Creeps, Cache, & Corpses, page 22
Even though Danica’s family had returned to the police station, obliging the lawyer Paul and Kahula had retained, six large wood-fired pies, in addition to wings and garlic sticks, disappeared in short order. Ryker and his cronies picked up two boxes and retired to the kitchen. The rest of us lit into the food on the sideboard with an appetite that appeased more than just the hunger gods. We ate with gusto and the few scrawny chicken wings that remained wouldn’t even top off Galen’s late-night snack.
Sweeping up the crumbs, Lauren paled. “I thought there’d be more leftovers. How do I plan for all the contingencies?”
“You can’t. We’ll just order more pizza when Kahula texts they are returning. Their food will be hot and fresh.” Jane bobbed her head.
I followed Jane toward the library. Before we entered, she turned to look at me and stuck her fists on her curvy hips. “Girlfriend, what is wrong with your fingers?” She grabbed my hand. “Angry crimson does nothing for you. You’ve got to get that looked at.” She fished out her keys. “The kids and I are in the middle of a Risk game unlike any other. Go get your hand examined before CJ returns. You can’t have him worrying about you too.”
I grumbled, grasped her keys, and scratched my fingers again. “I’ll keep you posted.”
The hospital Urgent Care had a long line of crying kids, harried moms, cranky professionals taking time out of their packed calendars to grace us with their over-accomplished presence by squeezing in an unscheduled appointment, and smiling gray-haired seniors who might have come for the company.
When the texts I sent to Pete and Dad went undelivered, I figured I was in a part of the hospital with bad connectivity, and, although I couldn’t see what difference it would make, I used the time to swipe through photos of the documents relating to Edith and Willy. My thumb and forefinger dropped onto the picture of the family tree, and I noticed my phone charge had entered the red zone before I zoomed in on the Chesterfield line.
Rather than surrender to the maddening itch, I concentrated so intently, I missed my name being called and startled when Rianna placed her hand on my shoulder.
“Katie, I can see you now.”
She escorted me through the hall of exam bays and smiled warmly. “We’ve had quite a busy day. No major catastrophes, but the wait time has been unreal. Thanks for being patient.”
“When Reggie and Edith volunteered here, what did they do?”
She gestured to a padded chair next to a built-in desk where she brought a computer screen to life and completed my registration. “Tonight, I am wearing my nurse practitioner hat. Let me see, please.” She slipped on a pair of purple gloves, drew my hand into hers, and said, “You’ve scratched the skin raw. Do you have any known allergies?” I shook my head. “Have you touched any strange plants or unusual chemicals?”
I thought about the places I’d been over the past four days and where I might have come in contact with something to make me itch. I suppose I could’ve had a reaction to a new detergent, but it wouldn’t be localized to my fingers. Maybe I couldn’t wear fingernail polish. I could have touched a plant while in the park, and I’d been there a number of times. Although I didn’t eat the poisoned taffy, maybe I touched another item doctored with whatever made Davy and Carlee ill.
“Not knowingly, but I suppose anything is possible.” I remembered standing up the flowers in the living room at the inn. “Maybe it’s from handling Reginald Farthington’s lilies.”
“Let me get you some steroid cream.”
Rianna smeared the cream on my splotchy fingers before loosely wrapping them with white gauze. “This will keep the salve from getting all over your clothes.” She finished with a swath of tape and leaned back. “There. And to answer your question, Reggie and Edith were volunteers on the overnight general admissions cycle. They signed up for two weeks a year. It’s not too taxing. Most of what comes in late are emergencies and are handled in the ER by the staff. The volunteers spend the night and are available to help someone who might be lost or have a question that doesn’t need a medical answer."
“Thank you. You’ve been a big help,” I said, flexing my fingers and making my way to the exit. “These feel better already.”
As the doors closed behind me, chills ran up my arms, around my shoulders, across my back, and I winced. I had the feeling of being watched for a second time. Compounded by the cold, the falling temperature overpowered my rational thought and fueled my urgent need to ferret out the culprit. I whipped my head in all directions, sure to catch whoever it might be, whether or not it would be wise to do so.
Bright lot lights illuminated the hiding places behind the few remaining cars and widely spaced evergreen bushes, and I found no one. However, even at this distance, I noticed Jane’s Edge sagged, leaning heavily to one side, and angrily marched to the source of my frustration.
The closer I stepped, the slower my approach. Two flat tires brought me up short and knocked the wind from my sails. With an outstretched arm, I braced myself against the hood above the front passenger wheel well and stared, making sure I wasn’t seeing things. The air had definitely left the tire, which was as flat as a pancake. Shoving away from the vehicle, I took in both tires at one glance. It didn’t seem likely I’d fail to notice, ignore, or forget bumping over something that destructive. Had someone let the air out of the tires? Jane would not be happy.
I reached for my phone and repeatedly pressed the screen. It wouldn’t light up. It was out of juice.
I backed away from the vehicle and heard a thump and a rustle. It could have been caused by a wind if one had been blowing. Tiny hairs on the back of my neck crawled again. I spun around and this time I caught the angular face of Ryker in the corner window on the second floor of the hospital before the drape swayed as it fell back into place. Nerves on edge and fuming, I immediately trooped back to the entry and expected the doors to whoosh apart. When they didn’t, I tapped on the glass to get the attention of the security guard, Bill, who pointedly ignored me and wandered through a set of doors and out of sight. The push bars clacked as I continued to press them while reading the directions for admittance to the hospital after hours, which I’d missed by two minutes, and discovered re-entry required going through the ER.
I plodded around the corner as instructed, and rapid, heavy, insistent footfalls came at me, breaching the still night. Energized by my wild imagination, I turned and fled. Lights glimmered from the churchyard, so I made a beeline across the wide school playground, aiming for the blazing lights at the rectory.
My pounding on the door reverberated around me but didn't bring a response from within. I pounded harder. “Father? Hello? Father Svoboda? Anybody?”
More steps bumped across the ground, and my heart banged in my chest. I spun toward the sound. “Who’s there? What do you want?”
The clomping halted. No one answered.
Feeling exposed by the intense yard light and unable to see beyond the dazzling yellow circle, I took cautious advantage of the moment. I dashed down the sidewalk and across the driveway, seeking sanctuary in the immense church. My footfalls clanged as I raced up a set of metal stairs. I yanked on the door at the top, but it wouldn’t open. Neither would the second door I tried. I rounded the corner and rocketed up the concrete steps in front, paused below the vigilant statue of St. Wenceslaus, and shot an urgent prayer heavenward as I grabbed the handles and heaved. Someone had failed to check the left half of the double doors, and the bolt shot out as I pulled it wide enough to slip through. I turned the knob and gently pressed the door back into the frame, hoping the latch would engage.
I crept into a nave cloaked in eerie darkness. The muted colors in the stained-glass windows made the dim faces of the figures indecipherable. The lifelike statues had taken on varying shades of ghostly gray, and I squinted to discern some of the beautiful features Father Svoboda had pointed out. Near the altar at the front, candles in red glass holders flickered, and the dancing shadows writhed and wriggled over the walls and ceiling.
My respiration and heartrate began to decrease. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the family tree from among Edith’s belongings. An answer drifted just beyond my thoughts. The image of the Chesterfield line came into focus. The birthdates pulsed. A vision of lilies dropping yellow pollen began to make sense as a door opened, and the building took a quick breath.
I searched for cover. My fingers crawled along the wall, following the sculpted surface of the wood, and I tiptoed, one step at a time, to the choir loft for an overhead view of the church.
Peeking from behind the massive pipe organ, I scanned the vast area below. From the front of the church, on the far side, a hooded shape slowly made its way down the aisle, intermittently bobbing to peer under the pews. I gasped and covered my mouth. The figure stopped abruptly then bolted to the rear.
I felt my way around the loft and bumped into a cupboard. A door creaked open, and I stumbled, tumbling into suffocating fabric which clung to my arms and encased my head. I batted at the lengthy material of what felt like choir robes falling on top of me, and lost my balance, sprawling onto the organ foot pedals. The last thing I remembered before I blacked out was a powerful, rich, bass drone.
FORTY-THREE
Everyone reacts to ice water differently. Athletes might subject their beat-up and inflamed bodies to its healing power. It could quench a driving thirst or numb a painful injury. This ice-cold water revived me, and I reacted by recoiling rapidly and banging my head. I clawed at the fabric I thought had captured me but found myself confined in a scratchy fiber cocoon. Sometime after I’d lost consciousness, someone had trussed me up like a sack of potatoes.
A thump juddered my encasement. I was in a cramped space like the trunk of a car, filling with water. Someone or something shoved the car again, and I slid into the cold, paralyzing liquid. I gasped and coughed.
“Reggie,” I called. “I know it’s you. The pollen from your lilies has been everywhere. I wiped it on my pants after we pulled Edith from the culvert.”
Another dull, heavy blow resulted in a small roll. I braced myself. More water seeped in and sluiced toward me. I tore at the musty fabric, loosening the tie above my head.
“And it was all over the living room when I found Willy. I didn’t know what it was at first, but you always brought it with you. Someone will work it out.”
The water inched its way into my space and numbed my toes.
“I’m allergic to your herbicide. I’ve already been to the hospital. Rianna will figure out that’s what was used to tamper with Edith’s favorite taffies.”
A muffled voice said, “Edith kept giving them away.”
No more words came.
I said, “You won’t get away with it.”
I tried to slither out of the burlap confinement, but I’d lost feeling in my extremities and had no fine motor skills.
“The ancestral chart labels the Chesterfield siblings’ birth years, and I found a note in the parlor with part of your name on it.” Talking helped me think. I pounded the frame and warmed a teeny bit. “You’re Ryker’s brother, aren’t you?”
A wallop underscored the word, “Half-brother.” The car lurched, and the front angled down.
“You’re Reginald Chesterfield and no relation to Edith Farthington. She found out.” The tie at the top loosened.
“Edith wanted a family in the worst way, just not me.”
“Did Willy know?”
The trunk took another pounding. “He discovered my ancestry and after Edith died thought he’d blackmail me, but it won’t matter. Irinia ripped up the completed copy of my family tree and threw it away. There’s no evidence.”
My gut flipped. Danica had found the torn pieces, we’d put them together, and Reggie didn’t know Sheriff Zasko had both family trees. I hunted for the emergency trunk release.
“Everyone will think Lauren is the culprit. I left plenty of clues and this car will nail her to the murders,” he said.
I hammered against the interior as frigid water soaked my jacket and took away my common sense. “Why did you let them arrest Danica?”
“She should have married me, but if I couldn’t have her, I figured no one would.” He rammed into the back again. More water leaked into the cavity. “Luckily I had Irinia in reserve.”
My lips struggled to form the words. “But now you’re pointing a finger at Lauren?”
“That’s if they find you, but it can’t be helped. She took my inheritance, and Danica isn’t available to blame this time.”
Water poured in. “Did Ryker take your shifts at the hospital?” Thoughts were difficult to hold onto.
“I told you to leave it alone.” He grunted. Another pummeling, and the car teetered. I readied myself, curling away from invading liquid and I seesawed back. The slight rocking was intoxicating.
“Reg. Gie?”
The rising arctic water acted like manacles on my chest. My chattering teeth slowed. Every intake of air hurt, and my lungs stopped expanding. I wanted to sleep. It wouldn’t be so bad. I could be with Charles. But then I remembered promising him I’d live a good life. The face shifted. In my mind I saw Pete’s insistent, shining, chocolate-colored eyes and felt him press his warm lips to mine.
“Reg. In. Ald?”
Blood pulsed more slowly through my neck, and my thoughts drifted, dreaming of Maverick romping through the snow.
My head lolled back and forth as the persistent barking tried to lure me from the soporific arms of Hypnos. I hung on until I wrenched my eyes open, searching for the insistent noisy dog—my insistent, noisy lovable canine companion.
And he yelped close by.
“Maverick.” It came out as a croak. My chattering teeth resounded in my ears. “Maverick, here.”
I lifted the deadweights I called arms and punched at the ceiling. I directed my inert legs through willpower and kicked out. Sharp pins and needles pierced my nerves as I forced feeling to return to my extremities. The glacial water brushed my neck and I thrust myself forward with every ounce of strength I had remaining. My frozen fingers hooked a tab. I forced them into a claw-like grip and pulled.
The trunk lid popped. The bright moon, doubled by its reflection in the large body of water, lit the night. Maverick had Reggie pinned against a tree trunk. His raised hackles enlarged his shoulders and if I hadn’t known better, I’d have thought he was a wolf.
I dragged my chilled-to-the-bone body over the lip of the trunk, dropped into the water, and screamed. I raised my heavy arms and slogged through the slush. The car pitched away from me, and I dropped onto the shore. I lay there as frosty blades of grass cut into my cheek. I closed my eyes, unable to make any part of me move until Maverick crawled on top of me, laid his head on my neck, and licked my face. I peeled my eyelashes apart and smiled.
Multiple orbs of light bobbed through the trees, calling my name. Renegade reached us first and she emulated my dog, dragging her entire torso over mine. I lugged my arms over the pair of them and waited.
CJ arrived next. With a whistle, the dogs slid off me, and he covered me with his warm coat.
My mouth wouldn’t work. I tried several times before he brought his ear close enough to hear. “Reggie.”
“The sheriff has him in custody. He tried to sneak past Renegade, but Reginald is afraid of my pup.”
“And mine.” I tried to laugh but coughed instead.
CJ’s brilliant smile outshined the moon. “You did it again. Thank you.” He reached out his hand. “Are you able to walk?”
I nodded, and he dragged me to a standing position. He pulled my arm over his shoulder. Walking would take a more concerted effort. I lugged my foot forward and my legs wobbled. Jane appeared on my other side. I could go anywhere with these two.
But I only had to go as far as the road over the culvert where we’d found Edith only days before. Paul sat behind the steering wheel of his battered black truck. Jane marshalled me into the rear and sat next to me, followed closely by our dogs. CJ slid onto the front seat and said, “Hospital.”
“No,” came out clear as a bell. “We’ve been there enough.” I caught Paul’s smile in the rearview mirror, and we headed back to the inn where we were met by four rambunctious, boisterous, happy kids, a drained grandmother, and one beautiful, smiling mom.
“You two.” Kahula pointed to Danica and me. “To bed. Now. There will be plenty of time for talking tomorrow.”
Danica held out her arm. I took it and she squeezed. We mounted the stairs in grand style, escorted one step at a time by more eyes than I cared to count.
After a hot shower, I dropped onto the tiny bed. Maverick settled in next to me and then next thing I knew, the pink of dawn kissed the edge of the blinds.
FORTY-FOUR
Jane snored softly. I crept down the stairs, and drawn by soft sounds in the early morning, slowly opened the door to the parlor.
Kahula and Paul flanked Danica as they huddled together on the sofa. Half her life had been spent in grief and fear and her fortitude had dissolved. Her shoulders quaked as she sobbed. Reality set in as her entire world flipped.
I felt a presence beside me and when I realized it was CJ, I wrapped my arms around him. When I was hugged out, I stepped to the side and gave him space. Carlee had followed him. She pulled a chain over her head and cradled the blue pendant in her hand. She reached for my bandaged fingers, but grabbed my wrist instead and squeezed.
Kahula squinted into the stream of brightening daylight. She tipped Danica’s chin up to look squarely in her eyes and nodded at our small entourage standing in the doorway. Danica wiped one eye and then the other and raised her chin before rising. Paul held her steady.
She inhaled sharply and stepped toward Carlee who rushed into her embrace with such speed and intensity the two nearly toppled. Danica covered her daughter’s hair with kisses. She took Carlee’s face in her hands and peered into her eyes. “I have loved you since the moment you were born.” Carlee took one of her mother’s hands in her own, pulled it flat, and ever so gently tucked the lapis lazuli necklace into Danica’s palm, and curled their fingers around it. Danica gasped and brushed at new tears, closing her eyes at the vividly shocking connection.
