by Mike Faricy
Chapter Fifty-One
I woke up the next morning on the very edge of the bed. Morton was stretched out in the middle of the bed, looking comfortable with his head nestled on the pillow and still sound asleep. I showered, dressed and was on my second coffee before I heard Morton climb off the bed and stretch. He was downstairs a minute later and walked over to the back door ready to be let outside. We ate breakfast, then drove down to the office. Louie was at his desk going over a file.
“Well, the prodigal son returns, and look, he brought Dev along.”
“Very funny. How’ve you been? I wasn’t sure if you’d still be in the back room over at The Spot.”
“Yeah, that wasn’t as bad as it sounds, saved me the walk over there at the end of the day. Cops were by a couple of days ago, dropped off your computer. I guess once you became the big media star everything was forgiven.”
“They find anything?” Even though Iggy had said he’d cleaned it up, you could never be too sure where Wegger was involved.
“You know, they didn’t really say, but the fact that you’re able to even walk around would suggest you came up clean. So tell me all about it.”
We chatted over a couple of cups of coffee, I told him about Wayne, the kids, Chrissy, following Wegger downriver until he ran aground and then disappeared into the woods.
“The guy could be almost anywhere,” Louie said.
“I just hope it’s somewhere far away.” With that my phone rang. A number came up, but I didn’t recognize it. “Haskell Investigations.”
“Hi, I’d like to speak to Dev Haskell.” It was a soft voice, sexy and sounding vaguely familiar, although I couldn’t place it.
“You got him.”
“Oh, hi. I wasn’t sure if that was you who answered. It’s me, Veronica, from the gift shop, in Afton. You came in asking for directions and then you ditched me later that night at the bar, remember?”
“Yeah, hi, Veronica, I do remember. And for the record, I didn’t ditch you, we just had to get going.”
“Well, my loss, apparently I missed out on all the excitement. It’s quite the talk all over town.”
“Hopefully, it met with your boss’ approval.”
“Oh, Penny. I’m afraid she’s never quite happy, but at least she knows you weren’t attending some orgy-fest, as she put it.”
“Yeah, does she know you entertain?”
“Ahh, no, that would probably lead to a broken contract. It is how I make enough to buy her out over time, sort of funny. But that’s not the reason I called. The town has put together a little celebration for the three, actually four, of you, that is, if you can make it. Sorry for the short notice but it’s tonight. Just a little reception at the bar where you first met Tommy and the guys.”
“Tonight?”
“Yeah, starts at half-past seven. We’d love to see you there, if you can make it. Feel free to bring someone.”
I took that last statement as a message that she wouldn’t be available. “Thanks, I think I can make it. In fact, I’m looking forward to it.”
“Oh, wonderful. I’ll let people know you’re going to be there,” she said, then hung up.
“Interested party?” Louie said.
“Not really, woman who gave me directions to Wegger’s in Afton. They’re having some sort of celebration tonight, sounds like it could be kind of fun. I haven’t seen the guys I was with on the boat since that night, and hopefully that cop from Prescott will be there. Anyway, let me see if I can scare up a date,” I said, then dialed a number.
“Angie,” she answered.
“Hi, Angie, it’s Dev, you free to talk?”
“Oh, wow, you’re really calling me instead of talking to all those Hollywood guys that are trying to get in touch with you?”
“Very funny.”
“I’m glad you’re safe. Very impressive story in the paper.”
“Yeah, thanks, hey, the reason I called is I have to go to some sort of reception or something tonight and I wondered if you’d care to go with me?”
“A reception?”
I gave her what little information I had. When I finished she said, “I’ll go on two counts.”
God! “And they are?”
“We take my car, I’m not really wild about being seen in that pink Lancer thing you drive.”
“Okay.”
“And I want to be taken out for breakfast in the morning. That Bon Vie place just up the block from you, they have really great breakfasts. I promise you won’t be disappointed.”
“You talking breakfast?”
“Don’t be stupid. I’ll plan on picking you up around seven tonight,” she said and hung up.
“So?” Louie asked.
“She’s thrilled, she’s taking the rest of the day off just to get ready.”
“This is the woman who told you, you were unstable?”
“Yeah, and she wanted something more permanent. I think she’s realized her mistake.”
Louie just shook his head.
Chapter Fifty-Two
Angie picked me up promptly at twenty after seven. I was in the kitchen when she knocked on the front door. It was a fairly warm evening, I had been enjoying a bottle of Finnegans Hoppy Shepherd and the nice breeze coming through the kitchen windows when the doorbell rang. Morton hurried out of his bed and thundered toward the front door, barking. He gave Angie his usual cold nose greeting between the legs as soon as she stepped inside.
“Whoa, Morton,” she half jumped. “Yeah, I missed you, too. You all set, man-of-the-hour?”
“Yeah, look, relax, it’s just a few folks and some beers. It’s probably not going to be a late night.”
“Well, good, because at some point I want you all to myself. Come on, let’s get started,” she said then stepped back out to the front porch. It was about a half-hour drive down to Afton, and we chit-chatted idle gossip on the way down. When we pulled onto the main street there were all sorts of cars, and my first thought was there must be something going on at one of the churches.
“Dev, I think this is for your deal,” Angie said, then turned onto a side street and parked halfway down. She turned off the car, then shifted in the seat to face me. “Hey, Dev. I just want to say, those things I said to you a while back, about needing something a little more stable and a lot more permanent. I may have been a little too quick. I mean, my God, you saved those kids and that woman.”
“Relax, forget it, I hear that stuff all the time.”
“About saving people?”
“No, the unstable and permanent deal, forget it. Come on, let’s go see what’s happening. I could do with a beverage.” Angie sat in the car for a long moment until I walked around and opened the door for her. She slid out from behind the wheel and sort of gave me a look.
“What?”
“Nothing,” she said, then seemed to take a deep breath, “Just thinking. Come on, let’s go see what they’ve got planned for you.”
The bar wasn’t just crowded, it was jam-packed. There were maybe two dozen folks out in front on the street, sipping glasses of wine or drinking a beer. We made our way inside and slowly headed toward the bar, working our way through the crowd. Eventually, we made it to the bar, then stood there for a good five minutes trying to get one of the three harried bartenders’ attention. I ordered a beer and got a glass of wine for Angie, before they were delivered I heard a shrill whistle from the far end of the bar. Veronica, looking like a sultry million bucks, waved at me and motioned me over with a frantic wave of her hand.
“We’ve got to go join some folks at the end of the bar,” I said into Angie’s ear.
“What?”
I just gave her the ‘follow me sign’ and we attempted to plow our way through the crowd. My beer was just about finished by the time we got to Veronica. Tommy was standing behind her talking to Pete Byron, the cop from Prescott.
“Hey, look what the cat dragged in. Glad you could make it,” Tommy said, then slapped me on the bac
k, gave a nod to the bartender and ordered me another beer. After getting a tongue-twirling kiss from Veronica I introduced Angie around. She smiled, gave a polite nod as I introduced her, then just sort of stood back and watched the interaction.
At some point someone stood on top of the bar and shouted until everyone was quiet. Then he made a short speech about the town and the good people who lived there. He introduced Tommy and Pete Byron and the other two guys whose names I immediately forgot, once again. He introduced me, but only as an afterthought once Tommy yelled something to him. Over the course of the night the place gradually thinned out.
I thought we left around ten, but I guess it was really sometime after two. I remember Angie asking if I was okay to walk to the car and then closing my eyes for just a minute once she helped me into the front seat. The next thing I knew, she was shaking me awake and telling me we were at my house.
I offered her a glass of wine in the kitchen, but she said no. I poured myself a beer.
I woke up sometime in the middle of the night, or, rather, Morton woke me. He was standing at the bedroom door, giving off a low, continuous growl. The same constant tone. I listened for what seemed like an hour or two before I finally opened my eyes. Morton glanced at me briefly, then went back to staring at the door.
I rolled over to see if Angie heard him, but she wasn’t there. “Morton, knock it off, it’s just Angie in the bathroom.”
That didn’t stop him, and then the bedroom door opened and Morton suddenly turned, leapt over me to the far side of the bed and shoved his head under the pillow.
“That’s your guard dog?” Niles Wegger said and pointed a pistol at me.
“Figures,” a voice said behind him, and then Delmar stepped into the bedroom.
“What the hell are you two doing here? Look, I’m really tired, I got one hell of a hangover in the process of making an appearance. Whatever you think I can fix, I can’t. Bonnie’s deal is done. You missed your opportunity. You’re both in enough trouble after grabbing her kids and her sister. Do yourself a favor, don’t make this any worse. Just get the hell out of town before the police find you, and they will, because…”
“Will you please shut up. God, you talk just to hear yourself. Now that you enjoyed your little celebration tonight, you’re coming with us,” Niles said. “Come on, get your worthless ass out of that bed.”
I thought I heard something out in the hallway and I raised my voice. “Don’t do this, your coming in here with a gun is just going to mean more trouble for both of you.”
“You’ve no idea what we have planned for you.”
“You’re right there,” I said as Angie’s naked silhouette suddenly stepped into the doorway behind them.
She gave a kick to the middle of Delmar’s back, and he sort of folded backwards and collapsed onto the bedroom floor. Niles had only begun to turn when she grabbed his arm with the pistol. She took hold of his wrist and twisted, then thrust a fist into his elbow and I heard a loud crack. Niles screamed and dropped the pistol. Delmar groaned from down on the floor, which earned him a heel kicked directly into his face. As his unconscious head bounced off the floor, she returned her full attention to Niles. Two punches to his throat, a swift kick to the chin, then, as he bounced off the wall, she caught him squarely between the legs. He stood still for a moment, then dropped to his knees and fell forward, face down on the floor.
She reached down and picked up the pistol, then stepped back, breathing heavily. It all happened so fast Morton and I were still in bed. “You know these two?”
“The kidnappers,” I said.
Chapter Fifty-Three
We were dressed and drinking coffee at the kitchen counter a little before six. There were still four cops there, all in the kitchen. The paramedics had taken the Wegger brothers to the hospital, two cops had gone with them.
“I’d guess it’s pretty safe to say they’ll be going away for a long, long time. Between the kidnappings, the break-in here and at the other place…”
“Bonnie’s.”
“Yeah, they’re pretty much done for, If they ever get out they’ll be very senior citizens,” the Sergeant said. “I have to compliment you, ma’am, that was some pretty handy work.”
“Thank you,” Angie said and smiled.
“Really, you should give me your card. I’d like to check it out.”
I figured karate was the last thing he was interested in checking out. We chatted for a while longer. We were both going to the police station later on, but in our own time. Gradually, they all left. We walked them to the door. The Sergeant gave Angie his card and asked her to call him about taking some lessons, I wasn’t sure what kind of lessons he had in mind.
I closed the door behind them, then watched out the front window as the three squad cars pulled away from the front of the house. “Well, what do you say?” I asked and put my arm around Angie.
“It’s been more than interesting, Dev. But I think it’s time for me to head home.”
“Sure you don’t want to rest up before you go?”
“Actually, yeah, I’m real sure. No offense, but taking care of you for the night and then coming out of the bathroom and some idiot is waving a gun around, it’s just not my idea of a romantic evening. No hard feelings?”
“No, I guess not, it’s just that, well, I thought, after what we talked about and everything last night, you know, you being a little too quick and all.”
“Oh, yeah, then you said you hear that stuff all the time and basically implied that you ignore it, that little talk?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Dev, you can be fun, but, well, I think maybe you should give that woman that whistled at you a call, the redhead. She might be better suited. Look, I should get going, thanks, it’s certainly been interesting. Oh,” she said at the door. “I’m guessing Morton ate my thong, but if you happen to find it, just toss it.”
I watched her pull away, then stared out the window for a long moment thinking about what she said. When it came right down to it, Angie was right, I should give Veronica a call. I hurried upstairs to find her card.
The End
Thank you for the time, I sincerely hope you enjoyed Foiled. As an independently published author, I rely on you, the reader, to spread the word. So if you enjoyed the book, please tell your friends and family, and if it isn’t too much trouble, I would appreciate a brief review on Amazon. Just a sentence or two will really, really help. Thanks again. My best to you and yours.
Mike
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Books by Mike Faricy
The following titles comprise the Dev Haskell series;
Russian Roulette: Case 1
Mr. Swirlee: Case 2
Bite Me: Case 3
Bombshell: Case 4
Tutti Frutti: Case 5
Last Shot: Case 6
Ting-A-Ling: Case 7
Crickett: Case 8
Bulldog: Case 9
Double Trouble: Case 10
Yellow Ribbon: Case 11
Dog Gone: Case 12
Scam Man: Case 13
Foiled: Case 14
What Happens in Vegas… : Case 15
Art Hound: Case 16
The Office: Case 17
The following titles are Dev Haskell novellas.
Dollhouse
The Dance
Pixie
Fore!
Twinkle Toes
(a Dev Haskell short story)
The Dev Haskell titles are
available on Amazon 24/7,
just click on the appropriate link;
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The following titles comprise the Corridor Man series
written by Mike Faricy & originally released
under the pseudonym Nick James;
Corridor Man
Corridor Man 2: Opportunity knocks
Corridor Man 3: The Dungeon
Corridor Man 4: Dead End
Corridor Man 5: Finger
Corridor Man 6: Exit Strategy
Corridor Man 7: Trunk Music
Corridor Man 8: Birthday Boy
(Corridor Man novellas)
Corridor Man: Valentine
Corridor Man: Auditor
Corridor Man: Howling
Corridor Man: Spa Day
The Corridor Man titles are available on
Amazon 24/7 just click on
the appropriate link.
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The following titles comprise
the Jack Dillon Dublin Tales series
written by Mike Faricy under
the pseudonym Patrick Emmett;
Welcome
Jack Dillon Dublin Tale 1
Sweet Dreams
Jack Dillon Dublin Tale 2
Mirror Mirror
Jack Dillon Dublin Tale 3
Silver Bullet
Jack Dillon Dublin Tale 4
Fair City Blues
Jack Dillon Dublin Tale 5
Spade Work
Jack Dillon Dublin Tale 6
(Jack Dillon Novellas)
