Lie or Die: A Shelby Nichols Adventure (8 page)

“Shelby, wait!” Dimples rushed in behind me, and I slowed to get my bearings. At the door I could hear the man straining against Wilcox’s hold, and yelling that we were trespassing.

The bedroom opened on my right, and I flew inside, slamming the closet doors apart. Dimples saw her before I did. She was slumped in a ball, with her hands tied, and a piece of plastic wrapped around her head. Her mouth was open, and she was trying to breathe, but the plastic wouldn’t let her get any air. Dimples grabbed her, put her in my arms, and ripped the plastic away from her face. She gasped in air, and after a few tense seconds, her red face turned white, and she started to cry.

“It’s okay baby,” I said. “It’s okay.” I held her in my arms, and patted her back while she cried. “Just breathe, honey. I’ve got you. You’re all right now.” Her little body quivered, but she soon settled down. I kept whispering to her, holding her tight. Dimples left, telling Wilcox to cuff the guy, and radio that we’d found her alive. A few tense minutes later, her mother was there, pulling her away, sobbing with relief.

I let her go and wiped my eyes. She was safe, and I needed to get out of there. I found Dimples in the living room, talking to a cop. He excused himself, and hurried to my side. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“No.”

He grabbed my arm, and pulled me outside, leading me away from the crowd. He kept his arm around me while I calmed down. “That was close,” I managed to whisper.

“Yeah,” Dimples answered. “But we did it. You did it.”

I shook my head. “No,” I said forcefully. “We did it together.”

“If you say so,” he said, knowing from my tone I wasn’t comfortable taking the credit. “Yup…we did good. We did something real good. Focus on that, Shelby. Focus on that.” 

I took a deep breath, and let his words work on me. My legs were a little wobbly, but I was finally able to stand on my own. “Thanks Dimples. I’ll be okay now.”

He nodded and let me go. “I’m just going to talk to them for a minute, but I’ll be right back, and we can leave.”

“Okay.” I watched him go, grateful for some time alone. The police had cleared an area to keep the crowd at bay, but it was filling up with reporters and cameras. I did not want to go anywhere near them.

I glanced up, and noticed the young man still standing on his balcony. I waved him over, and he soon joined me.

“She was really in there?” he said, with a touch of disbelief.

“Yeah, she was,” I said. “You saved her life. Don’t ever forget that.”

He glanced at me, his brows drawn together with a question. I waited like a normal person for him to ask. “What made you believe me? That cop thought I did it. That’s why you came over. I fit the profile for your basic criminal. So what made you change your mind?”

I smiled at him and shrugged. “Just a hunch I guess. Kind of like the hunch you had about that guy. Have you ever thought about being a cop or a detective? I think you’ve got the chops for it.”

He laughed. “Actually…no.”

“Hmm…that’s too bad. You’d make a good one.”

Dimples joined us and gave the kid his card. “You saved that girl’s life. Could you come down to the station and make a statement?”

“I guess,” he answered reluctantly.

“Show them the card at the desk, and tell them I asked for you personally,” Dimples assured him. “No one will hassle you, I promise.”

“Fine,” he answered.

“Great…I’m Detective Harris.” He held out his hand, and the kid took it.

“Tyson,” he said.

“Good, see you soon.” Dimples turned to me. “You ready to go?”

“Yes. Let’s get out of here.” We skirted around the crowd of people, and made it to the street where the car was parked without drawing attention. As we pulled away from the curb, I caught a glimpse of the kidnapper being led to a police car. I shivered as the events washed over me again, grateful that I had made a difference in the outcome. It was close, but we’d saved her, and that was what mattered.

We pulled into the police station, and Dimples turned off the car, but made no move to get out. He was thinking that things were going to change for me when word got out about what I did, and he wasn’t sure it would be good.

“I was wondering,” I said. “If you could keep me out of your report. Or at least change it just a bit?”

“Like how?” he asked.

“Just say I accompanied you, but not that I knew she was in the apartment. Maybe that the way the guy was acting was suspicious or something, and that’s why we went inside. That would work, right?”

Dimples smiled, and turned his gaze on me. “Sure, I can do that. I’ll keep it between you and me. I’ll see if I can persuade Wilcox to do the same. Besides, no one would believe us anyway, right?”

“Exactly,” I agreed.

“How did you know?” he asked. “I mean…do you get images or something? It’s almost like you can read minds.”

I let out a nervous chuckle. “It’s mostly premonitions or something close to that,” I explained. “It’s best not to think about it too hard, though.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” he said.

“Well, if you don’t need me for anything else, I’m going.” I jumped out of the car before he could stop me. “See ya!”

He got out, thinking he needed to get my statement, but couldn’t bring himself to make me come back. He’d write up a report, and have me sign a statement later. Now all he had to do was decide what to tell the Police Chief.

I hopped in my car, grateful that was his problem and not mine. I’d done enough for today and was ready to go home. I had planned to stop at Novelty Creations on my way, but not now. I could check that out tomorrow. Right now all I wanted was to go home and hug my kids.

***

Chris was late getting home again. The trial he was working on had started, and he still had a lot to do for the next day, but I didn’t mind. Savannah and I spent the evening figuring out our vacation to Orlando. We decided it was better to stay at a hotel on the resort because of the benefits of getting into the park before the crowds. We even got Josh involved, and picked the week we wanted to go.

It was hard not to book the reservation right then and there, especially since Chris had thought that we had plenty of money for the trip, but I convinced Savannah and Josh that we needed to talk to him first.

Since I was so enthusiastic about it, they weren’t too worried about the outcome. They were right about that. I was bound and determined to take this trip together as a family and have some fun. I was sure I could get Chris to agree.

With no sign of Chris, I decided to watch the ten o’clock news. The kidnapping was the top story. The news crew had been there the whole time, and after showing a mug shot of the man responsible, they did a time-line of events. I was shocked to see myself walking across the lawn with Dimples and Wilcox. I was glad I’d worn the navy jacket over my white shirt and jeans. With my ID dangling around my neck, it made me look official, like I belonged.

The reporter was talking about the police presence while we were talking to Tyson. The camera went back to the reporter, and we took off toward the kidnapper’s apartment. The reporter was still talking when someone shouted that the police were running somewhere. The camera panned in on the apartment, and showed Wilcox grappling with the kidnapper.

The camera zoomed in on the kidnapper’s face, and a shiver went up my spine. Wilcox cuffed him, and the police converged, blocking the view. Next, the child’s mother ran with an officer into the apartment, and the reporter was saying that the girl had been found, but they didn’t know if she was alive.

It was several tense seconds later that the news reached them that she was alive and well. The camera panned back in toward the apartment, and showed me standing with Dimples, leaning over to catch my breath.

“Mom? Is that you?” Josh asked. “You were there?”

“What is it?” Savannah joined us. Her attention riveted to the footage of me and Dimples standing outside the apartment. The camera zoomed out to focus on the crowd and catch a glimpse of the kidnapper. The footage cut to a later image of the kidnapper being put into a police car, then showed footage of the mother and child being escorted to a waiting car. The story ended, and I clicked the TV off.

“Come sit down, and I’ll tell you what happened,” I said. I explained how I helped Dimples catch the kidnapper, and how scared I was. I told them about the good tip we got that led us to her. “Thank goodness she was still alive. So it all worked out.”

Josh didn’t buy my explanation. “Did you know she was in that apartment because of your premonitions?” I’d told the kids that I helped the police, but he’d uncovered the premonitions part himself.

“Yeah,” I said, trusting him and Savannah with that much of the truth. “But it’s not something I want people to know, so let’s keep it to ourselves, okay?”

“Sure,” he smiled. He was thinking it was almost like having a super power. How cool was that?

“You guys better get to bed,” I urged.

“But what about Dad?” Savannah asked. “I want to book our trip before it’s too late.”

“I’ll talk to him tonight. We can book the trip tomorrow. One more day isn’t going to make a difference.”

She sighed. “Okay. Goodnight.”

I got ready for bed, and Chris still wasn’t home. It was almost eleven-thirty and he usually called if he was going to be this late. Had something happened to him? I called his cell, but it went straight to voicemail, so I left a message to call me.

The case he was working on was big, but that was all I knew about it. Still, with it being this late without a phone call, my stomach knotted with concern, sending a spike of fear down my spine. I called his office line, just in case his phone was out of juice. It went straight to voicemail.

I decided to give him ten minutes or so to call me back, and got out my book to read. Ten minutes turned into twenty without a word. I had been reading the same paragraph for the last few minutes, and couldn’t concentrate. I snapped the book shut and picked up the phone.

It started ringing in my hand, and I jerked from surprise. Fumbling it in my fingers, I sighed with relief. It was Chris’ cell number. “Chris,” I snapped. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine, but I’m at the hospital.” His voice was strained.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“It’s Gary. Someone beat him up. Can you come to the hospital? I rode in the ambulance with him, and my car’s still at work.”

“Sure, I’ll be there in a few minutes.” I threw on some clothes, and grabbed my keys. Then I decided to write a quick note in case the kids got up, and jumped in my car. It seemed to take forever to get there. Due to the late hour, the parking lot was practically empty. I parked the car, and hurried inside to find Chris waiting in the main lobby.

“Hey.” I sat down beside him, and took his hand. “What’s going on? What happened?”

“Hi,” he sighed, giving me a quick kiss. “Thanks for coming.”

“Is Gary going to be all right?” I asked.

“He’s stable now. He’s got a broken jaw and some internal bleeding, but he’ll be okay. He got beat up pretty bad. His face is a swollen mess. I can’t believe this happened.”

“Tell me about it,” I said.

“I stayed to help him finish up some things for the trial tomorrow,” he began. “I wasn’t quite done, so I told him I’d finish up and he could leave. When I got to the parking garage about a half hour later, his car was still there. It didn’t make any sense, so I went over and found him lying face down on the concrete, with blood all over him. I thought he was dead.”

“Oh no. How awful,” I said.

“I checked for a pulse and realized he was just unconscious, so I called nine-one-one. The police think it’s a mugging because his wallet is gone, but I think there’s more to it.”

“Why?”

He glanced around before answering. “Gary showed me a note he got a few days ago. The note threatened that something would happen to him if he continued to defend our client. It said he needed to make sure our client lost the trial, or he’d be sorry.”

“Didn’t he take it seriously?” I asked.

“Not really. He’s had threats before, but nothing’s ever come of them. It just makes him more determined to win, and he didn’t think this case was any different, but now I’m not so sure.”

“Did you tell the police?”

“Yes.” He sat forward, exhausted. “They’re looking into it, but I doubt they’ll find anything.”

“Let’s get you home.” I tugged on his arm, and he stood up. I put my arm around him, and we walked slowly to our car. “At least Gary will be okay, but what happens with the trial?”

He snorted. “That’s the kicker. It’s mine now. I have to take Gary’s place.” Chris shook his head, worried that now he was a target.

This was not good. “I don’t understand. Why would someone want your client to lose? Who is your client anyway?”

“Adam Webb, of Webb Enterprises.”

Chapter 5

“You’re kidding me,” I exclaimed.

“No. Why?”

“Because Uncle Joey mentioned a trial he was worried about, and he mentioned Webb Enterprises. It has to be the same one.”

“Do you think he had anything to do with beating up Gary or threatening him?” Chris asked, appalled.

“I don’t know,” I said. “But I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure he’s on your side.” I tried to remember what he had said about the trial, but could only come up with a name. “Do you know who David Barardini is?”

“Yes,” Chris answered, immediately suspicious. “He’s an accountant working on the case with us. He’s pretty important to our case. Why? How do you know him?”

“He’s Uncle Joey’s man,” I said, relieved. “So…at least that means Uncle Joey’s on your side. He’s not the one responsible for Gary’s injuries.”

“That’s good…I guess,” Chris said. We drove to Chris’ office in silence. Chris had plenty on his mind, but he didn’t say anything, so I kept my mouth shut, and tried not to listen. I did pick up that it was the bookkeeping that would make or break their case, so I had to figure that David Barardini, and what he did, was huge. It also bothered him that in a roundabout way, Chris must be working for Uncle Joey.

Yikes! He was right. How did that happen? But when I thought about it, it made sense. I mean…Uncle Joey had ties with the firm of Cohen, Larsen, and Pratt, especially considering his association with Stephen Cohen, one of the first partners. I hadn’t even told Chris that it was Uncle Joey who’d really killed Stephen Cohen.

The fact that Kate, Stephen’s daughter, was hired to work there was probably not a coincidence. It was to appease Uncle Joey’s guilt, as well as have a lawyer in his pocket. So it only made sense that Uncle Joey used Chris’ firm for not only himself, but his ‘associates’ as well.

With Stephen Cohen dead, it was John Larsen and Gary Pratt who ran the firm. With Gary in the hospital, that left Chris as the defending attorney since he was helping on the case. It also made him the next target for whoever wanted them to fail, and I was sure it had everything to do with Uncle Joey.

I pulled into Chris’ parking garage and waited while he unlocked his car and got in. I made sure he was following behind as I began the drive home. If Chris was in trouble, I was bound and determined to get to the bottom of it before anything serious happened to him. Good thing I had an in with Uncle Joey.

***

The next morning came too early. Chris was in the shower when I dragged myself out of bed. We hadn’t spoken much once we got home last night. Chris was exhausted, and I didn’t want to pester him with questions. I also didn’t want to let him in on my plans concerning Uncle Joey. He had enough to worry about with the trial.

I called the hospital and talked to Gary’s wife for an update. She said he had awoken during the night, and was now sleeping peacefully. His injuries would keep him there for a few more days at least, maybe even a week.

I whipped up some eggs and toast for Chris’ breakfast, and gave him the update while he ate. He finished up, in a hurry to leave and make sure all was ready for the day’s arguments.

“Do you want me to come?” I asked.

He stopped in his tracks, just now realizing what I meant. “I’ll have to think about it, but it might be a good idea. What are your plans for today?”

“I was thinking of going back to Novelty Creations for a bit, but I could come if you needed me.” I hadn’t updated him with the progress of my case, or told him about the kidnapping. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him I’d saved a little girl yesterday, but there wasn’t time now.

“I’ll call you,” he said. He gave me a quick peck on the lips and turned to leave. “Oh, and thanks for breakfast!”

The door shut on my response, which he wouldn’t have heard anyway. Oh well. Now it was time to get the kids off to school. Savannah came downstairs, eager to talk about booking our trip. Which of course, I hadn’t talked to Chris about either.

“I’ll talk to dad at lunch,” I promised. “And we’ll book it tonight.” That seemed to do the trick, and she went to school happy and eager to tell all her friends. I didn’t have the heart to tell her to wait until we knew for sure. It made me a little bit angry, and I decided that I’d better make it a priority to talk to Chris about it today. All I really needed to do was check his schedule and make sure he was clear for the week we wanted to go. I could call his secretary and find out before I talked to him. That way, he wouldn’t have a reason to wait on a decision or say no.

I got ready for the day, knowing I needed to look my best if I was going to court. Not only that, but I planned to pay Uncle Joey a visit to see if I could find out just exactly what he had to do with Webb Enterprises. I realized that I didn’t even know what they were on trial for. I should’ve asked Chris, but I was too busy thinking of other things. Although, it didn’t really matter, I just hoped they weren’t guilty.

This time I wore some dark slacks with a short-sleeved white fitted blouse, and a gray vest. I had a fedora-style hat that matched, but I didn’t want to look like I worked for the mob, so I left it at home. My four-inch black pumps rounded off the outfit, and I looked hot.

My first stop of the day was Novelty Creations. I found a parking place, and opened the door to go inside. The bell above the door jingled, and Emily came out of the back. “Hi,” I called to her. “Remember me?”

“Yes,” she smiled. “The pink teddy. How can I help you today?”

I closed the distance to the cash register where she was standing, and leaned against the counter like I had a secret to share. “Do you know anything about a shipment of underwear that the police confiscated as evidence to Keith’s guilt?”

Her brows scrunched together, and surprise lit her eyes. “No. When did this happen?”

“I think it was before your mother died, or right after. I don’t have an exact date. But when I talked to the police detective, he thought your mom’s lawyer may have picked them up from the evidence room shortly after she died.”

“My mom’s lawyer?” Emily didn’t know what I was talking about. “I didn’t even know the police took a shipment, but there was so much going on at the time with her death, and Keith being arrested, it’s kind of a blur.”

“Could we check the books?” I asked. “Maybe it would show up there.”

“Probably, but why is this important? What does the shipment have to do with anything?”

“Detective Williams thought the money might be hidden in the shipment. That’s why it was confiscated in the first place, but he didn’t find anything. He told me that your mother’s lawyer might have picked the shipment up, but when I went to the evidence room, no one had signed for it. I thought it was still there, but when I checked, it was gone. The person in charge of the evidence room thought it must have been returned to you, and someone forgot to have the paperwork signed. So that brings me back here, to see if you knew anything about it, and if your records would tell you what happened to the shipment.”

She was confused. This was the first she’d heard about a confiscated shipment. And she couldn’t see her mother’s lawyer picking it up. What was going on? “I can check our records, but I don’t know if they will tell us much. As far as I know, everything I have balances out. Uncle Dean never told me anything, and I think he would have noticed a lost shipment.”

The bell jingled, signaling another customer, and Emily pulled away. She frowned, thinking I wouldn’t be happy to see who had just walked in.

“Morning ladies,” Rob Felt said. I sighed and turned around. Oh great! How was I going to get rid of him?

Emily was wondering the same thing. “Can I help you?” she said.

“No, just looking.” He made a show of examining the underwear on the closest table. He was thinking that he wasn’t about to leave while I was still there. He could look at underwear all day if he had to, anything to find out what I was so interested in.

I turned back to Emily, and she shrugged. “I can let you look at the records on my computer, if you like,” she whispered. “I’ll stay here, and keep an eye on my customer.”

“That would be great,” I said.

“Let me just find the right place on the computer, and then you can go back.”

I nodded, and she disappeared through the back door to the office. Waiting, I listened in on Felt’s thoughts. He didn’t hear what Emily said to me, but figured we were up to something so he came closer.

Emily came back, and nodded to me. I hurried around the counter and into the office, shutting the door firmly behind me. Sitting at the desk, I studied the records on the screen. Once I figured out what I was looking at, it was easy to understand the system. The records were meticulously done. Emily had pulled up the shipments around the date of her mother’s death.

I was especially interested in the ones Keith had signed for, going back a little further in the records to see if there was a pattern. Nothing was out of place, and there was no sign of a confiscated shipment anywhere. I scrolled down closer to the date of Keith’s arrest and found nothing missing. It didn’t make sense.

I looked at the spreadsheet, and changed the window from shipments received to shipments sent. There were quite a few Internet orders listed here. Most were personal orders sent all over the country. Scrolling back to the time Keith worked there, I found more than one entry for shipments sent to the same address. Could this be it? I double-clicked on the shipment, and it brought up a purchase order. Under the company name it read Betty’s Bra Bar, with an address right here in the city.

I’d never heard of them, but that didn’t mean they didn’t exist. Could that be where the stolen money was shipped? I checked one more time, and counted three shipments sent to that address, all within a six-month time span. The last was right before Keith was arrested. My heart raced with excitement, and I eagerly wrote down the address, determined to find out.

Emerging from the back, I found Emily following behind Felt, fixing the messes he made at each table. She was relieved to see me, and hurried around the back of the counter. “Did you find anything?” she asked.

“Not any missing shipments,” I whispered. “But I did find several shipments Keith sent to Betty’s Bra Bar. Have you ever heard of them?”

Emily’s face turned red. “No…well…maybe.” She was thinking she’d heard the name before. Keith joked that if he ever had his own store, that’s what he’d call it, but it didn’t exist. He’d just made it up. She was sure of it. “You have an address?” she asked.

“Yes,” I answered, keeping my voice low. Felt had inched closer while we talked, and was now less than three feet away. Probably close enough to hear what we were saying. I pulled Emily into the office, and closed the door. “I’m going to check it out. You want to come with me?”

“Yes,” she said. Glancing at the clock on the wall, she grabbed her purse and keys. “It’s close enough to call this a lunch break, but you know, the nice thing about owning my own business is that I can take a break whenever I want.”

“True,” I agreed. I liked her spunk. “But Felt will probably follow us.”

“Not if I can help it,” she said with determination. “Stay here. I’ll get rid of him and lock up. We’ll go out the back and take my car. That should put him off long enough for us to make our escape.”

“All right,” I said. She left the door ajar, and I heard her telling Felt that she was closing the store for lunch. He didn’t protest, just left in a hurry. I glanced around, looking for a back way out, and found a door that opened into a large room filled with plastic-covered inventory hanging on rolling racks and stacked on tables.

“Is this the way out?” I asked Emily, motioning toward the double-doors where trucks unloaded merchandise.

“One way, but not the way we’re going. Right down here…” she motioned ahead, “is a staircase that leads to the underground parking lot that connects with the hotel behind my store. We have parking privileges since we were here first.”

“Ah-hah.” I chuckled. “Now I understand how we’re going to lose Felt.”

She smiled, and I followed her down the stairs to a door that opened into the parking garage. “My own private door,” she said, holding up her key. “And the key to let me back in.”

She led the way to a little red car parked nearby and unlocked the doors. We settled inside, and I told her the address. “It looks like it’s across town on the west side close to Spring Hill. Do you know this area?”

“No,” she shook her head. “Keith moved around a lot, so maybe he lived there. But even then, he’s been gone for over a year, so I can’t imagine anything of his still being there.”

“True,” I said. “But that doesn’t mean the money couldn’t be hidden there somewhere.”

She nodded, thinking how awesome it would be to find all that money. Of course, she couldn’t keep any of it, but still…maybe there was a reward? She glanced at me, thinking she’d have to share it, but half was better than nothing. How much money would she get?

I tuned her out. Thinking about getting a lot of money for nothing, and what you could do with it, was never a good thing. I had five million dollars once, and all it ever brought me was trouble and a couple of near-death experiences. Just thinking about it gave me the shivers.

We turned the corner onto a street with lots of little shops and fast food joints. “It should be right in there,” I said. And there it was, Betty’s Bra Bar. I could hardly believe it was real. The tiny storefront featured a small window with Betty’s Bra Bar painted across the top and showing bras strapped around torso mannequins. “It’s really here,” I said with surprise. “I thought for sure it would be bogus.”