“Thank God,” Calvin said, looking up at the mountains suspiciously.
“What exactly was he looking for?” Conrad asked.
“Trespassers,” Caledonia replied, without missing a beat. “We’ve had a few problems in the past.”
Conrad shrugged, turning towards Layla, “Lead the way.”
They hiked up a dirt trail lined with beautiful spring wildflowers nodding in the breeze. Cali named them all, impressing Conrad with her encyclopedic knowledge of botany. Layla’s heart lifted, and she thought this day might not end up a disaster after all. When they finally broke free of the tree line and crested the hilltop the sight was every bit as spectacular as Layla remembered.
“Nice,” Conrad was impressed. “This is a million dollar view.”
The four of them wandered among the crumbling brickwork and fallen timbers of the old house, and Conrad tried to imagine how the building he’d seen in the old photos was situated in the spot.
“It looks like it faced east,” he said. “I bet you get some spectacular sunrises up here.”
He started pacing off the foundation, trying to get an idea of the dimensions, when a couple of loud cracks split the clear mountain air. Puffs of dust rose from the boulders directly behind them, curling into the sky like smoke. Before Layla could even process what had happened, Calvin was flying through the air towards Cali, yelling “Get down!” He knocked her to the ground and covered her body with his, looking frantically around to try and determine where the shots were coming from.
Layla stood frozen in her tracks, stunned. She was surprised to see that Conrad had also hit the ground and scrambled to take cover behind one of the remaining brick walls. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion, and for a few seconds, time stood perfectly still.
Calvin looked up at her, his eyes frantic, “Layla! Get down! Somebody shot at us!”
A couple more bullets whizzed by, sending chips of stone flying into the air, but Layla remained motionless. Calvin finally lunged for her ankle and tugged, pulling her feet out from beneath her just before a third barrage of bullets started shattered the bricks right where she’d been standing. She landed face to face with Cali and their eyes met, both of them blazing bright orange with shock.
Calvin’s urgent voice broke through the fog, “Cali! On the count of three I want you to take Layla and run back down into the trees… Okay?”
Caledonia nodded yes, looking from Calvin back to where Layla was lying perfectly still, her eyes dazed.
Calvin counted out, “One… Two…” He sprang up, running in the opposite way he’d asked her to, yelling “NOW!”
More shots rang out as Cali took Layla’s hand and ran, not noticing that Conrad had scrambled up to follow them. When they’d made the cover of the dense trees, Cali stopped to look back, her heart in her throat. She was just about to go after Calvin when he circled back around to join them, crashing through the brush on the opposite side of the pathway.
Cali raced to embrace him with a yelp, but he peeled her off, took her hand and pulled her down the path, “C’mon! Let’s get the hell outta here!”
The four of them ran down the trail without stopping to talk, making it back to the cabin in record time. The cars and truck were parked just where they’d left them, and everything was quiet. The two Cals raced over to the cabin to talk to Jesse.
Conrad caught his breath, obviously shaken. “Who would shoot at us?”
Layla wasn’t sure what to say. She and Cali had agreed to keep the past history of the land a secret, and she did her best to look mystified. “I don’t know… Maybe some hunters thought we were deer or something?”
He shook his head. “No way! They were aiming at us!” He pulled out his phone, agitated, “We need to tell Sheriff Brown about this! He needs to get up here and check this out!”
“No!” she cried, a little too vehemently. From what she’d heard about these drug cartel guys, they wouldn’t be past killing a sheriff… or a deputy. She’d already seen firsthand how ruthless men could snuff out lives in an instant.
“Please– No cops! We don’t want any trouble. We’ll go ahead and post some no hunting signs, okay?”
Conrad looked at her like she was crazy. “Are you serious?”
She met his gaze and sent him a calming blast of lavender, topping it off with a pop of soothing turquoise. “Don’t worry about it,” she told him. “They don’t need to know. Put your phone away.”
She watched the suspicion drop out of his eyes, replaced by a tranquility she wished she could feel. He slipped his phone back into his pocket, his worries completely forgotten. “Do you want to go grab some lunch?”
“No thanks, I’m not really up to it. I’ll just get a ride home with Calvin and Cali.”
“Alright,” he said, completely oblivious to his sudden mood change. “I guess I should be on my way.” He leaned over to kiss her on the cheek, climbed in his car, and drove away.
Caledonia came out to stand by Layla’s side, watching Conrad’s car round the corner, leaving only a cloud of dust. “What’s he gonna do?” she asked.
“He wanted to call the sheriff.”
“What did you say?”
“I told him not to involve them.”
When Layla’s eyes met Cali’s, there was no need to explain. Calvin and Jesse came over to join them, and after admonishing Jesse to be alert and be careful, the three young people climbed into the truck for the troubled drive home.
“Do you think Jesse’s going to be okay there?” Cali asked, watching her old friend receding in the rear view mirror.
“You heard him,” Calvin said grimly. “He’s not going anywhere.”
“I guess I can’t imagine him anyplace else,” she said quietly.
On the winding roads home Calvin and Cali discussed what to do about their new problem. Jesse hadn’t seen anyone yet, but from the grim look on his face, Calvin knew that what they’d all feared had finally come to pass. The growers were back, and instead of being put off by the destruction of their farming operation, they appeared to be angry and ready to fight. The gunshots were only the opening salvo in what promised to be a war of wills.
Calvin was horrified, Caledonia, angry and disappointed. Layla was devastated. Without the building project to focus on she would be cast adrift, floating aimlessly like a ship without a rudder. Just when things seemed to be going her way another roadblock was thrown into her path, and she had no idea what she would do without something to focus on.
She was frustrated and dismayed, but more than anything else, she was upset with herself. The way she’d frozen when everyone else reacted worried her. Conrad had understood immediately what was going on, and his instinct for self-preservation had kicked in. Those few split seconds played and replayed in her mind, and it wasn’t only her slow reaction that troubled her.
Calvin and Cali had immediately thought of each other. Conrad hadn’t feared for her, but she hadn’t given him one thought either. Maybe they needed to spend more time together before they grew close enough to put each other first. Maybe if Michael hadn’t ruined the romantic evening Conrad had planned for them everything would be different by now. She frowned as she considered what might have been, listening absentmindedly as the two Cals debated about what they should do.
There was always the possibility that Cal and Cali were an anomaly, and that not every person in the world was bound to find their perfect match. Maybe she shouldn’t expect to feel the kind of passion that Cali felt. Maybe Conrad’s good qualities were good enough, she thought, grappling with her justifications.
“I don’t think they missed by accident. That was a warning– They wanted to scare us. If they’d wanted to hit us, they could have,” Cali reasoned.
“They scared me the hell out of me!” Calvin exclaimed. “A couple more inches and we wouldn’t be having this talk. It’s time to call in the police.”
“I don’t know… What if we try to negotiate with them first?”
Calvin w
as upset, “Are you crazy? You can’t bargain with them! You don’t want to mess with these people! Even Jarod’s friends know better than to cross them!”
They argued back and forth, and by the time they got home Layla had enough hearing about it, retreating to her room to curl up with a book while Calvin and Cali told Michael what had happened. After a while, there was a knock on her door.
Cali ducked her head in the room. “We’re all going out for pizza. Michael says he can’t think on an empty stomach. Let’s go… Put your shoes on.”
“No thanks, I’m not hungry. I’m just going to read a little and go to bed early.”
Caledonia came inside and sat down for a moment, pale blue with sympathy.
“Are you okay?”
Layla nodded, but she was so completely disappointed that she wanted to cry. Aside from having her construction plans stopped in their tracks, it was slowly dawning on her that Conrad probably wasn’t what he appeared to be. He only saw what he wanted to see in her, and it occurred to her that she was guilty of the same thing. Once she looked past his good looks and polished manners, she wasn’t sure that she liked the man he truly was.
Cali spoke like she could read her cousin’s mind, “You can’t really blame Conrad for being scared. Different people react differently to stress.”
“I know. But why wasn’t I scared?”
“I don’t know. It all happened so fast… Maybe you’re still a little in shock.”
“I guess,” Layla sighed, discontented.
“Come with us,” Cali asked again. “It’ll cheer you up.”
“No thanks. I really just want to be alone.”
“Are you sure you’ll be alright?”
“I’m fine,” she tried to smile reassuringly. “Go.”
Cali hesitated, getting up to leave. “Don’t worry… We’ll figure out a way to get rid of those guys.”
After she left Layla sat up and closed her book. She opened her laptop to a picture of her mother, studying the planes of her face for the millionth time.
“What am I supposed to do now?” she asked the screen.
~
Chapter Nine
REPORT
~
Layla settled back down to read when she was startled by an insistent knock on the front door. She scrambled to the window with a burst of adrenalin, peering down with a sharp intake of breath when she saw the police cruiser parked out front.
Her first impulse was to hide, but the thought that something might have happened to her family overwhelmed her with a sudden panic. She raced down the stairs to where Poddy was barking frantically at the front door.
The frosted glass panes in the front door revealed a tall, broad shouldered silhouette with short-cropped hair and her heart nearly stopped. It was him. It was Ramon. The rapping started up again, and she willed back her apprehension, reaching for the knob with a shaking hand.
She opened the door a crack, peeking out. “Yes?”
“Hello,” he said casually. He bent down to greet the dog, “Who’s this?”
“Uhm… His name is is Tripod,” she answered, a little taken aback. She opened the door wider, watching as the dog sniffed his outstretched hand. Poddy’s stubby tail started wagging furiously.
He laughed, stroking the newly calmed animal, “He certainly is.” He smiled up at her, the corners of his eyes crinkling into friendly lines. When he saw her serious face he stood up straight, suddenly businesslike.
“I need to have a word with you and your cousin,” Ramon said formally. “And Calvin too.”
“They’re not here,” she said. “Nobody’s here.”
“Do you expect them back soon?”
She shook her head no, speechless.
He looked surprised. “They left you here all alone?”
A little shiver ran down her spine, “What exactly is this about?”
He scratched the back of his head like he was thinking. “We have a report of shots fired out at your property today. We’re going to need you to come down to the station and file a police report.”
“A what?”
“I received a report of shots fired on your property, and I need to file a report.”
“Who told you?” she asked, shocked. The triumphant flicker in his eyes told her she’d just admitted to it, and she cringed, cursing herself for being so stupid.
He smiled sympathetically, “That would be Millie.”
“But she wasn’t even there!” Layla cried.
“Her grandson was. She was pretty shaken up about it… Apparently he stopped by to see her on the way out of town and told her what happened. She marched right over and demanded that I do something about it.”
“It was nothing,” Layla said. “Really.”
“Not according to Millie. She says that someone was shooting at you.”
“It’s no big deal… Just some kids playing… Or a mistaken hunter.”
His face was emotionless, stoic. “Firearms were involved, and I’m going to have to file a report.”
She sighed, conceding defeat. “Fine. Cali and I will come down to the station tomorrow.”
“I’m sorry ma’am, but I’m going to need to take your statement tonight. It’s department policy.”
“Ma’am?”
“Miss Reed? It’s Reed, right?”
“No! I mean… I– I’m… I’m going by Mackenzie from now on,” she said haltingly, increasingly unnerved. “I’m planning to get it changed legally.”
“Alright, Miss Mackenzie it is. I’m still going to need you to come to the station with me.”
“Right now?!” she gasped.
He stood up a little straighter, “I need to have that report filed tonight.”
She bit her lip, looking down at the jeans she had worn for the hike. She tried to smooth back her wild, windblown hair. “Okay, but give me a minute. I’m not dressed properly.”
“You look fine to me,” he said sincerely.
“Just give me a minute.”
“I’ll wait right here,” he said.
She looked down at the little dog sitting at Ramon’s feet and staring up at him adoringly. “C’mon Poddy. Get in the house.”
He was chuckling at the dog’s name when she shut the door on him. She raced up the stairs, stopping to splash some water on her face in the bathroom.
“Just calm down,” she told the girl in the mirror. “You can do this.”
~
When she reappeared at the door she had donned her armor, and she looked like another person entirely. Her jeans and sweater had been replaced with a modest skirt, bow necked blouse, and a tailored jacket. Her long, loose hair had been hastily pinned back into a severe bun with only a few unruly tendrils threatening to escape at the nape of her neck. She greeted Ramon with exaggerated formality.
“I’m ready officer.”
Ramon insisted on taking her in his police cruiser, promising to bring her back as soon as possible. She snuck a few glances at his profile on the drive, trying to decipher his intense and constantly shifting colors. He was blazing with bright yellow curiosity, lime green suspicion, shot through with excitement and anxiety. Underneath his potent mix of emotions ran a current of deep blue concern.
He didn’t trust her, but she got the feeling that he wanted to.
She started speculating on the best way to deal with his questions. It shouldn’t be too hard to throw him off their trail, she thought, preparing herself for her performance. It was probably best that she handle this, because she had much more experience than her cousin did in manipulating human beings. Cali’s synesthesia was powerful, but years of experience had taught Layla how to administer hers with much more precision.
After some deliberation she finally settled on confusion. Fear was a much more powerful motivator, but it might backfire, making him more suspicious afterwards than he already was. Besides, he didn’t seem like someone that would scare too easily.
They pulled up in front of the polic
e station and climbed out into the cool evening air.
“Right this way,” Ramon said, leading her in the door and past a lone receptionist sitting at the desk. The woman looked up with a nod. “Sherriff Brown went home for the day.”
“I’m here to take a witness statement,” he explained.
“Hey Ramon... Would you mind locking up for me?” the girl called after him, “I have a date.”
“Sure thing,” he said, snatching the keys that she slid across the counter towards him.
She grabbed her purse and headed for the door, turning back with a grateful smile, “Thanks. I owe you one.” He followed her to the door, locking it behind her.
And then they were alone.
Layla followed him down an eerily quiet hallway, past an empty holding cell and into a small office. She scanned his cluttered desk, her mismatched eyes landing on a picture of him posing with a woman by his side. He was holding twin infants, one in each arm, and sporting a proud smile on his face. She realized exactly how little she knew about him.
He gestured to a chair, “Have a seat.” He pulled out his own chair, removing his holster and placing a set of handcuffs on the table between them.
Layla’s reaction was immediate. She bolted back with an involuntary gasp, knocking her chair aside. Her heart started hammering, her breath quickened, and when his eyes searched hers, he saw real fear.
“Hey,” Ramon asked, “Are you okay?”
She nodded, gasping, and he could see the pulse in her neck throbbing. “Yes,” she squeaked.
He glanced down at the cuffs and back up to Layla, who swallowed hard and took a deep breath. She rubbed her wrists and forced herself to smile, flooding him with a feeling of reassurance. “I’m perfectly fine.”
For a minute, he almost questioned what he’d just seen, but there was no doubt about it. The handcuffs had startled her, and there was only one explanation. His heart sank when he realized that she must have had a run-in with the law before. She straightened out her chair and sat down gracefully.
He watched her fiddle with the single strand of pearls around her neck, wondering. She looked so sweet and innocent, and she sure was cute. Really cute. He’d been hoping there was no truth to his suspicions, but everything he ever found out about her only raised more questions. Any way you sliced it there was something odd going on… With her, with her cousin, with that whole house full of people.
The Caledonian Inheritance (The Athena Effect) Page 8