Erin breathed a big sigh of relief after she hung up the phone. She looked around the room, trying to figure out what to do while waiting for Adele. She could change into her pajamas, but then if Terry found something and suggested they go out somewhere, she wanted to be be prepared. She could make herself a sandwich, but she really wasn’t hungry. She could sit down and make a list, but she wasn’t sure what to work on. Something for Vic, to help find her? Or one of her regular lists, with her plans for the next day on it? She was going to have to go into work, and what if Vic hadn’t been found and couldn’t be there? It was inconceivable that she would have to work with her best friend and colleague still missing.
The doorbell rang a few minutes later, and Erin went to get it, surprised that Adele had gotten there so quickly.
She went to the door and opened it, but there was no one there. Erin looked around, frowning. Why ring the doorbell and then run away? Unless it hadn’t been Adele, but someone that didn’t want her to see them.
Looking down, Erin saw a small cardboard box, and her heart sank. She wasn’t sure what she was going to be facing, but she had a pretty good idea she wasn’t going to like it.
Chapter Thirty-Five
W
hen Adele did arrive, some time later, Erin just stared at her, her whole body numb, with no idea what to say.
“Erin?” Adele moved closer to her. “Erin, the door was open. Are you okay? You really do need to lock it, especially with all of this stuff going on.”
Erin just stared back at her.
“Erin, what’s the matter?” Adele looked at Erin’s face, then looked down at the package in her lap. “What’s that?”
“That’s… the end.”
“The end of what?”
“The end of everything,” Erin said flatly.
She should have known, when she had first come to town, that it would happen. It was too good to be true. Sooner or later, it was all going to come crashing down, she was going to lose what she had, and she would be out on the street again, on her own, with no way to support herself or place to sleep at night.
Because that’s how it was for Erin. Anything else was just a pleasant interlude. It had been nice to live in Bald Eagle Falls, to bake at Auntie Clem’s Bakery and think that she had a chance to make something of herself. But it had all been superficial. When the time came, it was just all over.
Adele sat down next to Erin and touched the box. “Can I see?”
Erin didn’t stop her. She didn’t offer the box to Adele. Adele tentatively slid it out of Erin’s hands. Erin didn’t look down at it. She already knew what it said. She already knew her life at Bald Eagle Falls was over.
Adele opened the box and teased out the piece of paper, holding it by the very corner in case it was evidence.
If you ever want to see James Jackson again, leave Bald Eagle Falls for good. Take nothing with you, just get out of town.
Adele frowned, looking down at it. “James Jackson?”
“Vic.”
“Oh. I see. So you think this person has her?”
Erin nodded.
“Have you called Officer Piper to show it to him?”
Erin shook her head.
“You should. He can help you sort it out.”
“There’s nothing to sort out. I have to leave.”
“You can’t just leave Bald Eagle Falls.”
Erin lifted her shoulders in a hopeless shrug. “How could I do anything else? Vic needs me. They’ll kill her.”
Adele looked down at the paper. There was no threat to kill Vic, but they did use ‘ever again’ which suggested that they might do something drastic if Erin didn’t follow their instructions.
“What am I going to do with the animals?” Erin asked.
Her chest hurt. She could hardly think, but she knew that she needed to leave, and if she wasn’t allowed to take anything with her, then that included the animals. She couldn’t take her adored furry friends with her. She couldn’t just turn them over to Doc to try to find homes for them. There just weren’t enough families in Bald Eagle Falls who would take in a couple of stray animals and keep them safe as indoor pets. If he found anyone, she was sure they would just be turned loose in someone’s back yard to come and go, and it wouldn’t be long before they disappeared. That was the way it was with outdoor animals in a small rural community.
“Don’t worry about the animals,” Adele said, putting her hand over Erin’s. “If you had to leave, I could take them.”
“They’d drive you crazy in that little tiny cottage.”
“We’d work it out.”
“Then I should go. The longer I think about it, the harder it’s going to be.”
“Erin. Call Officer Piper.”
Erin stared at Adele for a long time before finally nodding. “Alright. I will.” She patted her pockets until she found her phone, and looked at it for a minute before she could remember how to turn it on and call Terry.
“Erin?” He answered almost right away. “Any word?”
His question cut Erin to the heart. It told her immediately that he wasn’t making any headway. Her only hope was to do as the note said, and to hope that the note-writer did as he said he would and let her see Vic again.
“No… I… I got a note.”
“What kind of a note? From Vic?”
“No. From someone else. I guess whoever has her. It says if I want to see her again, I have to leave Bald Eagle Falls. I have to leave forever.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“The note says that I need to leave and not take anything with me.”
“And then what?”
“I guess… they’ll let Vic live.”
“Erin! Who delivered the note? Where did it come from? Are you home?”
“Yes, I’m home. I called Adele to come sit with me, because I didn’t want to be alone. I thought it was her when the doorbell rang. But it wasn’t. It was… someone else. Someone who left a package, with a note.”
“A package? What’s in the package?”
Erin looked at the box that Adele was holding. “I don’t think there’s anything else in it. Just the note that I have to leave town.” Erin let out a long breath. Her heart rate was starting to return to normal. “Adele said that I should call you.”
“Of course you should call me. You know that. I don’t know what to do, Erin. We’re still looking for Biggles. I don’t have a clue where he’s gone to ground. We’re not getting anything from our usual sources. I don’t know whether to stay here, or…” He made a decision, his voice changing. “I’ll come to you. It’s evidence. I need to see it with my own eyes and take it into evidence. Maybe the note will sound like someone and I’ll know who wrote it.”
“You don’t think it’s Bo Biggles?”
“I don’t like to say, but… I don’t think he has what it would take to pull off a kidnapping like this. And dropping off the note with you while we were looking for him… I just don’t see him doing this.”
“How well do you know him?”
“Not well. Not well enough to say no for certain… but I’ll come over there. We’ll get it sorted out. Once I look at the note… we’ll know what it is that we’re supposed to do next.”
“Okay.”
“Hang in there. I’ll be right there. Have Adele make you some tea.”
“I don’t want tea.”
But Terry had hung up and was no longer on the line. Erin lowered her phone to her lap.
“Tea?” Adele repeated.
“Terry said to get you to make some tea. But… I don’t really want anything. I should get going.”
“Not before he gets here. Just wait.”
Erin reached over and picked up Orange Blossom, who was snoozing on the couch nearby. He startled and made a sleepy noise, looked to see who had picked him up, and started purring his loud, thrumming purr. Erin scratched his ears and patted him. She’d rescued him when he was just a starving, homeless kitten, and she was
going to have to let him go to someone else. Someone else who wouldn’t have nearly the same ideas about how to care for a cat as she did.
“Just stay put and let me get you something. Have you had any supper?” Adele asked.
Erin shook her head. “No.”
“You need to get something in you. You can’t be expected to make any kind of decision without having had something to eat.”
Erin remained on the couch, staring forward, unfocused, while Adele looked through the fridge and cupboards to see what was available. By the time Terry got there, Adele was handing Erin a sandwich and a cup of tea.
“It isn’t much, but you need to get something inside you. This is better than nothing.”
“Terry…” Erin bumped away Adele’s hands with the food offering and stood up, falling into Terry’s arms just like she had done before. Was she ever going to develop any relationships that would last more than a year or two? She had thought that Bald Eagle Falls was her place. The place she would be able to make her own and live for the rest of her life. “Terry, I don’t understand what’s going on. Why would they take Vic? What does it have to do with me? What did I do? What do I know or have that they would care about?”
“We don’t know that. There’s no way for us to know.” He looked at the package on the coffee table. “Is that it? Can I see it please?”
Adele nudged it toward him. “I’m sorry, both of us have handled it. I tried to only touch the edges of the note.”
Terry took it out carefully, like Adele had. He read it over quickly out loud.
If you ever want to see James Jackson again, leave Bald Eagle Falls for good. Take nothing with you, just get out of town.
“Okay,” Terry cracked his knuckles and considered the message. “Okay, it’s not a lot to go on, but it gives us a little. First off, it calls Vic by her old name. So it’s someone from her past.”
“Or someone who doesn’t know what she goes by now,” Adele suggested.
“No, I don’t think so,” Erin said. “Anyone who knew she was here would know what she goes by. Much better than her dead name.”
Terry looked startled. “Dead name?”
“That’s what she calls it. It’s a name and identity that’s dead to her. That person doesn’t exist anymore. Just Victoria. There is no more James.”
Adele looked at Terry. “Do you think there’s some significance to that?”
“To the fact that he calls her by something she calls her dead name? I certainly hope not. Just an unfortunate coincidence. It doesn’t mean that she is dead or that he’s threatening to kill her. There’s nothing in this note that says what he will do if Erin doesn’t do what she’s told to. It’s just an empty threat. We don’t even have any evidence that the person who wrote this note has any idea where Vic is. It could just be someone who wants Erin to leave town.”
“But who would want Erin to leave town? From what I’ve seen, she’s got a lot of friends here. Even the people who might not consider her a friend… I don’t see a lot of animosity toward her.”
Erin thought about Charley. It would be an opportune time for Charley to get Erin out of the way. First try to frame her for murder. Then send a threatening note to try to get her to leave town. Then there would be no more competition in Bald Eagle Falls. How could the trustees turn down the opportunity to have the monopoly on baked goods in Bald Eagle Falls?
“I don’t know… Everyone has been pretty good,” she said, not voicing her thoughts.
“Let’s keep analyzing the note,” Terry said. “Probably someone who knew Vic, who shares a past with her.”
“Someone who doesn’t accept who she is,” Erin suggested.
“Right. Could be an old friend, love interest, a family member, someone who feels betrayed by her changes and leaving town. Could that be all that it is? Someone who is jealous of Vic? It could be that it isn’t even anything to do with the murder or the drug activities.”
“Jealous how?” Erin demanded. “That’s she’s working with me? That she has a job? Because we’re just friends, it’s not like we’re in a relationship.”
“If it was that kind of jealousy, then I’d expect them to be targeting Willie.”
“Have you talked to him? He said he was going to drive around, see if he could spot anything out of the ordinary.”
“I haven’t talked to him. I’ve been trying to track down Biggles. But he seems to have disappeared.”
“Then he’s got to be the one that has Vic,” Erin said. “If he’s the one person who we can’t track down, then he must be the one who has Vic.”
“There are too many people in Bald Eagle Falls for us to track them like that.” Terry shook his head, scratching the back of his neck. “He’s just the one person I thought might have some insight, and he happens to be out of touch. There could be a lot of other people who we can’t reach right now, and a lot of different reasons for not being reachable.”
“Is there anything else?” Erin bent her head to look at the words. “I don’t recognize any expressions that anyone we know uses. It could be anyone.”
“I’ll put an APB out on Bo Biggles. If he’s still around, we’ll track him down. If he’s left town… I’ll go to the next thug on the list. We’ll find Vic.”
“And I should get ready to go,” Erin said. “I should pack a bag and leave town.”
Terry looked at Adele, then looked out the window. Erin could tell that he wanted to argue with her. He wanted to tell her, like Adele did, that everything was going to be fine and she should just stay around there until he managed to figure out where Vic was.
“I don’t want you to go anywhere. But if you want to follow the instructions on the note and relocate for a couple of days until we have Vic back safe and sound, you’re welcome to do that. I don’t know if it will do any good. I don’t know what it is these guys want. But I can have Tom watch the house and see if there’s any suspicious activity after you leave.”
Erin nodded. “I’m not sure where to go… but I have to try. If it can help Vic…”
“It’s not going to help Vic,” Adele disagreed. “Following the demands this guy or these people make just means you’re caving in to the demands of a terrorist. It won’t help Vic, and it won’t help the next person who ends up in the same situation.”
“It’s up to you,” Terry repeated. “But if you’re going to leave… I wouldn’t pack a bag. Tuck a few toiletries into your purse, but no suitcase or duffel bag.”
“Why not?”
“Because he says to take nothing with you. If you want to appear to be obeying the instructions, you need to leave empty-handed. Or with no more than you would normally take out to the car.”
“Right. Of course.”
“Don’t you think someone is going to snatch Erin as soon as she is out of sight?” Adele demanded.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen if she does what they tell her to. I suspect they just want her out of the way.”
“But you can’t know that.”
“Of course not. But do you think I could stop her? Really?”
“You could put police protection on her.”
“I can’t put police protection on her, and watch the house and the bakery, and chase down Biggles and any witnesses or potential informants. We have a very small department. We can do more once we get some help from the feds, but until then, it’s just the three of us, and we’re stretched thin. Erin… if you go, you’ll let me know where you’re going to? And you’ll let me know when you’re safe?”
Erin nodded. She looked out the living room window and felt incredibly vulnerable. Who knew how many of them there were out there, and whether they had evil designs on her? She should have gotten a gun and learned how to use it, like Vic said. At least then, she would have some kind of protection going out on her own. But Vic had a gun, and that hadn’t stopped her from being kidnapped and taken away. She hadn’t even made a sound. She had just disappeared.
“I t
hink you should go back to the bakery,” Adele said suddenly.
Terry and Erin both turned and looked at her in surprise.
“Why?” Erin asked.
“If Vic was taken from there… there must be some kind of clue about who did it and where they took her. If someone wants Erin to leave, then they don’t want her to go back to the bakery. There must be something there that she might accidentally unearth. Right?”
Erin shook her head. “We already looked all over for any sign of what happened to Vic. Me and Willie and the police, we all looked for anything… but there were no clues.”
“But somebody doesn’t want you to go back there.”
Erin looked at Terry. “Well, should we go have a look, then? One more time? After that… I’ll take off. We’ll just check the bakery one more time.”
He nodded. “Fine. I’ll take you there on my way back to the police department. Are you coming along too, Adele?”
Adele surprised them all by saying yes. “One more set of eyes. Who knows, maybe I’ll see something that both of you managed to miss.”
Without a word, Erin picked up her purse and headed for the door. She couldn’t let herself think about anything she was leaving behind. Only about Vic, out there somewhere, alone and vulnerable to some gangster.
Chapter Thirty-Six
W
hen she opened the door, she was startled to see a figure move away, trying to disappear into the shadows. But the streetlights were too bright, and the figure was too close to the house, as if she’d been sneaking close to look in the window.
“Wait!” Erin shouted. “Stop right there!”
Terry pushed past her to apprehend the subject. Erin knew who it was by the blond hair that flowed down her back.
“Stop right where you are, ma’am,” Terry said warningly, holding K9’s collar as he strained eagerly for release. “I’d like to talk to you.”
Beaver turned her head, realizing that she’d been caught and there was no point in trying to pretend otherwise. She swung back around, her body loose and casual.
Adele came out of the house and stood beside Erin, watching.
Sour Cherry Turnover Page 20
