by Bella Jewel
Accidental?
Could it truly be accidental?
If there were no signs of a struggle, high levels of alcohol and nothing else to show he was hurt intentionally, then maybe Rhett is right, maybe he had the blanket wrapped around him and he tripped on it, maybe fell because he couldn’t catch his balance. It makes sense.
Rhett speaks to the police officers for a moment longer, signing a few things, and I turn to Kara, she looks relieved. “I was so scared when he came in here just now,” she whispers, “I know I am the only person they thought could have done it if it wasn’t ruled accidental, but I’d never hurt anyone, let alone Taj.”
“It was an accident,” Emily says, her voice somber. “It’s tragic, but it happens sometimes.”
When the officers go, Rhett turns to the group. “Want to apologize for the loss of your friend, it isn’t how we wanted this to go and it’s a fuck of an ending to have. If you’d like to stay here and finish your time, you’re welcome, but if you’d like to go we’ll refund you in full.”
I swallow.
I glance at Kara, who looks to Emily. Grace and Maria are both standing, their faces blank. They didn’t have much to do with Taj, I mean, neither did I really. He was a friend, but we weren’t close, still, he was a person, and his life wasn’t meant to end the way it did. Something is niggling at me, deep in my chest, telling me not to go. Telling me there is something missing here, and I’m desperate to find out what it is. If we leave, and there are answers to be had, my chance of getting them will go.
“I think we stay,” I say. “Taj wouldn’t want us to leave, he’d want us to keep going, to laugh for him and cry for him, to make the best out of this situation. If we leave, we’re leaving his memory here and taking sadness home, that isn’t what he would want. Let’s do it for Taj.”
“I agree,” Kara nods. “He would kill us if he thought we were going to go home and miss out. I can just see it now.”
Grace laughs softly, through sob. “He really would. He’d be like, you bunch of pussies, stop your crying and go and have fun.”
Rick nods, a small sad smile on his face. “God, he really would.”
“Then it’s agreed?” I ask. “We stay, we finish out our time, and then we go home and we make a memory for our friend that’ll last forever.”
Everyone nods.
I look to Rhett. “We’re staying.”
A huge part of that feels wrong, but I also know that if I don’t look into this further, to make sure everything is alright, then I’m not doing right by my friend either. I can’t say I would sleep well at night, knowing that this possibly wasn’t an accident and I didn’t do anything about it. Call me stubborn, but I know what feels right, and this is it.
“It doesn’t feel right, to be having fun without him,” Nathan murmurs, more to himself than anyone else.
Rick reaches over and squeezes his shoulder. “No, it doesn’t, but we owe it to him to make the most out of this, it’s what he would want.”
Nathan exhales, then looks to us. “I don’t think I can stay; Taj was my best friend.”
I respect that. He knew Taj well, probably better than any of us, it’s only fair for him to want to go home and he has that right. “I understand, and that goes for any one of you,” I say to the group. “If you don’t feel right staying, there is absolutely no pressure to. You can go at any point.”
Everyone nods again.
Grace hugs Nathan.
I do, too.
We’re all feeling this, but he is the most. I know he blames himself. Rick does, too. It was their idea to go to the barn for the night, but the thing is, if it was an accident, it could have happened at any point. If they were drinking that much, these things can happen and it is nobody’s fault. It’s hard not to blame the barn, and the dare, and everything else that surrounded the moments leading up to Taj’s death, but the fact is it was just unlucky.
It had to be.
There is no way some decades old curse is real.
No, there is more to this.
I’m determined to find out what.
For Taj.
12
“Why do I feel like you tell us all to stay was for a different reason?” Kara asks me on the walk back to the cabins.
Rhett told us to take a few days to ourselves, then if we’d like, we can continue with the team building tasks on the weekend. We all agreed, and Nathan packed his things to go home. Maria did, too. I think at some point, her and Taj had something going on. It was always the talk of the orchestra. I was never part of their group, so I can’t be sure, but I do know that they’re all pretty close.
Grace decided to stay, because she wants to make the most of the trip, which I understand. Emily is staying to be there for us, and I respect her for that. Emily and Grace have moved into one of the spare cabins and Rick is on his own, now. Kara is staying with me, and hopefully, we’ll all feel a bit better in the coming days.
I shrug, playing Kara’s question off as nothing. “I think it’s important for us to stay, that’s all.”
“Don’t lie to me, Lei. I’m your best friend and I can see straight through you. There is no way in the world you’d think it was best to stay here, you’re way to much of an empath. You care too much about people. There is something more. You don’t believe it was an accident.”
I have to pause and ask myself, do I truly believe Kara had anything to do with it? I think about my friend, and everything we’ve been through, and my heart is telling me no. I have to make this choice because if I tell her, and she helps me, and I’m wrong, then this could go really, really bad.
I turn to face her. “Don’t take offense to the question I’m going to ask you, Kara, because I’m only asking once more because I want your help. Did you have anything to do with Taj’s death?”
She scowls at me. “No, I did not. I drank a lot, I stumbled home. I partied just like the rest of them, but I had no reason to kill Taj. If you think first chair means that much to me, then you don’t know me at all.”
She’s right, and I feel horrible for asking.
“I’m sorry,” I say softly. “I just had to be sure. You’re right, I don’t think it was an accident, I just ... there’s something in my gut telling me there is more to this, but I don’t know what. I trust everyone here, and I see no reason why Rhett and his guys would hurt a member of the first group to come to Walker Hills, so I just don’t see it being them. But there are a few things I am worried about ...”
“Come, let’s go into the cabin so nobody hears us and we can talk it through.”
Kara takes my arm and we go into our cabin, locking the door and closing the windows. We turn the air conditioning on, it’s a warm day, and then we both sit on the sofa. Kara pulls out her phone, opens notes, and we begin.
“So, first things first, let’s go over everyone we know and see if we can find motive.”
I love this about her, she’s so willing, even after I doubted her. I feel horrible for doubting her, but I had to cover every single angle, even if I didn’t want to see it.
“Okay,” I say. “Let’s start with the guys. Nathan.”
Kara shakes her head. “No way, those two have been bros for as long as I’ve been part of this orchestra.”
“Could they have been fighting over a girl? Maybe it was an accident?”
Kara frowns, and then shakes her head again. “No, they were so happy last night. No tension at all. I just could never see Nathan hurting Taj, and even if he did, I think he would have said something.”
We cross Nathan’s name out.
“Rick?” I ask. “They did have that fight a few years ago, remember? Over some girl.”
Kara nods. “Yeah, but the two of them were pretty close, too. And Rick passed out early, he was super drunk and fell asleep in the tent when I was still there. The guy could barely take a step. It’s possible, but I’m going to say highly doubtful.”
“Put a question mark then, we’ll circle bac
k.”
She nods, and jots something down on her notes.
“Grace and Maria,” I go on.
“He and Maria were pretty close, I’m pretty sure they had a thing a while back but Maria has a man now and she’s pretty happy with him. I see no possible reason for her to have done anything. Plus she’s tiny, it would take a lot to push Taj.”
She’s right.
We cross Maria out.
“Grace?”
Kara thinks on it. “She’s a possible, they were squabbling earlier in the night about some part coming up, and it got pretty heated. She called him a few names, nothing unusual for Grace, and then she went to bed.”
“So we’ll mark her as possibly.”
Kara nods.
“Emily?” I ask.
Kara shakes her head. “No way, she left early and wasn’t even there.”
“And when I came out of my room, I saw her in bed.”
Besides, she’d have no reason to want to hurt Taj, she created this group and between all of us, she is the most mature and stable.
We cross her out.
“Okay,” Kara says. “So that’s our group done. Let’s move to the guys, though I see no reason why any of them would hurt Taj. They look scary, but they’ve been nothing but nice.”
This is where I’m hesitant.
I give her a look and she pauses. “You’re not telling me something.”
“I don’t know if I should ...”
Her eyes widen. “Tell me right now! This is important, we need all the information.”
I exhale. “Okay, so when I went up to the house last night to see Rhett, I stumbled across a situation I don’t think I was meant to see.”
Kara narrows her eyes. “What kind of situation?”
“Well, they were all in the house and they had this random guy on the sofa and they were asking him all these questions and then they ... they were hitting him with a crowbar. It was pretty messed up. I ran off, fell down the stairs, and Rhett caught me but I just acted like I was in the stables visiting the horses and I could tell he was nervous I had seen something.”
Kara’s eyes get big. “They were hurting someone? Do you have any idea who, or why?”
“I don’t know who, but I did hear them saying they were trying to get some sort of information out of him, it sounded pretty bad. They were saying they needed to find something to use against him to get him to talk.”
“Shit,” Kara mumbles. “What if somehow Taj went up to the house later in the night and stumbled across that?”
“I thought of that, but they then would have had to drag him all the way back to the barn, push him onto a rock and cover him up without anyone knowing. I don’t know much about these guys, but I feel like if they were going to sort out a situation they’d do it a little better than that. As far as I know, they didn’t even know we were at the barn.”
Kara ponders this for a minute, crossing her legs. “Okay, let’s say Taj did see something and ran off. One of them heard him and followed him back to the barn, where they confronted him, it got a bit heated, and they pushed him ...”
It’s possible, but again, nobody heard anything.
“They were camping right outside, you’re saying nobody would have heard anything?”
“We were all really drunk,” Kara says. “When I left, they were barely walking. They all climbed into that tent and passed out, it’s unlikely they would have heard anything.”
I exhale. “Okay, so let’s put them down as something to look into.”
“I think they’re the first thing we look into, we need to find out more about them. Who were those girls we had lunch with that day, they seem to know them well, is there any way we can casually chat to them?”
Maggie and Gabby, they both live in town. I wonder if we could make an excuse to get into town and see them, just to find out a little general information.
“Do you need anything from town?”
Kara grins. “Always.”
To town we go.
“YOU NEED TO GO INTO town?” Rhett asks, unsaddling Diablo in the barn.
It took me a while to find him, I had to go and ask Enzo who said he was out fixing fences again. The guys are all about to head out to work in the paddocks, so I was lucky to catch him at all.
“Only if you’re not busy. You can just drop us in and come back later, we just need to have a bit of time out.”
He nods. “I gotta go in and see some people, was goin’ to wait but I’ll go in now. Go get your things and we’ll go.”
Rhett is withdrawn these last few days, gone is the man who was all over me like a rash. He’s broody and grumpy, barely speaking to me let alone anyone else. I get it, he just had a death on his ranch, during the very first retreat here. He’s managed to keep it quiet, but there is supposed to be some big news reporting on the weekend with some interviews on the first group here, and I guess he’s worried that might not go well. After all, three members are now missing.
It won’t take long for the questions to be asked.
“Are you okay?” I dare to ask.
He glances at me. “Someone fuckin’ died on my ranch. What do you think?”
His words feel like a slap. I reel back and stare at him, horrified. “That someone was a fucking friend of ours, Rhett. You think we don’t know how bad it is?”
He glares at me. He’s angry. I’m angry.
“This could ruin everything I’ve done, all because you and your friends decided it would be a good idea to fuckin’ go into a dangerous barn and camp out, as well as drink copious amounts of alcohol. I remember bein’ young and dumb, but I thought you lot were smarter than that.”
Oh.
He.
Did.
Not.
“If you were so worried about that barn, why the hell didn’t you knock it down before opening up a retreat. It was your call to leave it there, and your call to tell the damned story. You are just as much to blame. You know what, I’ll ask one of the other guys for a lift.”
“Fuckin’ fine by me.”
I turn and storm off, angry.
I get it, he’s upset about what happened, but my god, it was our friend we lost. Ours. Not his. I find Lake and convince him to give us a ride into town, he agrees, saying he wants to go in and talk to the leader of the biker club, the one Maggie and Gabby are from. Kara and I get into his truck and the entire drive, Lake tells us about the land around here, the town and everything in between.
Thankfully he talks, because I’m still fuming about Rhett.
Bloody asshole.
We arrive in town and Lake drops us off at a little café called Wildflowers, I recall the name, Gabby told me her friend runs it and they spend a lot of time there. I’m praying someone will know where I can find her because I really do have a lot of questions for her. Kara and I walk into the café, and I stare around at the retro vibe. This place is something else, there is a stage in here which tells me they hold some sort of shows. Wow. This is a place I could spend a lot of time in, no doubt about it.
“Hi ladies, welcome to Wildflowers, I’m Eve. Do you want a table?”
Eve.
That’s Gabby’s friend.
“Eve, hi! I’m Lei. We’re staying out at the new retreat. I met Gabby and Maggie the other day, she told me all about this place.”
Eve smiles, god she’s beautiful. What is it with beautiful women in this place? “Oh Lei! Gabby told me she met some really great girls out there, what brings you into town? How is it there? Is it amazing? I’ve heard Rhett has done a great job. God, I could use a month there myself.”
That was a whole lot of questions, but damn, her energy is addictive.
I laugh. “It is great out there, and we just came in to see if we could catch up with Gabby. Do you know if she’s around?”
“She works at the garage right over there, with the club. You can find her there, she’s in today.”
Oh. Well then.
“Don’t b
e scared, they sound scary but they’re really not. My guy Riggs is the president.”
“They did tell me all about the bikers.” I smile.
“Personally, I wouldn’t mind going and seeing what all the fuss is about, Maggie said they’re pretty good looking.” Kara grins, extending her hand. “I’m Kara, Lei’s bestie.”
Eve laughs and shakes her hand. “Well, go and check them out and see Gabby, then come back here. The morning rush will be over soon, I’ll make you some lunch and we can talk. I’m dying to hear how everything is out there.”
“Perfect!” I say.
We leave the café and walk through the parking lot to the massive garage just across from it. It’s full of cars and there are men getting around, working and chatting. From what I can see so far, Gabby was right, these guys are something else. They’re different to the guys at the ranch, in the way that they’re so scarily rugged. The ranch guys are rugged, and burly, but in an almost natural way. These guys are tattooed and getting around in leathers, in a way that tells you not to mess with them.
“Can I help you ladies?”
The guy walking up to us is a god damned dream boat. I mean, holy shit. He looks like Thor, on steroids. The man is something else entirely.
“Oh boy,” Kara says.
I nudge her with my shoulder. “Ah, we’re looking for Gabby. Is she here?”
“Gabriella!” he bellows, and Gabby’s head pops up from beneath the hood of a car in the garage.
She smiles when she sees us.
“That all?” he asks.
We both nod, eyes wide.
We’re both stunned.
Shocked into silence.
Oh boy. Talk about hot.
“What are you two lovely ladies doing here?” Gabby asks, wiping her hands on her coveralls and smiling in our direction.
“We thought we’d come and say hello, see what it’s like in here and check out these bikers you talk so much about.”