Scent of Gardenia (Scott Tucker Series) (17 page)

Chapter
40

Despite
taking out her hostility on the men, she was still upset about the different
investigations going on. In her years on the island, authorities had not gotten
any closer to her or her special hospitality suites. She spent all of Sunday
and Monday with the men,
catching
all of them more than once with her
hook. She told them she was ‘trolling’ and not to move or she would hook them.
It
didn’t matter, but it was more fun watching the fear in their eyes before she
hooked them.

At one
point, her rage about the investigations got the best of her and she broke the
hook off inside Shawn. Today he is running a high fever. She knows he’s
fighting an infection.
How could she do something so stupid?
She faintly
remembered pummeling him that day until he went unconscious. It certainly had
made the other two more submissive hearing Shawn being beaten.

*.*.*

She
wasn’t here for sex this time. Shawn was on his bed, not that he wouldn’t be,
but he was white as a ghost. He was soaking wet and when she felt his forehead
he was burning up. She looked at the area where the hook broke off and it was
red, swollen and obviously infected. She lifted his head, giving him two Penicillin
tablets with some water.

“You
have to help me,” Shawn mumbled, rolling his head from side to side.

She knew
she was wasting her time—she didn’t want to save him.
Shawn, you served your
purpose well, but it’s time for someone new. This is just prompting my
decision.
She wrung the cloth out and wiped his face and neck. She was
trying to bring down his fever. It was hard for her not to pay some attention
to his special parts, but she wasn’t in the mood and he was far from it too.

He was
moaning over and over again. It was having an impact on her. She felt something
she hadn’t felt in years. Several minutes had passed when she opened her eyes
to see the display in front of her.
You damn fool, now look at what you’ve
done.
Looking at this helpless, naked man she knew what her ‘other’ had
done, and wondered if it was too late to save this man. She was soon rocking
back and forth, sobbing. She suddenly cried out, “Oh, you poor man. What has
she done? What has she done to you?”

Chapter
41

Mike
looked at his watch.
Scott will definitely be bringing doughnuts tomorrow.
He’s never been this late without calling. Maybe he’s visiting with Stephen
again. He thought he should check with Colleen.

On the
way to Colleen’s reception area he checked Scott’s desk calendar. It didn’t
show any appointments for the day. As he approached Colleen’s desk, she looked
up. “Mike, if your question is whether I’ve heard from Scott…I haven’t. It’s
not like him not to call. Would you like me to call his apartment to see if
he’s not feeling well? I’m sorry, was that what you wanted?”

“Yes
Colleen. It seems our detective skills are rubbing off on you. Yes, please give
him a call and let me know what you find out. Bill called me when he couldn’t
reach Scott this morning. He’s headed here to talk about the MIT development.
If Bill comes in, please have him see me. Thanks.”

Mike
returned to his office. He was concerned about not hearing from Scott. He
thought about calling Stephen’s office.

Five
minutes later Colleen stepped into his office. “Mike, there’s no answer at
Scott’s apartment.” She had her arms wrapped around herself. “Is there anything
else you want me to do?”

“Colleen,
don’t worry. I’m sure Scott’s okay. Something probably came up that demanded
his attention. I’m sure he will come in, or we will hear something from him
soon. You might give some thought to what kind of doughnuts you want him to
bring tomorrow,” Mike said with a laugh.

“Thanks
Mike…I’m sure you’re right. He’s a ‘bad boy’ this morning.”

*.*.*

Bill
Story arrived and headed into Mike’s office. “Colleen said to see you, Scott’s
not here yet?” Bill said, with a puzzled look.

“Yeah,
we haven’t heard from Scott. I’m sure he will be here soon. Have a seat. Scott
told me about the MIT situation. What’s your opinion?” Mike heard the front
office door open and Scott’s voice. “Bill, hold that answer, that’s Scott now.”

Mike
watched as Scott appeared in his doorway. “Good morning Mike, Bill…sorry I’m
late.”

“Good
afternoon Scott. I think you should buy doughnuts the rest of the week for not
letting us know if you were okay or not. Colleen was very concerned.”

“I’m
sorry I didn’t call…something came up and I couldn’t get to a phone. It won’t
happen again. I’ll get a coffee and join you both.”

Scott
came back in and pulled up a chair. “So Bill, what’s your take on what’s going
on at MIT?” Mike asked.

Bill
took a deep breath. “Well here’s what I know. A new director was appointed a
couple of weeks ago. On his tour of the computer laboratory, he saw me working
there with a visitor badge. He later asked the lab manager, ‘Who is the guy
with the visitor badge and what is he doing here?’ My contact at the lab told
me that if they allowed one outside endeavor, they would have to allow others.
When the manager met with me his words were; ‘At this time, it wasn’t in their
best interest to allow my further use of their resources.’”

Mike
replied, “I guess I can see their point, but it is a development lab. So, that
brings us to your suggestion Scott. Bill, have you heard what Scott is
proposing?”

“No.”

“Scott,
I talked with Paddy and he’s not opposed to your suggestion. Why don’t you
share it?”

“Well,
before I get into that…Mike, I updated Stephen yesterday and he’s okay with
what has happened. His point was that the Real Estate Board is going to need
their own resources if the listing project went live anyway. So why not deal
with that need now. He’s also offered to lease the old task force office
building if we need him to. I guess that also covers what you didn’t know Bill.
I suggested that old office to house the computer setup.”

Bill’s
smile was ear to ear. “So does this mean I will have my own setup?”

Mike
answered, “I guess that’s close to what it would be. Scott, if you don’t know
what equipment Bill needs…Bill, can you give Scott a list of the minimum
equipment you need?”

Bill
looked confused and asked, “I guess I missed something. Where’s the equipment
coming from?”

Scott
replied before Mike could answer, “Wang offered a computer setup earlier, and
I’m going to see if they’re serious about it. Our use of their setup does tie
closer to what they’re trying to demonstrate to businesses versus the research
MIT was doing in their lab.”

Bill was
rubbing his hands together. “I’ll make a list of the equipment and any special
needs. I’ll also borrow some tape drives to move my stuff and the ‘listing
demo’ material off the MIT equipment. It will take me an hour or so to make the
equipment list. That old task force office puts it in walking distance of this
office. I was worried about what was going to happen, but this is better than I
expected.”

“Okay
then. Go ahead and make that list. Scott, can I talk with you for a few
minutes?” Mike said, standing up.

*.*.*

Mike
shut his office door and sat back down. “Scott, I talked with Paddy about your
going to Bermuda to assist Holly. He doesn’t want you doing that. In addition,
given everything you have going with Wang, the listing project and now the Wang
equipment setup, you’re needed more here than there. Thanks for offering. Are
you okay with that?” Mike asked.

“I’m
fine with that. I can understand the other needs we have. However, I’m somewhat
concerned about Holly conducting an investigation all by herself in a foreign
country…even though it’s Bermuda. Men are disappearing and now turning up dead.
She could get too close to what’s going on.”

Mike
nodded. “I appreciate your concern, and I also share some of those same
concerns. However, she’s not entirely alone. She has a guide assisting her, and
I hear one of the reasons Paddy allowed her to extend her investigation is that
she’s staying right on his boat. Holly is no dummy; she can take care of
herself. She has a great sense when it comes to sizing up a situation. We’re
lucky to have her.”

“Scott,
one other thing I need to share with you. As you know, I’m not your boss and
we’re peers, but you need to let us know when you are tied up and can’t make it
into the office,” Mike said, with a soft laugh.

Mike was
surprised at Scott’s laugh.

“I’m
sorry Mike. You’re right. I will call if that ever happens again.”

Mike now
understood what had kept Scott from coming in. “Mercedes got back in town
yesterday, did you happen to see her?”

“Yes,
that’s one of the reasons I couldn’t call this morning. I was with her, and she
wouldn’t let me…well, I couldn’t get to a phone.”

“Very
interesting.”

Chapter
42

Jules
was driving without saying anything. Holly studied him, but he didn’t give the
impression anything was wrong. She knew better. “Jules, where are we going?”

“You’ll
see when we get there.”

Holly
still couldn’t get used to driving on the left side of the road, especially
when they exited off the traffic circle. If she was driving they would have
made at least one mistake. The ocean was on their right and she was enjoying
the turquoise water and white sand beaches. Jules turned left and exited the
shore road. Shortly, fewer homes dotted the road and more commercial buildings
were evident. Jules slammed on the brakes. She had to brace herself with her
hand on the dash. He quickly backed up and turned into a small parking lot. The
small sign read
‘Bermuda’s Past and Future Treasures.’

She knew
if she were trying to find this place by herself she would have had significant
difficulty. He pulled up to the metal Quonset hut and turned the cab off. “This
is hopefully what you are looking for m’lady.”

They had
been so quiet, she offered, “You’re incredible.”

He
started to get out, but turned and smiled. “You said that last night.” He
hesitated getting out, asking, “Did you want me to go with you?”

“Yes
please. This place gives me the creeps.” They both got out. She followed Jules
as he headed around the side of the hut. The door had a sign on it that read
‘Open’ and another that read ‘Ring Bell.’ Jules rang the large bell, which was
brass—once upon a time. No one responded, and he rang it continually for about
ten seconds.

“Dang, I
heard it the first time. That bell has had better days…you’re going to break
the poor thing ringing it like that.” The heavy set man approached them,
patting the bell. If she had been alone she would have felt very uncomfortable.

The man
must have weighed 300 pounds, standing well over six feet. His long-gray
whiskers contrasted with his bald head. He had long dirty fingernails and
hands. His outfit was a mechanics coverall with muddy combat boots. He looked
at Jules, but stared at her. She took a step back, because he was too close and
smelled like fish.

“Well I
ain’t goin’ to bite ya missy,” he said, with a throaty, toothless laugh,
holding up his hands mimicking a cat with claws. “Boy, I don’t get visitors lik
you very often, you be a real looker and look at that red hair.” He reached out
to touch it and she jumped back. “You be real jumpy aren’t ya?” He slowly
turned to look at Jules who stood eyeball to eyeball with him. “I’m not sure I
can’t hep you, but what ya lookin for?”

Holly
was glad his focus was on Jules. “Do you ever have dive cages?” Jules asked.

“Yep,
you’ve come to the right spot…we had em. We’re about the only place that do. We
be out right now though.”

Holly didn’t
necessarily want to go anywhere, even with Jules going with them. “Mister…?”

“Missy,
there’s no mister ere, it’s just Willie…my friends call me Wee Willie.” He
laughed at himself.

“Okay
Willie, my name is Holly and this is Jules. We’re not in the market for dive
cages, but would like to know if anyone has bought one or more of them from you
that look like this,” Holly said, showing him the picture.

He
stared at Holly without answering. “I had a bird once that sounded sweet like
you.” He continued to stare at her. “Oh yeah, let me think. We ave had some
sold. In fact the woman wasn’t jumpy like ya are. She was beautiful too…an she
had red hair.”

Holly
raised her eyebrows, looking over at Jules. Do you know her name or how to get
in touch with her?”

“Heh,
heh…only in my dreams. Nah I don’t ave a name. She paid in cash, too.”

“Did you
deliver them anywhere?”

“Nah,
she picked them up. I loaded two of them at a time into her pickup. She ad to
make three trips ta get em.”

“What
did the pickup look like?”

“Jus lik
all the others on the island.”

‘Would
you recognize her if you saw her again?”

His
smile got larger and larger. “I see er every nit, I sur would know er.” He
looked her up and down. “Now I goin to ave two of ya. What do they call that
new radio…oh ya, stereo…stereo redheads?” He started laughing, until it turned
to coughing.

Holly
was undressed once today and this made twice. She waited until his coughing
subsided. “Thank you for your time Willie. We may come back with a picture at
some point.”

“If ya do,
bring one I can keep.”

*.*.*

They
were back in the cab, but Jules had not started it yet. “Jules, he gives me the
creeps. Can you get us away from here please?”

Jules
pulled away, and shortly was back on the shore road. He pulled off and parked
in one of the scenic overlooks. Holly was glad Jules had been with her.
Willie
gave the impression he could be someone holding the men.
Why did I think
that?

She got
out and sat on the bench. Jules joined her. “Are you okay Holly?” Jules asked.

She blew
out a long breath then answered, “He was a strange duck. I’m so glad you were
with me. He looked like he could be in a horror show. What do you make of what
he said?”

Jules
stared at the surf breaking off a reef far in the distance. Finally, he
answered, “I think Willie needs a woman in his life…that would straighten him
out. I think he’s harmless. He just doesn’t get much company like you. However,
I think you might have found a clue to who might be behind the missing men. If
we could take the dive cage by Willie, I’m sure he would know if it was one of
his or not. However, I don’t think the inspector will let us borrow it, and I
don’t want him to know what we learned.”

“Jules,
I think you’re right about Willie and his ability to identify the cage. I’m
sorry about this morning…I’m not sure what got into me.” She reached for his
hand and held it. “I think we have to ask around about a beautiful redhead.
What do you think?”

He
turned, putting his arm around her. “First, I think you’re right about looking
for a beautiful redhead, but I’ve found mine. Secondly, I think you’re still
thinking about how the inspector and I know each other.

She
was thinking about the fact the redhead got six dive cages. Could she be
planning that many kidnappings and murders? As far as what Jules said…he was
right…so right.