Into The Heat (Sandy Reid Mystery Series Book 6) (17 page)

“Who’s Leo?”

“You got the money away from Coleman somehow and then talked Lester into killing him so you could keep it. Tell me if I’m getting warm.”

Julia abruptly rolled back over to face her. “Who the hell is Leo?”

“Leo is a mean hoodlum up here from Miami Beach looking for the money his partner Coleman brought up to Park Beach.”

“You mean he’s a criminal? Oh my god.” She propped up on one elbow and brushed aside the disheveled hair. “So he was the guy on the phone asking me for the money! At first, I thought he was some nut. I didn’t catch on to what he was talking about. I never dreamed Coleman had a partner. Then the guy threatened me. That’s when I grabbed some things, left the house and went into hiding.” She curled up again under the blanket.

“Leo phoned you asking for the money?” That meant Leo had connected Coleman with Julia and had located her. More pieces were coming together; Leo threatens Julia—Leo shoots Charlene. Leo might have assumed Charlene was Julia, in the middle of the thunderstorm, and shot her as she stepped out of her car at Julia’s house. “Leo tried to kill you. The way I figure it, Leo was the one who shot Charlene in your driveway. Next, he’ll be coming after you. Julia, you have to tell me everything. You need protection.”

Sandy stood looking down at the distraught woman who had definitely caused the death of Benjamin Coleman and possibly of Charlene Faulk. No wonder she’d wanted to do away with herself. “You were the probable target, Julia. When Leo reads in the newspaper he shot Charlene by mistake, he’ll come back looking for you. You can’t run forever. Time to come clean about all of this, Julia. I can stop all this. Give me the money, and I’ll give it back to Leo, then everyone will be safe.”

Julia had started shaking. Crying and shaking. Then she screamed out hysterically.

A nurse rushed in and went to her side, scowling at Sandy. “You idiot, don’t you know when to back off? This poor woman was near death last night. You trying to make her relapse? Get out of here this instant or I’m calling the authorities.”

“I am the authorities. Someone is trying to kill her, and I’m trying to save her.”

“Some authority you are. She’s on a suicide watch right now—I don’t think she’s worried much about someone killing her. But we’re worried about her skipping out of here and trying to kill herself again. Now leave!”

“You’re right, I’m sorry. I came on too strong. I’ll see that a police officer is posted outside her door. To keep her in and the bad guys out.” Sandy smiled contritely and bowed while backing out of the room. But she wasn’t through with Julia. She didn’t have all the answers yet and she suspected Julia had them all.

She took out her phone and called Eddy Jaworski. “Sorry, I was out when you stopped by. I’m at the hospital. Just left Julia Bardner.”

“What’s her condition this morning?”

“On a ledge trying to decide if she wants to jump off again. I believe she needs protection.”

“Protecting her from herself? A suicide watch is the hospital’s responsibility, not the police,” the detective said.

“I believe Leo is gunning for her. You may want to consider having a guard outside her room. And if Leo shot Charlene, as I believe he did, you now have an additional reason for going after him. He’s no longer just running around threatening, he actually shot someone.” She explained her theory that Leo had shot Charlene by mistake thinking it was Julia.

Eddy said, “What are you saying? Why would Leo want Julia dead?”

His question stopped her. She had just screwed up. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly and cringed at what she had just said to the detective. She hadn’t thought it through before speaking. She dare not mention Leo was going after Julia, without explaining that Julia was involved in a real estate deal with Coleman, wanted Lester to do away with him and it was Julia who had the money. She didn’t want to give the prosecution all those incriminating details and angles at that point.

She had to answer Eddy, but hated to lie, “Leo said he’d shoot someone, didn’t he? Of course, I’m just sort of rambling trying to get all my thoughts together.” It was partly the truth.

“Why did she want to kill herself?”

Sandy couldn’t say Julia’s suicide attempt was about her complicity in Coleman’s murder. “She didn’t address that specifically, Eddy. You can imagine the woman’s state of mind right now.”

“You’d better not be lying to me,” he said, “I’ll get a room guard up there, if you think it’s necessary, but you’ve gone far ahead of me on this. I’ve pulled strings for you, and you’ve left me in the dark.”

“Sorry Eddy, haven’t had time. I rushed over here first thing this morning. I’m heading for the office now. Do they have protection over there?”

“You’ll have a patrol car parked outside your office all day.”

“Great, thanks for that. We can meet over there if you like. I won’t leave you in the dark, buddy.”

S
andy left Julia’s hospital room and took the elevator down to the hospital cafeteria. She needed to calm herself down and make some calls. She wondered if Lester could shed any light on Julia’s revelation that, at some point, she met Charlene in her office. She had missed a call from Martin and wanted to bring him up to date. Her phone rang while she was standing in line for coffee. Mel said, “I was thinking about you, how are you?”

“I’m good, what’s happening?”

“Nothing official, just that we’ve both been busy. Haven’t had time to call you. Everything happened so fast last night. We almost had a happening between us, didn’t we? I wanted to let you know… how wonderful you were.”

“Really a roller-coaster wasn’t it? I mean from a high down to a low.”

“Yes, yes, that’s what I mean, Sandy. So, I’ve been thinking, perhaps you’d have me over for another drink.”

She thought, not now dummy. Geez, he’s got lousy timing. She wouldn’t mind him picking up where he left off sometime, but much later. “Things are hectic again for me, Mel. It’s hard to schedule a moment such as we had last night.”

“Of course, and I’m busy as well. I’m not trying to schedule anything. It’s just that our time together last night was important to me. I don’t want it to just fade away and not count for anything. I didn’t mean to be pushing you.”

“Believe me, I didn’t take what happened lightly. It definitely meant something. We’ll be seeing each other, okay?” She had told Mel the truth; their hot moment had definitely meant something, except she wasn’t sure what. He asked her to keep him posted and hung up.

Martin was waiting to hear from her. She called, and his first words were, “This Leo thing is getting dangerous. Watching you at your house puts an entirely different perspective on this.”

“How did you hear about it?”

“As you know, I left my car at the office overnight. A patrol car brought Nigel and me to the office this morning. On the way, I asked the officer to detour past your house. We panicked when we saw all the police cars. Jaworski was there and clued us in on what was happening. He said you have a police escort with you this morning. So I guess you’re okay now, but I’m sorry you had all this happening. How are you taking it?”

“It didn’t affect my sleep because I didn’t know the creep was out there until I headed out the door with my coffee this morning. I could have slept better, but I wasn’t aware of anything happening last night.” She stopped and let a small shiver pass. “When you learn you have been spied on like that, you try to remember what you were doing, how you were dressed and how you were moving around your house.”

“From your voice, I’m not certain you’re taking this seriously enough. He’s not looking in your windows because he thinks he’s going to catch you counting his money. I’m certain a man like that would have an interest in you personally. Did he give any indication, when you were in the hotel room with him, that he had more interest in you than the money?”

“A couple of crude remarks, the usual male crap.” No use getting Martin all upset. There was nothing he could do. “Nothing really overt from the guy.”

“I hope that’s the truth. This isn’t something to take lightly. No doubt, he wants both you and the money and in that order. This is a criminal who is used to taking what he wants. Criminals as a group aren’t big on delayed gratification. If he had wanted, he could have been in your bedroom last night. You and Nigel are both staying at my place tonight.”

“Thanks for putting such a nice image to it, Martin, but I’m already appropriately frightened. No, Peeping Leo won’t make a move on me until he gets that money. If he intended to break in, he wouldn’t have planted his cigarettes outside my window to scare me.” She hoped she was correct about that. She appreciated Martin’s concern, but felt he was getting extreme. “Thanks for checking. I’m at the hospital now. Just talked with Julia. She had an interesting story to tell—some of it is true. I’m on my way to the office next, and we’ll continue the discussion. How’s Nigel this morning?”

“I’m uncertain. This morning over coffee at the house, he told me he and Charlene became very close, very fast. He didn’t say so, but I’m guessing they got lost in each other for a few days. I’m trying to keep him busy here at the office to keep his mind off her. I have him knocking himself out on the computer trying to find information on Leo. I reminded him how important it was to get back to it. He said he wanted to check first to be certain Charlene had some suitable next of kin to handle a funeral. I told him it was a good idea. What else do you have?”

“Disturbing news about Charlene. Julia said Coleman was a business prospect who she met for the first time, when he walked into her real estate office a few minutes after Charlene walked out.”

“Wait, I must think about that one,” Martin said. “When was this?”

“About three weeks ago, she said. Charlene was inquiring about renting store space. Which may have been just some sort of ruse. She left and shortly after Coleman walked in. At least according to Julia.”

“Did they seem to be together?”

“Julia didn’t know, but it’s one hell of a coincidence in any case. Makes you wonder if they were planning something. And three weeks ago, Charlene was still having an affair with Lester. Why would she walk in and talk to his wife?”

“Perhaps that was back when she didn’t know he was married,” Martin suggested. “And remember, Coleman’s from Miami Beach and Charlene made a trip down there with Lester about three weeks ago. Came back and broke it off with Lester, didn’t she?”

“What are you getting at, Martin?”

“Just trying to connect the dots.”

“There are no connecting dots. Something is wrong here. Charlene is innocent.”

“So innocent she got shot last night.”

“I still believe Leo shot her.”

“But maybe he knew he was shooting Charlene, not Julia. Hey, I’m just playing the devil’s advocate here. I’m trying to think like someone who’s not so taken with Charlene.”

“I realize that Charlene’s possible involvement changes everything. So, now we must dig into that angle.”

“Remember, we vouched for her with Shapiro and Jaworski,” Martin said. “I convinced Eddy she was of no interest to the prosecution in the murder investigation. We swore Charlene was clean and had no connection with Coleman. Now our necks are stuck a mile out. Perhaps we should have done more background checking on her.”

“Geez, I’ll be losing sleep until I figure out this one.”

“Where are you right now?”

“Hospital cafeteria having coffee.”

“So, Julia is still recovering from her suicide attempt, was she in her right mind when she told you all this?”

“She is falling apart. She admitted to provoking Lester into killing Coleman by claiming he was her lover. I have to find out why she wanted him dead.”

“How does one provoke one into committing murder?”

“Julia told him she was divorcing him and marrying Coleman. She hinted he should do something about his rival, and he took the bait. Remember, we’re dealing with Lester Bardner, who isn’t tied too tightly to start with. He might have intended to only scare off Coleman, but that’s just my hope, I don’t know for certain. In any case, money wasn’t his motive. It was jealousy, desperation and confusion about his position. He felt he had to do something.”

“Okay, so that’s why Lester wanted Coleman dead. But why did Julia want him dead. And how did Julia come to know the guy—what was the connection?”

“I took much too long to figure it out. A big clue hit me in the face, but I missed it. Leo mentioned to me Coleman was up here checking out investments on the island. I mentioned that to Mel, but forgot to mention it to you. I was preoccupied with motive and money and missed the possible connection of Julia being a real estate agent.”

“No, you were alone with a thug in a hotel room and preoccupied with saving yourself.” Martin said.

“I wish I’d told you what Leo said, because you’d have picked up on it in a flash. Leo must have read in the newspaper that the suspect’s wife was a real estate agent. He knew Coleman was up here looking for investment property and put two and two together. She just told me Leo called her demanding the money, and she played dumb not understanding who she was dealing with.” She sighed audibly into the phone. “Too bad I didn’t put two and two together much earlier. Charlene might still be alive.”

“You’re too hard on yourself,” he said, “We were trying to figure out how Lester knew Coleman. We should have been worrying about how
Julia
knew Coleman. She sat here in the office and lied about knowing him. It sounds as if she has Coleman’s money and provoked Lester into killing him to keep it. Even so, it makes little sense.”

Her phone beeped. “Got a call, Martin, see you soon.”

She answered and a husky voice said, “Time’s up.”

She tried to think fast. Her mouth went dry.

“Can’t wait any longer, Babycakes. Police have been asking about me. Getting too hot for me in your stinkin’ little town.”

“You’re the one stinking up the town, you bastard. Haven’t you done enough? How dare you call me after what you did last night?” Just then, she doubled her vow to get the guy and make him suffer for Charlene.

“I’ll have to stop and think about which nasty thing you’re talking about. I did two or three last night.”

The angry approach might make her feel better, yet wasn’t getting her any closer to catching him. She took a chance, “Leo, you were right about who had your money—the real estate agent. But I convinced her, if she wanted to keep on living, she had to give me the money so I could get it to you. I was going to call you. I now have your money. Right here in a large envelope.” She took a deep breath, “I’ll bring it to you. Where are you now?”

“When you’re hiding you don’t tell people where you are. We’ll meet somewhere. Where are you now?”

She lied, “In the Ocean Palm Hotel parking lot, I thought you might still be here.”

“I saw a Home Depot just west of there. We’ll meet in their parking lot. In thirty minutes.” He hung up.

She called Shapiro and breathlessly explained the situation, “He wants to meet in the Home Deport parking lot in thirty minutes.”

“Okay, we’re on our way over there. Park directly in front of the main store entrance. Stay in your car with the engine running. Got that? Our team will be in unmarked cars. You won’t see us. Do not get out of your car. We need to use you as a decoy. Wait until he approaches you in some manner because we don’t know what he looks like or what he’s driving. When he makes a definite move toward you, get out of there. We’ll surround him.”

She hung up and her phone rang. Nigel said, “I’ve got some info on Leo.”

“Oh, Nigel, I’m so sorry about Charlene. Look, you may have to give me your new findings tomorrow, if I’m still in one piece.” She hurried out the front exit and stopped short. She’d forgotten about the patrol car waiting for her, positioned so the officer could watch both entrances.

She turned and trotted down the long, side hallway holding the phone to her ear.

Nigel was saying, “I started with the assumption that Leo and Coleman were close. You know, cohorts in Miami Beach. I found an arrest for Coleman three years ago in Atlantic City. Arrested along with a Leroy Lyons. Get it? Lyons, Lion—Leo the lion?”

“You’re clever. You must explain it all to me later when I have time.” She ran out the side entrance and looked back at the patrol car. It was facing away from her, but she still could be seen if she ran for her car. She spotted a golf cart marked “Security” parked next to the side entrance. She hopped in the cart and took off around the building in the opposite direction. She bounced over a grassy median and dropped her phone. She grabbed it before it slid off the seat.

Nigel was still talking, “… I started calling local hotels asking for Leroy Lyons and found he’s staying at the local Marriott—.”

“What?” She hit the brakes hard and the golf cart slid to stop. She was finally listening. “Go on, go on.”

“He drives a gray Cadillac with Dade County plates.”

“Oh my god! Bless you! Okay, stay by the phone, I might need you.” She called Shapiro again. “Leo is at the Marriott... That’s very close. I have time. I’ll cruise the Marriott parking lot. Maybe I’ll spot his car. I’ll follow him and you can intercept him. He’s driving a gray Caddy.”

“No, Sandy, that’s too dangerous. Don’t get close to him. Let us handle it. Just drive on out to the Home Depot as we planned.”

She drove the cart over to her parked car, jumped in, and headed for the hospital parking lot exit. “Home Depot might be a trick, Mel. He might be planning something else. If I hurry, I can check the Marriott parking area and still make it out to Home Depot within thirty minutes, if I don’t spot him.”

“Sandy, no!”

As she drove out the hospital exit, she looked back and saw the patrol car still parked by the entrance. Nine blocks down and she was at the Marriott parking lot.

She circled slowly. Nothing. She went around once more. In the far parking area over by the trees, she saw a gray Cadillac with dark tinted windows backed into the curb. Damn, she thought, Florida requires only one license plate, and it’s on the rear. She couldn’t see from where she was. She parked a row away, got out and slowly crept over to the Caddy approaching from the rear. From a distance, she could tell it was a Florida plate, but not close enough to read the county name. She moved gradually closer. There! It was a Dade County plate.