Page 50 of Now or Never

I left North Trenton, did a slow cruise down Stark Street, and didn’t see Zoran.

“I’m thinking we stop at Cluck-in-a-Bucket on the way back to the office,” Lula said. “I’m feeling like a Double Clucky Burger.”

We spread the food out on Connie’s desk. Fries, Clucky Burgers, coleslaw, and shakes.

Connie unwrapped her Clucky Burger. “I didn’t get to run all the search engines, but I got some decent information. I printed out a map and drew a circle showing the helicopter’s range without refueling. Then I looked for possible safe houses that could accommodate a helicopter. I came up with four locations. There’s also a good chance that the helicopter ferried him to an airport and he’s on his way to South America.”

“I don’t want to hear that,” I said. “I don’t want to go to South America.” I looked at the printout of the map. “So he could be in Vermont, New Hampshire, the Outer Banks, or Long Island.”

“Or any place in between,” Lula said.

“Tell me about Vermont,” I said to Connie.

“Jug has a cousin in Dorset. She lives in a school bus with her husband and five cats. They have ten acres of flat field where theoretically a helicopter could land. I think this one is a long shot.”

“Yeah, I think we can cross the cousin off the list. What about New Hampshire?”

“Jug has a son in Portsmouth. He grew up with his mother. Wife number two. He gets along okay with Jug. He’s a chef. Single. Works at a restaurant in town. Rents a little house out in the country. Google Earth shows it sitting in the middle of an open field that’s next to a dairy farm. Zillow says the house has two bedrooms and one bath. Wouldn’t be ideal for the new Mrs. Jug.”

“Agree. Outer Banks is next up.”

“This ties with Long Island,” Connie said. “It’s a big house on the ocean with some property around it. Got a tennis court, pool, four-car garage. A helicopter could easily land on the lawnleading up to the house. Jug grew up with the guy who owns the house. The guy’s in real estate. Jug and wives number one and two used to visit. Zillow says the house has a four-bedroom guest wing. And I found a picture of Jug on the guy’s boat. Seventy-five-foot Hatteras. Jug was holding a fish. Some kind of tournament two years ago. I have a report for you with more information on the guy, including his address.”

“And Long Island?” I asked.

“It’s a small vineyard on the North Fork. It’s owned by Jug’s lawyer. Actually, it’s owned by a holding company, but for all purposes it’s the lawyer’s property. I found an article about it in one of those food and wine magazines. The lawyer uses it as a weekend getaway. Has a large stone house and a two-bedroom guesthouse. The vineyard isn’t open to the public, but it does some private tasting parties to benefit local charities. It sits on a good-size chunk of land, and it has a helicopter pad.”

“It gets my vote,” I said.

“It’s also the closest,” Connie said. “It’s a three-and-a-half-hour drive. One hundred and forty-nine miles by helicopter. Well within the Sikorsky’s range.”

“Do we know anyone on Long Island who can check it out for us?”

Connie finished her burger. “I’m working on it.”

“Did you have any luck locating the house in Bucks County?”

“I haven’t gotten to that yet. If you have time, you might go to Google Earth and see if you could zero in on it. My afternoon is crammed. I have an appointment with the bookkeeper in fifteen minutes.”

“In that case, I might take a cupcake and go have my nails done,” Lula said. “They don’t match my mood anymore. I got Trenton nails and I’m thinking I might need Long Island nails.”

I had do-it-yourself nails, at least until I paid off my credit card. They were currently short and wearing Kyoto Pearl quick-dry polish. They matched my toes. My hair was also professionally neglected, but there was no way I was cutting my own hair. Good thing God invented the ponytail.

I drove to my apartment building on autopilot, thinking about Bruno Jug. Suppose I actually found him on Long Island. Was it unrealistic to think that Lula and I could bring him back to Trenton? He’d gotten on the Sikorsky with Lou and two men from his office. If they’d stayed on the property with him, it would make things much more complicated.

I parked in my building’s lot and took the stairs to the second floor. I got a shot of adrenaline when I got to my apartment and found the door unlocked and open a crack. The adrenaline rush was replaced by a knot in my gut when I remembered that Herbert was installing carpet today. The fact that he was in my kitchen did nothing to ease the cramp in my intestines.

“Did you come home for lunch?” he asked. “You have lots of good food here now. I made myself a sandwich. I hope you don’t mind. You got healthy bread. I like to eat things that are healthy. I eat a lot of carrots. I saw that you bought carrots. I washed them and put them in a plastic baggie. It said they were prewashed, but I always wash them anyway. I gave one to your hamster. That was okay, right? I googled it first to make sure it was okay. I could make you a sandwich if you’re hungry. I make good sandwiches. I’m good at almost everything. You probably already noticed that. Except ice-skating. I can’t ice-skate because I have weak ankles.”

“I already ate lunch,” I said. “I came home to do some work.”

“It looks like you work on your dining room table. I noticed your computer there. I could get you a desk, if you want. I haveconnections. You could put it in your living room area. I noticed you still don’t have a television. I could get you one of those too. Then we could watch television together. Except sometimes I work at night. And if I decide to go into the mortuary business, I suppose I would be working a lot of nights, but only until nine o’clock.”

I felt my shoulders slump. Herbert was exhausting. He was one more problem on top of all my other problems, and I was having no luck getting rid of him. It would have been easier if he was a horrible person—if he was mean, and abusive, and violent. Unfortunately, he was just obnoxious and annoying and clueless.

I walked out of my kitchen and into my living room and was gobsmacked. The living room and dining room had been carpeted. It was amazing. The carpet was a neutral cream that made my inexpensive couch look wonderful. It felt soft underfoot and the carpet didn’t even have any stains. It was new! The door to my bedroom was open and I could see two men working in there.

“They’re finishing up in your bedroom,” Herbert said.

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