Without Any Warning (A Samantha Jamison Mystery Volume 2) (18 page)

Chapter 61

Driving & Drinking & Dunking Donuts

I was sitting at the stop sign, getting ready to make a right turn when I spotted Mona’s car in the Dunkin Donuts parking lot. She was sitting behind the wheel, sipping coffee, munching on a donut and reading a newspaper.

I pretty much knew where she would be at this time of day. I had previously followed her enough times to know, like me, she was a creature of habit, her sweet tooth craving a donut, and then a coffee, in that order.

I couldn’t wait any longer. I needed some concrete answers. So this time, instead of continuing on, I pulled in to the parking lot and jumped into her car.

Without turning, she stuck out her arm, handed me a hot coffee, and then pointed. “Donuts are in the box.” She was finishing an article in her paper. “I knew you’d show up.”

I stared at my coffee, and then up at her. “ESP?”

She turned to me. “I was wondering when you were finally going to pull in and join me for coffee, instead of watching me from your car before you usually turned.”

“How long have you known?” I asked, red-faced at her knowing my routine so well, so much for my covert surveillance skills.

“You have a lot to learn. You’re not exactly FBI caliber.”

“No, that’s true, but under the circumstances I find myself in at the moment, I’m seriously under the gun. And I don’t mean on paper either. I felt I had to jumpstart something.”

She turned to me. “So, what’s up? Come on, spill.”

“That’s what I was going to ask you. What’s going on?”

Mona suddenly appeared edgy. “Why the sudden interest?”

“Well, it involves you and your two cohorts.”

She reached for her coffee, spilling some. “Oh damn!” When she finished cleaning up, she turned to look at me. “Okay, you might as well go ahead and tell me what you know. You’ve obviously been a very busy woman.”

So I did, the motel, knowing the two guys on the boardwalk, and the latest incident, the overheard beach conversation. “Mona, this has gone beyond the ‘you don’t really need to know stage.’ I really need to know. Now!”

She leaned back against the headrest. “…Those two bozos don’t work for Joey. …They’re FBI.”

I stared at her. “Why are you meeting them so often?”

She sighed. “The FBI put me in their witness protection program and those two were my handlers. They moved me around a lot, but Joey somehow kept finding me. I didn’t feel safe with them protecting me. So I finally bolted.”

“So, why are you still meeting them in a motel room?”

She looked at me sharply. “I was trying to protect you. I knew they couldn’t. All they’re interested in is getting that damn disc before Joey gets his slimy hands on it.”

I nodded. Things were slowly falling in place. “Is that why you were attacked on the beach that night when you first got here?”

“Probably, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the FBI, and I don’t think it was Joey. It’s not his style.”

I laughed. “Like Martha always says, ‘I bet you a dollar to a donut,’ we’d both be surprised by whom.”

Who was it?

Chapter 62

La Famiglia`

I’m sitting there, thinking things through. Why do I even bother with all this?
There was no way the aggravation was worth it. I wish I could say what was going on, but lately that wasn’t happening. My book was at a standstill, my house now included so-called extended family, no one was telling me squat, and I’d run out of possible theories. So what was a girl to do? Why, go to the nearest possible source.

Next door.

I was desperate for any kind of explanation about what directly affected me and, of course, Mona. Now, as far as my book was concerned, it was filled with interesting sidebars of information, some useful, some not.

But that didn’t mean anything unless I could actually tie everything together. I couldn’t. Not yet. Those strings of information led me so far and then they abruptly ended. Nothing seemed to naturally fall into its rightful place. To be honest, it never did. I always ended up nudging it along.

An outrageous thought hit me. Might someone break in to hide something and not steal it? Now that was a crazy concept I had never considered before. With that possibility in mind, I tore through the house again, meticulously searching for the disc; even behind paintings.

To tell you the truth, there were not that many places it could possibly be. My rental house had only a few closets or storage spaces. That is, if someone were to actually hide it there. I tried to think out of the box on this thing.

If someone did break in to hide something, why would they? To retrieve it later on? Maybe, they hid it for me to discover on my own? Maybe, I had it all this time and they were waiting for me to put two and two together. If so, where could it possibly be? I still faced that same old problem. I couldn’t find that damn disc.

So, I walked across the courtyard and knocked on David’s door. Seeing no foot traffic below, I figured he was alone. After all, like I said earlier, cleaning my kitchen sink and my counter had its rewards. And that courtyard was my territory. I was about to ring the doorbell and not expecting multiple footsteps on the stairwell, when the door suddenly swung open.

 
I was rooted to the spot, as my mouth fell open. There stood Pat, saying her goodbyes to David.

How
interesting!

“…It was fun, David! Well, I’d better get going.”

How sweet!

She turned. “Oh! Hi, Samantha! I was just leaving. He’s all yours!”

How convenient!

I watched her leave. Pat had on the shortest shorts I have ever seen, a halter-top and sandals. Well, so much for my expert surveillance skills. Now, where’d she come from?

How mysterious!

David must have read my thoughts. “Hi, Sam! Pat was passing by on the boardwalk and saw me up on my deck. I waved her over and invited her in for an iced tea.”

How nice!

As she walked away, I noticed her carrying a briefcase. Now, what would she be doing here with her briefcase? And why would she be walking on the boardwalk with it? I was abruptly yanked from further thoughts on that subject.

Suddenly David looked both ways, grabbed my arm, quickly ushered me into his foyer and firmly closed the door shut behind us.

How odd!
Why the big rush to get inside?

“I didn’t expect you here today,” he said, slightly agitated.

“Obviously,” I replied.

Was someone watching him too?

“What’s up?” he asked with a slight note of impatience.

I looked up at him. “For once, I would appreciate some specifics. I need some answers David. Somehow, I’m caught up in this mess. My house is like a circus, and I’m having a hard time figuring why I’ve been singled out and put on the spot.”

David sighed, leaning on the spiral handrail that led upstairs and crossed his arms, shaking his head. “…Because you seem to be in possession of something very valuable that multiple parties are interested in. And because of that, the FBI thinks you’re tied to the Mafia.”

Chapter 63

I’m Breathing, I’m Talking, I’m What?

“I’m what?” I shouted, breathing heavily and shaking from righteous anger. “David, what’s going on? I’m just a fiction writer! Not some made guy! Or is the term made woman? You see? I can’t even get the lingo right!” I said, pacing and talking excitedly. I threw up my arms in total frustration. “Talk about outrageous developments! Even I’m not that inventive.”

“Sam, calm down.”

I stopped, pivoted to face him, waiting and staring him down, angry as all get out. “Well, what have you got to say for yourself?”

He said absolutely nothing, just ran his hand over his eyes and rubbed his forehead, as though dealing with a child. He was probably trying to think of some lame excuse to placate me for the time being. Well, I wasn’t buying any of it.

I came needing something that would explain why my world was headed way off course. Instead, I was hearing that my future suddenly had the word
dangerous
written all over it.

He leaned in real close. “I’m having a hard time trying to keep a lid on this thing. You want to get hurt? If not, then do absolutely nothing. Hear me? Now, why don’t you go back home before I completely lose my temper.”

I was burning up inside with indignation.

Who did he think he was talking to
?

 
I stared him down. “Like hell I will,” I threw back. I noticed his hands twitch at his sides. I was pushing limits and enjoying it immensely.

I took a mental time out, forcing myself to smile unexpectedly to throw him completely off. “Do you actually think you’re intimidating me?” What he didn’t know, was that my palms were sweating and crazy nightmarish thoughts were scrambling across my brain at that very moment.

After reading tons of books and watching all those gangster movies over the years, my imagination was vividly running unrestrained. And I might add, none of it was very pretty, either.

Well, out of nowhere, he smiled too. “Good! I’m glad you’re upset. It will keep us both totally focused, you on staying out of harm's way, and me on getting to the bottom of this ugly mess before it gets riskier than it already is.”

Well, that threw me. I glared at him. “What do you know that I don’t?”

“Now, don’t give me that look,” he said. “I already told you once before, I was here to protect you.”

“Yeah, I know all that, but you forgot one little detail about that whole strange evening back at my house. You walked out without explaining why. Remember?”

He smirked. “Hey, I’m not perfect, okay? Let’s forget that for now. You need to stop snooping around. And I mean for real!”

Mentally and physically, I had no intention of doing any of that, but verbally, I was willing to let it go, thinking I might learn more if I kept to the agenda at hand. “Come on, David! You’ve got to tell me something.”

“Like I said before, for your own safety, I can’t. I know, that’s not what you wanted to hear, but if I don’t get to the bottom of this soon, you’re in grave danger. Do you hear me? You know, like in dead bodies!”

I stood there, mute. I tried to speak, but couldn’t.

What did he just say?

He then opened his door, grabbed my shoulders and slowly guided me carefully over the threshold, whispering, “Now, again, I reiterate: If you know what’s good for you, please stay out of it!” Then he closed the door and locked it behind me.

All alone outside, I nervously looked both ways. No one was there. I breathed in.
I breathed out, trying to calm myself down. I could barely move, let alone get the words out.
“…I’m what?”

In grave danger? Dead bodies?

Chapter 64

Going Over & Going There

Days had passed and I was still mindlessly bouncing my finger on one of the keys on my laptop, but not hard enough to actually type something. I was trying to think. It seemed that’s all I was doing lately,
thinking
, which was a hazardous endeavor on my part. But hey, I liked to live on the wrong side of caution.

Somehow, I always found a way to maneuver through it. This time I was just as stumped and just as frustrated, and like before, my brain was not coughing up much. Even after giving the house another run-through, I was still empty handed.

Where was that disc? I had to find it!

David had rattled me, so I was currently in a semi-quasi lock down mode. I had ventured out to follow Mona once or twice, was paying extra attention to Betty and Hazel’s movements and conversations, still had hopes for Martha’s instincts, and quite frankly didn’t know how to handle Barbara at the moment.

This is why: She had approached me, needing to speak in private. “Do you mind if I ask a personal question Samantha?”

Curiosity hovered on the sidelines. “No, go right ahead.”

“How well do you know this David fellow?”

I hesitated. “…Why? Is there a problem?”

She leaned forward. “I don’t mean to sound alarming, but there seems to be an inordinate amount of people going in and out of his house. Is that always the case? Or am I just making something out of nothing?”

Now, there were two ways I could handle my reply. I didn’t want to place Barbara in danger by telling her, so I could play dumb and dismiss her concerns and move on to another topic, or nudge around the edges, and take the opportunity to nonchalantly feel her out about what she may have actually heard, and who she might have seen, without her becoming too suspicious about why I was asking in the first place?

Now, you already knew which way I was headed, didn’t you?
I felt I had nudged enough edges.

I sipped my tea and forced a smile. “What did you see?”

 
She set her cup down. “Well, I saw Bill, that realtor, and one of his agents. I believe you mentioned at one time her name was Pat. I also noticed Crystal coming and going a lot. Then there was that afternoon I saw those two guys go in. I must admit, they were the oddest pair.” She shifted slightly.

“One was muscular and fairly good-looking and the other was sort of on the bookish side and wore glasses. They seemed to be in a heated argument all the way across the courtyard, right up to David’s front door. Obviously, David knew them, because he opened his door and let them right in. What are your thoughts about all this activity?”

“Well, Bill and Pat handle the lease, and Crystal cleans his house. But the two men, I’m not so sure about.”

Yeah,
I knew who they were. The question was, why were they at David’s?

Barbara leaned in. “Samantha, I’m worried.”

I smiled. “I wouldn’t be concerned if I were you.”

“Oh, but I am. Especially since I saw Martha going over there too!”