Today I’m honored to once again share a story from my friend, and one of my favorite WordPress bloggers and member of the writing group WPaD, R James Turley.
Windy City PI
By R James Turley
I convinced my friend, Vinnie, to come work with me in Chicago. My sister, Sally, was already on board as our secretary, and together we formed Windy City PI. We rented a studio apartment on the corner of Waveland and Lakewood avenues, not far from Wrigley Field, and made it our office.
Sally’s desk was close to the door, and able to be seen through the front window. Vinnie and I had our desks facing each other, in the back of the room. The walls were decorated with old gangster photos. I had a thing about old mobsters. Vinnie had pictures of his family on his desk, and a few fake plants were scattered around the room to make it look nice.
The bell above the door jingled and I looked up with so excitement. Could this be our first case? Vinnie had gone with Sally to get office supplies. I waved the young woman back and took the plastic off the chair that was beside my desk.
“I’m Skyler Jackson,” I shook, and threw the plastic on the other side of my desk. “How can I help you?”
“I’m Ginger Freeze. I saw your add in the weekly paper, and was hoping you could help me.”
Ginger Freeze? With a name like that she should be and actor, or a singer. “What’s the problem?” I motioned for her to sit down.
“I broke up with my boyfriend two week ago, and now I think he’s stalking me.”
“What makes you say that, Miss Freeze?”
“Ginger, please,” she brushed the hair out of her eyes. “I think I see him every time I go running.”
I opened the drawer and pulled out a pen, “Where do you run?”
“In Waveland Park, every morning before work,” she pulled a picture out of her purse.
I wrote in a small notepad, “Where do you work?”
“I’m a nurse over at Thorek Memorial,” handing me a picture, “that’s us last year at Christmas. His name is Ken Adams.”
Being gone for so long I wasn’t familiar with the location of the hospital, and would ask Sally when I got back. I wrote my cell phone number on my card and gave it to Ginger. I told her to call if she saw Adams again, and walked her to the door.
Sally and Vinnie pulled up just as Ginger left, and I helped unload the SUV. Paper and pencils, along with other supplies. I looked they bought out the store. I was excited to see an electric pencil sharpener. The little hand held ones took forever to get a pencil sharp.
“Was that our first case?” Sally asked, nodding toward the spot Ginger’s car was in.
“Maybe,” I held the door open for her. “She thinks her ex-boyfriend is stalking her. Where is Thorek Memorial?”
“Right up here on Irving Park Road,” she pointed in the direction.
We put everything away then went to get a drink to celebrate our new adventure. The Rockit Burger Bar was known throughout the north side for their burgers. It did a hell of a business when the Cubs were home. The Cubs were out of town, but the place was still half full. We stuffed ourselves on burgers, fries and chips, and with every new drink we toasted Windy City PI. At ten-thirty we called it a night. I was a little buzzed, hoping it would help me sleep all night.
I went out to get the morning paper, and saw the headline: Thorek Memorial shooting. I glanced through the article. It didn’t say much. Dressing quickly, I mistakenly hit Sally’s speed dial number. She picked up before I could hang up. I told her to tell Vinnie to meet me at the hospital, and to call me if Ginger called or went in.
The hospital was swarming with uniform cops. I recognized one of the officers and asked him what happened, after I showed him mt credentials. He told me they were looking for Ken Adams. I asked about Ginger Freeze figuring it wasn’t a coincidence. He didn’t know and directed me to the nurses station.
I found out Ginger was working when the shooting happened, but no one knew where she was. I asked an officer who the lead detective was. She said his name was Lenny Brisco. I almost made a joke referring to the TV show Law and Order, but kept it to myself. She told me where I could find him. I call Vinnie and told him I was going to see Detective Brisco, and to take to Ginger’s friends at the hospital.
I walked into the station on W Addison, the officer at the hospital must have warned Brisco I was coming because he met me at the door. I couldn’t help myself and made a joke about Law and Order. We both laughed about it.
“Who’s Ginger Freeze?” he said, when I asked about her.
“She came into my office yesterday to see if I could help her,” I followed him up the steps. “She thought he was following her.”
He didn’t know they were and item, or that they broke up. I gave him the details of her daily routine, and where she thought she spotted Adams. He followed me to her apartment. It was halfway between Waveland Park and the hospital. Ginger wasn’t home, and didn’t come home last night. I called the number for her cell phone, It went straight to voicemail. I had a hunch Adams had her. He must have used the shooting as a distraction before he took her. I called Vinnie to let him know what I thought, and to see if anyone else knew Adams.
I went back to the station with Brisco, and searched to see if Adams had a record. Other than a few unpaid parking tickets, he was clean. Jealousy and anger can do strange things to people sometimes. It takes common sense and good judgment and throws them out the window. I’m guessing that’s what happened to Adam, and he just snapped.
Vinnie called, and we met for lunch. He told me Ginger and Marcy Bay were best friends. Marcy worked two floors above Ginger, but mostly the same shift. Ginger also relayed her fear of Adams to Marcy. Vinnie talked her into coming to the office when she got off, at four.
Marcy showed up a little after four still in her nurses scrubs. Sally show he to my deck and she sat down. Vinnie brought a chair down and sat across from me.
“Miss Bay,” I sook her hand. “I’m Skyler Jackson. And you know Vinnie,” nodding toward him.
She shook his hand, “Tell me,” I said. “Did you ever meet Ken Adams?”
She nodded, “Just once.” She took her sunglasses off and continued, “on a double date. I had a bad feeling about him.”
“What do you mean,” I asked, writing in my pad.
“I could tell be just looking at him he was the jealous type.” She tapped her finger on the desk, “He kept telling her what to do, an he got upset at thing she did before she met him.”
“When did she meet him?” Vinnie beat me to the question.
“I guess it was right before they started dating,” she shrugged her shoulders. “I’m not really sure.”
“And how…”
“Almost three months,” she interrupted.
“Is Adams the kind of man,” I looked at her, “that would take Miss Freeze against her will?”
“After she told me about him following her in the park,” her voice kept rising. “I believe he could.”
Vinnie put his hands out in front of him and pushed down, “Calm down. Breath, in and out.” She did what he said, “That’s it.”
“Any idea where he could have taken her?” I scratched my head.
“They went to Lake Genevia, one weekend.” She pulled a pamphlet from her purse. She read it, “Yeah, Bigfoot Beach State Park,” and handed it to me. “I remember him saying, it would be a nice place to hide and not be found.”
I glanced at it before handing it to Vinnie. He got up, carried his chair back to his desk and picked up the phone. I knew he was calling the number on the pamphlet.
I brought over a cup of water from the water cooler for Marcy. “You don’t think he would hurt her?” she said, after taking a drink.
“I hope not, Miss Bay,” I threw her empty cup away.
Vinnie came back to my desk and said that no one under the name Ken Adams had checked into a hotel, but that the Adams’ had a house on the lake. I figured it belonged to Adams parents.
I thanked Marcy for her help, and told her to go home. I called Brisco to let him know what was going on while Vinnie called the local authorities. Brisco followed us as we made that two hour trip.
The locals were watching the house when we got there. Brisco motioned for me to follow him around to the door. We listened after he pounded the door, and identified himself. A woman’s voice shouted something. Brisco pounded again. Silence. In unison, we kicked at the door. It flew open, and Brisco went in first.
A muffled noise came from the back room. We rushed down the hall, guns at the ready. Brisco broke through the door with his shoulder. Adams was lying on the floor bleeding from the head. I holstered my gun and untied Giger’s hands
“I kicked him,” she said, hysterically. “And he went down”
Adams was groggy but conscious, and Brisco slapped the cuffs on him.
The End
If you liked this and want more from R James Turley click on this link to get to his blog.
Vampire Maman 