“I beg to differ. If it involves Klara, maybe we should make it our business? I’d just love to know why she wants to see Derek.”
“Well, he is attractive in a wAlicebe rock star kind of way. Maybe she’s into that.”
The phone rang again and they heard Derek talking again but couldn’t hear any of the words.
“I hope he doesn’t get too many more phone calls. I’m getting tired and I want to sleep.”
There was the sound of a car pulling up outside. Lee went to the window and peered out. “Somebody’s double parking. They must be waiting for a person to come out or something. This place is not as quiet as I thought it was.”
Then they heard the sound of the front door opening and closing. Lee peered through the curtains. “Hey, it’s Derek. He’s getting into the car. Now the car’s turning around in the driveway. I think I can see the driver under the streetlight. Holy Sheep!”
“What?”
“It’s Klara! C’mon!”
Lee tore over to the closet and threw on her clothes again.
“If we hurry, we can maybe catch up with them.”
“Are you nuts? Follow Derek on a date?”
“Remember, I’ve got a feeling.”
“OMG. I hate your feelings.” Cassie grabbed her clothes and hopping on one leg, managed to get on her jeans. She carried her shoes down the stairs and caught the coat Lee threw at her. They rushed outside and got into Cassie’s car.
Lee took the wheel. “I saw their lights turning this way.” She veered left around the corner.
They roared along Main Street, Lee bending over the steering wheel like a Nascar driver, thought Cassie nervously.
“There they are!” crowed Lee as they sighted a white sedan turning right to go North away from the town. And towards Boston,
Cassie realized.
Lee kept her distance from the sedan but they could easily track it on the virtually empty roads. As they neared the traffic circle that led to the bridge off the Cape, she closed the gap a little.
“Can you see inside the car?” Cassie asked.
“I can see the shape of the driver all right. Derek seems to be sleeping. He’s leaning against the window.”
“That’s odd on a date.”
“Klara would put me to sleep. She’s boring.”
“What’s she doing?” Lee had entered the traffic circle.
Klara was turning off the circle and not going over the bridge.
“She’s driving along the Canal. What’s there, a restaurant, or something?”
Cassie said, “I have no idea. It’s pretty dark here. Doesn’t look like anything like that is coming up.”
“Hey, look, she’s turned to the left. Turning off the road. This looks like an abandoned road, not a driveway. I’d better park here so we can see what’s going on. I don’t want to come up behind their car and surprise them.”
Lee pulled to the side of the road and ran the car onto the grass. She parked and jumped out. Cassie followed, more slowly. It was pitch dark. How would they see anything?
Lee said, “Let your eyes adjust to the dark and then we’ll have a look.”
“I wish we had a flashlight, though.”
Cassie found that gradually, she could distinguish trees against the dark blue of the sky. It was clear with winking stars and there was even a crescent moon.
“OK, lets’ go,” Lee hissed. They crossed the road and found the overgrown roadway that the other car must have gone down. It was sandy and rutted. They walked along cautiously. “What’s that?” Cassie started.
“It’s probably just an owl. Didn’t you hear the ‘hoot hoot’?”
“How do you know so much about birds?”
“I read children’s books to Stevie. Be quiet, now, we’re coming to something.”
“Well, it doesn’t look like a restaurant to me.”
The bulk of a building loomed ahead. It was dark and looked abandoned. They could see the shape of a white car parked near it.
Cassie stopped. “What if this is some kind of romantic assignation? And we walk in on it? That would be really embarrassing.”
“Get real. Why would they need to have it out here in the middle of nowhere?”
“We’re in his house. He can’t use that to entertain women while we’re there”
“Well, I guess that’s true enough, but I still don’t think that’s the reason they’re here. Let’s creep closer.”
Cassie reluctantly agreed and they attempted to walk without making a sound although Cassie’s feet seemed to crunch on things she hoped were shells and branches seemed to appear out of nowhere and slap at them.
Finally, they were just a few yards from the car. Cassie was surprised that she could now see quite well. It wasn’t as dark as she thought. In fact, coming into the open to get near the car, she felt exposed.
As though in answer to her thoughts, there was the ping of a bullet hitting the car and ricocheting off it. She recognized the sound because their father had taught them both to shoot.
“Get down,” she hissed to Lee, but Lee was already lying on the ground.
“Lee?” There was no answer but a kind of groan.
Cassie crawled over to her. Lee was breathing but she must have been hit somewhere. She moaned and said, “It’s OK. I just got grazed on the arm. I’ve tied my sweater around it. Can you tell where the shots are coming from?”
Cassie looked at the building. In the shadows, she could see the pale walls with dark openings. It was apparently an old factory building of some kind. There were several broken panes that someone could have aimed a gun through.
“No, I guess we’re going to have to try to get in there. What on earth is going on? Maybe we should go back. You need a doctor, Lee.”
“I’m going to be a nurse. I know something about these things. I’m sure it’s not serious and we’ve got to see what’s going on here. Where is Derek? Let’s go.” Lee began to crawl towards the building. Tall grass provided cover for them to get near the broken door and they rushed inside. They stopped and listened.
Lee led the way as they made their way around the inside. An open door in the back showed that the building sat almost on the canal. There was a drop down to the water. Cassie felt vertigo and stepped back.
“Listen!” Lee grasped her arm. There was the faint sound of something being dragged on the second floor. “Where’s the staircase?”
“You’re not going up there?”
“What else can we do?”
“Oh, all right, let’s go.”
They tiptoed up the stairs and came out on the second floor which was all open. There was the flash of a gun and a bullet zinged by them.
“Drop” Lee warned as they hit the floor and began to crawl behind what looked like a piece of old machinery.
“Come out and talk to me. Who are you?” They recognized Klara’s voice.
“Don’t do it,” Lee warned Cassie. Instead she called back, “Klara, is that you? Where’s Derek?”
“He’s here. But why are you here?”
“Just concerned. Let us see him.”
“I don’t know why you’d be concerned for your cousin on a date.” Klara’s voice sounded both girlish and demented to Cassie.
“Is she losing it? A date with bullets?” Lee whispered to Cassie.
“Just ask him to stand up and talk to us.”
“Sorry, can’t do that.” Klara’s voice seemed to be traveling around the room but echoing so they couldn’t tell where she really was.
“What’s going on, Klara?”
Klara suddenly appeared right over them. “OK, now stand up slowly and start walking.” She held a gun pointed steadily at them.
Cassie and Lee got up and walked as Klara had directed to the other side of the large room. They saw Derek crumpled on the floor, his face white in the gloom.
“What did you do to him?” cried Cassie. “Is he dead?”
Klara was pushing them towards Derek. �
��Go on, go on. No, he’s not dead yet. But he will be, soon, and you, too.”
They saw her pull a lever and suddenly they felt themselves sliding through a trapdoor. Lee reached up and grabbed at Klara. She managed to get hold of a part of her slacks. Klara wind milled her arms, teetered on the edge and with a scream, fell with them. They had fallen into a kind of wooden chute and couldn’t get hold of anything to stop their downward progress. When Cassie managed to catch hold of the sides, the pressure of the others on top of her made her let go. Derek was below her, Klara had tumbled on top of Cassie, and Lee was on top of the rest. They gained momentum and suddenly for a terrifying moment, they were all airborne. The next thing that Cassie felt was the icy chill of water and they were underneath it. She could swim but she was fully clothed and felt weighed down. She battled her way to the surface of the dark water and looked around. In front of Cassie, an arm floated on the surface. She swam to it and found Derek with his head submerged. She put an arm around his neck and got his face out of the water. She couldn’t see Lee now, and Klara was nowhere in sight. She needed to get herself and Derek out of the water soon. Treading water, she looked around. They weren’t far from the edge of the canal but the bank was high. She could just make out a kind of dock not far away and she swam in that direction. Her clothes were heavy and Derek was like a stone. Her life-guarding years were far in the past and she wasn’t used to much physical activity anymore. The water was numbing her arms and legs. If she could just make it to the dock. Her head went under a few times but she battled on. Finally, they were almost there. She grabbed onto a pole and rested for a moment. She didn’t see any steps. Maybe there was a ladder around the corner. But she had to be quick before the cold got her, and Derek. She was feeling so tired. She dragged them from pole to pole. There was in fact a ladder at the side of the dock and she managed to get a foot onto it. Behind her, she heard splashing and Lee arrived at the ladder. Cassie stepped on the ladder and tried pulling Derek after her. Lee pushed from behind. She got his arm around a rung but they couldn’t lift his weight. She cried with the frustration of it. Would Derek die here because she was just too weak? Or maybe she would fall back into the water herself, because she certainly wasn’t going to leave him here. She felt colder and colder, sleepy and exhausted. Was she losing her grip on Derek? She tried to clamp her freezing hands on his clothing and lock her legs on the ladder. Lee helped her to wrap her arms around Derek, got past her and climbed up.
“I’ll get help, Cass. Hang on.”
She didn’t know how long she remained that way, grimly clutching both Derek and the ladder. Almost losing consciousness, she still held on.
Dimly, she heard sounds, and felt someone helping her. Lee seemed to be giving orders to someone. A deep man’s voice answered her. There was the sound of a boat’s motor, too. She murmured, “Who are you?” Heard a man’s voice, “Coast Guard, Ma’am” Derek’s weight was lifted away from her. Then she was able to let go and darkness came over her.
Chapter 31
It was two months from the date that Cassie, Lee, Derek and Klara had tumbled into the Cape Cod Canal.
The cousins had been summoned to Clifton Montville’s office again.
Derek drove up from the Cape. He was starting to feel like a native of the area. Callie had helped him to get a few jobs playing with her and the band. When the “boys” went back to Ireland, he found a job working in a Home Depot. It wasn’t ideal, but he didn’t mind the work. His car coughed a little, and took its time, as befits the elderly. But at least it was still moving and he would get to his destination. His arm was still sore but the doctor had okayed him to drive again. Things had actually gone pretty well in the last couple of months. He liked the Cape a lot. It was laid back and in the summer, there would be the opportunity to entertain tourists. He could run up to Boston which had many watering holes. But he played in them, instead of drinking the way he used to do. Callie was helping him to fill in the gaps in his musical education and he was thinking about teaching now. It appealed to him more and more. And if he needed teaching credits, Mr. Montville had said he would get help to pay for this. As he drove, he wondered what the “final payment” would be. He considered what amount would satisfy him and came to the conclusion that anything at all would be welcome. He never had much money and he had learned to survive. It surprised him now to think that actually, he really didn’t need a lot of money –or want it. This realization suddenly made him happy and he drove into Boston traffic whistling a new melody that had started teasing his mind.
Cassie looked around. The office looked the same, but Klara wasn’t there. They could see through her open door to the desk which had been cleared off. Apparently Clifton hadn’t replaced her. The receptionist smiled at them and beckoned them into the lawyer’s office.
He was the same urbane personality as before, offering them coffee and putting them at their ease. However, Cassie thought he looked troubled.
He began by apologizing to them for the things that had happened. “I didn’t know what was going on because Klara didn’t tell me. I relied on her for everything. She had come to be my right hand. I can’t tell you how upsetting it is to me to find out that she had been running a scheme behind my back.”
Cassie said, “So you didn’t know about myself and Lee quitting the challenge?”
“No, I had no idea. Klara was to administer this for me. It should have been relatively simple. And of course, if I had known that you bowed out prematurely, I would certainly have questioned it.”
Derek shifted in his seat to rest his left arm. The gunshot wound to his shoulder was healed and he only winced when he forgot about it and tried to reach out. More therapy should get it back to normal, they said.
He said, “I guess she had me fooled. I thought she was just after my body.”
Cassie and Lee laughed and he glared at them. “She wouldn’t be the first.”
Cassie said, “Well, that didn’t seem to be her main objective, right, Mr. Montville?”
Clifton shook his head. “You deserve to hear the full story. It might make sense of things for you.”
Cassie nodded. “I would really be grateful if somebody would make sense of this thing.”
Lee said, “Be quiet and let the man talk, Cass.”
Clifton cleared his throat. He seemed a little nervous, Cassie thought.
“Well, I had to call in the FBI.” Someone gasped. Cassie thought it might have been her.
“You see, I found out that Klara had been planning this for years. There’s something I didn’t know about her and it was the most important thing.”
Derek was on the edge of his chair. “What? What? Don’t keep us in suspense!”
Lee said, “OMG!! Let the man talk!”
Clifton went on, “Klara’s mother was Everett's second wife.
Cassie said, puzzled, “So that makes her another of our cousins? How come she wasn’t participating in the challenge? Oh, maybe she was disqualified because she worked for you?”
Clifton said, “No, she wasn’t your cousin. Everett’s second wife had her out of wedlock before she met him. She had her adopted so Everett never knew her. Apparently, Klara traced her biological mother and found out she was married to a wealthy man. But she didn’t inherit anything of course. Klara must always have had a greedy streak. She came up with a scheme to cash in on it. The idea was that she was going to gain control of Everett's estate. She thought by eliminating the three of you, she would then bring a lawsuit to see if she could get a settlement. She had already moved money around so that if she didn’t succeed, she would just abscond to South America with it. She recruited Jay to get into your good graces, Lee, and feed back information about all of you. But when he wanted to take over more of the action, she felt she had to eliminate him. The stakes were too big.”
He paused and poured himself a glass of water from a silver pitcher on his desk. Cassie looked at the drops on the outside of the glass and shivered. Water had been
Klara’s downfall.
Clifton went on, “So, she thought she could get a piece of the vast money held by the estate.”
“Did they ever recover her body?” asked Lee.
Clifton shook his head. “They gave up looking. The currents run fast in the canal.”
“Wait a minute,” Derek said, “Did you say, ‘vast money' and 'estate?’”
Clifton smiled, “Yes, and that’s the next part of my interview with you. To start, I’d like to tell you that you’ve all won your challenges. Derek, you finally pulled it out at the last minute. You sang that song in the hospital and the kids in the pediatric ward loved it. I have to concede that you met the challenge. Maybe not as many people listened but they certainly clapped loud and long.”
Derek grinned. “Yeah, “Treat Me Good” is going to be a hit. That nurse who accompanied me on the guitar was very good, too. I could tell they loved the song by the reaction. It’s wonderful what being laid up can do to concentrate your mind. I can’t say the audience was as big as I first thought, but they were certainly enthusiastic. I’m sure I can record it.”
Clifton smiled. “I’m glad. So, you will all receive the final payment. In addition, your full tuition will be paid.”
“Whoopee,” Lee cried. Cassie beamed. “That’s our heart’s desire, right there. You have no idea what this means to us.”
“Maybe I do know,” Clifton said. “That’s why the next thing I’m going to tell you is the amount of the final payment, which we didn’t reveal before.”
Derek grinned. “A final payment? That sounds good. I hope it’s enough to get my car replaced. It’s starting to worry me. Now that I’m going to be successful, I’ll have to get around.”
“Oh, I think it will be enough, Mr. Dougal. But we’ll talk about that later.”
Cassie’s face clouded. “We don’t get to hear about it now? I thought that’s what we came for?”
“There’s been a slight change, Miss Connor. If you would wait just a little while more.”
Derek couldn’t help smirking slightly at Lee. She frowned at him.
Clifton Montville explained that he was taking them out for lunch.
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