California Schemin' - Kate George [52]
A day or two? How long did they plan on keeping me here? If I identified the two criminals, wouldn’t that be the end of it? I started to think about Fogel. Was he looking for me? How was the senator going to explain my presence in his house? Was Fogel in on the whole thing?
The possibilities made my head hurt. I missed Meg and my dogs and Beau. An image of Beau laid up with a broken leg worrying but not being able to do anything ran through my mind. I wondered if he had Beans with him or if the Chihuahua was still at home with my dogs. I didn’t think Tank would eat him, but I wasn’t positive, and it made me nervous to think of it.
I looked out the window, past the pool and the palms, out to the empty valley leading to the foothills. I’d never be able to escape that way. Agent Truefellow was watching the front of the house. The only thing for me to do was to tell the senator I’d identify his criminals.
I got up, feeling a tiny bit less sore, and searched the room for a phone. None. I went to the kitchen, now empty of Hambecker and Moose. No phone here either. I opened the broom closet, no phone in there, and moved on to the living room, then game room. The house was devoid of telephones.
The sight of the stairs made me pause, but stiff or not, the senator’s office was the most likely place for a phone. Although I didn’t remember one. I climbed the stairs and took a left at the second floor landing. I stepped into the office and closed the door behind me, searching the room with my eyes. No phone. Crap, the senator had obviously embraced the get-rid-of-the-landline craze that was sweeping the country, and here I was without my cell phone. Great.
I stomped back downstairs, out through the French doors and along the cement path to the rear of the property. There was a distinct change at the edge of the property. Ferns, palms and manicured lawn gave way to a fifteen foot swath of mowed meadow grass on the downhill slope, which turned into uncut meadow half way down the hill.
The mowed path would make it easy to walk along behind the houses, but I suspected that everyone here had security cameras of their own. The edge of the properties to the right curved away so I could only see the yards for a short distance. The outward curve of the subdivision left the back sides of the houses exposed.
I walked to the corner of the senator’s yard and looked around the wall into the neighbors’ property. It was another beautifully landscaped garden with a pool taking up most of the space. The wall extended to the edge of the house on both sides. If there was a gate, I couldn’t see it.
A movement behind me caught my attention. I turned to see Hambecker standing just outside the French doors, watching me. I raised my hand in a finger wave. If I stepped off the property, he’d be after me in a shot, no doubt. I migrated back to the pool and sat in a chaise and closed my eyes. More power to him, if he wanted to bore himself watching me take a nap.
A breeze sprang up and ruffled my hair. It was like spring in Vermont. I heard the scraping noise of a chair being pulled up beside me; it creaked as it took Hammie’s weight. I refused to open my eyes and look at him.
“I found you a physical therapist,” he said. “She’ll be here this afternoon.”
“That was fast.” I was impressed despite myself.
“I called in a favor. My past life occasionally comes in handy.”
“I can see that.”
“You’d see more if you’d open your eyes.”
“Literally or figuratively?”
“Both.” He sighed. “I was happier in the Navy. The objective was precise, the chain of command was clear. We knew what we were doing and why we were doing it. It’s hard to be effective without a clear objective.”
“I can see that.” I wasn’t ever sure of my objectives, and it didn’t bother me much.
“You’re probably going to hate me for saying this, but I enjoyed abducting you. Get in, grab the target, get out. Get clear of the plane. All action. No sitting around and waiting. To tell you the truth, I probably could have