Tahoe Skydrop (An Owen McKenna Mystery Thriller Book 16)

by Todd Borg

  “You’re calling her Jonni,” Brie said.

  “It was obvious when I first saw her up at the lodge.”

  She nodded. After a long moment, she spoke. “A well-informed mind is the best security against the contagion of folly.” Her words sounded distant.

  “Nice choice of words,” I said.

  “It’s Jonni’s favorite quote from Ann Radcliffe’s book, ‘The Mysteries of Udolpho.’”

  I didn’t tell her that I had the torn pieces of the book in the back seat.

  I waited and then said, “I have a hunch that the man who has Jonni might try to hole up in the Hellman Mansion for a few hours. Stone Lodge was built by Isaiah Hellman, and it has a secret entrance. I’m thinking that Hellman’s lakeside mansion might have a secret entrance as well.”

  Although Brie said nothing, her silence was heavy with stress.

  Diamond said, “At Stone Lodge, it was a secret door under a window. But at Pine Lodge, there must be a hundred windows. It would be a long search to find it. If it even exists.”

  “True,” I said. “But many of the windows are set in stone walls. There are far fewer windows set in wooden walls, with wooden siding below them. Those are the ones we should focus on.”

  I added, mostly for Brie’s benefit, “But of course, the kidnapper may have taken Jonni far away.”

  She nodded.

  “And if they are here, they could be in any of the outbuildings.”

  “I understand,” she finally said in a low voice.

  “But if I were the kidnapper,” I said, “I’d go to the place where people are least likely to search.”

  Brie said, “The tourist crowds will be coming in a few hours. That would make it a great place to hide. Lots of commotion and distraction.”

  We came to the West Shore village of Tahoma in a few minutes.

  “Sugar Pine Point Park and the mansion will be empty at this time of night,” I said. “I think the gate will be open for the campers who pay on the honor system. Let’s drive in, lights off, and head back toward the parking lot that’s close to the mansion.”

  “Okay. Left turn coming up,” Diamond said.

  He swung the wheel, turned off the lights and drove into the entrance road.

  “Old Jeep allows one to actually turn off the lights when the car is still running,” Diamond said.

  “Ancient machinery has benefits,” I said.

  Diamond cruised back toward one of the rear lots and parked.

  We all jumped out. Diamond tossed me the keys.

  Spot trotted off. For a dog, the darkness was no obstacle at all.

  Vince pulled Brie’s pickup next to us and got out, moving slowly so as not to jar his head.

  The first hints of dawn were lightening the sky beyond the mountains on the east side of Lake Tahoe. It wasn’t yet 5 a.m. We stood in the darkness under a stand of pines. The front door of Hellman mansion was about 100 yards away.

  “Remember to whisper,” I said to the group. “Because the AHAB entrance at Stone Lodge was below a window, let’s focus on the windows at Pine Lodge. We can ignore the ones set into stone and concentrate on those with wood siding below. If there is a secret entrance, it will probably have a mechanism like the one at Stone Lodge. It was a smooth piece of brass that pulled down. I’ll take Spot and Brie and go counterclockwise around the mansion. Diamond, you and Vince go clockwise. Do you both still have your radios?”

  They nodded.

  I whispered, “Vince, a reminder to not act impulsively. We need silence in order to not alert the kidnapper and scare him away.”

  Although he must have been very tense at the prospect of finding his kid, he nodded. “No need to worry. The kidnapper took the fire out of me.”

  We separated.

  I started running toward the mansion. Spot loped ahead. Brie ran next to me down the park road. Vince and Diamond went the other direction, Vince lagging behind. I hoped he wasn’t suffering from a severe head injury. But I knew I couldn’t dissuade him from coming with us.

  When we got close, I took Spot’s collar and walked through the dark around the south end of the mansion. Brie stayed to my side. The building was made of heavy stone walls with smaller sections of wood walls. We focused on the windows with wood siding beneath them. At each pair, I checked one and she took the other.

  I felt for smooth brass. I also grabbed shingles just to be sure. I pushed and pulled and twisted, but everything seemed solid. The next few windows were set in stone. I came to a rounded room with more stone walls. The second floor above it, and the conical roof above that, appeared to be wooden. But Hellman wouldn’t have placed a hidden entrance up there.

  We continued around to the lake side of the mansion. There was a long, covered porch made of wooden walls and many windows. This was the area where I remembered the tour guides took tourists into the house.

  We walked up the steps. Brie and I walked around each set of windows, pulling and wiggling at each bit of wood beneath the windows. Then I realized, a hidden door beneath those windows would be too low to get through without crawling on the porch floor.

  So I checked to the sides of each window. Brie seemed equally thorough. We’d only finished the second set when Diamond’s voice said, “Got something,” in my earpiece.

  “Come,” I said to Brie.

  We ran back down the porch steps to the lawn and continued around the house to the large wing projecting off the north side of the mansion. From the tour I took years before, I remembered it as the kitchen wing where the staff worked. It also had the entrances for the staff to come and go.

  The dim figures of Vince and Diamond were standing near the middle of the long wooden wall with multiple windows. We hurried over, staying on the yard where our footfalls would be quiet. But there were areas of patio stones. Spot’s claws clicked on the stones.

  Diamond and Vince were near one of the windows. Diamond was running his hands along the window trim.

  “Lots of mossy lichen,” he whispered. “It’s been torn loose. That suggests that something or someone pulled on this recently. But I don’t find a latch.”

  I reached out and touched the lichen. Ran my fingertips along it in the dark, feeling the material, which was like a very coarse sponge. It was thick and continuous. When I came to a corner, I reversed directions and went back the way I’d come, still feeling, trying to see with my fingers.

  As my fingertips went in this new direction, a piece of the lichen sponge seemed to move. Underneath was an edge of wood that felt similar to what I’d found at Stone Lodge. Again, I moved my fingers along the lichen and wood, focusing more on the underside of the windowsill.

  There it was, another area of smooth metal. I got my fingers hooked on one end of the metal. I pulled. The latch came down. There was a sound of the mechanism releasing tension.

  The door opened.

  I reached in through the dark opening and felt something.

  “Several inches in, there is an obstruction of some kind in the way,” I said.

  Vince spoke up, trying to whisper but being too loud. “If the kidnapper opened this and found a cabinet or something in front of the door and he had to push it aside, then, once they were inside, he’d push it back where it had been.”

  “It might make lots of noise,” I said.

  “We could go through there fast so the man can’t escape,” Diamond said.

  “But where in the house would we go?” Vince asked.

  “If I were hiding here,” I whispered, “I’d go to the third floor. That’s one of the places not on the tour and off-limits to tourists.”

  Diamond nodded. “The docents probably don’t even go there.”

  “How do we get up there?” Vince asked.

  Brie said, “I don’t remember if there is more than one way to the third floor. But I do remember that the big curving staircase at the front of the house only goes to the second floor where Hellman and his family stayed. The third floor was just for the ser
vants. On the inside of this wall is the kitchen area. To the left, where this wing joins the main house, there’s the so-called back staircase that goes up to both the second and third floors. It may be the only access to the third floor.”

  I said, “If we get up there fast and quietly, we can maybe prevent them from running. But if they come down to the second floor, then there are two stairwells. For that matter, it may also be possible to escape out a window. We’ll try to be silent,” I said. “I’ll go up first with Spot. His presence tends to prevent people from bolting. Ready?”

  The glow of the coming dawn from across the lake caught their faces as they both nodded. Diamond looked like the practiced, serious professional, his dark face revealing nothing. Vince was much paler, and the growing light lit his skin. He looked very worried, his brow a network of deep lines. I was pretty certain his worry wasn’t fear of the bad guys or even violence. Brie looked as anxious as a person can be, as if the fate of her world were at stake. Which it probably was.

  I reached in through the secret door and pushed against the obstruction. It slid a few inches, making a scraping noise. Then it seemed to stop. I pushed harder, trying to give it a lifting motion to minimize the scraping. It moved again, this time making a screech so loud it would have alerted anyone in the house to our presence.

  CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

  The cabinet or whatever it was moved a few inches, then hit something again and stopped. It still blocked the opening. Now that its scraping noise had announced our presence, speed was even more important. I pushed harder. It moved again, skipping and scraping louder than before. After sliding about a foot, it jammed again.

  I got down on my knees, leaned into the opening, and hit it with my shoulder, forcing it into the room with yet more noise.

  When the opening was large enough, I ducked through the low door. Spot followed.

  “Let’s hurry,” I whispered as before.

  The kitchen was black as a cave. I flipped on my flashlight and let go of Spot. The stairway was to the left, at the end of the room. I ran toward it. Spot immediately understood my destination, and he ran past me and up the stairs. I heard the others behind me.

  At the top of the stairs, I shined my light. The steps to the third floor were to the right. To the other side was the hallway that led to the second floor rooms. I stopped and held my hand out behind me, signalling the others to stop. I turned, put my finger to my lips, and waited, listening.

  If the kidnapper had Jonni on the second floor, he would have multiple escape routes, and we’d lose them by running up to the third. But if they were on the third floor, we could catch them.

  I heard a scuffling sound. I turned my head, trying to discern the direction. Spot looked up the stairs toward the third floor. That was a solid indication.

  “I’ll stay on this floor,” Diamond said. “You go up.”

  “Will do,” I whispered. I touched Spot on his back.

  He trotted up the stairs. Brie pushed past me and ran up the steps. I was behind, and I heard Vince charge up after me.

  We got to the top. I found a light switch and turned it on. Dim light lit up the long hallway. I could see at least four doors, bedrooms for the servants 100 years ago.

  Brie ran halfway down the hall. “Jonni? Jonni! Are you here? Jonni!”

  Spot was down at the last door, sniffing its edges.

  The door opened a crack.

  “Jonni?” Brie said. “Is that you?”

  “Brie!” Jonni pushed out the door and ran to Brie, hugging her hard. “I was so scared!”

  “Jonni,” I said, “where’s the kidnapper?”

  “He left me in the room. He said he had to check on something. He said if I left the room, he’d kill me.”

  “Oh, Jonni, you’re safe now!” Brie kneeled down, her head just a little lower than Jonni’s, and wrapped her arms around Jonni. “I’m never going to let you go.”

  Vince and I were still standing at the top of the stairs.

  “Jon!” Vince called down the hallway. “I’m here, too. I’m so glad you’re okay, boy!”

  “She, Vince,” Brie said. “Jonni is a she.” Brie had a tension in her voice that sounded like anger.

  “Think what you want. But he’s my boy.”

  “No, dad,” Jonni called out. “I’m not your boy. I’m your girl. Your daughter.”

  “Jon, now is not the time for this discussion. Let’s get out of here before the kidnapper comes back.”

  “Maybe this is the time to have this talk,” Brie said in a tone that suggested she was finding her nerve.

  “What does that mean, Brie? And what business is it of yours? Do you even care how I feel? Jon, how do you think your mother would feel if she were here? Come to me, Jon.”

  Jonni stayed next to Brie. “Dad,” Jonni said. “You always think whatever - you know - whatever fits your picture.”

  “You’re not making sense, Jon.”

  “You have this view of the world,” Jonni said. “Everything has to fit your view. Otherwise you push it away. You reject it. Like me, dad. You reject me. You never once wanted to really know how I felt. Mom didn’t, either. You always talked about how mom wasn’t there for me, how she didn’t care. Well, you weren’t that much different.”

  “But I only wanted what I thought was best for you. And Victoria, despite all of her absences, she only wanted what is best for you, too. She’s still your mother. Even a flawed mother still knows what’s best for her child.”

  “Really, Vince?” Brie said. “What if I told you Victoria never was pregnant? That she never gave birth? That she went to a fertility doctor to conceive Jonni from her egg and your sperm? What if she was so vain and distracted she hired a surrogate mother to carry the pregnancy and give birth to your child without telling you?”

  “That’s nonsense, Brie. You’re talking craziness.”

  “No, it’s not, Vince. Because I was that surrogate mother. I gave birth to your daughter Jonni. When Victoria went away, it was to hide that surrogate pregnancy. Victoria came to see me just a few times during the entire nine months. I knew from the beginning that Victoria never really wanted a kid. She never wanted pregnancy. She even looked at me at seven months into the pregnancy and said she could never stand to be so fat. She just paid me and the doctors the money and looked the other way. And after I gave birth and she took Jonni, I found out she left you both, giving you the burden of raising a child by yourself. Even though I was supposed to stay away and never tell anyone about it, I started trying to figure out how I could get into your life, how I could have some kind of relationship with the child I understood better than anyone. ”

  Vince leaned his palms against the wall and then bent his elbows so that his head bumped against the wood. He stared down at the floor. Maybe he was astounded. Or maybe he was just stunned from recognizing what he already knew at some deep level.

  Diamond had come up the stairs behind me.

  “Jonni isn’t from my genes,” Brie said. “But she’s my child as much as anybody’s. I carried her and gave birth to her. I nursed her in the beginning. I’m the only one who has recognized she’s a girl at heart. Ask her, Vince. Ask her if anyone knows her as well as I do.”

  Vince lifted his head and looked down the hall at Brie and Jonni, who had their arms wrapped around each other. His face was wet with tears. He opened his mouth to speak. But no words came out.

  “What makes a parent, Vince?” Brie asked. “Is it DNA? Or is it involvement and caring and belief and support and constancy? When Victoria was mostly gone, I was there. When you had your events and incidents, as you called them, episodes that took you away, I was there. When you doubted Jonni’s feelings and wishes, I was there for her.”

  Vince rotated and leaned back against the wall. He slowly slid down until he hit the floor, his legs and knees up close to his chest. He held his head in his hands and leaned his face down on top of his knees. His sobs began low and slow, and then they grew until he wa
s gasping for breath and choking. The big man looked small and helpless.

  “I’m so sorry, Jon!” he called out, his words almost unintelligible. He tried to suck air but it was as if he were under water. “No, I’m wrong. It’s Jonni. I know that now. It’s Jonni. I’m so sorry, Jonni!” Vince’s speech was the rage of pain and distress from someone who felt worthless. Vince shouted with a torn, ragged voice, “I’m so, so sorry!”

  He lifted his face up off his knees and looked down the dim hallway. His eyes and face were red and swollen. His face was soaked.

  Jonni pulled away from Brie and took a tentative step forward. She stopped and looked at Vince. She turned back and looked at Brie. Brie nodded.

  Jonni ran toward us. I held Spot. Jonni hesitated near Spot as if judging whether or not he was safe. Then she kneeled down in front of Vince, and he took her in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and they cried together.

  After a long time with no words spoken, Jonni stood up and turned to me. “You are the man who made this happen, right? You helped my dad and Brie find me. Thank you.” She gave me a hug. She was a small person, and her head only reached up to my elbow. But she let her face nestle in the crook of my elbow, and I’d never before felt such warmth from the appreciation of a child.

  Spot made a soft, warning growl. He turned and looked behind us, toward the stairs. Diamond and I turned.

  A man jabbed a rifle into the hollow at the base of my throat.

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

  The man’s rifle was small but had a large scope. It looked like a Ruger 10/22 Takedown. In the dim light, I could see that he was the man who slugged Vince before he escaped with Jonni down the zip line. He seemed like the leader, probably the man called Lucas. He kept the rifle barrel at my throat as he reached down and grabbed Jonni by her upper arm.

  I saw Diamond tense, his hand moving toward his weapon.

  Jonni screamed, “LET ME GO!”