I Have a Secret (A Sloane Monroe Novel, Book Three) (24 page)

The railway line that ran from Bakersfield through Tehachapi and out past Mojave was built in 1874 by the Southern Pacific Railroad.  Thousands of Chinese workers were brought in to cut through solid and decomposed granite.  They used everything from pick axes to blasting powder, and in less than two years, the job was complete.  Many tunnels were carved into the mountains, allowing trains to pass through, but not all of them stood the test of time. 

Tunnel ten wasn’t far from the Tehachapi Loop.  It was named the Loop because of the circular rotation the train took when it passed over and under itself.  Even after one hundred years of wear and tear on the rails, more than thirty trains still passed through on any given day. 

We parked as close as we could get to the tunnel before hiking over to it.  As soon as I exited the SUV, I flashed back to memories of seeing the train as a child.  In my mind, when the train sounded its horn before it entered the tunnel it was saying goodbye, because once it entered, it disappeared, like the mountain had opened its mouth and swallowed it whole.  But then, like magic, seconds later the train would re-emerge as it pushed through the opening on the other side. 

It had been twenty minutes, and not the hour Ivy wanted, but there was something to be said for the element of surprise.  An abandoned Lexus was parked nearby.  The doors were locked, but when I peered through the window I saw a headband on the passenger seat.  It was black with a white flower and tiny black feathers shooting off the side of it.  Alexa wore it the first night we met.  

“Alexa’s here,” I said to Giovanni.  “At least, I hope she is…”

We left Giovanni’s men in the SUV with the idea that less was more in this situation and walked in the direction of the tunnel with Jesse.  Giovanni made it clear Jesse wasn’t to utter one word, and so far, he was complying.  Once we got through the weeds and the patchy terrain, I spotted the mouth of the tunnel.  It was just like I remembered: A grey concrete-like substance shaped into an oval archway that seemed just wide enough for the train to pass through. 

One of my hands clutched Jesse’s arm like a claw in a stuffed animal machine at the supermarket and the other hovered over my gun. 

“Stop,” I said.  “I want to listen.”

But it was still.  Even the air.  Neither voices nor movement echoed through the tunnel.  It was as if the structure itself had been left for dead.

I looked at Giovanni.  “How much time?”

“We’re still thirty minutes out.”

“Good.” I turned to Jesse who was limping at such a slow pace we practically pulled him along.  “Keep walking, and if you want to come out of this alive, don’t do anything to screw this up, or I
will
hand you over.”

Both Jesse and Giovanni’s eyes widened. 

“You’re not making the trade—you’d do that for me?” Jesse said.

From the stony look on Giovanni’s face, he wondered the same thing.  Second chances weren’t part of the mafia handbook.  There were no three-strikes-and-you’re-out options; one strike was more than enough to send any man to the grave, and the grimace on Giovanni’s face told me he wanted to do just that.  But dying wasn’t the only way Jesse could pay for his crimes, and prison suited me just fine.

I was confident about putting Jesse away for life, but when it came to Ivy, my thoughts were hazy—a grey cloud had formed in my mind I never knew existed.  For the first time, I didn’t just see things as black or white.  But no matter what she’d been put through, one thing was clear: Ivy was still a murderer.    

I had Jesse and Giovanni stay out of sight while I walked up to the entrance of the tunnel.  It was dark.  I could see inside, but after several feet the track curved around, leaving a blind spot on the other side.  I had to decide—would I walk in and look around the corner, or would I shout her name and wait for a response?  I knew the tunnel wasn’t long, so there was a good chance once I rounded the corner, Ivy would be waiting there for me. 

I glanced at my cell phone.  Twenty-five minutes until our scheduled rendezvous.  I had time.  I took one step forward knowing no matter how light my steps, there was a good chance she’d hear me coming.  And she did.

“Who’s there?” Ivy said.

I couldn’t see her, but I knew she was close. 

“It’s Sloane.”

“You’re early—you aren’t supposed to be here yet.  How’d you get here so fast?”

“Doesn’t matter.  I want to talk.”

“There’s nothing more to say.  Where is he?”

“Nearby.”

“Send him in.”

“Send Alexa out,” I said.

“No—not yet.”

“Alexa,” I shouted, “are you in here?”

“Save it—she isn’t.  And if you want her back, you’ll have to keep up with your end of our agreement.”

“I only brought Jesse here to trade,” I said.  “No Alexa, no exchange.”

“Then you can go.  We’re done here.”

I heard footsteps like she was sliding out the tunnel, keeping her back to the wall so she remained out of sight. 

“Ivy…wait.”

The side-stepping stopped, but she said nothing.

“I know why you kidnapped Alexa,” I said.  “You never wanted to hurt her—you thought it was the only way you could get your hands on Jesse once we had him.  The last loose end you needed to tie up.  The one you wanted to hurt the most.  But why not bring Rosalind along too?  The woman who lied to you, took your child.  Why spare her life?  And Doctor Robinson’s?”

Ivy’s cackle echoed through the air.

“The good doctor is dead.  And as for Rosalind, that old crow’s dead too.”

“Impossible,” I said.  “When I left her she was in the back of a squad car headed for the police station to be booked for her crimes.  There’s no way you could have killed her.” 

“I didn’t.  She killed herself.”

“I don’t understand,” I said.   

Stage four cancer.  It won’t be long now, and I’d rather she suffer knowing I killed her son.  Death is the one thing she can’t control.”

And the revelations kept pouring out.

“Why the tunnels?” I said.  “What’s the significance of this place?”

“Ask Jesse—he dragged me here.”

I pictured a young, innocent girl around eighteen going for a car ride with a group of boys.  “We want to show you something,” they would have said.  And she would have felt the attention she’d been deprived of most of her life.  Once they reached the tunnel, Ivy probably swooned over how cool it seemed at night.  And then one of the boys walked her in—Jesse perhaps—and, pushing her up against the stony wall, he had his way with her.  When her shock turned to tears, he tagged in another, and then another, until she didn’t even fight it anymore. 

“You don’t need to kill Jesse to make him pay for what he’s done.”

“Yes, I do!”  Her voice cracked.  “Send him in, now!  Then I’ll tell you where to find Alexa.”

“Why the rush?  The train comes in a few minutes.  What are you planning?”

“Three minutes, Sloane,” was her only reply.

I had to think fast.  I didn’t believe any harm had come to Alexa, but I was concerned once she had Jesse, Ivy would keep Alexa for herself.  Was she using the commotion from the train to plan her getaway? 

Giovanni pulled Jesse to the opening of the tunnel.  “Send him,” he whispered.  “Once he’s in, I’ll go around the other side to make sure she doesn’t escape out the back.”

“What—wait, no!” Jesse stammered.  “You can’t.”

But I needed to do something.

“I have Jesse,” I yelled.  “Come out where I can see you, Ivy.”

“I want you and the man you’re with to throw your guns into the tunnel.  And not some sissy throw, either.  Hurl them far enough that I can see them.”

We did as she instructed, and once she saw them smack down on the rocky floor in front of her, Ivy pushed herself off the wall and appeared on the center of the track.  She held her hand out for Jesse.

“I won’t go,” Jesse said. 

“If I don’t get Alexa back, I’ll kill you myself,” I said.  “Move—now.”

He hesitated and Giovanni shoved him so hard he almost flew to the ground and then he limped forward.  In the background, the train chugged along, moving at full speed. 

“Stay in the center of the track,” Ivy yelled to Jesse. 

“But the train is coming—are you insane!” Jesse yelled.

At this point in her life, she probably was.

“Do you remember, Jesse?  Do you remember now!” she shouted.  “You didn’t need to kill me the night I returned to town—I was already dead…inside.”

Two tugs from the conductor sounded the alarm, the train was about to enter the tunnel.  I looked at Jesse; he trembled with fear.  This had been her plan all along—she meant for him to die here.  And I couldn’t do it.  As much as he deserved what was coming to him, I couldn’t stand there and watch it happen.

I raced inside the tunnel.  Jesse froze as if waiting for the inevitable to happen, but then I tackled him.  We collapsed into shards of rock and I pressed my head into the ground while the train whizzed by.  It was the longest three minutes of my life, but finally, the train exited. 

Before I could open my eyes, Giovanni had lifted me off the ground and clutched me to him.  I tried to turn, to see what had become of Ivy, but Giovanni’s hands pressed into my cheeks.  “Don’t turn around,” he said.

“Is she…dead?”

He nodded. 

Jesse looked up at the two of us.  “A little help, please.”

“Help yourself,” I said.

“But I thought…?”

“What?” I said.  “Because I saved you I developed some sort of soft spot?  It was the right thing to do.  And now I get to make sure everyone in town knows who you really are.  I want you to live the rest of your life knowing your friends died because of you.”

Giovanni looked down at me—he couldn’t have been more proud.  I leaned my head on his shoulder and we walked to the car.  I hoped to find clues about Alexa’s whereabouts in Ivy’s Lexus.  Giovanni sent his men back for Jesse, who had made a failed attempt at hobbling away.

“Wait a minute,” I said.

Giovanni stopped. 

“Do you hear something?”

A sound emanated from the hill beside us—whimpering—like someone was calling out but unable to speak any words.

I ran up the hill and stopped.  There, on the other side, was Alexa.  She was gagged and tied to a tree.  A piece of folded up paper had been taped to the back of her shirt.  Giovanni loosened the bandana wadded up inside her mouth and then pulled out a Swiss Army Knife and sliced the rope from her wrists.  Once she was free, she threw her arms around me.  “I love you, Sloane.  I’ll love you forever.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you!”

A feeling I rarely experienced crept up my stomach until it created a pit inside my throat and I choked up.  This was what my job was all about. 

I pulled the note off her back.  It was addressed to Alexa.  I handed it to her.  

“I don’t want this,” she said.  “You read it and then do me a favor and get rid of it.”

I unfolded the letter and read in silence.

Dear Alexa,

I’m sorry about what happened.  I never meant to take you, and I never meant for you to get hurt in all this, but I’m sure you have been.  Even after I thought you died, I always loved you.  I thought of my precious daughter every day.  But you grew up not knowing me, and that’s a pain I can’t live with anymore.  I would rather be dead than not be in your life.  I’ve watched Sloane over the past few weeks.  She’s a good woman, and I believe she’ll tell you the truth about what happened.  I hope one day you can forgive me for your father and for leaving you now.  Death is a fitting end, and I welcome it.  You’re an amazing woman, and I know you’ll be a wonderful mother one day.  I’ll be watching.  Maybe then I can finally become part of your life. - Mom

Giovanni came around the corner and stared into the bedroom.  “Ready?” 

I nodded.  “I feel like I’ve overstayed my welcome, but I learned something.  Once I got away from my dad, I had some good memories here.  This town reminded me of all the things I’d forgotten.  I had so many bad experiences as a child, I forgot about the good ones.”

Giovanni smiled and kissed my forehead.  “The plane is fueled and ready, whenever you are.”

“I’ll just be a minute.”

Giovanni clicked the remote and the TV came on, but then he disappeared. 

How odd,
I thought. 

I checked the room for anything I might have left and grabbed the remote to turn off the TV.  The local news interrupted The View to discuss a blazing fire in Bear Valley Springs.  On Black Forest Drive.  On the street I grew up on.  In the house I wanted to forget.  And I remembered what I’d said to Giovanni in the car that day:
I’d strike a match and burn it to the ground if I could, and then I’d watch until every last piece of it was gone forever. 

I zipped up my bag and smiled.  It was time to go home.