“Oh crap.” I scrambled back into the car and tried to shut the door quietly. “I’m sorry. That was stupid.”
“Never mind,” he said more calmly. “I believe we’re far enough away that they didn’t notice the light through the tinted windows. But I don’t want you charging off without a plan.”
I thought about the last time I had charged in without a plan. I had gotten bashed in the head. “Okay. Sorry.” I took a few deep breaths to chill out. “With all the trauma we’ve been through, my first thought was to hunt them down and throttle them.”
“Perhaps you’ll get your chance.” He glanced up at the sky through the windshield and then scanned the landscape in four directions. The moon was a sliver and the sky was cloudy, so there was almost no light shining down on the nearby vineyards and surrounding countryside.
“How did you see him?” I asked.
“I saw his silhouette—that is, I assume it’s a man, but it could be a woman—when he or she skulked across the fire lane that runs parallel to the cabernet vineyard.”
“That was lucky. It’s the only spot around that isn’t covered in vines or thicket.”
“Yes, lucky indeed.” He looked at me, frowning. “I don’t suppose you’ll wait in the car.”
“Not a chance,” I said, buttoning up my jacket. I was glad I’d gone with a dark wardrobe tonight. “But I promise I won’t get in your way.”
“Damn straight you won’t.” He reached across me, unlocked the glove compartment, and pulled out his scary-looking gun.
“I suppose that’s necessary,” I said, basically to myself.
“Yes, it is.”
“Fine.” I pulled my cell phone from my purse. “But do you mind if I call Gabriel so you have some real backup?”
Derek checked his rearview mirror. “He knows we’re here.”
“He does? How?”
“One of his drones is hovering above our car.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
He grinned, took another look out the windshield, and waved up at whatever was above us. “I’ve got to get one of those.”
“You guys scare me. You really do.”
He reached for his door handle. “Ready to go?”
“Yes.”
“Stay behind me.” Derek opened the car door and was out in three seconds. I tried to duplicate his moves, but I wasn’t quite as smooth or fast as he was. We snuck across the road and hiked up the shallow hill above the lighted parking lot. Here there were rows of graceful birch trees lining the ridge along the bottom of the vineyard acreage.
I stopped behind one tree and looked up at the terraced hill above us. It was really dark out here tonight. The storage cave was fifty yards in front of us, so we continued following the line of trees, staying in the safe shadows as long as we could.
Derek held up his hand, and I stopped immediately. He pointed to something in the bushes at the end of the tree line. I had to squint to try and see what he was looking at, but I couldn’t see a thing.
“Stay here,” he whispered, barely loud enough for me to hear.
I nodded, and he took off toward whatever he was seeing. I waited. I had no interest in getting in the way of his gun. After a few moments, I had a sudden attack of cowardice. Did I really want to see what he’d found? It was a lot easier to be brave while sitting inside the luxurious Bentley. But out here in the elements, with some bad guy skulking around? Not so much.
“Brooklyn,” Derek said aloud, breaking the silence of the dark night. “Get Gabriel on the phone. Tell him to call the sheriff and get an ambulance over here.”
I forgot my fears and went running over to his side. “What happened?”
He pointed to the ground behind the bushes. “It’s Noland Garrity.”
“I knew it!” I leaned over and looked down at Garrity’s body, sprawled motionless on the dirt and hidden by the hedgerow. “You caught him.”
“No, someone else did,” he said grimly, “and left him for dead.”
*
“Just to be clear,” Gabriel said, “nobody entered the caves tonight.”
“Good,” I said, pacing the room, trying to shake off the nerves and fear I’d felt out there in the dark.
After the ambulance had whisked Noland Garrity away and the police had finished asking their questions, Gabriel, Derek, and I had returned to our house. The two men were seated at the dining table, munching on pretzels while I continued to pace around the room.
“Garrity must’ve been trying to sneak inside, right? Did you find a key in his pocket? Anything?”
“No key,” Derek said. “More likely, he was planning to meet someone else who had the key.”
“He definitely met someone,” I muttered, “and they beat the heck out of him. Two fractured ribs and a broken nose, plus bruises everywhere.” I shivered. “I mean, I can’t stand the guy, but I’m sorry he was so badly injured.”