Rosemary Run Box Set

by Kelly Utt

  “I…” Penelope began, searching desperately for a truth or a half truth that would answer Luke’s question without letting him know what she’d seen.

  “Maybe a glass of water would help?” Neil asked, leaning forward in his chair.

  “Good idea,” Hana replied, hoping to lower the tension. “I’ll get it!” She stood and quickly made her way to the kitchen.

  No one spoke while she was gone. Penelope sipped the air.

  Sip. Sip. Sip. Sip.

  When Hana returned, she handed Penelope a large glass of water. Hana returned to her seat on the sofa, almost tripping over Neil as she did. She was nervous too.

  “Penelope, do you have asthma?” Luke asked. He’d noticed. “It seems like you’re having some trouble breathing.”

  Penelope squirmed. She felt like a wild animal, trapped and without options. She knew that she hadn’t done anything wrong, but it felt like she was in trouble, anyway. If she was honest with herself, it felt like it did when Jean had been angry and had directed it at her. She knew the feeling all too well. She wished more than anything that she could someday escape it.

  “No, sir,” she replied. “I don’t think so. I’m okay.”

  Luke scribbled, lowering his brow even further. He glanced at Neil, who then nodded. It was an affirmation of something only the two of them understood. Penelope didn’t like it.

  “Look,” Luke continued, “we know that you three were at the party, and we know that you probably saw Audrey there. I understand your hesitance to get involved in this, but you have a duty to report what you witnessed.”

  Sip. Sip.

  Penelope, Marshall, and Hana remained silent. After a few moments, Neil tried.

  “We don’t think you had anything to do with her disappearance, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Neil explained. “We need to know what you saw so we can catch the person or persons who did.”

  “So we can keep them from harming anyone else,” Luke added. “None of us want that.”

  Sip. Sip. Sip. Hold.

  Luke turned his attention again to Hana, sensing that she knew more than she was letting on. Neil nodded, staring intently.

  “Ms. Kim,” Luke began.

  “You can call me Hana,” she chirped.

  “Good, now we’re all on a first name basis. You can call me Luke, and you can call my partner Neil. This is a friendly inquiry. Nothing more.”

  “Okay,” Hana said reluctantly.

  “Hana,” Luke continued, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. “Did you see Audrey Ward at the party hosted by Reginald Johns and Marshall Erving two nights ago?”

  “You already asked me that.”

  “I’m asking again. Did you see Audrey Ward at the party?”

  Hana broke eye contact with the detective and looked out the window. Penelope and Marshall knew what she was thinking. She was debating whether the pressure from the police investigators who obviously already knew a lot was worth telling what she knew and risking trouble with the blonde woman and any other creeps like the blonde man. It was an impossible question. Which course of action would keep them safe and protect their friends and loved ones? That’s what it had come down to now. There was real danger. And none of that took into consideration the blonde man in the bay. His body could surface, literally any time. They could go to prison for murder if they didn’t play this right.

  “Hana?” Luke asked, his gaze piercing. “I asked you a simple question.”

  Hana ignored him, lifting a hand to her mouth and chewing on a fingernail. All of her nails had been bitten down to the numbs over the past couple of days.

  “Hana?” Neil tried. “Are you feeling alright? You seem like something’s bothering you.”

  Marshall cleared his throat. His urge to protect the ladies was overwhelming. The situation reminded him of Prisoner of War training he’d received in the Marines. Interrogators wishing to gain intel always went for the weaker people. It was a basic tenet of human psychology. Putting pressure on the weak members of a group was a sure way to get the stronger ones to crack, because the stronger ones usually couldn’t bear to see the weak and vulnerable tortured.

  “Detectives,” he began, as respectfully as he could. “These ladies are scared. I’m sure you can see that. Maybe that’s enough for today?”

  Luke and Neil looked at Marshall knowingly. They all understood what was happening. They spoke volumes to each other with their eyes. After a few more minutes of silence, Luke spoke.

  “Thank you, folks, for your time. If you think of anything else— anything at all— please get in touch.”

  He handed each of them a business card with his contact information, then excused himself and his partner. Marshall thanked the men and locked the deadbolt behind them. Penelope and Hana collapsed onto the sofa, exhaling deeply with relief.

  12

  It was evening before Marshall came up with a solid plan. He had parked himself at the dining room table and refused to move until next steps were traced out. He hadn’t yet told the ladies what he had learned at Reggie’s. One step at a time. He first needed to get them to safety.

  “Okay,” he said, leaning back in his chair and lacing his fingers behind his head. “I’ve got it. At least, I’ve got part of it. A lot will depend on how things go from here.”

  “A plan?” Penelope asked, rushing to Marshall’s side. She sat in a chair next to him and leaned close.

  “Yes.”

  Hana sat across from the couple, listening eagerly.

  “Tell us,” Penelope said.

  Marshall nodded. “So, first things first. We have to hide. We can’t have the police sniffing around until we’re ready to talk. And we can’t have Hana’s blonde woman or anyone else tracking us. We need a base of operations where we can work undetected.”

  “And where will we find that?” Hana asked.

  “Good question,” Marshall replied. “I have a place in Oregon we can go if necessary, but I’d like to stay local if at all possible. It would be much harder to do our own investigating from out of state.”

  “Right,” Penelope agreed.

  Marshall continued. “I know a fellow jarhead who lives on the outskirts of Rosemary Run, down towards Sweet Balm Bay. We served together in Iraq. His name is Brian Patterson. I’m not completely sure of his setup, but I know he has a basement. I think he’s built an attached underground bunker by now. Last I talked to him, he was making arrangements for a full scale doomsday bunker. That was a couple of years ago.”

  “You want us to go to a doomsday bunker?” Hana asked.

  “I do.”

  “Wow,” she replied. “And I thought this couldn’t get any crazier.”

  “I think it can always get crazier,” Penelope added. “I know that from experience.”

  Marshall reached out for Penelope’s hand and stroked the top of it with his thumb. He knew the story of her childhood. She’d shared it all.

  “For how long?” Hana asked.

  “I don’t know,” Marshall said. “I need to first see if Brian has the place and will let us stay there. But I’d wager that he does and he will. We’ll go to him in person, assuming he’ll let us in. We’ll have to get out of here without being detected. We can’t call him. We don’t want anyone tracing our movements.”

  “That means we’ll have to leave our phones. Or destroy them,” Penelope said, thinking out loud. “Hey, it works for me. Zach is the only real family I have. At least, he’s the only one I keep in regular contact with. I don’t mind going off grid for a while.”

  “Easy for you to say,” Hana fussed. “I am close to my family. And my Instagram followers will wonder what happened to me.”

  Penelope did her best to stifle a laugh. Hana was a trust fund baby with too much time on her hands for her own good. She was focused on receiving attention, whether from her doting family or her adoring internet fans. She didn’t even have a claim to fame. It wasn’t like she was a musician, or a model.
She was just a rich, attention seeking young woman who happened to be stunningly beautiful. Penelope had always wondered why Hana had even bothered with the escort business. She’d guessed for the glamorous lifestyle and attention from desperate men. Hana hadn’t needed the money.

  “I think your Instagram followers will survive,” Penelope replied.

  “She has a good point,” Marshall said. “Depending on how long we’re away, they might notice and raise red flags for police. Hana, can you schedule some posts right now to appear over the next few days?”

  “Sure,” Hana said. “You think this will all be over in a few days?”

  “I can’t say for sure, but it’s a start.”

  Hana got busy on Instagram while Penelope asked more questions.

  “What should I pack?”

  “We need to pack light. We’ll be leaving our vehicles, and we don’t know when or if we’ll get another one. Think jump bag. Just the basics. How much cash do you keep on hand?”

  Penelope was trying to keep up, but it all seemed surreal.

  “I have cash,” Hana said without looking up from her phone. “Nearly a thousand dollars. Will that be enough?”

  “That should do it,” Marshall answered.

  “You have a thousand dollars in cash on you right now?” Penelope asked her friend. “I’d be surprised if I had a hundred. With debit and credit cards these days, I didn’t think anyone carried a lot of cash.”

  “Yeah. So?” Hana replied.

  “We may want to get more out of the ATM before we go into hiding,” Marshall said. “Authorities may end up freezing our accounts at some point. And besides, we can’t let them trace us.”

  “Luke and Neil seem nice,” Penelope mused. “I can’t imagine them going after us like that. They said they didn’t think we had anything to do with Audrey’s disappearance.”

  Marshall pulled Penelope to him and kissed her forehead. “Sweet Penelope, police aren’t the only ones who might try to track us. That’s why we’re doing things the way we are. Bad guys-- as you call them-- are far more menacing than police.”

  “Right,” Hana quipped. “Okay… and done!” She tossed her phone on the table. “Instagram posts have been scheduled for the next five days.”

  “That was fast,” Marshall said.

  “It’s second nature.”

  The three of them leaned forward, expressing an unspoken agreement to get moving.

  “We’ll leave our phones here,” Marshall instructed. “And our cars. Bring cash, a change of clothes, and anything we might use to disguise ourselves. Pack it in a small bag. Put on something comfortable and boring. We want to blend in.”

  “When do we go?” Penelope asked.

  “Tonight. Once it gets dark, I’ll make a test run out of the building to determine the best path. The three of us will leave after midnight. We’ll go to Brian’s house on foot. It’s about eight miles from here, so wear walking shoes.”

  “Can’t we get a car?” Hana asked.

  Penelope couldn’t help but laugh at how clueless and spoiled her friend was. “You want us to call an Uber? This is a small town, Hana. The idea is to move around undetected.”

  “Right,” Hana said again. It was all she could think to say.

  Turning her attention back to Marshall, Penelope squinted. “What happens when we get there?”

  Marshall smiled. “We get busy. Brian will help us with traces of our own. I’m pretty sure this guy operates on the dark web. He’s a programmer. I’ll bet he can get us burner phones, contacts for resources and hire, and whatever else we need.”

  “It’s like a real-life spy movie,” Penelope added. “And I don’t mean that in a bad way. If I have to be caught up in something like this, I’m just glad to have you by my side, Marshall, dear. You’re like G.I. Joe. My own American Hero.”

  Marshall laughed. “I appreciate the vote of confidence. I’m not sure that’s true, but I’ll do my best for you. You know that.”

  Penelope did know that. She knew it for sure, the same way she’d known that her dad had loved and cherished her. It was just a shame that Felix hadn’t been able to better protect her from Jean. Maybe Marshall would succeed in the protection department where Felix had fallen short. And maybe by doing so, it would help Penelope heal some fractured pieces from her rocky childhood. Felix had left her in harm’s way, whether intentionally or not. But Marshall was here, physically by her side, ready to protect her. And he wasn’t going anywhere.

  A part of Penelope almost craved the danger, so that Marshall would have a chance to prove his allegiance and devotion. She knew it was messed up in many ways, but she wanted to feel whole. It had been hard to sort through the shambles of her own mental health and salvage the good. Coping mechanisms didn’t always come easy.

  “Oh, gag me now,” Hana said.

  She couldn’t seem to help herself. Maybe she was jealous. Marshall and Penelope ignored her, sharing a quick kiss.

  “But seriously,” Hana raised. “What about Cheryl and Meg? They were at the party, too. And we know Cheryl saw something. I’ll bet Meg did.”

  “She raises another good point,” Marshall said.

  Penelope seemed to agree. “Cheryl was here, not long before you arrived, Hana.”

  “Did she say anything about the party? Or Audrey?”

  “No, but she seemed like she wanted to,” Penelope explained. “She told me on the phone that she had something she wanted to talk about. Then when she was here, it seemed like she lost her nerve. I’m not sure what to make of it.”

  “Should we ask her?” Hana inquired. “If Cheryl was here not long before me, the blonde woman probably saw her. And since you already spoke to her on the phone, another call wouldn’t seem odd, would it?”

  Marshall lowered his brow, considering Hana’s suggestion. “You raise another good point, Hana. How about you call Cheryl and get her back over here? We don’t want loose ends floating around.”

  “I agree,” Penelope said. “And Meg?”

  “Do it,” Marshall confirmed. “Get her here. If either Cheryl or Meg saw anything suspicious or know anything about what happened to Audrey, all five of us are going to Bryan’s together. Not only do we need to keep control of loose ends, we need to keep each other safe. I’d fear for Cheryl and Meg’s safety if we didn't bring them with us.”

  “And Reggie?” Penelope asked. He was the last of the friend group and the head of the escort service. It was a question that had to be asked.

  “We leave him be,” Marshall replied. “He’s not on our side.”

  13

  By late evening, Marshall had done his test run and had found a way off the property that he was reasonably sure wouldn’t be detected. He’d paid a boiler room attendant to help them gain safe passage out a narrow basement entrance. The blonde woman wouldn’t be expecting them there. Penelope and Hana had packed a handful of jump bags, one for each member of their group. They assumed Cheryl and Meg would go willingly.

  Penelope, Hana, and Marshall were eating dinner when they heard a knock at the front door. Cautiously, Marshall looked through the peephole, keeping one hand on his gun. It remained in his belt where he, no doubt, would keep it for the foreseeable future. Seeing Cheryl’s face on the other side of the door, Marshall opened it just wide enough for the ladies to squeeze through. Both were dressed up, like they were going out to party. Marshall wondered if they shared Penelope’s shoe size. He knew they’d never make it eight miles in the high heels they were wearing.

  “Hey, Marshall,” Cheryl said cheerfully. “Why the serious face?”

  Penelope had asked Cheryl to come over and to bring Meg, but she hadn’t told her why. Meg looked as beautiful as ever, but sober this time. It was a stark change from the previous morning on the dock.

  “Are we here to celebrate the new couple?” Meg asked, grinning. “I hear we lovebirds among us.”

  Penelope blushed. She couldn’t help it. She hoped Hana didn’t mention the scen
e she had walked in on. Penelope really didn’t want them discussing her sex life.

  Marshall smiled, though not too much. He was happy to be a couple with Penelope, but he knew he had work to do to protect her. There would be time to celebrate later.

  “Sit down, will you?” Penelope asked, directing her friends to the dining table.

  There were six seats at the table, the five of them almost filling her available space. Penelope hadn’t envisioned serious, five-person discussions when she’d purchased the furniture. She made a mental note to get a bigger dining set when she and Marshall moved into their blue cottage in the country.

  “You three look so serious,” Meg commented, her curls bobbing as she plopped down in a chair.

  “We have something important to discuss,” Marshall said.

  Meg and Cheryl looked at each other. They weren’t used to having Marshall involved. It was usually just the four ladies. Marshall and Reggie had been friends of theirs, but not in their innermost circle. Group dynamics were changing.

  “It’s okay,” Hana said, sensing Meg and Cheryl’s concern. “He’s good. You can talk openly in front of him.”

  Meg nodded. “Okay, then. So, how about you tell us what we’re doing here.”

  Penelope gestured to Marshall. “You go ahead.”

  “Sure,” Marshall said. “First, before we begin, will you please take your phone out, remove the batteries, and place them in the middle of the table?”

  Cheryl gasped. “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” she said. “Is that really necessary?”

  “I’m afraid it is.”

  Penelope and Hana confirmed by nodding. They took their phones out and did as Marshall instructed.

  Meg looked skeptical, but she shrugged and did as she was asked.

  “Cheryl?” Marshall asked.

  Cheryl didn’t look convinced. At all. In fact, she looked like she might rebel against Marshall’s leadership.

  “What’s the problem, Cheryl?” Hana asked, irritated. “Believe you me, I was skeptical, too. Before I understood what was happening.”