Ellie gripped the steering wheel. She watched in the rear-view mirror as the other woman’s car vanished down the road. Once it was out of sight, she pulled her car out into the road and did a U-turn. Someone honked at her, but they completed the turn safely. At the intersection, she turned in the direction the woman in her red car had been going.
“There she is,” Shannon said. “Don’t follow too closely.”
“I know.” She hung back, relaxing slightly when another vehicle pulled out in front of her. With a vehicle between their cars, the woman was less likely to notice that she was being followed.
It was a tense ride. Ellie didn’t know if they even had the right person. She didn’t want to risk James getting hurt because they did something stupid, but she also knew that they would never be able to rescue him if they kept being so passive.
The woman drove along the main road, heading north out of town. She didn’t make any turns until she came to the last road that branched off before the Pacelli house. Going slowly to give her more time to get ahead, Ellie followed. It wasn’t until she saw the sign that she realized where the woman was going.
“This is the motel I told Clark about,” she said.
“Didn’t Russell already look for him here?”
“He did, and he said that no one matching his description checked in.”
“Maybe the clerk wasn’t being honest.”
“Or maybe Clark had someone else check in for him.”
Ellie turned into the parking lot. She drove to the far end, away from the other woman’s car, and watched as she got out. She went up the outdoor stairs to the second level and entered one of the rooms. Ellie couldn’t see what the number on the door was, but she knew she would remember which door it was.
“Now what?”
“I don’t know. I wish we could call Russell.” Ellie glanced down at her cell phone, which was sitting in the cup holder between them. It would be so easy to pick it up and dial the number. The only thing stopping her was the worry that someone really was watching everything that Russell did.
She was still gazing at the door, full of indecision, when it opened again. The woman came back out, this time carrying a laundry bag. Ellie sat forward. Was it possible that she was leaving already? Was their luck beginning to change?
Sure enough, she got back into her car, and a moment later was pulling out of the parking lot. Ellie and Shannon exchanged a look.
“Should we see if she left it unlocked?”
“I guess. We’ve got to be quick, though.”
Shannon nodded. She had already unbuckled her seatbelt. “James might be in there.”
Ellie paused. While there was definitely something suspicious about the woman they had followed, she doubted that James was in the motel room. It was far too public. It would be too easy for him to draw attention to himself. She chose not to say anything to her friend, however. Shannon probably knew all of that, but was clinging to any hope she could find. Ellie didn’t want to take that away from her.
They got out of the car and made their way up the metal steps to the balcony on the second level of the motel. Ellie reached the door first, but hesitated with her hand on the knob. She had no idea what they were about to find inside, and thought once again about calling Russell. They could really use a sheriff right now.
“I’ll do it,” Shannon said. Her friend’s fingers tightened on the doorknob. Shannon took a deep breath, then turned it. Her face fell. “It’s locked.”
Ellie felt both let down and relieved. “I guess we should have expected that,” she said.
She was about to turn away when she heard a rattling sound. The door pulled open to reveal a familiar face. Clark Mackley was standing right in front of them.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
* * *
Clark seemed just as surprised to see them as they were to see him. “You’re not Kaitlin,” he said.
Ellie blinked, confused until she realized that Kaitlin must be the woman’s name. Beside her, Shannon stiffened.
“Kaitlin Besmer?” she asked.
Clark frowned at her. “Yeah. That’s her.”
Shannon took a half step back. “Sorry,” she said. “This was a mistake.”
She grabbed Ellie by the wrist and tugged until the pizzeria owner followed her. Ellie heard the door shut behind her.
“Do you know her?” Ellie asked, keeping her voice low.
“I know why she looked so familiar. She was one of the suspects in Anne’s murder case. James and I were both shown photos of her when the police were investigating.”
“She never got charged?”
“No. They couldn’t find anything on her.”
“Why was she a suspect?”
“Russell got a restraining order against her a while ago. This was way back before he married Anne. Kaitlin was obsessed with him, and was stalking him I guess. When Anne was killed, she was one of the only suspects. She must still be obsessed with him. The way she was looking at you through the window… it was like she hated you.”
“And here she is again, right after James was kidnapped.”
“She must be involved,” Shannon said. “But she probably has someone working with her. I don’t see how she could overpower James by herself.”
“Clark must be the one helping her.” Ellie shuddered. “It’s time to take this to the police. If these two really are responsible, then they’ll know we found them. It might be too risky for them to keep James around any longer.”
“We’ll call them,” her friend agreed. “I just hope we’re right.”
They got back into Ellie’s car. She turned it on, but kept it parked in the motel’s lot while she dialed Russell’s number. She had a suspicion that Clark might try to leave, and she was right. Not long after they had shut the car doors, Shannon nudged her. Ellie looked up to see the door to Clark’s room open. He poked his head out, looking both directions, then slipped out and began walking briskly toward the stairs.
Ellie stared at him, her heart pounding. Was she really just yards away from the person who had kidnapped James and killed Russell’s first wife?
“Hello?”
She jumped. She must have pressed the number to send the call through to Russell by mistake. While Shannon kept her eyes on Clark, she raised the phone to her ear.
“Are you alone?” she asked.
“Not quite,” he said. “But I can be. Hold on.”
She heard the faint sounds of a chair scraping across the floor and a door slamming shut, then her fiancé cleared his throat. “All right, I’m out in the hallway. What’s going on? Are you and Shannon safe?”
“Yes,” she assured him. “But we’re looking right at Clark Mackley. We found out where he’s staying, and who’s helping him. Her name is Kaitlin…” she trailed off and looked over at Shannon.
“Besmer,” her friend murmured, her eyes still glued to Clark, who had almost made it down to the bottom of the stairs.
“Kaitlin Besmer,” Ellie said.
Russell fell silent. Ellie waited, watching as Clark reached the bottom of the stairs and looked around before pulling out his cell phone.
“Where are you?” he asked at last, his voice rough.
“The same motel I told you about when you were looking for Clark. I think he must have had Kaitlin check in for him.”
“You’re sure it’s him?”
“Yes.”
“I’m on my way over. You two sit tight. Don’t do anything more reckless than you already have.”
He hung up. Ellie put her phone on the dashboard, feeling unsettled. Everything was moving too quickly.
“He’s on his way,” she told Shannon. “What should we do? We can’t let Clark get away.”
“He’s calling someone — probably Kaitlin. He must need a ride.”
“We can follow them again,” Ellie said. “It might be harder this time, since they’ll be on alert, but it’s better than nothing.”
“I’m not going to
risk losing him. If he gets in a car, there’s no telling what might happen.”
Before she could do anything to stop her, Shannon had opened the car door and was outside. Ellie hurried to undo her seatbelt and follow her friend. There was no way she was going to let Shannon confront this man alone.
When Clark saw them, he jumped slightly and lowered his phone. He seemed poised to run. Shannon walked straight toward him, her body stiff with either anger or fear — most likely a lot of both.
“Where is he?” she demanded. Ellie had to hurry to keep up. She raked her gaze across Clark’s body, looking for signs of a gun. If he was armed, then they would both be helpless against him.
“Where is who?” he asked, taking half a step back. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“My husband,” Shannon said. To Ellie’s relief, she came to a halt a few feet away from him, her hands on her hips. “These past few hours have been absolute hell. Just tell me where James is. Whatever weird game you’re playing… it’s over.”
“Lady, get your crazy pregnant friend away from me,” he said, taking another step back. “What do the two of you want?”
“I want you to give James back!”
Clark looked between her and Ellie, his expression a mix between anger and confusion.
“Shannon,” the pizzeria owner said. “I don’t think he’s involved.”
“Of course he’s involved. He’s a murderer, and he’s friends with Kaitlin. It all adds up.”
“This all has something to do with my cousin? Look, I haven’t even left this motel since… well, for a couple of days. You’ve got the wrong person. If Kaitlin did something, that’s on her. But don’t blame me for it. I’ve had enough of people blaming me for stuff I didn’t do.”
“I don’t believe him,” Shannon said, glancing at Ellie. She frowned. “You do?”
Ellie nodded. “Does he really strike you as someone who could plan and pull off something like this?”
Her friend hesitated. Clark looked between them, and slowly took another step back. Ellie could hear the sirens off in the distance.
“You guys called the cops?” he said, panic now edging into his voice. “Come on, why’d you have to do that?”
Shannon didn’t respond. She had gone pale. Concerned, Ellie reached for her wrist. Her friend didn’t resist as she led her back toward the car. Clark gave them one last puzzled look, then turned and ran the opposite direction.
“Shan? You okay?”
“We were wrong,” her friend said. “It wasn’t him. That means that the kidnapper is still out there somewhere, and now he’s going to know that we called Russell.”
“Kaitlin still might be involved,” Ellie said. “We know she was going to a laundromat. Maybe —”
“I’d be willing to bet anything that she was the one he called when he was on the phone,” Shannon said. “She already knows. Oh, Ellie, what have we done?”
Ellie didn’t have an answer to that. She opened the passenger side door for her friend, and helped Shannon into the seat. All of the other woman’s earlier toughness was gone. She looked tired and weak, as if she had already given up. The sirens were drawing closer. She closed her eyes. This had all ended in disaster. She could only hope that, somehow, the kidnapper didn’t know what they had done. They had broken his primary rule, and James very well might pay for it with his life.
The first of the police vehicles pulled into the parking lot, lights flashing. She realized that these were state police cars; this had spread beyond what the small Kittiport force could handle. Russell’s truck was not far behind, looking very old and worn down compared to the newer vehicles used by the state police. In spite of all of her worries, it was a relief to see her fiancé getting out of his truck. She had seen him just that morning, but it seemed like a very long time ago.
The next few minutes were chaotic and confusing. After telling the police which way Clark had run, she began explaining what had happened to Russell. By then, Shannon had gathered herself enough to get out of the vehicle and join them. Ellie had to wait while Russell assured himself that his sister-in-law was okay. She had just started the story again when someone called Russell up to the hotel room.
Feeling tired herself, as well as annoyed, Ellie walked over to a bench and sat down. Shannon joined her. “Do you think they’ll catch him?”
“Clark? Yeah. He can’t have gotten very far, not on foot.”
Her friend nodded. She looked down at the ground, her expression glum. “I hate being so helpless. I don’t know what to do next.”
“It’s out of our hands,” Ellie pointed out. “Russell’s involved now, and the state police are here. It’s probably for the best.”
Shannon nodded slowly, unconvinced. Ellie patted her friend’s shoulder, wishing she could comfort her. She realized just how cold the other woman was to the touch, and how cold she was herself.
“Let’s go into the office and see if they have warm coffee or something,” she suggested. “It will be better than sitting out here.”
The office did indeed have a coffee machine. Ellie poured them each a cup of the bitter black drink, then sat next to her friend in one of the chairs. “Do you think he was telling the truth?” she asked.
Shannon blinked. “Who?”
“Clark. When he said he was being accused of something he didn’t do. Do you think he didn’t commit the murder Russell arrested him for?”
“He’s probably lying. Most people would, to stay out of jail.”
“I suppose,” Ellie said. She sipped her coffee. It was terrible, but at least the taste helped to distract her from everything else that was going on. Something about their interaction with Clark bothered her. He hadn’t struck her as a killer. He had sounded equally earnest when he was denying his involvement with James’ disappearance as when he had complained about being falsely accused of the murder.
The outside door opened, and the sheriff walked in with a dark-haired man behind him. “They caught him,” Russell said. “We just got the radio call.”
“Good,” Ellie said.
“This is Danny, by the way. He grew up here in Kittiport, but he was homeschooled, so you probably didn’t know him. He lived right next to me for a long time.”
Ellie nodded at the man, too tired to introduce herself properly. He was whip thin and dressed all in black. He was surprisingly good looking, and had hard sharp, intelligent eyes which were fixed on her.
“We should get going,” she said. “We have to get home.”
She and Shannon walked out together, with the two men following behind them. Shannon got into the passenger seat and Ellie into the driver’s seat. She turned the key, planning to let the car heat up while she talked with Russell, but instead of roaring to life, the car choked and died.
“What the heck?” she muttered. She tried again with no luck. Frowning, Russell knelt down and looked beneath the car.
“I thought I smelled gasoline,” he said. “You’ve got a leak. You parked right over this drain, which is lucky or else this whole area would be flooded with gas.”
“A gas leak? How would that even happen?”
“I have no idea.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I’ll have to call you a tow truck. I’ll see if Liam can cover for me while I drive you guys home. I really need to talk to Clark though.”
“I can give them a ride,” Danny said. “You found the guy. You don’t need me anymore.”
“Are you sure?” Russell asked.
“It’s no problem.”
Ellie didn’t like the idea of riding home with a stranger, but if Russell trusted him she supposed that was good enough for her. She dropped her keys into her purse, then sighed.
“I don’t know where my phone is.”
The four of them spent a couple of minutes searching the car, but none of them found it. Russell ran inside to see if they had left it in the lobby, but it wasn’t there either.
“Can we just get going?�
� Shannon asked. “I feel sick. We can look for your phone later.”
Reluctantly, Ellie agreed. They got into Danny’s car, Shannon taking the front seat and Ellie taking the back. She watched out the window as they pulled away from Russell. She wished desperately that he was coming with them, but she knew he had a job to do, and no one else could do it as well as he could.
“You ladies sure can find trouble, can’t you?” Danny said, glancing at her in the rear-view mirror.
Ellie didn’t know what to say to that. She buckled up and put her purse down beside her. On the seat next to her was a notepad. She read what was on it, then did a double take. She knew that handwriting. It matched the handwriting on the note she had received from the kidnapper.
A CRISPY SLICE OF MURDER (Papa Pacelli's Pizzeria Series Book 21) Page 5