02-A Book to Die For (2014)

by Richard Houston

  “He never gets tired of chasing sticks, does he?” she asked.

  I tried to think of a funny reply and came up short. She had been all I had thought about coming up the mountain and now here she was. “He’s better than a boomerang, if you don’t mind it coming back wet and slimy.” It sounded so stupid once I said it. Why couldn’t I come up with something witty that would make her fall head over heels for me?

  She wiped her hand on her pants and smiled. “I’m glad I caught you, Jake. I came up to check on my cameras. The one by the road has stopped talking to the server, so I thought I’d stop by. You’re not mad at me about our date, I hope?”

  “Not if you show me those pictures from your camera. Why don’t you grab your laptop and come on in? I promise we won’t bite.”

  “I know he won’t,” she said. “It’s you I worry about, Jake,” she answered with a big smile before going to fetch her computer.

  I gave her the deluxe tour of the place when she came back with Fred on her heels. That took all of two minutes. She could see everything except the bedroom without moving a foot.

  “For some reason my fridge won’t run without electricity,” I said when I saw her looking at the kitchen. “Hope you don’t mind your beer warm? It’s all part of an article I’m writing.”

  “I didn’t know you were a writer, Jake. What’s the article about?” she asked while taking a seat at my table. “And as wonderful as that warm beer sounds, I’ll have to pass. I’ve got a long drive home.”

  “Living off the grid; I’ll have the lights turned back on once I finish the article. It’s the reason for all the candles and camp stove.” I paused when she looked over at my stove.

  “I’m sorry I missed our date. It’s been a while since I’ve seen anyone cook on one of those.”

  “Actually, I sort of had it catered. You missed a great gourmet meal, but I did save some of the wine I bought. It’s not often I spend half my life’s savings on wine, so you’ve got to try it,” I said and went to the cooler to get it.

  She laughed at what sounded like a bad joke. Little did she know I wasn’t joking. At least she didn’t object when I poured the wine in one of my few clean coffee cups. I had already returned Bonnie’s crystal.

  “So that’s why the router is named Bonnie. You’re hijacking your neighbor’s router.”

  I could feel my cheeks burning. “Only until I get my lights turned back on, but I’m not really stealing. It was her idea so I wouldn’t run up my cell phone bill.” Of course the last part was a lie. Bonnie still had no idea what I was doing.

  Her eyes never left mine. I had to look away. “Are you sure about the time of that picture?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

  She had logged into her website during the time I was making excuses. “It’s the day after I set it up. Lucky we downloaded a picture before it died. That picture is roughly the time you said, and that is definitely a vehicle,” she answered while rubbing her empty cup.

  I reached over and refilled her wine. “Too bad it’s the only one you got before it stopped transmitting. With all that glare coming from the taillights and license plates, I can barely make it out. What are those spots? Is the lens dirty?”

  “That’s one of the reasons I came up here. It looks like the lens needs to be cleaned. It’s also one of the problems with infrared. Reflections get blown out of proportion.” She held up a hand in the universal sign to stop. “I’ve got to drive, Jake. Better go easy on that.”

  I added a few more ounces to her glass and switched to mine. “You can always crash here tonight.”

  She pushed her glass aside and looked up from the screen. Although it was only a second before she spoke, it was a long enough pause to make a point.

  “Is that a proposition, Mister?”

  I didn’t back down this time and returned her stare. “I’d never think of taking advantage of a damsel in distress, M’lady,” I answered, although the thought did cross my mind. “No, Fred and I will sleep in the motor home.”

  She smiled flirtatiously and reached for her cup. “In that case, Sir Lancelot, I will have more of this wonderful wine.” She lifted the cup to her lips without taking her eyes from mine.

  I refilled her cup when she set it back on the table, then as nonchalantly as I could, changed the subject. “Any way to get a number off that plate?” I asked while pointing to her computer screen.

  She had won her staring game and knew it. “Maybe in the morning,” she said and clicked the power down button, then grabbed me by the front of my shirt and pulled me to her.

  “You like her too, don’t you?” I asked Fred while we watched Julie drive off the next morning. I was missing her already and Fred knew it. I knew he knew because he lay on the porch watching her instead of Chatter who was teasing him from a nearby spruce. I knew it was serious when I picked up a stick and waved it in his face. He didn’t budge.

  “Come on, Freddie. Let’s go check those cameras for Julie,” I said and threw the stick down the drive past the motor home. Instinct took over and he was running down the drive after the stick before I had a chance to shut my cabin door.

  Julie didn’t have time to check her camera. I had made breakfast while she got ready for work and couldn’t resist giving her a kiss on top of her head when I put the plate of scrambled eggs in front of her. That kiss turned into much more, which in turn made her get dressed all over again. Checking the camera for her was the least I could do so she wouldn’t be late for her staff meeting. Well, maybe it wasn’t the least I could do. I could have told her about Jonathan.

  Telling Julie what I knew about Jonathan’s need for money might get back to Bonnie. I had to make sure it was him before I said anything to anyone. Any good lawyer would say the roofing tar left by the intruder who planted the bow was at the most circumstantial. I needed a lot more than that to make the connection stick. Besides, if he was the poacher, then he probably killed Lonnie too. Bonnie would never speak to me again if I started shooting off my mouth that her nephew was a murderer. It was different when I accused him of trying to kill her. She knew I was looking out for her, but suggesting he killed Lonnie would be going too far.

  It was a dilemma I had been tossing around in my mind all night after Julie fell asleep. I had got up to use the bathroom and didn’t have the energy to wake her, so I sat on an old Queen Anne chair and watched her while I tried to decide how I’d tell her what I knew. I felt guilty sitting in the chair. It belonged to Natalie, my ex-wife, and there I was sitting in my wife’s chair watching a naked woman sleep.

  Fred woke me from my flashback to the night before by barking at the stick, daring me to pick it up. His tail began imitating a pendulum in anticipation of the chase. I absent-mindedly reached for his stick and found myself keeping time with his tail. His eyes followed the stick like it was a hypnotist’s wand. Fred saw his chance and grabbed the stick. He was halfway up the road before I realized he had outfoxed me.

  He was waiting for me where the trail going up the mountain intersected the road. Julie’s camera had been placed a few yards away so it could capture anyone going up or coming down the trail. Like I’d suspected, the camera wasn’t where she put it. I took out my cell phone and punched in Julie’s mobile number.

  “Hi, handsome,” she said before I could open my mouth. “Miss me already?”

  “I’m sorry. I must have the wrong number. The only handsome guy here is my dog and he ain’t talking.”

  “Funny, Jake. Is the camera okay?”

  “That’s why I called you. It’s gone. We can’t find it anywhere. It’s probably in some bull elk’s antlers taking pictures of his female conquests.”

  Silence. The laughter was gone from her voice despite my sick humor.

  “I’ll have the techs turn on the GPS software. Do you mind sticking around? Once we get a signal I’ll send you the parameters for you to track it with your cell phone.”

  Have I been out of the business that long? I didn’t even kn
ow that was possible. “I hate to sound stupid, Julie, but how do I do that?”

  Fred and I were sitting at our favorite spot on top of the hill watching the clouds drift by. It was the best place in the world I knew of where a man could escape, stop the clock, and think. The clouds were almost close enough to touch. Fred had laid his big head on my lap so I could scratch behind his ears. Waiting for Julie gave me plenty of time to reflect on who tried to blow up my motor home — with me in it.

  Obviously, it was the poacher that Lonnie was blackmailing and it didn’t take much imagination to see that he didn’t want to, or couldn’t, pay the blackmail. That cost Lonnie his life. Jonathan was the only one I could think of that had a motive. He needed money badly, and as Julie had told Bonnie, the Asian market for bear organs was extremely lucrative.

  Jonathan’s business and lifestyle were bleeding money, so I doubt if he had any extra to give Lonnie. He looked more and more like the poacher, but then I remembered the Corvette. Why would Lonnie sell his prize possession to Jonathan if he was blackmailing him? And what did Jonathan have to gain by destroying me and my motor home?

  Was it me he was after? When framing me for the poaching didn’t work, did he think a little gas leak and explosion would do the trick? If the motor home battery had been connected, I would be talking to Saint Peter after turning on the light switch. So why did he want me out of the way? I was working on that problem when my cell phone rang.

  “Hi, sexy. Have I told you lately how hot you are?” I said without bothering to check my caller ID.

  “Why thank you, Jake. I didn’t know you liked me that much?” I swear I heard Bonnie giggling. Forget fifty shades of gray. I turned twice that many in red. “Sorry, Bonnie. I thought you were Julie.”

  “Oh, I knew that, Silly. This old broad don’t miss a whole lot, you know. I kind of guessed you two were doing the hanky-panky last night when she didn’t leave until this morning, but that ain’t why I…” I missed her last words when call waiting cut her off.

  “Let me call you back, Bon. I think its Julie.” I flashed her off and answered the other line. This time I waited for the caller to talk.

  “Jake?” It was indeed the voice of my angel.

  “Hi, beautiful,” I answered without being embarrassed. “Is the GPS chip turned on?”

  “You won’t be needing it. The techs say it won’t respond.” Then before I could ask why, she continued. “Besides, my boss overheard me asking you for help and freaked out.”

  “No need to explain, Julie. I worked for enough fortune five-hundred companies to guess what he said. Something on the order of me getting hurt and suing the State or maybe putting in a claim for payment as a contractor. Typical corporate BS. Or in the case of a government agency, worse than BS. More like Moose crap.”

  “Sorry. Why don’t you come into town so I can make it up to you? I know this fantastic Italian restaurant on Thirty-Eighth Avenue and then you can do a little undercover work for me.”

  “What about your boss?”

  She giggled before answering. “Not that kind of undercover, Goofy. Meet me at the restaurant at six. It’s on the corner of Thirty-eighth and Teller. I should be out of here by then.” It was becoming obvious that she was used to giving orders, and for once, I didn’t mind taking them.

  Her giggle reminded me of Bonnie. I went back to the other line. She was still waiting for me. “Sorry about that, Bon Bon. What’s up?”

  “Was that Julie?”

  “Don’t be jealous, my love.” I answered in my best imitation of a gigolo. “I’m sure it’s a passing infatuation.”

  “I told Margot what you told me.”

  “Oh, and what is that? I don’t remember much after the first six-pack,” I asked.

  “Can you come off that mountain and talk to me, Jake. Margot is pissed again. I know I should have never said anything, but she is my sister you know.”

  “How’d you know we were up here?”

  “A little birdie told me. Please, Jake? We need to talk.”

  Bonnie was waiting at my cabin when Fred and I came down from the mountain. She must have walked because her car was nowhere in sight and she was breathing like she just ran a marathon.

  “Didn’t your mother ever tell you cigarettes would stunt your growth,” I said, pointing to the half-smoked cigarette in her hand.

  She took a long drag then let the smoke out slowly. “One of life’s few pleasures at my age, Sonny. “You should try it,” she said and held out her cigarette in my direction.

  That’s when I noticed the funny smell and saw it was no store-bought cigarette. “Thanks, Bon, but I’ll pass,” I said and waved off her offer. “Why don’t you come on in and tell me why Margot has you so upset?”

  I held the door open, but she didn’t budge. Her smile faded at the mention of her sister. She took one more drag from her homemade cigarette, then flicked it into the dirt.

  “I should have never told her. I’m sorry, Jake. Really, I am.” Bonnie looked like she was going to collapse right in front of me.

  I reached out to steady her, and she grabbed me around the waist, burying her head into my chest. All I could think of is how terrible I must smell after climbing the mountain. I finally came to my senses and hugged her back.

  Fred must have sensed my uneasiness, or at the least Bonnie’s pain. He saw me looking at him and replied with a loud bark, then came over to us and pushed up against us.

  “What’s the matter, Freddie? Do you want your daddy?” Bonnie asked. She let go and reached down to pet Fred. She still wasn’t smiling, but I could see Fred had softened the lines in her face somewhat.

  “Margot wants to get a court order for your computer.”

  Now I was the one with a frown. “What on earth for?”

  “It’s the damn book,” she answered, reaching behind her ear for a real cigarette. “She started yelling at me and babbling something about Charlie didn’t deserve to have his father’s reputation ruined because you couldn’t leave well enough alone.”

  “Why don’t you sit down, Bon, and light that thing? It looks like you need it. I’ll get us a couple of beers and you can bring me up to date. Evidently there’s something in your father’s book I missed.”

  Bonnie stared at me for a moment. Her eyes were glazed over as though she was trying to process what I had said. Then she turned and sat down on one of my Adirondack chairs. Fred chose to stay with her while I hurried off for the beer that I had no intention of getting.

  She was talking to Fred when I returned a few minutes later. “Fred must have drank the last one last night, Bon,” I lied. “Hope you don’t mind coffee instead. It will only be a minute. I’ve got it brewing now.”

  I scooted my rocker next to her. “Now why don’t you tell me what got you so upset? I can’t imagine it was the book. Margot would never have given it to me in the first place if that’s what’s bothering her.”

  She seemed to be coming around. Her face showed signs of deep concentration. “It was Charlie that got her going. Margot didn’t realize she gave him the original. She had removed all the dirt from the copy.”

  I started to ask how Chuck got his chubby hands on the book, then realized Margot must have given him my copy. Then it dawned on me why she wanted my computer so badly.

  “I had the original and not a copy?”

  She nodded, lighting her cigarette.

  “What’s in there to get Chuck so riled up?” I asked.

  “That part about the fragging. I didn’t know you weren’t supposed to see it when you told me about it. The sergeant who killed the lieutenant was Charlie’s father.”

  I sat back in my rocker not knowing what to say. Luckily I didn’t have to when I remembered the coffee. “Hold on, Bon,” I said getting up. “My percolator is boiling over.”

  She followed me into the cabin and Fred followed her. “I told Margot I would get you to delete the file and promised to watch while you did it. Do you mind, Jake?”

/>   “Not at all, come on in and I’ll do it now. At least Margot saved me the time I would have spent searching war records for the sergeant who did the fragging. Chuck’s father? Who would have guessed?”

  Bonnie seemed satisfied after I deleted her father’s book from my computer. I even went so far as making a show of giving her a backup CD and several pages of a printout I had been working with, but she wasn’t completely computer illiterate; she asked, then watched, as I emptied my computer’s wastebasket. I didn’t mention how easy it would be for me to restore the file once she left. I made sure she had several cups of coffee before I asked her to watch Fred while I went into town to have dinner with Julie.

  Once she left with my buddy, I showered, shaved and dusted off a pair of pants and dress shirt I hadn’t worn since my last job interview. When I got to the tie, I noticed a crease made by the hanger it had been hanging on the last six months and decided to ditch the whole outfit. Eventually I settled for a casual pair of khakis, sport shirt with a collar, and a comfortable pair of hiking boots.

  Talk about a fish out of water. The restaurant no longer resembled the family oriented eatery I remembered. The checkered tablecloths and plastic ware had been replaced by fine linen and gold-trimmed china. I half expected the maître d’ to offer me a coat and tie when I explained I didn’t have reservations and was looking for Julie. Even the waiter who led me to Julie’s table was dressed better than me. I soon forgot about my attire when I saw her sitting at a table set away in a little alcove by itself. She was stunning. Until now I had only seen her dressed in a uniform with her hair sticking out the back of a cap in a ponytail. She must have spent hours getting the curls that flowed like braids over her shoulders. She was studying a menu and quickly put away her reading glasses when she saw me approaching.

  “Aren’t you a handsome devil,” she said.

  “Sorry I’m late. My chauffeur couldn’t find the keys to my Rolls so I had to borrow his car and the parking valet didn’t recognize me when I pulled up. Can you believe they made me park the car myself?” I asked while taking a seat across from her.