Mango Digger Page 20

  As soon as he was unhooked, Digger made a beeline for his trailer. He didn't come back out until all the police had gone.

  Twenty minutes later, the same officer that had walked off with Kat came and got Abby. They walked away, leaving me behind. The only thing he said to me was, “Don't get out of the car and don't leave.”

  Ten minutes later, it was my turn. The same officer came and got me. Instead of taking me to Kat's motorhome, he took me to his car and had me lean up against the back bumper while he asked me questions.

  Most were about our meeting with the fake deputy. A few were about where were we staying, how long we would be in town and why we hadn't called the sheriff’s office sooner.

  My guess was he had asked Kat and Abby the same questions. I answered truthfully. No reason not to.

  Two hours later, it was all over. The police had arrested the fake deputy and her two accomplices. They had searched the motorhome and had found no drugs. They did find suitcases belonging to the people they had arrested and took those as evidence.

  After checking everything, they released the motorhome back to Kat. They gave her the keys the fake deputy had used, and had her sign a statement about what had happened. They told her to stay in town for a few days in case any questions came up.

  When the last police car drove off, Digger came out of his trailer, cold beer in hand. He was wearing a clean T-shirt and a smile. He came over to where we were standing and said, “They didn't arrest me. I'm pretty proud about that.”

  He pointed to his Pathfinder, which was still parked in front of Kat's motorhome. The bumper of the RV was embedded along the entire length of the SUV's driver's side.

  “I pulled in lengthwise so they couldn't go around. They yelled and hollered and cussed, but I wasn’t going to move. They finally tried to push it out of their way, but all they did was dent up the side a bit. I'll probably have to take a hammer to it to get them doors to open.”

  I nodded, thinking it might take a lot more than a hammer to fix his broken down SUV. The motorhome's bumper had done a lot of damage. Not only were the front fender, driver's and rear passenger's doors pushed in, but the rear quarter panel of Digger’s Pathfinder was pushed up tight up against the back tire.

  It would take a lot of body work before the Pathfinder could be driven more than a few feet. Digger didn't seem to care, though. It had been a good day for him. He had made a hundred bucks driving Dylan to Sweet Surrender and back, had a twelve pack of cold beer in his fridge thanks to me and hadn't ended up in jail.

  Kat walked over and gave him a hug. She smiled and said, “Digger, you saved my motorhome. It would have been long gone if you hadn't done what you did.”

  She looked at the crease down the side of his truck. “How much you think it'll cost to fix that?”

  He rubbed his chin and thought about it for a moment, then said, “It ain't worth fixing. As long as I can get the driver door to open and shut, it'll be good enough for me. Heck, the whole thing ain't worth more than five hundred dollars.”

  Kat pointed at Abby's green Jeep. “Would you trade it for that? Straight across?”

  Digger looked at the Jeep and said, “Sure, I'd trade. Be a fool not to.”

  Kat nodded. “Tell you what. Abby has a friend who has another one just like it. What if I have them come up here and swap theirs for yours? It won't cost you a thing.”

  Digger shook his head. “I appreciate the offer, but you don't have to do that. I can hammer them dents out. When I get done, it'll be just like new.”

  Kat smiled. “Digger, listen to me. If it weren't for you, my motorhome would be long gone along with everything in it. I owe you big time. Let me pay you back. You want to trade for a Jeep or not?”

  He took another sip from his beer, looked at his busted Pathfinder and said, “Yeah, let's trade. I'd be a fool not to.”

  Kat reached out and shook his hand. Then she asked Abby to call Grace and see if her brother would sell her another Jeep.

  The call lasted about five minutes. When it was over, Abby filled us in.

  “Grace said they had another Jeep ready to go. She said she could do the paperwork and have it up here in an hour. She also said her brother was ready to install the tow bar on my Jeep and can do it today if I want him to.

  “I told her if she brought the Jeep she had for sale up to Kat's campsite, we could do the paperwork and she could take my Jeep back to the shop. Her brother could install the tow bar, and I'd pick it up later.

  “She said that worked for her, and she'd be up here with the Jeep in an hour.”

  Kat was pleased to hear this. She said, “I better go check to see if I have enough cash to cover this.”

  She went in her motorhome, and Abby followed, leaving me and Digger outside.

  We really didn't have much to talk about, but I did have a question. “What happened to Dylan? Where'd he go?”

  Digger grunted out a half laugh, then said, “Nobody was in Kat's RV when we got here. Dylan used his key to go in and get his backpack. Then he came over to my place to have a beer and look at the crystals I had for sale.

  “We were inside when I got your call, and when I told him what was going on and how the police were on their way, he grabbed his backpack and said, 'Dude, I'm bailing. Too much drama for me.'

  “He left, but I didn't see where he went. I was too busy moving my truck, trying to keep them rascals from leaving in Kat's motorhome.”

  He paused for a moment then said, “I don't want to say anything bad about Dylan. He paid me the money he promised for driving him over to Sweet Surrender. And he bought about eight hundred dollars of crystals from me. He even paid me to ship them back to Florida FedEx. Said he'd spend more money with me next time.”

  I nodded, surprised to learn Dylan actually was in the business of buying and selling crystals and was probably a decent guy.

  After that, Digger and I stood outside in silence, waiting for the girls to return. He was grinning like he'd won the lottery, and I didn't blame him. The Jeep he was getting was a lot better than the old Nissan he had been driving. He deserved a reward for sacrificing his car for people he hardly knew. Not many people would do that.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  As promised, Grace showed up with the Jeep within the hour. Like Abby's, it was Forest Service green, had four-wheel drive and in good condition. Unlike Digger's Nissan, all the windows were intact, the tires were new, and it didn't leave a trail of blue smoke as it went down the road.

  Grace's brother arrived with her, and his first question to Abby was, “You buying another one?”

  She shook her head and pointed at Kat. “I'm not buying it, she is.”

  He looked at Kat, smiled and said, “I'm Daniel. Nice to meet you.”

  Kat introduced herself and explained why she was buying the Jeep. Daniel was confused at first, but after Kat explained how Digger had helped save her motorhome, he understood.

  With Digger's help, they wrote up a bill of sale, started the title transfer process and put a temporary plate on the back of the Jeep.

  Daniel told Digger, “You have ten days to get it insured and registered. If you can't afford insurance, I know a guy who might give you five hundred dollars for your Pathfinder and you could put that toward insurance.”

  Digger shook his head. “You taking the Pathfinder in trade is part of this deal. I can't sell it. It belongs to you now.”

  Daniel smiled. “Don't take offense, but I don't want your Pathfinder. It'll take up space in my shop, and it's not worth me fixing up. I don't have a problem with you selling it to my friend. He'll pay you cash for it and haul it off.

  “Use the money to buy insurance and we'll all be happy.”

  Digger grinned. “Well, all right then. Tell your friend to come get it.”

  After the deal was struck and all the paperwork completed, Dan and Grace drove off in Abby's Jeep, promising to install the tow bar and have it ready to pull behind the motorhome on our way back to Flo
rida.

  Digger thanked Kat over and over and used the winch on his new-to-him Jeep to pull his Pathfinder away from her motorhome. He drug it to where it had been parked by his trailer and left it. He didn't bother locking the doors.

  After thanking Kat a final time, he said he was going to drive his Jeep over to his ex-wife's place and take her and the kids for a ride. He left a happy man. That was the last we saw of him.

  After he left, Abby asked Kat if she felt safe staying in her motorhome that night.

  Kat said, “I'm not worried about being safe. I just don't want to deal with the drama if any of those people come back. I’d rather be somewhere else tonight.”

  Abby agreed. “I think it would be a good idea for you to move. Maybe over to Fish Village, next to us.

  “Since Grace took our Jeep and we have no way to get back over there, we could ride with you in your motorhome.”

  Twenty minutes later, after unhooking from shore power, we left the campground in Kat's motorhome. She drove, Abby rode shotgun, and I sat in the back, watching the world go by.

  On the way, Abby called Fish Village and reserved the spot next to ours for Kat. When we got there, she stopped at the office, paid and picked up her reservation packet. Then we went to her site and she backed right into it, no problem.

  We decided that since the fridge in my motorhome was stocked with food and Kat's was empty, she would eat dinner with us.

  Bob was happy for the company; his only problem was he couldn't decide which of the girls he liked best. He spent most of the evening moving between their laps, getting as many pets as he could.

  After dinner and a box of wine, we turned in for the night. Kat in her motorhome, Abby in mine in my bed, and me on the sofa.

  Sometime during the night, she joined me on the couch, and things got interesting.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  The next morning, just after seven, my phone rang with an incoming call. I was a bit groggy from the wine and really didn't want to answer it, but I did.

  “This is Walker.”

  The voice on the other end said, “I should hope so. It's your phone. Who else would be answering it?”

  The caller, a man, continued.

  “Are you still in bed? If you are, I hope my daughter is not there with you.”

  With that comment, I knew who was calling. Kat's father. The Mafia boss.

  I decided it would be best to play nice. “Good morning, Boris. Glad you called. Your daughter is next door in her own motorhome. By herself.”

  He laughed. “I know, I just talked to her. She filled me in on what happened and how you rescued her. She wouldn't tell me everything, and I suspect it's a lot more involved than what she said. But all that really matters is that she is safe. For that, I have you and Abby to thank. Probably mostly you.”

  I started to protest, to tell him it wasn't so much of a rescue as it was just tracking her down, but thought it better not to interrupt him. That would be rude.

  He continued, “I want to repay you for your time, but I know you won't take money. Last time you just gave it away. So I'm not going to give you cash. It'll be something though. You'll see.

  He paused, then said, “Make sure she comes home safe. And speaking of safe, be careful around Abby. She’s not always what she seems to be.”

  Before I could ask what he meant, he ended the call. That was probably a good thing since Abby was lying naked under the covers next to me. She had been sleeping until the phone rang. My conversation with Boris had woken her, and she wanted to know what he'd said.

  I wasn't going to tell her everything, especially what he had said about her. But I let her know he was happy that Kat had been found safe and he appreciated what Abby had done to find her.

  She smiled. “Why don't you lie back down? It's early, and maybe we could snuggle a bit.”

  Before I could answer, there was a knock on the door followed by, “I hope you two are up because we need to talk.”

  It was Kat, and she had a key.

  While I was busy grabbing my shorts and shirt from the floor, Abby ran to the back bedroom where she'd undressed the night before.

  When she was safely out of sight, I opened the door to see Kat standing there, a cup of coffee in hand.

  She was smiling when she asked, “Anything going on in there that I should know about?”

  I shook my head. “No, just sleeping in. Abby's in the back. Should I wake her?”

  Kat nodded. “Yeah, get her up. We need to talk.”

  Instead of inviting her in, I told her I'd be right back and closed the door. She wouldn't like having it shut in her face, but it was better than her seeing Abby running around in her birthday suit.

  I went to the back and tapped on the bedroom door. “You dressed?”

  The door opened, and Abby peeked out. “Did you let her in?”

  “No, she's waiting outside. She said we need to talk. All three of us.”

  Abby nodded. “You go on out there. Tell her I'll be out in a minute. Be sure to wear your ring.”

  I didn't know why she wanted me to wear the fake wedding ring. As far as I was concerned, finding Kat ended the 'pretending to be married' ruse.

  But with Kat waiting outside, there wasn't time to talk about it, so I put the ring on and went out.

  Kat noticed it right away, and asked, “You and Abby? Really?”

  I shrugged. “It's complicated.”

  She nodded. “I guess it is. But let me warn you, be careful around her. She sometimes takes things a little too seriously.”

  I sensed Kat was about to tell me more, but she stopped when she saw the door open and Abby coming out.

  She smiled and said, “Abby, you're looking good this morning. You must have had a good night.”

  Abby looked over at me and blushed. “Yeah, it was a good night. Just ask Walker.”

  Kat looked at me, shook her head and said, “You rascal. What have you two lovebirds been up to?”

  Instead of answering, I changed the subject. “You said you needed to talk. What about?”

  She smiled and pointed back to her motorhome. “I'm leaving today, headed over to the diamond mine in Murfreesboro. It's about an hour away and the state park there has a nice campground. Figured I could stay there for a day or two, look for diamonds and then go somewhere else. Maybe up into the mountains.”

  Camping at the diamond mine sounded like it might be fun, but I had a question. “What about the sheriff? Didn't he want you to stay put for a few days?”

  She nodded. “Yeah, he did. But they called this morning and said they booked the fake deputy on murder charges and have enough evidence to guarantee a conviction.

  “They said they won't be charging her with anything related to me or my motorhome. They said I was free to go. So I'm leaving. I've already packed up and plan to head out in an hour. What about you two? You sticking around?”

  I didn't know what Abby's plans were, but I wanted to get back on the road. I wanted to head to Florida, drop her off and get on with what passed as normal life for me and Bob.

  But Abby had a different plan. She put her arm around my waist and said, “They're holding the honeymoon suite for us at the Ameristar in Vicksburg. We'll be heading there later today.”

  Chapter Forty-Six

  I definitely wanted to get back on the road and was pretty sure I needed to avoid the honeymoon suite. Abby’s ‘pretend we're married' ruse was starting to get a little weird.

  I wanted to talk with Kat about it, since she'd known Abby a lot longer than I had, but Abby stuck close to me while I was around Kat, never giving us a chance to talk privately. I didn't know if she was doing this on purpose or if she just liked being around us.

  In any case, I didn't get to talk to Kat about Abby before she left. After unhooking from shore power and checking the air in her tires, she hugged us both and said to call when we got back to Florida. Then she got in her motorhome and drove off.

  As soon as she w
as out of sight, Abby turned to me and said, “How soon can we leave?”

  I was glad to hear she was ready to get on the road, the sooner the better. I gave her the answer she wanted. “Twenty minutes. But we have to head back to Hot Springs to pick up your Jeep before we head to Florida.”

  Abby rubbed her hands with excitement and started singing, “I've got a Jeep; I've got a Jeep. I’ve got a little, green Jeep, Jeep, Jeep.”

  Twenty minutes later, we were on the road, heading back toward Daniel's shop where the Jeep was parked. Abby had called ahead to make sure it was ready. Grace answered and told her not only had they put the tow bar on it, they’d washed all the mud off it too.

  When we got to the shop, the little Jeep was out front, and Daniel came out to help me hook it to the motorhome. We connected the tow bar and wiring harness, tested the brake and signal lights, and made sure it was ready to go. There were no problems; everything passed our inspection.

  After thanking Grace and Daniel, Abby and I got back on the road and headed south, toward Florida, towing the Jeep behind us.

  Five hours later, just as it was starting to get dark, we pulled into the Ameristar Casino campground. Abby went into the office and returned with the campsite card and a key.

  “What’s the key for?” I asked.

  She smiled. “Remember back when we were in Hot Springs Village, when we saw Haley and her husband ride off in a golf cart? Remember what I said then?”

  I remembered. “Something about us sitting side by side in a golf cart, riding off into the sunset.”

  She smiled and said, “Good memory. Anyway, this is the key to the golf cart the casino has given us to use during our stay. We can cruse the grounds, tour the riverfront, and maybe even ride off into the sunset in it.”

  I didn't bother to tell her we'd missed the sunset. No need to spoil her fun. Plus, I liked the idea of having a golf cart to get around the casino property. It sure beat hiking up the hill from the campground every time we wanted to get food.

  After we got the motorhome parked and hooked up to shore power, I filled Bob's food and water bowl and let him know we'd be gone for a few hours. He didn't seem to mind. He probably looked forward to some ‘alone time’ after spending most of the previous evening with the three of us.