Retreat to Woodhaven (The Hills of Burlington Book 2)

by Jacie Middlemann

  Uneasy after the phone call, she moved out onto the porch and settled into the swing she had installed not long after moving in. For as long as she could remember the porch swing had been a place of retreat. Not a place to hide. And there seemed always to be someone to share it with, to let guide the sway of the swing to whatever mood held strongest. Mary let it glide with the easy push of her foot.

  She had found solace here. It was only when her cousin Casey had shown up in the middle of the night shortly after she had moved in that she realized solace didn't have to mean solitude. Casey might not have been looking for it but found it here as well. No longer able to play the role required by her job she had walked out. And to this day she still couldn't tell you why she headed for Burlington. But she had and hadn't looked back.

  Not too long after that another late night arrival had brought two more of her family into her home and begun the path of unraveling so many of their family secrets. Aunt Charlie, the youngest of the three sisters who had also included both her and Casey's mothers, arrived with her granddaughter Mallie. Mary knew now she should have realized that once she had bought the Marshall Street house there was no way her Aunt Charlie wouldn't find some way to make the trip to Burlington. Poor Mallie, Mary thought with a smile. She had been practically shanghaied by her grandmother. Few could survive Aunt Charlie's determination. And there was no question about it...she had been determined to return to Burlington.

  No one, especially Aunt Charlie, had been more surprised when her daughter Carrie showed up barely a day after her own arrival. Just as no one had been terribly surprised or disappointed when Carrie chose to stay for a while rather than return to her husband after assuring herself her mother was in good hands. She and the Senator hadn't seen eye to eye for some time. Mary leaned her head back against the swing. If anything still worried her it was Carrie. Everyone else had settled in as if they had never left. In Mallie's case, she had settled in as if she'd never lived anywhere else. Burlington had again become home to much of the family. Her family. And her home. She gazed through the front window as she had so often as a child, into the home that had again become the hub of family gatherings.

  And now there would be Jake. She shifted her gaze into the opposite direction. Looked down the street to where she had already spent much of the day. Aunt Charlie's old house on Woodhaven. There'd been no real emotional tie for her to that house. Not like there had been to this one. Or the one on Marshall Street where her mother and aunts had grown up. But like the others the house on Woodhaven had suddenly come up for sale. She sighed thoughtfully and without a single regret. It had been an expensive whim. But one that would give Jake a place to find his own solace which he seemed to desperately need even if he wasn't aware of it.

  She closed her eyes, visualized the inside of the house. It was clean if nothing else. Even after going through it like a fiend once she'd taken possession of it, she'd continued to clean as she worked to restore and redecorate each room as she went through it. With no real plan for it and no real memories of how it had been, she had simply gone with what she liked. And she hoped Jake liked red because the house seemed to boast a lot of it. Mostly in the kitchen, but each room seemed to have touches of the color. In the curtains, knick knacks she had scattered around. One of the bedrooms had a red accent wall that simply made her happy every time she walked into it. More importantly, Aunt Charlie loved it. She didn't ever want to live there again but she loved how it looked now.

  She really just needed to pick up a few more pieces of furniture. There might even be a few pieces in her basement she could use. She sighed deeply. She'd give anything to know what it was Jake had written this time that had him looking for a place he didn't have to put his name to. With that in mind she made a mental note to herself to leave a note for her new milkman that she wanted weekly service at the Woodhaven house too. She had a feeling her cousin would be making use of it.

  

  CHAPTER TWO

  Jake set the phone down gently into its cradle. He had a place to go. A place no one would ever consider looking for him. And some would come looking in the not too distant future...of that he had little to no doubt. He rubbed the bridge of his nose between his eyes. A headache was never too far away these days. Ever since that chilling moment three months ago that had indirectly led to the phone call he had just hung up from.

  He leaned back in the chair. He knew he needed to get busy instead of sitting here letting his mind wander back to where nothing good could come of it. Nothing could be changed. And if he was honest with himself the die had been cast almost twenty years before.

  Shaking his head as if to ward off something he could not see, he picked the phone up again. He had some calls to make before he could take off for Burlington. And there were a few people he needed to meet with. Kevin had promised to give him at least a days notice before running the first part of the article. He would have preferred the entire piece be published as it was but understood the newspaper's desire to keep it going for a couple of days. He wondered how many people were going to be heading out of town not far behind him after the first article in the series ran. Served them right he thought ruefully. He'd never had a high opinion of politicians. He knew there were some who never strayed across that line between right and wrong. But he knew too, especially after the last three months there were some who strayed over it, over and over again. Worse, they believed it was for the right of mankind or some such garbage. Talk about believing your own press, he thought disgustedly. As far as he was concerned they could all fry and likely would. But he didn't want them on his doorstep. And he didn't particularly care to mess around with all the reporters who would be hot on his sources or simply hot for having been caught for their role in this mess. He had no problem taking them on. He had in the past and had no doubt he would again in the future. But he wasn't in the mood now. There was something far more important he needed to deal with...and soon.

  Sighing deeply, he punched in the numbers for the one call he hadn't planned on. Listened to the ringing on the other end. After this he was going to get things in motion. Kevin might have every intention of giving him a day's notice but it wouldn't be the first time if he didn't. He wanted to be long out of D.C. before the first shot in this particular skirmish was fired.

  

  Mark Danner closed his cell phone only moments before he closed his eyes. He really didn't need this. If he hadn't already decided over the course of the last couple of months that he needed to change his life this little development would do it. Easily.

  "Mark?" His wife Terry moved to the chair next to his. "Who was that?" She had a feeling she knew but wanted to hear it from him.

  "Jake Kyle." He spoke without opening his eyes. "Casey's brother." He added unnecessarily.

  Terry knew the name. Knew the connection better than her husband might realize. Jake had been a frequent visitor when she and Casey Kyle shared a dorm room in college. She waited quietly. After all these years of marriage she knew when quiet was called for.

  Ever since Mark had returned from Burlington months before he'd become more and more discouraged over the situation at the news network where they’d both worked until she had resigned a few years before to stay home with their kids. At least that was her public reason for leaving. A lot had changed over the years since she’d started with WNO fresh out of college. She and Casey had been thrilled to find jobs in the same city let alone the same network. There had been so many good times and both alone and together they had done good work...so much to be proud of. But things had changed.

  In the end she had left as much because of how the situation at work was changing her every bit as much as how the job itself had evolved. Even then, while Casey had accepted her decision to leave she hadn't completely understood. Not then. Not until it had hit her more recently when just before going on air she'd reached her own limit and simply walked out.

  Terry hadn't caught on to exactly what had brought it on at the
time but found out later that it had at least in part to do with a huge scandal involving a senator she herself had never personally thought too much of. As far as she was concerned he’d deserved everything that came his way. But in the way of the world today the man's entire family was dragged into the fiasco and one by one as they were each targeted by the main stream media it had become too much to bear for many of them. And reporting it had become too much for Casey.

  As she silently kept an eye on her husband, knowing he was thinking, working out whatever Jake had told him in his head. She remembered their conversation all those months ago when he’d returned from visiting Casey in Burlington, the small town she had fled to when everything had felt like it was falling down around her. Upon his return from the visit they’d talked, really talked for the first time about her resignation. And she had been brutally honest telling him some of what had brought her to make the unexpected step that had caught many by surprise. She knew that much of what she'd finally shared with him had backed up much of what he'd heard from Casey or had simply worked out for himself. And in the months since he'd done as she'd suggested...watched and listened for himself instead of blindly accepting the words of others. And she knew he didn't like a lot of what he was seeing and hearing. Unlike herself and Casey he was a pragmatic man. While her decision to leave had been at least partially based on emotion and knew Casey's had been as well, Mark was much more practical. His decision to move on to something different was based on the simple fact that he didn't like the way things were going and didn't see himself in a position to change it either in the short term or the long term. Therefore, if you can't change something for the better don't hang around fighting a losing battle.

  She watched him shift around in his chair, the one he preferred when he got home from work. They had nicer chairs, more comfortable chairs, but this one worked for him. It was battered, ragged, and ready to light a match to. But it was his chair. She knew without doubt, where ever they went that chair would go too.

  "You may want to take closer care on watching the caller id for the next week or so." Mark stretched, was tempted to get himself another drink, knew he needed one.

  "Mark," Terry waited for him to turn in her direction. Wished she could ease the lines of stress that etched deep into his ruggedly gorgeous face. "Tell me."

  "Jake has a new story coming out in the next couple of days. If it's even half as good based on the little he told me about it he'll probably get another Pulitzer for it."

  "Sounds interesting," she didn't personally begrudge anyone the sterling award for journalists, especially her best friend's brother, but would have dearly loved one of her own. "So what or who is he taking on this time that means that I need to watch the phone?"

  Mark looked into his wife's eyes, for the first time glad she was out of it. "Jake's been working on it for months and if there's any good news it's that he isn't naming names." He shrugged at her questioning look, "At least not yet." He sighed and continued. "For a couple of reasons, all of which is probably for the best and at the same time will make it that more sensational. It's not like some intrepid soul won't dig them out at some point anyway. But he is naming the networks they work for and that's bad enough."

  "Mark, what is this about?" She was beginning to worry and ready to drag it out of him if she had to.

  "He got a lead a couple of months ago from what could best be termed a whistleblower. He did some digging around, you know Jake...he doesn't as a rule believe anything anyone says, but going on what this person told him he uncovered that a number of reporters at just about every major network and a couple of the biggest newspapers have colluded to generate absolutely false stories." He rubbed his forehead, knowing the headache he had now was nothing compared to what it would be when the story actually came out. He pinched the bridge of his nose, hard, and still found no relief. Somewhere deep inside he envied Jake the freedom to stand by principles so many had long left in the dust. In this case he only wished he'd had a little more notice when in truth he knew he was fortunate to have any at all. Most didn't.

  "Politics?" Terry knew this was where most problems lay.

  "I'm sure there's some of that too...probably on both sides." Mark let out a harsh breath. "But it sounds like this covers just about every spectrum of the news."

  Terry voiced what both were avoiding. "Did he say if any were at WNO?" She didn't question Jake, he never did anything unless he was absolutely certain of his sources. He didn't just double check his sources, he double checked theirs. If he didn't know who they were, he found them or found some way of making sure what he was writing was valid. And he never ever went with just one. Rarely he went with just two. If this was as big as her husband believed she would bet the bank the Jake she knew would have numerous fully vetted sources. There were no holes in Jake's reporting. No matter how hard anyone dug there were none to be found and people knew that. And that was why he was respected. And feared. She could tell before he spoke the answer wasn't what she wanted to hear. "Who?"

  "He didn't say." Mark breathed deeply. He was past anger. He wasn't even surprised. Not after what he'd seen, really seen...allowed himself to see in the last couple of months. He took another deep breath, let this one out just as deeply. "But he mentioned a few stories that are in question that tells me enough for what I need to know."

  "What are you going to do?" She knew now what he'd been quietly pondering.

  "For the moment, nothing." He took the hand she held out to him. "Except subtly add a little security around here." He looked at his wife with a seriousness she couldn't miss. "And I meant what I said about watching the phone."

  "Because they'll be looking for Jake and with Casey gone you think they'll come in my direction trying to find her in order to locate him."

  "Maybe. And maybe I'm getting overly worried about nothing. It's only sheer dumb luck we haven't aired any of her stories. They were slated to begin in the next couple of weeks." He thought about the agreement he’d reached with Jake's sister Casey after her sudden departure from the network.

  "But you're going to hold them because they might give away where she is."

  Mark only nodded absently. Thinking ahead. Thinking out the angles. "There's a couple of people who know about them, fewer though that have actually seen them."

  "Where are they?"

  Mark studied his wife. He knew exactly what she was thinking. They weren't too far apart on it. They rarely were. He'd been thinking the same thing. "My office."

  "What are you going to do?"

  "There's a couple of options." And he wasn't particularly fond of any of them.

  "Dubbing out any mention of her exact location." Terry knew it would be time consuming but possible.

  "There's that. They could also be lost or..." he sighed. "I could send them back to her for revisions."

  "You'd keep a copy." She knew, everyone knew, he would keep a copy.

  "Everyone messes up and to be frank, I don't care."

  "Why don't you just tell them to shove it if it comes down to something that petty."

  "I may." He turned for the kitchen. He was going to have that drink after all.

  "I sold my old condo." She blurted out. She knew it was out of the blue but it was just what he needed right now.

  Mark slowly turned. "You what?"

  Terry smiled. There was nothing she enjoyed more than ruffling that starch. "You heard me, I sold the condo."

  Mark studied her, saw the smile and the immense satisfaction it held. She'd bought the condo during her first year working at the network. They had rented it out since she'd moved in with him the year before they got married. "Why?" He knew the answer. Knew it the moment she'd told him.

  "You know why but not just because of that." She moved to stand beside him, leaned into him, relaxed against him. "I don't need it. I haven't needed it since I realized I needed you more. And I haven't wanted it for almost as long." She looked up at him. "We can always sell this place too if y
ou want. It doesn't matter to me, but this way we don't have to if you want to hold on to it."

  The way she had needed to hold on to her condo. He realized in that moment that just as she no longer needed the condo to declare her independence, he no longer needed this house as a glaring neon sign of his success. Needing the contact every bit as much as she, he let his chin rest against the top of her head. Above them he could hear the muffled noises that meant both kids were still awake and aware. "You sure you don't mind leaving all this?"

  "I don't have a problem at all with leaving all this as long as you come with me."

  "Do you care where we go?"

  She tilted her head up sideways so she could see his face, gauge his expression. She wondered if he already knew what she did. "There's a small local paper for sale in Burlington." Oh, he knew all right, was her first thought. She knew that face. She knew this man.

  "Have you ever been there?"

  "No. But it seems like lots of folks are flocking there."

  "I think Jake is."

  That surprised her. She stepped back to look up at him more clearly, get a better view of his expression. "Really?" She didn't know Jake that well, hadn't kept up with him over the years as she had Casey. But she simply couldn't see him comfortable in a small town. "Did he say that?"

  "Not in so many words but he's not stupid. When they can't find him, they'll go looking for anyone they might think can find him for them. That's going to put Casey front and center." He took a deep breath. "Even if I send her videos back to her it's only going to stall the situation. Someone, at some point, will find her."

  "And Jake thinks he can put himself in front of her." Terry knew how reporters worked, knew how she had worked to find a source...and sometimes to find the source of the source.

  Mark thought back over the conversation with Jake Kyle. The fact that he'd made the effort to call was surprising on its own. He chose his words carefully. "In part...maybe." He took her hand, walked with her into the kitchen. "Jake is nobody's fool. He has to know better than anyone that it's only a matter of time before he's tracked down, let alone his sister." He poured them both a glass of wine while he played the phone call back in his mind. "I think Jake has other reasons for heading to Burlington. I haven't a single doubt that part of it is getting away, being less accessible and being closer to Casey but I think there's something else going on too." He handed Terry her glass, took a sip out of his own. "Fact is, I'm surprised he took this story on himself in the first place. He's been in the position to take on other major stories before this and handed them over to someone else instead." He thought about it, thought about the conversation with the man. Brief as it was a lot had been said. And not said. "I think there's a lot more to him even taking this on. I just don't know what it is."