Dumpster Dicing (Bunco Biddies Book 1) Read online

  Blake swung open the kitchen door and traipsed in with Janie teetering behind him.

  Bobby shot to his feet, spilling his lemonade. He narrowed his eyes as he pivoted, and yelled through clenched teeth. “Aunt Mildred?”

  “I’m sorry, but...”

  Bobby didn’t wait for an explanation. He dashed for the front door.

  Blake dodged and slammed himself against the wood before Bobby reached the entryway. “Sit down, son. We need to talk.”

  “No way, man.” The two men wove back and forth like animals about to pounce. Bobby jolted and ran towards Janie. She stuck out her purse and whacked him in the gut.

  “Ohhh.” He bent over but swirled behind her. He grabbed her, wrapping an arm over her shoulders, and clenched Janie to his chest. In his other hand, he clicked open a switch blade and pressed the edge against her neck. “Don’t come any nearer or the old broad gets sliced.”

  Janie wobbled to keep balanced, wishing her bent-behind leg could catch his groin, but he’d thought of that and moved to the side. He began to back them both into the kitchen.

  Mildred brought both hands to her open mouth and whimpered.

  Blake extended his in front of him, fingers widespread. “Come on, son. Let’s not get stupid. All we want to do is talk to you. You aren’t under arrest. Not yet.”

  The young man’s eyes darted about the room as he inched backwards a few more steps with Janie in tow. “I mean it, man. One sweep and she’ll bleed out before you can get help.”

  The detective lowered his arms. “You wouldn’t do that, Bobby. Not to your aunt’s best friend.”

  “I might.” His jawline tightened against Janie’s temple, as did his grip around her.

  “Blake. Let me speak with him alone. I can get to the bottom of this.” Janie widened her eyes in a plea for her son-in-law to relax.

  Blake took a military at-ease stance. “Son, release her. I promise I won’t cuff you, okay?”

  She felt Bobby’s muscles twitch.

  Even though Blake had lowered his arms to his sides, his voice oozed authority. “Drop the knife and kick it towards me. Don’t get yourself deeper than you already are.”

  At once, the twenty-two-year-old tensed. The blade sliced across Janie’s face as he pushed her to the linoleum.

  Mildred screamed.

  Bobby straddled his legs, bouncing his weight on one foot and then the other. With a jut of his chin, he egged Blake to jump him. “Come on, copper. Let’s dance.”

  Blake’s face reddened. The veins in his neck popped. He charged head on into Bobby and butted him in the stomach. Janie rolled to the side as the two hit the ground in a loud thud which rattled Mildred’s china cabinet in the next room.

  Blake flopped the kid over and sat on his buttocks as he twisted the knife from his grasp and tossed the weapon across the floor. Janie wiggled for the handle.

  “No, don’t touch it. Push it further away with your elbow.”

  She did as he told her. As fast as traffic lights flick from yellow to red in a busy intersection, Blake bent the squirming guy’s arms over his back and cuffed his wrists with a plastic band. He swaggered off like a cowboy who’d roped a calf in record time and placed his firm boot in Bobby’s upper back. Without shifting his gaze from his prisoner, he addressed Janie. “You okay?”

  She swallowed and squeaked out a “yes.”

  His chest heaved up and down in rapid succession, but his face color lessened. “Good. Mildred, call 9-1-1. Tell them we need back up.”

  She stood stone-still, blubbering.

  Blake swerved his torso toward her. “Now, Mildred.”

  She snapped to as if she’d been slapped with a frozen mackerel. With a shaking hand, she reached for her flip phone and punched in the emergency code.

  Blake cocked his revolver. “It’s aimed at your head, boy. I’d stay put if I were you.”

  Bobby groaned and slammed his forehead into the floor.

  Mildred knelt down to Janie and pressed a wad of tissues to her cut cheek. Tears streamed from her eyes. “I’m so very sorry.”

  Janie placed a hand over Mildred’s and smiled. “It’s going to be all right.”

  Mildred raised her head. Locking gazes, the two friends conveyed their sympathy for each other without another word needed.

  * * *

  The next half hour blurred into policemen stomping around, the medics checking Janie out from head to toe, and Ethel rocking Mildred on the couch as she shook. Bobby never cast an eye in his aunt’s direction. With his jaw clenched, his Adam’s apple bobbed as two officers escorted him from the premises. Through the wide open front door, Janie caught a glimpse of the crowds gathering once again. She groaned.

  Blake rushed to her side. “Janie?”

  “The village association will oust me for sure, now.”

  He rocked back on his haunches and let out a hoot. “You are a tough ol’ bird, you know that?”

  The emergency medical tech arched an eyebrow.

  “It’s okay. She’s my mother-in-law. Family joke.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Blake squeezed his mother-in-law’s arm. “Anyone else would have shriveled into oblivion if they went through what you just did.”

  Janie jerked as attendant dabbed her cheek and applied an anti-hemorrhagic bandage to the slash. “You’re lucky, ma’am. Not deep enough for stitches. Shouldn’t leave much of a scar. But you may wish to make an appointment with a plastic surgeon.”

  “Pfft. At my age? The wrinkles will hide it.”

  They all chuckled.

  “Blake, may I sit in on Bobby’s interview?”

  He brushed a silver curl from her forehead. “Sorry, not kosher. Besides, you need to go home and rest or my wife will tan my hide.”

  Her lower lip protruded like a two-year-old’s.

  He kissed her on the temple. “I’ll report to you as soon as possible.” He rocked to a standing position and sauntered away. A few paces later, he turned back to her with a waggled finger and a wink. “I mean it, Janie. Go take a load off.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Okay, I’ll obey you. This time.”

  His laugh echoed off the door jamb as he exited.

  Chapter Forty-FIVE

  Within the hour, all eleven of the Bunco Biddies crowded Janie’s living room as salads, brownies, casseroles, and appetizers cluttered her dining room table. Clucks of sympathy mixed with curiosity hovered over her and Mildred, who didn’t want to stay “one more minute” in her house while the police wrapped up the crime scene and the local press, along with a few stragglers from the neighborhood, milled around outside.

  Through all the chatter, Janie heard the front door bell. Before she asked someone to answer, the thing flew open and Melody rushed in, followed by Jamie and Emily.

  “Mom, your cheek.” Melody hugged her to her bosom, leaned back to examine the bandage, and then drew her into another embrace. The kids sat on either side, rubbing her shoulders and back.

  Janie struggled to be released. “Enough. I’m fine. Just a scratch. All in the line of duty.”

  “I will strangle my husband when he gets home.” Melody spun her finger to everyone in the room. “You are my witnesses.” Her attention shifted to Janie as she sniffled. “Oh, Mom. Whatever possessed you to get involved in all of this?”

  Janie pressed her hands onto her daughter’s shoulders. “Mel, they involved me when they dumped a neighbor of mine in my community’s dumpster. I did what any ordinary citizen would do.”

  Melody lifted her mother’s fingers. “Who decided her son-in-law seemed too swamped to handle it. Mother, really. Didn’t a lifetime with dad teach you detective work can be dangerous?”

  Janie giggled. “Yes, and also very exciting.” She patted her chest. “Keeps the ol’ ticker ticking.”

  * * *

  Mildred, Ethel, Betsy Ann, and Janie sat at her kitchen table, picking at the King Ranch chicken casserole Anne brought. A tossed salad began to wilt, untouched
, even though Janie’s favorite yogurt dressing drizzled over the top. All four of their appetites had vanished even though the time edged way past their normal lunch hour.

  Over the previous half hour, the other ladies filtered away. The battery-operated wall clock resembling Felix the Cat ticked in the background.

  Janie glanced up. “Almost two in the afternoon already.”

  Mildred’s eyes swam. “I can’t stand not knowing what’s happening to Bobby. Excuse me. I need another tissue.” She rose from the table but turned with the other three to see Blake tap on the backdoor glass.

  He entered, nodded to the ladies, and took a cold soda from the fridge. After three large gulps, he set the can down and brought in one of the dining room chairs. Straddling it backwards, he draped his chin on the carved, high-back wood and sighed.

  “Well?” Janie’s left eyebrow imitated the St. Louis arch.

  Mildred slid back into her chair to his left, hands clasped in front of her.

  “Bobby, as they say in the films noir, sang like a canary.” He glanced at Mildred. “He’s in custody, but I will put in a good word for him. He has agreed to testify against the killers—yes, Janie, there were two as you suspected. In exchange, we are placing him in witness protection. So, I am going to take you over in a minute to say good-bye, Mildred.”

  She gulped in a half-lung of air, hankie to her mouth, and bobbed her head.

  Blake reached over and squeezed her hand. “Could be the best thing for him. He will be under the FBI’s watchful eye so he will have to fly right. Might be the start of a new life for him. They will set him up in housing, find him a decent job. No one will be allowed to discover his past...good or bad.”

  Betsy Ann took her other hand. “God can purpose good from evil. Saint Paul said so.”

  Mildred smiled through her tears.

  Janie tapped the table with her nails. “So...?”

  “Ah.” Blake eased back and stretched like a cat in a sunbeam. “It seems when Edwin’s niece brought forth proof he was who he’d claimed all along, he endangered the real Edward Norman. Alarms went off and the Feds began to comb the bushes lickety-split.”

  Ethel clicked her fingers. “So that’s why the Federal Bureau of Investigations became involved.”

  “Right. Bank robberies are a federal issue if the branches are Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation protected. And nowadays, a vast majority are.”

  “But they learned Edwards died, right?”

  Blake shifted in his chair. “True. Which led to them investigating Edwin’s story. That and the evidence of his baptismal certificate, clearing up the Houston records snafu.”

  “Why kill Edwin once he got out, then, if everyone knew he wasn’t Edwards and Edwards was dead?”

  Blake’s lips curled up on one side. “Because Edwin slipped up. Instead of returning to Oklahoma as he should, he settled here, near the scenes of the robberies, under the guise of choosing a community where he could blend in and live a controlled, normal retired life.”

  Janie shook her head. “So? Maybe they don’t have communities like this in Oklahoma.”

  Her son in law gave her an I-know-and-you-don’t grin. “He chose to live here because ten years ago, Sunset Acres didn’t exist.”

  The four ladies gasped in unison.

  “The stash is hidden here?” Ethel jutted forward.

  “According to Bobby, Eduardo Lopez believes so. That’s how he got Bobby involved. Smithers and Lopez used to go dove hunting in a dilapidated cabin out in this area. The land belonged to a rancher who made his millions by rather shady means, though no one proved how. For a price, he’d let thugs hang out in the boonies until things cooled down.”

  Ethel nodded. “A modern day Hole-In-The-Wall, where Butch Cassidy and other notorious stagecoach and train robbers hid in the Wild West. Where we get the term, ‘holed up,’ I believe.”

  “Correct. Excellent analogy.”

  “Ahem.”

  All eyes turned to Janie. She huffed. “Back to the case at hand. So they figured Edwin moved here to locate the loot?”

  “They must have. Which attracted way too much attention.”

  Betsy Ann’s face lit up.

  “Uh, oh.” Janie chided. “The light bulb just came on.”

  “Poo on you.” She stuck out her tongue but then winked. “So y’all think the bank robbers hid the money here while they were…um, what’s the term? Laying low?”

  “Well, it makes sense. They weren’t caught until almost two weeks later.”

  Janie wiped the idea away with her hand. “Wait. Surely Smithers and Lopez knew he wasn’t Edward Norman.”

  “They did, according to Eduardo Lopez—who by the way, is in the federal clink. Agents transferred him yesterday. Anyway, Eduardo states they had some of their underlings hire Edwin to take the fall because he resembled Edward Norman. That, supposedly, would give Edwards time to secure passage for them to South America with the dough where they would live happily ever after. Unfortunately for them, Lopez and Smithers were spotted and arrested.”

  “So, I was right about that.” Janie puffed out her chest.

  “Yes, and about a few other things as well.” He winked at her.

  Blake scratched his temple. “But, Janie. What made you figure Edwin had agreed to impersonate Edwards?”

  Janie fiddled with the corner of her napkin and titled her head. “Last night, I had a nightmare and fell out of the bed.” She shoved her index finger at her son-in-law. “Do not tell Melody.”

  Blake smiled.

  “As I used my metal peg leg thingy to right myself, the concept occurred to me. Maybe Edwin needed a financial boost. He never had a steady job. Was known to hang out with thugs. If they offered him a piece of the pie and guaranteed him a light sentence in exchange for his pretending to be Norman, it might stand to reason he’d take the deal. Even ten percent could set him up for life.”

  Blake concurred. “Uh, huh. Seems our dear friend loved the Oklahoma casinos a tad too much. He squandered all of his savings, his earnings and, in the end, lost his wife and his worldly possessions. So he engaged in petty thievery. In other words, he made a few enemies in Oklahoma, so spending a few years under tight surveillance in Texas didn’t sound half bad.”

  “Ah, and he assumed all would be well.” Ethel grinned.

  “Seven years commuted sentence for keeping his nose clean, then out on parole on good behavior. He’d find the cash with the help of Emilio, Eduardo Lopez’s nephew, whose term also came due about the same time his did. They planned it all while doing the laundry in the clink.” Blake stretched in the chair before continuing.

  “Except Edwin gets wind of this attorney who’s helping a few inmates in Wallace Pack and elsewhere sue the state for the unlivable conditions in summer. Edwin becomes vocal about it to get the lawyer’s attention, then gives him his sob story when they meet. The attorney takes his case, promising him mega bucks in compensation for being wrongly convicted.”

  Janie broke into the conversation. “So now Edwin can kill two birds with one stone. Take the quarter million settlement and help locate the real dough.”

  Mildred pressed her lips into a thin line, her gaze darting to whoever spoke.

  Blake took a sip of his soda. “Bobby says Emilio and Edwin were going to split the cash and leave the country.”

  Betsy Ann’s mouth dropped. “Emilio planned to steal from his uncle? That’s gutsy.”

  “Yep. But he’d be long gone, basking on some island, by the time Lopez and Smither’s sources discovered his treachery. Emilio and Edwin offered Bobby twenty-five thousand to help out.”

  Mildred slammed her hand on the table. Everyone jolted.

  “When? Edwin Newman lived next door for only a few days.”

  Blake gave her a soft smile. “When Bobby went over to confront him for whacking your dog, the two began to talk. Edwin recognized Bobby as a fellow ex-con. Like a secret brotherhood, they can sniff each other out. Don’t ask
me how.” He rocked back in his seat. “My guess is Edwin figured Bobby could help him scope things out.”

  Janie snapped her fingers. “But Bobby had second thoughts, figuring Edwin might split with the dough and cheat Emilio?”

  Blake tapped his temple. “Good reasoning, Janie. You’re correct. And he tells Emilio that. So Emilio coerces Bobby into helping him kill Edwin. Emilio gets a buddy of his to steal and drive the van, which we found burned and ditched south of Llano, by the way. Bobby lets them into the butcher’s section of the grocery store after hours so they can dice and chop.”

  All four women shuddered.

  “Then they leave Bobby to clean up the mess while they bring Edwin back to the dumpster.”

  “Because Bobby gave them the codes and knew the trash pick-up schedule.” Mildred dropped her eyes to the table.

  Blake lowered his voice. “I’m afraid so.”

  Janie flashed an I-told-you-so gander at Blake. He nodded back. “So, Emilio Lopez and his accomplice do away with Edwin. We have enough evidence to charge them both with murder one.”

  “Do you know who this accomplice is, Blake?”

  “Yeah. Bobby told us. An old pal of Lenny Weber’s named George Mc-something, I forget. It’s a weird name. Older dude with a white beard. We just tracked him down in downtown Austin outside the newspaper building and booked him.”

  Betsy Ann gasped and swooned.

  Chapter Forty-SIX

  Ethel fanned Betsy Ann as Mildred got her a glass of water.

  Blake helped her to the living room couch as Janie hobbled at the rear of the parade.

  He whispered into his mother-in-law’s ear. “What’s wrong?”

  Janie sighed. “That’s Betsy Ann’s George. The one who befriended her in the archives.” She turned to side-hug her friend. “Oh, I am so very sorry, dear.”

  Her voice warbled. “I honestly thought him to be charming. Even someone who I might...” Her hand trembled as she wiped away a tear with her finger. “How could I be so stupid?”

  Blake patted her arm. “It’s okay. He is a grifter from way back. I am sure he’s fooled many a lady in his day.”