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LARRY
Detective Sherman and I stopped at the Denny’s we frequented for breakfast, this time asking for a window seat as opposed to the corner booth we always sat at. Not that it would make any difference, we couldn’t see anything from this restaurant. I wanted to stay in the hotel's vicinity, but the poor baby, Sherman, needed to eat to pacify his dropping blood sugar.
While Sherman ate his double grand slam, artery bursting breakfast, I searched the intranet for information about Beatrice Dillon. I was coming up empty until my techy gal, Velma, called me.
“Sorry, to call you during your breakfast, but I need you to come to the office. It’s about the phone you had me break into.”
I put her on mute and told Sherman, “Hurry and eat, we need to see Velma before we go anywhere else.” He nodded and continued stuffing his face. “We’ll be there soon, in the meantime, can you try to find any background information on Beatrice Dillon?”
“Sir? What kind of information?”
“Maiden name? And if she has living relatives? If so, I need the contact’s name and number.”
“What’s in it for me?”Velma chuckled, still trying to persuade me to take her out. If she wasn’t so dang adorable, this would be construed as harassment, but I had every intention of taking her out once this case was closed forever.
“After the case is closed, I will do as I promised. See you in a few, Vel.”
Sherman grinned, “Man, she’s got it bad for you. Not sure why, you’re not even that good looking.” He chuckled, followed by a burst of laughter when I flipped him the bird. “Let’s hope you have more to offer. You look like Napoleon Dynamite’s brother.” This comment warranted a swift kick to his shin. “Ow, you fucking asshole,” he whined, bent over, rubbing his shin. “So, are you still planning to drive up north?”
“We are going up north, yeah. Why? Do you have somewhere else you need to be?” He shook his head at my question with disappointment in his eyes. “You signed up for this and said you wanted to be out in the field, so here we are - out in the field.” I took a piece of bacon off his plate and stuffed it in my mouth. It was cold and unappealing, but it was more to get under his skin. Sherman commented one time that people taking food from him was a pet peeve. Hell, he wouldn’t allow his wife to steal his food.
“Let me call Sal and let her know I won’t be home for dinner.”
No wonder he was so big, this man had a one-track mind - breakfast, lunch and dinner. He was like Chris Farley to my David Spade in Tommy Boy. So long as he didn’t sing about a fat guy in a little coat, I was good.
***
After what seemed the longest breakfast in the world, we finally arrived at our home away from home, our workplace. Sherman stayed outside to ask his wife to bring him an overnight bag. She didn’t work; the kids were with their grandparents, so she would hopefully get it done quickly. I reminded Sherman we were heading out within the hour, so she had to make it on the double.
I am not sure what she was telling him, but the arrogance was gone, and I heard him apologize many times over. I know he will tell me all about how she made him feel guilty; she did that often, forgetting that his job wasn’t always to do his eight and hit the gate.
“Detective Larry,” Velma leaned against the door frame of her office with her arms crossed over her chest. I tried to keep my impure thoughts in check as the form fitting t-shirt she wore was so tight, I could see how the freezing temperatures inside the office made her nipples stand on end, even through her brassiere. When she turned, it gave me time to slyly adjust how aroused I was at the sight of her perfect, heart-shaped ass. On the outside, I was Mr. Professional Detective. On the inside, I wanted to tear off those jeans and fuck her rotten.
“So, um,” I said, while clearing my throat. “What do you have for me, Velma?”
She closed the door after I walked through, waving Selena Dillon’s phone in front of me. “Proof…”
“Proof?”
I asked, reminding myself to look into Velma’s eyes, not her chest. “Jesus, you’re a fucking pervert. I saw you looking at my tits. But, whatever. Yeah, the girl videotaped the whole thing from the time she was dragged into the kitchen until she was shot. But you could still hear voices and more shots.”
“So, what you mean to tell me is Deputy Grimes is in the clear?”
She nodded. “Levi did all the shooting and all the talking. That man sure loves the sound of his own voice. I heard a child’s whimper and who I believed was Deputy Grimes telling her to run next door.”
“Now, here is my question. The coroner told Sherman they identified Deputy Grimes’ body. Is that true?” A somber look appeared in her large blue eyes, and she nodded.
“Sadly. But it must have been bad since it was a closed casket service, don’t you remember?” Velma said as she handed Selena’s phone to me, as well as Grimes’ badge and gun. “The chief instructed me to give these to you, even though the phone is evidence. It’s evidence you need to get a warrant for his arrest.”
“Thanks, Vel! You’re a doll.”
She grinned and batted her long eyelashes, “I know. But I am not through yet with my news. I looked up Beatrice Dillon’s background, it was easy. She was born in 1986 at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. Father was Captain Thomas Leland, who was a surgeon, and he retired at March Air Force Base, California in 1995. They loved the area so much, she was raised in Bakersfield, California until she became Mrs. Beatrice Dillon in 2005, settling down in Lancaster, California—of all the ghastly places to live.”
I didn’t ask for a life story on Beatrice Leland-Dillon, but Velma could read me her grocery list and I didn’t care. “Any siblings?”
Velma nodded and looked at the screen, “Yes, two. She has a brother named Bradley, who followed in his father’s footsteps. He is an Air Force captain in Aeromedical at Vandenberg. And she has a sister named Janiece, married to Jeffrey Weatherly. They are owners of the Weatherly Vineyards in Napa, California.”
“Now, I can say it—you’re a doll.” I wanted to pull her into my arms and give her a kiss to show her how much I appreciated her, but knew it was completely inappropriate.
