Chapter Fourteen - Suspicion
I found my father gazing through a telescope at the river below, and as he turned, his smile of greeting died. He hurried over to my side. "What's wrong?" he asked urgently.
"The murderer, I know who he is!" My mouth felt stiff and awkward as I spoke.
"Who, Nicola, who is it?"
"It's Liam, Dad. I know that it's Liam."
We sat in a cafeteria sipping coffee, all conversation had died. My father had tried unsuccessfully to convince me that the man I had seen was not Liam and I had equally unsuccessfully tried to convince him that it was. After a while my father spoke, "This is ridiculous, Nicky girl, we can't let this spoil our break together. I suggest we head off in the opposite direction and walk a bit around the rim, what do you say?"
"Yeah whatever," I replied, still cross with him for not believing me.
"Listen to me, young lady, an attitude adjustment is required right now or very shortly you will find yourself face down over Daddy's knee, comprendre?" I swallowed and felt my cheeks flush with embarrassment as the raw memory of being across Liam's knee shattered my soul. It was one thing to be in that situation with a man you fancy, but quite another when contemplated by your father!
"Please answer me, daughter mine, before I take action here and now." My father spoke firmly but quietly and I gasped as he laid his hand over my wrist and gripped it warningly.
"Yes, I understand!" I spoke hurriedly, hearing the slight nervous shake in my voice as I answered him, because I sensed that he would have no compunction about taking me across his knee in a public place. Hell, I knew he would do it too, just to make his point.
"Now then, Nicola, would you like to go down into the canyon?" he asked me.
My head shot up; he had my attention now. "Can we, but how?"
"Various ways—by helicopter maybe?"
I shook my head. I had only once flown by helicopter and that was after our truck accident. I had felt extremely sick; it was not an experience I cared to repeat any time soon. Again another memory of Liam and yet another spanking recollection!
"Okay, by mule then?"
Now he was talking.
"Yeah, that would be fantastic! Do we hire the mules or what?"
"You would need to sign up for the trip with a Mule Train and stay overnight at the Phantom Ranch."
"The what?" I interrupted him.
"Phantom Ranch, it's called that because it's not in use all year round. It's just for tourists not a real ranch. We can go and book you up for tomorrow right now if you like."
"What's with the 'you'? It's us."
"No, no, hon, I'm too old for mule trekking. Besides I need to call into the Canyon C.K. and check all's well."
"Hey, you said no work on this trip, Dad, remember?" I was disappointed.
"I know, but if you are happy and busy, it won't hurt if I just check in, will it?" he wheedled.
"Dad, this is not because we argued is it?" I still didn't know him well enough yet to understand his moods.
"What? Heck no, honey. I just couldn't sit on a mule all day is all! My old butt wouldn't take the punishment. I'm jus' fine dishing it out, I just can't take it!" He winked and I had to laugh.
"Well, if you're sure you won't mind being alone for the next couple of days, I really would love to go."
"Come on then. What are we waiting for—let's go get you booked in!" In any event, I couldn't get in on the 'train' the following day and so I was booked for the day after that.
The next day, I decided to take a hike alone around the canyon's rim. I wanted to take some time to mull over everything that had happened to me over the last couple of months. We had booked my mule train adventure for the day after. Meanwhile, today, my father had gone over to his C.K. Motel to check over a few things with the manager there. I didn't mind that he was working, since I needed space to clear my head.
I walked for a couple of hours, taking the time to rest occasionally and sip water from my canteen; it was such a relief to be alone with my thoughts.
As the day progressed, the calmer I became. The views from the rim were simply mind blowing. I had my trusty Leica with me and I tried to capture the essence of the place, using the amazing light and shadow that played across the prehistoric basin below. The day passed more quickly than I expected and before long, it was time to return to the hotel and join my father for dinner.
We chattered nonstop over our meal and I felt that, by the time we made our way up to bed, I knew him a little better. He was familiar to me now and I was relaxed in his presence. Carl Keedon was starting to feel like my Dad.
As we assembled for the mule train, I was pleasantly surprised by my group of fellow travellers. They were a mixed but friendly bunch of people, a couple of Australians, a couple of Scandinavians too. Obviously older tourists were as conscious of their aging backsides as my father had been of his; I would have said that there was no one in our group over the age of forty except our guide perhaps. He looked fairly ageless under his hat but I guessed him to be in his early forties. We were being given instructions on the handling of our mules, when our guide hailed a late comer to the party. I was bending down checking the girth on my mule, who was called Harris, when a familiar voice by my side startled me.
"Claire, howdy, darlin', I didn't realise you were gonna be here!"
I straightened up, slowly, with a sickening sense of betrayal. "Hello, Liam, what are you doing here?" As if I didn't know.
"Hey, angel, aren't you surprised to see me?"
Oh the injured innocence portrayed on that handsome but treacherous face.
"No, I spotted you yesterday at the Watch Tower. I knew then that you were following me." Liam quirked his eyebrow and a confused look crossed his rugged face.
"Huh? I simply took my leave as planned. I have two new teens starting at the end of May and since your father was on vacation, I thought I'd come on up here. It's been three years at least since my last visit and I just fancied spending some canyon time. It kinda gets into your blood, if you know what I mean. How 'bout you? You never said you were coming to the Grand Canyon. Your father suggested he was taking you to Vegas with him, is he here too?" He looked around for my father.
"Yeah, we came here first. He's not coming on the mule train though—excuse me, I have to mount up now." Everyone was climbing up onto their mules amid excited chatter and some laughter.
"Hey, let me help you there." Before I could even protest, he had lifted me into the air and I was astride my mule. He turned and pushed through the merry throng, stopping to exchange small talk with the group as he made his way, leaping agilely up onto his own grey beast. I ground my teeth with muted fury and urged Harris to follow the others who had begun to move forwards and down the trail. At least I should be safe from Liam if I stayed tight within the group. My pleasure evaporated just like dew on grass in warm sun and a sense of dread began to fill me as we descended the steep and winding trail. I would need to be extremely vigilant if I were to survive the next two days.
I would like to have gazed outwards at the amazing views across the canyon but it took all my concentration to follow the stony trail and keep my eye on Liam. I knew that he was about seventh in the line of people in front of me and I intended to keep it that way. The entire group numbered twelve, including the guide.
When we stopped for a water break, it was difficult to get Harris moving again; before I knew what was happening, Liam was beside me urging the stubborn creature forward. I thanked him stiffly but then ignored him. My heart was hammering uncomfortably, knowing that my possible killer was now following my tail behind me.
By noon, I was ready for a break, and it was a relief to find shade to rest in. Although it was still rocky, the path had widened out and when I looked down, it seemed we were not far from the canyon's stony floor. I sat under a rocky overhang with my side to the rock while I ate my soft cheese roll; I was slightly apart from the other folk. Liam sat chatting with the trail boss
and totally ignored me. I was strangely peeved by this.
It was hot, so much warmer than up on the rim above. As the sweat dripped into my eyes, I wished that I had not come on this trip but then I chided myself for such wimpish behaviour. It rankled with me that Liam seemed to be having such a great time. He was chatting up all the women and totally ignoring me; well that was a good thing wasn't it? Good grief what was wrong with me? The sun must have pickled my brain or something—I mean anyone would think I was jealous!
Harris must have sensed my absent minded mood because the next thing I knew, there was a thump in my lower quarters and I was sailing through the air over the edge of the trail and falling, falling down towards the canyon below. It was a few seconds before the realisation of what had actually happened flooded my brain, and then in blind panic, I flung out my arms to try and grab onto something, anything, to stop myself going down. I was lucky, my hand struck the rock side, painfully, but I scrabbled and grabbed at the solid rock face and held on. My arms were suddenly wrenched by the settling of my body weight. My grip held good as I swayed gently to and fro, the tendons and muscles in my arms screamed with the effort of holding my own body weight. My fingers ached while digging into the sharp surface of the rock face. I screamed and screamed. Mercifully, I heard Liam's voice drifting down to me and I dared to slowly lift my head and look skywards.
"Hold on, angel, I'm coming down, just hold on there!" It seemed an eternity before a rope dropped beside me and I reached a hand out to grip it, then a scattering of soil and debris fell past me tumbling down and onwards. I felt sick. The reassuring presence of another human arriving by my side was an enormous relief, causing tears to spill unchecked down my face. It was Liam all roped up and I was never so glad to see anyone as of that moment. I didn't stop to think of the danger he might present towards me, I instinctively trusted him. "Look at me, Claire, keep your eyes focused on my face and keep holding onto that rope. I want you to trust me now and do everything that I tell you, baby, okay?"
"Yes," I whispered.
"I'm going to rope you up and then I'll guide you back up as you are being raised up to the top, you got that?" I nodded my head since I was unable to speak owing to the fact my teeth were chattering with fear. My shoulders were screaming, tearing with the pain from holding my weight for so long. Liam quickly and efficiently tied ropes around and under me before signalling with a tug on the line that we were ready to go up. "Okay, darlin', place your feet on the rock in front of you and walk yourself up the rock face, like this." He demonstrated for me. "Come on, angel, you can do this!" Slowly and gradually we crept upwards towards the safety of the ridge. When we finally reached it, I was lifted by strong arms and helped to safety as far back from the edge as it was possible to be. A blanket was dropped around my shoulders and someone passed me a flask of water to drink and then he was there. Liam hunkered down beside me and gathered me to him, pressing his lips to my forehead. I burrowed into his chest with shuddering sobs and hung onto him for all I was worth.
"You're safe now, Claire, you're safe, darlin', it's okay I'm here-I'm here." Just like that I no longer feared him for I knew him and I can't explain it better than that. I just knew him and I knew that I was his. The question was would Liam want me?
*****
My father was absent when we arrived back at the hotel, which was a relief because I think he would have fussed over much and we needed time to talk.
Liam ran me a hot bath, placing me in the warm water and lifting me out afterwards. He wrapped me in a fluffy white towel and sat himself down in one of the comfortable arm chairs with me cradled on his lap. "I want to know what's going on, Claire. You have to tell me everything now or there can't be a future for us as a couple." I sighed in frustration, I couldn't share my impersonation of Claire with Liam, the knowledge could be too dangerous and this was far more than just my personal secret. Would Liam even believe that I wasn't Claire?
"I do want to tell you everything, Liam, I do but please be patient with me. There is so much at stake here and the secrets are not all mine to share."
"Ah, so there is something going on, I knew it. Look I want you to be my girl, Claire, and maybe someday we'll marry and have children together, but a relationship like that has to be based on trust. But if you feel that you can't trust me, then I have to walk away, darlin', and I so do not want to do that. Just trust me, angel, tell me what's going on, I just want to keep you safe." I shifted, uncomfortable with the direction this conversation was taking.
"Liam, I think I'm falling in love with you and I really want to be with you too, but there is something that I have to finish before I can come to you… and well, you might not want me after you know what is going on. I do trust you, but believe me when I tell you that it really is unimportant right now. My life has to be put on hold, just for a little while longer, so please just wait for me and in turn, just trust me. Do you think you can you do that?" Liam pressed a sweet kiss on my forehead and lifted me in his arms, turning he gently placed me down into the chair and turned towards the door.
He looked back over his shoulder sadly. "I want you for my wife, Claire, but there has to be trust on both sides for that kind of commitment, darlin'." He left quietly, closing the door behind him. I sat without moving and played back our conversation over and again in my head, before I crumpled and wept bitter tears of heart break and self-recrimination. Even if I told him the truth eventually, would this handsome cowboy, with his complex character and deeply ingrained integrity, so full of old fashioned values, still want me, especially when he found out the depth of my deception?
I pulled on my pyjamas and snuggled into bed. I had brought Claire's diary with me, not wanting to leave it where someone searching might too easily find it. I would finish it tonight and perhaps it would answer some of the questions churning around in my head.
Chapter Fifteen - Resolve
My bedroom door cracked open at about one o'clock in the morning and my father stuck his head around the doorway. "I wasn't expecting you back tonight, what happened?" he asked me, wandering into my room and perching on the side of my bed. I filled him in on the whole terrifying mule episode and my subsequent conversation with Liam. I told him that I wanted to travel to Las Vegas and the C.K. Motel Casino to visit Dennis. I didn't tell him why and he didn't ask, but he did agree that we should leave first thing in the morning. He tucked me in as though I was a small child and kissed my forehead sweetly, wishing me goodnight. He switched off my table lamp and crept softly from the room.
I had finally finished reading Claire's diary. Her suspicions that the books were crooked and being fiddled at the casino were well founded. According to the diary, money laundering on a large scale appeared to have been going on for the same period of time that Dennis had worked there. Claire suspected fake losses and fake wins were being used to launder money through the casino and she was convinced that Dennis had to have known about it. I needed to speak to Dennis, but I also realised that it was probable Dennis was Claire's killer. I had to be so very careful. I decided that I would not involve my father until I had spoken to Jules.
Before we checked out the following morning, I phoned the ranch and left a message for Jules to meet me in Vegas. I left a note explaining everything to Liam and I asked the concierge at the reception desk to make sure that he received it urgently.
*****
The drive to Vegas was quiet and uneventful. My father and I were each lost in our own thoughts and we travelled in companionable silence for most of the way.
The only exception was his curiosity about the relationship that I had with my mother. I tried to explain her emotional neglect of me. He, in turn, shocked me by telling me how hard she had fought him over keeping both Claire and I together as babes.
He told me that twice she had flown out to America to visit Claire. The first time was when Claire had been three-years-old and she had fallen from the top of the stairs to the bottom. Knocking herself out cold in the fall,
she had remained unconscious for nearly a week. My mother had flown out and slept beside her bedside until Claire had opened her eyes and been declared out of danger.
The second time was her at college graduation, where, like my father when he came to my graduation ceremony, she remained hidden within the crowds of families and well-wishers. Perhaps I had been too hard on my mother, a woman who had had her child wrenched from her and who probably lived with the guilt of the choices she made that led up to that heart breaking circumstance. I certainly had a lot of food for thought on my journey to America's 'Sin City'.
We arrived late and so I was able to see the amazing lights on the 'Strip' and the completely over the top architecture that is Vegas. The whole place was buzzing due to Elvis Presley's and Pricilla Beaulieu's wedding, which had taken place on the first of May, only the previous day. Carefully negotiating the crowded streets, we finally turned into a small quiet road; my father drove down into an underground car park situated at the back of the motel.
The casino was in full swing when we walked inside. There were some sickly looking people hooked up to the many one-armed bandits, their faces a white, greenish tinge, partly from the lights but also from fatigue. I was not impressed with my first ever visit to a gambling house. Dennis seemed to be frantically busy and so I figured it was a bad time to tackle him. Besides, I wanted to wait until Jules arrived for support and advice.
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