“Any activity?”
“It’s still too early, we’ll have to wait.” She looked again and gasped. Her own van, DeeDee’s Flowers emblazoned on the side, was delivering the flowers for the banquet. At least the shop was working without her.
It was the longest day of Byerly’s life. To distract himself he tried to think of metaphors for slowness. Time moved as slowly as…no, that’s a cliche. Time moved as slowly as…yeah, a politician accepting responsibility for his mistakes. He shook his head. Probably the only good thing Justin Wright ever did in his life was Jamie, and he refused to acknowledge him.
At mid-afternoon he drove over to Patties Parties. Gertie Leventhal had agreed to smuggle him into the estate as part of her catering crew. Josh Kinkaid was to come, too. Only he hadn’t shown. Nervous time increased exponentially for Byerly. Josh knew the right address. He’d sworn to be there. Then where the hell was he? His role was vital.
Byerly stewed. He could almost feel his nerves snapping, one by one. The last Patties Parties truck was ready to head for the castle. He had to go. He’d think of something when he got there. Then, as he climbed into the van, he saw Josh race up in his Porsche. “Where have you been?”
“Sorry, I’ll explain later.”
At the castle he and Josh crawled out of the back of the van and hurried into the greenhouse. No sense in either of them being recognized, Josh especially. Darryl the floriculturist was nowhere in sight.
“How long do we have to wait?” Josh asked.
“Till dusk anyway.”
He seemed none too happy with that, but said, “I’ll be back in a bit.”
“Where are you going?”
“Around, check things out. I used to live here, you know.”
“If someone recognizes you, we’ll be-”
He watched Josh walk away, then kicked the side of the wheelbarrow, hurting his toe. Yes, dammit, he was getting upset. After last night’s rantings, he’d promised himself to stay cool, on top of things-for Doreen’s sake. But this spoiled, inconsiderate kid was testing his resolve. Josh acted like he didn’t want to be here and didn’t care what happened. What did he expect? Josh Kinkaid was so self-absorbed and unconscious he’d let his own mother live on the street, hadn’t he?
Around five o’clock Justin Wright drove up in two limousines with a quartet of motorcycle cops. Joy Fielding emerged from the front entrance. He was too far away to see her face, but she wore a long gown of bright red with lots of skin. Victor Dragon was beside her in his tux.
The ninjas opened the limousine door, and Wright and his party got out. The woman with him must be his wife. Dr. Joy descended the steps, engaged in bussing all around. All they needed was the Marine Band and Hail to the Chief. Maybe next year, God forbid.
Josh returned, still antsy. “Do we really have to wait till dark?”
“Close to it.”
He made a face, then saw a car pull up to the front door for valet parking. “Would you look at them wheels, a Jag no less, looks new.” Mercedes, Beamers, Caddies, Lincolns and other luxury cars began to arrive. He cited the virtues and faults of each. “Hey, the valet parkers are falling behind. I’m going to help out.”
“No, Josh, stay here.”
“You know me and wheels.”
Damn!
Josh returned a few minutes later. “Why do I have to wait till dark to throw that rock?”
“You can hardly stand out there in broad daylight throwing rocks at somebody’s house.”
“I did when I was a kid, come on, let’s go.”
Byerly felt like kicking him, not the wheelbarrow. “There’s another reason. You ought to be able to figure it out. They are to blink the light in the tower if they get the message. How can we see it unless it’s nearly dark?”
“Then use another signal.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know, wave a hankie or something.”
“I’ve already written the note and tied it to the rock.”
“Then change it. Look, Walt, I gotta get out of here. I’ve something important to do.”
His anger flared, but he forced himself to tamp it down. He needed Josh to throw the rock. No way could he heave it far enough and hit that window. Lord, he was disappointed in this kid.
Under Josh’s impatient eyes he untied the note from the rock, really a piece of brick, changed it and retied it securely. He handed it to Josh. “Please don’t miss.”
“ No problema, I’ve done this lots of times. I told you I got in trouble for-”
“Just don’t get in trouble again.”
They both stepped outside and looked around. There was activity at the front of the hose, but no one looked their way.
“Here goes nothing.”
Josh took a full windup, like a baseball pitcher, and threw. The brick arched through the air, straight for the window. It looked high enough and far enough. Byerly’s hopes rose.
It clattered against the wall, missing the window to the left.
“God!”
“I’ll get it next time.” He took off across the lawn to retrieve the rock.
DeeDee figured Walter would cancel his plan to throw in a message, since she already knew the plan. But when she heard the clatter against the tower, she knew what had happened. Walter couldn’t be sure she was in the tower and went ahead with his rock.
She leaned over Jamie to protect him. “Let’s all stay off to the side so we don’t get hit.”
A second clatter. Lord!
“It isn’t going to work,” Mandy said.
“Nor does it need to.” She grabbed a towel and climbed up on the table beneath the window. “I just hope he sees this.”
“There’s your signal, Walt, I did hit it.”
“No, your bombardment made the castle surrender.”
“Sorry, Walt, I used to be able to hit it.”
“Anyway we know Doreen is in the tower, thank God.”
“I thought you wanted to get her out.”
He shook his head. “I’ll explain later. You can go off on your date or whatever.”
“You won’t be sorry, Walt.”
He was glad to be rid of the scatterbrain. He hadn’t really needed him after all.
He looked at his watch. Still a ways to go. The next time he looked at his watch two minutes had elapsed. Are we on geologic or astronomic time? Another minute. You’re going to wear out your watch looking at it. He concentrated on the tower. Doreen’s up there. She’s counting on you. Hell, you’re counting on you.
Eventually, the hand lowered on the dial face. Almost seven. He left the greenhouse and walked toward the front of the house, stopping near the gravel to await a certain car. There? No. That one, yes. It begins now.
The three of them stood on the table by the window, DeeDee with Jamie in her arms. “When I give the word, my darling, I want you to scream as loudly as you can, for as long as you can. This is one time in your life when you can make all the noise you want.”
He opened his mouth.
She put her fingers over it and smiled. “Not quite yet, darling. I’ll tell you when.”
25: Unexpected Visitor
Lupe stopped her unmarked car in front of the castle steps, flashed her badge and told the attendant she would only be a minute. She pulled ahead a little at his instruction, grabbed her shoulder bag, got out and waited at the steps for Walt Byerly.
“Did the rock work?”
“Don’t ask.”
She heard the hubbub of voices from inside. “Somebody must be having a party.”
“Shame to ruin it, let’s go.”
They mounted the steps and entered through the open front doors. The reception for Wright was just breaking up. Diners were beginning to take their seats in the banquet hall off to the left, while others, be-gowned, be-jeweled and be-tuxed, milled around with half-filled glasses. Lupe knew she was agog at the beautiful setting and the beautiful people. She saw Victor Dragon with a gorgeous blonde stuffed into a red dress.
“What are you doing here, Hernandez?”
The gruff voice brought her back to reality. She turned and gasped. “Sgt. Brogan!” Lupe felt herself wilting under his gaze.