Fruit Pie with a Side of Danger Read online

  ***

  Ultimately, I only ended up thinking about my father for a little while longer. A short time later, I turned on the local news. That was when I saw video footage of Roger Osgood being released from prison.

  As I stared at the television screen, I became enraged. Roger wasn’t just any old criminal. The man had orchestrated a Ponzi scheme that had destroyed dozens of lives. Over the course of twenty-four months, he lured in new investors with the promise of big returns.

  He managed to ensnare over thirty different clients in his web of lies. And he probably would have hooked many more if he hadn’t gotten busted. In the end, it was only when one of his investors wanted to pull some money out that Osgood’s scheme was discovered.

  Based on the number of clients that Roger bilked, and the millions of dollars that he managed to scam from them, prosecutors believed that Osgood would be sent to jail for over twenty years.

  Surprisingly, Osgood ended up getting only five years in jail. When I first heard the news, I couldn’t believe it. It didn’t make any sense to me.

  I wasn’t alone. The people that Osgood bilked were absolutely livid. In truth, everyone in town was beside themselves.

  Despite the public uproar, Osgood’s prison term was not altered. He was sent to Treasure Cove Penitentiary to serve out his sentence.

  It took a while, but as time went on, other stories began grabbing headlines. Eventually, Osgood’s name was rarely mentioned in conversation.

  So, why was Roger in news that particular evening? Because his prison term was up. He had served his five years and was now a free man.

  As I watched video of Roger exiting the penitentiary, a visceral rage took hold of me. After all, most of his former clients were still trying to pick up the pieces of their broken lives. Some of them would never be the same.

  Meanwhile, Roger was free to just carry on with the rest of his life. It wasn’t fair. Just don’t tell Osgood that. It would just be a waste of breath. The portly, gray-haired fifty-nine-year-old looked as smug as ever. Like he knew he had gotten off easy.

  After watching a few minutes of the news coverage, I became so enraged that I had to turn off the television. But just because the TV was off didn’t mean that I stopped thinking about Roger. In truth, I couldn’t get that man off of my mind.

  By the time my detective husband, David Carlson, returned home from the police station that evening, I was all hot and bothered.

  At the same time, as disturbed as I was, David had a few choice words to say about Roger as well.

  “Can you believe this?” David asked.

  I shook my head. “No. It doesn’t make any sense to me. After what Roger did to those poor people, he should still be in jail.”

  “I can’t argue with that,” he said.

  “Honestly, as far as I’m concerned, that scumbag should have received a life sentence.”

  “Tell that to the justice system.”

  “I’d love to. But they didn’t ask my opinion.”

  “They sure didn’t.”

  I shook my head. “I still can’t believe that the court system got this case so wrong.”

  “Trust me. I’m just as frustrated about this as you are,” David said. “It’s a nightmare knowing that Roger is out there, roaming the streets again.”

  “If you think this is tough for us to deal with, imagine if you were one of Roger’s victims.”

  “I’m sure his former clients are just beside themselves.”

  I nodded. “Especially the ones that lost over a hundred grand.”

  “I feel so bad for those poor people.”

  “I’m right there with you. I mean, they’re still trying to put their lives back together. They are going about their day. Maybe buying some groceries. Or getting their dry cleaning. And then they spot Roger, just going about his life like nothing happened.”

  “That’s enough to ruin your day.”

  “I have a feeling that Roger being released from prison has ruined today for a lot of people.”

  “I’ll bet. But as maddening as today was, my real concern is about what might happen in the future.”

  “Do you have a bad feeling in your gut too?” I asked. “Or is it just my instincts that are acting up?”

  “My stomach is in knots,” David said.

  I grimaced. “That’s never a good sign.”

  “I know. The question is, what’s my gut trying to tell me?”

  “The same thing my instincts are warning me,” I said. “To be on the lookout for trouble.”

  “That’s incredibly vague.”

  “True. But unfortunately, it’s all we have to go on right now,” I said.

  Chapter Five

  That night, I didn’t sleep well. No matter how much I tried to settle in, my gut continued to act up on me. The problem was, even though my instincts were trying to tell me something, I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what that was. If I had to guess, I would say that it was something involving Roger. But what?

  In the morning, when I went to Daley Buzz for a coffee run, I still didn’t have any answers. I did manage to run into an old friend, however. I had known Wally Tuttle for decades. During that time, life had thrown him a lot of curveballs. Yet, he was still standing. Although, at that particular moment, he looked like he was completely out of sorts.

  Was he just sluggish because the caffeine in his double-espresso hadn’t kicked in yet? Or was something else bothering him? I approached him to find out.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  Wally was completely startled by the sound of my voice. To the point where he almost jumped out of his shoes. Which was strange, considering how I didn’t sneak up on him. Instead, I had walked over to him casually. His head was just so deep in the clouds that he didn’t notice.

  “Sabrina. I didn’t see you there,” he said.

  “Sorry. It wasn’t my intention to scare you,” I said.

  “I probably should have been paying better attention,” he said.

  “Is everything all right?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “A few minutes ago, I saw Roger Osgood.”

  This could get interesting in a hurry. Even though Wally was never a client of Roger’s, he came very close. In fact, it was only due to a strange twist of timing that Wally didn’t end up giving Roger money.

  You see, a little over five years ago, Wally’s friend, Trent, referred Wally to Roger. And after hearing Roger’s sales pitch, Wally was getting ready to invest his life savings in Osgood’s scheme. Then, a few days before Wally was due to hand over all ten-thousand dollars that he had to his name, Roger was arrested.

  Unlike Roger’s other clients, Wally was spared in the nick of time. In the end, Wally was able to keep his life savings intact. But he never forgot how close he had come to losing it all.

  “Where did you see Roger?” I asked.

  “That’s the thing. Right across the street,” Wally said.

  “Really?” I replied.

  Wally nodded. “I was just pulling into the parking lot here when I spotted Roger coming out of the Gallagher’s Pharmacy.”

  “Did you say anything to Roger?”

  “No. But I thought about it.”

  “I’m sure you did.”

  “Honestly, just the sight of him made me stop dead in my tracks. I really froze up.”

  “That’s an interesting response,” I said.

  “Honestly, it’s probably for the best that I didn’t approach him. I would have ended up yelling and making a big scene.”

  “I’ll bet.”

  “That would have been a crazy way to start off the morning.”

  “I know what you mean,” I replied. “Now, while I’m glad that you kept your distance, did anyone else happen to approach him?”

  “No. The other people on the street just stopped and stared at him as well.”

  “And what did Roger do?”

  “He just
kept to himself.”

  “Is that so?”

  Wally nodded. “Uh-huh. He then got in his car and drove away.”

  I scratched my chin. “That was a far more uneventful story than I thought it would be.”

  “Which is probably for the best. Although, I have to say, it was so strange seeing him out in the open. I mean, the man was just walking around like a normal member of society.”

  “Instead of still being locked up in prison?”

  Wally put his hand up. “I don’t care what the court says. Roger shouldn’t be a free man. In my mind, he’s always going to be a filthy crook.”

  “I agree.”

  Wally clenched his fists. “It’s amazing to think how much my blood boiled when I spotted him.”

  “I’m sure you’re not the only one who has felt that way,” I said. “Imagine if you’d given him all of your money. You might have blown your top.”

  “If one of Roger’s victims runs into him, that’s exactly what could happen,” Wally said.

  I grimaced. “I’ve been worrying about that myself.”

  “With good reason. If I were you, I’d be on the lookout for trouble. I mean, it was one thing when he was behind bars and out of sight. It’s a whole different world now that he’s free.”

  Just as Wally was getting really worked up, I heard my phone ring. When I looked at the caller identification screen and saw my husband’s name listed, I knew that I had to take the call.

  Before I answered the phone, I looked over at Wally again.

  “I’m sorry, but I have to take this,” I said.

  “Oh. Okay,” Wally said.

  I then stepped away from Wally and answered the phone.

  “Hi, honey. What’s up?” I said.

  “Sabrina, you won’t believe what just happened,” David replied.

  “Why? What is it?”

  “Someone just threatened Roger Osgood.”

  Chapter Six

  It turned out that my instincts had been correct. I had every reason to be worried about harm being done to Roger Osgood. Although, according to my husband, even though Roger’s life had been threatened, no physical violence had actually taken place. At least, not yet. Apparently, Mr. Osgood had received a menacing phone call a few minutes ago.

  David was currently on his way over to Roger’s house to get a full accounting of the facts. I didn’t waste any time in joining David. This situation had trouble written all over it. In addition, things could easily get much worse. If there was a chance of avoiding complete disaster, David would do everything in his power to keep the situation from escalating.

  Most of the ex-convicts that lived in Treasure Cove rented a unit in a rundown apartment complex on the east side of town. Roger wasn’t your average criminal, though. He wasn’t renting some dirt bag unit. Instead, he was living in a red-brick townhome on the south side of town.

  When I pulled up to the place, I immediately wondered how he could afford it. As far as I knew, the feds had seized all of his assets when he was arrested. So, where was the money to pay for this rental coming from? My guess was that he had probably stashed away some cash in some offshore account. Of course, I couldn’t confirm that. But it was certainly a plausible theory.

  Even though I had a number of questions about his living situation, the reason for this visit was the threatening call that Roger had received. That needed to be the focus.

  As I arrived, David was just beginning to speak with Roger.

  “Can you tell me about the call?” David asked.

  Roger nodded. “Yes. The person who threatened me was definitely a man.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Because he had a really deep voice.”

  “Did you recognize the voice?”

  Roger shook his head. “No.”

  David squinted. “That’s odd.”

  Roger threw out his arms. “How do you figure?”

  “If someone was angry enough to threaten you, they probably weren’t some random stranger.”

  “I suppose you’re right.”

  “Which makes it very strange that you didn’t recognize who it was,” David said. “Unless they used some sort of device or software to alter the sound of their voice.”

  “Do people really do that?” Roger asked. “I thought that was the kind of thing that only happened in movies.”

  “Unfortunately, it happens in real life. Sometimes, with disturbing frequency.”

  “That’s depressing.”

  David held his hand up. “That’s not all. If this person was using some sort of voice altering software, there’s no guarantee that a man was responsible for this call. It also could have been the work of a woman.”

  “I never thought of that.”

  “Speaking of the caller, what exactly did they say to you on the phone?”

  “That I deserved to rot in hell. That they were coming for me. That they could strike at any time. That they would make me pay for what I had done. And that they wouldn’t stop until they had gotten their revenge.”

  David’s eyebrows rose. “Wow. Talk about a bone-chilling threat.”

  “Now you know why I didn’t waste any time contacting the police,” Roger said. “You need to find this person and bring them to justice immediately.”

  “I assure you, we are going to do everything in our power to apprehend this person,” David said.

  “Good.”

  “With that in mind, if we’re going to be successful, we’ll need your help.”

  “All right. Tell me what you want from me.”

  “I’d like to start by taking a look at your phone.”

  Roger pulled up the call log on his phone. “If you’re looking for the caller’s number, here it is.”

  David stared at Roger’s phone in disbelief. “Wait a minute. The caller didn’t phone you from an unlisted number?”

  “No.”

  “That’s incredible.”

  “Don’t get too excited. I’m not sure if this number is going to be as helpful as you think. They were probably just using a burner phone.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “If I was going to threaten someone, I would definitely do it from a burner phone,” Roger said. “I’d also probably ditch the phone immediately after making the call. Which would explain why the punk didn’t pick up their phone when I called them back.”

  David put his hand up. “Hold on a second. Did you just say that you phoned the caller back?”

  Roger puffed out his chest. “Of course, I did.”

  David’s nose scrunched. “Why would you do that?”

  “To give them a piece of my mind.”

  “Please tell me you aren’t serious.”

  “Oh, I’m dead serious,” Roger said. “No one intimidates Roger Osgood. And I mean, no one.”

  “Do you have any idea what kind of danger you put yourself in? The last thing you want to do is antagonize someone who has threatened you.”

  “Detective, let me tell you something. I just got out of jail. After everything I’ve been through, it’s going to take a lot more than one phone call to scare me.”

  “Mr. Osgood, this isn’t about being intimidated. It’s about being smart. You should be very afraid right now. Your life could be at risk.”

  “I understand that. But if going to prison taught me anything, it was to never show fear. To always put up a bold front. And to hold your ground.”

  “Maybe that worked for you when you were behind bars, but I would rethink your approach now that you’re a free man.”

  “I didn’t call you over here to lecture me. I called you because I want you to apprehend this maniac.”

  “I realize that. The problem is, you’ve made my job more difficult—”

  Roger interrupted David. “Rather than wasting more time lecturing me, why don’t you tell me what your plan is to catch this psychopath?”

  “Before I get to that, there’s something else I need to
know.”

  “What is it?”

  “You didn’t happen to leave an angry voice mail when the mystery caller didn’t answer their phone, did you?”

  “No,” Roger said.

  David breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Although, I would have, if the call ever went to voice mail.”

  David’s nose crinkled. “I don’t understand. How could the call not have gone to voice mail?”

  Roger shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you. It just kept ringing and ringing. Finally, after about thirty seconds, I just hung up.”

  David scratched his chin. “That’s very odd.”

  “I thought so too.”

  David scratched his chin. “Then again, it’s also quite revealing.”

  Roger squinted. “In what way?”

  “Mr. Osgood, I don’t think this mystery caller phoned you from a burner phone.”

  Roger folded his arms. “What kind of phone did they use then?”

  Chapter Seven

  Talk about a frustrating conversation. Roger sure didn’t make any effort to be likable. That was saying a lot, considering how easy it usually was to sympathize with victims.

  Despite Mr. Osgood’s caustic personality, he was still the victim in this scenario. David made a point of reminding himself of that after he finished up his conversation with Roger. My husband couldn’t let his personal feelings about Roger get in the way of doing his duty. And David’s job was to protect the people of Treasure Cove. Regardless of how grating Roger happened to be.

  After pushing his feelings aside, David assigned a patrol car to park in front of Roger’s house. If the mysterious caller happened to show up in person, a police officer would immediately spring into action.

  David also urged Roger to install a security system. In David’s mind, that was essential. After all, a person could never be too cautious.

  From there, David went to work trying to identify the mysterious caller. Unlike with previous cases, where David was starting from scratch, he had a pretty solid theory going into this investigation.

  It was David’s belief that the call had been placed at a pay phone. It didn’t take very long for my husband to discover that his assumption was correct.