Spooky Hijinks (16 page)

I climbed back into the car and slowly made my way out of the driveway and back onto the main road. Luckily, the Cadillac was able to go through snow that had piled up in the drive. We were slipping and sliding on our way to Rosa Lee Hill’s house, even though we were on the main road. I groaned in frustration when I saw that I was stuck behind the ice truck that was spraying the road with salt. Since there was no way that I’d even attempt to pass with slippery conditions, I slowed down a little, since it’s just not wise to travel too closely to a salt truck. Every winter it was the same thing. You had to learn how to drive in the snow all over again.

“We might get there by noon if we stay behind this truck,” Eleanor muttered.

“Would you rather we land in a ditch?”

“Not really, but you could always let me drive. I could pass that truck in my sleep.”

The mere mention of Eleanor driving gave me a chill, for sure. “I don’t think that’s wise. I’d expect that we’d both be getting married in the hospital then.”

Eleanor crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re really pushing me today, Agnes, and it’s not even noon yet.” Drawing her brows together in a dark frown, she complained, “But it might be by the time we get wherever it is we’re going.”

“To question Rosa Lee about her boys?”

“Oh, yes. I had completely forgotten that you wanted to go there, but what if the feds are watching her place? You know as well as I do that they’re most likely doing that.”

“I don’t care. There’s nothing wrong with checking in on our friend, especially one whose sons are missing, possibly dead.”

“Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She glanced out the window and then back at me. “Do you think Curtis and Curt are actually dead?”

“I’m trying not to let myself think that. They just had to have gotten away.”

“But what about Curt? He’s injured. It would explain the blood.”

“Yes, but Stuart also said it was going out the back door. I’m positive they escaped. Please, whatever you do, don’t say anything to Rosa Lee about her sons possibly being dead.”

“I won’t. I have some empathy for the woman, you know.”

Finally, the truck turned off US 23, and I was able to drive faster, but not too fast since it was very slippery. I passed more than a few cars in the ditch or in the middle of yards, keeping both tow trucks and the sheriff and deputies busy.

We finally arrived at Rosa Lee’s potpourri shop, and I slid the car into her driveway, narrowly missing her vehicle as the brakes finally stopped us at the last possible minute.

Eleanor and I got out, and I knew better than to just go into her shop since strong fragrances had put me in the hospital on a few occasions on account of my asthma. I rang the doorbell at her back door, and I heard a scuffling before the door was opened by a teary-eyed Rosa Lee. She gave me a hug, and when she released me, she said, “Come inside, girls. It’s so nasty out there today.”

We walked inside and sat at the table as Rosa Lee wrung her hands. “Can you believe that my boys are missing, girls?”

“I know. That’s why we came over. We were worried about how you were taking the news. Did the sheriff tell you?” I fished.

“Oh, no. It was those damn federal agents. They weren’t none too nice about it, either, I tell you that much.” She blew her nose on a tissue and continued, “Do you know they actually asked to search my place, like I was hiding my boys here? As if they had done something wrong.”

“Actually, that doesn’t surprise me at all. The feds don’t care about how you feel. They just have a misguided idea that your boys are behind the guns stolen in the Tawas area.”

“It would be pretty stupid to steal their own guns,” Rosa Lee said in a huff. “Can you imagine them doing that?”

“Not at all. I helped your boys find their stolen guns the first time, but now they’ve once again turned up missing.”

Rosa Lee’s brow rose sharply. “What would you do something like that for, Agnes?”

“I don’t know. I guess I just wanted to help. I did find their guns, but after they got them back, they gave them to someone else for safekeeping, and now they were stolen again.”

“Agnes means that we found them at Robert Miller’s house,” Eleanor said. “I think someone is trying to make your boys look guilty.”

“How can they look guilty when their own guns were stolen?”

“Because they never reported the crime,” I said. “And your son Curt was injured in the robbery.”

Rosa Lee leaned back against her counter. “So that’s what happened. They told me they got the injury playing war games at the militia camp.”

“I think that’s why they asked us to take you home that day, so they could figure out who robbed them. Robert Miller’s face was caught on the game camera at their place.”

“But he’s just a kid.”

“I know, but he wasn’t at his house when we went there. His mother checked her shed, and that’s where the guns were hidden. But now they can’t find the boy.”

“Vivian just showed you her shed, just like that?”

I hadn’t thought about it like that until she said it. “Yes, but I’m sure she’s quite aware of what her son is like. He’s trouble, for sure. I’m now worried that whoever had stolen the guns might be going after him.”

“But you said the guns were stolen again?”

“Yes, but he might just know something, something that whoever is involved in the gun thefts wants kept quiet.”

“So what is your gut feeling about your boys?” Eleanor asked.

“Either someone killed my boys or they’re on the run. I’m not sure which, but I won’t believe that my boys are involved in a gun theft ring or that they’re dead. So, please, Agnes and Eleanor, find my boys. Clear their names.”

I gave Rosa Lee’s shoulder a squeeze as I stood up. “We’ll try, but did your boys say anything that might help us?”

“No. They don’t tell me too much about what they do, other than if they’re going out to the camp.”

“The militia camp?”

“Yes, but it’s the wrong time of year for that.”

“How about Harvey Smith? What do you know about him?”

“I don’t know. They told me he just got out of prison and was trying to turn his life around. He seemed like a nice enough man when I met him the one time.”

“What else did the feds say when they questioned you?”

“Just that if I see my boys to call them right away, and that if I didn’t, they’d make sure I never saw the light of day again.”

I felt my anger building now. I couldn’t blame them for trying to find the Hill brothers, but did they really need to bully their mother? I just hoped that it wasn’t my son who had threatened her. If he had, I’d have some harsh words for him.

“Do you know where your sons might go if they got away?” I pressed one last time.

“No, but I’d check with Harvey. He seemed like he got along with my boys just fine. Only someone who’s been in prison could understand what it’s like to get out and try to rehabilitate themselves. I know my boys had to sway public opinion in the area, but they managed to accomplish that. Curtis and Curt are known to be model citizens of Iosco County now and would really do whatever they could for someone.”

“Thanks, Rosa Lee. We’ll be on this case until it’s solved. We have a list of potential witnesses to question, too.”

“Thanks, girls, but please be careful. I can’t risk losing anyone else close to me.”

“After this case is over, I want your whole family at our wedding on Christmas Day.”

“I’ll be there, but that doesn’t give you much more time to wrap this up, especially with the feds on your tail. I don’t know what might happen if they find out you’re on the case,” Rosa Lee said.

“We’d be arrested, so please keep it to yourself,” I said as I turned to leave.

“Do you happen to have an extra key to your son’s house?” Eleanor asked. “I think we should check out that place to see just what the conditions might really be like, to help us determine what might have gone down there. Personally, I feel like the feds are making a mission to pin this on someone.”

Rosa Lee went over to a cookie jar and came back with a key, handing it to Eleanor, who slipped it into her pocket. We left in a hurry, since I was still a little worried about Stuart catching us and making good on his claims to have us arrested.

Once we were back on US 23, heading for Tawas City, Eleanor asked, “Are we going over to Curtis and Curt’s house now, or—”

“Not yet. Plus, I expect that the feds are keeping a watch over the place or aren’t yet done with their investigation over there just yet.”

“Then are we going to question Harvey?”

“Nope.”

Eleanor pounded her fist on the dash. “Then where are we going?”

“We’re heading over to Robert Miller’s place. I want to question Vivian, but we’re only doing it in such a way that she thinks we’re only worried about finding her boy, got it?”

“Sure thing. I just hope that your son doesn’t pop up where we’ll least expect him to.”

“Me either. That’s why we’ll be parking on a side street and walking over to Vivian’s house. Her driveway is too visible from US 23 to whoever might be passing the place.”

              
Chapter Fourteen

I did exactly what I said. I pulled down a side street and parked in the driveway of a foreclosed home. Eleanor and I then trudged through the snow all the way over to Vivian’s place. Her driveway hadn’t been plowed or shoveled yet, and that included her sidewalk, but we managed to make it all the way to her door without either of us falling on our asses. Eleanor knocked, and when the door opened, Vivian looked down at us from behind her perky nose and asked, “What do you two want, now?”

“We’re here to ask you a few questions about your son, Robert,” I said.

“We’re terribly worried about him,” Eleanor added. “We hoped we might be able to be of some help.”

I almost wondered if she would even let us in, but she finally did open the door farther. “Come inside, then. You’ll catch your death out there.”

I walked in, with Eleanor right behind me. We took off our boots and joined Vivian on the couch. Inside was quite cozy, with a brown leather couch and a fireplace that had a roaring fire going. It was very clean, too, without a thing out of place. I stared at the large, curved television that I knew was newer technology, and quite costly, too.

“So it’s true your son is missing?” I asked.

“That’s up for dispute. He’s gone, but I can’t say he’s missing exactly. He might have just run off. He does that sometimes.”

“Did you call the police about his disappearance?”

“I did, but I didn’t get the feeling that it would be their top priority. He thinks Robert might have just run away again. The sheriff doesn’t care about my missing boy. He’s been labeled as trouble for years now. Robert will be back when it is safer. Right now, it’s just not.”

“Do you know where those guns came from?”

“No, and I have my doubts that Robert did, either. He’s just a boy, and it’s easy to persuade someone his age to do things with the promise of money or gifts.”

“Like that curved television?” I asked.

Vivian’s eyes darkened for a moment, and then she said, “I know it was wrong to take it, but you just don’t turn a gift like that away. It’s better to let them think you’re playing along.”

“Who brought the television here?”

“I have no idea. Two men driving a commercial truck just delivered it, that’s all I know.”

“So you weren’t here when it was brought?”

“No. At first, I told Robert to call whoever gave it to us and tell them to take it back, but he begged me not to do that. He insisted if we gave it back, it would be an insult.” She shuddered. “It was the look in his eye when he said it that really bothered me. He was afraid, I’m sure of it.”

“What about the guns? How did Robert react when he found out the Hill boys came here to get their guns back?”

“He was frightened and yelled at me.” She began to cry. “He t-told me that the person he was holding the guns for would come after him now, and maybe me.”

“What happened after that?”

“He locked himself in his room, so I made his favorite meal, spaghetti. I had hoped that he’d cool off and come out to eat, but when I went to his room, he was gone. He had crawled out the window and left.”

I handed Vivian a tissue. “I’m so sorry, but it seems that your son got himself into something big here. Did anyone come here looking for Robert, or asking questions?”

“No. I thought that Robert might have told someone that the guns were gone now. The only ones that came here after that was the ATF, the big jerks. They accused me of harboring my son and threatened to arrest me if I didn’t turn him over to them. I don’t think they believed that I didn’t know where he was.” She blew her nose. “I let them look around the house for Robert, just so they’d leave me alone, and I didn’t think they would at first, until the one fed told them it was time to leave.”

“That seems to be their MO,” Eleanor said.

“They didn’t take anything from Robert’s room?” I asked.

“Not that I know of, but they trashed the place. I’ll show you.” Vivian took us to Robert’s room, and it was indeed trashed. His mattress had been turned over, and the contents of his drawers dumped on the floor. “See, what did I tell you?”

“What a bad ordeal to go through, but they can’t just take things without a warrant, unless you gave them permission to search your place. Did you?”

“I don’t think I did. I mean, I told them Robert wasn’t here and they could look for him themselves. That sounds like I gave them permission to search Robert’s room, too, I suppose.”

“Sounds like it to me, but I’m not sure how legal it is. I’d have to ask my fiancé about that. He’s an attorney.”

“Do you know of anywhere Robert might be at?” Eleanor asked.

“He’s close to Megan Schultz. She lives at the Tawas Beach Club with her mother.”

“Girlfriend?”

“Not that I know of, but they are quite close.”

“You mean they live at a house in the Tawas Beach Club?” I asked to clarify.

“As in private Tawas Beach Club?” Eleanor asked.

“Yes, it’s surprised me that my boy would even hang out with Megan. I know her mother, Tonya, didn’t approve either. She came over here personally to tell me that if I didn’t tell my son to stay away from Megan that she’d make sure he was arrested. I wasn’t sure what she meant by that. I know my boy is no angel, but he’s no trailer trash either.”