Windward Secrets (23 page)

Jill was folding and unfolding a tissue in her lap. “Is there any chance of getting any of the children back?”

Ed looked at Jill with sad eyes. “It’s doubtful Jill, but we’re trying.”

Jill crossed her arms on the table in front of her and rested her head on her arms. Silent sobs shock her shoulders.

“I know how compassionate you women are,” Ed continued. “If nothing else, you can be assured you have prevented more girls from facing the same peril.”

“Where are the four men from Haworth now?” Diane asked.

“They’re in custody and the boat has been impounded,” Ed replied.

“And, what about the evidence from Wendell’s basement?” Jill inquired, dabbing at her eyes with her tissue.

“The night you saw them removing items from the house, they took it to the basement of the newspaper building. It’s all been recovered and will put these men away for a very, long time.”

Caroline who had been sitting quietly listening stood and walked around the table. “Okay,” she said, holding up her hands and ticking off the pieces of the puzzle. “But there’s one thing I don’t understand.”

Ed got a very strange look on his face and glanced at Diane who met his look with concern. “What’s that Caroline?”

“Who were the men who abducted Claire? How were they involved? Were they trying to get rid of her because she was getting to close to the trafficking?”

Ed walked back to the table and pulled a chair out for Caroline. “You better sit down.”

Taking her seat Caroline’s eyes searched Ed’s face. “What is it?”

Ed swallowed and looked at Diane and Jill. “The men who took Claire thought they were taking you, Caroline.”

“What!” Caroline exclaimed. “Why would they want me?”

“The man with the black Mercedes, whom Diane shot in the knee, is your husband, Bill.”

Caroline could only stare in disbelief. “This is ridiculous. You’re mistaken.”

Ed leaned over and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I wish we were, but it’s a positive ID. He hired the two men in the van to kill you.”

Diane got to Caroline just as she passed out. Lowering her to the floor, Diane asked Jill to get a nurse.

When Caroline came too, she looked around dazed. “Diane, what’s he talking about?”

Diane looked at Ed and nodded for him to continue. “Bill wanted to run off with his mistress and he needed to get you out of the way so there would be no monetary settlement through a divorce.”

“This is crazy. We were having problems, but you’re talking murder.”

“Apparently, your husband is a very, greedy man. He wanted everything,” Ed explained.

“But why did they take Claire instead of me?” Caroline asked, bewildered.

Jill answered before anyone else, “I know, I know… your appearance. You changed your hair, your style, and got rid of the contacts. Bill would have given a description of the way you used to look. The two goons thought Claire was you. Isn’t that it Ed?”

“That’s exactly right, Jill.”

“Claire is in there fighting for her life because of me?” Caroline asked, shaking her head. “This is insane. Where is he now?”

“He’s in the infirmary at the prison in Boston. He’ll be in prison for a very long time.”

“Do the boys know?” she asked.

Again, Ed looked at Diane and then back at Caroline. “Yes. They’ve been notified and are probably on their way here.”

Caroline slumped back in her chair. “Is it too late to stop them?”

“I can try,” Ed said. “But why?”

“They don’t need to be dragged through this. It’s between Bill and me. Please see if you can turn them around. Tell them I’ll be in touch when things are sorted.”

Ed left the room and the old friends sat and held hands without saying anything.

Finally, Jill broke the silence. “Well, I still hope the Marina Restaurant manager calls Bridgett.”

Diane cracked a smile and looked at Caroline.

“Leave it to Bill to come to kill me in a Mercedes. He always has to show off…,” Caroline said, with disgust.

***

Returning to the main waiting area, they found Drew. He was disheveled and looked exhausted with two days’ beard growth.

Jill ran to him and he took her in his arms. “How’s Claire?”

“Not good,” Jill replied. Pushing Drew back slightly, Jill looked up into his eyes. “Where have you been? I’ve been so worried.”

“I’ve been with Ike.” Drew put his face into Jill’s neck and wept. “He didn’t make it.”

To give them privacy, the others went to the cafeteria.

Caroline surprised them by getting a huge ice cream sundae.

“Caroline what are you doing?” Diane asked.

“Celebrating.”

“Celebrating what?”

“Not having to make the hard decision about divorcing Bill. He made it for me.”

Chapter Fifteen

Thursday

Diane, Caroline, and Jill returned to the hospital early to find Spence still at Claire’s bedside and two nurses working in the room. Claire didn’t look much better. Caroline tapped lightly on the glass wall. The two nurses turned around; one of them smiled and joined them outside the room.

“Carrie,” Jill whispered, in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

Carrie gave her mom a hug and then pointed to Caroline. “Caroline hired me as a private duty nurse for Claire as long as she needs me.”

Jill and Diane both looked at Caroline for an explanation.

“It’s the least I can do, I should be the one in that bed.”

“Spence is exhausted. Why don’t you see if you can persuade him to get some rest?” Carrie suggested.

Diane followed Carrie into Claire’s room and touched Spence on the shoulder. “Spence, Amy and Beth are staying at my house. When they get here, why don’t you take a break and go there for some sleep? We’ll let you know if anything changes.”

Spence looked at her not seeming to understand. “Spence, it’s okay. You can come back as soon as you’re rested.”

Amy and Beth had entered the room without Diane hearing them. “Come on Dad,” Amy said, gently guiding her father out of the room. “Beth and I will take care of him, Diane. We’ll be back later.”

The vigil of rotating visits with Claire continued for the second day. When it was Caroline’s turn, she sat beside her friend and took her hand. “Oh, sweet Claire, I’m so sorry for this. I don’t know how, but I’ll make it up to you.”

While Carrie cared for Claire’s every need, Caroline stroked Claire’s arm and reminisced about their years of friendship. Carrie smiled at the stories she had never heard before and swallowed hard when Caroline re-visited the hard times the four friends had faced together.

The minutes stretched into hours and there was still no change in Claire’s condition.

Drew arrived and entered the waiting room where Diane, Jill, and Caroline were waiting their next turn to visit with Claire. “How is she?”

Jill slowly shook her head. “No change.”

“Can I take a turn with her?” he asked.             

They hesitated, remembering how Claire had not been completely comfortable with Drew.

“I know she isn’t crazy about me, but I promise I won’t upset her,” he added, understanding their concern.

Jill took his hand and led him to Claire’s room. Together they stood beside her bed and Drew leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Come on, Claire, you can beat this. I know you, you’re the toughest woman I ever met. We all need you, and that includes me.”

Jill walked to the window and looked down into the parking lot. While she watched the cars driving in and out, and strangers going about their daily business, Drew lifted Claire’s good hand off the bed. Turning it over, he placed something in her palm and then closed her fingers around it and laid her hand back down on the bed.

Drew walked to Jill at the window and from behind put his arms around her and rocked her gently. She turned and laid her head on his chest.

***

Shortly after Drew left, Carrie hurried to the waiting room.

“She’s starting to come out of it. Please call Spence and let him know.”

Diane and Caroline rushed to Claire’s room while Jill called Spence to tell him the good news.

By early afternoon Spence and the girls returned, and Claire’s brother, Will, had arrived.

Everyone hurried to Claire’s room where Spence and the girls entered. While they watched from outside the glass, Claire opened her eyes and looked at her family. She was only awake long enough to blink a few times and then fell back to sleep.

Carrie and another nurse went about checking the monitors and Claire’s vitals until the doctor arrived.

Back in the waiting room everyone was nervous with anticipation. The doctor finally left Claire’s room. “This is good. We’re going to attempt to wean her off the respirator to see if she can breathe on her own. If that’s successful, then we’ll try her on some liquids and see how she does.”

Diane, Caroline, and Jill spent the afternoon bringing Will up-to-date on the past two weeks. He shook his head. “I didn’t know about Betsy either. It doesn’t surprise me that Claire was so determined to find out what happened to her. You know how stubborn she can be.” Then turning to Caroline he said, “Caroline, I’m really sorry about all of this and your situation. You can’t blame yourself. If Claire had known what was coming, she wouldn’t have changed a thing. She would have willingly taken your place on that bike, so there’s no need for you to feel guilty about what happened.”

Caroline took his hands in hers. “Thank you, Will, but I’ll never forgive myself for exposing Claire to this. I should have stayed home and faced Bill and our problems. I was too anxious to get away from it all.”

“Caroline you really need to let it go. You had no way of knowing Bill would do anything this drastic. I’m sure Claire wouldn’t blame you,” Diane interrupted.

Jill cut in. “Will, what do you remember about the vacations you spent at The Point? Did you ever run into Wendell?”

Will went back in his memory as far as he could and told them what he remembered. “We loved The Point. The Carters owned that big house you rented and our family rented a cottage a little farther up the beach. Claire and I were really disappointed when we stopped going there. When I think back, the summer Betsy disappeared must have been our last. There was never an explanation and, as kids, we didn’t question it.”

“Do you think your parents knew about it, and that’s why they never took you back?” Diane asked.

Will shrugged his shoulders. “That’s certainly plausible. They never said. They’re gone now, so we can’t ask them.”

“What about Wendell?” Jill asked.

“I remember a shy kid we would run into on the beach occasionally. We asked him if he wanted to play a few times, but he never did. There were lots of families around, so one more kid wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.”

Caroline spoke up. “Did you ever go to the beach near the lighthouse where Claire discovered the cave?”

“We rode our bikes out there fairly often, but I don’t remember that particular beach and certainly not a cave. We were always exploring new places and new beaches. We were totally unaware of any danger.”

As the day wore on they continued taking turns visiting Claire. She was able to stay awake a little longer with each visit, but was still exhausted and the pain medication kept her in a semi-sedated state.

To everyone’s surprise, Ed and Deputy Kevin O’Reilly stepped off the elevator and walked down the hall toward them.

“Ed, what’s he doing here,” Diane asked, pointing at Kevin.

Ed held up his hand in a calming gesture and replied, “We need to explain some things. Let’s go into the conference room.”

With everyone seated Ed explained, “Kevin is not a deputy sheriff. He’s an FBI agent who was on assignment in Haworth.”

Glancing around the table he waited for a response, but none came. “Isn’t anyone going to say anything?” he asked.

“Nothing is going to surprise us at this point, Ed. Go on,” Diane responded.

“He was investigating Peterson for suspicion of extorting funds from the local business people.” Looking at Diane he continued. “When you called about the boat, we realized there was something bigger.”

Deputy O’Reilly spoke up. “I knew from things that Peterson said in the office that you ladies had found something. He was never specific, but he increased the pressure on the business owners and Wendell was on the phone or in the office more than usual.”

“Had you suspected Wendell of anything?” Jill asked.

“No. I thought Wendell was one of the people Peterson was threatening and that he couldn’t make his payments.”

“When did you realize we were onto something?” Diane continued.

“When you met us for the first time, at the bakery, Peterson’s attitude was all wrong for your complaint. Instead of being concerned, he tried to make me think you ladies were overreacting. He refused to let me look into it. That was the first clue. I tried to keep an eye on you during my shift. I’m pretty sure it was Wendell who was on your porch that morning, but Peterson refused to investigate. I could tell then that he was protecting Wendell for some reason.”

“Did you follow us to the Marina Restaurant one night?” Jill inquired.

“Yes.”

“And, the night on the road when we didn’t have the headlights on?” Caroline asked.

O’Reilly smiled. “That was actually an accident. I just happened to be driving the shore road when I caught you.”

Diane was more inquisitive. “Did you know Wendell was moving things out of his house that night?”

“I suspected something was going on because I heard Peterson talking on the phone to him when I came on duty. He made reference to ‘tonight’ so I figured I’d hang around out there. I thought Peterson was going to Wendell’s to pick up his payment.”

“You just missed them. It wasn’t about extortion money. It was about getting rid of the trafficking evidence in Wendell’s basement,” Diane said.

“Yes, we know that now. They moved everything into the basement at the newspaper. What I can’t understand is why they didn’t destroy everything.”

“So, why are you here?” Diane asked, still apprehensive.

Sincerity emanated from Kevin’s dark brown eyes. “I wanted to see how Mrs. McPherson is, and I want you all to know I’m one of the good guys.”

Diane glanced at Jill and Caroline. “What do you think?”

“I always liked him,” Jill said, with a smile and a chuckle. “He’s too clean looking to be bad.”

Caroline leaned back in her chair and grinned. “I’m just happy not to have a traffic violation for driving without headlights at night.”

Ed looked at the three of them and held up his hands in surrender. “I don’t even want to know what that means.”

“Do you think I could see Mrs. McPherson?” Kevin asked.

Diane rose from her chair. “I need to ask the doctor and Spence. I’ll be right back.”

***

With the others watching, Kevin entered Claire’s room. Spence stood up and shook his hand. They had a few words and then Spence gently woke Claire. When she saw Kevin, Claire was frightened and tried to move away. Spence quickly took her hand and leaned down to reassure her she was safe.

Spence stepped away from the bed and Kevin sat down in the chair he had vacated. Kevin took Claire’s hand and spoke to her softly. He explained who he was and assured her that the FBI was diligently working on the case.

“You’re a remarkable woman. Thanks to you, we have enough evidence to put these creeps away for good, and we’re working with Interpol to unravel the operation internationally.”

Claire tried to speak but was only capable of a raspy whisper. “Are any of the girls alive?”

Kevin nodded his head and smiled. “I just received word that we have been able to rescue thirty-one girls. They’ll be back with their families in a few days. Our agents overseas are working as fast as they can, we hope to find more.”

Claire breathed a deep sigh and closed her eyes. For the first time since regaining consciousness a look of peace crossed her face and she fell asleep.

Kevin gently caressed her hand and left the room. Saying goodbye to Diane, Caroline, and Jill he winked and said, “Try to stay out of trouble will you? And, no more snorkeling in dangerous caves!”

The women exchanged glances and feigned innocence.

Kevin laughed. “It’s no good. Aaron’s a friend of mine. He called me shortly after you rented the gear. I was keeping an eye on you that day too.”

“Well, I’ll be darned,” Jill exclaimed.

“Did you know about the cave?” Diane inquired.

“Nope. I figured you were up to something, but we didn’t find the cave until Ed brought us in on the case.”

Caroline walked over to Kevin and gave him a hug. “Thank you, but I sure wish we had known sooner so that my nerves wouldn’t have been so frayed with all of Claire’s antics. You would make any mother proud.”

Ed placed his hand on Kevin’s shoulder. “Time to go, Kevin. We have work to do.”

Watching the two men walk toward the elevator, Jill couldn’t help noticing Amy and Beth giving Kevin the once over. “Go for it girls,” she said. “He’s a good catch!”