Chapter Fifteen
Sebastian and Grace sat in the motel room and ate cold Chinese food for breakfast. She stared at the man who lay next to her and wondered if she really knew who he was. There were secrets deep inside of him, dark secrets.
"I can't believe what you have lived through," Grace said. "How could you survive? How does a boy survive something like that?"
"I lived through it but sometimes I'm not sure if I survived."
"How much did he hurt you?" She asked and Sebastian could see a tear in her eye. "I mean I know he tortured you but what did he do to the person inside? How much has that monster shaped what you are today?"
She felt terribly sorry for the child that he was but she also wondered about the man who so easily disarmed two thugs in a motel room.
Sebastian was silent for a while.
"I don't know but he is a part of me. I read something about people who are imprisoned and how they survive. They talk about being able to get outside of your body.
That's what I did. I was just a kid but I knew I had to exist somewhere else and so I learned to leave that ranch in my head. I couldn't have survived otherwise. I hid inside my brain."
Sebastian's telephone rang and he recognized it was Robert Kelly's number.
"The bodies of two of Rappelo's men were found burned to death somewhere north of Winona,"
"We had a disagreement. They lost." Sebastian said "But they were somewhat informative. I have learned a little bit about Pezzo and Cam Starr. I have an appointment with Tim Black, the Cadillac salesman, later this morning."
"Listen. You understand that you're working in a somewhat tenuous situation," Kelly said, "I am not even supposed to employ you like this. So let's try not to kill people. Two dead bodies generate some interest but when the press learns about what these fellows do for a living they assume it was a natural part of their profession.
See what you can get on these Pezzo and Starr and then let's shut it down. I just need enough to wire tap Pezzo and maybe Starr too. Then we can nail them. You don't need to solve this thing, just give me enough to go see a judge about a wire tap. We will close it if we can get a wire on Pezzo."
"I have to go see Tim Black," Sebastian said. He folded his cell phone in half without saying good bye to his former commander and he rolled out of bed.
"You can't leave and not finish that story. I'm in shock," Grace said. "How did you survive? How did you get away?"
"I will tell you the rest some other time. It only gets worse," Sebastian told her, "let's eat now and clean up."
They finished breakfast and then showered together. Grace left for her shift and Sebastian drove to Black's Cadillac.
Tim Black had built his family business into four lots that covered acres of property between Flagstaff and Winona. His grandfather had started selling high end cars in the forties and now Tim had expanded the business to smaller cars as well. He had two dealerships which sold American made cars, one that sold high end German sedans and a huge lot that cleared dozens of Japanese cars every day.
"We sell it all. My family built a successful dealership and I made it even bigger," Tim said.
He sat at a glass desk in the original office his father had used. It was located on a half floor above the showroom. Tim had increased the size of the office so that it now was fifteen by thirty feet. His desk was ten feet long but it was empty except for a laptop, a printer and two telephone sets. One telephone had a cordless head set that would allow Black to talk on the phone and wander the office or look out onto the showroom floor.
There were two red leather chairs that faced the desk and Sebastian sat in one of them. On the left side of the room there was a black leather sofa and two side chairs that formed a sitting area but today Black was working behind his desk. Between the sofa and chairs a white shag rug lay under a black lacquer coffee table that held a box of cigars. Sebastian saw the cigars and wished he could move the meeting over there.
There was an antique walnut chest to the right of the sitting area with a colorful display of liquor bottles. Beside it was a sky blue retro refrigerator.
Behind Black's chair was a glass wall looking out onto the show room. Shiny cars were displayed, their convertible roofs down and their hoods up revealing unnaturally clean engines, salesmen and potential customers spread out on the showroom.
Above Tim Black's desk, suspended from the ceiling, was the original neon sign that said simply, "Black's Cadillac." It was worn and rusted and gave a sense of history to the office and the antique sign contrasted with all the red leather and glass. The overall impression was stylish.
Black had turned his father's business into an empire and he sat at the glass window daily and watched over it.
That morning, his large frame filled the black leather chair behind his desk. His suit was beige linen. There was a simple purple stripe running through his white shirt which he wore with an open collar. He never wore ties.
"I am a little intimidated getting a private visit from an FBI agent," Black said but his tone of voice made it clear he was not the least bit intimidated talking with Sebastian. He was the king in this castle.
"I am not an agent. I am an investigator looking into the case for the FBI," Sebastian said. He knew he had made this distinction already with Tim Black but he also knew Black was enjoying the attention. Black would drop by the club early today and speak in a loud voice about his visit with the FBI agent. He would want to give the impression that he had contributed to solving the case.
"How can I help you guys?" he asked, "Oh, can I get you something first?"
Sebastian started to say no thank you and then sensed that Black was going to insist so he gave in.
"I'll have a soda. What ever you've got."
Black looked disappointed but he went to the fridge and brought a soda for Sebastian and a beer for himself.
"Tell me some more about Cam Starr," Sebastian said, "he bought a very nice corvette here recently. Tell me about Starr and then tell me a little about the Vails.
You mentioned overhearing a conversation with Morgan and her Father. If he was cheating on Jessie who do you think he was fooling around with."
Black didn't hesitate.
"It's like I said" he said, "Paul had an office at the back of the house near the pool. I dropped by to drop off our dog. Morgan was going to watch the dog while we were away. Paul was home early that day. His car was in the driveway and I heard Morgan yelling. She's very high strung.
She came out of her dad's office and yelled at him something like "I can sleep around if I want. You do."
"Did you see Paul there? Did he follow her out?"
"No but it was his back office. He kept his business records there. I mean I assumed it was him that she was fighting with."
"Any idea who Paul would be involved with?" Sebastian asked.
"Jessie Vail is about as fine a woman as you will find in the whole state. I mean I can't imagine Paul cheating on her but I know what I heard. I also know a few people have asked about that skinny little thing that worked for Paul the last few years. Her name is Kristy Robinson. I heard they were working late the night Paul was killed."
Sebastian still didn't believe anything was going on with Kristy. He was convinced it had to be someone else.
"Tell me about Cam Starr. He worked for Vail a long time, were they friends?" Sebastian asked.
"Well I guess they were. Vail kept Starr employed all those years. I am not sure what Cam Starr would have done if he didn't have Vail looking after him. Paul was real good to Cam.
I used to see Cam all the time here. He liked cars, liked to come out here and look at them. For a long time he drove a rusted out Buick. I guess it was a little while ago he came and he spotted that red Corvette and he fell in love, came back all the time just to look at it."
"When did you sell it to him?" Sebastian asked.
"Leslie Vaughn sold it to him," Black said, "I told you Vaughn is the top salesperson around here. Can you imagine it? My daddy never hired a single woman to sell cars but I got a few now. People seem to trust them and ladies buy a lot of vehicles and they like to talk to other ladies when they buy one.
You know they communicate differently than men do."
"I'd like to speak with her," Sebastian said choosing not to enter into a discussion on Black's revelation about women in business.
Black picked up his cordless phone and pressed two numbers and then said, "Leslie Vaughn to the command post, please. Leslie to the post."
His voice boomed out over all show room and out onto the lots. It was a powerful voice coming from the heavens and people stopped their conversations and looked up at the office above.
A woman stood up from her desk, hung up her telephone and hurried across the show room and up the stairs to black's office.
Leslie Vaughn stepped into the office. She was thirty three years old, single and ambitious. Her slim figure was the result of jogging no less than six miles each day. She ate correctly and didn't drink. Leslie had been an achiever since she was a little girl.
"This is Sebastian Tyrovitch. He's an FBI agent and he's going to find out what happened to Paul Vail. He needs to find out some things about Cam Starr."
This time Sebastian didn't even bother to explain that he wasn't an agent.
"I understand Mr. Starr liked his cars. Tell me about him," Sebastian asked.
"He liked cars and he liked woman," she said, "he came by a number of times to look some of the vehicles on the lot. He often wanted to test drive cars he couldn't afford. You'd be surprised at the number of men who come in and ask to test drive a car they will never buy. Most of the time it's a convertible or a muscle car and their five year old family van is sitting in the parking lot."
Leslie Vaughn seemed to have a good handle on her potential clientele.
"Cam fell in love with that corvette. He came regularly to look at it and he wanted me to go out on test drive with him. It was a lot of work making that sale. I said no to a few dates and then when we finally made the sale I agreed to go for a coffee with him but he was harmless."
"So he was always window shopping here?" Sebastian said.
"Yes, he liked to look at nice cars. I think it bothered him that I knew he couldn't afford to buy the cars he always wanted. I told him three months ago that I had a potential buyer for the vette and he insisted that I not sell it yet. He said he would get a promotion soon. I held the car for three months and finally he shows up last month and bought the corvette."
Sebastian finished his soda and stood to leave.
"Thank you. You've been helpful," Sebastian said to Vaughn.
"Hey if you are interested in buying a car come see me." She smiled at her boss as she passed her business card to Sebastian. "Or even if you just want to talk some more, I am happy to help. Here let me write my home number on the back of that card."
Black bristled at Vaughan's sudden friendliness.
Sebastian took the card and left the car lot.
He wondered how Cam Starr knew he was going to be promoted three months prior. He would have to speak with Jessie Vail or Kristy Robinson. They would know if Paul Vail had planned to give Starr a promotion. If he did then it made sense and if he didn't then Starr knew Paul Vail was going to die and Jessie Vail was going to give him the promotion.
Sebastian pulled out onto the highway and began to drive east towards Winona. He stopped half way there for lunch and then drove straight on to Vail's Refuse and Disposal.
Sebastian knew he had to kick up more dust.