Scent of Gardenia (Scott Tucker Series) (9 page)

Chapter
21

As she was
unlocking her door, she heard the phone ringing inside her apartment. She ran
to get to it, but there was no one there. She wondered if it could be Ralph, or
possibly Scott. She was sure whoever it was would call back. Regardless she
needed to pack for her trip.

Shortly,
the one suitcase was heaped with clothes. Although they were only going to be
in Bermuda for three days she had included enough clothes for a week. She
tipped the suitcase over and started to eliminate some outfits. She didn’t need
three business outfits—two, or even one, would be sufficient.

Mercedes
completed a new pile consisting of; two pairs of shorts, one pair of clam
diggers, four blouses, two sun dresses, bathing suit, shoes and underwear. She
repacked the case and checked to make sure the top could be zipped.

The phone
interrupted the temptation to screen the outfits she removed.

“Hello.”
She answered on the second ring.

“Hi
Mercedes, are you all packed and ready to go?”

“I’m
getting there. It was hard deciding what to bring. How are you doing?”

“I’m all
done. I imagine it’s much easier for me than for you. This feels like we’re
going on a mini-vacation instead of a business trip.”

“Ralph
stop
.
There’s something we need to get straight. I would rather mention it before we
get there.”

He
didn’t immediately respond. “What’s that?”

“Please
don’t take this the wrong way. I think you’re a nice guy. We’ve had a couple of
dinners together.”

He
interrupted. “They were dates, Mercedes.”

“Okay,
we went out on a couple of dinner dates. Like I said, you’re a nice guy, but I
don’t want this trip to be an excuse to rekindle anything. Do you understand?”

“Well,
there will be some activities after work. I would rather enjoy them with you
than by myself.”

“I
understand. We can have some drinks together, take in a steel band or whatever,
but that’s as far as it goes. Please don’t do anything that will make it
difficult working with you in the future. Just picture me as your sister and we
won’t have any problems.”

He was
slow responding. “I wish I had a sister like you.” He paused. “Okay, ‘sis’ it
is.”

She knew
Ralph well enough to have this conversation now, but she knew him well enough
that he would take every opportunity to turn this trip into something else. She
should have never gone out with him, let alone what they had done on their last
date. “Good. I’m going to hold you to this.”

He
chuckled at her comment. “See you in the morning. We’ll pick you up at 5 AM. Do
you need any help with your luggage?”

“Thanks
for the offer, but I will be in the lobby waiting for the car to arrive. I’m only
bringing one bag. Bye.”

There
was another chuckle on the other end and finally a bye.
If only Scott was
going with her…it would be a much different scenario.

*.*.*

She was
almost done in the shower when she heard the phone ringing. She grabbed the towel,
running to answer it, not knowing how many times it had rung already. “Hello,”
she said with a winded voice.

“Hi Mercedes
its Scott, did I catch you at a bad time?”

“Not
really. You caught me in the shower again. Can you hold a second while I dry
off?”

I
pictured her standing there holding the towel. The thought brought back images
of a few days ago.

“Scott,
I’m back.”

“Speaking
of backs, do you need me to come over and dry your back?”

“I’d
love to have you do that, but you know where that would lead. I’ll take a rain
check though. I have to get up at the crack of dawn, and I need to get some
sleep tonight. Do you have anything in particular to talk about?”

“I can
think of a whole bunch of things. I wish I was going with you. It would be fun
to see Bermuda with you.”

“Since
this is just a three-day trip, if you were going—I’m not sure if we would see
much of the island,” she said, with a sexy laugh.

“I know
what you mean. I’ll settle for the trip to the cabin in Topsfield.” I let that
sink in. “Are you ready to leave?”

“Yes,
I’m all packed and almost ready to hit the sack. Ralph said he will be coming
to pick me up at 5 AM.” She regretted mentioning his name.

I heard
what she said, but I was still processing. “Is he going with you on the trip?”

“Yes,
he’s one of the investigators assigned to the case. I’m there for the profiling
aspect. There’s a lead investigator also involved, but he left today.”

“Mercedes,
please be careful and have a good time. I hope your flight is a good one.
What’s the weather like this time of the year there?”

“Thanks
Scott. Well, I packed light clothing, so it better be warm.” She paused, then
added, “Is anything wrong?”

“Nothing
that seeing you wouldn’t fix.”

“Well, I
just dropped the towel. Does that help?”

“That
certainly will give me something to think about. I’ll go to bed with that
image. Mercy, I can’t wait to see you again. Will you call me when you return?”

“I’ll do
that.
Pleasant
dreams. Bye.”

I said
goodbye, but I wanted to talk some more. The image of Mercedes standing there without
the towel was clouded by the thoughts of Ralph. Judging from her description of
the lead investigator, Ralph must be much younger.
How the hell could anyone
ignore her beauty? I think I’m developing some investigation senses; my gut was
telling me there was more to ‘Ralph’ than just a fellow investigator.

*.*.*

Mercedes
picked up the towel, noticing the living room curtains across the room were
wide open. She waved to no one in particular, but if they were looking, they
would have a nice view. She knew real well Scott’s reaction to her body. She
headed back to the bathroom to finish getting ready for bed.

Her
reflection in the full-length mirror caused her to suddenly picture her holding
these men against their will for sexual purposes. Her sister and those other
women had done that, but could she do it herself? Scott’s naked image at the
cabin came quickly to mind and she knew the answer.

Chapter
22

Mike
unlocked the door to the office. He was lucky he had arrived before Paddy and
Scott. He turned on the lights, hung his coat and started a pot of coffee
before doing anything else. After the meeting with Mr. Nielsen, he gave some
thought to how to conduct the investigation in Bermuda. He contacted Holly,
asking her to attend a morning meeting at the office to discuss the approach.
She was excited to hear she might be going to Bermuda.

Mike
heard the door open. He could tell it was Scott, judging from the sounds in the
reception area. Paddy always hung his coat in his office and Colleen’s heels would
give her arrival away.

Mike
smiled, peeking around the office entry. “Good morning Scott. How are you this
morning?”

“Good
morning Mike. I’m doing okay.” He pointed for me to take a seat.

“Scott,
we’re going to be meeting this morning to talk about the Nielsen investigation.
If you don’t have anything critical going I think you should join us in the
conference room.”

“I can
make the meeting. I take it the meeting with Mr. Nielsen went well.”

“Yes it
did. He shared things with us that Mercedes was not privy to. I’ll go over them
so Holly can hear the details as well.”

“Wow,
Holly’s coming. Is it Christmas?”

“Yeah,
she’s out quite a bit, but she’s going to be here for the meeting because she’s
going to be helping with the investigation.”

The
front door opened quietly. Holly hung her coat on the rack noticing Mike and
Scott’s coats.

“What
are your thoughts as far as Holly goes?”

“Oh, did
I hear my name? She walked into Mike’s office.”

I felt
uncomfortable having asked Mike the question about her. “Are you part Indian? I
didn’t hear you come in. We don’t see that much of you. How are you doing?”

She sat
down in the other chair. “I’m doing okay. I’m looking forward to this new
investigation. As far as being an Indian goes, I might be part Indian
especially with this long hair.”

I looked
at her glossy hair as she turned and draped it down across the front of her
shoulder. “When you came in, I was asking Mike his thoughts about you. You both
have answered the question, that is—you are going to be helping with the
investigation.”

The
front door opened as we all listened. It was Paddy and Colleen. Paddy came to
the office door. “Glad to see everyone’s here this morning. Give me a minute
and we can get started. Make that two; I need to get coffee. Scott, your doughnut
selection is so much better. When are you going to be bringing them in again?” he
said, laughing. “Good morning Holly. Now I remember what you look like.”

“Good
morning Paddy. If I wasn’t out doing the investigations just think how much
thinner you guys would be doing my job.”

Mike was
quick to respond. “I see you managed to sharpen your tongue while you were
gone.”

Colleen
came to the door. “Good morning everyone, am I late for this meeting?”

“No, but
your timing was perfect,” Paddy announced. “We’ll pick up this conflict in the
conference room in five minutes.”

*.*.*

We
hadn’t needed to use the conference room for quite some time. Holly was looking
at some notes in her notebook. I used the time to study her out of the corner
of my eye. Under the camouflage she was attractive. However, she dressed to
conceal it. Maybe being non-descript helped her to blend in to do her
investigation work. I’m sure there was a body under that Harvard T-shirt and
jeans, but I would probably never see it.

She
leaned over whispering to me, “Are you done yet, or do you need more time?”

I
couldn’t respond, but I could feel the heat on my face. I opened my notebook,
looking over at Mike and Paddy.

“Okay,
let’s get started,” Paddy announced. “Mike, would you bring them up to speed on
our meeting with Mr. Nielsen and what will happen next.”

“Holly,
thanks for coming in this morning. Scott, some of this is going to be
repetitive for you, but we need to bring Holly up to speed. Let me start back
at the beginning. Mercedes Strong gave us a lead to an investigation into four
missing men in Bermuda. Roger Elliot was missing for about eighteen months. His
decomposed body was just found in a cage anchored off the coast of Bermuda. There has been no sign of the other three men. They were all rich single men.” He
drank some of his coffee.

“In
addition, their expensive yachts have not been located. The most recent missing
man, Nils Nielsen, missing for just over two months now, is from a rich family.
Larz Nielsen, his father, wants a separate investigation into his son’s
disappearance. Mercedes set up a meeting with him last night. He gave us some
additional information, unknown to the authorities, including the FBI. He told
us his sons had two fights that he is aware of. Nigel, the older son, had a
fight with Nils before he left on his cruise, then another in Bermuda when Nils
arrived.”

He
continued. “Mercedes and two other members of the FBI are going back down to Bermuda to learn about the details of Roger Elliot’s body discovery. There has been considerable
speculation about the men’s disappearance, but now that a body has been
discovered, the focus is centered on kidnapping and murder.”

Holly
couldn’t hold her questions back any longer. “Where are the expensive yachts?
Were they traveling alone? If they had company, where are those people now?
What were the men doing when they went missing? What do the authorities…”

Paddy
held up his hands. “Holly we understand your need to have answers, but that’s
why we’re getting involved. There are more questions than answers.”

She
responded, “I can understand that. What are Mercedes thoughts?”

Mike
answered, “Holly that’s another good question. Her candid thoughts are that the
men are being held against their will for sex purposes. She believes at least
one woman is involved. Her thoughts were; if men were involved, a ransom would
have been requested, almost immediately.”

Holly removed
her glasses, flipping her hair back behind her. “I think she’s right on the
money, especially if the men haven’t shown up after a year and a half.” She
held up her index finger. “One woman might be capable of this, but another
thought is a group of women. A group might be easier to catch than one woman.
Are we done with the background?”

Mike replied,
“No, not quite. I wanted you to be aware that Scott received a letter from
Charlotte Williams, who is Paul Williams’ sister. Charlotte was a survivor of
the strangler, which was one of the task forces we were involved with before
you came on board. He is one of the other missing men. He went missing about
six months ago. Here are my thoughts on the investigation approach. Paddy and I
are open for any suggestions. Let’s take a five minute break.”

*.*.*

Coffees
were refreshed, doughnuts replenished, and we were ready to start again.

“Scott,
I hear you’re finally bringing doughnuts into the office. Do I understand
you’re not sleeping as well as you used to?” Holly asked, with a grin from ear
to ear.

She
looked much prettier when she smiled. “Yes as a matter of fact Mercedes and I have
been spending some time together. I see you haven’t lost your investigative
touch.”

She
looked right through my eyes. “There are more than doughnuts that gave it
away.”

Mike
interrupted, saying, “Okay, kids, let’s get started.”

We put
our tongues in our holsters, looking over to Mike.

“Here
are our thoughts. Holly, since you just finished up on the cheating husband
case and are now available, we want you to go to Bermuda for an initial
fact-finding mission.”

She
immediately got up and danced around her chair.

I knew
she was part Indian.

“Glad to
see you’re excited about the investigation,” Mike said with a smile. “Your
flight leaves tomorrow morning from Logan. We have booked you into the
Bermudiana
Hotel
. It is close to downtown Hamilton. One report states that one of
the young men had booked a scuba session with the hotel. However, the police
reported he never showed for that outing. You will be in Bermuda while the FBI,
including Mercedes, is down there. I suggest you keep your distance to avoid
any problems. We decided last night to send you right away, not sharing that
with Mercedes. We have a folder with all the police reports, courtesy of
Mercedes.”

“When do
I return?”

“Monday
noon is your return flight. That gives you part of Thursday, all of Friday and
the weekend to see what you can learn.”

“Without
reading the files can you tell me when these men went missing?”

“Sure,
why don’t you write this information on the board so we can all focus on it?”
Holly got up and went to the large blackboard. “Okay Holly, the first man, Roger
Elliot, was thirty-five, and went missing seventeen months ago. Shawn Dustin, age
thirty-four, went missing eleven months ago. Paul Williams, age thirty-four,
went missing six months ago. Nils Nielsen, age thirty-two, went missing two
months ago. The other men were traveling alone, but Nils had three women and a
man with him. They have not been located. Here’s a file consisting of their
names along with the vessel names and descriptions.”

Holly
sat on the conference room table, while we all studied the board. She was the
first to comment, “Does anyone see anything interesting about this
information?”

No one
answered her. “If it’s a ‘she’ I think she’s going to kidnap someone next
month.” She let that comment sink in. “Don’t you guys see it?” No one said a
word. “She is, or they are, kidnapping men on a diminishing cycle. It was six
months between the first and second kidnapping. Then there were five between
that one and the next, and four between that one and the last. If I’m correct
her next victim is going to be taken within the next few weeks…or exactly three
months from the last. I think she gets bored with her ‘guests’ and lets one go
to be replaced by new blood. So, who’s next?”

There were
nodding heads and smiles as each of us saw the cycle she was talking about.

She
added a comment. “That, gentlemen, means there’s going to be a new victim soon.
I don’t think we have the luxury of much time.”

I could
see her excitement. It reminded me of Mercedes when she formulated the profile for
our task force on the ‘Torso’ killers.

Mike
commented, “Holly that was an excellent observation. I can’t dispute your
analysis. Here’s what comes next after your initial visit. We will review what
you discover on your trip. The next visit will involve both you and me. To
facilitate your investigation, you will be traveling separately, but will
periodically share your observations while there. We’ll know more about what
that trip will look like after this initial trip. Are there any further
questions?”

Paddy
handed her an envelope with her tickets and itinerary. He offered, “Holly, you
should take the information Mike gave you and leave to get ready. If you need
anything else, here’s another envelope with some per diem money for expenses.
Please be careful as you poke around in Bermuda. We have arranged a local guide
who will contact you at the airport when you arrive. His name is Jules Bennett,
and he’s a native Bermudian. Do you have any problem that he’s black?”

“No not
at all. Hopefully he’s a good dancer and knows all the best places to go.”

Paddy
held up his hand. “Holly, please be careful. Enjoy yourself, but try to get
something we can sink our teeth into.”

She
smiled and looked at the board again. “You can count on it. See you Monday.”