by E B Corbin
At the promise of a quick meal, all further protest fled. Roxanne slipped into her borrowed parka and hugged her mother. Assuming their search for the money this afternoon had been unproductive, she said, “Are you going back on that secondary road tomorrow?”
“Of course. We didn’t expect to get lucky the first day. There’s still a lot of ground to cover.”
Still unfocused from her long nap, Roxanne stumbled on the porch step before Callahan grabbed her arm to steady her. He steered her down the shoveled path to the BMW and helped her into the back seat where Ron waited. Tiffany sat in the driver’s seat, tapping her fingers against the steering wheel.
The car was warm; the leather seats soft as a baby’s butt. Roxanne detected the distinct scent of “new car” beneath the powerful aroma that escaped from the brown paper sack Ron held in his lap. Both smelled divine.
When Ron rested the bag on the seat, Roxanne peeked inside. “Yum, Leonard’s famous cheeseburgers. I haven’t had one of those in weeks.” She dug through the tightly wrapped package. “Where are the fries?”
“No fries, a large spinach salad instead,” Tiffany said, as she shifted into gear. “For sharing.”
“Then I guess I should forget about finding a chocolate shake in here.”
Ron snorted. “Tiffany’s a vegetarian. She’s trying to convert us.”
Roxanne closed the bag and leaned back against the seat. “Milk shakes can’t be that bad. Vicki serves them at her cafe.”
“She’s probably trying to attract a wider clientele. Lacto-ovo vegetarians eat eggs and milk. They’re okay with these products as long as the animal is alive. Not me. I don’t believe in ingesting anything related to animals.”
Roxanne made a face at the back of Tiffany’s head that no one seemed to notice. The woman was more judgmental than the Supreme Court. She’d be damned if she let her dictate her meal choices.
Her first indication that Tiffany wasn’t just dropping them off came when the blonde grabbed a duffel from the rear of the SUV. Until then, Roxanne had clung to the hope that Tiffany would stay at Kate’s. No such luck. The agent followed them into the farmhouse where Puka greeted Callahan with a wet kiss and sniffed at the grease-stained paper sack Ron carried.
Ron lifted the food above the dog’s reach and hurried into the kitchen. Roxanne stopped to pet her best friend, feeling guilty that she’d left him in the house all day. Only Sophie, Leonard’s mother, had provided some company for him when she came in to clean for two hours. Roxanne decided that tomorrow, the golden retriever would accompany her to the office again.
While she, Callahan and Ron wolfed down their cheeseburgers, Tiffany added a generous portion of spinach salad to each plate. Ron took one bite and pushed the rest to the side. Callahan feigned clearing his plate but left forkfuls of the leafy vegetable scattered about. When Tiffany tried to cajole him into finishing what remained, Roxanne had to stem her annoyance at his attempt to appease the blonde.
Dinner conversation went from stilted to increasingly awkward as the meal progressed. Finally, Roxanne cleared her throat. “Did Sam locate Vicki?”
“Not that I know and it’s a growing concern,” Callahan said. “Vicki didn’t open the restaurant today, and according to Kate, it’s the first time since she’s been in town. We tried tracing the GPS on her phone but got nothing. Sam was still working on it when we last saw her.”
Roxanne pushed her plate away. “Shit, what if Vicki’s brother kidnapped her or something?”
“Why would he do such a thing?” Tiffany took a dainty bite of her salad.
“I’m not sure.” Roxanne nibbled at her remaining burger and wished she had some fries to go with it. To hell with Tiffany’s lifestyle choices. “She was afraid of him, though.”
“Afraid of her own brother?” The agent wrinkled her nose.
“He’s her half-brother and an ex-Navy Seal. He was dishonorably discharged last year.” Roxanne turned to Callahan. “I meant to ask you—is there any way we can find out the reason for his discharge?”
He lifted his water glass and took a good swallow, probably trying to wash down the spinach. “I don’t have any reliable contacts in the Navy but I can make some inquiries. Why?”
“The matter has to be serious, doesn’t it? Vicki is afraid of him and whatever he did to get thrown out of the service.”
Tiffany raised an eyebrow. “I don’t see why he would kidnap her. Even if he was a homicidal maniac, why pick on his half-sister?”
“She told me he’s always hated her and he recently received a call from someone looking for their father,” Roxanne explained the situation as best she could without giving away anything to violate attorney-client privilege. Not that Vicki was an actual client; no money exchanged hands.
Of course, she didn’t know Sam Turner’s connection to the missing woman but assumed it involved the windfall Vicki had mentioned. Why else would her brother be so adamant about finding out if their father was still alive?
Then again, Sam could just be an old classmate of Vicki’s or a childhood friend. If that was the reason she’d been looking for Vicki, why not come out and say it? Without more information, Roxanne decided that discretion was the best policy as far as Tiffany was concerned. The less said, the better.
Roxanne spoke again after a long pause. “I’m worried about her.”
“We all are,” Ron said. “Kate’s been on Pete’s back about it. He’s doing everything he can but he’s only one man. As acting sheriff he needs to be available for other town crises. I wish we could help out.”
“Now that Tiff’s here, maybe we can.” Callahan studied his hands as they rested on the table. “We can keep an eye out for any sign of Vicki as well as Pearse and Seamus. They said our windshield will be in by tomorrow. With two vehicles we can cover a lot more ground.”
“Be nice if we had some leads,” Tiffany muttered. “It seems pointless to ride around asking random strangers if they saw a navy cargo van.”
“I have a feeling that sooner or later we’ll get a break,” he said.
“And I feel like buying a lottery ticket. Doesn’t mean I’ll win.” Tiffany poked at her spinach with a fork.
As long as she’d known the woman, which in all fairness was only a couple of months, Roxanne had never heard Tiffany disagree with Callahan. The way the blonde catered to him sickened her. But this new testy attitude made her uneasy. Agents needed to work together.
Roxanne wasn’t about to stick her bat into their ballgame so she tried changing the subject. “I wish we could figure out who the hell is driving that black SUV. Oilville isn’t that big. How can they appear and disappear at will?”
“Good question,” Callahan said. “Don’t forget Pete told us those two guys from out of town were driving a black SUV.”
Tiffany put aside her fork. “What guys?”
“Pete found two witnesses the night of the first shooting. The problem is, they said I had the shooter but let him go.”
“What? That’s crazy!” Tiffany’s outrage annoyed Roxanne.
Callahan shrugged. “No one believes them but I’d like to know why they tried to set me up.”
“Shouldn’t they be on their way to wherever they were going by now?” Roxanne asked. “Pete has their contact info, doesn’t he?”
“Yeah, and he’s still planning to run a background check on them. He just hasn’t had the time.” Callahan’s frustration showed in the way he strangled the words.
“Why would they hang around?” Ron asked. “Doesn’t make sense.”
“None of it makes sense,” Roxanne said. “Maybe they aren’t as transient as they led Pete to believe.”
“They aren’t staying anywhere in town. We’ve checked out the two closest motels every day looking for Pearse and Seamus. No registration of two men together. No black SUV, either.” Callahan stood, grabbed h
is plate and scraped the remaining bits of spinach into the trash.
Roxanne smiled at the look on Tiffany’s face as he did so. To her, wasted nutrients had to feel like a violation.
Glad to get away from the table for a spell, she joined Callahan at the sink. “I’ll load the dishwasher. You’ve had a long day.”
“So have you. I wasn’t stomping through a foot of snow and getting shot at.”
“But I had a nap at Roxy’s.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she fought back a yawn.
Tiffany wiggled in between them at the sink, poking a bony elbow in Roxanne’s ribs. “I’ll finish up here. You can go to bed.”
Yeah, sure, like I’d leave you down here with Callahan, but she resisted another yawn and realized she was beat. She wasn’t used to all the physical effort she’d put forth today. Still, she refused to be the first one to hang it up. A banging on the front door saved her from that possibility.
Callahan told Ron to wait in the hall until he ran upstairs to check out the new arrival from a front window. Roxanne hovered next to the kitchen in case she needed to take cover—she could always hide behind the refrigerator.
“It’s okay. It’s Sam,” Callahan called as he jogged down the stairs.
“Wow, I didn’t mean to cause such a fuss.” The pretty blonde entered the hallway, pulling her cap off and shaking her hair loose.
“Sorry, we’re a little uptight,” Roxanne said, glad to see her.
“Yeah, I heard about the commotion this afternoon.” Sam shrugged out of her coat. “I hope you don’t mind my dropping in like this, but I thought you’d like to hear the news… I found Vicki.”
“You did?” Roxanne rushed into the hall and grabbed her hand. “That’s great!”
Callahan hung Sam’s jacket on a peg next to the front door before he ushered both of them into the kitchen.
“So, is she all right?” Roxanne asked as soon as they were settled at the table.
“Yes, she’s fine. She’s visiting a friend in Latrobe.”
Callahan stood at the foot of the table. “Before we get started, can I get you something to drink? Coffee? Tea? Beer?”
Sam laughed. “I’m good. Just had a delicious meal at Kate’s and I couldn’t force down another thing—not even a drop of water.”
“How did you find her?” Roxanne rocked back and forth in her seat. “Why didn’t she tell anyone she was leaving?”
“She claims she did. She left a sign taped to the door stating she’d be closed due to a family emergency.”
“That’s strange.” Roxanne went still. “She doesn’t have any family except for her troublesome half-brother.”
“That’s exactly why she left,” Sam said. “He threatened to show up at the restaurant and cause a scene. Vicki didn’t need that. She’s just started to get enough regulars to make a small profit.”
“So what’s she going to do? She can’t stay closed indefinitely.” Callahan flipped the chair at the end of the table and sat, resting his arms on the back.
“I couldn’t get a sensible answer.” Sam slumped in her chair. “She mentioned a restraining order but then said Roxanne told her that wouldn’t work.”
All eyes went to Roxanne. She held up both hands, palms out. “Hey! I didn’t say it wouldn’t work, I just said it would be nice to have something more substantial. Henry didn’t make any physical or verbal threats as far as I know. A restraining order is only as good as the threats it protects against. Since he’s in Maryland, we can’t show a preponderance of evidence of danger or harassment.”
“But judges have an incentive to grant them.” Tiffany wiped the counter then joined them at the table. “If a judge grants a protective order that’s not warranted, the only repercussion is that the defendant might appeal. On the other hand, if a judge denies one and the plaintiff is killed or injured, the judge faces bad publicity and an enraged community. I think you stood a good chance of getting one.”
“I realize that. I told her if she wanted to file, we should give it a shot,” Roxanne’s tone stayed neutral, but every word carried its own weight. “She said she’d consider it but she didn’t think it would stop him from doing whatever he planned. She only wanted to know her options.”
“So she left town just because he threatened to cause a scene at her place of business?” Tiffany shook her head. “Damned if I’d let some nut job run me out of town.”
“I think it’s more because he’s a well-trained and heavily armed nut job,” Sam said. “When Vicki told me he was trained as a sniper in the Navy, I thought about those shots taken at Roxanne.”
“But why would he shoot at me? He doesn’t even know me.”
“Maybe as a warning to let Vicki know he could get to her any time he wanted.” Sam shrugged. “I’m not saying he’s our shooter, I’m just saying it’s possible.”
“Does anyone know where he is?” Callahan looked from Roxanne to Sam. When Roxanne shook her head in the negative, he grabbed his phone. “Did Vicki give you his phone number or address?”
Roxanne glanced at Sam. “We never got that far into the discussion. Plus I don’t think Vicki knew where he lived, just somewhere in Maryland. And I know she never tried to contact him.”
“I have that info,” Sam said. When they all looked at her in surprise, she patted the air. “Don’t get excited. In my old job at the bureau I had to track down a lot of lowlifes.”
“Well, let’s call him right now and see what he says.” Roxanne pushed her chair away from the table with a screech.
“I already did that,” Sam said. “As of this afternoon, he was on I-79 going south heading toward Pittsburgh. I don’t know where he is now, though.”
Tiffany’s voice rose in disbelief. “You asked him where he was and he just told you?”
“No. I pretended to be from a clearing house and told him his number had been chosen at random to win a cash prize. I asked him to confirm his name and address and told him we’d be overnighting the prize papers for him to sign. He told me he wasn’t home but he could be there by tomorrow.”
“Nice work. You’d make a great con artist,” the agent said.
Roxanne saw Sam clench her right hand into a fist but her face gave nothing away. “Not only that, when he answered his phone, I downloaded an app to it that tells me where he is 24/7,” she continued. “He’ll never know.”
“Is that legal?” Tiffany asked. The agent couldn’t seem to help butting into matters that were none of her business.
Sam gave her a look that could stop a charging elephant. “Is that important?”
“Not to me.” Roxanne jumped in before Tiffany could respond. “I’m glad we’ll know where he is from now on. I’m sure it will be a relief to Vicki, too.”
“It is. I called her and told her about it. She’s on her way back to town even as we speak. She’s thrilled to be able to open the restaurant again.”
“Speaking of the restaurant, did you tell her we didn’t find the sign on her door and that the door was open?” Roxanne asked.
Sam nodded. “She claims the place was securely locked when she left on Tuesday. She closed the place a little after three in the afternoon and was on the road by four. So, whoever you saw leaving around six-thirty wasn’t Vicki.”
“But the person had bright red hair, just like hers.”
“Yes, and she told me her brother has the same color hair. They inherited it from their father.”
“Well, shit,” Roxanne muttered.
Callahan cleared his throat. “He could have taken that shot at you because he saw you go into the restaurant and wanted to warn you away. You were a pretty easy target on that deserted street.”
“But he missed,” Sam said. “Most snipers worth their salt don’t miss the first shot. I think he deliberately blew it.”
“Could be he’s not a
very good marksman.” Roxanne placed her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her hands. “Although the second time he took a shot at me, he was right on the mark. That bullet would have gone right into my head if I hadn’t turned to tend to Puka.”
“But he couldn’t be the one firing at the campground,” Sam said. “When I called him this afternoon, the tracker told me he was near New Castle. It was right after Gertie received your 911 call.”
“Well, I find it hard to believe we have two unrelated shooters running around.” Roxanne’s shoulders tensed as she spoke. It seemed every time she managed to figure something out, her theory went up in smoke.
“And that means you really have to keep your head down until we find the gunman,” Callahan said.
The words were no sooner out of his mouth than a bullet whizzed through the window above the sink.
- 15 -
As a unit, Sam and the agents dropped to the floor and slid under the table. Roxanne followed their lead as three additional bullets thudded into the wall behind them.
“What the hell?” Tiffany slipped out and rested her 9mm on the edge of an upturned chair. She focused on the kitchen door leaving Ron and Callahan to protect the others.
Callahan dumped the table on its side and motioned for everyone to get behind it. Puka scrambled from his bed near the pantry and poked his nose next to Roxanne. She hugged the dog close to keep him safe from flying glass and bullets. She doubted the oak tabletop would be an effective barrier to the high-powered slugs peppering the kitchen, but it was better than nothing.
Ron stretched to reach the light switch and threw the room into darkness. Not that it mattered since the shooter seemed bent on randomly bombarding the room whether a target could be sighted or not. A second round of three bullets broke through the glass and shredded the curtain. One slug glanced off the edge of the table near Roxanne, sending a sliver of wood along the arm she’d wrapped around Puka. It snagged her sweater but neither she nor the dog were injured. She let out a squeak and pulled Puka tighter.