YOU CAN PURCHASE THIXS B OOK
FROM AMAZON.COM
Share with your friends.
Chapter 27
“What
time is your appointment?” Wally asked.
Samantha
sat quietly staring out the side window.
“Six-thirty,”
she said.
“Who
with?” he asked.
Samantha
hesitated before answering.
“Phil
Underwood.”
Wally
gripped the steering wheel tightly.
“Why
are you seeing him?” he asked. “You know he’s going to paw you all night.”
Samantha
continued to look out the window.
“I
texted him earlier. I remembered that he used to work for Wilson RE, or
Patricia Wilson’s Real Estate. I believe he quit last year to go with another
company. I didn’t put two and two together until today. I asked whether we
could talk about his old company.”
“Why
didn’t you just call him and get it over with?”
Samantha
gave Wally a dry look.
“Because,
he would have spent the majority of the conversation talking about the two of
us meeting up and going out to dinner.”
Wally
agreed and his grip on the steering wheel loosened. He started to say something
when his cell phone chimed. He reached into his pant pocket, but the phone got
caught.
“Want
me to get it?” Samantha asked.
“Yeah.”
She
reached into his pocket and tugged.
“Can
you lift up a little?” she asked. Wally lifted his butt off the seat and
Samantha gave another tug and pulled the phone out of his pocket. “It’s a text
message.”
“Who’s
it from?” he asked.
“Carol?”
“What
does she say?”
“First
of all, who’s Carol? I’ve never heard you mention her before.”
“Carol
Miller. She’s in one of the dance groups I joined.”
“You
and my mother and your dance groups,” Samantha mumbled.
“You
should try it,” he offered. “It’s good for you and a lot of fun.”
“Yeah,
I’m sure the foxtrot is a blast,” she said. Samantha tapped the screen to open
the message. “She says she’ll drop by your place on the way to an appointment.”
“Tell
her okay,” Wally said.
Samantha
did as requested and then started scrolling through his other text messages and
suddenly frowned.
“Who’s
Irene?”
“A
friend,” he sighed. “Now, will you put the phone back in my pocket?”
Samantha’s
eyes widen as she opened the attachment.
“My,
God, Wally! She’s naked!”
“I
told you to put the phone back in my pocket.”
“No
way!” she exclaimed. “How many more are like that?”
Wally
sighed.
“That’s
the only one. Give me that,” he barked, and grabbed the phone out of Samantha’s
hand.
“Why
is Carol coming by?”
“After
reading the newspaper, I realized that Carol worked in the A. G. Edwards office
where Vickie Taylor worked. I wanted to asked her a few questions about
Vickie.”
“I bet
you do. What better place than your apartment.”
Wally
took his eyes off the road for a second to search Samantha’s face. “So?” he
asked. “Am I supposed to be a monk or something?”
Samantha
returned her eyes to the side window. Why did she care what Wally did all of a
sudden? He’d had girlfriends before, and it didn’t matter.
“No,”
she said softly. “I guess this means you believe my mother and me.”
“No, I
just don’t want you or your mom getting hurt. The sooner we get this over the
better everyone will be.”
They
were silent the rest of the way home.
***
Wally
dropped Samantha off, and he reached home in time to pick up some things and
erase any signs that Samantha and been there. His stomach was rumbling, and he
wished he’d picked up a sandwich on the way home. The smells of breakfast had
long faded, but a quick spray of Febreeze took the mustiness out of the air.
He’d just finished stuffing some old newspapers in the recycle bin when the
doorbell rang. Wally ran to the front door and pushed the speaker button.
“Carol?”
“I’m a
little early,” Carol said.
“That’s okay. I’m pushing the button to let
you in. You know the elevator is to your right and you want to come to the top
floor. Turn to your left, and I am the second door on your right.”
“I
know, Wally. Remember, I’ve been this way before.”
Wally
gulped and swallowed.
“You’re
right,”
“You
didn’t forget did you?” she asked softly.
“No, I
didn’t forget.”
“Are
you nervous about something?” she asked.
“No,
I’m fine. Come on up.”
Wally
took one last look around the loft to see whether anything was out of place.
When Carol knocked on the front door, Wally took a deep breath and opened it.
In her late forties, Carol Miller was tall and thin with short blonde hair.
Mother Nature had embellished her figure with a small waist, flaring hips and
moist sensual lips that were painted a bright red surrounding perfect white
teeth. Wally had to concentrate to keep his eyes on her soft brown eyes. An
attractive woman who was a very successful financial advisor, she’d managed
Wally’s portfolio for the past four years. Divorced with two kids, Carol lived
in a very upscale neighborhood in Leawood, Kansas and had a live-in nanny. She
was clearly out of Wally’s league, but she didn’t seem to realize that at
times. Wally felt that she was very lonely. She’d visited Wally in the past for
mutual sex, but Wally knew that she’d never like him, or she’d invite him to
her home.
“I
brought us something to eat. I hope you don’t mind,” she said holding up two
paper bags.
Wally
motioned for her to sit at the table. He brought the Brita pitcher and two
glasses to the table while Carol placed gyro sandwiches and two small bowls of
salad on the table.
“You
have any paper plates?”
“Sure,
let me get them,” he said.
He
couldn’t help but notice her perfume. It tickled his nose, and the tingling
feeling in his groin told him that he was very vulnerable tonight. He didn’t
want to make a fool of himself.
“I
hope you like Greek,” she said. “I had to drop a friend off out south and saw
Never On Sunday tucked in a small shopping center.”
Once
they were settled, Wally didn’t waste any time getting to the reason he wanted
to talk to her.
“What
do you know about Vickie Taylor?” he asked.
Chapter 28
Carol
frowned and picked at her salad with the small plastic fork.
“You
mean the girl who worked with me and was killed recently?”
“Yeah,
the same one,” he said.
Carol
cocked her head to one side and stared at Wally for a second.
“Is
this why you called me?” she asked.
A
sweat started to form on Wally’s forehead. He knew he was treading on very
sensitive ground right now.
“One
of the reasons. I’m doing this for a friend.”
“One
of the reasons?” she asked coyly.
Wally
was not one for words, and at moments like this, his foot usually entered his
mouth instead of staying firmly planted on the floor.
“You’re
busy, I’m busy and it’s hard to find time to see people like you like. You’re
very attractive, and I enjoy your company.”
Carol
smiled and reached for his hand across the table.
“That’s sweet, and what you say is true,” she
said. “Being a successful career woman is very difficult. You know what I’ve
always liked about you, Wally?” She continued before he could say anything. “You
don’t look at my money. Most men look at me because of my success and money.
You don’t do that.”
She
squeezed his hand again and withdrew it.
“You’re
just a nice person, Carol.”
His
response sounded lame, but Carol seemed to appreciate it. She took a bite of
salad. Wally unwrapped the gyro and carefully smeared it with cucumber sauce.
He felt her eyes on him, but he didn’t look up. He picked up the gyro and took
a bite.
“How
long have we known each other, Wally?” she asked, placing the fork on the paper
plate and unwrapping her sandwich.
“I
don’t know. Six years?”
“Seven
to be exact.” She took a bite of her sandwich, and a finger quickly caught some
sauce on the edge of her mouth.
“Time
flies,” he said.
“For a
big man, you dance a mean tango,” she joked.
“Thanks,
but you’re the one that makes us look good.”
“Okay,
so what do you want to know about Vickie Taylor?”
Inwardly,
he sighed.
“Just
general things, like was she happily married, what kind of person was she and
did she have any enemies.”
Carol
set up in her chair and threw her head back.
“Whoa,
boy. You think I was that close to Vickie? You need to call someone else.”
Wally
held out a hand.
“Okay,
just tell me what you do know.”
Carol
looked out the window. She arched her neck and could barely make out the
Broadway Bridge in the distance. Finally, she placed the gyro back on the plate
and wiped her mouth.
“Nice
gal. I didn’t work in her department, but we had lunch from time to time. Smart
as a whip and good at her job. Clients liked her. Married life seemed happy,
although he was quite a bit older than Vickie. He was in the active reserves,
and I believe he got called up for Iraq or Afghanistan. People in the office
liked her, and we were sorry to see her go.”
“Why
did she leave?”
“Money.
Isn’t that why we all leave and go someplace else? Simple economics.”
“Do
you know anything about Hogue Investments?” Wally asked.
Carol
made a face.
“No,
not really. They’re an unknown in the financial world of Kansas City. We’d never heard of them until Vickie said
she was leaving. Still don’t know anything about them. Some kind of a hedge
fund outfit, but I don’t think that accurately describes them. I don’t think
Vickie really understood what they did.”
“Why
do you say that?” he asked.
“Vickie
came back one time, and met with several of us for lunch. We went over to that
Ethiopian place in the City Market.”
“Yeah,
I know the place,” Wally said.
“Said
she saw some things that bothered her. The money was good, but she felt they
were using her as a front.”
“What
did Vickie mean by that? She talking about a scam or something like that?”
Carol
took another bite of her gyro and held up one finger for Wally to wait.
Finally, she said, “She couldn’t explain it at the time, so I don’t know.”
“Did
she say anything else?”
“Not
really. She did say she had to figure things out. Someone recommended a doctor
to her.”
“What
kind of doctor? Why would she need a doctor?”
Wally
waited while Carol bit into her sandwich again. She giggled and held her hand
over her mouth.
“Take
your time,” Wally said.
“I’m
finished for now,” she said, slapping her hands together. “The doctor? It
sounded like a psychologist.”
Wally leaned
across the table.
“Why
would she need a psychologist?”
“Beats
me. Someone said he could help her sort out things that were bothering her.”
Wally
leaned back and took a drink of water.
“That
doesn’t make sense.”
“I
don’t know, Wally. I do know that when we went out to lunch, she seemed pretty
upset.” She pushed her paper plate across the table to him. “Want the rest of
my gyro? I’m full and if I don’t hurry, I’m going to be late for my
appointment.”
“Yeah,
sure,” he said.
Carol
drank her water and pointed to the bathroom.
“Do
you mind?”
Wally
nodded. “Sure, you know where it is.”
Carol
left and Wally knew he had to find out more about Hogue Investments. It might
not be anything, but it could be why she was killed. The doctor thing bugged
him, too. Why would she go to a shrink unless she was suffering severe anxiety?
Here was a woman who was very successful at A. G. Edwards, goes to another firm
and needs a shrink. It didn’t make sense. What caused Vickie Taylor to become
so upset? And if she were upset, why didn’t Vickie just quit her job? People do
it all the time. What compelled her to stay at Hogue Investments? The toilet
flushed and seconds later Carol came back out in the main room.
“I
have to go, Wally.”
Carol
picked up her coat and bent over her purse to retrieve her billfold. She pulled
out her card and handed it to Wally.
“My work
cell phone is on my card if you need me.” Carol stuffed the billfold in her
coat pocket
Wally
waved the card at her.
“Thanks.
I’m sorry to take up your time from work.”
Carol
approached and cradled his head in her hands.
“I’m
not.”
She
bent down and lightly kissed him on the mouth.
“Goodbye,
Carol.”
She
kissed him again.
“See
you later, Wally.”
She
quietly shut the door behind her. Wally sat alone at the table as Carol’s
perfume clung to his nostrils like honey to a spoon. He closed his eyes and
thought about those soft parted lips on his, and their slight salty taste. Her tongue had lightly touched his before
she’d pulled away. He wished she could’ve stayed, but she had an appointment.
Frustrated, he stood up to take the paper plates to the kitchen. That is when
he saw Carol’s purse on the floor by the couch.
No comments:
Post a Comment