“I’ll do that.”
After he left, Charlie and LuAnn went into Charlie’s study and closed the door.
“Where is the guy?” she asked.
“He’s our neighbor.”
“What?”
“A little rental cottage. Pretty isolated. It’s not more than four miles from here up Highway Twenty-two. I looked at some land up near there when we were thinking of building. Used to be a big estate up there but now there’s just the caretaker’s cottage. Remember, we took a drive up there a while back?”
“I remember exactly. You could walk or ride it through the back trails. I’ve done it. The guy could have been spying on us for a while.”
“I know. That’s what worries me. Pemberton gave me exact directions to the place.” Charlie laid the paper with the directions down on his desk while he pulled on his coat.
LuAnn took the opportunity to scan surreptitiously the directions and commit them to memory.
Charlie unlocked a drawer of his desk. LuAnn’s eyes widened as she watched him pull out the .38. He proceeded to load it.
“What are you going to do?” she said fiercely.
He didn’t look at her as he checked the safety and put the gun in his pocket. “Like we planned, I’m going to go check it out.”
“I’m going with you.”
He looked at her angrily. “The hell you are.”
“Charlie, I am.”
“What if there’s trouble?”
“You’re saying that to me?”
“You know what I mean. Let me check it out first, see what the guy’s up to. I’m not going to do anything dangerous.”
“So why the gun?”
“I said I’m not going to do anything dangerous. I don’t know about him.”
“I don’t like it, Charlie.”
“You think I do? I’m telling you, it’s the only way. Something happens, the last thing I want is you in the middle of it.”
“I’ve never expected you to fight my battles for me.”
He touched her cheek gently. “You’re not exactly twisting my arm here. I want you and Lisa to be safe and sound. In case you hadn’t noticed, I’ve kind of made that my life’s work. By choice.” He smiled.
She watched him open the door and start to head out. “Charlie, please be careful.”
He looked back, noting the worry in her features.
“LuAnn, you know I’m always careful.”
As soon as he left, LuAnn went to her room, changed into jeans and a warm shirt, and pulled on sturdy boots.
In case you hadn’t noticed, Charlie, my life’s work is to make sure you and Lisa are safe and sound.
She grabbed a leather jacket from her closet and raced out of the house in the direction of the horse barn. She saddled Joy and then galloped off toward the maze of trails behind the mansion.
As soon as Charlie hit the main road, Riggs started to follow from a safe distance in the Cherokee. Riggs had thought it a fifty-fifty possibility that something was going to happen as soon as he left. A friend of Riggs had mentioned seeing Pemberton and Charlie having breakfast the day before. That was smart on Charlie’s part, and indeed, was probably the path Riggs would have taken to track down the man in the Honda. That and Charlie’s excited manner had been enough to convince Riggs that something was up. If he had been wrong, he wouldn’t have wasted much time. He kept the Range Rover just in sight as it turned north onto Highway 22. It wasn’t easy being invisible on the rural road, but Riggs was confident he could manage it. On the seat next to him was his shotgun. This time he would be prepared.
Charlie glanced to the right and left as he pulled the Range Rover underneath the cover of trees and then stopped. He could see the cottage up ahead. He might have wondered who would have built the place in the middle of nowhere, but Pemberton had informed him that the house had been a caretaker’s cottage for a vast estate that was no longer in existence. Ironic that the tiny structure had outlived the main house. He gripped the pistol in his pocket and got out. Threading his way through the thick trees behind the cottage, he made his first stop the shed. Rubbing away the dirt and grime on the window he was able barely to make out the black Honda inside. For this, he and LuAnn owed Pemberton a nice little donation to a charity of his choice.