Phoenix (13 page)

What I was saying seemed to get through to Sharon. ‘How come I couldn’t find a way to stop it happening? It’s like they slid into that, one by one – first Brandon, then Phoenix, now Zak.’

‘All kids look for trouble,’ I argued. ‘A few get caught.’

Sharon bit her lip and looked back over the recent family history. ‘They stuck a label on us right from the start. “The Rohrs are back in town. Watch out, it means trouble.”’

‘I think that’s right. That’s the way Phoenix saw it too.’

She sat up straight and looked at me like she was seeing me for the first time. ‘He talked to you about family problems?’

‘Yeah, we covered just about everything, him and me.’
That’s love. That’s finding your soul mate
. ‘I was lucky.’

‘I never knew that,’ she sighed. ‘Sure, I could see why he was attracted to you – you’re a beautiful girl. But I thought it was skin-deep.’

‘You didn’t think it would last?’ I smiled sadly.
It’s
lasted
way beyond the grave, let me tell you.

‘He was so young. You were his first real girl.’

‘So you have to forgive me,’ I told her with a shrug.

‘For what?’

‘For coming into Phoenix’s life.’

Closing her eyes, Sharon let out a short laugh and in
that moment some of the bad feeling she had towards me seemed to melt away. ‘Yeah, I guess I do.’

‘And I’ll tell you something else.’

She opened her eyes and looked expectantly at me.

‘If you want my opinion, Zak won’t stay long in Michael’s apartment. He’ll come home to you – I bet you a million bucks.’

Sometimes the voices in my head speak louder than real life. After Sharon left for Michael’s apartment to enter into negotiations with her ex, I drove out of town to the eco-burial site where Byron Lavelle had laid Logan to rest.

Why here?
Arizona-in-my-head asked as I parked my car among the tall redwoods and walked up the hill.

Back off, Arizona. Darina needs some time to think
. This was Jonas talking from the place where the Beautiful Dead finally go.
She loves it here, it’s so peaceful
.

It’s true – I do. The tall trees rise straight and meet overhead like a cathedral roof, the granite rocks sparkle pink, silver and white.

I feel close to Logan here.

‘Who’d have thought it?’ I murmured to him. ‘Sharon Rohr is speaking to me. At last I’m not the enemy.’

Logan wasn’t Beautiful Dead but that didn’t stop me
talking to him. When he was alive he was the closest thing to a brother I’d ever known. He was the grounded, sensible one whose advice I resented, the kid I’d known since kindergarten.

‘She’s visiting Zak as we speak,’ I went on, gazing up at the swaying branches. ‘She and Michael will have to work together to help him through this period. Zak will have to face a few facts about the way he’s been acting.’

Crazy-girl Darina
, Arizona laughed.

Go ahead
–
Logan hears you
, Jonas urged.

‘The rest is pretty scary,’ I admitted. ‘There’s talk of civil war inside Oscar Thorne’s drugs gang, and no one will stand up and tell the truth. That’s what’s getting in my way right now.’

Sitting cross-legged under the trees, I breathed in the smell of pine needles and resin. I remembered Logan – the way he drove me mad by showing up on my porch with advice and support. And I saw his face and open smile under the mop of brown curly hair.

‘What would you do?’ I asked him. ‘Would you go after the two Harley guys, or would you put more pressure on others who were there – Zak, Brandon, Nathan, maybe even the girl behind the cash desk again? I have two days to do this, remember.’

Logan would say, be safe. Look out for yourself
. Arizona
was right, of course. She was always the smartest person I knew.

‘Being safe isn’t an option,’ I argued. ‘That’s what I told Dean and Phoenix. Doesn’t it seem weird to you, how Phoenix doesn’t get how I feel? This is the first time it’s happened and it’s driving me crazy.’

For once no one responded with an answer and I had to find comfort in just staring up at the patterns the branches made against the blue sky. I wanted support, advice, encouragement but it was clear this time that I would have to decide for myself.

In the end I left Logan’s burial site and decided to track down the youngest Rohr. Zak had the most reasons to agree to talk to me, if only I could get him to see it this way after Sharon had paid him the visit she’d been planning. What I didn’t predict was that the thing had turned into a full-scale family conference, Brandon included.

I knocked on the door of apartment 209.

Brandon opened it. ‘You should get a job at the United Nations,’ he told me.

I had to think this one through before I understood what he was getting at. ‘Ha – funny! Is Zak here?’

‘Bro, here comes the peace-broker,’ he called over his
shoulder, ready to step out of my way then suddenly changing his mind. ‘So it looks like you got free access to the Rohrs. I don’t know what you did, but Mom has done a U-turn. She suddenly has you down as flavour of the month.’

‘Is she still here?’ I asked. As usual, Brandon set my nerves on edge with his suspicious tone and the mocking curl of his lip.

‘She already left.’

‘What did they decide?’

‘Zak stays here until Sunday then they all talk again about him moving back to the house.’ He leaned against the door frame, muscles looking pumped under his white T-shirt. ‘Congratulations, Darina. It looks like the kid is back walking the line.’

‘What about Michael? Is he home?’

Brandon shook his head. ‘He’s playing golf. You know, I’ve been thinking maybe you were right about something – you don’t need me to look after you any more. It seems you’re all grown up now.’

‘Why do I think that’s not a compliment?’ I asked warily. With Brandon there was always the chance of a below-the-belt blow to follow. ‘Does this mean you want the car back?’

‘Oh, Darina, that’s so not cool.’ He faked
disappointment that I could be so petty. ‘The car comes with no strings. All I’m saying is that it’s been a year now, like we said, and I can’t be your child-minder for ever.’

‘No matter what you promised Phoenix?’ I said without meaning to. The sly words just slipped out.

If he was hurt, Brandon didn’t show it. ‘Whoa, what happened to the diplomacy skills? Yeah, whatever I said to my brother, I reckon I kept that promise and it’s time for you to take care of yourself.’

‘I totally agree,’ I muttered.
Don’t do me any favours.
Don’t think that I need you in any way whatsoever!

With a satisfied grin, Brandon launched himself free of the doorpost and brushed past me. ‘Don’t pressurize the kid,’ he warned with a nod over his shoulder towards the living room. ‘Zak is still on a short fuse, so don’t push him – OK?’

I gritted my teeth and let Brandon go. He was halfway down the corridor, heading for the escalator when he remembered something else. ‘Russell Bishop was here,’ he said casually.

‘To play golf with Michael.’ Why should this mean anything to me?

‘Yeah, Ralph Lauren-man. He had an interesting piece of news that he wanted to share.’

‘Which was?’

‘Early this morning, the cops went to Nathan Thorne’s house and arrested him for drugs. I thought you should know.’

I went inside and Zak made it plain that he wasn’t excited to see me. He lay sprawled in the one brown chair in front of a small TV screen, hardly bothering to turn his head when I said hi.

‘I heard the news about Nathan,’ I said, to grab Zak’s attention away from the cartoon channel. Actually, I was shocked that Sheriff Kors had acted, presumably on the information I’d provided.
Come back, Brandon –
I need you to look out for me after all!
was one of my first thoughts.

‘You talked to the cops,’ Zak muttered, eyes still glued to the screen.

‘Not me,’ I lied.

‘Yeah, you did.’ The velour chair was on a swivel base and he turned it to face me. ‘That’s how come they arrested him.’

‘So what if I did? Everyone knows Nathan Thorne is heading the same way as his brother.’ Somehow saying this and bringing it out into the open eased the tension between us. ‘I’m glad you were only on the edge of that scene at the trailer. Plus, it was cool I knew where to find
you a couple of days back. Maybe now things will work out for you.’

Zak did the Rohr shrug and brought Phoenix’s image flooding into my head.

Keep talking, Darina,
Phoenix said, as if he was right there, backing every word.
Zak listens to you, even if he
doesn’t admit it.

‘Phoenix would be happy,’ I told Zak. ‘He would want you out of that trailer, back with your family.’

Another shrug. ‘Mom and Dad are talking again,’ he said. ‘How about that?’

‘I know. I’m shocked – in a good way.’

‘He says he can give her an allowance.’

‘Is that what she wants?’

‘To send me to college when I reach eighteen. He had a security job in Berlin. That’s how come he saved the dough.’

‘Cool. And is that what
you
want?’

‘Engineering college would be good, I guess. Building roads and bridges. I need to go back to school first though. Mom’s gonna talk to Valenti.’

‘All excellent,’ I said. ‘Zak – that’s so cool.’

‘It didn’t happen yet,’ he warned. ‘The principal could tell Mom no.’

‘But it’s a plan.’
Did you hear that, Phoenix? Your baby
brother is getting a life!

‘After school – what will you do?’ Zak asked me out of the blue.

‘College, I guess.’ Not that I thought about my future. ‘Honestly, I get through each day, that’s all.’

He nodded. ‘Almost a year,’ he sighed.

‘A year tomorrow.’ I plunged deep into my own worst fear. ‘And we still don’t know. I think if we knew … a name, a clear picture …’

‘You want me to help you out?’

‘Zak, yes! Whatever you know, you have to share.’

‘OK. I was in the car with Phoenix. He stopped for gas.’ Slowly he ran through events, pausing as if his memory jolted and skidded over certain details. ‘It was Friday night, the pumps were busy, Phoenix was running late. A guy on a Harley pushed into the line ahead of him. Phoenix didn’t like that. He swore at the guy and we switched lines, pulled up at the next pump alongside Nathan. Phoenix asked Nathan if he could step ahead of him in the new line.’

‘And Nathan was driving his Chevy, is that right?’

‘I guess.’ Zak frowned with the effort of trying to remember.

‘Was anyone in the car with him? Were Taylor and Jacob there?’

‘Yeah, but not with Nathan. They were hanging out with some other kids from Forest Lake. Nathan was with Robert Black and Vince Hall. That was the day Hall sold Nathan the Chevy.’

‘OK, so Nathan tells Phoenix no way can he go ahead at the pump. Is there any chance that while they were having this conversation, either Black or Hall were trying to reclaim a forgotten stash of cocaine in Nathan’s car? Is that what kicked off the fight in the first place?’

Instead of prodding his memory, my questions seemed to block Zak and his frown deepened. ‘Who told you that?’

‘Nobody. It’s a police theory. If these guys were arguing over a hidden drugs stash, that could have caused things to turn violent. Is that what you saw?’

‘If it happened, I didn’t see it,’ he admitted, still looking blocked and confused.

I prompted again. ‘And maybe Brandon noticed what was happening from across the forecourt – guys starting to fight over drugs, with Phoenix and you both too close for comfort …’

‘Back off!’ Suddenly Zak stood up. ‘I don’t want to talk about it any more.’

I drew a sharp breath, turned away then back again. ‘Try, Zak,’ I pleaded. ‘You were there. Give me
a name, a reason …’

‘No, you don’t understand. I can’t help you.’

‘Why not? What don’t I understand?’

‘Sure, I was there until Nathan and Phoenix got into their argument, then Brandon came over.’

‘And?’

‘Brandon was yelling at Hall and Black – they were still near the Chevy. I didn’t hear what he said. Then he turned and yelled for me to leave. He said – exact words, “Get out of here, Zak – go home, now!”’

‘And?’ I said quietly, feeling my head spin and my heart thud with disappointment.

‘I did – I ran away,’ he admitted. The kid had been living with this guilt for almost a year. ‘I did what Brandon told me but I should’ve stayed.’

‘Why?’ I murmured.

‘To help my brother,’ he whispered back. ‘If I’d been there, I could’ve stopped it happening. Phoenix would still be alive.’

Chapter 9

‘I
t’s a big deal for Zak,’ Zoey said.

I’d gone from Michael’s apartment to her house, knowing this was her day for physical therapy so she wouldn’t be in school. I was interested in finding out what Russell Bishop knew about Nathan’s arrest and how come he was so close to the police action, but first I had to share with someone what Zak had shared with me, and it was Zoey I chose. I’d found her in her covered arena, long-reining one of her grey Arabian horses.

She sighed and shook her head. ‘The kid’s only thirteen years old, and he believes he could have saved his brother.’

‘I told him – what chance would you have had? It was chaos, everyone had knives. He still said he should have been there for Phoenix.’

For a while we watched Merlin trot, ears pricked, neck
arched, high-stepping around the arena. ‘How perfect is he?’ Zoey murmured. ‘You know, this is the first time I’ve put myself in Zak’s shoes. I always look at him and judge him – moody kid, throwing his life away.’

‘That’s the hard part,’ I admitted. ‘Seeing it the way other people see it. But I always felt a connection with Zak, and maybe with Sharon and Brandon, even when they hated my guts.’

Zoey eased the pressure on Merlin and let him fall from trot into walk. He snorted then wandered towards us, looking for a reward. ‘How is it at home?’ she asked.

‘With moving house? It’s crappy. My whole life is tied up in black garbage bags.’

‘And the anniversary tomorrow – how are you doing?’

Six months ago, Zoey being kind to me would’ve brought on the desire to confess everything.
I have to tell
you a secret – I visit Foxton Ridge. There’s a barn and an old
ranch house. I see Phoenix and the Beautiful Dead
. Hunter would’ve been there with the warning wings. These days, with time running out fast, I was over the sharing urge and my whole focus was on solving Phoenix’s death. ‘I saw Kim Reiss,’ I told her instead. ‘It kind of works.’

‘She’s cool. I like her.’

‘Me too.’

‘Did she do the pebble thing?’

‘Yeah. A black lava stone for anger.’

‘I chose a piece of flint – sharp edges.’ For a moment she flashed back into the emptiness and rage of losing Jonas.

‘What did you do with it?’

Zoey smiled. ‘I threw it out of the window. Kim said it was cool. How about you?’

‘I put mine back. It’s still in the bowl.’

‘Next time, throw it away – you’ll feel better. Hey, and Phoenix would love it that you’re taking care of Zak,’ Zoey told me, stroking Merlin’s nose.

I stayed and spent quality time with Zoey until her dad got back from golf. ‘Michael Rohr tells me you’re on a mission to save Zak,’ he said when he found me and Zoey working the other horse, Pepper, in the arena. ‘You’re doing a good job, Darina.’

Wow! This was the first complimentary remark Russell Bishop had put my way – ever! ‘Thanks. But it’s not me, it’s everyone.’

‘It helps that Michael is back in Ellerton,’ Russell agreed, then led me in exactly the direction I wanted to go. ‘And good that Sheriff Kors is focused on cleaning up the town. Give the guy six months and we’ll be back to where we were before.’

He meant before kids started dying and everyone fell apart. But even Russell Bishop had the tact not to spell this out in front of Zoey and me.

‘I heard he arrested Nathan Thorne?’ I prompted.

‘They charged him with possession of narcotics. Kors knows he’s a small player but you start with the little guys and move on up the food chain.’

‘Cool.’ Zoey and I echoed each other.

‘Yeah, if I have one criticism, it’s that they bailed Nathan after they charged him. If it was down to me I would lock up the lousy kid and throw away the key.’

For once I agreed with the pillar of our community. How much better it would be if baby-face Nathan was permanently off the scene …

‘They released him?’ Zoey was as shocked as I was.

Russell nodded. ‘They picked him up with only enough cocaine for personal use. The bottom line is – the sheriff hopes it will act as a warning and get Nathan to clean up his act. Personally, I doubt that.’ Looking at his watch, he cut the conversation short. ‘I’m out of here. You want a ride to your therapy?’ he asked Zoey.

‘No thanks. I’ll drive there.’

‘How about you, Darina? Can I drop you somewhere?’

‘I have my car,’ I told him, pointing to where my shiny, red Brandon-mobile was parked.

‘Nice vehicle,’ he muttered, raising an eyebrow, meaning,
Where did you get a car like that, Darina?
Then he went off to change out of his golf wear and meet his wife for an up-market lunch at the Blue Fin restaurant.

‘How come Sheriff Kors is cosying up with your dad?’ I asked Zoey as we led the horses into their stables.

‘He knows Dad is considering running for mayor,’ she told me.

‘Seriously?’ I asked.

‘Seriously,’ she said. And we both raised our eyebrows and grinned.

I left the perfect set-up – a house with air-conditioned stables and a white-columned portico, smooth lawns, electronically controlled gates – and drove into a nightmare.

I was through the gates, waving Zoey goodbye, when I picked up the black Chevy in my overhead mirror. I saw three guys in the car and slammed my foot on the pedal, picked up speed along South 13th Street and made a sharp right back towards town, hoping to lose them. No such luck – I had a crazy driver on my tail, taking the corner on two wheels, gaining on me as I sped past the medical centre overlooking the park. By the time I reached the lights leading to the mall, they’d changed to red.

For a second I considered jumping the lights, but a truck crawled out of the side road, blocking my way. I slammed on my brakes, felt a jolt as the Chevy shunted into me, saw the doors open and Nathan jump out along with bandana men, Hall and Black.

In a saloon car I would have locked my doors, sat tight and prayed. But this was a convertible, the top was open and all the guys had to do was reach in and drag me out.

It happened in broad daylight, so sudden and fast that I was lifted out of my car before the truck had even turned the corner. No one else was around. I guess the truck driver was too busy to see the abduction or else he didn’t want to get involved. I know no one called nine-one-one.

They gave Nathan the job of driving my car away from the junction. The other two gorillas wrestled me into the back seat of the Chevy, then one stayed with me, holding me down while the other took the wheel and followed Nathan. They’d shunted into me, hauled me out of the convertible and tossed me into their car, driven away, and the whole thing had lasted less than thirty seconds. That’s how long it takes to kidnap someone and make them disappear.

I fought back the best I could. Either Black or Hall – I didn’t know one from the other – put his hand around my
throat and forced my head onto the floor so that I tipped out of sight and lay struggling for breath. Looking up into this guy’s face, I saw narrowed eyes, a broad nose, dark stubble and no sign that he meant to go easy on me. I gave up the fight and lay quiet. He eased his grip as the car picked up speed.

I was pinned to the floor of a beaten-up Chevy, surrounded by empty Dorito packets and silver gum wrappers, snatched off the street by three drug-users who were driving me out of town to who knows what godforsaken destination. Life events don’t come much worse than this.

‘Hey, Vince, give me Nathan’s sweatshirt,’ the guy with his boot on my spine growled.

Hall took one hand off the steering wheel, reached for a grey hooded jacket and tossed it into the back. Black jerked at my arm, pulled me into a sitting position then muffled my face with the hood, securing it with the arms, which he tied in a knot around my mouth and neck. Afterwards he scrabbled among the junk on the back seat, found another ligature and tied my hands behind my back.

For the rest of the journey I was tightly gagged and blindfolded. My face sweated, it was hard to breathe and I was seriously scared about what they planned to do next.

We drove for what felt like eternity.

Trussed up and stuffed into the well between the front and back seats, I tried to curl into foetal position – but every time Hall took a bend, I rolled and knocked my head or my shins. The motion made me nauseous – that and sheer terror.

‘Are we nearly there yet?’ Robert Black said in a whiny, kiddie voice.

Hall laughed, said, ‘Five more minutes, honey,’ and roared the engine.

‘When we get there, can we go swimming?’ Black asked, still in his kid voice, though the word ‘swimming’ came with sinister emphasis.

‘Maybe,’ Hall answered.

He swerved again and I hit my head against a sharp metal edge. The hood over my mouth was wet with saliva. Clammy fabric covered my nose, my eyes, my ears.

‘
Ta-dah
, we’re here!’ Hall announced at last.

Keeping the blindfold and gag in position, they cut the engine and dragged me out of the car, across some rough ground to a place where I could hear lapping water. Obviously, ‘swimming’ was still on the agenda. A key turned in a lock, I was shoved up two steps, through a doorway and into a musty corner where I lay curled on my side.

‘Hey, Nathan.’ Black grunted a greeting.

‘What took you so long?’ Nathan answered.

‘Your crappy car isn’t built for speed, is what took us so long.’ As Hall answered, he stooped to untie the blindfold and lift the hood away from my face.

I blinked and kept my eyes screwed up, gradually making out a bare wooden floor, fishing rods leaning against a wall, two old folding chairs and a dusty canvas bag hanging from a hook on the back of the door.

‘
You
sold me the heap of shit,’ Nathan reminded him. ‘Darina doesn’t know how lucky she is, driving her convertible.’

The mention of my name brought Black’s attention to the job in hand. He dragged me up from the floor and sat me on one of the chairs, making sure that my hands were still firmly tied. ‘Time for a swim?’ he asked Nathan.

‘No. We wait for my brother.’ The answer was casual, non-committal.

‘Oh, great!’ Hall wasn’t happy. He stood in the doorway looking out, rubbing his cheek then raising his shirt to scratch his ribcage. ‘Doesn’t Oscar know I have better things to do than hang out in some crummy shack waiting for the cops to catch up with us?’

‘The cops won’t find us here,’ Nathan said evenly. ‘By the way, Robert, did you get Darina’s cell phone?’

Black grunted, pushed me back in the chair and went through my pockets. As soon as he found my phone, he switched it off, went to the door and pitched it away. I heard the splash as it landed then sank.

‘So spell it out – what exactly are we waiting for?’ Hall insisted. He looked wired, clearing his throat and heading outside as Nathan sat in the other seat, legs sprawled.

‘My brother would like to meet Darina face to face,’ Nathan said, giving me a nasty smile.

Gritting my teeth, I stared past him at the expanse of smooth water visible through the doorway. In the distance I saw houses built into the hillside and recognized them as the million-dollar Forest Lake homes advertised on the local TV station. The lakeside shack we were in was tucked away off the main road, probably used only by weekend fishermen.

‘You hear that, honey?’ Black asked as he went to join Hall, who was retying the knot on his bandana as he leaned against my car. ‘The boss wants to meet you. I guess he plans to get out of you why you went to the cops and got Nathan arrested.’

‘I didn’t. It wasn’t me.’ When you’re desperate, you lie. What else can you do?

‘Sure it was you,’ Nathan cut in, tapping his foot against the floor and staring at me with those eyes that
were slightly too big and round, sneering through the exaggerated Cupid’s bow of his lips. ‘You were rescuing Zak at the time, which by the way was a totally stupid idea. Zak’s a Rohr – he can take care of himself. And it turns out my brother has Zak in his sights anyway.’

I felt a fresh jolt of panic. ‘No. Whatever you think I did – Zak wasn’t involved.’

‘He is now,’ Nathan told me, suddenly standing up and taking his phone out of his pocket. He turned his back and pressed a couple of buttons. ‘Hey, Oscar,’ he said. ‘We’re ready for your visit.’

This was the only chance I would get, I realized. Nathan’s back was turned, Hall and Black were outside, so, with my hands still tied behind my back, I sprang up from the chair and ran for the door, made it down the steps and began to sprint away from the cars towards the dirt track.

I had roughly a three-second headstart before Nathan yelled out a warning and Hall and Black saw where I was headed. They came hurtling after me and there was never any doubt that they would catch me.

Hall was lighter and faster than Black. He grabbed the back of my shirt and flung me down, put a knee in my back and waited for his buddy to join us. Then the two of them lifted me from the ground and carried me
struggling back to the shack.

‘This is why we don’t wait for Oscar,’ Hall told Nathan, who stood in the doorway. His hooked arm stayed around my throat, while Black released my legs and set me upright roughly three metres from the water’s edge.