Finding Floyd (21 page)

"Sheriff, it's like this. You know Sandy out
at the Red Shutters B & B? She's not there right now because
she went on a cruise somewhere with her ma, but she's got this
friend from out of town staying' there, taking care of the pets and
looking after things," said Kyle in a rush. "It's this friend, this
girl that something happened to. You know that there's this badass
criminal from up north right here in Floyd? The FBI has been
looking for him. Don't know if one thing has anything to do with
the other, but..."

The Sheriff gave him a cool speculative look
and asked, "The FBI?"

"Yes Sir. I'm sure glad I found you right off
Sheriff, 'cause the FBI guy wasn't there."

"All right, all right, slow down. What
happened?" demanded Boone. "What FBI guy?"

"It's something real bad. This girl, Diane's
her name, got kidnapped. This guy tied her up and gagged her with
duct tape. Threatened to kill her too!"

"Kyle, are you absolutely certain of
this?"

Kyle paused and eyed the box as Preston and
Sarah slipped the pizza onto the table and sat down. "As certain as
I am that I'm sitting here telling you about it. I found her
running down Franklin Pike after she got away from the guy. Diane
was about give out when I picked her up. She was a mess; all
rumpled up and scared half to death. I brought her back to the B
& B where her friends are staying', so she ain't alone." Kyle
reached out and gave the box a quarter turn, moving it this way and
that.

"We know Diane too. This friend of Sandy's
Kyle's talking about. We met her the other day," said Preston.

"Thanks Pres. Maybe y'all can be helpful as
well." Boone sighed. From a hip pocket, he pulled out a small
spiral bound notebook, a pen and a cell phone. "Hold on a minute. I
want to ask you some questions." He punched a button on the phone.
"Sweetheart? It's me. Yes. Something's come up. Yeah, I have the
pizza. It's sitting right here in front of me. I'm sorry; I know
you're hungry, Baby doll. I'm hungry too. No, can't say for sure
when I'll be there. You go ahead. Okay, I'll call you later."

Boone put his phone away and mumbled, "I
swear stuff like this never happens at a good time." Picking up the
pen, he flipped opened the notebook and gave Kyle an inquisitive
look. "Okay, give it to me from the beginning."

"Well, let me think." Still fidgeting with
the pizza box, he lifted the lid and peeked in.

Boone sighed, "Go ahead Kyle. Help yourself.
It's only going to get cold while we sit here."

"Gee thanks, Boone. I'm pretty hungry." He
deftly flipped open the box, extracted a slice and lowered the
cheesy tip into his mouth.

Boone's stomach growled. He impatiently
tapped his ball point pen on the notebook.

"Okay, guess it was about a half hour ago, I
was driving along Franklin, going to see Kathy Spencer. You know
who she is. Nice little redheaded girl. Fred Spencer's daughter.
She goes to Tech, studying to be an archeologist or something.
Anyhow, she and I, well, we've kinda' been seeing each other, you
know. Anyhow, I come round a bend on my way home and there's this
woman in the road. Didn't recognize her at first, but then I saw it
was this friend of Sandy's." He chewed thoughtfully, obviously
trying to remember details. "This is real good. It's the deluxe,
ain't it? The pizza I mean."

Boone sighed impatiently, rubbed his face,
and tried not to inhale the warm pizza aroma. "Glad you're enjoying
it Kyle. Now can we get back to the woman in the road? Do you
remember exactly where on Franklin Pike she was when you found
her?"

"Can't remember precisely." He chewed
thoughtfully, and then pointed at the sheriff with the crust. "I
was so surprised to see her out there, I didn't notice. I'd have to
drive out there again. She about fainted when I got to her and I
had to carry her to the truck. She kept going on and on about some
guy kidnapping her at the library with a gun this afternoon and
then taking her some place and tying her to a chair with duct tape.
She still had some of the tape flapping around her legs and around
her neck. Diane's a real good-looking blond. Nice long legs. I'm
sure she was telling the truth and all." He popped the last bite of
crust into his mouth and his hand snaked into the box for a second
slice.

"Did she happen to mention how she knew this
guy?" he asked, watching his pizza steadily disappear.

"Well yeah, now you mention it, she did,
matter of fact," said Kyle around a mouthful of hot cheese,
sausage, and peppers. "Said that Chris, this FBI guy, showed her a
picture of him. Nasty lookin' feller. Said the man showed her his
gun and forced her to go with him."

"A gun? Are you sure that's what she said?"
asked Boone looking up from his notebook.

Kyle nodded.

"And she said she knew this guy?"

He nodded again, chewing enthusiastically,
and then paused. "Well, not exactly. She knew him from the picture
they've been showing around town. She's pretty shook up."

"Hey, if this was on Franklin Pike, that's
pretty close to our place, isn't it? The kidnapper might still be
out there," said Sarah, a note of concern in her voice.

"Don't worry darling, Boone will catch this
guy. He'll figure it out and the police will get him," said her
husband, putting a reassuring hand on her arm.

The sheriff frowned and tapped the notebook
on the table, considering what he'd just heard. So, the FBI is
here. He stood up and said, "I'm heading on over to the B & B
now to talk to her. If it's not too much trouble, it might be
helpful if y'all came along. You got her last name, Kyle?"

"You know Sheriff, I can't recollect. It's
Van something or other."

"Her name is Diane Vandersmoot and she's from
someplace up in New York," offered Preston.

"Vandersmoot, huh? An unusual name. Okay.
Let's roll, before it gets any later," he said checking his watch
again. It's always better to interview folks while things are still
fresh in their mind."

"Are you feeling better, dear?" asked Julia,
placing a fresh mug of steaming hot tea at her elbow.

Diane looked up, nodded, and gave her a weak
smile. A shower, change of clothes and Julia's soothing
ministrations had worked wonders. The first cup of tea, laced with
honey and some of Ralph's medicinal brandy had calmed her nerves,
but she still showed the evidence of her ordeal.

Julia had done her best to snip carefully
when she removed the last of the duct tape from Diane's hair, but a
fair amount of blond curls had landed on the bathroom floor
resulting in a rather choppy hairstyle. The tape had left red
bruises on her cheeks, but Diane had only laughed when she saw her
reflection.

Julia was startled by her reaction, but Diane
had hugged her and said, "Julia, I'm alive! He was going to take me
out in the woods and shoot me, but I got away. That's all I care
about."

Now that she was nestled in the recliner
sipping her second cup of tea, fatigue and shock were catching up
with her. She began to shiver and Ralph tucked a small fleece
blanket over her legs and said, "I still say you should see a
doctor girl."

Ignoring his concern Diane asked, "Where's
Chris? He told me to let him know immediately if I saw that man.
He's got to catch that creep before he hurts someone."

"I know you must be terribly upset dear. It
would be best if you would just try to relax. Ralph and I will take
care of everything," said Julia, taking a seat across from her.

"I don't have my phone and I can't remember
his number. Can you call him?"

"I'm sorry dear, I don't know where Chris is,
and I haven't got his number," murmured Julia.

"That man took my phone and put it in my car,
but I don't know where that is either. It would have to be
somewhere close by." She tried to think. The man hadn't left her
alone for that long, had he?

"The police will find your car, don't worry,"
said Ralph.

"Thank you. You're both so kind. I really do
appreciate all you've done. I was just going out to pick up some
canned cat food for Colby-Jack. He was out of food." She looked
around for the cat, but only saw Bella, who gazed at her
sympathetically from where she sat at Julia's side. She felt her
eyes welling up with tears. "Where's Colby?"

"Don't even think about it," said Julia,
smiling. "Ralph and I have taken care of that. Colby has had his
supper. Now, drink your tea."

"I feel terrible. I was so nasty to poor
Colby just because he insisted on his favorite food. If only I'd
just gone to the store for cat food and not to the library, none of
this would have happened." She sniffed and rubbed her eyes. "I need
to find Chris and tell him. Did you say you have his number? My
phone is still with my car."

"That's all right. We'll find your car and
your phone, and no I don't have Chris's..." Julia was interrupted
as the door from the porch was flung open and Chris strode in.

"Oh thank God," said Julia, getting to her
feet. "I'm glad you're here. Diane needs you..."

"I need to speak with Diane. Alone," he
barked.

"I know you're worried, but take it easy,
Bud." Ralph took Julia's arm and they walked uncertainly back into
the kitchen.

After the door closed, he swung around and
faced Diane. "I can't believe I actually trusted you." His face was
purple with rage.

"Chris?" Diane looked confused. "What are you
talking about?"

"Rodriguez saw you earlier today, with your
friend, Bruno Toricello."

She looked relieved. "So you know. I wasn't
sure how to tell you, but then I couldn't call you..."

"Shut up. I don't want to hear any more of
your lies." He began pacing back and forth. "You must have known I
would find out."

"Well yes..., but why are you angry?"

Chris turned on her and growled, "This was
quite the coincidence, you and all of your friends showing up here
at the same time as Toricello. So, I guess after I shot his tires
out, he had to call one of his buddies from the local support group
to give him a ride. Does that about sum it up?" He picked up his
phone, swiped it, and held it out for her to see. There it was. A
picture of her car leaving the library parking lot.

"Chris, please listen to me. I don't have any
idea what you're talking about, but if you want to find this
Toricello guy..."

"You're going to tell me where to find him,
all right. We don't have an arrest warrant for you yet, but I don't
expect to have any trouble obtaining one."

"An arrest warrant?" Her face a mask of
shock, she pleaded, "Chris, I can explain."

"Yeah, I'll bet you can explain. Isn't that
your car, with you at the wheel and Toricello sitting beside you,
grinning at the camera?"

"Yes, but I didn't do anything wrong," she
insisted.

"Oh dear me, what's all this about an
arrest?" said Julia. "You don't understand." She and Ralph had
slipped unnoticed, back into the room.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Blake," he said glaring at
Diane. "I'm not finished."

"You are now!" Ralph's voice pealed out like
a clap of thunder.

Diane squealed and toppled her teacup onto
the floor. She turned her face into the chair cushion and began to
weep.

Ever since he'd seen the picture of Diane
with that cretin, he'd planned just what he'd do to even the score,
but at that moment, Chris Owen's carefully laid plans began to come
apart at the seams.

Julia glared at him. "How could you! I'll
have you know, Mr. Owen that this young lady has been threw a
terrible ordeal today."

He'd never seen Julia Blake angry before.
"She was with that fugitive, Toricello this afternoon!"

"Well of course she was! We all know that!
Now go on and get out of here! You are no longer welcome," growled
Ralph.

Julia turned back to Diane and said, "Come
with me, dear. You need to eat something." She shepherded her into
the kitchen.

Chris started after them, but Ralph put out a
hand and said, "Why don't you leave her alone?"

Shaking Ralph off, he followed them into the
kitchen

Laughter and footsteps sounded on the porch
and in came Jack, Vicky, Terry, and John. Something must have
greatly amused John who was laughing uncontrollably. When the
newcomers noticed Diane, they grew silent.

"I can't believe this is happening," wailed
Diane.

"What the hell is going on here," asked a
sobered John Van Wart.

"Apparently," said Julia, "Mr. Owen here,
believes Diane guilty of something. He's going to arrest her. By
the way, Mr. Owen. It seems you lied to the people here when you
said you worked for the National Parks Department. They tell me
you're actually with the FBI."

"I can't freakin' believe it! Not again! I
told you, John. Those FBI assholes are at it again," said Theresa,
glaring at Chris.

"Should I call my lawyer?" asked John.

Chris needed to take charge of the situation
and do it quickly. He'd been through this scenario once before with
the same cast of characters in Pippin's Grove. They'd all been
present when Toricello's stash of freshly laundered drug money was
discovered hidden in Ralph's Tavern. It had looked very suspicious
at the time, but he'd thought they were innocent. After an
investigation into the matter, he's dismissed all the charges. He'd
been wrong. Now, he knew they were guilty.

"I want all of you to listen very carefully."
He picked up the phone, intending to show them the damning
evidence. "I've good reason to believe..."

There were more rapid footsteps outside and
someone rapped hard on the door. Ralph opened it and a man wearing
the brown and khaki uniform of the Floyd County Sheriff's
Department entered, followed closely by Preston and Sarah Hardwick
with Kyle right behind them, carrying a white cardboard pizza
box.