5 Alive After Friday (24 page)

S
andy threw her fist in the air as she
skipped over to Mel Shapiro waiting in his car behind the used car office
building. “We were on the right track!” She explained what Brad had just told
her and it fit perfectly, “His statement definitely puts Gail up at Park Beach
going after Boyd for the money. As far as I’m concerned, the Park Beach park
murder is solved! It's up to the police now to nail down the evidence.”

“So, she wasn’t Jane, and she wasn’t part of the
extortion plot.”

“That’s right. Gail didn’t know what she was
getting into. All she knew was Boyd was picking up some money and she wanted
it. We now know positively that Gail shot Boyd and has our money.”

“And if Gail has the money, then Jane doesn’t have
it.”

“Yes, Jane is still out there and wants her money
back. Remember, I saw a dark Honda following Gail from work yesterday.”

“That has to be Jane.”

“Even so, I‘m going to worry about Jane later. Getting
the cash back into my hot little hands comes first.” She unlocked her car. “Thanks
for your help and support through all of this.”

“I’ll follow you back to your hotel.”

“Not at all necessary. I’m learning I-95 by heart.
I need to wash off the jail before I do anything else today.

“We’re both going that way. I might as well follow
you. We can say goodbye there.”

He followed her to the Marriott, they parked and
both got out.

“Thanks again for being here.” She gave him a hug.

His face turned serious and he looked at her
closely. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” And in a soothing tone, he said,
“Can’t help thinking about you being down here alone.” He put his arms back
around her.

She moved away.

His face flushed with embarrassment. “I’m sorry. You
know there was always something between us. At least, I’ve had feelings for you
for a long time...oh, that just slipped out.”

“Don’t make it difficult.”

“What’s difficult?”

“I’m not ready.” She was being honest. She did like
him and knew he’d been quietly waiting around for the day she broke up with
Chip. Perhaps in his mind he saw himself as next in line.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t plan that, Sandy. I assure
you I’d no intention of disclosing my feelings for you, when I came down here.”
She was looking away from him. “I want your mind to stay on Chip as long as you
want.”

“I like my mind on him.”

“I understand. But when you’re ready, will you
give me a call?”

“This isn’t the time to talk about this, Mel. I’m
not ready. I’m still living in my old world, not ready for something new.”

“Meanwhile, what happens while you’re getting
ready?”

“There is no
meanwhile
and nothing happens.”

“I understand.”

“For chrissake, don’t say it like that. There’s
still a you and a me. There just isn’t any
us
right now. You are ahead
of time, is what you are.”

He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. “Okay,
I’ll see you in Park Beach.”

Through the rear lobby window, Martin had been
watching them. He’d started out to greet them, had even opened the door and
then stopped, as their discussion appeared to be personal. Soon others would
line up for her, and he wouldn’t be one of them. Long ago, she had indicated it
wasn’t meant to be for the two of them. He turned and went up to his room to
wait. Sooner or later, she’d need him and she’d call him. At least she always
had.

N
ot
more than an hour later, Sandy and Martin were sitting in his car in the large customer
parking area behind the Gardens Mall watching Gail’s green Ford. He had
suggested a brunch before leaving the hotel. No time, she said, have the hotel
make us two box lunches. After a quick shower, she changed into jeans, walking
shoes for trailing Gail and her pink baseball cap.

They took Martin’s car as it was less conspicuous.
This time Martin parked next to some trees in the last row far to the side in
case Jane’s dark blue Honda was also waiting nearby out of sight. They could
just see Gail’s car where she usually parked at the end of the row near the
rear mall entrance.

“It’s still several hours until Gail gets off
work,” he said.

“I know what time it is.” That came out a bit
snippy so she added, “We’re assuming she hasn’t picked up the cash yet, but she
could leave work early. We can’t take that chance. We need to stick to her tail
from now until the closing tomorrow afternoon. Just keep that air conditioner
running.”

“Relax, Sandy. You’re really wound up. I don’t
believe anything is going to happen tonight. From the way Gail was talking, she
wasn’t going to retrieve the cash and take it to the bank until tomorrow
morning.”

“We have no choice. She’s the only person who
knows where that cash is. She hid it somewhere. What if she decides to pick up
the cash and take it to the bank today? No, we’ll stay on her back. We’ll camp
outside her condo all night if necessary.”

“Do you believe Jane is parked someplace around
here also watching Gail’s car?”

“Yes, I do. I just hope she isn’t watching us as
well.”

“We’ve come a long way with all this haven’t we?”
He started to say a long way from her being in the Everglades, but that would
trigger thoughts of Chip. “I don’t know if we’ll ever see our money again, but
I feel we’re close to wrapping up all of this.”

“How are you feeling, Martin? This is the exciting
part—the moment of truth.”

“
El momento de verdad
,” he
replied
.
“The point in a bullfight at which the matador makes the
kill.”

“The excitement gets the adrenaline surging and
you know you’re alive.”

“I guess it’s fun, in a way, except people can get
hurt, or dead,” he said.

“You’re getting good at this. You’ve a knack for
finding out things without getting your hands dirty. Absolutely masterful the
way you found out from Gail what you wanted to know. Then took a phone call in
the middle of the seduction and ran out of her apartment.” She was teasing, he
wouldn’t mind. “Sounds just like a man.”

“Come on. Bad enough I compromised my ethics and
mislead the woman to get her to trust me. Now you’re making fun of me.”

“I’m sorry. You’re right. I couldn’t resist. You
see, my concern was about
her
doing the seducing. Whatever, you were
very successful. You discovered she had an alibi for the night of the abduction
thereby eliminating her as Jane, found that she was renting and hadn’t closed
on the condo, and that the cash was hidden and not already in the bank.”

He thought he’d run a little tease. “I’m glad you’re
not the least bit curious about how I got all that information out of Gail.”

“Martin! How could you even think that of me? Of
course, I’d never go so far as to pry. It’s simply none of my business. I
couldn’t care less.” She gave him a sidelong glance. “So, what happened?” She started
laughing. “I’m joking. I’m joking...anyway, I know you did nothing inappropriate,
or you’d never have brought it up. Actually, you are to be congratulated. You
misled her but promised her nothing. Also, from the sounds of it, she wanted to
get you in the sack, and you didn’t take that easy way out.”

They weren’t laughing four hours later, when they
were all talked out and still taking turns staring at the green Ford.

“So I can’t run in, fetch a couple of coffees and
use the restroom, right?” he said.

“Right. Jane might see you. Any lunch left?”

He shook his head. “That apple was good.”

“Yeah, good apple.” She stretched her arms once
again to keep her body roused. “For one solitary girl, Gail certainly stirred
up a lot of trouble.”

“Unlike you.” Then he leaned over and nudged her. “There
she is!

Finally.

They held back as long as they dared, but didn’t
see any dark blue SUV pull out after her. They followed the green Ford out of
the mall parking lot. They assumed she was heading for I-95 but didn’t dare
take a chance on losing her. Martin was driving and Sandy was alert but saw no
sign of the SUV. She was somewhat surprised since the Honda had followed Gail
the day before. Sandy settled back in her seat. They followed Gail out the
access road, onto PGA Boulevard and onto southbound I-95.

It was fifteen minutes later when Sandy first
noticed the Honda SUV.

“Geez, Jane is right behind us!” Sandy scrunched
down in the seat.

“Right behind us?” Martin looked wildly between
the side and rear view mirrors. “I don’t see her.”

“Thank God there are seven lanes. She’s a couple
cars back in the next lane.”

“Are we in trouble?”

“I guess she doesn’t know your car. And I don’t suppose
she can see in through these tinted windows. Move into the right hand lane as though
you’re exiting.”

They did and the Honda went on past without
hesitation. Martin moved back off the exit lane.

“We’re good now,” she said.

Trailing the other two cars on the expressway with
no traffic lights to interfere was easy. They played follow the leader on down
I-95 until Gail exited at the Okeechobee Boulevard exit where she turned east.

After another three miles east on Okeechobee, Gail
drove beyond her normal turnoff, so they knew she wasn’t headed home.

The parade continued on until Gail pulled into the
wide curving driveway of a fancy Lexus dealership. The place was lit up like a baseball
field at night with large glass-sided showrooms and endless lines of gleaming
cars. Martin held back while the Honda stopped along the far entranceway.
Martin parked to the side not visible to the Honda.

Through the huge glass windows of the showroom, they
saw Gail talking with a salesman. He went into the large office off the
showroom floor and came back with a handful of papers. At one point they got up
and walked over to one of the cars on display, he was pointing and explaining
something.

They watched as Gail signed some papers and walked
outside with the salesman, talking and browsing amongst the line of the new
cars.

“I’d like to know what’s going on.”

“She’s spending our money, Martin, that’s what’s
going on. We’re about to buy her a brand new Lexus.”

“Perhaps I can find out something. Slide over here
behind the wheel. We may need to get out of here in a hurry.” He got out and
leaned back down to say, “Phone me if she heads back to the showroom or looks
like she’s leaving.”

“You don’t have time for this,” she said, shaking
her head. “Don’t let her see you.”

Gail and her salesman were still talking outside.

Martin strutted in and, after a token glance at a
car in the showroom, told another salesman he already knew what he wanted, “But
I absolutely don’t want to wait for delivery.”

“Is that your black Lexus I saw you get out of a
minute ago?”

“You don’t miss anything, do you? Yes, I’ll be
trading it, plus cash. You do take cash don’t you?”

“We have the largest Lexus selection in the
southeast, sir. Give us a half-hour to dust off your next beautiful Lexus, and
you’ll be sweetly coasting down the highway of life.”

“Nice sales pitch, but I happened to notice that
women who just left. She signed up with you folks, yet isn’t coasting away
sweetly in her new car.” Martin’s phone buzzed but he ignored it. “Is the woman
coming back or something?” His phone buzzed again. “My wife,” he said, rolling
his eyes.

“That woman is coming back tonight—the salesman,
leaned forward speaking confidentially, “With cash. We’ll have her new Lexus prepped
by the time she gets here.”

“I have to talk to my wife.” He grabbed his phone,
turned away and spoke low, “Start the car. Gail is going where the cash is. Did
you hear me? She is going right now for the cash.”

“I’ve been calling you! She has already pulled
away. She’s gone...and the Honda is already following her!”

“Okay...okay.” He tried to think fast. “Leave,
Sandy. Go on after them. I’ll take a cab back to the hotel and wait there for
your call. Be careful.”

“I’ve already left—I’m after them. Hold on,
Martin...I’m catching up. I need to make this light...then I’ll be fine. Damn! Watch
it! Sorry about that fella...I’m okay, following both of them again now.”

“Don’t drive and talk.”

He noticed the salesman politely turned away behind
him.

“Is there a problem, sir?”

“Yes, marriage.”

“I saw your wife drive away. Might I suggest you
buy two new cars?”

“Oh, she has plenty of cars. Can you call me a
cab?”

“Not necessary,” the man checked his watch. “Our
Courtesy Limo is on the way back. It’ll be just a slight delay. To where in
South Florida would you like to go?”

S
andy
braked to a stop out of sight at the curb on the side road that cut off from the
main street and ran alongside Gail Cramer’s Magnolia Palms condo. She watched as
Gail’s car swung around and disappeared into the resident’s private parking area
beneath the building. A second later, the Honda SUV pulled into the outside parking
area and backed into a guest parking spot along the back of the property. Backed
in, Sandy assumed, for a possible fast getaway.

She sat there in her car looking across at the
Honda and nervously gripping the steering wheel. She realized she’d see Jane
for the first time; it would be Jane stepping out of that vehicle. Finally, she
would encounter the treacherous woman who had burst into her life, abused and
threatened her. And caused her the grief of this long and dangerous undertaking
in pursuit of the extorted money. She was eager to engage this woman and find
out her story. Where was she from and how did it happen that she had targeted
Sandy? First Sandy must capture her.

The woman left the SUV, stopped and looked around
before hurrying across to the indoor parking area. Too dark for Sandy to make
out any facial features of the woman; however, the woman appeared to be of
average height, well dressed with shoulder length hair. In the darkness, Sandy
could not be seen leaving her car and following the woman. The lighting was much
better inside in the parking area, and Sandy wished the woman would turn around
and possibly be recognized. She now noticed the woman had a gun in her hand.

Sandy watched as the woman watched Gail, who at
first seemed to be heading for the elevator, but walked past. To the right of
the elevator, across the back of the parking area, was a solid wall with large
double doors marked “Storage.” Gail tapped in a code on the adjacent keypad and
opened the door. She went into the storage area and out of sight. The woman followed
walking cautiously and stood beside the doorway. She carefully leaned in and peeked
into the storage area. Then she stepped on in and was out of sight. Sandy took
a couple of fortifying breaths, tiptoed across the parking area and waited by
the doorway. She peeked in.

The storage area was sectioned off into dozens of
identical storage cages with thin, floor to ceiling wrought iron bars. Apparently,
each resident was assigned a storage enclosure secured with individual padlocks.
The cages were filled with boxes, luggage, bicycles, sporting equipment and small
furniture.

Sandy took a step into the storage area, then thought
better of it and stepped back beside the door opening. The wrought iron door of
Gail’s enclosure was standing open, and she was bending over a small travel case.
The woman stealthily approached Gail. Her hand with the gun was outstretched.

Sandy looked down at her own hands. Her phone was
in her pocket, but her hands were empty. At some point, the woman was going to
come running out of the storage area. Sandy hunted around for something to
defend herself with. She spotted a fire extinguisher across on the adjoining
wall. She gingerly stepped over to it and tried to unsnap the latch securing
the fire extinguisher from its holder on the garage wall. It wouldn’t unsnap.
Some great piece of emergency gear this is, Sandy cursed beneath her breath. Suddenly
it gave way. It slipped, but she was able to catch it just before it hit the
concrete. She lugged it back to her position outside the open storage room
door. It was heavy and she almost dropped it. She set it on the concrete
between her feet.

She took another peek into the storage area. Gail
had straightened up, had a package under her arm and was starting to close the
storage cage with a padlock.

“Don’t lock it, Gail.”

Gail was startled by the strange voice coming out
of the shadows; she cried out and dropped the package and her keys.

“You stole my money, Gail. I want it back—all of
it.”

Gail stood wide-eyed and speechless.

“Get back in that cage and bring out the rest of
the money.”

Sandy could easily hear them and now had the vague
feeling that the voice was familiar, yet she couldn’t place it.

“Who the hell are you?” Gail finally was able to
speak, “This money is mine. I earned it.”

“You didn’t earn it. All you did was shoot Boyd
and take it. I’m the one who planned it. And it wasn’t as easy as just shooting
someone.”

“Well, you shot Myra.”

“She wasn’t in my plan. She was...collateral
damage.” She stepped up to Gail with the pistol aimed right at her. “I’ll take
that package, now get out the rest of the money.”

Sandy suddenly realized she recognized the voice!
Should have recognized it that night kneeling in the mud with the gun pressing
on her neck, but it wasn’t a clear, normal tone as it was now. Sandy had it
now—she knew who Jane was and everything was beginning to make sense.

“I’ll split it with you.” Gail was saying. “You
should be grateful it was me who followed Boyd up to Park Beach to pick up the
money and not some greedy person you’d never be able to bargain with.”

“If he’d kept his fool mouth shut and not told Myra
about the money-drop, they’d both be alive right now and you could go on
living. Just give me all the money,” the woman said.

“What if I don’t?”

“Then I shoot you.”

“What if I do?”

“Then I shoot you.”

Gail was almost crying, “You don’t understand. I
can’t give up all this money. I just can’t. I really need it. Let me keep half
or else I’m going to tell the cops everything.”

“But...you’ll be dead.”

Gail couldn’t answer that.

“Look, you’re wasting my time,” the woman kept on.
“Now give me the money.”

Gail put her hands to her cheeks and begged, “Okay,
I’ll give you all the money. But you don’t need to kill me. I won’t tell anyone
about you.”

“You just said you’d tell the cops.”

Sandy watched as the woman took the rest of the
money from Gail, pushed her roughly into the cage, slammed the door shut and
snapped the padlock.

Sandy wasn’t certain how to save Gail. But when
the woman came running out, Sandy would be ready. She reached down and yanked
the safety pin out of the extinguisher’s trigger so she could discharge the
pressurized foam.

“Now move to the back of the cage. Stand back
there behind those boxes.”

Gail hurriedly pushed herself around some boxes
and cringed against the back wall. With eyes tightly closed she pleaded, “Don’t...don’t,
please don’t!”

The woman held her arm straight out through the
bars and aimed the gun.

“You don’t have to kill me,” Gail was speaking
rapidly trying to get in all the words before the gun went off. “Don’t you see?
I shot Boyd and you know that I did. I won’t dare turn you in, because then
you’d bring a murder rap down on me. You get all the money without killing
someone. You don’t really want to murder me, do you?”

The woman lowered the gun and sighed. “No, I don’t
want to kill anyone. The way this started out, the money was there, and I could
get it without hurting anyone. Then you came along and screwed it all up. If I
get rid of you, then I don’t have to worry about you.”

Sandy had to do something. She couldn’t just wait for
the woman to come out. Gail was about to be shot, maybe she could save her. She
loosened her grip on the fire extinguisher and let it slip loose. The
extinguisher fell hard on the concrete sounding a loud clang that echoed in the
large garage like a bell tower at one o’clock. She struggled to lift it back up
and then stood still.

The woman spun on her heels, aiming the gun at the
door to the garage. She slowly started walking out with the package tucked
under her arm. When she reached the storage room doorway, she stopped and peered
cautiously into the garage.

Sandy had a better idea than simply spraying foam on
the woman. She didn’t hesitate. She swung the entire extinguisher as hard as
she could. She caught the woman directly across the nose. The woman didn’t cry
out. Didn’t make any sound. Just instantly folded and dropped to the floor like
a wet rag and lay motionless.

“Geez, I killed her.” Sandy kicked the gun away and
leaned over to feel for a pulse. “No, you’re alive. But you’ve stopped running,
haven’t you, Jane?”

She found her phone, dialed 911 and started
answering the emergency operator’s questions regarding location, injuries and
such. “Need police and an ambulance. There are two nasty women here. One is
already locked up in a cage. She used to live upstairs, but she’ll be changing
her address again. The other woman ran into a fire extinguisher...yeah, that’s
what I said, the damndest thing...ran right into it. She’s a lawyer. At least
she was until she got greedy. And advise Detective Dominic immediately.”

“Is it his case?” the operator asked.

“Oh, absolutely. He deserves all the credit on
this one.”

She picked up the dropped packages. They were
heavy. A good sign. Eagerly she unwrapped the money. She recognized the bundles
of tightly bound currency she’d once carried in the gym bag. Perhaps some
packets of money were missing, but it was still a whole world of money.

She crouched down and spoke to the seemingly
lifeless body, “You know, I hate myself for saying this, but I’m not sorry.
I’ve been in a lousy mood lately, and I just don’t feel bad about you lying
there hurting. I’m so glad I don’t have to put up with any of you bad guys for a
while.” She turned the body over and grimaced at what she saw. “Geez, are you
going to scream, when you see what happened to your face.”

Sandy fumbled in her pocket, took out the card
from FBI Agent Hastings and dialed the number handwritten on the back. When he
answered, she said, “Sandy Reid here. How far are you from the Magnolia Palms
on US-1 in West Palm?”

“I live in West Palm. What do you need?”

She briefly explained and gave him the address. “So,
the kidnapping and extortion case is solved, Connie. You might want to hurry over
here before the reporters arrive. I want my name in the paper for business
reasons, but otherwise I’m just happy to have our money back. I’ll be telling
the media how much I appreciated the FBI’s help. You can tell them whatever you
want.”

Gail was now crying out and banging on the cage at
the rear of the storage room. Something about how it was all a misunderstanding
and it really
was
her money. Sandy didn’t bother to answer, and Gail
shut up when she heard the sounds of the sirens.

She dialed Martin, and said. “Where are you?”

“In a limo almost to our hotel.”

“Tell the driver to turn around and get over to
the Magnolia Palms. It’s all over. We have Jane and our money. This is fun and
you’ll never guess who Jane is.”

Sandy leaned against the doorway cradling the
money in her arms like a long lost child. She breathed out a heavy sigh. The
evil ones would now face justice. The innocent were safe from suffering. She was
safe. Martin was safe. Everyone she loved was safe, with the exception of Chip.
She’d gone almost all day without thinking about him. Almost.