Dang Near Dead (An Aggie Mundeen Mystery Book 2) Read online

  Right now, I didn’t want him checking my pockets. I needed to deflect his questions. Making an instantaneous decision, I clasped my hands behind his neck.

  “I’m frightened,” I said, clinging there. Our faces nearly touched. I kissed him hard.

  He was astonished. He was also a little damp from the mist. I loved the smell of his Old Spice Aftershave mixed with rain. I felt him relax. I think he forgot to be angry. He reached around my back and pulled me closer.

  I hoped he didn’t lower his arm farther down than my jacket and discover the hole in my dress.

  I knew kissing him to distract him was a crummy thing to do. But it was wonderful. The two of us. Alone. Under the night sky. I relaxed into him.

  His whole body stiffened, and he backed away. “If there’s any investigating to be done, I’ll do it. You can’t get involved.”

  I was afraid he might feel that way. Before he could crank up more indignation, I snuggled in closer and touched my mouth tentatively to his. He responded and held me even tighter.

  My previous resolve to stall our relationship and concentrate on doing the right thing flew into the atmosphere. I could hardly breathe.

  Unfortunately, I could still think. When I sensed his urgency, I felt totally ashamed for leading him on.

  Then the backs of my legs started itching.

  I thought about the goodies in my pockets.

  It took all my strength to push Sam away. When I took a step back, we were both breathless.

  “I’m scared to be out here,” I panted. “Like you said, somebody might be around.”

  When he reached for me again, I straightened my arms. “No. You’re absolutely right. I shouldn’t be here.”

  He blinked.

  I knew I was acting like a first class creep, but I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t have the courage to be honest.

  “We need to go to our cabins.” I spun around, holding my skirt closed in back, and took off.

  “Hey, wait. What the…?”

  No way was I going to wait. Even though I’d moved up to forty-five minutes on the treadmill, by the time I reached my cabin, I was heaving like a basketball forward.

  I slithered inside, quietly locked the door and went straight to my suitcase. I retrieved the “Do Not Disturb” sign I’d snitched from a hotel and carried with me in case of emergency. There were times when a person did not want to be disturbed and did not want to answer questions.

  Tiptoeing back to the door, I eased it open and peeked through the crack. When I didn’t see anybody, I slipped the sign on the door handle and maneuvered the door closed. Leaning against the door, I closed my eyes and asked God’s forgiveness for acting like an idiot. I tried to formulate specific promises about honesty and about my future behavior, but my heart wasn’t in it.

  Careful not to wake Meredith, I lifted a chair and wedged it under the knob without making a sound.

  Scraping Sunny’s face paint from under my nails, I flicked the spatters into a fourth Ziploc bag and dropped it with other bags into the empty suitcase under my bed.

  When I went to the bathroom to wash and treat my poison ivy patch, I noticed that my face was still swollen. Maybe Sam would conclude I’d suffered an allergic reaction that caused temporary insanity. Hopefully, my kisses would not make his face swell.

  I heard two of the girls snoring and Jangles talking in her sleep. I tried to make out what Jangles said. I’d have enjoyed hearing her babble about what she and Ranger were doing earlier in the evening. Unfortunately, I couldn’t decipher her giggly gibberish.

  I finally crept to bed, easing sideways onto my bunk to let my itchy patch dry. When I thought about Sam, my lips tingled. He might be so angry he’d never speak to me again.

  I made myself consider who would want to hurt Vicki. Why had Sunny returned to the spot where she’d fallen? Did his wearing makeup relate in any way to Vicki? Was he really an empathetic person? He sure didn’t seem like one when he was digging his fingers into my shoulders.

  What was he hiding besides that scar? When Vicki signed the note I found in his cabin, what did she mean by “just in case?” Had she feared an attack?

  What did the numbers on her note signify? Had Sunny promised to go with her to that dot in the Caribbean? Had he decided to do her in so he could abscond to the island by himself and get his hands on her “untraceable” money?

  Maybe George Tensel had chased after Vicki and tried to get her to dismount. When Vicki refused, George jerked the horse’s reins and Vicki tugged back. Her horse, spooked from the jerking and yelling, threw her. George might have returned to the trail to look for evidence that implicated him, but he was thwarted by Sunny’s arrival.

  Selma left dinner right after George did. What if she finally caught him trying to make time with Vicki, and she spooked the horse?

  I could still feel the warmth of Sam’s arms tightening around my back. My skin prickled. I was finding it increasingly hard to think. How could I investigate without irritating him? I just wanted him to trust me. I thought he wanted to trust me. Admittedly, my spontaneous actions made it difficult.

  I tried to concentrate on more suspects. Bertha hated Vicki’s youth and beauty and seethed with jealousy over the attention Ranger paid her, but she depended on the girl. Vicki’s accident made it hard for Bertha to keep everybody at the ranch.

  I wondered, incidentally, if Bertha knew how much Ranger enjoyed having Jangles chase after him.

  Had I found Ranger’s sculpting wire? According to Monty, Ranger had designs on this ranch, and Monty stood to benefit. Had they concluded they’d both be better off with Vicki out of the picture?

  If Wayne Rickoff had fired his gun to spook Vicki’s horse, nobody could have distinguished a shot from all that thunder. Not even Jangles.

  My mind flipped back to Sam. Having managed to keep the clues I’d gathered away from him, I’d dazzle him at the right moment with my crime-solving prowess. Assuming he still spoke to me.

  I’d become invaluable to his investigation.

  Meanwhile, I had to keep from infuriating him. My grabbing him, then running away, had undoubtedly ticked him off. Sometimes a person like me gets desperate.

  That thought led me to River Rat. Had his addictions made him desperate? How far would he go to get his sister’s money?

  My evaluation of suspects wasn’t productive. I couldn’t keep my mind off Sam. If only I could get him to trust me. I didn’t seem to be making headway creating trust.

  Sunny Barlow and I both used facades. In the long run, I had to admit that our facades probably wouldn’t work.

  Blessed rains finally came. As I listened to splatters hit the roof, I hugged myself. I imagined Sam’s arms wrapped around me and prayed to high heaven I hadn’t alienated him forever.

  Twenty-Four

  At the first hint of dawn, I peeked through the door and brought in the hotel “Do Not Disturb” sign. I toted the chair back to the table and sneaked back to my bunk. Not long after daylight, everyone started moving around, but nobody talked. Even our suitemates were silent. We were all worried about Vicki and wondering whether Bertha and George would have another shouting match at breakfast about whether everyone should stay at the ranch. Our vacation looked doomed.

  I stitched up the hole in the back of my dress and put it back on. I was getting pretty sick of the billowy thing.

  We were all sitting outside at the table under the oak when Sam and the Tensels walked up. Sam’s expression was resolute. I hoped he hadn’t changed his mind about investigating incognito. He might have decided to let Bandera County authorities determine why and how Vicki fell. If the deputy sheriff assumed Vicki had suffered an accident, a conclusion he might easily reach, we might never learn the truth.

  We plodded to the dining hall like mourners he
aded for a gravesite. I don’t remember if birds were singing. Sam wouldn’t even look at me.

  In the dining hall, everyone stood around, quiet with anticipation. As soon as everybody’d gone through the breakfast line and found a table, Bertha stood and cleared her throat.

  “I know we’re all concerned about Vicki.” A hush fell. “She’s at San Antonio University Hospital, still unconscious. She can’t have visitors.” Despondent sighs rippled through the room. “But doctors expect her to recover.” We sat straighter. People inhaled.

  “Her parents are flying to San Antonio. Let’s pray for the best.” She smiled and settled herself on her bench.

  I glanced at Sam. His face was inscrutable.

  Utensils clicked, interspersed with the murmur of subdued chatter. Nobody talked to me, so I decided I might as well focus on food. When we finished eating, I asked Meredith for the pad and pencil she always carried and walked over to Bertha.

  “I’d like to send a card to Vicki and her parents at the hospital. Can you tell me their names?”

  “Steve and Marcia Landsdale.”

  As I returned to the table, Sam pushed back his chair. “I feel like taking a walk.”

  Since he’d finally spoken, I decided I’d better respond.

  “Me, too.” Uninvited, I jumped up and followed him. When he pushed open the lodge door, I barely swished through before it slammed shut.

  Sam strode briskly down the main road toward the ranch entrance. It was all I could do to keep up.

  He must be furious with me for having teased him. He’d suffered the pain of losing his family. Now he had to deal with a meddling, obstreperous twit—me—complicating the rest of his life. He was never going to speak to me again. He was walking out of my life.

  He whirled and glared at me.

  “I don’t buy it,” he said.

  I froze and sucked in a breath. “Buy what?”

  “What Bertha said about Vicki.”

  “Why not?” I tried to figure out what he was talking about, gauge his expression, and keep from crying while my heart tried to explode.

  “She was just thrown from the horse last night. They’re still doing tests this morning. How could Bertha know the doctors expect her to recover?”

  My mouth started moving. “She’s almost like a relative. Maybe Bertha contacted her doctors early this morning.”

  “It’s too soon. Vicki was unconscious. Doctors wouldn’t know the extent of her injuries yet.”

  “I see what you mean.”

  He started walking. We reached the front gate, he opened it, and we walked through. We’d gone a few yards farther down the road when he whirled to face me again. My heart stopped.

  “Hand it over,” he said.

  “Hand what over?”

  “Whatever you found that you didn’t want to discuss when you started kissing me last night.”

  My stomach churned like an eggbeater. “How do you know I found anything?”

  “You were snooping around at the place where Vicki fell. Hand it over.”

  He sounded firm but not hateful. My heartbeat slowed. I wanted to keep the clues to myself until I was sure I’d found something significant. But I didn’t know how I was going to accomplish that feat. I stalled.

  “If I found anything, which I didn’t, I certainly wouldn’t keep it with me.”

  “Yes, you would,” he said. “You’d be afraid to leave evidence in your room.”

  I hated the way he read my mind. I reached in my pockets, retrieved the contraband and handed it over: wire, rope, fur, rock, and flecks of clown paint from underneath my nails, each in a plastic bag.

  “Good. You kept the items separate.” I exhaled.

  “You have her parents’ names?” I handed him the paper.

  “I’ll call my SAPD buddy.” He put each sample carefully in his pockets, then patted the pistol holstered on his hip under the loose shirt. “Let’s walk farther away from the ranch.”

  He took off with long strides, pulled his cell phone from another pocket and dialed. “Hey, pal. Can you talk?”

  I practically jogged to keep up.

  The guy on the other end of the wire apparently knew Sam’s voice. I heard him respond. “Yeah. What’s going on?”

  Sam lowered his voice. “I’m relaxing on vacation in the Hill Country and didn’t reveal I’m a cop. I think a crime might have been committed here last night. I want to interview the parents of an injured girl. They’re flying from Wisconsin to San Antonio today: Steve and Marcia Landsdale. Can you get me their airline and flight number? Time of arrival?”

  “No problem. I’ll leave the info on your cell. You need backup?”

  “No. I’m good. I need to keep this confidential. But I may come to town this afternoon to use my computer.”

  “I’ll be out of the station. I’ll tell the dispatcher that you’re still on vacation but might come in.”

  He clicked off and turned to me. “That was good work, you getting the names of Vicki’s parents. Makes it easy to find them and interview them.”

  I beamed. In addition to appreciating my efforts, he’d forgotten to be angry.

  I was on a roll.

  “What about the evidence samples? Can your friend send them to forensics?” I asked.

  “No, he’d have to file a CIL form to ask the crime lab to conduct tests and put a case number on the samples. We don’t want to go that route. We don’t even know for sure we’re looking at a crime here.”

  If we didn’t have a crime, why did my feet itch more than my poison ivy patch?

  “My friend at the crime lab might be able to help,” he said. He dialed another number, described the evidence in low tones and clicked off.

  “He said to bring in what we found. He’ll take a look.”

  “You have to take me with you to San Antonio,” I said.

  “Why should I do that?”

  “They’re my samples. I found them. Plus, I talked to Vicki a lot. We hit it off. Her parents are more apt to trust me.”

  “Another cross for those poor people to bear.”

  I ignored his remark. “If Meredith and I hadn’t invited you here, you wouldn’t even know about this case. I talked you into coming, remember?”

  “How could I forget?” He whipped around and headed back toward the ranch, marching several feet ahead of me with a determined stride. “You have an intriguing sense of logic, Agatha.”

  He hadn’t called me Agatha since I crashed into him on the horse trail. Before that, he’d called me Agatha when I confronted murder suspects at the health club after he warned me not to get involved. His calling me Agatha was not a good sign.

  We’d walked all the way back to the ranch entrance, had gone through the gate and could see the outline of the lodge roof in the distance before he spoke. When he turned to face me, his jaw was set.

  I must have blown it. He looked so stern, I had to clench my fists to keep from sticking fingers in my ears. I didn’t want to hear what he was about to say. “Let Meredith know what’s happening,” he said. “Tell her we’ll be back late this afternoon.”

  He was going to take me with him! Before he could change his mind, I ran back to our cabin and motioned Meredith to step outside so the girls wouldn’t overhear.

  “Vicki’s fall might not have been accidental,” I said. “I’m going with Sam to San Antonio to meet her parents—see if we can learn anything. I’ll take my laptop if you don’t need it.”

  “Sure.”

  “If anybody misses us, tell them we went to Bandera for toiletries and will be back late today.”

  “I’m going horseback riding this morning. Maybe I can get information out of the wranglers— learn whether Vicki’s horse had any quirks besides being afraid of lo
ud noises.”

  It was great having a snooping partner. Meredith’s precision with details was stupendous.

  “Be careful, okay? Who else is going on the ride?”

  “Selma’s going. She didn’t want to get back in the river.”

  As soon as the girls left for their morning swim with River Rat, I packed my laptop, treated my poison ivy and put on my baggiest jeans and shirt. I stuffed my pockets with necessities and strolled to Sam’s car. I paused nonchalantly to look around, then jumped in and slumped down in case anybody walked by. I didn’t want to arouse suspicions about why we would leave and return the same day, so close to the end of our vacation.

  Where was Sam?

  Twenty-Five

  Just when I was sure he’d changed his mind, Sam swung into the seat. He’d barely eased the car through the entrance gate when he started grousing. “I still can’t believe you went back to where Vicki fell, alone, in the dark.”

  Since his face was getting red, I kept quiet. “Those pieces of evidence you found: did it occur to you if somebody spooked Vicki’s horse, whoever it was might go back and look for exactly what you found?”

  I kept my face impassive with a mere hint of harmony to acknowledge he might be on to something.

  “If somebody tried to kill Vicki and you showed up, they wouldn’t have hesitated to kill you, too.” Those words scared me. I had to swallow before I could speak.

  “Actually, George and Sunny did show up.” I described how I hid while they looked over the area and left.

  “If one of them was the killer…and he showed up alone…and he found you…” Sam pulled on to the shoulder and stopped the car. He reached across the seat and grabbed my shoulders.

  “Look, Aggie, we both meant those kisses last night—even if you were trying to distract me.” He looked straight at me. “I know that’s what you were doing.”