“Then how do you know I threw my cell phone out the window?”
“Those few precious moments of very loud road noise followed by a crunch and then silence. I knew there was no way you would risk not throwing it out; you’re not a gambler.”
“Wanna bet?” Cindy asked softly. “You don’t think that the entire police force of Pine Springs is outside waiting for you?”
“No, I don’t, actually. You see, I know a lot about the alarm system on this house. I even tripped it on purpose once when my partner couldn’t manage to subdue the poodle and lost her. I needed Joseph to come home and find his precious dog for me. So, before you came, I activated the motion sensor, which is across the driveway halfway down the hill. Your car is the only one that has come through.”
Jeremiah moved like a shadow, silent as a ghost. He was three steps behind Vince when he felt his chest start to contract with the beginnings of a cough. With no time left, he kicked the side of Vince’s right knee.
Vince crashed toward the floor with a shout. Jeremiah followed, grabbing his head, twisting it sideways, and slamming it into the floor as hard as he could.
Vince crumpled and didn’t move. The dog carrier crashed to the ground next to him. Jeremiah dropped to a knee, coughed, and then checked to make sure he hadn’t actually killed Vince. There was a pulse, and he straightened and turned his attention to Cindy.
She was staring at him in wide-eyed fascination. Not good. “Are you hurt?” he asked, trying to redirect her focus.
She blinked slowly as though coming out of a trance. “I don’t think so.”
“Are you sure? You’re bleeding,” he said, indicating her cheek.
Her hand flew up, and when she lowered it, she stared at the blood on her fingers. “He hit me,” she said.
His first instinct was to take a look, see how bad the damage was, and get the wound cleaned. He took a step forward and then shook himself. Remember to ignore your first instincts, he chided himself. He whipped out his cell phone and called 911 for an ambulance.
When he hung up, he found Cindy staring at him in horror. She knows, he thought for one panicked moment.
“Is it that bad? Am I going to be scarred?” she burst out, voice edging on hysteria.
He wanted to laugh. She might have been killed, and she had faced that with more calm than she faced the prospect of a scar on her cheek. The cut was shallow and would heal fine. He wanted to tell her that, reassure her. He could tell from ten feet away that she had nothing to worry about. “I don’t know, I hope not,” he forced himself to say. “The paramedics will be able to tell.”
She nodded, lip trembling, as tears filled her eyes.
“Are you hurt anywhere else?” he asked, knowing that she had a badly sprained wrist from the way she was holding it, and seeing the bruises that were already forming on her leg.
“No,” she said.
It was the shock. It would wear off soon enough, and then she would start to feel the pain. He didn’t envy her that.
He glanced at the man lying on the floor. The headache he would have when he came to was just a foretaste of the pain in store for him. He debated whether to break his arms or to look for some rope to tie him up with. He would have been much happier with Vince dead, but there were fewer questions this way, and hopefully he could help them find Traci if they hadn’t already by the time he regained consciousness.
“You don’t look good,” Cindy said.
“I don’t exactly feel good,” he said, coughing violently.
He heard two men running, trying to do so quietly. Still he forced himself to act startled when Mark and Paul came into view with weapons drawn.
“What happened here?” Mark asked.
“I got the drop on him,” Jeremiah said. “Managed to knock him out.”
“I think Traci is somewhere in the house or on the property,” Cindy said as she stood shakily.
Paul swooped down and handcuffed Vince while Jeremiah rolled out of the way.
Cindy crossed to Ginger and opened the door of the carrier. She pulled the Pomeranian mix out and looked her over. “Are you hurt, girl?”
The dog was frightened but seemed otherwise unharmed.
“Did you catch any of that?” Jeremiah asked.
“Yeah, and we have an officer on the receiver downstairs who caught a whole lot more than we did,” Paul said.
Mark turned and ran from the room. Jeremiah struggled to his feet, coughing. He wanted to follow Mark, but just standing up had made him feel queasy.
He turned to look at Cindy. She looked up from her examination of Ginger with a smile. “She seems all right.”
He tried nodding his head, but it felt like a leaden weight on the end of a slender reed. The room started to spin around him.
“Jeremiah? What’s wrong?” he heard Cindy ask as he hit the floor.
Mark ran downstairs and to the woods. They had taken a cue from Jeremiah and walked up the hill after they found his car. In the woods he had tied up Buster, who barked when he returned. He untied the beagle and led him into the house. Then he let him smell the camisole again.
“This is it, boy, the big time. Go find Mommy!”
The dog put his nose to the ground and then dashed for the stairs, flying up them.
Mark gave chase as fast as he could. Buster passed the second floor, continuing upward. At the third floor landing he hesitated a moment, sniffing the air, before heading off to the left. The dog slid to a halt in front of a closed door, and Mark opened it to see a small staircase leading up into what looked to be an attic.
Buster ran up the stairs, and Mark took them two at a time. When they came out into the room above, Mark met the frightened eyes of his wife. With a sob he leaped forward and untied the ropes that bound her to the old-fashioned dining chair she sat on.
Buster licked at her fingers as Mark tore the gag away from her mouth. “You found me,” she cried.
“Thank Buster for that one.”
“Good dog!”
He helped her stand, and then she collapsed against him, crying like he had never seen her cry before.
He heard the stairs creak, and he turned to see Cindy walking up slowly, eyes wide.
“Ssh, it’s okay, honey, you’re safe now,” Mark soothed Traci.
“Safe? Safe? How will I ever feel safe again?” she choked.
Cindy walked forward slowly and put her hand on Traci’s shoulder. “You can, but it will take a long time and a lot of courage. You’re lucky, though. There are a lot of people who love you who will see you through this.”
As Traci continued to cling to him and cry, Mark mouthed a thank you to Cindy.
“I’ll help however I can,” she whispered.
Twenty minutes later Cindy watched as Vince was carted off in the back of a police car. She stood beside the stretcher that Jeremiah was lying on. His eyes flickered open. “What happened?” he asked.
“You passed out. Your fever is worse, but the paramedics are working on getting it down. You know, I was supposed to get to call 911 if you passed out on me, but you had already called them.”
“Sorry to disappoint you,” he whispered.
“I’ll forgive you as long as you get better,” she said.
“It’s a deal.”
“Okay, we’re good to go,” one of the paramedics said to the other. They put the stretcher into the back of the ambulance.
“Is he going to be okay?” she asked.
“I think we got to him in time. He had a fever over 103. I’m not even sure how this man was walking.”
“It’s a miracle,” Cindy said with a small smile. God had sent her own personal knight in shining yarmulke to save her once more.
20
JEREMIAH WOKE UP AND FOR A MOMENT HAD NO IDEA WHERE HE WAS. Then he remembered the ambulance and realized he had to be in the hospital. He turned his head and saw Cindy and Joseph quietly talking in two chairs against the wall. Joseph glanced his way and popped to his feet.
“Look who’s awake!”
Cindy came over as well, and he looked up at her. There were worry lines around her eyes that were gradually easing as she watched him.
“What happened?” he asked.
“Pneumonia, apparently,” Cindy said. “The doctors said that’s what you have. Your fever broke about an hour ago, and you’ve been looking much better since then.”
“When is it?” he asked.
“Saturday afternoon.”
“Saturday? Synagogue… services.”
“Relax, Paul went to the synagogue this morning and let everyone know that you were fine, but sick.”
“Oh no.”
“He also told them that the doctor had said no visitors until you get home.”
“Thank Adonai.” He took a deep breath and promptly coughed. When it was over, he asked, “Did everything work out okay?”
“Yes,” Joseph answered. “Vince is in jail, and he’s going to go away for a long time, so I’ve been assured. As of this morning all the dogs have been returned to their rightful owners. We also managed to fry the circuits in the chip in Ginger without hurting her at all.”
“So Ginger really did have the chip.”
“Yes, she did.”
“Traci’s being released from the hospital this afternoon. Physically she’s okay, just a little bruised up,” Cindy said. “Mentally it’s going to be a long recovery,” Jeremiah predicted.
Cindy nodded. “I’m afraid so, but I’ve promised to help in any way that I can.”
“It’s still hard to believe that this was all about identity theft,” Joseph said.
“At least they didn’t get away with it,” Cindy said.
“Well, look who’s awake!”
Jeremiah turned his head to the door and saw Mark enter, pushing a tired-looking blonde woman in a wheelchair.
“We’re just about to get out of here, but we wanted to stop by and see if you were awake yet,” Mark said. “You know, Cindy, Jeremiah, the three of us have got to spend less time hanging out in hospitals.”
“Amen,” Cindy said fervently. “You know, Harry’s getting out today too.”
“Fantastic! Where’s he going to go?”
“I’ve offered my house for the next couple of days. Bernadette’s got some turkey soup she wants to try out on him to speed his recovery,” Cindy said.
“Good news all the way around.”
“Thank you all so very much,” Traci spoke up. “If it wasn’t for all of you, I don’t know what would have happened.”
“You’re welcome,” Cindy said.
Jeremiah nodded.
“Well, you kids behave,” Mark said, “Because we are out of here.”
He and Traci left with a wave.
“I’m going to go check on Harry,” Joseph said, slipping out of the room as well.
Cindy took Jeremiah’s hand. “You scared me,” she admitted.
“I think I scared myself,” he said.
“Don’t do that again, okay?”
“Which part?” he asked.
“All of it.”
“So you don’t want me to come to your rescue anymore?” he tried to tease.
“No, that’s good. But pneumonia, collapsing, all that’s bad.”
“I need to take notes so I can keep it all straight.”
“If you weren’t in a hospital bed, I’d punch you,” she said.
“How about you, are you okay?” he asked, looking at the butterfly bandage on her cheek and the elastic bandage wound around her left wrist.
“I’m just fine,” she said. “Relieved that a killer is off the street, Joseph’s out of jail, and his dogs are back with him, but just fine.”
“I forgot!” he said, gripping her hand. “Can you go to my house? I, um, adopted a dog. I didn’t want to say anything to anyone until this was all over. He’s been all alone there since yesterday morning.”
“Inside? That can’t be good,” she said, wincing. “Where are your keys?”
“Slacks pocket, wherever they are,” he said.
Cindy checked the closet. “These keys?”
“Yes. Oh, and please be careful.”
“The dog snatcher is in jail, remember?” she said.
“I know, but… he’s a big dog and probably pretty freaked out.”
“I’ll be careful,” she promised.
He nodded and then felt himself drifting back to sleep. He heard her tiptoe from the room, and then he was lost in his dreams.
Cindy was grateful that the German shepherd with soulful eyes was paper trained. It made the mess much simpler to clean up. She took the dog for a quick walk and then coaxed him into her car with a piece of turkey from Jeremiah’s fridge. It meant she would have three dogs still for a while, with the addition of Harry’s dog and Ginger still prancing around like the queen of the world, but it was far preferable to leaving him locked up alone.
She took him back to her house and once she was sure he was calm, she left him with Bernadette and went back to the hospital to check Harry out.
When she helped him into the house, he made it to the couch and promptly fell asleep.
The phone rang, and she answered it, relieved to hear Geanie’s voice.
“What’s going on?”
“Joseph’s coming over to pick me up for dinner, and I just wanted to see how you were.”
“Wow, you guys aren’t wasting any time,” Cindy said, walking back to her bedroom for a little privacy.
“If I learned anything this week, it’s strike while the iron is hot, or kiss the guy before the police arrest him,” Geanie said with a small laugh.
“More power to you.”
“What about you?”
“I think I need a vacation,” Cindy admitted. Her eyes fell on the trip voucher she had put on her bureau earlier that week. “And I think I know just what I’m going to do.”
“What?”
“I’ve got a voucher for a trip to Hawaii.”
“Ooh, you have to use that.”
“I’m going to,” Cindy promised herself.
“When are you going to go?” Geanie asked.
“I was thinking Memorial Day weekend might be nice; it’s already a three-day weekend.”
“That will be nice. You can go see Pearl Harbor.”
“That is definitely at the top of my list,” Cindy admitted. “Seems like a good time to see it.”
“Got room for me in your suitcase?”
“No,” Cindy said with a laugh. “But I’m sure the next thing you know, Joseph will be taking you on your honeymoon.”
“Stop it!” Geanie squealed.
Cindy laughed. “As for me, I’m looking forward to a nice, relaxing trip, no excitement, no killers, just me and a beach.”
“Well, make sure to pack a bikini and hope for at least a little excitement,” Geanie teased. “I mean, sooner or later you’ll find a guy who catches your eye.”
Cindy rolled her eyes. Geanie was clearly not going to let the whole dating thing go. “You’ll be pleased to know I have a date.”
“Ooooh, anyone I know?”
“I don’t think so. He’s a computer programmer I met at speed dating.”
“Going out with a guy you only met for five minutes? That’s a big risk, don’t you think?”
Cindy thought back on everything that had happened to her in the last few months. “I’m thinking it’s more of a medium risk.”
“I hope it works out for you.”
“Thanks. We’ll find out Friday night. And as for your date tonight, good luck,” Cindy said.
“What does that mean?” Geanie burst out.
“Exactly what it sounds like. Bye.”
On Wednesday Jeremiah stood in a graveyard. He had been discharged from the hospital on Sunday, and it had taken all of his powers of persuasion to convince Cindy that he would be okay at his house by himself. She had returned his dog to him, and he had realized that he did intend to keep him. After muc
h thought he named the dog Captain.
The night before Mark had called to check in on him and to let him know that the funeral for the man who had died on his lawn was Wednesday afternoon. Jeremiah knew it wasn’t smart to go to the funeral. Ultimately, he decided to go, not to pay his respects to the dead, but to see who else would.
Mark and Paul stood shoulder to shoulder up front next to the priest, mistakenly believing they had caught the man’s killer. He wondered if they were going to all the funerals that were being held for those who had been killed.
Besides them and Jeremiah there were only three others present. Like him they hung back and stood a wide distance apart from each other, although their eyes took in everything.
As tempted as he had been to bring Captain to see if the dog rattled any of their cages, he was glad he had chosen not to. The fewer people who knew that he had the dog, the better for both their sakes.
The funeral was simple and short. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, and it was all over. It wasn’t much to show for a life, particularly his. Jeremiah turned and walked away, anxious to avoid talking to Mark. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the others doing the same.
Mark, however, had different plans and caught up with Jeremiah at his car. “How are you doing?”
“Better,” Jeremiah admitted. “How’s Traci?”
“Surviving. I wanted to thank you again for all your help. If it hadn’t been for you, I don’t think we would have found her in time.”
“It’s okay,” Jeremiah said, uncomfortable with the praise. “I just had a bad feeling deep inside when Cindy left, and I followed. Of course, it turned out that bad feeling was pneumonia,” he said, trying to deflect with humor.
“Which makes what you did that much more amazing. Look, I don’t say this to people, but I’m in your debt. If there’s anything I can do for you, just name it.”
“I’ll keep it in mind,” Jeremiah said soberly. In his experience those kinds of favors were invaluable, and he was not about to treat the detective’s offer lightly. “Now go home and take care of your wife.”
“I am. I had some vacation time coming so I’m taking off through January 2.”
“Wow, that’s a lot of vacation time.”
“Yeah, clearly I need to spend more of it than I do. Plus, it wasn’t entirely my idea. Given the trauma of everything that just happened, my superiors strongly suggested that I take the time off.”
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