Killer Rapids, page 16
“Suspect spotted ahead,” Mom whispered into the phone.
I sat up straight. “Where?”
“In the hallway leading to the restrooms.”
“Is she with anyone?”
“Affirmative. Tall man wearing baseball cap.”
That had to be Carlson. “Does he have dark hair?”
“Can’t tell, Clarity.”
“Shh, Mom! Don’t use my name and don’t talk so loud.” I gritted my teeth.
Mom’s voice snaked through the line. “Sorry. I’ll have to get closer to see if he has any identifying features. Over.”
“Be careful.” I groaned. She was going to mess this up. I only hoped she could make a quick exit before Astrid got a hold of her.
Boop! A series of tones followed the first one.
“Mom?”
Beep, boop, boop.
“Mom? Are you there?” I held the phone out to see if we were still connected.
“Shoot. Sorry. I stuck the phone in my waistband for a second. These leggings don’t have pockets. I’m trying to find a hiding spot behind a plant.”
“I won’t be able to hear anything if you put your phone in your pants. Just keep it in your hand, okay?” I sighed and waited while she got into her hiding place.
“Tall man and super model are arguing,” Mom whispered. “Her face is all red and she looks like she’s ready to slug him.”
My interest was piqued. “Can you hear what they’re saying?”
“Oh! There’s another guy with a hat joining them. He’s tall too.”
Other guy? “Mom, what does he look like?”
“They’re arguing. Oooh! It’s getting interesting! I’m going to take some pictures.”
“What are they saying?”
Beep, boop.
“Mom?” I waited. “Mom?”
The line went dead.
Crap. I waited a second and then jabbed redial. “Come on, answer.” I leaned forward, waiting for her to come out of the front doors.
I stared at the phone, willing her to answer the call. But it rang through to voice mail. I ended the call. There was no choice. I had to go after her.
Wrenching the truck door open, I slammed it behind me and ran for the entrance. Just as I reached for the door grip, it flew open, the force of it nearly knocking me backward.
A woman sprinted past me into the parking lot. She was running, despite the fact her 3-inch vinyl stilettos were clearly something she wasn’t used to walking—let alone—running in. Her skinny chicken legs were clothed in tight leopard print leggings. Her black, sparkling tube top inched its way down her back as she hobbled toward my dad’s truck. My dad’s truck…
Was that?
“Mom?”
My mother barely turned her head as she yelled. “What the hell are you waiting for? Let’s get out of here!”
I ran, not knowing why I was running.
The casino doors exploded open behind me. Without turning my head to look, I jumped into the truck, started the engine, and rumbled toward the exit.
In the rearview mirror, I saw three casino security officers bent over, huffing, their faces red and angry.
“Faster!” Mom yelled at me as the truck rumbled out of the parking lot. “Before they send the fuzz after us!”
“The fuzz? Mom, what did you do?”
I jammed my foot down on the gas pedal and felt it sink to the bottom as we hit our maximum speed of sixty miles per hour. The truck made a wheezing noise but continued on.
She twisted around to look through the back window. “Hot damn! We got away. No one is following us.”
“Mom—what happened?” Just in case, I searched for a less obvious way home. I turned onto a side road.
Her eyes twinkled. “I got a little too close to those people and that super model chick got suspicious. When she stormed over to me, I thought she was going to throw a punch.”
“What did you do?”
“I grabbed the drink out of some loser’s hand and threw it at her. But not just the drink—the glass too. I think I may have busted her nose.”
My mouth hung open, astonished that she’d lived to tell the tale. No wonder the security guards had chased her.
Mom let out a nervous giggle. “I didn’t mean to hurt her. It was a reflex. She was coming at me fast and she’s huge! But you should’ve seen her face. She looked like a drowned rat. Well, a pretty drowned rat with a red nose—but still, a rat.”
I laugh escaped my lips. It started out as a chuckle but swelled to a guffaw. And soon, both Mom and I were laughing so hard that tears flowed down our cheeks.
When I finally regained control, I wiped my eyes. “We’ve got to get serious. I want to know everything that happened.”
CHAPTER 27
The truck came to a rumbling halt behind Zen and Hunter’s unmarked sedan.
As I got out and slammed the door, two puppies came running toward me, ears flapping and tails wagging.
“Hello there!” I sat down in the dirt and let them crawl into my lap, laughing as they covered my face with wet kisses.
Mom pushed her door open, scrambled out of the truck, and swore under her breath.
My heart jumped. “What’s wrong? Are the casino guards coming?”
“No.” Mom stood on her wobbling three-inch heels. “I left my old clothes back in the dressing room of the gift shop. After all the hoopla, I couldn’t go back and get them.”
She looked down at her new duds. “I can’t do farm chores in these.”
Dad emerged from behind the garden fence. “Clarity! I thought you took your mother somewhere. Where is she?”
He caught sight of Mom, who’d put an unsteady hand on the truck for balance.
“Who’s your friend?”
Mom grinned and flipped her hair off her shoulder. “It’s me, old man.”
Dad squinted his eyes before reaching into his shirt pocket for his glasses. He stared hard at Mom. His eyebrows shot up. “Wanda? Is that you?”
She attempted a sexy catwalk toward him, but her heels sank into the patchy grass alongside the driveway, causing her to yank her feet up and out of the dirt with each step. Undeterred, she purred, “Call me Pussy. Pussy Galore.”
Dad’s jaw dropped. “Va-va-voom!”
Yuck. I didn’t need to see this. I picked up the puppies and got to my feet. “I’ll leave you two super spies alone. I’m going to go talk to Zen and Hunter. Mom, join us when you have a moment.”
I carried the wriggling puppies toward the front door. Before I could reach it, an ear-piercing shriek split the air. The little dogs howled and pressed their noses into my neck and shook with fright.
“What the—?”
Brandi came tearing around the corner of the house, covered in what looked like mud.
“Look out!” She screamed as she ran past me. The smell of manure lingered in her wake.
Mom and Dad separated from their lip-lock.
“Why is she flippin’ out?” Dad watched Brandi scramble up a nearby apple tree.
Jonah suddenly tore around the corner of the house, his shirt dirty and torn. “Run!” He vaulted into the air, grabbed a branch in the tree next to Brandi’s, and hoisted himself up.
I stood like a possum caught in headlights, not knowing where to turn or why.
Before I could say or do anything, the sound of pounding hooves and bleating goats exploded from behind the house. My eyes widened as a herd of deranged animals came barreling toward me.
“Not again!” I had a momentary flashback of my ladder accident and forthcoming concussion.
Directly behind the goats was an even larger herd of pigs. Wait, pigs? No, hogs. My parents didn’t own hogs. These things were ginormous. My brain churned wildly, trying to process what was happening.
“Clarity!” Hunter burst out of the front door of the house, looking almost as alarmed as I felt. In a heartbeat, he hurdled toward me, sweeping me out of harm’s way seconds before the animals pounded past us. Still clutching the puppies to my chest, I gasped as he set me on my feet near an apple tree.
“Are you all right?” He slid his hands to my shoulders and scanned me for injuries.
Breathing hard, I watched the cloud of dust follow the stampeding animals as they ran toward an open field. I tried desperately to calm my wildly beating heart. “I’m fine, I think.” My hands shook as I passed him the red puppy. “Take Comet. Can we go inside where it’s safe?”
Zen appeared in the open doorway. “What was that noise?”
Dad was in a tizzy. “That danged neighbor! His hogs got out again! That’s the third time this month those monsters have terrorized our poor goats.”
Mom teetered over to the riding mower and climbed onto the seat. “I’ll go over there and give that Jimbo a piece of my mind.”
Dad hopped in the truck and rolled down the window. “Stay here, Wanda. I got this. You’ll mess up your sexy new clothes if you get into it with that scumbag. I’ll handle it.” He started the truck, backed up, and peeled away.
I watched the tires kick up gravel in its wake. “Wow. That was dramatic.”
“Yeah.” Zen turned to look at our mother, taking in her leopard print leggings and tube top. “Mom?”
She grinned and fluffed her hair. “Like the new me?”
Zen’s mouth hung open. For once, he was speechless.
I stifled a laugh, but decided I needed to get back to business. “I want to see the pictures you took on your phone.” I motioned for her to join us. “The ones you took at the casino.”
Zen frowned. “What did you two do? And why is Mom dressed like that?”
I explained the whole thing and watched both Zen and Hunter’s expressions turn sour.
“What were you thinking?” Zen fumed. “You could’ve gotten yourself hurt—and you put Mom at risk.”
Mom tutted. “Nonsense. We were fine. Clarity’s a real smart girl. She warned me to be careful. I agreed to take the risk. So, if you want to yell at somebody, yell at me.”
Zen sighed. “Okay, fine. Let’s see the photos you took.”
Mom grinned. “Oh, I got some good ones. I think you’ll be pleased.” She tapped on her camera icon and opened the photos.
Zen took it from her and swiped through the pictures. He groaned. “Mom. You took pictures of yourself.”
Mom huffed. “What? No! I took pictures of that amazon super model and the two guys she was arguing with.” She snatched the phone away and stared at the pictures.
I peeked over her shoulder. Somehow, Mom had hit the selfie button while she was in Pussy Galore mode. Each photo was a blurred close-up of her face. Her eyes were focused and intent in the first one and panicked and surprised in the last one.
“Nice work,” I grumbled.
Mom stayed silent for a few seconds after realizing her blunder. Then she shrugged. “Well, at least I captured some pictures of myself looking hot. I’ll try not to make the same mistake next time.”
“There won’t be a next time,” Zen growled. “Your days as a private eye are over.”
Mom frowned. “International spy, not private eye. And I’ll spy if I want to. You’re not the boss of me, young man. Don’t forget—I’m still your mother.”
I could tell Zen was showing great restraint by biting his tongue, but I could see his jaw clenching. There was no way he would win against Mom.
Instead, he cleared his throat. “Hunter and I are going to do a follow-up interview with this Astrid woman. We’ll be back in time to pick you up for our interview with Dr. Strong at six o’clock.” He glanced at his partner. “We’ve got Astrid’s number. Call her and let’s go.”
“Can we come?” Mom grabbed onto my arm and stepped closer to Zen.
“No.” Zen climbed into the driver’s side of his unmarked police car. Hunter passed his puppy to me and hopped into the passenger side. We watched them drive down the narrow lane toward the main road.
“Help.” A small voice came from up high.
I looked up at the trees and saw Brandi perched up on a branch at least fifteen feet above the ground. I’d forgotten all about her.
Jonah, in the next tree over, wasn’t nearly as high. He climbed down carefully, hugging the trunk as he scooted down.
“I’ll catch you, Brandi,” Jonah called up to her. “Jump!”
“Yeah, right.” Brandi shook her head. “I’m not doing that.”
I set the puppy down and ran to grab a ladder. It was only a few rows of apple trees into the orchard.
“Here.” I set the ladder underneath where Brandi was hugging a branch. “Just shimmy down a bit and put your foot on the top. Jonah and I will help you.”
With reluctance, Brandi did as I’d instructed and soon she was standing next to us.
I took in my friends’ disheveled appearances. Brandi had splotches of dirt across her cheeks. Her curly hair was popping out of the ponytail holder and was encrusted with something brown. I hoped it was mud, but it smelled suspiciously like manure. Her knees were dirty and scraped, tiny rocks sticking to her torn flesh.
Jonah was in a similar condition, with the added bonus of having his T-shirt torn in several places.
“What happened to you guys? Why were those hogs chasing you and the goats?” I asked.
Brandi scowled. “We were trying to milk the goats, but they weren’t having it. They kicked at us and got away somehow. We ran after them to the back fence.”
Jonah wiped the dirt off his forehead. “Yeah, and when we ran toward them, the hogs on the other side of the fence got really mean. They charged us and busted through the fencing and attacked us.”
I tried hard not to laugh. “That sounds awful. How did you get that, uh, dirt all over you?” I pointed to the smears of brown covering my friends’ skin and clothing. The distinct odor of animal dung floated fragrantly in the air.
Brandi frowned. “It started with the goats. Apparently, they don’t like to be milked by strangers. Their little hooves are dirty, and after they kicked us multiple times, we realized that the dirt wasn’t really dirt.”
“I guess we should’ve mucked out their stalls before we milked them, like your mom advised.” Jonah gave Mom a nervous glance.
Mom said nothing, but her self-satisfied grin said it all.
“You got all that poop on you from the goats?” I asked.
Brandi groaned. “No. There are big piles of it near the fence that borders the neighbors hog pen. Judging by the size of the poo, my guess is that the hogs have marked the property as theirs.”
“Yeah.” Jonah frowned. “We must’ve tripped and fallen in it at least a dozen times while we were trying to escape them.”
Mom shook her head. “Those damn hogs. I think we’re going to have to electrify our fence.”
“Probably a good idea.” I glanced at the road. “Let’s go inside before the herd of hogs decides to come back.”
We took the puppies inside the house.
“Brandi and Jonah,” Mom said, “why don’t you go wash up and put on some clean clothes while I get you a snack and something to drink. Is lemonade okay?”
Jonah hesitated. “I could use something a little stronger than lemonade, if that’s all right.”
“Me too.” Brandi brushed a loose curl from her smudged forehead. “It’s been a day.”
“I got you covered. Zen bought beer. It’s in the fridge.” Mom went into the kitchen and busied herself with preparing a snack and drinks.
“Need some help?” I asked.
“No. You just keep those pups occupied so they don’t come in the kitchen.”
I played with the little fur sharks until Brandi and Jonah showed up, looking much cleaner. They smelled better too.
“Wow.” Brandi opened a beer and took a sip. “I’m curious about what Astrid was up to, meeting in the casino like that. And who were those men with her?”
“And to be so hostile toward Wanda when they discovered she was taking photos of them.” Jonah gently removed Kodiak away from his shoelaces and placed him on his lap. “They’re hiding something.”
“Do you know who the men were, Wanda? Did they mention names or anything?” Brandi asked.
Mom shook her head. “Nope. I couldn’t hear what they were saying until they came after me.”
“What did they look like?” Jonah spotted Pumpkin sauntering into the room and held out his hand to pet him.
Mom shrugged. “They were tall. That’s all I know. They were both wearing baseball caps and sunglasses.”
“Any facial hair?” I asked.
“I can’t remember.” Mom reached into the fridge and pulled out some apples. She sliced them and arranged them on a plate with a cup of peanut butter drizzled with honey.
“Yum.” I took the plate from her and set it on the dining table.
Brandi and Jonah shooed the puppies away toward the open kitchen door.
“I wonder if Zen and Hunter found Astrid?” I said. “I’ll text them.”
Seconds later, Hunter returned my text. “Astrid is MIA. She’s not answering her phone. We checked the hotel where she’s staying, and she’s not here.”
“Shoot,” I said, turning to Brandi and Jonah. “They can’t find Astrid.”
“Supermodel made a getaway, huh?” Mom smirked. “I knew she was a bad egg.”
“Where do you think she went?” Brandi asked.
I stared out the window, thinking. “Let’s talk this through. If Astrid was at the casino with two tall men, and they were having a heated discussion…”
Jonah sat up straight. “The tall men could’ve been Carlson and—who else in our rafting group was tall?”
I frowned. “There were a few tall men in the other groups, but Astrid didn’t seem to know them.”
“What about Joe?” Brandi asked.
“Joe? The older gentleman who sat at our table for dinner at The Black Swan?” I said. “He’s a nice guy. But he didn’t seem too close with Astrid or the others.”
Brandi shrugged. “He’s the only other tall guy who was friendly with Astrid. I don’t know who else it could be.”
“Okay, then, let’s say it was Joe. What in the world would they be meeting about?” I said.
