In Harm’s Way - Ch. 24

Excerpt from rough draft of In Harm’s Way by Pat Otterness

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

????????????“He’s just a Sheriff’s Deputy,” I said. “I wonder what he’s up to?” I looked at Betty in dismay. ”He’s not a nice man,” I said. I hesitated before I spoke. “Is Carmen illegal?” I asked at last.

????????????“We’re not sure,” said Betty. “We think she was born in the United States, but we aren’t??sure. I refuse to let her be deported.”

????????????“I don’t think Inspector Vaughn has any connection to ICE,” I said. “ He has some other game he’s playing. Something he doesn’t want anyone to know about.”

????????????“ I will keep Carmen safe,” said Betty. “Can you protect Dorita???Carmen thinks Mr. Fox will care for her, but I don’t know this man.”

????????????“She is being well cared for,” I said. “Fletcher Fox is very kind to her, but she is missing her mama.??She is sad.”

????????????Betty breathed a long sigh. “There are worse things than sadness,” she said, shaking her head. “Carmen is sick with worry, but she couldn’t bring her child up the mountain to look for me.??The countryside is too rough, and all uphill.”

????????????“ Could I ask?why?she was looking for you?”

????????????“She is my granddaughter,” Betty said simply. “Who else could she turn to?”

????????????“You seem terribly sane for a person known widely as Crazy Betty,” I said. “Why do they call you that?”

????????????Betty sighed. “There is a very fine line between genius and insanity,” Betty said. “Sometimes I step over the line, but I always try to keep one foot firmly planted in reality. Sometimes I speak in rhyme, and people think I’m crazy. They fear what they don’t understand. And of course, the fact that I choose to isolate myself on this mountainside adds to the aura of craziness.” She smiled. “Seeming to be crazy can come in very handy sometimes.”

????????????“Thank you for your honesty,” I said. “Can I see Carmen? Is she nearby?”

????????????“ I would rather you didn’t know where she is,” said Betty, looking over my shoulder. “You might want to grab your jeans,” she added.

????????????I looked around, and saw that Wolf had my jeans in his teeth and was shaking them ferociously about, probably pretending he had caught another skunk. “Drop it!” I said. I pulled them from his drooling jaws, only at that moment realizing I had just had my conversation with Betty while standing there in wet underpants. I glance back towards where she had been standing, but she had slipped away into the forest.

????????????I noticed that on the other side of the creek there was a well-worn path, and I decided to follow it downhill rather than try to retrace my steps in the failing light.??It was much easier going than the uphill climb had been. Apart from a few lizards and one near miss with a snapping turtle, the wildlife left us alone on our downhill trek. In places we had to actually walk down the middle of the stream to get past obstructions, but the water felt good soaking through my hiking boots. They were, by now, probably ruined by water, but I’m not a barefoot kind of person.??Wolf, however did his wading in bare feet and seemed none the worse for it.

????????????Hope was beside herself with worry by the time Wolf and I trudged up to my door. “What on earth were you thinking?” she yelled.??Well, maybe not yelled, but spoke in a very harsh voice. “You had me worried sick!”

????????????I tried to look repentant, but it came out more like a smirk.

Hope stopped in her tracks and sniffed. “Ew-w-w!,” she said. Then, “keep that dog away from me!”??She backed away from Wolf’s wagging advance. “Both of you smell terrible!”

“Wolf found a playmate,” I explained. I saw Wolf heading for the porch, and wondered if Hope had put any food in Demon’s dish. Probably the same thing Wolf was wondering. After a moment I heard a scuffle and Wolf returned, licking his chops, with an angry cat on board.??He loped gently to my side and sat abruptly, dumping his furious rider unceremoniously on his butt.??Wolf was tired, too.??Demon stalked off in a huff, cheated out of both dinner and perhaps a thrilling ride.

Before I could tell Hope about finding Crazy Betty, she began speaking. “ Vaughn,” she said. “He’s out there somewhere.”

“What?”

“Vaughn, Inspector Vaughn,” she said. “His cruiser has been parked at the foot of the hill all afternoon. I don’t know what he’s doing down there, or wherever he is, but I know he’s up to something.”

“He has no business on my property,” I said. I hoped he didn’t know where I’d been. “This is not the first time he’s been nosing around out here.??He told me I should keep his visits secret, but he didn’t say why.”

“He gives me the creeps,” Hope said. “ I was afraid he’d come up here while you were out.??I stayed inside with the door locked.” Hope peered down the hill, but by now it was too dark to see the cruiser.

“I’ll talk to him,” I said. “I’m tired of his theatrics.??I’m going to report him to the Sheriff.” I turned on my flashlight and set off down the hill. “Are you coming?”

“You’ve got to be joking,” said Hope. She turned to go back to the house.

“Fine.”?I said.?I’ll just have to do it myself, said the little red hen . . .

It was really dark now, and my flashlight barely lit up a path for me to walk. I wasn’t afraid of Vaughn. I would send him packing. I saw the cruiser, poorly concealed behind a pile of gravel the highway had dumped and left there.

“Vaughn?” I called. “Are you here?”??Nothing.??A few crickets. Silence. “Detective Inspector Vaughn,” I called louder. “Where are you???This is Chat Chance.” I approached the cruiser and peered in the window. Through the darkness I could see that the??drivers side door was hanging open.?Uh-oh!

I circled the car, going around the back and pointing my flashlight so I could see the open door more clearly. Vaughn … I guess it was Vaughn … lay half in, half out of the car, with much of his face blown away. I staggered back, stunned. Then I turned and went screaming up the hill to my house, not even pausing to puke up my guts. “Hope!” I screamed.??The night was suddenly filled with hidden terrors. “Ho-o-ope!”