Had Josh known about Cia's plans? Had the man she'd selected known what she was up to? Maybe she was testing the waters.
She couldn't even think of who it could be. There was Chad, Josh, Stephanie's boyfriend, Bruce, who was also Chad's best friend. Those two had been together for years. And Bruce's cousins Anto and Pero Novak. It was the first time they'd come camping with them. Both were dark and intense looking. All the girls had giggled over their good looks.
But not Mags, she'd barely noticed them. She'd only had eyes for Chad. Other than these people, the only other person there that weekend had been Tim. She'd actually thought he might be gay but he'd never mentioned it. She'd wondered about him as he'd studied the brothers as much as the girls had.
She hadn't spoken to or seen Tim since that weekend. She thought she'd heard something about him living overseas for many years.
Meg rubbed her eyes, wishing the memories would leave her alone.
But she couldn't stop thinking about Cia's conquest... and the one guy she'd turned down.
In the background, she heard Pete come in and go to the bedroom, probably for the night. For herself, she didn't even want to join him. But if she didn't, there'd be a bigger fight tomorrow. She could sleep out here, but...
The door slammed behind her. She turned around in surprise. Then she heard the truck start up.
Shit.
Where was Pete going?
And more importantly – was he coming back?
***
Chad welcomed the city lights. He was hungry and tired and pissed. He'd gotten nowhere with his phone calls. Seemed like everyone was out of town or didn't want to make a decision. And a decision needed to be made.
He'd driven around the area they'd found Cia for hours, renewing his memory of the layout, noting the cabins, old and new. The popular lake had developed into quite a summer destination. And he had learned nothing new. Of course he hadn't. But they had the remains. With any luck, they'd find evidence that would point to her killer. And he had no doubt Meg's findings would prove out. She was highly respected in her field and on this case, more likely than on any other in her career, she'd want to find the truth.
And so did he.
His phone rang. A favorite restaurant was just around the corner. He pulled into the parking lot and checked the number. It was Stephanie's.
Needing food before tackling that phone call, he entered the restaurant and ordered himself a big steak and baked potato. Alone, tired, and caught between edgy excitement and energy-sucking frustration, he stared moodily at his cell phone. The GPS coordinates Meg had sent showed clearly on his phone. This was it. He knew it. But he couldn't know it for sure until the lab went over everything and found something he could work with. Then again, he knew about the necklace. Could it be Meg's own necklace? Was there any chance that Cia would have made another one just like it to piss Josh off? She hadn't been the nicest of females and when she wanted something, she went after it like a cobra.
Josh would have been helpless against her wiles. He'd been love struck from the beginning and could barely do anything but stare at her all the time. It had been a big joke back then. But everyone knew he'd cheerfully give Cia anything she had wanted. But that honeymoon phase hadn't lasted. Toward the end of their summer, Josh had asked for advice about how to break up with Cia. He wanted to start college as a free man. He was also afraid that Cia had been cheating on him.
Breaking up was easy. There was no reason to kill her to end the relationship.
Another call came in. "Is it her?" Stephanie's harsh voice cut through the phone reminding Chad that more than just his life had been affected by Cia's disappearance. Other people needed closure, too.
"I can't confirm it until the tests come back, but given the age of the victim, the proximity to the location and a few other determining factors," he paused, then finally said it, "I think so."
"Holy Christ." Stephanie cleared her voice. "After all this time."
"Yes. Finally."
After a solemn pause, she asked almost diffidently, "Could you tell how she died?"
"Not officially." He knew that wouldn't go over well. Stephanie's life had spiralled out of control after that fateful weekend. She never did go to college and a cycle of booze and deadbeat relationships had followed. Somewhere in the last few years, she'd straightened out. She now worked at a grocery store and had been in a relationship for longer than a year, although that had recently broken up.
"And unofficially?"
"Unofficially, she didn't likely die by natural causes. But," he stressed, "we don't know much yet."
She took a deep breath. "We knew it had to be, but I'd hoped, so hoped, that she'd just gone for a walk and had gotten lost."
"And yet we had how many people out there looking for her."
"But if we never found her alive and her remains were then found in relatively the same location," Stephanie asked, "how come we didn't find her back then?"
"That's just one of the burning questions we need to answer."
"Someone really killed her?" Stephanie's voice thickened and she swallowed hard. "Was...was it one of us?"
Just then, his waitress arrived bearing his plate of food. What had seemed like a great idea when he'd pulled into the parking lot, now looked like sawdust before him. He closed his eyes and sagged against the back of his seat. "I hope not."
"We're going to have to go over it all again, aren't we?"
Her voice was so plaintive, so despondent, it made him ache inside. That was one question he could give a definitive answer to. Only she wasn't going to like the answer. "Yes, we are."
***
"Meg?" Janelle's voice called through the darkness. Meg started. She'd been sitting in the same chair for hours waiting for Pete to come back. And he hadn't. And he might not.
That would be fun.
She reached Janelle's side and sat down on the edge of her bed. "What's the matter, sweetheart?"
Janelle's tears flowed. "I miss Daddy."
Oh Lord. Meg's heart hurt. She laid down beside her niece and gathered her into her arms. "I'm so sorry. I miss him too."
And the floodgates burst. Janelle burrowed deep into Meg's arms and all she could do was to hold on tight – a pillar in a storm of emotions that asked questions and raged at the unfairness of life, yet offered no answers. The storm seemed to last for hours and for the first time that evening, Meg was grateful that Pete wasn't there.
He didn't have much patience with Janelle's emotional bouts. Meg locked down inside and rarely indulged in tears.
Janelle was a whole different case. Meg dropped several kisses on the girl's temple and held her close. Her own tears weren't far off. He'd been her brother and she missed him too. They hadn't been super close and she was sorry for that. He'd been a stalwart supporter. He'd been there for her all those years ago and she needed to be there for his daughter now.
Poor Janelle, she'd lost so much. And there was no guarantee that life hadn't finished ruining things for her yet either.
As Meg knew only too well, fate had the power to piss their lives right down the drain, again and again.
Finally, Janelle sobbed her grief and misery out with only the occasional hiccup coming through. After another long few moments, Meg pulled back slightly to look down on her tear stained face.
Janelle had fallen asleep.
Meg hated to disturb her. In fact, she hated to move, period. A night sharing the bed would be a good answer. She wouldn't have to face Pete when he returned and Janelle wouldn't have to be alone tonight.
She moved to reach for a folded quilt at the end of bed.
Janelle cried out, her arms instinctively tightening. Her actions squeezed Meg's heart even further.
"It's all right honey, I'm here."
"Don't go," Janelle whispered, her eyes closed, sleep just a breath away.
Meg managed to tug the quilt up over her shoulders. She settled down deeper into the bed, nudging Janelle back s
lightly so there was room for the both of them. "I won't. I'll stay here all night.
"Promise?" The little voice was muffled further by the quilt pulled so high, but Meg heard it and the pressure on her heart squeezed even tighter. Janelle was precious, scared, and she needed her.
Meg could do no less than be there for her. In a soft voice, hugging the little girl close, her own heart overwhelmed with love, she whispered in Janelle's ear, "I promise."
***
Interesting… So they did find Cia's body. That gave him pause. Had he left anything behind? He'd wracked his brain over it for a full hour, but couldn't think of anything that he hadn't thought of before. There could be a hair or two but they'd camped together over the weekend so a hair wasn't going to be definitive evidence in this cold case. Besides, there would likely be the girls' hair there as well. Those girls shared clothes, hairbrushes and jewelry.
So, why not men?
He smiled. The police had taken long enough. And if Cia's remains hadn't been found accidentally, she could have lain there for another twenty years.
Still, this way was more fun.
So long as the cops didn't figure this out too soon...and speaking of cops, it was interesting that Chad had given up engineering to go into law enforcement. What a waste. Chad had some serious brain power. He'd have made a fine engineer.
Mags had become an anthropologist. Who'd have thought she was smart enough for that? And then Stephanie… that she'd turned out to be a drugged up whore was no surprise. She'd been man-hungry since way back when.
The other guys had changed their plans for their futures too.
It made him feel good. Powerful, even.
He'd done something that had made everyone re-evaluate their lives.
That was good – great, in fact.
Without Cia's disappearance, they'd have continued on in their meaningless ways. He'd made them stop and think and do something better with their lives.
His actions had given them purpose.
Really, they should be thanking him.
CHAPTER 8
Meg woke with a start. She lay still, almost frozen in place. Her mind raced to orient herself; after years of travelling, it was instinctive. She was in the cabin but not in her bed. Then she heard a sound, a snuffle.
Janelle.
The stiffness slid from her shoulders and spine and she relaxed down into the mattress and groaned. Her body ached everywhere. Janelle's body had sprawled from top to bottom and from one side to the other during the night with Meg trying to take up the least amount of space on the edge. No wonder she hurt.
A noise outside had her looking toward the window. Trees swayed on the other side of the glass, a long branch stroking the pane with each brush. The clouds looked gray and crowded.
Still, it was light out. And that meant morning. Considering her evening and night, she'd take that as a good sign. And then she remembered.
Had Pete returned? Or had he left them stranded in his cabin?
She hoped not. But it wasn't the end of the world if he had. She could hitch a ride if any of the techs were still working and, if not, well, she'd call someone for a ride. Unbidden, Chad instantly came to mind. He'd never leave two females stranded.
Ever.
She snuck out of bed, careful to keep the covers over Janelle. For all it was summer, there was a chill to the air and a bite of ice to the floor. She hadn't planned on sleeping fully dressed, but there were definite advantages to it now.
Walking quietly out to the kitchen, she put on coffee, her answer to the world's ills. Then she walked out to the verandah and saw the truck.
Relief washed through her. He'd come back for them. Thank God for that.
Using her cell phone, she checked the time. It was only 6:30 am, her normal waking time and hours ahead of Janelle's. She smiled at the reminder of Janelle's horrified protests at being woken before 10. Noon was more her style.
She checked on Pete and found his bed empty. Her breath sucked in hard. He was an early riser, but she hadn't heard him or was that what had woken her this morning?
She stepped out onto the verandah and gasped at the cool air. There was no sign of him. Maybe he'd gone fishing. She strolled down to the water's edge.
The boat was there, but Pete wasn't.
Slightly disconcerted, she walked back to the cabin, not wanting Janelle to wake up alone.
The inside of the cabin was quiet and calm. She poured herself a coffee and checked her cell phone. She had a little bit of reception but not much. It was too early to call Chad and she hadn't kept in touch with the others from that weekend. In fact, she'd gone out of her way to distance herself from them.
Now she felt the pull to reconnect. They would understand and be going through the same emotions and issues she was. And they'd also be looking for answers.
She looked at her contact list. She had only Chad's number. As she stared at the small unit, a text came in. Talk about synchronicity. It was Stephanie. How the hell had she found Meg?
Did you hear? They may have found Cia.
That was all. But it was enough. Knowing the news would get out soon enough, she answered, Yes. I found her.
Oh God. Are you okay?
And just like that, the years dropped away and Meg reconnected with her old friend. The texts came back and forth hard and fast as they caught up. Meg hated learning about the bald truth of Stephanie's life as she offered it up in pieces, but she so understood. Meg had buried herself in work and tried to focus forward, whereas Stephanie had buried herself in illegals and wallowed in her past.
They'd both been haunted by that one weekend. Anger rose sharp and cutting. Anger at the person who'd so carelessly tossed beautiful Cia away. Anger at the same person who'd destroyed so many lives and so many hopes and dreams.
They'd been forced to live with something no one should have had to.
The relatively unknown group of survivors who felt guilty for not being the victim of violence was phenomenally large. Many clung to a support group because those were the people who understood. So many more avoided the support groups because they couldn't talk about their own experiences and didn't want to remember and rehash the same events over and over.
Meg had avoided the groups. Stephanie had just recently joined a group.
It was a case of each to their own.
"Meg?"
Janelle stood sleepily in the open doorway, rubbing her eyes. "What time is it?"
"Wow. It's almost 8 am." Being up this early was unusual for Janelle but she'd slept in the boat yesterday and had gone to bed early last night. "Aren't you up early?"
"When are we leaving?"
"Good question." Meg said lightly. "Pete has gone for a walk. We can ask him when he returns."
With that Janelle turned around and went back to bed.
If only Meg's life were so easy.
Pete walked through the front door a few moments later, a lighter, calmer Peter. Meg smiled brightly at him, so happy to see the return of the old Pete she knew and loved. "Hi. Did you have a good walk?"
He nodded. "I thought, given the circumstances, we should probably head back early. I went to Wistery last night. Apparently the locals have already heard and they've been talking to the media."
"Shit." And yet life went on. People would always talk and the media would always listen. "Well, let's hope the techs are done with the crime scene."
"I just walked the area and it seems like they are, at least initially.
"Ah. Yeah, I wanted one last look before I leave to."
"Go now," he urged. "I'll grab a coffee and start packing up."
Feeling much better, Meg tossed him a grateful smile and ran.
***
Chad logged onto his desk at work. He'd already called the lab and has his ass reamed out for pushing. He could wait like every other detective was doing.
He understood, but he didn't like it. Still, he had lots he could do. This wasn't technically a cold case.
It was Daniel's case. But Chad had always thought of it as Mack's case. Then it had almost finished Mack's career. He'd caught it when it was fresh but hadn't disclosed that three of the suspects were close relatives. Daniel had taken it over and Mack had been disciplined and almost been kicked off the force. Seventeen years had dimmed the events for everyone but those involved. Mack had kept on Daniel about the case over the years. And so had Chad.
Good thing the three of them had come to terms with this years ago – uneasy terms, but cordial, at least in public. Mack's heavy hand had made the young Chad into a man, but he'd become a detective on his own. Badge in hand, he'd stopped by Mack's desk and showed it to him. Mack had smiled and slapped him on the shoulder. "I knew you'd make it."
Those words had helped bury some of the animosity between them. Chad had felt like a loser for a long time. Hell, the same damn feelings of insecurity had even threatened to overwhelm him at times. He should have gone after that person in the woods. That he hadn't had haunted him every day. And now, maybe he could do something about it.
Finding Cia's remains was going to break the case wide open.
He'd asked Stephanie to keep quiet for the moment but realized he'd asked a lot of her. He'd given her Meg's phone number, suggesting she call her. The two had been close once.
He'd already contacted Josh and Bruce. He'd stayed in touch with both of them since that fateful trip. Hadn't seen much of either of them in over a decade, but with phones and texts now, staying in touch was easy.
Now he thought about contacting all the others from that weekend, only this time it would be in an official capacity. He wanted to go over their old statements first. And then see if they would change them this time. The years could do funny things to the mind. Forgetting was normal, but sometimes the stuff that popped out of people's mouths was the truth that they hadn't wanted to express before, out of concern for both the dead and the living.
***
Meg walked swiftly through the trees. She was grateful, but also surprised. A little sprinkling rain had started. She couldn't believe the change in Pete's mood. But she was grateful for it.
The rain made walking under the tree canopy a wet experience as the rain slid down off the trees and soaked her. She didn't need her GPS to find the right location. The pathway was imprinted on her brain. And the yellow tape let her know when she'd hit the right area and also made her steps falter.
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