Chasing BlackJack: Hunt For a Dead Man

CHASING BLACKJACK

HUNT FOR A DEAD MAN

BY

AMY CRIMI

Edited by Larry S. Gray

Cover image by Amy Crimi

Published by Lucky Lamb Publications at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2014

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was purchased for your use only,then please return to www.smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is work of fiction. Any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Books by Amy Crimi:

My Eye in the Storm –Katrina Close Up

A memoir of the time I spent working as a Disaster Housing Inspector in 2005, after the most devastating hurricane of our lifetime hit the Gulf Coast, Hurricane Katrina. This is a story of the victims, the devastation, disaster workers, bad politics, and human behavior during a time when all aspects of life were pushed to the limit. I saw things I never thought possible; the incredible strength of Mother Nature made me realize how small and insignificant we all are in the face a disaster of such magnitude.

Please read the free sample of:

My Eye In the Storm – Katrina Close Up

At: https://www.createspace.com/4603585

Coming soon from Amy Crimi, more Katrina mayhem.

My Eye in the Storm – New Orleans Close Up

Don’t miss it! Later this year!

The Spirit Remembers

A new fictional thriller! Coming in 2015!

And now… CHASING BLACKJACK

HUNT FOR A DEAD MAN

Dedicated to two people who never thought they would be on the same page again, my Father and my Mother. I love you both.

Chapter 1

Cassie Brett never turned down a chance to relax on a Sunday afternoon. She was the mother of two small children, wife of a successful reporter and a probation officer for the state of Florida. Needless to say, her life was a whirlwind almost all of the time. Yet, on Sunday afternoons, when both kids were occupied and her husband was engrossed in ESPN, Cassie somehow managed to sneak in an hour or two of peace and quiet for herself.

She should have known better than to answer the telephone, but when she saw the caller’s number belonged to her grandparents, she picked up right away.

Hey, there! She answered cheerfully. To what do I owe this nice surprise?

On the other end of the receiver, she could hear her grandmother, Claire, crying. In all of her thirty-one years, Cassie never heard her grandmother cry; until ten months ago when Cassie’s father and Claire’s son, Jack, passed away suddenly at the age of forty-nine. It’s me, honey. Claire said between sobs.

It’s okay, Gram, are you having a bad day? Cassie knew her grandmother had good days and bad ones.

Well, I was doing okay, you know. I went to church with your Poppy and we went out to breakfast afterwards with the Millers. You remember them, right? Her voice was fragile and she was sniffling between words. Well, anyway, when we got home I had the second most single horrible message of my life waiting for me. She stopped to cry again, a sound that made Cassie cringe.

Cassie’s heart was in her throat. Her biggest fear was that something would happen to her Aunt Sabrina, her grandparent’s last remaining child. What was it?

It was from Trudy. She… she... her grandmother stopped to sigh and breathe deeply. I hope you’re sitting down, honey.

I am, I am, just tell me what is going on?

She married someone. She married…. Her grandmother broke off again in sobs. Trudy was Jack’s widow. Trudy had been Cassie’s roommate when she was eighteen and her father had won Trudy’s heart over and married her within the first semester of their freshman year at college, despite the nineteen-year age difference between the two. Jack had always known how and when to approach young women. He could win them over in a millisecond. His problems with the opposite sex occurred once they starting outgrowing him intellectually, usually somewhere around the ripe old age of 22 or 23.

Her grandmother was almost screaming now. "She married the goddam EVAC driver who took your poor daddy’s body away! Do you understand this, Cassandra? The goddam ambulance driver! The goddam man who was supposed to have revived him!" Claire’s entire being was illuminating a rage only a mother can feel. What the hell did he do, put your daddy on a stretcher and then tell Trudy, gee it looks like you’re free for dinner next week? Now they’ve gone and gotten married a disgraceful ten months after your father leaves us? He isn’t even cold yet, for God’s sake!

Cassie was truly stunned. For one of the first times in her life she was at a loss for words. Are…are you sure?

Well, of course, I am sure. Now, Cassandra, listen to me and listen to me good. I told you a long time ago that I thought Trudy had a major hand in your daddy’s death. So, before you shut me up, just listen to these facts, as I know them, okay? Claire’s tone sounded more reasonable, but Cassie knew her words were headed straight for crazy.

Okay, Grandma, I am listening. Defeated, Cassie lay down on her bed with her eyes closed. She almost wished one of her kids would suddenly need Mommy’s attention. They had been over these things before and Cassie thought her grandmother was better off not knowing many things about her father. The EVAC driver, however, did bring a new light into Grandma’s theories, not to mention a sick feeling to Cassie’s stomach.

All right! Now, fact number one, your father was recovering from a major surgery, but he was at the tail end of recovery. He even had the okay to return to work in two weeks. All systems were a go! With me so far? Okay! Claire didn’t stop for a reply. Fact number two is that the very first time he is left alone, by Trudy and only Trudy, he dies of some unknown and unforeseen complication. He is then found by Trudy and only Trudy. She paused to light a cigarette. Fact number three is that there was supposed to be an autopsy performed and at the last minute they called it off, yet none of us were given a real reason for this. Trudy claimed she didn’t know why, just that the doctor had stopped the autopsy. Still following me?

Of course I am, but there is nothing new in the first three facts, Gram. Cassie was starting to get a stress headache and beginning to feel her Sunday afternoon slipping through her fingers like sand.

I’m not finished yet! Claire screeched. Okay, fact number four, Trudy inherited a small, but adequate sum of money between your Daddy’s stocks and life insurance and some money we gave her. Every single red cent of which was left to Trudy and Trudy alone to take care of the boys. Jack and his widow had conceived two boys, Jack Jr. and James, during their marriage. They were Cassie’s half-brothers, yet Trudy did not allow any of Jack’s family to know them at all. It would always be an empty spot in Cassie’s heart, but she had no legal grounds for visitation.

Now, Claire continued, When your grandfather looked over the papers, he estimated everything to come out to about $250,000. Now, I know that if properly invested, this is no chunk of change to laugh at, but I also know that she cannot have lived on that forever, or have turned that amount into a million dollars in the past ten months. Then she goes and moves into a house in that very snooty neighborhood, Hobhill Estates, right on the water in Ponce Inlet, and we both know there are no houses in Hobhill Estates going for under half a million. So how does this girl, who is your age, with no job and no education, left to raise two kids alone, afford this house and still be able to keep the one she was in with your father when he died?

I don’t … Cassie started.

I know you don’t know. Either do I. But I’ll tell you one thing I do know for sure is that an EVAC driver’s salary doesn’t afford such things either. Claire paused to take a long drag from her cigarette. Now, fact number five is that she and Jack had supposedly become members of that crazy church we had to endure during the funeral, the Church of Victory of Whackos or whatever the hell it is. They were all over that funeral as well as Trudy, like a goddam cult. I’ll never forget that horrible so-called service, or the way they looked at us. They seemed to think we were threats. What I could not figure out at the time was what we could possibly threaten.

Claire stopped to take the last drag of her cigarette, crushed the butt in the ashtray with one hand, and reached for her cigarette case with the other automatically as she spoke. Finally, on to fact number six. Paul, the EVAC ambulance driving man who took away your daddy’s dead body has now married Trudy and moved into this big house with her. Come to find out, Cassie, Paul the EVAC driver has been a part of the Church of Victory of Whackos for the past fifteen years.

Cassie sat up with a start, her heart suddenly thundering on her chest. This Paul was a part of the church before Dad died? Are you telling me that Dad would have known this man?

Finally, a response from those deaf ears of yours! Yes, that is what I am telling you. I found out from the church office. I called and said I was checking a personal reference. They went on and on about how wonderful he is. I bet the whole damn church was in on it!

Good going on the detective work! I didn’t know you had it in you! Impressive, I must admit. So, what else? Cassie’s interest had perked.

I am also telling you that that bitch killed your father. Grandma sounded proud to say it aloud.

Cassie’s interest instantly started to deflate again. Gram, do you know how farfetched that is?

Well, we both know she had good reasons to want to get back at him, right? He had been having an affair with a twenty-year-old stock girl from work and she had found out about it right before he got sick. Maybe he pushed her over the edge and she came up with a plan with this Paul, the lifesaving EVAC son of a bitch murderer! Claire felt good saying the words aloud. Now, Cassie, I know you think I am a hurt old lady looking for vengeance, but I promise you I just want to know the truth. Claire sounded as if she wanted to cry again, but did not dare. I want the body exhumed. Cassandra, I want that autopsy done.

Cassie’s stomach was in full knots. You don’t know what they will find. You may not want to know what they find. Maybe, some things are better left alone.

Listen, Cassie, I know your father put you and your sister through hell. I know he had a terrible drug problem that plagued him most of his adult life. I even know that you and Candy are worried that an autopsy will produce positive narcotics results. Maybe they will, maybe they won’t. I can handle whatever the results are. I am just saying that if his own wife murdered my only son, your father, I need to know the truth. Jack’s widow is raising his two sons, my grandkids, and isn’t letting any of us near them. So, please, help me figure out what to do and how to go about it. If not for me, do it for the two brothers she won’t let you know. They are being raised by crazy people in a looney bin, Colorado City like, shoot off, cult. Do you want your little brothers to become one of the Lost Boys for crying out loud?

Cassie knew she shouldn’t ask but couldn’t help herself. Lost Boys, Gram? Isn’t that an old vampire movie or something?

Cassandra, don’t you ever watch Dr. Frank? There was a whole story about how these religious cults kick out the young boys because the need a better girl to boy ratio for their polygamy upkeep. After they are kicked out into the street penniless, the boys become drug addicts called the Lost Boys.

Cassie felt confused. They become vampire drug addicts?

Claire sighed out a cloud of smoke. Stop watching those damn vampire shows! They are all made up and Dr. Frank only reports real life facts. These facts have convinced me that we have to try and save those boys!

For the first time in ten months, mostly because of the EVAC driver factor, Cassie felt like her grandmother made some points that she could no longer ignore. Okay, I will see what I can find out, but on two conditions.

Anything! her grandmother yelped.

"First of all, lay off on Dr. Frank, its making you think crazy crap, Gram! But most importantly, keep this between us – no one else! I mean it, Grandma, not Poppy, not Sabrina, not Candy, not even my husband, because unless I can get some sort of proof that we are really on to something, they will think the both of us have gone off the deep end. Deal?" Cassie was shaking inside, knowing the can of worms she was opening.

Deal! her grandmother sounded happy for the first time in months.

One more thing, Grandma. No matter what we find out, it won’t change things. Jack will still be gone and you will still miss him.

Yes, sweetheart, I know, and you will still have to live with the memories of a drug addicted father who was wrong to you and your sister through life and into death. I know I am not asking the easy, but maybe, just maybe, we can find out the truth, find some peace and finally move on.

Cassie hoped her Grandmother was right. Her biggest fear was finding out the truth and never being able to move on to anything ever again.

Cassie was shaking when she hung up with her grandmother. Ever since Jack passed on she had known there was something about his death that didn’t make sense. Some thing, somewhere, was wrong with the entire story. She could never pinpoint what it was and had stopped letting herself think of her father for longer than a minute at a time if she could help it. He came to her in her dreams many nights, but she could never remember what the dream was about the next day, only that Jack had been there. She didn’t want to know. Cassie didn’t want to believe in ghosts and couldn’t bear the thought of being haunted by Jack!

She spent a lot of energy concentrating on not thinking, talking or remembering about Jack and her childhood. The hardest part was that when she did recall the things that happened during her adolescence, some memories were painfully clear, while others had simply vanished. Cassie couldn’t remember any Christmas Day’s, Thanksgivings, or birthdays between the age of eleven and seventeen. She was sure the world had celebrated the holidays during her adolescence, but she couldn’t tell anyone what she had done or even where she had been at the time. Certain time periods were completely blocked out of her memory, and even when on a rare occasion when she consciously made an effort to remember her life growing up with Jack, nothing was there. It was if her subconscious was protecting her from the past.

Her relationship with her sister, Candy, had become very distant, even more so since Jack passed away. They reminded each other of so many buried truths that it was just easier to have happy family dinners on holidays and leave it at that. Cassie often wondered what, if anything, her sister remembered about their life in Texas. Jack and the past had both become taboo subjects between the two of them.

Of course, Cassie would never forget when they left Houston. She can relive that day in her mind as if it were a movie on tape. She refused to play it, unless she was dreaming. Sometimes, spurts of that day came back to her in a flash and she couldn’t stop going through the entire ordeal in her head.

Cassie’s mother, Blake, divorced Jack after ten years of marriage, leaving him for a wealthy, older man who had made a fortune in oil investments. Jack told Cassie and Candy that their mother didn’t tell the man about her two children and was scared he wouldn’t want her if he knew. Blake made the decision to leave the entire family behind, never to return. Cassie was ten when her mother took off, a day she never had the ability to remember, a day she always wandered about. Did her mother say goodbye to her and her sister? Was she upset about leaving or in a hurry to go? There were so many questions Cassie thought about, but didn’t dare ask. No one was ever allowed to mention Blake’s name once she was gone or Jack went nuts. It was as if the woman she remembered taking care of her as a young girl had never really existed at all, but was instead a dream made up in Cassie’s head.

Jack was only nineteen when he married Blake, who was carrying Cassie at the time, and he never doubted that their little family would be together forever. Before the divorce, Jack prided himself on being a devoted father and husband. He was a good Catholic and had never partied with anything stronger than a Budweiser. When Blake left, Jack went over an edge from which he never did recover. His dreams and ideas of the perfect family that had been engraved in his brain since birth were shattered. In his own mind, Jack saw the downfall of his marriage as a bright, blinking, neon sign that he was a failure in life altogether.

Jack had spent ten years climbing his way from stock-boy to manager for a grocery store in Houston, Texas, with a bright future promised to him for all of his hard work and devotion. He put in fourteen-hour days, six days a week, and worked hard for every penny he earned. Everyone loved him, especially the women. Jack was the kind of person that filled up the entire room the second he entered it. He was very good looking, with sandy blonde hair, blue eyes and an infectious smile. Yet, more than anything, he was so charismatic that everyone noticed him everywhere he went. Jack was always ready to crack a stupid joke, make a funny face or grab someone and just start dancing around, if that was would it would take to get someone to smile. People seemed to gravitate towards Jack.

Cassie felt that her father was never able to see himself as the rest of the world saw him. Everyone wanted to be around Jack, to know him, to catch a little spot of the sunshine he seemed to radiate, but Jack never really thought of himself as someone to whom others would look up. He was really very insecure, and usually used his personality to make sure no one would focus on him long enough to realize that he was a human being with real human faults. When his wife asked him for a divorce and he began to see himself as a failure, it led him down a path of self-destruction that would drown both him and his children for years to come.

Jack ended up losing his job at the grocery store two months after his wife left because he had gotten caught having sex with an eighteen-year-old meat cutter in the stockroom. He was completely devastated, since he always pictured himself as indispensable. Between the death of his marriage and the fall of his carefully built up career, he was never even close to being the same person again. Cassie often found herself missing the loving father who had died in her eyes during this time period. The meat cutter turned out to have great cocaine connections and before you knew it, Jack was completely hooked. He began managing the hottest nightclub in Houston at the time, which was a front for some of the biggest drug and gun dealers of the time, using the port of Galveston, Texas.

During most of this time period, Cassie and Candy were completely clueless as to what was really going on with Jack. He spent most of his time at his girlfriend’s apartment, which was an hour and a half drive across the city of Houston from his daughters. Cassie and Candy walked to school and took care of each other. Jack came at least once a week to bring groceries, and sometimes he would visit for a day if he were fighting with the former meat cutter, but other than that, they were completely on their own. To two young girls just entering puberty their situation of absent parents seemed ideal and incredibly free. They professed to the world and each other how cool it was that they had such freedom. The truth was that they both were so jealous of their friends who had parents taking care of them that they kept to themselves most of the time. They knew that if anyone suspected they were left alone at such young ages their little world would shatter.

A few years went by like this, with Jack’s behavior getting stranger and stranger. He had lost too