Pier Pressure Read online

  “I’m fine,” I managed to get out.

  Dorothy and Morton rushed over to me. Refusing help from Morton and Dorothy, I climbed up from the ground. I didn’t want to bring them down with me. As soon as I was on my feet again I took off for the car.

  “Promise me that we won’t have to come back here again,” Dorothy said as we slammed the car doors shut.

  “I promise we won’t have to come back here again,” I said with my fingers crossed.

  Morton cranked the engine and turned the car around. This was no easy task considering the size of the thing. After a minute of back-and-forth maneuvering, he got the car pointed in the right direction. We headed back toward the main road.

  “Now what?” he asked.

  “I suppose that’s all for now. Just take me back to my car. I have to tell Jake about what I discovered.”

  Now I knew Abby was involved with these men and I had to know why.

  “Will you tell him that you were snooping around here again?” Dorothy asked.

  “I suppose I have to. He will understand when I solve this case,” I said.

  “If you say so.” Dorothy rolled her eyes.

  “I’m just glad we got past that alligator,” Morton said as he punched the gas.

  Yes, that was definitely a plus. What was also nice was that Morton had driven me there without a wreck.

  Morton drove back to his house and I got my car. I was headed back to the office so that I could prepare my thoughts and what I would tell Jake. As soon as I pulled into the parking lot my cell rang. It was Jake. Would he believe what I had to tell him?

  “There’s something I need to tell you,” I said.

  Chapter 23

  Dorothy and I had staked out Cora’s house. Cora thought she was clever, but I was on to her now. She pulled out of the parking lot and I merged out onto the street behind her. She had no clue we were back there.

  “It’s going to be easy to catch her,” Dorothy said.

  “I do believe you’re being a bit cocky this evening, Dorothy,” I said.

  Dorothy shrugged. “Well, we’re good at what we do. No reason not to be a little confident in our abilities.”

  I smiled as I kept my eyes focused on the road ahead. “The night’s not over yet. Don’t get too confident.”

  We cruised down the highway. The sun was setting quickly and the warm air had cooled just a bit—though it was still warm, just not sweat-your-makeup-off hot. Cora was alone in the car. For all we knew she was headed to the grocery. She slowed to a stop so I eased off the gas. Cora turned into the parking lot for a nightclub.

  “Is she going in there alone?” Dorothy asked.

  Now that Cora had turned in I sped up just a bit so I wouldn’t miss her getting out of the car. I turned into the parking lot and spotted her car. She was already getting out. I hurried into a parking space and cut the engine. Cora didn’t even look around the parking lot to notice me. She was wearing a short red dress and red high heels. She was obviously all dressed up to go into this club. She tossed her hair from her shoulder and practically skipped across the parking lot. She seemed happy. What had made her so excited? Was it just the fact that she was going dancing? Was she meeting someone here? I was surprised to see her go there by herself. There was only one way to find out why she was here.

  “It looks as if she is ready for dancing.” I opened the car door. “Come on, we have to catch up with her.”

  “Maggie, we’re not really dressed for a night out on the town,” Dorothy said as she hurried out of the car.

  “We’ll just have to roll with it tonight, Dorothy,” I said.

  Cora disappeared inside the building.

  “Look, there’s a sign for salsa dancing lessons tonight.” I pointed out the sign.

  “Well, she isn’t too worried about finding her husband’s killer, is she?” Dorothy quirked an eyebrow.

  “No, she isn’t,” I said.

  “Don’t you think she’ll see us when we walk in?” Dorothy asked.

  “We’ll have to hide,” I said as I opened the door.

  “Oh, that sounds like it’ll be easy-peasy,” Dorothy said with sarcasm in her voice.

  The salsa music poured from the space as soon as I opened the door. I’d always loved dancing so it was hard for me not to want to hit the dance floor. I was here for work, I reminded myself. Lights pulsed around the darkened room. Tables and chairs lined the corners of the space. A long bar along the right side had twinkling lights running above it along the ceiling. I wasn’t sure if I would find a place for us to sit. First, I needed to locate Cora. If I didn’t find her we wouldn’t be staying anyway. I scanned the room looking for any sign of her.

  “Do you see her?” Dorothy yelled into my ear.

  “I don’t see her.”

  The space was dark, of course, so it was hard to make out any faces. All I saw were bodies swaying with the rhythm, flowing with the music. I studied the couples for a moment as they moved, forgetting for a brief time the reason for my visit. My thoughts wandered to Jake. What was he doing right now? I thought about dancing with him and how it would feel to have his body that close to mine. I forced myself back to reality. I had a job to do. There was no time for pleasure at the moment. I could get to that when the case was solved. But the question was if I would really ever get to it.

  “I’ve never seen hips move so fast,” Dorothy said.

  I scanned the room and spotted Cora in the corner of the room speaking with a man. His back was to me so I couldn’t see his face. Cora had a glass of wine in her hand. I looked to my right and spotted the bar.

  I motioned toward the stools. “Let’s have a seat.”

  Dorothy followed me over and we sat on the stools. When the bartender came over I ordered wine for us.

  Dorothy adjusted her blouse and then her visor. “I still feel awkward and out of place with the way I’m dressed.”

  “You look fine. No one is paying attention to us.”

  When I glanced over I spotted a couple men watching us. Okay, maybe we weren’t going completely unnoticed, but these guys hadn’t exactly stumbled off the fashion runway. The bartender brought over our wine. I took a sip and watched Cora. She was laughing with the man. She touched his arm. When he would say something she would laugh again. They seemed close to each other. I sensed that this wasn’t the first time that they’d met. I still felt someone’s stare on me. I glanced over and the men were still eyeing us. I seriously wished they would stop because I had a job to do and didn’t want to be interrupted. I focused my attention onto Cora again.

  “Oh, she’s definitely flirting,” I said.

  “She’s not the only one flirting,” Dorothy said over the top of her wine glass.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Don’t look now, but there are a couple of men who are watching us. They’re making googly eyes. They’re at the end of the bar.”

  Of course I looked that way and spotted the men who had been looking at us earlier were still watching.

  “I told you not to look,” Dorothy said.

  Yes, I’d done the exact thing that I always told her not to do. Dorothy was rubbing off on me now. This was getting serious. She was right though. The men were sending off flirting vibes. The younger of the two waved at me.

  “Oh, no,” Dorothy said.

  Please don’t let them come over here. I tried not to look, but it was as if I couldn’t help myself.

  “Here they come,” I said out of the corner of my mouth.

  Dorothy grabbed my arm. “Let’s get out of here.”

  “We can’t leave. I still need to see what Cora is doing. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of these guys.”

  The men were next to us now. The younger one was probably my age. He had dark hair and eyes. He was probably my height, which wasn’t tall. Maybe he had a couple inches on me. His friend had gray hair and was slim and tall. He towered over his friend. They studied us, soaking up our appearance from h
ead to toe. This made me uncomfortable. I wanted to tell them to get lost, but I wouldn’t be that rude. At least not yet. If I had to be stern with them I wouldn’t hesitate. They acted as if we had been expecting them our whole lives. They were way off if that was what they thought.

  “Hello, ladies, would you care to dance?” The older man wiggled his eyebrows.

  “Oh, no, we’re really not here to dance.” I waved my hand.

  “Nonsense.” The dark-haired guy took my hand. “Don’t be embarrassed just because you can’t dance.”

  “We’ll show you what to do. That’s what the lessons are for.” The older man took Dorothy’s hand.

  They practically dragged us to the dance floor.

  “I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry,” Dorothy said in a mocking tone.

  The next thing I knew this guy had his body pressed next to mine. Dorothy was reluctantly going along with the older man. One dance and we would get out of here. I spun around and looked in the direction where Cora had been standing. She wasn’t there now. If I lost her because of dancing with this guy I would be furious.

  I scanned the crowd, but still couldn’t find her. How long was this song? I was starting to panic that I wouldn’t see her again. All of this was for nothing. I looked over the crowd again and spotted Cora. She was on the dance floor too. If we weren’t careful she would notice us. I wasn’t sure how she would react. She had a lot of questions to answer as far as I was concerned. It was hard to look for her and keep up with the dancing at the same time. Why was I doing this? I should shove this guy out of the way and look for Cora. Though then that might call attention to myself. I didn’t want to alert Cora to my presence. Going along with the dancing was the only way to do that right now.

  The guy smiled at me. “You’re really good at this.”

  “Thanks,” I said, still keeping my eye on Cora.

  I moved my body along with the music. Maybe I should pretend to be really bad at this so he wouldn’t want to dance with me anymore. Something told me he would just keep going anyway. He would probably feel complied to teach me. I moved my feet in all the correct steps keeping up with him. My focus was still on Cora. He spun me around. When I came back around I tried to find Cora again, but I’d lost her. This was terrible. How did I expect to keep an eye on my subject when I was dancing? I had to stop this right away. It had gone on long enough.

  “I think I’ve had enough of the dancing for tonight. Thank you though.” I spotted Cora again. It looked as if she was headed for the door.

  “Oh, you can’t stop now. You’re only getting started,” he said.

  I frowned. “I think I’ve done enough.”

  This guy just wouldn’t take no for an answer. He’d never get a date if he kept being that pushy. I moved away from the dance floor. As I passed by, I grabbed Dorothy’s arm and pulled her with me.

  Apparently her dance partner didn’t want to let her go either. In one swift movement the guy grabbed Dorothy’s hand and spun her around. The crowd made an ‘oh’ sound. Apparently they liked their dance moves. Once again, Dorothy was doing something that I’d had no idea she was so good at. Was there nothing she couldn’t do well? Had she been a professional dancer when she was younger? Where had she learned moves like that?

  The crowd cleared the dance floor. I watched the rest of their dance. I was just as mesmerized as the rest of the crowd. Dorothy danced as if she had been doing this her whole life. Her movements were in perfect time with the music. She was graceful and acted as if she was one with the music. I thought she was even better than her dance partner. He probably realized that too. It was as if everyone couldn’t take their eyes off Dorothy. One last spin and it was over. When the song ended everyone cheered. I clapped briefly. When I glanced over my shoulder I spotted Cora. She’d moved away from the bar and was headed for the exit. I grabbed Dorothy. I wouldn’t take no for an answer this time. I was way more persistent than this guy had ever dreamed of being.

  “We have to go. Cora is leaving,” I said.

  Luckily, Dorothy didn’t resist. For a moment I wondered if she was having fun dancing with that man. We ran outside, but we weren’t alone. The men followed us. Apparently we’d made quite an impression. I guessed it was our dance moves that had made them fall in love with us. I couldn’t take my eyes off Cora though.

  “Guys, thanks for the dance, but Dorothy and I have boyfriends,” I said while watching Cora out of the corner of my eye.

  She was with that same guy, but all I ever saw was his face. Now they were standing by Cora’s car and chatting. Though they were standing awfully close to each other.

  My dance partner stared at me for a moment. Then he chuckled. “No, you were here for the dance lessons.”

  “Though I didn’t think she needs them.” The older man looked at Dorothy.

  Cora opened her car door and got in. That was when I got a look at her date’s face. It was Garrett. I was almost sure of it.

  “We just wanted to sign you up for the package deal. So we’ll see you next week? Six weeks for only one hundred and fifty-nine dollars.”

  I felt the heat rush to my cheeks. Well, this was embarrassing. I just wanted to get out of here.

  “Oh,” I said. “Well, we’ll certainly think about it.”

  “You know where to find us,” the man said with a smile.

  I’d never show my face around this place again. That was unless I was following a subject. Then I supposed I’d have to.

  When Cora took off out of the parking lot I followed. She wasn’t going to get away from me that easily. For someone who was concerned that she was being followed, she certainly never looked around at her surroundings. She’d never even suspected that anyone was watching her. This was just too easy. Though I wished I’d gotten a chance to confront her in the club. I was just thankful to be out of there and away from those men. How embarrassing.

  “I have to tell you, Maggie, do you know how awkward that was? What made you think that they were flirting with us?” Dorothy asked.

  I frowned. “You. You are the one who made me think they were flirting with us. Remember that? You said those men were flirting with us.”

  She waved her hand. “Well, that’s neither here nor there now. We have more important things to worry about, like following Cora.”

  “You can say that again.”

  “Plus, we have to worry about what you’ll say to Jake.”

  I glanced over at her. “I don’t have to worry about what to tell him. I’m not telling him anything about this.”

  “Okay, but he’s going to ask,” she said.

  “Why do you think he’s going to ask?”

  “Because he’s been following us since we left the club.” Dorothy gestured over her shoulder.

  I glanced in the rearview mirror. “Why didn’t you tell me this right away?”

  “You were busy talking with the men.”

  “He saw us talking with those guys?” I asked.

  She laughed. “Not only did he see you talking with them, he overheard what they said and he saw you dancing with them.”

  “He was in the club?” I yelled.

  She pressed her fingers to her ears. “Not so loud.”

  I’d lost sight of Cora now.

  “Where did she go?” I asked.

  Dorothy stared at me with her fingers still in her ears. I motioned for her to move her fingers.

  “What’s that?” she asked when she moved her fingers.

  “I asked where Cora went.”

  Dorothy shrugged. “I don’t know. I wasn’t watching.”

  I shook my head. Jake’s blue lights flashed. “Is he actually pulling me over?”

  “Looks that way,” Dorothy said.

  I couldn’t believe he was doing this. Was I speeding? Had I failed to stop at a stop sign? Had I run a red light? I merged over to the side of the road. Jake pulled his car behind me. Jake got out and walked up to the car. I pushed the window down.

  D
orothy leaned over and smiled at Jake. “Hey, Jake, fancy seeing you here.”

  He smiled at her. “Good evening, Dorothy.”

  “She didn’t tell me that you were in that club,” I said.

  He folded his arms in front of his chest. “I was having fun watching you.”

  “You shouldn’t have done that,” I said. “Why didn’t you come up to me? You could have saved me from humiliating myself in front of you.”

  He shook his head. “I like the way I did it better. Do you want to tell me what you all were doing back there?”

  “We were following Cora, but I lost track of her car.”

  “Why were you following her?”

  “I wanted to see what she was doing.”

  Jake looked at me suspiciously. “And what was she doing? Dancing?”

  “Yes, with her boyfriend. She doesn’t seem concerned with finding her husband’s killer,” I said.

  Dorothy leaned down again. “And she was quick to find a boyfriend. I bet she had the boyfriend before her husband was murdered.”

  I needed to pay Garrett this guy a visit. I wouldn’t tell Jake about that trip either.

  Chapter 24

  Dorothy and I were sitting out in front of Garrett Smith’s apartment. This time I had parked on the opposite side of the street. As if that would keep him from noticing us out there. However, short of buying a different car, I didn’t have many other options for concealing my identity. He was probably on the lookout for me now. What did I care if he saw me anyway? I was here to find answers. Maybe I should even let him know that I was here.

  “She sure got a young boyfriend, didn’t she? What do they call them? She’s a lion?” Dorothy asked.

  I laughed. “Close. She’s a cougar.”

  “Oh, right.” Dorothy started knitting again. “So how long are we going to sit here?”

  I sighed. “I don’t know. I should go up there right now and talk with this guy.”