by Olivia Swift
“We can steal another ten minutes,” he answered, and she turned into his arms. Eventually the day had to be faced, and they sat in the kitchen having breakfast and deciding on a plan.
“Will you be all right driving yourself to work?” Carlo asked, but she told him she would be fine.
“I finish at three today, and I’ll shop for some food on the way home,” she told him. “Tomorrow Rob has the concrete booked, and I asked for a day off. I know I cannot do anything to help, but I guess I should be there. I can start the cleaning while they do the floor.”
“I’ll take a day as well,” he added. “I do not want you over there by yourself.”
“Thanks,” she told him as she stood up and kissed the side of his face. They left together and drove away to work. Corby sang a little song to herself as she drove. The thoughts of Jim Maddon were left to the police, and the familiar sight of her crafting section in the garden store was cheerful. She left her things in the office and told Kim about the police visit the evening before. Rob appeared and heard the tale as well.
“I never met Deills’s father,” Corby told them. “He wouldn’t have known whom I was either.”
“Another one of those awful coincidences,” Kim added, “but a bit frightening.”
“Thank goodness for Carlo.” Corby laughed. Rob said that she didn’t need to come to watch the concrete, but she said that Carlo had the day off and so did she.
“I’ll start the cleaning, and when the floor is set, the real estate people can come around.”
“When you need it, we will all come and help to spruce the place up,” Kim told her, and Corby went off to start work.
“That is a bit too much of a coincidence,” Kim said quietly to Rob. “We all need to keep an eye out for her. I think I’ll let the others know what happened.” He nodded, kissed the top of her head, and closed the office door as she picked up the phone.
Corby and Carlo sent each other texts, and she left work with a bounce in her step to go to the grocery store. They met back at the apartment. The day had been unremarkable, which Corby remarked was a great relief. Carlo agreed but was glad, just the same, that Rob had called him to talk about what had happened.
“Rob says he will be there early tomorrow but doesn’t need the keys. We can arrive a bit later,” he told her as she found things in the cupboard to make a meal. “It’s not that I like being looked after,” he added, “but I enjoy seeing you in here.”
“Thank you, but if you want to eat, maybe you could set the table.”
He laughed and switched the television on at the same time. “I still cannot get over the size of the television and the bed,” she called out. As she carried in the plates with steak and fries, she told him that she did like the huge screen.
“Maybe you could try a computer game later,” he suggested. She thought it might be fun. As it happened, it brought out a competitive side that she never thought existed before and proved that she had quick reactions.
“You could be really good with a bit of practice,” he told her.
“You live and learn. I never thought about it before, but the people are really lifelike, and I loved the dog,” she said. They sat with hot chocolate until late in the evening, and then when he looked doubtful, she smiled and took his hand.
“I am still nervous but that’s not why you should come and sleep in the bed.” She smiled and pulled him toward the door.
* * *
They did give themselves a longer stay in the morning, but then gathered cleaning things to start on the house.
“I’ve got some white paint in the cupboard,” Carlo said. “Maybe the walls could use a freshening up.”
When they reached the road up to the house, Caroline Macvay waved from the bungalow doorway as they went past, and Corby waved back.
“The other car is still there,” she observed.
“As long as she is occupied, it suits me fine,” Carlo told her as they pulled up beside the gate. A big truck with a turning concrete mixer was at the side of the house with a pipe running around the back. The noise was quite loud as they ventured around to see what was happening. Rob saw them and pointed inside the cellar door.
“I cleared all of the wall, and you have one big room now.” They peered inside and saw two men raking the running concrete into place. They were halfway across the whole room.
“That will look so much better,” Corby said. “I’ll make some coffee.” She went inside the house, and Carlo mentioned to Rob that he was not leaving her on her own.
“Kim and I thought the same,” Rob told him, then added that the men would not stop for coffee until all of the concrete was poured. Carlo went to pass on that information and found her packing the covers and cushions away to take home.
“I thought we could clean the living room today and start on the rest when we have help,” she said, and he lent a hand. He had two walls painted by the time the concrete people were finished, and they all stopped for coffee. Three men in all arrived for coffee and left their heavy boots outside.
“This is a great house,” the driver said as he accepted cake and a drink.
“I was left it by my great uncle,” Corby told him. “It’s too far away from my work to move into.”
“I am looking for somewhere like this if you decide to put it on the market,” he answered, and she smiled and told him that it would be up for sale next week. He held out a hand. “Name’s Jonas Marquez.” She asked if he would like to look around. “Love to,” he said, and the whole group of them went through the place as Carlo and Corby pointed out the various rooms, the outside space and, of course, a newly laid cellar floor.
“We thought it could be a game room,” Carlo said, but Jonas shook his head.
“Make a great dog room because it has a door to the outside. We have seven dogs.” He fished in his wallet. “Here’s my number. Give me first refusal.”
“That is wonderful,” Corby answered and tucked the card away. The men thanked her for the drinks and packed up the truck to drive away. Rob, Corby, and Carlo looked in at the new floor.
“It looks great,” Corby said, “and much better as one big room.”
“Close the door and lock it so that nobody accidentally walks in there. It should set up in a couple of days,” Rob told her. “I think we should have a cleaning party on Monday, and then you can tell him it’s for sale.” Corby looked at Carlo and they both nodded. They locked up and left the place.
“Ask Kim what she thinks, and I will call the others,” Corby said to Rob as he closed his truck door.
“Things are much better,” she said to Carlo as they settled into the car. “I will genuinely feel better when the responsibility of the house is out of the way.” There were no cars at the Macvay bungalow and no signs of life. They stopped on the way back and ate at an Italian restaurant. Corby looked relaxed and happy, and that made Carlo feel better. He pushed away the feeling that he would miss her so much when everything was settled, and she could move back into her own home. When they did reach his apartment, there was a message to call the detective, and it brought her worried look back. He dialed the number and held an arm around her shoulders as he did so.
Detective James told him the good news that Jim Maddon, or whatever his real name was, had been arrested and was under lock and key.
“We have talked to your friend Becks, and she confirms that he came into the house when she was in bed. That is enough to keep him in here for the time being. We are chasing up other crimes where he may have been involved.”
“What about Malvez?” Carlo inquired, and James said that he had been moved to another jail but was still inside.
“Thanks very much.” Carlo said. He told Corby what the detective had said, and they did a little happy dance in the living room. “We can relax and actually enjoy things again.” They called the others and spread the good news. Most of them could make Monday afternoon for a cleaning party.
“Oh, it will be good to fi
nish everything and have the house up for sale. It was kind of my uncle to leave it to me, but it has been a lot of upset,” Corby said, and Carlo pulled her toward him.
“I had better make the most of what we’ve got,” he said and claimed her lips with his own. The stars that always exploded in her head did the same weird dance again, and she felt the pendant warm against her. There was no denying how she felt about Carlo, but she told herself that she could not live in someone else’s apartment forever—even though that was a very attractive thought. Instead of letting that uncomfortable truth take a hold, she put it out of her mind and told him that the enormous, king-size bed seemed a very good idea.
Holding her in his arms through the night, Carlo knew he would have to let her go back to her own house and build her own life. If she wanted his help, he would be there, and maybe, just maybe, it would be more than that in the end. He kissed the nape of her neck and felt her move closer into his arms. It was a wonderful feeling.
The rest of the week and the weekend went by in a blur of work, being together, quilting, and when they were settled in the evening—gaming. Both Carlo and Corby were happy and contented, but both refused to take it for granted and let it go any further. Monday saw them with paint and cleaning materials, meeting the others at the house.
Jules and Miller were already there when they drove up to the house, and Jules had his small but fabulous camera in his hand.
“Corby, you need photos to keep as memories of where you solved the mystery of your family.”
“That is a great idea, thanks,” she said, and he started by taking shots of the outside and the land around it. The others pulled up, and Miller said that she would start in the attic room and work down. Carlo brought out the paint and brushes to finish the living room, and soon Evan and Jazz arrived.
“Kim says she is sorry, but a supplier said he was coming, and she had to wait to meet him,” Jazz told her.
“That’s fine. She has been so good to give me time off to straighten this out. I owe her big time.” Evan said he had brought a grass trimmer, and he would make sure the outside was tidy, and Jazz said she would start the kitchen cupboards because she would be at the right height.
“Only another month and I will have my figure back,” Jazz said cheerfully.
Corby put a chair beside the cupboards. “Sit as much as you can, and if it gets too much just stop.”
Carlo finished the walls in the living room and went to see if anywhere else needed a lick of paint. Corby went to the bedrooms and met Miller coming down to do the same. It was a cheerful little group, and with everyone working enthusiastically, the house started to look clean and tidy.
15
“I am going to ask Simon to look at the stones and see what he thinks. Then Ben and I thought maybe a picnic by the waterfalls later would be a good day out,” Kat told her mom and then asked if Bev would make up a picnic for them.
“Of course I will,” Bev told her. “Let me know when you plan to go.” Kat took the book off to her bedroom and sat pouring over it for a little while, and then she texted Ben.
“Are you still awake?” she wrote, and he answered immediately with a yes and asked if something was wrong.
“Sending you a picture of a page in a book,” she wrote and used the camera. Then there was a pause while he got the photo and looked at it, and then her phone rang.
“Your mom is brilliant. She put two and two together,” he said.
“There must be some older folks around who remember the place before the slide,” Kat said. “It’s another piece of the puzzle to unravel.”
“The archaeologists might know something about it as well,” Ben said.
“Mom says she’ll make a picnic for us to take when we tell her which day we are going,”
“Suddenly, just because I bought a pile of stones that nobody wanted, all sorts of things have happened,” Ben said as he laid back on his bed trying to visualize the girl on the other end of the phone. She voiced his thoughts.
“Who would have thought that you and I would be having a late-night conversation like this?” she asked and almost felt the smile that spread over his face. “You’re smiling. I can tell,” she added, and he laughed out loud.
“You are getting to be psychic,” he said. “That sensible attitude is just a cover.”
“Don’t you start as well,” she told him. “Mom thinks I try to be the adult in the house because they are still both hippies at heart. She really believes all this psychic stuff.”
They talked on and on as people do when they are at the start of a relationship and don’t want to be the one to bring it to an end. Kat said she would take the book with her tomorrow and would call him after she talked to Simon.
“Good night, Katarina Jones,” he told her. “I’m glad we had that first date.”
“Me too. See you tomorrow, Benjamin Carruthers,” she answered and hung up.
The next morning, she phoned Simon Clearwater from her dad’s shop and asked him if he could fit in a meeting to look at the stones. She explained where they had come from and because they had been moved around, wondered if they were valuable.
“Ben just bought a mountain load of stone to landscape a garden.” Simon was intrigued, as she thought he would be and suggested they just bring the stones over to the dig.
“I’ll be there all day,” he told her. She said thanks and phoned Ben.
“When can you get away?” he asked, and she said her dad would let her go at any time. He said he would be over in half an hour.
“I’ll put a few more of the stones in the truck,” he said. “I am at the garden now.” They hung up, and Kat finished the work she was doing for her dad and popped next door to tell Carly what they had found out about the slide.
“You can tell the others,” she said. “We are going to meet with Simon and see what the archaeologists think.”
“Fascinating,” Carly said. “Look—I have broken a few pieces off the rock and got them in the tumbler.” She had actually taken a hammer to the rock to get the pieces but didn’t mention that. The machine was rumbling away like a little cement mixer and thankfully was outside of the back room where the noise didn’t matter so much. She stopped the drum and looked inside.
“They will work,” she said and handed a piece over to Kat. The stone was starting to get a smoother exterior.
“They could be quite beautiful,” Kat said. “Can they be drilled to make holes?”
“Don’t know,” Carly said, “but they would stick into claw fittings with glue if they won’t be drilled.” Ben’s voice called out from the shop, and the girls told him to come through. He turned the smoother pebble over in his hand.
“Wow. Jewelry from a load of building material. That must be a first.”
“Let’s go and see Simon,” Kat said, and Carly wanted to know the result of the visit.
Kat twisted in the passenger seat to see how much extra rock he had brought, and there was quite a lot.
“Another tiny fossil as well,” he said as he drove and handed her a small stone from the pocket in the door.
“My collection is growing by the day. Thank you,” she said.
The dig was more extensive than Ben had thought. There were several groups working at different points. The entire area was marked off with tape, and two or three people were at each excavation trench. Kat headed over to the closest trench, and the man standing watching the dig waved a hand. To Ben’s dismay the man was outstandingly good-looking. He was Native American and wore a jacket that harked back to his ancestors, but otherwise was dressed for working in the open air.
The people kneeling down and scraping carefully away at the earth were all wearing tough jeans, strong boots, and tee shirts. They mostly had hats of some sort but were a complete assortment of individuals. Two of the girls had bright-colored hair like Carly. Some of the men sported tattoos, and there were some older members around as well.
“Hiya, Kat,” he said. “This mu
st be Ben who bought the pile of stones.” He held out a hand to Ben who shook it. Despite the hints of jealousy that he felt knowing that Kat was working with this man, he couldn’t help but be charmed. Simon Clearwater had the gift of connecting with people. It was a distinct advantage when he was running a team as varied as the one scattered around the dig.
“Come and have a seat at the van,” he said and led the way to the edge of the dig where a battered camper van was parked.
“I’ll collect the stones on the way,” Ben said and stepped across to his own vehicle. He took about five and joined Kat and Simon.
“Tell me the story,” Simon asked, and among them they talked about what had happened.
“My mom, who is still a hippie at heart, has a thing about ancient monuments and landmarks, and she found this book.” Kat handed him the picture. “I don’t suppose you think that the stones were connected to this.”
Simon turned the stones over in his hand and looked at the book. Then he picked up his phone. One of the other archaeologists on the site came over in response.
“Meghan is more of an expert on rock-cave houses than I am,” he said and introduced her. She ran her hands over the stone and looked at Kat and Ben.
“Where did these come from?” she asked, and they went through the story once again. Meghan sat down and looked at Simon.
“You want me to confirm what you think, don’t you?” she asked with a smile, and he nodded.
“What?” Kat questioned. Meghan said that at first glance, the stones were very old and probably had some connection with the old houses that were lost in the slide.
“This one . . .” She held a piece up. “Is part of a building, but the smoother ones with the markings are probably more to do with something—ceremonial.”
“Ceremonial,” Ben repeated. “Like ritual offerings to the gods and stuff?” Meghan shook her head.
“Everyone thinks that but more likely just somewhere where they honored the ancestors. They are very old, though. Do you suppose we could have some of them to try to find out a bit more?”
