Tranquility Falls

by Davis Bunn

  “The network took me,” Daniel replied.

  “What does that mean?”

  “They started adding my Friday spot to their national roundup. Ratings climbed, so they added a Monday slot for me on Good Morning America.” Daniel found himself flooded with memories of the heady thrill of those first weeks. “It seemed like overnight everything changed.”

  Nicole’s response surprised him. She leaned back, drawn away by something only she could see. “Limos became just another way to get to work.”

  He felt the severed connection like a wounded nerve. “Something like that.”

  She started to ask another question. Hesitated. Then the need to know finally won out. “Was that when you started . . .”

  “Using.” Daniel forced himself to remain as he was. Leaning forward. Pretending it was all still very cool. “I had always enjoyed the occasional high. But yeah. That was the turning point.”

  Nicole was quiet for a long moment, steeling herself for the question Daniel knew was behind it all. Finally, she asked, “Did Mom . . .”

  “No. Lisa never used anything. She was always totally clean, though I guess you could say she was addicted to juice bars.” When Nicole did not respond to his feeble joke, he answered the next question without forcing her to ask. “She might have known I was using. She had to suspect. But Lisa saw what Lisa wanted to see.”

  Her voice was scarcely a whisper. “Sounds familiar.”

  “If your mother had known anything for certain, she would never have introduced me to Kimberly.”

  Nicole opened her mouth to ask something else, something that revealed the wound at the center of her day. But the words remained a mystery, for at that moment another voice said, “Daniel, what are you doing here?”

  CHAPTER 16

  Even in her nervous and fearful state, Stella Dalton was alluring. Daniel stared at a woman who endured her sorrow like another might a bad scar or a missing limb. But neither her absent daughter nor her divorce defined her. Daniel wondered what kind of person could do that—endure all she had and still live a full life. Build a haven for her other daughter. Nurture a child like Amber, who, despite her effervescent joy, was no doubt a challenge and a handful.

  As Daniel stood in line for Stella’s latte, he glanced back occasionally and watched her talk with Nicole. Stella was a lovely woman, perhaps a year or so younger than his own thirty-five years. But he couldn’t be certain. Nor did it really matter. She wore little or no makeup, just a touch of lip gloss. Her hair was black with reddish streaks; Daniel was certain the mixed color was the result of the sun and not something from a bottle. She wore it just a touch beyond shoulder length. When she smiled at something Nicole said, her features knitted into well-defined lines. Daniel liked that immensely, how this lovely woman had held on to such a heartfelt smile. As he returned to the table, he found himself wanting to tell her all these things, how nice it was to be in the company of a woman who was not just appealing but reflected a life he genuinely admired. But the quiet good cheer Stella had shown to Nicole vanished as he set down her cup and seated himself. Just then, all she had room for was what he had come to say.

  Daniel launched straight in. “You were right to be worried.”

  * * *

  All the air escaped from Stella. All the tension and the fire gone in one long silent breath. She managed to shape two words, “You’re sure?”

  “As sure as I can be at this point.” Daniel caught sight of Nicole. Her eyes were so wide they appeared almost completely round, as though this glimpse into the world of adults granted her yet another reason to be afraid. Daniel worried that he had made a mistake, agreeing to her request to come along. But it was too late for that now. “I haven’t found a smoking gun. There’s no file headed ‘Stolen Funds.’ But the signs are all there.”

  “You think or you know?”

  “I am ninety percent certain.”

  “But if there’s nothing concrete, I mean, you can’t be really certain . . .”

  “I’ve been here before, Stella. Something improper is happening inside your organization.”

  Stella glanced at Nicole, but something in her gaze left Daniel fairly certain she did not see the younger woman at all. Just then all Stella had room for was the looming threat. “Tell me what you think you know.”

  “The people behind this are definitely pros. This is not some small-town shifting of funds from one account to another. They’ve done their best to hide their trail.”

  “I’m sorry, Daniel. But I’m not hearing . . .”

  He held up a hand and nodded at the same time. “You want facts. I understand. What must have alerted you was a regular pattern of mistakes, correct?”

  Stella released another sigh. He supposed it was the kind of noise a patient would make when the doctor starts applying medical terminology to her worst fear. “Over and over and over.”

  “See, that’s not real. That’s not something you would ever expect to see unless—”

  “Unless it’s not a mistake at all.”

  “Right. I checked thoroughly. Twice. The earliest quarters you sent me, everything was fine.”

  “That’s why I included them. So you could see what I considered normal.”

  “Then the errors begin. Almost immediately, your records start to form a recognizable pattern. Account balances shift around too often. Pension fund losses are too great. A complete idiot playing roulette would do better than the town’s investments. It all adds up to a steady siphoning off of savings.”

  Stella wet her lips. Her eyes were filled with the dread of whatever she was going to ask, which Daniel assumed would be about next steps. He could see the woman’s fear was infecting Nicole, and he had no idea what to say to make it better. Because Stella was right to be afraid. Whoever was behind this had carefully established a pattern that could be blamed on her.

  Then Daniel spotted a new figure poised just beyond the café’s side window. He had no idea how long the newcomer had been standing there. But only one thing came to his suddenly frantic mind. Daniel leaned across the table and said, “Quick now. Smile and kiss me.”

  CHAPTER 17

  To Stella’s credit, she did just that.

  Her movements were so fluid, Daniel wondered if she had perhaps been thinking of it herself. Wishing it would happen. Then the kiss enveloped him, and everything else was shoved aside.

  It had been over a year since he had kissed anyone. And that had been a polite punctuation to end an awkward first date, another woman Ricki had set him up with. The last time he had been on any sort of date at all.

  This was something else entirely. Stella’s kiss carried a remarkable flavor, a womanly mixture of coffee and a spice that reminded him of cinnamon. The warm fullness of her lips, her scent . . . Daniel was genuinely sorry when she pulled away.

  Daniel caught a brief glimpse of something there in her gaze. More than just surprise over the move. At least, he hoped so.

  Then another woman demanded, “What do we have here?”

  * * *

  Daniel had met the mayor of Miramar on any number of occasions. Catherine Lundberg was a born politician, or so she liked to claim. The sort of person who lived and breathed for the public eye. Daniel had known any number of such people in the film and television worlds. They shared a common set of gut instincts, an ability to gauge every event from the standpoint of how it made them look—not to the world at large, but to the people who mattered. Daniel neither liked nor disliked them. They were merely a common thread running through every power structure he had encountered.

  As he pulled away from Stella’s kiss, the mayor sidled up to their table, planted her hands on her hips, and demanded cheerily, “Aren’t you going to introduce me?”

  “I’m Daniel,” he said, regretting the need to turn away from that mesmerizing gaze. “Caught in the act.”

  Daniel was worried about Nicole’s response. If she had been unsettled by their kiss, if she was pushed away fr
om the heart of things, then he was going to have to change course. Because she was the most important issue just now. But when he glanced over, Nicole was smiling. She met his eye and said, “All right.”

  Daniel smiled back. “Surprise.”

  Stella said, “Won’t you join us?”

  “Not if I’m disturbing.” Catherine pulled a chair over and asked Nicole, “Have we met?”

  “Nicole is my niece, up visiting from Los Angeles. Nicole, this is Catherine Lundberg, the town mayor.”

  “Our little town must be quite a change from Los Angeles.”

  “I’ll say.”

  Catherine said to Stella, “I don’t recall your mentioning a man in your life.”

  “It’s all happening so fast.”

  “Well, I for one could not be happier.”

  Daniel rose to his feet. “What can I get you?”

  “Perhaps a small latte.”

  Nicole stood with him. “I’ll help.” She followed him to the counter. “Quick thinking there.”

  “It was the only thing that came to mind.”

  Nicole kept her back to the table. “Is she the town baddie?”

  “Too early to tell. What will you have?”

  “One of those melty-cheesie things.”

  “You got it.” Daniel paid. Then as they walked over to the pick-up counter, he said, “The problem is, I don’t have any idea what comes next.”

  Nicole showed a delight that repositioned the creases of sorrow and worry on her face into something that was almost beautiful. “Are we talking about the lady or the other thing?”

  “The other. Definitely.”

  “Hey. It looked to me like you were enjoying yourself there.”

  Daniel could not risk denying it, not with her eyes sparking with something akin to joy. “I have to admit it rocked my boat.”

  “She’s nice. I like her. And her daughter is great.” Nicole started to speak, then compressed her lips into an almost-tight line.

  “You might as well go ahead and say it.”

  “No, no, I couldn’t possibly.” Nicole twisted back and forth, arguing with herself. “Well, okay. I’d say she wouldn’t object to a second dose.”

  “Really?”

  “If you like, I could slip her a note at lunch break.”

  “Thank you ever so very not at all.”

  She accepted her sandwich, then said, “Hey, we do what we can.”

  CHAPTER 18

  When they returned to the table, Catherine was talking in excited tones, leaning against the table, her hands moving in animated motions. Stella was the same as always, at least on the surface, listening intently, her body and face and hands still. She glanced up as Daniel set the coffees down in front of the two women. Her gaze was a bit more fractured than before, permitting him a brief glance at the fear that he hoped only he could see. He had met any number of people like Catherine Lundberg, playing for the lights even when they faced an audience of one. Almost always they had totally forgotten who they were. When the lights went off and the audience went away, they faded into shadows themselves. Daniel watched Catherine talk about nothing of importance with empty enthusiasm. He figured a stiff breeze would blow that woman to Oregon.

  It was not the first time that he had read an individual totally wrong.

  Twenty minutes later, they left the coffee shop in order to go meet Marvin. Moving from one high-octane situation to another. As they departed, Daniel asked Stella if they were still on for that evening. Casual and comfortable, as though the two of them were a semi-permanent item. And then sealing the conversation with a farewell kiss.

  Daniel could still feel her lips as he drove them home.

  He felt something else as well, something that had triggered yet another memory. Something that frightened him in ways he had not felt since the lonely midnight hours following his arrival in Miramar.

  Adrenaline.

  All this was a minor taste of what he had previously known. Being in conversation with a possible criminal, readying himself to step inside her universe and unravel the mystery of stolen funds. Leaving there to take his niece to meet the man whose world she had effectively demolished. They were small potatoes, compared to what he had once known.

  But still.

  He tasted the back of his throat, wondering if the old hunger was about to strike. But all he felt just then was . . .

  Affection.

  Nicole was making herself small again, on the far side of the seat against the passenger door. Daniel reached out and touched her hand. “I’m here for you.”

  She looked at him. “You know what I was thinking?”

  “Tell me.”

  “I’ve been in Miramar less than two days. And already I have more friends than I left behind.” She tapped her fingernails on the side window. “I know a lot of people in LA. But it always felt like, I don’t know.”

  Daniel replaced his hand on the wheel. He knew. All too well. “You drift around the outskirts of other people’s lives.”

  “Too right.”

  “LA can be a very lonely place,” Daniel said. “Especially in a crowd of friends.”

  “I see how you are here. And how they are with you.” Nicole reached over and touched his arm. “Someday I’m going to find a way to tell you what all this means.”

  The good feeling remained between them until Daniel pulled down the narrow cliffside lane. The road was only wide enough for one car, which meant anyone coming the other direction had to pull into one of the drives. NO PARKING signs ran like sentries down both sides. Daniel’s was one of four houses lining the final cul-de-sac. Beyond that, the ocean shifted inward, like a great bite had been taken from the land in eons past. Daniel and his three neighbors occupied a headland shaped like the grass-covered bow of a ship. Daniel rounded the final bend, and there waiting in his drive was Marvin’s car.

  Nicole’s breath drew in sharply. “He’s early.”

  And like that, the good feeling between them was gone.

  CHAPTER 19

  Nicole rose slowly and just stood there waiting as Daniel rounded the front of the truck. He closed her door, as softly as he could. And waited, wanting her to know it was okay. Whatever she decided to do, including turning and fleeing down the road they had just driven.

  She breathed in and out, then slipped in close enough to nestle her arm on his. She did not actually take hold. Rather, Daniel cupped her hand, which rested in his as they walked forward. Her fingers trembled like the wings of a captured bird.

  Marvin started to step forward, then hesitated. He tried for a smile. “Hello, darling.”

  Nicole huffed in the same manner she had used after Lisa’s departure. As if a sob was just too big an effort.

  Marvin was dressed in a starched striped dress shirt and the trousers to a suit. Daniel had rarely seen the man in casual wear, even around the house. He was not unattractive, and his money and power lent him a subtle polish. He was a couple of inches shorter than Daniel’s six-two and perfectly groomed. The last swatches of his hair were trimmed into a silver-black wreath. Twice Daniel had observed the man in court, watched him take hold of the jury with true star power. But the man was rendered mute now, his smile as unsteady as the grip he kept on his open door.

  Daniel was about to insert himself into this silent emotional storm when his phone rang. “Excuse me. I forgot to cut it . . .”

  Then he saw who it was.

  Daniel said, “I have to take this.”

  He did not turn away. He could not let Nicole face this alone, not even for an instant. So he used his free hand to make the connection and spoke facing Marvin. “Ricki, now isn’t a good—”

  “Chloe didn’t come home last night.” Ricki was wound so tight her voice came out like a teakettle’s hiss.

  “Did you check with the police?”

  Both Nicole and Marvin focused on him as Ricki said, “There’s no report of anything. And they can’t treat her as a missing person until twenty-
four hours have passed.”

  “Where are you now?”

  “At her school. She’s not . . . Daniel, I can’t find Travis. He left after breakfast and . . . I’m afraid he’s gone over the edge. Please, please, can you help me . . .”

  “I’m on it.” Daniel cut the connection and told them, “Something’s come up.”

  * * *

  The only point where Nicole objected was when Daniel tried to get her and Marvin to stay, wait at home, do anything except come along. Because the outcome Daniel dreaded most was being successful. Finding his friend. And having to deal with the aftermath.

  Nicole’s response was surprising enough to cut through his panic. “You might need me.”

  “Nicole, there’s no telling what state he’s in.” Daniel struggled to find words that suited a teenage listener. “Chloe has always been his weak point. Knowing Travis, if he does go over the edge, he’ll go hard.”

  “Maybe it’s not too late.” She halted any further discussion by heading for Daniel’s truck. As she opened the passenger door, she called back, “Marvin, are you coming?”

  They started in the eastern valleys because that was Travis’s favorite escape route. Whenever things got bad, that was where he went. Travis carried a toolbox filled with free weights and exercise cables and workout gear. He stopped in one of the state parks, hooked his gear up to a picnic table or a small eucalyptus, and fought down the bad things with a routine that could last hours. Daniel searched there first, even though Ricki had already made the rounds before heading to Chloe’s school. When they came up empty, Daniel began the real hunt.

  Daniel had no idea what Marvin thought of that frantic search. Two and a half hours of racing through the surrounding county, popping in and out of the bars and hideaways Daniel had successfully avoided for four years. Nicole sat in the passenger seat, doing a Google search for the next place. All the while, Marvin sat in back, rocking through each high-speed turn, saying almost nothing. This after leaving his law practice and driving four hours north, only to be shunted to one side. Everything he carried with him was left unspoken.