Arnie advanced toward her, swinging the skillet. Holding it over her head, he said, “I’m getting angry. If you don’t want me to treat you like I did that car, tell me where the toys are.” He hit the side of her face again with his hand, not the skillet. “Tell me!”
Carrie spoke as slowly and calmly as she could, talking through the pain banging in her face and mouth. “I don’t have any other toys here. The guy who makes bird feeders did give me some pull toys he said belonged to Milton Sales. Said he was too busy to leave his booth, and asked me to take them to the fair office so Sales could pick them up later. We got busy at the booth where I was working, and I forgot. They were loaded in my husband’s truck by mistake, and we ended up carrying them to a friend’s house and taking them inside to show her. The cow’s udder came off on her kitchen table and spilled white powder all over. There were four large toys, and all of them had white powder inside. So we called the sheriff, and someone came out and made tests on the powder. He said it was probably baking soda. Anyway, it wasn’t drugs.”
Arnie stopped her with a growl. “Not drugs?”
“Definitely not drugs. The sheriff’s deputy took the toys away. Said he would send them to be tested in Little Rock.”
“Bull.”
“No. Truth. What possible reason could I have for lying to you? You can rip this house apart if you want, but I am telling the truth. The only toy I had here was the little police car I bought for my husband.” She looked at the mess on the floor and then lifted her chin and looked straight into Arnie’s eyes, repeating, “I am telling the truth, and I wish I’d thought to tell you about those stupid pull-toys first. Then you wouldn’t have smashed the gift for my husband.”
Second Man said, “Arn, I don’t think she stole our goods. Doesn’t fit. Hell, she’s a grandma. Got Bibles and church stuff all over the house.”
While Arnie and Second Man looked at each other, she said again, “I am telling the truth. The sheriff’s deputy took the toys, and they were never in this house anyway.”
Finally Arnie nodded, and Second Man went outside, returning in a couple of minutes. “Cell phone doesn’t work here. How about the land line?”
“No, they’d find the records too easily. We’ll have to drive to where the phone works. But first, maybe we can find that information the boss wants, and we’d better hurry at it. No telling how long before hubby comes back.”
“Nah, he’ll be out looking for this one for a while yet. We’ve got time, then we can report to the boss when we get to where there’s a signal.”
Carrie said, “There are some bananas in a bowl over on the counter. Could I have one, please? And feel free to take one for each of you if you like. Also, I’d like a drink of water. Glasses in that cabinet to the left of the sink.
Without comment, Second Man brought her water, and put a banana in front of her on the table. “Banana, Arnie?” he asked, peeling one for himself.
“No.” He looked at Carrie. “Embler’s staying here. Right?”
She chewed on a bite of banana and nodded. No use lying now.
Chapter Eighteen
WHO KNOWS WHAT?
After taking a final sip of water, Carrie said, “I need to go to the bathroom,”
Arnie said “Just hold it.”
“Arn, we don’t want her to pee in the car.” Second Man walked her to the bathroom and stayed with her, though at least he turned his back. Getting her slacks and panties down and up worked pretty well in front, but she had to be content with turned-under elastic in back. She wasn’t about to ask her guard to straighten her underwear.
When they returned to the kitchen, Arnie said, “Okay, where is Embler staying? Where’s her stuff?”
“In our guest room. She wasn’t here when you came before, but she moved in the end of the week.”
“Well, isn’t that handy. She’s got papers the boss has been looking for. Which room?”
Carrie told him. What did she care if they searched Edie’s things? She was pretty sure they wouldn’t find anything important. Whatever else she might be, Edie wasn’t stupid.
“Bring her along,” Arnie said, as Second Man started to follow him.
Second Man taped her feet, dragged her down the hall, and pushed her into a guestroom chair before the two men began tearing the place apart.
They were down to pulling mattresses off the beds when Carrie, crossness beginning to overcome fear, said, “If you tell me what you’re looking for, maybe I can help you find it.”
“Shut up.” That was Arnie.
Second Man said “Wait, Arn, maybe she knows something about this.”
Arnie snorted, “Why would she help us?”
He probably didn’t hear Second Man mumble, “To keep her furniture from being torn apart,” as he bent over Carrie, coming so close she could smell the banana on his breath. “So,” he said, “Here’s your chance to be friendly to us. This Embler woman is the daughter of a guy who was sort of related to our boss’s parents many years ago. Boss wants some important paperwork from that time, and thinks Embler might have it.”
Be nice, a voice inside her said. You can be nice without telling them anything that might put one of us in more danger.
“Well, I honestly don’t think she does. I helped her unpack, and didn’t see any business files or paperwork at all. She drove a rental car here and has since turned it in, so there was nothing concealed there.
“She told us she came here to find out what happened to her father over forty years ago. He disappeared during a business trip to Texas or Mexico, and she and her mother heard only that he was some kind of double agent, dealing in drugs. They never heard where or how he died. Her mother is still living, and Edie wants to find out what really happened to her father for her mother’s sake, as well as her own. She wants to learn where he’s buried and take her mother there if possible.
“She’s never revealed to me that she knows any more than a few basic things from forty years ago, and, if she does, why bother to come here at all? Just to look up a cousin she hasn’t seen since she was seven, and never bothered to visit for over fifty years? I don’t think so. Coming here makes no sense if you’re searching for someone who disappeared in South Texas or Mexico.
“Then the question is, why here? What ties to her father could possibly be here?”
Arnie had stopped dumping and was now listening. “She say anything more about him dealing in drugs, other than the double agent thing?”
“No.”
“So, why did she come here? You got any ideas about that, smart mouth?”
Carrie could see no way around telling a small lie if she wanted to protect Milton Sales. Now was not the time to debate whether or not he was worth it.
“Not really, but I think she was told John Harley might know something about her father’s disappearance, and she traced Mr. Harley here.”
Arnie began laughing. “Boss is gonna love this, and lady, if you’re giving us a true story, John Harley won’t be any help.” He dropped the drawer he was holding on a mattress and said, “Let’s get out of here. Whether she’s telling the truth or not, I don’t see any papers.”
“What about her?” Second Man asked.
“We’ll keep her with us until the boss gives further instructions.”
This time Second Man didn’t untie her feet. He simply dragged her to the car and, before they were out on the road, he’d fastened the pillowcase over her head.
Chapter Nineteen
TWO PLUS
Without any conscious thought impelling him, Henry began pacing again, his feet and legs lifting and stepping, lifting and stepping, moving him back and forth in the parking lot.
Nothing. They still knew nothing.
He ignored Milton and Edie, who now sat with Olinda Rosten in Shirley’s car. Detective Burke was in his Deputy Sheriff’s car, probably talking to various officials about events here. Henry wished he could hear the conversations, but he’d been firmly, though kindly, exc
luded from that possibility.
So far there was no news of the van, or of Carrie, and no additional information about John Harley or his wife.
Henry’s thoughts had been bouncing wildly, wondering why Harley would commit suicide, wondering if he could have been murdered, and the suicide faked. He couldn’t shake the thought that Milton Sales might have killed Harley. After all, Sales had been very late meeting them this morning and he’d never explained why.
His mind also raged at Edie, who, after all, was the one who pulled Carrie into this danger, pulled her into whatever was happening to her now.
He stopped during a turn at the edge of the parking lot, and looked across the river to the fields where Shirley and John Harley had displayed their wares only one day ago.
Now, workers were dismantling the tents while a truck collected trash.
Henry watched the activity, watched people going about their jobs. None of them knew of the events that had taken place over here. None of them knew, and, ignorant of his anguish, none of them cared.
He turned to look around him in the parking lot. On this side of the river, only the skeletons of display booths remained. A crew had been working to take the booths apart when he, Carrie, and Edie arrived for breakfast this morning. He’d barely noticed them then. They hadn’t been important. Yesterday’s bright fair trappings were today’s wooden skeletons, important only to those who tore things down and collected trash.
Now he wondered why the workers here had quit so early. That meant none of them were around when Carrie was abducted.
He turned back toward the river. Where was Carrie right now? What was she thinking? He couldn’t, wouldn’t dwell on any options but that she was okay, maybe even free. He would find her; someone would find her. She would be all right.
He heard footsteps coming close behind him and turned eagerly to see if there was news. Edie, walking alone, stopped, and held out a wrapped sandwich and a cup of something.
“It’s 2:00. Time to eat. Hope you like ham, and this is sweet tea. Sugar energy will do you good. Come, sit with us in Shirley’s car.”
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can. Come on now, eat with us.” Her voice was untypically gentle.
“Has there been any news?”
She shook her head. “Not yet. After we eat, maybe we should go back to your house. Right now, there’s nothing more we can accomplish here.”
“They might bring Carrie back here.”
“They might. But they might drop her off at your house, too.” A half smile decorated her face.
Is she trying to be funny? I can’t, can’t sit with this woman.
“Come on, Henry. Let’s begin thinking what we can do to find Carrie. To help her, you need to begin thinking like a cop, and right now, it’s time for the cop to eat lunch.”
As they walked toward the car, she asked, “I’ve been wondering, should you phone Shirley and tell her you’re running a little late returning her car? Or, have you already done that?”
“No.” Reluctantly, he thanked her for the reminder, and punched in Shirley’s number. After a short explanation, he sat in the back seat of the big old Cadillac, listening to the crunch of crushed cattle cubes whenever he moved his feet.
Edie was beside him, Deputy Rosten and Milton in front. Rosten said “Wish we’d kept an officer with you today, but who could have seen a reason for it? Yesterday at the fair, yes, but today? We didn’t think, and, of course, didn’t know you were coming back here. At the least we should have warned all of you to stay close together.”
That’s exactly it. My fault. I was okay with coming here because I wanted to get to the truth about Milton Sales and those confounded hollow animals. But I should have stayed alert, should have kept Carrie in sight all the time. This place, its very familiarity, got to me. For a while, the danger didn’t seem real.
He took a bite of his sandwich, chewed, swallowed. “That’s it,” he said aloud. “I didn’t think about there being danger, or that Carrie would be targeted when she really knows so little about what’s going on. If only she had talked with Burke first thing this morning. We shouldn’t have come here at all.”
His thoughts flashed back to what Carrie said this morning, that she didn’t want to talk to the detective until she knew more about Milton Sales. She’d even said she needed to know who she was covering for, though it was possible she meant that to be tongue-in-cheek.
Trying to think like a cop, as Edie had said, separating emotion from common sense, Henry admitted both he and his wife had been eager to come here. Thinking further, he wondered if there was any chance good would somehow come out of this. If he had been the one abducted, and Carrie left behind to cope, would she still be thinking about their need to be involved? We’re meant to help people, to find the truth for them. He could hear her saying it right now.
He took another bite of his sandwich. He hated sweet tea, and wished for plain water.
“No point beating yourself up,” Deputy Rosten said. “We work with the situation as it’s presented to us. That’s all we can do.”
Investigator Burke knocked on the driver’s door of the car. When the deputy opened the window, he said, “News. It’s possible John Harley was murdered. Crime scene techs found a couple of spilled pills under the bed in the Harley’s motel room. Best guess so far is that they’re sleeping tablets, though no one can be sure without more testing. The housekeeper insists they weren’t there yesterday morning, but of course that could just be CYA. Murder is only surmise at this point, but it is possible Harley was drugged, moved to the tub, and his wrists slit. Razor blade in the tub, no distinguishable prints. They’ll have to examine the cuts more closely and check for drugs in his system.” He leaned in, looked back at Henry. “No news of the van yet. Sorry.”
While the detective could still hear him, Henry said “Milton, where were you this morning? You were quite late to our breakfast meeting.”
He was met with silence until, finally, Burke spoke. “Milton late to breakfast? Hard to imagine that.”
No one said anything more, and Henry wondered what Milton Sales was thinking of him at the moment. He couldn’t have missed the implication.
Well, so what. The timing was perfect. Any law officer might be suspicious, and I still don’t know where he was.
Finally Investigator Burke said, “I don’t think we can accomplish anything more here at the mill. Major King, because of the circumstances, Deputy Rosten will accompany you and Ms. Embler home and remain there with you, perhaps even through the night if you can accommodate her.
“Milton, I suggest you drive to the motel and go in as if you planned to meet with the Harleys. Deputies will take you into custody shortly after you arrive. If anyone is watching, the action might help conceal your involvement with our Drug Task Force. You will, of course, be released after a reasonable amount of time. Our jail isn’t too bad.” He gave a little chuckle, slapped the side of the car, and stood erect.
Henry got out of the car and went to throw his cup of tea and sandwich wrapper in the trash container. Burke came up to him there. “Do you know anything more about what happened at the fair? I was going to ask Ms.McCrite to give me every little detail she could remember about her encounters with Milton Sales and John Harley, and how she got those four animals.”
“I can tell you all I know, though there may be nothing new.” Henry imagined Carrie standing beside him as he repeated all she had told him about activities at the fair. Remembering her excitement gave him so much pain that he stumbled several times in the telling, but finally got through it.
Burke thanked him, put a hand on his arm, said, “We’ll find her,” and was gone.
Milton Sales had already driven away, and Edie and Deputy Rosten were waiting for him in the back seat of Shirley’s car. Henry got in, started the engine, and, as he headed toward the road, said, “Keep your eyes open for a white van with dark windows. Arkansas license is the one with the picture of a diamon
d on it. First letter of the plate identification is an A. That’s all I noticed. No easily visible dents or scratches on the white part of the van, but I did see a crack and dent in the rear bumper on the driver’s side.”
“We’ll watch,” Edie said, and that was the end of conversation except for small talk until he got to Shirley and Roger’s house and pulled up by the front porch.
Shirley hurried out before Henry got to the porch steps. “Any news?”
Henry shook his head.
“Carrie’s a sharp one, she’ll figure a way out of whatever’s going on, so don’t you worry too much.” She glanced at Edie and Olinda, who were climbing out of her car, and said, “I know y’all probably want to stay close to the phone, so, instead of asking you here, I’ll bring supper up about 5:00.”
Henry said, “You don’t need to do that, Shirley, I . . .” He shrugged.
“No trouble. Gotta cook for Roger, Junior, and me anyways.”
Henry saw possible reprieve from a silent dinner with Edie and Olinda Rosten, or worse, from having to listen to their chatter during the meal. “You and Roger plan to stay and eat with us then.”
“Well now, we might if we can put it off until 6:30. We’ve got the milking duty this evening; Junior’s going out. She nodded at Edie and Olinda. “See y’all then. Plan on fried chicken and potato salad. Sort of a picnic. Made an apple pie this mornin’.”
Henry left Carrie’s car in the drive and hurried to unlock the front door for Edie and Olinda. He didn’t go in the house, just pushed the door open for the women, and returned to put the car in the garage.
As he locked the door from the garage into the house he fretted about the long evening without Carrie, and wondered what he was supposed to do as host to these two women. Was the deputy here only to help guard them from harm, or was she guarding them as suspects of some kind? He wondered if they had been completely cleared of any suspicion by now. Surely Carrie’s abduction would . . . he stopped in mid-thought. Was it possible Investigator Burke thought Carrie had left of her own free will?
A Fair to Die For Page 15