CHAPTER TEN
“Wake up! Lucy. Wake up.”
Voices and cool air, someone was rubbing her chest. Lucy fought to open an eye wide enough to focus. Who were these people around her? She blinked and coaxed her vision to clear. It was Cade! “How did you find me?”
“Whoa, lie back.” He pushed her down and she had no choice but to obey, there was no strength in her at all. “Sip this.” He held a glass to her lips and she made a mess but the cool, sweet water tasted good. When her belly sloshed and the shock of it made her queasiness rage, she pushed his arm away.
“Where’s Penny?”
“I have her.” A strange woman was holding Penny in her ample arms.
“Her pads are blistered, and she’s dehydrated, just like you are.” Cade smoothed a damp washcloth over Lucy’s forehead. It was cool and refreshing. “Tina would you mind feeding Penny a few more of those ice chips?”
“Will do.” The woman disappeared from the doorway, and Lucy could see they were next to a kitchen of some sorts.
“How did you find me? Where are we?”
“I’ll explain that later, for now, you tell me what happened.”
Lucy told him as much as she could recall, and as her speech became more clear, he helped her sit up. “I’m going to ask Tina to make some breakfast to go and get you back to town and get you checked out.”
“I don’t need a doctor, I’m all right.
“We’ll talk about that in the car. I want to get going as soon as we can.”
She worked her good elbow underneath to prop herself up, this time he didn’t stop her. “I’m ready, but what’s the rush?”
His face was serious, brows furrowed. “I don’t want to alarm you, but the test results came back, and it was positive. Someone has been feeding Penny antifreeze. We have to get you someplace safe and figure out why they want you both dead.”
***
“Here, Victoria.” Tina handed Lucy a bag when she stepped out of the bathroom. “Your husband and doggy are already in the truck.” She pointed her pencil at her. “Don’t you go taking no guff from him, you keep your own self safe and come back and see me if you need help.”
Puzzled, Lucy thanked her, took the to go food, and joined Cade inside the truck cab. Penny was settled on a blanket in the backseat and barely raised her head when she got in.
“That was odd.” Lucy pulled out an egg sandwich and unwrapped it. “Now explain how you found me so quickly, and why did she keep calling me Victoria?”
Cade checked traffic and pulled onto the road. “When we were talking and your reception failed, I knew you were near the Banning pass. I got in my car and drove out here, stopping at every diner and truck stop, looking for you.”
“You stopped at every gas station? There must be dozens.”
“Some of them were closed by the time I got here. I gave a few of the long haul truck drivers my information and they relayed it up and down the 10.”
“Did you call the police?”
He checked over his shoulder before changing lanes. “Yes, I was told until you were missing twenty-four hours they couldn’t do anything. I was not going to wait that long.”
Lucy’s insides twisted as she swallowed, and tried to comprehend what Cade was implying. “I just thought it was some coyotes running drugs or illegals and they wanted my Jeep, so they dumped me. Do you think this might be connected to Ambrose’s death?”
He nodded, changed lanes to go around a truck. “I got a message, this time at the office. My receptionist said someone called and told her that I should mind my own business or I’d be sorry.”
Creepy times a hundred.
“Did you tell the police about that?”
“Yes, but they didn’t imply you were involved. And they said no one reported a car crash matching the description of your Jeep, or any car crashes at all last night. Besides, Ambrose’s death was an accident remember.”
Lucy finished the sandwich, considering Tina’s remark. “Why did that waitress call me Victoria?”
“I was worried about tipping off the wrong people, so I told them you were my wife, and that you’d gambled my paycheck away at the casino. We had a quarrel on the way home, and you told me the dog had to relieve herself. When you got out with her at a rest area she took off after a rabbit. When you chased her, I drove off to teach you a lesson, but then I felt bad and came back looking for you. Since you also have a bad habit of hitching rides, you could have ended up anywhere.” He wiggled a brow at her. “I told everyone no matter what you said your name was, it’s really Victoria.”
Despite the gravity of their situation, she laughed at his ingenuity. “Quite the storyteller, did you ever think of writing country western songs?”
Sober again, he continued. “When you collapsed in Tina’s parking lot, some truckers carried you inside, and they already had my cell number.”
Lucy considered his quick thinking, and then her heart pounded. “If the kidnappers ask her, they might recognize this truck.”
“That’s why we need to hurry. While you were in the restroom I called the highway patrol, and they want us to call when we find the spot where you crashed so they can meet us there. Now that you showed up, they are beginning to believe us. At least about the crash.”
“You don’t think my Jeep is there?”
“I’m certain it’s not. I’ve been up and down this stretch at least twice. No sign of it.”
“Everything I own is in that Jeep.” She knew it was just stuff, but it was everything that meant anything to her, fine-tuned to a few precious boxes of mementos, CD’s, photos and her Playbill collection.
“Sorry, babe.” He glanced at her. “Do you recall anything about what you’d just passed by when they hit you?”
Heart beating wildly as she recalled the shattering moment of impact, she tried to picture what she was seeing as the Jeep’s wheel jerked out of her grip. “It was dark, but I think I had just passed the Patton museum.”
A landmark, the World War II tanks sat outside, not visible at night, but she’d driven the highway often enough to know where it stood. “Just along here maybe.”
He waited for a car to pass, then bumped across the grassy median to the other side and drove slowly along the shoulder, the traffic passing as if they were sitting still. “So it must have been along here.” They crunched along the side of the road searching for anything that indicated a car had wrecked recently.
She looked up and down the highway that stretched for miles. “This is useless. I’m still not sure exactly what happened or where.”
When they’d circled and driven several times past the section where they thought the kidnapping occurred, Cade pulled over, the truck idling on the shoulder. “Does anything look familiar? We’re almost out of gas, and I haven’t seen anything at all that looks like crash debris.”
“It was so dark, I was very drowsy. Maybe I dreamed it all.” Helpless and confused, Lucy slumped back in her seat, her mind whirling and her hopes shattered. “Let’s just go. Take me to my apartment, I just want to shower and sleep.” But then she remembered that besides losing her Jeep, she had no apartment, and no belongings except the clothes on her back. “Except I almost forgot. Victoria’s homeless.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Cade pulled back into the stream of traffic. “You can stay in my casita as long as it takes to sort this out.”
Back at the ranch, Lucy gratefully accepted a clean t-shirt and a pair of Cade’s sweatpants. She was sitting on the side of the bed in the small caretaker’s cottage while he switched on the power and water.
“Clean towels are on the rack.” He came in from outside, and gestured to the small bathroom behind her. “Don’t get in the shower if you’re dizzy at all. Maybe I could call Gloria over to help you out.”
“I’ll be all right.” The thought of that unfriendly woman didn’t sound appealing at all.
“I’m going to feed and water the horses, and then I want to examine
Penny a little more thoroughly,” he said. “You sure you don’t want to see a doctor?”
“No. I’m just tired.”
“All right. You rest for a couple of hours and I’ll bring you something to eat later.”
His last words rolled around in her head without landing, and she closed her eyes, the smooth sheets and soft bed a cushion of comfort on her wracked body.
***
“You were probably carjacked by someone wanting it for drugs or coyote runs,” the deputy told her on the phone later that afternoon.
“Do they always crash, kidnap and leave people to die like that?”
“With the increase in pressure to close the borders, they’re getting more brazen. I suppose they might have been pretty lit. Who knows what demons they were dealing with.” The deputy took her statement, but offered no real hope they’d find her car. “They’ll have it stripped by now. And cancel all your credit cards,” he reminded her before hanging up.
Depressed, jobless, homeless and broke, now her car was gone, and she had no ID or credit cards, which was almost laughable to think of anyway. She had gone over to Cade’s main house to find some aspirin for her aching shoulder. He’d checked it for her but didn’t think anything was broken. Cade was a Godsend. He’d come to her rescue, and taken her and Penny in until she could sort out her life. All of a sudden she remembered the other man in her life.
Dad! She’d totally forgotten to let him know she was not after all, dead by the side of the road. What else was she forgetting as a result of that blow to her head? For one thing, she had to call Phoenix 4-1-1 for the number of the residence. “Dad, it’s Luc—”
“I’ve been out of my mind worrying about you, where have you been?”
“I know, I’m sorry. I-I had car trouble. And I lost my phone. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to let you know I’m okay, it’s just that…I promise I’ll make it up to you.”
Finally able to calm down her dad and promising to be there in time for his birthday, Lucy was feeling cramped up from soreness, and in need of a break from the emotional stress. A stroll outside would surely clear her head. She went to the utility room near the back door and found a pair of flip-flops and a hat. There was no way she wanted to put on the shoes that had worn blisters into her feet.
The sun was glorious and a cool breeze from Rainbow Pass soothed her sunburned face as she stepped outside, a much livelier Penny at her heels. In a few moments, Harry joined them and they strolled around the barnyard. She remembered Cade telling her he’d ordered a load of lumber to rebuild the burned kennel, but there was no sign of a delivery having been made.
Lucy was glad to see Penny feeling perky when she scampered ahead, and did her best to keep up in the oversized sandals. “Hey you, I’m glad you’re feeling better, but wait up!”
They climbed the same hill that they’d explored just days ago. It seemed like so much had happened, and as Lucy leaned against a boulder to shake pebbles from her shoes, a vehicle approached, and slowed at Cade’s gate. “Must be the lumber. Come on, Penny.” Harry had disappeared, so the two headed back without him.
A sense of danger checked Lucy’s steps, though, and she watched the truck turn, not toward the barn, but up to the house, where it slowed. An arm appeared and tossed something through the front window. Even with her hearing compromised from the crash, she heard the sound of glass breaking, and the panel van wheeled around, circling a donut in the driveway. It lurched and fishtailed up the gravel and onto the tarmac, made purchase and squealed toward the mountains. Lucy squinted, but couldn’t make out the license plate or any distinguishing markings on the vehicle.
***
The deputy hefted the brick in his hand, Lucy wondered if the latex glove was even necessary. Would brick register a fingerprint? Cade had arrived just as the patrol unit rolled in responding to Lucy’s frantic phone calls, and together they’d unwrapped the note held onto the brick with a rubber band.
“MOVE ON. GIVE UP.” Mismatched letters cut from a magazine were glued to a sheet of copy paper.
“Anything you two can think of that would shed some light on what this means?” Detective Azaria had shown up, and now slid the letter into a labeled baggie. They sat down, and he took out a notebook and pen.
He already knew about Ambrose’s death, so they filled him in on the car crash and how Cade found Lucy after she’d wandered in from the desert.
“It doesn’t seem like all this is related, but at this point I’m not ruling out any possibilities.” Azaria arose, and flipped closed his notes. “Let me know if you think of anything else. Anything at all.”
“Do you think these goons are working for the developer, trying to scare me into moving?” Cade suggested.
The detective shrugged. “Like I said, there could be motivation of any sort.”
Lucy watched him put the bag into his briefcase. “Trouble is, even we you wanted to avoid whatever it is they’re so concerned about, they’re not doing a very good job of communicating. How do we know who to avoid?”
“Indeed.” Azaria turned to go, and met with Harry and Penny on the front porch.
“We didn’t tell him about Penny,” Lucy reminded Cade.
“That’s right. She was given antifreeze,” Cade said. “It’s poison to dogs.”
Detective Azaria scratched his ear. “Are you sure someone gave it to her, or did she just find some on her own?” He stepped down off the porch. “Farm equipment leaks, cars overheat…”
“She was in my care,” Lucy said. “I would never let her drink that on purpose.”
“I’ll add it to my notes,” he said, but sounded unconvinced it was connected. “It’s a shame your dog got sick, but that was probably just an accident, your carjacking was probably just for drug running, and this brick note and graffiti business is someone who wants to scare you into selling to developers. These are all aggravating, but none of them are earth shattering. Get a lock on your gate, and watch your dog.” He turned to Lucy. “And do not drive across the desert by yourself in the middle of the night.” Then to Cade. “Don’t look for your ball on the fairway if you’ve hooked it into the rough, right?”
Cade nodded, and caught Lucy’s eye. “Golfer.” He mouthed, and mimed swinging a fake driver behind the detective’s back.
The unmarked unit pulled away, passing the delivery truck coming up the road. Cade went out to meet the driver, helping unload the lumber. Lucy went into the kitchen to make some sandwiches, and in a few minutes, the sound of hammering startled her. Using some of the fresh wood, Cade was covering the broken glass in his picture window.
The officer’s assurances had done nothing to make her feel any better. She actually felt worse. If she was to blame for Penny’s poisoning, and she had no idea how it happened, then the poor dog was at risk. And if someone really wanted to burn down Cade’s barns, then a padlocked gate wouldn’t stop them. They had to find out what was going on before anything, or anyone else, got hurt.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“You know, there’s no way I can prove my safety measures were in place without my notebook, which now that my car is gone, I’ll never see again,” Lucy and Cade were sitting on his front porch. “And the threats are getting old.” The air smelled of freshly cut pine from the patch he’d placed over the broken window.
“I sense you’re about to tell me something big.”
“We both know Detective Azaria doesn’t think all this is related,” she said.
“And…”
“I really have no idea if they are or not, but you have to admit there’s a lot of unexplainable stuff going on. I need to prove I wasn’t a slacker who let someone die on my watch.” He didn’t react, sitting quietly while she spoke. “And a locked gate isn’t going to stop someone from coming in here if they want to harm you and your animals,” she said, almost not believing what she was about to suggest.
“Go on.”
“Here’s what I’m thinking. If you help me figure out what
really happened to Ambrose, we’ll be able to convince Tiger Woods that there really is something going on in this valley. Or that at least we’re not a couple of kooks. And he will be more willing to look for our brick-throwing arsonist.”
“With tagging tendencies.” He added to her list, but neither one laughed. “What do you have in mind?”
She was beginning to think they might be able to pull off her plan. “I have been thinking of a way to lure the murderer into the light.”
“Oh, no. Hold on.” Cade wagged a finger, shaking his head. “We’re not doing anything to get in the way of a police investigation, or put ourselves in harm’s way confronting an alleged killer.”
“First of all, they are not investigating, so there’s no getting in the way. And second…we are just luring, not confronting. Please? To save my job and my reputation?”
Cade leaned forward, forearms on his knees. “I’m listening. But that’s all I promise to do until I know what’s going on in that pretty little head of yours.”
***
The next night, Lucy met Cade outside the theater. She’d told Edith she needed to borrow the theater computer to finalize her production notes, which wasn’t entirely a fib, and Edith had given her permission. “The passcode’s still the same, we don’t have anyone moving in until Thursday,” Edith told her. “Make sure you turn off all the lights before you leave.”
They went inside, and while Cade tested the video on his cellphone, Lucy called the Oz production’s cast list.
Finished, she squeaked back in the chair. “That should do it.”
Murder, Most Sincerely: A Romantic Backstage Mystery Page 7