The Darcy & Flora Boxed Set

by Blanche Day Manos

  I looked up from scanning the pages. “So you don’t have any idea what happened to all these assets?”

  Sophie shook her head. “Not those, no. Of course, I do know that the Inglenook is still in Andrea’s name. It isn’t listed there because her grandmother stipulated it would always remain in the direct lineage of her family.”

  “All I can think of to say is Wow,” I whispered. “Andrea left all that to come to Ventris County and live with Gary? It must have been love.”

  Sophie lifted her shoulders. “Or something like that.”

  Mom read the pages over my shoulder. “This falls right in line with the things we were talking about earlier, doesn’t it, Darcy?”

  It did indeed, and provided a mighty powerful motive for Andrea’s husband to do away with her.

  Suddenly Sophie put down her coffee mug. “I want to go and see the place where they found her—where they found my girl.”

  “Now, Aunt Sophie, we’ve talked about that,” Charlene said in a pleading tone.

  Mom’s voice was soft. “Oh now, Sophie, I don’t know what good it would do and it would just make you feel worse.”

  Sophie pushed her hair back from her forehead and closed her eyes. “I don’t think I could possibly feel any worse. If you and Darcy would take us over to Pat Harris’s place, I’d really appreciate it. I don’t know if I could find the Harris house by myself, and I’d hate to walk in on poor Pat since I’m a stranger to her.”

  There it was—a way for me to get off by myself this morning and do some investigating on my own. But what plausible reason could I give for not going with them?

  “Mom, you go and show them the way. I think Charlene should go too as a support for Sophie. I’ve got to do a few things myself; I have never gotten a really good start on that book I’m supposed to be writing. This might be a good time to do that.”

  None of this was a lie. It was all true. I just didn’t say that the few things I had to do involved going the back way to the Worth ranch if, by chance, Gary was at his construction company or otherwise occupied away from home.

  My mother arched an eyebrow and looked at me. “It’s funny to me, Darcy, that you’d have an itch to work on that book just this minute. Do you have something up your sleeve?”

  She really did know me well. “Mom, I’m just doing what you’ve always preached to me: ‘don’t put off ’til tomorrow what you can do today.’”

  It was with a great sense of relief that I saw the three women climb into my mother’s Toyota and head down the road on their way to Pat Harris’s house.

  The first phone call I made was to Grant. I got straight to the point. “So, have you arrested anyone yet for Andrea Worth’s murder?”

  “Arrested who, Darcy?”

  I was glad Grant couldn’t see me stomp my foot. This man could exasperate a stone statue. “Gary Worth comes to mind.”

  Grant sighed. “First we need proof. I agree that a lot of circumstantial evidence points to Gary. But he has a pretty good alibi in the words of his night watchman and also the film from his surveillance camera. It may take a while, but I guarantee you, we’ll find who murdered Andrea Worth. We have some substantial leads. Let me tell you, Darcy, that the person who killed Andrea is probably feeling a lot of pressure right about now. He’s scared and desperate and such a person as that is mighty dangerous. So let me handle this. Okay?”

  “Okay,” I mumbled.

  As I hung up the phone, I came to one conclusion: the wheels of justice grind mighty slowly. I’d see if I could speed them up a bit.

  My next call was to my cousin Zack Crowder. He drove a truck for Gary occasionally, he said. Surely he would know whether his boss was home. I sincerely hoped he wasn’t.

  Chapter 31

  Jethro wound around my legs as if he were trying to tell me something so I checked his food dish. “You’ve got plenty to eat, pampered cat. Do you want a bite of frozen yogurt?”

  He followed me to the freezer. I pulled out the vanilla dessert, scooped up a hefty spoonful and dropped it in his dish. “Eat up.”

  He needed no encouragement. He tucked his tail around his legs, crouched over this yummy treat and dug in.

  Zack had told me that Gary would be out of town for a few days on a cattle-buying trip. That, coupled with the fact that my mother did not know of my intentions made this the perfect time to take a little hike through the woods in the direction of Gary Worth’s ranch.

  “Now I’m going to do what I’ve been wanting to do,” I told Jethro. He ignored me. “I’m going to do my best to find that shortcut to the Worth ranch. The weather is cooperating and it’s a long time ’til night and, best of all, Gary isn’t going to be home. So I should be okay.”

  Thank goodness Mom was occupied with Sophie and Charlene. She would raise a fuss about my trip or want to go with me. Neither of which was going to happen.

  I went into the front room, slid open the bookcase drawer containing Dad’s old pistol, and stuck it in my purse. This time I was going to be prepared in case I got into trouble. Would the gun be lethal if used on a panther? Hopefully, I wouldn’t have reason to find out, but if one of those beautiful but dangerous cats threatened me, maybe the noise of a gunshot would scare it away.

  As I was about to go out of the door, I noticed Jackson Conner’s pocketknife. It still lay on the table where he left it. If I had to wade through tangles of briers or sumac, the blade on that knife might be very useful.

  The knife fit nicely into a small zippered compartment inside the lining of my purse and, feeling a bit like a pioneer woman about to brave the wilderness, I left the house and climbed into my Ford Escape.

  The countryside of Ventris County closed around me once I turned off the road that led to Granny Grace’s acres and inched along the dim wagon ruts. A big gray limestone rock marked where I had parked my car the day of the thunderstorm. A faint and little traveled path led away from the rock through a dense growth of scrub oak, black jack, and sassafras. I slung my purse over my shoulder, grabbed the flashlight from the glove compartment, and slid out onto a carpet of dead brown leaves.

  What did I think I’d find at the Worth ranch? I didn’t actually know but sometimes putting myself in the place of somebody else helps me see things more clearly. From all accounts, Andrea’s home was the last place she had been seen. Something might turn up; I might have some insight as to how Gary had caused Andrea to vanish if indeed Gary was the culprit.

  Every clue that came to light pointed in that direction. If he was responsible for ending the life of Sophie’s daughter, I wanted no better reward than to see him behind bars.

  Full sunlight on the autumn leaves made the trail show up better than the last time I had tried to follow it.

  The trees around me, the silence of the forest, and the fresh scent of damp leaves welcomed me. Did Cherokee people use this path a long time ago? Maybe Gary’s ranch had been built on what was once a Cherokee settlement, more than 150 years ago. I remembered hearing that there were springs of water that fed a crystal-clear creek running through his pastures. Gary Worth had chosen well; his place was prime land for raising cattle.

  The cawing of a crow broke the stillness as I trudged along, my eyes to the ground so that I wouldn’t miss the indistinct track. At times, the limbs of the bushes and trees met overhead, creating a false sense of twilight. I had to duck down under this woodsy canopy. A four-wheeler could navigate this path, or a horse if the rider bent down low over the saddle horn. But in no way could a car, no matter how compact, get through.

  The trees drew back from the trail now so maybe I was nearing Gary’s pasture. I glanced up to see if a building were in sight. Gary Worth, his arms folded across his chest, his legs straddling my path stood six feet away, staring at me.

  His lips drew back in a smile completely devoid of mirth. “Well, well, if it isn’t little Darcy. The intrepid reporter hot on the trail for a news story. And this time she’s really on the trail. That’s a joke. Get it
, Darcy?”

  A surprised yelp escaped me before I clamped my lips shut. This man was supposed to be gone from home. How had he known that I would be here? Did he regularly patrol this back way to his ranch? Judging from his face and voice, he was no happier to see me than I was to see him. If I needed any proof that appearances can be deceiving, it came in the form of Gary Worth. How could someone who was so good to look at be such an evil person?

  Sometimes subterfuge comes in handy. This was one of those times.

  My mouth suddenly felt dry. I cleared my throat. “Gary! Am I glad to see you! I was out in the woods, um, looking for mushrooms and I’m afraid I got lost. If you’ll just point the way back to the road, I’ll be going. I sure didn’t mean to trespass on your land, if that’s what I’m doing.”

  He shook his head and started walking toward me. If I had ever seen hatred in someone’s eyes, it glittered in the green eyes of Andrea’s husband. “No, I don’t think so, Darcy. You’re too nosy, too stubborn. I can’t have you messing up things now.”

  I turned and ran. And bounced off the broad chest of my cousin Zack Crowder. The relief that washed through me left me weak. I grasped his arm.

  “Zack! Am I glad to see you! Zack, this guy . . .” I turned and pointed at Gary who stood much too close, “this guy threatened me. I’m afraid he knows what happened to Andrea.”

  My babbling would have put Pat Harris to shame but I didn’t care. I just wanted Zack to get me far away from Gary Worth, immediately if not before.

  But Zack was not behaving as I wanted him to behave. He stood stock still, gazing down at me and slowly shaking his head.

  “I’m afraid that I’m not here to rescue you, Cousin Darcy.”

  I rubbed both hands over my eyes. What was he saying? Zack didn’t even look the same. I had never seen his face set in those lines and he kept shaking his head.

  Behind me, Gary laughed. That low, throaty noise sent chills racing down my backbone.

  “Zack, what are you talking about? Don’t you know that this man,” I jabbed a thumb toward Gary, “this guy probably killed Andrea? Didn’t you hear about her body being found at Pat Harris’s? He’s evil, Zack. Don’t you know that? What’s wrong with you?”

  “Sure, I knew that Andrea had been found. That loudmouth Pat phoned Mom, and Mom likes to tell everybody just how much she knows. She didn’t know about me and Gary though. She’d never have guessed that I helped Gary get Andrea off the ranch and put her body under that floor. And, she’s not going to know, Darcy. By the time your wonderful Grant Hendley finds you, everybody is going to believe that poor old Jasper Harris killed Andrea and you, too.”

  This nightmare was far too real. When would I wake up? I felt as if I were in a different dimension where people looked sane but were actually as crazy as bedbugs. My purse was in front of me, slung there when I bumped into Zack. Gary was behind me. Slowly, I eased open the clasp and reached for my dad’s gun.

  But Zack saw the movement. “No, you don’t, Cousin.” He grabbed my purse off my shoulder and tossed it to Gary.

  “That takes care of your cell phone and whatever else you might have had in there. Turn around, Darcy.”

  Gary rummaged through my purse and came out with Dad’s gun. He pointed it at me. “Lookee here. The little lady is armed.”

  My stomach knotted.

  “Put that thing down,” Zack snapped. “We’re not quite ready for that yet. Her purse will be useful when we put some evidence on Jasper.”

  For the first time I noticed that Zack had a length of rope. He grabbed my shoulders and spun me so that I faced Gary. I felt the rope go around my wrists behind my back. I shook my head to clear it. This was happening too fast. This hallucination felt real. Surely it must be a bad dream. Zack, my cousin, however how many times removed, but still a relative. And his mother Earlene. Why, she and Mom visited sometimes and Earlene took an active role in the upkeep of Goshen Cemetery just as Mom did. When had Earlene’s son begun to change?

  “Zack,” I said, “think about what you’re doing. Think about your parents. This is not like you. Nobody in the family has ever been mixed up with murder. It’s not too late. If you turn Gary in to Grant, you’ll be a hero.”

  “Shut up, Darcy.” He gave the rope around my wrists a yank.

  Zack had made the mistake of stepping too close to me while he was tying my hands. I twisted out of his grasp. Lowering my head, I rammed it as hard as I could into his stomach.

  “Ow! You’ll be sorry for that, Darcy. I’ll make sure you are good and sorry.” A thousand stars exploded somewhere behind my eyes and thick blackness closed in around me.

  Chapter 32

  I awoke to the sound of a beating drum. Funny; it was beating with the same rhythm as my heart; a pulsating beat that hurt. In fact, the top of my head felt as if it would explode. I tried to open my eyes but that only increased the pain. Gary or Zack must have hit me on the head with something pretty hard. I lay very still until the pounding lessened. Then, when the noise of blood pulsating in my ears subsided, I could hear voices: Gary’s and Zack’s voices.

  Where was I? I cautiously wiggled my fingers and tried to move my feet. They were tied, too. I seemed to be lying on something scratchy. I could feel it through my shirt and against my ankles where my jeans had ridden up.

  And then I smelled hay. I opened my eyes, just a slit, so that my captors wouldn’t know that I had regained consciousness. The building where I lay was big and shadowy. It looked like a barn. Had they put me in one of Gary’s barns? Was I still at the Worth ranch?

  The two men sat on stools or kegs near a door. It was a tall, wide door, big enough for a tractor and trailer loaded with hay to get through. The door looked to be on tracks and it was pushed back about two feet, wide enough to let in light and with enough room for a person to squeeze through.

  “We’ll get rid of her just like we did Andrea,” Gary was saying. “I’m building a shed for old man McMurtrey out on Old String Road. We’ll put her under that cement. Nobody will know.”

  Zack whacked something with the palm of his hand. “You and your stupid ideas! When she turns up missing, don’t you think Grant Hendley is going to suspect she might be buried like Andrea was? Don’t you imagine he suspects you, my good friend, and will search through Ventris County for any new building that’s going on? What happened to our plan for making Jasper Harris look like he’s the murderer? If we plant some evidence at his place, it’ll look like he killed Darcy and Andrea, too.”

  Gary sat silently for a few seconds and then muttered, “Don’t get too big for your britches, Zack. You’re in this as deep as I am. If you don’t like my idea, you’d better come up with another one. We’ve got your cousin now and we can’t let her go. She knows too much and she keeps poking into my business; says she’s just writing a book. So we’re going to have to get rid of her one way or another.”

  “And you are dead set on staying here and pretending to be innocent of any crime?” Zack asked. “Your greed is going to get you into trouble, Boss.”

  “Look, Zack, you are being well paid for driving my truck from California to Oklahoma. Nobody knows I’m bringing in drugs to the dealers around here. Everybody thinks you’re just bringing in building materials. So I think when you say I’m greedy, it’s a case of the pot calling the kettle black. You didn’t have to be a part of this.”

  “And now that I am, I can’t get out. I hadn’t planned on murder, Gary. And if you’d been more careful, Andrea would never have caught on about the drugs.”

  “Oh, shut up. Point is, she did find out and she said she was going to turn me in, so what else could I do? Then when I threatened her, she promised she wouldn’t tell but she said she wanted a divorce. Did you know that, Zack? If she had left, she would have taken all her wonderful money with her. And my wife was loaded with dough. I’ve gotta admit I’ve put it to good use.”

  “And I helped by letting you use my ATV to haul her away, didn’t I? Seems to me l
ike I’m the one doing all the helping and you’re the one getting the ‘wonderful money’ as you called it.”

  “Point is, Zack, you did help and you are in this as deep as I am now.”

  Zack snorted. “I’m going to go for my four-wheeler so we can get Darcy out of here the back way, like we did Andrea,” Zack said. “When I get back, we can decide what to do with my nosy cousin.”

  The two men left. The sound of their boots crunching through dry leaves grew fainter.

  Gary and Zack were into drugs. A lucrative and deadly business. I had learned a lot about this type of criminal when I was an investigative reporter. Most drug dealers don’t have to worry about old age. They have short lives. These two men could have found no more detestable way to make money.

  A cold sweat broke out on my body. My stomach lurched and I swallowed hard to keep from throwing up. They planned to kill me. Gary had a small criminal empire going and they wouldn’t let anybody stand in their way: not Gary’s wife and certainly not me. My life had probably shortened considerably. I would live just until Zack came back with his ATV. I tried to pray and a snatch of Psalm 91 came to mind: “For He shall give His angels charge over you.”

  “Please, Lord, I need Your angels now,” I whispered. Those ancient words gave me a measure of calm. My purse sat by the big front door. Gary and Zack had been lax in leaving it there but then again, why not? I was trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey and they seemed pretty sure I’d still be in the same place waiting for them when they decided to return and end my life.

  Well, end it they might, but I was determined not to cooperate. Sometimes panic sharpens the senses and mine were revved into high gear. I looked frantically around for a way out of my prison. A tall support beam reaching from the floor into the dark loft of the barn was a few feet away. I rolled over to it. Propping my back against the support, I pulled my feet under me and slowly pushed my way up.