by Marja McGraw
Something almost clicked in my mind but it disappeared before I could grasp it. I grabbed two sweaters from the coat tree by the door, knowing they belonged to my mother and aunt.
I called to the dogs and it came out as a squeak. I was nervous and my throat was dry, so I picked up my iced tea, added some ice and took a swig. It helped.
Calling to the dogs again, my voice was stronger and they came running. They followed me out to the Jeep and Bubba jumped in while I lifted Clem and set her on the seat, setting my iced tea in the cup holder. I meant to set it down inside, but I wasn’t going back now.
Starting the car, I drove out onto the road, but stopped when I saw Joe coming. We rolled down our windows.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“To the B&B. Go talk to Pete and I’ll call him as soon as
I know something. I’m sure glad you didn’t take off your make-up and bandages.”
“One more minute and they’d have disappeared.”
I nodded and took off.
When I arrived at the B&B both Gloria’s and Phil’s cars were gone and there was a vehicle I didn’t recognize parked in front of the house. I unloaded the dogs and we headed up to the door. I knocked, but there was no answer so I opened the door and stepped inside with the dogs right behind me.
“Mother? Aunt Martha?” I called.
“No one’s here, dear.” Gloria’s housekeeper was busy dusting the living room furniture.
“Have you seen my mother or my aunt?” I asked.
“No. Mrs. Stewart left a note on the kitchen table for her husband, though. Maybe it will tell you where to reach her. She might know something.”
“Have you heard any strange noises around here? My mother said she and my aunt were going to ghost hunt.”
She chuckled. “I think Mrs. Stewart slams doors sometimes, trying to make people think there’s a ghost. Yes, I hear noises, but this is an old place and the house is just settling.”
“Thanks. I’ll go look for that note.”
“Are your dogs clean?” she asked.
I almost rolled my eyes. “They’re dogs. They’re as clean as any dog can be.”
Hurrying to the kitchen, I found Gloria’s note.
Phil, I’ve taken Sophie to my book club meeting with me. Be home around 9. Gloria
The sweaters were still in the car, so I led the dogs back outside. They sniffed the sweaters and turned their attention to the ground. It was a longshot that they might find my relatives because the women had been all over the property. Maybe the dogs would find the most recent scent, but I doubted it. I was grasping at straws, and I was desperate.
Bubba walked around to the side of the house, around the back, and he and Clementine ended up back by the yard on the other side of the house. I was surprised when they took up their posts by the yard again.
The only difference between this time and the last time was that Clementine whined, looking back at the house. Bubba seemed nervous. He stood and walked into the yard before turning back and watching the house. Once again he sat down and studied the yard.
A sudden wind moved in and whipped my hair across my face. I glanced at the sky. Between the dark clouds and the time of day, there wasn’t much light left.
I’d have to do some searching, but I didn’t want Bubba and Clem underfoot.
“Come on, you two. Let’s go back out to the front of the house.”
They watched me, apparently trying to figure out if I was talking to them or myself.
“Come,” I said, patting my chest with the command.
Reluctantly, they followed me. I couldn’t figure out their attitude because there was a yard and a house, and nothing else. What on earth could they guard? Why didn’t they want to go back to the car?
It started to rain so I had them follow me up onto the porch. “Stay!”
They made a move to follow me back down the steps. “I said, Stay!” They stayed, but they wouldn’t sit down. Bubba paced. Clementine whined again.
The housekeeper walked out the front door. She nodded and headed for her car, giving Bubba a sideways glance.
My throat was parched again so I opened the car door and grabbed my iced tea and a sweater to hold over my head in the rain, along with a flashlight.
I walked around to where the dogs had stood guard.
There had to be something there. What was I missing?
Coming around the side of the house, I saw that the wind had blown part of the paint tarp back, and that’s when everything clicked. I’d never been so happy to see the wind and rain in my life.
Boom!
Okay, this was becoming a dark and stormy night – just like in the movies.
Click, click, click. The pieces to the puzzle snapped together in my mind. I’d been too focused on all the wrong elements of this case.
I needed a minute to think it through and the rain and wind were distracting me. I hurried back to the porch, not wanting to make a move until I had my thoughts together and I made sense of this. This wasn’t one of those moments when I wanted to jump in with both feet and figure it out later.
My cell phone was in my pocket. I pulled it out, realizing I needed to call Pete and ask for help.
Before I could call him, my phone rang – Unknown Caller. Of course. What timing!
I answered, but I didn’t say anything.
“Where’s Delgado?” the now familiar voice asked.
“He’s around.”
“Let me tell you where I want to meet.”
“First you tell me where the women are being held.”
“That’s not the way this deal works.”
“It’s become my deal and it’ll work the way I want it to.”
“You sound sure of yourself all of a sudden,” he said.
“That’s because I know who you are, Bill.”
Dead silence, and then he started to laugh.
“You think you know who I am? Not a chance.”
“I know who you are, and I’m coming after you. The only thing I don’t know is why you’re doing this, but I’ll figure it out.”
Big talk. I had no idea what I’d actually do. I was hoping I’d put the fear of God into him, but that didn’t seem likely.
“Good luck with that.” He hung up. He was worried. I could tell from the change in him.
He hadn’t tried to disguise his voice in his last sentence.
Fatal mistake on his part.
Chapter Forty-one
I called Pete but it went to voicemail so I left him a message to meet me at the B&B.
Doesn’t anyone answer their phone anymore? I asked myself.
Kaboom!
The thunder was closer.
Think, Sandi. Think this through. My mother hadn’t heard correctly. When she’d been kidnapped and overheard the man on the phone, he’d said Phil, not Bill.
The clues were subtle, which is probably why we hadn’t caught on. When Gloria was kidnapped, her husband called the kidnappers idiots. He wasn’t frightened, just very, very angry. Why would he call the goons idiots and why wouldn’t he be frightened for his wife’s safety? We missed that subtlety. The boss had just called the goons idiots again. He seemed to like that word.
The day our little group of women went out in public, my mother had commented that Phil was keeping a close eye on her and my aunt. In fact, Phil let them use his car that day. Was that a way to keep track of us?
Phil and Gloria were among the few who knew about
Zasu, but we’d considered them victims because of Gloria’s kidnapping, not suspects.
There was something else about the day Zasu disappeared. Originally Gloria said Phil had been outside during Zasu’s abduction, but then remembered he’d been in the kitchen, heating Sophie’s bottle. At the time we wondered how the kidnapper had gotten Zasu out of the house with Joe and Gloria in front and Phil in the kitchen. Now it made sense.
And Phil drove a black sedan, the final piece of the puzzle. H
ow could we have known he was involved? Even his car hadn’t tipped us off. Which reminded me of my mother’s car. He must have driven it back to my house so I wouldn’t link my mother and aunt disappearing to the bed and breakfast.
Phil had been careful not to expose his part in all of this. He was the boss we’d all worried about. I might have second thoughts if I hadn’t recognized his voice on the phone.
But why had he taken my mother and aunt? That part didn’t make sense.
Oh, yes, it did. They’d somehow figured it out.
Well, now it was my turn.
I turned to the dogs and reiterated my command. “Stay!”
The wind is my friend, I thought. If not for the coming storm I wouldn’t have put this altogether.
I ran to the side of the house where the wind had blown the corner of the tarp up. Underneath, I could see the corner of a door leading to a cellar, conveniently hidden by the paint and supplies.
Setting down my tea and flashlight, and working as quickly as possible, I moved the paint, tarps and brushes and a few other things.
It was difficult to lift the door because of the wind, but I finally flung it over and onto the ground. I tried to see downstairs, but between the dark clouds and nighttime approaching, I couldn’t see a thing.
I picked up my tea and flashlight and started down the stairs, mentally thunking myself on the forehead. Why did I keep carrying the tea around? Mentally shrugging, I pointed my flashlight downward.
A thumping noise startled me and I stopped and listened.
Thump.
There it was again.
Thump.
And again.
Lightning lit the sky and the stairwell for me. It happened so fast that I wasn’t sure if I’d seen what I thought I’d seen.
The boom of thunder was almost immediate, and the house seemed to shake. The storm was right over me, and I almost fell down the stairs when I jumped.
I turned my flashlight in the direction where I thought I’d seen something. My mother was thumping her foot on the floor. She, Aunt Martha and Zasu were tied to chairs, in a row and against the wall, and had duct tape across their mouths.
Before I descended further, I shined my flashlight around the basement, making sure neither Phil nor Pluto lurked nearby.
Pluto was there, but he wouldn’t be bothering anyone. There as a bullet hole right in the middle of his forehead. His eyes stared at nothing.
Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath before opening them and descending the rest of the way into the basement.
“Mother,” I whispered. “It’s going to be okay.” I glanced at the other two women, including them in my assurance.
“Let me get the duct tape off. This will probably hurt, but just for a moment. I’ll rip it off quickly.”
Everything happens for a reason. I set my tea down, knowing that they were probably thirsty. Who knew how long they’d been here without food or drink? Well, Zasu, anyway. My mother and aunt hadn’t been here too long.
I reached toward my mother, but she shook her head no. “Mmrrph mmphmmph mmrph.”
“What? You’re thirsty?” I picked up the tea. I thought I got the word “water” out of her muffled sounds. “I’ve got something for you to drink. You’ve got to be dying of thirst. I’ll get you out of here before Phil comes back.”
I reached toward the duct tape.
She crossed her eyes, shook her head again and glanced over my shoulder.
“Mmrrph mmphmmph mmrph,” my aunt said, mimicking her.
Uh oh.
I turned around slowly, not wanting to see what I knew I’d see.
Phil stood behind me with a gun in his hand.
“You all should have stayed out of this,” he said.
I didn’t reply.
“This should have been simple,” he said. “I killed that stupid bookkeeper because he caught on to what I was doing and he was trying to blackmail me. I paid him, but when he wanted more I had to take care of him. That should have been the end of the story but, no, you snoops had to find the body. If it wasn’t for all of you, I could have killed Delgado and no one would have ever made the connection.”
It seemed like he was way too calm for what he was saying to me.
“Now I’ve had to kill the bums that worked for me, and the four of you are next. I feel like a serial killer.” He shook his head. “I’m not. I’m just doing what I have to in order to survive. I hope Gloria doesn’t catch on because I want to keep her. She’s a pain in the butt, but I like her.”
“What did the CPA find out about you?” I asked, my heart pounding.
“None of your business. You’re going to die, but you’ll die without knowing what’s going on. If by some miracle you make it out of here, you’ll be clueless.”
My mother stomped her foot and tried to yell at Phil. Aunt Martha caught on and started pounding her foot on the floor, too. Zasu joined in with both feet.
The noise was welcome. I saw movement at the top of the stairs.
Thank the good Lord, Pete’s here, I thought.
Moving my eyes to the top of the stairs, I saw Bubba standing there, not Pete. He crouched and started slowly down the stairs.
“Stop it!” Phil yelled. He waved his gun at my mother. “Stop now or Sandi’s the first to go.”
The stomping stopped and Phil started to turn the gun in my direction.
Without realizing what I was doing, my hand flew up and I threw the tea, ice cubes and all, in Phil’s face. He blinked several times and lowered the gun.
His expression told me he was furious. “That’s enough!”
He began to lift the gun toward my head and I realized I would be the first to go.
Bubba leaped on him.
“Ooof.”
The gun flew across the room. I made a dash for it and snatched it up.
“Get this dog off of me. I can’t breathe.”
Did I have sympathy? Of course not. But I now believed in miracles.
“Good boy, Bubba. Stay! And, Phil? Shut up and don’t move,” I said.
It was about that time when I saw Pete and Joe
standing at the top of the stairs.
“You sure took your time. Would you mind terribly if I asked you to come down here and arrest Phil?”
Mom said something, but the duct tape muffled her words again. I wondered if she was commenting on my sarcasm.
Pete and Joe hurried down the stairs and while Pete ordered Bubba to get off the bad man, Joe pulled out his handcuffs.
Bubba grinned that adorable, scary grin of his.
I proceeded to rip the duct tape off of three very sore mouths.
My aunt worked her jaws, trying to loosen them. “I told you we heard ghost noises, only…”
“…it was Zasu rocking her chair against a pipe,” my mother concluded. “We followed the sounds. We tried to warn you that he was standing behind you.”
“We really tried,” Aunt Martha said.
“Phil found us down here and that was the end of our rescue attempt,” Mom said.
“I love you two,” Zasu said, looking at my relatives while I ripped the duct tape from her arms. “Now I want to see my babies. Both of them.”
I was sure Sophie and Mateo would the overjoyed to see her, too.
Joe called Redding and told him what happened after placing Phil in the back of the unmarked police car. Redding would meet him at headquarters, and someone would come to remove Pluto’s body. The basement was now a crime scene. Thankfully, the women hadn’t had to see the murder, just the body. Phil had brought the body down to the basement after the deed had been done.
Just the body? I was becoming callous. I’d have to work on that.
Slowly, we returned to the house.
I explained where Sophie was when Zasu went in search of her. She sat down on the couch and rubbed her sore wrists.
“How did you know they were down there?” Pete asked
“When Bubba followed Zasu’s s
cent to the side of the house, did you notice where he sat down?”
“Not at the time. Sitting is sitting.”
“He sat right next to the entrance to the basement. He did the exact same thing when he followed my mother’s and aunt’s scents, and so did Clementine.”
Pete thought for a moment. “So we jumped to the wrong conclusion. We thought they were pointing out the place where Zasu was loaded into a car.”
“Right. They were actually guarding the basement entrance.”
Pete patted Bubba’s head and picked up Clem, the little darlin’, who immediately climbed up Pete’s chest and began licking his face.
Kaboom!
She licked faster. That darned old thunder.
Pete set her down on the floor.
We sat quietly for a few minutes, listening to the pouring rain.
I glanced at my watch, unable to figure out how the time had passed so quickly. It was almost nine o’clock.
Gloria would be home with the baby any moment.
I wasn’t looking forward to telling her about Phil.
A car door slammed and everyone tried to look nonchalant, not an easy task at the moment.
Zasu waited expectantly for her baby girl.
Epilogue
We were quite surprised at Gloria’s attitude. She said she’d known for some time that things weren’t right with Phil, but at least she had the B&B to keep her going and to earn an income. She had no idea what he’d been up to, but she knew things had changed between them, and he kept disappearing, saying he was going to run errands.
My mother called her a trooper.
My aunt said she was sticking her head in the sand.
I thought she was in shock.
When Redding arrived he brought Mateo with him. The little family cried and held each other, and both Zasu and Mateo made over each other’s injuries. Zasu’s wrists and face were raw from the duct tape, not to mention Phil had slapped her pretty hard at some point. She had a bruised cheek. Mateo was still a mess from his beating.
My relatives stayed for a short time while Gloria, who had a delayed reaction, tried to pull herself together. Gloria insisted that the Delgado family spend the night at the B&B. She didn’t want to be alone. In fact, she said she hoped they’d stay for a while. She adored Sophie and wanted to be a surrogate grandmother.