Unwitting Alliances - Hunter Blake Series

Chapter Nineteen

  Betty awoke to find Janet standing at their window gazing out at the lake and the soft, morning sunlight. “Everything okay?” she asked groggily.

  “Yes,” Janet replied without looking around. “Just thinking.”

  Betty stretched but didn’t get up. “Did you sleep okay?”

  “I think so. You?”

  “Better than I have been but I’m still tired. Thank you for being my roommate, though.”

  Janet finally turned around and smiled. “You’re welcome.”

  Betty rose up on her elbows. “So what are you thinking about?”

  “All kinds of stuff,” Janet replied, “but mostly I think it’s time to be a little more proactive.”

  “Proactive?” Betty asked. “What do you mean?”

  “I think it’s time we start doing our own surveillance,” she said. “I’m beginning to feel like we are all prisoners here. Sure, it’s a pretty nice prison, but I don’t want to stay cooped up in a hotel room forever.”

  “So what do you think we should do?”

  Janet grinned. “Do you have any makeup with you or hair products?”

  “Sure I do, but why?”

  “Good! Then I want to go on a treasure hunt!”

  “A treasure hunt? With my makeup?” Betty climbed out of bed.

  “We can’t just sit around and wait for the police to come up with something,” Janet replied. “I think we, or at least I, should go downstairs and mingle. See what I can find out. Listen to staff chatting with each other. Strike up some conversation. You know... do a little detective work.” She turned back around watching the sky grow light. “Yeah. Detective work.”

  “I don’t know if Hunter would like that.”

  “I’ll talk him into it. Besides, I’ve done this type of thing before... for Gerry. So I can do it for us.” Janet’s phone rang. “Good morning,” she said. “Breakfast? Sure. You have some place in mind?” She listened. “Oh okay. Room service is fine. We’ll come to you. Oh, and Hunter? Disguise your voice.” She laughed. “See you in a bit.”

  An hour later, the three of them were eating breakfast and discussing their situation in general. Finally Betty nudged Janet.

  “What,” she asked.

  “Tell Hunter your plan.”

  Janet gave Betty a look suggesting she wasn’t ready to do that.

  Hunter looked up. “What plan?”

  “It’s nothing important.” Janet gave Betty another look.

  Hunter put his fork down. “Tell me. If you have an idea, I’d like to hear it.”

  Hesitating, Janet finally stood up and placed her hands on her hips. “Okay. Fine. I wanted to think about this a little longer but since someone brought it up...”

  Betty looked down. “Sorry,” she said.

  Janet stood thinking a moment before she said anything. “Okay. I just think we need to do something ourselves. We need to find our own clues.”

  “And how do you propose to do that?” Hunter asked.

  Janet took a deep breath. “I want to...” She paused. “I want to go downstairs and mingle and talk to people. You know schmooze them. I’ll disguise myself a little with some of Betty’s makeup.”

  Hunter burst out laughing. “You think you’re going to find out more than the police already have?”

  Instantly offended, she replied, “You never know! People get nervous when they talk to the police, but almost anyone will start talking to strangers about all kinds of stuff, especially if it’s juicy. And they keep adding more and more to their stories so before you know it, you practically know their entire life story but also just about everything else that’s happened within the past couple of days. All I have to do is get the ball rolling and nudge it along here and there.”

  “Juicy,” Hunter repeated with a smirk.

  “Yes.”

  Betty brightened. “Besides, she used to do this kind of stuff for Gerry!”

  Hunter looked at Betty then Janet. “What do you mean you’ve done this for Gerry? When? Why?”

  “You know, Betty dear...” Janet started to comment but threw up her hands instead and continued talking to Hunter. “You and I both know how paranoid he was... all the time. So, he started to invite me to parties at his home. I’d mingle, chat, glean little tidbits of information and then report back to him.” She made a face at Hunter’s look of disbelief. “It’s what people do! You know that. Besides, it was kind of fun... at first.”

  “Seriously. You spied for him?”

  “It was part of my job. And since I liked having a roof over my head, I did it. It wasn’t like I was robbing a bank or anything. I’d just idly chit-chat with all those high-and-mighty people.” She paused. “Most of them thought I was some young actress he was grooming, so they’d give me all kinds of advice, quite a bit about him, as a matter of fact.” Then she added, “It’s amazing what some of those people were willing, and eager, to tell me.”

  Betty looked at Janet in surprise. “Are you an actress?”

  “Oh, heck no. I was just Mr. Allensby’s personal assistant.”

  “I see,” Betty said. “And now he’s dead.”

  Hunter’s face was grim. “Yes, now he’s dead and so is his wife, and I don’t want you to end up dead too! So, no chit-chatting!”

  “Oh. I see. You’re just going to sit around here and wait for god-knows-who to figure out what’s going on in their own sweet time!” She was angry and looked at Betty. “Have the police been in touch with you?”

  “Well, no... but I figured they didn’t have anything to tell me yet. It’s only been three days.”

  “Maybe so, but you see!” Janet exclaimed. “You’d think they would at least give her call or something to help keep her hopes up.”

  “Yeah, you would think so,” Betty agreed.

  “Certainly, someone saw something!”

  “And they have the surveillance tapes,” Betty said.

  “Surveillance tapes,” Hunter was surprised. “What surveillance tapes?”

  “The ones they asked me to look at.”

  “And?”

  “And I did and I saw me and Sam and this other couple and the guy who took her...”

  “Wait!” Hunter was now on his feet. “Why didn’t you mention this before?”

  “I thought I did,” Betty said and frowned. “Didn’t I?”

  “I don’t remember anything about surveillance tapes. I don’t know maybe you did. There just so much going on!” He rubbed his forehead. “Okay. So they could still be gathering information. If they don’t have much yet, they probably didn’t think it was worth telling her anything,” he said. “Yeah. Maybe... because it’s still an ongoing investigation, they’re keeping everything close to their chest so they don’t spook someone.”

  Now it was Janet’s turn to stare in disbelief. “Oh, come on! Will you stop pretending this is a movie!”

  “I’m not pretending anything!” he shot back.

  “Then think about it! There’s got to be more to Samantha’s abduction than anyone is saying. Why take her! There’s been no ransom demand or Betty would have been told by now.”

  Hunter just shook his head. “I don’t know what to think.”

  “Okay... what if the FBI... or someone... has talked to the police and convinced them to keep things quiet, hmm?”

  “Keep quiet about what?” he asked. “They can’t tell us something if they don’t know anything! And what makes you think you’re going to be able to find out stuff they haven’t been able to? You’re not a cop.”

  “Exactly. And as I’ve already explained, people will talk to strangers a lot more easily than they will the police.” She tried to calm down. “No one is going to figure it out, Hunter, because they obviously don’t have a clue! And have they been doing anything? Plus we all know there’s got to be more to this than Samantha’s abduction! Like I said, why take her!??
?

  She continued. “We need substantial information so we can try to put the pieces together and figure it out.” She began to pace. “I’m not stupid. I know what needs to be done and I’m good at it!” She stopped. “If the two of you want to hide in your rooms, fine, but I’m going get some answers whether you like it or not!”

  Janet headed for the door. “I’ll see you all later!” She stormed out into the hall and firmly pulled the door shut.

  Hunter started after her then stopped. “She can’t go off half-cocked!” he said angrily just as his phone rang. “Hello!” he barked.

  “It’s Jim.”

  “I’m sorry, didn’t mean to yell. Anyway, good morning. How’d you sleep?”

  “Not so good,” Jim said. “And I think we may have a situation here.”

  “A situation?” Hunter asked with concern.

  Jim quickly explained that they had gone to Karen’s after leaving the Resort so she could pick up a few things and then thought they were being followed on their way back home. “But I haven’t said anything to Diane or Karen.”

  “You think someone’s watching your place?”

  “Yes.”

  Hunter let out a loud sigh, “I see. Have you called the police or sheriff?”

  “No, because I can’t prove anything.”

  “But you’re sure you were followed?”

  “Pretty sure,” Jim said. “A set of headlights were behind us all the way back to our neighborhood. They finally turned at the corner just before our block. As late as it was, it sure seemed strange that someone else would be going the same way we were, especially to a small community like Rathdrum.

  “You want to come back here?” Hunter asked.

  Jim hesitated. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. If someone is looking for you, we’d be leading them right to you.”

  “I suppose so, although I have this nagging feeling they already know we’re here.

  “Perhaps,” Jim said. “So how are you folks doing otherwise?”

  Hunter let out a laugh. “I don’t know. Betty and I are sitting here looking at each other while Janet’s out on some wild goose chase thinking she’s going to find some clues to all of this.”

  “How?”

  “In her words, chit-chatting. Hoping to come up with something juicy, as she put it.”

  Jim chuckled.

  Hunter continued. “Yeah, well apparently she used to do this type of thing for Gerry. But I’m worried. If she says the wrong thing to the wrong person...”

  “I see what you mean,” Jim, said then paused. “Hold on,” he whispered. “Someone just knocked at the front door. I’ll set the phone down so you can listen... just in case.”

  Hunter waited anxiously and could hear Jim talking to someone briefly and then the sound of the door closing.

  “That was interesting,” he said to Hunter.

  “Interesting?”

  “Yes. It was the police. They said they were canvassing the neighborhood asking if anyone had seen anything unusual or out of the ordinary late last night or early this morning.”

  “What did you tell them?”

  “That I hadn’t seen anyone.” he said.

  “What about your suspicions about being followed?”

  “I almost said something, but decided not to. It didn’t feel like a good idea, and like I said, I can’t prove anything.”

  “You’re sure they were legitimate police?” Hunter asked impulsively.

  Jim was quiet.

  “Jim?”

  “I didn’t think about that. I didn’t see a police car. Of course if they are going door to door, they could have parked down the street somewhere.”

  “How many were there?”

  “Two plain clothes officers, but they had badges... and... and I think I just fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book, didn’t I?”

  “I wouldn’t say that,” Hunter said, attempting to soften Jim obvious dismay. “Why not call the police and ask if they are conducting a search?”

  “That’s a good idea,” Jim said. “I’ll do that and get back to you.” Five minutes later he was back on the phone. “Would you be surprised if I said the police are not conducting a door to door search for anyone?”

  Hunter moaned. “No.”

  “So now what?”

  “Maybe you should all come back downtown for breakfast, but go someplace other than the Resort. There are some nice places on Sherman Avenue. Just hang out in crowded places and stay together!”

  “We can do that and I’ll stay in touch.”

  “Okay, but text me. It will be more discreet,” Hunter said. “In the meantime Betty and I will wait for our little super snoop to come back. I think she’s wasting her time, but if she does find out anything, I’ll let you know.”

  “Sounds good,” Jim said and they hung up.

  Hunter walked to the window and parted the drapes enough to stare out at the lake.

  Betty timidly joined him. “Who was that?”

  “Oh, it was Jim. He and the gals are coming into town for breakfast.”

  Betty simply nodded then walked back to the sofa and sat down. Unsure what to do, she finally got up and said she was going back to her own room. “Would you like me to push the breakfast cart out to the hallway on my way?”

  “Sure,” he said turning around with a smile. “Thank you.” He looked back at the lake then stopped her. “No. Wait.” Walking to the door, he took a peek then escorted Betty to the hall. “I’ll wait for you to get inside your room. I’ll take care of the cart.”

  Betty hurried to her room and quickly closed the door making sure the extra lock was in place. Anxious and agitated, she decided to watch some television and picked up the remote control. Finding a movie that was already in progress, she settled on the sofa and sat back, eventually dozing off.

  Hunter closed his drapes against the sun, now shining brightly, and decided to lie down. He stared at the ceiling. “Could things get any worse?” he asked himself. Closing his eyes, he mulled over everything again, but quickly became frustrated in the process. Anxious to hear from Jim, he got up and paced until the phone indicated he was getting a text. The message read, “Down the street at the Day Break Café. We’ll take our time.” Somewhat relieved they were close by he lay down again and drifted off to asleep.

  A soft click at the adjoining room door startled Hunter awake. He was on his feet in an instant and desperately looked for something to grab. At the same moment, Janet quietly stepped into his darkened room.

  “Hunter?” she called out softly. “You here?”

  “I’m here,” he said with relief. “Where have you been?”

  “Doing my job,” she said without hesitation.

  Even though still agitated, he was relieved she was back safe and got out of bed. Giving her a big hug he looked at her and shook his head. “No more running off like that. You had me worried, young lady.”

  She smiled at him then peeled away. “I told you I’d be fine,” she said.

  He stood looking at her and grinned. “You call that a disguise?” She was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, with her hair pulled into a pony tail and a little too much makeup. “Okay, well? Did you find out anything?”

  “Actually, I did.” She made her way to the sofa and turned on a table lamp before sitting down. “Like I said, people love to talk. Just give them a reason and let them go!” She laughed. “It’s so easy.”

  “For you, maybe.” He sat down next to her. “Okay. Tell me what you found out.”

  “It’s always best to chat with the hired help. They generally feel walked on and are the first ones to share secrets.”

  “Like?”

  “Like... the day Samantha was taken, Monday evening wasn’t it? One of the staff actually saw some of that surveillance footage and a photo of the guy who took her.”

  “I wish we had a copy of that.”

&
nbsp; Janet grinned as she pulled a folded piece of paper from her back pocket. “You mean this one?” She handed it to him.

  “How did you get this?” He looked at the image. “Can’t see his face, though.”

  “I know, but still, we now know he isn’t some short wimpy guy.”

  “But how did you get this?” he asked again.

  “I talked the guy into getting it for me. I said I worked for a private detective that the family had hired to do their own investigation.”

  “You lied.”

  “I embellished,” she said. “Who’s to say that Betty and I didn’t have a conversation this morning about Samantha? I’m mean, they’re practically family. What if she and I discussed what I was going to do? And what if she insisted that I do some investigating to help find her sister?”

  Hunter gave her a dubious look. “The two of you did not have that conversation.”

  “How would you know? We could have, but it isn’t important if we did or didn’t. He just needed to think that was the case... the family paying for extra detective work. People do it all the time.”

  Hunter threw up his hands. “You are not a detective. Not a spy.”

  “Oh ye of little faith!” Janet protested. “I’m not through yet.” Hunter looked bemused and she continued. “While Phillip, that’s his name, by the way, anyway while Phillip was getting me a copy of the photo, a couple of other staff came up to me and we got to talking. Then when Phillip came back he told them I work for a P.I. they began asking all kinds of questions about what it’s like to do detective work so I dropped a couple of names to see where that would get me.”

  “Uh-huh.” Hunter rolled his hand. “Get to the point.

  “That’s all it took. They started telling me all kinds of things. I was a little surprised to find out how many well-known people have come here over the years, even if just for dinner. Anyway, a lot of it didn’t have anything to do with Samantha, but I listened and plucked the juicy pieces.”

  “Here we go again... juicy,” he said. “You really like that word, don’t you?”

  Ignoring his remark, Janet continued. “So Phillip invites me to have lunch with him and while we’re sitting and gazing out at the marina he starts to tell me that two other staff were... let’s say, getting cozy out behind the parking garage that night. They were hiding in some shadows when they heard a door open from the main building. It’s one that most people don’t use.

  “Well, they stayed in the shadows then watched as this guy came out carrying a woman. He took her to a dark blue van parked nearby. They said she looked limp, like she was unconscious, so they got really curious and kept watching. One of them managed to take some pictures with his phone camera, without a flash by the way. I was impressed. Anyway, take a look.” She pulled out her phone. “He sent them to me.”

  Hunter stared in amazement. “It sure looks like Samantha,” he said as he scrolled through the images. “And!” he got excited. “They got a shot of his face! Did they report any of this to the police?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “They weren’t supposed to be out there. They worried they’d get in trouble and lose their jobs.”

  He stared at the image. “We’ll have to show this to Betty.”

  “I’ll get her,” Janet said and walked to the door. “The cool thing is...” she stopped and looked back at him. “I did find out something more than the police.” Moments later she and Betty were back. Betty sat next to Hunter who handed her the phone. “What do you think?” he asked as Betty scrolled through the photos.

  “Yes! Definitely Sam!” she replied breathlessly. “I recognize her clothes.”

  “What about this picture?” Hunter asked, showing her the image of the man. “Is that him?”

  Betty slowly began to nod. “It’s not the best picture, but yes... I remember. It’s him. Big and ugly.” She sat back. “Now more than ever I’m worried about Sam.”

  “We’ll have to show these to the police, you know,” he said.

  “I know,” Janet replied. “But I promised to keep my sources anonymous.”

  “Uh-huh,” Hunter mumbled then put his arm around Betty. “So you didn’t see photos like this.”

  “No,” she said. “But you know, I’m just a friend and not family so I don’t expect they would have to show me anything.”

  “That shouldn’t matter,” Hunter replied pulling her close. “It’s not like you weren’t there at the time. You’re a victim in all of this too. So you’re sure this is the guy?” he pointed to the photo again.

  “Pretty sure. Yes. Because I remember what he was wearing now that I’m looking at the photo,” she said. “That’s him. I recognize his arm. See there?” She pointed. “That tattoo? That’s what I remember, not so much his face.”

  “The tattoo,” Hunter said.

  “Yes because he reached between me and Sam to push his floor button. I didn’t turn around and look at him, mostly because that other couple and I were talking, but now I remember that. Then when the elevator stopped I stepped out and the other couple followed me. I thought Sam was right behind them.”

  “Had you ever see them before?” he asked. “That couple?”

  “No. The police asked me the same question. I hadn’t seen them before or after. Maybe they just came here for dinner.”

  “Then what were they doing getting off on this floor?” he asked.

  “Oh, yeah,” she said.

  “Unless... they really were staying here and maybe left already.”

  Janet shook her head. “I don’t agree. I really think they were acting as decoys.”

  Hunter agreed. “You may be right. Keeping Betty distracted long enough for that thug to take Samantha.” He stared at the photos again. “Okay,” he said, handing back the phone. “I guess you did alright but you need to share those with the police. They might be able to run his mug through their facial recognition system... if they have one.”

  “Alright, but I’m not finished,” she said.

  “You have more?”

  “I do. After lunch, Phillip and I strolled along the boardwalk and finally sat down to watch the boats. Then he started to tell me about some FBI guys that had shown up and were asking questions.”

  “FBI?” Hunter was very interested. “I wonder what they...” he was interrupted by a quick tap at the door. He got up and motioned for Betty and Janet to stay quiet then peeked through the peep hole. Instantly he opened the door and Jim, Diane, and Karen hurried inside. Hunter closed it quietly but firmly and everyone gathered in the living area.

  “What’s up?” he asked his friends.

  “I still think we’re being followed,” Jim said nervously. “And by two men who looked a lot like those plain clothes cops that came around earlier this morning.”

  “Did they follow you here?”

  “More than likely but I didn’t know what else to do. We stopped at three different places this morning.” He glanced at his wife. “What did you call it?”

  “A progressive brunch,” she said with a smile.

  “Yeah, then we’ve spent the past few hours wandering through shops and going down to the beach for a while. We did our best to elude them, but who knows?”

  Diane spoke up. “We didn’t know what was going on at first, until Jim finally said something while we were at the beach.”

  “Yeah,” Karen said. “We were wondering why he was taking us all over the place.”

  “Yes and now we’re scared,” Diane said, “especially when Jim shared his suspicions about being followed last night.”

  “I wonder if they might be some of those FBI guys Janet was just talking about,” Betty suggested.

  “FBI?” Karen asked. “Here? Did anyone mention their names?”

  “Not that I heard,” Janet replied.

  “How many FBI?” Hunter wanted to know. “Did they say?” r />
  “It sounded like more than one but I don’t know for sure,” Janet replied. “Maybe two or three, but that’s just a guess. Anyway, they showed up last night.”

  Karen gasped and turned away.

  Hunter looked at her, “You okay?”

  She said nothing and wouldn’t look at him.

  Hunter walked over to her. “You’re not telling us something. What is it?”

  Karen teared up. “I’m not supposed to say,” she whispered.

  “Not supposed to say what? We’ve got stuff going on here and we need some answers. What aren’t you telling us? If you know something, Karen, you need to let us know.”

  “It’s about Frank,” she said.

  Jim reached for her hand. “What is it Karen?” he asked gently.

  “He’s... he’s an FBI agent,” she said. “And there was another man at the house last night. They were going to go on a business trip together at least that’s what he told me.”

  “FBI!” Hunter was surprised. “I thought he was an attorney.”

  “He is, but that’s his cover. He primarily works undercover for the FBI.”

  “How long have you known this?” Hunter asked.

  “About two years. I don’t think I was ever supposed to know, but something happened. Some other man showed up at our home one evening and Frank took him into his office without introducing us. That seemed strange to me, because Frank always introduces me to people he knows and works with, whether we’re at home or out somewhere. This was different, though, and Frank seemed... not at all pleased.

  “I started to go to the kitchen when I heard the other man raise his voice and threaten Frank and I heard him mention my name.” She wiped her face. “I didn’t like the tone of that man’s voice. That unnerved me, so I hurried to the kitchen and stayed there until the man left.”

  “How long did he stay?” Hunter asked.

  “Not long. Maybe ten minutes at the most. Then Frank found me in the kitchen and I must have had a look on my face. He apologized that the guy showed up and I told him he didn’t need to apologize for that. Then he held me and told me how much he loved me and that he would always be there for me.” Karen paused and looked at everyone. “It was so strange. The tone of Frank’s voice, his whole demeanor. I was worried.”

  “Then what?” Hunter asked.

  “We had dinner and hardly spoke a word to each other. Finally, he said he needed to tell me something and that’s when I found out. I was so shocked. I started to ask about the man, but he just shook his head emphatically and said I wasn’t to ask about anything or speak of it. He told me not to tell anyone about him being in the FBI. He made me promise.”

  Hunter was confused. “Do FBI agents really keep that sort of thing a secret from their families? I thought they were pretty open about being agents.”

  “Hard to say,” Jim remarked. “It wouldn’t surprise me if there are some of them who keep it all a secret for some reason.”

  “Why do you think he decided to tell you?” Diane asked.

  “I’m not sure other than having that man show up seemed to trigger it, I guess. But now, when he asked if you and Jim would let me stay with you, I think he’s worried about my safety.”

  Hunter agreed. “Yes and it also sounds like maybe he’s gotten himself into something deeper than he’s comfortable with.”

  Janet was fidgety and went to the window. Parting the drapes slightly, she looked outside at the afternoon sunshine and glimmering lake, then asked, “Do you think it’s safe for any of us to be here?” She turned around. “Frank texted Karen then he called Jim. If he’s involved in something sinister, by now I’d expect some not-so-nice guys are keeping an eye on the place. They will have tracked the Wesleys’ phones, don’t you think?” She gestured toward Jim and Diane, “And by now know exactly where we all are.”

  “Oh, dear,” Diane said. “Jim?”

  Jim tried to temper the mood. “Before we all start panicking, let’s see what else we can find out from the police.”

  “Are you really sure you want to do that?” Janet asked.

  “Why shouldn’t we?”

  Janet was exasperated. “Come on! Think! What if these other people have gotten to them already?”

  “Gotten to them?”

  “Yes. Told the police things... convinced them that we’re not trustworthy or that they need to take us in for questioning or watch us or something? What if these FBI guys have asked them to keep an eye on us and follow us around?”

  “For what purpose?” Diane asked.

  “That’s what I’ve been trying to find out!” Janet said emphatically.

  Hunter threw up his hands in frustration. “This is getting us nowhere!”

  Janet continued. “We have to dig up our own clues. That’s all there is to it. I know the police are good at their jobs and follow up on leads and stuff, but... it seems like everyone is dragging their heels. We need answers now!”

  “You may be right,” Hunter conceded. “You would think the police might have said something to tell Betty by now... one way or another, especially if they have been following up on the surveillance footage,” he said. “But even so, we have to trust someone. Why not the police?”

  Janet shook her head emphatically. “No! I vote we don’t go to the police! Not yet.” Janet reiterated. “We find our own clues and do our own investigating!” She began to pace. “We can use any of their clues, based on what Betty has been able to share, along with our own information and the photos I just got. I can keep snooping around but we’re running out of time because any guests who may have seen or heard anything may have already checked out or they’re getting ready to.”

  Hunter ran both hands through his hair. “You really think you’re going to be able to keep running around talking to people with no particular reason in mind, and not raise suspicion? You really think everyone you talk to is going to tell you everything we need to know. Just like that.”

  Janet glared at him. “Fine! Never mind!” She sat down.

  Jim intervened. “Okay. Enough! Both of you simmer down. We’re all on edge and getting worked up! Just calm down.” He lowered his voice. “Everyone. Please just sit down. Let’s talk this through.” He took a deep breath and blew it out hard.

  “Janet is right about one thing,” Jim said. “The fact that the police haven’t gotten in touch with Betty recently concerns me. She was directly involved in all of this from the outset.” Jim looked at Janet. “You said something about some photos.”

  “Yes,” Janet said. “A staff member managed to get some shots of the kidnapper!”

  Hunter interrupted. “Can you send those to the police?”

  “I can try,” Janet said. She got on her phone while Jim kept talking.

  “Okay,” he said. “So let’s look at all the pieces of the puzzle we have right now.”

  “Where do you want to start?” Hunter asked.

  “When did things begin to happen? The unusual things?” Jim asked.

  “Arizona,” Janet piped up still working with her phone.

  “No,” Hunter said. “Actually the first thing was getting Buster.”

  “Buster?” Janet stopped what she was doing.

  “Yes. From that ditzy woman. Unkempt. Smoked like a chimney.”

  “Okay puzzle piece number one,” Jim said. Diane jumped up and dug around in a drawer for some paper and a pen. He grinned. “Good idea, honey.”

  “Then Arizona?” Janet asked.

  “No. Then there was the break-in at my house and I got shot at.”

  “Shot at! Really? Did you tell me that?” Janet tried to remember. “So then someone has tried to shoot you twice.”

  “Yeah. Twice,” he said. “Two times too many.”

  Jim thought for a moment. “Any small details about anything that’s happened? Like when you got Buster, was there anything familiar about
the woman?”

  “Familiar?” Hunter chuckled. “Hell, no. I could hardly wait to take Buster and head for home. She was such a hick, and slovenly, and...”

  “Okay,” Jim smiled. “Obviously an unpleasant woman.”

  “Yeah, plus Buster had been mistreated by someone. Both vets said he had scars on his back.”

  “Both vets?” Jim asked.

  “One I took him to and then the one Frank took him to.”

  “Why did he do that... take Buster to another vet, that is?”

  “I don’t know but he seemed to think it was important that his guy take a look at him.”

  “And his collar was missing,” Karen added.

  “That’s right,” Hunter said. “You know it’s interesting that more than one person has commented about that collar specifically.”

  “What was so important about it?” Jim asked.

  “I don’t know. It was just a bright blue collar with some silver-looking stud-things on it.”

  “Frank seemed interested in it, too, as I recall,” Karen said. “He kept fingering it.”

  “Fingering it?” Jim asked.

  “Yes, but probably because it looked rather impressive, wouldn’t you say so Hunter?”

  “I guess. It did look expensive.”

  “You think Buster might have been stolen?” Jim asked.

  “Stolen.” Hunter shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

  “But the woman you described wouldn’t strike me as being the type of person who would purchase an expensive collar for a dog.”

  Hunter looked at him and nodded. “You right. That’s doesn’t fit.” Hunter leaned against the back of the sofa. “Well, it doesn’t matter. I got him a new one. A blue one but without a bunch of stuff on it. Just a collar.

  Janet walked over and sat next to Hunter. “I sent them. I hope someone gets the email,” she said. “I have another idea, based on Buster’s collar. What if...” she began.

  “What if what?” Betty asked.

  “Well... what if the collar had been bugged somehow?”

  “Bugged?” Betty asked.

  “Yes.”

  Jim was intrigued. “Even if it was why would the veterinarian take it?”

  Karen spoke up, “The vet’s office didn’t know anything about a collar. It wasn’t listed on their paperwork for Buster when I picked him up.”

  “So who would have taken it?” Betty asked.

  “The only other person who could have done that was Frank,” Hunter said. “He was alone with Buster when he took him to the veterinarian’s. He didn’t want me to come along. He said I should keep a low profile for a while. Buster was wearing the collar when he left the house with Frank.”

  “Okay,” Jim said. “Buster’s collar winds up missing. Your house is broken into and you get shot at, and then you stayed with the Bradleys for a couple a days, is that right?”

  “Yes, while a new surveillance system was installed at my home.”

  “You bought a new system?”

  “Frank arranged for that...” Hunter voice trailed off. “But. That was after the break in.”

  Jim nodded. “Interesting. Okay, then what?”

  “Frank said it was okay for me to move back home, so I did. Oh, and my brother called one morning to check up on me... which he rarely does. That was annoying, and then Gerry called and asked me to go to Arizona on a trumped up request. And that’s when Janet and I had our unpleasant encounter with the black chopper. It came swooping in, armed with rockets. There was a handoff then someone shot at me!” He looked at Janet.

  “Yes!” she said. “And they shot Brian who jumped on the plane just before we took off!”

  “Did he die?” Jim asked.

  “We thought he might have but he was wearing some kind of fancy vest that oozed fake blood.” Hunter sat thinking. “You know... if we hadn’t experienced all of this personally, I’d say this was some kind of a cheesy crime film.”

  Jim had to laugh. “So what else?” he asked.

  “Okay, so we took off like a bat out of hell figuring someone would come back to clean up their botched up mess. After some tricky flying we ended up in Wyoming at a little airport I’ve been to a few times before. We needed fuel and food.”

  “Right,” Janet said. “Hunter sent the manager, or whatever he is, a coded message. So when we got there, a fuel truck was waiting for us, and Hunter’s friend brought out a bag of food.”

  “And then a sheriff’s car showed up and raced across the airfield and onto the runway,” Hunter said. “We were already starting our run, though, and I wasn’t about to stop for anyone at this point. I barely lifted off over the top of the patrol car. So we bugged out of there and flew to Washington where we stayed with my Uncle Joe and his wife Vera for one night.”

  Jim sat back. “Well, someone may have found out you were coming and called the sheriff simply because of who you are. You know it isn’t often a high-profile Hollywood actor shows up in a small town unexpectedly.”

  “But how would anyone know?” Janet argued. “We never got off the plane!”

  “So what happened to Brian?” Diane asked. “Why isn’t he still with you?”

  Hunter looked disgusted. “He disappeared... while we were staying at Joe’s. So we got a little spooked by that and flew the heck out of there in a big hurry, and so did Joe and Vera. Joe has his own plane.”

  “Yes,” Janet said, “And they have Buster. But you forgot about finding Brian’s bloody shirt and that vest in Joe’s trash.”

  “That’s right.” he said grim-faced. “But that was before we ended up in Canada.”

  “Canada!” Jim was confused. “If the FBI issued an alert about you and your plane, with the possibility you might be a flight risk, for instance, once you crossed the International border into Canada, you would have been arrested the minute you walked through customs.”

  “You’re right, and I had turned the transponder back on intentionally to avoid any suspicion.” He frowned. “So why didn’t the Canadian authorities detain us?” He looked at everyone. “In fact, we landed at an airfield that also supports a small military base at Comox, so if anyone would have detained us, it would have been them.”

  “That does seem odd.” Jim agreed.

  Janet stood up excitedly. “What if the FBI alert was some kind of a...”

  “An isolated alert,” Hunter filled in.

  “Yes, or a hoax,” she suggested.

  “Yeah, maybe they only faxed it to a few small airports along our flight path.” Hunter stared at the wall. “What if...”

  “Oh, my gosh!” Janet exclaimed. “They know where we are! They’ve always known where we were... all along!”

  Jim sat quietly. “Or just hopeful,” he finally said.

  “Hopeful?” Betty asked.

  Jim nodded. “That manager at the Wyoming airport, you trust him?”

  “Absolutely,” Hunter said.

  “Okay, then let’s say, whoever is doing this, did fax some kind of alert to a handful of small airports. After a while they’d start calling each one for any information.” He paused. “Could be your friend might have waited until you were safely gone before saying anything. Obviously others saw you land and take off. And if your departure was as dramatic as you made it sound, that would have gotten a lot of attention.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” Hunter said. “But how did the sheriff get there so fast?”

  “He undoubtedly received one of those possible faxes and got excited about the prospect of you possibly showing up at his airport. So he raced over just as you were taking off. Who knows? Although, I’m sure you made his day with your takeoff stunt.”

  Hunter had to laugh. “Yeah, it was pretty intense for a brief moment.”

  Jim looked at Hunter. “So why did you come back here?”

  “I’m tired and fed up... and I just wanted to come home.”

 
Jim nodded. “So they may have been able to track you as far as Wyoming.”

  “Yes, but we headed east for several miles when we left there, before circling back north and west again.”

  Jim stood up and wandered toward the window, staring at the closed drapes. “You know... habits say a lot about a person. So... tell me... whenever you feel stressed, upset, fed up, tired from doing your movie stuff... what do you usually do to relax? Where do you go?” He turned to look at Hunter who started to rub his forehead.

  “I come here,” he said. “I come back here to my ranch... and hide.” He laughed at himself. “And everyone knows it.”

  “You come here,” Jim repeated. “You need to change your recipe, Hunter.”

  “My recipe?”

  “Yes. Do something different. Something... unexpected. Unpredictable.”

  “Recipe,” Betty said. “I’m hungry. Is anyone else hungry?”

  Hunter looked at Jim.

  “It’s that definition of insanity. Remember?” Jim said. “Doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting a different result.” He smiled. “You need to do something different to get a different result. You’re going to have to step out of your familiar and predictable comfort zone if you want to get the upper hand with whatever is going on.”

  A new look crossed Hunter’s face. “Yes. You’re right. Something... unpredictable.”