“It’s in there, right?” Sheila asked from behind me, shaking me from my stupor.
“Oh,” I said, turning around and handing her the wallet I tightly clutched, “yeah. It’s right here. Sorry.”
“Thanks, doll,” she said, grinning. Then, just like that, she was headed back into the service station.
I watched her go, my heart in my throat, my brain a fog of a million thoughts flying at once.
Sheila had pushed me to sell to Wyatt Axelrod as soon as she heard about the offer.
She was the one who told me the business was failing, but I’d just taken her at her word.
She told me she went to the Skull and Bones bikers, but what if what she’d been the reason they came after Richard? What if they had known about following Lacy because of Sheila, after I’d dropped Eli and Wallach off with her? And now, right now, why had she been so adamant about me staying the night? Just because of shock from the events? Or because she’d run out of other options on trying to get to me? I couldn’t forget, either, that she thought getting Frost Security involved was a bad idea. And now she didn’t even want to go Sheriff Peak!
But, my brain screamed, why? Why did she want me gone so badly? Did she hate me? Did I steal a boyfriend from her or something? I didn’t know. But, if she was the one behind this, behind that poor tortoise that had shown up at the gallery, then there was no telling what kind of batshit crazy world she was living in.
I pulled my phone from my pocket, the first time I’d even looked at it since I’d left the cabin, and went to turn on the screen. It wouldn’t go. I turned it on, one eye on the service station door like I was a scared child looking for the bogeyman to come out of the closet. The phone powered up, an altering popping up that I had four text messages from Richard, then the battery meter flashed abruptly at zero percent and powered down again with a happy little chime.
Shit! Sometimes in poor service areas, when the phone was constantly searching for a tower, it would do this. I’d completely forgotten about that fact with everything going on in the last couple days. Considering how infrequently I left my coverage area, too, I wasn’t surprised. I stared down at the black, inert screen of my phone, wondering what I should do.
Here I was, in the middle of nowhere. My phone dead. Maybe sitting in my stalker’s car. And my stalker had my dogs.
I had her spare, after all, but the question was: how do I get there before she did?
Behind me, headlights lit up from the direction of Enchanted Rock. I watched as the car began to slow and it pulled into the little trading post parking lot. Maybe, just maybe, I’d know the person? Or it would be one of the town cops, or state troopers? Or they could help me get in touch with Richard or get me back to town? Something, anything, would be better than this.
The car, a little BMW, pulled up at the gas pump beside me and a beautiful blonde with striking blue eyes climbed out.
Oh thank God, it was Karen!
“Karen!” I nearly shouted as I jumped from the car. “What are you doing out here?”
She jumped in surprise. “Jessica? That you? Jesus, girl, you look like a mess! I couldn’t sleep, so I was just driving around. What about you?”
“Long night,” I said. “Listen, can I get a ride by Sheila’s place real quick? Like now? She and I just had a, uh, fight, and I have to get my dogs from her, then head back to my house.”
She smiled warmly. “Absolutely, girl. I’ve got plenty of gas. I was really just coming in to get a soda. Hop in, I’ll take you right there.”
I practically ran around to the passenger side and hopped in. Karen slid back into the driver seat, started up the car. The Beemer rumbled to life with the smooth purr of a jungle cat, and we took off, headed for Sheila’s house.
First, I’d get Eli and Wallach back from that bitch.
Then, what?
I didn’t know. I’d figure out my next steps later. The most important thing, though, were my dogs. And the fact that, no matter where I went, Sheila was going to have them if I didn’t get them back.
And that meant I had to. Tonight.
Chapter Forty-seven
Richard
With the bikers all gone and the cabin locked back up, the team and I were headed back to Enchanted Rock. Matt, Jake, and Frank had all ridden up in the same car and shifted where the turnoff for the cabin road had been. Now, I was headed back in the driver seat with Frank, who’d turned back to human and put his clothes on, in the passenger. We’d been calling Jessica since we got within cell range, but hadn’t received any kind of answer, and she hadn’t replied to any of the texts Frank had been sending from my phone.
I didn’t blame her about not responding, of course. I was a freak, after all, and she was just now finding out about who I really was. If she’d lied to me the same way, I don’t know how I would have responded, either.
Who was I kidding, though? I knew exactly how I’d respond. But I was head over heels in love with her.
And all this was piled on top of our finding out that the bikers weren’t behind the stalking, or the death threats. If Wyatt Axelrod was to be believed, of course.
“I don’t know,” I said, shaking my head as I raced my headlights into town. “I still have a really bad feeling about all this. There’s just so many things we’ve missed. Still can’t believe I started this whole thing with those fucking bikers.”
“Don’t beat yourself up,” Frank said. “Were I in your boots, buddy, I would’ve thought the same damn thing as you. Hell, even Peter reckoned they were the baddies, not some random woman.”
“How can I not fucking beat myself up about it? She’s my fucking mate, man! And now she’s on the run from her stalker, and me! Worst part is, I don't who it could fucking be, Frank,” I his as he shifted in his seat and pulled his lit up phone from his pocket. “Could it be Sheila? I mean, what motive would she have? Her and Jess are best friends. And I never picked up anything weird from her.”
“One sec,” he said, answering the phone and putting it to his. “Frank O’Dwyer. How can I help?”
“Who is it?” I hissed. Normally, I wouldn’t have been too curious about a business call to any of the guys’ cell phones, but it was certainly an odd time of night to be getting one. And, with everything that was going on, what were the chances it was unrelated?
“Sheila Pearson?” he asked, a concerned look on his face. “Yeah, I remember you from working with your father.” He paused. “Woah there, girl. Go ahead and slow on down, alright? Take a deep breath and start over.”
Sheila was calling Frank? What the hell? Maybe Jessica’s phone was out of power, or broken in the skirmish with the bikers. A lot had been going on. But, why then, would our number one suspect be trying to get in touch with me? Wouldn’t she be trying to convince Jessica not to call us?
“Okay,” he said after a moment, “I’m handing you off to Richard, since he’s more familiar with this case.”
He handed the phone to me. “Sheila?” I asked. “What’s wrong?”
“Jessica, that’s what! She’s disappeared! I was at the store, and I came out from paying for gas, and the car was empty. I think . . . I think she might have been kidnapped, Richard! Could those bikers have done this? The ones that dragged me along? Do you think they could have seen her and swung in?”
“I don’t know,” I said, my jaw clenched, the thought of something happening to Jessica while I couldn’t help her turning my stomach upside down. “I don’t think so, though. Where are you?”
“The gas station half way to the Rock. You know it?”
“Yeah,” I said. “We’re not far away. Stay right fucking there, Sheila. We’re on our way.”
I handed the phone back to Frank and told him what she’d said.
“Still think it’s her, then?” he asked. “Sheila? She didn’t strike me as the stalker type when I met her before. A little too, uh, flighty a bird for that.”
I shook my head. “Doesn’t add up, if she is. Why would sh
e be calling us if she was the stalker?”
“Only one way to find out, I guess,” Frank said, leaning back in the seat. “Hi-yo Silver!”
I nodded and slammed my foot down on the gas. If the stalker, or someone else, had her, we might not have much time. The faster we got there, the better.
Chapter Forty-eight
Jessica
“Why’d she even have your dogs?” Karen asked as we pulled away from Sheila’s place, both Eli and Wallach stuffed into the back seat.
I’d gotten the boys together, along with their food and leashes, and piled them into Karen’s car as fast as I could. In the back of my mind, I was worried that I was falling into Sheila’s trap by coming there. Like I was walking into the lair of the beast herself. But, how could I do anything else? I couldn’t leave Eli and Wallach with her. Not if she was the one threatening my life. After all, I'd seen that poor tortoise.
“It’s a long story,” I said, sighing. I was so tired, I was just ready to hit the hay and try to get some sleep. “But, well, I was supposed to be going out of town this weekend.”
Karen looked me over. “Jessica, can I ask you something?”
“Uh, yeah, sure. I guess.”
“Why the hell are you lying to me? It feels like you haven’t been straight with me in weeks, and you’re always just dancing around on the edge of things.”
I was shocked, and at a sudden loss for words. She was right, I guess, but to have it so blatantly thrown back in my face like a glass of ice water? I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
She sighed, frustrated. “We’ve been friends since high school, right?”
“Yeah,” I admitted grudgingly. “I just, I don’t know, okay? At first, it was one little thing. And, as it’s gotten more and more out of hand, I just knew I couldn’t tell you without you getting upset because of not having let you know about any of it in the first place. Like, a poisoned seed, or a dying root.”
“Well,” she said carefully as we slowly drove through town, “why don’t you just tell me everything?”
I groaned. “Better late than never, I guess.”
Karen reached across the center console, grabbed my hand and squeezed tightly. “Exactly.”
Wondering where I should start, I took a deep breath, then the story just began to pour out of me. All of it, the calls, the bikers, the stalker, fax, the tortoise, my worry about Sheila. Everything.
Except, of course, the werewolves.
I didn’t for a second think she’d believe that.
Who would, right?
“And you want to go home?” she asked, a little shocked. “That’s the last place I’d go!”
When she said it like that, I realized how ridiculous it seemed. If the bikers were still out there, and still wanted to get to me, they'd easily find out where I lived. Especially if Sheila was working with them, or using them as her pawn. And, of course, Sheila knew exactly where home was. “Guess I could get a hotel,” I admitted after a while. “One that takes dogs, I mean. There's that one near the Greyhound stop”
“What?” Karen asked with a laugh. “A hotel? You’re not staying at any lousy roach motel. You’re staying at my getaway cabin tonight. And I’m not taking no for an answer.”
“Your getaway cabin?” I asked, shaking my head. “No, I can’t do that, Karen. I can’t impose on you that way.”
She smiled at me, her full, glossed lips perfect, her pale blue eyes flashing in the light of the gauge panel. “You’re not imposing,” she said. “I hardly ever stay there, especially with mother being sick. It’s just my place where I can disappear every now and then, clear my head. It’s quiet, you’ll have a place for the dogs to run around out back. Because you can’t go home, not with Sheila still out there, or those bikers. You know that.”
I frowned, nodded. “I’m so sorry, by the way,” I said after a while.
“For what?”
“For, you know, not telling you about everything when this all started.”
She dismissed my apology with a wave of her hand. “You’re forgiven, hon. Things happen, people make mistakes. Not the end of the world, as far as I’m concerned.”
“Thanks,” I said. “And you know what?”
“What, hon?”
“You’re a good friend. Thank you. For everything. For giving me a place to stay tonight, and for taking me by Sheila’s. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come along, if I’d been forced to stick it out with her.”
“Don’t mention it. At all, okay?” She reached over, grabbed my arm, squeezed gently. “What are friends for if they can’t help you out in a tight space?”
I grinned. “Yeah,” I admitted. “You’re right.”
A short while later, we were pulling up at a small cabin on the far edge of town. It was close to her mom’s home, only about a five or ten minute drive. “Well, this is it,” she said as we pulled up outside in the drive, “and you’re welcome to stay as long as you like. Barely anyone knows about this place except for me.”
“I really, really appreciate this,” I said as I got out of the car and flipped the passenger seat down, pulling it forward to let Eli and Wallach out. They both promptly hit the grass, running in excited circles till they calmed down enough to find a place to do their business. I searched for a poop bag for them.
“Ignore it,” Karen said. “You’ll be able to find it better in the morning, anyways. Let’s get you inside so I can show you around.”
“Yeah,” I said, smiling at the first good thing to happen to me since the Frost Security safe house.
“I just can’t believe Sheila would do something like all this,” Karen said as she unlocked the front door and led me and the dogs inside. “Make threatening calls?”
“I know,” I said, sighing as I shuffled in behind her, dogs in tow. “It’s just gotten to the point where I don’t know who to believe anymore, who to trust. I mean, I thought I was going to be safe at the cabin, and I wasn’t. I couldn’t even drive home without someone trying to run me off the road.” I closed my eyes, a sudden vision of the big black truck from the day before filling my foggy mind. I shuddered and shook my head, dispelling the memory. “Now I’m just freaking exhausted.”
Karen’s getaway cabin was bigger than the cabin I lived in full time. Two stories, four bedrooms, attached garage, fully furnished. The amount of money this place must have cost was, by itself, staggering. All so she could have a place to escape to when she didn’t want to be burdened by her dying mother? Don’t get me wrong, it was nice to have a friend who could help me out in a jam like this, but the idea that someone had that kind of money to just throw around was kind of obscene.
I'd never let Karen know that, though.
“I’ll bet you are exhausted,” she said, yawning, heading through the spacious living room, with all its plastic coverings, and disappearing into the kitchen. “I haven’t had half the day you have, or even a tenth, and I’m beat just hearing about it, hon.”
I laughed, setting the dog food down next to the plastic-shrouded couch and sitting down. Eli and Wallach both stopped and sat down, looked up at me with their big doggy eyes. Eli promptly yawned, his blood hound tail thumping on the hardwood.
“Hey Karen?” I called as I began to scratch my dogs behind their ears.
“Yeah, hon?” she called from the kitchen.
“Which bedroom am I staying in?”
“Pick one,” she said. “One downstairs, three up. Whichever one you want, hon, that’s yours.”
I sank back into the couch. Even with the plastic covering, it was still incredibly comfortable, supportive. If I wasn’t careful, I’d fall asleep right there. Right then, though, my bladder reminded me that it had been hours since I’d used the restroom.
“One more question,” I called, laughing. “Restroom?”
Karen laughed. “Third door on the left. Can’t miss it. There’s a couple upstairs, too, if you decide to stay the night up there.”
; With a grunt of exhaustion, I heaved myself up from the too-comfortable couch and went to find the bathroom. I wandered down the hallway, my brain finally deciding that this was shutdown time. Maybe because it knew a bed was close by? That I could finally have a well-deserved rest? Whatever the reason, I clearly wasn’t working at one-hundred percent, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I chose the second door instead of the third.
Instead of the bathroom, like I expected, I found the garage.
At first, I was surprised that I’d accidentally stepped foot in there. Then, I was even more surprised by what I found.
A truck. An older model, one of those bigger work trucks.
I reached up with my left hand, found the light switch. It wasn’t just a big, older work truck. It was a black one with New Mexico plates. “Jessica, hon?” Karen called from the kitchen. “You want a glass of wine or anything? I know it’s late, and all, but might help take the edge off things.”
My mouth dropped open and my throat seemed to close.
“Jessica?” she called again, this time closer than before.
I swallowed hard, trying to remember how to breathe, how to bring myself to action.
“Oh, hon, you silly, that’s the garage,” Karen said from behind me, “not the restroom.”
I turned around, my mouth opening and closing.
She had a rag in one hand and an amber bottle in the other. She opened and closed her mouth, making fun of me, then giggled. “What?” she asked, taking a step forward towards me. “Surprised?”
I shut my mouth, my teeth clacking together, and took a step back, away from her. “You?”
“Me.” And then she lunged, the rag held up and in front of her like a weapon.
I was exhausted, both physically and mentally, and my reactions were slow. I stumbled back, my arm flying up to try and fend her off, but she easily overpowered me and stuffed the sweet-smelling rag over my face.
“Breathe it in, hon,” Karen purred in my ear as she shoved me back against the truck with surprising strength. “Breathe deep.”
FROST SECURITY: Richard Page 23