Going Back

By David M. Goulet

After the death of her husband Nancy Goldman remarries and hopes for a quiet life in Miami but is drawn into murder and drug smuggling after learning her new husband has stolen drugs from the “mob.” She made a terrible mistake marrying him and desperately wants a divorce after overhearing him tell someone he kills for them. She tells him she wants a divorce and he threatens to stop her by any means necessary. She has to run to stay alive.
A friend discovers her college fiancé, Dan Crosby, is a retired attorney who has written a book and dedicated it to her! He lives in Arizona. He hoped, but never expected, she would find his book. They haven’t seen each other in almost forty years. She asks her niece to find him. After he’s told about her wanting a divorce he agrees to go to Miami, with his dog Rudy, thinking he’s going to help, instead he is caught in a deadly game of murder, cocaine, and the “mob.”
Tony Goldman is desperate to keep his construction business afloat. He needed money and turned to the “mob” as a last resort for help. They now control his life. He has to transport cocaine to Detroit as part of his “loan,” resents what he has to do, and decides to steal some for himself. Now he’s running from them. Nancy finds out what he’s done and with Dan’s help steals his cocaine but they can’t go to the police - yet. They have to elude him to stay alive.
Tony knows Nancy stole his cocaine. He wants to find and kill her and get the cocaine back before the “mob” finds and kills him. Adding to his problems he learns Detroit “mob” boss, Carmine Rizzo, has come to Miami to make an example of him. Rizzo has to get the cocaine back before his boss kills him. Reputations must be maintained.
With the help of a Miami D.A. Dan creates a plan to bring Tony and Rizzo together so they can be stopped before Nancy is killed. So the cocaine can be kept off the streets and out-of-the-hands of the “mob.” But plans can sometimes go very wrong.
Will Nancy get her divorce or will Tony kill her and get the cocaine back? Will Carmine kill both of them? Will the “mob” win in the end? She wonders, because of Dan’s help, if this is a second chance for them or will he leave again?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 24, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669826491

David M. Goulet

David Goulet is a retired college professor, elected official, and small business owner. A graduate of the University of Miami, A.B. and Northern Arizona University, M.A. He lives in Sun City West, Arizona.

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Copyright © 2022 by David M. Goulet.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 05/20/2022

Xlibris

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

Chapter 52

Chapter 53

Chapter 54

Chapter 55

Chapter 56

Chapter 57

Chapter 58

Chapter 59

Chapter 60

Chapter 61

Chapter 62

Chapter 63

Chapter 64

Chapter 65

Chapter 66

Chapter 67

Chapter 68

Chapter 69

Chapter 70

Chapter 71

Chapter 72

Chapter 73

Chapter 74

Chapter 75

Chapter 76

Chapter 77

Chapter 78

Chapter 79

Chapter 80

Chapter 81

Chapter 82

Chapter 83

Chapter 84

Chapter 85

Chapter 86

Chapter 87

Chapter 88

Chapter 89

Chapter 90

For Nancy

You were the One

Being loved deeply by someone gives you strength, and loving someone deeply gives you courage.

LAO-tzu

Chinese Philosopher

CHAPTER 1

It started a few weeks ago. No, that’s not entirely true. It started almost immediately after getting married two years before. The trouble that caused Nancy Goldman to leave her husband was an accumulation of events she could no longer accept. Some were things he said and some were things he did. She was scared and running now. She had to after what she heard because if he found out he would kill her. Her friends didn’t know why she left home so suddenly? Some didn’t even know she was gone?

If asked, they might have thought it was because she was going to file a divorce but that wasn’t the reason. Not the main one anyway. If it were she would have gone to a relative or friends house until it was over. That would have been easy. Leaving with nowhere to go was hard. But not like being scared you might be killed. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have left everything behind without telling anyone where she was going. She would have said something wouldn’t she? Isn’t that what most people would do? Instead, she was running from her husband Tony. She was running for her life. Now that would have surprised her friends. To them her husband was a successful developer who had worked in the Miami construction business the last thirty years. By all appearances he looked successful unless you knew what the real story was with him. But they didn’t know him and he liked it that way. He was not a friendly person. He had been in financial trouble the past two years and his loan options had dried up. He couldn’t pay his debts. He was going to lose his latest project, a trendy apartment building, along Miami’s Intercoastal. He needed the project and the money he would make and went looking for help in places he shouldn’t. He found it but it came with strings. Lots of strings. Something he never wanted but agree to. He had gotten the money he needed from a Detroit family who told him he would have to transport drugs back to them for the loan. Interest they told him. It was part of the cost of doing business with them. They were not the kind of family most people thought of if asked. He knew he had to do what he was told if he wanted to stay alive. But that wasn’t all he had to do. To assure them he could keep his mouth shut they ordered him to kill someone or he and his wife would be killed. He didn’t care about his wife but he did care about himself. The order wasn’t the kind of interest he thought the loan would cost him but he had been backed into a corner. He agreed.

After he was told what he had to do he avoided his wife. Not because he was trying to protect her but because he hated her. He hated her because she had a moral streak and a sense of decency he would never have. Because of how he acted after they married Nancy moved to the other side of their home. He was abusive and threatening. They had been married two years. Two long years for her. The honeymoon had been over from the start. Nancy found things out about him and once she left he had to stop her before she said anything about what she knew or suspected. He had to find her but had no idea where she was? She wasn’t sure who to turn to for help to make him pay for what he was doing but she needed someone.

+     +     +

The night air was brisk on the ride home for Nancy Goldman. The rear windows of her car were down a couple of inches drawing in the cool air as she raced along I-95. The city of Miami circled both sides of the freeway with what looked like a million twinkling stars. If she were asked what happened at dinner that night she wouldn’t have remembered much of what was said by the time she got home. To say she was surprised about what she was told was an understatement. Her girlfriend insisted on meeting her for dinner because she said she had a surprise to share with her. Something she said was too good not to meet in-person. She wouldn’t tell her what it was before they met but promised it would be something she would never expect. She would be right about that. All she told Nancy was it happened when she was looking for a book to take with her on vacation.

On the way back from the restaurant Nancy never thought what she was told would have so much impact on her future or what it would help her do. She was glad she went to dinner because she was anxious to get out of the house and away from her husband even for a few hours. She was planning on divorcing him, he didn’t know it, but she had been thinking about it for months. Her husband had been even more difficult and distant the last few weeks and avoided her as much as he could. It only heightened the tension between them and confirmed what she wanted to do.

So, what’s all the secrecy about Linda, Nancy asked, after they met at the restaurant? She was sipping white wine and waited for her to answer. Linda had a slight smile listening to Nancy want to know what she called about. They were in a restaurant filled with ambitious people trying to make an impression on those around them. Nancy was successful in her own right having worked at a local TV station the last decade and had recently become a producer for the evening news. Her husband didn’t like her career. He didn’t support her.

You have me wondering what this is all about, so what is it? Why all the secrecy? Well, you know Frank and I are going on vacation next week.

That’s no secret. I hope that isn’t what you wanted to tell me? I’ve known about your vacation plans for weeks.

No, no . . . that’s not it.

Good. What is it then? Are you going someplace exotic this year?

"I wish, but you know Frank, he refuses to change. It’s the same ole time-share that his brother owns so we’re going there again. He said we have to stop at his parents for a day before we get there and I have to listen to his mother . . . God that woman is such a bore but anyway you’ll never guess what I found.

What you found? What are you talking about? I don’t know what you’re talking about unless you tell me what all the secrecy is about. What is it?

Better yet let me show you. Linda reached down for her handbag and rummaged inside it for a few seconds. She came up holding some papers waiving them like she had been underwater and finally caught something.

What’s that, Nancy asked, looking at what she was waiving at her? Why are you smiling so much? You look like someone on one of those antique shows that found a treasure in their garage they didn’t know they had."

Oh, it’s a treasure . . . it’s what I promised you. You’ll never guess who’s a writer now? Linda was waiving the papers like she was trying to flag someone down. You’ll never guess in a million years. I know I wouldn’t have. Go on . . . guess? Guess who’s a writer?

"Who? I have no idea what you’re talking about. Do I know who it is? Is it someone I can interview for the news? Show me what you’ve got. Who is it?

It would probably make an interesting interview. Alright here see for yourself . . . you won’t believe it. Linda handed her the papers she printed off the Internet and waited for her to say something after she had them. She sipped her wine waiting for a reaction. Nancy was quiet for a few minutes while she scanned the pages. She started shaking her head like she didn’t believe what she had been given. She looked at Linda like it must be some kind of joke.

Is this for real, Nancy asked, holding up what Linda had given her? Yes, it is, you can see for yourself."

It’s . . . it’s . . .

I know, I couldn’t believe it either. It’s an except from his book. It’s on-line right now . . . that’s how I found it. It’s on Amazon. He’s on Amazon . . . you’re old college boyfriend.

Nancy looked at Linda like she didn’t believe her. Like it was a joke. She looked at the papers again and then at her. Where’d you say you found this?

Like I said, on-line, I found it when I was on Amazon looking under their listing for new authors. I wanted something to take on vacation, Frank can’t carry on a conversation for more than a few words unless it’s about golf. Can you believe it . . . that’s where I found it. Your old boyfriend was right there. His bio told me everything. I knew it was him, the guy you told me you thought you were going marry after college. He wrote a book that’s hot right now.

Nancy looked like she had seen a ghost. She looked at the papers again. The author was her old college boyfriend Dan Crosby. She wondered at times over the years where he went and what happened to him after they broke up? She lost track of that part of her past. In a moment she thought about the time they spent together when they were at the University of Miami. After they graduated they spent almost two more years together. She thought they were going to get married, they talked about it, but things happened that derailed everything. In a way a part of her had never completely gotten over it. The papers she was reading said he was retired and living in Arizona. It said he had been a professor and attorney. And now he was an author. Nancy couldn’t believe what she was reading.

I can’t believe this, Nancy said looking at Linda again, it really is him. it’s Dan . . . this is about Dan . . . and it said he was an attorney before he retired. I had no idea . . .

Linda was nodding her head listening to Nancy. She could see she was blushing. I knew you’d never guess. He’s the person you told me about. The guy you went with in college and thought you were going to marry way-back-when.

Yes . . . it is. I can’t believe this. It’s him . . . Nancy grew silent when she thought about the time they spent together so many years before and the future they once talked about.

You said that already, Linda said, pouring herself another glass of wine while she watched Nancy scan the papers again.

I did . . . oh . . . sorry. You’re right, I never would have guessed what you were going to tell me. This is something I never expected. I had no idea where he had gone or what he ended up doing? I didn’t know he wanted to write a book. He never wrote anything when we went out that I remember. I’ve got to get a copy of it but . . . I know he did mention something about wanting to become an attorney once or twice but it seemed so far-fetched at the time.

Well, he did and no you don’t . . . I already ordered a copy of the book for you. You should have it day-after-tomorrow. I knew you’d want it so I ordered it. Consider it my vacation present to you.

You did? Really? Nancy had a look of surprise after what Linda said.

Um hum, I did.

We may need another bottle of wine, Nancy said, taking another sip from her glass . . . this is something. I’m not exactly sure what but it’s something that’s for sure.

CHAPTER 2

Two years before Nancy was told about Dan’s book she married Tony Goldman. There were reasons why she did it but soon knew it was a huge mistake. He was a crude angry man who hid his true personality from her until after the wedding. Brutish, jealous, and envious. It turned out worse than she ever imagined. Theirs had not been a happy two years. As soon as the I do’s were over Tony changed and not in a way that made Nancy feel safe or happy. He wanted to use her career to further his. To get money for his business. He soon realized she couldn’t help him. She felt trapped by what he wanted from her and needed to do something and wanted to file a divorce. But she was scared what his reaction would be. Her determination changed after Linda told her about Dan’s book. She decided to go through with the divorce. Getting away from Tony would change everything for the better she thought. She didn’t know the kind of complications that would follow because of what she decided? She used every chance she had to get out of the house the last few months to meet her girlfriends whenever she could even if it was only for a few hours. What happened after dinner the night Linda told her about Dan was about to change everything for her.

A week later Nancy was at dinner with Linda while Tony was home talking to someone he had to deal with in Detroit. Someone he was scared of and had to do what he said if he wanted to stay alive. It was the person he borrowed money from to keep his business afloat. His name was Carmine Rizzo and he was a mob boss. He was a killer. The loans he received from him had come with a heavy price. Now he felt like he was in a lifeboat fighting an ocean storm with a single oar and he had to do what he was told or be killed. Getting help from Detroit was something he never should have done because it took over his life. It pushed him further over to the dark side. But it was too late now. He wouldn’t say anything to Nancy . . . he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to hear her say something that would only enrage him. But after a few months he started embracing who he was indebted to. He wasn’t just talking to Detroit he was boasting how he had taken care of things the way he had been ordered. He was comfortable with the choice he made. He had few regrets now. Tony had killed someone a few days before and dumped the body in the construction footings where he was putting up a new apartment building. It didn’t bother him like he thought it would. It wouldn’t be the only time he would do something like that. He did it because one of his workers heard what he was doing for the Detroit family and he couldn’t take a chance on anything getting out about it. Neither could Detroit. To Tony it had to be done. He didn’t need much convincing to do it.

Tony had been in construction long before he married Nancy. Over three decades. But his problems started when the bottom fell out of the housing market a few years before. He found it harder and harder to get the kind of financing he needed to keep his projects going. He built several apartment buildings the last thirty years sprinkled along the Intercoastal and in Miami’s downtown but that didn’t matter because the economy had changed and he needed help. He was getting desperate so he turned to Detroit for money. Soon after that he started taking small quantities of cocaine there for Carmine Rizzo. Part of the cost of doing business with him. Carmine had been around a long time working his way up the organization. Most people seeing him would have never thought he was a threat to anyone. He was only 5’6" and grossly overweight. He looked like he spent too much time enjoying cannoli’s. To women he looked swarthy with beady eyes. He always looking like he was sweating and he was going bald. Anyone that underestimated him paid a heavy price. Tony knew about his reputation but went to the dark side anyway when he asked for his help. He felt empowered after he made his choice. He would come to regret what he did and would soon make another mistake that made him run from him for his life. Rizzo knew what was happening with Tony’s business and wanted a way in the Miami construction market. Tony’s desperation worked nicely for him. But then things changed because of his wife. She was a problem. Detroit wasn’t happy. They told Tony he had to take care of it. Take care of her. His construction business was slowing and Detroit worried what would happen if his wife started talking to the authorities about what she suspected he was doing. They wanted to know what she knew and if she was a loose cannon? Tony couldn’t give them an answer they liked. He needed Detroit’s help and had nowhere else to go for money. So, they put the screws to him. Now there was no going back. They wouldn’t let him. He promised them he could control his wife. He didn’t want to lose what he built over the years and he didn’t want Rizzo coming after him. He had gotten past worrying about where the money came from when Detroit said they would bankroll him . . . for a price. Always a price and it was getting worse. He said he would do whatever he had to and didn’t care what others thought and that included his wife. He had stepped in it only he didn’t know how badly. He thought he was ready for whatever might happen but Nancy was determined to see that he paid for what he was doing . . . he just didn’t know it yet.

Yeah, dat’s right, . . . Tony was telling Carmine, dat prick was talkin’ too much ‘bout what was goin’ on so I took care a him. We won’t have no more problems. Ain’t gonna miss his sorry ass none ‘round here.

Carmine Rizzo listened intently as Tony described how he had taken care of a problem he had with someone that worked for him. Tony was saying he personally saw to it, with two taps to the back- of-the-head, to the guy that said he knew he was moving cocaine through the business. He made the mistake of saying he wanted to be a partner. It was his first and last demand. Tony told Carmine he dumped the body in the foundation of the high-rise he was putting up.

Yeah, I put him under some gravel for da foundation walls. Did it myself ta make sure it got done. Nobody knows what happened. When da concrete gets poured tomorra he’ll be under tree feet a it. Ain’t nobody gonna fine dat piece-a-shit.

Yus sure ‘bout dat? No loose ends Tony? I don’t want nuthin’ commin’ back on me.

Yeah, for sure, I shoveled da gravel over him after I dumped da body. Did it late last night. An nobody seen yus? Yus sure ‘bout dat?

Yeah . . . nobody was ‘round I made sure a dat.

Good . . . good . . . I don’t want no problems wit dis Tony. I don’t want no cops askin’ me nuthin’.

Dare won’t be no problem, nobody knows, dat’s a promise. An what ‘bout yer ole lady?

I’m workin’ on it . . . she ain’t gonna try nuthin’.

Let’s hope yus got dat right Tony. I don’t need no problem wit her.

+     +     +

Nancy had come back from dinner earlier than planned and quietly slipped in the kitchen in her stocking feet. She had taken her heels off because she wanted to avoid Tony hearing her if she could help it especially after she and her girlfriend talked about Dan’s book. She still couldn’t get over what she was told about her old college boyfriend. It had been decades since she had seen him. She thought about him every once-in-a-while during her first marriage. She still had good memories of their time together even though they lost track of each other years before. Different roads, different lives, but that was about to change sooner than she would have ever thought possible.

Nancy had been married to Tony just over two years and felt trapped. She regretted what she had done and wanted out. They met through some people they both knew a year after Nancy’s husband Larry died from cancer. They had been married almost thirty years. She took care of him during his illness but the medical bills nearly bankrupted her. After she buried him she was forced to sell their home and the stocks they had to pay his medical expenses. But it wasn’t enough. She was still in financial straits when she met Tony. Part of what she was told about him were the financial resources he allegedly had. She didn’t want to admit it but she needed financial help but now wished she had never met him. She wasn’t looking for romance after the death of her husband, or anyone else at that time, at least no one she was willing to talk about. There was something about Tony that bothered her but she decided to overlook it because of the financial stress she was under. But after being around him the past two years she knew marrying him had been a mistake. A huge mistake that was only growing worse. She knew she had to do something soon and considered filing a divorce before but wasn’t sure . . . but things seemed to change after Linda told her about the book Dan had written. Was that the push she needed? Should she file for a divorce now? She wondered if Dan could help her? She thought about finding him, after all he had been an attorney and might be able to help with her divorce. If she did talk to him she wondered what he would say? But she knew she did want to talk to him again. The way she remembered they talked to each other when they were college students. The thought gave her a certain amount of comfort. But it surprised her too.

As Nancy silently crossed the kitchen she could hear Tony laughing in the den with someone on the phone. She was surprised he was downstairs. He usually made his phone calls from his office upstairs where she couldn’t hear him. He didn’t know she had gotten back from dinner early and was in the kitchen. She stopped to listen for a moment because he was so loud and froze when she heard him laugh about shooting someone. She gasped and stood still. She held her breath worrying about making any noise he might hear and having to walk past the den doorway to get to her side of the house. She didn’t want him to know she was there or what she heard. What would he do if he knew she heard him? She waited until he started talking again and inched closer to the door. She glanced inside the room and could see his reflection in a mirror. His chair was turned away from the door. A large tumbler of Scotch was on the edge of a table. A quarter of the bottle was gone. She slipped past the door and made her way upstairs to her bedroom on the far side of the house. She had been staying there the past few months after she found out Tony had a mistress. In fact, he had more than one. Two of her girlfriends told her what they had seen him doing with them in different restaurants around town and each said it didn’t look like it was a business meeting. They told her the women had to be more than thirty years younger than he was. Tony didn’t know she knew what he had been doing and didn’t care when she started staying on the other side of the house. It made things easier for him to come and go at all hours of the night. It made it easier to entertain a girlfriend.

Thank God, Nancy thought after she got to her bedroom, he didn’t hear me. The house was over ten thousand square feet so they could avoid each other. For that she was thankful. When she got to her bedroom she locked the door. Leaning against it she thought about the last few hours at dinner with Linda. Now she had been shocked again. First, when she found out her college boyfriend wrote a book and was a retired attorney. But that wasn’t nearly as shocking as overhearing her husband say he killed someone and laughed about it. But why? Why would he do such a thing? She had to do something but didn’t know what? She wanted out of the marriage. She had to get out now. She never wanted to see Tony again. But how she wondered? She wanted to tell the police what she heard but was afraid. She didn’t know who he was talking about, when it happened, or where? She had no proof other than what she heard. She didn’t even know if it was true? Maybe he was just trying to impress one of his poker buddies? No one would believe her anyway and who could blame them? She had to get away but how? Where could she go? What could she do? How could she survive and stay ahead of him? If he found out . . . well she didn’t want to think about what might happen if he knew she heard him. But she decided she had to get some kind of proof about what he said. It would be the only way she could pay him back for the two years she had endured being married to him. But what kind of proof?

+     +     +

A few nights later Nancy got the chance she was hoping for when she decided to follow Tony. She heard him take a call from someone and agree to meet them late at night. She heard him mention drugs. She waited for the day to come but was scared. Scared what would happen if Tony knew what she was doing. As she drove the streets of Miami following him she knew they were going to his latest construction site on Brickell Avenue. She heard him tell someone he would meet them there. It would be at eleven. Too late for usual business. She thought he sounded anxious on the call like a teenager trying to make a first date. She took a camera with her to record anything she might see. She had no idea what would happen. For years she had been an avid photographer but was forced to give it up after Tony complained about all the running around she was doing with her hobby.

When she neared the construction site she parked a block away and started walking towards the construction trailer. When she got there she saw the moon’s reflection off Tony’s truck. It was a quiet and humid night. There were few stars out and she noticed a wisp of clouds sky pass across a partial moon. She stopped on the edge of the construction site and listened. She didn’t hear anything and started walking closer to a single light she saw inside the trailer. As she got closer she saw lights from another car driving on to the site. She hid behind some bushes and watched it park next to Tony’s truck. She held her breath and watched three men get out of a black Cadillac. They were all overweight middle-aged looking businessmen. A moment later the door of the trailer closed after the third man went inside. She waited a few minutes listening to the stillness around her. All she could hear were crickets and an occasional breeze in the palm trees overhead as she moved closer to the trailer. She worked her way towards the window where there was a light. When she was next to it she could hear a muffled voice talking. It wasn’t Tony. She could smell the odor of a cigar coming from the window she was crouched under trying to hear what was being said. She thought it smelled like a burning tire. She prayed the smoke wouldn’t make her sneeze. A second later she heard Tony say something.

It’s all here . . . ten kilos just what Carmine said was coming in. She thought Tony sounded nervous waiting for one of the men to say something. She didn’t know it but he had been holding the cocaine the past two days and was anxious to get rid of it. He wanted his money for picking it up from the ship that docked a few days before.

How long yus had it, one of them asked?

Two days, Tony answered. Took me a day ta get it here after da ship got in. I got it out a da construction materials it was hidden in.

How’d yus get it here?

I put it in some grout sacks wit da rest a da load dat was delivered from da ship. Said it was a special kind a grout for counters. Hid it in da pallets. Dock Master couldn’t tell it was dare just lookin’ at it. Didn’t look funny when it was taken off da ship.

So, it’ll be in Bell Isle in two days?

Yeah, two days. I got it leavin’ on one-a-my trucks tomorrow mornin’ like Carmine wants. Nancy couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Tony had picked up some cocaine and planned on having it taken some place for a guy named Carmine. She wanted to get some pictures of the cocaine and the people Tony was talking to so she had something to use against him in her divorce. She thought this could be her way out of the marriage? She carefully inched her way closer to the window so she could see what was happening. She peered in and saw Tony and the three men standing around a table with bricks of cocaine stacked on it. A moment later she took a single picture, then a few more. She waited hoping to get some shots of the men’s faces. They were drinking and boasting between themselves that they were all going to make money on the cocaine. Their noise helped cover her snapping the pictures. The cigar smoke was bothering her as she crouched under the window. She could feel a sneeze coming on. She slid down to muffle it in her elbow but when she did it sounded too loud toher. She wasn’t the only one that thought that.

What was dat, one of the men asked looking towards the window? Yus hear somethin’ now just?"

What, Tony asked, pouring himself another drink? I didn’t hear nuthin’. Yus hearin’ tings dat ain’t dare? Come on Nico, have ‘noder drink.

I heard somethin’. Anybody else here?

I didn’t hear nuthin’, one of the others said after finishing another shot of whiskey.

Yeah, well I did, Nico said, walking over to the window. He made a slow scan looking outside it. Nancy held her breath and prayed she wouldn’t sneeze again. Anybody know yus here tonight Tony?

Nah, nobody . . . my crew’s been gone fer hours.

Well, I don’t like it. I’m gonna have a look ‘round outside.

Come on Nico, ain’t nobody out dare. Take it easy, Tony said, holding up his shot glass, have ‘nodder drink.

As soon as Nancy heard him say he was going to look around outside the trailer she took off as quickly and quietly as she could before he walked outside. She was at the edge of the construction site, behind some bushes, when she saw Nico walking around the corner of the trailer to where she had been moments before. When he got to the trailer window he looked around and called inside.

Hey Tony. Yeah.

Yus got a flashlight? Yeah why?

Bring it outside. I wanna look at somethin’.

A minute later Tony was walking around the trailer followed by the two other men. Nico took the flashlight and started shining it on the ground underneath the window.

Stay where yus are, Nico cautioned holding his arm up, as he scanned the dirt with the flashlight for several seconds.

Yus gettin’ too worried Nico, Carlo said, laughing at what he was doing. Ain’t nuttin’ out here but crickets an . . .

Shut-up . . . see dat?

What, Tony asked, looking where he was shining the flashlight?

Dare . . . footprints . . . small footprints . . . right dare, an look they’re goin’ away from here. Nancy listened and knew if she ran she would be seen. Tony, yus know anyting ‘bout dis?"

Jesus nah, I don’t know where dey come from? Nobody been around dis side a da trailer dat I know of. Probly some kid lookin’ ta try an steal somethin’.

Yeah, well somebody’s been here. See for yourself. An look, they go off towards the street over dare. Nico shined the flashlight on the footprints as they moved away from the trailer where Nancy was hiding. She stayed frozen and prayed they wouldn’t walk towards her.

Yus tink somebody was . . .

Yus better hope not Tony or Carmine is gonna be more dan pissed ‘bout it. Nico glared at Tony and then the other two. Yus fine out what’s goin’ on Tony. We’ll want ta know if yus fine anyting. Make sure da coke is on its way like yus said. Yus better be sure ‘bout what yus sayin’ now.

Tony was scared. If someone else knew about the cocaine he was a dead man. Carmine wouldn’t let him get away with being so sloppy. He had to make sure and get the ten kilos off the site before anything else happened. He knew Carmine didn’t want any delays or problems.

After they went back inside the trailer Nancy was on her way back to the house. She had to get there and calm down in case Tony came looking for her. She doubted he would but she didn’t want to take any chances. She couldn’t afford him suspecting anything. She was shocked he was involved with drugs. After she was home she put her dust covered shoes in the back of her closet and didn’t think twice about them. Then she took a quick shower to wash off where she had been. Twenty minutes later she heard Tony downstairs. She waited and after a half-hour figured he wasn’t coming to her room. He seldom did. The next morning she would get the film processed and be able to get a better look at what she had seen. She knew she couldn’t confide in anyone until she saw the pictures.

+     +     +

When she picked the pictures up the next day it confirmed her worse fear and gave her the reason she needed to go forward with the divorce. She decided to call Kathy, her niece, and tell her what she heard and saw and ask her to help. She was the only person she could trust. She wasn’t sure what she would do but she had to talk to someone . . . then she thought about Dan again.

+     +     +

A week later Nancy’s attorney was finishing the divorce petition she was going to have served on Tony. She didn’t mention the cocaine, only his verbal and emotional abuse over the past two years. She wanted out of the marriage. Her attorney said she could claim irreconcilable differences. She was fine with that but thought she might use the pictures as a last resort if she had to. She planned on being gone after Tony was served. Her attorney knew she was scared about his reaction after she told her about the fight they had when she said she wanted a divorce. He promised her he would never let her divorce him and if she tried she would regret it.

No, no fuckin’ way yus hear me . . . Tony yelled at her in the kitchen when she said she wanted the divorce, dat ain’t gonna happen. Yus ain’t gonna file no God damn divorce against me. Yus got it good here . . . everyting yus want so forget it.

There’s nothing you can say Tony, I want out. I don’t want anything from you except to get away from all of this.

Out! Out! Who da hell yus tink yus talkin’ to? Yus tink yus can just walk out on me? Yus crazy . . . ain’t gonna happen. Look at dis place . . . yus got everyting anybody wants.

But I don’t want any of it. Look, I don’t care about this or what you’re doing I . . .

What? What am I doin’? Yus tink I’m doin’ somethin’? Yus got somethin’ yus tink yus know to say ‘bout me? Go on say it! Look at dis place . . . people would kill ta live here.

Like you have?

Tony stopped and didn’t say anything for several seconds. Nancy could hear him breathing like a bull wanting to explode against what was in front of him. He stared at her like he was going to kill her. She backed up a step and waited not knowing what would happen?

Yus talk too God damn much yus know dat, he hissed? Yus don’t know what yus sayin’. Yus can’t have no divorce yus hear me. Yus ain’t goin’ nowhere. No fuckin’ divorce an dat’s it."

Nancy moved behind the kitchen island that separated them. She saw the anger in his eyes and wanted to keep something between them. She wasn’t sure what he might do next?

I know about your late-night calls Tony, and the women you whore with when you think I don’t know, and the other things you do. Nancy looked defiantly at him thinking what she said would make him back down. It didn’t.

Why yus . . . so, yus tink yus know ‘bout me? Well, let me tell yus somethin’ bitch, yus open yur God damn mout ‘bout anyting yus tink yus know an yus’ll pay. Yus don’t wanna’ say nuthin’ ta nobody yus hear me . . . it’s a smart ting ta do.

You can’t do anything to me so . . .

No? Yus don’t know what I can do. Yus better tink harder before yus start shootin’ off yus mout. Maybe I can do somethin’ ta dat damn niece a yus? Yus talk too damn much ta her. Tink ‘bout dat before yus do anyting stupid. Yus open yus mout or say anyting ta anyone ‘bout what yus tink I’m doin’ an yus’ll never know what happens ta her.

Nancy stared in disbelief at what she heard him say. What . . . you’d do that? You’d hurt Kathy?

Yus say anyting or try dat stinkin’ divorce shit . . . dare’s a price yus gonna pay an yus ain’t gonna like it.

Nancy knew what she heard when he bragged about killing someone on the phone and the pictures she had taken didn’t lie but now she was scared. She never thought Tony would threaten her niece’s life. Maybe she shouldn’t leave . . . maybe she couldn’t? She kept looking at Tony until he walked out of the kitchen cursing her. She ran upstairs locking her bedroom door. She wasn’t sure what she should do now?

CHAPTER 3

Three weeks later Tony Goldman sat in a Miami courtroom cleaning his fingernails with a small pen knife and glared towards the attorney representing his wife. He blew her a kiss and she shook her head in disgust at him. She thought he was a pig but knew he was someone she had to be concerned about. She heard stories about him the last few years. They weren’t nice stories. He was rumored to be in bed with the mob now. Nancy told her what she heard on his phone call weeks before. She said he talked about killing someone but didn’t know who, when, or where? When asked she didn’t know why? She said she thought he moved drugs through his business and the person he killed knew it but she couldn’t prove it. She showed her the pictures of Tony the night she followed him and what she thought was cocaine but was too afraid to leave the pictures with her. Her attorney told her she would have to prove the drugs were his and she wanted to know who the other men were? Nancy said she never saw them before or since.

Tony’s attorney was busy focusing on one of his cuff links like he was looking in a box of cereal for the prize while he waited for the judge to address the petition. Tony’s attorney filed a motion asking for a dismissal because Nancy had failed to state a substantial reason for the divorce. Twenty minutes had gone by since the case was called and the judge was going to make a ruling soon. The judge had given Nancy’s attorney thirty minutes to get her client into court before he would make a ruling. If she wasn’t there he could dismiss her dissolution petition. Nancy wouldn’t show up for the Hearing that morning. She had been gone the past three weeks and Tony told her during one of their last arguments that if she ever said anything about him in public he was going to kill her niece and they’d never find her body. He said he’d kill her too. She knew it. It was something he had been thinking about for weeks. Tony was fed up with her, the friends she had, her past, all of it. He suspected she knew too much about he was doing. She said too much the night she told him she wanted a divorce. She had served a purpose when they first married but he no longer needed or wanted her around any longer. He wanted someone much younger, like the built but vacuous secretary he had been playing with the past two months. She was over thirty years younger than he was and was always chewing a piece of gum. Nancy knew what her husband was capable of doing and was scared of him. After a little more than two years in a ruinous marriage she wanted out. She had her suspicions before but now she knew what he was doing. She wanted to get away from him. She was gone before he was served with the divorce papers and planned to stay with friends until she found a safe place to stay. At first Tony hadn’t noticed she was gone. It was easy to avoid each other in a huge house. But once he knew she was gone he went through her bedroom to see if he could figure out where she went? That’s when he found the dusty pair of shoes in the back of her closet. She had forgotten about getting rid of them before she left. He knew she was the one who had been at the trailer and saw the cocaine. She had seen him. Tony had some of his people looking for her the next day because he knew she was a problem. They told him they hadn’t been able to find her. Nancy left town weeks before with few clothes and little cash. She didn’t take her phone or credit cards thinking Tony would try and find her through them. She knew staying with friends would only last so long before they started asking questions about what she was really doing. She knew she couldn’t stay with any of them very long. She didn’t want them to deal with her husband, or any of the people that worked for him, if they came looking for her. She had to keep running. She had to keep looking over her shoulder. She needed help but didn’t know who to go to until she looked at the book in her handbag Linda had sent her. Dan’s book. She slipped it in her bag when she left and knew what she wanted to do after seeing it again.

+     +     +

The Judge came back in the courtroom, and finding the petitioner failed to appear, dismissed her divorce petition. Tony smiled and waived at Nancy’s attorney as she walked out of the courtroom.

Bitch, he mumbled, as he sat with his attorney. He mistakenly thought he had heard the last of her and had no idea what she was going to do or who she might ask for help.

CHAPTER 4

The Southwest jet was on its final approach into Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. It was just after six- thirty a.m. The sun was up in a cloudless pale blue sky and it was already getting hot. Kathy Meyers was on-board the flight. She was Nancy’s niece and someone she confided in the last few months about what Tony had been doing. She told her about the phone call she heard and the men she saw at Tony’s construction trailer the night she took the pictures of them and the drugs.

When Kathy was younger she had lived with Nancy after her parents died in a car crash. They became almost like sisters. She moved away after Nancy’s husband died and had been living with other relatives in Ft. Lauderdale before enlisting in the military. She told Nancy she didn’t like being around Tony when he was home. The last time they talked Nancy told her she was filing for a divorce. She said she heard Tony brag about shooting someone and talk about more drugs. He didn’t know what she had seen or heard. She told Kathy what she wanted her to do while she was gone. When Kathy asked Nancy wouldn’t say where she was going? She said it was for both their safeties. But she told her about the book Dan had written and asked her to find him and see if he could help. She knew it was a lot to ask after not seeing him for so many years but she was scared and running. She told her his book bio said he was living near Phoenix. Kathy didn’t understand all that was happening but told her she would try to find him and see if he could help. Now she was landing in a city looking for someone she didn’t know to ask for help she wasn’t sure about? She was looking for someone Nancy hadn’t talked to in years. Decades. She knew if she found him he would have no idea who she was or what she wanted? She hoped she was doing the right thing? She was going to look for someone Nancy had talked about a few times when she was growing up. As Kathy got older she knew he was someone that was once important to her. Kathy wondered what kind of reaction she would get when she told him who sent her? She asked herself if he would still remember someone from so long ago, and if he did, would he be willing to help? She knew it had been almost forty years since they were in college together. Nancy told her years before they talked about getting married after graduation but it didn’t happen. She told Kathy this was her only hope trying to find someone she could trust that might be willing to help with her divorce after she told him what she heard.

+     +     +

It started out like any other retirement morning Dan had for the past few years. Another routine day filled with uneventful activities. Kinda boring. A lot boring. Maybe the phone would ring today with someone other than his doctor’s office or pharmacy calling. His circle of friends had been shrinking each year. You can probably guess why. Age was a bitch that never let up, never slowed down. He wasn’t sure what to expect or what he’d done with his days since retiring but it must not have been much because he’d forgotten most of them. He was hoping for something different that morning and had no idea the something different was landing at Sky Harbor Airport.

Dan Crosby lived in an age-restricted community thirty-five miles northwest of Phoenix where it’s seemingly always hot. In his pre-retirement life he had been a lawyer and an investigator for many years before that. When he finally did become a lawyer late-in-life he was considered third-rate by the big firms in town. Maybe it was because of how old he was when he got his license or because of what he did before starting law school. He was looked at like a red-headed step-child in the judicial world in Phoenix. An ambulance chaser. Someone who ran a few cheezie TV ads late at night. A bottom feeder. He went after the residue of what more prestigious law firms wouldn’t bother with. He worked alone handling angry divorces, minor car accidents, contentious child-support cases, and drafted simple Wills. He went through a succession of secretaries because making enough money was always a challenge and secretaries didn’t want to risk not getting paid each week. He worked alone because he didn’t have the pedigree law firms or other litigators wanted when they looked for someone. His education had been through a night school with a mediocre academic reputation. But he was smarter than people thought. He passed the bar exam on his first try.

He set-up shop near the courthouse in an ageing building that housed bail bonds offices and transient marketing companies. A used car lot and cheap diner were next door. His building seemed to always smell like sausage and onions. It was in a part of the city where rents were cheap. He worked there eleven years before retiring. He wasn’t sure why he settled in Phoenix but it was more by chance than pre-planning. He wanted someplace warm and it was warm in Phoenix but only for a few weeks each year. Then it’s hot. In the summer it’s really hot. But he liked to think warm – okay maybe that’s not exactly accurate - but he did like to think hot weather was better than shoveling snow which he had done as a kid growing up near Chicago.

He was sitting in front of his computer sipping coffee and looking out a window in a bedroom he used as his writing den. It was still early when the spandex bike riders club cycled past in a streak of colors before it got too hot. The dog walkers and step-counters followed soon after that. He wasn’t a rider or a walker. He sipped his coffee trying to get started on a second book. Some moderate success happened a year before with his first book and hoped lightning would strike again. A few minutes later a car he didn’t recognize pulled up in front of his house and parked. He didn’t think much of it because it was too early to expect anyone. He was trying, unsuccessfully, to type something but wasn’t having much luck. A moment later he watched a young woman get out of a Chevy Cavalier and look for the address on his house. When she saw it she looked at a piece of paper she was holding and stared at it like she was trying to make sure they matched. A moment later she started walking up his driveway. Dan watched but didn’t know who she was? Too early for a delivery. She seemed a little hesitant and looked around again before she continued walking up to his front door about to change his day. It wasn’t summer yet but things were about to heat up.

Before this morning most of his days were spent puttering around the house trying to stay busy. He had been divorced the past fifteen years so any honey-do list was of his own making. There were no lists. He did what he wanted, sometimes only when he had to. He had done some landscaping to stay busy except during the summer months. Then he switched to simple interior projects to stay out of the heat. It was during this time he managed to write his book. A salacious murder mystery. He did it to stay busy. The book did that. When he commented about the writer’s block he was experiencing some friends suggested he start a hobby. It was a reasonable suggestion. When he was younger he used to play a lot of sports but those days were long over. His knees were shot so the only sports he was active in were on ESPN. He hadn’t jogged in years and planned to keep that streak going. When he was a kid he liked building model cars. So, he built model cars again. Lots of them. He liked old cars because he could name them on sight. Today most cars looked alike to him. Now he had a couple dozen models collecting dust and when friends came over asked him why he had so many model cars collecting dust? Go figure. After that he started collecting music CD’s from the sixties. A time when he grew up and could understand most lyrics except Louie, Louie. What to do next? A moment later he heard his doorbell chime.

But long before this stranger showed up and interrupted his morning he thought about trying to write another book. Why not? Libraries were full of books and someone bought his first book a year before. So why not give it another try? That’s what he had been trying to do. He didn’t like his first book all that much and was surprised when he sold it. He’d thought about trying to write for years but too many things got in the way. Kids, a couple of marriages, working as an investigator before finishing his career as an attorney. So many things pulled at him he didn’t have time to write. But now the kids were gone, so were the marriages, and he finally had the time to try. So, he started writing. After all there had been some colorful people he had to deal with over the last twenty years so he used them in his book. He was surprised anyone considered it good enough to buy. He bought several copies off Amazon because he still couldn’t believe it happened. Within weeks the book was gone from the Amazon book chart. So much for a first success.

He didn’t know it but the stranger who rang his doorbell that morning would lead to something he never saw coming and help him with a story for another book. He wanted to see if he could sell another story. He had read enough books that he thought he could do it. He didn’t think it would be that hard. But he was wrong. It was hard. More than hard. In the career he retired from he wrote divorce petitions, motions, pleadings, briefs, and complaints for angry people wanting to get even with an ex- spouse or some company for a perceived wrong. But this was different. Trying to write a book was a whole new animal for him. But now he was about to get interrupted in a way he never imagined.

The woman he watched walk towards his front door looked about the age his grandchildren were. He thought she wasn’t dressed like most people living in Arizona. Too business-like. He had no idea who she was or what she wanted?