Point of Attraction

by Margaret Van Der Wolf

  “Odd. But why let Paula think it was Mason.”

  “No reason for her to think otherwise,” she told Cassie with a shrug.

  “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

  “Just stuff. When I put things together, I’ll tell you.”

  “Okay. Make sure you do.”

  Georgie was surprised Cassie accepted this without argument or further inquiry, and so very grateful not to have to do any more explaining. This had been a long exhausting evening.

  “I have to say,” Cassie added as the window buzzed down and her seat belt clicked into its lock, “Mason and Nick get along together.”

  “God help me, they do.”

  April laughed as she turned the ignition key. “I swear, Georgie. You’re like having a wayward child to look after.”

  Georgie’s mouth fell open as Cassie burst into laughter. Still laughing, Cassie raised the window and the BMW drove down the driveway. A second later, Georgie too smiled at the disappearing headlights, and went back in the house.

  ~~0~~

  “So what happened at Jeffrey’s?” Georgie asked of Mason and Nick.

  Neither man offered an answer. Nick was zipping up his jacket.

  “Where are you going?” When Nick offered nothing, she looked to Mason. “Where is he going?”

  “Just for a quick drive,” Nick said, before Mason could say anything. “Won’t take me but a minute.”

  She reached out to grab hold of his jacket, but Nick pulled away. No way was she letting this slide and latched onto his arm. “No, you don’t. First, you tell me what happened at Jeffrey’s.”

  “He never came home,” Mason said, surrendering to her determination on this, and she sought Nick’s confirmation.

  “We drove by several times,” Nick finally said with a shrug, “searching for my little lost dog...”

  “Your dog?”

  “Yeah, well, what can I say.” He smiled and started to laugh, but cleared his throat and became serious. “Even had a couple of his neighbors looking for my precious little Pepe.”

  “Pepe?” she asked. “That’s what you came up with?”

  Nick’s eyebrows scrunched to the center, feigning hurt. “I could have a doggie named Pepe.”

  “Pepe?”

  “Yeah.” Nick thrust up his chin and looked down his nose at her. “Pepe.”

  “The position of the garage door had not changed from last night,” Mason said. Though his manner was serious, Georgie could see humor lurking behind his set mouth. “Never moved up or down. But those helpful neighbors even raised the door to look and see if Pepe might have gotten inside.”

  “No alarm went off,” Nick said, “so the thing has to be on a timer or shut off. The leaf was still stuffed in the track, undamaged. Nothing had been moved inside, everything still very neat. Neighbors didn’t seem to think anything was amiss... especially since he’s started seeing a lady friend.”

  “He’s seeing someone?”

  “That’s what they said.”

  “You go, Jeffrey,” she said, then felt both men’s eyes on her. “Well, it’s not me. But this is getting very strange,” she mused, then shook her head to free herself of their suspicions. “Now you have me doing it. Jeffrey might have gone away for the weekend for all we know... with his girlfriend. So where are you going?”

  “Up the road a bit,” Nick said.

  “How close are you with your neighbors?” Mason asked.

  Georgie shrugged. “We know each other’s names; run into each other while walking during the summer. We don’t hang out. They’ve probably already gone for the winter. Sometimes they leave before Halloween, sometimes after Thanksgiving. They have a property caretaker come in once a week to check the yard, pipes and stuff.”

  Nick patted his pockets and pulled out his bike key. Georgie went to stand at her door to block his exit. “What are you up to?”

  “I’m just going to take a look.”

  “A look where?”

  “Up the road, I told you.”

  “Now, you’re being silly,” she said, arms crossed.

  “Daisy would have told me if someone were lurking up...” She stopped, thinking back over the last few days and nights. The warnings were there. She just took them as Daisy being territorial with another dog.

  “She’s been acting up, hasn’t she?” Nick asked, and a frustrated breath was accented with a hard stare. “She’s certainly been favoring that left corner, and it’s not just tonight, is it?”

  It took a second before she could meet his accusing glare. His mouth pulled to the side as he looked to Mason.

  “Alright,” she finally said. “You’re right. She has been acting strange. I didn’t get it, okay? But you have to promise me something. Whatever you find. Promise me you will tell me the truth. All of it. If it scares the hell out of me, so be it. But not knowing.” She made quotation marks with her fingers. “For my own good, can be just as dangerous, even more so. I want to trust that neither of you is hiding anything from me. Understand?”

  Nick shook his head, his eyebrows arched high, and he looked at Mason while holding up both palms, indicating her. “And this is what you want to get involved with?”

  “Go,” Mason said, and Nick took hold of her arms to move her aside before going out the door, pointing a finger at Mason.

  Mason nodded, then he too stood. They even talk to each other without saying a word, Georgie thought.

  But Mason didn’t go anywhere. Instead, he came to her side and slipped a hand behind her neck, squeezed gently. “Think your kids will tolerate me dating their mom?”

  “If not today, soon, but I’m the one you’ll be dating,” she smiled, pressing her head into the hold. “I think they liked you.”

  “I’m glad, cause I really want to see more of their mom,” he said, taking her left hand to toy with the ringless finger.

  The motorcycle came to life, bombarding the garage walls with its roar as it sped out.

  “I need to get the flashlight out of my car,” Mason said. “I’ll be right back. Keep your coat on.”

  When he came back in, he flicked on the flashlight and put his arm around her shoulders as they walked out through the laundry room. Before going out the door into the patio, he flipped off the outdoor light. The breeze teased them as they stood at the edge of the patio next to the barbecue. Faint odors of the meal’s drippings on the dying coals hung in the air until the breeze pulled it along. They had an unobstructed view of the stars on this absolutely clear night.

  Mason drew her head to his chest, his cheek pressing into her hair. “You know... I considered my life pretty much settled, calm, and all but buried, except for my writing,” he said. “Then I thought... I’ll take my fifteen years of notes and see about a writing class. And there she was; in the corner, all composed and unassuming, sitting next to the most outspoken, capricious, redhead. Little did I know the quiet one was the central eye of chaos.”

  His warm hand cupped her chin and held it up. “Do you know the stars are reflected in your eyes?” He sighed, not waiting for a response. “I shudder to think where this center of calmness will take me, yet I find myself hurrying to get there. Is that crazy or what?”

  Georgie wanted to reach inside his jacket and encircle herself with his warmth, like Max, curling up into his own fur. She too, thought her life quite settled and tranquil, until now. But she was not as brave as Mason, and the pain of the heart was not something she wanted to experience. Sam had never hurt her, and she had no desire to feel what she so often saw and heard from other women, and even some men while they sat in her chair as she worked on their hair. But even knowing the flame will kill it, the moth still flies to its destiny.

  Oh, Georgie, she thought, what are you doing?

  The roar of Nick’s motorcycle pierced its way through the brush, and she looked toward the sound. Now and then a flicker of its headlight could be seen. Then, there was silence and no light, time held still, but the moment h
ad been broken, and Mason guided her to the left corner of the yard. Daisy, having gotten there before them, sat waiting very patiently. It was a while before a ray of light jostled its way through the brush, but it was off to the side, not the left corner. Daisy stood up, her tail wagging as she whimpered.

  “Mason, I need you to drive up here,” Nick’s voice came through before they actually saw him come through the brush. “Georgie, do you still have your camera?”

  “Yes.”

  “The batteries still good?”

  “Yes.”

  “Give it to Mason...”

  “No,” she said flat out. “I’m coming up there.”

  “Georgie...” Nick tried to reason.

  “You don’t know how to use my camera.”

  “There’s no camera made I can’t use, and you know it!”

  When she felt Mason’s hand on her arm, she pulled clear of it. “You both gave me your word.” But the night suddenly felt colder as her breath billowed in a cloud with each word.

  “Should I call this in?” Mason asked Nick.

  “You come up here and tell me,” he said. “My choice would be yes. It’s the second small turn-around. Pull into the one across the street and walk the edge as you approach. I’m going to look around some more. Just make sure you bring that camera. There are tire tracks and footprints you don’t want to mess up. Georgie Girl, I don’t think...”

  “I’m coming.”

  “God damn it, Georgie.” There was a small pause, then... “It’s Raggs.”

  Chapter sixteen

  “Raggs?” Georgie spun on her heels and headed for the house. As she ran through the kitchen to the garage, Mason grabbed her arm, nearly pulling her off balance. Her fingers ached from trying to pry herself free of his grip, but he refused to let go.

  “George! The camera.”

  It took a second for his words to sink in and she nodded. When he released her, she dashed down the hallway to the linen closet. On the middle shelf was her camera. She pulled it out of the case, but when she turned to go out, Mason stood in her path.

  “George, maybe you shouldn’t...”

  “You either take me up there, or I’ll drive myself.”

  He stepped aside.

  Without another word, they both went out the door, but like the first night, Mason made sure she locked up behind her. To Georgie, it took forever before they spotted Nick’s motorcycle. Mason pulled the 4Runner in the turnaround across the street from the bike. The car had barely stopped when Georgie unlatched the safety belt and shoved open the door. Not even bothering to look in either direction, Georgie darted across the dark quiet road as Mason shouted her name.

  Just as she approached the wide dirt shoulder, Mason caught up with her. Once more she fought his firm hold as a dark form lurched out of the brush.

  “Stop it!” Nick hissed, but it might as well have been a shout. “You want to destroy evidence? Act like a grown up, for goddamn sakes.”

  When her muscles relaxed, she felt Mason’s arms loosen their grip.

  “Now,” Nick went on, his hand very gentle at her shoulder while he pointed to where and what he spoke of. “See? Tire tracks in this entire area. That, in itself, means nothing. No telling how many vehicles use this turnaround. But it’s the same tread mark all over. Even after the rains, it still appears to be the same tires. Got a solid impression over here.”

  “Are you up to taking a photo?” Mason asked.

  Georgie readied the camera and knelt down. The wet soft earth soaked through her sweat pants at the knee. Both Mason and Nick fixed their flashlight on the deep grooves so shadows would not distort the pattern. Once satisfied with her photos, Georgie got up.

  Nick motioned for them to follow him, making sure they walked the edges of the area, and guided them to what Georgie saw was a narrow parting of the shrubs. Even in the dark, she could tell it was indeed a path recently made. Nick shone the flashlight on the ground where footprints went in both directions, fresh prints smudging others beneath. It wasn’t hard to see it was the same set of shoes. When they came upon a pristine print, once more, Georgie used her camera. Nick then led them on until they reached a small clearing, hardly more than ten feet wide in either direction.

  Nick turned off his flashlight and waited a moment before pointing below them. The moonlight was bright over the backyard of a house. Georgie’s lips parted, her mouth dropping open. In the rustling breeze, the swinging flap of a small door echoed up a second before she heard excited barking.

  Daisy.

  Georgie blinked. Her large kitchen window was a light in the darkness. The more she looked at it, the more clear the features inside became. With binoculars, it would be as close as eye to eye.

  That close, she thought.

  “Oh, man,” Mason murmured behind her, a hand on her shoulder.

  At first, Georgie thought he was referring to the spy view of her house. He wasn’t, and she turned to see what he was talking about. She followed the focal point of his eyes and flashlight. It took a moment before she put together what she was looking at and her outcry caught in her throat.

  Enclosed in clear plastic was her Raggedy Ann Doll, Raggs. Beads of moisture still clung to the small see-through body bag. What appeared to be an ice pick stabbed Raggs through the heart, pinning her to the trunk of the pine tree.

  Georgie was immobile. She was breathing, but there was no air to be had. She didn’t even protest when the camera was taken from her. Mason’s solid body pressed against her before she realized he had pulled her to him, his hands easing up and down her arms. Nick carefully made his way around the edges of the clearing to Raggs. When the camera flash burst brightly, a painful gasp tore through Georgie’s throat.

  “Give her to me,” she asked, trying to hold back her tears, but they burned their way down her cheeks on their own.

  “We can’t,” Mason whispered in her ear.

  “We can’t, Georgie Girl,” Nick also said.

  “You... you can’t leave her like that,” she cried.

  “We have to,” Mason said, his arms completely around her now, cradling her, trying to make her understand. “The police need to see this just as it is.”

  She felt Mason’s chest rise and fall with his deep breathing.

  “Maybe we’ll be lucky and the bastard that did this left his print behind. Something... ” Nick said.

  Georgie understood the logic in what he was saying, but each time Nick took a photo, the flash highlighted Raggs’ startled, pleading button eyes. It was an ice pick driven into her own heart, to those precious memories of her mother sewing and embroidering that now frightened little doll face.

  Nick turned the camera to a spot on the ground near the tree base. Georgie saw a cluster of cigarette butts, then looked down the slope. There were footprints heading toward her fence, and she remembered the impressions around her trashcan. Had they been her own... or not? Had whoever it was gotten inside the fence? How close had he come to entering her house... if not for Daisy?

  “Nick, take her home,” Mason said, reaching for his cell phone at his waist. “I’m calling this in.”

  Georgie didn’t even argue that she was getting on a motorcycle, let alone without a helmet. The cold night failed to penetrate her state of shock. All she could see were those startled button eyes looking to her for help, and she buried her face in Nick’s jacket.

  There was no memory of time up to the moment the swirling police lights entered her driveway. Nick went out through the garage to meet them, while she sat at the kitchen table trying to swallow some water. Just an hour or so ago, this room was filled with laughter, friendly playful talk, future grandchild talk, and now this. She dropped her face into her hands, then pulled them away to look. They were wet. She took napkins out of the heavy glass holder and dabbed at the tears.

  Outside, Daisy barked in objection to the intrusion of her world. Georgie’s head was filled with visions of lights and camera flashes documenting Raggs’ to
rment.

  There was a faint sound of tires mashing the gravel in her driveway, a car door opening and closing, then more murmurs from the garage before the kitchen door opened slowly. She looked up and saw Mason poke his head in. Before she could think, she was on her feet in his arms, his hands smoothing up and down her back while his cheek pressed into her hair. After a moment, he moved them away from the door to let in Nick followed by two police officers.

  “George,” Mason murmured, “This is Officer Roberts and...”

  Daisy burst in from the laundry room, barking, growling, teeth bared as the two officers entered, and they drew back.

  “Whoa, Girl!” Nick quickly stepped in, managed to catch Daisy by the collar, and led her back out into the laundry room. Daisy jerked her head trying to get away from the grip, still snarling and barking, but Nick held firm trying to console her. “I know, Girl, I know. But we need to fix this. Lie down, lie down.”

  He closed the door behind him and rejoined them. Every now and then, Daisy’s whimper came through followed by her pawing at the door. Max sat by the door, ears pulled back.

  Georgie numbly let everyone enter her home. Officer Roberts leaned forward to shake her hand. Strange, when her family was in this room, it never seemed crowded. Mason guided her to the table and motioned that she should sit.

  “Mrs. Gainsworth, we need to ask you some questions,” Officer Roberts said. “May I?” he asked, indicating the chair opposite her.

  Georgie nodded, still unable to draw out her voice. Nick took the chair on the other side of her, giving her a quick squeeze while Mason came to stand behind her, one hand on her shoulder the other at the nape of her neck.

  “What...” She cleared her throat, demanding her voice to rise from the depths. “What do you want to know?” she asked. Seeing the second officer standing at the counter, she said, “You can have the other chair,” then noticed who it was. “Oh, hello, Tonie. I didn’t realize it was you. I’m sorry.”

  Roberts looked to his partner.

  “That’s okay,” Tonie said, scribbling in her notebook. “And I’m fine here, thank you. She cut my hair,” she told Roberts.