Double Dose, page 9
Mollie stood on her tiptoes and looked around the room for Johnny.
“Aren’t you going over to say hi?” Jackie asked.
“In a minute,” Mollie said. “First I want to find my boyfriend.”
“I’ll tell him you’re looking for him,” Jackie said.
“Okay, tell him I went outside for a breath of fresh air. All the smoke in here’s getting to me,” Mollie said.
“What about your sister?” Mollie heard Jackie ask as she walked away. She headed straight for the coat check near the elevator. When she’d walked into the party, a girl had taken her coat and handed her a ticket.
Mollie walked into the vestibule. The girl got up from her chair and started to hunt for Mollie’s coat. Then, suddenly, Moeller walked in. “Janie, would you run down to the corner and get some cigarettes for me?”
“As soon as I find her coat,” Janie said.
“I’ll find it. The cigarettes are for Eleanor, so hurry.” Janie nodded and took the twenty Moeller was holding out to her. “You know the special kind she likes.”
Mollie tried to slip out with Janie, but Moeller wouldn’t let her. “Going somewhere?” he asked, blocking her way.
“Actually, I—”
“You know, I shouldn’t even have let you into this party in the first place,” Moeller said. “You don’t belong.”
Mollie didn’t know what to say. He had her there. “But I’m Bitsy Carlisle. I was invited.”
Moeller shook his head. “You are no such person. I don’t know who you are, but you are not Kathy’s sister. I knew the first time I saw you that you were an impostor.”
“Okay, so maybe I wanted to get a glimpse of the exciting life of modeling.”
Moeller glared at her through beady eyes. “Sit down.” He pointed to the chair, and Mollie sank into it.
Then Moeller picked up the hose of a garment steamer and pointed it at Mollie. “In fact, I have a special facial treatment I give to people who come into my house uninvited.” He turned on the machine, and steam started to come out the end, right in Mollie’s face.
“Is this guy getting your coat for you?”
Mollie glanced over at the doorway. It was Johnny.
“I see you’re having a problem finding it. Let me help.” Johnny walked over and unplugged the steamer from the wall. “Here it is.” He grabbed one off the rack, then stepped in front of Moeller, grabbed Mollie’s arm, and pulled her out of the chair. “Sorry, munchkin. We’re out of here.”
“Make sure you don’t ever come back,” yelled Moeller. “Or I’ll be forced to take drastic measures.”
“Like what? Are you going to give us a sauna?” Johnny asked. Then he and Mollie headed for a door marked EXIT.
“Enough of elevators. Let’s take the stairs,” Johnny said.
“Fine by me,” Mollie said. “I want to get out of here, now!”
CHAPTER 12
“I’m glad we got out of that city,” Johnny said on Monday morning as the captain announced that the plane was passing over Iowa.
“Hey, I used to live down there,” Mollie said.
“Yeah, I think I can see your old house.” Johnny leaned across Mollie’s lap to look out the window. “Why do they bother pointing out the states when we’re thirty thousand feet up and can’t see anything except clouds?”
“So we don’t get worried, I guess. It’ll be good to get back home, although there are a lot of things we’re still pretty clueless about,” Mollie said. “For starters, how’d the cocaine get in Meredith’s bag?”
“Don’t know. But I’m pretty sure Moeller supplied it,” Johnny said.
“What a dork that guy is. Threatening me with a clothes steamer,” Mollie said.
“You didn’t think it was very funny then,” Johnny reminded her. “I didn’t know you were such a speedster.”
“Well, you just don’t know me very well. See, when I run away, it’s because I think something is hilarious.”
Johnny patted her on the leg. “Right. Whatever you say. If you want to have your Ms. Tough Girl fantasy—”
“I am tough.” Mollie wrapped her fingers around Johnny’s wrist and squeezed as hard as she could.
“I’ll have to remember that,” Johnny said. “What I don’t get is why anyone would do that to Meredith. Did she make Moeller mad without knowing it?”
“Maybe whoever did it meant to put the coke in someone else’s bag and got hers by mistake,” Mollie guessed.
“Yeah, but think about what happened on the other end, with Benjamin there waiting for her,” Johnny said. “If they gave it to some girl going off to Wichita, would police have been waiting for her?”
“Good point. Okay, if Meredith didn’t snub anyone, and we don’t think she did, what about Hilary?” Mollie asked.
“You think she planted it?”
“No, what I’m saying is, maybe someone had a gripe against Hilary and decided to settle it by framing her little sister. She and Rahel don’t get along, I know that.”
“Yeah, but Rahel wouldn’t do anything to get Hughes in trouble. He’s her sugar daddy, or should I say nosesugar daddy.”
“True. Scratch that idea.” Mollie sighed and stared out the window.
“You’re sure the lady at the tea store didn’t look suspicious?”
Mollie laughed. “She looked like a first-grade teacher from the nineteen-forties. She was horrified when I told her about the coke. There’s no way she was involved.”
“What if someone else in her store did it?”
“I told you, the police never even checked out the shop. They’re completely ignoring it as a possible source for the drugs.”
“That means they probably know where the drugs came from, or they don’t care,” Johnny said. “Which is pretty strange, because busting a small-time user like Meredith is nothing compared to nabbing someone like Moeller. Not that Meredith’s a user—I didn’t mean that.”
“I know,” Mollie said. “You’re right—they are ignoring the big picture. Which means … they were only after Meredith in the first place.”
“And whoever set her up was in collusion with the police,” Johnny said.
“Collusion. Big word,” Mollie teased. “Here, let me take a picture of you being so smart.” She reached into her handbag and took out the disposable camera.
“Where’d you get that?” Johnny asked.
“From some woman at the party.” Mollie snapped a shot of Johnny’s profile.
“You know, I have a funny feeling about something,” Johnny said. “I think you better go to the john and open up that camera.”
“Huh?” Mollie asked.
Johnny got up to let her out of her seat. “Just do it.”
Mollie walked to the back of the plane. The camera was one of the few things she still had from the party—she’d returned the dress and shoes that morning on her way out of town—and she thought it made a nice souvenir. Letting herself into an empty bathroom, she took a quarter out of her pocket and pried the camera open. She didn’t see anything except black plastic and the film cartridge. Then she lifted the film out of the camera, holding it straight out in front of her. White powder spilled onto the floor.
Mollie had never seen cocaine before. Some had spilled onto her finger, and she had the sudden urge to lick it off. What were the chances she’d ever have free cocaine again? It might be fun to try it.
But it wouldn’t be fun to get caught. More important, she’d never felt the need to do any drugs before, and there was no way she was going to start now. Mollie preferred to go through life making her own decisions, instead of having a drug run her life—and ruin it, the way it had Rahel’s.
She dumped the powder into the toilet and flushed it twice. Then she held the camera under running water for a minute, washing off all traces of the drug. She wiped it with a paper towel several times to remove any fingerprints, then tossed it into the trash. She washed her hands three times afterward, then left the bathroom and returned to her seat.
Johnny stood up to let her back into her seat. “Well?”
“You were right,” Mollie said. She waited until he sat back down. “I found a bunch of coke inside that camera,” she whispered. “Did you get one, too?”
Johnny nodded. “I’ll go get rid of it.”
“And anything else you didn’t come with.”
“Yes, ma’am. I mean, Ms. Tough Girl.”
“Call me Bitsy. Everybody else does.”
An hour later Mollie and Johnny were walking through the tunnel from the airplane to the terminal when Johnny suddenly stopped and put down his bag. “Before we go back to our regular lives, I want to say something.”
Mollie put her suitcase on the floor. Other passengers pushed by them, frowning because they were in the way. “What is it?”
“I had a great time,” Johnny said, leaning forward and kissing Mollie gently. “Moeller and all.”
“So did I.”
“And we’re not going to act weird when we get back and see everybody. Right?”
“Right.” Mollie picked up her bag and started walking. “At least, not any weirder than usual.”
They walked out of the tunnel and made a right, to head for the exit. Suddenly a tall man walked out in front of them.
“Excuse me,” Mollie said.
Two men in police uniforms came up and stood behind him. The man flipped open a small billfold, revealing a badge. “Detective Benjamin, San Francisco Police Department. We have reason to believe that you’re carrying illegal substances.”
“Do you have a search warrant?” Mollie asked.
Benjamin pulled an official-looking document out of his inside jacket pocket. Mollie read it carefully. It looked legal; a judge had signed it.
“Let’s see those bags,” Benjamin said.
Mollie turned to Johnny and shrugged. “Go ahead, but mine’s full of dirty laundry,” she said.
The two uniformed officers each took a bag and carried it over to one of the empty gates. They set them on chairs, opened them, and took nearly everything out.
“Nice underwear,” Johnny said.
Mollie blushed. She’d brought her Flintstones panties with her; she’d also brought her black lace teddy. It was humiliating—all her things were laid out right in the middle of the San Francisco airport.
“I don’t see anything,” one officer said.
“Me neither,” said the other.
Benjamin wasn’t satisfied with their answers. He went over to the bags and searched through them himself before admitting they weren’t carrying any drugs. “You got away with it this time,” he said. “But I know you’re working with Meredith Hughes. Don’t bother to protest. We’ve seen you all hanging out together.”
“We’re friends,” Mollie said. “Ever heard of the word? F-R-I-E-”
“Watch it, young lady. Just because your father’s on the force doesn’t mean you’ll get away with anything,” Benjamin warned.
“I have a question,” Johnny said. “Who told you we were carrying drugs?”
“I have my sources.” Benjamin turned to the uniformed officers. “Let’s go.”
“Who’s your source?” Johnny called after him. “Elvis?”
Mollie bent down and started stuffing her clothes back into her suitcase. “I’m surprised he didn’t confiscate my mousse as an illegal substance.”
“It probably is, in some states,” Johnny said. “Man, that was like a bad episode of The Twilight Zone. What is going on around here?”
“I don’t know, but I’m glad we ditched that stuff on the plane,” Mollie said, “or we’d be going downtown for fingerprints.”
“And I’d be going straight to jail,” Johnny added. “Do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars.”
CHAPTER 13
“Hey, man, how’s it going?” Jaime reached out and shook Johnny’s hand.
“I’m glad you’re back,” Roberta said. She hugged Mollie.
“So are we,” Mollie said. “I didn’t know you were going to meet us here.”
“We figured it was a holiday, and we should do something besides sit around Bayside all day,” Roberta said. “So we took the bus into the city and had lunch down at the Wharf, then walked around for a while. We thought it would be fun to come meet you!”
“So did Detective Benjamin,” Mollie said. “He searched our bags when we got off the plane.”
“I guess they didn’t find anything, or you wouldn’t be here,” Jaime said.
Mollie nodded. She’d explain the whole thing later.
“Where’s Sherman?” Johnny asked. They walked out of the airport and headed to the lot where Johnny’s car was parked.
“He’s doing something with his family,” Jaime said. “One of his sisters is home from med school for the long weekend.” Sherman’s four older sisters were all in medical school, which would probably explain his aversion to doctors.
Mollie and Johnny put their suitcases in the trunk, and they all hopped into the car. “Any missing hubcaps?” Mollie asked.
Johnny shook his head as he started the engine.
“Jaime and I had an idea this morning,” Roberta said. “We were thinking since we have the whole day off, maybe we should swing by Derek Hughes’s office and check it out.”
“Do you think he’ll be there?” Mollie asked. “It is a holiday.”
“He’d better be,” Roberta said. “I hope he’s spending the whole weekend working on Meredith’s case.”
“There’s not much he can do, at this point,” Johnny said.
“I still think we should go there,” Jaime said. He tapped Mollie on the shoulder. “Meredith’s uncle works there, too, right? And you said you didn’t trust him.”
“I don’t know anything about him, really, except that he gave DeDario a job,” Mollie said.
“That’s enough, if you ask me,” Roberta said. “Come on, we have nothing to lose.”
“What’s it called and where is it?” Johnny asked.
“Hughes, Hughes, and Longherin.” Roberta took a piece of paper out of her pock-etbook. “Thirty-four seventy-five James Avenue.”
When they pulled up in front of the building fifteen minutes later, Mollie turned around in her seat. “I think I should go up by myself. If there are too many of us, it’ll annoy them, and they’ll just kick us out. I can approach Mr. Hughes as Meredith’s best friend. He doesn’t know any better.”
Roberta nodded.
“All right, but don’t forget to poke around the office, too,” Jaime said.
“Good luck,” Johnny said.
Mollie shut the door and went into the building. It seemed to be deserted, but when she rang the doorbell outside Hughes, Hughes, and Longherin, someone opened the door immediately.
“Can I help you?” a woman asked.
“Is either Derek or Dayton Hughes in? I’m a friend of the family,” Mollie said.
“Dayton is on his boat down at the San Macero Yacht Club—lucky devil—and Derek’s on the phone. Care to wait?”
“Definitely,” Mollie said. “Thank you.”
The woman sat down at a desk and started reading from a stack of papers. Mollie could see Derek Hughes from where she was sitting. His office was only a few doors down, and his door was wide open, so she could hear him talking, too. “You didn’t make it to the party last night? Why not, Rahel?”
Mollie practically fell out of her seat. She wasn’t surprised that Rahel was lying. What was Rahel going to do, tell Derek she’d been hanging all over some other man all night?
“I’m sorry you don’t feel well,” Mr. Hughes went on. Then he looked up and noticed Mollie. “Uh, can I call you back a little later? There’s someone here to see me.” He hung up the phone and waved Mollie in.
She walked into his office. “Hi, Mr. Hughes. I don’t want to disturb you. I was just in the neighborhood, and I was wondering what was happening with Meredith’s case.”
Derek Hughes put his arms behind his head and leaned back in his chair. “I’m afraid to say that the case isn’t going very well. I get the feeling Meredith isn’t telling me everything.”
“Really? She told you she didn’t have anything to do with it, didn’t she?”
“Yes, but there’s something more. I’m sure of it. I don’t know, maybe she’d tell you, but she’s not telling me. And until she does, I don’t have much of a defense.”
“What do you think she’s keeping from you?” Mollie asked.
“I don’t know, except—you’d tell me if she was involved with drugs, wouldn’t you? I know I haven’t paid as much attention to her as a father should.” His desk chair squeaked as he leaned forward and put his elbows on the desk.
“I know she doesn’t do drugs,” Mollie said.
“That’s a relief. I mean, I believed her, but still it’s nice to hear it from a good friend of hers.” He tapped his desk blotter with a pencil. “I’d like you to be a character witness at her trial.”
“Sure,” Mollie said, rising to leave. “You know, you have a really nice office. I saw that computer room down at the end of the hall—what’s all that high-tech equipment for?”
“Do you mean the cameras and so forth? Well, we often tape depositions—by audio, video, or both. And we tape crime scenes, so we can study them—things like that.” Derek Hughes smiled. “Are you interested in becoming a lawyer someday?”
“Maybe,” Mollie said, though it was at the bottom of her list of possible careers right next to fish cleaner and accountant. “Thanks for seeing me.”
As she walked out of the office, she thought about how quickly and naturally Derek Hughes had answered her questions. He didn’t seem nervous at all. He only wanted to help his daughter.
But there was still the older Hughes brother to talk to. Mollie had a feeling he wasn’t so innocent.
“What do you say at a yacht club?” Roberta asked. “Do I have to talk with a British accent?”
“Just act casual,” Mollie told her. Jaime and Johnny were waiting in the car, while she and Roberta went to talk to Dayton Hughes.
