Part 20 (1/2)
Rainey learned one thing. Whoever this guy was, he blended in here, or this woman would have noticed him.
”Okay, you can open your eyes. You did great.”
Phyllis blinked her eyes several times, adjusting to the light. ”I've racked my brain, run through that night over in my head. I don't recall a single thing out of the ordinary.”
Sheila spoke up. ”When did you first see Lisa? Which direction did she come from?”
Phyllis swung her head to the right, pointing at a six-seat table, larger than the rest, placed near the end of the bar with a great view of the stage. ”She came from Dara's table.”
”Who was sitting there?”
”Dara was with her flavor of the month. Dara's sister, Chelsea, and her boyfriend, and one of Dara's exes and her new girlfriend were also there. A bunch of girls were around the table, but that isn't unusual. Dara draws a crowd. That's why it was odd when she and Lisa had that fling. They were too much alike to make it work.”
The information clicked in Rainey's brain. Dara Thomas was Chelsea's sister, the teacher who took over Katie's cla.s.sroom. Rainey let the thought pa.s.s and asked Phyllis, ”Was anyone watching Lisa walk toward you?”
Phyllis smiled and shook her head from side to side. ”You don't understand, a lot of eyes were watching Lisa every minute she was in here. Just like they watched you walk in that front door. Women like you get noticed. It's not about looks, although you certainly don't fall off in that department. There's something about you girls that women cannot resist.”
Before Rainey could respond, the big doors opened. Another woman, wearing a s.h.i.+rt like Phyllis', stepped in the room. ”Sorry to interrupt, but there are some FBI folks out here, said they were here to meet Agent Bell.”
The three women started moving toward the door.
”One more question, Phyllis,” Rainey said as they walked. ”Did Lisa smoke? Would she have been out on the deck?”
”No, Lisa didn't smoke. Didn't like to be around people that did. She tolerated me, but I didn't smoke around her.”
Sheila asked, ”Does someone watch that door?”
”Yes,” Phyllis pointed at another door on the opposite side of the back wall, ”and that one, too. When this room is opened those doors have to be unlocked. Same with the ones upstairs leading to fire escapes out back. Fire Marshals rules. But no one comes in without a stamp from the front door. We change the stamp slightly every night. My bouncers know what to look for only after they show up for work.”
”Sounds like you run a tight s.h.i.+p,” Rainey commented.
”Been corralling women for a lot of years. I've seen every trick in the book.”
”My...uh...” Rainey was suddenly at a loss for what to call Katie. She was certainly more than a girlfriend, wife didn't sound right, and partner or lover just didn't cut it. Rainey settled on simply using her name. ”Katie and I planned to come here before all this. I hope the publicity hasn't hurt your business.”
”Are you kidding me? I've had more business since this started happening. Had to turn people away last Sat.u.r.day night. The women of this community are taking a stand against fear and hate. It's like they are daring someone to come get them.”
They were almost at the door, when Rainey replied, ”I can understand that feeling.”
”When this is over, you bring that pretty little Miss Meyers in here. I'll make sure you have a good time,” Phyllis said, and then punched Rainey playfully in the arm. ”Nice catch, by the way.”
In a moment of unusual personal sharing, Rainey replied, ”Everyone thinks it was me, but I a.s.sure you, I was the one that got caught. Sweet, innocent, Little Miss Meyers is a handful.”
Phyllis slapped Rainey on the back hard, chuckling loudly. ”Ain't they all, sista', ain't they all?”
Rainey felt comfortable enough with Phyllis to say, ”I had no idea.”
Phyllis laughed louder. ”Welcome to the drama filled world of women, Agent Bell. Glad to have you.”
Rainey responded with, what she realized in that very moment was true, ”I'm glad to be here.”
Chapter fifteen.
”Move only when there are advantages to be gained. Cease when there are no advantages to be gained,” Mackie loosely quoted Sun Tzu, while lowering himself onto the couch in the office.
Rainey sat on the other end of the couch, her feet up on the coffee table. Ernie pecked away on her keyboard at her desk. Rainey had just lamented to Mackie that she felt useless just sitting there. She was in the office rather than with the rest of the team, because she just didn't want to talk to Danny. Rainey told everyone she had some business to take care of and she would see them all tomorrow, before she was to walk into Feme Sole in search of the man who wanted her dead.
Rainey's tattered copy of ”The Art of War” was on the bookshelf at the cottage. She retorted, ”Sun Tzu also said, 'Opportunities multiply as they are seized.' I could be doing something, I just don't know what.”
Mackie's ba.s.s voice rumbled. ”Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance.”
Ernie slapped her hands down on her desk. ”You two stop spouting Chinese war strategies, or go somewhere else. Some of us are working.”
Rainey stood up. ”Come on, Mackie. We're not wanted here.”
”I never said I didn't want you.” Ernie paused to add more drama and then added, sarcastically, ”I want you. I want you to go through those files I sent to your inbox.” She turned to Mackie. ”And I want you to turn in your receipts from last week.”
Rainey was in no mood for paperwork. ”I'll have the files done by noon, tomorrow. I promise. I'm going home, now. I need to think. You comin' Mackie?”
Mackie hesitated. ”Uh... let me get those receipts for Ernie and then I'll be over.”
Rainey chuckled. ”Big as you are and you're scared of that little old woman.”
Mackie's deep belly laughs shook the air. He winked at Rainey. ”I seem to remember she's armed and it's almost legal.”
Rainey winked back. ”Yeah, well that might be the biggest mistake I ever made.”
Ernie was not to be played with lightly. Her stinging tongue was legendary and usually had an element of comedy, but not today. ”Stand around and joke if you want. You found a head outside this office last night. You're trying to draw a maniac to you. Laugh it up! You only live once.”
Rainey exchanged looks with Mackie and he went out to his truck, leaving the two women alone.
”Okay, Ernie, let me have it. Everybody else has had their shot at me today.”
Ernie came out from behind the desk, arms crossed over her chest. ”Henry was here earlier. He made it very plain and as my husband, he does have a say in this. Rainey, I've never been afraid of being out here alone most of the day. It was always kind of peaceful, after living in a house with five men. I looked forward to coming here, but today I've looked forward to going home every minute. Driving up this morning and seeing that blood on the dock...”
Rainey tried to interrupt, but Ernie wouldn't let her.
”What came here last night was not human, it was pure evil. I'm a strong woman. You know I don't back down easy, but I talked to Henry. Honey, I can't stay out here anymore. Either we move in closer to civilization, or I'm quitting. Evil has found you, Rainey. Even if you catch this one, there will be another. You can't protect all of us.”
She was too stunned to speak. Every piece of Rainey's foundation was crumbling, brick by brick. Was Mackie growing tired of life with her and all that entailed, as well? His admonishment was sure to come next, the way things were going. Rainey grasped at the bricks, trying to hold everything together. It was no use. Life, as she had known it, was coming to a close. There were so many problems to solve, people to please, it was all just too much. She felt like George in ”It's A Wonderful Life,” about to jump off the bridge. She was waiting for the bell to ring. She needed her angel to get his wings.
Ernie was losing patience with Rainey's long pause of self-reflection. ”Well, are you just gonna stand there?”
Rainey stammered, ”I... I don't know how to respond.”
”I'll make it easy for you,” Ernie said, lifting a stack of papers from her desk. ”You can either go through these ads for a place to move this business, or you can find another office manager. Rainey, you might be prepared to die out here alone, but I'm not.”