Cluttered Attic Secrets (24 page)

She found a parking spot in front of her favorite shop and parked. She realized for the first time that Mr. Hall’s office was upstairs, so wasn’t surprised when she saw him come out the door.

“Ms. Shaw. Nice to see you. How are things? Have you found out anything more about Ms. Young’s house?”

They shook hands, Tina smiling at him. “A few things. I also found another house in the neighborhood that has a secret space, thanks to watching you do that at Leslie’s.”

“Oh, are you house-hunting?”

“Yes. And I’m thinking I would rather build my own to be sure there is nothing secret about it when I move in.”

Mr. Hall laughed. “You know who to call if you decide to do that.”

“You are definitely at the top of the list.”

They smiled at each other and said good-bye. Tina turned to watch him walk away.
Nice man.
But her eyes widened when she saw him climb into a familiar car. Michele’s.
How did they know each other? Maybe they’re just dating, ran into each other because of the connection to Hank.

Uneasy and distracted, she entered the shop, debating whether to call Hank. She decided she could wait until they saw each other, then wondered if she should have tried to follow Michele and Mr. Hall. That would have turned the tables on Michele. But she was sure Michele would have spotted her. Let Hank check it out.

The two saleswomen greeted her, but were busy with other customers. Tina flipped through a rack of short dresses and found two to try on, one a pale yellow, the other mint green. Spring fashions already for sale.

She decided on the green one, paid for it and left, no longer in the mood to shop, so she’d make do with accessories, and underwear, she already owned.

At home, her mother and uncle were in the kitchen. It was obviously Uncle Bob’s turn to cook because her mother sat at the table doing a crossword puzzle. Tina stopped to talk to them a few minutes and showed them the dress. She didn’t mention going house hunting and what had happened with that.

Upstairs, she showered and got ready, feeling a little nervous.

Hank rang the doorbell on the dot of six. Tina had just come down the stairs, so she let him in. His eyes lit up when he saw her. “Nice dress. Is it new?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact. I’m glad you like it.”

“Suits you perfectly.” He bent down to kiss her.

It lasted longer than she expected. Uncle Bob cleared his throat behind her. She broke away from Hank and whirled around so her uncle could read her lips. “You do that on purpose, don’t you?”

Uncle Bob grinned. “Not really. I have to use the hall to get from one place to another in the house.”

Tina laughed. “You were in the kitchen, which leads into the dining room. You can use the backstairs to go to your bedroom. Where are you headed?”

“Um, the living room. Need to get a magazine.”

“Of course you do.” Tina sputtered, trying not to laugh even harder. She glanced at Hank. His lips twitched.

Princess sat down, apparently deciding this was not going to be a short conversation. “Where are you going to eat?” Uncle Bob asked.

“We hadn’t decided.” Hank looked at Tina.

“Johnny’s.”

Uncle Bob patted Princess. “Good choice. Have a great time.”

“Where’s Mom?”

“She went out to her car to get something.”

“Oh. Well, don’t wait up for me.”

Uncle Bob laughed. “Haven’t done that in years.”

Tina grabbed a coat from the hall closet, Hank took her arm, and they all said good-bye.

Neither of them spoke on the short ride to the restaurant. Once they were settled and the waitress took their drink order, Tina said, “Did you know Mr. Hall and Michele know each other?”

She’d never seen Hank look so surprised. He took a sip of water before answering. “No. No, I didn’t know that. How did you find out?”

Tina told him, then added, “Maybe they bumped into each other when Michele was following us and got acquainted.”

“I guess that’s possible.” But he didn’t look convinced.

“What could it mean?”

“It could mean that everything Michele told us was a lie. I need to call Rudy.” He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.

“You haven’t talked to him yet?”

“No. I kept waiting for him to call me.” He pushed and swiped at the screen, then waited. “Rudy? This is Hank. I’m fine. How’re you? Did you know Michele is here in Newport?”

Tina could hear a surprised exclamation. The waitress brought their drinks. Seeing Hank on the phone, she said softly to Tina, “I’ll be back later.”

Tina thanked her and then listened to Hank tell Rudy all that had been going on. Every once in a while there was another brief interruption from Rudy, but mostly he just listened.

Then Rudy talked. Tina couldn’t make much out, he talked so fast. His tone was angry and demanding.

After he hung up, Hank sat staring at the phone, looking shocked. “The part about Michele proving that Darwin was a mole was true. But she told Rudy she had a family emergency and took off. He had no idea she’d come to Newport.”

“So what do the two of you think is going on?”

“Frankly, we’re not sure. Could be Michele suspects Mr. Hall of being in on the trafficking and is playing Marta Hari again. Or she’s been on it since the beginning herself.”

“You don’t believe that, do you?”

Hank sighed. “I don’t want to, I admit.”

“Maybe they just ran into each other accidently and are dating?”

Hank laughed. “I doubt it. Michele likes her men younger, not older.”

The waitress interrupted them for their order. They each absently gave her what they usually chose at Johnny’s.

After she left, Tina said, “Maybe she’s changed her mind, you know, now that she’s older herself.”

Hank laughed and raised his glass of Scotch to Tina. “Could be.”

“So, what are you going to do?”

“Investigate.”

“Hank.”

His attention hadn’t really been on her, she realized, when his eyes met hers. He grabbed her hand. “Stay out of it. Michele is dangerous when she’s on the right side of the law. If she’s on the wrong side…”

Tina shivered. Nodded.

Hank released her hand as the waitress served their salads. When she was gone, he said, “Tell me how Leslie’s doing.”

“I think she’ll be okay. Worried, of course. Mostly about Brandon.” She watched Hank put salt and pepper on his salad.

“That’s natural. Do you remember when the two of them got stuck up in that big old willow tree? Leslie was scared to come down, and Brandon wouldn’t leave her up there by herself.”

Tina laughed. “Yeah. They always took care of each other. We had to go get Mr. Young. He talked her down. I think I held my breath the whole time. And when Brandon was sick, she played nurse.”

“Good times. Innocent times.”

“Well, there are some advantages to growing up and losing that innocence.”

Hank ginned. “Now you’re talking.”

“I hope later, we’ll do more than talk.”

“I’m counting on it.” The hungry look was back, stronger than ever.

Tina tingled all over. She could tell he knew, and he smiled.

They finished their salads in silence. After the waitress brought their main courses, they talked more about growing up together. Hank was even able to mention his sister again without a catch in his throat.

The time flew, and it seemed only minutes before the waitress asked if they wanted dessert. They both shook their heads, and she placed the bill on the table.

When they settled into the Jaguar, Tina’s thoughts returned to Leslie’s house, and Sophie and Michele and Mr. Hall. And even Brandon. She pushed them all away firmly and instead concentrated on just being in the car, watching the lights seem to move away from them because the ride was so smooth, the faint smell of leather mingled with her own perfume, and Hank’s handsome profile when she glanced at him.

They entered his house and walked into the living room, holding hands, not saying anything.

Suddenly, Tina remembered these conversation when she suggested Hank’s place might be bugged. “You check for hidden microphones?” She shuddered at the thought of someone listening in on them.

“Yes. All clear.”

“You’re sure.”

“Positive. You want something to drink?”

She shook her head. “I only want you.”

He pulled her to him, just holding her for a few moments. Then he kissed her forehead and his lips found her mouth.

She melted into him. She’d never felt this way with any other man. When his lips moved to her throat, she thought she might swoon like an old-fashioned heroine in a romance novel. She let her feelings take over as his mouth traveled slowly down her throat. When he reached the top of her breasts, he picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. “I’ve always wanted to do this,” he whispered in her ear.

Her arms around his neck, she hung on tight. She didn’t say she felt the same because she never dreamed it could be like this.

Afterwards, she couldn’t believe how much better it became as Hank hands, lips, then his whole body made her feel things she’d never felt before.

The next morning Tina woke with Hank’s arms around her, her face nestled in his neck. She breathed in the scent of him, wanting to stay in his bed forever.

She knew he was waking up when his arms pulled her even closer. She kissed his ear.

“Hmm, that tickles.” He opened his eyes then, and she let her lips wander across his cheek until she reached his lips.

His cell phone rang. He groped for it and checked the display. “Lisbeth.” He looked at the clock on the bedside table. “You’re up early.”

“No rest for the weary,” Tina heard her say since they were still so close together. “Where are you?”

“Um,” Hank grinned at Tina. “In bed.”

“Well, get yourself down to the station. Things are popping.”

Hank pulled himself up to a sitting position, causing Tina to move away. She missed him already.

“What things?”

“We’ve arrested several persons of interest—certain home owners in Ms. Young’s neighborhood. Unfortunately, they’re as quiet as Irene Hendricks. Most of them immediately called their lawyers, and each insists they’re innocent homeowners who just happened to all put said homes on the market at the same time.”

“What did you arrest them for?”

“Various charges. Drugs, weapons violations. Nothing we can hold them for more than forty-eight hours. I’m hoping to crack one in particular. Perhaps Ms. Shaw could try. With her psychological training, she may get this one with more finesse than we can.”

Tina felt a jolt of surprise. She could feel Hank stiffen next to her.

“Can you get in touch with Ms. Shaw and persuade her to come down to help?”

Tina saw Hank make an effort to physically relax himself. “I’m sure she’ll be delighted to help. We’ll be there as soon as we can.”

“Thank you.”

They hung up. “You heard all that?” Hank got out of bed.

She watched his bare butt move away from her with regret. Nice butt. “Yes.” She scrambled out of bed. “I need a shower.”

“Me, too.” He turned to look at her, speculation in his eyes. Then he shook his head. “We’ll leave showering together for another time.”

There was that tingle again. It could become addictive.

They stopped at a fast food place for a breakfast sandwich and coffee. On their way out the door, Tina poked Hank in his side with her elbow. “On your left. Our good friend Michele.”

Hank stopped short. Tina figured he was debating confronting the strange woman or not. After a few moments, he headed to his own car.

When they arrived at the police station, Hank greeted several officers as they walked to Lisbeth’s office. She smiled when she saw them. “Thank you for coming, Ms. Shaw. I assume Hank has brought you up to date on everything. You’ve already helped a lot with this investigation.”

Tina sat down. “Call me Tina, please.”

“All right. You can continue to call me Detective Dotson.” Lisbeth laughed. “Really, do call me Lisbeth. In a strange way, we’re getting to know each other rather well, aren’t we? Here’s what’s going on. We have eight homeowners in custody. One of the women, Mrs. McDonald, seems the most stressed, so I think she may be the best prospect for getting more information. I’d like you to interview her. I’ll be with you, and I’m debating whether to have Hank there, as well.”

“How old is she?” Tina asked.

“Mid-thirties.”

Tina thought a minute. “I think it would be better if he wasn’t there. She might open up more with just us two women.” Tina could feel the excitement building inside of her. If she could get this woman to talk, maybe Leslie could have her house back soon.

“All right. I’ll get her assigned to an interview room. While we wait, would you like some coffee?”

“No, thanks, I’m good.”

Lisbeth looked at Hank. He shook his head, and she picked up the phone and told someone what she needed. After she hung up, she said, “They’ll let me know when everything is set up.”

Tina thought it was interesting that Hank was not volunteering the information about Michele and Mr. Hall. She guessed he was holding that close until he investigated further on his own.

Lisbeth leaned back in her chair. “How’s the personal organization business going?”

Tina shook her head. “It’s not. I guess everyone in Newport is perfectly organized.”

Lisbeth and Hank laughed. “Not going by how some of the officers here keep their desks,” Lisbeth said. “Are you doing any advertising?”

“No. I guess I should.”

“Local TV ads, newspaper ads. Do you have a website?”

Tina smiled. “No. I was hoping word of mouth would get me enough clients.”

They talked some more about what Tina did. Lisbeth received word the suspect was in the interview room, and the three of them headed that way.

When they reached the booth area outside the room and looked through the one-way glass, Tina saw a woman slumped in a chair. Her sunken eyes looked haunted. She hadn’t even tried to smooth down her blonde hair, and her make-up was half off and smeared, especially the mascara. She was thin, too thin, Tina thought. She wore street clothes—a plaid skirt that fell just below her knees, long-sleeved pink blouse, and black flats. 

Lisbeth opened a thin file on the desk and let Tina read it. The woman, Bethany McDonald, lived one street over from Leslie. Thirty-four years old, married, no children. No job. Born in Cranston, University of Rhode Island degree in history, married at age twenty-two.
How on earth,
Tina wondered,
had she got mixed up in human trafficking? If she even was.
The next page showed that the police had found cocaine and five unregistered guns in the house. And cocaine in the woman’s blood.

“Ready?” Lisbeth asked.

Tina studied Bethany for a little while longer, then nodded.

They entered the room. Two chairs were ready for them, Lisbeth gestured for Tina to take the one positioned directly in front of the woman across a small table, while she sat down in the one next to that. There was a microphone and a box of tissues on the table. Nothing else.

Lisbeth greeted Bethany and introduced Tina. She reminded the woman of her rights and that the conversation would be recorded.

“I have nothing to say to you,” Bethany said.

“That’s okay,” Tina said. “We’ll just talk to you and explain some things you may not be aware of.”

“Well, go ahead.” She sounded both resigned and angry.

The woman looked beaten down, but apparently she still had some spunk. “I’ll probably do most of the talking,” Tina said, keeping her voice level. “We need to clear this whole thing up.”

“Well, I can’t help you at all with clearing anything up because I don’t even know why I’m here.”

Tina raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know the police found drugs and unregistered guns in your house?”

“Yeah. I know that. But they weren’t mine. You’ll have to talk to my husband about that.”

“We will. But first we want to talk to you. You’re telling me you didn’t know about the cocaine and the guns?”

“That’s right.” Bethany sat up straighter in her chair.

“Well, that’s interesting since we found cocaine in your blood.”

Bethany wouldn’t meet Tina’s eyes. “Marc wanted me to try it. It’s the first time I ever used it. Bad luck the police raided the place just when I agreed.”

“Yes, that is a shame.” Tina tried to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. “And I suppose you knew nothing about the secret room in your house.”

Bethany hesitated. “What’s that got to do with anything? Lots of old houses have secret rooms.”

“Really? I didn’t know that. How did you know that?”

Bethany shrugged. “I was a history major in college. It came up in class once, and I did some research.”

“Oh. So you knew the house had a secret room before you bought it?”

Bethany’s eyes shifted. “Yeah. I don’t want to talk to you anymore.”

“Something about the secret room bothers you?”

“No. No, of course not.”

Tina leaned forward. “I think it does. I think people were brought there to stay awhile.”

Bethany’s eyes widened, and she put her hand over her mouth.

“You know about that. I bet your husband told you he was helping abused women to get away from their abusers. You probably thought it was a wonderful humanitarian gesture.”

Head shaking, Bethany said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. He only used the secret room to store his guns.”

“That’s odd,” Lisbeth said. “We found the weapons in a gun safe in your home office.”

Bethany’s eyes shifted away, and she stared at the opposite wall. “When we first moved in. That’s when he used the room for his guns.”

“Seems to me,” Lisbeth said, “he had no need to buy a safe if he could hide them instead.”

Bethany didn’t explain.

Tina waited. As the silence continued, Bethany shifted in her chair. She wouldn’t look at either of them. Finally, Tina said, “I think you have been horribly deceived, Ms. McDonald. We understand your husband is unemployed. Do you really think that he’d get enough to live on by helping abused women? Who would pay him to do that? Usually, people don’t do that for money.”

Bethany’s eyes widened as they met Tina’s. “I don’t…”

“I suspect,” Tina continued, “that you don’t know for sure what’s going on. It’s not good. So, it’s in your best interest to tell us what you do know.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I think you do. I think you’ve been suspicious and worried for quite a while now. You are not a stupid woman. Maybe you’ve tamped down your suspicions with cocaine. You probably feel trapped. The only way to open that trap is to tell us the truth, tell us what you know. Get the truth out, get yourself out. Start a new life. Because the old one is going to blow up in your face. Was the old one really that good?”

No one said anything for several long moments.

“No,” Bethany finally whispered. “No, not for a long time.”

Tina forced herself to go slow, stay calm. “What’s your husband like? Did you meet in college?”

Bethany nodded jerkily. “He was so smooth. I was such a geek. I couldn’t figure out why he was interested in me, but he finally won me over.”

Tina thought he probably wanted someone he could easily control. “Where and how did you meet?”

“We met in college. I was carrying my tray and bumped into his table in the cafeteria. The coffee splashed into his lap. He made a crude joke about his lap didn’t need heating up, it was always hot. I was glad he wasn’t mad at me, so when he invited me to sit with him, I did. He was handsome, charming, and funny.” Tears welled in Bethany’s eyes, and she sobbed once.

No one said anything. Tina thought Bethany was used to people being mad at her when she made a mistake. So, when someone was kind, she was charmed.

Bethany grabbed a tissue and dabbed at her eyes. “He lost his job over a year ago. We were going to lose the house. I was only working part time, and that job wasn’t secure, either. Then some men came and talked to Marc in his office. He bought the gun safe. We argued about that. We didn’t have the money for something that expensive. He told me not to worry, that he had a way to make money. I was scared to death he was going to deal drugs. But then he explained that he was helping an organization that housed abused women and their children temporarily until they could get settled. They could sleep in our secret room. He told me how much help they needed, that they were escaping from horrible conditions. I knew that. I was confused about how he’d get paid, but he brushed my concerns aside.”

Bethany paused to dab at her eyes again, but she’d stopped crying.

“It was worse than I’d thought it would be. Women and children came in the dead of night to our back door. Marc let them in, took them to the room. I stayed in a bedroom at the other end of the house when they arrived, but I could hear the children crying. He also wanted me to make meals for them. After about the third time, I told him I couldn’t do it anymore.”

Bethany stopped talking for a few moments. No one moved.

“He said I needed something to calm my nerves. A doctor came to the house and gave me a shot, and some pills to take. I didn’t know what to do, how to get out of it. My job wouldn’t support me, and Marc didn’t really have a job. The pills made me so groggy, I had to quit work. Marc said that cocaine would be better, that it would make me more cheerful. I finally agreed to try it. I didn’t really feel I was doing anything wrong by helping the women and children, but something about the whole thing didn’t seem right. Marc kept reminding me we were helping these people. I wanted to believe him.” She stopped talking and looked a Tina, her eyes bleak. “What’s going to happen to me now?”

Tina glanced at Lisbeth. She looked as troubled as Tina felt. “We’re going to help you, Ms. McDonald,” Lisbeth said. “If everything you say checks out, I can almost guarantee you won’t be charged with anything.”

“But I don’t understand why you had a warrant to search our house. What we’ve been doing isn’t illegal.”