Countdown

by Carey Baldwin

  Jill, who’d been poised on the edge of the conversation, moved back into the circle. “Are you trying to cut me out of this deal, Harold?”

  “No, honey. I promise.”

  Oh yeah. Lilly was doing her old man proud. Of course he and Caity would have to step in soon, but he was enjoying watching her in action.

  “I’m going to need more than just your word you won’t cut Jill out of any profits.” Lilly approached Jill and slung an arm around her. “Either you give your wife an equal cut in writing or there’s no deal. You both sign on the dotted line or you both walk away.”

  Jill put her arm around Lilly.

  Sisterly solidarity.

  “We both sign, Harold, or we both walk away,” Jill said.

  “Dear, I assure you there’s no need. We’re married. What’s mine is yours. Legally.”

  “I want my name on the papers just the same.”

  “I’ll have my lawyers draw up the agreement,” Lilly said. “But I’m going to need a deposit, I’m afraid I’m low on funds, and I need something for legal fees.”

  This, Spense suspected, was the only true thing Lilly had uttered in the entire conversation.

  “Will five hundred dollars be enough?” Harold pulled out his wallet.

  “Better make it a thousand to be safe.”

  Jill suddenly paled. “We don’t even have the papers, yet, honey. Maybe we should think about it some more.”

  “I only have five hundred in cash.” Harold extended his hand.

  Lilly took the money from him. “There’s an ATM in the lobby.”

  Spense raised two hands over his head and waved vigorously, catching Jill’s attention.

  “Do you know that man?” Jill asked Lilly.

  Lilly turned and made eye contact with Spense. “No.” She handed Harold his money back. “But the deal is off.”

  “But why?” Harold rocked back on his heels. “I’ll go get the rest of the money right now while Jill waits here.”

  “I don’t need a hostage, Harold. And I said the deal is off. It’s too late. I can tell from all your shenanigans you wouldn’t make a good partner.”

  Lilly pushed the couple aside and headed toward Spense and Caity.

  Harold patted Jill on the back. “Sorry, honey, I guess that’s my fault. We can buy lottery tickets for the whole family. Even your cousin, Arnie. Will that make you feel better?”

  “Probably a scam anyway.” Jill pecked her husband’s cheek. “I think we dodged a bullet.”

  Lilly arrived in front of them, scorched-faced and big-eyed. “Hey there. Any word on Rose?”

  Nice recovery.

  “Sorry to disappoint you again,” Caitlin said. “Actually, there was a bit of snafu. Someone called in a report that they’d seen a woman matching Rose’s description here at the pool. So we came to check it out.”

  Lilly’s shoulders fell. “Sorry. Guess that was me.”

  “Guess so.” Spense held out the card Brousseau had provided. “Call that number and let him know your itinerary. If it changes, check in, and if they call you, pick up right away.”

  “I’ll do it. I don’t want the police going off in the wrong direction on my account.”

  “You sure about that?” Caity asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Because it has occurred to us you might not be that anxious to see your sister go to jail.”

  “I’m not. But like you pointed out, no one’s dead . . . yet. I know if I can only talk to her, I can get her to see reason. She’s not thinking straight. I’m going to get her the best lawyers I can. That’s why I was working the Gauguin’s Gold scheme. I know you saw me.”

  Spense held out his hand. “I’d lay off if I were you. The Parker sisters are in enough trouble already.”

  “Mind if I take a look at the goods you were peddling?” Caity asked.

  Lilly handed Caity the map. “Gauguin’s Gold. You can keep the treasure map as a souvenir if you like. And just so you know my intentions were honorable.”

  Spense didn’t buy it. She was working that con to the max. “You were going to fleece that couple blind.”

  “But that’s on them—not me. Papa always said you can’t scam anyone who isn’t willing to eat their own kind for a chance at being rich. If they weren’t greedy, I couldn’t convince them to pay me for a map to a nonexistent treasure. And it was for a good cause. I’m going to need money for Rose’s defense.”

  “Do you think she’s still here, in Tahiti?” Caity lowered her voice.

  “Of course she is,” Lilly said. “Rose would never leave me here alone.”

  Remembering Caity’s suggestion about a treasure hunt, Spense sent her a look. If Rose was still on this island, they had a pretty fair idea where to look.

  Chapter 20

  Thursday

  Hôtel Économique

  (Budget Hotel)

  Papeete

  Tahiti Nui

  Tommy had had just about all he could take. From the moment he’d realized Rose had betrayed him, he’d needed this. It’d been years, almost a decade, in fact, since he’d indulged his weakness. But this was the only way he knew to rid himself of the pressure building in his head. He couldn’t maintain control if he didn’t lift the lid and let off a little bit of steam.

  And this bitch deserved everything he was about to give her.

  His only regret was that he’d had to beg off dinner with his mother.

  But once they got back to Texas, he’d make it up to her with a nice ruby ring or something—maybe he’d even meet his next wife at the jewelry counter.

  “I’m going to need another five thousand francs,” the hooker repeated for the third time.

  Tommy bit his knuckles to keep from wrapping his hands around her throat. He wanted to pin her down on the bed in this dump of a motel room and watch her eyes pop while he whispered to her what her future held.

  “Marie . . .” He was reasonably sure that was her name. “You can’t charge me extra because I arranged for some privacy. Would you prefer I take you up against the alley wall?”

  Marie didn’t blink. Her bloodshot eyes remained fixed on him with hazy determination. “You asked for an hour service. I spent twenty minutes in the car and another ten waiting for you to register.”

  “Twenty minutes riding around in an air-conditioned Porsche instead of prowling the stinking hot streets? My heart bleeds for you.”

  “My time is valuable.”

  She might be overestimating her market worth. Her large fake breasts were her best asset. Black roots led to oily orange hair. A deeply lined forehead contrasted a garishly lipsticked mouth. His gaze whipped over the rest of her: beer belly, stretchy flesh, skinny thighs, no underwear . . . a shaved crotch. “I can see just how valuable.”

  She propped one hand under her outstretched elbow as if she couldn’t hold it up any longer. “Fifteen thousand francs.”

  He inhaled a breath of mildewed carpet and air freshener, then eased down beside her. The bed creaked beneath his weight. He pressed ten thousand francs into her palm.

  “This is not enough.”

  “It’s all I’ve got on me.” Not true, but they’d made a bargain, and he was the kind of man who stuck to his deals.

  She closed her fist around the money and stood. “Merde. This pays for time you already had plus the time to get me back. Drive me home please. You agreed you would.”

  He grabbed her wrist and yanked her down. “Not so fast, Marie.”

  Her dull eyes flickered, telling him she was afraid.

  Good.

  “I don’t have any more money, but I do have something else that might make up for it.”

  He pulled the baggie from his pocket and dangled it in front of her. “Will this do?”

  “Smack?”

  He nodded.

  “Too cheap. You owe me five thousand francs,” she said, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the stuff. She was probably due for her next fix. Maybe why she was in such a
hurry.

  He put it away. “Sure, you’re right. It’s not worth enough to make up the difference. I’ll take you back.”

  She licked her lips. “I’ll give you fifteen minutes.”

  He pulled the baggie out and waved it again. “One hour.”

  She propped her back against the headboard and nodded. Bent her knees and spread them, giving him a view fit for a gynecologist.

  He put one hand on her thigh, all but flattening it against the bed.

  “I want to get high first. More fun that way.” She pushed against his hand, trying to close her legs, but he held it firmly against the bed. Then she sighed. “You want to look at me while I get high?” Her voice sounded distant, as if coming from much farther away than the height of a headboard.

  “Yes, that’s exactly what I want.” His palms tingled as he passed the heroin to her.

  “I need my purse. I’ll get up or you can . . .”

  “Stay just like you are.” He leaned over, lifted her soiled cloth shoulder bag off the floor and dumped its contents onto the quilted bedspread.

  What a marvelous assortment of tools of the trade. Sort of a junkie-whore go bag.

  As she worked in silence, he watched, lips parted, heart racing in his throat.

  “Take more. Go ahead, be greedy.” His voice came out dry and raspy.

  With eager hands and glazed eyes, she prepared her fix. She was indeed, a very, very greedy girl.

  Soon her head jerked and her body slumped. Her limbs flung aimlessly around her. Her chest heaved heavily.

  One hour.

  That was all the time he would take.

  He would not cheat her.

  He observed her breathing become shallow. When at last she seemed barely conscious, with her mouth hanging open and drool spilling down her cheek, he donned a pair of latex gloves. Next, he prepared another syringe, using all the H that remained in the baggie. “This is what you want, Marie. Remember, you asked me for it.”

  He did what he came to do. Then he pulled out his pocket watch, curled into a ball at the foot of the bed, and began the countdown.

  Fifty-one minutes later he checked her pulse.

  Thready.

  From his pocket, he pulled his auto-injector. Her skin was gray and cool to the touch, but she was still breathing—barely.

  There was still time to reverse the effects of the heroin.

  The naloxone would keep the devil at bay at least an hour, giving Tommy plenty of time to get back to his bungalow before calling the paramedics.

  Then again, the woman had tried to cheat him out of extra francs. If she hadn’t, he would’ve been more inclined to spare her.

  He slipped the rescue injector back in his pocket.

  Casting a glance around the room, he realized he wasn’t sure what he had touched. He was going to have to wipe this place down well . . . but not for another nine minutes.

  He’d paid for the hour.

  He was going to take it.

  Chapter 21

  Friday

  Near Tautira

  Tahiti Iti

  Caitlin powered down her phone and pocketed it. She had one service bar left and she doubted that would last. Another half mile of hiking and they’d be off the grid for real. “Brousseau says for us to carry on if we like. His crew just chased down the third Rose sighting this morning, and it led to a dead end. He still thinks she’s somewhere near town, but they haven’t found her yet.”

  “What about us? Do we really think this phony treasure map is going to lead us to her secret hiding place?”

  “I don’t know. But somebody should check it out, and Brousseau has his hands full in Papeete—at this point Rose has been sighted more times than Elvis.” Caitlin turned the map to Gauguin’s Gold this way and that, squinting at the half-inked squiggly arrows that led to an unnamed trail, gave up, and checked out the area up ahead with her binoculars. “Looks like rough terrain.”

  “Probably intentional on George Parker’s part. I doubt he wanted his marks to make it to the big red X. Anyone who can’t reach the spot can’t complain when he doesn’t find the gold.”

  “Makes sense.” That was likely the same reason George Parker had claimed the treasure was on Tahiti Iti—the small end of the hourglass shaped island of Tahiti. Tahiti Iti was separated from the larger Tahiti Nui by an isthmus and contained many wild coastal regions accessible only by foot or by boat.

  And Parker’s map was virtually impossible to decipher—clearly by design.

  But he’d either overlooked something, or else he hadn’t cared enough about covering up his two-bit treasure map scam to bother with complete camouflage. His map might be mostly unreadable, but it did show Mana Falls in close proximity to the buried gold. So she and Spense had simply stopped by the hotel gift shop and picked up a map to the falls. Only trouble was they’d come far enough they now needed to rely on Parker’s map to guide them the rest of the way.

  Spense took off his cap and swatted away a flying insect the size of a frog. “I vote no on going all the way to the X. From what I can tell, the spot is so remote not even a helicopter can get you there, unless you’re willing to drop out of it airborne. There’s no feasible place to land. Rose isn’t hiding there. She can’t make it that far without special equipment, and I doubt she was able to pilfer pitons and carabiners during her outing at the beach.”

  “Not to mention we haven’t got any either.” Caitlin had to laugh at Spense who seemed to think a lack of equipment would stop Rose, but they could make it if they chose. They were taking a vote. “I vote no, too. But it doesn’t mean Rose isn’t hiding out around here somewhere. I say we keep searching. There are boot prints on the trail marked Mana Falls.”

  “They look man-size to me, but they’re a few days old by the looks of it, so the time frame fits. ”

  She looked around and inhaled deeply. The intense greenery, the luxuriant vegetation, the scent of sun and tropical flowers was a delicious feast for her senses. Surely it was better to be out among this beauty than back at the hotel planning the ceremony.

  Her shoulders pinched together. “Do you feel guilty?”

  The puzzled look on his face quickly morphed to understanding. “You mean because we’re out here having a kick-ass time.”

  “Yes, and the moms are stuck back in town planning our ceremony and handling little details that are actually the responsibility of the bride.”

  “You mean the responsibility of the bride and groom.” He dumped his cap back on his head. “Besides, I’m sure they’re in mom heaven planning our wedding and our future. I’m sorry we’re not with them today, but I don’t feel guilty for taking pleasure in the hand we’ve been dealt.”

  “I suppose you’re right. A wedding ceremony doesn’t compare to a woman’s future hanging in the balance. Three futures, really, since we have to think of the impact on Lilly and Tommy if we don’t find Rose before she does something that can’t be undone.”

  Spense tossed a branch he’d been using as a walking stick down a hill, then grabbed her and pulled her against him. “Our wedding matters.”

  She could feel his heart pounding in her ear. His shirt was sticky against her cheek, and he smelled like sweat, dirt, and Old Spice. If she could stay right here, in this moment forever, she would.

  “That didn’t come out right.” She lingered against him until he let her go to scratch an itch. “I sincerely hope when we find Rose, that somehow she’ll be able to justify what she’s done. Maybe she has some kind of fantastic explanation that will clear all this up and she and Lilly can go back to the States and open up their yoga studio.”

  “Why are you so set on Rose’s actions being justified?”

  “Because I have a feeling about her.”

  “Babe, you don’t know her well enough to have a feeling, in fact you don’t know her at all.”

  “True enough. But that night when they handcuffed her and took her off to jail, there was something in her eyes. I can’t help
thinking this might all be a cry for help. If we don’t find her in time, and she manages to shoot someone, it’s going to end any chance for her to have a normal life.”

  “What makes you think she wants one?”

  “The yoga studio. Lilly says Rose was determined to open it with her. Think about it. Yoga. What better symbol of peace and change and restoration?”

  “You’re reading a lot into that, Caity.”

  Maybe she was.

  “Let’s keep moving,” he said.

  She hoped not, but Spense might have a point. Lilly and Rose had been raised by a con man. They’d lived an unsavory life on the fringes of society and mostly outside the law. According to Lilly, Rose’s biggest supporter, Rose was a chronic liar. Caitlin had to admit the possibility that Rose could be dangerous, and it seemed likely she was armed.

  Caitlin should be more on guard in case Rose was indeed in the area. She should be paying closer attention to her surroundings.

  Suddenly, a buzzing sound caught her attention.

  “What the hell?” Spense said.

  The buzzing grew loud, then louder still.

  He grabbed her hand.

  She’d heard bees before, but not like this. “This really is the treasure map from hell. I feel awful for the poor chumps traipsing around out here in search of Gauguin’s Gold.”

  Spense cast an exaggerated glance around. “The only chumps I see out here at the moment are us.”

  She frowned. “I never asked you, but I don’t suppose you’re allergic.”

  “No. Not allergic to bee stings.”

  “Me neither. So let’s keep going. I say this is a perfect hiding spot, complete with bees to ward off intruders. They’re as good as an army of archers on a hilltop in terms of protection and Rose knows this area well. We’ve come this far, Spense. If we give up now we really are chumps.”

  “Okay, but let’s take it nice and easy. I don’t love the sound of what’s around that bend.”

  Sure enough when they came around the curve in the path she saw them. Hives. stacked in the trees one atop the other. She remembered reading somewhere that one hive could house up to 60,000 bees. She didn’t want to do the math on how many bees this might be, and the thought stopped her dead in her tracks.