by Edwin Dasso
Tori nervously spread satin lipstick onto her mouth, and made sure to set the alarm before leaving Brandon’s apartment. If someone entered while she was away, they’d have to disarm the alarm, thus triggering the system to capture their image. Should the intruder know enough about the system to avoid having their face in front of its panel while disarming, at least an entry time would be recorded.
No one at the gallery paid any attention to Tori as she arrived ten minutes late. Stepping into her office, the message light blinked on her desk phone. She picked up the receiver and listened to a deep, gravelly voice. “Like watching you sleep.”
Cringing, Tori hung up. The alarm was set. She assumed the caller was Fackrell and didn’t believe he’d actually seen her in bed. She guessed the message was his attempt to rattle her so she would mention the call to Brandon, which Tori had no intention of doing. Brandon was safe in England. She considered whether or not it was even a good idea to discuss the Photoshopped picture with him.
Tori concluded the best way to keep Brandon in England would be not to tell him the breather had her cell number, about the black rose, the picture, or anything that might cause him to rush home. If the investigator looking into Fackrell didn’t run across something he could take to the police that proved Fackrell intended to harm Brandon, maybe she could. First, she needed to see a picture of Fackrell and made a mental note to contact the investigator Saturday morning if she hadn’t received one.
When Tori arrived back at Brandon’s apartment after work, she called him to find out about Crane’s house. His phone went straight to voicemail. She left a message that she’d talk to him on Saturday. Tori figured then she could tell him all about Wesley Crane’s open house and let him know how many more fans he’d acquired from the guests admiring his design.
The minute she stopped in front of Mandy’s house to pick her up for the open house, Mandy hurried out the door before Tori had time to unfastened her seatbelt.
Mandy dove into the passenger seat and closed the door. “Drive.”
Tori pulled away from the curb. “What gives?”
“Rylee’s favorite babysitter couldn’t make it so he’d rather go with us. I told him it was only an adult party. He told me that he’d be quiet and pretend to be a grown-up. The sitter found a music video with cute girls dancing around to distract him while I snuck out.”
Tori smiled. “He could say he was a midget.”
“Midget? Try manipulator extraordinaire.” Mandy shook her head. “I can’t even get my hair cut without Rylee insisting on getting a trim at the same time.”
“The problem is, you spoil him.”
“Didn’t think I’d become a cosseting parent, but my little man has me wrapped around his fingers. Oh, I forgot to tell you. His soccer game was cancelled for tomorrow. Something along the lines of planting fresh sod, blah, blah, blah. I don’t have the upcoming schedule yet, but enough about Rylee. What the heck are you doing driving Brandon’s Porsche?”
“He left the keys and said I could drive it whenever I wanted. It’s been sitting in the parking garage and hasn’t even been started since Brandon left. Doubt that’s good for the engine. So, I thought it needed to be driven.”
“And you suspect a well-to-do crowd will be at the open house and your Camry wouldn’t be a good fit for the parking area?”
Tori adjusted her seat belt to avoid wrinkling her black dress. “That kind of sums it up.” Seeing a row of orange road construction barrels, a piece of equipment on the shoulder of the road, a slow sign, and a washed out section of the road at the curve in front of her, Tori slammed on the brakes and slowed down, almost crawling over the rough, uneven surface with various sizes of rocks scattered throughout it.
Mandy stared out the windshield. “That must’ve happened from the storm we had last week.”
“Yeah.” Tori eased back onto the asphalt. “At least it didn’t wash out a huge chunk of the road.”
“What do you know about Wesley Crane’s house?”
“Just that it was designed by Brandon—according to the invite. I’d planned to ask Brandon about it today, but his cell went straight to voicemail. I still can’t figure out why the host would invite the architect’s ex-wife.”
“Has Crane ever seen you or maybe one of your photos? Gorgeous women recently divorced are sought after, and you my friend are the crème de la crème. I’m envious of your beauty, body, and especially those shapely gams. My body and gangly legs have always been jealous.”
“Mandy, Max practically drooled the first time he saw you. So, you’re one up on me.”
Mandy pressed her lips together. “Wouldn’t say that from the way Brandon lights up whenever he’s near you. You never answered my question—has Wesley Crane ever seen you?”
“Possibly. I did go with Brandon to a lot of social events. Crane could’ve been at one of them.”
“He probably was, and knows you and Brandon broke up. Any red blooded man who thinks he has a shot, would wanna snap you off the market.”
“I tried to look him up online. Assuming I found the right Wesley Crane, he’s a partner in a law firm. From his picture on the firm’s site, I’d say he was in his early forties and good-looking.”
“No wonder you want to go.” Mandy made the universal hand gesture for making whoopee.
“Oh, stop it. That’s not why. It was his reasoning behind inviting me that piqued my curiosity.” Tori’s eyes swept over the wooded area surrounding the road. “His house must be pretty secluded.”
“It’s been a while since I could see a house through the foliage, and if I don’t find a place to liberate the glass of wine I guzzled before you picked me up, I’m gonna need to squat somewhere out in this forest. Are you sure you got the right directions?”
“I don’t know how to work the Porsche’s GPS and my phone’s GPS always sends me the long way to everywhere. So, I printed off the online directions.” She stopped on the shoulder of the road and leaned over Mandy to retrieve the printout in the glove compartment. “They seemed simple.” Tori flipped on the interior light and checked the route. “We’re going the right way.”
Mandy took the page from Tori and glanced it over. “Do you know how many miles you’ve driven on this road?”
“With all the road curves, I haven’t driven much faster than fifty. My guess would be thirty miles.”
“Well, then we should be at the turn off soon. Wesley Crane must really like his privacy.”
Tori drove back onto the road, leaving the interior light on so Mandy could follow their route on the sheet.
“Have you noticed that we haven’t passed one car for the last twenty minutes and we haven’t seen any headlights behind us,” Mandy said, turning and looking out the windows. “Maybe you’re Wesley Crane’s only invited guest to his open house.”
“No. The invitation was embossed. No one has that done for one invitation.” Tori recalled that there was no ‘plus one’ on the envelope. “If that’s it, Crane must be a strange guy. No way will I even consider going to his door if I don’t see cars parked everywhere.”
“We’ll know soon enough.” Mandy wiggled in her seat. “Slow down. According to the route that sign should say ‘Pine Lane’.”
“It does.” Tori swung onto a narrow paved lane. “The trees look like they’re overgrown. I don’t think any large truck carrying construction material could manage this road and it doesn’t look like the edge of it has been disturbed with tire tracks. I’m getting a bad vibe.”
“So am I. Even my shy bladder is telling me hold it until we’re in a less creepy area.”
“I don’t like this. I’m turning around. Wesley Crane will have to do without our company.” Tori swung the steering wheel and maneuvered back and forth a few times until she finally got the Porsche facing the other direction. As she pressed on the accelerator to go forward, headlights appeared in her rearview mirror. “Someone must be leaving the party.”
“Tori, that car’s going too
fast. Go! Go! Get out of here.”
Tori’s foot pushed down a little more on the accelerator as the car behind her barreled toward the Porsche. “Has the driver been partying too much?”
“Don’t know, but if you don’t pick up your speed that car’s going to plow right into us.” Mandy had twisted in her seat to look out the rear window, her eyes wide with fear.
Flooring the gas pedal, Tori zoomed toward the main road. The headlights gained on her. She swerved onto the wider road without even checking for oncoming traffic.
“That car’s still coming. Don’t let up on the accelerator.”
Suddenly, Tori became worried that Fackrell had set a trap for her. Has he planned for me to perish in a car accident like his wife? Is that how he intends to avenge her death? “Hang on, we’re hitting that washed out area.”
With the car less than 500 hundred feet behind her, Tori didn’t let up on the gas pedal as the Porsche bounced, jerked, and swerved through the muddy rivets in the wash. The Porsche skidded sideways when the front wheels hit the jagged edge of the asphalt.
Gripping the wheel as tightly as possible, Tori turned the car to the left, missing a guardrail by inches.
Mandy sighed. “I think you lost him. Probably slowed down in the wash.”
“The Porsche seems to be tilting a little to the right.” She bit her lower lip. “I shouldn’t have taken Brandon’s car. I’ve probably ruined some of his tires.”
Patting Tori’s leg, Mandy said, “He’ll understand.”
“I can’t tell him about it. I need to…” Tori abruptly stopped talking when a truck going the opposite direction, spun a U-ey and was moving fast toward them.
“What’s going on?” Mandy stared out the rear window again.
Tori accelerated and sped away, but the truck remained a short distance behind them.
“Never known a truck that could keep up with a turbo Porsche.” Mandy clutched the back of the passenger seat as her eyes remained focused on the headlights coming straight at them. “What’s he got under that hood?”
“I got this.” Tori pushed a button near the steering wheel. Keeping the pedal floored, the turbo charged engine increased its speed, peeling away from the truck and leaving a billow of dust behind them.
“Wow!” Mandy leaned back in her seat. “How did you do that?”
“Brandon likes this button.” Tori pointed to it. “It’s great for a fast acceleration, but that extra whoosh only lasts about a half a minute.”
“Well, it certainly worked to get away from that truck.”
Tori felt Mandy closely watching her. “What?”
“Doubt those guys were after us—really you—to have a fun evening. And I also doubt one was a law firm partner. Have you made yourself an enemy or two?”
“Indirectly. I need a drink. Let me find a bar where I can hide the Porsche in the parking lot in a place it won’t be spotted from the road.”
“Yeah, that truck and car could still be in pursuit.” Mandy loudly exhaled and inhaled deeply.
Tori glanced at her friend. “Are you okay?”
“Tori, I don’t see how you’re staying so calm. My heart’s pounding so fast, it feels like it could pop right out of my chest. All I thought about was Rylee and Max when we were swerving toward that guardrail with the steep cliff on the other side.” Mandy swallowed hard. “First a restroom and then I could really use a drink to calm my nerves.”
Tori stroked Mandy’s arm. “I’m so sorry. The invitation looked legitimate. Now, I think it was a trap set by Fackrell.”
“Fackrell? The husband of the woman who crashed into Brandon’s BMW last year?”
“Yes.” Tori saw a bar sign a short distance up the road and nodded toward it as she slowed down. “That bar looks like a dive. Want to stop there?”
“Quite a few cars in its parking lot so it can’t be all that bad. If you can hide the Porsche behind it, let’s go there.”
Tori parked in the back of the building. When she got out, she walked around the Porsche, looking for damage the vehicle might’ve sustained during the chase. She pointed to a dent in the back fender. “Hope it won’t cost too much to have it fixed.”
“Brandon will pay for it or have his insurance take care of it.”
“Mandy, he can’t know about this.”
“You mentioned that in the car. Tori, it wasn’t your fault. Just tell him what happened. He’ll be fine paying for it.”
“I’ll explain after we get a drink.”
The inside of the place wasn’t as dilapidated as its exterior. Wooden booths lined the front and one side wall. Tables were scattered between them and a few pool tables that stood at the rear of the room.
“Let’s hit the toilet before I christen this floor.” Mandy rushed toward a neon sign that read “Babes” and Tori followed. Neither said one word as they walked back into the bar’s main area.
A red-haired barmaid with her arms full of empty glasses and bottles, nodded her head, gesturing for them to come her direction.
Mandy and Tori scooted around two guys chatting and headed toward the barmaid.
“Thought you ladies might like a booth. The folks that were sitting at this one just left.”
“You’re a goddess,” Mandy said as they slid into the booth.
“What can I get you to drink? And our special is garlic burgers and fries, if you’re hungry.”
“After that ordeal, I am,” Tori said.
“So am I.”
As soon as the barmaid left with their orders, Mandy asked, “What’s this with Fackrell and why can’t you tell Brandon about the car?”
“Well, I’ve already told you about the heavy breather. To avoid listening to it, I unplugged the phone, but Brandon thought some of his clients could leave a message on his landline. So, I plugged it back in, turned the volume way down, and stuck it in a drawer. Brandon listens to the messages in England and heard a couple from the breather. He went into take-charge mode and is having the phone tapped, trying to locate the guy. In the meantime, I got a call from an investigator who wanted to talk to me about Fackrell. He never told me the name of his client, but from what Brandon and I gathered it’s probably someone who suspects Fackrell might harm Brandon and possibly a relative or close friend who doesn’t want Fackrell to end up in jail.” Tori paused when the barmaid delivered their order of Voodoo drinks and burgers.
They both took a sip.
“Yummy, I taste mint.” Mandy licked foam from her lips.
“And mango,” Tori said, watching the barmaid step away. She took a second sip and then went on. “Brandon told me, he’d fly back in town if he thought I was in danger. He’s the one that’s in danger. He needs to stay in England.”
Mandy chugged her drink and ate a bite of her burger. “Tori, we were being chased. The drivers of the car and truck didn’t seem to be the friendly sort. You’re in danger.”
“I think that was a scare tactic.”
“We could’ve gone right over that guardrail. That’s more than a scare tactic.”
Tori nibbled on her fries. “I’m so sorry for dragging you into this. I thought I could be in danger if I drove by myself, but I believed Fackrell wouldn’t go after me if I wasn’t alone. But, don’t you see? Fackrell is using me to lure Brandon back in town.”
“Maybe you should go to the police?”
“I wasn’t able to catch the license plate numbers, did you?”
Mandy shook her head. “Brandon wasn’t even in the car when Fackrell’s wife smashed into it. Any idea why he blames Brandon?”
“According to the investigator, Fackrell claims that Brandon’s car was illegally parked and that’s why his wife hit it. Fackrell told the police that, but that didn’t change anything.” Tori noticed Mandy lowering her head and rubbing her forehead. “Are you okay?”
Mandy looked up, her face pale. “It’s my fault.”
Tori squinted and tilted her head. “How could it possibly be your fault?”
“I parked Brandon’s car there.”
“Huh?”
Pressing her lips together, Mandy stared at her plate. “You’re always so good and I’m not.”
“Mandy, I’m not always good, I make a lot of mistakes. More than I’d like to admit. I can’t imagine you could do anything that was terrible.”
“Yeah, I almost cheated on Max. If it wasn’t for Brandon, I know I would’ve gotten caught.”
“Were you and Max having problems?”
Mandy’s eyes became moist. “No, but he was working so hard and hardly ever home when he was opening his second restaurant. Instead of supporting my wonderful husband, I felt neglected. A guy at the gym flirted with me often and then I started flirting back. One thing led to another and before I realized what I was doing, I went with him to his apartment after a workout.”
With a puzzled expression, Tori asked, “So you changed your mind and called Brandon?”
“I didn’t have enough cash to pay a taxi and Max always checks our credit card statements. I called you before Brandon. He told me you were at an open house at the gallery.”
Tori tapped her head. “Over a year ago? I always put my phone on vibrate when I’m at one of those events.”
Tears trickled down Mandy’s cheeks and she wiped them away with her fingertips. “Please don’t hate me, Tori. I stayed faithful to Max. It was all a mistake. After you didn’t answer, I thought maybe your phone was out of juice. That’s why I called Brandon’s number. He left his meeting, picked me up and drove me to the gym. My car had a slashed tire. Brandon called a friend to come and fix it. The guy had to finish a job before he could come to take care of the tire. I didn’t want to stay at the gym and Brandon had to return to his meeting. So, he took me to the meeting hotel and gave me his car keys in case the repairman called. When he called, I left to give him my car keys.
“A lot of cars were pulling out of the parking lot when I got back to the hotel. Then I saw Brandon standing outside the entrance. I parked his car and walked to him. Tori, Brandon is such a nice guy. He thought I needed a drink, so we went to the hotel bar. We didn’t know about the crash until we were heading back to his BMW. Since I had lied to Max and told him I was going to have drinks with a friend who was in town from New York, Brandon put me in a cab, gave me money for the fare, and promised he wouldn’t mention my being there to anyone.”
