Iris Avenue (25 page)

“Who is the old witch that sent someone to threaten you?”

“The one that’s offered fifty grand to anyone who kills Brian Fitzpatrick. I told that county woman that Duane was braggin’ about killin’ Ray, and now I hear Duane got his throat cut, too. If there’s nobody gonna protect me I gotta get outta town.”

She gestured to a suitcase sitting behind the kitchen door.

“What did Mrs. Wells want to know?”

“Same as the feds, where’s Brian. And I don’t know. I haven’t heard from him. He called Ray for help and no one that I know has heard from him since.”

“So why are you here in your parents’ house?” Scott asked her.

“I’m flat broke, Scott. I need some money, and I was hoping there’d be something in here I could pawn. It’s all just crappy furniture. They took everything worth anything.”

“How did you get in?”

“I’ve been sneaking in and out of this house my whole life,” Phyllis said.

“You said the agent threatened you?”

“He said no one was going to protect me unless I could tell them where Brian is. Well, plenty of people probably saw the county bitch at my place, and now that the feds have been there my life isn’t worth a plug nickel. As soon as they left, I packed a bag and got the hell out.”

“Do you know who killed Duane?”

“Mrs. Wells knows the cops are closing in on her and she’s knocking off anyone who could point the finger back at her. I heard there’s gonna be a lot more killed before this is over.”

“Who told you?”

“I know a gal knows a guy who works for her, and they say it’s kill or be killed right now.”

“Did you tell the FBI about that?”

“No, I didn’t hear that until just a little while ago. People are leaving town in droves, you know, not just me. No one who’s seen her face is safe now.”

“Where will you go, Phyllis?” Ed asked.

“I’d like to go to Florida, where my folks are. Make a new start there.”

Ed thought of her poor parents, who’d left Rose Hill to make a new start far away from their problematic daughter.

“They would expect you to go there, though,” Scott said. “You need to come up with a better plan.”

“I’m not what you would call a planner,” Phyllis said. “I’m more of a look before you leaper.”

“When Theo was alive,” Scott asked, “you and Brian worked for him, didn’t you?”

“I don’t wanna talk about that,” Phyllis said.

“If you want my help you will,” Scott said.

“We did some jobs for Theo,” Phyllis admitted. “I’m not proud of that.”

“I know you and Brian helped Theo blackmail some people,” Scott said, and even though it was a lie, he said, “I saw the pictures.”

“Gosh, Scott,” Phyllis said, looking nervously at Ed. “I didn’t know you knew about all that.”

“When Theo died he left a safe full of blackmail evidence,” Scott said. “And the feds have it. The agent asked you about that, didn’t he?”

Phyllis didn’t answer, and she didn’t seem to want to look either of them in the eye.

“So help me, Phyllis,” Scott said. “I’ll call the feds right now and have them come get you.”

“Alright, alright,” Phyllis said, and then looked at Ed. “I’m sorry, Ed, for what I did to your dad. He was a nice fella and didn’t deserve it.”

“My dad?” Ed said. “What did you do to my dad?”

“Theo didn’t want him printing something in the paper, so Brian got him drunk, brought him to my place, and we took some pictures. He didn’t do anything, he was just out of it and we made it look like he did.”

“That’s probably what killed him,” Ed said. “You know he died of a heart attack.”

“I’m sorry,” Phyllis said. “I was too scared not to do whatever Theo wanted.”

“Which blackmail victim did the agent ask you about?” Scott demanded. “Not Ed’s father.”

“He wanted to know who Brian could blackmail into helping him. He said there were some photos missing, and he wanted to know the names of all the people we set up.”

“Did you tell him?”

“I didn’t know what pictures he had and what he didn’t. I told him all the ones I could remember.”

“Who did you name?”

“I told him Ed’s dad, the last fire chief, Doc Machalvie, and Knox’s dad. I don’t remember the name of that judge who lives up past you on the hill.”

“Eric Estep was the fire chief, and Bertram Rodefeffer was Knox’s dad. Do you mean Judge Feinman?”

“Yeah, that’s him.”

“And that’s all?”

“They’re the local ones. There was some I didn’t know; they weren’t from around here.”

“The only ones from around here who are still alive are Judge Feinman and Doc Machalvie,” Ed said to Scott.

Ed’s dad had died of a heart attack while sitting in his usual spot in the Rose and Thorn, Eric Estep had killed himself with a shotgun blast, and Bertram Rodefeffer had died in a car accident. Ed now wondered if all those deaths were a result of Theo’s blackmail.

“So, Duane was also involved in the blackmail,” Scott said.

“Sometimes,” Phyllis said. “When Theo wanted the pictures to be two men together. You know what I mean.”

“Did you tell that to the FBI?”

“No!” Phyllis said. “I just heard about that, I didn’t ever see those getting made. Brian and Duane did those at Duane’s place.”

Phyllis looked wretched. Scott told her to go to the bathroom and clean herself up, and she meekly did as she was told.

“I can’t believe they did that to my dad,” Ed said quietly. “That must have destroyed him.”

Scott took his cell phone out of his pocket, held his hand out for Ed’s, and then put them both in the refrigerator. Ed looked at him like he was crazy, but Scott held his finger up to his lips and shook his head.

“We don’t have much time,” Scott said quietly. “Would you be willing to drive to the bus station in Pendleton? I’d like to get her out of town as quickly and as quietly as possible.”

“What about the feds? Aren’t we supposed to be cooperating with them?”

“I think we’re being played,” Scott said. “My cell phone is probably bugged, but I’m not sure if it’s the feds or Mrs. Wells. I think all the interested parties know where Phyllis is right now, and that we’re with her. I think if we leave her alone she’ll either get her throat slit or the feds will arrest her.”

“So how do we get her out of town?”

“Where’s your new car?”

“It’s sitting in my garage, why?”

“Go get it, and meet me behind the police station. I have an idea, but we’ll have to work out the details on the fly.”

Ed went home and Drew assured him he was glad to stay with Tommy longer. Ed backed the Volvo out of the garage and drove the short distance down Iris Avenue, up Peony Street and then down the alley behind the police station. Within fifteen minutes, Sean arrived with his car, and Scott arrived with his SUV. They all got out and met in the parking lot.

“Did you leave your cell phone behind?” he asked Sean and he nodded.

“Wait with me until the ladies get here,” Scott said.

About that time, a group of three women came walking down the alley. They were all dressed in dark coats with scarves wrapped around their heads, carrying suitcases. When they reached the parking lot they split up, and each woman got into a different vehicle. When Ed got in his car, he recognized Hannah as his passenger, even though only her eyes showed.

She held her finger up to her lips and handed him a sheet of note paper with Scott’s writing on it:

“Go to the Pendleton bus station, leave her, and come back to the bar.”

As they pulled out of the parking lot, Ed wondered which vehicle had Phyllis in it, and where it was taking her. Although he kept checking his rear view mirror, he never did see anyone following him.

At just before one thirty they all met back at the Rose and Thorn. Sean took out his note, showed it to Ed, and then set it on fire in an ashtray. He also sang the “Mission Impossible” theme song as he did so. Ed added his note to the fire.

Patrick and a sleepy looking beagle came back with Hannah at one forty-five. They were bickering.

“The only reason I’m still alive is because I made him pull over so I could drive,” Hannah said. “I’m gonna thank Scott with a kick in the pants for sending this crazy drunk to pick me up.”

“I’m not drunk,” Patrick said. “You just can’t stand not to be in charge.”

Scott came into the bar alone and sat with his friends. Patrick turned up the volume of the music and they all leaned forward over the table in the booth until their heads almost touched.

“Everyone okay?” Scott asked, and Sean and Ed both nodded.

“I never saw anyone following me,” Ed said and Sean concurred.

“That’s because they were following me,” Scott said. “I had a tail all the way to Markleysburg, and then I lost him in the speed trap. I used a public pay phone to call my buddy Karl over there before I left, and he let me go by but stopped the tail. It was one of Jamie’s crew.”

“Who was with you?” Ed asked him.

“Delia,” Scott said. “I took her to her sister’s house. Ian’s going to pick her up in the morning.”

“How did they know what we were going to do?” Ed asked.

“I left my cell phone at Phyllis’s,” Scott said. “So either they’ve been following me all night or there’s a tracking device on my Explorer.”

The wake was winding down, mostly because the majority of the participants were passed out or mumbling into their drinks. Sean and Patrick decided to play beer pong. Mandy told them if they weren’t going to help, she wasn’t cleaning anything up, and was leaving with Ed and Scott. Banjo the beagle made himself comfortable on his bed in the back office, and then fell asleep to the sound of Billie Holliday and his beloved Patrick’s voice.

Ed and Scott waited for Mandy outside the bar before parting ways.

“Aren’t you worried about being on the wrong side of the feds?” Ed asked his friend.

“I’m more worried about the people in Rose Hill,” Scott said. “It seems like Jamie doesn’t care who he hurts to get what he wants.”

“You think Doc is the one who helped Brian.”

“I do, and I think Jamie does too.”

“You think Doc is safe in there?” he jerked a thumb back toward the pub, where Doc was fast asleep in a booth.

“Patrick and Sean are going to make sure he gets home safely. I’ll have Frank stay with him overnight.”

“What about Judge Feinman?”

“He’s on vacation in Europe. He chose a good time to be gone.”

“Maybe he knew.”

“Maybe.”

“If there’s anything else I can do, you’ll let me know?”

“I will. Thanks for tonight.”

“No problem. It seemed like a spy game we would’ve played when we were kids.”

“If Jamie comes to see you, you’ll let me know.”

“I will.”

“What’s going on?” Mandy asked when she came out.

“Where’s your cell phone?” Ed asked her.

“It died on me a week ago. I told you that,” she said, and rolled her eyes at Scott. “It’s at home.”

Ed said goodbye to Scott and grabbed Mandy by the hand. As they walked home he told her everything.

“I’m not so naive that I’m surprised about the FBI not being what they seem to be,” he said. “It’s one thing to read about this kind of stuff going on, and it’s another to actually meet the guy and like him.”

“I only just met him and I don’t like him,” Mandy said. “He’s one of them guys that thinks he’s God’s gift to women.”

“I’m considering printing the truth about all of it and damning the consequences.”

“You can’t do that, Ed,” Mandy said. “Think of all the people you’d hurt–pert near everybody we care about. You need to keep your head down and count your blessings.”

“If I don’t blow the whistle, then I’m just as bad as the person who broke the law.”

“What if it was me that broke the law?” Mandy asked him. “What if I broke the law and I’d lose Tommy if you turned me in? Then what?”

“That’s different,” Ed said. “That’s completely different.”

“Well, if you’re askin’ for my advice I say don’t use a shotgun when a pea-shooter will do.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“A shotgun makes a big noise and a big mess. A pea shooter just stings like the devil.”

“So if a news story is a shotgun blast, what’s the pea shooter?”

“Something that stings bad enough to stop Jamie in his tracks,” Mandy said.

When Drew arrived at the wake, the stamped tin ceiling of the Rose and Thorn was obscured by cigarette and cigar smoke. Fitz Fitzpatrick was passed out in his wheelchair with his chin on his chest. Patrick and Sean were playing beer pong, and Hannah was playing solitaire on the computer in the back office. Hannah was more than ready to go, so Drew declined all offers of a drink and they walked out to the animal control truck.