Caruso 01 - Boom Town (23 page)

“What in the hell are you doing here, Caruso?” Gibson forced out. He looked beyond Tony at his perplexed receptionist. “I told you no interruptions.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “But he’s a little bigger than me.” With that, she closed Tony into the room as she slammed the door.

One of the three men from San Francisco turned to Gibson.

“What’s this about?”

“Do I need to call the sheriff, Caruso?”

“Please do.” Tony directed his gaze on the apparent leader of the San Francisco contingent. It all came to him in a rush. “Sir, I’d like you to know that any deal signed today will be stuck in probate for years.”

“What?” the man cast his eyes on Gibson. “What’s he talking about?”

“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Gibson said.

“That’s obvious.” He picked up the phone and thought for a moment.

“You could call nine, one, one, if you think this is an emergency,” Tony said.

“You told me the company was yours, free and clear,” the man from San Francisco said.

“It is,” Gibson said, glaring at the phone, unsure what to do.

“You forgot about Cliff Humphrey,” Tony reminded him. “He’s the direct beneficiary of Dan, and therefore has claim to his property. In other words, you have a new partner Larry.”

Gibson had this incredulous look on his face, as if he had just
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found a cockroach in his soup. The men from San Francisco didn’t waste time or words. They simply gathered all of their papers into their briefcases, slammed them shut, and got up to leave.

“Call us when you get this squared away,” the leader of the group said just before trudging out through the door after his col-leagues.

“But wait,” Gibson said, trying to follow after them. But it was too late. They were gone. When he realized this, he turned back toward Tony. “What in the fuck have you just done to me?”

Tony pushed his way past him, shoving him against the door, and then stopped and turned. “You should have read that partnership deal a little more closely,” Tony said. “Have a nice day.” He left Gibson there, his face red and puckered like he’d just swallowed a jar of hot peppers.

“You fucker,” he yelled after Tony. “You fucking bastard. This isn’t over.”

As Tony passed Susie, he said to her, “You might want to consider a new job.”

By the time Tony reached the parking lot, the California contingent was already gone. He got into the truck and sat for a moment, wondering if he had just done the right thing. Strangely enough, his thoughts drifted to Dawn Sanders. Maybe it was the new bruises from Melanie’s boots kicking his ribs. Maybe he needed someone who was more pure, or at least open. Someone without an agenda.

Before he left, he called the sheriff on his cell phone. It took a while before he came on the line, and he was huffing and puffing with the effort.

“Yeah,” Sheriff Green said.

“What the hell happened to you?” Tony asked. “Just finish a marathon.”

“Fuck you! What the hell you want? And thanks a helluva lot, by the way.”

“What?”

“Now I gotta open this case again.”

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“You mean for the first time.”

“You got anything constructive for me? I been going around and around with Frank Peroni. He’s more scared than he should be. I think he knows more than he’s telling me.”

Tony thought for a minute as he watched the front door to Deschutes Enterprises open and the receptionist stomp out, throwing her coat on as she made her way down the snowy sidewalk.

“Listen, sheriff. Can I get back with you? I gotta talk with someone right now.”

“As opposed to nobody?” the sheriff said, letting out a deep breath.

“No. Hey, check into Peroni’s involvement with those B and Es. I’ll bet he was the set-up man on those.”

“What the...you think I work for you?”

Tony couldn’t hear the rest of his yelling, because he had already hit the End button and shoved the phone into his pocket on his way out the truck door. Tony caught Susie just before she opened her door.

“You leave me alone,” she said, trying to get her key into the door of her Ford Focus.

“I’m sorry,” Tony pleaded. “He didn’t fire you, did he?”

She gave him a half-serious look as she shook her head. “I quit!”

“Good for you.”

“Yeah, it’s just great. When I can’t pay the rent, then what?”

She slowly turned toward him, her mind reeling and uncertain.

“Never mind. It’s not your problem.”

“I can help you find another job.”

“Don’t bother. It was a piece of shit job anyway.” By now the key found its spot and she had the door open. She slid in, closed the door and then rolled the window down. “I want you to know I had nothing to do with Don Sanders.”

Tony had started back to the truck, but returned with that reve-lation.

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She continued, “I gave him the tickets to the Blazers game, that’s it.”

“Did anyone tell you to?”

“I think you already know the answer to that.” She started her car and drove off, the tires spinning and throwing up snow.

Climbing back into the truck, Tony headed out after her. As he drove toward downtown Bend, a lot of questions popped into his mind. Questions he didn’t have answers to. He had just blown a deal for Larry Gibson, yet he didn’t know why. He had a feeling the deal was somehow involved with the death of Barb and Dan, and that too was unclear in his mind. And there were questions about Cliff Humphrey, Frank Peroni and the Portland cops, Shabato and Reese, that wouldn’t go away. There was one bright side to all of this. At least his nuts seemed to be recovering.

When he got to Dawn Sanders’ Naturopathic Clinic, he was told by her receptionist to have a seat, since Dawn was with someone right now. He took the time to pretend he was looking through a year old travel magazine, while he cleared his mind on this case.

About fifteen minutes later the back door opened, and Dawn Sanders led an octogenarian Chinese man out from the back.

When he had left through the outer door, she came over to Tony and greeted him with a hug.

“What are you doing here?” she said. “Never mind.” She checked her watch and told her receptionist she’d be back in a few minutes. Then she hauled him through a back corridor and upstairs to her living area. There was one bedroom upstairs, with a bathroom, kitchen and dining area. She led him to the living room, which was an extension of the dining area. The room was decorated in what could only be described as new age Chic.

There was a painting that must have been Nepal. Tropical plants were spread about everywhere and rose to the ceiling.

“Nice place,” Tony said, as he sat down on a round wicker chair that seemed to scoop him up like a giant hand. She sat on an oriental rug at his feet and crossed her legs.

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Seconds later, he was startled when a six foot black boa con-strictor slithered out from under the sofa and wrapped itself around her arm.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “Tzu won’t hurt you.”

“It’s a girl?”

“No. Tzu. T.Z.U.”

“Short for Lao-tzu,” Tony said. “Author of the Tao Te Ching?”

Her brows rose. “Impressive, Tony.”

What could he say? He had actually studied the philosophy while stationed in Asia.

“Does he make you nervous? I could put him away.”

Tony didn’t want to bring it up to her, but there was something very sensual about a woman and a snake. “No, that’s all right. I just wanted to stop by and see if you might like to come by the condo tonight. I could make some pasta.”

She smiled at him. “This doesn’t have anything to do with your fight with Melanie this morning.”

“What the...how did you find out about that? And no. It was all her. I think she has something seriously wrong with her.”

“She falls for people too easily,” she said. “But in your case I can understand the attraction.”

Tony gazed at her for a moment, not knowing what to say.

“I saw a few of your photos today,” she said. “At the gallery.

Not many people have impressed me with Black and White like you. The lighting is exquisite.”

Now he was embarrassed. This was his first showing of anything he had ever shot, and he was not looking forward to it.

Photography was so personal with him, it was almost like sex.

Something to be savored but not talked about. Which is why he had chosen Bend for his coming out party. He figured he wouldn’t know anyone there. It was easier that way. But now.

Tony simply said, “Thanks.”

They were interrupted by Tony’s cell phone. At first he tried to ignore it, but he thought it was disturbing the snake, so he decided to take the call.

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She smiled and stroked the back of the snake’s head.

When Tony answered the phone, he expected to hear Melanie’s voice, saying she was sorry she tried to crush his balls. But it was Cliff Humphrey. He talked; Tony listened. There was no question that Humphrey was upset. After he finished ranting, he asked to see Tony as soon as possible. He checked his watch. It was just after one p.m. Tony told him to come by the condo at three.

Ending the call with Cliff Humphrey, Tony shoved the phone back into his pocket and glanced about the room. He was hesitat-ing for a reason. Sure he had come to see Dawn because he thought they should do dinner together, but he also had to talk with her about her friend, Barb. And he could sense that she knew something else was up with him. To keep her from having to ask, he decided to go the direct route.

“I’ve gotta talk with you about something,” Tony started. It came out all wrong, sounding like he was about to break up with her, even though the two of them were not even dating.

“I know. It’s about Barb.”

“Jesus. Is there anything you don’t know?”

“I’ll admit I don’t know much about Jesus.” She grinned and then gave her serpent more affection.

“About Barb,” Tony said. “I found out she was murdered, as suspected. But her husband didn’t do it.”

She looked up. “I didn’t think Dan could kill her. But who?”

What must have been going through her mind was probably a series of thoughts. On one hand, it had been a nice little package.

Husband kills wife, then himself. Case solved, no concern for the general public. Now, there was a killer running loose in a quaint little tourist town in Central Oregon. Disturbing indeed. It threw an entirely new twist on one’s safety and level of security. Could it happen to her?

Tony didn’t answer her question because he wasn’t one hundred percent sure about that himself. But he had a feeling, much like Dawn seemed to always have, that the answer to that question would come to him soon. He only had a few more things to
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tie up, and he’d need his computer and a little luck to make that happen.

“I’ve got a few ideas. What I don’t have is proof. You’re sure that Barb was not having an affair beyond the pick-ups she and Dan were involved in?”

“About as sure as one can get,” she said. “I think Barb would have told me, though. She had few secrets from me. She’d tell me size and position of almost each adventure.”

“What about Dan?”

She shook her head. “No way.”

That’s what he thought. “I should probably get going,” Tony said as he got up from the chair and avoided stepping on the boa’s tail.

She unraveled the snake from her arm and set it on the floor and then got up to walk him to the door. “What time tonight?”

She was very close now, and she ran her fingers through the hair on his arm. If he had been insecure about these things, he would have thought she was stroking his arm like she had her snake.

“I’ve got a little work to do. But I want to do dinner early.

Could you make it by six?”

“Sure.”

She gave him another hug and he wrapped his arms around her.

It was the first time he had touched her as he ran his fingers over her back. She was firm and taut, unlike some women he had touched, where the skin seemed to flow with his hands. They separated and he thought about kissing her, but didn’t think the timing was right.

They walked out together, a prolonged departure. She led him to the door and said good-bye, saying she’d see him tonight.

When they had first met, he had this feeling they would get to know each other. A feeling that Dawn Sanders would become one of those lifelong friends. If that was the case, then why was he having such a hard time saying goodbye for just a few hours until they met again? His emotions were all over the place. He needed to get control. Finish the task at hand.

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Tony thought long and hard as he drove back to the condo.

The sun had made a slushy mess of the roads, so he took it easy, not that he was in any great hurry. He had to make a few phone calls, look up a few things on the net, and then piece this whole puzzle together. Then the meeting with Cliff Humphrey, the subject of which he had no clue, followed by dinner with Dawn. At least there was something to look forward to.

Parking the white truck in the garage, Tony let Panzer out of the back and the dog immediately ran back and forth through the parking lot. Then he loped onto the berm where someone had taken a shot at him, lifted his leg and relieved himself on a manzanita bush, and then worked his way back toward Tony.

“You got one helluva nose, Panzer. Come on. Let’s go inside.

I’ve got a Milkbone for ya.”

The schnauzer made a hasty run toward the outside door and waited for Tony.

Once inside, the dog’s nose again worked overtime as the two of them went up the stairs toward the condo. As Tony shoved the key into the door, something strange happened. Something wasn’t right. He could sense it. Sliding the door open a crack, he noticed the room was completely dark. Strange indeed. He always left the drapes open.