Scent of Gardenia (Scott Tucker Series) (27 page)

Chapter
68

Mike ran
back to his hotel room. It was easy to fear that the worst had happened to Scott.
Too many people were coming up missing or dead. If there was a lesser of two
evils, he would hope for a kidnapping.
Maybe they got too close today, or
maybe…who knows.

He
called the
Bermudiana Hotel,
asking for Mercedes Strong. There were many
rings. Mike looked at his watch. It was just before eight. “Hello.”

He
recognized her voice. “Mercedes, its Mike Miller.”

“Well
Mike, you’re almost the last person I thought I would hear from.”

“Mercedes,
I’m here in Bermuda. I thought I could make some progress on Nils Nielsen and
Holly’s disappearance if I could work by myself. However, something unexpected
has happened.”

“Please
tell me you haven’t found either of them…dead?”

“No.
Today while checking out some things, I ran across somebody we know.” He
purposely paused, and then added, “Scott. I found him already checking out
something ahead of me. He has a habit of doing that...however; I think he’s
turned up missing as well.”

Mercedes
didn’t respond.

“Mercedes,
did you hear what I just said?”

He could
hear some noise on the line, but she wasn’t talking to him. “Mercedes, I think
Scott may have been kidnapped less than two hours ago.”

“Mike…oh,
Mike no…
no
. This can’t be happening. I wanted him to stay away from Bermuda. I had a feeling something might happen. Oh, please God, why this?”

“Mercedes,
I think we need to team up right away, to see if we can find some trace of him,
or where he might be.” Mike’s stomach was turning, with images of Scott’s last
captivity and rescue flooding back. “Do you want me to come over, or do you
want to come here?”

She took
an audible breath before answering, “I better get Ralph and tell Max Gordon
what you think has happened. Where were you when you bumped into Scott?”

“Mercedes,
I’ll go into all of that. Do you want me to come over there?”

“Yes,
meet us in the lobby. I’ll be there even if I can’t reach the others. How soon
can you be here?”

“I’ll be
there in ten. Wait, what am I thinking? We’ll only have to trace Scott’s last
steps anyway. I’m right down the street at the
Hamilton Princess
, but I
want you to meet me at Scott’s hotel. He was staying at the
Hamilton Harbor
Hotel
, which is about a block away from both of us. I’ll see you in the
lobby. Bye.” He realized he never waited for her acceptance. He grabbed his
room key, a small flashlight and headed to Scott’s hotel.
That thought
sounded stupid, since Scott might not be in the comfort of a hotel at this
moment.

*.*.*

Mercedes
called Ralph’s room, but there was no answer. She realized he was going to
dinner downstairs and wanted her to join him. She didn’t want a repeat of what
happened last night, so she told him she was just having something to eat in
her room. She’d check the dining room on the way out. She dialed Max’s room,
but there was no answer there either. She couldn’t wait any longer. The
thoughts of something bad happening to Scott were overwhelming. She could feel
the nausea coming on. She had to calm down.

The
elevator couldn’t move fast enough for her. When it finally stopped at the
lobby, the elevator was loaded with people dressed for either a late dinner, or
evening entertainment. The doors opened and she felt like pushing them as they
weren’t rushing at all. She dashed to the dining room entrance, looking for
Ralph. She couldn’t locate him. She rushed into the lounge and then the
ballroom. He wasn’t in either location.
To hell with you Ralph.
She
never spotted Max in her travels either, and didn’t want to spend any more time
looking for them.

Outside
the hotel there was a line of people waiting for transportation.
To hell
with that delay too.
She took off her heels, heading to Scott’s hotel. The
cool pavement felt good, but she seemed to find all the small pebbles.
Why
the hell didn’t you change your shoes?
She said a silent prayer on the way
that nothing bad has happened to Scott.
She thought about last night’s still
unclear circumstance with Ralph, wondering if something happening to Scott was
her punishment. Please God, please don’t let anything happen to him. Take me
instead.

*.*.*

Mike saw
Mercedes’ scared expression as she rushed into the lobby. Everyone went
immediately quiet. As he walked towards her, she flew into his arms. He could
feel her sobbing against him and decided to escort her to the small area off to
the side of the lobby. “Mercedes, everything’s going to be okay. Scott will be
okay…I know it.”

Mercedes
leaned back from him. She tried to speak, but nothing came out.

“Mercedes,
here’s Scott’s luggage.” He pointed over to the far corner of the small area.
“I need to tell you more about what I know and show you what I think happened.
Are you going to be okay?”

She took
a deep breath and wiped her tears. “Mike, I think…I think…well Scott and I…”

He
interrupted her, “Mercedes you don’t have to tell me, I know…you may be the
profiler, but I’m not blind. I can see how Scott has changed since your call. I
can see how you feel. Please we need to act fast on this. Scott is out there
somewhere, and he needs us to find him. Come on.” He ushered her out the lobby
doors and down to the path. He gave her his handkerchief and she used it as
they made their way to the path.

“Mercedes
let me tell you what happened. Earlier today, I met Scott at a dive shop we
were checking out. That dive shop is operated by a woman who we believe bought
six dive cages. One of her suppliers indicated she’s a real kook. Anyway, Scott
was there after he saw you leave on a boat earlier. Scott decided it made no
sense for him to stay at a different hotel now that I know he’s here. He never
told anyone he was headed to Bermuda.”

She
stopped walking, taking off her heels. “That sounds like him.”

As they
continued down the path, he informed her, “Scott was checking out of his hotel.
He was going to call me when he was on his way over to my hotel. He never
called, and when I called looking for him, I was told he checked out over an
hour before. The desk clerk told me he was headed to return his motor scooter
and left his luggage where you saw it. I spoke to the scooter rental clerk. She
confirmed he returned it at least an hour before. See this area up ahead where
there are no lights?”

“Yes
what about it?”
She knew the answer without him supplying it.

“I think
someone caught Scott’s attention. By the time they got to that lot over
there…he was taken by surprise.” Mike showed her the broken light.

“Mike
the glass is still beside the light. This just happened.”

He went
over to where the walk leads to the parking area. “See those marks there?” he
said, pointing. “I think he was dragged to a vehicle in this lot. I found a
scooter rental tag with his name right there.”

Mercedes
paid attention to the details and then shook her head. She went running
barefoot into the parking lot checking out each of the parking spaces, like a
bloodhound. Then she headed over to the shrubs adjacent to the lot, grabbed her
stomach, bobbed a couple of times and was sick.

Mike
gave her some privacy, looking to see if there was anything else he had missed.

Mercedes
regained control, coming over to him. “Mike, my profiling gut is kicking in.
You never told me about the woman who owns the dive shop. Is she tall with long
red hair?”

“Yes,
how did you know that?”

She
didn’t answer him. “What’s her name?”

He
studied her for a moment. “The dive shop name is
‘Rusty’s Dive Excursions’
and the woman’s name is Margaret Orion.”

Mercedes’
head snapped in his direction. “Orion—the mythical hunter, who is accidentally
killed by his lover.” She covered her mouth again. “Shit Mike, she’s got our
Scott.”

Chapter
69

Mike
watched her turn in circles several times like a caged animal. “We can’t let
her kill him. We have got to find him—before we find him killed.” She turned again,
and everything she had left came up.

“Mercedes,
we need to alert the inspector about Scott’s disappearance.” Mike didn’t say it
but he certainly was thinking it;
deja vu, Scott’s life is in jeopardy
again.

Mercedes
came over to him, and he held her. He could smell the strong scent of Gardenia.

Mercedes
leaned back. “That’s another thing. Does it surprise you that we have made more
progress in a week than the authorities have made in almost two years. My gut
says there’s something wrong…something very wrong. However, I guess we can’t
risk Scott’s life not saying something.”

*.*.*

Mercedes
found her shoes and put them back on. She spotted a nearby bench and went over
and sat down. Mike went over and joined her. “Mercedes, let’s go over what we
have and map out a plan. It’s obvious we have at least a woman involved in
these kidnappings. However, I’m not sure she’s operating alone. Her boat was
gone earlier today, and there were vehicles in her parking lot. She could have
come back to Scott’s hotel and kidnapped him, but that’s a stretch. I think she
has an accomplice.”

“Mike,
we know her name…what we need to find is where she lives. That must be where
she’s keeping the men and Holly. She wouldn’t risk leaving them elsewhere, and
from the sounds of it she spends her free time with her guests.” She took a
deep breath before telling him about her profile. “Mike, there’s something I
need to share with you. Remember how I came up with the profile of the women
who were doing the torso killings back home?”

“How
could I forget that?”

“Well,
bear with me for a few minutes. I believe the woman is in her late twenties, or
early thirties. She’s been raped in her past. However, she took away from the
rape the power someone had over her. She gets off on it. That’s why she doesn’t
just have one man. One man couldn’t satisfy her sexual appetite. When she tires
of the man, or men, she just gets rid of them and gets a new guest. However, we
saw that her time between kidnappings is getting more and more frequent. I
speculate she doesn’t even know she’s making these changes more frequently.”

Mercedes
took another deep breath and then continued, “She obviously knows how to dive
and dispose of the men. We can see she might even do dive excursions for a
living. That would give her the opportunity to at least pick up a new guest
just by inviting the man back to her house, where he would be walking into her
trap. Perhaps…walking is an inappropriate description of what he might be doing
when he got there. That same scenario works with men she meets elsewhere; when
she shows the unsuspecting man her house…he’s already been caught.”

“Mercedes,
I don’t think anything you’ve said is off base. You seem to be building up to
something, care to share?”

“Before
I go there, the police investigation leaves much to be desired. I suspect
someone high up in that organization might be connected with this whole thing,
meaning; yachts, men, money and possibly involvement in the slave trade. I
didn’t tell you about this, but we learned that there’s been an increase in
pirates operating on the open ocean. They board the ship, beat up and dump the
men, and take the women. Nils’ boat, which was last seen when his friends were
filling up their gas and water tanks, had one man and three young, attractive
females.”

She was
concerned they weren’t moving to find Scott, but she knew this was important.
“Mike, a few days ago when I first started with the profile of the killer down
here…my gut was leading me down a path I wasn’t comfortable in accepting.
However, given the circumstances, what do you think about the possibility of
Melanie, my sister, being behind these kidnappings and killings?”

*.*.*

Even in
the limited light Mike could see the anguished look on Mercedes’ face. “You’re
serious about this aren’t you?”

“Mike,
you don’t have to beat me up about my theory…God knows I’ve done enough of that
myself. It defies all logic. She would have had to first survive that dive into
the freezing water of Boston Harbor, in the middle of winter. She would have
had to create a new identity including the papers to support it. She would have
had to get to Bermuda and establish a way to support herself. And most
importantly, it would have had to all be done without being recognized. She was
not someone who you would miss in a crowd, not with her; looks, stature and red
hair.”

“So why
are you telling me this…what difference does it make. She’s still kidnapping
and killing men?”

Her head
snapped to look at him, like it had a mind of its own. “You said her name was
Margaret Orion. Margaret and Melanie are close enough. Orion is a mythical man
who is killed accidentally by his lover. She’s killing her lovers, but not by
accident. Mike, I told you about that fish she fought for hours and lost…she
had my Grandfather go back to that spot numerous times to see if she could
catch it again. Scott was the lover that
got away
. She’s now got her
ultimate fantasy in person. She’ll force herself on him, and then she’ll kill
him just to keep me from having him myself. She knows I cared enough about him
before to risk my life to save him.”

“I’ll
bet my life I’m right on this, but I
won’t bet Scott’s life
. Mike, it’s
hard for me to say this to you, but he was important back then…but he’s so much
more now.” She put her head against his chest because she couldn’t hold the
emotions in any longer.

*.*.*

They
returned to her hotel. She tracked Ralph down and announced that Scott Tucker,
another investigator, is now missing. Max was still among the missing.

The
three of them went to her room to map out their strategy. “Ralph, the inspector
should be told about Scott’s apparent kidnapping. However, because we’re not
certain about that,” she said, and winked at him, “we’re going to do our best
to locate Scott on our own. We need to find where Margaret’s home is located.
Scott is probably there already, or close to being delivered. That’s where;
Nils, Paul, Holly and Jules are most likely being kept. Did you talk to Max at
all today?” Mercedes asked.

“Yes, he
told me they had arrested a man in the Bahamas on one of the missing yachts.
Max mentioned he was going to fly over there to participate in his questioning.
I thought he was going tomorrow, but he might have already left,” Ralph
offered.

“Good.
We’ll assume he left, and conduct this investigation ourselves. I’m still not
satisfied about the police investigation. My gut says there is something questionable
about the inspector. How are we going to locate her home address?”

Mike
answered before Ralph could. “Let me make a phone call. Can I use your phone?”

“Sure.
There’s an extension in the bedroom if you want to have a private
conversation.”

Mike
took out Sam’s card and called his number.

“Hello.”

“Sam,
its Mike Miller. I need your help to find the home address of the woman who
runs Rusty’s.”

“You’re
not the only detective on the island, got a pen?” Mike took down the address.

“How did
you know I was going to call you for it?”

“I just
had a hunch…I knew you would need it eventually. I thought you would have
called earlier.” He laughed. “I suppose you need transportation too?”

“How
soon can you be here…wait, I’m at the Bermudiana.”

“I’ll be
there in twenty minutes. Tell the doorman you called me so I don’t have to wait
in the cab line outside. Is that too soon?”

“That’s
fine. We’ll see you in twenty minutes.” Mike hung up.

“I’ve
got Margaret Orion’s home address. Do either of you have a gun on you?”

“No. No
such luck.”