Framed For Love Read online

  “It could just as well come from an underground source,” Jared said doubtfully.

  Cassi grabbed his hands. “No, it can’t, because we have to save Trent!” She released him, swept up the lantern, and held it at the mouth of a nearby tunnel. “It’s not coming from this one.”

  “We came up this one here,” Jared said, pointing to another. “Hey, wait a minute; there’s another one on the other side of the pool. We’ll have to wade through it to . . .” He plunged into the knee-deep water.

  Cassi walked to the edge of the pool with the lantern, grateful she hadn’t stumbled into the water earlier in the dark.

  “Here!” Jared called. “There’s a small tunnel. We’ll have to crawl, but I think it might widen up ahead.” He met her halfway across the water. “Do you want me to go first, or do you want to go?”

  “I’ll go. I’m smaller. But you hold the lantern.”

  Cassi crawled into the tunnel that was wet with trickles of water winding their way downward to the pool. She heard Jared coming after her. The tunnel narrowed, and she had to army-crawl on her stomach for a few yards. Then it widened considerably. She reached back to take the lantern from Jared when she saw he wasn’t moving.

  “Are you all right?” she asked. He looked funny lying on his stomach as the rivulets of water piled up around him.

  He flashed a grin. “I think I’m stuck. Can you help pull?”

  “Sure.” Cassi leaned over and kissed him.

  He kissed her back, muttering, “Much more of this and we’ll never get out of here.”

  She laughed. “Okay, no more kissing for you.”

  “That’s what I was afraid of.”

  “Come on. Let’s get you unstuck.”

  “I’d better also concentrate on not cutting myself with this knife. It’s really sharp.”

  After a few minutes of tugging, Jared was free, and they continued on. The tunnel widened, but never enough for them to do more than waddle duck-like. The position was uncomfortable, but they endured it to spare their bruised and battered knees. Cassi’s wound was bleeding again through the bandage. She tried to ignore the stinging pain.

  The tunnel led continually upward in a gradual incline. At last Cassi saw something ahead. “Is that light? Jared, it’s light!” She crawled faster, and soon heard the rushing of a stream. The tunnel grew light enough for her to see that the end was partially covered by rocks and brush. Only at the base, where the water seeped in, was the opening unblocked.

  Jared drew the knife at his side. Cassi saw that he had wrapped a couple of rope lengths about the blade to protect himself during their journey.

  “Well, I guess it won’t be sharp after this,” Jared said, prying the blade between the rocks. In a few moments, he had the opening clear.

  More water gushed in, drenching Cassi’s lower half. “I’ll bet this whole tunnel is filled during the spring.”

  “I think you’re right. By the looks of the riverbed, it’s running at a fraction of its high flow.”

  They climbed out of the tunnel, Cassi’s eyes squinting at the brightness of the setting sun reflecting off the water. “How long do you think we were we in there?”

  Jared shook his head. “Three, four, five hours. “There’s no way to be sure. The problem now is, which way do we go? Maybe if we climb up there we can see something.” He pointed above them at the high bank on the river.

  “No, we have to go that way,” Cassi said, pointing across the water. “I’m sure of it.”

  Jared frowned. “How can you be sure? We went through so many turns.”

  “I don’t know. I see it like a map in my mind. I just feel we have to go that way. It worked when I went in Linden’s tunnel. I know that was shorter, but I’m pretty sure that when we left the house, we were going east. So we need to go west, toward the setting sun to get back there.”

  “I don’t remember much of anything about that drive,” Jared conceded, “so your way is as good as mine. Let’s go.”

  They forded the river with only a little difficulty and then trudged up the bank and over several small hills. After the third one, they came into a pristine valley of deep purple flowers. Cassi felt some of her tension ease. “They’re beautiful,” she said. “It looks as though they’re waiting for a child to pick them.”

  “It’s the field in the painting. The one Laranda’s painter was working on. The house has got to be nearby.”

  Hand in hand, they plunged into the valley and waded through the thigh-deep flowers. The perfumed scent was enticing. Beneath the beautiful blossoms, grasses grew thick and green. A few white and yellow flowers also mixed in with the purple. Cassi wished she could sit among the flowers and rest, but Trent needed their help.

  They reached the other side of the valley and walked up a gentle slope. “There’s the house,” Cassi said.

  “We have to go carefully now,” Jared said, touching the knife at his waist in what Cassi thought was an unconscious gesture. She was glad he made no mention of her staying behind.

  Keeping low to the wild grasses, they ran to the studio, resting behind the occasional mound of weeds. They had only gone halfway when an armed man arose from the brush.

  “Freeze,” he said. “And keep your hands where I can see them.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  “WHO ARE YOU?” THE MAN demanded.

  “Who wants to know?” Jared retorted. There was no way he would be captured again. Even if he had to fight. He was surprised when Cassi lowered her hands.

  “You’re on the good side, aren’t you?” she said to the newcomer. “FBI, right? I’m Cassi Mason.”

  The man relaxed his hold on his weapon. “Hey, I’ve found them!” he shouted in the direction of the studio. More men came running.

  In the flurry of the explanations that followed, Jared asked, “What about Trent?”

  “He’s alive,” someone said. “We came in and found him on the cement, unconscious. Someone had stuffed blankets over and under him. There was a young man next to him sitting there, you know, Indian style, just rocking back and forth. He won’t answer us, so we’ve just let him alone. As far as I know he’s still there, rocking. The doctor’s looking at your friend now. He’s come to. I think they’re calling a chopper to take him to the hospital.”

  “Did you find anyone else?” Jared asked.

  “No one. The Portuguese police arrived first and found the place empty—except for these two.”

  That meant Laranda’s goons had awakened and fled.

  “What about Laranda Garrettson?” an agent asked.

  “She’s at a cave about ten minutes from here.” Jared inclined his head toward Cassi. “She can probably guide us there, but can we see Trent first?”

  They took Cassi and Jared into the studio. Trent had been placed on a gurney, and an IV ran into his arm. He opened his eyes at their approach, smiling weakly. They knelt beside him. Cassi silently put one hand on Trent’s pale cheek.

  “Don’t cry, Cassi,” Trent said. “I’m gonna be fine.”

  “I can see that.” She choked on the words.

  Trent shifted his gaze to Jared. “That was some acting job. I think you’re in the wrong career. I almost thought I really was dead.”

  Jared ran his hand over his unshaven face, trying to maintain control. “I told you we’d make it.”

  “I thought it was me who told you,” Trent returned with a grin.

  “Whatever. Just so you’re okay.”

  “I will be. At least according to the doctor. It seems my shirt stuck in the wound. Stopped the bleeding, probably saved my life. They’ve got to take me in and cut off my clothes so they can operate and get the bullet out.”

  He grasped Trent’s hand firmly. “It’ll be a great story to tell your kids.” He looked up at the man who he assumed was in charge. “Does his wife know?”

  “Yes. They’re making special arrangements to have her flown to the hospital here until he’s strong enough to go home.”
/>   “I’m glad you two are okay,” Trent said. “That witch didn’t sound too happy. I thought she was going to kill you both.”

  Jared exchanged a look with Cassi. “She tried.”

  “Speaking of which, we’d better go get her,” said the man who had found them in the field.

  But Jared looked past him to Eduardo, Laranda’s young genius. He still sat crouched in the middle of the studio, rocking without seeing, under the constant eye of a Portuguese police officer. As though reading Jared’s mind, Cassi was already walking toward the boy. They both knelt beside him.

  “Eduardo,” Jared said, knowing he butchered the pronunciation.

  The boy said nothing.

  “I’ve seen some of your paintings,” Cassi offered. “They’re very good.” The rocking stopped, and Cassi looked up at Jared encouragingly.

  Jared nodded. “More than good. They’re excellent. But I especially liked the one you’re working on. With the purple flowers. Cassi and I saw the meadow, and it’s just like you painted it. I’ve never seen someone capture the essence of nature so well.”

  Eduardo was definitely listening now. Jared remembered Laranda mentioning something about an English tutor who gave him regular lessons so she could communicate with him.

  “We’re from California,” Cassi said. “We buy art for galleries. I would love to have one of your original paintings for my gallery, if you like.”

  Eduardo’s eyes focused on Cassi. “I have the choice?”

  The words hit Jared hard. Physically, Eduardo was a man, but emotionally and socially, Laranda had kept him a child. “Yes,” Jared said as gently as he could. “Laranda’s gone. You are free to do whatever you want. You could go to California, or back to Florence, or wherever you choose. We just wanted to let you know that we are willing to help. You have great talent, and there are many people we know who would help sponsor you until you are established.”

  “I go where I want? Paint what I want?” Eduardo’s accent made it seem as though he was almost swallowing the words, but with a little more enunciation, he would speak quite well.

  Cassi smiled. “Yes. No more copies of other paintings. These men will want to ask you about the copies, but they won’t hurt you. Just tell them what you know.”

  Jared made a mental note to make sure the authorities understood that Eduardo had been as much a victim as any of them in this mess. “Thank you for what you did for our friend,” Jared told him. “It was you who put the blankets on him, wasn’t it?”

  Eduardo looked at Jared, his eyes intense. “I see Laranda shoot him. Through the window. I come back.”

  “You saved his life,” Cassi touched Eduardo’s arm. “Shall we go talk to the men now?”

  “I want to see my family. For ten years I have missed them. Since I went go to Florence.”

  “Where do they live?” Jared asked.

  “Here, in Portugal. Laranda no let me visit. She says I am dead to them. But I know my mother prays, and that is why you come.”

  “It’s as good an explanation as any.” Jared stood up and helped the other boy to his feet.

  A short while later, Cassi proved her solid sense of direction by leading the FBI agents and the Portuguese police to the cave. Jared heard someone call for a safecracker, but his gaze was focused on the empty wheelchair still sitting next to the crevice. Laranda was gone.

  “Look, the rope.” Cassi tugged at his sleeve.

  Someone had loosened the rope Jared had used to climb down. But who? Laranda?

  He pictured her tumbling out of the wheelchair and pulling her body out of the bowl by the tips of her fingernails. Inch by inch. Then, not heading out of the cave, but wasting precious time to untie the rope that had held him. Had she meant to kill him? Entrap him? Or had she done it at all? Maybe they would never know.

  He hurried outside the cave and looked around, half expecting to see her, pulling her useless legs behind her. He saw nothing but wild grasses and weeds, rich earth, the occasional flower. They spread out and searched the area in ever widening circles but still found no trace.

  As the search expanded further, Jared and Cassi were taken to the hospital to have their injuries treated and to await news. “It’s okay,” Cassi said to Trent as they sat with him in the recovery room after his surgery. “It’s over now. They’ll find her eventually.”

  Jared put his arm around Cassi. “You’re right.”

  He knew they had to find Laranda. Things couldn’t stay as they were or they would live the rest of their lives in fear that she would come back to hurt them.

  * * *

  WHEN NEWS OF CASSI, JARED, and Trent’s safety came to the small office in San Diego, Fred, Robert, Carl, and Justin shared a few moments of cheer. Fred picked up the phone to give Renae the good news.

  “This calls for pizza,” Robert said, jumping to his feet.

  Carl grinned. “It sure does.”

  “You guys go on ahead.” Fred set down his phone. “I just promised Mrs. Benson that I’d take her to the airport.”

  “I could take her,” Robert said.

  “No, there are a few things I need to discuss with her. You go on ahead with the others.”

  “Okay, but we’ll bring you back some pizza. This is reason to celebrate.”

  Once alone, Fred couldn’t shake the melancholy that usually plagued him when a case refused to be solved to his complete satisfaction. They had broken an important forgery ring, but a few things still bothered him. Like where was Laranda? And who had warned her—twice—to move her prisoners? Well, there were still more leads to follow. He wouldn’t give up just yet.

  Renae and her baby were waiting for him outside the hotel when Fred arrived. “I called my parents, and they’re flying in to get my children from my friend. It’ll be good for them to stay at the house with their grandparents. I’ve never been away from them so long. But they seem all right, especially now that they know their daddy is okay.” She dabbed at her eyes with a tissue.

  Fred put her suitcase in the car while she strapped in the car seat. “I’m glad they found him,” he said as he opened the front door for her.

  “So am I. Thank you for everything you did.”

  “It’s my job,” he said.

  She smiled and slipped into the car.

  At the airport, Fred held the baby while Renae went into the rest room. He knew she had temporarily entrusted him with something more valuable than any treasure in the world. When she left with the baby for the plane, she kissed his cheek. “Keep in touch,” she whispered.

  Fred turned away, whistling. He wondered what Darla was doing that evening.

  * * *

  CASSI COULDN’T BELIEVE THAT Linden was still alive. When Renae told her, she just stared.

  Renae bit her lip. “Oh, Cassi, I don’t think he’s going to make it. I’ve tried to tell myself he would, but he’s not getting better.”

  “I thought he was dead.” Cassi had always been certain of Linden’s death. Quentin Holbrooke had been told that Linden was dead and had passed the information to her when she’d stayed that night at his house. She had felt Linden’s death, had grieved over it. How could her feelings be so wrong?

  She was so very grateful she was wrong.

  “We have to hurry home,” she told Jared.

  Since they had no passports with them, they had to rely on the FBI to book them passage. The agents insisted on giving them an armed escort. “We don’t know what other surprises Ms. Garrettson may have in store,” they explained.

  Cassi hardly thought Laranda was any problem. Her scheme had failed, and the FBI would close in on her soon—if Big Tommy didn’t beat them to it. With the information in the manila envelope she had left in France, most of the forgeries would be traced. An alert had also gone out on TV and through the art circles. Big Tommy would lose much more than he’d made in the deception.

  At the FBI field office in the Federal Building in San Diego, Supervisory Special Agent Fred Schulte greeted
them. He was about Jared’s age and had short brown hair and a matching moustache. His smile was genuine. “It’s nice to see you again in one piece, Jared,” he said. “How’s the shoulder?”

  Jared grinned. “Better—and I got the girl.” He turned to Cassi. “It was Fred here who drove me around looking for you after our last run-in with Laranda.”

  “It’s nice to finally meet you, Cassi,” Fred said. “Have a seat, why don’t you? We need to talk about what happened. You don’t mind if we use a tape recorder, do you? We’ll be presenting the information to the Department of Justice, and they will decide who and when to prosecute. They may need you two as witnesses, though they may have enough without you.”

  They detailed their adventures while Fred listened intently. Then the conversation shifted to what Fred and the special agents under him had been doing. Cassi was surprised to learn that Robert and Carl had been working with Fred and his men. “They would still be here,” Fred told them, “but their wives needed them at home.”

  “I’ll call my brother tonight,” Cassi said. “Are we all finished?”

  “Yes, you are both free to go. We’ll probably have an unmarked car outside your homes for a few days as things wind down. I don’t believe you’re in any danger, but we want to make sure Ms. Garrettson doesn’t have something else up her sleeve. We should catch up to her soon. We have also spread the word that if anything happens to either of you, we’ll make things worse for Big Tommy. Besides, I think his group will be more interested in finding Laranda. Excuse the analogy, but you two aren’t even as important as gnats to these guys.”

  “I can live with that.” Jared put his arm around Cassi. “Would you like to go home first or go see Linden?”

  “Linden. But I haven’t any money to pay for a taxi.” The FBI had provided them a change of clothing, but that was all.

  Fred laughed. “You can keep our car and driver, and I’ll clear it with the hospital so you can see Linden. But I do have your purse here.” He went to a shelf next to the small window and pulled it out of a box. “Your brother said everything looked like it was there, except your keys and phone. While he was here, he had new locks put in both your house and Jared’s apartment, though, so you’ll need these.” He fished a ring of keys from the box.