“Not right away, no. I wandered around some. Did a lot of recuperating and therapy. You think I limp now; you should have seen me then. But, yes, I finally wound up in Padre. I just couldn’t do the Mexican thing, but I got as close to the border as I could. Really thought I was safe. They didn’t have a description of me, just a name.”
“So, why didn’t you change your name?”
“Stubborn I guess — some pride. And I thought I was invincible. Actually, I wasn’t too worried; from what I could gather — and the home office did keep me informed — Masud was busy blowing up things all over and teaching terrorism out in the desert. He couldn’t keep tabs on me, but we knew who he was, and the government kept a close watch on him.”
“So, you were safe until you came back to England?”
“Right. My mother really was ill. Well, you saw her; I don’t have to tell you.”
“She looked good, actually, until I mentioned your name.”
“Isn’t she great? She was an actress here on the stage before she married my father. That’s how we get to sit here and be undisturbed. She’s still a patron of the theater.”
Sledge slid over the arm of the couch and stretched his long legs in front of him as he situated himself on the couch. “Turns out, someone’s been keeping a watch out for Harry for Masud. Although he was discreet when he returned, this spy told Masud that Harry was back. They’d been keeping a watch on his mother’s house, you see. But they also followed him to Wigmore Street.”
I nodded slowly. “I’m beginning to understand now. To keep Masud away, you faked your death?”
“Yes, and I couldn’t get in touch with Al — he’s living in Saint Louis now, by the way — and he sent you the key.”
“Her Majesty’s government informs me you’re dead, I did like you said, sent the key to the dog at Honey’s. Put that sucker in the mail two hours before Harry calls to say he’s okay.”
“And you came to Fort Worth . . . and I found you at Bondesky’s looking for . . . what?”
“The key to Wigmore Street. Harry said this Bondesky had it, and first I should get it from him. How did I know the guy would go bonkers and take a powder? Anyway, you found the key first, so I just stuck around and kept an eye on you like Harry said to do.”
“And that’s why Bailey liked you so much? He knew you from when you visited Harry? And you’d already taught him that trick, hadn’t you? But, why did you mail the key to him and not to me?”
“My idea,” answered Harry. “It was meant to be a last joke between us, Honey, something to make you smile when you remembered me. Steven Bondesky had all the hard answers, the legal ones, but with him gone, the joke backfired, and you became more involved than I ever wanted you to be. Also, it was meant to throw Masud off track. I didn’t know then if he knew about you or not.” He got up and came to sit on the arm of my chair, his fingers lightly brushing the thin red scars on my face. He said angrily, “Turns out he did know about you, didn’t he? Honey, I ‘m so sorry you got caught up in this.”
I didn’t like the look in Harry’s eyes, so I turned to Sledge as I put two and two together. “And the note on Bailey’s dog food bowl?”
Sledge raised his hand. “Me. Didn’t know the damned thing ripped. I went in Harry’s in the dark. Thought I got it all. Figured if you didn’t find anything, you’d just head back to Fort Worth.”
“And you did kill that man in the hurricane?”
“Didn’t mean to. Meant to just disarm him. I was waiting around outside to make sure you and Janie were safe, when I saw him approach the bookstore. There was a hurricane going on, if you remember. I recognized him as one of Masud’s stateside recruits. Guess I hit him harder than I thought. I think he drowned though; I don’t think he died from me hitting him. Not directly. And, Honey, I’m sorry about the kidnapping, too. We didn’t know that Masud was watching the airport for you. They got your picture from Harry’s apartment. I’m not a very good bodyguard, am I? Actually, I’m a lawyer in Saint Louis.”
“Sledge?”
“Yes?”
“Where’s my microwave?”
THIRTY–SIX
I’d returned to Wigmore Street about six to find Janie ecstatic about Henry I and Minnie trying on a new outfit from Liberty’s.
“Henry is so exciting, Honey. He died from overeating. He reminds me of Twyman Towerie in that respect. Think what fun I’ll have with that in the book. Oh, and his daughter Matilda, now that’s a character for you.”
“They had this fab sale at Liberty’s, Honey, we’ve all got to go tomorrow. Oh, and I’m going to the theater with Edmund tonight. He got comp tickets to The Phantom. Bless his heart, I didn’t have it in me to tell him I’ve seen it twenty times in three countries. Have ya’ll seen it? We’ll go tomorrow night after we shop.”
“We’re running a little low on cash to be shopping, not to mention what a play would cost,” I reminded Minnie.
“Pooh, I’ve got millions, and it will be my treat. One head-to-toe outfit for both of you. And I get to choose them. Don’t give me that look, Honey Huckleberry. If it makes you feel better, you can pay me back when you find your money again, and did I mention that I won’t be coming home tonight?”
“Oh, no.”
“What? Silly, it’s just Edmund. He’s so down over not getting a part in the new play today, I thought . . . well . . . I thought I’d just cheer him up.”
“That part is fine; it’s the not being home that worries me. I have to go out, too. I’m having dinner with the Dragon Flight representatives.” It gagged me to lie to them again. “That will leave Janie here alone.”
Janie mimicked Minnie. “Pooh, I’ll be just fine. I have Henry the Very First to keep me company. I’m tired, anyway. I’ll just take a bath and snuggle in and maybe get into the mood for writing by emulating Henry. There’s pimento cheese and chocolate cake and tons of fresh fruit here. I’ll just take a crash course in overeating.” She headed back toward the bathroom. “Honey, you never did tell us for sure when you’re meeting with Harry.”
I gagged again. “Tomorrow. Tomorrow for sure.”
“Well, I hope so,” she called out from the bathroom. “There’s still a lot I don’t understand.”
Minnie pulled a black stocking up her mile-high leg, “Me, either. And that Masud? Harry thinks he’s no problem anymore? That’s what you said.” She was wearing gold Capri pants and a scarlet silk top. I hoped I lived through the night to go shopping with her tomorrow. Anything Minnie picked out was sure to beat those Peter Pan collared things my mother always chose.
Before I had to gag again, there was a knock on the door. Minnie arched her eyebrows at me, but I wouldn’t open the door until I found out who it was. “It’s only Edmund, silly,” she said.
They left for dinner and the theater while I sat down at the dining table and opened my laptop. The problem was, I didn’t know who to tell my story to.
Finally, I E-mailed Evelyn Potter.
Dear Evelyn, I hope you and Kantor are enjoying the house. Yes, I agree it’s a strange place to live, but I wish I were there right now. We’re having an interesting time here. Janie has decided to write a novel, and tell Kantor he better hurry with his book, or Janie will knock him off the best-seller list. Ha ha. She is thoroughly engrossed in research for the book. Minnie, whom you’ve never met, is dating Edmund, whom you’ve never met. He’s our driver and an actor. Although the latter description is still to be proven.
That’s all the news here.
Well, there is this one thing.
I told you we had found Harry alive and well. That’s not exactly true. He’s alive all right, but still pursued by the men who kidnapped me. I did tell you about the kidnapping, didn’t I? The scars are healing and makeup covers my eye, which has turned yellow. Anyway, I’m sure this is boring to you, but I wanted someone to know what’s going on.
I’m going out tonight to lure Masud (the kidnapper) to Harry. Now, before you go getting excited, it w
as my idea, not Harry’s. I had a hard time convincing him that I could be bait to catch Masud. I had help from Sledge Hamra. Did I tell you that he has turned out to be a good guy? And, oh, yes, you will find the key to a storage locker over on Magnolia Avenue under the red Fosteria lamp on the side table in the living room. All my stuff is there, the microwave, TV, etc. Sledge took them as a poor excuse to make us think he was really broke and crooked. He and Harry thought if I knew who Sledge really was, I’d come looking for Harry. Which, of course, is what I did anyway. I’d appreciate it if Kantor could collect the stolen goods that weren’t stolen after all. I’ll pay him back when I come home. That is, if I have money. Have you heard from Bondesky?
Guess that’s it then.
If we don’t stop Masud tonight, he will eventually kill Harry. No one should have to live like that, do you think?
One more thing: If anything happens to me, which it won’t of course, please note that I want everything I have to go to Janie. The money, too, if Bondesky can find it. Give my love to Steven Hyatt, but please don’t tell him a word of this. And hug Bailey for me.
Hope I haven’t worried you.
Love, Honey Huckleberry
p.s. Didn’t mean to be so formal. I said Honey Huckleberry so that if you need to show this to some lawyer, it will be legal. Bye for good now.
Janie came back into the living room, a glass of milk and a slice of cake in her hand. She was wearing a large, white cotton gown and her face was shiny from her Ponds cream. “Oops, I thought you were gone. You caught me. Yes, I’m eating my dessert first. It won’t matter in the long run, now will it?”
I looked at her fondly. It might well be the last time I saw her. My eyes misted with tears.
“Okay, then. If it means so much to you, I’ll fix a sandwich first. Geesh.”
I stopped her as she turned toward the kitchen. “No, no, sweetie, you eat your cake. I was just thinking how much I love you. How much you’ve come to mean in my life. I’m glad you came to live with me, Janie.”
“Are you sure? I can do pimento first. And I love you, too, Honey. Honey, is something wrong? Are you all right?”
I was saved from another lie by the phone in the hall. I answered on the second ring to hear Minnie’s hysterical voice. “Honey, thank God. I swear I saw those Masud goons outside the building. I just knew they had you again. I want you to bar the door with something, maybe the dining table, and call the police.”
“Where are you?” I asked.
“At the theater. Edmund and I came on here, but we can come back. The more I thought about those men outside Wigmore Street, the more worried I became.”
“Minnie, I assure you, Harry told me on the tube that Masud wasn’t a danger anymore. He . . . he . . . he’s being watched. And there are lots of Arabs in London, haven’t you noticed? I’m sure you didn’t see Masud. And everything is just fine here. Go, enjoy your play.” Well, shoot, if I didn’t have to tell a lie in the living room, I had to tell one in the hall.
Minnie hung up only after I reassured her for the tenth time that I would cancel my dinner with the book reps and stay right in the flat with Janie.
“Who was that on the phone?” Janie wanted to know.
“The representative from Dragon Flight, confirming our plans for tonight,” I told her. I was getting so good at lying my stomach didn’t even flip-flop.
I picked up my purse and started out the door.
“Aren’t you going to change your clothes? You wore that dress this afternoon when you met with them. And you’re really not going to wear that hat, are you? And you at least should put some more makeup on that eye.”
“Bye, Janie,” I said and left.
• • •
“Did you know that I looked it up on-line and that your name, Masud, means happy in your language?” I asked the man who took me by the elbow and ushered me to a curbside car. “I bet your mother wouldn’t be very happy to know what you’ve done with your life.”
Masud shoved me into the backseat and looked around for witnesses. “I never knew my mother,” he said as he joined me in the backseat.
“Why does that not surprise me?” I muttered under my breath as the car eased into the London traffic.
THIRTY–SEVEN
Oh, how Harry had argued, vehemently and violently that in no way, shape, or fashion was I to be involved in catching Masud.
“Well, you could go stand on a street corner and say, ‘Hey, Massie, I’m over here. Come and get me.’ But then that might involve a lot of innocent bystanders, ’cause sure as shootin’, he’d be coming with guns loaded,” said Sledge. “And not only that, you’ve already tried to lure him out in the open when you hired on as bartender at the Royal Raven.”
“Couldn’t the military help?” I asked.
“They are, Honey, but this man has more hidey holes than your B’rer Rabbit. I hear what you’re saying, Al. If I show myself to them, they’ll just shoot me and whoever is in the way. That’s what would have happened if they had recognized me at the Raven; I know that now. I was just so desperate to get them away from Honey.”
We’d sat in the theater for another hour or so making plans and discarding them. Finally, Harry gave in to the one Sledge and I thought was the best. “It’s against all my inclinations that I agree. I want you two to know that. I would never, ever use a woman to set a trap.”
“She’s going to be just fine, Harry. It’s you Masud wants. And I’ll be there, and we’ll be forewarned and armed. You’ve just got to remember to duck, Honey.”
We spent some more time getting me to memorize the directions to Harry’s country home. Given my sense of directions, that was no easy task, but eventually I could cite the correct route to the house.
Of course, I forgot it by the time I was seated by Masud himself. I was so caught up in the pretense of acting that I was reluctant to give them the information, that I honestly couldn’t remember if it was M2 or M20 that led the way to Harry. All I could scream — when the man in the front seat drew the knife, I remembered so well was, “The country. He’s in the country. At his mother’s house in the country.” I was very relieved that they knew where the house was; the front-seat goon pocketed the knife, and Masud sat back, grinning. I must have given a convincing performance. They stopped at a phone box and made some calls and after some nods, got back in the car and we were on our way to what I hoped was the final adventure.
I regretfully watched as the lights of London receded; here I was a tourist and hadn’t even gotten to enjoy the sights. “O rare, Honey Huckleberry,” I whispered as we sped southward.
Exhausted by the day’s events, I fell into a semi-sleep in which I kept reciting, “Walks like a duck, talks like a duck, must be a duck. Duck. Duck.” I was horrified on returning to reality to find that I had fallen over on the shoulder of Masud, who was sound asleep, snoring loudly, no doubt dreaming of his own ducks.
“That’s Harry’s house?” I asked with some surprise. Lord, it was a castle. No, I corrected myself; it was a gorgeous Georgian house with lots of rooms. Lots and lots of rooms. Harry had told me that his grandfather had bought the house in the late ‘30s and although it dated back for ages and ages, the real castle was just over the hill.
“This is where we find Harry Armstead, yes?”
“No. Oh, wait; don’t go getting excited on me. He’s here, but not in the house. He’s been hiding out in the old ruins. You can’t drive there. You have to walk through the gardens behind the house. The ruins are just over that hill. They’re kinda on a bluff.” I spoke as if I knew what I was talking about, but I had never set eyes on this place before. As long as Masud believed me, it didn’t matter.
“I can wait here,” I told him, trying one of the safety ploys Harry had urged, but Masud grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled me out of the car. “Or I can go with you.”
We crossed over the lawn and through the back gardens. Ordinarily, I would have been agog at the sight. Even under these circumst
ances, I couldn’t resist saying, “Would you look at this? It’s a white garden. That means that everything that blooms here is a white flower. It’s made for moonlit nights like this, don’t you think?” My mouth was going faster than my legs, which was a sure indication to me that I was scared stiff.
But even the terrorists were struck dumb by the sight of the castle silhouetted against the moonlit sky. We scrambled across the low stone wall and stood and looked at the building, which had defied time and seemed to me to exist only for tonight and tonight’s affair. It loomed three stories tall, and the moon shone through the tall, arched windows, making it seem alive and waiting.
Masud pushed me forward, toward the castle keep. I stumbled over a loose stone and, as I caught myself on the terrorist’s arm, I looked back at the main house. A car was coming up the drive. The military, I thought. Harry did call for backup. Hope Masud doesn’t see it. I recovered from my stumble and ran toward the castle. The three men followed, never looking back.
There was a long, low building next to the tower, but it was dark and uninviting. Instinctively, we entered the high archway of the keep, where suddenly the moon failed us. The man who was the driver turned on his flashlight. It only gave a weak glow in the dark entrance, but he motioned for me to go first up the stone steps that led up the tower. Then he held his finger to his lips, a reminder for me to be silent in my ascent.
I tried, but I stumbled and made more noise than my escorts liked. One shook me by the shoulder, warning me. Oh, yeah, I thought. Like you three don’t sound like elephants. It’s not easy climbing castle steps in silence.
When we reached the first landing, Masud held me back, and one of the men explored the two rooms that opened out onto the stairs. He returned, shaking his head, and so we continued upward.
The second landing was larger than the first, and fallen boulders from the peak of the tower littered the area. The hole created by the fallen stones let in the moonlight. We could see clearly that there was only one door at the top of the keep. The door slowly opened, and all our eyes turned to it. The man with the knife started toward it, but Sledge Hamra scared us all by jumping from his dark hiding place behind the toppled stones. Sledge lunged for the terrorist leader, but the man with the knife was between them. Masud jerked me tightly against him. From below, I could hear the sounds of others running up the stairs. Please hurry, I gave a silent prayer to the rescuers below. This isn’t going well. The knife bearer intercepted Sledge, and they struggled on the floor. A gun went off.
The Complete Honey Huckleberry Box Set Page 50