Murder in the Devil's Cauldron (44 page)

"Because I don't want to be looking over my
shoulder for the rest of my life," he said flatly. "If I can get
the film, then I won't have to. And we'll have plenty of time to
get every dime before we take off."

"Geez, David." Viv stood up and leaned
against the door. "This doesn't feel good."

"Do you want to worry every time you go to
the airport?" he asked. "Worry that maybe someone has a warrant out
for you?"

"Why would they have a warrant for me?"

"Questioning as a material witness, for one.
Or how about being an accessory. Or my personal favorite, aiding
and abetting. If they get their hands on the film, how long is it
going to take for them to figure out you might be involved and that
with just a little persuasion maybe they can get you to point them
in my direction?"

"Jesus, David. What did you do?"

"Never mind," he said. "The less you know,
the better. I'll figure out how to get the film tomorrow. Just give
me an alibi for tonight. Tomorrow I'll let you know what else I
need you to do. With any luck we'll be out of here in a day or
two."

"What about the cars and the suitcases?"

"We'll leave your car and the suitcases here.
Just bring what you absolutely must have tonight - the makeup and
stuff like that. When we're done, I'll drop you off here so you can
drive back to the Cities."

"What do you want me to tell the manager
here?" Viv asked.

"Nothing. You told him you're staying longer,
right?"

"Yes."

"Then everything's fine. You don't need to
say thing to him. As far as he's concerned, you're out exploring
the fucking North Shore."

Fae hung up the phone and crossed another
name off the list. Another resort contacted, another "no, they're
not registered here."

She checked the time and groaned. She still
had a long list of places to call, but it was much too late. She
was lucky to have gotten through as many names as she had so far.
But now her back felt as if something with extremely sharp teeth
was gnawing on it. On top of that, she had forgotten to eat since
the quick slice of toast she'd managed to grab early this
morning.

Fae took one of her pain pills and then,
considering her pain level, added another half. She needed to lie
down until the medication kicked in and she needed to eat something
before she got really cranky.

She considered finishing the calls, but there
was no reason they couldn't wait until tomorrow. And given the late
hour, it would be difficult to find anyone on duty, especially at
the smaller places.

Stretching slowly to ease the kinks in her
back, Fae looked at the list of resorts she still had to contact.
According to the information in the files, Devious Dave didn't go
in for quaint, old or anything that hinted at less than five stars.
But he wasn't registered at any of the North Shore resorts that
matched his profile. Nor was Diana Marshall.

That left only the old time resorts and
inexpensive motels. However unlikely, she'd contact all of those
tomorrow.

Fae went into the bedroom to lie down.
Casanova and Nutmeg joined her moments later, delighted to have her
in a prone position. When she was working, they curled up next to
her. But their idea of cat heaven was to curl up on top of her at
the same time. Which was only possible when she was lying down.

During her recovery, the cats had spent a
great deal of time sleeping on top of her, giving her the
impression that they were thrilled she was stuck in bed for so
long. Fae had often thought during those long months that their
warm furry presence had made her convalescence much more livable,
especially when she didn't see another living being for days at a
time. They had been with her constantly during that time, not only
creatures she could talk to, but creatures who gave her comfort and
entertainment.

She stroked the cats who were purring happily
now that they had her right where they wanted her. She reviewed
everything she had done so far. Had she missed anything? Was there
anything she hadn't thought of?

Fae had called Bailey earlier and left him a
message bringing him up to speed. But she hadn't had a chance to
discuss her concerns about his continuing desire for secrecy. More
than anything, Fae wanted to let Mike Thompson, the sheriff for
this area, know what was going on. But she needed Bailey's approval
first. At least there was a chance she would actually catch up with
Devious Dave in the next day or two.

Starr stood at her window, dancing from the
ball of one foot to the other as she waited for Charlie to show up.
Her bedroom window didn't have a good view of the walkway that ran
in front of their cabin, but if she stood off to the far left side
of the window, she could just barely see part of the path before it
curved out of sight.

Even though it had been light for hours, the
trees still cast long shadows as the sun rose over the lake, making
it feel as if it was much earlier than it actually was. The only
time they had any real sun at the cabin was when the sun was
directly overhead. Starr liked the way the cabin was always nice
and cool and made her feel as if she was living in a kind of Hansel
and Gretel story.

This morning, though, Starr had awoken
suddenly while it was still dark, feeling as if someone was in the
room with her. She had been halfway across the room before she
realized no one else was there. Her jacket hanging on the closet
door had caught the shadows, giving the impression of someone
standing there.

Feeling silly, she had gone back to bed, but
hadn't really slept. Mostly she had dozed until it was light enough
to see. Too keyed up to stay in bed, she finally crawled out of bed
and got ready to go to Ruby Cove. But that had been
ages
ago
and now the wait had become agonizing.

After the deputy had left last night, Starr
had been worried that her mother would change her mind about
letting her spend time with Charlie, but for some reason her mother
hadn't changed her mind. Maybe she figured it would be better if
Starr was out of the house. Especially since someone actually had
broken in.

Starr wanted to ask her mother what she
thought had happened, but didn't dare. She had been quiet after the
deputy left last night, merely telling Starr to go to bed.

Her mother had gotten up early this morning,
too, but Starr had heard little from her since the water in the
shower had turned off. Starr figured it was safer to be as
unobtrusive as possible until things calmed down. So this morning
she had stayed in her room while she waited for Charlie. But it was
really hard sitting still this long and she hoped Charlie would
come early.

She looked out the window again and this time
caught a glimpse of Charlie pushing her bike towards the cabin.
Starr slung her camera bag over her shoulder and scooped up her
jacket which was doing double duty as a camouflage for things she'd
normally put in her backpack. Then she hurried down the hall and
started to unlock the door, hoping to escape before her mother
heard her.

"Not so fast, missy," her mother said.

Starr froze. She turned, only then spotting
her mother in the kitchen doorway, holding a mug of coffee.

"Charlie's here."

"Where are you planning on going today?"

Starr shrugged. "I don't know. Probably the
park." She wasn't about to let her mother know what they had
planned.

Her mother looked as if she was about to say
something. Starr held her breath wondering if it was about last
night. She hoped her mother wasn't going to change her mind at the
last minute.

Charlie knocked on the door.

Her mother tightened her lips slightly. "Just
as long as the two of you stay away from the Lodge."

Starr somehow knew that wasn't what her
mother had been about to say. She hadn't wanted to hear whatever
her mother was going to say. But now that it had been left unsaid,
she was curious about what her mother might have said.

"We'll only be at the Lodge for breakfast,"
Starr said. "Honest."

Her mother gave her one of her patented
sighs. But all she said was, "At least try to be on time for dinner
tonight." Then she went back into the kitchen.

Starr stepped out onto the porch and saw
Charlie leaning her bike against the side of the porch. Keeping her
back to the window, she handed Charlie a bunch of Ziploc bags.
"Quick. Put these in your backpack."

"Why? Where's yours?"

"Shhh. I'll tell you later."

Starr put her camera into the bike's basket
and tucked her jacket around it, then ran a couple of straps over
the top to keep it from bouncing out. "Let me know if it gets too
wobbly."

Envy ripped like an ice pick into Karen's
heart as she watched Starr and her friend walk up the path. She
remembered how she would have killed for someone to hang around
with when she had been growing up.

Like her ex-husband, Karen had grown up in
the middle of nowhere. The nearest house had been half a mile away
and the only people who lived there had been an elderly couple.
They'd been happy to hire her for chores, but that wasn't much of a
substitute for friends. The nearest kid her age lived miles away
and hadn't been interested in spending time with Karen. That girl
had been part of the in crowd and Karen didn't fit.

For a brief moment, Karen hated her daughter
for having the one thing she had always wanted more than anything.
Then she squashed the emotion. She knew what it was like not to
have friends at that age and no matter how she felt about Starr,
she wouldn't wish that on her daughter. Besides, having a friend,
especially one like Charlie, would keep Starr out of her hair and
(with any luck) out of trouble.

The coffee had turned lukewarm and she poured
it down the drain with a grimace before getting a fresh cup. She
was going to need all the caffeine she could get today. She had
been up half the night struggling with the discovery that the cabin
had been broken into. Not only was it a shock that it had happened
here of all places, but the idea that her daughter could have been
in the cabin when it happened had shaken her far more than she
would have expected.

Karen didn't for a moment believe Starr's
little story about hearing something. She was pretty damn sure her
daughter had slipped out to meet her friend, no matter what she
said. Not that she could prove it. And the girl was unlikely to
tell her the truth about
that
. But she knew Starr well
enough to bet the barn that the break-in was real. The shock and
fright on her daughter's face had been genuine.

Most likely the break-in had happened while
the girl was gone and Starr hadn't known about it until she saw the
mess on the bedroom rug. What bothered Karen, though, was that
someone had broken in at all. It's not as if they had much of
anything worth stealing. And nothing was missing. On top of that,
she was pretty damn sure Starr had left something out when she told
her story to the deputy last night.

Which led Karen to the inescapable conclusion
that Starr may well have seen something at that Devil's Cauldron
place. While she didn’t believe there had been a murder, clearly
something
had happened. Why else would someone break in?
That question had been running through Karen's head all night and
continued to nag at her. So far she hadn't come up with an
alternative answer that made any sense.

After the sheriff had stopped by to question
Starr yesterday afternoon, Karen had been so angry she was shaking.
Waiting for Starr to return home, she had rehearsed what she would
say to Rick's parents when she called them back. But she hadn't
made the call yet. Partly because she had been too upset after the
sheriff left and partly because she had already called them
yesterday. They needed to get comfortable with the idea and a
second call just a few hours after the first one would more than
likely set things back.

On top of that, she had been so sure that
Starr was up to something or was causing trouble just for the heck
of it. Discovering that her daughter might have been telling the
truth had knocked her off kilter. So now she wasn't sure how to
handle things.

After the call to Rick's parents yesterday,
Karen had let herself believe for a few wonderful hours that Starr
would finally be someone else's responsibility. Just the idea that
she would finally be free had made life feel wonderful for the
first time in years. And while the visit from the sheriff had been
upsetting, it had also been the perfect excuse to send Starr to
live with her ex-husband's parents.

Now everything had changed again and she was
going to have to tread carefully. Of course, Starr's safety was a
valid excuse to send the kid away. But Karen worried what the
sheriff would think if she did. He might believe Starr had done
something or that she had something to hide.

Karen stared at her empty mug and decided she
wasn't going to think about this any more. In fact, she decided
briskly, she wasn't going to make any decisions of any kind right
now. She rinsed out the mug and set it in the sink. She was going
to let everything alone for a day or two until she knew exactly
what to do.

Starr filled Charlie in as they walked. When
Starr got to the part about being attacked on the porch, Charlie
stopped short, her fingers squeezing the brakes on her bike so hard
that it squealed.