In The Company of Deceit

Chapter 16 - Plotting in the Rain

Kate breathed in the damp air and considered the gathering clouds with a mild concern. She had walked a long distance without paying attention, and now she wasn't quite sure where the hotel was. Her purchase was awkward to carry and she stopped in front of a dress shop, thinking about the fashions in the window and of Virginia's desperation to coordinate another show of designer's portraying their versions of attire for the female body.

The first spattering of rain drops turned her back to finding the hotel. The sky was quickly becoming overcast and a wind showed up, whipping small bits of debris around the curbs and store fronts. Kate put her head down, picked up her parcel and increased her pace.

Mickey backed the car out of the drive and automatically headed toward town. He had to dump the car or the body, whichever was easier and town offered the best chance of both. Rose wouldn't report the theft so getting rid of the body was the better option and the sight of the neon lit capital H gave him his idea.

He turned onto the wide boulevard that offered a sprinkling of offices and retail, following the route to the hospital and thinking how he would just get a wheelchair and sit Edwin in it, push him to some corner of the entrance and leave. He turned into the hospital drive and stopped in a temporary drop-off zone. A few people passed in and out of the doors and he began to wonder if his plan would be possible.

The beginning of the rain made him curse at first but when it began pounding down he saw his opportunity and he scrambled out of the car and into the lobby, grabbed one of the courtesy wheelchairs and hurried back outside. He was alone in the drive and with as much speed as possible he dragged the limp body of Edwin into the chair and tossed a car rug that Rose had conveniently kept in the trunk over his arms and lap.

Mickey pushed the chair back inside and across the lobby to an alcove by the elevators. When the area was clear he went directly back to the car and drove off with a loud cheer and a laugh. A Mercedes and a pack full of money; Mickey boy, you are on your way.

At first the toot of the horn annoyed Kate; she had no luck finding a cab and didn't expect some wolf trying to get her attention in the middle of the morning in a rainstorm. The horn sounded again and a Mercedes pulled up alongside her, keeping pace. She glanced over and saw Mickey's wide grin and beckoning hand and at the same moment she felt both relief and apprehension.

How come this cowboy wannabe can lay his hands on an almost new Mercedes after one night in town... and why? The rain and wind increased and she set aside her concerns and opened the passenger door, water running from her wet hair down her face and neck.

"Toss that in the back." He said, indicating her parcel. She did, with difficulty and then settled back in the passenger seat and fastened her belt.

"How's that for luck?" He said, pulling away as she adjusted her clothes,

"Pretty good I guess. I walked without paying attention and lost the way back to the hotel. It wouldn't have mattered so much but then this rain started and there were no taxis."

"Yeah, it's comin' down alright."

"You look pretty wet yourself."

"Uh, yeah. Had to get this from the lot outside the dealer's."

"Pretty nice wheels."

He made a noise and then laughed. "Uh yeah, yeah, thought, what the hell, you know? Bus company's gonna hafta give us somethin', figured I might as well take mine in cash so I treated myself."

His delivery sounded off and Kate glanced at his face as he spoke and saw the tension lines around his eyes.

"You got cash from the bus company already?"

"No, no. I used my own but I'm expectin' enough to cover it."

"That's pretty risky, Mickey. This can't have been cheap to lease. What if it takes a long court action, or they don't come through at all, are you that wealthy? Have I been travelling with a secret millionaire?" She tried to keep her tone light but she wasn't comfortable and the feeling increased when she didn't recognize any of the streets they were on.

"Not a millionaire, but flush enough to show a lady a good time."

"But not so flush you had to take a bus from LA? What's your game, Mickey?" Kate wondered at her nerve and saw herself channelling her mystery writers again.

Light splintered off the windshield in jagged streaks as the rain and the wipers fought for supremacy. Mickey steered the car around large puddles collecting near the curbs, unable to avoid some and sending huge showers of water up over the sidewalks.

"Either take me to the hotel now or stop the car, Mickey." Kate said when he didn't answer.

"Hey, relax. The hotel is just a few streets away. You've got the wrong idea about me, Kate."

"You never answered my question."

"I don't play games, Kate. And how I travel is part of that rule... my rule."

The steel in his voice made her lean toward the door. The soft talking, James Dean character suddenly submerged beneath a flinty, dangerous persona. He swung the wheel and the car bumped over the drive in front of the hotel.

"You're home." He didn't look at her as she undid her belt and climbed out of the car and just waited while she retrieved her package from the rear then, without waiting for a thanks as she started to close the door, he peeled out of the drive and back into the pouring rain, tail lights flickering away in the night.

******

Ralph sat in the back of the taxi studying the street map on his I pad; it was all residential and no indication of where Mickey was headed. Was he wasting his time? Something in his gut said Mickey Wireton and Edwin had crossed paths somehow, somewhere and since Edwin was missing and Mickey, stealing away like a thief in the night, needed a chat.

"You didn't see which way he went after he got out?"

"I told you, he waited on the sidewalk until I was out of sight."

"Residential means he had a definite address." Ralph frowned. "What's the postal code here?"

"How would I know. Pick a street and look it up on your thing there."

"Good idea." Ralph chose the street name they were on and located the post office site. In a few moments he had the information he wanted. Next he used that to find the names of the occupants under that code and he sat back, scrolling through the list looking for a connection. Fifteen minutes later he swore and slammed his hand on the seat.

"Nothing. Son-of-a-bitch went somewhere in here."

"Seems to me he wouldn't get out too far from where he was goin'," the driver said. "Maybe just a couple of blocks in any direction."

"That's good, yeah. Cuts down a lot of possibilities. I got another idea." Ralph messed with his applications for a few minutes and came up with Mickey's lineage.

Wireton was his father's name, but his mother's maiden name was Bodine. From there he went through the telephone directory and chuckled gleefully seeing that right around the corner from where they were parked was the home address of a Miss Rose Bodine, Mickey's aunt. Ralph handed the driver a hundred dollar bill and told him to wait where he was then he got out and headed for Rose's house.