Chapter 9

 

 

As soon as Guthrie and Alice left, Ruthie folded her arms and slumped on the counter.

"You're not going to get sick, are you?" Penny Sue shrieked, inching away.

I bolted from my stool and stroked Ruthie's back at arm's length. Ruthie had a weak stomach that was known to act up in tense situations, and I was not in the mood for puke so early in the morning.

"I'm fine. I just can't believe Kevin's in jail and Alice called in the mafia." Ruthie reached for my telephone. "If any of the alarm companies can install a system today, I'm buying it. We don't have time to lose, and Lu Nee 2's Halt, who goes there? doesn't cut it for me."

"God's truth," Penny Sue replied, en route to the taser positioned on the coffee table. She ejected the battery pack and plugged it into the wall. "Is there any more of the saline solution?"

"I believe there's another bottle in your condo," I said.

"I'll call the company and get them to express ship some more." Ruthie held up her finger to silence us when the alarm company answered. She talked for a few minutes, then hung up disgustedly. "They don't keep an inventory. Everything has to be special ordered after the inspection." The second company wasn't any better. "Darn it, they don't stock anything, either. I guess we're on our own for a few days."

"We should spend the night in Penny Sue's condo. It's alarmed, and we really shouldn't leave Alice there alone. Two of us can sleep in Kevin's room and the other--"

Penny Sue's jaw muscles contracted. "Well, I'm not sleeping with Alice, even if it's a king-sized bed!"

"I'll sleep on your sofa. You can sleep with Ruthie," I said quickly. Penny Sue snored like a sailor. Of course, she didn't believe us and refused to be tested for sleep apnea, saying a stupid mask would ruin her sex life. We tried to tell her that dying would be worse for her sex life, but she wouldn't listen. Muleheaded. Judge Daddy had her pegged right.

Ruthie's eyes went wide, no doubt picking up my thought about the snoring. "I'm shorter, I'll sleep on the sofa," she said.

"For heavens sake, you're buying me an alarm system. Sleeping on the sofa is the least I can do."

"Yes, but I've stayed with you for weeks," Ruthie said in a honey dripping tone. She really didn't want to sleep in the same room with Penny Sue. "The alarm system is the least I can do. I want to sleep on the couch."

"Hush." Penny Sue clapped her hands to silence us. "I'll sleep on the damned sofa." She snagged a piece of toast, took a bite, and started to chew. "Besides," she finally said, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth, "the sofa pulls out into a queen-sized bed."

Ruthie and I exchanged a relieved glance. "Well, if you insist." I reached for the breadbasket, but stopped with my hand suspended in mid-air. "If that's a sofa bed in your living room, why didn't you pull it out for Guthrie when he stayed with us during the hurricanes?"

Penny Sue canted her head and took a sip of coffee. "I didn't want to encourage him to stay."

"That was mean, Penny Sue. Guthrie had an injured knee," I said.

"With drippy, frozen meat tied to it. Do you think I wanted that mess on my chesterfield?"

"Guthrie used the frozen food on his knee so he could conserve ice." Ruthie came to his defense.

"Yeah, but it was nasty." I could understand Penny Sue's position.

"The worst was the chicken." Penny Sue grimaced. "Remember how he showed up at our door with a frozen Perdue roaster strapped to his knee with an Ace bandage?"

I chuckled. "And it kept sliding down his leg!"

"Laa, and Ruthie kept pulling his chicken back up to his knee." Penny Sue started to laugh.

"Oh, Lord, that was funny." I was giggling now.

"What's so funny about that?" Ruthie asked, clearly confused. "The man needed help."

Penny Sue wiped tears from her face. "Honey, a man whose chicken reaches his ankle does not need help."

Ruthie didn't get it. "What? What?"

"Never mind, sugar, it's not important." Penny Sue tensed her lips to keep a straight face. "I'll sleep on the couch."

I swallowed a laugh and changed the subject. "I don't really think the authorities would go to the trouble and expense of extraditing a person for a traffic accident. I'm with Penny Sue; I believe this has something to do with Abby's death. So, the sooner we figure out what happened to Abby and ... the man ... the sooner things will get back to normal. Penny Sue, call your dad about an attorney, then you and I should see what we can find out about Leonard Kydd and his friend."

"Yep, let's get at it." Penny Sue hooked her pocketbook on her shoulder. "I'll call Daddy from the car. Don't forget the extra saline, Ruthie. We may need it."

Our first stop was the library; it was payday and I needed the money. I'd gone overboard on a birthday present for Zack, Jr., and my credit card bill was due any day. His college sweetheart moved to Vail with him, but dumped him for a rich Olympic skier. I thought I knew how Zack, Jr. felt, and I wanted to cheer him up. So, I went all out with silk underwear and North Face ski bibs with a matching jacket. Considering Zack's 27 years old, I guess I really couldn't identify with his feelings after all. Another girl had moved in before his birthday cake was digested--maybe before the candles were blown out. Ah, youth. Such resiliency!

Penny Sue opted to sit in the car and call her father. I swept through the front door of the library to the back room, signed for my check, and was hoofing past the circulation desk when a familiar face caught my eye in the magazine section. It was Leonard Kydd! I stuffed the check in my purse and headed down a row of books so I could catch him by surprise. At the end of the aisle, I paused to appraise the situation. Although Kydd held a magazine at eye level, he was really gazing across the top at the patrons. Hmm, just like his partner used to do. There was no longer any doubt in my mind that Kydd was connected to the dead man. As Kydd watched the front of the library, I slid in from the side and sat next to him.

"The man found dead was your friend, wasn't he?" I whispered. Kydd jumped close to a foot out of his seat.

"What? Who are you?" He closed the magazine and started to leave.

I clutched his arm. "Listen, I have a friend in jail that's somehow connected to your friend. It appears you've taken your buddy's station here at the library. I want to know what you're looking for. You realize there's another death involved, don't you? I think we should swap information and work together. If we don't, things could get ugly. Not only are the police on the case, but so are some mafia types."

Kydd stared at me incredulously. "Mafia types?" He studied me for a moment. "Hey, I know you. You're the lady I spoke with at the checkout desk."

"One and the same. I'm not trying to cause trouble; I only want to clear my friend. I believe we'll both get what we want by working together. Why don't we go somewhere and talk?" Heavens, I couldn't believe I was using that line. I sounded like Penny Sue, who suddenly appeared in front of us with her hands on her hips.

"I thought the hogs got you," she said to me, all the while giving Kydd the up and down. He apparently passed inspection, because her shoulders dropped and her faced morphed into the Scarlett O'Hara expression.

"Penny Sue Parker, meet Leonard Kydd," I said.

He rose and extended his hand. "My pleasure," Leonard said in his thick British accent.

She fluttered her lashes demurely. "Likewise."

Likewise? God, now Penny Sue had flipped into her version of English gentry. Honestly, her personality changed so fast, I almost had whiplash. Yet, I needed to intervene before all her flipping blew our chances with Kydd. "Why don't we go have a cup of coffee or a bite to eat? I'm famished," I fibbed.

"I'm starvin' too," Penny Sue added, her attention fixed on Leonard.

Starvin' for what? I thought wryly. Food or a man?

Kydd's eyes shifted from Penny Sue to me. I suppose he decided we weren't too dangerous, because he agreed.

"That new restaurant, the Upper Deck, has a cozy lounge on the first floor that's the perfect place for good food and getting acquainted," Penny Sue gushed. "Happy hour starts at noon."

Penny Sue's emphasis on acquainted and happy hour made my skin crawl. The lack of male attention had definitely taken a toll on her, and she'd always been fascinated by Brits, Europeans, and foreigners in general. There was no doubt that her focus was on affairs of the heart and not on the affairs of her Cousin Kevin.

"It is a nice place," I assured Leonard, who was obviously leery of Penny Sue. "Do you have a car?"

"A rental."

"I drive a small Volkswagen, so you may want to follow me."

Penny Sue did some more eyelash fluttering. "I'll ride with Leonard and show him the way."

Why didn't that surprise me? Soul mate Rich was completely forgotten. Penny Sue was back on the prowl.

 

Penny Sue was snuggled close to Leonard on a sofa when I arrived. I made a quick stop to deposit my check at the bank next door, so they beat me to the restaurant by several minutes. His body language said Penny Sue was too close for comfort, because his back was against the overstuffed arm with his knees angled toward her. I reckon he planned to kick her if she lunged for him. I sat in a chair facing them on the other side of a coffee table.

"I ordered Pinot Grigio for us. It's two for one." Penny Sue grinned.

"Thanks." I leaned across the table and addressed Leonard. "I don't believe I introduced myself. I'm Leigh Stratton. I live nearby and work at the library."

"Nice to put a name with your face," he said crispy, glancing at me briefly before cutting his eyes back to Penny Sue. She was definitely making him nervous. Lucky for him, the waitress arrived with our drinks. He made a grab for his, but couldn't reach it from the corner of the sofa. "It seems to be a little tight. Do you mind?" he asked Penny Sue.

"Oh, so sorry," she said demurely, batting her lashes as she took a sip of wine and scooted to the side.

Honestly, Penny Sue was so obvious. I was happy she wasn't wearing false eyelashes. At her first wedding she did so much lash fluttering, a false eyelash fell off. We were chatting by the champagne punch when I noticed that one eye looked a lot bigger than the other. I mentioned it and she went berserk. "It's sable," she shrieked, "and cost a fortune!"

Next thing you know, a hoard of men were on their hands and knees searching for the darned lash as if it were a contact lens or her diamond ring. It was a sight. Black, tuxedoed butts crawling around Penny Sue like a swarm of ants. Judge Daddy finally called off the hunt and drew Penny Sue to the dance floor. It was then that I took a sip of champagne and found the creepy thing at the bottom of my glass. It looked like a big, dead centipede. I haven't cared for champagne since.

"Leonard," I led off, "did Penny Sue explain the situation on the way over?"

"I gather her cousin is in jail for missing a court date, but you ladies believe it's a ruse. The real reason he's being held is because he's suspected of killing a former lover, such lover having been found dead in the library on the same night a man was found dead there as well."

"Yes, a man who regularly staked out the magazine section like you did today. Who was he, what was he doing, and why are you here? It's too coincidental for both deaths to occur at the library on the same night."

Leonard let out a long sigh. "Well, I suppose the police have retrieved fingerprints and will know his identity soon enough, if they don't already have it. The man was William Duffy, a freelance reporter working on a story for my employer, Vainglory. Bill's initial idea was to do a story about surfers; however, he stumbled on something sinister, something he refused to discuss until he was certain of the facts. Even I don't know what he was working on."

"That's why you were in the library?" Penny Sue asked, holding up her glass for a refill.

"Yes, I wanted to see if I could discover what he found out. Whatever he was researching, I know he first encountered it at the library."

The server arrived with two more glasses of wine. I told her to give them both to Penny Sue. I had to drive, and if Penny Sue got smashed, she might at least stop batting her damned eyelashes. "Did you notice anything?"

Leonard shook his head. "You were the most unexpected event."

Penny Sue grinned so wide her gums showed. She clearly thought he was referring to her. I figured Leonard meant my sneaking up on him.

"Surfing? What's the big deal about surfing in New Smyrna Beach, besides the fact that the best waves are in Shark Shoals, which explains why New Smyrna is sometimes called the Shark Bite Capital of the World? Of course, that's all based on the number of bites. The national news never explains that most injuries are mere scratches from a surfer putting his foot in the mouth of a shark going after small bait fish," I said, pointedly ignoring Penny Sue and her smug grin.

"It was the Shark Bite Capital angle that initially drew Bill down here. He quickly realized just what you said, yet in the process discovered that some of the best surfers on the East Coast hailed from New Smyrna Beach. Something to do with small, but tricky, waves forcing surfers to develop extraordinary skill. In the course of his surfer research, he stumbled on something else--a really big story, he said."

As Leonard and I talked, Penny Sue was ogling him in her sex-starved, kewpie doll mode. The wine on an empty stomach had clearly hit her.

"Do you believe his secret was important enough to get him killed?" I asked.

Leonard took the first taste of his drink, one eye fixed on Penny Sue. "Probably. I'd worked with Bill before and he wasn't usually so guarded. That told me it was a big story, which is why I kept funding his stay. Yet, I can't imagine how his death could be related to the lady scholar."

"Maybe Abby stumbled onto his secret, so he offed her," Penny Sue said.

"Not likely. Bill was a gentle man," Leonard replied, clearly relieved Penny Sue had stopped staring at him.

"Yes, and it doesn't explain how Bill died," I said to Penny Sue. "Leonard, did you talk to the police?"

"No, I thought I'd do my own investigation first. I know the authorities will eventually identify Bill and track me down. Bill worked in Iraq, so his fingerprints are on file. It's simply a matter of time."

I'm sure it was, but I'd also promised Deputy Sheriff Heather Brooks, our only police ally, that I'd let her know if I found him. "Considering Abby's death and the fact that Kevin Harrington is being held for extradition, I think the picture is larger than you imagined. Please talk to the authorities. We know a deputy who is sympathetic and discreet. Would you speak with her? I'll set up a meeting."

Penny Sue had finished her second glass of wine and moved on to the third. Her eyelids were beginning to droop. "Yes, Leonard," she put her hand on his arm. He cringed. "Heather is very discreet."

I motioned to the wine. "Forgive Penny Sue; she hasn't had much to eat today. If you believe the police will find you anyway, why not meet with a sympathetic officer? I'm telling you, there are some tough cops in this town who'd love to make your life miserable. We've been down this road before. Then there's the possible mafia problem."

"How does the mafia figure into this?"

I paused to choose my words carefully. "Penny Sue's aunt, Kevin's mother, was a New Jersey government official. She's retired now, but has a lot of her old contacts. You know what I mean? When Kevin was arrested, Aunt Alice called in some favors from friends up north. She didn't know that Penny Sue, Ruthie (whom you haven't met), and I have bad blood with those groups. If Kevin isn't cleared and released from jail immediately, the situation down here could become complicated."

Leonard downed his drink in one gulp. "When you put it that way, I'm more than happy to meet with your police friend. I don't want any trouble with the mafia. I live in New York."

"Good. I'll try to set up a meeting in a neutral location, like a parking lot or my condo. How can I reach you?"

He stood and handed me a business card with his cell number. "Please keep that confidential." He glanced at Penny Sue.

I pocketed the card and smiled. "I'll guard it with my life, and I'll call when I have a meeting arranged."

"Very well. It's been a pleasure. Since I don't have much time before the authorities are involved, I'm going back to the library."

Penny Sue struggled to her feet. "It's been a pleasure, likewise. I hope I seen you again soon."

"I look forward to it." Leonard couldn't get out of the restaurant fast enough.

Back in my car, I took a left and headed home. Penny Sue needed some food and a nap.

"Are you all right?" I asked.

She leaned back against the headrest. "Yes and no." She paused a beat, "Do you have any ice cream?"

The workings of her mind were beyond logic. "I may have some Rocky Road."

"That's fitting. Rocky Road. I like the nuts."

"What's wrong, Penny Sue? You're acting strange. Leonard isn't that good looking."

"No offers on the house."

"You'll get one; it's just a matter of time. Your big lot on a lake is prime real estate. I think the market's starting to come back."

"Yeah, but when? I need money now. You know what this means? No new clothes and I can't button my jeans. I feel like a feather bed tied in the middle. I never thought my life would come to this," Penny Sue said mournfully. "I know it's that damn nursing home across the lake that scares people off."

"It's a very up-scale progressive living facility. Half of the tenants are retired executives and high ranking military officers. The grounds are lovely. I'm sure it won't affect the sale of your house."

"Bad vibes. People there die all the time. Maybe we should smudge it." She closed her eyes and fell asleep before we reached the condo.

I led a groggy, half smashed Penny Sue to her room and closed the door. Ruthie gave me a knowing look and turned her attention back to a man in the living room, no doubt one of the alarm technicians who was working up an estimate. A shame Penny Sue was asleep, because she would have tripped over herself getting to this man. Six-foot-one, brown hair, a dark tan, and bulging biceps--this guy was an unusually fine specimen of manhood. While the technician explained the equipment and costs to Ruthie, I started making cream cheese and olive finger sandwiches. They were Penny Sue's favorite, so I figured I'd let her doze for a while, then coax her into eating something.

"I plan to make a decision soon. How fast can you get the equipment and begin installation?" Ruthie asked the technician.

"I can usually get the equipment in one day, as long as it's ordered by three o'clock. We're pretty busy now because of all the break-ins on the beach, but we have an opening for tomorrow. A part was out of stock, so we had to reschedule that installation. If your parts are available, you could take the slot."

"If you can install our system tomorrow, we have a deal," Ruthie said.

"Fine, I'll call the office and get back to you within an hour." He checked his watch. "I haven't had lunch, so I'll grab a bite nearby. I'll need a signature before the order is actually placed."

"No problem, George. I'll be here."

"Good looking guy," I said, holding up the plate of sandwiches after the technician left.

She nodded. "He's married with kids."

"Too bad, Penny Sue would go ape over George." I fixed us both a plate and sat next to Ruthie at the counter.

"What's with Penny Sue?" Ruthie asked between bites.

"It was happy hour at the Upper Deck. Three glasses of wine on an empty stomach. She'd talked to her father, who said she hadn't received any offers on her house. I reckon she was drowning her sorrows."

"Geez, that's awful. Why didn't you just come back here? Why go to the Upper Deck?" Ruthie asked.

I filled her in on Leonard Kydd and William Duffy. Thank goodness the dead man finally had a name, so we wouldn't upset Ruthie by calling him a bum. "Leonard agreed to meet with Heather." I rummaged through my purse for Heather's card. "I probably should act fast. I don't want to give Leonard time to change his mind."

I phoned Heather and explained the situation. She was en route to a domestic call, but could swing by in an hour or so. "I'll try to reach Leonard and will leave you a text message," I told Heather. "Be careful. I read somewhere that domestic calls are among the most dangerous."

"Yeah, you have a chance of reasoning with a hardened criminal. It's nearly impossible to deal with angry family members--emotions run too hot. I'll check my messages when I'm finished. I'm anxious to speak with Kydd. We can meet at the parking lot on Hiles."

"Good deal."

I sent a text message to Leonard, figuring he wouldn't answer his cell if he were in the library. I typed pls call and hit send. I'm sure there's a shorter method that kids use, but this was new territory for me. I was a texting novice. Penny Sue had shown me how to do it only a few days before. It was complicated. You had to double and triple press the keys since I had an old phone, according to Penny Sue, who owned a fancy BlackBerry. I felt like Wilma Flintstone in a Joan Jetson world. I supposed I should hire a ten-year-old to teach me all about cell phones, iPhones, berries, apples, pears, or whatever. No sooner had I pressed the send button for Leonard's message than Heather called. She was headed our way and would meet us in the parking lot at Hiles and A1A.

"Heather's on her way. I hope Leonard hasn't changed his mind," I said.

Ruthie studied me for a moment. "He'll call," my intuitive friend said with certainty. Once again, she was right. My phone rang a few minutes later. Leonard would come directly.

"Do you want to ride with me?" I asked Ruthie.

"I have to wait for George's call. Besides, Penny Sue would be fit to be tied if we both left without her."

"Good point." I snagged my purse and headed out, I wanted to beat Heather and Leonard to the parking lot so I could make proper introductions. I also didn't want to take the chance that Leonard arrived first and didn't wait. Guthrie pulled into the parking lot just as I put my car in reverse.

He screeched to a stop, billowing sand, and yelled out of his window, "Man, we got some scoop!"

"Hold it," I called back. "I won't be long."

Alice got out of Guthrie's VW bus and gave me a pinched look as I drove away. I'm sure she wasn't used to being put off.

I beat Heather and Leonard to the parking lot, but only by a few minutes. Leonard arrived first in his blue rented Malibu. Heather came a few minutes later in her Volusia County Sheriff's Impala. At close to six feet, Heather was an attractive brunette with a belt full of weapons and gadgets that said, Don't mess with me. I had seen her back down manly men, two at the debate, with a mere I-mean-business stare. I sensed Leonard flinch when she got out of the car.

"Hi, Heather," I called in a purposely light tone intended to relax Leonard. "Did you set the husband and wife straight?"

She laughed. "Husband and wife? It was worse than that--a mother and teenaged daughter. Seems the mother refused to let her daughter go to the Slithering Lizards concert, and a fight broke out. Somewhere in the fray, the mother doused the daughter with whipped cream, and the daughter retaliated with Lysol spray and Cheese Whiz. The kid was holding her mother hostage in the bathroom when I arrived."

I pointed to a blob of cheese on Heather's shirt. "I see you got in the line of fire."

She chuckled. "Only a dribble as I slapped on cuffs. Then the kid started crying and the mother yelled at me. Geez, Mom was the one who called in the complaint! Naturally, she refused to press charges. I gave them both a stern lecture and left. I hate these domestics. They call the police, yet rarely press charges." She flicked the dab of cheese off her shirt. "I assume this is Mr. Kydd."

The three of us leaned against his car as he relayed the same information to Heather that he'd told me earlier.

"So you don't know what William Duffy was looking for in the library?" Heather asked.

"No idea, only that it was a major story and he wasn't ready to talk about it yet."

Heather turned to me. "You work at the library, don't you Leigh?"

I nodded.

"Have you seen anything unusual?"

"Nothing other than Duffy. The entire staff noticed him. He was hard to miss since he staked out the magazine section almost every morning."

"Surfers, then something else. Whatever he stumbled on probably got him killed," Heather mused.

"It was murder?" Leonard asked shrilly.

Heather waved off the comment. "I was thinking out loud. I don't know anything about the cause of death. Could have been a heart attack, for all I know. The detectives don't keep me informed. I will pass on his name, in case they haven't identified the body.

"If it was Bill, who should his family contact to claim the body?" Leonard asked.

"The Florida Medical Examiner, District 7. Since he died in a county building, I'm sure an autopsy is being performed."

"Will the results be made public?" Leonard asked.

"I don't know. It depends on the status of the investigation. There are two bodies involved here." Heather gave Leonard her card. "Call me if you notice anything unusual at the library. Leigh, keep your eyes open but try not to raise suspicions. We don't want to scare off the people Duffy was tracking."

I nodded tentatively, wondering if I should keep it from Guthrie and Penny Sue. They worked at the library, but could they keep a secret?