by Madyson Grey
Victoria could hear Lena’s voice in her head saying, “Keeping your hands busy is a sure way to take your mind off of the unpleasant.”
At least it was something to do. She would have to focus on the recipe and on what she was doing. There were no guarantees on whether or not the cookies would be edible, but at least it was something to think about.
Victoria pulled Lena’s favorite cookbook from the shelf and found a recipe that looked simple enough. She rooted around in the pantry for all the required ingredients, and then gathered up a mixing bowl, the electric mixer, measuring cups and spoons, and the cookie sheets.
After reading over the recipe, she turned on the oven to 350 degrees. Then she set about to measure and beat, add and beat, until all of the ingredients were blended together. Then she dropped spoonfuls of cookie dough onto the cookie sheets. She had watched Lena enough to know that the dough would spread out as it baked, so she tried not to put the blobs of dough too close together.
When both cookie sheets were full, she tried to put them both into the oven, but discovered they wouldn’t both fit at the same time, so she left one out. She set the stove timer and then began cleaning up the used utensils that she was through with, and putting away the flour, sugar, and other ingredients that she had gotten out.
When the timer went off, Victoria pulled the cookie sheet out of the oven and looked at the cookies. They looked okay, and they smelled good. So she set it down on top of the stove and then put the other sheet into the oven. Then she removed the baked cookies from the cookie sheet and put them on a cooling rack like she had seen Lena do.
She cleaned off the sheet, sprayed it again, and put more blobs of cookie dough on it. This process was repeated a couple more times until the last of the dough was in the oven. By this time, the first batch was cool enough to sample, which she did.
“Not bad,” she murmured aloud, as she tasted a cookie.
“You making cookies?”
Victoria jumped and turned toward the voice. It was her grandma who was just coming up the stairs.
“Yeah. My first attempt,” Victoria said. “They’re not too bad, either. Here, try one.”
Grandma was in the kitchen by now and took a cookie from Victoria’s hand. She took a bite and smiled.
“Very good, honey. And this is your first try?”
“Yeah. I’m a late bloomer. How’s Mama feeling?”
“She’s a lot better. In fact, she sent me upstairs to get her a bowl of soup. Says she hungry, so that’s a good sign.”
“Oh, good. I’m gonna run down and see her. Oh, the soup is in here, and here’s a bowl to heat it in.”
Victoria ran down the stairs to her mom’s room after grabbing a couple more cookies.
“Hi, Mama. How are you feeling?” she asked when she entered the bedroom.
“Much better, thanks. I sent Mom upstairs to heat me up some soup.”
“Yeah, I got some out for her. I just made my first batch of cookies. See? I brought you a couple. They’re not as good as yours, but they aren’t too bad.”
Lena took a small bite. Her stomach was still a bit weak, but she wanted to taste her daughter’s cookie.
“Very good, honey. You did a good job.”
“Thanks, Mama.”
She wanted so badly to tell Lena of the murder in the park, but she didn’t know if this was a good time, or if she still felt too bad to listen. But Lena sensed that all was not right with Victoria.
“What’s the matter, honey? What’s bothering you?” she asked.
“Oh, Mama,” Victoria burst out. “It’s just awful. Rafael found a dead girl in the park this afternoon.”
“A dead girl! What happened?” Lena gasped.
“She was murdered. Shot in the head. She’s one of those Asian girls brought over here by the sex traffickers. There was a note in her hand saying that there are more where she came from. That we shut him down, so he is going to shut us down.”
“You mean this is the same people who kidnapped you last winter?”
“Looks like it. Oh, Mama, it’s just terrible. She was so young, and so pretty. She looked so innocent lying there on the path. Poor thing. Her family will never know what happened to her. She had no ID on her. Don’t even know her name.”
“I’m so sorry, honey,” Lena said, patting Victoria’s arm lovingly. “I’m so sorry.”
Just then Signe came in with a bowl of soup and some crackers for Lena. Lena sat up in bed to be able to take the tray.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Oh, Grandma, Rafael found a murdered girl in the park this afternoon.”
“Oh, no! How awful!” Signe exclaimed. “What happened?”
Victoria repeated the story for her grandma, adding details that she hadn’t had a chance yet to tell. The three women commiserated together about the tragedy, going over and over every detail that Victoria knew.
She told them that Rafael was out shopping for security equipment that the policeman had requested they get, and how they were going to stake out the perimeter of the property to try to catch the person or persons coming in to dump the body.
The three generations of women sat and talked for an hour, until Signe decided that Lena was well enough to leave.
“I’d better get home and fix Dad some supper,” she told Lena.
“Thanks so much for taking care of me today, Mom,” Lena said. “I guess I’m still not too old to need my mom.”
“I hope you never are, honey,” Signe said, bending over to give her daughter a hug. “You just stay quiet the rest of the day and I think you’ll be all right.”
“I’m sure. I already feel a whole lot better.”
“Bye, Vicky,” Signe said, giving her granddaughter a hug. “Try not to fret too much. There’s nothing you can do at this point. Rafael is doing all that can be done to try to catch those evil men.”
“Bye, Grandma, I’ll try. Love you,” Victoria said.
“Love you, too, honey. You, too, Lena.”
“Love you, Mom. Thanks again.”
After Signe left, Lena told Victoria that she just had to get up for a while.
“A body can lay in bed only so long,” she said when Victoria protested. “Besides, I’ve got to go to the bathroom.”
“All right, but be careful and don’t fall,” Victoria warned.
While Lena was in the bathroom, Victoria quickly stripped the bed and was just starting to put on clean sheets when Lena came out.
“Here, let me help you with those,” Lena said, grabbing one side of the fitted sheet.
“There was puke on the other ones,” Victoria explained.
“Yeah, I know. I was wishing I had clean sheets, but I didn’t want to say anything to Mom about it.”
“Well, now you do.”
The two of them made short work of remaking the bed, and then they turned the covers back again, ready for Lena to get in.
“I’m not ready to get back in there yet,” she said. “I need to walk around a bit. Maybe even step outside for some fresh air.”
Victoria went ahead of her and opened the patio door so she could walk outside. They didn’t stay out long, because Lena got chilly right away.
It was late when Rafael came home. He was exhausted. Victoria was waiting up for him in the family room, watching TV and sipping hot chocolate.
“Hi, honey,” she said, getting up to greet her husband when he came in. “Did you find what you wanted?”
“Yeah, we got a whole bunch of stuff. Cameras that record, security system, stuff that I’m not even sure what it is or what it does. The place where Sergeant Losey sent me was a great place, and the guys there loaded me down and tried to tell me how it all works.
“By the time we got back to the park, there were a bunch of cops all over the place getting ready for a stakeout. FBI is there, too. They helped Mickey and me set up the cameras. We’ll have to wait until morning when it’s light to set up the security system. It looks like
a battlefield down there with guys in camo all over, lurking behind trees, hiding in the barn and the house, and everywhere. I don’t think anyone will get into the park tonight unnoticed.”
“I sure hope not,” Victoria said fervently. “Want a cup of cocoa?”
“Yeah, that would be good It’s kinda chilly out there tonight.”
Rafael sank down on the sofa, kicked off his shoes, and put his feet up while Victoria went to the kitchen to make his cocoa. He sighed and put his head back and closed his eyes. He opened them again immediately because when he closed them, he could still see the dead girl lying there on the path. He wondered if he would be able to sleep that night. He was tired enough to, but could he keep his eyes closed long enough to pass out?
Victoria was back in a few minutes with cocoa and chocolate chip cookies. She handed them to him without saying a word. Then she curled up on the sofa beside him, careful not to bump him and make him spill. Rafael put the cookies down on his leg and put his now-free arm around Victoria and pulled her close.
“How’s your mom tonight?” he asked. “I almost forgot about her being sick.”
“She’s much better. She ate a little soup this afternoon and walked around a little. I think she’ll be all right. Grandma stayed with her until suppertime when she went home to feed Grandpa.”
“Have you told them?”
“Yeah.”
“Good cookies.”
“I made ‘em this afternoon.”
“You did? Good for you!”
“I had to have something to do. Mama and Grandma were both sleeping, you were gone, and I was all alone and too keyed up to read or watch TV. So I made cookies.”
They talked a little more while Rafael drank his cocoa and ate his cookies. Then they took themselves upstairs to bed. They showered together, letting the hot water relax knotted muscles and relax tense nerves, and taking turns washing each other’s backs. They waited until they had gotten into bed to make love.
Fortunately, the hot shower and sex helped to relax them both enough that they both fell into a deep sleep right away. But in the middle of the night, Victoria sat upright screaming. Startled from his sleep, Rafael sat up, too, and shook her to wake her up.
“It’s okay, baby, it’s okay. You’re all right. You’re okay,” he soothed.
Victoria looked wild-eyed at Rafael for a brief moment until she came awake and fell into his arms sobbing.
“Nightmare?”
“There were so many bodies. So many. All over the park. In the barnyard, on the porch of the house, in the gift shop, sitting in the train cars. All dead. All of them. And one of them was me.”
Chapter Ten
Rafael tightened his grip on her at her last words. That cannot happen, he thought to himself. Not my Victoria. Not my wife.
“You’re all right, baby. It’s not you, and it will never be you. I promise.”
Gently, he laid her down, holding her close until her sobs subsided and she began to relax. This time neither one could go back to sleep. It was two-twenty according to the bedside clock. Too early to get up and too late to take a sleeping pill.
Finally, he turned on the TV with the volume down low, hoping that would lull them both back to sleep. The last time he looked at the clock it was three forty-two. The next thing he knew it was seven-thirty and the sun was streaming in through the east windows.
Groggily, Rafael forced himself to get up. He just sat on the edge of the bed for a moment trying to wake up. Victoria was still sleeping, so he got up quietly and padded into the bathroom. Stripping, he got into the shower and turned the water as cool as he could possibly stand it in an effort to shock himself awake.
After he and dressed and groomed, he slipped out of the bedroom, letting Victoria sleep. Downstairs, Lena was in the kitchen as usual.
“Mornin’, Mama Lena,” he said. “How’re you feeling this morning?”
“Way better, thanks,” she said. “Victoria still asleep?”
“Yeah. She had a nightmare in the middle of the night and we took a while to get back to sleep. She doesn’t need to get up early this morning, but I’ve got to get back down to the park. Didn’t mean to sleep this late.”
“Breakfast?”
“No time. I’ll grab a couple of granola bars and eat them on the way down. See you later.”
He dropped a kiss on Lena’s cheek and took off out the door. Lena heard the quad start up and roar away down the hill. She poured herself a bowl of cold cereal and sat down to eat it. She was all through and putting her bowl and spoon in the dishwasher when Victoria came into the kitchen, looking awful.
“Mornin’, Sweetie,” Lena said.
She wanted to say, you look awful, but she restrained herself.
“Mornin’, Mama. Is Rafael gone?”
“Yes, he left about twenty minutes ago. Want some breakfast?”
“I dunno. How are you feeling this morning?”
“Much better. How about you?”
“Awful. I had a horrible nightmare last night. I dreamed there were dead bodies all over the park. Everywhere. Even sitting up in the train cars. And the worst part is, I was one of them.”
“Oh, baby girl, I’m so sorry,” Lena said, drawing Victoria into a motherly hug. “But it won’t be you. It will never be you.”
“How can anyone say that? I’ve already been kidnapped once. I’m scared, Mama. Scared for me and scared for all those other girls.”
“I know, honey. I know. But you’re going to be all right. And the police are doing everything they can to catch those men and stop this insanity.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
Victoria opened the cupboard and got out a bowl, and then got the Cheerios out of the pantry. She poured some in a bowl, and then sliced a banana on top. She sprinkled a small spoonful of sugar over it all, and then poured on the milk. Carrying it to the table, she sat down to eat.
Filling her stomach made her feel some better and wake up a little more. She put her bowl in the dishwasher and then made a piece of toast. After eating her toast, she told Lena that she was going down to the park.
“I’ve just got to see what’s going on down there,” she told her mom.
“I’d walk down with you, but I’m still feeling a little wobbly,” Lena said. “Maybe tomorrow.”
“Take it easy today, Mama. There’s nothing that really needs doing.”
“I will. You be careful down there. Why don’t you drive down? That way you’re not walking alone.”
“I think I will.”
Victoria went upstairs to finish grooming, grab a sweater and her purse, and then went outside and fired up the Chrysler and drove the half a mile down to the park. She parked it at the back edge of the park beside the quad, and then got out to go find Rafael. A policeman whom she didn’t recognize stopped her before she got ten feet inside the park.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” he said. “May I ask your business here?”
“I’m Victoria Thornton Rivera, co-owner of this park. Here’s my ID,” she said, reaching for her wallet.
He waited for her to produce it, examined it, and then handed it back to her.
“Sorry, ma’am. I have my orders.”
“I know, and I’m glad. Thank you for being here. Do you know where my husband is?”
“Not for sure, but the last time I saw him he was up near the entrance.”
“Thank you, Officer. And thanks again for being here for us.”
“You’re welcome, ma’am.”
She walked the length of the park to the entrance. Rafael was indeed there. He brightened when he saw her coming, but kept on talking to the men around him. When she got up to him, he held out his arm to draw her into the circle.
“Gentlemen, this is my wife, Victoria. Victoria, these men are with the FBI, and are here to help catch whoever is doing this. This is Special Agent Ford, Special Agent Maxwell, Senior Special Agent Carr, and Special Agent Blackburn.”
“Pleased to m
eet you all,” Victoria said, shaking hands with each man in turn.
They voiced their pleasure, too, and then got back to business.
“If you’ll give us your security system, we’ll get it set up. We’ve done a lot of them, so it will be easier for us than for you to try to figure it out,” Agent Carr said.
“I’ll be glad to,” Rafael said. “I was rather dreading tackling that.”
“Ford, you check out all the cameras to make sure they’re working properly and covering the grounds as completely as possible,” Agent Carr said.
“Yes, sir,” Agent Ford responded, turning to go.
“Maxwell and Blackburn, you come with me to get the security system set up,” he told the other two.
“I’ll get it for you,” Rafael said. “It’s over here on the bench.”
He led the men over to the train depot and picked up a large box from the bench. He handed it to Agent Carr, who took it, and then set it back down on the bench so he could open it. While he was opening it and looking at the instructions, Rafael and Victoria stepped a few steps away.
“What’s happening this morning?” she asked. “Did anything happen last night?”
“No,” Rafael said. “There were policemen all over the place, but nobody saw anything. But they are not giving up. They say that it could be days before the guy makes another move. He probably knows that there are cops all over the place, even though they are trying to be discreet.”
“I don’t want another girl dead, but I wish the guy would hurry up and make another move so the cops could catch him,” Victoria said, hugging herself against the chill of the morning.
“I know what you mean. It’s only an hour until time to open. I sure hope that people aren’t too freaked to come. I guess it was on the news last night and this morning. I didn’t see it, did you?”
“No, I didn’t either. Well, something like this will either keep people away or draw the curious out. I just hope the creep doesn’t mingle with the guests and is in here and we don’t even know it. We don’t know what the guy looks like.”
“I’ve thought of that, too, and so have the cops. There’s a whole new shift of plainclothesmen coming in today posing as guests. You and I may not even know who they are, unless they tell us. Are you going to work the gift shop today?”
