by Lisa Regan
“I wouldn’t let him bring a gun with us. Definitely not with Emily there. She was already upset. She kept asking what police lady, and he said he didn’t know her name and it was dark. Emily asked if she had a scar and he said a big one, on the side of her face, and we knew it was you.”
He looked at her then, as if looking for some kind of absolution, but Josie didn’t have it to give. She swallowed. “Did he say what he did?”
“No. Just that it was very bad and that you were both probably at the hospital. Emily got really upset. She said he had to make you a doll to say he was sorry. I didn’t know what the hell they were talking about, but he said if he made one could I take it to you since I knew who you were. I said if I took it to you, you would make me turn him in. So he said I could take it to the hospital and leave it on your car. I had been in your car before, so I knew which one it was. I thought what Rory was saying was bullshit, but it was important to Emily that he do it. I said I would do whatever he wanted if he would tell me why he broke his promise to me. He didn’t want Emily to hear, so he asked her to look around in the woods for stuff to make this doll they kept talking about. So she said she would. I told her to stay where I could see her, though.”
“What did Rory say when Emily couldn’t hear him?” Josie asked.
“He said he didn’t break his promise.”
“What do you mean?”
“He said he hurt Holly and Miss Lorelei, but he didn’t kill them. There was someone else.”
Thirty-Three
Josie glanced at the CCTV camera. Gretchen was on the other side of it, listening and watching. She would take down anything Pax said so the team could track down both Rory and the other person he claimed killed his mother and sister. Josie was going back to the hospital to be with Lisette after this.
“What other person?” Josie asked.
Pax spread his hands. “I don’t know. He just said he didn’t kill them. The creature came out and it was bad. The creature said all these terrible things he was going to do to all of them and Miss Lorelei and Holly got scared. They told Emily to hide. That only made the creature worse. Then Miss Lorelei called someone on her cell phone.”
“Who?” Josie asked.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. A man. I asked him what man, and he wouldn’t tell me. He just said the man showed up and when he saw that Rory was hurting Miss Lorelei, he went out to the truck, got the gun, and came in and tried to kill them all.”
Josie watched Pax’s face carefully for any signs of deception. Was this something he and Rory had cooked up together? Although it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility that another person had been there the day Lorelei and Holly were killed, if that was true, Josie would have expected some more detail. Any detail. “Did he describe him?” she asked.
“No, but I didn’t ask him to. I asked him if he knew the man and he said yes, but he wouldn’t tell me who it was.”
“Pax, is it possible it was your father?”
“No.”
“Remember how you told us you were with him the morning that Lorelei and Holly were killed? Were you telling the truth? It’s okay if you weren’t, we just need to know the truth.”
“He was with me. That is the truth. It couldn’t have been him.”
Josie said, “Do you ever remember seeing any men at their home when you were there?”
“No.”
“What about Rory and Holly? Did they ever talk about their father? Do you know if he was in the picture?”
“They didn’t talk about him. It was like they never had a father. When I first started going over there, Rory told me a secret. It was when Miss Lorelei wasn’t listening. He said that they had a dad before Holly was born. Sometimes he would be there but not a lot. He was mean, he hated Rory, and when Holly was a baby, he went away and never came back. That’s all I know.”
“Did Rory ever talk about Harper’s Peak?” Josie asked.
For that, she got two shoulder shrugs.
“Pax?”
“He asked me not to tell anyone.”
“Can you tell me what that was?”
“You know how I told you that I have an aunt that lives in Georgia? Well, Rory claimed that his aunt lived at and ran Harper’s Peak.”
“Did he say whether he had ever met her?”
Pax shook his head. “No. He didn’t say. I wasn’t even sure if I should believe him or not, or if he was just saying it because I told him I had an aunt I never got to see.”
Josie asked, “Did he say anything else about her? Anything at all?”
He shook his head. “No.”
Josie moved on. “Okay, so you’re at the mill. Rory denies having killed Lorelei and Holly. Emily is gathering materials for a doll. What did you do after that? Where did you spend the night?”
“In the van out by the mill. We were all tired and didn’t have a plan. The next day we got up and Rory finished his doll. I didn’t think leaving it for you was a good idea, but they wanted you to have it.”
“Were they with you when you left it?”
He shook his head. “I took them to the farm and told them to wait in the barn. I left the doll, went back and then my dad showed up. He was furious. I tried to explain what was going on, but he didn’t care. I told him what Rory told me about the man killing Lorelei and Holly, but he said it was a bunch of horseshit and that he wasn’t harboring a killer. He said he was going to call the police. That’s when Rory—”
He broke off, more tears leaking from his eyes. “It happened so fast. I couldn’t even stop him. He was so quick.”
Josie knew exactly how quick Rory was. She’d just been lucky he’d had only his fists when he attacked her, and no weapons.
“Emily was screaming and screaming and screaming. I tried to stop Rory but it was too late. By that time, my dad was already dead. I told him we had to call the police, but he said no. We were arguing. That’s when Emily ran off. I went after her but I lost her. By the time I came back, Rory was gone and so was one of the vans.”
“Why didn’t you come to the police, Pax?” Josie asked.
He shrugged. “I wanted to. I was going to, but I was so upset. I didn’t know what to do. I just wanted some time to figure out what to do. I’m sorry I hid. I know it was wrong. But now you know: Rory killed my dad.”
“Where is he now?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is Emily?”
“Did you not hear what I just told you?” Pax said. “I really don’t know.”
His chest was heaving. Josie gave him a moment to slow his breathing. There was nothing else he could offer her. It was a dead end. Still, she remembered the buttons. “Pax, Emily was placed with some people to take care of her temporarily. While she was there, she cut all the buttons from their sofa and she told the owner of the couch it was because she was afraid they were going to choke her. Do you know what that means?”
“Thought-action fusion,” he said. “It’s her OCD. Sometimes, in our brains, our thoughts get really mixed up so that we can’t even figure out if we just thought something or if it really happened. Like she probably saw those buttons and had an intrusive thought about what if she choked on them? Then in her mind, she couldn’t be sure if she had put one in her mouth or not.”
“So she cut them all off?”
“To get rid of them probably, yeah,” he said. “Miss Lorelei told me all about this stuff when I first started going there. I had it when I was little. Once I was counting pennies and I had a thought about eating one, and then I couldn’t figure out if I had really eaten one or only thought about it. My mom took me to the hospital. Turns out I didn’t eat one, only had a thought about it.”
“Wouldn’t Emily get rid of those all at once?” Josie asked.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. She’s got her own palterer, you know. I don’t know what it tells her to do.”
Thirty-Four
Gretchen drove Josie back to the hospital. “What do you thin
k of this kid?”
Josie shook her head, watching the city pass by outside her window. The sun hung low in the sky. In another hour it would be night. “I don’t know what to think. The first time I met him, I thought he was living in fear of his father. Then I thought he was a sensitive soul who wanted to help us. Then I thought he was the one shooting at me. Then I thought he was a sad, lonely boy living with a father who wasn’t prepared to properly support him. Now? I have no idea.”
“You think there really was another man there that day, like Rory said?” Gretchen asked.
“I don’t know. I really don’t know. We have one set of fingerprints from the house that we haven’t been able to match to anyone, which gives his story credence. But if Rory was telling the truth, wouldn’t he provide more detail? Also, no one has ever actually seen Rory with the gun.”
“Right,” said Gretchen. “I agree. I’m going to draw up a warrant to have the entire Bryan premises searched to see if the gun turns up there. What I’m wondering is, what is Rory’s end game here? He’s just going to wander around the woods for the rest of his life?”
“He’s fifteen,” Josie pointed out. “His brain isn’t fully developed. We know he doesn’t want to get caught. Lorelei isolating him for so many years doesn’t exactly help with his fear of people or outsiders.”
“True. Then there’s Emily. She can’t have gotten very far on foot.”
“Mett said he was sending searchers down that way and that he was going to try to get the dogs back.” Josie felt as though she should say more, offer more, but all she really wanted was to get back to Lisette. Gretchen left her outside the hospital and went back to work.
Josie noticed something unusual the moment she stepped foot in the ICU waiting room. Shannon, Christian, Patrick, Trinity, Drake, Misty, Noah, and Chitwood were standing in a semicircle, talking in low whispers. For a moment, Josie stood frozen in the doorway, fearing the worst had happened. Lisette had passed on during her procedure, and they were trying to figure out how to tell her. Then she saw a bouquet of flowers on one of the tables along the wall. It lay on its side, stems bound with a white lacy ribbon.
“What is going on here?” she said.
Noah said, “Lisette is fine. She tolerated her procedure well. She’s been awake. Asking for you. She, uh, won’t let go of the wedding idea.”
Josie walked over to the flowers and fingered the ribbon. “What is this?”
Trinity came over and took Josie’s hand. “Just hear us out, okay? Remember how Lisette said she wanted to see you get married before…” Trinity trailed off, realizing what she was about to say.
Shannon picked up the thread. “You guys can always have another ceremony or reception—anything you want—some other time.”
Josie looked around the room. “What are you not telling me?”
They all stared. Josie’s heart sank. No one spoke. Then a voice came from the doorway. Sawyer. “She’s got internal bleeding in her small bowel. They’re having trouble controlling it. They can take her back to surgery, but her body’s already been through so much, they’re not sure she can tolerate it.”
“She’s going to die,” Josie said softly.
Sawyer nodded.
Shannon came over and stepped between Josie and the table. “I’m so sorry, Josie.”
“How long?”
Again, no one spoke. Josie looked back at Sawyer. “How long does she have?”
He shook his head, eyes glistening with unshed tears. “Hours? Maybe a day? They’re going to wait till morning and if she’s still with us, they’ll take her back into surgery again and try to find the source. It’s a slow leak, but she can’t keep losing blood this way. She simply won’t make it.”
Josie’s knees gave out. Trinity and Shannon caught her. Noah rushed over to her. The three of them guided her to a chair and sat her down. He knelt in front of her and took her hands. “We don’t have to do this. It was just something we were discussing.”
Misty said, “I got the flowers. It was silly, but I was so upset. I wanted to do something. It’s Lisette’s dying wish. I wanted to be ready in case you agreed to it. Dr. Feist said your dress is downstairs in her office. We could do it—oh, and the Chief, he can officiate, believe it or not.”
Josie’s eyes wandered up and over to Chitwood’s face. He shrugged. “You take some online classes. You get certified to marry people in the Commonwealth. I did it for some friends a few years back.”
Josie kept staring at him.
He kinked a brow. “What?” he said. “I’ve got friends.”
Josie looked back at Sawyer. A muscle ticked in his jaw. His blue eyes, as ever, were penetrating. “I said some things,” he told her. “But if this is the time we have left with her, we should give her what she wants.”
Josie said, “She wants you and me not to fight, Sawyer.”
“Not as much as she wants to see you get married. I don’t get it, but I don’t need to. I found her. At the end of her life, I had a chance to meet her and know her and learn about my father, my grandfather, her family. She could have turned me away, but she didn’t. If this is what she wants, Josie, just give it to her.”
Josie turned toward Noah, who still knelt before her. “This is your wedding, too,” she whispered. “Your first wedding—and hopefully your only wedding—we had all those plans—"
Noah smiled. “Plans are stupid,” he said. “Let’s just get married.”
Thirty-Five
Someone had elevated Lisette’s bed slightly and taken the time to comb out her gray curls. Josie could tell by the way the corners of her eyes crinkled and the way her upper lip curled ever so slightly, that she was in great pain. Still, she beamed as she watched Christian walk, arm-in-arm with Josie, from the doorway of her room to the bed, where Noah and Chitwood waited. Drake had gotten the rings. Josie had no idea from where. The groomsmen had been in charge of those, and she’d lost track of everything concerning their wedding the moment Holly Mitchell was found in front of the Harper’s Peak church.
Misty had gone to their house and gotten Noah’s tuxedo. Shannon had done her best to smooth out Josie’s wedding dress and clean the dirt from the bottom of it. It was still a bit of a mess, but it would do for their purposes. Josie knew that in spite of her dress and the make-up and hair product that Misty, Shannon, and Trinity had sprayed and brushed onto her—covering the bruises left by Rory’s attack quite well—she looked just as exhausted as Noah did. Still, they both smiled, and neither of them cried. The others, even Sawyer, circled the bed, all of them shifting nervously. Josie also knew that the nursing staff waited eagerly outside, ready to disperse them the moment the vows were said.
Christian kissed Josie’s cheek, handed off her bouquet to Trinity, and left her facing Noah. Chitwood moved so that Lisette had full view of them both. Josie reached out a hand and placed it in Lisette’s.
“You look so beautiful, dear,” she said. Her voice was raspy, her breathing labored.
Chitwood cleared his throat. “We’re gathered here today to join Detect—to join Josie and Noah in the bonds of matrimony. Marriage is a promise between the two of you that you will love, honor, and trust one another for the rest of your lives. Today you will commit to support, encourage, and love each other as long as you’re both alive. You will dedicate yourselves to that commitment and be faithful to it and to one another. You will move forward as two unique individuals, but you’ll do so together, partners in strength, joy, and also responsibilities.”
Josie was surprised by Chitwood’s speech. She wondered if it was from a script he had learned or if he was improvising. Either way, it was lovely. She felt Lisette squeeze her hand when he said the words ‘move forward.’
“Now,” said Chitwood, turning his gaze on Noah. “Noah, do you take Josie to be your wife, in the presence of these witnesses, in sickness and health, in times of both joy and sorrow, for richer or poorer, and promise to cherish her as long as you both shall live?”
Josie felt tears threaten but held them back, unable to stop herself from returning his smile. Chitwood turned to her. “Josie, do you take Noah to be your husband, in the presence of these witnesses, in sickness and health, in times of both joy and sorrow, for richer or poorer, and promise to cherish him as long as you both shall live?”
Josie felt the electricity between them, like something alive, and realized she’d never felt that kind of connection to anyone before. “I do,” she said.
“Now, as to the vows,” Chitwood said. “I was told that you two had something prepared?”
Josie and Noah turned their heads and stared at him. “What?” Josie said.
“Didn’t you prepare vows?”
“Oh,” Josie said, thinking of the weeks the two of them had taken to secretly prepare vows for one another, painstakingly writing them out. They’d brought them to Harper’s Peak for their wedding. She had no idea where they were now. Probably still in their luggage at the resort. Chitwood looked at her expectantly. She said, “We did, but—”
Noah silenced her by squeezing her hand. “I love you,” he said. “And I promise to always run toward the danger with you.”
Josie couldn’t help but grin. “I love you, too,” she said. “I promise to always come home to you—and never to cook, much.”
Quiet laughter erupted around the room.
Josie felt Lisette’s grip tighten on her hand.
“Those sound like good vows to me,” Chitwood said. He looked around. “Who’s got the rings?”
Drake stepped forward and deposited the rings into his open palm. He picked up the smaller one and handed it to Noah. “Place this ring on Josie’s finger and repeat after me.”
Josie relinquished Lisette’s hand and let Noah slide her wedding band onto the ring finger of her left hand. His fingers trembled slightly as he repeated Chitwood’s words. “Josie, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness to you.”