He felt a tremendous relief when the door slowly creaked open. The creaking was a whole separate problem though. He stepped to the side, behind the right door, and pulled the gun out of the holster at the small of his back. He stood impatiently waiting for what felt like ten minutes.
Nothing happened, so he leaned forward and peered out the opening. There was nothing to see, but it was pretty dark. He gave it another few minutes, then slowly pushed the door a little farther open. Still, nothing happened. He slipped through the opening when it was barely big enough. He still didn’t see or hear anyone so he started down the hill. It might be dark out here, he thought to himself, but it’s nowhere near as dark as it is inside that damned tunnel!
Dan waited until he’d walked a couple hundred yards north along the highway out in front of Djai’s place before he used his phone to call Argo.
Seven in the morning
Morgan woke at seven, later than he usually did. He still felt tired. The cousins weren’t moving around yet, so he went downstairs and checked what progress his laptop had made searching for the security video files. Yes! he thought. He saw it’d recovered several video files. He looked them over and chose the one that had a time stamp for the correct hours on Thursday afternoon.
Opening the file, he began fast forwarding through it. Suddenly he stopped it, then put it on play. Daryn was in the room in the upper left frame. As he watched Daryn working with some of the equipment Morgan found himself crying again. He saw the Daryn he’d always known, sure of himself, moving quickly and decisively. Morgan had no idea what Daryn was doing, but he just sat there, watching some of the last hours of his brother’s life.
And mourning the years he’d missed. Though the video was silent, Morgan could almost imagine he heard the cussing when Daryn dropped something and had to chase it back underneath one of the work tables.
Daryn looked up rather suddenly. Morgan couldn’t see what he was looking at, but it appeared to be mounted up on the wall near the camera. Oh, Morgan thought, realizing that someone had just come into view in the lower right frame that displayed the video from the camera monitoring the mine entrance. Two someones actually, one much bigger than the other and sporting a bit of a beer gut.
The two men stopped in front of the mine entrance. One knocked on the gate. They waited briefly, then conferred with one another. The big one pulled the gate open and stepped inside.
Morgan realized that Daryn had left the workroom. He must have looked up at a monitor that displayed the video from the security cameras, Morgan thought. He scrolled the video back a way, then watched Daryn react to the video. He was looking as soon as the guy appeared on the external camera. As soon as the big guy pulled open the gate, Daryn left the room.
Shortly after entering the tunnel, the big guy became visible in the distance on the middle of the three lower frames in the video. He walked down the tunnel toward the camera. Immediately after that, Daryn showed up in the left frame, walking away from the camera.
When the big guy passed the camera for the middle frame, Morgan realized he could see him in the distance on the left frame. Both cameras must be mounted on the roof of the tunnel and facing toward the entrance, one much deeper in the mine than the other. The big guy stopped, apparently waiting for Daryn to approach him. Daryn kept walking toward him. Crap, Morgan thought, they’re going to be so far from the camera they’ll be tiny. Morgan leaned forward to watch from a little closer, thinking he’d zoom it later. Daryn stopped just in front of the man and it looked like they were talking. Daryn pointed toward the entrance as if he were telling the man to go.
Suddenly, the big guy grabbed Daryn. Moments later, he had Daryn’s arm twisted up behind him and was forcing Daryn up onto his toes.
The little guy who’d been standing outside the entrance pulled open the door and leaned in. Then he entered the tunnel and began walking towards Daryn and the big guy.
After what looked like a brief conversation, the three men started walking deeper in the mine. They came toward the camera that was deepest into the tunnel. As they approached, Morgan could see his brother looked tense and unhappy. Morgan felt tense as well, full of a desire to stop what was happening on the screen, even though all logic told him that nothing could be done. It’s like watching a horror movie, he thought. The three men walked past the camera and were gone.
Morgan watched the screen for a couple of minutes, then put it on 8X fast-forward. Neither Daryn, nor either of the two hoodlums reappeared.
Morgan was just getting ready to call up the next video file when he heard someone coming down the stairs. He turned off the video and stood. When Adam entered the hallway, he said, “I was thinking of making some breakfast burritos. You interested?”
“Sure,” Adam said, patting his stomach. He grinned, “you think you’ll be able to make enough to feed Lindl?”
Morgan snorted and started toward the kitchen, “Maybe. Is he up?”
Adam nodded, “You want me to see if he’s a breakfast burrito aficionado?”
“Yeah, and see if you can tell whether Kiri’s up. Then come back down so we can talk for a moment.”
Adam turned and disappeared up the stairs.
Morgan went to the refrigerator and started getting out eggs, chorizo, cheese, and tortillas. He’d started heating the pan when Adam came back in and asked, “What’s up?”
“I’ve been thinking about how there’s another week or two of school after Tuesday?”
Adam frowned, “Tuesday?”
“Yeah, Monday’s Memorial Day, remember?”
“Oh, yeah. I think there’s eight more days of school after Memorial Day.” He frowned, obviously recognizing the problem. “What’re you thinking?”
“I imagine that Lindl and Kiri have some school left here too. Obviously, I can’t stay here with them and be down there with you at the same time.” Morgan grimaced, “You think you can stay with your mom for those last eight days? I don’t think I should leave these guys here by themselves. The situation here’s pretty unsettled.”
Adam said, “Let me call Jerry. I’m pretty sure his folks’ll let me stay with them when they find out all that’s happened.”
“You don’t think your mom’s going to be pretty upset when she finds out you stayed with a friend rather than staying with her?”
“First of all, I’m sure she doesn’t really want me staying with her. It’d cramp her style. Second, I don’t know why she’d ever find out.”
Morgan shrugged, “Okay.”
Lindl came into the kitchen, asking, “What’s okay?” Today’s T-shirt had a picture of a melted looking guitar with a drooping neck. The inscription said “…can bend them guitar strings…”
Amused by the T-shirt, Morgan said, “We’ve just been trying to work out how to get Adam back down to Chapel Hill so he can finish the school year.”
Looking concerned, Lindl said, “Oh.”
“I don’t want to leave you and Kiri here by yourself, but—”
Sounding uncomfortable, Lindl interjected, “Especially the way that detective’s been acting.”
Morgan nodded, “Yeah, though there’s some good news on that front. The data recovery program found the video files last ni—”
“Really?” Lindl interrupted excitedly. “They show the two guys?”
Morgan nodded and Lindl pumped both fists and sank slowly to his knees, a look of joy on his face. Morgan thought his extreme relief might’ve come from a slight concern that he might not have known his sister or her relationship to their dad as well as he’d thought.
Morgan himself had certainly worried that, even if the detective was an asshole, he might be right.
Before he could say anything, Lindl leapt to his feet and bounded up the stairs saying, “That’s the first good news in days. I’ve got to tell Kiri.”
Morgan turned to look at Adam who was grinning widely. “You think I should have woken her up to give her the good news? I know how people your age love to s
leep.”
Adam shrugged, still looking happy. “If you cared about your son, you would’ve let him give her the news.”
Morgan snorted, “Chop up the chorizo, would you?” Deciding the chorizo looked dry, he stepped into the pantry to get some oil for the pan.
Lindl came back down the stairs. When he came into the kitchen, Morgan said, “Was she happy to have you wake her up?”
“Not at first.” He grinned, “But she’s okay with it now.”
“You think she’d like a breakfast burrito?”
“I’ll go ask,” Lindl said, turning for the stairs again.
When he returned, he said, “She’s going to grace us with her presence.” He looked over at Adam cutting up the chorizo and said, “Can I help?”
Feeling unreasonably pleased to have Lindl volunteering to help, Morgan said, “Get out a tortilla for each of the rest of us. And as many more as you’ll need. Stack them on a plate and put it in the microwave so we’re ready to heat them when the filling’s ready. Oh, and find some salsa.”
Kiri came in and sat at the breakfast bar. The only clothing item Morgan could see was her shirt, which was, of course, black.
She looked like her spirits had been lifted as well. She said, “Tha’s what I like. Three men in the kitchen, makin’ my breakfast.”
Morgan had been going to ask her about the rooms visible in the upper three frames of the security camera grid. And just what her dad had been doing in the first room. He decided he didn’t want to ruin everyone’s happy mood.
Kiri only ate half her burrito, but she put the rest in a baggie and said she’d eat it when she got back from her run. As she turned the corner for the back door, Morgan saw she was wearing the same black tights she’d had on the day before. The ones with the neon pink stripes down their sides.
As he wondered what to do next, Morgan thought through all the pending issues. Though Daryn’s death still hung like a pall over his mood—and over everyone else’s—Morgan realized that he felt better about a lot of things. They had evidence exonerating Kiri from the detective’s suspicions. The fact that Arlette was acting like such a bitch and that Adam didn’t like her made him feel better about getting a divorce. He felt like they had good evidence that the big three had run a swindle on the rest of the people at Matilda and he thought the courts would likely straighten things out. The financial situation for Daryn’s estate was marginal at present, but once they sold Daryn’s oversized property, that’d be a lot better too.
He’d been thinking about it. He liked Asheville but he thought, once they’d sold the property, it’d make the most sense for them to move to Chapel Hill or Durham this summer. That way Adam could continue in the school he was in. Unfortunately, Lindl and Kiri would have to transfer. He knew high school kids didn’t like to move schools and lose their friends, but Morgan would be closer to his business connections and better able to deal with whatever happened with Matilda. Also, it’d simplify any arrangements with Arlette if she insisted on sharing custody of Adam and the court granted it.
Morgan leaned back in his chair and stretched. Working things out had unknotted a lot of tension he hadn’t even realized he was feeling. He looked out the window, thinking that one downside of selling the place was the fact that he’d miss the view of the valley.
Two cars turned into the driveway. One was a police car.
Morgan’s initial reaction was, Crap! Then he reminded himself that he’d already solved this issue. He had the video showing those guys in the mine. He got up and went to the door. Just as well be polite and meet them, he thought.
Morgan opened the door before the detective rang the doorbell. “Hello Detective. We found that video. If you’ll just give me a minute, I’ll download it onto a jump drive for you.”
Chatfield rolled his eyes and held out some papers, “Here’s your damned warrant. Get the girl.”
“But, we’ve got the—”
“I don’t care what you’ve got, we’re taking her in. If you think you have evidence, submit it to the DA. But I’d like to point out that proving some other guys were in the mine doesn’t mean she’s innocent. That’s not proof that the girl didn’t kill her dad,” Chatfield shook the papers again and lifted an eyebrow, “Unless your video shows those guys actually shooting Mr. Djai?”
Morgan blinked, then shook his head. I should have damned the expense and called that defense attorney. To Chatfield, he said, “Don’t you even want to look at the video?”
In a singsong nasal tone, Chatfield said, “Don’t you even want to look at the warrant?” He shook it again, “Get the girl.”
Morgan said, “I can’t. She went for a run. I could show you the video while we’re waiting for her to get back.”
“I told you not to let her go anywhere!” Chatfield said angrily.
Morgan spoke calmly, “She’s just getting some exercise, not ‘going anywhere.’ If you don’t want to look at the evidence, I guess I’ll look at the warrant.” He plucked it out on the man’s hand.
Morgan was standing in the doorway, carefully reading the warrant word by word, when Adam spoke quietly from beside him. “I’ve got the bag Kiri packed. In case she has to go.”
Morgan nodded and kept reading the warrant, not that he expected to find anything wrong with it. He looked up at the detective, “Can I have someone make you a jump drive with the video files? Or is it important that I take them to the DA myself?”
The detective had his back to Morgan. He spoke back over his shoulder, “Take ‘em yourself.” Suddenly he stepped down off the porch and headed off to the left, shouting at the uniformed policemen who’d come in the marked police car.
Morgan looked that direction and saw Kiri running back up the trail toward the house. The detective and the two policemen looked like they were moving to block her path. Crap, he thought. “Adam, have you got Kiri’s bag? Let’s see if we can get it to her.”
Adam came out of the house carrying a backpack. They walked after the policeman. When Kiri saw the three men, she slowed, then stopped, staring uncertainly at the policemen.
In an ugly tone, Chatfield said, “You’re under arrest.”
Kiri looked past Chatfield to Morgan, confusion in her eyes. Morgan said, “I tried to show him the video, but he’s set on arresting you anyway. I’m going to have to take the video to the DA.” He held up the papers, “He did bring a warrant this time.”
“Yeah,” Chatfield threw back over his shoulder, “but since she’s outside the house I don’t even need it.”
Kiri’s shoulders sagged, but she took a few steps forward to one of the policemen. Pointedly not toward the detective. The cop said gently, “Let’s have your wrists.”
Kiri held out her wrists and the policeman put handcuffs on her. He read her Miranda rights, then took her by the elbow and moved her towards the marked car. Morgan walked up to the other uniformed policeman and said, “She packed a bag with some things she thought they might let her have?”
The policeman looked at the bag like he didn’t want to touch it. He shook his head, “I don’t know what she can and can’t have.”
“That’s okay, we can come by later and pick up anything she’s not allowed to have. Do you know where she’s going to be?”
Once Kiri had been guided into the back seat of the car, the policeman reluctantly took the backpack and put it in the trunk. He told Morgan where he could find Kiri once she’d been processed, but recommended he give it a few hours.
When Morgan turned around, Adam and Lindl were a short distance behind him. They looked agonized. Feeling defeated, Morgan shook his head and said, “I should’ve called that defense attorney. I just didn’t think it was going to come to this.” And now it’s Saturday, he thought. I wonder if there’s any way I’ll be able to reach her.
Adam said, “Let’s hurry.”
Morgan blinked, “Hurry where?”
“To wherever they’re going to hold Kiri. Maybe they’ll let us talk to her.”
Morgan shook his head, “The policeman who took her bag said it’d be several hours. They’ve got to in-process her.”
“We should be there waiting. The moment they’ll let her talk to anyone, we should be there to show support.”
Morgan glanced at Lindl and saw him giving Adam a curious look. He turned back to Adam and said, “If I were Kiri, I’d hope we were out here working on getting her free, not cooling our heels outside her jail cell, just to prove we care.”
Adam took a breath as if he were about to protest angrily. But then he stopped, let it out slowly, and said, “What can we do?”
“Try to reach that defense attorney Vic Naylor recommended. Make copies of the video documenting the presence of those guys in the mine Friday afternoon. Annotate the video so that people watching it can quickly find the sections that show the guys entering the mine and grabbing Daryn—”
Lindl’s eyes widened, “They grabbed him? You didn’t tell us that!”
Morgan sighed, “Yeah, sorry. I didn’t want to get you more upset.” He shook his head in sudden irritation, “I should’ve told the detective the guys grabbed Daryn too.” He looked at Lindl, “I’m not sure you should watch it.”
Lindl glanced away, then turned back, “I think I should. Better the monster you know than the one you imagine.”
Morgan eyed Lindl for a moment, then nodded, “If you’re going to watch it, do you think you can do the annotation too? We should note when those guys are first and last seen. We also need to watch the rest of the videos later into the day, noting when Kiri gets there, when the police arrive, when the ambulance people come and go, etcetera. We should watch the record for that entire night and the next day. On the next day we’ll want to note when the police come and go. Especially, we should be watching for the two goons since we need to know if they’ve left the mine. Essentially, we need to watch every scrap of video we’ve got.” He thought for another moment, “And, if they haven’t left, we’ve got to make sure we’re still recording everything that might happen up there in the future.”
The Transmuter's Daughter Page 14