Peete and Repeat (The Frannie Shoemaker Campground Mysteries Book 3) (5 page)

Larry asked Mary Louise about the trailer the men had seen on the other side of the campground. She frowned, the first time Frannie had seen her without her broad smile.

“That’s Mel Dubrak. He’s not on our land. He’s kind of a pain but doesn’t do any harm. He uses our road, and my husband even caught him using the shower house.” She wrinkled her nose and then laughed again. “Not that he didn’t need it!”

“You don’t think there’s any possibility that he’s making meth there?” Larry asked.

Mary Louise shrugged and sighed. “I know the cops have been trying to find a source that they are sure is in this area and they suspect him. But I really don’t think so. He tries hard with his son, Dale, and believe me, that kid is a trial! Never have seen
him
smile.”

Drawn by Mary Louise’s booming voice, the twins appeared around the corner of their trailer.

“Looka here,” Mary Louise fairly shouted. “It’s Peete and Repeat!” She rocked the cart laughing at her own joke.

They were both smiling and more relaxed than earlier as they walked up to the cart.

“I call ‘em the campground paparazzi,” Mary Louise told the others. “They’re always snapping those fancy cameras.”

The twins laughed and one of them—who knew which—said, “Just nature photos, Mary Louise. We don’t take pictures of any of your famous guests.”

“Right,” Mary Louise laughed. “This place is
full
of celebrities.”

Larry told them about the beaver that the men had recently spotted on the riverbank.

“We saw him this morning,” the other twin said. “Got some great shots of him. There’s wonderful wildflowers in that area too.”

Mary Louise put the cart in gear. “Well, I’d best finish my rounds. You folks have a nice night!” They all stepped away from the cart as she sped off toward the next group of sites.

Nancy wasn’t about to let the twins go. “Come and join us for a beverage. I’d love to hear about your photography. “

One said, “Sure, for a few minutes.” Frannie remembered a Halloween years before when friends showed up completely disguised and how disconcerting it is to talk to someone when you have no idea who it is.

However, the suspense was short lived. The woman continued, “I’m Virginia Peete, by the way, and this is my sister Valerie.”

As they walked back to the fire and completed introductions, Frannie tried to spot some differentiating characteristic that would allow her to keep them straight, but was stymied. Their hair, glasses, physical shape and size and clothing were identical. Mirror images—wait a minute—they
are
mirror images, she thought. Virginia wore a watch on her right wrist, Valerie on her left. Virginia must be left-handed. That solved, Frannie relaxed and listened to the conversation.

“We’re professional free-lance photographers, mostly nature and scenery,” Virginia was saying.

“We sell to magazines, calendar companies, writers doing nature books…,” Valerie added but Virginia jumped in.

“Not so many for books, but this week we’ve spent a lot of time at the nature center, shooting some of the environmental classes. Have you been over there? We got some great shots of the high ropes course. Mostly we do greeting cards and stationery, notecards, calendars, that kind of thing. That’s why we were working down by the river this morning.”

“The wildflowers are just…,” Valerie started, but Virginia leaned forward in her chair and interrupted again.

“There’s a very odd little old trailer back there that we took some shots of—kind of a scruffy-looking guy hanging around. He didn’t look very happy about us taking pictures.”

“He saw you taking pictures?” Larry asked.

“I assume so—he watched us the whole time,” Virginia said, unconcerned. “I think we can get a great black-and-white photo spread out of it. There was an old pickup there too that really added to the ambience.”

“I think you should be careful about that ambience,” Larry said. “They may be doing something illegal there. We were just asking Mary Louise about it.”

“What do you mean?” Valerie asked.

“They aren’t actually on the campground land, but I just thought it looked suspicious and would be careful, if I were you,” Larry repeated.

“Larry used to be a cop,” Mickey said. “He’s suspicious of everybody.”

Larry frowned. “This may not be a joking matter, Mick.”

“I know, I know,” Mickey’s grin disappeared and he held up his hands.

“We’re fascinated by your trailer,” Nancy said.

“It’s German,” Virginia said. “We saw them when we were traveling in Europe a couple of years ago and had one shipped back. Since we do a lot of our work in state and national parks, camping is the best way to go and we love it.”

Nancy said, “Do you both pull it or…”.

“I drive,” Virginia said. “Valerie really doesn’t want to.” Valerie didn’t say anything.

The conversation continued around the places the twins had camped with Virginia doing most of the talking and Valerie adding small embellishments. Virginia was describing a hike along the south shore of Lake Superior when Valerie grabbed her hand.

“Ginny,” she said. “There’s that pickup.”

“Don’t call me that,” Virginia growled, but she followed her sister’s gaze, as did the rest of the group. An old rusty gray truck rattled slowly along the main campground road. A man in the passenger seat, elbow out the open window, surveyed the campground and seemed to fixate on them, although he was some distance away. Frannie thought the description ‘scruffy’ was probably too kind. They couldn’t see the driver.

Finally, Valerie said, “So what kinds of places do you guys camp?” Virginia looked a little put out at losing the center of the stage.

After listening impatiently a few minutes, Virginia said, “Valerie, if we’re going to get that walk in, we’d better get going.”

Valerie nodded and got up. Mickey said, “Another hike? How many miles have you already put on today?”

Virginia laughed. “Just a turn around the campground before bed. We’re early risers.” They left and headed along the road, away from the entrance.

As they disappeared, Frannie said, “Very odd. I can see the fascination with dressing alike when twins are children, but as adults?”

Jane Ann agreed. “How would you even know which one you were by that time?”

Mickey looked at his wife, puzzled. “What?”

“I mean, you would have no sense of individual identity, I would think.”

Nancy suggested a trip to the nature center the next morning. “There’s actually an old path from here along the river if we want to hike it. A little hilly, but not bad.”

“We’ll meet you there, Nance,” Mickey said, and the rest agreed, laughing. Nancy was much more eager for physical activity than the others. After discussing the logistics and confirming a good weather forecast, they retired to their units for the night.

Early Saturday Morning

Virginia climbed out of her bottom bunk and pulled on a sweatshirt. She put a cup of water in the microwave for tea, and while waiting for it to heat, peered out the window, stretching her back. A faint chirp came from Valerie’s windbreaker on the dinette seat. She glanced back to make sure the curtain to the bedroom was closed, and pulled Valerie’s cell out of the jacket pocket. A text message from Richard.

“Old Power Plant at 9:30. Wear your necklace.”

As she deleted the message and replaced the phone, she thought, “Necklace?” Then she remembered a silver chain with a pinkish Murano glass pendant that Valerie said she had gotten at one of the ports of call on the cruise and wore on special occasions. It had made Virginia angry at the time that Valerie hadn’t bought her one like it; they
always
did that for each other. So. It must have been a gift from Richard.

She sat down at the dinette with her tea and looked at her watch. 7:30. They had hiked to the old power plant before; Valerie must have met Richard secretly and mentioned it to him. Somehow, she needed to get away without Valerie. They had planned to get some photos this morning in a wildlife sanctuary on the other side of Burdensville.

Soon she heard Valerie clamber out of the top bunk. “Good morning!” her sister said cheerily, pulling back the curtain on the bedroom entrance. She was dressed in the same pajamas and sweatshirt as her twin and looked more upbeat than any time since the pie shop yesterday. Something was definitely up.

Virginia spoke weakly. “I don’t know how good. I’m afraid I’ve caught something.” She looked up with a drawn face.

Valerie was immediately concerned. “Oh, no. Upset stomach or what?”

“Just dizzy and chills.” She shivered. “I don’t know if I should go traipse around that sanctuary this morning.”

“Don’t worry about it. We’ve got time; we can go later.” Valerie started fixing her own tea.

“But it’s such a beautiful morning. What if the weather changes? Maybe you should go and get some shots while the light is good.”

Virginia could see surprise and then comprehension of this sudden freedom on Valerie’s face.

“Well,…I could. Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“I think I’ll just try and get some more sleep. I’ll be fine.”

“Can I fix you something to eat?”

“Not right now. Nothing sounds good.” Virginia made a face.

“Okay. Maybe I’ll go shower then.”

After Valerie had gathered her supplies and left the trailer for the shower house, Virginia went back to the bedroom and found Valerie’s small travel jewelry pouch. She spotted the Murano necklace right on top, untangled it from the rest, and stuck it in the pocket of her sweatshirt. By the time Valerie returned, she was back at the dinette.

Valerie went in the tiny half-bath to dry her hair and put on makeup, spending more time than she normally would for a trek through a wildlife sanctuary. Then Virginia could hear her in the bedroom rummaging through the jewelry pouch.

“Virginia?” she called, “Have you seen my necklace? The one I got on the cruise?”

Virginia smiled to herself. “Oh, yeah! I found it on the floor of the kitchen before we left home. I laid it on the kitchen counter. Didn’t you see it?”

“No.” Valerie sounded crushed.

“Well, you don’t need it this morning, do you?” Virginia couldn’t resist.

Valerie came out of the bedroom. “No, of course not.” But she didn’t sound convincing. She wore jeans, a white tank top and open denim shirt with a long blue plaid scarf loosely tied. After loading up her camera bag, she slung it over her shoulder and grabbed her cell phone out of her jacket pocket, her cowboy hat and the truck keys.

“Call me if you get to feeling worse,” she said.

“I will.”

Virginia heard the little pickup start and pull out. She got up and rummaged through her storage compartment for a matching outfit to Val’s attire. No time for a shower; she did a little extra work on her hair to get it just right and fastened on Valerie’s necklace. Finally, she pulled a small back pack from under the dinette bench and put in a water bottle and a couple of granola bars. Her small Ruger LCR revolver already nestled in the bottom of the bag.

The trail to the nature center and the power plant started on the far side of the campground, so after locking the camper, she took off along the back road to the trailhead. It was just 8:30, so she would have plenty of time to get to the power plant for the date with Richard.

Valerie drove toward Burdensville, enjoying the sparkling morning. Traffic was heavier than she expected for a Saturday, but there was a farmers’ market that morning which probably explained it. Shortly after passing through Burdensville, she pulled into the wildlife sanctuary and parked. Before getting out of the truck, she dialed Richard on her cell. According to the dashboard clock, it was 9:00 and he should be up. There had been no sign of him when she passed his camper on her way to the shower.

He answered at once. Her heart lifted just hearing his voice. Everything
would
work out.

“Good morning!” she said. “Virginia isn’t feeling well this morning so I’m out on my own. Can we meet somewhere?”

There was a pause. “Didn’t you get my text?”

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t even check for messages this morning. What about?”

He told her about his suggested rendezvous.

“I can make that! I’ll just come back here later and get some shots so I have something to show Virginia for my morning.” She giggled.

“Great! I’ll see you there.”

She hung up and checked her messages. Nothing from Richard. Reception wasn’t great in the campground; the message would probably show up sometime this afternoon. She just wished she had her necklace. She started the truck, pulled out of the parking lot, and headed back to the nature center.

Virginia made good time on the trail and, shortly before it ended at the nature center parking lot, took a little-used cutoff that led down to the old power plant. The way was steep and narrow, beset by roots, overgrowth, and rock outcroppings. The hulking building built into the side of the cliff had a gaping entry at the upper level. Doors and windows were long gone, and the floor on that level was weak and broken in places. Rusty beams hung down from the remains of the ceiling like bony fingers. A narrow staircase along the back wall led down to the lower level which had a cement floor. Trees and shrubs poked in at the open windows, and busted pipes and trash covered the floor surrounding rusted derelicts of machinery that filled the center of the room. Not exactly a place for a romantic tryst in Virginia’s opinion. One more strike against Richard.

She picked her way halfway around the room to an open doorway that led into a smaller room. The floor was in better shape in here and she stood for a moment at a window overlooking the river, sparkling and dancing on its way to the Mississippi. She looked at her watch. 9:15. Richard should be here soon. She considered their situation. She and Valerie had, practically speaking, lived together their whole lives. In their twenties, they had tried marriage to another set of identical twins, Dan and Ron Flack, whom they had met at a twins’ convention. A double wedding, followed by a shared duplex. It was pleasant, but Virginia could tell that Valerie wasn’t happy. Virginia’s husband, Dan was an okay guy but not any great catch. So three years later, they both filed for divorce and had lived together ever since.

They had a full life—rewarding work, a very nice home, travel, and friends who provided a social life whenever they wanted it. Money was no issue; their parents’ deaths a couple of years before had left them extremely well off and able to quit their day jobs to concentrate on their photography full time. But Valerie was such a sucker for almost any guy who looked her way and there were plenty of fortune hunters out there. This wasn’t the first time Virginia had had to intervene, but Richard proved more persistent.

She fingered the glass stone on the chain at her neck and heard someone on the stairs. Footsteps crossed the floor of the other room.

She unzipped her backpack and set it on the floor just inside the door and walked through, expecting to see Richard. Instead, Valerie rounded the corner of the old machinery. They both registered the same shocked expression. Time seemed to stop as each woman realized the implications of the other one’s presence.

Virginia said, “Valerie! But—”

Valerie’s eyes were drawn to her sister’s hand clasping the pendant and all the heartbreak of the last four years exploded as she lashed out. “
My
necklace! I thought you hadn’t seen it! And I thought you were
sick
!” With each word that she hissed, she moved closer into Virginia’s face. Virginia started to back up.

“No—”

“No what?” Valerie’s voice got even higher and more menacing. “You pretended you were me and broke it off with Richard once and now you’re trying to do it again. I
had
to marry Ron so that you could marry Dan.” She exploded and screamed, “You cannot stand for me to have a life of my own!”

Valerie’s shrill voice covered up the scuffing sound of more footsteps coming from the opposite corner of the room.