Imprints

by Rachel Ann Nunes

  “Okay, now, we’re just going into my office and wait for my friends here to wake up and then we’ll take care of you.” His eyes flicked over me, took in Jake’s presence, paused on Gabe’s still form, and finally came to rest on Ethan. “Your sister, it seems, has flown the coop.”

  “I guess our deal’s off, then. If you can’t deliver, I won’t pay.”

  Dar shrugged. “That’s okay. Something tells me she might bring me more than you were willing to give. Certain things she’s said are beginning to make sense now.” Underneath the anticipation, his voice was beginning to show strain.

  The tendons in Ethan’s neck bulged. “When I get my hands on you—”

  “Put your muscle where your mouth is,” Jake blurted out suddenly. “You’re all talk, but I suspect there’s a lot you aren’t telling us, Mr. Math-Teacher-Turned-PI.”

  Ethan blinked at this sudden attack, but I knew Jake was only trying to distract Dar. “You’re just upset because Ethan likes me,”

  I yelled at Jake. “Well, I’ll tell you something—I don’t need a brother. At least Ethan doesn’t treat me like a baby sister.”

  Jake’s nostrils flared. “He’s just using you!”

  “Says you!” I shouted more loudly. “At least when he kisses me he won’t give me any of that fake stuff you dish out!”

  His voice rose to meet mine. “You’re the one who’s always saying how grateful you were for my support after your father’s death. I’m not going to use that to make you feel obligated to me!”

  “I don’t feel obligated to you or to anyone! ANYONE! And I’m not your little sister, so stop treating me that way!”

  Jake blinked as words eluded him. I understood. We weren’t faking this scene. Not a bit of it.

  In the next instant, Jake’s muscles tensed. I knew what he planned. He lunged toward Dar at the same moment I slammed into Spring and her baby, knocking them to the side. She cried out as they fell near the door, and the loud crack of the pistol reverberated through the house.

  Please, not Jake, I thought, turning frantically, ignoring the agony of my ribs.

  Jake and Dar were struggling for the gun, both very much alive. It was Ethan who had his hand over his arm, staunching the flow of blood beneath. Nothing life-threatening, I saw.

  “Run!” Jake yelled at us. Spring leapt immediately for the door, but I started toward Jake. Ethan let go of his wounded arm and grabbed me.

  “Get her out of here!” Jake gasped.

  “No!” I tried to shake off Ethan. “We have to help him!”

  Jake and Dar were still fighting for the gun. Pulling myself from Ethan’s hand, I dived for the wooden statue.

  A rough arm closed around my neck, bringing me up short. The big guard had regained consciousness—and he was insane with fury.

  Now I understood why Jake had wanted me to run. I choked as the arm tightened.

  “Help her!” Jake ordered Ethan.

  Ethan looked back and forth between me and Jake several times before sprinting to the door and out into the night.

  “He’ll bring help,” I rasped. The guard tightened his grip.

  Truth was, I didn’t really have much hope of help. If Jake didn’t best Dar in the next few seconds, we’d both end up dead, and then Dar would find and kill Ethan and do whatever he pleased with Spring and her son. And Gabe and Harmony and Marcie and everyone else.

  Darkness was filling my vision, and I was ready to give in to the blackness when I felt her presence.

  My sister.

  Clawing at my captor’s arm, I screamed, “No, Tawnia! Get out of here!”

  That distracted Dar. There was a crack as Jake knocked his forehead against Dar’s face. Jake ripped the gun from his hand. The air to my lungs was completely cut off now, and the blackness was encroaching. I thought I saw shadowy figures coming into the room, but I didn’t know if they were friend or foe.

  “Step away from her,” came a deadly voice.

  The big man abruptly let me go, and the next moment I was falling. I didn’t care. I just wanted air. I sucked it in, not minding in the least the torment in my throat.

  I never hit the floor.

  When I could see again, I found myself supported by Detective Shannon Martin’s arms. I turned my head and was relieved to see that Jake was okay. He met my gaze for a long, telling moment. He, too, was surprised and relieved that we’d survived. That I’d survived. Then he knelt by Gabe’s unconscious form, and the moment was over.

  “What, no sarcastic comment?” Shannon’s voice sounded strangely gruff.

  I lifted my eyes to his. “Now that you mention it,” I croaked, “you did cut it a bit late.”

  “I don’t know about that. You’re still alive.” His eyes wandered over my face as though making sure.

  “No thanks to you.”

  “Should I leave?”

  I wanted to roll my eyes, but I couldn’t. “And waste this opportunity to question me? Yeah, right. That I could be so lucky.”

  “I do have a lot of questions.”

  I sagged away from him. “Help me sit.” The sooner I sat, the sooner he could be free from me and me from him. He eased my sore body down to the floor in the hallway and squatted next to me. Behind Shannon, I could see another officer cuffing Dar and his men. Jake was still trying to wake Gabe.

  “Where’s Tawnia?” I asked.

  “She and her husband are in the chopper with my partner.”

  Ah, a helicopter. That explained the odd thrumming sound I’d heard earlier. “No, she’s not.” Every word hurt my throat. “She’s closer.” But she wasn’t as close as my fear had first made me believe. The main thing was that Tawnia was okay, and the knowledge made me want to cry with relief.

  He sighed. “Should have known she wouldn’t stay put.”

  “How?” I asked.

  Shannon’s eyes narrowed. “You mean, how did we find you?” When I nodded, he continued, “After your call yesterday, your sister contacted me. She’d drawn frightening pictures of you, and she was pretty much hysterical. Fortunately, I got that map you’d saved on your e-mail, since that math teacher you told me about never returned my calls, and we were able to pinpoint this location.” He shrugged. “I broke a few rules.”

  I smirked with more than a little difficulty. “See? I’m a good influence on you.”

  “You still owe me one.”

  And I was sure he’d make me pay. Probably on his next missing-person case.

  Gabe’s eyes were open now. He stared, uncomprehending, until Jake began explaining what had happened.

  In the next second, Shannon’s partner came in, dressed in a navy pantsuit, her gun drawn. I wondered if Tracy Reed ever wore anything but navy, but at least the pants afforded more movement than the skirt she’d had on the first time we met. “Is it clear?” she asked. Her ironed hair was a bit mussed, as though she’d run through the woods.

  Shannon sighed. “Let her come in.”

  “I tried to get her to wait in the chopper, but not even her husband could do that. Short of shooting her—”

  He waved aside her explanation. “It’s okay. Go get them.”

  Seconds later, Tawnia was there, crying and holding me. One minute she was asking if I was okay, and the next she was scolding me for not keeping my promise to get out at the first sign of danger. “I’m never letting you do anything this stupid ever again!”

  “That goes for me, too,” Jake agreed.

  I smiled, or tried to. My muscles weren’t obeying, and at the moment I was content to sit slumped there in the hall against the wall. Shannon was watching both me and Tawnia, and I knew he was comparing us. Everyone did.

  “Did you see Ethan?” I asked Tawnia. I was wondering if he had gone for help or had only saved himself.

  “I saw him outside. They’re bandaging his arm.”

  Near Jake, I saw Gabe trying to get to his feet. “Rest a minute,” Jake told him. “We’ll send the officers out to get Harmony and Marcie.”
Gabe didn’t respond, his attention on something on the floor near his leg.

  Tracy Reed poked her head back in the door. “Uh, there’s a lot of folks waking up over here. I could use some help from someone in charge.”

  “I’m in charge,” Dar said arrogantly. “They won’t listen to anyone else.”

  She laughed. “That’s what you think, honey. They’re asking for Founder Gabe, and unless I miss my mark, he isn’t you.”

  “I’ll get free,” Dar sneered at her. “You won’t be able to make the charges stick. Not one of them will testify against me. You’ll see.”

  “I will,” I said, the words more a croak than human speech.Dar let off a stream of curses, but everyone ignored him. Except Gabe, who started moving in his direction, his face set in rigid lines. Something glittered in his hands.

  “The gun!” I shouted.

  I was too late. The shiny little pistol was already firing.

  Dar’s body tensed momentarily, a look of surprise on his face. Then he slumped against the wall where he stood, red welling from his chest. A second later, his body collapsed against the wall and slid to the floor.

  Tawnia screamed, her hands going instinctively to protect her unborn baby. Bret stepped in front of her.

  The pistol fell from Gabe’s fingers. “My people are finally safe,” he said, “and he’ll never be able to hurt Harmony.”

  “For crying out loud!” Shannon shouted at the other officer. “Don’t you know anything about securing a crime scene? Look, you two get out there and calm those people while I get this bozo locked up somewhere. Before we have a riot on our hands.”

  Shannon took Gabe to his office, where he handcuffed him to his chair. “Stay here,” he ordered, “or I’ll shoot you myself.”

  “You can go outside,” Jake said. “I’ll look after him. I don’t think he’ll give us any trouble.”

  “No, I’ll watch him,” Bret volunteered. “You go with the detective. Those people might listen to you better than any of us. They know you at least a little.”

  One look at Gabe’s pale, defeated face, shaking hands, and absent expression was all Shannon needed to make him agree to Bret’s suggestion, but not before he went over the office for weapons and cuffed Gabe’s other wrist to the opposite armrest for good measure.

  “Call me if there’s a problem,” Shannon told Bret. “If you’ll give me a hand, Jake, we’ll move our dead guy out of the hallway before we go outside.”

  As Jake and Shannon began their work, I walked carefully down the hall with Tawnia into the kitchen. “You hungry?” she asked me, putting her arm around my shoulders.

  “I don’t believe this,” Bret called after us, a note of humor in his voice. “After all that’s happened, you’re talking food?”

  “Don’t listen to him,” Tawnia said. “He has no idea.”

  My stomach was growling, and I was weak from lack of eating anything but herbs all day, which I’d lost in the pit after finding Inclar’s body, but the truth was I didn’t know if I’d be able to get my mouth to work right or my throat to swallow. I leaned on my sister. “I could use some water.”

  “Just a drink? Nonsense. What you need is something solid. You know you’ll feel better.”

  I didn’t protest, knowing that finding food would give her something to do.

  “Wow, look at this fridge,” Tawnia said, once she’d settled me at the table. “It’s huge. Maybe we should get one like it installed in our house.”

  I actually smiled.

  Now that the danger was over, I began thinking about what Jake and I had said when we were yelling to distract Dar. How much of what he’d said was real and how much did I simply want to believe? I hadn’t come to any decision when Spring entered the kitchen with Victoria and Essence. Spring was still carrying her son, who was rubbing his eyes, his face red from crying. “Are you okay?” I asked.

  Spring sat across the table from me, rocking back and forth to calm her son. “Thanks to you and Jake.”

  “You’d have done the same for us.”

  Essence sat next to Spring, but Victoria remained standing awkwardly next to the table. For a few seconds, all we heard was Tawnia moving things around inside the fridge and making the occasional exclamation of discovery.

  “I wanted to tell you I’m sorry,” Victoria said finally. “I told Dar what you said about leaving, about my parents sending you.” Tears leaked down her round cheek. “I didn’t want to, but I thought maybe he was setting me up. You know, testing me to see if I was loyal. I was afraid, especially for the baby.” Her hand went to her stomach. “I didn’t think I’d be able to . . .” Her words drained away.

  “Survive in that cellar, you mean.” I reached for her hand. “Victoria, I don’t blame you one little bit. You don’t have to worry anymore. Dar isn’t going to hurt you or anyone ever again.”

  “Thanks to Founder Gabe,” Essence put in, and we nodded in troubled silence. We were all glad Dar was gone, but murder was still murder.

  “Do you think my parents would still want me to come home, even with the baby?” Victoria asked in a soft voice.

  “Of course.” I wanted to ask if the baby was Dar’s, but I already knew the answer. Victoria’s fear spoke for her.

  “Then I want to go home.”

  “I do, too,” Essence said. For the first time since I’d met her, she was alert. “Fox and I both want to leave.” One of her hands disappeared beneath the table, and she brought out my earrings. “I’m sorry for taking these. It’s been so long since I had anything different.”

  “You can have them,” I said. “Really, I don’t mind. And if you need a job in Portland, you can talk to Jake. He owns an herb store that used to belong to my father. But he has a zero tolerance policy for employee drug use.”

  Essence nodded. “Maybe I’ll talk to him.”

  Tawnia emerged from the fridge, her hands full. Victoria rushed to help her. “We’re having something to eat,” Tawnia announced. “Anyone want a bite?”

  Essence and Victoria shook their heads, looking pale at the very thought. But Spring grinned. “Are you kidding? I’m starving. I’ll eat anything at this point.”

  A loud shout from outside drew our attention. “What’s going on out there, anyway?” I asked.

  “Some of the men are demanding to talk to Gabe,” Victoria said. “The policemen don’t seem to be able to control everyone. That’s why we got out of there. If Harmony was here, she’d put an end to it, but we can’t find her. I sent someone to get Scarlet, so maybe she’ll calm everyone down.”

  “Harmony’s in the barn,” I said. “Did they send someone there?”

  Spring shook her head. “Not that we heard. But there are too many people out there asking questions to hear much of anything.”

  “What about Ethan?” Tawnia turned from where she was slicing thick slabs of homemade wheat bread. “Strange that he didn’t come in to see how you were.”

  Cold fingers shuddered down my spine. Ethan, who had run when I’d most needed him. I wasn’t surprised he hadn’t come after the crisis was over. He would be embarrassed, I’d think.

  “Maybe he went to the barn to find his sister after they bandaged his arm,” Spring said. “Flesh wound, I think they said. Bleeding a lot, but not too serious.”

  “You didn’t see him out there just now?” I asked.

  Spring shook her head. “No.”

  “And he didn’t ask any of the officers to go with him?”

  “I don’t think so. Is that a problem?”

  “Maybe not.” I lurched to my feet and hurried to the kitchen door as fast as my sore body would allow.

  “Where are you going?” Tawnia dropped her knife.

  “Down the hall to Dar’s office.”

  “It’s natural that Ethan would want to see to his sister,” Tawnia said, coming after me.

  “I just think he should have taken someone to help her, that’s all. It seems strange to go alone.” He might be too crazy wi
th worry to wait, I supposed, but something still felt wrong.

  The man who had guarded Ethan was gone, but the medicine bottles were where I had last seen them on Dar’s desk. This was the piece of the puzzle that didn’t fit—two simultaneous prescriptions for anti-depression medicine. I gritted my teeth as my hands closed around the bottles, stealing myself against the truth. As I expected, the imprints came easily.

  Ethan’s hand reached out to give the tablets to Marcie, standing over her until she put them in her mouth. “Just take these, and the pain will be over soon.” Marcie reluctantly downed the pills, falling quickly asleep. Ethan’s voice changed, becoming dark and hard. “It’s your mother’s fault, really, for leaving the money to us equally. It belonged to my father, not yours, and you will never have it. After a few more weeks of preparation, an unfortunate overdose will correct everything. It won’t matter that my original share is gone, that my tenure has been ripped from me for seeing a few pushy coeds. No one will be able to prove I did anything wrong. You, my dear half sister, will cease to be a problem.”

  He was going to murder her. No wonder the imprints were so strong.

  I dropped the bottles, which clunked onto the wood floor. Blood whooshed through my veins.

  “What is it, Autumn?” Tawnia stood beside me. Spring was behind her, Little Jim on her hip.

  “Ethan didn’t come to save Marcie,” I said. “He came to kill her—and maybe Harmony, too, if she’s in the way. We’ve got to help them!”

  Chapter 25

  Come on!” I pushed past them and started down the hall. “We have to tell Jake and the others.”

  “What’s going on?” Bret said, as we passed Gabe’s office.

  I repeated what I’d told Tawnia and Spring, hardly slowing my pace.

  “If that’s true, you have to 1et me out!” Gabe cried. “I have to get to Harmony before he does!”