I told him what had happened. His face registered disbelief.
“What? The three of you had the same vision? Isn’t that like mass hysteria or something?”
I felt his disappointment when I hugged him. Here was another shared experience with Sky that he wasn’t part of. “Roberta knows where the cabin is, honey. She’s gonna take us there.”
Quinn frowned. “Right now?”
I nodded. “Of course! We’ve got to help Callie. Those bastards were about to rape her. We can’t let that happen again, Quinn. You know that’s what screwed her up in the first place.” I thought of the thugs who’d assaulted her in college and how it had turned her into a virtual hermit. “We’ve got to go to her.”
He pulled me into the living room, whispering under his breath. “Someone’s got to stay here and wait for McCann to call. He’s supposed to get out of his meeting in the next hour or so.”
I looked back at Roberta. She must have heard him, because she threw her hands up. “I’d stay, but I have to show you where that cabin is, and I honestly don’t think I could draw a map from memory.”
Sky got off the bed and pulled on his pants. “We have to wait until dark. Quinn can take the call from that detective, and meanwhile, we’ll prepare for the attack.”
I paled when I thought of meeting up with the thugs in real life. “They probably have guns.”
Quinn grimaced. “Yeah, probably fully-automatics, the way they’re financed.”
Sky tugged on his tee shirt. “I have guns. We just have to dig them up. They’re a few hundred yards behind the Trebangle trailer, under a giant pile of leaves. Roberta can drive me over there, and we’ll come back here to pick you two up before we head to the cabin.”
Quinn and I nodded, and Sky continued. “We’ll stake the place out first, then take them after dark. Put on your darkest clothes, preferably with big pockets. Wear boots, if you have them. Waterproof jackets with hoods or dark hats. There’s no telling how many of these guys are camping out at the cabin. We might have seen two out of ten. Or more.”
Roberta picked up the crystal from the bed. “What if we bring this and Beau, too? And we get ourselves transported inside to scare the bastards off again. That way we don’t need any weapons, and—”
Sky held up a hand. “We’re bringing the guns. Just in case.” His eyes softened when he realized he’d come across too macho. “It’s a great idea, don’t get me wrong. It’s just if we run across some of them on the way to the cabin, we’re gonna need firepower.”
Roberta smiled. “Agreed.” She pointed to the sun porch. “Meanwhile, let’s get familiar with the maps. I can show you what’s marked on them, and try to describe the path to the cabin as best as I can.”
Quinn backed up and gestured toward the sunroom. “Let’s do this.”
Chapter 34
Quinn spent two hours on the phone with McCann, who had relocated to make an untraceable call to the cabin. At first he’d doubted the extent of MedicuRX’s wide spread network, but as they talked, he’d done some poking around in the system, had called a few trusted FBI sources while Quinn waited on hold, and had been briskly warned off the topic by several of his pals. They’d hung up for a while so McCann could speed up his investigation.
Finally, McCann caught up with a guy who owed him a really big favor, and had been given hints about a massive, secret investigation into MedicuRX by the FBI. Apparently one branch of the FBI was conducting an internal investigation, which was full of folks on the MedicuRX payroll. Once he reached the man in charge of the investigation, McCann called Quinn back with a thousand questions. I listened as McCann and another agent grilled Quinn in what seemed to be a three-way conference call. They must have really wanted to talk with Sky, because Quinn kept saying, “I’m sorry. He’s not back yet.”
Meanwhile, I dressed in my dark woods clothes, stuffing my pockets with all the things I thought we’d need. A mini flashlight, matches, fishing line from the shed, a pocketknife I found in the junk drawer, a pencil and paper, and some more personal items. I figured we’d be out there a long time, so some tissues and lip balm might come in handy. I also stuck some cough drops and a few granola bars in my jacket. I took off the mood ring and slipped it into my zippered side pocket in my purse. I didn’t want to lose it in the dark woods.
I felt the small bulge of one of Sky’s oil bottles in my jeans pocket. The dark purple/blue label had attracted me, and while I was getting more and more antsy waiting for Sky and Roberta to return, I’d looked it up in the reference guide. “Valor” was supposed to give you energy and focus. From what I read, this blend was similar to the oil the Roman troops used to anoint themselves prior to battle. I hoped it gave me courage, too.
I fished it out of my pocket to read the ingredients, and inhaled it once more. Of all the oils, this could quickly become one of my favorites. I grabbed my glasses and inspected the side of the bottle, reading aloud but keeping my voice down so I wouldn’t bother Quinn. “Spruce, rosewood, frankincense, and blue tansy.” I took another sniff. “This is marvelous.” The scent was so enticing I wondered if I could become addicted to it. Chuckling, I went over to the reference guide and looked up more, reading quietly aloud. “Blue tansy helps aid liver function and calm the lymphatic system, helping one to overcome anger and negative emotions and promote a feeling of self-control.”
I read a bit more about how the spruce oil helps bring about a feeling of balance and grounding, and how rosewood can help with despair, lifting one’s spirit. I already knew about the benefits of frankincense.
After three more hits off the bottle, I began to wonder if I could become as obsessed about the oils as Sky and Quinn.
Damn, I feel ready to take on the world.
Quinn hung up and came to sit beside me on the couch. He reached for the bottle of Valor and rubbed it on his chest, temples, and hands. He tented his hands, then sat back and inhaled deeply. “God. I needed that.”
I leaned toward him, resting my head on his shoulder. “Tell me what McCann said.”
“I wish you could have heard these guys. It’s pretty scary. The investigation goes deep. It’s digging into government, local, and federal, payoffs galore, murder, and basically the biggest scandal in U.S. history. MedicuRX’s fingers reach into every pie. They’ve even reportedly influenced medical studies. You know, like promising things that might have helped certain types of cancer. They’ve tainted test results so they could keep selling the chemo drugs.”
I sat back against the couch, my heart pounding wildly. “Oh my God. We’re dead.” I took a deep breath. “How can we fight that?”
“It’s gonna take a few hours, but since we’re in the middle of the hornet’s nest, they’re activating troops to come up here.” He turned to take my hands in his. “But I had to promise we wouldn’t get in the way, Marcella.”
I froze. No way was I leaving Callie to be shot down in the middle of some massive manhunt. “We won’t,” I lied.
“I mean it, honey. McCann said we should sit tight. Wait for his help.”
I swung away from him, worried he’d read the rebellion in my eyes. “How long do we wait?”
“He said they’d have people up here by eight tonight. They’re going to make Tall Pines the headquarters until they reveal themselves. They’re coming in by dark so nobody will notice. Then they’ll commandeer the emergency center near Speculator. He’s got a list of compromised citizens. They’re taking them first, to put a plug in the local network. But they need Sky’s help to find out as much as they can about who’s already screwed him.” He touched my shoulder. “It’s gonna take time, honey. Maybe days. And it’s going to get messy.”
I turned back to my husband with fire in my eyes. “We can’t leave Callie in the middle of a fight-out. Rat Man would probably use her to get away. Can’t you just see him dragging her off with a knife to her throat? Using her as a hostage?”
Quinn’s eyes roamed the room while he thought. “I know.”
/>
“And if he did escape, he’d just kill her once he was free.”
He got up and paced, running a hand through his thick, glossy hair. “I hate it when you’re right.”
I reached for him when he passed me, grabbing his hands. “You see where I’m going, right?”
His face tightened with purpose. “I do.”
“Then go get ready. Sky and Roberta will be here any minute.”
Chapter 35
At six-thirty that night, I sat in the truck, between Roberta and Sky. Quinn had offered to ride in the truck bed with Beau, and I’d foolishly let him. I should have been the one to cling to the sides of Roberta’s old truck while calming my canine friend. At least I wouldn’t be squished between my aunt and former lover.
Being pressed so close to Sky made me acutely aware of our arms, hips, and shoulders touching. No matter how hard I tried to keep my mind off it, I kept remembering our times together. I thought about the gentle rocking of the boat as he made love to me. His male scent after we lay together, exhausted under the stars. The throbbing in my body after he’d taken me to the moon and back. God, it had been good. Not just good, but heavenly, the way people talked about sex on television or wrote about it in books. I wouldn’t have believed it could be so earth shattering if I hadn’t experienced it. And even at that point in my young life, I’d realized why sex brought such power and brought so many people to ruin. And why they thought about it way too much.
I pinched my arm.
Get over it. You’re so shallow. Quinn’s just as good in bed and now you’re older and can appreciate it more than a sixteen-year-old kid.
Right?
I forced myself to stop romanticizing the whole thing, and tried to still the persistent memories.
The bouncing truck soldiered on, in spite of its age and less than optimal condition. Roberta slowly made her way up Route 30 toward the town of Wells.
Quinn had filled them in before we left. Sky reluctantly agreed to meet with McCann, after we found Callie. I couldn’t blame him. Darkness would fall soon, and if we were to be in position before then, we had to move, and move quickly.
Roberta pulled into the gravel parking lot next to The Mountain Memories Gift Shop. I noticed the “closed” sign in the door, and hoped she wasn’t losing too much business because of us. I also wondered who was taking care of Mimi and if she missed Roberta. The more I fell in love with Beau, the more I realized dogs need their people. If Quinn and I got a pup, we’d have to take him up to the shop with us during the day. There’s no way I’d leave him cooped up in a cage or in our house alone for eight hours.
She snaked around back, behind the shop, and nosed the truck into a track I hadn’t noticed before, along a trail that matched the ribboned curve of the Sacandaga River. The water sparkled beside us, late afternoon sun sprinkling its surface with glints of amber. Comforting. Reassuring.
This will be a piece of cake. No problems. In and out, just like on television.
The track was barely wide enough to hold one vehicle, and I panicked at the thought of meeting up with another car coming from the other direction. We soon left the river, which streamed below in the valley around the base of the hill. After a while, I realized there were pullover spots every two or three hundred feet.
We wound our way up the dirt track, heading ever upwards. The hill became steep.
Glad I’m not in the back now.
I knew my fear of heights made me extra sensitive to situations like this, but when I chanced a look back at Quinn he looked comfortable, with one arm draped over the side of the truck bed and the other over Beau’s neck. The dog sat up and sniffed. I wondered if he could smell Callie’s scent.
They said bloodhounds could capture the tiniest fragment of a cell shed from a human body hours after they’d passed and even if they’d been in a car. Beau’s jowls didn’t rival the folds of a bloodhound, where they apparently captured essences of scents and processed them, but he did have a hefty head in general.
We reached the peak of the mountain and began to zigzag down the hill again, disturbing hares and chipmunks along the way. A red-tailed hawk flew perilously close to our windshield, but Roberta, with her ever-present aplomb, didn’t blink.
We hadn’t said a word since we left Tall Pines, and it had suited me fine. But now Sky reached toward me and took one of my hands. Roberta’s eyes flicked downward. I glanced nervously behind me, through the truck’s back window.
“Marcella.” Sky’s deep voice rumbled and reverberated inside me.
I pulled my hand away, gently. “That’s me.” I chuckled like an idiot.
He ignored my stupid joke. “I just wanted to tell you something. I know this isn’t a perfect time. But we can’t predict what will happen tonight.”
I grew cold at the thought of Callie losing her brother before she could reunite with him. Or me losing Quinn or Roberta. Or me losing me.
Roberta rode the brakes and turned sharp corners with skill. “Don’t worry about me. I’ve got enough on my mind just keeping this old beast on the road. I won’t hear a word.”
I smiled in spite of my nerves. “Thanks.”
Sky cleared his throat. “I have a thousand things to say. Maybe ten thousand. But we’ve only got a few minutes. So here goes.”
Roberta’s face remained impassive, as if she’d willed herself away from our conversation.
“I thought of you and Callie every day I was in combat. It’s what got me through.”
I started to protest, about to say something about the fact that we’d officially broken up before he went off to war.
He anticipated my objection, read my mind, and shushed me before I could get a word out. “I know we weren’t together when I left, but that was because you broke it off, not because I stopped loving you. I wanted you to pursue your dreams in New York. And sure, you crushed me when you turned me down. But it didn’t stop me from thinking about you and our times on the lake.”
I sat silently, looking straight ahead. No way could I let on that I’d been thinking of those torrid moments myself.
“And I wanted to apologize.”
Surprised, I turned to him. “What?”
“For coming home and expecting you not to be married, to still be the same girl I’d left behind.”
I blanched. “Time doesn’t stand still, Sky. And who knew I’d meet Quinn in New York? By then, you’d been overseas and missing already. Quinn pretty much swept me off my feet.” I chanced a look at him. “I love him, Sky.”
He lowered his gaze to his hands. “I know. And I’m happy for you.” He sighed, a quivery low sound like willow branches rubbing against each other in the low wind. “But I’m also sorry for dropping out of sight like that. For making you and Callie worry.”
I turned toward him. “It was hell for her, you know. We worried so much. Thought you were probably dead. Prayed you weren’t.” This time I took his big hand in mine. “Why didn’t you call?”
His jaw firmed. “Like I said before, at first it was to protect Callie. The bastards who were after the emeralds would have stopped at nothing, Marcella. If they’d known I still had contacts back home, they would have found Callie and used her to get to me. Forced me to reveal the location.”
“You cared more for the emeralds than for us?” I realized I should have said, “than for Callie,” not “us,” but it slipped out too fast, and I couldn’t retract it.
His face hardened. “After what they did to Jorge, I couldn’t let them have the satisfaction of getting those stupid jewels. I figured I’d keep them safe until I got home to Callie. And that they would take care of her in her old age.”
His tone shifted. “But there’s something I really need you to know in case I don’t make it tonight. Something I’m trusting you to tell Callie—only if you think it’s right.” He took a deep breath and let it out. “My mother told me just before I shipped out to Iraq, and when I found out, as maddening as the whole thing was, a lot of stuff from
our childhood now made sense.”
“Sky, what the hell are you talking about?”
Roberta’s eyes flicked sideways.
“Sorry. Here goes.” He rearranged himself on the seat and looked out his side window, as if he couldn’t stand looking at someone while he said the words. “Willow got pregnant when she was fourteen.” His face fell. “Fourteen.”
“Oh, no. Is that why your mother was always so hard on her?”
He nodded, but put up a hand to stop me. “Let me finish.” With what appeared to be a concentrated effort to speak, he went on. “My mother didn’t believe in abortion. She forced Willow to have the child.”
“Did they give it up for adoption?” I couldn’t help blurting out my questions, even though I was sure it was driving him crazy.
“No, my mother made her keep the baby. It was a girl.”
“A girl?” My words slowed now as the facts started to kick into gear. “Wait a minute.”
He finished in a rush of words. “Callie is Willow’s daughter. My mother and father raised her as their own little girl. I was about three when this happened, and didn’t realize that Callie was my niece, not my sister.”
The truth hit me. Willow, forced to have a baby at the tender age of fourteen. The child raised as her sister. I remember the envy and jealousy she’d always shown toward Callie. And the abortion she had years later, throwing the news into her mother’s face. As if she needed to show her she could do it, and maybe because she wished she’d had an abortion with Callie’s pregnancy.
But why had Callie’s mother made her have an abortion after being raped in college? Had raising Callie been that hard? Hard enough to turn her from one side of the issue to the other? Or had she seen what it did to Willow, and not wanted that for Callie?
I’d probably never figure it out.
Sky continued. “Willow hated Callie—and me—because my parents doted on us so. Not only did Mother treat us special, but she never forgave Willow for getting pregnant. The rest of her life, Mother treated Willow as if she were a whore.”
Tall Pines Mysteries: A Mystery/Suspense Boxed Set Page 41