“Theo’s right,” Tess told them. “Audubon was a painter.”
“A famous painter, too,” I added. “Birds of America. Duh.”
“Hey, I studied French Impressionists,” Dean said. “Audubon doesn’t sound French.”
Tess stared at him in disbelief. “Seriously? He was born in the French colony of Haiti.”
“Forget about the gaps in Dean’s knowledge of art history.” I took the clue from him. “Let’s try to figure out where patriotic bird watchers would go around here.”
“I don’t know anything about birds,” Andrew grumbled.
“Eagle Pier,” Theo said quietly. “Bald eagles nest there.”
I laughed. “Theo’s right again. American bald eagles do nest by the pier. And it’s only a five-minute drive.” I leaned over the seat to shake Theo’s hand. “Congratulations. You’ve solved our first clue.”
A shy smile crept onto Theo’s face.
Andrew threw an arm around Theo’s shoulder. “I knew it was a good idea to add you to our team.”
Theo’s smile widened. So did mine as I started up the car once again. We may not win the Blackberry Road Rally, but it looked like Theo would have a new friend or two by the time it was over. That was worth a lot more than the prize money.
* * *
In order to not dampen everyone’s spirits, I didn’t mention that the grand prize looked to be slipping away. A red road rally car holding a group of older BAS alumni had been one step ahead of us all evening. We were playing catch-up. But our team had nothing to be ashamed of. By the end of the first hour, the five of us had turned into clue-solving machines: methodical, focused, supportive. The Cabot brothers shocked Tess and me by actually remembering some art-related fact they had studied.
I was also pleased to learn Theo’s expertise extended to more than birds. He solved the clue to our fourth destination: “When you run out of pottery material, think about heading here.” Although it made sense that a former ceramic student would correctly guess the Claymore Family Diner, located only a half mile from Theo’s Crow Cottage.
All in all, the rally had been a welcome distraction from Sienna’s murder, and I was having fun. Even though the sun was setting, we still had a good twenty minutes of light left as the skies turned dark rose. Fireflies glimmering in the farm fields provided a different sort of illumination. The rally was almost done. Just in time, too. My stomach grumbled. I couldn’t wait to set eyes on that picnic awaiting us at the Blackberry Bayou. We had just finished photographing Tess as she held up a turkey feather at our ninth clue destination. Now we sat in the parked car, waiting to hear where we should drive next.
Waving a piece of paper, Andrew intoned, “The final clue.”
“Oh, get on with it,” his brother said with exasperation. “If the red car gets any more ahead of us, it will be embarrassing.”
It seemed I wasn’t the only one who realized we no longer had a chance to win. I was cheered by the fact that no one was giving up, not even the Cabot brothers. And second prize was better than no prize at all.
“What does the clue say?” Theo asked.
Andrew cleared his throat. “‘If Chihuly’s business runs into trouble, he should go here for financial consultation.’”
Tess and I looked at each other. Dale Chihuly was a famous glass artist from Seattle. The clue had something to do with glass.
“Glassware galleries are too obvious.” Tess bit her lip. “And auto collision repair shops wouldn’t make sense.”
“Glass and financial consultation,” Dean repeated.
The five of us sat silently as night fell on the cornfields. The only sounds were crickets and the cries of whip-poor-wills.
“Leave it to Piper to write a clue involving finances,” Andrew finally said. “She probably had her banker come up with it.”
“Excuse me. I’m having a lightbulb moment.” Everyone turned their attention to me. “The clue could be referring to the Glass-Steagall Act.”
“Huh?” Andrew said.
“Glass-Steagall was an act passed by Congress in the nineteen thirties as a response to the bank failures after the Depression.”
Dean held up his hands. “How do you know things like that?”
“I read. I went to college.” I shrugged. “And I dated two Wall Street bankers when I lived in New York.”
Dean chuckled.
“There’s an abandoned motor home park on Glenn Avenue,” I continued. “It’s called the Steagall RV Resort.”
Tess high-fived me. “Yes.”
I turned on the ignition. “Second or third place, here we come.”
Five minutes later, I spotted the red car turning off Glenn Avenue. If the red car had just left Glenn, I was right about the Steagall RV Resort being the last clue destination. My only concern was the team in third place. More than once I’d caught a glimpse of an SUV trailing far behind us on one of the country roads. Luckily, I couldn’t think of any way they could pull ahead. Unless there ended up being a literal race to the finish.
When we arrived at the abandoned motor park, I had barely rolled to a stop before everyone piled out. A single empty RV remained, dirty and ramshackle. It looked as if it had been neglected for a hundred years, instead of only five.
“Now what?” I asked Andrew, who held the clue envelope.
“It says one of us has to be photographed in front of the resort sign.”
Like synchronized swimmers, we ran to the weathered sign still standing by the side of the road. “You figured out the clue, Marlee,” Theo said. “It should be you in the picture.”
I quickly posed in front of the sign. “Go ahead.”
But as Andrew photographed me, I noticed the headlights of a vehicle as it turned onto Glenn Avenue. “Uh-oh,” I warned. “I think that’s the team that’s been behind us all night.”
“We can’t let them catch up,” Tess cried.
“Whoever it is, they really want to win,” Dean said. “They must be going eighty.”
The photo taken, we ran for my car. By this time, the SUV we had spotted had just turned up the motor park driveway.
Andrew pounded the headrest of my seat. “No way are we going to lose to this clown. We’ve been ahead of them all night. They’re not beating us.”
However, they still had to photograph one of their teammates in front of the sign. That gave us a good minute. Maybe two. And I knew these country roads well. If these alumni were from out of town, they didn’t have a chance of beating me back to BAS. Snapping my seat belt on, I stepped on the gas. As I shot past the approaching team, there was an instant when my headlights illuminated the front seat of the vehicle.
I gasped. “Oh no. This isn’t good.”
“What’s the matter?” Tess asked.
I turned onto Glenn Avenue so quickly, my car fishtailed. In the rearview mirror, I saw the SUV turn around.
“No one on that team got out to take a photo,” Dean said. “Someone should tell them they can’t win unless they take the photo.”
“He’s not interested in taking a photo of the sign.” I was torn between watching the road and checking the rearview mirror. “He’s interested in me. And Theo.”
“What are you talking about?” Andrew sounded frustrated, and a little afraid.
Theo tapped me on the shoulder. “It’s Joel, isn’t it?”
“Yes. I saw him when I drove past. One of you needs to call the state police or the sheriff’s department. Now!”
“What should I say?” Dean leaned over the seat.
“Tell them the man who murdered Sienna Katsaros is chasing us.”
Ignoring the alarmed cries from all around me, I stepped on the gas, watching the needle go past seventy. If Joel hit optimal speed on the open road, his big shiny SUV could well overtake my little Malibu.
“I need to change the game,” I said. “I have to surprise him.”
“I don’t understand. What are you going to do?”
But I had no
time to answer Tess. Instead, I took a deep breath before swerving off the road and onto the dirt driveway leading to a farmhouse. A chorus of yells went up as I burst through a locked gate. The SUV followed right behind me.
“Game on, buddy,” I told the driver pursuing us in my rearview mirror. “Game on.”
Chapter 24
Tess covered her eyes. “Please don’t hit a cow.”
“I don’t think there are any cows out here.” I veered left. “Whoops. That was close.”
“Was it a cow?” Tess wailed.
“No. A farmer.” I glanced at my rearview mirror in time to see a man shake his fist at me. I sighed in relief when Joel narrowly avoided hitting him as well.
“The nut job is right behind us,” Andrew warned. “And he ran over a chicken.”
Tess’s shriek was deafening. This was too much for a vegetarian to take.
“No, wait.” Andrew paused. “The chicken just lost some feathers. It’s still alive.”
“I don’t care about chickens or cows,” Dean said. “A crazy man wants to run us down.”
“He’ll have to catch us first.”I scanned the property I’d crashed onto: one barn, two sheds, tractor equipment, and a penned area of goats. I needed to steer clear of the goats. Tess would never forgive me if I ran down a goat. I wouldn’t forgive myself, either. But beyond those goats lay green fields stretching into the distance. I was happy to see the crop was alfalfa hay. Driving around pumpkins and through cornstalks would have been too tricky. But my car could easily plow through alfalfa.
“Here we go.” I drove onto the field, hearing my tires crush the grasses beneath me. I’d compensate the farmer for whatever part of his crop I ruined. If I survived.
“Do you have some kind of plan, Marlee?” Andrew asked. “Because he’s gaining on us.”
Gripping my steering wheel, I began to drive in a zigzag fashion, swerving right, then left, then right again. My passengers fell side to side with each sharp movement. I spied a tractor parked up ahead. “Hold on, guys.”
“To what?” Dean cried.
After swerving once more to the left, I made a sudden turn to the right. I was going so fast, my car skidded sideways for several yards. Just before Joel could barrel into us, I stepped on the gas and Joel shot past, missing us by inches. I made a dangerously close turn around the tractor, heading back the way we came.
“I have an emergency dispatcher on the phone,” Dean yelled from the backseat. “They want to know where we are.”
“On an alfalfa farm.”
“They need more information than that.” Tess cringed as we nearly ran over the chicken again.
“We have to get back on the road so I can see a sign.” I groaned to see the farmer waving a rake at me as I made turn after turn on his property to avoid Joel’s SUV.
I heard Dean tell the dispatcher that we’d just left the Steagall RV Resort and were now trampling a lot of alfalfa on a nearby farm. “Here, I’ll take a photo of where we are,” he said. “Damn it! I dropped the phone out the window.”
“Don’t you dare touch mine,” Andrew warned. “It has the road rally photos on it.”
To avoid killing the irate farmer, I turned left, crushing more alfalfa on my way off the property and onto a dirt road. As soon as I did, I saw a car in my lane up ahead. I was coming up on it much too quickly. And Joel was close behind. I got in the other lane to pass the unsuspecting driver, only to be met with the headlights of a car coming right toward me. Tess let out a strangled scream as I swerved onto the shoulder, scraping the side of my car against a tree. A low-hanging branch knocked off my side-view mirror.
Both cars blared their horns when I sped past them. I winced as my speedometer inched past ninety. I spotted a crossroad up ahead. “Quick. There’s a sign. Tell me what it says.”
Tess crouched forward, and I was sure everyone in the backseat followed suit.
“Did anyone see what road we’re on?” I asked after we drove past.
“Are you kidding?” Andrew asked. “We’re going faster than the speed of light.”
I cursed aloud at the sight of cars in each lane up ahead.
“Hang on.” I turned off the road once more, this time plowing through tall grass, up and down a small gully, and onto another farm field. My car hit something on the ground, and I saw my left hubcap go spinning off into space.
I frowned at the sight of cornfields. Cornstalks would slow me down. But I had little choice. I drove into the corn, which sent corncobs flying through the open car windows. I had to get us out of the cornfield. Joel’s vehicle was bigger and had more power. He had the advantage, which was confirmed when Theo shouted, “He’s right behind us!”
I blindly turned right, hoping the field ended soon. When it did and we burst out of the cornstalks, I almost wept with joy; my joy was short-lived as Joel appeared once again. I saw a large barn up ahead and stepped on the gas. I was so intent on heading for the barn, I didn’t see the pond. A second later, we found ourselves splashing through water. Thankfully, it was shallow, and I got us to the other side without the engine stalling.
“Where are we going?” Tess asked in a shaky voice.
“If I can get past that barn, there should be a road on the other side,” I replied. “Along with a street sign somewhere. We need to tell the police exactly where we are.”
Cows appeared out of the evening shadows and we screamed. A chorus of frightened moos chimed in. Pressing on my car horn, I terrified these gentle creatures so much, they literally ran off in all directions.
“I’ve never seen cows run,” I remarked.
“I wish I could do the same,” Dean moaned.
But I was too intent on avoiding the harvester up ahead to reassure him. I sped by unscathed, only to brush against an unhitched wagon. The impact spun us around once more, and a hoe from the wagon flew into the air, cracking my rear window. I joined my passengers in screaming once again, but the sight of Joel headed right for us propelled me into action.
“Is anyone hurt?” I barely avoided hitting Joel’s vehicle as I made my escape.
“We’re too frightened to care!” Andrew shouted.
My hands gripped the steering wheel like iron. I was going to get my friends to safety, even if I had to drive through every farm and cornfield in Oriole County. And at the end of it, I hoped to run right over Joel with my battered Chevy.
“What is that?!” Dean yelled from the backseat.
An enormous cow stared down at us from the side of the barn, a lovestruck expression on her face. It was silly, gaudy, and the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I now knew exactly where we were.
“That’s Carol Grunkemeyer’s painting of her favorite cow,” I announced.
“It looks ridiculous,” Andrew said as we approached the barn.
“Well, it looks like salvation to me, sweetie.” Unfortunately, I had to not only be alert to what Joel was doing behind me, I needed to avoid the usual detritus found on the Grunkemeyer farm. I’d already swerved around a bucket, two lawn chairs, and a pile of feed bags. We were almost at the barn when I caught sight of yet another object lying in the grass. I smiled. The Grunkemeyers’ negligence was about to work in my favor.
I aimed my car directly for the post auger, waiting until the last second before swerving to avoid it. Joel was going too fast, however. He’d hit it for sure. Especially since he was sure to be distracted by the unexpected sight of that giant orange and white cow.
“Tess, look out your window and tell me what happens.”
Knocking off a corncob that had landed on her lap, Tess stuck her head out the window. “He ran over something. It looks like a tool. A tool with sharp teeth.”
“That is a post auger, my friend.” I made a sharp turn, which sent everyone leaning to the side. “Grab my cell and call Kit. He’s on my contact list.”
“Who’s Kit?” She scrambled to get the phone out of my purse.
“Captain Holt.” I stepped on the gas and drov
e straight toward the open barn. Having been here before, I knew I could drive my car through the barn without hitting anything. And it was safer than trying to avoid the objects cluttering their field. “Tell him we’re at the Grunkemeyer farm, but we’re on our way to the BAS campus.”
“We are?” Tess asked.
“We are.”
While Tess told Kit that we were en route to BAS with Joel hot on our trail, I drove through the barn. I felt thankful no animals, people, or farm equipment lay in my path. But Henry and Carol stood near one of the walls, staring in shock at the sight of a car driving past them. I had time for no more than a beep of my horn and a wave before I drove out the other side. As soon as I did, I spotted Blue Star Highway up ahead.
“Where’s Joel?” Theo asked. “He didn’t follow us.”
I hoped hitting the post auger had gashed open one of his tires. But I didn’t have time to search for him. The faster I got on the highway, the sooner I’d reach the BAS campus. I turned my car toward the front drive to the farm, narrowly avoiding two startled ducks. Before I could get too far, a pair of headlights came at me from the side. Joel had gone around the barn, driven close to the driveway entrance, and waited for us.
“I hate that man,” I muttered.
Since he blocked my path to the driveway, I had little choice but to head for the wooden fence. The Grunkemeyers were not going to like this. I knew they were proud of their new split-rail fence, which I now split totally apart as I crashed through it and onto Blue Star Highway.
My passengers yelled again as one of the flying pieces of wood hit my front window on the passenger side. If I made it through this alive, my car repair bill would be enormous. Not to mention all the money I owed the Grunkemeyers—and that alfalfa farmer. When I sped past the drive Joel had blocked, I saw him turn onto the highway.
“You lost another hubcap,” Andrew said.
“Two,” Theo added.
“I don’t care if we lose the last hubcap, along with the bumpers.” I looked over my shoulder. The cracked rear window made it difficult to see what was going on behind us, as did the encroaching night. “Is he still going as fast as he was before? The post auger should have blown out his tire.”
Blackberry Burial Page 27
