Southern Justice, Part 71

I’m Fixing To present part 71 of Southern Justice:

Presently, at Shanna’s swimming pool, a dark cloud slid beneath the hot sun. She welcomed the relief from the heat, but then it began to rain. She quickly gathered everything up, dashed inside, and went directly to her bedroom where she threw her towel on the bed and stretched out on top of it while she gazed at the poster on the wall. It was a snapshot of Chris which she had had blown up.

On the table in front of it, like a shrine, lay the key card to a hotel room they had shared in New Orleans, a cocktail napkin with a silly poem he had written her, the receipt from their first dinner, and a rumpled dress shirt he had left on his last visit. Slowly she drifted off to sleep.

When she woke up it was almost dark outside. She bounded to her feet and quickly changed into a sweat suit and sneakers. Searching around, she found her cell phone, make-up kit, wallet and her handgun. She tossed everything into a tote bag.

Glancing at her watch as she left the house, she saw that it was almost nine o’clock.

Thirty minutes later Shanna was parked next to the curb 50 yards from Chris’ driveway. She reclined in her seat slightly and wiggled into a comfortable position. “Now, man-stealer,” she thought, “don’t you have to run out to the grocery store, or something?”

GBI Agent Douglas Motes had briefed his superiors on the case and received permission to put Patty Osborn under surveillance. He had also canvassed all the major rental car agencies and accumulated a list of 11 names of people who had rented black Mustangs on the day when Jackie had been murdered.

So there he was, parked on the street about a 100 yards from Chris and Patty’s driveway, studying the list of names he had obtained from the rental car agencies with a penlight when he saw the red Corvette pull over to the curb 50 yards down from him. He watched the car’s lights go off and went back to studying his list. A minute later he realized no one had gotten out of the red car. He immediately cut the penlight off and concentrated on the Corvette. It was too dark to make out the license plate number so he decided to just watch and wait.

An hour and a half later the car suddenly roared to life. Agent Motes waited until the Corvette’s lights disappeared around the corner before beginning his pursuit.

He almost lost her two times, but after the second time he caught up with her close enough to get the car’s license plate number, which was just before it turned onto the street leading towards The Gentlemen’s Club.

Agent Motes ceased the pursuit at this point and pulled into the parking lot of a strip mall and called the license plate number into the state department of motor vehicles.

A few moments later, when he heard the name in which the red Corvette was registered, he snatched up the list of names he had gathered from the rental car agencies. When his eyes locked on the same name as the Corvette was registered, he said to himself, “Bingo!”

The following Wednesday morning Chris and Patty arrived at work to find Agent Motes awaiting them in the reception area. He immediately arose from his seat when they walked in the door and said, “Good morning Ms. Osborn and Mr. Adams. I wonder if I could have just a few minutes of your time?”

Chris could sense the excitement in the agent’s voice, which immediately made him curious. “Of course,” Chris replied and invited him to follow them to Patty’s office, since it was closer, and cleaner.

Once the three of them were comfortably seated Chris asked, “So, Agent Motes, have you found the killer yet?”

Without any hesitation Agent Motes replied, “I have a prime suspect, but I need a motive. That’s why I’m here, hoping one or both of you might be able to help me in establishing one.”

“How can we do that?” Patty inquired.

“By taking a look at this list of names,” Agent Motes said as he handed each of them a sheet of paper. These are the people who rented a black Mustang on the date of the homicide. Please tell me if you recognize the name of anyone on that list.”

Chris was still staring at the list with a stunned expression on his face when he heard Patty say, “I’ve never heard of any of these people.”

Agent Motes turned to Chris and said, “How about you. Mr Adams?”

(tmdunagan@aol.com)