Christy Barritt - Squeaky Clean 04 - Dirty Deeds (27 page)

Images filled my mind. Images of Riley chasing me through the apartment with icing on his face. Images of Riley spontaneously doing a dance move when I talked about
High School Musical
. Pictures of how safe I felt when I was in his arms. Pictures of how my life had changed for the better since he came onto the scene.

I pointed in the distance, directing him to the police headquarters. We pulled to a stop, and I climbed off and straightened my caftan.  The wind whipped up and filled the outfit with air, making me gain about a hundred pounds. I was a sight to behold.

I looked up and saw Riley staring at me. There was no embarrassment in his eyes, just … love? I tucked a hair behind my ear, observing a once a year practice I employed known as “being speechless.”

Finally, I cleared my throat. “What are you thinking?”

He shrugged, his lips in a line. “I’m thinking that I want to grow old with you.”

“Even if it means I’ll wear stuff like this?”

Part of his lip tugged up. “Absolutely. You’d still be gorgeous to me.”

Tears stung my eyes. “Oh, Riley … ”

“Talk later?”

I nodded. Now wasn’t the time. But we definitely needed to talk.

We walked into the jail, hand in hand. A few minutes later, we were seated across from Clint. He looked worse than before. Dark circles hung under his eyes. His skin was pale. His gaze is what shook me the most, though. The life looked gone from him.

“How’s it going?” My question almost sounded mocking, I realized. It was obvious the man wasn’t doing well.

“She was strangled,” he mumbled. “Strangling is a sign of passion. Everything is stacked against me. Even I have to admit that I look guilty.”

I got straight to the point. “Doug is dead.”

His eyes widened. “Doug? The guy who works with Jackie?”

I nodded. “They found him last night in the pool. I haven’t heard the official cause of death.”

Clint ran a hand through his hair, leaving most of it standing on end. “Wow. At least they can’t frame me for that one. I was locked up.”

“Listen, Clint, I have a question, and I’m really hoping you can help. Doug told me that he and Jackie had a disagreement about a case they were working on. It was some kind of big investigation that spanned more than one state and involved multiple agencies. Did she ever talk to you about that?”

He shook his head, quickly and barely. The action almost made him look like his spine was vibrating and taking his head with it. “Maybe. I dunno. Why?”

I tapped my finger on the table. “I just wonder if it’s all connected somehow. That’s the only reason I can think of that both Jackie and Doug would be murdered.”

“It sounds like a theory, but I don’t have any idea what that case might be.”

“Did Jackie act strange after she got here? Did she say she recognized anyone or that someone looked familiar?”

“No, I have no idea. Believe me, I wish I could think of something. All I have to do all day is think, and I come up short.”

I pressed my lips together. “What about Derek? Did she have any disagreements with him?”

“Not that I know of. She never talked about him.”

“She never mentioned a contract he may have drawn up for her?”

Clint jerked his lips back in surprise. “Contract? I have no idea. She wouldn’t have Derek draw it up. She didn’t trust him as far as she could throw him.”

I told Clint goodbye and promised him that I would keep looking into this. I filled Riley in as we walked over to Buck’s.

CHAPTER 34

As Riley haggled with the guy behind the front desk about his car repairs, I thought about the VIN plate I’d found. Jackie had worked on a case involving an auto theft ring. Deanna had mentioned that there’d been a couple of stolen vehicles here at Allendale and that she’d seen some high-end cars in that maintenance shed.

Could Derek and Jackie have gotten involved in some kind of auto theft scheme somehow? There was probably a lot of money involved in a crime like that. Maybe Jackie was trying to get her hands on more money so she could marry Clint and still maintain a rich lifestyle.

Or maybe the mysterious contract Shirley had seen was something Jackie was going to slap on Clint. Maybe she was afraid he was just after her money, and she wanted to safeguard herself.

Or how about Ajay? Maybe he was here from India to oversee the entire operation. That would explain his long stretch of time here and his made-up story about his wife dying.

Then there was Derek. I’d overheard him telling Lillian something about getting some guy who owned a chop shop off on his charges because he’d been injured on the way to the jail. Maybe Derek took a piece of the cut when he agreed to be the man’s lawyer.

For all I knew Lane or Veronica or Lillian could be involved. After all, Lane had dated Jackie. Maybe he wanted her back. Maybe they’d had a little quarrel on the mountaintop and one thing had led to another.

Then there was that look that Officer Sharples had given the valet. What was that about? Nothing? Maybe.

Everything? Possibly.

Riley was still arguing with the guy at the front desk about his bill when an idea hit me. “Excuse me, where’s your bathroom?”

The man cocked half of his lip dubiously. “You sure you want to use it, lady? It’s not the cleanest place.”

“A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.”

“Your choice.” He nodded toward the hallway. “It’s back there.”

I sneaked a glance at Riley as I slipped away. The look in his eyes told me that he knew exactly what I was up to. As soon as I was out of sight, I turned toward the garage. It was going to be really hard to hide in this floral monstrosity—maybe impossible—but I had to figure out a way.

The garage was actually bigger than I expected. There were two men working back there, one of them the man who’d driven the tow truck. They chatted in short, choppy sentences that I couldn’t make out. I had to get closer.

When one man called the other over to look at the undercarriage of a car on the far side of the garage, I seized my opportunity. I snuck through the open doorway and crouched behind a car in the corner. The Honda hadn’t been looked at yet, apparently, because it wasn’t up on a hydraulic lift.

“Tonight the shipment’s going out,” one of the mechanics said. “The boss told you about it, right? He needs us all there. It’s hush hush. There’s been too much going on around town lately, and he’s afraid people might get suspicious.”

“Oh, I’ll be there. I want my cut,” the tow driver said. “Now, we need to get our story straight on this car … ”

Before he came back to the other side, I slipped out. My heart pounded in my ears as I stood in the hallway. That had been close. But now I had information that might lead to some answers as to who this “boss” was.

I started back toward Riley.

“You sure your friend’s okay? She’s been back there a long time,” I heard the guy at the front desk say.

“She has stomach issues,” Riley said. I could only imagine his expression.

Nice.

I stepped into view and rubbed my belly. “Sorry about that. I’ve got issues.” Did I ever.

Riley nodded toward the door. “Let’s get out of here. If I stay another minute, I’m going to blow a fuse.”

“What’s going on?” I asked as we stepped outside. I had a feeling I already knew the answer.

“They’re telling me I’d be better off to junk the car, that the amount it’s going to take to fix it is more than what the car is worth anymore. They offered to give me a couple thousand bucks for the parts.”

I shook my head. “I think they’re running a chop shop, and I think they’re using people who get involved in the accidents on that mountain road as their victims.”

“You think this is all about selling car parts?”

I shook my head. “No, I think it’s bigger than that. I think it may have started as simply selling car parts, though. There’s something going down tonight, and I need to figure out what.” I looked down at my dress. “And I’ve got to get more clothes if I’m going to do that.”

***

I looked in the mirror at the jeans and “Virginia is for Lovers” T-shirt. Much better.

Riley and I had ridden the moped a little farther up the road and discovered a consignment store. The clothes were nice, but they cost more used than most of my clothes cost new. I was so happy to have decent clothes that I didn’t care. Besides, I was doing a stakeout. Muumuus never worked for stakeouts.

Riley’s cell phone rang. “It’s Lillian,” he mumbled before answering. A moment later, he hung up and turned toward me. “Derek’s missing.”

“What?”

“Lillian said all of his stuff is gone and that it’s like he just grabbed his things and jetted.”

“Why would he do that?” My mind was already racing through the possibilities. Guilt? Or maybe he had to get ready for this big transaction that was going on tonight.

“Your guess is as good as mine. Wasn’t it just last night that you confronted him about his business card being found at the crime scene?”

“I’ve got to call Parker.” Parker was my former boyfriend. He was now with the FBI and about to have a baby with his new girlfriend. I was so glad we weren’t together anymore. So. So. Glad.

“Hey Nancy Drew. What’s going on?” Nancy Drew was Parker’s favorite nickname for me.

“What do you know about auto theft rings?” I didn’t waste any time with being polite, not when there was so much on the line.

“Okay … ” I could imagine his expression. Eyes wide with incredulity, lips smirking, and shoulders tight. “What do you want to know?”

“How do they operate? What do they do? Anything.”

“I’ve never worked one of those cases, but I know there’s big money to be found in some of those crimes. The thieves usually steal high end cars and, depending on whether or not it’s local or international, they have dealers set up to buy the cars and get rid of them.”

“Where are they sold internationally?”

“West Africa is big right now. But other places too.”

“India?”

“Yeah, India. What’s going on?”

I gave him a brief overview of what had happened. He let out a sigh. “These people can be dangerous, Gabby. I’d stay out of this one. Where are you anyway?”

“Wealthy—I mean Healthy—Springs.”

“Oh, getting fancy with your new job now, huh?”

“Uh, well, not really. That’s a long story.” I didn’t want to explain all of my failures to my ex.

“I’d let the local authorities know and then stay out of it. You don’t want to get in the middle of something like this. People will kill not to be discovered.”

I nodded and hung up. I was totally getting in the middle of this.

CHAPTER 35

“You see anything?” Deanna asked.

I pulled down my binoculars. “Not yet.”

Riley was being quiet beside us. He was probably thinking about all of the legal trouble we could get into. It was better if I
didn’t
think about these things.

We sat behind a boulder in the woods. To one side of us was a hardly-used service road that led to the abandoned maintenance shed; on the other side was the shed itself.

After my phone call with Parker, Riley and I had split up to collect supplies. I’d gone to get some snacks and lots of Mountain Dew. Riley had gotten the binoculars and flashlights. We’d returned the moped, Deanna had found us, and we’d given her the update.

She’d shown up here at our stakeout and told us she’d taken the night off in order to help. Then she’d muttered the, “I could get in so much trouble for this” mantra.

Hopefully, the trouble these car thieves got into would overshadow any potential trouble we could get into.

“Someone’s coming,” Riley mumbled. “Listen.”

We quieted. Sure enough, something rumbled in the distance. We waited and watched as the sound got louder and louder. Finally, an eighteen-wheeler came into view. A big container was on the back of the truck.

I could picture it clearly in my mind. Fill up the container with stolen cars with switched VINs. Take the container to a port, ship the cars overseas, and make a ton of profit. Meanwhile, the cars are gone, along with evidence of the theft. Brilliant plan.

The truck went past and turned by the maintenance building. It then backed up to a set of garage doors. Because of the angle of the building, I couldn’t see what they were taking on or off.

“Who do you see?” Deanna asked.

I focused the binoculars. Ah ha! Bill the valet stepped out of the building. He was in on this. Of course he would know which cars to steal. As a valet, he could probably even have copies of the keys made. I just didn’t see him as the ringleader of this whole operation, though.

I kept watching. I fully expected Ajay to step outside. Maybe even Derek. For all I knew, they were each in on this. Both exerted a certain amount of power. Power mixed with devious plans could quickly turn violent.

“By the way, if we’re caught, I want you both to run,” I announced, still looking through the binoculars.

“And leave you?” Riley’s voice held disbelief.

“Yes, and leave me. I don’t want the two of you to get killed.”

“I’m not leaving you, Gabby.” He stared at me like I was crazy.

“I seriously don’t want you two getting hurt on my account.”

“But we should all go separate ways if we’re caught,” Deanna chirped. “Maybe they won’t catch all of us. Why should all three of us die?”

Riley’s eyes widened.

Deanna shrugged. “What? It’s true. I’ve watched
Criminal Minds
before. I know how these things work.”

I didn’t know what to say to that, so instead I watched as the garage door opened and nice cars were driven onto the truck. I counted at least eight. I had no idea how they were fitting all of them in, but apparently they had a way.

This was a huge scheme. The person behind this was set to make major bucks. They had to have connections with the hotel, influence at the garage, knowledge of the ports, and an idea of how to get overseas sales. They also had to be a genius at covering things up, otherwise, how had they managed to get away with all of this? It would almost need to be someone like—