Chapter 23 Scared For Me
SCARED FOR ME
“Be careful, Rory.”
“I’m always careful,” he said. “Stop babying me.”
Rene laughed at him like she was prone to do. How he missed her laughter and wished it weren’t only in a dream that he got to experience it again.
“You babied me for years,” Rene said. “It’s my turn now.”
“If you really wanted to help, you’d give me more clues.”
“Don’t pout,” Rene said, flopping on the bed. “I’m giving you what I can. I don’t know his name. What more do you want from me?”
“I want to help bring whoever did this to you to justice.”
“But it doesn’t change what happened,” Rene said sadly. He rarely saw her not smiling or laughing in his dreams. Or if she wasn’t happy, then she was fearful. That was worse. “You can’t bring me back.”
“I know. But I want to know what happened,” he said. “I need to.”
“And you will,” Rene said. “But it’s not safe there now. You need to know that. You need to understand. They are coming for you.”
And there was the fear he dreaded. “Who is coming for me? If you know someone is, then you know who it is.”
“It’s not up to me to tell you.” A tear slipped out of her eye. “But I’m warning you because you’re closer than you ever were before. Maybe it’s the help you’ve got now.”
“You know about Gale,” he said. “How can you not know about the rest?”
Rene’s hand landed on his shoulder. He swore he felt it. “Because I know you and what is in your head, but not theirs. Not anyone else. Keep seeking, Rory, you’ll find your truth.”
“I want your truth,” he yelled. “Why won’t you give it to me?”
His sister burst into tears. He never yelled. Never screamed. Never got mad.
But everything about his time here was twisting him up tighter than an octopus’s death grip.
“Take a break, clear your head. You need it. But watch your back at the same time.”
“Why are you crying?” he asked. “Are you hurt? Are you scared too? Give me something.”
“I don’t want you hurt,” Rene said. “But I can’t control that.”
Her vision was fading, her voice with it. “Come back. Tell me more.”
“Not today,” the words were whispered and then she was gone.
He sat up in bed shaking, his hand going to his face and coming away wet with tears.
Was it only him crying or Rene as well?
“Why the fuck are they getting worse?” he said, throwing the covers back.
There were periods of time his dreams of Rene did more than haunt him. They almost crippled him.
This was neither of those things.
It was more frustration than anything else.
He turned and picked up his phone and saw it was eight in the morning. He didn’t know if it was the mountain air that had him sleeping later than normal, but supposed it didn’t matter.
He grabbed a change of clothing and went to the bathroom to shower for the day. When he came out, his phone had a text from Gale that she was on her way to his house.
Fuck, he forgot they were going hiking this morning.
He heard the knocking again and raced to the door. The last thing he wanted to do was leave her out there waiting.
“Coffee,” she said, holding up the cups. There was a bag in the fist of one hand. “And donuts. Lots of sugar to get us through. You ready for this?”
“Sorry, come in. I slept later than I thought again.”
She leaned in to give him a kiss. “Because I wore you out last night. If you’d stayed, then we could have done it again.”
“And give people even more to talk about,” he said.
“Do you care?” she asked. “Because I gave up caring days after you arrived.”
He forced out a laugh. “It was longer for me. But the coffee and donuts are appreciated. Are you always this chipper when you first get up?”
“Not usually, but I’m looking forward to being out in the fresh air today. How much do you hike?”
“Not much. I’m relying on you for this. Don’t get us lost.”
“Not going to happen,” she said.
He pulled a donut out of the bag, cinnamon sugar, and they were still warm. “Oh my God, where did you get these?” he asked around a mouthful, then looked in to see if there were more.
“The cafe. My mother makes them daily. I thought I’d give you a nice treat.”
He picked his phone up and looked through the messages. Guess he missed the one where she said she was going to the farm first. He only saw the last one that she was on the way to him.
“What did your mother say about your visit? I’m assuming she knows you’re spending the day with me?”
“She knows and she won’t say much more than to make sure I put sunscreen on and bug spray.”
“Did you?”
“Got both in my purse. We won’t go far from here. Sometimes I think it’s just nice to get out and breathe the mountain air. Almost like a reset.”
“Taking a break,” he mumbled. “Getting a breather.”
“That’s it,” she said cheerfully. “It will do us both good. Almost as good as last night in my room.”
He leaned in for another kiss, then took a second bite of the donut. “I enjoyed that. I doubt the hike will be as pleasurable.”
“Don’t be so surprised. We can drink our coffee on the trail. Got Clay’s gun?”
He went to his room and pulled it out from under the pillow where it was taking up residence at night.
She slipped a backpack off her shoulders, opened it and he glimpsed her gun in there. “Clay gave me a holster to give you for it.”
“Thanks. That makes it easier for today.”
He took it and clipped it to his belt under his shirt, put the gun in and then pulled on another sweatshirt.
Ten minutes later they were parking at a trail at the base of the mountain and making a climb through a clear path with their coffee cups in their hands.
“How did you sleep? You look a little rough if I do say so myself. I don’t think I caused that, but I could have.”
He could appreciate the humor in her voice. “Rene.”
“Oh. What did she say this time? Or I should ask what she did.”
Gale’s ponytail was weaving around as she waited for his answer. He liked that the woman he was getting close to didn’t judge him or think he was losing his mind, but rather joined in the intrigue of it. Her cheekbones were as sharp as her brown eyes and there was a touch of humor in them.
“More of the same. She was upset and I lost my patience, which I don’t do. She was crying.” He wouldn’t admit that he was too.
“Do you know why?”
“She’s scared for me. She said she doesn’t want me hurt. To keep doing what I am, but they are after me.”
“Who?” she asked, gripping his arm.
“Your guess is as good as mine. Could be why I lost it with her. I’m more frustrated than anything.”
“Because you’re getting closer.”
“Or not,” he said. “This could all be a wild goose chase more than finding her killer. I can’t tell you how pissed off I’m going to be if at the end, all it did was rile people for fear their tourism was going to diminish or some business deal would fall through.”
“If that is what it ends up being, then they will get over it. This is bigger than that,” she said. “We know and if they can’t understand, too bad.”
“I don’t know what to think anymore,” he said, walking along the path and climbing higher. “I wish I did. She’s sad and it kills me. Then she said none of this can bring her back.”
“That’s right,” Gale said. “It can’t and it won’t. You’re looking for answers, not to rewind the past. I know you know that, but sometimes I think you wish you had some magic wand to erase what happened.”
“Wouldn’t you feel the same way?” he asked desperately.
“I would,” she said. “I don’t know Rene, but I feel as if I do at times. But I know you, and you need this break and that is what I’m giving you. Why don’t we just put it aside for the next hour and enjoy nature? I’ve been on these trails most of my life. Ask me anything.”
“What kind of plant is that?”
She looked closer as if she was going to answer him, then shrugged. “No clue. It’s not poison ivy. Those things I know. Everything else I try not to touch. And if we had better service up here, I’d put it through my handy app to get an answer.”
He laughed. “Then let’s just walk and enjoy the quiet. Maybe I don’t get enough of that in my life either.”
But ninety minutes later when they arrived back at Rory’s place, all the peace they’d just shared was wiped away.
His hand went to the front door and stopped. “Get behind me.”
He had his gun out. “What’s going on?”
“Someone has tampered with the lock or has been here.”
He’d been setting traps around entrances. Strings that wouldn’t be noticed. A leaf under the door that wouldn’t be moved until opened. That was gone.
Even if they hadn’t noticed that, he saw the scratch marks by the lock where the key went. They weren’t there before.
“I’ll call Ford.”
“No,” he said. “Get back in your car and go.”
“Hell no,” she argued. “I’m not letting you go in there alone.”
He put the key in to unlock the door and noticed Gale had her gun in her hand. She was going to be hard to control and keep back. Maybe he didn’t want to do that either.
He used his elbow to push the lever down to open the door and pushed it with his foot.
The house was in one piece. No signs of robbery, but in the kitchen the boxes of notes were overturned, papers were scattered everywhere and torn into shreds.
There seemed to be one piece that was still intact with the words written in blue ink— “YOU WERE WARNED”—in bold messy letters. The same writing as before.
“Guess they aren’t going away,” he said.
“And now we’re calling Ford.”
He had moved through the rented ranch searching for what everyone was talking about.
Could there be pictures here he’d never seen before? He’d heard the rumors but never saw evidence.
He opened drawers and looked, but nothing. Not even a sketchbook someone talked about either.
After finding no computer anywhere, he lost his patience and nerve and took his frustration out on the only things he could see. The damn boxes and court papers.
If losing every damn note wasn’t enough to drive that asshole out of town, then he’d have to escalate. Drastic measures. Permanent ones, if it came to that.
He didn’t want that to happen, but he’d done it before and would again.
Risking daylight like this had his nerves strung tight with every tick of the clock cutting into his window.
He’d waited until Rory’s SUV was gone, convinced Gale must be with him and the neighbors out as well. He’d checked the street, every driveway, every car. He’d checked twice like he always did.
It’d been now or never. Even without a plan, the opening was too good to waste to not make his move.
The lock had yielded beneath his fingers from a skill honed long ago. One of many dirty tricks tucked in his back pocket to get into places he wasn’t supposed to be as a kid. To listen to conversations he was never supposed to hear and discover the truth of the lies he’d lived.
He had slipped inside silently, the woods waiting as his cover once he finished and could make a mad dash back through them to his vehicle, frustration fueling his anger that he didn’t get what he came for.
When he saw the box of notes, the rest in a neat pile on the table, he ripped them to shreds as if this action would make it all go away like it had for fifteen years.
He wasn’t about to let some arrogant ex-cop swoop in and unravel decades of careful control he’d put into place. Not over one slip. Not over one mistake.
He hadn’t meant for it to happen. He’d said he was sorry for years in the dark when no one was around. Wasn’t that enough?
He carried his guilt like a heavy burden no one else could manage and yet it still didn’t make it go away.
If Rory wasn’t shaken enough to pack up and run, then he’d force his hand. And if Rory was too stubborn, then Ford would make sure his sister backed off. He didn’t want to hurt Gale. But if it came down to her life or his secret...
He clenched his jaw with the cold realization sliding into place.
Some sacrifices had to be made. Them or him.
It wouldn’t be him.