“Help us,” I instructed them with my hand stuck out in front of me. “Now!” I insisted.
It took the men to find their footing before they seemed comfortable that they weren’t going to fall into the death lake, to get us out.
“Mae West.” The who pulled me out, took his glasses off exposing the most beautiful green eyes.
It caught me off guard because I’d never seen a black-haired man with sparkling green eyes. I wiped down my shirt and tried to push back my hair into place, but whatever was in that lake was like plaster and taped every single strand of my hair on my face.
“Do I know you?” I asked and decided to just go with a smile in hopes it was much prettier than my current appearance.
“I’m Detective Hank Sharp with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and when I’m not doing that, I’m a park ranger.” He pulled his fancy suit coat open and pulled out a badge. “This is my partner, Detective Elmo Burke.”
Mr. Burke didn’t appear to have the physique Detective Sharp had. He was shorter with small round glasses and bald on top but had hair on the side. He reminded me of George from Seinfeld.
“It was very nice of you to stop by and introduce yourself, but as you can see,” Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Henry’s face. His jaw all flapped open. “We are a little busy. Right, Henry.”
He snapped his mouth shut.
“Detective Hank,” I started to say and put my hand out to thank him for dropping by.
“Detective Sharp,” He corrected me.
I lowered my eyes when I saw it wasn’t in goodwill that he was stopping by.
“I’m guessing you’re not with the welcoming committee. I’m not sure what you want with me. If this has to do with my ex-husband, you can call . . .” I was rudely interrupted by Detective Hank again.
“I’m very aware that you had nothing to do with his Ponzi scheme, but I’m not so sure you didn’t have anything to do with his escape.” He pulled his sunglasses off his face so smooth, that he looked like one of those cute TV cops.
“Escape?” I gulped and now wished I’d paid attention to the news report I’d seen on the TV at The Laundry Club.
“We figured he’d come here to see you since he never really wanted to sign the divorce papers and from what your lawyer told us, this piece of property is in your name. That’s why we think he’s here.” Detective Hank stared while the other guy started to walk around. “Have you seen him?”
Suddenly, I got nervous. Was he trying to read my body language like I’d seen done in movies. I began to pick at the stray limbs and other unrecognizable things that clung to my plastered head of hair.
“Trust me.” I put my hand on my hip after I realized I looked nervous. “I’d done killed the jerk if he’d showed up here.”
“Hank.” Detective Burke jutted his chin in the air gesturing Detective Hank over. “You stay there, Ms. West,” he instructed me.
“Listen, this is my campground and if there’s something to see, I’m going see it.” I stomped on my way over before he could stop me.
“Is that a foot?” Henry asked over my shoulder.
“Foot?” I let out a nervous laughed. “No.” I leaned a little closer and it sure looked like something that could be a foot, but nah. “It’s part of the broken dock.” I nodded, completely convincing myself.
“I might not be real educated, but I’m thinkin’ it’s a foot that’s attached to a leg.” Henry curled his nose and then his brows rose as the leg floated to the top of the lake and was attached to a body. “Definitely a foot. And a leg.” His nose curled.
“Ahhh!” I screamed and jumped when the head of the body popped up like one of those red button things on a pressure cooker that let you know when it was finished cooking. “Paul,” I gasped, bringing my hand up to my mouth.
FIVE
“You didn’t know he was here.” Detective Hank Sharp’s eye drew down on my face as I sat in the chair at my tiny kitchen table.
Out of the window over the sink, I could see the sheriff’s car along with a couple more of those black cars and what I guessed was the county coroner, who’d I’d yet had the pleasure of meeting.
“I told you before he floated to the top that I didn’t even know he’d escaped. I haven’t watched TV because it’s broke and I don’t read the paper.” I couldn’t believe it. Someone had gotten to Paul before me. I be darned. I couldn’t help but wonder which client of his got him.
“Has he called you?” Detective Hank flipped the light switch on and off a couple of times.
“No. I don’t know what’s wrong with this thing. It just stopped working.” I laid my head on the table and just decided to give up. Maybe jail was better than this. I was hungry, tired and broke. At least in jail there was TV, food and a bed.
“Do you have the battery plugged in?” Hank asked.
“Battery?” I questioned his RV skills. “It’s got plenty of gas.”
“I’m not talking about driving. I’m talking about all the other stuff.” He flipped his notebook closed and put it back in his jacket pocket.
“Other stuff?” I should’ve read the manual like Stanley told me. “Oh, no.” I gulped. “Stanley was serious about an owner’s manual in the glove box. I thought he was joking.”
“Who’s Stanley?” Hank asked.
“My lawyer. Paul’s lawyer.” My head tittered back and forth. “I can’t afford Stanley anymore.” My face jerked up. “Oh, no. Am I going to need a lawyer?”
“Did you kill Paul West?” He asked.
“No!” I gasped. “Somebody got to him first,” I mumbled.
“Those are things you don’t say to me.” Hank rubbed his hands together. “Okay, where are your plugs?”
“Plugs?” He was talking some different language that I didn’t understand.
“Did you say the owner’s manual is in the glove box?” He asked. I nodded. He pointed towards the front of the camper. “Can I get it?”
“Sure. I have nothing to hide.” I shrugged and wondered what my first meal in jail was going to be because there was nothing here to eat and the cash I’d found in Paul’s sock drawer was dwindling fast.
The RV was a gas guzzler and I didn’t figure that into the grand scheme of my plan to take a vacation at Happy Trails and sell the thing. Boy, so much had changed in the last twenty-four hours, including Paul showing up dead.
“Did you find it?” I found the strength to get up and walk out of the RV where I found Hank plugging in the camper. “I had no idea.”
Hank looked at me. There it was. That look where people realized who I was and what I’d gone through. The sympathy look.
“If you show me, I’m a quick learner.” I wasn’t going to let this guy think I was an idiot. I had brains and I was pretty smart too. Being a kept woman gave people the impression I was ditzy. Granted, my husband embezzled millions of dollars and hurt a lot of people, but it wasn’t like I was doing his business.
He got up every morning, got ready for work, went to work and came home at a decent hour. There was nothing out of the ordinary from how he’d always been. Maybe our trips got a little more extravagant, but nothing that’d make it so noticeable. Still, I had a brain.
“Every time you go to a campground or stop, you should plug in so you have electricity. I’m assuming the toilet is also on the outlet.” Hank pointed to the different plugs.
Then he went into how many volts the RV had and how it had two electrical systems that fed different things like water heater, furnace, and refrigerator, plus most of the lights in the RV’s living space, water pump, your carbon monoxide detector, and the kitchen appliances. It was truly a house on wheels and everything, like a house, needed electric.
“That’s why the campers pay a lot fee.” He smiled and showed off some really pretty teeth. “As the owner or manager, you’re responsible for paying the electric bills along with any other utilities.”
I remembered seeing something about that in the files Stanley had given me.