Nonno shrugged. “She’s gotta big mouth.”
“And you said you have to protect me.” Ernie waited but his grandfather said nothing. “From what?”
“Look, your Uncle was a son a ma bitch.” Nonno hesitated as if inviting disagreement. “Ever since he met your Aunt Judy, he’s been trouble for your family.”
“I know that.”
“He tried to hurt you, said he’d cut off your nose and you defended yourself,” Nonno said.
“I know that.”
“What more do you need to know?”
“What happened to Bob!?” Ernie said.
Nonno turned his back on the doll and crossed his arms. “What does she say?” Lesley said and put her hand over her mouth.
Nonno looked at the wall behind Lesley.
“Well, what does she say?” Ernie said.
“I’m not talkin’ to her.”
“How come?” Lesley said.
“We’re arguin’.”
“And you won’t tell us what she’s saying?” Lesley leaned her elbows on the table.
“No.” Nonno raised his hands over his head and said to the doll, “Non me’ rompere i coglioni!”
Lesley turned to Ernie, “What’d he say?”
“Don’t break my balls.”
CHAPTER 12
“Get me one of those no fat cones,” Marvin sat on the bench outside of Buster’s Ice Cream Shoppe.
“You’re kiddin’, right?” Les said.
“Nope. Tangerine. Get me tangerine.”
“Suppose you’re gonna join Weight Watchers too!”
“Maybe,” Marvin said.
“You make me sick!” Lester said.
“Hmmmm.”
“You get so damned optimistic when life’s in the toilet.”
Marv hooked his thumbs in his suspenders and smiled at the cool feel of sweaty fabric against cooler wood. He leaned his head to the right and sniffed an armpit. “We gotta go to the cleaners.”
“We’re nearly outta money. Remember?”
“We got enough for ice cream, right?”
Les reached inside his jacket pocket, made a fist and opened his palm. Four twoonies lay there. Three polar bears and one Queen’s head. “This is just about it.”
“Got a good feelin’ today. Things are gonna turn around.” Marvin interlocked fingers across his belly.
Les opened the door to Buster’s and stepped inside. The words of an Elvis tune seeped out, “Return to sender, address unknown, no such number, no such zone.”
Marvin looked east. A pair of cars eased around the corner. He focused on the headlights, watching for that electric blue of luxury cars.
There!
A silver car with two blue electric lights. The car rode low. It had the look of solid confidence and pride. A 500 SL Mercedes coupe!
A good omen! Marv smiled.
CHAPTER 13
Lane’s radar activated the moment he opened the gate to his back yard. Bees buzzed feverishly around the flowers on either side of the sidewalk. He stepped cautiously to the corner of their home.
Three dirty plates were stacked on the glass topped table. It was then Lane remembered about the guests they’d invited for dinner.
Beyond the table, Arthur peered over the fence and into Mrs. Smallway’s yard. He stood on the rung next to the top of their six foot aluminum ladder. Lisa supported one pair of the ladder’s legs and Loraine the other. All three were dressed in shorts and cotton tops.
“You’re right,” Arthur said. The ladder shifted south and he fell north, clutching for the top of the fence.
Loraine (the Peter Pan look-alike) fell backward onto the grass.
At six feet, Lisa looked almost as strong as she was. She peeled Arthur off the fence, then helped him step around the patch of orange tiger lilies.
Arthur rubbed at his scuffed hands. “You’re sure that contraption means she’s a swinger?”
Lisa bent and took Loraine’s hand. They had been utterly devoted to each other since meeting in Vancouver eight years ago. They made an unlikely couple. Lisa the RCMP officer and Loraine the child psychologist. “That’s right,” Lisa said. “Got called to a noisy party one night. When we opened the front door, there were half a dozen couples having sex in the front room. The music was so loud, they never heard us knock. One couple was using a swing just like that one. They told us it meant they were swingers.”
Lane laughed, remembering Mrs. Smallway’s comments about their ‘unnatural’ lifestyle.
“Some detective you are. You don’t even know what the next door neighbour is up to and it’s right under your nose!” Loraine said. When the laughter died down, she said, “What are you going to do when she has one of her little get togethers? Are you going to call the cops?” More laughter.
Five minutes later, they sat down around the table in the fading light while moths circled the electric bulb above the back door. “We have an early start tomorrow. Do you want to know what I found out about Robert Swatsky?” Lisa said.
Lane put down his cup of tea, “You know where he is?”
“Your job is finding the missing person. They’ve got me tracking the money and that’s where this case gets very interesting.”
“How’s that?” Arthur said.
Loraine listened closely while rubbing Riley behind the ear.
“So far, we know for certain that Mr. Swatsky diverted two million belonging to the City of Red Deer. He used the money to buy up land around a petro chemical plant east of town. Somehow, he’d got wind of the plant’s planned expansion. He got a couple of his partners to buy up the land in specific locations around the plant. Since the company had nowhere else to go, they bought the land at a much higher price,” Lisa said.
“Who were the partners?” Lane pulled out a notebook.
“A pair of brothers by the name of Lester and Marvin Klein. Apparently they are long time acquaintances of Mr. Swatsky.”
“Who else is in on the three million dollar deal?” Arthur said.
Lisa said, “Actually, I’d estimate the amount is closer to 13 million. I can’t prove it yet, but it looks like insiders from the plant, the provincial government and Red Deer’s accounting department were in on the scam.”
“How did you get wind of the deal?” Lane said.
“A guy from Red Deer’s accounting department walked into our detachment. He said he wasn’t sure who was in on the deal and he was pretty scared because he figured someone from the province was in on it. He had a pretty good idea about the amount of money involved. The guy was scared. The Klein boys can be brutal.”
“For instance?” Arthur said.
“Lester Klein has been convicted of assault and charged with dangerous use of a firearm. He got off because his brother gave him an alibi.” Lisa reached over to pet Riley.
Lane circled $13 million on the page of his notebook.
“Any idea where the money is now?”
Lisa said, “It looks like 13.5 million was transferred electronically to a bank in the Cayman Islands.”
“Isn’t that where Swatsky’s wife ended up?” Arthur said.
Lisa said, “Actually, she’s his ex-wife. They got divorced a month ago. She made six trips to the Caymans in the last ten months. She also bought a house on a beach for nearly 1.3 million US. The purchase was finalized a week after her divorce with Bob.”
“The dates of the divorce and purchase seem pretty convenient,” Loraine said.
Lisa nodded, “They might have figured the divorce would be a good way to hang onto the money and the new house if news of the scam got out.”
“Judy Swatsky has much to gain if Bob doesn’t surface,”
Lane said.
“Don’t forget about Judy’s daughter. There is evidence to suggest she’s also involved.” Lisa said, “What about what you’ve learned? You know, tit for tat.”
Lane explained about Ernesto, the doll and the airport.
When he was finished, Loraine said, “Seems like everyone has forgotten about the boy. What is his name?”