From what I could see, a short hallway led to a large master bedroom and bath. The apartment was painted in shades of blue-green with a darker blue-green accent wall. The kitchen had white cupboards with green, white, and gray tile and countertops, reminding me of ivy and spring.
It wouldn’t be such a bad place to live if it weren’t for the dead bodies across the hall. At least it didn’t smell bad like the morgue. Just thinking of dead body smells dried up all of my laughter, and the chill in the air settled around me, clinging like a second skin.
I glanced around the room, looking for clues about Troy’s life. He obviously had something going on. If he was getting rid of dead bodies for someone, there had to be a clue here somewhere. Of course, if he disposed of the bodies, then why was he taking money from his brother? Shouldn’t he be getting paid for doing that?
I wandered to the kitchen and found the regular junk mail sitting on the counter. Finding nothing more, I stepped into the bedroom where Dimples searched the drawers and under the bed. “Find anything?”
“No.” He sounded mad, but I picked up that he was still smarting about the cat. Plus it hurt where the cat had clawed through his clothes into his skin.
“Ouch… I bet that’s painful. I wonder how long the cat was locked up in here.”
“Probably a couple of days.”
“That’s too bad. Poor kitty.” I pursed my lips together, but it didn’t stop my body from shaking with laughter. Before I lost it in front of him, I retreated into the master bathroom and leaned against the wash basin until I got under control.
Noting the bottle of expensive cologne on the counter, I picked it up to take a whiff. It smelled amazing, like cedar and musk with a bit of pepper and nutmeg. I pulled out my phone and took a picture so I wouldn’t forget the name, knowing I’d have to get some for Chris.
“You find anything?” Dimples asked.
“Uh… not exactly.” I pulled out the drawers and looked through them all, just to make sure I did my job. Dimples moved into the closet, so I left him there and followed another short hallway that branched off the living room.
I found two doors, one at the end of the hall, and another along the hallway. Taking a breath, I opened the hallway door to a small office with a desk and filing cabinet. The desk was clear of papers, and there wasn’t a computer, so I figured the police had taken it.
I turned to the door at the end of the hall and found it slightly ajar. I flipped on the light before pushing it open and came upon a storage and laundry area. Clean clothes had been hung on a stand, and a laundry basket sat on the floor.
A box of kitty litter sat in the back of the room, answering any questions about why the cat was there. With nothing more to see, I turned out the light and stepped into the hallway.
As I took another step, the light in the room came back on. I froze. Did I push the switch wrong? I stepped back to the room and reached inside to turn out the light. The scent of the exact same cologne I’d just smelled wafted over me, and my breath caught.
Holy hell. Was it Troy trying to get my attention? I glanced at the light switch, finding it in the on position, so maybe I hadn’t turned it off all the way. But that didn’t explain the smell. Swallowing, I stepped inside for a closer look.
The tops of the washer and dryer were clear, so I turned to the clothes hanging on the stand. They were all shirts, and I ran my hands over them but nothing stood out, so I moved on to the laundry basket. It was full of dirty clothes, and I began to sort through them.
Coming across a pair of slacks, I picked them up and felt something hard in the front pocket. With my heart fluttering, I reached inside the pocket and pulled out a small burner phone. Excitement raced over me. This was it. The clue we needed.
Leaving the light on, I hurried down the hall and found Dimples looking through the kitchen drawers. “I found something.” I held up the phone. “I found it in the dirty clothes basket.”
Dimples took the phone, his eyes shining with anticipation. “This is great.” He turned it on, but nothing happened. “I guess we need to charge it up. I think I saw a charging cord in the bedroom.”
A few minutes later, the phone had charged enough to turn on, and we found several texts to the same number. “They’re mostly times and dates,” Dimples said. “And the times are all late at night. But that’s it.” He glanced my way. “I’ll bet it’s when the bodies were brought here for Troy to cremate.”
“That makes sense.”
“I’ll have to see if I can track down the number, but if it’s a burner phone, it’s probably untraceable.” Dimples sighed. “But it might lead us to someone.” He was thinking about texting the person as Troy’s brother and threatening to expose him if he didn’t return the money Troy stole… or something like that.
“That’s a possibility. But first I think we should find out what Troy was doing before he came back to work for his brother. Barry obviously doesn’t know, but maybe one of Troy’s friends or former employers will.”
“That’s true,” Dimples agreed. “And even if they don’t tell us anything, you could pick it up.”
I grinned. “Right.”
“Okay. This is good. Is there anything else we should do before we leave?”
I glanced back down the hall to the laundry room and realized the light wasn’t on anymore. I knew I’d left it on, and a chill ran over me. “Not right now. I think we should go.”
“Okay.”
I followed Dimples to the door, and we stepped into the hallway. He locked the door behind us and glanced across the hall. “Do you think that door goes into the preparation room?”
“You mean for the bodies? Probably.”
He’d always been curious about this part of a funeral home. He thought that, since all of us would end up there at some point, it might be interesting to take a look. Before I could stop him, he pushed the door open.
It was dark and spooky in there, and I had no desire to step inside and take a look around. The only time I wanted to be in a room like that was after I was dead. “Wait. I don’t want to go in there.”
“But aren’t you curious?”
“No.”
“But… what if you can pick up something from Troy? His body’s in there, so it might be worth a try.”
“I already did.”
“What?”
“That’s how I found the phone.” I explained what happened with the scent of Troy’s cologne, along with the light switch. “So I don’t need to go in there.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” It surprised him that I didn’t start out with that when I brought him the phone. Weren’t we partners?
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m not used to talking about that sort of thing.” At his hurt expression, I continued. “But I’ll try and do better.”
“That’s okay. I didn’t mean to give you such a hard time, and this phone is a great clue.” He let the door close behind us, and I sprinted up the stairs, so ready to get out of there. Getting a nudge from beyond the grave might be helpful, but it still gave me the willies.
We stepped back to the main office, but Barry was gone, so Dimples left the key to the apartment on Barry’s desk, and we stepped outside. Back in the sunshine, I breathed in the fresh air and shook off the chill.
Climbing inside the warm car, I relaxed against the seat. “Well... we made some progress, right? It looks like Troy was getting rid of bodies for someone. He must have decided he was done, and his partner in crime killed him for it.”
“Yeah. That’s what it looks like to me. Whoever needed bodies to disappear had a good thing going until Troy had a change of heart, for whatever reason. So our next question is what kind of person needs to get rid of bodies?”
“I guess killers… so gangs, or criminals.”
“Right.” He was thinking that group included the mob and Manetto, but he didn’t want to say that part out loud. Then he thought that maybe I should ask Manetto if he had something to do with the m
urder.
It would sure make things easier if we could eliminate him right off the bat. But what if someone in his organization had, and they’d killed Troy. That seemed way too sloppy for someone like Manetto. He glanced my way… had I heard that?
“Yes I did, but don’t worry, I don’t think that’s Unc…uh…Manetto’s style either.”
He easily picked up my slip and thought I should just call him Uncle Joey, since he was used to it by now. Nothing could change the fact that I worked for a mob boss, no matter how he felt about it, so he might as well accept it.
He glanced my way, knowing I’d heard that, too. “I’m trying not to let it bother me anymore, but it’s easier said than done.”
“Yeah, I get it. But it might help if you’d look at the positive side of things. I mean… just think of all the times he’s helped us out. And it doesn’t hurt that he can do things a police officer can’t.”
Dimples shook his head. “You’re dreaming if you think a mob boss would help the cops. Don’t you know that every single one of those times Manetto got involved was to help you?”
“Hey… I know that, but you have to admit that, by helping me, he’s also helping you, so it’s all worked out.”
He thought the way my mind worked was fascinating. Somehow, I always seemed to make the mob boss look good. It was a real talent, but he couldn’t fault me for it. I was a good person, and I needed to believe I was making a positive difference in the world, no matter how I did it. So far, I’d succeeded, and he hoped to God it continued.
I hoped so too, because nothing about my situation with Uncle Joey was about to change.
“I can’t wait to tell Billie about the cat,” I said, wanting to change the subject. “The look on your face…” I paused to snicker. “It was priceless. Dang… I should have taken a picture.” Just thinking about it again sent gales of laughter tumbling out of me.
Dimples shook his head. “Before you get too carried away, let’s get back to the case. I’ve already contacted most of the people from Troy’s phone. I was looking through his latest emails when you came in. I haven’t found anything new, but why don’t you take a look? Maybe you’ll see something I missed?”
Still snickering, I checked my watch. “Sure. I only have about forty-five minutes before my next appointment, but I’ll look through it.”
“Thanks.”
A few minutes later, we pulled into the precinct and headed inside to Dimples’s desk. As he pulled up the files he’d obtained from Troy’s computer, I stopped by my desk and sat down.
My chair didn’t list to the side, and my desk had a placard with my name on it. That was real progress. I sat down, realizing that, for the first time, I felt like I belonged. I’d come a long way from the early days, and a sense of satisfaction rolled over me.
While Dimples was busy, I quickly booted up my computer, so I could look up Ian Smith. A few keystrokes later, his name came up without a record of anything but a traffic ticket. Dang.
“Shelby?” Dimples called.
“Coming.” I flipped off my computer and hurried back to his side. “What have you got?”
He showed me the emails he’d flagged, and nothing seemed off. “I even checked his spam folder, but I couldn’t find a thing that seemed out of place.”
“What about his deleted emails? Did you look through those?”
“No.” Dimples quickly clicked on the trash icon, and a bunch of emails came up with several from the same email address. He clicked on the most recent email, and a food order of crispy chicken sliders came up.
“Hey… look at that.” I pointed to the logo on the food truck. “It’s called The Burnt Food Truck. Burnt… get it? Maybe that’s the connection.”
Dimples’s brows rose. Just because the truck had a name that fit with a crematorium didn’t mean the two were related. But it wouldn’t hurt to check it out. “Let me see if I can find it.” Dimples put the food truck into his search and came up with a schedule of truck stops and a phone number.
“Is it the same number that’s on the burner phone?”
He quickly checked. “No. But I think I’ll call and see where the truck is today.”
“Good idea. You could even get some lunch.”
While Dimples called, I checked the time, finding I only had a few minutes before I was supposed to be at Thrasher. He hung up and smiled. “They’re not too far. Want to get some lunch?”
“Sorry. I wish I could, but I’ve got my appointment right now. Tell me about it later?”
“Sure.” He didn’t think he’d get far without me there to listen to anyone, but he’d check it out anyway.
Glancing my way, he wondered if my meeting was with Manetto. If it was, he hoped I’d do him a solid and ask Manetto if he knew anything about using a certain funeral home that disposed of bodies on the sly.
Seeing my pursed lips, he shrugged “Hey. It doesn’t hurt to ask.”
I shook my head. “I’ll see what I can do, but no promises.”
His eyes widened… so I was meeting with Manetto. Knowing I’d heard that, he broke out in a big smile. “Thanks, Shelby.” He thought it was about time he started using my resources. Since I wasn’t going to quit working for the other side, he might as well get something out of it for the good guys.
I rolled my eyes. “See ya.”
I quickly left the precinct, knowing that it wasn’t his fault I was stuck between two opposing forces. Only now it bothered me that he was starting to think like Uncle Joey, and it put me in a bind. But what could I expect? It was a good move on his part, and he probably knew I’d try to help him if I could.
CHAPTER 4
I stepped out of the elevator and hurried into Thrasher only two minutes late. Jackie wasn’t at her desk, so I rushed down the hallway to Uncle Joey’s office and knocked before opening the door.
Inside, Uncle Joey sat at his desk, and Ramos sat in his regular seat. They’d been talking, but stopped, and Uncle Joey smiled at me. From the tense set of his shoulders, I knew he was struggling.
“So what’s going on?” I asked, slipping into my chair. “Is Jackie all right? I didn’t see her.”
“She’s fine, but she didn’t want to come in to work today.” Uncle Joey pulled a can of diet soda out of his small office refrigerator and handed it to me.
“Thanks. This is great.”
“Sure.” After offering a can to Ramos, who declined, he popped a can open for himself and took a swig. “It’s funny how things work out. If Sonny hadn’t gone through a mutual friend to contact me, Jackie wouldn’t have been left out of the loop, and she could have warned me about him.”
He shook his head. “You’re probably wondering what Sonny Dixon has to do with Jackie.” At my nod, he continued. “He’s her ex.”
Horror filled my heart. “Holy hell. No wonder she was so upset yesterday.”
“Yeah. Seeing him again was pretty awful, especially after what he did to her.” Lost in thought, Uncle Joey quit talking.
“What did he do?” I prompted.
Uncle Joey leaned forward in his chair, glancing between Ramos and me. “Ramos knows most of this, but I’ll start at the beginning to catch you up. I met Jackie through her family’s business. Her brother, Bruce, took over after their father died and ran Linaria Investment Management.
“Around that time, Bruce approached me about investing a big chunk of money into their company for a highly lucrative return. It sounded almost too good to be true. Turns out it was. Luckily, Jackie told me that I might want to reconsider.
“We’d met at a party at Bruce’s mansion. Jackie was acting as Bruce’s hostess since his wife divorced him. We hit it off at that party, but she was married, so it never went anywhere. Still, we ended up forming a relationship and we got pretty close. She told me she wasn’t happy in her marriage, but she refused to consider ending it. I had no idea why, and I never met her husband.
“Anyway, it turned out that Sonny was a partner in her family�
��s company, and that alone kept her tied to him. When the bottom fell out, I was more than grateful she’d warned me away from investing. I would have lost a lot of money.
“With the company falling apart, a federal investigation began, putting Jackie, her husband, and her brother, all under the list of indictments the prosecution was bringing against them. Bruce took the brunt of it, but Sonny, and plenty of other employees, weren’t far behind.
Uncle Joey let out a breath. “It was a mess. The feds were after them for all kinds of white-collar crimes. During the investigation, the feds froze all the company’s assets, as well as all of their personal bank accounts.
“In the months that followed, Bruce and Sonny both worked to clear their names. Sonny claimed he didn’t know a thing about the crimes and blamed Bruce for everything. Jackie wanted to believe him, but it was hard when Bruce told her that Sonny had been in on it all along.
“The indictments came down, and both Bruce and Sonny were arrested. Once the dust settled, both of them managed to get out on bail. Jackie urged them both to make a deal and turn over the remaining money for lesser sentences. But, for some reason, Bruce fled the country, leaving Jackie and Sonny in the lurch.
“That’s when Sonny made a deal. In exchange for probation, he’d give them the offshore bank accounts and draw Bruce out of hiding so they could arrest him. But when they opened the offshore accounts, all the money was gone, presumably drained by Bruce. Sonny continued to work with them, promising Bruce’s capture in exchange for staying out of jail.
“After several months, Sonny managed to draw Bruce out of hiding. Bruce was arrested, and Sonny got off with two years of probation, while Bruce is spending the next forty years in prison.”
Uncle Joey was thinking that there had to be more to the story. Jackie hadn’t said it in so many words, but it sounded to him like Sonny was the guilty party, and he’d set her brother up so he could stay out of jail.
Uncle Joey sighed. “I don’t know all the particulars, but Jackie filed for divorce during that time. Her husband had betrayed the family trust, and she was left with nothing and nowhere to go. That’s when I offered her a job here, and, after thinking it over, she came to work for me.
High Stakes Crime: A Paranormal Women's Fiction Novel (Shelby Nichols Adventure Book 15) Page 6
