Homicide in Hollywood North
another MIKE CLAYMORE MYSTERY #6: Maxine
A novel by David Horton
Copyright 2000
Chapter 1:
Wednesday, March 5/97
Today Mike's glad to be home. Swinging his feet around and thumping the side of his head to clear out the noise of the humming diesel he rests one arm on the open window of the open door on his K100 Kenworth. He lets his feet dangle and rubs the back of his neck with his left hand. Shaking his head he stretches and swings on around in the seat to step on the ledge of flooring by the door then steps around the seat. He kicks the seat ahead to rest against the steering wheel. Placing one hand on the console he boosts himself up and over into the sleeper.
He flicks on the light and starts to work cleaning up in the cubicle. Dirty clothes go into his laundry bag followed by soiled sheets and bedding from the bunk. He reconsiders and pulls the two sheets out to do separate at the laundry mat. They are still fragrant with the perfume of Beatrice who accompanied him to Calgary from Penticton and back. He reminisces on the fact that she is nearly the age of Trudy when they first met.
In those days Trudy was free to go with him whenever he had a run and she was always full of vigour and wild enthusiasm. Trudy had been a truck stop waitress, young, blonde and enticing. She had never been satisfied with their occasional sexploits so she had wheedled her way into his heart and become his mistress. She was also very canny at security work and became his partner in Claymore Security & Investigations. Now she runs his Chilliwack office and they have two fulltime investigators as well as two part timers out of her office (home) on Clarke Drive. She is too busy with business and their daughter she bore him eight months ago to travel with him now.
He puts the soiled sheets into a fragrant pillowcase. He chuckles and thinks, "I must ask Bea to cut down on that perfume. It's gonna be the death of me if Marlene smells it." Mike is thirty-two now and Marlene is thirty-one. They have a home in Abbotsford and four children. The pride of Mike's eye is their first born, Richard who is twelve now. Next are the girls: Shelly of the fair skin and blue eyes so unlike her parents, then Janet. They are ten and nine respectively. Last and far from least is the recent newborn daughter, Emma Nancy Claymore who is three months old.
Day before yesterday he had called Bea in Penticton to see if she was working. She took a day off and joined him to make the run to Calgary. Two nights in the sleeper with her had suited him to a tee since they enjoyed a lust filled relationship without strings. She had sense enough to keep out of sight in the sleeper while Mike visited his brother in Golden.
Mike's brother, Terry lives in Golden and is the co-owner of a new ski resort scheduled to open this fall. His common-law wife is the wife of Mike's one time friend, Jeff Hart of Markham, Ontario. Her name is Nina and she has borne Mike's children twice. She has one-year old identical twins, Anne and Cathy Claymore-Hart and in January she had Shawn Jeffery Claymore-Hart. Mike does not like to think about frail Shawn, a child suffering from foetal alcohol syndrome. He even hesitates to visit them because he sees the guilt in Nina's eyes when he regards the child.
Mike has put off the talk he knows he must have one day with Richard about his half-brother Shawn. His joy of hearing about another son had been short lived when he learned the truth of his new son's condition. He hadn't had time yet to fully absorb the information himself. Scenes of the oversized bulging eyes watching him from the still frail body haunt him.
Mike puts garbage into a litterbag straightening up his bedroom on wheels then sweeps and finishes by vacuuming the area. Satisfied with the results he climbs back over the padded console and swings out the open door lowering himself to the ground by the ladder rungs hung down from the cab. He stretches again and heads for the parking lot of the Pacific Terminal of Canadian Pacific Express & Transport (CPX) in Port Coquitlam (Poco), British Columbia (BC), Canada.
In the parking lot he checks the oil and starts up his '69 Candy Apple Red Mustang convertible. While its warming up he puts down the top and walks all around the vehicle checking that no one has scratched it while he's been away. It's only two-o-clock so he plans to enjoy the afternoon sun on his way home.
He pulls into the yard along side his K100 cab over Kenworth. The cab is painted in the royal blue of CPX with white lettering on the side. It reminds one of a huge square box on wheels but to Mike it is his home away from home, his companion over thousands of miles, his ship of adventure over which he has stewardship. He hauls the laundry down from the cab along with the garbage that he tosses in a nearby bin. The laundry goes in the car and he is ready to head for home after bleeding off his air brakes. With the blue monster hissing behind him he pulls out for home waving at the yardman as he goes towards the exit.
On Kingsway he debates whether to go by the Mary Hill by-pass and the freeway so he can stop in at his new Langley office of Claymore Security & Investigations (CSI) headed up by a former investigator, Lilly White. She and Jack White had worked for Mike out of the Chilliwack office until Trudy and Mike had seen the need for a Langley office. The couple had surprised everyone by getting married right after Mike put her in charge of the new Langley office. Another old friend of Mike's that had worked for him, Chuck had been their best man so now Lily heads up the office and has Chuck and Jack working for her. It seems to be working well so far since they already have quite a bit of Langley area work in hand.
On the other hand he would very much like to zip home via Maple Ridge and Mission to Abbotsford to see his newest daughter and wife. That is what he decides to do and swings left off Kingsway and out to the Lougheed Hwy. Following the Lougheed for half an hour brings him into Maple Ridge and it doesn't take half an hour to get to Mission, where he swings south to Abbotsford. Pulling in home to his condominium on Marshal Road just around the corner from the hospital he parks by his wife's Buick station wagon. He gathers his laundry (except the pillow case with the sheets that remain in the trunk) and heads to the side entrance.
Marlene sees him coming through the side window overlooking the drive. She's at the sink washing vegetables for supper. She waves and greets him with a big smile then as he comes in the door rushes to kiss him. "I'm glad you came right home. I thought when you called you might take the afternoon to go out to Langley."
"I thought about it but decided it can wait. I don't have any more runs this week according to Jerry." Jerry is the dispatcher at CPX. "Of course, something might come up but there's nothing for now."
"I think Trudy is over there today teaching Lily about skip tracing. Lily got a call from Household Finance about doing some work for them."
Mike nods as he heads for the living room and a basinet set up just inside the door. Shelly is there doing homework at a small table set up by the basinet. She smiles up at her Dad as he comes in. "How is my youngest daughter doing?"
Shelly whispers, "She's sleeping, Dad."
Marlene whispers by his elbow, "I was talking to Dad today. He expressed his appreciation we named her after his mother, my grandma Emily." Mike slips his arm around Marlene's waist and rests his other hand on Shelly's far shoulder. He thinks back to when he first saw that tiny head appear and then heard her first cry.
"I'm so glad I was with you for Emma's delivery, love." Marlene smiles at his words. She had been thrilled to have him there for the birth as well since he had been away for the birth of the other three. He goes on, "You explained why not Emily, did you?"
"Yes and he understood. I told him we wanted to call her Nancy for your sister and Emily Nancy didn't sound as good as Emma Nancy. I also told him we had considered Emily Nance but we both liked Emma so that's what she ended up as. He said grandma McRae would understand, too." She goes on in a low voice, "You killed two birds with one stone with the Nancy, didn't you?"
Mike grins, "Yeah, it's not only my sister but also your mother's name. Every little bit helps." He's referring to Marlene's mother who dislikes the situation of Mike's having a mistress with a child of his, as well. Nancy McRae holds back nothing of her bitter feelings over his ways so Mike avoids visiting his wife's mother's home unless absolutely necessary. Her father is more tolerant and even considers his daughter has made a good choice in Mike. They get along quite well.
Marlene beckons and they go to the kitchen. "Did you see Nina and Terry this trip?"
"Yes, I stopped for an hour or so. Terry was home so we talked extensively about the new ski lodge they're putting up."
"How was Nina?"
"Says she's good but she looks worn out."
"Do you mean she's having a hard time dealing with Shawn?"
"I'm not sure but I think so. He bites her when he's nursing. She's had to wean the twins."
"Her own damn fault! She couldn't wait to get you into bed again and so she got pregnant far too soon. Oh well, what's done is done." She looks at him calculatingly, "Are we gonna have another one? I started on the pill again this week."
"It would be nice to have another one with Emma but only if you feel you can cope with two."
She grins a lopsided grin, "Not gonna give me twins, eh?" She pours coffee and extends a cup to him, "Let's give it a few months and then maybe."
Mike muses, "I hope Nina is on the pill again."
"Mike!"
"No, I mean I hope Terry doesn't do the same thing we did."
