Tahoe Chase (An Owen McKenna Mystery Thriller)
Page 36
I glanced in the rear-view mirror and saw Simone smiling.
Street said, “Simone, that’s fantastic. I think Joe’s house is great. There are quiet woods out every window.”
“And you know what happened yesterday after Simone moved in?” Joe continued. He sounded like a kid.
“What?” Street said.
“Molly came back. The other birds, too.”
Simone spoke. Her voice, and her alluring French accent, was so small that we all had to hold our breaths to hear it. “Joe said that Rell fed the chickadees,” she said. “But when I looked at the feeder, he’d put in dried lentils. Little birds like Mountain chickadees don’t eat dried lentils. They’re hard as concrete. But then I found Rell’s black oil sunflower seeds in the same garage cabinet where she stored her lentils for making soup. As soon as I put the sunflower seeds in the feeder, the chickadees arrived. They were so excited.”
“And she met Molly,” Joe said.
“Yes. The cutest little bird ever. She only has one leg, but she doesn’t let it slow her down.”
“Simone,” I said, “I think living at Joe’s house is a good idea, but that means you’ll have to put up with him,” I joked. I looked over at Joe. In the glow from the dashboard lights, his face looked stern, but I saw a little tug at the corner of his mouth.
“I know!” Simone said. “He’s a strange man, this Monsieur Rorvik. He does things backward. Like wiping his mouth before he eats. And he chews his beer.”
“She eats her coffee with a spoon,” Joe said. “But I have to add that I’ve always thought I was a good judge of character, and I thought Simone didn’t have any strength, any personal constitution. I was wrong. She’s one tough girl. It was her amazing endurance that saved her life.”
“And then,” Street said with obvious admiration in her voice, “she went back out to Lake Aloha just two days later and did the rest of the Randonnée Extreme challenge. That’s impressive.”
“Yeah, she’s a good skier,” Joe said. “But she won’t be able to ski at the Steven’s Peak Resort because I’m voting against it.”
We arrived at El Dorado Beach. I pulled in and parked. Diamond was waiting. He came up, lifted the big box off Joe’s lap, and we walked down the steps, away from the sound of traffic.
Down at the lake, the major sound was the gentle waves lapping at the snowy beach. The sun had set, and big white flakes drifted down out of the gray-black sky. The cold air of the winter evening rolled off the mountains, which lurked like giant ghosts, unseen in the dark, snowy night.
Although the main lake never freezes, there were thin ice sheets at the edge where water had pushed in among the snow-covered beach pebbles. As the humid lake air flowed over the shore, long hoar frost crystals grew on the shore bushes. Spot didn’t run, but just walked with us, his head turning left and right, nostrils flexing. The falling snow tickled his ears, and when he twitched them, his faux diamond ear stud sparkled in the dark.
When Joe found the spot he wanted, he nodded at Diamond. Diamond held the box while Joe opened the box flaps and pulled out an elaborate origami sailboat made from his big roll of white paper. The boat was a deep-keel design, about twenty inches long with a twenty-four-inch mast and a sail that curved out at a 30-degree angle from the center line of the boat. Joe paused and looked at the sky, sensing, I thought, the breeze. He adjusted the position of the paper sail and the tiller, making some folds to fix their angle.
As with Joe’s other creations, it was impossible to see the elaborate boat as a mere sheet of folded paper. The result was much more than one might expect from the components that went into it.
It was like Joe. His life was a grand journey with his wife at its core. No matter how carefully one parsed out the parts, it was impossible to see Joe and Rell as a mere collection of hopes and dreams and plans and efforts and the experiences that arose from them. From hearing Joe’s stories, the whole of Joe and Rell seemed grander than any couple I’d ever known, even though I’d never met Rell outside of the comatose woman in the hospital room.
My own life seemed shallow by comparison. My personal boat raced along here and there and provided a few thrills, and, best of all, carried Street along for the ride when our schedules permitted. But it seemed that I spent too much of my time moored at a lonely buoy, listing to starboard, too much water in the bilge, sails luffing or even gathering cobwebs, brightwork getting tarnished.
The man beside me was bent and weak with age, the Rorvik Roar softened. But he was still powerful in his way, a blend of wisdom and glamour and determination and persistence. Despite his claim that he didn’t pay Rell enough attention, it seemed that he’d focused much of his life on Rell. He’d put aside many of the Me activities that most men indulge in and replaced them with We activities to do with Rell. Six decades later, the We activities were now done.
Holding the origami boat, Joe used his foot to move some cobbles together next to a piece of driftwood. He set the boat down so that the cobbles and driftwood supported the boat’s hull, and the paper keel was suspended, undamaged, a few inches above the ground.
Joe turned toward me and reached his arms out. I lifted the lid off the small box. Joe pulled the plastic bag out, bent over, and carefully poured the ashes into the cabin space on the paper sailboat. I realized that he had planned it so that the ashes would serve as ballast in the keel.
“Simone,” Joe said, his voice strong. “The candles, please?”
Simone nodded and pulled two votive candles out of her pocket.
Joe took them and set one in the bow of the boat and one at the stern. They fit precisely into compartments that he’d constructed just for that purpose.
He pulled out a wooden match, and, like an agile young man, lifted his knee to stretch his jeans tight, and struck the match along the taut denim at the back of his thigh. He lit both candles.
Joe picked up the boat, careful not to jar the candles, and waded into the lake. He didn’t hesitate even though the water was nearly the temperature of ice. When the water was halfway up his calves, deeper than the boat’s keel, Joe set the boat in the water.
He turned his head, sensing the air once again, then carefully pointed the boat and gave it a little push. The boat coasted a couple of feet.
A tiny breeze came up. The candles flickered. The boat leaned a bit, its sail inclined toward the water. It began to move forward under its own power.
Joe walked out of the water. He turned back to face the lake, his hand resting on Spot’s neck.
“Okay, Street, we’re ready for the poem, if you’d be so kind,” Joe said.
Street pulled a small book out of her inside jacket pocket and opened it. She flipped on a tiny penlight and held it against the page.
“This is Emily Dickinson’s poem called ‘The Humming-Bird.’”
She read the evocative lines.
We watched as the boat moved out into the darkness, its flickering candles illuminating its sail. The boat grew distant and harder to see. After a couple of minutes, we could only see the two points of light. Soon, the lights blended into one distant flicker. After another minute, the single light disappeared.
“Rell and me, we had a deal,” Joe said. “We kept it for sixty years.” He raised his hand, kissed his palm, blew the kiss toward the lake where the boat had disappeared and said, “I love you, Rell.”
About the Author
Todd Borg and his wife live in Lake Tahoe, where they write and paint. To contact Todd or learn more about the Owen McKenna mysteries, please visit toddborg.com
A Message To The Reader...
Dear Reader,
If you enjoyed this novel, please consider posting a short review on Amazon. Reviews help authors a great deal, and that in turn enables us to write more stories for you.
Thanks very much for your interest and support.
Yours,
Todd Borg
PRAISE FOR TAHOE TRAP
“AN OPEN-THROTTLE RIDE”
- Wendy Schultz, Placerville Mountain Democrat
“A CONSTANTLY SURPRISING SERIES OF EVENTS INVOLVING MURDER...and the final motivation of the killer comes as a major surprise. (I love when that happens.)”
- Yvette, In So Many Words“
I LOVE TODD BORG’S BOOKS... There is the usual great twist ending in Tahoe Trap that I never would have guessed”
- JBronder Book Reviews
“ANOTHER MUST READ FOR MYSTERY LOVERS”
- Taylor Flynn, Tahoe Mountain News
“THE PLOTS ARE HIGH OCTANE AND THE ACTION IS FASTER THAN A CHEETAH ON SPEED”
- Cathy Cole, Kittling: Books
“YOU WILL FALL IN LOVE with the almost-silent, unemotional Paco”
- Elizabeth, Silver’s Reviews
“TAHOE TRAP OFFERS A CHILLING THRILLER”
- Caleb Cage, The Nevada Review
“THE CHASE FOR THE BOY IS FRIGHTENINGLY FAST-PACED. In desperation, McKenna sets a trap, with Paco as the bait. And it almost works. The impending catastrophe takes a sudden twist”
- Bookin’ With Sunny
“A FASCINATING STORY WITH FIRST CLASS WRITING and, of course, my favorite character, Spot, a Great Dane that steals most of the scenes.”
- Mary Lignor, Feathered Quill Book Reviews
“SUPER CLEVER... More twists in the plot toward the end of the book turn the mystery into an even more suspenseful thriller.”
-Harvee Lau, Book Dilettante
“AN EXCITING MURDER MYSTERY... I watch for the ongoing developments of Jack Reacher, Joanna Brady, Dismas Hardy, Peter and Rina Decker, and Alex Cross to name a few. But these days I look forward most to the next installment of Owen McKenna.”
- China Gorman blog
PRAISE FOR TAHOE HIJACK
“BEGINNING TO READ TAHOE HIJACK IS LIKE FLOOR-BOARDING A RACE CAR... RATING: A+”
- Cathy Cole, Kittling Books
“A THRILLING READ... any reader will find the pages of his thrillers impossible to stop turning”
- Caleb Cage, The Nevada Review
“NOW I’M HOOKED...Borg not only offers a good mystery, but does a terrific job with some fascinating California history that is both enlightening and gripping”
- Sunny Solomon, Bookin’ with Sunny
“THE BOOK CLIMAXES WITH A TWIST THE READER DOESN’T SEE COMING, WORTHY OF MICHAEL CONNELLY”
- Heather Gould, Tahoe Mountain News
“I HAD TO HOLD MY BREATH DURING THE LAST PART OF THIS FAST-PACED THRILLER”
- Harvee Lau, Book Dilettante
PRAISE FOR TAHOE HEAT
“IN TAHOE HEAT, BORG MASTERFULLY WRITES A SEQUENCE OF EVENTS SO INTENSE THAT IT BELONGS IN AN EARLY TOM CLANCY NOVEL”
- Caleb Cage, Nevada Review
“TAHOE HEAT IS A RIVETING THRILLER”
- John Burroughs, Midwest Book Review
“WILL KEEP READERS TURNING THE PAGES AS OWEN RACES TO CATCH A VICIOUS KILLER”
- Barbara Bibel, Booklist
“THE READER CAN’T HELP BUT ROOT FOR McKENNA AS THE BIG, GENEROUS, IRISH-BLOODED, STREET-WISE-YET-BOOK-SMART FORMER COP”
- Taylor Flynn, Tahoe Mountain News
PRAISE FOR TAHOE NIGHT
“BORG HAS WRITTEN ANOTHER WHITE-KNUCKLE
THRILLER... A sure bet for mystery buffs waiting for the next Robert B. Parker and Lee Child novels”
- Jo Ann Vicarel, Library Journal
“AN ACTION-PACKED THRILLER WITH A NICE-GUY HERO, AN EVEN NICER DOG...”
- Kirkus Reviews
“A KILLER PLOT... EVERY ONE OF ITS 350 PAGES WANTS TO GET TURNED... FAST”
- Taylor Flynn, Tahoe Mountain News
“ANOTHER PAGE-TURNER OF A MYSTERY, with more twists and turns than a roller coaster ride”
- Midwest Book Review
“A FASCINATING STORY OF FORGERY, MURDER...”
- Nancy Hayden, Tahoe Daily Tribune
PRAISE FOR TAHOE AVALANCHE
ONE OF THE TOP 5 MYSTERIES OF THE YEAR!
- Gayle Wedgwood, Mystery News
“BORG IS A SUPERB STORYTELLER...A MASTER OF THE GENRE”
- Midwest Book Review
“EXPLODES INTO A COMPLEX PLOT THAT LEADS TO MURDER AND INTRIGUE”
- Nancy Hayden, Tahoe Daily Tribune
“READERS WILL BE KEPT ON THE EDGE OF THEIR SEATS”
- Sheryl McLaughlin, Douglas Times
“INCLUDE BORG IN THE GROUP OF MYSTERY WRITERS that write with a strong sense of place such as TONY HILLERMAN”
- William Clark, The Union
PRAISE FOR TAHOE SILENCE
WINNER, BEN FRANKLIN AWARD, BEST MYSTERY OF THE YEAR!
“A HEART-WRENCHING MYSTERY THAT IS ALSO ONE OF THE BEST NOVELS WRITTEN ABOUT AUTISM”
STARRED REVIEW - Jo Ann Vicarel, Library Journal
CHOSEN BY LIBRARY JOURNAL AS ONE OF THE FIVE BEST
MYSTERIES OF THE YEAR
“THIS IS ONE ENGROSSING NOVEL...IT IS SUPERB”
- Gayle Wedgwood, Mystery News
“ANOTHER EXCITING ENTRY INTO THIS TOO-LITTLE-KNOWN SERIES”
- Mary Frances Wilkens, Booklist
PRAISE FOR TAHOE KILLSHOT
“BORG BELONGS ON THE BESTSELLER LISTS with Parker,
Paretsky and Coben”
- Merry Cutler, Annie’s Book Stop, Sharon, Massachusetts
“A GREAT READ!”
-Shelley Glodowski, Midwest Book Review
“A WONDERFUL BOOK”
- Gayle Wedgwood, Mystery News
PRAISE FOR TAHOE ICE GRAVE
“BAFFLING CLUES...CONSISTENTLY ENTERTAINS”
- Kirkus Reviews
“A CLEVER PLOT... RECOMMEND THIS MYSTERY”
- John Rowen, Booklist
“A BIG THUMBS UP... MR. BORG’S PLOTS ARE SUPER-TWISTERS”
- Shelley Glodowski, Midwest Book Review
ONE OF THE TOP 5 MYSTERIES OF THE YEAR!
- Gayle Wedgwood, Mystery News
“GREAT CHARACTERS, LOTS OF ACTION, AND SOME CLEVER PLOT TWISTS...Readers have to figure they are in for a good ride, and Todd Borg does not disappoint.”
- John Orr, San Jose Mercury News
PRAISE FOR TAHOE BLOWUP
“A COMPELLING TALE OF ARSON ON THE MOUNTAIN”
- Barbara Peters, The Poisoned Pen Bookstore
“RIVETING... A MUST READ FOR MYSTERY FANS!”
- Karen Dini, Addison Public Library, Addison, Illinois
WINNER! BEST MYSTERY OF THE YEAR
- Bay Area Independent Publishers Association
BEN FRANKLIN AWARD, BEST MYSTERY SILVER MEDAL
PRAISE FOR TAHOE DEATHFALL
“THRILLING, EXTENDED RESCUE/CHASE”
- Kirkus Reviews
“A TREMENDOUS READ FROM A GREAT WRITER”
- Shelley Glodowski, Midwest Book Review
“BORG OFFERS A SIMPLY TERRIFIC DOG”
- Barbara Peters, The Poisoned Pen
“McKENNA IS BRIGHT AND WITTY... SPOT IS A WONDERFULLY DRAWN CHARACTER”
- Marty Steinberg, Deadly Pleasures
WINNER! BEST THRILLER OF THE YEAR
- Bay Area Independent Publishers Association
“A TAUT MYSTERY... A SCREECHING CLIMAX”
- Karen Dini, Addison Public Library, Addison, Illinois
Titles by Todd Borg
TAHOE DEATHFALL
TAHOE BLOWUP
TAHOE ICE GRAVE
TAHOE KILLSHOT
TAHOE SILENCE
TAHOE AVALANCHE
TAHOE NIGHT
TAHOE HEAT
TAHOE HIJACK
TAHOE TRAP
TAHOE CHASE
Thriller Press First Edition, August 2013
TAHOE CHASE
Copyright © 2013 by Todd Borg
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Thriller Press, a division of WRST, Inc.
This novel is a work of fiction. Any refere
nces to real locales, establishments, organizations, or events are intended only to give the fiction a sense of verisimilitude. All other names, places, characters and incidents portrayed in this book are the product of the author’s imagination.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from Thriller Press, P.O. Box 551110, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96155.