In Harm’s Way - Ch. 35

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

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE????????????????

??????????Since Hiram was there to give Hope a hand with the kids, I scooted out to my car and made my getaway. Kids were all fine and good, but I had done my duty by my own three. Some things didn’t bear repeating. Hope had only had one child. She needed more experience. I headed in the direction of Barr Jewelers. I didn’t have a plan. I hoped one would come to me on the way. That was kind of the way I lived. An extemporaneous life. I liked the sound of that.

????????????Unfortunately, my mind was still a blank when I reached my destination. Bummer! I had hoped for something brilliant and insightful. Not happening. What was Plan B? Jump right in with both feet and make a splash? While I was debating my next move, the younger Mr. Barr came out of the store and got into a nearby car, presumably his own. Well, there was my answer! I would follow him and see where he went.

????????????Never having followed anyone before, I was a little rusty on the how-tos, but I figured he wasn’t used to being followed, so he might not be expecting it. I stayed as far back as I could without losing him. Traffic wasn’t heavy, so it wasn’t too hard to keep him in sight. In fact, his was the only bright yellow car on the road. If he was up to nefarious works, he should learn to keep a lower profile.

No sooner had I had that thought, than he pulled into a driveway and honked his horn. A bearded gentleman appeared, dressed for comfort, not beauty. Almost, but not quite, a scruffy bum. I tried to get a closer look. There was something familiar about him. Wasn’t he the man I had mistaken for Barr when I entered the shop that first day? The two men climbed into an old green pickup and pulled back onto the road. Following?that?was going to be a lot harder.

Not that I wasn’t up to the task, but the scruffier man looked like someone who might be more aware of who was behind him. I dropped back a little. Immediately, a white van pulled in front of me, completely blocking my view of the road. “Shoot!” I said (or something very similar, with fewer “O”s). I pulled out to pass him, in time to see the truck I was following make a right turn, with me now in the wrong lane to follow him. Luckily, though, it had turned onto Dancing Creek Lane, my home ground. Once I found a place to turn around, I was sure I could find the truck again.

The younger Mr. Barr (I’d call him?Adonis), was not dressed for hiking, so I ruled out another trek up the mountain. Fur-face, his companion, was dressed for mess, however. Last time I had seen him, he had been clothed appropriately for a jeweler’s shop, so I knew he wasn’t really the scruffy bum he appeared to be. What could they be up to?

Driving recklessly fast on the dirt road, I managed to finally catch a glimpse of the green pickup just as it turned onto Fletch’s branch of the road. Was that where they were headed? I hung back as much as I could, but I wasn’t worried about losing them now. This was a dead-end road, so they could not escape without passing me. After a bit, I decided to park and continue on foot. That was the only way my presence could go unobserved. Unless they knew someone who lived on this road, they were probably heading for Fletch’s place, and Fletch wasn’t there to greet them. I wondered if they knew that.

They had parked out of sight, but I could tell they were there. There was no dust rising on the road beyond the house. I hid as best I could behind some shrubbery and watched to see what they were doing. Mostly peeking in windows, at first. I hoped they would appreciate how nicely Hope had cleaned the house. Of course, short of throwing out all the furniture, there was nothing she could do about my cat-hairy donations other than vacuum the heck out of them, and I didn’t think Fletch had a vacuum cleaner. Still, when Harm and I had come to tell her Fletch would not be back last night, the house positively shone with scrubbing. Even the children were all scrubbed clean, hair neatly brushed, beautifully attired. They all appeared to be in shock. That had apparently worn off over night, judging by what I’d seen at my house this morning.

I heard the tinkle of breaking glass, and Fur-face went in through a first floor window. A moment later, he opened the front door for Adonis, who was apparently too civilized to go in through the window.?What a wuss!

I crept closer to the house. What were they looking for???Drawers opened and shut. Bedding was pulled away, and clothing rifled. I watched through a break in the curtains, wondering what on earth they were after. Bit by bit, they upturned every container, pulled out every drawer, looked under every rug … well, they would have if Fletch had had any rugs, but you get the picture. They really turned the place over.

“Where the hell did she put the ice?” Adonis asked.

Refrigerator??Seemed obvious to me, but they didn’t look thirsty. Surely they weren’t looking for?diamonds?at Fletcher Fox’s house. That put a whole new wrinkle in this investigation. I almost laughed out loud. The ICE man. A Jeweler. And Vaughn thought he was working for the Agency. At least I was beginning to understand what Vaughn was doing. But why was Carmen a suspect in all this? I thought I’d better get out of there before the two men came out. I sneaked back to my car, meaning to hurry home and report the break-in.?Diamonds? Wow!?Harm would be so pleased.

“Grrr!” Something growled as I approached my car.

“Wolf?” I said tentatively.??I was answered by a deeper growl.?So, not Wolf. I looked around, trying to discover the source of the growl. I was looking too high. Lower than I was expecting, a miniature Schnauzer stood his ground, barring my way. “Hey there, boy,” I said in a chirpy voice.

“Ruff!” he said, wagging his tiny tail. He approached for a head-rub, all whiskers and eyebrows. What a cute little dog. After a few licks (from him, not me), I climbed in my car and headed for home. But not, as it happened, alone. It was only a few miles, but I was surprised when I reached my door to find the funny little pooch still with me. Panting hard from trying to keep up, but he had followed me home.