The Crossing (4 page)

“Oh shit,” I said for the second time this morning. “Okay, pick me up in the alley in front of the Rendezvous.
 
And before you do, have Marcie get another ticket for Liz.
 
Either she’ll kill me or be coming with me; I’ll know which one in the next five minutes!”

~

I
survived the initial conversation with Liz, and I’m not sure if it was the shock or the fact that I made her leave her lunch on her table – untouched!
 
However, between the Rendezvous and the airport, I heard the same two words repeated over 50 times – MAKE-UP and CLOTHES.
 
Meaning, she had neither and was simply not prepared to travel – PERIOD.
 
But, when our plane was somewhere over southern Illinois, she finally settled down and agreed to listen to the story and plan.

“Carson, now let me get this straight,” she asked in a very serious voice. “You and I are flying from Memphis to Chicago to get on a train and travel back to Memphis?”

“Right, but then we are going on to New Orleans.” I was trying to smile.

“And while we are on the train, you are going to be working and trying to catch a bad guy?”

“Right and I need your help.
 
We are traveling
‘undercover’
and we don’t want the bad guy to know who we are.” I was trying.

Liz sat in silence for several minutes and then looked at me and nodded. “Okay, but only on my conditions.
 
Do you want to hear what they are?”

Bert Sappington interrupted, “Liz, whatever you want, we will make it happen.”

“First, we travel first class and have a private sleeper compartment on the train.
 
Second, you give me time in Chicago to get some make-up and a change of clothes.
 
Finally, in New Orleans, I want breakfast at Bennnan’s and a night at the Montelone Hotel.
 
If you can’t handle my terms, then I’ll be riding this plane back to Memphis!”

“Consider it DONE, Miss Teague,” Bert laughed.

~

W
e actually had an hour at Chicago’s Grand Central Station before time to board the train.
 
I didn’t know it was possible to spend that much money in an hour, but I got some first hand experience.
 
Clothes, make-up, luggage, purses, jewelry, and lots of soft silky things I didn’t recognize, were all purchased, bagged and entrusted to a ‘Red Cap’ for transfer to our train.
 
Compartment 6 on Pullman Car D of the southbound
City of New Orleans
was completely full of Liz’s new purchases when we finally pulled out of the station.
 
It was Monday evening at 5:15 PM.

Trying to travel ‘unnoticed’ with Liz is impossible.
 
For dinner, I wore tan slacks, a white polo, a blue blazer and loafers without socks.
 
Liz, on the other hand, chose a (newly purchased) red dinner dress, which left very little to a viewer’s imagination – if you know what I mean!
 
Liz and the dress, along with matching red heels and dark silk stocking, caught the attention of everyone on the train, she liked that.
 
That’s my girl!

Regardless, we had a wonderful evening, exploring the various amenities on the
City of New Orleans
and eventually sharing an overdue dinner in the dining car.
 
Finishing our day at the bar, I promised to enjoy myself and have some fun.
 
This profession usually didn’t offer these opportunities, and I was going to take advantage of the situation.

What I wasn’t aware of were the frantic, excited and urgent phone calls that Marcie was receiving from Henry Walker.
 
Sheriff Leroy Epsee was being extremely nice in giving Henry the opportunity and latitude to try to locate me.
 
Finally, in desperation, Leroy contacted my lawyer/partner Jack Logan.
 
Jack wasn’t really my partner, but we did work together on numerous cases and were the best of friends.
 
Unfortunately, Jack didn’t know how to reach me either, but at Leroy’s suggestion, he did speak with Henry and promised to find me and get involved as soon as possible.
 

However, this was nothing more than sticking a finger in the dike and Sheriff Leroy Epsee knew it.
 
 
Leroy had a situation that neither Jack nor I was experienced with and he didn’t have a lot of time to make decisions.
 
Decisions that could possibly split a community, and would certainly expose feelings that nobody wanted exposed.
 
Leroy and I have been friends for years and I have the highest respect for him and that friendship.
 
I’m sure Leroy feels the same way about me.
 
We were going to need all that respect and friendship in the coming days.

While having laughs and drinks with Liz in the bar, I would have never imagined that my fun would soon turn into something much more serious and extremely dangerous.
 

~

I
awoke when the train stopped in Memphis for the routine crew change and loading of passengers – it was 12:30 AM.
 
I peeked out the window in an effort to see the boarding passengers, but my view was blocked by another railcar on a sidetrack.
 
If Temple Truett boarded the train, I was unable to see him.
 
I guess I would find out at breakfast.

Liz’s conversation was falling on my deaf ears, while we had a late breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast in the dining car.
 
Despite the inconvenience, she was actually having fun and I was nodding at her words and adding an ‘okay’ or ‘really’ when it fit.

 
Liz jumped as if she had been shot when I tapped her leg with my foot; Temple Truett had just walked past our table and into the lounge and bar car.

He was wearing a wrinkled gray business suit, white shirt and slim black tie.
 
It appeared that he had slept in his clothes, and I suspected that is just what he did.
 
Small black rimmed glasses covered his hollow sleepy eyes; but Temple Truett was checking out everyone in the dinning car as he hurriedly walked through.

“Is that him?” She leaned toward me and asked in a whisper.

I didn’t answer and just nodded to affirm her question.

“He looks like a nerd!” Liz added as she sat back up.

“Probably, but we need to make contact with him if possible.
 
We’ll buy him a drink or do something to make conversation.
 
If things go according to plan, Sandy Rogers will board and join him when we make our stop in Jackson, Mississippi.
 
That should happen about 10:00, so we have almost a half-hour.
 
Are you ready?” I asked.

Liz’s eyes were as large as saucers and I needed to calm her down. “Okay, Liz.
 
We’re going to go into the bar, have a Bloody Mary and be the happy couple.
 
Now, again, are you ready?”

She didn’t speak, but just nodded.
 
We both got up, I left a tip and we casually made our way into the lounge and bar car.

With exception of the bartender and Temple Truett, the bar was empty.
 
He was sitting at the far end of the bar and we took a table in the corner next to a window.
 
Temple briefly glanced at us as we walked in and then he went back to his drink, which I suspected was a Vodka/Tonic.
 
He was acting very nervous, constantly looking at his watch, and then looking out the large window between sips of his drink.
 
I told Liz to keep her seat, and I walked up to the bar and signaled the bartender, who quickly took my order for two Bloody Marys.

“I love train travel, don’t you?” I casually said to Temple as I waited on our drinks.

He looked at me, then back at his watch before speaking. “I prefer flying, it’s much quicker,” he said while looking at no one.

“I know, but train travel is romantic.
 
Are you traveling alone?” I asked.

He again looked at me then glanced over at Liz. “No, not really, I’m meeting someone who will be boarding in Jackson.
 
But, it seems we’ll never get there!” He was frustrated.

“I HOPE we never get there,” I joked as I picked up our drinks and walked back over to join Liz at our table.

“What did he say?” Liz whispered
.

“He said you were HOT!” I whispered with a smile, and just before Liz put a large bruise on my shin with her newly purchased high heels!

“Ouch!
 
That hurt!” I gritted my teeth, smiled and tried to pretend it didn’t happen.

We had just started our drinks when the train began to slow for Jackson, Mississippi.
 
I really needed to see Sandy Rogers when she boarded and what kind of luggage she was carrying, so I excused myself and told Liz to stay put until I returned.

From the window in our compartment, I watched the woman I knew to be Sandy Scarlet Rogers approach the train with a short husky Red Cap pushing a cart behind her.
 
She had short black hair covered by a weird hat and was wearing a short blue skirt with matching shoes, a white blouse and sunglasses.
 
Sandy Rogers appeared to be very nervous as she talked to the Red Cap porter and I noticed she only had two pieces of luggage, a medium size footlocker and a standard suitcase.
 
The Red Cap boarded the train with the luggage and placed them on an overhead shelf in the coach section of the adjoining passenger car; she complimented him with a healthy tip and then he left.

The stop lasted less than 15 minutes and we were quickly rolling again on our route toward New Orleans.
 
Sandy briefly took a seat under her baggage, but stood up and headed to the lounge car as soon as the train started moving.
 
I remained outside my compartment and waited for the conductor to pass through the car collecting boarding passes from the newly boarded Jackson passengers.
 
As he walked past, I asked him to step into the compartment, where I showed him my badge and explained the situation.
 
It took a $100 bill, but that convinced him to remove the luggage Sandy Rogers had boarded with and hold it in the baggage car; I promised another $100 when we arrived in New Orleans.
 
I watched him remove the bags, and then hurriedly made my way back to the lounge where I had left Liz and Temple Truett.

I had been away from Liz for too long, and I quickly realized that when I finally entered the lounge car.
 
She was standing at the bar talking to a very irritated Temple Truett, who was trying to ignore her and question the recently arrived Sandy Scarlet Rogers.

As I approached this verbal wrestling match, I heard him say to Sandy, “Where is that damn footlocker?”

Before she could respond, I answered for her. “I have it.
 
Could I buy y’all a drink?”

“What?” he yelled.
 
Then he turned to look at me and stood up.

I put my hand on his shoulder and sat him back down.

“You have two choices, and only two.
 
I represent Black Diamond Insurance, and I have confiscated that luggage - we’ll open it later.
 
Now, you can sit here and enjoy the train ride until the authorities greet you in New Orleans, or I can put you both in handcuffs and you can enjoy the ride that way.” I was talking to both of them.

“You stupid bitch,” he yelled at Sandy.

“Don’t cuss me, asshole,” Sandy yelled back. “This was your stupid idea!”

Temple jumped up and I ducked just in time as he threw his Vodka/Tonic at my face.
 
Unfortunately, while I was getting out of the way, Temple ran out of the lounge car and headed toward the end of the train.

I sat down and ordered myself another Bloody Mary.

“Aren’t you going to chase him?” Liz shouted.

“Why?
 
Where is he going?
 
This is a train. He can run but he certainly can’t go anywhere.
 
He might jump off, but that’s his bad news.
 
I’ve got the money, so I really don’t care!” I said bluntly.

“Jeez!” Liz said as she took a seat on a barstool.

“Can I buy you a drink Miss Rogers?” I asked.