Grave Echoes: A Kate Waters Mystery (12 page)

Until he could explain the fingerprints, he would keep Jev’s occult matters classified. There were too many questions surrounding the sister, boyfriend, and best friend. Jevanna Waters probably pissed off the wrong person. And even though Wells still believed she’d died as a result of the car accident, he speculated that she hadn’t been alone on the road that night.

***

Dusk ebbed into the night. After her unsettling visit with Wells regarding evidence found at the scene of Jev’s car accident, Kate left the police station and drove straight to the funeral home where they had cremated Jev. She wanted to select an urn for her ashes before the wake. Louise had organized the cremation arrangements with the funeral director they’d passed in the hallway at the hospital the day they viewed Jev. She remembered the young man’s wink at Louise and wondered how much the attention of a good-looking male had swayed her to using their business. What young men might call a “cougar,” Louise was a very attractive woman in her forties and Kate suspected her dad had married her for her looks. Both she and Jev had figured he’d wanted something different this time since he’d already lost his soul mate.

But Kate had difficulties seeing her dad with someone new, especially when they had started seeing each other only a few months after her mother’s death. He’d known all along that Ellen was dying. He’d had time to get used to the idea of living without her. He might even have had time to meet Louise. The thought of her dad cheating on her dying mother took her down a road she couldn’t mentally tread at the moment. And so with a deep breath, Kate forgot about the past and turned her jeep into the pillared entrance, into the present—planning Jev’s funeral. Another place she didn’t want to go.

Keepers of the funeral home manicured and cleared the grounds of rotted, fallen debris littering most of the city. Lit by old-fashioned street lamps, bricked pathways wound through lush grass, weeping willows, and blood-red maples illuminated at the base with amber lighting. So much life surrounding so much death, she thought, standing outside the jeep and studying the glass and marbled double doors of Kinsley and Sons Funeral Home.

She pushed the heavy doors open. The smell of carnations, lilies, and dusty pews transported her back to the formative years of Sunday service and youth group activities. A brass cross trimmed the vaulted front hall above a billboard message that spoke of the Lord’s return, and a seating arrangement of flowered sofas and crystal lamps that attempted to soothe the broken-hearted. To the right, a hallway stretched out behind glass doors, lined with marbled caskets, urns, and shelves of personal memorabilia.

A man dressed in a black suit spoke with an older lady, his back turned to Kate. When he turned around and headed toward her, she realized he was the young man from the hospital. He looked different in his professional attire. His blond hair looked trimmed, and he’d shaved the little patch of hair beneath the bottom of his lip.

He stretched his hand out to greet her. “Good evening. My name is Adam Thatcher. How can I help you?”

His warm, strong hand matched with his towering height, lifting Kate’s chin as she met his eyes. “Hi, I’m Kate. I’m here to select an urn for my sister.”

“Jevanna Waters?” he asked with perked brows.

“Yes,” Kate paused, realizing she’d never mentioned her name. “How did you know?”

“I spoke with your stepmother earlier today. She said you’d be by later.” Intensity flashed behind Adam’s eyes. He bent his head to the side, scrutinizing her facial features. “Plus, you look just like her.”

His statement caught Kate off guard and she felt a chill raise the flesh on her arms. “But how do you know what she looked like?”

“Louise brought in a picture of her,” he elaborated.

Kate gave a small nod. “Most people thought we were cousins.”

“Most people don’t observe true characteristics either. I see it in your face, in the spacing of your features. Your sister was a very beautiful woman.”

“Thank you.” Kate averted her eyes down the hall.

Adam followed her attention and motioned his palm toward the glass doors. “Come this way. We have a wide variety of urns, and there’s no pressure to choose one today if you’d like more time to think about it.”

Even though something shadowed Adam’s charm, his professionalism calmed her thoughts and emotions. She walked through the doors he held open for her. The marbled accents felt cold, and she wondered why funeral homes insisted on bright, spacious rooms when it seemed to her most people just wanted to crawl into a cave and come out when it no longer hurt to breathe.

“So tell me a little bit about Jev,” Adam said. “What did she like to do?”

“She loved nature, hiking, camping,” Kate said, “but she did have a flare for the comforts of city life too.”

“A little bit of both worlds. Sounds like she was very balanced,” he said, stopping in front of a shelved display of decorative urns.

They looked so small. Kate couldn’t imagine the remains of her sister fitting into the tiny vase. Suddenly, the room swayed. She stumbled back, and Adam stuck his hand out to steady her.

“I’m sorry. I feel a little light-headed.”

“It’s normal. Death is a very profound experience and takes time to accept.”

Kate nodded. “Must be hard to be around all the time,” she said.

“Death is a natural cycle, like the seasons.” Adam leaned into her. “But you still have light in your eyes. I don’t see that very often in people who are new to loss. Usually, the first time confronting death has the same effect on the soul, like a part of it dies too.”

“Some people grieve forever.”

“Yes. Death can turn us into different people if we let it.”

She held his gaze, absorbing his statements, the simple truth in them.

“Then, sometimes, they get caught in the worlds between,” Adam added, walking along the shelves of urns and looking at each one like it contained a friend. “I find that with each passing death, I become more grounded.”

“Grounded…like a bird with clipped wings,” Kate responded, more to herself than him.

“You will fly again, Ms. Waters,” Adam said.

“Do you believe in an afterlife, Mr. Thatcher?”

“Aren’t we living it already?” He picked up one of the urns. It was made of dark wood, the middle curved out into a bowl and narrowed at the top. A bronze oak tree embossed the front, with enormous limbs fanning out like sunrays. “If there isn’t an ending, then there isn’t a beginning either. Everything is cyclic—the tree began as a seed and the seed grew from the tree.”

Kate pondered his statement. “Energy never dies; it is only transferred?”

“Precisely,” he said. “So are you the tree or the seed?”

Kate looked at the urn and then back at him, finding his enlightened empathy unusual, like they were lost friends rather than strangers. “I’m definitely the seed,” she said. “I still have a lot of growing to do.”

He handed her the urn. “I have a feeling Jev was the tree.”

Kate ran her fingers over the vase, the curve smooth like beach wood. “Strange thing is that’s what killed my sister. Her car hit a tree.”

Adam’s face burst with surprise. “I’m sorry.” He reached for the urn in her hands. “Everyone’s time comes for a reason,” he said.

“What if she wasn’t supposed to go yet?”

“Why would you say that?”

“I don’t think it was her time.”

His gaze intensified. “You will drive yourself crazy trying to analyze your sister’s death—you must accept it.”

Kate knew Adam was right. He was about to put the urn on the shelf when she stopped him. “Actually, I’ll take that one,” Kate said. “You’re right. Jev was the tree.”

Stars still glittered across the morning sky as he sat in his truck outside Kate Waters’ house, watching, waiting, like a cat-and-mouse game, a comfortable approach to him and one he engaged in often. The outskirts of town were still and calm, contrasting with the strange new feeling of anxiety drumming in his chest. Four days ago, Jevanna Waters had ruined his plans. Having searched every inch of her house, and under every rock and bush near the vault for his key, his efforts had been unsuccessful—the key was gone, along with his composure. Impatience, normally a foreign emotion to him, fired his nerves as the Waters’ sisters tested his fortitude. But last night, luck had granted him another chance when he’d discovered Kate wearing a chain around her neck. His key dangled from the end of it.

Why she had hung it around her neck in the first place puzzled him. Somehow, she knew its importance, and he feared she’d learned of his operation. He thought Jev had discovered his business the same night he’d chased her down, but maybe she’d been spying on him for some time, despite his vigilance during transfers. If Kate knew of his secret, he assumed she would tell authorities or at least go to the vault herself, just like her sister. He needed to set a trap—he couldn’t let another Waters’ girl screw everything up now.

The temperature gauge in the truck dropped another degree. It was always the coldest and darkest just before dawn, he reminded himself while he thought about his predicament. Something akin to nervousness settled in his stomach as he neared the dawn of his own goal: retrieving the key without her discovering his identity. As much as he wouldn’t mind killing her, he couldn’t risk attracting attention or leaving behind incriminating evidence. Fortunately, with Halloween just around the corner, it gave him a legitimate reason to wear a mask when and if he needed to.

Rousing him from his thoughts, Kate’s front door opened. She stepped out into the morning shadows, carrying a large duffel bag and a titanium frame backpack, and walked to the back of the jeep. Her breath puffed in thin clouds, dissipating behind her. Suddenly, she stopped and scrutinized her surroundings. He scooted down in his seat, ducking his head behind the wheel. She looked toward him, at the trees bordering the property, and then turned the other direction, at the old man’s driveway. As if nothing seemed awry, she threw her bags into the back of the jeep and got inside. He let out his breath, unaware he had been holding it. He sat up, getting ready to follow her, anxious for a trip that would give him another chance to get his key back. She revved up the cold engine, and after she’d made her first turn down the street, he closed in behind her.

***

Shivering against a bitter wind, Kate huddled inside her parka, locking up her jeep at the Mt. Hood ranger station where she and Sean waited to meet Eric Hart and Mark Scholtz from the USGS in Crescent City, California. From there, the four of them would take two vehicles up the mountain to cabins situated not far from Timberline Lodge, a popular ski resort. Kate disliked the arrangement of having to work alongside Sean, but she reminded herself of what Wells had said about him probably having only innocent intentions. Added to the small chance that he would try to harm her, he still wouldn’t risk getting caught with Eric and Mark present. Sean wasn’t a risk taker…but then she’d never imagined Jev would be involved in witchcraft either…or that her boyfriend believed in ghosts—suddenly, Kate felt alone.

She headed towards Sean’s truck, bracing herself against the cold, icy air descending from the mountain and whistling through the dark, empty streets. The wind whipped at her jacket relentlessly like spiteful ghouls. Today was Halloween, one of Jev’s favorite times of the year, and one that would now always be haunting for her. She opened the passenger’s door to Sean’s truck, hoping his mood outshined hers.

“Man, it is cold out,” she commented, rubbing her hands in front of the warm air circulating from the vents. He looked as tired as she felt and it didn’t seem he’d showered or even changed his clothes, lately owning only dark blue shirts and black jeans.

Sean pointed to a box of old-fashioned donuts stuffed on the dashboard. “You want one?”

Kate shook her head. “No thanks.” He sat hunched over and stared out the window. The dim lights in the truck cast an eerie two-dimensional glow across his face.

“Are you worried about the trip?”

“Climbing the mountain?” he asked.

“That, and finding the old EDMs, or working with USGS.” She tried to prod him from his shell, but he kept closed in.

“No. I just want to do my job and get back home.”

An awkward silence spread between them and Kate knew that if they were ever going to work together on the trip, she needed to clear the air. “Do you want to talk about Jev?”

“Nope. I already did that with the police yesterday.” He looked over at her.

“They questioned me too.” Kate tried to say as if it were normal.

“Why did you tell him about the fight Jev and I had?”

Kate reached for a donut. “It came up when we were at the hospital. Wells asked about Jev’s well-being, and I remembered the fight between you two and must have mentioned something then,” she replied, taking a big bite of the donut.

“So does he think Jev’s accident was an accident or what? What’s with the cigarette butts?”

His bitter tone made Kate wonder if Jev had been right about his temper. “He doesn’t have any evidence to disprove that Jev’s car accident was anything other than the result of driver error,” she said, which wasn’t a lie. “Besides, I think there is only so much they can tell us right now.” And only so much I can tell you, she thought.

They both sat quiet for a minute sipping their coffees. Kate noticed a silver Maltese cross like the one on Sean’s backpack hanging on a chain around his rearview mirror. Light glinted off the side of it.

Sean broke the silence. “I have to confess something,” he said. Kate stopped eating her donut. “If the Detective’s going to start digging around, I’d better just come out with it before you hear it from somebody else.”

Like stepping into a cold river, she shivered in her seat. “What are you talking about, Sean?” She checked the lock on her door, making sure it was unlocked in case he tried to do something.

He started picking at a hole in his jeans, seemingly troubled in his thoughts and how he was going to reveal them. His face hardened like stone. “I saw Jev the night she died.”

Kate swallowed back her fear, telling herself to keep cool. “And?”

“We had another fight.”

“About what?”

“Jev was going to perform a spell, and I didn’t want her to do it.”

Kate needed details. “By herself or with somebody else?”

“Probably with Thea.”

“Who is Thea?”

“She’s the Priestess of Jev’s coven, the Blue Moon Coven. She’s very dark and weird, and was never a good influence on Jev.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Thea’s into black magic,” Sean said. “I thought that’s what Jev was leaving to go do.”

Knowing her sister had a trunk of witchcraft items was bad enough, but to hear about her performing dark magic was like they were talking about someone she didn’t even know.

A Ford pick-up truck pulled into the gas station across the road with a covered back-end similar to the one her dad had. She wondered if he knew about Jev’s witchcraft.

“You’re quiet,” Sean said.

A web of secrets could do that to a person, Kate thought. “You told me last Sunday morning that you and Jev fought—were you fighting about the same thing?”

Sean tapped his thumb against the window. “Yeah. I didn’t like Jev’s witchcraft and I didn’t like her hanging with Thea.”

Kate tended to agree.

“She kept distancing herself from me,” Sean said. “I thought she was trying to avoid me.”

Kate still sensed he had more to say. Whatever unresolved dispute Wells had mentioned seemed to circle around Sean, and she just hoped he wasn’t at the center of it. Finishing her donut, she compiled his story in her mind—the dates, their argument, and Jev’s plan to do a spell…For what, who and why? Sean still acted shifty, nervous, even fearful of spilling information about Jev, almost as if he had to be careful of what he said.

“Why didn’t you want to tell me you fought with Jev the night she died?”

“I was afraid of what you might think… that maybe I upset her so much, she lost control of the car.”

Kate recoiled inside because it was exactly what she had thought. “You shouldn’t feel responsible for her accident. Jev was the one driving; she was the one in control, right?”

Sean looked at her. His eyes narrowed and his mouth crumpled into a grimace. Innocent remorse or maliciousness? She couldn’t tell, but his gaze made her uneasy.

“Well, I didn’t physically cause the accident, but I still feel to blame.” He reached into his jacket for a smoke. His other hand dug for a light. “Shit,” he said, and then opened the car door and stepped out.

“Where’re you going?”

“I lost my matches. I’ll be right back.”

***

Just before the blue of day, Sean and Kate met Eric Hart and Mark Schultz at the Mt. Hood Ranger station. Kate was relieved to be in their company after discovering Sean may have broken into Jev’s home—he was missing the matches she had found on the floor of Jev’s locked home. If so, he had to have her house key. But what was he looking for? The strange Celtic key hanging around her neck? Ultimately, she feared Sean was somehow involved in Jev’s accident, especially since she had learned about the fingerprints on Jev’s neck. Maybe Sean was dangerous after all.

They rode up in two cars, leaving Kate’s jeep behind at the station. As she anticipated, Eric, the West coast Regional Director of the USGS, sported expensive thermal clothes, Arcteryx coat, Rayban sunglasses, and a Nautica watch, all color coordinated in gray and red. However, she didn’t expect he’d have remarkable green eyes, a bright smile, and arms like a fireman. In contrast, Mark mix-matched his gear like her and Sean and seemed a bit out of place, having just recently graduated with a master in geology. Kate enjoyed his easy-going nature and contagious laugh.

It was a short ride through winding white roads of compacted snow and slumped ice-covered firs. Kate rode with Eric and Sean and Mark followed. As director of the USGS and per Stewart’s requests, Eric delegated the tasks of their mission and each person’s responsibility: Kate would lead the expedition up the mountain since she had the most experience climbing it, having served on the rescue team and completed her dissertation on features of the terrain; Sean would retrieve old EDMs and post benchmarks; and Mark would help Eric setup the new GPS units. Sean didn’t appear to welcome Eric’s authority, but there were strict guidelines to field work—everybody’s lives depended on one another, and so the saying was, “bite thy tongue or bite thy dust.”

The four of them reached the cabins near Timberline Lodge, promptly geared up, not wanting to waste any daylight, and set out along the south side of Mt. Hood along Palmer Glacier before 8 am. Thin clouds like a giant ribcage blew in from the northeast, a possible sign of a storm to come later on Kate noted, as cold winds descended from Canada. Still, the weather reports on her phone showed clear skies until later in the evening.

With new vigor in her breath, she appreciated the crisp wind numbing her cheeks and the brilliant expanse surrounding her, helping her temporarily forget about her own troubles. New blood revitalized with oxygen cleared her mind and improved her mobility, chasing away the extreme fatigue she felt earlier. In the wilderness, she felt at home, despite the growing concern Sean presented.

After a half-hour hike straight up the slope, everyone seemed to be getting into a rhythm. Even though the dangers of the expedition were many, they talked light-heartedly of the job ahead and the interesting sights around Portland. Even Sean’s demeanor changed once they set foot in the snow. He smiled, engaged in friendly conversation, and even joked around. The solemn cloud that had hung over him earlier seemed to dissipate, revealing his old self again. But the sudden shift bothered Kate. Beneath his seemingly good nature, her doubts about his character were burgeoning and even though Eric and Mark gave her some comfort, she remained watchful.

She looked out beyond the foothills into the Willamette Valley. The sub alpine vegetation had long disappeared, leaving only icy tracks zigzagging through rock and snow along the face of Mt. Hood. Up ahead, a large rock protruded from the glacier. When she reached it, Kate stopped to let everyone rest, drink water, and check the GPS units and their tracking devices attached to their coats. Kate thought that at least if Sean pushed her off the mountain, rescuers could find her body.

Eric stepped up next to her and adjusted the strap on his boot. “Stewart tells me you’ve been involved in a few rescue missions on Hood,” he said to her.

“Oh…he just likes to brag,” Kate replied. “I’ve been on six so far.”

Eric smiled. “That’s still pretty impressive.” She couldn’t help but notice his white teeth and full lips as he spoke. “Were you on the Mt. Hood Rescue in the winter of 2006?”

Kate nodded, remembering the three climbers who had been lost. One of them was found, frozen in a snow cave, having sustained injuries, and it was suspected the other two climbers died attempting to descend for help. “Yes, that was a tough one.”