Untold Page 8

“You didn’t.”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “No. You never changed, Cass. As much as it hurt you when your father came back; you held your ground.”

  “I had you,” Alex said. “I had Mom. I had Dylan and Mackenzie. I had something—I had people I could trust and believe in. That’s not what Claire had.”

  Alex sighed.

  “She saved your life, Alex, not because she had to, because she cared enough to.”

  Alex couldn’t argue with that. It was true, although part of her still questioned Claire’s reasoning. “How can you let her so close after everything?”

  Cassidy shrugged. “I’m not sure I can explain it to you. I just understand. Maybe I see the little girl behind all the bravado.”

  Alex smiled. Cassidy was the consummate mother. It was in her nature to nurture. “You really trust her?”

  “I can’t explain it. I do; yes. Claire is…”

  “I know, she means something to you. I can see it. I just find it hard to understand.”

  “Maybe it isn’t something that needs to be understood. Maybe it just is.”

  Alex nodded and kissed Cassidy’s forehead. “I’ll try, Cass. I promise; I will try.”

  Alex looked at Claire as she approached. Okay, Cass; I’ll try.

  “So? You ready to drive or what?” Claire asked Alex.

  “Me?”

  “Well, yeah. Technically, you are the newbie now,” Claire goaded Alex.

  “Not really.”

  “Fine by me either way,” Claire said as she headed to the car.

  Alex ran inside the door and grabbed her bag. “Oh, no,” Alex said. “Give me the keys.”

  “And, here I thought you always liked it when I drove.”

  “Very funny,” Alex said. “As I recall, you get a little too eager,” Alex quipped.

  Claire tossed Alex the keys. “Age before beauty, I guess. At least, I know we won’t get stopped for speeding.”

  Alex pressed on her temple with her thumb and opened the car door. I’m going to kill Hawk.

  ***

  “Where are we going?” Claire asked. “I thought we’d be headed to watch the autopsy?”

  “I want to talk to Kaylee Peters’ brother.”

  “What about the autopsy?”

  “I don’t expect it’s going to tell us anything new; do you?”

  Claire looked out the window and chuckled.

  “That’s funny?” Alex asked.

  “No, I just never took you for one to break protocol.”

  “I’d ask what you did take me for, but I think we both know that answer.”

  Claire chuckled again. “Do you think her brother knows something?”

  “I’m sure he knows lots of things.”

  “Ha-ha.”

  “I don’t know,” Alex admitted. “From what I understand, they spent a lot of time out in those woods together.”

  “And?”

  “And, what? I want to know why.”

  Claire rolled her eyes. Alex would forever be a mystery to her. “You’re driving,” she commented.

  “Yes, I am.”

  ***

  Alex paced around the room slowly, taking note of the pictures on the walls, the collectibles on the small desk, even the color of the bedding. She listened to the conversation as it unfolded between Claire and Donovan Peters. Her eyes tracked to a collage that hung over Kaylee's desk.

  "How long has she been taking pictures out there?" Alex wondered aloud.

  “Ever since she got her first camera,” Donavon replied.

  Alex’s gaze remained fixed to the collage on the wall. She took a step closer, scanning it thoughtfully, committing it to memory as she went. At first glance, the pictures looked remarkably the same. One location appeared on the right side of the collage, a second on the left. Picture after picture of the same place, under each a date marked in red.

  “Old rocks,” Claire commented. “She had a thing for old rocks?”

  Alex shot Claire a look of disgust.

  Donovan took no offense to Claire’s question and chuckled. He moved to stand beside Alex. “You sound like everyone else,” he told Claire.

  Claire shrugged. She could think of a million things more interesting to study or hang on a wall than pictures of old rocks.

  Donovan pointed to the pictures on the right. “They look identical; don’t they?”

  “Only at first glance,” Alex replied.

  “That’s what Kaylee would say,” Donovan said. He closed his eyes and Alex put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Sorry,” he apologized.

  “Don’t be,” Alex told him. “I’m sorry that we have to barge in here like this.”

  Donovan shook his head. He loved his little sister. He hadn’t begun to process the reality that she was gone, and he was carrying a tremendous amount of guilt about that fact. “She shouldn’t have stayed out there alone,” he muttered.

  Alex gripped his shoulder. “Tell me about the pictures,” she encouraged him.

  He smiled at Alex. “She loved that place. I think all my ghost stories got her imagination running,” he explained. He pointed to a picture on the wall. “See that?”

  Alex focused on the point underneath Donovan’s finger. She nodded.

  “Weeds?” Claire peeked over Alex’s shoulder.

  Donovan laughed. “That’s what I said too,” he looked at Claire and smiled. She shrugged again. Donovan pointed to the picture beside it. “Now, look,” he told Alex.

  Alex’s eyes moved to the next picture. She studied it carefully then tracked back to the first, noting the date underneath each.

  “Two days apart,” Donovan said. “Crazy, huh?”

  “What is?” Claire strained to see over Alex’s shoulder.

  Alex ignored Claire’s musings and narrowed her gaze, moving back and forth between the two pictures.

  “Weeds and rocks,” Claire commented and rolled her eyes.

  “Weeds that are almost two inches lower in the second picture than the first,” Alex said.

  “So?”

  Alex took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “So, the ground doesn’t just sink overnight.”

  “Maybe there was a storm,” Claire offered a suggestion. “Or maybe some kids were in there messing around,” she said. “You know, like taking pictures, or whatever else they do in the woods.”

  “Maybe,” Alex conceded. One thing Alex did know, the ground didn’t shift that dramatically without outside intervention—not in two days. She turned to Donovan. “How many pictures like this are there?”

  “Thousands,” he told Alex.

  “Thousands?” Claire asked.

  Donovan nodded. He made his way to Kaylee’s bed and pulled out a large plastic storage bin. When he lifted the top, Alex was amazed. The entire box was filled with picture scrapbooks. From what she could see, each had a date emblazoned on its front.

  “This was her thing,” Donovan said. “She said that no matter how many times you took a picture of the same thing, something was different.”

  Alex smiled. Smart kid. Probably would make a decent investigator.

  “Anyway,” Donovan continued. “Kaylee used to make up all kinds of stories about it. Why did something change? Who changed it?” He sighed with sadness. “I never should have planted those stories in her head. Faeries and elves,” he berated himself. “Ghosts.” He chuckled caustically. “I had her chasing ghosts,” he said with disgust. “Now, look.”

  “It’s not your fault,” Alex told him. “What happened to your sister is not your fault, Donovan. Put the blame where it lies, not on yourself,” she advised him.

  “I wish I could.”

  Alex smiled at him gently.

  “You’ll find him, right? Whoever did this?”

  “We’ll find him,” Claire said assuredly.

  Alex fought the urge to turn around and smack Claire. She kept her attention on Donovan instead. “It would help if we could take these for a while. I’d
like to look them over, maybe have some people analyze them.”

  “Sure. Dad said whatever you need.”

  Alex nodded. “We’ll need a release signed.” She turned to Claire.

  “What?” Claire asked. Alex stared at her. Claire rolled her eyes. “At your service,” she batted her eyelashes.

  Alex chuckled softly.

  “Have you two been working together a long time?” Donovan asked.

  “Not exactly,” Alex told him. “Listen, Donovan; I need to ask you something.”

  “Yeah?”

  “I know Detective Siminski asked this before, but is there anyone or any reason why someone might want to hurt Kaylee?”

  Donovan shook his head. “I don’t know why anyone would hurt Kaylee, Agent Toles.”

  “Alex,” she grabbed his hand. “You can call me Alex.”

  Donovan nodded. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure.”

  “Do you have any sisters?”

  “Brothers,” Alex replied. “I have two brothers—one older and one younger.”

  Donovan nodded. “I should have been there.”

  Alex’s heart lurched in her chest. This was the part of being an investigator she hated—pain. Once upon a time, Alex had thought she could distance herself from that pain. She had empathized with families. She had not sympathized as she could now. Being a mother, being someone’s wife, sister, daughter, having a family gave Alex a new perspective on loss.

  “Just find him,” Donovan said.

  Alex nodded. She knew better than to make that promise. Her eyes started to trail back to the pictures on Kaylee’s bedroom wall and she stopped abruptly at a picture that rested below on a bookshelf. Donovan and Kaylee in the same location, smiling as if they had not a care in the world. It reminded her of her brothers. I will find you, you son of a bitch. I will.

  ***

  The road seemed never-ending. He’d been driving for hours after leaving his original destination—hours along a road with nothing but farmland. Occasionally, these stretches of road became interesting. So far, this trip had been disappointing. He reached for the coffee beside him and sipped greedily. He swallowed the cooled liquid and cringed. “Disgusting.” The radio blared seventies music and he tapped the steering wheel in time to the beat. “Fields and farms,” he muttered.

  He turned the wheel with the bend in the road and his eyes narrowed at a sight in the distance. He sighed and picked up his cell phone.

  “Hi,” he began. “Think I might be later than expected. You know how it is,” he said. “They send me where they need coverage. I know. I’ll give you a call when I know how long I’ll be. Yeah someone called out. Sure. Talk to you later. You too,” he said.

  He slowed the van to a crawl, pulled over toward the side of the road and rolled down his window. “You look like you could use a ride,” he smiled at the young woman walking.

  She looked up and met his gaze.

  “Where are you headed?” he asked.

  “No place in particular,” she told him.

  He smiled. “I think I know that place,” he said. “Want a lift?”

  The young woman looked at him skeptically.

  “It’s a long walk to the next town,” he told her. He glanced up at the sky. A few gray clouds passed overhead. “I need to stop for a bite anyway. I can drop you there.”

  She looked at the van and noted the writing on its side. He smiled at her again, painting reassurance onto his expression. She nodded, deciding he might just be her savior. He pulled over and waited for her to open the door.

  “Thanks,” she said, heaving herself into the passenger seat with her backpack.

  “No, thank you,” he said. “I was beginning to think this day was a total loss.”

  She smiled at the perceived compliment. “At least, I won’t get caught in the storm,” she said.

  He grinned. There’s always something to be grateful for.

  ***

  “Don’t you think we should be overseeing the autopsy?”

  Alex ignored Claire.

  “Toles?”

  “No.”

  “I thought you loved protocol.”

  “What gave you that idea?” Alex asked as she scanned the woods around them.

  “You’re Agent By The Book, right?” Claire quipped.

  Alex shook her head. “You might not know me as well as you think you do.”

  “Really? I think I know you pretty well,” Claire gloated.

  “Don’t go there.”

  “Testy much?”

  Alex groaned and continued forward. Dealing with Claire reminded her a bit of dealing with Mackenzie. For some reason, Claire felt a need to see how many of Alex’s buttons she could push until Alex would explode. Alex had no intention of granting any of Claire’s wishes—ever. She had a long, not so cheerful history with her new partner. Why anyone thought it was a good idea to pair the two went beyond Alex’s comprehension. She had learned to tolerate Claire Brackett over the years. Hawk was Alex’s friend, and Hawk loved Claire. There was no one Alex loved more than Cassidy, and for whatever reason, Cassidy loved Claire too. Claire Brackett had become an unexpected, at times unwanted presence in Alex’s life. Until now, Alex had been able to keep her distance. It’s going to be a long day.

  “Toles, what are we doing out here? Don’t you think if there was anything to find they would have found it by now?”

  Alex stepped over a cracked stone wall that ran along their path.

  “Toles, if there was anything to find the dogs would have smelled it.”

  “I agree.”

  “So, why am I trudging through a forest? Are you looking for the elves too?”

  Alex stopped and strained to focus on something in the distance.

  “Toles?”

  “I agree. They would have found anything here to find if there had been any dogs.”

  “What?” Claire asked.

  Alex turned to her. “The police didn’t get out here until late afternoon. By the time they started searching it was dusk.”

  “And?”

  “And, Kaylee Peters’ body was discovered at 5:30 a.m. the next morning in New York. No one came back here with dogs. No need to after that.”

  Claire considered the information. “Okay, but there was a team out here. They didn’t find anything from Kaylee Peters. What is it that you hope to find?”

  “I’d love to find that camera,” Alex admitted. She kept her eyes set on something in the distance.

  “Better hope those faerie stories were real then,” Claire commented.

  Alex didn’t expect she’d ever find Kaylee’s camera. She did have a feeling it would tell the story she needed to hear. She started forward again through some brush.

  “Where are you going?” Claire called after Alex.

  Alex ignored the voice behind her and kept moving.

  “Now, she’s a fucking Girl Scout too? She’d better have some cookies at the end of this.”

  Alex heard Claire’s muttering and chuckled softly. She’d loathe to admit it to anyone, but at times Claire amused her. She moved a branch out of her way, stepped over a tree stump and stopped.

  Claire caught up with Alex and finally saw what she had been focused on. She groaned, immediately understanding what Alex was thinking.

  “Do you think we could have at least changed our shoes?”

  Alex looked at Claire with a smug grin. “Stop watching Charlie’s Angels. No sensible agent wears heels like that,” she looked at Claire’s feet.

  “Doc Martin and I don’t have the storied history you two do.”

  “No, I imagine Doc Johnson has taken up most of your time,” Alex deadpanned. She looked away from Claire and at the pond that sat about 100 yards away.

  “Did you just make a joke?” Claire asked.

  “No, just an observation,” Alex replied. She looked back at the hole in the ground beside her. Her eyes circled the remaining stones of an old building’s foun
dation. She couldn’t help but wonder what had originally stood in this place—a house, a business, a tavern? She retrieved her phone and looked at the pictures she had snapped of Kaylee’s collage. “Something shifted that ground,” she mumbled. She started to move toward the edge of the foundation and Claire grabbed her arms.

  “Let me,” Claire said. She jumped into the pit.

  “Brackett, it’s full of poison ivy down there.”

  “Yeah? I’m not sending your itchy ass back to Cass. No thanks. She’d kick mine.”

  “Oh great, and she’ll be thrilled when I bring you home scratching.”

  “You won’t.”

  “You mean I get to leave you here?” Alex quipped.

  “Funny. No. I’m not allergic. I could roll in the shit and never get a bump.”

  Alex nodded. “That’s your superpower?”

  Claire looked up at Alex and grinned suggestively.

  Alex rolled her eyes. “If that’s your superpower, Brackett, you really need to stop seducing kryptonite.”

  Claire shrugged and turned her attention to the ground beneath her. Alex’s eyes swept over the pond. She could easily imagine what had attracted Kaylee to this place. It was quiet. Alex had learned that a quiet place is where anyone keen to listen could find answers to the most puzzling questions. The mere idea of silence was deceptive. There was no silence. There was quiet. Quietness granted the sound of breath, the subtle sounds of life that revealed untold secrets and yet to be revealed mysteries.

  Alex closed her eyes and listened. She focused on the sound of her breath and placed it aside. Leaves rustling in the wind—that is what she noticed next. Birds in the distance, faint, but she could hear their song. A trickle of water—Alex honed on the sound. It was close. She tried to picture Kaylee in this place, standing in the same spot, looking at the pond, turning to the cracked and crumbled stones at her feet, clicking her camera.

  “What the hell? Toles,” Claire called to Alex.

  Alex took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  “Alex!”

  Alex opened her eyes and turned back to Claire. Claire looked up at her with an expression that Alex recognized immediately as apprehension. She sighed. She had hoped she was wrong. She had hoped.

  “What is it?” Alex asked cautiously.