Key West Gone into the Night Elizabeth Hilleren (if you give a mouse a cookie read aloud txt) 📖

“Together…” she said softy. She closed her eyes and seemed to fall asleep.

The heart monitor was keeping a steady beat. Her blood pressure was low but that was to be expected, Amy thought. She has a chance. Nothing like a little drama.

“Burt, honey, she’s sleeping and her monitor is steady. Let’s go get some food. You need to keep your strength up and she needs to rest.”

“Okay. So, she isn’t on her way out?”

“The more rest she gets the better,” Amy said.

“I thought she was a goner. You think she meant what she said?”

“I believe she knew what she was saying. You need to eat.”

*    *    *

Sharkey and Jenny met at the Polly house. Sharkey used the key that the daughter had given him to enter the house.

“Nice little house,” Jenny said as they entered a small but very tidy living room.

“Yeah, must be the daughter. Oops, could that be misinterpreted as judgmental?”

Jenny laughed. “Yeah.  You think the charges of attempted murder of Stephanie Williams will hold up?”

“Yes, we had him dead to rights, gun in his hand. The second murder charge is depending on how tightly we can link the syringe to Rita. Alex’s testimony will help. We need to keep Alex alive.  I’ll take the parents’ bedroom and you do the living room and the girl’s room. We need to be thorough. Check those vents and closets.”

“Got you,” Jenny said.

Sharkey went over the bedroom, finding brochures for a Caribbean Cruise, and places to stay in Mexico, on the bedside table. He checked the dresser and the closet, going though shoe boxes and a few boxes of off-season clothes. He checked the floor heat registers and behind the pictures on the wall looking for a safe.

Jenny called to him from the daughter’s room. “There’s a cut-out in the carpet in the girl’s room under some storage boxes.”

Jenny recorded each step of the process of getting into whatever was below it. He pulled the carpet square up and saw a matching floor cut out. He took out his knife and slid it under the crevice and lifted the edge, then shown a light down on it. There was a shoe box. Opening the box, they found five thousand dollars in cash.

“Got it,” Sharkey said. “Another nail for the coffin.  You had the eagle eye today. This is great.”

She grinned. “By the way, I almost forgot.  I found the timesheet for the daughter at the Sands Inn Motel. Her timecard showed that she was working that night at the front desk.”

“I’ll question her further this afternoon. She was pretty broken up over the death of her mother.”

“Human Services is keeping an eye on her and helping with the necessary paperwork for her mother. Karen said she’d stay with her until we find out what she knows.”

“Good. I’ll check with Karen and see if she is composed enough to talk. Let’s get this box to evidence.”

“See you back at the station. You want me to talk to the daughter?”

Sharkey smiled. “Yeah, thanks. I’ll be around after I take the evidence in. See you at the station. I’ll bring lunch this time.”

“How about burgers and shakes?”

“You got it,” Sharkey said, giving her a salute. She saluted back.

*    *    *

Sharkey was driving to the station when Harris called.

“Stephanie okay?”

“Yeah, she is.  The nurse says she’s stable but very weak. The next twelve hours will tell.  No telling yet if she’s going to make it. I called because our kid wanted to talk to you.”

“Oh yeah? He wants to help?  I’ll find a meeting place and call him,” Sharkey said.

“Keep me in the loop.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Sharkey called the number that Harris had supplied.

“Hola,” Javier said.

“This is Harris’s partner, Detective Sharkey.”

“Thanks for calling. Did Harris tell you what I want?”

“Yes.  Is there a safe place?”

“Yes, cross the bridge and go a mile. You will see a sand colored house with a mini-van in the driveway. It’s a new rental. No one has seen it.”

“Good. When?”

“Now, or as soon as possible.”

“I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes.”

Sharkey called Jenny.  “Take the interview of Cindy Polly. I’m following up a lead and will be off the radar for a few hours.”

“No problem.”

He called dispatch and said he would be off the radio and phone for up to two hours.  Sharkey followed the instructions and easily found the house. A tall, young man answered the door.

“Detective Sharkey?”

“Yes. Good to meet you, Javier.”

“Come and sit please.”  Sharkey sat down in the chair across from Javier.

“I asked to see you after reading about the shooting last night.”

“You think that Vasquez is behind it?”

“No. Vasquez would have nothing to do with a shooting like that. He didn’t kill Susan or Carl. I’m sure of that. He isn’t going to do anything that will bring attention to what he’s doing.”

“That sounds logical. We got the people we think killed Carl.”

“Oh, good. It’s never settled right with me. That didn’t fit.”

“Okay, does Vasquez know where you are?”

“No. I took the rental car that I drove the last time I saw him and returned it. I asked for a minivan, instead.”

“Good thinking.”

“I also moved since I saw Harris. This house is more secluded.”

“Okay. How can you help us find the kids?”

“I have thought of nothing else since I met Rex Jamison. I know that Vasquez is going to call me with their location. I then will be given the papers for Mateo and a plane ticket to some location in Mexico and will fly home with Mateo to Chile.”

“You know what will happen to Tyler?”

“No. That’s what’s worrying me too.”

“So, it will be a last-minute move?”

“He will call with information,”