Wild Blue Mysteries Boxed Set

by Diane Bator

On the upside, no body parts had turned up. That only meant Maddox hadn’t kidnapped him. Someone else had. Who and where on earth was he?

  The bookstore was quiet. Not even their regulars had shown up since the whole story about Dunnsforth broke in the media. She didn’t blame them. She’d lied to them all for months and led gangsters into their quiet little town. A sob caught in her throat, making her cough at the thought of losing her beloved bookstore.

  Laura spun around like a gunshot rang out. “You okay?”

  “I’m a wreck.” Katie sighed. “I don’t want to lose this place or my friends.”

  “No one’s lost anything yet.”

  “Anything but Danny, that is.” Ray set the phone on the cradle after the latest in a string of phone calls. He paced the floor, worry etched on his face. “Hannah and Nate still haven’t heard from him. Nate checked in at Danny’s office, but no one was there.”

  “Can’t you report him missing after twenty-four hours?” Laura asked.

  “It’s forty-eight hours for adults.” Ray’s eyes met Katie’s and he frowned. “His partner at the so-called detective agency knows he was working for DMR, but it seems he’s gone too.”

  “Great.” Dread washed over Katie and she closed her eyes. Her brain was still steeped in brandy with a spot of Earl Grey tea floating on the surface. Something made her restless, a sensation there was something she’d overlooked, but what?

  Ray nodded. “The day we all saw him at Hannah’s, he was supposed to leave for Newville.”

  “Did he go?” Laura asked. “Katie broke his wrist, after all.”

  She rubbed her temples. “Thanks for the reminder. Do we have to rehash this?”

  “Yeah, we do.” Ray’s nostrils flared. “Danny didn’t leave. Hannah took him to hospital then he and I came to town after dinner. He dropped me off at the home then went to a meeting and no one has heard from him since. The car was parked in the Quonset at Hannah’s.”

  “So, aside from his family, we’re the last people to see him. You, me, Hilda and Mark.” Katie’s head thumped. Hilda had fed her enough brandy to incapacitate her for several hours and befuddle her brain for days. She looked at Ray with her eyes wide. “You don’t think Hilda would do anything?”

  “Mark Lexington might not be the smartest wrench in the toolbox, but don’t count him out of this either.” Ray stroked his chin. “What I don’t get is how someone got the car back into the Quonset without anyone seeing or hearing anything?”

  “They could’ve driven it in late at night,” Laura said.

  “Hilda acted strange after the emergency writing group thing. I got fed up and went upstairs for a bath.” Katie babbled as thoughts rushed through her head. “When I came out, everyone was gone. Hilda left the house wearing dark clothes and carrying a bag and flashlight to go to a friend’s house. When she didn’t come home, I thought she’d stayed over because it was so late.” She hesitated and rubbed her temples. “Last night she overheard me talking to my parents. After that, she fed me tea and brandy and got me plastered.”

  The room was silent until Laura laughed aloud. “Oh, that’s a good one. You think itty, bitty Hilda Clayton got you drunk and had something to do with Danny’s disappearance?”

  “No, I think she had everything to do with Danny’s disappearance,” Katie said.

  Ray’s caterpillar eyebrows shot upward.

  “Oh, brother.” Laura groaned. “You’re as loony as everyone else.”

  Katie burst into a fit of giggles. It felt good to laugh at something so outrageous. The thought of Hilda kidnapping Danny was too funny for words. “You’re right. That is silly.”

  Ray cleared his throat. “You do know Hilda was a martial artist until she hurt her hip.”

  Katie grew faint. “Are you serious?”

  “She got her first degree black belt about ten years ago. It was all over the papers.” Ray pulled himself onto one of the stools. “I wouldn’t expect Katie to know, but Laura you have to remember.”

  “Sorry. Drawing a blank.”

  “There’s a shock,” he huffed. “The writing group threw a party at the Legion.”

  “I still don’t remember.”

  “You’re no help.” He waved her off. “Hilda Clayton is one little old lady no one should mess with. She’s conniving and thinks outside the box.”

  “She never said anything about a black belt,” Katie said. “Why would she keep that a secret? That’s a huge accomplishment for anyone, let alone a seventy-year-old woman.”

  “Beats me.” Laura checked her watch. Halfway to the front door, she paused as though she’d forgot what she was doing. Her mouth twitched when she turned to face Ray and Katie then she returned to the counter. “What if...?”

  Katie leaned closer. “What?”

  “What if Hilda really did orchestrate Danny’s disappearance?”

  “That’s it?” She blinked in disappointment. “That’s all you’ve got? You laughed at me when I said the same thing a minute ago.”

  “Hear me out. I have an idea.” Laura folded her arms across her chest. “Her writing group met at your place the other night, right? Wasn’t the point of that meeting to help solve your problems with Danny and Maddox?”

  Ray caught on faster than Katie. “Maybe they came up with a way to make part of the problem go away. The one part they could do something about, Danny.”

  Katie shook her head. “You’ve met these people. Most of them couldn’t come up with a way out of a cardboard box.”

  “Well, not an easy way out anyhow,” Laura said. “But if you put all of those creative brains together and gave them a challenge they could.”

  “They’re all well read and published. I’ll bet they had a lot of ideas about how to get rid of someone who’s being a problem.” Ray nodded slowly.

  “I knew she was up to something.” Katie wished Danny would miraculously appear to hear all about her abysmal day. She’d give anything to have him bang on the door and invite her to dinner.

  Silence fell over them like dust. If she ever saw him again, things would be different. She’d give him a fighting chance. As it stood, she might never get the opportunity. The others looked at her when she swore beneath her breath.

  Ray sighed. “You know these creeps who are after you. What would they do to Danny if they had him?”

  “He’d already be dead.” She was tired of sugar coating things.

  “Hilda wouldn’t kill him,” Laura said.

  Katie groaned. “Only with her coffee. She wouldn’t kill a fly unless it attacked first. The rest of them couldn’t lift the flyswatter.”

  Laura nodded. “So we have to hope we’re right and Hilda and the writing group have him tucked away somewhere. How weird does that sound?”

  “It would mean less body parts in the mail.” Ray raised his eyebrows. “I doubt they have the stomach for that.”

  “Well, maybe the young guy,” Katie said. “Actually, he’d probably freak himself out. He wouldn’t do anything unless someone else planned it.”

  Laura gathered her belongings and hugged Ray. “I’d better go. Call me if you hear anything. I’ll keep my ears open.”

  “You’re just going to leave us?” He frowned. “What are we supposed to do?”

  She pressed her lips together. “Lock up the store and we’ll ask questions around town. We’ll start at Java Jo’s then go see Hilda. I’m sure Katie has a lot of questions.”

  Ray slid off his stool. “Why didn’t we do this yesterday?”

  “Fear Al and Chevy were hiding around every corner.” Katie wasn’t as concerned about Maddox’s men as she was about Danny.

  “Good point.” Ray hobbled to the bathroom.

  Laura leaned close to Katie. “I’ve never seen Ray so worried. It must be awful to have someone you love vanish without a trace. I’d be a basket case.”

  Katie imagined her parents felt the same way when she disappeared and never called to tell them she was okay. Danny wouldn’t walk awa
y of his own volition. He cared too much for Hannah and Ray. His car and his motorbike sat in Hannah and Nate’s garage along with Ray’s Honda, which made about as much sense as a group of writers kidnapping him.

  “Are you okay?” Ray returned from the back.

  “Yeah.” Katie whisked her tears away. “Where are we going to start?”

  Laura peered out the window. “Do you need anything before I go? We could each start searching one end of town.”

  “Go home,” Katie said. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”

  She headed for the door then turned and hugged Ray and Katie. “Call me if there’s any news, okay?”

  “He’s a big boy. He’ll turn up.” Ray didn’t look convinced.

  Katie squeezed his hand, not wanting to shed the tears that threatened to fall. “I just want this to all be over.”

  The front door swung open with a bang and the chimes collided, startling them all.

  Chapter 41

  Katie

  Maddox was an imposing figure with dark hair, olive skin and the graceful hands of a concert pianist. He could kill every person in the bookstore and not lose sleep. His lips twisted into a smile, yet there was something unnerving in those cocoa brown eyes. Fear. “Paulina. I never thought I’d see you again. You look…different. You could stand to lose a few pounds. That hair color does nothing for you.”

  She stepped back. “What do you want?”

  “My associate, Mr. Wild, was to find both you and my money. Apparently he failed and someone made him disappear before I could.” Maddox asked. “I don’t like when people play games.”

  “Nor do I.” Margaret walked in wearing a red suit, four-inch heels and a diamond the size of Katie’s knuckle. When her gaze pierced Katie, she had the impression of being doused with ice water and shivered. Margaret knew who Katie was. Knew what she’d done behind her back. There were no more secrets.

  Al and Chevy wore dark sunglasses and stood near the door, hands clasped in front of them. Chevy’s left hand was shrouded in a cast, and a white bandage decorated his forehead. Al bore a black bruise beneath his sunglasses. His right hand was wrapped in a layer of gauze and he had a definite limp. Someone had given them a sound beating. Since Katie was pretty sure it wasn’t Maddox or Margaret, who did that leave?

  “What happened to you two?” Katie asked.

  Al snorted. “Pizza delivery guy got mouthy.”

  “Does he look as bad as you?” Ray asked.

  “Worse.”

  When Margaret shot both men a scowl, impassive stares fell like curtains over their faces. She held her ground while Maddox, oblivious to the exchange, gazed at Katie. His eyes were glassy and wild. Without the telltale wisp of white powder beneath his nose, she could only guess what drugs coursed through his system. Margaret must have learned to control him using his vices.

  Katie glanced at Ray and Laura and wished she could snap her fingers to set them free from Margaret’s clutches. Someone had to save the day. She might have been able to convince Maddox to let them go, but Margaret wouldn’t be swayed so easily. Every muscle in her body tensed in anticipation of what lay in store for all of them.

  “Take what you want, but leave us alone.” Ray stepped in front of Katie.

  Maddox raised his eyebrows.

  Margaret’s lips curled into an amused smile. She stood next to them and trailed a finger along Katie’s jaw. “Accompany me to my car. We have a matter of money to discuss.”

  “Where’s Danny?” Ray asked. “What have you done with him?”

  Maddox sneered. “Who?”

  Ray growled, but Katie cut him off. “Donovan Wild.”

  Confusion filled Maddox’s face. “Wild? Why would I do anything to him? He amuses me.”

  Margaret narrowed her eyes. “We’re not here to discuss Mr. Wild. We’ll deal with him if and when he turns up. Until then, we’re here to collect our money.”

  Maddox glanced around the room. “Toss Paulina in the car. We can deal with Wild later. If he behaves, we might even give him a chance to fight back.”

  Ray sputtered, nudged Katie aside and took a step toward Margaret. “You’re not getting away with this. We have a lot of friends in town who know what you’ve done.”

  Al and Chevy moved forward as well. A live game of chess.

  “Shut up, Ray.” Katie wished she’d been patient enough to learn to play the game. One more thing to add to her list of things to do if she lived long enough. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

  “Don’t waste your breath, little girl.” Margaret shoved her. “You got lucky at the party, but I guarantee no one will save you this time.” Her steel gaze never left Katie’s face. “Al, Chevy, bring the girl.”

  A dreamy grin settled on Maddox’s face. “Can I have her now?”

  “Not yet, dear,” Margaret said. “Paulina and I have some business to settle. You can play with her when we’re done.”

  Laura’s jaw dropped open. She turned to Maddox. “Are you going to let her treat you like this? She’s making you look really bad.”

  He wavered. “But she gives me everything.”

  “Money, hookers and drugs get old, you know. Just like first wives.” Katie was grateful Laura had found Maddox’s weak spot. “I thought you wanted me. Isn’t that why you stole the money in the first place? Dunnsforth didn’t have anything to do with it, did he? He couldn’t even do his own shopping.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Maddox set everything up to look like Dunnsforth did the embezzling. Or was that you?” Katie glanced at Margaret. “It was easy for him to set me up with a whole new identity so I could escape. He even made it look like Dunnsforth had done it then got rid of him and tracked me down later.”

  “Did you?” Margaret froze. Her nostrils flared and she leveled her gaze at her husband. “You stupid, drunken fool. You did, didn’t you?”

  Maddox bowed his head. “I left her money, ID, even a plane ticket. She was supposed to use the ticket so we could meet in Fiji and live happily ever after. For the first couple of days, I actually thought she’d actually gone, but then I never heard from her.”

  Katie’s jaw dropped. “There was a ticket?”

  “In the bag of money. I left a second letter with instructions and a plane ticket.” Maddox’s face fell. “You didn’t look?”

  She scowled. “I was kind of in a rush.”

  Margaret’s nostrils flared. “You gave that tramp everything she needed to leave and start a new life? So when did you find her? How long did you know she was here?”

  “I didn’t. I swear. Paulina, I wanted to talk to you at the party that night to make plans to rendezvous and make our escape. I knew all hell was about to break loose and I wanted out.” He averted his gaze. “Then the cops raided the party and you disappeared. The cops kept my computers and made it difficult to search for you. I wanted to find you. I really did but they wouldn’t let me out of their sight.” He sniffed and swiped at his nose. The drugs were talking, not Maddox.

  “Shut up.” Margaret snapped.

  He shook his head. “The last person I saw you with was Wild so I told him to find you. He said he did, but he kept stalling.”

  “Wild?” Katie asked. “He was still working for you?”

  “Still is.” Maddox smiled.

  She looked at Margaret. “So who shot Dunnsforth?”

  “Who cares? The man was a thief and a pig.” Margaret waved to Al and Chevy. “Get the tramp in the car. We have things to discuss that don’t involve the entire town.”

  “I need to know who shot him.” Katie stood her ground.

  Maddox chuckled. “You shot him with my gun. Thanks to all the practice we’ve had, you got him right between the eyes. I saw you both on the beach that morning.”

  “That’s not true.” She flinched. “I wasn’t even there.”

  Maddox stared at his wife. “But Margaret and the police told me you did. I thought you’d done it for me. For us.”

&
nbsp; Katie had no illusions about what was about to happen. “Why did you set me up, Margaret? Did you think I’d go to jail and you’d live happily ever after?”

  “The thought had occurred to me, but I’m not that gullible. I found your scarf after the party. Once Dunnsforth got out of jail, I lured him to the cottage.” A sneer warped Margaret’s features and her eyes darkened. “Convenient we’re the same size, isn’t it, Paulina? Come. We have a long trip ahead.” She paused. “Some of us longer than others.”

  Ray stepped forward. “You’ll have to go through me first.”

  When Al and Chevy made moves for their guns, Margaret waved them off. “Don’t bother. Tie them up and kill them in the backroom. That’ll give us a good head start. I’ll take Paulina to the car and tie her up.”

  Katie struggled to breathe, her gaze on Ray and Laura. “I’m sorry, guys. This was never supposed to happen.”

  “It’s not your fault, kid.” Ray hugged her then whispered, “Is the gun still in the fridge?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then we all go down fighting.”

  “Don’t you dare do anything stupid.”

  He snorted. “What’s left?”

  “Move it, old man.” Al shoved Ray from behind.

  Laura grabbed Katie’s hand. “This isn’t over yet.”

  When the door chimes rang, Margaret groaned. “Did none of you imbeciles think to lock the door? What now?”

  Chapter 42

  Danny

  Danny, eye throbbing, sat in the doorway strapped to a wheelchair with a pink silk scarf over his mouth. That he probably looked like hell was the least of his worries. Maddox stood in front of Katie, a gun in his hand and his eyes glassy. Margaret had one hand on Katie’s arm, her fingers white as they dug into flesh. Al and Chevy stared, wide-eyed, at the spectacle before them. At least their guns were still holstered.

  The seniors had shown no mercy, using duct tape, electrical tape, drapery cord and belts to secure him to the chair. Someone pushed the chair to the center of the store seemingly oblivious to the presence of guns. Walkers and canes thumped the ground all around him as the rest of the Packham Writing Group hobbled into the store like a wild west showdown.