by Alexie Aaron
Rose exhaled the breath she had been holding. “Close one, Rose Marie, close one.” This time, she ran down the stairs into the kitchen and out the back door. She did her best to reattach the ends of the police tape. Someone walking by wouldn’t notice the break until they opened the door.
Quietly, she retraced her steps out the back of the property. She felt a large wind and smelled rain in the air. Rose - who was not a fan of cold March drizzle - started to run. The storm broke over her, and lightning flashed across the clouds. The wind whipped her sodden garments around her arms and legs, making quick travel useless. Rose lost her bearings for a moment. She pushed her wet hair out of her eyes.
In the distance, a young woman stood waving a white hankie. Rose thought she must have headed in the wrong direction and this was April Johnston offering her shelter. Rose followed the young woman who didn’t respond to Rose’s cries of, “Slow down, I’m getting lost.”
Thunder boomed, and the ground shook. For a brief moment the rain stopped. “Halleluiah!” Rose laughed at her good luck. She looked around her and saw a large slab of pitted marble off to her right. Crocus leaves were pushing through the earth around the stone. She was amazed to find she was back at Cold Creek Hollow, just outside the graveyard. “No problem,” Rose thought. She would just cross the enclosure and walk out onto the road. Her house wasn’t too far from here. She would pick up her car later. The woods and hillside were too dangerous in this weather.
It started to rain again as she crossed the lot. Mindful of the hazards of the half-submerged grave markers, Rose watched the ground and carefully placed each foot. It wouldn’t do to twist an ankle here. “Now where is that young woman?” she said aloud. She stopped and looked around her. She thought she saw something white just the other side of the yew hedge. She moved in that direction and soon came to an opening in the silver-green barrier. She pushed through and found herself teetering at the edge of an open foundation.
The darkness of the pit was relieved as the lightning scorched the sky overhead. Rose saw that some planks were set up, bisecting the exposed foundations. They looked sturdy enough, so she managed to make her way over and stepped out, testing the bridge to see if it would hold her weight. The planks held, and Rose all but danced across the expanse. She stopped in the middle to gloat at her smartness. Her luck became her entitlement. She felt powerful, and she for a moment was God.
She raised her arms in victory, and the sky connected with her, moving a terawatt of electricity through her body, burning her flesh, igniting her clothes, and burning her bridge.
~
Mia pulled in and stopped the truck in front of the B&B. “Are you sure you don’t want to come back with me?”
“Sorry, but I’ve got an early day tomorrow. I’ll give you a call,” Burt said as he closed the door.
Mia watched him walk into the building before driving off. She chose a longer route home, one that would take her by Whit’s place.
A few rain drops splattered on the windshield, and by the time she drove by Whit’s house, it was a downpour. She didn’t see any lights on, but his car was in the drive so she assumed he was getting some rest. Lightning danced across the sky. “One one hundred... two one hundred... three one hundred,” she counted aloud until she heard the rumble of thunder. “Three miles, crap.” Mia increased her speed. It was one thing running from the garage to the house in the rain, but in a thunderstorm on the peninsula, that was foolhardy.
~
Whit winced as the crash of the storm rattled his windows. He had fallen asleep exhausted in his clothes, face down on his bed. He kicked off his shoes and dragged the comforter up from the bottom of the bed. “Sherry would have a fit,” he thought before remembering she was dead. He started to cry. Tears streamed down each side of his face as he lay on his back. Through water-filled eyes he stared at the light from the storm as it flashed across the ceiling.
He rolled over and buried his head in the pillow and sobbed with the fierceness of the storm. Finally he fell into an exhausted sleep and didn’t notice the hands which pulled the comforter up over his shoulders. Or hear the soft patter of footsteps on the carpet in the hall heading for the studio.
Chapter Twenty-seven
Mia had made it as far as the garage when the thunderstorm consumed the peninsula and the lake. She shut the big garage door and took her bucket of salt and circled the truck. The overhead lights dimmed. Working quickly, she found her hurricane lantern and had just trimmed the wick when the garage was plunged into darkness. She reached into her pocket and turned on her penlight. She placed it in her mouth, directing the light with her teeth until she had the wick lit.
She carried the light to the door which the gusts of wind impeded her from opening all the way. “Okay, I guess I’ll be camping out,” Mia said aloud to give herself some comfort. She had enough oil to keep the lamp lit all night. It was going to be cold though. She wouldn’t be able to start the truck for the obvious reason that she would be certain to poison herself with CO2 if she did. “I wonder,” Mia said as she got on top of the workbench, reached for a large box and pulled it down beside her. She got off the bench and cut through the strapping tape. “Bingo!” Mia cried as the contents of the box, although musty, would certainly help her present situation.
She pulled out an air mattress followed by two moth-eaten wool blankets. Tucked in the bottom was a stack of deflated water toys. Mia walked over and dropped the stack in the bed of the truck. Armed with a cigarette-lighter air compressor, she set to work inflating all the various rings and the mattress. When the last floatie was inflated and the bed of the truck dried out, Mia arranged a comfortable, warm place to spend the evening. She was sorely tempted to open the box and start reading, but it was scary enough in the daytime, let alone stranded in the dark garage in a thunderstorm.
~
Burt tossed and turned all night. He just could not get comfortable. First, it was the storm, then the guilt of begging off being with Mia. Finally, he had to resolve his feelings of disloyalty to PEEPs. He got up and dialed Mia. The call wouldn’t go through due to the storm. “Well, that’s just peachy.” He felt even more like a heel. He could have been holed up with her, cuddling on the couch, watching the storm. But instead he was here avoiding the glances of his team and the advances of the proprietress.
~
Rip Baker headed out to check Perry Dam. With last night’s rain being heavier than forecast, he thought he better go up and check the levels and maybe let out more water into Cold Creek. He was surprised how beautiful the sunrise was. Each drop of water seemed to reflect like diamonds on the emerging foliage and grasses alongside the road.
As he crested the hill, he saw a green sedan parked just off the road. He slowed to a stop and got out to see if anyone needed help. As he approached the vehicle, he scanned the car. All the tires seemed fine, the doors were locked, and as far as he could tell, the car seemed in good condition. He took out his cell phone and called the Sheriff’s Station.
~
“Tom, I want you to run a plate for me. Rip says that there’s an abandoned car up on Perry Dam Road,” Sheriff Ryan said, handing him a piece of paper. “Here’s the plate. Didn’t you guys check out there yesterday?”
“Yes, I ran the road myself. No car,” he said as he punched the plate numbers into the computer. “Well, well, you’ll never guess who.”
John Ryan leaned over the deputy and whistled. “Rose Marie McCallum. What’s she doing up at the dam?”
“The Perry Dam Road backs up to Cold Creek Hollow. I bet she’s snooping around in there. I better give Peters a heads-up.” Tom picked up the radio and called.
~
Mia woke up to the ringing of her cell phone. She opened her eyes, and instead of finding herself in her bedroom, she was staring up at the garage rafters. Memories of the previous night’s storm flooded into her coffee-starved brain. She kicked off a wool blanket and stretched. As her body rotated, she came face to beak with Do
nald Duck. “Hello there, we’ve not been properly introduced. I don’t often sleep with ducks, but I have with a few dogs.” She reached out and squeezed the swim ring with affection.
The phone rang again. “Just leave me a freaking message,” she said and sat up. “Oh, hell, what if it’s Whit.” She lifted several inflatable pool toys before she found her cell. “Hello?”
“I’ve been worried.”
The voice sounded familiar, but the tone was suspicious. Mia pulled the phone away and looked at the number. “Whit, is that you?”
“Yes, Mia, are you drunk?” The tone she was used to had returned, the one that was tinged ever so slightly with irritation.
“No, just sleepy. What time is it?”
“Last I looked, nineish.”
“Nine in the morning?”
“Yes, I tried a few times last night, but the calls wouldn’t go through and so...”
“You were worried, how sweet.” Mia was on her feet kicking through the detritus in the truck bed, heading for the tailgate. “Well, I’m just peachy. I have to get some coffee in me.”
“I have doughnuts and coffee, lots of both.”
“Where are you?” Mia asked, walking over and hitting the automatic garage opener switch.
As the door raised, Whit answered, “I’m outside your gate, buzz me in.”
Mia looked out and saw his sedan. Whit looked in and saw Mia standing in the garage surrounded by Disney inflatable swim toys.
Mia closed her phone, hit the keypad and invited Whit in.
He pulled the car up and lazily rolled down his window. “Isn’t it a little early in the year to be playing little mermaid?” he commented, barely able to keep from laughing.
“Seemed like a good idea last night,” Mia said, trying to push her hair down in back. She gave up and pulled her hat out of her pocket and put it on. “I got home and Thor was throwing a fit, so I opted to camp out in the garage instead of dodging bolts of lightning trying to swim my way to the house.”
“Couldn’t have been too comfortable,” he said, handing her a large black coffee.
Mia inhaled the rich aroma. “I managed alright, but, phew, I smell like wet goat and mildew.”
“But at least you’re dressed for success.”
Mia looked down at her green sweater and black slacks. “Oh this? I had a date last night.”
“Couldn’t have been too successful if you ended up in the garage,” he said smartly as he got out of the car, grabbed his coffee and handed her a large bag of doughnuts. “Can we go inside?”
“I don’t know, history tells me to beware of Greeks bearing gifts.”
Whit snaked his arm around her shoulder. “But this Greek brought you doughnuts.”
“Any jellies?”
“Half a dozen,” he replied.
“Okay, but let me close the gate. I don’t want to share the feast with the rabble.”
~
Burt smiled, digging into the fluffy omelet in front of him. They had been there several days and, until this morning, hadn’t made it up in time for the breakfast part of the B&B. Even Mike appeared to be in a good mood. He had a call into Deputy Tom about resuming the investigation at April’s place.
April was sitting with Beth and Ted, laughing. She had handed over her laptop to Beth who was punching in code, trying to head off a virus that she picked up. “I tell you, the next time you go to a Starbucks without using a rubber...”
“What?”
“She means a good antivirus program,” Ted explained. “Right now you’ve got a STB in charge.”
“Come on...”
“Stupid Techie Beth,” he explained. “Ouch!”
Beth managed to whack Ted without losing her concentration.
Amber drifted into the room and over to Burt’s and Mike’s table. “Morning, gentlemen.” She sat down and sighed.
“How’d you sleep?” Burt asked.
“Not great, not partial to thunderstorms. That lightning was wicked,” she complained. “I had to put in earplugs in order to have some peace.”
“I slept like a log. Didn’t hear a thing,” Mike said.
“Good for you.” Amber smiled as Maryanne approached and asked for her order.
Burt checked his cell phone under the table. “Damn, still no call from Mia.” He thought, “I wonder if she made it home okay.” He felt a hand on his arm and looked up to see Maryanne hovering. “I’m sorry, did you say something?”
“I was just asking if you needed anything else?”
“No, I’m fine, thanks.”
She left, and Mike hit his hand on the table. “You tapping that?” he asked.
“No.”
“Could have fooled me,” Mike teased. “Where were you yesterday?”
“None of your business.”
“That’s cool, brother.”
Amber looked from one man to the other and smiled. “Do we have a schedule for today yet?”
Mike updated her while Burt excused himself and went out to make a call.
~
Mia picked up the phone. “Hello,” she said with a mouth full. She swallowed. “Hello, Burt, what’s up?”
“You didn’t get my messages?”
Mia looked down at her phone. “Actually, I haven’t listened to any yet. I’ve got company at present. Can I call you later?”
“I just wanted to know if you got home last night.”
“I never made it home,” she said honestly.
“I don’t get it. You spend the night with Whit?”
“I beg your pardon? I spent the night in my garage. The weather was too bad to make it to the house. Whit, I assume, spent the night at home.” Mia looked at Whit who nodded in confirmation.
“Ah, gee, did that sound possessive?”
“A bit.”
“You said you have company... Whit?”
“Nail on the head, master carpenter,” Mia said cryptically.
“Call me later. I mean it or no more...”
Mia’s eyes lit up as she listened to the rest of the threat. “Aye aye, captain.” She hung up.
“Burt Hicks?” Whit asked.
“Yep, my dinner date. You updating your blog?” Mia said as she reached for another jelly.
“Should I be jealous?” Whit asked, flexing his biceps.
Mia started laughing. “Honestly.”
Whit’s phone rang, and he looked at the ID before taking the call. He got up and walked into the kitchen. Mia got the idea he needed privacy so she headed into her room to get cleaned up.
Her room was nice and tidy which shook her a bit until she remembered Burt had an orderly habit. She opened her drawers and searched for some clean underwear. “I gotta do some laundry,” she said aloud as she settled for some granny panties and a bra that had seen better days.
Her jeans were all mud-spattered, and the pants she slept in weren’t going to see another wearing. “Shit,” she said and then she remembered the sweats Mother and Father sent her from Florida last Christmas. She reached under the bed and pulled out a Federal Express Box that had arrived on the 24th of December. She brushed off the dust bunnies and opened it up to find, as memory served her, a bright pink pair of sweat pants with writing across the back.
“Juicy,” Whit snickered from the doorway. “Are you really juicy, Mia? Like an orange juicy or...”
“Stop it, and get the hell out of my room. I’ve got my unmentionables out.”
Whit walked over and snagged the granny panties and laughed. “Come on, Mia, you’re not going to seduce me in these or that,” he pointed at the bra, “for that matter.”
“You, you, oh never mind.” She looked at him and saw that his smile didn’t reach his eyes. “What’s up?”
“That was Tom. They found Rose’s car abandoned on Perry Dam Road. They think she may have been snooping around the hollow and got lost. She’s not at home and didn’t show up for work this morning. He asked if I could give them a hand in the search and...”
“And,” Mia prompted.
“I said yes and volunteered you.”
“Fuck that, I can’t go back there,” Mia said and got up.
“I’ll be there. Come on, you know the area. She accused me in public of murdering my wife. It would be unsporting of me, let alone suspicious since I don’t have an alibi for last night...”
“They think she’s dead?”
“A distinct possibility. Tom’s already been through the houses, and no Rose, except someone left the attic light on.”
“I don’t have an alibi either.”
“But what about Donald Duck and Shamu the whale and...”
She looked at him and wondered if it would be rude to punch the widower in the nuts. “Listen, I don’t want you to look bad so I’m going, but I’m not happy about this.”
“Okay, you hop in the shower, and I’ll see if I can knock some of the mud off your jeans. You are not going out in public in the juicy pants.”
“Thanks, Whit. I knew you had my back.” Mia reached over and grabbed her panties out of his hand, snagged the bra, and headed into the bathroom.
Whit grabbed the jeans out of her hamper and walked through the living room and out onto the back deck. He shook the tiny jeans free of the surface dirt and began to whack them against the railing and a good bit of the dried mud fell away. He put his suppressed anger into each whack, and by the time he got control of himself, the jeans were not only free of dirt but were a bit distressed.
Exhausted, he sat down on the cold deck and put his hands on his head and cried. “Sherry, why did you have to go out there? Why couldn’t our little house be enough? Why wasn’t I enough?”
The door opened behind him, and Mia walked over and squatted down beside him. She let him cry, oblivious to the cold air on her exposed legs.