A.L. Jambor - Where's Audrey? (11 page)

Lisa went to her and hugged her. “It will all work out.”

“Yeah, I know.”

After Sandy left, Lisa grabbed a towel. “Hurry up and change.”

Mel went to the bathroom and put on her suit.

“Do you have an extra towel?” she asked.

“In the closet in the bathroom.”

She found one and went to the living room. Lisa was looking at her phone.

“Do you have another pair of flip-flops?” Mel asked.

“In the bedroom. Hurry up.”

Mel ran to the bedroom and put on the pair of flip-flops near the closet. She also grabbed a bottle of sunblock off the dresser. When she went back to Lisa, they left the condo and walked to the beach. Mel forgot to take her phone.

The Cassidy Water Company was located in north Clearwater. Conner parked in the main parking lot and went to the front entrance. The receptionist smiled when he walked inside. He was in uniform.

“Hi,” he said. “I need to talk to someone from human resources.”

“That would be Jolene,” the woman said. “I’ll see if she’s available.”

Jolene came through a door adjacent to the receptionist and smiled.

“How can I help you, Officer?”

“I need to check the work schedule of one of your employees.”

“Come on back,” she said, and Conner followed her. She took him to her office. She sat behind the desk while he sat in a seat in front of it. “What’s the employee’s name?”

“Jason Frye. I don’t know if he’s still working here.”

“I remember Jason. Blue eyes. He liked to flirt.” She typed something into the computer. “He left us in September.”

“Why?”

“He quit. He didn’t give a reason.”

“What was the date?”

“September 15. He worked out the week.”

“Did you ever talk to him?”

“What do you mean?”

“Other than about work.”

“No. He didn’t talk to me about his personal life.”

“Was he friends with anyone?”

“Why do you want to know?” she asked.

“I’m investigating him.”

Jolene sat back in her chair. “I think he was dating one of the women who work in the warehouse. Susan. Susan Blaine.”

“Is she working today?”

“Yes. The warehouse works Monday through Friday.”

“Can I go back there?”

“I can call her to come here.” Jolene got on the phone and spoke to someone in the warehouse. “Thanks,” she said. She looked at Conner. “She’s coming. The office next door is empty if you want privacy.”

“Thanks,” Conner said.

Ten minutes later, a young woman with long brown hair tied back in a ponytail appeared at Jolene’s door.

“Susan, this is Officer…I’m sorry. I didn’t catch your name.”

“Deputy O’Keefe,” Conner said.

“The deputy would like to speak to you about Jason Frye.”

Susan’s face hardened. “I don’t know what I can tell you.”

“Take the deputy to the office next door,” Jolene said.

Susan led Conner to the empty office and he shut the door.

“Jason is under investigation.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” she said. “He has shit for brains.”

“How well do you know him?” Conner asked.

“We went out for like six months. He was all right.”

“He was all right?”

“He was a nice guy, but he liked to scam people. He tried it with me. That’s when I dumped him.”

Conner wasn’t convinced Susan had dumped Jason.

“What kind of people did he like to scam?”

Susan leaned against the desk. “Old people. Old ladies. He’d turn on the charm and they’d tip him well.”

“That doesn’t sound like a scam.”

“One of them asked him to live with her. He told me he got her to sign over her car to him. He showed up here one day in this huge old car.”

“Is that all?”

Susan looked at her hands. “He told me his father had asked him to help him with something bigger. I didn’t like his father.”

“Why?”

“Because he was always drunk and would hit on me whenever he was around me. I got sick of it.”

“What was the something bigger?”

Susan shuffled her feet. “I really don’t know for sure. He told me some of it, but it seemed more like he was helping his father than doing it himself.”

“
It
was what?”

Susan sighed. “The old man wanted this woman’s house. He wanted Jason to help him get it. Jason wasn’t that smart, you know? He was cute and women liked him, but he did such stupid things.”

“For instance.”

“For instance he drove his old car into that water at the dog beach. It got stuck and had to be junked. He was an idiot.”

“That beach off the causeway?”

“Yeah. I had a dog and we took her there. She…was a good dog.”

“Was?”

“She got hit by a car.” Susan started to cry.

“I’m sorry to hear that. You haven’t asked me why I’m investigating him.”

“Why
are
you?”

“He killed a dog.”

“That son of a bitch.”

She wrapped her arms around herself.

“Susan, do you know anything about that woman he was trying to scam, the one with the house?”

“All I know is that Jason didn’t want to do it. He was stupid for sure, but he liked the woman. For some reason, he didn’t want to take advantage of her.”

Conner thought about something she had said. “What scam did he try on you?”

“I inherited five hundred bucks from my grandmother. He wanted me to give it to him so he could invest it in something. He wouldn’t tell me exactly what. Said he wanted me to trust him. I was kind of over him by then so I just told him to get lost.”

“Have you spoken to him since?”

“No.”

Again, Conner wasn’t convinced she hadn’t spoken to Jason.

“Does he have any other friends?”

“No. He’s kind of a loner. He doesn’t get along with guys that well.”

Susan was looking at the ground. She was still holding herself.

“Thanks,” Conner said. “We’re done.”

“Will he go to jail?”

“Probably not, unless the judge is an animal lover. Then he’ll probably get thirty days.”

“That sucks. He should go away longer for killing a dog.”

“Agreed.”

Conner got into his cruiser. He pulled up Jason Frye to see if he had been arrested. He had been picked up fifteen minutes ago and was being taken to the Pinellas County Jail for booking.

Conner drove to the State Attorney’s Office in Clearwater. He was looking for Sam Cannon, the son of the current state attorney. Sam was an assistant state attorney and had been assigned Jason Frye’s case. Conner wanted to see if an animal cruelty charge would give Sam a reason to get hold of Audrey’s bank statements.

Sam’s office was on the third floor of the criminal justice center. His secretary smiled when Conner walked in.

“Deputy,” she said.

“Ma’am,” Conner said. “Is Mr. Cannon in?”

“I’ll see if he has a minute,” she said. She got up and went to the door behind her. She went inside and when she came out, she waved to Conner.

“He’ll see you.”

The office wasn’t that impressive. Sam Cannon wasn’t very neat. There were files everywhere and when Conner walked in, Sam had his feet propped up on the desk.

“Deputy,” he said.

“Mr. Cannon.”

“Sit.”

Conner sat in the folding chair set in front of Sam’s desk.

“What can I do for you, Deputy?”

“You know that case you just got, the one with the dog killer?”

“What’s the name?”

“Jason Frye.”

“I haven’t really looked at the file yet. He’s on the docket for tomorrow. What about him?”

“I’m working a missing persons. The person is missing from the mobile home he’s living in.”

Sam’s eyebrows went up. He put his feet down and sat forward in his chair. He put his arms out and clasped his hands.

“And you suspect what?”

“Off the record?”

“Off the record.”

“I think he might have killed an old woman.”

“That’s interesting. Why do you think he killed an old woman?”

“He killed the dog. The dog had been barking since the old woman disappeared. Something’s just not right. I don’t have anything to go on but my gut. I need some hard evidence.”

“Like?”

“Like her bank statements.”

“I assume you’ve been to the house.”

“I spoke to the guy. I asked where she was and he claims she went on a cruise to Europe.”

“What makes you think she didn’t?”

“She’s ninety and she doesn’t have a passport.”

“Do you know that for sure?”

“As sure as I’m gonna be for now.”

“This isn’t enough to support a subpoena. You said you were working a missing persons case. Who filed it?”

“Her niece.”

“Does the niece have a power of attorney?”

“I don’t know.”

“If she does, she can go to the bank and ask them directly. It would be faster.”

“So you won’t do it?”

“Try getting them with the niece first.”

“Okay. But if we can’t, I’ll be back.”

“Come back with more.”

Chapter 15

It was getting dark when the girls got back to the condo. Lisa was in a New York frame of mind. Dark equaled cold. Being in Florida in December took some getting used to. She handed Mel her towel and phone while she fiddled with the lock on the condo door.

“I keep forgetting to leave this light on,” she said about the porch light. “And that it gets dark by five o’clock.”

“Vera will be eating her dinner now,” Mel said.

“Is that the old lady you’re staying with?”

“Yeah. She’s nice. She stays out of my business.”

“That’s good. Shit. I can’t get this key to go in.”

“I forgot my phone. Does your phone have a flashlight?”

“Yeah.” Lisa took the phone from her bag and scrolled through her apps. She found the flashlight and turned it on. “There you are.”

She put the key into the lock, opened the door, and turned on the kitchen light.

“I should just leave that outside light on all the time,” Lisa said.

“Would they get pissed if you did?”

“No. This is a private place. No one is watching.”

“Is there any food here?” Mel asked.

“No. Sandy and I ate out all the time. You hungry already?”

Mel’s stomach was on Vera time. “Yeah, kind of.”

“I guess we could go eat. We have to change. By then it will be six. But the clubs don’t get going until nine or ten. What will we do for four hours?”

“We’re going to clubs?” Mel asked. She had to call Vera and tell her she wouldn’t be coming there.

“What did you think? Come on, Mel. This is why we’re here.”

“Um, okay. I’ve gotta make a phone call.”

Mel went to Sandy’s vacated bedroom and closed the door. She really didn’t feel like going to clubs. She usually got up at five for work. Her body had grown so used to getting up early and going to bed early that the thought of going out after eight made her anxious.

Mel was tired. Her neck hurt. She was still worried about Audrey and wondered if Conner had learned anything new. She also wanted to see him. She missed him, but she didn’t want to talk to Lisa about him. She wanted to keep it to herself for a while longer until she was sure there was something to talk about.

She tried to think of some excuse to get out of staying in the condo for the night. Lisa would never believe Mel was worried about Vera. Maybe she could say her grandmother called and wanted her to come home. Lisa might buy that. Then she felt bad about wanting to ditch her friend. What was wrong with her? She and Lisa had always gone out together, and Lisa would always drink too much. It didn’t bother Mel when they were eighteen, but at twenty-six, she didn’t feel like holding her friend’s hair out of the toilet while she puked.

She noticed a message from Conner. As she listened to the message, she thought about what a nice voice he had. He said he had talked to animal control and their vet confirmed that Maurice had died from blunt force trauma to his head. That meant someone bashed the poor dog over the head and killed him. Since the dog was buried behind Audrey’s house, that made Jason Jr. the likely suspect.

He’d been picked up and taken to the county jail. Conner also asked if Audrey had given anyone her power of attorney. That was at three. She called him back and got his voicemail.

“Hey, sorry I missed your call. I was at the beach with a friend and forgot my phone.” She looked at the time. It was twenty after five. “Listen, if you get this message before six, call me.”

She hung up. She hoped he would call. She could then tell Lisa she had to leave. But that wouldn’t stop Lisa from going out alone. She was fearless. Shit. Mel would have to stay. Before she went back to Lisa, she called Laura.

“Hey, Grandma,” she said.

“Hi, dear. How are things going?”

“I still haven’t any news for you. I called to ask if you have a power of attorney for Audrey.”

“I don’t think so. She did send me a copy of her will a while back. Maybe there was one with that. I have to look for it. Why do you need to know that?”

“Just something the deputy asked for. I’m not sure why.”

“Well, I’ll look for it and let you know.”