Sintown Chronicles I: Behind Closed Doors

by David O. Dyer, Sr.

  “And what did the informant have to say?” Leora asked.

  The detective smiled. “As I said, he's very unreliable. He responds to all cases like this, hoping to collect the standard reward offered. Sometimes what he has to say pans out, but usually he just makes something up. We don't take his information very seriously."

  “So what did he say?"

  “I can't tell you that, you dear woman,” the detective smiled.

  “Then I won't continue to report my findings to you,” she huffed.

  He shook his head. “I could get fired for this. The informant named a couple of Charlotte hoods as the executioners. He claimed Alfred Young was trying to launder a large sum of money and found two smalltime crooks who offered to help. Instead, they killed him and kept the money. Like I said, we don't put much stock into anything this informant tells us."

  “Maybe you should this time. The note says Amos Stone left Penny some dirty money. Maybe that is the money Al was trying to launder. Maybe the two of them, Penny and Al, were in it together—dirty money and blackmail over the tapes."

  “Maybe,” he said as he reread the note. “If there is anything to this, we have a problem with your note."

  “What kind of problem?"

  “This note in not admissible in court as evidence. You were trespassing when you obtained it."

  “I could put it back on my way home tonight. Then you can find it when you search the house tomorrow."

  “That would require a search warrant. We don't have enough evidence to convince a judge to issue a warrant."

  “That's your problem,” she smiled. “Make a couple of copies—one for you and one for me. I'll put the original back in the green cabinet."

  “Leora,” he said as she reached the door of his office.

  “Yes."

  “Would you consider having dinner with me sometime?"

  “To talk about the case?"

  “Among other things."

  “Detective,” she said incredulously. “Are you asking me for a date?"

  “Would that be so wrong? I know you may be a few years older than I am, but I find you very attractive and the most interesting woman I have known since my wife..."

  “What about your wife?"

  “She passed away ten years ago. I'm just one year away from retirement, Leora. The department has been my entire life since Margaret died. I just thought it might be nice to explore the outside world a little before I am thrust into it. I think it would be fun to explore it with you."

  “I don't know what to say. I haven't been on a date in so long I've forgotten how."

  He laughed. “Me too. I guess I'm too old for that kind of foolishness."

  She shook her head. “Are you thinking of having sex with me?"

  “Leora!” he remonstrated with obviously feigned indignity. “What kind of man do you think I am?"

  “That's what I'm trying to find out,” she smiled as she winked.

  * * * *

  Randy took the bag of groceries from his mother and kissed her cheek. “You made a long day of it,” he said.

  “Honey, it was wonderful. I've been on every road in Dot, looked at every house, and enjoyed all the lovely wooded areas and ponds. I am tired, though. I think I'll take a nice bath and then cook you and Jo one of my fried chicken specials. Remember my fried chicken?"

  “I sure do,” he said fondly. “This grocery bag is from Food Lion in Charlotte."

  “Yes. I drove down the Old Charlotte Road for a while. It's so beautiful this time of year with the trees budding and all. Before I knew it, I was in Charlotte. I needed to buy some chicken for tonight's dinner, so I just pulled into the Food Lion parking lot on the outskirts of town."

  “Mom,” he said as she walked away. “How did you get your knees so dirty?"

  “Oh,” she replied looking down. “I stopped on the Old Charlotte Road and walked around a little. I sat down for a while, watching a bird build a nest. I sure did ruin these stockings, didn't I?"

  * * * *

  After Leora retired to her room for the night, she wrote down the day's discoveries on the legal pad. She concluded with a note on the contents of a telephone call she received from Sunny about nine o'clock and three questions.

  Sunny says her source claims Penny was hooked on drugs and became a prostitute to pay for her habit. Her parents bailed her out of jail and sent her to a drying out clinic. She then disappeared. There seems to be no connection, but Alfred Young was a drug dealer suspect—never convicted.

  If Penny does have a sizable sum of cash, do I really want Borders to find it? Do I want Borders to find the tapes? If Borders places Penny under arrest, will we still get the baby?

  She tucked her notes under the mattress, paused, went to the closet and opened it. She looked at herself in the full-length mirror hung on the back of the door, turned to her left and then to her right. Grinning mischievously, she locked her bedroom door, returned to the mirror and pulled off her nightgown. She studied her reflection from all angles, smiled and slipped the gown back over her head.

  She began to hum softly, held her hands out and danced around the room with an imaginary partner. She chuckled and said to herself as she crawled into bed, “You've still got it, old girl. I wonder what Border's first name is?"

  Leora turned off the light, rolled over, stroked Lucky who had become her bedtime companion and, as she wondered what it would feel like to once again have her arms around a man, she dropped off into a peaceful sleep. She didn't forget her sleeping pills. She just knew she didn't need them anymore.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Leora's eyes blinked open. She reached for the lamp on her nightstand, snapped it on and checked the time on her clock radio. Not yet five, she thought. Randy and Jo will not be up for at least two hours. She turned the lamp off and snuggled back under the warm covers. She drifted and was almost asleep when her eyes snapped open. Holy horsehair! she thought. What have I done?

  She jumped out of bed, quickly slipped into the warm jogging suit Randy gave her for Christmas, laced on her walking shoes, picked up her purse and made her way out of the house. She slipped behind the steering wheel of her Toyota and turned the ignition switch slowly, as if that would lessen the noise of the starter turning over. Before turning on the car's headlamps she eased out of the driveway, pulled on the light switch and headed for Penny's house.

  She rang the bell and beat on the door repeatedly. Finally a light came on in the living room and the door opened.

  “Go away. We're in bed,” Billy said.

  “You must be Billy. I'm Leora Nickels. I must see Penny immediately. It's urgent.” The young man was dressed only in jockey shorts. Noticing his obvious erection beneath the cotton cloth, Leora was certain Penny was having sex with him. Billy looked at her for a moment. “You go away. Come back later."

  “Billy, please. I must talk with Penny now. Her life may be in danger."

  “Billy will take care of Penny."

  He closed the door leaving Leora shivering outside in the predawn March air. The light in the living room did not go out. She rang the bell and knocked again. The door opened once more, but just a crack.

  “This better be good,” Penny hissed.

  “You don't have much time. Please let me in."

  Penny hesitated, then stepped aside for Leora to enter. Billy was standing in the back of the room. Penny's robe gaped open, revealing that she wore nothing beneath it.

  “This is a very private matter,” Leora said.

  “Billy,” Penny commanded. “Put the coffee on and go get dressed."

  He nodded and disappeared through the swinging door.

  “Billy said my life is in danger."

  Leora sat on the sofa while Penny sprawled in the recliner across from her. If I were a lesbian, Leora thought, that crotch would certainly interest me. No wonder Billy has an erection.

  “Well?” Penny asked with disgust.

  “Child, listen to me. I may have ma
de a terrible mistake. Sometimes I can be a foolish old woman."

  “You're a foolish old woman, all right."

  “Pay attention to me, Penny. You don't have much time. Yesterday I spent the entire day playing detective and I uncovered far more information than I expected. For instance, I know that you became a drug addict in Florida and used prostitution to pay for your habit. After the police arrested you, your parents bailed you out. They sent you to a rehabilitation clinic and when you were released, they disowned you."

  Leora could see that she had Penny's full attention and decided to gamble. “I also know that Alfred Young was your drug supplier. I believe you called him Spud at the time."

  There was no protest from Penny.

  “I uncovered enough evidence to convince me that Amos Stone was, as you say, an evil man. He may indeed be the father of your baby, but I know that you have been having sex with at least three other men in Dot—Billy Morgan, Mack McGee and Tim Dollar. Any one of the three could be your baby's father."

  “You meddling old hag,” Penny mumbled under her breath.

  “What was that?"

  “Nothing."

  Billy entered the room carrying a tray with two filled coffee mugs, a bowl of sugar, a box of powdered milk and two spoons. Leora watched as Penny stirred four spoons of sugar into her mug. She noticed that Billy had lost his erection but the bulge in his cotton briefs was still sizable.

  Penny looked at him. “Go on and get dressed like I told you. You'll have to get your own breakfast. Don't come back into this room until I ask for you."

  He nodded and slunk back to the kitchen.

  “I also know that you, or possibly you and Al Young, are blackmailing some of the residents of Dot,” Leora continued, deciding to gamble even more. “You are blackmailing the preacher and Tim Dollar for having sex with you. There may be other men on the list I haven't yet uncovered."

  “It's none of your damn business,” Penny snarled. “They took advantage of me. I was trying to change my life here in Dot. Hell, I even took a job as a church secretary and tried to do some missionary work with Billy. Uncle Amos demanded sex. I had no choice. Mack seduced me, and that damn Tim Dollar raped me."

  Bingo! Leora thought. “There's more,” she said. “Alfred, or you, or perhaps the two of you together, have Sandra Dollar hooked on prescription medication."

  “I didn't have anything to do with that."

  “Are there others he's introduced to illicit drugs?"

  “I don't know. Probably. What's your point?"

  “I'm getting to it. After your uncle died, you discovered some sexually explicit videotapes featuring women who still live right here in Dot. You showed me one tape yesterday featuring Dottie Frank. I suspect you have many more. I think you probably have one of Dr. McGee and one of Billy's mother. I know you are blackmailing Dottie and Dr. McGee. I suspect there are others."

  “Yeah, and I have a tape of your precious daughter-in-law too. You're going to have to pay through the nose to get that one from me."

  “I know too much for you to continue to lie to me,” Leora snapped. “The tapes were made many years ago, before my daughter-in-law ever heard of Dot. Penny, wake up, child. Your secrets are out. You don't have a friend in the world except Billy and me, and Billy can't help you. I can."

  “You keep looking at my pussy, old lady. You want to lick it?"

  Leora ignored her. “The sex tape business made rich men out of Pete Harlow and your uncle. In addition to finding the tape copies you also found a huge sum of cash."

  Penny turned pale. Her mouth became dry. Her lips clung together as she said, “You ... you're dead wrong about that. If I have money why am I working my ass off in the greenhouses?"

  Holy horsehair! Leora thought. I've struck the nail on the head.

  “Billy,” Penny shouted. “Bring some more coffee."

  “It is not you, but Billy, who is working his ass off, and you're not paying him one cent to do it. The greenhouse business provides you with a cover for your real sources of income."

  The two women glared at each other until Billy filled their cups and again left the room.

  “You think you have it all figured out, don't you? You can't prove anything. You're bluffing,” Penny challenged.

  “The sum of the cash you found was so great you couldn't spend it without arousing suspicions. You needed to find a way to launder the money. Drug dealers have to launder their money too. With Al's connections to the underworld, he took the money to have some of his hoodlum friends make it legitimate. Instead of settling for a commission, they murdered Al and kept all the money for themselves."

  “What if they did? What's that got to do with me?"

  “I think you kept some of the cash intending to launder it through your greenhouse business. The hoodlums Alfred was dealing with are not angels and they are not stupid. You may be certain of that. If they tortured Alfred before they murdered him, do you think it is possible Alfred told them about you—about the tapes—about your blackmailing business—about the cash you kept?"

  Penny said nothing.

  “If he did, how long do you think it will be before they come after you?"

  “Damn,” Penny said. “I've gotta pee."

  Left alone, Leora explored the living room, looking repeatedly at the door with the padlock on it.

  When Penny returned, she wore a tee shirt and blue slacks. “Lets suppose for a minute that some of what you say is true. What's your interest in all this?"

  “If you die, the baby dies with you,” Leora said coldly. “I don't want Jo to have the baby if the father is Billy Morgan or your uncle's, but I do want her to have it if neither Billy nor Amos Stone are the father."

  Penny mumbled something.

  “I didn't understand you,” Leora said, noticing the moisture building up in the young woman's eyes.

  “Billy is not the father. Neither is Uncle Amos. He never touched me. Mack McGee is the father, and I seduced him—not the other way around. I didn't start screwing Billy until after I was pregnant. What do you suggest I do now?"

  “You've already started. You've realized you are in a dangerous situation and that I am the only one who can help you. I'm afraid there is more, dear."

  Penny looked up. The tears were cascading down her cheeks.

  “The Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Department knows everything I do—probably more. They will be here sometime today—about noon or a little after I would guess—with a search warrant. They'll find the money and the tapes, won't they, Penny?"

  She nodded.

  “Will they find any evidence of your blackmail endeavors?"

  “No, there are no written records, but there is Uncle Amos’ diary."

  “Getting arrested and sent to prison is not the worst thing that could happen to you. You would be safe from the mob, at least. But I don't want your baby born in prison."

  “What can I do?"

  “First of all, promise me that if I get you out of this mess you'll undo all this blackmailing of folks in Dot."

  Penny nodded her agreement.

  “The sheriff knows about the cash and tapes. I want to quickly get all the videos that have Dot women on them out of your house."

  Penny smiled thinly though her tears. “I already have them sorted."

  “How much money is left of Amos Stone's horde?"

  “A little less than a half million dollars."

  Leora whistled. “How much was there before Alfred took his share? Don't answer that. I'd rather not know. I'm going to take the selected tapes with me. We'll let the deputies find the remainder of the tapes, Stone's diary and the cash. It'll be a hassle, but after the IRS gets their share you'll still have a nice nest egg left over. Answer all of the detective's questions honestly, but there is no need to mention the blackmail or the tapes featuring Dot women. Agreed?"

  Penny nodded.

  “I've changed my mind about the diary. It names individuals on the tapes, doesn't it?
r />   Penny nodded again.

  “I'll take the diary. These women have suffered enough."

  “Who's going to protect me from the mob?"

  “That, child, we'll have to leave up to the efficiency of the Sheriff's Department."

  * * * *

  Penny found Billy working in greenhouse seven. “Billy, sometimes you must simply trust me. I can't always explain things. Do you trust me, Billy?"

  “Penny, you're my very best friend. I trust you."

  “I want you to go home—to your mother's house—right now. Things are going to happen here that I don't want you involved in. If a deputy comes to your mother's house, answer his questions honestly."

  “Even if he asks if you and I are having sexual intercourse?"

  “Yes. I want you to take this bag to your mother,” she said, holding out a small plastic bag. “It's money, Billy. Your mother needs it, and you've earned it."

  “Will Billy ... will I ever see you again, Penny?"

  “I hope so, Billy. With all my heart I hope so, but our relationship will never again be the same."

  “We will be good friends but will not have sexual intercourse. Is that it?"

  “That's part of it, Billy. You'll live with your mother and come here every day to work in the greenhouses. We'll continue your lessons and we'll play lots of basketball."

  “Has Billy ... have I done something wrong?"

  “No, Billy, but I have. Mrs. Nickels is trying to help me, but I don't know how it is all going to work out."

  “After Penny ... after you get out of trouble we can have sexual intercourse again?"

  “No."

  “Why?"

  “I ... I think I am in love with Sean Taylor. I didn't mean to fall in love with him. It just happened."

  “Sean does sexual intercourse better than Billy?"

  “No. I don't know. I have not had sex with Sean."

  “I don't understand?"

  “I know you don't Billy. Please trust me."

  “Does Sean love you, Penny?"

  “I don't know,” she said as she wagged her head and walked sadly away.