Something Suspicious in Sask (16 page)
“Katie? Rusty? What's going on here?” Aunt Margaret ran up to them, panting slightly, her face tight with concern. “I heard Rusty call for help. Are you all right, Katie?”
“I think so.”
“Katie!” Cliff charged back from the workshop.
“What happened? Are you hurt?”
He sounded so concerned Katie almost believed him. “I fell,” she said and started to get up.
Rusty put out a hand to help. “It's okay,” he whispered and tapped the tape recorder.
“But, why are you out here at this hour?” Aunt Margaret asked.
“I woke Rusty up early because I felt kind of sick in that hot stuffy bedroom. We came out to get some fresh air.” She put her hand to her forehead. “I don't know what happenedâall of a sudden I was lying on the driveway.”
“It was weird,” Rusty confirmed. “One minute she was walking along, then
KABOOM
, she crashed.”
“That accident yesterday must have affected you more than we thought.” Aunt Margaret wrapped a supportive arm around Katie's shoulders. “Let's get you inside.”
As soon as they entered the kitchen, Cliff glanced sharply at Rusty. “What have you got there, young man?”
“Uh,” Rusty stared down at his hands.
“Do you have a problem understanding what belongs to you?” Cliff reached for the tape recorder.
“First you take Megan's cell phone and now her tape recorder?”
Rusty clutched the tape recorder and moved away.
“Noâ¦I⦔ His eyes flicked to Katie.
She said the first thing that came to mind. “Megan said we could borrow it to record some early morning bird songs because she never gets up in time.”
“And?” Aunt Margaret looked suspicious. “Did you get any?”
“Uh, I'm not sure. Want to listen and find out?”
“Sit down, Katie,”Aunt Margaret said. “I'll get you a glass of orange juice. You aren't looking so good.
And Rusty, I think you'd better wake up Megan and the others. We need to get to the bottom of this.”
“Leave the tape recorder with me,” Cliff said, but Rusty ignored him and ran for the stairs.
Cliff started after him and then seemed to change his mind. Instead, he walked to the coffee machine, poured himself a mug and sat down next to Katie.
Katie sipped her juice and tried to ignore Cliff, but he was so close his sweaty barn-smell made that difficult. It seemed like forever before the entire family, including Megan, gathered in the kitchen.
“Now,” Aunt Margaret said and turned to Megan, “it seems Katie and Rusty borrowed your tape recorder this morning. Is it true you asked them to record something for you?”
Megan yawned. She scowled first at Rusty and then at Katie. “Uh,” she said, “like what?”
“So, you didn't say they could borrow it?” Cliff asked. He gave Aunt Sarah a sympathetic look. “I'm afraid your son is a kleptomaniac.”
“A who?” Rusty asked.
“A kleptomaniac,” Katie told him. “It means you steal stuff and you don't even know why.”
“I never stole anything!”
“Son,” Cliff said, “we caught you with Megan's cell phone two days ago, and now you have her tape recorder. How do you explain that?”
There was a long silence during which everyone looked at Rusty. His face quickly turned from pale white to bright red. “But, we recorded some interesting stuff,” he said.
“Not birds though,” Katie added. “I questioned Cliff this morning, and Rusty recorded it. You should hear what he said.”
“This is ridiculous!” Cliff reached toward Rusty.
“There isn't even a tape in there. Hand it over, son.”
“How would you know that, Cliff?” Katie asked.
Cliff turned to her in surprise.
Megan's eyes moved slowly from Rusty to Cliff to Katie. “Uh,” she rubbed her fingertips against her forehead,“I kinda forgot, maybe I did lend it to them. Why don't we listen to what they got?” She took the tape recorder from Rusty.
Cliff flashed a smile at her and held out his hand.
“Give it to me.”
But Megan turned away and took a close look at the tape recorder. “There's a tape in here, all right.”
Cliff's smile faded. “It must be a blank.”
“I don't think so.” Rusty grinned.
“There's only one way to find out,” Katie said. Megan rewound the tape and pressed Play. There was a rustle of background noise and then Cliff's voice burst into the room, “Ah! It's you again. You've got to stop sneaking up on me, Katie-girl. People can get hurt that way.”
“This is nuts!” Cliff shouted. “Are you really going to believe what these two kids say against me?” He appealed to Aunt Margaret, “After all I've done for you?”
“Shh,” she said, “let's listen.”
Around the table, they all stared at the tape recorder in complete silence until the final words:
“I'm going now,” Katie's voice said.
“And you'll keep your mouth shut?” Cliff asked.
“Yes, I promise. If you promise not to hurt anyone.”
“Me?” Cliff laughed. “I wouldn't hurt a fly.”
Anger flashed in Aunt Margaret's eyes. She glared across the table at Cliff. “I trusted you,” she said.
“And all the time you were out to destroy us?”
He tried a smile, but it didn't flash as confidently as before. “No, I⦔
“I thought it was me,” Megan interrupted, leaping to her feet. “You told me every time I did something stupid, Mom got hurt. You told me my friends were a bad influence, but you would take care of me. You even kept track of my phone calls!” She raised her fists as if she would pummel Cliff on the shoulders, but then she backed away. “And all the time you were playing with my mind!”
“Look,” Cliff stood up and moved toward Megan, “you don't understand.”
Megan stood her ground. “You're wrong. I finally do understand. You made me think there was something wrong with me! You destroyed my life!
And for what? To steal our farm from us!”
Aunt Margaret stood up then, and hurried to place herself between Megan and Cliff. “I'll give you exactly fifteen minutes to clear out of here.”
Cliff glared at her in fury. “You can't do this to me!” he shouted. “After all I've worked for!”
GJ got up abruptly. “Katie,” he said, “use your cell phone and call the police. Now.”
He strode angrily toward Cliff. “My daughter asked you to leave,” he said. “You have your chance to walk away. Take off now, and they may not pick you up, but if any of us ever see your face around here again, I think the police will be interested in hearing that tape, don't you?”
Shaking with anger, Cliff pointed at Katie. “This is all your fault!”
“Yes,” Katie said into her phone. “We need the police. Right now!”
Cliff turned and stomped from the room.
“And don't take anything that doesn't belong to you!” Aunt Margaret called after him.
Twenty minutes later, they stood on the porch watching Cliff walk up the driveway, carrying a large case.
“Are you going to let him walk away?” Katie asked.
“I just want him out of our lives,” Aunt Margaret said.
“But, what if he does the same thing to someone else? Besides, I told the nine-one-one operator he was dangerous.”
Before Aunt Margaret could answer, they heard the scream of sirens; then they saw a white RCMP car race up the road. It stopped in front of Cliff. Both doors swung open and two officers stepped out.
Minutes later the police drove up to the house with Cliff in the backseat.
“You took five minutes too long,” Aunt Margaret told him.
“You two did a good thing here today,” GJ said soon after the police had taken Cliff away.
“We're proud of you,” Katie's mom said. “And this time you didn't get yourselves into trouble. You played it smart.”
Aunt Margaret turned from the stove, where she was ready to pour pancake batter onto a griddle. Beside her, Megan was slicing oranges for a fruit salad. “Without you two kids, we would have lost our farm and everything your Uncle Al and I, and Megan of course, worked so hard for.”
“I told you we were good detectives,” Katie said proudly.
She didn't realize until she saw Rusty's grin that she had included him.
“We're like traveling superheroes,” he agreed.
“Or the Littlest Hobo and partner.” Megan turned, smiling.
“Megan and I decided to take you up on your offer,” Aunt Margaret said. “We're going to rent out the land and move to Victoria this fall, for Megan's final year at school.”
“So, what do you think?” GJ looked at Katie's mom and Aunt Sarah. “Your mother and I plan to stay here for a few days longer. Then we'll continue on to Manitoba for a week or so, as planned, before returning here to help sort things out. Do you think these two can be trusted with us for a couple more weeks?”
“We can send them home by plane in plenty of time for school,” Gram added.
“It's fine with me,” Katie's mom said.
“Me too,” Aunt Sarah agreed.
“Maybe someone should ask Katie and Rusty what they want?” Megan suggested.
“I'd like to stay,” Katie said. “You never know who might need us next.”
“Me too,” Rusty added, “besides, we want to bond with our long-lost cousin.”
Megan rolled her eyes, but for once she didn't scowl.
Dayle Campbell Gaetz
is the author of three thrill
ing mysteries featuring her determined detectives:
Mystery From Histor
y, an OLA Silver Birch nominee;
Barkerville Gold
; and the most recent,
Alberta Alibi
. Dayle lives in Campbell River, British Columbia.
Other books in this exciting series
by Dayle Campbell Gaetz
Alberta Alibi
1-55143-404-0
Suddenly the air exploded. A gunshot. And it
came from behind them. Ben! Sheila stumbled,
half turned.
“Keep going!” Wendell said.
The air filled with another sound. Barking. At
the same moment a light flashed. On and off.
Again.
On and off. The signal!
Other books in this exciting series
by Dayle Campbell Gaetz
Chocolate Lily Award nominee
Barkerville Gold
1-55143-306-0
“(
Barkerville Gold
)...fast-paced action...true historical details...” â
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Fresh from their adventures capturing daring art thieves in
Mystery from History
, Rusty, Katie and Sheila are back. This time the trio is in historic Barkerville, a gold-rush town abuzz with a story about a fortune in missing gold, a century-old curse and a missing miner. The friends find they are in a race against time to recover the gold and return it to its rightful owners to avert a tragedy. Will they find the gold in time? Or will they suffer the fate of Three Finger Evans, the missing miner?