Marjorie Thelen - Designer Detective

He hung up.

I went to the bedroom. Jake was lying on the bed, one foot on the floor, arm over his eyes.

“What are we going to do?” I said.

“I don’t know. I was hoping I had extricated myself from that mess. I don’t think Opal is in imminent danger. I could be wrong, but I need to think. Mind if I take a shower? I could use one, and it helps me think.”

I gestured toward the bathroom. “Be my guest. I’ll get you some fresh towels.”

I did a quick check of the bath to make sure I didn’t have dirty underwear lying about. It was in reasonable shape. I pulled out a stack of fresh, white towels and placed them on the counter. I glanced in the mirror and gasped. I looked a fright. I desperately needed a shower, too.

“Jake, use the guest bath. I need to freshen up. Follow me.”

I lead the way down the hall to the other bath, placed fresh towels on the counter and stepped back so Jake could enter.

“Do you have a change of clothes?” I asked.

“Not on me. These will be okay.”

“Too bad I don’t have any men’s clothes lying about. I’ll run out and pick up a pair of jeans and T-shirt.”

“Don’t bother. I’ll wear this. No big deal. I’ll pick some things up at the airport.” He wore a T-shirt and jeans. Cowboys didn’t make fashion statements.

I looked him over. “You really need a fresh T-shirt. Maybe I have something in the back of one of my drawers.”

I hustled to my room which was to the back of the condo and large enough for a small sitting area by the window that looked toward Rosslyn. I dug through a stack of T-shirts in a remote section of the walk-in closet. They were from conferences and other forgettable events that I’ve attended. I had in mind an extra large maroon T-shirt from a Romance Writers conference to which Olympia drug me. As fortune would have it I found it at the bottom of the stack. I shook it and held it up. Across the front was blazoned, I’d Rather Be Writing. He might not like it but it was double X size and a lot fresher than the one he had on. Maybe he wouldn’t notice the writing. I hung it on the doorknob of the guest bath.

Back in my room I dropped my sleuthing outfit on the floor and succumbed to a long, hot shower. It gave me time to think. I dreaded going back. There was no way to stage the rescue without Cody finding out. One rescue was my quota for the day. I still had the key to the front door, believe it or not. We could let ourselves in after dark. But that would give us little time to make the red eye flight to Los Angeles that we had booked. I guess if we could get Opal out we could take her to the airport and put her on a plane. But Hudson had said take her to Oregon. I guess that meant Jake would accompany her so he’d carry on the rest of the caper alone.

I heard Jake leave the bathroom. I yelled down the hall. “Help yourself to whatever you find in the kitchen.”

“Thanks. I could use a beer.”

“In the frig.”

I leafed through my clothes looking for my favorite travelling outfit, a causal, comfortable navy no-iron slacks and sweater outfit. After I had my clothes in place, my hair blow-dried and makeup applied, I searched my top dresser drawer for my passport where I always kept it. Not there. I commenced a thorough search of all the drawers. The passport was nowhere to be found. What a time to misplace it. I wondered whether Jake had a passport.

“Jake,” I said, as I walked to the kitchen, “I can’t find my passport. Do you have one?”

Jake had a bottle of microbrew in hand and wore the maroon T-shirt that was tight across the chest. Maroon was his color though.

“Passport?” he said.

“Yes, you’ll need a passport to travel to Australia.”

“I never thought of that.”

“Does that mean you don’t have one?”

“Never had cause to leave the country.”

“We might not be going to Australia, since you don’t have one, and I can’t find mine.”

I pulled a brew from the frig and poured it into a glass. I never drink beer from a bottle. It is so uncivilized. Leaning against the counter I savored a sip. Jake and I looked at each other.

“You look nice. Smell nice, too,” he said.

“Thanks. I like to look my best when fleeing the country. What now?”

“We could go to Los Angeles and visit Disneyland.”

“True, or New Orleans and eat jambalaya.”

He nodded.

“What about Opal?” I said. The question hung in the air.

Jake swallowed more beer. He smelled of lavender soap and his curly wet hair was slicked back in a vain attempt to straighten it. He looked a darn sight better in jeans and the maroon T-shirt than a suit.

“I’ll go back. I owe Opal Crawford. If she’s in a jam, I’m obliged to help her.”

I nodded. “We’re wearing a path to that house. Too bad we don’t have a helicopter. We could wait until dark and enter by the front door. I have the key. That is if no one has turned on the burglar alarm.”

Jake looked at me. “You said there was no burglar alarm on the front door.”

“Right. Every time I’ve gone in, I didn’t have to disable a burglar alarm. I opened the door with a key and let myself in.”

Jake studied the kitchen clock, the one in the shape of a crowing rooster. “Cody must have disabled the alarm. That’s how he gets the rifles in and out. Someone has a key and enters when they need rifles or bring them in. Could work both ways. All those relatives in the house might have crimped his style. I wonder why he stores the rifles at the house.”

“It’s a mystery to me.”

“I’m going back. I’ll do this alone. No sense involving you in breaking and entering. I’ll take the key you have in case I can’t walk in the back door. Who knows what I’ll find.”

“I should go with you. You’ll need back up. You’re weak in backup systems.”

“What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said. A man without a passport who wants to travel to Australia hasn’t thought about his backup systems. I think of these things.”

“You can’t find your passport.”

That shut me up. I finished my beer, pulled another from the frig and offered him one. We stood leaning against the counter, ostensibly thinking.

Jake looked at the clock again. “It’ll be dark in half an hour. Might as well be on my way. Mind if I use your car?”

“I’ll drive you.”

“Fiona, it’s not a good idea for you to go. Drop me at a car rental place, and I’ll take it from there.”

“I’ll be chauffer. I don’t mind. I think you need backup.”

“No, I don’t.”

I fished in my purse lying on the kitchen counter and dangled the car keys before him. “I have the keys so I have the final say.”

A light was on in the library at the Lodge estate when we drove up. Cody was probably in there scheming. Three windows on the second floor had lights. Was Opal being held hostage? Jake and I decided on the ride over that we’d not do anything sneaky. We would be bold and act like we knew what we were doing. He drove up to the front door and parked. No one came to the door.

“Let’s walk in,” Jake said.

“Wait,” I said. “What about a gun?”

“I don’t have one with me. Do you?”

“Never owned one in my life.”

“Fine, then we walk in like we own the place.”

“What if Cody’s got everybody tied up and is carrying loot out the back door?”

“That’s a chance we’ll have to take.”

Jake tried the front door. It was not locked, and there was no burglar alarm set. We walked in, looked around, peeked in the library. No one appeared.

“Let’s try the kitchen,” said Jake.

We looked in the drawing room, living area, music room as we strolled by but no one surfaced. In the kitchen Hudson was standing at the stove wearing a white, full-length apron, quite the scene of domesticity.

“Hello, Hudson,” I said.

He turned and regarded us with a smile. “How very good to see you. I was making dinner. Have you eaten?”

It never seemed to bother him that we showed up out of nowhere.

“Not yet,” said Jake. “We’ve come for Opal. How’s she doing? Where’s Cody?”

Hudson turned down the heat on a pan of chicken breasts sautéing in garlic and olive oil that smelled heavenly. How could Jake pass on this meal? Hudson wiped his hands on a towel and removed his apron.

“Cody left. He walked out the front door about an hour ago and got into a car that pulled up to the front of the house. Miss Opal, I’m happy to say, has perked up, so I’m making her dinner. Would you care to join her?”

Jake shook his head, no. I nodded mine, yes. Hudson smiled. His cheeks were rosy from cooking. His blue eyes had the twinkle back.

“I like your healthy appetite, Miss Marlowe. I’ll see if Miss Opal will join us. I have a vegetable salad chilling in the icebox. Plenty for everyone.”

“Great,” I said, and he left to fetch Opal.

I smiled at Jake. He frowned and walked to the door to the lower floor.

“Locked,” he said when it didn’t budge.

“I’m sure Cody doesn’t want anyone messing with the goods.”

“I wonder who he left with.”

“I wonder what kind of car it was. Probably black limousine with tinted windows.”

Jake gave half a laugh. “What an imagination. None of that matters anyway. I’ve decided to drive Opal back to Oregon.”

“What?”

“I said I’m going to drive Opal cross country. It’ll take about five days. She might hold up better that way then taking her through airports. Besides, someone might be watching the airports.”

We heard footsteps, and Opal appeared at the kitchen entrance, the perpetual smile on her face. Hudson was behind, urging her in.

“Hello you two,” she said. “Nice to see you again. How have you been?”

Jake nodded. “Are you feeling better?”

“I wasn’t feeling bad. Everyone around here makes such a fuss. Where is everyone?”

Hudson steered her toward the table. “Everyone is out right now. Jake has come to take you back to Oregon.”

“I thought Cody was going back with me.”

Hudson hesitated not a nanosecond and said, “Cody has business to attend to here. He asked Jake to take you back. You’ll be leaving now, won’t she, Mr. Manyhorses?”

“You bet,” chimed in Jake, not missing a beat. “How’d you like to take a cross-country trip?”

Opal seated herself across the table from us. Hudson busied himself setting out plates and silverware. Opal sat smiling, not bothering to answer the question.

“You two are like family.” She smiled wider at the thought.

Jake and I sneaked sideways glances at each other. The idea was not comforting.

Hudson slid a big platter of garlic chicken in front of us as well as a marinated vegetable salad in shiny bright colors. I reached for a serving spoon and helped myself. I was ravenous.

Hudson passed the chicken to Opal. She selected a tiny piece.

Jake said, “Opal, how ‘bout we eat and get you packed. We’ll leave tonight. There’ll be less traffic. We’ll drive across country and take in the sights on our way back to Oregon.”

She helped herself to salad. Hudson poured white wine into her glass.

“My, isn’t this delicious?” she said. “Hudson, you are such a master chef. We will be sad to see you go back to England.”

“Yes, Miss Opal. I’ll be sorry to leave. But I am looking forward to returning to Cornwall. Wine, Mr. Manyhorses?”

Jake shook his head. “Have any beer?”

“Certainly.”

Hudson gave me a good pour of wine. I mulled over the upcoming cross country trip. I would be going alone to Australia, if I ever found my passport.

Jake tried again. “Opal, can you be ready to go?”

“Go where?” She looked up in seeming surprise.

“We’re going to Oregon. I’m driving you back.”

“Is Fiona going with us? Wouldn’t you like to visit the ranch, dear? We’d love to have you. Stay as long as you like. I’m sure Cody will be along soon enough.”

That was true. Cody could fly out and beat Jake to the ranch. “Jake,” I said, “did you consider that Cody would be joining you?”

Jake took a swig from a bottle of Guinness Stout Hudson had placed before him. “We’ll have to see how that goes, won’t we?”

“I reckon,” I said.

“Then you’ll go with us?” Opal said.

“No, actually, I have a trip planned to Australia. I’m leaving tonight.” I checked my watch. “I might not be leaving tonight if I don’t leave soon.” I finished the wine and stood. “Thank you so much all of you. I better get on down the highway so I don’t miss my flight.”