Finders Keepers (36 page)

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Authors: Fern Michaels

BOOK: Finders Keepers
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“Woof, my ass. It's three o'clock in the morning. Okay, okay, let's see what you did.”
In the kitchen he stopped short, his eyes widening, his jaw dropping. “I see her. Yeah, yeah, I see her. How the hell did she get in here?” His eyes went to the latch on the door and then down to the doggie door. “One more pound and she wouldn't have made it. You did good, Buzz. Let's put the pillow under her head. The quilt is good, too. Oh, oh, what have we here?” he whispered to the dog. The ugly bruise on Jessie's neck forced Luke to rear back. He looked again at the marks on both her arms and then he cursed, making up words as he went along. Buzz whimpered.
“Shhh, she's sleeping. She's okay. Look at it this way, she was smart enough to make it here. That has to mean something.” He bent over a second time to see a small corner of white paper sticking out of Jessie's blouse. He recognized his card. Something welled up in him, something he hadn't felt for a very long time. Something he didn't want to think about.
“Stay, Buzz. I'm going to take a shower and dress. I'll be in the office.”
Before he went upstairs, Luke checked all the locks. Satisfied that the doggie door was the only entry, he climbed the steps.
 
Tanner rolled over, his arm snaking out to the left side of the bed. Bright sunlight speared into the room, making him aware of the headache that pounded behind his eyes. He squinted once to look at the clock. Eight o'clock! In his life he'd never slept past six-thirty. The previous hours rushed at him like a runaway train. He cursed bitterly because he couldn't think of anything else to do.
Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he rose to a sitting position. He was forced to cup his head in both hands as the headache hammered away inside his skull. He needed aspirin and hot coffee. He headed for the bathroom, stepping over Jessie's discarded clothing. He wasn't going to think about
that
. Stupid bitch. Who the hell did she think she was?
At the door to his sister's room he stopped to look inside. The room was neat and tidy and the bed looked as though it hadn't been slept in.
“Lucille!” he bellowed.
The housekeeper came to the bottom of the stairs. “What is it?”
“Where's my wife?”
“I don't know, Mr. Tanner. I didn't see her this morning. I thought she was upstairs. Your mother is on the phone.”
Tanner bounded down the steps. “Tell her I'll call her back.” He raced to the kitchen window. Jessie's red Jeep was right where she'd left it hours ago. The driver's side door hung open. The sight of the splintered garage door made the pounding inside his head more intense. He looked toward the stable and was stunned to see Tulip nibbling on grass. What the hell was the mare doing loose at this hour of the morning? As if he didn't know. He reached for the coffee cup Lucille was handing him with one hand and the phone with the other.
“Good morning, Mother. What can I do for you?”
“I just want to know how Jessica is.”
“She's gone.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just what I said. Yesterday she had a good day. She said she was feeling fine and wasn't taking the pills anymore. She flushed them. She accused me of having an affair, and we had a fight. I left, and she went riding. I regretted the fight and came home early and she had this dog with her and had been drinking. We had another fight, and when I woke up this morning she was gone.”
“Did she take her things?”
“I don't know. I took the keys to her Jeep. I think she went somewhere on Tulip and sent her home. And how is your day, Mother?”
“It was fine until I called you. What exactly do you mean by a fight?”
“She drove the Jeep through the garage door. That should give you some kind of an idea.”
“Did you strike her? What would make her leave? What did you say?”
“I said a lot of things. She said a lot of things. I grabbed her, got a choke hold on her, but I didn't . . .” Too late he remembered the sickening slap he'd given her earlier in the evening.
“She doesn't know anyone. Where would she go?”
“How the hell should I know. There was a truck out by the road when I got home last night.”
“Was it Luke Holt?”
“I don't know, Mother, and I don't care.”
“Get her back, Tanner. This is not good. You're just like your father. You get yourself into a mess and expect me to get you out of it. I didn't come here to Washington because I was dying to see your father. It seems he's gotten himself into bed with some rather shady lobbyists. A special counsel has been appointed to
look into things
. There is every possibility that they might want to talk to Jessie. I suggest you find her and make nice. I know you know how to do that. Are you listening to me, Tanner?”
“Half the state of Texas is probably listening,” Tanner snarled.
“The only place she could have gone is the Holt ranch. Go there now.”
“And get my head blown off? It was your idea to get a restraining order. Luke did what you did.”
“Jessica has nothing to do with that. If you tell him she isn't stable, explain the circumstances, he'll listen. There are no alternatives, Tanner.”
“I can't believe I'm hearing this. You actually want me to go to Luke Holt of all people and pretend my wife is a nutcase. Luke Holt! If she is there, Christ only knows what she said to him. Just who the hell do you think he'll believe?”
“Do it, Tanner. Or, call the police and tell them she's missing. That in itself will make headlines. Headlines this family cannot afford with what's going on here in Washington. I have to go now. I'll call you again at noon, your time.”
Tanner gulped at the scalding coffee.
Forty-five minutes later he screeched to a halt in the front of the Holt ranch. With no desire to get his head blown off, he leaned on the horn but didn't get out of the truck. He sucked in his breath when the front door opened to reveal Luke and the huge dog. His mouth went dry when he heard the hammer of the shotgun that was pointed at his chest. He poked his head out of the window and said, “Hold on, Luke. My wife seems to have wandered off. The mare she was riding came back to the ranch. I was wondering if she came here.”
“That's about the funniest thing I ever heard. Almost as funny as those bankers telling me they couldn't approve my loans because your daddy said I wasn't a good risk. Get the fuck off my land, Tanner, before I shoot a hole right through your stupid head.”
“You aren't answering my question, Luke. Did my wife come here or not?”
“Sure I did, you asshole. I said that was the funniest thing I ever heard. If you aren't out of here on the count of three, I'm going to shoot right through that windshield, and if your head is in the way, oh, well. You're trespassing. One! Two!”
Tanner shifted into reverse, his foot pressing the accelerator to the floor. A cloud of dust sailed upward.
Luke closed the door. “Let's see if our guest is awake, Buzz.”
Jessie was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee, Consuela hovering close by. Jessie looked up, her eyes filling. “I'm sorry. I didn't know where else to go. Tanner took the keys to my car. Buzz let me in. I hate to impose, but do you think you can give me a ride to town?”
“Tanner was just here.”
“I know. I heard. I'm so very sorry. I don't want to involve you in this mess, and it is a mess. If you aren't comfortable driving me, could you call a taxi from town for me?”
“It's not a problem. I'll drive you. It might be a good idea if we had a little talk, Mrs. Kingsley.”
“Don't call me that. It's better if you don't know . . . it's not that I don't want to talk about it, I do, but it isn't wise. I'll be fine once I get to town.”
“Do you have a bag or a purse? Do you have any money?”
“No, I don't have any money, but that's not a problem. I can have some wired to me in a few hours.”
“What about your clothes and personal belongings?”
“I left everything behind. They packed away everything. I'm not sure, but I think I lived in a bathrobe this past year. The clothes I have on aren't mine. I rather think they're Resa's that she left behind. It's not a problem, and it's the least of my worries right now. By any chance do you know how to pick a lock?”
“No,” Luke drawled. “Do you?”
“No, that's why I asked. I have to meet someone at noon. I guess I can wait outside. Can we go now?”
“Did anyone ever tell you you can run, but you can't hide?”
“Sophie used to say that. At the end she tried to do it but I guess it didn't work for her. I'm not trying to hide. I'm not exactly running either. I'm leaving. At one time I had a very good life. I want that life back, and I'm going to get it.”
Luke looked at the determined jut of her jaw and at his dog, who was allowing himself to be tickled and scratched. It was clear that Jessie had Buzz's seal of approval, and everyone knew dogs were the shrewdest judges of character in the universe.
“Then let's go, Jessie. Did you have anything to eat?”
“No. It hurts to swallow. I'll get some soup in town or something soft.”
Luke waited to see if she would offer up an explanation for the deep purple-and-yellow bruise on her neck. He watched as she lightly massaged her neck. “It might be a good idea to have someone take a picture of those bruises.”
“That's something Sophie would say. Do you have a camera?”
“Yes. I take pictures of Buzz all the time. It's a Polaroid.”
Jessie posed self-consciously as she pulled her shirt away from her neck and then rolled up her shirtsleeves as Luke focused and snapped, the pictures shooting out of the camera, one after the other. “Would you mind keeping them for me for the time being?”
“Sure. Just let me put the pictures in my safe and the camera in my office.”
They spoke only once on the ride into town. It was Luke who broke the silence. “Who are you, Jessie?”
“I wish I knew. I'm going to find out, though. It seems that I've been marking time to get to this place in my life.”
“I'm a good listener.”
“I'll remember that. Do you know the address I gave you?”
“It's along the waterfront. Prices are high there. Is it a business?”
“More or less. I'm going to have to find a place to live. I don't know the area. Can you recommend something?”
“Are you interested in a house or a condo?”
“Either or.”
“Ocean Drive is beautiful. It's a long, bayfront residential avenue of large, older homes with the best views in town. That's if money is no object. I know for a fact that the Arkansas Princess has several units available either to rent or buy. Pricey but nice. The access road is off Road 1A, if you're interested. There are all kinds of apartments for rent if that's more to your liking. Until you make up your mind, a hotel might be the short-term answer.”
“The area is lovely. I liked it when I came here the first time to visit Resa. This might be the place where I put down roots. Then again, maybe not. I also like New Orleans. I have a lot to think about. I hope I didn't intrude too much on your life. I truly appreciate your coming to my assistance. I don't know how to thank you.”
Luke nodded.
Thirty minutes later, Luke said, “This is the address you gave me. It looks like a relatively new building. I can't read the sign by the door.”
“It says Ashwood Designs,” Jessie said quietly. “You can just drop me off. I'll find a coffee shop and wait inside until noon.”
“You don't have any money,” the ever-practical Luke said.
“Water's free.”
“Here,” Luke said, reaching into his pocket to withdraw a crumpled ten-dollar bill. “You can owe me, okay?”
“Okay.” Jessie smiled as she tweaked Buzz's ear. “Your owner is some kind of guy,” she said as she stared directly at Luke and winked. She backed out of the truck, aware of Luke's flushed face. Buzz barked and barked. “See you.”
“Yeah, see you. Will you call and let me know you're okay? Buzz doesn't like things that hang loose. He's like me; we like things all tidied up.”
“I'll call you.”
Jessie stood on the corner watching until Luke's truck was out of sight. She looked at the ten dollars in her hand. Did she really want to go into a public restaurant, where people could see the awful bruise on her neck? She could do without the soup or coffee. What she really wanted was a cigarette and a cold soda. She looked up and down the street to see if there was a drugstore or a small convenience store. Surely one of the office buildings had a snack bar or lunchroom. Looking both ways, she crossed the street to enter one of the buildings, where she purchased a bottle of Coca-Cola and a pack of cigarettes from a concession stand in the lobby. She walked back across the street to take a seat on a bright green bench two buildings down from the one where she was to meet Arthur Mendenares. She smoked one cigarette after the other, sipping the soft drink in between hard little puffs on the cigarettes until the attorney arrived fifteen minutes ahead of schedule. Jessie ran to him, her arms outstretched. This kindly gentleman was her only link to the past and Sophie. She started to cry immediately.

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