VAN HORNE GRILLED Luke for several more minutes about Victoria, but there was nothing more that Luke could tell him. Finally he was released to return to the hospital and see Orson.

He drove back down the dirt road with a heavy heart, not certain what to do. The FBI agents at the hospital had made it clear that they didn’t want his help, and the officers here were ready to arrest him. He had to find Abby, but he had no idea where to begin looking. He’d left the Dancing Purple Grape vineyard and was almost back to the freeway when his phone rang; there was no caller ID. Thinking it was one of the agents, he pulled over to take the call.

“Hello?”

“Luke, can you talk?” The raspy voice was unmistakable.

“Victoria, people are looking for you. Where are you?”

“Closer than you think. I need your help.”

“With what?”

“I know where Stuart is, and I want you to help me catch him.”

Napier turned off the light that had illuminated the storage unit, plunging them into darkness. He turned on a small flashlight and brought the handcuffs back to Abby.

“I’m going to sleep. You have to be restrained.”

Abby was too tired to argue with him. He didn’t cuff her to the chair, just hands behind her back.

“I’m going to take a nap. The battery will be fully charged in an hour. At that time I will leave and then call and tell them where to find you.”

“The combination?”

He shook his head. “You’ll get that when I feel safe.”

He climbed into the back of the Camaro for his nap. The flashlight went out and the darkness in the unit was total. All Abby could hear was the hum of the battery charger. She was exhausted, but to try sleeping on a folding chair with her hands cuffed behind her was impossible. She knew that she was flexible enough to slip the cuffs, to move them in front of her, and that was what she decided to do.

Sliding off the chair to the floor with an ooof, she lay still for a minute and listened, wondering if she’d disturbed Stuart. There was no movement from the car, so she folded her knees under her and stretched her hands under her butt, grimacing at the pain from the stretch and from the cuffs. It hurt, but it was totally worth it. Once she had the cuffs in front, she bent from the waist, head on her thighs and took deep breaths, trying to ignore the burning in her wrists. After a minute she relaxed, wondering if she could sleep like this. Certainly her shoulders thanked her for the move. It was then that she heard the noise.

A shoe scraping the pavement outside the door.

She turned her head. It was faint, but it sounded as if someone was walking outside the unit. She strained to hear. They were footsteps going back and forth, she was sure of it. She could see nothing inside the unit but was fairly certain that Napier wasn’t stirring. She prayed that he couldn’t hear what she heard.

Napier had locked the unit where he hid the rental car, but he couldn’t lock this unit, not from the inside. Anyone could pull the door open.

Someone was out there. Who was it? And was her rescue imminent?

“Victoria, where are you?”

“I hired a plane immediately after your call and flew up here. Right now I’m at a park in downtown Paso Robles, across from city hall.”

Luke knew the spot. A few days ago he and Abby had had lunch there. He pulled back onto the road and headed for the park.

“A lot of people are looking for you.”

“Bureaucrats. They won’t let me help. They would only tie my hands.”

“I think you’re wrong. Stuart shot Orson. The FBI is here in force. They won’t let him get away.”

“Are you on your way here?”

“Yes, I’ll be there in a couple of minutes.”

“Did you tell the FBI that you found me?”

“No, I haven’t had a —”

“Well, don’t until we’ve had a chance to talk.”

“I really think the sooner they know, the more help they’ll be.”

“I won’t talk to them, and I won’t talk to you unless you promise not to call them.”

Luke frowned. What was up with her? “Okay, okay, I promise.” He slowed as he reached the dark park. “Where are you? . . . Oh, I see.”

There was a dark Land Rover stopped near the bathrooms with its lights on, and he could see the interior light. Luke pulled his car into the space next to it and got out. The driver’s door opened, and a man Luke had never seen before —a big man who looked like a bouncer —nodded his way, then opened the back door, gesturing for Luke to get in.

Luke complied. Victoria was there with a computer on her lap and a distorted smile on her face. There was no sign of her nurse. The door was shut behind him, and the driver climbed back behind the wheel. Before Luke had a chance to say anything, the Rover pulled away from the curb.

“Where are we going?”

Victoria turned the computer toward him, and he saw a route highlighted on a map.

“I’ve found him. I know where Stuart is. Now we’re going to catch him.”

Luke remembered what Abby had said about the prospect of Victoria actually coming across Stuart at a winery. She’d said whatever happened, it would be ugly. Was that where they were going now? To an ugly confrontation?