Shadow of Turning. Valerie Hansen

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СКАЧАТЬ welcome. Just stick the rest of that stuff in the truck. I’ll go put these bags in the front of the van so the little pieces don’t blow all over town and then you can follow me to the shop. Okay?”

      “Sure. One more trip and I’ll have it all.”

      “Good. I…” Her jaw dropped. Thunderstruck, she blinked and scanned the street as if positive she’d simply made a mistake. Unfortunately, there was no mistake. “I don’t believe it!”

      Nate paused beside her with the last of the boxes. “What? What’s wrong?”

      “My van,” Chancy said breathlessly. “It’s gone.”

      “What are you talking about? It can’t be gone. We were right here the whole time.”

      “I wasn’t watching it, were you?”

      “Well, no, but…” He scowled at her. “You didn’t leave the keys in it, did you?”

      “Of course I did. I always do. My logo is all over the side. Who in his right mind would take a vehicle so easy to identify?”

      “Obviously somebody who didn’t think that far ahead.” Nate reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out a cell phone and tried to hand it to her. “Here. Call the police.”

      Chancy snorted derisively. “Right now, I think there are two sheriff’s cars in the whole county and only one deputy besides the sheriff, himself. What makes you think reporting the theft would do any good?”

      “Okay. Then, what do you suggest?”

      “We chase them.”

      “Chase them? How? We don’t have any idea which way they went.”

      “Well, it’s better than just standing here staring at each other while my van gets farther and farther away, isn’t it?”

      Nate sighed heavily. “Get in the truck.” He grabbed the bags from her arms and tossed them into the bed with the other auction purchases. “Like you said, it’ll be easy to ID your van, assuming we can catch up to it.”

      Chancy didn’t see any better options. If whoever had taken her van intended to sell its contents, there would be no way to prove ownership once all that furniture was dispersed. And if the van itself was the target of the theft it could be repainted and sold or parted out. She needed her van for work. Desperately. Without it, she might as well quit the antique business.

      Piling into the front seat of the pickup beside Nate, she slammed the door. “Okay, I’m in. Floor it.”

      

      Chancy didn’t know how much stuff was blowing or bouncing out of the bed of the truck as they careened around corners and bumped through potholes but she didn’t care. They could always backtrack and clean up any mess later. Right now, she had other goals.

      Nate skidded to a halt at the stop sign by the post office, where Byron Road intersected with Highway 62. Chancy had to brace herself against the dusty dashboard to stay on the seat.

      “Which way?” he asked.

      “I don’t know. Just drive.”

      “That’s stupid. We won’t accomplish a thing if we wrap this truck around a tree. You live here. Think. Where would you go if you wanted to hide a van with a big logo on it?”

      “Are you kidding? There are dozens of dirt roads all over this county. Any one of them would do.” She held out her hand. “Give me your phone?”

      He handed it over without argument. “Are you finally going to be sensible and call the sheriff?”

      “Yes, and no,” she said. “The first thing I’m going to do is start the prayer chain from my Sunday-school class.”

      “What good will that do?”

      Chancy huffed. “Plenty. Besides the value of prayer itself, it’ll give us lots more eyes all over town. Nothing gets past those women. They all know me. If my van is near any of their houses, we’ll hear about it.”

      “Ah, the small-town spy network. Why didn’t I think of that?”

      She couldn’t resist making a joke in spite of the trying situation. “Because you’re not from around here.” The way Nate’s dark eyebrows arched over his narrowed brown eyes almost made her laugh.

      Only one phone number came to mind immediately so Chancy dialed it, hoping desperately that her friend was at home. It rang twice before she heard a cheery “Hello.”

      “Louella!” Thank You, God. “This is Chancy. My van’s been stolen and I want you to pass the word to everybody as fast as you can.”

      “Where are you? What happened?” the other woman asked.

      “It’s a long story. I was at the Hawkins auction and somebody drove off with all my stuff. Tell everybody I can be reached at…” She covered the mouthpiece and turned to Nate. “What’s the number of this phone?” He told her and she repeated it to Louella.

      “That’s not your regular number is it?”

      “No.” Chancy made a face and glanced sideways at Nate, knowing what he’d think and wishing she didn’t have to explain when he could overhear. “My purse was in the van with my keys. I’ve lost my phone, my wallet, my checkbook, everything.”

      “Oh, you poor thing. I’ll telephone the girls right away. Want me to call the sheriff, too?”

      “Yes, please,” Chancy said. “I’ll be at the number I gave you. Please hurry.”

      Nate waited till she’d hung up before he commented. “You really are amazing.”

      “Why? Because I’m dumb enough to let some lowlife drive off with my whole life?”

      “No, because you’re trusting enough to leave things sitting around in the first place. My grandparents refuse to listen to me and lock their doors at night, but that’s not nearly as bad as leaving keys in an ignition.”

      “The keys were in this truck when we borrowed it,” she reminded him. “You have to understand how safe it normally is in a place like Serenity. We don’t have a lot of crime here. It’s like living in a bygone era.”

      “Even the Old West had crime,” Nate countered.

      “True. I guess I just figured the good Lord would look after my stuff.” She could tell by his expression that he thought she was seriously deluded.

      “I should have known,” he said. “Didn’t it ever occur to you that your God-given brain was meant to be used for something besides a place to grow hair?”

      “I’ve never heard it put quite like that but, yes, I guess I do bear some of the responsibility.”

      “Some of it? You bear all of it.”

      She flinched. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

      It СКАЧАТЬ