Marja McGraw - Bogey Man 02 - Bogey's Ace in the Hole

by Marja McGraw

  “Well, we’ll take care of that for you. I don’t want you to feel like a prisoner in Jasmine’s house. I have a feeling it won’t be long and we’ll have this figured out. In the meantime, feel free to come to the restaurant with the other ladies. You’ll be safe there.” I almost bit my tongue when I remembered Chris was lying on the couch with a headache and stitches. The last thing he needed was the Church Ladies coming to see us.

  “Really? You’d like me to come back to the restaurant?” Addie asked.

  “Yes, but let’s not rush it,” I said quickly. “You do need a couple of days to recover. After all, you went through quite an ordeal.”

  “Yes, I did. I can’t tell my daughter about it, so I called and told her Jasmine is sick and I’m staying here in order to take care of her.”

  “Good thinking,” I said.

  “Do you think there’s any chance the second man could still find me?”

  “No,” I said, hopefully. “I can’t think of any way this man could find you.”

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Before I could dig the hole I was in any deeper, Jasmine thankfully took the phone from Addie so she could talk to me.

  “Well, God bless her, have you seen Lila? She had a makeover and I can’t wait to see her.”

  “Yes, I saw Lila. She came in and sang at the restaurant again last night. You didn’t know that?”

  “She mentioned she was going to see you and Chris last night, but she didn’t say she was going to sing. I haven’t talked to her today. I’ll be seeing her this evening though. How does she look?”

  “Wonderful,” I replied. “She’s changed her hair color and she’s wearing a little makeup. And she was dressed up. She was really pretty when she got rid of the tennis shoes and all that grey.”

  “I hope we did the right thing in talking her into the changes,” Jasmine said. “I wouldn’t want her personality to change. At least, not much. I would like to see her come out of her shell though. I pray about her, you know.”

  “I think your prayers may have been answered. She had a great time last night, and she even…” I let my voice trail off. It wasn’t my place to tell Jasmine about Lila meeting Nate.

  “She even what, Dear?”

  “Oh, nothing. She just had a good time. She can tell you about it when you see her.”

  “Well, I know singing in a bar isn’t exactly the Christian thing to do, but it’s not like she’s doing something wrong. And she really is enjoying singing. Of course, we’ve visited your cocktail lounge, and I didn’t see anyone getting drunk. I think it actually might be good for her. And she’ll be singing again at church this Sunday.” Jasmine didn’t sound like she was being judgmental about the lounge as much as she was being cautious.

  I explained to Jasmine that it was time to get ready for work, and we hung up. I didn’t want to blab about Lila and Nate. It really wasn’t my place.

  Being Friday, I dressed up more than I had during the beginning of the week. This time I wore an ankle length darker green thirties style evening gown. That era was big on feminine evening wear. Dresses had become molded to the body and fell into a vertical drape, clinging subtly to the body. Sexy was in.

  My gown was a couture silk lace/tulle dress. The bodice was a layer of very fine lace over a sleeveless dress, and the skirt consisted of a number of layers of the same fine lace, falling gracefully from about the bottom of my hips over each other and to the floor. The back was quite low cut, which I believed was something relatively new in the styles of that time period. I added some low-heeled silver vintage shoes I’d found at a local dress shop. They’d been using them for a display, and I’d talked them into selling them to me.

  Again, I wore my auburn hair in an up hair style. I was still fiddling with a hair pin as I descended the stairs.

  Hearing wolf whistles, I stopped and gazed down the stairs. Chris and Mikey were smiling up at me.

  “Hey, boys,” I said in imitation of Mae West, “why don’t ya come up and see me some time?”

  “Who’s mom trying to talk like?” Mikey asked, turning to Chris.

  “An old time actress named Mae West. You’d get a kick out of her, Ace.” Chris never took his eyes off of me while he answered Mikey.

  “Oh. Was she as pretty as my mom?”

  “No, Ace, she wasn’t. No one can beat your mother.”

  Chris had just made up for all the moaning and groaning without even knowing it. I resolved to look around the house for a bell in case the need ever arose again. I thought I might have one in with the Christmas decorations.

  We drove Mikey over to Constance’s house and arrived at the restaurant ready to face whatever the night served up. Chris said the throbbing had gone away, but he still had a mild headache. He kept his hat on from the moment we left the house until we reached Bogey Nights.

  Entering the kitchen, we found Phillip and Chef Luis waiting for us. They wanted to know how Chris was and, of course, they wanted to see the wound – shades of my son emanated from the two men.

  I left them talking and walked to my office. We’d left the dogs at home again because, and I couldn’t help it, I was afraid they might jump up and tear my dress. The lace was so beautiful that I couldn’t have stood it if anything happened to it. I sat down at the desk and worked on the books while Chris took care of setting things up for the evening. Phyllis and Gloria both stuck their heads in to say hello, and I waved at them. George and Susan weren’t far behind.

  Everything was going so smoothly. We opened for business and we had a good crowd coming in that night. Every table in the place had been reserved, which left a couple of tables in the lounge where late comers could sit and eat. Phyllis, Gloria, Susan and George would have their hands full.

  When I was done with the books I headed for the lounge to ask if Lila was coming in again. The regular singer was on stage, so I knew I wouldn’t be seeing her. Chris was at the desk greeting some patrons and I walked over to help. He’d put his hat back on. I’d suggested we put a bandage on his head, but he was a firm believer that fresh air would heal his head faster than a covered wound – never mind that his hat covered it.

  “Oh, Mrs. Cross, I just love that dress,” Mrs. Beard said, as I approached. “Wherever did you find it?”

  “Thank you,” I replied. “Actually, it came from…” I told her about a vintage dress shop I’d found in town and she turned to her husband with a hopeful expression on her face. He smiled at her and took her elbow, ready to follow Chris to their table. I knew she’d probably visit the shop no later than the next day. She was a sweet woman, and her husband indulged her excessively. He knew a good thing when he saw it, and to him, she was it.

  We were busy, but it was a good type of busy. Things were still running smoothly, and after the past few days’ events, I counted my blessings.

  I honestly thought we were going to get through the evening with no drama. Silly me.

  Chris and I were standing at the Reservation Desk talking when the phone rang. Chris picked up the receiver, shaking his head. “And I was worried about business falling off.”

  I smiled at him.

  “Bogey Nights,” he said, using his Bogey voice, “where the elite come to eat and dance all night long.” That was something new. I’d never heard him say that before.

  I raised my eyebrows at him and he shrugged in return.

  “Oh, hi, Addie. Pamela’s right here. Hold on a minute.”

  He handed the receiver to me.

  “Hi, Addie, what’s up?” I asked.

  “I thought I’d better give you a call because the girls are up to it again,” she replied.

  “What’s going on now?”

  “Well, Lila came over this afternoon and told us about last night. By the way, what do you think about the gentleman she met? Is he a nice man?”

  “I don’t really know him,” I replied. “He seems to be, and he’s a friend of our chef’s. He’s also coming to work for us, so we’ve had a couple of c
onversations with him.”

  “Oh.” Addie hesitated.

  “Is that what you’re calling about?” I asked.

  “Noooo.” She dragged the word out, sounding hesitant to tell me whatever it was she had to say.

  “Addie, is something wrong?” She was beginning to worry me.

  I could hear her take a deep breath. “The girls drove over to Florence’s house.”

  It was like pulling teeth. “Okay, and is that a problem? What’s going on?”

  She took another breath. “Lila told us about Chris being attacked last night. We talked about it and decided that if someone was attacking Chris, then maybe something else was going to happen.”

  I thought about it for a moment. “You mean you think things are about to escalate?”

  “That’s exactly the word Jasmine used just before we prayed together. Yes, that’s what we think. So the girls drove over to Florence’s house to watch out for Victor. They have a feeling tonight might be the night.”

  “Addie, hold on a minute. Let me tell Chris what’s going on.” I pushed the Hold button and turned to Chris.

  By the time I was done explaining, his eyes were mere slits in his face. “What’s the matter with those women? Don’t they have any sense? How do they think they’re going to protect Victor if something happens?” While he talked he was motioning Phyllis over to the desk.

  “Should we drive over there?” I asked.

  Phyllis approached us. “Do you need something?” she asked.

  “Yeah, can you and Gloria watch things while Pamela and I run an errand? We might not be back before closing.”

  “Sure,” she replied. “And when are you going to change my title to Assistant Manager and give me a raise, boss?”

  I could see by the look on her face that she was teasing him, but we had called on her for help a number of times lately. Maybe a raise wouldn’t be a bad idea.

  I pushed the Talk button and Addie was back on the line. “Addie,” I said, “don’t worry. Chris and I are going over there and we’ll see what’s going on. Being careless seems to be a prerequisite of joining you Church Ladies.”

  “Beg pardon?” Addie said.

  “Nothing, sweetie, we’ll take care of things. Don’t you worry.”

  Chris and I left shortly after that. I vowed to start keeping a spare set of clothing in my office for these unexpected occasions. If anything happened to my dress someone was going to be in deep doo doo, to coin one of my son’s phrases.

  “Don’t those women have a lick of sense?” Chris asked.

  “You already asked that,” I said.

  “You never answered me.”

  “Oh. The main thing now is that we need to get over there in a hurry. There’s no telling what kind of trouble the Church Ladies can get into, or stir up.”

  We drove as quickly as traffic would allow, and thankfully traffic was relatively light.

  When we neared Victor’s house, Chris slowed down so we could take a look around and try to figure out what was going on. We could see Jasmine’s car parked in Florence’s driveway, but there were no lights on in the house.

  Chris parked a few houses down and we walked toward Florence’s place.

  The wind had begun to blow, suddenly and with gusto. Glancing up I saw clouds overhead. I looked down at my dress and sighed. A floor length, fragile lace dress had been the wrong choice for this evening.

  Wind, possible rain, and a bunch of Church Ladies might be the demise of my lacey choice.

  I turned toward Florence’s house and saw the blonde head of Jasmine Thorpe pop up from behind her car. By this time Chris was standing next to me. I put my hand on his arm and pointed.

  “There’s Jasmine,” I said, quietly, moving as close to his ear as I could. “I wonder where the others are.”

  Chapter Thirty-two

  It didn’t take long to find out where the other Church Ladies were. Lila stepped out from behind the car. The wind made her short dark blonde hair stand on end and whipped her gray shapeless old-lady dress around her knees. She’d reverted back to her old style for the evening. Her white tennis shoes stood out in the light from the streetlamp.

  May pulled a rubber band out of her pocket and pushed back her long, thick salt and pepper hair, and forming a ponytail, she banded it. “This darned wind is blowing my hair in my eyes.”

  So much for being sneaky. We were a few houses away and I could clearly hear what she said.

  “Shhhh,” Jasmine warned. I saw her put her index finger to her lips.

  There was a mature mesquite tree with drooping branches at the front of Florence’s yard, and the ladies headed for the tree. Watching them, I could see they thought it would offer cover from prying eyes.

  Chris took a step forward, but I put a staying hand on his arm. “Let’s wait for a minute and see what they’re up to.”

  There was a flash of lightning, followed in a moment by rumbling thunder.

  The ladies had moved behind the tree, trying to watch Victor’s house through the limbs. The wind blew a branch and it slapped May in the face. She slapped it back. So much for fear.

  There was a light on in Victor’s house and I could see his silhouette through the window.

  “Let’s get back in the car,” I said. “We can watch out for them without them knowing we’re here.”

  “Why shouldn’t we let them know we’re here?” Chris asked, impatiently.

  “They’re trying to do their part. We should let them be unless we see things getting out of hand. This is probably the most excitement they’ve ever had.”

  I figured Chris probably thought I was nuts, and I was absolutely sure he thought the Church Ladies were crazy, but he complied, more or less. “We can’t get back in the car or the dome lights will come on.”

  “So we’ll stand behind it.”

  We moved quietly to the rear of the black Jeep. It was so dark out that I was sure they wouldn’t see us.

  There was more lightning and thunder, and Chris stepped from behind the car. “We have to get them out of there,” he said. “Standing under that tree is the worst place they could be right now with all this lightning.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that. You’re right.”

  The wind blew harder. I pulled up the skirt of my dress so it wouldn’t drag on the ground and ran toward the ladies.

  “Well, we wondered when you two would join us,” Jasmine said. “Were you going to hide behind your car all night?”

  “Get away from this tree,” Chris ordered, pulling on Jasmine’s arm. “Are you nuts or something?”

  Jasmine turned large and surprised eyes toward Chris.

  “We’re in the middle of a storm, and you’re standing under a tree,” he said. “Do you want to be hit by lightning?”

  “Oh,” she cried out, jumping back.

  The other ladies followed suit, and the lights came on in Florence’s house.

  “What’s going on out there?” Florence hollered, not sounding at all timid. “What are you people doing? Get out of my yard.”

  “It’s us,” Jasmine yelled. “Can we come in?”

  “Jasmine? Is that you?”

  We trudged toward the porch and the front door. Florence opened it and stepped back, waiting for us to enter.

  “What a fiasco this turned out to be,” May said.

  “Total chaos,” Lila commented.

  “Hardly worth the effort,” added Jasmine.

  We walked into Florence’s house and she closed the door behind us. “What are you folks up to?” she asked again, this time sounding suspicious.

  “I think it’s time we come clean with her,” I said. “Someone has threatened to harm Victor, and the ladies were trying to keep an eye on him.”

  “Oh, that,” Florence said, sounding like this was old news. “He told me about it. He said you think someone is out to hurt him, but he assured me it’s not true. He thought you might end up saying something to me, and he didn’t want me to b
e shocked.”

  He hadn’t wanted to worry his elderly neighbor. Maybe he wasn’t so bad. He’d been helping her with her paperwork, and he tried to watch out for her. He hadn’t wanted Florence to worry. He ran errands for her, and took her to doctor’s appointments. Could it actually be her family who was after him? Had he overstepped his bounds that much? Could her family be as crazy as everyone else we’d come into contact with so far? My feelings about Victor kept flipping one way and then flopping the other way.

  I glanced at Chris and I could see the wheels turning. I wondered if he was thinking the same things I was.

  Before we could give it any more thought, we heard a car engine followed by a loud crash from across the street. Chris ran to the door.

  “Stay here,” he said. “I’ll be back.” He ran out the door and stopped beside the mesquite tree to scope things out before heading to Victor’s house. He moved away quickly when there was another bolt of lightning in the sky. We watched him through the window.

  “What was that noise?” Florence asked.

  “I don’t know. Chris is going to find out. It sounded like it came from Victor’s house,” I said.

  “Oh, well Victor isn’t home. This is his bowling night.” Florence pulled her robe tighter around her. “Are you sure you people should be poking around in his business?”

  “We honestly believe he might be in danger,” I replied. “He doesn’t believe us, but I’d rather err on the side of caution than let something happen to him.”

  “My, my. I haven’t heard that expression in a long time – err on the side of caution. Well, I suppose you’re right. I wouldn’t like to see anything happen to him. Do what you think is best, but the only person I can think of who doesn’t like him is my nephew.”

  She didn’t seem to grasp the full weight of the situation. Victor had convinced her that he was okay and not in trouble, and she was going to take his word for it. And now we knew that she had a nephew who didn’t like Victor. Finally! A suspect. I’d have to be careful with my questions.