He and David checked windows and doors but all were secured. Phoebe’s skill at breaking into places would have sure come in handy. If they tried it, they’d make too much noise.
Morgan heard a sound. Were the two prisoners they took alerting their cohorts? He motioned David to keep watch on the kitchen and sprinted back to check. Both men were immobile. One was still unconscious.
He still heard an odd noise. Paying close attention this time, instead of assuming where it was likely coming from, he headed to where the sound originated. A nearby shed at the side of the house had its door shut with a wedge holding it closed. The sound definitely came from inside. A whimper. Had those criminals left a prisoner in here? Whoever this was, might be of help. Maybe balance the odds in their favor.
He undid the wedge and quietly pried open the door. Using his flashlight, he scanned the inside. Nothing but tools and supplies. The sound lured him to the back of the shed. Something was moving beneath a large cloth. With an apprehensive heart, Morgan held up the flashlight with his right hand to act as a weapon, and slowly drew back the cloth.
A large white dog was muzzled and tied up. Its eyes looked a little glazed and Morgan suspected it must have been drugged and was just now recovering. It whined and stared at him with a pitiful expression. Lowering his arm, he considered his options. If he untied the dog, it might be more of a problem than a help. If it started to bark, it might give them away to the men inside the house. Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to leave it like this.
First, he undid the bindings around its feet. The dog sat up, a little unsteady but happy at gaining its freedom. It made a beeline to leave the shed but Morgan held it back by its collar and spoke in soothing tones. He doubted the dog understood a word he said. It probably obeyed commands in a different language but it seemed to appreciate his intent and recognized him as a friend.
The dog sat and looked at him as if waiting for orders. Morgan untied the muzzle, half afraid he was going to lose his hand. When the last rope was loose, the dog reached up and licked Morgan’s face.
“Want to help rescue your family?” Morgan asked.
The dog wagged its tail and licked him again.
David raised a surprised eyebrow when Morgan returned with their new ally at heel.
“We need all the help we can get,” Morgan explained.
“Not arguing,” David said. “Just wondering if our luck has turned for good or worse. We need a way inside.”
Morgan nodded. He’d been thinking about that problem and had come up with a plan. He now outlined it briefly.
David didn’t reply for the longest time. Morgan wondered if he thought it was a lame idea or if he was actually considering it. The only way they could get in was if someone from inside opened the door.
Finally, David said, “That might work, as long as the lunatics inside don’t start shooting.”
“I agree this plan has more pot holes than the road to the waterfall,” Morgan said, “but I’m game if you are.”
They went back to retrieve one of their prisoners. David then stood on the front pathway, holding his captive with the man’s back facing the door so no one would see his bound hands and gagged mouth. Morgan crouched behind bushes by the front door, one hand on the dog’s collar and the other on his muzzle to keep him quiet.
David began shouting in what sounded like Latin at the man he held, while shaking him and gesturing.
Clever. Many in Sri Lanka seemed to understand English. Latin would prove more of a challenge.
Lights went on inside and someone called out. Morgan waited, poised. Directly above him, a window was pushed out and a man leaned out, the one with a possible concussion. He shouted in a foreign language. Facing David, he didn’t spot Morgan crouched beneath him. The dog squirmed in Morgan’s hold and he held him tight praying the dog would stay quiet.
David continued to make a royal ruckus as he yelled what sounded like a diagnosis and gestured with a fist.
The window slammed shut and a few seconds later the front door opened and concussed-man strode out with a rifle. The door stood wide open. Morgan was free to run in, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave David with a weapon aimed at him. So, he released the dog and leaped onto the gunman’s back.
PHOEBE HEARD THE COMMOTION outside and suspected that Morgan and her father had returned. Her heart trembled. Didn’t they realize who they were dealing with? How dare Morgan risk his life and bring her father? That was definitely Dr. David Clay’s voice shouting. She’d recognize his Latin anywhere. Her quiet, unassuming, father was threatening a terrorist with the pox, or pustulis correptus.
She took a deep calming breath and swallowed a hysterical laugh. Morgan and her father did this because they loved her. She understood now how Morgan must have felt when she said she was returning here for Matt. Luckily, Phoebe was ready for this foolish rescue.
She’d been working on the knots holding her captive and had in fact been free for close to an hour. Since Phoebe then passed her mother the hidden blade from her sleeve, her mother, too, was free. Neither of them had acted yet, though.
Brenda was waiting for Phoebe’s signal.
To take the two men she and her mother had to co-ordinate their moves. However, they had no opportunity to speak. Too much eye contact and Ashoka would get suspicious.
Phoebe also hesitated because the beating the father took had traumatized the children. Now Ashoka held their terrorized mother close, with his gun jammed into her stomach. The little girl was also broken-hearted about her dog, which Ashoka told her he’d killed.
If the kids witnessed their mother getting shot, they may never recover. So, Phoebe waited, hoping the gunman would release the woman for even a moment. Then the commotion started outside.
Ashoka raised his gun to the woman’s head and kicked his cohort dozing in a chair beside Phoebe. “Go see what’s happening outside,” he said in Tamil.
The guy stumbled over to a window and looked out. “Some stranger’s started a fight with Rajan.”
“Go check on them,” Ashoka replied. “Take the rifle. It might be that spy come back to get his women.”
“It isn’t Matt,” Phoebe said.
Ashoka turned to her in surprise. No wonder. They were the first words she’d spoken all night. He’d given her several bruises on her face to attest to his anger at her continued silence.
“Who is it then?” he asked.
“It’s her husband.” Phoebe shrugged toward Brenda who was to her left. Ashoka moved away from the corridor and approached her as his friend opened the front door.
“Hers?” he asked, absently gesturing with his gun.
Phoebe leaped for the wife and rolled her to the side. From the corner of her eye she spotted her mother grab Ashoka’s arm and wrestle for the gun. Then a white hairy projectile landed on the man with vicious growls and barks. Her mother rolled out of the way as the dog fought with his enemy, his vicious attack aimed at the man’s throat. It was a short battle.
By the time Phoebe ran over to help her mother, Ashoka lay still, hands falling to his side, blood gushing down his neck, dead eyes holding a look of utter surprise.
Screaming, the wife ran to the kids and her husband.
The little girl pushed away. “Dino’s alive,” she said in delight, pointing to the dog still hovering over his victim. “He dropped the bad man, Mommy. Look. He’s a hero.”
Phoebe sighed in relief as the child’s attention focused on her dog’s heroism. She would be okay once this was over. Dino was licking himself clean, with one eye still focused on the body.
With Ashoka’s gun in hand, Brenda ran out of the kitchen. Phoebe followed her mother.
At the front door, everything was still dark outside. Phoebe ran her hand along the wall for a switch and turned it on. The porch light flashed over the front yard. Her parents were hugging each other, but her father kept his foot on a bound man’s chest, securing him in place. What a romantic.
Morgan kn
elt on the ground beside another of Ashoka’s men. He was confining his prisoner’s arms behind his back, being careful not to hurt the man’s bandaged head. He then squinted up in her direction. “Phoebe?”
She nodded, looking around. There was one more terrorist to be accounted for.
“He’s by the road,” Morgan said, accurately reading her concern. “We ran out of ropes to tie this one up,” he pointed to his prisoner, as if he brought down criminals every day of the year. “Used them on the other two. Matt’s okay, by the way. We left him in a safe place.”
Too stunned to say a word, Phoebe silently handed him her spare handcuffs. Her Morgan, the prim-and-proper, “don’t break the law” attorney, had taken down armed terrorists.
“Brenda said you took care of Ashoka inside. All okay in there now?” Morgan asked.
“The dog brought him down,” Phoebe said. “Permanently.”
He nodded. “He’s a good dog.” He cuffed his man and sat abruptly on the ground beside him.
She rushed closer. “Are you okay?”
He nodded. “Suddenly needed to sit down, that’s all.”
She hid her smile. “That’s quite the capture you and Dad made. Three armed men. How did you know about the dog?”
“I found him tied up in the shed,” he said. “Drugged.”
“And you released him?” She knelt to be at eye level. “He just killed a man in there, Morgan. He could have killed you.”
He gently brushed her cheekbone where a bruise was throbbing and must be coloring up. “I like dogs,” he said. “After we’re married, we should get one.”
She kissed his fingers and gave him a mock serious look. “The Clay women always have cats.”
“No cats,” he said. “Absolutely no cats.” He waited for her to argue and when she didn’t respond, he added, “Since you’re not contradicting the married part, is it safe to assume you plan to marry me?”
“Oh, kiss the man and put him out of his misery,” her mother said.
“Mom,” she said, “can’t you let me do anything alone?”
A man cleared his throat. Phoebe twisted around to find the Sri Lankan family watching them. The husband appeared shaky and bruised, with a swollen lip and some missing teeth. His wife supported him. Her smile on her tear-streaked face suggested she didn’t care how many teeth he was missing, she loved him unconditionally. Their children stood in front of them, with the dog leaning against the little girl’s legs.
“I believe this is what you all came here to find,” the husband said in perfect English but with a noticeable lisp through his cracked teeth and swollen lips. He touched his daughter’s head.
The child ran to a nearby flower bed and began digging.
“She wanted to give it to the bad men but I told her not to or they would kill us all,” he added.
The child ran back with her prize. In the dim porch light, a magnificent sea of blue spanned her tiny palms. Phoebe’s breath caught as she reached out and the large flawless sapphire dropped into her hands, cold and heavy.
The Trincomalee Eye. A symbol of peace and friendship between two countries.
She held it out for Morgan and her parents to see.
“You’ve completed your assignment.” With a proud smile, Morgan ran a finger over the gigantic jewel’s surface.
Phoebe was overjoyed at recovering this beauty. Yet, she’d almost lost Morgan and her parents retrieving it.
Morgan stood and held his hand out, pulling her close and holding her tight. He pressed a kiss on her forehead. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
His words brought back a memory of when she’d listened with envy to similar words spoken by this Tamil father to his family. Back then, Phoebe thought no one would ever hold her safe and speak such loving words. It also reminded her of something else.
She gave the Eye to Morgan to hold and fished out the love letter she’d been carrying for so long. She held it out to the Tamil father. “I think this belongs to you, sir.”
He took it with a bruised and bloody hand, shifting closer to the porch light to read. Then he smiled wide, uncaring about how many holes he flashed, while his eyes misted. “I’d wondered where I’d lost this.”
“I found the letter in your loft, stuck between bags of rice,” Phoebe said.
“What is it?” his wife asked.
He showed her. “The note you sent me before we married. I always carry it with me. Must have fallen out when I was unloading stores. I’ve been heartbroken for weeks that I’d lost this.” He came over and gave Phoebe a formal bow. “Thank you. This note is more precious than any jewel.”
“For me, too.” His wife gave him a big hug.
The children ran over, not wanting to be left out, while the dog barked playfully, tail wagging.
Epilogue
Morgan, who was in the jeep’s passenger seat checking the GPS on his cell phone, directed Phoebe to the waterfall where he and her father had left Matt. Her parents were in the back seat. It warmed Phoebe’s heart to notice that they hadn’t stopped holding hands.
Once she learned about the location Morgan had chosen to leave Matt, Phoebe couldn't help smiling with pleasure. It was exactly where she’d been thinking of bringing him one day. A perfect spot for their honeymoon.
At the waterfall, while the men went to retrieve Matt, Phoebe held her mother back. “May we talk?”
“Sure.” Brenda turned to her in surprise. “I hope you’re not going to scold me for following you to Sri Lanka?”
“I’m glad you came and brought both of them. No, I wanted to talk about my new business.”
“What about it?” Brenda asked.
“What did you think about the office? You never said.”
“That’s what you want to talk about? Now?”
“Did you like it?” Phoebe asked. “Do you think you could picture yourself working there?”
“Me?” Brenda asked, in shock.
“You’ve proven you are way more than just a stay-at-home mother. I know you said you retired from your old life, but you liked some of this excitement, didn’t you?”
Her mother nodded. “It took me back to my youth. If I must be honest, I did enjoy myself. Never tell Conroy that!”
“I won’t, I promise,” Phoebe said. “However, I could use your help, with organizing my business and case research. You’d be great at that, leaving me free to do the leg work. What do you say? I think Dad would love to know that you have something to do that’s comparable to what you’d given up for a life with him.”
Brenda glanced up to where Morgan and David were helping Matt down the pathway. “He might at that.” She turned around and hugged Phoebe. “I’d love to join Missing You, Inc. Thank you for asking.”
“Yay!” Phoebe said as her world shifted into place.
ON THE FLIGHT HOME, Morgan asked Phoebe, “Now that you’ve rescued Matt, do you feel better about what happened with Johnny?”
“I’ll never feel okay about that.” At his concerned gaze, she added, “I’ll always miss him, Morgan. Johnny was my best friend. I do understand, now, that his death was out of my control. My being there may have made no difference at all. The shooter’s bullets might still have fatefully hit Johnny or their intended target.”
As she spoke those words, a weight lifted off her shoulders. Recent experience had proven that people were capable of taking care of themselves. Look at how Morgan and her father had fared, despite being on their own, in a foreign country, and facing armed men. They hadn’t needed her to rescue them. They’d rescued her. That realization made her see her worries about Lenny’s predicaments in a whole new light. Her cousin was an adult, and the choices he made were his own, along with their consequences.
Phoebe knew she’d come to the right conclusion, when they arrived at her parent’s home and Morgan helped her out of the Uber. The first thing she spotted was Lenny and Molly exiting the front door, onto the porch. Both of them were perfectly fine. The little girl was
holding a cat food dish with both hands. Lenny grinned and waved a cheerful welcome as Molly set the dish before a black-and-white cat.
“Fur-Phoebe’s home!” Delighted to see her aunt’s cat on the porch, Phoebe ran over to kneel and pet the feline’s soft fur. “When...how...?”
“The day after Aunt Helen called to say she and Tucker Harrington were engaged,” Lenny said, “her cat just showed up in the back yard.”
“Told you that old geezer was tricky,” Randy said as he stepped out of the house and slammed the front door shut.
“Tucker had him all along?” Phoebe flashed Morgan an I-told-you-so glare over her shoulder.
He shrugged his innocence and asked, “Did Gramps admit to taking her?”
“Nope,” Lenny said. “We knew it must have been him, though. Cat smelled like his cologne when it showed up.”
“Since Ms. Helen already checked out his cottage and came up empty,” Randy added, “we were all set to raid the stable where he keeps his horses. Then the cat returned. We were on the case, weren’t we, Lenny?”
“Case?” Phoebe asked. We?
“Got our papers, we’re official.” Randy gave her a two-thumbs-up gesture. “We’re in the PI business.”
“Shut up,” Lenny said. “I haven’t told her yet."
“Us?” Her vocabulary seemed to have reduced to one-word sentences. Morgan chuckled behind her.
“Yeah,” Lenny said, “I was going to explain about that. While you were gone, I figured we should have another employee in our business, in case you get called away again and leave us shorthanded. So, I hired Randy.”
“We haven’t even started our business and you’re hiring staff?” Phoebe asked, and realized she’d done the same thing, hiring her mother. Thank heavens she had, though, and that Brenda had agreed to oversee the office. Her mother would have her hands full with Randy on the payroll.
Missing You Page 16