Untold

by Nancy Ann Healy

  Alex shook her head ruefully. “That’s not true.”

  “Which part? The part about you being the best agent I know or the part about my father?” Claire replied. “It is true,” she disagreed. “Cass knows that. She knows you. It’s like you’re asking her to be responsible for changing you.”

  “I have changed.”

  “Not really.”

  “Suddenly, you’re an expert?” Alex replied harshly.

  “You were always a sap,” Claire picked up a rock.

  Alex laughed. “Fuck you.”

  “And, again with the fucking.” Claire sighed. “Look, I don’t know anything about relationships. We both know that’s true. I don’t know the first thing about families. I do know Cass. And, I do know you. Better than you think. The only way you will ever let her down is by not being yourself and being honest. That’s it. Stop trying to be who you think she needs.” Claire chuckled.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Just realizing how much you and Hawk are alike.”

  “What are you talking about?” Alex asked.

  “Hawk wanting to marry me. That’s all about being what she thinks I need. It’s about proving she really loves me. I already know that,” Claire said. “I don’t need her to be anyone but Hawk. No matter what, I’d still love her. I’m not going to be the reason she leaves behind what she loves—no way.”

  Alex looked at Claire. It wasn’t the first time that Claire had surprised her. She heard a compassionate wisdom in Claire’s words. She recognized that wisdom long ago in Cassidy. “What have you been reading—Tony Robbins or Dr. Ruth?”

  “Neither. Think they could help?”

  Alex laughed.

  “Look, Alex, I know you don’t like me all that much, even if you do trust me as your partner. Cass is right on this one. This is who you are, part of it anyway.”

  “She doesn’t feel safe,” Alex sighed.

  “Well, about that—I think I have an idea.”

  “I’m listening.”

  ***

  “Pretty sure the doorway will stay up without you holding it,” Cassidy’s voice echoed in the darkened room.

  Alex plopped down onto the bed. “I’m sorry.”

  Cassidy pulled Alex into her arms. “Me too.”

  “Cass, what would you think about your Dad coming to stay here for a while?”

  “You mean having my father live here?”

  “I guess you could call it that. Just for a while.”

  Cassidy stiffened beside Alex.

  “Bad idea?” Alex guessed.

  “No,” Cassidy replied.

  Alex sat up, clicked on the light and looked at Cassidy. “Talk to me.”

  “I know why you’re suggesting it.”

  “Actually, it was Claire’s idea.”

  Cassidy’s surprise was evident.

  “I know! Who knew she had a brain and a heart?”

  “Stop,” Cassidy laughed. “She’s growing on you.”

  “She made some good points.”

  “Not the least of which is that my father should stay here while you work this case.”

  “That was one of them.”

  “And, that would let him spend more time with Dylan. Maybe he would be able to put your mind at ease about Dylan joining the Navy somehow,” Cassidy guessed.

  “Tell me that you wouldn’t feel a little safer with him here.”

  “Physically? Yes.”

  “Talk to me,” Alex repeated.

  “Oh, Alex… I don’t know what to say. I love my father. Sometimes, it’s hard to be around him—to watch him with the kids. I…”

  “I know. I know you missed so many things. I know. Maybe this is a chance for you too, Cass.”

  “If I agree, do you promise you aren’t going to quit again?”

  “I’m not going to quit either way.”

  Cassidy raised her brow.

  “I never want to see you hurt, Cass. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s all right.”

  “No, it isn’t. You’ve given up so many things to take care of all of us.”

  “I’ve given up nothing,” Cassidy said. She took Alex’s face in her hands. “This is who I am, Alex. You’re talking about teaching. Someday, I’ll go back. I didn’t quit. I chose something that means more to me. It’s not the same, love. You have this crazy idea that everything I do is for you. I’ve told you a million times, it’s every bit as much for me. This is where I want to be. And, I know that if what I wanted was to work in a classroom again, you would move heaven and earth so that I could. You have to trust that I would do the same for you.”

  Alex nodded. “I know. The thing is, sometimes I feel like all I can give you is protection.”

  “Alex, you give all of us so much more than you realize. All these years, I should think you would know by now that no one can make me laugh the way you do. It’s the same with the kids. That’s the best protection; you know?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, when the bad things happen it’s all the laughter and all the memories of the good stuff that carries you through.”

  Alex kissed Cassidy’s forehead. Cassidy had been repeating that mantra for years. “So, you’ve said a few thousand times.”

  “Mmm. Maybe by the time I reach a million, you will listen.”

  Alex shed her clothes and flipped off the light. She pulled Cassidy into her arms. “Still want to work off dinner?”

  “If that entails you holding me while I snore us both to sleep—yes.”

  Alex laughed. “Je t’aime.”

  “Je t’adore, love.”

  ***

  Alex walked into the kitchen to find Claire sipping a cup of coffee.

  “At this rate, I will need to put on an addition,” Alex commented as she poured herself a cup from the coffee pot.

  “Hey, you’re the one competing with the Waltons. I’m just a couch crasher. You might need a mountain with all these kids you keep having.”

  Alex rolled her eyes.

  “So? Where are we off to today?” Claire inquired.

  Alex sipped her coffee. “I think we’ll take a little hike.”

  “More woods? Does Cass have any bug spray?”

  “Are you sure you don’t mean snake repellent?” Alex teased.

  “Do they make that?”

  Alex laughed.

  “You think that letter was a clue, don’t you?” Claire guessed.

  “I do, and if I’m right, we need to look for some place with flowers.”

  “You mean like a garden?”

  “Maybe.”

  Claire gulped the last bit of her coffee and placed her mug in the dishwasher. “Well, let’s go.”

  Alex looked at the mug in her hand.

  “I’ll buy on the way.”

  “You’ll buy?”

  “Listen, Wonderland ain’t easy to find, Toles. You want to catch the rabbit we’d better find his hole soon.”

  Alex blinked rapidly. “What was in your coffee?”

  “I’m not the one writing nursery rhymes.”

  “Alice in Wonderland is a book, not a nursery rhyme.”

  “Yeah? Well, it’s still creepy,” Claire said as she and Alex made their way toward the door.

  “Alice in Wonderland is creepy?”

  “Smoking caterpillars and shrinking girls? Yeah, Toles—it’s creepy.”

  Alex watched as Claire climbed into the car.

  “Well? Come on, Alice! You want to catch the rabbit or what?”

  Alex shook her head. If we meet a smoking caterpillar, I quit. I don’t care what Cass says.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “What are you doing?” Alex asked Claire.

  Claire flopped down onto a large rock beside the trail they had been walking. “We’ve been walking through these woods for three hours.”

  “And?”

  “We’ve checked out seven places that Kaylee photographed and I’ve yet to see any cockle anything.�
��

  Alex groaned. “There has to be something.”

  “Yeah, but what and where?”

  Alex sat down under a tree and pulled a binder out of her backpack. She began flipping through the pages. She massaged her right temple with her thumb while her left hand leafed through the pages.

  “What are you looking for?” Claire asked. She sipped from her bottle of water. “God, I wish this was wine,” she muttered.

  Alex stopped turning the pages and leaned closer to the binder in her lap.

  “What is it?” Claire wondered.

  “Shit. We’ve been looking in the wrong places.”

  “No shit, Toles.”

  “What if the only time there are flowers is in the fall, not the spring or summer?”

  “Come again?”

  Alex moved to sit beside Claire. “We’ve been looking at places that show buds in spring and summer.”

  “Yeah?”

  “What if what we’re looking for isn’t there until autumn?”

  Claire groaned, stuffed her water bottle back in her backpack and dusted off her pants. “You owe me wine. I suppose you have an idea where we’re headed?”

  Alex placed the binder back in her pack and shrugged. “One of about a hundred places.”

  “A lot of wine, Toles. And, shoes. You definitely owe me shoes.”

  ***

  Cassidy opened the door and greeted her father with a smile.

  James McCollum leaned in and kissed his daughter on the cheek. “Cassie.”

  “Hi, Dad.”

  “Are you sure you are okay with this?” he asked.

  Cassidy nodded and rubbed her father’s arm. “I am. Come in.”

  “How are you doing?” he asked Cassidy as he followed her to the living room.

  “I’m okay, Dad.”

  “Your mother tells me you have some news.”

  “Is that right?”

  “Yes, but she wouldn’t tell me what it was.”

  Cassidy chuckled. Her mother amused her. “Any guesses?”

  “Well, after Alex called me, I guessed you might be headed back to work.”

  “And, you thought we needed you to babysit?”

  Jim laughed. “Guess I wouldn’t be the first choice, huh?”

  “I wouldn’t say that exactly.”

  “Mm. So? You and Alex are moving? You’re already married so it can’t be that.”

  “We’re expecting.”

  Jim’s eyes widened. “As in a baby?”

  “Well, as much as I enjoy Alex’s love of X-files, I certainly hope it isn’t an alien.”

  “That’s terrific, Cassie.”

  “Really?”

  “Of course.”

  Cassidy sighed.

  “I can’t imagine it was unexpected,” Jim winked at his daughter.

  “Not in the typical way—no. We’d hoped. I’d hoped. I wasn’t sure it would happen again.”

  Jim smiled.

  “You think we’re crazy, don’t you? I mean, one on the way to college and one just arriving at the same time.”

  “No.”

  “Really?”

  “Not at all,” Jim replied. “Your mother and I tried like hell to give you a brother or sister. It just wasn’t in the cards.”

  Cassidy noted the sadness in her father’s voice. “Mom never mentioned that.”

  “No? Well, I supposed it’s probably still hard for her to talk about. She would say that we struck gold on the first try. Does that surprise you?”

  “That you struck gold on the first try? No,” Cassidy teased.

  Jim chuckled. “Well, we get to live vicariously through you—with time off, I might add.”

  “Ahh, the advantages of being a grandparent,” Cassidy said. Jim smiled, but Cassidy immediately felt the sadness from her father. “Dad?”

  “I just wish we hadn’t missed so much time.”

  Cassidy nodded. “Me too.”

  “Are you sure you are all right with this arrangement?”

  “Yes,” Cassidy patted her father’s knee. “On one condition.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Do not, under any circumstances put sugar on the kids’ cereal.”

  “Why do I think I am missing something?”

  Cassidy winked. “Top secret, Dad. You understand.”

  Jim laughed. “Whatever you say, Cassie.”

  “Well, good. Then I say we go get you settled before the twins discover you.”

  “Cassie?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Thanks.”

  Cassidy smiled. “Don’t thank me yet. Wait ‘til you see the dishes after dinner.”

  ***

  “Alex?”

  “Shit.”

  “What is it?” Claire asked as she came even with Alex.

  Alex pointed in the distance.

  “I don’t see anything.”

  “Look over there about fifty yards.”

  Claire strained to focus on what Alex was pointing at. “Yeah? There are old stones everywhere out here. I thought we were looking for flowers, not rocks.”

  “We are.” Alex pulled the binder out of the backpack again and flipped through a few pages. “Look.”

  Claire glanced at the photos on the page. She looked down at the pictures and then up at the line of bushes ahead. “I don’t see what you are seeing.”

  Alex rolled her eyes. She pointed to one of the pictures. “Look over the bushes, past that foundation.”.

  Claire looked down at the picture again and back to the field just beyond the stone wall in front of them. It was the same place—no question. In the picture, small white flowers were blooming in a long, straight line. Just as Alex had suggested, the picture was dated September. Claire shook her head and pointed to a sign nailed to a tree. No Trespassing. Private Property.

  “Aww, shit, Toles. It’s not state property.”

  Alex grinned.

  “No one’s gonna give us a warrant based on this.”

  “Maybe we won’t need one.”

  “What are you talking about? You can’t have a team start digging in someone’s backyard without a warrant. Even I know that.”

  “Don’t need one if they give us permission.”

  “So, you’re just going to walk up to whoever owns that land’s door and say, ‘hi, sorry to bother you, but I think there might be dead girls buried in your backyard. Mind if we borrow a shovel?’ That’s your plan?”

  “Sort of,” Alex replied.

  “Sort of?”

  “Yeah. I’ll knock; you ask.” Alex put the binder away, heaved her pack over her shoulder and started forward.

  “There’s not enough wine on the planet for this.”

  ***

  “Told you,” Alex whispered in Claire’s ear.

  “Keep gloating,” Claire replied. “You’ll owe me a vineyard by the time this is over.” Claire let her eyes travel slowly across the scene a few feet away. “I hope you’re wrong.”

  Alex sighed. Part of her hoped that this would prove fruitful. She needed clues. She needed more to go on if she hoped to flush out this killer and end his reign of terror. But, she understood Claire’s feelings. The woman who had opened the door when they finally had reached the edge of the property had been more than agreeable. Ellen Moriarty had told Alex and Claire that she and her husband had owned the property for more than forty years. He had passed away two years earlier. It explained the overgrowth where the team now began to dig. Alex had almost missed the spot. In Kaylee’s pictures, the property had been well cared for. Telling the gentle older woman that the edge of her property had been used as a graveyard was not something Alex would enjoy.

  “Maybe there’s nothing,” Alex commented.

  Claire couldn’t explain it, but she felt something tugging at her gut. “There is,” she said.

  “Agent Toles!” a voice boomed.

  Alex looked at Claire.

  “You’d better take a look at this!” the man calle
d out.

  Claire shook her head. “For once? I really wish I was wrong.”

  Alex groaned. “Me too,” she commented.

  “What do you have?” Alex asked.

  The young agent pointed to the ground beneath him.

  Alex closed her eyes for a moment.

  “It’s a femur,” he explained.

  “I know,” Alex said.

  Claire looked over Alex’s shoulder. “I asked the lady. This one is all on you,” she told Alex.

  Alex took a deep breath. “Keep on it. As carefully as you can. Don’t remove or touch anything. Stop if you need to. You treat this like it was family,” she ordered the agents in front of her. “You coming?” she asked Claire.

  Claire was ready to make a clever retort. She stopped herself. Ellen Moriarty was a kind, innocent woman. No one deserved to learn what she was about to. No one should have to deliver that news. “I’m right behind you,” Claire promised.

  ***

  Alex walked back toward the dig site. She’d stepped away to give Cassidy a head’s up before she turned on the news. She stopped and regarded Claire in the distance. Claire was kneeling beside one of the forensic agents. What caught Alex’s attention was the expression on her partner’s face. Claire was deep in thought, attempting to put the pieces of the scene together. Alex also detected disgust, disbelief, and a hint of anger in Claire’s eyes.

  “Hey,” Alex warned Claire of her approach.

  Claire stood up and offered Alex a solemn grin. “Six,” she said. “That’s what it looks like.”

  Alex nodded.

  “They’ve been here a while,” Claire said. “Not all the same amount of time.”

  Alex nodded again.

  “You’re not surprised.”

  “I wish I could say I’m surprised,” Alex replied. She edged closer to the scene and let her eyes commit it to memory.

  “You don’t think Mrs. Moriarty knows something?” Claire asked.

  “I do, actually.”

  “Come on, Alex. She’s a sweet old lady.”

  “I didn’t say she knew they were here. She knows something. This property was kept up for years. She said her husband died after a long battle with cancer; right?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Well, I doubt he was the one tending this property. It’s three acres, Claire. Someone had to have helped.”