Upstate Uproar (2 page)

Wendy shook her head. “I’ll tell y’all about
it in the car. It’s not the best news.”

“Darn, that’s not what I wanted to hear,”
Kate said. “But it’s good to see you, and I’m glad you decided to
come on the trip. I know it’s been a rough few months.”

“I really needed to see y’all.” Wendy took a
deep breath. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

Lucy pulled the rental car keys from her
purse. “We’re all set. I got us an SUV that can handle all this
luggage. We have a couple hours before we get to Lake Placid, so
let’s find a grocery store here in Albany and stock up on
goodies.”

“As long as Dos Equis is on the list, I’m
in,” Vivian said.

Wendy whipped a piece of paper out of her
purse. “I’m all over it!”

The girls walked to the parking garage and
Lucy led the way, her auburn ponytail swinging as she walked.
Vivian butt bumped Kate and smiled. “So, you pregnant yet?”

Kate raised her eyebrows and pulled open her
cardigan. “What do you think?”

V
ivian pulled Kate in
for a big embrace, then stepped back and rubbed her baby bump.
“You’re so cute!”

Kate smiled and patted her normally flat
stomach, which now had a little pooch.

Lucy asked, “How far along are you?”

“Almost five months.” Kate smiled. “I learned
some moves on our last trip in New Orleans from all that strip club
sleuthing. Shaun was impressed! Now really encourages me to take
these trips.”

“I can’t believe you kept this a secret,”
Vivian said. “We should be planning your baby shower by now.”

“It hasn’t been easy to keep this from y’all,
but I had to tell you in person. Now I can go public with my
news.”

“Boy or girl?” Wendy asked as she took Kate’s
bag off her shoulder. “And give me this. No more lifting for
you.”

“I’m fine, the baby’s fine, everything’s
fine.” Kate reached for her bag but Wendy refused to give it up.
“We want it to be a surprise, so I don’t know.” She rubbed her
belly again.

“You’re carrying precious cargo and I got
this,” Wendy said, firmly clutching the bag. “What can we do
special for you? Craving any certain foods, extra sleep, mommy
massage?”

“I’ve been craving meat and I’m definitely
hungrier than usual, so we need to find a grocery store. And even
though I’m past the nauseous stage, I need to sit in the front
seat. Otherwise, nothing special.”

“We can accommodate that,” Lucy said. “First
stop, groceries. Do you want to drive?”

Kate took the keys. “Sure, and that way I can
control all the windows.” She giggled, then said, “ ’Cuz I’m a
little gassy.”

Kate demonstrated just that, so the girls
picked up the pace to the SUV. Lucy, the expert car packer, got
everything loaded and with just enough space to see out the back
window. Wendy rode shotgun and navigated Kate to the highway, while
Vivian and Lucy tucked into the back seat.

Kate adjusted her seat belt and said, “Okay,
so what’s the latest on Jake’s accident? Wait, do we call it an
accident?”

“I call it his disappearance,” Wendy replied.
“There hasn’t been any trace of him. I’ve spoken numerous times
with Sue Garrett, the detective with the Las Vegas Police
Department, but she hasn’t been able to make any headway on what
happened.”

Vivian patted Wendy’s shoulder. “There has to
be some evidence. Vegas is the capital of cameras, for god’s sake,
either in buildings or traffic cams or in people’s hands. Something
has to turn up.”

“It’s like he got sucked up in the Bermuda
Triangle. I keep waiting for the phone to ring and see his number,
but it doesn’t happen. I catch myself in the middle of the day
thinking about him, wondering what he’s up to, and then remember,
he’s gone.”

“Don’t give up hope,” Lucy said. “Until we
know something definite, you have to think positive.”

Kate clicked on the blinker, pulled off the
highway and soon parked in front of the grocery store. “Let’s get
our shopping done, then tell us the story on the way to Lake
Placid. I want to hear the whole thing, start in detail.”

Lucy opened her door. “We need to hit up the
liquor store next door while we’re here. I have a feeling we’re
going to need liquid therapy.”

The girls piled out of the car and made their
way through the grocery store. Kate bypassed the produce department
and bee-lined for the beef jerky. “Vegetables repulse me these
days. I need meat.”

“Who are you?” Lucy asked. “Hadn’t you given
up just about all meat before you were pregnant?”

“Yep, 95 percent vegetarian, couldn’t give up
dairy, but now I’m all about the meat. Gimme brisket, bacon, beef
tips, barbecue, anything animal.”

“Good thing you live in the barbecue mecca of
Texas,” Lucy said. “I haven’t found anything in Denver that
compares to Franklin’s Barbeque.”

“I’ve become a smoked meat connoisseur,
dragging Shaun around Austin and the Hill Country, trying ’em
all.”

The girls stocked up on snacks, bought a
Styrofoam cooler and a bag of ice, then headed to the liquor store
for red wine, vodka and beer, even though only three of them would
be drinking on this trip.

The only place in the car to put the goods
was the back seat. Lucy and Vivian did their best not to crush the
chips, smush the bread or damage the donuts, and the only place for
the cooler was smack-dab between the two of them.

“I’m in charge of the back seat bar, baby!”
Vivian called as they pulled out of the parking lot. “Wait! Pull
into that fast food restaurant.”

“Need to use the restroom?” Kate asked.

“No, more important than that. I’ll be right
back.” Vivian ran inside and returned less than a minute later with
a plastic utensil packet. “I needed a knife to cut my limes!”

Wendy pointed to the back. “I have a Swiss
Army knife in my big blue bag. But good luck with the plastic
one.”

“Ahh, should’ve known!”

As Kate merged onto the interstate, a light
rain started to fall. “Okay, Wendy, I need you to start from the
beginning with Jake’s story. I know it’s hard, but I want to hear
the whole thing. Maybe we can help somehow.”

“I’m just not ready to rehash it all right
now. I need a beverage, or three, first. Can we talk about
something else?”

Kate glanced at Lucy in the rearview. “Of
course, we can. Lucy, what’s the latest with you and Steve? Did you
officially file?”

“Yes,” Lucy said, the twinkle in her usually
cheerful green eyes dimmed.

Vivian handed Lucy and Wendy both a red Solo
cup filled with vodka and cranberry.

Lucy took a sip. “It’ll be final in a couple
of months.”

“How’s Steve doing?” Wendy asked.

“Oh, you know, he’s his usual unemotional
self. We’ve been friends forever, and I’m hoping we’ll be able to
maintain that when this is over.”

“I hate that you’re moving out of the
townhouse,” Wendy said. “You worked so hard remodeling it.”

“The mortgage and homeowners association dues
are way more than I can afford, even though he’s been good to me in
terms of splitting stuff and making sure I’m okay financially. I’ve
found a little apartment in Denver, which at least cuts down on my
commute.”

“Who gets the cats?” Kate asked.

Lucy crunched a piece of ice. “One each. I
hope they don’t freak out.”

“Will you be able to maintain your expensive
shoe habit?” Vivian asked.

“Probably not. I’m kicking up my hours at
work, promoting myself more and just trying to spend less.” Lucy
was a self-employed interior designer. Her income fluctuated with
the economy and also how hard she worked.

“That sucks,” Vivian said.

“It’s okay, I’m stocked up on shoes.” Lucy
slowly stirred her drink. “I’m still able to take vacations, but
thank goodness we have our Getaway Girlz trust fund.”

In the Rocky Mountains, the girls brought a
thief to justice and received a hefty reward. They split some of
the loot and put the rest into a trust fund to be used only for
their vacations.

“Enough about me, what about you, preggo? Any
other news from Austin other than your new meat habit?”

Kate gripped the wheel and sighed. “Shaun’s
having an affair.”

V
ivian and Lucy
shared the back of their rental SUV. The colors of the fall leaves
whizzed by as Kate drove and Vivian almost spit out her beer at
Kate’s announcement. “What the hell? I thought y’all were madly in
love. Shaun’s having an affair? With who?”

Kate giggled. “Little Debbie, Sara Lee, and
probably Marie Callender this week since I’m gone.”

“Oh geez, you scared the crap out of me!”
Vivian said.

“I was ready to go to Austin and kick his
ass!” Wendy said. “But I can certainly understand the love affair
with Little Debbie. Ummmm, Swiss Rolls.”

“Those are the best.” Kate looked at Wendy,
then in the rearview mirror. “I think the pregnancy hormones are
affecting him. He’s always been a health fanatic, but right now,
he’s out of control.” She turned off the windshield wipers.

“He’ll get over it,” Vivian said. “Rick went
through the same thing with me. But he never was healthy to start
with. At least Shaun has a base.”

Wendy directed Kate off the interstate and
onto Highway 73. “Yeah, Shaun introduced me to Bruce’s sweet potato
pancakes. Those are the bomb dot com with blueberries and pecans
and smothered with agave nectar.”

“I realize you’re only on your first drink,
but can you talk about Jake yet?” Kate asked.

The sun peeked through a break in the clouds
as Wendy stuck her drink in the cup holder and pulled a tissue from
her purse. “As y’all know, when we were at the New Orleans airport,
I got the call that Jake had been in an accident. I changed my
flight and went to Vegas instead of home to Houston. That morning
the police found Jake’s rent car burned up in the desert. There was
a body inside, burned beyond recognition.” Wendy wiped a tear and
took a breath before continuing.

“The hotel’s security camera showed Jake
leaving his room around 4:45 a.m., then getting the car out of
valet. He headed east out of the casino, and the police were able
to get footage from a gas station about a mile away. He filled the
tank, paying at the pump, and left.” Tears ran down her face, and
she didn’t bother to wipe them away.

“What was he doing driving out into the
desert at that hour in the morning?” Kate asked.

“No one seems to know why he’d be out there
at all. The police talked to his friends and they have no idea
about any of it.”

Lucy took Wendy’s cup and mixed her a second
vodka and cranberry. “Were the police able to identify who was in
the car?”

Wendy took the drink and gulped, then said,
“Telling everyone the wedding was off was hard enough, but telling
the Las Vegas PD who Jake’s dentist was so they could get his
dental records was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in
my life.” She took a ragged breath. “Then, finding out there wasn’t
enough left of the teeth for the forensic dentist to identify the
body, that was torture.”

Vivian patted Wendy’s shoulder. “It might not
have been him, Wendy. Stay positive.”

Wendy shrugged. “But who else would it have
been? And why were they in Jake’s car?”

“I’m so sorry you had to go through this,”
Kate said, slowing down as they approached town.

Wendy sniffled. “Right as I walked out the
door for the airport on the way to New Orleans, Jake gave me a kiss
and told me he needed to talk to me about something when we got
back from our bachelor and bachelorette weekend. He was pretty
serious and I thought maybe he wanted to talk about finances, but
I’ve been wondering about this ever since he disappeared. What did
he want to tell me? What?”

They were quiet while Wendy stared out the
windshield, still crying. Kate drove past the Olympic complex and
Wendy gave Kate directions to the bed and breakfast.

Kate stopped at a red light beside a police
car. “Uh, girls, drinks down. I don’t want to be the pregnant lady
in jail.”

This made Wendy laugh, and she looked toward
the lake. “Look, a rainbow. You can see both ends.”

“It’s the most vivid rainbow I’ve ever seen,”
Vivian said. Every color was clearly defined against the next and
almost seemed to glow and the yellow, orange and red of the trees
made the scene all the more beautiful.

“The air is cleaner here,” Lucy said, putting
away her Solo cup. “And look, there are two rainbows.”

Vivian rolled down her window and snapped a
couple of pictures. “The kids will love this. And it’s got to be a
good sign for this trip, don’t you think?”

Wendy, too, snapped a picture. “I’ll take
just about anything as a good sign right now. I need Jake to come
home.”

Kate squeezed Wendy’s shoulder. “He
will.”

A stop sign and a few turns later, Kate
pulled onto the dirt drive of Turlington Farms Bed and Breakfast.
The humble, two story nineteenth-century farmhouse stood proudly in
a grassy field, its cedar shakes long coated in a pleasant butter
yellow hue. The house was trimmed in white and capped with a steep
pitched roof and brick chimney. High in the gabled end of the
attic, a narrow, arched window punctuated the siding. Lean-to
porches flanked both sides of the house, and double-hung windows
marched around the facade in a simple pattern.

A man in jeans and a red and black plaid
shirt stepped out of the house and walked toward the car. He looked
in his late 30s, in good shape, with unruly brown hair and a
goatee. Once the car was stopped, he flashed a smile and opened
Kate’s door. “Welcome, I’m Brandon Holt, proprietor, wood chopper,
sometimes cook, always handyman.”