Red Ochre Falls

by Kristen Gibson

  A small red light on the TV caught my attention, then I timed a green smoke detector light blinking every seven seconds. I observed vertical lines thrown against the wall a few feet away with each repetitive flash. On. Off. On. Off. Then I dozed.

  When the digital clock read 5:39 am, I had to get up. My ears buzzed and my body vibrated like I’d been on a bender—only I hadn’t. Unless you counted last night’s banquet.

  I’d worked through worse, so I got up and grabbed a shower. I needed the water to massage the places that hurt, too many to count. There were a few even the water couldn’t reach. Still, the heat pelted my shoulders and helped wake me up.

  I pulled my hair back, but tried to add some volume by blasting it with the hair dryer and hair spray. Although I felt kind of big-hair-country when it was finished, it looked pretty good.

  I opened the curtains as soon as I was dressed. Dew coated everything—cars, blades of grass, lampposts, even the corner of my window. I pulled a sweatshirt on over my jeans and t-shirt, noticed a cloudy film on the in-room coffeemaker, and wished for a gourmet breakfast. I checked my phone for messages, texted mom and Jos, and watched the sun come up over the horizon.

  Color flooded the sky and it hit me. I rushed to my messenger bag. Where was the key, I wondered? I shuffled through everything until I found it. My eyes scanned the keychain until I figured out our next move.

  I threw the rest of my clothes in my bag, and double-checked the room for stuff I might have missed. When I felt confident everything I’d brought was going home with me, I rushed to the pass through door.

  Garrett opened it before I even knocked. He held out a coffee cup. “Thought you might need this,” he said, without passing judgment, and completely overlooking my zombie eyes and ten-foot hair.

  “Thanks.” I took the cup. “I needed this. Couldn’t get much sleep last night, which would have really bugged me except I think the tossing and turning might have shook something loose.”

  “Really? Want to fill me in on the details?”

  “Yes. But we need to make a stop on the way home.” I tipped the cup and felt the sweet, hot coffee warm me as it went down.

  Garrett looked me over as if deciding just how crazy I was today, but just smiled. Good, he’s getting used to me, I thought, and we left.

  It didn’t take much convincing for him to let me drive his car. He was surprisingly comfortable handing over his keys considering his Maserati was worth more than some people’s homes. I revved it to hear the engine grumble. Man, I could get used this, I thought then hit the gas.

  We pulled up to one of the ritziest places ever built. Someone answered the speaker at the gate. I gave them my name, and they buzzed us in. Beyond the wrought iron, we travelled over the meandering brick paver drive with inset designs and a decorative border. It looked like a piece of art, same with the impeccably maintained landscape.

  We parked at the top of the wrap-around driveway. A doorman opened more iron gates and let us inside the front doors.

  The house had high ceilings, like over fifteen feet high, a double curved staircase, and luxurious appointments.

  Our host dressed in a brown mohair sweater and cream pants reached out to hug me.

  “Thanks for meeting us Mrs. Ellis,” I said. “You remember Garrett McKenzie?”

  “Yes, nice to see you both. You mentioned time was of the essence. Let’s head upstairs.”

  Mrs. Ellis walked us up the elegant staircase capped with polished rails as big as joists. We turned toward Chloe’s room. It had been five years since my last visit, but some things never change.

  Her room was posh. Light turquoise covered the walls, and the large furniture was decked with white mohair throws and fluffy pillows. I nodded to Mrs. E, then went to the closet and dug around. Past the shoes, boots and bags were some brown boxes. One of them had LEGO SETS written on it. I pulled the box out and set it on her desk.

  I lifted the lid off. Underneath some brick sets, she’d hidden a couple files. There were photos of a black-tie event, maps of pipelines, and notes about oil and gas usage. Underneath the files she’d left a notebook with numbers and the word ‘Enlightenment’ written on the inside cover. I pulled out the paper with the date from the photo on Chloe’s desk. Under it, we found Chloe’s laptop.

  Chloe had been super paranoid in undergrad. She made back-ups of her back-ups because she lost a term paper—once. We came here, back when she was alive, and I remembered she stored one of her copies at home. I thought she meant a hard copy of some term paper, which she had, but she also kept a back-up library—on a back-up computer.

  I fired up the computer then got out the keychain. I searched the LEGOs for the duplicate, which looked slightly different than the one I had.

  I popped it apart to reveal a flash drive. It took a couple tries to realize Chloe had left the password ‘enlightenment’ in plain sight. I was able to unlock her laptop and find the file Chloe meant me to see. It was a land contract listed under a Michigan address. The same one on the paper Tom Clark gave me at her funeral.

  When I double clicked the file, a list of names and dates came up. We’d have to figure out what they meant, but it was time to get to the Ruggiano hand-off.

  “Mind if we take the whole box?”

  “Sure, Mattie. What is all this about?” Mrs. Ellis questioned.

  “Chloe went to a lot of trouble to hide this information. I think she was killed for it. I’m sorry, Mrs. E. I don’t know much more than that. We have to go.”

  Mrs. Ellis looked shocked. We couldn’t stay and explain, so I hugged her and started for the door.

  “Oh, do you have the spare key?” It was vital to have it if we were going to give one to Ruggiano, and one to Sultan.

  She nodded and pulled a key out of her pocket. She held my hand before she let the key go. “Be careful, Mattie. This isn’t worth your life, too.”

  I reassured her we’d do our best, and we hustled out of there.

  CHAPTER 24

  Now that we had a duplicate key and key ring, we could pass off the one without the flash drive and files to Ruggiano’s crew. But we’d have to get there first.

  Good thing we weren’t in my old beater, or we wouldn’t have made it in time. As it happened, we almost missed the meeting.

  He was an imposing figure, but I knew there were vulnerable places I could kick him if things got desperate. And if I had trouble, Garrett was nearby.

  Thor didn’t speak. He just held out his hand.

  “Here you go.” I dropped the key into his hand.

  He looked at the key. Then nodded to me, and left.

  Well, that wasn’t so scary, I thought.

  “We’ll be in touch,” he said over his shoulder.

  So much for being off the hook.

  When I got back to the car, Garrett asked me how it went.

  “I gave him the key. He said they’d be in touch.”

  Garrett eyed me, knowing I’d said it too casually.

  “What?”

  “This was only to buy time.”

  “I was kind of hoping we were done with Ruggiano.”

  “If Ruggiano doesn’t find what he wants, he’ll be back. And even if he does, he might come back anyway. Just to toy with you.”

  I shuddered.

  “Let’s head home. We’ll see if we can pull something off the drive and laptop.”

  We still had the back-up keychain with the flash drive. We planned to set up a meeting with Sultan under the guise of giving him the key dark-haired Zorro came to get.

  I sort of spaced out running through scenarios for our next exchange. Once we pulled the data off the flash drive, we’d scrub it. I figured we’d add some dummy files back onto it, in case Sultan’s crew checked the drive out during the exchange. Hopefully, giving him something would convince Sultan to share information about Chloe’s case. I just hoped Ruggiano wasn’t looking for anything more than the key, or else he and the twins would be paying another visit.
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br />   When I got outside of my own head, I glanced at Garrett. His eyes faced forward and he stayed quiet. Maybe he was working things out in his head, too.

  It wasn’t long after looking at him that I abandoned problem solving. There was a lot the two of us needed to work out. There was definitely chemistry between us. But did we want a relationship? What would happen if we tried being a couple and it didn’t work? I worried about mom if things got messy between Garrett and me. I sighed. There wasn’t anything I could do about it right now.

  We remained quiet the rest of the ride and sorted through theories and feelings.

  Although, I enjoyed more personal freedom while mom was gone, I had missed her. I was concerned about her health; concerned about people threatening me; and I really needed some motherly advice. So much was happening, I was glad she was coming home. But I freaked out seeing Aunt Eileen’s sedan parked in the lot.

  What would mom say when she saw my bruised face? What would mom say when she saw me with Garrett? These things worried me. On top of all that, we still had a killer to catch.

  Garrett helped me out of the car. He paused before he closed my door. His deep blue eyes surveyed me.

  “Don’t worry,” he said, and gave my hand a squeeze. “This is a lot to process. Your mom’s going to ask questions. If you need help explaining, or time before we tell her what’s going on between us, let me know. We can do whatever you want.”

  Between us. I liked the sound of it. But I had my doubts about rushing in and telling mom, “Hey, I know you were only gone a few days, but Garrett and I are a thing now.” How would it sound? Would she be angry? Would it hurt our living arrangement? My left eye started to twitch running through the scenarios.

  I wanted to be honest, but this was not the time to tell mom everything. She’d have enough questions about my accident. Garrett made a good point about waiting.

  “Let’s not wait too long, though.” Garrett leaned near me to shut the door. “It’s killing me not to kiss you right now.” His lips grazed my cheek. From behind, it probably looked innocent, like he moved to close the door. But the heat from his movements told me otherwise.

  Warmth faded as we walked inside expecting to see mom. Pangs of guilt intensified the pain of my episode with Ruggiano. My knees began to buckle. Garrett propped me up just as we opened the office door.

  It was a full house—with some surprise guests.

  “Mattie,” Derek rushed up and hugged me, even before my own mother. Everyone stared. “I was so worried about you—”

  Before he could say anything else, I started yammering. “It’s nothing. Really. An accident at the farm…fell off a wagon,” I laughed hysterically. “Wow, didn’t actually think about that before I said it.” Truth was, I hadn’t thought about any of it, I just wanted to fill space, so no one would have a chance to ask questions. Unfortunately, my response drew suspicious looks.

  “She’s okay. Doctor cleared her for most activities,” Garrett said.

  My mom gave me a huge hug. It was so good to see her again.

  “I missed you, mom.”

  “I missed you too, sweetie.”

  Hank told a joke to ease us through the public homecoming. The conversation shifted, and I felt we were safely past the questions, at least for now. Mom looked better. The blush in her cheeks made her look happy. A good dose of family bonding must have done wonders. We laughed when Hank said his punch line. Derek hung around until mom decided to head upstairs. Then he tried to say good-bye, but couldn’t quite leave.

  “If it’s okay,” Garrett spoke. “I’d like to review some information with Mattie.”

  Mom nodded. Aunt Eileen grabbed her bag and helped her upstairs. This left Hank, Derek, Garrett and me in the office.

  Hank made an excuse to leave—something about seeing a man about a casket. Then there were three.

  As soon as Hank was out of the office, Garrett ushered Derek toward the door. Derek turned back, rushed over, and kissed me quickly.

  “I was really worried,” he said, eager for a response.

  I stood there dumbfounded. Although he seemed like a nice guy, Derek had the wrong idea about us. It was hard to figure out what to say to him, and I could feel Garrett getting angry.

  “Are you afraid of what he’ll think?” Derek asked me.

  My brain hadn’t formed the words yet. “What? Who?”

  “Garrett. Are you afraid of what he’ll think about our kiss?” Derek dropped it like a lead balloon, on all of us. I hadn’t told Garrett about the kiss because I thought it was mostly one-sided, and wouldn’t go any further. And because I was afraid of Garrett’s reaction. Some part of me also felt IT’s NOBODY’S BUSINESS!

  Now, Derek had gone and spilled the beans, making it appear as if we had something going on, when we didn’t. It was a sweet kiss. I didn’t know if it there was anything else to it, but it hadn’t compared to kissing Garrett.

  “You don’t mind if Mattie sees me, do you Garrett?” I turned all sorts of red, and was about to stop Derek’s nonsense when Garrett spoke.

  “If it’s what Mattie wants.”

  I was ready to shoot my mouth off about making my own choices, but only stuttered a few words. Garrett left us alone in the hallway.

  Derek seemed pleased before he saw the anger on my face. “What’s wrong?”

  “You had no right telling him we kissed—you kissed me! I don’t know where you got the idea we’re dating, but we aren’t. Furthermore, if I’m going to be with anyone, it’ll be a guy who doesn’t try to railroad me for show.”

  “I’m sorry. I thought you felt something when we kissed the other night.”

  “I didn’t. Now, stop talking about it.”

  “Are you sure there wasn’t something there?”

  There might have been something, but I didn’t want to think about anyone romantically right now. “Please, just leave.” I was irritated, and didn’t have the time or the patience for this.

  Derek’s shoulders sank.

  “Look, I’m sorry,” it came out flat. “I’ve got too many things to figure out right now.”

  He walked out onto the stoop. I closed the door, leaned my back against the wall, and prayed for the last fifteen minutes to disappear. But my heart still ached, so I knew it hadn’t worked.

  I’d have to figure out how to patch things up with Garrett, and revisit whatever latent feelings were lingering from Derek’s kiss. I walked toward the office when Aunt Eileen stopped me.

  “Are you coming up? I hope we can visit a little before I head home.”

  Nothing seemed to be going right. My personal drama would have to wait. It would be smart to think about what I wanted to say to Garrett before I actually said it anyway. So, I followed Aunt Eileen upstairs. My hands lingered after I shut the door, thinking of him.

  CHAPTER 25

  Catching up with mom and Aunt Eileen lifted my spirits. No boy drama. Unless, you counted their attempts to get grandpa to keep his doctor appointments, and lay off the bacon.

  I always saw grandpa as a strong man, because he was. But he was getting older, and had been more prone to accidents recently. I could relate, but I guessed he didn’t have an evil thunder-god chasing him around town.

  Eileen and mom explained they were able to get grandpa to his check-up. There would be additional trips needed to ensure he remained in good health. My aunt offered to do most of the shuttling, but it was obvious mom wanted to help as well.

  I thought back to her recovery in the hospital. Cousins and old friends showed up to offer help and casseroles. Mom wanted to make sure grandpa knew he had a support system like that. We’d figure it out later, but I knew she needed to be part of grandpa’s life more for herself than for him.

  When my aunt left, she stopped me at the door. “Keep an eye out for your mom. She may seem well, but she needs rest. When we were at dad’s appointment, she got short of breath a few times.”

  After seeing my reaction, Aunt Eileen reassured me it
was okay, but the doctors had hooked her up to some machines just to make sure.

  “They said she’s fine, but the excitement from the move, and this stuff with dad has her stressed out. She needs to take it easy. Take care of her and let me know if you need anything.” Aunt Eileen hugged me at the door and left.

  I tried to put a smile on my face before I saw mom again. She’d know something was up if I hadn’t. Judging by her expression, she knew something was off.

  “Everything okay, Mattie?”

  “Yeah, mom. Fine.”

  “You don’t seem fine. Are you okay since the accident?”

  “Yeah, it’s just been busy here. I’m just glad you’re back.”

  “Glad to be here…back home. Can I make you anything?”

  “Let’s just relax.”

  We looked over the apartment. Our photos on the walls, our magazines on the coffee table, and a family-made afghan draped across the couch—this was our home.

  “I know it’s not an ideal home, but it’s ours,” mom said. “Thanks for handling all the work while I was gone. I don’t know what we’d do without this place.”

  I didn’t handle it at all. Since we moved here, I’d complained about the place, and shirked most of the work. When mom needed to be with her dad, I’d come around enough to pitch-in, but was so messed up over Chloe’s death and threats on my life, Garrett and Ryder had picked up the slack.

  I didn’t want to let mom down, but I felt like I had. She needed me. It was time for me to take responsibility, like a grown-up.

  “I love you, mom.” I hugged her tight.

  “I love you too.” Her embrace weakened. She was obviously tired.

  “Why don’t you lay down? I’ve got class in a little bit, so I’ll be busy for a while. We can catch up later.”

  She agreed then went to lie down. I put a blanket over her and she settled underneath.

  “You know, I was worried.” Mom ran her fingers gently over my bruised cheek. “I don’t know what I’d do without you. Please try to be more careful.”