by Rose Pressey
“That’s all right. I can wait,” I said.
I was just ready to ask if she was almost finished when she said, “Okay, well, we’re all finished here. It’s been lovely talking to you.”
I was glad to have the information, but I wanted to get out of there soon because I knew that they would get the news about Vivian and my lies might be uncovered.
Just as I sat up from the table and she was headed for the door, it opened. It was the other woman, the one who had been so rude toward us.
“I need to speak with you,” she said, looking at my facialist. “It’s urgent.”
Uh-oh. It was time for me to get out of there. Luckily, I’d already paid for the services, so Dorothy and I could just slip out and hopefully go unnoticed. The woman thanked me again and then headed with the other woman down the hallway. Where was Dorothy?
I stepped over to the door where I thought Dorothy would be and I raised my hand up to knock, but just then Dorothy opened the door and stepped out the door.
“Oh, thank goodness you’re here. Let’s get out of here, Dorothy,” I said.
“What’s going on? Do they know we were asking questions on purpose?” Dorothy asked.
“No, this is about Vivian. I think they just found out about her and they’ll be suspicious of us if we don’t get out of here,” I said.
“Oh, you’re just being paranoid. There’s no way they can know about us.”
“Nevertheless, let’s go,” I said, grabbing her by the arm. “Did she let you keep your phone? You were texting me while you were in there again.”
“I didn’t text you again,” she said.
“Oh? It wasn’t you? I guess maybe it was Jake.”
I’d have to check my phone once I got out to the car. I wasn’t going to stop right now to look.
Dorothy and I reached the lobby. A bunch of the staff stood around talking in hushed tones. I just hoped Dorothy and I could slip out of there without the women looking our way. I moved over to the door with Dorothy right beside me, but before we got out, they all looked our way. I tossed my hand up in a wave and guided Dorothy out the door. It felt like we’d just robbed a bank and we had to make a quick getaway.
“Obviously, this spa day did nothing to relax you,” Dorothy said as I hurried her toward the car.
“I just don’t want them to start asking questions, like if we knew what happened to Vivian already, that kind of thing.”
“Well, we’ve been lying this long, I doubt a little bit more will hurt anything.”
I didn’t want to tell her, but Dorothy wasn’t a good liar under pressure. She could do it until someone started questioning her, then she was like an open book, tell everything she knew.
Dorothy and I were in the car now, but as I started the engine, I looked back at the spa door and saw the woman who had given me the facial staring at us. What was her name? Alicia, that was it.
“I knew she was suspicious,” I said.
“That doesn’t mean anything,” Dorothy said. “Besides, we’re out of there now. She’ll never find us again.”
“I guess you’re right about that.” I released a deep breath and backed out of the parking space.
Not glancing in the rearview mirror, I headed out of the parking lot. She’ll never find us again, I reminded myself.
“What did you find out, Dorothy?” I asked as I headed down the road.
“I found out that Vivian was having an affair with some guy named Billy. We’ll need to track him down. She also had an assistant Kayla who was apparently quite overbearing. We can speak with her as well. Of course, this might help solve Vivian’s death, but what about my money?”
With wide eyes, I glanced over at her.
“You didn’t find any info?” Dorothy asked.
“I got the exact same information,” I said. I guessed Dorothy hadn’t needed my help after all.
“Apparently the women like to gossip,” Dorothy said.
“How did you get so much information?” I asked.
“Well, I guess the same way you got it.” Dorothy pulled out a candy.
I took the candy from her hand. “Thank you.”
“It doesn’t matter how either of us got the info, just that we got it,” she said.
“You’re right, Dorothy,” I said, making a right turn.
“Now we need to find Billy and Kayla.” Dorothy sucked on the candy.
Chapter 9
No matter that we had an urgent case to solve in order to find the killer, locate Dorothy’s money, and keep ourselves from becoming victims, we had to have bingo night. It was a once-a-week thing and I had missed out on several weeks. Needless to say, Dorothy wasn’t going to tolerate much more of my absences. Plus, I felt bad for her after what had happened, so I wanted to make her feel better.
It wasn’t so bad, I supposed. There were prizes to win. Last time I’d won a free cholesterol check at the local quick clinic. Good news: my cholesterol was good. Dorothy had actually made me get it checked. She said there was no sense in neglecting my health, especially since I had a free visit.
Dorothy’s neighbor Lorelei was peeking out her window when I parked the car. I waved at her and she immediately closed the blinds. The weird thing was every time I saw her in person, she was super nice and friendly. But when she was behind closed doors, she always acted a bit strange, like she thought someone was trying to break into her house or steal her car. She knew me, so I wasn’t sure why she felt she needed to be suspicious of me. I enjoyed the blast of air conditioning for a few more seconds and then shut off the car. I’d barely gotten out of the car and headed toward the front door when Dorothy popped out.
“I’m ready to go,” she said.
She had on her typical bingo attire, which was her Capri pants, flip-flops, white blouse and big hat.
“I hope you’re ready to win tonight because I’m going to get that cash prize and get that money back that I lost,” Dorothy said.
“Oh, Dorothy, if I win, I will definitely give you the gift and I won’t take no for an answer.”
“Oh, no, no. I couldn’t take anything from you.”
“I insist,” I said.
“If you insist,” Dorothy said.
Even though it wasn’t my fault that her bag had been taken, I still blamed myself for what happened. Surely somehow, I was responsible for this. It had have been a person targeting me and not Dorothy.
“I hope the refreshments are better this week,” Dorothy said as we walked down the sidewalk toward the rec center.
“Why do you say that? What did they have last time?” I asked.
“Mary Rose brought almonds, for heaven’s sake. Almonds. For a room full of people with dentures. I mean, sure, the dentures work pretty good, but why chance it? When you gotta yell out ‘bingo’ there will be dentures flying across that room everywhere.” Dorothy waved her arm.
I tried not to laugh, but the image of flying dentures sent me over the edge. “Oh, Dorothy, the things you say.”
“What? It’s the truth. Just you wait, if you don’t take care of those choppers, someday you’ll know what I’m talking about.”
“I promise to continue my dental hygiene,” I said, holding my hand up.
“You’ll thank me later,” Dorothy said.
“By the way, where’s Morty tonight? Isn’t he coming to bingo?” I asked.
“His great-grandson is in town. They’re going to a vintage car show. He might stop by later.”
“Oh, that’s nice,” I said.
Morty and Dorothy had been an item for quite some time now. They were the cutest couple I knew. They liked to help out with my cases. Mostly they caused more trouble than they helped. Nevertheless, I was glad they were a part of my life. Maybe I was the one dragging them into all the trouble.
Dorothy and I had reached the rec center now. The open space had tables and chairs dotted around the room. Different events were held here every week. Wednesday nights was cooking class night, Thursd
ay was arts and crafts, Friday night was movie night and Saturday bingo. I knew all about each event because I’d attended every one of them at least once. It looked as if there was a large turnout for tonight’s festivities. I didn’t see an available seat in the room.
“Are we late?” I asked.
“We’re not late. I suppose everyone wants to win the big jackpot. No one has won it for over six months.” Dorothy waved at people around the room.
“Six months? That’s crazy. How much is the jackpot?”
“Five thousand dollars,” Dorothy said with a click of her tongue.
“Well, that’s certainly an incentive for everyone to show up,” I said.
People called out Dorothy’s name. She waved and smiled. Dorothy was a social butterfly. She was queen of the rec center. Dorothy strolled along in front of the refreshment table. I knew she was scrutinizing every item. I waited with bated breath for Dorothy’s review. A few seconds later she gave a thumbs up.
“At least they have chocolate cake tonight,” she said. “Though I’m sure we could do without that Jell-O concoction.”
Whew. Crisis averted. I peered down at the jiggly green blob and grimaced.
Finally Dorothy and I spotted available seats across the room.
“Get those seats,” Dorothy said, pointing. “Before we lose them. You’re faster than everyone here.”
I did as I was told and sprang into action. Darting around tables, chairs, canes, and walkers, I rushed toward over there and grabbed the chairs. Just as I was about to reach the table a couple of people looked as if they were headed in that direction. Oh, no. Dorothy would never shut up about this if I lost the table.
A man with a walker moved out in front of me. I jumped to my left and then zoomed back to the right. I practically fell onto the table. As I tried to catch my breath, I glanced over my shoulder. The man with the walker gave me an odd look, but to my surprise, the couple hadn’t been coming for this table after all. They stopped at another table to talk. That was a relief, because I would have felt a bit bad about taking their table.
Dorothy would be upset with me if I lost the seats. I held the spots while Dorothy shuffled over. She waved the bingo cards as if she’d already won. Of course she had made several stops along the way to talk to people.
A short time later, Dorothy and I had our cards out on the table and were ready to start. Dorothy was happy with the refreshments, so all in all it was a good evening so far. She had her favorite tortilla chips and salsa, plus plenty of flavored water. Dorothy suggested that I go back to her place and make us a couple of margaritas, but then changed her mind when she realized I would potentially lose my seat and possibly a chance at the jackpot.
“It’s a shame that Jake couldn’t be here tonight,” Dorothy said as she punched the little dots on her bingo card.
“Yes, it is a shame. I’m sure he feels like he’s missing out.” I took a bite of my chocolate cake,
“Oh, don’t say it like that,” Dorothy said with a scowl.
After finishing my mouthful of dessert, I said, “I really believe he does enjoy coming over too. I’m not joking.”
A short time later, Dorothy and I were busy focusing on our bingo cards, but I felt someone staring at me. I looked across the room and spotted a dark-haired guy standing at the door. His age was certainly off for this place. I knew he couldn’t be a resident. He looked younger than me.
The man had his attention directly focused on me, which I found extremely odd. I tried to focus on the card in front of me again, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. When I looked back, he was still staring at me. This was extremely weird. He didn’t even pretend that he wasn’t watching me. The least he could do was be subtle about it. If Dorothy spotted him, she’d tell him to take a picture—it would last longer.
“Something wrong, Maggie?” Dorothy asked.
I didn’t know if I should worry her or not, but maybe she could tell me who the guy was. “That guy back there at the door. He’s staring at us, Or me, should I say.” I motioned with my finger hidden with my other hand so that the guy wouldn’t see me pointing.
She whipped around and looked at the guy. Once again, he didn’t try to look away when he realized that we were talking about him. He didn’t care if we knew he was watching us.
“Who is that?” Dorothy asked. “Do you know him?”
“I certainly hope I don’t know him. I thought maybe you knew him,” I said.
“Never seen him before. I’d remember that face anywhere. He looks as if he’s up to no good. Just look at those beady little eyes.” Dorothy pointed at her eyes for emphasis.
“I’ve never seen that guy before,” I said. “But I have to agree to you, I think he seems shady. Should I go ask him why he’s staring at us?”
“That could be dangerous. Maybe he’ll go away soon. Plus, we have to focus on the bingo.” Dorothy pointed at the cards on the table.
“I think bingo will be over if we have some crazed lunatic ready to kill us,” I said.
“Well, just wait a few minutes and see if he goes away,” she said.
I tried to focus on the cards, but I kept glancing over my shoulder to check on that guy. He was still there. Other people had started to pay attention to him now, but that didn’t seem to faze him. This had gone on long enough. I had to say something to him. When I glanced back again, he was gone. Now for sure I had to check out this guy.
“I’ll be right back. Watch my cards,” I said as I jumped up from the table.
“What? I thought you were waiting.” Dorothy grabbed at my arm.
“I’ve waited long enough. This guy needs to tell me what the heck he thinks he’s doing.”
“Please be careful, Maggie,” Dorothy said with worry in her voice.
“Always,” I said as I hurried away from the table.
It felt like everybody watched me as I moved across the room. I supposed they did this because it was unheard of to get up from the table while playing cards. I thought these people restricted their fluids just so they wouldn’t have to go for a bathroom break during bingo.
Once in the lobby, I stepped out of the rec center and into the parking lot. Even though there was no sign of him, I remained cautious because I didn’t know if this guy would be around the corner waiting for me. I scanned the area but saw no one walking around. Everyone was in the rec center playing bingo. It was the place to be tonight.
This guy was younger, so I knew he didn’t live here. Possibly he could have been visiting someone here. This event was a bit unsettling for me because I knew for sure he had been watching me. Maybe he was just surprised to see someone his age there. Yeah, that was probably it. Yes, I was just panicking because of everything that had happened recently. I just needed to calm down. I released a deep breath, relieved that nothing nefarious was happening.
Dorothy was probably freaking out wondering what was going on out here, so I needed to get back in there and tend to my bingo cards. I wasn’t quite sure how serious the situation would have to be for Dorothy to leave those bingo cards. Exactly how long would I have to be missing before she got up to come find me? I wouldn’t put that to a test. I wouldn’t do that to her. After all, she was trying to get her money back.
Just before walking in the door, I looked back over my shoulder and noticed a car pulling away from the nearby parking lot. It was a black sedan. Was it the black Lexus I’d seen the bag thief get into? I thought for sure I saw the guy from the rec center behind the steering wheel. I watched the car as it headed down the road away from the rec center. It was too bad that I couldn’t get the license plate number, but it was just too far away to see clearly. At least I had a description of the car though. However, I reminded myself that it was nothing suspicious and there was no reason to take note of the vehicle description.
I turned and headed into the building. Just as I stepped back into the main area, I spotted Dorothy frantically looking over her shoulder. So she had been worrie
d about me. Just not enough to leave the cards. I waved to let her know I was fine. There was no reason to panic. Again everyone in the room watched me as I stepped over to the table and sat down. Nothing to see here, folks.
“What happened out there? I was beginning to panic. I thought I was going to have to come find you.” Dorothy marked one of her cards as she spoke.
“Oh, it was nothing. I don’t know who that was. He must be a relative of one of the residents.”
She raised an eyebrow and stared for a couple seconds, but ultimately accepted my explanation.
“Did we win anything yet?” I asked.
“Not yet,” Dorothy said in an agitated tone.
“Bingo,” the man beside us yelled.
Dorothy jumped up and looked at his card. After a couple seconds, she sat back down.
“I think he cheats,” she said. “At least he didn’t win the main prize.”
I wasn’t having much luck either. None of my numbers were being called. I was looking out the window, kind of daydreaming. Dorothy would be upset if she realized that. As I looked out the window, I spotted that black car drive by the rec center again. Now I was really curious. I jumped up from the table and hurried over toward the window.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Dorothy yelled.
This caused a big ruckus in the room of course. Even the guy stopped calling out the numbers.
“What’s going on?” people whispered.
I supposed I shouldn’t have made such a scene because it would cause a lot of disruption in this room. Nevertheless, it was too late now. I hadn’t moved fast enough to the window because that car was nowhere in sight. Why had he driven by again? Though I guessed it could have been my earlier theory that he was visiting someone who lived here. That had to be the case. I was being a bit paranoid, I supposed. Or was it just cautious? Either way, I hoped I didn’t see that guy again. He was really giving me the creeps.
The room was still watching me. Dorothy motioned for me to get back over to the table. I supposed I had better do what I was told before I got in too much trouble.
