by Nora Kane
“What about?” Gale asked. Either she was a decent actress or she was genuinely surprised by the accusation.
Margot took a sip of her Maker’s Mark on the rocks. She was still working but figured after being involved in two armed standoffs, one with the person she previously considered among her best friends, she’d earned it.
“That’s the funny part, Gale. I’m not sure.”
“Then how do you know I lied?”
“Where’d you get the picture of Lori?”
“I told you. She sent it to me.”
“Did she include a message?” Margot asked.
“I kind of thought it spoke for itself.”
“I didn’t ask what you thought,” Margot replied, thinking she’d felt the same way when she saw the picture yesterday. She scolded herself for letting her emotions on the subject get in the way of asking basic questions.
“Your sister’s right. You’re not very nice.”
“You didn’t come to me because I was nice. In fact, you came to me because I wasn’t. Did you send me out there hoping I’d do something to Dave?”
“It crossed my mind.”
“Why? It wasn’t because of Lori.”
“It wasn’t? You saw the photo. For the record, there was no text just the picture. I figured she was sending it to me on the sly and didn’t have time to type a message.”
“Why would you think that?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Maybe because it didn’t happen that way. Did you lie to me about her situation?”
“I didn’t. Don’t tell me you believed Dave? Let me guess, he said living out there was her idea.”
“What if he did?”
“Did he tell you she can come and go as she pleases? ”
“He did.”
“What did Lori say?”
“She didn’t say anything. She wasn’t there.”
Gale’s lip started quivering like she was about to cry. She put her hand over her mouth and said through it, “Where did he say she was?”
Margot got out her phone and showed Gale the text Dave received.
“This doesn’t make sense.”
“You’re telling me.”
“Listen, I didn’t lie to you about Lori and Dave. I got the picture and then I couldn’t reach her. I got scared and then I remembered Melanie talking about you and I thought you could help. I guess I made a mistake.”
“No, you didn’t make a mistake. Something else is going on here.”
“It doesn’t matter now does it? She’s probably dead. I should have gone myself two days ago, but I was scared and now it's too late.”
Margot let her cry. She wasn’t feeling very good about herself. The problem was, all she had was Dave’s story and Gale’s story and both seemed credible.
Gale whispering, “I could have saved her,” over and over again wasn’t helping.
Margot finished her drink while Gale tried to compose herself. Eventually, she said, “I’m sorry,” and was standing to leave when she remembered something Gale had said before the tears started.
“You just said you didn’t lie about Dave and Lori,” Margot said to her as she sat back down.
“That’s because I didn’t.”
“Yeah, but it implies you lied about something else.”
Gale stopped crying and looked Margot in the eye. “I told the truth about the important parts. The rest isn’t your business.”
“Your friend has likely either been murdered or kidnapped or maybe both. It’s all my business right now.”
Gale stood up and started to leave.
Margot stood up too. “Sorry Gale, but you can’t walk out on this.”
“Watch me,” Gale told her.
Margot was right behind her when she reached the door. Gale stepped out, but Margot grabbed her shoulder and spun her around.
She was about to tell her to come back inside when something cut the air by Gale’s head and the wood on the doorframe splintered.
Gale gasped, “What was that?”
Margot already knew. She pulled Gale’s head down as the second bullet tore through the space where Gale’s face had just been. Margot pulled her inside and then dragged her to the floor as the third bullet struck the door that swung shut behind them.
“Is someone shooting at us?” Gale asked.
“I’d say they were shooting at you. If it was the people I pissed off, they probably wouldn’t have missed.”
Margot drew her gun and then looked over at Stan who was cowering behind the bar. No other customers were around.
“I already called the police,” he told them.
“Do you think they’re still out there?” Gale whispered.
Margot shrugged. “Probably not, but I’m going to stay down here and keep my gun in my hand for a bit anyway.”
“Me too. At least, the staying down part.”
“This might be a good time to tell me what you were lying about.”
Chapter 11
Since being shot at was not a crime, the detectives sent to the scene didn’t grill them too hard. There were shootings going on where people actually got hit, so this wasn’t going to be a high priority regardless. Margot’s trouble with the cartel would have been common knowledge even if she hadn’t been dating a homicide detective. They assumed it was part of her troubles and she didn’t do too much to dissuade them.
Once they were done, a lone crime scene tech went in to dig out a bullet and a couple of uniforms checked the area to make sure the shooter wasn’t still around. Ideally, they hoped to pick up some shell casings covered in usable fingerprints.
The tech said they could sit at one of the tables and be out of his way. So Margot had Stan pour them some fresh drinks and they took a table by the back wall.
“I was snooping in my husband's phone when I found that picture,” Gale revealed suddenly, without being asked. “Lori didn’t send it to me, she or somebody sent it to Dan. Maybe I shouldn’t have been looking at his stuff, but maybe he shouldn’t be cheating on me either.”
“With Lori?”
“No, I don’t think so anyway. I think Lori would have kept some things to herself if she was seeing Dan.”
“Lori was seeing someone else?”
“She didn’t come out and say it, maybe because her husband and mine are brothers, but yeah, I’m nearly positive.”
Margot nodded and asked, “So who sent Dan the picture?”
“It was an unknown number, but unlike Dan, Lori knew to use a different phone if she was fooling around. Even if she wasn’t fooling around, I know she had an extra phone. She picked it up after Dave started taking hers to work.”
Magot thought about this for a second. “Was there anything else with the picture? A message?”
“Yeah, it made me sick. It said, ‘she’s even hotter this way.’”
Margot pondered this while she watched a crime scene tech dig a slug out of one of the high tables. She figured this was the second shot that just about took Gale’s face off.
“Can you tell me what it is?” Margot asked the tech.
“Other than a lead slug?” the tech replied as he put it in a bag.
“Yeah.”
He shrugged. “Not yet, but I’d say hunting rifle given the size and shape.”
“A bolt action 30.06 perhaps?”
“I couldn’t say yet, but it could be. Kind of specific. Sounds like you have an idea who it might be.”
“I do,” Margot said before she turned back to Gale. “Did your husband talk to his brother in the last couple of days?”
“Yeah, but they talk fairly often.”
“Anything unusual about the last conversation?”
“No, they talked about that stupid coin collection, but that wasn’t odd. Dan had been on him for years to sell the stupid thing.”
“Why would Dan want Dave to sell his coin collection?”
“Because their dad was weird. He didn’t care about the value, h
e just liked having them, so he wanted them to stay in the family. Dave showed the most interest, so he got them but they’re only his if he keeps them. If he sells them, he has to split the money with his brother. Even though they are worth a shit ton of money, Dave won’t sell.”
“Are you sure they’re worth a shit ton of money?”
“I don’t know, why wouldn’t they be?”
“Anybody ever give out a more specific number than ‘shit ton’?”
“A hundred grand was tossed around, but they’d have to get them appraised.”
Margot showed Gale the ransom note and said, “Interesting they picked a hundred grand.”
Gale nodded.
“I’m guessing if Dave really keeps Lori under wraps then she doesn’t have a tinder account or anything like that,” Margot commented.
“I doubt it.”
“Makes it kind of hard to cheat when you live in an orange grove without a car or a phone.”
“I could have read it wrong.”
“Or it’s someone local.”
“The only eligible candidate for that would be Chuck.”
“The same Chuck who has a bolt action 30.06 and who really wanted to know where I got that picture.”
“Okay, I could see them getting together. Chuck’s around, he’s not bad looking, but how does that lead to him shooting at me?” Gale questioned.
“Maybe he didn’t want you seeing that picture and he certainly didn’t want you showing it to me.”
“Chuck took the picture?”
“Maybe. It’s a wild guess, but maybe he’s the kidnapper.”
“If Lori and he were a thing, why would he kidnap her?”
“He thought her husband had a hundred grand worth of coins.”
“So, Chuck hit her?”
“Could be,” Margot responded. “Or maybe getting punched in the face made Lori decide she wanted a piece of that money. I’m just guessing here, but it’s the closest I’ve come to having this whole thing make sense.”
“But why would Dan have the photo?”
“Chuck said he was friends with both of them. Maybe Dan was tired of waiting for his share of the hundred grand. How are you guys doing financially?”
Gale paused and lowered her head. When she looked up she said, “Not that good. Dan seems to fall for a lot of get-rich-quick schemes.”
“And I take it you haven’t gotten rich.”
“No, we certainly haven’t. Damn, I never pictured him a kidnapper, but this whole thing sounds like something Dan would either cook up or fall for if someone suggested it.”
“If Lori’s in on it then it's not really a kidnapping, is it?” Margot pointed out.
“I’m not sure conning your brother out of his share of a hundred grand is that much better.”
“It’s not, though. As it turns out, he’s only conning him out of his share of ten grand. That would explain why the whole thing is probably in limbo.”
“Ten grand?”
“Turns out dad’s coin collection had a lot more sentimental value than monetary value.”
Gale laughed. “Are you telling me that, for all these years, the whole family has been fighting over ten thousand dollars?”
“According to Dave, yeah.”
“What do we do now? Go to the police?”
“They’d probably go check out Chuck if the bullets are a possible match for his rifle. I can honestly say he threatened me with it, but they won’t know that for a few days. Even that’s thin and everything else is just speculation on our part.”
“It sounds right though. Feels right.”
“I agree, but they can’t get search warrants based on our feelings. Even if they could, I don’t think we should wait too long. If Lori isn’t in on this, her life is in danger. She didn’t bust up her own face.”
“So we go out to Chuck’s?”
“I figure we start with your husband. You’re probably going to have to tell him some things you don’t want to.”
“Yeah, well, even if he’s innocent in all this, he was still screwing around.” Gale checked her phone. “He should have just got home.”
“Then let’s go.”
Since they drove out separately, Margot followed Gale. She parked on the street while Gale pulled into her garage. Margot was walking up to the front door when she heard the gunshot.
Chapter 12
Margot got down low since she couldn’t be sure where the shot was coming from. If Chuck or somebody else was doing the sniper thing like back at Layla’s West, she was out in the open. She heard the second shot and saw the muzzle flash through the front window. This time the shooter was doing things up close and personal.
Margot drew her gun and kicked open the front door. She quickly stepped to the side and waited a full three seconds. When no one fired through the open door, she glanced in for a half a second. That was enough to see Dan dead on the floor with what looked like a head wound. Margot went in quickly, looking for threats. She wasn’t in long before she saw Chuck’s back. He was aiming his gun towards where the garage door connected with the kitchen.
“Drop it or I drop you,” Margot commanded.
Chuck moved his head just enough to see her behind him.
“Didn’t we just do this already?”
“Put down the gun. I’m not going to ask again.”
“You’d shoot me in the back?”
“Yeah.”
“But what are you going to do about her?” Chuck replied, jerking his head in the direction of a woman standing nearby.
Margot saw Lori live and in person for the first time. She was standing just off to her left holding an S&W thirty-eight casually by her side. Margot might be able to turn and shoot her before she raised the gun, but she’d never get turned around in time to take down Chuck before he put a bullet in her.
“I think you ought to drop the gun,” Chuck told her.
She saw Lori smile; the way her face was bruised, it looked like it hurt.
“Thank god you’re here,” Lori said to Margot.
“What are you talking about?” Chuck asked, “just shoot her already.”
Lori was smiling when she shot Chuck in the back of the head twice. Margot swung around so she had Lori in her sights.
Lori put down the gun and raised her hands.
“Don’t shoot, I’m the victim here.”
