Stalking Ground

by Margaret Mizushima

  There was a long silence while Willie seemed to be wrestling with his response. When he spoke, he sounded sort of choked up, too. “Have you heard from Mom?”

  “No. Have you?”

  “Naw. She wouldn’t have any idea where I am.”

  “I tried to trace you both a few times—on our department computer—but I didn’t have any luck.”

  “I wish I’d known you would talk to me. Maybe I’d have called sooner.”

  “Why would you think I wouldn’t talk to you?”

  “Well . . . I didn’t exactly protect you like a big brother should, did I?”

  Mattie was dumbfounded. “Protect me? You took the shit, Willie. It was you and Mom who took most of the blows.”

  “I should’ve stopped him from hurting you, Mattie Lu. I should’ve figured out a way to stop him.”

  A cold thread was starting to knot in Mattie’s stomach. “He didn’t hurt me that bad.”

  “How can you say that? I know how he’d visit you at night. I saw how shell-shocked you looked in the morning.”

  Mattie’s stomach clenched, and she fought a wave of nausea. “I—” Her throat closed, and she couldn’t utter a sound.

  “I’m sorry, Mattie Lu.” Willie sounded like he was struggling to speak, too. “I’m sorry that I had to bring that up, and I’m sorry I didn’t take better care of you.”

  “You—” Mattie cleared her throat and forced the words out. “You have nothing to apologize to me for.”

  Willie sniffed, and in the silence that followed, Mattie could tell he was crying. She pressed the phone hard against her ear, her other hand pressed to her stomach. Holding on, she rocked forward and back.

  “Can I see you sometime?” Willie said. “I mean, would you come out to L.A. and see me? I don’t think I could ever come back to Timber Creek. But I’d like you to meet Tamara and her kid, Elliot.”

  “Maybe.” Mattie swallowed hard. “I don’t get much time off, but I’ll look into it.”

  “You can call me any time. On this number.”

  “Yeah.” She needed to get off the phone. Now.

  “Well, then . . . bye.”

  “Good-bye, Willie.” She disconnected the call. A sob from somewhere deep inside jolted her, making her body jump. She clamped a hand over her mouth and bent forward. An icy fist had delivered a sucker-punch to her belly. Robo rose from his bed and padded over to nudge her arm with his wet nose.

  Hoarse with pent-up tears, she said, “Let’s go for a run.”

  She put on sweats, gloves, and running shoes. Stooped like an old woman, she walked to the hook where she’d left Robo’s leash. Over and over, she told herself, Don’t think, just run. Don’t think, just run.

  *

  Mattie sat on a rocky outcropping at the top of T-hill with Robo sitting next to her, panting like crazy and blowing a cloud of steam into the cold air. She’d run with him matching her step for step until she’d decided to quit for his sake. The sky had cleared and a nearly full moon lit the landscape. Below her, lights from houses and streetlights defined the boundaries of Timber Creek.

  She and Robo had climbed the sloping backside of a sheer stone wall, and now she sat with her legs dangling over the edge. She picked up a rock that filled her palm and threw it as far as she could. It clattered as it hit the rocky terrain of the hill, and then rolled down, creating a small avalanche of clattering stones that rolled with it.

  A chill breeze blew from the northwest, and Mattie shivered. As was typical, Robo bobbed his head and sniffed, examining whatever scent the wind carried. She took off her glove and buried her cold fingers in the soft fur at his throat.

  “Thanks for coming with me,” she said softly. “I guess you didn’t have much of a choice, did you?”

  Robo continued to sniff the air for a few seconds, and then lay still and alert, head up, paws out front. Mattie stroked one of his paws, picked it up and held it for a while in her hand, the connection warm and comforting. He touched her hand with his mouth—one quick, wet touch—and then he lifted his face to the wind again.

  She didn’t know what visits Willie was talking about, but while she ran, vague memories had come in flashes. One so sharp, it cut her to the core. “If you tell, I’ll kill your mother.”

  Shame washed over her in waves. She struggled to remember exactly what happened, but all she could imagine was a frightened little girl. Someone else? No—me.

  Willie’s words, meant only to heal, had ignited an awful tumult inside her. What was she supposed to do with this pain? She bent forward and wrapped her arms across her middle, quaking like an aspen leaf.

  Suck it up, Cobb. Coach’s words from her days of cross-country training came back to her. Ignore the pain. Keep running. Go farther and faster than you ever believed you could. Each footfall drummed that into her head, year after year.

  In her job, she worked with victims; she didn’t consider herself one. She wouldn’t allow herself to become one. Willie’s words didn’t have to change her life. She’d sealed off these memories before; she could do it again.

  Mattie threw another rock out into the air, listening to it clatter down below in the shadows where it was too dark to see what kind of following it gathered. She could hear the stones clacking against each other.

  “We’d better go home, Robo. It’s way too cold to sit up here.” She stroked his velvety muzzle while he played with her fingertips, the contact making him sneeze. “We’ll have to walk. I don’t think I could run one more step.”

  Mattie picked her way down off the backside of the outcropping, letting Robo lead. She figured he could see the rocky path better than she could. On her way down, she thought about her father being killed in prison. And for the first time, it made her glad.

  Chapter 19

  Monday

  After tossing and turning most of the night, Mattie finally fell asleep sometime during the early hours of the morning. At six o’clock, Robo nudged her awake, eager for his morning run. Never mind that they’d returned from running their legs off only a few hours before.

  “Let’s sleep in,” she told him. “Go back to bed.”

  She watched him circle before lying down and cradling his head on his front paws. He noticed her watching him, and when their eyes met, he raised his head to stare, ears pricked forward. She didn’t know if she had the energy to deal with him, so she pulled her quilt up over her face to escape the chill in the room as well as his laser-beam gaze.

  The radio alarm went off, broadcasting the six o’clock weather report. “This storm has passed through and milder temperatures will return for a few days. But by Thursday, another front will organize from the north, bringing snow to the lower elevations. Stay tuned for details on what you can expect.”

  She hit the off button and tried to settle down under the cover again. Thoughts of her conversation with Willie circled in her mind, picking up where she’d left off during the night.

  Her cell phone rang. It was no good; she might as well get up. Snaking one arm out from under the warm quilt, she picked up the phone and checked the caller ID. Mama T. She connected the call.

  “Good morning, mijita. Did I catch you sleeping?”

  Their little joke warmed Mattie’s heart. “You won’t catch me sleeping, Mama. How are you this morning?”

  “Fat and sassy. Will you come for breakfast?”

  She pictured herself sitting at the table discussing Willie’s phone call, and her spirits sank. “No thank you, I can’t make it today. I have to go into work early.”

  “I have your favorite. Breakfast burrito with green chili.”

  Despite her typical appetite for anything generated in Mama T’s kitchen, this morning the very thought of food nauseated her. “Everything you cook is my favorite. You know that.”

  “Won’t you come?”

  “Sorry, Mama. I can’t. Another time.”

  “Okay,” Mama T said. “Did your brother call?”

  It had been their major top
ic for weeks. Mattie needed to be honest, or her foster mom would never forgive her. “He called last night. I was just going to tell you.”

  “Mi cielo! Why didn’t you call me?”

  The call had taken her mama by surprise, just as it had Mattie. Enough to warrant her favorite expletive: “my heavens.” “It was late, Mama. You would’ve been in bed. I figured it could wait until this morning, so I’m telling you now.”

  “What did he say?”

  “Well, let’s see.” There was only so much she could say. “He’s working in Hollywood as a car mechanic.”

  “That is wonderful. Does he know any movie stars?”

  Despite the strain of withholding secrets from the woman who had always shown her nothing but love, Mattie smiled. “I didn’t ask. But I bet he does, don’t you?”

  “Ask him next time. What else did he say?”

  Mattie told her about Willie having a girlfriend, going through rehab, and now a twelve-step program.

  “That should help him, don’t you think?” Mama said.

  “Yes, I agree.”

  “When will you see each other again?”

  Mama seemed to think it a foregone conclusion. “I don’t know. Willie doesn’t want to come back to Timber Creek.”

  “You go to California.”

  “It’s hard to take time off, Mama.”

  “Hmm.”

  It was time to get off the phone. “I’ve got to go, Mama. Robo needs his run, and I’ve got to shower. I don’t want to be late.” The punctuality card always worked with her foster mother.

  “All right. But try to arrange some time off to go see your brother. He’s family.”

  “You’re my family, Mama.”

  “Si. I am, mijita. Don’t you forget that.”

  “I won’t.” Her throat was beginning to swell and tears threatened. “Have a good day.”

  “You too.”

  Mattie ended the call and collapsed onto her pillow, exhausted. Robo stood and approached the bed, this time placing his muzzle on the edge to stare at her. She turned to her side and stroked his head, thinking of the word family and all its meanings. Her mind skipped around, touching on Cole and his daughters, the Hartmans and their dead child, her broken and dysfunctional kin. And Robo. He was her family now. She needed to get up and take care of him.

  She sat, swinging her legs outside the quilt. The cold hardwood floor shocked her bare feet, and she got up to close the window, understanding now why she always needed it open during the night. Escape.

  *

  The first person Mattie met at the station was Brody, and his mood had not improved. She took one look at the darkness in his face and didn’t bother with a greeting. “Did you talk with the sheriff this morning?” she asked him.

  “I did.” He turned away and started toward his office. “He wants to see you first thing.”

  Rainbow winced at her desk where she’d apparently watched Mattie and Brody’s brief interchange. Mattie raised a hand in greeting and went over to say good morning.

  “Are you okay?” Rainbow asked.

  Mattie searched her friend’s face, noting her swollen eyes and reddened nose. “I’m fine. You?”

  Rainbow nodded—a small, quick movement of her head. “Sheriff McCoy said for you to join him in his office as soon as you check in.” She scrutinized Mattie. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  Would the whole world be able to tell that she’d changed? She would have to try harder. “Yeah, I’m just tired. I’ll clock in and meet with the sheriff.”

  “I’ll let him know you’re here.”

  When Mattie tapped at the door of his office, McCoy said, “Come in, Deputy.”

  After glancing at her, he did a double take and a slight frown creased his brow. “Have a seat.”

  Mattie sat in one of the two chairs in front of his desk, and Robo sat on the floor next to her without needing direction.

  McCoy gave her a searching look while he spoke. “I’ve read your report from your interview with Rainbow. I understand you’re following up on that this morning.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Deputies Brody and Johnson will share patrol this morning. Deputy Brody will handle briefing for shift change, but you don’t need to attend. You should have the staff office to yourself most of the morning. Any questions?” He gave her a probing look.

  “No, I’ll get started,” Mattie said, hoping he wouldn’t ask her how she felt and all that stuff. She pushed up out of her chair and headed toward the door with Robo at heel, relieved that McCoy remained silent.

  She found the staff office empty. After logging on to the computer, she searched a business directory for chiropractors in Willow Springs. Although much larger than Timber Creek, Willow Springs was by far smaller than Denver. There were about five chiropractors in the town, and it took only a second to hit on one who had the first name Scott. Dr. Scott Stroud—Willow Springs Family Chiropractic.

  Mattie glanced at the clock. Stella was due in at eleven, which gave her four hours to drive to Willow Springs to interview Scott Stroud, plenty of time. Taking Robo with her, she cleared her plan with the sheriff, checked out with Rainbow, and set off toward her destination. In shortly under an hour, she reached the chiropractor’s office, a squatty, blond brick building that looked like it had been built in the sixties, and she parked out front.

  Leaving Robo in the SUV, she went inside and introduced herself to the receptionist. After showing her badge, she convinced the woman that her business was important enough to interrupt the doctor. The receptionist ushered her into a small office where Mattie took a seat in front of the desk and waited for only a few minutes.

  Scott Stroud entered the room, giving Mattie a friendly smile as he introduced himself and shook hands. His grip was firm, and he wore an open expression on his round face. With his sandy hair, blue eyes, and athletic build, he might have been a model for a wholesome-living magazine. “How can I help you, Officer?” he asked, taking a seat on the other side of his desk.

  Mattie told him that she was investigating a crime in Timber Creek, but she withheld further details. “Did a massage therapist named Adrienne Howard once work for you?”

  “Yes.” He stretched out the syllable as if hesitant to acknowledge it.

  “How long was she employed?”

  “Maybe six months, but I’m guessing.”

  “Why did she leave?” She hoped to find out if something—or someone—drove Adrienne away from Willow Springs.

  “She accepted a job offer there in Timber Creek. I can’t tell you the name of her new place of employment, but it was some kind of health spa. I suspect you know the place.”

  “Did you speak with Adrienne or have any type of correspondence with her after she moved away?”

  “No.”

  “Did you and Adrienne have a friendship or any type of relationship outside of working hours?”

  “Well . . .” He paused, a worried frown clouding his face. “Yes and no. I need to know why we’re having this conversation.”

  “I’m sorry to have to inform you, but I’m investigating Adrienne Howard’s death.”

  “Good grief!” He pushed his chair back from his desk. “How did she die?”

  “I can’t share details, but I need information about her personal life. What type of relationship did you and Adrienne have?”

  “Adrienne was dating one of my best friends. I introduced the two of them. God—I can’t believe she’s dead.”

  His disbelief seemed genuine, and Mattie had no reason yet to think of him as a suspect. But she needed to know more about this friend. “What’s your friend’s name?”

  “Jim Cameron. He’s a real estate agent here. I’ve known him for years. They only dated for a short time, but . . . he’s going to be shocked.”

  “What agency is he with?”

  “His own. Cameron Realty and Associates.”

  It would be easy to retrieve an address; she didn’t need to waste t
ime asking for it. She already knew the breakup wasn’t easy. She decided to fish for general information. “Why did Adrienne decide to change jobs and move from Willow Springs?”

  “She said she needed new scenery, and she liked the idea of helping set up a health resort. She seemed unhappy after she and Jim broke things off, although from what he said, the decision was mutual.”

  “Oh?” Mattie hoped he would keep talking.

  “He didn’t seem as torn up about it as she was. But Jim doesn’t let much of anything get him down.”

  She waited, but this time he didn’t fill the silence. “Did he want to patch things up?”

  “No, not at all. He was dating someone else by the next weekend. She didn’t want to patch things up either. Instead, she just wanted to move away. Start again. I hate to say this, but that seemed to be her pattern. As I recall, she didn’t stay very long at any of the jobs she’d had previously. But it’s hard to find well-qualified candidates like Adrienne here, so I decided not to let that influence my decision to hire her. She was good at her work and a pleasant person to be around. Very professional. Smart.”

  “Did she work somewhere else in Willow Springs before you hired her?”

  “No, she had just moved here from California. I don’t mind sharing her past employment information with you, but I need you to get that from my office manager. May I introduce you to her now? I really should get back to my patients.”

  “Just a couple more questions. Do you know a man named Roger Howard?”

  “No. Is he related to Adrienne?”

  “Her brother. Did she ever mention a brother?”

  “No, I don’t think so. She didn’t talk about her family. But we didn’t spend much time together after hours. She spent most of that with Jim. I suppose you’ll be wanting to talk to him, too.”

  “I will. I’d appreciate it if you’d let me break the news to him rather than you calling him right now.”

  “Like I said, I need to get back to work.”

  “Just one more question, Dr. Stroud. Where were you Wednesday afternoon?”

  “Is that when Adrienne died? Wait a minute—are you telling me someone killed her?”