Chapter 25
Jack’s toothache didn’t keep him from belting out blistering rock vocals at band practice.
Wild Fury ran through their set at earsplitting volume, then Jack treated the guys to dinner at Blowfish.
The soft sushi would be a little easier for Jack to manage than a steak.
We filled our bellies, then hit the bars on Oyster Avenue.
We ended up at Red November and took in the sights as gorgeous women strutted around in skimpy cocktail dresses.
JD had chosen the route of self-medication. Despite the whiskey, Jack was having a hard time. He had a pretty high pain tolerance, and if he was bitching about it, it had to hurt.
"I'm about two seconds away from getting a pair of pliers," he said.
I wasn’t entirely sure he was joking.
We weren’t too far into the evening when the sheriff called. It was loud in the club, and I could barely hear when I answered. "What's up?"
"There was a break-in at the Chateau Del Mar.”
I groaned.
"I take it, you know something about this?”
"We’ll be right there.”
I ended the call, filled Jack in on the situation, then took the keys from him.
We left Red November and hustled down the avenue, drifting through tourists as they listed up and down the boulevard.
Lights from signage glowed the streets, and the smell of grilled food filled the air. It was always festive on the avenue.
We hopped into the Porsche, and I drove across town to Channel View. A few squad cars were on the scene, lights flashing.
I found a place to park, and we hopped out.
Sherry stood outside her apartment, raising hell with the deputies. “My home was broken into. I want justice right now!"
"Can you tell me exactly what was taken?” Mendoza asked.
"I don't know what was taken.”
“If we don’t know what was taken, we can’t recover it.”
She frowned at him. “You ain’t gonna get my shit back anyway.”
“How did they enter the home?”
“They broke out a window and crawled through. Why don’t you look for yourself? Dust for prints!” Sherry was pretty hot about it. “Who's gonna pay for that? Not me!”
Mendoza just took the tongue-lashing.
She continued to gripe. “You mean to tell me they made all that ruckus, and nobody saw anything?”
A crowd of curious neighbors had gathered, some peering out front doors, others standing on the grounds surrounding the building.
"Ain't none of you motherfuckers saw shit!?”
Nobody came forward. Around here, it was best to keep your mouth shut.
Mendoza asked, "Do you have insurance?"
"No, I don't have insurance.”
By that time, JD and I had joined the party. I flashed my badge. “Deputies Wild and Donovan with Special Crimes."
"Oh, this is special all right,” she said.
"Do you know approximately when this occurred?"
"How am I supposed to know? I wasn't home.”
"What time were you away from the apartment?”
"We left around 7:30 PM and went to the pizza place. You know the one with the games and those funny animals. Then I went to my friend's apartment. It was probably 10:30 PM when we got back here.”
This wasn’t the kind of complex that had video doorbells or surveillance footage. But I knew what had been taken and who was responsible.
We left Mendoza to wrap this up. JD and I canvassed the area, talking to neighbors, knocking on doors, but nobody remembered seeing anything. Or they weren’t saying.
I called Isabella and asked her to see if she could pick up a cell phone that might have been in the apartment during the time of the robbery.
Her fingers danced across the keys. A few moments later, she said, "Nothing pings the tower from the apartment during that timeframe.
I was able to check that other phone you asked me about.
The one that belongs to Tonya. It was a burner.
It's at the Seven Seas in the Pineapple Cabana. It's been there all night.”
I thanked her for the information, then JD and I headed back to the Porsche and drove to the Seven Seas.
I pulled up to the valet, and the kid hustled around to grab my door. I slipped a few bills into his pocket and told him to keep it up front.
Jack and I stepped into the lobby and hustled past the bar and restaurant, and down the long hall to the pool. Jack looked miserable. The pain in his tooth was really getting to him.
We stepped outside, pushed through the gate, and walked around the pool, which was pretty dead at this hour. The smell of chlorine lingered in the air. We stepped through the other gate and made our way down the lush path to the cabanas.
I put a heavy fist against the door to the Pineapple Cabana. Noise from the TV filtered down the foyer. A moment later, footsteps drew close, and the peephole flickered as someone peered through.
I flashed my badge and said, "Coconut County."
Tonya pulled open the door and looked at us with wary eyes.
"Now what did I tell you about breaking into Sherry's apartment?”