Trusting Drew: Burlap and Barbed Wire Page 22

  Immediately following that was another text from Mr. Clark telling Drew to meet him in the hall outside the girl’s room. Drew looked for Ms. Utah’s bodyguard, but he wasn’t in the room and neither was Ms. New Mexico’s boyfriend.

  Shit, he didn’t want to leave the girls unprotected even to go out into the hall. But he didn’t want them all freaking out by having security bust in the door. He told Lily and Summer he needed to step out into the hall for a sec. and tried to warn Summer to keep an eye on Lily with just a look. He didn’t know if he succeeded, but she had to guess he meant something by it.

  Drew stepped into the hall as Mr. Clark came into view. “Did you get that text?”

  “Yes, did you text my brothers to meet us here?”

  “I did. Any ideas what might be going down?”

  Drew thought back to everything he knew but had no ideas. “I can’t think of a thing. But the guy was all about publicity, so I would guess whatever it is will be on camera and live. I don’t know what he has to gain by it though, if he’s going to jail.”

  Mr. Clark shook his head, “A last hurrah of some kind.”

  His brothers rounded the corner and skidded to a stop. Adam asked, “What’s going on?”

  Drew frowned. “You got the same texts we did, any ideas?”

  Chase rubbed his chin and all the Kipling’s turned toward him, of all the brothers Chase thought the longest before he acted. Drew asked, “What?”

  “Well he did say something as he was being led out. I was in the hall outside the auditorium, you know, as a final backup.”

  Drew tried not to be impatient, but he wanted Chase to get to it. Chase now had the attention of Mr. Clark and the other two security officers that had shown up.

  “He said something about running out of room. I don’t know what he meant by it, but he said the pageant would be running out of room.”

  Drew demanded, “What does that mean?”

  Chase shrugged, “I have no idea, how could the pageant run out of room? Like on stage? Or on TV? I don’t know but that’s what he said.”

  Mr. Clark nodded slowly. “It’s the best clue we have. Can two of you go back in and keep an eye on the contestants? They’ll be called out in five minutes. Stay with them, but out of the view of the camera.”

  Drew looked at his brothers. Beau had a first aid kit with him and he was certain Adam would have a throwing knife or two hidden on his person. “Beau and Adam, stay with the girls. We’ll take the twins with us.”

  Mr. Clark said, “Let’s assume it’s physical room and take a look at the stage and the stage dressings for the different parts needed to finish out tonight. But if anyone thinks of another idea, don’t hesitate to speak up, we’re going on very little information.”

  He led the way and the rest of the men followed, Drew and his brothers bringing up the rear. Drew noticed the twins had their heads together and he didn’t disturb them, their two heads equaled about four in times like these, since they were so connected, a few words and thoughts went a long way.

  They entered the backstage area, where the stage dressings were kept when not in use. They spread out and carefully looked over each one to make sure nothing looked out of the ordinary. The stage hands didn’t like them poking around, but Mr. Clark let them know that he had the authority to do as he thought was necessary, so the hands went off to one side and grumbled about rent-a-cops putting on airs.

  They didn’t find anything amiss, so they moved toward the stage itself, they had to stay out of view, while at the same time examine the area. The girls had been called on stage and were going through some kind of introductions. Drew wondered about when their sponsors would be mentioned, since that seemed to be the focus of their perp’s attention.

  He texted his sister who would be glued to the TV, to ask her to text him immediately, when they started talking about sponsors for the girls. Since they always seemed to go in alphabetical order Drew was fairly certain that whatever might happen would be after Ms. Idaho’s sponsors were mentioned.

  The twins came up to him and Cade said, “What if he’s going to do something weird like fill the stage with fertilizer or shit or something?”

  “How would he do that?”

  “We don’t know but we were thinking maybe we should go outside and look around. We aren’t doing any good here.”

  “All right go ahead, but keep in touch if you find anything.” He nodded toward Adam and Beau who were standing just offstage. “Tell them, too.”

  The twins took off at a jog, stopping only long enough to clue Adam and Beau in. Drew let their idea sink in and tried to think like the idiot they’d captured. If he wanted publicity at all costs and he owned a fertilizer factory, how would he disrupt the pageant to get his name out. He thought the twins’ idea of filling the stage with fertilizer would work very well. It would be publicity all right, not good publicity, but the guy had to be a little batshit crazy to go to the lengths that he had, so anything was possible.

  There was a couple of small back doors to the stage, but it would take a dump truck or something like that, to fill up the stage with anything. The twins would find those quickly, and he kind of doubted that the city of New York would let dump trucks filled with fertilizer just hang out in the alley, near a major hotel like they were in.

  How else could the guy do it? Drew looked up to see if there was a skylight or anything above them. He didn’t see a skylight just the swags and curtains that could be raised and lowered. He turned his back on the bright lights of the stage and looked above them again. Some of the draping’s up there looked a little heavy.

  Was it possible that Baby Pooper had somehow gotten a stage full of fertilizer up there? He saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Someone was climbing up the ladders that went up to the catwalks. He tried to catch Mr. Clark’s attention, but he wasn’t looking in Drew’s direction. Rather than taking the time to text, he quickly followed the man climbing skyward.

  When he was halfway up he remembered the voice to text app. He rarely used it, but now would be perfect, they were having a break on stage, so he could talk. He accessed it and told the security team what he suspected. Then he continued his climb skyward.

  He saw one of the security officers run forward to talk to the pageant officials and hoped they got the girls to safety. Maybe they could fill in the time with more of the previously taped sections.

  After that, Drew kept his eyes on the man he’d followed. He wished he had Cade’s rope on him. He wasn’t as good with one as his brother, but he could hold his own. When he got up to the catwalk he saw some rope hanging on a hook. Drew grabbed it and took it with him. It was about the right weight, polyester braid. He thought it might work, if he could tie the hondo quick enough.

  Not having enough time to tie a proper stopper knot in the end, he tied a quick one that should work for this one time. He kept moving as he tied, and he knew Cade would chide him on the sloppiness of it, but he got the hondo loop tied, good enough to thread the other end through.

  The other guy glanced back and saw Drew following him, and started moving quicker toward some of the same types of rope he had in his hands. They were tied to the catwalk and seemed to be straining under the weight. Drew didn’t know if the catwalks were sturdy enough for all the pressure those huge bags would be putting on them. Now that he was close enough, he could see the weight and size of the bags lifted high above the stage. He could also detect the scent of fertilizer.

  Mr. Clark appeared on the other side of the stage, but Drew was closer to the guy, who had begun to untie one of the knots. He was close enough to stop the guy, if he didn’t miss, so rather than waste more time he circled the rope above his head letting out enough to capture the man and let it fly. His aim was true, and he pulled back on the rope to eliminate the slack. He continued to tug, to get the man away from the area securing the giant bags of fertilizer, but the knot the other guy had been working on was slipping. Drew hollered at Mr. Clark who made
a lunge for it and managed to grab it before it wrenched free from the catwalk. Chase, who had come up the ladder, at the back of the stage, hurried over to help Mr. Clark re-secure the rope keeping the fertilizer from crashing down.

  When his hands were free, Mr. Clark signaled the security officer still on the stage, that it was safe to continue the program. The man Drew had roped started to protest, so rather than have the guy continue to disrupt the pageant, Drew used his own tie to gag the man with, glad he hadn’t worn a string tie tonight. He carefully perp-walked the guy to the ladder. Seeing another security officer below he let up on the rope to give the guy his hands to climb down the ladder, but warned him in a harsh whisper that if he tried anything foolish he was going to tighten the rope and hang the guy from the catwalk until the pageant was over in an hour and a half.

  The man turned pale and nodded. He didn’t cause any trouble getting down the ladder. Drew happily handed over the dumb-shit to the security officer after tightening the slack once more to keep him secured. The security officer looked at the rope holding the man like it was a snake.

  Drew rolled his eyes at the guy, as Cade walked up and slapped him on the back. He whispered in his ear, “Mighty fine roping little brother, but your hondo could use some work.”

  Drew chuckled and whispered back, “Fine if you think you can do better on the run, forty feet above the floor on a rickety catwalk, go for it.”

  “Heck, I don’t think it’s more than thirty feet above the floor, and let’s hope it isn’t too rickety, so it keeps holding those huge bags of shit off the stage.”

  Drew laughed, “For sure. God what a mess that would have made, and some of the girls could have been hurt.”

  Cade nudged Drew with his shoulder. “Another cowboy with a rope saves the day.”

  Mr. Clark walked up then. “Could one of you show me how to use one of those things? They seem to come in pretty handy.”

  Cade and Drew both grinned at him.

  Chapter 28

  There were no more issues, and an hour and a half later Ms. USA was crowned. It wasn’t Lily. Drew was disappointed for her. She was third runner up, but unless something crazy happened to the others she wouldn’t be entering the international competition.

  She walked off stage and straight into his arms. “It’s over.”

  “I’m sorry you didn’t win.”

  “I’m not. This has been a crazy ride and I’m glad it’s over. The first thing I want is a pizza and beer. Or maybe tacos and a margarita, with a side of nachos and guacamole. Or a big fat juicy burger and a mountain of fries, oh and a chocolate milkshake.”

  “Whoa, go easy there home-girl, I doubt your stomach can take all of that so quick, after eating no carbs for a year.”

  “I’ve been having a few carbs this week.”

  “Yeah, but nothing like you’re describing.”

  “Fine, party pooper, then let’s go have wild and crazy sex.”

  Drew about swallowed his tongue as her father spoke from behind him. “Great job, Lily-bug. I’m sorry, but not sorry, you didn’t win. I didn’t really want you going off to God knows where for the next competition. This one has been enough to give me gray hair.”

  They turned toward her parents who both gave her a hug. “I agree with you, daddy, I’ll be happy to stay home and go back to eating like a normal person.”

  Howard chuckled. “That is one perk of not winning I guess. So, what did you decide on? Pizza? Or Tacos?”

  “You forgot a fat juicy burger with a mound of fries and chocolate milkshake,” Elaine said.

  Her dad laughed, and Drew hoped he hadn’t heard her last suggestion.

  Elaine nudged her husband. “Let’s go find someplace to indulge in at least one of those, and Drew can tell us what was going on behind the scenes, when they moved all you girls off stage, and his brothers disappeared like smoke.”

  Rachel said, “Excellent idea. There is supposed to be one of the best New York style pizza joints, one block over, let’s go there.”

  Drew asked Lily, “Do you want to change first?”

  “Nope, they’ll just have to take me in my dress.”

  Alyssa said, “Yay, let’s go. I’m starving for food, and information.”

  Drew looked at his sister-in-law. “Impatient much?”

  “Hey, be nice to me, I’m eating for two.”

  Dead silence reigned for about three seconds and then there were whoops of joy, enough to draw attention to the group.

  Alyssa looked at Beau. “Oops.”

  Beau laughed and kissed her nose. “It’s okay sweetheart, although mom and dad are going to be disappointed to find out last.”

  Cade chimed in, “And Grandpa K and Emma and Tony. Not to mention your whole family.”

  Rachel frowned. “But most importantly your best friend.”

  Alyssa grabbed Rachel in a bear hug. “I was going to tell you first, after Beau of course, but then I just blurted it out.”

  “When did you take the test?” Rachel demanded.

  “This morning, my stomach’s been a little queasy.”

  Rachel gave Alyssa another hug. “Oh, well if you’ve only known a few hours, I’ll give you a pass this time.”

  “We have been kind of busy,” Alyssa said waving toward Lily.

  Alyssa put her hands on her hips and turned toward the family. “Now none of you rat me out before we get home to tell the rest of them.”

  Her phone buzzed. Beau’s phone buzzed. The twins turned their phones toward Alyssa, then said in unison, “Too late.”

  Alyssa groaned. Beau said, “Come on let’s get to the restaurant and we can text or call them back while we wait for pizza.”

  Cade said to Alyssa, “At least we didn’t tell your family.”

  Alyssa’s phone dinged this time, which was her parents’ text sound. She hung her head. “Well someone did.”

  Cade grabbed one hand and Chase the other and they dragged Alyssa along. “Come on, pizza awaits.”

  Lily smiled as she and Drew followed his family. They were a happy bunch and so close. She wouldn’t mind being a part of that. She’d felt her phone vibrate a couple of times once she got her tiny purse back from Summer, it was most likely her siblings texting her in support, but they were nothing like Drew’s huge family. They loved her, she knew that, but their ages were more spread out, so the closeness was also spread out.

  Her mom came up next to her and took her hand. “They’ve got a wonderful family.”

  “They do, but so do we.”

  “That’s true, but with them it seems the more really is the merrier. And with Rose being so much older and dear William younger, you three don’t have the same camaraderie.”

  Lily sighed. “I guess that’s true, we span fifteen years for the three of us and I think Drew said there’s nine years between Adam and Emma, with six of them crammed into those years. Meg and Travis were busy.”

  “True. You would have had another couple of siblings, if I hadn’t miscarried.”

  “We had the number in our family that we were supposed to have, and think how much fun it will be to meet the other two someday in the afterlife.”

  Elaine squeezed her hand. “It will be wonderful.”

  Lily hoped she hadn’t upset her mom with the talk about more siblings. She never really thought about the miscarried babies much, but she was certain it was much more on her mom’s mind, especially being around large close families like the Kiplings. She been thinking about maybe her and Drew staying together to see if their relationship held, but after this talk with her mom, she knew if she left to live in Colorado, her mom and dad would both miss her.

  She didn’t live at home, she had a small apartment in town near her job where she worked at horse sanctuary for older horses, but she went home several times a week and helped out with the horses on weekends and anytime there was a need. So, she just needed to let the idea of her and Drew drift away. There were other great guys out there that didn’t live
three states away. She hadn’t found them yet, but she knew they were out there.

  The pizza place was all it was cracked up to be, it was fun and crowded and had great food. They ordered a half dozen pizzas of all varieties. When the servers could hardly fit all of them on the table, they decided they’d gone a little overboard.

  But Cade spoke up, “It will be just the right amount to have for breakfast in the morning.”

  Alyssa said, “No breakfast pizza for me.”

  Cade rubbed his hands together in glee. “More for me.”

  Chase rolled his eyes at his twin and the rest of them laughed.

  The beer flowed, and they managed to put a pretty good-sized dent in the pizza. There was still plenty for breakfast, but not at all what Lily had thought would be left, when the pizzas had first been brought out.

  As they got up to leave Lily groaned. “I should have had a salad and less pizza.”

  Drew looked at her in mock horror. “What? Desecrate that amazing pizza with salad? You need to have your mouth washed out with soap for even saying such a thing.”

  Rachel grinned at her. “You’ll walk it off on the way back to the hotel.”

  Drew glanced at her parents starting for the door and waggled his eyebrows at her. “And some other activity when we get back to the room.”

  Lily felt her face heat and whispered, “You stop that.”

  Drew laughed and said, “Packing, we still have to pack up everything.”

  “I don’t have a lot to pack, most of mine got shredded.”

  Drew made sure all his siblings were far enough away not to overhear and waggled his eyebrows at her again. “Hmm, guess you’ll have to sleep naked.”

  Lily punched him in the stomach with their box of leftover pizza. “Stop it, they’re going to get suspicious if we don’t get out there. Try to keep your mind out of the gutter.”