by Mia Sheridan
“Please be careful.”
He nodded once, and then moved the brush aside again, crawling into the cliffside cave. He saw the bones immediately, just as Haddie must have, dark red fabric, rotted and falling apart, only partially covering the skeleton. Camden swallowed, sadness welling up inside of him. It was a Lilith school uniform. She had been one of its girls.
Kandace, it had to be Kandace.
He crawled forward, kneeling next to her for a moment, bowing his head. He didn’t know what to say, though he had this sense she was listening. “Thank you,” was all he could manage. For noticing us. For caring. For trying so hard to do the right thing.
How had she died? He’d heard the staff whispering later. They’d said she escaped. Were they lying? Had her body been hidden here? Or had she somehow managed to find this opening as Haddie had? Did she crawl inside this space to hide? To die?
His gaze shifted as he looked around the cave, trying to spy the leather bag he’d taken for her, the one she was going to use to carry the files. Camden, walking on his knees, moved around her bones, giving as wide a berth as possible, cognizant that this was a crime scene, but also mindful that Kandace had given her life for the proof in that satchel, and he was not going to leave it behind if it was here. “Where did you put it?” he murmured? Or had it been taken from her?
He heard Scarlett call his name again, but crawled forward, the light growing dimmer the farther he ventured. He stopped for a moment, his eyes adjusting, Camden stopping short when he saw what lay at the far end of the cave.
Two more sets of bones. These ones far more ancient, any clothes they’d once worn, disintegrated to dust. He let out a harsh exhale. The bones appeared to belong to a man and a woman, turned toward each other, bodies close, fingers laced. They’d died in a lovers’ embrace.
It couldn’t be . . . but it had to be.
Taluta and her warrior?
The air left Camden and he turned back. He had to get out of this small space where so much death had occurred. He crawled past Kandace, pushing the brush aside, and pulling himself carefully from the cave, onto the small ledge.
“Thank God,” he heard Scarlett say from above. “You worried me.”
He walked up the path, his heart stopping each time he slid a bit, causing gravel and dirt to fall over the edge into the abyss below. He didn’t even want to think about the fact that a tiny girl like Haddie had made this climb as well. He still couldn’t fathom how or why she’d decided to look in the spot where so many bones waited to be found.
Scarlett had scooted back and Camden hoisted himself up and over the edge, pulling himself to his knees, and brushing the dust from his shirt. She moved forward, grasping him, holding on tightly, her heart beating as swiftly as his. He gripped her back and they stayed that way for a moment, clutching each other on the side of the cliff. When she pulled away, she asked softly, “It’s her, isn’t it?”
“I think so, yes.”
Scarlett’s shoulders dropped and she let out a soft moan. “My God. All this time.”
Haddie approached, looking behind Camden where he’d sworn he’d heard the soft sound of a drum. Whatever animal or peculiarity of nature made that echoing rumble hadn’t changed or gone away in the thirteen years he’d been gone. “You found them,” Haddie stated.
Scarlett turned, gathering her daughter to her. “Yes, baby, we did.” She took her face in her hands and leaned her forehead on hers. “I didn’t realize that canyon was so deep.” She shivered visibly and her voice broke as she said, “You could have been badly hurt.”
“I had to, Mommy,” Haddie whispered. “I felt them there.”
Camden frowned, wondering what the little girl meant by that, but Scarlett simply released a slow exhale, seemingly unsurprised by the comment, if not confused.
Camden walked forward, going down on one knee in front of Haddie. Scarlett glanced at him questioningly but moved aside. He smiled at the child. She looked like Scarlett, except for her coloring, and those wide, almond-shaped eyes that somehow seemed young and ancient all at once.
“Haddie, can I ask what you mean when you say you could feel them there?” He could sense Scarlett’s eyes on him, and her wariness. It comforted him. She would step in and let him know if his questions were out of line, or if he risked scaring the little girl.
Haddie glanced at her mother and then back to Camden. “Some people . . . or places feel heavy like . . .” She scrunched her nose and looked off to the sky behind him. “Like a storm is coming, only on the inside. In my bones.”
He tried to understand, wanted to be the person he would have wanted if someone had questioned him when he was a child, trying to unearth things which seemed desperately inexplicable to his young mind. “Like . . . pressure?” he asked.
“Pressure?” she repeated.
“Yes, like when something heavy is pressing down on you.”
She nodded, her eyes opening wide as if with excitement. “Yes, pressure. Heavy. Achy. Some people, some places, are so heavy, I can’t move.”
Camden watched her for a moment. He didn’t know what to think of what she was saying, but he also wanted to get the information from her while she seemed inclined to give it. Perhaps it was the side of him that had worked law enforcement for several years now, or perhaps it was more that he had grown up escaping to these woods every chance he got. He’d sensed things here too, things he could never explain, things that made him feel strange. And he also wanted this little girl to trust him, Scarlett’s daughter.
Maybe Haddie’s words were simply the way a child would explain her fear and confusion. Things that were scary to her caused pressure to build inside. He thought about how Haddie had appeared frightened of him the first time he’d been in her presence. So frightened she’d wet herself. “Am I heavy, Haddie?” he asked quietly.
“No,” she said softly, shaking her head. “You’re light. Like my mommy. Only . . . different.” She appeared to think for a moment. “She’s light like air. You’re light like fire.”
She stared at him with a surety he’d never seen before in a child’s eyes and tenderness filled him. Whatever she’d been afraid of that day, it hadn’t been him. He felt inexplicably honored by her words. Humbled. Relieved. “Thank you, Haddie.”
He stood and so did Scarlett. She took his hand in hers, squeezing it gently. “What do we do now?” she asked.
Camden looked behind him, squinting out into the canyon. “We call the authorities. We get as many people here from outside Farrow as we possibly can.”
CHAPTER FORTY
It had been two days. Two days since the state and local authorities had come to lift Kandace’s body out of the hidden cliffside cave, along with the ancient bones found deeper within, those believed to belong to an indigenous woman named Taluta, and her husband.
In that time, it had been verified that it was indeed Kandace Thompson’s body that had long lain in wait, and that she had sustained two gunshot wounds, one to her shoulder blade, and the other, surely the fatal blow, to her upper torso. In those forty-eight hours, Scarlett’s emotions had swung wildly between heartbreak and deep anger, knowing that her friend had died alone in a dark cave, and that somebody had known how and why all this time. Murdered. At seventeen. Her family had cast her away, and this was what happened. Kandace, I’m so sorry . . . for what you went through . . . for how it ended. I’d give anything to go back in time and help you. God, she ached.
Things were unraveling. Scarlett could feel it, and yet a sense of doom pervaded, sucking the air from the room. This town had long-held secrets. They weren’t going to let go of them so easily.
She had to help ensure they didn’t have a choice. Light exposes darkness, she reminded herself. It always does. And Kandace’s remains might just be that beacon. Her friend deserved that justice, among many others.
Camden had spent the night with her, slipping from her bed and leaving Lilith House quietly in the pre-dawn hours so as not to wake Had
die in the next room. Scarlett continued to catch her daughter shooting Camden curious looks, despite his commitment to follow her lead into the dark forest upon her word alone, and despite that he’d listened so kindly, so intently, as she’d attempted to explain the Haddie-isms Scarlett was well acquainted with. But Scarlett figured that was normal. Her daughter had never once seen her with a man. It was a new, and possibly upsetting, experience for her. It would take time. And it would take smoother waters before Scarlett had the luxury of addressing her new relationship with her child. Now was simply not the time.
She smiled softly as she walked past the open bedroom door where Millie and Haddie were playing, Haddie teetering across the floor in an old pair of Scarlett’s heels, Millie swinging one of Haddie’s dress-up boas around her neck and saying something in a French accent that made Haddie giggle.
Scarlett’s cell phone rang and she pulled it from her pocket, hurrying down the hall and sitting on a window seat overlooking the woods as she answered the unknown number. “Hello?”
“Scarlett? This is Dru Dorrington, formerly Thompson.” She gave a small laugh. “I was a Kaufman and a Hadlock between the two.”
Scarlett was glad the woman couldn’t see her grimace. She’d been married twice more in the years since Kandace had gone to Lilith House and never come home? Didn’t it seem right that one should run out of chances to obtain a license after failing at marriage half a dozen times or more? “Thank you so much for getting back to me, Mrs. Dorrington. I really . . . I just wanted to give my deepest condolences.”
“Call me Dru, darling. And thank you. I’m so glad you called. I’m just stunned. I don’t know how to feel. Murdered. My Kandace.” She paused. “I can’t say it was a shock to learn she’d run away, nor a shock to learn she’d got mixed up in something ugly that cost her life. But . . . there’s relief too. I can bury her now. Lord knows, I’m more experienced buying white dresses than black, but I’ll have to stretch my wings.” She gave a short laugh that felt like a needle pricking Scarlett’s heart.
The woman hadn’t changed. She didn’t need to imagine what it might have been like to be raised by a such a mother. She knew very well from Kandace. Heartbreaking. “I can’t imagine what you’ve been through not having any answers.”
“Well,” she sighed. “I imagine you can. You were her friend too. She cared very much for you, in case you didn’t know.”
“Thank you, Mrs.— Dru.”
“I’d given her one final chance. All this time, I imagined she just decided not to take it. I’d resigned myself to the fact that we would never know how she got caught up in foul play. Farrow’s sheriff implied drugs. I . . . well, I had no reason to disagree. Kandace . . . she made bad choices.”
Scarlett’s skin felt suddenly icy. She didn’t think drugs were the reason Kandi had been killed, but there still wasn’t any proof. And whatever choices Kandace might have made, she didn’t deserve to be murdered. All she could do was wait and hope that those not involved in the crime would uncover something. In any case, it was clear to her that this would be the last time she spoke to Dru . . . she’d already forgotten her last name, which was well enough. Why use brain space for something that would inevitably change in the very near future?
“She was smart and vibrant,” Scarlett said. “She was stronger than she ever knew.” Than you ever knew. “And she had her whole life in front of her. Someone should be punished.” And if she had even one word to say about it, someone would. Scarlett brought one knee up and rested her arm on it as the sun shifted shades, lemon to gold.
“Yes, of course,” Dru said dismissively. Scarlett pictured the incredibly beautiful woman flipping her hand in the air like she remembered her doing. “Oh, one other thing,” Dru continued. “The medical examiner called this morning and well, there’s no need to make this public, but . . . as her friend, I think you should know.”
“What is it?”
“He believes Kandace gave birth at some point.”
“Gave birth?” she asked, confusion clear in her tone.
“Yes. Something about marks on the pelvic bone. It wasn’t just that she was pregnant, but that she experienced a birth. He can’t pinpoint the timing, just that.”
Scarlett’s mind spun. “How could that be?”
“Well, that’s why I thought I’d tell you. It couldn’t have been while she was at the school. They would have contacted me. I’m assuming they would have sent her home immediately. They were . . . very religious. So it had to be before she went there. I admit there were long periods of time I didn’t see my daughter. She’d run away . . . then come back, get into trouble . . . her life . . . well . . .” She sighed. “Anyway, did she ever say anything to you about a pregnancy?”
“No,” Scarlett answered. “But you know, we were out of touch for long periods sometimes too.”
“Can you imagine,” Dru went on, “that somewhere out there, I might have a grandchild, and I’ll never know him or her?”
Scarlett wasn’t sure what to say to that. Her mind was spinning too fast to string her thoughts together. She managed to chat with Dru for a few more minutes, the older woman promising to send Scarlett the funeral information as soon as Kandace’s body was released. Scarlett hung up, staring blindly out at the forest, the forest Kandace had once run toward, her life slipping tenuously through the hands of time whether she knew it at that moment or not.
Kandace had given birth? It couldn’t have been in the cave. No tiny bones were found. And if an animal had carried the baby away, surely Kandace’s own bones would have been at least partially disturbed too. No, from the descriptions of the three sets of bones in that small area, the dead had lay completely undisturbed.
Until Haddie had discovered them . . . felt them there.
Could Kandace have given birth prior to being sent to Lilith House? It was possible, she supposed, but she also knew that one of the reasons Kandace’s life had spiraled the way it had was because of drug use. Kandace didn’t make the best choices for herself, Dru had been right about that despite the casual, blameless way she’d spoken of it, but try as she might, Scarlett just couldn’t see the girl she’d known partying on without any care for the innocent life she carried.
Maybe you didn’t know her as well as you think, Scarlett. You were only fifteen the last time you saw her. You’d drifted apart.
Yes, all true. And still, the doubt persisted.
So if she didn’t give birth before she came to Lilith House, and if she didn’t give birth in that cave, then could she have had a child under this very roof? Scarlett brought her arms around herself, a sudden chill wafting across her skin.
Other girls had given birth at Lilith House. Three of them, at least.
She looked around at the peeling walls. “What happened here?” she whispered.
Scarlett wandered down the hall, pulled by the sound of Haddie giggling. Her lips tipped as she came to the doorway where the girls were still playing. Millie was dancing in front of the window, using a ray of sun as a spotlight just as she and Kandace had once done.
She was laughing, her dimple flashing, eyes alight with unabashed joy. Scarlett smiled softly. In that moment, Millie reminded her so much of Kandi—the way she moved, the way she threw her head back—but that was possibly because she’d been in Scarlett’s thoughts for the last few days. She was seeing things she wanted to see. Clinging to a friend who had lost her way. Then lost her life.
Millie spun around again, tipped her head to the side, and winked at Haddie, laughing.
Scarlett’s heart stalled.
Oh my God.
It can’t be. She can’t be . . .
Scarlett knew that smile. It flashed in front of her and in her memory as well. The glimpse of a soul she’d once known and loved. It wasn’t just wishful thinking, recalling a face she’d missed for years.
No, that effervescent, enthralling grin . . .
It was Kandace’s smile.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Thirteen Years Ago
Camden whipped around, letting out a slow breath when he saw it was her. “Hey,” Kandace said.
Camden lowered the small animal in his hands to the ground, his expression bleak. “Hi,” he said quietly.
Kandace stepped closer, peering down at the small thing he’d placed on the forest floor. A baby bird. “Is it—?”
“Yes. It was too late.” Camden cast his eyes downward as though in apology for not saving one of God’s creatures.
“You can’t save every baby animal you find,” she said. He’d told her it was like the baby animals came to him, but she knew that couldn’t be the case. Injured animals could no more seek him, nor anyone, out than they could call an emergency vet. It was just nature, harsh and unforgiving to the weakest among its inhabitants. And that happened to be the young and the helpless. Kandace was pretty sure injured baby animals could be found everywhere—for anyone—if they took the time to look. Camden, little dreamboat that he was, thought the animals were delivered straight to him because he took immediate responsibility for them. Sweet, sweet kid.
“I know,” he said, but he didn’t appear to be convinced of his own words. Kandace took a seat on a low rock next to the one on which Camden sat, the dead baby bird lying at his feet. The forest grew a smidge brighter as the sun rose higher in the sky. She squinted toward the row of trees that separated the forest from the Lilith House grounds, her baby giving a strong kick from within. Kandace pulled her uniform away from her body as much as possible. She didn’t want Camden to know this secret. There was no reason.
It was her turn to take responsibility for the innocent.
“You shouldn’t risk this,” he said after a moment. “Coming out here. You should stop. They’ll catch you eventually.”
“I know.” And she did. The risk she was taking was monumental. Yes, there was no reason for him to know about the baby, but she did need his help for something else. He was the only one she believed she could trust. “I won’t be coming out here anymore. I’m going to leave. It’s time.”