Naked Frame Part 21

Rebecca downs.h.i.+fted, and floored the accelerator. Soon they were up to 50 mph.

"They're coming up fast."

They heard bullets. .h.i.tting metal. They were now at 65 mph.

Gabby said, "Please. Not the tires."

They heard a bullet hit solid metal, followed by a loud clang.

"What was that?" said Rebecca.

Gabby took a peek. "There went the tailgate."

More shots rang out.

"Watch out for that pothole," said Gabby.

Rebecca swerved. At 70 mph, she was afraid the giant hole in the road could pop a tire or rip out the axel. The front tire cleared it, but the left rear tire hit it-dead center.

The back of the truck dropped and bounced up. The lumber in the bed hung suspended in midair for a moment, and crashed back to the bed. But now the jostled pile of wood was repositioned-a foot or so away from the cab. One of the top pieces was at a tipping point-about to fall onto the road.

"I've got an idea," said Gabby. "We need to hit another pothole."

"Are you kidding me? That last one nearly wreck us."

"Yeah, but if you do it again I think it will dump some of our lumber."

"And hit the car."

"Hopefully."

"That might work."

"There-coming up on the left side of the road. Can you hit it?"

"I'm gonna try."

More bullets sprayed the truck.

"Hang on," said Rebecca, aiming for the pothole.

She hit it with the front tire and the back. The lumber did a double bounce.

"That wasn't enough," said Gabby. "No, wait. There goes one."

The board fell out of the bed, and flew down the road. The driver of the Impala apparently didn't see it in time.

"Bulls-eye!" said Gabby. "He's got a new hood ornament." He laughed. "That can't be good for the engine."

Bullets pelted the truck.

"The only bad thing is, if we drop too much lumber," said Rebecca, "we're not going to be bullet proof anymore."

"There goes another board. Whoa, it's airborne. Oh, G.o.d!"

"What happened?"

"It went through the winds.h.i.+eld. The car's going off the road. It's slowing down. I think that board was a direct hit-to the driver's head."

"Well, I'm sorry if somebody had to die. But I'm glad it wasn't us."

CHAPTER 35 - Tuesday, 11:15 p.m.

The old pickup made it to the used car lot where Gabby's car was parked. They searched the area and found their cell phones, as well as Rebecca's holster and pistol. The phones were banged up, but still working. They got into Gabby's car and drove away.

Rebecca had missed a call from Wendy, her secretary. She called her back with the phone on speaker.

"Hey, Wendy. Sorry I missed your call."

"Rebecca, where are you?" She sounded funny.

"I'm...out and about-working on a case."

"Well, I went out earlier to pick up some baby formula and I pa.s.sed by the office, and..."

Rebecca cringed. "You didn't go into the office did you?"

"Well, your car was there and the door was unlocked."

"Oh, Wendy..."

"So, I went in. But you weren't there. And I thought that was so weird, and-"

"-you went into my office?"

"Yeah."

"So, you called the police?"

Wendy hesitated. "Why would I call the police? Because the door was unlocked?"

"No, Wendy. What did you find in my office?"

"Nothing. Well, your dad's old gun case was sitting on your desk. And I thought that was odd since you usually keep it locked in a drawer, but-"

"-so, there was nothing on the floor?"

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't see anything usual-other than the gun case?"

"No, that was all. Are you okay, Rebecca?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. So, you locked the door?"

"Yes, of course."

"Thank you so much, Wendy. And take tomorrow off. I'm giving you a paid holiday."

"Oh, thank you, Rebecca."

"Goodnight."

"What the h.e.l.l?" said Gabby.

"Are you sure Big Bill was dead?"

"I thought he was. He was definitely on the floor."

"So, you're not sure he was dead?"

"Well, like I told you-half his face was blown off."

"But you didn't check his pulse?"

"No. I didn't want to touch him. I don't like touching dead people."

"What if he's not dead? What if somebody came in and got him. Took him to the hospital."

"I suppose that's possible. But why would they clean up the mess?"

"Yeah, that doesn't make sense."

"What if he wanted to make you think you had killed him?"

"Or think I had been framed."

"Yeah."

"I don't get it," said Rebecca. "But one thing's for sure. Joey Ketrousie wants us dead."

"Well, now we can go to the police. Let them protect us."

"I don't know. It could be a trap."

"But if you're innocent..."

"I know. I just need to think about this."

Gabby pulled into the motel parking lot and drove up to their room. Rebecca looked around to see if anybody was watching them. They got out of the car and went inside.

"We're not the only ones who thought Big Bill was dead," said Rebecca.

"Yeah. Kimberly and Joey apparently thought so."

"And what about Wiley? And how about Harvey Hamstel and Phillipa Thagery? Did they think he was dead too? And if so, why? Who told them? Or were they in on the scam?"

"Maybe they're not. Maybe Big Bill faked his own death to see who he could trust."

"Yeah," said Rebecca, "that does sound like something he might do."

"And if he's alive, maybe he's the one who killed Carly...and Calvin. He could have even been the one who burned down my shop."

"This is a real tangled mess," said Rebecca. "We've got to find Big Bill. There's a website that lets you search for owners of property. We can search on his name and see all the properties he owns. Maybe he's hiding out at one of them."

"Great idea."

Gabby took out his smartphone. They found the site and ran the search.

"Oh," said Rebecca, "look at this property. It's outside of town."

"It's just a piece of land. Acreage."

"Let's plug that address into Google Maps and see what we get."

"Okay."

When it came up, Rebecca said, "What's that? Zoom in."

"Looks like a barn."

"That could be it."

"You really think a wealthy guy like Big Bill would hide out in a barn?"

"Maybe it's not a barn. Maybe it just looks like a barn. Besides, we don't know when this picture was taken."

"That's true. These images are not real-time."

"Look, I know it seems like I'm grasping at straws, but I've got to go out there."