The River Rolls On (Bellingwood Book 10) (7 page)

"What's that?"

"Make you breathe deeply."

He chuckled. "I guess you do. I'll be right over. I think Will is in town this evening. He'll meet me there. Do you want to pull video for me?"

"I never think about that," Polly said. "Sure. I'll see what we've got. That's the one door that doesn't have good coverage. Maybe they crossed in front of one of the other cameras, though."

"Stay safe and I'll be over." Aaron hung up and Polly walked into Henry's office. She poked at the shirt with the stick, wondering whose it might be.

"It's my size," she mused. "But not a brand I've ever had." It was a western style red plaid blouse, with snaps on the cuffs and down the front. As she poked at the shirt, she heard a rustle. She picked it up from the desk to make sure it wasn't on top of any papers and heard the rustle again.

"There's something inside the shirt," she said out loud. "Like maybe they pinned a note?"

Henry had come in the room to stand beside her. "Leave it for Aaron. He'll kill you if you mess with his evidence. You can be patient, even if it's just for a few more minutes."

She looked at him with a glint in her eyes. "Do you remember who you're married to?"

He took the stick out of her hand and set it on top of the blouse, then took her arm and steered her back into the media room. "Will one of you sit on her? She's a menace."

"You have changed, Polly," Jon said. "You were such a nice, sweet girl when we knew you back in Boston. You didn't get into trouble, you didn't find dead bodies, and you didn't have psycho freaks kidnapping you."

"I'm still nice."

Ray laughed. "Maybe it's the fact that the nice, sweet Polly Giller came home to the nice state of Iowa. All of that nice came crashing together into a cataclysmic eruption that she'll never be able to escape." He turned to Henry. "And you're the crazy man that waded into the middle of it, expecting to stay safe."

"I live in the eye of the storm," Henry said. "It's safer there than anywhere else."

"That would explain it all," Polly said. "See, Henry! I told you that things were normal when I lived in Boston. Nothing weird ever happened to me. I was as dull and boring as you could be. Am I right?"

Jon nodded agreeably. "She's right. When Drea told us about the skeletons falling out of your ceiling... Wait. Was that up here?"

"Yep," she said. "Those bathrooms out there."

He chuckled. "That's funny. It's kind of like realizing you're sitting in the middle of a movie set. All of these stories that we heard about happened right here.
Polly's Paranormal Party
. Yeah. That would make a great horror movie. Maybe you can get Stephen King to write the screenplay."

"Funny. Uh huh. You're a riot," she said, flinging a throw pillow at him.

Jon snatched it out of the air before it hit the lamp on her reading table. "You still can't throw worth a darn," he said. "You have to keep an eye on your target, not the item you're throwing."

"She can't catch either," Henry said, tossing a cookie to her.

Polly flung her hand out to catch it, only to have it sail past her and into Ray's outstretched hand.

"This is not nice," she said.

"How did your dad not teach you to throw a ball?" Ray asked.

"Or catch it?" Henry pressed.

"We had other things to do. Whatever." Polly stalked out of the media room and headed for the kitchen. "You guys are mean," she said loudly.

Ray trotted over to catch up with her. "You're right. We are. We're adults and should know better. You've done an amazing thing here and that's your strength. Right?"

Polly stuck her tongue out at her husband.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"Just because I feel like I'm back in elementary school and you deserved it."

Henry laughed. "Maybe one of these days I'll take you out back and teach you how to catch. That's when you have to keep an eye on the ball." He and Jon joined them in the kitchen and he asked, "Now what are you doing?"

"Putting water on for tea. We're about to have more people in the house and I'm being polite."

"It's Aaron. You know he won't have anything."

"I'm still going to offer. And I don't know Will Kellar yet. Who knows? Maybe he'll be one of those polite boys who has to accept tea when it's offered."

"You're kind of a mean one," Jon said, opening cupboard doors.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Looking for dog treats."

Polly pointed to the correct cabinet. "But they don't need any more reason to love you. You've already gotten them to adore you."

"Positive reinforcement. And besides, once this is all over, they're going to need to go back out. We didn't get very far before I had to bring them back inside."

Henry's phone rang. "It's Aaron," he said and answered it. "Hello?"

He listened and then said, "I'll be right down." He headed for the door. "I'm going to meet them downstairs. They want to walk the property and check the doors, just in case."

"I'll come with you," Ray said. "Jon, you stay here with Polly."

After they left, Jon said, "I can't believe you take this so well. Why aren't you freaking out?"

"I don't know," Polly said with a shrug. "I handle it like this when I'm in the middle of it. Poor Henry has to put up with me later when I turn into a blithering idiot. But I know that freaking out doesn't achieve anything, so I just wait until things get quiet."

He gave her a quick hug. "I'm proud of you. You're an amazing girl. I should have paid attention to Mama when she told me to grab you up and marry you."

Polly pushed away from him with a laugh. "You aren't ready to be married yet, Jon Renaldi, but when that day comes, you'll have found the perfect girl and no one will question whether or not it's the right thing for you two to do."

"I hope so. I really hope so. I kind of envy this happy life you have out here with ole Hank."

"Stop it, you brat."

"I like him, though. I don't think you could have found anyone better. He's your lobster."

CHAPTER SEVEN

Nodding hello to Aaron and Deputy Kellar when they came in the front door with Henry and Ray, Polly pointed to the other room. "It's on Henry's desk. I didn't touch it, but I wanted to. I think there's something pinned to the inside of the shirt."

Henry beckoned to Will Kellar to follow him and the two men went to retrieve the shirt.

"Was there anything else?" she asked Aaron.

He looked at Ray and slowly nodded. "A pair of jeans was hanging on a tree branch back by the creek, we found a bra tucked into a drainpipe, and a pair of panties dropped in Eliseo's garden.

Polly wilted. "This has to belong to that girl."

Aaron nodded. "That's our assumption."

"The shirt is my size," Polly said. "That's why my clothes fit her."

"You're handling this better than I expected," Aaron said, sitting down beside her.

"What else am I supposed to do? You know I don't do panic-screamy girl." She looked up and gave a sad smile to Henry. "Until you all leave and then Henry has to hold on while I cry."

Will came in holding a clear evidence bag, filled with the shirt.

"What was on the note?" Polly asked.

He handed Aaron another, smaller bag.

Aaron looked at it, shut his eyes, and turned it over, shielding the contents from Polly.

"What?" she asked. "You can't hide this from me. What is it?"

"We're calling Digger now," Aaron said. "I don't want to do this alone any longer. If he wants to call the FBI, I'm fine with that."

Will nodded. "Yes sir, boss."

"Why are you calling the FBI?" Polly asked quietly. "Please tell me what's going on."

Aaron handed her the bag, with the note facing up. She read it.

"Oh Polly, why are you hiding? You know I will stop at nothing to have you. Everything you've done up until this point can be forgiven.

I didn't want to do this, but we had no choice. She looks just like you, but in the end, she isn't you at all, is she. I'm so sorry that you don't understand how important this is.

My friend says that we should keep trying. Maybe we'll find someone who is even better than you. I know that can't possibly be true. Can it?"

She took a deep breath and turned the bag over to find a photograph of another girl, again dressed in Polly's shirt and jeans. This time the girl's eyes were open and terrified, her hands strapped to the steering wheel of the truck.

Polly dropped it in Aaron's lap and slumped back in the couch.

"They didn't waste any time," she said.

"No they didn't and we're going to work as fast as possible to find her. We had teams out this afternoon looking for your truck and the last girl."

"Do you know who this girl is yet?" Polly asked.

Aaron shook his head. "Not yet. We don't have any missing person reports."

"Boss?" Will said.

"What?"

"We do now."

Aaron stood up and walked over to Will, looking down at his tablet. "Show me."

Will said, "She's from Des Moines. Didn't come home last night. Her boyfriend didn't think much of it. She comes in late sometimes. When he woke up this morning she still wasn't there and then she didn't show up at work today either. Name's Angela Leffert. Age twenty-six."

Aaron looked at her and then the photograph. "That's her. We've got to move fast. Call everyone in. They're not sticking close to Bellingwood, so they have transportation."

"Can I help?" Polly asked.

"You can stay inside and safe," he responded. "And you," he said to Henry. "You need to stay safe, too. Delancy is ready to forgive Polly, but if he thinks that you're a threat to him getting her back, you're in danger."

Henry started to speak, but thought better of it and nodded.

"Are you two staying here?" Aaron asked Ray and Jon.

"We have rooms in the addition."

"Okay. That's close enough. They don't leave without you. I talked to your police sergeant buddy in Boston. You two are better than you let on."

"What does that mean?" Polly asked.

"I'll let them tell you," Aaron said. "But the only reason I'm not putting you into protective custody or shipping you out of the country is because these two are here. And I'm not going to tell you that you can't leave the house. If one of these two says that he can keep you safe outside these four walls, you can go. But, if they say stay, you stay. Got me?"

Polly nodded. A silly thought occurred to her and she gave a small hysterical giggle.

"What's funny?" Aaron asked.

"It's not funny at all," she said. "But there's a dead girl out there and I'm the only one that can find her."

"That's not the least bit funny," he said.

"I know, but do you think I'm wrong?"

"We aren't letting you go out looking for this girl. It's too dangerous."

"I never look for them," she said. "I just end up where they are."

"Go on," Aaron said to Will. "Get things started. I'll be down later. I'm going to make a few calls and then I have to explain to Lydia that her weekend plans have changed."

Deputy Kellar left and Aaron sat down across from Polly. "This is going to sound like a strange request, but I need to start somewhere. Tell me where you would have gone tonight if we hadn't curtailed your movement."

"Henry and I were talking about taking the dogs away from here. Somewhere so they could have a long walk, maybe even run." She turned to her husband. "Where's that place you take me sometimes on the Boone River? It's just a canoe put-in site, but it's pretty back in there. That's what I was thinking about."

"Tunnel Mill," he said.

Aaron nodded and entered it into his phone. "Where else."

"If we didn't do that, there's a place over north of Ogden that's nice."

"Don Williams Park," Henry said. "We've been there a couple of times, too."

"Is that it?"

"That's all I had in my head," Polly said. "I don't know if I would have come up with anything else. I kinda thought about going out to the winery tonight, too. But that's inside and they wouldn't have been able to hide a body there."

"Stu's heading up to Tunnel Mill tonight and we'll look at Don Williams Park tomorrow. I need to make some calls right now. My buddy in Hamilton County will want to know why we're in his territory. Digger is about to lose his weekend, too. Can I use your office, Henry?"

"Sure. There's pen and paper in the top drawers. Use whatever you need."

"Thanks. I'll be out of your hair soon."

Aaron headed for the office and then stopped. "You do know that Lydia will be over to see you bright and early tomorrow, don't you? It's going to be difficult for me to keep her away tonight."

Polly smiled. "That's fine. But she can call me any time."

"Thanks. That'll help."

"Well," Jon said, after Aaron left the room. "Anybody for a nice game of Parcheesi?"

Ray sat down across from Polly. "Do you want to explain what that was all about?"

"Only if you explain what Aaron meant when he said you were more than you let on."

Polly watched the two brothers glance at each other. Jon bit his lower lip and gave an almost imperceptible shake of the head. Ray looked at the floor.

"What?" she asked.

"You might as well talk to her," Henry said. "She's as tenacious as anyone I know. Now that she has hold of this, she'll find out."

"Mama doesn't know and Drea only does because she's so danged smart," Ray said.

Polly creased her brow and scowled at them. "What is it? What aren't you telling anyone?"

Jon, who had been pacing the room behind them, thrust his head between her and Henry and whispered, "We're vampires and have been assigned to protect Boston from all evil-doers."

Both Polly and Henry jumped.

"Show me your teeth," she said once her heart dropped back to where it belonged.

Jon grinned, showing a full set of normal pearly-whites. "We filed the canines down so that we can pass for normal humans. The government changed us. There are brothers in blood all over the country, on patrol day and night, protecting humanity."

Polly rolled her eyes at him. "Whatever."

"He's not kidding," Ray said.

She started to laugh. "You know, there are a lot of things you could have said to me and I would have believed any of them. But this, this is ridiculous. If you don't want to tell me the truth, I'll let it go tonight. But someone is going to tell me."

"Are you going to tell us why the Sheriff is calling his men to look in places you might have gone tonight?"

"It's stupid," she said. "But I'm not kidding when I tell you that if someone has died from suspicious causes, I find them. Aaron hates getting phone calls from me."

"I'm not too fond of it myself," Henry said.

Ray folded his hands in his lap. "So you think that if you had gone out to one of these places tonight, you would have tripped over the body of this poor girl?"

"I don't know," she retorted. "It's not like I expect to find bodies. It just sort of happens."

"They won't find anything tonight, even though they're going to places you recommend," Henry said. "It just doesn't work unless you're the one who's looking."

"I hope not," she said. "I'd like to not be responsible for this. As it is, I feel completely responsible. Joey's doing this because of me."

Ray shook his head. "But the other guy isn't. He's doing it for an entirely different purpose. It has nothing to do with you."

"How do you know that?"

"I just know that. He's using Joey. Your old boyfriend is only a tool for him."

"What aren't you telling me, Ray?" Polly asked.

"Nothing. We don't know anything yet. Until we find that girl's body, we can't be sure of anything."

"Then someone needs to let me out of this house so I can find her."

Aaron walked back into the room and everyone looked up at him expectantly.

"We don't have anything yet. I'm sorry. We're working all night, but until dawn comes, I'm not sure we'll find anything."

"I can't believe you don't know who the first girl is," Polly said. "There aren't any other missing person reports that we can look at? If they went down to Des Moines for this last girl, maybe they went further away to find her. I could look through reports, try to help. I need to be doing something."

"Polly," Aaron warned.

"No, it isn't because I feel responsible. I feel helpless. I can't do anything. I'm barely working here. I can't help Henry at the coffee shop, I can't work at Sycamore Inn, and I can't help in the barn with the horses. I can't even walk my own dogs. Someone has to give me something to do or I'm going to go berserk."

"I tell you what," Ray said. "If they haven't found the girl's body by tomorrow morning when you get up, Jon and I will take you out and let you show us Bellingwood. You'll be perfectly safe with us." He looked at Henry. "I promise."

"Really?"

"Sure," he shrugged. "It might be best if you introduce us to your friends. We want to meet the people who know you and get a sense for the community."

"I need to go down to Boone," Aaron said. "I'll have Lydia call you in the morning before she comes over, just in case you're out and about."

Ray walked to the front door with him and said," Let us know if you find anything. We have resources."

"I'll do that." Aaron pulled the door shut and Ray stood there for a moment before returning to his seat on the couch.

"You have resources?" Polly asked. "Don't make this any more difficult than it is. Just tell me who you are."

Ray took a deep breath and sat forward on the couch, his elbows on his knees. "I run the North American division of an international security firm. We work with governments and private corporations worldwide. We don't talk about it. We don't advertise."

"Like spies?"

"Sometimes. Most of the time we guard people in the public eye. We're involved in training, provide secure communications technology for governments, and gather intelligence when necessary. Our company provides security for many of the high-profile sporting events around the world..."