Without Any Warning (A Samantha Jamison Mystery Volume 2) (23 page)

Chapter 81

My Pal Joey

Who was Joey? That was the snag that always kept catching. On the one hand, I felt I had to discover his identity. On the other, I didn’t want to. He was no pal of mine and certainly didn’t seem like the kind of guy you wanted to bring home to meet the family.

I was walking through my thoughts, wondering why so much trouble seemed to be constantly dialing my number. Why was I always sifting minutiae, trying to put a logical spin on it? Curiosity? It certainly was a powerful aphrodisiac. Was it also a killer? Did that old cliché apply to writers too? I felt that solving the finer points on this, and the worry about my safety just might.

I picked up the phone, which was ringing. “Hello.”

“Sam, don’t say a thing, just hear me out.”

It was
Clay
.
What was I just saying about minutiae?

“Look, I’m busy with my own problems here. I don’t need to add to them. Can’t this wait?” I asked.

“Hold on, Sam. Just listen. Then you can hang up.”

“I’m here and I’m listening, but it’ll cost you in the future, you know,” I threatened.

“This is serious. You need to be careful about Joey.”

“How did you know about this Joey business?” I asked, suddenly attentive. But after I asked that, I realized this was the same guy who knew what I was doing even before I knew what I was doing; another story, another book. But now, without any warning, he apparently was inexplicably connected to what was currently going on.

Why?

“All I’m saying is Joey is not the kind of person you want to tangle with. Just let David handle this on his own.”

“…What does David have to do with this conversation?”

“I knew you wouldn’t let me help, so I asked him to.”

My head was spinning. “Well, he’s not. He’s trouble too. And as usual, my patience is wearing thin.”

“Let’s just say for now, Sam, he’s your guardian angel.”

“Were you two related in another life? Like you, he reads like the devil incognito, who happens to be driving me crazy with his evasions and deception. Does any of this sound familiar? More to the point, I definitely don’t need a guardian. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thank you, very much!”

“Oh, please don’t thank me,” explained Clay. “David was compliments of my favorite dreaded twosome, Betty and Hazel. They were worried and asked me for help. That’s why they’re in Ocean City. They overheard me on the phone with Martha and put two and two together.”

Not wanting to become more confused, I cut him off. “Yeah, I know, and got four.”

What did Martha say to him?

Suddenly, he threw me. “You have work to do Sam.”

“Like what?” I asked, not getting his line of thought.

“Obviously, you haven’t unraveled the gift I sent you.”

“What do you mean unravel?” I asked,
still mentally playing catch-up from his previous unexpected comment. But suddenly another thought latched onto it. Was this connected to him leaving town? “Hey! Hold on! Where’d you take off to? What exactly were you and Martha talking about…?”
And then, just like that, I was talking to a dead line...

What did my pal Joey have to do with Clay’s gift? How was I supposed to unravel it? What words were exchanged between Martha and Clay? Were they all somehow related? All things being equal, I was steaming hot!

Why was I always left hanging like one of my dangling participles?

Chapter 82

Get The Picture

Instinct was something I was still learning to run with instead of second-guessing myself so much. I was trying not to jump to conclusions and letting all the information I had collected so far coalesce. The difficulty was that none of it made sense because I wasn’t getting the whole picture.

How did it all fit? Could I get to the bottom of it?

I was currently waiting for my two personal bookends to arrive. Their suggested get together was reminiscent of times past. I looked around. It definitely wasn’t the local tea room, but was chosen by them and was a place they insisted upon at the last minute.

I was somewhat concerned as I looked around, and a little uneasy. This was the same place I took that nasty tumble, the Cape May Zoo, where I had developed an aversion to cages.

“Well, we’re glad you could make it,” said Betty in my ear.

I jumped, not expecting someone to sneak up on me, and felt unnerved and annoyed with myself for not being more observant. I turned to face them.

“What’s up?”

Hazel stepped closer. “We found out something real interesting that might surprise you,” she announced proudly.

“Oh, yeah?” No matter what I did, I was never quite prepared for these two and what they always seemed to accidentally uncover.

What was it now?

I looked down anxiously at the tigers pacing back and forth, while standing firmly rooted to the
middle
of the elevated walkway. “By the way, couldn’t we have met in front of the giraffe exhibit instead?”

Betty looked around. “We wanted crowds so no one would hear what we were saying. Noise tends to obscure conversations. It’s the perfect place to talk. Trust us, Sam. Lightning will not strike twice. What are the chances of you accidentally falling down there a second time?”

I bit back my fear of falling and looked at them, focusing on the subject at hand. “If I wasn’t so anxious to solve this thing, I would have reneged on the invite, coming to conclusions on my own without your help. The only problem with that idea was that you two always end up throwing me angles I never would have figured out by myself. So, I’m here and I’m listening. Go ahead. Talk.”

“We found some interesting facts about that real estate agent, Pat Harris,” said Hazel, smugly. “I can tell you, this is one for the books!”

I looked first at Betty and then at Hazel. “…Well, what?”

They both looked around and then Betty said in a lowered voice, “Does the name Josephine Baker ring a bell?”

I was taken back for a second by her crazy question. “…What does a dead jazz singer have to do with this?” I asked, glancing down below.
Those tigers looked hungry.
I swung my gaze back to them. “And your point is?”

“Don’t be dense,” said Betty. “We pushed the legal limits on our research, but sure enough, Pat’s not her real name.”

I risked life and limb standing there for a riddle
?

“You’re joking. Right?” I asked, still totally confused. “Does Pat sing, too?”

Hazel stared at me. “That’s her real name! Don’t you get it, Sam?”

I stared back. “I guess not. What am I missing here?”

“Josephine? Joey? Pat could be the infamous Joey!”

Chapter 83

Oh My! Another One?

Internally, my levels of cortisol were still escalating, obviously from those bookworms, but I still had to grill, you know who,
Martha.
She sat uneasily across from me, carefully folding and refolding her handkerchief. Distracted, I just stared at it. I didn’t realize people still used them. It was feminine and lacy… I stopped mid-thought. …I was getting mentally sidetracked.

I sat up straighter, determined to get this right. “How about some straight talk about you calling Clay.”

“Exactly what conversation are you talking about?” asked Martha carefully. “You’re covering a lot of territory with that question. Remember, I’ve known him a long time.”

Well, shoot!
How was I to answer that?

I hated faking my way through these conversations! My brain was getting tired working overtime. I wasn’t getting enough sleep, overly concerned about my safety and who might be, or might not be Joey,
who apparently was still searching for me and what I possessed,
which was zip! I had gone through everything again. I’m sure I now qualified as an organizational expert, knowing precisely where every damn thing in my house was located.

I zeroed in once more. “Recently is what I’m interested in,” I finally responded.

“How recently?” she shot back, smiling innocently.

She wasn’t doing me any favors, probably trying to figure out where I was going with this. It was always a mind game with her. Martha wasn’t one to give up any information easily. I learned that in the past. She made you work for it. I was convinced she was regularly exchanging words with Clay. I finally decided on a general, all-encompassing approach.

“How about we narrow it down to your current location.”

“Sam, see it from my side. You picked up and walked away, expecting all of us to automatically understand your motives. It caught everyone by surprise, even me.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry, but I needed time for me.”

She eyed me carefully and then spoke softly. “Listen, Sam. Life’s not a bed of roses. Trust me. I know from experience. We all have to make allowances for how people react to certain situations, even you.

“We’ve all gone through a lot in the last year, you losing a husband and all, while making adjustments to your life with all the baggage that came with it. We all have. It can get overwhelming. I understand that. But at some point, you have to stop running and look around at what you really want from life.”

“That might take some time,” I replied. “I’m not ready to cross that bridge yet. I’m still figuring out who I am.”

“Then let’s leave it there for now. I’ve only two more things to add. I’m getting bad vibes with things running hot and cold around here. This Joey needs to be exposed before someone gets hurt, and that someone will most likely be you. That’s the only reason I’ve been in touch with Clay. Oh, and one more thing. Hang on to your seat for this one.”

“Why? I asked, suddenly wary of what she had to say.

“I did some, let’s just say, my kind of digging deep and came up with something sort of unexpected that you might find interesting.”

I sat there biting my tongue, as she drew out the suspense. I couldn’t stand it any longer. “What?”

“Were you aware that Mona’s middle name is Josephina?”

Chapter 84

J Walking And Wondering Why

Okay, now I had two possible Joeys. I was mentally walking through what I was told and pacing my room, trying to weigh up. How many Joeys were out there?

Apparently more than necessary.
Plausible?

Could the infamous Joey be a woman? I’d never considered that. If so, which one? Or, could it be merely a coincidence with all these so called ‘
Joeys’
unexpectedly surfacing? Were all of us over thinking the possibilities, trying to explain away something that was beyond us, while the truth was staring all of us right in the face?

Another thought struck me. Was someone trying to distract me from seeing the obvious? You know,
look over at this hand, but don’t pay attention to what I’m doing with the other hand
kind of maneuver. That was another possibility.

I could already tell there wouldn’t be a shortage of words or chapters in this book. There was too much going on. The question now in my storyline was, where do I go from here? Who do I see next and why? Somehow, I always arrived at that point, sometimes sooner, other times later. With this one, I was on the fence, you know, sort of in the middle. A lot of interesting facts, but nothing tied together yet with any coherent explanation.

Let’s see. I had my past and present now commingling in a bizarre web I didn’t understand, but somehow I felt I was getting close. How close? Not sure about that either.

I also had multiple Joeys piling up on the sidelines, with the probability that they were merely mental decoys while the original was hovering on the periphery waiting to strike.

I’d had multiple warnings from certain individuals; past, present, friendly, and not so friendly. Whose warning should I take seriously and whose should I choose to ignore?

You think this is easy figuring all this out? Why, it kept me up most nights, trying to keep all the facts and everyone with all their idiosyncrasies straight in my mind. The mental list was overflowing and, I might add, overwhelming.

Who was really here to help me and who wasn’t? Who had their own personal agenda, with my fate hanging in the balance? It seemed that’s how it worked out. I was always left hanging out there until I finally figured it all out. And let me tell you, I was going to figure this out!

Could someone from the FBI have been the one who fabricated this character, Joey, out of thin air? Or, did Mona make him up? Was David telling me the truth? I gave those ideas more time to rattle around my mind, seeing if they would take shape. No go. Not enough facts to take it any further, only hearsay by some people who now I was no longer sure about.

I had to settle on just walking through those details once again to try and figure out where and who this mysterious Joey could be, and, hopefully, I could stay safe until it was all over. I was mystified, wondering why this one was proving so hard to solve.