Valley of Fire (Valley of the Moon Book 2)

by Bronwyn Archer

  “Maya, call the police!” I yelled. She ran to the phone hanging on the wall behind the bar.

  I saw Trevor’s arm bang down onto the floor with the knife in his hand. Caleb was sitting on top of him and Evan was holding his legs. Caleb smashed his fist into his face again and again. Blood spurted from Trevor’s nose and sprayed the back of the white couch. I slammed my heel into Trevor’s palm and his fingers unclenched around the knife.

  I kicked it away and it spun out across the tile floor.

  “Cal, enough!” Evan screamed. Trevor’s body no longer fought. Caleb’s fist slammed down one more time, but this time it went into the wall above Trevor’s head, where it left a bloody stamp.

  “Fuck!” Caleb yelled. “You fucking motherfucker!” He collapsed onto his knees and cradled his right fist in the crook of his left arm.

  I knelt down so my face was just inches from his. “I’m sorry, Lana.” I helped him up and he winced and clutched his bloody hand.

  Maya ran over. “Cops are on the way.”

  Evan examined his cousin’s hand. “Looks broken. You okay?”

  Caleb ignored him. “Lana, care to join me in a little chat with our old friend Cressida?”

  I stood up and followed him down the hallway to the bathroom, where she had barricaded herself.

  I banged on the door. “It’s over, Cressida. You and your degenerate boyfriend are going to prison for rape and assault. And probably drugs and a few other things. Anything to say about this?”

  I braced myself to confront her. The door to the bathroom swung open and I got a good look at her for the first time. My mouth dropped open. It was her—but it wasn’t her. She had put a long hoodie sweatshirt on and it went halfway down her thighs. Her eyes were wide and almost white, since her pupils were tiny pinpoints. Deep black circles were carved under her eyes. Her skin looked raw and broken out, and she’d lost weight. Her thin frame looked even skinner than before, and her legs were covered in bruises. No wonder her dad wanted her to go to rehab. She needed to go yesterday.

  “Jesus,” Caleb said under his breath.

  She looked at Caleb and her dry lips twisted into a faint smile. “Oh, hey Caleb.” She cleared her throat. “Trevor didn’t hurt you, did he? If he did I will fucking kill him.”

  “Be my guest. Your boyfriend deserves it.”

  “He’s not my boyfriend. But wait—is he dead?” she asked. She walked towards the living room and her eyes darted around. She danced from foot to foot like she was standing on burning sand. She saw Trevor out cold with his face a bloodied pulp, and stepped over him to get to the coffee table. She picked up a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, lit one, and took a long drag.

  “No,” Caleb said. “I wanted to leave something for his future cell mate to play with.”

  She stared at Caleb and then finally dragged her eyes to meet mine. “I heard what you said. I didn’t know he did that to Lana.”

  Heat flooded my face and I stepped closer to her. She seemed to shrink back against the wall. “Are you sure you didn’t tell Brett to spike my drink, Cressida? So you could get some time alone with Caleb? Because Caleb was drugged at your party. He got tested.”

  She blinked furiously and she took a long drag of her cigarette. “I didn’t know he’d hurt you, Lana. Did he really—”

  “Attack me while I was unconscious? While you were stealing my date? Is that what you were wondering?”

  Her hand shook and her cracked lips parted. “Lana, I didn’t know, I swear. I . . . I love Caleb. I just wanted to see if there was still anything between us. And there was! There is, I mean. Right, Caleb? I had to—I had to know if it was really over.”

  She looked up and saw Caleb watching us quietly. Her red, cracked lips parted into a wide smile and she rushed over to him, throwing her arms around him. “I missed you. I’ve been trying to call you.”

  He reached behind him and grabbed her hands and roughly pushed her away. “Don’t touch me.”

  “But I thought you loved me.” She started to reach for him again.

  He jumped back like she was trying to bite him. “You need help. I hope you get it.”

  He whirled around and walked out of the pool house.

  Furious, she whirled around to face me. “You! You did this to me! It’s your fault my sister left! It’s your fault Caleb turned against me!”

  Sirens wailed in the distance. “Because you drugged someone at your house and it led to a sexual assault, you are an accomplice. Enjoy prison.”

  Her face fell and she looked for a second like young Cressida, before her life cracked apart.

  She hustled over to Trevor, pulled what looked like a tiny plastic bag out of her hoodie pocket, and shoved it into the pocket of his swim trunks. Then she collapsed on the couch and cried. Between tears she licked her finger and ran it across a tiny bit of white powder left on the glass table, and rubbed her finger on her gums.

  Evan narrowed his eyes. “Don’t do drugs, kids,” he muttered.

  “Guys, can you give me a second alone with her?”

  Caleb nodded to Evan. “Let’s go meet the cops outside.”

  Evan looked at Maya. “Evan, just go. I’ll be right there,” she said to him. He shrugged and left.

  Cressida was sobbing and whimpering into a pillow. “Cressida,” I said slowly. “Where is your mother?”

  She looked up in surprise. “Why?”

  “Tell me and I’ll tell the cops you had nothing to do with the rape.”

  “But I didn’t!”

  I sighed and looked at Maya. “Did you tell Brett to drug me?”

  She scowled and rolled her eyes. “Fuck no. I told him to distract you, give you drinks. I knew you were a lightweight. I may have joked about slipping you something, but I didn’t think he’d actually do it.”

  “Caleb got tested afterward. He had traces of Rohypnol and ecstasy in his system.” She looked up at us both, genuinely scared. “You drugged him, too.”

  She let out a strange, shrill laugh. “Brett and Trevor are dealers. You must have known that. They must have slipped it in Caleb’s drink—I would never that to him! What do you think I am?”

  Maya crossed her arms and spat, “Trash, that’s what. I always knew you were trash. It’s so sad. You were given everything and this is how you end up?”

  “Fuck off, Maya,” Cressida said. Her mouth was so dry she could barely talk. She licked her lips and her wild eyes locked onto mine. She had flecks of foam in the corners of her mouth and a tiny bead of snot dripping out of her nose. “I’m not going to jail.” I thought about the tape of her and Jenner. I felt enormous pity for Cressida at that moment, despite everything. The bullying, the abuse, the awfulness.

  Her karma was coming back to eat her alive and it was terrifying to watch.

  The sirens sounded like they were almost at the house. I gently put a hand on her shoulder, but she recoiled. “Tell me where your mother and Wade are and I’ll help you.” She wiped her nose on the sleeve of the hoodie and took another drag of her cigarette. “She went to New York last week and then she left a message that she was going away again with Wade for a few days. I don’t know where they went.” Wade Jenner and Ramona were somewhere together—that was not a good sign. She ashed her cigarette into one of the empty beer cans on the table.

  “Do you get along with Wade, Cressida?” I asked. She was vulnerable and high on drugs—maybe she’d answer honestly.

  She rolled her eyes and bit her lip. “He’s a loser.” A shudder rolled through her body and she glanced at me. Her eyes were wet and rimmed in red.

  There were voices outside the room. I stood up to go and my bones felt lighter. I had unburdened myself of my horrible Crawford burdens. I was free. “Your mother is in serious trouble. Her uncle Victor Savitch tried to kill me for my inheritance—she asked him to do it.”

  She shook her head in disbelief, her hand shaking as she took another drag. “What?”

  “She’s an accomplice to attemp
ted murder—mine. If you remember where she went, call me and I won’t press charges against you for what Trevor did to me. Eden has my new number.”

  Her face whipped up to mine and her eyes were huge and bloodshot. “You talked to Eden? Is she okay?” The pity welled up and expanded until I thought my heart would break.

  “She’s great. She’s totally fine.”

  Her lips pinched up into a tight pout and she nodded. “Thank God. Thank God she got out of here.”

  There was a knock on the door. She wiped her eyes, stubbed out her cigarette, pulled her legs under her sweatshirt and rocked back and forth, awaiting her fate.

  #

  The sun had gone down and the winding road down the hill was totally deserted. It had taken two hours to finally get away from the police and all their questions. My encounters with the police were getting so frequent it was ridiculous. But at least they were proving that Wade Jenner was an anomaly—every other cop I’d encountered so far had gone out of their way to be helpful.

  Maya and Evan had left ahead of us and I was giving Caleb a ride back to downtown Sonoma. Suddenly, the car felt too quiet. I was aware that I was alone with him for the first time since the night of the party. I glanced over at him. His face looked older and more serious—and extremely handsome. “I’m so sorry about everything,” I said. “What happened is so unfair. I’m so sorry I accused you. I know it’s been hard on you.”

  He nodded and turned his head to stare out the window. “It’s been a weird few months, Lana. Things sort of fell apart for me. I hated myself for what I did that night.” He reached over and clutched my hand. “I’m sorry, too. So sorry you have no idea.”

  My breath caught in my throat and I stifled a sob and just nodded. We were both victims, to varying degrees, of the Crawfords.

  No—not the Crawfords. Just Ramona. Cressida and Eden were her victims, too. And my father. What was wrong with her? Did Uncle Victor poison her mind from childhood? Or did the apple not fall far from its tree?

  Caleb pointed to his car and I pulled up behind it. My mouth went dry—it was his black Porsche, where we’d had our first kiss. The memory made my heart beat faster. I berated myself for even thinking about another guy when I was Alexander Ambrose’s newly minted girlfriend. But maybe it was okay—things had ended so horrifically, maybe we needed to have a civilized breakup, now that the truth had come out.

  I turned to face him and he smiled at me. His blue eyes twinkled. “Lana, I—”

  My phone ringing pierced the stillness of the car. I saw the number and I suddenly realized I totally forgotten our dinner plans.

  “Uh, oh, sorry, I need to answer this!”

  “Where the hell have you been? I’ve been trying to call you for hours,” Alexander snapped over the phone. “We were supposed to have dinner. What happened?” The volume was turned up and I knew Caleb could hear every word. “Tell me where you are.”

  “Uh, hi! I’m still in Sonoma. My phone was dead, and—listen, I’ll explain later. Hang on.” Evan and Maya rolled up next to us and Evan jumped out and opened the passenger door and started talking to Caleb.

  “Lana, who is that? I thought you were with Maya.”

  To my horror, Evan said loudly, “Caleb, come on—I want to get you home. Lana, do you want to come hang out? We can unwind after all that drama.”

  “No, I’m okay. I gotta get back.”

  Caleb looked back at me and his eyes softened. He reached over and gave me a tight, quick hug and a kiss on the cheek before getting out of the car. “We’ll talk soon, Lana. Will you call me?”

  I nodded and waved at them as they hustled away.

  I pressed the phone back to my ear.

  “Alexander? I’m so sorry. Let me explain.”

  There was another long pause. “How’s Caleb?” His voice was clipped and cold.

  Shit. Shit shit shit. “You won’t BELIEVE what happened today. We just got back from Cressida’s—”

  “You spent the day with CALEB? You told me you were going to see Maya.” I could hear shock and hurt in his voice.

  “No! Well, I didn’t plan to see him. Oh—the bear! My old bear—it’s a nanny cam and it exonerates Caleb. It wasn’t him! So we all went to confront the guy, and Caleb got in a fight with him, and then we had to explain it to the cops, and . . . I’ll explain better when I see you.” I was rambling. The more I talked, the more it seemed like I had something to hide.

  “A bear told you Caleb was innocent and he’s your knight in shining armor now?”

  “No, it wasn’t like that!” Tears blinded my eyes as I sped away from downtown and headed for the freeway. I had to see him, explain in person.

  When he spoke again, his voice was flat. “I picked up all the papers from Bannister. Your new will, a new divorce agreement for your dad. They’re at my apartment. As soon as you sign them, you’ll be protected legally from any claims by Ramona or anyone else.”

  I was so distracted trying to tell him what happened that I missed a turn. “Thank you, thank you. I will be there as soon as I can.”

  “Sure you don’t want to spend the night catching up with Caleb and your other old pals?”

  “Please, you don’t understand, just listen!”

  He let out a ragged sigh. I heard something that sounded like a door slamming in the background.

  “I am way out on a limb with you here, Lana.” He had taken a huge risk by developing feelings for me. I was an Ambrose. And so was he, technically. He was willing to take the heat his family might bring him.

  But maybe that limb wasn’t strong enough to support both of us.

  “And you blow me off to spend the day with the boyfriend who fucked your sister, and until five minutes ago, was a rapist? Sorry if I’m a just a little bit confused.”

  I almost ran a red light and slammed the brakes just in time. “It wasn’t like that! What are you even talking about?” I couldn’t even wrap my brain around the concept of Alexander being jealous of me and Caleb. The jealousy in our relationship only went one way—from me to him. Not the other way around.

  “I spent the last three hours worried out of my mind. Maybe I’m the idiot for expecting a higher level of maturity from an eighteen-year-old.”

  Hot tears wet my cheeks. “You understand.”

  “Yeah, you’re right, I don’t. I convinced myself that how I felt about you was okay. That you’d be . . . good for me. That it would be okay to tell you I was falling in love with you. Because I am, Lana. I am in love with you, okay? I’ve been in love with you for longer than you think. It’s just too bad it’s with someone who doesn’t know what that’s like.”

  My stomach tightened up like a drum. A strangled cry lodged in my throat. I wanted to scream, plead, beg. I do know what it’s like! I’m in love with you and why don’t you see that?

  His next words were cold and clipped.

  “Maybe we both need to come to our senses.”

  I remembered he had gone to the office today. Had he seen his father? Talked to his parents? Had he told them about me and gotten in trouble? I couldn’t be a part of wrecking another guy’s life. I’d done enough damage to Caleb’s. With a sinking dread, I realized I was always going to be a problem for Alexander. Someone he’d have to explain, defend, make excuses for. He’d just managed to clean his act up and get back in his stepfathers’ good graces. Bringing home a barely legal teen who’d just gotten the bulk of their family money was not going to help him improve those dynamics.

  Then it was like a cold, scaly claw tearing through the gossamer fantasies I’d woven around my future with Alexander.

  I had to let him go.

  “I’m sorry,” I rasped, biting back my sobs. “I’m so sorry.” The next words were some of the hardest I’d ever had to say. “You’re right. I’ll stay at Maya’s tonight and come get my stuff tomorrow.”

  “Lana— ” he said, but I hung up before he could finish. I blinked through stinging tears and sped through downtown Sonoma.
What had I done? Where could I go? I was exhausted. The last days . . . the last weeks . . . had been a churning storm.

  I needed someplace calm to figure out what to do next.

  I needed to see her.

  Chapter 28

  Lacus Mortis ~ Lake of Death

  A wedge of dead leaves had formed at the base of my mother’s headstone. I brushed them away and knocked some small twigs off the top of the smooth white granite slab.

  “I miss you, Mama,” I whispered. The trees answered me with a whoosh as a soft breeze brushed their tops. I hugged my knees to my chest. The ache to feel her arms around me was as sharp as the day she died. Would it ever stop hurting?

  A sharp crack broke the quiet in the hillside cemetery and I jerked my head up. A dark figure was standing just outside the Fremont family graveyard plot, half hidden behind a gnarled oak. What was I thinking, coming to this place alone at twilight? Ghosts liked me. I didn’t feel like meeting one in person.

  I scrambled backwards and picked up a heavy tree branch the size of a baseball bat.

  “Did I scare you? I’m sorry, miss. I didn’t think anyone would be here.”

  A muscular man I’d never seen before stepped into the clearing. He wore jeans, a plaid flannel shirt, and a windbreaker. A scruffy beard covered his chin. He slowly climbed the hill towards me.

  He held a small bouquet of flowers in his fist. He peered at me and his smile slowly faded.

  “Wait, are you . . . Lana? Lana Goodwin?” A look of amazement spread across his face.

  Unable to speak, I took another step backwards. He stared at me and he suddenly unleashed a grin. “Hell yeah, you are!” He pulled off his baseball hat and scratched his head. He laughed to himself, then looked at me a little nervously. “Sorry. I just can’t believe it’s you.”

  I finally cleared the sand out of my throat. “Who are you? How do you know me?”

  He squinted his eyes and looked up. “Ha. Yeah, that’s a long story.” He stood there awkwardly, nervously tapping the ground with one foot. “I didn’t mean to interrupt you—I’ll leave.”