“I had to find some common ground. After a little digging, I learned that the Minangkabau believe in a semi-mythical queen mother who founded their culture along with her sons. They think they’re all descended from her, and she’s still venerated in songs and stories. All I had to do was tap into that.”
Given the puzzled reaction of her listeners, Elle elaborated. “I asked around until I found the most influential matriarch in one of the hill villages outside Padang. I explained to her that I had a cherished relic which had belonged to the queen mother of my own people. I told her that it was no longer safe to keep it in my homeland because the men there had forgotten how to respect their mothers and they might destroy it. I asked her to hide the artifact for me until I came back to claim it and she agreed.”
“Very clever.” Griffin nodded his approval.
“I didn’t build a career in marketing for nothing,” Elle retorted. “It also helped that I took the time to learn their language. Let me tell you, there aren’t any Rosetta Stone courses in Baso Padang.”
The pilot came on the intercom at that moment to announce their descent. They all dutifully adjusted their seats and refolded their tray tables.
“When we land, we’re going straight to the hotel to check in,” Elle informed them. “After that, we’re off to a little village in the highlands where you’ll get your precious artifact, and I can be on my merry way.”
Griffin studied her for a moment. “I must say, despite your personal objections to the role, you’ve proven yourself to be an able custodian of our priceless relic. I’m sure your sentinel ancestors would be very proud of you.”
“Sentinel,” Elle echoed. “Yet another word I don’t like.” She folded her arms decisively. “After today, nobody better call me that again. Ever!”
Chapter 30—Dead Zone
Leroy killed his van’s lights and turned onto a dirt lane that ran next to the back fence of the farmhouse property. His surveillance had shown that nobody used this road, so it was the perfect place to lay low for a couple of hours. He wanted to wait til everybody in the neighborhood had turned in for the night before he made his move. Yup, tonight was the night. He’d been staking out the place for nearly two weeks now. That was longer than he’d originally intended but he wanted to make absolutely sure he knew the schedule of everything that happened in that house.
The additional time spent in surveillance contradicted his pet theory that the farmhouse was a front for Mr. Big’s operation. Even though the trio and Mr. Big were somehow connected to the place, Hunt figured that both Hannah and the old lady were in the dark about the doodads. Nothing in their monotonous daily routine betrayed anything remotely shady.
After little Hannah left for school, the old lady would pile into her station wagon and do errands. She’d be gone for hours during the middle of the day, but Leroy didn’t trouble himself about what she was up to. Probably stocking up on more flowered housedresses. Once the gal got back from school in the afternoon, she helped the old lady with cooking and chores, did her homework, and went to sleep. On weekends, her boyfriend showed up to take her out to dinner or a movie and always got her home before curfew. Everything was as humdrum as could be. Of course, after tonight nobody in the neighborhood would ever be able to say that again.
The cowboy had thought long and hard about how he wanted to play this scene. His main objective was to eliminate Hannah. He couldn’t have her ratting out Daniel and gumming up the works for him with the old man. Teenage girls generally had a tendency to blab too much. They couldn’t help themselves. It was in their natures. Unfortunately, killing Hannah outright might rile the preacher, so Hunt had to make it look like an accident.
For starters, Leroy planned to break into the back of the house around 3 AM. He’d go upstairs to the old lady’s room and smother her with a pillow before she knew what hit her. A nice quiet way to take her out. Then he’d tiptoe down the hall to the little gal’s room. She was maybe a hundred pounds soaking wet, so she wouldn’t put up much of a fight. Leroy could snap her neck like a dried twig. Then he’d drag the two bodies to the top of the stairs and roll the old lady down first. The body would get banged up enough to make it seem she’d died from the fall. Then he’d drop the gal from the railing. Same result.
Of course, he planned to tell the grief-stricken preacher a whole different version of how things went down. With a catch in his voice, he’d explain that his plan had gone horribly wrong. He’d broken in with the intention of grabbing Hannah, but the old lady woke up and got in the way. While he was struggling with her, Hannah lunged at him, missed and went over the railing, breaking her neck. The old lady squirmed free and tried to run down the stairs but tripped and took a tumble herself. Before Leroy could do any damage-control, somebody had called 911, and the sirens told him he needed to high tail it out of there. With no fingerprints at the scene of the crime and a pane of broken glass in the kitchen door, the cops would naturally assume it was a burglary gone wrong.
Leroy leaned back against the headrest and took a minute to admire the elegance of his plan. With Hannah gone, the treasure hunt could stay
