“Is Fiona going with us? Wouldn’t you like to visit the ranch, dear? We’d love to have you. Stay as long as you like. I’m sure Cody will be along soon enough.”
That was true. Cody could fly out and beat Jake to the ranch. “Jake,” I said, “did you consider that Cody would be joining you?”
Jake took a swig from a bottle of Guinness Stout Hudson had placed before him. “We’ll have to see how that goes, won’t we?”
“I reckon,” I said.
“Then you’ll go with us?” Opal said.
“No, actually, I have a trip planned to Australia. I’m leaving tonight.” I checked my watch. “I might not be leaving tonight if I don’t leave soon.” I finished the wine and stood. “Thank you so much all of you. I better get on down the highway so I don’t miss my flight.”
“What about your passport?” Jake asked.
“I’m going by my place to have a look again. It has to be there. I hope you have a delightful trip.”
“I’m so sorry you won’t be going with us, Fiona.”
“Another time, thank you.”
Jake said, “Hudson, will you help Opal pack a light suitcase? We can send for the rest of her things later.”
“Certainly. We’ll be ready in fifteen minutes.” He hustled Opal from the room without protest.
Jake walked me to the front door. As we neared the door headlights turned into the driveway. We both stepped back from the glare.
“Who do you think that is?” I said under my breath.
“I hope it isn’t Cody.”
It was a van, black. Very cloak and dagger looking. Four big men exited. None of them looked like Cody. They came up the front steps. Jake pulled me into the shadows in the library. We waited.
They opened the door, walked in like they lived there, big as you please and headed for the kitchen. They all wore fedoras, looked Anglo, but weren’t speaking English.
Jake whispered in my ear. “Now we know how the rifles go in and out of here.”
“Right.”
“Can you give us a ride to the nearest car rental agency?”
“Me? Why not take one of the Lodge cars. That Rolls is a real looker.”
“For precisely that reason. It stands outs. I can’t believe you are arguing with me. Rental car isn’t as easy to trace.”
“All right, all right.”
“Wait in the car. I’m going upstairs the back way to get Opal.”
“Where is the back way?”
“Through the bookcases.”
“No kidding. How’d you find them?”
“Hudson showed me.”
“I knew it.”
“I’ll be out as quick as I can. We need to leave before those men come back.”
“Right.”
I left through the front door and got in the car. I hoped Jake wasn’t going to kidnap me and take me with them. I really was not in the mood. Before Jake could return, the men in fedoras trundled out with dollies loaded with rifle boxes. I slouched down in the seat so they couldn’t see me. The boxes were ones like we had seen in the basement.
Cody was working fast. Where was he? I hope nothing untoward had happened to him. I still liked him in a misguided way, but his career choices disappointed me.
The men loaded the boxes in the van, got in, and left.
I sat back up. That was strange. They had only taken maybe a fraction of the boxes. Did that mean others would be arriving for more? Maybe they had already gotten the rest.
Where was Cody?
I checked my watch. There was no way I was going to make that plane to Los Angeles. The door opened and out came Jake carrying a small suitcase with backpack over one shoulder and Opal on his arm. Hudson stood at the door like a worried mom. I hope nothing ugly happened to him. How involved was he?
Jake opened the back door, threw in the suitcase and backpack and helped Opal in. He had managed to find a jean jacket to ward off the chill of the night. He slid into the front passenger seat, and I drove off before he closed the door. As we sailed through the gate another vehicle turned into the other end of the semi-circular drive. Busy night tonight at the Lodge estate.
“Cody must be having another party,” said Opal. “He’s been entertaining a lot lately. I didn’t know he had so many friends in the area. I’m sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye.”
“You’ll be seeing him soon enough,” I said. “You’ll have a lovely drive across country in the meantime.”
As we pulled onto the roadway, I noticed the other car hadn’t stopped and was coming up behind us.
“Jake, that car is following us.”
I sped up going down the road and told him about the men leaving with boxes.
“I don’t want to look back,” he said. “What kind of car is it?”
“Black.”
“That’s a help.”
My cell phone rang, and I fished around in my purse. “Jake, can you look for my cell phone. I can’t seem to find it.”
He took over the search and rescue operation. “Here it is.”
I opened it up and before I could get a word out, someone said, “You two have a lot of nerve coming back. What do you think you are doing?”
“Cody?” I looked at Jake.
Jake said, “Don’t tell him anything.”
I nodded and wished I weren’t driving.
Cody said, “Who do you have in the back seat? I think you better pull over. We need to talk.”
I held the phone to my chest. “He wants to talk,” I whispered to Jake, hoping Opal wasn’t following what was transpiring.
“No way,” said Jake. “Floor it.”
I closed the cell phone and did as directed. The Legend responded beautifully. We tore down the street as if pursued by banshees. I kept checking the rear view mirror. “I can’t tell if he’s behind us.”
I headed onto I-66 West, racking my brain for the nearest car rental agency. There were a million lights in the mirror, and I couldn’t tell one car from another. If Cody was behind us, he was being discreet.
Jake took my cell phone. “How do you check caller ID on here. I want to see his number.”
“Press the red phone icon and it should show last caller.”
“Oops, I pressed redial.”
“Close the phone, close the phone. We don’t want to talk to him again.”
“Calm down, Fiona. Calm down.”
“Me? Calm down? This is not how normal life is lived, fleeing from criminals.”
“It’s not my fault. I’m an innocent bystander like you. I was just helping out Opal, and I still am.”
“Good, you keep helping her. I’m going in a different direction. Where do you want me to drop you?”
“You should go with us.”
“No way. I want out. I’m history. I’m going to Australia where people drink beer and sit on the beach and don’t get involved with spooks and criminals. I’m going to Dulles Airport to get my flight. You can get a rental car there easy.”
“You don’t have a passport.”
“True. I have other plans.”
“What other plans?”
“I’m not telling you. If you are caught and tortured, you might tell these criminals where I’ve gone and they might find me and then where will I be? No, I’m disappearing, never to be heard from again.”
“Fiona, you are being unreasonable.”
“I’m being unreasonable? You’re the one who has been absolutely no help at all. You didn’t tell me what a nut case the Lodge family is.”
“Quiet. Opal will hear you.”
I checked the rearview mirror. Opal was head down, fast asleep. “She’s out. You two get the rental car as planned and head out I-70 toward Ohio.”
“Got a map on you?”
“No, they have them at the rental car place.”
We headed out the Dulles toll road toward the airport. I still couldn’t tell if the car was pursuing us. This was nerve wracking. The phone rang.
“Who is it?” I said.