AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I called Ranger. “I heard from the kidnapper,” I said. “He wasn’t happy. Someone shot at his drone.”
“I had Sanchez parked in a van across from your office. He said the drone was hovering in the middle of the street and an old bald guy ran out of his house and took a potshot at it.”
“Did he down it?”
“No, but he put a round through the bonds office’s front window. Vinnie should replace it with impact glass.”
“That’s Mr. Ruffles,” I said. “Last month he shot at a bird and took out the satellite dish. Was Sanchez able to follow the drone?”
“No. And he didn’t spot any foot or vehicle traffic that looked suspicious.”
“Beedle, Comic Book Benji, and Sparks have disappeared. Beedle’s mother said he needed a change in scenery. Benji’s roommate said Benji’s gone wandering. And I’m in Sparks’s apartment right now. Lula bumped the lock. There’s no Sparks. It looks likehe had company this morning. Everything seems to be in place but there’s no computer or laptop. Just the monitor.”
“And?” Ranger asked.
“And I think they have the coin.”
“Do you need help?”
“No. I’ve got it.”
“Babe,” Ranger said.
Lula and I did the best we could to secure Sparks’s apartment. I drove to the office and parked at the curb behind a Trenton PD car. Vinnie was on the sidewalk talking to a uniform.
“Look at this,” Vinnie said when he saw me. “Some asshole shot up my window.”
“Good thing no one was in the office,” I said.
“Who would do this?” Vinnie asked.
I shrugged. Lula shrugged.
“Last month someone took out the satellite dish,” Vinnie said.
I shrugged. Lula shrugged.
“Someone’s out to get me,” Vinnie said.
“That would be everyone,” Lula said.
Lula and I went into the office. Lula took the couch and checked her mail, and I went to Connie’s desk and ran Beedle, Benji Crup, and Sparks through a bunch of search engines.
Beedle didn’t show any surprises. He was a smart guy. Got a BA from Rutgers and a master’s from Wharton. Worked as a CPA for a respectable firm until his divorce. His credit rating sucked. Lots of expenses while he was married. After the divorce there were crickets. Nothing. It was like he no longer existed. He had an apartment for a while but just recently moved in with his mother. He drives a rusted Nissan Sentra.
Benji Crup lasted through two years at the University of Pennsylvania and dropped out. Worked at GameStop for a year and transitioned to the comic book store. He was the only employee. He made minimum wage. He roomed with a bunch of guys and drove a 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 250.
Melvin Sparks had a high school education. He was in the drama club and the Dungeons & Dragons club. After high school he worked at a Camelot-themed restaurant as a waiter. He spent a year at Disney World as Goofy. After Disney he moved to LA and worked as a waiter at Olive Garden. The next year he landed in Trenton and got a job stacking shelves at a discount box store on the night shift. He didn’t have a car.
I got phone numbers for all of them. No one answered at any of the numbers.
“You look like you got nothing,” Lula said.
“It’s interesting. They’re all three very different people, but in a strange way they have a similar history. It’s like they had early aspirations that didn’t turn out and eventually they settled into a comfortable undemanding existence.”
“That’s not me,” Lula said. “I always shoot for big stuff. Like I said before, I’m an overachiever who isn’t discouraged by underachieving.”
“One of your best qualities,” I said.
