by Marja McGraw
~ * ~
Around seven o’clock there was a light tap on the door.
“I’m going back to the guest house now,” Stanley said.
“Thank you, Stan. You have no idea how much I appreciate your support. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been sitting on the porch.”
He blushed. “It was nothing. I’m a P.I. This is what I do; I protect my friends, among other things.”
“Go get some sleep,” I said. “Don’t worry about what the rest of us are doing today.”
“I couldn’t find much about James Kennedy on the Internet. At least, nothing to do with his nefarious connections.”
“That’s okay. I’ve learned more about him and I’ll fill you in after you’ve had some rest. What about Felicity?
Wasn’t she upset that you sat out on my porch all night?”
“Not at all. She encouraged it. She considers you her closest friend, you know.”
“And I feel the same way about her. Go check on her. Get some rest, and I’ll see you later today.”
He left, walking around the side of our house to the guest house.
Although tired, I was ready to take some kind of action. We’d been busy hiding and worrying, and it was time to take the offensive. No more skulking around. Somehow I knew that Pete would agree with me.
Speaking of Pete, I picked up my cell phone and called him. “When are you coming home?”
“I’m on my way,” he replied.
I heard a squeal from the kitchen and headed that way.
“You two are already up?” I asked.
Sophie saw me and started pounding the high chair tray with her hands.
“We tried not to wake you,” Zasu said.
I laughed. “I’ve been whispering so I wouldn’t wake you up.”
Sophie pounded once more and then lifted her hands to me, grinning.
“She wants you to pick her up,” Zasu said.
“Really? She must be getting used to my face.”
I lifted the child out of her high chair. She had cereal all over her face, and she wiped her mouth on my shoulder. I patted her back before tickling her ear.
She giggled and squealed again.
“She’s so cute,” I said, hugging her.
No, no, no! I wasn’t ready for children.
I handed her to her mother.
“She’s just like her father,” Zasu said.
And she started crying her little heart out. Zasu, not Sophie.
Chapter Twenty-one
“Is there anything I can do?” I asked as Zasu’s tears continued to flow.
“You’re doing everything you can already,” she replied. “This is a release for me. I’ve been holding everything inside and I need to let it out.”
“I’ll be right back,” I said.
I brought a box of tissues from the bathroom and set it on the kitchen table, and I took Sophie from her so she could blow her nose. I bit my tongue because her blow sounded like a moose’s mating call. It made me want to laugh, and this wasn’t the time.
The front door opened and closed and Pete made an appearance in the doorway. One look at Zasu’s tears and he walked straight through the kitchen and out the backdoor, heading for the guest house. The poor guy. Between my relatives and Zasu, he was running into situations he didn’t know how to handle. His solution was to make himself scarce.
“Stanley is sleeping,” I called after him, but he didn’t hear me.
I turned back to our houseguest.
“Zasu, you’ve been under a terrible strain. I’d have
been surprised if you didn’t break down and cry.”
For some reason that seemed to make her cry harder, and I was afraid I might join her. She was getting to me.
The back door opened and Felicity joined us. One look at Zasu and her eyes filled with tears. She sat down at the table and blinked several times.
“Is there anything I can do?” she asked, echoing me.
Zasu shook her head.
“I have an idea,” Felicity said, glancing at me. “I need to get out of the house. Let’s put a hat and sunglasses on Zasu and go into town. We’ll stop at the coffee house or wander through the antique stores. Certainly those creepy crawlies wouldn’t look for any of us in an antique store. Right?”
“Right,” my mother said from the doorway. “We can be birdwatchers again.”
“No,” Aunt Martha joined in. “The birdwatcher thing has been done to death. Let’s be tourists with big hats and we’ll all wear sunglasses.”
It began to pour outside. I saw lightning flash and thunder boomed off in the distance, although it wasn’t too far away.
“Well, maybe not sunglasses,” I said.
“What better place is there to hide than in plain sight?” Felicity asked. “And in our case most people will probably focus on my big baby bump.”
Zasu sniffed. “What about Sophie? I don’t want her in danger.”
“Stan and Pete can take care of her.” Felicity smiled. “It’ll be good practice for my husband. Besides, if you – all four of you – disguise yourselves well enough, no one will be in danger.”
Aunt Martha clicked her tongue. “After what those bozos did to Gloria last night, they may lie low for a couple of days.”
“Makes sense to me,” Mom said.
If it made sense to my relatives, then I figured I needed to worry.
“Let me talk to Pete about it before we go,” I said. I wanted his input.
“Nonsense,” my mother said. “It’s a good plan and we all need to get out and do something entertaining for a while.”
“I want to call the hospital to see how Mateo’s doing before we leave,” Zasu said. “I’m sure they’ll let me talk to him.”
“While you do that, I’ll go talk to Pete,” I said, standing.
“I’ll go with you.” Felicity stood and followed me to the door.
“We’ll go back to the B&B and change clothes. I’m sure Gloria has a few things we can use to disguise ourselves. Oh, and don’t worry about us. Phil is watching things very closely.” Mother flounced out of the room, beckoning my aunt to follow her.
Felicity and I stopped and talked outside the back door.
“What’s the matter with me?” I asked. “Those two women are talking me into doing all kinds of things – things that I know can be dangerous. I know how to do my job as a P.I. and we shouldn’t be flaunting ourselves in public.”
“First of all, we won’t be flaunting ourselves. We’ll be very low key. Secondly, there are two of them and one of you. They know how to push your buttons. At least for today, though, you’ll have me with you. I’m not going to let them endanger the Hawks baby,” she patted her stomach, “or Zasu, and I’m not related to them so I have the upper hand. They don’t know what to expect from me. I’ll take care of things, Sandi.”
“I wish you could,” I said.
“I can. You know what my mood has been like.”
I told Pete about the plan and, not surprisingly, he wasn’t happy. “I’m going to be following you.”
“Well, put on a baseball cap and pull it low on your forehead so no one recognizes you,” I suggested. “If they see you, then they’ll see us.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve done this kind of thing before.”
When he was a cop, he’d been undercover a few times that I knew about. He’d figure something out.
“Are your mother and aunt still at our house?” he asked.
“No, they left to go change clothes. They’ll be back soon, though.”
“Good. If you want me, I’ll be upstairs changing clothes, too.”
“So will Zasu and I.”
“I’ll wait until you’re done then. I’ll grab a few things and meet you downstairs.” Pete hurried ahead of me.
Zasu sat at the table with her head held in her hands.
“Is Mateo okay?” I asked.
“He sounded good. He says they’re going to
release him in a couple of days. I don’t know what we’ll do when he gets out. He can’t stay here with Sophie and me.”
“Sure he can,” I said. “We’ll figure something out. Besides, by then maybe we’ll have this whole thing figured out. Did he give the police anything helpful?”
“He says he doesn’t really remember that much because it happened so fast. He climbed out of his utility truck, heard a couple of shots and saw two men dragging a body away, and they looked up and saw him. He jumped back in the truck and drove away as fast as he could.”
“They must have gotten the number of the truck he was in,” I suggested. “Otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to find him.”
“That’s what he thinks, too.”
“I’ll speak to Pete about bringing Mateo here. I know it won’t be a problem.”
I hoped my husband felt the same way. We might have
already had this discussion. I couldn’t remember.
My mother and aunt returned wearing capri-length pants, over-sized shirts, large floppy hats and neither of them wore make-up. They both had sunglasses tucked into the neckline of their shirts. Interestingly, they wore their clunky hiking boots. They were quite a sight.
I’d also chosen capri-length pants, but I wore an athletic shirt with them and I’d added sandals. Not exactly the weather for sandals, but I’d wear anything that might change my appearance. I’d put my hair up in a ponytail and had on a baseball cap.
Zasu came downstairs wearing jeans and a windbreaker over a shirt, with my mother’s hat covering her jet black hair. She left with Sophie to leave her with Stanley.
Felicity joined us wearing – what else – maternity clothes. She was an unknown factor to the bad guys, so she didn’t need to disguise herself.
“Are you sure you want to do this, Fel?” I asked.
“I need the exercise. Stan’s had me sitting around the house to ‘save myself for the big day.’ I need to walk.”
I called to Pete, but he didn’t answer. Oh, well, he’d catch up to us.
Opening the front door I saw two things. Phil’s car was in the driveway instead of my mother’s, and there was an old man standing at the end of the driveway.
Mom jingled the keys she held. “Phil said we could use his car because it wouldn’t be recognized.”
“Thoughtful man,” Aunt Martha added. “He’s still pretty angry about his wife’s abduction.”
“Wouldn’t you be?” my mother asked.
“Well, yes, but – “
“Let’s go for our outing and then kick some kidnapper butt.” My mother snapped her fingers as though this would be so easy.
“I’m with you, sister,” my aunt said.
While the women arranged themselves in the car, I walked to the end of the driveway.
“Can I help you with something?” I asked the old man.
Seemingly hard of hearing, he didn’t respond. I noticed he was hunched over a little and he was looking both left and right, studying the road. Maybe he was lost.
I spoke a little louder. “Can I do something for you?”
He turned slowly and looked me up and down.
“You can do a lot for me, babe.” His voice was definitely suggestive.
“Pete! I never would have recognized you.” I laughed. “You really look like an old man. Good job!”
He stepped behind the bushes where no one could see him from the street. “Stan is lending me his car because the Jeep is so recognizable. Oh, and he’s taking care of Sophie.”
Like my aunt had said when Redding interviewed Zasu, I’d love to be a fly on the wall, but in this case it would be to see how Stanley handled caring for a baby.
I joined the women in Phil’s car. We headed for town with Pete following us a few minutes later.
I noticed my mother kept glancing in the rearview mirror.
“What?” I asked.
“Just checking for a tail. I don’t see Pete yet.”
“We’ll see him in town. He doesn’t want to be obvious.”
Chapter Twenty-two
We stopped at the coffee house first and had a snack. Felicity only drank water, but she ate an over-sized chocolate chip cookie with it. The rest of us had hot tea, with the exception of Zasu who drank coffee.
I glanced toward the front of the building and noticed an old man sitting at an outside table, reading the newspaper. Good ol’ Pete.
After our tea break, the four of us started wandering through the local shops. I found a wooden breadbox at an antique store that I couldn’t pass up. My relatives found a few decorative pieces to take home with them.
At a children’s store, Zasu bought a couple of play suits for Sophie, and Felicity picked up some infant wear in neutral colors since she didn’t know if the baby would be a boy or a girl.
Everywhere we went, a nondescript elderly man was nearby. At one point Felicity sat down next to him on a bench to rest. She engaged him in conversation, and I saw a surprised look and a grin on her face when she realized who she was talking to.
Everything went well and we didn’t leave town until
Felicity said she’d had enough exercise for one day.
On the drive home Felicity said, “I couldn’t believe that old man was Pete. He almost fooled me, and if I hadn’t sat next to him, I never would have figured it out.”
“That was Pete?” Mother asked.
“Of course,” Aunt Martha said. “How could you have missed that?”
“Don’t try to tell me you knew it was him.” Mother sounded annoyed.
“Well, maybe I didn’t, but I knew he was around somewhere.”
My mother pursed her lips and turned away from her sister.
Zasu knew enough to change the subject. “I can’t wait to get home to Sophie. I miss her so much when I’m not with her.”
Aunt Martha put her arm around Zasu. Mother, who was driving, reached back and patted the young woman’s knee.
“Keep your eyes on the road,” I said.
She made a noise I can’t describe, kind of like giving me the berries, before putting her hand back on the steering wheel.
We were almost home when we saw Stanley walking down the road with Sophie in his arms.
“On, no,” I said, more to myself than anyone else.
“Stan!” Felicity yelled. “What on earth is going on? Pull over, Livvie. Hurry!”
“Something’s wrong,” Mother said.
“No kidding,” my aunt said.
Mother had barely stopped when Felicity threw open her door and put her arms out toward Stanley and Sophie. I opened my rear door and climbed out of the car.
He didn’t look good. He was pale and his hair was a mess, with little green things stuck to it. It had started to rain again and I couldn’t tell if he was sweating or if it was the rain.
He’d thrown a blanket over Sophie and held her close so she wouldn’t get wet.
He passed the baby through the open door to Zasu before shaking himself off.
“What happened?” I asked.
Before he could answer, Pete pulled up and came running over.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“That’s what we’re trying to find out.”
Stanley did a double take before realizing the old man who was butting in was Pete. “I never would have known you if I’d seen you on the street.”
“Yeah, yeah. Why are you and the baby out here in the rain?” Pete asked.
“Just about the time Sophie woke up from her nap, Bubba started acting oddly. He kept running to the front door and acting nervous. I took a peek out the window and saw some men circling your house. They were starting to study the guest house, so I grabbed a blanket for Sophie and ran out the back door. I ran down the road and we’ve been hiding in the bushes, because I’d loaned you my car, Pete, and I didn’t know what else to do.”
“Are they still there?” Pete asked.
“I don’t know. I’ve been too busy trying to hide
and protect the baby.”
Pete shoved Stanley in the direction of the car. “Come on. Let’s go.”
He turned to me.
“Call Joe and meet me at the house.”
He may have looked like an old man, but he sure didn’t run like one. The tires spun when he tried to pull out too fast.
Pulling out my phone, I called Joe. He was in the field and the woman I spoke to said she’d relay my message.
“Hurry up, Sandra. Get in the car,” my mother said.
“They may need backup,” Aunt Martha said.
I climbed in the car and looked from face to face. Sure. Like we were going to provide backup, especially Felicity.
Mother hit the gas and we almost got whiplash.
“Mother!” I said. “Pregnant woman on board.”
“Okay, okay.” She slowed down, but not by much.
“Hurry up,” Aunt Martha said. “They could be in trouble.”
We pulled up to the house and found Pete and Stanley standing in the driveway talking. Whoever’d been there was gone.
Climbing out of the backseat, I could hear Bubba and Clementine raising a ruckus in the guest house. At least I knew no one would have bothered that place.
“Zasu,” I said, “would you go back and let the dogs out? And while you’re there, stay inside. We still don’t want anyone to see you.”
She nodded and climbed out of the car with Sophie. I noticed she was shaking. I wasn’t sure if it was because of my mother’s driving or because of our unexpected visitors.
I joined Pete and Stanley. “I still don’t believe they know Zasu is here,” I said.
Stanley nodded. “Maybe not, but they certainly believe you know where she is.”
Pete pulled out his cell phone. “I’m going to call Phil and find out if he’s seen anyone hanging around the B&B. They could still be looking for your mother.”
He was right. I waved her and Aunt Martha over. “You stay by my side for the moment.”
“It doesn’t look like they went inside,” Stanley said. “Although, there are footprints near the windows. I’d surmise they were lurking about and trying to find out if anyone was home.”
“I’m glad we weren’t,” I said. “That trip to town may