Death of a Hot Chick (16 page)

Anger over the whole stupidity of
repeated demands finally ignited my voice. “Don’t you guys get
together with each other? Check with the local police. Officer
Yarnell from Smith Harbor has already gone through this, and left.
Nicole Joline gave
Snapdragon
to me, and I have the title to prove it.”

I darted inside, opened the drawer with the
title copies, and grabbed one. I returned and flapped the paper in
his face. “This is a copy. After someone broke in, I put the
original in a safe-deposit box.”

The cop grabbed the paper and read. “Title
of ownership.” He scanned it, then added, “Owner, Nicole Joline or
Cyd Denlinger. That name tacked on, that’s you?” After I nodded, he
said, “One can do wonders with Photo Shop, I understand.”

I reached for the paper, but when the cop
hung on. “Look at it. I registered the title change at the court
house.”

“
Oh?”

“
And that is a certified copy.
Witnessed and signed by a Notary Public.”

“
And you expect this to hold up in
court?”

“
That’s what my lawyer says. Does your
next of kin have any better document?”

“
I have this order to escort you and
any of your property off the boat. It is signed by Judge Haley.
Certainly you’ve heard of Judge Haley.”

“
That’s just plain wrong. The judge
never saw a title because your next of kin does not own my boat. In
fact, you are trespassing. Please leave.”

“
Cyd Denlinger, are you disobeying an
order from a judge?”

“
No, I’m protecting my
property.”

“
I’m authorized to arrest you if you
do not leave willingly.”

“
I don’t believe it!” I grabbed my
cell phone, punched in Kaye’s number and waited for her to
answer.

“
Please put that phone
down.”

“
Do you want to be sued for false
arrest? I registered this title.” I listened to the ring in my ear
and watched as one cop glance at another. Kaye didn’t
answer.

“
Ma’am, are you resisting
arrest?”

I shook my head as I backed up and yelled as
my sister’s phone kept ringing, “Call my lawyer and come over to my
boat as soon as you can.” I darted inside, pushed the door shut and
locked it. I yelled out, “If you cops damage my boat, you’ll pay to
repair it.”

They muttered to each other. I checked my
numbers on the phone then dialed another one. Wes. He’d witnessed
our signatures.

From outside the boat I heard one of the
cops say, “It’s all legal. Shall we chop down the door?”

“
So maybe her paper is legal
too.”

I heard Wes pick up the phone.

“
Wes, you witnessed the title Nicole
Joline gave me. Some cops are here to take my boat away. Come tell
them you saw Nicole sign it. They don’t seem to believe
me.”

From outside the door, one of the cops said,
“We’ll be back.”

“
Wait a minute,” I whispered to Wes,
then yelled to the cops, “Ask that next of kin if he has a title.
He doesn’t. Look at the county records. My name is listed as the
owner. Tell the judge that and you won’t be back.”

After I heard the cops leave, I told Wes.
“It’s okay. They’re gone for now.” I dialed my sister again, let it
ring for a full minute while my heart rate slowed, then hung up.
Kaye hadn’t turned her answering machine on, so my call for help
never happened.

Which was just as well. I needed to handle
my own affairs. I searched all the papers from Kaye’s lawyer. No—my
lawyer. No home telephone number listed.

But the state cops might come back with
something more official. Had they deliberately waited until all
city offices were closed before they arrived?

I unlocked my door and stepped out on my
open deck to be sure they were gone. They were out of sight, but a
man in a brown suit at least two sizes too large and a souvenir tie
knotted way below his chin stood on my finger pier. He had both a
receding hairline and a pony tail.

“
You all having a bit of trouble,
Ma’am?”

I didn’t answer his question but asked one
of my own. “So, what do you want?”

He said, “I want to give you a real good
opportunity. I’ve got a customer, I mean, a client who wants to buy
your boat. He’s willing to pay one hundred thousand dollars for it.
And that’s an offer you can’t refuse, right?”

“
Oh.” Something was wrong, I knew it.
First, was the boat worth that much? Maybe, maybe not. But I had
another question. “Who are you? Some kind of boat
agent?”

“
I’m a legal lawyer. My client wants
to stay, ah, remain anonymous. I mean, I am unable to disclose my
client’s name. But he has....” He cleared his throat. “My client
authorized me to purchase this boat.”

He was no more a lawyer than I was cotton
candy. “So, Mr. Legal Lawyer, what is your name?”

“
Fred Brown. I’ll just come in and we
can take care of the details.”

“
I don’t think so. You can stand right
there and tell me exactly what those details are.”

“
You’d better not fool around here.
This offer won’t last. You sign the title over to me, and then you
get the check. That will take care of any little problem you have
with those coppers.”

“
But you don’t have a check with you,
do you?”

“
Lady, business people don’t carry big
checks around. It will be mailed tomorrow morning.” He stepped on
board and reached for the door.

“
Go away, or I’ll call those police to
come right back!” I darted inside, pulled the door shut, and locked
it. Then I closed and locked all the hatches and ports. “Go away,”
I said from inside.

I heard him jerk at the door handle. I
grabbed my cell phone. “I’m calling the police right now,” I
yelled.

“
Listen, babe, you ain’t gonna call
the police. Not now. Not after what they said.”

I stood by the largest port, where he could
watch as I punched in numbers, then held the phone to my ear.

“
You’ll be sorry,” the guy hollered,
but he was on his way.

“
Fox Pizza,” I heard.

“
Sorry, I dialed the wrong
number.”

Now I had two problems. I wouldn’t call Kaye
about either.

~
~

Wednesday morning, July 26

I wanted to put it off. I dawdled over
breakfast, turned on the radio, pretended to listen to the news.
Something about a Wal-Mart controversy. Something about a fiery
wreck. Something about the school board. Advertisements for almost
everything. Finally, I could delay no longer.

“
Judge Haley,” the cop had said. I
called information for his office address. I didn’t need Kaye to do
this. I could do it myself. His office was three blocks from the
police station, next door to the court house—on the fourth floor of
the only four-story building in town. The elevator opened into a
lobby with an empty desk facing the elevator. Half the space was a
waiting room with chairs and magazines like a doctor’s office. The
other half was a library with a computer on another desk, opened
up, with its screen-saver flipping a series of mountain
scenes.

“
Hello,” I said. I stepped out of the
elevator and into the room. “Hello,” I repeated.

No one answered. No one appeared. I crossed
the lobby to a door with the name, “Judge Haley,” in gold letters
across a frosted window. I hesitated. I could do it, I could. I
opened the door.

A portly, white-haired man looked up.

“
Judge Haley?” I asked.

“
Yes?”

“
I’m Cyd Denlinger.” He didn’t react.
He didn’t remember my name from the paper he’d signed. “Your name
was on the paper the police showed me last night. About leaving my
boat. It
is
my boat. Nicole
Joline gave it to me, and I have the title. Who told you they owned
it?”

The judge smiled, leaned back, and said,
“I’m sorry, that’s privileged information, young lady.”

My heart was beating triple time, but I
said, “The police came on your authority to kick me off my boat. I
rather believe that concerns me, don’t you?”

“
Put that way, I suppose it does. But,
I still can’t tell you anything further.”

“
Can you tell me if you saw any legal
document to base your order on?”

“
I’m sorry, that’s privileged
information.”

The man was going to stonewall me. I
felt like bolting, but I couldn’t. I had to face him. “Well,
whoever, or whatever.... I have the title to the boat,
Snapdragon
. It has been registered at
the court house.”

“
Perhaps you could give me your
document,” he said in a most condescending tone.

So he could take it and throw it away? “I
have notarized copies only. The original is in a safe-deposit box.
You may see this one.”

I handed the paper to him. He studied it,
and asked, “Of course your witness is ready to testify that he saw
Miss Joline sign this before her death.”

“
Yes.”

“
I hardly believe this could be
considered a legal document.”

“
My lawyer and the clerk at the court
house considered the original a legal document.”

“
And, of course, you have the funds to
fight this in court.”

“
But...I don’t need to.”

The judge smiled. “Ah, you are such a naive
child. This will go on trial if you persist in your ridiculous
claim.”

I couldn’t say another word. I had to leave.
I grabbed my paper from his fat, wimpy hands, darted out of the
room, and slammed his door behind me. I ran to the elevator, pushed
the button, and as soon as that door opened rushed inside. I
punched one, then, as the elevator descended, I slid into the
corner, sat in a heap with my hands clutched in front of my face. I
wouldn’t cry. I wouldn’t scream. He thought he’d won, but he
hadn’t. I just had to get away from him. The elevator was slow, and
by the time it reached the first floor, I had myself under control.
I had faced him. I’d said what I had to. He couldn’t be right. He’d
just tried to scare me. I wouldn’t back down. I headed for the
police station. I’d file a claim before he even thought of it.

But—a claim for what?

Harassment. Definitely.

I knew where Judge Haley got his
information. From Nicole’s next-of-kin, her father. The ship
chandler had taken the dinghy, but Mr. Joline couldn’t take
Snapdragon
. She belonged to me. And,
there was at least one witness who could testify that Nicole Joline
would never have given her father anything. My sister
Kaye.

~
~

This was not a call for help. This was a
call to share information. Kaye answered just before I was about to
hang up. “Hello Cyd.”

“
How’d you know it was me? Did you get
caller ID? My phone doesn’t have that.”

Being my sister, and having a second sense
besides, she asked, “What’s up?”

“
I’m at the police station and
I....”

“
I’ll be right there.”

“
Wait a minute. I don’t need that. No
problem. I’m just following through on the ownership of
Snapdragon
. I’ve been to Judge
Haley’s office, which wasn’t much help, and I wanted to be sure
there were no more cops headed my way.”

“
You scared me with a call from the
police station. And why were you at Judge Haley’s
office?”

“
Tell you later. Like I said, I’m
outside the police station, actually, and it’s something I heard
just now. I was leaving, had the door ajar, so I heard it. I’m sure
Doug Yarnell didn’t see me there when he came bursting through.
Then, after I was completely outside, he ran by me and was still
talking and got in the patrol car and took off.”

“
So, you heard something.
What?”

“
What he told Emily, you know, the
lady at the desk. He said, something about a probable fatality off
Calvert Cliffs. A car that burned up. He’d heard it on the news
this morning and they’d tracked down the guy’s name from
Rent-A-Wreck. ‘Local bad boy,’ he said.”

“
And...”

“
As he zoomed past me, he must have
been looking back, because he sure wouldn’t have said any name if
he’d seen me.”

“
Cyd, you’re driving me crazy. You
heard a name? Do I know the person?”

“
Chester Foltz.”

“
Chester Foltz?”

“
The guy who owned
Snapdragon
before Nicole. You know, he’s been
hanging around. Did I tell you? He wanted to help me repair my
boat, which is ridiculous since he....”

“
This is serious.”

“
He had to be the one who was inside
my boat. And, according to Lizzie, he was acting
suspicious.”

“
Stay where you are. I’ll pick you
up.”

“
And
why
was he hanging around?”

But Kaye had hung up. She was upset about
something. And if I left the police station before she arrived,
she’d only be worse. I sat on the curb waiting and wondering why it
isn’t a crime for a judge to give fraudulent orders, or state
police to harass somebody on her very own property.