by Lane Stone
“It’s just ringing.” Tara was fighting back tears. “There’s her car!”
On the side of the road, Bea’s Volvo was surrounded by uniformed officers. The trunk stood open, but they were nonchalant enough to relieve me of my worst fear.
I couldn’t hear anything else either of them said because all of a sudden we heard the whir of a helicopter and the lake was lit up like mid-day. I saw a couple of police cars parked on a side street leading to Powerhouse Park. Victoria touched my arm to get my attention. “Why not pull in behind them? We can ask if they know anything.”
“Okay, and this road is closest to the water release point,” I yelled.
All three Forsyth County police officers shook their heads when we asked if they had found Beatrice.
“We want to look down there for ourselves.”
The oldest of the trio said, “Be our guest.”
I turned back to Tara and Victoria and pointed to the river. They read my mind and the three of us ran down the hill. We yelled Bea’s name into the night but nothing came back. We walked over the bridge and still didn’t see her.
Tara touched my arm. “If she’s not here, where could she be?”
Just then the helicopter banked and flew south down the river, lowering the noise level. Victoria’s cell phone rang and we might have screamed. Alright, all three us squealed. “It’s Kelly. She wants to know what’s happening.”
“Tell her we’re still looking, but we haven’t seen or heard her,” I said, then turned back to the business at hand. “We’re not hearing anything. The water release didn’t happen!”
“Just took a phone call, sweetheart.” It was either Asher Charles or Charles Asher who we had to thank. He was on the trail leading down to where we were. Tara rolled her eyes instead of showing appreciation.
Victoria met him half way up the hill and held out her hand to him. “Thank you.”
“Be nice,” I whispered to Tara.
“He says that I’m the one.”
“Why does he think that? Have you seen him since that day at Tex Mex Rex?”
“No! Remember when we bumped heads when we stood up? His lips slid over mine and a little of my lip plumping gloss got on him. He thinks he was struck by lightning or something, because of how it stung.”
Men find Tara irresistible, but this was ridiculous. “Once we find Beatrice I’m going to laugh my ass off over that.” We walked up the embankment to meet Asher, Vic, and the three police officers. A park ranger had joined them and was silhouetted by moonlight, street lights and car head lights.
“Leigh? Leigh Reed?” I think I should be excused for not being able to place her since more than twelve years have come and gone since I left the park service. “It’s Bryn Marie Leandro. What are you doing here?”
“The missing woman is a friend of ours.” I introduced her to Victoria and Tara. She waited for an introduction to Asher, but I didn’t trust myself to remember his name correctly so she didn’t get it. He gave Tara a wave and drifted off.
“I’m the Natural Resources Manager here. Since we’re short staffed––what else is new?––I got the call out.”
I turned to one of the Forsyth County police officers standing nearby. “I have another idea about where she might be. Has the helicopter covered West Bank Park? We were there with her once.” That was me on the outside. Me on the inside, “It was when her daughter pretended like she was going to kill herself and when we let Detective Kent’s wife go scot-free after she shot him.” Those gentlemen didn’t have time for all those details anyway. I’m sure you understand.
“I’ll radio the pilot.” With this, one of Forsyth’s finest turned away. We peeled off to the lower parking lot to Paul’s car and the others went back to Buford Dam Road.
The helicopter returned and banked to the left, over West Bank Park. I drove us back to the road and an officer flagged me down. “The pilot sees movement over there. If he gets any closer he might scare her.”
“We’ll go.” I made a left onto Buford Dam road and stopped in front of Bryn Marie. “Hop in.” We drove the few hundred yards to West Bank Park, which is on the lake side of the road. Vic and Tara were out before I could come to a good stop.
Bryn Marie handed me a small radio. “Remember how to use this?”
“Yeah.”
“Radio up what support you need.”
We half-ran and half-slid along the pine straw path. Bryn Marie waited for us at the top of the hill.
“Kelly? Is that you?” Bea’s voice was weak and we ran in that direction.
She was standing in a clearing. I grabbed Victoria and Tara’s arms to stop them. The only sounds I heard were the slap of the water against the bank, occasional police radio squawks, and the far off whir of the helicopter blades. A quick scan of the area told me she was alone, so I let go of their arms.
“It’s us,” Tara called out. “Leigh, Tara and Victoria!” She looked in our direction, but it took a beat before she recognized us. She seemed disoriented. The only light we had was the full moon reflecting off Lake Lanier but from what I could see, she’d be able to walk out on her own steam.
Tara took her hand. “Oh, Bea! Let’s get you home.”
We started walking back up the hill to Bryn Marie and the police officers. “Bryn Marie, come in.”
“I’m here.”
“We’re walking out.”
“Leigh, I have an ambulance standing by.”
I held back and telephoned Kelly to update her, then joined the others in the parking lot. Bea had a blanket around her shoulders and was standing behind the ambulance, arguing about going to the hospital.
“Is there anything you can do?” The older of the Forsythe County Police officers looked over at me.
“Bea, I think someone drugged you and brought you here. If you go to the hospital they might be able to tell what it was and that will help them find out who did it.”
She held my gaze for a long minute, then turned to climb into the ambulance.
I looked over at the waiting EMT’s and nodded. They helped her in and put a blood pressure cuff on her arm.
The officer rolled his eyes and shot me a look saying I’d let him down. He looked inside the ambulance and then turned his back to the open door. He leaned over to speak to me without Bea hearing what he said. “She’s an older person who got a little confused. That’s all we have here.”
I ignored him and climbed in. “I’ll ride with her.”
I tossed Tara Paul’s car keys so they could follow. She promptly tossed the keys to Victoria.
“What about Bea’s car?” I asked the officer.
“It’ll be impounded and gone over.” If you can verbally roll your eyes, he had.
CHAPTER 9
Continuation of statement by Leigh Reed. I woke up alone. My husband’s note said he’d called a car to take him to the plane. I was burrowing under the duvet to go back to sleep rather than think about how hard all this was when it hit me. It was Monday and Julio would arrive any minute.
Fifteen minutes later, teeth brushed, hair in a ponytail on top of my head, and having tripped again over the putting matt Jack had left on the bedroom floor, before rolling it up and propping it next to his putter, I welcomed Victoria and Tara to my humble abode. They were dragging too.
Tara reached down and gave Abby a pat, then headed for the kitchen. “How about a glass of tea before Sweet Cheeks gets here?”
Victoria yawned. “Don’t you have coffee?”
“Don’t know what that is.”
“Do either of you ever look at Julio’s butt when the workout gets really tough?” The doorbell chimed before I could answer Tara in the affirmative.
He had someone with him. “This is Alyssa. I wanted to introduce you since she’ll be my replacement this week and next. I’ll be in Cancun. I won an all expenses paid trip!”
I took a look at the petite young woman with him. Alyssa? What was she trying to pull? It was Janice Marshall from th
e funeral home. And I’m not even kidding. A gold satin jacket covered her jog bra and short shorts, more or less. The eyeliner on her upper and lower lids met and kept going, forming curlicues. No eyeglasses today.
“Congratulations.”
“That’s great.” Tara and Victoria’s voices were as flat as we were at age eleven so I figured they recognized her too.
“I don’t remember entering it, but I must have, because I won!”
Did I think something was wrong then? Or am I imagining that I did in telling the story? “Enough chit-chat, ladies. Let’s get started.” Julio was even more animated than usual.
“We were just getting water. Will you show her to the workout room?” I was wide awake by then, but needed a minute to think.
“What’s wrong with the water cooler in the basement?” Julio asked, innocently.
“This water is better.” It wasn’t, but Julio didn’t know that. “Just drop that anyplace.” I pointed to the gym bag slung over the replacement trainer’s shoulder.
She hesitated, then let it drop to the floor by the stairs to the basement.
“I’ll show you to the workout room, then I’ll take off.” Julio led her away.
Tara watched them walk down the stairs. “Well played, little girl.”
As soon as Julio and said little girl cleared the first landing, we went to town on that gym bag. In the very, very bottom, I found a chain and pulled on it. It led to an employee identification badge for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Janice Marshall,” I read. It looked brand new.
Victoria was looking over my shoulder. “Shut the front door!” Yes, that’s Vic cussing. “Leigh, are you thinking she had anything to do with killing Thomas Chestnut? Or stealing his body?”
Tara glanced down the stairs. “Maybe she just wanted to see him naked.”
Victoria jerked. “Why would anybody want…?”
“I wouldn’t have minded seeing him naked.” Tara touched Vic’s arm. “Or could she have been involved in Bea’s kidnapping? We don’t know her whereabouts after we left for the restaurant.”
I dropped the badge back in the bag. “Want to play along and see what her game is?”
Victoria grinned. “If she was, let’s say, more professional, I’d vote for either calling the police or treating her the way we did Al last night, but she’s comical.”
“Here comes Julio.” Tara jumped up and we trotted downstairs.
“I’ll let myself out.” He saw Abby and stopped. “Are you going to put her in a bedroom, out of the way?”
“Sure thing,” I lied. I didn’t think we’d need any back up, since there were three of us, and there was no way she was packing in that skimpy getup.
He left and we went to the workout room. Alyssa had tricked out her smart phone with my music system speakers and was adjusting the volume. She pointed to the cell phone in my hand and then tapped the top of the water cooler. “You won’t need that for the next hour, girls.” Julio never barked at us like that.
“We wouldn’t dream of it.” To the uninitiated, Vic sounded earnest, but Tara and I knew a smart ass remark when we heard one. We choose not to take business calls in front of anyone.
“Ever tried belly dancing?” Vic and I shook our heads, no.
I didn’t know if it was not knowing what Janice Marshall was going to pretend to be next, or not caring for how bossy she’d become, but Tara, who ordinarily would have been digging learning to belly dance, didn’t respond.
We took off our shoes and then she showed us some basic moves. The second song was faster and wilder and I just turned off my brain. It felt good, like I was dancing with wild abandon, even though I was probably just doing some version of the twist. When I swung my head, Vic was concentrating on getting the moves right but she had a relaxed smile on her face. Tara had progressed to a shimmying boogie of her shoulders and her hair covered her face.
I caught my breath while I waited for the third song to begin and we were off again. When Victoria screamed, I jerked around. A man was standing in the doorway. His head was turned away like he was embarrassed, and I took advantage of that to run at him. My husband had both arms around me, holding me. He pulled me to him and said, “Sh-h-h-h. It’s okay.”
(Mr. Special Agent, can you imagine if I had a loaded gun in the house?) We stayed like that for another moment and then he let me go. “I didn’t want to leave the way I did.”
I kissed him and then introduced him to our new teacher. Guess I turned too quickly because she didn’t have time to rearrange her face. She was looking at my husband with revulsion.
He shook her hand, but hardly glanced at her face before beating a retreat, and calling Abby to come upstairs with him. The indifference he has for so much of humanity suited my purposes. I didn’t want Janice Marshall to know we were on to her.
“Let’s cool down.” She started some gentle stretches, and we followed her lead. Then she had us sit cross legged. “Close your eyes.”
None of us did, and she was not amused. She was sprinting up the stairs. The three of us had gone along with her little charade but for some reason seeing my husband was a game changer.
“Wait!” Tara yelled at the young woman’s back. Then to us, “What was all this for?”
I ran out the basement door and headed for the gate of the back fence. Then the damn combination lock waylaid me. Tara and Vic were right behind me.
“Give me a boost!”
They both interlaced their fingers and that gave me the extra couple of feet I needed to hurl myself over. I sped like a mustang up the hill to the driveway where I hoped to shock and awe her, but I was too late and she was driving off in a white Chevy Volt. All I got of the license plate was that it was issued by the little state of Massachusetts.
Victoria, then Tara, had come up the stairs and out onto the front porch. I heard them say, “Hi, Jack. Bye, Jack.”
Victoria was on her phone and by her tone, I just knew it was with a client.
I stuck my head in the door. Jack looked back and forth between us, wondering how I could be coming in when they were going out. And how did I get from the basement to the front yard. Oh yeah, and why did our trainer run like a bat out of hell out of the house?
“I gotta go,” I said.
“Where?” Jack’s question was innocent enough.
“To take my car in to be serviced.”
The keys hung on a small sculpture by the garage door.
“How will you get back?” Again, not unreasonable. Inconvenient, sure. But not unreasonable.
Tara and Victoria were walking away and I called after them, “Hey! Paula? Leslie?”
I looked at my husband. “Nicknames.”
“You forgot you’re supposed to follow me to the car dealership.”
“You forgot we got a phone call from a friend.” Victoria held up her phone like it was evidence.
“You forgot we can go to the….”
Jack interrupted all the forgetting. “I can follow you to drop off the car, sweetheart.”
That’s how I came to be dropping my car off to be serviced, instead of following Janice Marshall.
***
Later that morning, Tara and Victoria got bored on their stake out and phoned me.
“What’s up?” I had to keep my voice down so Jack couldn’t hear me.
“We were wondering if all that running around this morning made Jack suspicious,” Tara said in her speaker phone voice.
“He didn’t say anything, but he had to suspect something was up. Are we doing the right thing, not telling them about the agency?”
It sounded like Vic was closing up her laptop. “We said we’d tell them when the time was right. Jack is about to go back overseas and Paul has to get through this funeral. Can we wait a little longer?”
“That makes sense. What’s going on with your case?”
“He’s been in this house forever. Tara is trying to use her hearing aid and I don’t think that’s leg
al.”
“They are sound amplifiers.”
“Tara, you’re going to get us in trouble with those crazy things,” I whined.
“Vic’s been on her computer all morning. She has her professional equipment, I have mine.”
“I’m working on a voice recognition program, so we can locate clients’ voices in a public place and use those when we can’t take a photo. Leigh, for now, do you have any ideas on how to smoke him out?”
“Whose car are you in?”
“Tara’s new Porsche.”
“That car is about as subtle as Scarlett O’Hara. Was using it for a stake out the best idea?” I checked my vicinity to be sure Jack wasn’t around.
“Probably not. Remember that time we were following on foot and we all three wore perfume. We were so busted.” Tara laughed while she told this and it was funny. We’re rarely found out when walking because we talk to each other the whole time, but that time it was late at night and hubby kept smelling something sweet but sexy, expensive but easy.
“Okay, Vic, get out and look under the hood. Most men would give anything to see that engine. Tara, get ready to photograph him walking out.”
“We were just talking about what Al Ford said about his wife being able to suck a tennis ball through a garden hose,” Victoria said. “And he said it in mixed company!”
Tara harrumphed. “Let me find the hood latch. Paige Ford is not so nice herself. Remember how she threw herself at every man at the table?”
“Fat lot of good it did her.” I was patrolling the upstairs hallway, and Jack was in the bedroom. “Maybe she behaves the way she does, because of the way he acts. It’s the same old story, ‘treat me like a dog and I’ll act like a bitch.’”
“Treat me like a dog and I’ll act like a bitch? Hey, is that a new song? I haven’t heard that one.” Jack’s booming voice coming up behind me like that made me jump a mile.
I grabbed the railing. “Where did you come from?”
