She glanced back at the house and said, “Okay but let’s walk along the canal here.”
She kept looking back toward the house until we were out of sight. She lit up a cigarette and blew out the smoke in a long exhale.
“There are a lot of gaps in our information, but this is what we know so far.”
“Wait a minute, who’s we?”
She shrugged her shoulders, “Well why not, I’ve already blown it anyway.”
She stuck out her hand and as I shook it she said, “Tracy Carr, FBI.” She laughed and said, “You look like you’re in shock.”
“No, come to think of it, you would be involved since it’s an obvious kidnapping.”
“You know about that, but how?”
I told her about my repeating dream.
“Julia has awakened screaming sometimes but when she tries to tell her parents about her dream, they hush her. See if you can get her to tell you about her nightmares. No, on second thought, you don’t need to raise suspicion. Just keep everything light. Go shopping, go to the beach etc.”
“But I have to leave. You heard Mr. Reynolds.”
“Yes I did, but I have a feeling that, as soon as you tell Julia you need to go home, she will insist on you staying. Her parents let her always have her way. It amazes me that it hasn’t turned her into a brat.
“Now, let’s get back to your dream. Henrietta Hendrix’s daughter was your nanny. We didn’t have that lead. Thanks. Now that the old lady is dead we’ve got to find the daughter. I wander what name she’s going by these days.
“The FBI suspected her at the time but could never prove it. Also, she had been hit in the head probably to take the suspicion off her.”
Tracy walked a while more, smoking and I thought she wasn’t going to say anymore.
Then she said, “In 1970 Judith and Julia McCain were taken out of their bedroom by two masked men. The parents had gone up to say goodnight. They were on their way to a party. You all lived in one of mansions in Houston, with your dad’s parents, in the River Oaks area, which is a very high society area.
“The McCain’s own an oil company in Houston, called McCain Oil. I was still at the academy when the kidnapping happened, but it had made national news. We all discussed it all the time, both student and instructors. The two little girls were both three years old at the time. Anyway, the older McCain’s were waiting downstairs for your parents when they heard two gunshots.
“They ran up the stairs, but by the time they got there, it was all over. Your parents were lying dead on the floor, the nanny knocked unconscious, and the twins gone. There were no fingerprints, so they must have worn gloves.”
I was sobbing hard and shaking but I managed to say, “Yeah they did wear gloves.”
She held me until I got under control.
“Vicky,” Tracy said, “we have good hypnotists in the FBI. I wonder if you’d agree to being hypnotized. We’d need to wait until you get back to New Orleans.”
I agreed to this and she continued, “There’s not much more except that your grandfather dropped dead of a heart attack before the police got there. Your poor grandmother has had a rough time of it since then.”
“You mean I have a grandmother? When can I see her?”
“Wait a minute, Vicky, You can’t do that yet. We’re in the middle of an investigation here. We can’t jump the gun. If you go to your grandmother’s now, right after being down here and if someone is watching either one of you, both of you could be in danger. I don’t think it will be much longer, so please have patience.”
I argued with her for awhile and then decided that it was better this way and that my grandmother would be so pleased to get both of us at once.
I spent another three days with Julia and didn’t try to pressure her or get her to remember anything. Joyce (Tracy of the FBI) had been right. Julia got her way and I ended up staying longer but not as long as I had originally planned. We had fun together going to the beach and shopping in Jacksonville.
We were into October and Julia told me it was the best time to come to Florida.
“All the families have gone home to get their kids back in school and the water is still warm,” she said, and, it’s too early for the snowbirds to come down.”
Her parents continued to be cold towards me but I didn’t let it bother me.
Mr. Reynolds managed to catch me alone one more time, before I left, and warn me to stay away from Julia, and that he would have people watching me.
Tracy passed me a note while I was saying goodbye to her. It said, “Don’t worry I’ve already alerted my agents in New Orleans who will be keeping an eye on you.”
CHAPTER 12
When the plane landed, I was more than ready to get back to Rosa’s. She was waiting for me at the gate when I got off the plane.
“Wow! Look at you! You’re so tanned,” she said as she hugged me. She stepped back from me, “But you look stressed out. What happened?”
“Oh, Rosa, there’s so much to tell you. But can we wait til we get home?”
“Of course, silly, let’s get your bags. I found a close place to park. Isn’t that lucky?”
Driving down I-10, she was talking a mile a minute, and she reminded me of Julia.
“I think Frank’s been missing you. He asked me last night when the hell you were coming back. He said he didn’t give you permission to be gone during the weekend. I told him I thought you would be back tonight. I knew you would be back this afternoon, because you called me, but I didn’t know if you would be too tired to dance. So I didn’t tell him for sure.”
“Thanks, Rosa. You’re so sweet. I think I’ll be rested up by nine o’clock, since it’s now only two-fifteen. I think I’ll rest for a little while and then have a cup of your wonderful coffee. I haven’t had any decent coffee since I left here.”
I didn’t get any rest, as it turned out. Almost the minute we walked in the door, Rosa put on a fresh pot of coffee. It smelled so good, I decided to have a cup. That gave me a little extra energy, so I decided to unpack. While I was unpacking, Rosa came and sat on the bed,
“Okay, Brandy, I’m tired of waiting. I want to hear every detail.”
I told her everything beginning from when I got off the plane in Jacksonville.
“To begin with Julia’s parents are easily in their seventies. That means that her mother would have been in her fifties when Julia was born. So, let’s say her mom is seventy three. That means she would have been fifty seven when Julia was born. I figured that out. Can a woman have a baby at aged fifty seven?”
I didn’t wait for her to answer and she didn’t try to answer anyway.
I went on. “She doesn’t look anything like her parents. There’s a painting in her bedroom of a field of daisies with a unicorn with a curved horn running through the field. She said she painted it a couple of years ago. Do you think this blouse needs ironing?” I asked as I was hanging up my turquoise silk blouse.
“Screw the blouse. Give it to me.” With that she took the blouse, took it off the hanger and threw it on the floor. “What are trying to do? Torture me?”
For some reason that struck me as being so funny, I fell on the bed and laughed uncontrollably.
“Damn it Brandy,” she said, “this is like pulling eye teeth. Get back to the damned story. Julia had painted a unicorn picture.”
I stood up and wiped my eyes on my sleeve, “Oh yeah, right. I decided to wear my unicorn to see if it stirred up anything. No one but Julia noticed it and she just said, ‘Oh that looks like the one in my painting’ I’m afraid I lost my temper with her at that point.”
Rosa snorted, “Well duh, who wouldn’t have? What’s wrong with her? Is she stupid or something? Does she think this is just coincidence? I would have done more than lose my temper with her I think I would have hit her. You must have been feeling so frustrated by then.”
“I was, but don’t you see, Rosa, she is in so much denial. If she starts looking at the clues closely
she will have to admit that her parents have lied to her. It will seem like her whole life is a lie. It’s easier for me. I’ve never known any real roots. But for her it would be devastating. It’s going to bring her whole world crashing down. I think a part of her does know. She’s also been having nightmares, where she wakes up screaming.”
“She had one while you were there?”
“No, I didn’t see her have one.”
“Well, how did you know? Did her parents tell you?”
Now I snorted, “Her parents wouldn’t even look at me. That is until her dad, Mr. Reynolds caught me alone and tried to first buy me off and then threaten me.”
Her eyes got big as saucers. “He threatened you?”
I took a deep breath and blew it out, “Yeah, the first night I was there. After a delicious seafood dinner, Julia and I went to my beautiful bedroom and we were talking. She was talking about us doing an investigation to try to find my parents. She said we could be like Nancy Drew. Then she got this bright idea that we could ask her dad to help me. She told me her dad has lots of power and money, and can do anything. I almost shit in my pants.
“I told her I didn’t want his help and made her promise not to ask him. After she went to bed, I went down to the canal that they live on and was sitting on the bank when her dad came and sat down beside me. He said he didn’t want me there and didn’t want me to have anything else to do with Julia. I acted all innocent and surprised and said I was confused, and that I thought he had invited me.
“He said he wanted to take a look at me. Then he got out his checkbook and told me to name my price. When I refused to take his money, he threatened me. He said he had people everywhere and I was to leave at once and never contact Julia again.”
“But you didn’t leave at once. You stayed three more days.”
“Yeah, Julia wouldn’t hear of me leaving and her parents bend over backwards to please her. So we reached a compromise.”
She took her braid and started flipping it. “Brandy, if you didn’t see Julia having a nightmare and her parents didn’t tell you, how did you know?” I had been hoping she would forget that part, but no such luck.
“The housekeeper/cook told me. Her name is T Joyce.”
“T-joyce? What kind of name if that and why would the housekeeper tell you about Julia having nightmares? What is it you’re not telling me, Brandy? Come on girl, I’m your friend. You’ve got to tell me.”
I just sat there thinking. I didn’t know how I was going to get out of this. I thought I could trust her, but she may let it slip sometime, like when she had too much to drink. Not that I’d seen her that drunk, but it could happen.
I could get Tracy in deep shit if I blew her cover. I could even get her killed. I wouldn’t put anything past Mr. Reynolds.
“I’m sorry, Rosa, I would tell you if I could but I just can’t. It could get someone killed. You’ve got to trust me on this. You really do.”
“Okay. Yeah. Well sure, whatever you say.” I could tell she was mad at me, but there was no way I was going to put Tracy’s life in danger and maybe ours too.
“You better get some rest if you’re going to. It’s already six o’clock. Can you believe we talked all afternoon?” She said before walking out.
I tried not to let her anger affect me and I stretched out on the bed and fell asleep immediately.
Apparently, Rosa decided to forgive me. She woke me up at eight fifteen and handed me a coke and a grilled cheese sandwich. I hugged and thanked her.
“Well, you’ve been through enough these last few days. And you shared as much as you could with me. But I know you’ll tell me when you can, or when it’s safe to or whatever.” I hugged her again and thanked her.
That night work was really rough for me. Rosa and I ended up being ten minutes late for work and Frank yelled at us. Only three girls showed up for work even though it was Friday night which was probably what Frank was really mad about. Since I didn’t serve liquor, he only had two girls to serve drinks and they had to run to keep up. The good part of it was that we all made a lot of money in tips.
At one point during the night, a dirty old man pinched me on my butt and Frank had to get Max, the bouncer, to throw him out. Then there was a man who refused to leave when we closed at four a.m. and Frank threw him out himself.
When we came out of the club, we notice there was a full moon and Rosa told me that was why the night was so crazy. I laughed at her, but didn’t laugh for long when she found the note under her windshield wiper.
As she was pulling it out she said, “What’s this, a love note from a secret admirer?”
Her face lost all of its color. “Get in the car, Brandy!” she said.
I barely had time to get my rump seated before she floored it.
“Slow down, you’re going to kill us.”
She threw the note in my lap, “Someone else plans to do it first!”
The note said, “Stay away from her and keep your mouth shut or you’re dead.”
I don’t think she would have lost her temper with me if she hadn’t been so scared.
“What in the fuck have you gotten us into, Brandy? You better tell me the rest and I mean now. I won’t be kept in the dark. I need all the information so I can protect myself.”
“You’re right,” I said. “Joyce, the housekeeper’s real name is Tracy Carr of the FBI. She told me about Julia’s nightmares, and she told me a lot more. Can I tell you the rest when we get home?”
“We’re not going home. We’re staying the night in a hotel.” She was checking the rearview mirror the whole time. “Keep looking back and make sure we’re not being followed.”
She was driving really crazy. Switching lanes and nearly missing bumpers. Cars were honking at her. She then did something that I wouldn’t have believed if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. She had been driving in the left lane on I-10 and she crossed all the way to an exit at the last minute barely missing several cars.
She drove on the frontage road awhile and then headed for the French Quarter. Pulling into the Royal Sonesta Hotel, she gave the keys to the valet. We got a suite that costs us all of both of our tip money for the night, but it was worth it. It was beautiful all decorated in gold’s and royal blues. We each had our own bathrooms. After our showers we ordered steaks and red wine.
We hadn’t said much to each other since we checked in, but after eating our steaks, we settled down on each end of the couch. We were wearing the complimentary hotel white terry bathrobes. Rosa lit a cigarette and handed the pack to me. I decided to have one. Neither of us smoked and I was surprised that she had them.
She inhaled deeply and blew out the smoke through her nose. “I’m sorry I lost my temper, I was so scared.”
“That’s all right I would have done the same thing. What I’m going to tell you can’t go any farther no matter what happens. This is the story according to Tracy. There was this family who lived in Houston named McCain. They lived in a ritzy area called River Oaks. Mr. McCain owned an oil company, McCain Oil. The McCain’s son and his wife and twin daughters lived with them.
“One night the older and younger McCain’s were going to a party and the younger McCain’s had gone upstairs to say goodnight to their two little girls who were going to stay with the nanny. The older McCain’s were downstairs waiting for the younger couple when they heard a gunshot.
“They ran upstairs to find the younger couple shot to death, the little girls missing and the nanny who had been hit on the head. The two little girl’s names were Julia and Judith McCain. The older Mr. McCain died of a heart attack while waiting for the ambulance to arrive.
“I was able to give Tracy the information about Henrietta Hendrix daughter. She said that they had questioned the nanny at length but couldn’t tie her into the kidnapping. Then she disappeared. Tracy thanked me for the new lead. I hope they find her.”
“So, you still have a grandmother! Aren’t you excited? I would have been on the plane alre
ady to go see her.”
“That’s exactly what I wanted to do, but Tracy talked me out of it. She said they were so close and she was afraid that if I went to Houston, it would interfere with the investigation. An FBI agent is supposed to get in touch with me here in New Orleans. They have someone to hypnotize me. She also has agents watching out for me.”
“She does? Well, where the hell were they tonight? Someone apparently followed us home from the airport, and I didn’t know I was supposed to be checking my rearview mirror, thank you very much. Then they must have followed us to the club. They may have even been in the club watching us dance. It gives me the creeps when I think about it. Call your FBI friends Brandy. Tell them we need protection.”
“I don’t know who to call here. They’re supposed to call me.”
“Well let’s get some sleep. We’ll go back to the apartment after our nap and check the messages.”
We were both so freaked out by the note left on Rosa’s window shield, we slept fitfully. Every time I dozed off, the dream would start and I would startle awake.
At one p.m. Rosa came into my room. I was in that stage where you’re kind of half asleep, but aware of what’s going on around you.
“Are you awake?” she said.
I rose up on one elbow, “Yeah, sort of,” I said, “You want to go home?”
She got under the covers with me, “I’m so scared I don’t know what to do. I think you’re now a threat to someone and so your life may be in danger. These people have already killed at least once. I’m scared for you and want to protect you, but at the same time, I’m scared to be near you. I’m afraid I’ll be caught in the cross fires.”
“You want me to find my own place?” I held my breath waiting for her to answer. I didn’t want to be alone now of all times. I had basically been alone as long as I could remember, but I felt like I finally found someone who really cared about me for real.
She blew out a long breath, “I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about this all day and have hardly slept a wink. I think even if you left, they, whoever they are, would have already seen us together and figure that I knew as much as you do. So I think you need to stay with me. It might be safer if we stick together.
Peggy Holloway - Judith McCain 01 - Blood on White Wicker Page 8