Southern Sass and a Battered Bride Page 26

  I nodded and took the keys. “Are you sure this is okay?” I’d been prepped on the box procedure, and Trixie was going off-book. If I went on my own, that would seem way more suspicious, I thought.

  “Go with it. This works out to our advantage,” Javy said. “The officers will add more pressure.”

  Trixie glanced back at the line and hesitated.

  Another throat clearing. “Excuse me. I’ve been waiting here.”

  “Yeah, it’s fine. I’ll go and handle that jerk and be right back. Just don’t tell anyone or I’ll lose my job.”

  “I won’t.”

  “Keep your shirt on,” Trixie yelled to one of the undercover officers at the front of the line. She rolled her eyes and shooed me in the right direction. “I’ll be right back.”

  My head bobbed up and down before I disappeared around the corner. Trixie wouldn’t need to walk out; I had a feeling she’d be escorted out soon enough. The gate securing the room that held all the safety deposit boxes had a unique style lock on it. My heart pounded within my chest being so close to phase two of the plan. Get in and retrieve the contents of the box and somehow get out of the bank without seeming suspicious. The key didn’t work. I tried again with the others on the ring. I even forced a few keys in that hardly fit, shaking the little gated door. “None of these stupid keys work. Now what?”

  “Are you sure you tried them all?”

  “Yes! I tried them all. I guess I’ll have to—” A hand covered my mouth. I squeaked in protest as my back hit against a hard chest.

  “You okay?” Javier’s voice still sounded calm, and I wanted to say, yes, everything was perfectly fine and mean it. But as I glanced up at the ski-mask-covered man, it wasn’t. Everything from there happened like a blur. The earpiece was dislodged from my ear and stomped under a large weighted black boot. He reached under my shirt, unhooking the wire and ripping the tape.

  “Move.” He hustled me toward the back of the building and out the back door into the alley. The alarm sounded. I fought like an alley cat when I saw the sliding door of a van open. The man grunted when I landed a shot between his legs, but he kept hold of me and flung us both into the van, pulling the door shut behind him.

  The van swerved as it took curves on two wheels, and I was flung into the masked man. We both went down, hard. My head bashed into floor, but I didn’t care. When his hand landed on my upper arm, I kicked out with all my might, landing a solid strike to his ribs.

  “Dammit! Stop that!”

  I didn’t. I’d seen plenty of movies and knew darn good and well what would happen if he managed to take me out to some secluded spot. I wouldn’t submit to that sort of treatment. I’d rather die right here in this van, fighting. I launched myself atop him, ready to gouge his eyes out through the mask.

  The man grabbed both my hands and held firm. “It’s me! Stop it! I’m going to let go. Don’t go all cat woman on me.”

  Wait. I recognized that voice. Slowly, he pulled the mask off his face.

  All the breath left my body in a whoosh. “Alex?” I choked out and slid off him.

  “I think you neutered me back there.” He rolled to his knees, taking deep panting breaths.

  “Hey, check me out! I’m driving like a bat out of hell! Ain’t nobody gonna catch me.”

  I slid up to the cage separating the van. The driver was a wearing a black leotard with a cat tail, black tights, gloves, and a Michael Myers Halloween mask I knew belonged to Alex. He’d been Michael Myers for Halloween every year in high school.

  “Betsy!”

  “Hey, girl! Hang on!” She squealed tires and my fingers burned as they held on through the metal holes. “You were dead-on. Alex did drop his money clip while snooping on ya. He’s so careless. I told him he gave himself away. He’s lucky we found it and not the evil detective.”

  My vision went blurry, and suddenly everything went dark.

  “Alex, Marygene, move!” Betsy shouted and the next thing I knew the sliding door opened and Betsy removed her mask, her face sweaty and her hair stuck to her forehead. She grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the van. We were in a dark, damp, parking garage. “Come on! We’ve got to hightail it out of here. We’re on a tight schedule.”

  Numbly, I followed her deeper into the garage. A still-puffing Alex stumbled behind us.

  Betsy hurried around to the driver’s side of an old yellow Pontiac. I stood there staring, as if shot with a tranquilizer, unable to move. She fired up the engine and smoke billowed from the tailpipe. I coughed and she leaned out the door. “Come on!”

  Alex put his hand on my lower back now that he was able to stand upright. “I’ll explain. But you need to get in. Okay?”

  I blinked several times, looking from Alex to Betsy. I couldn’t make sense of this. As much as I tried, I just couldn’t. My best friend and ex-boyfriend, two people I would trust with my life, abducted me while I was working with the Peach Cove Sheriff’s Department. Neither one of them had known about the arrangement, yet they were right on time.

  “Marygene. We don’t have time for this.” Alex nudged me forward, and I slid into the back seat. “Scooch.” I moved farther down the vinyl bench seat, and he got in beside me. Betsy smoothed out her hair, slammed the heavy metal door, and backed out of the space.

  CHAPTER 32

  The car bumped along the dirt back-roads Betsy took. The police scanner Alex had alerted us to where they were casting their wide net. Javier’s voice came over the speaker as he barked orders. Gone was the calm, soothing tone. It was replaced by one that promised steep repercussions.

  “Oh man.” Betsy started fanning herself. “He’s got it bad for you. I bet he’ll tear apart anyone that gets in his way of finding you too. It’s too bad he and I weren’t soul mates.”

  She glanced in the rearview mirror and her smile faded. “What’s wrong? You look like you could burst into tears at any moment.”

  “She thinks we’re the killers.” Alex held up his finger. “No wait, killers and robbers.” Alex scoffed and picked up a box from the floorboard that resembled an English dictionary.

  “She does not.” Betsy started laughing. “She’s just had a lot on her plate lately, and she’s in shock.”

  I didn’t, did I? Yeah, I had there for a few minutes, followed by disbelief about what had transpired.

  “I know that look. I’ve been there a few times in my life too. I mean, I’m rock solid and all, but everyone’s got a breaking point.” Betsy’s face contorted with worry. “You didn’t break, did ya?”

  “Betsy! Watch the road!” Alex yelled as the car swerved and skidded off the road, flinging me into Alex.

  She jerked the wheel, saving us from landing in the ditch.

  “Good God, Betsy! You have one job. One! Driving!”

  “I’ve done a great job! And the only reason you gave the job to me is because you couldn’t chance being seen. Face it, without me, your plan would have been dead in the water. Besides, I was just worried about Marygene.”

  I used the back of her seat as leverage to sit back up. “I’m okay. I have no idea what’s going on anymore, but I haven’t flown over the cuckoo’s nest yet.”

  Alex handed me the box and inside was what looked to be several thousand dollars, three passports, and several fentanyl patches. In the first two passports, Lucy was pictured under different identities. On one passport she had red hair and in the other, black. When I opened the third, I met Alex’s dark gaze.

  “After you left, I tore the place apart. I found the hair dye you were talking about and then, in the back of the closet in the guest bedroom, I found a loose board.” He nodded to the box. “That was inside. The space beneath the floor was big enough to hold a lot more. This was wedged way back against a stud. If I hadn’t looked in there with a flashlight, I would’ve missed it.” He pointed to the third passport containing his picture. “This is the smoking gun. How they were going to frame me. They could say to avoid needle marks, I used the drug patches to
get enough drugs in her system. The final dose having been in a syringe from the planted vial in your house. The passport and cash prove I had an escape plan and tried to pin it on you and Bets.”

  “He called me and told me everything,” Betsy explained. “That’s when I told him about that scary voice mail from Paul and the killer. We were worried the killer would come after you to get to Alex. We drove to your house to warn you. That’s when we saw Deputy Latin Love was there and it was too late.”

  Alex shook his head. “They never should have used you like that. And if Javier cares about you, he wouldn’t have allowed it. I sure as hell wouldn’t’ve. The plan was so obvious too. You followed the instructions they laid out while they watched from close by. When you made the drop, they’d swoop in and apprehend the suspect. They tapped your cell line, right?”

  I nodded.

  He exchanged a look with Betsy, and she said, “Yeah, you were right.” She whipped her gaze back to me. “You disappoint me. Have I not taught you anything? Never ever give the po-po more ammunition against you.”

  “It wasn’t against me! I was terrified for Paul, my family, and my diner. Which includes you. If that bomb had gone off, you could’ve been inside.”

  Betsy visibly gulped. “Your hands were tied. I get it.”

  Alex said, “That there was even a bomb threat proves how dangerous these people are. Eddie would have never agreed to any of this. And God help them when he’s back on his feet.” He had me there. “They had fake passports made up for Lucy and me. God only knows how long they’ve been planted in my house. And I’ve been so distracted I never even noticed my personal space had been invaded.”

  “And we found some keys to two different storage facilities.” Betsy pulled deep into the tree line. Where Alex’s pickup truck sat. “We’re going to check them out.”

  A hissing came over the scanner, followed by broken speech we found hard to make out. When they said Alex Myers, it came through loud and clear, though. Betsy’s hand went over her mouth. Alex didn’t seem surprised.

  “I don’t want y’all anywhere near me when they pick me up. Pop the trunk.”

  I followed Alex as he retrieved a black duffel bag from the trunk. He loaded all the evidence in it with his bottles of water and what appeared to be a stash of granola bars and the unmistakable arsenal of firearms.

  “Are you going on the run? Seriously, Alex, that’s nuts.” Sweat rolled down between my shoulder blades. Mosquitoes feasted on my limbs. Betsy’s too, by the way she was swatting all over her body.

  “No. I’m going to go and wait for the bastard in the storage facility.” He tossed the bag over his shoulder. “You tell Javier the truth. That I got you out of there and dropped you off out here where you’ll be safe. By the time they catch up with me, hopefully I’ll have enough evidence for a case.” He took my face in his hands.

  Both of us were panting from the blistering heat as he rested his sweaty forehead against mine.

  “I’m sorry they came after you to get to me. None of this is your fault, and I’ve been a giant fool and treated you inexcusably. I’ll avenge my wife and then make them pay for what they’ve put you and my cousin through.” With a swift kiss on the cheek, he stalked around the car and held out his hand to Betsy for the car keys.

  “We’re going with you! The three of us are a team! The three musketeers. All for one and one for all.”

  “You want to be a team?” Alex asked.

  She nodded.

  “Even if being on my team means you’ll spend the rest of your life behind bars?”

  She slapped him on the arm. “That’s not going to happen.”

  “It’s a risk. The department knows I was at the bank. They know Marygene was snatched. The detective and my in-laws believe I was involved. In my possession is the drug that killed Lucy, along with fake passports and enough cash to get me off the island and into hiding for a few months. Now I’m on the run, conducting an unsanctioned investigation on a case I’ve been warned to stay away from. Shall I go on?”

  Betsy threw herself into his arms and squeezed. His bag flew off his shoulder and hit the ground hard. Some of the contents spilled out.

  “I’m sorry.” Betsy went to her knees as a sob broke. She began shoving things back into the bag. “I just love you. You’re my favorite cousin.”

  Alex helped her up and took the bag.

  “I’m going to keep this water. It’s hot out here and Marygene and I might get dehydrated.”

  “Ah, Bets. Don’t fall to pieces on me now. I need you to be my rock.” He wrapped an arm across her shoulders.

  She wiped her face. “You’re right. I’ve got this. Marygene is in good hands.”

  He nodded and handed me my own bottle of water.

  “Thanks.” I smiled sadly at him as helplessness overcame me, and I battled to regain my courage.

  He glanced back a couple of times before he slid into the front seat of the Pontiac, fired it up, and started down the dirt road. Dust caused us to cough, and we both turned away.

  Betsy smiled at me with a twinkle in her eyes, and I found my voice. “What did you do?”

  “What needed to be done.” She held out the keys to Alex’s truck and one of the two sets of keys to a storage facility.

  “You’re a rock star!” I beamed, despite my raging emotions.

  “Right? He thought I was crying. Ha! Betsy Myers is da bomb!” She started dancing around me and hooting. The next thing I knew, her eyes bugged out, and her hands went to her throat. She gasped for breath.

  “What is it?” Terror griped me. I grabbed her arms, searching for what I’d missed.

  “I think I swallowed a mosquito! Oh my God! What do I do?” She jerked away and began running in place in front of me. “What’s going to happen to me?”

  And just like that, the doomsday mood I’d been in was replaced with laughter. Even in this scary moment, while I was sweaty and stinky, with swollen bites covering my face and body and so many things at risk, I was laughing.

  “Come on, crazy. Let’s get out of here.” I wrapped my arm around Betsy, and we trudged over toward the truck while she guzzled from her bottle of water.

  * * *

  We waited until we could drive to the storage facility under the cover of night. According to Betsy, the one Alex planned to go to first was clear across the island. It would also give him time to let the heat settle before chancing being seen by the authorities and hopefully find evidence to clear himself. Plus, by the time he realized Betsy had stolen them, he’d be an hour away and forced to stay put. At least I hoped he would.

  Sandstone Storage had a gate with keycard activation and under that a keypad.

  “Now what?” I glanced over at her.

  “I don’t know. There wasn’t a keycard in that box that I saw.”

  I sighed and leaned out the window, searching around. That was when I spied cameras placed strategically around the facility.

  Betsy caught me staring. “Don’t worry ’bout them. Alex made a few phone calls and found out they don’t work. Haven’t in years.”

  “Hey, what’s the number on the key?”

  Betsy turned on the light in the cab and read off the four-digit number to me. I punched it in but still, nothing happened. We came all this way to help Alex and now we couldn’t even get inside.

  “Try one two three four.”

  “That’s not the code.”

  “Try it, Marygene! A lot of people use that. When I synced my cell phone to my car, that’s the code I used.”

  To pacify Betsy, I leaned out and pressed the buttons. When the gate opened, I nodded to Betsy. “Good job.”

  She fist pumped. “Team Betsy bringing some major value.”

  I guessed I was a member of Team Betsy.

  The units were clearly marked and in a row, but too close together for us to pull right up to them. Betsy used the light on her cell phone as we made our way down to the one marked 6074.

  “This is
it,” I whispered. Even though we were the only ones here, it felt dark and creepy. The fluorescent lights that lit the paths were barely functioning, and the wind rattling the aluminum siding added to the creepy vibe.

  Betsy leaned down with her phone light engaged and put the key into the padlock. It popped open and she lifted the sliding door. Hot, stuffy air was like a punch in the face. The light came on, and I stepped inside and gaped.

  “It’s set up like a studio apartment in here.” We walked around the sofa and onto the area rug in the middle of the unit. Off in the corner sat a portable air conditioner. It would be needed if someone spent any time in here and, from the pool of condensation on the floor beside it, they had.

  Betsy opened the small mini fridge in the corner and pulled out a can of Coke. “Want one?” She cracked it open and began gulping it down. At first it seemed like a well-organized unit. There was a bag of golf clubs in the front at the corner, and a few bookshelves. Then realization struck and I gaped.

  “What?”

  “This is Paul’s furniture. All of it.” I turned around in a circle, taking it all in.

  “So, this is where it all went.” Betsy put her can down and picked up a box. “Hey, look at this.” She pulled out a makeup bag, a couple of wigs, and a video camera. I spied a suitcase over in the corner. I had it open before I thought twice, finding lots of clothing I recognized had belonged to Lucy, and several shirts I’d seen Paul wear. There was also a large Ziploc bag filled with meds prescribed to a Winona Howell. Was the killer a woman? She’d have to be a strong woman to have carried Lucy out in that body bag. A feat I certainly couldn’t pull off. And why would she want all of Paul’s furniture? I froze when I spied a biker jacket and several bandanas.

  Betsy began snapping pictures with her cell, mumbling something about texting them to Alex. She kept saying, “Burn! I got evidence first.”

  “Bets, keep your voice down.”