Spirit Lake

by Vickie McKeehan

  Leia couldn’t take her eyes off the image in the mirror. “Absolutely. Gemma, Lianne, what do you think?”

  “I think we’re ready to move on to the bridesmaids’ outfits,” Gemma noted, perusing the photos from inventory. “It doesn’t look like you have lilac at all.”

  “I don’t. Sorry. But I can order them. Same with the sweetheart style in midnight blue.”

  The women fussed over various color choices and styles, going back and forth with a dozen dresses, all acceptable possibilities that would make any attendant look fashionable and trendy.

  Gemma opted for chiffon instead of the satin and Leia changed her mind at the last minute, going with a street-length design in silky, midnight-blue lace.

  As they were checking out, Gemma tried to dig out more information from Carly about the missing girl. “I read something about Cheri online. Were there any other girls around her age that went missing?”

  “Hmm, let me see,” Carly said, working the cash register and credit card machine. “We did have that incident a couple of years ago when a tourist vanished from the B Street Pier. Police never found her. People just assumed she fell off and the current eventually swept her out into the ocean.”

  “That sounds horrible. Who was she?”

  “Don’t know. They think she’d come here for the festival with someone…from San Francisco maybe. But that’s just a guess. They never found a car that linked to her. They even checked for her body near the lighthouse.” Carly stopped in the middle of tallying up Leia’s bill. “Although…now that I think about it, there was another incident that made the paper. Last spring, tourists found another body right before they reached the Oregon border. They got out of the car to…let their dog do his business…and there she was. Old bones scattered about. I read in the paper the coroner said those remains had probably been there for ten years or more.”

  Gemma traded looks with the others, tapping her credit card on the counter. “That’s three we didn’t know about. I can’t wait to tell Lando about the others.”

  Lando and Zeb were spending their Saturday afternoon making phone calls five feet from each other in Lando’s office. But in between inquiries, they would go over different theories.

  Jimmy knocked on the door interrupting their brainstorming session. “Arlo’s attorney is here and he’s demanding his release.”

  “Who’s the lawyer?”

  “Some guy out of Klamath named Cordell. I heard Alex Kedderson wouldn’t take his case.”

  “Who knew Alex had scruples?” Zeb wisecracked.

  “Yeah. Go figure.” Lando got to his feet when a man dressed in a gray suit appeared at the doorway beside Jimmy.

  “My name’s Cordell. Gerry Cordell. The way you’re treating Arlo Stokely is BS and you know it,” the lawyer asserted. “Arlo is a mayoral candidate and deserves some respect.”

  “Are you suggesting I give Mr. Stokely preferential treatment because he’s a politician? Surely not.”

  “I drove all the way here from Klamath and demand that you release my client immediately.”

  “Mr. Cordell, you can demand all you want but your client stays put. He’s been charged with felony assault. Even if I wanted to reduce the charge down to aggravated battery, I’m still treating that as a felony, too. As you know, that’s at my discretion per the penal code. The man Arlo hit suffered a concussion last night, which didn’t surface until after the incident. Daryl Simmons ended up in the emergency room late Friday night complaining of headache and blurry vision due to getting hit with a chair in the back of the head. Even if I wanted to release your man on his own recognizance I still couldn’t do it, not without a bail hearing. Bottom line, Arlo Stokely waits for his hearing just like the kid from Missouri does in the cell next to him. Your client doesn’t move until the judge gets back from vacation. Are we clear on that?”

  “That’s the same thing I told him out front, Chief,” Jimmy muttered.

  “I know you did,” Lando said as he moved toward Mr. Cordell, backing him out of his office and into the hallway. “I’d appreciate it if you’d stop harassing my staff. We’re simply doing our jobs here. While you’re in town, maybe you could stress that to your client. Something else, talk to him about all that yelling and screaming he’s doing. That type of behavior isn’t doing his case any good. It shows instability. Because I’ll testify to that in court.”

  “I will too,’ Jimmy added.

  Mr. Cordell looked flushed and angry. “But it was just a little tussle in a bar that got out of hand. In Klamath, we treat that as a misdemeanor.”

  “Good for you,” Lando shot back. “But this isn’t Klamath. Maybe you should ask the victim if he thinks it was that simple, especially after a fat bill from the hospital. They just released him about thirty minutes ago. So after him spending the night with a concussion, by all means go ask Mr. Simmons if he thinks it was a simple tussle.”

  Cordell finally put his hands up. “Okay. Okay. I get it. There were injuries I didn’t know about before making the drive up here. But still, as I understand it, Mr. Stokely deserves a timely bail hearing.”

  “You want to talk another judge into showing up for a bail hearing, that’s between you and the county DA. I have nothing to do with that. But my guess is, this being a weekend, you won’t get anyone here until Tuesday.”

  Cordell nodded. “You’re probably right. I just wanted to see if he could be released ahead of schedule.”

  “I understand that, but you have your answer.”

  Lando turned back to see Zeb grinning. “This is never an easy job, is it?”

  “Nope. You have to put up with assholes like that?”

  “Every day.”

  Lando scrubbed the side of his jaw, concerned about something else. “Ever since Gemma had the vision about Chloe Pendleton, I’ve been thinking. I don’t like the idea of this weighing her down. Every time it happens, those visions will take her somewhere dark.”

  “Gemma’s strong. She can handle it.”

  “Are you sure about that? What if we were talking about Leia?”

  Zeb’s mouth tightened. “Okay, I see your point. But what’s the alternative? You already knew this is where it was heading, that she wouldn’t give up until she had those three stones, the trinity. She’ll have to learn to deal with what comes with it.”

  “And what if she can’t?”

  “That’s your job, brother. We all support our significant others in different ways. Yours is to be there for her when she’s down. If it’s any consolation, she doesn’t seem to be able to see the future. It’s all about the past. Maybe that’s the key to handling it. The past is gone. It’s already happened, nothing to be done about it.”

  Gripping his hands together tight, Lando leaned back in his chair to think. He told him about the experience with the moonstone as a boy.

  “I wonder if that means you see the future.”

  “What?”

  Zeb lifted a shoulder. “Think about it. You might be the integral part of the puzzle, the part that holds the future. If you saw this back when you were a kid, it stands to reason you’re the key and didn’t know it.”

  “You don’t think it means we’re destined to fail?”

  “Come on, Lando. Get real. If you two can’t make a go of it, what kind of chances do the rest of us have, relationship-wise? You love each other.”

  “But love wasn’t enough before?”

  “Kids turn into grownups. And grownups know more than they did when they were young and stupid and still making mistakes. You’re letting this whole psychic thing get to you when it’s simply a part of who Gemma is. Do you really think she’s the same girl you married at eighteen? Back then, I knew a girl who so wanted to please her mother that she couldn’t see how important the people were who raised her. She did everything her mother wanted her to do and still couldn’t get the woman’s approval. Now, she knows better.”

  “I guess you’re right. But that failure is always there with
me, somewhere in the back of my mind. It still sticks in my craw and scares me half to death.”

  “Maybe this is a simple case of cold feet before the wedding.”

  “But I love Gemma.”

  “Then stop worrying. Everything will be fine.”

  The conversation might’ve turned back to Cheri Taylor, but for Lando the worry nagged at him and he couldn’t shake that feeling of doom.

  Gemma’s first stop back in town was to drop off Leia at the restaurant.

  She pulled to the curb. “We’ll see you tonight, right. I’m cooking before the show. You don’t have to bring anything.”

  “You sure? I wouldn’t want anyone to get sick before you go on stage,” Leia teased as she got out of the car.

  “Very funny, but I’ve been practicing. And your mother’s been giving me some surefire tips in the kitchen. I haven’t screwed anything up lately.”

  Leia looked at Lianne, who was taking her seat in the front. “Don’t worry, I’ll bring leftovers from the dinner rush.”

  “Smartass,” Gemma muttered as she gunned the Volvo and took off down Ocean Street. Lianne had been quiet ever since leaving the boutique. “Is there a reason you’re not talking? Are you missing Collette again? That’s a silly question. Of course you are. I miss Gram every day.”

  “Collette’s always there in the back of my mind. But what I’ve been thinking about since we left Tying the Knot is something else. Last night after we got to my house, Luke mentioned something odd about Arlo Stokely.”

  “And?”

  “It seems Arlo can’t stand the Bonners, that sentiment runs across the board for all of them. I’m wondering if there’s a deeper, more sinister reason that he wants Lando to lose his job. Luke mentioned that Arlo used to work in Crescent City on construction jobs.”

  Gemma grabbed Lianne’s arm. “Maybe that’s it. Maybe Arlo is the one who’s been killing these girls. And he wants Lando out because he thinks identifying Jane Doe might somehow lead right back to him.”

  “I know it sounds like a leap, but…don’t you think it’s odd that we take a trip to the dress shop and find out there was a body discovered right outside in the parking lot recently? It’s like it was meant to be.”

  “I thought the same thing when I was standing over that hole. Mention it to Luke and see what he thinks. Because I’m pretty sure Lando will take an interest in Arlo for this.” She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. “I wonder if Luke mentioned Arlo’s connection to that site?”

  That night, it was the topic of discussion over food served in the dining room. Gemma had gone all out and fried pork chops with corn on the cob and cheesy potato casserole on the side. Pretty simple fare that she couldn’t mess up. Even the hot rolls turned out perfect.

  Luke dug in, then kicked off the dialogue he’d been wanting to have since the night before. “Arlo’s never been married and still lives at home in that big house over on Turtle Shell Drive with Raynelle. After I went to bed last night, I couldn’t get past his comments about the Bonners. That man was livid, and I ought to know since he was in rage-mode while I was trying to fix his nose. I thought back to lots of times in the past when Arlo acted odd and angry. I can see him being angry enough to hurt women.”

  “Girls,” Gemma corrected. “Cheri Taylor and Jane Doe were fourteen.”

  Lando scooped two pork chops from the platter and added the casserole to his plate. “I’ve done some checking since this afternoon. Arlo did indeed work for Montalvo’s construction company in Crescent City during the time Cheri Taylor went missing. At forty-eight, he’s a middle-aged man in the right age group, the age we’re looking at being in his teens when Jane Doe was murdered and left on the beach. Arlo’s lived here all his life.”

  Gemma looked around the table at her friends who seemed to be enjoying the meal. She leaned back in her chair and sipped the red wine Zeb had brought. “Did the coroner know anything about the other body found near the Oregon border?”

  “Nothing definitive because he had to call in a forensic anthropologist from Cal State and passed her name along to me. Professor Murdock guesses that the bones belong to a female whose remains have been out there for a decade at least.”

  Leia breezed through the front door in a flurry. “Sorry I’m late, but Enid Lloyd wanted a spicy chicken sandwich five minutes before closing and I didn’t have the heart to turn her away.” She gave Zeb a quick kiss on the mouth and took a seat next to him. “This looks delicious, Gemma. But I’m not able to look at food right now after spending the past six hours around grease. There comes a time when food loses its appeal.”

  “That’s okay. Coming from you, I’ll take the delicious comment and run with it since I didn’t burn anything or overcook it.”

  Lianne chuckled. “I burned breakfast on Wednesday.”

  “That wasn’t your fault though,” Luke said with a grin. “We were fooling around on the deck and forgot about the bacon.”

  Leia stared at her brother. “That’s the topic of conversation? Your sex life? Do tell. What’d I miss so far?”

  Lianne let out a laugh. “I’m not sharing that with anyone here. We’re just comparing notes on whether Arlo could’ve killed those girls.”

  Leia poured herself a glass of merlot. “Wow. Really? That brings back a weird memory, an incident from about two years ago. Remember it, Zeb? We were parked out near Fire Mountain and looking down toward Spirit Lake when we saw Arlo bury something in the woods.”

  Zeb took a swig from his beer and leaned back to try and bring the event into focus. “It was lunchtime. Leia had brought food. We decided he was digging a grave for an animal. Now that I think about it, that’s weird.”

  Lando stopped in mid-bite and speared the air with his fork “You’re certain it was Arlo?”

  “Positive.”

  “What were you guys doing parked up on Fire Mountain?” Gemma asked with a gleam in her eye, knowing the answer already.

  “I guess we weren’t stargazing in broad daylight,” Leia retorted half aloud. “And yes, that’s when we were sneaking around behind everyone’s back, trying to keep our relationship a secret.” Leia let out a sigh. “It feels so good to be out in the open.”

  Zeb grinned. “It was your idea not to tell anyone.” He cut his eyes to Lando’s. “She thought you’d be furious and scream bloody murder. She had it in her head you’d come after me with a pickaxe.”

  Lando picked up his beer. “She’s always had a flair for drama.”

  Leia tossed a roll at his head and watched it land short, just above her brother’s plate.

  “Thanks, I was gonna ask for a roll anyway. She throws like a girl.”

  “When there were three of us in the womb, I’m pretty sure you were the one who tried to smother me,” Leia proclaimed.

  “I can’t imagine why,” Lando fired back. “You wouldn’t shut up long enough to let any of us sleep.”

  Luke held up his hand. “And I was in the middle of their bickering. See why it drove me kicking and screaming into the world.”

  Listening to this only made Lianne a little sadder than before. She missed the sibling bickering she’d had with Collette.

  Luke noticed the look on her face and thought he knew the reason. “Want to get out of here and away from these crazy people?”

  Lianne smiled. “No, I’m fine, you guys have helped me maintain my sanity for the last few months.”

  At the end of the table, Lando eyed Leia, all kidding gone. “Do you think you could pinpoint the exact spot where Arlo was digging that day?”

  “I don’t know about exact, but I can show you the place where Zeb and I were parked. It’s a nice spot where you can see straight down to the back entrance to Spirit Lake.”

  “It might be worth a look,” Lando suggested.

  “I could take you out there tomorrow,” Zeb offered.

  “Sounds good. How about at first light?” Lando suggested, wiping his mouth with a napkin. He checked the time on his p
hone. “We need to get moving. It’s almost nine-thirty. Greendeer will be wondering where we are.”

  “I say let him wonder,” Gemma began, picking up the dishes to carry into the kitchen. “He’s the one who bumped Fortitude back to ten because he wanted to see if he could snag some new talent to perform at nine.”

  “That’s in case we walk off again, he’ll have backup,” Lando stated, clearing the table on his end. “He doesn’t want the Duck & Rum to end up without a band.”

  The others began to carry plates into the kitchen.

  “You guys head on out,” Lianne offered. “Luke and I will load the dishwasher and clean up.”

  “We will?” Luke said, bewildered as to how he got roped into a chore.

  “You stuffed your face so it’s the least we can do.”

  “Sure. Okay. What’s the name of the band performing ahead of you at nine?”

  “No idea,” Lando stated, an impatient tone to his voice. “That’s why we need to get there to scope out the competition.”

  7

  Their competition turned out to be a hair band called Dirty Poison that played heavy metal super loud.

  Guitar in hand, Lando caught Gemma’s hand and led her through the throng of an already packed house.

  For a few minutes, they stood listening to the eardrum-blasting sound emanating from what seemed like twenty amplifiers lined up on stage.

  Lando scanned the multitude of bargoers looking for the rest of Fortitude. He spotted Jimmy, arms folded, leaning up against the wall in the back with Dale, their keyboard player, and Radley Fisk, the drummer.

  “That’s our warm up band?”

  “Hey, Chief,” Radley called out over the din. He pointed to one of the singers. “I know for a fact that guy is totally bald. That’s a wig on his head. Hair’s as fake as his rebellious sneer.”

  “I’ve never seen so many amplifiers in one place,” Gemma noted. “Why do they need so many?”

  “Exactly, it’s overkill,” their bass guitarist muttered in disgust. Even though his regular job was bartender during the week, Bosco Reynolds had a Goth look about him that tended to put most people off. Although he didn’t wear makeup, he liked dressing in all black down to his biker boots and steampunk jacket.