Claire Gulliver #06 - Carnage Goes Coastal (14 page)

“They were tracking stolen credit cards, which were used in our hotel that day. They, like you, wanted pictures of the people who were using them. These guys were legitimate. While they were viewing the film, I called Wade Hampton and spoke to him personally to verify they were who they said they were. I’ve known Wade and of his business for several years.”

Jack read the names on the business cards, Lou Kolwaski and Bud Browning, Private Investigators. The cards were impressive looking. What were the chances their investigation had nothing to do with Karen, he wondered?

“Could I have a copy of these cards? I’ll want to contact these men and see if they know anything that might help in my search”

Rafe picked up the cards. “Of course, I’ll have my secretary make copies for you while you’re viewing the film.” He stood up. “Let’s go down to the library and see what we have. You can talk to the technician who assisted Hampton’s guys. He’ll know what pictures they printed from the film. That might be interesting.”

While Rafe stopped to talk to his secretary, Jack excused himself to visit the men’s room. As soon as the door closed behind him he opened his cell phone and punched in Claire’s number.

“Claire, listen to me. Some men were here viewing the tapes only a few days ago. I think we have to assume someone else has realized these security tapes might identify the people involved in Karen’s disappearance.

“I want you to take Karen and baby Jack and get away from the house and the store. Go somewhere safe. Right now, immediately. Don’t wait. And be very careful you’re not followed. Time is of the essence. If they obtained a picture of your license plates they might be on their way there now. Don’t pack anything, just leave. And Claire, be very careful.”

Then just before he disconnected he added tersely, “Remember I love you, so I’m relying on you to stay safe. Call me when you’ve arrived safely. Okay?”

He folded the cell phone and put it back in his pocket. He hated scaring her, but he needed her to take his instructions seriously in order to protect herself, Karen, and baby Jack. He didn’t for a minute believe those men from Hampton’s were looking for stolen credit cards. They were tracking Karen. And now he had to duplicate their efforts to determine what they learned.

Claire’s heart was pounding at a frightening pace. She took a big breath and looked around her, but she could see nothing to alarm her. She shoved her cell phone into the purse she had hung on her shoulder and started walking faster. She had felt uneasy all day, but she had blamed her feeling of unease on dropping Jack off at the airport this morning for his flight to Los Angeles. She hated to admit she had become so clingy in such a short time of marriage, but realized she had. Then this afternoon she had become so restless she had decided to do an unprecedented thing. She decided to go home for a break. She chose to walk the few blocks to the house from the store, thinking the exercise would help relax her. She planned to have a glass of iced tea with Karen, see that baby Jack was fine, and then she’d walk back to the shop to work until closing time.

It was a lovely day, warm, but not hot. She felt guilty that she had left Tuffy-Two at the bookshop sleeping. He would have loved the walk. The yards of the houses along the way were full of late summer blooms and the shady streets with well-kept houses filled her with a sense of well-being, which had relieved some of her anxiety. At least it had until her cell phone rang. Jack’s call had sent her blood pressure sky high. Now she was all but running those last two blocks to her house watching closely for any signs of unusual activity. But the streets looked like they always did. There were only a few cars parked on the curb along the street, some were parked in driveways. Down the block a woman was working on her flowerbeds with a toddler playing in the dirt alongside her.

Claire smiled and waved to an old lady sitting on her porch, and finally, she was on her own block. The Volvo Jack had bought for Karen to use was sitting at the curb in front of the neighbor’s house, so Claire assumed Karen and the baby were home. She had thought about calling, but didn’t want to wake Jack if he was napping. Even a sweet and mellow baby, such as he was, would become cranky if his sleep was interrupted. She looked carefully up and down the street, but still saw nothing unusual.

She hurried up on the porch and let herself into the quiet house. “Karen? Karen, where are you?” she whispered loudly, quickly walking toward Karen’s room.

“Claire? What are you doing here?” Karen emerged from the little room they used for an office to intercept Claire. “What’s wrong? Are you sick?”

“No, no, I just thought I’d walk home for a break and a glass of iced tea. I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

Karen’s frown disappeared. “Well, of course you’re allowed. You just surprised me.” She headed for the kitchen, but Claire reached out and put her hand on Karen’s arm, halting her in midstride.

“But on the way, your dad called me. Karen he wants us to leave the house. Now! Right now!”

Karen stiffened with alarm, the color draining out of her face. “What’s happened?”

“Someone else was at the hotel to view the security tapes only a few days ago. He’s afraid someone has gotten a look at the license plates on the SUV and so will be able to trace me. He said don’t pack, just take the baby and get out.

“You get the baby and your diaper bag. I’m going to get the bottles out of the refrigerator. I think we should take your car. I left mine at the shop and walked.

“Let’s get moving, Karen. When your dad says now, he means it.” She headed into the kitchen, put the bottles already prepared and chilling in the refrigerator in a small soft sided ice chest with a frozen blue ice packet and went back to the front door just in time to see a car move slowly down the street while the two men inside stared at her house.

She ran to the back door whispering urgently to Karen. “Come on, hurry. We have to get out of the house. Let’s go this way, into the garage.”

Karen’s face had turned a sickly greenish color with fright. Clutching the still sleeping baby, burdened down with the bulging diaper bag and her purse, she slipped through the opened kitchen door and across the little walkway into the side door of the garage. Claire followed closely behind her, pausing long enough to secure the heavy bolt lock on the inside of the door into the garage behind them.

Claire whispered hoarsely, “Someone suspicious just drove by very slowly. We’ll hide in here for a minute or two and make sure the coast is clear before going out to the Volvo.” She looked around in the dim garage and then pointed to a protected space between the freezer and a workbench. Can you squeeze in there with the baby? Be prepared to stick a bottle in his mouth if he wakes up, so he doesn’t cry out and give away our location.”

Karen nodded soberly and crouched down out of sight.

Claire moved to the garage door and peeked through one of the four tiny windows stretching across the two wooden doors. While the garage had never been updated with an overhead door, Uncle Bernie had long ago reinforced the doors and windows to protect his precious car from burglary. He had installed frosted Plexiglas in all the windows to allow light in, but still keep the contents of the garage private. Each window had only a half inch of clear space at the edge to see through. Nevertheless, Claire could see very clearly that car had come back and was now idling across the street.

“They’re here,” she whispered. “They’re across the street, looking at the house and talking.

“Now they’re getting out of the car.

“They’re coming this way. Stay down, keep quiet. Don’t move!”

Then she muttered to herself fervently, “God, please keep little Jack sleeping.” She moved into the dim corner where her silhouette couldn’t be seen through the frosted Plexiglas window in the side door of the garage.

Karen’s eyes met hers across the dim space in the garage as they listened. The neighborhood was so quiet they could hear heavy feet mounting the stairs to the front porch and then a resulting loud banging at the front door. They heard the feet come off the porch and around the side of the house beside the garage. They could see the dim shape of a head outside the window in the garage door.

The door handle turned and someone banged on the door, trying to push it open.

“It’s locked,” a gruff voice said.

“Well break the window so we can see what’s in there.”

“Can’t, it’s made of that damn plastic stuff. It won’t break and the door lock seems very secure. Forget the garage. We’re liable to make too much noise if we break in. Let’s check out the door to the house.”

They heard the men at the back door. “This one’s solid. It won’t be easy to open. Go around to the back and see if you can get in a window.” One of the men was apparently in charge and was giving the orders.

Karen and Claire crouched breathlessly in the garage, all too aware that one of the men was just outside by the back door, very close to the garage. Soon they heard the back door open. “I got in through the bedroom. There’s baby stuff in there, but no one is home.”

“Maybe they went out with the woman from the bookshop. They’ll be back. Let’s leave them a little surprise.” The door closed behind them and it was very silent in the garage.

Up to this point Claire had been scared witless, now, suddenly she was mad. How dare they break into her home? How brazen they were to intrude so boldly. They intended to leave them a surprise? She shuddered. She didn’t think it was going to be anything she would like. She put her finger to her lips, signaling quiet to Karen while her other hand groped in her purse for her cell phone.

When the nine-one-one operator answered, she kept her voice very low as she explained she, her daughter and her grandbaby were hiding in her garage while two armed men had broken into her house. The woman seemed to ask endless questions so Claire quietly turned off the phone when she heard the men return and walk down the path alongside the garage once more. She peeked through the little space in the front window and watched them get in their car across the street and sit there with no apparent intention to leave.

“Karen, they’re just waiting over there. We can’t stay here very long because Jack is going to wake up and you know he’ll probably cry. If they hear him, they’ll know we’re here. We need to get out of here.”

Karen nodded. She knew Claire was right. “How long before the police get here?”

Claire shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s a sleepy little town.”

She looked at Karen and at little Jack who was starting to stir in Karen’s arms. “Maybe I have a plan that will work.

“I’m going to take the Cadillac and rev up the motor, and then race out the driveway and down the street. I’m hoping they’ll assume you and the baby are in the car with me and follow me, thinking we’re making a run for it. As soon as they take off after me, you can run out and take the Volvo. Go in the opposite direction and find a motel somewhere to check in. Be sure and use either cash or that credit card your Dad gave you. Once you get settled you can call me or your dad on our cell phones and let us know you’re okay and where you are.”

Karen nodded, giving little Jack a comforting jiggle. “What if they don’t fall for it? What if they don’t follow you?”

Claire thought a minute and said, “If they don’t come after me, I’ll turn around and come back and ram them with the Cadillac. It’s built like a tank. I’m sure it can take out that rental car of theirs. And maybe the police will have arrived by then. But, whatever you do, don’t go into the house. Remember they said they were leaving a present for us?”

Karen nodded and Claire ran to unlock the old-fashioned garage doors, suddenly grateful she had never gotten around to installing modern overhead doors which would only open slowly. She slipped into the Cadillac pulling the door closed quietly. The motor started with a powerful purr as usual. She carefully fastened her seat belt, thankful she had insisted Tony install them soon after she inherited the car despite his protest it would ruin the authenticity of the car. She nudged the car forward until the hood was resting again the doors. She dropped the gear into neutral and jammed her foot on the gas.

When Claire dropped the gear into drive the beautiful old machine erupted from the garage like a rocket, pushing the garage doors wildly out of the way.

Unfortunately the men’s reflexes were also quick. When the doors started opening out they steered their car away from the curb, angling across the street to stop in front, partially blocking the end of the drive. They were opening their car doors, guns already in their hands when Claire roaring down the drive, realized how exposed Karen and the baby would be when the Cadillac no longer shielded them. So instead of swerving away from them to cut across the corner of the lawn to access the street, she steered the speeding car directly into the side of their car.

The man closest to Claire disappeared somewhere in the mangle of metal, while the one on the other side was knocked to the ground by the force of impact. The rental car actually shifted several feet when the heavy Cadillac ploughed into it. Claire wasn’t really clear about what happened next because she was dazed from hitting her head on the windshield. She was barely able to hold herself upright by clutching tightly to the steering wheel. She dimly saw the man on the far side emerge from behind the car, his hand holding the gun extended toward her. The gun looked very big.

Someone yelled. The man with the gun turned and there were several deafening noises. She could hear baby Jack’s high pitched wail as the man slid from view behind the car. Just then she heard the sirens, they seemed to be everywhere. And then blackness settled over her.

“Wade Hampton here. I wanted you to know we located her.” The voice was dripping with satisfaction. He didn’t say I told you so, he didn’t need too, the tone of his voice said it all.

“Are you sure?” I was skeptical because it had taken him such a long time to get to this point and I still remembered the two other occasions I was told the matter had been taken care of only to find it had not been.