Parker Security Complete Series

by Camilla Blake

  “Hi, Skip,” I said. “It’s Gwen Lillie.”

  There was a pause. “Wasn’t expecting to ever hear from you again,” he said.

  “I know. It’s been a while. I was wondering if I might stop by briefly. I’m at Judd’s right now; Lisa gave me your phone number.”

  Skip responded by coughing, loudly. Finally it let up. “Sure,” he said. He didn’t bother asking why I had called him out of the blue after all these years. “She give you my address?”

  “She did.”

  “Well, I’m here. Don’t plan on going anywhere in the next few days, so I’d say you got a little bit of time.” He laughed, even though it wasn’t funny.

  “Okay,” I said. “Well... thanks. We’ll probably stay here a while longer and then be on our way. I’ll call first.”

  “No need. Like I said, I’ll be here.”

  “All right, then. Thanks. Guess we’ll see you in a little bit.”

  “It is good to hear your voice,” Skip said, and then he hung up.

  Both Drew and Judd looked up at me when I came back over. “How’d it go?” Judd asked.

  “He’s there. He says to not even bother to call first; we can just go over there.”

  “We should probably get going pretty soon, then,” Drew said.

  “You guys can stay for as long as you want,” Judd said. “I mean, it’s been so long since I’ve seen you, Gwen. I feel like there’s a lot of catching up to do.”

  I was about to say something, but then Carla appeared at the slider, and I could tell from the expression on her face that she wasn’t thrilled to see that we were still here. She didn’t come out, though, and before I could say anything she disappeared back into the house. I didn’t want to think we were disrupting things, stopping by like this, but maybe we were.

  “Yeah, we probably should get going,” I said. “We’ve got a bit of a tight schedule,” I said to Judd, which wasn’t entirely true but I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. And I could tell that Drew was eager to hit the road.

  “Well, okay,” Judd said, looking disappointed. The fact that he wasn’t bothering to hide it at all did make me feel a bit uncomfortable, a little bad that we were only going to stay for a short visit. But it was pretty clear that Carla didn’t want us here, whether or not Judd was aware of that.

  This time, he did give me a hug as we were saying goodbye, a long hug—like, I had let go and he still had his arms wrapped around me. I finally managed to wriggle loose and then I kind of laughed it off, but things did feel very strange all of a sudden. It was a relief when we were in the car, driving away.

  “Sorry to rush you along like that,” Drew said, “but I didn’t get the best vibes from that guy. No offense meant, of course.”

  “No, I get what you’re saying. That was kind of weird.”

  “He likes you.”

  I stared at Drew. “Say what?”

  “It’s pretty obvious.”

  “Why? Because he wanted us to stay longer?”

  “No; because...” Drew glanced at me, eyebrows raised. “It’s kind of hard to explain. It’s not any one specific thing. Just a feeling. But it was obvious to me.”

  “I don’t know about that,” I said. “I think it was more that I’m a reminder of Brandon, because I was always trying to tag along when they were hanging out, and he and Brandon were like best friends. It’s probably all bringing up a lot of shit for him.”

  “Maybe,” Drew said. “Or maybe I’m right.”

  There wouldn’t really be any way to know unless we asked Judd, which wasn’t going to happen, so the best thing seemed to be to just forget about it. I had other things to think about anyway, such as the fact that we were now driving toward Skip Sheldon’s, a man who probably knew Joshua better than anyone else.

  In other words, if anyone might be able to tell us what Joshua was doing with Ashleigh’s journal, it would be Skip.

  Chapter 19

  Drew

  I wasn’t entirely thrilled to be heading over to this guy’s house, especially after leaving Judd’s, who clearly had it bad for Gwen, and probably had done since they were kids. She hadn’t believed me when I mentioned it, but that didn’t change the fact that the guy definitely had feelings for her. Didn’t imagine that thrilled Judd’s wife too much, either.

  So, while I was glad to be out of there, driving east toward Skip’s wasn’t necessarily my first choice. But Gwen seemed to think it was possible he would be able to shed some light onto this situation, and if there was even a chance that was true, then we had to at least go talk to him for a few minutes.

  He lived on the outskirts of town, in a run-down area that exuded a rather melancholy vibe. We walked up to his house and Gwen knocked. We waited what felt to be about a whole minute, and then Skip came to the screen door, a tall but diminished gray-haired, grizzled man wearing a red flannel shirt over a grimy, stained T-shirt, which was tucked into worn sweatpants. You could tell that he had at one time been a formidable man but that the years had certainly taken their toll. He coughed, squinted, and asked us who the hell we were.

  “Skip,” Gwen said, taking a step forward. “It’s me, Gwen.”

  He narrowed his eyes at her. “You came back around,” he said. “You’re all grown up now.”

  “We talked to you on the phone. You said that it was okay if we came by.”

  “I don’t have many people come over,” he said. He pushed open the screen door. “Come on in.”

  The inside of the house was about what you’d expect: dark, stale, not the sort of place you’d want to spend any considerable time, if you could help it.

  “Excuse the mess,” he said as we followed him into the living room, which consisted of a couch covered in afghans and a recliner positioned in front of a television, which was on some talk show but with the volume muted. “Homemaking is not one my strong skills.” He coughed again, a heavy, liquid rumbling from deep in his lungs. “Not that I’m worried about that sort of thing. Don’t know if you heard or not, but my time here on this earth probably isn’t going to be much longer.”

  “I’m sorry,” Gwen said. “What... what are you sick with?”

  “Might make more sense to tell you what I’m not sick with. Let’s see. I’ve got COPD. Diabetes. Rheumatoid arthritis. Oh…” He paused, the faintest of smiles coming to his face as he lowered himself heavily into the recliner. “Just found out I’ve got cancer, too. Lung cancer. Should’ve smoked, I guess. Seems kind of stupid that I quit all those years ago.” He shrugged. “But I’m done with any sort of treatment; I’m not going to go in for radiation or chemotherapy or whatever the hell else it is they want to do for people these days just to keep them alive a little longer. What’s the point? Life doesn’t go on forever, at least not this life. So, what is it you two wanted to talk about? Or did you just want to come by and air your grievances to me, too? I’ve had some relations come by and do that. Little nieces and nephews who are now grown adults, who seem to think I owe them something. Only person I might owe a damn thing to would be you, which is the only reason I agreed to let you come over here.”

  I glanced at Gwen, not quite sure what the hell this guy was talking about. The expression on her face told me that she wasn’t quite sure where he was going with this either.

  “Owe me something?” she said. “Why would you owe me something?”

  “Why don’t you tell me what you’re here for first, then I’ll get into all that.”

  “Okay,” she said. “Well, like I said on the phone, Drew and I are trying to find some answers about Brandon and Drew’s sister, Ashleigh. Did Brandon ever mention a girlfriend to you?”

  “A girlfriend? Nah, I don’t think so. Not to say that he didn’t have any ladies in his life; I’m sure a guy like him had plenty. But... Joshua was pretty hell-bent on him marrying that girl, whatshername. That was something Joshua and I never agreed on, right from the start—having an arranged marriage. Isn’t that the sort of thing they do in third-wor
ld countries? Arrange marriages like that? Seems ridiculous. Marriage is hard enough as it is—doesn’t really make sense to make it even harder. I do remember having a conversation with Brandon about that one time. We’d gone fishing. Caught a few bass. That was a fine day. I’ve been thinking about things like that lately. Trying to remember the fine days, the good memories. Unfortunately for me, there seem to be a whole lot more bad memories than good ones, but that day, I remember it.”

  “It sounds like a nice day,” Gwen said. “But you’re sure he didn’t talk to you about a girl ever? Someone he really liked?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe.” Skip looked at me and shrugged, as if to say What else can I tell her?

  I sighed. We weren’t going to get any information from this guy, I knew that already. But, since we were here, we might as well stay for a little bit; I had a feeling we might be some of the last visitors this guy had.

  “It was all a long time ago, Gwen. Things happened that I never would’ve even thought possible back in those days. It almost seems like someone else’s life. Does that make sense?”

  “Of course it does. I feel the same way when I think about it. I mean, I’m glad that my life is so different now that it seems like that time was someone else’s life.”

  “I realize the error of Joshua’s ways now, I do. And I’d probably do things differently—no, I know I’d do things differently—if I had the chance. But what’s done is done, right? Can’t change the past.”

  The air in the room had thickened, it seemed, if such a thing was even possible. There was a strange vibe in the air, sort of the way certain people can tell that lightning is about to strike before it actually happens. There was something else that Skip wanted to tell us, but I could not for the life of me figure out what it was. Unless he really did know something about where Brandon and Ashleigh were.

  “You see, when I was young, I never thought that I’d end up like this,” he said. “It’s only natural to think that because you feel a certain way today, you’re just going to feel that way forever. I know I wasn’t the only person to think like that. And for a while, things with Joshua were good, real good. It felt like a home. A community. I was finally a part of something and that was really what I’d always wanted. So I didn’t want to do anything to put that at risk, you see. Back then, I was so caught up with the way things were, and trying to keep them that way, that I would’ve done just about anything if I thought that would help.”

  “That’s the thing,” Gwen said. “I never judged anyone for following Joshua, or wanting to be a part of whatever it was he was trying to do. I mean, not at the beginning, anyway. I could see that people liked what he was saying, that people liked being a part of something. It was just when he started talking all that nonsense about his way being the only way and that people’s salvation was at stake if they didn’t do what he said... That’s what I had a problem with.”

  “I realize now that was wrong. That you can only dictate your own terms in life, and trying to do so for other people, even if they want you to, is pure foolishness. That’s why your uncle and I had the falling-out that we did. I don’t know what you know about that.”

  “I don’t know anything about it.”

  “I started to see a different light, I guess you could say. I started to see that we’re all just people here, all just trying to find our own truth. That there isn’t just one. And doing anything in the name of preserving that truth is not always the right or righteous way to be.”

  My mind was starting to wander and I began counting down the minutes until we could make our gracious exit. I glanced at Gwen, trying to gauge her reaction. Her face was relatively impassive, so it was hard to tell what she was really thinking. But I couldn’t imagine that she was really enjoying sitting in this dumpy house, listening to this guy go on and on about seeing the light.

  Stop it, I thought. You’re kind of being a dick right now.

  Was it really that big of a deal to me to sit here and at least pretend I was listening? No, I didn’t know this guy, had no relation or connection to him, but it was plain as day that his time on this earth wasn’t going to be for that much longer. And he seemed to be saying things that he needed to get off his chest.

  He stopped talking and started coughing, a spell which lasted nearly a minute. When he finally stopped, he took a ragged breath and then said, “I need to tell you something. Something that I’m not sure you’re going to want to hear, but it’s been weighing on my mind a lot. A whole lot. And I’m not much for computers or technology or anything like that, so there was a part of me that believed I just wouldn’t get the chance to ever tell this to you. But now here you are. So I’ve got to take that as a sign. As crazy as it sounds.”

  “It doesn’t sound that crazy,” Gwen said. “That’s kind of why we’re here to begin with, what started this whole thing. Something happened and we took it as a sign. What is it you wanted to tell me?”

  “It has to do with your parents.”

  “My parents?”

  “Yes. Your parents didn’t die in an accident,” he said. What? I leaned forward, not sure I wanted to hear what he was going to follow this up with. Was he crazy? Was whatever sickness he had crippling his mind making him talk nonsense?

  Gwen blinked. “What do you mean? Of course they did. A car accident. I didn’t believe Joshua when he told me, so he took me down to the junkyard to see the car. I saw it with my own two eyes.”

  “It wasn’t an accident, though,” he said. “It was me. I’m the one responsible for your parents’ deaths.”

  Chapter 20

  Gwen

  Drew and I both stared at him as he sat there wheezing and coughing. “Excuse me?” I said, certain that I had heard him wrong. My parents had died in a car accident. I had seen the car with my own two eyes. It had been on a narrow, winding country road where it is easy to go fast but some of the turns come up quick and if you’re not ready, going off the road is a real possibility. Unfortunately for my parents, they had gone off the road and straight into a grove of trees.

  “I’ve wanted to tell you that for some time now,” Skip said. “Joshua would never give me the okay to do so. Guess I should have sorted what was right from wrong back then, but... I listened to him. I listened to him a lot when I probably shouldn’t have, I realize that now, but at the time, when you’re so caught up in something, it can be hard to realize that. What’s that saying, hindsight’s twenty-twenty?”

  “What do you mean, you were responsible?” Drew asked.

  “I had just changed the oil in your parents’ car,” Skip said. “And I messed with the brakes. I’m mechanical like that—well, I used to be—and I know how to do that sort of thing. Wasn’t hard at all. We knew that your parents were going to be taking a day trip the next morning, and you were staying with Grace and Brandon. The plan was never for them to die, though, just to get hurt.”

  “But... why?” I asked, still not wanting to believe him. “Why would you do that?”

  “It wasn’t me who wanted to. I always liked your parents, never had a problem with either one of them. Good people. I’m not sure where Joshua got this information from, but he was convinced that your parents were going to try to leave and take you with them. That they didn’t think this was the right sort of environment for you, and they wanted you to have a better childhood than the one that you were having. Now, it always seemed to me like you were happy enough, but then again, what do I know about little kids? Your dad was never as much of a believer about all this stuff as Joshua was. I’m sure you know that.”

  Enough time had passed since my parents’ deaths that it was hard for me to really remember. The memories I did have of them sometimes felt like dreams, so I wasn’t sure if they had actually happened or if it was, in fact, just a dream. I couldn’t remember any specific conversations, though I could still hear, in my head, what my parents’ voices sounded like. I knew they loved me. What Skip was saying right now sort of made sense.
r />   “Why wouldn’t Joshua just let that happen? Why did he care? It’s not like we were so important to his cause.”

  “Your dad was his brother. How would that look to the others if his own brother abandoned him?”

  “There are plenty of fanatics whose siblings are not involved.”

  Skip started another serious round of hacking. It was painful to listen to, so I could only imagine how painful it was to actually experience. He deserves it, a little voice whispered in my head. You’re sitting here with the guy who is responsible for killing your parents.

  The thing was, I didn’t entirely blame Skip. He wouldn’t have done it if Joshua hadn’t told him to, and really, it didn’t matter whom I blamed now; it wasn’t going to change anything. It wasn’t going to bring my parents back.

  “I needed to clear my conscience,” Skip said. “I couldn’t die without at least having told you that. Also, that I’m sorry. There’s a lot I wish I could take back, but seeing as I don’t have a time machine, there’s not much I can do about it.”

  I sat there, and he sat there, and Drew sat next to me, and for several long moments, no one said anything. I mean, what the hell was I supposed to say to that? That I forgave him? Thank him for clearing that matter up? Tell him that he had only affirmed what a fucking asshole my uncle had been and I had absolutely made the right choice to get out of there when I did?

  “I have to go,” I said, because I didn’t know what else to do. I stood up and hurried out of his shitty little house, away from the staleness, the stench of impending death. He would be dead soon enough. Whether or not I was angry at him didn’t really matter. I could hear Drew behind me. He said something to Skip; Skip said something back, but I didn’t hear what because by that time, I was almost at the car.

  “Please just drive,” I said to Drew once we were in the car. “Just get me away from here as quickly as you can.”