Page 90 of Protecting the White Bear

He tried his phone as they approached where they’d had reception before, and was glad he could reach Monica. “Hey, Monica, I had an alarming thought. Denny said that Helen was with Wendell, he thought. What if she was out in his truck?”

“That you drove off the drive?”

“Yeah.”

“Let me ask Wendell again. He seems reluctant to talk.”

Monica prayedthat Helen hadn’t been in Wendell’s truck, but what if she had been? What if she had been hiding there when they were about to leave? Or even sleeping and never knew they had taken everyone out of the house and left?

When Andy got into the truck and she saw that it wasn’t Wendell, she might have lain down on the floorboard, not wanting to get arrested. Or she might have been in the camper.Wendell wouldn't have said anything, not wanting her to be arrested, either. Unless he’d been so out of it, he hadn’t thought of her. Or she hadn't been in the truck at all.

The good thing was that she could go to the cabin and stay warm. Plus, there was food, water, and a bathroom, so it wasn't like she would starve or freeze to death.

"Wendell, this is important. Was Helen in your truck?" Monica asked.

He had his eyes closed and didn't respond. She shoved at him. "Wendell!"

He startled awake.

"Don't go to sleep on us. We need to check out your injuries." She hoped he didn't have a brain injury from being knocked out. "Was Helen in your truck when you went into the cabin?"

Eloise snorted. "I bet the dumb bitch was. She can't stay away from Denny."

"Wendell, was she?"

Wendell let out his breath. "I don't know where she is. I took her to White Bear, and she said she was going shopping. Then I went to the cabin to check on Denny because he said we had more trouble. That he didn't know where Lionel and Teague were hiding out."

"They're both in jail, spilling their guts."

Wendell's eyes widened.

"Okay, did Helen go with you to Denny's cabin? Don't feed me a line of bull about her shopping. She knows we're looking for her—either as a real kidnapped victim, which we don't believe, or the original mastermind of the crime. She wouldn't be out 'shopping' in White Bear. She's not that dumb."

"Says you," Eloise said.

Monica turned to her. "You know, the reason we handcuffed her in the first place when we found Denny and her was that she was having sex with Denny on the sofa in the living room at theneighbors’ cabin." Monica figured she might as well set Eloise straight on the matter.

Eloise narrowed her eyes. "Denny better not have."

"How else would we have known it? As far as Pierre told me, she was kidnapped. But when we found them, the story was totally different."

Eloise clenched her teeth, and Monica focused on Wendell again. "Where is Helen?"

He wouldn't speak.

"Okay, look, we pushed your truck off the road, right? We flattened the tires on Eloise's car so they couldn't take off. A polar bear knocked the front door in and wreaked havoc in the cabin. It remains open to the world. So what if Helen gets to the house and finds all the food gone, there's no cell reception, and she can't keep any marauding bears out?"

Wendell frowned at her.

"I'm serious. What if one of them—there were two—came in and went up the stairs where she could retreat and stay in the bedroom, but he knockedthatdoor down? Even if they didn't, she's still on her own out there with no way to let anyone know she's there. So you can either just leave her there and be considered for negligent homicide if she dies, or you can tell us, and we'll be sure to pick her up."

Wendell didn't say anything for a long time.

"Don’t you care about her?" Monica suddenly wondered if something had happened between them, that they’d even had a falling out. Maybe something to do with the money?

"She was in the truck."

Eloise scoffed. "I knew she was trying to see Denny again."

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