Footprints of a Dancer (Detective Elliot Mystery) Read online

  Footprints

  of a

  Dancer

  A Detective Elliot Mystery

  Bob Avey

  Deadly Niche Press

  Denton, Texas

  Copyright © 2012 Bob K. Avey

  All Rights Reserved

  Published by Deadly Niche Press, and imprint of AWOC.COM Publishing, P.O. Box 2819, Denton, TX 76202, USA. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

  ISBN: 978-1-62016-019-0 Paperback

  ISBN: 978-1-62016-045-9 Ebook

  Visit Bob Avey’s website http://www.bobavey.com

  Dedication

  For my wonderful mom, Ruby,

  who has always been my biggest fan.

  Acknowledgements

  I’d like to thank my editors, Gretchen Craig, and Pamela Blunt for their hard work. I’d also like to thank my publisher, Deadly Niche Press, for making it all possible.

  Chapter One

  Seeing old friends isn’t always a good thing.

  Not many people run the trails along Riverside Drive after the sun goes down, one of the reasons Detective Kenny Elliot chose to do so, but another runner occupied the trail, and her silhouette bounced quickly toward him.

  A sluggish wind blew across the Arkansas River, carrying an odor of decaying marine life, and suddenly a mood of darkness that had little to do with lack of sunlight engulfed Elliot’s senses.

  Elliot stepped off the pathway to avoid colliding with the runner, but in an unanticipated move, she came to a stop as well, and though she remained on the path she turned toward Elliot.

  They stood only a few feet apart, and even in the small amount of light that filtered in from different sources, Elliot recognized her. She looked exactly as he remembered her. She’d often described herself as being half Native American and half Irish. She tossed her hair back, revealing her silver and turquoise earrings.

  Elliot wiped perspiration from his forehead. She’d worn them the last time he’d seen her. When he broke the silence by forcing out one word, it came out as more of a question than a declaration. “Laura?”

  With a sad look on her face, she seemed about to speak, but instead she turned away and resumed her run.

  Elliot watched as she put distance between them. He was a cop, trained to know the difference between imagination and concrete detail, and yet, like a dream that fades upon awakening, he was already having trouble believing what he’d witnessed. He’d never been able to read Laura. As if she’d had some sort of defense up, everything about her was fuzzy. He was about to go after her when his phone went off. He didn’t know the number, but he answered it anyway.

  The caller sounded apprehensive, unsure he’d done the right thing. “Elliot? That you?”

  The voice danced around Elliot’s memory, but he couldn’t place it. Happened all the time in his line of work. “Do I know you?”

  “Sure you do. Come on, it’s me, Gerald.”

  “Gerald?”

  “You know, as in Stanley Gerald.”

  The name jolted Elliot back a few years. He glanced over his shoulder to see if the runner was still there, but she was not. “You’ve got to be kidding me?”

  “I wish I were, but something’s come up. I thought you should know about it.”

  A dull pain formed in Elliot’s stomach. He stepped back onto the trail and began a steady walk back to his vehicle. “What is it?”

  After a pause he said, “Do you remember Laura Bradford?”

  Elliot’s mouth went dry. It had been Laura Bradford he’d just seen on the running trail. He reached for the water bottle attached to his waist. Laura Bradford had disappeared during his and Gerald’s senior year at Oklahoma State. Gerald had been a suspect. “What about her?”

  As if reading Elliot’s mind, Gerald said, “I didn’t have anything to do with it. I was in love with her, Elliot. I always imagined we’d be together. And for all these years since, it’s like she’s been there all along, just beneath the surface, but now...”

  Elliot pressed the phone against his ear. “What are you trying to say?”

  “She’s back. I’ve seen her.”

  Elliot took another swallow of water. He wondered what the odds were of seeing an old acquaintance you had thought dead, and getting a phone call from her boyfriend saying that he, too, had seen her. “Maybe it was just somebody who looked like her.”

  “You don’t understand. I didn’t just see someone similar, strolling along the sidewalk, or notice a familiar face in a crowd. She was in my car, Elliot. I glanced over and there she was, sitting beside me, staring at me with those dark eyes, like an answer to a prayer.”

  Elliot closed his eyes, trying to make sense of it all. He wondered if Gerald was pulling some type of sick prank. He didn’t believe it, though. He’d questioned plenty of people in his time, developing a feel for whether or not they were being straight with him. Gerald was telling the truth, as he knew it. “What happened next?”

  “I’m not sure. I mean, it’s complicated.”

  Elliot reached his truck in the parking lot. It didn’t seem wise to tell Gerald about his own encounter with Laura, not until he knew more about what was happening. “What do you mean you’re not sure? What’s going on, Gerald?”

  “There’s a lot you don’t know. It’s why I called. I mean, you’re with the police, right? We need to talk.”

  Elliot started the truck. He wasn’t sure how Gerald knew he was a cop, but his voice carried an underlying current of urgency he couldn’t ignore. “What did you have in mind?”

  “How about breakfast?”

  He and Gerald and the ghost of Laura. The thought conjured up images of a strange dinner date at Eskimo Joe’s, a bar and grill in Stillwater near the college, something Elliot had not consciously tried to forget, but had certainly shoved to the back of his mind. “Sure.”

  “Are you familiar with The Savoy?”

  Elliot thought about the small restaurant on Sheridan Road. “I know where it is.”

  “I’ll be sitting at the table in the southwest corner of the southern section. Ten o’clock, okay?”

  “That’ll be fine. And it’s good to hear from you, Gerald. You caught me off guard, that’s all.”

  “Off guard? You and me both, Elliot.”

  Chapter Two

  Captain William Dombrowski leaned against the doorway to his office and watched Detective Elliot walk past, head down, something on his mind, the way he got when he worked a case that mattered to him. No, that wasn’t putting it right. All of Elliot’s cases mattered to him. But certain cases commanded his attention on a different level.

  Elliot had more levels and layers than anyone Dombrowski had ever met. A hard guy to figure, keeping to himself for the most part. If you were looking for the life of the party in Elliot, you’d be looking in the wrong place, but if you were in the field and needed someone to watch your back, he was your man. You couldn’t do better. Saying Elliot had a strong survival instinct was an understatement. What he possessed was a come-out-on-top, win-at-all-cost monitoring system that was humbling to say the least.

  Dombrowski shook his head. The Zimmerman case came to mind. It’d been quintessential Elliot from the start. Dombrowski often wondered if anyone else could have solved it, but it always got him to thinking, wondering exactly how Elliot had pulled it off. He didn’t like going down that road.

  * * *

  Elliot tried another search engine and another set of parameters related to Laura Bradford. He
got a few hits, but nothing matched what he was looking for. Later, Dombrowski came out of his office and stopped at Elliot’s cube. “What’s up?” Dombrowski asked.

  Elliot leaned back in his chair and swiveled around. He considered saying he’d received a strange phone call last night and he was looking for answers, trying to make sense of it, but it would come out sounding ridiculous. And Dombrowski hadn’t asked him what he was doing, what he was working on. “Just trying to get some work done.”

  “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” Dombrowski said. “You seem preoccupied. Everything all right?”

  Something was bothering Dombrowski, but he was tiptoeing around the issue. “I’m fine,” Elliot said.

  “How’s your son doing?”

  Dombrowski was making small talk. Something was definitely wrong. “He’s doing well, playing football this year.”

  “I guess it was pretty tough on you,” Dombrowski said, “finding out ...”

  Elliot had just learned a few months ago he had a son, that he was a father. The captain didn’t finish the sentence, but Elliot knew what he meant. A surprise of such magnitude wasn’t easy to deal with. Carmen had kept it from him, but he didn’t blame her. There was a lot more to it. They’d been separated in high school, both of them ending up thinking the other didn’t care. A twist of fate and a murder investigation had brought them back in touch a few months ago. It was then that Carmen had told him. “Yeah,” he said.

  The captain gave Elliot a pat on the back. “We’ll talk later.”

  Elliot noticed an email from Buddy Wheeler, an assistant coach at Oklahoma State who still kept in touch. He’d sent some humorous football related photos. Elliot replied to the email and logged off the computer. Dombrowski was acting strange. The last thing Elliot needed was a problem at work. He had enough to worry about already. As usual when he was under stress, he thought of Carmen, a source of comfort. He’d hoped they might patch things up, maybe even get back together, but it didn’t look promising. He pushed back from his desk and stood. His trip down memory lane had faded his appetite, but he’d promised Gerald he’d be there. He left the office and headed for 61st and Sheridan.

  Chapter Three

  Inside the Savoy, an elderly gentleman at the nearest table lowered his newspaper and peered over the top, not a timid or covert gesture, but a subtle way of letting Elliot know he was a stranger.

  Elliot made his way to the table in the southwest corner as he’d been told to do, but his day was starting off bad.

  Gerald wasn’t there. Elliot scanned the dining area, but saw no one who resembled his old friend.

  Gerald had been an unusual sort, but being late was not his style, and a complete no-show was out of the question. Elliot pulled out a chair and sat at the table where he could observe the other patrons in the restaurant while still watching the front door. He suspected Gerald had chosen it for the same reason, which suggested he’d been here before.

  Noticing Elliot’s presence, a waitress picked up a menu and a set of silverware. She placed the items on the table and whipped out her order pad. She stared down at Elliot, her pencil hovering impatiently over the ticket, an over-experienced member of the staff, long past the point of caring.

  Elliot ordered a piece of apple pie and a cup of coffee, and while the waitress wrote the order, he took the opportunity to slip in a question. “A place like this, you probably get a lot of regulars?”

  She frowned.

  “I’m looking for someone,” Elliot continued. “And my guess is you see a lot of the same faces in here.”

  She lowered the pad, annoyed at the distraction. “The place’s been here since 1975 and so have I.”

  “Do you know of anyone who sits at this table, goes by the name of Gerald?”

  She shook her head.

  “Real name’s Stanley Reynolds.”

  “How do you get Gerald out of that?”

  “It’s his middle name.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Well, what does he look like?”

  “I’m not sure. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen him.”

  The waitress stuck the pencil in her hair. “Well, how do you think I’m going to tell you if he’s been here?”

  She whirled and scurried away.

  Two cups of coffee and an hour later, Gerald still hadn’t shown. He had led Elliot to believe the meeting was important to him.

  Elliot pulled his phone and tried the number Gerald had left when he’d called, but there was no answer. He leaned back in the chair, letting the conversation he’d had earlier with Gerald run through his head. He didn’t like where his thoughts were headed. People always think the worst. He was no different. He just couldn’t shake the notion that Gerald had either been unable to make it, which meant something had kept him from it, or he’d gotten here and didn’t like what he saw. Considering the clean, almost sterile-looking atmosphere of the restaurant, Elliot suspected it was the former. He wondered if Gerald would try and make contact again. He decided to take the initiative, find an address for Gerald, go there and check it out. It shouldn’t take long. He had a few open cases, but he’d taken them to the point where there wasn’t much to do but wait. Again, he studied the patrons in the restaurant.

  The waitress didn’t like it. She came over and handed Elliot the bill. He wasn’t going to find anything here. He paid the waitress, left the restaurant, and headed to the office.

  * * *

  Elliot pushed back from his desk and stared at the notes he’d made. Gerald’s last known address turned out to be in Stillwater. It appeared he’d stayed there after graduation, but the call Elliot received had come from here in Tulsa, more specifically a hotel just off 71st Street near Yale Avenue. The phone company had verified it. The hotel was near the Savoy restaurant, probably why Gerald had chosen it as a meeting place. If he’d been in town for a few days, he’d probably eaten there.

  Elliot left the office and drove to the hotel. As he crossed the parking lot, his phone went off.

  He checked the caller. Carmen Garcia’s name and number ran across the screen.

  Elliot had expected it to be Gerald, trying again to contact him, and the surprise caused him to lower the phone. He thought of Carmen, the way her dark eyes caught the light, her creamy skin reflected the sun. He longed to take her in his arms and never let go, and he wanted to tell her, but what came out when he finally brought the phone to his face was, “Carmen, what a pleasant surprise.”

  “Not so pleasant,” she said.

  Elliot gripped the phone. Bubble busted. “What’s up?”

  “It’s Wayne. He was in a fight at school today.”

  “Is he all right?”

  “He is not hurt, but it is not all right. I don’t want him to be like... to exhibit that kind of behavior.”

  Elliot swallowed a lump in his throat. What Carmen had stopped short of saying was she didn’t want Wayne to turn out like his father. Carmen still saw him as a pumped-up eighteen year old football player. He’d had quite a reputation in school. But a kid on his own has to learn to fend for himself. He’d gotten pretty good at it. When the bullies started to avoid him, so did everybody else. Admittedly, he’d done little to dissuade that kind of thinking. In fact, he’d ridden it into adulthood. It was easier being a cop when you had respect. Just like in school, you rough up a few bad guys and the word gets out. He wasn’t such a tough guy, really. He just had trouble letting people know that. “Do you want me to have a talk with him?”

  “I’ve arranged for a conference this afternoon. I think you should be there.”

  A smile made its way across Elliot’s face. Some people might have been upset over such a thing, but he was happy to be included, proud to be a part of Wayne’s life. “Sure,” he said. “I assume it’ll be in the principal’s office.” A place you should be quite familiar with, he imagined Carmen was thinking. “What time do I need to be there?”

  Carmen gave him the information and disconnected.

/>   Elliot shoved the phone into his pocket and stepped into the lobby. He walked over and laid his badge on the registration desk. “Detective Elliot with the Tulsa Police Department. I need to speak with Stanley Reynolds. I believe he’s registered here.”

  Two people stood behind the counter, though neither of them acted as if they wanted to deal with the situation, but finally a young man who looked to be in his early twenties stepped forward. “I’m sorry, sir. What did you say the name was again?”

  Elliot repeated the information.

  The clerk began punching on a keyboard. Seconds later, he nodded, as if it all made sense now, everything in its place. “He’s here all right. Is he dangerous?”

  “I’ve known him to be cunning and devious, but not violent.”

  Again the understanding nod.

  Elliot didn’t have a warrant, and he didn’t want to press the issue, so he figured he’d play it straight. “Could you ring his room, tell him I’m here in the lobby, and ask him if he’s willing to speak with me?”

  A thin smile formed on the clerk’s face. “Sure. I can do that.”

  He picked up the phone, and seconds later began speaking into the mouthpiece. He turned to Elliot. “Someone’s there, but I don’t think it’s who you’re looking for.”

  Elliot grabbed the phone. “Hey, Gerald, what’s up?”

  “Gerald’s not here.”

  Elliot closed his free hand into a fist to avoid wiping the perspiration that’d formed there against his pant leg. The voice seemed oddly familiar, but one thing was for certain. It didn’t belong to Gerald.

  “Who is this?”

  “Has it been so long that you don’t remember? Gerald and me, Terri, and you, at Eskimo Joe’s?”

  Elliot gripped the phone, thinking back to those days in Stillwater. Gerald had brought him into the group after Elliot had saved him from a beating. Gerald had managed to get the wrong kind of attention from a bunch of kids with tattoos and bad haircuts. Elliot had hurt one of them more than he should have, but he’d managed to convince them to leave Gerald alone.