The Lost Power: VanOps, Book 1

by Avanti Centrae

  “You can take him to the roller coasters some other time. I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

  The boy did seem resilient. Maddy was reminded of a scene from the dojo the day before: AJ was still trying to figure out how to perfect his backward roll. Some moves just didn’t come as naturally to him, and she’d been assisting the sensei. She showed him how to tuck his head to the side and how to bring his hand up to help distribute the weight across his shoulders. Each time she gave him a slight nod to let him know it was his turn. When he finally figured it out, he’d given her a huge smile and hug.

  Was that just yesterday? Today AJ didn’t want to leave her, and she had to bribe him with a promise of an ice-cream cone, before he agreed to get in the car with Bella.

  So much had changed in a day. She felt as she imagined World War I soldiers in the trenches might have, shell-shocked and dazed.

  Will pulled out of side streets and onto Silverado Trail, a local route that paralleled the main drag through Napa Valley. She sat back in disbelief. Only yesterday, hell, even this morning, she had cried in the shower, sad from the breakup with Vincent. Helping out at the dojo, her aikido training, and part-time gig developing computer apps were all that she had to worry about. She fought against another sobbing attack, thinking about Vincent, Dad, and Maria. A lone tear rolled down her cheek.

  After about ten minutes, Will turned on to Highway 128, a shortcut through the coastal range to the Central Valley and Sacramento. Although filled with stunning scenery of woodland oaks, golden rolling hills, and even a picturesque creek along her side of the road, it had more than its share of hairpin turns.

  Maddy felt nauseous at the thought of all those curves. “I might get carsick if we take this route. Are you sure you want to go this way instead of taking the freeway?”

  “Well, it’s shorter, and we’ll miss traffic on the interstate.”

  “True. How about I drive then?”

  “Okay, let me find a spot to pull over.” Just having passed the Lake Hennessey Recreation Area, they were already in one of the curvy sections of road. “I remember a turnout up past the lake.”

  Maddy rolled down the window to get some air and tried to focus on the thoroughfare ahead, which was probably why she saw the black car before Will did. It was parked where the road from the left met up with the highway.

  She pointed at the black BMW. “Will--look there! Don’t stop!”

  Will turned his head to the left then looked back at her with a terrified glance. He swore under his breath and gently accelerated past the BMW. The driver and blond passenger were looking down at something. Perhaps a map.

  Maddy turned in her seat and mentally crossed her fingers. “Hope they didn’t notice us.”

  “Me, too!”

  She reached for her cell phone to dial the police. She glanced at the screen. “No reception!”

  Swearing, she shoved the phone into the glove compartment, closing the plastic door with enough force that it bounced open. She slammed it shut again.

  Tires squealed behind them. Maddy looked back in time to see a large cloud of dust bloom from behind the BMW. “Punch it!”

  Will threw the car’s transmission into “Sport” mode, downshifted, and accelerated through the next corner. Maddy was thrown back in her seat and watched the pursuit using the side mirror instead of craning her head back around. The German sedan seemed to sail around the corners, gaining on them. Maddy held her breath through a series of small S turns.

  Coming out of the last curve, a short straightaway ran in front of them, leading to a decrepit one-lane bridge. Will sped toward the crossing. From the opposite direction, a late-model, white Ford truck barreled down the road, also headed for the narrow passage. Will slammed the horn and the truck skidded to a stop on the far side of the bridge. The driver stuck his head out his side window, and Maddy read a questioning look in his eyes.

  His confusion didn’t last long. Shots rang out from the BMW and one of them hit the windshield of the truck. Will fishtailed onto the bridge, glancing off one side. They passed the Ford, the driver slumped over the wheel. Blood was plastered on the back window. Poor guy. Maddy touched her heart in shock as they raced by.

  Maddy looked ahead and couldn’t see around the next corner, which hung to the left. She jumped as a bullet pinged off the back of the Mustang.

  Will downshifted again and braked into the turn. “Hang on!”

  The car went into a skid until Will hit the gas. Their tires screeched, and she smelled burned rubber. For an instant, the BMW came into sight, but then her right-side mirror exploded.

  Her heart lurched in her chest. We’re going to die! Her shaking hands grabbed the dashboard as she realized she was truly terrified for the first time in her life.

  They accelerated down a straight stretch of road toward a U-turn that she recalled from prior trips, the BMW gaining on them in the straightaway. Will took the turn to the left way too fast and braked to avoid the railed drop-off that yawned beyond the road’s gravel edge. Tires squealed as their car slid into a full spin.

  Maddy’s pulse hammered in her ears and her stomach did a Tilt-a-Whirl lurch. Pebbles flew.

  Will jammed the accelerator and corrected the car. It rocketed forward.

  Abruptly, a female deer jumped onto the road and Will jerked the car to avoid it. They brushed past the doe and a heartbeat later, brakes screamed.

  Maddy whipped her head around. The black sedan narrowly missed another deer but skidded out of control and hit the guardrail. The railing was no match for the fast-moving feat of German engineering--the car sliced through it and bowled down the canyon. It rolled twice before it burst into flames.

  “Will, stop the car. They’ve gone over the edge.” Relief rang clear in her own voice.

  Before he pulled over, Will continued on another fifty yards, until the road widened into a turnout. Without speaking, they got out of the car, walked back down the road, and looked into the abyss beyond the violated guardrail. Several hundred feet below, the car at the bottom of the canyon was a crumpled, dirty, smoking mess. Flames flared from the engine. Somehow, the vehicle had landed right-side up in the creek. The horn blared.

  The noise stopped, and she could make out the sound of a roaring fire over the rushing of the creek.

  The passenger’s half-submerged car door opened, and a blond man stepped into the thigh-deep water. Not just any blond man, the shooter from the vineyard. At this distance, it looked as if flames were coming from his hair and shirt. Perhaps his entire right side was on fire. She couldn’t be sure. The shooter threw himself into the water, executing a perfect shallow dive.

  Maddy turned and looked at Will.

  His eyes were wide and scared. “We need to go.”

  Her heart pounded again, loud in her ears.

  CHAPTER 13

  1:15 p.m.:

  As Will put his hands back on the wheel of the Mustang, he noticed they were shaking and fought to control them. Fear or adrenaline? he wondered. He gripped the wheel hard with one hand and shifted into “Drive” with the other.

  Once they were back on the road, Will turned to Maddy. “Holy Mother of God! I’ve never had to drive like that.”

  “Wow. Just wow.” Maddy’s tone was quiet and shocked. Then she found her voice. “I’ve never been so terrified in my entire life.”

  “Me neither,” Will said. “I can’t believe that guy survived the crash.”

  “Crazy.”

  “I guess they’re after us, too.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Do you have cell reception yet?”

  “Let me look.” She grabbed the phone from the glove compartment and glanced at it. “No, not yet. We’re still in the boonies.”

  Will piloted the car through the curves at a normal speed. “So, who wants us dead? Maria, Dad, and now you and me?”

  “I have no flipping idea. Maybe Dad had some kind of sketchy business deal go awry?”

  “Unlikely,” Will disagreed and
checked off points on his fingers. “Dad’s land company was pretty tame. All he did was run the vineyard. He hadn’t dated anybody in decades, pretty much since Mom died. Maria and I have no known enemies--you don’t either, right?”

  “Right. Unless I ticked off some kid’s parents at the dojo while teaching them to roll,” she replied facetiously.

  Will chose to ignore the sarcasm. “Sounds questionable. So much for the usual suspects. That leaves Dad’s odd mention of our old ancestor, Ramiro.”

  Maddy looked out the window. “Speaking of which, does the attorney know we’re coming?”

  “Uh, no. I didn’t think to call. I was a little...distracted.”

  She looked down again at her cell phone. “We must be getting close to Winters. I have reception now. I’ll call nine-one-one and then the attorney.”

  The hills had given way to the orchards of the Central Valley. Will lit a cigarette and decided it was definitely fear, perhaps terror, and not adrenaline that had made his hands shake.

  As Maddy made her calls, Will scratched at his beard. At least the fear had chased off the sadness for a minute. Now that his breath had returned to normal, the lead weight of grief weighed him down again. What will I do without Maria? I loved her so much.

  Once Maddy was done wrangling an urgent appointment with the attorney, he turned on some classical music to fill the silence. The battle to keep his hands steady on the wheel was won for the moment, but he often looked in the rearview mirror and wondered what he would do if that blond guy got his hands on another car.

  CHAPTER 14

  Midtown Sacramento, 1:45 p.m.:

  After they had parked in the neighborhood parking garage near the attorney’s address, Maddy scanned the area for a possible attacker. At this point, she was feeling jumpy and raw, but nobody leaped out of the bushes. They had argued over where to park, just like old times. She had voted for a closer spot on the street, but since Will was driving, he vetoed her vote and went for the parking garage, using the “It will be cooler” logic.

  As they stepped out of the shaded garage and onto the tree-lined street, she agreed to herself that he had a point. The car dashboard had read 103 degrees, a typical scorching Sacramento summer day. “There’s a reason I live in the Bay Area. It’s bloody hot here.”

  “It is.” Will looked up and down the street. “I can’t believe I’m asking this, but are you hungry?”

  “I lost my appetite in Napa but will keep you company when we’re done here.”

  Will checked the address on his piece of paper against a 1920s-style bungalow that was painted a modest light green with tan trim. “Okay. This is it.”

  She appreciated that, although nearly one hundred years old, the house was well kept. It even had an inviting porch swing, which, to her taste, may have pushed the envelope a bit between cozy and professional. But she didn’t mind. However, she did mind the Coors beer can on the sidewalk. It didn’t belong. She picked it up, emptied out the remaining contents in the landscaped ivy, and carried it with her up the broad set of stairs.

  Inside, a too-sunny, too-young, too-nervous-looking receptionist with short, dyed-blonde hair and long nails looked up from her typing. “Can I help you?”

  “Yes, Madeline and William Argones here. We have an appointment with Ms. Bridgewater,” Maddy said.

  The receptionist looked pointedly at the beer can in Maddy’s hand. Maddy, in turn, looked down at the gold fingernails, noticing a tiny red star embedded in each. Maddy wondered how the woman typed.

  Maddy felt too tired to be petty. “Do you have a trash can? I found this on your sidewalk.”

  “Of course. Here you go.” The sweet young thing reached under her desk and offered a waste basket.

  Maddy promptly took advantage.

  The receptionist pointed toward a fashionable set of chairs at the other end of the room. “If you’ll have a seat, Ms. Bridgewater will be right with you.”

  Several minutes later they were ushered into an office. It looked like it had been a dining room at one time, as it had a swinging door, probably to the kitchen, at the opposite end of the room from where they had entered. The office was painted a warm, light-green color. Maybe she should consider repainting her apartment with the shade, as it nicely set off the polished oak floors and the wooden, double-hung windows. The glass offered a view of the front porch, the swing, and the empty Midtown street. A tasteful antique desk, chairs, and a side table comprised the furnishings.

  The attorney, a partner in the Bridgewater, Simon, and Stratford firm, was female, and in her early fifties by the laugh lines around her eyes and the salt and pepper in her hair. She held herself with a competent, businesslike demeanor that was reflected in her tailored suit. Either she had managed to avoid glasses or was wearing contacts in her dark-brown eyes.

  The attorney wasted no time in offering sympathy as she shook their hands in both of hers. “Please sit down. I’m so incredibly sorry for your loss.”

  Will sat across the desk from the attorney. “Thank you.” His long legs didn’t fit between the desk and the chair so he scooted the seat back.

  “We appreciate your condolences,” Maddy added, pulling her own chair back for her legs before taking the seat next to Will. “Weren’t you friends with Dad?”

  “I do--uh, did--consider your father a good friend. We met years ago at a wine tasting and had gotten to know each other well over the years, as he ran all his business through our firm. I will miss him.”

  “Well, we’re sorry for your loss as well.”

  The attorney’s eyes looked red. Perhaps there had been something more to the relationship.

  “Thank you. So why are you here? It’s a little unusual to discuss his affairs so soon. In most circumstances, we would wait for a death certificate.”

  Will made a small motion with his hand to get their attention. They turned to him. “I know Maddy didn’t go into details with you on the phone.” He paused and looked away.

  The attorney prompted, “Do you want to share those details now?”

  He took a deep breath. “Yes, it’s why we’re here. Dad was shot this morning, brutally murdered, along with my wife. They were both taken out with one bullet, intentionally or unintentionally, we don’t know. We heard the shot and ran into the living room. My wife was gone, but Dad got out a few words. He told us to come here.” Will’s voice cracked but didn’t break.

  The attorney’s expression became flat and closed.

  “He mentioned ‘Ramiro.’”

  Bridgewater’s eyes narrowed for the briefest instant. “The first king of what eventually became Spain. And your ancestor. Interesting.” She paused.

  Maddy imagined the attorney was making her mind up about something.

  “I’ll need to confirm the death,” the attorney said.

  “Please do,” Will said.

  Will looked at Maddy, and she got the sense he was asking permission to add additional elements to press the point. She nodded.

  He went on, “Also, on the way here, we were followed by the murderers. Shot at.”

  The attorney’s eyebrows rose. “You’re all right?”

  “Well, we’re as fine as we can be,” Will said. The fear in his eyes, though, leaked through. “The shooter’s vehicle crashed, and we hope the police have apprehended them. We’ve had an extremely long day already and want to know why Dad pointed us here.”

  “Okay. I’ll get on it. Please step back outside for a moment. Help yourself to coffee.”

  Maddy and Will walked into the young receptionist’s domain. Was the girl even out of high school? She wore ear buds and ignored the twins as she continued to type. Will looked out the window, then picked up a magazine and began to skim it. Maddy checked her phone to distract herself.

  There was a text from Bella indicating that AJ was back at home safe and sound. The message even had a picture of him waving, with a somber smile on his freckled face, which produced a small return smile from Maddy as she text
ed a thanks. There was a breaking-news article from her New York Times newsfeed about a Russian attack on someplace in China. She skipped it. Her buddy Aaron, the sensei who owned the dojo, had texted that classes had gone well today. Her computer coworker had left her a text asking when she was going to be done with wireframing the new shopping app they were creating. And nothing from Vincent. Of course. All normal correspondence. But after the day’s events, normal correspondence seemed unreal.

  The door opened and Ms. Bridgewater called them into her office. Outside the windows, the hot summer street held no movement. The porch swing was still as death. They sat down and the attorney handed them each an eight-inch-by-fourteen-inch yellow manila envelope. Maddy’s felt heavy.

  The attorney interlaced her fingers. “Your father made arrangements for you, and your sister Bella, to have these. If he’d died a nonviolent death, you’d get them after the funeral, but he had the foresight to indicate that, should he die in violent or unusual circumstances, you were to receive them right away.”

  That farsightedness surprised Maddy. She opened her packet and noticed Will opening his, too. Hers contained a letter-size envelope addressed to her in her father’s handwriting. Something swished when she moved the envelope. She’d open it later, after seeing what else was inside.

  The packet’s contents then got odd. She found ten gold coins. Upon closer inspection, each was a one-ounce gold American Eagle.

  “What the hell?” Will muttered.

  Maddy glanced over to see him opening a small black velvet bag. When he spilled the contents into his palm, her breath caught. He held a handful of small diamonds. They sparkled in the sunlight streaming from the window, like a tiny galaxy of glittering stars against the night-black setting of the bag.

  Inside Maddy’s envelope was not only a similar bag but also a wad of several thousand dollars in cash. Large denominations. That concluded her quick inventory. And I thought Dad was broke. She shook her head at her father’s strangeness then looked up to press the attorney for additional information.