Expired Cache

by Lisa Phillips

  Except what had Dean said? She shouldn’t expect normal. That was an illusion, maybe even a place of safety. Like the comfort zone everyone was supposed to be so eager to break free of. She liked her comfort zone. It was…yah know, comfortable and stuff. Especially when she had a lot of reading to do. Sure, it was work reading. But her TBR pile was still out of control.

  He’d been right about one thing, though. She was learning how strong she was. And her brain was having trouble keeping up with it all. Ellie needed about a week of nothing to get a handle on all she’d been through. And how she felt about it.

  Dean shifted. She heard deep in his throat, the pain from the movement.

  Ellie realized then what Dean was reacting to, so she snatched up the gun that’d been discarded on the grass, and pointed it at the man coming toward them. He was still nearly fifty feet away, but he saw what she held.

  Doctor Gilane raised both hands. “Are you both okay?” He had a bag over one shoulder, a leather satchel, and a concerned look on his face. “I heard the call come over the police scanner in my car, and I was close.”

  Dean lifted the side of his shirt. He coughed, then moaned.

  Ellie glanced at him. He hadn’t coughed before. Was there something more serious wrong with him?

  Dean reached over and squeezed her knee. He whispered, “Keep ahold on the gun.”

  Ellie said, “Okay.” But she lowered it, easing off on the tension. At least, that was the plan. Just so the doctor would continue his slow walk toward them and check on Dean. Make sure he wasn’t in worse medical danger.

  She held the gun flush against her leg while Doctor Gilane crouched beside Dean. He reached into his duffel. Both of them flinched, but the doctor pulled out only a stethoscope. He checked Dean’s vitals.

  “Everything okay with you, Eleanor?”

  “I’m not hurt.” That was the only thing she could think to say. She had to swallow down the lump in her throat. The slow creep of fear that threatened to choke her. Cut off her airway, as Mark had done with his thick fingers. Squeezing her neck and—

  “Ellie.”

  She flinched and her gaze settled on Dean’s strong features.

  “Easy.” He said, “You okay?”

  Tears gathered. Ugh, if this was supposed to be some kind of new “normal,” she did not like it. Please, let more adrenaline leave my body. Ellie recalled then that she’d prayed to God. In the thick of it, with a gun pointed at her head, she had asked for help.

  And Dean had come.

  They were both safe.

  “I’m okay.” She grasped his hand with the one not holding the gun.

  “That’s good, Ellie.” The doctor said, “I’m sure I have a granola bar or a protein bar in my medical bag.”

  “I’m so glad you were close. We have to wait for the police to get here.”

  “They should be on their way now.” Doctor Gilane nodded. “I’m sure they’ll bring help with them.”

  “And a forensics team.”

  The doctor’s eyebrows rose. “Is there…something to investigate?”

  Ellie nodded. “A young man who works at the gym. He came here. He’s the one who tried to abduct me.” She tilted her chin to indicate the bruises on her neck. “Dean had to kill him.”

  “How terrible.”

  She didn’t mention the dead Amerasian boy, and Dean said nothing about the hand. Nor did the doctor ask. But she did see something flash across his eyes.

  “Yes,” Ellie said. “When anyone takes a life for any reason, it is terrible. But in defense of a life, it can be noble. If a person’s life is in danger and another is forced to take the life that threatens that person, then it can even be a good thing.”

  She’d never have spoken those words out loud, even days ago. Still living her “normal” life. But now she’d seen it. She’d felt that visceral fear, and Dean had saved her from a gun. Not just assault like she’d experienced before—or even worse. No, he’d saved her from death.

  Ellie wasn’t ready to die.

  No one was when they met their end. The split second when a person realized they would die. When they recognized what was happening to them.

  She’d read many battlefield journals. But this was the first time she’d ever come close to experiencing it for herself.

  Dean said, “Did you know Mark? You taught classes at the gym and the drop-in center, haven’t you? I thought I saw that you were doing First Aid and CPR training.”

  Ellie shivered at just the thought of doing that again with the gauze. She’d had to press so hard, she must’ve hurt Dean a lot. More than his wound was bothering him.

  “Mark, you said?”

  Dean nodded in response to the doctor’s question. “The receptionist.”

  “Ah. Nice young man, or so I thought.” Tension flickered in the Gilane’s temple and around his eyes. “Shame.”

  “Yes.” Ellie said, “It is a shame since he’s the one who attacked me. It still astounds me that people are so capable of hurting each other. And I’ve experienced it.” The doctor didn’t know she read thoroughly all kinds of accounts of history. Battles. Hostile assaults on invading armies. All the horrible things man perpetrated on other men—along with women and children, too.

  “Did he…say why?”

  There it was. Dean stiffened beside her. Ellie’s fingers flexed on the gun she held.

  She was about to speak when Jess broke through the tree line. “Ellie!”

  Dean took the gun from her hand, and she jumped up to run to her sister. Sweetest hug ever. Ellie heard the whimper in her throat.

  Jess made a similar sound then pulled back. “Are you okay?”

  Ellie explained everything, the dead male buried in the dirt. She left nothing out about coming up here, finding what was buried. About the guy from the gym holding her at gunpoint and making her dig.

  She relayed it all in a rapid whisper, leaving out the passport and the buried man’s possible identity. Later she could explain that. Her sister was a cop, and they both cared about their grandfather and his reputation in this town. If he really had done something awful, then Jess could help her mitigate the fallout.

  “That doesn’t make sense.” Jess shook her head. “How would Mark have known? What got him involved in all this?”

  Maybe he was the descendent of a founder, the way she and Jess were. Maybe he’d been following her this whole time. Keeping tabs on her, then accosting her in the forest outside her childhood home. Was she supposed to have already figured out everything?

  The whole thing overwhelmed Ellie all over again, and her legs started to give out. She had more questions than answers right now. Still. Even after all this.

  “Doctor Gilane!” Jess grabbed her waist and helped Ellie sit. It was more like an ungraceful tumbling to the ground.

  “Ellie, are you okay?” Dean crouched by her, concern on his face that she liked a whole lot.

  The doctor knelt on the other side. Her sister held her hand.

  Ellie was about to say yes, but it didn’t come out. She shook her head instead. How did she know what to say, and who to trust? Her grandfather trusted her to do the right thing. But what did that even mean?

  Tears rolled down her face. She couldn’t get control of herself. If she could calm her breathing, she’d be able to have a rational conversation. Think this through intelligently. Work out what to do about everything.

  The police were going to dig up that boy. They would do all kinds of forensic tests and figure out how he died. What that old gun had to do with it.

  A man called out, “Dean!”

  Dean squeezed her shoulder. “Conroy is here. You okay?”

  She sent him a watery, emotional smile.

  Dean touched his lips to her forehead. “You’ll be okay.” Then he got up and moved away.

  That left her with the doctor, and her sister who said, “You’ll need to explain to me what all that was.”

  Ellie didn’t want to. It was between
her and Dean, and it was just a result of shared trauma. Not any real honest feelings that would’ve happened if her life hadn’t been in danger. That only made her cry more.

  “Doc, she’s distraught.”

  “You’re right.” The doctor touched Ellie’s forehead, wiping away the feel of Dean’s kiss. He probably didn’t mean to do that. It was just what it felt like. “I can give her something. Help her to calm.”

  Ellie’s breath hitched. She wanted to tell them she was fine, but nothing was fine. It wouldn’t be until she’d worked all this out. What did you do, Grandpa? He hadn’t been guilty over nothing.

  “I think that would be good.” Her sister squeezed her arm. “Just until she can get to the hospital and get checked out.”

  “All right.” The doctor rustled in his bag. He pulled out a small zippered pouch, and with a needle, pulled clear liquid from a tiny bottle and plunged the contents into her arm.

  Ellie hissed at the sting, whimpering a little. Where had Dean gone?

  “All right.” The doctor used a soothing tone. He rubbed her arm where he’d injected her. “There we go. It’ll be all right.”

  Thirty-Three

  “It’s this way.” Dean didn’t like leaving Ellie, but she was with Jessica, as well as the doctor. So he figured she was safe for now, at least. He would check on her, just as soon as he showed Conroy where the bodies were.

  So he led the police chief to the room by way of the tunnels and through the double-blind door. Some long-forgotten person’s home. A place to shelter from the wind.

  Now it was the final resting place of two people.

  Dean stopped at the door and let Conroy go first, lighting the way with a flashlight. Inside the room, his glow sticks still illuminated the area enough to see. But not clearly.

  Conroy turned back to the officer who’d come with him. One of the ones Dean didn’t know that well. “Let’s get some floodlights up here.”

  The officer said, “Yes, sir,” and hustled out.

  Dean hoped he didn’t trip over his own feet in his haste to do his chief’s bidding. He didn’t want to look at the floor, and the man he’d killed. Or the man uncovered. Instead, Dean studied the room itself while Conroy moved around and muttered.

  “Whoa.”

  He turned to see the police chief crouched over the hand, close enough to touch it if he reached out. But only barely.

  “You weren’t kidding about this being old. Whoever they are, they’ve been here years.”

  “Since the town was founded would be my guess.”

  Conroy stood. He nodded while he scratched at his jaw. “There’s an archeologist at the university I know. He’ll be an asset. I think I’ll give him a call.”

  “An archeologist? Like, there’s historical significance here?”

  “Could be,” Conroy said. “Better safe than sorry, and he’ll have a better idea than any of us locals how to remove the body with the least amount of disturbance. To the victim and this room.”

  “Makes sense.”

  “As much as I love our small town, we’re not experts on everything. To my knowledge, no one here has dealt with a victim this old.” Conroy paused a second. “It might not even be murder. Even committed using the gun you found.”

  Dean had to concede that point to him.

  He was ready to get out of here. Just as soon as he gave his statement to one of the cops, he could take Ellie down the mountain, and they could both get some rest. His side was throbbing. He was used to a get in/get out method the SEALs were best at. Cops seemed to meander anytime there wasn’t an immediate threat.

  But then, special operations military didn’t have to worry so much about chain of evidence. Or preservation of the scene. Not when it was other people’s job to worry about “why” or any of the other “w” words. They just followed orders. Point and shoot. The tip of the spear.

  “Dean!”

  Conroy tipped his head toward the door. “Go lead your brother in. The three of us need to get up to speed.”

  Dean found Ted in the hall. His brother had that frantic, flushed look on his face. “Hey.”

  Ted blew out a breath. He rolled his eyes as he approached.

  “I’m fine.”

  “Yeah, that’s why you have blood on your shirt.” Ted gave him a loose hug.

  Dean walked his brother back to Conroy.

  The chief had Mark’s wallet in his hands when he looked up. “Anything new on your end?”

  “A few things.” Ted nodded.

  Dean waited for him to elaborate, but it was Conroy who said, “Add to the list. I need a full background on Mark Ayles.”

  “Copy that.” Ted pulled out his phone and scrolled through to his notes app, which was chock full. “I’ve confirmed the lawyer, Peter Holmford, is one of the men pictured in that squad from Vietnam along with the former chief.”

  Dean said, “Is he awake yet?”

  Ted shook his head. “As for the rest of them, I’m waiting to hear back from the Army as per my official request.”

  Dean wanted to chuckle. Ted was the kind of guy who bucked against normal constraints. Take his appearance, for example. He looked like he belonged at a Portland, Oregon used bookstore. Where he would be making coconut milk lattes with organic sugar. When he wore his glasses, it was even worse.

  He seemed, by appearance, to better suit someone like Ellie. Her librarian thing wouldn’t look out of place beside him.

  Which made it curious to him why Dean was the one who’d gravitated toward her while Ted had a thing for Ellie’s sister. After years thinking he and Ted were light years apart, and not just in age, he was beginning to think they might be closer knit than he’d thought. Which was probably what Ellie thought about her sister. The gap in age between them and their younger siblings didn’t seem to stop the apparent connection.

  Dean figured the four of them would get on well. But worrying about the dynamics at Thanksgiving dinner could wait for right now. First, he needed to convince her to stay.

  He’d laid it all out.

  Now it was her turn to respond. She had to want it, considering she’d be the one changing her whole life to be with him. He wouldn’t want to do that for someone else unless he was sure.

  Which made him wonder if he should be willing to leave Last Chance.

  Could he do it?

  “You still there?” Ted waved his hand in front of Dean’s face. “You spaced out. Probably thinking about Ellie.”

  Dean wanted to slap his little brother upside the head but settled for just grasping the back of his neck until Ted winced.

  “Okay. Maybe not.”

  Except he hadn’t been wrong. “Do you need me for anything else, Conroy?”

  The chief said, “Just a minute. I know you’re eager to go check on her, but I’ll need the weapon used.”

  They got it bagged as evidence.

  Conroy said, “I just don’t get what Mark has to do with this.”

  Dean figured it was a shame they couldn’t ask him. But no one said that out loud. “Ellie said he was the one who attacked her.” He shrugged. “He has to have some kind of connection to whoever killed this person and buried them here for all these years.”

  Conroy nodded. “Could have to do with West, considering the person who tried to break into the Ridgeman residence.”

  Dean nodded. “Another someone trying to scare Ellie. Put pressure on her and take the focus off one suspect.”

  “Except so far,” Conroy said, “the suspect list we have is everyone in town over the age of fifty-seven. Which includes my future father-in-law.” He shrugged. “Short of sitting them all down and asking who is behind the town’s start, it’s going to be hard to figure out.”

  Dean was about to ask how that could be when Conroy continued. The police chief said, “On paper, the town was founded by a corporation. Ted dug up all the paperwork, and there aren’t any names listed. At least not for people still living, or who we’ve so far been able to t
rack down.”

  “So we have no idea?” Dean glanced between them. “Is it just me, or is that crazy? I mean, we know Chief Ridgeman was one of the founders, and we know Holmford was too.”

  “Do we?” Ted shrugged. “Those are the conclusions we’ve come to. But are we even right?”

  “All this…” Dean paced a couple of steps, then back. “I just can’t put my finger on it.”

  “What?” Conroy shook his head.

  “I’ve always respected Doctor Gilane. Except earlier, when he showed up at my house. He just seemed…off.”

  Ted said, “Does he have anything to do with Mark Ayles?” He motioned to the dead guy. “That might be a connection.”

  And yet…

  Dean said, “We have no evidence.”

  “That’s not exactly true.” Conroy said, “We’ll have to confirm. But I think Mark’s mom was married to Gilane at one point.” He thought for a moment. “Now that I think about it, I’m sure.”

  “That still doesn’t implicate the doctor in threatening Ellie, right?” Dean said. “Not without evidence.”

  “True.” Conroy nodded. “But we have to start with an informed theory. That’s what cases start with.”

  “So you have an idea, and you set out to prove it.”

  “Not if you want the truth,” Conroy said. “You’ll miss something assuming you’re right.”

  “I’ve been trying to keep an open mind about who is behind this.” Dean shrugged. “Mark is the last person I thought was going to turn up here. I actually thought for a while that Doctor Gilane was the one behind it. He says he wasn’t here when the town first started though. Maybe no one who lives here now was. Maybe there’s no way to find out who was here when the town first began.”

  “Then there’s the issue of this victim.” Conroy waved toward the decomposing hand, barely more than a skeleton with a sleeve. “A lot of this rides on this person’s identity, the manner in which they died, and how long they’ve been dead.”

  “So basically we have nothing.”

  Ted shifted. “Or, at least nothing that makes sense.”

  Dean groaned. “I want to be able to tell Ellie something.”