Marjorie Thelen - Designer Detective

“Someone should answer the phone. Why don’t you answer the phone, Fiona?”

At least he knew who I was. “Lie still. You had a terrible blow. Just lie still. Can you open your eyes?”

One eye popped open. “My neck is killing me.”

The phone stopped ringing.

Ivan and Onions stood over Jake.

“These guys did it,” I said. “They want information.”

Jake’s other eye popped open. “Who are you?” he said to the two heads leaning over him.

“Don’t matter who we are. It’s what we want. We want the rest of them rifles that Cody stiffed us on. You know anything about them rifles?”

Jake eased up on one arm and winced. “One of you guys hit me?”

“Yeah, what of it?”

“That’s very unfriendly.”

“Listen, buddy, we don’t have time for pleasant conversation. We want them rifles. Where’s your friend, Cody? He knows where the rifles are.”

Jake coughed and sat up and moved his head gingerly. “I don’t know where Cody is. He disappeared when some guy showed up looking for him.”

“That was me,” Ivan said. “He slipped outta that garage, and we can’t find him.”

Jake shrugged. “Easy come, easy go.”

“Don’t be a wiseass or I slug you again. Your girlfriend here and you need to come clean with us or we get creative how we extract information from you.”

My cell phone started ringing in my purse.

“Someone is trying to get a hold of me,” I said, stating the obvious.

The phone kept ringing.

“Will someone please answer the phone?” said Jake. “My head hurts.”

“Nobody answer anything.”

“I think I should. They are going to know something isn’t right if I don’t answer. Don’t forget the two men at the door.” Oops, I let that one slip.

“Two men?” said Onions. “You said only one.”

“I miscounted. There’s two men at the door waiting to take me to the airport.”

The phone kept ringing.

“Check the ID. Tell us who is trying to call you.”

I fished in my purse and looked at the ID. “Don’t know,” I said. “I don’t recognize the number.”

Before Onions could tell me what to do, I answered it.

“Miss Marlowe?” said Hudson.

Onions moved closer and put the tip of the blade under my ear and pressed. Jake was watching and yelled, “Hey, get that knife away from Fiona.”

Onions slapped the phone from my hand onto the floor and stomped on it. I only hoped Hudson had heard the exchange.

“Now look what you’ve done. You’ve ruined my phone,” I said. “I liked that phone, and it cost a lot of money.”

“Shut up,” Onions said. “I should bang your head in right now. Who was on the phone?”

I shrugged. “A heavy breather. No one spoke. I think I’m being stalked.”

“Fat chance,” said Onions.

I think he was getting a little frustrated. I didn’t want to push him too far. With my newfound respect and total astonishment that Hudson was ‘one of ours’, I knew he must be working the case. That didn’t help wounded Jake and me. I didn’t know how much longer we could hold them off. That knife was sharp as sharks’ teeth.

Onions motioned to Ivan, and the two of them retreated for a conference to the corner of the room out of view of the window. Jake and I exchanged glances.

“Can you get up?” I asked him, taking his arm.

“Hold on, let me try myself. Maybe I can make it to a sitting position on the bed.”

“Don’t try anything funny,” Onions barked at us.

“Wouldn’t think of it,” I said. “Jake is merely trying to sit up.”

Jake pushed and I tugged until he was able to sit on the bed. He rotated his neck. I checked for cuts but found none. He’d have a nice bruise on his neck though from the hand chop. I sat beside him and put my arm around his shoulders, then leaned in for what I hoped looked like a kiss. I whispered in his ear, “Hudson’s waiting at the door. He’s the one who called.”

Onions yelled, “Shut your mouth.”

“I was only giving Jake a little kiss to make things better.”

The two came back to stand before us.

“You both are going to leave with those guys at the door. You will not tell them anyone is in this room, do you understand? You get five minutes to get down the hall and out the main entrance. Do not try to give us the slip because we’re following you.”

He flipped open a cell phone and dialed. “Ratko? Send some of the boys to the front entrance right away. We got two of them, the girl and the big guy, so watch for them. Some guys are here to escort the girl to the airport. Tell the boys to be in front to head them off.”

“All right, let’s go,” Onions said to us.

The only thing Jake and I could do was play along and hope. At the moment my brain wasn’t working fast enough to formulate an escape plan. Jake managed to stand. I grabbed my carry on and his arm, and we shuffled to the door.

“Wait,” Onions said. He positioned the knife at Jake’s throat. Don’t get funny on us. You go with these guys, but if you try anything funny, the girl gets it in the head.” He made a finger gun and pointed it at my head. “Pop, pop. Get it?”

Jake nodded once. We made it to the door, and I opened it. Standing across the hall was Hudson and the short, wiry guy with the buzz cut.

“We’re ready,” I said.

“This way,” said Hudson, pointing to the right, not acknowledging that he knew me. “We’ll go to the elevator.”

As we cleared the door, the one to the room across the hall exploded open, and two guys in suits with guns lunged into our room before the door closed. Hudson shoved us against the wall.

We heard a cry, then another. No shots were fired. Then everything was quiet.

A typical day at your five star hotel.

Hudson herded us in a half run to the elevator.

“Their friends are waiting to meet us at the main entrance,” I said, trying to catch my breath after we gained the relative safety of the down elevator. As far as I knew, the two attack guys were still in the room with Onions and Ivan. No one had been in hot pursuit.

“I’m pleased to hear that more men are coming,” he said with his usual smile, not even winded, looking very spy in black windbreaker and gray slacks.

I was having a panic attack myself.

“You are?” I said.

“By all means,” Hudson said. “They are coming out of the woodwork now, as the saying goes. We will catch them at their game. You performed your role as bait splendidly. I apologize for the terrible ordeal, but you helped catch two of the gang we’re targeting.”

“We were bait? Hudson, those guys threatened to cut body parts off Jake, if we didn’t tell them where the rifles were. They had knives. Jake got a head chop out of the deal.”

Jake seemed to be coming back to life after the run down the hall. He was rubbing and rotating his neck.

“It was all in the line of duty,” he said. “No permanent harm done.”

Hudson examined Jake’s neck. “You have a nasty welt, but I rather suspect you’ll live. We will need your continued cooperation. Those fellows think you know where the rifles are. We’re going to pretend to take them there.”

“I thought we were going to the airport,” I said. “Alice said we’d be removed from harm’s way. I’m going to Australia. I have the ticket right here.” I tapped my bag. “Jake and Opal are going back to Oregon.”

“Right. But before you do, we need you to be a decoy of sorts.”

“I don’t like the sound of this.”

The elevator door opened before I had more time to protest.

Hudson hustled us to the sitting area of the main lobby done in colors of maroon, yellow and gray with lots of sharp corners and pointy designs in the carpet. I was trying to look cosmopolitan and together, but I felt more like a bag lady.

“I’m sorry,” Hudson said, “I didn’t introduce you to my associate. This is Mike.” Hudson motioned to Mike who didn’t look like he could knock over a flea.

“Mike is going to drive. All four of us will be going together ostensibly to the airport.”

“Hudson,” I said, “some guys are set to kidnap us in front of the hotel right now.”

“No, they won’t,” said Hudson. “We will exit the main entrance so the men can see you. We are trying to force their hand and get them moving.”

“Hold on,” I said. “Those guys said Cody didn’t deliver on the rifles, that half are missing. They think we know where the rifles are. They might kill us.”

“Not if I can help it.” Hudson smiled his warm, comforting smile again.

I was not comforted.

Hudson said, “Cody couldn’t deliver the rifles because I concealed them so these men would come after the rifles. It was a way to draw them out in the open, to make a move, so that we can catch them in the act. We’ll be grateful if you continue to play along. It will be just a matter of one more car ride.”

“Let me understand,” Jake said, “we draw these guys out by becoming targets.”

“Not quite. We have people monitoring your every move who will come to your aid if anything goes wrong. Trust me.”

“That’s asking a lot,” I said.

Hudson took my hand. “I know none of this makes much sense to you. I may never be able to explain everything, but I am asking this one last favor.”

I heaved a great suffering sigh and looked at Jake.

He shrugged and said, “Lead the way.”

Mike peeled off to get the car. Hudson led us out the main entrance, and we stood outside under the portico in clear view, sitting ducks. The morning mist swirled around rush hour traffic already in full swing along Route Seven, although it was barely light.