The Caspian Wine Mystery/Suspense/Thriller Series

by Maggie Thom

  “You do recognize that you’re in trouble?”

  “As dense as you may think I am, yes, even I get that. I just don’t understand why. Except that, back to my theory which I never got to finish, until you barged into my life I never had people chasing me down. So when I put two and two together they add up to you.” Glaring at him, she crossed her arms. “Or add two and two and you get... oh my god.”

  The man they’d been watching jumping fences emerged from the back alley onto the street. Once he was under the street lights, she immediately recognized her burglar by his long, greasy hair and grubby clothes. “That’s the guy...”

  A black car zoomed around the corner. Tires squealed and the vehicle swerved, the myriad sounds of a crash blending together. She gasped as the man they’d been watching landed on the hood of the car, only to be shot forward when the man slammed on his brakes. The vehicle spun around.

  Bailey reached for the door handle, ready to help when Guy grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

  “What the hell’s your problem?”

  He jammed the gear into drive, his leg straddling the console as he stomped on the gas pedal. As they screamed away from the curb, he cramped the wheel, so they did a U turn.

  She slapped at him, fighting for control.

  “He’s got a gun.”

  She never saw it but the sound of gunfire was unmistakable. “Give me the wheel and move your damn foot. I know what I’m doing.”

  He promptly removed his hand. “Turn right.” After they squealed around the corner, he removed his foot, letting her take control.

  “Where did that driver come from? Did he kill the other guy?” She barely slowed as she whipped down a back alley, gunning it on the straightaway.

  “I don’t know. I don’t see him anymore. Keep going.”

  She snapped, “The other man, what happened to him?”

  “I think your guy—”

  “I don’t claim ownership.”

  “Your guy—”

  She glanced at him.

  He smiled wanly. “Might have gotten in the way of our shooter. Know who or why either of them would be chasing you?”

  Her gaze automatically went to the glove compartment. The letters from her mom were in there. No, but I have a feeling I know who might be able to tell me. “Where am I dropping you off?”

  “You’re not.”

  After zipping down another avenue she slammed on the brakes. She spun around to face him. “Then get out.”

  “No. You and I are joined at the hip, so to speak. If it’s because of me that these goons found you, then that’s my responsibility.”

  “I can take care of myself.” She clenched her teeth.

  “I’m sure you can. However, I will be along for the ride. Besides, if you ever want to see your family, you need me.”

  Slowly shifting to face forward, she stared out the front window at the deserted street. Aaaah yes, my one lifetime dream. Family.

  “Where are we going?”

  “I can drop you off at any time.” She put the car in drive and eased forward. Taking several back roads that took them another hour, she then headed west on Highway One. She drove for a while before turning north. Silence was something she was used to. Driving with a partner was not. Refusing to let herself be intimidated by him, she ignored him as she drove. When her back started to ache, a sign she’d been in one position too long and she realized they needed fuel, she pulled into a service station.

  “Would you like something to...?” She looked at him slumped sideways across the seat. She wondered if he’d been shot but then she saw the gentle rise and fall of his chest. Her hero had fallen asleep. Before she forgot, she pulled out the envelopes from their hiding place in the glove box and stuffed them into her back pocket.

  Quietly getting out of the vehicle, she filled up. Since she had no idea how long it was going to take to get where she was going, or exactly where she was going, she purchased an Alberta and B. C. map because she wasn’t sure her cell phone would always work in the mountains or if she’d have time to charge it. She wanted to be prepared. She also loaded up on junk food, a 12 pack of lemonade and a 12 pack of water. Since he was now in the back seat, she set everything on the seat beside her, eased into hers, put on her seatbelt and pulled back onto the highway.

  “Not a smart thing to do.”

  “Aaahhhh.” Her head almost hit the roof and the car swerved before she was able to still her reaction. “Jesus.”

  “No, but I do get mistaken for him.”

  She frowned as she looked at him in the mirror. Then the joke hit her. Her laughter started as a giggle, then a chuckle. It sounded off-key which just made her laugh even harder.

  “Pull over.”

  Too far gone with laughter to question his command, she pulled off into a tree-covered campground. Gasping for breath, she was finally able to bring herself under control. Completely drained, she slumped over the steering wheel. “Thank you.”

  Guy climbed out of the back seat and stepped up to the driver’s side, opening the door. “For what?”

  Too exhausted to move, she rolled her head sideways but didn’t lift it. “For making me laugh, for keeping me company, for feeling safe enough to fall asleep.”

  His cheeks became a nice shape of apple red, which got her attention. She sat up and faced him.

  “Tough guy, embarrassed about that?”

  His face became ruddier as he swore. “Let’s just say it’s an issue.” He turned away, his shoulders shaking slightly.

  Surprised, Bailey got out of the car. Placing her hand on his back, she bent over to see his face. “Hey. I wasn’t making fun...”

  He was laughing. Confused, she stepped back.

  “I’m sorry. The insanity of this just hit me.” Scrubbing his hand down his face, he yawned.

  “Where are we headed?”

  Contemplating how much to share with him, she finally replied, “Near Jasper.”

  He looked pointedly at her. “Your turn to sleep. I’ll drive.” He opened the driver’s door.

  That shot some pep into her. She squinted, trying to block out the glare of the interior light as she faced him. “I’m fine.”

  “What the hell?” He moved so quickly that she had time only to stiffen at his gentle touch against her swollen cheek. “Your intruder?”

  Affirming his suspicion with her eyes, she found she couldn’t pull away from his concerned gaze or break the contact with his hand.

  “That bastard.”

  Realizing she was enjoying his attention way too much, she stepped back and stiffly walked around the car. She opened the passenger door and reached in.

  “Want a bottle of water or lemonade?”

  “Lemonade please.”

  She tossed him the bottle over the top of the car which he snatched out of the air.

  “You have bags under your eyes. Since I’ve already had a good nap, it’s your turn.” He looked at her. “Unless that look is vogue right now?”

  Arching his eyebrow, he didn’t wait for her to respond. “Seriously, if we’re going to figure out what is going on, we need to work together. I have information you need and I believe you have some I need.”

  Breathing out slowly and without another word, she climbed into the back seat and lay down, curling onto her side. A few moments later, he climbed into the front, downing his drink.

  “Where are we headed?” He pulled back onto the road and headed north.

  “Jasper. For now.”

  He didn’t ask why; he just drove. Reaching into the seat beside him, he ripped open a bag of chips and grinned over his shoulder at her. “My kind of woman.”

  She tried to stop it but the warmth of those words went well beyond the joke he’d intended. She tried not to allow that simple statement to make her sit up with pride but it did. Her mother had never doled out any praise and it now seemed the slightest amount made her want to strut like a peacock. Then she found herself drifting off to sleep as
if a curtain was descending, something that had never happened to her before.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Da-da-dum, da-da-dum, da-da-dum. Charge.

  Scrambling, Guy yanked his cell phone out of the case strapped to his belt. He hit the talk button as soon as he realized it was Graham.

  “I’ve got something interesting.”

  He peeked over his shoulder to see if the noise had disturbed his passenger. Bailey’s hair had fallen across her cheek, hiding her face. Her chest rose and fell like someone in a deep sleep. “What time is it there?” Guy looked through the windshield into the black night. Every now and then he’d pass a forlorn vehicle along this stretch of road. Glancing in the rearview mirror, he spotted a set of headlights but they were a long way behind them. He was confident they weren’t anything to worry about, but he’d been keeping constant watch.

  “Too early for the sun.”

  “Did you get any sleep?”

  “When there isn’t work to do, I will. How about you?”

  He’d often wished he’d had Graham’s stamina. The guy could stay up for twenty-four hours, sleep a couple and then off he’d go again. It exhausted him just thinking about it.

  “You’ve got company?”

  Guy smiled. “In a matter of speaking. So yes, I’ll be talking quietly.”

  “All right here goes. Mrs. Donna Saunders came into existence August of 1983—”

  “She was born in 1952.”

  “Hold on my dear friend, I’m not finished. Mrs. Donna Saunders came into existence in August of 1983. There is no information regarding a Miss, Ms or Mrs. Donna Saunders prior to that time.”

  Guy rubbed his forehead. “It can’t be a coincidence that it happened so close to baby Cassidy’s abduction.”

  “I don’t think it is, either. I have lots of information but can’t find a thread to tie it all together yet. I’ll keep working on it.”

  “Thanks Graham. This case is turning out to have more surprises than either of us could have predicted.” He proceeded to fill him in on what had happened so far.

  “Holy Toledo. Are you sure you don’t want to go to the police with this?”

  Glancing over his shoulder at his passenger, he knew that he might pay for his decision. “No. But I do need you to run a license plate. I’m sure the car is rented but not legally. Of course, I can always hope.”

  “By the way, your grandmother, the next coming of God, wants to know where the report is that you promised her. She scares me.”

  He chuckled. Graham loved to make her think that, but he also knew she was a big marshmallow on the inside.

  “I haven’t really had the time or place. So I’ll tell you what to write. Then fax it to her private machine.” He dictated the details.

  “Got you boss. Hyuuh. Hyuuuuh. Hyuuuuh.”

  He clicked off the phone, on Graham’s sad rendition of Goofy’s laugh but couldn’t help chuckling at his friend’s odd sense of humour. Yawning incessantly, he followed the highway that led him to Jasper. It would be another hour or two before the sun was visible but the horizon was already growing lighter, making visibility much easier. The mountains in all their majestic beauty were now in view. He couldn’t help but gaze in awe as he drove into the town limits. Not knowing Jasper, he drove around until he found a motel off the beaten path, where he rented a room. Bailey might not be pleased but she was still sleeping and he needed a few hours. Besides, he had no clue where exactly they were going.

  Pushing the motel door open, he stepped back as an old, musty stench jolted him. Leaving the door open to air out the room, he returned to the car to get his travel mate. After a moment of trying to figure out how to best get a sleeping Bailey out of the car without waking her, he decided there wasn’t really any graceful way. Worst that would happen, he thought, was she’d wake up and give him hell. Thinking that was as bad as it would get, he wasn’t prepared for what happened when he reached in to lift her.

  Her fist punched him in the chin as her foot clipped his knee. Next thing he knew he was on the ground writhing in pain and she was standing over him, ready to kick the crap out of him.

  “Stop!” He rolled out of her reach. Her stance didn’t change much but the crazed look in her eyes dissipated even as her chest continued to heave. He slowly got to his feet, his hand automatically going to the lump he could feel growing on the side of his face. His jaw still moved easily enough but not without pain. Standing up, he realized his knee didn’t feel all that great either.

  “I should have awakened you. My mistake. I thought we could both use some proper sleep so I got us a room.” He waved behind him. “Since we’re parked on the back side, out of the main stream of Jasper, I figured we’d be okay.”

  “We’re in Jasper?” The intensity in her stare seemed out of place.

  “Yeah.”

  “I slept for three or four hours?”

  He shrugged and nodded, trying to let her know it wasn’t a big deal.

  Bailey stared hard at him before reaching in the car, grabbing her bag and marching past him into the dingy room.

  Thinking that a hot breakfast might do them both some good and give Bailey time alone, he headed down the road to a fast food place they’d passed. Fifteen minutes later, he was back in the motel parking lot. Rather than get out, he stared absently out the window, trying to shake the uneasy feeling in his gut. Reversing, he drove down a few side streets and back alleys, almost losing her car in the mud puddles and finally parked a few blocks away. He grabbed the food and walked back to the room, barely able to refrain from devouring it all before he arrived.

  He knocked and then waited a few seconds for a response. “Bailey?” When there was no answer, he inserted his key and cautiously entered. She lay flat across one of the beds, her left hand dangling off the side, her shoe-clad feet off the other and her hair covering her face. Her stillness except for her deep, even breathing was an unmistakable clue that she was sound asleep. He tiptoed to the small, round table in the corner and started to munch on his breakfast. He opened the curtain slightly so he could watch the area.

  “Don’t eat all that.”

  He’d never been skittish in his life and was known for having nerves of steel, but her voice startled him into jerking around and knocking over his chair with a loud crash. He glared at the woman who had so calmly moved from the far bed to drape across the one closest to him.

  “Dammit. You’re going to kill me.”

  Bailey shrugged and reached for his food, but he swatted her away. “Yours is in the bag.”

  “Grumpy, aren’t we? Maybe you need some sleep.” She kicked off her shoes and socks, grabbed her meal and sat down on the bed.

  Growling, he straightened his chair and returned to sitting in it. He vainly attempted to finish his breakfast while ignoring her sitting barefooted, cross-legged, eating like she hadn’t had a meal in weeks.

  “Oh man. This is the greasiest, tastiest stuff I’ve ever eaten.”

  “Slow down or you’ll have a gut ache.”

  She wiped her mouth with a napkin. “You sound like my mother. Only, she would never have let me eat this kind of stuff.” She proceeded to polish off the egg, sausage and tomato sandwich.

  “Oooohhhhh.” Bailey flopped backward. “I ate too much.”

  Guy laughed. Bailey tried to glare at him but couldn’t contain her smile.

  “So we’re in Jasper. Where to from here?” It was like he’d flipped a switch again. Her face lost all animation and became very somber before turning away.

  “I’m going to have a shower. Get some sleep.” She stopped at the bathroom door. “What time is it?”

  “About 8:00.”

  Without another word, she grabbed her bag and closed the door behind her.

  He needed to figure out what was going on but he needed sleep even more, something he wasn’t sure would come easily. He stared at the closed bathroom door. She was confusing and aggravating and made him feel more alive than any woman he’
d ever met. The thought scared the hell out of him. He wasn’t known for lasting long in a relationship. He jerked out of his crazy thinking. They were running for their lives and he was analyzing whether she’d date him. Silently calling himself all manner of names, he made sure the room was secure, although he doubted the man had followed them. He locked the door, rigged a chair against the knob and moved the table in front of the window before stripping down to his shorts and crawling into bed. Within minutes he nodded off.

  ****

  Hit and run. And a shooting. Man killed in residential neighborhood. Well known to police as Payme...

  Lund’s hands crumpled the paper with such force he trembled as if having a seizure.

  “Are you all right, dear?”

  Not bothering to respond to his wife who’d come home much earlier than he’d hoped from her sister’s, he rose from the table and headed up the stairs to his office. He locked the door behind him before making his way to his desk, where he flopped into his leather chair. Sweat beaded on his forehead and trickled unheeded across his cheeks. His heart thumped wildly in his chest as he clenched his hands into fists. They’ll never be able to connect him to me.

  He removed a key from around his neck and unlocked the second desk drawer. The soft clicking sound usually gave him a little thrill, a sense of control over people he could bring down. Today, though, that feeling didn’t emerge. Carefully pulling open the drawer, he removed the few books there as decoys and touched the back corner of the false bottom. It popped up. He leaned forward to satisfy himself that the only copy of all he’d done, of all he knew, was safely in its hiding place.

  It wasn’t there.

  A lightning quick, forceful pain shot through his chest and he flung the key across the room. He clutched at his rib cage, opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water as he tried to catch his breath. Tremors shook his body as he slumped forward, slamming the drawer closed.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  After climbing out of a luxuriously long and much needed shower, Bailey dried herself off. The clothes from the day before were dry but felt grungy against her skin as she pulled them on. Finger brushing her teeth, she then detangled her hair as best she could, her mind wandering as she tried to figure out their next move.