by Marja McGraw
“We’re almost there,” I said. “Too bad we already ate.”
“I haven’t had an In-N-Out burger since I retired. I miss things like that.”
Pulling into the driveway, I glanced across the lot and saw Pete leaving. I tried to hurry around to the exit driveway, but a family was walking across the lot and I had to stop. I couldn’t back up because someone had pulled in behind me.
Frustrating.
“There goes Pete,” I said, pointing at the other driveway.
Before I could stop him, Griz jumped out and ran across the lot, trying to catch him. He was too late, and ran back to the car.
In the meantime, a little girl fell and skinned her knee. She sat in the middle of the parking lot crying until her father picked her up and carried her to their car. Poor baby. I still remember that a skinned knee can burn like heck.
We were too late by the time I could move forward, and we’d lost Pete again.
Griz banged his fist on the dashboard, scaring me out of a year’s growth. “My gut is telling me that time is running out. Can I borrow your cell phone?”
“Sure.” I handed it to him.
He dialed a number and waited. “Draper. Any word yet?” he asked.
He listened to the reply intently.
“A note? Where’d you find it?”
He listened again.
“On the front seat of the Olds? What did it say?”
He looked at me.
“I’ll be back soon with reinforcements. Hang in there, buddy.”
“What did he say?” I asked.
“There was a note in the vintage Olds that said not to bother looking for Trap. Whoever took him says they need him more than we do.”
I glanced at my dashboard, hoping he wouldn’t pound it again. A car could only take so much, and I drive a used, nondescript light blue Ford, which is great for surveillance.
“Next time Pete runs errands, I’ll make sure he takes his phone with him.”
“Yeah, you do that.”
“I can’t think of anywhere else he might go.” It suddenly struck me. “Wait! He said he was going to visit Stanley.”
I pulled out of the lot and headed for Stanley and Felicity’s house. Maybe we’d finally catch up to him.
As sometimes happens, it seemed like I hit every light on red. My frustration was growing.
I finally pulled up to Stanley’s house, but before I could put the car in Park, I saw the back of Pete’s car turning right up ahead. I quickly checked traffic before pulling back out on the street.
“Now what?” Griz asked.
“I just saw Pete’s car up ahead. This time I’m going to catch up to him.”
I turned right at the corner and saw Pete turning left onto the main highway. Stepping on the gas, I drove up behind him and honked, but he was already making his left turn.
Just missed him.
I waited for cross traffic before pulling out and following him. Thankfully, the light ahead turned red and I was able to drive up next to him. I honked.
Pete turned to see who was honking and smiled when he saw me. I motioned to him to open the window, which he did.
“Go home,” I said.
“What?”
“Go home,” I yelled.
Pete glanced past me and his mouth dropped open when he saw Griz. He waved. “See you at home.”
“What a relief,” I said, turning to my passenger. “I’m surprised he recognized you.”
“Yeah.”
Things were about to take a turn for the better, I hoped.
The light turned green and we caravanned home.
Pete pulled up to the curb and climbed out of his Jeep. I pulled up behind him, and as I did so, another car pulled up behind me.
Griz climbed out of my car and met Pete on the sidewalk. They shook hands and gave each other a manly hug with manly pats on the back. I knew it had been years since they’d seen each other, and according to my husband, Griz was the best partner he’d ever had.
In nothing flat they had their heads together and I knew they were discussing Mr. Trapper. The good ol’ boy grins and handshaking had turned to serious faces and a lot of nodding.
Pete waved me over. “Griz says he already explained the situation to you.”
“He did.”
“Let’s pack a bag and get moving. I trust his instincts more than anyone else I’ve ever worked with and it sounds like this needs to be solved in a hurry.”
“What about the dogs?” I asked. “I can’t ask Dolly to keep them both for a few days. They’re a handful.”
“We’ll take them with us,” Griz said. “Clem will probably be happier at home anyway. Maybe your Bubba will keep her entertained.”
Pete nodded and turned to go inside to pack a few things.
I, on the other hand, started to walk toward Dolly’s house to bring the dogs home.
Someone cleared their throat behind me. Loudly.
I glanced over my shoulder and froze.
“Aunt Martha?”
“What? You weren’t expecting me?”
Chapter Five
“I, uh… I didn’t expect you until tomorrow, Aunt Martha.”
She had terrible timing, among other detrimental personality traits.
Her face reminded me of a stern school teacher, which is what she was in days gone by. “Huh! From what I just heard, young lady, you’re going out of town and wouldn’t have been here anyway.”
She turned to Griz.
“Is this your husband or is he the man who just ran into the house?”
“Pete’s in the house. This is an old friend of his.”
“Good. I’d hate to see you married to this old buzzard.”
“Aunt Martha!” She could be so rude sometimes.
I waited for an explosion from Griz, but it wasn’t forthcoming. Instead, he laughed at my aunt.
“And you are…?” he asked.
“I’m Sandi’s aunt, Martha Washington, come for a visit. I haven’t seen her in years and it’s time we caught up on a few things.”
“It’ll have to wait,” he said.
“No it won’t. I didn’t travel all the way from Chicago to be left alone in this old house.”
“Then I guess you’ll have to come with us.” Griz turned and followed Pete inside.
I turned back to my aunt. My memories of her from when I was a child were that she reminded me of an overbearing, prim and pushy woman. I also remembered her as being larger than life.
I blinked. She was about an inch or so shorter than my five foot three. Other than being smaller than the picture I had in my mind, she was still prim and overbearing. But now she had a few wrinkles and salt and pepper hair – mostly salt. She still wore it pulled back tightly in a bun, but a few curly wisps had escaped and hung by the side of her face and on her neck.
“Aunt Martha, wait here a minute. I’ve got to go next door and bring home the dogs.”
“Dogs? You’ve got dogs? Your mother didn’t tell me about that. I should have been warned.”
She hadn’t changed, but I had. I’d grown a spine. “Aunt Martha, you can put up with the dogs or leave for mother’s bed and breakfast. I’m truly sorry, but we have a job to do, and business comes first around here.”
The only surprise that registered on her face was one raised eyebrow. “Are the animals friendly?”
“Yes.”
“Bring them home and let me see them.” She folded her arms in front of her and tried to look down her nose at me, but she wasn’t tall enough so she tilted her head up. Unfortunately, she lost her balance and had to take a step back.
I turned away from her so she wouldn’t see me smiling.
Dolly met me at the door. “This little pipsqueak is adorable, other than her incessant licking. I wish she could stay longer.”
“We’re going to have to go out of town, and the dogs are going with us.” I glanced down at Clem. “She is pretty cute, isn’t she? Anyway, would you keep an eye on the h
ouse while we’re gone?”
“Of course. Who’s that lady in front of your house? She’s staring at us.”
“That’s my Aunt Martha, come for a visit. You’ve heard my mother and I talk about her.”
“That’s Aunt Martha?” Dolly had heard plenty of stories. “I think I hear my phone ringing.” She closed the door behind the dogs and disappeared.
“Chicken,” I said quietly.
Clem still didn’t seem to need a leash. She followed Bubba, looking happy as a little clam.
My aunt watched us approach, tapping her foot on the sidewalk.
Bubba walked up to her and sat in front of her, smiling his goofy grin, while Clem started sniffing her shoes.
Her lips barely moved when she asked, “Is he going to bite me? Why’s he snarling at me?”
“That’s his smile, and he’s as gentle as they come.”
Her expression was sheepish. “Okay, if you’re sure, but who’s the little guy?”
“This guy is a female, and her name is Clementine. She belongs to Andrew Trapper, and she seems to have a doggie crush on Bubba.”
I watched while Clem stopped sniffing and stood and wiggled her behind, looking up at Bubba’s chin.
Bubba’s head slowly moved downward. He grinned at Clem and plopped himself on the lawn. The little Chiweenie followed suit and laid her head on his paw.
Ignoring them now, my aunt said, “The Andrew Trapper? What’d you do? Kidnap his dog?”
“Aunt Martha! Why would you ask something like that?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Sandra. That just slipped out. But you took me by surprise. Why, I remember little Andrew very well.”
“Excuse me? You knew him?”
“Oh, my dear, he was the only student I ever had who understood me and my unique personality.” She’d taught high school algebra and a business class.
She smiled and my eyeballs almost rolled back in my head. Aunt Martha never smiled, unless it was at someone else’s expense and embarrassment.
I saw movement out of the corner and my eye and turned to see Griz snapping Clem’s leash to her collar.
“You knew Trap?” he said.
“Oh, my, yes. And he was memorable.”
“Tell me more.” He dropped Clem’s leash when she made no attempt to move away from Bubba.
“Let’s go inside,” I suggested. “I’ll introduce you to my husband and we’ll figure out what we’re going to do next.”
“My luggage is in the car.” My aunt pointed toward the Hummer she’d managed to rent.
“Leave it for now,” I said.
We walked toward the porch and I patted my chest, which was Bubba’s command to come. He stood and Clem slid off his paw. They both followed us inside.
I could hear Pete moving around upstairs and called to him. “Pete, would you please come downstairs?”
He descended the stairs and openly stared at my aunt.
“Aunt Martha, this is my husband, Pete. And you haven’t been formally introduced to Don Workman.”
“Call me Griz.”
She nodded before turning to Pete.
“You must be quite stout-hearted to marry into this family, young man. It’s good to finally meet you.”
Pete held out his hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you. It’s good to meet you, too.”
They shook hands and he quickly backed away. Chicken Number Two.
Griz sat down on the couch. “I want to hear this, Pete. It seems that Sandi’s aunt knew Trap when he was a child.”
“Not a child,” she said, “but a teenager. He was an extremely intelligent young man, but not at all like the others.” Her eyes looked far away in remembrance of her teaching days and Mr. Trapper. “Andrew had some issues that the other youngsters didn’t understand. He wore glasses and his hair was slicked back. Oh, and he had buck teeth. I see from photographs that he’s had that issue taken care of, but he was what people call a nerd. I remember he always rode his bicycle to school, and he used hand signals when turning left or right. He wore black slacks and a white shirt with a bow tie every day, and he always carried a briefcase. Oh, my, how the other students teased him, although there were a few who were kind to him.”
She closed her eyes for a moment and none of us spoke. We didn’t want to break her train of thought.
“He always spoke proper English. I don’t think I ever heard him use slang. We got along quite well. I was sorry when he graduated and walked out of my life. Like I said, he was one of the few people who understood me. And I understood him.”
She stopped speaking and looked at each of us in turn, folding her hands in her lap. “So why are the three of you involved with him?”
I thought Griz would put her off, but he didn’t. “He’s disappeared and I’m one of his body guards.”
“I guess you didn’t do a very good job, did you?” There was condemnation in her voice.
Griz continually surprised me. “I guess I didn’t, and I’d better make up for it. Time to go.”
“What about me?” Aunt Martha asked. “I came all this way – “
“Since you know him, I think you should come with us. You might come up with some ideas. It doesn’t sound like he’s really changed much over the years.”
“Where does he live?” Aunt Martha asked.
“Way back in the hills, off the grid.”
“And where are these hills?”
“Don’t ask. It’s a secret location in the middle of nowhere.”
“So he lives somewhere in the hills, in a secret location.”
“Correct.”
I leaned toward Griz. “But I thought you said he lives in a mansion.”
“Oh, he does, but you’d never know that from the outside. He has artificial rocks and lots of trees surrounding the place. It’s quite well camouflaged. He wants to be left alone, and because of his money, people are constantly trying to use him.”
“So it’s in a woodsy area?” my aunt asked.
“You could say that.” Griz grinned at her. “You might want to change clothes before we leave.”
My aunt was wearing white slacks, a black turtleneck sweater and heels.
“Pete, would you be good enough to bring in my luggage?” she asked.
She handed him the car keys and he went outside to retrieve her bags.
Ten minutes later she came down the stairs wearing jeans, a long-sleeved blue shirt and hiking boots.
“I’ve always wanted to have an excuse to dress like this.”
And so began the long drive to a secret location in some hidden hills in the middle of nowhere – with two goofy dogs and one goofy aunt.
Chapter Six
I had to laugh when Aunt Martha decided to ride with Griz in his motorhome. She said she was sure she could add to his knowledge about Andrew Trapper. While she drove everyone else to distraction, he seemed to think she was funny.
Bubba and Clementine rode in the motorhome, too. It was sure to be more comfortable for our big lug than the back seat of the car, and it made the little Chiweenie happy.
At least it gave Pete and me some time to catch up on the morning. He laughed about my search for him.
I didn’t.
“Pete, you’ve got to remember to take your cell phone with you. Griz didn’t seem too happy about the time it took to track you down.”
“Next time I’ll leave you an itinerary.”
“An itinerary with phone numbers.”
“I had no idea that being married would be so much work,” he said.
“Neither did I. So what’s up with Stanley? Is he okay?”
“He stepped off the curb and sprained his ankle.”
“Stepping off a curb?”
“Well, there’s more to it, but that’s the gist. He was trying to avoid stepping on a cat that ran in front of him.”
“That’s our Stanley. I’ve heard that a sprain can be more painful than a broken bone.”
“True,” Pete said. “I’ve don
e both. Felicity is babying him, so he’s a happy guy.”
“I wonder how long we’re going to be gone. I worry about leaving the business unattended.”
“Stan is going to cover things. Felicity will check our messages until he goes in on Monday.”
We rode in silence for a while.
“I wonder how long it takes to get to this secret hideout,” I said.
“According to Griz, it’s somewhere north and east of Lancaster.”
I thought about that for a moment. “It seems like it would be either mountains or desert in that direction.”
Pete shrugged. “I don’t know. He said the only kind of sightseeing we’d be doing would be when we drove by the entrance to nowhere, whatever that is.”
We drove for a couple of hours before Griz pulled off Highway 395 and began taking what were basically dirt roads. Pete had to use four-wheel drive a couple of times.
We stopped once at a kind of oasis where we let the dogs get out to do their business and we stretched our legs and ate snacks.
Aunt Martha wasn’t happy. “This isn’t food. I missed lunch, you know. Besides, these things aren’t healthy. When will we be able to stop and eat dinner? I’m hungry.”
“There aren’t any restaurants or diners between here and the mansion,” Griz said. “You’ll live. Eat some chips.”
“Don’t you have some regular food in the motorhome?”
“Nothing you’d like.”
“But I – “
“You wanted to come along, so get used to it. You could stand to lose a couple of pounds, you know.”
Uh oh. I had a feeling Aunt Martha had met her match. She glanced down at her jeans and then back up at Griz. “You have your nerve!”
“Yeah, I do.” He laughed and rounded up the dogs.
Clem was sticking to Bubba like glue. She didn’t wander off, but followed him closely, although her little legs were getting quite a workout.
“How much farther?” Pete asked.
“We’re getting close. We’re driving in the back way. It’s about another hour from here.” Griz leaned back, pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and lit up.
I was surprised. I hadn’t seen him smoke earlier in the day.
Aunt Martha gave him a disgusted look. “That’s not healthy for you.”
