Timberline Trail

by Lockner, Loren

  “So you didn’t like me at all?” asked Tia helplessly. “It was just another ploy?”

  “No, it was an effort to comply with society’s rules; to fit in. I decided that since I couldn’t level with you I’d at least let you off the hook. It was the least I could do for you and I’m very sorry if I hurt you.” Paul seemed truly contrite, and for some odd reason Tia suddenly felt immensely relieved. She had thought Paul vain, selfish, and superficial, but now realized he’d only been trying to protect himself and her from his secret. Deep down Paul cared about people. She’d just misunderstood which people he truly cared about.

  “And now you’re here?”

  “Your uncle is worried about you and your dad. He loves you very much Tia and hasn’t heard from your dad in over six months. I’m afraid they had a bit of a falling out over his changing the will. Your uncle realizes you didn’t want anything to do with the company and tried to explain that to Anthony but your dad wouldn’t listen. So, Jeffery sent me up here to check on you, deeply worried after he’d heard what Kenny had found out about Jon Simons. Besides, I felt I owed you something since I treated you so badly a year ago.”

  He reached out a hand and Tia grasped it, suddenly feeling wearier than she ever had in her entire life. No one was what they seemed and their personal secrets threatened to engulf her, rattling that hard-fought independence she so cherished. At least now she had a better handle on what Paul really was and in her heart, Tia readily forgave him, knowing he had not embarked on an easy path. The snow crunched behind her and she glanced up, her ungloved hand still holding Paul’s.

  “The snowmobile’s ready,” Jon said roughly, his dark green eyes narrowing at the show of affection between the two. A cold mask shut down over his lean face as a jay chattered in a distant pine and further off a screech of some kind of bird of prey shrilled through the crisp air.

  “Then one of us has to go,” said Tia, dropping Paul’s hand.

  “You don’t have a two-way radio?” queried Paul.

  “Yeah I do, but that radio’s inside my 4x4, which had its tires blown to smithereens outside Tia’s cabin,” said Jon sternly.

  “So just how long have you owned Capital Amalgamated Investments?” asked Tia abruptly.

  Jon froze and flashed an angry look at Paul. “Why you stinking sewer rat! And just what else have you been feeding her?”

  “Only the truth about Andrew Carson’s affiliation with Capital Amalgamated and your role in all of this,” said Paul defensively.

  Jon gave a snort of laughter. “I have my sincere doubts you really understand my role in any of this. So Tia, the honeymoon’s over before it ever got started eh?” His jaw clenched. “That’s right... I’m a 50% partner in Amalgamated Capital Investments along with my father who inherited the company from his father. Guilty as charged!” He raised both his hands as though under arrest.

  “You knew about Andrew’s death?”

  “I knew enough,” said Jon. “He owed our company over one million dollars, which we’d advanced him to work on a new product we believed to be revolutionary.”

  “That’s quite a motive,” said Paul flippantly, and Jon jerked angrily.

  “You just shut your face you two-timing lizard! I can see you’ve returned to leech off Tia again.”

  “I think,” interrupted Tia, “that someone needs to take the snowmobile and head back to Timberline. If you start now Jon you’ll make it before dark.” Tia’s face remained shuddered, her stiff shoulders indicating she would accept no argument.

  “So that’s your plan?” snapped Jon.

  “After you head to Timberline we’ll think of adding more,” stated Paul smugly, his handsome face every bit as aggressive as Jon’s.

  “Well that’s just rich,” retorted Jon. “Maybe you’ll pull an Arnold Schwarzenegger stunt and break down the cabin door, trussing up the bad guys while I return with the helicopters full of law enforcement agents to wrap up the deal. Maybe you’ll get a medal! Sound’s just great for an LA script, but what else could I expect from a LA boy?”

  Paul rose, clenching his fists. If Tia didn’t do something quick the two men would literally be at each other’s throats.

  “You’re wasting your time blowing off steam,” said Tia quietly and firmly. “It’s going to be dark in a few hours and if you leave now...”

  “Nope,” stated Jon stubbornly. “It’s your Paul who’s heading back to Timberline. You know and I know Tia that my sister found out something connecting Heath Enterprises to Andrew Carson’s death and was subsequently killed for it. I’m not leaving here until I discover the truth. You can either stick with me or head out on your own, but I vowed on my sister’s grave I’d find her killer and believe the answer lies within your cabin and its three uninvited occupants. Only this time I’m going to be better prepared!”

  Jon turned abruptly and leaped onto the wooden landing of his tent. He returned with the expensive hunting rifle and a box of shells.

  “You can’t stay here with that guy! He may have killed Andrew!” Paul looked ready to explode.

  “He didn’t kill him.” Tia spoke the words softly but they managed to halt Jon’s jerky progress. “Jon hasn’t killed anybody... yet. He’s been duplicitous and manipulative, but is as innocent of murder as I am. And you’re right Jon, we need to find an answer to both Andrew and your sister’s deaths. I’ve hidden my head in the sand long enough; it’s time to clear my father’s name once and for all and discover what my connection is to all this. If your sister sent me something I’m going to find it. Mail is delivered to the Post Office next to the Timberline hotel. We’ll begin by putting out a trace out there.”

  “Then you’ll come with me?” asked Paul hopefully.

  “No. I’m just going to reclaim what’s mine. I’m taking back my cabin.”

  Paul whistled, examining the rifle in Jon’s hands and the muscles working in the photographer’s throat. He appeared about to say something but stifled whatever it was. “So is that snowmobile fueled up?” he asked, realizing neither Jon nor Tia were about to be dissuaded.

  “Yes. And since you’re not adequately dressed Paul, you’d better get ready!” Jon turned abruptly, the snow crunching loudly under his boots.

  Within fifteen minutes Paul stood beside the two canvas tents and watched Jon pull the snowmobile near the fire. Paul had strapped on a dark backpack loaded with a sleeping bag and essential gear, including hot coffee in a silver thermos. Paul had dressed more warmly, donning a heavy ski mask and goggles over his face. He’d added layers of long underwear and undershirts under dry ski pants and placed three layers of wool-covered feet into oversized sorrel boots. Jon handed him a red helmet which fit snugly over the balaclava.

  “I’ll return as soon as I can, just don’t do anything stupid,” his muffled voice ordered Jon. “And remember if anything happens to her you’ll have me to answer to.”

  “Rightio,” said Jon abruptly, as Tia gave Paul’s heavily-bundled body a quick squeeze.

  Paul revved the engine and powered the snowmobile up the steep road without a backward glance. Jon clenched his fists, never having despised anyone more in his life than he did Paul Dale and himself.

  Chapter 10

  Within thirty minutes of Paul’s departure, Tia felt as restless as a cooped-up dog on a long summer’s day. Jon strode stiffly to his tent, the sounds of metal chests soon clanging angrily as Tia fed the fire and pondered the information Paul had relayed. The gray jays’ chattering and the lift of the wind through the pines and cottonwoods quickly faded from her consciousness as her orderly mind tried to make sense of all she’d learned.

  First and foremost was the mystery of why her father had rewritten his will and never told her? That answer proved easy. Tia knew she would have argued to no end about it and her father, though stubborn as an old pot-bellied mule with anyone else, could be dissuaded by Tia.

  Her mother, when she’d been alive, used to joke about how Tia could bend Tony Heath to her
will and Tia recalled how RK would grumpily scowl at Tia’s manipulations, he himself never having the ability to make his father ever change his mind once it was made up. Of course, these manipulations were minor in comparison to the fact that Anthony Heath had decided to bequeath his entire fortune to her.

  Now the consequences of her father’s actions struck home and no matter how she tried to deny it, Tia knew she was in serious trouble. Tia suddenly wished she was somewhere else, anywhere else but here and for an instant Jon’s quiet face hovered in her mind’s eye. For two nights at least she’d felt protected and safe, even in the cold and rough interior of the cave, because she’d been certain Jon was trustworthy.

  But who was he really? Part of her saw him as a creator of pictures, just like she was a creator of words; one seeking to capture an instant with his photographs as she did with her stories. But now everything he’d ever done or said became suspect. Tia wanted to bury her head in her hands and weep before the crackling fire, as she now realized just how much Jon and the man she’d thought he was had meant to her. Tia couldn’t appreciate the call of the golden eagles circling majestically overhead or notice the jerkily twitching tail of a long-tailed weasel who ventured near the fire before suddenly scurrying away, so wrapped up was she within her dark thoughts.

  Tia struggled to regain her equilibrium; managing to reassure herself that Jon’s motives, no matter how low, had not included injuring her, while Steve... She growled at how she’d almost been duped by his friendly face and handsome features. Handsome men were a dime a dozen as Paul and Steve, and even Jon, had proven. It was inside that it really counted, as her mother had told her over and over again, and suddenly Tia recalled the homely face of her father with his overly large ears and dark reassuring eyes squinting under thick eyebrows. Tia remembered how he’d always complained about needing to shave twice a day but it had never mattered to her mother who had loved him immensely, kissing that rough face as tenderly as if it were hewn into gold.

  That's what she was looking for, the quality of the man inside, not outside, and suddenly she thought of Paul. Paul's admitted relationship with her uncle now answered so much. Tia recollected how Paul had always paid his own way, and while enjoying her wealth and success had maintained a small and very tastefully decorated apartment near Bel Air as well as a bright red Corvette.

  She remained positive, however, that it was her connections in the art and publishing world that had first interested and attracted him. In fact, he’d shown little interest in any of the workings of Heath Enterprises. Tia had mistaken his friendship for something else and when they’d broken up, she’d automatically assumed, as most woman did, that he’d left her for another woman. She now understood her cousin's aversion to her father. Marilyn hadn't been able to accept her father for what he was, but Tia still trusted and loved her Uncle Jeffery no matter what his choices. She believed he’d never proven to be anything but honest. It was true, however, that the death of her father’s partner had, after all, enabled Jeffery Heath to take control of the company.

  Yet, she argued with herself, Jeffery had always gone out of his way to help others. He’d been the one who had introduced Tia to the editor who’d ended up publishing all of her books. And her uncle, while definitely enjoyed his wealth, certainly didn't flaunt it in the face of others. Uncle Jeffery had never lost his love of working with his hands and Tia remembered a story that had circulated through the family about how her uncle had tried to convince her father to invest in a made-to-order furniture company instead of a computer firm. That love of wood had resulted in the snug cabin she now called home.

  But why had her father altered the will, writing both Jeffery and RK out? If anything, she would have thought her father would have left RK the entire company even considering his odd nature. Eccentric and abrupt, his people skills non-existent, Tia had always tagged her brother as the reclusive innovative genius, content to spend hours in front of his computer working on new hardware and software schemes. RK disliked public appearances; rejecting concerts, movies, and parties as wastes of time. He hadn’t picked up a fiction book since high school and his scorn for the ‘make-believe’ had included anything that had to do with fiction, including her books.

  While it was true they’d never been close, she’d always admired him. At an early age RK had excelled in math and science, startling his teachers with an incredible grasp of concepts far beyond the usual student’s reach. Her father had promoted RK's interests, allowing him the freedom to delve into computers and fiddle with any machine as he strived to figure out how it worked. Tia soon classified her brother as the mad-scientist type, who showed little interest in the opposite sex or anything that didn’t directly relate to electronics or computers. While she didn't enjoy similar pursuits, she’d always respected what he'd achieved. However her brother was not so accommodating.

  RK had mocked her writing and subsequent English major, suggesting with an undisguised smirk that she could do far better for herself as a scientist. Their distant relationship had drifted even further apart and while Tia didn’t need her brother's approval she was disappointed she hadn’t warranted his respect. She’d been truly sad years later, when her brother had opted to start his own company after completing his doctorate degree at UC Berkley, that her father hadn’t been the most understanding of parents. Anthony felt his son had somehow betrayed him because he’d promised his father to join Heath Enterprises as the R & D director after achieving his Ph.D.

  In a sense it was true; RK's future career with Heath Enterprises had been verbalized between her parents and brother for over ten years, but suddenly in the space of one stormy weekend two years before her mother’s death, RK had crushed all that by defiantly announcing he had his own plans and goals and would not tie himself down to a company he despised. He’d gone so far as to accuse his parents of neglect, suggesting they’d never really listened to his dreams and had favored his sister over him.

  Luckily Tia had been away at college that weekend, though tidbits of information about her brother’s clash with her parents had drifted to her via her gentle mother, who’d been truly hurt by her son’s accusations and subsequent departure. Of course, her mother had admitted, Anthony Heath had been single-minded regarding RK's future and demanded a great deal from his equally hard-headed son. Both Tia and her mother felt that if RK would have told his father from the beginning he didn't want to be part of the company, Anthony Heath wouldn't have taken it so hard.

  But her father had taken it hard, throwing himself into his work with more gusto than he had ever shown before and delegating more authority to Uncle Jeffery and his trusted partner, Andrew Carson, who’d served in Vietnam with him. Anthony also gruffly applauded RK's successes, where he could have easily wished him the worst.

  Tia had once hoped that if her brother married and fathered a couple of children he would soften, but that happy event never occurred. RK cooped himself up more and more in his private office, leaving the running of RK Designs to the capable hands of his vice-president so he could create new and better products for the public. Suddenly Tia wished she knew her brother better and wondered if she could establish a warmer relationship with him. For a moment she missed his serious intense face and squeaky sandals and decided that he, just like Uncle Jeffery and her cousin Marilyn, could never harm her.

  Her mind turned to Andrew Carson. If what Paul’s private investigator Kenny had learned about Andrew's death was true, Andrew had placed the company and her entire family in a precarious position. RK hadn't been the only one who’d wanted to start a new company it seemed. If Andrew had somehow gotten in over his head with his silent partner and been brutally killed as a result, it would at least make some sort of bizarre sense. Before, nothing about his death had seemed logical and her father struggled for months dealing with the police and the LA paper’s accusations which insinuated Anthony Heath had been involved in his partner’s death hoping for financial gain. Tia knew that financial gain had been
the farthest thing from her father’s mind at the time.

  Tia shook her head sadly over the whole bitter affair and wished her father the best wherever he was. The fact that Andrew had owed Capital Amalgamated Investments over a million dollars still managed to shock her, but her mind adamantly protested against Jon having had anything to with Andrew's murder. She also totally rejected the suggestion from Paul that Jon could have possibly been his silent partner. Tia just wished she could figure out the connection between Andrew, CAI, and her brother's profitable company where Jon’s sister had worked.

  What could Jenny Simons have dug up that cost the young accountant her life? A tremendous wave of sadness washed over her regarding Jon's sister. His image forced his way into her somber thoughts and Tia realized it was his very silence on the matter that broke her heart. Unfortunately Jon’s true agenda remained hidden under his carefully constructed layers of reserve and secrecy. She may have made love to Jon and given herself freely to him, but he had never truly given himself to her. And, until he did, there was no future with him.

  Tia headed to the tent where Jon bent over some photos of coastal black bears. He scowled at her.

  "Come up with a plan yet?”

  “Not really. I’ve been trying to put all the pieces of the puzzle together and need your help to make sense of it all.”

  “So now you believe me?” he snorted.

  “What do you mean?”

  “That I came up to find out what you knew about my sister and never intended to hurt you.”

  Tia hesitated. “Yes, I fully believe that. I also believe you have some crucial information you haven’t related to me.”