“He doesn’t look like a cop,” he said. “If the kidnapper is a local, he’s probably heard about Larry and this Jeff. Half the people in town leave out food or supplies at night for them.”
Elias had done that once, when he caught a glimpse of a man in camouflage on the edge of the woods behind his isolated home. It had happened to be a bitterly cold stretch of winter. Giving thought to old times, when people had set out offerings for brownies or the fey, he had bundled a sheepskin-lined coat that had seen better days and some canned goods in a bag and put it out on his garbage can. A few hours later, he’d looked to find his offering gone.
Even then, he’d pondered the homeless man’s remarkable range. He must walk twenty miles or more in a day, not always returning to his camp, wherever that was.
“Dunn would have seen the passing car,” Daniel said thoughtfully. “If Holbeck can track him down, we might have something.”
“But…he’ll call, won’t he?” Hannah said in a small, desperate voice.
Elias tightened his arm around her. Harshly, he said, “He wants the money. He won’t quit that easily.”
Her head bobbed, but he knew she was too afraid to believe him.
*****
Covered by a fleece blanket, Hannah curled at one end of her couch. No matter that it was a sunny, seventy-five degree day, she was freezing. Elias coaxed her to drink a mug of soup followed by tea, but nothing could warm her. She stayed focused on the two telephones lying on the coffee table: her own, and the one the kidnapper had given her. Elias had laid his own beside them. Dented, scratched and with a cracked screen, it still worked, he’d told her.
Daniel hadn’t stayed. She wondered vaguely whether there was any possibility of finding a man who had melted into the woods as if he was part of it – or a ghost who had let himself be seen only briefly.
She had called Grady, who agreed with Elias that the kidnapper would give her another chance. To her ears, he sounded overly hearty, as if he was trying to buck her up but wasn’t convinced himself. Talking to her parents had been hard. Her mother had cried until her father took the phone from her. He offered money she knew they couldn’t afford, his voice shaking. She had the sudden wish to feel her daddy’s arms around her, but Elias had laid his hand on her shoulder just then and she’d been able to breathe again.
The hours bled together. She felt Elias’s worry as he watched her, and every so often was startled into awareness of him. He had a cat’s ability to stay very still and intensely focused for extraordinary lengths of time, and when he did move, he had feline grace and sure-footedness, too. She had never seen him stumble or so much as bang into the edge of a table. The stark lines that formed his face made him beautiful in a fallen angel way, especially with his coloring – gold tempered by the pure silver of his eyes.
And he was here, refusing to leave her. She puzzled over that, as she hadn’t let herself last night. Maybe she needed the distraction. Why her? It wasn’t only kindness, she knew that much. His every touch held tenderness. This morning, as she’d left the house she’d taken with her the last glimpse of Elias’s torment at having to let her go alone.
She had sunk back into despair when Elias settled on the couch beside her again.
“Did you know you were having a boy before Ian was born?”
She blinked at him. The question had come out of left field…but she knew what he was saying. Tell me about your son. We’re not mourning. Hold onto memories while we wait.
“Yes. Grady wanted to know.” She actually smiled a little, remembering the small bundle handed to her after being cleaned up. “He was eight pound, twelve ounces when he was born.”
“A big baby,” Elias commented, surprising her with even that much knowledge of newborns.
“Yes…but he seemed tiny to me. He already had red fuzz. And muddy blue eyes that were obviously going to be brown.”
She kept talking, prompted by an occasional gentle question. He promised to show her a picture of him as a baby. “Bald as a billiard ball,” he said, his mouth curving just a little. “Mom told me one time I looked like I’d had chemo.”
Talking, sharing funny or scary moments, brought Ian to life in a way her despairing re-runs hadn’t. She and Elias were quiet sometimes, too. Once, she met his eyes and thought she’d never seen him so unguarded. She saw concern, and tenderness…and maybe something more. It gave her heart an odd squeeze. She had never felt so close to anyone in her life, except Ian, and that was in a different way.
Finally Elias said, “Hannah, you have to eat to stay strong. Why don’t you come sit in the kitchen while I cook?”
Her phone rang. The one he had given her. The leap of adrenaline and the acceleration of her pulse made her light-headed. Scared to death, she anchored herself again by looking into Elias’s eyes. When he nodded, she picked up the phone.
“Hello?”
“You didn’t follow instructions,” the voice said coldly. Despite the muffling, she heard him fine. He was angry.
“I did!” Hannah cried. “I did exactly what you told me. It wasn’t my fault that—”
“You told somebody.”
“No! I didn’t know where I was going. How could I?”
“Did you not have the money ready, so you had to head me off? Was that it?”
“No!” she cried again. “I had it with me. He – the man with the rifle – he tried to steal it.”
A pause had her nerves twisting into knots. “Tried?”
“I begged. He gave it back. So…so I can give it to you.”
“Who was he?”
Elias nodded encouragement that helped her steady her voice.
“A homeless veteran. Not Larry, someone younger. I think he was just curious.” She took a deep breath. “I’ll do whatever you want. Just tell me Ian is all right.”
“So far.” It was almost a snarl. “One more chance. Maybe.”
“Please—”
“Is your new lover there with you, Hannah?”
“We’re not—”
“Is he there?”
She wanted to lie, but if he was watching, he’d know the Land Rover was parked in front, although the rental car was now gone. “Yes.”
“You’ve trusted foolishly, Hannah.”
Elias didn’t move, but she felt his increased tension. Sitting so close to her, he had to be hearing some of what the horrible man was saying.
“What do you mean?” she faltered.
“He has a temper, of course. Women he likes tend to get hurt.” No muffling could disguise the rage. “Isn’t that right, Elias? You are listening, aren’t you? Have you told Hannah how many of your girlfriends have run away? Or about the one who died?”
Fury glittered in Elias’s eyes. He looked like he wanted to lunge for the phone, but somehow found the self-control to stay still and quiet.
“Please.” Hannah didn’t recognize her own voice. “What does he have to do with—”
“I think you know. You could have done so much better. Your loss.” With contempt, he added, “A big one,” and the quality of the silence changed.
He had disconnected.
Shocked as if she’d been shoved over an edge she hadn’t known was there, she felt bruised. All she saw was Elias.
“He does hate you.” She looked at him, the man she was afraid she loved. “He took Ian because of you.”
*****
Hours later, Elias was still sickened by the truth of her accusation. He drove in the dark toward his house, half his attention on his rearview mirror. Hannah shouldn’t be behind the wheel, but they had all agreed she needed to have her car available when the kidnapper called again.
Daniel had suggested they move to Elias’s house. “We need to talk,” he had said, “but let’s wait until dark. If either of us is followed, we’ll know it. Yes, he undoubtedly knows where you live, but if he guesses that’s where the two of you have gone, it’ll still take him time to get into position. Your place is pretty isolated.”
It was. He liked the quiet and solitude in the woods. He had neighbors, but none he could see from his house. A road that was paved when it left the coast highway gradually narrowed and finally became gravel. His driveway was the last.
Hannah had stayed right behind him the entire way, but once he turned into his driveway, dark beneath the trees, her car all but rode his bumper. If they’d been on foot, she’d have been stepping on his heels.
A moment later, his high beams illuminated the clearing that surrounded his house. Stained the color of the bark on the fir and spruce trees, it had a steep-pitched roof and far more windows than normal. He craved light, and didn’t like feeling closed-in.
He pressed the button on the remote to raise the door on his detached garage and drove into it. As they’d agreed, Hannah parked her Highlander outside, but Elias was to leave the garage door open for Daniel. With his car out of sight, his presence wouldn’t be immediately obvious to someone skulking in the woods.
Hannah waited for him. A motion-detecting floodlight illuminated their way to the wide front porch. Elias unlocked and flicked on the porch light, but didn’t turn on a light inside until they were in the kitchen. Until recently, Jeff Dunn was the only human who had likely stood outside and watched Elias through the uncovered expanse of glass in the living room. If the deer or owls or a wandering cougar observed him, that was fine.
Since the slashed tires, he couldn’t walk through the living room at night without being uneasily aware someone could be out there in the dark watching. He took his chances – but he couldn’t allow Hannah to be so exposed.
Sitting in the kitchen was handy anyway. He’d made dinner earlier, but she had only pretended to eat. While they waited for Daniel, he’d try again. In the meantime, he took both phones from her and plugged them in to charge.
He hadn’t tried to defend himself. Elias clung to the fact she’d been willing to come here. She had even packed a few things to spend the night. When he said he’d tell her anything she wanted to know, she had shaken her head. “Wait until Daniel can hear, too. That way you don’t have to repeat yourself.”
She still trusted him. He couldn’t blame her if she didn’t once he had laid bare his life.
He’d known better. By letting himself be tempted by her, he had put her at risk. Worse, from her point of view, he had endangered Ian.
The water hadn’t yet boiled when he heard an approaching car. Leaving Hannah, Elias went out onto the porch and watched Daniel pull into the garage. Once he emerged, Elias used the remote to close the garage door and waited for him.
The first time they’d really met had been right here. Elias had been wary to have the police chief drive out to see him. The shock had been Sophie. He’d been told that Michelle Thomsen’s daughter was in town, but to see how much she looked like her mother… He’d been careful that neither of them saw how shaken he was. Seeing her and having to talk about that long ago summer had awakened unwelcome memories. Memories that hadn’t been buried as deeply as he’d believed, or he wouldn’t have spent so many years drawn only to women who resembled Michelle.
Oddly, though, he’d never thought of Sophie in sexual terms. In fact, since meeting her he had never looked at any slender blonde the same way.
“It sure as hell is dark out here,” Daniel said in greeting.
“You’re a city boy at heart,” Elias said, surprised by the stir of amusement.
“Cape Trouble isn’t much of a city.”
Elias shrugged. “Lights stay on all night.” Streetlights, security lights, porchlights, and then there were the gas stations, restaurants and convenience stores along Highway 101, open all night. Heading into the house, he said, “I don’t suppose you have good news.”
Hannah looked up when they entered the kitchen to the piercing whistle of the teakettle. Apparently she was oblivious to it. She did say a polite “Thank you for coming.”
As Elias silenced the teakettle, Daniel laid a hand on her shoulder for a moment. “Anything you need, Hannah. Sophie says the same.”
Her smile was painfully wry. “She’s pregnant.”
“Not even six months along. She’s not letting it slow her down much. If you need her—”
Hannah only nodded, but they all knew she wouldn’t be calling on her pregnant friend.
Elias set a mug of chicken noodle soup in front of her. As he poured two cups of coffee, he asked, “Did you find Dunn?”
With a sigh, Daniel pulled out a chair and sat down. “No. He had a half-cave he’d taken over from Larry, but Sean Holbeck found it abandoned. He left a note there anyway, in hopes Dunn might stop by. Looks like Dunn didn’t feel safe there anymore after police located the encampment this spring. Every cop in the county has an eye out, but he rarely appears, and especially around anyone in uniform. And, while he seems to trust Holbeck up to a point, Sean has no way to make contact.”
Hannah looked stricken, but Elias nodded, unsurprised. Too much of the county was wooded. It had been logged at one time, but felt primeval again. And they all knew how many miles a man who still thought he was being hunted could cover in a single day.
Daniel pulled a lined notebook and pen from a pocket, then focused on Elias. “Okay, let’s get started. Is there more you didn’t tell me?”
Hannah gaped from one to the other of them. “What are you talking about?”
Elias winced.
“Unsubstantiated rumors about Elias have floated around for years, according to the couple long-time residents I’ve spoken to,” Daniel said frankly.
Elias tried not to react visibly to Hannah’s uneasiness. It stung – but she’d be a fool not to wonder how credulous she’d been.
“They can’t be substantiated because they’re not true,” he said flatly. “But once people hear whispers, they never forget them.”
Daniel sipped his coffee and set the mug down. “Do you know when they started?”
Elias tried to stretch the taut muscles in his neck and shoulders without being obvious. “A few years after I returned to Cape Trouble.” Reminding himself that both the others were relatively recent transplants, he explained, “I graduated from high school here, but left for college. Whitman, in eastern Washington. They have a strong art department.”
Both Hannah and Daniel nodded. Whitman was one of the top-ranked liberal arts colleges on the west coast.
“I made friends, had a couple of relationships with women.” Those four years had been the most carefree of his life, away from his mother’s poorly-veiled grief. “Since I hadn’t done a semester abroad, after graduating I decided to travel. First in the U.S., then Europe. Ultimately, I knew this was what I needed to paint.” His gesture encompassed the landscape of his childhood, one that still fascinated him. “I’d tried as a teenager, but I lacked technique. With a shrug, he added, “Aside from my art, Mom is here. My only sibling died as a child, my father died when I was a kid. She has friends, but that’s not the same.”
Expression arrested, Daniel said, “No wonder—” He broke off with a shake of his head.
Elias lifted his eyebrows. “No wonder?”
“Your paintings depress the hell out of me.” He grimaced. “Not all of them, but I wouldn’t call any of them cheerful.”
“‘Melancholy’ is the word you’re looking for,” Hannah said unexpectedly. “They’re stunning. I’d have bought one if I could afford it, but they make me feel…lonely.”
Elias tipped his head in acknowledgement. He’d heard all of that and more. “It’s…not a conscious choice, but is why critics like my work. There are plenty of people talented enough to paint a beautiful landscape.” He didn’t say, that’s not art, but couldn’t help being dismissive.
“How did your sister die?” Daniel asked.
Elias told him, and about his father’s sudden death.
Daniel cast a quick glance at Hannah. “And then there was Michelle.”
“Elias told me he had a teenage crush on her,” she said wryly. “Of c
ourse, I already knew about her because of everything that happened last summer.”
Everything being a serial killer who had returned to Cape Trouble and chosen Sophie as his next victim.
“Michelle’s death was one too many,” Elias said. “I didn’t realize for years how profound an impact it really had on me. At the time, I didn’t want anyone at school to know about my puppy love. Being a teenager, I did allow myself to brood while refusing to talk about my suffering.”
Hannah rolled her eyes. “And the girls ate it up.”
Under other circumstances, he’d have laughed at his youthful self. As it was, at least she’d sounded tart, so he did smile. “For all the darkness infecting my soul, I somehow managed to play quarterback on the football team – we made it to state – and nab the prettiest girl in school. We were Prom King and Queen.”
For all the complicated mess of grief and anger he had stuffed out of sight, Elias knew he’d also been cocky and typically self-centered at that age. He’d been the golden boy – valedictorian, wildly successful jock, able to have any girl he wanted. He didn’t much like who he’d been in high school.
Maybe most people didn’t.
“So let’s talk about the girlfriend,” Daniel said, pulling Elias’s thoughts back to the grim reason for this conversation.
He moved in a way that probably betrayed his discomfort. “There’s…not much to say. Her name was Laurel Price. We broke up the summer after graduation.”
Daniel hadn’t made a note yet. Now he did. “When you left for college?”
Something skittered just below the surface of Elias’s awareness, yet he couldn’t nail down the feeling long enough to figure it out. So he shook his head. “I was an ass. She was hurt because I didn’t have time for her. Yeah, I had to work to earn money for college, but the truth is, I preferred to spend my free time painting than hanging out with her. She hooked up with Fletch that last couple months, but of course they broke up when it came time for us all to go our separate ways to college.”
“How’d you get along with her father?” Daniel asked.
Whisper of Revenge (A Cape Trouble Novel Book 4) Page 15
