Angel Sleuth (31 page)

“There’s quite a market for painkillers like OxyContin, Vicodin, and even statins.”

She nodded, recalling an article she’d read recently about some elderly citizens who sold their prescription medications to pay for food or fuel bills. The buyers were usually drug addicts.

Jim filled her in on the rest.

“In this case, Sardino took over the role of seller and expanded his clientele to include people who didn’t want to pay the freight for full-priced prescriptions. People with money, like your mother.”

“My mother! She and hubby have more money than God. Why would she need cut-rate pills?”

Then again, Kaitlin remembered, her mother was queen of the yard sale circuit when she was a kid. “I guess Mother has always been frugal,” she said. “That probably hasn’t changed despite her new found money with hubby Harold. I remember once she bought a used Audi convertible that ran well for five years before it kissed a truck in a parking lot. No one was hurt, and she collected on the insurance.”

Kaitlin thought back on the scene in the bedroom. Could her mother have been swayed by the attentions of that oily Sardino? “Or maybe it was more than the discount. It could have been the attention she was getting from Sardino.” Flattery for the aging beauty queen. It sounded like Mother. Kaitlin shared Sardino’s come-on with Jim.

Jim’s next words shocked her. “Even so, she saw through him. That exchange of information was a set up. She was working for the good guys, the Feds and us.”

“You mean the authorities convinced her to rat out her crime buddies?”

“More like Harold and she began to wonder about Sardino and went to the authorities when it seemed clear to them that he was engaging in some illegal practices.”

“My mother, the federal agent. So she was just stringing Sardino along?”

“That’s right. She’s quite a woman. We wanted the prospectus he was passing to potential clients about a drug manufacturing enterprise. We suspected he had no intention of setting up any such concern, but that he was only interested in taking the money and skipping the country. He was pulling a Madoff but without any returns.

“ARC was only a temporary business for him, a fact he did not share with those who worked for him there. He used the locals to do the work, an easy task, since he blackmailed most of them. Everyone has a secret they’d rather not have revealed.”

“Right.” Kaitlin thought about Bethany and Baldo.

“Toliver lifted money from another retirement center he managed, got caught and couldn’t find a legitimate job any place else. Sardino provided him with phony papers so he could work here. And Barbara Bartlett worked with Dr. Sardino years ago. He helped her feed her cocaine habit.”

“It’s just endless. People’s vulnerabilities used by a ruthless doctor.” Kaitlin clinked the ice cubes around in her empty glass and shook her head when Jim held up the bottle to pour more.

“Toliver and Hiram would have found no tickets awaiting them when they got to the airport. Sardino wasn’t going to share with anybody. Once Barbara and Bethany began to abandon ship, he figured the jig was up, and he wasn’t surprised. He never planned for this thing to go on forever, just long enough to make and take his share of the money and to leave the locals to take the rap,” Jim said.

“And Baldo’s role in all of this?”

“Write the prescriptions, then look the other way when the pills went missing. Replace them with aspirin if necessary. Now we’re looking at the more difficult issue of wills made out to staff members and Sardino, and benefits continuing when death certificates weren’t filed with the proper authorities.”

“Do you think some of those deaths were, were, you know, arranged, maybe by Baldo?”

Jim looked at her and nodded. “It’s a real mess.”

A shudder ran through her body. “When I went to see Baldo, his front door was open. Kind of strange to leave your door ajar when committing suicide, don’t you think?”

“We found a suicide note so I don’t suspect foul play. In the note he admitted to killing Frederica and to ignoring the circumstances surrounding Leda’s death. It doesn’t clear up everything, but I think it’s genuine. We’ll put some pressure on Toliver and Blackman, and we’ll know more.” Jim shifted his weight on the bar stool.

“If you’re uncomfortable, we can go into the living room,” Kaitlin said.

They both settled beside one another on the couch.
Uhm, friendly.
Jim freshened his drink while she sucked the ice cubes in hers.
I’m not a drinker, and I don’t want to start now when I’ve got his undivided attention.

“How tight do you think that suicide note is? Baldo was one of the most selfish men I ever met. Somehow I can’t see him taking responsibility for any of his actions, but Sardino could as easily have injected Baldo with a lethal dose of barbiturates as Baldo could himself.”

“It’s something we’ll have to consider,” Jim said.

“And Barbara’s murder?”

“That was when things began to unravel for Sardino. Barbara decided to talk with the Feds. The meeting was scheduled the day after she was found in the Kinderkill. She must have mentioned something to Hiram, and he told Sardino. Hiram’s friend borrowed his car and killed Barbara, probably ordered by Sardino. Then while transporting her body, he lost control of the vehicle and ran it into the river.”

“Sardino. What a slimy character he is. It’ll be good to see him behind bars for several lifetimes.”

Jim shifted his weight around on the couch, and she noticed he wouldn’t look her in the eye.

“Now the couch is uncomfortable too? What’s going on here?”

“Sardino managed to skip the country before we could arrest him. He flew out in a small plane from a private airfield on Long Island. We can only guess he headed for some South American country with which we have no extradition treaty.”

“Oh, man. Suddenly life feels very lousy.”

“You’re not going to cry again, are you? And need a glass of water?”

Jim’s remarks stopped her on the verge of another attack of depression and brought tears to her eyes, yes, but also laughter. And she was glad when he laughed along.

“No, I’m fine. Just exhausted and not ready to face my future just yet. I think I could use a little sleep.”

Jim got up and held out his hand. “I could walk you to your bedroom and check under your bed for the boogeyman if you like.”

“Thanks, but I need to get used to taking care of myself, I guess.” Desdemona roused herself from the rug in front of the couch and gave a snort of protest. “Sorry, Dessie. I guess you can check under the bed for me.”

“You’d let the pig help you, but not me? I think I’ve just been insulted,” said Jim. Kaitlin searched his face to see if he was serious. He wasn’t. He smiled and drew her closer. “I know it’s too soon for you to consider me anything other than a friend, but…”

“No, no, I do think of you as more than a friend. I just need to go slowly at this point. My divorce isn’t final yet and, well, neither is my mistrust of men.” She stood on tiptoes and kissed him softly on his lips, but she found she didn’t want to end the kiss, so she leaned into it. Jim leaned in too and soon their friendly little kiss grew more passionate.

The doorbell rang.

Jim made a sound that sounded like a growl of irritation at the interruption. Kaitlin jumped away from him.

“Expecting anyone?” he asked.

“No.”

She opened the door. Zack stood there with a goofy grin on his face.

“Hi, honey,” he said. He stepped forward over the doorsill, and set the suitcase in his hand on her foyer floor.

“Say, I remember you from earlier, at the party. You’re a cop or something, aren’t you? I saw you when you left in the police cruiser. Arlene said there was some kind of trouble, didn’t go into detail,” said Zack. He extended his hand. “Name’s Zack Singer. I’m Kaitlin’s husband.”

Jim shook the proffered hand. “Jim Wallace. I guess I should be going.”

“No, you’re not,” Kaitlin said to Zack, then turned toward Jim. “And you stay put.”

“I’m not what, sweetums?” asked Zack. Oh, damn him, Kaitlin said to herself. He was trying his innocent act.

“Well, I mean, we are separated, but we can change all that.”

“What happened to Mrs. Gumball?” she asked.

“Who? Oh, you mean her. We decided to go our separate ways. I want you back. It was a big mistake leaving you.” Zack looked as if he were about to drop to his knees and beg.
Was that a tear in his eye?

“She kicked you out, didn’t she?” asked Kaitlin.

Zack lowered his eyes and shook his head up and down. “She’s busy with another project. I guess she found tying herself to an illustrator boring. I’m at loose ends here…”

“So let me get this straight,” she said, “You want to come back to me because you’re at loose ends?”

“No, no. You know what I mean.”

“Let me help you out here by tying up some of those loose ends.” She picked up the suitcase, stepped to the door, and threw it out into the yard. “I suggest you follow it.” She pointed at the luggage which had broken open from the impact. Clothes and papers spilled out onto the grass.

Zack’s mouth dropped open. “Now you see here. I’m doing you a favor by coming back. Don’t you understand that it’s really my illustrations that made your books?”

Suddenly the only thing Kaitlin could see in front of her was red, and she pulled back her arm. She’d punch the sorry SOB in the kisser.

But Jim stayed her arm. “I’ll give you thirty seconds to pick that trash up off her lawn and then I’m going to ticket you for littering. It’s a five hundred dollar fine and two weeks in jail.”

Kaitlin watched Jim’s brown eyes grow hard as mahogany while Zack’s registered nothing but disbelief. But he walked down the porch steps and stuffed his belongings back into the suitcase. Kaitlin heard him muttering under his breath as he left. “Rinky dink little town, rinkey dink stupid kid’s books…”

Kaitlin ran out onto the lawn. “For your information, Mr. Illustrator, my publisher rejected the drawings you submitted for the buzzard book. They insisted on a new illustrator. If we’d still been together, I would have fought for you. Now I’m glad I didn’t have to.” She picked up a shoe he’d forgotten to pick up and heaved it at his back. “Rinky dink illustrator.”

“You okay?” asked Jim as she returned to the doorway.

“I’m fine. Gosh that felt good.”

“So you want me to stay then?” he asked. She could hear the hopefulness in his voice.

“I want you to stay in my life. Tonight I want to be alone with my pig.”

“You’ve got yourself a deal.”

Dessie stood in the doorway and leaned against his leg, looking up at him with what Kaitlin thought was doubt in her eyes.

Jim seemed to read the message there. “You must be one hell of a pig,” he said.

* * *

A week passed. She heard nothing from Mary Jane and Jeremy and when she tried to pry information out of Mac, he cryptically told her Mary Jane was “being interviewed for a new position.”

“Interviewed? An interview only takes an hour or two at the most,” she said.

She and Mac sat on her front steps, enjoying the warmth of an early summer night. The entire village appeared to be out doing the same. The streets were crowded with citizens walking, biking, jogging or driving their cars slowly down the street.

“It’s like when I was a kid,” said Kaitlin. She waved at Brittany who rode by in a convertible with its top down and driven by some gorgeous man Kaitlin didn’t know. “But why would she be gone for an entire week on an interview? Was it out west? Or out of the country?”

“Look, I don’t know very much about this position, but apparently there are a number of steps to the interviewing process. There’s the interview and that’s followed by a trial work period.”

“I don’t see why she can’t be your guardian angel or even mine. Why does she have to be a guardian angel to a perfect stranger?”

“What the hell are you talking about? She interviewing for the position of road manager for a country western band.”

“A career change?”

“It’s a hell of a lot better than caregiver for some geriatric person about to leave this earth. What’s this guardian angel stuff?”

Kaitlin was surprised. As close as Mary Jane and Mac were, he didn’t know her profession. Well, maybe Mary Jane would tell him sometime. Kaitlin knew very well how difficult it was getting people to believe Mary Jane did what she did.

So did Jeremy inherit the guardian angel calling because it was turned over to him or was it passed on through the genes? She had so many questions to ask Mary Jane once she came back.

Mac looked depressed. Kaitlin shouldn’t have bugged him for information. It only reminded him of Mary Jane’s absence.

She patted him on the shoulder. “She won’t take that job. She’ll be back. I know she will.”

“How do you know?”

“There’s you.” Mac smiled. “And there’s me.” She smiled. “There’s Dessie and the other animals.” He nodded. “And most important?” Mac gave her a querying look. “She left her pool cue.”

* * *

Kaitlin was right. Mary Jane returned the next evening. She walked into the pool hall where Mac was beating Kaitlin for the fifth time.

“You’d think I’d get better soon,” Kaitlin was saying to Mac when Mary Jane pushed open the door. She stood in the open doorway with the full moon spilling into the room. The lunar light back lit her so that she seemed to shimmer with a luminescence Kaitlin knew could only be other-worldly.

“Well, you’ve got to practice a whole lot more than you’ve been doing. You’re too busy on that new book. You should take a day or two off each week. Have some fun. See that Jim guy more often. Get a life, Kaitlin. And aim low on the cue ball or you’ll dump it in the pocket and scratch,” Mac said. Then he turned toward Mary Jane. “Honey,” he said and seemed to glow with his own light.

Oh, oh, here goes, thought Kaitlin, hormones will be swirling in the air.

“I took the job.”

Kaitlin’s spirits took a plunge. Mary Jane would be leaving for good.

“Well, I mean, I took the job if Kaitlin’s willing to have Jeremy live here. I can’t take him on the road with me.”