Tansy Taylor (22 page)

“Okay, but only because you and Detective Smith are good friends. If my boss knew I let ya in I’d be in deep shit.” He glanced around, looking for any signs of other life. However, I figured if he could sit facing Judge Judy for as long as he obviously did it was unlikely he had much to worry about.

“Thanks Bradley! You’re the best. Now, can you point me in the right direction?” I clapped my hands together to emphasize how he had totally made my day.

“Okay, all the cars are put in according to their evidence numbers, which are of course, done by date of the crime. You want to go straight into the parking garage and then up to level three. Once you’re up there, go left; it goes alphabetically, A, B, then C. Your car should be right up there in slot number six.” He looked at me like he was unsure if I understood the instructions.

“Got it. Thanks Bradley.” I smiled and then went to get the scooter.

Once he had determined no one was lurking around waiting to catch him breaking the rules he opened the gate and let me in. I tooted the little scooter horn and drove off in the direction of the parking garage.

If everything was parked according to the date it came into evidence it should be pretty easy to find Buster’s truck. I got to the parking garage and went up. I got up to the third car and found my car and rescued my supposedly meaningful locket. My sad little car looked even worse than I remembered it. It had been made even more unappealing by fluorescent orange markings indicating the date of its demise and the evidence number. I realized I just needed to find the date that Buster disappeared and then I should be able to locate the truck. I gave one last look at my old friend, and turned and headed back toward the exit.

I found Buster’s truck on level two. It hadn’t been hard since everything was dated. I parked the scooter between two cars so it wouldn’t be as obvious I was there if anyone came by. Then I crossed over to the truck.

It was an old green Ford that looked like something Buster would drive. While it wasn’t anything special to look at, I was sure it ran like a champ. I figured the driver’s side wheel well was probably my best bet. I ran my hand up underneath and sure enough, felt a small metal box. I pulled it out and discovered it was in fact an old rusty hide-a-key box. I slid it open and saw a silver flash drive and felt a rush of relief. The files were found. Now I just had to figure out how to let the Russians know that I had them so I could trade them for Callie. But, before I called anyone, I needed to take a measure of security.

I zipped the hide-a-key into my backpack and ran over and got on the scooter.

“Hey! You! You’re not supposed to be here!” I spun around and saw who was yelling at me. It was another hefty guard, this time driving a golf cart. He was looking right at me and pointing.

“You! Stay there!” Ya, right, like that was going to happen! I started the scooter and took off toward the back of the parking garage. The bad news was there was only one way out and tubby was blocking it with his golf cart. I hoped he was about as bright as his buddy Bradley. I turned to see where he was and saw he was most definitely still back there. I felt a jolt and the next thing I knew I was sitting on the hard cement and Jeni’s Vespa was leaning at an awkward angle against the wall. I cringed; somehow I’d missed the giant yellow speed bump. I glanced back and saw that tubby had started toward me. At least the Vespa was faster than the golf cart.

I struggled up and limped over to the scooter. It didn’t look that bad, if you ignored the crumpled fender, broken headlight and big black mark on the side. Jeni was going to kill me! I couldn’t think about it now though, tubby was hot on my trail. I got on and started up the scooter, at least it still drove mostly straight. I made my way around the backside of the car aisle. Hopefully I could make it back to the ramp before the guard was able to turn his golf cart around. I heard his tires screech to a halt; I twisted the accelerator and just about flew off the back. I managed to get myself straightened out and sped up. I wasn’t sure how fast golf carts went but I knew I needed to beat him back or there would be trouble.

I spun around the corner and saw the exit ramp in front of me. I watched as the little flag on the golf cart came up the main aisle and I revved the tiny engine. I flew toward the ramp, the Vespa’s little engine whining in competition with the golf cart to see who could get there first. I made it and swerved around the corner just in time. I almost lost it, my leg hitting the cement retaining wall as I skimmed around the corner. I shuddered as I thought about falling two floors to the ground and I knew I couldn’t risk turning around, unless I wanted to find out.

I kept the scooter going as fast as I could without losing control and headed for the exit. Once I was on the ground I took a peek behind me, no sign of the golf cart; either he had given up, crashed, or was just a lot slower than I was. I cut over an aisle so I was off the main path, just in case. I drove up to the guard’s booth.

Bradley was there, waiting for me. He didn’t look too happy. This was not the time to panic. After all, I had my feminine wiles, right?

I gave him a big grin and pulled off my helmet. “Bradley, you are the best, look,” I pulled the locket out of my pack, “I found it!”

Bradley looked like he was trying really hard to be all business. “Look, you weren’t supposed to be on level two. My coworker radioed in that a girl on a scooter was snooping around on level two unaccompanied. He crossed his arms over his large gut, giving me a stern look.

“Oh, Bradley! I’m so sorry. I got turned around and got off on level two instead of the ground floor. Then, my accelerator stuck and I actually ran into the wall! I didn’t want any more trouble so I just high-tailed it back down here, so I could get out of your hair.” I gave him a sad little shrug. “I was trying to leave so that you wouldn’t get into any trouble, especially after you went to all that trouble to let me go get my locket. It means so much to me. I would feel just terrible if something I did were to get you into trouble.” I rubbed my eyes and a small tear escaped; one of the side effects of riding Jeni’s Vespa was that I got teary eyes from the wind. It didn’t take much to exaggerate the fact so I looked like I was crying. I peeked up at Bradley, and could tell that it was working. I gave a little sniff. “Sorry.”

He let his arms fall to his sides and he looked rather uncomfortable, and not just because his pants were a size too small. I sniffed again.

“Now there, it’s okay.” He glanced around and I could see the bike flag coming toward us at a nice clip. “Well, you should just go. I’ll take care of Barney there. He gets his ducks all in a dither whenever we do anything that isn’t exactly by the book; no gray area you know? He’s strictly black and white.”

“Thanks Bradley, you’re the best! I’ll make sure and tell Detective Smith how helpful you were!” I sniffed one last time and wiped my eyes. I put my helmet back on, this time adding my sunglasses and headed back out to the street.

“Phew.” I said to myself.

Chapter Seventeen

I got back to the house just as the sun was starting to go down. I’d run out of gas on my way back, discovered my phone was dead, and had to push the scooter to the nearest gas station, which ended up being about a mile and a half away. I was exhausted, sweaty, and smelled like gas; because of course, I spilled it on my leg and foot when I was trying to disengage the pump. I was a mess. But, I had the files, so I was feeling pretty good overall.

I pulled the Vespa into the garage and heard the side door slam shut. Jeni was on her way out; I knew I was going to be in big trouble. I spun around and tried to stand in front of where the bulk of the damage was.

The door flew open and Jeni came into the garage, clad in her fuzzy slippers and chenille bathrobe.

“Oh my gosh! You’re a mess! Are you okay?” She crossed over to me and took a good look. “What in the world happened to you? I expected you back hours ago!” She must have determined I wasn’t in too bad of shape because she crossed her arms, put her foot out and assumed the ‘angry mom’ pose, as I called it. I was very familiar with this pose, since she basically went all ‘mom’ on me whenever I got hurt, dumped, or landed myself in trouble.

“Sorry, I had a teensy problem,” I said a bit sheepishly and held up my thumb and first finger to demonstrate how little it was.

She narrowed her eyes. “What sort of little problem?” She spotted the injured Vespa behind me. “What have you done to my baby?!” The headlight had come completely unattached on the way home and was now dangling precariously off of the front of the scooter. She bent down and picked it up like an injured puppy’s paw.

“Oh, no, what did that mean old Tansy do to you?” Great, now she was talking to the scooter. Things were not looking good.

“I don’t think it’s as bad as it looks. Also, I’m sure Sam will come over and take a look. Most likely he’ll be able to fix her all up for you better than new.” I tried to soften the news as best I could. She looked up from where she cradled the scooter.

“I thought you were just going over to the dealership. What in the world happened?” Her voice was not very chipper, in fact, there was a noticeable chill. I shivered.

“Okay. Well, I did go to the dealership. But, then I found out the missing files were probably in a hide-a-key on Buster’s truck; which is at the impound lot for evidence. I told the guard I needed to get into my car to get my locket. He let me in and I found the hide-a-key and got the flash drive.” I pulled it out of my backpack and showed her. “That’s when I had the little problem. It was a different guard in a golf cart. I tried to do a speedy getaway and Zippy got away from me and hit the wall.” I frowned, and gave her one of my better pathetic ‘you must feel sorry for me because what I did was heroic’ faces. I saw her edges soften and she relaxed.

“I should be so mad at you right now, but I’m just glad you got the flash drive and you’re okay. I’m still upset about poor Zippy here, but you’re right, she can be fixed. What upsets me the most is that you keep putting yourself into these situations where you think you’re a super spy or some super hero or something.” She reached out and put her hands on my shoulders. “You, Tansy Taylor, are human. Yes, you have a super-heart, but you need to remember you only have normal mortal powers. You need to be careful!” She touched my cheek and I winced. I must have a nice bruise forming.

“I know, and I do try! It’s just that I had to get this so we can get Callie back.” My voice sort of broke, and I started to feel overwhelmed with the danger I’d been putting myself in. I mean, I was all for helping people, and did so on a regular basis; it just didn’t usually include kidnapping and murder as possible side effects.

Jeni reached out and enveloped me in a big chenille bear hug. “It’s okay sweetie. I know you can’t help it. And, I should point out; you’re actually pretty good at it! I was a bit worried you’d have a breakdown, especially after getting fired and having your car torched, but you seem to be holding yourself together fantastically!” She squeezed me so hard I could barely breathe. “I am so proud of you!” She added and then let go.

“Thanks Jen, I think I really needed to hear that.” I wiped my eyes, this time brushing away real tears.

“Why don’t you come in and I’ll get you a nice big bowl of potato soup and warm beer bread. I made the soup extra cheesy, just how you like it. And, I even have some nut brown ale to go with it; a perk of making beer bread is of course that you get to enjoy the other five bottles.

*****

I sat and enjoyed a steaming bowl of soup and a huge chunk of crusty beer bread. The nut brown ale tasted like the nectar of the gods. I sat back on the couch, fat and happy. I took the hide-a-key out of my pack and slid the lid off and on, debating on what to do. Now that I had the files, I wasn’t sure what steps to take or who to contact. The Russian hadn’t told me that part. I took the flash drive out and plugged it into my laptop. The motor whirred to life as it read whatever was on the drive. I glanced around, checking the windows behind me for any suspicious vehicles. I did notice a van that I hadn’t seen before, but then, I also noticed a Volvo, an old mustang, and come to think of it, a few other cars I didn’t think I’d seen before. Maybe I just didn’t pay that close of attention to what was around me; either that or someone was having a party. I pulled the roman shades, might as well be safe. If there was someone out there spying on me, I didn’t really want them peering in my window to see whatever popped up on my laptop screen.

The whirring stopped and I clicked on the file folder and opened it up. A list of documents appeared on the screen. I opened the one at the top and saw what looked like a profit and loss document of some sort. There were names, dates, debits, credits. To me, it looked like a foreign language. What I did notice was that it seemed to be an awful lot of money, especially incoming.

“Hey, Jen, come take a look at this and tell me what you think.” I heard her padding around the kitchen in her fluffy slippers.

“I think you’re a big crumby mess.” She was looking at me in disgust; I looked down, there were breadcrumbs all over the couch and myself.

“Not me, this spreadsheet thing. What do you think it is?” She leaned in over my back and squinted at the computer.

“Hmmm. It looks like a list of customers or something? I’m not sure. This column total says ‘total profit’. Whoa, that’s a lot of profit.” She squinted at the screen some more and then shrugged. “Hard to say, I guess, since there’s no frame of reference to what the list is for, you know?” She stood back up and came around to the chair that sat facing me perpendicular. “You are a mess!”