from behind them.

  The men stopped.

  Aggie took a chance and glanced over her shoulder. Relieved, she almost collapsed, her knees suddenly felt weak. Two uniformed cops were standing in the hallway with their guns drawn. To Aggie’s relief, the burly man put his hands up in the air and let one of the police officer’s relieve him of his gun.

  “Thank, God,” Aggie sighed, tears clouded her vision.

  Thursday, November 24th

  Chapter 15

  “Mum,” Sarah said. “This stuffing is amazing! It’s hard to believe you made it out of gluten free waffles.”

  “Yup,” Anita said, butting in. “I helped her. I toasted all the waffles and cut them up into little cubes. It’s very time consuming making bread crumbs.”

  “Yes,” Aggie groaned. “Anita helped.” This week had been one of the longest weeks of her life. Not only was Anita at Sarah and Everette’s for the Thanksgiving holiday, she rode home from Las Vegas with them. And for two nights before heading to Sarah’s house, Anita had slept on Aggie’s sofa in the living room. Then when Aggie finally felt she couldn’t take anymore, she’d been trapped in the kitchen with Anita and her other houseguests from hell, Linda and Jill.

  “I helped, too,” boasted Linda. “Aggie showed me how to make the Jell-O Salad. Right Aggie?”

  “Yes, dear,” Aggie said. “You did a fantastic job of it.”

  Anita was staring daggers at Linda for trying to steal her thunder by bringing up her helping to make the Jell-O Salad right after the stuffing had been mentioned. “Las
Vegas was so exciting!” Anita bragged. “Wasn’t it, Aggie? Too bad you weren’t there, Linda.” She didn’t take her eyes off of her. She watched as Linda scooped mashed potatoes onto her plate. “We were all invited because we met on a cruise.”

  “I see,” Linda said. “Was the wedding nice?”

  “Well, there was a little hiccup,” Anita said. “And the wedding had to be postponed. But it all worked out and the couple ended up eloping. It was so sweet! You should’ve seen the look on Miriam’s face when Jack gave her and his mother matching bracelets. Then he got down on one knee in front of everyone and told Miriam that he wanted them to run off to one of the chapels alone. It was so romantic!”

  “And his mother wasn’t invited?” Linda asked, appalled. “That’s awful!”

  “None of us were,” Anita stated.

  “His poor mother,” Linda said.

  “That’s what I said. Oh, Aggie,” Anita said. “I almost forgot to tell you. I was thinking of people from the cruise and it almost slipped my mind…” she giggled, proud of herself for getting to mention the cruise again in front of Linda. “Bianca wanted me to tell you to call her sometime.” She turned her attention back to Linda and added, “Bianca is one of Aggie’s new friends. Oh, which reminds me, I made a new friend named Paula.”

  “Yes,” Aggie said. “That’s right.”

  “Oh, she was such a sweet woman,” Betty said. “I really liked her. She didn’t hook up with Harold, did she? She’s much too pretty for him.”

  “No,” Anita said, shaking her head. “That didn’t work out, but she and I are going to stay in contact.”

  “Maybe you can hook Linda up with Harold?” Roger suggested, smiling slyly. “I think they’d get along famously!”

  “Who’s Harold?” Linda asked. “What kind of work does he do?”

  “You wouldn’t be interested,” Aggie said quickly.