4 Big Easy Hunter Page 3

  My hair was getting long and was down past my shoulders now. If I had time, I might cut it before leaving for the wedding, but Mick liked it longer, and I should probably just get it trimmed. I looked myself over in the large mirror and thought I was probably at my ideal weight right now. Playing racquetball with my friends, and now adding extra games with Mick, had given my arms and legs good definition. At 5’ 7”, with blue eyes and blonde hair, and a body that made me very happy, I certainly didn’t need to fear Detective Bentley. I held my arms up in a muscle pose and made a face at the mirror.

  “What in the world are you doing?” Mick asked watching from the bathroom doorway. He was starting to laugh.

  My face turned red, but I said defiantly, “I’m preparing myself to meet Detective Bentley.”

  “Susan, he’s not here to wrestle with you. He just wants to talk. Come on.”

  I sighed again and followed him into the living room. Mick had already invited the detective to have a seat, and had given him a glass of iced tea.

  Merely looking at him unnerved me as he seemed to be glaring at me with his smoldering, blue-gray eyes, and I hadn’t even said hello yet. His square-cut jaw with the cleft appeared to be set hard as he stared at me. I sat down on the sofa.

  “What can I do for you, Detective?” I asked.

  He didn’t hold back. “Where were you last night at 1:00 A.M?”

  My mouth dropped open, and I was stunned for a second.

  “She was right here, sleeping,” Mick said nonchalantly.

  The detective was abrupt as he said, “I want to hear it from her.”

  I was suddenly sick to my stomach. I could tell this wasn’t going to go well. I looked at Detective Bentley, and he seemed tired, like he hadn’t been sleeping much. There were dark circles under his eyes. I sensed he wasn’t playing games with me today, and I should simply tell him the truth.

  “I was sitting in the parking lot at Martin’s Deli,” I admitted sheepishly.

  “What?” Mick said with his voice raised. “What were you doing out at that time of night, and what were you doing at Martin’s?”

  Detective Bentley held his hand out toward Mick to silence him. He looked back to me and said, “Did you take Old Carbide Road over the viaduct and drive around in the neighborhoods over there?”

  “Yes,” I whispered.

  “Susan?” Mick’s voice was still raised. He was completely baffled, and I could tell he was starting to become more than a little upset.

  “Now do you want to tell me why?” asked the detective.

  I looked back and forth between the two men and sighed. “It was just a stupid thing,” I told both of them. “I’ve been hearing rumors that people are seeing me in the middle of the night, in my Chevelle, driving around and up to some kind of no-good business. It bugged me. I saw the other car Saturday night when I was out front with Joe. It went speeding by the apartment building.

  “Who’s Joe?” the detective asked.

  “Nate’s dog,” Mick muttered.

  “Anyway,” I continued, “Mick wasn’t coming home until late last night, so I decided to run my own reconnaissance. I parked at the deli and watched to see if the car drove by. Then I drove into a couple of neighborhoods to see if I could see anything there. I didn’t even have a plan if I did see the car.”

  “Did you see it?” asked the detective.

  “No,” I said. “Only two cars went past the deli, and I didn’t see any others in the neighborhoods. I was home shortly before Mick came in at 2:00.”

  “You were awake?” he asked incredulously.

  “Mick, please,” I said with an imploring look. “I’ll talk to you about it after Chuck leaves.”

  Detective Bentley shot a look my way. He and Mick were on a first-name basis, but I had never called him by his first name before. It must have sounded odd coming from me as our conversations had always been in a formal setting.

  “How did you know what I was doing last night?” I asked the detective.

  “Dick was patrolling in an unmarked car. He went by the deli and saw the Chevelle. He trailed you until you parked in the carport shortly before 2:00. Susan, you obviously don’t know what’s going on and why driving around last night was a big mistake.”

  I frowned at Mick and started to feel afraid. The detective didn’t seem to be teasing me, and something was definitely amiss. Dick was Larry’s cousin and usually kept us in the loop on police matters, but Samantha hadn’t tipped me off to anything from Dick, yet he had been following me last night.

  “There’s been a rash of break-ins around town,” the detective said. “The home is almost always a two-story house, and the thief or thieves have been going in during the night when the homeowners are sleeping. They seem to be in and out quickly, like within five minutes, and they aren’t taking big items, just valuables they find on the first floor that can be easily carried out. No one has seen them, and the only information just about everyone has been able to give is that by the time they get downstairs to investigate the noise, no one is there. But four people have been able to cite a red classic car being driven by a blonde. One man even named you by name. He said it was Susan Hunter driving away.”

  I was floored by his words. “Detective Bentley, I’m serious,” I told him sincerely. “I don’t know anything about any of this. Last night was the first I’ve been out after midnight since Mick and I got married.”

  “But you’ve seen the other car?” he asked dubiously.

  “Yes, early Saturday evening,” I said. “It seemed to be exactly like mine, but I didn’t see who was driving. The sun was low on that side of the building and caused a glare through the car windows as it went by.”

  “Other than the middle-of-the-night sightings, no one has seen another car around town like yours, Susan,” he said. “We have every officer on the force looking for one, but so far, all we have is yours. Dick seeing you out in the middle of the night doesn’t look good for you either.”

  I looked at Mick with real fear in my eyes. What did this mean?

  “Listen, Chuck,” Mick said. “What can we do? You know us, and you know Susan isn’t involved in this. How can we help?”

  “I know it’s an imposition,” he said, “but if you’d let a couple of officers do a search of your apartment and the Chevelle, it would go a long way to take Susan out of the mix for now.”

  Mick furrowed his brow, and I could tell he didn’t like the idea at all. “They won’t do any damage will they?” he asked.

  “None at all,” he said. “I’ll have Dick and Sasha conduct the search, and you know they’ll respect your things.”

  Mick nodded, and the detective immediately pulled out his phone and called for the two officers.

  I stood up and walked over to Mick. He put his arms around me as I tried to hold back the tears. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t do anything,” I whispered to him.

  “I know you didn’t,” he said holding me close.

  “Where are the car keys?” asked the detective. “Mick, how about the BMW, too? We might as well clear everything.”

  I sat down again while Mick went to get the keys. Dick and Sasha walked into the apartment. They had obviously been waiting downstairs for the call. A few minutes later, Mick was handing the keys to them, and they were handing papers to him to sign for the agreed upon search. I was absolutely heartsick.

  Mick sat down beside me and put his arm around my shoulders. He held my hand with his other hand, and I knew these were protective gestures. About fifteen minutes into the search, Darby and Nate walked through the open doorway with smiles as though they were expecting a party.

  “What’s going on in here?” Darby asked cheerfully.

  “OUT!” Detective Bentley barked at them while pointing to the doorway.

  Nate immediately turned around and scurried out. Darby looked at me and Mick on the sofa and could easily see the tension. He saw Sasha going through cupboards in the kitchen, and Dick was making a fair a
mount of noise in the back of the apartment.

  “I’ll call you later,” I told him with a weak smile. “Everything is ok.”

  He could tell the detective meant business, so he simply nodded to us and took off down the hallway after Nate.

  An hour later, Detective Bentley gave us the courtesy of letting us know nothing had been found in the apartment or our vehicles other than our own personal belongings. He dismissed Dick and Sasha, and sat back down in the living room chair.

  “Susan, I know you’ll want to tell Darby what happened here tonight, but I’m going to ask you to keep it to yourself for a while. There’s some talk around town about the robberies and the woman with the red car, but we’ve been able to keep it out of the papers for now. With everyone so frightened by the serial rapist over at the mall, we don’t want the community any more fearful than it already is. We have extra manpower to deal with all of this, but so far we don’t have any good leads in either case, and it’s been frustrating. I know this was upsetting tonight, but I believe you aren’t involved in this, and this was the only thing I could do to help you right now.”

  I nodded my head.

  “Chuck,” Mick addressed the detective, “Susan, Darby, and Nate are leaving a week from Monday to go to New Orleans for the week. If you don’t have this resolved by then, and there are more break-ins and car sightings while she’s gone, well, that should put her in the clear for good, right?”

  “I would say so, unless you’re the one wearing a blonde wig and driving the car at night while breaking into homes,” he said flatly.

  My mouth fell open, and my eyes popped out. My heart started racing. He surely didn’t think Mick was behind the break-ins.

  He took one look at my face and started to laugh. “Susan, you just made my night. It isn’t a good visit with you unless I can get an unnecessary rise out of you.” He stood up, still laughing, and walked toward the door. I wanted to yell at him, but I knew he had actually done me a favor tonight.

  Mick stood up, walked over to the door with him, and said, “Good-night, Chuck. I hope the next time we hear from you, it’s with good news.” The two men shook hands, and Mick closed the door behind him.

  I stood up preparing to plead my case, but Mick stopped me. He gathered me into his strong arms and kissed me hard. He gazed at me with tenderness and said, “Susan, I love you. I know you. I know why you did what you did last night. I even know why you didn’t let me know you were awake. I get it. But, sweetheart, you have to realize it’s not just you anymore. It’s us. I’m in this, too, and I’d go along with most of your madcap ideas if you’d let me in on them. If I would have known you wanted to creep around at night looking for the other Chevelle, I’m pretty sure I would have done that with you. It might have even been fun. You get a crazy idea in your head, and then you try to implement it all by yourself, and …” his voice trailed off.

  I didn’t say anything. I felt bad enough, and I was grateful for his understanding and concern rather than his anger.

  “Do you understand now why I’m hesitant to let you go to New Orleans by yourself?” he asked.

  “Mick, with everything that’s going on here in Carbide City, I think New Orleans is the safer place for me right now. And I won’t be with just Darby. Nate will be there, too, and then Mom and Dad will be there on Thursday. We’ll all be fine. Please don’t worry.” I peered into his tender eyes and whispered, “I’m so sorry, Mick.”

  He reached down and in one swift movement lifted me up into his arms and carried me to the bedroom. The room was only in slight disarray from Dick’s search. Mick gently deposited me on the bed and said softly, “There’s nothing to be sorry about, Susan.” His look turned from one of tenderness to one of amusement as he said, “Now, show me those sexy muscles you were flexing earlier.”

  Chapter Five

  “John McNutt said you wanted to be a giraffe, so I assumed you liked giraffes,” said Ron grinning from ear to ear.

  Ron was attractive with dark, Italian, good looks, and although intelligent, he sometimes talked and behaved as though he were a goof. He could be counted on to be the life of the party, he would do anything for you, and he dated as many girls as he possibly could at one time. Why he sometimes went goof on us was a mystery.

  “What are you talking about?” I asked him as I scrutinized the strange object.

  “John McNutt said he interviewed you right out of high school for a sales job. He asked you what kind of animal you wanted to be, and you told him a giraffe. He said something about being elegant, with a long neck, and long legs. I guess you did kind of grow up to be a giraffe, didn’t you?” A big grin spread across his face.

  Everyone laughed, and I was starting to feel like I wanted to throw the heavy object at him. I could definitely feel a blush creeping into my face. I remembered the encounter with John McNutt. He had been a couple of years ahead of me in high school and was an arrogant jock. When I graduated, I applied for a summer job at a local insurance agency. He was the person interviewing me, and he asked the stupid question about the animal. I knew he wanted me to respond with a lion, or a tiger, or a bear, or some other aggressive animal because a salesperson should have an aggressive personality. It irritated me so much, and so did John McNutt during the interview, that I told him I wanted to be a giraffe.

  “How did you find out about that stupid interview anyway?” I asked Ron shaking my head and laughing. “It was years ago.”

  “John’s working at the gift shop at the mall. No one wants to go over there right now, so all of the stores have everything on sale trying to keep some customers coming in. When I told him I was shopping for a gift for you, he remembered you wanted to be a giraffe and said this would be the perfect gift.” He smiled proudly.

  “Look, Joe,” I said brightly as I held the gift out to him for a sniff. He checked out the heavy wooden object which only slightly resembled a giraffe, threw his head back, and let out a painful howl. Everyone laughed again. “I agree, Joe,” I told him as I placed the strange object on the coffee table.

  Mick had asked Nate to bring the hound and his bed over to our apartment for the house-warming party. The dog bed was situated on the floor at the end of the sofa, and Joe was restricted to the area by his leash which was looped around the sofa’s leg. He could lie in his bed or walk around in a three-foot area. I was sitting beside him and showing each gift to him as it was unwrapped.

  I looked down at the dog, patted him on the head, and said, “You’ve had enough attention. Now you lie here and be good. I’ll get a treat for you in a little bit.”

  The dog obediently flopped down on his bed, and looked up to me for confirmation. “Good boy,” I told him. I stood and addressed our guests, “Thank you so much for the gifts. They were unnecessary but appreciated. And everything is absolutely perfect – even the giraffe.” Everyone laughed again. “Before we eat, Mick will take you on the tour. He can tell you about all of the changes they made better than I can.”

  Mick led the group of guests back to the master bedroom with its large bathroom to start the tour. Across the hallway were his small office, so he could work at home more often, and my little library. I loved the library. The bookcases were a deep, rich walnut. There were two comfy chairs with ottomans and one small table between. Recessed ceiling lighting could be adjusted to give the room full light or a much softer light for reading. A multi-paned window with a window seat had been added to bring the morning sun into the room. Mick and I had already spent many evenings reading in the cozy room, and it was one of my favorite spots in the apartment.

  The old doors leading into the two apartments had been removed and the wall sealed over. New double doors were centrally added as the main entrance to the apartment, and they opened into the large living room. The kitchen and dining area had been expanded by half and were still in the same place as before – to the right of the main doors. The guest bath behind the kitchen had been updated. The previous bedroom was opened up, and half
of it was now an open part of the large living room. The other half was closed off to make a small laundry room. There was still a common laundry area in the basement of the building, but Husky assured Mick that I wouldn’t want to be running up and down the stairs with laundry baskets, and he convinced him to make the extra laundry room for me. The previous sitting room was a bit larger now and was a bedroom for Alex when he spent the night with us. Of course, the hit of the tour was the secret passageway between the library and Mick’s office, and everyone wanted to take a turn going through.

  While Mick was giving the tour, aided by Husky’s boisterous commentary, Samantha, Darby, Nate, and I were huddled in the kitchen talking about the past week’s events.

  “Mae was back down at the police station on Wednesday,” said Samantha. “They wanted her to try to identify the man from a sketch. One woman said she caught a glimpse of his face, so the police sketch artist tried to draw him, and they’ve been asking all of the women to add anything they can.”

  “Did she recognize the guy?” Nate asked.

  “She said the sketch artist drew an exact likeness of Napoleon Dynamite,” Samantha replied. “Mae never saw the guy’s face, so there was nothing she could add or take away. But Dick said when the artist ends up drawing a famous likeness, it’s never helpful.”

  “Has everything settled down with the woman and the red car?” Darby asked me.

  I knew I wasn’t supposed to be talking about it, but I had told all of them what happened with Detective Bentley and the search. “I haven’t heard anything more about any of it,” I told him. “Martin hasn’t mentioned it at the deli, and no one has said anything to me at the club, so maybe there’s nothing more going on.”