Shadows on the Sand (34 page)

A sliver of light caught my eye. I squinted, thinking I couldn’t be seeing what I saw. The slice of dull illumination gleamed at the side edge of one of the plywood sheets tacked over the hole in the building. Granted, it wasn’t very bright compared to the light streaming from the occupied units, but it was still light where there should be none.

I glanced again at the windows of Chaz’s unit. No light. Of course that could be because they were covered by blinds or shades or curtains, though I doubted Chaz had had something as sophisticated as window treatments. Of course the renters before him might have left some.

I crossed the parking lot to the boarded-up wall. I hadn’t been mistaken. Light seeped out along the vertical edge of the horizontal sheet of plywood. I touched the wood and swallowed a little gulp of surprise as it moved under my hand.

How could that be? Greg and I had nailed the sheets, both sheets, firmly in place. One panel was on the vertical and the other horizontal because of the configuration of the hole. I pushed on the vertical sheet, but it remained just as snug as it should.

I stared at the horizontal sheet. There was no way the nails Greg had pounded into place could have popped out on their own. As I felt along the edge, sure enough, all the nails were missing. If it were light enough to see the ground, I’d probably see them lying there.

I remembered asking Greg about someone prying the plywood loose to gain access to the apartment. I smirked as I remembered he’d said there was no reason for someone to want to get into a place where there was nothing worth taking.

But what if you didn’t want to take? What if you just wanted to hide? What if you were a scared, confused, and lonely sixteen-year-old?

I pushed at the plywood with my good hand, attempting to slide it sideways, wishing for a healthy second hand. I tried to be quiet, but there was a grinding, scrunching sound as one sheet slid with reluctance behind the other.

Finally I had an opening I could squeeze through sideways. With my good hand, I protected my throbbing wrist, still snug in my jacket. When I got inside, I turned back to the plywood sheet and began the tedious job of sliding it back in place. I wrapped my fingers around the edge and pulled. Since I couldn’t get much purchase on the board, my hand kept slipping. If I could reach the piece’s far side, I could wrap my hand over the edge and pull toward me, so much easier, but no such luck. That area was hidden between the vertical sheet and the outside of the building.

The flickering illumination inside the apartment, which I thought came from the bedroom or the bathroom, disappeared, and I was left standing in complete darkness.

Lord, I sure hope I’m right about who’s in here
.

“Andi,” I called softly as I tugged on the plywood. “Andi, it’s me. Don’t be afraid.”

I felt the air move behind me, heard the faintest whisper of cloth rubbing on cloth. The kitchen light flicked on, and there stood Andi, a hammer in her raised hand.

“Carrie?” It was a whisper of disbelief. She lowered her arm, and the hammer dangled against her leg.

“Yep. It’s me. No need for a weapon.”

She looked at the hammer. “I stole it from Clooney and used it to pry the board loose.” She gestured toward the opening. “I had to wait to break in until it was late enough to be sure Cyber Cilla was in bed, or she’d have me all over Twitter.”

True enough. “What did you do while you waited for night? I mean you left the café around ten.”

“I went to the little store near our house and bought some food because I didn’t know how long I’d have to hide. Then I hid behind the Dumpster at the store until it was safe to come here.”

My heart ached to think of her crouching there, alone, terrified. “You should have told me you were so afraid of Bill. I’d have helped you. Greg would have helped you, and your uncle certainly would have.”

“I’m not afraid of Bill.” She looked at me as if I were slow-witted. “I keep telling you he’s okay.”

I frowned. “But your puzzle. Bill killed Jase.”

“Not Bill. B-I-L, texting shorthand for brother-in-law. My brother-in-law killed Jase.”

Her brother-in-law? How did he get involved in this puzzle?

“And he killed someone before?”

“Or at least helped with the cleanup.”

I heard one hiccup, another, and Andi’s face collapsed as she started to cry. “I’m s-so s-scared.”

I reached for the weeping girl. “Come here, honey.”

She stumbled toward me, the hammer falling to the floor with a thud. We met in a clumsy hug, her whole body shaking as she wept. Her hard embrace pressed against my wrist, and pain shot up my arm. An involuntary gasp slipped out before I could swallow it.

She pulled back. “What’s wrong?”

“I broke my wrist.”

“Oh, Carrie! How? When? I’m away for two days and look what happens! Oh, and I hurt you when I squeezed, didn’t I? I can’t do anything right.” More tears.

I pulled her back into a hug, taking care she was touching the left side of my body. “Shh. I just slipped on a jetty. I’m okay.” If I didn’t count the throbbing pain that brought tears to my eyes. “At least now that I’ve found you I am. Do you have any idea how upset we’ve been?”

She wrapped her arms around my waist and held on. “I c-couldn’t put you at risk.”

Her words made no sense. “What do you mean, at risk?”

“I can’t tell you.” Another shuddering sob and a moment or two of silence. Then she sniffed and pulled away.

“Greg was here today.” She rearranged the sweatshirt she wore over her Carrie’s Café shirt. “He came with Chaz, the constable, and the rental company guy.”

“And they didn’t find you?”

She shook her head. “I hid in the tub behind the shower curtain.”

“Clever girl.”

“Chaz saw me. That’s why I had the hammer. I thought you were him.” She hugged herself. “I don’t like him. He’s mean. Slimy.”

I silently agreed. There was something about the guy. When he’d come into the café today and talked with Fred, there had been something very sneaky about his whole demeanor.

“Shush, honey.” I patted Andi’s back. “It’ll be all right. Whatever the problem is, we can work it out.”

“But they might hurt him like they did Jase.” Her voice shook. “Or maybe me!”

I took her hand and pulled her down to sit on the kitchen floor, leaning back against a cabinet. The apartment might be pretty much empty of furniture, but there was grit and dust galore. I reached beneath my seat and pulled out a piece of wallboard. I flipped it across the room.

Andi shivered, and I thought about her hiding in this sad-looking unit. I sat shoulder to shoulder with her, taking her painfully cold hand in my good one. She clutched at me.

“Who will they hurt, Andi? And who are they?”

“Clooney! They might kill him!”

I blinked. “Someone’s going to kill Clooney?”

“And it’ll be all my fault!”

“But why? Who?”

“Harl. And Michael.”

Clearly I was supposed to know who these men were. “I don’t—”

“Sure you do. Michael the Archangel. And my brother-in-law.”

“Michael the Archangel? From The Pathway?” I might have some serious questions about the man and his cult, but I’d never thought of him as a murderer.

She nodded. “And my brother-in-law.”

“I know who Michael is, but I don’t know—”

“Sure you do. He comes into the café.”

“He does?”

“He keeps meeting with Greg.”

I frowned. “That’s Fred Durning. He’s buying the properties Greg manages. Or he represents the people who are.”

“That’s Harl. He’s married to my sister, Becca. He’s Michael’s right hand. He’s the one who got my father so mixed up in bad stuff.”

“Fred is your brother-in-law Harl?”

She nodded. “They’ve got scams going all the time. Whenever dirty work needs to be done, Harl sees that it’s done, and he uses my father lots of times. He used to use Jase too.”

“What do you mean, scams?”

“I don’t know exactly. I tried to spy, but they watched me all the time. I just know they are evil. They lie all the time.”

“Like?”

“Like Michael and Harl are supposed to be at the retreat house for personal meditation, but I’d see Harl leave the compound with Dad or Jase. Once I saw him leave with some tall guy with short dark hair.” She looked around like she expected to see someone lurking in the shadows right now. “I don’t know where they went or what they did, but I know it’s bad.”

“You
think
it’s bad.”

She shook her head. “I know. Just like I know Harl’s the one who murdered Jase.”

“You can’t know that.”

“I do.” Her voice was fierce. “For two reasons. One, Harl’s here in Seaside. He came after Jase. Otherwise why would he be here?”

“He oversaw buying this apartment building and others.”

“But he’s supposed to be living an austere life for God’s glory in Arizona. And believe me, if Harl is buying, it’s because Michael told him to.”

What she was saying was hard to believe, but her reasoning seemed sound. “I suppose the money they use for their scams is from gifts given by followers.”

“My father gave them all his money. Everyone who lives there does. And people send money in response to his YouTube stuff.”

I was always amazed at how gullible people were. “But, Andi, there’s a huge difference between financial indiscretion and murder.”

Her chin got that stubborn look, and her voice shook with both anger and sorrow. “I saw what they did to Jennie.”

“Who’s Jennie?”

“She was my best friend. Michael was forcing her to marry some old guy, and she wanted to marry Jase. I snuck into Michael’s headquarters the night of the initiation to try to help her escape somehow.”

“What’s the initiation?”

“That’s when Michael sleeps with all the brides the night before the wedding.”

My skin crawled. “And people go along with that vile practice?”

“That’s my reaction too!” She seemed excited that I understood.

“So Jennie?” I said to bring her back on topic.

“Right. So there I was, in headquarters skulking around, looking for Jennie. I didn’t have a plan. I just wanted to get her out of there, or if worse came to worst, hold her while she cried afterward. Instead I stumbled into the video room and saw Harl and Michael set up the phony scene of her death.”

“Jennie’s dead?” I wasn’t all that surprised.

“And Michael killed her! It’s on the DVD. I didn’t know that when I grabbed it and ran, but it’s all there.”

“You have a disc showing Michael committing murder?” I was appalled at the danger this girl had put herself in, if even a fraction of what she said was true. “What did you do with it?”

“At first I hid it in the infirmary until I could escape. When the little kids got sick and had to go to the hospital, I saw my chance. I taped the disc in its jewel case to my stomach and grabbed a sick kid.”

I listened, amazed, to the story of the bikers who had rescued her. “How did Michael and Harl know you were the one who took the disc?”

“They didn’t. I think they thought it was Jase because he left right after Jennie was buried. He tried to fake his death with a lame auto accident. But they found him. I can’t prove they killed him, but I know.”

“And that’s why you think he was killed? Because they thought he had the DVD?”

“I
know
that’s why he was killed.” Her stomach growled, and she dropped her hand as if to muffle it. “And that’s why they’ll kill me if they find me. And they might hurt Clooney if they thought he could tell them where I was.”

“You don’t think he can take care of himself?”

“He’s old, Carrie. He’ll try to defend me, and they’ll get him.”

Somehow I didn’t think he’d appreciate being consigned to the trash heap because he wasn’t thirty anymore.

Andi’s stomach growled again. Murders and stolen evidence weren’t my forte, but food was. “When was the last time you ate?”

“I finished my last candy bar last night.”

I climbed to my feet and held out a hand to her, pulling her up. “Come on. We’ll go to the café and I’ll make you a sandwich and heat some of Lindsay’s soup. And we’ll call the police.”

Her stomach growled approval as she stood and brushed the grit off her seat.

“What did you do with the disc after you left the compound?”

“I watched it.”

Not what I meant, but obviously what had affected her deeply. She clutched my hand.

“It shows Michael kill Jennie and Harl help cover it up. I don’t think he meant to kill her, but he was violent with her. He wouldn’t listen to her. He killed her.”

Maybe not murder but involuntary manslaughter? “Why didn’t you take the DVD to the police?” It’s what I would have done.

“My dad. I’ve lost all respect for him, especially after what he did to my mom, but he’s still my dad, you know? I don’t want him to go to jail.” She gave a broken sob.

Poor kid. I gave her a comforting squeeze. “You know you can’t protect your father if he did wrong things.”

She gave a sigh torn from deep down. “I know. And it’s not just the scams. He married these underage girls, and I think he’s done other stuff for Michael, bad stuff. Dad’s a computer whiz, and who knows what he’s done?”

“I’m very sorry about that for your sake, Andi, but we need to go to the authorities and give them the DVD as soon as possible. Then Michael and Fred—Harl—will be arrested, and both you and Clooney will be safe.”

“You think so?” she asked, and I heard hope for the first time. “What about my dad?”

“I don’t know, but if he did wrong, he needs to be held accountable.”

Andi sighed. “My mom died and my sister might as well have, and Dad is all I have, though I don’t really have him either. Or even want him.”

Been there, kiddo
. “I never knew my father, and my mother might as well have been dead.” A picture of the lovely woman she now was flashed through my mind, and I pushed it ruthlessly aside. “No parents is a lonely place to be. But there are lots of people here who love you, honey. I know we don’t replace family, but we care and we’re here for you. And God cares. He always cares.”

“If He cares, why am I in this mess?” Her question was desperate.