Part 22 (2/2)
”Do you remember anything that was said?”
”Just that Joey was really mad and told her he would fire her if he could, and that one day her mouth would be the death of her if she wasn't careful. I don't think he meant anything by it. They yelled back and forth out here all the time. He made cracks like that when he got really mad at her.”
”What could she have said to make him so mad?”
”Oh, you know, stuff like she could get him fired and Sam Johnson couldn't touch her, or she could get him and Sam Johnson sent to prison. I did hear her say she was fed up with the way Joey was treatin' her and was going to do something about it before she left.”
”What did she mean by 'before she left'?”
”She said she wasn't going to be working here much longer and would deal with him before she left. That's all I know. 'Settling your hash, mister big shot, will be the last good thing I do before I leave this place,' was the last thing I heard her say before she stomped back to the office. Didn't she tell you she was sick?”
”No, she never mentioned it,” Ann responded, thoughtfully processing everything Ronnie had just told her. ”Did she say what was wrong?”
”Not really. One day when I went to order boxes, she was coughin a lot. She tried to hide it, but I could see something red in her handkerchief like she was coughin up blood. Staring me straight in the eyes she said, 'It's h.e.l.l gettin old, Ronnie. The one thing you enjoy the most in life is the very thing that's going to kill you.'
”She started coughin again. I went over got her a c.o.ke from the machine. I told her to try that, it might help her coughin.”
”Thanks. Ronnie. That was really considerate of you. I'll get those boxes ordered today.”
”I appreciate it. I don't mean no disrespect for Marie, but I'm glad to be working with you. She could really be hard to get along with sometimes. You know what I mean?”
”I do. Don't you worry, we'll get along just fine.” Ronnie nodded his agreement and dragged his heels shuffling back out to the warehouse.
Ann continued going through the Marie's drawers in search of a vendor list. She pulled out a faded, dog-eared notebook then sat down and opened it. It was full of paid receipts for supplies from the c.o.ke and cracker machines to laundry bills. None filed in any kind of order. Tucked in the back off her bottom drawer was a stack of invoices from the Box Factory in Rowan County that hadn't been punched for filing.
Ann took the information from the invoice to place a phone order for five thousand cardboard containers to be delivered in three days. She leafed through the remaining sheets in the binder. They were wrinkled, the holes torn through and pulled out at the slightest touch. Near the back of the book was an invoice for the ring of keys hidden in the drawer. The order listed duplicate keys for all the doors including one she didn't recognize. The last entry on the invoice sent a lightning bolt racing through her body: Install new door lock and deadbolt for back office, no duplicate keys.
Her eyes riveted on the last line of the order. She pounded her clinched fist on the desk. A smothered squeal of ”That's it” slipped between her clinched teeth. Marie had secretly made an extra key for Joey's office. That was her secret. She knew what was in Joey's office and must have let it slip out in the argument. Ann was pumped with nervous energy the rest of the day; she knew what she had to do.
Chapter 49.
”You established a historical district and set about returning the graceful old homes back to their original charm and beauty.”
Payback Ann and Alice usually sat around the kitchen table and talked after dinner and having put the kids to bed. She shared the kind of day she had at the office. Alice told her what the kids were doing at school and about something fun they did that afternoon. But this evening was different.
”You seem distracted, edgy. What's the matter? You haven't said two words since dinner. Ann. Ann! Are you listening to me?”
”I'm sorry Momma. I need to go back out to the office for a little while. Will you listen for the kids? I won't be gone long. Please,” Ann begged.
”It's awfully late, and I don't like you going by yourself. Just last week a woman was murdered in the parking lot of a drugstore.”
”I heard about the murder, but our building is lit up like a baseball park. I'll be back in an hour.”
”You've never had to work overtime before. What is so important that it can't wait until morning?”
”I was cleaning out Marie's desk today and found the key that might open the door to put Mr. Sam Johnson and his son in prison. I have to do it tonight because I don't know when Joey will be back from Was.h.i.+ngton. The information I need is in his office and I need to get in there tonight.”
”Stop! Do you hear yourself? Have you lost your mind? What are you thinking? Are you willing to risk your life and your family for a grudge you've been carrying since high school? Grow up, Ann, and leave what's past in the past.”
”Momma, I don't want to argue with you. You may have forgotten what happened, but I'm the one that was raped and humiliated. Tank and his father tore a hole in my soul that may never heal. He not only violated me but destroyed my youth and a relations.h.i.+p with someone I loved very deeply. They shouldn't go unpunished for what they did back then and what they're doing now. I'll be back as quick as I can.” Ann grabbed her mother by the shoulders, gave her a kiss on the cheek, and then hurried out the front door.
Chapter 50.
”By building a shopping center, you brought new shops and stores. You didn't let Bankstowne die as so many predicted.”
The break-in The evening breeze swayed the surrounding trees casting dancing shadows and sp.a.w.ning dust devils in the secured building's parking lot. A dozen flood lights cast broad shafts of light that bleached the gray walls a stark white. Ann parked under the protective tree line shadows on the edge of the parking lot. She'd studied the revolving cameras before leaving work that afternoon. There was a fifteen second gap in the overlapping sweeps of the two cameras on the front corners of the building.
She wrapped a black scarf over her face and watched the cameras movement waiting for the exact time to move. ”Wait, wait, wait, now!”
Ann sprinted for the front door, seeming to outrun her multiple shadows cast by the lights. She inserted the key and swung the door open all in one quick motion.
Once inside, she located the security alarm keypad. Only ten seconds to disarm the security system or she would have a lot of explaining to do. Her heart refused to stop hammering against her chest from fear, not just poor athletic condition.
With the security system disarmed, Ann carefully picked her way through the office toward the warehouse door, following the oval beam of her flashlight scurrying across the floor. The sound of the key opening the warehouse door lock echoed through the empty building. Ann stepped into the warehouse. Her second step caught her left foot on an unseen object that threw her to the floor. The flashlight bounced and rolled across the floor, sending flickering shards of light in all directions before it stopped and blinked off. The brunt of her free-falling body was absorbed by outstretched arms before she slammed onto the wooden flat that had tripped her.
”Dammit!” Writhing in pain, Ann rolled off the flat onto her back and cradled the stabbing pain in her right wrist. ”Great, where did my flashlight land?”
Disoriented by the fall, Ann waited until her eyes adjusted to the blackness. With the help of the red Exit light, she was able to get her bearings and located her flashlight. Using her good left arm, she dragged her body over the rough cement floor to retrieve the flashlight. A deep sigh of relief accompanied the beam of light when she tapped it on the floor.
A cursory self-examination revealed a b.l.o.o.d.y knee behind her torn jeans, sc.r.a.pes and splinters on the heels of her hands, and a wrist that felt like it was broken.
Her injuries made her trek across the building to Joey's office door more difficult. Ann mustered all her courage and forced the new key into the lock. A sharp twist opened the dead bolt. Seconds later she was inside.
Her flashlight danced around Joey's office. This must be what Ft. Knox security looks like she thought. There were monitors covering every inch of the building, inside and out. She felt violated.
A typewriter, copy machine, and FAX machine surrounded Joey's desk. Paperwork was neatly stacked in piles sorted by task. A small desk lamp was light enough for Ann to examine those papers.
”Jesus, I don't believe it,” Ann blurted out. The lower case letter 'o' in his daily work report and a list of things he wanted to discuss with Sam jumped off the page at her. ”Oh my G.o.d, this type matches the broken letter that was on the suicide note.” A feeling of nausea overcame her on already shaky legs. She had to sit down.
”I knew it, I knew it,” she continued talking as if someone was with her. ”I knew Marie wouldn't take her own life no matter how sick she was. d.a.m.n you.” She punched the copy machine on to let it warm up while she scanned the rest of the office. She had to hurry before the damaged flashlight died.
A bank of monitors blinked when they changed angles of surveillance. Her car wasn't visible. She prayed her dash to the building wasn't caught on tape. The control board was a maze of dials and switches. Next to the control board were shelves full of dated video ca.s.settes.
Her failing flashlight raced across the racks of video tapes until it stopped on January 3, 1966. Ann yanked the ca.s.sette and shoved it into the VCR. She fast forwarded to the scene of the two reporter's visit. The rear license tag on their car was grainy. A magnifying gla.s.s from Joey's desk enlarged the numbers enough for her to record them: NCS-1221. She ran the tape again to get a better look at the reporters. The image was too grainy to clearly see their faces. That allayed her fears of being identified if her break-in was caught on tape. Tomorrow she would track the shadowy reporters down with their tag number.
The copier's green start light came on. A smile crossed Ann's face when the machine spit out a crisp copy of Joey's work sheet with his signature and agenda with the damaged lower case 'o' in the text. ”I've got you now, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d.”
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