by Dana Mentink
He laughed. “I knew I liked that girl.”
* * *
When Antonia had recovered somewhat, Sage helped her to stand and they picked their way over to join Dallas and Trey. Trey pulled supplies from his pack and handed around bread with peanut butter and water bottles. Sage looked into his pack. “Do we get a candy bar if we finish our lunches?” She enjoyed the flush that rose to his cheeks.
“I was going to save those for later.”
She turned to Dallas. “Was he a candy junkie as a kid?”
Dallas smiled. “The worst kind. Never met a type of candy he didn’t like.”
“Not true,” Trey said, giving them an offended look. “Black jelly beans are horrendous.”
“I stand corrected,” Sage said, devouring her sandwich quickly. “How do we get out of here and bring back the police?”
Options were bandied about between the four of them. The best choice seemed to be to rappel down the outside of the building to the closest working fire escape. Then they could climb down to the ground one at a time. The plan would prevent them from having to reenter the opera house at all. Antonia looked a little wan at the prospect, but she nodded.
“I’ll just be glad to get out of here,” she said, wiping away a tiny drop of rain that splatted her cheek.
Sage noticed that Antonia did not meet her eye. More than ever, she was convinced the woman knew something she was not telling. Fine, if you don’t want to talk to me, you’re going to tell it to the police.
Trey radioed Derick, but again there was no answer. He had Dallas try with his cell phone with no better luck so his brother sent a cursory text message to Derick’s phone.
Antonia safe. On our way out. Wait for us at deli.
It was the best they could do. Sage hoped that Derick would not go into Sly Steel mode and head inside anyway. A more sinister thought occurred to her. If Derick had imprisoned Barbara, or killed her, he would want everyone to stay as far away from the Imperial as possible. She caught the worry lines etched into Trey’s forehead, accentuated by the light rain that had begun to fall, and sidled over to him.
“Not sure about the escape plan?” she asked.
“It’s not that.” He meticulously straightened the first aid kit. “Remember when we found Wally?”
She shivered. “Yes. He was bloody.”
“Uh-huh, but Antonia has only minor cuts and scratches.”
A tingle crept up her spine. “So whose blood was on the dog?”
Trey didn’t answer, and his silence added to her rising sense of dread. Was it Barbara’s blood on Wally? Perhaps Fred Tipley hadn’t made it all the way out of the Imperial and he’d gotten injured? And what about the person who’d tried to crush them with boxes? She let herself imagine it for one brief moment, her cousin or Fred, dying alone in the darkness, cold and terrified. The thought coiled through her like a snake, sinking sharp pricks of pain into her heart. She forced herself to breathe. There was simply no time for a panic attack.
Hold on, Barbara. The police will make Derick tell the truth and we’ll come and get you. I promise. They made their way to the fire escape, Trey first, then Antonia, Sage and Dallas bringing up the rear.
Antonia was breathing fast as she climbed backward down the rusted metal rungs. “What is it they say? Don’t look down?”
“Right,” Trey said. “One step at a time.”
The ladder creaked under their weight, but Sage did not allow the sound into her consciousness. One step at a time. So far she had taken many steps that would have seemed impossible to her only hours before. The thought gave her a little spurt of courage and she nursed the burgeoning belief that the whole nightmare might actually have a good outcome. Antonia was the proof that would convince the police and prompt a full-scale search. She just had to get back to level ground. One step at a time.
Trey called up to her and she and Dallas stopped to listen.
“Bottom ladder is gone,” he yelled.
She had to have heard him wrong.
“Come again?” Dallas shouted.
“The ladder below us has fallen away from the building.”
“How far to the ground?” Dallas called.
“Roughly six meters. We’ll have to use the ropes.”
Trey’s radio crackled to life.
“We’ve finally got a cop here.” Derick’s voice was too loud.
Trey explained their position. “Coming down now and we’ve got plenty to discuss with that cop.”
Sage couldn’t detect any undue concern in Derick’s response, but perhaps the static masked it. She looked down on Antonia. Her lips were pressed together, hands clutching the damp fire escape platform. Was her tension caused by the danger of their descent? Or because she feared meeting with the police at the end of the journey?
TWELVE
Trey waited until they had all joined him on the lower fire escape platform. He left the rope management to his brother and busied himself with tying a makeshift harness around his waist for the descent.
“Isn’t it women and children first?” Sage said. He caught the fear there, but her attempt to control it with humor was a good sign, he thought.
“Since I outweigh any of you, I ought to be a good test subject.”
“If you crash to the ground we’ll know the ropes aren’t going to support the rest of us?” she said.
“Something like that.” He tightened the rope while his brother worked on securing the other end with Antonia’s help.
Sage reached out tentatively, her fingers barely touching the skin of his forearm. He froze, staring at the spot. She struggled to speak.
Trey made things easier. “It’ll work,” he said, flashing a cocky smile.
She kept her hand there, the fingers soft as petals. “It just sort of came to me....”
“What?”
“That this is probably the last thing you would have chosen. Being here, with me.” A tenuous band of sunlight broke through the rain clouds and illuminated the shadows of fatigue around her eyes. “After...” She cleared her throat and pulled away. “Never mind.”
He leaned closer, his voice barely a whisper. “I’m not angry about what happened anymore, just grieving, like you, like we all are.”
“But not blaming yourself.” There was a question entwined in her words.
“I’ll always wonder what I didn’t do, but staying there, in that place, isn’t what God wants from me.” He bent so he could look straight into her eyes. “Or you.” He waved a hand at the mangled city around them. “I guess this earthquake reminded me of that.”
“I wish I could bring myself to believe it.”
And how he wished he could help her to that place of peace, and what a craving stirred inside him to pull her to him and hold back the memories that fought to bring her down. His heart pounded as she grasped his wrist and quickly brought it to her lips. “Be careful, Captain Black.”
Breath raspy, he covered his emotion by finishing his work on the rope. “Yes, ma’am.”
He stepped to the edge and gave his brother a thumbs-up.
“Easy, man,” Dallas called.
Trey leaned out backward until only his toes touched the metal platform and then he stepped off, legs spread to keep from spiraling. Flakes of rust fell away from the metal, peppering his cheeks, and he was lowered in a series of jerks, though he knew his brother was doing his best to let out the rope slowly. The sidewalk spun below him, the rope cinching uncomfortably around his waist, and rain spattered his clothing. His pulse slowed as he grew closer to the cement, which had buckled in some places, the gutter running with water from broken pipes.
The moment his boots touched down he immediately untied the rope and Dallas reeled it back up through the rain, which had begun to fall in earnest.
Derick, Rosalind, Emiliano and Sergeant Rubio arrived just as Sage reached the ground and they sent the rope back up for Antonia.
“You all are not good at following directions,” Rubio said with more resignation than ire. “I see you found your missing woman. Good work.”
Derick grasped the rope at the bottom, but Trey took it from him. “I’ve got it,” he said, ignoring the actor’s irritated hands-on-hips move.
They all craned their necks to the sky to track Antonia’s descent. As soon as she reached ground level, Derick wrapped her in a hug. Antonia shoved him away.
“Don’t touch me,” she hissed.
Rosalind’s eyes widened as she looked from Antonia to Derick. “Problem?”
Antonia took several steps back and folded her arms across her chest, eyes riveted to the wet cement.
As curious as he was about Derick’s reaction, his attention remained on his brother, who made his way down the rope, lithe as a cat.
“Who’s this?” Rosalind said.
Trey made the introductions and explanations as her eyes widened.
“He crawled through the storm drains? I didn’t know that was even possible.”
Dallas raised his fingers. “Scout’s honor.”
Rubio wiped the water from his hat. “Let’s take this inside somewhere.”
Emiliano led the way back to the hotel and insisted they sit in the lobby. There was no electricity, so the room was lit only by the wan daylight and a battery-powered lantern. Emiliano explained with satisfaction in his tone as he passed around warm sodas from the vending machine that the three thugs who’d tried to loot the place had been taken away.
Sergeant Rubio seated himself in a wooden chair, exhaustion written all over him. The guy had been on duty now since the quake hit, Trey figured. No rest for emergency personnel during a catastrophic event. Rubio drained the soda in four gulps.
Trey and Dallas chose to stand. They were eager to see how things played out when the issue of Barbara was out in the open.
Sage didn’t waste time. “My cousin Barbara is missing, Sergeant Rubio. I have reason to believe she’s been imprisoned in the Imperial.”
Derick gaped. “What? By whom?”
“By you,” Sage said.
His face went pale, then flushed a rosy pink. “Are you crazy? I love Barbara. She’s in New Mexico, like I’ve told you a hundred times already.”
Sage didn’t flinch. “I don’t think so. Antonia doesn’t either.”
Derick blinked at Antonia. “What have you been saying?”
“I saw you return from the opera house with your shoes all full of mud and gold plaster just before she supposedly left town,” Antonia said.
He made gasping noises as if someone was trying to choke him. “I... Of course I spend time at the opera house. Yes, I was there in the basement, I don’t deny it, but not to bury my wife or whatever it is you’re trying to insinuate. I was checking, you know, to be sure it was not flooding again.”
Rosalind shifted, gaze flicking over Derick and then quickly away.
Sage turned to Rosalind. “You saw the shoes, too. You cleaned them off and brought them inside. Why?”
Rosalind shoved a section of hair from her face. “Because they were dirty. Derick is not accustomed to taking care of himself and since Barbara left town, someone needs to do it. They were dirty shoes, not a smoking gun or bloody gloves.”
Derick was shaking his head, face stricken. “I love my wife. I love Barbara. How could you believe that I would do anything to hurt her?”
Trey knew enough to realize that Derick’s reaction could be a product of his profession, a well-staged act for their benefit.
“Really?” Antonia said bitterly. “You love her? Then why did you try to seduce me?”
Derick’s mouth fell open.
Rosalind stood up. “That’s enough. We’ve just gone through a major catastrophe and now is not the time for opportunism.”
“Are you saying I’m lying?” Antonia snapped.
Rosalind’s tone sharpened. “I’ve been working for the Longs for a while now and I know how the game is played. This isn’t my first rodeo, honey.” She addressed Rubio. “I can’t tell you how many celebrity-struck girls have chased after Derick, thinking that they could make him realize they were his true heart’s desire and not because they cared about him. They would do anything to get a piece of his fame.”
Antonia shot to her feet and Sergeant Rubio held up a calming hand. “Keep it under control,” he warned. “Ms. Verde, are you saying that Mr. Long forced his attentions on you and this is why you think he might have killed his wife?”
“I didn’t kill anyone,” Derick shouted. He looked as though he was going to leap out of his seat, so Trey went behind and applied a hard downward pressure to his shoulder.
“Let the lady talk,” Trey growled.
Rubio was distracted by a message coming over his phone.
“That’s what I suspected,” Antonia said. “And no,” she said grudgingly. “He did not violate me, just made it clear he wanted more than painting from me.”
“But you are not exactly the pinnacle of virtue are you?” Rosalind stared her down. “You don’t think we do background checks on our people? The only reason you were hired is because Barbara wanted to give you a chance.”
Antonia’s lips thinned into a tight line and she looked at the floor. “My past has nothing to do with this.”
“No? You didn’t need to score a little cash to help out your sister, who is in jail? Cops thought you helped her commit her crime, didn’t they?”
“Don’t talk about my sister.” Antonia choked the words out.
Derick grasped Rosalind’s wrist. “Leave her be. She misunderstood my intentions. Let’s just straighten this thing out.”
Sage turned to Rubio. “Send in a team. Search the Imperial. I’m telling you my cousin is in there.”
Rubio stood up, putting his phone away. “No, she’s not. I alerted the desk sergeant that Mr. Long was looking for her after our conversation at the deli. I just got a message. Mrs. Barbara Long called the station three hours ago inquiring about her husband’s well-being when she could not reach him on his cell phone. They finally had a moment to message me with the information.” He looked regretfully at the empty soda can. “I’ve got to go. There’s no reason to put yourselves at any further risk. Rest up, roads will be partially cleared before too much longer.” He turned to Emiliano. “Can they bunk here for a while?”
Emiliano nodded briskly. “Of course.”
“Okay, then,” Rubio said. “I’m glad this is all over.”
* * *
Sage decided she should be feeling the swell of relief, or maybe even the tingle of guilt for her earlier accusation, but she was numb. Barbara really was fine. The whole episode had been an invention of her mind, her imagination, her paranoia. Now her cheeks burned. “I...I guess I have an apology to make,” she said to Derick. “I’m extremely sorry.”
He stood, beaming, and hugged her around the shoulders. “Don’t give it another thought. I should be flattered that you think I could be clever enough to make Barbara disappear.” He leaned closer. “I really do love her, you know.”
She endured the hug for a moment before she stepped back. Antonia hadn’t moved, her expression stony.
“Don’t you owe Derick an apology, too?” Rosalind said to her.
Sage heard the girl’s sharp intake of breath. “I’m not going to apologize to a man who tried to take advantage of me.”
“I’m not surprised,” Rosalind said. She turned to Emiliano. “Thank you for letting us rest here awhile. Is there somewhere I could lie down?”
Emiliano snapped into host mode. “Certainly. Perhaps a room for you and...” he hesitated, eyeing Antonia. “The
other two ladies can share. Gentlemen, we have two other rooms that aren’t damaged if you don’t mind doubling up.”
“My brother and I will split a room,” Trey said quickly.
Derick nodded. “That would be better than sleeping in a truck, and I’m told I talk in my sleep so it’s just as well I have my own room.”
Sage wondered what Derick might mumble while asleep. Was he the devoted husband? Shocked at the accusations? Or the man who had tried to force himself on Antonia? Rosalind had acted quickly to discredit Antonia, a little too quickly perhaps? Was she guilty of covering something up for Derick? Sage knew she was trying to salvage her own tattered feelings. Derick was innocent of hurting Barbara. The rest didn’t matter much.
She followed Antonia to a cramped guest room on the other side of the hallway.
Emiliano pointed the way. “Bathroom is across the hall. Water isn’t working, so we’ll use the outhouse the construction guys left in the parking lot. At least we can wash with bottled water. I’ll leave a gallon next to the sink.”
“Thank you, Emiliano,” Sage said and Antonia echoed her gratitude. He answered with a smile and a self-deprecating wave before he left.
So many people. Giving so selflessly. It made her burn with shame to think of how she’d spent the last year, so deeply buried in her own problems, blindfolded from the world. Before, she’d been so zealous to help others by exposing the truth, capturing the photo that would change everything. Had it really been about helping others? Or helping her own career? Antonia lay down on the bed, her back to Sage.
They had both convinced themselves that Barbara was the victim of foul play. Antonia’s theories were perhaps driven by a secret attraction to Derick, but her own? The rain pounded down on the roof of the little inn, and she pictured Trey, sacrificing his own safety for hers and entertaining her crazy notion that Derick had kidnapped his own wife.
Across the hall she could hear the murmur of voices. She left the room, closing the door behind her, and found Rosalind deep in conversation with Derick in the room Rosalind was occupying. They broke off when they saw her.