Fire in the Vineyard

by Christa Polkinhorn

  Adam pulled harder and Julietta flinched as the rope cut into her wrists. “I’m sorry,” Adam whispered.

  George checked the bindings again. “All right. Now sit down in the corner.” He pointed the gun at Adam. Adam obeyed. George set the gun far enough away, so Adam couldn’t reach it but close enough to get a hold of it himself. “Put your hands behind your back.”

  “Are you going to leave us here tied up? If nobody finds us, we’ll die,” Adam croaked.

  “Shut up.” George began to tie Adam’s hands. “As soon as I’m gone, I’ll let someone know where you are.”

  “Then, they’ll find you … ouch, you’re hurting me,” Adam said.

  “Stop being a baby. They won’t find me. I have a disposable phone. They’ll have no idea where I am.”

  After tying up Adam’s hands, George also wrapped rope around their legs. Finally, he got up and checked the bindings again. He grabbed the gun, his backpack and baseball cap, and walked toward the door. “Sorry about that, Adam. I really didn’t want to involve you or the young lady. It’s your own fault for playing cops.” He left and slammed the door.

  “Damn it.” Adam began to pull on the ropes. “I feel like such an idiot.”

  Julietta felt like crying, but she knew she needed to be strong and keep her wits about her. At least the dangerous crook was gone. “Do you think he’ll let someone know where we are?”

  “Probably. Uncle George is a miserable human being and a criminal. But I don’t believe he wants our lives on his conscience … then again, does he even have a conscience?”

  Chapter 35

  “We’ve got to get out of here.” Adam started to pull on the ropes. After what seemed like an eternity, he felt his bindings loosen somewhat. He had used an old trick he had read about in a detective novel. He had tried to keep his fists tight when his uncle had tied his wrists. When he released them, there was just a tiny bit more space between the skin and the rope. It still took him a while to loosen the rope, and his wrists burned like hell. Finally, one came loose, and he was able to pull off the other one. The ropes on his feet came off more easily.

  Adam got up and searched for a pair of scissors but only found a knife in the kitchen cabinet. He cut open Julietta’s bindings.

  “Thank God,” she said, rubbing her chaffed wrists. Adam did the same, then got up and rushed toward the door. “Where are you going?” she called after him.

  “I don’t want him to escape.” Adam grabbed his cell phone, but still couldn’t get a connection. “Let’s follow him. Once we’re closer to town, we may be able to call.”

  Julietta rushed after him. “How do you know where he went? He could be anywhere.”

  “He could only have gone to where the cars are parked.” Adam continued to plunge ahead, dodging trees and brush and looking occasionally over his shoulder to make sure Julietta was keeping up.

  “Let’s stop and try Lauer again,” she said. They stopped. “Still nothing, darn. He has a gun, Adam, what if he shoots us?”

  “He won’t,” Adam said. “If he really wanted to kill us, he could’ve done it before.”

  They came to the last group of shrubs and trees. All of a sudden, Adam saw a flash of yellow through the foliage. George’s baseball cap? He stopped and held up his hand to warn Julietta. They watched and listened. The yellow patch gave way to a figure, walking between the trees.

  “It’s him,” Adam whispered, his voice hoarse. “I have to cut him off before he gets to the car. Try to call Lauer again.”

  “Adam.” He heard Julietta’s worried voice. Not paying attention, he raced parallel to the figure hidden in part behind tree trunks, overtaking the man and then trying to cut him off. “Stop,” he yelled.

  Then everything happened at once. Uncle George turned around, his face in shock, his gun pointed at Adam. The popping sound of a gunshot and a burning sensation in his right arm, immediately followed by the sound of another gunshot. Julietta, Adam wanted to scream, but everything went black.

  Julietta stared in horror as she heard the shot and saw Adam fall, then heard another popping sound and saw his uncle drop to the ground. Several policemen appeared as if from nowhere. She rushed to Adam and knelt down. There was blood oozing from his right upper arm through his T-shirt. She called his name, sobbing.

  “Let me check.” A firm hand pushed her gently aside. David Lauer bent down. “Adam, can you hear me. Come on boy, talk to me.”

  Adam’s eyes opened. “You?”

  “Yes. Don’t fall asleep. Help is coming. You need to stay with me.” He pulled off his shirt, wrapped it around Adam’s arm, and pressed on the wound, attempting to stem the bleeding.

  Julietta took deep breaths, trying not to faint. “Is he going to be okay?”

  “Yes.” Lauer turned around and waved as sirens shrieked. “Come here,” he called and pointed at Adam. As soon as the paramedics attended to Adam, Lauer got up and walked over to where Adam’s uncle was lying. The medics quickly checked out Adam, put him on gurney, and carried him to the ambulance.

  “I want to go with him,” Julietta said and one of the paramedics nodded. Julietta rushed after them, passing by Adam’s uncle lying on the ground. Lauer seemed to be talking to him, so he must have been alive.

  Before Julietta climbed into the emergency vehicle, she glanced back and saw the medics attending to Winter.

  Adam opened his eyes and looked around the white room, then closed them against the bright light. He felt a hand on his forehead. It was cool and comforting. He opened his eyes again. Julietta smiled at him, though her eyes were a little puffy, as if she had cried. He was so relieved she wasn’t hurt, and he almost felt guilty for enjoying the fact that she seemed worried about him. “Hello,” he said. He tried to sit up, but a searing pain in his right arm brought his attention to the bandage on it.

  “Just take it easy.” A sturdy looking male nurse put his hand on Adam’s shoulder, preventing him from sitting up.

  Adam turned his head and saw a man in a white coat, who looked like a doctor, walk toward him. “How are you?” he asked Adam.

  Adam nodded. “Okay, I guess. Glad to be alive.”

  The doctor, a young man with curly blond hair and sharp blue eyes, smiled. “You’re a very lucky young fellow. It’s only a flesh wound, no shattered bones or injured joints. You’ll be quite sore for a while. You need to check in with your own doctor to make sure the wound is healing properly and there is no secondary infection.”

  “Thank you.” Adam managed a quick smile, then flinched from the pain of moving his arm. “What about Uncle George?” He glanced at Julietta.

  “David Lauer shot him. He’s in the emergency room, but they think he’ll survive.”

  “He’ll end up in prison, then,” Adam said. “I heard a second shot after I fell down, and I thought … I was so scared. I thought he’d shot you. You know this could’ve gone awfully wrong.” His eyes filled with tears at the thought.

  “You’re right,” a stern male voice said. Adam turned his head and stared into Lauer’s penetrating gray eyes. His heart sank.

  “What you two did was extremely stupid and dangerous. You put your own lives at risk by going after a criminal. And all that without letting me or the police know. And I told you many times to let me know if you saw or heard anything. Do you have a problem understanding simple instructions?”

  “I’m sorry,” Adam said. “I only wanted to check out the area where I thought Uncle George could’ve had his cabin. I wanted to help. As soon as we found the cabin, we tried to call you.” Adam looked at Julietta.

  She nodded emphatically. “Yes, I’ve tried several times, but our cell phones didn’t get a connection.”

  “Why then didn’t you leave and call from somewhere else?” Lauer asked.

  “It’s really my fault,” Adam said. “Julietta told me several times we should do that. But I didn’t want him to get away. I was so angry about what he did … and the way he made me look.” He took a dee
p breath and touched his aching arm.

  “We’ll talk about this later.” Lauer sounded gentler. “Right now, I want you to relax. I’m sorry about your uncle. I had no choice but to shoot him when he shot you. He was a threat to Julietta as well.”

  “You saved my life. Thank you.” Adam felt a knot in his throat.

  “George Winter told me before they brought him to the hospital that he didn’t mean to hurt you,” Lauer said. “He was shocked when he saw you and the gun went off. He said he was sorry. I told him you’d be okay. And just to put your mind at ease, he also told me that you had nothing to do with the wine theft and sale. Once he’s able to talk, we’ll find out more about the whole thing.”

  “Did he tell you who else was involved?” Julietta asked.

  Lauer shook his head. “Not yet. He fainted before I could ask him.”

  “So, we still don’t know?” Adam said.

  “I have some very strong suspicions,” Lauer said in a low voice. “And some evidence. I’m sure he’ll confirm it, once I’m able to talk to him.”

  Julietta inhaled sharply. “Someone from the family? The estate?”

  “Nobody from the family.” Lauer put his hand on Adam’s shoulder. “I want you to relax and we’ll talk later. Right now, your parents are waiting outside.”

  As the investigator was leaving, Adam’s mother and father came in. His mother, a slender tall woman with blond hair, rushed up to him and tried to hug him.

  “Watch my arm,” he begged.

  She pulled back a little, gently touched his other arm and kissed him, then burst into tears. “My poor baby.”

  His father, a sturdy man with thick eyebrows and a scowl on his face was less comforting. “What in heaven are you doing, almost getting yourself killed? What were you thinking, chasing after that criminal?”

  “Dad, I’m sorry. I’ll explain later.”

  “Well, thank God you’re alive.” His father gently touched his shoulder.

  Relieved at not having to hear a second round of admonitions, Adam gave into exhaustion. He closed his eyes.

  Chapter 36

  Robert and Janice were having a leisurely breakfast, relaxing before the next harvest work load. They had spent the day before with Janice’s family in San Francisco and got home after midnight. Robert sipped his coffee, gazing out the window. The sky was clear, except for a narrow strip of haze on the horizon. Janice put the empty breakfast dishes on a tray and carried them to the kitchen. Robert got up and opened the door, inhaling the scent of dry grass and jasmine.

  “Matt’s coming,” Robert said.

  “Good,” Janice called from the kitchen.

  “Hey, Dad, Mom.” Matthew sounded excited.

  “Hi there. You’re up early,” Robert said.

  “Well, with all the excitement around here, I woke up early.”

  “What excitement?” Robert asked.

  Matthew grinned. “I guess you don’t know yet what happened.” He sat at the breakfast table.

  Robert stared at him with puzzlement. “So, what happened?”

  Janice came into the dining room, carrying a cup. “Coffee?”

  “Thanks, Mom.” Matthew took a sip.

  “I can make you some breakfast,” Janice said.

  “That’s okay, Mom. We’ll go over to Grandpa and Grandma’s. That’s where the others are.”

  “Who? What’s going on? Tell us finally. Spit it out, damn it.”

  “Calma, calma.” Matthew took another sip. “You want the short or the long version?”

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake. Any version. Just talk.” Robert called out, irritated at Matthew’s attempts at dramatization.

  “Okay, here is the short version. Your archenemy, George Winter, was shot. He’s in the hospital. David Lauer shot him, but not before George shot Adam in the arm. And before that he, I mean Winter, tied both Julietta and Adam up in his cabin, but Adam got them loose and they chased him through the woods and—”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” Robert got up and stared at Matthew.

  “Robert. Language.” Janice grabbed Matthew’s arm. “Is Julietta okay?”

  “Yes, everybody is okay … well, except for George who’s in pretty bad condition from what I heard. If he survives, he’ll end up in prison.”

  “When did all this happen?” Robert asked.

  “Yesterday, when you and Mom were gone.”

  “And nobody thought of informing us? There are phones, you know,” Robert said.

  “Well, once we heard about it here, things got kind of hectic. We rushed to the hospital. Adam was injured and Julietta was there with him. By the time we got home, it was late, and you weren’t home yet. We figured we’d let you know in the morning.”

  Robert threw up his hands. “Excuse me for being dense, but I don’t understand a thing.”

  “Well, let’s all go to Grandma and Grandpa’s. You’ll hear the whole story in detail.”

  They got up and headed for the door. On the way to his parents’ home, Robert tried to get a more lucid story out of Matthew, but his son just waved dismissively. “Just wait, Dad. By the way, you owe Adam an apology, a big one.” Matthew pointed an accusing finger at Robert. “He definitely had nothing to do with the whole thing, and one of the reasons he was so eager to help find his uncle is because of the way you treated him.”

  When they arrived at his parents’ house, Robert didn’t even knock. He just opened the door and barged in, followed by Matthew and Janice.

  “Can someone please tell me what happened here?” Robert stopped short when he looked around the living room. On the sofa, Adam, his arm in a sling, was sitting next to Julietta. Sofia and Nicholas were there as well.

  “Well, hello to you, too, Robert.” His father got up. “Coffee?”

  “No, thanks, Dad.” He stared at Adam. “You were shot?”

  Adam nodded. “Just in the arm, a flesh wound. No biggie.”

  “What do you mean ‘no biggie’? You could be dead. And Julietta. What in heaven?” Robert collapsed in a chair. “Sorry, I don’t mean to yell. I’m just shocked. And Matthew here told an incoherent crazy story that doesn’t make sense.”

  “Excuse me.” Matthew lifted an eyebrow and grinned. “You mean, you didn’t like my dramatic interpretation? I thought it was rather good myself.”

  Adam observed Robert closely. He seemed like a different man from the one that verbally attacked him days ago. He was still his impatient self, but his eyes no longer glared at him hatefully. In fact, he looked concerned. Adam glanced at Julietta. “Where to start?”

  He began by saying that he was so shocked by what his uncle had done and how it reflected on him that he wanted to do whatever he could to help. He told them about his and Julietta’s talk with Lauer, his memories of the cabin his uncle had where he visited once as a boy. “So, we decided to just look around that area. I didn’t really think we’d find the place or Uncle George, but we did.”

  After he finished the story, Robert who had been watching him intently, got up and paced around the room. “This is crazy. You could both be dead. Why didn’t you call the police when you found the cabin?”

  “We tried several times,” Julietta said. “There was no service on our cell phones. We were too far away, I guess.” She told him the rest of their adventure, how Adam got shot, how Lauer and the police appeared, and that George got shot as well. “David Lauer talked to him before they transported him to the emergency room,” she said. “George told him that Adam had nothing to do with anything, he knew nothing about the theft or sale of the wine.”

  It was quiet in the room for a while. Then Robert walked over to Adam. “I guess I owe you an apology. I shouldn’t have accused you without knowing all the facts. I treated you unfairly. I’m really sorry.”

  Adam looked at Robert’s outstretched hand and his contrite expression. “It’s okay,” he said. “I can understand that you were suspicious of me. After all, he is my uncle.” He smiled and
shook Robert’s hand.

  “If you need your job back before school starts, it’s yours again,” Robert added. “And if you ever need a recommendation, let me know. Ken told me what an excellent job you did.”

  “Thanks,” Adam said. “But college is starting in a week, and I’ll be doing an internship next term. So, I’m good. But, yes, if I ever need a recommendation, I’ll let you know.”

  Robert nodded thoughtfully. “This means we still don’t know who worked with Winter. He couldn’t have gotten all the bottles of wine from the estate without some internal help. That really bothers me. Who?”

  Adam glanced at Julietta. “Didn’t Lauer mention a suspicion he had?”

  “Yes,” Julietta said. “He told us that he had a strong suspicion and some evidence, too. He didn’t say whom he suspected, but he said that it was nobody from the family. I was so relieved about that. He also said that once he was able to talk to Winter, he’d find out.”

  “That means it could only have been an employee?” Janice said. “But who?”

  Robert rubbed his forehead. “Then it must be someone who had access to the keys to the storage facility and that excludes a lot of the short-time or new staff. And since it’s nobody from the family, that leaves … Romero, Ken, and a few others.” He hesitated. “Ken has not been himself lately … but no, I don’t even want to go here. No more accusations without proof.”

  “Good decision,” Martin said. “Let’s wait for the investigator. No more running after criminals and getting yourself in danger.” He shook his finger at Adam and Julietta.

  “I gave her hell already,” Sofia said.

  “Ha. Ha. You’re the right one to give someone hell for snooping.” Nicholas laughed out loud. Everybody else chuckled, everybody except for Adam.

  “What’s that all about?” Adam wanted to know.

  “Oh, you know, Julietta isn’t the only one in the family who plays at sleuthing.” Nicholas grinned. “My lovely wife here chased after our missing Great Uncle Angelo all the way through Italy last year. They were terrorized by some Italian thugs.”