Death on the Sound (4 page)

    
I got back to the precinct at lunch time
and picked up two small turkey subs on the way in. I found Tom huddled over his
keyboard, hunting and pecking his way through the police website.

    
“Here, Tom, take a break and get some food
in you.”

He
looked up and then leaned back in his chair. He looked at the six inch sub and
then back up at me.

    
“No chips and where’s the soda?”

    
“Have you forgotten already, you’re on a
diet Tom? No chip and no coke, that’s the way it’s going to be.”

He
stood up and walked over to the coffee room and took two bottles of water out
of the cooler and set one down in front of me.

    
“You got the subs, and I got the water,
what teamwork.”

    
“Just like Laurel and Hardy.”

    
“Who’s Hardy?” he smiled.

    
“My belt size is twenty eight, what’s yours
skinny?”

    
“Shit.”

We
ate in silence, and I looked up Tawny James while I ate. By the end of lunch,
I’d gotten a couple of leads on Tawny and needed to go out again. I’d leave Tom
to continue his homework. He was better off not out in the real world with all
the food temptations for awhile.

    
“What have you got so far Tom?” I asked.

    
“I found her account at Key Bank. Her
largest balance was eight hundred dollars, and that was in ninety five. It
stayed close to that amount until she got whacked. She used to work at the
Knight Ranger, there was an auto deposit set up for six months until she either
left or got canned. That’s all I got so far. This computer’s kickin’ my butt. I
guess I should take a class huh?”

    
“It’d help if you’d learn to type. You
waste half your time just finding the keys to hit,” I remarked.

    
“Hey, I’ve got a medical condition, give me
some slack huh?”

I
smiled as I grabbed my coat, leaned down, and kissed his forehead.

    
“Have fun with your computer ace.”

    
“Bite me,” came his reply.

    
I spent the afternoon trying to track down Tawny,
with only a tiny bit of luck. I got the name of three other places where she
might be but no concrete results. I drug myself home and Felix proceeded to
tell me what a harrowing day he’d had guarding our home. He followed me up to
my room and sat on the bed, watching me undress and change into my sweats.
After feeding, he disappeared for rest of the evening, and I was left to fend
for myself. I found Felix at a crime scene five years ago. An old woman had
been murdered for her social security check, and left lying in her kitchen. I
found the cat, later to be called Felix, hiding in the open closet in her
bedroom. I love animals, but I tend to forget to take care of them sometimes.
Between my job and my love life, pet maintenance schedules get screwed over
very easily. I assumed ownership of Felix, and he’s been my guard cat ever
since. He’s there to greet me every night, crooning his meows, and swatting his
tail on my pant leg hinting at his need for food. Subtlety is not one of his
feline traits.

    
The next day by the afternoon, I finally
found her. Well, sort of, she was away with family for the week, and would be
back on Monday. I was at the Raving Mad a club on Sixth Avenue, off Spring
Street. It was four in the afternoon, and it was starting to fill with men
needing their fix of tits and ass for the day before they went home to the
little wife. It was dark, and had smells that were not always pleasant to the
nose. It wasn’t as bad as some I’ve had occasion to frequent, but I wouldn’t
give them the “sweet as a rose” award either. There were two ringside style
stages with a bartender stationed in each one to keep the alcohol flowing to
the customers. I’d asked to speak to Tawnee’s friend, Charlie, for any
information she could provide. The Cadillac sized bouncer lumbered off to the
back of the club. The loud music was pounding at me as I watched a blonde,
probably a college girl, down to nothing shaking her tail feathers in front of
a sixty year old man.

I
watched his steady, but liver spotted hand, find the elastic band of her
G-String to insert his one dollar bill.

I
heard the fake bead curtains clacking to my left, where the bouncer had
disappeared into. He returned with a bombshell of a woman. Charlie, modified
from Charlene, was a six foot redhead. Even at her height she walked with the
grace of a model.

    
“You must be the cop that wants information
on Tawnee.”

    
“The very one, let’s get down to it since I
know time is money.”

    
“Yeah, that’s what it’s all about, honey.”

Tawnee
may have been in her late thirties although after a couple of tummy tucks and
boob enhancements, she may have been closer to her early forties. Her G-string
wasn’t even close to hiding her natural charm, and her top was barely able to
hold the girls in check as they wobbled with her every move she made.

    
“We found the body of Sharon Keller two
days ago, and we’re trying to find out about her so we can hopefully track down
her killer. We’re looking for any and all information we can get to help us. I
was told by my source that Tawnee was her friend, and I need to speak to her
when she gets back in town. Did you know Sharon by any chance?”

I
could tell the news had its affect on Charlie. Her smartass look had washed off
her face, replaced with sadness as her eyes were starting to tear up.

    
“I didn’t know her well, but I worked with
her my first year in this line. Yeah, she and Tawnee were close. Some said they
had more going than just being friends, but I never seen them getting touchy
feely.”

    
“Do you remember anything at all about
maybe clients that always seemed to be around her or maybe even dates she had
with a regular?”

Charlie
sipped her cheap champagne as she stared at me and her eyes got redder.

    
“She was a popular girl back then. A lot of
the men were anxious to catch her eye. She had a nice rack, and a butt to die
for. She got herself tanned up in the summer, and the men love that all over
tan look, you know. Anyway, there was one guy who always used to send a limo
for her. It would pick her up after her late shift, and take her away. I never
saw him inside. I think he was somewhere else all together. Tawnee might know.”

She
sat silent for a minute or so, we both glanced at a large breasted black gal
that was being pulled around the runway by her gigantic breasts. I had to look
away. I like women, but not like that.

    
“The limo service was Towne and Country. I
remember because their logo was one of them Tara looking old southern homes,
and I remember wishing I’d lived back in that time so I could be in one of
those homes. He was a short black guy that had a wise mouth on him that was
always sniffin’ around the girls, when he’d, sometimes, come in looking for
Sharon. I’m sorry that’s all I can remember. It was a long time ago, at least
for me it is.”

    
“This was good stuff Charlie. Tell Tawnee
that I’ll be in to see her on Monday.”

    
“I slid a fifty across the bar, and under
the tip of her fingers that were resting on the bar.”

She
looked down and started to slide it back, but I put my hand on top of hers to stop
her, and she spoke.

    
“I can’t take this. This was for Sharon, no
charge.”

I
slowly pushed it back towards her.

    
“A girl’s gotta’ make a living Charlie.
You’ve been a big help, thanks.”

    
“I’ll let Tawnee know about you lookin’ for
her.”

I
got off my stool and walked along the now full bar area with all the men
laughing, or gawking at the naked women patrolling the raised bars. The
pounding music was giving me a headache. It was time to leave. We all have our
outlets, but I’ve never liked these places. I think they were why the word
“sleazy” was coined.

    
I called Tom at the office, and found out
he’d gone as far as he could go. I wished him a good weekend and told him I’d
call on Sunday to see how his new lifestyle was going. I caught the bus home,
and quickly scanned the movie section looking for a good one for my date with
Mandy tonight. I checked the theaters on Capital Hill since a large majority of
gays hang out and live there. You’re less likely to get the fish eye stare.

After my paper perusal, I madly showered, and dressed
while in between feeding Felix not paying one bit of attention to his tales of
woe from his tough day, napping on the couch. I did my cursory check in the
mirror. I turned to check my butt since Felix has many places he likes to nap
during the day. I walked out to start my car, which is new, but barely has any
miles. It only gets driven on the weekends. It started up, and I listened to
the rumbling pipes of the V-8 Mustang. I pulled out and headed for the
University District and to Mandy’s place. Friday in Seattle is “The” worst time
to be on the road. Everyone throws out LA as being bad for driving, but Seattle
can’t be too far behind. As I gained altitude climbing up the hill from Lake
Union, I could see the bumper to bumper crowd that was parked on I-5. I altered
my route and took the back way. I twisted and turned my way through the crowded
streets.

I pulled up at five fifty and walked up the sidewalk
to the tiny bungalow that Mandy had been renting for the past six months. I
rang the bell and waited. I heard her inside moving toward the door. It opened to
a head peeking around the edge of the opened door.

    
“Sorry Abby, I’m not quite ready come on
in.”

Once
inside, with the door closed, I noticed Mandy in her bra and panties. Her flat
tummy aligned with the top of her bikini briefs. She had makeup on, so that was
good.

    
“Sorry, I just got off work an hour ago. We
had a real busy afternoon. Have a seat I won’t be long.”

I
noticed that Mandy wasn’t looking me in the eye, but she was glancing at me in
a guilty sort of way. I sat and thumbed through a Sunset magazine wondering
what was up. It wouldn’t be long before I found out. She came back out of her
bedroom, and with only slacks on but still no top.

    
“Mandy, if you don’t get a move on we’ll
miss the movie. Is there something wrong?”

She
slowly walked toward me, and I knew whatever it was wasn’t going to be good.
She looked like she was about to break down and cry.

    
“Mandy what’s going on?”

    
“Abby, my mom called me when I got home
this afternoon, and she and dad want me to come home. They’ll pay for two years
of college so I can have a better chance at finding a career. I can’t pass this
up Abby. I’ll work through next week, and leave next weekend. Do you still want
to go out with me?”

I
took her hand and slowly pulled her to me and hugged her.

    
“Of course I do, but let’s change the plan
a bit. Let’s skip the movie, and we’ll go to a nice restaurant for our last
date, how’s that?”

She
pulled back from me with the smile that had first attracted me to her.

    
“I’d better get dressed then. It won’t take
me long.”

I
admit only slightly to taking advantage of the situation. I didn’t release her
hand but pulled her to me again, and gave her a long sensual kiss. I was making
progress, she was kissing back.

    
“If you keep doing that, I’ll never get
dressed. Now control yourself and wait here,” she said.

In ten minutes, she returned, looking her gorgeous
self. I’d called Sorvino’s while Mandy was getting dressed, and talked to the owner
about getting a table for dinner. It was the kind of place that required two or
three weeks notice to get a table for two; the food is that good. I’d helped
find his daughter last year when she was kidnapped by some Chinese hoodlum
wannabe’s trying to start a protection racket. They both ended up dead after
Tom and I corralled them in the warehouse district. I had no trouble getting a
reservation set up.

    
Mandy and I had a wonderful dinner, in a
dark corner of Sorvino’s. It was quite the prelude to the finale to our
evening. We teased each other under the table, and was caught a couple of times
by the waiter, who, I’m sure, had seen it all before and just ignored us.

    
“I’m glad you’re not mad Abby. I know we were
just getting started and I really like you, but I have to do this.”

I
took her hand not caring that the chubby Republican at the next table was
sneering at me and kissed it.

    
“Mandy, I’m happy for you. We’ll both find
other girlfriends or boyfriends to replace each other, but we’ll still be friends.
I always wondered about how you got to where you are now, but I’m glad your
parents are giving you a hand up.”

We
finished our meal, and I drove Mandy home. I wasn’t sure about my next step
since we were no longer an item. I walked her to her door, and we stood hugging
and kissing on her dark porch.

    
“Can you stay Abby?”

The
next step had been taken.

    
“I’m all yours Mandy.”

We
made love several times before we both drifted off to sleep at three in the
morning. We got a slow start to our Saturday morning, but after making love,
and me fixing breakfast, we were finally at her front door again saying
goodbye.

    
“You have my address and phone number, and
I have yours. You’d better write, or I’m calling the L.A. Police to come and
get you.’

    
“I promise to write, I might even call
occasionally just to hear your voice. I’ll miss you Abby. You’ve started me
down a path I didn’t think I would take.”

A
final hug and a final kiss and I was driving myself home on a late Saturday
morning in April.