For Old Crime's Sake (Chase Charley Mystery Book 1) (10 page)

Unfortunately, I had to leave a message for Officer Marquez. Dangerfield took great delight in that. As we drove along I thought about what had happened. I could accept what Officer West had said and give up, or I could fight and expose the corrupt bastard. It just wasn’t in me to let this go. That was exactly what Officer West wanted and I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

Dangerfield glanced over at me. “Are you okay?” Sincerity was in his voice. “I can make a call and possibly find out who the men are,” he said.

“Why didn’t you tell me you could do that?”

“I wasn’t keeping it a secret. I just happened to think of it.” He pulled out his phone and dialed the number. “I can’t get any service here. I’ll try outside the car.”

Dangerfield turned the car into the gas station parking lot then pulled up to the gas pump.

“We should get a snack since we didn’t get dinner.”

I pushed a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “I guess chocolate would be good right now.”

He cut the engine and stepped out from behind the wheel. I hurried out and around the back of the car.

“What’s the hurry?” he asked.

“No hurry,” I said over my shoulder.

“Everything is a competition to you, isn’t it?” He followed behind me. “It doesn’t have to be a competition, you know?”

“That’s what you think,” I said.

We went inside for something to drink. I needed chocolate. The store was empty except for the man working behind the counter. The air conditioner was on full blast. I’d grabbed a bottle of water and just made it to the candy aisle when the door chimed telling the store employee that another customer had entered.

When I saw who it was my stomach dropped. Officer West had just stepped inside.

I had to get out of there immediately. I grabbed a Snickers bar and hurried to the counter. My gaze was locked on the cop the whole time. He acted as if he didn’t see me, but I knew he did. I was sure he was watching me out of the corner of his eye.

After handing over the cash for my items, I dashed over to the door. I just knew that Officer West would stop me before I got outside.

When I stepped out onto the parking lot, the cop was watching me, but at least he wasn’t following me outside. Every time he looked at me it sent a chill down my spine.

That was a close one again. I knew he was waiting somewhere and watching us.

I was glad when I saw Dangerfield come out of the store.

Dangerfield slipped back into the car. “Good news.”

“You say that, but I don’t think I believe you.” I snapped my seatbelt into place.

“Don’t be so negative.” Dangerfield opened his energy drink and took a chug.

“You do realize the cop is here?” I looked over my shoulder. The cop was just sitting in his car.

Dangerfield placed his can in the holder next to the seat. “I saw him, but just ignore him.”  

I popped a piece of the chocolate into my mouth. “Yeah, right. He’s just waiting to stuff us in his trunk. Okay, what is this good news you claim to have?”

“My source knows where to find the owner of the house, Michael Hook. Maybe Michael Hook can tell us about the cop and the other men. What were their names?”

“Doug and Ross—no, wait, it was Russ. Anyway, I don’t believe that your source knows anything.”

“My source is always accurate.”

“How did he get this information?”

“I don’t ask questions. All I know is he was able to find them. One of the men, at least.”

Darn it. I should have been able to do that. 

“Okay, then we should go there and find out about them.” I looked back. The cop was still in his car. I knew he was watching us.

I couldn’t believe that I had just volunteered to spend more time with Dangerfield. As if I hadn’t had enough of him.

Dangerfield quirked an eyebrow. “
We
should go there?”

“Did I stutter?” I asked.

He chuckled. “No, I suppose you didn’t. You are a bit of a smartass though.”

I bit back a smile. “If that’s what you think. Actually, I am a very nice person. Just ask my friends.”

He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. “I usually do this sort of thing alone. I work best when I’m alone.”

I chewed on another piece of chocolate. “Oh, yeah? Well, I work best alone too.” I took a drink of my water and then placed the cap back on. “So we will work alone from this point. You can take me back to the plantation. I’ll go alone.”

“You don’t even know where you’re going,” he said.

“I’ll figure it out.”

“Well, just wait a minute. I suppose there’s always room for change. I don’t think you can handle this on your own. You need someone to guide you in the right direction.”

“You are so full of crap. I should shove you out of this car right now.”

He took another drink. “You wouldn’t do that.”

I furrowed my brow. “Oh, no? Want to bet?”

When he looked over at me my stomach danced. He stared for a moment and didn’t speak. Then he said, “I guess I really could use some help.”

I stared straight ahead. “Well, I guess we should get going then.”

The way he said it made my body tingle. I wondered if he knew he had that effect on me.

“So is this where you wanted to take me? How could you if you just found out where we’re going?” My suspicions were running high.

“Again with the questions. I was waiting on a call from my source. I figured I would pick you up while I waited.”

“How thoughtful of you. What do we do about the cop?” I asked.

Dangerfield looked in the rear-view mirror. “Apparently nothing. He’s gone.”

I whipped around in my seat. The cop’s car wasn’t there. I scanned the parking lot and didn’t see him anywhere. “I don’t trust him.”

“You shouldn’t.” Dangerfield pulled the car out onto the road.

“Where is it we’re going?”  

Finally, Dangerfield pointed the car away from the gas station. When I looked back, the cop car still wasn’t there. I figured Officer West would follow us though. It wasn’t likely that he would let this go that easily. Not until he was sure I would be quiet—or he made me quiet permanently.

Dangerfield tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. “Bridgewater Tennis Club.”

“That’s an odd place to find him,” I said.

“I guess he likes tennis.”

“How will we know what this man looks like? What is his name?” I asked.

Dangerfield handed me his cell phone. “My source sent me a text with the man’s picture.”

I took the phone and studied the photo. Clearly I needed a new source. The man in the photo had gray hair and light blue eyes. He looked to be in his sixties. Wilson Branson was the name written under the photo.

“His name is Wilson? I thought Michael Hook owned the house now.”

Dangerfield took the phone when I handed it to him. “Was that the name written under the photo?”

“Yes,” I said.

He shrugged. “I’m just going by what my source told me.”

We whipped into a parking space and Dangerfield cut the engine. The parking lot was full and I had no clue how Dangerfield thought we would find this Wilson Branson. But Dangerfield claimed to have a plan. I was not looking forward to this ridiculous plan. How would we get in this club? It was strictly members only.

After a couple seconds, Dangerfield pointed. “Look, there’s a back door. We can slip right in there and blend in with the crowd. No one will notice us and we can look around for the guy.”

“Oh, you make it sound so easy.” I shook my head. “You can’t be serious. I think someone will see us sneaking in a back door. We’ll be arrested and Phillip West will make sure we are charged with something far more serious.”

I scanned the parking lot to see if the cop had followed us there. So far there was no sign of him.

“I promise you we won’t get arrested.” Dangerfield held his hand up.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” I warned with a wave of my finger.

He leaned his head back against the car seat. “Okay, I won’t make promises I can’t keep.”

We slipped inside the door. It came out into the kitchen. There were a lot of people back there working, but no one even looked our way. We needed to do something though or they would notice we looked out of place.

Dangerfield looked around for a second, then said, “Wait right there.”

“What are you doing?” I said.

Dangerfield rushed over to a bench and grabbed the pile of clothing. “Uniforms. We can act like we work here.”

“This is not some movie. That never works,” I whispered.

He shoved clothing at me. “We won’t know if we don’t try.”

“I can’t dress right here.” I clutched the clothing to my chest.

Dangerfield grabbed my hand and pulled me into the closet.

“I’m not dressing in front of you.” I shook my head. “No way.”

“I’m not looking. I’ll face the other way.”

I reluctantly stepped inside and began to change into the pants and shirt. I slipped on the pants, and then pulled the shirt over my head. When I looked up, Dangerfield was glancing my way.

“You were looking, weren’t you?” I whispered. I couldn’t yell at him because someone might hear us.

He held his hands up, but faced the wall. “I was not looking at you. My eyes were on this wall the whole time.”

“You are such a liar. I saw you looking this way.”

“I was not. I thought I heard something. Now finish getting dressed so we can get out of here.” He inched over to the door and placed his hand on the knob.

I stepped behind him. “I will get you back for that.”

Dangerfield twisted the knob and stuck his head out. “You have been saying that quite a lot.”

I poked him in the back. “You keep doing things that make me mad, so what can you expect?”

He motioned for me to follow him. “Maybe it just doesn’t take much to make you mad. Did you ever think of that?”

“I thought of it, and I decided that you are a jackass.”

He eased down the hallway toward the kitchen.

“What is going on?” I couldn’t see from where I stood behind him.

“Nothing has changed. Everyone is still racing around like they don’t know what they are doing. Just follow me,” he said as he motioned over his shoulder.

Why did I listen to this man? He should be listening to me. It was time that I was in charge because he made bad decisions.

When we stepped into the kitchen, no one seemed to notice. A dark-haired middle-aged woman walked by and I thought for sure she’d tell us to get out. She stopped in her tracks as if it had just registered that we weren’t supposed to be there. Suddenly she whipped around and looked straight at us. We were in trouble now. I’d like to see Dangerfield get us out of this one.

Dangerfield made eye contact with the woman. I should have turned around and made him do this alone, but I didn’t want to face everything that was happening on my own. Great, now I was stuck with Dangerfield. I needed to take over this lousy plan right now before it was too late.

“What are you two doing standing around? There are tables that need service. Get going.” She waved her hand, then stomped away. 

I exchanged a look with Dangerfield. “What have you gotten me into?”

“Let’s do this.” Dangerfield headed toward the door that led into the restaurant area. Unfortunately I followed him. Once through the door, Dangerfield grabbed a couple trays on a nearby table and handed me one.

“We’ll just make our way over to the exit door. I think it leads into the area where the dressing rooms are and then on to the indoor and outdoor courts.”

I had no idea what his plan was once we made it there. The odds of finding this Wilson guy were slim. We weaved our way around staff members and made our way across the room. We’d almost made it to the door when I stopped in my tracks. The man I’d seen in the photo, Wilson Branson, was across the room.

“It’s him,” I said.

I poked Dangerfield in the side and he wobbled the tray. Finally, he righted himself. “What did you do that for?”

“Pay attention. The man we are looking for is right over there.” I pointed.

We followed Wilson out of the room and down the hallway. A man was walking toward us, but he stopped and talked with Wilson. We froze and then finally Dangerfield pushed me into a small hallway to the right.

“We need to hear what they’re saying,” Dangerfield said. 

“We can’t stay here for ever,” I whispered.

He leaned against the door. “I don’t think we’ll have to.”

“It’s time you got out of my way.” I pushed Dangerfield to the side. I leaned out and looked. “Yeah, okay, the men are still there.”

“I told you.” Dangerfield peeked out into the hallway. “Looks like they are walking away.”