Rock Harbor Series - 04 - Abomination (8 page)

She approached slowly so she wouldn’t startle her father. “Dad?” she said softly when she reached him. Even when her hand touched his shoulder, he didn’t move. He was lost inside his mind today.

She blinked against the moisture in her eyes. All she could do was call off the search and take him back. Nothing was going to change here.

NICK SUSPECTED THAT GIDEON BELONGED TO A GEOCACHING community. But which one? He’d attended several local meetings where the groups talked about which GPS unit was best and explained how to plan the best adventures. Their passion for the hunt hummed in the air.

The geocaching community was vast, global. Nick’s poking into it was about as ineffectual as a puppy nipping at the heels of a giant. If he stumbled onto Gideon like this, it would be a fluke. Still, the puzzle drove him day and night. He hoped that concentrating on figuring it out would help him get through what he had to do today. Searching through Eve’s things for clues to her disappearance would bring back more memories than he wanted to deal with.

The sun glinted through the windows of his SUV. He sat looking at the house where he used to live. The grass was beginning to green up, and he could see soft shoots emerging. His own life felt as dormant as the rosebushes.

The job wouldn’t get done by sitting here.

With a supreme effort he pushed open his door and got out. When he reached the house, he heard the engine of a car and turned around. His mother waved to him and got out of her Lumina.

“What are you doing here?” he asked when she reached him.

“You don’t think I’d let you do this alone, do you, Nicky?” Her dark eyes held empathy.

“I can do it, Mom.”

“We’re hurting, too, your Dad and me. Let me help you.” She looked past him to his key still in the deadbolt. “Are you going to open it, or do I have to?”

His grin felt genuine for the first time in two months. “Thanks, Mom.” The pain of stepping inside and seeing Keri’s little patent-leather shoes in the entryway wasn’t quite as bad with his mom along. He could do this.

He let his mother take Keri’s room while he went to the master bedroom. No way could he stomach looking at those little-girl clothes. Eve’s presence still occupied the master bedroom. Her fragrance clung to the bedding; her laughter echoed from the bathroom. He expected to see her come dancing into the room on her toes, doing one of those pirouette things.

Gritting his teeth, he opened the closet door and began to lift out the racks of Eve’s clothes so he could go through the pockets for clues.
Don’t think about it—just do it
. His gaze snagged on her pink nightgown. The garment was soft as gossamer, and he remembered the last time he’d seen her in it. The anger in her eyes had overshadowed the tearstains on her face.

He’d been the cause of both emotions.

He lifted the garment in his hands and buried his face in it. The gown still bore her scent, sweet and seductive. Thrusting it away, he dropped it to the floor. Those memories were unbearable.

“I’m glad you hired someone to clean the bloodstains,” his mother said from the doorway. Her gaze swept the pile of Eve’s clothing he had laid on the bed.

At least she hadn’t seen him with his nose buried in the nightgown. “Yeah,” he said. “I didn’t want to look at them again either.”

“How are you handling this, Nick?” Rhea took a tentative step into the room.

“How do you think, Mom? Some sicko has murdered my wife and daughter—” His voice broke, and the weakness spurred his anger. “I’m going to find him, and he will pay,” he muttered past clenched teeth.

“You don’t know that for sure. The bust looks like her, but we still don’t have the DNA back or anything.”

“I have to face facts, Mom. So do you. I’m going to find who did this.” He clenched his fists.

“Revenge? You know better than that.”

“Justice—I have to have justice.” He expected platitudes about how God would bring Gideon to justice, but she said nothing, just turned away. The sadness in her face defused his anger. He lifted a hand toward her, then dropped it back to his side. “I’m sorry.”

“So am I, Nicky. So am I.” She walked away.

Man, he was a jerk, taking his pain out on his mother when she only wanted to help. He started to go after her, but the phone rang on the bedside table. Eve had been gone over two months. No one should be calling this number.

The phone vibrated against his palm like a rattler when he lifted it. He punched the talk button. “Nick Andreakos,” he said.

He heard only silence at first. Then a high-pitched laugh hit his ear, the Daffy Duck inflection from his nightmares.

“It’s a fine joke, don’t you think, Nick?” The caricature of a voice chortled. “Did you like the way she looked in her pink nightgown? She wouldn’t look that lovely now. Not at all. But you already know that.”

Nick leaped to the window. As he peered through the glass, he saw a van pull away. The signage read “Mount Sinai.”

“Hello? Hello?” he said into the phone. But there was only silence.

7

S
AMSON LAY SPRAWLED ON THE RUG. GRACIE, HER BACK arched, prowled around on top of him, pausing occasionally to knead him. He opened one eye to see what she was doing, then flopped his head back down and went back to sleep.

“Leave him alone.” Elena scooped up the kitten and sat down on the sofa with her. Terri sat on the floor, building a house with LEGOs. It was almost five. Bree and Kade would be home anytime.

She heard the front door open, then Bree’s voice called her name. “I’m in here,” Elena said. Bree’s face was white and strained when she entered the living room, and a worried frown replaced her customary smile. “You look upset. What’s wrong?”

“My dad wasn’t well today. He didn’t know who I was.” Bree settled on the sofa beside Elena.

Her father had escaped the nursing home just last week, Elena knew. She wished she could confide to Bree that she didn’t even remember if her father was alive or dead, but she didn’t dare. Not only would it be insensitive; it would also tip off Bree that Elena remembered less than she pretended to. If she kept up the facade long enough, maybe she could slip into this new life and the old would be gone forever. Rock Harbor had cast a healing net over her, and she didn’t want to slip from under it.

Her past was bound to catch up to her though.

“I’m sorry,” Elena said finally. “It has to be hard.”

“It’s not going to get any better.” Bree dug into a bowl of pistachios on the coffee table and offered some to Elena, who shook her head and made a face. “Um, your clothes don’t match.”

“They don’t?” Elena glanced down. “I guess I was thinking about something else when I got dressed.”

“Any new memories today?”

Elena’s smile faded. “No.”

It was a familiar question. For a while the dance memories had come fast, but they led to no real insight. Bree wanted to contact some dance studios, but Elena didn’t want to run the risk that her attacker might be connected to her profession. Every discreet path they’d followed had led nowhere.

“Let’s make some more calls tonight,” Bree said.

Elena nodded. The women had been methodically calling every Cox in the Detroit area and asking if they knew Elena. So far, out of fifty-two calls, no one had heard of her.

Through the glass, they watched Kade park his truck. The passenger door flew open. Davy tumbled out. Moments later the sound of his small feet thundered across the entry floor, followed by the heavy tread of Kade’s boots.

Davy burst into the living room. “Hey, Mom, I got to help Dad feed the peregrine falcons. One falcon ate three mice!”

“Ew,” his mother said. “You’re a ghoul.”

“Birds have to eat too,” Kade said, dropping a kiss on her red curls when he reached her. “What’s for dinner?”

“Whatever you want to cook tonight. I’m beat.”

“I’ll cook,” Elena said quickly. “I picked up stuff for spaghetti.” She put Gracie on the floor, and the kitten immediately went back to pester Samson.

“I knew we kept you around for a good reason.” Kade sat on the sofa on the other side of his wife. “Nice house, Terri.”

The toddler frowned and knocked over the house. “Daddy help.” She looked at her mother. “Where Daddy?”

Elena struggled for some excuse, but nothing came to mind. “Oh, look, Terri. Samson is cuddling Gracie.” The kitten nestled between Samson’s front paws. They were both asleep.

The distraction worked. Terri crawled over to the dog and laid her head on his flank. “Terri sleep.”

Elena knew the questions weren’t going to stop. And she had no answers. Every time she thought about the man who had fathered Terri, she ran up against a blank wall and stark terror.

Kade yawned. “I found a place to relocate the mute swans,” he told the women.

“That’s wonderful news,” Bree said. “I really thought they’d make you shoot them.”

“I’d hoped it wouldn’t come to that. I’m going to move them in a couple of days. I’ll have to sedate them or they’ll peck my eyes out. And then I’ll have to destroy the eggs in the nests. I can put oil on them so they won’t hatch.”

The phone rang, and Bree answered it. Listening for a moment, she handed it to Elena. “It’s Anu for you.”

Her boss had never called her before. Elena told herself it was nothing, that maybe Anu wanted her to work some extra hours. Anu normally let her off at four. She took the phone Bree held out. “Hi, Anu.”

“Elena, I must have written down your Social Security number wrong. I got a letter today saying it was incorrect. Could you give it to me again?”

Elena’s fingers tightened on the phone. She’d known this day would come sooner or later. “I thought I had it memorized, but I must have slipped up. Let me get ahold of the Social Security department and double-check it. Of course I don’t have my card any longer.”

“That would be fine,
kulta.
I must respond to this letter within thirty days though, so you must handle this as soon as possible.”

“I will.” She closed the phone and handed it back to Bree, who gave her a curious glance. “Everything okay?” Bree asked.

“Fine. My Social Security number is wrong. I need to get it straightened out.”

“You made it up, didn’t you?”

Elena nodded. “I couldn’t remember it at the time.”

“Do you now?”

She shook her head. “But if I go to the Social Security department and give them my name, they can look it up, can’t they?”

“Yes, but will they give it to you without any identification? We’ll have to check that out.” Bree’s gaze stayed on her face. “Elena, is there anything you’d like to talk about? I have a feeling there’s still something you’re ashamed to reveal to us. We’re your friends. You can tell us anything.”

Elena looked down at her feet. “No, there’s nothing.” She waited to see if Bree would press the issue, but her friend let it ride. The silence stretched out until Kade got up and left the room.

Bree touched Elena’s arm. “Are you sure? Kade’s gone now, so if you just didn’t want him to hear, we can talk now.”

“There’s no reason to talk about the past. The present is all that matters.” Elena dared to raise her gaze to meet Bree’s.

“Oh, honey, that’s so not true. The past affects everything we do, all that we are. Believe me, I know. You’re going to have to face it sooner or later.” Her eyes went to the scar at Elena’s temple. “I still want to know who hurt you. Don’t you want to know too? We could go to the police, get them to discreetly ask some questions.”

“I’ve told you before—I can’t risk tipping off the man who attacked me. I’ve got Terri to protect. He didn’t hurt her last time, but he might if he finds us again.”

“The police would protect you.”

Elena nodded at the familiar argument. They would try hard, but what if they failed? She clasped her hands together and stood up. “I’d better go fix supper.”

NICK LOOKED UP EVERYTHING HE COULD ON MOUNT SINAI AND discovered a survivalist community that went by the name. It had offshoots like Liberty’s Children and the newly formed Job’s Children. What he learned about them only intensified his hunch that Gideon might have a connection with them.

Some of the derivatives weren’t as radical as the Mount Sinai group. The parent organization was suspected of an assassination attempt on the governor last year. They had unknown quantities of stockpiled arms, and there were consistent rumors that the group was affiliated with white-supremacist efforts and even the occult. Not a group to mess around with. Several murders had been laid to their account, though nothing had been proven.

The only way to prove anything would be to get inside the organization. Doing
something
would be better than sitting around staring at four walls. He needed a diversion to make him forget that his wife was dead and his daughter still missing.

Nick packed his Durango with camping gear, a rifle, and canned food. Dressed in camouflage gear, he drove to the camp, about 130 miles from Bay City. Fully expecting to have to convince the group that he was sincere, he was surprised to find that no one challenged him when he passed into the confines of the enclave. The lane had more muddy potholes than gravel, and he bottomed out several times before he reached the heart of the camp.

There were more cabins than he expected and fewer tents. It almost looked like a small frontier town. Men dressed in camouflage hunting clothes and boots meandered across the road and into the woods. Nick saw one man with a dead fox slung over his shoulder.

It wasn’t hunting season.

Nick parked his SUV in the lot by the church and got out. With a smile that felt as tight as his new boots, he nodded to two women who walked along the side of the road. They carried buckets of water in their hands.

“Good morning. I was wondering where I might find Moses Bechtol?” His research indicated that the man with the biblical name was the leader of the organization.

The women looked at each other. “Maybe you’d better wait at the office,” one said finally. She pointed toward the church building. “He’ll be back sooner or later.” The women avoided Nick’s gaze and moved away from him.

From the women’s reactions, he had to wonder what this Bechtol guy was up to. When the women were out of sight, Nick moved between the buildings. Everyone seemed to be out. The cabins were deserted.