White Cloud Retreat

by Dianne Harman

  Where could Mike be? He must be in the apartment. Kelly turned the door knob as quietly as she could and to her surprise, the door was unlocked. She opened it slightly and peered through the slit. She involuntarily put her hand up to her mouth to stifle a scream. Mike was lying on the floor, not moving, while Deidre was in the process of carefully removing his shoes and socks. Kelly raised her eyes and saw several lifelike blown-up photographs of Mike tacked on the wall where a few days ago there had been photographs of Scott.

  Suddenly, it was crystal clear to Kelly. Deidre had killed Scott and was getting ready to kill Mike. She knew she had to do something and she had to do it fast. Deidre was bent over Mike, totally engrossed in trying to remove his shoes. Kelly swung the door open, yelled “Rebel, Attack,” and fired her gun. She aimed to the left of Deidre, intending to scare her. Deidre reached for a gun that was lying next to Mike’s foot, but before she could reach it, Rebel jumped on her, pinning her to the floor while Lady grabbed hold of the bottom of Deidre’s slacks, preventing her from moving. Kelly ran over to Mike and put her ear on his chest. She could hear him breathing.

  Thank God. Deidre must have only knocked him out. “Rebel, Lady, Guard,” Kelly said in a loud commanding tone of voice. Both of the dogs stayed exactly where they were, Rebel inches from Deidre’s face, and Lady with Deidre’s pant leg in her mouth. Both of them were growling. Kelly scooped up the gun lying on the floor and kept her gun on Deidre while she called 911. “Officer down! Sheriff Reynolds is unconscious. I need help immediately! I’m on the third floor of the apartment building across from city hall in apartment 305. Hurry!”

  Within minutes she heard footsteps pounding down the hall. Rich, Mike’s chief deputy, was the first to arrive. “Kelly, what’s going on?” Before she could tell him, paramedics and police filled the room. Rich and several others had their guns drawn and pointed at Deidre. “Call the dogs off, Kelly, we’ve got her. I need you to tell me what happened.”

  She gave Rebel the command, “Stand Down.” He backed off of Deidre and Lady, following Rebel’s lead, let go of her pant leg. Kelly turned to a paramedic who was taking Mike’s vital signs, “Is he going to be all right?”

  “Yes, ma’am. He’s got a huge knot on his head where it looks like he was hit with some kind of a blunt instrument. He’s going to have a nasty headache tomorrow, but other than that, I think he’s going to be fine.”

  Rebel went over to Mike, licking his face and making whimpering sounds. He knew Mike was hurt, he just didn’t know how badly. Lady stood next to Kelly, as if to protect her in case she needed it.

  When the paramedics started to wheel Mike out of the room after they’d put him on a gurney, Kelly asked “Where are you taking him?”

  “The hospital in Sunset Bay. We need to take x-rays and make sure he doesn’t have a concussion.”

  “All right. Just a moment.” She took her phone out of her purse and called Doc. “It’s Kelly. Mike’s been hurt. The paramedics are taking him to the hospital in Sunset Bay for x-rays. Would you go there and treat him? I’ll meet you as soon as I can get there. Thanks.” She turned to the paramedic who seemed to be in charge and told him Dr. Burkhart was on his way to the hospital and not to do anything until he arrived and that she’d be there as soon as she could.

  Deidre was sitting on the floor with her back against the wall, muttering to herself. Her hands were behind her back, secured by handcuffs. Rich motioned Kelly over. “What happened? She’s muttering something about feet and shoes and Scott and Mike. It’s as if she’s snapped.”

  They both were quiet as they stood and looked down at Diedre. She seemed to have retreated into a world of her own and was no longer part of the world around her. They overheard her saying, “I told you I was going to kill you, Mike. You’re just like Scott. He wouldn’t have me either and neither would those other men, but I got them, all of them. Just like Momma always told me that my feet were pretty, I told them the same thing before I killed them. Then I took pictures of their feet. That way, they’re still alive because I have pictures of their feet.”

  Kelly and Rich exchanged glances of disbelief. “Kelly, what happened before we got here?” She told him everything from the moment she’d pulled in the lot at city hall up to now. He continued, “I know you want to get to the hospital and be with Mike, but I need to write up a report for you to sign and get a statement from him. I don’t want to keep you now. How about if I come over later tonight?”

  “Let me call you, Rich. I have no idea how long Doc will want to keep Mike under observation. Unless he has a concussion, I’d think he could come home tonight, but I don’t know if she did something else to him. I guess we won’t know any more about what happened before I got here until we hear from Mike.”

  “Kelly, I’m taking Deidre to the station, but I want Dave to drive you to the hospital in your minivan and then you’ll have it there to take Mike home when Doc releases him. One of the other deputies will follow and bring Dave back. They’ll get Mike’s car to your house. I’ve got a duplicate key in the office for it. You’ve been through a lot in the last hour, so take a deep breath, try to relax and thank your lucky stars that you showed up when you did. Clearly, you and the dogs saved Mike’s life. When you leave here, Lady and Rebel can go with you. Don’t think anyone at the hospital will tell you no dogs allowed considering you’ll be visiting the county sheriff and Rebel’s his dog.”

  “Well, I guess he is Mike’s dog now, but I’m pretty proud of Lady. She sure wanted to help and it seemed like she knew what to do. Neither one of those dogs hesitated for a second. I’m just glad Deidre’s front door was unlocked. If it hadn’t been, we may have been going to the morgue rather than the hospital.”

  “Glad it’s the hospital.”

  “Me too!” Rebel and Lady both let out a bark as if they perfectly understood the conversation.

  CHAPTER 26

  Three hours later Kelly and Rich, who Kelly had called from the hospital when they were getting ready to leave Sunset Bay, helped a still very drowsy Mike into the house and into his favorite chair by the window. With the time spent taking x-rays and talking to Doc, along with everything else that had happened, Mike had missed the sunset by more than an hour. Fortunately the x-rays had shown that there was no skull fracture and Mike didn’t even have a concussion.

  Rebel sensed something had happened to Mike and sat down next to him, whimpering. Mike reached down, petted him, and began to talk.

  “Kelly, what happened? I remember getting out of my car to go into Deidre’s apartment building and rolling the window down so Rebel could get some air. I didn’t expect to be gone very long. When I was walking up the steps to the front door, I felt something hard jabbed in my side and heard Deidre tell me to walk to the elevator, that she’d been waiting for me. She said she had a gun in my side and if she shot it, no one would hear it because she had a silencer on it. I remember yelling ‘On Guard’ to Rebel. Deidre opened the door of her apartment and I saw my photographs on the wall and none of Scott.

  “She said something like, ‘I’m giving you one more chance to be with me rather than Kelly.’ I remember shaking my head and saying no. She started talking, almost like someone who had lost her mind. She said she’d asked Scott to be with her when he was doing the walking meditation and when he said no, she’d pulled her gun out of the waistband of her yoga pants and shot him. She said she’d asked him before and if he wouldn’t be with her, she’d make certain he’d never be with anyone. She said she’d done the same thing to the guy in Arizona when he wouldn’t leave his wife for her and it was time for her to do the same to me, but first she needed to take pictures of my feet. That’s the last thing I remember. She must have hit me on the head with the pistol. The next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital with you and Doc next to my bed. Want to tell me what happened in the interim?”

  “I think you’re very lucky the only lasting thing from your meeting with Deidre is going to be a big lump on your hea
d for a while. Doc says it looks like a giant goose egg. He gave me some pain pills for you.”

  “How did you get there? And what about Deidre?”

  Rich interrupted, “Mike, Kelly, I’m recording this. Just want to make sure it’s okay with you. I’d appreciate it if I can get it on record that you both gave me permission to record this conversation. Thanks.”

  Kelly told Mike about noticing his patrol car on the street and seeing Rebel in it and it looked like he was barking, which was unusual. She said she heard Rebel as soon as the door of her minivan was opened. Kelly told him how she’d unlocked his patrol car and let Rebel out, then she described what had happened from the time they’d entered the apartment building until she went to the hospital to meet Doc.

  “Mike, you’re lucky to be alive. If I hadn’t decided to renew my driver’s license and seen your car with Rebel in it and acting strange, I don’t know what would have happened. Deidre snapped or had a mental breakdown or whatever you want to call it. When I left for the hospital, she was muttering about killing Scott and a bunch of other men, even that guy in Arizona you told me about. I have no idea how many men she’s killed. Evidently she stalked them and when they either became afraid of her or turned her down, she killed them. She was talking about taking pictures of their feet.”

  “Good grief. I wondered where my shoes and socks were. Do you know what happened to them?”

  “Yes. She was in the process of removing them from your feet when we got there. There was no point in putting them on when you were in the hospital, so I brought them home. Here they are.”

  “I don’t think I want them now. Whenever I put them on, I’d only think of Deidre.” He turned to Rich, “What did you do with her?”

  “I took her to the station and booked her. Then I put her in isolation because she seemed to have suffered a complete mental breakdown. She was about as loony as anyone I’ve ever seen. I’m no expert on mental illness, but I’d say she’s had a major break with reality. She keeps muttering about the men she’s killed and feet and all kinds of other weird stuff. It’s Friday night so she won’t be arraigned until Monday.”

  “What will happen to her then?” Kelly asked.

  “She’s entitled to a public defender,” Rich said, “and usually in cases like this, she’ll plead not guilty and given the circumstances of the case, the judge will probably send her to the state mental hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. Between what she’s admitted to and her obvious mental state, I don’t think she’ll be back on the streets for a long time. The whole thing is downright weird.”

  “Mike,” Kelly said, “I thought we had a deal. I promised to keep my gun on me at all times and you promised to have Rebel with you at all times. Why wasn’t he with you?”

  At his name being mentioned, Rebel’s ears perked up. It seemed as if he, too, was waiting for Mike to answer and was wondering the same thing.

  “I decided to let him stay in my patrol car. I figured I wouldn’t be gone long. I was simply going to meet with Deidre and take a routine statement from her. I didn’t think I’d need Rebel with me. It never occurred to me that I could be in danger. I mean, who would expect a beautiful young woman to be a killer?”

  “Well, it’s rather obvious you didn’t. I’m just glad your bad experience had such a happy outcome.”

  “Believe me, you’re not the only one.”

  They were interrupted by Kelly’s cell phone ringing. She pulled it out of her purse and answered it. “Hi, Doc. Thanks again for taking care of Mike.” She listened for a minute. “Sure, you can talk to him. He’s wide awake.” She handed the phone to Mike.

  “Thanks, Doc. I felt a lot better when I came to and saw you next to my hospital bed. I knew I was in good hands, but you don’t need to spend your weekend time calling to see how I’m doing. Honest, I’m fine.” A moment later he said, “You didn’t call to see how I’m doing? You called to see if I would be the best man in your wedding? What are you talking about?”

  Kelly started crying when she overheard Mike’s conversation with Doc. What with the events of the day and now the good news that Doc and Liz were going to get married, she gave in to the tears that had been hovering at the edges of her eyes for some time. Mike pushed the end call button on his phone and said, “Did you know he was going to ask Liz to marry him tonight?”

  “Yes, he was in the coffee shop earlier today and he showed me the diamond ring he bought for her. What an ending to this week! You’re almost killed and Doc’s going to get married. Don’t think I could have scripted this one.”

  “Kelly, the longer I’m around you the less surprised I am at how things always seem to turn out all right when you’re involved.”

  “Well, Sheriff Mike, since we’re in a two week countdown until our wedding, you have one thing to do between now and then, and that’s rest and get rid of what looks like a large appendage growing out of the back your head. Some wedding pictures those will be if that thing’s not gone in two weeks.”

  “Time for me to leave,” Rich said. “Other than that huge thing on your head, Mike, I think you’re going to be okay. Kelly, Mike, I’ll have the conversation I recorded transcribed and then you both can sign it.”

  “No problem,” Mike said.

  “By the way, the other deputies and I will be taking turns working overtime for the next few days so you can get some rest. We all want to see you looking good at the wedding.” Rich turned to Kelly. “Mike, time for you to get in bed. I think that’s a real good place for you to be until you get back to normal. Okay with you, Kelly, if I help cart him off to bed?”

  “Yes. That’s an excellent idea. He can stay there all weekend and I’ll wait on him like I’m his own personal slave.”

  “I’d like that,” Mike said. “Probably be the last time that’ll happen.”

  “You got that right, Sheriff Mike, so don’t get used to it. This is a one-time only kind of thing. Now, down the hall with you. I’ll bring you something to eat a little later.”

  Rebel followed Rich and Mike down the hall. When they were gone, Lady looked up at Kelly as if to say, “Remember me? I’m the one who also helped save Mike’s life. I think a special treat is in order. What do you think?”

  “Lady, good job. I think I have a little piece of roast beef in the refrigerator that just might have your name on it. Rather imagine you’d enjoy it. You deserve it. Thanks, girl.” Lady wagged her tail and followed Kelly to the refrigerator. If dogs could grin, she clearly had an ear-to-ear grin on her face.

  EPILOGUE

  GUIDO

  Phew, he thought as he cleared airport security, it’s a lot easier when you don’t have to worry about sneaking a gun through. Glad I left it with the Pellino Brothers. Since they’re part of the Family, they can probably find a use for it. I mean, I like to pop someone as much as any other hit man who works for the Family, but poppin’ some spiritual idol? I dunno, maybe it’s that church upbringin’ Mom forced on us kids, but killing some Zen Master who wears robes, well, just glad I didn’t have to do it.

  I was all set to pop the good Zen Master during the walking meditation when I followed him down the trail he took and hid in the bushes next to the trail, waiting for him to return. All I had to do was just step out of the bushes, hold my .22 right next to his head, and bingo, the job’s done. Figured by the time all the dust settled I’d be sittin’ on a plane headed back to Chicago. Then all of a sudden along comes that crazy redhead broad running down the trail in the direction of the Zen Master. Good thing I stayed hidden, because the next thing I know, that dumb sheriff is hotfootin’ it down the trail and I overhear some students say the Zen Master has been shot and killed. Always a little easier when someone else takes care of the Family’s business. Odds are my next hit won’t be some spiritual guru and it will just be business as usual.

  Looking forward to goin’ home. Lotta people don’t like Chicago in January, but it’s better than the damp cold out here in the Pacific Northwest. Anyway
, the kids and wife’ll be happy to see me. Yeah, it’s good to be going home and not havin’ to look over my shoulder.

  DANTE AND LUCA

  They were glad Guido had gone back to Chicago right after the murder of Scott Monroe. He was a cold-blooded killer working for the Family and they were frightened just being around him. However, they had to agree that his idea to become one of the Zen Master’s students so he could get close to Scott and be ready on a moment’s notice to complete the assignment Mr. Rossi had given him, was pure genius.

  The Pellino brothers were certain that the high-end pinot noir wine they were getting ready to introduce would make the Pellino Brothers Vineyard synonymous with the best pinot noir wine in Oregon. They expected some disarray at the White Cloud Retreat Center and vineyard because of the murder of Scott Monroe, its founder and head winemaker. They hoped his death would help the sale of their wines. With Scott gone and his fine wines presumably on hiatus, they were sure they’d be able to convince The Crush’s owner, Jesse, to carry their wines and help make them a household word in the local area and all of Oregon. They knew they had to succeed in order to maintain Mr. Rossi’s faith in them or otherwise they might be on the receiving end of a visit from Guido, which was not a pleasant thought.

  DOC

  A reconciliation with his sons, a restored medical license, and now engaged to the town psychologist – life was definitely looking up for Doc Burkhart. Planning a wedding, more visits from his sons, and enlarging his medical practice was keeping him very busy. His fiancée, Liz, was trying to talk him into taking up boating, telling him how much his sons would enjoy it when they came to visit, but he didn’t think that was going to happen given his lifelong fear of the ocean. The gift he’d received from Kelly, the yellow Labrador named Lucky, was growing up to be a very faithful friend to his master.