Crime Wave

by Rose Pressey

  Thank goodness the interrogation was over. I hurried out of the building before Jake noticed I was gone and caught up with me. On my way out of the building I called Dorothy and asked her to pick me up. Of course she wanted to know what the heck was going on, but I told her the explanation would have to wait until she got there.

  Once outside, I paced in front of the building, trying to stay close to the side and go unnoticed. When I glanced over my shoulder, I noticed Jake hurrying toward me with a scowl splashed across his face. I looked to my side for an escape route, but instead all I found was a sea of police cars.

  “Where are you going?” he called out as he approached.

  “I got a ride. You were finished asking questions, right?” I looked around nonchalantly.

  He ran his hand through his hair. “Yeah, but I was going to give you a ride back to your car.”

  I waved my hand dismissively. “That won’t be necessary. It’s too much trouble.”

  “It’s no trouble at all.” He stared at me with his sexy eyes.

  For a moment, I was speechless. His big blue eyes had sucked me in. I had to shake it off. “Well, I’ve already called my assistant. She’s on her way.” I glanced at my watch.

  He looked down, then flashed me another seductive look. I had to stay strong and fight off his charm. “I thought maybe you’d like to get dinner tonight.”

  My body screamed for me to say yes, but my head was saying no way. For once I was going to listen to what my head was telling me. That was a rare occurrence.

  “I would, but I have other plans already. Some other time maybe,” I said.

  That wasn’t exactly telling him no firmly. I’d just left myself open for him to ask again. What was I thinking? Luckily, I spotted Dorothy’s car as she pulled into the police station parking lot. I was never so happy to see that little gray head peeking up over the top of that steering wheel.

  “There’s my ride now.” I pointed at her Cadillac.

  His eyes widened. “That’s your assistant?”

  “She’s very good. She worked for my uncle for a long time,” I said.

  He nodded. “Uh-huh. Well, some other time then?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, sure. Some other time.”

  His gaze lingered longer than it should have and so did mine. My heart rate spiked almost as much as it had when that bullet had grazed my arm. I turned around and headed toward Dorothy’s Cadillac.

  “Maggie?” Jake called.

  I turned around. “Yes?”

  “Please be safe. And don’t go back to the building,” he said.

  I nodded, but there was little chance that I would actually do what he told me to do. Being a private investigator meant I had to investigate. If it meant going back to the scene of the crime, then so be it.

  I climbed into Dorothy’s car without looking at the detective again. If I did, I might change my mind about that dinner invitation.

  “What the heck are you doing at the police department?” Dorothy asked with wide eyes as I closed the door. “What did you do?”

  “It’s a long story,” I said around a sigh.

  She snorted. “I’m sure it is. I see you’ve captured the attention of that handsome detective again. I wouldn’t kick him out of my bed for eating crackers.”

  “Dorothy!” I said.

  “Are you going out with him?” She smiled sheepishly.

  I studied my fingernails. “No, I am not going out with him.”

  “That’s a huge mistake on your part,” she said as she steered the wheel.

  “Don’t you want to know why I was at the police station?” I asked.

  I couldn’t believe I was volunteering this information, but at least it would change the subject away from the detective. I didn’t want to discuss his piercing blue eyes or his dazzling white smile. No way would I talk about his well-formed muscles and the way he filled out his suit.

  “Fine. Tell me why you were at the police station,” Dorothy said as she steered the car onto a street.

  “When I went to the condo tower today someone shot at me,” I said while picking invisible lint off my shirt.

  She swerved as she glanced over at me. “Oh dear heavens. What happened? Did they catch the person?”

  I shook my head. “No, he ran away.”

  “Well, did you get a look at him?” she asked.

  I shook my head. “No, I never saw anyone.”

  “Do the police plan on trying to find out who did this? Is someone trying to kill you? Someone is following you.” She glanced in her rearview mirror.

  I patted her hand. “Don’t worry, Dorothy. You need to calm down. No one is following us and I hardly think anyone is trying to kill me on purpose.”

  I spoke the words, but I wasn’t convinced that someone hadn’t specifically targeted me. Maybe they didn’t want me to find Arthur’s killer.

  “Maybe no one is trying to kill you on purpose, but I do believe someone is following us on purpose,” she said as she glanced in the rearview mirror again.

  “What?” I looked in the side mirror.

  “That black car back there is making every move we do. Now normally I’m not a paranoid person, but this is beginning to scare me just a bit.” Her brow furrowed with worry.

  “Dorothy, you must be imagining things,” I said, watching as the car hung with our every move. “Take another turn up ahead and see if the car follows us.”

  I couldn’t let Dorothy know, but the car was disconcerting. How would I get us out of this situation? It wasn’t Jake’s car, but could he have sent someone else to follow us? Was this the person who had shot at me?

  Dorothy made the next left and I watched in the mirror as the black car did the same.

  “See, I told you they were following us,” she said with a little more panic in her voice.

  “Okay, we have to remain calm while I figure out what to do,” I said.

  Before Dorothy gave me a chance to have the first inkling of a plan, she punched the gas.

  “What are you doing?” I held on to the car door.

  “I’m going to lose them.” Her eyes had a glazed-over look and I was pretty sure it wasn’t cataracts causing the problem.

  “Dorothy, you’re wild. You’ll get us killed,” I said.

  “Someone has to get that scum sucking bastard off our ass,” she snapped.

  Chapter Ten

  I had to get a good look at who was following us. It had to be the person who had shot at me. So I had been the intended target after all. There was only one reason someone would want me dead and that was because they thought that either I knew who killed Arthur or wanted to stop me from finding out who had murdered him.

  I pulled my gun out of its holster and craned my neck around for a better look.

  “What are you doing with that?” Dorothy asked with wide eyes as she glanced down at the gun.

  “If someone starts shooting at us I have to be prepared.” I held the gun tightly.

  “Seventy years may seem old to you, but I plan on living at least until I’m ninety years old. Besides, I do not want to go out with my hair looking like this.” She gestured toward her head. “I haven’t been to the beauty parlor in two weeks.”

  I glanced over at her hair. It looked the same as the other few times I’d seen her. “We’re not going to die. I won’t let that happen.”

  “I’m holding you to that. If I get killed and you don’t, I’m definitely coming back to haunt you.” She warned with a wave of her hand.

  “We’re going to have to lose this car,” I said.

  In spite of Dorothy’s best efforts, the car was still hanging on to our every move.

  “If I can’t drive fast, how do you suggest I do something like that?” she asked.

  That was a good question. My answer would be nothing but a guess. Sweat had broken out on my forehead and my stomach turned. I had to get this right or Dorothy’s fears just might come true.

  “Can you weave in between those
two cars?” I pointed up ahead.

  She wiped her forehead with one hand while steering with the other. The car’s air conditioner was cranked to full capacity, but only lukewarm spilled out from the vents. Of all times for the air to stop working.

  “Well, I haven’t done any stunt driving for a few years but I can give it a try.” She clutched the steering wheel tightly.

  I glanced over at her, but honestly couldn’t tell if she was joking. Somehow I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d actually been a stunt driver.

  “You should give it a try then,” I said, trying to sound in control.

  “What do I do then?” she asked.

  I gestured. “Up ahead is an on-ramp for the expressway. You’ll have to slip between the cars and then turn off at the last minute. The car behind us won’t be able to keep up.”

  “But what if they do stay with us?”

  “That’s the chance we’ll have to take. I’ll think of something else if that happens, okay?” I asked.

  She nodded, remaining silent. I was shocked that she hadn’t come back with some witty retort.

  Dorothy punched the gas again and merged into the left lane. I glanced in the rearview mirror to check on the mystery car. It sped up in an attempt to catch up to us. Dorothy’s hands were clutched on the steering wheel so hard that I knew it would take pliers to remove them. She whizzed the car into the middle lane between the two cars. Horns honked all around us. I didn’t bother looking over at the pissed off drivers. I knew I’d get nasty looks and gestures, no need to acknowledge them.

  “Okay, turn now!” I yelled.

  Dorothy yanked the steering wheel toward the ramp and almost cut off a white van as she zoomed onto the expressway ramp. Horns continued a relentless barrage of warnings.

  I looked in the rearview mirror and didn’t see the car. When I glanced up at the highway, I saw the car driving past. It had tried to slow down, but there was no use. Too many cars were tailgating it.

  I released my pent-up breath. “Good job, Dorothy. I didn’t know you had it in you.”

  “You told me to lose the car, didn’t you?” she asked.

  I smiled. “Yeah, I did tell you that.”

  I should have known that I wouldn’t get away with that car chasing incident without Dorothy asking for a payback. That payback came in the form of a Bunco game.

  Chapter Eleven

  Dorothy had taken me to her friend Mary’s place for Bunco night. Mary lived in a condo complex a couple of blocks from the beach. I’d insisted on driving this time. The living room was full of women. All of them had the same short gray hairstyle. They wore pink baseball caps with BFF written across the front. That stood for Bunco Friends Forever, by the way.

  “We’ll have to get you a cap,” Dorothy said excitedly.

  “Yay, I can’t wait,” I said with false enthusiasm.

  This was my punishment for what I’d put Dorothy through. I had tried to buy my way out of it, but I remembered that I really didn’t have any money, so that hadn’t worked out. Now I was sitting in a sea of women wearing pink baseball caps and dice earrings. The room was even decorated with dice and more dice. I spotted wineglasses with dice painted on each one. At least there was wine.

  As Dorothy tried to explain the rules of the game, I found my mind wandering. Thoughts of car chases, bullets, and hot detectives whirled in my head. I hoped whoever had it out for me hadn’t followed me here. I sure didn’t want to put these women in jeopardy. Until I figured out who was responsible, I had to be on guard everywhere I went.

  Dorothy clasped her hands together. “I hope I win the door prize tonight. Mary always has the cutest prizes.”

  I bit back a chuckle. “I hope you win too, Dorothy. If I win I’ll give you the prize, okay?”

  “Well, you should after what you put me through. But I doubt you’ll win. You have no idea what you’re doing.” She grabbed the dice.

  “The game doesn’t seem too complicated. Maybe I can win,” I said.

  Dorothy snorted and shook her head as if I’d said the most outrageous thing she’d ever heard.

  I was just getting the hang of things when the room fell silent. Everyone was staring at the door and I whipped around to see what all the action was about. Please don’t let someone with a gun be at the door. Much to my chagrin, someone with a gun was at the door. Luckily, it wasn’t the bad guy.

  “Who’s the hunk?” one of the women whispered to Dorothy.

  What was Jake doing here? How had he found me? Again!

  He spotted me right away and smiled. Of course all the women immediately looked at me.

  “It must be her boyfriend,” a woman whispered. Of course their whispering wasn’t really whispering because I was hearing everything they said loud and clear.

  “He’s not my boyfriend,” I said to no one in particular.

  “What a beefcake,” another woman said around a sigh.

  I hurried over to the door so that I could get rid of him before they asked him to stay.

  “Why are you here?” I asked.

  Jake smiled. “Imagine seeing you here.

  “Have you been following me again? This has got to stop. I’m going to be forced to report you to your supervisor if you don’t stop stalking me.” I folded my arms in front of my chest and glared at him. Sadly, he probably wasn’t intimidated by my stern look. I gave it a try anyway.

  “Are you finished yelling at me yet?” he asked with a smirk.

  I tucked my hair behind my ear. “No. I mean, I’m not sure. Are you going to leave me alone?”

  “I can’t guarantee that.” The side of his mouth twisted into a grin.

  “What do you want? I have to get back to my game.” I motioned over my shoulder.

  “Kiss him, honey,” one of the women said from over my shoulder.

  The rest of the room broke out in laughter like a gang of thirteen year old girls.

  He smiled. Finally he said, “You’re parked in my spot.” He motioned over his shoulder.

  I looked out at my car parked in the lot. “What are you talking about?”

  He pointed. “I live next door and you’ve got my reserved parking space.”

  What were the odds of that? Out of all the places in Miami, he lived next door to my Bunco game.

  “I didn’t know there was assigned parking.” I grabbed my purse and headed out the door.

  He followed behind me. “Having a girls’ night out?” His voice held a mocking tone.

  “If you must know, yes,” I said.

  “Wow, you are a wild one. I knew it. I could tell by the look in your eyes.” He winked.

  “You have any new leads on the Abbott case?” I asked, ignoring his comment.

  “Like I told you before, I’m not looking for any new leads.”

  “Well, you should.” I stared for a minute, then climbed into my car.

  He folded his arms in front of his chest as a wide smile spread across his face. I’d hoped he would go into his apartment after I moved my car, but he waited for me on the sidewalk.

  “I moved my car. Don’t you want to park your car before someone else steals your spot?” I pointed.

  “I doubt anyone else will take the spot,” he said.

  “Well, I’d better get back to my game. They’ll be waiting for me.” I motioned over my shoulder.

  At least now Jake didn’t think that I’d lied to him about being busy tonight. Of course now he knew that I hadn’t had a hot dinner date. I wanted to mention to him about the car that had followed us, but I also wanted to get away from his smiling face as soon as possible. After my mental debate, asking him about the mysterious car won out, although I had a feeling before I even asked that it hadn’t been Jake who had followed us.

  “Are you going to follow me again like earlier today?” I asked.

  He frowned. “I didn’t follow you today.”

  Then who the hell had followed us?

  I frowned. “Oh, well, I guess I just thought
I saw your car.”

  He looked at me suspiciously, but before he had a chance to ask more questions, I turned around and walked toward the condo.

  “I’ll see you later, Thomas,” he called out.

  I glanced back, but quickly turned around so that he couldn’t see my smile.

  “Later, Jackson,” I retorted.

  Chapter Twelve

  Later that night after the Bunco game, my sleuthing wasn’t over. I’d taken Dorothy to her condo for a change of clothing. Why she insisted on putting on her stakeout clothing, I had no idea. I was afraid to find out what her idea of private investigator clothing consisted of.

  After not being able to talk with Sam Louis at the golf course, I felt I needed to go by his home again. His behavior needed closer attention. I decided to do a stakeout and see just exactly what he was up to. If he was connected to the killing in any way, maybe I’d find out.

  Dorothy came out of her condo wearing all black like a cat burglar. She was really getting into this stakeout stuff.

  “It’s not really necessary to wear all black. We’re not stealing precious jewels or anything,” I said as she climbed into the car.

  “I want to blend in with the night. I don’t trust you not to get me into some crazy situation.” She buckled her seat belt.

  “Dorothy, I’m not trying to get you into anything. After all, you did volunteer to come with me,” I pointed out.

  It was more like she insisted, but I left that part out to be nice.

  “Well, someone has to watch over you.” She frowned.

  After ten minutes, we reached Sam’s house. The neighborhood was quiet and there were no other cars on the street. I had no idea if we’d catch Sam doing anything, but it was worth a shot. We pulled up to this house and parked out front. I stayed back so that he wouldn’t see my car, although his neighbors would probably notice. As long as they didn’t call the police I’d be fine. The last thing I needed was for Jake Jackson to find out what I was doing. We waited for only about five minutes before something odd started happening inside the house.

  Lights began going on and off around the house. It was as if someone was going from room to room and turning the lights on, then off rather quickly. It was as if the person was checking each room for someone or something. This happened in every visible window.