Cold Heart

by Sheila Dryden

  When he pulled in and stopped in front of Wildwood he knew something was wrong. Her SUV was not here. There was no sign of Tucker. She didn’t usually take him with her, not wanting to leave him in a hot vehicle. Carter used his key and opened the main door to the Lodge. He immediately found the note on the entry table. He read it, and then took the stairs two at a time to Lexi’s room. The bed was made. He ripped open the closet doors. The closet was empty.

  Carter sat down on the bed and reread the note. It was definitely Lexi’s handwriting, but this didn’t make any sense. Lexi didn’t need to sell in order to have money. She had plenty of money already. He walked downstairs and went through the main floor and into the office. All her family photos were gone. He sat on the chair in front of the desk. He felt sick in the pit of his stomach. Something wasn’t right. He went into the kitchen and looked in the fridge. It was full of food. Then he noticed the Lasagna and the bread on the counter, left to spoil.

  Montgomery had taken her. He was convinced of it now. He was going to force her to sign papers and he had forced her to write this bogus note. It was the only thing that made any sense. Damn why hadn’t he realized how dangerous and desperate that man was. He got on his cell and dialed the Sherriff. The dispatcher put him through right away.

  “Hello Carter,” the Sherriff said. “What can I do for you?”

  “It’s Lexi,” he said. “Mitch or Montgomery or both have taken her and forced her to sign paperwork to sell the property and have made it look like she’s left town.”

  “Hold up, slow down Carter. Are you saying Montgomery has kidnapped Lexi?”

  “Yes and they made her write this letter saying she was leaving town but she didn’t, she wouldn’t, it just doesn’t add up.”

  That sounds a bit far-fetched now Carter,” the Sherriff said.

  “Just get over here right away, please,” Carter said. “You’ll see for yourself.”

  Carter paced back and forth on the front porch clutching the letter and going through everything over and over again in his head. It took about ten minutes for the Sherriff to get there. He climbed out of the cruiser and Carter was on him.

  “I haven’t been able to reach her since late afternoon yesterday. I was supposed to be having dinner with her tonight and I get here and no one is here. So I let myself in and I found this note on the hall table. It says she’s sold the property to Montgomery and left town. All her clothes and personal photos are gone, but she left a fridge and freezer full of food to spoil. No woman does that.”

  “Carter, slow down,” the Sherriff said. “Everything I am hearing makes me think she left town. Why don’t you think she did? Give me something concrete, not feelings or guessing.”

  “Okay,” Carter said, realizing he was sounding like a raving lunatic. “In her note, she refers to getting the money for the sale and being able to afford to start a new life. Lexi already had lots of money from her inheritance from her parents. She is saying that so I will know the letter is bogus.”

  “Hmm,” the Sherriff said.

  “That’s all you can say?” Carter said.

  “Well, I suppose, it does seem odd. I will pay my cousin a visit and just see what he has to say about all this.”

  “Good, I’m coming with you,” Carter said.

  “No you’re not Carter,” the Sherriff said.

  “I’m coming with you in the cruiser or behind you but I’m coming,” he said.

  “Fine but any shenanigans out of you and I’ll slap a set of cuffs on you,” he said.

  They both got in the car and the Sherriff headed for Montgomery’s winery. When they arrived they approached the front door of the house and the Sherriff banged on the door. A maid answered and the Sherriff asked to see Mr. Montgomery. She said they were having dinner and he walked past her and directly into the dining room with Carter on his heels.

  “Geoffrey, Grace, sorry to interrupt your dinner,” he said as he removed his hat. “I understand you had dealings with the Thomas girl in the last twenty-four hours, is that correct?”

  “Hello cousin and Carter. As a matter of fact, I did,” Montgomery said. “She came to the winery office late yesterday afternoon and said she’d decided to sell the property after all. I had papers drawn up awhile back as I kept hoping she would change her mind. We signed them right there on the spot. She said she was leaving town.”

  “That is such bullshit,” Carter said. “Sorry Grace.”

  “Carter, stop,” the Sherriff said putting his hand up. “Can I see the documents?”

  “Sorry cousin,” he said. “I gave them to Beatty this morning. He was going to file them for me and look after the transfer of funds.”

  “I see,” the Sherriff said. “So Miss Thomas has left information on where she will be going then?

  “Yeah, where is she?” Carter said, moving towards Montgomery and taking him by the shoulders.

  “Carter, what did I tell you?” the Sherriff said. He pulled Carter back.

  “I have no idea,” Montgomery said. “She said she would be in touch once she decided where to settle.”

  “Where’s Mitch?” the Sherriff said.

  “He’s around here somewhere,” Montgomery said. He rang a bell that sat next to his plate. A maid appeared.

  “Get Mitch, Annie would you please?” Montgomery said.

  “Grace, did you see Miss Thomas when she was here?” Sherriff Montgomery asked.

  “No, I didn’t. I wish I had. Geoffrey told me about the sale at dinner last night,” Grace said. “I’m sorry to see her go she is a really nice young woman.”

  Mitch appeared at the door to the dining area.

  “Yes boss,” Mitch said.

  “The Sherriff here has some questions for you,” Montgomery said.

  “Have you seen Miss Lexi Thomas in the past twenty-four hours?” the Sherriff asked.

  “Why yes, Sherriff,” he said. “Saw her yesterday when she came to see Mr. Montgomery.”

  “And what time was that and how long was she here?”

  “Well I believe it was about six o’clock and I think she was here about an hour,” Mitch said.

  “You are so full of ... they’re lying Sherriff. There is no way Lexi willingly signed any paperwork. I know it and they know it and I am going to find her and if you have harmed one hair on her head I will kill you,” Carter said.

  “Now that’s enough,” Montgomery said. “You have no right to come in here accusing us of wrong doing.”

  “Stand down Carter,” the Sherriff said. “We’ll be leaving now.”

  “Sherriff we need to search this place top to bottom,” Carter said.

  “Got no cause to do that, Carter,” the Sherriff said. “Be seeing you cousin,”

  He took Carter by the arm and giving him a look dragged him out of there and straight out onto the porch.

  “Sherriff they took her and they mean to harm her if they haven’t already, we can’t just leave,” Carter said.

  “Just hush, Carter,” the Sherriff said. “I didn’t say I believed them, I just said I had no cause to do a search of the property. Thing is, I don’t think they’d be stupid enough to keep her here. It’d be the first place we’d look.”

  “I guess you are right?” Carter said, calming a bit as he realized the Sherriff wasn’t giving up.

  The Sherriff walked over to the cruiser and got in. Carter followed. He sat there a moment and then started the engine and turned around and started down the driveway.

  “I did some checking after we talked the other day,” he said. “Mitch was working for some business man out of Los Angeles and word has it this man has ties to the mob. This business man is also the person who loaned my cousin here four million dollars to expand the facilities here a couple of years ago.”

  “This must be the guy that Lexi overhead the other day when she was here,” Carter said.

  “What’s this?” the Sherriff said.

  “Yeah, I didn’t mention it the other day when
I talked to you but Lexi was here talking to Grace about her mother and she overheard a conversation between Montgomery, Mitch and some mystery man. He was giving your cousin an ultimatum. Get the property and the water or else. We weren’t sure what water they were talking about at the time.”

  “Carter it would have been helpful if you had told me this the other day,” he said.

  “I know we just weren’t ...” Carter was interrupted.

  “Sure you could trust me,” the Sherriff finished for him.

  “Sorry,” Carter said.

  “Well you might be, if some harm has come to that girl,” he said.

  “We have to find her. She’s still alive I’m sure of it, I feel it.” Carter said.

  “Well, your feelings aside, I don’t think my cousin would get rid of her until he was certain that this deal had gone through escrow or he didn’t need her for any other reason,” Sherriff Montgomery said.

  “Well if she’s not here, where is she?” Carter said.

  “That, I don’t know,” he said. “I can’t really put a cruiser at the end of the driveway to follow them, they’d spot it in a minute and they would certainly know your vehicle. So I’m thinking we’re going to go over to that rental place on Lincoln Avenue and you’re going to rent a car. Then you are going to come over here and park it down the road there where you have a view of the winery entrance and if you see anyone leaving, you are going to follow them. You will call me right away and I will meet you wherever it is they end up.”

  “What if they have someone else with her and neither of them goes there?” Carter said.

  “Well, Carter I have thought about that. After all, this is not my first rodeo. In the meantime, I am going to be checking on any other holdings my cousin may have where he could hide this girl and her dog and her car. I will get a couple of my deputies on that right away,” he said.

  “Okay,” Carter said.

  “There is the possibility that she is not even in town anymore so I will also put out an ABP on her vehicle in case they have taken her somewhere else,” he said.

  Carter’s shoulders slumped. He hadn’t even considered that possibility.

  “Like some place this mystery man owns?” Carter asked.

  “Exactly,” the Sherriff said.

  They turned onto Lincoln Avenue and the Sherriff pulled into the car rental office. Carter went in and rented a non-descript sedan. When he came out he went over to the cruiser and the Sherriff rolled down the window.

  “Get back there as quick as you can. Move your vehicle to different locations along that stretch of road every hour or so. Call me if you see anything suspicious,” the Sherriff said. “In the meantime I will be doing some checking and I’ll get back to you if I find out anything at all.”

  “Okay,” Carter said.

  He went over and found the car he had rented. The clerk had come out to do the walk around and noted a mark on the rear driver’s side fender. He marked that off on the rental agreement and then gave Carter his copy. Carter climbed in the car started it up and drove as quickly as he could back to the winery. He selected a spot where a tree provided a bit of cover if he pulled far off the road onto the shoulder but he could still see easily if anyone came out of the driveway. He prepared to watch and wait. At least the Sherriff believed him, that was a bonus but after an hour with nothing happening he started to grow impatient.

  26

  “You’re going to have to be careful,” Montgomery said. “They will be watching the main road,”

  They were in Montgomery’s office with the door closed. He wasn’t taking any chances on Grace overhearing anything. She had looked at him oddly after his cousin had left.

  “I have already got that covered,” Mitch said. “I’ve stashed a truck near the back road but on the Thomas property. I can drive one of the ATV’s out there and then take the truck to go to the hangar.

  “Good. We may need that girl, if for no other reason than to call Carter and confirm that she is alive and starting a new life somewhere else,” Montgomery said.

  “Yeah, we may need to do that but not right away, we don’t want to seem like we are reacting to their accusations,” Mitch said.

  “Well get her some food and something to drink, she’s no good to us dead, not right now, anyway,” Montgomery said.

  Mitch left. He went out to the garage and got an ATV and climbed in and headed up into the vineyards. After several miles he pulled up to a fence and got out. He pulled the fence back and went through with the ATV. Then he closed up the fence again. He was now on Thomas property. He went a little farther along until he came to a truck that was parked behind some trees and close to the road that ran behind both the Vineyard and the Thomas property. He left the ATV jumped in the truck and headed a short distance until he was able to pull onto the road that ran along the back of both properties. He headed for the airport. If they were watching the main entrance to the winery, they were none the wiser. He pulled into a fast food drive-thru and picked up a burger and a drink then continued on to the airport and over to the deserted hangar. He opened the door and drove the truck in and parked the vehicle inside next to Lexi’s SUV.

  He waited and within about ten minutes there was a knock on the door. It was a woman She didn’t look much like Lexi but she was blonde and about the same age and height. He gave her an envelope with money in it, a handbag and some articles of clothing and the keys to Lexi’s SUV plus Lexi’s credit card. He instructed her about where she should drive to and to get fuel at least four times before leaving the vehicle at a prearranged destination. There, he told her she would get the balance of her fee.

  Once she had left, Mitch went down the stairs to the basement and unlocked the door to the room where Lexi was being held. He flipped on the light.

  “Hungry?” he said holding up the bag that contained the burger.

  “Yes,” she said squinting against the light. “I need to go to the bathroom, so does Tucker.”

  “Fuck,” he said. He threw the bag down on the table.

  He came over to Lexi and cut the zap strap that held her hands together. He untied her from the pipe and then went to untie the dog. Tucker let out a low growl.

  “You better control him or I will shoot him now,” Mitch said.

  “Tucker, no,” Lexi said. “It’s okay boy.”

  The dog stopped. Mitch moved forward again and untied the dog and shoved the end of the rope to Lexi, which she took. He pushed her ahead of him and across the basement to the stairway and up the stairs then pointed to a bathroom a few steps away.

  “Take the dog with you,” he said.

  Lexi took Tucker and went in to the bathroom. It was disgusting and she wondered if the toilet would even flush. Thankfully it did and she was able to run some water to wash her hands. She looked around for anything that she could use as a weapon but Mitch pounded on the door.

  “Hurry up,” he said.

  “Can we please take Tucker outside to pee?” she said when she came out.

  “Okay, but it better be quick and anything smart and I will shoot him on the spot, you got it?” Mitch said. “Got it,” she said.

  They went out a side door that Mitch unlocked and Lexi walked Tucker along the side of the warehouse. It was dark and she could barely see where she was walking. The dog relieved himself and she turned around and walked back. Lexi wished she could run or shout to someone but she was afraid that Mitch would follow through on his threat and kill the dog.

  They went back inside and Lexi walked with Tucker back down the stone stairs and across into the room with Mitch behind her holding a gun on the two of them the whole time. When they got to the room he tied them both up again. Then he put the drink on the floor next to her and threw the bag in her lap and left turning out the light and locking the door.

  Lexi fumbled in the dark, hands bound together to try to remove the burger from the bag. She took a few bites and then gave the rest to Tucker. Then she had some of the drink and then
let him drink the rest. It wasn’t much but it would do for the time being. She found it impossible to get comfortable being tied up and on the cold damp floor. Her arms and shoulders ached and she was frightened of what creatures might come crawling by. She did her best to lie down and she rested her head against Tucker’s side, the soft fur making a pillow of sorts.

  27

  At ten pm Carter got a call from the Sherriff. It was dark and there had been nothing to see for hours but a couple of cars that had driven along this ostensibly deserted road. He was exhausted and a bundle of nerves all at the same time.

  “Carter, I’m sending one of my deputies over to relieve you.”

  “I’m okay, really,” Carter said. “I just can’t believe no one has left the place at all.”

  “I know, they must be waiting us out,” he said. “I’ve got men checking on every empty building starting at the south end of town and so far we have found nothing. It’s possible they have her stashed out of town somewhere.”

  “I guess it is but wouldn’t it be easier for them to have her nearby?” Carter said. “Plus, I would bet they don’t want anyone else involved.”

  Carter was reluctant to leave but he had to admit he had been nodding off in the last half hour. It was only about five minutes and an unmarked car pulled alongside and a deputy got out. Carter got out of the rental and climbed in the other vehicle.

  When he got home he made himself a sandwich and opened a beer. It was nearly eleven p.m. Where was Lexi and would they find her in time? He should try to get some sleep he supposed but couldn’t imagine how he would sleep. He set his watch for six a.m. and he got in bed. Carter tossed and turned for a short time but then the exhaustion of the past few days hit him and he was out.

  When he woke it was because of a bad dream and in it Lexi was crying. He was totally unnerved and felt sick to his stomach. It was just before six. He got up and he put some coffee on. Then he took a quick shower to revive himself and then grabbed some toast and a cup of the coffee.