by Olivia West
“I sure hope you are right,” Pete sighed.
“Just don’t sweat it. We’ll get it taken care of,” Abraham replied. “Now, about these characters you are supposed to meet at five p.m. You need to stay as far away from them as possible. Who knows what they are up to? It’s too bad you already gave them a list of names. Let’s hope they don’t do anything heinous that can blow back on you somehow.”
“Alright. Do you think I’m in any danger?” Pete asked.
“I have no idea, but if I were you, I would close up your house and go somewhere out of the way until we know for sure. You want to stay at the house for a while?” Abraham asked.
“No, I don’t want to intrude,” Pete replied.
“No intrusion. You can have the guest house to yourself,” Abraham replied.
“I appreciate the offer, but I have a business to try to salvage, if I can,” Pete told him.
“Fair enough. If it gets hairy out there, the offer stands. You know you can call me anytime, day or night,” Abraham told him.
“Thanks, Abraham . . . for everything,” he said.
“I’ll get my favor back one day, don’t you worry about that,” Abraham laughed.
“Fair enough,” Pete replied. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“You will,” Abraham told him.
Pete stood and left the office. Rather than going home, he went to a nearby theater to watch a movie and relax. There was still a huge mess at home and he needed to tackle some work things, but he just couldn’t right now. What he needed was just to escape for a while. One movie turned into two. Before he knew it, he was making his way back to the truck and heading toward the Palzato. Bad idea or not, he needed to know if they had found out anything about who was doing this to him. Abraham might be able to keep him out of criminal court, but the court of public opinion would crucify him. If these guys were telling the truth, which he had no way of knowing unless they told him something, it might just be the key to being found not guilty all across the board.
“I’m here to see . . .” Pete began, realizing he didn’t know who he needed to see at the restaurant. Fortunately, the host at Palzato seemed to know for him.
“Right this way, Mr. Abernathy,” the small man said with a heavy Brooklyn accent.
Pete followed him across the dining area to a smaller room just off to one side, near the kitchen. He found himself in a private dining area alone. The host asked what he would like to drink and then disappeared, presumably to get the water he ordered. Pete felt incredibly antsy. For all he knew, he was going to die in a moment when some thugs came in. Perhaps he had just watched too many movies.
“Mr. Abernathy, so nice to see you again,” the man said as he entered the room.
“Wish I could say the same,” Pete replied dryly.
“That seemed a bit less than civil,” the man said with a slow smile, his buddy Hefty bringing up the rear.
“I see you brought your bulldog again today. I hope he is house trained, or in this case, back room of a restaurant trained,” Pete retorted.
“Hefty, bulldog . . . these are not nice names, Mr. Abernathy. What has my associate done to cause this name calling?” the man said.
“It’s what I suspect he would and could do if you gave the command,” Pete replied.
“You are very wise. I’ll give you that, but you simply must learn to be nicer. Anyway, that is a social problem for you to manage on your own time. Right now, we are on my time and I have something to say that you will be interested in. You see, I am a man of my word. I told you if you gave me the names, I would give you what you needed, in return,” the man said.
“Fine. What do you have to tell me?” Pete replied.
“I have a name for you,” the man replied, pulling a piece of paper from his pocket and handing it to him.
Pete accepted it and looked down at the folded sheet for a second before slowly opening it as if just a simple piece of paper might somehow detonate in his hands. He looked puzzled for a moment and then back up at the man.
“Who is he?” Pete asked.
“That is for you to figure out, but he is the one that hired the crew member to take the statue,” the man said.
“Shouldn’t you be looking for him then?” Pete asked.
“We will be, but it can’t hurt to have someone else doing it as well. Once again, we help one another. If we find him, you’ll have what you need to clear your name. If you find him, call me and I will make sure all is taken care of in a way that benefits us both,” the man replied.
“Why wouldn’t I just call the police?” Pete asked.
“Really, Mr. Abernathy? After seeing the way they have bungled this up so far, you want your livelihood in their hands? I think you will have no trouble believing that this is better handled by us and then, your attorney. I believe Abraham Banks is on the case for you?” he said.
“Abraham is an old friend. I hope you are not making some sort of threat,” Pete replied.
“I don’t make threats, Mr. Abernathy. Just do what you can to locate the man on that piece of paper and call me,” he said, sliding a black business card across the table to him.
Pete looked down at the card. The only thing it said was “Joe” with a phone number beneath it.
“Sure thing, Joe,” Pete said, getting up from the table to leave.
“I knew we could count on you for your help,” Joe replied with a low smile.
Chapter 12
“I need to speak to Joe,” Jana said, stepping into the Palzato promptly at seven. The place was packed as she stood at the host stand, expecting a wait.
“Yes ma’am. Right this way,” the host told her. She followed him to the back of the restaurant where two men sat. One was frightfully large, while the other was tall and slim, pleasant-looking in an expensive suit and perfectly polished shoes.
“Ah, Miss Sebastian,” the slender man said in greeting. “I’m Joe.”
“Nice to meet you, Joe,” she replied.
“I understand that you want to speak with me concerning a missing statue that you think I might know something about,” he replied.
“Yes. It is a gold statue stolen from Hank Daltry. I was told that you might be able to assist me in finding the person that took it,” she told him.
“Why would I do that?” he asked.
“I don’t know, honestly. I can only tell you that the person that directed me to you did so because he felt that you could and would help me,” she replied.
“He was right. I know who you are looking for, but I’m not really sure you want to find him,” he said.
“Why is that?” she asked, her heart racing at the idea that he already knew who she needed to find.
“Because he can be a ruthless man, Miss Abernathy. He’s not someone you want to tangle with,” he told her.
“I was told the same about you,” she replied.
“You were told correctly,” he replied.
“Without this, my career is over. I have no choice,” she replied.
“I am well aware of your situation, but there is no real evidence to convict you. You’ll walk away a free woman in a matter of weeks,” he told her.
“Maybe, maybe not, but even if I do, my reputation is ruined. Unless I can completely clear my name by handing over the person that did this, I am looking at never getting hired on another dig,” she replied.
“That is an unfortunate situation, but it is life, Miss Sebastian. Perhaps you should consider another profession,” he told her.
“I don’t want another profession,” she told him.
“I tell you what, Miss Sebastian. I am not going to give you the name of the man you seek, but I have given it to an equally concerned party. Let him deal with this piece of nasty business, with my help, of course. If he is successful, you will be successful. Trust me on that,” he replied.
“Equally concerned party? Who?” she asked.
“That is none of your concern. This meeting is over n
ow. Go home and just wait. You will be contacted when the situation has been resolved,” he said.
“What? What does that mean?” she said, confused by this entire meeting.
“It means you should go home and let people who know what they are doing handle this. Trust me when I tell you that you aren’t the only one who has a lot of interest in finding the person you seek. He will be found and your name will be cleared,” he said
Jana opened her mouth to speak again, but then the bigger man stood up and she took it as an indication that she needed to leave. She stormed out, heading back to her car as fast as she could walk. Whether it was the sexist attitude or hitting what felt like a dead end to her, she wasn’t sure, but she felt like she could just punch something by the time she walked back in her house. She was still seething with frustration an hour later when her cell phone rang. It was Randy.
“You didn’t call me,” he said.
“I’m sorry. I was furious and forgot,” she said.
“I take it things didn’t go well?” he said.
“You take it right,” she replied, telling him what they had said.
“Who do you think this mystery acquaintance is that they mentioned?” he replied.
“I’m not sure,” she said, but no sooner had the words left her mouth than she realized exactly who it was. He was the one person who had just as much at stake as she did. She cut off whatever Randy was saying. “I have to go, Randy.”
Jana dialed the number before she changed her mind. It seemed to ring forever before he finally answered her. She found that the moment she heard his voice, she felt jittery about talking to him, but it had to be done.
“Pete, this is Jana. I need to see you,” she said.
“Does no one say ‘Hello’ anymore? Or how about, ‘I’m sorry I accused you of stealing and then abandoned you to fend for yourself’?” Pete replied in a defeated tone.
“Hello, Pete. I’m sorry I accused you of stealing and then abandoned you to fend for yourself,” she replied.
“There. That is much better,” he replied.
“You met with Joe, didn’t you?” she said, taking a shot in the dark.
“What do you know about Joe?” he asked after a moment’s hesitation.
“I know that he gave you a name, but he wouldn’t give it to me,” she replied.
“Why not?” Pete replied.
“He seems to think it is too dangerous for a little girl like me and I should let you big strong men handle it,” she said.
“Why did he even contact you then?” Pete replied.
“He didn’t. I contacted him through someone I know,” she said.
“So, you know who he is?” Pete asked.
“No idea. I just know he is Joe and that he supposedly has a line on who did this to us,” she replied, causing Pete to laugh. “What’s so funny?”
“Now, it is us. You want to know what I know, so now it is about how we are going to get through this,” he said.
“Pete, I apologized. I know I was out of line. I just didn’t know what to think,” she said.
“And now you do?” he asked.
“I know you didn’t do this anymore than I did and that we need to stick together if we are going to get out of it,” she replied.
“You only came to that conclusion right after you came to the one that you needed to know what I know,” he replied.
“Fine. Maybe that is true, maybe it isn’t. Just let me help, Pete. Do you know who the person is or where to find them?” she asked.
“I know neither thing. I have a name. It is not someone I know, though it sounds vaguely familiar for some reason,” he said.
“Who is it?” she asked.
“No, Jana. Not on the phone. I would invite you over here, but it is still a mess from the police search,” he said.
“Yes, they made a wreck of my place too,” she told him.
“How about we meet somewhere for drinks? I know I could use one,” he said.
“Good enough. How about Callahan’s at eight?” she offered.
“That will be good. I’ll see you there,” he told her.
“See you there,” she said, ending the call. That was only thirty minutes from now and it would take fifteen minutes to get there. She hurriedly touched up her makeup and changed clothes. Why she was bothering, she wasn’t sure. It was quite obvious that her budding relationship with him was quite ruined by her quickness to accuse him of wrongdoing. Still, she couldn’t arrive looking as tired as she felt.
Chapter 13
Pete sighed as he laid the cell phone on the counter. It was going to be hard to sit across a table from Jana and not want to touch her. Despite what she had said to him, he knew he still had feelings that had been developing. In fact, they hadn’t really gone away. They were just sort of put on the back burner due to what was happening to them and her lashing out by accusing him. Since then, it had been too much of a whirlwind of activity to sort out how he felt. A half hour later, she was sitting across the table from him, looking just as ravishing as she had in dig clothes and a ponytail.
“Pete, I want to say again how sorry I am,” she told him and it seemed sincere.
“It’s okay, Jana. We were both under a lot of stress, with being arrested and having our lives shoved into the nearest toilet,” he replied.
“Still, it was no reason to turn on you,” she replied.
“Listen, let’s not dwell on that. You apologized. I accepted. It’s done and dusted,” he replied.
“Okay. I guess we should talk about Joe then,” she said.
“Quite the characters he and Hefty are,” he replied.
“Hefty?” she asked.
“That behemoth that stands around looking menacing,” he replied.
“Ah, yes. Him,” she said, nodding.
“Okay, so he gave me a name. It seems familiar, but I can’t place it,” he said.
“What was the name?” she asked.
“Jana, if I give you the name, you have to promise me that you won’t go after this guy without me. I don’t know what kind of person he is, but he could be dangerous,” he told her.
“I’m a big girl and a smart one,” she replied.
“Promise me,” he repeated.
“Fine. I promise, but you can’t go after him without me either,” she told him.
“Deal, I guess. I really would rather you not involve yourself at all,” he replied.
“You can’t always get what you want,” she said with a smile.
“His name is Dan Towse,” Pete replied, surprised to hear Jana start laughing.
“No way. Dan Towse? He couldn’t possibly have stolen anything. He wasn’t even on the site. Hank fired him after their last dig,” she replied.
“He didn’t have to be on the site. Apparently, he hired someone on the crew you and Hank put together to steal the statue,” he said.
“What? Who?” she said.
“I don’t know. Joe wouldn’t tell me,” he replied.
“I need to know, Pete. If we do get this sorted, I can’t have that person stealing something else,” she said.
“I don’t think you need to worry about that, Jana. Joe took care of it,” he replied, meeting her gaze to see if she was understanding him. She looked puzzled at first, but then, he saw the light come on in them.
“My God, Pete. What sort of people have we involved ourselves with?” she asked.
“The kind that will hopefully help us clear our names,” he said.
“I hope so. Preferably not posthumously,” she said.
“That would be ideal,” he told her.
“Okay, so Dan Towse got fired by Hank for screwing up a dig in Africa. I guess he got word of the new dig, like people in our circles do, so he planted a worker that he knew would steal for him if the opportunity arose?” she hypothesized.
“More than that. I think that either he or this worker had been stealing all along. The artifacts they recovered from our places came from
somewhere. One of them snuck them out without even being noticed,” he said.
“Why would they not have sold the artifacts?” she asked.
