Deep Into The Night (Hartz Island Series) (25 page)

Chapter Thirty-Nine

"O
ur first stop is my house,” proclaimed Montana. “We need disguises, then on to Speedy Wash ‘N Dry, where Cassie can load up the machines. From there, we’ll swing by the church, Margery Anne’s house, and the ferry. Are there any objections?”

There weren’t any, which pleased Montana. She liked being the spymaster.

They left Montana’s house wearing wigs and headed to the laundromat. Cassie and Montana leaped out and hurried in with their arms full and stuffed the machines.

Back in the truck, Montana said, “Next is spying on Margery Anne.”

The only church on the island was situated almost at midpoint where major roads crossed. A little community had sprung up around it all, including the home where the minister and Margery Anne lived.

“Do you know exactly which house it is?” Montana asked looking out the windows.

“No, not really,” replied Jeannie, “I just know it’s across from the church, but there’s more than one house on the road.” Jeannie slowed the SUV as she approached the community.

“Look, somebody is backing out of a driveway.” Cassie pointed to a tan sedan. “That house is almost directly across from it.”

“Can you park somewhere?” Montana asked. From the rear seat, she leaned between Jeannie and Cassie, looking out the window.

“I’ll go up to the little store.” Jeannie pulled into the small lot; the tan sedan passed, heading north. “Now what?” She looked at Cassie and Montana. “Did you see who was in it?”

“A man,” said Cassie.

“Maybe it was the minister?” Montana pointed back down the road. “You’re never going to believe this. Another car is pulling out from the same garage.”

A gray sedan passed.

“Margery Anne!” Jeannie and Montana said in unison.

Almost screeching the tires, Jeannie backed up and floored it, following the sedan from a distance. Bantering back and forth, Montana continued to speculate where she was headed. The closer they got to the north end of the island, the more obvious the destination.

“I think she’s getting on the ferry,” Montana said. “It leaves in thirty minutes.”

“But why? She was on it yesterday. Jack and I saw her. The minister picked her up.”

Jeannie pulled over to the side of the road and stopped. She turned around. “If I go down to the terminal, it will be obvious we’re not getting on the ferry. What do you want me to do?”

“Get closer. I’ll hop out and watch. U-turn and park by Speedy Wash. Cassie’s stuff must be ready for the dryer anyway. Then watch the road.”

Jeannie stopped by the day parking lot. Montana slipped out and ran for cover. She crouched between the first vehicles she came to: a green mini-van and a pick-up truck. The ferry had just arrived. Montana studied the cars lined up to board, and she noticed the minister’s car in line.

A gray sedan like Margery Anne’s swung around and backed in a few spaces away from where she hid. Montana felt certain it was Margery Anne but didn’t have a clear view.

“
What was MAMW license plate?
” she texted Jeannie.

“
Love Thy Neighbor bumper sticker.
”

Ah, yes, the bumper sticker. Staying low to the ground and out of sight, Montana scooted around where she could see the identifying bumper sticker. The driver was scrunched low in the seat, barely visible. Was she waiting for someone to get off the ferry or watching for someone to get on? Within minutes, Montana would have her answer.

Montana repositioned herself so she could watch the ferry traffic. With everyone off, they started loading. The first line of vehicles loaded, and the second line was cleared to go and did. Margery Anne started up her car but didn’t move. She sent Jeannie a text,
Watch for MAMW.
The minister drove onto the ferry, and Margery Anne peeled out of the parking lot. Montana did her best to sprint up the incline, but she knew MAMW was long gone.

A squealing SUV made a U-turn almost in front of her. The back door flew open and Cassie leaned out yelling, “Hurry.” Cassie grabbed her arms and pulled her in. Jeannie gunned in.

“Which…way…did she go?” gasped Montana.

“I’m pretty sure straight ahead,” Jeannie said. “She went past us and didn’t turn in by Speedy Wash.”

Heading south down the main road, Montana leaned in next to Cassie and Jeannie, watching. They passed the church and the ranch-style house directly across from it.

“The outside light is still on. She’s not coming back until after dark,” stated Jeannie. She veered off, heading to the west side of the island. Far ahead, a gray sedan signaled and made a right on the road that hugged the water. “She’s either going to Armstrong’s or the compound.”

They came around the bend where Blue Heron Lane was, but Jeannie didn’t let up on the speed. Up ahead was the sedan.

“Compound,” yelled Montana.

Jeannie flew past the county park entrance and finally hit the brakes, slowing Kip’s truck down. The entrance gate to the compound slid open, with Margery Anne driving in.

“Oh, no,” said Jeannie. “I really didn’t think she was this involved. How can she not know?” Jeannie sighed. “She has to.”

“No, not necessarily.” Cassie shrugged. “I lived with a man for three years and didn’t know what he was up too. She is only seeing what she wants and has convinced herself it is all something else. In her mind, something other than trafficking of women is going on, though I can’t imagine what she thinks it is.”

“Something bad is going to happen. I can feel it.” Montana kept her eyes closed and shook her head. “I don’t know what it is but it is strong…evil.”

Jeannie drove into town and parked behind her café. “Montana, something bad is happening now.” She pulled off her wig and sighed again.

“I know that. This is something more.”

“Then you can tell us what it is while I bake us some cookies. This whole thing has made me depressed.” They followed Jeannie into her café kitchen. She pointed to the table and chairs, turned on the oven, and opened the refrigerator. “Chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin?”

“Both,” Montana and Cassie replied.

Montana opened the laptop on the table. “Is this thing working?”

“Yes. The Ferry Dock Café is now a Wi-Fi hot spot, courtesy of Kip.”

“I have an idea.” She handed the laptop to Cassie. “Pull up that earth map thing like you did before. We know there are two trails leading up to the compound. There has to be one coming in from the rear, or at least a deer trail.”

“Didn’t we promise Kip we’d stay away from the compound?” Jeannie spooned dough onto the sheet.

“No, what we promised was we’d stay away from the Ryan’s and the county park. This is neither.” Montana leaned over Cassie’s shoulder, watching the screen.

Jeannie put the cookies in the oven and joined them. Cassie zoomed into the compound and then the area around it. She stopped and studied the screen.

“What are you searching for?” Montana asked.

“I’m not sure. Something tells me I know this area.” Cassie zoomed into the far back property, zeroing in so close it was blurred. “Give me a minute to think.”

The summer of her fourteenth year. She and her friends had snuck up to the nudist colony many more times than they fessed up. They’d sneak around all the way to the back to a favorite spot. Cassie smiled thinking of it.

“There used to be a gigantic boulder around this area, not the one Jack found us on, but another one.” She pointed to the screen. “Vegetation is probably all grown up around it, but we used to climb up on top and look down into all the little cabins, hoping to see people walking around.”

Cassie highlighted the property that butted up from the back and keyed in for their longitude and latitude coordinates. She inputted those coordinates into a different website, which brought up county documents detailing who owned the property.

“Do either one of you know these people?” Cassie asked.

They did not. Jeannie wrote down their names and called Winnie, who knew everyone on the island. When she hung up, the timer buzzed. Montana and Cassie waited until she put the plate of hot cookies on the table.

“Well?” they asked, grabbing a cookie.

“Winnie knows one of them. She’s calling them and will call me back.” Jeannie took her cookie and pulled it apart, stuffing pieces in her mouth.

Like she promised, Winnie called back. Jeannie jotted down the notes, thanked her, and hung up.

“So?” Montana pushed back her chair.

“They are more than happy to let us go snoop. It’s an old farm house with an apple orchard. The last time the owners were up was Labor Day weekend. Their dog got loose and didn’t come back, so the husband went looking for him at the back of the property. He heard something that made his skin crawl, but he didn’t know what it was. They left the next day.”

“Then let’s go.” Montana jumped up and pulled on her jacket.

“Before we go helter-skelter, what’s our plan?” Jeannie did not budge. She took another cookie and pulled it apart, slowly stuffing pieces in her mouth. “We have to have a plan.”

Montana sat back down and sighed. “I suppose you’re right. What if we go check it out and depending on what we find, go from there.”

It didn’t seem like much of a plan to Cassie. She glanced at Jeannie, who nodded slightly.

“Sure. I’m going to text Kip that we’re still checking stuff out, and if we’re not back by five, to put the food in the oven.” Jeannie bagged up the rest of the cookies and locked up.

Heading back the way they’d come, Jeannie turned north just before passing the compound. Driving slowly, they scrutinized the culprit property. Several
No Trespassing
signs were posted, but they couldn’t see a barbed wire fence. It was very obvious where the property line ended—the signs and thick woods disappeared.

Like Winnie said, an old farm house with a barn sat back from the road. Jeannie parked by the barn. A slight breeze blew, and the late afternoon sun skirted around the fluffy clouds. Everyone pulled on a hat over their natural hair and zipped up their jackets. They stared across the acreage.

Jeannie handed Cassie the binoculars and asked, “So what are you thinking?”

“We never came this way, so I don’t remember this property. We walked far, but not this far. So my guess is it’s that way.” Pointing straight back, she moved her finger to the right and stopped. Focusing in with the binoculars, she studied the property, but she didn’t see the big boulder.

Just behind the barn, they found a mowed track in the middle of the property. With Cassie in the lead, they made their way to the edge of the orchard where fir trees, salal, and Oregon grape took over. Turning right, they walked until Cassie found a small clearing with a narrow path. It led into the woods and veered right, paralleling what they guessed to be the property line. Cassie focused on the terrain, searching for the boulder.

“Stop!”

Cassie did, and Jeannie bumped into her. They turned back to see what Montana wanted.

“Look.” She pointed into the woods.

About one hundred feet in, nailed to a tree, was a very large sign declaring
No Trespassing
and all the awful things that would happen if someone did.

“Is there any chance they’d have an invisible electrical fence to zap you, because my skin is tingling and telling me we are in a hot zone. Just like last night.”

Cassie wasn’t sure what to say and was glad when Jeannie took over. “If they did, I don’t know how we’d get zapped because we don’t have a collar on. But I trust you and your reactions. We’ll just make sure we stay on this little trail.” Jeannie reached for Montana’s hand and tugged her along. “Keep going, Cassie.”

The path sloped downward, where it evened out to a small grassy patch surrounding an enormous boulder formation with a tall madrona tree growing next to it. The trail skirted around the boulder and disappeared.

“This is it. We nearly wrecked that tree climbing it. Look at it now.”

The two women joined Cassie and stared up at it.

“Okay then, let’s get going.” Montana pulled herself up on the lower branch and climbed higher and higher until she reached a branch that was even with the top of the boulder and hopped over. She looked down at them. “Are you coming?”

Jeannie frowned for a moment, and then shrugged. “I guess I’m next.”

She wasn’t agile like Montana, so Cassie gave her a leg up. Once Jeannie joined Montana, Cassie swung her leg up and started the climb. A large branch hung over the top of the rock formation, allowing for easy access. She joined the two other women at the edge peering out. Just like she remembered, Cassie could see into the compound. A tall barbed wire fence skirted the property as far as they could see.

Cassie handed Montana the binoculars. “I’m scooting back to the tree. If they have lookouts, I don’t want to be obvious.”

Jeannie agreed and did the same. Within minutes, Montana joined them. With her face pale, she just kept shaking her head and handed Jeannie the binoculars for her turn. She scooted forward and after a few minutes, back. Like Montana, she was visibly disturbed. Neither woman could speak, so Cassie took the binoculars and crawled forward and watched. Now she understood. It was so surrealistic she thought it couldn’t be happening. Dressed in white combat fatigues, Margery Anne marched a line of women around, who appeared to be dressed in white choir robes, wearing wedding veils of various lengths. What was going on?

Back at the tree, she joined Jeannie and Montana. “I think I know where that big box of cupcakes ended up. One of you needs to call one of the guys, like right now.”