by Patricia Fry
Meanwhile, Savannah embraced Michael. When he pulled back, he said, “You look tired. Are you sure you’re okay?”
She nodded and hugged him again.
The two men acknowledged Craig, then Margaret, who asked, “What are you doing here? How’d you get here, anyway? Did you fly in or drive all night?”
“We drove,” Michael said. He glanced at Bud. “When he said he was driving down here—that he couldn’t wait to see Brianna—well, I knew I wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep. So, here we are.”
“Have you had breakfast?” Craig asked.
“No, are you buying?” Michael quipped.
“I’m starved,” Brianna said.
“Well, let’s go get us a nice big omelet, shall we?” Craig suggested.
Before they could finish gathering their belongings, there was another knock at the door. Michael looked out a window and announced, “It’s the police.”
Craig opened the door.
“Hello, I’m Sergeant Belnap and this is Officer Johanson.”
“Detective Craig Sledge,” he said, shaking hands with the men. “Are you still holding them? I got word just after midnight that you arrested Bruce Carter and his sidekick, Pablo.”
“Yes sir,” Belnap said. “We need the victim to come to the station and ID them.”
“Gladly,” Brianna said. She looked at the officers pleadingly. “Can I have breakfast, first?”
Without waiting for a response, Craig motioned to the officers. “Come in, won’t you?”
He used his foot to block Rags from moving any closer to the door. “Don’t want to lose this cat.”
As they stepped inside, Johanson looked down at Rags. “You’re traveling with a cat?”
“Yeah,” Craig said, “he’s my partner.” When the officer looked confused, Craig added,
“You’ve heard of a police dog, well, he’s my police cat.” He pointed at Rags. “That there’s a feline unit.”
The officers simply stared down at Rags.
“He’s not kidding,” Brianna said. “The cat led the detective to that awful chicken coop where that low-life was holding me.” She shook her head. “I couldn’t believe my eyes when Rags showed up yesterday evening.” She looked at Savannah. “Did Bruce steal him?”
Margaret laughed. “No, she gave Rags to him.”
Brianna looked puzzled, then said, “Well, evidently you forgot to tell him not to turn the cat loose. I suppose he thought Rags was an ordinary cat who would stick around the yard chasing butterflies and lizards.” She looked at Savannah. “Hey, what was that ugly thing around his neck, anyway? Did you put that on him or did that idiot do it?”
Savannah faced her sister. “We put it on him. Don’t tell me that you…” She tilted her head, her voice was shrill. “Bri, you’re not the one who took it off him, are you?”
“Yeah, it looked like it was choking him. What was that thing, anyway?”
“A GPS unit designed to help us find you. And you took it off him?” Savannah shrieked.
Brianna put her hands up to her mouth. “Oh no. I didn’t know. Yes, I did. I took it off. Oh my gosh, I’m my own worst enemy, aren’t I?”
“But it should have continued sending a signal, even if he wasn’t wearing it,” Craig explained.
Brianna lowered her head shamefully. “Not after the horse stepped on it and the goats chewed on it.” She squinted at Craig. “So you put that on him and gave him to Bruce so you’d know where to find me?” When the others nodded, she hesitated, then asked, “Then how did you find me?”
“Well, there were many factors involved.” Savannah glanced at Craig, then Margaret. “Right guys?”
“Yeah,” Margaret said, “it had to do with a whistle and…”
Officer Johanson furrowed his brow. “A whistle?”
“Yes,” Savannah said. She turned to Brianna. “And your brilliant Geronimo shout.”
“And don’t forget Rochelle’s vision of animals and striped birds,” Margaret added.
“That’s right.” Savannah glanced at Craig. “Of course, we couldn’t have done it without Detective Craig’s amazing cleverness.”
Brianna smiled at the detective, then rushed forward and enveloped him in a bear hug. She turned back to Savannah and frowned. “What about my Geronimo shout? What did you mean by that?”
“Uh, well—you know, when you yelled out that word, I have to admit, it took me a while, but then I remembered that kitten we had. We got it from some people at that ranch, didn’t we? Isn’t that why you shouted Geronimo, to give me a clue about where you were?”
Brianna shook her head solemnly. “No. A cat, huh? Oh, I vaguely recall a cat named Geronimo, but I sure didn’t remember that place. Vannie, I think I was at summer camp when you and Mom brought that cat home.”
Savannah put her hands up to her mouth. “Then why…?”
“Why did I holler Geronimo? Well, I guess you had to be there, but they kept me pretty much confined to a small basement room in what I called the chicken coop and, in order to get in there, I had to jump down onto a bale of hay, then onto the floor. On those few occasions when they’d take me out, I’d always holler, Geronimo when they’d make me go back in there.”
“Holy cow,” Margaret said.
“Well, I’ll be,” Craig muttered.
Bud took Brianna in his arms. “Whatever it took. I’m just awfully glad to see you.”
Brianna wrapped her arms around him. “And just in the nick of time. I do believe he was going to kill me and feed me to the cows.” She could no longer hold back her tears.
“Okay,” the sergeant said, “go have your breakfast and we’ll expect you at the station in about an hour. Do you know where the station is?”
“Sure do,” Craig said. “See you there.”
****
The grateful group enjoyed a hearty breakfast together along with lively banter. But it didn’t take long for the subject to become serious.
“What I want to know, Brianna, is who else was involved?” Craig asked. “From what I understand, Bruce Carter isn’t exactly ringleader material.”
Brianna looked across the table at the detective. When she hesitated, Bud took her hand in his and rubbed it affectionately with his thumb. She tightened her grip on his hand before saying, “I’ll fill in the details—as I know them—when we go to the station, but basically, I’m not exactly sure. I guess it’s going to take some detective work to figure it out—unless that idiot or his sidekick confesses under pressure, which is certainly likely.”
“We heard that you rode in the baggage compartment of an airplane,” Margaret said quietly.
“Yeah. I thought we were going on one of those awful jungle challenges—me, Jeannie, and Tori. They were always creeping us out with little surprises like that. Man, was it cold, noisy, and uncomfortable in there. I don’t know where our leaders were.”
Margaret studied her younger niece. “So where did they take you?”
“To catch a plane to LA.” She grinned. “We got seats in that plane.”
“Yeah, flying at 30,000 feet is a whole lot colder than flying at, say, a couple of thousand feet,” Michael said.
“So how did you get hooked up with Bruce?” Savannah asked. “He didn’t go on the trip with you, did he?”
Brianna took a sip of orange juice. “No. He drove the shuttle. He took us to the office from the airport when we arrived for the trip May twentieth, then back to the airport to meet the rest of the group for our flight out of the country.” She frowned. “Hey, wait a minute—I left my phone and iPad at the office. We couldn’t take any of that stuff with us. Bruce could see that I was worried about my stuff—I mean, I have messages in my phone from patients and other doctors I’ve consulted with. That stuff can’t get into the wrong hands. Bruce said he would put my things in Paul’s office. I need to go back there and get it,” she said.
“I’ll send someone over there to pick it up,” Craig
said. He walked away from the table to make a call. When he returned, he said, “If we’re lucky, it’ll be waiting for you at the police station when we get there.”
“It’s Sunday,” Savannah said. “They aren’t open on Sunday, are they?”
“With a search warrant, they are,” Craig insisted. He focused on Brianna again. “Did this Bruce fellow seem to be paying any special attention to you?”
She widened her eyes. “Oh yes. He was quite the Johnny-on-the-spot before I left on the trip—a sort of personal assistant or something. Later, I found out why—he must have been obsessed with me.” She tilted her head. “Although, like you said, I always sensed that he wasn’t in charge—that he was working for someone.” She winced. “I mean, he isn’t all that bright.”
“Do you have any idea who he was taking orders from?” Craig asked.
“I never figured that out for sure, but I kind of suspect it was Paul.” She shook her head. “It’s hard for me to believe that Paul would do such a thing. He comes across as such a clean-cut, honest fellow, but who else could it be?”
“Indeed,” Craig agreed. He spoke more quietly now. “Brianna, did you tell Bruce or Paul anything about your family, the fact that you’re a doctor…things like that?”
“Oh, yeah, I guess I did. I bragged about my medical practice and Savannah’s beautiful life in that big house and how well our dad had done in business. Why?”
Craig cringed. “I suppose that’s where they got the idea to extort money from your wealthy family.”
She brought her hands up to her face. “Oh no. Do you really think so?” She glanced at the others. “I had no idea. Oh my gosh. I was just so bored and I missed you all so much that I guess I did too much talking.” She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them. She sighed. “What an idiot I am. So you think it was me who caused this whole thing?” She started to cry and Bud put his arm around her.
After a few moments, Savannah asked, “So Bri, did you leave the trip early? We heard that you…”
“Yes, I sure did. But not because I wanted to. And, as you know, I didn’t get very far.”
When she saw the others waiting to hear more, she said, “Well, I found out later that Tori’s husband paid to have her delivered to LAX. He was going to meet up with her after he finished the trip. They put me and a gal named Jeannie on the plane with her. When I discovered that they were sending me back to LA, I confided in Tori that, while I was ready to leave the jungle, I wasn’t ready to go home. And she invited me to spend a few days with her in her Beverly Hills home. But that didn’t happen. Once we landed, Bruce met us…” She squinted as if trying to remember something. “Actually, he met us at the baggage claim. When we went out to get into the shuttle, he shuffled the other two women onto a different shuttle driven by someone I didn’t know. I was the only one riding with Bruce. He poured me a drink—you know, to celebrate having survived the trip and…” She seemed to be thinking for a moment, then said, “The next thing I knew I was living with the chickens.”
“So they drugged you?” Michael asked.
“I guess so.”
“Brianna, did you ever see Paul Carter again?” Craig asked. “Did he come out to the…um ranch while you were there?”
She shook her head. “Not that I know of. No, I never saw him again.”
“Do you know who owns the ranch?” Bud asked. “Does it belong to this Paul guy or Bruce?”
She shook her head. “I got the impression that Bruce is a caretaker for the place and that the owners are on an extended vacation.”
“Ranchers who can go on an extended vacation?” Bud asked, disbelieving. “How many animals do they have, anyway?”
“Just a handful of barnyard critters,” Brianna said, “and a few emus. I guess they’re sort of downsizing.”
“So you never saw anyone else around the place except Bruce and this Pablo, right?” Craig asked.
Brianna thought about it for a moment before saying, “I heard cars come in at night sometimes and I heard voices. But I wasn’t in a position to see what was going on out in the driveway area. There’s one voice, though, that I’ll never forget. Yeah, if I ever hear it again, I’ll recognize it for sure. Always, after I’d hear that voice, Bruce seemed kind of nervous, like he was afraid of something.”
“And you don’t know who that was?” Craig asked. “Did Bruce give any indication as to why he was frightened?”
She shook her head. “But I can tell you that guy always sounded mad to me—enraged, even.” Her eyes welled up and her voice became a mere squeak, “I can’t be sure, but I had the feeling that guy wanted Bruce to kill me.”
Bud held her as she wept.
Once Brianna had gained control of her emotions, Craig said, “Brianna, I know this isn’t easy, but I want you to think hard about what you saw and especially what you heard. Maybe someone called out a name or Bruce hinted at something that might lead us to who was behind this.”
She nodded. “I’ll try.”
“Did you ever meet the owners of the company?”
“No. They work out of New York.” She grinned. “Tori told me that she met Mr. Goff once and that he was a gruff SOB.” She laughed. “Those were her words.”
Craig pursed his lips and squinted at Brianna. “Well, I think we should call on Mr. Goff in New York.”
“Not me,” Brianna said. “I’m not having anything more to do with that company, ever. I’m going home to live the most boring life I can.”
Bud laughed. “You boring? I don’t think you’re capable of boring.” He kissed her cheek. “But yeah, I would love to see you ratchet it down just a bit.”
“Only if you ratchet it up a little. I mean, I wouldn’t mind going out dancing or to a wine festival or museum once in a while.”
“Deal,” he said, smiling.
****
A couple of hours later, Savannah said into her phone, “Mom, we’re on our way home. Tell Lily we’ll be there to tuck her into bed tonight.”
“Oh, she’ll be so happy. So will Teddy. Vannie, I do believe he’s grown since you left.”
“I’ve only been gone for three days. I can’t wait to see him.”
“I can’t wait to see Brianna.”
“She’s with Bud. She’ll probably stop by there.”
“Where’s Maggie?”
“Here with us in my car. Craig stayed behind to make sure the case against Bruce sticks.”
“Bruce?”
“He’s the guy who was holding Brianna hostage.” She was quiet for a moment. “But there may have been someone else involved.”
“Why do you say that?” Gladys asked. “Why would anyone create an elaborate plan to extort money from our family? It’s not like we’re wealthy or anything.”
Savannah chuckled. “I guess Bri made it sound like we are.”
“Huh? Why would she do that?”
“I don’t know, Mom. Just careless, I guess. Anyway, Bruce, the one who was caught with her…well, he just didn’t seem too bright to me. And Craig thinks his brother could have been the brains behind the plot. Craig stayed in LA to pursue that possibility.”
“So do you know what your sister’s plans are?”
“Yes, I think she’s ready to settle down with the man who seems to adore her—quirks and all. And guess what, Mom?”
“What?”
“I heard her ask Bud if she could raise some goats.”
“What? Why?”
“I guess she became acquainted with some while she was held captive and she fell in love. She formed an attachment to a goat named Butthead and a couple of chickens.”
“Will wonders never cease,” Gladys murmured. “Are you sure it’s my baby girl you’re bringing home?”
Savannah laughed. “Sure is. Here, your sister will confirm it,” she said, handing the phone to Margaret.
After ending the call, Savannah noticed she’d received a text from Marci. She read it to herself
. I hope everything is okay with your sister. When you get a chance, I’d like to talk to you. I have ID’d the family by going back through old newspapers. The boy was in critical condition after the accident. I didn’t find anything else. God, I hope he didn’t die. The cat I told you about was his therapy cat. He had some sort of chronic illness. They never did find the cat. Can we talk?
Savannah texted back. Brianna is safe. We’re on our way home. I’ll call when we stop for gas. Hang on. I’m sure everything will be okay.
****
A few hours later, Michael pulled into a gas station. “Want something to drink?” he asked as he parked next to a gas pump.
“Sure,” Margaret said.
Savannah slipped on her shoes and picked up her purse. “I’ll meet you inside, Auntie. I’m going to the little girl’s room.” After leaving the restroom, she walked around to the side of the building and made a phone call. “Marci, it’s Savannah.”
“Oh, Savannah. Thank you for calling. I’m out of my mind with worry that I killed that little boy.”
“Marci, let’s try to stay calm. Don’t you think that if the worst had happened, it would have been reported in the newspaper?”
“I suppose.”
“Do you have a name?”
“Yes. But the family doesn’t seem to be listed in the phone book. And I can’t find them on the Internet. Oh, Savannah, I just want to make sure they’re okay so I can move on with my life.”
“I know, Marci.”
“Savannah, the boy was on his way home from a Boy Scout event when…”
“Well, there you go,” Savannah said.
“What?”
“Check with the local scouting organization and see if you can find the family through them.”
“Oh, I never thought of that. See, I’m so rattled, I’m not thinking straight. I’m not sleeping…”
Savannah hesitated. “Marci, this is not about you anymore. If you truly want to make things right, let’s focus on the boy and his family. You must be strong so you can think more clearly and take care of this before…”