Chained
Page 27
Long after the woods became quiet I remained still, my back pressed against the rough bark of a tall pine tree. As the faraway wail of sirens came closer, the first delicate snowflakes of the season began to fall.
Chapter Thirty-six
Safely back home I sipped a hot cup of tea, my dog curled up on the sofa next to me. I nodded as Luke told me in exacting detail all about the arrest. Rusty quickly confessed to accidentally killing Flynn, relieved it was finally over. Shiloh was in police custody, her fractured arm stabilized. Rusty’s reaction to his fiancée’s arrest was unemotional. In a surprise move he led the police to a suitcase in the garage. Neatly folded inside were waiter’s clothes, the Lakeside Hotel logo stitched above the pocket of the white shirt. It seems Rusty didn’t trust Shiloh and had fished the stolen clothes out of the garbage. The two former lovebirds eagerly ratted each other out to the police.
Rusty had burned Flynn’s backpack, but saved one memento from it, a dog-eared copy of A Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Tucked inside rested a familiar photo. It showed four teenage boys in swimsuits, smiling into the camera, after a forbidden swim in the local quarry—their entire future ahead of them.
He’d brought his gang with him after all.
Because of the video from my phone, the new forensic evidence, and Rusty’s testimony, Chief Garcia reopened the deaths of Flynn Keegan, Angelica Landon, and Shiloh’s mother, Serena Alberts.
While Luke continued talking I wrapped the blanket tighter around me. Ice packs were strapped behind my knees to reduce swelling. I’d refused painkillers at the hospital, preferring to let my natural endorphins kick in. The bruising from Shiloh’s baseball bat ended up being superficial. If she had hit me from the front, the emergency room doctor said, she would have shattered my kneecaps. Deep scratches on my face and hands stood out against my pale skin, looking like a red Sharpie attack.
A random thought occurred to me. “Luke. Did Rusty plant that rose vine next to the grave?”
“No. Just a wild rose, I guess.”
My cell phone rang. I’d received calls from almost everyone I knew but the gauze wrap on my hand made it hard to hold the phone.
“Dr. Kate, this is Alessa Foxley. Are you badly hurt?”
“No, I’ll be fine in a few days.”
Her normally self-assured voice wavered. “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you everything I knew about Flynn. Gene hired him to help cut down some trees a couple of weeks before he left. I paid him in cash and gave him extra so he could go to California.”
Another piece of the puzzle clicked into place. “It was kind of you to help him.”
“I believed in his dream. Everyone should have a dream.”
Although she couldn’t see me I nodded my head in agreement.
“I’m making sure Fiona gets the same chance. Flynn told me his only regret was leaving his sister. He intended to bring her to California as soon as he got settled. Since Fiona is over eighteen now I decided to make his plan come true. We’re flying to California on Monday. I’ve got a girlfriend in Los Angeles with a daughter the same age who volunteered to take her under her wing. I’ll stay with her out there until she gets on her feet.”
Bruce got it all wrong. Alessa had given Fiona her wings.
Somewhere, I knew, Flynn was smiling. Maybe that had been his plan all along.
Fly away and be happy, Fiona, I thought. Fly away.
***
Buddy’s sudden sharp bark announcing someone at the door woke me from my short nap.
“You dozed off. I’ll get it.” After a quick look through the curtains Luke opened the door.
Jeremy rushed in and headed straight toward me. Snowflakes glistened on the shoulders of his coat. He bent down. “Are you alright?”
“You should see the other gal.”
I knew I looked bad, wrapped tightly in a blanket like a burrito. I’d propped myself up on the sofa with pillows to keep my body straight. Scarlet scratches bloomed on my neck and face and my right cheek was purple and swollen.
His finger lightly traced the curve of my jaw. “You could have been . . .” He didn’t finish the sentence.
“Don’t worry. I’m sore from head to toe and have giant black and blue marks all over the place, but I’m fine.” My grin did little to convince him.
“Luke?” He twisted his head toward my other visitor. “What do you think?”
I tried to give Luke the evil eye over Jeremy’s head, warning him not to say anything. It didn’t do any good.
He waited a beat before he replied. “I think Kate is down to six of her nine lives.”
With Jeremy to keep me company, Luke reluctantly left. After a shared bottle of wine my aches subsided. For added pain relief we broke out a quart of fudge ripple ice cream and turned on the television. As the storm raged outside I watched a retired couple on HGTV try to decide which house in sunny Costa Rico to choose. My attentive boyfriend refused to let me do anything. Jeremy had declared himself my personal servant for the next few days. After a somewhat awkward bathroom break he’d relocated me to the lounge chair, refreshed my ice packs, and gently tucked me in like a baby kangaroo in a pouch.
“Comfy, Kate?”
“Absolutely.”
He tentatively took my hand in his. “Why do you think that particular bear showed up when he did?”
For a second I was back in the clearing, dark animal eyes staring at me. Then he was gone.
“I’ve got no good answer for that. Let’s call it kharma.”
“Well,” he kissed my fingers, “it would have been unbearable if anything had happened to you before I bared my soul—and told you how much I care for you.”
My answer made him smile. “Why, Dr. Jeremy, I barely know what to say.”
We clung to each other the rest of the night, his hand resting in mine, as snowflakes swirled outside and the hidden moon rose on its journey past the stars.
Epilogue
The black bear lumbered steadily through the falling snow, climbing higher and higher, putting distance between him and the valley below. Without the heavy chain and shackle on his back leg he moved swiftly, his tracks soon covered by a thick blanket of snow. Day became night became another day and night. Farther and farther he roamed. After pushing past acres of bushes and trees he came to a granite outcropping. A familiar scent urged him toward a break in the stone, into a twisted tunnel hidden in the rock.
Inside it smelled warm and dry and familiar. Comforted, he curled up, thick fur pressed against the cave’s smooth wall.
No pain now.
No pain tomorrow.
Time to sleep.
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