The Potluck Club—Takes the Cake (15 page)
“I’ll see what I can find for us to eat,” I said and turned toward
the kitchen.
Just then, I heard another rumble, this one stronger than the one before. “Jack!” I screamed, then stumbled to the floor.
His date with Britney had gone well, in spite of the blizzard swarming around them. They’d made a slow trek to Breck to eat at Bubba Gump’s, had to wait nearly forty-five minutes for a table, and had not started back until about two hours later. But the good company and excellent food had made the dangerous drive worth it.
Britney had somehow managed to snuggle close to him across the console and in the cold of the Jeep. Clay was content. Britney wasn’t Donna by any means, but she was sweet and funny and she smelled good.
Gracious, did she smell good.
He took her directly home, telling her that if he were her parents he’d be a nervous wreck. Like the gentleman he was, he walked her to the door but didn’t kiss her. Kisses, he decided, shouldn’t be thrown around willy-nilly, and he told Britney so as they walked toward her front door.
Oddly, she agreed with him. “Believe it or not,” she told him, “I’ve never kissed a guy.”
“You’re kidding.”
Britney shook her head. “No. I’m saving my kisses for the man I marry.” Then she smiled up at him, and Clay swallowed hard.
Donna
I’d gotten the call from dispatch as I was watching
Hollywood Nightly
at the Gold Rush Tavern. I was on duty, of course, so I was the only one in the place without a beer in my hand.
I was surprised Wade wasn’t perched on his normal stool. He was probably in his trailer, tilting back a cold one.
“Make yourself at home,” the barmaid called out to me. What was her name... Dee Dee McGurk? She was carrying a heavy tray of beers. “What can I getcha?”
“I’m on duty,” I replied, “but I’ll take a 7Up.”
“Coming right up.”
I found a vacant bar stool just as
Hollywood Nightly
’s theme music began to play. The bar patrons whooped as Kendra Goodall appeared on the screen with... I squinted. Who was that behind her? Lisa Leann? I shook my head.
Oh, brother.
Just then, my radio crackled. A voice asked, “Donna, you there?”
Why hadn’t I thought to call in a 10-7 so I could sit back and watch the show?
I picked up the radio and walked to the bar entrance, where it was a little quieter.
“Dispatch, Donna here. What’s up? Over.”
I could hear Irene’s voice crackle out of the radio. “Donna, I know this is out of our jurisdiction, but I thought you’d want to know. Over.”
Behind me, the bar patrons hooted. I was too far away from the TV to hear Kendra’s voice, but I could see Vonnie Westbrook’s picture appear on the screen. I cringed at the display of my good
friend on this national gossip show.
I spoke into the radio. “Know what? Over.”
“An avalanche over at Summit Ridge. Isn’t that where your friend Goldie Dippel and the coach went? Over.”
I felt my blood run cold. “How bad is it? Over.”
“They don’t know yet, but Jade Pass is completely blocked. No
one will be coming or going that way till spring. Over.”
“Thanks for the heads-up. I’d better call her daughter to see if she’s checked in with her mother. Over.”
“I knew I could count on you,” Irene said. “Got a pen? I’ve already looked up Olivia’s number.”
I wrote it down. Before I could put my pad away, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around to look into Dee Dee’s worried blue eyes as she handed me a cold glass of 7Up, served up with a straw. For a moment her eyes held mine. There was something familiar about them. But what?
Dee Dee said, “Donna, you’d better come inside. There’s something on the program you need to see.”
The bar was exploding with whistles and calls of “Hey, Donna, baby,” as my image appeared on the TV screen holding my badge up to the camera. As if in a trance, I walked past Dee Dee so I could get close enough to hear Kendra.
“I
am
the law,” I was saying as the patrons hooted. Allen, one of the locals, jeered, “And I’ve got the speeding tickets to prove it,”
while the room applauded him.
Kendra Goodall appeared on the screen, “And just who is this young deputy sheriff who’s engaged to Hollywood royal David
Harris?”
Suddenly Larry’s image appeared in living color. He looked like a cartoon character still in his dirty apron and hairnet. “Deputy Donna?” he said. “Yeah, we may have gone out. But she’s a tough one. She even gave me a ticket, despite our, ah, affection for one another, if you know what I mean.”
The patrons whooped and cheered.
I crossed my arms.
Affection?
Larry was a bigger creep than I’d realized.
Kendra asked, “But isn’t there some mystery associated with the deputy?”
Larry lowered his voice, like he was betraying a confidence. “Yeah. I heard some kid died, and Donna had something to do with it.”
My heart literally stopped as the noise level of the room dropped to dead quiet. Larry continued, “Clay, he’s our local reporter, well, he won’t report it, but I got my sources.”
Kendra’s face appeared on the screen. “Could it be that David Harris’s Deputy Donna is a real killer? The fact is, we were able to confirm this report. According to the
Denver Post
, in an article that ran only a week ago, the deputy is being sued by the family of infant Bailey Ann Long for monetary damages in her death. You can be sure we will follow up on this story. Back to you, Alex.”
Dee Dee was still standing by my side. “You okay, Donna?”
I turned away and tried to shrug off my shock. “I have to be. I’ve got to deal with what’s looking like an emergency.” Though my blood was boiling, I turned and walked back to the quiet entrance and pulled out my cell phone. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on that Larry. First, he hangs outside my house to spy on me, though I never found any footprints in the snow to prove it; and now he defames me on national TV. I shook my head. I’d have to deal with him later, I decided as I dialed Olivia’s number.
She answered on the second ring. “Hello?”
“Olivia, it’s Donna.”
“Hi, deputy, I just saw you on TV. I, uh, I guess congratulations are in order. You’re really engaged to that Harris guy?”
“Do you really believe everything you hear on TV?”
“Oh. Guess not. Is that why you called?”
I cleared my throat. “I’m calling about your mom and dad,” I said. “When’s the last time you heard from them?”
I could hear
Hollywood Nightly
’s theme music coming through
the phone. “Hang on,” she said, “let me turn this down.”
She came back a second later. “It’s funny you should call and ask that. Mom left me the number of the cabin they’re staying in, and Tony and I were going to let Brook call them after dinner tonight, but when we dialed the number, all we got was some sort of weird pulsating tone.”
“Did you try their cell phones?”
“Mom doesn’t have one. But it sounds like Dad’s is either off or out of range.”
“Not good,” I said.
“Why? What’s wrong?”
I grimaced. I hated this part of my job. Very quietly and steadily I said, “We’ve gotten a report of an avalanche in the area.”
I could hear Olivia gasp.
“Now, there’s probably nothing to be worried about, but I’m thinking of heading on up there, just to check things out.”
“Oh, Donna. I think we’d better go to the Lord in prayer.”
Like that will help.
“I’ll tell you what, Olivia. I can’t take the time for that, but you and Tony should. Okay?”
She agreed, and I hung up.
I felt a tap on my shoulder again. I turned around to see Dee Dee looking at me. “Everything all right?”
“Swell,” I said.
“Then, do you have a moment to talk? There’s something I need to tell you.”
Uh-oh. Whatever Dee Dee McGurk had to say, I had a feeling it couldn’t be good.
I shook my head. “Sorry, maybe another time. I’ve got an emergency situation I need to deal with.”
She nodded, looking so worn out I almost felt sorry for her.
I pushed open the glass door. “Catch you later.”
Dee Dee walked to the door and watched me scurry through the whirling snow to my Bronco. She called after me, “Be careful.”
I sent a wave in her direction as I got out my cell phone and called my dad. He told me that Wade owned a pretty good snowmobile. Maybe he’d let me use it. I gunned my truck out of the parking lot
and raced to Wade’s trailer.
I hurried over to the trailer park, just behind the Higher Grounds Café. I was a little surprised at the appearance of his trailer. It looked a lot neater than the last time I was here. Of course, this fresh snow covered all sins, like Wade’s collection of beer bottles that always lined the yard. I bounded up his recently shoveled steps.
That’s odd
, I thought. Wade usually waited a week to shovel his steps, and only did it if, in his own words, “they
really
need it.”
I banged on the aluminum door. No telling what state of drunkenness
I’d find the guy in. “Wade, open up. It’s Donna!”
I heard the dead bolt click, and the door swung open. There was Wade, looking like the handsome cowboy he is, dressed in his black tee and denim jeans. His blond hair glowed under the lamplight.
He leaned onto the door frame. “What a coincidence,” he said. “I was just watching you on TV.”
“Never mind that,” I said. “I’ve got a favor to ask of you.”
“I’ve got something to ask you too,” Wade said. “When’s the
wedding?”
I was confused for a moment, then remembered Evie and Dad. “Ah, at the end of next month. But that’s not why I’m here.”
Wade somehow looked disheartened. “I see,” he said quietly. He took a deep breath. “So, what can I do for you, Deputy?”
“Your snowmobile. I need to borrow it.”
“It’s not really a good night to go for a ride,” he said. “Or haven’t you noticed.”
“I need to borrow your snowmobile’s trailer too. I gotta go up to Summit Ridge. There’s been an avalanche.”
“Isn’t that out of your jurisdiction?” Wade asked.
“Yeah, but Goldie and Jack are up there, and Dad wants me to check things out. I thought I’d borrow your snowmobile and ride
over to the cabin where they’re staying.”
Wade grabbed his down jacket from a hook near the door. “Then I’m going with you.”
“Hold on, Wade. I don’t need anyone else to worry about.”
“Well, you can’t rescue two people on the back of one snowmobile? Can you?”
“True. But I can hardly take a drunk along.”
Wade, who was sliding his arms into his jacket, froze. “That’s what you think of me? That I’m just some drunk?”
I wasn’t about to fall for his act. “You’re drunk now, right?”
He shook his head as he gave me a hard stare. “I’ve been sober for several weeks. Even joined AA.”
I cocked my eyebrows then crossed my arms and for the first time in a very long time studied him. “You’re on the level?”
“Of course.”
I took a step closer and lifted my chin. “Then blow in my face.”
He obeyed. I wrinkled my nose at the smell of liver and onions, Sally’s special at the café tonight. “You’ve got nothing a breath mint won’t cure.”
He finished slipping his arms into his coat then began to pull on his gloves. “I may have done a lot of things in my time, Donna, but I’ve never lied. At least, not to you.”
I turned on my official voice and said, “Call Brad and ask to borrow his machine. It looks like the two of us are going snowmobiling.”
Later, with the snowmobiles filled with gas and fastened securely on the back of the trailer, I sped my Bronco up the freeway to Summit Ridge. We had two steaming coffees and two of Sally’s hot tuna melt sandwiches wrapped in wax paper and tucked into a brown paper bag, complete with chips and her chewy peanut
butter cookies.
I kept stealing glances at Wade. Normally, whenever he rode in my truck, he was in the backseat, behind the wire cage as I taxied him home from the Gold Rush. It was funny to see him up front with me.
“What’s the latest report about the slide?” Wade asked.
I looked at him, glad for his concern and, I had to admit, for his companionship. This was going to be one long night, after all.
“I talked to the highway patrol, and they told me the slide blocked the entire Jade Pass into the valley where Goldie and Jack are. In fact, there’s a chance that the old house they are staying in could be buried.”
“Or crushed,” Wade said.
“That’s the fear. And since the weather hasn’t let up yet, they haven’t been able to get a chopper to fly over to assess the damage.”
We rode in silence while the wipers swatted at the slush that continued to coat my windshield. Visibility was low as a wall of swirling white shone in the headlights, blotting out the road before us. I pushed the gas as hard as I dared, afraid we’d come to one of
those blind curves this road was so famous for.