Awakened (Intimate Relations) (31 page)

*   *   *

It was almost completely dark when Theo and Ted returned more than an hour later with everything Marc and Mandy could possibly need for a night on top of a rugged hill. Ted helped Mandy set up a small folding table and a couple of chairs on a level spot near the car, and then he carefully set a battery-powered lantern in the center of the table. “For ambience,” he said. “Also helps you find your food when you’re eating. Theo said there are a couple of flashlights in the car as well.” He glanced toward the portable restroom set a bit farther away. “I guess I erred in not getting a portable potty with outdoor lighting.”

Mandy laughed at that. He’d found one with its own water supply so they could at least wash up with a convenient water source. The lake was a long way down a rubble-strewn hillside.

“I imagine we’ll survive, though I’m glad to have the lantern and flashlights. I hadn’t thought about needing light.” Mandy reached for the cooler filled with dinner. “Of course, it was still daylight when we were discussing this.” She was really glad she’d decided to wear jeans and hiking boots, and had tied a sweatshirt around her waist. She’d already thrown it on over her light-weight T-shirt.

Once they had the table set up, she and Ted walked back to the car while Theo helped Marc put together a bed in the back of his car. With a mattress designed to fill the cargo area now covered with a sheet and the comforter and pillows off Marc and Mandy’s bed from the cottage, it looked more than adequate. As exhausted as she was, Mandy was already looking forward to crawling into bed. She and Marc had been up and down the steep hill at least a dozen times. She had no idea how JD had maintained the pace she kept, following after her hyperactive dog.

It was almost entirely dark and the men didn’t stay long. With a promise to lock the gate behind them, they drove away in Marc’s Tesla. Marc and Mandy sat down to their dinner. She put the meal Cassie had prepared for them on their plates—thick, roast beef sandwiches and homemade potato salad—while Marc opened a bottle of Cassie’s Tangled Vines Red. He poured wine for both of them.

Cassie had packed real glasses, good linen napkins, and paper plates that didn’t leak. It was all good, and absolutely beautiful out here on this lonely hilltop. Mandy was so glad she and Marc had decided to stay here, though there really hadn’t been any other choice.

She’d felt a sense of Marc’s mom ever since the first time they’d come out here, as if, like Marc said, she approved of his search. How could she not?

Marc held his glass up to Mandy’s. “I want to make a toast,” he said. “To closure in one life, and new beginnings in another.”

She stared into his eyes, and instead of the sadness she feared, they practically sparkled with joy. “To new beginnings,” she said, tapping the rim of her glass to his and then taking a sip.

Marc took a swallow of his wine, but before she could say anything, he was out of his chair and down on one knee beside her. “Mandy?” He reached for her hands.

She hadn’t expected this. Not here, not tonight, and yet it felt as if his timing couldn’t have been better. Her hands were trembling when she put them in his.

Marc, though, was perfectly calm, his grasp strong and sure, his eyes perfectly focused on Mandy. He looked down at their clasped hands for a moment, and then once again focused entirely on Mandy. “I was serious when I told you I wanted a do over. As much as I loved you before when I asked you to marry me, I had no idea what real love felt like. Now I know so much more. I think I’ve always loved you, but I had no idea how much more those feelings would grow as the days flew by. As we get to know each other better. I figure that in about, oh, say fifty years or more, I’ll finally have this figured out, but I know one very important truth. I don’t want to live without you in my life. Not ever. Will you marry me, Mandy? Will you be my wife as long as we’re both around to draw a breath?”

She slipped out of the chair and knelt on the rocky ground in front of him. “Of course I will. I love you, Marcus Reed. I always have. I always will.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a black velvet box. The ring inside was every dream Mandy had ever had should this moment come to be. A traditional yellow gold band with a single exquisite diamond in the center. It wasn’t horribly huge, but it wasn’t at all tiny.

As far as Mandy was concerned, her ring—like their love—was absolutely perfect.

*   *   *

They finished their dinner, wrapped up the trash, stuck it back in the small cooler, and left that on the floor in the front of the car. There was an old crocheted afghan that Theo had thrown over their bed in case it got cold tonight, but Marc pulled it off and they set their chairs away from the table, close enough together where they could bundle the afghan around themselves and see for miles.

Mandy was more interested in what was right in front of her. She couldn’t stop looking at her ring. Even with the lantern and flashlights turned off, and barely a quarter moon in the sky, there was enough starlight for the diamond to sparkle. She snuggled close to Marc, still gazing at her ring.

“I wasn’t sure if you were the diamond type,” he said, which told her he hadn’t paid much attention to the nighttime view. “You rarely wear jewelry of any kind other than earrings, and those are usually yellow gold. If you don’t like the design, you’re more than welcome to…”

“No. Not ever.” She leaned close and kissed his cheek, which by now was a bit bristly. “While I love Lola and Kaz’s rings, they’re not at all what I would choose for myself.” She held up her sparkly ring finger. “This is it. Exactly it. I don’t think there’s anything more beautiful than a solitaire. Thank you for knowing me better than you think you do.”

He wrapped his hand around her ring finger and kissed her fingertip. “I’m looking forward to a lifetime of getting to know you even better.”

“I like the sound of that.” She tried to bite back a yawn and failed miserably. “What time is it?”

He glanced at his watch. “After ten. It’s been a long day.” He brushed a kiss across her forehead. “Ready to go back to our luxury suite?”

“I am.” She stood, grabbed her flashlight, and handed her half of the afghan to him. “After I visit the facilities.”

*   *   *

The two of them fit perfectly in the bed in the back of Theo’s little crossover car, one Mandy told Theo looked like a sports car playing dress-up as an SUV. Mandy had fallen asleep almost immediately. Marc lay there long after, thinking of his mother, of all she’d missed in his life. Knowing that she would have loved Mandy. He was feeling her presence almost as if she were physically nearby, looking over them.

Coyotes howled, not all that far away, and he’d heard an owl hooting earlier. Mandy turned toward his side and snuggled close, and Marc slowly tuned out the outside world, tuned out the thoughts that had been floating through his head, and all the other little things that generally kept him awake. It wasn’t long before he slept.

*   *   *

He should have known he’d dream about his mother, camping out here on the site of her illicit burial so many years ago. If there were such a thing as spirits, hers must have been restless all these years while the truth lay hidden.

The truth would be out there for all to know once her remains had been recovered and DNA testing was able to determine her identity. Marc had no doubt they’d found her. His memories had been there for a reason, to help give her peace, and finding that remnant of her blanket was all the proof he’d needed.

She came to him tonight, walking out of a moonlit haze and sitting beside him on the shoulder of that big piece of serpentine with the tree growing out of the side. He didn’t remember leaving Mandy and walking over here, but that’s when he realized his mother wasn’t really here, there wasn’t enough of a moon tonight to backlight her, and he was still asleep beside Mandy.

Which meant he was dreaming his mother. She shook her head sadly, and he could have sworn he felt her caress when she reached out and touched the side of his face.

Not true, Marcus. I’m as real as your memories, as real as your love for Mandy. Thank you so much for finding me. For not giving up. I knew you would come. I’ve been with you ever since that night, though it was hard when you didn’t believe what I’d told you all along, that I would always love you. I’m sorry your father tried so hard to turn you against me, but you’re not him. You’re a good man, and I knew that one day you would realize what he’d done.

You have one more thing to do tonight, my son. One very important thing. He’s coming. I don’t know how, or what he thinks he can do, but you and Mandy won’t be safe as long as he’s alive. Be alert, Marcus. Don’t let him win. Please, hurry. You need to wake up.

Wide eyed, Marc sat straight up in their makeshift bed.

Mandy came awake beside him, rubbing her eyes, frowning. “What’s going on? What happened?”

He shook his head, feeling more than a little bit rattled, definitely disoriented. “I don’t know. Nightmare, I guess. I was dreaming that my mother was here, that she was talking to me. Then she warned me my father was coming and she told me to wake up.” He shook his head. “Man, that was just bizarre.”

He started to lie back down, and then thought better of it. Feeling more than a little bit foolish, he put his finger to his lips. “I might sound like I’m certifiable, but, just to be on the safe side…” Quietly he opened the hatchback on the car. Theo had disabled the interior light so it wouldn’t bother them, and for that he was thankful.

Mandy was fully awake now, slipping into her jeans, pulling on her boots. Whispering, she said, “I’m going to go use the restroom.”

“Okay. I’m just going to look around. Shake off the freaky feeling I’ve been talking to a ghost.”

“That can certainly mess up a good night’s sleep.” She kissed him. “Be careful.”

He watched her walk toward the restroom, the small beam of the flashlight barely showing when she was a few yards away. The serpentine rock with the oak tree was on the other side of the dirt road. He’d peed on it once before, no reason he couldn’t use it tonight.

He’d just zipped up his jeans and turned to go back to the car when he heard a car coming down Rockpile Road. There was so little traffic out here this time of night that he climbed up on top of the big rock to see which way it was headed.

It was moving south, slowly, headed back toward the valley. He recognized the older farm truck, one he’d seen out here before, but as the driver went by the entryway to Jeb Barton’s property, light glinted off a vehicle parked alongside the road, outside the locked gate. Marc only got a short glimpse, but it appeared to be a silvery gray Lexus.

One that looked an awful lot like the car his father drove.

CHAPTER 16

The sharp jangle of his cell phone brought Ted out of a sound sleep. Theo grumbled and rolled over, so Ted grabbed the phone and went out into the kitchen area of the small apartment to answer the call. “Robinson here.”

“Ted! Thank goodness I got you. It’s Jerry Russo. I’m in Santa Rosa, but I just now got a call from the deputy sent to pick up Steven Reed at the San Ysidro border crossing. There’s been a major fuck up. Reed was released Saturday from the Tijuana jail, not held to be deported on Tuesday as ordered, but we weren’t notified. We have no idea where he is, but there’s a real stench to this whole thing. I’m worried about Marc but I haven’t been able to reach him. My calls keep going to voicemail. Tried Mandy’s cell. Same thing.”

“They’re up at the site. Damn, I’ve had a really bad feeling all day, and Marc thought he saw his father’s car in town yesterday. I told him the bastard was still locked up. I’ll grab Theo and we’ll get up there as soon as we can. Takes about fifteen minutes, but I’ll give you a call once as we arrive.”

“Good. I just dropped a prisoner off here at the jail. We’re shorthanded up there tonight, so I’ll head that way myself. Keep me in the loop.”

Ted ended the call and flipped on a light. Yelled at Theo as he shoved his legs into his jeans. “Theo. Wake up. Marc’s dad is loose and no one knows where he is. Somehow the bastard got out of jail Saturday, so he’s had plenty of time to make it up here.” He finished dressing as Theo shot out of bed.

“Shit.” Theo was already throwing on clothes.

Ted slipped his shoulder holster on with his 9mm Glock, grabbed his watch and the fob to the Tesla, and raced Theo to the cottage where the Tesla was hooked up to the charger. Ted got it unplugged while Theo got in and started the car. Ted slipped into the passenger seat.

“I’m going to try calling Marc again. Damn, I’ve got a really bad feeling about this. He told me he thought he saw his dad’s car on Sunday, but when he called the sheriff’s office, they said Reed was still in jail. I guess no one got the word to them.”

“What kind of car?” Theo pulled up to the locked gate.

“A silver Lexus.” Ted jumped out, unlocked the gate and then closed and locked it as soon as Theo drove through. Just in case Reed decided to come here. “Marc really needs to invest in an electric gate,” he said, frustrated with anything slowing them down. But what if Marc was, right now, fighting for his life? An electric gate was suddenly a very small matter. Grumbling, he hooked his seatbelt and punched in Marc’s number.

A phone rang inside the console. “Holy fuck. His phone’s in here. He left it charging.”

“Try Mandy’s.”

He hit Mandy’s number.

A phone beneath him chimed. He reached under the seat, pulled out Mandy’s purse, and looked hopelessly at Theo. “We have no way to contact them. Hurry.”

Theo punched it. Ted hoped like hell the car had charged enough.

*   *   *

Mandy stepped out of the portable bathroom and set her flashlight on the paper towel dispenser while she washed her hands at the small attached sink. Once she was done, she grabbed a couple of towels and wiped her hands, poked the used towels into the waste receptacle, and then grabbed the flashlight. As she turned to go back to the car, she heard something off to her left. Startled, she turned with the flashlight and glanced toward the sound.