An hour later she was leaving the Yenkow residence with a signed contract and house keys. She"d suffered through two cups of strong tea while Mr. Yenkow quietly unveiled the horrible truth of his wife"s demise. He"d taken his mother on a trip to Los Angeles to visit her sister. They were gone for two weeks. Mr. Yenkow tried to call home a couple times but figured his wife must"ve landed the overtime hours she"d been hoping for at her night clerk job at the Holiday Inn. Turned out Mrs. Yenkow died of a stroke in their living room, probably the day after he left town.
Mr. Yenkow had had the bad luck to discover what had happened and would now have to live with the image of his wife"s bloated, skin-sloughing body for the rest of his life. However, if Sadie could help him, he would not be traumatized twice by having to clean up the spill of decomp on his living room floor.
She needed to switch from her own car to the company van before driving the forty miles to Tacoma, so she headed home. It shouldn"t be too much of a challenge-she would just make sure the van was stocked and then head out. However, when she got to her house, she saw a police car parked in her driveway and an uneasy feeling skipped up her spine.
She could see an officer at her door, leaning on the bell. She parked alongside the marked car.
"Can I help you?" she called out as she walked up to her front door. "I live here."
The officer turned. "Sadie Novak?"
"Yes?"
"I"m Officer Mason. There"s something I need to discuss with you. Can we go inside?"
"Sure." A feeling of dread sat heavy in her stomach as she fumbled with the dead bolt. "What"s this about? Has something happened to my family?"
"No, nothing like that."
They stepped inside, and she waited expectantly as the officer dug a notebook from his pocket and flipped it open.
"Miss Novak, it"s my understanding that you"ve been doing work for a Mrs. Sylvia Toth. Is that correct?"
"Yes. Oh my G.o.d, has something happened to Mrs. Toth?"
"That work was bio-recovery cleaning at her son and daughter-in-law"s house, correct?"
"Yes." She swallowed the lump in her throat. "I"m basically done there now. Could you please tell me what"s going on?"
Before I blow a frigging gasket!
"Mrs. Toth claims she returned to her son"s home a short time ago to sort through belongings and discovered that a very expensive family heirloom was missing."
Sadie felt sick to her stomach.
"A family heirloom?" she parroted. "An emerald necklace, perhaps?"
"No, actually a platinum and diamond brooch. Apparently the jewelry in question was kept in a file cabinet in the home"s den. Mrs. Toth says that the pin was always there and now it"s missing. She also indicated that you were in that same filing cabinet to obtain the insurance papers necessary to file the claim."
"Wait a second." Sadie held up her hand. "Don"t tell me Mrs. Toth is accusing me of stealing a diamond pin?"
"Do I have your permission to search your residence or would you rather I wait for a search warrant?"
Sadie"s jaw dropped. When she recovered her power of speech, she replied, "Knock yourself out."
She folded her arms angrily and began to pace her living room.
"That woman has some nerve!" she muttered.
She wore a path across her living room for twenty minutes, thinking of all the names she was going to call Sylvia Toth when she phoned her and unleashed her fury.
She was in her kitchen getting a gla.s.s of water when Officer Mason walked in. He held up the long black trench coat she"d worn the night before on her date with Kent.
"Ma"am, is this your coat?"
"Yes."
Because it sure doesn"t go with what you"re wearing, she thought snidely.
"There appears to be something in the pocket lining," he said.
He turned the coat inside out and fished around the pocket until he was able to retrieve the item.
"Do you mind explaining what this was doing inside the lining of your pocket?"
He held up a stunning five-inch brooch encrusted with diamonds.
9.
"Good news, Miss Novak," Officer Mason announced from across his cluttered desk at the police station. "Mrs. Toth says she won"t press charges since she was able to recover the pin. You"re free to go. Consider yourself lucky."
Sadie thought Officer Mason should consider himself lucky that she didn"t boot him in the groin. Also, Mrs. Toth should consider herself fortunate that Sadie didn"t rev up her car and mow the woman down in a parking lot.
"What about my statement?" Sadie asked through clenched teeth as she got to her feet. "I told you that Kent Lasko was obviously the one who stole the brooch and that he also took an emerald pendant. He made an elaborate show of getting his sweater snagged on my coat last night at dinner. I"m sure he somehow tucked that pin into the lining of my pocket in order to frame me. What are you doing about that?"
"Mrs. Toth doesn"t know anything about a missing necklace and we haven"t been able to reach Mr. Lasko," Officer Mason admitted. "I"ll try him again later."
But the tired, dismissive look on his face said that he wouldn"t bother.
"You should just be thankful that your client isn"t filing charges. I"m sure that wouldn"t be good for your business."
Sadie"s blood was boiling. She doubted the cop had even tried to reach Kent, but you could bet your a.s.s she planned on getting hold of him. The possibilities for retaliation were endless. At the very least, she was seriously considering filling his car with all the maggots and decomp fluids recovered from her next job.
Officer Mason was bang on about one thing. Sadie knew a scandal like this could ruin Scene-2-Clean, so she was grateful Sylvia Toth had dropped the charges. Who the h.e.l.l would use her services if they thought she would steal them blind? There was a good chance, however, that she could kiss all future referrals from detectives and the medical examiner"s office good-bye if she didn"t clear her name.
She took a taxi home from the police station. Clouds hung low, pressing against the city, and the weight of those clouds expressed Sadie"s mood perfectly. She felt like putting her fist through a wall. Instead, as soon as she got home she tugged Hairy onto her lap and stroked him from ears to tail.
"I was framed," she told the rabbit.
Hairy didn"t care about her plight. The black-and-white bunny only wriggled out of her grasp and hopped away. Sadie tried to put it behind her, but she was still seeing red. She s.n.a.t.c.hed her cordless phone from the side table.
"That Kent son-of-a-b.i.t.c.h Lasko has some explaining to do," she said out loud.
She forcefully punched in his home telephone number, but she got no answer, not even a machine.
She thought of calling Zack, but she wasn"t up to a lecture. No, she had to handle this herself. Getting abruptly to her feet, she s.n.a.t.c.hed her jacket and keys. She was planning to take her car, but when she got into her garage she noticed the Scene-2-Clean van looked odd. Tilting her head, she looked closer.
"Oh G.o.d," she moaned, walking around the vehicle.
All four tires were flat. Not just flat but slashed, with deep gashes in the sidewalls. She straightened and looked around. The door leading from the backyard into the garage was partly open. She couldn"t remember the last time she"d used that door. It may even have been unlocked. Stupid.
As she inched between the van and her car, she noticed a message scrawled in the dirt on the van.
Stay away from Taylor Street.
The Toth house.
Her hands shook with fear and anger as she squeezed between the van and her Honda. After opening the garage door, she put the car in reverse and sped down the driveway and out of her neighborhood. Minutes later she was parked in Kent"s driveway, staring at his house.
Although it was early evening, there wasn"t a single glimmer of light behind the tightly drawn curtains. Still, she couldn"t leave without making sure.
Stomping to the front door, she rang on the bell. She could hear it sound inside the house. She considered that he could be out, maybe showing houses to clients or even just working at his office.
She called information for the number and was soon talking to the cheery receptionist at Kent"s real estate firm. She informed Sadie that Mr. Lasko had gone out of town but another of their sales specialists would be pleased to a.s.sist her with her real estate needs.
"When do you expect Mr. Las...o...b..ck?"
"He didn"t say."
Sadie hung up her phone, put it back in her purse, and stomped her feet like a two-year-old.
"d.a.m.n. d.a.m.n. d.a.m.n," she hissed as she walked back to her car. "What kind of man goes on a date with a woman and then slashes her tires before leaving town?"
The kind of man who also slips a stolen diamond brooch into his date"s coat, her mind replied. The kind of man who leaves threats in the dirt on a woman"s vehicle to scare her.
Sadie thought of Kent"s steamy kisses and felt betrayed and defeated.
With her hand on the door handle of her car, she did an abrupt about-face and decided to take a quick detour around the back of the house.
The blinds covering the back windows were closed, but luckily they were the cheap metal kind and were slightly bent. After slipping between some small shrubs, Sadie was able to press her face against the dining room window and get a view inside. From her vantage point she could clearly see the kitchen eating area and the living room beyond. n.o.body was lurking in the corners or cowering under the kitchen table. Apparently there was a good possibility that the dirt-bag actually was out of town.
"What the h.e.l.l are you doing?" The warbly old man"s voice came from the next yard.
Sadie squeaked in surprise and jumped back from the window.
"I"m trying to find Kent Lasko," she replied, gathering her wits about her and walking toward the voice.
"Looks like you"re a Peeping Tom," he shouted. "You can"t be looking inside people"s homes when they"re not around. That"s against the law!"
"It"s important that I reach Mr. Lasko. Would you happen to know where I could find him?"
"No, but I"m head of the neighborhood watch, so if you don"t move your a.r.s.e out of his yard, I"m gonna call the cops on ya."
"I"m a friend of Kent"s and I have an important message for him," Sadie explained, offering the neighbor a rea.s.suring smile. "As head of the neighborhood watch, you"re probably informed about the activities on the street," she continued in a relaxed and soothing tone. "Did you notice him leaving today?"
"Of course I noticed," he snapped. "The two of them were hauling suitcases to their car at four o"clock in the morning. I never sleep through the night anymore, so I catch stuff like that. We haven"t had a break-in on this street since I was made captain of the block watch. Who the h.e.l.l goes on a holiday at that time of the night?"
"A lying no-good a.s.shole, that"s who," Sadie murmured under her breath. She cleared her throat and said louder, "Did you happen to talk to Mr. Lasko or his brother and ask where they were going?"
"No, and now I"m missing Law and Order, so move it along before I call the authorities."
Sadie returned to her car, where she sat shivering in her rain-soaked clothes and fumbling for the ignition. She cranked the heat up as she drove away. With an exasperated breath, she realized there was nothing more she could do to find Kent Lasko. Still, she needed to make a living, so she would have to call a garage to take care of the tires on the company van.
Sadie searched her memory and came up with the name of the mechanic she"d used before. Unfortunately, he was also an acquaintance of Zack"s. Regardless, she called Information for his number and dialed.
"All four tires?" Nick asked in disbelief after she"d explained the situation.
"Yeah, all four, and I need them installed immediately. Like tonight. I"ll make it worth your while, Nick, but you can"t tell Zack, because he"ll go all cop on me."
"He should go all cop on you if you had four tires slashed," he grumbled. "But you"re the customer. If I happen to run into my ol" buddy Zack, I won"t mention it."
"It"s no big deal," she a.s.sured him. "Really. Probably neighborhood kids. I left my garage door unlocked."
"Huh." His response sounded like he didn"t really care.
By the time Sadie had driven back home, Nick"s truck was already parked in her driveway. She let him into her garage and then left him alone to do his job.
She tried to busy herself with housework, but she was still jumpy about finding her tires slashed. Someone had come into her house. Even though it was only the garage, she felt invaded and vulnerable. She couldn"t wait to blow off some steam. The best way she knew to do that was to work a scene.
As soon as Nick was done, Sadie paid him a hefty fee for the tires and his after-hours time and sent him on his way. She double-checked all her windows and doors and then left the house herself, eager now to tackle the job in Tacoma.
She called Zack and joked about finding out the real reason for the aroma in Tacoma.
"Oh, you mean all this time the smell wasn"t from paper mills?" he joked back. "You need help?"
"Nah, I"m going to do the walk-through for paperwork and take the pictures."
"And there"s something you aren"t telling me."
d.a.m.n. Had he heard about the tires already? She"d kill Nick!
"Um, what do you mean?"
"C"mon, did you really think you could spend time at my old station and I wouldn"t hear about it?"
"The brooch."
"Yeah, the expensive diamond brooch."
She took a deep breath and told him about everything except the tires. She probably would"ve even told him about the tires, but by that time he was blowing such a gasket about Kent Lasko planting a stolen pin in her pocket that she was getting a headache.