A Deadly Vineyard Holiday by Philip R. Craig Read Free Book Online Page B

Karen and Cricket were, and who they were with. I also told her that Cricket was now Debby, and that she and Karen were cousins of mine.
    â€œYou mean you let them go off to the beach by themselves? Jesus Christ!”
    â€œThey’ll be fine,” I said. “Nobody knows they’re there. Debby will have a good time, and there won’t be a single newshound or security agent to spoil it, providing Karen keeps her pistol and her radio transmitter in her purse and doesn’t get too uptight.”
    â€œYou don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Joan Lonergan angrily. “Nobody was supposed to know the girl was at your house, but apparently somebody does. So they may know where she is now, too! I’m going to contact Karen. I’ll talk to you later. We may have to end this business right away!”
    The phone buzzed in my ear. I looked at it, trying to see Lonergan’s face, then hung up. Lonergan knew something I didn’t know, and I wondered what it was. Especially since it frightened her, and she didn’t seem to be the type who frightened easily, even though she got emotionally involved in her work, as did Ted, and, like Ted, saw dangers everywhere. If Ted and Joan were edgy and suspicious, I figured there had to be a reason.
    â€œWhat did he say?” asked Zee.
    â€œNot he, she. Pomerlieu was out, so I talked to Joan Lonergan. The guy in the car wasn’t one of their guys. She’s calling Karen.”
    â€œKaren has a radio with her? Of course she does. In her bag. Let’s try the CB. Maybe the girls have their receiver on.”
    I went out to the Land Cruiser and flipped on the CB radio. There wasn’t much chance that Jill and Jen had the CB turned on in John’s Wagoneer, but it was worth a try.
    But they didn’t answer my calls, so I went back into the house. Zee was wandering around, uncharacteristically distracted.
    â€œYou’d better get ready for work.”
    She glanced at her watch. “Oh, my gosh!” She started for the bedroom, then stopped. “I’m worried.”
    â€œDon’t be,” I said, worried myself. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
    She went to get showered and into her uniform. Not much later, looking crisp and cool, but still with a slight frown, she kissed me and drove up the driveway, on her way to the hospital in Oak Bluffs.
    About ten minutes later the phone rang. It was Zee. “That car’s back there again! Right where it was before! I’ll bet he came back as soon as he saw us go down our driveway! I think you should call the police!”
    I wondered what the police would say to the driver. Hey, buddy, what are you doing here? The neighbors are complaining.
    I got my lock picks, then went out to the Land Cruiser and got my binoculars, then walked up the driveway until I was pretty close to the pavement. There I took a right and cut through the woods, paralleling the highway, for a couple of hundred yards. When I figured I’d gone far enough, I made a left turn and walked out to the road. Sure enough, I was behind the dark-windowed car, which was again parked beside the bike path, facing toward Edgar town.
    Using the binoculars, I had no trouble reading the license plate.
    Apparently, the driver wasn’t looking in his rearview mirror much. I crossed to the bike path and walked down to the car. The bike path was typically busy with walkers, bikers, and Rollerbladers, so I was just another such, and no cause for alarm.
    When I got to the car, I suddenly knelt, dropping out of sight of anyone who might have been watching mefrom inside. Nothing happened. I glanced up and down the bike path. No one was close. I got out my key ring, pushed a key against the valve, and slowly let the air out of the right rear tire. Then I got up, put a smile on my face, and leaned over and tapped on the passenger-side window.
    The driver looked at me. I widened my smile and