Page 30 of One Last Night

“Stay inside,” he says. “All of you. And get away from the windows. Back to the dining room. We’ll come get you when this is over.”

“Oh God,” Victoria hisses. She recovers quickly, though. “Children, come with me. Mary, help me.”

I take Luann’s arm, and Victoria takes Nathan. We return to the dining room. Another loud slap of pressurized water greets our ears when we close the doors behind us.

Beatrice comes out of the kitchen just as we leave the great room. She wears a fierce snarl and carries a rolling pin, a weapon I have no doubt she could use to great effect. “Where are they?” she growls. “I’ll do the lot of ‘em!”

“Stay with us, please,” Victoria says. “In case they come inside.”

She knows her cook well. Beatrice takes one look at her mistress and the children and nods grimly. She takes position in front of the four of us, standing with her rolling pin raised, arms flexing with muscle. For the sake of whoever’s responsible for this, I hope they stay outside.

The minutes pass. My heart thumps loudly in my chest. The children whimper, and I hear Nathan ask Victoria, “How long does it take to shut off the water?”

“I don’t know, dear,” Victoria says. “Just stay with me.”

Beatrice remains planted firmly in between us and the doorway, ready to bash in the head of the first person who threatens her employers. A moment later, there’s a knock on the door. “Ms. Bellamy? Nathan, Luann, are you in there?”

“That’s Grant,” Beatrice says. In a louder voice, she says, “They’re in here. Who’s out there besides you?”

“Just me. Julian and a gentleman I don’t know are trying to get the water under control. Someone broke the control panel, so Julian’s calling the city while the other man ties the hoses so they spray water away from the property.”

“Go help him, Grant,” Victoria calls. “Save the vines, please.”

Grant hesitates. “Julian sent me back here to protect you. Just in case whoever is responsible for this comes back.”

“Please Grant.” Victoria’s practically sobbing now. “Please. I’m begging you, protect the Chardonnay. It’s the last of the harvest. I don’t want to lose it.”

“I’ve got ‘em locked tight in here, Grant,” Beatrice says. “You go on. Tell Julian no one’s getting to his ma or his kids.”

“All right. Thank you.”

His footsteps thunder down the great room as he runs to assist Sean and Julian. I start to pace the room, unable to quell my worry. The saboteur, whoever he is, hasn’t been violent so far, but he’s escalating. Destroying the estate’s irrigation system is an incredibly costly act of sabotage. I shudder to think how much farther he’ll go.

I stop when I remember the harvesters. “Where are the harvesters, Victoria? The man and women you had here to harvest the Riesling.”

“I sent them home today,” Victoria says. Her voice is steady, but her hands tremble as she wipes tears from her eyes. “The Chardonnay needed another week, so I sent them home and told them to come back the following week.”

I frown. “Then your saboteur must have known. It must be someone close enough to you that he could know your schedule.”

“That’s not necessarily true,” Nathan points out. “He could have been watching with binoculars from one of the bluffs and seen the harvesters leave.”

“Wouldn’t even need to be that close,” Beatrice said. “Could’ve watched the ferry and seen them board.”

I sigh. They’re right. “I’m so sorry about this, Victoria.”

“Well… we’re safe right now.” She smiles at her grandchildren. “That’s what matters.”

My phone rings. The sound causes us all to jump. I pull it out and see Sean’s number, so I answer. “Hello?”

“All right. It’s safe for you all to come out. A great big handsome fellow named Grant helped me tie off the water. They’re still spitting a little, but Julian’s going to get the county to shut off water to the whole property. We’ll have to disconnect the irrigation system before we can start it again, so it might be a minute before we can shower, but we’re all right.”

I sigh with relief and deliver the good news. The children slump with relief. Victoria begins to weep softly. Beatrice nods and asks, "What about the vandal? He still out there?"

“Sean, did you see anyone who might be responsible?”

“No. There were footprints by the water shutoff, but by the time we got there, the ground was too wet for me to tell what kind of shoe or even if it was a man or a woman. Whoever it was left before the damage occurred, though.”

“So how did they damage the water lines?”

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