Ellen McKenzie 04-Murder Half-Baked (33 page)

M
y house was again
crowded
with people. I’d managed to get Marilee into pants and a sweatshirt before everyone descended. Aunt Mary arrived first. How she knew trouble had
been
brew
ing
, I had no idea. I was
just
glad to see her. Gina burst in next, looking as pale as Marilee. She immediately put her arms around her and sat with her on the living room sofa. Dan arrived right
after
.

“We’ve got people out looking for them everywhere.”
He was squatting down beside the sofa, talking to Marilee in the gentlest of tones. She didn’t look soothed. She looked almost comatose, her face white, her eyes staring at nothing. Only her hands,
which
were tearing little pieces of fringe off the sofa pillow she held tightly in her lap,
indicated
she heard him.

“Train station, bus station, she can’t have gone far, and she’s pretty conspicuous carrying a baby. We’ll get her.”

“It was Grady she was talking to.” Marilee wasn’t talking to us, at least not exactly. It was more as if she were confirming something to herself.

“Do you know that or are you surmising?” Dan made the question matter of fact. No demand, no threat, he was like a man trying to coax a frightened dog out from under a bush. Not a bad analogy, I thought, as I watched Marilee gradually focus on him.

“I heard her say, ‘I’ll be ready,’ as I was coming up the stairs, but I didn’t know who she was talking to. Then.”

“Is that when she offered to sit with the baby?”

“Yeah. I was going to go back down and get him, put him in the bathroom with me, but she said go ahead, she’d be downstairs anyway, she’d watch him. Take my time, wash my hair. It’d make me feel better. So I did.” Tears finally started to drip. No screams, no hysterics, just tears that made furrows down the side of her face to splash, unnoticed, onto her sweatshirt.

A uniformed officer entered the room and gestured to Dan. We all looked at him, expecting him to say something, do something. I know I held my breath. His face remained impassive. Dan got up and walked over to him. They talked for a minute. He turned and left. Dan returned to our little group huddled around my sofa.

“Does Grady have a cell phone?” he asked Marilee.

She nodded. “It’s one of those where you have to prepay. Half the time there’s no minutes left on it.”

Dan nodded. “Why would Grady hit Sal? Threaten him?”

“Ask Sal.” Marilee looked mulish. “Why are we talking about cell phones and Sal? Why don’t you find my baby?”

“We’re trying, and we did ask Sal. He wasn’t talking. Why?”

“Because he’s a stubborn old man.” Gina put Marilee’s hand back in her lap and looked
up at Dan. “Marilee used to work at the bakery.”

Marilee gave a sort of laugh. “I lasted a week. Longer than a lot of girls.”

“Rose told me about it,” Gina went on. “Sal couldn’t stand Grady coming around, accused him of stealing cookies.”

“Cookies.” Marilee said. “Day old cookies. Who cared? Sal was a pain in the ass. I quit before he fired me. Only thing I felt bad about was Rose. She’s a saint.”

“Is that why Grady went to the bakery?” Dan asked Gina. “Because he thought Rose might know where she was?”

“Maybe. I don’t really know. I do know Rose hid in the back room while he was there. After he was gone, she came out. Put ice on Sal’s face. Grady had slapped him pretty good. About then is when I got there. Sal wouldn’t let me call you, just said we’re all going to work, just like every day. He also said I was fired. Again.”

“Yeah.” Dan stood up. I heard his knees creak. “Sounds like Sal. So, what did you do?”

“Called here. I thought I’d better warn Marilee
and
Ellen that Grady was over the edge. If he’d slap an old man like Sal, God alone knows what he’d do to Marilee if he found her.”

“Are you going back to the bakery?” I couldn’t help thinking about Rose, how distraught she’d be. She had come to rely on Gina these last few weeks, not only to do most of the baking but also to act as a buffer against Sal. And, although he wouldn’t admit it, Sal needed her also. He could bluster all he wanted, but he could no longer keep up with the work.

“Of course.” Gina gave a tight little smile that had nothing to do with humor. “I have bread rising right now. Someone has to take care of it. Someone has to take care of Rose, too. I came over because I was worried about Marilee but also to give Sal a cooling off period. The old
…”

Gary walked into the room. All heads swiveled to stare at him. He paused, looked at us anxiously, and shook his head. “Nothing.” He looked at Marilee, and his lips tightened. “But we’re looking. That ol’ Leona, she hasn’t been gone that long. We’ve got the highway closed, someone’s checking the bus station, and I’ve called the airport. We’ll get your baby back.”

Marilee’s fingers clutched the pillow so tightly they turned white. The fringe on it was almost gone. It lay scattered over the sofa, some piled on the carpet. I never cared much for that pillow anyway.

Dan watched the massacre of the pillow. He looked up at me. I shrugged; he nodded and went into his police chief mode. “Under the circumstances, I think we need a Plan C. It seems pretty obvious Grady now knows exactly where Marilee is, and he’s going to try for her as soon as he thinks he can. Without getting caught.”

“Why didn’t he come over before? Leona must have been the one who called him, but she left with the baby. Marilee was here alone. That would have been an ideal time.”

“Good point, Ellie. And I don’t know the answer, but I’d bet it was something Leona told him. We’ll find that out when we find her. In the meantime, Marilee is going someplace else.”

“She can come to my house.” Aunt Mary was already planning
—
a meal, bedroom linen, commandeering a baby crib from a friend for when Adam was returned, who knew what else. But there was no doubt she was ready to
spring into action
.

“No. She’s coming to the police station. Maybe not the most comfortable place, but the safest. Gary is going to stay here. We need to get all these cars away from the house, make it look as if no one is here except Marilee. I don’t know why he didn’t try to get to her before, but I don’t believe for a minute he’s not going to try again. Only, Gary will be waiting.”

I watched Gary blanch. Traffic stops, picking up juveniles for petty pilfering, stopping domestic fights, dealing with DUIs, all these kinds of things he was used to. He had even gotten used to the occasional homicide. But lying in wait for a frantic young man to break into a house where he would be waiting, all alone, seemed to be new. And not welcome. He gulped a couple of times and started to say something to Dan.

“Something the matter, Gary?”

“No.” Gary gulped a couple more times. “Not a thing. Good idea you had. Sure. I’ll be here, waiting.”

A small smile had formed under Dan’s mustache. I doubted Gary saw it. “If you see him, or see his truck
… I
t’s orange, isn’t it
?
” He looked at Marilee, who nodded.
“Call it in. You’ll have backup right away. I just don’t want anything to keep him from trying to break in.”

Gary looked marginally reassured. Marginally.

I wasn’t. I looked around and wondered what would happen if Grady did break in. I wondered if I should put my favorite blue and white lamp up on the bookcase, move my grandmother’s milk glass vase. I sighed
. Q
uietly
,
I hoped. Maybe not.

“Gary came with me, so there won’t be any cars out front. Ellen, you take Marilee in your car. Mary, how did you get here?”

“I walked, of course.” Of course she had.

Dan’s smile
broadened
, but he wiped it away instantly. “Gina? Did you drive?”

“No. I walked also. I needed to let off a little steam.”

“Well, you’re not walking back. Ride with Ellie. She’ll drop you off.”

“Now?”

Dan nodded.

“Let’s go,” I said.

Aunt Mary was instantly on her feet, pocketbook in hand. Gina started to get up but sank back down. Marilee hadn’t moved. She just kept staring straight ahead, plucking at the pillow.

“Come on, sweetie. You need to be someplace safe when that baby is returned to you.” Gina took Marilee’s hand and tugged. Marilee didn’t budge. She slipped her arm under Marilee’s elbow and pulled her to her feet. It didn’t look as if Marilee could remember how to walk. “We’ve got to get out of here so they can catch that bastard you’re married to. And when they catch him, they’ll get Leona and your baby also. Let’s go.”

A few
of
her words
got through to Marilee. “You’re sure?”

“Positive.” Gina gave her a gentle tug and she started forward.

“I’ll see you all out to the car.” Dan already had the front door open. He took Marilee’s other arm, guided her down the front walk, and made sure she was in the backseat. He reached over and fastened her seat belt, then helped Aunt Mary
get
in beside her. Gina
occupied
the passenger seat as I slid behind the wheel.

“Go straight to the police station. I’ll be there just as soon as I finish here.”

I assumed he meant he needed to have a heart to heart with Gary without an audience. “Are you all right?” He leaned through my window and spoke quietly into my ear. His hand rested on mine, and the squeeze he gave it was barely perceptible.

“Fine,” I assured him. “Just fine. But for God’s sake, find that baby.”

There was no smile now, only a hard glint in his eyes that didn’t speak well for either Leona or Grady. “We’ll find them both. And soon. Now, get going.”

I did.

I
headed for the bakery first. It would have made sense to drop off Aunt Mary at her house, but since she had no intention of leaving Marilee alone with only me to take care of her, and since Gina backed her up completely, we drove right past her house.

I pulled up in front of the bakery, surprised that I’d found a parking spot so easily.

“It looks pretty quiet in there,” Aunt Mary commented.

“It does.” Gina stood on the curb for a moment, staring at the huge plate glass window filled with birthday cakes, cakes for christenings, and, of course, wedding cakes. I doubted that she saw them. I did. But worry about wedding cakes belonged to some other life, one that didn’t contain missing babies, demented kidnappers, and violent idiots bent on destruction to get what they wanted.

“Here’s where I get yelled at.”
I could see her take a deep breath and slowly let it out. “But better me than Rose.”

Aunt Mary climbed out of the back and trotted around to the passenger side. She climbed in and fastened her seat belt. That she was going to dictate our route I had no doubt. “We’ll call you just as soon as we find Leona.”

“Good.” Gina turned back toward the car. She reached across the seat and gave Marilee a hug. “She can’t have gone far. You’ll find them.” She gave her hand another pat and closed the door.

She was still watching us as we drove away, her words ringing in our ears. I hoped she was right, but the feeling of dread that had been building since I’d walked through my front door to find Leona and the baby gone kept right on building.

“Go down Pine Street.”

It’s easier to give directions from the front.

“Why?”

“Because.”

“Because we go by the Greyhound Bus station?”

“Oh, do we?”

As if she didn’t know. “Dan’s people are checking all the stations.”

“It’s not out of our way.”

“No. It’s not. And you never know, but don’t hold your breath that we’ll see them.”

“Go slow.”

I slowed to a crawl. The houses on Pine are old and small, a neighborhood where single-family homes are mixed with duplexes, interspersed with small home-style business. All of them back up to alleys. If I was Leona, I thought, and wanted to catch a bus without anyone seeing me, I’d go down those alleys.

“Check the alleys,” Aunt Mary said.

“That’s what I’m doing.”

“Why are we going up this alley?” Marilee said. It was the first glimmer I had that she was aware of anything but her own paralyzing fear.

“Because if Leona has a grain of sense, she’ll
stay
off the street
s
.”

I could feel Marilee lean forward, could almost feel her start to hope again. “You think so? Go down that one.”

I turned down the alley that dead-ended into Apple St
reet
. It contained nothing but several empty trash bins and an old sofa. No Leona and nowhere for her to hide. I paused when I got to the corner, looking both ways, wondering where to go next. I had to turn one way or the other because the bus station parking lot was straight ahead.

 
There she was, standing in line, waiting to climb onto the Greyhound bus that was slowly loading. The baby carrier was at her feet, the L.L.Bean tote bag I’d bought Aunt Mary for Christmas slung over her shoulder.

“Look
,
” I said, pointing toward the bus. I put the car in gear and headed across the street, trying to resist the almost overwhelming temptation to gun the engine and go roaring into the parking lot.

“Hurry,” commanded Aunt Mary.

“I am. But I can’t run down the passengers. Here. Get out. I’ll pull into that parking spot.”

I slowed down and came to a halt on the street side of the bus. I didn’t think Leona had spotted us yet. And Marilee hadn’t spotted Leona.

“What are we doing?” She leaned forward over my shoulder, straining against her seat belt. “Why aren’t we checking more alleys?”

“Get out.” I practically shoved Aunt Mary out the door. “Go grab her. I’ll be right behind you.”

She was out the door and around the bus with really amazing swiftness for a woman her age and size. And she’d grabbed Leona. I could tell because
the
yelling had started. High pitched yelling that belonged to Leona, but other voices were joining into the din.

“Leona’s trying to get on that bus,” I told Marilee. “Go help Aunt Mary stop her while I call nine-one-one.”

I don’t think it registered at first, but when it did, Marilee was out the door and running, screaming “Adam” at the top of her lungs. There was more noise at that bus station than there was at a Friday night high school football game when our team
had
made the winning touchdown. There was even more noise as my message got relayed to police headquarters. The police station was only a couple of blocks from the bus station, so almost instantly sirens started to howl
. M
en were running toward the station on foot, a black and white careened into the parking lot, and Leona didn’t get on the bus.

I
managed to park
the car
—
even with the back door open
—and
paused only long enough to slam it shut before I ran for the bus. Leona stood off to one side, screaming, crying, and handcuffed. Marilee had Adam in her arms, crooning to him, clutching him, and crying.

“That’s my baby
!
” Leona was sobbing. She struggled to get her arms back in front of her and aimed a kick at the policewoman holding her. “He’s mine. He gave him to me.”

The bus passengers were standing around, mouths gaping, not knowing what to make of this. I could hear the murmurs, “Who’s the real mother? Can’t be that red-haired girl. She’s too young. Must be. The other one’s nuts.”

They had that last part right. The bus driver was out of the bus, looking at his watch, and loudly bemoaning his schedule while trying, vainly, to get his bus loaded. Finally he managed to
attract
the attention of one of the policemen milling around. “I’ve got to get out of here. Can I go now?”

Dan walked around the side of the bus, headed our way, but stopped when he heard the bus driver.

“Get moving.” He waved him on. “We won’t need you.”

The passengers slowly loaded, everybody jostling to get a window seat just in case more drama erupted. The doors shut with a final whoosh and the bus pulled out, leaving us on the platform. Leona was still screaming, insisting the baby was hers. They gradually
degraded
into heart
rend
ing sobs as she stared at Marilee and Adam.

I don’t think Marilee heard her. She held Adam close, touching his cheek, kissing his hair, almost smothering him in her need to feel him next to her.

I don’t think Aunt Mary heard Leona either. She kept patting Marilee on the arm, standing on tiptoe to peek at the baby, telling her that she knew all along that she’d get him back. She looked as if she might start crying as well. But her tears wouldn’t have the anguish behind them that Leona’s had.

“Don’t you dare cry,” I told her.

She beamed at me. “I have no intention of doing anything of the kind.” But her eyes were moist.

Dan came up behind me. “Good job. We’d checked this station only a few minutes ago, but evidently not the women’s bathroom.”

“Dan.” I reached out for him, not realizing how unsteady I felt until I had him to hold onto. “Dan, Leona
…”

“It’s okay. We’ve got her and Marilee has the baby. We’re going to take her
…”

“Dan, no. I know that. It’s what she
…
she was screaming
…”

“She certainly was.”

“No. Listen. Grady gave her the baby. She didn’t just take him. Grady
…” I couldn’t go on. He’d traded his own child, his son, for information on where to find his child’s mother. I’d been sh
a
k
en
when I heard about Sal, but this
… “He gave her that baby and she told him
…”

Dan gathered me to him and I went willingly. The need to be held was almost overpowering. “I know, Ellie. I was pretty sure that was how it went down.
Now
…”

His cell rang. He looked at the screen and flipped it open.

Two black and whites and a fire truck, sirens screaming, went by, followed closely by an ambulance. I stared at them, waiting for them to turn into the bus station, but they kept going. One of the detective’s cars left the bus station, siren going full blast, right behind them. Dan snapped his cell phone shut and pulled away from me.

“Seems we have another little problem.”
His face was white under his tan and he looked a little sick.

“You’ve found Grady?” But that wouldn’t be a problem. Unless
…
my house!

“No. Not Grady.” He paused, looked at me, then reached out and took hold of Aunt Mary and held her tightly. “It’s Sal. He’s at the bakery. Someone’s beaten him to death with a rolling pin.”