Devil in Disguise

by Heather Huffman

  There were many things she wanted to say, but few that she could. Rachel had to hope there was enough gratitude packed into her “thank you” to be sufficient.

  Rick gave her his signature grin and tipped his hat. “Glad to be of service.”

  Rachel’s nerves were a mess as she hopped on the short flight to Arkansas, hoping to get to her sister before human traffickers did. She felt like she was watching the events unfold rather than living them, and she wondered if this was what an out-of-body experience was like.

  Conrad’s solid presence anchored her to reality, even as Veronica explained to Rachel that she felt a voluntary treatment facility might be the best place for Rosemary for the time being. While her head understood Veronica’s logic, her heart couldn’t quite reconcile to it.

  “I don’t think Mom is going to agree to this.”

  Conrad shook his head. “Not easily, no, but you have more sway with her than you’re admitting here. When the two of you dig your heels in, you usually win.”

  “And you said yourself that she’s not the same lately,” Veronica reminded Rachel. “You’ve been worried about how much she sleeps, how many pills she’s taking. Sweetheart, I’m afraid your mom’s going to get lost in the shuffle and she’s going to O.D.”

  Rachel scowled; her first instinct was to vehemently deny that she’d let it get that far. The truth refused to stop nagging at the back of her brain, though. In fact, it was pretty insistently working its way to the front of Rachel’s mind. She’d been so wrapped up in Julia and Conrad that she’d been giving her own mother barely more than a passing thought.

  Rachel sunk her face into her hands, muttering miserably, “I’m a horrible daughter.”

  Conrad placed a protective arm around her, and Veronica leaned across the aisle to take Rachel’s hand.

  “You’re just overwhelmed. It’s okay to pass the baton to someone else on this one,” Veronica assured her. “I truly believe this is the best thing for your mother.”

  Rachel swallowed hard and took a steadying breath. “I’ll talk to her.”

  With that decided, the trio settled into silence. There wasn’t much more to say, and they were all lost in thoughts of their own. The flight was short, and Veronica disappeared into the sparse airport crowd without a word once they landed.

  When Conrad and Rachel pulled the rented sedan into Charlie and Neena’s driveway, Julia met Rachel inside the kitchen, flying straight into Rachel’s arms.

  “What is it, baby girl?” Rachel held her sister close, rocking her gently from side to side as she stroked her hair. She wondered what had been left out of the briefing Rick had given her. “It’s okay. I’m here. You’re safe.”

  “They’re here. Sheriff Taylor said I’d imagined it, but I know they’re here. They’re just waiting. Take me away from here. Take me away from here right now.”

  Rosemary shook her head and raised her shoulders. “She’s been this way since last night. Nobody’s able to calm her down.”

  “Shhh, baby girl,” Rachel tried to console her frantic sister, looking to the other adults in the room for a clue as to what had her sister so upset. “Honey, you’re safe. Let’s talk about this. Let’s take a deep breath and give ourselves a minute to figure out what our next steps should be.”

  “It’s not me. It’s not me.” Julia pulled away and began to pace, her arms wrapped tightly about herself. “I’ve gotta go. Take me away from here right now.”

  Rachel looked to Neena helplessly.

  “She started screaming last night. We ran down to her room, and she told us she’d seen a face in her window. Charlie grabbed the shotgun and went out to check things out, but we didn’t see anyone. We couldn’t find where anything had been disturbed.”

  “It was real.” Julia’s voice inched up.

  “I’m not questioning the validity of what you said,” Neena responded coolly without missing a beat. “I’m giving your sister the facts. Please let me talk.”

  Julia silenced but continued to pace, breathing so rapidly that Rachel worried she was going to hyperventilate.

  “Why don’t we all grab a seat and see if we can figure this out?” Conrad suggested.

  Once they were seated in the living room, Neena continued. “Like I said, we didn’t see anything disturbed, and Sheriff Taylor couldn’t find any traces that anyone had been here, but I will say the animals were unsettled. They could have just as easily been responding to an air pressure change or something, but everything furred and feathered has been acting spooked since last night.”

  “I moved into Julia’s room when you left,” Rosemary told her. “I didn’t see anything.”

  Julia opened her mouth to speak, but a sharp look from Neena silenced her. Rachel imagined that the first thing to flit through Julia’s mind had been similar to what had entered hers: Rosemary had probably been knocked out on her nightly pills and wouldn’t have noticed if the man had been standing in the room. The hair on the back of Rachel’s neck stood up. A sense of foreboding hung in the air. She shot Conrad a look that said “What the hell do we do now?”

  She took her sister’s hands in her own, trying to catch her eye and speaking firmly but quietly. “Julia, I think if they were truly here, we would have intercepted confirmation of that.” Rachel left out that they had, in fact, intercepted conversations alluding to the fact while not outright confirming. “Still, we’d all rather be safe than sorry, so we’ve arranged for a safe place for you to go until we can be sure.”

  “It’s not me I’m worried about!” Julia exploded. “It’s Neena and her beautiful family. You need to get them out of here now!”

  Rachel blinked in shock. Her sister never yelled. She got quiet and sullen, but she never shouted.

  “If there is someone watching the house, it’s important they not realize we’re on to them,” Conrad reminded everyone. “Not to mention the baby’s napping upstairs. Let’s try to keep this conversation as calm and quiet as we can.”

  Charlie tried a different approach to calm the girl. “Thank you for being concerned about us, Julia. But all we care about is your safety. Let’s get that squared away, and then I’ll see about taking Neena and the kids down to the cabin or something.”

  “She’s right,” Conrad agreed. “If they know you helped Julia or that you’re related to me, they will bomb this house as a very clear message to anyone else who might want to help us. We should have never come here.”

  “Stop that.” Neena’s scowl was fierce enough to shut him up and make Julia stop pacing. “We knew the risk when we welcomed you here, and neither of us regrets our decision. If you think we are in that much danger, then we’ll take the kids and leave now.”

  Charlie looked to Conrad and then Rachel. “How much time do we have?”

  “I can’t say for sure,” Rachel admitted. “Veronica is outside somewhere now, checking to see if it’s safe. Once she’s sure you can get through unharmed, she’ll give the all-clear. Sheriff Taylor is aware of the situation. He plans to make sure you get out of town safely. The thought was that maybe you could take your family to the cabin for a while.”

  “I’ll start packing now.”

  Conrad placed a hand gently on his sister’s shoulder. “It would be best if it looked like you were just heading out for the evening.”

  Realization dawned, and Neena’s eyes teared up a little around the edges. Her gaze darted around the room. She nodded and took a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll transfer the supply pack over to the baby’s bag. Give me a couple of minutes.”

  The entire Russell family mobilized, all apparently knowing their role without a word being spoken between them. Cara took her younger siblings into the living room. Gabrielle scurried about the house, gathering random items to be packed.

  Charlie pulled Neena into a hug, resting his forehead on hers. “Just let me grab my laptop and be sure the files are in the safe. Then I’ll help get the family rounded up,” he promised before giving her a kiss and disappearin
g into his study.

  “Should I pack too?” Rosemary looked helpless. In that moment, Rachel felt sorry for her mother.

  “Just a few things into your purse,” Rachel told her. “I’ll be up in a minute to talk about some options for where you go next.”

  “This is because of me,” Julia whispered once her mother had gone, curling up on the big easy chair beside the Russells’ fireplace and hugging her knees to her chest.

  “This is because of some really evil people, not you,” Rachel corrected, coming to sit beside Julia. She put an arm around her sister. “No one thinks this is your fault.”

  Neena sat on the ottoman and leaned down so she could look Julia in the eye. “Do you know what I was doing a week before I first saw this place?”

  Julia shook her head slowly but didn’t speak.

  “I was streaking through the woods in my skivvies. The only thing I owned was a pocket knife I’d stolen from a deer stand. Will it hurt if they destroy this house? Yes, absolutely. I will shed a few tears. I love my home. But it’s just a place. It can be rebuilt. Getting to know you has been an honor. I hope we’ll be lifelong friends, and that’s worth more than a pile of wooden boards and nails.”

  Julia buried her head in her own lap, refusing to look at either woman. Sobs wracked her frail body.

  “Aw, come on, mon chaton.” Conrad knelt before Julia. “You should see this woman’s ability to make something out of nothing. I’m surprised she hasn’t torn this whole place down herself just for the challenge of starting over. Right now, I need you to stop feeling guilty over this and pull yourself together. It’s almost time for Neena to go, and we’ve got some work of our own to do, okay?”

  Julia looked up, meeting Conrad’s gaze as she nodded solemnly. A look passed between them that Rachel couldn’t decipher. After a moment, the girl threw herself into Conrad’s arms. He caught her, appearing only mildly surprised by her action.

  Rachel and Neena silently excused themselves, walking into the kitchen.

  “Neena, I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am. If there is anything at all we can do, please tell us.”

  “You’re starting to sound like Julia now.” Neena waved off her apology. “Conrad was there for me when I needed him. I’m only doing the same for him now that the roles are reversed. As for your sister, I would have given anything for someone to help me through my healing process. If I could be that for someone else, then maybe everything I went through has purpose.”

  “Aside from your brother, you are my favorite person on the planet, Neena Russell.” Rachel hugged her just as fiercely as Julia had Conrad, catching Neena totally off guard.

  “I love you too, Rachel Langston.” Neena returned the hug.

  Rachel needed that hug to sustain her through the conversation she had ahead of her. With a heavy heart, she trudged up the stairs to talk to her mother about what came after the Russells’.

  “Hey, Mom.” Rachel sat on the edge of the full-size bed her mother had been sleeping in.

  Rosemary glanced her way, arching her eyebrows, a smile half curling her lip. “I know that look. You’re getting ready to tell me something you think I don’t want to hear.”

  Rachel bit her lower lip, a small, sad smile of her own still making its way through. “Yeah, I am.”

  “Alright then, let’s hear it.” Rosemary stopped sifting through her things and came to sit beside Rachel on the bed.

  “The safe house Veronica found for Julia is hidden. Family can’t stay with her. But we don’t think it’s safe for you to go home just yet, so Veronica made arrangements for you to go somewhere else.”

  “Where is this somewhere?”

  “It’s a treatment facility – for people with addictions.”

  Rosemary’s face darkened. “Not this again, Rachel.”

  “Mom, I get it. You don’t want to hear this from me, and I’ve done a pretty damned good job of keeping my mouth shut. You’ve done nothing but sleep since Julia was taken, and I didn’t say a word. But Mom, this is no way to live.”

  “Don’t tell me how I should or shouldn’t be living.”

  “You need somewhere to go anyway. Why not to this place?” Rachel argued.

  Rosemary’s eyes snapped with anger. Her jaw twitched, but she didn’t speak. Neither woman did. They simply stared at each other. It was Rosemary who finally broke the staredown, seeming to melt under the heat of Rachel’s gaze.

  “Maybe I like being numb. Did you ever think about that, Rachel? That I like the way I feel?”

  “No, it never occurred to me that anyone could be happy living the way you do.”

  “I never said I was happy.” Rosemary sounded tired. “I wasn’t always like this, you know.”

  “I know, Mom. I remember.” Rachel scooted closer to her mother, wrapping a comforting arm around her.

  “When your father left, I had so much trouble sleeping.”

  Rachel nodded, a distant memory surfacing with her mother’s words. Grief had swept through the Cooper household that year. It had happened so quickly: one moment her father had been there, so strong and full of life, and then he was gone, taken by a car accident one rainy night.

  Her uncles had flown in from San Francisco to comfort Rachel and her mother. Rachel remembered wanting to go back to California with her Uncle Jack or even the carefree Sam, but Rosemary had been adamant their home was in New Jersey. At the time, Rachel had felt like a prisoner to her mother’s grief. As a little girl, all she’d known was that she missed her daddy, and being around her uncles made him feel not so far away.

  “I have found,” Rachel began tentatively, “that for a wound to heal, it has to be cleaned out, no matter how bad it hurts to do so. If you just slap a bandage on it without cleaning it first, then it’ll fester. Mom, you’ve been slapping a bandage on your life for almost thirty years. It’s probably time to clean the wound.”

  Tears gathered in both women’s eyes as they sat in silence for a moment.

  “It’s just for a little while, right?” Rosemary asked.

  “It’s a voluntary program,” Rachel reiterated.

  “I don’t really have anywhere else to go anyway, do I?”

  “It’ll be okay, Mom.” Rachel hugged her mom again, a glimmer of hope for her mother’s future lighting for the first time in decades.

  The day seemed to drag by after that. They tried to act normally, but everyone in the household could feel the tension of waiting. Even the baby was fussier than usual. Finally, Rachel received the call from Veronica. Every adult in the house stopped moving the instant the ringtone pierced the air.

  Veronica began without preamble. “There’s definitely someone in town. I’m picking up all kinds of chatter. This line should be secure, but we only have a minute before they find it. It sounds like a couple of them have gone to dinner now, so this is your chance. Get the Russells out and be sure they see you, Conrad, and Julia stay. Send your mom with the Russells for now. Tell Charlie that Sheriff Taylor is just south of their place right now, waiting for them. When they get to the edge of town, another marked car will follow them to the next district. Give me fifteen minutes and I’ll be back to get you.”

  When Rachel hung up the phone, she had a rapt audience. “It’s time. Load up your kids and my mom and head south out of town. Sheriff Taylor is waiting on the main road to follow you to the next town. When he drops off, another marked car will pick up.”

  Charlie and Neena nodded, moving to round up their children. Rachel and Julia each gave their mother a hug.

  Tears shone in Rosemary’s eyes as she regarded her daughters. “You girls take care of yourselves.”

  “We will, Mom,” Rachel promised. “You take of yourself too.”

  As the Russells loaded their children and dog into the car, it was apparent they were struggling to keep their goodbyes a lighthearted farewell. For the benefit of the younger children and anyone who might possibly be watching the house, they both kept a smile on their faces an
d didn’t turn to look back at the house as they pulled away, though Rachel was certain she saw Charlie’s eyes lingering on the rearview mirror.

  Rachel glanced at her watch. They had fifteen minutes looming ahead, and then they could make their own bid for escape. The chickens scurried around the yard, blissfully unaware of the countdown happening around them. The sky turned golden in the twilight. Rachel couldn’t help closing her eyes for a moment, absorbing the feel of this happy place one last time. Memories flashed through her mind, a collage of moments shared, moments filled with laughter and tears and love.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CONRAD PLACED A HAND on each of Rachel’s shoulders and kissed her forehead. “It won’t be long now.”

  Rachel nodded. “Should we go in the kitchen to wait for our phone call?”

  “Sure. Oh, and I have something for you.” He paused to produce her knife from his pocket. “You forgot this at the cabin.”

  “Thank you.” She accepted the small knife, not sure what good it would do her. “I’d rather have Charlie’s shotgun, but beggars can’t be choosers.”

  “I’ll show you later how to best use it if you have to.” He nodded toward the knife, and she nodded in agreement. It was somewhat unsettling, the thought of actually wielding a knife against another human being.

  “Conrad.” Rachel chewed her thumbnail nervously. “What about the animals?”

  “None of them are in the house. Hopefully they’ll have the sense to leave if things get rough. That’s the best I can give them, unfortunately.”

  “I can’t just leave Darcy. I don’t even want to leave the chickens to their own devices.”

  “They’ll be okay. They have the barn, and I’ll ask Anjelita Torres to take care of them once it’s safe.”

  Rachel blinked back tears. If Neena could walk away from every material thing in her world and not shed a tear, Rachel was determined to hold it together now.

  Conrad glanced out the window before coming back to Rachel at the table. “When Veronica pulls up, get in the car without hesitation and stay close to me. Keep your head down once you’re in the car, just in case.”