Chapter 21
Gwen answered on the first ring. “You were cutting it close. You have one more day.”
“Gwen, I need your help.”
The line went silent.
I’d never asked her for help. I never thought I would have to. She’d offered plenty of times during various times in my life, but I never took her up on it.
“What happened? Who do I need to kill?”
I dropped my head and rubbed the emerging headache forming behind my eyes. “I have a situation. I need to get rid of something, and I need it done quickly and quietly. If you can’t, then there’s a chance you might have to come bail me out of jail.”
“You killed the lumberjack and need to hide his body,” she said and sighed. “Okay, that’s not bad. I know a guy…”
“Gwen. No questions. I have a bag full of drugs and money that needs to disappear until we can figure out what’s going on.”
“The lumberjack does drugs?” she asked.
“Gwennie,” I whined, using the name I’d called her growing up. “This is serious. I think someone is trying to set Harlon and his family up. I need this gone but not destroyed in case it’s evidence.”
“Okay.” Gwen cleared her throat. “Give me your address.”
I glanced up to find Harlon pacing. “What’s your address?”
“Why?” Harlon asked.
“I’m helping you like you helped me in the woods. Just give me the address.”
“1513 Pinecrest Avenue,” he answered.
“Did you get that?” I asked and turned to walk out of the room.
“Yes. Now, did you touch the bag?” Gwen asked.
“Oh yeah. I unzipped it.”
“Okay, I’ll have a person there in ten minutes, but here’s what I need you to do.”
I listened and started searching the house for the things I needed. The rubber gloves were easier to find than the window spray and the rags. I returned to the room and began to work while Harlon watched.
“What are you doing?”
“My sister agrees that it was planted here. If someone is framing you, you can probably expect the cops to show up eventually.”
“Just perfect.” Harlon crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s the last thing we need.”
“Harlon, I need you to check the rest of the closet to see if there’s any we missed. Check the coat pockets, the pants pocket, all of the bags, and even in the shoes. This bag was obvious, but I’m betting there’s more.”
“Okay.” He stomped into the closet. Within the next ten minutes, he’d found twenty additional stashes and had torn the room apart, dumping drawers and pulling things off shelves. I gathered the rest of the drugs and stuffed them into the first suitcase just as the elevator dinged open.
“Uh, hello?” a woman’s voice called out from the living room.
Panic flared in Harlon’s eyes as he stormed out of the bedroom with me following.
“Aw, there you are,” she said with a smile on her face.
The woman had a cleaning cart in front of her and a dog at her feet. Behind her stood two women dressed in maid uniforms.
