Trusting Drew: Burlap and Barbed Wire

by Shirley Penick

  “What’s that?”

  “Well since it’s with the mayor and a bunch of other muckety mucks, they are going to be making everyone go through a metal detector. I’m not certain you’ll be able to take your weapon, and for certain, all these knives will never make it through.”

  “Good to know. Hopefully with heightened security the girls will be safe. I think they’ll let me take my gun, I had to get permission from the pageant already, so they know I’m carrying. I’ll have my badge with me, so that might help.”

  “The siblings with cameras are going to come to my room early, so we can look through the pictures. We can tag any we think look interesting.”

  “Sounds good. Wish we knew what we were looking for.”

  Chase shrugged. “We’ll know it when we see it. At least that’s what I’m counting on. Plus, I think with all of us in a room together pouring over the info, maybe lightning will strike with one of us. Lily’s parents are coming in before the meeting, right?”

  Drew nodded and went to go answer the door, Chase moved out of sight. Drew recognized the delivery person as the same one who had brought the basket, so he took his time signing the check.

  “That sure is a nice basket you delivered earlier. I’ll bet it took you all day to deliver all of them.”

  “No not really, there were only a few, not everyone got one. I have to admit we were kind of curious about that.”

  Drew forced a laugh. “I can imagine. Hopefully, they were all on the same floor.”

  “Nope, but they never are. Plus, the others were delivered earlier while everyone was out. We couldn’t do that with yours because the door was locked and the Do Not Disturb was on.”

  Drew couldn’t think of any way to stall longer, so handed he over the signed check. “Thanks. Do you mind taking the basket with you?”

  “Will do.”

  They all enjoyed a beer as they chatted about inconsequential things. Then it was time to get ready for the reception, so they separated company. Summer, Rachel and one of the twins would be back shortly before they needed to leave the room.

  Chapter 20

  Lily washed off her makeup, glad that the reception was over. It had been uneventful, but she’d had trouble relaxing and had been jumpy. She’d had to work hard to chat with the dignitaries and pageant staff. She wished she could just relax, but they still had to go meet with everyone to talk about everything they’d learned today.

  There was no way she was staying in that room by herself and she knew Drew needed to be in on the discussion, so she would pull on some sweats and sneakers and go with him. She hoped no one would recognize her. Summer had brought some huge glasses with her that Lily was going to wear. They were clear glass and Lily assumed they were the glasses Drew said she’d worn to hide behind. Lily had a scarf to cover her hair, how Drew was going to look any different she had no idea, but he’d told her not to worry.

  When she walked into his room she laughed out loud. Drew was dressed in the rattiest pair of sweats she’d ever seen and nearly decrepit high-top tennis shoes. He had a baseball hat on backward and carried a gym bag. He’d done something to make his short beard look almost like it was black.

  “You look like a bum, you might get us tossed out of this hotel walking around like that.”

  He shrugged and shuffled over to her, making her want to hoot with laughter. He normally had a strong loose hipped gait that made it look like he was in charge, but also that he didn’t have anything to prove. This time he’d stuck his butt out, hunched over, and shuffled his feet.

  He snorted and then wheezed out, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, missy.”

  She couldn’t stop her shout of laughter, he’d pitched his voice higher than normal and given it a nasally sound. “You cannot talk like that, I’m going to fall down laughing.”

  “It’s not nice to laugh at the way people talk.”

  She decided to give him some of his own medicine, so she dug her finger in her nose, and said with a pronounced lisp, “Tho, we thould probably thtart toward Chatheth room, it might take uth thome time to get there.”

  Drew grinned, “I’m ready if you are, missy.”

  “Let’th go.”

  They teased and laughed all the way down the hall to where the meeting was to be held. It was good to laugh, she’d been so tense all day. They didn’t even see anyone in the hall, so the disguises hadn’t been necessary, but Lily was glad they’d done it, because it had lightened her mood and given her the energy for what was next.

  When they knocked on the door Cade answered, and he’d rolled his eyes at his brother. “I see you broke out Dufus, for the occasion.”

  Lily laughed and they walked in the door. “You mean he’s done this before?”

  “It’s his favorite. Did he shuffle all the way down the hall with his ass sticking out?”

  She nodded and took off the glasses and scarf she’d donned. “We were both trying to make the other one laugh. I think he won, I couldn’t help it, he’s so good at it.”

  Chase walked over and slapped his brother on the back. “He’s had practice.”

  Lily’s phone pinged. “Mom and Dad will be here in five minutes.”

  Drew looked around the room. “That will be everyone then. Did you find anyone on the pictures?”

  Rachel said, “Maybe, no one that really stands out, just normal looking people, but we got some repeats, not with the pageant.”

  Drew said, “Let’s see them. You do realize they aren’t going to look like Cruella de Vil, right?”

  Rachel elbowed Drew. “Of course, silly. So, there is this guy. He shows up in about half the locations and then we don’t see him at all toward the end of the trip.”

  “Anyone else?”

  “Yeah, this lady with the two kids and I assume, husband, they all look like they’re having a good time until this older woman comes on the scene and starts talking to them. The guy says a few words and then gets all sullen and walks off. Once the guy left, the older woman got out wipes and began scrubbing on the kids, who don’t look happy at all about that. We didn’t see them again after that stop.”

  “Looks like a mother-in-law bossing around the couple, and the guy is a chickenshit that won’t stand up for his wife.”

  “Could be her own mom,” Beau said.

  Lily didn’t think so, but wasn’t entirely sure why.

  Alyssa shook her head. “No if it was, she’d tell her mom to back off. I would, even with my step-mom. Harder to do that with a mother-in-law.”

  Yeah, that sounded right to Lily.

  Alyssa said, “We got one other, but the person is so far away it’s hard to see him or maybe her, but I’m going with him. His face is always behind a camera. But he was at every stop, in both our pictures and Rachels, seems a little too coincidental to me.”

  “I agree. Rachel did you zoom in on him?”

  “Yeah but it didn’t do me any good. His, or her, camera really shielded his face and you can see he’s got a hat on low and non-descript clothes.”

  “Why can’t villains look like villains, like they do in Disney movies. No question that Cruella de Vil or Ursula are the villains. Even Cinderella’s step-mother clearly looks evil,” Lily complained.

  Drew laughed. “I wish that was true, Lily, so much easier to know to arrest the big octopus. Instead of some guy with a camera.”

  Cade opened the door when a knock sounded, and Lily’s parents walked in.

  “Mom, Dad, so happy to see you,” she hugged both her parents. “Did you have a good flight?”

  “It was fine, I would rather be in my own truck however, we got the dumbest little rental car. We could barely get our suitcase in,” her dad complained.

  Elaine rolled her eyes at her husband. “Howard don’t be a putz, it’s easier to park than your enormous truck, and it was too far to drive.”

  She turned, and stage whispered to the rest of them. “It was hard to get the luggage in. I can’t imagine tr
ying to haul groceries with that.”

  They all laughed and settled in to continue.

  Drew quickly caught her parents up with all that had happened since arriving in New York.

  Howard said, “Rocky Mountain states, huh? That’s rather curious isn’t it.”

  While Elaine shrieked, “A rattlesnake? Seriously? What is wrong with these people? What if that got loose in the hotel? Do they even have anti-venom in New York City? Thank God the four of you know what you’re doing around those things. Now that just pisses me off.”

  Mama-bear was on a roll, Lily knew it could go on for days. If they did find out who the culprit was, her mother would be giving them a talking to that would make their ears ring for years, hopefully while they were behind bars.

  “Elaine, stop, everyone is fine.”

  Her mom put her hands on her hips. “Unless there was more than one, what if the other girls got a snake and didn’t know what to do. There could be others roaming the halls.”

  Lily hadn’t thought about that. Her mom was right, it could be a disaster. They needed to let the pageant people and maybe the hotel security know, asap. She looked at Drew who had apparently realized the same thing.

  Dammit, what if Lily’s mom was right and there were more damn snakes in the hotel? It hadn’t occurred to him. Drew looked at Lily and she’d clearly come to the same realization he had. “I’ll call the front desk, you call the number they gave you for pageant emergencies. I doubt they had anything like this in mind.”

  He told Adam, “Keep the discussion going, we need to figure out who these assholes are. We’ll go talk to security in our hotel room and be back once they’ve gone.”

  Adam fist bumped his brother, “You got it, hope you’re back soon.

  Lily and Drew hightailed it back to their room as soon as they’d made the calls. There was no joking around this time. They’d barely gotten the door open when a half dozen people showed up.

  The head of hotel security, a Mr. Clark said, “Tell me what happened.”

  Drew quickly related the basket story.

  Mr. Clark looked at his second-in-command. “We got another call about a rattler. The people killed it the same as you did. Any idea what’s going on?”

  Drew and Lily quickly went over what had happened to her prior to coming to the pageant.

  When they were finished Drew said, “I think you should check the other contestants from the Rocky Mountain states. Was the other snake in Ms. Utah, Ms. Idaho or Ms. New Mexico’s room? Did she have a basket, too?”

  The head of security talked it over with the security for the pageant and it was quickly discovered that the snake had been in Ms. New Mexico’s room and yes, they had seen a basket of goodies in the room when they had responded to the call. Although the occupants didn’t know the snake had come from the basket. They’d stated when they’d gotten back from the sightseeing trip they’d found it curled up on the floor near the heater.

  “I think you better check on Ms. Utah, Ms. Idaho, and Ms. Wyoming just to be safe.”

  Mr. Clark said, “We’ll check with the delivery service, they will have a log of everyone who got a basket. That way if your hunch is wrong, we won’t miss one.”

  “If you wouldn’t mind letting me know I would appreciate it. I am a police officer, well a sheriff, but I got my degree and passed the academy, so I would be happy to help.”

  Mr. Clark looked at Drew for a long moment then nodded. “I think I can do that. And you’ll let us know what you discover.”

  It wasn’t a question, but he answered it anyway. “I will, indeed.”

  The pageant security head ran a hand around the back of his neck. “So now we know why Ms. Colorado didn’t show. Has anyone put in a missing person on her?”

  Drew folded his arms. “My boss did, when they said she hadn’t shown up.”

  The man shuffled from foot to foot. “Good, good. It never occurred to me. I’m used to keeping fans back, and helping the girls keep track of their things, nothing like this. I’m going to need to get the pageant officials in on this. We’ll need to decide what we should do.”

  Drew said, “If I could make a suggestion?”

  “By all means.”

  “Get some more trained security in here but don’t pull the plug, these people need to be stopped and brought to justice. They’ve killed at least one person, put another in the hospital, and a third is missing. We need to catch them.”

  Mr. Clark nodded. “I agree, they brought dangerous animals into my hotel, endangering my guests, they need to pay.”

  Drew asked, “Can we all convene in the morning to talk this out?”

  Mr. Clark said, “I think that’s an excellent idea. Seven? I’ll find us a board room that’s not being used.” He looked at Drew. “You said Ms. Utah has a bodyguard and you think Ms. New Mexico’s boyfriend might be doing the same?”

  “Yes.”

  “When I check their rooms, I’ll invite them along.”

  Drew didn’t think there was anything wrong with that, as long as one of them were not the perps. Even if they were, maybe they could flush them out. “Sounds reasonable, although it would leave the contestants vulnerable.”

  He flashed his glance at Lily. “Good point. What do you plan to do about that?”

  Drew grinned with a sly expression. “I brought back-up.”

  Mr. Clark rubbed his chin. “Sworn in back-up?”

  “Nope, family.”

  Mr. Clark looked around the room where Drew’s cowboy hat, boots, hunting knife, and duster were in evidence. “Cowboys? Will they help if we need them?”

  “Ranchers. Absolutely.”

  “I’ll be in touch.”

  Chapter 21

  Drew needed to get down the hall to see what the others had come up with. He now had the head of security’s cell number, so if they’d discovered anything they could let him know. He’d also given Mr. Clark his brother’s cell numbers, just in case. He was so proud of Lily, all during the security conversation she’d been engaged. He’d taken lead, but she filled in when it was appropriate.

  When they’d asked to see the snake, she hadn’t hesitated, but had pulled it from the trash, she was clearly made of sterner stuff than he’d realized. Katie wouldn’t have touched it unless there was no other choice, and even then, she would have tried to use the ice tongs or a towel or something.

  It was a small snake, as far as that went, they wouldn’t have been able to use too large of one in the baskets without it being seen. Smaller rattlers were sometimes the most deadly. She’d handed the snake to Mr. Clark and said that they’d cut off maybe six inches. The pageant security had practically passed out and even the indomitable Mr. Clark had looked a little green holding the snake.

  They’d found a bag to put it, and the other pieces in, not wanting to scare the maids, which he’d not even thought of. It might have scared them half to death. Especially if they moved the bag enough to set off the rattle. Much better to have security take it.

  He hoped like hell they could find any others that might have been brought in. It could be a matter of life and death if someone got bitten and they didn’t know what to do or didn’t have any anti-venom in the city. He had no idea what kind of snakes lived in New York, but he doubted many of them would be in the downtown area.

  He and Lily got back to the room to find a lively conversation going on about who might be behind all of this. The group quieted when they joined them.

  Cade was the first to ask, “What did they say?”

  “There was another snake in Ms. New Mexico’s room. We told them our theories and they are going to go check in the rooms of the rest of the ones we suspect are being targeted. They’re also going to look up who had a basket delivery, in case we’re dead wrong.”

  Alyssa said, “My gut tells me we’re not wrong, but I’d be glad to know there aren’t random snakes roaming the halls.”

  Katie and Summer both shivered.

  Beau looked at
Alyssa and then back to Drew. “We have some anti-venom in the med kit.”

  Alyssa nodded. “Of course, we do. I hadn’t thought about it. We’ve got enough for a couple of cattle, we always keep it on hand. That amount would work for a number of people. Good thinking, honey.”

  Drew pulled out his phone and texted the information to Mr. Clark, who immediately acknowledged him.

  “I gave the hotel security officer your cell numbers. He asked if you would be willing to help, if needed. I told him yes. The pageant security is pretty worthless, they’re not prepared for anything on this scope. I urged them to find some who would be better. We’re having a meet-and-greet tomorrow at seven. I was thinking the girls and Chase could gather together in my and Lily’s room and the rest of us guys could meet with the security detail.”

  Drew held up a hand. “Before you ladies say anything, it has nothing whatsoever to do with your capability to kick ass. I just don’t want all of us in the same room at the same time. Plus, I want to keep the twins a secret a little longer.”

  The ladies shot looks at each other and Alyssa said, “We can live with that.”

  Drew relaxed and asked Adam, “So, what did I miss?”

  Adam quickly filled him in on what they’d done in his absence, and the ideas they had for tomorrow. Drew couldn’t see anything wrong with what they’d said.

  Lily was shooting her father puzzled looks, but he didn’t notice, he was studying something on Chase’s computer. Drew asked, “Mr. Smith, what is it that has you so intrigued?”

  Howard looked up. “I can’t quite put my finger on it, but something is tugging at me as I look over the lists Chase made of the Rocky Mountain contestants and their similarities and differences. Can I get a paper copy to take with me?”

  Lily smiled at her father. “He can send you the file, daddy.”

  “I know Lily-bug, but I want to be able to write on them.”

  Chase pulled some papers from a bag. “I know how you feel, sir. I like paper too. So, I printed some off. Who else wants a copy?”