by Crissy Sharp
She turned the phone on and called Jason. His number still went straight to voicemail so she left another message before calling Nikki. No one answered. Hopelessness threatened to overwhelm her as she tried Brent and their home phone with no luck.
Her stomach lurched as a loud group approached the truck. She let out a sigh when they continued past and she could see it was a group of teenagers laughing and yelling. She pulled into reverse and headed toward Strawberry Lake Estates. She had to know what was going on.
She turned one street before her cove and parked where the streetlight didn’t reach. She held a sleepy Aiden in one arm and Ty’s hand in the other. The hens protested when she left them inside the truck and shut the doors, but bringing them would make it impossible to be inconspicuous. The excess adrenaline pumping through her body made it easy to be alert as she moved through the trees.
As the neighborhood came into view, she strained to see her driveway, but the distance and darkness made it impossible. She couldn’t go to her house. Especially not when she had the boys with her. It was too risky. Instead, she made her way toward what was left of Jocelyn’s house. From there, she’d have a clear view of her house and the Grantham’s house.
She stuck to the shadows as she approached the charred remains of Jocelyn’s home. The situation made the burned walls foreboding. Her shaking legs didn’t help. Aiden whimpered and snuggled in closer. Ty remained silent. The Lotty of a few weeks ago would have turned around and gone back to the truck, stayed hidden as long as possible. Maybe that was the smart choice, but she was different now. She could do this, needed to do this. Her husband and friends could be in trouble and she wasn’t going to shrink away from it. Her stomach knotted as she ducked beneath the police tape and reached for the blackened back door. It was unlocked. They stepped into the kitchen. Shivers ran down her spine at the eeriness. What used to be warm and inviting was ominous and creepy. Black marks from the flames licked up the cupboards like shadows, almost consuming the wood.
Lotty tried to set Aiden down, but he cried. The noise seemed to shake the fragile frame of the house, surely alerting the entire neighborhood of her whereabouts. She put her hand over his mouth and shook her head as she picked him back up. She used the light on her cell phone to help them navigate through the house. Maybe the downstairs bedroom would still be usable. The boys could sleep there while she figured out her next move.
As they inched down the hall, Lotty noticed a soft light glowing from the living room. She shut off the light on her phone and the hall was still perfectly illuminated. Was it a television? There was no sound. Maybe it was muted. She moved away, but Ty pulled free of her hand and shuffled toward the room. “Ty!” she mouthed, but he either didn’t see her or ignored her. This time, she whispered, “Ty, no!” He stood in the doorway to the living room and stared.
“Why are there so many, Mom?” he asked, pointing to the room.
She was both scared and eager to find out what he was referring to. Her heart thumped in her chest as she moved closer. She rounded the corner and stopped next to Ty while she stared into the room. Several monitors sat on fold-up tables. The images on the screens were familiar, but her brain wasn’t working quickly enough. What was she looking at? A loud gasp escaped her lips and her hand flew up to cover her mouth. It couldn’t be, yet there it was. She had to lean on one of the tables to keep her legs from going out from under her. She was staring at video feeds of the inside of her house.
The back door opened and slammed shut. Lotty grabbed Ty and searched for a place to hide. They headed toward the far wall, where a doorway led to the back bedroom, but just as they got past the monitors, Lotty’s phone started playing Mozart’s Symphony 25. She stared at the screen that showed an unknown Montana number. Was is Jason? Her heart sank as she silenced the ring and footsteps moved closer. Willing her feet to move faster though her legs were shaking, she made it to the doorway, but felt someone’s stare. She nervously looked over her shoulder and met a familiar set of eyes.
Chapter 24
Jason started to slam the phone back onto its receiver when he remembered there were unsuspecting eyes all around. Standing at a payphone in a small grocery store outside of Missoula, he gently set the phone back and leaned against the wall. Lotty’s phone had rang through. That meant she’d turned it back on, but she hadn’t answered. He ran his fingers through his hair and took a deep breath.
Getting away from the blue Acura hadn’t proved too difficult. He’d had enough of a lead that he was able to turn off and stick to backroads. He’d looped back toward the campsite and headed to Orofino and on to Missoula. However, that added a couple of hours to the trip and put Kellogg completely out of his way. He knew Lotty would be worried when he didn’t show up at their meeting spot, but he hadn’t been able to call her yet. The needle on his gas tank had been below the E so he’d pulled off at a small, dusty gas station over two hundred miles ago. Without any money, he’d traded his phone to the owner in exchange for a tank of gas. Why the older woman wanted Jason’s phone when the area had no cell service was beyond him, but he happily agreed to the trade. His only goal was to get back to Lotty and the boys. Since the station hadn’t had a payphone, he couldn’t call her. He rushed on until he was just outside of Missoula and found a payphone inside a quaint grocery store.
Why wouldn’t she answer her phone? Wouldn’t she be anxiously waiting for him to call after he didn’t show up at The Olive Garden? His eyes burned and he realized he’d stopped blinking. He shut them and laid his head against the wall. She should be back in Walden by now. Where would she go? Maybe she’d found Brent and Nikki and was busy talking so she didn’t hear her phone. Maybe she’d been tracked through her cell phone. He took a deep breath, trying unsuccessfully to calm his racing heart. It wouldn’t help him to stand there thinking of all the maybes.
Jason grabbed the phone book hanging by a silver chord. He hadn’t used one of those in years. Scrolling through the pages, he found the number of the local police station. He put more coins into the phone, silently thanking Lotty for keeping spare change in the middle console of the van. He’d been able to dig up nearly two dollars in change. He dialed the number and when a pleasant-sounding woman answered, he asked her for the phone number of the Walden Police Station.
She cheerfully replied, her smile evident through the phone. He thanked her, repeated the number in his mind several times, and inserted more coins before dialing the new number. A gruff voice, probably seeming even more so by the contrast with the sweet voice of the woman he’d just spoken to, barked, “Walden Police.”
“Yes, hi. I’m looking for Officer Grantham,” Jason said, trying to hide his anxiety.
“Yeah, you and the rest of the town,” the man grumbled.
“No one’s seen him?” Jason was answered with silence. “Um, sir? Are you still there?”
“I’m here. Look, do you need anything else? I’m busy.”
“Who’s been looking for Brent?” Jason asked.
“It’s not really anyone’s business.”
“It might be if he’s in danger,” Jason said, his anger rapidly growing.
“I doubt it,” the man responded, wryly. “Officer Grantham’s wife has been in here several times pushing us to find him, but it’s only been a few hours since he was here at his desk.”
Jason breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Nikki was okay. “When was she last there?”
“It seems like every other minute,” he mumbled. “If she’s not going on about her husband, she’s ranting about how the Brooks are missing.”
“The Brooks? This is the Brooks. I mean, this is Jason Brooks. I’m not missing.”
“Mr. Brooks. Of course,” he said in monotone. “Although I did assume if someone called and asked questions, it would be your wife.”
Jason was taken aback by this man’s rudeness. So much so that it took him a moment to formulate a response. The man took his silence as an invitation to continue, “Where have
you been hiding these past few days? Is your wife with you?”
As the impertinent questions continued, Jason realized who he was speaking with. The hair on the back of his neck prickled, as if warning him to tread lightly.
“Officer Netley,” Jason said dryly, “It’s always a pleasure.”
The arrogant man let out a snort.
Jason continued, “Don’t worry about my wife and me. We’re fine. You can focus one hundred percent of your attention on finding Officer Grantham. I know you’re fairly new to Walden so you may not know him well, but he is dedicated to his job.” It took all of Jason’s focus to keep his tone even. “He doesn’t just skip out after lunch.”
He let the phone drop from his ear to his shoulder and started to hang it back on the receiver, but stopped when he heard yelling through the earpiece. “Mr. Brooks. Mr. Brooks, do not hang up that phone yet,” Netley bellowed. “Mr. Brooks.”
Jason held the phone slightly away from his ear, but didn’t hang up.
Netley toned down his volume slightly, but still yelling, continued, “Please don’t hang up yet.”
Jason’s curiosity was piqued. He’d never seen Netley show an ounce of humility, so to hear him use the word “please” and not have it dripping with sarcasm was surprising. “I’m here,” Jason said flatly.
“Cade Warner has also been looking for you. He was released yesterday and his first priority was talking to you. Have you, uh, spoken with him?”
“No,” Jason said, wondering what game Netley was playing. He almost seemed helpful. “Released from what?”
“He spent twenty-four hours in a holding cell. He was brought in for questioning, but he was released.”
Jason let that sink in. “Okay, and where is he now?”
“How would I know?” Netley replied, reverting back to his usual menacing tone. “He wouldn’t stop nagging me, asking where you were and if we’d looked for you. Stupid man wouldn’t just take his belongings and get out of here.”
“Well I have no way to reach him. I don’t know his number and I—”
“I have his number,” Netley mumbled and continued ranting about how everyone else always had to make things more difficult than they needed to be. He rattled off a number as Jason scrambled to find something to write with. He set the phone down, jogged to the customer service counter where he grabbed a pen, and rushed back to the phone.
“Can you please repeat that?”
Netley let out a sigh and said the number again in exaggerated slow motion, pausing for several seconds after each digit. Jason wrote it on his hand and thanked Netley, who only grunted in reply before Jason hung up.
Now more confused than ever, Jason tried to make sense of his conversation with Netley. Why would Netley want him to contact Cade? It was entirely against his normal personality to be helpful. Cranky and accusing, yes, but never helpful. He paused before picking up the phone. What if Netley was connected to the bounty on Lotty? Should he ignore his advice? Would contacting Cade somehow put Lotty in more danger? That didn’t seem to make any sense. He pushed a finger against his aching temple and shut his eyes. He wished Lotty were here to help him figure out the next step.
Staring at the numbers on his hand, he picked up the phone once again and inserted more coins. It rang twice, then a third time. As he tried to decide whether to leave a message, an exhausted, raspy voice answered, “Hello.”
Jason stood up straight and held the phone tighter. “Uh, hello, is this Cade?”
“Yes?” came the drawn-out response.
Cade must have been through a rough couple of days. He sounded terrible. What if it was a mistake to call him?
“Cade, this is Jason Brooks. Officer Netley told me tha—”
“Jason?” Cade was loud now, his voice perking up. “Where have you been?” Jason could hear papers shuffling in the background. “I thought you guys might be dead. Is Lotty okay? We all need to meet. Like right now. I don’t want to say what I have to say over the phone.”
“We’re fine. We just had to take a little family trip.” Jason hesitated, unsure how much to say. He continued, “I can’t meet right now though. I’m not in Walden.” He debated whether he should tell Cade that Lotty might be back in Walden. If Lotty was in danger, maybe Cade could help. On the other hand, Cade might be the one putting Lotty in danger. Best to stay silent until he knew more.
“Are you close? Can you meet me soon?” Cade’s desperation was evident in his voice.
“Not for a while, no. What’s going on, Cade?”
“Look, the stuff going on in your neighborhood just keeps getting weirder and weirder and as soon as I started poking around, I looked guilty. They brought me in yesterday.”
“I heard.”
“It’s only a matter of time before they can find something to keep me there.”
“Cade, I’m sorry, but I’m in a bit of a hurry. What did you find out? Can’t you tell me anything over the phone?”
“Hold on,” Cade whispered and it went quiet. Holding the silent phone up to his ear, Jason wondered if he’d heard him correctly.
“Jason, you there?” Cade asked.
“I’m here.”
“I’m going to put one of my foremen on with you for a second. He can explain it better than I can.”
There was shuffling as the phone was passed and then a deep, “Hello?”
“Uh, yeah, hi.” Jason said.
“You the guy with the dead chickens?”
“Um, yes.”
“I met you at Strawberry Days. Jay O’Brien. Anyway, your neighborhood is toxic.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty bad right now, but Cade said you could tell me wh—”
“No, toxic, as in literally filled with poison. It’s deadly, virulent, dangerous, perni—”
“Okay, I get it,” Jason interrupted, wondering how many more words this guy knew that meant toxic. “How? And what does that have to do with the robberies, the dead bodies, the arson, and my wife?”
“Still piecing it together. What I do know is that there’s cyanide and chromium six in the water and in the soil. It’s killing plants, small animals, and probably wreaking silent havoc on the residents there.”
“Okay,” Jason said, understanding a tiny bit about why Lotty’s hens were dying, but it didn’t seem relevant to the problem at hand. He wanted to know why his wife was being targeted, not about the dangers lurking in the soil.
There was more shuffling and Cade came back on. “So, what he’s telling you is that someone is poisoning the neighborhood. Cyanide and chromium six can be fatal. The levels in your water are off the charts.”
“I’m just not really seeing the connection. This is definitely something we need to look into, but not tonight, not when there are more important things.”
“Jason, listen,” Cade pleaded. “I don’t understand all of what’s going on, but it connects. First, the water has been tested and signed off by someone named Scott Willard.”
Jason stopped listening for a moment as he tried to remember why that name was familiar, but he couldn’t place it. Was that the name of one of the deceased people dumped in the neighborhood? He’d think about it later when his mind wasn’t so busy.
Cade continued, “...multiple times. Like we’re talking every year. Then there have been special filters installed in the wells. I don’t know exactly what the filters do yet. Jay’s going to check them out when he can. Maybe someone knew about the toxicity and tried to slow down the side effects of the poisonous water.”
“That’s a good thing, right?”
“No. There are more problems than just the water.” Cade stopped. “Oh no. Jason, I’m about to be arrested again. Three cop cars just pulled up.”
“Why?”
“Either they found more planted evidence in Strawberry Lake Estates or they realized I broke into City Hall to get the records of the water tests. Come talk to me when you get back.” Click. The dial tone screamed in Jason’s ear.
He h
ung up the phone and thought about what Cade had said. It all seemed so tiny when compared to death threats against Lotty. Water and soil just weren’t pressing issues right now. In fact, he remembered those filters being installed. He remembered who put them on.
His stomach dropped. It couldn’t be. Did installing filters on wells really have anything to do with the rest of this? If there was even a chance that the two were connected, he needed to get to Lotty now.
Chapter 25
Lotty inhaled sharply as she stared into Nikki’s eyes. What could Nikki be doing here in a room full of monitors showing nearly every room of Lotty’s home? There was one explanation, but Lotty couldn’t believe it. Nikki opened her arms out wide, trying to embrace Lotty, but Lotty slowly inched away. Nikki stared at her, her eyebrows furrowing. Ty pulled his hand from Lotty’s grip and ran to Nikki. He threw his little arms around her legs. Somehow Lotty felt like he was betraying her by running to Nikki.
“What’s going on, Lotty? Where have you been? I was so worried.” Nikki gushed.
A cynical laugh escaped Lotty’s lips. She’d spent thousands of hours with this woman. This friend. She’d poured out her soul to her. Laughed. Trusted. What did this mean? Why was she spying on their house?
Nikki picked Ty up in a tight hug. “Oh honey, I’ve been so worried about you.” She kissed his cheek. No, Lotty would not let her touch her baby. She grabbed Ty out of Nikki’s arms and pulled him into her own.
“Don’t touch him,” Lotty said, her voice a raspy whisper.
Nikki stared at her wide-eyed before finding her voice. “What’s going on with you? What happened?”
“You tell me,” Lotty said, thinking of all the times she’d left her sweet boys with this woman.
“I’ve been trying to get ahold of you for days. I thought something horrible must have happened? Where’s Jason?”
Lotty backed away. Ignoring her questions, she motioned to the monitors. “How long have you had these here? Was this why Jocelyn’s house was burned down?” The thought made her sick.