Deadrock (12 page)

Powers and
Gloria appeared at the doorway with stacks of colored paper in their arms. They
dumped them on the table in front of Bird. "Nickie, darling, here are the
fliers for your little celebration. They need to be posted right away,
"
 
said
Gloria.

"I told
you, Gloria, I'm doing Facebook and Twitter to get out the word – geez
save a tree, why don't you?"

Gloria smirked
at her and fiddled with the dozen chipped plastic bangles jangling on her
scrawny wrist. She reminded Max of the old-fashioned ring-toss game at the Kansas
Moon Fair.

"Where's
my dad?" Nickie asked Powers.

"Yeah,
where's Ted?" Max whispered to Bird, realizing he was supposed to be
following him.

"I haven't
any idea," said Powers.

"He'll be
along soon," Gloria answered. "We have a date for lunch."

"
You
have a date? For lunch today?"
snarled Nickie.

"Yes,
dear. Of course, you can join us if you like. But I guess you'd just feel like
a third wheel, now wouldn't you?" said Gloria

"No, he
told me-"

"Oh, here
he is now, Nickie! Ted, come here, darling."

Ted straggled
in, looking confused and tired.

"Ted!
Blast, man, do you call that a ship-worthy suit?" gawked Powers.

"Dad,
what happened to your pants?"

"I fell
down an elevator shaft," Ted said.

"Dad…"

"I've
been thinking about it all morning. Just walking the streets, thinking. I could
have been killed."

Powers gave
Max and Bird a meaningful look,
then
pretended to
drink from an imaginary bottle.

"I know
what you need, Teddy. A nice lunch, how about that? Remember our date for
lunch?" asked Gloria.

"Did we?"
said Ted, faintly. "I thought NIckie and I-"

"Yes, I
invited Nickie but she didn't want to be a third wheel," said Gloria. She
took Ted by the arm and led him away.

"I can't
believe this is happening," said Nickie. "He imagined he fell down an
elevator shaft. An ELEVATOR, Max!"

"Well, it
could have happened, Nickie."

Powers rolled
his eyes.

"Don't
patronize me, Max." She fought back tears. And Gloria's
just
taking
advan-" she paused, looking at Powers. "He's such an
easy target now that he's, he's…"

"Looney?"
offered Bird.

"Clooney?
Never heard of him!" Powers burst out. "I don't know anyone by that
name! Never heard of him!" He gave them a wide-eyed stare and sprang away
to his office.

"Speaking
of loony," said Max, watching Power's bob down the corridor. "And
what's that bandage on his nose?"

"Let me
guess," said Bird. "Nautical accident.
 

Max waited
until Nickie returned to her cubicle
,
then he
confronted Bird. "Where were you when Ted was roaming the streets?"

"I stayed
with him at the athletic club, then he headed back here and when he circled the
block for the twenty-ninth time I could see a pattern emerging. I just left him
to circle and checked up on him from the window at each revolution. Takes him
seventeen minutes to go around the block each time."

"Bird,
you were supposed to keep an eye on him!"

"I did,
Max.
Every seventeen minutes.
Personally, I'd get
dizzy, but," he rolled his chair forward until his knees almost touched
Max's, "it's my opinion that this whole pace is dizzy. I don't know how
this company stays in business."

"You know
more about how this company runs than you pretend, Bird." Max opened Bird's
desk drawer and pulled out the hidden shipping records printout. "Now tell
me what you know and don't leave anything out."

Bird smiled
meekly. "Okay, you caught me, Max. But I planned to share everything I found
out with you. I just haven't found out much yet."

"So what
do
you know?"

"Well, I
noticed that Ted checks the daily shipping record several times a day and seems
confused about it. Shakes his head a lot. So I thought I'd take a look into it."

"And?"

"It doesn't
add up, Max. The daily records are much higher than the monthly tallies show.
And the yearly shipping account books are low, too."

"So
someone's altering the tallies. Why?"

"I don't
know. Somebody wants it to look like the company is doing a lot worse than it
is."

Max rolled
back and forth in his chair and considered this new information. "Could be
tax fraud. That's probably why the IRS is interested. If the company isn't
making much, they don't have to pay as much in taxes. And that money could be
pocketed by the partners."

"Or just
one partner. And how does that affect Ted getting killed?" asked Bird. "I
went into the Records Room and just got started looking at the books but I
heard somebody in the hall and had to sneak out. I think I'll try again right
before closing time."

Max rose. "No,
you go follow Ted and Gloria to lunch and I'll take a look at those books."

Once on the
first floor stairway landing, Max opened the door a crack and peeped through.
No one in sight.
He moved soundlessly into the hallway
toward the door marked RECORDS. His hand on the doorknob, he -

"Max!"

He jumped and
faced Nickie, guilt written all over him.

"There
you are!" she said. "I've been looking all over for you."

"I…I knew
that. I was just looking for you!" said Max.

"Oh, I
wouldn't be in there. Besides, you need a key to get in," she said.

So how did
Bird get in there to see the shipping records? Max wondered.

"Anyway,
I need some help on the loading dock with the flat screen TV and some of the
other big stuff we ordered for the capsule. Are you free?"

"I'm all
yours," said Max with a smile. That Bird, he thought. Where did he get the
key?

That
afternoon, Max returned from the dock to find Bird poring over the pieces of a
Where's Waldo
puzzle, half-assembled on
his desk.

"Where's
Ted?" asked Max.

"Nope,
Where's Waldo
," said Bird.

"You know
what I mean."

"He'd
already left for lunch with Gloria and I couldn't catch up to them."

"What
?!
"

"Max, you
have to admit, it would have been a little conspicuous if I scrambled right after
them. Besides, you detained me a minute, too. Anyway, he's not back yet."
He held up a puzzle piece. "Look at this piece, Max. Do you think
it's
part of Waldo's shirt?"

"What do
you mean, he's not back? It's almost four o'clock!"

"Well,
there's lots of ways to kill an afternoon. Maybe he and Gloria went to a movie.
I hear
Shaaaaane
is playing locally,"
said Bird, smirking. He looked at the picture on the cover of the puzzle box
and discarded the piece. "No, I think that's one of the Egyptian's robes."

They heard
Nickie's voice in the background. "Don't say anything to Nickie about her
dad still being out with Gloria. She's kinda sensitive about that."

"Discretion
is the key," said Bird.

"Oh,
yeah, and speaking of keys, where'd you get it?"

"Get
what, Max? You know, I've noticed that you tend to be a little vague lately.
Could be summer doldrums, could be loooove."

"The key
for the Records Room!"

"Oh,
that, well, that can be explained. I made friends with Estella in Shipping.
Nice lady. You know
her,
she's the one with the short
gray hair. Well, actually it's sort-of a bluish, purplish color, and she sings
Cuban songs."

"No
getting involved – no socializing, Bird!"

 
"Max, I'm not involved! I just asked
her for the key so I could file some records for Nickie. It's no big deal. You
could ask anybody down there – they all have keys."

"Never
mind, I'll take care of it myself!"

"Sure,
Max, you go. If you want to do it the hard way."

Max halted. "What
do you mean, 'do it the hard way'?"

"It's
just that this morning I figured out how to hack into last month's bank
records." Bird smiled and scooted his chair up to his laptop and wiggled
his fingers tantalizingly over the keys. "I love these ancient machines."
His fingers flew over the keys. Columns of numbers scrolled down an Excel
spreadsheet on the screen. "See there, Max.
Every ten
days a new withdrawal.
Sometimes five thousand dollars, sometimes eight,
but always every ten days."

"Who made
the withdrawals? Powers?" said Max.

"Ted. See
there? Ted, in every case."

"Where's
the money going, back into another account?"

"Nope. It
just disappears, Max."

"
Okay, so Ted's using the company's money for something other than
company business.
How long had this been going on? Bird, bring up the
May and June statements."

"Can't do
it, Max.
they
erase after one month. The hard copy is
in the Records Room."

"Which is
where I was going in the first place, Bird!"

"Oh, yeah!
How about that!" Bird laughed.

Max was
weighing the consequences of smacking him when Nickie returned.

"Hi guys.
Have you seen my dad?" Max gave Bird a warning look.

"He was
just here…and then I think he left. Don't know where," said Bird, but it
was too late. Ted and Gloria passed their cubicle.

"Thanks
for listening, Gloria," said Ted. "I'm sorry I went on and on but-"

"You're
just getting back now?" said Nickie.

Ted looked at
his watch. "Wow, I didn't realize it was so late. I'm going to have to
stay late again tonight, Nickie."

"But Dad
–"

"I know,
honey, and I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you." He reached in his pocket
and handed her a wad of money. "Here, why don't you and Jen go to a movie
tonight." He turned and walked toward his office.

"But Jen
is – thanks. Thanks a lot, Dad." She stood there for a moment, clutching
the crumpled bills in her hand. "Max, do you think you can stand to see
Shane
for the million and second time?"

"Yeah!"
whooped Max. Bird leered at him. "Uh, Nickie, why don't you grab some
fliers and we can post them on the way?" He turned her by the shoulders
and gave her a little nudge out the door.

"Now
weren't you the one who said 'no socializing!' just a minute ago?" asked
Bird, sauntering forward. "And what about that ol' Policy of Non-Involvement?"

"This is
business, Bird. Research or culture study or…stop laughing, Bird! And follow
Ted. I don't want you to lose track of him again today."
 

"Twenty
four hours, still?"

"Right. I'll
come and relieve you tonight at midnight," said Max, hurrying out.

"Study
hard," called Bird.

That night,
after Max saw Nickie safely to her door, he looked for Bird. He looked in the
hallway. He looked in the stairwell. He looked in the street outside the
building. No Bird. He pulled out his phone and called him.
Straight
to voicemail.

He raced to
the motel and burst into the bathroom. "What are you doing here? You
should be watching Ted!"

Bird sat low
in the bubble bath, a washcloth draped over his face. "I did. I followed
him home where he ate dinner and went to bed," said Bird. "But first
he went for Chinese take-out. Do you want to know what he ordered?"

"Urrrghhhh!
You make me so mad, Bird!"

 
"Moo Goo Gai Pan."

"We know
he's embezzling, he might leave town!"

"Won ton,
pork-fried rice, tea, fortune cookie. I didn't get close enough to read the
fortune."

"Bird!"

"Relax a
minute, Max. He was there when you took Nickie home, right? And that must have
been…" He leaned over the side of the tub and checked his Swatch watch. "About
one o'clock! I thought you were going to relieve me at midnight!"

"I…I took
a lot of time looking around the building for you," said Max.

"A whole
hour and a half looking for me? Very conscientious, Sergeant!"

"We're
not talking about me, Bird!"

"Must
have been a good date, huh?"

"Shut up,
Bird!"

"Ah! The
feminine earth meeting the masculine sky! Don't you just love nature?"
said Bird splashing him.

Bluebell gave
a deep, loud snort from the other room.

"What's
wrong with her?" said Max, peeping through the door.

"Nothing.
It's that late night Japanese soap opera. She's hooked on it. Tonight Sumi-san
marries her surgeon," said Bird.

Max shook his
head, got the sonic wand out of the drawer and aimed it at his teeth and gums.

"So, you're
not going back to watch Ted?" asked Bird.

"Well, if
you think he's okay, I guess I think he's okay," Max yawned.

"Oh,
yeah, you're pretty tired aren't you, cowpoke? Yep, romancing's hard work. Need
your rest to rope in that little heifer!"

Max left the
bathroom without giving him the satisfaction of a reply.

"Don't
forget to meditate on the dog for twenty minutes," called Bird.

"My dog's
chasing a rabbit," mumbled Max, pulling on his pajamas.

"Ask the
dog to take you to your Medicine Man. You'll know him by his decorations; a fur
hat with feathers at the back of the neck…"

Max climbed
into bed, closed his eyes and meditated on the back of Nickie's neck.

"With a
small, whole dead bird attached to the side, a necklace of beads, bone and
teeth…"

Max thought of
Nickie's even white teeth shining back at him from the darkness of the movie
theater.

"With six
large dots painted on the cheeks and crescent moons on the chin and forehead…"

Max remembered
how the moon had shone on her face as they sat on the roof of the theater. And
how she laughed when they sent the folded paper airplane fliers sailing.

"PPPPbbbbhhhh!"
howled Bluebell.

"What's
up with her now, Bird?"

"Go back
to sleep, Max. She always cries at weddings."

Max slipped
his arm under his pillow and dreamed of Nickie's warm arm on the theater
armrest.