Cap's Place: A Jack Nolan Novel (The Cap's Place Series Book 1)

by Robert Tarrant

  Justin glanced at his watch and replied, “Probably not something you need to be concerned about at this time.”

  I was surprised by his response. “What do you mean, at this time?”

  “Someone is expecting to hear from him. They will start asking questions. If they’re asking questions at the same time we’re trying to identify him they might hear about us before we hear about them. Not good. Our situation could change suddenly, but at this time it is stable. That’s what I mean.”

  “I understand.” I think I understand. “No chance the cops will find him and tie him back to this place? To us?”

  Steel gray eyes nearly bore a hole in me, “No chance Jack! No chance at all!”

  I dropped Justin off and started back for the guest house. I couldn’t read my own feelings at the moment. To some degree I was relieved to have Justin leave. After last night I realized there was an aura of danger around him. Something almost alarming about his very being. On the other hand, I had every reason to believe that he was on our side and that brought some sense of security. Maybe it simply boiled down to the fact that to address dangerous situations you needed dangerous people.

  I got back to the guest house just as Sissy finished cleaning up after breakfast. We each headed off to a bathroom with the mission of washing away the feeling that comes from sleeping in the clothes you wore the previous day. The bit of water I had splashed on my face earlier hadn’t done the job. The morning’s caffeine had kept me moving but I still felt like hell.

  Justin got back just before noon. I had given him the code to the gate so he drove in and parked next to my car. Having seen him drive in from the bedroom window I went outside to meet him. He wasn’t driving the same car I’d dropped him off at, but I didn’t ask. He’d obviously showered and shaved and was bright eyed for a guy who couldn’t have had much, if any, sleep last night. He looked very South Florida in a brightly flowered silk shirt and light blue shorts. He dropped a duffle bag on the walk near the front door and opened the trunk of the car. Inside were four black hard plastic cases that looked like large rifle cases.

  Handing one of the cases to me Justin said, “If you give me a hand Jack we’ll get this stuff set up.”

  “Sure. What is it?”

  Handing me the second case, “Intrusion detection equipment. We’ll cover the yard around the house so no one gets close like last night. These are dual technology, employing both microwave that detects motion and infrared that detects body heat. We’ll set the sensitivity so that little critters won’t set off the alarm but that a human certainly will.”

  The last of any lingering doubts were washed away. This guy is the real deal!

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  It only took us about an hour to set up the equipment Justin had brought. The actual outside units were simple dome shape devices sitting atop telescoping poles with folding tripod legs. Justin explained that each unit was both a transmitter and a receiver. Once we had them positioned so that each unit was in line of sight with at least one other unit, we had created a ring around the entire yard. The system was controlled by a briefcase-sized box with its own set of telescoping legs that Justin set up in the great room. Justin had me walk in all areas of the yard so that he could set the sensitivity. Once he was satisfied with the performance of the system, he showed us how the controls worked. It was really very simple. Even I understood that when the light flashed and the audible alarm sounded it meant we had company. With the audible alarm we didn’t need to be watching the control case to feel secure.

  While we were setting up the equipment Sissy made a plate of sandwiches. We took the sandwiches and three beers out to the patio table. I noticed that Sissy had put considerable effort into her hair and makeup today. Interesting actions for a woman who isn’t attracted to men. Maybe she still wants men to be attracted to her even though they’ll never have her. Does that make her the ultimate tease? My theory has always been that a woman’s effort in attracting men is directly proportional to her own sexual desires. She is endeavoring to attract a man who will meet her sexual needs. So why would a woman who doesn’t seek to have her sexual needs fulfilled by a man put so much effort into looking attractive to men? Very confusing to me. Get a grip Jack with everything going on you have more relevant issues to focus on!

  We made small talk while we ate. Mostly the weather and what a beautiful location this was. Justin even complimented me by saying that he thought I had picked a great spot to hide Sissy. He called it “very defensible.” I couldn’t tell if he meant it or was only trying to bolster Sissy’s confidence. I thought to myself that if the location was so great how did last night’s visitor find it? Probably the same way Justin did. Probably followed me. Another smooth move Jack, find a great hideout and then lead the bad guys right to it.

  The fact that I hadn’t called PJ this morning, as promised, kept nagging at me. I expected that she’d only be angrier as the hours ticked away without my call. Finally, I threw it out, “I better call PJ and tell her that we’re not comfortable turning Sissy over to police protection yet.”

  Justin looked at me and his brow wrinkled, “No need to mention my involvement here.” His face and tone left no doubt.

  “Oh, of course not. No need. By we I meant Sissy and I. Sissy and I are not comfortable with police protection yet.”

  Suddenly Justin got that far away look in his eyes as if he was deep in analytical thought, “Jack, how are you contacting people? The cops, Cap’s, anybody?”

  I explained turning off our cell phones at the airport on our way out here the first night and the prepaid cell phone I bought but never used here. Justin listened and then asked, “There is no land line phone here in the guest house is there?”

  “No,” I said.

  Sissy spoke up, “There is a phone at the main house and I used it to call Jack at Cap’s once.”

  Justin turned toward Sissy, “Did you call Jack on his cell or on the land line at Cap’s?”

  “It was the bar phone. He didn’t have the prepaid cell phone and I thought that his cell phone was still turned off.”

  Justin asked, “When was that?”

  Sissy and I looked at each other with blank expressions. So much had happened that we were both struggling to keep the days straight. I counted backwards, “Well, if today is Saturday, it was not last night, so it must have been Thursday. Yeah, it was Thursday evening. We got here in the early morning hours Thursday and it was Thursday evening. That was the night you followed me here. Remember?” The second I said it I knew it was a mistake. Trying not to leave it hanging in the air I blurted, “Yeah, yeah, it was definitely Thursday. Sissy called to tell me about Allison. That’s how I remember.”

  The momentary question that flashed across Sissy’s face when I mentioned Justin following me was immediately replaced by sadness at the mention of Allison. The scowl on Justin’s face took a little longer to fade. Moving the conversation away from my latest blunder, Justin said, “Jack, after you contact that cop with the prepaid that you are using I suggest that you toss it away and get another. You have probably made enough calls on that one.”

  Obviously, Justin is more paranoid than I am, or there is a lot about this secret agent life that I need to learn. No doubt both. I replied, “Sure, I was thinking that myself.” I looked across the table but didn’t think either one of them believed my last statement. Maybe it was the way Sissy rolled her eyes. Justin’s expression was totally blank.

  Justin suggested that I go out and call PJ because he needed to run another errand this afternoon and he didn’t want us to leave Sissy alone. At least he had not written me off as totally incompetent. I knew that I needed to go, but didn’t want to because I was dreading telling PJ that I was reneging on our agreement to allow her to provide Sissy’s protection.

  I drove to my favorite park and called PJ. It was another very edgy conversation between us. I was glad we were on the phone because I knew she couldn’t arrest me. Though she never thr
eatened arrest I felt that several times she was on the verge. I made it sound like Sissy just didn’t trust the cops yet. That she had total confidence in PJ but knew others would need to be involved and that she didn’t know if she could trust others. She still believed there must have been a leak when she went to the Pinnacle and was still afraid. I really laid the responsibility for us not coming in to meet with PJ on Sissy. Real gutsy Jack.

  PJ kept pressing for an opportunity to sit down with Sissy and talk in person. I stalled by telling her that each passing day helped Sissy feel more secure and that maybe I could convince her to meet tomorrow. PJ reminded me that each passing day likely increased Sissy’s danger as it gave people more time to find us. I really didn’t need to hear that.

  After my call to PJ, I just sat in my car watching the families coming and going in the park. I saw a woman who reminded me of Marge walking with two little boys in tow. Probably her grandsons. That reminded me that I should give Marge a call.

  Marge answered on the second ring, there was a pleasant tone to her voice I didn’t recall ever hearing before, “Cap’s, how may I help you?”

  “Hi Marge, it’s Jack. How’s everything going?”

  Her tone flattened, “Oh, hi Jack. Things are fine. That Detective Johnson was in here a little while ago looking for you. She didn’t seem too happy that I hadn’t heard from you, but I told her I had no control over what you did or didn’t do. She asked me to please have you call her if I heard from you. So, message delivered. Please call Detective Johnson.”

  “Just talked to her. I was late in calling her. Been busy. Sorry if it put you in the middle.”

  A pause and then Marge replied, “Nothing new. I seldom know what’s going on with you.”

  Wow. Where did that come from? I didn’t feel like digging deeper, “How is everything else? Very busy?”

  The chill in her tone continued, “Not really very busy. Probably everyone enjoying the beautiful weather after the crap we had the last few days. I imagine we’ll pick up when the boaters get back in.” She asked me a couple of questions about vendor orders that were due and we decided what she should order for next week. When we talked about the bar business issues her tone lightened considerably. I decided I would quit while I was ahead. I ended the call and headed for the Walgreens to get a new phone before going back to the guest house.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  On the way back to the guest house I tried to replay everything that had happened over the past fours days. Four days. That’s all it’s been. Focusing on the sequence of events I was trying to determine how they kept finding us. I really wanted to come up with any explanation other than my being followed. I just didn’t want to think that my mistake had nearly gotten Sissy killed. I could live with an honest mistake, but I knew that my downfall was in trying to be the Lone Ranger. Everyone was right, I was in way over my head. It nearly cost Sissy her life.

  I got back to the guest house and told Justin and Sissy about my conversation with PJ. Justin said that he needed to go out to run an errand. He didn’t say what his errand was and I didn’t ask. The truth was I probably didn’t want to know. Before Justin left, Sissy handed him a shopping list to stop at the grocery store on the way back.

  After Justin left I went out onto the patio and pulled a lounge chair into the afternoon sun. My whole body ached. Maybe the warmth of the sun would help. Five minutes and I was asleep.

  I awoke to the sound of Sissy’s hearty laugh. It took me a minute to get my bearings. The sun had dipped behind the house and I was in the shade now. I looked at my watch. It was nearly five. I heard Sissy laugh again followed by what must have been Justin’s laugh. I had never heard Justin really laugh before. Countless times I’d seen him in Cap’s. Never laughing.

  I ambled into the kitchen where they were putting away several bags of groceries. They were both chuckling. “Hi guys. What’s so funny?”

  Sissy looked up from the groceries grinning just short of another laugh, “Justin was telling me about his experience at Publix. Sounds like it would make a great episode for one of those hidden camera shows.”

  Justin shrugged his shoulders, “What can I say? A man has to know his limitations. Send me to Iraq, send me to Afghanistan, even Somalia, but don’t send me to Publix. The local tribes have no tolerance for a novice shopper and they have no reluctance to prove it. They are brutal.”

  Somehow, I couldn’t see the picture of this guy, who has probably fought in life and death struggles on most of the continents of the globe, being abused by housewives at Publix. Yet, as I reflected back on a couple of my sojourns to Publix the picture started to come into focus.

  Before I could get any deeper into my thoughts Justin added, “By the way, I stopped by Cap’s to see Captain Bob and while I was there I heard that cop, PJ, asking Marge if she had any idea how to get in touch with you. She was very insistent that she needed to talk to you. Maybe you should give her a call. Maybe she has new information that would be helpful to us.”

  I replied, “I already talked to her. I told Marge I’d talked to her.” Then it dawned on me, “Oh, this was while you were just at Cap’s. That was a couple of hours after I talked to her. If she was pressing Marge again, maybe there is something new, because I left it that she wouldn’t hear from me until tomorrow. If she came back to Cap’s maybe it is something important.”

  Sissy looked concerned and said, “Jack, why don’t you go out and call PJ. Maybe something has happened that we need to know about.”

  “Sure. I’ll go right now. Shouldn’t take long. I’ll be right back.”

  Sissy smiled, “While you’re gone I’ll get dinner together. Justin picked up steamers so we can have something other than sandwiches tonight. I’ll get the water boiling and we can pop them in when you get back.”

  Justin walked into the great room and disabled the intrusion detection system so that it would not alarm when I left. I was impressed that it had a timer for disabling it just like the system at Cap’s so that you could exit but have the system reactivate automatically. Justin walked with me outside to my car. As we got to the car he said, “Jack, I’ve been thinking. Maybe we should try to figure out how to work closer with the cops. They may have information that would be helpful. If we could work with them we might be able to get to the bottom of this much faster. I’d prefer to play offense rather than defense.”

  “I hear you, and frankly, I don’t know how long I can hold them off,” I replied.

  A cloud of concern radiated from Justin’s eyes across his tan face, “Just remember, I’m not here. Nothing took place last night.”

  I thought. You mean other than you killing some guy and disposing of his body. I said, “I got it. Don’t worry. I won’t say anything. Besides I didn’t really see anything. All I know is what you told me and that’s vague to say the least.” That’s right, I didn’t really see anything that indicated any of what Justin alluded to ever took place. Yet, based on his actions and the equipment he has access to, he is certainly what he purports to be. So why would he fabricate the story of killing someone?

  Justin said, “Take my cell number with you. If you can meet with the cops tonight do it. Just call and let me know so Sissy won’t start to worry about why you’re not back for dinner. What is it with women anyway? Put them in a household setting, buy a few groceries, and they go all domestic on you.”

  I couldn’t help but chuckle. Here was this big tough warrior worrying about Sissy being upset because I was late for dinner. Deep down inside we’re all afraid of women! I asked, “Aren’t you afraid to have me call your phone here? Is your phone even on?”

  The slightest grin crept across Justin’s face, “My phone is clean. Besides, no one knows I’m helping you so the location of my phone would mean nothing. You did get a new prepaid, right?”

  “I did. Haven’t even used it yet.”

  Justin wrinkled his brow in what I was coming to know as his look of deep concentration, “Do you still have
the old prepaid?”

  “Yeah, it’s in the console. It’s turned off.”

  “Good. Use the old one to call the cop. Use the new one to call me. That way if someone is trapping the cop’s incoming calls they won’t be able to work back to me.”

  This whole technology maze was getting too complex for me. Maybe the right-wingers are right. Maybe “Big Brother” is here.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  Getting into secret agent mindset I decided that I shouldn’t go back to the park again. I didn’t know why but it seemed that a real secret agent would vary his locations. Maybe Justin had me hyped up. I found a parking area in front of one of the totally forgettable strip malls that have become the next decade’s blight on urban America. This one had half of its storefronts still occupied so there were a few cars in the lot.

  Since it was Saturday evening I didn’t even try PJ’s desk phone. She answered her cell on the second ring. The tone of her voice was much firmer than it was when I had last talked with her. She didn’t say anything about bringing Sissy in, but nearly demanded that I meet with her tonight. There was something in her tone that left no room for debate. Didn’t matter because Justin and I had already agreed that I should sit down with her and see what I could learn. I agreed to meet her at the Moonlite Diner in Oakwood Plaza near Stirling and I-95.

  I found the place without any trouble. Shiny silver exterior built to look like one of the original ‘50s diners. Shiny red vinyl upholstery on the counter seats and the booths. I walked in and saw PJ sitting in a booth midway back along the front side. I slid in across from her. She smiled. She actually smiled at me. She already had me off balance and she hadn’t even opened her mouth yet. Steady Jack.

  Before either of us could speak the waitress was at the table, “Can I get you something sir?” She must have followed me from the door to the table. Sometimes service can be too fast. PJ had an iced tea and an open menu in front of her.