Castle Investigations Box Set

by Dee Bridgnorth

  "Got it!" she squealed. "Haven't lost my touch."

  "Remind me later to have you fill me in on exactly how you know how to do that."

  "Deal," she said with a grin plastered to her face. They put their things in the back seat and took off through the streets of Knoxville. It was still dark outside, although there was a lightening effect just at the horizon.

  Dawn was approaching.

  Chapter 14

  Quita slept the rest of the morning while Zach drove. Around lunchtime, they stopped in Memphis.

  Quita opened her eyes as they pulled into a motel. "Where are we?"

  "Memphis. Thought we'd get a room, get some sleep tonight, and start off early in the morning. We've made good progress, and I need to work on the encryption some more."

  "Sounds good to me. A bed would be nice."

  Zach left the car to get a room, and Quita sat in the car, taking in her surroundings. She'd never been to Memphis. Her mom and dad had visited Graceland before she was born. Her dad had loved Elvis.

  Quita had grown up listening to him on CDs. Her dad had even bought an old record player and had had multiple records by Elvis in his collection. Her favorite had been his Christmas album. Some of her most cherished memories involved decorating the Christmas tree, with a fire in the fireplace, while listening to Elvis sing “Blue Christmas.”

  Zach exited the building, walking towards her with a grim expression on his face.

  "What's wrong?"

  "I have good news and bad news."

  "Ok. Give me the good news first."

  "They had a room." That was odd. It was a tiny motel, and not a very nice one at that. Why wouldn't they have a room available?

  "Ok," she said cautiously. "What's the bad news?"

  "The bad news is that there's some sort of Elvis convention in town, and they only had one room left. With one full size bed in it."

  Quita looked confused, and then it dawned on her. "Only one bed? A full size bed?"

  "Yep." Zach looked resigned. "I'll sleep on the floor."

  A full bed would be tight with the two of them. Zach wasn't overly tall, but he was broad. They'd be right on top of each other all night. A zing of awareness went through her. God help her, but she couldn't help but relish the thought of being that close to Zach all night.

  "No. We're adults. We can handle sleeping in the same bed together."

  Zach looked unconvinced, but he shrugged, driving around to the other side of the building.

  They got out of the car, and Zach opened the door to their motel room. It smelled of cigarette smoke and mold, which they'd tried to mask with bleach and some sort of flowery air freshener. Zach dropped his bag on the table near the front window and made a beeline for the bed.

  "What are you doing?" Quita asked, as Zach pulled back the covers and the mattress cover, and examined the sheets and mattress.

  "Checking for dirty sheets and bed bugs."

  "Seriously?"

  "Have you ever been eaten alive by bed bugs?"

  Quita shook her head.

  "It's not a fun experience."

  "When were you in a bed with bed bugs?"

  "Early days in the Army. I couldn't afford much and stayed at a place like this. I didn't know to check the sheets. It felt as if I was literally being feasted on during the night. I stayed there for three nights and each morning woke up with new bites. I ended up bringing them back to the barracks with me. The U.S. Army was not happy."

  Quita laughed. "I bet not."

  Zach grinned. "So now I check."

  "Are we clean?"

  "We are. Want to get a bite to eat?"

  "Absolutely." Quita was extremely hungry. She wasn't a girl that was used to skipping meals. She kept in shape through hard workouts and dancing. But these days, she was doing more running for her life than running for health reasons. She had an appetite, and a granola bar here and there wasn't going to cut it.

  They walked across the street to a mom-and-pop-style restaurant and sat down to eat. The place was crawling with men sporting slicked-back black hair in hairstyles ranging from those of early Elvis to those of his later years. Some were suited up in jumpsuits, and some wore regular clothes, but it was clear that the town had been invaded with Elvis impersonators.

  Quita stifled her laughter as she picked up her menu. It seemed that the restaurant had also decided to get into the spirit of things, and their daily specials reflected their love of all things Elvis.

  The choices on the Can't Help Falling in Lunch menu were: Love Me Chicken Tenders and Fries, You Ain't Nothing but a Hot Dog and Chips, and Good Luck Parm-igiana Chicken. Quita stared down at the puns and burst into laughter. She looked up and saw that Zach was laughing, too.

  "You've got to be kidding me," she whispered.

  Zach shook his head just as a waitress stepped out from behind her.

  "What can I get ya'll to eat?" She poured water into the glasses on their table as she waited for their response.

  "I'll have a Diet Coke and the Love Me Chicken Tenders and Fries, please." It was hard to keep a straight face.

  "And I'll have a Coke and the Good Luck Parm, please," Zach said. But he snorted when he said “please,” and the waitress rolled her eyes at them. As soon as she left, the two burst into laughter. Quita laughed so hard, tears rolled down her cheeks.

  Finally, she calmed her breathing and sat back, wiping her cheeks.

  "I needed that."

  Zach smiled. "Me, too."

  The waitress returned with their drinks, and Zach leaned forward. "I'm going to work this afternoon. Then we can maybe do a little sightseeing tonight before we get some sleep. Does that work for you?"

  "Sure. Sounds like fun."

  A few minutes later, the waitress returned with their food, and Quita dug in. The chicken tenders were homemade, freshly battered, and expertly fried to a deep golden brown. The honey mustard sauce was the perfect complement. Zach took a bite of his chicken parm and met Quita's gaze over his plate.

  "This is amazing."

  "Mine is, too."

  "How does one restaurant do it all so well? I mean, you have fried chicken and Italian all in the same place, and it's all good."

  Quita shrugged. "No idea. Let's not question it."

  Zach laughed, and they ate in silence for several minutes.

  "So, Zach. Tell me about your family. You know all my dirty little secrets." Well, not all of them, but he knew enough.

  "Not much to tell. I'm actually from Southern California. My mom died when I was young, and I had to come live with my aunt in D.C. She wasn't really interested in being a caretaker. She was more interested in the life insurance policy my mom had taken out on herself. I never saw a penny of that, and I barely had enough food. She'd bring home hand-me-downs from other kids for my clothes, which meant that things were always well worn, too small, or too big. I rarely had stuff that fit. That caused a lot of issues at school, so I buried myself in computers."

  Zach shrugged it off like it was no big deal.

  "I'm so sorry, Zach." Quita covered his hand with her own.

  "It was a long time ago."

  "Still, it had to be a hard way to grow up."

  "I learned computers, which eventually paid off. It's also what caused me to end up in the Army, but that's another story for another day."

  "Wait, you can't dangle a carrot in front of me and then not finish the story."

  Zach chuckled. "I have an encryption to break. I saw a coffee shop up the road. There's a strip mall there. Why don't you get some clothes of your own and then meet me back at the coffee shop? Then we can get a rental car and some dinner."

  "You're changing the subject."

  He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. When he pulled away, he remained hovering over the table, his gaze boring into hers. "I promise to tell you later. Deal?"

  She couldn't help herself—she leaned in close and pressed her lips to his. His breath was warm against her face, his
beard growing in from the lack of shaving over the past forty-eight hours. The kiss was slow and tender, but she could feel the urgency hovering under the surface. She broke the kiss, and her eyes met his. Quita reached up and laid her hand against his face. He closed his eyes and leaned into it, as if her touch comforted him.

  A throat clearing pushed them apart, and Quita looked up into the annoyed face of their waitress. "Here's your check. You can pay at the counter."

  Zach stood, and Quita followed him. He leaned in close to her ear and whispered, "I don't think she likes us very much."

  The waitress turned to glare at them over her shoulder.

  "Good Lord, the woman has supersonic hearing," he teased. Quita laughed, covering her mouth to try to suppress the noise.

  They paid their bill and ran across the street to the car. Quita had to touch the wires together to get it to start again. When she was done, she noticed that Zach was staring at her ass.

  "See something you like?" she flirted.

  Zach grunted in response.

  Shaking his head to regain his focus, he said, "I think we need to get a car first, then go to the coffee shop."

  "I agree," Quita said. "It's a little conspicuous to have me ass-up, trying to get the car to start every time. And this place is crawling with people—and most likely police."

  Zach pulled out his phone and called someone. He pressed the button for speaker, and Sully's voice rang though the air.

  "Castle."

  "Hey, Sully. We ran into some problems in the middle of the night." Zach filled him in on all that had happened since they'd left D.C.

  "They had a tracker on you?"

  "Yeah, they must have put it on there when they set Maggie's house on fire."

  "I didn't even think to look."

  "Me neither. Anyway, I have the address if you'll send someone to retrieve my car."

  "Wait, if your car's in Knoxville, how'd you get to Memphis?"

  "We kind of borrowed one."

  "‘Borrowed,’ as in I need to make some calls? Or ‘borrowed,’ as in some nice person lent you their car?"

  "The first one, of course. Anyway, we need a new one. Not really flying under the radar here when we have to hotwire the car to get it started."

  Sully cursed a string of words that impressed Quita. She'd been around hard guys for years and had heard all sorts of expressions, but Sully brought a creativity to cursing that Quita had never experienced before.

  "Ok, I have a connection in Memphis. A security guy there. He should have an extra car. Where are you staying?"

  Zach rattled off the address.

  "He'll have it there within the hour. I'll tell him to leave the keys under the back bumper."

  "Thanks, Sully," Zach said.

  "Anytime. Stay safe out there."

  Zach ended the call and turned the car towards the strip mall they'd seen earlier. They were only a couple of miles from there, and Quita could already see the shops they had to offer. She was grateful to Zach for thinking of her. Isabel's clothes were fine, but it would be nice to have something of her own. She just hated that she didn't have the money to pay him back right now.

  He parked the car and pulled out his wallet, handing her several hundred dollar bills. "Go get a new wardrobe."

  "Zach, I can't take this much from you."

  "Don't be ridiculous. We're the reason you're in this mess. I'll charge it to the company."

  Quita could tell he was lying. He was paying for this. It made her heart clench to know that he cared enough about her to want her to be comfortable in her own clothes.

  She leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek, taking the bills he had thrust at her. "Thank you," she said softly.

  His cheeks reddened just a bit, and he waved her off. "I'll be right there in that coffee shop. Just stop in when you're finished. And keep your eyes open and your head on a swivel. I don't expect any issues, but better safe than sorry."

  Quita felt a tiny twinge of fear crawl over her skin. Surely the men wouldn't be able to find them here. They no longer had a way of tracking them. It seemed unlikely that Tobias would have them stop at every town on the way to Arizona looking for them.

  Quita left Zach and went into several of her favorite stores. She was lucky to find numerous outfits and some much-needed underwear. She even found a little shop that had her favorite face wash and makeup brand. She shopped for several hours and thought about how retail therapy was a real thing. The weight bearing down on her and the stress of everything felt lighter as she shopped.

  The reminder of the danger they were all in, however, soon crashed in on her. She took her phone out, deciding that she needed to check in with her mom. The phone rang, and her mom picked up.

  "Hello, love."

  "Mama. It's so good to hear your voice. Is everything ok?"

  "Of course it is, dear. Why wouldn't it be?"

  "No reason. Just worried about you, is all. You haven't seen that man again, have you?" she asked, hoping that Tobias was leaving her alone.

  "He stops by every evening just to check on me. Nice man. He's not a beau of yours, is he?"

  "No, not at all. Mama, he's not a very nice man. Don't let him in the house, and don't tell him anything, ok?"

  "You're scaring me, love."

  "I don't mean to. Just don't let him in. If you feel like something is off, then call the police or have Warren next door come over."

  "I'm fine, dear. You're still coming here this weekend?"

  "Yes, I'll be there on Saturday. Can't wait to see you, mom."

  "You, too, love. Be safe."

  Quita ended the call. Fear was a constant companion these days. She hated what Tobias had done to her. How he'd turned her life completely upside down. She was grateful that she'd been able to pay for her mother's care, but the price had been too high. They would never be free of him. Even when she gave him the drive, what would he do with it? And would he still allow them to live?

  Quita didn't think so. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more certain she became that Tobias would see her and her mother dead when this was all over with. She knew it. They knew too much. He'd kill Zach, too. And maybe the rest of the Castle Investigations team. She couldn't let that happen. They didn't deserve to die. She'd give her life to make sure they didn't.

  Quita had one more stop to make for shoes. She'd bought everything else already. The sneakers Isabel had given her worked fine with the jeans and t-shirt she was wearing, but she’d been able to pick up a few nice outfits, so she'd need a couple of different options to wear.

  The strip mall was crawling with Elvis look-alikes. Everywhere she turned, she ran into Elvis.

  In fact, as she thought about it, she realized that there were two Elvis impersonators in particular that she seemed to keep seeing. They both wore wigs instead of having their own hair styled and dyed to Elvis perfection. They also both wore sunglasses and otherwise normal clothing. She'd catch sight of them, and then they'd both turn and look at something nearby. It seemed off, somehow, but maybe she was just being paranoid.

  They turned into a sporting goods store, and Quita exhaled a breath that she hadn't realized she was holding. They weren't following her. She was being paranoid.

  The shoe store was a discount store that sold name brand shoes at a reduced price. Just what she was looking for. She tried on several pairs of heels and a couple of pairs of flats, finally settling on three pairs of shoes total, including a new pair of sneakers. She'd pack all of Isabel's stuff into her duffel so she could return it.

  Picking up the boxes of shoes, she headed towards the front of the store, where the bags were. She found a cute weekender bag that should fit most of her things.

  Standing in line at the counter, Quita juggled the boxes, and her eyes landed on the two Elvises again. As soon as her gaze fell on them, they looked away and picked up the nearest shoe. It was a five-inch platform stiletto heel in shiny silver. Didn't really seem like their style.


  Quita tried to look unfazed as she laid her purchases on the counter and handed over the cash to pay for them. The cashier made polite conversation, but Quita wasn't following it. She tried to smile, but the whole time, she was watching the two men as they got closer to her.

  The cashier packaged up her purchases, and Quita slung them over her arm with the rest of her things. She really wished she didn't have all of this on her right now, not when she might have to make a run for it.

  Quita walked out through the door of the store and turned towards the coffee shop where Zach was waiting for her. She'd been gone for several hours, and the light was slowly fading, turning from day to night. She risked a glance behind her as she walked briskly to the coffee shop. The two men were following her, closing the gap between them.

  She picked up the pace, almost running now. She heard their footsteps behind her, and she peeked over her shoulder to see that they'd picked up their pace also. At that, Quita ran flat out, her arms full of bags. She was close to the coffee house now, and could see the big green sign just ahead.

  Reaching a crosswalk, Quita saw two cars coming and had to stop. She turned as the guys barreled towards her. She'd had enough of this. She was tired of running, tired of being scared.

  Anger fueled her as she dropped her bags and marched up to the two goons. She pulled her fist back and swung, catching one of the guys on the jaw. His glasses flew off his face, and the other guy stepped back with his hands raised.

  "What the hell?" the guy she’d hit yelled. "What did you do that for?"

  The other guy kept backing up, his hands still raised in front of him.

  "You can tell Tobias to go to hell. We're doing what he asked. He needs to keep his end of the bargain and wait for us to get to Arizona. If he sends one more goon after me, I'll have Zach destroy it."

  "Look, lady, I have no idea what you're talking about. We just wanted an autograph," the Elvis look-alike said, rubbing his jaw where she'd punched him.

  "Autograph?" she asked, confused.

  "Aren't you Chaquita? From the Dirty Kitty in Vegas?"

  Her mouth dropped open in shock. How in the holy hell had they recognized her?