“He’s gone,” she snapped at Huddy, then turned her nolonger solicitous attention on Wendy. “You’re positive you didn’t see your uncle go outside and you don’t know where he might be, Mrs. Ramirez?”
“Why, no. I’m sure he’s probably just taking one of his morning constitutionals. He’ll be back soon. If you’d like to wait for him I’ll make us some coffee.”
“Another time, thanks.” Huddy was already halfway to the front door, leaving a deeply confused couple in his wake.
He barely beat Somerset to the car. “Where do you think the old bastard’s got to?”
“Why ask me?” Somerset growled back at him. “Nobody saw him go out. There’s nothing on last night’s tapes, as you well know, so he couldn’t possibly have been in touch with the girl even if she’d somehow managed to get to a phone.”
Huddy gunned the engine and the car squealed as it shot off down the street. Behind them, Arriaga and Wendy Ramirez stood on the porch and watched as it squealed a second time rounding the far corner.
“This is crazy,” Arriaga was muttering. “Crazy. That woman, she was so confident a moment ago. Now all of a sudden they panic because your Uncle Jake’s gone for a walk. I don’t understand.”
Wendy Ramirez leaned against her husband’s shoulder and said nothing. The brief, bizarre visit had pushed her emotions to the breaking point. She held tightly to the only stable part of her life and tried to still her trembling.
Somerset and Huddy didn’t even bother to return to the motel room. Huddy roared into the parking lot of a U-Totem and viciously stabbed the break pedal. Somerset had the door open before the car came to a stop. With the number committed to her remarkable memory, it took only seconds to dial the private number of the VIP suite at the refinery. The young clerk inside the store peered curiously out at the idling car and the elegant woman using the pay phone.
Drew picked up the receiver, wondering who would be calling the suite this early. He wore only slacks, a white shirt open at the collar, and a .45 in a shoulder holster. He waited for the phone to ring three times before picking it up, holding the magazine he’d been reading in his free hand.
“Drew here,” he said quietly into the phone. Drew was always quiet. It was almost impossible to upset him, which was one of the reasons his services were valued so highly. In his line of work, inconspicuousness was a virtue.
“Drew, this is Somerset. I’m on my way to the plant.” When no reply was forthcoming she added, “Ruth Somerset, Benjamin Huddy’s partner.”
“I know the name, lady. Where is Mr. Huddy?”
“In our car. He’s coming up with me.”
“Why the call? I thought everything was going to be wrapped up today.”
“So did we. We went to the parents’ house. The old man isn’t there and they don’t know where’s he gone to.”
“Well he sure as hell ain’t shown up here,” Drew informed her. “Only one’s been on this floor is the regular receptionist and the meal boy from the kitchen. Nobody else. I’ve been here all the time.”
“What about the girl? Is she still where she belongs?”
“Unless she’s learned how to fly while sleeping,” said Drew sardonically. He was a little surprised when Ruth Somerset replied in deadly earnest.
“Go check on her and make sure she’s still there. I’ll hold at this end.”
“Whatever you say, ma’am.” Shaking his head in disgust he pressed hold on the phone console and put the receiver down on its cradle. Typical, he thought. Likes to give orders just to see them obeyed. Snooty bitch. Well, it was all part of the job. He unlocked the door barring the bedroom from the sitting room and stepped inside.
He got a nasty shock when he saw the empty bed, but Drew wasn’t the kind to panic when confronted with the unexpected. He’d handled too many awkward situations in which he’d come out on top to panic now. So the girl wasn’t in bed. She’d awakened from her stupor and gone exploring. That was improper, but hardly threatening.
Sure enough, there she was in the bathroom, sitting on the inside rim of the bathtub and staring out the window.
“Enjoying the view?”
She jumped slightly at the sound of his voice, turned to glare at him. He’d been standing there for a long minute before she noticed him, which meant she was still feeling the effects of the drugs. There wasn’t anything outside the window to concentrate on except sunlight and water and unattainable freedom.
“You could’ve called me if you had to go that bad,” he told her, grinning unpleasantly. “I would’ve been glad to carry you.”
“Just get out,” she said, her voice thick from the sedation. “Get out and leave me alone.”
“Why, sure. Why not?” And he turned and strode out of the bathroom. Back in the sitting room he picked up the phone, pressed the hold button to release it.
“Somerset?”
“Yes?”
“She’s still here. Crawled into the john. The effects of that stuff you sent me must have worn off. I’ll redose her and get her back in bed as soon as we stop gabbing.” He waited patiently, could hear her talking to someone else. Huddy, probably.
Then she was speaking into the pickup again. “We don’t know where the old man is. He can’t know where the girl is, of course. She hasn’t had access to a phone or anything?”
“What’re you, nuts? You know there’s no line in the bedroom and I’ve been sitting on this one ever since she was brought in. Besides, she’s been in dreamland until just now. You think she crawled out a window and got to a phone in another room?”
“No. No, of course not,” said Somerset, feeling a little better about the situation. Probably Pickett was just out for a morning stroll. They’d return to his niece’s house later in the afternoon to pick him up. She was a little mad at herself for reacting so anxiously.
Drew was another problem, however. She’d felt an instinctive antipathy toward him ever since Huddy had brought him into this business. His efficiency and discretion were not to be denied, however, so she supposed she’d have to tolerate his insolence a while longer.
“There’s still an outside chance the old man might have discovered where the girl’s being held.”
“I don’t see how,” Drew said blithely, “unless someone slipped up at your end.”
Somerset bristled at the implication but held her temper. By tomorrow they’d have no further need of the man’s services.
“We’ll assign blame later, if there’s any to assign. Right now we have to get our people out looking for Pickett. I’m sure he’ll return to the niece’s house sooner or later. He’s got no place else to go. Maybe he’s sitting somewhere and meditating, who knows? We’ll probably locate him in town.”
“Sure, he’s probably having a cup of coffee somewhere,” Drew agreed. “No reason to get upset, ma’m.”
