Bunny Elder Adventure Series: Four Complete Novels: Hollow, Vain Pursuits, Seadrift, ...and Something Blue

by J. B. Hawker

  “Now look what you’ve done, you dope! We’ve lost her! Where is she? She must have turned a corner while you were distracting me.”

  “There she is! Turn right here. No, no! Go back and turn the other way. I meant turn left, right there. Don’t get too close!”

  “Oh shut up! I see her.”

  Bunny tapped on the screen door before entering the parsonage through the utility room. She felt uncomfortable just walking into a house that was not her own.

  No one was home, so she made herself a cheese and tomato sandwich and went out to the screen porch to eat. She was spreading a napkin on her lap when she saw another of those dark green cars go speeding by.

  That sure is a popular car in these parts, Bunny thought, as she bit into one of Rosamund’s crunchy, sweet, home-canned watermelon rind pickles. Old Rosie can be difficult to live with, but she is a great cook, that’s for sure.

  Bunny was cleaning up her lunch things when Rosamund returned from a women’s group meeting at the church and flung herself into the nearest kitchen chair.

  “That Maureen Oldham! I think she was placed on this earth just to test me. That woman has to be the boss of everything. She is the pushiest, most vexatious person I’ve ever known,” Rosamund said with exasperation.

  “I’m sure she means well, of course,” Rosamund continued more calmly after taking a breath, “but, how can she fail to see the harm she’s doing?”

  “What happened?”

  “You haven’t been a member of our church long enough to get to know Maureen, but you will have to interact with her before too long, and then you will see what I’m talking about. Today was almost the last straw. As in a lot of churches, our women’s group is mostly older, but today there were two young women at the meeting. I’ve been encouraging them to join our group for months and today they came. I was absolutely thrilled when they volunteered to decorate the tables for our upcoming luncheon.”

  “That’s wonderful. If you can give newcomers a responsibility they are much more likely to become a part of the group.”

  “Of course, I know that! That’s why I am so upset at Maureen. She just rolled over those young women and left them flat. They will never come back to the group, now. I only hope they don’t leave the church.”

  “What did Maureen do?”

  “She jumped right in and announced that she was the head of the decorating committee, and that these girls would need to run any newfangled ideas by her first. Then she gave them a list of do’s and don’ts as long as my arm. They had been so excited to try something new and we were all eager to see what they might come up with. After Maureen’s assault everyone just sat there staring at the floor. It was terribly unpleasant.”

  “Couldn’t you say something?”

  “I thought you said you were once a pastor’s wife, Bunny. You should know how anything you say or do can rebound on the pastor. I’m only his sister, but I have to be just as careful. Maureen and her husband, Vince, have too much power in this church. I can’t afford to alienate either one of them.”

  Bunny realized how true that was. It is a shame that the very people who need pastoral discipline in a congregation are usually the bullies who hold the power of the budget and the pastor’s livelihood in their hands.

  Those pastors willing to take the risk inherent in standing up to these folks may receive a reward in Heaven, but they seldom prevail on earth.

  The majority of the members in any congregation will drift away rather than take part in confrontations. Or they will sit by and watch their pastor squeezed out by these bullies, instead of getting involved in the politics of the situation. Many will offer up prayers and say encouraging words to the pastor and then stay away from the business meetings, hoping everything will just settle down or the next pastor will be able to deal with the troublemakers.

  Bunny was relieved to have left that aspect of her life behind her.

  She could empathize with Rosamund, even though this Maureen-person seemed to be cut from much the same cloth as Rosamund herself.

  The next day was the Fourth of July and Bunny would be accompanying the Davidson siblings and a group from the church for a beach picnic in the afternoon and staying to watch the community fireworks display after sundown.

  Independence Day had always been one of Bunny’s favorite holidays and she was looking forward to her first in Bannoch.

  “I boiled the eggs for tomorrow’s salads, Rosamund. Is there anything else you would like me to do?”

  

  The picnic food had been eaten and the leftovers packed away as the sun was beginning to set. Children and dogs were running in the surf, and young people played volleyball and threw Frisbees.

  Earlier, the group from the church had joined the crowd in a patriotic sing-along accompanied by the local high school band.

  People were lying on blankets and sitting in lawn chairs on the grassy bank above the beach. Everyone looked relaxed, yet there was a current of anticipation building as the light faded.

  Bunny lazed in one of the vintage lawn chairs Scott had toted from the parsonage, peacefully listening to the laughter and conversations going on around her.

  Here and there on the damp sand near the waterline families began to shoot off their private “safe and sane” fireworks purchased from one of the many temporary roadside stands run by local fundraising groups.

  When the community display began, Bunny joined the rest of the crowd in ooh-ing and aah-ing until the grand finale painted the deep amethyst sky with a rainbow of neon colors and the last boom faded away.

  In deference to the holiday, the marine layer only then began to roll in and blot out the backdrop of stars.

  Trudging to the car, laden with folding chairs and other gear, Bunny commented to Scott walking beside her, “I think this was one of the nicest Independence Days I’ve had in years. Now I feel like a true member of the Bannoch community.”

  “Haven’t we been making you feel welcome before now?”

  “Oh, yes. Everyone has been wonderful to me. But, sharing this holiday together all day seems to have made it more real. I feel like I belong, not like I am just a visitor.”

  “You’ll probably feel more at home once you get your own place and aren’t imposing on the hospitality of others, don’t you think?” Rosamund said under her breath as she came up on Bunny’s other side.

  “I’m sure everyone will be happier when that day comes,” Bunny agreed.

  At breakfast the next morning the three residents of the parsonage were chatting about the previous day’s events.

  “I thought the improvised parade when the little kids followed the band off after the singing was so cute!” Rosamund remarked.

  Scott agreed, absently, as he cleared away his dishes and left for the church.

  Bunny’s phone chirped just then and she excused herself to take the call.

  “Hello?”

  “Yes, that’s me…oh, but, that’s wonderful! When will I be able to move in? Of course. I’ll be there. Eight o’clock tomorrow. What’s that office address, again? Got it. Thank you so much. Goodbye!”

  “Rosamund, good news! I got the townhouse,” she shouted, returning to the kitchen to share her happy tidings. She was sure that Rosamund would be pleased and relieved.

  “That’s wonderful, Bunny. I am so happy…for you.”

  “Thanks. I knew you would be. I’ll go sign the papers tomorrow morning. I’m afraid I can’t move in until next week. But at least there is relief in sight!”

  Rosamund chuckled and smilingly agreed.

  After meeting with the property manager, signing the lease and leaving her deposit, Bunny pulled onto the highway and headed north with a happy heart.

  She had called Ellery the night before and her niece was expecting her to arrive around noon.

  It was going to be a long day. Bunny and Ellery planned to meet for lunch and a quick visit. Bunny would leave the USB drive with her niece and then drive home before n
ightfall. She didn’t like to drive much after dark since her night vision was becoming unreliable.

  At the parsonage, Rosamund spent nearly an hour on the telephone trying to undo the damage done by Maureen at the women’s meeting. She was so focused she never heard the screen door open or the stealthy footfalls in the back hall.

  It took only moments for the intruder to spy the sea chest in Bunny’s room, grab it and slip back out to the car waiting in the alley.

  In his exercise yard on the other side of the parsonage, Reacher’s yips and growls went unheard inside the house.

  

  Traveling north on Highway 101 to Astoria the view of the white capped ocean and rocky shore was beautiful and the road good, so Bunny didn’t mind the long drive. Highway 30 to Longview, Washington, was a bit more rugged, but the change of scenery as she headed inland among the forests beside the Columbia River kept her entertained until she crossed the Lewis and Clark Bridge and merged onto the Interstate for the last portion of the drive.

  She hadn’t been paying much attention to her rearview mirror, but when Bunny did glance up at it she always seemed to catch sight of another of those green SUV’s, either right behind her or a few cars back.

  A forest green SUV must be a prerequisite here in the Northwest. Guess I’ll have to get one, too, if I want to look like a native, Bunny mused.

  Between Centralia and Olympia Bunny decided to pull into a rest area to get the kinks out and attend to other necessities.

  When she exited the restroom, she noticed another of those green cars in the space adjacent to her own parking spot. She was shocked to see that her car doors were open and two men were rapidly rummaging through her things.

  Bunny knew she had locked the car, so this was no case of mistaking her vehicle for their own. Those men had broken in.

  She was trembling as she ducked back into the restroom and then trotted out the door that opened onto the 18-wheeler parking on the other side of the rest area.

  She had pulled out her phone and called 9-1-1 when she heard a shout. Looking up, she saw one of the men approaching and pointing something her way. She hastily gave directions to the emergency operator while looking around frantically for help.

  There was a trucker just getting out of his big rig about fifty yards away and Bunny began to walk quickly in his direction. She didn’t know what those men wanted, but she would feel a lot safer confronting them with an audience.

  She doubled her pace to speed-walking as the second man rounded the restrooms. Telling herself to forget about looking silly, she finally began to run.

  The truck driver recognized that something was wrong. Jogging to meet her, he grabbed Bunny’s arm and helped her up into his truck and slammed the door.

  A shot rang out and the truck’s passenger side mirror exploded. Bunny screamed.

  The gunman ran toward the truck, shouting for the driver to give the woman up.

  Instead, the trucker responded by starting his engine and driving straight at the two men, jumping a curb and nearly hitting them as they dived out of the way.

  Crouched down on the floor of the cab, Bunny heard approaching sirens and felt the truck shudder to a stop.

  “You can get up now, little lady. It’s safe. The troopers are here and your bully-boys have high-tailed it.”

  Shakily, Bunny pulled herself up onto the seat and thanked her hero profusely.

  “Don’t even mention it. Just lucky I was here, is all. What did those jerks want with you, anyways?”

  “I don’t really know,” Bunny quavered. “I came out of the restroom and saw them ransacking my car, but I've seen those men before.”

  Just then a patrolman came up and, with pistol drawn, asked them to step down out of the truck. Bunny slid over and followed the driver to the pavement, dropping with a thud from the high step.

  “I called 9-1-1, officer. This man rescued me. He’s not the bad guy,” Bunny assured the patrolman.

  Bunny and the trucker gave the State Trooper their identifications, told him what happened, showed him the shattered mirror, and walked with him over to where Bunny’s car stood with all the doors open and the trunk lid up.

  The interior was a mess. The seats had been slashed and pulled out and the dashboard ripped open. Even the headliner had been torn down.

  Bunny lowered herself onto the curb and rested her head on her arms. She felt like weeping.

  Chapter Ten

  The enemy boasted, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake them. – Exodus 15:9

  Bunny’s car was not drivable in its present condition, so she called her emergency road service and arranged to have it towed to a body shop in Olympia.

  The trooper took statements and contact information from Bunny and the truck driver and told them they would be called in, if the culprits were ever caught. He waved the helpful trucker on his way, and waited at the rest area with Bunny until the tow truck arrived.

  Bunny called Ellery from the tow truck to let her know she wouldn’t make it in time for their lunch date. She also called Rosamund to tell her what happened, since the repairs could take a while and she might need to stay overnight in Olympia.

  Her calls completed, Bunny didn’t feel much like chatting.

  After receiving a few monosyllabic responses to his overtures, the driver gave up trying to engage her in conversation during the short ride into Olympia.

  Bunny spent her time in the body shop’s waiting room mulling over everything that had been happening to her. She tugged the various incomprehensible events out of her mental pockets of denial and into the open where she was forced to scrutinize each one in the harsh light of reality.

  Her theory about the previous residents of the cabin being the targets of all the vandalism, and the outright violence, didn’t hold water in light of this recent attack. There was no doubt these men wanted something and they thought she had it. Ignoring or downplaying the incidents was not going to make them go away.

  All the mayhem began on the day she found the sea chest. The only unusual item in that chest was the USB flash drive she now held in her hand. The information encrypted on the infernal gadget must be the source of her trouble.

  Bunny decided that she needed to turn the device over to the police, as soon as possible, and let them decide what to do with it. Once it was out of her hands everything could get back to normal.

  After coming to this conclusion Bunny was eager to act, but she was compelled to endure more than two hours of restless waiting before the shop manager reported her car would not be finished until the next day. She was asking about nearby motels when Scott Davidson walked into the waiting room.

  “I can’t let you out of my sight without you getting into trouble, can I? Are you okay?”

  “Scott! What are you doing here?”

  “Rosie gave me your message and I got here as soon as I could. Tell me exactly what happened. Were you hurt?”

  Bunny told him all about her latest misadventure, trying to deemphasize how traumatic it was.

  “Look, Bunny. You don’t want to spend the night here. Why don’t I take you on to Seattle? You can spend the night visiting with your niece and I can put up with a clergy friend of mine, then tomorrow we can swing by and pick up your car.”

  “Well, okay, if you’re sure. I’ll just let my niece know. Thanks so much, Scott. Can we stop at the local highway patrol office before heading to Seattle?”

  Scott gave her a puzzled look, but nodded without asking any questions.

  Bunny was frustrated because the receptionist at the State Patrol office wasn’t more helpful. She’d explained to Bunny that, even though her incident at the rest area had been handled by Washington State Patrol, she would need to talk to her local Sheriff’s Department about the flash drive.

  The woman had seemed completely bored and treated Bunny like a UFO abductee or some other crackpot. It was not a nice experience.

  Scott had waited in the car. When Bunny returned he could see that s
he was upset.

  “What happened? Are they going to decode that drive?”

  “They didn’t even want to know about it. The woman I spoke with said to take it to my local sheriff. I got the impression she thought I was suffering from an overactive imagination.”

  “What do you want to do, then?”

  “I’m calling Rosamund to ask her to take my copy of the drive to our county’s sheriff. Then I’m going to give the original to Ellery, just as I planned. Someone needs to find out what’s on this thing and why it is so important.”

  It took only a few moments to tell Rosamund where to find the drive and to let her know of their plans for the night. They were soon on the way to Seattle.

  Bunny was glad Scott was driving as it would be quite dark before they arrived in the city.

  

  In Seattle, Ellery Brackett was straightening up her apartment in anticipation of her Aunt Bunny’s visit. She had been disappointed about their broken lunch date, but when Bunny called to ask to stay over, she was elated.

  She was sorry about what had happened to Bunny at the rest area, but pleased that it was resulting in an overnight visit with her favorite great-aunt. A quick lunch would not have been long enough for the two to catch up on all of Ellery’s news since coming to Seattle and the university.

  So many exciting things had taken place and Ellery was eager to share them with her aunt. Bunny was a great listener and never tried to tell her what to do, the way her mother and grandmother did.

  The young woman hummed to herself as she fluffed the pillows on the daybed and looked around her small apartment with satisfaction.

  She was proud of being on her own for the first time and was eagerly anticipating getting to play hostess that evening.

  As Ellery moved the lavender-blue china vase Bunny had given her as a housewarming gift to a more prominent location, she decided to fill it with fresh flowers. She had just enough time to drive to the market and return before Bunny’s arrival.