I showered, sucked down coffee and ibuprofen, decided to let my hair dry by itself, slapped on some happy makeup and tried not to look at the shiner which was finally fading. I pulled on my yellow t-shirt that had a picture of Starsky and Hutch’s car, the Striped Tomato, emblazoned across the chest. I yanked on faded jeans, my red belt and red cowboy boots and eased myself down to the garage.
I was sure the Crossfire was absolute heaven to drive but my mind was filled with too much garbage to process it. I didn’t know if the cops had caught Pepper Rick last night. I didn’t like considering Lee, man of action, stuck in a hospital waiting room and what he might learn when the wait was over. I didn’t want to think of what the day might bring.
It was ten past seven, we opened at seven thirty and as I drove up, I saw Jane standing outside the store looking at the sidewalk. I parked the Crossfire right out front and got out, my eyes on Jane who hadn’t moved.
Then I looked to where she was staring and stopped dead.
Pepper Rick was lounging in the doorway to Fortnum’s. It opened onto the corner, at an angle, and he was sprawled, butt and back to the sidewalk, shoulders and what was left of his head resting against our door. He was dead, dead, dead, just like Tim Shubert except there weren’t any splattered brains.
“Jane, honey, step away from there,” I said quietly.
She was frozen still and I noticed she had her cell phone in her hand.
“Jane,” I said a little more loudly, trying to get her attention.
She jumped, her cell came out of her hand, flew end over end through the air and landed on Pepper Rick’s chest, clattering down to rest by his hand.
We both watched the cell fly, land and settle.
“Oops,” Jane said and I think I saw her make the mental decision to get a new phone.
I dug my cell out of my purse, considered who to call and settled on Hank.
“Yeah?” he answered.
“Um, it’s Indy. I hate to tell you this but there’s a dead guy lounging in the doorway to Fortnum’s.”
Silence.
Duke rounded the corner and Jane and my eyes turned to him, his face began to light with greeting, his eyes flicked down and he stopped short.
“Fuckin’ hell!” he boomed.
“Duke just arrived,” Hank said in my ear.
“Yep.”
“I’ll get someone on it, do we know this dead guy?”
“Well, I don’t have to worry about being kidnapped again.”
Hank disconnected and Duke looked at me.
“Was he makin’ a call?”
I wanted to laugh, then before that thought fully formed, I decided I wanted to cry. Seeing as crying wasn’t an option for me because I wasn’t a sissy, I decided I wanted to scream.
In fifteen minutes, the place was surrounded by cops including Hank, Dad and Malcolm and the scene was taped. Gawkers and coffee customers were being directed away by uniforms.
I stood off to the side and scrolled down my phonebook to Lee and hit his number.
“Everything okay?” he said as a greeting.
“You’ve heard from your office,” I replied, thinking the mysterious forces behind his commando cartel had already alerted to my latest adventure.
“Heard what from my office?”
Oopsie.