Key West
Gone into the Night
A Key West Murder Mystery
Elizabeth Hilleren
BOOKS
BY
ELIZABETH HILLEREN
Napa Valley Books
SLOW REVENGE
TRISTAN
Key West Murder Mystery Series
ZERO DUVAL
SHARKEY’S KEY WEST
KEY WEST DAZE
KEY WEST COLD CASE PACT
KEY WEST SETUP
RISKY SITUATION
KEY WEST FATAL TANGENTS
KEY WEST SHALLOW WATER
KEY WEST DECEPTION
KEY WEST OVER THE EDGE
KEY WEST ENGAGING MURDER
KEY WEST SHADOWFIRE
KEY WEST NINE HOURS TO KILL
KEY WEST KILLER ART
KEY WEST GONE INTO THE NIGHT
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual events, locales or people, living or dead, are entirely coincidental and not intended by the author. Locations and establishments are fictional or if real are used fictionally.
Copyright © 2021 Elizabeth Hilleren
All rights reserved.
Cast list
Susan Abbott, mother or Tyler and Mateo
Javier Trujillo, Chilean father of Baby Mateo
Baby Mateo Trujillo
Tyler Abbott, Carl’s seven-year-old son
Carl Abbott, father of Tyler
Ricardo Vasquez, uncle of Javier Trujillo
Consuela Lopez, girlfriend of Vasquez
Stephanie Williams, Susan Abbott’s Mother
Other players
Detective Burt Harris, KWPD
Alex Sloan, ex-bounty hunter
Detective David Sharkey, KWPD
Mckenzie Jones, reporter
Arron Connor, reporter/photographer
Robbin Vanderbilt, reporter
R. Sloan, attorney, son of Alex
Piper Taylor, paralegal to Sloan
Officer Jordan McCabe, KWPD
Nurse Amy Crosby, Alex’s girlfriend
Billy Nash, homeless boy
Frank Demonte, medical examiner
Officer Debbie Anderson, KWPD
Shirley Reiner, manager at Sands Inn Motel
Jack Taylor, head of the Forensics team
Inspector Gomez, from Chile
Dr. Jim Olson, from the ER
Silvia Santos, KWPD facial recognition technician
Rita and Kirk Polly, fake abductors
Leslie Graham, kayaker
Gretchen, in the processing lab
Natalie Stone, KWPD HR
Rex Jamison, forensic psychologist and author
Roslyn Jamison, wife of Rex
Hank Foster, the homeless guy
Nancy Duckworth, social services
Officer Cruz Rosario. KWPD
Officer Jenny Springfield, KWPD
Chelsea Burke, attorney
Clancy O’Brian, ads manager
Contents
Cast list
Friday Night.
Saturday Morning
Sunday Morning
Monday Morning
Tuesday Morning
Wednesday Morning
Thursday Morning
Friday Morning
Saturday Morning
Sunday morning
Three weeks later - the rest of the story
Key West Gone into the Night
Friday Night.
The rumble of thunder could be heard in the distance. It was a hot and cloudy night in Key West and the tourists moved down the streets like water trickling from here toward where it would become the flood of a crowded Friday downtown night.
Susan Abbott sat on a plastic chair outside her motel room waiting for her cell phone to ring.
She jumped when it rang.
“It’s late,” she said.
“I know, my lovely. It will not take long. I’ll pick you up at the end of your block in front of the café.”
“I’ll be there in a few minutes. I’m leaving now.”
She put the phone back in her purse, went inside, and picked up little Mateo. “I love you,” she whispered, as she laid him down in the travel crib. Tyler was sprawled out in the middle of the king-size bed. She climbed onto the bed and leaned down and kissed his forehead. His eyes opened.
“I love you, Mama. Are you going out?”
“Yes, just for a little while. I’ll lock the door so you’re safe.”
“Okay…” he said in a sleepy voice.
“I love you, Tyler.” She pulled the blanket up over his shoulders but saw that he was already back to sleep.
Gathering her purse and keys, she locked the motel room door and headed to meet Javier.
He arrived at the Cafe the same time she did. She climbed into the car and he pulled out onto the street.
“Hola, Susan. You look wonderful,” he said, glancing over at her with a quick smile.
“I can’t be gone long. I left the children sleeping,” she said.
“There’s a place up here where we can talk.”
Susan watched as he turned onto Government Road and headed away from the city lights.
“I can’t be gone long. The children are alone.”
He nodded but kept driving.
“Stop,” she demanded. She sounded on the verge of hysteria.
“Relax. It’s good to see you.” He stopped the car in a clearing that led to a coral road and turned towards her. “What’s so important that you had to see me in person? I’m a businessman. I don’t have time to be a father.”
“You never responded to my letter about the baby… I lost my job. The money I get from Carl is not enough for two babies.”
Javier stared at her. It was almost a minute before he spoke.
“There’s a way that I can help you. But it has one important condition.”
“I thought I could raise him on my own. But without my job…” she said.
“Look, I don’t yet know for certain that he’s mine.”
Susan pulled out a piece of paper from her purse. “It’s Mateo’s birth certificate. It’s legal.”
“That paper just records what you told them. Putting my name on a piece of paper doesn’t actually make him mine.”
She pulled out a picture of Mateo. Her voice softened, “He looks like you.”
While Javier looked at the picture she said, “He’s a three-month-old now.”
He smiled. “He’s a very handsome baby. Maybe he’s mine. Can I have the birth certificate?”
“Yes. It’s a certified copy.”
“So, what can I do for you?” His handsome face was now somber.
“I need you to pay child support,” Susan said. “I thought I could make it, but they had a force reduction at my company. They laid off a slew of people. I don’t have a job. I only have the money that Carl pays me. I have trouble trying to get by on that. I can’t afford to pay for day care for two to get another job.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I need you to help me. I love Mateo. I’m only asking what’s good for him.”
“I can see that. However, I will need something for it. You know I live in Chile. I travel a lot. But we could work something out. I will send you money, enough to live without working outside the home. However, I will want Mateo for the summers. Only three months when he’s out of school on vacation. He must learn the Spanish language of my family and he can do that immersed in the culture of Chile at my home on the vineyard.”
She cut him off, holding up her hand. Her face was flushed. She spit out her words
.
“That will never happen. My son stays here. I will not leave my son alone with you in a foreign country. I want him to grow up here. I have another son and Carl would never allow me to take him out of the country. I will not let Mateo out of my sight. I will fight you on that.”
“And yet you left Mateo in a motel, alone, at night, in a town like this? Your argument is inconsistent. Those are my terms. It’s a fair and generous offer.”
“You bastard.” Her heart pounded in her ears. Then her hand flew up and slapped his face, hard. She opened the car door, jumped out and ran for the bushes. A car was approaching, and Javier pulled out and headed back to town. He passed another car heading into the darkness, he assumed a couple looking for a quiet place to park for a while on a Friday night.
Susan couldn’t see anything in the darkness. She started up a narrow coral road, but the stiff bushes tore at her bare arms as she stumbled into them. Damn, where am I? Oh no…my purse… In the distance she could hear the roll of thunder. Turning around in a circle she looked up and could see only darkness and the glow of the town over the tops of the shrub-like trees, but she thought she couldn’t walk directly towards them without slogging through the salt marshes. She didn’t think there were alligators here, but it was southern Florida, and she wasn’t going to risk it. So, she headed back down the road where she thought she had come from and found the clearing where he had left her. The sound of a car coming up Government Road and pulling into the coral clearing made her drop to her hands and knees behind a bush. The car stopped and she heard a door close and footsteps on the coral rock road. She froze for a second then crawled out of the bushes.
“Javier…I’m so…”
A bright light hit her face and blinded her. Then out of nowhere a violent blow hit her and she fell forward onto the coarse gravel and the darkness closed in around her.
If there had been anyone else around, the only sound they would have heard was the footsteps on the coral road, a car door slamming, the crunch of tires disappearing into the darkness, and then the silence of the salt marshes.
* * *
Javier drove back into town, found a parking place at the agreed upon meeting spot. Maria walked over to his car. He rolled down the window.
“You have it?”
Javier pulled out a key card for the room from the small purse. “Here.”
She took the card, turned, and disappeared without another word.
Javier pulled out his phone and punched in a phone number.
“Yes?” came a voice.
“I did my part. Do it. The plan as we agreed on.”
“Consider it done. Give me an hour or so, then come to the house.”
“All right.”
Javier drove down the street to a crowded bar and ordered a drink.
* * *
Across town a woman slipped the key card into the door lock and quietly opened the door. The child on the bed stirred and turned over.
“Mama?”
“Go back to sleep,” she whispered.
The child rolled over and went back to sleep. She waited and when she was sure he was asleep again she carried him out to the car. She returned for the baby, then pulled silently out of the parking lot.
It was a short trip to the house. She tapped on the door and another woman opened it. The woman took the child and they skillfully moved the children into a room equipped with a bed and crib. The baby woke up and the woman of the house picked him up.
“My, aren’t you a beautiful baby?” She gave him a bottle and he snuggled against her.
The other child continued to sleep a peaceful sleep.
She smiled at Maria, “This will be good. No one will know what happened.”
Maria left and disappeared into the night.
* * *
Javier drove to a small bar further up the road. As he sipped his drink he felt his heart sink. He called Vasquez.
“It’s done,” he was told and before he could speak the call went dead.
I can’t believe I left her there in the dark. I’ll get her and bring her back into town. The child is safe with Maria.
He finished his drink and headed back out to Government Road. He drove down the dark road and stopped at the clearing where he had left her and looked around. All he found there was there was darkness and quiet. Where is she? He pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight app. Moving it around the area he saw her lying on the ground. He walked over and said, “Come, Susan. I’ll take you back to town.”
He bent down and touched her cheek. It was cold. He saw there was a small amount of blood. Tears filled his eyes. …this was not supposed to happen…My Lord, what have I done?
Javier drove from there straight to the Vasquez’s house. He ran up the porch stairs and rang the bell.
The door opened and a short round man stood back to let him in.
“Senior Vasquez is in the living room.”
Javier followed the man into a huge living room.
“Ah, there you are,” he said, raising up from the couch and extending a hand. Vasquez sat back down on the couch and relit his cigar.
“You have the birth certificate?”
“Yes. Here.” Javier threw the birth certificate at him. “Susan’s dead. That was not part of the deal.” His voice raised with each word. “You killed Susan.”
Vasquez looked at Javier in disgust. “I did not. I know nothing of this.”
“You don’t understand. She’s dead. That was not part of the deal.”
Vasquez looked intently at Javier. “We had a deal. I expect you to uphold your end. You are to do as I say, or another part of her family will die. I believe his name is Tyler?”
“No,” Javier said.
“You must do as we agreed. I’m keeping my end of the bargain. You must do your part. I have the papers all here. You have to fill out the paperwork and sign it. This will allow us to get him a passport.”
He softened his voice. “Don’t worry about a thing.” Vasquez smiled. “Javier, relax. Everything is going well. The request for a passport is all we need. I have no immediate plans for Tyler. But I will not hesitate to kill him if you double cross me. Now lay low while the police scurry about. Then you can forget about this unpleasant event.”
“I have a business to run,” Javier said.
“The business will go on without you for the little while this takes,” Vasquez said. “Here, fill this out, and we will take care of everything. Do as we agreed, and the children will be fine. They will be well taken care of. As we agreed, the loans I gave you will be paid off. This will be a tremendous benefit to the rest of your life.”
Javier slowly took the papers without looking at Vasquez and filled them out.
“Good, now have a brandy with me and leave all your worries at my door.”
Javier took a long drink of the smooth liquid and choked.
“You need to sip fine brandy, young man. Relax and enjoy the niceties of life. Everything is working out fine. Go find a place to stay for a while. The paperwork will take a week or so.”
“Rent, perhaps on Stock Island. That way you can move around a little. Just keep away from the police. Go fishing.”
He looked intently at Javier and said smoothly, “Remember you cross me, and the boy will die.”
* * *
Ricardo Vasquez made his way across town to an old two-story house where Consuela Lopez watched the children. The house was surrounded by large trees and overgrown foliage. He opened the tall gate that was connected to a chain link fence behind a tall hedge. He made his way along a narrow path to the front door. His knock was answered by a woman dressed in a silk dressing gown.
“Ricardo.” She smiled and he stepped in taking her in his arms and kissing her.
“Consuela, you look beautiful tonight.” Her long, dark, curly hair hung below her shoulders and cascaded down her back.
“I brought you a present. Everything is falling into place.”
She leaned against him. “The children are asleep.”
Ricardo pulled out a long box from his pocket and handed it to her. She pulled on the gold ribbon and opened the velvet box. An emerald neckless sparkled up at her.
“Oh, Ricardo, this is beautiful.”
“No,” he took the necklace and put it around her neck. “Now it’s beautiful because you’re wearing it.”
“Ricardo, what are we doing with these children?”
“The baby is mine.”
“What?”
“I’m adopting the baby. I want you to come back to Chile with me and we will raise him together.”
“I can’t go back…” The tears filled her eyes and she leaned against him.
“Yes, you can. Fate has given us another chance. It wasn’t your fault about the baby. It has been such a long time, but we still have a chance to be a family.”
Consuela looked into his eyes. “I still love you.”
“And I love you. Now you must trust me. I promise everything will be different.”
She held tight to him. “He is beautiful. I love him already.”
“Trust me.”
“Why were there two boys?”
“He wasn’t supposed to be there when Maria picked up the baby. There was just a mix up. I’ll get it straightened out. Not to worry.”
“Now, it’s late, and we need to get some sleep,” he said, his arm encircling her tiny waist.
Down the hall Tyler rolled over in bed. He pulled the soft sheets and lightweight blanket around his shoulders. He said a prayer and closed his eyes.
I’m sure mom will be back…something must have come up... This thought allowed him to drift off to sleep.
Later that night Vasquez lay on his back and lit up a cigarette. He looked over at the woman sleeping contentedly next to him. The baby monitor on the dresser suddenly announced a disgruntled baby. Consuela’s eyes flew open.
“I’ll be back,” she said. “Don’t leave.”