Trudi Baldwin - Sammy Dick, PI 02 - Acid Test for Yellow Flower

by Trudi Baldwin

  Luckily, the horse, for once, listened. Rainmaker sat back on his haunches and screeched to a stop. We both looked around us.

  We’d arrived, and we were not alone.

  Chapter Twenty Four – A Strange Tableau

  If my high school drama days served me right, Rainmaker and I had burst upon the classic definition of a tableau: some kind of strikingly visual, dramatic scene that suddenly arises. The tableau laid out before us was strange indeed. My eyes tried to drink it in quickly, so I could plan my next, best move.

  Rainmaker helped with the decision-making. He flung himself upward onto his haunches and started rearing again. Clearly, my next, best move was to ditch my horse as fast as possible. When he plummeted back to earth, I swung off the saddle, hitting the rock floor of the cliff with a reverberating jolt in my tennies, and dragged Rainmaker over to where the other horses stood tied to the bushes. I whipped Rainmaker’s reins around a branch, prayed he’d behave himself, and spun back around.

  “Don’t move, Parker!” Fake Freddy ordered me in a whiney voice. No wonder he and Marissa were attracted to each other. They were both members of the Whiners’ Club, I thought, but decided I’d better be assessing my options instead. I scanned from left to right.

  The view from the cliff side lookout was still as breathtaking as I remembered, with cliffs and hills seeming to stretch forever and ever, but the sight of Freddy sitting on a big red boulder to my right pointing a gun straight at my chest, waving it back and forth between Gloria and me, took my breath away a whole lot more than the view, like a swift sucker punch to my already aching gut.

  To make matters even worse, Gloria, who lay on the cliff floor to my left, wasn’t moving, and her two golden retrievers, Kiva and Kachina, licked her face. Kiva whimpered. Gloria looked like she might still be alive but definitely out for the count. Perhaps Freddy had hit her with the gun rather than fired it at her? Hard to tell. I couldn’t see any blood.

  I squinted at the revolver in Freddy’s hand. Might be one of those new, ultra-popular, slim-style Springfield forty-fives I’d been admiring but not able to afford. If so, it held seven rounds. I calculated this into my thinking and felt sucker-punched a second time. The thought of this unbalanced man shooting off seven rounds with all of us in such close range jacked up my fear levels even higher. We were in deep shit. No other way to call it.

  I forced myself to slowly breathe in a long lungful of air. When in doubt, talk your way out.

  “Don’t worry, Fredric, I won’t give you any trouble at all. I can see you have a gun. The police are on their way. If you get on your horse and run, you can probably get away clean. They won’t even be able to follow you.” I watched as Freddy digested what I’d said. He was at least listening.

  He flicked his head angrily. “She needs to pay first,” Freddy growled, dipping the barrel of the revolver up and down in Gloria’s direction indicating by she he meant Gloria. He was so overcome by his emotions that his gun hand shook. I didn’t know if this was a good sign or a bad sign. Maybe the shakes would throw off his aim.

  What was my plan? Not a very good one. My feeble plan was to keep him talking until Mountain miraculously found the road, made it down the impossible-to-locate trail, and came to our rescue. With that kind of plan, I might have to keep Fake Freddy talking for the rest of eternity. Time to try, at any rate.

  “Why, Fredric, what did she do to you?”

  His lip raised in a snarl and the gun shook up and down. “That fucking bitch ruined my life and everything in it. That’s what!” He’d shifted his left hand up then to help steady the gun. Even so, the gun was shaking all over the place. His bottom lip started to get all wobbly too. He and Marissa had even that in common, except Fake Freddy wasn’t wearing glossy, black lipstick. Keep him talking.

  “But how, Fredric? Gloria seems like a nice enough person. How could she ‘ruin your life and everything in it’ as you put it?” I watched as Freddy debated whether to talk to me or just get it over with and shoot me. Then he bit the wobbling lower lip, gulped, and began to talk. The magnetic allure of telling his own story had won out. Score one for me. He couldn’t resist the narcissistic journey into his past.

  “I loved her. I loved everything about her: her beauty, her power, her sexiness, her ability to command and control situations and everyone around her.” Sounds just like Gloria, I thought wryly. My soon to be mentor—if she lives through this.

  His lower lip wobbled nearly uncontrollably for a beat or two, then he pressed on, “I secretly admired her and loved her madly from the moment I met her at a conference. I could think of nothing but her. Finally, in an effort to be near her, I tracked her down and pitched a business idea to her. She liked my plan, and together we launched it.” I remembered the failed concierge service Geo had described.

  By now he was barely minding his hold on the gun, “I was in the stratosphere of delight. So energizing! I thought all of my dreams would come true, but I was only a business partner to her. She never returned my love, not once, ever! On top of that, when the business never took off, she quit supporting it, withdrawing all her funding. That was the end for me in every way you can imagine. All because of that cold-hearted bitch!”

  He was waving the gun at Gloria with such vigor now that I knew I had to distract him again before he fired in his surge of rage.

  “Fredric, people recover from both a broken heart and bankruptcy every day. You can still do it. Ride away now, and make a brand new life for yourself. You can do it. I’m sure of it.”

  His lower lip stopped wobbling briefly, while he appeared to give this alternative future some real thought. I grew hopeful watching him try to make up his mind. Maybe he’d give up, get out, and leave us both alive.

  No such luck. Freddy’s lower lip pouted out and started wobbling all over the place again. Uh oh, a bad sign. Worse yet, his lip might be wobbling, but whatever decision he’d reached caused the revolver to grow steady in his two-handed hold. Here it comes, I thought. The party’s over.

  “The bitch has to pay first,” he hissed. “I’ll never be happy until she’s dead and her business dies too, so that we’re finally equals. She reneged on her part of the bargain.”

  He spoke right to her, “You broke my heart, you bitch, and forced my business into bankruptcy. Do you understand me? What more can you do to ruin a man?” During this raging speech, Freddy had scooted down off the rock to stand, planted his feet firmly below him and aimed straight at Gloria’s still unmoving form on the ground about thirty feet away from him. I steeled myself for the gun to go off and tried to decide what I’d do then.

  At that instant, my cell phone trumpeted out Mission Impossible in my front pocket, blaring into the quiet Sedona landscape. Freddy and I nearly jumped out of our skins. I had no idea what to do next, answer it or ignore it?

  For a while nothing happened. Freddy and I just sat there staring at each other as the silly theme song played on and on unanswered in my pocket. Until the worst possible outcome developed: Freddy’s eyes hardened. The jarring theme song had firmed his resolve. He must have figured the police were on their way. “I’m leaving, but first she goes down. Permanently,” he hissed, squinted, and fired. A huge boom blasted the air.

  Kiva, the lighter golden, cried out with a high-pitched yelp and collapsed in a heap on top of Gloria who had rolled over on her side just as the shot was fired. Gloria must have been semi-conscious all along and trying to avoid getting hit. Gloria moaned as the dog went down on top of her.

  I screamed at Freddy then with more malice than I knew was in me, “You shot the dog, you stupid idiot! Nobody, absolutely nobody, gets away with murdering innocent dogs on my watch. You’re just a big fake fucker Freddy. Correction. You’re a little fake fucker Freddy!” I spluttered all the f sounds out nearly slobbering on myself I was so angry. It might have been funny in some other situation, but not now with Kiva bleeding freely on Gloria’s lap and Freddy still waving the gun around. No one was laughing.
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  “You’re goin’ down for that. I promise,” I warned him and sprang forward, mindless of the gun, to beat the ever-living shit out of Fake Freddy once and for all.

  But Kachina, the darker golden lead dog, wanted that opportunity all for herself. She spun away from Kiva and Gloria, snarling, her teeth bared, and surged in three leaps across the cliff floor towards Freddy to beat me to the punch. Surprised, Freddy began shooting in desperation, but his shots flew wild in the commotion.

  In her last leap, Kachina bit Freddy right in the crotch. Next, she surged up to Freddy’s chest, mindless of the gun. Freddy was already flying backwards after her hurtling blow to his crotch. I watched him go down and heard his head crack on the rock—and then she bit him, full force, on the throat. Kachina started flipping Freddy’s head back and forth against the rock like she was wringing the life out of a limp chicken, which, truth be told, she was. As his head banged from side to side against the rock, Freddy continued to fire his gun frantically up in the air, missing all of us, until he was shooting only empties. His gun just kept clicking in his hand. No bullets left.

  If I’d thought the Mission Impossible theme song was loud, it couldn’t hold a candle to the sound of seven shots blasting off within a few feet of me. My ears were ringing. Now that the gun was empty, I rushed over to try and pull Kachina off of Freddy before she killed him, if she hadn’t already.

  I circled warily behind her because she was so worked up. “Slow down, girl. Slow down. You did good, Kachina. It’s okay, girl. I’ll get him now.” I walked in closer behind Kachina, a little afraid she might attack me too, she was so worked up, but then I heard Gloria calling her weakly, tears in her voice.

  “Come here, my precious, brave girl, Kachina. You saved my life. You and our sweet friend, here, Kiva. Come here, girl. Sammy will take care of things now. It’s okay.”

  Kachina flipped Freddy’s head back and forth a few more times for good measure banging it on the rock, then relaxed her grip on his throat, watching to see if he was going to move. Freddy lay still, his head turned to the right, out towards the view, his sightless eyes nearly popping out of his head. Satisfied that Freddy wasn’t going to hurt anyone else, Kachina bounded down from the rock and dutifully joined her master, where she lay beside Kiva, licking her face.

  After a few licks, Kachina cocked her head to see if Kiva’s eyes would open. Nothing happened, so she licked some more. Cocked her head again. Kiva just lay there, inert as stone.

  Kachina sat back on her haunches and released a howl toward the sky as if she were the loneliest, saddest coyote at the end of the world. What a mournful sound! Tears streamed unhindered down Gloria’s face and she began to sob as she stroked both dogs and I hoped, with all my heart, that Kiva might yet live.

  Chapter Twenty Five – Lady Godiva

  They say that hate is an unhealthy emotion. But by now I was riddled with it: I hated Freddy with all my heart and wasn’t sure what to do with him. He was still alive. I could see him breathing, and his eyes were flickering open then closed. There was no way I was going to let him escape, but I wasn’t sure how to secure him.

  I thought about it awhile and unable to think of a better solution, I unzipped Trinity’s hoodie, flipped Freddy, bleeding and whining, over onto his front, face down on the rock, and wrapped the hoodie in a tight knot around his wrists securing his arms behind him like I was tying up a steer in a rodeo contest. It was the best I could do. I flipped him back over onto his side. I didn’t really care if he bled to death or not, but the wounds, though significant, did not look like they’d kill him.

  “Sammy,” Gloria called urgently. “I think we might still be able to save Kiva if we hurry. She’s lost quite a bit of blood, but I think we have a chance.”

  Now that I had Freddy secured, I leaned over him again struggling to insert my fingers into the hoodie’s pocket to extract the offending cell phone, which had finally stopped ringing, and speed-dialed Mountain. “Where are you?”

  “Right behind you,” I spun to see Montaigne stride out of the bushes pointing his gun in front of him with one hand, cell phone plastered to his ear with the other. He quickly assessed the situation, pocketing the phone and holding the gun with two hands. I watched as his eyes scanned Gloria and the dogs, took in Freddy with his arms secured behind him, and then finally came to rest on my topless form in the too-tight, too-short jeans and the teeny sneakers that hurt like hell, “Things just keep getting more and more interesting with you, Sammy.”

  I ignored that comment. “How’d you find us?”

  “Your directions to the big ponderosa worked, but the trail was indecipherable. Lucky for you, it’s hard to miss the sound of seven shots fired in quick succession. The gun reports led me right to you.” Freddy was worth something after all.

  Mountain looked down with concern at Gloria, still on the ground with one dog in her lap and the other now licking her face, “How hurt are you, Gloria? What happened?”

  “I think I can walk, but I’ll need help carrying Kiva out.” Mountain nodded indicating agreement.

  She continued, “We rode the horses here; Frederic was friendly as could be the whole way. He had particularly requested this destination. I’d taken him here before, so I didn’t question it, but I think he liked how isolated and hard it is to find.”

  I shivered as I listened to her, thinking of Freddy disposing of the body off the cliff, perhaps never to be found.

  “After we arrived and tied the horses, I walked out to the lookout. Frederic hit me over the head with the gun from behind. I wasn’t suspecting a thing. I went down immediately, but I was still conscious, so he jumped on top of me, flipped me over and began slugging me in the face and stomach. I tried to fight him off the best I could, but, at some point, I must have passed out. My best guess is that he moved over to the rock to decide whether or not he was going to go through with killing me, when Sammy, thank God, found us.”

  I looked more carefully at Gloria’s face. Multiple bruises and an emerging black-eye were discoloring her beautiful face. She’d had a rough time of it, but she’d live. Hopefully, Kiva would too.

  Gloria added, “I think we’d better get going, if you’ll carry the dog.” She looked up at Mountain, but his eyes had shifted to the horses, with a look of surprise on his face.

  “Hey, Sammy, what’s with your horse?” he laughed.

  Both Gloria and I followed Mountain’s gaze to where the horses were tied. Rainmaker had pulled his reins free and mounted Glitter Girl from behind, humping away with mighty thrusts, heedless of both their saddles—quite a feat! His upper lip was rolled back in happy stallion lust, completely oblivious to the drama playing out behind him as he engaged in his own pursuit.

  Gloria laughed quietly too through her tears as she hugged her dogs, “I swear, absolutely nothing distracts that horse from pursuing a mare in heat.”

  “I understand the feeling,” Mountain said solemnly eyeing my half-naked form, “But I can’t dwell on it, if we’re going to save your dog, Gloria, and jail the man, in that order.”

  “Thank you. I love your priorities. Let’s get going to try and save Kiva if we can,” said Gloria fervently, “How can I help?”

  “I think this may be the best way to proceed,” directed Mountain in his calm, capable way. “First, I need to switch out Sammy’s hoodie for my handcuffs while I read Fredric here his rights. Next, let’s get you up, Gloria, if we can, and you and I work together to lift the dog into my arms while Sammy guards Freddy. Once we get you and Kiva safely in the front seat of the car, I’ll return to get Freddy. Then I’ll get all three of you to the Sedona emergency room, if I can figure out where one is.”

  “Hang on, Mountain, I’ll find out,” I said, using my phone to run a search on Sedona Emergency Room. “There’s one right off of 89A just past Harmony Drive and Tranquil Avenue.” I smiled, “The location bodes well for Kiva’s future, I’d say.”

  I enlarged the map on my phone, “To get there, ju
st make a left at the bottom of Dry Creek Road.” For a moment, I regretted the blood, dirt and gore that would soon ooze all over the new leather seats of the rented Camaro. Oh well, had to be done.

  Those logistics would be difficult enough, but there was still the question of what to do with the three horses and Kachina. I turned to Gloria, “How would you suggest we get all the horses and Kachina back to your house?”

  Gloria glanced back at the horses. Rainmaker had now spent himself and was standing placidly behind the other two horses. “Remove the bridles from Glitter Girl and Golden Oldie and hang them on your own saddle horn. As long as you can handle Rainmaker to find your way back, the other two horses will follow with just their saddles on. So will Kachina, I hope. She’s going to be awfully worried about Kiva, so please keep your eye on her. Do you think you can handle all the horses and Kachina by yourself, Sammy? It’s a lot to ask.”

  Questioning my competency, whether warranted or not, always got my hackles in a hump, so I retorted a bit too sharply, “Of course I can. No problem.”

  Then I softened it a bit, saying, “That’ll work, Gloria,” as I donned Trinity’s hoodie, zipping it up all the way. Mountain had already secured Freddy’s wrists in handcuffs behind his back and read him his rights. The wind had picked up and was now wooshing up from below. I’d started to shiver. Goose bumps had been popping out all over my naked top. The hoodie felt soft and warm and I was grateful to get it back. It was going to be a strange enough caravan back to Gloria’s—I didn’t want to try to manage three horses and Kachina with me dressed, or undressed as it were, as Lady Godiva the whole way.

  “One more thing, Sammy,” Gloria chimed in. Her voice had a slight choking quality.

  “Yes?” I asked.

  “Thank you from the bottom of my heart for finding us!”

  I almost blushed, dipping my head respectfully toward her. “No problem, Gloria.”