Iced

by Carol Higgins Clark

  He drew back so she would not notice him as she rushed down the corridor toward the ladies’ room, where he knew she would not find Willeen. Maybe it didn’t matter. Whatever instinct or knowledge had set her on Willeen’s path wouldn’t do any good now. As he watched he could make out that Judd was reaching both hands in his pockets. From one, he knew, he would extract a gas mask and night glasses; from the other, a gun that would send pellets of tear gas cascading through the air. Coupled with the plunge into darkness, the choking gas would terrorize and immobilize the unsuspecting guests. Judd, within an instant, would have the Beasley painting under his arm. He and Willeen would be in their car, which the Coyote had observed was so conveniently parked, and they’d race back to their house, where he’d be the unexpected guest.

  Let the other guy do the dirty work, he thought. That was always best.

  In a few seconds the lights would go out and he knew Judd would fire the pellet gun. Judd was at the bottom of the right-hand stairs that led to the stage. He’d get away with it. The Coyote began to hurry toward the emergency exit door on the left-hand side just before the ballroom.

  Marvin Winkle found it very unnerving to drive on the mountain roads to Aspen. And of course it had started to snow. He proceeded with great caution, afraid that he might slip off the road and into oblivion. Once again he thought of the marathon runner who in the moment of proclaiming victory had dropped dead.

  As a result of his caution, it was one minute of eleven when he finally pulled up to the Silver Mine Inn. The parking lot was completely full. He knew Geraldine was scheduled to speak at eleven and he wanted to be there.

  What difference? he thought as he double-parked, partially blocking a seedy station wagon. It was the nearest he could get to the hotel entrance without blocking the handicapped spots. It won’t matter, he thought. I can be out before the rest of the crowd. I want to hear Geraldine speak and then I’ll come and move it.

  He hurried inside and reached the banquet hall in time to get one glimpse of Geraldine and hear her opening words. Then the lights went out and he began to cough.

  The moment after the lights went out and gas pellets plunged through the air, the Coyote rushed outside to his car, catching sight of Judd clumsily running while carrying a bulky object. He and Willeen jumped into their car and took off.

  The Coyote jumped in his to follow. Then he began to swear. Some fool had parked partially behind him. He began to twist and turn the wheel, inching back and forth until he could get around the heap that was blocking him. But before he could get away and follow Judd’s car, his passenger door opened.

  “Tripp!” Regan yelled as she coughed and her eyes teared. She quickly slid in beside him. “You saw them too! Follow them!”

  Only minutes earlier, Angus had sat beaming as he watched Geraldine being escorted up to the podium. A pretty girl had become a handsome woman. She’d invited him to sit at her table and the evening had flown as they talked about the old days. When he had joked with her about her turning him down when he wanted to come courting, she had patted his hand and he could have sworn her eyes had misted a bit.

  “Well, maybe there were reasons you didn’t know anything about,” she’d said. She’d been very happy to hear that he was settling back in Aspen.

  Angus leaned back, prepared to enjoy Geraldine’s address. The historical-committee guy gave a nice introduction, one that Geraldine deserved. How many people would do what she’d done for this town? Then Angus frowned. That fellow who’d rented the cottage he was interested in buying was snaking his way up to the stage. In the bar Angus had recognized the wife, the one who’d acted so friendly but wouldn’t give him a chance to glance through the house. Angus had gone over to say hello and she’d introduced them. He hoped this fellow wasn’t one of those camera buffs who would start flashing lights in Geraldine’s face while she talked. If he did, Angus would make sure he stopped it.

  As Geraldine began to speak, the man who was the object of his attention reached both hands into his pockets. What was he doing? Angus’s eyes narrowed. What kind of crazy gadget was he putting on his face?

  The lights went out and screams resounded through the room. A burst of staccato sounds came from where that man had been standing. In an instinctive movement Angus jumped up from his seat, rushed the few feet to the stage and hopped up. Reaching out, his arm found its way around a choking, coughing, furious Geraldine.

  As Tripp grimly sped from the parking lot, choking, gasping people began pouring from the exits of the restaurant. With dismay Regan realized that her mother and father might be looking for her in the area of the rest rooms. But there was nothing she could do about it.

  When they reached the road, there was no sign of the other vehicle, but Tripp turned right without stopping. She knew he could not have seen where the other car went. “Tripp,” she said, holding on to the handle of the door, “how do you know where to go?”

  “I served them in the restaurant last night. I know where they’re staying.”

  Regan leaned back. “They told you?” she asked in disbelief. “That’s the last thing I think they’d do. They might not even be going there now.”

  “Have you got a better idea?” Tripp snapped.

  Shocked, Regan glanced at him and then dismissed his tone by thinking that he was upset about what had just happened. Tears were still streaming from her eyes from where the gas had stung. But now, in the faint light from the dashboard, she could see that his were clear and showed no sign of physical distress.

  For the first time she noticed the phone on the seat between them. “Let me call the police!” she said. She picked it up and opened the cover but before she could push the first button he grabbed it from her and threw it in the back of the station wagon. The back seat was down and she heard it land somewhere near the rear window. “It’s broken,” he growled.

  Now it is for sure, Regan thought. Something was wrong with Tripp. A gnawing sense of danger made her stare straight ahead as he drove without hesitation. What would-be thief would talk loosely in front of a waiter? she thought. He must be in it with them! It made sense. He worked in the inn and could have told them where the master switch was. He had been outside when the tear gas exploded. He was driving so fast because he knew where to meet them. His car was piled with belongings. Her heart beating rapidly, she knew she couldn’t let him realize she was on to him.

  The snow was pelting down. It was hard to see more than a few feet ahead. She heard him swear under his breath.

  “What’s the matter?” she asked solicitously.

  “I’ve missed a turn somewhere.” He made a dangerously fast U-turn and the car began to fishtail. Everything was going wrong, he thought furiously as he righted it. That damn car blocking the way. Regan getting in with him. Well, that was her bad luck. He’d intended to steal the Beasley from Judd and Willeen’s car when they went in the house to change. If they came out before he was finished, that was their problem. Now it was too late for that. He’d already lost at least five minutes, and with every passing second, the risk that they’d get away with the Beasley was getting greater.

  From a road on the right he caught the flicker of approaching headlights. He jammed on his brakes as two vehicles flew out onto the road and passed them going in the other direction. Tripp knew that Judd was driving one and Willeen the other.

  The road was too narrow for a U-turn. He turned into the side road from which they had emerged, backed out, then followed the direction they had taken.

  He smiled to himself. They were going ahead with their plan. At Observation Point, they would dispose of their unwanted guests. And so would he.

  Angus clasped his hand over the mouth of the sputtering, choking Geraldine and led her into the fresh air outside. Others began streaming out behind them. He was in time to see Regan Reilly jump in a car that was just pulling away. As more people came stumbling out, he looked around. There had to be a cop coming soon and he was probably the only one who knew e
xactly where those thieves lived.

  Everyone at Nora and Luke’s table groped their way to the exits. Outside Nora said frantically, “Luke, Regan went to the rest room! She may still be in there!”

  Luke turned, about to make his way through the solid mass of exiting people, then felt his hand clutched.

  “She’s not in there!” Ida said. “I was following her. I just got out when I saw her get into a car that was parked right there.” She pointed to the space.

  Angus, overhearing their conversation, turned. “Regan Reilly is your daughter? I saw her get into the car too. I think she and the driver are chasing whoever took that painting. And I know where he lives!”

  Geraldine was suddenly recovered. “Then let’s get in a car and go!” she snapped. “No one’s taking Pop-Pop’s painting!”

  Marvin Winkle, who had finally spotted Geraldine after he hurried outside in all the confusion, came up in time to hear the conversation. He pointed to his Rent-a-Wreck. “Miss Spoonfellow,” he said. “Marvin Winkle. Always at your service.”

  Angus snatched the key from his hand. “I’ll drive.”

  Geraldine jumped in the front seat.

  “Come on, Luke,” Nora said, pulling open the back door.

  Winkle followed them in.

  Angus was about to start the car when Ida opened the passenger door and burrowed in beside Geraldine.

  Eben and Bessie had spent the seemingly interminable four hours since Willeen and Judd had left for the holiday gala quietly talking. Having both accepted that they probably wouldn’t live until morning, they were exchanging confidences about their lives.

  Eben even made Bessie laugh when he told her about some of the jobs he had pulled off.

  “Since I never had any real parents, I guess no one ever steered me in the right direction.”

  “You never hurt anybody, did you?” Bessie asked.

  “I never killed a fly. And I’m sure that anything I took was insured. If it wasn’t, the people I took it from never missed it. Sometimes I think that I did it because I was mad. Everyone thought I was dumb. No one ever told me I was smart or cute. I wanted to get back at them. I feel real comfortable with you. You sound like you came from a nice family.”

  “I did. My mother and father were wonderful. That’s where I was luckier than you. You see, I never usually tell anybody because I loved my parents just as much as if I’d been born to them.”

  “What do you mean?” Eben asked.

  “I was adopted.”

  “You were?!” Eben was just about to ask Bessie if she’d ever tried to find out where she came from when all thoughts in that direction left his mind. The faint sound of a car roaring up to the door made them both jump. They knew Willeen and Judd were back.

  “So what the heck are you so nervous about?” Willeen snapped. “We got the painting.”

  “Yeah, we got it and I’m telling ya, I don’t feel good. We’ve got to get out of here fast.”

  Willeen bit her lip. Every instinct told her that Judd was right. When she’d come up from throwing the master switch in the inn, she’d heard the door of the ladies’ room open. Despite all the chaos and confusion after Judd fired the tear gas, she was sure someone had been trying to follow her out. She was sure it was Regan Reilly. When she glanced back at Judd, she’d noticed her get up and leave her table. Then, as they were pulling away, someone in the parking spot next to them had been trying to maneuver his station wagon to get around a parked car. With what was happening inside, who except her and Judd would have left the hotel without trying to help other people? Was it possible the Coyote had been in the next car? The thought sent cold chills through Willeen. She did not need Judd’s urging to strip off her evening gown and jump into the ski sweater, slacks and boots that were laid out in the kitchen. Judd changed with her. An instant later their evening wear was in a suitcase and tossed in the car.

  The bottle of chloroform and pads were on the kitchen table. They looked at each other.

  “Now we get them out of here,” Judd said.

  Willeen picked up the bottle of chloroform and cotton pads and put them in her shoulder bag. With businesslike authority she trained the gun on Eben and Bessie as Judd released their leg shackles and herded them into Eben’s car. Kendra Wood’s paintings were already there. When the wreckage of the car was discovered, enough pieces of them should be intact to establish Eben as the art thief.

  Outside, the air had turned bitterly cold. The sky was heavy and overcast. Not a single star was visible. Suddenly it began to snow.

  When Bessie and Eben were seated, their hands firmly handcuffed behind them, Judd nodded to Willeen. She opened the bottle of chloroform, soaked the cotton pads, got in the front seat of the car and in one quick gesture held the soaking pads to their faces. They both tried to pull away. Swearing, Judd jumped into the car, dropped his gun on the front seat, and kneeling beside Willeen, he leaned back and grabbed Eben’s face in a viselike grip. After that Bessie could no longer escape the pad that Willeen forced under her nostrils. They both slumped down unconscious, sliding toward the floor. Judd got out of the car and in the back door. Bending over them, he released their handcuffs.

  “Get in our car and make sure you don’t lose me,” he snapped at Willeen. “We’ll get rid of them at Observation Point.”

  Eben was coming to as Judd drove the car to Observation Point. Groggily he tried to raise his head as he felt the car stop and a rush of cold air. Where were they? What was going on? Then he realized his hands were free. A moment later he felt movement as the car was slammed from behind. What was going on?

  Through the headlights Regan could see a figure leap from the car that was stopped at the very edge of the observation area. Through the heavy snow she saw him run to the car that was parked behind it. An instant later he rammed the back of the car he had just gotten out of. With horror she saw the fence separate and the front wheels go over the edge. In the seat next to her Tripp was grinning.

  Judd saw the approaching headlights as he leaped from Eben’s car and into his own. They had been followed! He jammed on the accelerator, sending Eben’s car flying forward, then backed up and started down the road to find it blocked by the station wagon. It was deliberately blocking the narrow path back down.

  “You can’t make it around him!” Willeen screamed.

  “Watch me!” he snarled. His front wheels began to slip as he drove around the back of Tripp’s wagon.

  “You’re going to kill us!” Willeen screamed. “Look at that drop!”

  Frantically he reversed. The car spun out and slammed into the side of the mountain, its headlights shining back on Eben’s car. Willeen’s head banged into the glass. Judd’s head hit the steering wheel. Dazed and bleeding, he heard the back door open.

  “Don’t turn around,” a voice warned. “Don’t reach for a gun. Once again I owe you my thanks.”

  Regan saw the gun in Tripp’s hand in the same moment she realized that someone was in the back of the car whose front wheels were dangling over the edge of the mountain. Acting instinctively, she threw open the door of the car, crouched down and ran toward the vehicle. She yanked open the back door and couldn’t believe her eyes. She came face to face with a dazed Eben.

  “Eben,” she gasped, grabbing his hand and pulling his weight toward her.

  “Bessie’s here too,” he said weakly.

  “Get out, get out; I’ll get her,” Regan said, yanking him sideways. He fell to the ground. His weight had been stabilizing the car. The front end dipped dangerously.

  “Get Bessie out of there,” Eben moaned as he tried to struggle to his feet.

  Regan tried to pull Bessie’s arms but she was a dead weight. She felt the car begin to slip. As fast as she could, she got in the back of the car in a crouching position, put her arms around Bessie’s back, and lifted her inert body. It took several tries but finally she had her head and shoulders hanging out the door of the car.

  She could see Eben strugg
ling to get to his feet and reaching toward them. He pulled Bessie’s limp body forward, clear of the car, coming to rest on the ground beside him. Without their combined weight the car slid forward. As it pitched forward, Regan leaped out. It snapped through the remaining barrier and plunged over the side. Regan’s right arm and leg were hanging over the side of the mountain. She was sliding downward, frantically trying to find something to grab on to when she felt a solid hand grasp her wrist.

  “No skiing tonight, Regan,” Eben said as he pulled her onto safe ground.

  In the distance, Regan could hear the wail of approaching sirens. Then familiar voices were calling out to them.

  It had not worked the way Tripp had expected. His cover was blown, but in fifteen minutes it wouldn’t matter. The Beasley painting was in back of the car. He had taken the keys to Judd’s car. Regan Reilly was still struggling to get that woman out of the car when he drove away. By the time anyone found them, his contingency plan would be in operation. The other car, locked in a barn with clothes, identification and a disguise, was only fifteen minutes away.

  But as he rounded the curb he could see a caravan of vehicles approaching. Four of them had flashing domes. As he sped past them in the opposite direction, one of the police cars did a U-turn, and he knew he couldn’t outrun it and his luck had finally run out.

  “Regan!”Nora screamed. Everyone was running toward them.

  “I’m okay,” she yelled.

  Winkle couldn’t believe it. His car had led the chase. His car with the portable telephone that he’d decided to splurge on, which had summoned the police. They had all witnessed the vehicle going over the cliff. When Angus stopped his car, they had all jumped out and gone running up the hill. The Reillys’daughter, Regan, was on the ground with two other people.

  The whole group was standing over them. A man with a short beard was shaking his head. The woman on the ground was stirring. Regan stood up. “Look who I found. I knew they were together. I want you all to meet the missing Eben Bean and Bessie Armbuckle.”