Middle River Murders (26 page)

“Did you remember something, Gabe?” Billy asked.

“I just had a memory about Sophie. She hated a hot house. The
colder the better she used to say. Oh, there were many things about Sophie that
made her unique. The way she threw her head back when she laughed was so
innocent, like that of a child. She was missing the tip of her finger and she
used to poke me with it. It was a joke between the two of us and we got such a
kick out of it. She was a nice girl. I really liked her.”

Gabe seemed to be drifting off into his own little world of
memories.

Billy and I looked at each other. A sign sparked between us.
We both shook Gabe’s hand as we turned and hurried out of his house.

Time was fleeting away!

“Are you thinking the same thing that I am?” Billy asked.

“I think so,” I replied. “I think Sophie’s still alive,
regardless of what Gabe thinks, and I think she’s out for revenge.”

“Two years is a long time to wait.”

“Sometimes it takes a while to accomplish your goal,” I said.
“If you want it badly enough, you have to have patience. Sophie must’ve had
plenty of it.”

“What convinced you?”

“The same thing that convinced you,” I replied. “I was sure
the minute Gabe mentioned the bit about part of her finger being missing. That
did it for me. If she wants revenge, what better way to get it? Everyone thinks
she’s dead, so who would suspect her?”

“We could be wrong.”

“You don’t believe that for a minute, Billy. She’s still
alive. You and I both know it.”

We rounded the corner of the house and saw Athena sitting by
the truck. She didn’t move or bark.

“I forgot all about you, girl,” I said as I bent down and
rubbed her ears. “Huh, some fine watchdog you are! You didn’t even warn us that
someone was coming. What good are you? Next time, you’re staying home.”

Athena stood up on her haunches and starting barking. She
didn’t stop until we had reached the end of
Middle River Road
.

I should’ve known right then she was trying to tell us
something.

Dogs have a way of sensing things. They know when danger is
near and they know when it’s not. Obviously, Athena didn’t feel threatened by
Gabe. She knew we weren’t in danger either, or she would’ve warned us. I’ve
seen her in action too many times to think that she’d fall down on the job. No,
we didn’t have anything to fear from Gabe.

Athena finally stopped barking. She lay down on the seat
between us and made some kind of noise that only another dog would understand.

“Who called you back there?” I asked as Billy pulled out onto
Rt. 230 heading toward town.

“It was Cole on the phone.”

“I’m surprised,” I responded. “We haven’t heard from him in a
while. What did he have to say?”

“He called to let me know about the breaking news and that
they were doing everything they could to find your mother. He wanted me to be
sure to tell you.”

“What else did he say?”

“We talked about what happened to Daisy at the hospital.”

Billy seemed to be beating around the bush.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

“One of Sheriff Hudson’s deputies found an abandoned Greene
County Sheriff’s car in the shopping center parking lot in Ruckersville. June
Robinson’s body was in the trunk of the car. She’d been dead for a couple of
days. The car’s been impounded and they have a forensic team going over it for
prints and
DNA
.”

“How soon will they know anything?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

“Yeah, I know they’re always backlogged, but I believe they
do the best they can.”

Billy smiled suspiciously and asked, “Is this the same woman
who would’ve spit in the sheriff’s face this time last year?”

“I wouldn’t spit in his face, but I surely didn’t have much
confidence in the police as a whole. But I’ve changed my mind. Sheriff Hudson’s
been good to us. He’s been there when we needed him, and he hasn’t arrested us,
and he could have if he wanted to make our lives miserable. Lord knows we’ve
pressed our luck with him on many occasions.”

“I’m surprised at you. I think you’ve softened up.”

“I’ve wised up, not softened up. I know there’re good cops
and there’re bad cops. That goes without saying. I now believe that Sheriff
Wake Hudson is one of the good guys. And I’m glad of that, because I think we
might need his help. I want him on our side, if that’s the case. Actually, I
want him on our side all the time. It would make our lives easier.”

Billy’s cell phone rang. He reached down and snapped it loose
from his waist and said hello. The conversation was short and Billy did most of
the listening.

“What is it?” I asked when he finished.

“That was Jonathan. He found the green Mustang parked in a
driveway of an empty cabin on
Turkey
Ridge Road
. He
questioned a man who lives in the house down the road and the man said the
owners only come for a visit once every couple of years. Most of the time, the
place sits empty. The man also said that the car was there when he drove by
this morning.”

“Does he know how long it’s been there?”

“He told Jonathan it wasn’t there yesterday. Jonathan called
one of his contacts and it turns out that the Mustang was stolen a week ago
from an author who lives in
Dogwood
Valley
.
She was out of town at a mystery convention and didn’t even know the car was
missing. Her housekeeper discovered the car missing when she came to the house
to prepare for her employer’s return. Fortunately, there wasn’t any damage to
the car.”

“I wonder if Mom knows there’s an author living in her
neighborhood.”

“Knowing your mother as I do, I’d say she probably knows her
well.”

“She never said anything to me about it.”

“I don’t imagine that she tells you everything. I’m sure that
she has to have some secrets.”

“Not my mother.”

“Don’t be so sure. She didn’t tell you about Eddie for a long
time.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’ll ask her if she knows the
author the next time I see her. Now, back to the car. That was pretty lucky.”

“It sure was,” Billy chuckled. “How often do you hear of
someone getting their car back still in good condition after it’s been stolen?”

“Never.”

“The funny part is Jonathan said he didn’t see the car
because it sat back in the driveway and was hidden amongst the trees. If it
hadn’t been for Thor’s barking, he never would’ve seen it.”

“So Thor found it, huh?”

“Jonathan said Thor was barking like a mad dog and tried to
climb through the half-opened window of his truck.”

As Billy drove past
South River Road
, Athena started barking. She pranced around in the seat and
then jumped in my lap. She pawed at the window. Her barking got louder as she
jumped from my lap and then tried to crawl up in Billy’s.

“What’s the matter, girl?” Billy asked. “Are you trying to
tell us something?”

“She knows that’s the road to Grandma’s house. Don’t you,
girl?”

Athena, weighing in at almost one hundred pounds, jumped up
in my lap again and started crawling all over me. I pushed her heavy body away.

“Sit down, Athena!” I commanded. “You’re too big to be acting
like a jumping bean. You weigh almost as much as I do. You’re going to squash
me. Get down.”

I pushed her off me.

As soon as we crossed
South River
Bridge
on Rt. 230, Billy pulled off into
the first driveway available.

“Athena doesn’t act like this unless she senses something,”
he said. “I’m turning around. We’re going to go to your mother’s house.”

“I thought about that a few minutes ago. I was going to
suggest we ride by her house. We’re right here, so what could it hurt?”

“I don’t expect to find anything,” Billy said. “I doubt
seriously that whoever abducted your mother would be keeping her hostage in her
own house. That would be foolish. But then again, criminals aren’t known for
their ability to make correct choices. If they were as smart as they thought,
they’d never get caught.”

“Absolutely!” I replied. “Who in their right mind would do
something so stupid?”

We turned and looked at each other. A meeting of the minds
occurred.

“Criminals have done far worse things… idiotic things,” I
rambled. “I bet a week doesn’t go by that you don’t read something in the
newspaper about something stupid a criminal has done. I once read about a guy who
robbed a clothing store and then went back to the same store a day later to buy
something for his wife. Now how dumb was that?”

I was steadily talking. Nervousness had set in and I couldn’t
seem to stop. I’m never at a loss for words when I’m in a fit.

“I was watching the news one day and there was a segment on
about this woman who had stolen an expensive silver tea service from her
employer and then tried to return it to claim the reward. It turns out that it
was a trap and the woman was arrested. Now that’s pretty stupid, too.”

As we were about to cross over the concrete and wooden bridge
to Mom’s house, my cell phone rang. I reached down, dug it out of my purse, and
then flipped it open.

“Hello,” I said, not bothering to check Caller ID.

“Jesse, it’s me,” Claire said. “We just got here.”

“I’m so glad that you’ve come. Where are you?”

“We’re at your house, silly. Where else would we go?”

“That was fast. It’s only been a couple of hours. How…”

“Abigail let us use her helicopter. It’s sitting in your backyard.
I’m glad you have plenty of open space, or we never would’ve been able to
land.”

“Who’s with you?”

“Randy and Detective Frank Trainum.”

“Frank’s with you? What’s he doing here?”

“He sure is,” Claire said. “As soon as Abigail heard about
Mom, she called Frank and insisted he come help out. She said that he has
contacts that might be of some help to us. She also said that this is his field
of expertise. Actually, she said he’s probably the best detective you’ll ever
find.”

“He’s definitely good at what he does and we sure could use
his help.”

“What do you want us to do?”

“I don’t know just yet. Let me ask Billy.”

Before I had a chance to say anything, Billy said, “Tell him
to meet us at your mom’s house. We’ll put our heads together and see what we
can come up with.”

I relayed Billy’s request.

“What are you going to do there?”

“We’re just going to look around.”

“Hold on, Jesse,” she said. “Frank wants to talk to you.”

A few seconds later, Frank was on the line.

“What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into now?” he
asked.

“Nice to hear from you, too, Frank,” I joked. “I’ve been a
good girl. Have you seen my son? Isn’t he just the best?”

“He is a fine fellow,” Frank said. “And that little Maisy is
a trip. She crawled right up on my lap the minute I got here. She isn’t afraid
of anything.”

“She takes after me.”

“Yeah, right,” he chuckled. “Where are you?”

“Hold on a minute, Frank,” I said. “We’re just pulling into
Mom’s driveway and I don’t see her minivan. Maybe it’s in the garage.”

I looked at Billy with a confused look on my face.

“Frank, let’s rendezvous at Mom’s house. Get Claire to show
you how to get here. You can use my
Toyota
.
Sarah has the keys.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” he said and then broke the
connection.

I met Frank Trainum a few months ago when Carl took my
sister’s kids back to D.C. and then failed to return them. One thing led to
another and we were knee-deep in murder and mayhem. Frank was the detective in
charge of the case. We instantly took a liking to each other… well, almost.

Billy parked next to the detached garage. We crawled out of
the truck and walked around.

Athena barked and took off into the woods.

I called to her, but it was no use. She was high-tailing it
off into the woods, probably chasing after a rabbit. I went to the side door of
the garage and opened it.

“Hey, the door wasn’t locked,” I said as Billy walked up
behind me.

We walked into the garage and had a look around. Dad’s little
black pickup truck was parked on one side, but Mom’s minivan was nowhere in
sight.

“What do you think?” I asked Billy. “Where’s Mom’s van? She
left it here the day of
Alice
’s funeral and hadn’t come back for
it. Now it’s gone. That’s weird. Why would her van be gone? No one’s been here
since the funeral.”

“That we know of,” Billy added.

“Let’s go inside and have a look around.”

“I’m right behind you.”

“Where’s your gun?”

“Right here,” he said as he pulled up his shirt. “You don’t
think I’d leave the house without it, do you? Where’s yours?”

“Right here,” I said as I lifted up the leg of my pants.
“Didn’t you wonder why I put on a pair of jeans as warm as it is instead of
wearing shorts?”

“Why didn’t you strap the gun to your waist like I do?”

“I feel funny wearing a gun on my hip for everybody to see. I
feel like I should be in a cowboy movie. Besides, I like this ankle holster and
the snub nosed .38. It’s lightweight and nobody can tell I have a gun on me.
One day that could work to my advantage.”

“You’re right,” Billy said. “It’s rare to see a woman wearing
a gun, so having one strapped to your ankle goes unnoticed by others.”

“And that’s the way I like it.”

“If it makes you feel safe it works for me.”

“You don’t mind do you? You said I could use your gun anytime
I wanted to.”

“Help yourself. I don’t use it very often.”

“I guess not. You use that cannon instead.”

I slipped my house key into the slot and opened the utility
room door. As soon as we stepped inside I felt as if an ominous, dark cloud was
hanging over us. We looked for signs that my mother had been here, but nothing
seemed to be out of place until we walked into Mom’s bedroom. There, tied to
the bed post was part of a ripped up sheet; the rest of the sheet lay in a heap
by the dresser. The room was a wreck. Someone had tied my mother to the bed
post and then had torn the room apart! The mini-blinds were closed and the
curtains had been torn down. There was no doubt in my mind that my mother had
been held captive here and been tormented, especially when I saw the framed
pictures that were once on top of the dresser, lying on the floor in a broken
mess. Clothes were strewn all over the room. I turned and walked into the
bathroom. The large mirror on the wall was smashed and bits of broken glass
covered the sink. Blood droplets speckled the counter. Someone had cut
themselves when they broke the mirror. Good, I thought, as long as the blood
didn’t belong to my mother.