Intrigue (Elvis Presley Story)

Chapter 18

The phone at the house rang until the answering machine picked up. That was reassuring. Not. Peggy and Louise could be working outside or running errands. But she'd feel a lot safer about them being at the house with Tony if she could warn them about her suspicions. She hung up the phone for the second time.

She didn't want to worry. Louise had probably gone off on some design tangent and Peggy was busy arguing a more sensible, affordable alternative. They were preoccupied with their own business, that was all.

She hoped that was all.

"Olivia is something wrong?" Mirza said. "Is there something I can do to help?"

Hold that thought, she indicated, holding up one finger. She rang the phone again. After three rings, someone picked up.

"Hello?"

"Mr McCarthy? It's olivia. Are my Aunts around the house, by any chance? I've been trying to call."

His inpatient huff sounded as though she interrupted something important, but his deep voice was as polite and professional as always. "I sent them out to run some errands."

"You did?"

She didn't expect the apology that followed. "I don't know what the trouble is yet, but we ran into some wiring problems this morning. Either somethings disconnected or we hit a juncture when we were installing the floor vents. I've got an electrician down in the crawl space now. We'll get it taken care of and get it cleaned up so you can sleep here tonight."

Floor vents?

"Why would someone cut a hole in the floor?"

Mr McCarthy laugh was a wry one. "Well, I saw your handiwork over the sunporch door this morning. I was beginning to think your aunt Louise had found something else she didn't like about my work."

"Sorry about that. Something got sealed in when you were putting up the new archway."

"Oh, did you find it?"

"Yes. But I didn't realise there was a problem with the electricity. Everything was fine this morning."

"It was a suprise to me, too. This will take most of the day to make sure all the wiring is shipshape from top to bottom before we close in."

"I understand. I'm glad you're there to take care of it." Maybe she shouldn't be sharing so much information with McCarthy, but until she could reach her aunts, she had to trust someone.

"Mr McCarthy....is Tony Fierro still there working?"

What would she say when McCarthy put him on the line?

"He left with your aunts about an hour ago. Took his truck and they drove your car. They're picking out flowers to plant in the garden."

Olivia didn't remember thanking him or saying goodbye. But the dread pumping through her veins charged her heart with adrenaline and cleared her head to what she had to do next.

She walked to Elvis's desk and verified what the sergeant told her, that he was still out on a call. She'd been aware of Mirza following her out of the office, so when he touched her arm this time, she didn't jump.

"I'd everything all right? You are running around like a crazy person."

Crazy maybe. But smart.

She wasn't going to go running off to face Tony Fierro by herself. But she wasn't going to wait to find out if her aunts were safe alone with him, either. She spotted the blonde detective sitting at a corner desk and crossed the room to introduce herself.

"Detective Grove? Hi, I'm olivia miller, major Taylor's new assistant." He stood. And stood. And continued to stand, forcing her to tilt her head back. But his big hand seemed friendly enough as he extended it in greeting.

"Nice to officially meet you, ma'am."

She politely refused the seat he offered. This wouldn't take long. "You may or may not know that I was Vernon presley's assistant at the time of his...murder."

"I recognise the name."

Olivia nodded. Elvis might shoot her later, but she wasn't going to wait to prove her suspicions.  "I think Vernon tried to tell me something before he died. Unfortunately, he made a puzzle out of it, so it's taking me some time to find all the pieces and make sense of them."

"You mean something about his murder?" She detected a surprising astuteness behind his face.

"Possibly. It could wind up being something personal, but if it does have something to do with the investigation into his death, you'd be the man I'd talk to, right?"

"What kind of messages are you talking about?"

Olivia held up the safe-deposit-box key. "Elvis and I are going to the bank this afternoon to find out. Don't get him into trouble, please. He's only trying to help me. Would you like to join us? It could be nothing, but-"

"It could be everything." Grove nodded. "I'll be there."

"And if I'm late, you'll tell Elvis, right? You'll call out the troops?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Thanks." Without wasting another breath, olivia turned around and headed back to her office. She took hold of Mirza's arm and pulled him along with her.

"Do you have your car with you?"

"Yes."

"Will you give me a ride?"

"Of course. But tell me what is going on."

"I need to find my Aunts right away. I'm worried that something is terribly wrong."

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! And thanks for reading! xoxo