The Queen of Cool (43 page)

“
I’m going to head back and
get the car,” Larry said. “Do you want to go meet
everyone?”

“
I’ll see if I can find a
path or something to you,” Mutt said. “That might narrow down the
buildings. I’ll bring you the key.”

They heard Mutt run down the stairs. After a
brief exchange with the owner of the Cattlemen’s, Mutt said: “I’m
coming up.”

“
We’ll do some updates
while y’all come back here,” Lisa said.

“
Okay,” Larry said. “I’ll
let you know if anything happens.”

Lisa turned around to look at Sy and
Manny.

“
Did y’all figure out if
Don was paying someone from that base?” she asked.

“
Sy checked the names with
his old CO,” Manny said. “One of the guys was from Newport Chemical
Depot.”

“
He worked for a
contractor,” Sy said. “My CO called the contractor. Turns out the
contractor was working with Don.”

“
The guy, uh, Leroy
Hudson,” Manny checked his notes. “He’s been missing since just
before Don died. His wife filed with FWPD a couple of days after
Mr. Hudson disappeared from his hotel. I remember the case. His
wife said he came here for work, but there was no record of any
employer. He stayed at the Hyatt on Exchange Street. The hotel
staff remembered him leaving the hotel every day around eight and
returning every day around six. He would eat breakfast, pack a few
food items into a brown leather backpack, and leave for the day.
His routine didn’t vary for weather or weekend. Until one day,
about a week before Don died, he never returned.”

“
That seems too close for a
coincidence,” Sy said.

“
I know,” Manny said. “Will
and I looked into it. No one found the backpack, and he just
disappeared. When Don died, it was assigned to someone else. I
never gave it a thought until Sy called.”

“
Has to be the guy,” Lo
said.

“
I wondered if you met him,
Lo?” Manny asked.

He gave Lo a photograph of a young
African-American man. Lo looked into the smiling face and then
slowly nodded. She gave the photo to Yazmin, who nodded.

“
He went for a run with us
once or twice. Came to dinner,” Lo said. “Nice guy. Don said he was
an engineer. He was designing something for us. I assumed it was
air conditioning for the house. We had no end of trouble with the
air there. Mutt rebuilt the system more than once. I figured it was
some new refrigeration thing.”

Mutt jogged up to the SUV. He opened the
hatch and climbed over the seat to sit between Yazmin and Lo.

“
Did you ask Tobar to look
at the electrical for this property?” Manny asked Mutt.

Sy passed Mutt a cup of coffee and Mutt
smiled his thanks.

“
Tobar got to the city just
before they closed,” Yazmin said. “He told them he was making a bid
on one of the reconstruction projects on this end of Exchange
Avenue. He does a lot of contracting so no one would
know.”

“
Electricity comes into
three buildings,” Mutt said. “That five-story building over on
Niles City. “

Everyone in the SUV turned to their left to
look at the towering building a few hundred feet to their left.

“
The one to our right,”
Mutt pointed to a smaller two-story building to their right “Or
possibly the one next to it.”

“
We’ll split up and…” Manny
started.

“
After looking at the
buildings this afternoon, and being in the tunnels tonight,” Mutt
interrupted Manny. “I think our best bet is the one on Niles City
or this one next to us.”

“
Why?”

“
Location, mostly,” Mutt
said. “There’s no evidence of anything going in or out of the one
by the railroad. This one right next to us has a solar panel on the
top.”

“
And the big one?” Manny
asked.

“
It’s next to the road,”
Mutt shrugged. “Donny didn’t get my help or Lo’s help. I think he
moved it himself. His back was never very strong, and after the
beating when Mandy was a baby, he couldn’t lift really heavy
things. Whatever he moved through those tunnels was
heavy.”

“
Did you ever call the
doctor, Lorraina?” Yazmin asked. “To find out about…”

“
You were right,” Lo said.
“Sue Ellen used artificial insemination to have the
girls.”

“
With Mr. Don’s father’s
seed?” Yazmin asked.

“
Yes, but I don’t know any
more than that,” Lo said. “My favorite nurse remembers Sue Ellen;
she’s kind of hard to forget. I remembered the nurse telling Don
that she’d worked in fertility since the 80s.”

“
And this matters right now
because…?” Manny looked at Lo and then at Yazmin.

“
Sue Ellen seems to have a
vested interest in all of this,” Lo said.

“
Sure, she wants her share
of Don’s estate,” Manny said.

“
It’s not that much,” Lisa
said. “She gets a small lump sum and that’s it. Lo’s right. If she
can get the girls to inherit Henry’s fortune, she’ll get a chunk of
money.”

“
I knew it,” Mrs. Williams
said.

“
Are you talking about Sue
Ellen Carr?” Sy asked.

“
And Don’s girls,” Lo
nodded.

“
Sue Ellen was at the shop
this evening when I was closing up. I know she heard me on the
phone with Manny.”

“
What did you say?” Lisa
asked.

“
Nothing really,” Sy said.
“Um. I think I said something like, ‘Hey, Manny. Okay, I’ll take
care of it.’”

“
I don’t like it,” Mutt
said.

“
I don’t either,” Manny
said.

“
Hey,” Larry’s voice came
over the walkie-talkie. “Can you hear me?”

“
Yes,” Mrs. Williams said.
“Go ahead.”

“
The truck won’t start,”
Larry said. “Can you come and get me?”

“
There’s nothing wrong with
that truck,” Mutt said. “It’s in perfect condition.”

“
It’s so perfect that it
won’t start now,” Larry said.

“
Give us a minute, Larry,”
Manny said. “We need to figure out what we’re doing, and someone
will come to get you.”

“
Hang tight,” Mrs. Williams
repeated into the walkie-talkie. “We’ll let you know.”

“
I think Lo should go to
get Larry,” Manny said.

“
No way,” Lo said. “If
there’s a lock or a keypad, you’ll need me to get you
inside.”

“
We have the
walkie-talkies,” Manny said.

Lo shook her head.

“
She’s right,” Mutt said.
“Donny would never design something Lo couldn’t get into. It’s just
how he was. There might be a code, but it’s probably something
more.”

“
Fine, then Lo’s with me,”
Manny said.

“
Fine,” Lo said.

“
Yazmin and Mrs. Williams
can go pick up Larry,” Mutt said.

“
But…” Yazmin
started.

“
I agree,” Lo said. “We
don’t know what we’re getting into and…”

Yazmin hugged Lo.

“
I’ll need you to raise the
baby if anything happens,” Lo whispered in Yazmin’s ear. Yazmin
leaned back and Lo nodded. Yazmin hugged her again.

“
I’ll go with Mutt,” Sy
said.

“
We’ll check these
buildings,” Manny pointed to the buildings on the left. “They’re
smaller. Lisa, why don’t you go with Mutt and Sy? You all can take
this first building. It’s bigger than the other. Lo and I will take
the one nearest the railroad.”

“
Got it,” Lisa
said.

“
When Yazmin and Mrs.
Williams get back with Larry, we’ll go over to the building by
Niles City.” Manny nodded to each of them.

“
You think it’s in the
bigger building?” Lo asked.

“
I don’t want to rule
anything out,” Manny said. “But yeah, if I was Don, I’d pick the
larger, taller building.”

“
Taller building means
deeper foundation,” Mutt said.

“
Basement room,” Manny
said. “That’s what I was thinking too.”

“
Makes sense,” Mrs.
Williams said.

“
We’ll keep the
walkie-talkies,” Manny said. “Stay in touch.”

“
Listen, this could all
turn out to be nothing,” Lo said. “But thanks for being here to
help.”

“
Oh Lo, of course,” Lisa
said.

“
We should go,” Manny
said.

He got out of the SUV with his backpack. Lo
slipped past Mutt. She got out of the SUV so the couple could say
good-bye. Manny gave her a headlamp and a flashlight. Sy stepped
out after her and Lisa came around the SUV. Manny gave them
headlamps and flashlights. She hugged Lo.

“
We miss you at the house,”
Lisa said.

“
I miss you all,” Lo
said.

Lisa hugged her again. Mutt helped Yazmin
out of the back of the SUV and into the driver’s seat. They waved
to Mrs. Williams as Yazmin drove the SUV off the property. Mutt
took a flashlight and headlamp from Manny.

“
Let’s check our
walkie-talkies,” Manny said.

They went around the circle making sure the
devices worked.

“
Flashlights?” Manny asked.
“Headlamps?”

They tested their flashlights and
headlamps.

“
Good,” Manny said. “These
buildings are falling down. Be very careful. Move
slowly.”

“
Got it,” Lisa
said.

They walked together to the first building.
Manny and Lo waited until Mutt, Sy, and Lisa were inside.

“
Ready?” Manny
asked.

Lo nodded and they walked to the building by
the railroad. Lo pointed to the wire coming off the wooden pole
near the train tracks and into the building.

“
Probably phone.” Manny
said. He took her arm and they went into the building. “I’d like to
stick together if that’s all right.”

“
Sure,” Lo said. “Should we
start at the top?”

“
May as well,” Manny
said.

Lo pointed to the stairs. Manny followed her
up the stairs to the second floor. Over their walkie-talkies, they
heard Lisa and Mutt reach the second floor of the building near
them, and Mutt head to the top.

“
Is Mindy Sue okay?” Lo
asked.

“
I wondered if you could
come over when we’re done here,” Manny said. “I told her
everything. But…”

“
She still thinks we’re
having an affair?” Lo asked.

“
We’ve reached the second
floor,” He said into his walkie-talkie. Manny flashed his
flashlight around the empty shell of the second floor. There was a
gaping hole in the center of cement floor. “Second floor is
empty.”

“
Third floor is empty,”
Mutt said from the building next to them. “Heading back to the
second.”

“
You remember her sister
Cindy,” Manny said. “You used to call her Cinder.”

“
Because she’s so mean and
bitter,” Lo nodded. They started down the stairwell to explore the
first floor.

“
She was at the Stockyards
Hotel with that ghost tour,” Manny said.

“
I didn’t notice her,” Lo
said.

“
She’s gained a couple
hundred pounds,” Manny said. “You probably didn’t recognize her. I
wasn’t looking.”

“
But she saw
us?”

“
She took a photo of us
rushing through the lobby,” Manny said. “She told Mindy Sue that
she saw us making out in the car and that we had a quickie in the
hotel. Mindy Sue was…”

“
Heartbroken,” Lo
said.

Manny nodded toward the interior of the
first floor and Lo started forward.

“
She knows Cindy is awful
but…”

She adjusted her headlamp for maximum
brightness. Manny’s flashlight moved in practiced motions across
the empty shell of the first floor. Their beams of light
highlighted small circles of light while deepening the dark and
shadow around. Cement and brick from the ceiling above created
hills and valleys of rubble.

“
But Cinder is Mindy Sue’s
sister,” Lo said. “You always believe your sister. I get
that.”

“
I told Mindy Sue
everything,” Manny said. “She has Terrell’s number at the FBI. If I
don’t come home tonight, she’s going to call him.”

“
Oh sorry man,” Sy’s big
Cajun voice said over the walkie-talkie. “Didn’t mean to disturb
you.”

“
Do you see someone?” Manny
asked over the walkie-talkie.

Lo looked back at Manny from where she was
standing under the hole in the second floor.

“
Drunk and homeless,” Sy
laughed. “You come by the shop and we’ll get you a
meal.”

“
Use extreme caution,”
Manny said.

The waning moon appeared from behind a
cloud. Lo looked up at the flash of light to see the moon framed by
a small hole in the roof. Lo smiled at the bright half moon.

The sharp crack of a gunshot came over the
walkie-talkie.

“
Sy?” Manny yelled into the
walkie-talkie.

“
Oh crap!” Mutt said at the
same time Lisa said, “What the hell was that?”