Upstate Uproar (23 page)

He looked down at Lucy and grinned. “I’ve
been thinking some about it. I hear Denver is a nice place to live.
And people are very active there.”

“You could be Lucy’s very own personal
trainer,” Vivian said. “Work on her stamina.”

Pierre put his arm around Lucy’s shoulders.
“She has good stamina.”

Lucy leaned over, putting her head in her
hands.

Vivian laughed. “Man, I’ve missed you!” She
kissed him on the cheek.

“I’ve missed you girls, too. I was so happy
to hear from Lucy, you have no idea.”

“Oh, we have an idea,” Kate said.

“Okay, totally changing the subject,” Vivian
said. “We found a bunch of good stuff about Rebecca today in our
closet.”

The girls brought Lucy and Pierre up to speed
on everything they’d discovered in the crawl space.

“So Brandon’s worth millions?” Lucy
asked.

Wendy nodded. “Millions.”

“We found some interesting pictures, too,”
Vivian said.

“What kind of pictures?” Lucy asked.

Kate took a right onto Main Street. “Put it
this way: We saw why Brandon keeps that stuff hidden.” She laughed
and pulled into the parking lot of the Lake Placid Brewery. “I’m
starving! I will probably eat a lot of chili tonight, maybe two
servings, and I want extra beans.”

“Little Plum needs some protein,” Vivian
said, getting out of the car.

Wendy shut the door and muttered, jokingly,
“Yeah, but you don’t have to sleep with her.”

“My bed has room since Lucy has found other,
more accommodating, accommodations,” Vivian said and butt-bumped
Wendy. “You could sleep with me.”

“You snore. I’ll take my chances with
Tootie-loot Kate.”

Pierre reached for the door handle. “This is
more information than I wanted to know.”

Wendy’s phone chirped and she looked at the
display, a flash of excitement was replaced by concern. “It’s
Nelson, I’ll take this out here,” she said and they all stepped to
the side of the door. Wendy put it on speaker. “Hey, Wade.”

They exchanged pleasantries and then Agent
Nelson said, “I found the bio that your police officer in New
Orleans did. It’s definitely a cover for something, but I can’t get
into Jake’s FBI file.”

“So does that mean Jake has an FBI file?”
Wendy asked. “Does, I mean did, I mean… does he work for the
FBI?”

Nelson side-stepped the question. “It’s going
to set off alarms that I ran his name. I can’t do it again.”

“What about the phone?” Kate asked. “Were you
able to get any information on that?”

“I can’t access the info on the memory card,”
Nelson answered, “but I was able to trace that it was purchased in
Bandera, Texas about seven months ago. It was sold by Cricket
Wireless and paid for in cash. I don’t have video footage to
confirm who bought it.”

“Bandera?” Wendy asked.

“Was Jake in the San Antonio area before he
disappeared?” Vivian asked.

Wendy shook her head. “I didn’t think so, but
clearly I had no idea what he was up to.”

Nelson signed off stating that was all the
info he had and he couldn’t look further as the suits would be
bearing down on him for running the names of Paul Vaughan and Jake
Stillson. If, by some chance, he could find out anything, he’d
call.

Wendy sighed and hung up. Pierre gave her a
shoulder hug and the girls joined in for a group hug. Kumbaya
moment over, Pierre opened the door to the Lake Placid Brewery for
the girls.

The brewery fit the typical Adirondack
ambience of log construction and lots of stone. Vivian didn’t see
Larson, so they took a seat in the bar. The wall held a variety of
bottles but also a ton of pictures in varying sizes. The bartender
approached and tossed a coaster in front of everyone.

“What can I get for you?” she asked. What the
short brunette lacked in height, she made up for in boobs. Her
skin-tight tank top was out of season but showed off her bountiful
bosom.

“Can you tell me about your home-brewed
beers?” Pierre asked.

Bounty went through the list, describing and
giving a few tastes. Everyone ordered a pint except Kate, who
ordered a Coke.

“A little caffeine won’t hurt,” she said.

While they waited to be served and between
glances to the front entrance, Vivian checked out the pictures on
the back wall — couples, plenty of law enforcement, some firemen.
She searched for Larson’s face among the men, but the neon and
Bounty the bartender kept getting in the way.

In one of the pictures she thought she saw a
smiling Tracy, drink in hand, but with the distance, she wasn’t
sure.

Bounty set Vivian’s Honey Rye Ale down on the
coaster.

“Is that Tracy Holt?” Vivian pointed to the
picture.

Bounty turned around and looked. “This
one?”

“Yeah.”

“She used to work here, before she got
married.” Bounty got back to her beer delivery, setting down Lucy’s
Ubu Ale. “There’s another one of her over there.” She pointed off
to her right.

Vivian could see Tracy standing next to
Brandon, Tracy wearing a white dress and veil, Brandon in a suit,
both smiling, toasting the camera.

Kate had been in on the conversation. “Check
’em out. Interesting place for a reception, but then again, it’s a
pretty small town.”

“Maybe the owner cut her a deal,” Wendy said.
“No wonder she knows how to make all those tasty concoctions.”

Vivian didn’t see any other pictures of the
bride or groom, or any of Larson. She turned in the direction the
bartender had gone and noticed Jeremy, the locksmith, down a few
stools.

“Hey, there,” she called and waved.

He smiled, stood up and walked over, checking
out Lucy in the process. “I take it you haven’t locked yourself out
of anything lately.”

“Negative,” Vivian said, and Lucy added,
“This is our friend, Pierre.”

Jeremy’s smile faded. After a few
pleasantries, he turned his attention back to his brew.

It was never gonna happen, dude,
Vivian thought, then she felt an arm wrap around her shoulders.

L
arson landed a kiss
just below Vivian’s ear. “You look beautiful,” he said, nuzzling
her neck. “I could just have you for dinner. Forget the chili.”

Vivian let that linger for a moment, then
gave him a squeeze. “You don’t look too shabby yourself.”

Larson cleaned up nicely. Though his jeans
and denim shirt were worn, they fit perfectly and accentuated all
the right parts. She resisted the urge to run her fingers through
the hair curling just above his collar.

He introduced them to his buddies Marty,
James, Michael and Clay, who were also volunteer firefighters.
Larson slapped Clay on the back and waved to James and Michael.
“These two guys were on the lake today, but Marty stayed at the
house flipping pancakes.”

Marty flipped him off. “I was running the
house. Don’t make these girls think I’m a slacker like you.”

“We know better than to believe a flipping
thing this guy says,” Vivian said with a wink.

“Let’s go grab a table,” Larson suggested and
paid the tab as Bounty set it down. Pierre had grabbed for it, but
Larson insisted.

They took a seat near a roaring stone
fireplace.

Vivian grabbed a menu. “So what’s good
here?”

Larson scooted his chair closer and drew a
deep breath. “You smell good.” His fingers went up her neck and
started playing with her curls. With his other hand he grabbed her
menu and put it on the table. “You can’t go wrong with the chili.
Trust me.” He squeezed her leg.

Oh lord.

The waitress took beer orders, then everyone
ordered bowls of chili. They chatted for a while, talking about
today’s fire, but eventually the conversation turned to fire
rescues.

The chili arrived and they dug in. Vivian
liked it spicy, and this delivered. Her cheeks were flushed from
the beer, her stomach warm from the chili, and she had a little
warmness in her heart, though by no means was she in love. Still,
it was nice to be hit on.

James pointed with his spoon to Marty. “Any
news on the journalist Evans and Tito took to the hospital?”

Marty set down his beer. “Betsy was on shift
and I texted her but haven’t heard back. They must be having a busy
night in the ER.”

“What journalist?” Vivian asked.

“The newspaper lady,” Clay answered. “Earl’s
granddaughter.”

“Nicole?” Wendy sucked in a breath.

He nodded and pointed his finger at her.

“What happened? Why is she in the hospital?”
Kate pushed back her bowl.

“You know her?” Michael asked.

“We met yesterday at the festival and have
sorta become friends,” Kate said. “She came over to the B&B
today.”

“We can’t tell you much because of privacy
laws, but she sounded pretty bad,” Marty said.

“Did she fall and hit her head or something?
Car accident?” Vivian asked.

Marty looked apologetic. “I can’t say,
sorry.”

“You may be able to visit her,” Larson said
and rubbed Vivian’s arm. “Take her some flowers.”

Vivian looked at the time on her phone, then
at the girls and Pierre. “Let’s run to the hospital. If we finish
up now we can make it before visiting hours are over.”

Larson gave them directions while they
polished off their bowls and brews. The girls and Pierre got up to
leave, saying goodbye to the firefighters.

Vivian rested her hand on Larson’s shoulder.
“Thanks for the directions. This night isn’t turning out exactly as
I’d hoped.”

He stood and took her hand in his, entwining
their fingers. “We’ve got a few more days. You have plans
tomorrow?”

“I don’t know what we’ve got going on
tomorrow. Never know with these girls.”

He grinned. “I’ll be in touch.” He leaned
down and kissed her, letting his arms hug all the right places in
the process.

She looked up at him, a bit dazed.
“Okay.”

Kate grabbed Vivian’s arm and pulled her
outside to the car, practically pushing her into the passenger
seat.

“Okay, okay, I’ve snapped out of it,” Vivian
said.

Kate drove with care, but faster than usual.
They swung by a grocery store and Vivian ran in and grabbed a bunch
of fresh flowers, then they continued to the hospital. It was just
after 10, and Kate found a front-row parking space. The main
entrance was locked, so they trekked around to the ER.

Vivian walked up to the attendant behind the
desk. Her name badge read Betsy.

She looked at Kate. “May I help you?”

Kate glanced down at her belly, then back to
Betsy. “We’re looking for someone who came through here earlier
today. Nicole Jones?”

Betsy clicked around on the computer. “She’s
no longer in the ER, she’s being admitted. Are you family?”

“No, but we just drove 300 miles to get here.
Is there any way we can see her? Even for a few minutes?”

“She’s in a holding unit, basically waiting
for a bed, and she can only have two visitors at a time. I believe
she may already have two back there.”

“Can we swap places with one of them? Please,
we’ve come all this way,” Vivian said. “I just want to check on
her. I won’t stay long.”

“Let me go see if they’re okay with that,”
Betsy said, getting up.

She walked down the hall and swiped her badge
onto the wall. The doors opened and she disappeared around a
corner. Two minutes later she returned with a tall, light-skinned,
African-American woman.

“Hi, I’m Kandace, Nicole’s sister,” she said,
extending her hand. “Are you friends of Nicole’s?”

Vivian introduced their group and explained
how they’d met and seen her earlier that afternoon. “Is Nicole all
right?”

“The doctor thinks she has E. coli poisoning.
Her symptoms are consistent with it but they’re running tests to
confirm and rule out some other things. They’re also checking with
the health department to see if there have been any other cases
recently. Right now she’s severely dehydrated. They’ve given her
medication to control her nausea.”

“Poor Nicole,” Kate said. “Do they have the
fluid loss under control?”

Kandace shook her head. “At the moment I’d
say no. You don’t want to go back there; that’s why I came out
here.”

“Does she have any idea where she got this?”
Wendy asked.

“None. She had breakfast at home, and she had
the same thing the day before. That was all she ate today so she
has no idea what it could have been.”

“When did she get sick?” Pierre asked.

“About 3 this afternoon.”

“She was at the B&B late this morning but
she seemed fine,” Vivian said.

“Nicole said she was at Jeremy’s house before
she came to see us, remember?” Wendy said. “Did she eat anything
there?”

Kate swiped a stray hair behind her right
ear. “She didn’t say.”

“This is just awful,” Lucy said. “Is there
anything we can do for you or her?”

“I appreciate your asking, but no. She just
needs to get better.”

Vivian handed Kandace the flowers. “Please
give her these and tell her we’re thinking about her.”

“I will. Nice to meet you all.”

The girls and Pierre left the hospital. Kate
drove the speed limit all the way to Turlington Farms. They said
nothing for a long while, and Kate turned on the radio.

About three miles from the B&B Wendy
spoke up. “I can’t help but wonder if this wasn’t accidental. Think
about it. She starts looking into Mary Beth’s and Rebecca’s deaths
and she suddenly gets sick? Alarm bells are ringing in my
head.”

“But who knew what she was doing besides us?”
Kate asked.

Pierre had his arm around Lucy in the back
seat. “Other newspaper people for sure. Perhaps you can talk to her
tomorrow. Maybe help figure out how she ingested the E. coli.”