Red Ochre Falls

by Kristen Gibson

  “Are you ready to go again?” He helped me up and moved away.

  Darn it! I put my hand up to my hair and pushed back some loose strands. Enough of all this, it was time to get serious. “Yes.” I brushed myself off and asked him to repeat the instructions.

  “Stand across from me. I’m going to come straight at you. As soon as you see me move, take a step forward.”

  “Forward?”

  “Yes. You want to close the gap between us. Once you step forward, and I’m within arms-reach, pretend to thrust the heel of your hand upward as hard as you can into my nose.” Garrett put up his finger to say hold on. “Pretend like you mean it, but you don’t actually want to do it. Okay? Otherwise, you’ll be driving me to the hospital.”

  I had serious doubts about how things might go down. Hopefully, he had good reflexes just in case my pretend thrust actually made some kind of contact.

  When he came forward, I let him get too close and couldn’t get my hand up in time. My timing improved on the second and third tries.

  “Good,” Garrett said. “Let’s continue until you’re comfortable with it.” We practiced a few more times then moved on to a new skill.

  “The next one has more steps, but it shouldn’t take you long to learn.” At least one of us was confident in my abilities. “Stand over there. This time I’ll grab at your shoulders. When I do, bring your arms up through the middle then back down over mine and use them to break my hold. Like this.” He showed me what seemed like a simple, but effective move and indicated he was ready. I nodded then Garrett came toward me. He grabbed my shoulders so fast it shocked me. I got my arms tangled up and he pinned me from there. We stopped while he showed me what he wanted me to do and we tried it again.

  Garrett came at me, I put up my hands. He got my shoulders then I extended my arms up and over to break his hold. It worked!

  “I think you got it.”

  Learning these defensive moves made me think I might have a chance if the bad guy came after me.

  “Thanks.”

  “No problem. I’m just trying to make sure bad things don’t happen to you.”

  My energy and enthusiasm surged. I had a thousand questions for him. I needed to learn more, but I wanted to understand why he was doing me all these favors. It would be a bonus to find out about the rivalry between the families, what exactly his deal with Bianca was, and if there was any chance…

  “Are you ready for the next one?” Garrett’s voice brought me back out of my head.

  “Sure.” The answers would come, I told myself, and prepared for the next skill.

  “This one takes a little more coordination,” he paused and smiled to himself. “So it might take some time.”

  Ha! If it required coordination, it might take weeks, or years. I gave Garrett the floor. He planned to come after me from behind, like my attacker, and face me against a wall. He continued by explaining how I was supposed to use my ninja skills (my words, not his), to climb the wall—while being held from behind—flip over him and escape.

  “Seriously?”

  “Let’s just try it okay?” We moved over to a wall. He walked behind me and asked if I was ready. I eyed him over my shoulder for a second and nodded for him to start, then turned my attention to the wall ahead and waited.

  Something strange happened when he grabbed me. He had control, all I saw was wall—it was panic, the same reaction I had to my assailant. This time I didn’t try to ask him if he wanted my bag, I just started kicking and screaming. As loud as I could. “No! Get off me! Let me go!” I cried.

  Garrett put me down and turned me toward him. “Mattie, it’s okay.” He spoke, but I couldn’t hear him because I was louder.

  “Leave me alone!” I yelled some more.

  “Mattie! It’s me!” This time loud enough I could hear him over my own voice.

  “Please! Leave me alone.” I collapsed onto the floor and started to hyperventilate. Garrett got down next to me and held me gently. I looked at him, clutched his arms, and buried my face in his chest. Recognition and relief overcame me. We stayed there until I calmed down.

  When I started to move, he stood and helped me get up on my feet. “It’s me,” he said softly. “Are you feeling okay?”

  I looked at Garrett then smiled as I nodded to let him know everything was normal. At least as normal as it could be at this point. “I don’t know what happened.”

  “You finally let go of the emotions you held back from the attack—fear, anger, pain—they all just came to the surface. It’s actually a good thing.”

  “How can it be good? I just freaked out and collapsed onto the floor.” I didn’t mean to sound defensive, but might have.

  “You needed to deal with your feelings. The longer you bottle it up, the worse it gets. I speak from experience.”

  It caught me off-guard. He seemed like a guy who had things pretty much in order. What would he know about bottled up feelings?

  “I’ve had my share of setbacks, and it’s okay to shrug most of them off and keep going. Something as big as a threat to your life, though, you can’t ignore. You have to admit how it made you feel then move forward.” What he said sounded smart. But, it still took me a minute to figure out what really bothered me.

  “Okay, it made me feel really scared and vulnerable.” There, I’d said it. “What can I do about it now?”

  “You can start by leaving any feelings of guilt behind. You are not responsible for what happened, the bad guy is. Next, you can let me help you move past it.” I believed he meant it.

  “How do we do that?”

  “We practice some more, and head home to discuss what I found out from Cal today.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

  “I needed you focused on training, for your own good.”

  “My own good?”

  “Your body may have felt better after Millie’s magic serum and a good night’s rest, but you needed to deal with the emotional pain that guy caused you. I thought bringing you here would make you feel safe and strong enough to let go.”

  “You brought me here to break down?” I got mad and backed away.

  “No, I brought you here to help you feel strong and in control again.”

  “Did you just see me in a puddle on the floor? I don’t think it worked. Besides, what does it matter to you?” I was still deciding how mad I wanted to be at Garrett.

  “What does it matter?” He looked at me in disbelief. “I care,” he stopped and blew out a breath. I wondered what he meant by care, and why he actually said it. Were we about to get into full-on confessional mode here? “Can’t you tell?” Now he sounded mad.

  “I guess. I mean, yes. I appreciate all you’ve done to help mom and me since we moved in, and maybe I should have thanked you sooner.”

  “I’m not fishing for a thank you, although, it’s nice to hear. I care about what happens to you.” He moved close enough I wondered if he was going to kiss me. But, he hesitated. It confused me. “It’s important you understand how much I care.” Maybe he cared, or maybe he just liked me as a friend, I was too drained to think about it.

  “It’s nice to know someone cares.” It felt weird when I said it.

  “Look, you don’t sound like you want to talk about this right now. Let’s just get out of here and head back to the parlor. I can explain what Cal told me, and you can decide what you want to do.” Garrett picked up a gym bag, and signaled for me to head out. What didn’t I want to talk about; being attacked, being friends, or just being confused? Was this all in my head?

  We left without incident, except I jumped because we heard gunfire on our way out. It sounded like the bullets would come through the walls, so we moved faster.

  When we got to the car, he opened the door for me, even if there was still some tension between us. We drove through the rough streets in silence and headed back to the funeral home.

  “I’m sorry, Mattie.”

  “You don’t need to apologize
. I know you were just trying to help.” I’d softened up a little bit, too. Maybe it had something to do with putting distance between us and fight club. If he meant to help me regain some control by going there, it worked. Although, it wasn’t much, it was a start. “What happened back there?” I asked.

  “I don’t know,” Garrett admitted. “There are some things we need to discuss before things go any further.” His serious tone startled me.

  “Did I do something?”

  “No, why do you say that?”

  “I don’t know. I’m confused about all this.”

  “Me too. Look, my car may not be the best place to talk about this, but it’s private.”

  “Is this about Chloe?”

  “Some of it.” Garrett’s eyes were forward, but he glanced at me briefly then told me everything. “When I examined Chloe, I found a couple things.”

  “Besides the needle mark?”

  “Yes. It looked like a hasty job determining cause of death. She had some bruising, faint scratches, and the needle mark didn’t have a bulls-eye on it, but it shouldn’t have been missed in the exam.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me this yesterday?”

  “I wasn’t sure it was relevant.”

  “Relevant?” I had anger on my lips. “Why didn’t you think it was relevant? I’d say anything that has to do with the murder of a friend should be considered relevant!”

  “I guess it was just hard for me to believe there could have been any wrongdoing.” Garrett sounded hurt. “I wanted to ask some questions on my own before I started pointing fingers.”

  “And what did you find out?”

  “Something big is going on, Mattie.”

  “Bigger than a fake suicide?”

  “Yes.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like the cover-up of a fake suicide.” He stopped at a traffic light and looked at me intently.

  “What? Why?” I couldn’t believe it. “Who would do that? I’m having a hard enough time understanding why someone would want Chloe dead, much less kill her, and now, you’re telling me someone is trying to hide the murder?”

  “I think so.” The car started moving again.

  “How do you know?”

  “I know the examiner. She wouldn’t have made these mistakes.” He made a turn and we were nearing the funeral home.

  “What if she was having a really bad day?” Anyone can have them. I’d been having more than my share lately, and this news didn’t help today’s outlook either.

  “She still should have caught these things. We’re going to find out what happened when we talk to her in person.”

  “We?”

  “Yes. I spoke with her over the phone. She tried to give me a story about botched paperwork, but I didn’t believe her. I want to ask her in person, to see if she’ll lie to my face, and I need you to be there.”

  “I’ll go because I want answers as much as anybody, but why do you need me there?”

  “Because we have a history.” Garrett gave me a quick glance before his eyes moved back to the road. “I don’t know how I’ll react if she lies again.” As his words escaped, they weighed like storm clouds.

  “Is she the woman Cal mentioned yesterday? The one he didn’t trust?”

  “Yes,” Garrett sighed. He needed me there, even though I wasn’t sure I wanted to see him in the same room with his old girlfriend who might upset him by lying to his face. Made more complicated because I’d brought the case to him, not the other way around.

  I blew out a breath. “When do we see her?”

  “3 o’clock. It gives us time to change, eat lunch, and come up with a plan.”

  “Do we need a plan?”

  “Afraid so.” He pulled into the driveway and groaned.

  “What is it, Garrett?”

  “Grandpa’s here.”

  “Ugh, you can pull over to my side of the parking lot, if you want to drop me off.” I wasn’t happy about it, but it was better to sneak in quietly than to let Grandpa Stanley think we’d been up to something other than training.

  “No, I won’t. You don’t need to worry about it. Just let me do the talking.”

  I fidgeted with my hair then looked in the mirror. My pink flushed cheeks and messy hair would definitely give Grandpa Stanley the wrong idea. Hopefully, Garrett had an idea for how to play this. If things went south, I planned to ask Millie for some kind of potion to make Grandpa Stanley forget whatever happened.

  “Look, before we go in there and get sidetracked, I want you to know one other thing Cal told me.” He looked intense. “When they went through Chloe’s things, they found a business card for some lawyer named Ted Oxley. There was a number scribbled on the back of it. Cal said he’d look into it, but didn’t know if he could get to it today.”

  It couldn’t have been a coincidence she had his card. We needed to figure out if he knew more than he’d admitted to me, and we needed to find the owner of number on the back of Oxley’s card. Maybe the person had some idea of who killed Chloe and why.

  “She worked with Ted Oxley. I paid him a visit after we found out Chloe was dead.”

  “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “I didn’t think it was relevant,” I said it the same way Garrett had.

  “Not relevant, huh?” I think we both believed we did what was best at the time. If we were going to find the truth out about Chloe’s murder, we needed to be honest about everything.

  “I thought so, at first. Now, I’m not sure. He told me they worked a small case together, but he seemed more abrasive than I remembered. Maybe he’s hiding something.”

  “Everybody’s hiding something.”

  “Well, what he said and how he said it didn’t seem significant, but circumstances have changed since then.”

  “We can look into him, after we see what’s going on here.” Garrett helped me out of the car. We got inside the door and headed toward the office. I stopped. He signaled for me to get moving.

  “Unh-unh. No. Can’t do it.” I shook my head.

  Garrett reached for my hand and pulled me reluctantly to the door then wham! Garrett bumped into his grandpa.

  “Umph, watch it,” the dark voice said. Grandpa Stanley. He quickly turned away from us and stuffed a paper in his jacket. I wondered if Stanley was ever in a good mood.

  “Better watch your step.” Stanley turned back and eyed Garrett over his glasses. He must have been reading whatever paper he tucked away before we came.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” It sounded harsh, but I knew where it came from. Besides, from what I’d seen and heard, Grandpa Stanley had a bad habit of putting people on edge.

  “You know what it means,” Stanley responded, then noticed me staring at the paper sticking out of his jacket pocket. He shoved it down further. “Hello, Mattie,” his voice sounded silky sweet when he spoke to me, like I was an old friend. “How are you ladies getting along up there?” It was really strange to hear him sound so nice.

  “We’re doing fine, thanks,” I responded carefully.

  “Glad to hear it. You let us know if there’s anything you need.” Stanley gave me a polite nod and smile.

  “Will do. Thanks for everything.” It didn’t matter how nice Stanley sounded, there was something about him that made me suspicious. I turned to see Garrett, and he told me to head upstairs. Even though we needed to talk about strategy before heading to the Coroner’s Office, this seemed like a good time to leave the two of them alone.

  Before I got all the way down the hallway, I heard them get into something heated. I guess Grandpa Stanley’s good mood had faded. Garrett was a grown man and he could handle himself, so I stepped up the pace until I reached the apartment door. The air on the landing felt warm and stale, but cool relief hit me when I walked inside.

  The locks clicked into place. I headed straight for the bedroom. I’d find some clothes, freshen up, and check in with mom and Jos while I waited for Garrett to give me the all-clear
signal. Whatever we wanted to accomplish had to happen while Ryder, or someone else, was around to man the phones. So, I needed to be ready for just about anything.

  Late-summer heat had baked everything around us the past few days, but rain was headed our way, so I planned for sun and rain and changed into a sporty skirt, tank and tennis shoes—because walking in drenched sandals, with mushy wet feet and squeaking noises, annoyed me.

  I fixed up my ponytail since the humidity was high, and there was no sense trying to compete with Mother Nature. Once I felt somewhat put together again, I grabbed a glass of lemonade and flopped on the couch. The window air conditioner kicked on and drowned out the traffic noise. Pretty soon I relaxed. The outside air smelled slightly damp—maybe the weather forecasters were right about the rain.

  I sat the glass down on a photo coaster sitting on the coffee table. It was a photo of mom and me. It reminded me to check-in. There wasn’t an answer, so I left a message telling her to enjoy her visit and to give everyone my love. They were probably eating lunch. The thought of food made my stomach growl.

  Jos texted me about getting together once she returned from her regularly scheduled mandatory family visit. She sent a series of emoji—everything from annoyed to crying faces—at least she got to visit her family. I felt stuck at work, and stuck on what to do about Chloe’s death. Even though we hadn’t spoken until very recently, I felt guilty for not making the effort to stay in touch with Chloe after college. Maybe if I had kept in touch, or texted her sooner, or arrived at our meeting earlier, she would still be alive. I started to go down the rabbit hole and needed to stop.

  I sent back some heart and family emojis with a smiley face J. Jos responded with a smiley face J and a martini glassåindicating she was ready to find her happy place. I sent her a clock and asked if it wasn’t a little early for drinking. She responded with, ‘it’s five o’clock somewhere’. I knew she was kidding, there was no way she’d risk getting caught drinking this early, so I texted ‘Cheers!’ right back to her. We signed off. I stared out the window for a few minutes and watched as clouds rolled in and nearly swallowed the sky.

  CHAPTER 11