Chapter 7 #2
Sarah managed to retrieve my sunglasses, now smudged with toddler fingerprints. Tommy waved from her arms as they headed toward the designated waiting area for non-riders.
I climbed into my seat alone, next to Mike and his boys. The safety bar locked down. The cart launched forward into darkness. A miner's evil laugh echoed. Crows cawed from somewhere above. The cart dropped beneath a spinning rock crusher, whipped around a hairpin curve.
Then came the vertical lift. Straight up, ninety degrees, graffiti covering the walls on either side. At the top, we burst outside into daylight for one breath before plunging back into the mine.
The second vertical lift was even more intense. Eighty-five feet straight up in pitch darkness. A fuse sparked, snaking along the floor. A lantern illuminated dynamite. The explosion was simulated but my scream was real.
The cart plunged at a ninety-five-degree drop. Beyond vertical, straight down into darkness. My stomach stayed somewhere at the top.
A barrel roll, a dive loop, and then suddenly we were outside again, blinking in the sunlight.
"That was AWESOME!" Connor yelled as we pulled back into the station.
My legs wobbled getting out. Mike and his boys headed toward the rider switch to trade places with Sarah.
For the next hour, I just let myself be. I rode Thunderhead, the massive wooden coaster that rumbled through the trees at fifty-five miles per hour, the structure shaking and creaking with each pass. The first drop was a hundred feet of pure terror and joy mixed together.
I watched a glass-blowing demonstration in Craftsman's Valley, mesmerized by the way the artist shaped molten glass into delicate birds and ornaments.
I ate a funnel cake that had enough powdered sugar to coat my entire shirt.
Near the Valley Theater, a bluegrass band was setting up. I found a bench and sat down to listen. The fiddle player was incredible, making his instrument sing and wail and dance. The banjo player's fingers moved so fast they blurred.
They played traditional mountain music, the kind that had been passed down through generations in these hills. For forty-five minutes, I sat there and just listened. Nobody bothered me. Nobody asked for selfies. I was just another person in the crowd, enjoying the music.
When was the last time I'd felt this anonymous? This free?
My toe tapped to the rhythm. The fiddle sang. For a few precious minutes, I was just Kathy on a bench, listening to mountain music in the fading afternoon light.
When the show ended, I stayed on the bench a moment longer, watching families drift toward the exits. Just enjoying my anonymity.
The sun started its descent. The park was going to close soon. I made my way back toward the exit, weaving through families heading for their cars.
A little girl stood by a minivan, crying. She couldn't have been more than five, wearing a Dolly Parton t-shirt and holding a half-melted ice cream cone.
I stopped and squatted down so we were at eye-level. "Hey, are you okay?"
"I can't find my mommy." Her voice hitched between sobs.
"When did you last see her?"
"At the butterfly place. But then I saw the ice cream and she said wait but I didn't wait and now I can't find her."
"Okay. What's your mommy's name?"
"Mommy."
Of course it was.
"What's your name?"
"Emma."
"Hi, Emma. I'm Kathy. Let's find your mommy, okay?" I held out my hand. "Is this your van?"
She shook her head.
"Then we need to find someone who works here to help us." I scanned the parking lot. A security guard walked between rows of cars about fifty yards away. "See that man in the uniform? He can help us find your mommy. Want to come with me to talk to him?"
Emma took my hand. Her palm was sticky from the ice cream.
The security guard saw us approaching and assessed the situation in seconds.
"Lost parents?"
"This is Emma. She got separated from her mom at the butterfly exhibit."
He pulled out his radio. "Description of the mother?"
Emma's face crumpled again.
"Hey, Emma, what color is your mommy's hair?" I asked gently.
"Brown. Like yours."
"And what was she wearing?"
"A red shirt with a flower."
The security guard radioed the description. "We'll find her. Happens every day. Parents always turn up."
"Do you want to sit down while we wait?" I asked Emma.
She nodded.
We sat on a nearby bench. Her ice cream dripped onto her Dolly shirt.
"Want to hear a secret?" I asked.
Emma leaned in.
"I got lost at a theme park once too. When I was about your age. My dad found me at the lost and found, eating cookies the staff gave me. He said I looked very happy for someone who was supposed to be scared."
Emma giggled. "Were you scared?"
"A little. But the cookie helped."
"I don't have a cookie."
"Well, you have ice cream. That's even better."
A blonde woman in a red shirt with a sunflower on it came sprinting across the parking lot. Of course she was blonde like me, I laughed to myself.
"Emma!"
"Mommy!" Emma launched herself off the bench.
They collided in a hug that made something twist in my stomach. The ice cream cone smashed between them. I knew the mom didn't care.
The mother looked up, tears streaming down her face. "Thank you. Thank you so much."
"She's a brave kid. She stayed calm."
"I told her to wait. I told her not to run off." The mother was talking to me but holding Emma like she might disappear again. "I turned around and she was just gone."
"She's safe now. That's what matters."
The security guard approached. "Need anything else from me?"
"No, we're good. Thank you."
The mother shifted Emma to her hip. "Can I at least get your name? So I can really thank you?"
"It's fine. Really. Just give her an extra hug for me."
I walked away before she could insist. My hands shook. That little girl's tears, the mother's relief. It was too much. Too real. Too close to the fear I'd been carrying for days.
The Honda waited where I'd left it. I climbed in and sat there, gripping the steering wheel.
A tap on my window made me jump.
Mike from the roller coaster line stood there, his family waiting by their minivan a few spots over.
I rolled down the window. "Hi."
"I saw what you did. With that little girl." He smiled. "My boys wanted me to tell you that Natasha Blade is awesome. And that you're really nice."
My throat closed.
"Thanks."
"You have a good rest of your day, Miss Lord. Hope you enjoyed your escape."
He walked back to his family before I could respond. Sarah waved. Tommy, still wearing my sunglasses, waved too. The boys bounced in their seats as Mike started the minivan.
I sat there long after they left, watching the parking lot empty. The sun touched the horizon, painting everything gold and orange.
I'd come here to be nobody. Just Katherine, not Kit Lord. But maybe that was impossible. Maybe I'd been Kit Lord for so long that Katherine had faded away entirely.
Or maybe, helping Emma find her mom, making Tommy laugh, those were the Katherine moments.
I started the engine and headed back toward Jasper Creek.
I saw Angelica's Corvette in the Whispering Pines Inn parking lot. I checked the time. Six o'clock. She must be done visiting Millie.
I made it three steps toward my room before Angelica burst through her door.
"Where the hell have you been?" She grabbed my arm. "Six hours, Kit. Six hours without telling anyone where you were going."
"I went for a drive."
"For six hours? Without telling anyone? Without a phone?" She paced. "Kit, someone's trying to destroy you. You can't just disappear."
The weight of everything crashed back down. She was right. I'd been selfish, careless.
"I'm sorry."
Angelica sucked in a deep breath. "Yeah, well. You're okay, that's the important thing. We need to get you a phone. Now."
She was dialing before I finished speaking. "Jase? Yeah, she's back. We need a clean phone." She listened, then nodded. "Got it. Thanks."
She hung up and fixed me with a look. "You're going to Onyx. Code will set you up with a secure phone."
"I can just buy—"
"No. You need something clean, untraceable. Code knows what he's doing."
"Fine."
"And Kit?" She pulled me into a hug. "Don't disappear again."
"I won't. I promise."
She released me. "Stop at Down Home Diner on your way. Bring dinner. Boys like Code forget to eat when they're working."
"How do you know he's working?"
She gave me a look that said I was being obtuse. "It's Code. He's working. That's what all these boys do when they're on a mission."
I almost laughed. Only Angelica would refer to these powerful men as boys.
Little Grandma stood at the hostess stand when I walked into the Down Home Diner.
"Hello, dear." Her sharp eyes took in everything. "To-go order?"
"Two daily specials, please."
"For you and that handsome man at Onyx?" Her smile was knowing.
"How did you..."
"Word travels." She patted my hand. "Don't you worry. We take care of our own here. You're safe with Code Drakos."
Lettie appeared with two containers before I could respond. "Chicken-fried steak and mashed potatoes tonight. Best in three counties. One of Code’s favorites."
"Thank you, but how do you…?"
Little Grandma and Lettie exchanged glances.
"Honey," Little Grandma said gently, "we know everything."
I paid and left, my mind spinning. This town was like nothing I'd ever experienced. They knew who I was, what I was doing, probably why I was here. But instead of treating me like a commodity, they'd circled the wagons. Protected me.
The Onyx Security building looked different in the late afternoon light. I balanced the takeout bags and pushed at the door. It was open.
"I'm upstairs," Code called out. I climbed the stairs, my heart beating faster than the climb warranted. Through the open conference room door, I could see him surrounded by screens, his profile lit by blue light.
He didn't look up when I entered, but his fingers paused on the keyboard.
"I brought dinner."
“You didn’t have to do that,” Code said. Then his stomach growled loudly and I hid my smile. Those ladies at Down Home Diner really did know everything.