Tansy Taylor (5 page)

“Ugh!” I pulled a big fluffy pillow over my head. This was not the way that I wanted to start my Saturday morning.

Defeated, I sat up and stretched my arms up over my head. The more alert I became the more I noticed the cotton growing in my mouth and the dull throbbing in my head.

After I brushed my teeth I threw on some sweats; I had still been in my jeans from the night before. I stumbled downstairs and found Becca snoring on the couch. I left her there and went into the kitchen and scrounged for some ibuprofen and a Coke. Don’t get me wrong, I love my coffee, it would be considered sacrilegious if I didn’t being from the Pacific Northwest where Starbucks was born and all. However, Coke was my usual drink of choice when I had a hangover. This morning definitely qualified as a hangover. I downed one on the spot and then cracked a second one open to take with me. The sugar hit me and I gave an involuntary shiver.

I wandered back into Jeni’s studio and found her hard at work. Her long blond hair was tied up out of her face with a piece of scrap fabric.

“You’re such a slave to your business!” I plopped down on her giant lady bug shaped beanbag.

She smiled and gave me a wink. “You’re just jealous.”

I chuckled. “You’re probably right. You’re successful, confident, and full of energy. I am a psychic wannabe and work for the man.” I chugged off of my Coke to fend off the cotton that had started growing on my tongue again.

Jeni stopped mid-stitch. “Why so glum, chum? You had a good time last night, right?”

“My head feels like it’s going to spin around and fly off, that or implode. I haven’t figured which. But, yes, I did have a good time last night. Dinner at Ringlers and then out dancing at clubs. ” I tried to silence the pounding rhythm that was still present in my head, but it was no use and I just lay back and covered my face with a nearby throw pillow.

“Your friend Becca seems to be dead to the world. I dropped a box on my foot this morning, yelling obscenities and jumping around back here. I went in search of some ice and she was passed out on the sofa. I don’t think that she heard any of it!”

“She does seem able to sleep through most anything. I’ve seen her take a nap on her break at work, which isn’t exactly the quietest environment. Guess she is just one of those people. Not me, I woke up to the neighbor yelling at a car alarm this morning and then couldn’t get back to sleep.” I tipped back the can of Coke and finished it off. Maybe I should have a third one this morning.

“I bet that didn’t help the hangover headache.” Jeni went back to sewing, her industrial strength sewing machine clattering and clanging loudly with each stitch.

“Neither does that,” I said holding my head in my hands. “I’ll see ya later; I’m going to go find the shower.” I crawled out of the beanbag and headed back for my room.

Chapter Six

The rest of the weekend flew by and before I knew it I was back to work on Monday. I was not feeling the mojo today and really wished that I was doing something else. It was almost noon and every call that I’d taken so far was from a whiny woman trying to figure out the man in her life. It was enough to make me want to go and find a tall building.

My lunch break finally started and I practically jumped out of my seat. Becca caught up to me as I pushed my way out the door into the sunshine.

“Uck, I had to get out of there!” I said flinging the doors wide.

“You okay? You seem more frustrated today than usual.” Becca looked concerned for a moment, then her attention turned to finding a cigarette in her purse.

“I’m fine. I’m just really not in the mood for work today. I am worried about my friend Callie. I didn’t hear from her all weekend.” I took my lunch out of my carryall bag.

“Oh, ya, I forgot to ask you about that and your secret ‘Sandra’ identity.” Becca lit her cigarette and slid her sunglasses on to help adjust to the bright sunny daylight.

“Let’s grab a spot to eat lunch and I’ll fill you in.” Our building might be dingy and dark on the inside, but there were ample places to sit and enjoy the lunch hour outside. We sat in a side yard in the sun and I gave her the scoop on Callie, Johnny, and my alter ego.

“Speak of the devil,” I said, flipping my phone open to answer Callie’s call. I talked to Callie while and basked in the wonderfully warm weather Becca had her after lunch cigarette.

“So, what’d she have to say? Is she okay?” Becca, being the softie that she was, had instantly wanted to help with Callie’s predicament.

“She said she’s doing okay. Her family was with her this weekend and they spent part of the weekend trying to get the police to beef up their search. It’s amazing how there is a man missing, yet they don’t have the manpower or the urgency to get out there and find him.” I frowned.

“I saw on the news the other day that the Portland Police had taken another budget hit. It seems like that’s all they ever do is shrink while the rest of the city is growing.” Becca stomped out her butt and plucked a piece of chewing gum from her purse. “Want one?”

“Thanks,” I said, taking her up on her offer. We headed back toward the building and the gloomy fluorescent lighting.

“I’m going to meet her again after work so we can figure out when we should go back to Mr. Big’s to check out some more of the people there.”

“Let me know what you find! I can help if you want next weekend. I’m pulling some overtime here on the second shift though, so I can’t help in the evenings.”

“Thanks, I’ll let you know when we need you.” I gave her a quick squeeze and we headed back in to finish out the workday.

I went home, changed, and then met up with Callie at the diner. A coworker had traded her for her weekend shifts and so Callie was pulling a lunch shift in exchange. She was grieving, but still had to pay the rent. Luckily, Dixie’s was a breakfast and lunch only meal spot. They closed at four so by the time I got there at six, Callie was done prepping for tomorrow and was waiting for me.

I gave her a big hug, she looked like she needed one.

“Thanks, I needed that. I made you a Reuben, if you’re interested in some dinner.” She pushed a huge sandwich and a bag of locally made chips toward me.

“Awesome, thanks! I’m starved!” I drug the plate the rest of the way across the table and then bit into the thick sandwich, tasting corn beef and kraut with a hint of Thousand Island dressing. “Oh, this is wonderful!”

“It’s one of the diner’s specialty sandwiches, and my favorite, so I made us a couple up for dinner.”

We sat and ate through most of our sandwiches in silence. I sat back and wiped my mouth with the napkin. My pants were suddenly too tight. “Thanks again, that was one of the best Reuben’s I’ve ever had.”

Callie chuckled. “So, any ideas on what we should do next? The cops don’t seem to be able to help us much, since there really isn’t much to go on. They’ve interviewed everyone down at the dealership, and while they said they aren’t sure that they are the most honest bunch, they all have alibis for when Buster disappeared. I just have this gut feeling though that it has to do with the dealership. Buster was a simple guy-he went to work, hung out with his friends and worked on cars and stuff. He spent the rest of his time with me. It’s not like he had unaccounted-for time or a shady side, you know.” She sighed in what I could only say was frustration.

“Well, I think we should go with your gut on this one. We’ve sort of out-played the grieving sister bit though. Plus, Johnny sort of saw me and Becca downtown on Friday night, and I’m not sure I want to revisit that. I got pretty drunk and I have a feeling that I may have given him the impression that I was interested in him or something.” I took a sip of my drink while I tried to remember at least some of the details after we’d let Ringlers, but it was a big hazy mess. I shook my head.

“Does he know that you aren’t who you said you are?” Callie said.

“Oh, no, I made sure to tell Becca to call me Sandra and I’m sure that he didn’t think otherwise, since he was drinking quite a bit too. Plus, I really am attracted to him. That’s sort of the problem.” I put my hands to my forehead; just thinking about it gave me a headache.

“I’m lost,” Callie said. “You like him, but you don’t want to see him?” She looked at me quizzically.

“Well, ya. I can’t very well go out with him as ‘Sandra’ but I can’t go telling him that I’m not who I said I am, right? It could blow our investigation and he would probably lose all interest in me knowing that I lied to him both at Mr. Bigs and then the entire time we were out on Friday.”

Callie frowned. “Oh, I guess you’re right. We can’t blow our investigation, not when we’ve just begun!” She popped a chip in her mouth; at least it looked like she was getting her appetite back.

“So, I was thinking that I could go back there on my own, right at closing time, and just have a look around. If Buster was kidnapped or killed in the evening as he was leaving work, then it might make sense to go back at the same time and see what I can find.”

“Shouldn’t I go with you?” Callie asked.

“Nah, it’ll be easier if I go alone. I’ll dress up like one of the homeless gals that spend a lot of time down there, so it won’t be obvious.” I watched Callie’s face fall and tried to think fast. “I think you should be nearby though. Maybe in a car parked a street over, just in case I need a quick get away or get into trouble. We could get a couple of walkie-talkies or something. That way, you’ll be just steps away.” Her eyes lit back up. I wanted her to be a part of this, but I also needed to be able to talk to Buster and any other ghosts that may be in the area.

“That sounds good. I think that I have a couple of walkie-talkies at home. My brother plays a lot of paintball, so they use them for communicating out in the woods.”

“Okay, let’s head over to my house so I can get dressed up. Then we can swing by your place to grab the radios.”

An hour later we were sitting a block over from Mr. Big’s.

“You’re sure you want to do this?”

“I’m sure. Will you help me pull my hair around in front so that it makes me less recognizable?” We tugged and ratted my hair so that I looked like I had been out on the street for awhile.

“There, you look like you belong, but I think that the smell is all wrong.” She sniffed at me and made a face.

“What?” I sniffed at my armpits and clothes. “I smell great!”

“That’s the point. If you were living out here you would definitely not smell great! Just make sure nobody gets too close to you or your lavender vanilla scent will totally blow your cover.”

“Gotcha. Let’s do a radio check.” I headed out of the car and down the street. My walkie-talkie crackled with static.

“Testing. You there?” Her voice sputtered to life through the static.

“I’m here, over.” I said. “I’m going to turn the volume down now, so that I don’t look obvious. Not only will I smell suspiciously good but I will be crackling with static. I’ll check in with you in ten.” I turned the knob down and the static sound disappeared. I checked one of the three watches I was wearing for the time.

I rounded the corner and headed up the backside of Mr. Big’s.

The place looked dark. I came up behind the wash bay and peeked around the wall. There were two cars in parked in the employee area, but still no signs of life.

“Hey there.” A voice whispered in my ear.

“Agh!” I screamed, just about coming out of my boots. I spun around and saw that it was Buster. I put my hand over my heart which was racing as fast as a runaway locomotive.

“Oh my goodness! You scared the life out of me!” He looked at the ground a bit sheepishly.

“Sorry. I didn’t realize it was you! You don’t look the same as you did the other day.” He frowned. “This is what I do all day, walk around people and see if they will react to me. It’s kinda interesting actually, some people completely cannot hear me, others seem to feel my breath in their ear. I see them trying to itch it, like when your hair tickles your ear. The only person that has been able to actually see me and hear me is you.” He glanced around at the buildings. “I think that Francis is around here somewhere too. He’s the other ghost I was telling you about.”

“Oh, good. I was hoping he would around. I want to see if I can see or hear him, or if you are special. I’ve never been able to talk to a ghost before.”

He looked at me quizzically. “Okay, but why are you dressed like a homeless person?”

“Well, I’m trying to investigate what happened to you and I didn’t want anyone to recognize me.” Duh, I thought, rolling my eyes his direction.

He smirked. “I think you’re in luck. I had no idea it was you.” He tried to lift my teased bangs off my face, but only succeeded in swiping his ghostly hand through my forehead.

“Uck,” I said. His ghost hand in my head made me shiver.

“Oh, sorry. I keep forgetting that I can’t touch you, or anything for that matter. It’s kind of cool though, being able to walk through walls and stuff.” He smiled and swiped his hand through the brick wall.

“You’re right! Actually, you might come in very handy in your own investigation. I see that there are a couple of cars over there, do you know who they belong to?” I looked again to the far side of the parking lot.

“Oh, ya. The caddy is Mr. Big’s, but I don’t recognize the Lexus. I’ve seen it around a time or two. I have a feeling that I know something about it though; does that sound weird?” He shrugged and scratched his head. “I can’t remember who owns it or why I would know anything about it. Bummer.” He looked at his feet and I could see that he felt helpless.

“Hey, don’t be hard on yourself. I’m guessing that death, like any other trauma, might affect your memory. It might actually be a clue as to what happened to you. Let’s see if we can’t figure out who it belongs to.” We crept around the lot and I tried peering into a couple of buildings, but I couldn’t find any sign of life.

“I don’t see anyone, do you?” I asked, adjusting my hat.

Buster shook his head. “Let me just pop in and have a look around.” He disappeared into the wall, humming the Twilight Zone theme.

“Callie? Can you hear me? Over.” I jumped on the opportunity to check in while Buster was inside.

“Find anything? Over.” Her voice crackled over the cheap walkie-talkie.

“Nothing yet. I’m going to keep poking around. There are two cars here and I think one of them is Mr. Big’s. I want to see who he’s meeting, and if it might have something to do with Buster’s disappearance.” I released the button and the sound of static echoed in the empty lot.

“Hey! Is somebody out here?” A voice came from the far corner of the lot, near the front entrance. “Shit!” I muttered to myself. It was dark, and I could only make out a shadow. Hopefully, whoever was over there could make out only as much of me. I switched off the radio and kept in the shadows of the wall making my way around to the wash bay. I ducked inside one of the bay doors that was slightly ajar. I tried looking around, but found that it was pitch black, not a good thing in a large room filled with various hoses and tools to trip on.

I stepped backward trying to cover myself with the darkness. My foot landed on something unsteady and suddenly I was rolling backward. I felt myself lose my balance and my footing. I rolled around for a few seconds, flailing my arms, unsuccessful at regaining my footing. Just when I thought I was going to make it I felt my foot land on what seemed to be the edge of the floor and tried not to scream as I headed over the edge.

“Umph!” The wind knocked out of me when I hit the bottom. Luckily, I seemed to be only a few feet down, and, for the most part, unscathed. I had landed on my ass.

“Relax. There’s nobody else here Dmitri; probably just a bum wandering around. I see them out here all the time going through the dumpsters.” A voice carried across the lot to where I was now trapped in the dark pit.

“I don’t know, it doesn’t feel right,” said a heavy Russian accent. “Mr. Popov wouldn’t like it if we were found out.” Feet shuffled closer, and I scurried to the back of whatever hole I was in. I figured that I must be in some sort of service bay pit in the shop floor, for when techs needed to change oil. I had no idea whether I would be hidden or blatantly present if the lights suddenly came on. I could see a faint glow and smelled the heady scent of a cigar. I hoped that whoever these guys were that they opted for the cover of darkness for their conversation.