The Begonia Bribe

by Alyse Carlson

  “That’s true,” Cam said. “We’ll need to listen. If someone approaches on the outer road, we hit the trees. It may give us some false starts, but at least we don’t get caught. And watch for the holly,” she added as she looked around. There was some growing in the undergrowth, and holly in the shade tended to be fairly dense, so the sharp leaves would be hard to avoid if they got stuck in it.

  “Yeah. Good idea,” Benny said.

  The problem wasn’t the idea itself, but the hyper-arousal of listening for cars while half watching for the safe spots to dive. It was stressful. Twice, as they approached the house, they had to jump back into the trees. Cam reassessed how she felt about it getting dark—the dim lighting meant they didn’t have to get back too far to be out of sight, which was definitely a redeeming feature, though the potential for tripping on something had increased.

  Finally the road opened up to a wide driveway, large enough for at least three cars.

  “I think we should still skirt it,” Annie said, but as she said it a car actually turned up the driveway.

  They dived for the trees . . . in separate directions.

  Cam was alone on her side of the driveway. She wished she’d had time to think, as she’d far rather be near enough to talk to Annie and Benny, but her instinct had been opposite of theirs.

  An SUV drove into the driveway and triggered the garage door. Cam tried to get a look—there was only one person in the car; all she could tell was that it was a large man. That was enough to suggest this was the right place. The garage door closed again, and Cam darted across the road to where Benny and Annie were.

  “I’m pretty sure that was one of the guys who talked to Barry earlier. I mean, all I have is size, but that’s something. That means the other is probably inside—two big, dangerous people. What should we do? Call Jake?”

  “Jake can’t do anything unless we have something more solid. I’m not even sure he has jurisdiction out here. It’s county, not city. He could come, but all he could do would be knock on the door and ask questions,” Annie said.

  “That won’t work! Dylan’s in there. I’m sure of it,” Benny complained.

  Cam had figured that would be how it worked. She decided having Rob on the way was better than nothing, so she called him.

  “Hey, Cam.”

  “How close are you on deadline?”

  “Basic story’s in; I’m working on another. Why?”

  “Dylan was grabbed by two thugs who are working for Barry Blankenship. We’ve found the house.”

  “We? Please don’t tell me you and Annie are on some insane rescue mission.”

  “Okay. I won’t. But if anything happens, we need someone to know. And besides, Benny is with us.”

  “Benny? That’s supposed to make me feel better?”

  “I hoped it would.” She relayed the address.

  “Look. I’m on my way. Don’t do anything.”

  Cam sighed. “Thank you.” She knew they wouldn’t wait for him, but she was glad he was on the way.

  * * *

  They crept around the side of the house, darting between weigela, which was easy to hide behind, and the smaller bluebeard. A couple of windows were lit, but they definitely weren’t using the whole house. Paper covered the basement windows. The house was quiet, other than the hum of an air conditioner, which was loud enough to drown out any other noise. Thankfully, it would also cover any noise they made.

  They went along one side then the back of the house, pushing on windows, testing to see if any would yield.

  On the third side they checked, as she ducked behind yet another weigela, this one with white flowers, Cam spotted a window that was open a crack. It wasn’t to the basement, though that was just as well. She didn’t think any of them could fit through one of those, certainly not without a lot of commotion.

  She ducked under it, then flagged Benny, who joined her.

  He wasn’t so cautious. He slid a pocketknife along the screen and pushed his fingers through, edging the window up a little higher and peeking.

  “It’s a bathroom,” he whispered.

  He eased the window up and listened.

  “No one near that I can tell.”

  “You going in?” Cam asked.

  “I would, but I think it will be a lot quieter for you; I can lift you in. You okay with that?”

  “I guess.” She really wasn’t, but she had to try. She didn’t think, even together, that she and Annie could lift Benny quietly.

  “You get in there. Annie will go back for the pickup. She will drive up and honk, create a huge racket. While they are distracted, you let me in the back door, then we’ll go get Dylan.”

  Cam looked at the house and it suddenly seemed huge. “Where? He could be anywhere.”

  “You’re the one who said they probably don’t do this often. I bet he’s somewhere that seems least visible and where he won’t ruin anything in this house—it’s for sale, so they won’t want him putting a foot through a wall. He’s probably in the basement. Try to find something to use as a weapon.”

  While that was impressive logic, especially given it was Benny, it didn’t seem like much of a plan. But Rob was on his way, and they didn’t have a better one. She let Benny hoist her through the window and managed to silently slide the window back down and climb into the shower, catching her breath behind the dark curtain. She’d listen and try to get her bearings from there.

  It took a minute or two before she finally felt like her own heartbeat in her ears wasn’t drowning out all other sound. She could hear a television—the air-conditioner buzz was quieter than outside, but still present. She couldn’t hear any voices or movement, though, which somehow seemed worse. If she could hear them, she would know where they were. Without hearing them, they could be anywhere. Her knees shook at the thought.

  Swearing filtered up from below her and a commotion that involved a few crashes, a slam, and some muffled shouting. Someone stomped up some stairs, she thought, and stormed into the bathroom.

  Cam pressed herself against the shower wall and involuntarily held her breath. It had been hard not to gasp audibly.

  “Sucker bit me!” the man shouted as he ran water from the sink.

  “I’m sure you showed him who was boss.” She heard a man laugh from out in the hallway.

  “Could have used your help getting that gag back on him.”

  That was confirmation someone was there; Cam doubted there were multiple cases of abduction in Roanoke on a given day. She realized, though, she’d really have to do something about that soon.

  “You managed,” the man in the hallway said.

  “How long is this for, anyway? I didn’t sign on to babysit.”

  “You signed on for what you signed on for, moron. It’s not like this is the hard part.”

  “I don’t like it. Grabbing someone, teaching them a lesson, that’s one thing. But I feel like sitting ducks here, holding on to him.”

  At that, there was a crash outside followed by the regular horn of a car alarm. Both men rushed that way, and Cam scrambled out of the tub. She found the back door easily and unlocked it, but Benny wasn’t waiting. It took a few doors to find the basement stairs, and she quietly slipped down, cursing Benny’s stupid plan.

  Cam hoped Annie hadn’t just gotten herself in a heap of trouble. It sounded like Annie had crashed Benny’s truck into the men’s car, though she knew their car had been in the closed garage.

  Cam ran through the basement, which didn’t take much time. It was mostly one room, but off the laundry room was a door with a padlock. She tugged but it didn’t give. These guys didn’t seem organized enough to share a key, though, so she felt along a high shelf that held a couple paint cans.

  “Pay dirt,” she said to herself.

  She wiggled the key into the lock and it clicked open. Dylan was lying on the floor in a heap. He tried to open an eye, but it looked like it had swollen shut.

  “Oh, geez! This is bad. Dylan, are y
ou okay?”

  He made a muffled noise, and she managed to pull a cloth from his mouth, though the bandana that had held it in place was knotted too tightly.

  She climbed into the closet behind him to work at the duct tape on his arms, and for a minute she lost herself in concentration. She wished she’d brought Benny’s knife.

  “What do we have here?”

  Cam sucked in a breath and looked up to see a huge form silhouetted in the doorway.

  “I knew you weren’t just into that Jessica chick. You won’t mind if I just lock you back in with this tasty number?”

  Cam sensed Benny before she saw him. Behind the thug came a black metallic . . . something . . . Cam remembered she’d been meant to grab a weapon, but things had gone too fast when the time arrived.

  The thug fell and Cam saw it was a heavy-duty flashlight.

  Benny reached in and handed Cam his pocketknife. She went to work on Dylan’s tape.

  “What took you so long?” Cam asked as she cut the tape and tried to peel it off Dylan’s skin.

  “That nut friend of yours. Bozo one was pretty mad, yelling and screaming. But I thought if I took the other out of circulation it would be easier. I broke a plate over his head and he went down. But the noise called this one back inside, so I had to hide. I followed him down the stairs.”

  “So the other one might wake up?” Cam asked.

  “Probably.”

  “Tie that one, would you?” Cam said. “Dylan, can I help you sit?”

  He sat with difficulty, and Cam began to cut the tape from his ankles as Dylan massaged his wrists. The uncasted leg was clamped pretty tightly to the cast. Meanwhile, Benny proved he was skilled with duct tape. He bound the thug well.

  “Thanks for coming, guys. How’d you find this place?” Dylan said.

  “A little genius and a lot of luck,” Cam said.

  They left the man in the main room—they wanted him eventually found. The stairs were too narrow for three across, so Cam went up first and Benny helped Dylan.

  She was glad to find Annie was as resourceful as ever. The second thug was tied with cooking twine and Annie was talking to Jake on speaker phone as she worked.

  “No, I swear. We just stumbled across it, but when we did, we could hardly leave Dylan here.”

  Benny laughed loudly, almost like the dim guy who didn’t realize Jake could hear him. Cam glared. The guy on the kitchen floor groaned, so Benny redeemed himself by reinforcing the man’s binds with duct tape while they waited for the police.

  * * *

  Jake wanted all of them to go to the station together to sort out what had happened.

  “So who were those men?” he asked.

  “They were trying to warn me off Jessica Benchly, or so they said. But they also talked about how they’d make me disappear,” Dylan said.

  “They work for Barry Blankenship,” Cam added.

  “Cam, that’s an extremely serious accusation.”

  “It starts with this.” Cam held up her cell phone and showed Jake the picture. “They looked like they were up to no good then—about four hours ago—so much so that I snapped a picture.”

  “So he met with them.”

  “And we found them by searching the properties Barry is currently leasing or selling.”

  Cam pretended not to see the irritation on Jake’s face. They hadn’t just run across all this at all. Thankfully, he didn’t say anything.

  “You ever see this man, Dylan?” Jake pointed to Barry on the picture.

  Dylan shook his head. “Not since he was kissing that cop last night. Tonight I only saw the lovely gorillas who took me and beat me up. That’s them, though.”

  “And you’re pressing charges?”

  “You bet I am!”

  Cam was shocked Jake had no more questions about the murders. She felt like she had a million. Annie stayed behind to talk to Jake, and Benny ran ahead to fetch his pickup so Dylan didn’t have to walk as far. As Cam and Dylan walked out of the police building, Dylan with a borrowed set of crutches, Cam edged closer.

  “So did you learn anything from all that?”

  “Look through the peephole before opening the door?” Dylan said.

  Cam rolled her eyes. “I mean about the murderer?”

  “Well, when I was there, it was a bunch of insane talk about how I was helping Jessica frame Mindy, but that isn’t true. I mean, I like Jessica, but I don’t know her that well. I’d certainly never help her frame somebody innocent. But besides that, Jessica didn’t frame anybody. She was with Clancy Huggins until he dropped her off at a telethon the day the body was found. She was there another twelve hours and then went home to collapse.”

  “There’s a maid who says she did frame Mindy, and . . .”

  “No. It was part of a plan!”

  “Do you know how stupid that sounds?”

  “Cam, work with me. It was a plan with Mindy.”

  Cam just nodded. She didn’t believe it for a minute.

  “And look.” He shoved a piece of paper at her. It held a handwritten plan to frame Mindy to win back Barry.

  “Dylan? This is longhand.”

  “So?”

  “So it could have been made this morning, after the fact.”

  “I found it yesterday between the mattress and springs.”

  Cam ignored that this meant he’d been alone in Jessica’s bedroom.

  “Fine—made yesterday. Is still easily could have been made after the fact. It was probably meant for you to find.”

  Dylan looked frustrated. “What constitutes proof, then?”

  “Well, computer stuff at least has a time stamp, as does phone, text—anything like that.”

  “Hell! I can’t use any of that.”

  Cam felt sorry for him. “Look. If she were to get arrested, they will look at all that. If it clears her, they’ll use it.”

  “But I don’t want her arrested.”

  Cam sighed. “Well, I’m glad you’re okay.”

  She was contemplating such a tight alibi. She was sure, though, she could figure out a way Jessica had gotten away for the time necessary to spike and deliver the bourbon.

  “Thanks to you.” He grabbed her shoulder and spun her, an awkward motion with his crutches, and one of them fell, so he sort of toppled toward her. In that motion, he planted a kiss on her lips that sent a fire down her spine, but she pulled away and ducked to fetch his crutch.

  “Dylan, I . . .”

  “I know. We’re both taken. But I just took a pain pill and was pretty sure it was the only time I’d brave that, so I had to do it just once.”

  “I find it hard to believe you’re shy about stealing kisses.”

  “Maybe you bring out my inner gentleman. You have a lovely night, Miss Harris,” he said and hobbled toward the corner where Benny would pick him up.

  * * *

  “There you are!”

  Rob ran at her as she climbed out of Annie’s car and he pulled her into a tight hug. “One step too late all night! It was the most frustrating thing. Griggs caught me on the way out to give me the bad news about the trial, and I never did seem to catch up. I got to the house after the police and they wouldn’t let me near—all of you hauled in! I couldn’t believe that! I waited awhile but they said it might be a long time.”

  Griggs was Rob’s boss, so she could understand that holding Rob up, especially in relation to the murder case Rob had scooped a few months earlier.

  “Yeah. Thankfully it wasn’t. It was nice of Jake to get Annie’s car from home while they sorted the questioning. So you said bad news about the trial?” Cam did her best to change subjects.

  “District attorney dropped the case! He says ‘the other confession in the matter stands,’ so he claims the case won’t hold water. Griggs thinks somebody flexed some political muscle and practically dared me to figure out who and out them, but as of now, no trial.”

  “Yeah, I probably shouldn’t be surprised. She’s connected.” />
  Cam felt sure she should be outraged about the injustice of it, but that wasn’t her biggest fear. It had been her investigation and suggestions that had prompted the police to make this particular arrest, and the woman was central to the Roanoke Garden Society. Cam hoped that this dropping of charges didn’t also mean a firing from her job. She was so close to her Mustang, too.

  “Yeah. That’s bad.” Then it occurred to her why it was bad for Rob—she somehow had forgotten that his covering the pageant had been a trade for getting to cover the trial. “Maybe if you solve this other murder it will all balance. Would that make it up to you?”

  Rob grinned. “It might.”

  * * *

  Cam and Rob talked late into the night about the things they knew, suspected, and doubted. Rob thought a confrontation with Jessica was definitely in order, as Cam had tried both Barry and Mindy and gotten nowhere. Mindy had blinders on. Jessica had to know the answers and seemed the person most likely to tell them, unless of course they implicated her in a murder.

  It was too late to call, but they decided they’d track her down first thing the next day, no matter what it took.

  CHAPTER 22

  Jessica had left town the day before. Cam was glad Evangeline knew that and had had Jessica’s phone number besides, as she would have hated to go to Dylan as a source. Lynchburg, though, wasn’t so far from Roanoke. Cam loaded a small cooler with icy-cold water, grapes, and a couple sandwiches.

  Rob rolled his eyes. “It’s forty minutes from here. We’ll be back by lunch.”

  “Not if we have trouble finding her.”

  He sighed, but humored her.

  The day promised to be a scorcher, hotter than even the worst of the pageant days, though in the last week of July, that was hardly surprising.

  “Now what are we saying, exactly?” Cam asked. “Aside from ‘We know you’re a murdering psychopath.’”

  “We’re presenting the evidence as we understand it and are going to give her a chance to give her side. We’re on a mission as reporters, Cam. Not rogue law enforcement.”

  “Well, what good is that?”

  “We get the truth. She really may have a story worth hearing.”

  “She won’t admit what she did.”