Reflections

by Susan Griscom

  The babies were growing fast. Now seventeen weeks along, they normally kept Maia awake for a portion of most nights, but here in this … this cell, she’d barely managed to get an hour of sleep. She wondered when and if she’d get another visit from her future self, and as that thought came so did the vision; she watched herself appear across the room.

  “What? Now you appear whenever I think about you?”

  “I wish it was that easy, but it does help. You didn’t sleep.”

  “Tell me something I don’t know. Who killed Careen?”

  “I don’t know. Look at me. I’m wearing blue cotton pants and an equally ugly blue top. This is what they give us in prison. I told you they found me guilty. I can’t help you find the killer. I can only advise you against taking any wrong paths.”

  “Well, what paths should I take that will help them find the killer?”

  “I’ll know when certain events occur. I have to go now. I thought we’d have more time but Cheryl is coming with your breakfast. Eat it. You need to keep up your strength.”

  “But …” Maia stopped mid-sentence as the other Maia disappeared. The heavy metal door to the outside office opened and Cheryl walked in bearing a large styrofoam container and a cup of something steaming. “She is so infuriating,” Maia mumbled to herself. How am I ever going to learn anything if she … I never stay around long enough to tell me anything.

  “What’s that, Maia?”

  “Oh, hi, Cheryl. I’m so glad you’re here.”

  “I brought you some breakfast. I’m so sorry you are in here. I hope they figure out who killed Careen soon. I know you wouldn’t do anything like that.”

  “Something about a knife, I suspect.”

  Cheryl stood holding the container, her cheeks quickly blushing to match the shade of her hot pink jog top. “Going or finished?” Maia asked as she took in the woman’s matching running shoes and the hot pink stripe down the side of her black spandex pants.

  “Huh?”

  “Jogging. Are you going or did you already run?”

  “Oh,” Cheryl smiled. “I’m going after I finish here ... or as soon as the chief comes back. It’s a beautiful day and … um, sorry. It must be tough being locked up in here.”

  “No, it’s peachy, every expectant mothers’ dream.” You don’t need to be so sardonic, Maia, it’s not Cheryl’s fault you’re in here. “Be careful, there are some inconsiderate cyclists out there on the trail these days.”

  “Oh, I know. They whiz by so fast. Thanks. I’ll be sure to watch out for them.”

  “Is that for me?” Maia gestured to the container. “It smells heavenly.”

  “Yes. Scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, the works. I got you the special. The chief wanted to make sure you had a good breakfast. You know he’s very concerned about you, right?”

  “Well, we’ve been friends for some time now so, I’m sure he is. Listen, I’m starving, but first could you let me out to use the bathroom?”

  Cheryl set the container and cups on the desk and smiled. “Of course.”

  “Thank you. I just can’t bring myself to use that … that thing.” She pointed at the malefic metal contraption against the wall.

  Cheryl sighed. “I don’t blame you.” She unlocked the cold metal cage door and let Maia out. When Maia finished with the toilet, she ran water over her hands. It felt good; warm, clean. The cell wasn’t dirty, but just the idea of being in there gave her the creeps. As she splashed some water on her face, she heard a knock on the bathroom door. “Are you okay in there, Maia?” Cheryl’s high-pitched voice sang out.

  “Yeah. Um … just washing up a bit.” She glanced in the mirror. The dark circles under her eyes reminded her of the time she’d worn heavy black eyeliner and hadn’t washed it off before falling asleep on the sofa waiting for Addie to come home from a date. That was a long time ago and those dark marks washed off without any problem. These, however, wouldn’t. “I’ll be right out.”

  When she opened the door, the sight of Gerry standing there brought an instant smile to her face and she threw herself into his arms.

  “Hey darlin’. Are you okay?”

  She nodded as she nuzzled his neck, breathing in the spicy scent of apples and roses in the cologne he always wore. She almost began to cry. “I’m fine.”

  “Did you sleep?”

  “No. Not much.”

  “Join the club. I’ve been so worried.”

  “I’m sorry,” Cheryl cut in and Gerry gave her a don’t-mess-with-me stare that would have made Maia cringe if it had been directed at her. “I’m sorry,” Cheryl repeated as if that would help smooth over the interruption. “You’re going to need to go back in the cell now. I don’t want the chief to come in a find you out here.”

  Cheryl picked up the container of food and led the way back to the cell. Gerry walked along with Maia and entered with her.

  “Gerry, can you please come out so I can lock the door?”

  “No,” Gerry said, taking the carton from Cheryl. “I came to have breakfast with my fiancée and that’s what I’m gonna do.”

  Cheryl made a huffing sound. “Then I’ll have to lock you in there too.”

  “Fine,” he said, sitting on the cot next to Maia and helping her open the container. “How are the twins?”

  “I don’t think they liked the cot much either. They tossed and turned and I think one of them decided to try running.”

  ***

  The smell of ammonia was strong, but not as strong as the distinctive malodor of death in the room. Careen’s body shared the small, enclosed area with two others. Nelson, being the ever-congenial host pointed to the other two. “They died instantly,” he said as if that made it easier to accept.

  Cael became a bit nauseated. He’d seen plenty of dead people before so he wasn’t completely sure why it affected him this way. Maybe it was because he’d actually known Careen, albeit a brief acquaintance and not on the best of terms, but still. Almost sorry he’d agreed to come to the morgue to see Careen’s dead body, he swallowed hard before taking the three steps closer to the table where her body laid, cold, bruised, and … tattooed? “What the hell?” he said as he glanced at Nelson and the other two men before returning his eyes back to Careen’s naked body. Covering the woman’s entire stomach was … Christ, a man’s face.

  “Interesting, huh?” Nelson smiled and raised his eyebrows. “Whose face do you suppose this is?”

  Cael looked again and … holy shit! There was no mistaking those features as Gerry Briden’s face stared back at him from Careen’s belly.

  “Is that … Gerry?” Whelan asked with a smirk.

  “I believe it is,” Chief Thompson said, nodding.

  “If I was a teenage girl I might actually shriek OMG!” Whelan laughed.

  Chief Thompson cleared his throat and Whelan straightened, unsuccessfully suppressing his chuckle.

  “Right, Gerry. The father of the babies your prime suspect is carrying,” Nelson said. “I thought I’d seen it all, but … this? Anyway, as I said, I discovered the cause of death. It is obvious to anyone that she was stabbed multiple times, but a well-trained professional like me would recognize, of course, that her neck was broken. There is also a gash in her skull here …” Nelson pointed to Careen’s head, “… that would suggest someone hit her or she fell against something.”

  “Really?” Cael said.

  “Yep, snapped like a twig. There’s a mark here,” he ran his finger over a red line at the crease of her neck just under her chin. “At first, I thought maybe strangulation, but it was definitely a snapped neck. This looks like a mark made by a chain or from some sort of necklace—possibly during a struggle. Then her body was dragged, as you can see by the bottom of her feet where the sand is embedded in the scrapes in her heels. I’m guessing after the killer reached the final destination on our lovely Oregon shore, he stabbed her multiple times to make it look like that was the cause of death.”

  “But why go thr
ough the trouble of making one type of murder look like another?” Whelan asked.

  “Well, that’s for you guys to figure out. I’m just here to determine cause of death.” Nelson smiled and scratched his head. “I bet the killer thought he or she was being clever there, possibly banking on no autopsy.”

  “That would make him a very stupid killer,” Cael said.

  “Right, or just banking on wasting our time for a while,” Whelan chimed in.

  “Or to frame Maia,” Cael added.

  “Now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves …” Chief Thompson stepped up to take a closer look at Careen’s neck.

  “May I add,” Nelson interrupted and the Chief frowned at him, “there is no way that someone the size of Maia MacKenna, especially in her present state, could have snapped this woman’s neck, hoisted her dead-weight body into a vehicle, and then dragged her down the rocks onto the beach. Just sayin’.”

  “What makes you think she was transported in a vehicle from somewhere?”

  “Time of death compared to the time of the knife wounds and a dirty trunk. There is grease streaked on the back of her knee.” He lifted one of Careen’s legs so they could all see. “Course, I don’t have the toxicology reports back yet, but I sent a sample of this stuff along with whatever she had in her system and I can guarantee it’s not going to come back as tar stains from our beautiful untainted beach.”

  ***

  Gerry smiled and stroked his hand over Maia’s hair, pushing it away from her face with his fingers. She’d been crying, he could tell by the puffiness of her eyes. She’d probably cried most of the night. No wonder she hadn’t slept. “Baby, I am so sorry you had to stay here all night. Are you sure you’re okay?”

  She nodded, eyeing the eggs and pancakes in the container. “This came from the café downtown. It looks good. You might have some competition going on.”

  Gerry shook his head. “Nah, I hear they make a lousy Bloody Mary.”

  Maia grinned as she took the first bite. “That makes sense, considering they don’t serve alcohol. Have you eaten? I’ll share.” She held a forkful of egg out to him and he opened his mouth to taste the first morsel of food since the day before. He’d been so busy and nervous yesterday preparing for the proposal and then last night his world had been turned upside down. He just hadn’t had the chance to eat. Now he didn’t really have the desire.

  “Thanks. Not bad, but you eat it. You need to feed my children.” Gerry glanced around the small, stark cell, too grim a place for his Maia. Damn you, Careen. Why the hell did you have to go and get yourself killed? Better yet, why come to Whisper Cape at all? He knew the answer to the second question; he wished he knew the answer to the first. For some reason, Careen had it in her head that she and Gerry were going to get back together. She wouldn’t take no for an answer. But who killed her and why? He knew for certain it hadn’t been Maia.

  After Maia forked up the last of the pancakes, she reached for the cup, removed the white plastic top someone had scribbled “decaf” on and smelled the rich Columbian aroma. Thanks, Cheryl.

  Just then, the door opened and in walked Chief Thompson, followed by Cael and Lieutenant Whelan.

  The chief didn’t seem concerned about Gerry being in the cell with Maia. In fact, he didn’t even mention it. He simply walked to the cell, and unlocked the door. “You’re free to go, Maia.”

  “Seriously?” she asked.

  “Yes. We’ve just come from the morgue. Your fingerprints are on the knife, which seems damning but is only circumstantial at best, considering it’s a knife taken from your kitchen. There’s been more evidence discovered that clears you for now and at this time, I have no reason to hold you.”

  Maia hugged Gerry. “God, I can’t believe it, Gerry. Is this really over?”

  “It’s over, Maia,” Cael said from the other side of the room.

  “I knew you wouldn’t be in here long,” Gerry said, kissing her before they stood. Holding hands, they walked out of the cell and past Chief Thompson toward the double glass doors she’d stared at most of last night.

  “Maia,” Chief Thompson said, “I’m sorry.”

  Maia stopped, turned to the chief, walked back, and embraced him. “I know you were only doing your job.”

  He nodded as she pulled away from him and headed to the door with Gerry and Cael.

  “Gerry,” Thompson called after them. “You and I need to have a conversation sometime. I’m sure you have something real interesting to tell me.”

  Whelan made some derisive sound, but quickly caught himself.

  Gerry gave Thompson a puzzled look but shrugged it off, being so happy about Maia’s release.

  Chapter 23

  Jonathan Livingston Who?

  With Maia’s release from jail that morning, there was no reason to send Breena away and maybe, just maybe things could get back to normal. But Cael knew they still needed to find out who the real killer was, something he and Addison would work on together.

  The sun twinkled high in the sky, heating the air to a warm seventy degrees with no clouds in sight, a rare event for February in Oregon. Addison, Breena and Cael sat at the square table on the back deck of the Cliff Hanger, eating a celebratory lunch when a seagull landed on one of the tables.

  “Look at that, poor thing. People can be so irresponsible with their trash,” Addison said.

  Cael and Breena looked over at the bird, its leg all tangled in a plastic six-pack holder mingled with kelp. Something shiny caught Cael’s eyes. The bird clearly seemed to be in distress from carrying around the extra weight. Cael grabbed a french fry from his plate. Holding the potato between his fingers, he walked toward the bird. Addison, a little help, please. “It’s okay,” he crooned at the bird. “I bet you’d like to be released from all that crap you’re dragging around. Are you hungry? Here’s a little something for you. How about you let me take that stuff off your leg while you eat this?” He smiled when the bird stayed still and stared at Cael, not looking the least bit frightened. Cael placed the potato down in front of the bird. The seagull bent its head and began munching on it. The bird stopped and flinched a little when Cael started to untangle the mess around it’s leg, but returned to the french fry as Cael freed him from the entanglement. As if to say thank you, the bird flapped its wings, then grabbed the potato and took off.

  “Wow! That was cool,” Breena said as Cael came back to the table with the pile of muck. “How did you do that? How did you get the bird to stay so still?”

  “Don’t know.” He winked at Addison, knowing she used her telekinetic gift to make the bird stay put. “It must have known I was helping it, I guess.” Cael shrugged and sat down, fingering the strands of kelp.

  Breena laughed. “You guys can’t fool me. I know you made the bird stay still, Addie.” She shook her head and took a sip of her soda. “I’m not that easy to trick.”

  “Sorry, you’re right.” Addison said.

  “There’s something in here, looks like a necklace. Maybe I should take this to the Chief. It looks like there’s blood and hair mixed in here as well. Red hair.”

  “Let’s see,” Addison said, inching closer to him to get a better look.

  “Don’t touch it. The last thing we need is your prints on it.”

  “Wait a minute. That pendant looks like the one Careen wears, I mean wore all the time. The one she claimed Gerry gave her years ago. This could be the evidence we need! Maybe it’ll clear Maia completely.”

  “What’s that?” Gerry asked as he and Maia walked out to join them.

  Addison jumped up and hugged Maia. “I am so glad to see you. God, Maia, that must have been awful.”

  “It was, but it’s over now,” Maia said as she raised her left hand to her temple.

  Addison gasped, and then squealed, “Oh my God, what a gorgeous ring! Gerry, you’ve out-done yourself.”

  “Aye, we’ll need to keep the bar open extra hours to pay for it. What’s this thing you have that will clear M
aia?” he asked before Addison had the chance to argue about working later.

  “A necklace. It was caught up in a seagull’s foot. It looks like the one Careen wore,” Cael said, motioning to Gerry to take a look.

  Using a napkin, Gerry lifted the pile of muck, carefully turned the ruby pendant over, read the inscription on the back, “To Reenie, always my love, Ger,” and nodded. “Yeah, this is hers. I gave it to her.” He glanced at Maia. “Years ago. I don’t really see how this will clear Maia.”

  “The medical examiner indicated that there were marks on Careen’s neck from a chain,” Cael said, “But you’re right, this won’t prove who killed her.”

  “Maybe there are fingerprints on the pendant that will give some sort of clue,” Addison said.

  “Chances are they’ll only find Careen’s DNA and prints,” Cael said, “which doesn’t really help much.”

  Chapter 24

  A Funeral and a Confession

  Gossip runs wild in small towns and Whisper Cape was no exception. With her arm tucked securely against Gerry’s, Maia strolled down the aisle to one of the seats in the small chapel. She cringed as they passed a couple of women she didn’t know very well when she heard them whispering her name in conjunction with Careen’s.

  Careen hadn’t lived in Whisper Cape long, hadn’t established a permanent place of residence there, only lived out of a hotel room she’d shared with Finn. However, mourners or most likely prying townspeople, packed the quaint little church. Either Careen had gained a great number of admirers from her performances at the Cliff Hanger or most of the people came out of curiosity and to horn in on what they thought might be a good show. Once an accused killer, always suspect, Maia thought and hoped it was the former reason that they were all there. She nodded at Cael, Addie, and Bart as she sat in the row in front of them next to Aiden, Finn, and Murphy. Aiden and Murphy smiled as she sat down and Aiden patted her hand with his in an everything’s-going-to-be-okay gesture. Finn, flanked by his two pals, kept his head low, his hand covering his eyes. Moments later, he lifted his head and stared at the coffin. Maia stole a glance at him; he appeared red-eyed and didn’t acknowledge her or look at her. Did he still think she had killed his girlfriend?