Can't Find My Way Home

by Carlene Thompson

  ‘Then why didn’t he?’

  ‘I’m not sure, but something was wrong in that house. I don’t know what, but I feel like I should have taken a closer look at the Cavanaughs a long time ago.’

  ‘Why did you kill Sam Fenney?’ Brynn asked Tessa.

  ‘I killed Sam,’ Nathan said.

  ‘And it was unnecessary!’ Tessa barked. ‘You made such a show of it! It scared everyone and made things hotter in this town than we wanted.’

  ‘He blackmailed Father!’ Nathan shouted. ‘Father stopped using this building after Mother died. You two were going at it in the living room and the son of a bitch looked in our windows and saw you. He held it over Father’s head for years! Every month Father had to pay him! You knew what was going on and you didn’t tell me. If you had …’ He glared at his sister. ‘We wouldn’t have been left with nothing while Sam Fenney built the Bay Motel and Cloud Nine!’

  So that’s where the extra money came from, Brynn thought. Sam probably laundered it through the corporations Kalidone and Farrah-Stef. Edmund’s name must have been removed from the corporations so he didn’t know what was going on. She knew he wouldn’t have been part of such a disgusting scheme.

  ‘Besides, you went along with it,’ Nathan accused. ‘You’re the one who called the dress shop pretending to be Sam’s secretary and left the message for Brynn telling her if she wanted to see that house one last time, she had to meet him there that night.’

  ‘But the rest of that nonsense was all you,’ Tessa said scathingly. ‘Candles. An open Bible with some verse about thievery marked. You were planning what you were going to do with Sam after I’d knocked the hell out of Mark in his car and you went in his room to get all his electronic stuff. You picked up the Bible. You thought it might come in handy to use against Mark, to send the police on the wrong trail. Then you paid that slut he kept on the side to call Sam and meet her in that house. You had her tell him it would be kinky. You’re such a child sometimes, Nathan!’

  ‘I’m a child?’ Nathan yelled. ‘You’re the one who wanted to keep playing games with Brynn, trying to scare her out of town. As for Mark, we took him in to question him about how many people he’d told about you killing Stone Jonah. He didn’t have much time after his visit to Ellis’s, but he could have told Cassie or a friend.’ He smirked at Tessa. ‘The main reason Mark’s been here so long, though, is because you wanted it. You’ve never gotten over your teenage crush on him. You’ve spent a lot of time here with him, Tess. What have you been making him do?’

  ‘Nothing!’ Tessa stormed. ‘We just talked!’

  ‘Uh huh,’ Nathan, still smirking, murmured. ‘Sure you did.’

  ‘You’re ridiculous sometimes, Nate. But you’re my brother. And we’re going away together – away from this town, away from that house where Father—’ She got a distant look in her eyes. ‘All these years I stayed here and kept him company while you traveled the world doing God-knows-what. I know you didn’t stop killing. And you won’t have to stop killing now. I’ll be around to take care of you like I used to do. I killed Stone Jonah for you, didn’t I? And I almost died doing it. You owe me for what I did then and for what I’ve done since you left. But we won’t think about that. You’ll just consider me your loving sister. Your protector. I’ll guide you. I’ll always be by your side.’

  That’s exactly what Nathan doesn’t want, Brynn thought, wondering how Tessa could be so blind. Nathan resents you for killing my father. He wanted to do it. As far as he’s concerned, you jumped the gun and he had to be a good boy throughout until he left for California Maritime University or else destroy the illusion that Jonah Wilder was the Genessa Point Killer. She looked at Nathan, with his good looks and easy grace. He’s been free of you for years, Tessa. He left you here to satisfy your father, Brynn thought. And you did it out of some sort of perverted love of your monster brother and loyalty to your monster father. But those days are over. Now you want him to pay you back. How will he like dragging you around like an anchor?

  He won’t, Brynn thought. As soon as Nathan’s safe, he’ll murder Tessa. She means nothing to him. Nobody means anything to him. He’s a psychopath.

  Suddenly Tessa picked up a silver-backed brush and held it up for Brynn to see. Then she ran it gently, almost sensuously through the long, lush wig hair. ‘I never needed a fancy brush before. I do now. I saw that flash of recognition in your eyes as soon as you saw it. Years ago I took this because it had some of your hair in it – hair like I wanted.’ Tessa smiled. ‘Nathan told you I was a good thief.’

  ‘How often do you use that brush, Tessa?’ Brynn asked. ‘How often do you get dressed up, put on your makeup and the wig, then stroke the hair with my brush in front of the mirror? You can’t tell me this is the first time.’

  ‘I don’t dress up like you all the time,’ Tessa flared.

  ‘I don’t believe you. You were such a gawky, bug-eyed little girl with baby-thin hair. I’ve seen pictures of your mother – she was so pretty. My mother was beautiful. And even when I was twelve, I wasn’t bad. Not like you. No wonder you wanted to look like me.’ Nathan started laughing and Tessa whirled on him, shouting that she hardly ever wore the wig.

  ‘Oh, and then there was Rhonda,’ Brynn went on relentlessly. ‘She was tall and sexy and had all that long, auburn hair. I know you’re the one who broke into Cassie’s house and left the hairs on my pillow. When we found the hair, I said it reminded me of the story “A Rose for Emily.” Rhonda had probably never read the story, but you have and you’d be certain I’d read it, too. You gave my knowledge of literature some credence.’

  Tessa shrugged.

  ‘It was real hair. It didn’t come from a wig – the police lab said it had roots,’ Brynn lied. ‘Where did you get Rhonda’s hair?’

  ‘From the back of Ray’s jacket. They were a team, you know. I remember how Ray was always talking about writing a true crime book. Then suddenly, after Cassie had kicked him out of her life and he’d left town, he came back at the same time Mark did. And he just happened to drop by the house, admiring my flower gardens, asking me out on a date. Me! He thought I’d be so bowled over by his charm I wouldn’t put his sudden interest in me together with the fact that Mark Wilder had been in town. And Rhonda had been obsessed with the Genessa Point Killer ever since Nate murdered her cousin. I followed Ray and sure enough, they were seeing each other. Rhonda must have let him know Mark was in Genessa Point. That’s why he came tearing back, only to find Mark gone. I knew Ray was only using me as a front, maybe even guessing that Nathan and I had something to do with Mark’s disappearance or even the old killings. Then, when I was at Cassie’s making a mess with the cologne, I looked on her computer and saw that fifth photo of Cassie and Mark with Nathan in the background, and the date. It was taken on the Saturday morning when he supposedly hadn’t arrived in Genessa Point until Wednesday. I knew they were sniffing round, so I decided to take care of both of them.’ Tessa looked at Brynn earnestly. ‘I always keep strychnine for garden pests. When Ray got high on cocaine, he was very careless with his stash. Finding it was no trouble and I simply mixed it with strychnine. I thought it would take care of both of them.’

  All the while Tessa had been explaining, almost bragging about how clever she’d been with Ray and Rhonda, Brynn had been rubbing her bound wrists against the screw. She felt the sharp metal threads scraping her wrist, but she also felt them tearing her cloth handcuffs.

  Suddenly, Nathan glanced at his watch and said, ‘Look, these explanations are entertaining, but we have a plane to catch in three hours, Tessa. We have to go soon. Let’s wrap this up.’

  They’re going to kill the three of us, Brynn thought, rubbing the nylon wet with her blood against the bolt’s sharp threads. We’re running out of time. ‘Where are you two going?’

  ‘Why would I tell you?’ Nathan asked.

  ‘Oh, please, don’t I get a few answers to a few questions before we all die?’ Brynn asked.

  ‘Seem
s to me you’ve gotten plenty of answers.’ Nathan winked at her. ‘And no one said you’re all going to die.’

  Suddenly, stifling a gasp of relief, Brynn felt the bolt cut through the last few fibers of nylon around her wrists. In spite of her surge of hope, she made her voice tremble. ‘You’re right, Nathan. No one said we’re all going to die. Not all of us have to die.’

  He looked at her suspiciously. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘It could mean that you could spare one of us.’

  ‘Savannah,’ he said sarcastically.

  Brynn smiled. ‘No, Nathan. Me.’

  TWENTY-FOUR

  Garrett and Carder looked into the windows of a cement block storage building near the back of the Cavanaugh lot. All they saw in the fading light were two ride lawn mowers, a manual mower, clippers and other gardening equipment. ‘That doesn’t look like much of a prison,’ Carder said, then glanced over at a cheerful-looking building with leaf green vinyl siding and white shutters. A tall rooster weathervane stood on the peaked roof. Red barberry shrubbery surrounded the building. ‘Wonder what that is?’ Carder asked.

  ‘Never know until we look.’

  They walked to the structure and Garrett carefully separated a few branches of the barberry with its thorns. He stepped closer to the building, cupped his hands and looked in one of the windows. He drew back. ‘There’s a metal grill over the window and insulation over the grill.’

  ‘Insulation over the window?’

  ‘Foil-backed insulation. Take a look.’ Carder jabbed a thorn into his finger as he spread the branches. ‘This barberry sort of discourages you getting too close,’ he said, sucking on his finger. He managed to reach a window, peered in and drew back. ‘What the hell? Insulation over the windows?’

  ‘Let’s look at the one toward the front.’ Garrett handed the dog’s leash to Carder and looked in the window, which was also insulated like the back window. ‘I’ve heard of being energy conscious, but insulation over the windows? No natural light?’

  Carder, still holding the dog’s leash, looked at the orange-streaked gray sky for a moment, frowning, then said, ‘Maybe the insulation isn’t used just to conserve heat. Maybe it’s also used to contain noise.’

  ‘Noise caused by what?’

  ‘Got me, Sheriff.’ Suddenly, Henry jerked at his leash and barked. ‘What’s up, guy?’ Carder asked as the dog pulled forward. He held back on the leash while Henry pulled harder.

  ‘Let me have the leash,’ Garrett said, taking it from Carder. He stopped pulling Henry back. ‘Go where you want, boy.’

  The dog nearly lunged ahead. He barked until Garrett picked up his pace, jogging behind Henry. The dog reached the front of the building and stuck his nose into the shrubbery. Garrett spotted the object of Henry’s quest – a ragged piece of pink cotton stuck on a thorn. He stared at the cloth, noticing that it looked new, before Henry plunged away from the building and went closer to a narrow back road running along the rear of the property. He rubbed his nose in the grass, sniffing frantically, breathing hard, pulling to the right and then slightly to the left. Finally he stopped, barking at something in the grass.

  Garrett approached Henry slowly and looked carefully at the grass where the dog’s nose nearly touched the ground. Running his hand over the area, Garrett’s fingers tangled in a chain. As he lifted it, Henry’s head rose, following the scent on the object.

  It was the dog whistle Savannah had worn around her neck for the past few days.

  Tessa looked at Brynn in amazement. ‘You? Why would Nathan take you instead of me?’

  ‘Take a look in the mirror, Tessa,’ Brynn said with what she hoped was annoying confidence. ‘Who do you think Nathan Cavanaugh would want by his side? You or me?’

  ‘You’re out of your mind,’ Tessa stated.

  ‘I’m out of my mind? Really, Tessa, I thought you were so smart.’

  Nathan laughed softly. Two women fighting over him. He must love this, Brynn thought just as she heard a dog bark. Tessa and Nathan heard the bark, too, but Brynn knew it wasn’t familiar to them. It was to her. It was to Savannah, who’d lifted her head slightly.

  ‘What about your brother? What about Savannah? You want them to die? No, no you wouldn’t. Never. The selfless Brynn Wilder wouldn’t want Nathan to choose her life over theirs,’ Tessa blustered.

  ‘He can’t let all of us live. As for the selfless Brynn Wilder, I’ll tell you a secret. You’re not the only actress here.’ Brynn hoped Savannah would pick up on her reference to acting and not show any recognition of the dog’s second bark. She kept talking, louder than earlier. ‘You acted like the wounded bird for eighteen years, but you weren’t wounded – not mentally. I understand you because that’s something we have in common – acting hurt, acting gentle, acting like what we aren’t deep inside.’

  ‘Nathan wants me with him,’ Tessa said, regaining her composure.

  ‘He’s gotten by without you for almost eighteen years.’

  ‘All right, ladies,’ Nathan said affably. ‘Quarreling over a man isn’t attractive. Complimentary, but not attractive. I’m going to pull the car around. Some of us will get in it. Some won’t.’ He handed a gun to Tessa, then picked up one for himself. ‘I’ll be back in a few minutes.’

  As soon as Nathan opened the insulated steel entrance door and stepped outside, Carder took a shot, barely missing Nathan’s body. Nathan whirled and raised a gun. Carder shot again, this time hitting Nathan’s hand. Nathan yelled, grabbing his right hand with his left and falling down. Garrett charged between Nathan and the doorway, pointing his gun into the building.

  Garrett blinked, his eyes adjusting from the fading daylight to the even dimmer building. He heard Brynn yell, ‘Garrett – Mark, Savannah, and I are here!’ He rushed into the building, blinked again, and saw Tessa holding a gun to Brynn’s head.

  ‘I’m here, too.’ Tessa’s voice was steel. ‘You come any farther and I’ll shoot Brynn and then your daughter.’

  Garrett had called for back-up less than five minutes earlier. Neither he nor Carder had expected the door of the building to open so soon, certainly not before night. Instead, they’d had even less time than they thought.

  ‘Daddy?’ Savannah whimpered.

  ‘Don’t move, Savannah, or I’ll shoot Brynn in the head,’ Tessa snapped.

  ‘Please don’t shoot her. I can’t move. I’m tied to the post.’

  ‘Brynn acted like she was tied to the post, too,’ Tessa said. ‘But she’s standing right here beside me. Now shut up before I kill her just because I’ve always dreamed of it.’

  Savannah subsided with a choking sound. Suddenly, Henry ran into the building and straight to Savannah. Tessa moved the gun away from Brynn’s head and aimed at the dog. Brynn jerked as if she were trying to pull free of her captor, and Tessa whisked the gun back to Brynn’s head.

  ‘Nate!’ Tessa yelled. ‘Are you all right?’

  After a minute, his voice floated into the building. ‘Wounded! Right hand!’

  Garrett kept his own Glock 9mm aimed at Tessa. ‘Back-up will be here any minute, Tessa. Put down the gun.’

  ‘No,’ she said flatly.

  He took another step into the room. ‘What do you plan to do, Tessa? Shoot your way out of here?’

  ‘If I have to.’

  ‘I thought knives were your specialty, not guns.’

  ‘I like knives. I like cutting into people’s necks with knives – slicing the carotid and the jugular. I did it to Stone Jonah. I did it to Sam, too, because Nate was too busy watching Brynn dancing on the beach like a fool. But I like guns, too. I’m a good shot, Sheriff Dane.’

  Brynn glanced over and saw Henry licking Savannah’s face, licking away the tears, snuffling lovingly at her neck beneath her hair. ‘Good, Henry,’ Savannah murmured. ‘Stay, Henry. Stay.’ The dog sat down beside her, his eyes fixed on Tessa, guarding Savannah with every fiber of his being.

  ‘Got a proposition for you, Sheriff!’ Nate yelle
d.

  ‘Are you in a position to bargain?’ Garrett yelled back.

  ‘Yeah, as a matter of fact, I am.’ In a moment, everyone in the room flinched at the sound of another shot. ‘Just did away with your deputy, Garrett. He got careless because he didn’t know I’m ambidextrous. Came near me to kick the gun away but I grabbed it with my left hand.’ He waited a second. ‘He doesn’t look too good.’

  ‘Damn you, Nate,’ Garrett said grimly as he looked at Tessa. ‘I’m lowering my gun.’

  Brynn expected Tessa to say, ‘Put it down,’ but Garrett dashed into the room straight to the support pole and Savannah, then raised his gun again before she could get out a word. At that exact moment Nathan came in, his own gun raised. He held the gun with both hands, the right dripping blood below his trembling arm. He seemed unaware of pain as he scanned the room with slightly wild eyes.

  ‘I’ll say it again.’ Nathan’s eyes narrowed. ‘Let Tessa and me go, and we’ll let your daughter live.’

  Garrett was silent for a moment. ‘Nate, I have a gun aimed at you.’

  ‘And I have a gun aimed at you. If I move it slightly, it’ll be aimed at Savannah.’

  ‘Where do you think you and Tessa are going?’

  ‘I told you that day in the park. Morocco.’

  ‘Nate, you’re not going to Casablanca in Morocco. I realize you emphasized it too much. You’re going somewhere else. I can easily check with your company.’

  ‘Go ahead,’ Nate answered nonchalantly.

  ‘And what if I take you up on your deal?’ Garrett went on as if he hadn’t heard Nathan. ‘What if I let you go so you won’t kill Savannah? You’d take her with you when you leave Genessa Point, but you’d get rid of her before you board the plane for wherever you are going.’

  ‘No, I wouldn’t. You know I always make careful plans. I did this time, too. Just in case something like this unfortunate circumstance happened, I’ve made arrangements to take Savannah with us. That way I can be sure that if in the next half hour you find out where we’re going, you won’t notify all the airports in the area to have us stopped. If you do, I don’t have anything to lose by killing Savannah. One knife slash across the neck and you wouldn’t have a daughter anymore.’