John Paul made some calls and Kit sat on the bed next to Virgie, feeling grateful that they were finally working together. It wouldn’t be easy for the two of them. John Paul would never understand her friendship with Farley. They would have to deal with their personal relationship later.
Only one problem with that. Kit watched as he sat beside her on the bed and lifted a water glass to Virgie’s lips. She watched his face as he talked about how much they needed to find Farley.
After he went downstairs to check out, Kit and Virgie sat overlooking the pond outside.
‘You look much better now,’ Kit said.
‘You too.’ She paused. ‘He’s not a bad guy. John Paul.’
‘If he leads us to Rudy, he’ll be stellar.’
‘You know what I’m saying, Kit. Don’t act like you don’t.’
‘We’ll talk about it later.’ She pulled their bags to the door. ‘At least we travel light.’
‘Depends on how you define travel.’ Virgie pulled herself up.
‘You know you can stay here,’ Kit told her.
‘What would you say if I said that to you?’
‘Probably what you’re ready to say to me.’
John Paul returned and Kit put her hand out to Virgie. ‘Come on. Go slowly.’
‘I’m fine.’ Virgie started for the door and grabbed Kit’s arm. ‘Whoa,’ she said. ‘I’d better sit for a minute.’
‘Why don’t you sit for an hour?’ John Paul told her. ‘You’ve got your phone in case you need us. We’ll talk to Rudy and come back for you. Then we can all go looking for the camp.’
‘What if the guy comes back here?’ Kit said.
‘He won’t.’ Virgie sat on the edge of the bed. ‘Think about it. He tried to drug you and did the same to me. He’s moving onto whatever he’s doing next, whatever that is.’
‘If he’s the one who burned the guitars Jonas probably knows who he is,’ Kit said. ‘He hinted that someone in the camp might be breaking the law. In the meantime, we’ll talk to Rudy and get back as soon as we can.’
The other guests stood in the patio area speaking in worried tones. Kit climbed in John Paul’s truck and they pulled away from the parking lot.
‘Do you think she’s safe?’ she asked John Paul.
‘Virgie nailed it. This guy is moving ahead to carry out whatever plan he has. I don’t think he’ll backtrack. Besides, the hotel staff know him.’
They drove past a small group setting up a classic-car show in a park. A gold-trimmed red train moved north on overhead rails.
‘I wish we’d compared notes sooner,’ Kit said. ‘I made the mistake of thinking the group Farley is with was breaking the law in some way.’
‘We don’t know they’re not.’
‘Jonas said they’re not. He insisted.’
‘That doesn’t mean he’s telling the truth.’ He glanced over at her and said, ‘Why are you smiling?’
‘Because I’ve missed this. Even when we argue, you make me think.’
‘Same here. I’ve missed working together as well.’ He reached for her hand. ‘I’ve missed you.’ They held onto each other like that for a moment. ‘And I’m still going to buy you flowers,’ he said.
That broke the tension. They both laughed. He let go of her hand and took hold of the steering wheel again.
‘You do that.’ She pointed to a field of lavender. Some of the bushes were almost as tall as she was. ‘That’s my absolute favorite.’
He put down the windows so the smell of it could fill the truck. ‘I wish I could stop right here and pick you a bunch of it, Kit.’
‘Soon,’ she said and then realized how callous that must sound. ‘Once Farley is safe and this is behind us.’
The road signs directed them to sustainably farmed vineyards, redwoods overlooking natural gardens and the green-and-yellow blur of canola fields.
‘This is the place.’ John Paul parked in a redwood grove perched above a sweep of vineyards. ‘Cabernet,’ he said. ‘I might as well tell you the rest of it. I’ve been here before and Rudy refused to speak to me.’
‘I figured.’
They got out of the truck and walked toward the wine bar, a simple, rustic arrangement of a counter of wooden planks and a few stools.
‘It’s really beautiful,’ Kit said. ‘No wonder people come here to escape from technology and everything else.’
‘Could you do that?’ he asked.
‘Probably not. Remember, I was practically born in a radio station.’ They walked farther. ‘Could you?’
‘I don’t think it’s realistic.’ He looked down at her and for a moment Kit thought he might take her hand again. ‘The bad guys are still out there. They’re still out here. If you go off the grid, give up technology and whatever else these people are doing, you have no control over your destiny. They can walk in and take everything from you. You and I wouldn’t know this much about what happened to Farley without our phones – or his!’
She wanted to ask more but they neared the wine bar and a dark-haired woman polishing glasses with a spotless white cloth that matched her apron smiled at them.
‘We don’t open until later.’
‘We need to talk to Rudy.’ His brisk, official tone seemed to work.
‘One moment.’ The woman picked up a phone and spoke into it. Then she pointed at a tiny structure surrounded by more rough planks. ‘He’ll meet you in the office.’
Wearing the same spotless blue shirt as he had in the photo John Paul had showed her, Rudy strode in, taller and better looking in person.
‘Hey, man.’ He nodded at John Paul. ‘I got to get to work, so make it fast.’
‘Understand,’ John Paul said. ‘We need to find that woman you were with and we need to do it today.’
‘No can do.’
‘My friend Farley is probably with her.’ Kit stepped closer to him. He glanced away from her gaze. ‘You know Farley. You heard him play at the pub, didn’t you?’
‘Yeah.’ He shifted. ‘I heard him and I don’t want no trouble, OK?’
‘What about Chuck?’ she asked.
‘I’m not even going there with you.’
‘The man was your friend and you aren’t talking about him?’
‘Hey, how do you know that?’ He jerked around and poked a finger at John Paul. ‘If Mickey turned snitch, I need to know that.’
‘Kit asked you a question.’ John Paul moved closer to her so that Rudy was forced to look at both of them. ‘What about Chuck?’
‘I don’t know, man.’ He turned up empty palms. ‘One minute we were buddies and the next, he was dead, drowned, with his head bashed in. I didn’t do it, if that’s what you’re thinking.’
‘We know that.’ Kit lowered her voice so as to offset John Paul’s commanding tone. ‘But Rudy, you were at the pub the night Chuck died.’
‘You can’t prove that,’ he shot back.
‘Actually, I can show you a photo of you there,’ she said, ‘but I’d rather you just tell me the truth.’
‘I got nothing to say.’ He turned away from them and paced the room. ‘I told you he was my friend. We worked together. Had a drink sometimes.’
‘What about Megan?’ Kit asked.
He sucked down another sip from his water bottle. ‘I don’t know who you mean.’
‘Sure you do. You spent time with her.’
‘Mickey will pay for this.’ His voice shook. ‘He’s the only one who knew.’
‘How well did you know her?’ she asked.
‘I would’ve seen her again,’ he said. ‘Hell, I would have dated her. Will, though. He was just too much trouble.’
‘Will?’ Kit asked, and remembered the guy at the grocery store.
‘He set me up with her.’
She remembered the photograph on Farley’s phone. A selfie with Mickey and him. Yet behind them, Megan stood with a man holding onto her, a man she denied knowing when Kit confronted her at the fruit stand. It was a photograph that was now on Virgie’s phone, her phone and clearly John Paul’s phone as well.
She reached for hers and pulled the photo onto the screen. Her hand trembled as she looked at it. Although the man’s features were blurred and his hair was pulled back here, he was the same one in the photograph – the same one they had seen in the store. Will.
‘Do you know what this man does for a living?’ she asked.
‘No ma’am.’ He glanced over at John Paul. ‘I’d like to go to work now.’
‘We appreciate your honesty,’ John Paul said. ‘We know you had nothing to do with what happened with your friend. Did you see anything else after you left that night?’
‘Tell you the truth, I didn’t want to see anything.’ He clenched his hands together. ‘I liked the lady and thought she might like me. When Will asked if I had any friends who might, you know, be interested, I told him Chuck.’
‘Why?’ Kit said.
‘I don’t know. Maybe because Chuck was the most decent guy I knew. Maybe because I thought he would be nice to her and then she might be nice to me.’
‘I understand, man.’ John Paul clapped him on the shoulder.
‘I’m ashamed. I never did anything like that before. Never will again.’
‘Do you know where she lives?’ Kit asked.
‘No, and I don’t even want to think about it. Probably with him.’ He sighed. ‘Now, I’ve got to get to work.’
‘Will’s the guy,’ Kit told John Paul as they left. ‘I talked to him in the store. He’s the one who drugged Virgie and tried to drug me.’