by Patricia Fry
“Especially if we put red paint in the glue,” Adam said, laughing.
“Okay, okay,” Savannah said, “enough comments from the peanut gallery. We’re not going to booby-trap our yard. Why don’t you two go upstairs and play a board game or something.”
“Yeah Kira, wanna play Fibber or maybe Pictionary?” Adam asked, heading toward the house.
“Sure,” she said, skipping after him.
“That’s enthusiasm,” Craig said. “Too bad it’s wasted on kids.”
“So what will you do with that stuff?” Margaret asked. She laughed. “Wait for the kids to catch the thief?”
Craig scratched his head and stared down at the tabletop. “Make out another damn report, I guess.” He glanced out at the place where they’d found the items, then he scooped it all up into the bag. “Michael, let me know if you see anyone nosing around out there, will you?”
“Sure. Anyone or anything…” he quipped. He edged his phone out of his pocket and looked at it. “From Keith,” he said, walking away with the phone up to his ear.
When he returned several minutes later, Savannah took one look at him and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Huh? Oh, that was Keith.”
“Bad news?”
“Well, it’s nothing good, I guess.” When he noticed that she was waiting for more, he said, “Brandt Hanson is ill. Aggie and Keith are flying to Connecticut tonight.” When he noticed that their guests were engaged in their own conversations, he said more quietly, “Savannah, he wants me to come.”
“Keith does?”
“No, Brandt wants both Keith and me to come. He says he has something he must tell us before he…”
“He’s that ill?” Savannah asked.
Michael nodded. “I guess he is.” He took a quick breath. “Honey, I’d better make reservations.”
She ran her hand over his arm. “Okay. Oh, hon,” she said compassionately, “this must seem surreal to you. I mean, Brandt believes he’s your father—yours and Keith’s. And he has a deathbed message or confession for you? You must be…..”
“Well, I don’t know if you’d call it a deathbed confession. That’s a bit dramatic, don’t you think? But, yeah, I’m stunned. I don’t have the slightest idea what to expect or what I’m getting into.” He tapped on his phone a few times, then said, “I can get a flight out tonight.” He looked at his watch. “If I hurry. Or there’s one I can take first thing in the morning.” After thinking about it, he said, “Hon, I’d better go tonight. Keith made it sound…well, dire, I guess you’d say. And I would like to be there for Aggie. This has got to be hard for her. She’s already lost one son and now…”
“Okay, hon. Want me to help you pack?”
“No.” He glanced at their guests. “You stay here; they won’t even know I’ve left.” He started to walk away, then said, “I’ll go tell Adam. Dang, we planned to do a dad-son thing tomorrow—play a little football in the park, maybe.” He looked into space. “Which is something I never got to do with my dad, or my stepdad, or even my brother.” He chuckled guardedly. “Wish I knew who the real sperm donor was.” He started to walk away, then turned to Savannah again. “You know, what’s more important than the here and now and my relationship with my children? Savannah, I should stay and spend time with Adam while he’s here.”
She took his hand. “Michael, you may be talking life and death with Brandt. I think that…” she paused, “…if you don’t go, you may regret it. I think you should go.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll go tell Adam.”
“Mommy, baby Mary crawling,” Lily said excitedly when Savannah approached the large quilt where Lily and Rosemary played. Damon, Colbi, and Iris sat around the edges of the quilt watching the children.
“Oh look at that,” Savannah said, “she really is getting around well.” She addressed Colbi. “Better move the priceless heirlooms and expensive doodads to the top shelves.”
Damon laughed. “You mean the yard-sale art we’ve collected?”
Savannah took a peek at Teddy, who slept peacefully in Iris’s arms.
Iris smiled and squeezed the baby. “He’s such a sweetie. I love a cuddly baby.” She scowled playfully at Damon. “He was not a cuddly baby.”
Colbi grinned at her mother-in-law. “Well, he is now.”
Savannah looked around at their other guests and noticed Gladys in deep conversation with Edith and Oma. Max, Bud, and Gunther were stretched out on chaise lounges on the wraparound porch. Savannah sat down next to Craig, near where Brianna and Margaret were chatting. She asked, “Any news about who was behind the kidnapping?”
Craig looked at her inquisitively. “Didn’t she tell you?”
“What?” Savannah looked at her sister. “We haven’t seen her in a few days. She’s been in negotiations with Dr. Stevens, haven’t you, Bri? How’s that going?”
“Good! Better than I expected, even,” Brianna said, smiling. She waited for Craig to respond to Savannah’s original question.
He cleared his throat and shifted in his chair. “Well, as we expected, Brucie rolled all over big brother.”
“So you have Paul in custody?”
“Not yet. But we did find out a bit of interesting trivia.” When he saw Savannah and Brianna waiting for more, he said, “He and Bruce are related to the Goffs—the people who run the adventure company. We suspect they’ve hidden Paul Carter away on one of the tours. I’m flying out of the country tomorrow to have a face-to-face talk with the Goffs. I don’t think they’ll continue protecting sonny boy once they get wind of what’s really going on with him.” He hesitated. “…unless they’re all in on it.”
Savannah narrowed her eyes. “So you believe this wasn’t an isolated incident?”
“There’s evidence pointing in that direction. They found money hidden away in that bomb shelter at Carter’s house.” He chuckled. “Obviously, your cat doesn’t have a nose for money or he might have found it when we were there last week.”
“Gads, it seems like months ago that we were there,” Savannah said.
“Tell me about it,” Brianna remarked.
Savannah patted her sister’s hand, then looked at Craig. “So that underground cellar thing is being used as a vault, huh?”
He nodded, then slapped his hands against his knees and stood. “Well, I have an early morning plane to catch. Better go home and get some sleep.” Craig looked at the bag of loot they’d found. “…after I drop this off at the station.” He smirked playfully at Savannah. “Let’s hope they can find out who left these things on your property before you’re the one accused of shoplifting.”
“Not funny, Craig,” Savannah said when he began to laugh. She hugged him. “Be careful.” She stepped back. “Where are you going?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know if I’ll be wrestling crocs in the swamp or dodging hyenas in Africa or trying to outsmart cobras…”
“So you don’t know where you’re going?”
“Nope. I had to make plans to meet up with the group that just left, and it’s one of those mystery destinations.”
“Oh, so you’re going as a client of the company?” Savannah asked.
“Yes. I figured that was the only way I could get anywhere near those people.” He faced her. “Hey, gotta go. I’ll be in touch.”
“Where’s Michael?” Brianna asked.
Savannah winced. “He’s going out of town too—to Connecticut. His fa…er…well, Aggie’s son, Brandt, is ill and he has summoned Keith and Michael to his deathbed. At least that’s what it seems like. So Michael went in to pack and let Adam know he’s leaving.”
“His deathbed?” Brianna repeated. “Who is this Brandt fellow, anyway?”
“Well, he told Michael and Keith that he’s their father. Remember when we all went back to Connecticut so the brothers could try to get in touch with their roots and find out why they were separated at birth? They sort of stumbled upon the Hanson family an
d Brandt Hanson claimed that he was actually their father, although Brandt’s mother, Aggie, firmly believes that her now-deceased son, Scott, was their father.”
“Wow! And the brothers knew none of this growing up?”
“No. I guess Keith’s adoptive family told him he had a twin brother somewhere, but that’s all. Michael didn’t even know that.”
Just then, Michael returned carrying a suitcase. Adam and Kira followed behind him. When Savannah looked at him, he said, “Hon, I’ll have to leave now to catch my flight in San Francisco. Bud will take me to get a rental car; I don’t want to drive my vet truck to the airport. Anyway, I want to talk to him about a couple of cases I’ve been working on at the clinic.”
“Okay, hon,” she said. She wrapped her arms around him and he held her tightly for a few moments. “Be careful.”
He kissed her and nodded. Before stepping away, he called out to the others, “It’s been fun. You guys carry on. I have to go see a man about a dog and maybe find out more about who I am in the process.”
****
Savannah had been asleep that night for about three hours when she heard a child crying. She crawled out of bed and quickly checked on Teddy. Sleeping peacefully. When she heard it again and realized it was Lily, she turned on the hall light and walked into the toddler’s bedroom. “What’s wrong, sweet pea?” Savannah took her into her arms and held her close. “What is it, honey-bun? Too much excitement today? Got a tummy ache?”
Lily held tightly to Savannah’s neck and whimpered. After a few moments, the toddler said, “Buffy.”
Savannah turned and saw their Himalayan-mix cat sauntering into the room, blinking. “Hi, Buffy. Did we wake you, sweetie?”
“Buffy wake,” Lily said, still whimpering. She then pulled back and said, “I thirsty, Mommy.”
“Want some water?”
Lily nodded.
As Savannah walked with her into the kitchen, she noticed Rags standing on the cat perch, staring out the window. “Hi Rags,” she said, placing Lily on the counter next to her. “What do you see out there?” she asked offhandedly as she filled Lily’s sippy cup with water. She drank water from a glass she’d left on the countertop earlier, then picked up the toddler and walked toward Rags. “Do you see something out there?” she asked, gazing through the window. When Rags began to paw on the glass and turn in place on the perch, she squinted out into the darkness. Suddenly she gasped. “Who is that?”
She reached across the countertop and switched off the light so she could see outside more clearly. “Looks like a man,” she whispered. “I wonder who it is and what he’s doing.”
“Everything all right?” Gladys asked as she cautiously entered the kitchen.
“Oh!” Savannah yelped. “You scared the tar out of me.”
“Sorry,” Gladys said, chuckling a little. She moved toward the window. “What are you looking at?”
“There’s a man out there. We’d better call the sheriff.” Before moving away from the window, Savannah handed Lily to Gladys. She then retrieved her phone from the buffet around the corner in the dining room. “Nine-one-one?” she said. “I think we have a prowler. Or it could be a shoplifter—you know, a thief.”
“Is this a business, ma’am? Where are you located?”
“No, it’s a home at 33 Cranberry Way. This is Savannah Ivey.”
“You say this person has taken something from your property?”
“No. But it could be that he’s been bringing stolen goods here. Our cat…”
“Your cat, ma’am?” the operator repeated.
“Yeah, he found a stash of what appear to be items probably taken from local stores.”
“And you think the prowler left them there?”
“I can’t be sure,” Savannah said. More impatiently, she added, “Can you just send someone over, please, before he leaves?”
“They’re on their way, ma’am.”
“Oh, I think they’re here. Thank you,” she said, ending the call. She joined her mother and Rags at the window and whispered, “Is he still out there?”
Gladys shook her head. “I don’t see anyone.”
Suddenly there was a knock at the kitchen door. Savannah looked out and saw a uniformed officer standing on the porch. “Hello,” she said, opening the door. She glanced at Rags just as he leaped from the perch and slipped out through the door at a dead run. “Darn it!”
The officer promptly apologized. “Oh, sorry. He’s not supposed to go out?”
She shook her head. “No. It was my fault. I opened the door before making sure it was safe to. He’s a real escape artist. We have to be on our toes all the time.” She looked behind the officer and spoke quietly, “Is the man still out there?”
“No. There doesn’t appear to be anyone out here. Can you tell me where you saw him? Can you give us a description?”
Savannah looked over his shoulder into the orchard. “Just follow the cat.”
“Huh?” he asked, scratching his head.
“He saw the guy. That’s probably where he went just now—to where he saw him.”
“But ma’am…a cat…?” the officer started.
Before he could finish, another officer stepped up onto the porch. “Hi Savannah. Did you see where he went?”
“Hi, Ben. I was just saying that Rags will probably show you.”
“Oh, is he out here? I didn’t see him.”
She grimaced. “Yeah, he slipped past me.”
“Okay, which way did he go?” Ben asked.
“Probably out in that direction.” She pointed. “Look around that big pepper tree. That was probably the guy who’s been stashing stolen goods in a burrow out there.”
“Let’s go, Jones,” Ben said, turning to head back down the steps.
“Huh? We’re following a cat? Someone’s been stashing stolen goods?”
“Yeah, Sledge brought in a bunch of stuff this afternoon, probably shoplifted from that new strip mall and maybe other places. Come on.”
As Savannah watched the men head out to the orchard, she became aware of Lily’s little voice. “Mommy, Mommy.”
“Oh, honey, I’m right here,” she said, walking into the house and lifting the child. “Where’s Grammy?”
Lily pointed.
Savannah looked up to see Gladys returning to the kitchen with Teddy in her arms. “We have another thirsty baby,” she said, smiling. “Want to trade?” Gladys offered.
“Sure.”
When she started to lower Lily to the floor, the toddler drew her feet up and held tightly to Savannah. “No!” she shouted.
“Honey, Mommy has to feed baby Teddy. Would you like to help me feed baby Teddy?”
“No!” Lily said. “Gammy feed baby.”
“What’s everyone doing up?” Adam asked as he walked into the kitchen rubbing one eye. “Is it morning? It’s still dark outside.”
“Hi, buddy,” Savannah said. “Sorry to wake you. No, it’s not morning—well, not time to get up in the morning, anyway. What time is it, Mom?”
“Twelve thirty-five.”
Adam caught sight of the lights shining in the backyard. “Who’s out there?” he asked, running to the window for a closer look. “Hey, it’s the police. What are they doing here?”
“Well, we saw someone out there just now, so we called them to come check it out,” Savannah said. She chuckled. “Rags is out there showing them where you kids found all those things.”
Adam stared out into the yard for a few minutes. “I don’t see anyone but police. Did he get away?”
“I think he did. So they’re trying to figure out where he went.”
Adam laughed. “And Rags is helping them?”
“Yeah, he ran out the door when I opened it for the officers.”
“Can I go help them?” Adam asked.
“I don’t think so, buddy, unless we need help bringing Rags back in.” She tried to ease Lily down to the fl
oor again and realized the child was still tightly attached to her. “Hey, Adam, here’s something you can do. Want to see if you can get Lily interested in something? Baby brother’s hungry and Lily won’t let go of me.”
He stared at the toddler for a moment, then said, “Can she have one of those ice cream cups?”
“Hey, good thinking,” Savannah said. “Yeah, ask her.”
“Lily,” Adam said, “would you like ice cream? Come with me and I’ll get you an ice cream.” When she balked, he said, “We’ll have an ice cream party…you and me.” When he noticed that Kira had wandered into the kitchen, he added, “…and Kira. Want to have an ice cream party?”
Kira walked up to Savannah and held her hands out to Lily. “Come on, punkin-doodle. Let’s get ice cream.”
Lily fell happily into Kira’s arms and Savannah took Teddy from her mother. She draped a blanket over herself and Teddy and began feeding the hungry baby.
Just then, Ben knocked on the door. When Gladys opened it, he nodded, “Hello, ma’am.” He glanced around the room. “Looks like the whole household’s awake.” He cleared his throat. “We didn’t find anyone, although your cat tried to lead us into your neighbor’s yard.” He grimaced. “I’m afraid he went over the fence.”
“Darn it,” Savannah said.
“Yeah,” Ben apologized, “we don’t want to disturb those folks this time of night.”
“We’ll go get him,” Adam offered, while opening an ice cream cup for Lily and helping her get seated at her little table across from Kira.
Kira spoke up, “Yeah, I know the people there. They come to our new house and swim sometimes. Adam and I can probably go into their yard and get Rags without even waking them.”
Savannah thinned her lips. “Gosh, I don’t know if you two should be sneaking into a yard this late. But I sure don’t want to leave Rags outside all night.”
“What about treats?” Gladys asked. “Can you lure him with treats?”
“Maybe,” Savannah agreed. She then said, “Adam, get some of those treats he likes and see if you and Kira can get him to come back into our yard.”