Whispers in the Dark

by Chris Eboch

  “But how did he get involved in the first place?”

  “He stumbled on Sean one night doing something suspicious. Sean spun a story about being an undercover agent. Said Jerry would be helping the FBI if he played along and acted as a lookout.”

  I frowned. “And he believed it? Did he even ask for ID?”

  “Jerry admits that he suspected Sean might be lying. But Sean offered money.... Jerry was afraid he’d lose Maureen if he didn’t marry her soon, and she’s the kind of woman who expects a big flashy ring, things like that. Sean offered a thousand dollars for every meeting where Jerry acted as lookout and bonuses for providing information in between. It’s been going on for two months, long enough to buy Maureen that ring. Jerry convinced himself that it didn’t matter too much.”

  He shrugged and shook his head. “The whole thing is ludicrous. I can’t understand why Sean went to all that trouble. Why didn’t he just find someplace else after Jerry saw him? Why choose that location in the first place? It’s ridiculously complicated.”

  I remembered something one of the criminals had said out in the ruins about Sean trying to be clever. “I think it was a game to him. Using Jerry, trying to pull one over on me, flirting with danger by using someplace remote and yet still too public. He was playing at being some kind of criminal mastermind. It wasn’t sensible, but it must have given him a thrill to manipulate people and take risks. Like some role-playing video game brought to life.”

  “Yeah, maybe. That game’s over, anyway.”

  I shifted uncomfortably in the plastic chair. “And as foolish as it may look now, he almost got away with it. If I hadn’t happened along at just the wrong moment, and been stupid enough to investigate, he could have pulled it off.”

  He reached over and took my hand, linking his fingers through mine. We sat silently. The hospital was strangely peaceful—no sirens blared as ambulances pulled up, no urgent announcements came over loudspeakers. Any drama was tucked away quietly in private rooms. Finally I said, “I thought they were a strange couple. But she really cares. More about him than the money, I mean. How do you think she’ll feel if she finds out what he did?”

  Danesh chuckled. “Knowing Maureen, she’ll be flattered. She’ll say he’s finally showing some initiative.”

  He shifted in his chair to face me and put his hands on my arms. “Kylie, it’s up to you. I still don’t want to say anything about Jerry to the police. I think he’ll tell them himself, but if they believe he was tricked into it, he should get off.” He ran his hands up my arms and cupped my face. “But you could have died last night. If you want to insist on justice, I’ll stand by you.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t see the point in ruining more lives. I don’t know if I can just forgive and forget, but I’ll try to at least forgive.” I started to smile. “Although I’m not convinced we’re doing him a great favor. Maureen is talking about starting a family right away.”

  Danesh pulled me close and squeezed, laughing. “He’s on his own. I’ll face the police, but I’m not taking on Maureen.”

  He leaned back and stretched. “Well, Maureen will probably be a while, and she has her own car. Let’s head out to the canyon. I’d like to know what’s happened since we left.”

  Chapter 30

  Half an hour later we passed a police car at the park entrance, turning tourists away. Ten minutes after that, we pulled up beside a police car in the visitors center parking lot. I suppressed a shiver and told myself it wasn’t the police’s fault that I kept running into them in unpleasant circumstances. They were a trigger for my anxiety, but one I could overcome.

  I lowered myself gingerly from the truck. Thick socks and my tennis shoes cushioned my sore feet, but my muscles ached. I held the open door for balance as I turned stiffly to shut the door. Something on the floor of the cab caught my eye.

  My pepper spray.

  I stared at it. How had it gotten—?

  I groaned. It must have fallen out of my pack when I got my phone to call the police. I hadn’t spotted it on the dark floor. Oh well, the squash had worked, maybe even better since the effects lasted longer. I put the spray back in my backpack, which was also still in the car, and trailed Danesh into the office.

  Danesh hailed a man in the back room by name. He and Danesh leaned over the map on the coffee table while they talked.

  “No sign of the missing man yet, dead or alive,” the officer said. “We’ve done a pretty thorough search of the whole canyon, for one mile upstream and two down. I’m glad you’re here. We want to get up into some of the ruins in case he’s hiding, but a couple of them are hard to access.”

  “I can help you with that,” Danesh said. “I gather he’s pretty familiar with the site.”

  “If he drowned, he could be miles downriver, and the area isn’t exactly easy to search. We’ve called out a rafting team. They should be here in an hour. That’s the most likely scenario, but we don’t want to take any chances.”

  I shuddered and stared at a poster on the wall. I recognized the high cliffs of Yosemite towering over dark green forests and cool water. I wondered if that had been Jerry’s poster, reflecting a dream of someplace he thought would be better.

  “That guy couldn’t have been the ringleader, surely,” Danesh said.

  “No, just a local contact,” the police officer replied. “We picked up a drug lord a few months ago, and we think this man Sean stepped in to fill the gap. The stuff is coming in from the south. The two we have in custody—the older one’s American, but he’s lived in Belize for twenty years. We have his prints on file. We’re still trying to identify the younger man, but he may be from Central America.”

  I paced, hugging myself to ward off a chill. I’d heard enough. I touched Danesh’s shoulder and said, “I’m going to my campsite.”

  He caught my hand. “Wait a minute.” He spoke to the officer. “What about the campsite? Is it safe?”

  “We did a thorough sweep, and we warned everyone staying there. We have someone checking cars on the way out, too, just in case he decides to try hitching a ride.”

  Danesh’s thumb rubbed over my knuckles, and he looked up at me. “All right. Can you check on the Wests? I want to make sure they don’t need anything, and it looks like I could be busy here for a while.”

  I nodded and withdrew, hoping Danesh hadn’t noticed the way my pulse jumped when they started talking about the safety of the campground. It hadn’t occurred to me that Sean—if he were even alive—might have made it back up here, but now the shady path through the woods looked ominous. I got my pepper spray, but even armed, I decided to take the longer and busier route and headed for the canyon rim.

  When I reached the rim, I paused and gazed out over the canyon. I barely recognized the nightmare world of the night before. The Castle stood beautiful, ancient, and mysterious, the blocks glowing a warm red against the blue sky. The sun shone down, bright and cheerful, warm on my face. I’d want to change from sweats to shorts soon.

  The depths of the canyon stretched out below me, still cool in the shade. I caught glimpses of the river and trembled at the thought of Sean’s body tumbling through the water for miles. But I concentrated on my breathing and forced myself to gaze down. I would not allow the horrors of the previous night to ruin this place for me. It meant so much more than the folly and cruelty of a few men. If I avoided every place where I’d had a bad experience, my world would keep shrinking. I’d lose not only those places, but the opportunities—and the people—that came with them.

  I still had work to do here, and I would do it. I had something special with Danesh, and I would explore it.

  But I wondered how long it would be before they found Sean. He couldn’t have survived without serious injury, but I hoped he was alive, for the sake of my conscience. I didn’t need that particular ghost haunting my memories.

  I nodded to a few tourists as I walked along the rim before turning down the path to the campground. Birds sang in the trees,
and I flinched only a little when something small rustled in a bush. I spotted the Wests as I neared their campsite and found myself smiling before I was even close enough to wave.

  “Kylie!” Lily lumbered to her feet and embraced me. “Have you been getting into trouble again?”

  I tucked the pepper spray in my pocket and met her embrace. “Something like that.”

  She insisted on sending Robert into the RV for fresh cups of coffee and a plate of cookies. I sat and gave them a quick version of the night’s activities.

  Lily shook her head over Sean. “Nice-looking young man like that. I guess you never can tell. He seemed so friendly when he stopped by to visit the other day, but I guess he had ulterior motives.”

  “Yeah, he had a lot of them.”

  She eyed me closely. “You disappointed?”

  I felt myself blushing. “Actually... I seem to be dating Danesh now.”

  She beamed. “Well! You couldn’t do better than that.”

  “Do you know him well?” I asked.

  “Sure, he stops by two, three times a week at least. Has lunch with us, makes sure everything is all right.”

  Robert nodded. “Good fellow. Helped me with the septic system.”

  I deduced that this had something to do with the RV. It was nice to know Danesh had mechanical skills, along with everything else he offered. But I decided to change the subject before it got more personal. “How are Amanda and the kids?”

  “Things are progressing,” Lily said. “We got them into a shelter and the boys are enjoying the other kids. I’ll keep an eye on her, but she has support in town now, and I missed Robert.”

  She leaned toward him, and I had a feeling that his hand, out of sight under the table, had reached for her leg. The tender look they exchanged showed how much they cared for each other, and I had already seen how they worked as a team. I had a sudden vision of Danesh and myself, in our sixties, traveling the country by RV and occasionally meddling helpfully in other people’s lives.

  I smiled, finished my cookie, and rose. “I’m going to go pack up my things. I’m staying in town for a few days.” I decided not to mention exactly where I was staying, but Lily gave me a knowing look. I added, “I’ll still be out here working most days, so I’ll see you.”

  “You come by for lunch any time,” Lily said. “You and your young man.”

  I walked away chuckling.

  I strolled through the woods, taking my time. I saw a few cars and tents, but no people. Of course, the police were turning away everyone who didn’t have legitimate business. Those who’d camped overnight must be taking advantage of the beautiful morning to get out and see the site. Or else, people being what they were, they were watching the police search.

  I wondered how long Danesh would need. I wasn’t even going to pretend that I would get work done that day. Besides the obvious advantage to staying out of the canyon until they found Sean, my muscles seemed to stiffen up every time I sat for a few minutes. This was a day to take things easy—and I was getting hungry again. I probably still had calories to make up from the night before.

  I stopped by my picnic table and surveyed the campsite. Footprints crisscrossed the ground. At least two and maybe three different people had been there, pausing at the car and the tent. I put a hand to my chest and rubbed just above my breast, where my heart seemed too close to the surface. “Just the police search,” I muttered. I tried not to picture strange men peering into my tent and car. At least I hadn’t been there to be startled and frightened. I wondered how other campers had reacted to the disturbance last night.

  I definitely needed to get away for a day or two. I might as well pack up everything, load the car, and take it into town. In the future, I could ride in with Danesh, or maybe borrow the truck.

  The tent still had a few damp spots from the rain but seemed to be drying quickly. I retrieved my food from the critter-proof metal box the site provided and packed it into the box in my trunk, except for an apple, which I ate.

  I finished my snack and stood looking at the tent while the breeze rustled in the trees and a bird chirped somewhere nearby. I was dawdling. The damp spots on the rain fly had almost faded. By the time I got my sleeping bag into the stuff sack, the foam pad rolled up, and everything retrieved from the side pockets, the tent would be dry. Yet I couldn’t quite bring myself to touch it.

  I knew the site had been searched, I knew Sean was most likely miles away, but somehow “what if?” played in my brain. I pictured unzipping the tent and seeing Sean glaring out at me.

  I shook my head. I couldn’t go running back to Danesh and ask him to unzip my tent for me. He had called me a hero not two hours before. Heroes didn’t run and hide because of foolish fears, and sensible, independent, grown-up women didn’t make the men do all the dirty work.

  They didn’t take unnecessary chances, either. But I could easily find out whether anyone was inside the tent. I crouched at the corner and yanked out the thin metal stake holding the tent into the ground. I moved to the one along the side and then the one at the back corner. I remembered how hard I’d had to pound to get those six-inch pieces of metal, no thicker than a coat hanger, into the dry ground. They slid out easily.

  I grabbed the side of the tent and stood, lifting the tent with me. I heard and felt my sleeping bag and pad slide to the other side. No one could be inside, or a heavy body would have held down the tent.

  I dropped the tent, moved to the front, and unzipped the zipper. I knelt with my knees inside the tent but my feet still out, so I wouldn’t track in mud. I needed to put away the tent stakes first, before I lost track of them. I dragged my sleeping bag and pad back to the middle of the tent and reached for the built-in storage bag hanging from the side of the tent, where I’d stashed the nylon stuff sacks that held the tent parts. I had to lean on my right elbow and stretch to reach. My fingers caught the edge of the hanging bag, and I fished around inside, plucking at the stuff sacks.

  A shadow passed over the tent, breaking up the light that poured through the blue nylon. I sensed motion behind me.

  I dropped the stuff sacks and shifted my weight back on my knees. Before I could turn, something slammed against my back. I sprawled on my stomach, my face buried in my sleeping bag. A heavy weight pressed down on me.

  I recognized Sean’s voice even though it sounded hoarse and raw. “It’s about time.”

  Chapter 31

  I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. Pressure weighed me down as my heart thundered, and my mouth gasped futilely against the suffocating fabric. My mind swirled, edging toward unconsciousness.

  The pressure eased. I raised my head enough to drag in a breath.

  Before I could do more, he was rolling me over. The world wobbled crazily and then settled down into one sight, one feeling: Sean staring down at me from inches away, his body heavy on top of mine.

  “Do you know what this night has been like?” he muttered.

  His words barely penetrated. His body, all too real and solid, pinned me down.

  “That damn river nearly killed me. Then I had to drag myself back up here—crawling up that slope! And then I find the police everywhere. I barely got across the path without them seeing me. I’ve been hiding in the woods for hours.”

  His eyes jerked around, seeing not me but his memories. Mud streaked his face, and a lump on his forehead had trickled blood.

  I squeezed my eyes shut tight, as if that would make him go away. This couldn’t be real. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t be. I prayed to wake up, for the nightmare to go away.

  “You got me into this,” Sean hissed. “So you can help get me out. You’re going to drive me out of here. They’ll let you past. And if you try anything....” He jerked his body so it slammed harder against mine, shoving the last of the air out of my lungs and sending pain shooting through my ribs.

  I whimpered like a wounded animal. Sean eased back enough so I could breathe again, but the cry echoed in my mind. I seemed to obser
ve it from far away. Had I really made that sound? Was that wounded animal me?

  The thought grounded me. My mind wanted to slip away, to go to some other, safer place, until this was all over. But I couldn’t let it.

  I pulled air into my lungs and noticed how my tight throat burned. Sean was still talking, but I ignored his words and focused on my body’s sensations. As much as I might hate the feel of Sean’s weight pressing down on me, it was real, it was now. I had to stay with the moment or risk being even more helpless. If I let my mind slip away, I didn’t know when I might get it back.

  But I couldn’t shift Sean’s weight. I couldn’t push him away. I couldn’t run. I couldn’t even scream, because I didn’t have enough air in my lungs. He must be hurt, but he still held me helpless.

  I had to fight the panic. I grabbed onto one of the exercises my counselor had given me to fight disassociation. With my eyes still closed, I focused on my hand, just my hand. That was less overwhelming than acknowledging all the pain and fear coursing through my body.

  My left hand was out to the side, with Sean’s arm leaning hard against my forearm. My left hand was going numb. Numb wasn’t good. Numb was dangerous.

  I shook away the thought. Focus! Find one thing and hold onto it.

  My right arm was stretched above my head. I felt softness around my hand. The fuzzy flannel lining of my sleeping bag. When Sean had flipped me over, my hand must have gotten buried in the bag.

  But my hand hurt. I was making a fist, clenching so hard the muscles ached. I told myself to relax that hand. It took a moment, but finally the muscles twitched. Something shifted in my hand. The thin metal tent stakes, now warm against my palm.

  Sean shifted his body off of me, and I opened my eyes to see what he was doing. He kept one shin crossed over my thighs, holding me down, and grabbed my left shoulder. “When I move my leg, you get up slowly,” he said. “You make a sound and I’ll hit you so hard you’ll never make a sound again. We’re going to your car, nice and easy, and then we’re getting out of here.”