Vegas or Bust: An Aggie Underhill Mystery (15 page)

Her heart thudded in her ears, and her breath caught in her throat, as she stood just outside the window.  Carefully, she stepped into the empty dirt flowerbed trying to put more pressure on the toes of her sandals so that her high heels wouldn’t sink in the soil.  She leaned forward until her nose was inches from the dusty glass.  Peeking through the small gap in the curtains, she could see a small television set on a dresser.  Aggie tilted her head at an angle and tried to see if she could see from another direction, but couldn’t.  The way the curtains were hung, blocked her view of anything significant.   

Aggie took a step back from the window.  She figured she’d seen all that she could and she should leave before she got caught.  She was just about to return to the safety of her car when she heard the low rumble of a man’s voice coming from the motel room.  She couldn’t make out what he was saying, but his voice was pretty loud.  Then she heard another man’s voice responding to what had been said. 

Aggie wondered if she could understand what they were saying if she went back to the window.  Quietly stepping back into the flowerbed, she strained to make out what they were saying.  They were laughing.  She wondered what they were laughing about. 

Practically pressing her ear against the grimy window, she was able to make out a few words.  “
Money.”
  She thought she heard the word money. 
“Stupid woman.”
  That word she heard clear as day.  The man with the deep voice had said
“stupid woman.”
  She wondered if he was talking about Miriam.  She figured it had to be about Miriam since they didn’t know Aggie was the one that wired them the money.  If only she could hear better.  She cupped her hands to the window to try and amplify their voices.  She still had her phone in her hand and the jeweled clip on case accidentally clinked against the glass.  Holding her breath, she waited a second, hoping the men didn’t hear it.  When the men continued to talk, she knew she was okay and let out her breath.  

Just then, loud music broke the silence startling her and causing her to jump.  It took her a moment to realize what was happening.  The music was coming from her phone that was pressed against the window, and even worse than that, it was leaping about vibrating the glass.  Wanting to silence the booming noise, Aggie touched the screen accidentally putting the phone on speaker while she stumbled over her feet trying to get out of the flowerbed.

“How do I turn this blasted thing off?” she muttered, pushing different buttons on the phone.

“Mum?  Mum, are you there?”  Sarah’s voice came from the speaker.  “Can you hear me?  Mum?”

Aggie looked up at the window to see a big burly bald man staring out the window at her.  The man looked oddly familiar to her.  She tried to place where it was she’d seen him before.

“Um…not now Sarah…”  Aggie said, walking briskly toward her car.  “I’ve got to go.”

“But Mum, why did you send…”   

“Hey!” a short, stout man stepped out of the shadows.  “What you think you’re doing?” 

“Oh, uh, nothing,” Aggie answered. 

“It didn’t look like
nothin’!” he barked.

“Mum?” Sarah asked.  “Are you in trouble?  I hear a man’s voice.  Are you okay?  Is that why you sent me…”

“Sarah, I’ve got to go,” Aggie said, fumbling with her phone while trying to turn the speaker off.  “I’ll explain to you and Tom later.”

“Tom?  Mum…” 

Aggie pushed several icons on her screen trying to hang up.  She was so frazzled that her brain wasn’t working.  She then glanced over at her car.  She wanted to make a run for it, but the man was standing between her and her Mercedes.  She wondered if she’d be fast enough.  The guy looked out of shape.  She might be able to dodge him, jump into her car, and lock the doors.  Who was she kidding?  She was probably more out of shape than he was.  Plus she was handicapped by the darn silver strappy heels she stupidly forgot to change out of after dinner.  Her feet ached something fierce and she could feel a blister forming on the pinky toe of her right foot.

“Well?” the man asked.  “Cat got your tongue or what?”

“It…It’s my husband, you see…” she said, carefully walking toward him.  “He’s cheating on me.”

The man narrowed his eyes as she grew closer.  She might just be able to play this off long enough to get to her car.

“Why were you lookin’ in the window?”

“I was trying to catch him.  I wanted proof.  I wanted to catch him with
that
bimbo.  I, uh, I made a mistake.  I got the wrong room.”

Just then a tall, young, skinny guy wearing a baseball cap joined the short guy.  “Is that her?  Is she the one spying on us?”

“Shut up, Mikey!” the short guy barked.  “She says she was lookin’ for her husband.”

“In our window?” Mikey asked.  “That’s kind of a coincidence, don’t
ya think, Stanley?”

“I
said
shut up!”

Great,
Aggie thought.  Now the odds were really against her, two against one.  She needed to convince both of them that she really was trying to catch her husband cheating.  She looked back at the window and could see the burly man still watching her.  She wondered how long it would take before he came out and joined them.

“I’m sorry.  I could’ve sworn…” Aggie said.  She forced a few fake sniffles.  She wished she was one of those people who could cry on demand.  “I know…I know he’s in there with
that
woman!”

Just then a loud banging made her jump.  Aggie looked over her shoulder to see the burly bald man banging his fist against the window to attract their attention.  He was now motioning to the two men to bring her in.

“Come with us, lady,” Stanley said.  “We need to talk.” 

“Wh
..why?” Aggie asked.  “Does he know where my husband is?”

“Knock off the act!” Mikey said.  “You’re only
gonna make the boss more mad.  Let’s go!”

“Wh
..what act?” Aggie forced herself to raise her voice.  “Is
this
what I get? 
I
get in trouble for my husband’s infidelity?  What are you going to do?  Call the police on me?  Go for it!  I dare you!”

“Police?” Mike asked.  “We don’t
wanna call the police.”

“Here,” Aggie said, holding her phone up for them to see as she dialed and pushed send.  “I’ll just dial 911.  I’ll turn myself in for being a peeping Tom!”

“Put the phone down, lady,” Stanley said calmly.  “We don’t wanna to have a problem.”

“What?” Aggie asked.  “I’m doing you a favor, aren’t I?”

The burly man flew out of the door at the far side of the building and joined the other two men.  “What’s the hold up?  I thought I told you to bring this woman inside?”

“She’s threatening to call the cops,”
Stanley said.

“Hang it up!” the burly man ordered.

“I’m turning myself in,” Aggie said.  “I’m going to tell them I’m looking for my cheating husband and got the wrong motel room.”

“Now!” the burly man hollered, whipping out a gun and aiming it at her.

Aggie fumbled with the phone and finally shut it off hanging it up.  She prayed that the call went through to the 911 dispatchers before she powered off.  Hopefully they’d be able to trace it. 

“See, it’s off!” she said, holding the phone up.  She waited for the kidnappers to decide what to do with her.  They began to argue.

“Bring her inside while we make up our minds,” the burly guy nodded to Mikey.  “What are you waiting for?  And take that phone away from her!  You should’ve done that in the first place.  Moron!”

“Joe, I think you’re
makin’ a mistake,” Stanley said.  “She was just lookin’ for her cheating husband.”

The burly man sneered at Aggie and that’s when she got a good look at him.  She recognized the deep purple scar that cut across his face.  “A man’s business is his own.  His wife should abide by that!”

Not sure as to what she should do next, Aggie let Mikey steer her toward the side door to the motel.  The other two men argued behind her as they walked down the dark dingy hall. 

“Is that her Mercedes?” Joe asked. 

“I think so,” Stanley answered.

“It’s an expensive model.  I think we may have another gold mine,” the burly man laughed.  “What do
ya wanna bet her husband will pay a fortune to get her back even if he is a cheater?  That means he’ll have an extra guilty conscience.  Just think of the loot we’ll rake in.  I think we should move out of the loan shark business and into kidnapping.”

“Maybe we can do both,”
Stanley laughed.  “You know, branch out a bit.”

How’d I get myself into such a mess?
Aggie wondered.  She prayed that Sarah got the hint and contacted Officer Tom Wood or that the 911 phone call went through.  Either one would suffice. 

“Stop where you are!” a man’s voice ordered from behind them. 

The men stopped. 

Aggie took a chance and glanced over her shoulder.  Relieved, she almost collapsed, her knees suddenly felt weak.  Two uniformed cops were standing in the hallway with their guns drawn.  To Aggie’s relief, the burly man put his hands up in the air and let one of the police officer’s relieve him of his gun.

“Thank, God,” Aggie sighed, tears clouded her vision. 

Thursday, November 24th

Chapter 15

“Mum,” Sarah said.  “This stuffing is amazing!  It’s hard to believe you made it out of gluten free waffles.”

“Yup,” Anita said, butting in.  “I helped her.  I toasted all the waffles and cut them up into little cubes.  It’s very time consuming making bread crumbs.”

“Yes,” Aggie groaned.  “Anita helped.”  This week had been one of the longest weeks of her life.  Not only was Anita at Sarah and
Everette’s for the Thanksgiving holiday, she rode home from Las Vegas with them.  And for two nights before heading to Sarah’s house, Anita had slept on Aggie’s sofa in the living room.  Then when Aggie finally felt she couldn’t take anymore, she’d been trapped in the kitchen with Anita and her other houseguests from hell, Linda and Jill.

“I helped, too,” boasted Linda.  “Aggie showed me how to make the Jell-O Salad.  Right Aggie?”

“Yes, dear,” Aggie said.  “You did a fantastic job of it.”

Anita was staring daggers at Linda for trying to steal her thunder by bringing up her helping to make the Jell-O Salad right after the stuffing had been mentioned.  “Las Vegas was so exciting!” Anita bragged.  “Wasn’t it, Aggie?  Too bad you weren’t there, Linda.”  She didn’t take her eyes off of her.  She watched as Linda scooped mashed potatoes onto her plate.  “We were
all
invited because we met on a cruise.” 

“I see,” Linda said.  “Was the wedding nice?”

“Well, there was a little hiccup,” Anita said.  “And the wedding had to be postponed.  But it all worked out and the couple ended up eloping.   It was so sweet!  You should’ve seen the look on Miriam’s face when Jack gave her and his mother matching bracelets.  Then he got down on one knee in front of everyone and told Miriam that he wanted them to run off to one of the chapels alone.  It was so romantic!”

“And his mother wasn’t invited?” Linda asked, appalled.  “That’s awful!”

“None of us were,” Anita stated.  

“His poor mother,” Linda said.

“That’s what I said.  Oh, Aggie,” Anita said.  “I almost forgot to tell you.  I was thinking of people from
the cruise
and it almost slipped my mind…” she giggled, proud of herself for getting to mention the cruise again in front of Linda.  “Bianca wanted me to tell you to call her sometime.”  She turned her attention back to Linda and added, “Bianca is one of Aggie’s
new
friends.  Oh, which reminds me, I made a new friend named Paula.”

“Yes,” Aggie said.  “That’s right.”

“Oh, she was such a sweet woman,” Betty said.  “I really liked her.  She didn’t hook up with Harold, did she?  She’s much too pretty for him.”

“No,” Anita said, shaking her head.  “That didn’t work out, but she and I are going to stay in contact.”

“Maybe you can hook Linda up with Harold?” Roger suggested, smiling slyly.  “I think they’d get along famously!”

“Who’s Harold?” Linda asked.  “What kind of work does he do?”

“You wouldn’t be interested,” Aggie said quickly.

“Why not?” Linda asked, sharply.  “You don’t think he’s my type?”

“I think they’d be perfect for each other,” Roger chuckled. 

“Thank you, Roger.  So, why didn’t this Paula woman want him?” Linda asked.  “What’s wrong with him?” 

“She was too pretty for him,” Anita said. 

“And too nice,” Betty chimed in.

“Come to think of it, maybe I
will
get his information for you,” Anita decided.  “You’re on
My Corner
, right?”

Linda’s mouth dropped open to say something, but nothing came out.  She wasn’t sure if she’d just been insulted or not.

Aggie looked over at Sarah who was frowning while pulling apart a buttered roll.  Aggie felt she’d better intervene to keep Anita and Linda from going at each other’s throats during Sarah’s beautiful Thanksgiving dinner.  She didn’t want them to ruin it.  It was the least she could do since she’d stuck her daughter with her unbearable houseguests for almost an entire week.  Sarah’s hormones were running rampant with her pregnancy and Aggie didn’t want her daughter to lose her cool and flip over the table or something.  Not that Sarah generally loses her cool.  Well, not until this pregnancy anyway. 

“So,” Aggie said, smiling at everyone at the table trying to think of something nice to say.  “I’m so thankful that we could all be together for this wonderful dinner.  Sarah everything is beautiful!”

“Thanks, Mum,” Sarah said.  “I’m thankful that everyone could be here, too.”  She was sitting at one end of the table and her husband Everette was sitting at the other end.  Aggie was sitting to Sarah’s right and so were both Betty and Anita.  Linda, Roger and Shawn sat across from them.  Since there wasn’t enough room at the table for everyone, Jill and her new boyfriend, offered to sit in the living room with TV trays in front of the television.  Aggie looked over and could see them making out on the couch.

“Why can’t I sit by the TV?” Shawn complained.  “I hate sitting at the table!”

“You’re not allowed to eat in there,” Everette stated. 

“But I
wanna watch cartoons!” he cried.  “It’s not fair!  They get to sit in there.”

“They’re adults and they’re watching football.”

“They’re not even watching.  All they’re doing is wrestling!” Shawn whined.

“Eat your dinner and maybe you can have dessert by the TV,” Sarah quickly suggested, trying to distract Shawn from watching Jill and her boyfriend.  “It’ll be a special treat because it’s Thanksgiving.”

Shawn crossed his arms over his chest and pouted.  “Hmph!  I don’t
like
turkey.  I only
like
mashed potatoes.”

Sarah threw him a warning look across the table. 

“Eat!” Everette said sternly.

“I came up with the perfect name for Sarah’s baby,” Linda said, clapping her hands.  “Penelope.”

“Sarah’s letting
you
name the baby?” Anita gasped.  

“We haven’t decided on a name yet,” Sarah stated.  “Right, Everette?”

“Huh?” he asked, staring again at the football game.  “What?”

“So…” Aggie said, again looking to steer the conversation away from destruction.  “How’s everyone?”

“Anita’s glowing,” Roger said, helping himself to some green beans.  “Haven’t you noticed?”

“What?” Anita asked.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, pullleeaze,” Roger said, with a nonchalant wave of his hand.  “Just because you’ve been quiet about it doesn’t mean that we can’t tell.  You’re radiant!”

Betty shot Roger a look.  Aggie’s mouth dropped open.  She knew exactly what Roger was doing. 

“What?” Linda asked.  “Why is she glowing?  What does that mean?  I don’t understand.  Did she meet a new man?  Oh….Anita, you sly old dog!  You’re married, aren’t you?”

“I’m
not
old!” Anita snapped.  “And for your information my skin glows because I take good care of myself.  I drink plenty of water.”  She eyed the glass of red wine Linda was holding.  “And I don’t flood my body with toxins like some people do.”

“That’s
not
what I’m talking about,” Roger prodded.  “According to Betty, you never came back to your room the last couple nights we were in Vegas.”

“Oh!” Linda gasped.  “You
did
meet a man!”

“Roger!” Betty gasped with embarrassment. 

Anita’s cheeks flushed.  “I was out late with friends.  That’s all.” 

“Was this friend, George, by any chance?”  Roger winked at her.

Anita’s cheeks were burning.

“Who’s George?” Linda asked, noticing Anita’s discomfort.  “Is he the new man?”

“A friend!” Anita snapped.  “And for your information, Betty was asleep when I came back to the room.”

“Oh, really?” Roger smiled, loving every second of Anita’s discomfort.  “So you were out late both nights and woke up early before Betty and made your bed?”

“Yes.  That’s right.”  Anita cleared her throat and quickly changed the subject.  “Aggie,” she said.  “How’s Officer Wood?”

“Oh, um, Tom’s fine,” Aggie said, not feeling like talking about it.

“I’m surprised that he’s not here with us?   I mean, after that heated discussion you two had, I figured that you’d have made up by now.”

“Tom?” Linda asked, shifting her interest to Aggie.  “Who’s Tom?”

“Officer Tom Wood is Aggie’s boyfriend,” Anita stated.

“Aggie has a boyfriend?”

“Don’t sound so surprised!” Aggie snapped at Linda.  “Men find me attractive!”

“From the sounds of it, he’s not her boyfriend anymore,” Anita said, tilting her head to the side.  She
tsk, tsk, tsked.

Aggie was ready to throttle her.  She wanted to jump up and say he wasn’t her boyfriend to begin with, but then she’d have to admit to Anita she’d only pretended he was her boyfriend in the past.  And then both Anita and Linda would give her a sad kind of look.  She hated the pitying look.  She glanced over at Sarah whose eyes were about to pop out of her head and then she looked over at Roger who was staring at his food and wrinkling his nose.  Everette was ignoring everyone while staring at the football game on the television in the other room.

“Tom had to work,” Aggie finally said.  She remembered how upset he was at her for following the kidnappers.  She was so thankful to him for making sure the police got to her in time, but he didn’t want to hear her excuse for following them and it broke her heart.  That night, when Sarah had called her cell phone while she was peeking in the kidnappers’ motel window, it was because Aggie had accidentally texted her the photograph of the license plate number.  Sarah didn’t understand why her mother would wake her up by sending her that photo causing her cell phone to ring in the middle of the night.  Worried about her mother’s safety, she’d decided to call to check on her.

When Aggie had accidentally put Sarah on speaker phone; and Sarah had heard the voice of an angry man, and then Aggie had mentioned Tom’s name, she knew her mother was in trouble. 
Once disconnected, Sarah immediately called Tom and texted him the photo.  Tom had already been awakened by Betty.  She had called and woke him up when she learned that Aggie had taken off in her car after the kidnappers.  Right away, Tom began making phone calls to the Las Vegas police and pulled a few strings.  Because of the angle of the photo that Aggie took of the license plate, a partial name of the motel was in view on the sign.  The police recognized the sign with the burnt out
‘m’
and knew exactly where the motel was located.  Per Tom’s persistence, and the fact that they’d received a 911 call moments before from Aggie’s phone number that Tom gave them, they sent out a couple of guys to check it out.

“That’s too bad,” Anita said, clucking her tongue.  “It seems as if he always has to work.”

Aggie balled her hands up into tight fists and clenched her jaw.  She was having a hard time keeping her cool.  Betty placed a calming hand on her shoulder. 

“Tom has always been such a good boyfriend,” Betty said, smiling, coming to her friend’s aid.  “It’s a shame none of you have experienced a relationship as loving as theirs.  They don’t need to be together all the time to show it.  Aggie’s so lucky!”

“Thank you, Betty,” Aggie whispered.

“My husband Albert and I have that sort of relationship!” Anita beamed.  “What about you, Linda?”

“I’m in-between husbands,” she said.  “I’m not in a relationship right now.” 

Anita shook her head.  “That’s a pity.  It looks like your daughter’s in one though,” she said, smirking. 

Linda rolled her eyes.  Jill and her new boyfriend were still glued together at the lips in front of the TV.  “That’s coming to an end soon.”

“Really?” Anita asked.  “Looks like it’s just beginning to me.  Pretty hot and steamy.”

“We’re flying back to London.  I’ve come to the realization that Jill has a better chance of finding a suitor back home than here in California.  They’re all kinds of freaks about.  It’s not a good environment for her.  We’re leaving Monday.”

“I’m leaving Monday, too!” Anita said.  “Maybe we can share a cab to the airport?  Are you flying out of San Diego or Orange County?”

Aggie grinned.  She wished they were both leaving tomorrow morning, but Monday would work just fine.  As long as they were leaving and not planning to stay with her, she was happy.  Who was she to complain?  This was the best Thanksgiving news she could’ve ever wished for.  “Who’s ready for some pie?”

“I am!” Shawn shouted with glee as he flung his turkey under the table to his dog, a Springer Spaniel named Freckles.  “This is the best Thanksgiving ever!”

Aggie agreed.  There was only one thing that could make it better.  Just then music poured from her phone and it began to dance about in her pocketbook on the kitchen counter.  Aggie hopped up from the table and raced to the kitchen.  After a moment or two of searching the depths of her giant purse, Aggie found it.  Just when she thought her life couldn’t get any better, the screen flashed a photo of a handsome face.  It was Officer Tom Wood.  Aggie smiled.