The Devil's Dwelling (24 page)

Mona, Bailey and I christened the house with a bottle of champagne, pizza and a movie on the forty two inch TV in the living room. 

I pulled the drape to the side and looked to the street. Setting across the street in the shadows was the Jeep. I immediately dropped the drape. “Mona, the Jeep moved with me.”

Mona looked out. “I’ve a mind to confront that sucker.” She slowly dropped the drape while peeking from behind.

“That could be dangerous.”

Mona looked again and the Jeep was gone. “He must have seen the drape pull back and figured we spotted him.”

“Hayden said the windows and door have good locks and there’s an alarm system.”

“Let’s check the doors and windows and when I leave you set the alarm.”

“I’ve got Bailey. He’ll let me know if there’s a noise.” Bailey’s ears popped up.

THIRTY

I popped a piece of wheat bread in the toaster, took the Cheez Whiz jar from the cupboard and a knife from the drawer. The toaster zinged and up popped a perfectly toasted piece of wheat bread. I scooped a hunk of Cheez Whiz from the top of the jar and smeared it on my toast.  I filled Bailey’s food and water bowl and he gobbled  down his breakfast and slurped up his water. Bailey was looking at the door in anticipation of his morning jog to the park.  I found his leash on the coffee table, hooked him up and out the door we flew. I immediately stopped and went back in the house. Grabbed my new ring of keys, put my phone in the case on my waist band, set the alarm and headed out the door.

We jogged past my folks place. Daddy was watering the lawn.  I waved a hello and kept jogging. He sprayed the water in my direction but I was past his reach.

“Good morning, Tiffany.”

“Morning, Daddy.”

The park is three blocks away.  I unhooked Bailey and walked around the park.  Bailey did his hike and poop and I picked it up and tossed it in the can.  My mine raced back to days gone by when I played in the park.  The big old ten foot silver metal slide is still standing. When I was about four Daddy climbed the stair with me, set me on the slide and gave me a gentle push. I remember sliding down to Momma’s arms. The swings are made of steel,  long chains and a six inch by two feet strip of rubber for a seat.  Daddy would swing me so high I thought I was going over the top.  My sister, Kimberly mastered the monkey bars long before me. It took me a while but soon I was swinging from one bar to the next.  Memories…flooded my mind and tears flooded my face.

I looked around for Bailey. He was on the other side of the park playing with a Beagle.  I yelled for him. He came running. I hooked  him up and we jogged back home. This time I took the back alley route and didn’t go past my folks place.  Momma would probably be out front working in her flower garden and I didn’t have time to chat.

I picked up Mona in my new Honda. I guess I should say Hayden’s Honda.  Mona met me on the street.

“What do we have on the schedule today?” 

“Let’s stop at a phone booth and get a phone book.”

“So that’s where you get your phone books?”  I looked over at Mona and shook my head.

“Okay, you rip it off and I’ll be the get away driver. Good way to initiate the Honda

“Phone booths are getting hard to find. Since everyone has a cell phone.” Mona said.

“The drug dealers and Ho’s still use phone booths.”

I spotted a phone booth, made a quick turn into the Chevron parking lot and came to a stop next to the phone booth. Mona stepped from the Honda into the phone booth closed the double hinged door, placed the phone near her ear holding it with her chin with pretense she was on the phone. Mona took her fingernail file and popped the wire from the book. Walaaaa! With book in hand she pushed the hinged door out and hopped in the Honda.

Mona continued with the list she started days ago. “We still have a few massage parlors to visit. I’ll try to keep them in order where we won’t be back tracking. I hope we find her before long.”

“Do you mean before she kills again?” I’ve been thinking she may be the one killing the massage parlor owners.

“You think she’s the killer?”  Mona’s set up in her seat and leaned over to look me in the eyes. “You really think she’s the killer?”

“Dang, we’ve got a tail.” I took the next right turn onto the highway and put the accelerator on the floor.

“Let’s see what this baby will do.”

“Have you put the pedal to the metal?”  Mona yelled while trying to turn looking over her shoulder. “Looks like they are going to push us off the road if you don’t take the middle.”

“This is all she’s got.”

I cut my wheels to the left taking my half out of the center of the road. On coming cars were running off the road. The black sedan was on my rear end. He bumped my back bumper jolting our heads back.

“That sucker. Can’t he see this is a new vehicle?” 

After passing an eighteen wheeler I swerved to the right in front of him and hit the side street leaving the black sedan in the middle of the highway.

“Whoohoo, we ditched um.” Mona set back in her seat. “Girl you are good.”

Mona had a list of massage parlors to visit.  First on the list was Carolina’s Massage Parlor located in the middle of the block. I drove down the alley. There were cars up on jacks, hoods raised, old furniture stacked in piles ready to be burned. If not disgusting enough, kids were added to this mess. Carolina had a dirt parking lot off the alley. I opted to drive to the front. I didn’t want to get my new Honda dirty. It had already been jostled from the rear by the black sedan.  I parked on the curb about ten feet from the fire hydrant or so I thought.

Mona rang the door bell.  A nice looking black lady in her fifties with golden orange nappy hair answered the door.

“What cha’ want child?”  She was dressed in a black dress with a big white broach of an angel pinned at the neck opening of her low cut dress. Her earlobes were stretched giving her enormous lobes holding large white dangling earrings that looked like angels in flight.

“We are looking for Natasha McGuire a local massuese.  Seems she left her last place of employment and is probably looking for a new parlor for employment.  She didn’t leave notice of where she might be going.” I smiled up at the lady in black.

She looked eerie.  Maybe voodoo goes on in that parlor.  Maybe they have séance or something weird like that. My mind was racing and I was thinking. I don’t want her to invite us in.

“Come in, child, come in. I see you have worry in your heart.” Mona walked in the parlor and I followed wrenching my hands. She must be a  fortune teller or a witch.

“No, no worry. Just looking for Natasha.”  I stepped back pressing my shoulders to the door.  My mind said run but my legs wouldn’t move.  Like one of those dreams when you want to run from the axe murderer and your legs are too heavy to move. That’s me.

Mona was walking around the parlor picking up angels, voodoo dolls, she tapped on a bongo drum, and then let out a blood curdling scream.

“Mona, what’s wrong?” I couldn’t imagine what she had found.

“A snake!”  Stretched out in the corner of the living room lay a big long boa constrictor.

“He won’t hurt you unless his hungry and I just fed him two rats. His busy digesting them. No need to worry.”  The black lady stroked his belly and gave his head a pat.

Mona hastily made her way out the front door.

“You seen Natasha McGuire?” I was backing out the door and Mona was already in the Honda.

“She worked a few days but she didn’t like my Larry and left shortly there after. My powers showed me she is an evil lady and my Larry tried to hug the life out of her.  She was lucky I had a few rats to feed him or I wouldn’t have been able to release her from  his embrace.”  Carolina was standing at the door finishing her sentence when I jumped in the Honda.

“Sheesh! What was that?”  Mona was fanning herself with the phone book.

“One good thing we can write her off and know Natasha won’t be back.”  I cranked the steering wheel away from the curb and noticed something on my windshield.

“What could be on my window? A note from my stalker?”  I opened the door and stood leaning forward to reach the note secured under the windshield wiper.. I sat back in my seat and unfolded the yellow paper.

“A citation for parking within ten feet of a fire hydrant. And Randy’s signature is on it.” 

“Doesn’t he have better things to do than write parking tickets?”  Mona grabbed the ticket and wadded it up and threw it in the back seat.

“Mona I have to take care of the ticket.”

“You can call Randy and he can take care of it. He doesn’t know you have the new Honda.”

“Sure he does he ran the plates. He’s being ornery.  I haven’t told him about my move or the Honda.  His upset because I haven’t told him about the changes in my life.”

“Do you think his showing some jealousy of you and Hayden? We need to take a right at the next street.  Beatrice’s Massage Parlor is on this street.”

I followed Mona’s directions and took a right turn. My mind was on Randy not on looking for the next massage parlor on Mona‘s list.

“Stop! Here it is.”  Mona closed the phone book and placed it in the floor. She gathered up her clipboard and checked off Carolina’s and wrote down Beatrice Massage Parlor and clipped the pen to the clipboard.

We parked on the curb and walked through a white wooden archway of climbing red roses leading us up the winding walkway.  Climbing ivy covered the house. Two old white weathered rocker’s sat on the porch with a crocheted afghan thrown across the ladder back of each rocker.

I couldn’t find the door bell for all the ivy. Mona rapped on the door. We could hear a TV blaring but no one answered the door.  Mona rapped again and yelled. “Any body home?” 

She tried the door and it wasn’t locked.  She put one foot in the doorway and pushed the door open. “Hello!”  She yelled.  “You have company.”

An old man and woman were sleeping in their recliners.  The TV was on the news station. The old man woke up a little startled and reached over and shook the old lady.

“Beatrice we got company.”

Beatrice roused up and looked at Mona and I standing in their front room.

“What are you doing in my house?”  She tried to stand holding to the arm of her chair. She made it to her feet and started walking toward us pouncing her cane on the wood floor.

“We are looking for a massuese named Natasha, Natasha McGuire. You know her?”

“No, but I heard they have a new girl down at Sophia’s place.”  She took her cane and pushed the door open.

“Now you get your sorry butts outta my house.”

Mona and I high tailed it out the door. I think she meant business.  The old man just sat with a smile.  It was apparent she had probably used the cane on him one too many times.

It was near dusk we drove down to Sophia’s entering through the alley we noticed a Mini Cooper in the rear driveway.  I parked down the alley behind an old moving van which had probably been parked there for months. Mona was able to watch for any movement through her side mirror.  After about a half hour Natasha ran from the house, threw a big bag in the Mini Cooper and backed out of the drive into the alley and headed south. We tried to follow her but not being familiar with the neighborhood she was able to loose us.

By the time I drove back to Sophia‘s dusk was on us. We knocked at the front door. No one answered. It was quiet and that eerie feeling came over me.  The front door was locked.

“Mona, let’s check the back door.”  I took the big flashlight from the Honda and walked around the house to the back door. It was also locked. We tried to kick it in.  Seems it must have a good deadbolt. Mona took her 38 from her bag.

“Stand back.” I immediately turned my face away from the door. Mona aimed at the lock, looked away and fired off a shot. The door lock flew into a million pieces.

We walked into the kitchen area. An old checkered oil cloth covered the kitchen table. Two bowls of soup were on the table. It looked like their dinner had been interrupted.