Finding Elvis Ch. 04

I smiled. "You're absolutely right, Gretchen. He's been great and deserves it after we get done. On the other hand, after that step-up in our relationship, I think we need to agree to be hands off until the stakeout's done."

She blinked back at me in surprise. "Why?"

"A stakeout requires attention, and we need to be focused on catching up with Leo. If we're necking," I said glancing up at Devon in the mirror, "or more, he might slip right by us." Devon just grinned and kept driving, listening.

Gretchen pouted, but nodded. "Okay, if I simply must, but I'll be thinking about it."

-----

If anything, the neighborhood where Leo's mother lived was even worse than I expected from talking to his father-in-law. The cars were so low end, I didn't know if any rental place would have a car that wouldn't stand out. The house in question was part of a tenement row and was indistinguishable out from its neighbors. The street in front of it had a bunch of younger kids playing ball with a broom handle and what looked like a tennis ball. The next block up, some gang bangers eyed the cab going by with interest, the kind of interest that told me a stop would get me an offer of drugs. Some kind of place to grow up, with the dreary layer of poverty settling on everyone like smog.

"Devon, you know of a rent-a-wreck place? Some place that rents cars and that might have an old one that would fit in here?" I asked as we pulled out of the area.

"Sure, Devon help you find a good car to fit in, Miz Hawkins. I know just de mon and I get you de best deal."

Gretchen looked out the window as we drove, abnormally quiet. I finally had to put my hand on her leg to bring her attention back inside. "What's the matter," I asked quietly. Her eyes seemed a bit teary.

"I bitch about my problems, but they live in places like that. I'm such a hypocrite. I'm a little rich girl, whining about her Daddy and step-mother, while they live with gangs, drugs and poverty. I really am out of touch with the world." She wiped her eyes with a tissue from her purse. "I grew up in the lap of luxury, all my needs taken care of before I even felt them."

I nodded. "So you did. We don't get to pick our families and our childhood. You aren't defined by that, but rather by what you do. You don't like something? Try to fix it. Try to help someone. We might be the sum of our past, but the future is in our hands only if we reach out and take control."

Lisa called while we were halfway to our destination. She and Ted were settled in, but Hans had their time scheduled out pretty tightly. I decided not to let her know we were in Boston with them, since I knew that she would want to help. She and Ted had enough on their plate for the moment, so I'd just take the yelling when she found out. The call lasted fifteen minutes, and she sounded pretty happy, all in all. After the call I felt pretty good, but I missed her badly. The last few weeks had bonded the 'us' so much that I was only starting to realize how much a part of my life they had become. And I felt more than a little guilty at how rapidly I was becoming attached to Gretchen. Logically, I knew that it was a good thing from Lisa's perspective, but it was still emotional.

Gretchen was silent and thoughtful all the way to the used car lot. Devon pulled in and talked to a man that might have been his brother, dreadlocks and all. A little arm waving and both of them looking us over while they talked seemed to settle it. Devon waved us out.

"Dis be my cousin, Dio. He has some old cars dat he can rent you dat will fit right in, don't you Mon?"

Dio nodded. "And I be happy to help you ladies. Come on into my office, and we talk."

I smiled at Devon and made my move. "You've been a big help, Devon. Let me get your tip." Without waiting, I struck, wrapping my arms around Gretchen and pulling the surprised woman into a powerful kiss. She melted into my embrace and wrapped her arms around me, our coats making noise as they rubbed together. I kissed her aggressively, almost possessively, my tongue prying her lips apart to taste her and invade her. She didn't object. Far from it, she kissed me back with a passion that surprised me. I needed to make my last move and leave her wanting. I was tired of her having the upper hand in these games.

My lips left hers and I kissed down the angle of her jaw and onto her neck. The goose bumps told me that she was very sensitive there and I used my advantage ruthlessly, kissing, licking and biting her slender throat gently. Her body began to twitch and she moaned softly in pleasure, her fingers entwining in my hair. Perfect.

I broke off my attack and she groaned, trying to pull my mouth back to her skin. I grinned at her. "Nope, that's all until the stakeout's done."

Her pupils were wide with desire, but she let me go. "Oh, you can fight back, I see. The tables are turned on the hunter, but I haven't given up the chase yet, Dear. I'm going to have you and it will be on my terms!"

The sound of one of the men clearing their throat startled both of us. We'd been so focused on each other that we'd forgotten where we were for a moment. Gretchen laughed. "We've got it bad. You satisfied with the tip, Devon?"

"Hell yes!" he exclaimed with a grin matched by his cousin's. "I drive you where you like and you can tip Devon like dat anytime!"

She slapped him on the ass. "Go on, get back out in your cab and make some more money." She opened her purse and tipped him a Franklin anyway. He started to decline, but she shook her head. "That really was my pleasure so it can't be your tip. We'll call if we need any more driving around."

He pocketed the bill and handed her a card. "You call me direct if you need Devon and he be dere." When he drove off, we made our way inside with his still grinning cousin. In fifteen minutes, Gretchen had left a deposit that was probably worth more than the heap itself.

The only thing holding the beat up Oldsmobile together was rust and Bondo. The interior looked like it had been used as a cage for a pit-bull and the smell seemed to confirm that theory. Dio started the car up and I thought it had exploded from the loud 'bang' and the huge cloud of oily smoke that belched from the tailpipe. I'd have been tempted to say it was running rough, but that would've been too generous. I think it was missing on at least one cylinder and it acted like it would seize up.

"Dere you go, ladies! Dis car be de right one to fit in to dat neighborhood," Dio said as he climbed out and left the door open for me. "If she die, you just call Dio and he come get you."

"You're a real champ, Dio. Thanks." I slid behind the wheel and let it warm up.

Gretchen slid in the other side and wrinkled her nose at the amazing smells coming from under the seat. Or was that from the seat itself? "You're safe from me making any moves on you in this thing, Hawk. I'd be afraid to take my clothes off. I might catch something. Speaking of clothes, I think I'll burn mine when we're done with this, um, car. People really drive pieces of crap like this?"

I grinned and nodded. "Hell, this is better than the first undercover car I had. It smells better, too."

She shuddered. "Ugh!"

I looked at the dash and decided the car was as warm as it was going to get. When I put it in gear, I thought the transmission had fallen off or the driveshaft had blown a U-joint, but apparently that was just its way of finding first gear. We lurched off the lot and out into the street.

When we arrived in the neighborhood and had parked, I started worrying that this was too low rent to really fit in, but decided I was just being critical. I parked up the street where we had a good view of the house. Gretchen rolled the window down, despite the cold.

"Maybe the stink will freeze out of the air," she said optimistically.

"Dream on," I said. "If that doesn't work on something like a dead body, how could it work on something this much worse?"

"Shit," she said disgustedly. "I guess you're right. How long do you think it will be till he shows up? Tonight?" she asked hopefully.

"I doubt it. More likely tomorrow, or the next day. Good thing we have a lot of talking to do."

She sighed and accepted it. "At least we're being paid well for it, though after considering this car, I think he's getting off cheap."

She did get her way about that stupid prank, though. She pulled it out and dithered about letting it touch the dashboard before signing it on her knee. I rolled my eyes, shook my head and signed the paper. I eyed the form dubiously. At least no one would be signing the officiator and witness spots, so it wasn't any more than just a prank.

We talked late into the night, until it was clear Leo wouldn't be along. Gretchen was very disappointed to have another day in the car from hell. We drove back to the hotel and the doorman offered to have it towed to a salvage yard for us. I had to park it myself and pay him extra to make sure it didn't get towed.

After the day we'd had, even Gretchen wasn't feeling too much like teasing. We scrubbed clean and put the clothes in three trash bags, one over the next. Gretchen mumbled her hope to wrap it up the next day and fell into sleep. I actually followed her swiftly into dreamland.

-----

My estimate on the time required was low, but at least we got some serious talking done. I don't know if I helped with her and her father's problem, but I knew more about her than I knew about any friend I'd ever had. And that is what she was, I realized by the second day. A friend. I shared things with her that I had only shared with my former lover, Sharon, and then with Lisa.

We were sitting in the car on Friday morning when a car that made ours look like a limo bounced up on the curb by the mother's house. The doors opened and a man and woman climbed out. The mutton chop sideburns made me sit forward.

"Whoops! Here's our boy and the missus, unless I miss my guess. Showtime!" I crowed.

Gretchen looked at me, her eyes eager. "Do we go and confront them now?"

With a shake of my head, I dashed her hopes. "No, we wait for them to come out and then we follow them back to their lair. Then we corner them. I'd rather not have a protective mother interrupting us."

Very reluctantly, she agreed. Very reluctantly indeed.

Leo and his bride were inside about half an hour before they came back out, looking a bit sullen. At least he looked sullen. His wife just looked tired. When they started driving away, I knew we were in good shape to follow them unseen. There was no way they could see us through the cloud of smoke his car was puffing out.

To my surprise, he headed downtown and into the county annex parking area. As they parked and both got out of their car, I made a left and parked in a no parking zone. "Let's go."

She looked at the zone as we climbed out. "We could get towed."

I nodded. "It could happen. At least we could take a cab, then." That possibility cheered her up considerably, and we moved out at a brisk pace, entering the building behind the couple by a minute or so. It should be easy to spot him in that canary yellow windbreaker he was wearing.

"We may have to split up to find them," I told Gretchen. "For God's sake, whatever you do, keep that marriage license in your coat pocket; it might get filed by mistake."

Gretchen laughed at me and unzipped her coat. "You're so funny! Unless it's signed by a minister and witness it's not valid. Stop being so worried, Hawk, it's just a joke. You're safe."

I unzipped my own jacket and turned to tell her it wasn't funny when I saw Marge Giovanni coming out of one of the small offices behind us, close to the entrance to the building. She was getting into the elevator right across from us. With a nudge, we slid into the elevator with her. There was no sign of Leo, but he might have gone upstairs already. It didn't matter. If we followed Marge, she would lead us back to her husband. I suppose she could answer our questions just as well, but I'd rather ask them both before they knew we were after them.

She got out on the second floor and spent a few minutes looking at the directory of offices on the floor. It made me even more nervous when I remembered this was the same floor as the county clerk, but I dismissed the feeling as unwarranted paranoia.

When her cell phone went off, she pulled it out and turned to move down the hall briskly, faster than the flow of traffic, listening to whatever her caller was telling her. I bulled ahead as she walked around slower people. Her back was to us so she would be none the wiser.

I had just passed the tax collector's office when she sped up to a jog. I cursed and sped up. She couldn't be onto us, she hadn't even looked back. There was a crash behind me and the squawk of a woman. A glance back showed me that some guy in a black coat that was too big for him and a watch cap had came out of the tax collector's office and bowled Gretchen over. I almost stopped, but he was already helping her to her feet with profuse apologies, dusting off her coat while she sputtered and tried to get past him to catch up with me.

That made it easier for me to forge ahead and follow Marge into the county clerk's office. She hung up her phone and stepped into line behind half a dozen other folk. A quick check of the line showed no Leo, so I stepped into line behind her. Gretchen came just after that in a huff, muttering under her breath about inconsiderate men.

"You still have the license, right?" I asked, my paranoia showing. With a roll of her eyes, she reached into her coat and we could both hear the crinkle of paper. I sighed in relief.

She shook her pretty head and laughed at me. "You're so funny. Don't worry! It's all safe with me."

In ten minutes the line was down to one person in front of Marge. She pulled out her cell and dialed. "Honey, you need to hurry up. I'm almost to the counter." Her voice was moderately pleasant. She hung up after a moment and looked back at the door. Leo walked through it in his ugly yellow windbreaker and jointed her as the next window came open.

We pulled out of line, but stayed close enough to listen in on them. We'd be able to corner them as soon as we were done. He reached inside the windbreaker and pulled out three or four marriage licenses. I could tell from my recent brush with one. I knew his wife was from here, so he must have graduated from some school of divinity around here and was probably licensed before they moved to Vegas.

He grinned at his wife and slid one over to her. "You forgot to sign this one. It's not valid without all the signatures and it would be a cruel prank to play on those poor young people to let that slip by."

She grinned back at him and signed it. Then she slid all of them to the clerk. He stamped them and signed off on them.

"I'll want a certified copy of that last one. I need to make sure they have it as soon as possible. You won't believe how excited they'll be when I give it to them. Right, Baby?" His wife nodded and the clerk could care less.

He was paying the clerk and she whispered in his ear and headed back toward the exit. Gretchen started to follow her and I shook my head. "Let her go. He's the important one. We don't need to split up now."

Gretchen nodded and let her go. It seemed like Leo couldn't count as it took an inordinately long time for him to pay the man. Finally done, he headed for the exit, slipping the copy he requested back into his jacket.

I stepped in front of him and blocked his exit.

"Leo Giovanni, I'm Detective Hawkins. I'd like to have a word with you about an incident in Las Vegas."

He looked surprised, but I didn't get the rabbit-eyed, searching-for-escape look that I expected. "Sure, I'd be happy to talk with you, but I have to hit the can right now or there's going to be an accident. I can't wait another second." He bounced from foot to foot and I wavered.

I remembered there were bars over the windows outside and slowly nodded. "Okay, but please make it quick. I'd like to get this taken care off as fast as I can."

With a smile that seemed a bit more than grateful, he stepped into the men's room right across the hall. I leaned against the wall on one side and Gretchen leaned against the other. "This is almost over," I said with a smile. "In a few minutes I'll have the real story of that night. It feels good. How did you like your first bit of police work?"

Gretchen raised her eyebrows. "Except for the car, it was great. With the car involved, it goes down to barely tolerable."

I laughed at her and leaned back, waiting. When it hit five minutes, I was starting to get worried. He should have been out by now and he hadn't snuck by us. I stopped the next guy to head for the restroom.

"Excuse me, our friend Leo is still inside and it's been a bit. Would you ask him how long he's going to be?" I asked.

The man nodded and went in. The door had barely closed when he opened it back up. "Nobody in here. Maybe he went out the other door."

With a cry of outrage, I pushed past the surprised man and through the second door into the men's room. Bigger than shit, there was a door on the other side of the restroom. A quick look around showed no one else there, though a suspiciously familiar black coat and watch cap were on one of the sinks, with an envelope on top of the neatly folded pile.

"Gretchen, look through that stuff and meet me at the car!" I ran through the other door. Another fucking hall! Shit! I hauled ass back down to the stairs and got outside in time to see them accelerating away from the curb, with Marge in the driver's seat. Leo waved cheerily at me as I judged if I could catch that piece of crap on foot. No way.

I ran for our car and heard Gretchen calling from behind me. I could listen when I was starting the car, so I kept going. That plan was squashed when I got around the corner and saw the car was already hitched to a tow truck and was being lifted.

It was hopeless, but I knew I had to try. I got in his face and sputtered, "Jeeze, put the damned thing back down. I'm a cop."

He chewed his tobacco and spit on the car. "So?" The spit was probably an improvement for the car.

I showed him my badge. "I'm not bullshitting you. I'm really a cop, so drop the car back down."

He reached around and scratched his ass. "Hell, I believed you the first time. Still not gonna drop the car. You can pick it up at the county lot. Or save the money. It looks like it's worth less than the fees."

Gretchen huffed around the corner and leaned against the back of the car. "Dammit Hawk, I said stop. This is important!" Then she noticed the tow truck and shook her head. "Figures."

"This dick is towing us," I snarled, "and that asshole, Leo, is getting away!"

Gretchen stepped over to the tow driver. "If I pay you two hundred dollars will you drop the car and head on out?"

He looked at her and shook his head. "She called me a dick. That costs you an extra fifty." I ground my teeth, but held my temper as she paid him off. He stuffed the money into the back pocket of his coveralls and started dropping the car. Gretchen leaned her head against the wall while we waited. She looked... I'm not sure what she looked like, but she looked very unsettled, still breathing heavily. She should have caught her breath by now. I was about to put a hand on her shoulder when the rattle of chains drew my attention back to the tow truck. Our car, such as it was, was free.

I walked around and climbed in the driver's door. Gretchen opened her door as the tow truck drove off, taking a deep breath and getting in. "We won't catch them now, it's been too long. I'm not sure what just happened, but something tipped him off. I've never been ditched so professionally. The thing I don't understand is why he even let us catch up to him, if he knew we were following him."