by Sandra Cox
He continued to pat her back and murmur endearments until she’d cried herself dry. When she pulled away, he handed her a white handkerchief. She blew her nose loudly. “What would I do without you, Hank?”
“Probably get in a heap more trouble than it looks like you’re headed for. Now how about telling me what’s going on.”
She blew her nose one more time then started to hand him back his handkerchief.
He waved it away. “Keep it.”
She gave him a watery grin and stuffed it in her jeans.
“Let’s go to the kitchen and get some coffee and you can tell me just what the hell you are doing,” he said, draping his arm around her.
They trudged out of the room and down the hall in companionable silence.
She got out two cups, poured their coffee, handed him one then took a cautious sip and wrinkled her nose. “It’s too strong.”
Hank took a deep gulp, unaffected. “It’s the middle of the day and it was made this morning. What did you expect? Now how about telling me what’s going on.”
“He’s been gone four days, Hank. I want to see if I can trace his whereabouts.”
“You still think he took the amulet?”
She straightened, stuck her chin in the air and felt a slow burn behind her eyes. He played me for a fool. “Yes.”
Hank looked down at his coffee mug. “Even though he left his horse?”
My daughter loved that horse. I want the colt for her best friend.
Lies all lies. “Yes.”
He combed his fingers through his hair, causing it to stick out in several different directions. “Honey, I hope you aren’t making a big mistake.”
She took a deep breath, pushing the feeling of hurt, betrayal and a sense of unease that lurked in the murky part of her subconscious at bay. “What would you suggest?”
“I don’t know but that young detective is no fool.”
“It’s a risk we’ve got to take. Suppose you are right and I’m wrong. Suppose something has happened to Jack?”
“Just be careful. You always throw your heart over the fence instead of taking the time to open the gate.”
She grinned. “Hank, that’s a very interesting metaphor. I’ll have to remember it. But my heart isn’t at issue here.”
He looked at her, the expression on his weathered face serious. “Isn’t it?” He got up, put his coffee cup in the sink and walked out the door.
She watched his back and frowned in frustration. The damn man always had to get in the last word.
* * * * *
Maureen smoothed the collar of her deep tomato red silk blouse as she studied her reflection in the mirror. Good color, she decided. The dark red brought out the honey tones of her skin. Should she leave off the gold chain? Was it too much? No, it added a touch of class. She just wasn’t much of a jewelry person, except of course for the amulet. She rubbed her left arm absently, missing the cool feel of the copper and the tranquility that flowed through her veins when she wore it. But enough of that. She plucked a white dog hair off her black tailored pants took one last look in the mirror then turned, her expression determined. Come hell or high water, she was getting her amulet back.
Taking a deep breath she walked out of the bedroom.
As Maureen clattered down the stairs, she saw Hank waiting at the bottom. Before he could ask, she said, “I’ll be at The Olive Grove and I have my cell.”
“Don’t drink too much. You’ll be driving and alcohol always loosens your tongue. Remember you are there to get information not spill your guts.”
She kissed his cheek. “Yes, mamma.”
He shook his head. “You always did have a smart mouth on you.”
“Learned everything I know from my best pal.” She flashed him a grin and headed out the door.
Wolf lay on the veranda, his head on his paws. Seeing Maureen, he got up, hitched his hind-end in the air in a stretch then followed her to the truck.
Patting him on the head, she opened the cab door, climbed in, revved the engine and was on her way.
She pulled into the parking lot behind the restaurant at the same time Tony did.
The detective got out of his car, came around and opened the door. He wore tan khakis, a brown silk shirt that darkened his chocolate eyes and a gold chain, much like her own only a bit thicker and more masculine.
She pushed back a picture of another pair of brown eyes filled with kindness as he helped her deliver a foal. Lies all lies.
As she slid out of the cab, Tony looked her over appreciatively. He lifted her necklace with his index finger, let it go and pointed to his own. “I see we have a link between us.”
She bit back a laugh and groaned. “Detective Cardoza, that was bad.”
He laughed. “Tony please.”
“Tony.”
He tucked her hand through his arm and they walked into the restaurant.
As Tony opened the door, she breathed in the mouthwatering smell of pasta sauce and garlic. Lighted candles in wicker-covered wine bottles sat on red-and-white-checked tablecloths.
The maître d’, a short thin man with a black mustache, hurried forward swiping at imaginary lint on his spotless white shirt. “Ms. Sinclair, so good to see you again. And where is Hank?”
“It’s good to see you too, Nicholas. Hank is holding down the fort.”
Nicholas studied Tony with unabashed curiosity.
“Nicholas, this is my friend, Detective Tony Cardoza.”
Nicholas grabbed Tony’s hand and pumped. “I’m glad Miss Sinclair is in such good company.” Dropping the detective’s hand, he turned, “Please follow me. Your favorite table is open, Ms. Sinclair.”
Nicholas settled them into a dim corner where they could watch the activity around them while they had a glass of red wine and ordered dinner.
Tony turned out to be a relaxing, easy-to-talk-to companion. Came from being a cop, Maureen supposed.
As they chatted, they sopped up hot bread in seasoned olive oil and tucked into stuffed shells.
Both declined desert, lingered over coffee then decided to walk down Main Street. Maureen grew silent trying to figure out a way to bring up the subject of Jack Wolfe. But she need not have bothered.
“At the risk of ruining a lovely evening, do you mind if I ask a personal question?” he said as they stopped at a quaint little walk-over bridge on Main Street.
Maureen tensed then made herself relax. “I guess that depends on how personal it is.” She forced a light tone into her voice.
He turned and faced her, resting an elbow on the steel rail of the bridge. “Is there anything between you and Jack Wolfe?”
“No. Why do you ask?”
“Why do you think?”
Flustered, she leaned on the bridge and stared down at the creek. Clearing her throat, she straightened and turned to face him. “Since you brought it up, I have a favor to ask.”
“I was afraid there were strings attached to getting a dinner invitation from a lovely woman.”
She smiled. “I’m sure you get plenty.”
He fielded the question. “What’s the favor?”
“Jack left four days ago and we haven’t seen or heard from him since.”
His eyes searched hers. “Is it important to you?”
She hitched a shoulder. “Could be.”
He sighed then went into cop mode. “Do you know where he went?”
She shook her head.
“Do you know why he left?”
She hesitated for a split second before answering. “No.”
His eyes narrowed. “If you want my help, Maureen, you’ve got to tell me the truth, no evasions. “
She lifted her chin and felt her eyes begin to flash, “I won’t lie to you but there are some things that just aren’t any of your business.”
He searched her face. “Are you sure you haven’t already lied to me?”
“What do you mean?” she asked, wary.
“You said you were
n’t involved with Jack Wolfe. I’m not sure I believe that.”
“Believe what you like,” she snapped out.
He grinned. “You don’t know very much about sucking up to a person to get what you want do you?”
A reluctant smile tugged her lips. “I’m not very good at it,” she admitted.
“I would have never guessed.”
A light breeze danced along her skin and lifted her hair. She pushed it behind her ears. “So are you going to help me or not?”
“I’m going to ask you a question and I expect an honest answer.”
She felt her heart begin to pound and her palms sweat. What if he asked about the amulet? She masked her trepidation. “Shoot.”
“Are you into anything illegal?”
She gave an astonished laugh. Relief swept over her. “No, unequivocally not.”
His fingers rubbing his chin, he mused, “I wonder just what it was that you were afraid I was going to ask.”
“A woman’s entitled to her secrets.”
“Um,” he grunted.
“So will you help me?”
“You are asking me to take advantage of my position.”
She could feel the spark in her eyes and hear the passion in her voice. “No. No, I’m not. Maybe he did a bunk. Maybe he led me to believe he was interested in me when he was more interested in a possession of mine, a legal possession,” she stressed. “But maybe, just maybe and it’s a long shot I’ll grant you, something’s happened to him. And if it has and you don’t help me, God help us both.” She gripped the rails, panting, trying to get herself under control. She needed the amulet to calm her, sooth her. She closed her eyes and breathed air deep into her belly.
“Are you saying he’s stolen something of yours? Why haven’t you reported it to the police?” His voice had the smooth coldness of a professional.
She stared at him, desperate. Hank was right. I should have never come. I’ve said too much, aroused his curiosity.
She bit on her lips, her hands clenching the bridge rail as she stared unseeingly into the night. Stars twinkled, vying with the street lamps to light the black velvet sky.
Turning to Cardoza, she took a deep breath and answered in an expressionless voice, her face so frozen it was hard to push out the words. “To my knowledge he has taken nothing.”
“But you have or had something that somebody wants. That’s why you were run off the road. Something you don’t want the police to know about.” His face in the moonlight was hard, guarded. “It looks pretty suspicious, Maureen.”
“Detective, if your hypothesis were true, it might be something that I wouldn’t want anyone to know about, not just the police, but that wouldn’t make it illegal. It would just make it personal.” Without waiting for a reply, she turned and walked away, her heels clicking against the sidewalk.
* * * * *
The trap he’d set had worked like a charm. He’d been too soft-hearted. He’d known one of them would come after him. He should have killed them. A god must always be strong. Ah well, Dr. Wolfe paid for his transgressions. Better death than being imprisoned in one’s body. And who would know better than he about that particular form of agony?
Chapter Eleven
Maureen took a savage swipe with the pitchfork at a bundle of fresh, sweet-smelling hay and tossed it into the empty stall to her left. The gelding in the next stall sidled, the whites of his eyes showing.
Hank who’d just finished watering the horses opened his pouch and put a plug of tobacco in his mouth. He chewed a moment watching her. “No point in scaring the horses.”
She leaned on the fork and closed her eyes. “You’re right of course. I’m sorry.”
“Ain’t me you need to apologize to. I take it last night didn’t go so well?”
She tossed her head, much like the horse and gave a low dry bark of laughter. “You could say that.” Taking one hand off the pitchfork, she pushed against her stomach, which was cramping with nerves. How could she have been so wrong-headed so stupid? She’d barely slept a wink last night thinking about the ramifications of what she’d done. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
“You were right. I should have never gone. It was the dumbest thing I could have done. I should have listened to you.”
“Well it’s over and done with. Don’t beat yourself up.”
Maureen heaved a sigh from deep in her belly. “I’m sorry, Hank. I should have listened.”
“Never known a filly yet that ain’t headstrong once she gets the bit between her teeth.”
She pushed her hair straight back from her forehead. “Well, if they weren’t suspicious before and that’s a big if, they sure are now. He knows I’m hiding something.” She gave another snort of humorless laughter. “And why would I be hiding anything if it wasn’t illegal?”
“So you weren’t able to pump him about North Carolina?”
She threw another forkful of hay into the stall. “I asked him to do a check on Jack before the conversation turned south. So now we not only don’t know where Jack and the amulet are, we can expect the cops to be nosing around here.”
He spit a brown stream into a coffee can nearby. “That was bound to happen anyway.”
“You think?”
“Not all cops are smart but most of them are dogged. Might have taken them awhile to see that two and two didn’t make five but they would have eventually come sniffing around.”
He held up a finger. “You were a hit-and-run victim.”
He held up another finger. “They bundle you into an ambulance more dead than alive.”
He ticked off on his third finger. “By the time you arrive at the hospital you’re starting to recover.”
He held up his fourth finger. “You check yourself out.”
He held up his thumb. “That Nancy nurse probably told them there was a suspicious-looking stranger hanging around the floor.”
He flashed the index finger on his other hand. “They come to see you and you are the picture of health when a normal person would still be laid up in the hospital.” He turned his head and spat again. “Oh yeah, they would have eventually smelled a mystery. And you can count on the police to decide it’s something illegal.”
She shrugged her shoulders and shook her head, tendrils of hair flying about her face. “They can’t do anything to me. I haven’t done anything.”
“Don’t you believe it. Cells are full of innocents and the streets are full of thugs,” he said, his expression disgusted.
At her alarmed expression, he soothed, or meant to. “Now don’t you worry, honey. Nobody’s coming after you. I’ve got enough ammo to keep the state reserve at bay.”
“That’s very reassuring, Hank.”
He grinned at her.
Just then her cell rang. She flipped open the lid. “Hello?”
“Maureen, it’s Tony.”
Her face tightened. “Detective Cardoza. Are you calling to read me my rights?”
He laughed. “I’m not sure that’s allowed over the phone. Listen, Maureen, I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news.”
She gripped the phone, feeling the muscles in her shoulders tighten and skitter up her neck. “What?”
“I’ve found Dr. Wolfe.”
She forgot to breath then pushed air out of her lungs in a whoosh. “Where?”
“Maureen, he’s in a hospital in Chicago.”
“What?” She felt the blood drain from her face and had no doubts her tanned face was pasty white. “What happened?”
“Nobody seems to know. He’s in a comatose state. He was that way when they brought him in.”
She pressed hard against her stomach. “When was that?”
“Night before last.”
Maureen began to rock back and forth on her feet. “Are you sure it’s Jack? Maybe they’ve IDed the wrong man.”
Frowning in concern, Hank walked over to stand beside her waiting for information.
She put her hand over the phone. “It’s Jack. He’s
in a hospital in Chicago.”
“What happened?”
Maureen shook her head. Her hand still covering the phone, she whispered, “Got a pen and paper?”
Hank pulled out a pen and small spiral notebook from the pocket of his blue work shirt and handed it to her.
“Do you have the address of the hospital?”
As Tony gave her the address she pressed the phone to her shoulder with the side of her head and scribbled hastily. She tore off the sheet of paper and handed the pen and notepad back to Hank. “Thanks, Tony, I owe you.”
“I’m counting on that. Listen the detective I’ve been in touch with in Chicago is George Macko. If you need anything give him a call.” He gave her the number.
“Wait a minute.” She grabbed the pen out of Hank’s pocket and wrote the number on the back of the paper she still held then gave Hank his pen back. “Thanks again, Tony.”
“You’re welcome. Incoming. Got to go.” The receiver clicked.
She shut the phone and stuck it in her jeans pocket. Staring at the ragged piece of paper she tried to focus then raised her glance to Hank. “He’s in the hospital,” she said, her voice wobbling.
“What happened?”
She cleared her throat. “It’s got to be Victor. They found him comatose. Damn. I should have asked where they found him.”
Her hair fell forward as she dropped her head. “I am so ashamed. All those horrible things I said about him. And all this time he’s lying in a hospital bed.” She looked up, agonized. “What if he dies, Hank? What if he dies and it’s all my fault?”
He drew her to him. “You listen to me. You can’t take responsibility for Victor Price’s sins. And as far as saying awful things about North Carolina I figure that was lip service that never reached your heart.”
She raised her head and gave him a grateful smile. “What would I do without you, Hank?” It had become her private refrain over the years and he always had a response. This time was no different.
“Probably be rioting and causing mayhem somewhere.”
She pulled back and looked up at him. “I have to go.”
He sighed heavily through his nose. “I was afraid you’d say that. How about if I go instead?”