Beside Still Waters (4 page)

             
“You help just by being here,” he said.

             
She kissed him again and then left the room.

             
Traci was his angel.  He didn’t deserve her, but he’d needed her more than he ever had before.  She had held him when he cried for his dead partner.  She had woken him from the nightmares that plagued him after he had tortured the suspect in his custody.  She had listened while he babbled on about finding out the truth about both Paul Dryers.

             
Somehow he would make it all up to her.  He had to.

             
He glanced up at a picture on the wall.  It was him and Paul the day they had been partnered up together.  “Who are you?” he whispered.

~

             
When Jeremiah finally made it home Captain, his German Shepherd, was waiting eagerly at the door for him, his leash in his mouth.

             
Jeremiah couldn’t help but laugh at the sight.  “Okay, boy, I get the hint.  Let me just change real quick.”

             
Ten minutes later, wearing jeans and a polo shirt Jeremiah walked Captain down the sidewalk.  He could feel the dog’s contentment and he had to admit that he’d grown to enjoy their walks nearly as much.

             
The dog’s previous owner had taken him for walks in the park, but Captain was happy enough just strolling around the neighborhood.  And since Jeremiah still wasn’t sure if friends or enemies of the dog’s former master might be looking for Captain, Jeremiah much preferred to walk someplace a little more secluded, less public.

             
He was probably being paranoid.  It had been six months since Captain’s old owner had ended up dead on Jeremiah’s front lawn.  Fortunately the police had assumed that the man was another victim of the group killing the homeless and stealing dogs.  When the guilty had been brought to justice the file on the man calling himself Peter Wallace had been closed.  At least as far as the police were concerned.

             
As far as Jeremiah was concerned the murder of Peter Wallace remained unsolved.  Worse, it was clear to the rabbi that Wallace had been coming to his house in the middle of the night when he was shot less than a block away.

             
Why was Wallace coming to see him?  He knew they’d recognized each other in the park but he had desperately hoped the other would leave him alone.  It was even more disturbing to think about the fact that his killer was on the loose and had been so close to Jeremiah’s home.  Had he known where Wallace was heading?  If so, when would he put in an appearance at Jeremiah’s doorstep?

             
He didn’t like any of it.  Six months had passed but he still felt on edge all the time, afraid that his fragile web of lies was soon going to be put to the test and would unravel before his very eyes.  Not only would that be a personal tragedy but it would also throw the synagogue into chaos, destroying it spiritually if not physically.

             
Not to mention what knowing the truth would do to Cindy
, he thought.  He sighed.  Lately it seemed like she was seldom far from his thoughts.  There was no help for it and he’d given up trying to fight it.

             
Captain followed him as he turned down a tree lined street.  He couldn’t help but feel like the dog was part of the bigger mystery in a way he hadn’t yet guessed.  He didn’t like waiting for something to happen.  Every nerve, every instinct screamed at him to
do
something.

             
But until a threat presented itself there was nothing to do.

             
You could leave.  Go somewhere else completely, start over.

             
Appealing as the idea was, he had to admit he didn’t want to.  In his gut he knew that had more to do with Cindy than it did with the members of the synagogue, even though he cared for them a great deal.  It wouldn’t be the first time he had t
o leave others behind to wonder
what had happened to him.

             
A few blocks later they turned again and Jeremiah tried to focus on the trees and the birds around him.  He breathed in deeply of the fresh air.  He loved California.  It would be a hard place to leave.

             
Another turn brought them back onto his street.  A few steps later he felt himself slowing and he looked down.  A moment later he came to a stop at the exact spot that Wallace had been shot before staggering down the street to die on his lawn.

             
He turned a slow circle, looking at the houses, the trees, the cars, everything.  He had done so a dozen times before but he tried to imagine where the shooter would have been.  The shot had been fired from only a few feet distant and the gun must have had a silencer since no one had heard a thing.

             
Captain whined deep in his throat, anxious to get home.  Although Jeremiah sometimes wondered if the dog knew what had happened to his owner here and hated the place.  As he had a hundred times before Jeremiah tried to picture the killer in his mind.

             
“Who are you?” he whispered.

3

             
Dissatisfied with the crush of people at Waikiki Cindy headed back to her hotel.  The concierge had told her that the hotel on the north shore where her luau was that evening had miles of sandy beaches.  She grabbed her clothes for the luau and grabbed a taxi, hoping to get in some better beach time before the luau started.  She even told herself that she’d be helping Geanie by scoping out the resort as a possible wedding location.

             
The taxi driver seemed less inclined to conversation than her previous one and kept the radio on.  Cindy sat back in the seat and stared out at the beautiful scenery including sweeping mountains and majestic ocean.  Snatches of music and news caught her attention, but she tried to focus on the beauty around her.

             
“The reefing of the historic navy vessel is set to take place in just a few days.  In other news there’s more trouble for the proposed building site of the new megaresort on the north shore of the island.  Archaeologists have discovered yet another mass grave site.  All development has been halted while a full assessment of the area can be conducted.  This might prove the final nail in the coffin to a project that had been estimated to bring in nearly one hundred million in revenue and create hundreds of new jobs.”

             
The driver chuckled deep in his throat.

             
“What’s so funny?” she asked.

             
“These companies come here with no respect for the culture, the island, and this time the ancestors have had enough.”

             
Cindy wasn’t quite sure how to respond to him and decided it was best if she didn’t.  It sounded like this might be a political hot topic and she should steer clear.

             
The newscaster went on.  “-garnered mixed reactions from locals.”  A selection of sound bites followed.

             
“We need this revenue for the local economy,” a woman said.

             
“The tourists have Waikiki.  Why they need come up here?  The north shore should be for kama’aina.”

             
She could see her driver nodding his head and she slunk down further into her seat.

             
When he finally dropped her at the front of the hotel where the luau would be it wasn’t a minute too soon.  As soon as she stepped into the hotel’s lobby she felt herself begin to relax.  It was open and inviting and smelled heavenly from all the flowers growing about. 

             
She made her way through the lobby and outside to the pool area.  Beyond it the ocean beckoned and she went.  Beaches in the state were all completely public so she didn’t feel the least bad as she spread out her beach towel she’d brought with her and sat herself down on it.

             
There were only about a dozen other people on the beach, far fewer than were gathered around the elaborate pool several yards behind her.  Most were tourists like her, but there were a couple that looked more like locals.  Cindy tucked her knees up under her chin and hugged herself as she stared at the ocean and breathed in deeply of the salt air.  This was what she always thought of when she thought of Hawaii.  She was thrilled that it more than lived up to her expectations.

             
She closed her eyes and felt the sun shining down on her, warming her within and without.  Slowly she felt her muscles begin to relax one by one until only her mind was tense.  Try as she might she couldn’t get the murder out of her head.  She couldn’t help but wonder what Jeremiah would say about it.

             
She knew exactly what Detective Mark would say.  It was none of her business and she should stay clear of it.  Only she was the one who had found the body.  In a way didn’t that sort of make it her business?

             
She sighed and stretched out on the blanket, securing a pair of sunglasses over her eyes.  She thought again about Jeremiah and wished he was there to share the gorgeous view and to talk with.  She enjoyed the conversations she’d been having with him more than any others she could ever recall. 

             
Over the last couple of months they had talked about so much, religion, work, science, art, her family.  But never his family.  It was odd.  He had heard a hundred stories from her childhood and she couldn’t think of a single one from his that he had shared.  No stories, in fact, that dealt with his life before coming to live in Pine Springs, California.

             
She didn’t know why, but hoped that someday he would open up more.  Of course, she wasn’t entirely blameless.  After all, she’d never told him her most important story of all, the one about her sister and how she died.  Cindy winced at the very thought and then jerked a minute later when she felt water hit her toes.

             
She sat up quickly.  The tide was coming in.  She quickly dragged her blanket and bag to higher ground and then sat back down.

             
It had gotten dark quickly and she glanced up and saw rainclouds overhead.  She felt a splat on her nose followed by another on her arm.  Then the sky seemed to open up and rain poured down.  Several of the beachgoers made a beeline back to the hotel.  The couple that she suspected were local didn’t seem to mind though.  They were walking down the beach, talking and holding hands.

             
They came up close to her and the guy flashed her a smile which she returned.

             
“You no go inside with the others?” he asked.

             
She shrugged.  “I’m already wearing a swimsuit.”

             
The girl smiled.  “We have a saying in the islands.  You no like the weather, wait five minutes.”

             
It made Cindy laugh.  The couple gave her a final smile and then continued strolling down the beach.  They were right, too.  After about five minutes the rain eased up and shortly afterward stopped completely.  About ten minutes after that many of those who had sought shelter returned.

             
Cindy checked her watch.  She still had about an hour before the luau was scheduled to begin.  She decided that the local couple had the right idea.  She stuffed her towel inside her bag, slung the bag over her shoulder, and began walking down the beach.

             
As she walked she picked up a couple of interesting bits of seashell and deposited them in her bag.  A light breeze sprang up and it whipped her hair into her face.  The sun was beginning to sink toward the horizon and she realized it was probably time to turn back.

             
She rounded a small bend in the beach and stopped short as she saw a vast expanse of ground that looked like it had been partially cleared of trees and grass.  A few heaping mounds of dirt were scattered around, like some giant dog had been digging in the earth for a prized bone.

             
She stared for a moment and then heard the sudden, sharp sounds of arguing.  Startled she swiveled her head and saw two men pulling a kayak up on the beach.  They picked something up out of it that was wrapped in a tarp and they began moving toward one of the holes.

             
The hair prickled on the back of her neck as she clearly heard one of the men say, “Don’t drop him.  The bones need to be intact.”

             
“I didn’t drop her so why you complaining?” the second man asked.

             
This had to be the burial site and the location for the planned resort she’d heard about on the radio.