by Rose Pressey
After a few seconds I said, “Okay, I guess dinner would be good.”
When Dorothy cranked the engine, I took off running for the car. I jumped in the passenger seat before she left without me. “Dorothy, you can’t drive. What are you doing? What about your cataracts?”
“I do not have cataracts and you know I had surgery.” She punched the gas.
My life flashed before my eyes as she pulled away from the curb.
I mouthed ‘help me’ as I rode past Jake. He just laughed as he walked toward his car. We made it back out onto the main street.
I looked over at the gas gauge. “Don’t you think we should stop and get some gas?”
“You’re just trying to get me to stop so that you can take over driving.”
Well, of course that was what I was trying to do, but we did need gas. That was no lie.
“Just look at the gauge for yourself,” I said.
She sighed and turned on the signal to pull into the gas station up ahead. Actually, her driving hadn’t been that bad.
“You probably fixed that gauge to do that,” she said.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
I would have if I could have.
Dorothy pulled up to the gas pumps and took the keys out of the ignition. I wiggled my fingers and she handed them over.
“I’m going in for a snack,” she said, draping her pocketbook over her arm.
Before I had a chance to tell her to get me something my phone rang.
“Maggie Thomas,” I said when I picked up.
There was no answer. Only heavy breathing.
“Really? Is this supposed to scare me? How ridiculous. Who is this?”
The line went dead.
Chapter 7
The next day, I decided to once again call the number that had hung up on me while I’d been at the gas station. I’d tried many times with no success. Someone obviously wanted to scare me.
I’d just arrived at the office, so I parked my car and got out. Dorothy had said she wouldn’t be there for at least another hour. She had to go pick up some yarn. I enjoyed the warm sun covering my body as I walked to the office. I inhaled the sea air, daydreaming about lying on the beach. As I opened the door to my office, I snapped backed to reality. I had to work. The rent wouldn’t pay itself.
I made it over to my desk, tossed my purse down, and plopped down in the chair. I pulled out my phone and dialed the number. The woman picked up on the first ring. She sounded like she was stressed out.
“Good morning, my name is Maggie Thomas, and I’m calling this number back. You left a message for me.”
“Ms. Thomas, I’m so glad you called me back. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. What can I do for you?” I asked.
“Well, as you may or may not know my brother was trying to get in contact with you.”
“Your brother? He was the man they found yesterday?”
I didn’t know how to put it delicately.
She paused to gather herself and said, “Yes, that was him. He was trying to find you for help.”
“Why me? I mean, surely he could’ve found someone better.”
Maybe he’d heard about my recent good luck with solving cases.
“He heard you were good. I intend to pick up where he left off. This was important for him, and I want to see it through. I’ll pay you whatever it costs.”
“What exactly did he need my help with?” I asked.
I was pretty sure I had a clue, but I wanted to make sure.
“His girlfriend was murdered and we’re trying to find out who did it. I think the person who killed him is the person who killed her. Would you be able to help with this?”
Considering a certain detective didn’t think I was capable of solving the crime, I had no choice but to find the killer. Plus, I definitely wanted to help.
“Yes, I can help you,” I said.
“Thank you, thank you. You don’t know how much this means to me. I’ll be in touch soon in regard to payment. Please call me if you have any questions.”
“Whoa, don’t hang up yet. I have questions now. Any information you can give me would help greatly.”
“You mean you can help right now? I don’t have to come see you first?”
“Of course I can help now. “ The sooner the better. Jake already had a head start. “What’s your name?”
“My name is Angela Archer.”
“Nice to speak with you, Angela. I have one important question.” Well, I had a lot of important questions, but for now I had to ask for a little bit of detail.
“Sure. What’s your question?” she asked.
“Where was the last place his girlfriend was seen?”
“It was at a bar called Palms Ten. There was a restaurant before that though. Henry told me he caught her talking to another man there. You might want to start there first.”
I knew that the place, so I figured I could take a trip over there.
“Thank you. We’ll talk soon,” I said.
Just as I hung up, Dorothy came through the door with her bags of yarn. She held them up. “I got it.”
“Great, now let’s go.”
I would probably need Dorothy as my backup. She could be my watchman.
“Oh, where are we going? A party?”
“Not a party, but we are going to a bar,” I said.
She placed her hands on her hips. “It’s a little early to drink, don’t you think, Maggie?”
I grabbed my purse and headed for the door. “We’re not going to drink. We’re going to look for a killer.”
She placed the yarn down, but stuffed the knitting needles in her bag. “This is going to be trouble. I can sense it already.” She fumbled in her purse as we walked to the car. When I got in she shoved a peppermint at me. “Here, you’re going to need it.”
I didn’t argue with her because she was always offering a mint. I usually just took them and sucked on the things.
It wasn’t a very long drive until we reached the restaurant. There were a few cars in the lot, but it was still early. Not quite lunch yet. That was good because I would have a chance to speak with someone and ask if they’d seen the murdered woman. We headed into the place. It was decorated in a nautical theme, just like every other place around. A man spotted us right away and rushed over.
“I’m sorry, we’re not open for business yet,” he said.
“That’s okay, I’m not looking to eat, but I have some questions.”
He eyed me up and down, as if he knew what I was going to ask.
“I’m inquiring about a murdered woman. Can you tell me anything about her?” I held up my phone, showing the picture from a newspaper article about Skye’s death.
“Who are you?” He narrowed his eyes.
“I’ve been hired to look into this.” Sure, I wasn’t law enforcement, but I was a fully licensed private investigator in the state of Florida. “I need to talk to you about this murder. I was told she was here with a man on the evening of her death.”
I had to let him know that I meant business.
He shrugged. “Yeah, all I know is she was here on the night she was murdered. She was having dinner with him when this other man came in. They were arguing and she left with him.”
“She left with the man she was having dinner with or the man she was arguing with?”
“The man she was having dinner with,” he said.
I knew this question would be a long shot, but I had to ask. “Do you know the man she was having dinner with?” I asked.
“His name is Brett McGraw and I know he works at Gator World.”
Now we just had to go find him.
“Thank you for the information.” I turned to rush for the door.
“You won’t find him there today though,” the man called out.
I spun around. “No? Why is that?”
“It’s his day off. He works over at the racetrack on his days off from Gator World. He grooms the horses.”<
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“How would I find him there?” I asked.
“Barn twenty-four, I think. I can’t say for sure though.”
“Thanks again.”
Dorothy and I marched out of the restaurant and over to the car.
“You really let him have it in there, Maggie. You showed him who’s boss.” She bumped her fist.
I shrugged. “That’s just the way I had to do it.”
Dorothy and I jumped into the car and headed over to find Brett.
Chapter 8
“Are you sure this is the right place?” Dorothy asked as we pulled into the parking lot.
“Well, the guy at the gas station when we asked for directions said there would be a huge statue of a Pegasus in the parking lot, and there it is.” I pointed toward the giant sculpture.
The thing had to have been three stories tall. Luckily, the parking lot wasn’t full. The racetrack wasn’t open, so we’d missed the crowd.
Dorothy shrugged. “Okay, if you say so.”
I whipped into a spot and parked the car.
“How do you know where we’re going?” Dorothy asked.
Sometimes I wondered if she ever had any confidence in whether I knew what I was doing. I supposed she did have her reasons for doubting me sometimes, but that didn’t mean I was wrong every time. I shut off the ignition and we got out of the car. As we walked along, I continued the conversation.
“The guy at the restaurant said it was barn twenty-four. The sign for the barns points that way. We just need to walk around this corner right here. We’ll find the guard shack,” I said.
Dorothy stopped in her tracks. “Maggie, there will be guards in the shack.”
“Why, yes. There are a lot of expensive horses here.”
“But what if they ask why we’re here?” Dorothy asked.
“I’ll tell them we have a meeting, that’s all,” I said with a shrug.
“Oh, that’s all? You say it as if it’s okay.”
“Come on.” I motioned.
Dorothy adjusted her pocketbook on her arm and headed down the path with me. We walked the short distance until the guard shack came into view. There were a lot of people standing around the little wooden building. Now I was beginning to have a little bit of doubt about whether we would actually get past.
“Okay, just act casual,” I said. “Maybe we’ll just walk by and they won’t notice us.”
A mechanical arm blocked the drive so that cars couldn’t go through without speaking to a guard first.
“Remember there are expensive horses here. They won’t let just anyone go past,” Dorothy said in a mocking tone.
I frowned. “All right, don’t remind me. Like I said, just act casual. Don’t make eye contact.”
“Don’t make eye contact,” Dorothy repeated.
Of course Dorothy was doing the opposite of what I’d told her to do.
“What are you doing?” I asked. “I said don’t make eye contact, not stare at them like you want their attention. You’re practically gawking at them. Why don’t you just wave your hands?”
“I can’t help it. I can’t stop looking now. When you told me not to it’s like I have to,” Dorothy said.
As we got closer, a man in a uniform held his hand up. “Can I see your pass, ma’am?” he asked.
I probably had a stupid look on my face. I knew my eyes were bugged out because I had no answer for him.
“I don’t have a pass,” I said in a sweet tone. “I’m just going to meet someone.”
I grabbed Dorothy’s arm and continued walking.
The guard stepped in front of us. “I’m sorry, we can’t let you by without a pass, even if you have a meeting.”
I stared at him blankly. Well, I stared at his massive, muscular chest because that was all I saw as he stood in front of me.
“Maybe the person you have a meeting with can come up here.”
Yeah, that wouldn’t work because the person I was meeting had no idea that I was coming to meet him and I didn’t want to tell him. “I’d have to call and let him know.”
“Would you like to use the phone here?” he asked.
“No, that’s okay, I’ll just use my cell phone. We’ll be in touch, thanks.”
I looped my arm through Dorothy’s and directed her back toward the parking lot.
“What are we doing now?” she asked. “This is impossible.”
“Don’t panic, just remain calm. I’ll figure it out.”
“That’s what you always say. That you'll figure it out,” she said.
“When have I said that? Name a time.”
“Well…”
I waved my hand. “Don’t even answer that.”
“Are we going back to the car?” she asked as soon as we got around the corner and out of sight.
“No, we’re absolutely not going back to the car. We have get to the barns,” I said.
“How do you propose we do that?”
“We’ll just have to think of some ideas.”
“I’m fresh out of ideas.” Dorothy dug around in her pocketbook, looking for one of those mints. I supposed she wanted one to calm her nerves. She popped one into her mouth and stared at me, as if I should already have a plan.
A truck with a trailer full of horses went past. Dorothy looked at me with a quirked eyebrow.
“Don’t even get that idea,” I said. “The horses in the back of that thing would kick us.”
“True, true, but I was desperate, okay.”
“Well, we’re not that desperate.”
A golf cart with two guys motored by. They stopped before reaching the guard building.
“What are they doing?” Dorothy whispered.
“Talking to each other.”
I looked over at Dorothy. “Come on, let’s go.”
“Where are we going?”
“Hold onto your purse,” I said.
We eased up to the golf cart. The guys were talking to each other so they had no idea we were back here. I motioned for Dorothy to follow me. We slid onto the back of the golf cart. With any luck the men would just go right on through the guard shack. At least that was the way it worked out in my head. When we sat down on the back I didn’t want to turn around and look at the guys for fear that they would notice us. We held onto the handles and they took off again. I hoped that Dorothy wouldn’t look at the guard shack this time. Since I hadn’t told her not to this time maybe she would control herself.
I held my breath as we drove past the guard shack. I almost didn’t want to look over there, but yet I couldn’t stop myself either. The guard hadn’t even looked at us. Yes, I was kind of feeling a little smug about that. I had gotten one over on him. Although he was just doing his job and I had purposely gone past without a pass. Shame on me. Lucky for him, I wasn’t here to do any harm. I just had a murder investigation to solve. Dorothy glowed from glee brighter than the Miami sun. She was happy with what we’d done.
“Hey, what are you doing back there?” the guy yelled.
He had noticed us on the back. The cart came to a stop.
I grabbed Dorothy’s hand. “Run.”
Now this guy would probably call security on us. I had to find a place for us to hide until it was safe to come out. There was a barn nearby that had stalls. It would be perfect. We could hide in there and no one would notice. I pulled Dorothy into the stall area. We walked across the hay and stood against the wood wall. I held my breath that no one would come looking for us.
“How long do we have to stay here?” Dorothy whispered.
“I don’t know. Maybe just a few minutes.”
“It stinks in here,” she said, waving her hand in front of her nose.
“Hold your breath,” I said.
“I can’t do that. I’ll die.”
I peeked out around the stall door to see if anyone was coming. It was all clear.
“I think it’s safe to sneak out now,” I said.
I eased out with Dorothy right behind me.
“Do you know where we’re going?” Dorothy asked.
As a matter of fact, I wasn’t exactly sure.
Chapter 9
Dorothy and I headed down the lane, looking at barn numbers as we went.
“I think it was barn number twenty-four.”
“You think?” she asked. “That’s the problem, you don’t know.”
“Well, I guess we’ll find out when we get there,” I said.
“It’s such a long walk,” she said.
Dorothy had on her good shoes, so I hoped the trek wouldn’t make her bunion act up. Why I hadn’t worn more comfortable shoes was beyond me. I kept wearing the wrong style to do this kind of work. Soon I would have a bunion too.
When Dorothy and I made it all the way to the end of the path we turned to the right. Thank goodness I spotted barn twenty-four right away.
“There it is,” I said. “Fingers crossed he’s there.”
“You’re going to need to cross your toes too. If you still can. By the look of those shoes, I doubt it. Why don’t you get some like mine?” Dorothy held her foot up and wiggled her foot around, showcasing her black orthopedic shoes.
I had to say they were looking pretty good right about now.
“You’d be better off to go barefoot than wear those things they call ‘shoes.’” Dorothy used her fingers to quote the last word.
“Never mind that right now. We have to find this guy,” I said.
I spotted a man working near one of the horses. He was shoveling hay into one of the stalls. As soon as we approached, he focused on us, eyeing us up and down. However, he didn’t ask if we needed any assistance. He looked as if he was hoping we’d go away.
“Is Brett here?” I asked, praying that I had the right barn.
His frown deepened. “No, he’s not here.”
The look on his face let me know that he wanted to know why we were asking and who we were.
He glanced over at Dorothy and back at me again.
“Do you know when he might be around?” I asked.
“I don’t know that he’ll be back today.”
“Do you know where I could find him?” I asked.
He had to give me something.
“You might want to check over at the track later today when they’re racing. He loves to bet on the ponies. He’d rather do that than to actually come and work.”
