The Lakeside Conspiracy (17 page)

CHAPTER 68

Max handed his phone to Michelle so she could get Bill’s number. He also gave her the wallet she took off the guy he’d knocked out. “Before you call Bill, check out the wallet,” he said. “We know their first names. Let’s see what else we can learn.”

Michelle opened the wallet and looked through it. “He’s got $18,” she said. “His name is Alex Martin.” She kept looking. “He’s got a Bank of America Visa card. And it looks like he’s a member of the “Pioneers Athletics Foundation.”

“Alex Martin?” Max said. “That sounds familiar. Why do I know that name?”

Michelle finished going through the wallet and said, “That’s about it.”

“Shelle, do a search for Alex Martin and Northern Arkansas State football,” Max said. “If I’m right, he played there a few years ago.”

Michelle typed in the search and waited. “I don’t have a great connection here,” she said.

While they waited, Max felt like some things were beginning to come together. He was convinced they weren’t dealing with professional criminals at all. If he had to guess, these were people who got in over their heads. Maybe they did something they shouldn’t have, something that didn’t seem too bad at first, but then it all spiraled out of control.

Max remembered reading in one of Chuck Colson’s books about how Watergate had gotten out of control. At some point after the break-in, Nixon’s inner circle knew if they all stuck to their stories, the whole thing would blow over. All they had to do was hold the lie together and they’d get away with it. But they didn’t. John Dean broke ranks and blew the whistle. That’s when it all unraveled for Nixon’s administration.

“Shelle, what if Dante heard or saw something he wasn’t supposed to?”

“Like what?”

Max thought for a minute, but couldn’t imagine what it could be. “I don’t know.”

“Did Jack see the same thing?” she said. “How would they be connected?”

“What if there is a connection somehow?” Max said. “What if they got involved in something that went bad? Maybe it just got out of hand. Maybe like Watergate, someone broke ranks. And when they did, it started to unravel and people had to be silenced.”

Now Max wondered if Jack might have been legitimately trying to warn him. He’d seen Jack as the enemy. And he may have been, but he may have also regretted whatever he’d gotten into and was trying to make things right. Maybe whoever was in charge didn’t think he could trust Jack any longer.

“Okay, I’ve got it,” Michelle said. “You were right. Alex Martin graduated from Northern Arkansas State four years ago. He played fullback.”

“I knew it,” Jack said. “He looked like one. What else?”

“Now he works for the Pioneers Athletics Foundation as an alumni liaison.”

Alex Martin was a new piece to the puzzle. Somehow he was connected to all this, but he wasn’t a key player. Max was sure of that. He was just following orders. He’d heard the way he’d talked on the phone. He’d said, “sir.” And it was someone Alex didn’t want to disappoint. Exactly how this was connected to Dante and the Lakeside football program was the piece Max was missing, but it was the piece that he needed to figure out to get them out of trouble.

“How’s your connection?” Max said.

“It’s good for now,” Michelle said.

“Okay, it’s time to call, Bill,” he said.

CHAPTER 69

Michelle found the number in Max’s phone and dialed it on hers. Max started giving her instructions, but she cut him off and said, “I’ve got this. Just listen.” She winked and put the phone to her ear.

The phone started ringing. Bill wouldn’t recognize the number, so Michelle wondered if he’d even answer. And then on the sixth ring, he did. “Hello?” he said.

“Bill? This is Michelle Henry. Can you hear me okay?”

“Michelle? Yeah, I can hear you fine.”

“Bill, I don’t have long. We stopped for gas. Max is inside getting some coffee.”

“Michelle, where are you?”

“I don’t know. We’re somewhere in Missouri. Look, you’ve got to help me. Max is acting all crazy.”

“Tell me what’s going on.”

“I just watched him knock some guy out and then he stole a car. Bill, he’s crazy. He keeps talking about solving the crime. That’s all he talks about. Solving the crime. Solving the crime. I don’t know what to do, Bill.”

“What crime is he talking about?”

“I don’t even know, but I’m pretty sure it has something to do with Dante’s mother.”

“Michelle, what did he say about Dante’s mother?”

“I don’t think he’s telling me everything, but I get the feeling she told him whatever he needed to know, to, you know, solve the crime.”

“Okay, Michelle, now listen to me. You have to convince Max to meet with me. And it’s very important that he brings Ms. Jones. Do you understand?”

“Bill, I’m scared. I don’t understand what’s happening.”

“Michelle, listen to me, it’s nothing we can’t fix. Tell Max that if he’ll be a team player, we can all come out okay on this.”

“Wasn’t Jack a team player, Bill? I’m just so scared.”

“Listen to me, things got a little out of hand and Jack thought he could just walk away. But see, he wasn’t being a team player. He started looking out just for himself and they weren’t gonna go for that.”

“Bill, I don’t even know what you’re talking about. Who are ‘they’?”

“That’s not important right now. What’s important is that Max gets back here and brings Ms. Jones. Is that clear?”

Michelle paused for a moment and looked over at Max and smiled before she played the card that might just give them a key piece to the puzzle. “Bill, would ‘they’ be referring to the Pioneers Athletic Foundation?” There was silence on the line.

Then Michelle said, “Thank you, Bill.” And then she hung up.

CHAPTER 70

Michelle looked at Max, broke into a grin and said, “Oh yeah! I’m good!”

“I know, Shelle! That was awesome! What did he say?”

“It’s what he didn’t say,” Michelle said. “When I asked him about the Pioneers, he froze, Max. I could tell he was stunned.”

“Oh, you did so great, Shelle! That was amazing!”

“Yeah, that wasn’t a bad performance, was it?” she said, still with a grin on her face.

“Okay, so what did we learn?” he said. “We know this somehow involves the Pioneers foundation, right?”

“No doubt about that,” she said. “We’ve got Alex’s wallet and Bill’s almost admission.” Michelle was trying to replay the conversation. “They’re really scared of whatever Ms. Jones knows.”

“Yeah, so we know Ms. Jones and the Pioneers foundation are big pieces to the puzzle,” Max said. “I’m just not clear on what they have to do with it.”

Max kept trying to piece it all together. There was a relationship between the Pioneers and the Lakeside football program. Jack had been a part of it. Bill still was. And Dante and his mother were involved. But how?

“Ms. Jones knows something they don’t want anyone else to know,” Michelle said. “And they’re scared of her.”

“We’re really close, Shelle, but I’m afraid without whatever she knows, we’re stuck. And in danger.”

They drove in silence for about twenty minutes. Both were thinking through everything that had happened in last twenty-four hours. It had been a wild day. Adrenaline had kept them revved up, but that was wearing off now.

“Shelle, we’re driving a stolen car. We just left our other technically stolen and damaged rental car in Ozark, along with a guy I may have almost killed. I think we need to stop for the night and regroup,” Max said.

“I agree.”

“I say we stop in Branson for the night. We’ll get rid of this car somewhere and find another way back to Lakeside tomorrow.”

Max pulled off highway 65 at the exit for Branson Landing. “How’s the Hilton Promenade sound?” Max asked. “I can leave the car in that parking lot along the river. No one’s gonna find us tonight.”

Five minutes later, Max dropped Michelle off at the Hilton. “Go ahead and check us in,” he said. “I’m gonna leave the car way down at the far end of the lot.”

Max found a spot, parked and turned the car off. Before leaving it, he looked around to see if there was anything that could help them. It was also a rental and the two guys they took it from didn’t have much with them. Max shut the door and thought about tossing the keys in the river, but kept them just in case he needed it again.

It was a ten-minute walk back to the hotel. Fortunately, it was a beautiful late-September night in southwest Missouri. He and Michelle had enjoyed a number of romantic getaways and mini-vacations in Branson. They loved going to Silver Dollar City and riding the roller coasters. And during the Christmas season, they loved coming up to see all the lights. They hadn’t been back since Sarah had died though.

He wasn’t used to seeing so few people at Branson Landing where the Hilton was located. It had lots of shops and restaurants, but on a Sunday night in September, it was almost deserted. It actually made Max more vigilant. He was careful to check out everyone he saw. And if he saw a guy with a busted nose, he’d know to start running.

He thought about the forearm he’d delivered to Alex’s face. It was a vicious shot, but it had been necessary. Alex might not have been a professional killer, but he was hunting Max and Michelle. That was all the reason Max needed to take him down.

He made it back to the hotel without incident. He hoped the rest of the trip back to Lakeside would be uneventful. He wasn’t counting on it though. He saw Michelle waiting for him in the lobby. When he saw her sitting there, he realized they had no luggage. No change of clothes. No toothbrushes. No nothing. They’d left her bags in the other car.

He sat down next to her and said, “There’s a Walgreen’s a couple blocks from here. Why don’t you text me a list of what you need while I walk over there?”

Michelle walked to the elevator while Max walked to the store. As he entered the Walgreen’s a few minutes later, he received the text with her list of items. He went up and down the aisles, filled a basket and checked out. On his way back to the hotel Max texted Michelle to ask for the room number. She sent it to him and he took the elevator upstairs.

Max got out on the seventh floor, found the room and knocked. A moment later, Michelle opened the door with the chain in place. She was standing behind the door, so Max could only see her face. “Hey,” she said and closed the door slightly to unhook the chain. When she opened the door fully, Max was surprised to see she was only wearing a black bra and a matching thong.

Max really hadn’t expected to see her dressed, or not dressed, the way she was. It had been over a month since they’d even lived together. And much longer since they’d shared a bedroom. “Um, here’s the stuff you wanted,” he said, feeling a little uncomfortable.

“Can you put it in the bathroom for me?” she said.

Max set the bag in the bathroom and removed his toothbrush and toothpaste. He stepped out of the bathroom and said, “Should we do breakfast at 8:00?”

“Sure, that sounds good,” she said.

Max stood there and waited, but Michelle was just sitting on the bed turning on the TV. “I want to see how bad the storm damage is in New Jersey,” she said.

“Yeah, good idea,” he said still waiting near the door. He watched Michelle flip through the channels until she found FOX News.

After watching for a moment, she looked at Max and said, “What are you doing?”

“I need my key,” he said.

“Did you forget something?” she asked.

“What? No, I mean the key for
my
room.”

Michelle genuinely looked puzzled and then realized what Max was saying. She grinned like she had in the car after tricking Bill. “Max, you’re in your room.”

“Oh, well, I guess I just saw the one bed…” he said without really finishing his thought.

Michelle looked at Max standing there by the door. “Would you get over here?” she said. Max sat down next to her and she said, “It hasn’t been a great couple of years, Max. We’ve both made mistakes,” she said. “You, more than me.” She paused for a moment and said, “I’m kidding.”

“I have made more mistakes than you,” Max said. “Way more.”

Michelle smiled and said, “Yeah, we have some work to do, don’t we?”

“I’m committed to doing whatever I need to, Shelle,” Max said.

“Me too,” Michelle said. “I have tell you though, the way you came to Seaside…the escape from the storm…getting away from those two guys today…well, it’s kind of arousing.”

“Arousing?” he said.

“Very,” she said as she pointed the remote at the television and turned it off.