Rest in Peace (11 page)

“I don’t know what to do.” Corky looked as though he might wring his hands like Miss Georgina. Instead he tookhis phone from his pocket and punched in a number. He listened, then flipped it closed.

“Still no answer?” Phoebe’s voice held sympathy, and she reached over and squeezed his hand.

He shook his head and got up. “Phoebe needs to eat. I guess we’ll go to Hannah’s.”

“I could warm up something from dinner or make an omelet.”

“Thanks, but I need to do something besides sit here and think about Aunt Aggie. If she calls you, please tell her to call me, too, okay?”

“Wait a minute, Corky.” Miss Evalina touched his arm gently. “First, we need to do what we always do when one of us is in trouble. What we did when Aggie was missing before. Pray to the One who knows where she is and can bring her safely home.”

A breath of relief rushed through me. “Thank you, Miss Evalina. We should have done that first. Frank, will you lead us in prayer?”

Everyone bowed their heads, and Frank uttered a heartfelt prayer.

Corky promised to call if he heard anything. They left, Phoebe’s hand resting protectively on his arm. An unusual reversal in procedure. But this had to be especially difficult for Corky. It had been less than two years since his aunt’s kidnapping. We hadn’t known where she was then, either, and we’d all secretly suspected for a while that Corky was involved in some way with her disappearance.

I glanced at Benjamin, then at Miss Jane and Miss Georgina. I was afraid they’d be up until Miss Aggie called. If she called. Martin sat in a chair next to Miss Georgina, and I caught his attention. He must have read my mind, because he jumped up.

“Okay ladies, there’s no sense in us sitting here and letting our imaginations run wild. Aggie’ll more than likely be calling anytime. What say we play dominoes or something while we wait?”

“Do you want to, Jane?” Miss Georgina asked.

Miss Jane sighed deeply and glanced up at her friend. “I guess we might as well. Martin’s right. No sense in calling up trouble when it may not be there at all.”

I stared after them as they left the room. I couldn’t remember Miss Jane ever admitting Martin might be right about anything.

“Are you going to be all right, sweetheart?” Benjamin took my hand and lifted it to his lips. My hand tingled, and stress seemed to slide off me.

I smiled and rested my head on his shoulder. “I’m fine.”

“Want to sit outside on the swing for a while?”

“Yes. That sounds wonderful.” I hesitated. “But what if Miss Aggie calls?”

“We’ll leave the door open so we can hear the phone.”

I stacked cups and saucers on the tea cart, and Benjamin pushed it to the kitchen for me. I grabbed a couple of bottles of water from the refrigerator, and we went outside, leaving the front door open.

We sat on the swing in silence. The sky looked almost black tonight, with a field of bright stars. Almost like a Texas sky on a clear night. But not quite.

“What do you think, Victoria?”

I took a swig of water and gulped it down. What did I think? That Miss Aggie was simply on an innocent, if mysterious, excursion of some kind? Not for a minute. I’d finally put my finger on that disturbed feeling I’d had since Miss Aggie had pulled into the garage that afternoon. Her expression wasn’t anger or impatience or any of the other emotions that played so easily on her face from time to time. The look was fear. Real fear. And mixed in with the fear was a determination that bothered me more than the fear. Whatever Miss Aggie was up to, I believed it had something to do with Clyde’s death. And I was very much afraid she was stepping into danger.

After a sleepless night that left me with a throbbing headache, I called Lauren Pennington and found that she hadn’t heard from Miss Aggie. I dressed and went downstairs. The aroma of coffee drew me to the dining room, where I found all the seniors around the table. Their hopeful eyes turned to me, and I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I haven’t heard anything.”

I went to the buffet, more to escape the dejected looks on their faces than anything. I probably couldn’t eat a bite. I poured a mug of coffee and carried it to the table.

“Victoria, you need to eat something.” Miss Jane went to the sideboard and filled a plate. Without a word, she set it down in front of me.

Sometimes it was nice having Grandma’s old friends to mother me. Other times, such as now, it was a downright nuisance. I took a sip of coffee and ignored the steaming plate of bacon and eggs. Miss Jane ignored me ignoring the food.

The phone rang, cutting through the silence and penetrating my mind like a scream in the night.

I jumped up and rushed to grab the kitchen phone. “Miss Aggie, is that you?”

A sharp intake of breath came through the receiver. “I’m sorry, Victoria. This is Jack Riley.”

“Mr. Riley. Do you know anything about Miss Aggie’s disappearance?” I hadn’t meant to blurt it out. I needed to calm down and start using wisdom.

“I’m sorry. I don’t. Sheriff Turner talked to me this morning, and I knew if he suspected I was involved, you might, too. I wonder if you would meet me for coffee, so we can talk without the seniors around. I don’t want to upset them by speaking of Aggie.”

“Yes, do you mind if I bring Benjamin along?” I wasn’t about to go anywhere alone with Jack Riley just yet.

“Of course. Bring anyone you like.”

“Hannah’s? Or the Mocha Java?”

“Is there someplace we can meet where we aren’t as likely to run into friends and neighbors?”

Why hadn’t I thought of that? “There’s a new truck stop about five miles south of town. A lot of the townspeople went to check it out the first week or so, but I doubt we’d see any of them there. We’re all pretty loyal to locals.”

“What time would be best for you?”

“I’ll need to check with Ben. Call me back in ten minutes?”

“Very well.” I heard the click of the phone and punched in Benjamin’s number.

“Good morning, my love.”

I grinned. I really needed to get a phone with caller ID. And, I reminded myself, a cell phone.

“Good morning,” I crooned, then snapped out of it. I didn’t have time to flirt with Benjamin this morning. “Listen, Jack Riley wants to have coffee for some reason. Are you free to go to the truck stop with me sometime today?”

“How about I pick you up around nine?” His voice was alert.

“Okay, I’ll be ready.”

After Mr. Riley called back, I returned to the dining room and told the seniors about his request.

“I’m going, too,” Miss Jane stated. “If he knows something about Aggie, I want to be there.”

“He says he doesn’t know anything, Miss Jane,” I reminded her.

“Jane, please go to the center with us,” Miss Georgina pleaded. “Or maybe we should stay home in case she calls. What if she calls while you’re gone, Victoria?’

“Mabel will be here. If Miss Aggie calls, she’ll give her Benjamin’s cell phone number.”

Finally, Miss Jane agreed to go with the others, and they left after I promised to tell them every word of the conversation with Jack Riley.

I was waiting on the porch when Ben’s truck pulled up in front. He got out and kissed me soundly before opening the passenger door for me. I reached up and pushed back a lock of his blond hair, still damp from the shower.

We left town and drove the few miles to the truck stop. Trucks were pulling out one after the other, and by the time we got inside, there were only a few customers scattered around the booths.

We glanced around. I didn’t see Mr. Riley anywhere.

“Guess we beat him here,” Benjamin said. “Let’s take that back booth.”

We ordered coffee and waited, looking up every time the door opened.

“I wonder what he wants to talk to us about.” I’d been wondering ever since the man had called. Suddenly, my stomach growled.

“Did you eat breakfast?” Benjamin frowned.

“No, I wasn’t hungry. Then when Mr. Riley called, I forgot all about food.”

Benjamin signaled our waitress and asked for a menu.

I ended up ordering bacon and eggs. So much for ignoring Miss Jane.

I ate my breakfast and asked for a refill on my coffee. Mr. Riley still hadn’t arrived.

“Benjamin, it’s nearly ten. Where is he?” I was a little aggravated, and I didn’t much care if it showed.

“Maybe he got held up. Do you know Phoebe’s home phone number?”

“Yes, I do. Should we call?”

He pulled out his phone and flipped open the cover while I got my small address book out of my purse. I opened it to the Collinses’ number and slid it across to Benjamin.

Before he had a chance to punch in the number, his phone rang.

“Hello. Grant here. Uh-huh. I see.” He looked at me and mouthed “Riley.” “That’s quite all right, Mr. Riley. But can you give me an idea of what you wanted to speak to us about? I see. Yes. Good-bye.”

“Was that him?”

“Yes, he’s been called out of town.” His forehead wrinkled in deep furrows.

“What? Why didn’t he call us sooner?” The very nerve of the guy.

“He said he received an important call and couldn’t get away to phone us sooner.” He glanced at me. “I don’t know, Vickie. Something doesn’t seem right to me.”

“Me either. What if he’s done something to Miss Aggie and now he’s skipping town?” My chest felt heavy, and dizziness washed over me. “Ben, we have to stop him.”

“Honey, what’s wrong?”

My head steadied, and I took a deep breath. “Let’s go stop him before he gets away.”

“Sweetheart, if he was skipping town, would he have announced it to us?”

I sat back. “I guess not. But it does seem suspicious to me. And you said yourself something seemed amiss.”

He nodded. “Yes, but that doesn’t mean I think he’s harmed Miss Aggie.”

I sighed. “We might as well leave.”

He picked up the guest check from the table, and I followed him to the cash register. When we got back to the lodge, I said good-bye and promised to call him if I heard anything.

The house was quiet when I walked in, which was strange. Usually, at the least, I could hear pots rattling or Mabel singing. I walked into the kitchen.

Mabel stood beside the wall phone, the receiver in her hand. “That was the sheriff.”

“What’d he want?”

“He wants you to call him.” Eyes wide, she handed me the phone.

“Has something happened? Did they find Miss Aggie?”

“I don’t know. He wouldn’t tell me anything. But he didn’t sound happy.”

I punched in the number, and after two rings Tom Lewis picked up.

“Tom, this is Victoria Storm.”

“Hold on. I’ll transfer you to the sheriff. He wants to talk to you.”

“Victoria?” Bob Turner’s voice boomed over the wire. “Is that you?”

“Yes. Did you find Miss Aggie?”

“No, we didn’t. But we found her car. I need you to come down to the office.”

“What? Her car? Where?”
Oh, dear God, please
.

“Abandoned at the airport. Now don’t get all riled up. I figure she changed her mind and decided to fly instead of drive. But not knowing exactly where she was going or even what airline she used, it may take awhile to find out for sure.”

“But that doesn’t make sense. She wouldn’t just leave her car.”

“Now, she might. Did you say she had a suitcase with her?”

“Yes, yes, I put it in the trunk for her. Is it still there?”

“No, it’s gone, so that’s a pretty good indication she wasn’t nabbed or something.”

“Have you told Corky?”

“Of course. He’s her next of kin. At least around here. I called him first. He’s coming to the office, too.”

“Okay, I’ll be there in a few minutes.” “Victoria.” He cleared his throat. “Now don’t go jumping to conclusions, but we did find something.”

Get on with it
. “What, Sheriff? What did you find?” “Her cell phone. Seems she forgot to take it out of the car.”

CHAPTER
NINE

T
he seniors had to be told. I called the center and asked to speak to Frank. If anyone could keep the ladies from hysterics, it would be him.

“Frank, they’ve found Miss Aggie’s car at the airport.”

“At the airport? You mean just the car?” I knew the others must be close by, because he spoke little above a whisper.