The Caledonian Inheritance (The Athena Effect)

by Anderson, Derrolyn

  “Ugh! Conrad! Go away!” she fell back onto her pillow. It was Ramon she wanted, and she didn’t have to wait long, because a minute later he was on the line.

  “Layla? Did I wake you up?”

  “No,” she said sheepishly. “I’m just sleeping in.”

  His voice was terse, “Listen… Something happened. I have to tell you something.”

  She sat up, frightened by the tone of his voice. “What is it?”

  “George Williams hung himself in his cell last night.”

  She was quiet for a moment, thinking of the terrible grief she had unloaded upon him.

  “Layla?”

  “Oh my God,” she whispered. “It’s my fault. I… I went too far.”

  “No!” his voice was forceful. “You did the right thing… You did what had to be done. Amy would have died if we hadn’t have found her!”

  “I know,” Layla said, her voice small.

  “The FBI is out at his property collecting evidence right now. They think it’s possible that he might be linked to some other missing person cases. There’s no telling what kind of terrible things he’s done before…Layla, he had it coming– That bastard deserved to die.”

  “I guess so,” she said.

  “Look, things are pretty crazy around here. The coroner is on the way, and when the FBI gets here, I’m going to have to give all kinds of statements. I gotta warn you, there’s going to be an investigation… I’ll try and keep you out of it, but Sherriff Brown knows you were with me, and what we did was technically illegal.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said, feeling terrible. “Are you in trouble?”

  “I just wanted to give you a heads-up in case the FBI calls you in for questioning. Don’t worry about me… I can handle them.”

  “Okay,” she said, not entirely convinced.

  “Look, I’ll call you as soon as I can get away, and let you know what to expect... Okay?”

  “Okay,” she whispered again.

  “Layla?”

  “Yes?”

  “I… I can’t wait to see you tonight.”

  “Me neither.”

  She hung up the phone and swung her legs out of bed, her mind a jumbled mess of thoughts and emotions. A man had taken his own life because of the ruthless torture she had inflicted on him. He was a terrible person, she told herself, and had shown no mercy to the child he had terrorized. She pushed back her guilt, telling herself that Ramon was right– He had it coming. All of the evil George Williams had done had come back to destroy him.

  Then she remembered the terrible things she’d done in the past– All the blackmail, manipulation and exploitation. She’d been a party to ruined lives, ruined marriages… If there was such a thing as karma, what did she deserve for all the wrong she’d done?

  She wished that Ramon was there with her, thinking about his calm, centered presence and how safe and protected he made her feel. When the phone in her hand rang again she answered it right away.

  ~

  Ramon set his phone down on the desk when Sherriff Brown ducked his head in the door. “Agent Kim wants to have a word with you now. In my office.”

  Ramon followed him in, surprised to see a slip of a girl dressed in a dark blue jacket and slacks. Her long black hair was pulled back tight into a sleek ponytail, and when she stood the unmistakable bulge at her hip told him she was packing a very large sidearm.

  “Officer Ruiz,” Sherriff Brown gestured to the girl, “This is agent Kim from the FBI field office in Ukiah. She’d like to have a word with you about George William’s confession.” He turned to leave them alone. “Excuse me while I get that footage queued up.”

  Agent Kim offered her hand for a shake. “Pleased to meet you. Congratulations on recovering the girl.” She gestured to a chair next to hers, all brisk efficiency. “Have a seat.”

  Ramon complied, sitting uneasily while she turned her own chair to face him. She pulled a yellow legal pad and pen out of her briefcase, regarding him shrewdly. “Tell me everything that happened last night,” she ordered, her pen poised over the paper.

  Ramon sat up straight, meeting her direct gaze. “I was going out to dinner, and I needed to stop by the office for a minute–”

  “For what?” she interjected.

  “My bank card,” he lied. “I realized that I’d left it in my desk.”

  “Then what happened?”

  “He started talking to us when we passed by the holding cell–”

  “Us?”

  “My date was with me.”

  She raised her eyebrows at him. “You brought a date in to speak with a prisoner?”

  “No… She came into the office with me and he just started talking to us.”

  “I see,” she said. “How unorthodox.”

  “This is a small town. We rarely have anyone in the holding cell overnight.”

  “I see,” she repeated cryptically.

  Ramon nodded, not sure what she meant. He tried to distract her, asking her some questions. “How did it go today? Did you find anything else on this creep’s property? I mean, any other evidence?”

  She spoke clinically, without any of the camaraderie he’d come to expect from fellow law enforcement professionals, “Dozens of samples have been collected and sent to the lab, but it could take weeks to process. I expect a crew to arrive tomorrow with ground penetrating radar.”

  “That’s good,” he nodded, looking up to see that Sherriff Brown had returned.

  “Do you have the surveillance ready for me?” Agent Kim asked.

  The sheriff took a seat behind his cluttered desk and turned on the monitor mounted on the wall. He fast-forwarded through hours of footage of George Williams pacing, clearly agitated. Finally they all watched as he took the sheets from his bed, knotted them into a noose and hung himself from the light fixture in his cell.

  Further in the footage they saw the receptionist pass by and spot his dangling body, dropping her coffee mug in surprise. Sherriff Brown straightened his chair. “As you can see, it’s clearly a suicide. The man was completely alone.”

  “How long before he was discovered?” she asked.

  “A little more than an hour. We had no reason to put him on suicide watch… His attorney was all set to bail him out first thing in the morning. He was laughing at us about it.”

  “Yeah,” Ramon said angrily.

  Agent Kim turned her attention to him. “Exactly how did you find the girl? How did you know where to look?”

  “He told us she was in the barn,” Ramon replied truthfully.

  “Hmmm,” agent Kim said. “I’d like to see the footage of his confession.”

  The sheriff scrolled back to the first moment that Ramon and Layla came into view. Ramon watched, re-living the whole thing in his mind. He was amazed all over again by Layla’s phenomenal abilities.

  Agent Kim was a stickler for detail, and as she watched she kept glancing down at her notepad to jot down her observations. Officer Ruiz had told her that they passed by the holding cell, but it looked to her like they’d made a straight line for it. The suspect didn’t call out, but rather looked up when they approached him.

  “Please replay this,” she asked Sherriff Brown. “I’d like to take a second look.”

  She leaned forward, watching the recorded exchange carefully. Officer Ruiz seemed angry, and wanted to leave, but the girl resisted, turning back towards the suspect. When Layla snapped her fingers to get the caged man’s attention, Ramon saw the agent’s eyes narrow, and when the man fell to the floor in misery she leaned forward in her chair, rapt, “What is she doing to him?”

  Thank God there’s no sound, thought Ramon.

  “He broke down crying and told us where the girl was… We thought he might be lying, but we decided that we had to try. He gave us verbal permission to go on his property.”

  She looked at him appraisingly, “We’ll never be able to ask about that now… will we?”

  Ramon looked down at her notepad,
only catching one word before she snatched it away from his snooping eyes.

  The word was “hypnotist”.

  ~

  Layla brought the phone to her ear, “Ramon?” she said eagerly.

  “Layla, my dear. I have some exciting news.”

  She cringed at the sound of Professor Reed’s voice and hers immediately went cold and hard. “What do you want?”

  “I know who your father is. I’ve located him.”

  “Where?” she asked skeptically.

  “He’s a very successful businessman from out of state, but I managed to arrange for a meeting. I’ve been trying to call since yesterday.”

  “What’s his name?”

  “I’m afraid I’m sworn to silence. He wants to meet you first.”

  “Why should I believe you?” she asked.

  “Because I’ve already met with him privately … Just to make certain that I had the right man.”

  “And?”

  “The resemblance is remarkable…”

  “Really?” she asked, allowing a tiny bit of hope to creep into her soul. “Does he know about me and Michael?”

  “Yes, and I think you’ll be surprised when you hear what he has to say about your mother…”

  “What?” she asked avidly, her curiosity getting the better of her. “What did he say?”

  “I’m afraid this is much too personal in nature to go over on the phone. I had an extremely difficult time getting him to even speak with me– He’s very concerned about the prospect of blackmail.”

  “Blackmail?” she was aghast. “But I don’t want his money!”

  “Like I said… He’s a very prominent businessman and he has a family of his own to think of…”

  “We have more siblings?” she gasped.

  “Apparently you do, but he won’t go into detail until he sees you. He says he’ll know for certain when he lays eyes on you.”

  “I have to tell Michael,” she said, excited. The thought that she might have another brother or sister thrilled her, making her heart beat a little faster and clouding her judgment.

  “That might not be such a good idea… At least not until he knows for certain that you’re his biological children.”

  “Why?” she asked.

  “He wants to meet with you alone first.”

  “Alone?” Layla’s guard went up. “Why me?”

  “He knows that Michael and I are no longer in contact… And I may have mentioned how much you look like your mother. He was very fond of Trina.”

  There it was again. Her mother’s name re-ignited the indefinable yearning she’d felt her whole life. And now she was presented with the opportunity to find out more– Maybe this was her reward for returning a kidnapped child to her family.

  “Let’s try and keep this reunion positive, shall we?” he said, again reminding her that Michael wanted nothing to do with him. “I’m up north in Ukiah… I certainly hope you can meet us here today. Your father has business that will take him out of the country first thing Sunday. I was lucky I caught up with him when I did, because he’ll be in Hong Kong for the next six months.”

  “Today? I… I don’t know.”

  “This may be your only chance. He seems very suspicious about the whole thing. In fact, he’s demanding a paternity test.”

  “I can’t imagine why he wouldn’t trust you,” she said acerbically.

  “Now Layla,” he clucked his tongue. “That’s not very grateful of you. After I’ve taken the trouble to travel all the way up here.”

  She thought for a minute, weighing her options. “Alright, but we meet in a public place.”

  “There’s a restaurant in my hotel lobby, why don’t we meet for tea? Say… two o’clock?”

  She checked the time, thinking she’d have plenty of time to get home before Ramon got off work. “Okay,” she agreed.

  After he gave her the directions she hung up and started pacing.

  Ukiah. It made sense, because that was where her mother’s orphanage had been located. If she’d been adopted to a local family, it was possible she’d had a romance with a local boy…. And that boy might be her and Michael’s father.

  She tried to call Ramon to tell him, but his phone rang and rang, finally going to messages. He probably has enough trouble to deal with today, she thought. She showered and dressed, images of the father she’d never met taking form in her mind. Still a little uneasy, she decided to try and convince Michael to come with her, thinking he had as much right to meet his father as she did.

  She knocked on his door, peeking in when there was no answer. The room was empty, his usual spot in front of the computer screen vacated. She made her way downstairs to find Cali sipping coffee and flipping through a cookbook, a sleeping dog curled up at her feet.

  “Where’s Michael?” she asked.

  “Good morning to you too,” Cali said, glancing up and doing a double take when she saw how agitated Layla was. “What on earth happened?”

  “Nothing,” she said, futilely trying to conceal her apprehension from Cali.

  She put the book down. “Did something go wrong with Ramon last night?” she asked gently.

  Layla slid into the chair next to her. She had plenty of other reasons to be edgy aside from the possibility of finally meeting her father.

  “Something bad happened,” she admitted. “Well, first something good and then something bad.” She told Caledonia about the events of the day before, explaining that she was afraid that she had ended up causing trouble for Ramon.

  “How awful! But it sounds like that man got exactly what he deserved.”

  “I guess so,” sighed Layla.

  Cali tried to cheer her up. “You should feel good about the whole thing… I mean, you saved an innocent life and got telling Ramon the truth out of the way all in one day!”

  “Yeah,” she agreed, and her eyes took on a satisfied glow when she focused on the positive.

  “I told you everything would work out okay,” Cali said confidently. It was easy to be optimistic when you were in love, Layla thought. From now on she was going to try and be a glass-half-full kind of person too.

  “So,” she asked, “Where is Michael anyway?”

  “Him and Calvin left early to go see some dirt-bike races in Mendocino. They won’t be back until later on tonight.”

  “Oh. Why didn’t you go with them?”

  “I have to work today, and besides… I think a little male bonding is in order.”

  Layla reached down to pat Poddy on his brushy head. “You’re probably right. It’s good to see Michael get out of his room for a change.” Caledonia agreed, clearing the table before she got up to get ready for work, leaving her cousin sitting alone to grapple with her anxiety.

  Layla tried to call Ramon once more with no luck, putting her phone back into her purse, lips pursed in frustration. It’ll be okay, she convinced herself. She’d already faced Teddy down once and survived the encounter. He seemed so pathetic and weak, a far cry from the omnipotent dictator that had run their regimented household with an iron fist. She’d be in a public place with her phone right by her side.

  If there was even the remotest chance that she could meet her father and find out more about her mother she had to take it.

  What was the worst thing that could happen?

  ~

  Chapter Nineteen

  BETRAYAL

  ~

  Layla parked her car, taking a good look around the crowded lot. People bustled in and out of the busy hotel lobby as well as the attached restaurant. It was a very public place, and that put her at ease. Teddy hated making a scene, and if he was lying about her father to get her to meet with him, he was going to be in for a monumental one.

  The restaurant had a separate entrance facing the parking lot, and when she stepped out of her little blue convertible she knew the moment of truth was upon her. She ran her hands over her hair nervously, wondering what her father might look like. Anxious excitement mingl
ed with dread in the pit of her stomach.

  She entered the restaurant to find Teddy seated alone at the table nearest the door. He was back to his dapper self, neatly attired in a formal shirt and tie topped with a tailored vest, casually reading a newspaper and sipping a cup of tea. A pair of sunglasses and a teapot sat on the table before him. He looked up and folded his newspaper with a smile.

  “Layla,” he gestured to a chair opposite him, set with an empty teacup. Intense violet relief pulsed with crimson excitement as he stood to greet her. He took a sip of his tea casually, but she could see his mounting anticipation. The odd thought crossed her mind that he was as excited as Poddy was just before you gave him a treat.

  She slipped into the chair cautiously, looking around the restaurant. “Well? Where is he?” she asked.

  “He’ll be here any minute,” Professor Reed said, pouring her a cup from the pot. “Have a cup of tea with me while we wait.”

  She sipped her tea nervously, looking at the door every time someone new walked in.

  “Are you here alone?” he asked casually, looking out the window to the parking lot. “I almost expected Caledonia to accompany you.”

  “Why would you say that?” she asked. “Caledonia has nothing to do with this.”

  “I assumed you were in touch with her… You being up in this neck of the woods and all…”

  “She wants nothing to do with you,” Layla said truthfully.

  “What about Michael?” he asked.

  “He feels the same way,” she frowned.

  He smiled, looking more and more like the cat that just ate the canary. A waitress came by to take their order, but the Professor waved her off. “Well just be having some tea for now. We’re waiting for a third party.”

  “When exactly do you expect him?” Layla asked, her mouth suddenly dry. “What did he say?”

  “Relax,” he said condescendingly, nodding with approval when she finished her tea.

  He got a faraway look in his eye as he mused, “You know Layla, I now believe that everything that happened was meant to be. I was going in the wrong direction after all, but now that I’m aware your special skills are purely genetic my research has entered a completely new and exciting arena… And it’s all coming together brilliantly.”