Totally Buzzed (A Miller Sisters Mystery) (33 page)

Poor Hilary stopped and looked dolefully at J.J. He bent to rub her ears and said, "Yes, Hill, it's your fault this time, but we love you anyway." He poked his head out the front door. "Hey, you pansies get in here and quit messing around!"

We all filed back in and jockeyed for the best seats while Moe and J.J. spoke. J.J. hefted a large brown briefcase and directed his question to Alejandro.

"Montoya, does this belong to you?"

"No, J.J. It is a briefcase I found under the truck seat when I was in Mundelein. I never opened it. I told you, I saw Dr. Huerta in the show barn in Fort Worth carrying a brown briefcase, but it must have been a different one."

He furrowed his brow. "At the time I thought it was strange, because all the important papers for the horses were in there, but then I thought maybe he grabbed the wrong case. I forgot about it when I spoke to you, but it should have been in the truck under the passenger seat where I left it."

Moe nodded. "That's where I found it."

J.J. looked at the ceiling and closed his eyes. He rocked on his heels. "Alejandro, do you know what is inside this case?"

"No, Sheriff Green. I never opened it."

J.J. blew out a breath. "I hope for your sake you're telling me the truth, Montoya. With Huerta dead and this case hidden in your truck, the evidence would be pretty incriminating if this case contained something worth murdering for, don't you think?"

Alejandro looked thoughtful. "Yes sir, I suppose you are right."

I jumped up. "Now, wait a damn minute J.J. Before you start jumping on the Dead Butts bandwagon–"

"Whoa, Buzz, I'm not jumping anywhere…yet. In fact, because the case's lock has
not
been tampered with, I figure Montoya is either telling the truth or he already knows the combination." He turned to Alejandro. "So which is it, amigo?"

Alejandro drew himself up and tugged on his shirt, taking offense at the accusation. "I do not tell lies, Sheriff Green. I understand this does not look good for me, but I tell the truth. I do not know what is in that case. I found it under Dr. Huerta's seat."

J.J. straightened and let out the breath he had been holding. "That's good enough for me." He took off for the kitchen, and spoke over his shoulder. "Buzz? Find me a toolbox, would you, dear?"

I stood stunned for a moment while everyone in the room stared at me. I figured the offense was a good defense and I yelled, "How come you're always nice to me when you want my toolbox, Green? I'll 'dear' your ass, buster!"

I heard a collective chuckle when I left the room. I found my tools in the basement. By that time, everyone had followed me downstairs and we were crammed in my small work area. J.J. hoisted the heavy case onto the workbench. The men squeezed in beside him. Mag and I were left staring at three sets of Levis and one Wrangler butt.

Leaving the men to their manly pursuits, Mag and I walked over to my reading area, which consisted of a fireplace, two big overstuffed leather recliners, three fish tanks, and bookshelves to the ceiling. We flopped in the chairs and stared at the fish. In one tank, Golden Angels floated on gossamer fins past the Green Leopard super veils.

Green Laser Cory catfish swished the gravel, and a swarm of Cardinal Tetras played in the water column. Three brown, long fin bristle-nose plecostomus chewed rhythmically on the driftwood in the center of the tank. In the second tank, three Marlboro and three Blue Cobalt Discus gently nosed the glass. They were all about five inches in diameter, and stunning in their almost fluorescent colors. They recognized me and were performing for a snack. The
Brocus splendens
eyed me from behind the wood in the tank, waiting for bits of food to float down to their level.

The third tank contained all the rare specie of Corys, which were my sister Fred's South American passion.

Included in the tank were endangered Endler Live Bearers and other South and Central American cichlids. Each time Fred acquired a newly discovered species, she shared her treasures with me. The three huge tanks gave me variety to fit my mood. Wes and Hill loved to watch the fish, too.

We were startled out of our reverie by excited exclamations coming from the work area. The boys had succeeded in opening the case and were in the process of dumping the contents onto the workbench. We strained to look over shoulders and under armpits.

Suddenly, three men surged backward and pinned us to the opposite wall. J.J. yelled, "Back! Everyone back!"

A mad scramble away from the bench had us stumbling over Ian, Moe and Alejandro. Hands grabbed my arm, and I saw Ian had hold of me. I shook loose and started back toward the workbench.

J.J. held up a hand and I stopped. "Ian, I need you here," he commanded. Ian responded with a leap over the dogs. He pushed past me. The hair on the back of my neck stood up.

I held my tongue, but strained to see what they were doing. I about crapped when I saw J.J. hold up an incendiary device. The anger drained out of me as quickly as Ian sucked in a breath.

I backed away and joined Moe, Mag, and Alejandro. I looked at my beloved dogs and said, "Mag, help me get the dogs out of here."

We grabbed their collars and led them upstairs and out the back door. The kennel sat well away from the house. I figured they'd be safer out there.

I flopped on the swing and Mag joined me. "What the heck was that, Buzz?"

"
That
is a device meant to blow someone up and start a major fire," I replied. "It didn't look home made, either. If Alejandro knew what was in that case, no way would he sit by and watch us open it. He would have slid out the door and been to Hell and gone by now."

"Yeah," she said. "If he's in on this, I'd suck a pig's ass."

"Yo bitch, you are way too disgusting! Let's go back in and see what's going on."

Mag and I hopped off the swing and went back to the house. We jogged down the basement stairs.

Mag said, "Jeez, talk about pennies from Heaven!"

Alejandro and Moe were seated at the coffee table, with stacks of banded money in the middle. Ian and J.J. were at the workbench. J.J. held a piece of paper with my eyebrow tweezers and Ian held open a Ziploc sandwich bag.

Since Alejandro was not in cuffs, I figured J.J. had found something in the case to exonerate him.

I was about to make comment when J.J. looked up and said, "Over here, Buzz."

I figured it had to be something really important if it was better than a mountain of money on the table. "What's up, James?"

Ian held out the bag. "Look at this."

I took the bag and my blood froze in my veins. It was a hand-written note: 'Take care of Montoya–he is not to leave Fort Worth alive. Deliver the money to Escobar. I will meet you up north. M'.

I looked over where Alejandro was happily chatting with Moe and Mag, counting money and oblivious to how close death had come. I didn't realize I had swayed until I bumped into J.J. behind me.

I never failed to feel sick that someone would be so callous as to dispose of another human being like yesterday's garbage. Another reason I retired.

J.J. cleared his throat, and spoke quietly, "I'm not telling him at this point, and I hope you two will agree with this decision."

Ian and I nodded. "Ian called his office and they are on their way to pick up the device. Ian, I take it you have a gun safe, or something like it, in that black girlie car of yours?" Ian nodded again. "Then for now I'll put this in the trunk of your car."

J.J. took off up the stairs with the bagged firebomb and Ian's keys. I breathed a little easier when he came back in one piece. He had a determined look in his eye "We have to move on this before someone else is killed." J.J. slapped Ian on the shoulder. "Time to call in the Calvary."

Ian winked. "I'm way ahead of you. When I called the bomb squad, I also sent notice to my superiors that we required a response team. They are mobilizing and will wait at the Motel 8 by the expressway for our call. Bob O'Brien will be our contact. He's coming down now and will pose as your cousin, J.J. You'll understand why when you see him."

"Okay, if you say so. Right now I have to put a bug in the right ears to get this party started. Edie swept my office and found listening devices there and one at the front counter. I'm going to place a call and she'll put the phone on speaker."

I piped up, "If I could interrupt for just a moment, what am I doing now?"

J.J. jerked his head toward Mag, Alejandro, and Moe. "If you would go over tonight's itinerary with them one more time, I'd appreciate it."

He ruffled my hair and I poked him in the belly. "Knock it off or I'm going to tell your mother." He and Ian both laughed.

I turned to the trio across the room. "Hey, you Rockefellers, dump that into a box or something and let's go over tonight's plan."

We looked around for a container and Mag came up with the big cooler we used to put our fresh-caught fish in.

Alejandro laughed, "Now we know something is fishy here!"

We all joined in with fish jokes on the way back upstairs. J.J. was on the phone. "Hello, Edie? J.J. here. Do we still have that Luminal in the evidence storage area? Good. Pull it out for me, would you? Buzz and I are going to make another trip out to Graff's. I think that horse might have died out there in the barn. I'll stop by and pick it up. Yeah, about six o'clock."

He waited while Edie spoke. "My cousin Bob is coming for the weekend and I wanted to wait for him to get here so I could send him over to my mother's house until we finish out at Graff's. Yeah, about five or so. No, no, you go on home at 4:30 as usual. You can leave the stuff in my office. I'll pick it up on the way out. Thanks Edie
–
bye, now."

He flipped the phone closed and said, "Well, that's that. We're committed."

"Or we ought to be." I added under my breath.

Moe walked in from the other room, snapping her cell phone shut. "More bad news, guys."

J.J. turned. "What the hell is it now?"

"Rob disappeared from the hospital."

Mag piped up, "I thought he was in ICU?"

"He was. They upgraded his condition and moved him to a regular room. It seems when Joel
–
that's who you call Curly
–
was helping the nurses move his stuff, Rob must have disconnected his IV and wheeled himself down the hall. The wheelchair was found in a waiting room, and a man is missing a long coat. What he used for shoes is beyond me, but Curly is out looking for a guy who looks like a barefoot flasher, as we speak."

J.J. rubbed his brow. "Geeez, what next?" He picked up the cell once more and called Edie at the station. He put out an all-call on Rob Graff. He'd fix
his
disappearing ass.

J.J. had Edie notify everyone
–
including the Wisconsin and the Illinois State Police. "Robert Graff just jumped to the top of my most wanted list. Let's wait for Bob to get here. Moe, keep an ear close to the radio. I want that little bastard back in custody."

"Right, Boss."

The afternoon faded into evening while we tossed ideas back and forth about how to proceed. Bob O'Brien arrived about four. I opened the door, stood for a moment, staring at a man who could have passed for J.J.'s twin, or at least his younger brother.

He held out his hand. "You must be Buzz Miller. Ian described you perfectly."

I gave him a wary look and shook his hand. "I'm afraid to ask what he said. Come on in and meet everyone." Bob gave me an easy smile and walked past me into the house. J.J. did a double take. "Hol
-
ee crap! Did my momma forget to tell me something? Are you a handsome devil or what?"