Dev Haskell Box Set 8-14 (Dev Haskell - Private Investigator)

by Mike Faricy

  I looked at him for a moment then turned forward and pulled to a stop at the next window. A moment later a woman handed two large bags to me. Next, she picked up a tray holding our four drink cups from the counter along side her. “Thanks for choosing McDonald’s, have a nice day,” she said then just stared at my face.

  I passed the bags with the Happy Meals back to Emma, “Here you go, girls.”

  “She looked at you funny,” Emma said.

  I placed my Fillet-o-Fish sandwiches on the passenger seat and tossed the bag over my shoulder to Carlos. I handed the drinks, one at a time back to the girls. Once they were settled I passed the chocolate shake back to Carlos.

  I wished there was some way I could spit in his shake, but it didn’t seem to be an option. I pulled the two moldy coffees out of the cup holders on the console and tossed them on the floor of the passenger seat. The coffee slowly soaked into the pile of trash on the floor.

  No one spoke as we feasted on McDonald’s and I headed up Shepard Road along the Mississippi toward The Peabody. Carlos was the first one to finish. He made a loud slurping sound, sucking up the final drop of his chocolate shake. He dropped the empty cup onto the floor, tilted his head back and gave a loud, satisfied belch. The girls gave him a strange look then glanced toward one another sending some sort of signal with their eyes.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  We pulled into the private road that led to The Peabody a few minutes later. The road was more of a curvy pathway lined with vintage street lights. A sidewalk ran along either side of the road and neatly trimmed hedges wound in between maple trees that were in the process of just beginning to turn scarlet. I stopped at the security gate where a keypad was mounted on a brick pillar right next to a camera.

  “Punch in zero seven zero one seven four,” Carlos said.

  I looked at him in the rear view mirror.

  “It’s the security code,” he said then repeated the numbers once I lowered the window.

  I pressed the buttons on the keypad, pressed enter, and the gate immediately swung open.

  “Head around to the right,” he said. “There’s two garage doors, the green door leads to the underground parking. You can pull in down there.”

  I followed another curvy, tree lined road up to the green garage door marked entrance and pulled alongside another Keypad.

  “Just input the same code as before,” Carlos said.

  “Give it to me again.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “Do you want to get in? I’m not kidding, you want to get in you’ll have to give me the code again.”

  “No wonder you’re a PI, God,” Carlos scoffed then gave me the code, again.

  The door rose and I pulled down a short ramp.

  “Straight ahead then a right at the end, you can pull into spot five-eleven.”

  I drove to the far end of the parking ramp, actually the length of building, past some very nice cars and a lot of open spaces. As parking areas go it was one of the cleanest I’d ever been in. The floor had been sealed with some sort of coating and looked like it might be washed fairly regularly. Not so much as a drop of oil anywhere.

  Once I made the turn, the five-eleven parking space was just a couple of rows ahead of us against the wall. The numbers were stenciled in black on the concrete wall and on the floor as well. The parking spot was almost right next to the elevator door.

  “All right, now we’re going to take the elevator up to where we’re staying tonight, I want everyone to just stare at the floor, don’t look up. Got it?” Carlos said.

  Both girls nodded.

  “You got it, Haskell?”

  I nodded.

  “Then say so, damn it.”

  “I heard you, don’t look up.”

  “Much better. Okay, everyone out and we’ll take the elevator to a very nice place.”

  “When can we see mommy?” Ava said.

  “Pretty soon, if you do what you’re told. Can you do that?”

  Emma nodded and Ava just stared at her feet.

  After a moment Carlos said, “Come on get going.” Then he inclined his head toward the elevator.

  I lifted Ava up and then put my hand out for Emma to grab onto. Carlos clutched his pink suitcase. We waited for no more than half a minute before the elevator arrived.

  As the door opened Carlos said, “Remember, just look at the floor, watch your feet, everyone watch your feet.”

  I suppose it was fortunate that no one got on the elevator with us. We rose uninterrupted up to the fifth floor, staring at our feet the entire time. When the doors opened, Carlos said, “Okay take a right down the hall, it’s the last door on the right, Haskell. Bossy, you follow them. I’ll be right behind all of you.”

  The hall had thick, plush beige carpet, the walls were painted an off white and illuminated by soft lights imbedded in the ceiling, Five-eleven was the third door on the right at the far end of the hall.

  “You just move back a few feet,” Carlos said to me taking out a set of keys. “Bossy, you stand in front of him.” He pointed to where he wanted us to stand, Ava seemed to have fallen back asleep on my shoulder. I stepped away from the door and Emma positioned herself in front of me. Carlos unlocked the door, then stepped aside and waved us in.

  The unit was spacious, with ten-foot ceilings and walls painted a neutral color. Elaborate white trim surrounded the doors and windows with a thick, eight-inch high baseboard running around the bottom of the walls. Thick oriental rugs covered the polished wooden floors. An entire wall of windows looked up river over the treetops of the state park. The sun was low in the sky, not quite setting, although it would be in a matter of about forty-five minutes. The windows faced west and upon closer examination one of them was actually a door that led to a balcony. I immediately thought if I could only get Carlos out on the balcony, I might be able to push him off.

  “Don’t even think about it,” Carlos said as if he was reading my mind. “No one is going out on the balcony. We’re just going to take it easy here for the night. I’ve got some planning to do.”

  “You don’t mind me saying, every minute you hang around this town is burning precious time. They’ve got to be tightening the net, man. Why don’t you just take your little pink suitcase, hop in that lousy car, and head for the hills?”

  “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

  “Not a matter of what I’d like. I just don’t want these two in some sort of intense situation, that’s all. I promise I’ll give you a twenty-four hour head start. I won’t call anyone, won’t report you, nothing.”

  “Mmm-hmm, sounds like a great opportunity, not. You must think I’m pretty stupid, Haskell. You’d be on the phone before I was two steps out the door.”

  “I wouldn’t, Carlos, really. No offense, but right now I’d love it if you fled the scene and just abandoned us here. If it makes you feel any better go ahead and tie me up. If there’s a phone here take it with you. I don’t care. I’m just suggesting it would be better for all of us, yourself included if you just got out of here.”

  “Well, maybe I’ve got a plan, already,” he said, but in a way that made me think he didn’t have a clue.

  “Sure you do, that’s why you brought us here.”

  There was a fireplace on one wall with four framed photographs, high school graduation photos. Three boys and a girl. One of the boys looked like an awfully young, baby faced Carlos.

  “Let me guess, this is your folks’ place? What? Are they up at the lake or just out for dinner? Gee, how clever, bringing us here. The cops would never think of checking for you in your parent’s condo, would they? I’m sure your folks will be thrilled when they find out what you’ve done.”

  “Maybe you should just shut up for your own good.”

  “Look man, we’re all tired, exhausted, why don’t you…?”

  “Why don’t you just shut the hell up is what you should do. Since you’re all so tired, maybe all three of you should just lie down on t
he floor. Go on, you heard me. Get down on the floor, right in front of the fireplace. Come on, do it, Haskell.”

  I helped the girls get down on the floor. Ava groaned a little, but never fully woke up. If she snuggled any closer to me she would be inside my pocket. Emma lay down on the other side of me then grabbed my hand and snuggled up against me.

  Carlos walked over to some exotic looking marble topped buffet. He pulled the center drawer open and took out a couple of white extension cords. “Not that I don’t trust you, Haskell, but well, I don’t,” he laughed. “You just stay down there and stretch out so I can tie this around your ankles. I don’t want you getting any stupid ideas about turning into some sort of hero in the middle of the night.”

  I stretched out on the floor and Carlos wrapped one of the extension cords around my ankles then tied a knot in the thing. When he’d finished he pulled on the cord a couple of times to make sure it was tight then said, “Roll over on your stomach and put your hands behind your back.”

  “Oh come on, man, not this again. You gotta be kidding me, I’m not gonna be able to sleep like this,” I said as I rolled over onto my stomach.

  “Really not my problem,” he said then wrapped a cord around my wrist a couple of times, pulled it tight and then wrapped my wrists together. “Perfect, now just a gentle reminder, you try anything stupid and one of the brats gets it, understood?”

  “Yeah sure, I hear you. Just let me say, again, this would be the perfect time for you to make tracks to some sunny beach or a distant mountaintop before the cops or those casino guys find you.”

  “And let me say again, shut the hell up.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  I must have drifted off to sleep because it was dark when I awoke. I’d been lying on my side and had lost most of the feeling in my arms with the cord wrapped around my wrists. Right now, about the only thing I could feel was pain, very intense pain. My shoulders felt like they were about ready to pop out of the sockets.

  A light was on in what I figured was the kitchen, not bright. I thought it might be the light over the stove or maybe some lights beneath the cabinets. We were lying on the floor, the three of us, Emma and Ava on either side of me. A long, leather couch was down at my feet blocking any view. Both the girls seemed to be asleep.

  I could hear Carlos moving around in the dim light. It sounded like he opened the refrigerator and took something out. A moment later I heard the familiar sound of a bottle cap getting popped off and shortly after that the sound of a bottle set down on the counter.

  He was either singing to himself or he was in some sort of conversation. I could hear his voice, but couldn’t make out what he was saying and didn’t pick up on another voice. It dawned on me he might be on the phone. I prayed he was making flight reservations and planned to just leave us here. I strained against the extension cord wrapped around my wrists, but only succeeded in shooting waves of sharp pain up and down my arms.

  I rolled over to face Emma and whispered in her ear. “Emma, Emma, wake up. Emma. Emma.”

  She wrinkled her nose and turned her head a little, then took a deep breath and returned to deep, rhythmic breathing.

  “Emma, Emma honey, wake up. It’s Dev, wake up, Emma.”

  Her eyes fluttered for a bit, and she said, “Dev?”

  “Shhh-hhh, stay quiet. Can you try and untie my wrists?”

  “Dev?”

  “Shhh-hhh, quiet, honey.”

  She nodded.

  “See if you can untie me,” I whispered. I could hear Carlos again, still sounding like he was in some sort of conversation. I rolled over with my back to Emma and sort of moved my wrists to attract her attention. A moment later I could feel her hands beginning to tug at the cord.

  After some time she said, “I can’t do it, it’s tied real tight, I can’t get it off,” she said.

  “Keep trying, you’re doing fine,” I said, but the truth was she didn’t know what she was doing and most likely couldn’t see in the dark even if she did know what to do.

  She tugged and pulled on the cord for a good few minutes, but nothing changed.

  “I can’t get it, Dev. I can’t get it loose,” she whispered.

  “It’s okay, good try. You go back to sleep and we’ll think of something else.”

  “I’m sorry, I just can’t get it.”

  “That’s okay, Emma. Go back to sleep, honey, it’s okay.”

  She snuggled up against me and silently sobbed herself back to sleep. I went back to struggling against the cord and had even less luck.

  I heard the refrigerator open three or four more times, always followed by the sound of a bottle being opened. I could only hope Carlos drank enough beer to pass out. At one point I heard him walk down a hallway and use the bathroom. On his way back he wandered in our direction and stared at us for a very long moment before he returned to the kitchen.

  I drifted off to sleep again and woke to someone tugging at the cord around my wrists. I glanced over my shoulder and could just make out a determined look on Emma’s little face. The dim light was still on in the kitchen area, but I couldn’t hear anything that suggested life out there. With any luck Carlos had drunk himself into a stupor, staggered out onto the balcony and then gone over the railing.

  Emma tugged and pulled, but didn’t seem to be making any progress. I wiggled my hand and fingers in an effort to get the blood flowing and suddenly I felt a slight loosening of the cord. One length seemed to drop along the back of my hand. Emma stopped her effort for a moment then pulled the loosened section almost over my hand. I cupped my fingers and she tugged the cord over my knuckles. That seemed to loosen another length and she tugged that over my opposite hand. Suddenly I could feel the cord loosen and Emma began to unravel everything from around my wrists.

  It took her a few more minutes, but she was eventually able to pull the cord loose and I slipped my wrist out. I lay on my back, unwrapped the remainder of the cord then crossed my arms over my chest and began to massage them in an effort to get the blood flow back. I placed a finger to my lips signaling Emma to stay quiet.

  She was still sitting up and nodded eagerly. I gently forced her down then whispered in her ear, “Good job, Emma, very good. Now, close your eyes and pretend to be asleep just incase he checks on us.”

  She nodded eagerly then closed her eyes and smiled.

  I continued to massage my arms and wiggle my fingers, all the while keeping an ear cocked for any hint of Carlos. Could we be so lucky that he took my thoughts to heart and just left? I didn’t want to bet on it. I lay there for what seemed like an eternity, getting my arms back to a semblance of normal, and listening. I never heard a thing coming from beyond the leather couch.

  I waited for what seemed like the better part of the night, wondering what in the hell I was going to do, then I slowly sat up and looked around in the dark. I closed one eye and looked into the dimly lit kitchen. No sign of Carlos, anywhere. I reached down and quickly began to undo the knotted cord around my ankles.

  Once the cord was off, I massaged my ankles to get the blood flowing back into my feet. It took a while, but a sense of feeling gradually began to return. There was still no sign of Carlos.

  I gradually got the layout of the place, at least the area we were in. I planned to scope out the living room where we were sleeping, then make my way to the kitchen. If he wasn’t in the kitchen I could grab the girls and we could just quietly get the hell out of here.

  I grabbed the extension cord that had been wrapped around my legs and wound a length around either hand. If I found him asleep in the kitchen I’d strangle the bastard, and then leave with the girls. I slowly crawled on my hands and knees around the edge of the leather couch. I closed one eye again and peered into the dimly lit kitchen. At least from the angle I was at the kitchen appeared to be empty.

  I scanned the darkened living room and dining area for any sign of him, and came up empty handed. I slowly got to my feet, took a couple of tentative steps then m
ade my way as quietly as possible toward the kitchen. I leaned against the open doorway and slowly peered around the corner. Unless Carlos was sleeping on the floor on the far side of the kitchen counter the room was empty.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  I checked the far side of the counter, just to be safe. Fortunately, he wasn’t there. The counter was littered with seven beer bottles and what looked like a twist-off cap to a bottle, definitely not beer. I could only hope it was vodka and that he’d downed plenty of it.

  I picked the cap up to smell it and suddenly heard a noise from the dark end of the condo. A distant door opened then a moment later a not so distant door closed. I remained where I was, afraid the sound of my heart thumping was going to give everything away. I heard the toilet flush, a door open, and then the very dimmest of lights attempted to drift across the oriental carpet only to be swallowed up by the murky darkness where we were sleeping, then all was quiet again.

  I waited with the cord stretched between my hands ready to charge into Carlos the moment he came through the kitchen door. I heard something that sounded like a footstep dragging and suddenly there was Carlos. A dark silhouette in the half light barely fifteen feet from me. He was just standing and looking over the leather couch down to the floor where the girls were sleeping in front of the fireplace. The same place I was supposed to be. Only I was out here in the kitchen with my feet seemingly glued to the floor.

  He seemed to stagger a half step as he stared toward the girls, then rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. He held the Sig Sauer in the same hand and suddenly I was moving, cutting the distance between us in half.