by R E Gauthier
Getting out of bed, she promised to reach out to Miranda this afternoon. A quiet knock on the door stopped Kelsey’s walk to the bathroom.
“Kels, it’s me, Aisling. I thought that maybe we could do something fun today. How about we go into town for the Spring fair? They’ll have lots of vendors and games.”
Kelsey opened the door to find her cousin dressed in black jeans and a blue button-down shirt and a pair of calf-high, riding boots. Aisling’s smile seemed to mirror her own. With hands on her hips, Kelsey asked, “aren’t you worried someone would see us? I thought we’re in hiding, and you don’t want anyone to know I’m here.”
Aisling shook her head. “I’m certain no one will come looking for us here. No one knows about this place.”
Kelsey remembered telling Nikki but knew her best friend wouldn’t betray her by telling anyone about what they talked about. “It would be good to get out amongst people who aren’t watching me like they’re expecting me to run. I know you’re trying to keep me safe, but it feels more like a prison.”
Aisling reached out to touch Kelsey’s arm and then dropped her hand. Her eyes grew moist and shiny. “I’m sorry about that, but I couldn’t take any chances. We will still have a few bodyguards, but they have strict orders to keep an eye on us from a distance. Please, Kels, say you will come with me; I missed going to fairs with you. Do you remember the last one we went to?”
Kelsey smiled because she did recall the last time they went to a fair. The girls were thirteen, and it was the summer before that horrible night. Kelsey’s brothers, Kenny and Rory took the two girls with them to the Washington County Fair. They went on the rides, ate tons of cotton candy, hotdogs, and French fries. That day had been one of the last fun days before they were separated for over twenty-one years. “Yes, we ate so much junk food and rode every ride two or three times. Rory was mad because we threw up in his truck.”
Aisling giggled. “I still cannot believe Rory and Kenny are married with kids. Kenny has how many?”
Kelsey shook her head and replied, “I know; it’s crazy. Rory and Lynn have two…wait till you meet little Fiona, she’s so precocious and pesters her older brother Mitch. Kenny and Muriel have Duncan, who just started college, and Tommy is fifteen and loves cars.”
Aisling shook her head. “I cannot imagine those two being mature enough to raise children of their own. They scolded us for getting sick in the truck when it was the two of them, who let us eat all that junk food, and then go on all those rides. All they could think about was those girls; they didn’t want to have us hanging around; it cramped their style.”
Kelsey chuckled. “Dad grounded them for a week when he found out that we went on the rides alone.”
Aisling cocked her head. “So, will you go with me today?”
Kelsey nodded and chuckled. “Yes, give me enough time to have a shower and get dressed.”
“I’ll be downstairs, and in the car in twenty, don’t make me wait. I’ll pack coffee and scones that we can eat on the way.”
Kelsey saluted her cousin and ducked into the bathroom. “Aye-aye, Captain, I’ll be down in twenty. I’m famished for far more than a coffee, and a scone could quench, so I hope the vendors have plenty of junk food.”
Aisling chuckled. “I’m sure we can find some.”
***
Kelsey and Aisling did eat junk food and went on some amusement rides like they remembered doing as children. They laughed, teased one another, and acted like they would have if they were only teenagers or younger. Many people looked on as the two women in their thirties attempted to capture a piece of their past; they were not able to share. For the first time in twenty-one years, Kelsey felt as though that horrible night, and all the nightmarish days that followed, had never happened. The bond between the two of them was stronger than ever, and they hardly had to speak before knowing what the other was thinking.
Aisling lightly punched Kelsey’s arm. “I cannot wait to meet Miranda; her hold on your heart is strong. I can see her inside of it even as you talk about wanting to go on the Ferris wheel again.”
“Ouch! I’m still sore from the pummeling you gave me yesterday.” Kelsey may have embellished the pain somewhat and was rewarded with a remorseful look on Aisling’s face. Kelsey giggled. “I’m only kidding; I am sore, but not that much. I guess I’m rustier than I thought; you were able to get in some serious punches.”
Aisling scrunched up her face and shook her head. “Rusty? You were more than rusty. I’d say you were a few days shy of seizing up on me. You weren’t lying about not having anyone to go a few rounds with you. That’s going to change; I’ll whip you back into fighting shape in no time.”
Kelsey stuck out her tongue and deflected Aisling’s playful jab to her middle. “Miranda has been on my mind and in my heart since I met her last September. She’s an extraordinary woman. Sometimes, I can hardly believe we found each other. I didn’t tell many people, but I dreamed about her long before I saw her face. It’s like the universe knew we’d meet one day.”
Aisling closed her eyes and said, “tha an dàn agus an dàn do cheangal, ach is tusa am fear a dh ’fhoillsicheas an fhìrinn” (fate and destiny are entwined, but you are the one who will unravel the truth.) Nanna used to tell us that our futures were already planned by our past lives and deeds. I missed her kernels of wisdom; does she still dole them out?”
Kelsey threw back her head and laughed heartily. Collecting herself, Kelsey closed her eyes, and she said, “when I told her that I dreamed about Miranda, Nanna said, “nar aislingean, bidh ar cridhe agus anam a ’bruidhinn ris an fhear ris a bheil iad ceangailte. Tro ar gnìomhan, bidh sinn a ’toirt ar aislingean gu buil.” (“in our dreams, our heart and soul speak to the one they are connected to. Through our actions, we make our dreams come true.”)
Aisling’s grin grew until she laughed. “Nanna was always teaching us through all her sayings. I loved the stories she’d read us. Do you remember that big old, stinky book she had?”
Kelsey did remember that book and knew it well. “She did and gave it to me, although now that you’re alive, she may want to give it to you instead.”
Aisling cocked her head and furrowed her brows.
“Nanna said she wanted to give it to her oldest granddaughter to have for her children. I asked about it when I was looking for a way to block Nanna from hearing and learn the truth of my investigation into the night you left. I tricked Nanna by saying I wanted it for my future children, but Miranda and I haven’t even discussed that possibility. The book is actually an ancient text filled with the MacKenzie family history. Each generation of MacKenzie women with the gift entering their pearls of wisdom inside. I’ve only scratched the surface of all the secrets it holds, but that’s how I made my amulet and learned to hone my gift.”
“I’ve missed using my gift. Mother used to help me, but after that night, she never wanted to…it hurt her too much. She once told me during one of her more lucid moments; she hated that her gift didn’t warn her about the attack on us that night. Even before her diagnosis, her mind would wander. Dad and I had a hard time keeping her with us. She spent days in some other world, far away from us. When she came back, it’s like she had forgotten everything that brought her pain and would speak to us like we were home again.”
Kelsey attempted but failed to swallow the hard lump in her throat. Her eyes misted over, and through a blurred vision she watched her cousin wipe away tears from her face. “I’m sorry, Aisling. When I saw you that day inside the car and realized the lies that everyone told me, I felt betrayed and alone. But you, Aunt Cat, and your father suffered too. So too did Nanna; I’m not alone. As a family, we suffered apart for too many years, but no more. From now on, we suffer and weather our pain together.” Kelsey took Aisling in her arms and allowed the tears to flow.
Aisling and Kelsey cried, holding one another for several minutes until a woman’s voice broke through their intimate world. “Ah dinnae mean tae intrude, bit ah hear
d yo say, MacKenzie. Urr ye fae th' Clan MacKenzie?”
Kelsey turned to see an older woman, maybe in her late sixties or seventies, smiling up at her. She smiled, nodded, and spoke in a Scottish accent to reply. “Aye, oor grandmother is o' th' Clan MacKenzie.”
The woman’s smile grew into a toothy grin. “Yer grandmother, ye say. Wid that be Isla MacKenzie?”
Aisling nodded and stepped forward to address the older woman. “Aye, 'n' howfur wid ye ken oor grandmother? tis bin mony years sin she bin hame.”
“They ca' me Edina 'n' yer grandmother 'n' ah ur kin.” Edina told Kelsey and Aisling she was Nanna’s second cousin and knew their grandmother when Edina was a small child. Edina also said Kelsey looked like a younger version of their grandmother.
This woman was not the first person to tell Kelsey about her resemblance to her grandmother. Remembering how many people thought she was Nanna’s daughter, she smiled.
Edina also told them that at one time, this whole region once belonged to Clan MacKenzie and that their Clan was once one of the most powerful Clans in all of Scotland. Before the woman left, she whispered, “if ye ever need hulp, mind tae say, tullach ard.”
Kelsey watched the woman walk away before looking at her cousin.
Aisling shook her head. Did that really just happen?
Kelsey smiled and nodded. Aye, it did.
On their way back to the estate, Aisling and Kelsey discussed how even this far away from home, their grandmother was able to reach them in some manner. As children, Nanna would tell them about the Clan MacKenzie’s ancient vow to protect their land and king with their lives. The Clan’s battle cry was, “Tullach Ard!” or loosely translated to “To the mound!” The mound referred to the mountain in the MacKenzie heartland of Kintail. There stood the castle where the MacKenzie clan held steady and burned the light of hope. The Eilean Donan castle still existed and was one of the most photographed castles in all of Scotland.
Kelsey asked, “do you think Nanna is trying to tell us something?”
Aisling nibbled on her lip. “I never thought about it before, but over the years, people would come into my life, and I’d wonder why. Maybe Nanna has her ways to tell us; she’s with us.”
Kelsey giggled. “Well, if we’re ever in real danger, we’re to go to the castle. We’ll be safe there.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Nikki’s hotel room, Edinburgh, May 6, 2012
What is the connection between Marina Carlotti and Marcel LaMontagne? If there was a connection, Nikki couldn’t find it. She spent the better part of two weeks searching, and today, her calls and emails to Willow had gone unanswered. The document on Marina Carlotti was a transcript and registration papers from a college in Italy. Listed were her father, Marco Carlotti, and her mother, Elena Tarolli. Born September 23, 1977, making Marina nearly thirty, and she attended college in Italy. The woman took Middle Eastern studies and law, but there is where the trail ran cold. Before the age of nineteen, no records of Marina Carlotti existed, anywhere, leading Nikki to believe the name might be an alias.
She hadn’t been able to find a common thread between Marina’s parents and Marcel LaMontagne, either. The only thing in common between the two people besides the fact that Marina and Marcel both lived in Italy, at different times, was that Marina Carlotti’s paternal grandmother had dual citizenship in Italy and Syria. Syria was one of the many countries LaMontagne had holdings in both businesses and private real estate. Had the two of them cross paths at one time or another? What did the people, who sent Nikki the information, want her to find?
Nikki now had more questions than answers, and she tried to call Willow again. The call went directly to voicemail. She already left numerous messages, and still, she hadn’t heard back. Deciding she needed to know why Willow wasn’t answering her calls, Nikki called Torres.
“Hey, Red, what’s up?”
Nikki smiled, hearing Torres’s nickname for her. “I need you to do something for me.”
“Is this a figurative ‘something’ like last time, or do you actually want me to help you.”
Nikki giggled, recalling their last conversation when talking to Torres had cleared things up for Nikki. “I actually need you to do something. Can you go to the bunker and see if Willow is there? I have sent her numerous emails and left several voicemails, but she’s not answering. I’m worried something may have happened to her. I had her looking into that dangerous man wanted for all those murders, and my imagination is running wild. What if someone was able to track her searches to the bunker, and they have her?”
“You had her look into the Ghost; the one you didn’t want to tell me his name for fear, just mentioning it to me, would endanger my life.”
Nikki closed her eyes. “Don’t remind me; if anything happens to her, I’ll never forgive myself. She said she was careful, but these people can find anyone. I mean, someone has gone to a lot of trouble to keep tabs on me.”
“Are you sure they’re not watching you, still?”
Nikki thought for several minutes about her last two weeks’ routine. She never let room service or housekeeping inside her room, and she never left her room. There would be no way anyone could have planted surveillance devices in her room or on her phones. “Besides long-range video or listening devices, that I cannot know about, I’m certain that no one knows what I have been up to these past two days. I scrambled my IP address every hour and kept the curtains closed. I haven’t spoken to anyone, but you, and the front desk, and except for Marina Carlotti and Marcel LaMontagne’s names, I haven’t mentioned anyone else. If these people were listening and sent me the information, they already know about them.”
“So, you want me to go to the bunker and see if Willow is there; what do you want me to do once I’m there? Do you want me to call you?”
“Call me on this phone, when you get to the bunker, and I’ll lead you through the security protocols to get inside without setting off the self-destruct sequence. I installed it to make sure the bunker’s contents don’t fall into the wrong hands.”
Torres whistled. “You almost sound like someone who has done this before.”
Nikki laughed. “I read a few how-to books on espionage protocols; it’s amazing what you can learn on the internet.”
“Red, this is serious. I wish you would let me be of more help than doing your girlfriend checking.”
“This is serious, and what do you mean by girlfriend? I never told you that Willow and I were dating.”
Torres laughed sarcastically. “You didn’t have to tell me anything, just like you didn’t have to tell me you and Deb were sleeping together. I wouldn’t be good at what I do if I weren’t able to read body language. You and Willow were screaming sexual tension, and Deb saw it too.”
“Torres,” Nikki hissed. She didn’t want to get into the ins and outs of she and Willow or Deb. “I need you to do a wellness check on the bunker and look for any signs of foul play or anything that would tell me where Willow is or why she isn’t answering me when I’ve tried to contact her. This is serious, and she could be in danger.”
“Sorry, I just…never mind.”
Nikki’s curiosity was piqued, and she didn’t want to let it go. Torres wouldn’t start to say something unless it was essential to her. “What is it? What were you going to say and stopped?”
“Red, I don’t know why, but I have a bad feeling about Willow. What do you really know about her?”
“What? Where is this coming from? Torres, I have known Willow since we were kids, and I trust her. There is nothing for you to worry about.”
“You said you only reconnected after years of being apart. Willow acts like a person who is hiding something. I’ve known people like her my entire FBI career and even more so, as a PI. She’s wearing a mask when she talks; she isn’t completely truthful, and I don’t trust her. I’m worried—”
Feeling the frustration build inside, Nikki interrupted Torres’s explanation. “Jesus Christ, Torres,
I don’t need this right now. Will you help me or not?”
Torres sighed. “Yes, of course, I’ll help you. I only hope she’s worthy of this trust you have in her. I’ll call you as soon as I get to the bunker.”
Nikki thanked Torres, and the call ended. She didn’t want to think about Torres’s observations about Willow. Nikki trusted Torres’s eerily accurate behavioral analyses in the past, but today she thought there were other reasons why Torres observed Willow hiding something. Willow was an outsider, and Torres didn’t know her. I know Willow; please, let her be okay.
***
Torres’s Apartment and Nikki’s Bunker, Pittsburgh, May 6, 2012
Torres called Deb as soon as her call with Red ended. “Deb, can you come with me to Red’s bunker?”
“Yeah, I’ve been awaiting another assignment. The taskforce finished up yesterday, and I have all my paperwork finished. Why are we going to Nikki’s bunker?”
Torres explained what Red told her about being worried about Willow.
“So, Nikki thinks that something may have happened to Willow because she’s helping Nikki with finding these people. Are we going there expecting to find Willow, or do you think there is some value to Nikki’s concerns?”
“I’m not sure what to think, or what we may find, that’s why I want you to come along. I need back-up.”
“I can meet you there; I need to make a stop first.”