Stilettos & Scoundrels (38 page)

The article, dated about two years ago, had a detailed an account of how
Cooper
and three other men were indicted on murder charges in Vegas. The article went on to say
that
Cooper
and these men worked for Tony Spellmen, a reputed
M
ob figure in Vegas. Tony and another Vegas
M
ob figure had a falling out, ending with the other guy being murdered in his home. According to the person who wrote the article, the evidence against the men had been largely circumstantial and all charges were eventually dropped. However, there was still much speculation
that
the men had actually been involved, but were just adept at covering their tracks.

Even though
I
was confident
Cooper
had nothing to do with murdering someone,
I
did wonder how he got caught up in the mess to begin with. He had a lot of explaining to do
,
and there was no way
he was getting out of telling me
this time.

******

“Umm…thanks
,
M
other. This is really good.”
I
sat on the couch, drinking the iced raspberry tea
my
mother had just given
me
.
It felt so good to relax and put my feet up.

“It’s a
recipe I got from Geanie. You brew the
tea with crushed raspberries and then strain the raspberries out
. They give it a nice flavor.” My
mot
her sat on the couch next to me
and
I
braced
my
self for the litany of questions that were sure to come. “So
,
please tell me what you are trying to accomplish with your nosing around. I don’t like Ruth calling me saying you are accosting her in the grocery store. Presley, that’s embarrassing.”

“Mother, I didn’t accost her. I just happened to see her and wanted to ask a few more questions. Besides
,
I got Bobby’s number and that made Ruth happy. Although
,
if you believe the gossip
,
it doesn’t mean anything.”

“What
,
the gossip that Bobby’s gay?”

I
stared at
my
mother with
my
mouth open in amazement. “You heard.”

“Presley, we’ve been trying to tell Ruth that for years. She just won’t listen.”

“Thanks for letting me know.”

“Sorry
,
but why would I think you would care about what happens around here
?
”

“This is good gossip mother. I need to know this stuff.”

“Ok
ay
. Next time
,
I will tell you. Now please stay away from Ruth or any of the other ladies with this.”

“How am I supposed to get to the bottom of things
?
”

”That’s best left to the police or Cooper, don’t you think? That Cooper sure seemed like a nice boy.”

“It’s not like I’m stopping them from what they’re doing. I just want to be able to write a good story. This is important to me.
And yes, Mother, he is a nice boy.
”

“I know you have always wanted to write
,
Presley
,
and I am happy that you have your chance. But someone got killed here. It worries me you might do something that could put you in danger.
We still don’t know who broke the window. You could be in danger.
”

“Mother
,
there is no reason to worry. I’m a big girl.
Besides, you know the window was probably kids playing a prank.
”
I didn’t really think that and neither did Cooper or Dirt. But there was no reason to worry my mother with those details.

“
Presley
,
you just don’t know who might still be around.
Bad people
murdered the Senator. They’re dangerous.”

“I will be careful, I promise. Now can we talk about something else?”
I
wanted to ask
my
mother about
my
dad’s behavior.
I
couldn’t get Ruth’s comment out of
my
head.
I
just wasn’t sure how to go about it.

“We can talk about the upcoming flower show
.
”
My
mother grinned
,
knowing full well that was the last thing
I
would want to talk about.

“Ha, ha. Actually I wanted to ask you something about
D
ad.”
My
mother looked puzzled. “
Has
he been acting strange?”

“No stranger than usual
,
”
my
mother joked. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. He stayed out late the other night and that’s not like him.”

“Presley he’s a grown man and we each have our own lives. It is what has kept us together all these years. We have fun apart and together.”

If Ruth did know something about
my
dad,
my
mother wasn’t catching on yet. Maybe
I
should just confront
my
dad
about
seeing him that night. It could be something very simple to explain.
I
was sure of it. “I guess you know best.”

“Could you repeat that please
?
Better yet
,
let me tape record it,”
my
mother joked.

“Funny.” These were the times
I
loved hanging out with
my
mother.
We
really did have a lot to talk about, when
my
mother wasn’t nagging. “I’m going to grab some more tea
,
and then try to write something
before
Trevor has a fit. Want some more?”

“Sure
,
honey.”

My
mother went out
to work in her garden to leave me
to
my
thoughts and to try and write. All
I
had managed was a few notes and a loose timeline. This was harder than
I
thought. Maybe
I
should just take a nap. That might spark some ideas.

“Hello?”

“Presley! I need to talk to you right away!” It was Helen Daniels
,
h
ysterical
. I
could hardly understand her.

“What is it
,
Helen? What’s wrong?”
I
had fallen asleep
,
but the sound of fear in Helen’s voice quickly woke
me
up.

“Just meet me at Gardner’s old warehouse i
n thirty minutes. If you’re not
there
,
I will not be able to wait. It’s not safe. You have to hurry!”

“Helen! Calm down, safe from whom? Why all the drama? Helen…Helen?” She’d hung up.
I
glanced at
my
watch.
Crap!
I
’d never make it there in thirty minutes. All
I
could hope for was Dirt and his deputies
were
out investigating the Senator’s murder rather than trying to keep the streets safe from speeders.

I
ran out of the house, running past
my
mother still working in her garden.

“Presley
,
where are you going?

“I’ll be back in a bit.”

“For dinner?”

“I don’t know.”
I
said exasperatedly.
I
didn’t need the third degree.

“Where are you going
?
”

“I explain later. Just eat without me if I’m not back.”

“Pres!”

“Bye
,
M
other.”

I
pushed seventy in a forty-five mile an hour zone,
my
Kia humming, just hoping to get there on time.
I was surprised my
car
could go that
fast. In Chicago
,
the traffic was so bad you didn’t really have a chance to speed this much.
My phone rang again, but I
didn’t look at it.
I
needed to concentrate on
my
driving. Gardner’s warehouse, located about twenty miles outside of town, used to be a production plant for some automotive part. The plant closed years before, when
I still lived
here.
It was s
o long ago
that
I
couldn’t remember what the company actually produced.

I
pulled in the parking lot, gravel flying, hoping Helen was still here. The clock on
my
dash said it had been thirty-three minutes since she called
me
.
I
pocketed
my
keys, not wanting to
weigh myself down with my
purse
,
and jogged around to the front entrance.
I
had on flip-flops, not the best jogging shoes
,
but
I
was so startled when Helen called
I
just ran out of the house without paying attention to what
I
had on. This was a big place, and
I huffed trying to catch my
breath.
I really must get in shape
,
I
wheezed to
my
self.

Helen hadn’t specified exactly where to meet her, so
I
assumed she might be at the front entrance. She wasn’t waiting outside for
me,
so
I
tried the front door or what
I
presumed was the front door. It was unlocked, which
I
thought strange for an abandoned building, but
I
assumed Helen had unlocked it. Though had it been locked
,
I
could have crawled through one of the many broken windows.
I
carefully stepped inside the building and the darkness engulfed
me
. The little bit of light in the building was let in by the broken windows
,
and it took a few minutes for
my
eyes to adjust. It smel
led
dank and musty
,
and
I
could hear the scurrying of what were probably little furry rodents.
I
shuddered involuntarily and didn’t want to think about what type of creepy crawlies were in this building
, e
specially with
me
in flip-flops.
I
wasn’t thrilled about stepping any further into the building.

“Helen,”
I
called softly. No answer.
Where the hell is she?
I
tiptoed a little further into the building in an effort to be quiet, though
I
still couldn’t see very well, so tiptoeing w
ouldn’t do me
any go
od if there was anything in my way. All of a sudden, I felt a hand on my arm; I
jumped about ten feet and started to scream.

“Shh, Presley. It’s just me,” Helen said. “Do you think you could be a little quieter?”

“Then don’t ask me to come to an abandoned building and grab me when I’m not expecting it. I can’t see! You could have been anyone or anything,”
I
retorted. “I am not a big fan of the creepy things I am sure are in this building.
”
I
took one look at Helen and grew concerned.
She was u
sually one of those women who always looked impeccable,
but
her dark brown hair, usually in a knot at the nape of her nec
k, was disheveled and loose. I
could tell Helen had been crying, from her smudged make-up. She definitely wasn’t her normal put together self.
I
could see that, even in this poor light.
I
still felt a stab of jealousy because, even a little worse for wear, Helen looked better than most women. Not fair at all.