31 – At Your Service

I opened up Casey Gordon’s case file and gave it a once over. He is a bell hop at Serenity Hollow Luxury Hotel and Spa. Well, he was.

He was fired for stealing a priceless bracelet from a guest of the hotel. He denies any involvement whatsoever in the crime.

I had Keith hack into the hotel’s surveillance system. I wanted him to access and download the database files for the days in question.

While he did that, Claudia and I searched through online police reports and news stories looking for similar crimes in the area. I found reports of missing jewelry, large amounts of cash, laptops, cameras, cell phones, and a portable DVD player. All of these crimes were reported in the last six months.

“Wait a minute. I think I found something. C’mere”, said Keith.

I walked over to Keith’s desk and he turned his monitor where I could get a better view.

“Check it out”, said Keith.

He pointed to a guy walking through the lobby in one scene of the recorded footage.

“Now look here”, he said as he pointed to the same guy in another frame wearing a bell hop’s uniform with Casey’s name on it. The guy was definitely not Casey, but he was the same guy from the lobby photo.

Somewhere between the lobby and the fourth floor, he stole and changed into Casey’s uniform. The footage showed him looking around in a suspicious manner then going into the guest’s room. He came out a few minutes later with a velvet bag in his hand that he was tucking into his uniform jacket.

Keith followed him in the footage until he had taken still shots of every frame that the guy appeared in from the time he entered the hotel to the time he left. He printed out a set for us, Casey, and an additional set for the sheriff.

As soon as the facial recognition scan that Keith ran gave us an ID for the thief, I called Sheriff Russell and let him know. I then called Casey and reminded him that the hotel most likely would not take his word for it. The sheriff needed to be the one to inform the hotel’s management on the correct identity of the thief.

32 – Get Out of My Kitchen

We left the office at around five-thirty, in separate vehicles. Keith and Claudia had offered to let me stay at their place. They still hadn’t found the hairy-little-eight-legged-bastard, so I didn’t feel very comfortable sleeping at mine.

We stopped by the grocery store on the way to their house and picked up a few things for supper.

“What can I do to help?” I asked as I walked into the kitchen.

“You can take this beer and get the hell out of my kitchen”, said Claudia.

“Understood”, I said. I took the beer and joined Keith in the living room. He was sitting in the recliner, so I sat down on the couch.

“She kicked you out too, huh?” asked Keith. “Don’t worry about it. She kicks me out all the time”.

“I am not the least bit surprised by that statement”, I laughed.

I leaned back, stared up at the ceiling, and sighed.

“You need to stop thinking about it, Savannah. There’s nothing you can do about it tonight. Finding your friends will be our only priority tomorrow”.

“I know”, I said. “Thanks for letting me crash here”.

Keith smiled and said, “Well we couldn’t let you get bit by some hairy-little-eight-legged-bastard now could we?”

I laughed and took a swig of my beer.

“Very true”, I said.

I glanced down and noticed that some little burrs were stuck in my left boot. I put my foot over my right knee and removed them.

“You’d think I would’ve gotten all of these off of my boots by now”, I said.

“No shit”, said Keith. “You have them all over the office. I haven’t a clue how you managed to do that. Hell, just yesterday I found one with my ass”.

“Ahh shit!” I exclaimed.

“What?” asked Keith.

“I forgot I was going to go to Garrett’s office tonight and make copies of the ledgers”.

“Don’t even think about it. You are not going alone. I’m going with you”, said Keith.

“We’re all gonna go, but first we eat”, said Claudia. “C’mon, supper’s ready”.

33 – The Help

The next morning, we headed for the office. I was there right on-time but for Keith and Claudia, it was a different story. For them, it was a drag-ass-can’t-get-out-of-bed kind of morning. We’d been out til around midnight working Garrett’s case.

We had gotten into his office without any problems. We took pictures, and made photocopies of all of the ledgers that we could find. We even emptied the contents of the shredder. Reassembling those should be fun. I know what Keith will be doing the rest of the afternoon. Bwwahaha!

I looked around the room at my grumpy employees. I didn’t want to experience another coffee pot related argument, so I told them I was going to Babe’s to pick us up some coffee and donuts.

“While I’m gone, will you two get the pictures printed out for Cecelia Adams? She’s supposed to come by sometime today to pick them up”

“Got it, Boss”, said Keith with an index finger salute. There was a very strong hint of jackass in that saluted statement.

I shook my head, sighed, and walked out the front door.

It was just after eleven in the morning. The streets were quiet and Babe’s was pretty empty. Isaac was outside playing his saxophone. I could tell he had a good morning because of all the money he had laying in his saxophone case.

We weren’t in a neighborhood where a guy in a wheelchair would get mugged, but after recent events, I really didn’t know anymore.

I bent down and gathered up most of the money for him, leaving a few one dollar bills and all of the coins. I added a twenty dollar bill from my pocket to the stack and put it in his bag that was strung over the back of his wheelchair.

Isaac grinned from ear to ear but he never stopped playing.

I went inside and ordered our coffee. I was picking out our donuts when Babe came out of the office with a little help from his nephew, Evan. He looked like he was doing much better, considering.

“Let an old man walk on his own”, said Babe as he waved off Evan.

“Sorry, Uncle Frank”, said Evan. “I was just trying to help”.

“I know. You’re a good boy, Evan”, said Babe as he patted him on the back.

Had I ever heard his real name said out loud before? I didn’t think so, but if I had, I didn’t remember it. All I remember ever hearing anyone call him was ‘Babe’.

Babe smiled and chuckled when he saw me.

“Savannah, my dear! Come sit with me!” said Babe as he slapped his hand down on the table in front of him. He sat down and pointed to the chair across from him.

“Sit, sit!” said Babe.

“You look good”, I said and sat down. I still had the box of donuts in my hand. I had only gotten around to picking out a few of them before he had walked out of his office.

“Evan, take her donut box and fill it up. It’s on the house”, said Babe.

“Babe, I don’t feel right about you giving me so much stuff for free. Let me go back to paying for it”, I said.

“I will do no such thing”, said Babe.

I sighed and said, “Okay then how about a compromise? From now on, you give me a twenty percent discount and I pay the rest”.

“How about I give you a fifty-percent discount and you make an old man happy”, said Babe.

“How about a twenty percent discount and I don’t tell Keith about your toupee”, I said.

“How about a twenty-five percent discount and I don’t tell people your real age”, said Babe.

“Touché, my friend. Twenty-five percent discount it is”, I said with a laugh.

“Miss Hartman, your coffees are ready”, said Callie as she put four of the coffees in a drink carrier.

The fifth coffee was for Isaac, so I took it outside and gave it to him before I picked up the rest of our order.

Evan had filled up the box with various donuts, including two bear claws.

Mmmmmmm…bear claws.

“Evan, help Savannah carry her order back to her office”, said Babe.

“Babe, that’s not necessary. I got it”, I said and picked up the donut box.

“No, Savannah, I insist. With everything that’s happened around here lately, it would just make me feel better. Make an old man happy”, said Babe.

“Okay, my friend. Evan, grab the coffee, please. I’ll see you tomorrow, Babe. Bye, Callie”, I said.

We left and walked the half a block back to my office. The coffee pot sat on the table at the back of the room. I put the donuts down next to it and Evan put the drink carrier full of coffee next to the donuts.

“Have a great day, Miss Hartman”, said Evan.

I gave him a five dollar tip and told him not to tell his uncle. He tried to turn it down, but I wouldn’t allow him to. I told him I would not take no for an answer, so he reluctantly accepted the tip and went back to the coffee shop.

I looked up and saw Cecelia Adams sitting in a chair in my office while her driver sat on the couch in the front lobby.

Keith and Claudia were both visibly upset but they weren’t saying a whole hell of a lot.

“Why is she sitting in there?” I quietly asked. My office door was open, so I was trying not to let her hear the conversation.

“She INSISTED on waiting for YOU”, said Keith.

I was amazed that he could talk legibly through such clenched teeth.

“Did you give her the pictures?”

“I tried. She wouldn’t let me”, said Keith.

“What do you mean she wouldn’t let you?” I asked.

“Ask her”, Claudia snarled.

I could tell this wasn’t going to be a pleasant conversation, day, or work experience.

“Good morning, Mrs. Adams”, I said as I walked into my office.

“It’s past noon, Miss Hartman, so good afternoon to you. Would you please shut the door? I don’t want to discuss my case where ‘the help’ can hear us”, said Cecelia, whispering her last sentence.

I fought to stifle a hearty laugh when she referred to Keith and Claudia as “the help”. That was the funniest thing I had heard in a while! No wonder they were so pissed off.

When I composed myself, I asked her if she had seen the photographs yet.

“No, I never deal directly with the servants. I wanted to wait for you”, she said.

My face was turning red from trying so hard not to laugh. This was just hilarious to me, although I don’t think anyone else here thought it was nearly as amusing as I did.

“Would you excuse me for just a moment?” I asked.

“Yes dear. You look flushed. Maybe you should go get some fresh air”, said Cecelia.

“I’ll do that”, I said as I hurried out of my office. I couldn’t hold in the laughter any longer. I ran out the front door and burst out laughing. When I had completely regained my composure, I went back into the office.

Keith and Claudia just glared at me, which just made it all the more hilarious to me. I giggled again. I had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard.

I went to the bathroom and cleaned up my tears. I stopped at Keith’s desk and got the photos for Mrs. Adams. I couldn’t help but giggle as I walked away.

“I think you’ll be happy with the results”, I said. I opened the envelope and handed her the pictures.

When she looked at them, she grinned so big that I could swear that I saw every tooth in her rich little mouth.

“I knew he wasn’t worthy of my daughter. I told Mila he didn’t love her. I told her that he was only a gold-digger. I believe my family will finally be rid of this pest now that I have photographs of him having sex with another woman. Do you have my final bill ready?” said Cecelia.

“Yes, ma’am, I do”, I said and handed it to her.

“Leonard”, she called out. Her driver got up and came to the doorway of my office.

“Yes, Mrs. Adams?” asked Leonard.

“Go get the car while I conclude my business with Miss Hartman”.

“Yes Ma’am”, said Leonard as he tipped his cap and hurriedly left the office.

I handed her the updated invoice and she promptly wrote me a check. She didn’t even blink an eye when she saw the amount.

I walked her out to the front lobby. Her driver was standing next to the limousine and came running when he saw us at the front door.

He escorted her to the car and opened the back door for her. As soon as she was safely inside, he went to the driver’s side, got in the car, and drove away.

I went back into the office. I couldn’t help myself and started giggling when I saw Keith and Claudia. It only made it worse when they glared at me again. I lost it. I started laughing hysterically, went into my office, and shut the door.

When I finally got a grip, I walked back out of my office. I put my hands up to my eyes as blinders, trying not to lose it again. I got my coffee and donuts, giggled, mumbled about ‘the help’, giggled again, and went back into my office.

I had a few more back logged cases to work, but they would have to wait. I needed to be focused on finding my friends and clearing Shawn.

The rest of the afternoon was fairly quiet. All three of us went through the case files and then through the photos of both crime scenes. We were looking for anything that we may have missed, but we were coming up empty.

“Keith, where are the police reports on Alena’s murder? I see the ones for Shawn’s arrest, but I don’t see one with details on the murder itself”.

“Gimme a minute”, said Keith.

He began typing frantically just like he always does. I assumed he was accessing the online police reports and I was right. He spent nearly twenty minutes searching before he spoke.

“You don’t see the police report because there isn’t one”, said Keith.

“Huh? What do you mean there isn’t one?” I asked. “Did someone forget to write it up or what?”

“Or what”, said Keith. “The numbers for the reports are sequential and one of the case numbers is missing. I’d bet it was the one for Alena’s murder. It looks like it was deleted”.

“Why would someone delete a police report for an ongoing case?” I asked.

“I can only think of one reason”, said Keith. “There was something in that report that someone didn’t want anyone else to see”.

But what was it? That’s the question of the day. Well, it’s one of the questions, that is.

I picked up the phone and called the sheriff’s office.

“Hope County Sheriff’s Office”, said Jolynn.

“Hey it’s Savannah Hartman. Is Nate around?”

“No not right now. I think he and Tucker went to lunch. You want me to have him call you?”

“Yes, ma’am, if you don’t mind”, I said.

“Allrighty. Do you want him to call your office or your mobile phone?” asked Jolynn.

“Tell him to call my mobile. Thanks”, I said and hung up the phone.

Ten minutes later, the sheriff returned my call.

“Hello Nate”, I said.

“Hey, darlin’. What can I do for ya?” asked Nate.

“Couple of things: first is do you have a hard copy of the case file for Alena Johnson’s murder? Not Shawn Greenley’s arrest for it, but the murder itself?” I said.

“Probably so. I’ll get Jolynn to pull the file when I get back to the office and she’ll fax it to you. What’s the second thing?”

“The second thing is whether or not my house is tarantula free? I need to know if it’s safe to go home”, I said.

“Yeah, I’d say so, Savannah. We searched everywhere and didn’t find a trace of that damn spider. I even called in animal control and the game warden. I’d say you have the all clear to go home”, said Nate.

“Thanks Sheriff”, I said.

“Anytime”, said Nate and he hung up the phone.

“My house has been given the all clear. I’m gonna go home and start cleaning up the mess that Louie and Gus Porter made of my home. Nate said he’d get Jolynn to fax the report. Call me when you get it”.

34 – Corpses Make the Best Fertilizer

I stopped off at the store on the way home and bought a big box of trash bags, spray cleaner, bleach, paper towels, scrub sponges, kitchen gloves, and a six pack of beer. I wasn’t taking any chances. I mean, who knew where those vile Porter boys were before they ransacked my home?

I was still a little leery. I know Nate said that he, animal control, AND the game warden all looked for the tarantula, but how well did they really look?

“Just shut up and clean. Stop being paranoid”, I said to myself, out loud.

I put my purse down on the kitchen counter, away from the tarantula case. There was no spider in it, but it creeped me out just the same.

I gave Barrie Landers a call and told him what happened with his spider. I was expecting him to be upset, so I braced myself for an unpleasant interaction.

To my surprise, he was completely okay with it. He said all he really wanted was to keep his ex from having it. He didn’t care the cost. He just wanted to piss off his ex-wife. He said he’d be out in a couple of hours to pick up the glass case. I told him I’d be here.

That glass case was just a reminder of that hairy-little-eight-legged-bastard. It really did freak me out a lot, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. I had to finish this case with at least SOME dignity.

I started cleaning in the living room first. Ceramic shards from the lamps were all over the floor, so I swept them up first. I had enough crap to deal with at the moment. I didn’t particularly want to add an emergency room visit to the current stack of both personal and professional issues.

I picked up everything that was salvageable then swept up the rest and dumped it into the trash can. I did the same thing for the bedrooms, bathrooms, and the garage. I also vacuumed, swept, and mopped in the appropriate areas. There was no sign of the spider. Things were looking up.

I was dreading it, but I headed for the kitchen. It was all I had left to do, so what the hell. I might as well get it done.

This room had to be the worst one yet! Those bastards had left the fridge open, so everything in it is ruined. They dumped out everything from the cabinets and the pantry, except for the canned goods. At least they showed SOME sense.

Ugh! They even dumped out the flour and sugar. What the hell was the point in doing that? I still don’t know what the hell they were looking for.

I called Keith and asked him if he got the fax from the sheriff’s office.

“I was just about to call you”, said Keith. “They had a hard copy. They don’t know what happened to the online record. Jolynn says she thinks the sheriff was messing around on the computer and deleted it instead of saving it. We all know how technology hates him, so it wouldn’t surprise me all that much”.

“Did she say why it took so long?” I asked.

“Yeah, I asked her that too. She said she was dealing with a mess of drunks fighting in the drunk tank and had forgotten all about it til I called her”, said Keith.

“I can understand that. Is there anything new in the report?” I asked.

“Nothing we weren’t already aware of”, said Keith.

I heard a knock at my front door.

“All right, I gotta go. Mr. Landers is here to pick up that damn spider case. I hear him knocking on the door”, I said

“Okay, I’ll call you if anything new develops”, said Keith and he hung up.

He knocked again. I put my phone in my pocket and went to answer the door.

“I hear ya knocking. Don’t get your panties in a wad”, I said.

As I opened the door, I said “I am so happy to see yo-“

Louie Porter was standing in front of me. I froze for a moment before putting all of my weight into shutting the door.

He was faster and physically stronger than me. He didn’t have much trouble pushing his way in through my front door.

We fought across the living room and into the kitchen. I grabbed a steak knife from the kitchen sink and cut Louie across the face. That was all I could manage to do before he knocked the knife out of my hand.

I tried to fight him off but he was so much stronger than me. Somehow, he managed to get behind me and covered my mouth with some dirty ass rag. It smelled like..like…chloroform. Dammit!

I was out like a light. Louie had gone outside, leaving the front door open and opened the door to the back seat. He went back into the house, picked me up, and carried me outside, placing me in the backseat of my own car.

He handcuffed one of my hands to the head rest on the passenger side so I couldn’t knock the shit out of him when I woke up. This wouldn’t be a good situation for him, especially if he was driving at the time.

He didn’t want anyone to look for me right away, so he grabbed my purse off of the kitchen counter and drove my car. He wanted to make it look like I had left my house on my own.

There was a man that I didn’t recognize driving another car. Louie waved to him and he followed us when we pulled out of the driveway.

He just used enough chloroform to subdue me, but apparently not enough to keep me unconscious for very long. I was in and out, but I stayed drowsy enough that, if given the opportunity, I couldn’t tell anyone where I was, where I’d been, or how long I’d been gone.

Just then, Louie swerved on the road and lost control of my car. Apparently, the hairy-little-eight-legged-bastard had crawled into my open purse while it was sitting on the kitchen counter and crawled out just in time to scare the living shit out of Louie Porter.

I flew forward (since that asswipe didn’t buckle me in) and hit my head hard on the head rest that I was handcuffed to. I hit it so hard that it came loose. I started hitting it with my other hand, trying to knock it off the rest of the way.

Louie was knocked out. I knew this might have been my only chance to get away, so I wasn’t going to waste any time.

I knocked the head rest loose the rest of the way, sending it to the front floor board. I lifted the cuffs up to get them off of the broken poles that the head rest used to be attached to. My insurance guy is going to love this.

Louie was moaning and starting to stir. I couldn’t get the door open, but my window was smashed. I grabbed the keys out of the ignition then used my purse to knock out the rest of the glass. I climbed out of my car, started running, and then realized where we were.

“Son of a bitch! You have GOT to be kidding me”, I said.

We were at Hope County Cemetery. We had crashed into the left side of the front gate. My head was bleeding, but the wound was not life threatening.

I was a little bit dizzy, but tried to run anyway. I wanted to get as far away from Louie Porter and his new partner in crime (whoever he was) as fast as I possibly could.

Louie was out of the car and trying to come after me. He was woozy and swaying when he tried to walk. If I didn’t know better, I would have just thought he was drunk off his ass.

I looked back over my shoulder while I continued to run and caught a glimpse of Louie and the second man running after me. Louie was too dizzy to stand up anymore and fell down. The second guy was uninjured and closing in on me fast.

I looked back in front of me and tried to run faster. My legs felt as flimsy as wet noodles. My head felt more like it had been set on fire after being hit with a sledge hammer.

I tripped over a ground level headstone and hit my head on something, not sure what it was. Another gravestone maybe? Hell, I don’t know. Until the second man caught up with me, I was in and out of consciousness.

At one point I looked up and saw a granite angel. The sun shining behind it seemed to make it glow. It made me believe that everything was going to be okay. I smiled at the thought and passed out.

When I came to, I was lying on the floor in a mausoleum. I tried to open the door, but of course, it was locked. I got my phone out of my pocket, hoping to call for help, but I didn’t have a signal.

I looked around the room, trying not to panic. There were two very small openings near the ceiling, but they were far too small for me to fit through.

There were vases on the wall and on small, concrete tables in three of the corners. The fourth corner wasn’t a corner at all, but a corridor. I assume it led to the casket or caskets. I shuddered at the thought.

There was a light coming from the corridor. It was very dim, but it was definitely there.

“I really, really don’t want to do this”, I said out loud. I let out a big sigh and said, “How the hell can I ever expect to survive a zombie apocalypse if I can’t even get myself out of a freaking mausoleum?”

I can hear Nate now: ‘You shoulda listened to me. You shoulda stayed out of it and let me handle it. Now just look at what you’ve gotten yourself into’.

Along with a small pocket knife, I had a little lighter attached my key chain. I lit it and paused at the corridor opening. My mind flashed through all the horror movies I had ever seen.

It felt like a really bad idea, but what other options did I have? That light had to be coming from another opening and maybe, just maybe it was big enough for me to get out of here.

The other end of the corridor opened into a larger room. There were two closed caskets perched in the center of the room. The light was coming in from one small window at the top of the wall. I didn’t need the lighter anymore, so I put my keys back in my pocket.

I heard a groan come from the casket. At least, I thought it came from the casket. I froze. I had never been so terrified in my life.

I heard a voice. The voice groaned again and asked if someone was there.

I slowly walked around the caskets and saw Jessica and Wendy sitting on the green, marble floor. They were alive, but looked a little beat up. Sleeping in a mausoleum will do that to you every time.

I started towards them and saw that there was a third woman. I almost didn’t believe my eyes. It was Alena Johnson and she was alive and well!

Louie’s partner in crime had come in and chloroformed all three of them before dragging me in here. That’s the only reason they didn’t try to get the hell out when the door was opened.

There were several empty water bottles and food wrappers all over the place. The room smelled of urine and greasy cheeseburgers

Jessica had come to and so had Wendy, but Alena was still a little out of it.

I tried my phone, but there still wasn’t a signal.

“Help me with this”, I said, referring to the granite bench that was near the wall with the window, but not quite close enough to climb up on.

Working together, we got it moved about six inches, up against the wall. I climbed up and tried to hold up my phone enough to get a signal. I couldn’t quite reach, so I got up on my tip toes and ended up dropping my phone out the window.

Keith had been trying to get in touch with me since the night before. Barrie Landers had called the office when I didn’t answer the door. He told Keith that he was supposed to meet me here, but I wasn’t home and my car wasn’t in the driveway.

When I dropped the phone out of the window, it fell onto a small shrub before it hit the ground. Thankfully, it didn’t break….and it had a signal.

Keith had put a trace on my phone using a GPS tracking program that he had written. He activated it after Barrie called him. As soon as my phone had a signal, it would show him my location, or at least the location of the phone.

When my phone went out the window and it got a signal again, a bleep went across Keith’s computer screen. Nate was there with him at the time, discussing their concern over my absence.

“That beep is coming from Hope County Cemetery”, said Keith. “I’m going. Who’s with me?”

“How are we gonna find her when we get there?” asked Tucker.

“I put this tracking program on my phone as well. I’ll just bring it up on there when I get in the car. When we get to the cemetery, it will lead us right to her”, said Keith.

“That’s assuming her phone wasn’t just ditched”, said Claudia. “Let’s hope for the best case scenario on this one”.

“Round ’em up and let’s ride”, said Nate.

They took three separate cars out to the cemetery: Keith and Claudia were in one, and Nate and Tucker were in the other two.

It took twenty minutes for them to get to the cemetery but only a minute or two to locate the phone. Keith called out my name and the others followed suit.

“In here!” I yelled. They didn’t hear me at first, so the four of us started yelling together. They heard us.

“Savannah, we’re going to get you out of there, just hang tight”, said Keith. He sounded close. He must’ve been just below the window. “Who’s in there with you? Is that Wendy and Jessica?”

“Yes, and you won’t believe who else”, I yelled.

“It may take a while”, said Nate. “The front doors have a padlocked chain wrapped around the handles and there isn’t another entrance. I’ll have to call someone out to-“

“Sheriff?” said Tucker. “Keith just got the lock off”.

Nate ran around to the front of the mausoleum and saw Keith with a pair of bolt cutters in his hands.

“Where did you get those?” asked Nate.

“From the backseat”, said Keith.

“Why in the hell do you have heavy duty bolt cutters sitting in the backseat of your SUV, son?” asked Nate.

Keith smiled and said, “You don’t want to know, Sheriff. Plausible deniability, remember?”

“Right, right, right. Never mind”, said Nate, nodding and dismissively waving his hands in the air. “I don’t wanna know”.

Keith yelled into the mausoleum. “Savannah?”

The four of us walked down the corridor back to the front room of the mausoleum and out through the open door.

“I never thought I’d miss sunlight this much”, said Wendy.

“I never thought I’d be in a cemetery this long while I was still living”, said Jessica.

“Hell, I never thought I’d be this happy to see my employees”, I said. “How the hell did you find me?”

“A little tracking program I put on your phone that notifies my computer with your location when your phone is on. It’s a GPS kind of thing. You wouldn’t understand”, said Keith with a smile.

“I am so glad you are such a major computer geek”, I said. I grabbed him and hugged him hard. “Thank you”.

“That’s enough of that mushy kind of shit”, said Keith.

“Didn’t you say there was another guest?” asked Claudia. “Please tell me you were not talking about the caskets”.

“C’mon out”, I said and out walked Alena.

“Ho-ly shit”, said Keith.

“Wait a minute”, said Tucker. “If she’s alive, whose body parts were buried in her garden?”

“Any ideas, Miss Johnson?” asked Nate.

“I’ll tell you everything I know, but first, we need to get Miss Hartman to the hospital and have her injuries checked out”, said Alena.

“No, I’m fine”, I said. I needed stitches but I really didn’t want to go.

“Shut it woman. You’re going, so no arguments. Now get in the car”, said Nate.

Alena and I rode to the hospital with Nate, while Jessica and Wendy rode with Keith and Claudia. Once we got there, Alena told Nate the whole story, as she knew it.

Louie had been hired to find her by Alena’s estranged husband, Gabriel Melendez. She had witnessed a murder that Gabriel had committed, had turned state’s evidence, and was now in the witness protection program.

Gabriel had killed a prostitute in Dallas and cut her into smaller pieces. Louie had buried that poor woman’s body parts in Alena’s garden, per Gabriel’s orders.

He knew that when she tended the garden and found any or all of those body parts, she would know without a doubt that he had found her. When she saw them, she knew exactly how they got there and she ran, leaving everything behind.

Gus and Louie Porter showed up when Alena was trying to make a run for it. They kidnapped her and brought her here to the mausoleum.

They went back the next day and ransacked her home. They were looking for a flash drive that contained photographs and encrypted files that would send Gabriel not only to prison, but to death row.

“I had chased them off the first time they were there”, I said. “When they didn’t find the flash drive on their second visit, they just assumed that I had it. That’s why they trashed my house”

“So, it’s still there then?” asked Claudia.

“I’m sure it is”, said Alena. “I unscrewed one of the switch plate covers on the plug behind my headboard and taped the flash drive inside it”.

“Why didn’t you just give the flash drive to the feds?” asked Nate.

“I did. This was my insurance copy. I didn’t tell the feds about the copy, but Gabriel knew that I would make one. He’s bat shit crazy and has one hell of a reach. I wasn’t going to take the chance and let the evidence get misplaced or just erased altogether”, said Alena.

“The next thing I knew, Jessica and Wendy were in there with me. Gus felt really bad about not being allowed to let us out so he kept sneaking food and water to us. He’s the only reason we’re still alive”, said Alena.

“Too bad he’s not. I think the judge would have been lenient on him for that”, I said. “Alena, what does Gabriel look like?”

She described him as a dark haired, dark eyed, five foot ten, Latino man. She mentioned a pinky ring that he always wore.

I vaguely remembered being popped in the mouth with that ring before I blacked out the last time. Gabriel Melendez was Louie Porter’s most recent partner in crime.

35 – I’ll Drink to That

A week later, we all met up at Ryer’s Pub. Alena was back to work. She did have a mortgage to pay, after all.

Louie and Gabriel were arrested three days earlier. Louie had confessed and turned state’s evidence against Gabriel. Shortly after, Shawn was cleared of all charges and released.

Keith, Claudia, Wendy, her husband Rick, Jessica, Shawn, and I were all sitting on our stools at the bar. I was enjoying several strawberry margaritas. Shawn was enjoying his freedom.

Mitch gave everyone a shot of whiskey.

“This round’s on me. After all, we have A LOT to celebrate”, said Mitch.

Mitch walked around the counter, came down to my end of the bar, and sat down next to me.

“This may or may not be the best time to ask you this, but do you have plans for dinner tomorrow night?” asked Mitch.

“Not that I know of”, I said. “Why do you ask?”

Mitch smiled and said, “I hate to eat alone. I was hoping you’d join me”.

“When and where?” I asked with a big smile.

“My place at seven”, said Mitch.

He gave me his number and wrote down his address.

“It’s a date”, I said.

“Attention everyone”, said Keith. “I would like to make a toast”.

Everyone raised their shot glass up in the air, including Mitch.

“The people sitting at the bar right now mean the world to meeeeee. I couldn’t do this without y’all. I love y’all”, said Keith.

“Uh, I think it’s time to cut him off. He’s had enough to drink”, I said with a giggle.

“Here’s to good times, good friends, and lasting memories”, said Mitch.

We tapped our shot glasses together lightly and downed our drinks.

“Hey, Alena?” asked Claudia. “How’s your tulip garden coming along?”

“Fantastic!” said Alena. “They are growing like wild fire”.

“I guess corpses make the best fertilizer”, I said. “Cheers!”

THE END