“It’s wet,” she said.
Jason smiled. “You’re good,” he said impressed. “Come on Lois. Let’s go upstairs.”
“Don’t call me that,” Holly said irritably.
They went into Stacy’s father’s bedroom and Holly turned on the light and they looked around. A pair of jeans and a shirt were lying on the bed. Jason picked up the jeans and searched the pockets but came up empty. He threw them back on the bed and picked up the shirt. He fished out a couple of slips of paper from the pocket and looked them over: A receipt from a store he had never heard of with last week’s date, and an old dry cleaning receipt with a telephone number written on the back. Jason stuffed the papers in his own pocket and put the shirt back on the bed.
Holly had been rummaging through a drawer. She pushed it closed and told Jason, “His pistol is missing.”
“How do you know that?” he asked, clearly impressed.
“Because Stacy and I used to come in here and snoop when we were kids. He kept it in the top left drawer.”
Jason went into the bathroom and looked around. There was no toothbrush or toothpaste, but one of the towels was damp. He opened the medicine cabinet and looked through the prescription medications.
Holly came to the door, “Find anything?”
“He’s definitely been here recently, but it doesn’t look like he’s staying here. Does he have a computer?”
“Yeah, it’s downstairs,” Holly said. She went back into the bedroom and opened the closet. She checked out the clothes right in the middle. There were a couple of pairs of casual pants, a sweater, some button down shirts and a hunting outfit.
“Check this out,” Holly said, and Jason came over to the closet. “Why would his hunting outfit be right here in front? Deer season hasn’t even started.”
“Birds?” Jason suggested.
“He doesn’t hunt birds,” Holly said.
Jason got down on his knee and scraped something off the floor. “It’s mud. I assume these must be his hunting boots?” he said, holding up a muddy boot.
“Maybe he’s been staying at one of their ranches,” Holly said.
“One of? How many do they have?”
“Three. And then he usually has a couple of hunting leases too.”
Jason got back up. “Let’s check out the computer.”
They went downstairs and Holly led Jason to the study and pointed to the corner. Jason turned on the computer and waited while it went through its start-up functions. He checked out which websites Stacy’s father had visited recently, but nothing looked relevant, then he pulled up recently edited documents. There was one dated three days ago and Jason opened it up.
“Mother fucker,” he said, under his breath.
Holly moved behind him and read over his shoulder. It was a suicide note purportedly written by Stacy and addressed to “My Dear Father.”
To My Dear Father,
I’m so sorry for the grief that my passing will cause you, but I cannot shake the depression I have felt ever since my mother’s untimely death. You mean more to me than anyone in the world. Please forgive me for leaving you to join my mother.
Your loving daughter,
Stacy
“He’s a lunatic!” Holly said, horrified.
Jason printed the document and closed it and pulled up another one with the same date as the suicide note. Last Will and Testament of Stacy Trent. Jason shook his head.
“Mr. Trent’s been a busy boy,” he said. He printed the will and turned the computer off. Jason folded the documents and put them in his pocket. “What do you think? Anything else we need to check out here?” Jason asked Holly.
She was having a hard time concentrating after the suicide note. “The garage?” Holly suggested.
Jason’s phone rang and they both jumped.
“Yeah,” Jason answered.
“It’s me,” Niki said.
“Stacy’s missing,” Jason told him. He relayed everything that had happened and Niki listened silently on the other end. When Jason finished, Niki didn’t say anything. “Are you there?” Jason asked.
“I’m on my way to the airport,” Niki said. “See what you come up with on the prints. And call Carlos.”
“I’ll call you with any developments,” Jason said. He hung up and kicked a footstool across the room.
Holly picked up the footstool and put it back where it belonged, then they walked out to the garage. Jason turned on the light. There was pegboard covering the entire garage, which would more appropriately be termed a tool shed. The outline of every type of tool imaginable from hammers to rakes had been painted all over the walls, so that each tool had its own space and one could tell at a glance if any tools were missing.
“If walls could talk,” Jason said, and Holly laughed out loud.
They looked around to see what was missing. Shovel, pick, scissors, gas can.
“What’s this supposed to be?” Holly asked, pointing to an outline she couldn’t make out.
“Rope?” Jason guessed.
“What the hell is he planning?” Holly asked.
“I don’t know. Let’s get out of here.”
They went back over to Stacy’s condo and went inside to wait for any word on fingerprints.
“I think we should call the FBI,” Holly said, then she waited for Jason to protest.
“Call from your phone” he said. Jason called Carlos as instructed and filled him in on what had happened.
“I’ll be there tomorrow,” Carlos told him.
Holly found Alex’s business card in a stack of Stacy’s papers and handed it to Jason. “This guy was assigned to watch Stacy when she first got out of the hospital. He was with her until Niki showed up, when she refused protection. He’s a good guy, and if it’s not going to get you guys in trouble, I’m going to call him.”
Jason smiled. “What all did Stacy tell you about what happened to her?”
“She told me everything.” Including how cute you were, she thought. “I know all about you. And I don’t want to do something that’s going to get you sent to prison,” Holly said. “Only because Stacy would never forgive me,” she added.
Jason handed the card back. “Call Agent Kanes.”
“Who?” Holly said.
“The guy on the card,” he said with a duh.
“Oh, Alex. You’re sure?”
“Positive.”
Holly dialed the number on the card and Alex came on the line. “Alex, this is Stacy Trent’s friend, Holly.”
“What’s wrong?”
“She’s missing.” Holly filled him in on the bogus breakfast meeting but left out the part about her and Jason snooping around the Trent home. She figured the FBI would find the suicide note and the will on the computer anyway. They talked for a few minutes and Holly gave Alex her number and hung up.
Jason pulled the papers out of his pocket that he had taken from Trent’s pocket. “You ever heard of this place?” Jason asked. He handed Holly the receipt.
Holly looked at it and laughed. It was from a place called Gidit n Go. “Is that for real?”
“Apparently,” he said. “I took it out of her father’s pocket. It’s from last week.” He handed her the other slip of paper. “What about this number? You recognize the area code?”
“Yeah, it’s south of here, like towards,” she stopped and looked at Jason. “Like towards Victoria, where one of the ranches is.”
Chapter 39
Stacy woke up with a splitting headache from the chloroform and she felt like she was going to throw up. Her wrists and ankles were bound with scratchy rope and she could feel it rubbing her raw on her ankles. Her pulse was racing and Stacy assumed that it was a side effect from the chloroform. She hoped she didn’t have a heart attack before she escaped. She tried to sit up but she came up under the trunk hinge and hit her head. Stacy moaned and laid her head back down.
“Not again,” she thought. Her only consolation was that this time she wasn’t in some hostile foreign
country and she knew who she was dealing with. Stacy was sure that once she was face to face with her father, she would be able to reason with him.
The car seemed to be flying, and while it was hard to gauge speed while lying in a trunk, Stacy knew they had to be on a highway because they hadn’t made any stops or turns. They slowed down for a few minutes then picked up speed again and Stacy figured they had just driven through a small town. With that assumption, she started keeping track of how many towns they had driven through, and how many times they had veered right or left, so she would have some idea where she was when they finally stopped. As it turned out, it hadn’t been necessary, because when her father opened the trunk she knew exactly where she was.
“Hello, Stacy,” her father said.
After the blackness of the trunk the sunlight was blinding and she shielded her eyes while they adapted to the light.
“Daddy,” Stacy said, involuntarily reverting to a term she hadn’t used in decades.
Trent reached into the trunk and cut the rope that bound her arms and legs.
“Get out,” he told her.
Stacy wriggled around trying to get out of the trunk, but her legs were numb. When she didn’t move fast enough Trent reached in and grabbed her by her hair and pulled her out of the trunk.
“Let go of me!” she yelled, flailing her arms trying to make him let go. She ended up on the hard ground, and her father grabbed her by the hair again and yanked her to her feet.
“Stop it!” Stacy yelled.
Trent backhanded Stacy knocking her to the ground again, but this time she got right back up because she didn’t want him to pull her hair again. Trent removed his pistol from his waistband and motioned for Stacy to lead the way and he followed, pointing the gun at her back. Stacy recognized the old hunting cabin he was leading her to as one she and Holly used to play in when they would come out to the ranch in the summers. It was one of several rustic cabins on the ranch where hunters would stay, and this one consisted of four small rooms with bunk beds. There was no electricity or running water, and it was basically a box divided into four sections with a door on each inside wall that connected to the adjacent room, with one window in each room.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” Stacy said, before they got to the door of the cabin.
Her father motioned with the gun to the side of the house. “If you try to run, I’ll kill you.”
Stacy went behind a tree and used the bathroom then came back out and led the way into the cabin. It was cool and dusty, and Stacy started sneezing immediately.
“Get over there,” Trent said, pointing to a bottom bunk, and he took out a pair of handcuffs and cuffed her to the bedpost.
“Dad,” Stacy said. “Why are you doing this?”
She looked him in the eye for the first time and her blood went cold. He was a madman. His pupils were huge and his eyes carried no emotion whatsoever as he stared vacantly back at her. His left hand was bandaged and he held it down to his side. Trent noticed Stacy looking at his hand and he held it up to her.
“That’s right,” he said, with a sinister look. “I guess you’re proud of that, aren’t you?”
Stacy had no idea what he was talking about. “Why would I be proud of you hurting your hand?”
Trent’s face contorted and he held the bandaged hand inches from Stacy’s face. “Because that’s what your henchman did to me!” he hissed.
Stacy recoiled and he withdrew his hand and held it up and examined it.
“But revenge is sweet,” he said, in a voice that was foreign to Stacy. “And that will be my reward.”
Stacy was horrified. The man was completely insane. “Dad, you need help,” Stacy said calmly, trying to reason with him. “You’re not yourself. Please, let me help you. I love you.”
Stacy’s father laughed hysterically, then his laughter turned to fury, “Love!” he roared. “What does love have to do with anything, you little bitch!” Stacy shrank back from him again, afraid he was going to hit her. “I never loved you or your mother,” he spat.
“Of course you did. You loved us both,” Stacy said. “I know it was hard on you when Mom died. It was hard on me too. And I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.”
Trent stared at Stacy as she spoke, his face void of emotion, his eyes hollow pits. When she finished her sentence, her father moved his face right next to hers, his cheek touching hers, and he whispered in her ear, “The day I killed your mother was the happiest day in my life.”
Stacy moaned involuntarily. “Get away from me you bastard!” Stacy exclaimed, her voice a deep, guttural growl, and she shoved her father away.
He laughed at her. “That’s right,” he taunted, “I watched your mother take her last breath before I shoved her head under. They say that drowning is a pleasant way to die, but let me assure you, it wasn’t,” he laughed. “She fought like an alley cat.”
Stacy covered her ears. “Shut up!” Stacy screamed. “You’re a liar!”
Stacy’s father was back next to her. He grabbed her left hand and pulled it away from her ear and put his mouth up next to her ear again. “I killed your mother, just like I’m going to kill you.”
“Go ahead you sick bastard!” Stacy said, kicking at her father. “I’ll come back and haunt you until the day you die.”
“All in good time. But not until I put on a little show for you. I’m going to let you watch me kill your two henchmen first.” Trent pulled out Niki’s card from his shirt pocket. “I believe this one is your lover?” he said, showing Stacy the card.
Stacy’s heart stopped. “He has nothing to do with this,” Stacy started to say but Trent interrupted.
“He has everything to do with this!” he shouted angrily, and he threw his arms up in the air and danced around the room chanting, “Revenge!” in a maniacal tone of voice.
Stacy was freaking out as she watched the lunatic that used to be her father dancing like a madman. Suddenly, he dropped down on his knees right in front of her and gave Stacy a perverted smile.
“And on Thursday morning,” he said excitedly, “when little Amy comes in to open up shop, you’ll be hanging from the chandelier in your office!” He laughed again, then continued. “Poor Stacy, never did recover after her mother’s unfortunate accident.”
“You’re a complete lunatic!” Stacy said, horrified. “No one will ever believe that I committed suicide.”
“Of course they will. Just like they believed that your mother’s death was an accident,” he laughed. “Oh, by the way,” he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a piece of paper, “I’m going to need you to sign this.” He handed her the suicide note and watched as Stacy read it.
Stacy laughed in disbelief. “I’m not signing that,” she said, ripping it up and throwing it on the floor.
Trent dismissed her belligerence with a wave of his hand, “I’ve got another copy. And you’ll sign it all right,” he said with certainty. “Now, let’s get your lover on the phone, shall we?” He pulled out his phone and dialed the number on the card Niki had given Stacy. “What a pity. Voice mail.” At the beep, Trent started talking. “Hello, Mr. Lautrec. It seems that my daughter is in dire need of your assistance. I’ll be calling you back first thing in the morning. If you want to see her alive, I won’t get your voicemail.” He smiled at Stacy. “Don’t you just love it!” he said, rubbing his hands together.
Stacy was numb with shock. She needed to get away before her father got a hold of Niki.
“I have some business to attend to now,” Trent said. “Be a good girl and maybe I’ll bring you some food later.” He left the cabin and Stacy heard the engine start and the car drive off.
Stacy pulled at the handcuffs and tried to squeeze out of them, but it was no use. She lay down on the dusty cot and tried to think of a way to get her crazed father to come back to his senses.
Trent drove into town and came back to the ranch with a sack full of junk food and a bottle of whiskey. He parked in front of
the ranch house and went inside and fixed himself a drink, then sat in his easy chair and popped powdered-sugar donuts into his mouth until he had finished the entire package.
Chapter 40
Niki chartered a jet back to San Antonio and met Jason at La Mansion.
“I heard from her father,” Niki said. He handed the phone to Jason and replayed the message for him. Jason listened and handed the phone back to Niki.
“Carlos said he’d be here in the morning,” Jason said.
“We may not need him now,” Niki said. “I have a feeling her father is going to tell us exactly where she is. Did you come up with any prints?”
“No. If someone drove it back here from the restaurant, he wore gloves,” Jason said. “So, what are we going to do? Wait until we hear from Trent?”
Niki’s phone rang before he could answer. “Yeah,” he said.
“We’re in town. Where are you?” Carlos asked.
Niki gave instructions on how to get to the hotel and thirty minutes later, Carlos and Eli were knocking on the door.
“Thanks for coming,” Niki said, shaking hands with Carlos and then Eli.
“She’s being held somewhere out in the country,” Carlos said, without as much as a hello.
Jason greeted Carlos and Eli, then turned to Niki. “The Trents have three ranches. He may have taken her to one of them.”
“Do you know where they’re located?” Niki asked.
“No, but her friend Holly seems to know everything there is to know about the family. We should get her down here,” Jason suggested.
“I hate to get her involved in all of this, but I don’t think we have any choice,” Niki said.
“She’s already involved,” Jason said.
“Who are we talking about,” Eli asked.
“Stacy’s best friend,” said Jason. “The tall blond standing next to Stacy at the hospital interview.”
“Oh yeah, what’s she like?” Eli asked.
“Like Stacy, not in looks but in every other way,” Jason said. “She’s smart and resourceful and just as hard-headed.”
Back on Solid Ground Page 28
