Brent leaned back in his chair. “Because it doesn’t work that way. Evidence didn’t point to anyone at that point. And besides, the Hardaways aren’t complete morons. The brothers likely got rid of the gun…somewhere. The fact is your friend witnessed a murder. This morning the authorities back in Bakersfield took what they had to the DA. He decided to finally issue a warrant for the Hardaway brothers. But it’s my guess that unless Angus and Dolan plead guilty, Durke will very likely be the only key witness and will have to go back and testify to what he saw. So how’s the guy doing?”
“Doc says Durke should be fine in a week or two. Until he’s ready to travel he’ll stay with me at the cottage until he feels well enough to go back home to Bakersfield.”
After finishing up, Eastlyn walked Cooper across the street to the Hilltop Diner to have breakfast.
“Something’s bothering you,” Cooper said. “If it’s about letting Durke stay with you, I’m fine with it.”
“That’s what I love about you—” A mortified look crossed her face when she realized what she’d almost admitted.
But Cooper downplayed the slip of the tongue the only way he knew how. He swung her into his arms and circled her waist, twirled her along the sidewalk in a dance. “That’s what I love about you too—your generosity of spirit. You didn’t hesitate to offer Durke a place to crash.”
“There are some things you don’t have to second-guess—being there for a friend is one of them. But that’s not why I’m stressing. How can I put this? I’m beginning to wonder how I’m supposed to get everything done. I’m starting to feel like I’m taking on too much. The pressure is building up. Now I have a houseguest, or will have as soon as Durke gets released. Thane is on this mission to make the ugly-duckling H-13 airborne in record time with help from the townspeople. And Brent says I’m supposed to remain undercover all the while I have the FAA requirements to deal with, and I still have all my other jobs. I’m beginning to feel everything closing in around me. In all those books you’ve read, have you come across an effective way for me to clone myself? Maybe if there were two of me I’d be able to work on the helicopter and still do everything else.”
Cooper led her to the curb in front of the diner. “Let’s take things point by point. Durke won’t need round-the-clock care so he’ll essentially look out for himself. You said yourself your job at the lighthouse doesn’t take that much time away from everything else. Landon will be shorthanded for a time but he’ll get along fine without you. If the town pitches in on the chopper, which they will, that’s one less thing you have to worry about. No matter what happens, you’ll make time for the FAA. That’s priority one. You’ll slide into the role of officer recruit like you were meant to do. I admit you have a lot on your plate. But you aren’t taking on the world alone anymore in any of this.”
She tightened her hold around his neck. “You make me feel as though I can do it all.”
“That’s because you can.”
Twenty-Seven
In the past whenever the council needed a place to hold a town hall meeting they’d appropriate a classroom at the church. But since reopening the elementary school, they used the much larger auditorium.
Tonight the place filled up due to Thane’s dogged efforts. He and Isabella had wasted no time getting the word out. They’d worked tirelessly over the past few days with Brent and Nick to line up enough people to voice their list of grievances over the lack of response from the county and what they intended to do about it.
According to Nick and Murphy, holding a meeting, voicing complaints in public, gave legitimacy to the forum.
If the town’s participation in the Lighthouse Project had impressed Eastlyn, the driving forces behind the rescue outfit blew her away. Already the idea of taking a washed out old chopper and making it the basis for something grand had caught on, evidenced by the crowd. An indomitable spirit prevailed. Everyone seemed to like the idea that once completed, the chopper would belong to the entire town.
Murphy stepped to the microphone first to take care of town business before turning the platform over to Thane.
Thane led a rousing PowerPoint presentation that included photos of the model in its prime. “Our solution is the Bell H-13 Sioux chopper found in Cleef’s barn. It’s old but once it’s refurbished it will look like this.”
From the projected finish, Thane went into the history, segued into how the same aircraft had been used in the TV show MASH and rattled off its specs.
“This is the chopper we want to fix up to use for search and rescue. Recently, Eastlyn Parker bought it and began restoration. But that’s a ton of work for one person. I’m proposing that the entire town pitch in and help her out, get it in shape, and ultimately make it airborne again. Because Eastlyn will be the pilot who flies it.” Thane promptly offered Eastlyn’s backstory.
She heard the applause but didn’t trust her ears. She leaned in, whispered to Cooper, “It’s hard to believe this is really happening.”
“You’ve been in town how long now?”
“Four months.”
“Then you ought to know the people here love a challenge. They’re also willing to come together for the good of the town. By morning, Thane and Isabella will have a long list of people willing to help. Watch and see. I bet we have a slew of talented individuals around here you don’t even realize could play a vital role in restoration.”
“Nothing like piling on a load of pressure,” Eastlyn grunted. “The FAA hasn’t even weighed in yet. What if…?”
Cooper put a finger to her lips. “Tonight’s for positive vibes. Look around at all the energy in this room. Besides, you’ve handled the FAA scrutiny before, you can do it again.”
Resigned to the feel-good atmosphere, Eastlyn let go of the worry. “Hey, if they’re willing to put in the sweat to get the town a chopper and if they’re willing to take a chance on me to fly it, then who am I to argue with such an incredible break. Win-win for me.”
“Hey, the aviation examiner already gave you a clean bill of health. That’s the first hurdle in the battle.”
On a roll, Cooper looked around the auditorium at the enthusiasm. “Would a dozen or so recommendations from prominent citizens go a long way in helping sway the FAA?”
Eastlyn’s lips curved, her green eyes flashed. She lifted a shoulder. “Who knows? I suppose it couldn’t hurt.”
She started the next day inside Logan Donnelly’s studio hoping to talk to him about his expertise at working with metal. But she was a little intimidated about approaching the renowned artist.
Flattery, she decided, would go a long way. “I love the dolphin sculpture in front of the school and the pieces you have displayed inside the Chumash Museum. I guess that makes me a big fan of your work, although to be honest, I haven’t seen anything else of yours, except the work you did at the lighthouse.”
Logan peered at the leggy woman with the golden wheat hair. “Thanks. But I happened to be a big fan of people like you, soldiers who saw combat, and came back stateside to overcome the odds. I’d say that’s a success no matter how you look at it.”
“I’ve had my share of issues in the past,” she confessed.
“Haven’t we all? What brings you here today? If it’s a donation, Thane’s already tapped me for my share and I’m happy to give it. I have kids of my own. I’ve always thought the county considers us an afterthought here in Pelican Pointe. For twenty years they did very little to catch the serial killer who killed my sister.”
Eastlyn nodded knowingly. “I’m so sorry about that. They haven’t yet identified that set of remains I found.”
“I’m aware,” he said, his tone dripping with bitterness. “And one more reason I believe the victims and their families are left to an inept trail of misdirection. They haven’t ID’d the bones yet because it isn’t a priority. They have the killer locked up and for the authorities that’s it. Processes seem to drag on from the coroner’s office right down to the cops, all the while the
re’s a family out there without answers.” He looked at her and shook his head. “Sorry for the rant. I’ve had a lot longer than Thane to build up my animosity toward the county and for reasons of my own.”
“Why do you stay?”
“Because this is my home. I’ve never lived anywhere else that makes me feel a sense of community more than I do here.”
Eastlyn nodded. “I’m beginning to understand. Thanks for the donation, but what I could really use at the moment is your expertise in working with metal. I’d like for you to show me in ten easy steps how best to deal with the rust. Not only that, I’d like to get the chopper out of the barn and into a better place in town to work on it.”
“I can do that. There’s any number of warehouses you could use. We’ll get a flatbed and haul it over here so you won’t have to make that trip every day. Will Saturday morning work for you?”
“That’s perfect. And thank you.”
“Not a problem. We help our own here.”
Durke Pedasco also found that statement to be true. After a week spent recuperating he decided Pelican Pointe was nothing at all like Bakersfield.
For his first outing, Durke had been invited to tag along with Eastlyn and Cooper to a pre-Fourth of July barbeque at Promise Cove.
Durke sat at a table in the outdoor courtyard taking in the crowd. Sipping on a glass of iced tea, he listened to the guy who’d taken the bullet out of him tell the story of how Eastlyn had come to live here.
Cord became more animated each time he recounted the faces Eastlyn had made while storming into the boarding house that day, clomping around her room as she threw her stuff into boxes.
Durke laughed so hard he thought he’d crack open his stitches. “So let me get this straight? These guys actually drag you back here and you don’t put up much of a fight other than stomping around like a petulant child? That description so nails the way you were acting back then.”
Eastlyn punched Durke in the arm as she’d done since she was eight years old. “Oh, really? Should I walk down memory lane and share with them how you used to pitch a fit when you lost to me at basketball?”
“That was third grade and you were a giant even then. I never was much for sports.”
Eastlyn sent her childhood friend a sly smile. “Excuses, excuses.” Over Durke’s shoulder, she caught sight of Cooper on his cell phone, noted his stiff shoulders and the set to his jaw. She rose out of her chair and went over to him.
“What’s wrong? Was that Eleanor again?”
Cooper seemed agitated. “I don’t know how she does it, but yeah. Another call I didn’t take. But I’ve made a decision. First thing tomorrow morning I’m making arrangements to drive out to see her. I don’t think she’ll leave me alone until I do.”
Twenty-Eight
Cooper had picked a Saturday to make the three-hour drive to Chowchilla Correctional Facility for Women. He’d scheduled his visitation well ahead of time, arranged to have Caleb keep an eye on the shop, and promised Drea he would do his best to get Eleanor to understand that her children wanted her to stop bothering them.
Cooper gave Eastlyn the keys to the Mustang and let her drive because he’d been edgy and anxious for two days prior to the trip.
In the months she’d known him, Eastlyn had never seen Cooper the sullen mess he was now. He’d barely slept all week, which made him short-tempered and exhausted.
“Why don’t you put your head back and take a nap?”
Cooper cut his eyes over to the woman behind the wheel. “Maybe if I weren’t so keyed up I could do that but I feel like I might be carsick.”
“Let me know if you want me to pull over.”
The closer they got to the Central Valley, Madera County in particular, the more Cooper’s stomach churned.
When they blew past flat farmland where the CCFW sat on six hundred and forty acres, Cooper began to have serious doubts he could go through with the visit.
Eastlyn pulled the car to the shoulder of the road, threw the gear in Park. She angled in her seat and saw how distressed he looked. “Say the word and I’ll turn the car around now.”
Cooper buried his face in his hands. “What would you do?”
“I’d go in, face her, listen to whatever she has to say, then judge whether or not she’s playing me and be done with it.”
“For real?”
“For real. You’ve lived with this hanging over your head for so long it’s time to end it one way or another and move on. You either decide if it’s worth keeping her in your life or getting rid of the negativity she always seems to stir up. Either way, as I see it, it ends today.”
“You’re right. Let’s get this over with.”
Eastlyn located the visitor’s parking lot, and found a space.
While they waited to board the prison bus that would take them to the processing center, Cooper looked around at all the buildings. “I checked this place out. This is where Susan Atkins was housed until her death from brain cancer.”
“Manson family Susan Atkins?”
“One and the same. Eleanor shares these walls with other notable neighbors. Nancy Garrido lives here.”
Eastlyn lifted a brow. “The woman who helped Phillip Garrido kidnap Jaycee Dugard?”
“That’s the one. This is where they sent Kristin Rossum for poisoning her husband. Maybe that’s why the place is full up, overcapacity by more than fifteen hundred inmates.”
“Geez, now I’m getting a little nervous at the prospect of going inside.”
But when the van pulled up, they reluctantly boarded but sat in silence while the bus took them to another building.
At the processing center they filled in all the necessary information to get a pass and got the first good news of the day for Cooper. He discovered the visit would be non-contact. That meant he would have a glass partition between him and his mother.
They went through security, which included a pat down and search. Cooper cleared the metal detector but the guard had to use a handheld wand on Eastlyn because of her prosthesis. Everywhere they looked there were surveillance cameras. After clearing all that, the guard stamped their hands and they were led down a hallway to one of the visiting rooms to wait.
It seemed like forever before another guard brought out Eleanor Jennings Richmond through a door at the rear of the room and removed her handcuffs. Cooper’s mother sat down and immediately began looking around for her son.
Eastlyn could hear Cooper’s intake of breath next to her as she stood back, rooted to the linoleum floor, and watched as he approached the glass partition. Her heart broke for him. She’d never felt the depth of sorrow for anyone before in her life more than she did for Cooper at that moment.
Eastlyn’s first impression of Eleanor wasn’t all that flattering. It wasn’t the woman’s unkempt appearance, although that was a shock. The mass of black hair tipping gray at the temples that fell down around her shoulders in a wild tangle would certainly put anyone off. But it wasn’t Eleanor’s wooly mane that concerned Eastlyn, more like the soulless eyes, the distant smile, the phony display of emotions that bordered on theatrical staging.
Cooper sat down on the stool and picked up the phone on his side, watched Eleanor do the same on hers.
He realized then that it wasn’t his mother he saw on the other side of the glass, but rather the monster that had taken his father. All the rage at what this woman had put him through over the years, all that she represented, simmered to the surface. Even though his chest felt tight, his heart flipped icy cold. He gripped the phone so hard his knuckles turned white. “You look old.”
“And you look exactly like the whiny mousy little bookworm I remember. Always with your nose in some book or complaining about something or other.”
“If I was so whiny then why didn’t you clean up your own mess that night? Why rely on a kid to do your dirty work for you?”
“Because you owed me.”
“How do you figure that? Oh, wait a minute. I for
get how special you always thought you were. The rules never applied to Eleanor Jennings, did they? As I recall, you even tried to make a cash deal to sell your kids once. Mother of the year material right there, weren’t you?”
“You’ll sing a different tune when I tell you the truth about that night.”
“The truth? I’d be shocked if you recognized what it looked like. You’ve spent decades lying about everything, unable to show remorse about anything, unable to take responsibility. Brent Cody believes you killed your own father, made it look like suicide. Landon believes it, too. And when you couldn’t sell your kids, you decided to abandon them in the middle of the night surrounded by water. What were you hoping for then, Eleanor? That we’d all drown and you’d be rid of us for good? That you’d add three little kids to your tally of murder victims?”
Cooper knew she’d dodge that issue so he wasn’t disappointed when she fired off a sample of why she’d summoned him. “I didn’t kill your father that night. I didn’t kill his girlfriend. I’ve never killed anyone before in my life, no matter what Brent Cody or Landon believes. Even when he was younger Landon was nothing but a stupid boy who just accepted the fact our father had made us poor with all his bad business decisions.”
“Aw, Eleanor disapproves of failure, especially when it comes to money. She was no longer the princess who got to tell people what to do. When things don’t go well for Eleanor, she reverts back to what she does best. She either gets rid of people or takes off. Isn’t that right? Just like you took off in the middle of the night because you didn’t want to be a mother anymore. That’s it, isn’t it?”
He sat across the glass staring at evil. Knowing she wouldn’t budge off her mission, he finally said, “Okay, I’ll bite. If you didn’t kill Layne and Brooke, then who did?”
“Flynn McCready.”
“Aw, come on, surely you can do better than that. I sat in a car for three hours on the way here to listen to this bullshit. I don’t think so.”
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