She stood at the window looking out for a long time. Finally, she turned her head and looked at the door. She knew she couldn’t stay in the bedroom all day. She had to face him at some point.
She went to the closet and opened the door. She had hung her clothes up last night before she tried to go to bed. Grabbing a pair of jeans and a top, she went to the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. Dark circles shadowed her eyes. Lines of pain and fear marked her mouth. Her hair was damp with sweat and tears.
After staring at her own face for a long time, she turned away from the mirror and turned on the shower. Charlie told her yesterday before they arrived that he had the power and water turned on. The hot water felt great as it swept away the tiredness of the sleepless night.
As she shampooed her hair, she tried to clear her mind. She couldn’t accuse Charlie of anything until she had more information. Her nightmare last night might not have been real but she was sure of what she had overheard him say on the phone. The one thing that made no sense to her was the fact that he’d fooled Donna all these years.
She knew from experience it wasn’t easy to pull the wool over her aunt’s eyes. As she pushed her head under the water to rinse the soap from her hair, Shiloh knew she would have to read everything in the bundle of papers Donna left for her. If she had any reservations about Charlie, Shiloh knew her aunt would have left some kind of clue.
A few minutes later as she was drying herself off Shiloh lifted her head and listened. She thought she heard something from the bedroom. Wrapping the towel around her, she stepped into the bedroom and looked around the room.
Nothing seemed out of place but when she checked the bedroom doo,r she found it unlocked. She was positive she had locked it after her conversation with Charlie in the middle of the night.
She locked the door again and went back to her bed. She dressed quickly, then went back to the closet and pulled out the package Jack Russell had given her. She quickly scanned through the stuff in the packet but couldn’t find anything she hadn’t scanned through before.
She reached for her cell phone and dialed a number. While it rang, she opened the letter from Donna. Again, she scanned the words her aunt had written. Shiloh noticed Donna was obsessed with only one man, Simon Pratt. How could Donna have been fooled by Charlie? She hung up the phone, as Demon wasn’t answering her call.
Putting everything back into the packet Shiloh hid it under the mattress. She didn’t want anyone to find it and possibly destroy the only items from her past.
She stood and faced the door. She didn’t know what the day would bring but she was forewarned now and she wouldn’t let herself be caught unawares again.
She opened the door and walked down the hall to the foyer. She was about to step around the corner when she felt a hand cover her mouth from behind. The hand was clamped tightly and when she began struggling another arm was wrapped around her body. She was lifted slightly, and she felt someone drag her backward.
“Hush girl,” Demon whispered in her ear. “There is someone in the house that doesn’t belong here.”
Shiloh stopped struggling and allowed Demon to carry her back into her bedroom. Once there she was released, and the door was closed and locked. Demon turned to face her.
“What’s going on?” Shiloh demanded softly.
Demon reached up with his weapon and scratched his forehead with the barrel. “I got here about twenty minutes ago. The front door was unlocked and Charlie was nowhere in sight. I saw the bedding on the sofa but I went through the whole house and can’t find him anywhere. I checked this room earlier but you were in the shower.”
Shiloh stared at him for a moment then asked, “Was this door locked?”
Demon shook his head. “When I stepped out into the hall, I thought I heard the back door close so I went to check and I found Charlie. He was laying on the deck with a goose egg on the back of his head.”
“Is he all right?”
“I don’t know, I was checking the rest of the house when I ran into you.” Demon pressed his ear against the door and listened. He looked over at her. “Stay here until I get back. I’m going to check the rest of the house. Don’t open the door for anyone but me.”
Shiloh rushed over and snapped the lock after he disappeared through it. Seconds turned to minutes and some ten minutes later, she heard someone standing on the other side of the door. She watched with mounting fear the handle turn slowly. When the door wouldn’t open, she heard someone on the other side swear softly then she heard footsteps walking away.
A few minutes later, she heard a soft knock on the door. “Shiloh, are you still there?”
When she heard Demon’s voice from the other side of the panel Shiloh sighed deeply. She reached for the lock and opened the door. She was happy to see a familiar face. “Is he gone?”
“Who?”
“There was someone at the door a moment ago.”
“Well, it wasn’t me or Charlie. I was getting him back in the house. I just left him in the kitchen. What else did you hear?”
“When he couldn’t get into the room he swore and walked away.” Shiloh reached out and grabbed Demon’s arm. She released it just as quickly when he frowned and looked down at her hand. “I’m sorry but I need to ask you something and I need you to answer it truthfully. Can you do that?”
Demon stared at her briefly. He paused and leaned against the door frame. “What do you need to know?”
“Did Charlie call you last night after you left?”
Demon pushed away from the door. “No, he didn’t. I stopped at the clubhouse and stayed there last night. After I showered, I was going to reread the original police file and what Charlie’s been up to since then. Every time he went to visit Donna, he wrote down his notes. I planned on catching up on the last twenty years of your life this morning. Why?”
Shiloh searched his eyes for the truth and found it. She knew in her heart who Charlie had been speaking to last night.
“Why did you ask me this?” he asked again.
“Because last night I overheard Charlie talking on his phone to someone and I think that someone was Simon Pratt.”
“That’s impossible,” Demon insisted. “My uncle is as honest as the day is long. He wouldn’t ever be in league with Simon Pratt.”
Chapter Eight
Demon shook his head emphatically. “Charlie is a cop for god’s sake. He wants to nail Simon Pratt for the murder of your parents.”
“Or he’s working with Simon to recover the gems my father put in his safe.”
“If you think that then you don’t know Charlie,” Demon insisted angrily. “Charlie is the most honest cop I know. He would never work with a scumbag like Simon Pratt.”
“You may know that for a fact but I don’t. All I know is what I heard last night. Who else would even know about the safe or what’s in it?” She hesitated and added, “If one package was worth two million, what do you supposed all five are worth?”
Demon glared at her and pushed away from the door jam. “If there are even five bags. We only know about the one, remember? I still don’t believe Charlie would betray anyone for money. I’ve known the man all my life, so I think I know him a little better than you do.”
“Yeah, well don’t tell him I overheard him last night. If I’m wrong I’ll know, but if I’m not wrong, we’ll both know soon enough.” Shiloh walked past him and down the hall into the kitchen.
Charlie sat at the table holding a bag of ice to the back of his head.
Shiloh glanced at him then reached for a cup of coffee. She wandered over to the French doors that lead to the back yard. She heard Demon join them but didn’t turn around.
Charlie glanced from Demon to Shiloh and back to Demon. “Have I missed something?”
Demon glared at Shiloh then relaxed as he looked back at his uncle. “How’s the head?”
Charlie slowly placed the ice bag on the table. “My head hurts like hell.” He glanced at Shiloh again.
“Did I miss something this morning?” he repeated his earlier question.
Shiloh turned to look at him. “What happened to you? How did someone sneak up behind you, knock you out and get into the house?”
Charlie stared at her for a moment. “I don’t know. I was half asleep when I thought I heard something. I got up to check the perimeter. I found the back door open. The next thing I knew, Demon was helping me up off the deck. I didn’t hear or see anything else.” He glanced over at Demon and asked, “Did you find anything?”
Demon stood up and poured himself a cup of coffee. “No, I didn’t find any sign of anyone but Shiloh heard someone at her bedroom door. When the door wouldn’t open whoever was there went away.”
“Damn.” Charlie swore. He picked up the ice bag and threw it against the wall. Ice shattered and flew everywhere as the bag broke. He turned his head to glare at Shiloh. “Did you see who it was?”
Shiloh turned away from his glare and said, “No I didn’t. The door was closed and locked.”
Charlie’s frown deepened.
“Damn, how did he know I was back already?” Shiloh asked. “How did Simon know I came home?”
“We don’t know for sure it was Simon Pratt,” Demon reminded her. “This could have been a simple break in.”
Shiloh swung around to face him. “If it were a simple break in why didn’t they take anything? Why is there no sign of damage to any of the doors?”
“I don’t know.” Demon shrugged. “We can’t just assume it was Simon until we have some kind of proof.”
Shiloh turned to Charlie. “Have there been any other break-ins over the years?”
“Actually, there have been several. Nothing was ever taken but someone was definitely in here.” Charlie told her.
Shiloh’s lips curled upward slightly. “Simon.”
“How do you know it was him?” Demon asked.
“He’s looking for the safe.”
“How do you know that?”
“Last night I had the nightmare that’s been haunting me most of my life. The only difference is I broke through the veil of pain and I actually remembered what happened that night.” She shrugged, “I’ve never remembered the nightmare so clearly before last night.”
“You remembered everything?” Charlie asked.
Shiloh nodded. “I remembered everything.”
“What does that mean?” Charlie asked.
“I broke through whatever was holding back the memories. I heard everything that happened. I didn’t understand it then but I understand it now. I watched as Simon beat my father to death before my eyes. They were standing in the foyer and Simon asked my father for the packages he found in the shipment. Like I said before. Before I couldn’t hear what they were saying but last night I heard it all. The reason why my parents died, I heard everything. My father told him he went to the police that same day and by tomorrow Simon would be in jail for smuggling. Simon just laughed at him. He told my father that all the evidence would point to him and my father would be the one in jail.” Shiloh sobbed. “Then my father told him he discovered something else when he ripped the office apart. He’d found a small green book. Simon didn’t look pleased. His face became filled with rage and he picked up a small statue. He hit my father over and over again. Then my mother found them. She began screaming and Simon hit her too.”
“Wait a minute, go back to the point your father told Simon he found a green book.” Charlie asked. “Did he say what was in the green book?”
Shiloh began to pace. “No I don’t think so, but Simon screamed at him that he wanted his book back.”
Charlie glanced over at Demon. “I wondered what’s in the book that Simon needed so badly?” He looked back at Shiloh and asked, “What else did you remember?”
Shiloh glanced at Demon then turned her gaze to Charlie. “Not much more than that. The trauma of seeing my parents beaten to death left me in shock. I remember my mother signing me to hide so I crawled into the closet and stayed there. You know the rest. You found me a little while later and the rest is history.”
Charlie stared at her then got up to get some coffee. Leaning against the counter he sipped his coffee and asked, “Are you sure that’s all you remember?”
“Isn’t that enough?” Shiloh asked quietly.
Charlie looked at her. “It would be if that’s all you remembered from that night. But I think you remembered something else didn’t you?”
“I woke up screaming because I just saw my parents murdered. That was enough trauma for me for one night.”
“Are you sure you didn’t remember where the safe room is?” Charlie asked.
Shiloh shook her head. “I didn’t remember that.”
“We have to find the safe and see what’s in the green book Simon is so anxious to get his hands on,” Charlie said.
Unconsciously, Shiloh began to fingerspell the word liar, over and over again.
Demon frowned as he caught the lettering. He began signing back.
Shiloh caught his warning and stopped. She looked at Charlie but he hadn’t noticed.
“How about some breakfast?” Charlie asked as he refreshed his coffee.
“I’m not really hungry,” Shiloh replied. “But you two go ahead. I’m going to have another look around.”
Charlie watched as she left the kitchen. He turned to demon and said, “I wish I knew how to get through to her.”
“I think we just have to wait until she feels comfortable around us. Give her time, she’ll come around.”
“I don’t think Simon is going to give us that much time,” Charlie said. “Once he knows for sure she’s back, he’s going to come looking for closure.”
“I think he already knows she’s here.”
“Maybe,” Charlie agreed.
“You have to be honest with her,” Demon reminded him. “She’s been on the run from Simon for over twenty years. She’s learned not to trust anyone. She and Donna have been hiding out all this time. The only one who knew where they were was you.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m not saying anything bad. She’s starting to remember things, some of what she’s remembering is very painful to her. As much as we would like to keep pestering her about the details, we have to give her time to tell us what she knows. Right now, she doesn’t trust anyone and I have a feeling she isn’t going to tell us anything until she knows she can trust us.”
“Like I said before, if Simon knows she’s here he isn’t going to wait.”
“But like Shiloh said he isn’t going to hurt her until he has what he wants.” Demon stood up and went over to the refrigerator. Opening the door, he checked the contents. “How about eggs for breakfast?”
“That’s fine.” Charlie nodded. “Maybe I’ll check on Shiloh. She might be hungry now.”
Demon watched as Charlie left the kitchen. He busied himself making scrambled eggs. When the eggs and toast were done, he went in search of Charlie and Shiloh. He checked the living room first but there was no one there. He walked down the hall to the bedroom he’d found Shiloh in earlier. When he got to the door, he found Charlie in the room. He was opening drawers of the dresser. Glancing around, Demon noticed the controlled chaos the room was in. He had seen this sort of search before.
Backing away, he tried not to make any noise. He turned and walked away. He went through the rest of the upstairs and then went downstairs. He hadn’t been down here before now and as he turned the corner, he almost ran into Shiloh.
“There you are,” he said as he put his hands out to steady them both.
“What are you doing?” Shiloh asked.
“I need to ask you a question.”
“What do you need to know?”
“Is there anything in your bedroom that would speed up the discovery of the safe?”
“Why are you asking me that?”
“Because Charlie is searching your bedroom right now,” Demon informed her.
“Why would
he feel the need to search my bedroom?”
“I don’t know. I never had reason to doubt Charlie before, now I’m not so sure.” Demon felt troubled.
“Please don’t leave me alone with him,” Shiloh pleaded quietly.
Demon glanced up the steps and grabbed her by the arm. “Come on, even if you aren’t hungry you should eat.”
Shiloh raised her head to see Charlie standing at the top to the steps. Shiloh sighed deeply. “Ok, maybe I do need something to eat.”
A few minutes later, they were all sitting at the table eating breakfast. Shiloh was silent as she ate but her mind was going full steam ahead. She had no idea why Charlie would search her room unless he thought there might be something in the papers Donna saved for her that might implicate him. The food she was eating suddenly felt like a lead balloon in her stomach as she thought about the extent of his betrayal.
She put down her fork and picked up her coffee cup. The hot dark brew was tasteless to her but she drank it anyway. She was hoping Charlie would leave again, so she could think about what she wanted to do next. Right now, she could barely stand to be in the same room with him. She glanced over at Demon and noticed he was staring at her.
“As long as I’m here, old man, why don’t you go home and grab a shower before going to work?” Demon suggested.
“Sounds like a plan to me.” Charlie wiped his mouth with a napkin. He threw the napkin down on his empty plate and pushed his chair back away from the table. He glanced at Shiloh and Demon. Looking back at Shiloh he told her, “I think you’ll be ok until I get back but I can’t leave the town without a police force either.”
“I’ll be ok.” Shiloh looked over at Demon. “Besides, you have a babysitter sitting right here.”
Charlie stood up. “Hey, you’re in my town now and I’m going to do whatever it takes to keep you safe. I’ve been looking after you far too long to let go of you now.”
Shiloh wanted to believe him, she really did. He was doing and saying all the right things to make her feel safe, but was it all a lie? She didn’t know if she was willing to bet her life on him anymore. She glanced over at Demon and smiled slightly. “I think I’ll be okay with your nephew watching over me for a while.”
Demon's Stand Page 6
