by R A Wallace
“Good man. Hey! Where’s Alva? There he is.” Ken laughed and shifted his gaze from the man walking toward the group to Gabe as he rubbed his hands together. “Let’s get this party going.”
***
Matthias returned to the stone patio at the rear of the large Queen Anne situated at the edge of town. Their efforts in the back yard showed. There were flowers blooming everywhere. Though some of the earlier blooms were already spent, others like the lilies were beginning to take their place. Matthias breathed in the happy sigh of a man who knew that he had a few days before he’d have to mow the lawn again. For now, he could sit next to his wife and enjoy himself.
He topped her wine glass off with the bottle he’d brought with him. “Where is Kaylee tonight?”
Barbara smiled her thanks. “She went to the Chase with some friends.”
“Good. She needs to get out with her friends.” He settled back in his chair. “Interesting name. What made them call the competition a chase?”
Barbara sipped her wine then crossed one leg over the other in her chaise lounge before resting her head back. “It’s an interesting story, actually.”
A smile pulled at his lips. “I never doubted it a moment.”
“We’ve been out there together when they were first putting the off-road trail in.” She turned her head a little to look at him. “You remember the terrain there?”
“Oh, yes. You couldn’t have picked a better spot for the trail. There are boulders the size of houses, hills bordering on mountains, and flat areas in the valleys that flood in the spring naturally.”
“The mud is quite a draw for them,” Barbara murmured with a smile.
Matthias nodded his agreement as he watched a hummingbird work its way around the closest grouping of flowers. “There are man-made and natural bridges over the many streams, long stretches of the trail that allows them to really show off their speed and, perhaps best of all, plenty of space for parking.”
“Then you can imagine how interesting it would be to have a fox chase there.” Barbara took another sip.
Matthias turned toward her in surprise. “That was not what I was expecting you to say.”
She laughed. “No doubt.”
“How long ago are we talking?”
She narrowed her eyes as she considered. “Late eighteen hundreds.”
“Really?” The hummingbird finished working each of the blossoms and disappeared from view. “Now that you mention it, I did notice that all of the ads for the off-road trail feature images of foxes.”
Barbara nodded. “Now you know why. Every year in the last couple of decades during the eighteen hundreds they would release a handful of foxes or so and the chase would be on.”
“It was a tradition for that long? Interesting.” He turned to her. “Did you have any family that joined in?”
“Oh, yes. I can’t tell you how many greats exactly, but my great great something grandfather took part. I have a picture here somewhere of a group of them just before they released the foxes.” Barbara took another sip of wine.
Matthias made a face. “Would you think less of me if I told you I would root for the fox in those things?”
She laughed. “No. To be honest, I’m the same way. I’m a lot happier with the land now supporting a chase of a different sort.”
“If the numbers I saw are any indication, it’s extremely popular.”
“It brings a lot of good press to the area also,” Barbara said. “It’s streaming on the Internet and has been picked up by television.”
Matthias glanced down at his wine glass. “I have another confession to make.”
She smiled as she rolled her head to the side to look at him again. “Yes?”
“I would rather be right here with you than out there right now.”
She reached over and patted his hand. “Me and you both. But if you change your mind, they’ll be events running most weekends well into the fall.”
“I’m sure everyone in attendance will have a great time.” Matthias leaned back in his chair and sighed.
***
Bennie walked out of the restroom and headed back toward his camp site. He didn’t mind that his site wasn’t close by any of the others. Having a little space to himself was a good thing. Some of the others could often get on his nerves, especially after drinking all night. The lights on the posts up and down the roads inside the campground did a good job of illuminating his way but he still carried a flashlight in his pocket. This wasn’t the first time he’d been camping.
There weren’t a lot of people out walking around this late at night. Bennie liked that too. When he did encounter someone else, he gave a quick greeting and continued on his way. No doubt, they were also on their way to use the facilities. The beam of a flashlight hit his eyes. He reflexively brought his hand up to shield his eyes. The light dropped after a moment to shine in front the man carrying it. The size of the man brought a scowl to Bennie’s face.
He stopped in front of Harley. “What did you do that for?”
“I wanted to see who was coming toward me.” Harley’s words were slurred.
“You’re an idiot.” Bennie stepped around him to continue walking.
“Hey, have you seen Ken?” Harley remained where he was.
Bennie paused. “Not since the party broke up. Why?”
“He isn’t answering his door.”
“He’s probably just passed out. Did you check if it was locked?”
Harley walked toward Bennie. “No.”
“Idiot.” Bennie shook his head as he began walking again. This time, he went toward Ken’s camp site. Harley held back as they reached the door of the camper. Bennie pounded. There was no answer. He turned to look at Harley but couldn’t see him in the dark. He reached for the latch and pulled. The door opened easily.
Bennie stepped up into the RV. It rocked with the motion. Ken must not have put anything under the stabilizers to keep it level. Bennie reached automatically for a switch near the door. The wall was smooth. He should have known. Some of the cheaper models didn’t have a central switch. The lights were turned on separately. Not knowing where the lights were located, he pulled out his flashlight.
That was when he realized that he couldn’t hear Ken snoring. He probably wasn’t even there. Bennie saw a light fixture on the ceiling and reached for it. His eyes were immediately drawn to the figure lying prone on the floor in front of him. If Bennie had any doubts about what had happened, the baseball bat next to Ken’s body told him the story.
Chapter Eight
Kaylee found her grandmother and Matthias sitting on the stone patio behind the house Sunday morning. She stopped behind them to let them know she was leaving. “I shouldn’t be gone long. Erica said she needs to work for a little while this morning.”
“How did that project you were helping Brad and Jerry with turn out?” Matthias asked.
Kaylee stepped around to face them. “I had a lot of fun with that. I didn’t do much, of course, but Brad did let me see some of the code. It was pretty impressive.”
“It must have been if you think so,” Barbara said. “What made this project so different from the others you’ve seen?”
Kaylee didn’t have to think about it. “The math, actually. That was way beyond anything even Brad or Jerry could do. They definitely had help from some sort of expert with it. Gotta go.”
Matthias leaned back against the chaise lounge. “Luckily, Jerry happens to know an expert.”
Barbara adjusted her sunglasses. “I was thinking the same thing.”
***
Bending to cut the swiss chard was time consuming. Getting down was hard enough. Getting back up was nearly impossible without holding on to something. Megan made a face as she looked at the start of the row to gauge her progress. She didn’t try to hide her relief when she heard Dan’s voice behind her in the garden.
“I said I would get that.” Dan easily stepped over the row of nearby plants to reach her.<
br />
“Help me up first.” Megan held her arm out.
Dan pulled her up. “Are you okay?”
She nodded and rested her free hand on the top of her stomach. “I think you’re the official picker of greens until the baby is born.”
Her words changed the frown on his face to a goofy smile immediately. “Not much longer now.”
“Seems a lot longer to some of us.” Megan moved out of his way. “Maybe if you cut, I can take it from you and put it in the basket. That will make things go a little quicker.”
“Sounds good.” Dan took the small knife from her and began cutting the mature leaves from the swiss chard plants.
“What are we doing with this?” He held the cut leaves out for her.
“We’ll eat some of it fresh and I’ll steam and freeze the rest, just like frozen spinach.” She transferred the leaves to her basket.
“Do you have the menu planned for the guests staying here this week?” Dan passed more cut chard.
Megan shifted the menu around in her head. “I could make a Chard Spoonbread.”
“Is that the one you’ve done in the slow cooker?” He stood to move down the row a bit then crouched again.
“With the cornbread mix, yeah.” She looked around the garden. “That’s a good idea. It takes green onions too, we have that. And we’re good on the eggs. It’s supposed to be warm, so using the slow cooker sounds like good idea. Thanks.”
“I’m trying to come up with ideas to make this easier on you. I was surprised you accepted the reservation this far into your pregnancy.” His eyes met hers when he passed her more chard.
She smiled. “We have about a month to go and these couples have stayed with me before. They’ll be out and about visiting with people from the area most of the time.”
“Yeah, I guess.” He stood again. “But I’m still willing to take some time off from work to hang around here.”
“Save it for when we both can enjoy it.” She looked at her basket. “I think a few more feet and we’ll call it quits with the chard.”
He crouched down again and began cutting. He stopped when he heard Megan laughing and turned to look at her.
She pointed at the ducks waddling through the barnyard in a row. “It must be time to take the babies for their Sunday morning walk.”
“I still can’t believe they do that.” Dan stood and transferred the rest of the chard to Megan’s basket before taking it from her.
They watched the mother mallard duck lead the ducklings across the barnyard to a grassy area.
“How long do they usually hang around?” Dan followed Megan from the garden.
“Just until the babies are old enough to really fly long distances, I guess. They don’t nest here every year, but most years they do.”
“They like the pond behind the barn, that’s for sure.” He closed the gate to the garden and latched it.
They heard the neigh of a horse as they walked to the house. It was followed by an answering neigh from the other horse. Megan paused to look at them before continuing.
“You’re going to miss them,” Dan said as he followed her up the porch steps.
“Yeah. I have to admit that I like having them around.”
“Has Casey said anything about these last four?” He set the basket on the counter near the sink.
“Not yet, but I’m sure he will soon.”
***
“We’ll need you to come into town with us.”
Gabe faced Erica and Jerry. The reflective sunglasses they wore made it impossible to see their eyes. “Seriously? Why me?” He waved around the campground. “Anyone here could have killed him.”
“Don’t make this any harder than it already is.” Erica rested her hand on the butt of her gun.
“You have got to be kidding me!” Gabe knew he said it loud enough for everyone in the campground to hear him.
Jerry moved forward and put his hands on Gabe’s arm. Before he knew what was happening, his arm was twisted behind his back and he felt the cuffs around his wrists. Erica latched onto his other arm and together they walked him to the police cruiser. Gabe looked out the side window at the faces staring back at him as the cruiser pulled away. Alva, Harley, Ike, Dack, and Bennie were clustered together in a small group apart from the other campers. He may have imagined it, but he thought Harley was laughing.
The drive to the police station didn’t take long and was completed in silence. Gabe entered the police station with Jerry on one side of him and Erica on the other. When they reached the large open office area where Ian and Rhys waited for them, Jerry removed the cuffs.
“Are you okay?” Erica asked.
Gabe massaged his wrists. “What happened?”
“That’s what we were hoping you could tell us.” Ian nodded to an empty chair.
Gabe sat when the others did. “I have no idea.”
“From where we sit, it looks like you killed Ken Medina,” Erica pointed out.
“How did your bat get there?” Rhys asked.
Gabe brought both hands up and rubbed the top of his head as he thought about it. “I couldn’t even tell you the last time I saw that thing.”
Erica and Jerry shared a look. “We figured as much.”
Rhys looked around at the others. “Maybe we need to call this off.”
“No! We can’t do that. You know what they’ve done in other locations. They’re bad news. We can’t let them get a foothold here in Teaberry.” Gabe leaned forward in his seat and looked around the group. “Come on you guys. We’ve come this far and I’ve already lost too much doing it.”
“That’s exactly my point.” Rhys motioned to Gabe. “Your family is about ready to give up on you completely.”
Gabe thought about the disappointment in Dena’s eyes the last time she looked at him.
“Ken and the others with him are only the middlemen. We need to get whoever is behind all of this. They’re not good people. It isn’t just identity theft like what they’re trying here.” Gabe looked around the group again. “You know there’s been far worse.”
There was silence for a moment. Gabe could tell they were hesitating. “You wouldn’t be this close if it weren’t for me.”
Ian motioned to the four of them in uniform. “We know that, okay? We get it. When we were first alerted that this particular group might be headed our way, it was our hope we could use your past association with them from your days of travelling.”
Gabe took a breath ready to argue again.
Rhys held up his hand. “We also know these individuals are not in any way associated with the racing world you followed.”
Gabe expelled his breath. “No, they definitely are not. They’re just the scum who follow wherever large crowds of people gather because it’s an easier target for them.”
“Like the crowds we’re now getting in Teaberry because of the off-road trail,” Erica said. “We just didn’t foresee anyone dying with the plan we came up with.”
“You know I didn’t do that, right?” Gabe raised both hands.
“We know. We heard everything you said last night through the wire you were wearing,” Jerry said.
“Okay then. So what’s the problem?” Gabe looked around the group then fixed on Rhys when he dropped his eyes.
Rhys rubbed a hand over his face. “You have to understand that someone is on to you, right? Why else would they have used your old baseball bat to kill someone and then make sure it was left at the scene?”
Gabe stared at him as memories of himself as a young teen burning his name into the bat flashed through his mind. He knew Rhys was right. “Yeah. There is that.” Then something occurred to him. “LeAnn?” He stood quickly.
Erica waved him back to his seat. “She’s okay. We checked.”
“You think that’s where your bat was?” Ian asked.
Gabe dropped back to his seat. “I have no idea. Dan packed all my stuff and transferred it to my new place above the garage. I don’t remember se
eing it in with the rest of the stuff but that doesn’t mean anything. I didn’t really look. For all I know, LeAnn threw it out years ago and someone just found it in the dump.” Gabe looked down at his hands. “She had no reason to keep it.”
Erica let out an exasperated sigh. “Okay, where are we with this?” She looked around the group.
Gabe watched them for a moment as different emotions crossed their faces. “I think we need to play it out. Listen, you don’t know these guys like I do. I mean, I stayed away from them whenever I came close to crossing paths with them in the past because I knew they were bad. But now they’re in my hometown and targeting people I care about. I can’t just walk away from this. Identity theft is probably the nicest of their arsenal of tricks. If the rumors are true, they’ve done a lot worse.”
Erica leaned forward in her seat. “Yeah. We’ve been hearing theories from our counterparts all up and down the eastern half of the country. No one has anything concrete. They’re pinning their hopes on us to stop the bad guys.”
“I’m in,” Gabe said quickly. “Right now, everyone at the campground and a lot of the people who attended the Chase yesterday think I created a web site for them to gamble online. The groundwork is already laid.”
“He’s right,” Jerry said. “You would be amazed at the number of people who have already logged into the site to place bets on the different challenges scheduled this weekend during the Chase.”
“Someone is expecting to get the names and financial information from those bettors so they can steal their identity,” Rhys said.
“Just as they were promised when we set this all up.” Jerry stood.
“We just need to make sure we catch whoever that someone is.” Erica also stood and turned to Gabe. “Okay. We’ll try this your way a little longer. Come on. We’ll get you back to the campground and let everyone know you’re our number one suspect in the case.”
Chapter Nine
Megan moved from room to room Monday morning making sure that she hadn’t missed anything. Her guests were due to arrive later in the day. It had taken her longer than usual to get the rooms ready but that was mostly due to her promise to Dan that she wouldn’t try to do too much at once. Instead, she’d broken the tasks up over several days. Pleased with everything that she saw, she went downstairs to finish getting breakfast ready. She could hear Dan’s voice in the kitchen before she even reached it.
