Terri Austin - Diners, Dives & Dead Ends

I grabbed him a cup of coffee and led him to the table.

Dane snapped his fingers. “Oh, before I forget, I have something for you.” He reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a folded piece of paper, then handed it to me. It was a copy of a webpage for NorthStar.

“What’s this?”

“All the information I could find about NorthStar. And that,” he nodded at the paper, “was not a quick Google search.”

“This is it?” There was a logo and an address for a PO Box in Florida.

“Afraid so. Looks like a dummy corporation.”

“And that is?”

“A shell company that’s a front for another company, and that company is just a dummy for yet another company.”

I sighed and looked up from the paper. “So can we find the dummy who’s in charge?”

“Easier said than done. These things are usually set up as tax shelters. There are often many, many knots to unravel. Think of it as the Russian nesting dolls of corporations. Could take years to figure it all out. And that isn’t my area of expertise.”

One step forward, two steps back.

“Now what is this about finding out BJ’s real name?”

I told him the creative version of my conversation with BJ and finished up with Sullivan having Axton.

“How do you know it’s true? Maybe he’s just telling you that to make you back off.” He sipped his coffee and glanced at me over the rim of the cup.

I shrugged. “He sounded pretty convincing. But I also found at least one NorthStar business has a link to Packard Graystone.” I told him the link I found between Packard and Sun Kissed Manny.

Dane rubbed one finger along his temple. “None of this makes sense.”

“I want to know more about that list of people I showed you, the one with dates and numbers. How do they fit in?”

“You can’t seriously think the people on that list have anything to do with Axton’s disappearance? I know those people. Mayor Briggs was on that list. And Martin Mathers, the Chief of Police? You think he’s involved?”

“Why else would Axton give it to me for safekeeping? What else could Sullivan want?”

“I don’t know, but the idea of these people being involved with…” he trailed off.

“Kidnapping a pothead?”

“Come on, even you have to admit this is a little crazy. Do you think Michael Dayton, one of the partners at my firm, and my boss by the way, even knows Axton?”

“What do you mean even I have to admit this is crazy? Axton had this hard drive for a reason, Dane. He gave it to me for a reason. This is connected to his kidnapping whether you want to believe it or not.”

He leaned forward, a look of pity crossed his face. “I know you want to believe that, but there’s no evidence to support it. Axton doesn’t move in these circles. It doesn’t make sense.”

“Axton doesn’t, but his brother does.”

He leaned back. “Right. A well respected doctor, a member of the city council, somehow ties into Axton’s disappearance? How? Why? It’s probably a donor list for a charity.”

It bothered me how Dane kept referring to Axton’s kidnapping as a disappearance. It stopped being a disappearance when I saw that chilling photo. But I couldn’t tell Dane that. “Thanks for the info about NorthStar. I need to get back to work.”

Dane grabbed my wrist. “Come on, don’t be like this.”

I pulled away. “It’s fine. I’ll talk to you later.” I stepped into the kitchen to take a deep breath.

Dane totally dismissed me.

Why would Axton have an encrypted list on a hard drive if it wasn’t important? I was convinced I was right. If Dane didn’t want to help, fine. I’d keep going on my own.

Even after Sullivan’s latest threat, it never crossed my mind to quit looking for Ax. I missed him so much. His goofy grin, his Star Wars t-shirts, the way he’d drop by the diner for breakfast or bring me a pizza and a horrible sci-fi movie. Axton had the sweetest spirit of anyone I’d ever met.

Sullivan certainly made it clear he wanted me to quit looking. I had a good reason to let this go, the safety of my family and friends. But my heart had an Axton-shaped hole right now. I would keep going.

An hour after Dane left, Steve Gunderson walked through the door and propped his umbrella against the wall. He smiled and waved at me before taking off his glasses and rubbing them against his white button-down.

“Hey.” He slid onto a stool and leaned his elbows on the counter. “Haven’t heard from you in a couple of days, so I thought I’d check in.”

“That’s nice of you.” I poured him a cup of coffee, introduced him to Ma.

“Now which one are you?” she asked.

“Steve works with Axton.”

Roxy walked up, her jaw in constant motion. “Hey, what are you doing here?”

Steve’s cheeks turned pink. “I just wanted to see if Rose had any news.”

I gave Roxy a death stare. “Steve’s worried about Axton, too.”

“Wanted to see you is more like it,” she muttered as she moved behind me.

“What can I get you, Steve?” I asked.

He ordered another cup to go and only stayed ten minutes. Long enough for him to ask me out. “Do you like Indian food? The Taj Mahal over on Blossom Avenue makes this curry—”

“Steve.” I touched his arm. “You’re a really nice guy—”

He glanced down at my hand. “Hey, no problem.” His crooked grin tilted to one side. “I’ll talk to you later.”

I felt a little bad for him, but it was better to cut these things off at the pass. Cruel to be kind and all that.

Customers were few and far between as the cold rain continued, so I didn’t feel guilty about calling Sheila Graystone during my shift. She didn’t waste time on pleasantries.

“What have you found out?” she asked as soon as she heard my voice.

“The first number belonged to Huntingford Bank and Trust.”

She paused for a long moment. “Go on.”

“One call from Charles Beaumont.”

“That makes sense. He and Charles are both on the city council. What else?”

“One call from the Sun Kissed Tanning Salon.”

“What?” she asked, surprise in her voice. “That must have been a wrong number or something.”

“Maybe. And the last number belongs to a man named Sullivan.” If I had been waiting for a big revelation, I was in for a disappointment.

“Is that it? That’s all? I mean, there wasn’t…?”

“No women.”

“Of course not. I told you.” In spite of her words, I heard the relief in her voice.

“So, who is this Sullivan guy?” I tried to make the question sound casual. “He and Packard spoke nine times.”

“Who knows? Probably something to do with the city council. Pack even has a committee meeting tonight and that almost never happens on a Sunday. I guess I was worried for nothing,” she said with a little laugh.

Uh huh. “Take care, Sheila.”

Roxy stood next to me chomping her gum as she filled the coffee pot with water.

“I’m going to follow Packard tonight, want to come?”

She shrugged. “Sure.”

“Where are you going?” Ma sat at the counter, sipping her coffee.

Ray came out of the kitchen with my omelet in one hand, Roxy’s cinnamon roll in the other. “Thanks, Ray.”

“Son, the biscuits were too salty this morning,” Ma said to Ray’s retreating back. She looked at me. “What’s going on tonight?”

“We’re going to follow Packard. He told Sheila he’s going to a city council meeting, but I think he’s lying.”

“Ooooh, that sounds like fun. Just like a television show.” She looked at me expectantly. When I said nothing, her face dropped. “Well. You girls have a good time.” I knew she wanted to come, but I wasn’t sure if that was such a good idea. It could be dangerous. And the woman was almost eighty, for crying out loud.