Cold Steele

"But you're just a youngster Abigail," Jason protested.

"She's about the same age as your wife, Mr. Worth," I put in. If you need to protect someone I suggest you take care of Susan." Mentally shrugging my shoulders, I said to myself, just couldn't keep your mouth shut could you? Oh well, I was looking for a job when I found this one.

Worth's face turned red in anger like he was going to erupt. Then he exhaled very loudly and the anger drained from his face. "You're right of course, Mr. Steele."

"I'll mingle for a while longer and catch up with you tomorrow morning Mr. Worth."

"Join me for breakfast at 8 if you like Mr. Steele. We can discuss our options in more depth."

I nodded and turned to Abby. "I'll call you when I complete my work." Worth wasn't overjoyed at my statement but didn't say anything.

"How long must I wait?" Abby asked. She was smiling and pulling my chain.

"Today's Tuesday, I should be finished by Saturday."

"That soon," both Abby and Worth said.

"I'm not only good but I'm fast too," I replied. "See you tomorrow morning Mr. Worth." I walked around the party for another half hour and left. The valet didn't seem to be too happy bringing my truck to me after driving all the luxury and sports cars, but became happier when I tipped him $10.

Samuel let me in the next morning and led me to the very large kitchen. "I would have thought Mr. Worth would eat in the dining room," I remarked to Samuel.

"He does when Mrs. Worth joins him for a meal. That isn't too often, except for dinner now and then."

"Steele, have a seat," Worth greeted me. "Millie would you get Mr. Steele some coffee and breakfast please."

"Just coffee Millie, thank you. I seldom eat breakfast Mr. Worth. Slows me down."

"Suit yourself," he said and dug into a large plate of eggs, sausage, and country fried potatoes.

He looks different today, I thought. More relaxed not so much tension. I usually have that effect on people. Worth was wearing designer jeans, designer but jeans none the less, an oversize sweatshirt with a Missouri University logo, and sneakers. I've never seen him without his three piece suit and a frown. He wasn't exactly smiling this morning but he didn't have the perpetual scowl on his face either.

"I watched Susan and Danby closely last night," Worth offered. "A couple of times he tried to put his arm around Susan or hold her hand and she slapped him away. She finally told him to leave her alone or she'd have him put off the property. I think you're right, there's nothing going on there."

"Very good coffee Millie," I said. "Like I said Mr. Worth, I think she's just pulling your chain a bit."

"How did you learn so much about people?"

This wasn't the same guy that waltzed into my office acting like he owned the world. I might ever get to like him a little. "Years of doing police and detective work, Mr. Worth. You've got to be able to read people, their facial expressions, body language, voice inflection, if you want to be a good detective."

Susan came through the kitchen in a rush. She was dressed in a very short white tennis skirt and a white wife beater type top.

"Join us for breakfast dear," Worth suggested.

"I can't, I have a tennis lesson with Sam and then lunch with Tiffany and Heather," Susan answered. "I'll see you at dinner Jason. Toodles."

I watched through the picture window as Susan ran to a bright red, Mercedes SL550 convertible. She threw her duffel in the passenger seat, jumped in and peeled rubber down the long curving driveway. That car goes for about a hundred thousand dollars, I thought.

Worth had told me why he kept Susan around, even with her affairs and actions. Now I saw in bright red, why Susan didn't leave. She was a money hungry, gold digging bitch.

My cell phone rang. "Excuse me," I said and answered the call.

"Mr. Steele? This is Irma Foley. I'm the one you talked to about Stanley Moore."

"Yes Mrs. Foley, I remember you."

"Stanley is here, in his apartment. He said he was going to California to live with some friends."

"Thank you Mrs. Foley; I'm on my way, be there in thirty minutes or less. If he tries to leave is there any way you can stall him until I get there? I don't want you to cause trouble for you but I could use your help."

"Mr. Steele, I don't believe your interest is about a job interview." The old woman had me. "Why do you want to see Stanley?"

"Mrs. Foley, Stanley is being accused of a crime. I don't think he's involved but I need to talk to him so I can help him." There was silence on the line and I said, "I give you my word Mrs. Foley, if Stanley is innocent like I believe, I'll help him. If he's guilty, I'll see he goes to jail."

After several seconds that seemed more like an hour Mrs. Foley answered. "I believe I can trust you Mr. Steele, Stanley said a friend was coming by to pick him up at 4. He'll be here until then."

"Thank you again Mrs. Foley." I hung up and looked at my watch. That gives me 40 minutes to get to Stanley's and have a little talk with him, I thought. I waved at Mr. Worth and hurried to my truck. Now the big block V8 was going to come in handy.

When I got to the apartment building, I pushed the button for Mrs. Foley's apartment. She looked out a window, saw it was me, and buzzed me in.

"Stanley's still in his apartment," she said. "I didn't tell him you were coming.

Nodding my thanks I walked carefully down the hallway to 1C. I listened at the door for a few seconds and tried the doorknob. The door was unlocked and I pushed it open quickly. Moore glanced up and got a scared look on his face. He picked up a heavy table lamp held it like a club as he started toward me. "Get the hell out of my apartment," Stanley ordered.

"Son, your mouth is writing checks your body can't cash," I said. I pulled my Cardinals jacket to the side and showed my Glock. "I'm not going to hurt you; I just want to talk to you."

"Did Worth send you?" He asked.

"Yeah, but I'm not like the other two he sent. I'm not here to rough you up." He looked skeptical and I said, "Put down the lamp and let's talk."

Stanley still looked like he might run so I closed the door and leaned against it. "I'm a private investigator hired to find you. You're being accused of blackmail. Something about a DVD of you and Mrs. Worth."

The young man stared at me for several seconds and then sort of melted onto his sofa. "I don't know nothin about any blackmail letter or DVD. First time I heard about a letter or a DVD was when those two goons Mr. Worth sent over asked me about it. I told them, like I told you; I don't know nothin about them." He dropped his head and shook it. Stanley finally looked up at me. "Susan, I mean Mrs. Worth, and I did get it on but I never recorded it."

"Where did you and Mrs. Worth usually get together?"

"It was only a couple of times here and once we used Ralph's apartment over the garage. He was driving Mr. Worth around to meetings that day."

"How did you get away from Worth's men?"

"I was holding my door trying to keep them from coming in. Mrs. Foley came out of her apartment and yelled at them to leave me alone or she'd call the cops. When they turned to look at her, I booked out the back. Went to my sister's in Ballwin. Today's the first day I've been back here."

"Mr. Worth has two letters asking for money. They both had your name at the bottom."

"Wasn't me; isn't me. All I want is to go to California. Mr. Worth has made it damn hard for me to get work here, so I'm heading out there. I can't find any pool work and he even got me blackballed at the Muni. All I want is out of St. Louis. There are lots of pools to take care of in California, and a lot more acting jobs."

"I believe you Stanley and I have an idea of who sent the letters." Looking at the boy I saw him perk up. "But Stanley, you're going to have to put off your trip for one day."

"What do you want me to do Mr. Steele?" His voice was tired and fearful.

"You'll have to play a part Stanley, but from what I hear you're a pretty good actor."

The young man actually smiled. He was pleased with the praise for his acting ability. I didn't know if he was good or not; all that was necessary was for him to do what I said.

"Why do you care Mr. Steele? I mean you could just take me to Mr. Worth, collect your money and walk away."

"Mr. Worth hired me to solve a problem for him. I took the job so I'll do my best to get it done. Guess you could say its pride in my work or something."

I explained what I wanted him to do and when. At first Stanley shook his head but came around when I explained about his 'role' the next day. He finally gave me a little smile and I could see the wheels turning.

"And Stanley, don't even think about running. If you do Mr. Worth will send more guys after you and I'll be one of them. You can't hide from me in the Hollywood scene and you really don't want to see me angry." I gave him what I thought was a fierce look. "You really, really don't want to see me angry," I repeated and patted the butt of my weapon.

There was a knock on the door behind me. I raised an eyebrow at Stanley.

"That's my friend Jimmy; he's an actor too. We're going to California together," Stanley replied to my silent question.

I opened the door and let Jimmy into the apartment. If they ever do a remake of 'The Incredible Hulk" they should hire Jimmy; he could play the part without any computer animation. Jimmy stood about six foot six and weighed close to 300 pounds and none of it was slack belly.

The boy had wide shoulders and a torso that tapered down to a waist not much bigger than mine. He was wearing shorts that showed his tree trunk legs and a cropped top T shirt that showed his stomach; Jimmy had a 12 pack instead of a 6 pack for abdominals.

If this kid wants to cause trouble there ain't much I can do about it, I thought. "Stanley has a favor to ask of you Jimmy. I hope you'll help him out."

"Cool," Jimmy said. He went to the refrigerator, grabbed a beer and flopped down on the sofa. "What'da need Stan?"

Nodding at Stanley, I left and returned to the Worth's; thankful that Jimmy was a peaceful giant.

I parked my truck on the side driveway, walked around to the back of the house and found Millie in the kitchen.

"Mrs. Ripley, where's Samuel? I'd like to talk to him."

"Please call me Millie; everyone does. Sam is down at the garage. Something about a broken water pipe or something."

I found Samuel on his cell phone, standing by a puddle of water. "No, the day after tomorrow won't do." He listened for a few seconds. "Did I mention that I'm calling for Mr. Jason Worth?" Samuel listened again and smiled. "Thank you. Have your man come around to the back of the house and ask for me."

He looked over to me where I waited and smiled. "Mr. Worth is sort of a king around here. It's good to be king if you want something done quickly."

"You know, you remind me of a former Marine Gunnery Sergeant I know. He ran the police pistol range and without Tully a lot of young cops would never have been able to qualify and nothing would have gotten done." I smiled at Samuel and said, "Without you nothing would get done around here either."

"You can put away the soft soap Mr. Steele," Samuel said. "What do you need?"

"I was wondering if you could get me into Ralph's apartment up there. I'd like to look around when he's not here."

"So you think Ralph is involved in the DVD mess?" He looked at me and when I didn't answer he said, "C'mon, this is as good a time as any. Ralph took the Bentley to the dealership, so he'll be gone another couple of hours." Samuel took a key ring out of his vest and motioned me to follow him.

Climbing the stairs to the second story of the garage, Samuel unlocked the door and stepped aside to let me into the apartment. I was carrying what looked like a camera bag. "I'll wait downstairs," he said and started to leave.

"I'd rather you stay Samuel. If I find anything I want a witness. I don't want anyone saying I planted evidence, just to earn my fee." He nodded, came inside, and sat on the couch.

Looking around the apartment I thought, pretty nice digs. The space was almost as large as the garage area below. It was one large room, about 40 by 30, combining living area, sleeping area, and a galley style kitchen with a large table separating the kitchen and living room. The only interior walls were where a full bath had been added to the space. Yep, pretty nice digs.

I walked around just looking over the apartment and came to a stop in front of a large bookcase against the wall closest to the bed. "Ralph doesn't impress me as being a heavy reader." Turning to Samuel, I asked, "You think Ralph has read all these books?"

Samuel shook his head and smiled. "Motor Trend, Car and Driver, or Playboy is more his style."

Stepping to the case I started looking closely at the books. There were two that seemed different than the others and I tried to pull them from the shelf. The two books were actually one piece; they both came away in my hand. Behind the false front of the books was a video camera. I inspected it and found that it recorded to a disc; a disc you could use to make a DVD.

"That's just about what I figured," I said, mostly to myself.

Samuel joined me in front of the bookcase. "You thought all along that Stanley wasn't the one that made the DVD, didn't you?"

Nodding I replied, "Yeah, and when Stanley's neighbor described the guy visiting him lately, I got suspicious of Ralph. I think he's the one sent the letters and typed Stanley's name to them and this pretty much proves it."

"What are you going to do, now that you know?" Samuel asked with a look on his face that told me what he would do.

"Well, I've a little plan." Seeing the look in Samuel's eyes I quickly added, "And breaking his neck isn't part of it." Explaining my idea, I said, "That's why I brought this little darling with me." Opening the 'camera bag', I took out another video recorder. I replaced Ralph's recorder with my unit and returned the false book to the shelf.

"About three hours from now is when the balloon goes up and my equipment will not only record but it will transmit what it's recording to my laptop; I can watch everything in real time as well as record it for backup. Also Stanley is wearing a wire. If everything goes right, we'll have this taken care of by supper time." I gave him an evil grin and added, "Then I'll get out of your hair Samuel."

Samuel chuckled as we left, making sure to relock the apartment. "You'd make a pretty good Gunnery Sergeant yourself, Mr. Steele."

Two hours later, Ralph returned with the Bentley; parking it in its own special place in the garage. The sleek, beautiful automobile, calling it a car was an insult, sat alone in the garage with a ten foot space on either side. No accidental banging a door into this vehicle.

Ralph saw me leaning on the fender of my beat up, but dependable truck. "You ought'a think about upgrading your ride," he said with a sort of sneer on his face. "Man in your line of work should advertize his success."

"I sure can't afford something like that," I replied pointing to the Bentley.

"Got a friend at the dealership," Ralph informed me. "He could get you a fantastic deal on one." Ralph pulled out his wallet. "Let me give you his card; tell 'em I sent you."

As he was digging for the card, Jimmy drove up with Stanley. He got out of the car with Jimmy trailing him and they walked over to me.

"I brought my friend as backup," Stanley said with a little arrogance. "You know, in case there's any trouble."

"Okay Stanley," I said. "I'll go get Mr. Worth." I turned and walked toward the house. As I walked around the corner of the garage, I slipped behind it to one of the exit doors on the backside of the building. Entering the garage, I crouched behind the cars to stay out of sight. Now it was up to Stanley.

Ralph put his hand on Stanley's shoulder but quickly took it off at a grunt from Jimmy. "What are you doing here Stan? I thought you'd be gone by now."

"I was gonna leave, but I didn't want my reputation to get dragged through the mud; so I came to see Mr. Worth." Stanley sounded very concerned and very sincere.

Glancing around, Ralph said, "Let's go up to my place and talk for a minute Stan. No need to let everyone know your business." He pointed to Samuel who was dealing with the plumber.

Stanley followed Ralph up the stairs to the apartment. Ralph looked around to see if anyone had seen them and then closed the door. I quickly ran out to my truck, powered up the laptop, and waited for the fireworks.

"Stanley you should be half way to California by now. Worth's gonna put you in jail if you hang around," Ralph said."

"I know I might go to jail, but I didn't do anything wrong...Well...except for going to bed with Mrs. Worth that is. Thanks for your help the last couple of weeks, but I can't leave with my name in the dirt," Stanley said.

"What are you going to do?" Ralph asked.

"I'm going to give Mr. Worth this," Stanley answered and pulled a DVD from his jacket. "I'm gonna tell him I didn't send the letters and don't want any money. Then I'll be able to go to California, free and clear."

"You've got a DVD of you and Mrs. Worth too?" Ralph asked. He didn't seem to be able to believe his bad luck. "Look Stanley, I was the one that sent the letters to Worth. I mean he's got more money than he can ever use. Why shouldn't we get a piece of it?"

Stanley followed the script and shook his head. "I don't want to be thought of as a blackmailer."

"What do you care what a bunch of rich people here in Missouri think about you?" Ralph said. He felt that his payday was flying away. "Let me get the money and I'll send you half; that way we both make out."

I was watching and listening to the conversation on my laptop. This is cool, I thought. I've got the perp and didn't have to do anything but outsmart him. I heard Ralph confess and thought, that's all I need. I called a friend of mine that I'd had waiting just outside the entrance to the Worth estate.

"Hey Frank, I've got the bastard on video and audio. C'mon lets grab the guy." The man I was talking to was Detective Frank Wends of the St. Louis Police. He and I had worked together before I'd been forced out of the Department; in fact he had been my training officer. Frank was now the lead detective in his precinct.

A patrol car followed by Frank in his unmarked sedan pulled up next to my truck; Frank got out of his car and walked over to my truck. I pointed to the stairs leading up to Ralph's.

"Don't you want to be in on the take down Matt?" Frank asked as he motioned the two patrolmen toward the stairs.

"Not into arresting people anymore Frank," I replied. "Sides, this guy is so slimy I'd be afraid of getting my hands dirty."

"But it's okay for me and my men to get our hands dirty," Frank said. He was pretending to be angry.

"That's why they pay you the big bucks Frank."

Frank followed his men to the apartment. Very shortly all three policemen returned leading Ralph who was in handcuffs.

"You got nothing on me," Ralph claimed. "It's my word against Stanley's"

I held up my laptop. "We've got you right here in living color and stereophonic sound. Well maybe not stereo but we got you on tape buddy boy."

"That recording was made in my place without my consent; you can't use it in court," Ralph said smugly.

"You'd be right if it was really your place. But Mr. Worth owns it and I have written permission from him to wire the garage and the apartment."

"I don't believe he gave you permission."

"Well, I will have by the time your case gets to court." I was the one that looked smug now.