Final Settlement (36 page)

“Nah, I was just watching a little football, that’s all.”

Sure,
Bitsy thought. Instead she asked if Tina was home.

“She’s gone up to Westerly with Darby to some new spa or something,” he explained. “They’ll be back in a couple of hours.” He paused. “Do you need something, Bitsy?”

She felt a pang of sadness, felt like saying
Yes, I do need something. I need Charles back, I need not to be alone, I need to get this forty-pound puppy off my thigh
…

“No, Donny. I’m just looking at a photo and trying to figure out who some of the people are. It was in the
Manatuck Gazette
five years ago, and Charles has some writing on it. I wondered if Tina might recognize anybody, that’s all.”

“Hmmm. Want me to have a gander? I’m headed over to check on the Merewether place and I can stop in and have a look if you’d like.”

“That would be great. I’ll put a pot of coffee on.”

She hung up, pushed the puppy off her lap, and placed the photo on the top of the hutch, a nice high spot where Rosie couldn’t chew it. The newspaper clipping and Charles’s scribbles were little clues he’d left for her to mull over, and she wasn’t about to let important police evidence get destroyed.

_____

Darby rushed to her friend’s side and shook her, hard.
No,
she
wanted to scream in defiance.
We are not going to die!
She thought of how foolish she’d been to think everything was fine, when all along a murderer lurked in the shadows, just waiting to strike.
Who am I to think I can solve crimes? I don’t know what I’m doing and now it’s going to get us killed.

Please, Tina,
she prayed.
You can’t die
.

To her amazement, Tina opened her eyes, focused on Darby’s fierce look, and gave an imperceptible nod. Darby pointed to a duct at the top of the ceiling. Wearily Tina lifted her head and gazed upward, her eyes glassy.

Darby put a finger to her lips. She then indicated that Tina should lift her up so that she could reach the duct.

The two women were soundless, knowing that Connie was listening in.

Tina boosted Darby up with a little puff of exertion. Darby touched the grate and to her amazement, it moved. Only one of the screws was in place, the result of a hurried—or lazy—worker.

She rotated the grate outward so that there was a small opening into the ductwork, barely sixteen by sixteen inches. She glanced down at Tina.

The redhead’s thin face was nearly scarlet and she was huffing like a marathoner. Darby ignored these signs and looked into her friend’s eyes. There she saw determination—the same emotion that made Tina a tough agent. She wasn’t going to let the crazed Connie win—at least not without a fight.

A moment later Darby felt Tina straining to lift her higher and she scrambled to gain a purchase on the opening. With every ounce of strength she could muster, Darby contorted her naked body and slid into the heating duct.

At the same time the metal scraped Darby’s hot skin, the voice of Connie crackled over the speaker. “Hey! You ladies dead yet?”

_____

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Donny said, gazing at the photo with interest. He was too engrossed to be embarrassed that he’d sworn in front of Bitsy. “That’s Lucas Turner, the Catholic priest from Manatuck. He’s in a nursing home now, poor fellow. Kind of lost his marbles.”

“Father Turner! I remember him from St. Catherine’s.” Bitsy pointed at the photo. “And the woman?”

He squinted his eyes. “That’s Tina’s hairdresser. She’s the one with the new spa up in Westerly.” He put the photo down.

“Connie?”

“That’s right. Connie Fisher. Her husband is the DA in Mana-tuck.”

“Oh.” Bitsy felt disappointed. She could now see the resemblance. The photo depicted a younger Connie, alright, but it didn’t seem to matter in terms of Charles’s notes. “Why do you think Charles wrote in ‘CR’?”

“He must have been thinking of her name before she got married.”

Bitsy felt a shiver that made her spiky hair stand even more on end. “What do you mean?”

“She was a Robichaud.”

Robichaud?
Bitsy’s palms were suddenly damp. “Is Connie related to the detective who killed himself?”

Donny cocked his head. “Guess I never thought about it, but yeah, I think so.”

There was a silence as Bitsy contemplated the implications of Donny’s words. A moment later she looked into the caretaker’s worried face.

“Tina and Darby are in danger.”

_____

Darby wriggled up the duct about a foot and spotted another metal grate opening. She inched toward it, her sweaty skin rubbing hard against the rough metal. It was some sort of a fan, probably for exhaust. Darby put her face against the grate and could feel the cold air of the February afternoon.

If the grate was bolted from the outside, she was out of luck. The most she could hope for was to stay alive until someone found her. But Tina, trapped in the hot sauna itself, would have no chance of escaping. Darby hoped it was not already too late.

She pushed with her good shoulder against the grate. The metal bit into her flesh, but did not move. She tried again, this time trying to ram it with her shoulder blade. Again, nothing happened.

Darby felt desperation rising and she fought to keep it down. What was it her Aikido master always said?
Do not overlook the truth that is right before you
. She examined the exhaust fan for the key to its truth, and saw it in the form of two bolts.

The bolts were lying across the grate, evidence of more laziness on the part of Connie’s team of builders. Although in her real estate practice she had cursed them, she was now thankful for slipshod contractors. She butted against the grate with her head, and this time it budged.

Seconds later Darby had wriggled out of the opening and was standing stark naked on the roof of the spa.

_____

Bitsy and Donny called Deputy Allen, who promised he would contact the Westerly police immediately. They then grabbed their coats and headed for the door.

“What about Rosie?” Bitsy asked, frantic.

“Bring ’er,” Donny commanded. “Let’s go.”

They sped toward town, down the hill, past the Hurricane Harbor Inn and the Café, but the ferry was easing away from the shore as Donny and Bitsy pulled up. “Wait,” Bitsy screamed. “Wait!”

“It’s no use,” Donny said. “They can’t hear you, and even if they did, they don’t stop that thing ever.” He gave her a strange look. “Okay, listen. I know what we gotta do, but I tell you, it’s going to be cold.”

“Who cares? We’ve got to get to Westerly as fast as we can.”

Donny grunted and threw the truck into reverse. He whipped around in a circle and headed toward the public landing. There he jabbed a finger at the dark ocean water. “My boat. Let’s hope she starts in this bitter weather.”

Bitsy gulped and grabbed Rosie’s leash. She felt freezing cold already.

NINETEEN

D
ARBY CRAWLED ACROSS THE
slippery roof, her feet numb from the icy shingles. Whatever emotions she might have felt at being unclothed in broad daylight on a low roof in Westerly were obliterated by her worry at Tina’s condition. She knew, in rough terms, what must be happening to her friend’s weakened body. By now, Tina’s system was sorely low on fluids, hindering her skin’s ability to sweat and stressing her heart to the point where she was extremely vulnerable to an attack. Proteins in other organs, such as Tina’s kidneys, had most likely become denatured, causing a complete shut down of those systems. And poor Tina’s brain …

Darby knew that the human brain was super sensitive to high temperatures, and that excessive heat caused high-clarity thinking to vanish. Was Tina in a stupor on the floor of the sauna? Was she even still alive? As Darby jumped from the eave of the roof six feet down onto a crusty mound of snow, she prayed that the brain in her redheaded friend’s skull had not yet fried.

_____

“Darby?” Terri Dodge’s voice was horrified. “What are you doing?” She glanced up and down the street, pulled off her svelte mink coat, and wrapped it around the real estate agent, who was pounding on the door of the Evergreen Day Spa.

“Tina’s in danger,” Darby screamed, her body shivering under the fur. “We’ve got to get in there.”

“I’ve been trying. It’s locked.” She peered into her face. “What do you mean she’s in danger?”

“Connie Fisher tried to kill us. Tina is trapped in the sauna.” She looked wildly at the side of the building. “That window—we’ve got to break it.”

“But …” Suddenly Terri seemed to understand the severity of the situation. “You say she’s got my sister in there?”

“Yes!” Darby’s feet were numb as she tried to walk. “She’s trying to kill her.”

The next thing Darby knew, Terri had picked up a large chunk of ice and hurled it against the glass.

_____

Donny tied a quick half-hitch to secure his boat and he, Bitsy, and Rosie scrambled out.

“I think the place is just over there.” Donny pointed less than a block away and began running. Bitsy followed, the dog pulling her like a water-skier over the snow. They dashed across the road. The streets of Westerly were quiet, the light starting to wane as the winter sun sunk lower in the sky.

Tina’s SUV was parked in the spa lot. Terri Dodge’s Mercedes was beside it.

“Right here.” Bitsy, out of breath, indicated the Evergreen Day Spa’s gracious front entrance.

A moment later, Donny yanked on the door.

“Closed up tighter than a drum,” he said.

“Over here,” Bitsy yelled, “There’s a smashed window!”

Donny sprang to the side of the building and took in the gaping hole in the glass. He reached up with his gloved hands and hoisted himself into the space.

There was a moment of quiet before the silence was shattered with an ear-piercing scream.

_____

Terri Dodge’s hand was over her mouth, her eyes wide and unblinking. “Good Lord, is she alive?” She looked as if she would scream again, but Darby, bent over the body of Tina Ames, spoke first.

“Just barely. Help me carry her out of this heat and let’s find some fluids.”

Terri stood stock still, frozen at the door of the sauna.

“Terri!” Darby yelled. “Every second counts!” She grabbed Tina’s legs and the towel. “Get her head!”

Woodenly Terri stepped to her sister’s prostrate form and bent down. She cradled the curly head as tenderly as if it were a baby.

“Into the lobby,” Darby ordered. Together they placed Tina on a white leather couch and Darby ran to find water. She returned seconds later with a paper cupful and put it between Tina’s cracked lips.

“This isn’t going to work,” she exclaimed, trying to moisten the inside of Tina’s mouth. She spread the fluffy towel over Tina’s naked torso. “She needs an IV, and fast.”

Terri pulled out her phone. “What’s taking the ambulance so long?” she wailed.

A blur of motion in Darby’s peripheral vision made her tense, but it was Donny Pease, his weather-beaten face a mask of anxiety.

“Oh my God,” he moaned. “Please don’t say …”

“Donny, she’s alive, but very weak. If we don’t get her some emergency treatment soon …”

Terri whipped her head toward the front door where Bitsy was banging forcefully. She jumped up, played with the locking mechanism, and finally swung the heavy door open to let Bitsy in.

Bitsy was panting, her blonde hair standing straight up. “The ambulance,” she breathed. “It’s coming around the corner.”

_____

Only after Tina was loaded on to the emergency vehicle did Darby come across a motionless Liza. She called for an attendant, felt for a pulse, and knew the situation was serious. The girl was barely breathing, slumped over a calendar, a glass of lemon-scented water by her outstretched hand.

“Unbelievable,” Bitsy breathed, as the paramedics went to work. “Connie did this, too?”

Darby nodded. “Drugged her so that she wouldn’t know what was happening.”

“Where is Connie now?” Bitsy looked furtively around the waiting room.

“I don’t know, but my guess is that she took off when she saw that I’d escaped. I think she helped herself to Liza’s car so that she wouldn’t be recognized.”

“That’s exactly right.” Deputy Allen stood, legs akimbo, watching the stretcher leave the spa. He’d been on the mainland and heard the Westerly police responding to an emergency, and had driven over to lend a hand. “Connie Fisher’s own car is out back, and I’ve got the authorities notified as to what she’s driving.” He turned a somber face to Darby. “We’ll catch her.”

Darby exhaled. “I’m getting my clothes and Tina’s.” She turned to Bitsy. “Let’s head on down to the hospital.”

“Donny took Tina’s car and followed the ambulance,” Bitsy said. “I’m afraid Rosie and I came with Donny in his boat.”