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Rusty was riding the same wave of disbelief. Finding her Soldier Boy was the upside of this case. Now all they had to do was break this gang wide open before anyone else disappeared.
She drove all the way back to Jubilee before she called the penthouse.
Patricia answered on the second ring.
“Hello?”
“I’m in Jubilee, Aunt Pat, but I had to wait to collect my rental. I am on the way to the hotel now.”
“Wonderful,” Patricia said. “We’ll be watching for you out front. Pull into valet parking and we’ll take care of the rest.”
“Will do. I can’t wait to see you,” Rusty said, and disconnected.
As it turned out, she didn’t need GPS to find the Serenity Inn. It loomed above the skyline of Jubilee like the Eiffel Tower. All she had to do was keep driving toward it. Traffic was steady, and the sights were intriguing. But knowing what was happening beneath the excitement and glitter in this town took a lot of the joy out of sightseeing.
A few minutes later, she reached her destination, pulled up at valet parking and got out. She was opening the trunk to get her luggage when she heard someone calling her name and turned around.
Ray and Patricia were walking toward her, and Ray was issuing orders as he went. A valet gave her a receipt and parked her car, while a bellman grabbed her bags and headed for the lobby.
Rusty was engulfed in hugs and sympathy for her aches and pains, and then they took her inside and into their private elevator all the way to the penthouse, with the bellhop and her luggage in the corner behind them.
When the doors opened, the bellhop took her luggage into the foyer and then at Ray’s instructions down the hall to her bedroom, leaving Liz the last one to greet her.
“Rusty! You look amazing! Long time no see,” she said, and gave her cousin a careful hug. “I know you’re recovering, so I hope I’m not squeezing anything that hurts.”
“I’m just a little bruised and bent but not broken,” Rusty said. “And speaking of looking good. You grew up into a beauty. Life appears to suit you.”
Liz grinned. “I try.”
Ray shook his head. “She tries us all,” he said, which made everyone laugh, and then he added, “But she’s also the light of our lives, so she’s always forgiven.” The bellhop reappeared, and Ray let him back on the elevator, then held it for himself. “Rusty darling, I hope you’ll forgive my hasty exit, but I have a meeting in my office in a few minutes. I’ll see you at dinner and we can catch up then, okay?”
“Absolutely, Uncle Ray. I didn’t come here to be entertained. I had a chance to touch base with all of you again and I selfishly took it. We’ll talk later.”
Ray stepped inside the car and then he and the bellhop were gone.
Pat turned toward her niece and, for the first time, saw the shadows in her eyes. “Oh, darling, you’re exhausted, aren’t you? Would you like some food and then a rest?”
Rusty sighed. “I would love that, but I want to wash up first.”
“Of course. Your suite is down that hall, last one on the left. It has a grand view of the mountains, if you like that sort of thing,” she added.
“I do like them. I saw them as we were flying in. They’re magnificent. I won’t be long,” Rusty said, and then shouldered her purse and headed down the hall.
Her knee and ankle were stiff from all the flying, and she was limping ever so slightly as she walked away, but the women noticed it.
“She’s limping,” Patricia said. “She needs a go in the hot tub later. If you don’t have anything planned with Michael tonight, maybe you could join her.”
Liz frowned. “I’m not talking to Michael at the moment. He was an ass, and I’m making him sorry.”
Patricia arched an eyebrow. “You know best, I’m sure,” she said. “Come help me set out some food.”
***
Lindy Sheets made it as far as Detroit before she stopped running. She needed to sleep before she crossed the border into Canada. She still had family there and visited at least once a year. No one in the organization knew Lindy held dual citizenship in the United States and Canada. She had an active Canadian driver’s license and passport in her maiden name, Melinda Lehigh, and went back and forth between countries at least twice a year, so she felt safe in crossing that border. It was time to go home and get lost there. But for now, she had a semi-safe place to rest, and there was always tomorrow for moving on.
***
Danny Biggers had been born on the far side of Pope Mountain into a family of poverty and hardship. He was far too young when he wound up on his own and looking for a place to belong when he fell in with the wrong crowd. He was already lost when he happened upon Rachel Pope coming out of a store in Jubilee. He followed her car up the mountain just to see where she lived and considered the flat tire she had a stroke of luck. When he pulled up behind her, she thought he was going to help. And he did. He helped himself to her, and left her lying in the ditch beside her car and never looked back.
