Cornwall and Redfern Mysteries 2-Book Bundle (18 page)

Chesley didn't try to escape. He was waiting in the hall as I turned off the studio lights and locked the door. Up close, Chesley in spandex bicycle shorts was not a maiden's dream, and an image of those bad boys, Snake and Redfern, popped into my head. Horrified, I figured I was experiencing alcohol poisoning.

“Do you by any chance cycle, Chesley?”

His grin spread outward from the middle until it reached his ears.

“How did you know that? I belong to a small racing club in St. Catharines.”

“Oh, I guess it was the muscle development in your legs.” A glance down to his lower limbs confirmed that Chesley had, indeed, well-developed thigh and calf muscles.

If his smile got any wider, he was in danger of swallowing his nose.

I said, “I'm glad you waited. I thought our discussion was just getting interesting this afternoon when your mother showed up.”

“I'm afraid Mum and I haven't been totally forthright with you, Bliss.”

“You really aren't interested in the Barrister house, are you?”

“We are. But Mum doesn't want me to say anything yet about our plans. We still have funding considerations that need to be weighed. We should have an answer for you tomorrow or Saturday. Anyway, that's not what I meant when I said we hadn't been forthright.”

“What? Is there another property you want to see? I'm the agent for the Barrister property only, so if you're interested in looking at something else, you'll have to talk to Elaine Simms.”

“I know, but it's not that.”

Getting Chesley to the point was proving a time-consuming activity. The coywolf, not to mention a murderer, was at large in the vicinity of Hemp Hollow, and the sooner I was locked inside my trailer with Rae, the better.

“Tell me what's on your mind, Chesley.” And snap to it.

“Okay, but don't be angry with me.”

“Chesley.”

“Here goes, then. You know how you thought I was waiting for you outside Glory's house on Arlington Woods? Well, I was.” Chesley uttered the last sentence like it was a hanging offence. His shoulders hunched, making him look like a green-eyed buzzard.

My head throbbed with every beat of my pickled heart. I wanted to feel sorry for him, but if he was stalking me, I'd take him down and smack him silly.

“Would you care to explain your actions?” Then, something occurred to me. “And how do you know Glory? Wait, you were the one who dropped off the Bern bamboo.”

“Berg. And yes, I did visit Glory and give her the plant. I wanted to see if her Titan Arum was still alive and healthy. She said that Sif was doing well and was even going to blossom. You can imagine how excited I was.”

Chesley's eyes were gleaming with a fanatic's fervour, much as Dougal's did every time he mentioned Thor. I made a let's get this story on the road motion with my hand.

“When I was driving away from Glory's house, I saw you on your motorcycle. I thought your passenger looked like Dougal, although it was hard to tell because of the helmet. Anyway, I waited under those trees for you to come out again. I wanted to see if it really was Dougal, and if so, where he lived. He isn't listed in the phone book, and I didn't want to ask too many questions of the local people. Not until Mum and I have completed our business dealings. Anyway, when you turned around and followed me, I panicked.”

I didn't speak.

Chesley said, “I think that's all.”

“No, it's not. What have Glory and Dougal got to do with … anything?”

“Oh, didn't I say? Sorry. I knew Glory and Dougal at university. We were all enrolled in the same B.Sc. program.”

“So, why are you here now?”

“I can't tell you everything, not right now. And we — that's Glory, Dougal, and I — agreed we would never talk about this since what we did was illegal. But I'm pretty sure the statute of limitations has run out, so I can tell you, generally, what happened.”

“Chesley, I've had a rough day, so if you don't tell me what you're talking about, I'm going to do some damage to your person.”

“Okay, Bliss, but you're sworn to secrecy. Now, only four people will know the whole story. Well, after graduation, the three of us went to Europe for two months. We saw the usual sights, visited some European countries. One night in — I can't tell you the country — we got blasted and stole … took three Titan Arum tubers from a botanical garden. We brought them back to our hostel and bagged them up. Then we stored them in our backpacks under our dirty laundry and flew home.”

“You three crazy kids just strolled through Customs, each with a stolen botanical specimen in your backpack? Did you ever think what might have happened if you had been caught?” Shit, there I went again, acting like a mother.

“Not really. You know, at that age you think you can do anything, get away with murder. Now, of course, you can buy Titan Arum tubers on the Internet. Although the quality is suspect if you buy them that way.”

“You're sidetracking me, Chesley. There's no reason you shouldn't visit Glory or Dougal, but why the cloak and dagger stuff?”

“When Mum found out what we did back then, she blamed Dougal, and rightly so. She always thought he was a bad influence on me. After that, we lost touch. But, almost three years ago, Dougal contacted me and said he and Glory were splitting up and asked me to store Thor in one of my greenhouses temporarily. A year later, he said he was moving into his parents' house again and was building a solarium. He wanted Thor back, and I reacted, well, rather badly, I have to say. I was reluctant to part with Thor, and Dougal threatened to kick my ass.”

Seems I wasn't the only one who felt that urge in Chesley's company.

“So, you two did not part on good terms,” I finished for him, anxious to move this slightly interesting, but ultimately insignificant, story to its climax.

“Exactly. But Mum and I remembered Thor, and Sif of course, when we discussed opening a new mail-order business.”

“Chesley, I am running out of patience. And I admit to a world-class hangover. Tell me, what the hell does a new business have to do with two jungle plants?”

“Sorry, Bliss, I'm not telling this coherently. Mum and I have been planning to expand into a specialized market for a few years now. We could have used Jarnsaxa as our flagship plant for the new business, but she didn't make it. She passed about four years ago. Just withered away. We—”

“Wait. Wait just a minute, Chesley. I'm taking a quantum leap here, but is Jackassa your Titan Arum? Raised from the baby tuber you smuggled out of some nameless foreign country twelve years ago?”

“Jarnsaxa. Thor's mistress. Yes, so that's why I wanted to keep Thor. Anyway, now Mum and I are ready to proceed with our venture. But what a coup it would be if our new greenhouse showcased a mature Titan Arum. That's as far as we thought, at first. But, now that we know both Sif and Thor are blossoming, the possibility of a multitude of new tubers is mind-boggling.”

You would think that two jungle plant enthusiasts would be enough for one small town, but now we had three. Or four, if you counted Mum.

“This is all mildly interesting, Chesley. I suggest you walk up to Dougal's front door and tell him about your new business. Who knows, he might not kick your ass.”

“But this is where you come in, Bliss. Mum and I want you to negotiate a deal with either Dougal or Glory, or both. When I visited Glory, she became furious when I mentioned Dougal's name. The whites of her eyes turned blood red. She scares me, and I would rather you did the negotiating.”

“She scares everyone, Chesley, but I can't help you.” Glory was possessive about her Titan Arum, and Dougal really loved Thor. No way would either of them part with their plant. I was not going to use Glory's pot growing to blackmail her again, and as for Dougal, he seemed incapable of giving a shit about consequences of any type.

“But, Bliss, you haven't heard our offer yet. If we can get one of the Titan Arums for our new greenhouse—”

“I don't care.”

I dashed down the hall to the women's change room. The others had left long ago, so I had the place to myself. I should have showered before getting back into my street clothes, and God knows I needed it, but I was anxious to get indoors with Rae and lock the door. My jeans and tee-shirt were still damp, even though I had spread them out over a bench. Stuffing my yoga duds into the bag, I left the change room to find Chesley waiting for me, still in his spandex.

“Forget it,” I said before he could open his mouth. “I don't want any part of your scheme. Grow a pair and ask Glory or Dougal yourself. You're a businessman. If there's something in it for them, they might come around.” And good luck with that.

Garnet was working at her computer, half glasses on her face. She gave me a quick smile and handed me a twenty dollar bill. That's the way I liked to do business. Service provided, money exchanges hands, no talk necessary.

Chesley was blocking the exit door. I could easily knock him down the stairs to street level and be on my way. He must have seen the possibility on my face, for he stepped aside, but followed as I took the stairs two at a time.

It was raining harder than ever, and I had to stop in the entrance to don the raincoat. Chesley began yammering in my ear again.

“Bliss, you didn't let me tell you what the offer is. I believe you will find it worthwhile to expend just a little time in convincing your cousin or Glory to either loan their Titan Arum or sell me some of the new tubers.”

“We don't know if the pollination will even work yet. Listen, Chesley, if you and your mother are interested in buying the Barrister property, let me know. Otherwise, good luck with your future plans, and bye-bye.”

I started toward Dougal's, head down against the driving rain. In the dark, I probably resembled a yellow ghost floating several inches off the ground. And, man, did that almost come true.

The coach lights mounted under the eaves of Dougal's garage threw a diffused glow onto the driveway, outlining a dark-coloured vehicle that could have been a Volvo. If it wasn't raining, and if the Rockettes weren't performing high kicks in my brain, I might have walked up and taken a closer look. The vehicle must belong to Dougal's girlfriend who wasn't Melanie, and I was curious about her.

However, satisfaction would have to wait. By the time I took the cover off the bike and pulled the raincoat off in order to put on my leather jacket, I was soaked through again. Even my boots had taken on water. I quickly replaced the raincoat and pulled the helmet over the hood. The helmet fit a little tight, but at least water wouldn't run down the back of my neck.

The rain looked like an all-nighter, so the smartest thing I could do was get home as quickly as possible.

Lockport's stoplight was situated on the highway just past the Petro Canada station. A man in a green poncho who was walking two sodden pit bulls had pressed the walk button, forcing me to stop. He flicked a condescending glance at my bike as he passed, so I revved my motor in response. The unmuzzled dogs turned and growled at me, and I took my toes off the pavement and inched forward in case I had to take off quickly. An SUV pulled out of the Petro Canada and stopped behind me. When the light changed to green, I took off carefully.

I saw in my mirror that the SUV had narrowed the gap between us. Thinking I was driving too slowly, I increased my speed slightly. The vehicle moved up, but I had to slow again to make the turn onto the concession road. I signalled right and turned, careful to avoid the patch of gravel at the intersection.

The SUV turned with me. Alarms began ringing in my brain. The SUV was too close, and, other than the back entrance to Hemp Hollow, there were only a couple of farms farther on that were more easily accessed from the next concession road.

I sped up again as I came up on the rough trail leading to Hemp Hollow. With the rain an impenetrable curtain, my headlight scarcely made a dent in the darkness. The SUV moved up beside me and swerved. I veered sharply, hoping to avoid a collision, and the front wheel of the Savage caught in the sucking mud of the trail. The handlebars quivered under my hands.

As the Savage fell, the SUV roared away. I bounced and rolled, my helmet striking the mud grooves. The final bounce hurled me into the deep runoff ditch.

As I lay on my back, my head vibrated inside the helmet. Water swirled over my body and lapped against my face. But despite my addled state, I realized that I shared the ditch with something … something that smelled very dead. My overactive olfactory sense shuddered in distress and my pounding heart threatened to explode as I recognized the stench: the coywolf.

The reek of decay surrounded me. I moved my arms and legs. Check. I was almost afraid to turn my neck, but my vertebrae seemed intact.

I sat up and noticed the ditch was filling up fast. If I had landed on my face and been knocked out, I would have drowned. I unbuckled my helmet and pulled it off. With water running over my face, it was impossible to tell if my head had sustained any bloody wounds. Nothing hurt and everything hurt.

Another stinking wave hit me and I froze, knowing the coywolf had to be very close.

I looked at the walls of the embankment and realized how far down I had fallen. The creature was trapped there with me.

I stood up slowly and was grateful to feel my legs plant themselves firmly in the muck and hold. It was silent except for the sound of the rain hitting the rushing water. I let myself hope that the smell was coming from a roadkill casualty, perhaps a long-dead deer.

The walls of the ditch were higher than my head and too slippery to climb. I needed to find the drainage pipe running under the concession road. But which way? Crap, my internal GPS was screwed.

I picked up my helmet, poured out the water, and plunked it on my head. Pulling my feet out of the mud one by one, I turned left and, after three squelching steps, collided with something solid.

Feeling with my hands, I determined that I had found the drain pipe. But it was flush to the opening under the path. Nothing for me to climb. No way out.

A sudden flash of lightning was followed almost immediately by a crash of thunder so loud my ears were ringing inside my helmet. I quickly released the metal pipe.

I stood ankle-deep in water in a ditch too deep to climb out of. The epicentre of a thunderstorm was directly overhead, and a malodorous animal, hopefully dead, was close by. If I believed in the modern translation of the Old Testament, this experience would be payback for wishing vengeance be heaped upon the Weasel — and maybe for using the F-word so often lately.

The lightning flashed again and, in the nanosecond before the illumination faded, I saw a motionless mound parting the stream of water as it rushed toward the drain. It was about ten feet away. I had to have been almost nose to nose with it when I landed in the ditch. One good thing — it looked dead.

Another lightning and thunder duo passed before I remembered my BlackBerry. I reached through the raincoat to the inner pocket of my leather jacket. Careful not to drop the phone into the swirling rainwater, I hit 911.

The dispatcher tagged me as a prank caller at first. It took a minute before I could convince him that I was stranded in a ditch and was in imminent danger of: a) drowning, b) electrocution, or c) both. He promised to send help.

I thought I heard thunder again. Then I recognized the sound of a motorcycle engine. Help was coming, but until it arrived I was at the mercy of anyone with wicked motives. The chance that a passerby would stop to rob or rape a woman in a ditch was pretty remote, but I felt around in the water for a rock anyway.

The sound of the motor stopped above me. Footsteps slid along the path that had to be a sea of mud. I didn't call out, hoping he would leave.

“Hey! Anyone down there?”

Snake's deep, rasping voice. It was one of those “life sucks but wait and it will get worse” moments.

“Kiddo? You okay?”

I remained silent. The fire department was coming.

I heard the sound of another engine. Thank God.

A car door slammed.

Snake spoke. “Do you have a flashlight, Neil? I think she might be down there, but I can't see anything.”

I was shit out of luck tonight.

Redfern called out, “Cornwall, can you hear me?” The beam from a flashlight hit the running stream of water, lingered on the dark shape, and moved on.

Then the light struck my eyes.

“Why didn't you answer me, Cornwall? Are you hurt?”

“Aren't you ever off duty, Redfern?”

“Don't you ever sleep, Cornwall? What happened?”

“Is my bike okay?”

It was Snake who answered. “It's fine, little lady. It's muddy, but listen, the engine turns over.”

The sound was music to my ears. I had been so afraid the Savage was totalled. Now I just had to get myself out of this ditch.

“Smell that?” Redfern appeared to be talking to Snake. “I think there's something dead down there.”

“No fucking kidding, Sherlock,” I said, immediately thinking I should shut it. One, maybe both of them, had a gun. I might as well find an alligator and poke it with a stick.

I could hear Redfern's condescending sigh.

“Stretch your arms out as far as you can, Cornwall. We'll grab your hands and pull you out.”

“Not happening. I'm waiting for the paramedics.”

“Paramedics? Are you hurt?” He said to Snake, “I'm going down. If she isn't hurt too badly, I'll boost her up and you grab her. Otherwise, I'll call in a rescue team.”

I said, loudly, “Call the paramedics, fire department, even the army. I don't care. I'm not coming up until somebody else gets here. So just stay where you are.”

In the brief lightning flash that followed, I could make out two heads high above me, one bare, the other helmeted. The thunder blunted Redfern's next words.

“Is this because of what happened yesterday, Cornwall? You still think I was hitting on you? That was the last thing on my mind.”

“Thanks so much. How come you responded to my 911 call anyhow? That was quite cavalier of the dispatcher to send you when I might have needed medical attention.”

“You told him you weren't injured.”

“I need a ladder. Do you have one?”

“Cornwall, I'm soaked and I feel like a lightning rod up here. If you don't let us pull you out, I'm coming down.”

My BlackBerry rang. “Just a minute, I have to take this call.”

“Hi, Bliss, how's it going? Are you getting the storm they predicted? It's not too bad here, but I hear your area is getting the brunt of it. I hope you're someplace safe and dry.”

Blyth always had the worst timing. “Yeah, it's coming down pretty good here at the moment.”

“I haven't talked to you for a while, Bliss. I just wanted to make sure you're thinking about my offer.”

What offer?

“Oh, right, about coming to stay with you while I work on my masters.”

“Geez, that was a loud one, Bliss. You must have the window open. Well, what have you decided?”

“I think that might be something to consider. But I have to let you know later in the summer. Mike might finally cough up some money for me, and I should know one way or the other in a week or so. I really appreciate your offer, Blyth, but I have so many things going on right now, I can't give it much thought. Can I get back to you soon?” Another clap of thunder eradicated her answer.

“What?” I crouched in the ditch, my butt dipped in the rising stream that rushed toward the drain pipe.

“You must be having some storm there, Bliss. But, everything's okay, right?”

“Things are going great.”

“I'll let you go then, but call me soon.”

“Love you. Bye.”

As soon as I closed the cell, it rang again.

“Cornwall, if you answer that, I'm going to rip your phone apart with my fingers. Now, which will it be? You help me pull you up, or I come down there.”

I heard scrabbling noises, and gave in.

“Okay, stay there. You can pull me up.”

Raising my arms up felt like surrender. Snake held the flashlight and Redfern knelt on the edge of the ditch and reached down. He grasped my hands and with one swift tug I was standing beside my Savage.

“What happened?” asked Snake. “Did your wheels grab mud at the corner?”

“I was run off the road. By an SUV. On purpose.” As soon as the words were out, I regretted them. I feared that my ditch experience was linked to the drug situation in Hemp Hollow. Which Snake and Redfern were involved in.

Redfern took my elbow.

“Come on, Cornwall. I'm taking you to the ER to be checked out.”

I pulled away. “Uh uh. I'm not hurt. Thanks for the help, but I'm going home.”

Sheets of water blew at us, and the lightning and thunder continued. Redfern wore a slicker, but the water ran in rivulets down his face. Snake's helmet kept his head dry but water poured down the back of his neck. Both looked as miserable as I felt.

I hopped on the Savage and turned on the motor. Neither man stopped me.

The path was deep, rutted mud. I found it easier to drive on the field to reach the small clearing behind my trailer, where I covered the Savage. It was saturated already, but if the storm lasted any longer, it might be hard to start in the morning.

If the coywolf was still alive, it would have sense enough to find shelter from the storm, but it was impossible to forget that a killer was still on the loose. Casting a look behind me at the Quigley trailer, I banged on Rae's door. Worried she wasn't home, I kept up the barrage until the door opened.

In the two years I had known Rae, I had never been inside her trailer. After I closed the door behind me, I stood speechless, filled with a sense of awe.

Either I was in a whore's bedroom or Barbie's Dreamhouse.