The Last Train From Scottsdale

Chapter Six

  I had some time before meeting up with Millie, and I needed to pick up a toothbrush and toiletries. I stopped in at the local drugstore and was saying hello to Natalie Pritchard, the clerk behind the counter, when Dan Wilson started to walk toward me from the soda fountain.


  " I thought you left Scottsdale for good, Holbrook. "


  " I'm like a bad penny, Wilson." I said, returning his curt remark, and not mentioning his rank." I keep coming back. "


  Wilson snorted his disgust as he swaggered out. Natalie was wide-eyed as she gave a low whistle.


  " You sure are on his bad side, Lester."


  " I'll let you in on a secret, Natalie," I said leaning closer to her." Dan Wilson doesn't have any other side."


  She barked a short laugh, and bagged up my purchases.


  I parked the car in an alley behind Millie's house and walked to the back door. Millie answered my knock. Her peevish expression bored into me.


  " Why did you park in the back?" She fumed. " Are you ashamed to be seen at my house? "


  " I thought it best not having a strange car with out of county plates sitting in front of your house so the neighbors wouldn't talk." I said.


  " Like I worry about what the neighbors think." She scoffed." You go right back out there and pull it around to the front. The neighbors can think what they want, but, you don't need to hide your car. That'll make it worse."


  I puzzled over her logic as I got back in my car and drove around to the front. Millie said she didn't care about who knew I was staying over, yet didn't want to raise their suspicion about my car parked behind her house. Somehow I missed the point.


  I came in and Millie slipped her arms around my neck, giving me a long kiss. " I've thought about doing that since you left." She said as I came up for air. She pushed me away, giving me a tight grin." Now, big man, what do you want for supper? "


  Millie's kitchen was soon filled with the mouth watering aroma of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and green beans with strips of bacon. She dished it out and placed it on her dining room table, setting a glass of lemonade beside it.


  I wolfed down three pieces of the best chicken I'd ever eaten along wth two heaps of potatoes and gravy. Millie smiled as she watched me gorge myself. " Careful there, Lester. You almost bit your finger." She chuckled.


  " I'm sorry, Millie." I said very embarrassed." It's been a long time since I had a home cooked meal. I'm making a pig of myself."


  " You could have one any time you wanted." She said with a coy smile." I'm tempting you through your stomach. You know, 'the way to a man's heart'? "


  " Maybe after it's all over with Frank I just might take you up on it." I said, stifling a burp.


  " Would I be out of line if I asked what that meeting in my place was about?"


  " If you promise not to tell anyone I'll let you in on it. But, You've got to swear not to say anything to anyone."


  She crossed her heart and kissed her little finger." Pinky swear."


  " I've got to know you won't tell anyone why I'm back, Millie." Her smile faded as my cold gaze bore into her.


  " It must be something really important. Maybe you better not tell me."


  " Millie, I trust you, or I wouldn't even think about letting you know. "


  " Okay then, go ahead and tell me. I won't breathe a word to anyone."


  I gave her a short summary of what I was doing, leaving out the details. After I finished she sat there with a far away stare. " It sounds dangerous, Lester. Are you sure you can handle it? " My clouded look made her reach over and take my hand. " It's just that I worry about you. You're just one man. "


  " I'm part of a big team, Millie. This investigation is state wide. There are others who have been digging into it for some time." I didn't tell her about Albert Hughes. " The Attorney General wants somebody familiar with this area. That's why I was chosen. If a bunch of strangers started poking around they'd arouse everyone's curiosity. " I took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. " I'm going out on a limb telling you anything about it. Frank and I are heading up to Indianapolis to meet with the Attorney General in the morning."


  She rose from her chair and gently pulled me out of mine." Let's not talk about it anymore tonight. She said, giving me a peck on my lips.


  We went into the living room and watched TV until it was time for bed. Millie disappeared into her bedroom and came out a few minutes later wearing a dark red, filmy, short nightie. I didn't need any encouragement as I followed her into the bedroom. She gently pushed me onto the bed, untied my shoes and slipped them off. I was naked in less than a minute. Millie's lithe body pressed itself next to me, like a soft glove over a hand.


  Our love making was over much too soon. What was the old saying? " Once a king always a king, but, once a night is enough! " That was my case. We held each other, falling asleep, and the night seemed to whiz by.


  It was a bright, crisp morning I awoke to and smelled the aroma of bacon wafting through the house. Dressing quickly, I went into the kitchen as Millie was serving up breakfast.


  " ' Morning, glory. " She smiled as she handed me a cup of steaming coffee and pecked me on the cheek." Have a seat." She said, nodding at the kitchen table and scooping out scrambled eggs an bacon on two plates.


  " Frank and I are headed back to Indianapolis this morning." I said as I took a bite of eggs." While he's in with Marcia I'm going to interview somebody connected to the case."


  " You be careful, Lester Holbrook." She said, giving me a stern look." You tend to forget how dangerous some things can be."


  " Like when did I ever forget? " I retorted.


  " Like the time you stopped that punk that nearly killed you. That's when!"


  I had to admit she was right. I'd forgotten about that night. It was some years ago I was on the swing shift, from four to twelve midnight. I pulled over a car on the outskirts of Scottsdale that was driving all over the road. When I finally got the guy to stop, I got out and was walking up to his car when he put it in reverse and gunned the engine. The car brushed my right hip, causing me to lose my balance. I hit the pavement and rolled out into the road just at a semi was bearing down on me. I scrambled out of it's way with it's airhorns blaring as it passed. Then, the car I stopped changed gears and roared it's engine. The car leaped toward me, like some metal predator. I drew my baton and threw it at the windshield as the car was gaining momentum. The safety glass shattered and glazed over, blinding the driver. I jumped out of the way as the car zoomed off.


  Jumping into my unit, I went after him. The pursuit lasted twenty minutes, and three other cruisers gave chase before we got him stopped. We yanked him out of the car and had him down and cuffed in an instant. The driver began sobbing as we brought him up on his feet.


  " Why did you try to run me down?" I demanded, adrenalin still coursing through my veins.


  He was a fifteen year old kid with no license who sneaked out with his dad's car for a joy ride. He panicked when I


pulled him over. When the boy's case came to court, I went to see Juvenile Judge, Melvin Roberts, in his chambers." It would serve no purpose to put him in reform school." I said to his unbelieving look.


  " That little punk nearly killed you." He said." What if he does it again?"


  I had done some checking with the high-school and discovered that the boy was an honor student. He played trumpet in the marching band, and worked part-time bagging groceries in Scottsdale's IGA Foodliner. This wasn't some hoodlum, but , a young kid who made a dumb mistake.


  I assured Judge Roberts the boy wouldn't and he shook his head. " You're getting soft in your old age, Lester." He sighed." Get out of here!" And I made a hasty retreat.


  I was in the back of the courtroom when the case was called. The boy and his father came before the bench and Judge Roberts glared at the boy as he read the charges against him: reckless driving, drivng without a license, fleeing police, attempted battery with a vehicle, and crimial mischief. " Young man," Judge Roberts' condemning, somber tone rang through the court." I want to throw the book at you. Attempting to run down anyone, much less a police officer, is tantamount to attempted murder. Do you realize that? " The silence that fell seemed to suck the air out of the room.


  The boy hung his head and gave a timid nod as his father put an arm around him, and whispered somethig in his ear. The boy looked up and met the judges' stony gaze. " I"m truly sorry, sir, for what I did. I know it was wrong and I don't have any reason for it." His voice broke in a sob.   


  The courtroom was silent as Judge Roberts glanced over the charges he held in his hand. " Ordinarilly, I'd have you hauled off to Juvenile Detention, and cool your heels. But, the police officer you tried to run over asked me to be lenient today. I want you to understand that. It's only because I believe him when he said you would never do it again that I'm placing you on six month's probation, and that you won't be eligable for an operator's license until you're eighteen."  Bang! went the gavel. " Next case."


  "That boy turned his life around." I said." He graduated from High-School and went into the military."  I didn't mention he was given the bronze star for pulling his squad out of an ambush in Kuwait.


  " And you think it was because you decided to not press charges." She said with a sigh." You were lucky both times."


  " Maybe. Or, I was right about him in the first place." I shrugged." Who can tell? "