Miz Scarlet and the Holiday Houseguests (A Scarlet Wilson Mystery #3) (11 page)

“I wish Bur and Mickey hadn’t gone. I
should have stood my ground,” Laurel said, clearly in the mood to
kick herself in the proverbial backside. “It was a bad idea to
allow them to go.”

“Bur is a very safe driver,” I reminded
her. “He wouldn’t take any unnecessary chances, especially with
Mickey in the car. I’m sure they’ll be fine.”

“I hope you’re right.” Judging from her
tone, it sounded like she thought it was wishful thinking on my
part.

A noise in the hallway signaled the new
arrival. Three sets of ears shot up as the dogs heard Lacey’s key
slide into the lock. January ran out of the room in her capacity as
lead watchdog, determined to investigate the suspicious sound. Huck
and Mozzie were less inclined to bother; both decided to let their
buddy handle the call. A moment later, the friendly bark in the
foyer informed us that our new arrival was friend, not
foe.

“I’m home!” Lacey entered the inn,
stomping her wet boots a foot at a time, singing in an overly loud
falsetto. “Where is everyone?”

“We’re in the living room,” my mother
and I answered in unison. The sound of tingling jingle bells
resounded as the elderly woman made her way down the corridor and
appeared in the doorway. Her gray hair was matted down with tiny
flecks of ice and a few snowflakes here and there. She shook her
head, and then ran her fingers through her hair, fluffing it up
again.

“Well, God bless you for having the
good sense to stay indoors! Brr!” Lacey hugged herself. “It’s nasty
out there. Where’s little Mickey? Off gabbing on her phone? Or
texting?”

“Bur took her with him down to New
Jersey,” Laurel announced.

“New Jersey? She seemed surprised by
the news. “What’s in New Jersey?”

I gave Lacey the short version of Big
Larry’s airport saga. By now, my mother was back to openly
fretting. She was certain the car would go off the road, or someone
would crash into them.

“My son’s trying to impress Larry!
He’ll do anything to get in her good graces!”

“Getting her daughter and her father
killed in a car crash won’t do much on that front.” said one
Googins girl to the other. “That would be foolish. Besides, Bur’s
not a complete idiot, Laurel. He knows Larry will do a lot more
than just take a chunk out of him if anything happens to her
nearest and dearest. She’ll kill him!”

“Too true,” I laughed. “I’ll bet Larry
knows a hundred different ways to do it.”

Those were the words my mother needed
to hear. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You’re
probably right. I’m worrying over nothing.”

Tra-ling...tra-ling...tra-ling.
The
sudden peel alerted me to a call on the inn’s landline. I picked
the cordless phone from its cradle, pushed the button, and greeted
the caller.

“Four Acorns Inn,” I
announced.

“Is this Scarlet Wilson?” The female
voice on the other end demanded to know. “Are you the
innkeeper?”

“It is and I am,” I replied. “How can I
help you?”

“I have been trying to get a hold of my
daughter all afternoon, but her phone is turned off. I want to tell
her that I took an earlier plane from Atlanta.”

“You must be Mrs. Rivera. Do you need a
ride from the airport? I’ll be happy to come get you. What gate are
you at?”

“I’m not in Hartford.”

“Oh?”

“I could only get a plane to JFK in New
York. I planned to take the limo or the train to Connecticut, but I
have been informed that it’s not an option for me.”

“You’re in New York?”

“Didn’t you hear me the first time?”
Edna Rivera wanted to know.

“Well, I did. I’m just surprised that
you didn’t call sooner. We’re having bad weather here
and....”

“...it’s supposed to get worse. Yes, I
know all that. That’s why I took an earlier flight. And now I need
a ride, but I can’t get a hold of my daughter, to let her know she
has to pick me up at the airport. Don’t you have a worker you can
send down here? I’m sure my daughter will pay him.”

Oh, she’ll pay him alright.
I’m just not sure you’re going to like your traveling
companions.
I could just imagine the moment
when the Four Acorns Ford Focus pulled up to the curb at JFK
Airport and Edna came face-to-face with her ex-husband.
Priceless.

“Ma’am, where are you and what’s your
phone number?” I reached into the drawer of the end table for a
note pad and a pen, and took down the information. “I’ll get back
to you.

My first call was to Larry’s cell
phone. No answer. I sent her a text. My next call was to
Bur.

“Where are you?” I asked my
brother.

“Hackensack. Don’t worry, Scar. The
road trip is going fine.”

“Well, it’s about to get worse, trust
me. Guess who just flew into JFK from Atlanta and needs a ride to
the Four Acorns Inn.”

“The Queen of Clean landed
in Queens? Typical,” said an unfamiliar male voice in the
background.
Ah, the joys of speaker phone
function.

“You’ve got to be joking! There’s no
way I can pick Edna up now!” I could hear the frustration in my
brother’s voice. “I’d have to turn around and....This is Friday.
How am I supposed to get through Manhattan at the top of rush hour
and still get home before midnight? Is the woman mad?”

“I’ve been saying that for years,” Big
Larry announced, adding his two cents to the conversation.
“Stubborn and determined to do things her way, no matter who gets
inconvenienced....”

I could hear Bur trying to shush the
baseball coach without much luck. I broke in.

“She tried to get a shuttle, but had no
luck, Colonel. The limos and trains are full. If you don’t pick her
up, she’s stranded.”

“Ducky! Now I’ve got to decide if I’m
taking the Lincoln Tunnel or....”

“I’ll leave you to that,” I told him,
“I’ve got to call Edna back and give her the good news. I’ll give
her your number.”

“Well, do that, but I’m
pretty sure I already have
her
number, if you get my drift.” My brother sighed
heavily, even as Mickey and Big Larry continued chattering away in
the background. “It’s going to be an interesting
reunion.”

“You can say that again, Colonel. I’d
give my right arm to see Edna’s face when you three show up.” Bur
chuckled, Mickey giggled, Big Larry gave an amused howl from the
passenger seat.

“She’s going to blow a gasket,” said
the ex-husband, with enthusiasm that bespoke of the baseball slob’s
delight in riling up the Queen of Clean.

“I’ll be sure to have my camera ready,”
Bur promised, just before he hung up.

I immediately called Edna back. She
answered on the second ring. I could hear the relief in her voice
when I told her that Bur was on his way.

“It’s wall-to-wall people here. I’ve
been bumped and jostled left and right. It’s dreadful, absolutely
dreadful. I’m so afraid someone is going to walk off with my
suitcase.”

“It will take him some time to get
there,” I cautioned her. “Be patient.”

“Is he a conscientious driver? I don’t
like to get into the car with just anyone. You never know these
days....”

“Not to worry, Mrs. Rivera.
If you get into his car, I can assure you my brother will get you
here in one piece.”
If you get into his
car....
What will she do when she sees Big
Larry, run for the hills...get on the next flight back to
Atlanta...clobber somebody?

Chapter Ten --

Larry hadn’t gotten back to me. I tried
once more, but she still wasn’t answering her phone and now my
concern was growing. By the time Max returned to the inn, a big
brown paper sack in his arms, I was perplexed.

“How’s everything?” he greeted me. I
took the package he offered and set it down on the hall console
table. “You don’t look happy.”

“It’s been a wild afternoon.” I filled
him in on the news about Edna.

“Oh, she’s a tough nut to crack, like
my Aunt Goldie. She goes right for the jugular, a regular pit bull
in pumps, always looking for a way to cut you down to size. Larry’s
going to hit the roof about this mess.”

“I haven’t gotten through to her
yet.”

“What?”

“I left her messages and sent her a
couple of texts, but I couldn’t reach her. Edna had the same
problem,” I told him. A funny look came over Max’s face. He fished
his phone out of his pocket and punched a few buttons.

“Give me a minute,” he said, walking
away.

“No problem, Max. I’m going to take the
dogs out.”

Gathering the canine trio together, I
took them for a quick trip around the yard, just long enough for
them to get the job done. When I walked through the back door, the
retired homicide investigator was nowhere to be seen. I checked in
the living room, where I found the Googins girls watching the local
news channel. “Have you two seen Max?”

“Oh, he poked his head in to say hello
and then asked us to tell you that he is expecting an important
phone call. He’ll catch up with you.”

“Great,” I nodded. I hoped that didn’t
mean trouble for Larry. How complicated could it be to find out
where she was and why she wasn’t answering her phone? “In the
meantime, I think I’ll get cracking on dinner.”

Stepping out into the hallway, I
noticed the library door was shut. Apparently, the experienced
investigator needed privacy. Surely he should have had an instant
answer when he called Larry’s unit. Someone had to know where she
was. Should I view the closed door as a harbinger of trouble? Now I
was definitely worried.

Half an hour later, Max came to find me
in the kitchen, where I was in the middle of preparing a chicken
for the roasting pan. His eyes had a guarded look to them, his
mouth was drawn tight.

“Want the good news or the
bad?”

“How bad is it?” My stomach felt like I
was riding an express elevator down from the fortieth
floor.

“Larry left the forensics lab in
Meriden two hours ago. She told the people on her team she had a
personal emergency. Her phone was just found on the seat of her
car, along with her purse. There were signs of a struggle, some
blood. Not a lot of blood, but enough.”

“Dear God!” I sank down on a stool,
stunned. “This can’t be happening.”

“Unfortunately, it is,” he reminded me.
“At least Michaela isn’t here.”

“You think someone kidnapped Larry?” It
must be true. How else could we explain the items left in her car?
Larry never went anywhere without her phone. It was a lifeline,
especially since she was always on call.

“It’s possible.” Max was hedging his
answer. Did he want to believe she’d be okay as much as I
did?

“She was so worried about this case,
Max. Carmine Tossi’s kid....”

“Yeah, I know. It’s an ugly
situation.”

“Do you think someone’s trying to
squash the investigation?”

“It’s hard to know what to think,
Scarlet. We really don’t have anything to go on at the
moment.”

“What if she was
kidnapped....Or worse?” I suddenly flashed back to my dream.
No, not a dream...a nightmare.
Someone had wanted to get Larry. Even in my sleep, I had known
she was in grave danger. “What if someone wants to kill
her?”

“Not to worry. I’m sure her colleague
misheard her,” he fibbed, pretending that there was a logical
reason why the homicide investigator was missing. “It’s just a
silly misunderstanding. The state cops will locate her before you
know it.”

That didn’t explain why Larry left her
phone and her purse behind. Nor did it explain the blood in her
car.

“And if they don’t?” I wanted to
know.

“Don’t even say that, Scarlet.” Our
eyes met and I could see the painful doubt creeping into his
thoughts, feeding his personal sense of helplessness. He was no
longer running the show. Max couldn’t call in his people or launch
an investigation. He was a civilian now. “There’s got to be a
logical explanation. There has to be one!”

“What can we do? We’ve got to do
something,” I insisted. “We can’t just sit here on our
hands!”

“I gave the unit my number. They’ll
call me back when they’ve got something. I told them Larry’s
parents are coming in tonight.”

We were at a loss, the pair of us,
sitting in the library and waiting for answers, waiting for some
reason to hope. Twenty minutes later, when the landline rang again,
I expected to hear Edna’s voice on the other end. I was shocked to
hear Larry speak.

“Ms. Wilson? This is Laurencia Rivera.
I’m staying in the White Oak Room at the inn while my condo’s being
painted....” What was she talking about? I put my hand over the
phone.

“Max, it’s Larry, and she’s acting like
she doesn’t know me!”

“Put it on speaker,” he urged me.
“Hurry up!”