If Mashed Potatoes Could Dance (30 page)

“I need to check copies of the
Noose
for any information on Bartholomew. Why don’t you and Sally go find Miz. Maybe you can track her down and talk to her in person,” Jake said.

Again, none of us wanted to be idly waiting around for something else to happen so it was good to have a plan. We told Jake good-bye, and Sally came with me to the Nova.

But as I steered the car from behind Jake’s building to the corner of the main boardwalk, we saw another Sally Swarthmore.

Opie, dressed and ready for her show, cruised down the intersecting street in her newest BMW. It was odd to look at the Sally next to me and the one in the much nicer and newer car.

“Wow, she really does look the part, doesn’t she?” I said.

Sally nodded. “I can’t believe you haven’t seen her show. It’s good. I think she put a lot of thought…well, and the entries from my diary, of course, into portraying me. Why don’t you like her?”

“We don’t like each other,” I said.

To go toward the cooking school, I needed to turn left. I wasn’t consciously following Opie, but curiosity and something about the set of her jaw or the grip of her hands on the steering wheel compelled me to turn right and follow her instead.

“Are we going to her show now?” Sally asked.

“No, but that’s it, that’s why I’m curious. It’s too early for her show. Where’s she going? I’d like to find out.”

“I imagine she’ll be able to figure out who is following her,” Sally said.

I thought she was going to ask me to turn around and go the other way, but she continued with, “So stay back enough that she can’t easily spot you.”

“Got it.”

Even though we were off the main thoroughfare, there was still plenty of foot traffic to keep Opie focused on the road in
front of her and enough cars that I could keep a few in between us. As far back as we were, I couldn’t tell if she was looking in her mirrors, but she most likely hadn’t noticed us.

She drove past Bunny’s and then the courthouse. She stayed on the same road until she came to the turn that took you to the downhill curve that led to the Monroe House. Traffic was lighter now, so I was back a good distance, but it was easy to see where she was going.

“I think she’s going to the Monroe House. This is just a hunch, but I bet she knows Teddy found the diary and she’s returning it.”

Sally paused a moment and then said, “Would you have taken it, if you’d found it?”

After a few seconds’ thought, I answered, “Yeah, absolutely, but I would have given it to Jake instead of keeping it hidden in a trunk in my house.”

“That makes sense.”

I took the turn very slowly, and I saw the BMW’s tail end disappear all the way out of the curve before I continued. I slowed again just before I came around to the bottom.

“Once I take this last turn and unless there’s a bunch of traffic, which would be highly unusual, Opie’s going to see me easily if she looks back or just glances into one of her mirrors. There’s not much to hide us now,” I said.

“Park. Let’s get out and look.”

It wasn’t the wisest move. We were in a blind spot of sorts. If anyone came around the curve too quickly, they’d either hit the Nova or us—meaning
me
—or have to slam on their brakes, but it really was the only viable option, unless I wanted to risk being seen by Opie, and I didn’t want to be seen. I could have asked Sally to pop into Opie’s car and then report back,
but that somehow felt like cheating. I wanted to know what she was up to and I wanted to see it with my own eyes.

I pulled the car to the side of the road and down the small berm into a ditch. I’d probably splay gravel from here to kingdom come when I tried to get out, but I couldn’t worry about that now.

“Let’s go.”

I tromped back up through the gravel to the road and then hurried down it with Sally right next to me. Even though we weren’t in the car, if anyone looked in our direction as we rounded the end of the curve, they’d notice me. There was nothing to use for cover. The few trees that were scattered here and there would not be enough to shield me. I felt exposed, and a part of me wanted to turn around and get out of there. If Opie caught me spying on her, I’d never, ever be able to live it down.

But as I caught sight of the Monroe House, I saw something that not only caught my attention but also made me want to run at full speed toward the old place that had scared me so deeply all those years ago.

Opie, in full Sally costume, got out of her car and marched toward the three men on the front porch, the three men who’d hassled me and Jake and had scared us enough that we’d hidden under the porch and then ran away. But Cliff had said there was no one at the house. Maybe the men hadn’t been concerned that they’d been found, after all. Maybe they’d just left for a while. Jim hadn’t kept the house under surveillance—as many extra people as he’d called in, they were all probably focused on the new event. After Cece had picked up the bag, maybe Jim had decided there was no need to watch the house for the mean guys. The mean guys who hadn’t actually harmed Jake and me. The mean guys who hadn’t really done
much of anything except pretend the house was condemned. Watching the Monroe House had turned into a very low priority for the police.

Opie held something in the crook of her arm; I guessed it was the diary wrapped in some sort of blue plastic bag. She talked to the men, their short conversation quickly escalating into an argument that caused her to point and scold as if she was a teacher to much taller and bigger students.

“Oh, don’t do that, Opie. Just get out of there,” I mumbled to myself.

“I’ll be right back.” Sally disappeared but then reappeared next to Opie.

Sally kept her hands on her hips as she looked back and forth between Opie and one man who seemed to suddenly take charge. They got closer and closer to each other, their conversation getting more and more heated.

“Come on, Opie, get the hell out of there,” I said.

I’d frozen in place. If I ran to the house, I’d get there right about the time Opie found her common sense or the big man finally reached his limit and physically removed her from the property.

Suddenly, the man grabbed her arm and I thought I was going to see her thrown out into the street, but instead he yanked her so hard that the package flew out of her grasp, and a short shrill scream traveled over the open space and right to my heartbeat-deafening ears.

“Oh, God, don’t hurt her.” I fumbled in my pocket for my cell phone, but I couldn’t take my eyes off what was happening at the house.

The man yanked again and dragged Opie, literally kicking and screaming, into the house. Into. It.

“No, don’t do that!” I yelled, but I was too far away to be
heard, which was probably a good thing. Whatever fate they had in store for her was something they wouldn’t hesitate to do to me, too.

I turned and ran back up to the car as at the same time I tried to maneuver my finger to Cliff’s speed-dial number.

Sally appeared just as I got back into the Nova.

“They took her upstairs, up to the attic. I think they’re going to kill her,” Sally said.

“What?” I screamed. “Kill her, for what?”

“She was insisting that they let her in the house so she could put something back where it belonged, but the men wouldn’t allow it. She was insistent. She should have just left.”

“She’s a pain in the—Hello! Cliff?” But I’d reached his voice mail. “Monroe House! Get out here as quickly as you can!”

I hit disconnect and then called Teddy and Jake but had to leave them the same message. Finally, I called 911—and no one answered.

It was a problem we’d had earlier in the summer, but I thought Jim had taken care of the issues.

Finally, I called Gram.

“Betts? Hi, dear. It looks like I’ve missed a couple calls. I was busy. What can I do for you?”

“Gram, I can’t get anyone to answer their damn phones. Would you please find the police and get someone out to the Monroe House right away. Please.”

She hesitated a beat but then said, “Of course. You be careful, do you hear me?”

“Yes.”

Once I hung up the phone, the silence in the car seemed menacing.

“I’ve got to see if we can help her,” I said.

Sally nodded. “Let’s go.”

The ever-reliable Nova sprayed a little gravel but got us out of the ditch and back onto the road. As I turned the final curve, I noticed that the BMW and the men were nowhere to be seen. They’d already hidden the car or were in the process of hiding it. I calculated that I might have a few more seconds to get inside the house without them seeing me if they were to return from wherever they’d taken the car. They probably weren’t counting on two crazy women in such a short time frame so they wouldn’t be looking for me.

But they would hear the Nova. I pulled it to the side of the road, threw myself out of it, and ran as fast as I could. I hadn’t planned to, but as I sped over the front lawn, I bent and picked up the blue package. Sally met me at the porch. She looked at the package but only briefly before she signaled me to go in.

“I think they’re all up in the attic. There are so many voices,” she said. “I don’t think you should go up. I can’t get in.”

I scanned the road in both directions. There wasn’t another person or car in sight. Broken Rope was one of the more populated small towns in Missouri in the summer, but you could turn a corner and suddenly be in the middle of nowhere. No matter what I did I probably had only a second or two more to do it before one of the men caught me on the porch.

“I can’t just leave her,” I said.

“I understand.”

I flew up the first flight of stairs, trying to keep my footfalls quiet but not really caring. I heard a lot of voices coming from the attic; I doubted the people attached to the voices would hear me.

I stopped outside the door to the narrower flight up to the attic and tried to calm my breathing and heartbeat enough so I could discern what was being said.

“I just wanted to put something back in that window box. You didn’t need to be so rough,” Opie said. She didn’t sound scared, though; she sounded angry. I thought that was a good sign.

“I told you to leave. I told you that this property was off-limits.”

“Off-limits? What are all these people doing here, then?”

“We’re going to have to get rid of her,” another voice said. This was a female voice, though, one I didn’t recognize.

I held my breath again, hoping to figure out whose voice it was.

“I made it in, Betts. I don’t know how, but I think I just wished so bad that I got in; either that or you being in here helped me,” Sally said as she appeared by my side.

I nodded, not really caring how her ghostly travels worked at the moment.

“What are you going to do?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” I whispered. “I just know I can’t leave Opie alone. What if they…”

“Right. I guess you could divert their attention to you. Maybe Miz will get someone out here before things get out of hand.”

“Good point. Stall. That’s what I need to do, stall somehow and put a stop to whatever’s going on. The woman said they had to get rid of Opie. I need to get up there before they hurt her.” I was coaching myself. I was scared to death and knew I wasn’t being smart, but I also knew I couldn’t leave Opie up there with people who wanted to “get rid of her.” Besides, hurting Opie had always been a job I wanted for myself. I wasn’t ready to relinquish it to a bunch of thugs.

“Here goes nothing,” I said to Sally. I peered around the open door frame. “Hello!”

There was a rumble and then silence until Opie spoke. “Hello! Who’s there?”

One of the big men bounded down the stairs and looked at me. “Who are you and what do you…oh, wait, you were here the other day. What do you want?”

“Sorry to bug you, but I’m here to meet my friend. I believe she’s up there.” I pointed.
Stall, stall, stall
, I thought. “The others are on their way.”

“Right.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me up the narrow staircase.

“Should I go find Jake and make him see me and tell him to get out here?” Sally said.

It wasn’t a bad idea, but I shook my head as I maneuvered the narrow steps. I’d left messages they’d all get eventually. Besides, if she was going to just appear, I hoped she’d appear in the attic and maybe scare the murderous notions out of the bad guys. Or take a swing at them. Well, scare them at least.

When we reached the attic, the big guy with the firm grip threw me into the room. I managed not to fall, but the blue package went flying out of my hands and landed right in the middle of the dusty floor. The wrapping broke open, and a book slid out, sending a few loose pages sliding away from the worn binding. No one took notice of it except Sally.

She ran right past me and knelt down to look at the pages. “It’s my diary,” she said.

I couldn’t have cared less if the book contained the secrets to the universe, but now was not the time to let her know as much.

The attic was still stuffy and uncomfortable, even more so since it was full of people. I looked around quickly, trying to assess the situation. Two of the big guys had accompanied Opie into the attic, both of them armed with guns I hadn’t
noticed before. I guessed that the third guy was hiding the BMW and potentially the Nova if he’d noticed it and its open driver’s door down the street. Opie was there, of course, her mouth open wide at my arrival. She put her hand on her hip, closed her mouth, and drew her eyebrows together.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Meeting you, Ops. Remember, you told us to meet you here?”

“Right,” she said with only slightly less doubt than the big guy had a minute ago.

“You’re Isabelle, the cooking school person?” Eloise Dinchel said as she stepped forward. Though she was supposedly one of the kidnap victims, she sure didn’t look like one. She was fine, in great shape actually. Her red beehive hairdo was no worse for the wear, and even in the dimly lit space, I could see her eye shadow was thick.

The third victim, Ash, was in much worse shape. He sat on one of the lawn chairs, his face tired and probably pale, though the light wasn’t good enough to know for sure. His previously bent glasses were missing completely, and as he slumped forward in the chair with his elbows on his knees, he squinted at me, a mixture of hope and desperation in his expression.