Sleeping on the couch had left me with a nagging ache in my neck, and I rubbed the sore muscle momentarily as I thought back to what Ginger had said. I pushed up off the bed, even though I would have preferred a nap.
I quickly set up my laptop on the spacious desk that was on one side of the room near a closet. I shifted the lamp over to give myself some extra room. Before long, I had my phone and laptop situated quite nicely, charging as well.
I pulled up the snaps of the old case files on my phone, deciding to look into some legends of the area. I'd been concentrating on the old case before, but now I had some compelling evidence for something else that might be at the heart of my nightmare.
Before long, I was scrolling through page after page of various legends and such from the surrounding mountain chain. I stopped cold when I saw the legend that Thorn had mentioned about Singer Cave. I shivered, then looked back through the case file for anything I had missed.
I knew Caroline was not from the area. She’d come to the town mysteriously while her husband was gone on a business trip. Sure, that might scream torrid affair to most people, but how had she met John to start the affair? Why had she come here, of all places? Then again, why had I come here? Could she be like me?
Although there was no evidence for that. It was far more likely she’d known John or had just chosen the destination at random. I was still mulling over everything when there was a knock at the door.
I had expected Thorn, but it was Oliver who came in. Smiling, he sat down at the foot of the bed. "Any good leads?" he asked conversationally. I eyed him suspiciously. After another smile, he said, "You can forget about that crap story Thorn told Mom about you staying here as his guest and all that bullshit. I'm not stupid!"
No. Oliver was not stupid. I wagered he had a better head on his shoulders than most, so I decided to throw him off balance a bit. "I was actually just thinking of asking you about this story that Ginger told me today," I said as I laid my hand over the chair back in a relaxed manner.
I saw just a flicker of surprise. He hid it, but I saw it. Score one point for me, I mused to myself. Recovering, he replied, "What story was that?"
He hadn’t asked about how I knew Ginger, I noted. "It was about when you and she visited Maiden's Peak."
Oliver stared at me for a moment. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Oh, we were talking about some ghost stories...just stuff associated with the place, and it came up in conversation. I assume that you’ve been to the peak plenty of times to explore, especially as a kid, so I thought you'd have some good stories, too." I was shocked I'd managed to say all of that with a straight face.
It sounded plausible, and Oliver looked like he was actually giving it some thought. I might even get another good account of the place out of this.
Oliver sighed. "Mom never liked us going up there. Dad took us a few times, but she hated it. It didn’t fascinate me like it does my brother. I blame our grandmother for his romantic ideas about it. So, to answer your question, as teenagers we all went to Maiden's Peak for a variety of reasons—but mostly because we could. I can't say I ever saw anything out of the ordinary. Why do you ask?"
I simply shrugged and said, "Just curious."
Oliver looked suspicious, but if he had any further questions, he kept them to himself. He excused himself, and I let him go without protest. I felt slightly guilty for bringing up Ginger just to make the man uncomfortable, but part of me thought it great fun to knock him off balance.
I turned to look back at my laptop, remembering that I hadn’t gotten back with Mr. Marion. All the excitement of the last few days had put the soft-spoken man out of my mind.
I sighed, picking up my phone. I was grateful the man had given me his direct number, so at least I didn’t have to fend off the questions of his overly curious innkeeper. Apparently, the woman suffered the same insatiable curiosity as the rest of the citizens of Carver's Corner.
"Hello?" Mr. Marion said into the phone when he picked up.
I smiled. "Mr. Marion! I'm so sorry that it has taken me this long to get back with you. How are you, sir?"
"I'm good, and don't give it another thought. I've been busy myself," he replied in a kind tone. "Want to meet somewhere tomorrow?"
I thought about the mountain roads and wondered how much I could impose on Thorn. "Tomorrow sounds good," I obliged. "Would you want to meet in the morning or afternoon?"
"Morning’s good. We could meet at the Laughing Cup Coffee Shop on the corner beside the grocery on Main Street if that’s okay with you," Mr. Marion suggested.
I thought that sounded perfect and told Mr. Marion so. After I got off the phone with him, I turned back to my laptop and resumed my work.
Dinner was a simple affair, with the family making idle conversation over a roast that Mrs. Durant had simmered in what tasted like wine. It was good, like everything else I had eaten at the Durant family home. I stayed out of the conversation unless Mrs. Durant drew me into it by asking me about one thing or another.
We sat at the table long after everyone had stopped eating. Thorn and Oliver managed to keep a flow of jibes going back and forth across the table no matter the topic at hand. Mrs. Durant looked like she was used to this; her face held a look of indulgence as she began clearing the table.
The brothers were still debating heatedly, discussing the validity of whether some local politician or another was going to serve any time for a misuse of office that neither of them disputed. Thorn was by far the more the cynical one. I quickly set about helping Mrs. Durant, as much to stay out of the argument as to get on the woman's good side.
Eventually, the Durant brothers got up and left, still in a heated debate. Mrs. Durant shook her head. "Those two can never agree on anything, except for maybe the fact that they cannot agree on anything."
I chuckled. "I'm sure they love each other."
"They do," she said, handing me a dish to dry. "Do you have a big family, Mr. Shelton?"
"Not really. I don't see my mom's side often. I've lived with my father since I was a teenager."
"Your mother must miss you! Do you have any siblings?" she asked with genuine curiosity.
I awkwardly dried the dish she had handed me. "Nope...I don’t!" I declared, desiring to avoid talking about my family without sounding rude.
She didn’t advance the discussion much further, and before long, we had the dishes all dried and put away. I excused myself for the evening. The living room was empty.
After making my way upstairs to the guest room, I pushed the door open and checked the charge on my phone. I had decided to go back to Maiden's Peak. Despite not really wanting to go, I felt like I needed to. I was hoping that I could get some evidence on my phone.
I was just about to check the weather report when there was a knock at the door. I called over my shoulder, "Enter."
Thorn pushed the door open. "We've got a problem."
"What sorta problem?" I asked in trepidation as I swiveled around in the wooden chair.
"The Oliver kind," he said with feeling. "He's insisting that he wants in on the investigation. Also, did you tell him that Ginger was helping us or something?"
"I might have told him that I’d talked to her, but I in no way implied she was helping us. She did, however, offer any help we might need," I replied matter-of-factly.
Thorn sighed. "I don't have a problem with them in general, but you have to understand Ginger is a complete wild card as far as how she’ll behave in there."
"Unlike us..." I said, smirking. "You do recall us running like scared rabbits, right?"
"Exactly, and we were half expecting weird stuff," Thorn said, as if I had made his case for him. He had a point, but I felt a kinship with Ginger and her need to go to the mountain. It really reminded me of myself.
"She has a connection to the place, just like I do," I said calmly. "She deserves to have the chance to go if she wants to."
Thorn shook his head. "I never s
aid she shouldn't go. I just don't like having a larger group of people to look after."
I shrugged. "So, I'll call Ginger and ask if she wants to go, if that's all right with you. We can go during the daylight hours if you want."
He seemed to give up trying to dissuade me. "Doesn't really matter in the mines!"
Oliver came up behind Thorn, and the blond-haired man reluctantly let him into the room. Oliver said grimly, "You guys might want to hear what just came through the news desk."
Thorn asked, "What is it?"
"There's been a disappearance," he said with a bit of drama. "A new one."
"Who was it?"
"Donna Schuller, Victor..." he replied.
Thorn cursed and then informed me, "That's the police officer from last night."
"What? When did she go missing?" I asked as dread welled up in me.
"Apparently, she just failed to report for shift change this morning. They found her patrol car like she was driving back toward town and pulled off the side of the road, but she wasn't anywhere around." Oliver seemed like he was practicing what the story headlines would read, but I took the gist of what he’d said. The plump man then shook his finger at us. "What do you mean from last night?"
Thorn gave the man a look of irritation. "You know very well that we went to Maiden's Peak last night."
"You need to relax," Oliver said with certainty.
Thorn and I exchanged a look. Then I said, "I don't see how we can. You guys realize that we were the last two people, as far as we know, to have seen her? That’s not going to look good, especially with me being from out of town and asking about the other disappearances."
Oliver waved off my concern. "No one knows you were even at the peak last night."
Thorn said, "Well, someone else was up there. We saw their flashlight, but we never saw who it was."
Oliver frowned. "They probably weren't up to any good, so chances are high they won't incriminate themselves just to say they saw flashlights up there. Besides, they might have seen Donna after you guys did."
Thorn looked unenthused. "We were the reason she was up there."
"Right now, it's merely being stated that her last check-in reported her leaving Maiden's Peak on a disturbing the peace call that turned out to be a prank. So, for all we know, she didn't disappear up there. Even if it does come out that you were there, she’d already finished with you guys and radioed it in, so that pretty much leaves you with zero motive."
Thorn now looked like I felt after Oliver stopped talking. This was our fault. It was my fault.
The next morning, I caught Thorn coming down the stairs and asked him if he could take me into town. We skipped breakfast and headed out. My mind was going over what I wanted to talk to Mr. Marion about when Thorn interrupted me. "Got an appointment this morning?" he asked, watching the road.
His question brought me out of my musings. "Yes, actually. I'm meeting Mr. Marion at the coffee shop."
"Marion? As in Caroline Marion's husband?" Thorn asked.
There was no reason to be cagey about it. "Yes. I wanted to do a follow-up interview with him. I think he knows something about what happened to Caroline—and perhaps your father."
Thorn's eyes cut over to me. "If he knew something, wouldn't he have come to us? My father died years ago!"
"He felt guilty. He felt like it was his fault that your father died," I said, as if defending the man.
Thorn let out a noncommittal grunt. "Maybe it was his fault."
I eyed the blond-haired man with consternation. "Your father was helping him try to find out what happened to Caroline. The man feels guilty enough for putting your father in danger, Thorn."
If Thorn was moved by my argument, he did not let on. And I couldn’t determine any specific emotion on his face as he drove. I rubbed my hands together, as the cold made them ache even with my gloves on. In town, the streets were fairly empty.
We parked down the street from the coffee shop and made our way along the sidewalk. Thorn had invited himself along, despite my misgivings about that, with the history between the blond-haired man's father and Mr. Marion.
We walked in under the brightly painted sign that boasted the Laughing Coffee's proud legacy of 30 years. Inside, I swiftly spotted Mr. Marion seated in a corner booth.
I saw the man's eyes go to Thorn, and his expression clouded. Mr. Marion looked down at his cup, and I felt a pang of guilt. I felt like I’d put the man on the spot, but I truly hadn’t set out to blindside him.
Thorn and I sat down in the booth, and I did a quick round of introductions. "Mr. Marion, this is Thorn Durant. Thorn, this is Mr. Arthur Marion."
Surprisingly, Thorn gave the man a smile and extended his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Marion."
"And you," Mr. Marion said with evident relief.
I cleared my throat and put my phone on the table. "Mr. Marion—" Before I could proceed, I was interrupted by the appearance of the waitress.
After we’d ordered, she bustled away, and I tried again. "Mr. Marion, last time we spoke, you seemed to imply that you felt guilty for what happened to Thorn's father. Care to elaborate?"
Mr. Marion wrung his hands anxiously. "I had gone to Gabriel for help in finding Caroline. He helped me as best he could. He was a kind man." He hesitated and then continued, "But before he died, he seemed anxious. When I heard that Gabriel had passed away, I knew it hadn’t been an accident."
"Why do you say that?" I asked.
"Well, it didn't really seem like Gabriel, for one thing. He was a careful man. For another, he had said someone was threatening him. I assumed it was the ones responsible for covering up my wife's death."
"Who do you think covered up her death?" Thorn asked before I could.
The waitress came back with our orders, and we all waited patiently until the woman left before Mr. Marion spoke again. "I think it was the police. They were set on sweeping it under the rug, as if Caroline didn't matter." The man wiped his eyes, and I patted his hand, which was on top of the table. He gave me a feeble smile. "I'm sorry. You’d think that after all these years, it’d get better."
"Time doesn't take away pain," Thorn replied empathetically while Mr. Marion nodded his agreement.
"To get the subject back on Caroline, you said she didn’t know anyone here. Can you think of any reason at all that she would come to Carver's Corner?" I asked.
Mr. Marion gave me a look that bordered on suspicious. "Mrs. Mara had asked me something similar."
"Ms. Mara?"
"My grandmother, Victor..." Thorn informed me.
"Okay, so what did you tell Miss Mara, if I may ask?"
Mr. Marion hesitated and then leaned forward. "I told her that my wife had dreams sometimes. She used to have déjà vu, you understand."
Mr. Marion's voice took on a bit of whimsy. "She always used to say it was her magic. When I got home, I found a note from her. She was always going off to follow where a dream sent her. She once drove all the way to California." He laughed, and then his face turned sad. "By the time I got to Carver's Corner, she was gone."
"I'm so sorry, Mr. Marion." I truly was. Caroline had been like me. She’d followed a dream to Carver's Corner. Only Caroline had never left. I thought again about my nightmare and shivered. "I believe you."
I had a strong urge to tell the man my secret, and I wondered at how many times I’d had that urge since coming to this town. It did not feel like the right time at the moment.
"Promise me one thing, Mr. Shelton. Promise you’ll be careful on that mountain."
I hesitated, looked over at Thorn before asking, "What makes you think that I'm going to the mountain, Mr. Marion?"
"You are just like my Caroline," he replied. "She never would give up on something until she knew the truth. The truth is on the mountain."
I nodded. "You might be right. If we go to the mountain, I promise we will be careful."
The man accepted this, and before long, we’d drunk our co
ffees and said our goodbyes.
Out on the street, I breathed in the cold air. Thorn stepped up beside me. "Do you really think it’s wise to let on to someone that we are going back to the mountain?"
I shrugged. "I don't think he’s gonna tell anyone, and if he did, who would he tell?"
"Semantics," Thorn said.
I laughed softly as we walked back to the truck. "It isn't like Mr. Marion’s coming with us, so I think it’ll be fine!"
"You'd take the whole town with you if they asked," Thorn said in amusement. "Besides, I don't know if I trust him."
"Why’s that?" I asked as I eyed the blond curiously.
"It isn't anything I can place. Something just feels off about him."
FIVE
Mrs. Durant was saddened and confused over Donna's disappearance. I kept thinking of Donna's comment about having two little girls who wanted to take ballet. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. The need to find Donna and answers to my dream tugged at me.
The next morning, I made a call to Ginger and offered her the chance to go with Thorn and me when we returned to check the mines. The woman was excited and terrified at the prospect of going into the mountain. I told her we'd meet up first because there was something I had to explain to her. She seemed confused and curious, but she agreed. The more people we had with us, the quicker we could check the mines.
I decided to tell Mrs. Durant about my dreams. I felt an overwhelming need to help, and my ability to do so was hindered by always keeping myself so protected. Beforehand, I went to Thorn's room and found him sitting on his bed.
"Would it bother you if I told your mother why I’m here?" I asked hesitantly as I stepped fully into the room.
At length, he sighed. "I thought you might decide to."
"So, does that mean it’s okay?" I asked as I walked farther into the room.
He said quietly, "It's your decision, Victor. I'll support whatever gets us closer to finding out what happened all those years ago."
We walked downstairs, both somewhat subdued. Thorn stood by while I explained my dreams to Mrs. Durant. The woman didn’t look surprised that we were still investigating the case.
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