Read Ellen McKenzie 04-Murder Half-Baked Online

Authors: Kathleen Delaney

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Ellen McKenzie 04-Murder Half-Baked (7 page)

BOOK: Ellen McKenzie 04-Murder Half-Baked
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“Okay, but you’ll need some information. First, his name is Hamilton Winter.” Anne stopped and waited, evidently to see if I reacted. I did.


The
Hamilton Winter? The local weatherman?”

“Unfortunately, the very one.” She studied my face. “Surprised? Don’t be. You never know who’s going to be an abuser, just like you never know who’s going to leave his family high and dry. Not supporting your wife and kids is just as abus
ive
, in its own way, as beating them to a pulp. It just kills them more slowly. Now, how about that phone call?”

“I’ll need more than his name. Can you find out what kind of car he drives? And his license number would come in handy.”

Anne gave a grim little smile. “Would save some time, wouldn’t it
?
” She turned to Nathan, who nodded and left the kitchen. He was back almost immediately, dragging a navy blue duffel bag
filled
to more than capacity. Judging by the knobby lumps, clothes were
n
o
t
its
only
contents
. Margaret followed
,
carrying a Mickey Mouse backpack, equally over
stuffed
. I wondered how it would feel to have everything you owned, your whole life and your children’s, reduced to one overstuffed duffel bag and a backpack advertising Disneyland.

Janice appeared, Emily on her hip
and
Ian hanging from her arm. She clutched a slip of paper. “Here. This is the license number. He drives a Lincoln Town Car. What are you going to do?” Her eyes were large and round with anxiety, the lines in her face too deep for a woman her age
. B
ut
her expression held a
faint glimmer of hope as she handed Anne the paper.

“See if we can get you out of here in one piece.” Anne took the paper, read it, and handed it to me. “Okay. I think this is all you’ll need.”

Gina walked into the room before I could pick up the phone. “What’s going on?”

“Janice’s husband saw them when they left the doctor’s office,” Nathan said. “We’re trying to get them out of here and down to the safe house in San Luis Obispo.”

“What kind of car does he drive?”

“A Lincoln Town Car,” Anne said. “Why?

I watched Gina take a deep breath. I think we all knew what she was about to say. “A Lincoln just passed here going slow. A sort of tan colored one. ”

I thought Janice was going to pass out. Gina grabbed Emily and, with her other hand, lowered Janice onto one of the stools. The child started to howl. Janice reached out for her. The child knelt on her mother’s knees and immediately buried her head in her neck.

“Mom?”
Ian pushed up close to his mother. “Is Dad going to come in here?”
His eyes were blinking, as if he were
fighting tears
. “Does he know we’re in here?”

“No.” Anne knelt down in front of Ian and took his hand. “No, Ian. He doesn’t know. But just to make sure, we’re going to send you to another house, one your Dad doesn’t know anything about. Nathan will take you. You’re going to be fine, and so is your Mom.” She gave him a hug then looked up at us. “Gina, go back in the living room and see if he comes around again. Ellen, make your phone call.”

Everyone in the room watched as I flipped open my cell

Nathan and Anne with expectancy and hope, Janice with what appeared to be a mixture of dread and resignation. Three rings later Ida picked up.

“You want me to do what? What will Dan say?”

“Nothing until he knows. Don’t worry, Ida, I’ll take full responsibility. Ask Gary to go. He’s on duty, isn’t he? Tell him this guy’s a wife beater first, a VIP second. And Ida,” I lowered my voice,
hopefully
enough
so
that the children couldn’t hear. “He tried to

abuse his daughter. They need to leave,
now
. In the next ten minutes. Gary’ll do it.”

There was a pause. “My first husband hit me. Just once. I picked up my baby and got out.
Fast. Don’t worry, Ellen. Gary will stop this guy. A routine taillight check works pretty well, and, of course, he’ll need to call
it
in, talk a while, you know. I’ll call you when I know where he is. Tell this creep’s wife good luck. Oh, and tell her I’m watching channel five from now on.” The line went dead.

“She’s setting it up. She’ll call back with his location as soon as they’ve made the traffic stop. And he just lost one perfectly good viewer. Probably more.”

“Good job.” Anne nodded at me. “Okay. Here’s what we’re going to do. Margaret, you’re going to get into your car and go home. Nathan, as soon as she’s gone, pull your car into the garage and
lower
the door. We’ll
make sure they are
in, and just as soon as Ellen gets the call that he’s been stopped, you can leave.”

Margaret looked stricken. “What if he’s out there and sees me? This guy is dangerous.”

“Not to you, he’s not.
If he does see you, he’ll also see that your car is empty. And, if he tries to stop you, make sure he sees you’re on your cell. Besides, Ellen is going to go out on the front porch with her cell phone and keep watch.”

I was? Margaret looked at me speculatively. She didn’t seem convinced that would make it safe to leave. It didn’t convince me either. Keep watch? What was I supposed to do if he did drive by? However, Margaret had started rummaging in her bag for her keys. Evidently she had decided going was preferable to staying.
From the look on her face, I was pretty sure Anne had just lost
a
volunteer. Briefly, I wondered if I could make that two. One look at Janice and her kids, huddled by their duffel bag, erased that thought. I was headed for the front porch.

Margaret walked over to Janice and gave her a hug. “Good luck.” She ran her hand over Emily’s hair and dropped a quick kiss on it
before
kne
eling
down in front of Ian. She took his hand in hers. “You’re a good boy, Ian. Take care of your mom and sister, okay?”

The little boy looked at her with huge eyes and nodded.

“Let’s do it.”
Nathan followed her into the garage, leaving the kitchen door open. He stood in the doorway and turned back to me. “Let me know as soon as you hear where he is.”

Anne grabbed Janice’s hand and squeezed. “They’ll take good care of you down there.” She turned to me and gave me what I’m sure she thought was a reassuring smile. “Stand on the front porch and act like you’re talking to someone. You
have a view
down the street in both directions from there. If you see his car, wave your hand like you’re trying to make a point and don’t look at the car.”

“What if Ida calls?”

“Take the call. Then we’ll know they have him stopped. If he comes back by again, call out to Gina. She’ll be right behind the front door. Then call

is it Ida?

and tell her his location.”

There was silence in the kitchen. Margaret was already in her car, waiting. Nathan stood in the kitchen door, his car keys in his hand, also waiting. Anne looked at me expectantly. Janice just stood there, with her kids and her duffel bag, giving an occasional little shiver. Unfortunately, Anne’s plan made sense. I tried not to let anyone see how scared I was as I picked up my cell phone and headed for the living room. I
gave
myself a little pep talk. After all, this guy wasn’t after me. He didn’t even know I existed. It was Janice and the kids he wanted. All I had to do was stand on the front porch and see if he drove by
.
Somehow, it didn’t help.

“What’s going on?” Marilee sat on the sofa, pillows stuffed behind her back. Leona sat upright in the red chair, the ottoman pushed to one side, watching everyone closely. The expression on her face was grave, but I got the impression that it was a front, a mask. Leona was excited by all the drama, the tension. Marilee, on the other hand, looked pasty white, her eyes huge, her mouth pinched. The poor kid was scared to death.

“Is it Grady? Gina, is that who you saw driving around out there?”

“No, sweetie. It
wa
s Janice’s husband. We’re going to move them. Now.”

“Does he know they’re in here?”

“No. And he’s not going to find out. We’re going to whisk Janice and those babies off to San Luis Obispo right under his nose. So don’t you worry.

I didn’t think it was Janice’s husband Marilee was worried about. As soon as she heard that Grady

whoever he was

wasn’t patrolling the street she relaxed. “This is so awful. Poor Janice. And those children.” Marilee dropped her hand onto her stomach again and stroked it, as if comforting her unborn child. “At least Grady never hit me. Well, only when he was drunk, and he never tried to kill me. Even when he learned I was pregnant.”

Grady? Her husband? Probably. Father of her baby, in any case. How nice he didn’t hit her when he was sober. I wondered, briefly, how often he got drunk.

“Ellen, you better get out there. Where’s your cell?”

I held it up and gave an audible gulp. Gina grinned at me. I couldn’t make myself grin back.

“You’ll be fine.” She turned to the other two with much too much enthusiasm. “Ellen’s going to be our lookout.”

“Yeah?”

Leona looked at me as if she didn’t share that enthusiasm. I couldn’t have agreed with her more
. B
ut Gina was at the door,
holding
it open
.
I went through it.

I’ve never wanted to be an actress, but never as badly as at that moment. What on earth was I supposed to do? I stood on the porch, very aware of the closed front door,
held
my cell phone to my ear, leaned up against a skinny pillar and tried to look natural.
My mouth was so dry I couldn’t even croak.

Nothing happened. Finally a green Honda Van turned into the street. It pulled into the driveway of the house across the street. A woman got out and opened the back door. Two kids and a dog jumped out. They all trooped into the house without a glance in my direction. After a few minutes the woman came back out, removed two bags of groceries from the van, glanced in my direction, and nodded. I nodded back. She went into the house.

What seemed like hours passed. I shifted my weight from foot to foot, let my head swivel from right to left, all the while pretending to talk. My hand and arm were starting to protest. I was tempted to give in and drop my arm down when a car turned the corner. A tan colored Lincoln Town Car
was headed slowly
my way. I could see the driver clearly, checking each house, each parked car. There was no mistaking that head of silver hair, that leading
-
man profile. It appeared nightly on the six o’clock news. He slowed a little when he saw me on the porch. I could see him lean over to get a better look, and the driver’s window started to slide down.

BOOK: Ellen McKenzie 04-Murder Half-Baked
10.04Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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