Semi-Psychic Life: Glimmer Lake Book Two

by Hunter, Elizabeth

  “It’s interesting that they think they know what happened when your wife’s Mercedes has been at the Central Division warehouse in Fresno for the past two days.” Sully slid one arm into his coat. “I realize you’d like to… conclude this process as quickly as possible, but we’re going to have to wait for the full accident-investigation team to finish their report before I release anything or anyone from suspicion.” Sully straightened his jacket and stuffed his hands in the pockets, nodding at Val over Anderson’s shoulder. “Now, if there isn’t anything else, I have work to do.”

  Anderson turned and spotted her. “You.”

  Val leaned against her truck, keeping her hands in her pocket. “Hey, cheapskate.”

  “I know you were at my house.” Anderson’s face twisted in rage as he stalked toward her. “And you talked to Steve Garcia. I know you talked to my wife. I know who your ex-husband is, and I ought to—”

  “What?” Val leaned forward and got in his face. “Sorry, what are you going to do to me?” She pointed her finger an inch from his nose and wiggled it around, delighting in his curled lip. “I’m not your poor wife, asshole. You don’t intimidate me. I’ve dealt with toddlers more intimidating than you are.”

  His smile was twisted. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with.”

  Val laughed. “City boy, I drink your type’s tears with my coffee in the morning.” She looked over Anderson’s shoulder. “You ready to go, Sully?”

  A wicked light glowed in Anderson’s eyes. “You know where he is.”

  “I’ve cooperated with the police,” Val said. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “You know.” Anderson smiled wider. “Good.”

  Val shrugged. “No idea what you’re talking about.” She waved her fingers. “Don’t you have someplace to be? Maybe you need to iron your underwear, because I think your panties got a little twisted.”

  “Val, don’t tease the nice man.” Sully sidled over to Val and stretched his arm along the bed of her truck. “Anderson, I’ve told you I have work to do. You can leave now. And don’t even think about harassing Josh Mason’s ex-wife or children. If my deputies see you anywhere near town today, I’m gonna give them permission to escort you out of town.”

  He raised his chin. “I own a business here.”

  “Well, it’s a good thing you have partners, because they’re gonna have to take care of things for a while.” Sully nodded toward his car. “Go on. Get out of here. I have people of my own I can call.”

  Anderson curled his lip and backed away from Val. “You’re making the wrong enemies, Sheriff.”

  “Probably. I’m kind of crap at sucking up to rich people though.” Sully heaved a sigh. “Good thing I’m independently wealthy.”

  “Sure you are.” Anderson walked to his car, pulling out his phone and putting it to his ear as he unlocked his BMW and slid inside.

  Val looked up at Sully as Anderson drove away. “Are you?”

  “What? Bad at sucking up to rich people? Yeah. I’m really lucky no one ever runs against me for sheriff, because I’m shit at campaigning. Of course, this is literally the lowest-paying sheriff’s position in the entire state, so I don’t think anyone other than me really wants the job.”

  “No, are you independently wealthy?”

  He shrugged. “I mean, it depends on what you call wealthy.”

  Val waited, completely unsatisfied with that answer.

  “I retired from LAPD with full benefits and I have a second job here.” He shrugged. “I have some money to mess with and I’m good at picking stocks.”

  “No kidding?”

  He reached for her backpack. “It’s not a big deal.”

  “Can you teach me about picking stocks?” Not that she had any extra money to play with. Val was planning on working until she died. She’d probably be yelling at customers from a wheelchair when she was ninety.

  “I could.” The corner of his mouth turned up as they walked to his truck. “Or you could go out on a date with me and we could casually trade stock tips over drinks.”

  “That sounds so sexy and cosmopolitan.” She hopped in the passenger side of his pickup.

  He threw her backpack onto the back bench of the truck, adjusted something on the shotgun rack in the rear window, and slammed the door closed. “That’s me, Valerie. Cosmopolitan as fuck.”

  Chapter 19

  The road to Keane twisted and wound through the forest, climbing mountains and dipping through valleys blanketed by snow. The temperature dropped ten degrees as they drove higher and deeper into the Sierras.

  Glimmer Lake, as high and mountainous as it was, sat on the very edge of a massive mountain range that was mostly inaccessible. It was easy to forget how dense the wilderness could be. An hour after they left the sheriff’s office, the road narrowed and eventually came to a stop in a high berm of snow.

  There was a wide spot in the forest where a ranger cabin stood and the plows turned around. Two vehicles were sitting in the small parking area, a white service truck with a trailer attached and an older blue pickup that had seen a few winters. The truck bed and trailer were both covered and tied down with heavy tarps, as if the owner expected to be gone for some time.

  “Bingo.” Val nodded. “He’s here. That’s his truck.”

  “Where’s the other snowmobile?” The tarp on the trailer was too flat to be covering another machine.

  “You know what? It’s probably sitting in his garage or something super obvious that Rachel just didn’t think to mention.”

  Sully pulled out his phone. “Can’t call her now.” He held it up. “No signal.”

  “Me either.” She pointed at the metal gate bordering the road. “Check that out.”

  Beyond the gate, cutting through the dense white wilderness, were various tracks from snow machines. There was a wide tractor-like track and narrower ski tracks.

  “Looks like more than one sled has been through here.” Sully took off his sunglasses and squinted into the glare. “I’ll get our machine off the trailer. Why don’t you see if there are any notices posted at the ranger’s cabin?”

  “Okay.” Val hopped out of the truck and immediately zipped up her parka. She was wearing her snow pants, high boots, and heavy snow gear with multiple layers underneath. Being in the snow was one thing, whipping through frozen air on the back of a snowmobile was a whole other level of cold.

  She walked over to the small cabin and surveyed the notices posted on the glass case outside. All the normal warnings about staying on trails and plowed roads.

  Hunting in any season is not permitted in the national forest. Firearms are not allowed.

  Day use of SNO-PARKS requires a permit available at the Sugar Pine Ranger Station.

  Access to Keane is limited to residents only and not advised during winter months.

  Not advised but not forbidden.

  “Valerie?”

  “There’s nothing here,” she said. “Just the general stuff.” She peeked into Josh’s truck, but nothing seemed out of place. “Josh’s truck looks normal too.” Val headed back to the sheriff’s pickup. Sully had already unloaded the snowmobile and strapped her backpack onto the cargo area. “The notice at the ranger station says access to Keane is limited to residents and not advised during winter.”

  Sully nodded at the multiple tracks heading off the fire road. “Looks like no one is paying attention to that.”

  “It’s way more than one,” Val said. “There’ve been people coming and going for a while. That blue truck belongs to someone.”

  “If there’s someone up there,” Sully said, “that means Josh could have a proper alibi.” He rubbed his hands together. “That would make life a lot simpler.”

  “Agreed.” She looked up, but the sky was grey and heavy. “Are we going to get snow?”

  Sully frowned. “The forecast said that storm isn’t coming until tomorrow, but those clouds and my ankle aren’t making me feel very optimistic.” />
  “You have a bad ankle?”

  “Broken and dislocated about fifteen years ago.” He lifted his left knee. “Pins and plates and all that shit. Hurts every fucking winter.”

  “Good times.” She blew warm air on her hands and reached for the goggles she’d borrowed from Jackson. “We should go.”

  “Yeah.” He threw his leg over the snowmobile and patted the back. “Hop on. You ridden on the back of one of these before?”

  “Yep.” She zipped her parka up to her neck, put on her goggles, and tucked her chin in her collar. “Is your hat going to stay on?”

  “It better.” Sully started up the engine, and Val wrapped her arms around his middle, trying to keep as close as possible to his body.

  It wasn’t just because he was warm and his body was hard with muscle. Keeping close on a bike or a snowmobile was safer. Of course, cuddling up to Sully felt pretty nice too.

  They started down the trail, and within minutes the wind was biting her cheeks and making her wish she’d borrowed one of Jackson’s ski masks along with his goggles. She’d manage. Sully was taking most of the cold; she was huddling behind him while trying to keep an eye on the trail to look for markers.

  He slowed down when they reached a split in the fire road. Tracks led in both directions, but heavier tracks led to the left. The way was still pretty clear, and the road was wide enough for two vehicles to pass.

  “Which way?” Sully asked.

  Val looked around and saw the top of a large granite rock protruding into the sky. She pointed left. “That way.”

  “Got it.”

  “Watch for a horse-crossing sign in a couple of minutes,” she yelled over the engine. “You’re going to make a sharp left there and head into the forest. There might be a sign, but there might not be.”

  “Okay!”

  She kept her face to the left, keeping her eyes peeled for the sign. When she saw it, she tapped his shoulder and pointed.

  Sully nodded without speaking and veered into the forest, following a trail that had already been cut through three feet of fresh snow. The ground beneath them was hard with packed snow and ice. It had been an average winter and the base layer was a couple of feet thick, but soft snow piled up a few feet under the trees.

  Once they turned off the fire road, there was really only one trail to follow, a narrow, one-lane track that was enough for a couple of snowmobiles or a single vehicle. The forest was utterly quiet except for the churn of the engine beneath her and the wind whipping by.

  Val tucked her face into Sully’s shoulder and held him tight around the waist. She felt him tense when the first flakes of snow started to fall.

  Dammit.

  “We’re almost there!” she said.

  “Good.”

  The first cabin she saw was a tidy cottage with a bright blue roof, completely boarded up for winter; it was clearly uninhabited. The small settlement was arranged in a loop that circled a stand of giant sequoia trees growing halfway up a rising hill. The oldest cabins were in the bottom of the hollow while newer cabins—and by newer, she meant seventy years old instead of a hundred—climbed up the hill.

  “Keep going to the left.” Val pointed. “Look for a two-story with a green roof.”

  “I’m just looking for smoke.”

  “Good call.” Val looked up and saw three lines of wood smoke curling into the sky. “He’s got neighbors.”

  The snowmobile slowed. “I can’t believe people winter over here.”

  “I can’t believe your hat actually stayed on.”

  He turned and winked at her. “It wouldn’t dare fall off. It knows it’s on duty.”

  Val shook her head and tried to fight back a smile. “I don’t know anyone who would stay up here all winter. But a week now and then with the right supplies?” She shrugged. “It’d be all right.”

  “Yeah.”

  They skimmed over the snow as the trail curved around and Josh’s cabin came into Val’s sight. “There it is.”

  Sure enough, a heavy plume of smoke curled from the stone chimney that rose over the green metal roof. The cabin was covered in redwood shingles and granite stone. A narrow porch wrapped around the entire structure and a pump house rose next to it, painted a deep brick red. The second story was narrow. If Val remembered correctly, there was a sleeping loft upstairs, and that was about it.

  Heavy ropes ran between the front porch and the pump house, the outhouse and the shed, a precaution against storms and darkness.

  When they parked the machine, she heard the heavy thunk of someone chopping wood behind the house.

  Sully was looking at the sky. Flakes were falling faster and thicker. “We’re gonna get snowed on.”

  “Did we bring a tarp?”

  “It’s got a cover.” He still looked grim. “Can’t lie, Val. Was hoping this was going to be a quick trip to pick up your ex and I’d be in my bed by nighttime. This is not looking good.”

  “I thought the same thing, but at least we’re not in the middle of nowhere.” She looked around. Clear signs of human activity marked many of the cabins despite the heavy snow. Snowshoes and skis hung outside under porches. Fresh woodpiles were abundant, and snowmobile tracks led to at least a third of the houses. “And we’re not alone up here.”

  “Do any of these places have phone lines?”

  “Unless something has changed, I don’t think so.”

  “What a relic.” Sully unfurled the snowmobile cover, keeping one eye on the sky and the other scanning the area. “Josh Mason!” he yelled. “Owens County Sheriff’s Department!”

  The sound of chopping wood stilled. “What’s that?”

  Val heard Josh’s voice faintly from behind the house. “Josh, it’s Val and Sully.”

  “Val?” The sound of fast footsteps and Josh appeared from behind the redwood-shingled cabin. He looked between Val and Sully with wide eyes, his breath puffing out in the frigid air. “What are you doing up here? Are the boys okay?”

  “The boys are fine.” Val looked up. “Maybe we should go inside.”

  Sully had his hands planted in his coat pockets and his hat pulled low over his eyes. He didn’t take his eyes off Josh. “Mason, you know anything about the Andersons?”

  Josh’s mouth dropped open. “Uh… well, I mean—”

  “Let’s go inside.” Val tugged Sully’s sleeve. “Come on. The temperature’s dropping already.”

  Josh looked up. “This storm is going to be pretty heavy.”

  “According to whom?” Sully said.

  Josh nodded down the road. “According to Bill. He’s kind of the unofficial mayor of the town during the winter. He’s up here the most.”

  “Uh-huh.” Sully hadn’t moved.

  “It’s cold,” Val said, glaring at the two men who were staring at each other like two roosters sizing up an opponent. “I’m going inside.”

  * * *

  Val had a kettle of water bubbling on the wood stove a few minutes later. Sully and Josh maneuvered around each other in the small living area, taking seats on opposite couches with a worn storage chest sitting between them.

  “So I guess you got my message,” Josh said. “Sorry I had to cancel on the boys, but—”

  “Oh for fuck’s sake, Josh.” Val turned and put her hands on her hips. “The boys are the least of your problems. Your message cut out. No one knew where you were. We’ve been looking for a week and a half.”

  He frowned, his handsome face the picture of confusion. “But I left you a message—”

  “That got cut off.”

  “And I left a note for West,” Josh said. “At the garage when I took the trailer.”

  Val and Sully exchanged a look.

  Josh looked between them in confusion. “Are you telling me West didn’t get my note?”

  “Where’d you leave it?”

  “In the mail slot with an apology for not asking—I was kinda crazy to get out of town—and a couple hundred in cash because I had to cut
the lock.”

  Val sighed and sat on the old orange couch next to Sully and rubbed her temple. “Josh, no one got your note. No one realized you were up here. The police have been looking for you for over a week now—”

  “The police?” His eyes went wide. “Oh shit! Because of the trailer and the snowmobiles? West thinks I stole them? I’m just, like, renting them. He told me ages ago I could if I wanted to. I didn’t have time to ask, but—”

  “No, the police are looking for you because Allan Anderson accused you of stealing ten grand from him and taking off.”

  Josh shook his head. “That asshole.”

  Sully finally spoke. “Bridger PD put out a warrant for your arrest last week.”

  Josh jumped up and started pacing, rubbing his hands along his jeans. “That fucking asshole.”

  “How do you know Savannah Anderson?” Sully asked.

  Josh stopped and turned around. “Savannah’s not involved in this.”

  Val pressed her fingers against her forehead and said, “Josh, I know you’re sleeping with her.”

  “It’s not—!” He grabbed the back of his hair. “Savannah’s not… she’s not involved in this. Anderson is just pissed because…”

  Sully watched him. “Because what?”

  “I told him how much it was going to be to fix his car and he was pissed. He thought I was trying to pull one over on him. All I told him was the God’s honest truth. I don’t bullshit about that. Then he told me I was going to fix his car for cost only or he was going to report me to my boss even though Anderson is the one who approached me about working on the side.”

  “Did he give you any money?” Sully asked.

  “No!” Josh threw his hands out. “Nothing. He didn’t give me jack shit. I told him what parts to order and he ordered them. Or at least that’s what he said.”

  “Where does Savannah come in?” Val asked.

  He let out a breath. “Come on, Val. You don’t really want to know about me and—”

  “I am not asking because I’m jealous or something dumb like that,” Val said. “I’m asking because she’s in the hospital in Bridger right now, and that’s part of the reason the police want to talk to you.”