When the Dead Speak

Chapter 31

Chapter 31

"You didn't have to come," Sam whispered. The closet was dark. She could feel Jake's body pressed against hers.

"Babysitting is not exactly my way of spending an evening either," Jake whispered back. He wrapped his hand around the knob and slowly opened the door.

An earlier phone call to Juanita, Preston's housekeeper, confirmed that Preston would be attending the Chamber dinner tonight.

"Wait." Sam took a small remote control from her pocket, peered out at the bookcase to her right, and aimed the remote at the shelf which housed the video recorder. A tiny red beam located the one-inch hole which exposed the recorder's control panel. With the press of a button, the remote sent the recorder into pause mode.

"Clever. Where did you get that?" Jake asked, stepping from the closet.

Sam smiled coyly. "A friend."

"How much time does it give us?"

"About two minutes." Sam opened the safe and pulled out several items. "There it is."

Jake pulled Hap's pin from his pocket to compare the two. Once Jake snapped pictures of the pins side by side, Sam placed Preston's pin and the remaining items back into the safe.

"What are you doing?" Sam watched as Jake unscrewed the mouthpiece on the phone.

"Getting rid of evidence."

"But I need..."

"We don't have time to argue. Let's go."

Sam pressed the remote again to turn the recorder back on. They exited down the staircase in the closet, through the basement and out into the darkened yard.

They heard Jasper's voice and the Dobermans in the distance, which prompted them to hightail it to the back fence. Sam remembered from her previous visits that it was a straight shot to the back of the property as long as they stayed close to the fence. No ponds or maze of gardens to run through.

Their feet hit pavement as they located a narrow access road used by the lawn service.

"How much farther?" Jake huffed.

"Not much." Her arms pumped but she matched him stride for stride. "There are large boulders we can use them to get over the fence."

The barking intensified, as if the dogs were right on their heels. Jasper had obviously unleashed them.

"Shit!"

"It's just up ahead," Sam said as the dark shadows of the boulders came into view.

They leaped onto the stair step boulders. As their feet hit the top of the wooden fence, Jake wrapped an arm around Sam and pulled her toward him, cushioning her fall onto the damp grassy hill.

They rolled together down the hill to Frank's waiting car.

Sam slid open the patio door to find Abby emptying the dishwasher. Frank followed close behind, an arm wrapped around Jake's waist.

"He's hurt, Abby," Frank said. Streaks of crimson ran down Jake's face.

Abby, dressed comfortably in a nightgown and lightweight robe, quickly pulled her hair back and wrapped an elastic tie around it, preparing for whatever the emergency might be.

"It's just a scratch." Jake lowered himself onto a chair at the kitchen table. The hill they had rolled down had not been a smooth grassy knoll, but a hill speckled with rocks and debris.

"Let me see." Abby pulled the bloody handkerchief from Jake's forehead. "You might need stitches." She placed his hand back on the handkerchief. "Hold it there." Turning to Frank, she said, "There's a first-aid kit in the gym." She told Sam, "Get me a pail of hot water, a washcloth, and soap." Next, she called Alex. Within minutes, Alex arrived with medicinal pastes.

"How did you manage to do this?" Abby pressed the hot wash cloth to Jake's head. Her face was masked in concern and apprehension, but never panic.

"Two hundred and ten pounds hitting an immovable object," Jake replied. His face was smudged with dirt, his jogging suit torn.

Sam grimaced at the sight of the deep cut. "Are you sure you didn't break anything?" Sam asked.

"Maybe he should have X-rays," Frank suggested.

Alex elbowed his way between the spectators. "I need room."

Sam went to the counter to put on a pot of coffee. Frank joined her.

"Did you bring the berry root paste?" Abby asked Alex.

"Yes."

"The berry what?" Jake asked from under the washcloth.

Gently washing the rest of Jake's face, Abby explained, "The paste has a numbing agent which should ease the pain somewhat."

"Did you at least see the pin?" Frank asked.

Jake pulled the Polaroid pictures from his pocket. "Identical. In size, shape, type of clasp. They are the same pins."

"Damn. What a pity we can't do a thing about it. No cause to present a search warrant. And we certainly can't say how we got the pictures." Frank sat down on a stool to study the pictures closer.

"Why can't we just knock on Preston's door and show him Hap's pin?" Sam suggested. "Ask if he ever saw it before. After all, he was in Mushima Valley. He might have known Hap. It's part of our investigation."

"Not yet," Jake said to Sam from behind Alex. "We still don't know how Preston ties in. And if there's even a hint we're suspicious, he's going to either start covering his tracks or get rid of the people who are suspicious."

Alex taped a gauze pad to Jake's head. "I put on a butterfly bandage so I don't think you need stitches. Too bad," Alex mumbled, "you'll live."

"By the way." Sam spun on her heels, away from the cabinet where she had been pulling out cups and saucers. "What gave you the right to take the bug out of Preston's phone?"

Abby looked up from the pail of water. "You bugged the state representative's phone?"

Alex let out a hearty laugh.

"It IS inadmissible," Frank pointed out.

"I wasn't going to use it for evidence. Just information, for my own use."

Jake lightly touched the gauze bandage, his eyes hooded in pain. "When and if Preston is arrested, how do you think it will look in court when that bug is found?"

Once the makeshift emergency room was cleaned up, Alex left and Abby disappeared down the hall.

Frank rolled up his shirt sleeves as he informed Sam and Jake of his call to George Abbott's hospital room in Dallas. Abbott had been with Preston in Mushima Valley.

"His doctor said I can call him in the morning. He just had surgery earlier today. They removed his right leg. Diabetes. Other than that, he's of sound mind and body. Should be coherent enough to answer some questions."

Returning to the kitchen, Abby announced, "You will stay here, Jacob. I want to keep an eye on you should you develop a fever during the night. I have made up the hide-a-bed in the study."

Sam shot Abby a look that did not go unnoticed. They exchanged words in their native language and it was evident that Abby had the last word.

"That's nice of you Abby, but..." Jake started.

"I don't take refusals very well, Jacob." Abby swept out of the kitchen before Jake could respond.

Sam caught up with Abby at the bottom of the staircase. "You're carrying hospitality a little too far. He could have gone home with Frank."

"He would have been over here in the morning for breakfast anyway, dear." She kissed Sam lightly and walked up the stairs.

Clenching her teeth, Sam debated on whether to say anything more. Subconsciously lifting the collar of her jumpsuit, she inhaled the scent of Jake's aftershave which was clinging to her clothes. She could still feel his arms locked around her when their bodies had rolled down the hill. Sam shook the thoughts from her head.