Sloanville Holiday

Part Five


Yep, that's right, Donny had met up in a dark alley with Vicious Vicky herself. [shudder] If anyone had seen fit to inform *me* of this development...well, you know my opinion on the subject. As it is, I just now found out, too late to affect matters one way or the other.

Anyway, I thought you'd appreciate knowing what happened next.

Peter shook his head in confusion. "Victoria...?" Out of the corner of his eye he saw his father follow the Mountie.

"You know this chick?" Donny put in.

"Know her? I let her sleep in my sister's bedroom. That was before..." His eyes took on a faraway look, as if he were reliving a memory.

"Before what?" Peter insisted. "Come on, Vecchio, this is important. What did she do?"

Ray sighed. "What didn't she do?" He proceeded to recapitulate briefly the events that had transpired since Victoria came to Chicago. "We had recently been released from the hospital when you first met us," he concluded.

Peter let the story run through his mind, trying to soak up all relevant information. He couldn't help empathizing with Fraser's pain. "To be betrayed and abandoned by the one person you love most in the world," he whispered. And the Canadian had barely a few months to recover, which brought up an ugly possibility. He had the utmost respect for the Mountie's character, but under the circumstances he was forced to ask. "Can he be trusted?"

Ray exchanged glances with the wolf, who gave a noncommittal rumble deep in his throat and lay down at the Ancient's feet. The policeman shrugged. "I honestly don't know. She made him crazy. I'd like to think he's gotten over her by now, but when push comes to shove who's to say he won't chuck it all and follow her again?"

"All right, here's what we do..." He looked around the room. "I'm afraid I can't include Constable Fraser on this one, since there's a clear conflict of interest, so that leaves--damn!" It suddenly occurred to him what Caine's absence signified. "I was counting on my father to look after Donny and Lula."

"Me? Why me?" the woman asked.

"Because, from all accounts, Victoria is an intelligent and ruthless woman who will do anything to prevent getting sent to jail, including using you to get to Donny. That means you have to stay here, especially since you might have been spotted going to the police. I'd stay to watch you myself, except--"

Dief barked twice and turned his head to peer up at Lo Si. The old man nodded. "Yes, that is an excellent suggestion. We will care for them."

Peter sometimes had difficulty divining the Ancient's meaning during the best of times; now he was completely mystified. "We? Who's 'we'?"

Lo Si smiled and bowed. "The wolf and myself, of course." At his feet, Dief faced Peter and grinned, tongue lolling.

"I'd take him up on it, if I were you," Ray said, clapping a hand on the other cop's shoulder. "That leaves the two of us free to track her down and toss her behind bars where she belongs."

He couldn't dispute that kind of logic. "Sounds like we've got a plan," he agreed. "Donny, do you have anything else for us to go on?"

"Not much. She's keeping a low profile, and people are afraid to talk because of...you know."

"Even a small detail could be helpful."

"Well, she seems to have a thing for red--as in, the color. After hearing her story, I'll take a wild stab in the dark and say that might be due to a certain Mountie's influence."

Ray snorted. "She's obsessed, that's for certain." He studied the sketch of her, then picked up Fraser's hat. As he did so, several sheets of paper fluttered to the ground. "What the--? Oh, the itinerary." He stooped to pick them up.

"Itinerary?" Peter asked.

"Yeah. Fraser made this whole list of things for us to do on our vacation." He flipped through the papers, scanning the various items. "Looks like we'll never get a chance to see that...museum..." His words trailed off and his eyes widened enormously.

"What's the matter?"

"This is it!" Ray held up one of the sheets. "This is why Victoria is here."

"To interrupt your vacation?" he hazarded. He couldn't read the writing on the page while the other officer waved it around.

"She's certainly succeeded in doing that--but no. It's the museum. The gem exhibit." He allowed Peter to snatch the paper from him. "Benny must have been too modest to tell me, but the main stone on display is called--"

"--the Fraser Ruby," Peter finished for him, reading the description in the Canadian's itinerary.

End Part 5

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© 1995 Amparo Bertram