by Rose Pressey
“Dorothy?” I called out when I reached the tree where she’d been hiding.
To my horror, Dorothy wasn’t standing where I had left her. Was I at the right spot? Please don’t let the killer have found her.
“Dorothy,” I called out again.
Still she didn’t answer. I scanned the area, but it was so dark that I couldn’t see anything. I hurried over to my car, thinking maybe Dorothy was hiding inside, but she wasn’t there either.
“This is no time for pranks, Dorothy,” I said.
Sadly, I received no answer. As if things weren’t bad enough, now I had to figure out where Dorothy had gone. What if the killer had shown up while I was over there and he’d taken Dorothy? How would I find her? I ran back over to the tree hoping that she was there now, but there was no sign of her. All I could do was go back over to the man lying on the ground and wait for Jake. Thank goodness there was no sign of the man who had shot him.
Now I was standing back over here with the body in the middle of a dark park. With my lovely assistant now missing, I inched closer to the body again. As I stood there, all of a sudden, someone grabbed my shoulder. I screamed so loudly that they probably heard me all the way in Key West. I spun around with my fists out ready for a fight. My gun was still holstered at my side.
Dorothy held her hands up with wide eyes. “Maggie, for heaven’s sake, what’s gotten into you?”
I clutched my chest. “Dorothy, don’t ever scare me like that again. Where were you? I went back to find you and you were gone.”
“Well, I came here to find you and you weren’t here, so I started to freak out.”
“As long as you’re all right,” I said. “But don’t do that again.”
“Well, don’t hide from me and I won’t have to do that again,” she said.
I shook my head. “The police are on their way.”
“What about that poor guy?” She pointed.
“I’m pretty sure he’s gone,” I said.
“Shouldn’t we perform CPR or something?” Dorothy asked, looking over my shoulder at the man.
Movement caught my attention and I thought for sure I saw someone hiding behind a nearby tree watching us. My breath caught in my throat.
When I was finally able to speak, I said, “Dorothy, don’t move but I think someone’s watching us.”
She spun around and looked in that direction.
“Dorothy, I just told you don’t move.”
I’d have a better chance of her not moving if I told her to move. She would do the opposite of what I said.
“I don’t see anyone,” she said.
“I think he took off when he noticed I was watching him. I’m going to look for him.” I started to move.
“You most certainly are not going to go look for him,” she said, grabbing my arm.
“Why not?” I asked.
“What if it’s the killer and he tries to kill you?”
“I can catch him. We can’t let him get away after murdering this man.”
“We might be murdered too if we’re not careful.”
“Listen to me, Dorothy. Stay here and don’t move.”
“I have to stay next to the dead guy?” she asked. “I’d rather come with you.”
“You have to stay here with him. You’ll be able to see me. I won’t go past that tree right there.”
“All right, if you promise not to go past the tree,” she said.
“I promise.” I pulled out my gun and raced over toward the tree.
I paused with my gun ready to shoot if the guy started shooting at me. I’d told Dorothy I wouldn’t go past the tree. But I had to, and she’d probably guessed I would go farther.
There was no sign of the guy there, but I thought for sure I heard another noise, so I took off across the way, moving even farther away from Dorothy. That would make her unhappy. But if this guy was out here, I had to find him. I ran down the path, hoping for the best but expecting the worst. A shootout with this guy in the middle of the park wouldn’t be good. I wished that I would find him because I was kind of getting tired of running. It wasn’t one of my favorite pastimes.
And there was probably a reason for that, because I was clumsy. At that moment I tripped over my own two feet and fell face forward onto the pavement. At least my gun hadn’t accidentally gone off. I was still clutching it as I lay there groaning. I told myself that I needed to get up before the killer found me. What a pathetic sight that would be. I wasn’t exactly the best private investigator at the moment. Why couldn’t I get myself a bit more coordinated? Did they have classes for that? I couldn’t believe that I had fallen. Wait. Yes, I could.
I tried to get up, but what was even worse now was my foot was stuck in a broken crack of the pavement. I wiggled my ankle and foot trying to get it loose, but it wasn’t budging. Now what would I do? Dorothy would freak out when the cops got there. They would come find me stuck out here. That would be too embarrassing. I couldn’t let that happen. Finally I was able to remove my foot from the shoe. I reached over and yanked my shoe free from the pavement and stuck it back on my foot.
I managed to push to my feet, although it was probably pointless continuing down the path at this point. After my little fall and being stuck the killer had had plenty of opportunity to get far away from here. Unless he was somewhere nearby hiding and watching me. He was probably getting a nice chuckle out of this whole scene. It was dark and there were plenty of places to hide—the swing set in the distance or the slide beside it. Maybe the big fountain and statue on the other side. I thought about calling out to him. I didn’t want him to think he was winning at this game. Then I thought better of it.
Chapter 12
I spun around to head back to Dorothy when I heard a noise. That same shuffling noise that I’d heard earlier. Was it some kind of animal that made its home here at the park after dark? Or was that the killer?
“Hello?” I called out. “I want you to know I have a gun. I’m not afraid to use it. I won’t end up like that other guy that you just killed.”
I received no answer of course. I supposed that was my sign that I should get out of here and stay with Dorothy until the police arrived. There were no other sounds. In my mind, I counted to three and then looked around the side of a tree. He was nowhere in sight. I released a deep breath. He was gone, but for how long? I’d thought he was gone before. I couldn’t be sure this had been the same guy, but I was almost positive. If he hung around long enough maybe the cops would catch up with him. Assuming he stayed in this area. I thought he liked the idea of watching his devious actions.
So this time I actually left the area and ran down the path headed back toward Dorothy. Every so often I checked over my shoulder to make sure that no one was following me. This whole trip had been an adrenaline rush. At this point I just wanted to get out of here. I spotted the man’s car and Dorothy standing beside it. Thank goodness she was still okay. She was waving at me. I waved back to let her know that I was fine.
“Thank goodness you’re back,” she said. “What happened?”
“No sign of him,” I said breathlessly.
“What happened?” she asked.
“He ran away.”
“Are you sure?”
“As sure as I can be right now,” I said, placing the gun back in its holster. “I think he’s really gone this time.”
“Well, if you’re sure,” she said with hesitation.
Sirens sounded in the distance and I prayed that they were coming to help us. Dorothy and I huddled together, watching the park’s entrance for any sign that cars were headed our way. Soon the blue lights flashed across the night sky. Sirens were loud now. The cars screeched to a halt all around us. Jake’s was the first car I saw. He jumped out of his cruiser and ran our way. An ambulance had arrived too.
Jake ran to the man on the ground. After checking the man for a pulse, Jake looked at me and shook his head.
I nodded. “I knew he was gone and there was no
helping him.”
Other officers and detectives arrived. Dorothy and I watched in silence as Jake talked to them. He probably told them to call the coroner. Even still, the emergency medical technicians came over to check the man.
Jake stepped over to us. “What’s going on here, Maggie? When I last talked to you, you were going to bingo. And now I find you in this park at night with a murdered man.”
“Yes, I suppose we do have a bit of explaining to do, don’t we? But you know how these things happen. I mean, for heaven’s sake, we just discovered a body too.” I gestured from Jake to me.
“Please tell me what happened,” Jake said around a sigh.
“Dorothy and I were at bingo,” I said.
“We missed you there, by the way,” Dorothy added.
Jake attempted a smile. “Then what happened?”
“This strange guy showed up. He was much younger than the other players in the room. The tall guy stood in the doorway just staring at us.”
“At you specifically?” Jake asked.
“Yes, definitely me. So I got up to go find him,” I said.
“Of course you did,” Jake said. “And then what happened?”
“He left without saying a word. I thought the whole thing was over. No big deal, right?”
“But it wasn’t?” Jake asked.
“No, it wasn’t over. When I got back to my car, there was a note asking me to meet the person at the park.”
Jake shook his head. “Maggie, why would you do that?”
“Because he asked me to meet him at the park. I had to know what this was all about,” I said.
“If someone asked you to jump off a bridge, would you?”
I paused and his eyes widened.
“No, of course not,” I said. “Anyway, Dorothy’s neighbor saw the guy leave the note on my car. I’m pretty sure she described the same guy from the bingo game. When Dorothy and I got here we wanted to just see what happened. I wasn’t necessarily going to talk with him. We hid behind the trees over there.”
Jake shook his head. “Tell me more, I guess.”
“And this other car pulled up. A guy got out. They had a bit of an argument and the one shot the other one. After that, the man from the bingo game took off.”
“That’s not the last we saw of the guy though,” Dorothy said.
“What do you mean?” Jake asked.
“He came back and was watching us,” I said. “Of course I ran after him once again.”
Jake groaned. “Why would you do that?”
“I wanted to catch him for you all. I can’t just let a killer roam the streets. What if he hurt someone else?” I asked.
“That’s what the police are here to do.”
“Just trying to help,” I said.
“Yes, she’s just trying to help,” Dorothy said, placing her hands on her hips.
Jake knew to let it drop once Dorothy placed her hands on her hips. That was her warning. Don’t mess with Dorothy Raye.
I gave the detective working the case with Jake a description of the man from the bingo game. I was surprised they were allowing Jake to work this case. Though I supposed it was unrelated to the other case. They probably suspected me of being involved in both cases. After all, I had no proof that there had been another man here. How could I get that proof? It wasn’t like the park was covered in surveillance cameras.
Dorothy and I left the immediate crime scene and went back to my car. Not without being escorted by Jake though. I knew he believed me, but I felt his partners were suspicious. Once at the car, we stopped. The distant chatter of police and scanner radios carried across the night air.
“You are going home now, right? You’re not meeting any other killers?” Jake stood in front of me as I leaned back against my car.
Dorothy sat in the passenger seat feverishly knitting something. That was her stress reliever.
“Oh, don’t be sarcastic,” I said.
Jake stared at me with his big eyes. That look always made me melt a little on the inside.
“I promise I’m just going home.” I held my hand up in a pledge.
“You have no idea why that guy was at the bingo game?” Jake asked.
“I have no idea, but I suspect maybe he followed me. Now I just have to find out why.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t notice him following you. You’re always on the lookout.”
“I am always on the lookout, but this time I guess he got me.”
“Why don’t you just let the police handle this one?”
“Oh, like I let the police handle the rest of the cases?”
“Well, there’s always a first,” he said. “You know I love you and don’t want you to be hurt.”
“Well, I could say the same for you. You’re doing this dangerous job every day too,” I said.
He just stared at me again with those sexy eyes. He had no comment. He knew I was right. His job or my job, there was no difference.
“I guess if we’re done here I should get Dorothy home. It’s been a long day for her. Plus, she didn’t win at bingo. Oh, I take that back. She did win.”
“The cash?” he asked. “That’s fantastic.”
“No, a toaster.”
“Oh, well, at least she’ll have great toast.”
“She already had a toaster.”
“Then she’ll have a backup,” Jake said.
“Don’t remind her. She was quite disappointed.”
Jake kissed me goodbye. It was a good thing the other detectives weren’t around to see that. They would probably tease Jake about that for quite a while. I slipped into the car and backed away from the area, leaving Jake standing there watching us.
“How romantic,” Dorothy said.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Kissing over a crime scene. A match made in heaven.”
“Oh, you’re just being facetious.”
She didn’t respond as the knitting needles clanked together. Maybe Dorothy’s neighbor would have more information for me. Like after a while something that she’d forgotten had come back to her. I wouldn’t ask tonight though. Maybe tomorrow. Lorelei would freak out if I showed up at her house at this time of night. The lights went out at ten sharp at Sunny Acres.
I kept a lookout for any suspicious cars following us on the way, but I didn’t see anything unusual since it was so dark. Though how would I know? At least there were no cars behind me when I pulled up to Dorothy’s place. Of course there was a security guard at the entrance of the retirement village. But he was asleep. I didn’t want to disturb him when we passed through, so I just went on in. Never mind the killer could have come in right behind me and no one would ever know. I shoved the car into park and cut the engine.
Dorothy unfastened her seatbelt. “You don’t have to walk me to the door. I’m capable of getting inside by myself.”
“I know that, but I want to,” I said, opening my car door.
Dorothy glared at me and I immediately closed my car door. I knew when to do as I was told.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said in a sweet voice now that she’d gotten her way.
Chapter 13
Somehow, I had finally made it home. Through all the questioning from Jake, watching the police process the crime scene and getting Dorothy home, I had made it. I’d slipped into comfortable pajamas and settled down under the sheet. The air conditioning was cranked to high and I was just ready to just get some sleep.
The longer I lay there with my head on the pillow the more I thought about what had happened. I had to know why this guy had asked me to meet him.
Jake had given me the name of the murder victim, although he probably shouldn’t have done that. Justin Cisco. I had no idea who he was, but I had to assume that he had known his killer. I supposed it had just been a coincidence that Archie had shown up at the park to confront the other man. They’d had no idea Dorothy and I had been hiding.
Since I couldn’t sleep, I got up
and turned on my computer. The little desk sat right underneath the window. The window was small just like everything else in the apartment. Yes, my place was small, but it had an awesome view. All things considered, I felt lucky. I often spent time on the computer at this time of night. It was when I had my clearest thoughts. At least it seemed that way to me. I always searched for the same thing. I was looking for my father’s killer.
One night, years ago, while on duty as a police officer in Kentucky, my father had been killed by a sniper. The killer had been waiting for my father. His killer had never been found. I wasn’t going to give up until I found him. Tonight I was hot on the trail of a new lead. I’d just discovered that a fellow officer my father had worked with had been taking some of the property that the department had seized. Apparently, my father had discovered this before anyone else. Could that officer have killed my father so that he wouldn’t be discovered? After all these years had the truth come out?
Finally, I started to get drowsy. I made my way over to the bed.
*
The next thing I knew sunshine streamed through the small window. I couldn’t believe that I’d actually slept through the night. Especially after everything that had happened. I supposed I had been so exhausted that I had had no choice. Nevertheless, I was glad for the rest because now I felt refreshed. I’d have a whole new perspective on the day.
I jumped out of bed, showered, and got dressed in my usual attire of shorts and a tank top. After grabbing a protein bar, I slipped my feet into my flip-flops and then looped my tote bag over my shoulder. I was ready for the day. Of course I had my sunscreen in my bag. I took my skincare seriously.
As soon as I stepped out the door, I slipped on my sunglasses. The bright sun bounced off the white building and was almost blinding. I climbed into my car and made the short drive toward the office. As I sat at the red light, I spotted a convertible behind me. I wondered if I would ever make enough money to get a convertible.
