Understory

by Lisa J. Lickel

  Lily was about to tell the other woman she didn’t need to discuss options because she was taking Kenny with her no matter what, but the lawyer pushed past Forbes on her way out the door. Lily blinked at Cam, who shrugged.

  Art…now what?

  “Can you drive me back to the hospital, Cam?” Her anxiety was worse than when she’d been afraid of being seen when they changed clothes for high school gym class. She wanted to get out of the crowded room, which felt like it was shrinking.

  “Let’s go. Keep that diary a while longer, will you?” Cam held her coat while she slipped her arms in the sleeves. He fished for his car keys in his pocket, stalling. “There’s something else I need to tell you about. My sister Georgia and her family are here.”

  Lily turned so fast that her scarf hit him in the face. “What? When did they get here?”

  “Yesterday.” He quirked a half grin. “You know what they say, bad things come in—”

  “Threes.” She yanked the zipper. “But, bad? Your sister?”

  “Okay, maybe not terrible. Unexpected.”

  “I should just stay out of your hair, then. I can go to my—”

  “Don’t do that, Lily. I want you to meet them,” he whispered, warming her ear. She hadn’t realized how cold she’d gotten sitting there.

  “Sure.”

  “I want to check out the house before you move in,” he said. “Will you let me do that? You could stay at the motel tonight.”

  With him? Lily was torn between keeping her independence and abject fear of suffering Berta’s fate, whatever that was. Then Kenny would have no one.

  “You’d like my brother-in-law, Adam,” Cam said. “I want you to meet…my family. We can go over to your house tomorrow, make sure it’s all good before Kenny is released.”

  Before she could answer, Forbes materialized at her elbow. “Miss Masters, could we speak with you?”

  “I guess,” she said, hoping he wasn’t going to keep her long. She reeled with a terrible case of TMI from every direction and still hadn’t decided how to feel about Art’s death. There were probably details she needed to take care of for a funeral.

  “We think we can force the perpetrators to reveal themselves. With your help,” Forbes said.

  “Really?” Lily needed to sit again, but that might keep Kenny waiting longer. What did the agent think she could do? “I’m not sure I can help. With my feet…the frostbite…I can’t run very fast.”

  “That shouldn’t be a problem,” Forbes said. The sheriff and chief moved in on Cam’s other side.

  There were so many bodies surrounding her she went woozy. “So, what is it?”

  “We’d like you to go to the prison and talk to your father,” Forbes said.

  Lily sank onto the chair.

  “This is the only way to find out if the plot originated at the prison or how Securities Unlimited is involved,” Paten said. “What with your brother unable to corroborate the facts. Sorry, miss.”

  He was right, though Lily didn’t want anything to do with Roman. Still, if it helped Kenny, she could. She assumed someone would inform him about Art’s death. “What do you want me to say?”

  Now she had to look up at the ring of faces. Not good. She started to push to her feet again and was glad of Cam’s hand at her elbow. There, that was better.

  “We’ll escort you to the visit,” Paten said, “where you’ll give him the news of your brother’s passing.”

  Forbes took up the instructions. “You’ll also tell him that you want to do what you can to make it up to him and that you’ll go through with his plan.”

  “What if he says he doesn’t know anything about a plan?” Lily asked.

  “Too dangerous,” Ole muttered.

  “She’ll have plenty of protection,” Forbes said. “You’ll tell him that you’ll meet the contact at Findley’s cabin.”

  Cam’s hitched breath at her back made her want this mess over with and done—as soon as possible.

  “Yes. I’ll do what you ask,” Lily said. “We’ll work on the details later. Right now, though, I need to get back to my nephew.”

  Ten minutes later, she rode up the elevator with Cam’s arm around her shoulders. “You know I can’t let you do that,” he whispered, though it was nebulous, in her ear, maybe a thought instead of a spoken order.

  “I need this nightmare over,” she whispered back. “This will work. I believe it.”

  “I don’t.”

  “Trust me. Have faith.” She leaned back as the elevator slowed. “I need to tell you something later, okay? About…me.”

  She watched him draw his eyebrows together before she turned and led the way to Kenny’s room.

  * * *

  After he’d said hi and bye to Kenny and promised to come back for Lily at eight, he’d gone back to the Starlite.

  Georgia was pacing the small lobby like a tiger and insisted they visit the cabin again. They left Adam, and Devon, twelve, and Hessia, fourteen-going-on-twenty-nine, back at the motel. With no pool. Devon was not a happy camper. Not like he was going to find an indoor hotel pool anywhere short of Eau Claire.

  Georgia paid her son no mind, just like she was giving Cam the cold shoulder now.

  “If you called first,” Cam told her, “I could have cleaned up the place. Baked a cake.”

  She shook her head and climbed over the remains of the snow blower. At least, that’s what he thought it had been.

  “I can’t leave you alone for five minutes, and you get into all kinds of trouble. Federal agents, fire, bodies, shooting. You could have been killed. That’s it. You’re coming down home with us. Christmas in Texas. Shoo,” she said to Iago, who decided he liked the scent from her long shiny coat and kept nosing—and drooling—on it. “I never should have given you those diaries. Fool suggestion of mine, trying to get your mind off your other problems. World of trouble best left alone, they were.”

  Georgia owned a very select memory. “It was your idea to stay here, remember?”

  “And who were those people again? Your new friends?” She dusted her hands and nudged Iago away again.

  Oh boy. “One is my boss, Matt. Lily, the woman I told you about before, the one I found. Then there’s Sven and Ole—”

  “Sounds like a joke.”

  Cam held his breath. Counted to twenty-five, watched her poke around some more with a long stick. “You looking for something in particular, sis?”

  She straightened. “Just needed some air. And who’s your lawyer, again?”

  “Minerva Thorsten. She’s famous.”

  “Not in Texas. And the other woman? Lily white?”

  “Lily Masters.” Cam was through explaining things. “I’m going back to town. You coming?” He headed for his truck, got in and turned on the radio. Georgia buckled up and turned it off.

  “So this lawyer woman got your charges dropped?” she said.

  “There was nothing to drop.”

  “All those government folks must have meant something.”

  Georgia et al had still been around yesterday when the rest of the crew came rolling in, prepped for the debriefing.

  “We had just finished a…a mission of sorts—”

  “What, now you’re back in the army?”

  He turned his head to stare her down and eased off the gas.

  She sighed. “Okay. I’ll let you talk.”

  “That’s just it. I don’t want to talk.”

  Two miles was her limit. Cam could have counted it to the second.

  “And the Lily woman?”

  “What about her?”

  “Surely you’re not going to tell me you’re involved with her.”

  If he hadn’t been so ticked off he might have played the “don’t call me Shirley” game. He didn’t answer, and this time, his sister stayed quiet.

  He parked, turned off the engine.

  His sister put her hand on his arm before he opened his door. “Cam, I liked Laura. She was your soulmate. Our kind. P
lease don’t do anything rash.”

  “Rash?”

  “You’ve been through an awful lot. More than anyone. It’s not fair. But don’t overcompensate with this girl. You got to think straight. Let everything settle. Come on down with us, and I’ll fix you up with—”

  Cam wrested his arm away and hopped out, slammed the door extra hard, and stalked into the motel. “Our kind? That doesn’t even make any sense!”

  Georgia followed on his heels. “She’s not one of us.”

  “One of us, Mom? Or one of us, Dad?”

  “You know that’s not what I mean.”

  “I don’t even think you know what you mean. You haven’t even met her.” He straight-armed the door.

  Hessia’s voice stopped him short. “Ooh-ooh, Uncle Cam’s ma-ad.”

  He loosened his tense shoulders and jingled his truck keys. “Why don’t you all go ahead and eat without me. I promised Lily I’d go pick her up.” He met Adam’s twinkling eyes. “You’ll like her. I told her we’d check out her house tomorrow before her nephew gets out of the hospital.”

  “Yeah,” Devon said. “Make sure there are no monsters under the bed. Stuff like that.” He lifted his arms and flexed his muscles.

  “He’s not that much younger than you, Dev. I want you to be nice,” Cam warned.

  “I can be nice.”

  “Good.” He checked the time. “Back in a few.”

  * * *

  When he returned with Lily at eight fifteen, Devon and Adam were seated at a table playing checkers. A female police officer discreetly followed them in and disappeared down the hall. Adam raised a brow at him. He shook his head slightly but sent a faint wink to Georgia, who sat still and taut.

  “Hi, everyone.” Cam grabbed his sister’s elbow with a firm grip. “Georgia, I’d like you to meet Lily Masters.” He squeezed.

  “Pleasure,” Georgia spit out.

  Lily’s eyelids drooped. Her mouth budded before turning up in a brittle smile. “Nice to meet Cam’s family.”

  Adam came forward and took her hand between his. “We understand you’ve had a trying time.”

  “You could say that,” Lily replied. “I’m just happy to be able to take my nephew home tomorrow.”

  “Especially right before Christmas,” Cam said. He turned to Georgia, hoping she’d join the discussion. “Kenny’s friend’s family isn’t so fortunate, I understand. It’s good to have each other, isn’t it, Georgia? I’m glad you came, even if things aren’t turning out the way we expected.”

  “The Bethews aren’t a family anymore either, Cam. Things rarely turn out the way we hope,” Georgia said.

  Yup, right on target. Adam winced and turned away. Hessia watched the exchange like a reality TV show. Cam wanted to reach out and tighten Georgia’s fashionable scarf.

  Lily looked like she wanted to click her heels together and wave bye-bye. He’d hang on tight to her bubble and float away too.

  When he could finally face his sister again, Georgia’s mien showed chagrin but not sorrow. “I’ve got to change out of these shoes,” she said. “Excuse me.”

  Meanwhile, Lily scooted to the front desk and was being handed a key card to the room that connected to his; something he also hadn’t had time to share. She waved him off when she saw him coming. “Thanks. I’ll head for my room now.”

  Strange to be so deserted. He’d better not hide right now or he’d never lay Laura’s memories to rest. Even if Georgia never warmed up to Lily, his sister owed her some respect, and an apology.

  Adam finished the checkers game with his son while Hessia flipped through TV channels. “It was a shock, finding the cabin burned and not knowing what was going on,” Adam said.

  “Everything happened so fast. I should have called. I’m sorry. Should I talk to her?”

  His brother-in-law quirked a brow. “What? You think I can predict how she’ll respond better than you?”

  “Yeah.” Cam went to have it out with Georgia.

  * * *

  Her room was sweltering when he walked in.

  “I don’t understand how you can stand the cold,” she said. “You out there in the woods in that cabin over winter. Even Uncle Wally came home most winters, for a while, anyway. How can that woodstove keep you warm enough?”

  She was edgy, nervous energy sending her to set the remote near the television, over to tweak the curtains, to straighten the bedside clock. “You’ll like Amarillo.”

  “I’m not moving there. We’ll just start with that, Georgia.”

  “It’s your heritage, you know. Granddad built that house. He might have gone north temporarily for work, but he left his heart in the south.”

  “Sit down,” Cam said, dizzy with her fluttering.

  “You could get a job easy. Adam has connections.”

  “I’m going to rebuild, add a bathroom and maybe a generator. I like living out there. It’s okay. I like the space, and I have my dogs.”

  “Those mutts—”

  “Not making friends, here, Georgie.”

  Georgia resembled Granddad Taylor more than the rest of them. He’d been a proud man, according to Dad. Georgia and Mom had fought for as long as Cam could remember, until Dad finally sent her back to the States to live with Grandma and go to school in Amarillo. It was those vacation times that Georgia pretended not to know him…those conversations he’d shared with Lily.

  “I love Lily. In a different way from Laura.”

  “You can’t.” Georgia shook her head.

  “It’s not up to you. What could you possibly have against her, anyway? You haven’t taken a second to find out anything about her. I don’t want to believe you’re a bigot. I can’t believe Grandma raised you that way.”

  “You don’t get it, do you?” Georgia jumped up again and walked to the window, twitched the curtain aside, and stared at the parking lot.

  “I get a lot of things you apparently don’t. And Mom… I never understood why you hated her so much? What did she do to you that I never saw? She loved all of us.”

  Cam’s sister strode up to him and laid her arm alongside his. The color difference was obvious. Georgia’s skin was several shades darker than his. “See this? Black is beautiful.”

  “And white is not? What’s gotten into you?”

  “It’s who I am. It’s my heritage.”

  “And anyone lighter than you need not apply.” Cam took a deep breath and got up. How had he missed this? He’d never known her. She lived in Grandma’s house, saved her diaries…wait. “Georgia, you kept those diaries all that time. Did you read them?”

  “What? No, no I didn’t. They were private.”

  “But you gave them to me.”

  “So? I wanted you to see what it was like to live as a Negro.”

  “Maybe you’re the one who needs to think about what it was like, living in her world. Would you do me a favor? Read them?”

  “Hmpf.”

  FIFTY-FIVE

  Cam paced in his room at the Starlite Motel. Ten thirty and he was too wound up to sleep. Given the size of the room, he could only travel a few steps in any direction, but he needed to move…do something.

  Had it really been only a week since he’d first met Lily? Seven days? It had taken months before he’d felt even close to this feeling with Laura. Protective, angry, scared, jealous, nervous.

  What was that crazy woman thinking, standing up to human traffickers with the thin shield of government agent promises to protect her? He stopped and stared at the connecting door. Proud.

  But if she wilted at Georgia’s special cuts, how could she face hardened criminals?

  Tomorrow morning they’d check out her house and help get Kenny settled before she went to the prison to speak to her father.

  The shower next door stopped running. A female uniform was stationed outside her door, which was at the end of long hallway. He really wanted to talk to Lily some more, privately. Make sure she understood what she was getting into. What if her father ha
d nothing to do with the whole thing? She was setting herself up for something even worse. There might be a plant in the prison.

  She must be out of the bathroom by now. He knocked on the connecting door. No answer. He knocked again. “Lily?” He didn’t want to call too loudly. The handle turned easily, and he opened it a crack. “Lily?”

  “Cam…” Her voice was muffled. “Should have figured. Wait a second. Okay, come in. I’ll be right out.”

  He pushed the door open slowly. The bathroom door was still closed. Her clothes were scattered on one of the beds in a room that mirrored his. A red sweatshirt, socks…the hoodie she’d worn earlier. Even his old college sweatshirt that was folded neatly in a stack with some other things. He averted his eyes from her underwear. Except that something seemed off. Was that…

  Lily’s bathroom door opened, scattering a whirl of steam. “Here I am.” She rubbed her head some more with a towel. “I hope…oh… Cam, I…could you, please…just…”

  He stared at her, face all glowing from the shower, wet hair across the shoulders of the white terrycloth robe. He couldn’t stop from peering lower, toward her chest. “Do you…did you have cancer? A mastectomy?”

  She closed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. He was confused, hurt that she hadn’t shared that with him. But there really hadn’t been an opportunity for such intimacies. Why should he think it was his business? He backed away, toward the connecting door. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have barged in like that.”

  “Cam.” She still had her eyes closed. “I said I wanted to tell you something.”

  He studied her face, the planes and ridges, the arch of her eyebrow, the damp lashes. He’d made her cry again. That wasn’t normal, was it? Laura hadn’t cried all the time.

  He met Lily’s eyes, now open. They invited, challenged. Whatever it was, he wanted to accept the invitation, and moved forward. Everyone had a story, and he needed to hear hers.

  With one hand, she held her robe closed in a death grip. With the other, she reached behind her and sat on the bed. She stared at the floor, making his heart ache worse than Georgia’s insult.