by Elaine Meece
“Lonny Chambers.”
How did Joan come up with so much money?”
“Inheritance. Her great aunt died and left her a large sum of money.”
“That’s good to know.”
“Send me the pictures on my phone. I’d like to show Mrs. Conners. I’m sure she’ll want to confront Lonny Chambers once we’re back.”
“Will do.”
“Have you learned anything about Hayden Green?”
“Actually, the man didn’t exist before three years ago.”
This information knocked the breath out of Brice. “You’re positive?”
“Yeah, judging by his digital footprints.”
“Then if he’s not Hayden Green, who the hell is he? Why lie?”
“Good question. You want me to stay on him?”
“You bet. The son-of-a-bitch is around my sons. If I tried to say something now, my ex will say I’m jealous. I need to know what he’s hiding.”
“I’ll focus my attention on his friends. That might tell me more. Do you want to keep investigating your employees?”
“Give it a rest until we speak with Chambers. But there is something I need you to do.”
“Name it.”
“I received a call tonight.” Brice repeated the message.
Richard laughed. “You ask for her number?”
“She disconnected immediately. I thought it might be a wrong number?”
“Could be. I’ll check it out. Most men would be thrilled.”
Brice laughed. “Well, I find it’s slightly on the deranged side.”
Richard chuckled. “I’ll talk to you later.”
After the call, Brice remembered he was supposed to call Annie to let her know about the change in departure. He keyed in her number. It rang.
“Hello, Mr. Jordan.”
“Annie, is that anyway to address your partner in crime. I hope I’m not disturbing you.”
“No, you’re not. Why are you calling?”
“Cynthia wants to leave around two tomorrow instead of Saturday.” He explained her reasons behind it. “I hate you’ll have to cut your visit short.”
“There is a slight problem.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m in Phoenix.”
“Phoenix?” He exhaled a frustrated breath. “You know the rules. Be here tomorrow. Three at the latest.”
“I’ll do my best.”
He disconnected before realizing he hadn’t said goodbye. He called Evan next and informed him of their early departure. Luckily, Evan had stayed nearby.
Brice’s conscience bothered him. He’d been a little harsh with Annie. He called her back.
“Is there something else?” she asked.
“No⸻well, yes. I want to apologize for being abrupt.”
“Apology accepted. I hate to do this, but my phone is almost dead.”
“Sure. See you tomorrow.”
His phone dinged five times as he received the pictures from Richard. Come Monday, they’d be exterminating a rat.
♦♦♦
At Sky Harbor, Annie returned the rental car, then made her way inside to catch a flight back. The earlier flight heading to Salt Lake was over booked. She stood on standby to see if a seat would become available. The flight had been filled. What now?
With it being over a ten-hour trip, driving wasn’t an option.
Holy crap. I’m not going to make it by three.
The next flight wouldn’t get her there until five p.m. She grabbed a ticket. While waiting, she recharged her phone. Once her phone had recharged, she keyed in his number.
“Annie, where are you?” Brice asked.
“I’m sitting in Sky Harbor waiting for the next flight.”
“When does it depart?”
“Not until three. I’m so sorry. I tried to get an earlier flight.”
“When you arrive at SLC come straight to the jet. We’ll have everything ready for takeoff.”
“I will. Please tell Cynthia I’m sorry.”
“I will. See you around six.”
At the gate waiting area, Annie set the alarm on her phone, then rested her elbow on the armrest and leaned her head on her hand while she dozed.
Nightmares haunted her. In the dream, she ran across the desert, running from the sheriff. She woke with a start. She glanced around feeling panicked until remembering where she was. Instant relief ran through her. Once on the plane, she requested a cup of coffee to help her wake up.
The lady who sat beside her wore a strong lilac perfume that made Annie gag. The scent mixed with the dread of facing Cynthia and Brice made her ill. She couldn’t lie anymore. Instead, she’d confess about Megan and Libby.
Around five-thirty, the taxi dropped her off at the smaller West Jordan airport more suited to general aviation.
She climbed the steps and entered the cabin. Mallory and Gina sat near the front coloring. Sierra sat with them, but studied a text book. Brice’s boys sat to the right playing video games.
Tristen, Cynthia, Brice, and Evan sat in back. They were waiting for her. She expected to be reprimanded. “I’m sor…”
Cynthia interrupted. “No, I’m sorry I interrupted your trip.”
Annie couldn’t hold back the tears. “I lied. I wasn’t with a friend.”
They all stared as though she’d turned purple with yellow dots.
“Where were you?” Brice asked.
“Phoenix, I didn’t lie about that.” She explained about her sister and Libby. Tears streamed down her face. “We were right by the back door. We could’ve been gone before they even missed her.”
Evan, who stood nearby, didn’t say anything. Instead, he walked toward her.
Annie assumed he was coming to console her. Through tear splotched eyes, she prepared to walk into his arms and cry on his shoulder. But instead, he walked past her to the cockpit.
Little arms wrapped around her, and she glanced down. Seeing Gabe doing his best to console her warmed her heart. She wiped her eyes and smiled. “I needed a hero, and here he is, all three foot-two inches of him.” She lifted the boy’s face up. “Your hug made me feel much better.”
He grinned crunching the freckles on his nose and uncoiled his arms from around her. “If you get sad again, I’ll give you another one.”
Brice’s gaze met hers. “I wish you had told us. We could’ve dropped you off in Phoenix and picked you up. It’d saved time and money.”
Cynthia shook her head. “I’m not so sure I would have gone along with it knowing how dangerous your mission was. Have you reported it to the FBI and the state agencies?”
“Yes, and they’ve checked the place out and didn’t find anything illegal going on. They even questioned many of the women and children who denied the things I told them.”
“Did they speak with your sister?”
“I’m not sure. And if they did, Hawkins would have held Libby’s wellbeing over her head to make her say all the right things. Also, the local sheriff is on their payroll. As soon as I rolled into town, he knew it. The man at the motel called him. If I enter that grocery store, they’ll call the police.”
“I’m glad you made it out of town safely,” Brice said.
Annie sniffled as she described the mountain overlook. “I located the commune. There’s a barn, and the roof is constructed from an old billboard. It has a red bull on it.” She paused and stared at Tristen. “Are you flying us back?”
Tristen extended his legs and crossed them. “Nope, I’m taking it easy. Brice is taking charge.”
Annie turned to him. “I thought you flew crop dusters. You have enough hours to fly this jet?”
He nodded. “I flew in the military.”
“Evan handled the preflight already,” Tristen said. “Request to taxi out.”
Any idea of Evan helping her rescue her sister sank to the bottom when he walked past without saying a word. She debated whether to ask Brice for help.
♦♦♦
&
nbsp; Being taller than Tristen, Brice had to make a few adjustments to the captain’s seat to suit him. He glanced at Evan. “How’s it looking?”
“Everything is good.”
Brice decided to follow the sterile policy of no talking before departure. He wouldn’t know what to talk about with the quiet copilot. Instead, he familiarized himself with the flight deck and instruments. After calculating thrust power, he keyed in the routes into the computer. He wanted to attack this with confidence and not appear dazed. But flying a jet that cost as much as this one had him on edge.
Brice radioed the tower. SVA, this is November, Charlie 2689, requesting to taxi to runway and depart. Roger.”
“Copy that. November, Charlie 2689, taxi to runway four. You’re clear to take off.”
“2689 taxing to runway,” Brice repeated.
Taking off from a small airport wasn’t as complicated as one of the larger ones. Brice figured everyone would be paying attention to how he handled the jet. He set the takeoff thrust and started down the runway. As it built speed, he focused on staying centered. He kept his hand on the thrust leaver ready to pull it in case of an engine shutdown.
Evan stared at the instrument panels. “100 knots, 115.” In a few minutes, he added, “VI.”
Brice lifted his hand from the lever. This was it. At this speed, the jet wouldn’t be able to stop. It had one option. To lift.
“Rotate,” Evan said.
Brice applied the elevation control and pulled up the control column.
The sleek jet climbed in elevation.
“Positive climb,” Evan said.
Brice nodded. Blue, clear skies were all he could see for miles. He hoped it stayed like this nice all the way back to Atlanta. “Initiating autopilot.”
Brice relaxed. He had never engaged in a conversation with Evan. “She handles really well.”
Evan nodded. “For what they paid, she should.”
Instead of making more small talk, Brice considered Annie’s situation. From what she’d said, she couldn’t return without the sheriff being tipped off. For just a moment, he considered what she’d said about finding the old airstrip. Could a plane still land there?
Immediately, he pushed away any notion of becoming involved. Annie needed to stay on the authorities to do something.
He had enough problems with Shea and the new company to run. Zurtel would require all his effort to secure it from cyberattacks and employees selling them out.
Monday afternoon, Lonny Chambers would be confronted. Once they showed him the pictures of his meeting with Kayla Miller, he wouldn’t be able to deny his involvement.
♦♦♦
Saturday, Megan worked in the garden along with three of Dan’s wives. She rose for a moment and stretched, placing a hand on her aching back. Morning sickness had plagued her that morning.
Butterflies flitted around freely. Lady bugs crawled on the plants. The group had recently released them to protect the crops. After breakfast, they would shell peas and snap beans. She’d rather be assigned to the garden than work with the farm animals.
Ruth could’ve allowed her stay inside and cook breakfast, but she’d insisted she work in the garden. Dan had been pleased with her lately. He had been much nicer to her, but by doing so, it’d made the women more resentful.
Megan needed time alone in the house so she could write a letter to Annie and slip it where Mrs. Craven would find it when they made deliveries. What if Annie had believed what she’d said and didn’t come back? Megan had deliberately said September to let Annie know her declaration of wanting to stay was a façade for Hawkins and Dan.
Megan still had the same problem with Libby. Somehow, she had to turn her daughter against the group. Trying to reason with her was out of the question. That hadn’t gone so well.
But if she finagled things to go against Libby, it might open her daughter’s eyes. The thought of sabotaging her own daughter twisted her stomach. But she had no other choice.
Chapter Nine
Sunday evening, Brice arrived at the cookout with all the meat Kayla had sent. He’d warned the boys to use table manners while they ate. Something he’d noticed lacking on the Utah trip.
Cynthia opened the door. “Come in and go straight through to the kitchen.” She glanced at his sons. “Hey, guys. Don’t you think your dad did a great job flying us home?”
Gabe flashed his usual wide grin. “And he didn’t crash the plane. He did really good.”
Shawn nodded. “Yeah. I want to be a pilot like my dad.”
In the kitchen, Tristen greeted him. “Thanks for getting here a little early. That gives me time to marinate the steaks.”
Cynthia motioned toward double French doors. “The girls are already in the pool. Go join them.”
Gabe and Shawn shot out the door.
“I’m running out of ways to entertain them. Being at my place is different than when they’re home. I don’t have all the toys and games. My place is smaller, so they start feeling boxed in.”
“Do they know how to swim?” Cynthia asked.
“Yes, both boys do.”
“What do you want to drink?” Tristen asked. “You name it, we probably have it.”
“A beer is fine.” Brice accepted the can and popped the top.
“Want a glass for that?” Cynthia asked.
“No, I’m good.”
Her cell phone rang from the counter. She grabbed it and glanced at the caller’s name. “It’s Detective Tabor. Good afternoon, Detective.” Her face grew concerned as she listened. “You’re sure?”
Cynthia’s face grew tighter, her eyes more troubled. “I see. If we can help in anyway don’t hesitate to ask.” She disconnected and stared at them. “The hospital discovered someone hacked into Garner’s monitoring system. That’s why the nurses’ station didn’t receive any stress alerts from the life support.”
Brice considered what she’d said. “That means murder.”
“Exactly,” Cynthia added.
Tristen placed the meat in pans of marinade sauce. “But how would they know the exact moment, his heart would shut down?”
“Good question,” Brice replied. “Perhaps, his heart failure wasn’t natural.”
“They’re running a toxicology report,” she said. “I suspect Kayla Miller’s behind Garner’s death.”
“She has motive.” Brice grabbed a potato chip, dipped it, and tossed it in his mouth. “It’s something to consider.”
Cynthia pulled a salad from the double wide refrigerator. “Paying for a few of our secrets is one thing, but to plot the murder of someone is taking nuttiness to an entirely new level.”
“You can’t blame everything on Kayla.” Tristen turned the steaks over in the sauce. “They’ll check Garner’s family out first. Maybe, his daughter got tired of waiting for her inheritance.”
“She’s a successful attorney.”
Brice realized Cynthia was setting the food out for the cookout. He eyed the chips but resisted. “What do you really know about Kayla Miller?”
Cynthia set out plates and napkins. “Just that her father is mega rich. Richer than mine.”
Tristen grinned as he wiped his hands on a towel. “You’re dealing with another pampered princess.”
She frowned. “I wasn’t pampered. I worked really hard.”
Tristen laughed. “When other kids rode the school bus, Cynthia was dropped off in a limo.”
Brice grinned. “I’m staying out of this.”
Cynthia playfully punched Tristen. “Trust me, I missed out on a lot of things other kids did.”
“I’d like to run a full background check on Kayla Miller,” Brice said. “Maybe turn the tables and set a drone loose on her.”
Cynthia scooted the salad down and set a hot tray of baked potatoes out. “Don’t touch this pan.” She appeared in thought a moment before meeting his gaze. “Okay, do it, but I don’t want it traced back to us.”
The doorbell rang. “I’ll get i
t.” Cynthia left the kitchen.
Tristen lifted the tray of meat. “Get the door.”
Brice rushed over and held it. “That’s enough to feed an army.”
“Thanks to Kayla Miller. Get your swim suit on and dive in. I’ve got this.”
“I will.”
“There are two bath houses. Take your pick.”
Brice marveled over the enormous pool and groomed yard.
Later by the pool, Mallory ran up to him. “Can you teach me to dive?”
“There’s not much to it. Are your parents okay with you diving?”
She stalled for an answer, then shrugged.
He grinned. “That’s what I thought. You’d better stick with the slide.”
She made a pouty expression, then returned to the pool.
The chlorine scent of the pool and the sunshine made him remember weekends at his house, swimming with the boys. He envied what the Conners had.
Evan joined them on the patio. A tall blonde stood beside him with her arm looped around his. It left no doubt that they had a personal relationship.
Annie would arrive at any moment.
Evan shook hands with him and introduced him to Kelsey.
“Nice to meet you,” Brice said.
“Evan mentioned you flew them back,” she said. “Evan is a really good pilot also.”
The copilot’s cheeks tinged red. “Not now.”
Kelsey flashed Evan a frustrated look.
“How long have you been copilot for Zurtel?” Brice asked.
“Three years. But I have six years of experience.”
Brice wondered why Evan had never been promoted to Captain.
When the door opened, Annie walked out onto the patio. Her gaze landed on Evan and his date. For a moment, her eyes reflected disappointment. She turned to Brice. “You handled the jet really well.”
“Thanks. I enjoyed it.”
“Come on, Daddy,” Gabe shouted. “You promised me you’d swim with me.”
“Go swim. I’ll see if I can help Cynthia,” Annie urged.
He grabbed her arm. “Come swim with us.”
“Come on, Annie,” Gina shouted from the pool.
Ten minutes later, Annie walked out of the bathhouse.
