Page 42 of Rest In Pink

“You’re obsessing,” Vince said. “Food sedates you, and you haven’t had enough, or you’d be flirting with me. Go eat something. When you’re calm, you’ll start thinking clearly and see that Peri is not in danger. Half this town would kneecap Faye if they saw her grab Peri, not to mention what you’d do to her, and that’s before Anemone and the senator weighed in. Call me if you need help.”

“Thank you,” I said. There was a silence and I could hear George talking to several people in the background. Excited voices. “Are you okay? What’s going on?”

“Everything’s okay. I’ve got to go.” He hung up.

I was actually pretty sure I needed help now, so I went to find Marianne and food.

The strangest thing about that conversation? Meathead had a law degree.

Chapter Eighteen

I was happy to get out of town because the townspeople were still gathered on the sidewalk discussing the bikers, and George was reassuring them about something they didn’t see every day. Just your normal macho face-off harkening back to the wild west. I expected a stagecoach to pull up any moment and announce they’d been robbed on the road to Spearfish.

I was glad George had come to help, because it had washed away my worries about being Gary Cooper inHigh Noon. Of course how many more of the townsfolk would step up in the next crisis was open for debate. Thacker had disappeared in all the commotion.

I didn’t know what to make of what had just happened with the Iron Wolves or what their intent had been, and was vaguely pissed, feeling I’d missed something, so I drove up the hill to lay down the law on Faye Blue at Margot Blue’s place, the Little Blue House. Little as in only three thousand square feet. I was going for the low-hanging fruit to vent my anger.

When Faye opened the door, she helped my mood immediately by feeding it. She kept the door on the chain so it was only cracked about three inches.

“What the hell do you want?” She snapped at me. “Your girlfriend call you?”

She looked pretty good for a grieving mother who’d lost two adult children in three months. Well dressed in a low-cut outfit. Her makeup was smudged, though, and her hair mussed.

“Leave Peri alone, Faye. Margot left a notarized consent assigning Liz Danger and Anemone Patterson to be Peri’s guardian while she’s gone.”

“In the fucking loony bin, you mean,” Faye said. “They’re not family. Family is supposed to take care of family. Peri is my granddaughter. She’s all the family I have left. My son is dead. My daughter is dead.” She was more pissed than grieving.

“You have Skye,” I said.

“Skye? Skye?” she laughed. There was a noise behind her and she glanced over her shoulder.

I, being a bit slow in certain areas, realized she had someone there. Someone that she didn’t want me to see. Someone she most likely knew in the biblical sense.

“Are we done?” Faye demanded. “Your message has been delivered.”

“Has it taken hold?” I asked. “And as Ken told you: You can’t break that rental agreement. It’s between Margot and Anemone, not—”

“Get lost.” She slammed the door.

Hard as it is to believe, this encounter had not helped alleviate my anger. I stood there for a moment, considered my options, and holding back from beating the door down, but I knew Faye wouldn’t hesitate to file a complaint and press charges, and George had enough problems at the moment. That was the only thing that stopped me.

I wanted to know who was in there.

Both garage doors were shut and there was no vehicle parked in front of the house or along the gravel driveway. The drive did go around the house, though. Someone could park back there out of sight of the road. I was tempted to walk to the back, but the encounter with the bikers had reminded me that gun laws are much more permissive here in Ohio than in New York City. Faye could shoot me if I did that using the stand-your-ground law. Or whoever was with her could.

I headed back to the Gladiator, which I had parked along the road, paying more attention than when I’d come in. My finely honed Ranger senses began tingling when I saw a single tire track in the gravel.

I didn’t pause because I had a feeling there were eyes on me. More than Faye’s. I got in the Gladiator and drove up the hill. I turned left on Short Hill Road, which wound around the hill. The road went from paved to dirt within a hundred feet. I checked my GPS and found the service track I knew had to exist. I turned right, onto the one that went where I wanted.

It climbed upward, not quite to the top of the hill, but opposite the Blue Mansion and well above Margot’s Little Blue House. I stopped at the cell tower that served the area. I parked outside the chain link fence. It was topped with razor wire. As if that could stop a determined Ranger.

I grabbed my binoculars and the heavy green blanket, which reminded me of Liz and the other night under the tree. I shook off the distracting thought and slung the binos over my head and the blanket over my shoulder.

Then I paused and went over to the gate. There was no lock. I lifted the latch and pushed it open and thought how impressed Rain would be that I checked before climbing over the razor wire. Then I climbed the tower. It poked up well over the top of the hill, the tallest spot in Burney. There were two platforms. One wide metal grate about forty feet from the top where there were several cell relays and then a smaller basket at the very top servicing the microwave relay dish.

I stopped at the cell platform. I noticed some debris on the metal grating. Torn rolling paper stuck in the joints. The remains of a joint. I pried a piece of paper out. It was dry which meant it was relatively recent. The paper was white with green lines. Seemed like the service techs used this place to take a break.

I put the binos to my eyes. The Blue Mansion was below me, at the top of the hill. And Margot’s Little Blue House, where Faye was now, farther below. The country club to the right.

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