by Vakey, Jenn
Lori let out a quick chuckle, followed by a low sigh. “Have you found anything?”
“I talked to the sheriff and he’s setting me up with their detective tomorrow morning. I also grabbed a map that shows where all known patches of Penland beardtongue grow, so I can see where it could have been picked up and transferred to his body,” she explained.
“What do you think the chances are that Mifflin could still be in the area?” Lori asked.
Rilynne let out a sigh of her own. “I would love to say that I was sure he found a place here where he felt safe enough to stick around after all this time, but I think that it would just be wishful thinking. The only thing that I’m sure of-well, as sure as I can be-is that he was here just prior to going back and killing Christopher.”
“What can we do for you here?”
“Sheriff Eric Stigent is going to be helping me on this end, but if he needs anything from you, can you make sure all of the information requested is provided?”
“That won’t be a problem,” Lori replied. “I’ll update the chief and let him know to be expecting a call. Is there anything that you need?” she asked, emphasizing on ‘you’.
“No,” she replied without really considering the question. The truth was, she did feel like she needed something, a friend.
Chapter Six
She pulled her toiletries bag out of her suitcase and walked down the hall to the closest bathroom. The woman at the front desk had mentioned that almost all of the guests were out on a reunion related event at the moment. With the house nearly empty, she couldn’t think of a better time to rinse the feeling of travel off of her. She didn’t know why, but something about airplanes always left her feeling a little dirty.
The water stung her cool skin as it pelted down onto her. Within a matter of moments, it had warmed her completely through. Had she been anywhere else, she might have spent the rest of the evening in the steam filled room. Not wanting to use all of the hot water, though, she quickly finished washing up and turned it off. She hesitated for a moment, knowing as soon as she opened the shower curtain she would be met with the same chill she had just escaped. After one last deep, warming breath, she pulled it open and reached for her towel. Her skin had completely erupted in goose bumps by the time she finished drying and pulled on the complementary robe she had found in her room. She quickly grabbed her belongings and hurried back down the hall to her room.
Throwing everything down onto the bed, she stood in front of the small heater in the corner before reaching for her clothes and pulling them on. She laughed at herself, the warm air burning her legs. She had grown up in weather much colder than this; she shouldn’t be so uncomfortable. Spending a winter in Texas had spoiled her.
She pulled a sweater over her head, then ran the towel through her hair, trying to dry it. By the time she finished and climbed onto the middle of her bed, the heater had warmed the room up significantly. It was surprising how fast it had managed it, because it was a small box, no more than eight inches tall.
Unlike most bed and breakfasts she had stayed in, her room came with a television. She flipped through the channels twice before settling on a movie.
It was a horror film she had seen advertised a few years before, but never managed to see, taking place in a small town. How fitting, she thought as she leaned back against the wall of pillows lining the headboard. She let her mind delve into the storyline, trying to figure out how the young couple was going to escape their vicious attacker, when her phone suddenly rang.
She laughed at herself for jumping at the sound, as she reached for the remote to lower the volume. She looked down at her phone and was met with a sudden feeling of shame.
“Hey, Mom,” she said as she picked up the phone.
She could tell even before Amber spoke that she was irritated. “Care to explain why I had to find out from someone I hardly know that you found Christopher’s body?”
Rilynne took a deep breath, unsure how exactly to respond. “I’m sorry,” she said after a few tense moments. “Honestly, with the initial shock and going over the evidence found, I just forgot to call.”
“I’m going to overlook that for the time being,” Amber said, not hiding her annoyance, “but only because I want to hear about the details. Don’t think about leaving anything out, or I’ll make a trip all the way down there just to kick you.”
Rilynne did her best to hold in the chuckle she felt building in her chest, because she knew her mother wouldn’t appreciate it. “He was found in the woods outside of Madison by a camper. Poor guy had practically been sleeping right on top of him. Ben found trace on him that could have only come from a few places in Colorado, so that’s where I am now.”
“And what have you seen?” she asked bluntly. The sharpness in her tone hadn’t eased.
“A cabin covered in snow, trees, and a sign for a town called Brooks Hollow. I checked with Ben and he said Brooks Hollow was one of the few places that the combination of plant trace could have come from. I flew in a few hours ago and will meet with their detective in the morning to see about trying to track Mifflin down.”
“Do you think he’s still in the area?” she asked.
Rilynne paused before answering, because she didn’t have an answer herself. “In the dream I had last night, I saw Christopher. I asked him to tell me where to find Mifflin and he said something about already knowing and I was looking for a sign. I had seen the welcome sign in an earlier flash, but it was covered in snow so I couldn’t read it. Last night I found it and after brushing the snow off, I got a name,” she explained. “Now, I don’t know if that just means he was here and this is the place the trail starts, or if he’s here now.”
Amber sat in silence, apparently working over everything she had just learned. “What does Ben have to do with any of this?” she asked after a few moments.
“Apparently Wooldridge is a big fan of his,” Rilynne said with a grin. “He suggested all of the physical evidence be sent to him for analysis. He has more resources and isn’t at risk of giving a biased analysis.”
“Isn’t he?” she replied. “I mean, he’s dating you and you’re at the middle of this case.”
“He didn’t know Christopher or Mifflin and, his feelings for me not withstanding, he has an unflappable reputation in his field. Wooldridge’s forensic team all knew Mifflin very well and no doubt feel as betrayed as everyone else in the station. If he were caught, he would surely try to say that they tainted the evidence out of vengeance.”
She mumbled an agreement, her tone finally starting to cool. “So, speaking of Ben,” she said slyly. “How was your date?”
“Interrupted,” Rilynne replied.
“I should have a talk with Wooldridge about his timing.”
“Oh yes,” Rilynne chortled. “That’s just what I need, my mother calling my old boss about my dating life.”
Amber chuckled along with her. “Well, I’ve been trying for months to get the two of you together. It finally happens, and you get the last call in the world you need at the time. It would be one thing if you were called into work or for some other kind of emergency, but getting that call would put a stop to any date. I don’t imagine Ben was very thrilled, either.”
“He actually stayed surprisingly collected,” Rilynne stated. “I was in complete shock, and he stepped in and told me I needed to get on a plane. He even booked my ticket for me while I packed, then drove me to the airport. He’s been pretty great about it all. I know that it can’t be easy for him, but he’s hiding it well. He thought it was over when I received the notice about the death in absentia. So did I.”
“Everyone has baggage,” she said. “Yours just includes a fugitive. If anyone can understand it, though, it’s Ben.”
She was all too right.
“I know,” she replied. “I’m just ready for this all to be over. I’m finally ready to move on with my life, and it feels like I’m being dragged in reverse.”
“It’s better it h
appened now when things are just beginning, than down the road. Now you can get this taken care of, and enter into a relationship with closure. Trust me, it’s not as easy without it.”
Rilynne knew she couldn’t argue, because her mother knew the feeling all too well. Her husband had completely vanished with no explanation. In a way, Rilynne felt lucky that the evidence left behind in her former bedroom at least told a story, even if it was a bloody one.
“Christopher told me last night to stop looking for Mifflin and work on getting on with my life,” Rilynne said dolefully. “He told me it was the only way I was going to be truly happy.”
She could hear the air leave her mother’s lungs, but it was over a minute before she responded. “Christopher’s gone, darling. Nothing you do will bring him back. I hate to say it, but finding Mifflin won’t take away the pain you still have. Now, whether Christopher or just your own self-conscious, something inside of you knows that.”
Rilynne felt herself starting to tear up, but quickly pulled herself back together. “I know that finding him isn’t going to make me feel any better about everything,” she said. “There’s nothing he can say that’ll justify what he did. Part of me even knows that anything he tried to say will only make me hurt more. I have to find him, though. You know I do. I have to make sure he pays for what he did. He can’t be allowed to live free and happy while everyone else has to suffer the fallout.”
Whether because she knew Rilynne had a point, or because she knew there was no point in arguing, Amber remained silent.
“So on a lighter note, you should see how big Kim’s getting,” Rilynne stated after a few tense moments. “I can’t believe she’s already three.”
“I should make a trip out to see them. Who knows how long it’ll be before I have a grandchild of my own,” she said pointedly. “I miss having a little one around.”
Before Rilynne could respond, there was a knock at her door.
“As much as I hate to leave the conversation on such an exciting note, I’ll have to call you back,” she said sarcastically as she pushed herself off of the bed. “Someone’s at the door.”
She was just pulling the phone down from her ear when she swung the door open.
“What?” It was more of a statement than a question as she was filled by both confusion and joy.
“I had her give me the last available room on this floor,” he said as he past her and walked into the room. “I was actually surprised to find them nearly booked.”
“They’re having their high school reunion. What are you doing here?” she asked as Ben dropped down into the chair in the corner. “Don’t get me wrong, you can’t imagine how happy I am to see you, but aren’t you supposed to be a thousand miles away enjoying the warmer, Texas weather?”
He shrugged slightly as if trying to push off the question. “And let you do this all by yourself?” he asked with a joking tone. “Knowing you, you’ll end up kidnapped again. Besides, there’s a conference in Denver next week that I’m speaking at. I just took off a week early. Consider it a vacation of sorts. Oh, and I brought you these.” He tossed her the small travel bag he had been holding. She unzipped it to find several clean shirts. “Knowing you and your tendency of getting hurt, I figured you might be at risk of running out before you made it back to Addison Valley. I also watered your plants. They weren’t looking so good.”
Rilynne couldn’t think of anything to do but grin.
“Have you eaten yet?” he asked. She shook her head, still in shock by his sudden appearance. “Good,” he replied as he rose from the seat. “I’m starving.”
She stared at him is disbelief as he walked toward the door, only moving to follow him after he rounded the corner.
“How’d you get here so fast?” she asked as she shut the door and ran to catch up to him. “I’ve only been here for three hours.”
She glanced over just in time to see his ear growing redder just beneath his shaggy, dirty blonde hair. She quickly looked forward so he wouldn’t see the grin forming on her face.
“There happened to be a flight from San Antonio to Denver departing two hours after we hung up, so I made it there just in time to catch it,” he explained. “That put me in Denver just a couple hours after you. I drove straight in, although I know for a fact that I don’t drive as fast as you do.”
“Oh, shut up,” she said as she gave him a gentle push.
“Have you had time to find anywhere that looks like a decent place to eat?” he asked as they made their way down the creaky stairs.
“No,” she replied. “As soon as I got into town I went to the sheriff’s station. After leaving there, I went to the park service station to see if I could get a map of the areas the Penland beardtongue grows. I got here and checked in just over an hour before your knock.”
When they stepped through the front door and out onto the sidewalk, Ben took her by the arm and led her down the street. “I passed a diner just a block down that looked like it might be good,” he said.
His fingers slid gently down her arm, not stopping until her hand sat securely within his.
“I don’t think you could have found a smaller town if you tried,” he said.
“I thought Addison Valley was tiny,” she replied as she looked up and down the street. “Other than the bed and breakfast, there’s only one other hotel in the entire town. How’d you know which one I was at?” she looked over to him curiously.
He chuckled softly as he shook his head. “Like there was any doubt which one you’d be at. The other place was nice, but it’s no bed and breakfast. Besides, I know how much you love pancakes, and that happens to be what they’re serving for breakfast tomorrow. I didn’t even bother checking the hotel first.”
The sun had settled below the horizon, leaving the sky a colorful blend of pink, purple, and orange. The streets, though noticeably busier than they had been before, still had but only a handful of people on them. “It’s kind of nice out here,” he said as they made their way down the block. “It’s very quiet.”
“It’s quiet at home,” Rilynne said with a smirk.
“Not this quiet. I’ve only seen the streets of Addison Valley this empty once, but that was an entirely different kind of quiet. It was-”
“Tense,” she finished. He nodded. Though he openly talked about it-never showing any sign of dismay-Rilynne knew it was a subject that still struck a nerve.
The sudden silence was lifted a few minutes later when they arrived at the diner. Ben held the door open for her as she stepped in and walked to the table in the back corner. Ben had learned months ago not to question her particular choice in tables: against the back wall, if available, and seated facing the door. He had asked her about it once and she gave him a simple answer. If anyone decided to come in shooting, she was going to be in a position to shoot back.
“So fill me in,” Ben said as he took the seat across the table from Rilynne. “Whom did you receive the tip from?”
“I don’t know,” she replied honestly.
“Well, do you think that you can trust it? I mean, what do you think the chances are that this is where the trace came from?” he asked.
She shrugged. She knew she couldn’t convince him that she knew this town was important without bringing up questions she couldn’t answer. “When we realized who was behind the killings, a countrywide report was issued requesting information on Mifflin’s whereabouts. Thousands of tips came in, but nothing could be substantiated. This is the first tip that has come with some physical evidence to back it up.”
He nodded, waiting for the petite blonde waitress to finish taking their order before continuing. “Did you find out anything from the sheriff’s station?”
“He’s being surprisingly accommodating, actually. Usually small towns don’t take too kindly to outsiders coming in and wanting to have a look around. He looked through logs from around the time Christopher was killed, but didn’t find any incident reports involving Mifflin. He said that his det
ective would be in tomorrow, and he would help me out with anything I need.”
He took a swig from the beer the waitress sat down in front of him before raising his hand up to his face and dragging his knuckles mindlessly across his chin. He reached out toward the basket of fries that had been placed in the middle of the table, seemingly lost in his thoughts. Rilynne studied him carefully, trying to sense where his mind had drifted, but her own mind was too cluttered to even hazard a guess.
She was still watching his hand several moments later when he looked back toward her. As his eyes met hers, he quickly let his hand drop back down to the table. She could also just make out the shade of his ears growing warmer.
“What’s on your mind?” she asked.
He looked for a moment like he was going to try and deny it, before he took a deep, resigned breath and sat back in his seat. “I just hope you find the answers you’re looking for,” he said. “I know how hard it had been for you, and I would just hate to see it be drawn out even longer.”
She could tell by the look of longing in his eye that his motives weren’t entirely selfless, but she couldn’t blame him. He had been very patient over the past several months, letting her work through things on her own time. She couldn’t begin to imagine the uncertainty he must be feeling now.
“I’ve already gotten my closure,” she reassured him. “Now it’s just about making sure the man responsible for it faces justice.”
He gave her a half-hearted smile as if he knew what she was trying to do.
“Well, where do we start?” he asked.
“I have a map of all of the known locations where the Penland beardtongue grows,” she stated. “We can check them out to see if we can find any reason that Mifflin would have come in contact with them. They’re all outside the city limits, so he must have had some reason to be wondering about.”