5 Tutti Frutti (28 page)

I coaxed Louie’s decrepit Geo Metro
to life and sputtered my way around the corner. When I got back to Louie’s he was still asleep on the couch, clutching his almost empty bottle of Jameson like some sort of security blanket.

I wa
s drinking coffee at the counter when he stumbled into the kitchen. I’d spent the past couple of hours planning to write down all the ways I might find Candi. So far the only thing I’d written down was her name.

“You look like I feel,” he grumbled.

“Did you tell me the D’Angelos have a lake place up north?”

“Yeah, and a condo they rent out in Vegas.”

“You got a location on the lake place?”

Turned out the place
was in the middle of St. Louis County, way up north. I knew a guy in the sheriff’s department up there and called him. I had to leave a message but unlike Candi, Aaron, Manning, and just about everyone else I knew he returned the call a few minutes later.

“Dev, long time
, man, how they hanging?”

“Good Tony. Hey
, calling to see if you can give me a hand. I got a client down here looking for someone and we’re wondering if maybe she isn’t at a cabin up there and out of cell phone range or something. Is it possible you could maybe check the place out see if she’s there?”

“Is it on a lake or in the woods?”

“On a lake?” I asked Louie.

He nodded yes.

“A lake.”

“Cool, I got my
boat hooked up and maybe I can get some fishing in.”

“I’m sure they wouldn’t mind. Call me if you see her, maybe keep it on the quiet side, if
you catch my drift,” I said.

“Yeah, I ge
t it, probably just another woman trying to get as far away as possible from you.”

I ignored the comment and gave him the address.

“Nothing else comes up I’ll call you later this afternoon. I’d like to get the boat in by four thirty, walleyes have been biting all week.”

“Glad you got your priorities, Tony.”

“You betcha,” he said and hung up.

“Sounds like you’re sort of grasping at straws,” Louie said.

“It’s about all I got. I been sitting here racking my brain and I can’t come up with anything. I’m really worried, Louie. I can’t figure out where in the hell she would be. Why she wouldn’t get in touch with me? Unless she can’t.”

“
Maybe she just needs some space and she’s, I don’t know, driving around town or something.”

“That
reminds me,” I said. I pulled my wallet out and fished the dollar bill from the back. I’d written down the license number of that Porsche I saw parked in Candi’s garage but never checked it out.

I punched in a number on my cell and waited four rings.

“Department of Motor Vehicles, this is Donna. How may I help you?” a cheery voice said.

“Hey
, Donna, Dev Haskell.”

There was a
slight pause, just long enough to turn things icy, before she whispered, “You said you’d never call me here.”

“
No, I said I wouldn’t call you unless it was an emergency.”

“What do you want
?”

I ha
d a vision of her sitting in a grey office cubicle with her hand over her mouth as she spoke on the phone, trying to look innocent and failing miserably.

“Look, I just need yo
u to run a license plate for me. I want to find out who the car is registered to then I’ll let you go.”

“Promise?
” she didn’t sound too sure.

“Scout
’s honor.”

“Okay, give it to me
?”

I read the number off the dollar
bill. I could hear the keys clicking on her computer then listened to her breathing while she waited.

“Registered to Rockett, Dudley
. One one four two Dorthea Avenue, Saint Paul, Minnesota. Anything else?”

“
Dudley Rockett?” I said lost in thought.

“Anything else?”

“No, no thanks, Donna appreciate your help,” I said but she’d already hung up.

“Who was that?”

“I woman I know down at the DMV. She owes me a favor for the rest of her life.”

“What
the hell, did you have photos of her with someone other than her husband?” Louie joked then saw the look on my face and said, “Oh, yeah. So what’s up?”

“
I saw a really pricey car parked in Candi’s garage and wrote down the license number. Guess who it’s registered to?”

“
I heard you mention Dudley Rockett. What the hell does that mean?”

“I’m not sure.”

Chapter Fifty-Four

I could say something
wasn’t right, but that would be the understatement of the year. A super expensive car registered to that low life Dudley Rockett parked in Candi’s garage? Cazzo or the D’Angelos must have parked it there and now she was tied up in this mess. I was more worried than ever.

Tony called me back a little after five with a report that the D’Angelo lake place looked like it hadn’t been occupied for months
, and the walleyes weren’t biting.

Much later
I left Louie happily watching a rerun of
Teenage Mom
and ranting in front of the TV. I drove back to the D’Angelos’. I parked on the side street armed with a tray of high octane coffees and settled in to wait. A little after midnight the garage door opened and a shiny black Mercedes pulled out.

There were two people in the car. Tommy was behind the wheel and looked past me
checking for oncoming traffic before he turned. Gino sat in the back seat. I had slouched down as their garage door went up, but was able to catch a blank stare from Gino just before they drove off.

Once again I had to coax Louie’s car to life then nearly fl
oored it to get the thing going. It shuddered around the corner belching black clouds of exhaust. I could see the tail lights of the Mercedes a good block away. There wasn’t any other traffic at this hour, so I was able to follow from a distance and not be recognized.

They
drove along the river bluff, and then crossed over the Mississippi on the 35E bridge. Tommy took the first exit and maybe a mile down the road turned into an exclusive condo development. I drove past the entrance then pulled a U-turn farther down the road and doubled back.

The
condo units were attached three story brick and timber affairs. They had separate entrances set beneath steeply peaked slate roofs and tall fireplace chimneys. Every home had an attached double garage with a smaller third garage set back slightly that probably served to house a golf cart. They looked like a series of English cottages, which I guess fit since the sign coming in identified the development as Buckingham Estates.

At this hour most of the units were dark
, although a number of cars were parked in front of the last place at the far end of the street. The Mercedes flashed its tail lights and I coasted to the side maybe ten lots behind. I turned off the Geo Metro and waited.

About a half minute later
Tommy climbed out of the front seat then opened the rear door for his brother. Gino stood in the street bobbing up and down until Tommy took him by the arm and led him up to the front door. Other than being led, Gino seemed to have absolutely no problem walking. Once they stepped inside the condo, I waited a brief minute then walked down the block to get a closer look.

The place was dark, I mean
the blinds or drapes were tightly drawn. I counted a total of nine vehicles in the driveway and parked on the street. All were pricey rides including one that was very pricey; a silver Porsche 911 Carrera 4S. The license plate rang a bell. It was the same one I’d called on this afternoon. The one registered to Dudley Rockett.

I took out a couple of business cards from my wallet and
wrote down the address. Then I took down all of the license plate numbers. When I finished I resisted the urge to check out the back of the house and instead walked back to Louie’s car, rumbled the thing to life, and putt-putted my way back to his house.

***

I phoned my close pal Donna down at the DMV before nine the next morning.

“Hi
, Donna, Dev.”

There was a pause before she hissed,
“Shit, now what?”

“Just need a little help. I’ve got some plates I’d like you to run.”

“I did that for you yesterday. I can’t be doing this all the time. Somebody’s going to find out and I could lose my job,” she whispered.

“Okay, look
, you’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking. Hey, did I mention those photos of you and that young intern from your office? Was he in college or just high school? Hard to tell with that baby face. Was he even eighteen?”

“
Okay, okay, I’ll do it, just don’t bring that up, please.”

“Thanks
, Donna, I knew you’d understand. I’ve got about a half dozen plates. You want me to just text them to you?”

“No,” she whispered, “that leaves a trail. Just read
the damn things to me and I’ll get back to you. Everyone is in the office right now. I’ll have to call you back when they go on break.”

“Fine, appreciate the help,” I said then read off the license plate numbers from the night before.

“That’s seven,” she said as if to correct my earlier faulty description of a half dozen.

“
Gee, you’re right, that must be why the college kids go for you.”

She hung up.

“Now who are you harassing?” Louie asked. He was standing in the kitchen doorway wearing possibly the largest pair of Batman boxers I’d ever seen and scratching himself.

“Just m
y friend Donna down at the DMV. I had a couple of license plates I wanted to run.”

“She must owe you big time,” he said
, shaking his head then shuffled toward the coffee pot as my phone rang.

“Wow
that was fast. Dev Haskell,” I answered.

“Detective M
anning, Haskell. My, but aren’t we cheery this morning.”

“Yeah, I didn’t know it was you
, Manning.”

“What
? Now you don’t care to speak with me?”

“No
, I’m loving it. What can I do for you?”

“I just wanted to
be the first to let you know that your car is available for pickup at the city impound lot.”

“Th
e impound lot?”

“Yes
, I took the liberty of having it towed down there, thought it might be more convenient for you.”

“Gee
, thanks, I suppose there’s a fee.”

“Oh
, no, there’s several.”

“What?”

“Let’s see, a tow from your driveway to the crime lab, another tow down to the folks at impound, of course three days and counting while it’s been sitting down there.”

“I could have picked up my car three days ago?”

“Gee, must have gotten lost on my desk. I’ve been real busy.”

“Listen
, Manning, this is nothing short of harassment. Hello? Hello?”

Louie looked a
t me and raised his eyebrows. “Another love message from that charmer, Manning?”

“Yeah. Hey
, can you please put something on? I’m trying to get my morning off on the right foot. Then can you give me a ride down to the impound lot so I can get my car?”

“Give me five minutes,” Louie said.

It was closer to forty-five. Louie had dodged into the bathroom for a good half hour. When we finally arrived at the impound lot he pulled over to the curb. “Hey, I can wait if you want, but I better not turn this thing off. I’m worried it won’t start up again.” With that, a cloud of exhaust seemed to get sucked into all four open windows and we both began fanning the air.

“
No, you go on, appreciate the lift down here. I’ll see you at the office.”

Chapter Fifty-Five

I was seated at my desk
writing down the names and addresses from the license numbers as Donna read them off to me.

Louie was sleeping in his
office chair with his feet resting on the picnic table.

“That should do it,” Donna said when she’d finished.

“Thanks, Donna, as always I appreciate it.”

“Dev, I’
m sorry if I was a little short earlier, it’s just sort of a delicate subject with me. Maybe we could work out some other arrangement if you wanted to get together sometime. We could discuss some options over a couple of drinks. I always thought it would be fun to get to know you better.”

“Actually
, Donna, I’m kind of in enough trouble right now.”