She went to him, vaguely aware of Chief Frankie speaking rapidly into her radio, but she could do nothing to offer Josh any comfort. Their eyes met, though, and she knew that he saw the kindred emotions in her own. It was as if a dam broke, allowing his feelings to flood into her mind and hers into his, until the waters met and melded into one swirling pool.
“Oh, God, is he all right?” Dawn cried, rushing forward, breaking the spell.
“I don’t know.” He looked past her. “We have to get him down off this mountain.”
“It can be done,” Frankie said, joining them. “I’ve had to do it before, hunters have accidents up here all the time. Bring him here, Joshua.”
Josh carried his son to the ATV, though it was difficult with Dawn in the way, hovering, touching Bryan’s face, speaking to him. Frankie said, “Put him down on the seat. Here, let me help.” She guided Bryan’s leg over the seat, helped Josh ease him down. “There, let me hold on to him while you get settled in front of him.”
Josh looked at her doubtfully.
“Go on.”
Josh complied, and then Frankie leaned Bryan against his father’s back. Bryan roused a little, lifting his head, looking around as if confused, his eyes unfocused.
“He’ll never stay on,” Josh said.
“I told you, I’ve done this before. Beth, come here, and get yourself on behind Bryan. It’ll be tight, and you’ll have to hold on for dear life, but he won’t fall off.”
Beth got on behind Bryan, her rear end barely on the seat. Josh shifted forward as far as he could, and Beth slid Bryan ahead, as well, then scooted closer, pinning the half-frozen teenager between her body and Josh’s.
Chief Frankie took Beth’s hands and guided them to the bars just below hip level on either side. “You hang on here.”
“I should hold on to Bryan, shouldn’t I?”
“Your body will hold him in place. You don’t hold on, you’ll be the one getting bounced off the back of this thing. It’s not a smooth ride.” She sighed. “I’d do it myself, but you’re smaller and probably a little stronger.” She winked. “Not much, but maybe a little. I’ll lead the way. Dawn can still ride with me.”
Beth nodded, holding on to the bars.
“Follow me,” Chief Frankie said. Then she jumped on the other machine and started it up again.
Josh turned his head, looking back at Beth. “Ready?”
She nodded. “Let’s get him home, Josh.”
Dr. Granger might not have shown up if he hadn’t been so fond of Maude. House calls were obsolete, even in small towns like Blackberry. But Beth knew this was different. Hell, the entire town had been rallying around her since the newspaper article had come out. She had been Maude’s dear friend, her heir, and apparently she had inherited more than just a house from the old woman. She’d inherited an entire community. Now Joshua and Bryan were included in the goodwill being sent her way, so the doctor had come, and was upstairs in the bedroom with Bryan now.
Arthur and two of his men were downstairs, pacing and talking. So were Chief Parker and a handful of her officers. They were handling all the locals. Folks had been coming by in groups ever since the search was called off and word spread that the missing boy had been found. The volunteers and others wanted to know if he was all right and, more than that, whether the evil man who’d destroyed two Blackberry homes and maybe murdered its most beloved citizen was still lurking somewhere.
Between them, the chief and Arthur were doing a good job of reassuring people, thanking them for their concern and sending them on their way.
Beth was grateful for their help. And grateful, too, for the food that had been contributed earlier, since it kept everyone well fed. That gave her more time to hover outside Bryan’s door, worrying with his father and Dawn.
Dawn was doing double duty, worrying outside the door while speaking to her irate mother long distance.
She’d just hung up when the bedroom door opened and the doctor came out.
He smiled at their expectant faces. “Bryan’s suffering from exhaustion and exposure, but nothing’s broken, and there’s no frostbite. He’s going to be fine.”
Beth thought Josh might collapse in relief, and she moved closer to his side, slid an arm around his waist to offer her strength.
“I want you to keep the electric blanket on him. His body temperature is still low. If he feels stronger in a couple of hours and wants to, a warm bath would be all right, but not yet, and when you do, don’t make it too hot. He’s too weak right now.”
“I washed the worst of the mud off him when we first got him home,” Beth said. “We had to strip off his wet clothes and dress him in warm dry ones anyway.”
“You did fine. The bath can wait till morning, if necessary. If he sleeps, don’t wake him. Let him rest. Keep him warm. If he gets hungry, go with hot soup, hot tea, hot cocoa, that sort of thing.”
Beth was nodding, making mental notes.
Josh said, “Are you sure there’s no other damage?”
“Pretty sure,” the doctor said. “But I’d still like to see him in my office just as soon as you can get him there. Call in the morning and make an appointment. I’ll notify my secretary to make room whenever it’s convenient for you. All right?”
“All right. Thank you, Doctor.”
Dr. Granger nodded. “Go ahead, go in and see him.”
When Dawn took a half step toward the door, Beth took her arm gently. “Let’s let his dad have a few minutes with him first, hmm?”
Swallowing, looking impatient but understanding, Dawn nodded. “Sure.”
Josh sent Beth a thank-you with his eyes and walked into the bedroom to be with his son. Sighing, Dawn turned to face Beth. “So what are the cops and the Feds doing about Mordecai?”
Beth glanced toward the stairs. “They seem to be of the opinion that he’s taken off again.”
Dawn’s expressive blue eyes narrowed. “But you know better, right?”
Beth didn’t answer. She didn’t want to give Dawn any excuse to hang around here. As soon as morning came, she had to convince her that this was all over, and that it was time for her to go home.
“Beth, come on. You know him. Better than I do, better than anyone does. You know he won’t give up until he’s done whatever he came here to do.”
Beth licked her lips. “He may have decided to withdraw until all the excitement dies down.”
“Not when he thinks you’re going back into hiding somewhere else.”
Beth drew her brows together and shot Dawn a look.
“I saw the paper. Heard the cops going off about it and took a look for myself. You were trying to force him to make a move.”
Beth shrugged. “Maybe I’m tired of hiding.”
“He hasn’t gone anywhere, Beth. He’s out there, somewhere, right now.” She looked past Beth at some invisible point of nothingness. “I can feel it.”
Heaving a sigh, Beth put a hand on Dawn’s shoulder. “You never got your bath, did you?”
Dawn eyed her. “Changing the subject ’cause you can’t argue and win?”
“Let’s take a hot shower, hmm? You can use my bathroom and I’ll use Josh’s. We’ll put on our thick socks and flannel nightgowns, and then we’ll curl up by the fire downstairs with a pot of hot cocoa and some marshmallows, and we’ll catch up.”
Dawn swallowed hard. “I have to see Bryan.”
“His dad’s gonna be in there with him for a while. Besides, you don’t want him to see you with berry briars in your hair and dirt on your face, do you?” As she asked the question, she reached out and plucked a stray twig from Dawn’s hair. “We can be clean, dry, warm and fortified with cocoa in a half hour, tops. What do you say?”
Sighing, Dawn nodded. “Okay.”
Mordecai wrestled the old kerosene space heater down from the shelf on the wall, shook it and was amazed to hear sloshing in the bottom.
Why so surprised, Mordecai? Don’t we always provide what you need? Don’
t we always sustain you?
He sighed, nodding. He had emergency gear in the car, of course. Sleeping bag, a couple of changes of clothes and a stash of MREs. No space heater. Plenty of C-4, wire leads, ignition switches, two types of timers. No more primer cord—he’d used it all up rigging the house to go up in flames. He smiled to himself as he recalled how neatly it had worked. The flick of a button had ignited the flammable cord. He’d run it along the baseboards, through every room of the house. One spark, and the flame flared and traveled like a Fourth of July sparkler along the cord, along the baseboards. It ignited the curtains of each and every window. It traveled behind every piece of furniture, setting off the upholstery. It set the carpet to burning, as well, and within the space of five minutes, the place became an inferno. By the time anyone outside saw flames and dialed 911, the house was already beyond saving.
Mordecai had made certain there would be nothing left but ash.
His guides had told him how.
Just as they always told him what needed to be done. They took care of him, and he felt guilty for doubting them so much lately. But he’d been so obedient for so long, and it seemed the more he did, the more demanding they became. He was running himself ragged and still it wasn’t good enough for them. He was beginning to wonder if anything ever would be. He was tired.
He had left the car two miles away, well hidden, and had hiked here with the supplies he needed in a backpack. Now he took a waterproof tin of matches from that backpack, struck one to life and touched it to the wick of the old heater. It caught, and it lit, but as the flames spread, thick, foul-smelling black smoke billowed from the thing.
Waving his hands, Mordecai rushed to one of the shed’s rear windows and struggled until he got it open. It faced away from the road, so it shouldn’t draw any attention. There was a shelf beneath it, lined with old paint cans currently serving as containers for various items like screws, nuts, bolts, broken tools and unidentifiable bits of hardware.
He waited, because he knew he was supposed to. Eventually the old part of the heater’s wick burned away and the smoke stopped spewing. He should have trimmed the wick first. Idiot. Still, it was working all right now.
He set to work making himself comfortable, clearing a space amid the clutter in the place. Hoes, rakes, no less than three old lawn mowers—one of them so old it didn’t even have a motor, but was a push model—hand scythes, buckets and pails and watering pots of every imaginable shape and size. And that was just the beginning. The shed was full of garbage. The discarded remnants of a once full life. Like old bones rattling around in a crypt. But there was no life here anymore.
Or wouldn’t be much longer.
When he had cleared a spot on the floor, he unrolled his sleeping bag there. He’d taken off his shoes near the rickety door, to avoid tracking snow inside. He moved them now, closer to the heater, so they would get dry. He set the backpack far away from the heat source, not wanting to be blown to bits before morning. But first he took out one of the MREs.
Meals Ready To Eat were a wonderful invention. He tore the top off the plastic bag, then added water from his stash. After opening the accompanying packet, he poured its contents into the bag, as well, and watched as the chemical reaction caused the water to boil, heating the food pack sealed inside.
In minutes his meal of beef stew was piping hot and ready to eat. He cleared off a shelf with a sweep of his arm, pulled up a five-gallon pail that had once held house paint and used it as a chair. He liked sitting by the side window. Enjoyed the view.
Hell, he didn’t know why he had doubted his guides. This place was far more practical than the Victorian in Bonnie Brook anyway.
He ate his stew, looking out across the back lawn at the former Blackberry Inn. Beth’s house. A lot of people were milling around in there now. Cops coming and going, cars parked outside. Several ATVs were lined up there, too, along with the pickup trucks that had brought them. And Stanton was there. But so were Mordecai’s targets, both of them, under one roof, which made it extremely convenient.
Once again, the guides had been right.
Eventually the others would leave. Eventually Lizzie or Bryan or both would be left alone. Unguarded.
Lizzie wasn’t going anywhere. She’d insinuated that she was leaving only as a ruse to force him to move more quickly. Before he was ready. And he’d almost fallen for it, too. But not now.
Mordecai was cozy, warm, well fed and sheltered.
He could wait.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Bryan felt warmth. Heat surrounded him like a blanket, and it felt good. Soothing, comforting and then…confusing.
His head was clouded and fuzzy and it ached, but even with all that, he was sure he’d fallen asleep outside, huddled under a bunch of roots while the snow fell. He remembered being cold, and then just sleepy. He remembered thinking the snow would hide him even better than the roots alone. And that made him remember what he’d been hiding from—Mordecai.
He opened his eyes wide and sat up slightly, only to wince in pain.
His father leaned over him, hands on his shoulders. “Lie back now. Relax, Bry. You’re okay.”
Bryan sighed, every cell in his body flooding with relief to see his old man. He never would have expected to be this glad to see that face. In fact, he was so overwhelmed he had to close his eyes to hide the hot moisture that sprang into them.
“You’re gonna be okay.”
“What about Dawn?” he asked. It surprised him that his words seemed croaked rather than spoken. He rubbed his throat and tried to clear it.
“Dawn’s fine. She’s downstairs with Beth, waiting her turn to come in and see you.” Josh took a pillow from the side of the bed near him, then eased Bryan’s shoulders up and tucked it under him. After that he took a cup from the nightstand and held it out. “Tea,” he said. “One of Maude’s medicinals. It’s probably cooling off by now.”
Bryan took the tea, sipped it. It was good, spicy and sweet.
“Dawn told us what you and she have been up to, Bryan.”
Oh, great. Here it comes, Bryan thought. He lowered the cup, shot his eyes to his father’s, waited.
Josh sighed. “If you didn’t want to go back to California, you should have just said so.”
“I did say so, Dad. Remember?”
Josh licked his lips, lowered his eyes. “Still, this was…if you’d been honest with me—”
“Like you’re being with Beth, you mean?”
“Bryan—”
“No, wait.” Bryan thought addressing his father with sarcasm was getting to be automatic. “Actually, Dad, I think I finally get it—what you’re doing, I mean. Because I’ve been kind of doing the same thing.”
“How so?”
Bryan sighed. “I thought I could do some good, help nail Mordecai. And if I had to use deception to do it, I was willing to. It was worth it. That’s exactly what you’re doing with Beth. I understand it now.”
Josh stared at him for a long moment. Then his hand moved to Bryan’s hair, stroked it lovingly, tenderly, and Bryan found himself trying to remember when his father had touched him that way before.
“I almost lost you. My God, Bryan, what the hell am I doing here, anyway?”
Bryan frowned.
“Listen to me,” Josh said. “I was wrong. You’ve been right about this all along. I never should have kept the truth from Beth. All I’ve accomplished is that I’ve dug myself into a hole so deep, I don’t know how to climb out. What happened to you and Dawn ought to be validation to you that you were right the first time around. There’s nothing to gain by lying to the people you love.”
Bryan blinked. “You…love Beth?”
“That’s not what I said.”
“Yeah, it is. Kind of.”
Joshua shook his head, averted his eyes. “I can’t believe I’ve screwed up as badly as I have with you, Bryan.”
“You haven’t—”
“Yes, I have. I know when I screw
up. God knows I’ve done it before. I screwed up in my job and lost it. I screwed up with your mother and lost her. And you along with her. I’ve screwed up with Beth and don’t know how to begin to fix it, and I screwed up so badly with you that you almost got killed over it.” His eyes were damp when they locked onto Bryan’s. “I don’t know how I would have gone on if I’d lost you, son. You mean so much to me.”
“I do?” Bryan had never thought his presence in his father’s life was much more than an inconvenience. Oh, he knew his dad loved him—in his way. In the same way all fathers were obliged to love their offspring.
“I think I’d have died. You are the most important part of my life. More than the job, or the business, or this case, or Beth, or anything. I mean it. And I swear, I’m going to do better.”
Bryan smiled a little, finished the warm tea and set the cup on the nightstand. “You didn’t do too bad tonight, Dad. Hell, you found me in the middle of the woods. You brought me back.”
Josh leaned over and hugged him hard. “Thank God.”
When his father released him, Bryan felt odd. Different. As if something he’d been missing had been returned to him before he had even been aware he’d been missing it.
“I think we’re gonna be okay, Dad.”
“I think so, too.”
Nodding, Bryan drew a breath. He hadn’t intended to mention this to his father, but now he decided to go ahead. “I think I—I think I saw Mom.” He took a chance, looking at his father’s eyes. They were wide, searching and eager. Not skeptical, not at all. Encouraged, Bryan went on. “I was sound asleep out there, so well hidden you never would have found me. I dreamed I was little again, and she was waking me up for school. She leaned over me, like she used to do, kissed my cheek.” He swallowed hard. “That’s what made me wake up. And that’s when I heard the ATVs and crawled out of my cover.”
Josh nodded very slowly, thoughtfully. “I’ll bet it was her,” he said. “I’ll bet it was.”
Colder Than Ice Page 30