by Jeny Heckman
“Are you now suggesting that I somehow mistreated you?” Shocked, he sat back in his chair.
“I know that you don’t understand it, but yes, you did. All I want, Donovan, is to be done with you and with this ridiculous farce. I want to record my own music, my own way. I want every connection to you, over. And I’m quite sure you’re rapidly coming to that same conclusion, aren’t you?” He became introspective, eyeing her as he sipped his drink. He seemed to be gauging her resolve, then concluded.
“Your terms are?”
Outwardly she smiled; inwardly she was at a rave party.
“To be free and clear of the concert and you. In actuality, I don’t owe you a dime, or at least it’s a point arguable in court.” She sipped her water. “However, I’m willing to part with the only thing you seem to respond to and give you the extra two-hundred and fifty k. I can appreciate the hardship and struggle the homeless go through every day, more than you know. We’ve already solved everything else in the divorce. You’ll be leaving with a tidy profit for your charity and time with me, which I know is so very important to you.”
“I should. I made you.”
“You promoted me, Donovan, and any influence you had on me is being rectified, at the moment. It’s my talent, my gift, that made me, not you.”
“What a blissfully, ignorant sentiment.”
“Well, I’m taking a little pity on you because I understand that I’m speaking with a blissfully ignorant man.” She extended a hand. “What do you say? Shall we end this thing finally and be done with one another?”
For an awful moment, she thought he was going to say, game on but she saw something in his eyes and realized he too was tired. He held out his hand, and she shook it, then left without eating. Three weeks later, all her legal ties to Donovan, Jason, and her old life were signed and submitted. Raven was officially free.
Chapter 33
Finn woke the morning after he’d arrived back home feeling hungover. Retrieving the newspaper, he sat at his kitchen table, eating a bagel, and unfolded it to read. The front page had a small thumbnail of Raven, with Singer Collapses splashed under it. Worried, he scanned the article.
Singer Raven Hunter, 34, collapsed during her closeout performance at the Tacoma Dome in Washington State yesterday. Official sources say the singer’s collapse was due to dehydration and exhaustion, but insiders suggest the singer’s condition was a possible breakdown. Whether physical or cognitive, they were unwilling to say. Neither the singer nor her manager could be reached for comment.
He glanced at the photo. She was in the red outfit and only had one set left to perform when he'd left, so the collapse, or whatever it was, happened just after he’d gone. Concerned, he tried to call her again, but the phone went straight to voicemail, which had changed.
“You’ve reached Raven, please leave a message, and I’ll return it as soon as possible.” She sounded tired but otherwise okay. Choosing not to leave a message, Finn exhaled profoundly and tipped the rest of his bagel into the trash.
****
“Hey Finn,” Jake called, a little wary when his boss arrived. Finn glanced over and took off his helmet.
“Oh, hey Jake, what d’ya got.”
“Dawson and I were wondering if we could take a trip to the south side, while you and Dr. Bowman work with the cops.”
“Are they here?”
“No, Dr. Bowman said in about an hour, but wasn’t sure if you were going to stay for it.”
“Yeah, okay, take off.” When Jake turned to go, Finn asked, “You said you and Dawson. Where’s Holly?”
“Ah, I guess she transferred or something.”
“Okay, thanks. Go ahead,” he said, relieved.
The deep, fragrant aroma of good coffee filled the office. As Finn stepped into the conference room, he noticed a confectioner’s feast lay spread across the table. Nate looked up from where he was sitting, with a welcoming smile.
“Annie?” Finn queried.
“Yep.”
“God bless that woman.”
“Right?” Nate agreed. “So, how’d it go?”
“Didn’t.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t wanna get into it. I heard we’re talking to some cops. Do they know anything?” His friend looked at him for a moment, then poured him a mug of coffee. “Really man, I do not want to get into this.”
Nate simply selected the best maple bar, placed it on a napkin with seahorses on it and slid it over to Finn, then raised his eyebrows. When the younger man still said nothing, Nate lost his patience.
“Just tell me what happened.”
“Nothing, really.” Exasperated, Finn blew out a heavy breath.
“Well, why did she leave?”
“Her friend’s kid had a heart attack or something.”
When Nate frowned at him, Finn lowered his eyes.
“She came over to talk to me about Alaula. Did you tell her about that?” Nate confirmed it with a nod. “Holly drove me home. We were both a little freaked out. I had blood and shit all over me. She tried to make a play, and I thought I evaded. I brushed her off and told her I was gonna take a shower.” Nate watched him and sipped some of his coffee. “I intended that to mean, I'm taking a fucking shower, go home.”
“How did she take it?”
“You’re taking a shower. Okay, I’m gonna get naked and wait for you in bed.” He explained how Raven came over and saw both him and Holly in their state of undress.
“Aw, shit. Were you able to tell her?”
“I got a towel on Nate. How the hell’s she gonna sit there and listen to me make excuses? She wasn’t gonna listen.”
He explained how he’d tried to call, but she’d never pick up. He told him about discovering she went back home and her friend’s kid in the hospital. Then going to her condo, meeting Wyatt, and the fight that ensued.
“So she walked out pissed, and when I woke up, she was still gone.”
“So, you never saw her?”
“No, her brother brought me backstage at her show. But by the time we got there, things were almost ready to go. Nate, I didn’t even recognize her, man. She looked like a fuckin’ stripper.” When he noticed his friend’s eyebrows shoot up, he clarified, “Not in a good way.” Sitting down, he sprawled his legs out in front of him.
“All of these people were yelling at her, telling her what she was supposed to do, say, play, dress. It was bullshit, man.” Angry again, he stood up and began to pace. Nate followed him with his eyes, quiet, until he sat back down. “She looked miserable, and she didn’t say a God damn word…nothing.” He raised his hands to interlock behind his head. “I don’t know. She was damn near crying because they wouldn’t let her play a song she promised the sick little girl in the hospital, and I don’t know, I just lost it.”
“Kicked some ass?”
“No.” He sat down, dejected. “I yelled at her.”
“At her?”
“Yeah, at her,” Finn said defensively. “I just thought if she could see herself. See them. She’d like, snap out of it and tell them all to go to hell.” He leaned an elbow on the table and ran a hand down his jawline absently. “It went wrong. I fucked it up.”
“How?”
“I told her she looked like a whore.”
“A whore?”
“I know, I know, I fucked up, Jesus!”
“Well, come on now, Finn. This isn’t insurmountable. It’s a lot of confusion, misperception, and emotion, maybe. I know. I live every day with a lady in the first trimester of pregnancy. Try waiting and call her again, in a couple of days.”
“No, I’m just gonna…”
“Hello?” Two men walked into the reception area.
“Hey,” Nate said, “are you the guys from the DLNR?”
“Yes sir, I’m Dennis Mathison, Department of Land and Natural Resources, and this is Henry Kauffman from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Are you Dr. Nathan Bowman?”
&n
bsp; “Yeah, I’m Nate, and this is my head biologist, Finn Taylor.”
After shaking hands, Nate gestured them to chairs. After distributing refreshments, they all sat down and began the discussion.
“So, I wish we were meeting under better circumstances gentlemen. We are here to give you our findings on RCW-429,” Henry began, causing Finn to close his eyes at Alaula’s official name.
“She was killed by blunt force trauma to the skull, a pretty vicious attack. Struck multiple times and with great force,” Dennis intoned.
“Was it quick?” Nate asked for Finn’s sake.
“No.” Dennis hesitated. “Unfortunately, Dr. Bowman, she did suffer. There was massive internal bleeding. Prior to the second strike, she sustained a deep laceration on her underbelly. We’re pretty sure her pup was attacked with the same knife. We found no traces of disease there so…”
“No,” Finn said quietly, “she was really healthy. So was Kaimi when they returned, after weaning.”
“Kaimi?” Henry looked blank for a second, then with understanding asked, “the pup?” Finn nodded, and he continued. “Locals noticed her alive and well at fifteen hundred hours and was found, as you know, at sixteen twenty-five.”
“Any leads?” Finn asked impotently.
“No, we think it’s the same person or persons that killed RCW-125 last year and the other one a couple of years back. Exact same MO. We don’t think they live on the island but haven’t ruled out anything.” When his audience only nodded solemnly, Henry looked down at the table, then tried to contribute. “We want to catch these guys too, and eventually they’ll make a mistake. We do have one person saying that they may have seen a man in the area but her memory is a little fuzzy and she’s trying to work with a sketch artist we brought over. The best possible lead we’ve had on this guy so far.”
“And you know how many in this community are invested,” Dennis interjected. “They’re mad as hell. We have the posters up and the ticker and hotline numbers going.”
“Yeah, I think they’ll be having a rally to try and raise reward money,” Nate supplied.
“Which will, of course, be matched by ours. I think we might have a chance at catching this guy,” Henry said.
It wasn’t the news Finn wanted to hear but was the report he had expected. After a little more discussion, they walked the gentlemen to their car.
“I understand you guys have been fighting for a rehab facility here, is that right?” Dennis asked before getting in the car.
“Yeah, for some years now. We get so many of the seals on these beaches, and it takes a long time to get here from Oahu,” Nate confirmed.
“What about your benefactor?”
“Ah, no, he’s too interested in putting in turbines to waste his time with rehab. Why help ’em when you can place enough hazards to kill ’em.” Finn snorted.
“Ah, yeah.” Nate laid a hand on Finn’s shoulder. “It’s been a rough few weeks around here. We’ve been slowly collecting the money. We’ll get there.”
“Well, I can tell you that we, along with HWF are considering expansion out here with the Marine Mammal Center.” Nate looked over at Finn.
“Seriously? You guys would be willing to consider that?”
“It’s being seriously discussed. Let’s set up some meetings to look at your numbers, and what it would take to set up out here because we agree, there seems to be need.”
They parted company with Nate saying all the right things about becoming more diligent and working with the community and possibilities, but Finn’s heart wasn’t in it. All he felt was exposed.
Chapter 34
Filling yellow pad after yellow pad of notes, music, lyrics, and dates, Raven made plans. Lots and lots of plans. Thinking of the new direction she wanted to take her life and what she wanted from it was exhilarating. Then solving the puzzle and creating the steps to achieve it, brought her a sense of completion. She only hired people with her vision in mind. Every new decision caused her to feel more independent and free. It wasn’t until she put her condo on the market that her family determined it was time to intervene.
“This seems pretty drastic, Rave. You’re going awfully fast for a pretty lucrative place here,” her brother stated.
“I can’t live here anymore. There are too many memories. It feels more like a jail cell than a home.”
“But what about all this stuff?” Que asked, looking around at the high-end furnishings.
“I’ll sell it, maybe on one of those sites on the internet.”
“Very funny.”
“It’s never felt like mine, anyway. I’ll sell it and throw whatever I want into storage until I find something different.” Facing Que, she asked, “Ya still willing to room with me again? At least we don’t have to share a bed anymore.”
“I don’t know why you don’t just stay with me?” Wyatt questioned.
“Because it’s in the middle of nowhere.”
“It’s peaceful.”
“It’s forsaken,” Raven quipped. “I want to be a little closer to civilization.”
“Where are you playing at tonight, again?” Que asked, changing the topic.
“A little place in Bellingham. Why? Are you coming?” Raven asked, hopeful.
“I thought I might. Lilly asked Ab to go spend the night.”
“Perfect!”
“I can’t believe no one’s recognized you yet.”
“No one knows me blonde. It was the same in Hawai’i. Pseudo name, completely different material, small gigs. It just works out perfectly, almost like starting over.”
“At least you get a pure read off people and if they like it,” Wyatt contributed. “That’s gotta feel good.”
After they made their plans for meeting and travel, Que left to get ready and Wyatt decided to take a nap. Raven sat at her table looking at her master list of action items.
Talk to lawyer re. legalities
Talk to CPA
Fire Jason
Fire Donovan
Cancel tour dates
Sell Condo
Figure out living situation
Arrange new/old music and lyrics
Plan new show
Hire new agent with my vision
Speak to publicist
Rehearse
Arrange new tour dates
Promotion tour
Finn
With the promotional dates set and everything prepared, there was nothing more to occupy her mind. Allowing him to flood into her consciousness, and try to make sense of what occurred, she thought she could possibly release him.
Her mind drifted to that last day and the call she’d received from Nate about Alaula. All Raven could think about was getting to him, wanting desperately to console and mourn with him. Then arriving at his door to see the pretty young blonde in his clothes and her underwear. And the look of shock on his face at seeing them both together. Maybe he had been honest with her. As beautiful as she thought him to be, he never gave her cause to question his loyalty to her, until then.
Her thoughts also traveled to Dee and her ridiculous notions of the prophecy. It still sat so uneasily within her. It was almost like the angel and devil sitting on the shoulders of her dreams warring with good and bad fortune. Light and misery, poetry and discord. Those dreams which were so realistic, she felt she could touch them, enter them—or had they done the devouring. Her medallion, always a relatively harmless, sentimental object, had turned into a virtual living being. Heating, vibrating and pulsating against her skin at times. It was something she could no longer explain away.
Her unease was almost palpable. What was the catalyst to all this? She walked to her living room window.
“She thinks I’m Apollo,” Raven said out loud, then laughed at the fact she was lending any credence at all to it. However, now that the thoughts were there, they rooted.
The music, something to do with the music. It was as if there was something immediately behind her vision but just beyond h
er grasp, just unable to see. She glanced at her watch, she had hours before Que would be back and Wyatt would wake. With decision, she walked to her laptop on the table and typed in Apollo, Greek Mythology, and began to read.
Apollo, god of music, sun, light, oracles, archery, plague, medicine, poetry, and knowledge. Born to Zeus and Leto; twin brother of Artemis, goddess of hunting, moon, archery, forests, and hills.
“So how does Apollo connect with Poseidon? Aren’t they both men?” She scanned for the connection and almost shut down the computer to laugh at herself. That was when she saw it and ran a finger over the text.
Poseidon and Apollo lost favor with mighty Zeus over Hera’s plan to overthrow her husband. They were stripped of their status and sent to Troy. Laomedon, the mighty king of Troy, charged them with building the walls and foundation of the city.
“So, they built a foundation and what, suddenly they’re spawning children together?”
She read that Apollo was bisexual.
“So what, the man still couldn’t have babies or was he asexual somehow? Can gods do that?”
And what about Poseidon? She didn’t think he was bisexual. She sat back, frustrated, looking at the pictures of the two gods.
“So, obviously, Apollo slept with someone, who slept with someone until finally what, I’m supposed to have come along, with my twin.”
She lifted her eyes from the book and wondered if all of them were twins, the ancestors of the music god. Grabbing her pad of paper, she flipped to a clean page and drew two columns, labeling one side Raven, the other Apollo. She tried to denote similar characteristics.
“Music, song, poetry, yes. Oracles, healing, plague and disease, no.” Her finger followed along the text as she read. “His sacred animal was a raven and his object a lyre.” A lyre?
Raven looked down at her medallion, really seeing the lyre embossed on it, then glanced back at the page and the depiction of one there. She blinked. They were exactly the same. Scared, she realized she was talking to herself, so closed her laptop with a firm snap.