Bernard DeLeo - Cold Blooded

“Ah, do you have a weapon, Ms. Tobler? The guy with the parka’s probably packing something lethal, and the other -”

“Why don’t we have a look first, Sir?” Tobler smiled reassuringly at him. “I have my cell-phone with the Concordia police on speed dial. If the three look suspicious, I’ll call it in while we keep an eye on them.”

“Sounds good. They were on their way around the building to our left.”

“Fine,” Tobler acknowledged, setting a brisk pace toward the entryway. “Where do you hail from, Mr. Weatherby?”

“Nevada, Ma’am.”

“Leslie, please,” Tobler urged with a slight English accent, veering to the left as they cleared the entryway. “Anywhere near the Las Vegas area?”

“Yes, we have a house there,” Nick answered, not liking where the questions were going.

“Have you heard about the bodies they’ve discovered in the desert? It was on all the newscasts.”

“No, we’ve been taking in the sights on the way, trying to keep clear of the news.”

“I know what you mean.” Tobler glanced over at Nick’s bearded countenance. “I guess they still lose a few bodies out in the Las Vegas desert even now.”

“They sure do.” Too bad the damned discovery wasn’t a couple months away though. This may play hell with my stay another day plan.

“There’s one of them.” Nick pointed to a t-shirted man looking into car windows in a line of parked cars. “His two friends are down the way, working back towards him.”

“I see them.” Tobler sighed, taking out her phone. She pushed a button and waited. “This is Leslie Tobler, assistant manager at the Day’s Inn on Third Street. We have three men casing our parking lot and… Yes, that’s right. Okay then. Fifteen minutes.”

“Fifteen minutes?” Nick repeated with some concern, seeing the taller one of the three glance their way. Maybe they’ll abort the heist.

Instead the man walked toward them, exaggerating his already affected glide. Nick watched parka man’s hands as he approached, with his two buddies falling in behind him.

“What you lookin’ at?” Parka man asked Nick.

“I’m Leslie Tobler, head of security at Day’s Inn,” Tobler broke in with confident tone. “Do you have a room here, Sir?”

“It’s a free country, cuz,” parka man retorted. “We just checkin’ out the rides, Mrs. No need to go Dick Tracy on us.”

“The police will be here shortly,” Tobler continued. “I would advise -”

“What?” Parka man backed off a step, reaching into the pocket of his jacket. “I’ll show you shortly -”

Nick dropped and leg-whipped parka man off his feet, spinning to trap his adversary’s hand in the jacket pocket. Tobler had calmly stepped back and sprayed parka man’s companions from a keychain pepper spray can she had in hand. They stumbled back in agony, but Tobler pressed the attack, spraying until the two dropped to the ground gagging and yelling. Nick flipped the gasping parka man to his stomach, crossing the man’s arms behind his back, rendering him immobile. He held him there while patting the parka pocket.

“Are you all right, Mr. Weatherby?” Tobler kept her eyes on the two she had sprayed.

“I’m fine. This one’s armed. Feels like a 9mm.”

“I’m very sorry about that,” Tobler apologized. “I assumed incorrectly they would run away and avoid a showdown with the police. I -”

Tobler paused, leaning toward the two on the ground, who were beginning to crawl away. “Stay right where you are or I give you another dose right in your eyes!”

The two immediately stopped crawling. They wiped at their mucous covered faces with the t-shirts they had on, while grunting out strained pleas not to spray. Tobler reached toward parka man’s pocket, but paused when she saw Nick shake his head.

“I’d advise allowing the police to find the gun on him, Leslie. I’ll hold him still until they get here.”

“Quite right, Mr. Weatherby.” Tobler took her position again in front of the other two. “I greatly appreciate your help. Perhaps I could comp your room.”

“No, that won’t be necessary. I’m glad it’s worked out so far. Would -”

“You…you dead!” Parka man regained his voice. “You and your bitch! I’ll -”

Tobler leaned around Nick, and shot off a small dose right into parka man’s eyes. It was all the grinning Nick could do to keep from being bucked off by the writhing man under him. Parka man began vomiting. Nick pulled him slightly back away from it as the man continued to gag.

“I very much dislike being called that name,” Tobler explained, as people were gathering. Approaching sirens wailed in the distance.

A tense Rachel, holding Jean’s hand, approached Nick, looking stricken. Nick shook his head in the negative slightly. Rachel pulled Jean away into the forming crowd. Jean was smiling.

“Batman strikes again, Mom,” Jean whispered.

“It looks like he had a little help from the Huntress,” Rachel whispered back. “Oh boy, I bet this means we’re on the road again tomorrow.”

“Hey, I heard you come in.” Nick walked from the bathroom, drying his hair. “What’s Danger up to? Did she go to bed already?”

Rachel looked away from the screen of Nick’s notebook computer. “I rented her the latest Harry Potter movie. She and Deke are propped up in bed watching it. I see you’ve really collected a lot of information on Tanus and Fletcher employees.”

“It will make our Sarasota adventure less exciting if we can spot some of the players near the bank. My software program didn’t register a break in Tanus’s firewall until just before my shower. The names and faces you have on the screen are the latest.” He threw the towel aside.

Rachel put her arm around Nick’s waist as he stood alongside her chair. He had put on black boxer shorts before coming out of the bathroom. She kissed his side, leaning into him for a moment. “Leslie was pretty good with the cops. They hardly asked you anything.”

“She put them right on the defensive, then steered her way into the middle of their investigation. I made a simple statement, backing up her version, and she made them leave me alone. Leslie had all the right questions for them, too, about whether the police had priors on the young men, or if they fit car theft profiles in the area. She called hotel managers she knew and confirmed those clowns had been spotted before, after robberies at other hotels.

“I have your meal on warm in the microwave.”

“Bless you.” He pulled her up from the chair. “I’ll eat, check on Danger, walk the wooly mammoth, and then see if I can entertain you for a few hours.”

“Wow, aren’t you ambitious? Sit down, and I’ll bring the food and drink. You must feel a lot better after your shower.”

She brought out the carton with Nick’s order from the restaurant and set it down in front of him on the table near his notebook computer. She retrieved napkins and their drinks before sitting down with him. Lips parted slightly, she watched him eat the food in his black boxer shorts. Nick noticed her appraisal.

“I’m underdressed for dinner, huh?”

“Overdressed.” Rachel ran her hand along his thigh. “How’s your meal?”

“Other than having it with plastic utensils, it’s great.”

“Are we leaving tomorrow?”

“I’d like to stay,” he answered between mouthfuls of his hot turkey sandwich. “They found the van in Las Vegas. Leslie asked me about whether I’d heard the news when I told her we had a house in the Las Vegas area.”

“They’ll never pull your name out of that hat, Nick,” she kidded him.