Riding the Thunder - Deborah MacGillivray [114]
“Mr. Starkadder said I would recognize you by the green eyes and black hair,” the chauffeur informed him, holding out an envelope. “I’m to give you this, sir.”
Jago wanted to take the small square of paper about as much as he ached to pet a king cobra. Sometimes, he wished he didn’t have these fey impressions. The envelope sent blackness to coiling within him; he knew whatever words it contained were ones he didn’t want to see.
Before the man began to think he was batty, he took the white envelope and broke the seal.
Come quickly. Your mother is dying.
Julian
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Asha jerked awake and looked around, feeling something was very wrong. Her hand reached out to the rumpled sheet where Jago had slept. It was cold. Stretching and yawning she sat up.
Reaching for her robe, she swallowed to moisten her dry mouth. “Ugh. That’s dreadful! I must brush my teeth before Jago wants a good morning kiss. Poor man would pass out from my toxic waste breath.” The cat mirrored her action, stretching and yawning, too. “Good morning, Clint,” she chuckled. “At least we know your name now.”
The bungalow was still. Too still. At the door to the bathroom she paused, suddenly torn between the pressing need to swish some industrial-strength mouthwash and to reassure herself where Jago was, that everything was all right.
Her niggling unease increased when she pulled back the curtain on the patio doors and saw Colin using a push broom to sweep leaves off the concrete courtyard before the cabins. She rolled back the door and the kitty dashed out. The cat trotted over and rubbed against Colin’s leg.
“Morning, Asha.” Colin gave a little wave. “Morning, Clint.”
The animal usually followed Jago around, so it was odd he was with her. “Colin, have you seen Jago this morning?”
“Yeah, at dawn. I’d just closed up the drive-in and was coming down to put the money in the safe.” His eyes watched her, concerned. “Figured I’d clean up the leaves while I waited for you to get up. I can go with you to deposit it. Between the Halloween bash and the drive-in, you really need to get all that money in the bank.”
“Where’s Jago?” Asha knew she needed to make a run to Leesburg, but had hoped Jago would go with her and they’d breakfast at The Cliffside. Then they could go for a walk along the river and have that talk he wanted.
“Gone.” Colin shrugged, trying to imply nothing unusual in that.
“Gone?” Asha echoed.
“Yep. I stopped off at my house after closing the drive-in to get a couple aspirins before I took the money down to put in the safe. I looked out the window and saw this big ass limo sitting at the end of our little alley, flashers blinking. I came to check it out. Jago was speaking to this rigged-up driver in a chauffeur’s uniform.” He chuckled. “For a minute I wondered if this wasn’t someone in costume doing a last minute trick-or-treat thing. He had on those crazy jodhpurs and all. You just don’t see that around here, you know? Only, Jago went to his cabin, changed, came back out and left with him.”
“Did he say anything?” Asha stuck her hands in her pockets to hide she was shaking.
Colin nodded. “He said I should take care of you and Clint until he comes back.” His eyes grew sad. “Don’t worry, Asha. Probably something to do with that big company he works for. High-powered outfits like that expect their management types to hop whenever there’s trouble.”
“Most likely.” She offered him a smile she didn’t feel.
“Give me a half hour and then we can head to Leesburg.”
“Sure thing.”
She closed the door, trying not to overreact. Jago worked for a vast multinational organization. Something important had obviously arisen and his presence was needed immediately.
Figuring he’d leave her a note, she searched around. Nothing. “Jago will call,” she told Clint, then went to change clothes. The words had been said more to reassure herself than the cat. They didn’t work.
Especially when he didn’t call that night. Or the next one.
Bleak November. The two words together were almost