Naked Frame (8 page)

CHAPTER 12 - Tuesday, 2:25 a.m.

After hitting the ATM machine, Gabby and
Rebecca had stopped by Wal-Mart to buy three changes of clothing
each, not knowing how long they would be on the run. Their motel
room smelled like smoke. Gabby had suggested that once they had
taken their showers, they should throw their smoky clothes in the
dumpster.

While she took a shower, he sent a text
message to all of his employees, telling them about the fire. Then
he did some research on his smartphone. He found the website for
Smotherburn Technologies and located a page that listed their top
executives, complete with photos.

At the top of the page was William
Smotherburn, in all his pompous glory. "Okay, now which one of you
wanted him dead?" The most obvious choice was Harvey Hamstel. He
was the president of the company. So, he was probably in the best
position to take over as CEO.

Rebecca walked out of the bathroom with a
towel around her body and another one around her head. "Your
turn."

He held up his phone. "I think I've found
our prime suspect for Big Bill's murder."

She took the phone. "Harvey
Hamstel, President. Well, he does
look
guilty."

He walked toward the bathroom.

"Check this out." She turned the phone
toward him.

Gabby walked back to look at it. "Phillipa
Thagery, Vice President of Research and Development."

"It says she's developing some cutting edge
TENS unit that will put the company years ahead of their
competition."

"A TENS unit. Didn't you wear one of those
for a while in high school?"

"Yeah. For the pain in my back. So, what if
the killer hooked a super-powerful unit up to Carly's head and
fried her brain?"

"You think this Phillipa Thagery did
it?"

"Not necessarily," said Rebecca. "It could
have been somebody else who had access to what she was
developing."

Gabby walked toward the bathroom. "Killing
Carly would have made Big Bill's problem go away."

"But why kill Carly after Big Bill was
already dead? Unless Carly's killer didn't know he was dead."

Gabby turned around in the bathroom doorway.
"And why make plans to kill Carly knowing Big Bill was going to try
to bribe you?"

"Maybe a few hours of sleep will clear our
minds."

"I sure hope so." Gabby closed the bathroom
door and started the shower.

Rebecca started to call Wendy and tell her
to take another day off. But she didn't want to chance waking up
the baby and ruining Wendy's night. She would call her first thing
in the morning.

CHAPTER 13 - Tuesday, 2:31 a.m.

"Hey, Poppa, it's me, Joey."

"Hey, Joey, it's the middle of the night.
Why are you waking me up?"

"Sorry, Poppa, but I need your help."

"Okay. But couldn't it wait until
morning?"

"No, Poppa. I'm sorry."

"Well, what is it? What do you need?"

"I've got a problem, and it's headed your
way. I sent you the details in an encrypted email. You'd better
check it now."

"Okay, Son. I will. And whatever the problem
is, I'll put Cam on it right away."

"Oh, no. Not Cam. He's a freak."

"Joey! He's your brother. Don't ever
dishonor your own flesh and blood. And believe me, he's working
hard to be part of the family business now."

"I wish I could believe that."

"You can believe it because your father said
it!"

"I'm sorry, Poppa. I meant no disrespect to
you."

"Then don't disrespect your brother."

"Okay. You're right, of course, Poppa."

"So, is everything else going okay? Are you
about to own the business?"

"Yes, Sir. Just like I said I would. In a
couple of weeks."

"And you'll finally bring in
some
real
money."

"For the family, Poppa. It's all for the
family. You know that. How's Momma?"

"She's fine. Except for the dirty look she
giving me right now. She wants to go back to sleep."

"Tell her I'm sorry, Poppa. And tell her I
love her."

"I will. Goodnight, Son."

"Goodnight, Poppa. And thanks."

CHAPTER 14 - Tuesday, 8:48 a.m.

Rebecca liked the melody. It was a cute
little tune. Oddly familiar. It stopped playing. Then it started up
again. She woke up. It was her cell phone. "Oh crap."

Gabby jumped out of bed. "What?"

"We didn't get our wakeup call. And this is
Wendy. I was going to call her first thing this morning and tell
her to stay home today."

"She found the body. Now she'll have to call
the police."

Rebecca took the call. "Wendy, are you
okay?...oh...well, sure, I understand...no problem...just take a
sick day...you're welcome...bye."

"What happened?"

"We lucked out. She's feeling ill today. Not
anything serious. She was probably up all night with her baby. Her
mom will take care of the baby today while Wendy catches up on her
sleep. This happened a few weeks ago."

"Sounds like you need a new secretary."

"No, Wendy's been my secretary for several
years. When I relocated from Sherman, she came along with me."

"A loyal employee."

"Yeah."

"So, do you suppose anybody has found Big
Bill yet?"

"I don't know. The door is unlocked, so
anybody could wander in and find him. And even if that doesn't
happen, at some point the stink is going to seep into the office
next door. So we may not have much time."

"I guess we didn't accomplish much last
night."

"Except to get your shop burned down. I'm
sorry, Gabby."

"It wasn't your fault. It was probably one
of Big Bill's people who knew about my loan. I guess it's better
than getting my legs broken."

"Or they might have done it because they
tracked Big Bill to my office and they think I killed him."

"Yeah. It wouldn't have been difficult. They
could have tracked his cell phone. Or his car. It was parked in
front of your office. And if somebody recognized us last night at
Café Nue..."

"Like Joey Ketrousie. Or Wiley."

"But wouldn't they just let the police take
care of us? Wasn't that the purpose of framing us for Big Bill's
murder?"

"Yeah." Rebecca thought for a moment. "But
if whoever framed us is afraid we're close to figuring out who he
is..."

"He might try to take us out himself."

"Right." She sighed. "How did you
sleep?"

"I got about four hours."

"Yeah, me too. I didn't think I would be
able to sleep at all." Rebecca set her phone on the night stand and
stood up. "I keep picturing Carly's face. It must have been a
horrible death."

"You still think whoever it was that killed
her was working for Big Bill?"

She nodded.

"But what I still don't get is why he was
having Carly murdered on the same night he was trying to bribe you
to shut her up."

"Yeah. That doesn't make sense. Unless...the
person who killed Carly was acting on his own."

"Doing it for Big Bill—without his
knowledge? Why would he do that?"

"Deniability. Big Bill would honestly know
nothing about Carly's murder. And if he got away with it, he could
go to Big Bill and take credit for keeping his butt out of prison.
And try to collect a pile of cash. Or, if it was Ms. Thagery or
some other employee, they might be looking for a big
promotion."

"Or...how about this theory?" said Gabby.
"The same person who killed Big Bill also killed Carly.

"Why kill Carly if Big Bill is dead?"

"I don't know," said Gabby. "I hadn't
thought that far ahead."

"Unless the killer was worried about Carly
suing the company. Big Bill's raping of Megan Cinaway involved
company business, since the sex was part of his job application
process. It would have to be somebody whose wealth or power is tied
to the company."

"Well, if that's the case, I'm surprised he
didn't go after Megan, too."

Rebecca panicked. "What if
he
did?
She may
already be dead." Rebecca picked up her phone and called Megan.
"Carly gave me her number, but I've never used it. Come on, Megan,
answer.

"Is this Megan Cinaway?...this is Rebecca
Ranghorn. Your mother hired me to—...well, I'm glad you're okay,
but I need to tell you—...New York?...wait, Megan, I need to tell
you something...Megan?...It's important. Hello?..."

Rebecca called again, but it went straight
to voicemail.

"What was that about New York?"

"She's flying to New York City today. Says
she's going to be a supermodel."

"Obviously, she doesn't know her mother is
dead."

"I doubt she knows about Big Bill either.
But somebody has got her believing she's going to be rich and
famous."

"The same somebody who killed her mother and
Big Bill? But if that's the case, wouldn't he have already killed
her? Why send her to New York?"

"Maybe he figured he was pushing his luck.
He's already got two dead bodies in the same town."

"So, he's going to send her to New York, and
follow her up there and kill her?"

"Or have somebody else do it. We've got to
stop her from getting on that plane."

"What plane? Do you know what time her
flight leaves? And which airline?"

"All I know is that she suddenly realized it
was after nine, and that she needed to get to the airport."

"Well, assuming she's not too far away,
she's probably trying to make it there by 10:00 or 10:30."

"And that would mean a departure time of
around noon or so."

Gabby took out his phone. "So, let's see
what flights depart at around noon."

"Just the non-stop flights. She's a
teenager. This may be the first time she's ever flown by herself.
They wouldn't want to take a chance that she'd miss a
connection."

"Okay...my best guess would be...American
Airlines...departing at 11:45."

"We don't have much time. And once she goes
through security—"

"—yeah. We've got to hurry."

**********

Rebecca spotted her at the security gate.
"Megan!"

Megan looked back and saw Rebecca and Gabby
hurrying toward her. She ignored them, putting her bag on the
conveyor belt, walking through the metal detector, and grabbing her
bag on the other side.

By the time Rebecca and Gabby got there, she
was already out of sight.

"Try calling her phone again," said
Gabby.

Rebecca was already doing it. But it went
straight to voicemail. "Megan, this is Rebecca Ranghorn. Please
call me when you get this message. It's extremely important. Your
life is in danger."

"Why didn't you tell her that her mother is
dead? She would have been more likely to call back."

"I know. But I can't tell her that in a
voicemail."

"Wonder when she'll turn her phone back
on."

"Hopefully before the plane takes off. But
who knows?"

Gabby started talking like a ventriloquist,
barely moving his lips. "Don't look now, but there are two security
guards staring at us."

Rebecca laughed—loud enough for the guards
to hear.

Gabby glared at her.

"Okay. Let's go home, Sweetie. I'm
starving," she said, grinning. She whispered, "Walk at a normal
pace."

CHAPTER 15 - Tuesday, 10:45 a.m.

"Let's pay a visit to Calvin Cinaway."
Rebecca gave Gabby directions to the Cinaway home.

"You think he knows his wife is dead?"

"Hopefully nobody knows yet—since I put the
Do Not Disturb sign on Carly's hotel room door."

"I didn't even see you do that—probably
because I was in such a hurry to get out of there before we got
caught. You're not going to tell him, are you?"

"No," said Rebecca. "He'd
call the police. Then they'd want me for
two
murders."

"
Us
. They would want
us
for two
murders."

"But the fact that Calvin doesn't know yet
is good for us."

Gabby smiled. "Because we can see how he
reacts to certain questions."

"Yeah. And he doesn't know me. He may know
my name. But I've never been to their house before. We can use that
to our favor."

"You don't think
Calvin
killed Big Bill,
do you?"

"It's possible. He knows his daughter was
having sex with him. But from what Carly told me, I'm not sure he
really cares what happens to Megan—or to Carly for that matter. He
loved the fact that she was earning a lot of money and paying all
the bills."

**********

Gabby parked the car down the block and
around the corner from the Cinaway home. If the cops drove up while
they were there, they could escape across the back yards.

Three shiny, classic cars
were snuggled together inside
Calvin's
Auto Shop
. His three-car home garage had
been expanded on both sides and at the rear to make room for tools
and equipment. There was a 1956 Buick Special in the driveway.
Rebecca figured that one to be Calvin's car.

When they entered the shop, their hair and
clothing began to blow. Rebecca's blouse flapped wildly against her
chest. She located the source: a very large fan suspended in the
back corner of the garage.

"Mr. Cinaway?" Rebecca immediately realized
she needed to raise her voice to be heard over the roar of the fan.
"Mr. Cinaway?"

"Yeah?" Calvin poked his head around the
open hood of a Pontiac GTO.

"Could we have a word with you?"

Calvin waved them closer, and went back to
work. "What kind of car you got?"