by Mary Mead
With a sigh I got up to help him. He had the paper plates and napkins in hand so I grabbed a couple of beers and followed him back to the living room.
He sat in his usual place on the couch before looking at the tv. “What am I looking at?” he asked.
“I saw this on the news,” I explained. “I saved it for you.”
“What is it? I’m hungry.”
“Just watch it,” I said.
The piece was about five minutes and when it finished, I rewound it in case Burke wanted to see it again.
“And?”
I was disappointed he didn’t see it right away. “That guy! He looks like the same guy on the tape. The one I gave you, remember? When the drugs were taken? I burned you a copy. This is the guy coming around the corner of that truck!”
Burke gave me a glance, chewed pizza and looked at the screen. “Back it up,” he said. “Let’s see it again.”
Happy with my clue and the attention he was giving it I rewound and showed it again.
“I don’t get it,” he said when the news clip had played through. “What am I looking at?”
“That guy,” I said, pointing at the screen. “That’s the same guy. The one on my tape.” I rewound and played it again. “See? Right there. On the right.”
Burke chewed and looked again at the screen. “I don’t see it, babe. The guy you taped here was heavier and older. Sorry.”
I sat back with a thud, disappointed. “You don’t see it?”
“I don’t think they’re the same. Maybe a slight resemblance because of the hair and the soul patch. Otherwise? Uh – uh. I was called in on the homicide, babe. I saw those bodies up close and I’m telling you not the same guy.”
“You’re on this case, too?”
“Not officially. I was called in to see if I could identify either one of them. Maybe one of the dealers I’ve dealt with or seen around. Nada. Never saw these guys before. Or your guy out back. Now, what movie did you get?”
Okay, I sulked. I was proud of my clue. To hear him poo-poo it ticked me off.
“I didn’t get one,” I said. “I was side tracked.”
Burke took a deep breath and sighed it out, setting his slice of pizza down. “Come on, Marlena,” he said, patting my knee. “It was close. I admit it. If I hadn’t seen him up close I might have made the same mistake. You did a good job, a great job. Proves you’re doing your job, a regular part of the team. If you’ll feel better, I’ll pass it on to the task force. Just don’t be disappointed when it gets tossed. Okay?”
With my own sigh I agreed and handed him the remote. “You find a movie. I’ll get the napkins.”
Burke stayed in his motor home the next three nights, leaving his pickup parked down the block and walking in before the gates locked. I checked the cameras often and never saw him. If he was wandering the property he did an excellent job of avoiding the camera system.
I kept my file with the picture I had printed out. On Friday I bought the local paper to see if they printed the pictures of the murdered men. No such luck. I could find every yard sale in the county but nothing about the two men. Small town, weekly paper.
My disappointment carried me through the day. When Burke failed to show all day I decided to get away from it all and treat myself to dinner at Kelly’s. Fish and chips sounded pretty good. Not cooking sounded even better.
I found a seat at the counter and placed my order, adding a salad and iced tea. The waitress brought the salad and tea and smiled at me. “Thank God it’s Friday, right? You have plans for later?”
“No, not me. Just a long day and too lazy to cook.”
“I hear you,” she said. “Story of my life. Every Friday I make a list of things to do on the weekend and on Monday I toss it having done none of them.”
“I’ll share a secret with you,” I said, leaning forward. “Put it on the list when you do it, then cross it off. You’ll always get at least one thing done.”
She gave a polite laugh and moved down the counter to see to the other customers. I finished my salad and shoved the bowl aside, dabbing my mouth with the napkin.
“This seat taken?”
I looked over at John Kincaid, the Monarch detective, standing beside me.
“All yours,” I said, sliding my salad bowl to the other side.
“Marlena, right? From the storage place?”
I nodded. “That’s me. How are you, Detective?”
“John, please. I’m good. How about you? Any more excitement?” He slid onto the stool next to me.
“The storage business is probably the most boring job in the world.”
“Oh, I don’t know. You had some excitement last month. Anything new on that?”
“Not really,” I began, then stopped and looked at him. “May I ask a question about the investigation?”
“Sure. Ask away. Although I can’t divulge any top secret information,” he said with a wink.
“Is it top secret?”
“Not that I know of,” he said. “It’s under wraps though. DEA and the drug task force don’t want it broadcast. About the, uh, boxes you found. What can I help you with?”
“The two bodies that were found by the freeway. Is that your case?”
He nodded.
“Do you think they could be related?”
He thought for a minute. “You mean the boxes and the bodies?”
My turn to nod. “Yeah. Do you think they’re related?”
He paused long enough to place his order before he answered me. “I don’t see it myself. Why? Do you think they’re related? Did you find something?”
I sipped tea and thought for a second. Burke was part of the task force, too. He told me he would turn in my information. I wondered if he did, or if he was just humoring me.
“Okay, this may be nothing,” I said. “Did you get the file I sent, the one with the photo from our security camera? The guy walking around the back of the Move It truck?”
He shook his head and turned a little toward me. “First I’ve heard of it. When did you bring it in?”
“I didn’t,” I said. “I gave it to another guy in the group. He was going to turn it over to the task force. Maybe he forgot.” Or maybe he tossed it, I thought. Maybe it never got reported.
“Who forgot? If you found something, anything, we need all the help we can get.”
I took a deep breath. “I’ve been going over and over the tapes from our cameras and I found a clip, just a quick shot really, of a guy coming around the back of a rental truck. I captured it and printed it out, along with the printed copy of who was in the lot at that time. Last night I saw the thing on the news, about those two men killed by the freeway.”
John nodded and twirled a finger for me to go on.
“One of them, I think it was Esquibel, looked like the guy on my tape. I bought the paper last night to get the photos of them but no go. The paper didn’t have them. Do you think I could get a copy of that segment from the news station?”
Kathy, the waitress, set down our meals. “I held yours up a little so you could eat together,” she smiled. “Anything else I can get you?”
“I’ll take some of that iced tea,” John said. “How about you, Marlena?”
“I’m good, thanks.”
John waited while Kathy brought his tea and wandered back up the counter. “I don’t know the network’s policy on copies,” he said. “I don’t know if they release them to the general public. You could ask.”
I slumped a little and put down the piece of fish I was eating. Was it worth it? Was I just over reacting?
“Or,” John continued, picking up a fry and dipping it in ketchup, “you could ask me and I could show you their pictures.”
“You have them? Can I get copies?”
“Hang on a second,” he said. “Let’s reverse that. You give me what you have, the picture of the guy in your lot and I’ll check them.”
“I already gave the file to the task force,” I said. “Evi
dently they didn’t see the resemblance. I wanted another look at those men.”
“I can double check with the DEA guys, or I can come by your office and take a look at what you have. I might even bring along my file. With the pictures of the expired gentlemen.”
“Really?” I squealed, I know I did. “Can you bring them by my place? I don’t work weekends and I don’t want to wait till Monday. Sorry, I’m the impatient kind.”
“Not a problem,” he smiled. “What time tomorrow?”
“Whenever it’s convenient,” I smiled. “I really appreciate it. I’ll be home all day.”
“How about ten?”
“Perfect,” I said, and leaned over to squeeze his hand. “Thank you.”
“What the hell? Burke know you’re cheating on him?” Even slurred I recognized the voice. Paul.
I looked over my shoulder to find Paul leaning on the stool next to me. The smell of alcohol made my eyes water. I pulled back.
He didn’t notice, slid up on the stool and looked around me at Detective Kincaid. “Kincaid, right? Town cop?”
“Detective,” John said. “And you’re Paul Murphy. We’ve met.”
“I thought that was you,” Paul said, and tipped over. He had to slam a foot down and grab the counter to keep from losing his seat completely. “I’m not driving. Can’t get me.”
“Didn’t plan on it,” John said and picked up another fry. While polite you could have chilled beer with his voice. “Can I help you with something, Mr. Murphy?”
Paul lurched forward, almost toppling again, looking around me. “You can’t. She could. She doing you, too? You know she’s sleeping with Burke. You guys sharing her? She got a thing for cops?”
My face flamed and set my temper on fire. I slid off the stool and faced Paul. “I quit. You’ll have it in writing tomorrow morning.”
Paul tried to pat my arm and missed, patting thin air. “Now, don’t get mad. I was just saying. You know I’d be interested myself if you get rid of the cops.” His attempt at a smile was ludicrous, the saliva bubbling up at the corners of his mouth, his eyes at half-mast. He tilted sideways, clutching the counter to keep his seat. “You need to know there’s options. I got more money than he does. Hell of a lot more than Burke.” A string of drool dripped from his bottom lip to his shirt front.
Beside me John crumpled up his napkin, tossed it on the counter and stood up. He gently took my elbow and tugged me around to his side so he was facing Paul.
“How about we take a walk,” he asked Paul, taking his arm. “I think you need some air.”
“I think you better get your hands off me,” Paul said with a slack grin. “Or you’re gonna be looking for work. My dad’s the mayor.” He tried to pull away from John and again lost his balance, this time losing his seat and sliding between the counter and the seat. “You hit me again and I’m gonna sue,” he slurred, clinging to the counter with both hands to pull himself up.
“Sorry, Marlena,” John said, edging me back a little further. “You’ll have to excuse me and Mr. Murphy. Dinner is on me. I’ll see you in the morning.”
With that he pulled some bills from a front pocket and tossed them beside my plate. “After you, Mr. Murphy,” he said to Paul, taking his arms and pulling him off the stool. He turned him toward the door and gave him a little push.
Paul staggered and went down to his knees, throwing both hands out to break his fall.
“Got you now,” he said, once he got his head upright. “That’s police endangerment. Corruption or something.”
“Brutality,” John said, helping him up. “You’re gonna learn about it up close and personal in about one minute. Now, let’s take a little walk, shall we? Right across the street.”
John had a firm grip on Paul’s elbow and this time when he tugged Paul followed along although he was stumbling. John put his left arm around Paul’s shoulders and used that to guide him out the front door. Paul made it as far as the curb before he suddenly doubled over and lost everything in the gutter.
Kathy, the waitress, shoved the folded bills toward me. “On the house tonight. Sorry about that. I hope you’ll come back again soon.”
I pushed the money back at her. “Not my money. Belongs to the detective.”
She slipped it into her pocket. “I’ll see he gets it back. I’m real sorry this happened. Can I get you some dessert? You can take it with you.”
“No, thanks. Dinner was very good. I’m sorry, too.”
“Not your fault,” she said, shaking her head. “Usually he stays at the Gem when he gets like that.”
“He does this a lot?”
Kathy’s eyes got wide all of a sudden. “I wouldn’t know,” she said quickly. “Thank you again for your business. Hope to see you soon.” With that she hurried down the counter, leaving me to wonder if my boss was also the town drunk.
I pulled out my keys and for the first time noticed everyone was looking at me. The whole place was silent, not even the clink of a fork. When I looked around everyone got busy looking the other way.
Well, terrific. I am now unemployed and the talk of the town.
I went home.
I was through the first pot of coffee and started a second when John Kincaid knocked on the front door. I let him in. He took a seat at the kitchen table while I poured him a cup of coffee. He had a manila folder in his hand.
“Just push those papers over,” I said, bringing his coffee to the table.
He turned the sheets and glanced at them before shoving them aside. “What’s this?”
“My official resignation,” I said, picking up the papers and setting them on the counter. “I quit last night.”
“I know. I was there. You really gonna leave?”
I brought my cup over and took a seat. “That’s the idea.”
John smiled. “I’ve taken Paul Murphy in a couple of times. He’s gonna sleep till two and wake up in a brand new world. He won’t remember a thing. Your job is safe, Marlena.”
“I remember, John, and that’s what matters. I only expect two things from a boss – respect and my paycheck on time. Paul can kiss my pearly pink fanny.” I scooted over another folder. “This is the stuff I was talking about last night.” I pulled out the photo I had copied from the DVD. “This guy here. I have checked and double checked. There is no record of him coming in. No code, no unit number, nothing. Not for that whole time period.”
John took the picture and looked at it for a full minute before he pulled a photo from his own folder. He laid it beside the first and studied it. “I think you’re right.”
Yes! I wanted to dance. “You think they’re the same?”
“I wouldn’t put my life on it but yeah, I think they’re the same. Can I keep this?” He lifted the picture I had printed.
“Sure. Take the whole file. There was supposed to be a copy given to the task force. Thank you.”
His brow wrinkled. “For what?”
“Believing me. Taking the time to at least look.”
“Who did you show this to before?”
“Burke. The undercover guy. The one from the task force. He’s been working here.”
John nodded. “I’ll check with him. The file may be at the office, overlooked. The bad thing about all these fingers in the pie is no one knows who the thumb is.” He shook his head and smiled. “Don’t get me wrong. These guys are good. All of them. They’re just not used to working together. I’ll be sure this gets brought to their attention. The DEA can send this to their lab, see what they can come up with. We could be wrong.” He winked at me. “I don’t think so.”
“Thanks, John. I appreciate it. Even if it isn’t him I thank you for at least listening to me.”
“Hey, part of my job. Thank you for taking an interest. Now, can I ask you a personal question?”
“Ask away.”
“Have you had trouble with Paul in the past?”
I sighed. “Not really. I haven’t had that much to do with any of the family.
Until the drug thing came along.”
“I hope you know the law protects you form sexual harassment in the work place. I can get you some information if you’d like.”
I laughed out loud. “I’m sorry,” I said, still giggling. “I can handle myself, thank you. To be honest, I may have overreacted. Still, he made some ugly remarks last week. I didn’t like it. So it may be time to move on before it gets worse.”
“Can you tell me about it?”
“Oh, it wasn’t physical, anything like that.” I sighed again. “Burke, the undercover guy. Do you know him?”
John nodded. “I’ve met him. I don’t know him. I’ve never worked with him or anything. Is he a problem?”
“No, not at all. We’ve gotten to be friends, him being here so much. We have dinner, watch a movie, and sometimes go to dinner. Friends, you know?”
“Romantic? With either guy?”
“Oh, hell, no,” I laughed. “Burke and I are friends. No benefits.”
“You don’t have to answer,” John smiled. “I’m being kinda personal here.”
“That’s all right. We’re just friends. He’s been working a lot of hours. He fell asleep on the couch last week and I let him sleep. On the couch. The next morning I was in the shower, alone, when Paul came by. Burke answered the door, I was in the shower and he thought the worst.”
“Still not his business,” John said. “You weren’t on the clock.”
“No, it was early. I guess Paul and Burke have a history, goes back to high school. Some kind of rivalry. I didn’t hear the conversation but I know Burke can be a smart ass. He may have hinted at something else, I don’t know. Like I said, I didn’t hear it.”
“So Paul thought Burke spent the night. Not his business, rivalry or not. That’s what he was going on about last night. Saying you were sleeping with him?”
I nodded again. “That’s it. And then it was you. You made the mistake of sitting by me. I guess he thought you were sleeping with me, too.”
“For the record, I consider that a compliment,” he said. “I can talk to him if you’d like.”
“No need. I’m done here. I won’t have any more trouble with him.”
Someone knocked on the front door and I jumped.
