by Rose Pressey
“What do you think he’s doing in there?” Dorothy asked.
“He’s probably contemplating ways to kill me,” I said.
“Don’t worry, honey. If he comes at us, I’ll poke his eyes out with my knitting needles,” she said.
I stared at her for a moment. I didn’t doubt her for two seconds. Dorothy would do it if she had to. She might look like a sweet little grandma, but I was sure if you messed with her she’d kick your ass. Finally, when I’d almost given up on him ever getting out of the car, he opened the door and climbed out from behind the wheel.
The man walked toward the entrance of the building, but as he neared the door, he paused. He looked to his left and then to his right. I knew he sensed us watching him. If he followed his instincts and looked over his shoulder, he would probably spot four little eyes glaring at him from across the parking lot.
“Dorothy, if he looks back here we need to duck,” I said.
“Don’t you think that will be a little too conspicuous?” she asked.
She did have a point, but it was better than doing nothing. After several seconds of holding my breath, the man continued toward the door, opened it, and disappeared inside.
“What do we do now?” Dorothy asked.
“We wait,” I said.
We settled in for the long haul—me with my binoculars, and Dorothy with her knitting needles. I wasn’t going to ask her not to do that anymore, because she was too set in her ways. Maybe she could knit me a binocular cozy or something.
The click clack of Dorothy’s needles was making me drowsy. I yawned and forced my eyelids open.
“How long has he been in there anyway? An hour? Two hours?” I glanced down at my watch.
Okay, it had only been ten minutes. This was getting me nowhere. After another couple of minutes, another car pulled up. It parked right beside the car that we’d followed. This wouldn’t have been a big deal but as we watched, two men got out, paused by the other car, and peered in the windows.
After circling the car a couple times, they went into the building. There had to be a way for me to find out what was going on inside. Watching from afar while Dorothy knitted wasn’t getting me anything, other than learning how to do a cast on.
Actually slipping up to the building and either listening in at the door or going inside was my only option. But did I really have the nerve to try something like that? I was about to find out. If they caught me I’d have to come up with a good lie as to why I was there. Who was I kidding? Any excuse I gave they’d know was a lie right away.
“Dorothy, I’m not getting anywhere out here just watching them. I need to hear what they’re saying,” I said.
She quirked an eyebrow. “And how do you intend on doing that?”
I glanced away so she couldn’t glare at me any longer. This was exactly like investigating with a grandmother except I didn’t have a chocolate chip cookie in my hand right now.
“I’m going closer to the building to see if I can eavesdrop,” I said.
“Have you lost your mind? What if they catch you?” she asked.
“I won’t let that happen. Don’t worry. You’ll be my lookout, okay? If someone comes just distract them,” I said.
“How do I do that?” she asked.
“Honk the horn.”
She released a deep sigh. “Well, I’ll give it my best shot.”
I got out of the car and tried to move my way toward the building while hiding behind cars. I tried to act as casual as possible under the circumstances. It was really tough to hide behind a palm tree.
Finally, I made it to the main door of the building. It was glass and the walls surrounding it were glass as well. I walked past a couple times, looking into the building. There was a lobby, but it was empty. On the left and right were closed doors. I wasn’t sure which room the men were in, but the only way I’d find out was to go inside. There was no turning back now. Well, I guess if I’d wanted to be a chicken, I could have turned back, but I had to prove to myself that I could do this.
I opened the door and stepped into the lobby. Which door would I find them behind? Door number one, two, three…? I moved from door to door, but heard nothing. When I reached the fourth door on the right, I heard voices, but I couldn’t make out what was being said.
I may have been new at this, but I wasn’t completely clueless. I’d brought my bag with me and had a few gadgets. After digging the equipment out of the bag, I placed it up to the wood, and listened through the door with the contact surface microphone. Dorothy had suggested holding a glass to the door, but trust me, I’d tried that before with little results. This new gadget was much better.
With my ear pressed up to the device, I listened to their discussion. Now I needed to figure out if anything they said would offer me a clue. So far, they were discussing what they’d had for lunch. I was potentially risking my life for that?
“Do you have the information?” one of the men asked.
“You’ll find all the details here,” another man said.
“Sam Louis?” the man asked.
What? Why was he mentioning his name? What did he have to do with this? Had Sam Louis hired this guy? This had to be related to the other man who’d followed me. Were they all involved with Sam? My heart rate increased.
When the sound of moving chairs started, I almost threw the device across the room. I stuffed the equipment back in my bag and ran toward the door. With clumsy hands, I opened the door and bolted out of the office building. I ran so fast I could barely catch my breath. When I reached the car, I opened the door and jumped back into the car.
“What did you find out? When I saw you running out the door, I thought I was going to have to use those knitting needles after all,” Dorothy said.
“I need to talk with Sam Louis. He may have answers to the murders…or he may be the murderer,” I said.
“Is that what you heard?” she asked.
I nodded. “Sort of. They mentioned his name.”
I wondered if Allison had spoken with Sam since she’d been arrested. It was time to pay him a visit and get some answers. First thing in the morning, I was headed to his house.
But right now, I owed Dorothy a Bunco game. At least this time it wouldn’t be next door to Jake’s house. I found the game and being surrounded by the women to be oddly relaxing.
“Where’s the game tonight? It’s at another member’s house, right?” I asked.
As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I was totally getting into this Bunco stuff. It was a little addictive. It required about as much skill as coloring with crayons, but it was strangely fun. Maybe I just enjoyed the company. The women had a lot of fun.
“Oh, it’s at Mary’s place again. Jeanine is having her bathroom remodeled so Mary agreed to host the party again,” Dorothy said.
“No way. I can’t go tonight,” I shook my head. “I’ll take you to your car so that you can drive there.”
“Is this all because you’re afraid to run into that detective? Why are you fighting it? Just go with the flow. If it’s meant to be, then it’ll be. Don’t you date?” She scowled.
“Yes, I date when I have time,” I said.
She looked at me suspiciously. “When’s the last time you had a date?” Dorothy asked.
“Well, today makes two weeks since I stopped worrying about it,” I said.
She snorted. “You really should get out more.”
“I have a very full social life,” I said.
“You’re young, and so far all I can see is you’re working, working, working,” she said.
“It takes a while for a business to get started and from what Uncle Griffin left me there is a lot of work to be done. Anyway, there is time for fun when I retire.” I winked.
“If you don’t slow down and smell the ocean breeze, life will pass you by,” Dorothy said.
When we pulled up to the condo, I circled around until I found an empty space. I didn’t want to make the same mistake an
d take Jake’s parking place. After finding a spot that I thought was safe, I hurried out of the car and toward the building. I didn’t bother to look over at his parking space.
I’d almost made it to the condo door when the sound of a car pulling up behind us caught my attention. In spite of myself, I had to turn around and look. When I saw Jake’s smiling face, I wanted to run away. Dorothy grabbed my arm and stopped my escape. Jake looked handsome—as usual—as he got out of his car.
“Wow, am I missing Bunco night again?” he asked with a smile.
Yes, and if I could get Dorothy to release her hold on my arm, I’d miss it too.
“I have a great idea. Why don’t you join us tonight?” Dorothy asked. “We have food.” She wiggled her eyebrows.
There was no way he would agree to it, right? “I’m sure he has a lot of police stuff to do,” I said.
“As a matter of fact, I’m free. I’d love to go,” he said with a smile.
When we entered the condo, the room fell silent, but all eyes were on Jake. Of course, he was the only man in the room.
“Ladies, this is Jake Jackson. He’s a detective with the Miami Police.” Dorothy held on to Jake’s arm.
The entire room sighed with delight.
“Nice to meet you, Jake,” the women said in unison.
“What about me, Dorothy?” I poked her in the arm.
“Oh yeah, you all remember Maggie Thomas from last time.” Dorothy guided Jake away leaving me standing there.
The women didn’t offer a cheery greeting for me. Instead their eyes followed Jake across the room.
“The ladies will be really excited about having a handsome man here tonight,” Dorothy said with a smile.
Jake just smiled. He was probably enjoying the attention.
“Maggie, you sit beside your handsome date,” Mary said with a smile.
“He’s not my date,” I said as I looked at Mary. I ignored Jake’s stare. “He’s not my date,” I said as I looked at the other women’s smiling faces.
Jake winked at me, which made the situation even worse.
It was hard to concentrate with Jake sitting beside me, especially when his manly scent kept tickling my nostrils. Too bad I didn’t have an air neutralizer to block out the smell.
“You’re pretty good at this. Are you sure you haven’t played before?” I asked.
“Nope, this is my first time.” He stared at me with a devilish smile.
“You know if you win the ladies will be upset,” I said.
“Oh, we don’t care. He can win if he wants to,” Mary said while wiggling her eyebrows.
I rolled my eyes. It was really sweet that he’d taken the time to play with the women. And he seemed to genuinely enjoy it too.
Just as the game was over, and yes, Jake had won, a car alarm sounded in the parking lot. It was blazingly loud. Who had such an annoying car alarm? While Jake collected his gift of lace-trimmed hand towels, I stepped over to the door and peered out, hoping to find the offending car. I scanned the lot and my eyes fell on my car.
“Hey, that’s my car,” I announced.
That was my car making the annoying noise throughout the neighborhood. The lights were flashing and the screeching noise penetrated the air. What had set it off? Had someone tried to steal my car? That was the last thing I needed.
The woman hurried as fast as they could shuffle over to the windows. They hadn’t seen this much action since…well, since Jake had shown up to play Bunco with them. Dorothy inched her way in beside me.
“What happened?” she asked breathlessly.
“Someone or something set off my car alarm,” I said.
“Why is it so loud?” she asked covering her ears.
Working his way through the maze of women, Jake came over and stood beside us. “What happened?” he asked in a calm voice.
“My alarm was set off,” I said.
“Alarms go off all the time. It was probably just a vibration in the ground. Maybe from another car driving by. Your alarm is probably super sensitive.”
“It’s never gone off before.” I frowned.
“Well, there’s a first for everything,” he said.
“Yeah, well, I wonder if it’s going off because of that guy who is messing around it?” a woman asked as she pointed out the window.
I followed her pointing finger and saw a man around my car. This guy had something in common with the other one who had been following me: big muscles. He looked just like the other gym rats.
Jake didn’t say a word as he took off out the door after the perp. I ran outside after him. I heard the stampede of women following behind us. Well, a slow stampede. Jake weaved through cars and I ran as hard as I could to keep up with his pace. Unfortunately his legs were much longer than mine and could cover more distance a lot faster. When I got my hands on this guy, I wanted to clobber him. What did he think he was doing messing around my car? Maybe I could finally get an answer as to why they were following me.
Just as Jake approached the car, another car pulled up nearby. It was the same car that had been following me.
“That’s the car that has been following me,” I said.
Jake glanced at me with a look of confusion. Yeah, I hadn’t told him about the multiple cars following me. Telling him might have hampered my investigation. Maybe that was a stupid move on my part, but it was what I’d decided to do nonetheless.
I never claimed to be perfect or have all the right answers. The man darted to his left and ran for the waiting car. The car door opened and he jumped it. The car sped away, its tires screeching as it made a turn around the building. I looked on in shock. When I looked over my shoulder, all the women were standing behind us, staring with their mouths open.
Jake ran for his car. I barely had time to register what he was doing before he had cranked the ignition and taken off after the car. I hoped he found the men, but I wasn’t holding out much hope. They had a knack for getting away. I watched as he sped out of the parking lot in pursuit of the car.
“Well, at least we got to finish the game before this happened,” one of the women said from over my shoulder.
Dorothy stood beside me. “That looked like one of the muscle men.”
I nodded and ran my hand through my hair. “Yes, and it was the same car. Now we have a gang of bodybuilders after us.”
Mary was standing to the side with a distressed look on her face.
“I’m sorry that this happened, Mary,” I said.
She nodded. “That’s okay.”
She spoke the words, but I knew she still had reservations about what had happened. There was no way I was coming back for another Bunco game. Not that they would ever invite me again, but I wouldn’t put these women in harm’s way. I didn’t want Dorothy to be involved either, although I doubted I’d be able to convince her to stay out of it.
When I glanced back at Dorothy she had a frown on her face and was staring at my car.
“There’s something on the window,” she said.
I followed her stare and spotted the little piece of paper secured to the windshield of my car. Dorothy immediately took off toward my car and I followed in pursuit. I whizzed around her and grabbed the note from under the windshield wiper. I unfolded it as Dorothy watched from over my shoulder.
You’re next was scribbled in sloppy writing.
“How utterly unoriginal, yet frightening at the same time,” I said.
“This has gone too far,” Dorothy fumed. “What would their mothers think?” She scowled. “They should be ashamed of their behavior.”
“Yes, they should be, but I highly doubt that they are,” I said.
As Dorothy and I debated the note, Jake drove from around the building and pulled up beside my car. He jumped out and hurried over to us.
“Did you find them?” I asked hopefully.
He frowned and shook his head. “No, they got away. I was never able to find them, but I do have police looking for the car. Don’t wor
ry, though, I won’t stop until I find out who they are.”
I had no doubt that he meant what he said. There was a look of determination in his eyes that I’d never seen before.
“There’s more,” Dorothy said.
She wasn’t going to let me keep the note from Jake. What could he do? Test it for fingerprints? Okay, so he could test it for fingerprints, but that was neither here nor there.
Jake frowned. “What else?”
“They left a note. Show him, Maggie.” Dorothy poked me in the side.
I scowled at her then turned to meet Jake’s stare.
“May I see the note?” he asked in a calm tone.
I stared at him for a beat, then finally handed over the note. “There’s not much to it. It’s kind of lame, actually. I mean, who leaves notes like that? It’s so utterly cheesy it’s comical.”
He met my gaze. “Do you see me laughing?”
“Yeah, do you see him laughing?” Dorothy said.
Whose side was she on, anyway?
“I’m not laughing either,” she added.
Okay, so they both weren’t amused by the note.
“Look, I don’t like that they left it either, but I’m sure they’re all talk. Someone is just trying to scare me, but it’s not going to work,” I said.
“Maybe it should work,” Dorothy said under her breath.
“Who do you think left this note for you?” Jake asked.
I shrugged. “My guess is they have something to do with the murder of Arthur Abbott. Maybe I’m a little too close to finding out who did it. Are you going to believe me now that Allison didn’t murder her husband?” I asked.
“Why didn’t you tell me this car had been following you?” Jake asked.
“I was handling it,” I said with a smirk.
The police arrived within a couple minutes and began searching in and around my car. I couldn’t say that I liked them poking through my stuff. They looked at me suspiciously when they saw all the surveillance gear.
“Let me drive you home,” Jake said as he watched me with his piercing eyes.
