Popped Off (16 page)
Authors: Jeffrey Allen
41
Belinda was parked in front of my house when I returned from dropping Carly at VBS Monday. She pushed herself out of her truck as soon as she saw me walking up the block, and was standing in the drive by the time I got there, each of her massive legs planted on the concrete like tree roots.
“Where do we stand, Deuce?” she asked, already sweating in the early morning sunlight.
“We’re in my driveway, Belinda.”
She frowned, finding no humor in my humor. “You know what I mean.”
I gave her the short, cleaned-up version, leaving out the specific details about where we thought Moises was and what the trophies were housing.
Her lips formed a flat line across her mouth. “Okay. That isn’t much.”
“No, it’s really not. But that’s what we’ve got.”
She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. “We don’t have money to pay the officials this weekend, Deuce. Or pay for field usage, because that’s due on Friday, before the games.”
“So what happens?”
“I’m thinking we gotta cancel.”
My stomach turned. I knew how disappointed Carly would be if there was no game on Saturday. She’d be confused, upset, but ultimately, we’d be able to pacify her and she’d be all right. Not all kids would react the same way. Some would be crushed.
And that was in the short term. The long-term damage would have a greater effect. Even if the money was recovered and the league was reestablished as financially viable, the league’s reputation would be stained forever. They would forever be known as the soccer league that had to shut down because they had no money, and fair or not, the league would carry that around its neck forever.
“What’s the time frame?” I asked.
Her mouth twisted like she’d just bitten into a rotten lemon. “I think I have to start composing the e-mail today. Logistically, we have to let our coaches and families know right away. We can’t wait until the last minute to drop that kind of mass cancellation on them.”
“We do with weather.”
“It’s different, and you know it,” she said. “If the weather is crappy, they know to call the weather line and check the Web site. Weather is gonna be fine this weekend.” Her features softened. “And, honestly, we owe them the truth. It’s their money we’ve lost. They should know.”
Belinda was right. They had a right to know, as uncomfortable as it might be. Being that it was fee driven, it was essentially their league. If it was falling into insolvency, they deserved the right to get upset about it.
I wiped the sweat off my forehead. “When’s the absolute last minute you feel comfortable sending out the e-mail to everyone?”
She thought for a moment. “Some people won’t get the e-mail, so we’ll still need to make some phone calls. I’d say Wednesday night is my drop-dead date.”
That gave me forty-eight hours. Not ideal, but maybe it was just time to push the envelope and see what happened.
“Okay,” I said. “Wait until then. I’ll see what I can do. And then I’ll touch base with you on Wednesday afternoon. If I don’t have anything for you, you can send out the notice. Sound all right?”
Belinda sighed, and her massive body sagged. “No. Not really. But if that’s all we got, that’s all we got.”
“Even if I find Moe, you know there’s no guarantee the money’s still around, right?”
She trudged slowly toward her truck. “I know. But at least if you find him, I’ll be able to beat his ass.”
42
I showered, ate some toast, finished the pot of coffee, and grabbed my cell phone.
I punched in the number I wanted, left a voice mail, and waited.
It rang three minutes later.
“Hey!” Amber screeched through the phone. “How
are
you? You had
such
a great day on Saturday! So happy for you!”
are
you? You had
such
a great day on Saturday! So happy for you!”
It was like having my own personal cheerleader.
“Yeah, I did,” I said. “Thanks.”
“You must have done this before!”
“Can’t say that I have.”
“Well, I certainly hope it’s not beginner’s luck!”
Amber was either a great actress or really didn’t mind losing money.
“Me, either, but I’m ready to find out,” I said.
“Yay!”
“I mentioned the other day that I might be interested in placing some bigger bets,” I said. “You told me that maybe I should wait. Are we at that point yet?”
“I think we might be able to work that out now that you are a totally valued customer.”
“Here’s the deal,” I said. “I’m not really comfortable putting this kind of money into an account. Because I worry about people finding it. Know what I mean?”
“Not really,” she answered, sounding genuinely confused.
“It’s a fairly large amount of money. I don’t want any record that the IRS might be able to track. Receipts, deposits, those kinds of things.”
“Gotcha,” Amber said, catching up. “So what are we talking here?”
“I’d prefer to just bring you the cash I’d like to put in play.”
She was silent for a moment. “Hmmm. Hang on a second, all right?”
“All right.”
The line went quiet, and I was pretty sure she’d put me on mute. I wondered if Suzie was standing nearby, scowling and being surly.
“Okay,” she said, her voice bursting back through the line. “How much are we talking about?”
“Uh, six figures,” I said, saying the first thing that came to mind.
“Hold on.”
The line went quiet again. I needed to decide exactly what amount I’d give her if she came back and wanted the specifics. I wanted to make it sound realistic but still sizable. The problem was, I didn’t have any idea what kind of bets they saw on a regular basis.
It ended up not mattering.
“All right,” Amber’s voice shouted through the phone. “Since you’ve been so totally awesome so far, we feel totally comfortable doing this with you. Because we wanna help you out, ya know?”
“Of course.”
“Know which games you’re interested in yet?”
“No. I haven’t checked the lines yet. But I will today, and I’ll let you know. Then maybe we can set something up?”
“Totes!” Amber squealed. “Call me! Later!”
43
I hung up, and my phone chirped immediately.
“I got info, Stilts,” Victor barked at me.
“On what?”
“Alpha Gamma Tau.”
“Excuse you?”
“Alpha Gamma Tau.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Your sorority girl bookies, you big dope!” he yelled. “The sorority is Alpha Gamma Tau.”
“At SMU?”
“Yep.”
“How do you know?”
He made a sound like he wanted to vomit. “Really? After all this time, you’re still questioning me?”
He had a point. “Sorry. Okay. Alpha Gamma Tau. They’re running the betting?”
“Yeah. Been doing it for a while, apparently. It’s out there. People know.”
“So it’s overt?”
“I wouldn’t say overt, but it’s not a tight secret. Took me about two hours to run them down.”
“That long?”
“Ha.”
“You wanna go with me to meet them?” I asked.
“Why are you going to meet them?”
I explained my idea and my urgency.
“I think that’s a terrible plan,” he said.
“Why?”
“Because it’s not even a plan.”
“I think if I put them on the spot, I can get them to give up Huber.”
“But maybe not the money, and isn’t that what you really need?”
Smart midgets were the worst.
“I’ll worry about that part when I get to it,” I said.
“Again. Horrible plan.”
“Do you want to go or not?”
“I probably should, in case the sorority girls are too tough for you,” he said, and I could tell he was grinning. “And they probably need someone handsome to look at after looking at your horrific mug.”
“Who are you gonna bring?”
“I don’t need anybody but me, baby,” he said. “One look at this face and they’ll be in love.”
“Or cardiac arrest.”
“When are we going?”
“Today.”
“Today?”
“Did I stutter?”
“When?”
“Sooner rather than later.”
“So I should head your way now?”
“As much as I hate to say yes . . . yes.”
“Fine. But I’m driving.”
“We can argue about that when you get here.”
“I’m not riding in your stinking van, because I always end up on the floor in that thing,” he barked.
“We’ll figure it out when you get here.”
“There ain’t nothing to figure out, Stilts. You can get in my car or not.”
“Whatever. Just get here.”
“Keep your giant pants on. I’ll be there soon.”
“Great. I won’t look forward to it.”
He cackled before he hung up.
44
I arranged with my mom to pick up Carly at camp in case I was gone for the better part of the afternoon. I didn’t want to get stuck in the middle of anything and then not be able to get to her. My mom was more than happy to meet her at VBS, and I knew Carly would love the surprise of having her grandmother pick her up.
I was going to call Amber back but then realized that made no sense. I didn’t want her to have any warning, and I didn’t want her to know I knew where she was. I didn’t need to scare them off. I hated to admit it, but there were times where I felt completely at a loss as to what I was doing as an investigator, and I had to rely on Victor to save my rear end.
An engine roared into my driveway, and a horn blasted longer than necessary.
Victor.
I walked outside. The top was down on his convertible, and heavy metal blared from the speakers. He saw me and turned it up.
“Let me drive,” I yelled over the music, coming up to the side of the car.
He cupped his hand around his ear like he couldn’t hear me.
“Let me drive!”
He frowned at me. “I’m leaving in five seconds, with or without you.”
Against my better judgment, I opened the door and slid into the passenger seat of his Miata. Blocks were attached to the pedals, and he pressed on the accelerator, revving the engine, grinning like a shark.
“Just drive,” I said.
He cackled and threw it into reverse, roaring out of the driveway.
He hit the button on his door panel, and the windows pushed up, buffeting the wind noise.
“You know where you’re going?” I asked.
He turned down the stereo and nodded. “Greek Row. It’s right near the campus. All the little rich kids living in mini-mansions, drinking and doin’ who knows what.”
In all the years I had lived in the Dallas area, I had never been to SMU’s Greek Row. I had heard about it but had never had a reason to go. Going to college down at A&M, it would’ve been heresy to have visited the campus when I was home. And once I’d graduated, there was no reason to go check out the antics on their row.
We hit the highway, and Victor maneuvered us into the fast lane. “You still stuck on your plan that’s not a plan?”
“Yeah. I don’t have anything better. And they’re gonna have to cancel soccer if we don’t find some way to get the money back.”
He made a face. “It’s just soccer.”
I laughed. “Just you wait until your son is old enough to play. Your entire life is going to revolve around whatever activities he’s in. And they will seem more important than anything else going on in your life.”
“Not a chance.”
I shook my head and chuckled. Everyone thought that. But then it happened over night. No more movies, no more dates, no more happy hours. Everything was about game times and snack schedules and birthday parties and playdates. Your needs and wants became completely subordinate to those of your child.
“Whatever,” I said. “I don’t want them to cancel soccer, and if I can help prevent that, I’m going to. And we are up against it in terms of time. So I think being direct is the best route.”
He shrugged his little shoulders. “If you say so. But I’m telling you, if these girls have any heat behind them, it could get sticky.”
“What do you mean by heat?”
He switched lanes quickly, and we swerved around an old Honda. “I’m just still not buying that these girls are really running this. I think they might be fronting for someone else.”
“Like who?”
“Like who knows? Someone who places the bets and knows what they’re doing and is making a nice tidy profit without showing their face.” He shrugged again. “Plenty of those in the world. And using the girls is actually pretty smart.”
I thought that, too. The girls—or at least Amber—were outgoing and flirtatious. Guys would go to them and not want to look like fools. They’d overbet, play more than they should, just because they’d think it might impress. And I couldn’t think of anyone less likely to be suspected of running a gambling ring than a bunch of wealthy sorority girls.
Victor gunned the engine again, and the Miata shot across two lanes.
“I’d prefer not to die today,” I said.
“Lucky you’re with me, then.”
“Right.”
“What’s the plan if they deny anything?” he asked, glancing over at me. “If they evade? Because it’s entirely possible that that dude with the bad wig and mustache could be lying to you.”
“He wasn’t lying about the gambling part, with the girls.”
“Most people who lie tell a little bit of the truth. It buys them time.”
I didn’t say anything.
“The people who lie all the time?” Victor said. He waved a hand dismissively. “They’re easy to spot, because everything sounds like a lie. But the ones who mix in the lies with the truth? Those are the ones who are good at lying.”
I hated how Victor could so easily make me doubt myself.
“I don’t know, then,” I said. “I don’t have a backup plan.”
“Of course you don’t.” He shook his head. “Telling you. This whole thing makes me nervous.”
“Just get us there in one piece,” I said. “I’ll figure it out.”
“Oh, that makes me feel great,” he said, frowning. “People who just plan to figure it out are usually the ones who end up dead in the movies.”
“This isn’t a movie.”
“Feels like one. A really bad one.”
“Just drive.”
Twenty minutes later he was parallel parking the Miata at a curb beneath towering oaks. The street was lined with mansions and pillars and Greek letters, and I was pretty sure if the wind blew in the right direction, the smell of money would drift along the tree limbs. Expensive cars lined the street like there was a foreign auto show in town, and college students lounged on the steps of their houses, their eyes hidden behind mirrored sunglasses and their hands occupied by plastic red cups.
“You go to college?” I asked Victor as we got out.
“What? You think they don’t let my kind go to college?”
“I was just asking.”
He hitched up his pants, pants that would’ve been nice walking shorts on me. “Nah, I didn’t go. I had better things to do.”
“Like?”
“Like getting a job and getting on with my life,” he said, scowling at me. “Stop being so nosy.”
For as much time as I spent with Victor, I knew very little about him. I made a mental note to revisit the college conversation when time allowed in the future.
We walked two blocks before we came upon the Alpha Gamma Tau house. Four giant white pillars buttressed wide brick steps. A nicely manicured lawn spread out along the front, and several girls were sitting on towels on the grass, all sporting a shirt or tank top with their Greek letters across their chest.
They eyed us with what appeared to be a mixture of curiosity and annoyance, whispering behind their hands and pointing at Victor.
“Hi, ladies,” I said. “Is Amber around?”
A blonde with long hair and tan legs snorted. “Which one?”
“Uh, the one that hangs out with Suzie.”
They all chuckled, and I felt like the dumb kid in class.
“You’re really gonna have to be more specific,” the blonde said.
The others nodded, affirming my need for specificity.
I gave them physical descriptions, and a girl with short black hair nodded. “Oh, sure. I don’t know if they’re here or not.” She moved her eyes from me to Victor. “And who are you, cutie?”
Victor puffed out his chest. “Victor Anthony Doolittle.” He removed his hat and bowed. “At your service, ladies.”
They all giggled and immediately reached for their phones. They all held them up, and shutters snapped across the lawn.
Victor stood and replaced the hat on his head. “Now, how might we find Amber and Suzie?”
“You don’t like us?” the dark-haired one asked. “What’s wrong with us?”
“Au contraire,” Victor said. “Nothing’s wrong with you. I’d be happy to come back and sit with you and regale you with tales of my daring after we find Amber and Suzie.”
His new lady friend pouted. “You’re making me feel like second choice.”
Her friends joined in the pout.
Victor puffed out his chest again. “Ladies, I promise, you are not second choice, but we’ve promised your friends that we’d come visit them first. After that . . .” He turned his palms up. “Who knows where the day will take us?”
They squealed with delight, and I couldn’t tell if they were mocking him or genuinely excited.
I felt slightly nauseous.
The blonde stood up. “I’ll go see if I can find them. Wait here.”
She hopped up the steps and disappeared into the mansion.
A girl with long red hair pushed her sunglasses down her nose. “I like your hat.”
“Most everyone does,” Victor said.
“Bull,” I muttered.
“Can I wear it?” Red asked.
He removed it from his head and flipped it to her. She caught it and plopped it on her head.
Her friends applauded.
“I think it looks better on you,” Victor said, grinning.
“Oh, no way,” she said, shaking her head. “Not possible.”
“Anything’s possible.”
Red tilted the hat upward. “You should come to our party tonight.”
Victor raised an eyebrow. “Party?”
“Sure. It’s in the backyard,” she said. “Kegger. You can be my date.”
“I saw him first, Megan,” the dark-haired one spat.
“Whatever, Missy,” Red, aka Megan, said.
“I’ll be sure to tell Robby, then,” Missy hissed.
Megan shrugged like it didn’t matter.
“Ladies, ladies,” Victor said, holding out his hands. “Please. Let’s not fight over me.”
“And he’s married,” I blurted out.
Both of the girls looked at me like I was an alien.
I felt the color rush into my face. “Well, he is.”
“Even hotter,” Megan whispered.
Missy nodded.
I tried not to throw up.
Before anyone could say anything else, the blonde emerged from the house. She perched on the top step.
“They aren’t here,” she said.
“Any idea when they’re coming back?” I asked.
“No, but they said you could come to them,” she said. “If you want.”
I looked at Victor. He shrugged.
“Sure,” I said.
She gave us an address. I looked at Victor.
“That isn’t around here, is it?” he said.
She shook her head. “No. They’re working on a service project. It’s in South Dallas.”
“Okay. We’ll find it,” Victor said. He turned to his audience on the grass. “Ladies, until we meet again.”
They both sat up like cats about to pounce.
“Yeah,” Megan whispered.
“Until we meet again,” Missy whispered.
Creepy.
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