Bagels and Betrayal, page 9
This rotted piece of trash is quite an act. “I'm all ears.”
Ralph nodded. “Maybe Tracy still wanted me to kill Davy. Maybe that spider was playing a dangerous game that I found out about. You see, Tracy had her eyes on taking control of Pine Lakes—all of Pine Lakes. She had a friend on the school board who helped her become principal of some dumb little school. Maybe during that time Davy Gray was supposed to die? Maybe the guy's death was going to be blamed on his brother...and maybe the guy’s brother is married to a woman who is just as dark-hearted? Maybe them two dames got a plan?”
Chapter Twelve
“Davy's brother's wife?”
“Hey, you heard me the first time!” Ralph spat at the snow. “Maybe Davy Gray’s brother is married to a woman who became real friendly with your old lady? Maybe one day, your old lady accidentally forgot her pocketbook after a meeting and a pair of itchy hands stole a financial ledger out of the pocketbook before returning it? Maybe Tracy and her new friend created a plan?”
“I'm trying to keep up—”
“It's like this,” Ralph growled.” Tracy Bates is keeping a hungry bookie at bay until she can pay off her debt. If she can't, it's lights out for her. But Tracy isn't so stupid. Sure, she was in panic mode at first, but she calmed down after her friend told her about your old lady's...financial secrets. How do I know all this? I hired Patrick Brakemyer. The kid was my cousin's best friend and had a good head on his shoulders. Real smart, you know? Patrick did good in digging up the dirt for me.”
“Can we pause for a minute?” Bethany asked. “I'm still not sure how your brother plays into this.”
“Maybe I found out the truth and played a little game myself after Patrick gave me the goods? So maybe I had Patrick do some digging on the judge that was going to be presiding over Tracy's divorce case? Maybe Patrick dug up some dirt on the guy? Maybe I spun a tale for my brother and forced him to represent Tracy, and maybe my brother started to like Tracy...or maybe Tracy decided to play my brother? Everything started to become like quicksand when Tracy decided to betray me, when my brother told her I had the goods on her.”
Bethany shook her head. Goodness, the more people involved, the more confused I become.
“Okay, let me get this straight in my mind...Tracy Bates took trips to New York—”
“To get away from Mayberry, sure. Nothing wrong with that, huh?” Ralph asked.
“I guess not,” Bethany answered, and shook her head again. “While in New York, she gained a high gambling debt.”
“The woman liked the night life. Can't blame her.” Ralph tugged on the collar of his trench coat. “Sometimes there's a back room full of fun. Sometimes a bookie hangs around in the shadows. That's the way of it.”
“I'm sure it is.” This guy is surely a rotted piece of trash. “Somehow you meet Tracy Bates.”
“At a night club in Brooklyn. Meet lots of dames at the clubs.”
“I'm sure you do.” Bethany resisted the urge to shoot Ralph on the spot. “Tracy gets into trouble and what...comes to you for help?”
“Hey, I'm a knight in shining armor.”
“No, you're not!” Bethany snapped. Ralph prepared to fire back, but Bethany took control. “You're a sleazy, back-alley piece of trash!”
“I told you to watch your mouth, lady!” Ralph began to raise his right hand. Bethany whipped out her daddy's old gun before he could blink an eye. He shook his head. “Too bad you're a smart-mouth. We could be an item.”
“Never.” Bethany lowered the gun, looked around, and continued. “You two decided to kill Davy Gray. Davy must have caught wind, dropped his life insurance policy to protect himself. But Tracy is still in trouble. She tells her bookie she's still going to kill her husband. Somewhere in between, a devious woman married to Davy's brother finds my mother's pocketbook...I'll have to work that out in my mind later.” Bethany lowered her voice. “Tracy comes up with a plan, right? She needs you dead because you have the goods. So she romanced your brother, right?”
“Hey, you're smart. Too bad you have a smart mouth,” Ralph growled.
Bethany ignored Ralph's rotted insult. She had to think fast, because Ralph wasn't standing in front of her because he was preparing to play nice. No way. Ralph had a deadly plan of his own that involved the deaths of two innocent women.
“Tracy Bates went to Mr. Marizzo, didn't she?” Bethany asked.
Ralph's eyes grew large and wide.
“Hey, how did you...I mean...” Ralph began to trip over his words, and then tumbled down. “You're smart, lady,” he sneered. “Maybe you're too smart? Maybe I underestimated you?”
“Two women can't take over an entire town alone,” Bethany pointed out. “No. I'm starting to think that Tracy Bates and your brother went to Mr. Marizzo...whoever that is...and complimented the man's ears with a bunch of hideous words.”
Ralph glared at Bethany with eyes that began to glow with raw anger. “Maybe my brother got Mr. Marizzo off his back and maybe he found a way to make me a marked target, huh? Maybe Mr. Marizzo runs drugs? Maybe Mr. Marizzo wants to get out of New York? Maybe Mr. Marizzo agreed to pay off Tracy's debts and kill me instead? Maybe I'm not going to let that happen!” Ralph spat on the ground again. “Maybe I underestimated my own brother. Maybe I went a little soft instead of letting Mr. Marizzo whack him.”
“Maybe,” Bethany nodded, slowly becoming accustomed to how Ralph talked. “So let me think...Davy and his brother had to die, right?”
“Kill Davy Gray because he knew too much. The guy may act stupid, but he's not,” Ralph confirmed. “And then send his brother down the river for the murder.”
“Is it really that simple?”
“No,” Ralph confessed. “Tracy found out her ex-husband was working for your old lady. Now, call that a stroke of luck or mere coincidence—hey, you're smart, you draw your own conclusions. All I know is that things started going downhill for her after she got canned from her job as principal. Seems like folks in this village don't like bad morals. Tracy never could keep her beliefs to herself; she always ran her mouth off. Anyways, after Tracy was fired, maybe Mr. Marizzo started having second thoughts, huh?”
“So what happened?” Bethany asked.
“Tracy is convinced that your old lady is hiding millions in cold cash up at that mountain house,” Ralph said, throwing his eyes around the snow. “When she found out that you and your friend were coming for a visit...well, things just kind of clicked in her mind. She saw a way to force your old lady to tell her where the money is hidden while killing off all of her enemies in one swoop.”
“How?” Bethany asked, even though she had an idea.
“Lady, you got brains. Think about it. Brad Griffin is dead. The guy wasn't a genius, you know? Tracy found herself two dumb toads to control. Walley Griffin met Tracy at a club in Raleigh...they talked, words were exchanged, that's how it works. My brother flew back to New York to talk with Mr. Marizzo when Tracy went to Raleigh. She's a patient spider, but her time is growing short and she knows that.”
“Keep talking.”
“Hey, don't push me!” Ralph narrowed his eyes. “Tracy decided it was time for everyone to die so she called me and spewed a bunch of lies while crying crocodile tears. She told me my brother was planning to kill her. She promised to share all the money with me if I killed my brother. A bunch of filth!” Ralph spat at the snow again. “She set my brother up with the same lie, and then called Mr. Marizzo and told him her plan and promised to give him all the money if he spared her life. Why? Because Mr. Marizzo paid off her debts and Tracy was now in debt to him. She begged Mr. Marizzo to come to the mountain house. Why?”
“She wanted to kill him.”
“Bingo,” Ralph nodded. “Patrick was recording every word Tracy spoke and giving the goods to me.” He glanced around. “I played along with Tracy. My brother? Let's just say I'm not soft toward him. That rat told Tracy he would kill me for her, and he meant it. That rat is wrapped up in a deadly spider web...but no matter. He's a dead man.” He paused, his eyes still shifting. “So it all came down to putting everyone in the same house at different times. First you and your friend show up, then Walley and his kid brother would snag you and kill Davy. Easy. Then I would show up. My brother would be waiting in the shadows and plug me with a bullet in the back of the head. Then Tracy would have Walley and his kid brother kill my brother. Okay, not so bad. Then Mr. Marizzo would show up, see the scene, and be satisfied...and then Tracy would have him force you to tell him where the money is. And trust me, lady, Mr. Marizzo has ways of making people talk.”
“But I don't know where—”
“Let me finish!” Ralph snapped. “Maybe Tracy had Walley and his kid brother kill Mr. Marizzo and then kill off her friend, the dame who's married to Davy's brother? Don't forget about her.”
“I haven't.”
Ralph stared deeply into Bethany's eyes. “Maybe Patrick got too smart for his own good and came up with a few ideas himself, huh? Maybe the kid wanted to score a handful of cash for his pretty new wife? Maybe he got too big for his pants, huh? And maybe Walley Griffin plugged him real good? Maybe I was in the house the entire time and seen and heard everything? Maybe I was hiding real good?”
“You were in the lake house.”
“Lake house, mountain house, who cares?” Ralph snapped. “Yeah, I was in the house, lady. Tracy and my brother were in Raleigh. Davy's brother's wife—hey, maybe we got a thing for each other? Maybe she's been kind of giving me a few tips, too? Maybe Tracy believes her friend is loyal? Maybe the dame has her own plans?”
“Good grief, how many plans are there?” Bethany exclaimed.
“Lady, when it comes to money, your own mother will slit your throat,” Ralph told Bethany in a voice that caused the woman's blood to turn colder than the icy winds attacking her face.
“I suppose.”
“Maybe Mr. Marizzo got a call from me, huh?” Ralph asked. “Maybe I let him hear all the goods Patrick gave me? And maybe...just maybe...Mr. Marizzo is going to do me a favor and kill Tracy Bates...my brother...Walley Griffin...and yeah, even the dame who put a knife in her friend's back.”
“Davy's brother's wife?”
“That's the dame,” Ralph confirmed. “All it comes down to is the money. Tell me where the money is. If you don't know, force your old lady to tell you.”
“If I don't?” Bethany asked.
“Look, I ain't one to hurt a lady, but I assure you…” Ralph bent his rotted eyes forward. “Mr. Marizzo knows you live in Alaska, lady. He knows where your old lady lives. He knows who all your relatives are. If you don't cooperate, he's going to make you suffer real bad. Ever see an old woman's head being squeezed by a vice grip? Ever see a pair of eyes pop out of someone's head? Maybe you don't want to see your old lady's eyes do that, huh?” Ralph asked, tossing a diseased grin at Bethany.
I should shoot this snake where he stands. “Davy—”
“My brother snagged Davy. The guy is probably dead by now.” Ralph shrugged. “His brother has been snagged, too. Walley Griffin is playing a deadly game of lies...no matter, my brother is going to force Walley to kill Davy, film it, and then blackmail the rat to kill everyone else on his list. My brother isn't stupid; just stupid when it comes to women.” He shook his head. “Tracy Bates is a looker...a real nice looker. Can't figure why she married a guy like Davy Gray, some small-town nobody. All Tracy ever did was complain about Mr. Goody-Two Shoes to me. Can't figure it out.”
Or can you? Or better yet, can I? As confusing as this sounds, maybe, just maybe, Davy's brother and Tracy Bates have a plan? Maybe a bitter wife found out that her husband was going after Tracy Bates and came up with a plan on her own? Maybe all this boils down to Davy's brother's wife. I know there's a lot of other confusing question marks attached to different players in this game, but it seems to me that a very mysterious woman might have been playing Tracy Bates all along—and her husband—in order to extract revenge. I'm sure the process became difficult when Tracy started involving other players, but the basic theme remains the same: start at the beginning and work your way forward. That's how you find the answers that lead to hidden truths.
“I'll call my mother and talk to her. What's my time limit?”
“You're smart,” Ralph told Bethany in a pleased tone. “You have twenty-four hours. Mr. Marizzo will arrive in Pine Lakes tomorrow afternoon. If, by then, you want to play dumb...well, just remember, he likes to play with the vice grips and he don't care if he's playing with a man or a woman. Mr. Marizzo isn't soft like me.” He glanced around. “I'll be in touch…no cops or else. Stay at the hotel, and hey, nice town you got here. I think I'm going to like it here.”
With those parting words, Ralph strolled away like a snake slithering through the snow.
Bethany watched Ralph walk back to the diner, glance around, and vanish behind the right side of the diner. She wanted to follow the guy, but she spotted Julie bursting out of the diner and running toward her.
Bethany waved her hands to show Julie that she was alright and then waited beside the river.
“Bethany, who was that? Are you alright, love?” Julie asked breathlessly.
Bethany waited until Julie could catch her breath. The poor woman was breathing out white streams of smoke like a thundering locomotive.
“I'm alright,” she promised. “The man—no, the piece of trash—I was speaking to was Ralph Polonzio, some sewer rat from New York.” She scanned the snow to make sure she didn't see any suspicious eyes watching her. “Honey, Davy has been kidnapped.”
“Kidnapped? Oh my goodness, we have to—”
“Julie, I think Davy let himself be taken, though I can't be sure.” Bethany bit her lower lip as heavy flakes of snow dropped down onto her shoulders. “Julie, we have a lot of dangerous players fighting on the same field. But right now, I'm only interested in one player.”
“Who?” Julie asked, finally catching her breath. Boy, was it ever snowing, and the winds were really kicking up.
“The wife of Davy's brother. Come on.”
Bethany gazed at the lazy river and stopped. Pine Lakes was a family community. Beautiful. Cozy. Quaint. How had such a beautiful work of art become such a dark nightmare?
“When I was a little girl, my daddy used to bring us to the diner standing behind us. We would order a cheeseburger and a milkshake. After we ate, Daddy would walk me down to this river. We would sit right over there.” Bethany raised a gloved hand and pointed to a fallen log. “Daddy and I would sit on that log for hours and talk. I can't remember everything we talked about, but it was so special. Sometimes I forget about the times Daddy and I spent together. One of the most special times I spent with Daddy was in Snow Falls. That's why I moved to Snow Falls.”
Julie stepped up to Bethany. “Love, are you alright?”
“Oh, suddenly I'm wondering when the dark clouds are going to fade away. But right now,” Bethany drew in a deep breath of cold air, “we need to go find a missing wife.”
“Maybe we better contact Sheriff Murphy?” Julie suggested. “Love, this scene is getting far too dangerous. A man has been kidnapped—”
“Julie, if I don't play along, my mother will die,” Bethany informed Julie in a tone that caused her friend to nearly lose all hope. “I don't have a choice...and I'm thinking that Ralph Polonzio is hoping that I'm smarter than he realizes. The snake gave me a bunch of tattered information, but I sensed that he's got a weight on his own shoulders that's connected to more than just money.”
Julie felt a million question marks pop into her confused mind. Whatever Bethany was talking about was obviously important.
“Okay, love, it's time for me to play catch-up. What do we do in the meantime?”
“Go find a missing wife.”
Bethany grabbed Julie's arm and hurried away from the river. As she did, a middle-aged woman stepped out of the diner, looked around, and spotted Bethany and Julie hurrying away into the snow. She pulled a cellphone out of a gray coat pocket and made a call.
“Yes, I need to speak to Sheriff Murphy. The call is very urgent!”
Sheriff Murphy answered what appeared the call, and was quickly pulled into a dark web of danger and murder.
Chapter Thirteen
Justine Gray heard the front doorbell to her house chime through her home. She slowly lowered a cup of coffee and looked through a comfortably sized kitchen filled with fancy appliances.
Her right hand released the coffee cup she was holding and slid over to a sleeping Glock 17 sitting mere inches away. A security monitor was resting on a back counter. Justine eyed the kitchen and then quickly grabbed her gun, backed away from a glossy wooden table, and made her way across a gray marble floor. The security monitor showed two snow-soaked women standing on a frozen front porch.
“Bethany Lights...Julie Walsh...what are they doing here?”
Panic gripped Justine's mind. Deep down in her heart, Justine knew she had dived into a deep end of a deadly pool that was preparing a vicious grave for her. What had begun as a simple plan to get revenge on Tracy Bates and Richard Gray had turned into a nightmare. Tracy Bates had proven to be a tough woman to control and destroy. If Justine had known that her opponent had been involved with so many dangerous people, she would have backed down and simply divorced her unfaithful husband.
Justine lowered her eyes and fixed them on the gun she was holding. Could she kill Bethany and Julie? Only time would tell.
“Alright.” Justine quickly made sure her short black hair was standing still in its updo and brushed at the fancy gray suit she was wearing. “Alright.”
