by Claire Fogel
Silence again.
“I don’t know what to do. I guess blood in my car is the least of my worries.”
I explained that we’d talked to Chief O’Donnell but that we hadn’t mentioned her or her car. “Randi, I think that was a mistake.”
She sounded panicky. “Cara, the police will think I’m part of their drug business if they know Joey was using my car.”
“No, they won’t. We know Chief O’Donnell. I don’t believe he’ll jump to that conclusion. After all, all you did was loan your car to your boyfriend.”
She snorted. “Yeah, some boyfriend.” Pausing, she said, “Uh-oh. Do you think Nick will come after me? I’m not worried about Joey; I outweigh him by twenty pounds. But Nick’s a scary dude.”
“Yeah, he is. I certainly don’t want to run into him again.
“Randi, you need to be here in Thornewood where we can protect you. Your aunt’s no protection; she’s never home, is she?”
“Not really. She comes home to change her clothes; that’s about it. I’ve got to call my dad. Maybe he’ll reconsider and let me come home. Uh, by the way, why do you carry a knife?”
I groaned. “Long story, Randi. I’ll explain next time you come over. And by the way, you can come here any time you want, do you understand?”
“I do, Cara. Thanks. Your family has been so nice to me. I hope you know how lucky you are.”
“Yeah, I do. Please call your dad now and let him know he can talk to us if he needs more information. My mom knows everything.”
“Okay. I’ll call you back after I talk to my dad. I just hope he’s reachable and not on a plane right now.” I heard her sigh.
We hung up and I went back downstairs. My father was still sitting at the table with Mom. They must have been discussing my lack of complete honesty with the Chief.
He didn’t look pleased.
I knew I was in for a lecture.
“Cara, I’m disappointed in you. Chief O’Donnell has always been a good friend to us. I don’t think you had any reason to tell him less than the whole truth.”
I sighed. “I know, Dad. I realize that now. Sean and I were both afraid the police would think that Randi was involved in her boyfriend’s drug business. All she did was loan him her car, but the police in Greenville don’t know her, or us. We thought we should try to protect her.”
“The police in Greenville do know Chief O’Donnell, Cara. I’m sure they’ll take his word for what happened.” My father looked at me, frowning. “I want you to go down to the police station and talk to the Chief. And this time, don’t leave anything out.”
“Okay. Do you want to go with me?” The thought of walking into the police station alone was unnerving.
He nodded, still looking stern. “Of course. I’ll go in with you, mainly to make sure you tell him everything.” I sighed.
Mom said, “Cara, you’d better call the station first to make sure Tommy is still there. It’s getting late; he may have gone home already.”
When I called, the policeman who answered the phone said the Chief had gone out to get some dinner but that he’d be back in an hour. I asked him to let the Chief know that I’d be coming in to speak to him.
“Dad, we’ll have to wait until the Chief gets back from dinner.”
“That’s fine. We can wait.” He was still looking very serious.
My phone rang. Randi again.
“Cara, I just spoke to my dad. He’s in Chicago but he’s flying home tonight. I have a key to his condo, so I’ll be going there as soon as I finish packing. He won’t make me live here any longer.”
“That’s good news, Randi. Uh, I hope you won’t be upset, but my parents think we should tell Chief O’Donnell about seeing your car earlier tonight. Sean and I left that part out because we thought we should try to protect you. My dad thinks we made a mistake. The Chief has always been a good friend to us. I don’t think you have anything to worry about. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
She didn’t say anything right away.
Finally, she said, “I’m not sure the Chief will believe me. He knows me, Cara. I had some problems last year and had to go in and talk to him twice. He probably sees me as a major troublemaker.”
“Oh.” That wasn’t good. “Well, you straightened yourself out. I’m sure he can verify that with Principal Weiss at school. You haven’t been in any trouble in Greenville, have you?”
“No, of course not. Before school ended in June, I had a few sessions with a psychologist which was really helpful. That was Principal Weiss’s suggestion. I just hope Chief O’Donnell believes that I’ve turned my life around. I did some really stupid things at school last year.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, I remember.” Randi had been so jealous, she’d been threatening every girl Sean spoke to, especially me.
“Randi, if you’re willing, you could go to see the Chief with us. My dad’s going to the station with me in about an hour. You’d have the perfect opportunity to tell the Chief about Joey and how he’s been using your car, without telling you where he was going with it.”
She hesitated. “Yeah, maybe. I’m leaving for Thornewood now. My aunt’s not home, of course. I’m leaving her a note. I don’t think she’ll care that I’ve moved out. I’ll think about what you suggested on my way over. If I decide to go with you, I’ll come straight to your house, okay?”
“Okay. It’s up to you. We’ll talk later. Be careful.”
We were getting ready to leave for the station an hour later when there was a knock at the door. I opened it to find Randi in tears and sporting a black eye.
“Oh, my God,” I took her hand and pulled her inside.
Mom heard me and rushed to the door behind me. My father was right behind her.
“I’m so sorry, Randi,” Mom said. “Do I have to guess who did this to you?”
Still holding her hand, I led her into the kitchen. “Can you tell us what happened?” I asked.
Mom put a box of Kleenex in front of Randi. After she’d wiped her tears and blown her nose, she said, “I had just put the last of my bags in my trunk when Joey came running into the parking lot. He tried to tell me I couldn’t leave, but I told him I was moving back to Thornewood to live with my dad. He started yelling at me, like how could I leave him, didn’t I care about him, stuff like that. Finally I said I didn’t want any part of people dealing drugs. That’s when he hit me. When I saw Nick walking toward us, I jumped in my car and sped out of there. I’ll never go back there again.”
She started crying again, soft sobs, the kind of crying you do when you know you’ve been an idiot and something has ended.
When I looked up at my father, I was shocked to see the anger on his face.
“Cara, please dial the Chief for me and then hand me the phone.”
When the Chief picked up the phone, my father said, “Tom, the matter Cara wanted to talk to you about just became more complicated. I’m sorry to impose on you again, but would you please come over here before you go home. There’s a young friend of Cara’s here who’s been beaten. She needs to speak to you too.”
The Chief was at our front door in less than ten minutes. When he walked into the kitchen, he stopped short, clearly surprised to see Miranda Ross sitting at our table with a black eye.
He said, “Hello, Miranda. I heard from John Weiss that you were doing better before school ended in June. Obviously, that report was misleading.”
Mom said, “Don’t jump to conclusions, Tommy. Miranda’s done nothing wrong. She’s the victim here.”
My father was sitting next to Randi, looking concerned. He patted Miranda on the back and said softly, “Don’t worry, Randi. Chief O’Donnell is a fair man and a friend.”
It was time for me to come clean.
“Chief, when we spoke earlier, I left out a few things. I’m sorry. I just didn’t want Randi to get hurt when she’d done nothing wrong.”
I explained that it was seeing Randi’s car on South Street that prompted
us to approach Joey, Miranda’s boyfriend, to ask why her car was there.
Randi added, “Joey borrowed my car a couple of times, saying he had business to take care of and he’d bring it right back. I didn’t feel I could refuse, since we were dating. Honestly, Chief, I had no idea what kind of business he was doing. But when he brought my car back tonight, there was blood in the front seat. I haven’t cleaned it up yet.
“Cara told me what happened downtown. That explained where the blood came from. Joey didn’t say anything when he brought my car back, just gave my car keys back and ran off.”
Watching Randi closely, the Chief nodded and said, “And the black eye? When did that happen?”
“After I talked to Cara, I called my dad. He’s on his way home now. He knew I hated living in Greenville with my aunt, and after I told him what I suspected Joey was doing with my car, he said I could move back to Thornewood and live with him.”
The Chief said, “You haven’t told me how you got the black eye, Miranda.”
“Yeah, I was getting to that, Chief.” She explained what happened when she was packing up her car to leave Greenville.
“I left when I saw Nick approaching. There was no way I wanted to deal with him.”
“Randi, is that your car outside? I’ll need to have samples of that blood collected so we can verify Cara’s story. Did she tell you she threw a knife at Nick?”
“Yes, she did. Because Nick pulled a knife on Sean, which I totally believe. He’s a real creep, dangerous too.”
“You’ve never gone with them when they’ve been out doing business?”
“Of course not. I don’t like Nick. In fact, I wasn’t aware he was with Joey when he borrowed my car. If I had, I don’t think I would have let him take it.”
“Miranda, do you want to file charges against Joey? You have a right to, you know.”
“No, Chief. Then I might have to go to court. They’d bring up my past problems. I’d really like to forget I ever knew Joey, if that’s possible.”
“Well, that may not be possible. But I’ll call Chief Russo in Greenville and let him know what happened. Nick Romanov is known to the Greenville Police. They suspect him of selling drugs, but apparently haven’t caught him in the act yet. I’ll need more information on Joey.”
Randi gave him Joey’s last name, address and phone number, and the Chief left for the station. My father walked out with him.
Miranda asked, “Do you think the Chief believed me? I hope I did the right thing talking to him. Cara, his past experience with me hasn’t been the best.”
Mom got up to take an ice pack out of the freezer. Handing it to Randi, she said, “Put this on your eye. Don’t worry, dear. Tommy O’Donnell is an old friend of mine and has always been fair. More than fair, to be honest. He’s a good man. And you haven’t done anything wrong, other than pick the wrong kind of boyfriend.”
I knew that being forced to move to a new school for her senior year, where she knew no one, was responsible for everything that had happened to Randi. If her father cared about his daughter, he’d understand that too.
When my dad came back in the house, he suggested that Randi call her father again and let him know she’d be staying with us that night. “The Chief doesn’t want you alone tonight since your father probably won’t be arriving until very late. You can join him in the morning.”
I thought that was a good idea. Randi really needed company right now. It was too bad I didn’t have any of Kathleen’s herbs for Randi’s black eye, which was already very colorful.
After she phoned her dad, we went upstairs to my bedroom where Randi put her head down with the ice pack pressed to her face.
“I know it’s still early, Cara, but I’m really tired. The past couple of hours have left me feeling like a rag doll that lost its stuffing.” She yawned. “There’s so much I wanted to talk to you about, but I’m just too tired. Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. We can always talk tomorrow.”
Within minutes, she was asleep.
The next morning, Randi’s dad phoned to thank us for taking care of his daughter, and to let her know he was home and wanted to take her out for breakfast.
Despite the black eye, Randi seemed a lot happier. Her dad was home and she knew she’d be living in Thornewood again. Hopefully, Joey was history.
“Cara, we still have a lot to talk about. I hope we can get together again soon. You and your folks have been great.”
Mom was on her way to the bookstore, but she stopped to give Randi a hug and assure her she was always welcome at our house. When my father left for his camp, he’d told Randi not to be a stranger and surprised her with a kiss on the cheek.
When they were both gone, Randi turned to me somewhat starry-eyed and said, “Cara, I love your parents. Your dad is . . . amazing.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I know. He has that effect on everyone.”
The Chief had already stopped by to take samples of the blood spilled in Randi’s car and had released the BMW to her, along with a list of people he called “cleaners” who could get the blood stains out of her upholstery.
I walked her out to her car, hugged her, and watched her drive away. With a little luck, I’d see her in school on Monday.
It was a warm but cloudy day so drawing in the forest wasn’t an option. Instead I gathered up all my drawings and sketches, placed them in a large folder and took them out on the back porch. I’d been meaning to go through my work from the past few months to see which pictures would be good candidates for watercolors. Francis Sullivan was giving me an incredible opportunity, and I didn’t want to waste any more time now that my sprained wrist had healed.
My favorites were the Elf drawings I’d done over the summer. I’d drawn all the beautiful woodland scenes I loved with just a hint of an Elf hidden somewhere in each picture. The views of the majestic forest landscapes were dramatic, while the hidden Elves were like a secret only a few would notice.
I smiled as I went through them, remembering the friendly young Elves who had volunteered to pose for me, none of whom had any idea how incredibly beautiful they were.
I was so intent on the watercolors I wanted to paint for Francis Sullivan’s art shows, I’d forgotten about the sketches I’d done of Adam. When I came across the first one, my heart almost stopped. There he was, tall and slender, his shaggy black hair the perfect frame for his perfect face, the sculpted cheekbones, full lips, and those slightly slanted cobalt blue eyes that seemed, even on paper, to be looking into my soul.
When I was able to breathe again, I felt hot tears in my eyes and a dull ache where my heart was supposed to be.
My eyes felt glued to Adam’s picture. I tried to look away but something wouldn’t let me. For a few seconds I think I was in another world, a world where Adam Wolfe smiled at me, held my hand, and called me “love.” A world I’d taken for granted a few months ago. A world that was closed to me now.
I knew I would have to hide those sketches somewhere I wouldn’t be coming across them all the time. Seeing them was like rubbing salt in a wound.
I got up, went upstairs and opened the door of my closet. I took down the box my last pair of boots had come in, placed all my drawings of Adam in it, and shoved the box in the back of the closet. I shut the door and took a deep breath, unaware there were tears running down my face until I glanced in the mirror. I told myself to get a grip.
Wiping my tears, I went downstairs to gain some distance from those pictures I’d put away. If only I could put my feelings away too. Maybe ice cream would help. Then, of course, I remembered making ice cream sundaes for Adam and the other bodyguards.
Nope. No ice cream. Desperate for a distraction, I picked up my phone and called Amy and got her voice mail. I called Kevin. More voice mail. I had a hunch they were out together, which depressed me even more.
What could I do? I knew I had to do something. I was tempted to call Sean, but that wouldn’t be fair to him. I’d just be using him aga
in, like a pill to make the pain go away for a little while.
My long-time refuge lay at the end of our back yard, beautiful even on a cloudy day. I pulled on my old boots, threw on a sweatshirt, and left the house.
The air had been fairly calm earlier, but as I walked through my backyard, gusts of wind blew my hair into my face, actually pulling strands out of my ponytail and whipping them into my eyes. It almost felt like anger. Or desperation. Perfectly in tune with my emotions.
I started running as I entered the woods and didn’t stop until I reached the stream, where I stared at that flat rock, the one constant in my long-time refuge. No matter the season, it never changed.
I stood there for uncounted minutes, so many memories flashing through my mind as the winds continued to batter me. Suddenly I heard my father’s voice in my head.
Cara, sweetheart, I know what you’re feeling. It’s your emotions that are driving these winds. Take some deep breaths and try to calm down. Come to my camp. There’s someone here I want you to meet.
I was causing these winds? I groaned. One more Blackthorne gift had just made itself known, as if I needed another Elven gift. I shook my head, once again telling myself to get a grip.
Conor had placed a wide wooden plank across the stream for times when I was unable to make the leap without getting my feet wet. I walked across it and headed for my father’s camp, only a half mile farther. As I walked, I began to feel calmer. And so did the wind.
I trudged into the camp and spotted my father and Smoke right away. There was another grey behind Smoke, but I couldn’t get a good look at him. I looked around but didn’t see another rider.
A few Elves I only knew by sight looked out of their tents and smiled at me. I nodded at them. At the moment, I had no smiles for anyone.
As soon as my father saw me, he left the horses and strode to me, wrapping his arms around me.
He spoke softly. “What happened, Cara? What upset you? You know I always feel what you’re feeling. But I think this is the first time your emotions were strong enough to affect the wind.”
