The Butterfly Conspiracy (19 page)

“What was that?” Stephen asked.

“Some wild animal was heading towards the back door. Paulie muttered.
 
“How do people live out here?”

Scott, Joe and Jeanette all hit the ground when the shot rang out.
 

 
“Was someone shooting at us?” Joe asked.

“I don’t know, it sounded very close,” Scott replied.
                                  
 
           

    
Jeanette slowly rose to her knees and looked over to where the sound came from.
 
“I think it came from Peterson’s camp.” she said.

“Let’s find out,” Scott said, “but don’t take the road.
 
Head through the woods.”
 

Scott grabbed King’s collar so he wouldn’t get too far ahead and they started to move slowly through the trees.
 
As they approached the cabin clearing, Scott motioned for them to stop

“Look, there’s a car parked on the side of the house.”

Scott said to Jeanette, “You stay and watch from here.
 
Joe, go around to the other side of the cabin, but stay in the woods.
 
I’ll go check out the back and we’ll meet here.”

He looked at the dog, “King, stay.”
 
The dog immediately sat at Jeanette’s feet.

Joe and Scott disappeared into the woods, each taking different paths.
 
They proceeded slowly and quietly, making sure not to snap any limbs or twigs. Years of hunting experience kicked in.
 

Twenty minutes later, they returned to Jeanette.
 
Joe whispered, “The car behind the cabin is a rental.
 
It’s got some damage on the passenger side.
 
Paint scrapes match the color on the MG. Stephen’s standing by the window and Paulie is sitting in a chair drinking a beer. He has a gun.”

Jeanette said, “We need to go and get the police.”

“We don’t have time.
 
You said it was time to do something, remember?” Scott said.
 
“A pane of glass is busted out of the back door.
 
Jeanette, you stay here and watch the front door.
 
Joe and I will sneak over to the back.
 
We need to surprise Paulie and get Stephen out.”
 

Scott and Joe disappeared back into the woods.
 
They made their way to the clearing behind the cabin and stopped to observe.
 

Joe heard something move in the bushes and froze.
 
Scott turned to see where the sound was coming from.
 
The foliage parted and a bloody porcupine limped out of the brush, dragging its hind leg.
 
It ambled into the clearing, heading back towards the cabin.
 

From a distance, Jeanette watched as a porcupine waddled out into the clearing.
 
King sniffed the air and jumped to his feet.
 
The hair on the back of his neck stood up straight.
 
He let out a bark and flew full speed through the woods towards the bleeding porcupine.

    
Hearing more commotion, Paulie jumped from the chair, knocking over his can of beer. He ran to the living room window and saw a big blur rushing towards the cabin.
 

Stephen heard Paulie scream, “It’s a wolf!”
 
He saw Paulie take aim and fire the gun right through the window.
 

Hearing a shot from the inside the cabin, Scott and Joe ran from the woods and burst through the back door.
 

Paulie spun from the window, aiming the gun towards the noise.
 
Scott threw himself low, hitting Paulie in the knees.
 
Paulie was knocked off his feet and fell squarely on Scott.
 
Joe raced over and tried to wrestle the gun from his grip.
 

“I’ve got him, Scotty.”

Paulie squeezed off two rounds as he struggled with Joe.
 
One bullet thumped into a wall behind Stephen.
 
The other bullet shattered a mirror in the kitchen.
 
King barked, ran past the porcupine and jumped into the cabin through the shattered living room window.
 
The dog leapt over Joe, sunk his teeth deep into Paulie’s gun hand, and shook his head back and forth.
 
Paulie let out a piercing scream as the gun slid into a corner of the living room.
 

“Get him off me!” Paulie hollered.
 

Scott commanded, “King, sit.”
 
As Joe ran over and picked up the gun.
 
King let go of Paulie’s hand, took a step back and sat down.
 
Joe pointed the gun at Paulie.
 
“Don’t move.”

Stephen jumped over a toppled chair and tossed Scott the rope that had recently been around his arms.
 

“Use this to tie him up.”

Chapter 23

 
Phillip came out of the office shaking his head, while Britt sat on the leather couch filing her nails.

“I just got off the phone with Martin.
 
I had to tell him about Stephen.
 
As usual with Martin, there always seems to be a little more to the story than meets the eye.”

“What’s his story this time?” Britt asked, afraid to hear the answer.

 
“Now he tells me there was another reason he wanted Stephen to come up and stay with me.
 
At first, he told me how nice it would be for Stephen to get away from the city and have him try and forget about his old girlfriend before he goes to off to school in the fall.”

“That wasn’t the case?” Britt asked.
 

“Partly true, but more importantly, Martin actually wanted to get him out of there because he had collected some gambling debts he couldn’t repay.”

 
“This sounds serious. How bad is it?” Britt asked.

“I’m not sure.
 
Martin has always enjoyed gambling.
 
He loves playing the horses.
 
From what he told me, his gambling got out of hand and he’s in trouble with his bookies. I tried to find out what kind of debt he was talking about, but when Martin heard Stephen was missing, he went to pieces and the conversation ended,” Phillip sighed.
 

“I also know he’s having problems with his latest play.
 
It’s not coming together as quickly as he thought.
 
He was due another check when he delivered the first draft.”

Britt lit a cigarette.
 
“If the play was done on time, he would have had money to fix his problem, right?”

 
“Exactly.
 
That was what he was counting on to pay off his debts.
 
When that didn’t happen, things got out of control fast.
 
Bookies don’t like not getting paid.
 
They want their money.
 
Stephen’s just being used as a guarantee at this point.”

The phone rang in Jeanette’s office.
 
Phillip walked across the hall and picked it up.
 
Britt poured herself a brandy from the decanter on the bar and took a sip.
 

“I can’t believe this!”
 
Phillip said as he walked back into the trophy room.

“Is it about Stephen?” Britt asked.

“No, you won’t believe the timing on this.
 
It was my brokers in
Hollywood
.
 
They finally want to talk to me about funding for the next picture.”

“That’s wonderful!” Britt exclaimed.

“How is that wonderful?” Phillip frowned.
 
“With Stephen missing, I can’t go now!”
  

Chapter 24

Paulie was hunched forward in the backseat of the car as Scott drove back to Grand View.
 
Paulie’s hands were tied behind his back.
 
Joe sat next to him with Paulie’s revolver pointed at his chest.
 
Stephen was squeezed in next to Joe. Jeanette and King were in the front passenger seat.

Paulie stared sullenly out the window.
 
He was trying to think how many times had he been tied up before.
 
Was it two or three?
 
He remembered the first time was when the Bewinski brothers ambushed him near
Coney Island
.
 
They
 
tied his hands behind his back and beat him to a pulp with a pipe.
 

The second time was when those three Puerto Ricans jumped him.
 
Again, they tied him up and gave him a hell of a beating.
 
That was the first time his nose got broken.
 
He remembered how Al laughed like hell when he heard about it.
 

Al pulled him aside and said, “Why you letting those punks beat you up like that?
 
Look at your nose.
 
Paulie, you’re gonna lose your good looks if you keep this up. Let me show you a little trick for next time.”

Al got a piece of rope and as he was tying Paulie’s hands behind his back, he showed him how to lock his fingers together and keep the palms of his hands pushed out a ways.
 
Paulie tried it and sure enough, when he squeezed his hands together, the bindings became loose enough to work off his wrists.

Paulie turned from the window.