Cold Heart (19 page)

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exi

Carter would see through it immediately because he knew that money was not an issue for her. At least she was pretty sure he did. Was it too subtle? No, he would see through this right away but whether it would be in time she had no idea. Montgomery read the letter.

“Pretty good,” he said. “Get this over to her house Mitch and for heaven’s sake don’t let anyone see you,” Montgomery said.

“I’m not an amateur old man, just let me handle this,” Mitch said.

“We’ll keep you and your dog alive until everything clears escrow, not sure how long that will take,” Montgomery said. “Your car will be seen at some gas stations and your credit card will be used. Just in case anyone decides they don’t buy this.”

“You have to let Tucker go, he can’t tell anyone anything. Leave him at my place. Carter will think I decided to leave him behind. Please, I’ll add it to my letter, please,” Lexi said.

“Not taking any chances with that dog leading anyone here,” he said. “He stays with you.”

Mitch cut the zap strap and did both hands up with a new one and then pushed her over to the wall and down on the floor and tied her to the pipe again. Tucker who was rousing now crawled over and lay down beside her and put his head in her lap. The two men left the room and flipped the light off. She heard the door lock.

25

Carter called Lexi just before ten that night hoping to chat a little before she called it a night. There was no answer so he decided maybe she had gone to bed early. He’d had a great visit with his former foster brothers. She had been right that it was better that it just be guy time. They had done lots of reminiscing about his mom and they had consumed a couple of those casseroles and a couple of desserts. They’d also consumed more than a few beers and now were winding down. Carter was glad of that. He was dog tired and the thought of an all-nighter with these guys was not something he was up for.

He was really disappointed that he hadn’t been able to speak to Lexi. It was going to seem like a long time until dinner time tomorrow if he couldn’t see her until then. You’ve got it bad, boy, he told himself and smiled. Maybe he would drop by on his way to Napa, depending on how early or late these fellas started heading out. That decided, he felt better and went and joined them again.

It was nearly midnight before they called it a night. Carter pulled out a bunch of sleeping bags and they were all over the place. In the morning he put on coffee and bacon early hoping the smells would wake them and he could get this show on the road, as he was determined to see Lexi before he headed south. It had taken until nearly ten thirty before they were all up so that by the time he’d filled their bellies with pancakes and bacon and said the goodbyes and sent them on their way, it was almost noon. He couldn’t possibly take the time to stop at Lexi’s now as he needed to be back by dinner time and to make the drive to Napa and back was two hours each way, then he would have horses to deal with and ... well it just wasn’t going to happen.

Disappointed, he left the dirty dishes, dealt with Roxy’s mid day meal and then jumped in his car and headed out. He had to keep reminding himself to slow down. He found himself whistling at one point and given the reason for the drive he had to laugh at the irony. He reached Napa and the funeral home in record time and was in and out of there in twenty minutes. He started back by two-thirty. He had no time to spare if he was going to deal with the horses and have a shower before getting to Lexi’s at a reasonable time. He pushed the gas pedal a little harder. When he stopped for fuel he tried calling her, first on her cell and then on the land line. There was no answer. It was odd but maybe she had needed to go to town for something but why wasn’t she then answering her cell phone? She must be driving.

He made it home by four-thirty and dealt with the horses as quickly as he could then headed into the house to shower. On his way to the bathroom he dialed both her numbers again and again got no answer. He was growing concerned. He showered and changed and then grabbed his keys, a bottle of wine and headed out to the car. He made the short drive between the two properties in record time.

When he pulled in and stopped in front of Wildwood he knew something was wrong. Her SUV was not here. There was no sign of Tucker. She didn’t usually take him with her, not wanting to leave him in a hot vehicle. Carter used his key and opened the main door to the Lodge. He immediately found the note on the entry table. He read it, and then took the stairs two at a time to Lexi’s room. The bed was made. He ripped open the closet doors. The closet was empty.

Carter sat down on the bed and reread the note. It was definitely Lexi’s handwriting, but this didn’t make any sense. Lexi didn’t need to sell in order to have money. She had plenty of money already. He walked downstairs and went through the main floor and into the office. All her family photos were gone. He sat on the chair in front of the desk. He felt sick in the pit of his stomach. Something wasn’t right. He went into the kitchen and looked in the fridge. It was full of food. Then he noticed the Lasagna and the bread on the counter, left to spoil.

Montgomery had taken her. He was convinced of it now. He was going to force her to sign papers and he had forced her to write this bogus note. It was the only thing that made any sense. Damn why hadn’t he realized how dangerous and desperate that man was. He got on his cell and dialed the Sherriff. The dispatcher put him through right away.

“Hello Carter,” the Sherriff said. “What can I do for you?”

“It’s Lexi,” he said. “Mitch or Montgomery or both have taken her and forced her to sign paperwork to sell the property and have made it look like she’s left town.”

“Hold up, slow down Carter. Are you saying Montgomery has kidnapped Lexi?”

“Yes and they made her write this letter saying she was leaving town but she didn’t, she wouldn’t, it just doesn’t add up.”

That sounds a bit far-fetched now Carter,” the Sherriff said.

“Just get over here right away, please,” Carter said. “You’ll see for yourself.”

Carter paced back and forth on the front porch clutching the letter and going through everything over and over again in his head. It took about ten minutes for the Sherriff to get there. He climbed out of the cruiser and Carter was on him.

“I haven’t been able to reach her since late afternoon yesterday. I was supposed to be having dinner with her tonight and I get here and no one is here. So I let myself in and I found this note on the hall table. It says she’s sold the property to Montgomery and left town. All her clothes and personal photos are gone, but she left a fridge and freezer full of food to spoil. No woman does that.”

“Carter, slow down,” the Sherriff said. “Everything I am hearing makes me think she left town. Why don’t you think she did? Give me something concrete, not feelings or guessing.”

“Okay,” Carter said, realizing he was sounding like a raving lunatic. “In her note, she refers to getting the money for the sale and being able to afford to start a new life. Lexi already had lots of money from her inheritance from her parents. She is saying that so I will know the letter is bogus.”

“Hmm,” the Sherriff said.

“That’s all you can say?” Carter said.

“Well, I suppose, it does seem odd. I will pay my cousin a visit and just see what he has to say about all this.”

“Good, I’m coming with you,” Carter said.

“No you’re not Carter,” the Sherriff said.

“I’m coming with you in the cruiser or behind you but I’m coming,” he said.

“Fine but any shenanigans out of you and I’ll slap a set of cuffs on you,” he said.

They both got in the car and the Sherriff headed for Montgomery’s winery. When they arrived they approached the front door of the house and the Sherriff banged on the door. A maid answered and the Sherriff asked to see Mr. Montgomery. She said they were having dinner and he walked past her and directly into the dining room with Carter on his heels.

“Geoffrey, Grace, sorry to interrupt your dinner,” he said as he removed his hat. “I understand you had dealings with the Thomas girl in the last twenty-four hours, is that correct?”

“Hello cousin and Carter. As a matter of fact, I did,” Montgomery said. “She came to the winery office late yesterday afternoon and said she’d decided to sell the property after all. I had papers drawn up awhile back as I kept hoping she would change her mind. We signed them right there on the spot. She said she was leaving town.”

“That is such bullshit,” Carter said. “Sorry Grace.”

“Carter, stop,” the Sherriff said putting his hand up. “Can I see the documents?”

“Sorry cousin,” he said. “I gave them to Beatty this morning. He was going to file them for me and look after the transfer of funds.”

“I see,” the Sherriff said. “So Miss Thomas has left information on where she will be going then?

“Yeah, where is she?” Carter said, moving towards Montgomery and taking him by the shoulders.

“Carter, what did I tell you?” the Sherriff said. He pulled Carter back.

“I have no idea,” Montgomery said. “She said she would be in touch once she decided where to settle.”

“Where’s Mitch?” the Sherriff said.

“He’s around here somewhere,” Montgomery said. He rang a bell that sat next to his plate. A maid appeared.

“Get Mitch, Annie would you please?” Montgomery said.

“Grace, did you see Miss Thomas when she was here?” Sherriff Montgomery asked.

“No, I didn’t. I wish I had. Geoffrey told me about the sale at dinner last night,” Grace said. “I’m sorry to see her go she is a really nice young woman.”

Mitch appeared at the door to the dining area.

“Yes boss,” Mitch said.

“The Sherriff here has some questions for you,” Montgomery said.

“Have you seen Miss Lexi Thomas in the past twenty-four hours?” the Sherriff asked.

“Why yes, Sherriff,” he said. “Saw her yesterday when she came to see Mr. Montgomery.”

“And what time was that and how long was she here?”

“Well I believe it was about six o’clock and I think she was here about an hour,” Mitch said.

“You are so full of ... they’re lying Sherriff. There is no way Lexi willingly signed any paperwork. I know it and they know it and I am going to find her and if you have harmed one hair on her head I will kill you,” Carter said.

“Now that’s enough,” Montgomery said. “You have no right to come in here accusing us of wrong doing.”

“Stand down Carter,” the Sherriff said. “We’ll be leaving now.”

“Sherriff we need to search this place top to bottom,” Carter said.

“Got no cause to do that, Carter,” the Sherriff said. “Be seeing you cousin,”

He took Carter by the arm and giving him a look dragged him out of there and straight out onto the porch.

“Sherriff they took her and they mean to harm her if they haven’t already, we can’t just leave,” Carter said.

“Just hush, Carter,” the Sherriff said. “I didn’t say I believed them, I just said I had no cause to do a search of the property. Thing is, I don’t think they’d be stupid enough to keep her here. It’d be the first place we’d look.”

“I guess you are right?” Carter said, calming a bit as he realized the Sherriff wasn’t giving up.

The Sherriff walked over to the cruiser and got in. Carter followed. He sat there a moment and then started the engine and turned around and started down the driveway.

“I did some checking after we talked the other day,” he said. “Mitch was working for some business man out of Los Angeles and word has it this man has ties to the mob. This business man is also the person who loaned my cousin here four million dollars to expand the facilities here a couple of years ago.”

“This must be the guy that Lexi overhead the other day when she was here,” Carter said.

“What’s this?” the Sherriff said.

“Yeah, I didn’t mention it the other day when I talked to you but Lexi was here talking to Grace about her mother and she overheard a conversation between Montgomery, Mitch and some mystery man. He was giving your cousin an ultimatum. Get the property and the water or else. We weren’t sure what water they were talking about at the time.”

“Carter it would have been helpful if you had told me this the other day,” he said.

“I know we just weren’t ...” Carter was interrupted.

“Sure you could trust me,” the Sherriff finished for him.

“Sorry,” Carter said.

“Well you might be, if some harm has come to that girl,” he said.

“We have to find her. She’s still alive I’m sure of it, I feel it.” Carter said.

“Well, your feelings aside, I don’t think my cousin would get rid of her until he was certain that this deal had gone through escrow or he didn’t need her for any other reason,” Sherriff Montgomery said.

“Well if she’s not here, where is she?” Carter said.

“That, I don’t know,” he said. “I can’t really put a cruiser at the end of the driveway to follow them, they’d spot it in a minute and they would certainly know your vehicle. So I’m thinking we’re going to go over to that rental place on Lincoln Avenue and you’re going to rent a car. Then you are going to come over here and park it down the road there where you have a view of the winery entrance and if you see anyone leaving, you are going to follow them. You will call me right away and I will meet you wherever it is they end up.”

“What if they have someone else with her and neither of them goes there?” Carter said.

“Well, Carter I have thought about that. After all, this is not my first rodeo. In the meantime, I am going to be checking on any other holdings my cousin may have where he could hide this girl and her dog and her car. I will get a couple of my deputies on that right away,” he said.

“Okay,” Carter said.

“There is the possibility that she is not even in town anymore so I will also put out an ABP on her vehicle in case they have taken her somewhere else,” he said.

Carter’s shoulders slumped. He hadn’t even considered that possibility.

“Like some place this mystery man owns?” Carter asked.

“Exactly,” the Sherriff said.

They turned onto Lincoln Avenue and the Sherriff pulled into the car rental office. Carter went in and rented a non-descript sedan. When he came out he went over to the cruiser and the Sherriff rolled down the window.

“Get back there as quick as you can. Move your vehicle to different locations along that stretch of road every hour or so. Call me if you see anything suspicious,” the Sherriff said. “In the meantime I will be doing some checking and I’ll get back to you if I find out anything at all.”