The Azalea Assault (29 page)

“You don’t know who really did it?”

“Don’t want to! What if… well, whatever. The guy was a jerk. I didn’t know who killed him, and the money sounded good.” Cam thought maybe he suspected Evangeline, so he was trying to protect her after all, but in a different way than she’d first thought.

“How much?”

“Five grand, which covered my debt, so it solved several problems for me.”

“Five grand? To… what?”

“Just not mention I saw him. He wanted to stay out of it.”

“Yeah, that worked,” Annie said.

Cam elbowed her but kept looking at Benny. “Okay, I guess that’s all.”

Dylan had approached. “Your princess can’t stay away?”

“Miss Harris just had a mistaken impression and is leaving,” Benny said.

“Miss Harris? I see.” He approached Cam and took her hand. “Well, if at any time Benny here is unable to satisfy you, you just let me know.”

Cam thought the innuendo and grin were sheer evil in how appealing they were.

“Thank you, Dylan. I’ll keep that in mind.” Her face had grown very hot and was probably also very red. She avoided Annie’s gaze, as she was sure it would just make things worse.

Instead of kissing her hand, he flipped it over and ran the tip of his tongue up the underside of her wrist and then kissed the center of her palm. She tingled from somewhere near her tailbone but couldn’t bring herself to speak.

“We need to go,” Annie said, pulling Cam by the arm.

When they got outside the gates, Annie began hugging and hitting Cam from all different angles.

“What are you doing?” Cam asked, waving Annie off.

“You are obviously on fire! Don’t you feel it? I’m trying to put you out! I totally would have spontaneously combusted in there. How are you not burning?”

Cam didn’t admit she sort of was. She had a boyfriend, after all. And she’d never see Dylan again.

“I can’t believe the straightest person I know has a hot gangster after her! It’s like
Guys and Dolls
!”

“Annie, I am not interested. Remember Rob?”

“Yeah? Okay, fine! Shoot down my fantasy life, why don’t you?”

They drove for a few minutes before Annie looked over at her again.

“Cam?”

“Yeah?”

“Benny’s not as slow as they claim, is he?”

“Not so much.”

“You knew that before, though, didn’t you?”

“I figured it out this morning.”

“Are you going to tell anyone?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“Well…” It was hard to articulate, because she wasn’t completely sure what was driving her hunch. “I don’t think it’s related to the murders, and he and his father went to an awful lot of trouble to set it up.”

Annie frowned for a minute and then a smirk rose.

“What?” Cam asked.

“You think it might be a useful secret. My nefarious plan to turn you into a deviant is finally working.”

T
hey headed toward home, Cam frustrated by the dead ends and wondering what to do next. Rob’s ring tone sounded when they were almost to the house.

“Cam! I just left the Patricks’.” He sounded breathless. “My brakes won’t work! My Jeep won’t stop!”

“Where are you?”

“Moving south on Blue Ridge Parkway. I just ran a red light!”

Cam gave a silent prayer of thanks for her years of biking south of town. She relayed a couple things to watch for but knew in not too long, no more stops would be required.

“We’ll find you! Keep your phone on!”

She then directed Annie for a few minutes until they were headed the right way.

‘They headed south at breakneck speed; for once, Cam was glad of Annie’s somewhat reckless driving style for a change. Rob relayed each milestone he passed so they could try to head him off.

“Rob, we’re going to try to get in front of you—to slow,
then stop you, but if we don’t make it, keep heading for Copper Hill. When you get going steadily uphill you should be able to find a gravel pull-off that will stop you.”

“Got it.” He sounded too scared to harass her about how she knew such things, which unnerved Cam. Rob didn’t normally get flustered.

“We have to save him, Annie!” she whimpered as she lowered the phone. She didn’t really think a car, especially a top-heavy Jeep, could make all those curves between where Rob currently was and Copper Hill without flipping over.

“I know we do! I’m on it! Cam?”

“Yeah?”

“Use my phone to call Jake. Whoever did this to Rob is our killer—y’all got too close.”

“Right!” Cam fished Annie’s phone from her pocket and called Jake, explaining their situation, distress, and need. “He’s on Blue Ridge Parkway, heading toward Copper Hill from the Patricks’,” she said. “Hurry!” She dropped the phone and directed Annie on the fastest route.

A few minutes later, Annie announced, “Blue Ridge Parkway! We’re here! This is where Rob is!”Her excitement wasn’t helping.

“Rob, are you looking for landmarks or mile markers? Where are you?” Cam asked after she retrieved her own phone from between the seats.

“I just passed this gnarled old tree.”

“Gramps! Slow down, Annie! He’s behind us!”

“Gramps?” Rob asked.

“I’ll explain later. Just drive carefully. The road has a couple big bends coming up, and it would be best to slow you down before you get there.”

“Got it,” Rob said.

Annie obeyed Cam’s instructions, too, and they drove more slowly, waiting. Cam turned around and watched. In just a few minutes she saw Rob’s Jeep barreling toward them.

“There! Speed up, Annie! You need to be barely slower
than the Jeep when he hits, then slow when you’re butt to nose.”

“Cam Harris, you are either a pervert, or you got a better grade in physics than I thought.”

Cam tried to laugh, but she was too scared. The Jeep was coming on fast, but Annie was picking up speed. Her judgment of distance and speed seemed good. The real test was whether the tiny Bug was sturdy enough to take the impact. They could all end up sprawled across the road. No need to share her negative thinking now, though.

“You’re okay, Rob! Don’t try to avoid us! We’ll be your brakes.”

She heard mumbling and realized Jake was still on Annie’s phone and getting closer, but he was not going to be able to help at all. She gave him the landmarks as they passed and waited for impact.

“Annie, you have to let him hit us.”

“I know.”Cam knew Annie’s car had been paid off less than six months ago. Her face looked desperately sad. She loved her car. Finally, though, she slowed, and Rob noticed the closing gap.

“I could hurt you both!” he shouted, distressed. He’d obviously spotted the same flaw Cam had.

“Nonsense, we’re invincible!” Annie shouted.

“You’re a loony,” Cam said next to her, giving them their first real laugh. If Monty Python quotes couldn’t break through, nothing could.

And then impact jolted them forward; grinding metal hurt Cam’s ears. Cam saw Annie’s foot instinctively lift, needing to brake, but she stopped herself and gave it a little more gas, in spite of the sparks. The Jeep came down off the back of the Bug. The scraping as the cars slid apart was, if possible, worse than the first impact, and Annie cringed, but now that she didn’t need the gas anymore and she could alternately allow the Bug to be pushed and brake, she was regaining her cool.

“Gravel road ahead. Tell Rob I’m going to slow us enough
to turn. The gravel should stop him once he’s on it, without requiring the Annie-Bug.”

Cam relayed the message and instead of hearing Rob agree, she saw him nod through the back window. He looked like hell, pale, sweaty, and moderately insane, though that was understandable, as he’d barely escaped death.

Annie began to slow with more certainty. There was a lot of bumping and grinding and a fair few sparks as the Bug and the Jeep banged against each other. In the end, Rob’s Jeep lost momentum before they reached the gravel road. He drove at about five miles an hour just to get off the main stretch. When both cars stopped Cam told Jake where they were, then she leaped from the Bug and ran to Rob, who couldn’t seem to make himself do anything. He lay against his steering wheel as she pulled open his door. She pulled him out. He managed to stand, though not move, and she clung to him.

“Don’t worry me like that!”

He wouldn’t meet her eye, and she could tell he was shaken, but he tried to redirect the conversation, just as she’d expect.

“Listen to you, Miss ‘Captured by Drug Dealers.’” Unfortunately, his voice shook. There was no pretending this wasn’t serious. He hugged her, and they stood holding each other far more tightly than usual.

Annie came over and joined their hug, shouting, “Three-love!” She jumped at them. They both extended arms around Annie. Cam laughed but realized she was also crying.

Normally Rob would have rolled his eyes—he had a thousand times before when the three-loves rolled, but he picked Annie up in a tight hug. “You saved my life.” He had tears in his eyes, which increased Cam’s tears exponentially.

“Now I own you!” Annie joked, then more quietly said, “You would have done the same for me.”

“Obviously, but geez! I’ve never needed my life saved before. So thank you! And you,” he said, turning to Cam. “How did you know what to do?”

Cam smiled hugely, tears fully streaming down her cheeks. “I watch TV.” Relief and posttraumatic stress waged war with her emotions. “We have to have all the clues now!”

“What?” Annie and Rob turned as one, which was a bit strange, as usually it was Cam and Annie who reacted in unison. They clearly couldn’t believe Cam was back to the mystery.

“What are you so shocked about? Obviously somebody you talked to or saw this morning cut your brakes! Who else would know how deeply involved you were?”

“Or somebody
you
talked to.” He sounded more irritable than Cam thought was appropriate.

“I doubt it! Chances of any of those people knowing about our relationship are slim. I’m willing to bet the answer is at the Patricks’. I feel pretty sure of that. It may have been somebody who saw you, though, when you didn’t see them.”

“Cam, we can’t risk getting killed over this. Leave it to Jake!”

“Jake who would pin it on Nick or Annie, then drop it? I don’t think so.”

“Jake was not dropping it! You know that!” a voice said behind them.

Cam hadn’t paid attention to the gravel noises. She’d been too relieved they were all safe, so it surprised her to realize the police car had joined them.

“I know you’d like to make me the bad guy, Cam—I understand, actually, and admire your loyalty. But I never dropped it,” Jake said.

Cam and Annie took on identical, incredulous looks, underscoring their years of friendship, as Rob went over to shake Jake’s hand.

“So what happened?” Jake asked.

Cam relayed the call and the brake event, but Rob eyed her until she guiltily admitted what she’d done that morning, though she still didn’t mention to anyone that Benny didn’t seem quite as intellectually challenged as they’d all believed him to be.

“That was so dangerous, Cam. I can’t explain strongly enough how badly that could have gone.”

“I have some idea,” she said quietly, and then found her voice, “and if I’d passed it to you, nothing at all would have happened. At least I got a lead.”

Annie elbowed her, and Cam frowned again.

“And then there was the stuff we learned at the track,” she added, with a sassy look at Annie.

“What?” Now it was Rob and Jake’s turn to shout in unison.

“Well, Rob was busy checking out the printer!” Annie said defensively.

“So you’re all idiots!” Jake looked furious but finally asked for details.

They explained the suspicion of drug dealing, though not that they’d been looking for pot plants the night before. Cam thought Jake was too smart not to eventually put it together, so she left out a number of details and then rushed on about following Benny and overhearing about the short supply. This, she finally wrote off as a misunderstanding, not mentioning the gambling forms.

Jake frowned. Cam thought she’d hear more questions later if everything wasn’t resolved.

“But we learned a ton of stuff you never did,” Cam said.

“You’re probably right.” Jake sighed. “But we have procedures we have to follow that don’t allow trespassing or invading homes on a hunch—and for good reason, I might add.”

Cam rolled her eyes and then decided the best defense was a good offense.

“So how are you going to approach this?”

“First, I will make sure it was foul play. Then we’ll take fingerprints and such.”

“When you haven’t found a single print on anything?”

“Cam, we have no reason to think Rob’s car malfunction is related to the murders.”

“Give me a break, Jake!” Cam was shocked to hear Rob
blow up. “You think there would be some other reason someone would want to kill me?”

Jake looked contrite. “I don’t think anyone
did
. A detective with automotive expertise will be here with a tow truck and will look, and then we’ll take your Jeep in if foul play was involved.” He stopped to check his watch. “Ten, fifteen minutes. Rob, why don’t you continue this little tale Cam started, if you think this incident with your Jeep is connected to the… investigation you aren’t supposed to be doing…”

Rob obviously thought they were connected. He explained, but with less enthusiasm for Jake than he’d had in the past. He filled Jake in about the printer he’d been looking at, suggesting it was currently their best lead, but skipped the puzzle solving he and Cam had been doing.

Jake looked at Annie. “And what were you doing?”

Cam felt a gasket blow. “She was at work all morning. I joined her there after my little trip, and she’d obviously been there all day, with dozens of customers and hundreds of cupcakes to back her up. Then, when I realized I had to do this track thing without Rob, because it wasn’t official and I didn’t think he’d call to find out there was still something there, Annie came with me to make sure I didn’t get in trouble, but she didn’t do anything! And if you think Annie and I had a plot to kill Rob, it would be pretty stupid of us to bang up her car just to save him!”