Vengeance is Mine - A Benjamin Tucker Mystery (17 page)

I looked at her with disgust and hatred. “With all due respect, doctor. You just took my baby girl away from me. So you can keep your list.” I walked out and Lainie followed.

Lainie offered to call Maggie and tell her what had happened. Drained, I gratefully accepted.

It was only a ten minute drive from Dr. Whitley’s to the Cary Police Department to pick up Lainie’s car. I assured her I was okay and left.

It was seven thirty when I returned to the estate. The Channel Fourteen News van was still parked in front of the main house. Netter was just finishing his investigation and greeted me.

“MacKenzie called and told me about Amanda Jane,” he said. “I’m real sorry it worked out that way. It’s the damn double standard. There’s no way they’d do this if you were a woman.” He patted me on the back. “Don’t worry, Ben, as soon as we nail this son of a bitch, she’ll be back here with you where she belongs.”

“Thanks, John.”

“I have to tell ya, this Plum is one brazen motherfucker to walk in here like this. He’s just shoven’ it in our faces. But that’s the bad news and the good news. Because if he keeps this shit up, we’re gonna nail him! I sure hope he gives me a reason to drop him.”

He pointed back to the main house. “If Roberta remembers anything at all about where she might have seen this son of a bitch, you call me—even at home. I don’t give a shit if it’s two in the morning!”

Netter left, and I walked in the back door of the main house. Everyone had already eaten. The kitchen was clean with a covered plate left on the center island. I assumed it was for me. Marcus had left, and Nora was now home. She, Maggie, and Julie were sitting in the great room watching TV, trying to get their minds off what happened earlier. Maggie looked at me and nodded silently toward Roberta who was once again sitting at the breakfast table, staring down and saying nothing. I walked over to her and hugged her.

She slowly looked up at me. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Ben. I’m so sorry.”

I gave her another hug. “You had no way of knowing.”

I left and returned in a minute with Johnny Walker Blue and two glasses filled with ice. I placed one of the glasses in front of her, poured it half full, and then did the same for myself.

I pointed to her glass. “Now that is a drink for a man,” I said sternly.

She looked at me, fighting back tears, and I gave her the biggest smile humanly possible.

“Someday, Mr. Ben, you and I will talk to Jesus—together.”

I laughed and lifted my glass. “That’ll be the day, Roberta. That’ll be the day.”

CHAPTER 25

The next morning Roberta served omelets with sausages and fresh fruit. Not much was said at the breakfast table and Amanda Jane’s empty chair was a stark reminder of the preceding day’s events. In an effort to calm frazzled nerves, I described the new security system that was going to be installed. It didn’t help much. I tried recommending that they all pack some things and head to Larkspur until Plum was captured or killed. But Maggie insisted on staying at least until Friday— that damn fundraiser at the Museum.

Maggie’s meeting with Marcus, Murdock, and LeGrenierre would resume in the drawing room at nine o’clock. Charles Brackus was expected an hour later to make plans for the new security system.

By eight thirty, everyone was showered and dressed. I took Oscar outside to investigate new smells around the grounds from recent police activity. Maggie had barricaded herself in the drawing room with her laptop to begin finalizing plans for the new ‘Maggie’ fashion line to be introduced next January.

Nora came out and joined me while I guarded the pool. She was carrying a small paper bag. She came up to me, and I gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek, but when I let go, she had a troubled look.

“Don’t worry, Nora,” I said. “The police will find this nut case and things will get back to normal. And Amanda Jane will be back here with us.”

She nodded. “I know,” she said softly. She was holding something back.

“What? There’s something you’re not telling me.”

“I’m in trouble, Benji. I need your help.” The concern on her face said she wasn’t kidding.

I led her to a teak bench in the rose garden. “Sit here and tell me about it.”

She began explaining. “Yesterday, I was at the club. And you probably don’t know this but there’s an off-track betting facility there.” She continued uncomfortably. “There have been occasions when I have placed bets on the horses.” I acted like I knew nothing about her gambling. “Anyway, yesterday there was a horse running named Henry’s Lady. I took it as a sign from my beloved Henry, and I bet fifteen thousand dollars to win.”

I whistled. “That’s a chunk of change.” I looked to make sure no one was around. “How much do you need?”

She shook her head. “Oh no, I don’t need any money. Henry’s Lady won by three lengths. But now I have this.” She handed me the bag.

It was filled with cash. “Jesus, Nora, how much is in here?”

“A little over eighty-seven thousand dollars. Henry’s Lady paid eight to one! I won well over a hundred thousand dollars, but they took a lot out for taxes. It never occurred to me that I might really win. I don’t need the money, and I don’t want Margaret to find out. Can you get rid of this for me?”

“Did you have to give them a social security number?”

She nodded.

“Well, I think, you’re toast. Maggie will certainly find out next year when your taxes get done. She’s too sharp to miss an additional hundred grand in income.”

I could see Nora deflate and I hugged her again. “Don’t worry,” I said. “I’ll explain it to Maggie on a really good day after a couple of glasses of wine. Trust me, I know how to butter her up. And as angry as she gets, she still hasn’t killed
me
… yet. So I’ll take the bag, and mum’s the word. Okay?”

“Thanks, Benji.” She kissed me, stood and started to leave, then stopped. “You know, you’re the son I always wanted. You accept me just the way I am. Don’t get me wrong. I love Robert. But sometimes he can be such an arrogant … turd.” Robert was Maggie’s younger brother.

I laughed as she smiled and left.

Oscar and I returned to the main house and hid the money bag in my bedroom closet. I poured cups of coffee for Roberta and me, and we sat at the breakfast table.

Although the last week and a half had been a disaster, I was enjoying my newfound camaraderie with Roberta. I tested the waters.

“Roberta, sometimes I feel a little insecure about being the second man in Maggie’s life. What did you think of her first husband, David?”

She slammed her fist on the table and spewed out a tongue-lashing in Spanish that scorched the kitchen walls. She ended it with a gesture that obviously meant castration.

“Well, I didn’t understand a word of that,” I said, “but I got the idea.”

I leaned back in my chair. “Yesterday you told Netter there was something familiar about Plum. Do you remember how?”

She just looked at me. “What?” I asked.

“I don’t want you to get upset,” she said.

I leaned forward. “No, please tell me. Anything could be important.”

Awkwardly, she said, “He reminded me of you.”

My heart began to race. “Really? In what way?”

“I can’t explain it,” she said.

“Does he look anything like me?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I didn’t see his face.”

“Did his voice sound like mine?”

“No. I’m sorry. I just can’t explain it,” she said.

“Were his mannerisms like mine?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I’m sorry. It’s just that when I think of him, I think of you. I’m sorry.”

I tried to reassure her. “No, don’t be sorry. This is important. Plum said when he saw my interview with Sally Briggum, he knew the two of us had a destiny.”

“Wait right here.” I quickly left the kitchen and got the DVD with the recorded interview from the master sitting room. I returned and started the DVD in the great room.

“Roberta, bring your coffee and come in here.” She brought both of our cups with her and the two of us sat on the sofa watching the interview.

I pointed to the TV. “There, did he put his hand on the back of his head like I just did there?”

“No, not that I remember,” she said.

“I just laughed there. Did he laugh like me?”

“He didn’t laugh,” she said

“What about his smile? Was that like mine?”

“I didn’t see his face,” she reminded me.

We finished watching the interview, and I looked to her. “Anything?”

She shook her head. “No. I’m sorry.”

I rubbed the back of my neck in confusion and slowly shook my head. “What the heck could it be?”

We watched the interview twice more, but Roberta was unable to see anything that explained why Jack Plum reminded her of me.

“He was about the same height as you,” she said. “And he walked like you, but there was something else. I’m sorry, Mr. Ben, I just can’t put my finger to it.”

I smiled and told her not to be sorry.

Julie had joined us in the great room with a sorrowful look on her face.

“I’m bored,” she said. “I miss Amanda, and Joanie’s mom won’t let her come over with everything that’s going on.”

She cheered up when I told her she could help me pick out the new security system.

“Will it have bars that automatically close, and laser lights that see anything that moves, and robots that go around and shoot bad guys like in the movies?” she asked.

“I doubt it,” I said. “Besides, in the movies, don’t the robots sometimes turn on the good guys?”

“Maybe we should stay away from the armed robots,” Julie said.

Charles Brackus and Angelo DeMatrollo, his chief engineer, arrived shortly before ten o’clock. I introduced them both to Julie. Oscar had heard the doorbell and raced into the foyer wagging frantically with a rubber hamburger squeaker toy in his mouth. Julie bent down and picked him up. “This is our dog, Oscar,” Julie said. “He’s head of security.”

Brackus smiled and said, “Gee, I’m not sure we’re even needed here with this frightening guard dog.” Oscar cocked his bony little head and wagged faster.

“I think you’re right, Charles,” Angelo said. “Nothing worse than a Dachshund hanging from your throat.”

Julie giggled.

We gave them a brief tour of the main house and then showed them the guesthouse. We did a walk around the entire estate, so they could see what they’d be dealing with. We finished back at the guesthouse kitchen table, and Julie got glasses and the pitcher of lemonade Roberta had left for us in the fridge.

Angelo spoke first. “There are four two-hundred amp electrical services in the garage of the main house. There’s another two-hundred amp service in the guesthouse. The system only takes a thousand watts, so we have plenty of power. I recommend we cover the outside first, then the main house, and the guesthouse last.”

Charles Brackus covered the outside. “I suggest we line the front and two sides of the property with eight-foot-high iron security fencing.” He showed us a photo. “As you can see, the tops of the spokes are sharp spikes to deter someone from climbing over, but the appearance still looks attractive. The spikes can be removed with a special tool, so after the main crisis is over, we can come out and replace them with rounded ends. Also, this is intelligent fencing, and what I mean by that is, it has built-in sensors. It will detect if something touches it.”

He pulled a pad from Angelo’s briefcase and made a crude drawing of the estate perimeter. “Your control panels will have a diagram similar to this with a series of yellow and red LEDs around it. If something comes in contact with the fence, a yellow LED will light.”

“What if it’s just a leaf?” I asked.

“The software triggers on a combination of force and time. So a leaf would not exert enough force on the fence to trigger the system. If the force and time exceed a pre-programmed amount, the red LED illuminates, and the system goes into the first stage of alarm.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“There will be a series of high power lights installed around the estate focused in strategic locations,” Charles said. “At the first stage of alarm, these lights will illuminate the area violated, and the system will also provide a soft audible alert to notify anyone in either house of the intrusion. Motion sensors will then determine if someone has truly violated the perimeter, initiating the second stage, which is full alarm. You will still have ten seconds to deactivate the alarm by entering your individual security passcode. Motion sensors will also temporarily trigger the lights to illuminate the area if they detect any motion in the yard. They will turn off again after ten seconds if the motion ceases. The motion sensitivity can be adjusted if a rabbit or a stray cat sets it off.”

He continued. “The fencing will extend around the front of the property with automatic gates at the driveway. The problem, Mr. Tucker, is the back of the property where it backs up to Sunset Lake. I recommend closing this off with similar fencing and a locked personnel gate.

Angelo then covered the system for the main house and the guesthouse. It included contact switches at the windows and doors and motion sensors throughout both structures. There would also be motorized security barriers at each window and door that would close if a perimeter violation was detected. Also, the large windows were already tempered glass, so they would shatter if anyone tried to cut them.

“There will be three control centers,” Angelo said, “one in the master bedroom closet, one on the second floor in the housekeeper’s suite, and one in the guesthouse. Whichever one you enter your security code into becomes the master and the other two become slaves. It will also let you know if someone else is trying to gain control of one of the slaves and will identify who that person is by their passcode.”

“The entire system is powered by a PPM, a programmable power module with a six hour battery backup. There will be four of these PPMs positioned on the property, but only one controls the system. The software randomly moves the power control from one PPM to another, so no one really knows where the system is getting power at any one time. Since there are four units, the system will operate without main power to the property for almost twenty-four hours.”