Riversong

by Hardwick, Tess

  Clumps of buttercups tickled her bare legs. She picked one and stroked the petals underneath her chin and tried to remember the childhood game - if you see yellow reflected on your skin are you made of butter or are you a princess? She closed her eyes and rested her head against the trunk of the oak tree, smelling moss and wet bark. Something scurried and she jerked her eyes open. A lizard ran up the trunk and some other hidden creature scampered through the grass. Overhead a hawk circled. She shivered and changed the focus of her eyes to the tree branch above her head. She thought of her father, who and what he was, and how much she wished to have known him.

  She pulled out the picture of the baby's ultrasound and placed it in a small silk bag that had once held her engagement ring from Dan. She dug a foot deep hole, placed the silk bag in it and covered it with dirt. She closed her eyes and remembered Dan running across the soccer field and waving to her in the stands - how vital and happy he'd seemed in that moment. She picked a red wild flower and placed it on top of the mound of dirt and closed her eyes, envisioning Dan's face. She let herself be overwhelmed with the thought of him so that she felt him there. She told him she was sorry she was unable to reach out to him and to love him as he should have been loved. In that moment, next to his makeshift memorial, she filled with forgiveness. She sensed that wherever he was, Dan was at peace and wished her happiness. She forgave herself too, for her inability to save him, and for moving on, for moving into the love Tommy offered her. The baby shifted inside her womb and she felt Dan beside her, blessing their child. She felt how sorry he was to miss the child's life on the earth. He asked that she make sure the child knew about him and how much he would have loved her. And Lee said, silently, I will, I will.

  She opened her eyes and gazed at the blue sky and a peace, an acceptance of what is, settled between her shoulder blades.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  That afternoon, she turned her phone over and over in her hands, saying a silent chant, Tommy call me, Tommy call me. It rang and she yanked open the cover but it was Mike, not Tommy. “Lee, my buddy at the Times just called. Said there's a big spread on Riversong. I haven't seen it yet but I'll call you later to compare notes.” She walked to the end of the driveway to pick up her edition from the newspaper box. Four weeks had passed since the reporter came to the opening and with everything that happened since, she'd forgotten about the hope for an article altogether.

  Back in her kitchen, she shifted in her chair, wincing because the baby was heavy now, just weeks from her due date and opened the paper to the food section. Her stomach dropped. The headline read, “Disgraced Seattle Entrepreneur Reinvented as Food Maven". There were two bylines under the headline, Sylvia Nox and Alex Wright. Instantly Lee knew Sylvia's boyfriend was the business section writer that cornered her at the press meeting the day Dan died. Sylvia had said, “He gets assigned to the business section to follow all the high tech companies.” Next to the article was a large photo taken at a fundraiser she and Dan attended two years previously. In the picture, Dan, dressed in a tuxedo, had his arm around Lee, in front of the Seattle Art Museum. The Seattle Times must have had it in their files and pulled it for the article. The reporters had done their homework and rehashed it all, detailing Dan's suicide, and the crumbling of Existence Games, Inc. The only item the reporters didn't detail, because they didn't know, was the debt to DeAngelo, who would now know where she was.

  Lee ran upstairs and pulled a suitcase from the shelf in the closet, stuffing it full of clothes and toiletries. She called Ellen's house but there was no answer. She left a message on her voicemail, saying she had to leave unexpectedly and would call her when she was safe, but not to expect to hear from her for some time. She hung up the phone, opened the door a crack and surveyed the yard, saw nothing and ran to her car.

  On the highway she headed south, with no plan other than escape. She drove through town, not looking at Riversong, afraid she'd break down if she glanced at the familiar blue awning. Her mind was a tumble of half thoughts and images; Von's gun, the menu at Riversong, Alder's head in her lap, Tommy's voice and the baby. She glanced in the rearview mirror and saw a car approaching from the distance. Her heart leapt to her throat and she pushed harder on the gas pedal. The car was right behind her and it was a man in the driver's seat, his hand gesturing and waving. She couldn't think, couldn't see. She pushed the gas pedal to the floor and the car lurched forward. She saw the odometer read 70, then 80 and she was a mile out of town. All of a sudden, the road curved and she steered to correct but it was too late. Her car spun out of control, across the opposite lane and began to roll. In mid-air she heard herself scream and thought of the baby. She felt the car land upright and heard a thundering crash and shattering glass. The seat belt held her tight but her head wobbled and her teeth rattled. She clutched her stomach. Then it was quiet but for the sputtering and spitting of steam and fluid from the car's engine. Outside of the car, the air above the dry earth wavered with the late summer heat. She looked across the road. The other car was stopped. A man got out, and ran across the highway towards her. Run, she told herself, run. She opened the door, hundred degree heat blasting her like an oven door. She stumbled in the gravel on the side of the road, sweat dripping in her eyes. She fell, her mind acknowledging pain in a distant way as small sharp stones imbedded into the skin of her knees. Hair plastered to her scalp, she scrambled up and started to run again. Then the man was upon her. He tackled her from behind and they both fell, his body cushioning Lee from the hard ground. She heard a voice that seemed familiar and still she couldn't think. The man shook her. “Lee, it's me. What's the matter with you?”

  She wiped the sweat from her eyes and Mike's face floated before her like a mirage. “Mike?”

  He carried her across the hot pavement to his car and placed her into the passenger seat. He got in the driver's side and started the engine. The air conditioning blew on her face and she tried to breathe but her chest was tight like she might suffocate. Mike tapped the temperature gauge and muttered a curse under his breath. “It's 103 degrees out there and dammit, you're about to have a baby. Do you have any sense?” He looked at her and shook his head. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “I thought you were someone else.”

  “Is someone after you?”

  “Do you have a gun in here?”

  “Under the seat.”

  She twisted, eyes darting in every direction. “I have to get out of here. Now.”

  Mike took her shoulders. “Look at me. Calm down and tell me what's going on. I'll help you.”

  She sighed and her chest rose and fell as she breathed in the car's cool air. “I came here to hide. Dan took a loan for our company from a guy with ties in every direction to illegal activities. I owe him three quarters of a million dollars and now he'll know where I am. The newspaper article named my location.” She looked at Mike's lined, handsome face and his eyes that mirrored the hazy, late summer sky outside the car's window. “I'm dead if he finds me and it's only a matter of hours.”

  Mike stared at her. “Holy Christ. You came here to hide. Tommy was right.” He shook his head. “Tommy called yesterday to tell me what happened between you. He also told me what Zac's been up to. Said it was time I knew the truth.”

  “He told you?”

  He gazed at his dry, chapped hands. “I'm an idiot but I had no idea. After I talked to Tommy I went out to Zac's place and there were these rough looking guys.” His voice choked and he gazed out the window. “These rough men hanging out in his living room, guns on the coffee table.” He paused and rubbed his eyes. There was stubble on his usual clean shaven face and bags of skin pooled under his eyes. “I confronted him and he went insane. Started babbling about leaving town and the beach or some other nonsense I didn't understand. Then he sped off in the car.”

  She glanced at the windshield and the squashed bugs on the glass appeared in the pattern of a quarter moon. She blinked her eyes and pushed her fingers into her forehead.
“This is about a lot of money.”

  “Something I can't figure is where all the money's gone. Zac sure never acts like he has any extra.”

  “He's been hiding it behind the desk at Riversong. It's over seven-hundred and seventy thousand dollars.”

  He took in a deep breath and splayed his hands over the steering wheel. “I see.” He paused and looked at her. “Why didn't you take it? Pay this guy off?”

  “Mike, I'm sorry to say this, but it's because I'm as afraid of Zac as I am of this DeAngelo.” She watched a jack rabbit hop to the middle of the road and look around, sniffing the air and suddenly a log truck was upon him. Lee shut her eyes, hearing the truck whiz by. When she opened them the rabbit was on the other side of the highway, hopping away, almost blending into the beige colored, sun scorched brush and grasses. “Mike, I have to get out of here.”

  He shook his head, no, and took her soft hands in his big rough ones. “Listen to me, young lady. We're gonna sit right here and work this through until we come up with the answer to your problem. You cannot run away. That's not how we do things here. You understand?”

  “I can't stay here. I bet he's in town right now.”

  He went on as if he didn't hear her. “Why did you keep this a secret from me? I could've helped you.”

  “It's my problem.”

  “Now see, that's where you're wrong. Part of being a friend is asking for help from the people who care about you.”

  “Why would you help me?”

  “That's a complicated answer, but let me try to get it through your thick head. The first thing is, I knew your grandparents. My daddy called them friends and that meant they were friends to me, too. And that means you're my friend. You're one of our kids and it's our job to take care of you. That's how I do things, how we did things around here, until the drugs started taking over.” He seemed like he wanted to say more but stared at the steering wheel instead.

  “Mike, these guys, they're serious. They will kill me if I don't get out of here and I don't want any of you in danger.”

  “Listen, I've made no secret that I'm on a mission to save this town. I see it real simple, like God wants it, and part of that plan includes you.”

  “But it's not safe for you to even be here with me.”

  He held up a hand, shaking his head. “Just let me tell you something now. One night last year I had a dream I was swimming in the river on my property with my eyes open. A trout swam in front of my face, opened his mouth and said the word ‘flies’. Damnest thing, a talking fish. Anyway, the next night I dreamt I walked the length of Main Street with three people. I couldn't see their faces but as we walked, the street transformed into real fancy shops, restaurants, a bookstore, a bed and breakfast, that kind of thing. At the end of the street, was a fly fishing store.”

  “Flies.”

  “That's right. Flies. I believe the three people with me were you, Tommy and Linus. This is your destiny.”

  “My destiny?”

  “If you need that money, you should take it because we need you here.”

  “It's impossible. He'll know it's me. You saw for yourself the thugs he hangs out with.”

  “I'll tell him I took it.”

  Lee's eyes filled with tears. “I can't let you do it.”

  Mike tapped her on the forehead. “Young lady, you've got to learn how to accept help when it's offered.” He shifted in his seat. “It makes me sick, thinking what he's been doing. I don't know what I did wrong.”

  “That's what I always thought about my mother. If I could just be good, please her, maybe she wouldn't need to drink. But it never worked.” She looked at him for a long moment, thinking of Zac's face the day she confronted him, an idea clicking in her mind. “The money gets me out of my mess but what about Zac? I think he wants to get out but these thugs he's involved with have scared him. He needs a fresh start somewhere and he needs to get sober. But neither one of us wants him to go to jail. Right?”

  “If you're talking rehab, he'll never go.”

  “Rehabs better than jail.”

  They locked eyes and Mike nodded. “Tell me your idea.”

  “It'll require a little help from our friends.”

  After agreeing to the plan, Mike pulled onto the highway and raced towards town. “We should have everybody meet at my house so I can lay out my plan. I just hope no one in town tells him where I live.”

  Mike reached in his pocket for his cell phone. “I'll call Ray and tell him to spread the word not to talk to any strangers about you.”

  “Tell him Von has a limp and always wears hats.”

  Mike called Ray and gave him the cautionary instruction. After he hung up, he glanced at her. “Tommy figured you were hiding from something. Why didn't you tell him the truth?”

  “Because I didn't want him to die trying to save me.”

  “That's your problem, right there. You don't know anything about love. That boy couldn't be more in love with you if he tried and that makes it his job to die trying to take care of you. This is the burden of love.”

  “It's a lot to ask.”

  “You bet your ass it is.”

  She stared out the window as they crossed the bridge over the river, thinking about the risk she would ask her friends and Tommy to make. Would it be too much, she wondered.

  She dialed Ellen and Tommy from her cell phone but there was no answer at either house. “Mike, I can't get Tommy or Ellen.”

  Mike took his eyes from the road and she saw fear in his face. “It's gonna be fine. Call the others.”

  She reached Annie, Cindi and Billy one after the other, asking them to meet at her house with their guns and not to speak to any strangers. To her surprise, they all agreed without question.

  Mike's car sped past the gas station. They were almost to Riversong when she saw him, lurking under the blue awnings. “That's him.” She pulled on Mike's shirt. “That's him, right there.”

  “You were right, he didn't waste any time getting down here.” He handed her his sunglasses. “Put these on and get down.”

  Lee slid as far down in the seat as she could, her stomach higher than her head and her neck scrunched. “Do you think he saw me?”

  Mike looked in his rearview mirror. “No, he's trying to see inside Riversong. He's got his grimy hands on our clean windows.” He pushed the gas pedal harder and the car lurched forward. “You stuck down there?”

  “I'm alright. Just get me home.”

  Mike's car tumbled down her dirt driveway. Neither of them spoke, the danger of their situation like another passenger. She thought to ask, “Why were you following me?”

  “Divine intervention.”

  “You know that kind of stuff just makes you sound crazy?”

  For the first time that day she heard his belly laugh. “I was on my way to the mill and saw you driving so fast I thought you were having the baby. So I followed you.”

  They pulled up to the house. Tommy's truck was parked in the driveway. Her stomach lurched at the sight of him pacing the front porch. Ellen sat in the rocking chair, phone in her hand. They parked, dust so thick in the air she couldn't see for a moment. As it cleared, she saw Ellen run down the steps towards the car, grabbing her in a tight hug. Then she held her away with stiff arms. “I've called everyone from here to Kingdom Come. What happened to you? Are you hurt? You're bleeding. Get in this house right this instant.”

  Lee rested her head on Ellen's shoulder. “Thank God you're both alright. I'll explain everything.” She headed towards Tommy, who stayed where he was on the porch.

  His eyes, bloodshot, were cold. “What happened?”

  “Had a little accident.”

  “Are you alright?”

  “My car's a mess, but I'm fine.”

  His face betrayed no emotion. “I'm glad you're safe. Ellen was worried sick.” He started down the porch steps. “I've got to go.” As he moved past her she grabbed his arm and he stopped.

  “Please, don't go. Give
me a chance to explain.”

  He stepped past her like he was going to his truck but stopped, shook his head and murmured to himself, “I should just walk away.” But he started back up the steps, following Ellen into the house.

  She turned back to Mike. “Can you keep watch out here while I talk to them?”

  Mike reached under the seat of his car and pulled out a handgun. “I'll be on the porch.”

  She told them all of it, sparing no details and ending by saying, “The good news is I've come up with a plan.”

  Tommy said nothing for a long moment. “This was your secret.”

  Ellen's mouth was open and she shook her head back and forth in disbelief. “Why did you keep this to yourself?”

  Tommy jerked from the couch and went to stand by the window. “Because she didn't trust us.”

  “No, that's not it,” said Lee. “I didn't want to put either of you in danger.” “This guy hurt Linus so badly he was in the hospital for a week. I was terrified that one of you would get hurt too. This is not about me trusting either of you. This is about me protecting you.”

  Ellen stood, took Lee's hands. “This must've been a big weight on you.”

  “Ellen, I want you to go home and lock your door, keep your gun close,” said Lee. “I don't want you in jeopardy.”

  Ellen brushed her hands aside. “Push aside the old lady, is that the idea? I don't think so. I'll get my gun and meet you back here. Whatever the plan is, I'm included. Got it?”

  Lee thought of protesting, but knew it was no use. “Go. Keep your eyes open when you come back. Make sure we're alone before you come into the yard.”

  “Tommy, don't leave her side.”

  Tommy stared at Lee, eyes unblinking, like he didn't know her. “I won't.”

  Ellen glanced between them like she was going to say something further but seemed to think better of it and left out the front door.

  They were alone. Her blouse was damp from sweat, despite the cool temperature of her living room.