“Not even an overdue baby?”
“Luckily no one’s due until June. What about you? Aren’t you worried people will go crazy without their chocolate fix?”
“If only the stuff was that addictive. It’s not like I’m selling cocaine.”
“Good thing or Lando wouldn’t think twice about slapping the cuffs on you,” Leia threw in. “My brother has a dim view of…”
“Drug dealers?” Lando snapped in a loud voice. “Newsflash. Most people have a dim view of them. Let me ask you something. When were you intending to tell me about Zeb? Did you ever think I might look like a fool not knowing? You and Zeb want to keep your secrets. Fine. I don’t want to know. I don’t care. Live your own life and leave me out of it.”
“Gee thanks,” Leia snorted. “Take it down a notch for once. Why do you always have to snarl or yell at me? Why can’t you ever just talk like a normal person?”
Gemma put her hands up in frustration. “Look, if I’d known I’d be stuck in a car listening to you two bicker and argue, I’d have gone back to the shop. This is supposed to be a time of reflection---for all of us. This is for Marnie so stop your squabbling long enough to raise a drink to a woman we used to know. Someone murdered her. Can we just focus on that for five minutes without dealing with all our old bitterness and pent up frustration?”
“She’s right,” Luke said from behind the wheel. “All of us should find a way to put the past in the past and leave it there. We’re adults. People are looking to us for answers. We’re the leaders now, not a bunch of backbiting kids. I’m tired of your inability to let things go.”
“Which one of us?” Leia questioned.
His eyes strayed from the road long enough to lecture his sister. “All of you should be equally ashamed. Even when we were kids none of you could ever let things go. You’re all just alike. It’s time that changed. We’ve all made our mistakes. It’s time to move on.”
“You always were bossy,” Leia spat out and crossed her arms over her chest in defiance.
For the remainder of the trip, the four of them sat in silence.
By the time they walked into the Duck & Rum, Gemma decided Luke was right. This little group had a long history together that went back to diapers. They were grown now, no longer naïve kids who’d once tricked Adam Greendeer into serving them their first beer. They were the adults in the room now. They should start acting like it.
A smattering of customers sat at the scarred bar while a few others were seated at tables in the room’s cavernous vault-like expanse. Several overhead ceiling fans whirred noisily on super speed trying to stir the stale air. But it still smelled like last night’s spilled beer.
They took seats at one of the tables. But after sitting there without service for several long minutes, Lando stood up. “Pitcher of margaritas okay with everybody?”
Luke and Leia nodded. “Sure.”
“Sounds good,” Gemma said as she watched him walk over to the bar to place their order. She thought back to how much she missed her grandmother. There was no one at home she could talk to. Once upon a time, these three people had been her closest allies and confidants, best buds to the end. She needed to take that first step and start trusting them again. She stared at Luke. “Just so you know, I agree with what you said back in the car. We’re the adults in charge now, no more relying on our parents for direction. We should behave like we know what we’re doing, act like we can solve a problem instead of being the problem. We’ve lost three of our own in a short amount of time and need to figure out what to do about it.”
Luke nodded at the support. “Thanks for that.”
Leia eyed Lando across the room still waiting on the drinks. “I talked to Zeb earlier at the funeral. He said in order to solve this thing he’s willing to think a lot more outside the box than Lando. You might run that thing we talked about the other night by Zeb. He’s more open-minded about visions.”
Luke looked confused until a light crossed his eyes. “You have a theory about the case that you aren’t willing to share with Lando?”
“Don’t start,” Gemma warned. “I’ve shared plenty with that man and he doesn’t want to hear any of it. He has a thick skull and apparently I’m not the right one to crack it open.”
Luke took in a big gulp of air, whooshed it out in exasperation. “Okay. Then whatever it is that’s bothering you, go to Zeb. There’s a murderer out there who needs to be stopped. His ego be damned.”
Gemma bit her lip and turned to stare at Leia. “How far outside the box would Zeb go?”
“Zeb’s into the whole realm of mysticism. He embraces it like he embraces his heritage, with reverence and gusto.” The minute Leia saw her brother making his way back to the table, she leaned over and quietly added, “I’ll set it up. Just go see Zeb.”
Gemma didn’t intend to waste the opportunity. She asked Leia to set up the meeting with Zeb for that afternoon. She drove to his office on the reservation, sat down, and poured her heart out about what had happened out at Mystic Falls with Kamena and everything leading up to what she’d seen in the vision on Lone Coyote Highway.
Zeb scratched his jaw. “Kamena is known in legends to true blood. Native blood. I’m surprised you saw her.”
“Gram wasn’t Native so Kamena must make exceptions.”
Zeb thought that over. “Or Kamena looks into the heart of the messenger and sees a good heart, a true soul. Marissa had those qualities. Kamena must think the same of you.”
“Then I suppose I need her help again, to clear a few things up. Maybe you should go to Mystic Falls with me.”
“First things first. You say you saw a midnight blue sedan and two killers. Were they male? Female?”
“That part was…unclear, fuzzy.”
“And you say you’ve never had anything like visions popping up over the years until this one in particular just happened out of the blue?”
“No. Never. But since my grandmother had the sight, wouldn’t that explain how I might’ve inherited this…whatever it’s called.”
Zeb bobbed his head. “Psychic ability. Marissa, too, was well known for helping any and all she could with their problems. Marissa and I used to compare notes on some of my cases. Small stuff. Nothing to this degree of course. Mostly burglaries, a few stolen cars, some break-ins, that sort of thing. Thankfully, there just isn’t that many murders around here.”
“Then you’ll be open-minded about the fact that Marissa was murdered. Not sure you knew that.”
Zeb’s eyes lit up. “When did Tuttle officially change the cause of death?”
“A few days ago. Tuttle found foreign DNA under her fingernails. Gram fought with her attacker. If it was the same guy who killed Marnie and Collette, that makes this a serial situation if what I read online is true and I’m reading the parameters correctly.”
“You are. And you didn’t get a good look at the faces you saw last Sunday?”
She shook her head. “The vision was too dark, too murky. It could be because I’m new at this. I could try again.”
“How about this time I go with you for a little support? Are you free to go out there now?”
“Fine by me. Let’s do this and get it over with. It’s bugging me night and day.”
As she jumped in Zeb’s cruiser, she was all questions. “What if there’s no repeat performance? What if I see nothing at all this time? What if things are totally blank for me?”
Zeb winced. “Why are you so nervous? Is it because of me?”
“No, of course not. I’m lacking self-confidence about this whole thing, that’s all.”
“I see. Mind if I ask why Lando isn’t the one taking you out here?”
“You know the reason for that. Lando doesn’t go in for this kind of nonsense. His word, not mine.”
“He always was the practical sort, the one who could never fully embrace his Native roots. Something about it embarrassed him I think.” He cleared his throat and went on, “Maybe if you could see som
ething out there, pick up a truth or two, then hand it off to Lando about what you saw. Something that he could verify through facts, something that would be indisputable in his mind, then maybe he’d see the value of what you’re trying to tell him, appreciate it more.”
“Gee thanks. No pressure there. Look, I don’t really want to talk about Lando for a variety of reasons. One of which is that I fear the two of us are on another collision course. If he’s unwilling to respect my feelings or my opinions, then there’s no foundation for us to continue. Our relationship outside the bedroom is rocky at best. Sometimes sex just isn’t enough to maintain the bond.”
Zeb chuckled. “That’s true, as much as we men would like to believe otherwise. Relationships are…like stepping through a minefield and that’s on a good day.”
“Well, you know as well as I do how Lando is, how he’s always been. Some days it’s more like trying to walk in quicksand. You don’t get anywhere and start to sink. I don’t think relationships are supposed to be that much work. My grandparents had something entirely different, a fairyland kind of thing others like me can only envy.”
“That’s like my parents, and theirs before them. I’m not sure if it’s our generation or what that has trouble relating to our significant others… intimately. So, I definitely hear what you’re saying.”
“You hear me because things are complicated with Leia. Is it your family that objects?”
He bobbed his head slightly. “For me, for Leia, it’s ridiculous for them to go back and pick up such old resentments from more than a century ago. Their mindset is like a bear trap. Once it’s snapped shut, it’s really hard to pry it open again. Let’s just say I’m working on them every single day.”
“And what happens if you’re unable to change their minds?”
“I’ll eventually get tired of trying to mediate the situation. I’ve been honest with Leia. So far she’s been patient. We both have. But if it looks like my family will never come around, I’ll have to make a choice. And since I’ve loved Leia for most of my life, she wins.”
Gemma laid a hand over the one that gripped the steering wheel. “You’re a good man, Zeb.”
“Tell that to Leia as often as possible. It’s frustrating trying to hide our feelings for each other.”
“You don’t have to hide anymore from Lando. He knows.”
Zeb frowned. “Yeah? One less person to hide it from then. Doesn’t do much for my family, who’s still in the dark. Someone’s bound to get the word to them eventually and then all hell will break loose.”
“You can’t expect to keep it a secret forever. I wouldn’t be surprised if one day Leia gets frustrated and puts up a sign in the restaurant window. She would you know. Eventually, she’ll get tired of hiding it from everyone.”
He grinned. “She’s threatened that a time or two. Even threatened to post pictures of us on Facebook. One day when I’m least expecting it, she’ll go nuclear.”
He pulled his cruiser to a stop on the shoulder of Lone Coyote Highway near where they’d found the bodies.
“I’m a little nervous about this,” Gemma admitted. “My stomach is jittery.”
“That’s no good. That’ll jam your transmitters.” He shot her a grin. “Just kidding.”
It made her relax enough to get out of the car. She walked to where she’d stood last Sunday, doing her best to clear her mind. She closed her eyes and put her hand on her amulet. She felt the breeze kick up, whirling like a top, causing dried leaves to spin around her feet.
Chill bumps formed along her arms as an icy current tightened in her chest. She pushed herself to focus, to go back to that night in early March when Collette had been dumped at this spot.
Seconds ticked off before she was shoved into the past, at that critical moment before Collette had been brought here wrapped in death.
Gemma watched dutifully as two men drove up in a sedan. The first glimpse of the driver getting out of the car gave her a look at a squarely built man no taller than five-nine. He seemed to be obsessed with his black hair getting mussed up in the wind. He wore jeans, a leather jacket, and a pair of very white running shoes.
The guy who popped out of the passenger seat had a crop of brown hair. He was taller by several inches than his companion and seemed almost jovial. He kept cracking a joke about the spooky atmosphere, describing it as something out of a horror movie. But his enthusiasm waned when he realized he might get the fancy boots he wore caked with mud.
That didn’t go over well as the driver popped open the trunk and the two of them carried a lumpy tarp to where they were met by a muddy marsh that did indeed stick to the man’s footwear like glue.
The dirtied-up boots became a source of anger for the taller man as he let out a sting of profanity-laced curses.
Through the tirade, Gemma forced herself to turn away from the strands of Collette’s hair sticking out of the blue plastic covering.
When the two men were far enough off the road and into the woods, she watched as they dropped their bundle on the hard ground with a thud. The sound made Gemma wince. The shorter man trudged back to the car and retrieved two shovels and a huge flashlight. Under a narrow beam of light, they began to dig and grumble about which one was putting more effort into the job.
She didn’t recognize the faces or the voices. But she did realize that both men had a disgusting habit. They chain-smoked their way through it all, taking several breaks to light up while they talked about sports. It seemed several days earlier they’d bet on the outcome of a basketball game and groused about how a player had choked, costing them hundreds of dollars to their bookie. The men laughed at their misfortune and decided they should go grab the lousy player and bury him alongside Collette.
One of them took out a pint of Jack Daniels from his windbreaker and swigged down several gulps before handing the rest over to his buddy. He emptied the bottle and tossed the glass twenty feet away. It landed with a clunk up against the base of a redwood in a patch of dewy sword fern high enough where no one would know it was there.
Gemma was so close to the men she could see their breath in the chilly night air and could smell the whiskey. But much to her dismay, the faces were of no one she recognized, no matter how long she stared at them.
Their labor continued through curse-filled epitaphs until finally they announced that three feet was deep enough. After retrieving the body, they heaved it into the hole and began the process of covering it up.
When they were done they gathered up the flashlight and shovels and walked back to the car. The passenger took the time to clean off that fancy pair of boots. This time, Gemma saw the markings. Clearly. The tan calf to ankle leather upper had an intricate swirl pattern sewn into the soft hide. It had obviously been stitched by an artisan, proud of the tapestry design that flowed down to the dark toffee foot, a marbled sharkskin weave that must have set the guy back at least five hundred dollars.
Gemma tried to set the distinctive boots to memory as the two men climbed in the car and took off into the wispy fog.
For Gemma, night had turned back into day. She heard bees, angry and loud, buzzing around her legs, then moving up her body until the insects circled her head. She fought to come back from the past and into the present.
Zeb jerked her out of the swarming insects, plopping her down on the asphalt. He gently shook her shoulders to bring her out of the daze. “Come on, honey. You’ve got bees all over you. Gemma, come on.”
She was finally able to nod, breaking through the stupor enough to hear Zeb’s voice. “I saw more this time. Faces. But no one I knew. I heard them talking about betting on the Golden State Warriors game, losing money to a bookie. They acted so nonchalant, like Collette’s death was of no great significance, like it was a job, no emotion involved in it at all, just getting rid of her like trash.”
“You think they were hired killers?”
“I don’t know. Who has the kind of money to hire people to do that sort of thing? And why would
they kill an assistant, a secretary to a vintner along with a schoolteacher, or an old lady who never did anything to them? You were here that Sunday with Lando. Did they find a whiskey bottle as evidence?”
“Not that I recall.”
“Did Lando gather up any cigarette butts?”
“No. We were mostly concerned with gathering information from the grave site, bone fragments, pieces of clothing left behind, or any fibers on the bones, that sort of thing. The techs really didn’t expand out too far. Why? Did you see them leave something behind?”
“Yeah. There should be a Jack Daniels whiskey bottle over by that tree and plenty of Marlboro cigarette butts around here. After all this time, is there any chance that either would hold any evidentiary value?”
“It’s worth a shot.”
“Something else. Why can’t you get a list from the DMV and find out who drives a blue sedan?”
“That’s a longshot for a variety of reasons. You’d have to be absolutely certain you have the right make and model. You’re sure it was a Nissan?”
“No. Not really. Even a second look didn’t help much. Maybe it wasn’t a Nissan at all. I’m not good with cars.”
“That’s a problem.” He blew out a breath when he noted the disappointed look on her face. “I guess I could have dispatch run down some stats and see if anything turns up. I thought Lando promised to do that.”
“Me too. So, Zeb, you do believe me, right?”
“Hard not to when I saw your face and body language standing in the middle of that patch of dirt where we dug up Collette’s body.”
“If only we could get DNA off that whiskey bottle.”
“Gotta locate it first. Wait right here. I have evidence bags and gloves in the cruiser. Let’s see if we can find what we missed the first time.”
23
They’d found the bottle, but the cigarette butts were little more than mush because of the wet weather from the heavy spring rains they’d had. Whatever paper and tobacco crumbs were left, they’d scooped up in a bag and collected just the same.
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