As I got in my car, my cell phone buzzed. Looking at the display, I saw it was Cooper. According to the screen, it was the fourth time he had called in the last hour. I had left my phone in the car while in the warehouse and wondered why he so urgently needed to get ahold of me.
I debated whether or not to answer it.
“Hello,” I said cautiously
“Presley! It’s damn time you answered your phone,” Cooper said.
I listened, rolling my eyes. Even though, he couldn’t see my response, it made me feel better.
“Presley!”
“I’m here, I’m here. Keep your shorts on.” Or not, I giggled. A thought of Cooper naked in front of me was a good vision and one that made me feel warm and tingly.
“Where are you and what’s so funny?” Cooper demanded. “King, I’m just concerned.”
I was just about to ask why when I heard him talking to someone in the background. “Cooper, who are you talking to?”
“Just a sec, Pres.”
It sounded like he was covering the phone with his hand to muffle the sound of someone he was with, and I couldn’t understand anything he was saying. But I could tell it was a woman’s voice. It was a girl.
“Okay, I’m back. Presley you need to tell me what you know.”
“Who are you with, Cooper?”
Cooper sighed. “Lisa Simmons.”
“What? You told me not to talk to her. So what are you doing with her?”
“Listen, she just stopped by.”
“I’m going to let you go.”
Cooper sighed and I could tell he was frustrated with me. “Now, answer my questions. Please?”
“I saw Garrison out at the new strip mall, eating Chinese food.”
“And...”
“Not much happened. They ate, they talked. Bobby came out and Garrison Palazzo left. I asked Bobby about it, and he wouldn’t tell me much, but I think he was hiding something.”
“What gave you that impression?”
“He said that he had to help that Palazzo guy because he owed him. He wouldn’t tell me exactly what he was doing for him, but he acted nervously, and I just think there is something going on there. Bobby got in trouble gambling, so who knows what else he is into.”
“Presley, you need to stop asking questions. When you find this stuff out, just come to me and I will handle it.”
“No, Cooper.”
“No. You don’t know what you are doing. Leave this stuff to me. I—”
I snapped my phone shut and quickly turned it off. Now Cooper’s calls would go right to voicemail. I could later claim the battery died. Oops, should have brought my car charger. I threw my phone in my purse and started the car. I was calling it a night. I wanted to go home and stuff myself with some of the chocolate cake I knew my mother made for dinner.
I put my car in drive to pull out of the warehouse and turned left. As I backed out, I noticed a black Lincoln through my rearview mirror.
Was that Simon or Garrison? What was he doing here and who was he with. As they stepped out of the car, I was in for a surprise. The woman was Helen! Of all people.
What the hell was going on? Helen had just told me she was afraid of Simon, and here she was in a car with him. This was getting weirder by the second. Thank God I was in the corner of the lot and there was a dumpster between us. Even so if they really looked they would see me, dark or not.
I was afraid to start the car. They would definitely hear it. It appeared they were arguing. I wished I could hear what they were saying and really wanted to know what Simon and Helen could possibly be discussing. Finally, almost an hour and a half later they left. I let another fifteen minutes go by before starting my car and pulling out. Cooper had called six more times and I’m sure he was furious.
Right now I wanted cake and bed. Detective work was exhausting.