Twelve
The horn from a silver pickup blasted outside the Moratelli’s house.
Sandy stretched up and kissed her husband as he pulled her up to him. “They can wait a few seconds.”
Tom looked out the screen door at the pickup with four men in the back of it waiting for him. “It might be late when I get home this evening.”
“I know.”
Tom kissed her then picked up the model 70, scoped Winchester rifle from beside the door. He kissed her again. “You’re still as hot as you’ve ever been.”
Sandy caught him before he walked out the door and kissed him. “Be careful.”
Tom looked out the door at the pickup as Colton laid on the horn. “I will. I have to go, they’re waiting. You’re sure you don’t have to work?”
“I’m not scheduled.”
“If they call you in, let me know, and drive the Buick. I don’t want you walking until we get that ass. Keep the door locked.”
Sandy nodded. “I will.”
Tom kissed her then hurried out the screen door.
Sandy watched as Tom walked out to the pickup and got in the front seat. She felt the necklace around her neck, continuing to watch as the pickup disappeared down the road. Locking the screen door, she closed the inside door and locked it.
* * * *
Colton glanced over at Tom as he drove down the desert road. “You look tired.”
Tom ignored him as he sat the butt of the rifle on the floor next to his foot. “You have a good area picked out?”
“I think so. I’ve been thinking about it. I have a real good area picked out.” Colton glanced over at Tom. “She’s kind of got you hen pecked doesn’t she?”
“What?”
“Sandy, telling you what to do all the time. She tell ya when to be back too?”
“She doesn’t tell me what to do. Sandy isn’t like that.” Tom shifted in the seat so he could see Colton better. “She told me you made a rude remark to her the other day in front of everyone.”
Colton shrugged. “I didn’t make any rude comment to her.”
“You said something about her having large breasts in front of everyone in the café. That’s being rude, Colton.”
Colton smirked. “If she doesn’t like it, she ought to cover up more.”
“She covers up all the time. You need to learn to keep your thoughts to yourself and your mouth shut.”
Colton shook his head. “It’s my restaurant,” he said keeping his eyes on the road. “Say any damn thing I want.”
“She’s my wife. I wanted her treated with respect.”
“You threatenin’ me, Tom?”
“You can look at it anyway you want. I’m tellin’ ya, leave her alone.”
Colton frowned. “You gonna let some damn woman come between our friendship?”
“Sandy isn’t some damn woman, she’s my wife! The only one driving any wedges is you.”
Colton shrugged as he turned off the main road. “I don’t see any reason for her to be making an issue out of it.”
“She isn’t! I am.”
Colton swallowed and shrugged. “So how’s the search for the Handling girl going?”
“You talked to that Mexican stripper Herendez, before she disappeared didn’t you?”
“I only talked to her once, when she came into the café lookin’ for a job.”
“Sure about that?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
“When was she going to start working for you?”
“She was supposed to start the next day, but she never showed up.”
“I was looking over a report that Glen wrote up. The girl she roomed with said she saw you with Herendez the afternoon before she disappeared.”
Colton shook his head. “She must be mistaken, it wasn’t me. I didn’t see her.”
“How could she be mistaken? Everyone around here knows you.”
“I might have stopped on the road to remind her what time to be at work, but I didn’t get into any lengthy conversation with her.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that you talked to her when you found out she’d disappeared?”
“I didn’t know I was a suspect in this, Tom.” Colton turned the truck up into a wooded road and stopped.
“I didn’t say you were. I just asked you a question.”
Colton opened the door and got out of the truck slamming the door closed.
“You sure this is the best place?” Russ asked, getting out of the back of the pickup as Tom got out of the front.
Colton nodded, “Good enough.” He watched the men in back of the pickup climbed out. “I think if we start near that ridge and work our way up into the mountainside we’ll have pretty good luck.” He looked at Tom across the bed of the truck. “You want the outside, inside or in the middle?”
Tom looked at Garrett Handling, a tall, heavier set man with thin, cream color hair and a large bushy mustache. “You want the shot Garrett, you can take the outside, I’ll take the middle.”
“That’ll work,” Garrett said. He looked at Tom as if he wanted to ask him about Lucy, but turned and started walking to the edge of the woods.
Tory walked up to Tom. “It’s hard isn’t it? Not knowing what to say to him when you can’t find his daughter.”
Tom swung his rifle up over his shoulder as he looked at the trees. “Where do you want?”
“I’ll take the side next to Hornbaker.” Tory shook his head and smiled. “You must have said something to piss him off?”
“No, he said something to piss me off, why?”
“He seemed a little on edge when he got out of the truck.”
Tom watched Tory as he walked up to the tree line.
Colton looked at Tory. “Why don’t you bring up the rear?”
Tory shook his head, “I ain’t followin’ you anywhere, Hornbaker.”
“Isn’t that what trackers do, follow?”
“You ought a know.”
* * * *
Glen glanced up at the picture of Lucy Handling on the wall, as he looked through the missing persons reports. Noting the dates, he jotted them down on a piece of scratch paper. “Every two week,” he said. “They’ve been disappearing every two weeks, they’re all in their twenties and all of them but Handling worked at The Club.” Glen looked toward the door as he heard it open. “Kelly! I thought you were working?”
“I am. But it’s kind of dead this afternoon.” Kelly sat a foam covered container on his desk. “I thought I’d bring you something for lunch, since you said you can’t make it in.” She sat beside his desk. “What are you working on?”
“A theory I have.”
Kelly nodded, “What kind of theory?”
“I rather not say right now.”
Kelly looked at the reports on his desk. “What’s those?”
“Missing person’s reports.” Glen tapped the pile of papers with his finger. “These go back a little over three months. There’s a girl missing every two weeks exactly.”
Kelly shrugged. “Evidently it isn’t bothering Tom, so why’s it bothering you?”
“Tom doesn’t care much for the strippers here in town.”
“And you do?”
“They’re young women, Kelly. Whoever’s killing them doesn’t have the right just because of what they do for a living. They’re working just as hard as anyone else in this town trying to make it. And the Zingg’s don’t care how they make it, as long as they bring the men in to drink, and make them lots of money on over priced drinks.”
Kelly swallowed, nodding as she looked at him. “So, who’s been reporting them, or do you know?”
“Nicole Zingg mostly.” Glen opened the foam container. “It looks good. I appreciate it.” He took a spoon from his desk drawer. “According to Marla the girls are lured out here by deceit.” He took a bite of what he thought was chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes. “This is
n’t chicken. What is it?”
Kelly shrugged, “I don’t know. Who’s Marla?”
“Marla Brewer. She’s one of Zingg’s girls.”
Kelly frowned. “You know her on a first name basis. How do you know her?”
Glen looked at her. “She came in and filed a missing person’s report on her roommate a couple of weeks ago.”
Kelly nodded. “I guess girls disappearing, isn’t very good for business. But then again, I wouldn’t think a police car sitting in front of the place all the time is either.”
Glen swallowed. “What do you mean?”
“Someone came into the café. He said he’s been seeing your car parked in front of that place every day. Every day, Glen! Why have you been there every day?”
Glen put down the spoon. “I’ve been out there asking questions, trying to get information on the girls we found out in the desert.”
“How many days does it take to ask a few questions?”
“Kelly, I’ve only been there a few times. I’ve had to try and get information on eleven different girls. You think I can get that in a couple of hours?”
Kelly stood. “I don’t think Denise Keegan was roommate with all of them.”
“Kelly!”
“Don’t you Kelly me! I want to know why you’ve been going out there!”
“I told you. I’ve been gathering information!” Glen looked at the clock. “Is Sandy working this evening?”
“You know she isn’t! Don’t change the subject!”
“I’m not.”
“Yes you are!” Kelly looked at the door as a tall, slender man wearing a state patrol uniform entered.
“Sounds like I caught you in the middle of something,” the trooper said as he looked around. “Sheriff Moratelli working today?”
“He’s off today,” Glen said, as he closed the container. “Something I can help you with?”
“Tom called me the other day. I was out this way, so I stopped by to talk to him.” He looked at Kelly wearing the waitress apron. “Sandy working today?”
“She’s off this weekend.”
“Oh yeah, this is her birthday.” The trooper looked at Glen. “You have any luck finding Garrett Handling’s daughter?”
“No, we haven’t.”
“Tom said you found her pickup and a couple of graves, I guess she wasn’t in one of them?”
“No, she wasn’t.”
The trooper nodded. He looked at Kelly than Glen. “Moratelli gets back, you tell him Mac Coppola stopped by. I’ll see him in a day or so.” The trooper turned and walked out the door.
Glen looked at Kelly. “You want me to give you ride back to the café?”
“I’ll walk,” she snapped, walking to the door. “It isn’t that far.”
“I’ll pick you up after work this evening,” Glen called out after her. He gave Kelly time to get away from the office, then picking up the container he walked out the door. Looking around he saw a dog sitting by the building and sat the container on the sidewalk. “Maybe you’ll like it.”
* * * *
Driving to the edge of town, Glen pulled around behind the old hotel and parked so that no one could see his car. He walked over to Frank and Nicole Zingg’s house. As he started to knock, a short man with a bald head opened it.
“Help you deputy?”
“Frank,” Glen greeted. “I need to talk to Nicole.”
“What about?” Frank asked, blocking the doorway.
“Let him in! I want to see him!” A woman yelled from inside.
Frank Zingg stepped aside and Glen entered the house.
Looking around, Glen noticed several religious pictures hanging on the walls. It wasn’t what he expected from someone who owned a strip club. He looked across the room where a woman with long, platinum blonde hair sat at a dining table with a glass of wine in front of her. “I didn’t know you went to church.”
“Most people don’t. But then, we don’t attend any church around here. We go to Santa Rosa to the Presbyterian Church,” she said. “I’m Nicole. I don’t believe we’ve met.” She pulled out a chair for him beside her at the table. “Come on over here, honey.”
Glen glanced back to see where Frank was as he walked to the table. He noticed a picture hanging on the wall of a tall, nude, blonde, hanging on a dance pole.
“That was me, a few years ago. Okay, several years ago.” Nicole said, smiling. “I looked pretty good, huh?”
“Yeah,” Glen replied. He sat on the chair. “Thanks.”
“I hear you like Denise?”
Glen nodded, “She’s is a nice gal.”
Nicole smiled, moving her glass over to the side. “She is. And she’s a good bartender. Men buy a lot of drinks trying to get close to her.”
“I didn’t come here to talk about Denise.”
“I know you didn’t honey. Marla told us you found Chila and Karen. Have you found any more my girls that I reported missing?”
Glen shook his head, “Not yet. I contacted Chila Herendez’s family this morning.” He looked at Frank, who was standing by the door watching him. “They’re going to Santa Rosa to take her home for burial.”
“That’s nice,” Nicole replied. “She was a nice girl. She deserves to be buried with family.”
“Nicole, I want to ask you about the other girls that have disappeared.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Did you notice who any of them were talking to the night they disappeared?”
Nicole took a drink and shook her head. “Our girls are friendly to all the customers. That’s how they make their tips. I know everyone that comes in, none of them are strangers. They all live right around here, or within forty miles, anyway.”
“Did you notice if they disappeared early in the evening or after work?”
“They show up for work one evening and their gone the next day! I have no idea who they’ve been with when they’ve disappeared. I just know they’re gone.”
“You don’t know if they were picked up at The Club or out on the street?”
“No honey,” Nicole shook her head. “I really don’t. The girls can tell you better than me. What’d Denise say about Karen?”
“She doesn’t know. Denise said she didn’t notice Karen talking to anyone in particular that evening. When she got home around two in the morning, Karen wasn’t there, but that wasn’t anything unusual.”
Frank cleared his voice. “They were working on her own, you know. We don’t know what they do after they leave The Club.”
Glen looked at him. “Is that what you call it? Working on their own? You provide rooms for them to work on their own.”
Nicole frowned. “We don’t advocate prostitution. If they do that, it’s on their own. I pay them for dancing. They bring the customers in and we make money on food and drinks.”
“Mitch Ihnen,” Frank said. “He’s probably the one you need to be looking at. He’s all over the girls. I’ve thrown him out on several occasions. The man can’t hold his liquor. He drinks too much and causes problems.”
“Have you ever seen him pick any of them up after work?”
Frank shook his head. “After they walk out the door, I don’t know what they do. But it doesn’t mean he didn’t get a hold of them.”
“Do you have any kind of cameras in your place?”
Nicole sat her glass of wine on the table in front of her. “Cameras! Are you kidding? Oh honey! You can’t have those kinds of things in a club or you won’t have anyone coming through the door.”
“Actually, they have cameras these days that are so small no one knows they’re around. It might not hurt.”
“Well, we don’t have any.”
Glen stood. “I appreciate your help. Sorry I bothered you.”
Nicole smiled. “You didn’t bother us, honey. I’m glad you came around to ask. That’s more than what Sheriff Mor
atelli’s done. I’m just sorry we couldn’t help you more. You can talk to any of our girls, we don’t care.”
“I’ve talked with all of them. But, they didn’t see anything and they haven’t seen anything or anyone who acts suspicious.”
Nicole nodded. “I know. This guy’s bad for business and he’s scaring the hell out of my girls.”
“They need to be scared.”
Walking across to the hotel, Glen knocked on a door.
Denise opened the door and smiled at him. “How are you?”
“I really need you, Denise.”
Thirteen
Tom looked down the line of men between him and Colton. Looking the other way he could see Garrett Handling making his way up the rough mountain side. He shook his head. What could he say to the man? He’d exhausted every lead he had to find his daughter, not that there were many, and he’d talked to everyone in town and the surrounding area. Lucy Handling was gone. She’d literally vanished into thin air without a clue.
A large Mule doe lying in among the limbs of a downed tree jumped up in front of him. Pulling up his rifle, Tom took aim. He looked at the doe and swallowed, deciding to let her go. As she took off to his right, he heard Garrett Handling’s rifle crack.
“Did ya get it?” Tory yelled.
“No, she got away!” Garrett answered. “She was a muley anyway. I’d rather have an elk, and she was too small. I’ll get the next one!”
* * * *
Glen parked in front of Colton’s Place.
“Well, well, well, look what the cat drug in,” Mildred commented as Glen walked through the door. “Long time no see stranger.”
“I’ve been busy. Kind of looks dead around here,” Glen stated looking at the empty tables.
“Big rush of opening day’s over,” Mildred replied. “A few of the locals get out of the field and the first thing they think about is an empty stomach, but most of them are expected home for supper.”
“Mildred what are you doing still here?” Katie asked coming out of the back storage room with her arms full of paper towels. “You’re supposed to be going to see your son this afternoon!”
“I am. I just haven’t got out the door yet, but I’m on my way.”
“What can I get for you, Glen?” Mildred asked as Kelly came out of the kitchen carrying a pitcher of tea.
“A piece of pie and coffee sounds good,” Glen answered, watching Kelly as she put the pitcher in the refrigerator. “That dinner wasn’t as good as it looked.”
“So I heard,” Mildred said. “Apple or cherry?”
“Apple sounds good.”
“You want anything on it?” Katie asked, as she put down the paper towels.