Walk Through the Valley

by Debbie Viguié

  A couple of minutes passed and the walls felt like they were closing in on him. He knew it was just because he was feeling trapped. What is it they say? Between a rock and a hard place.

  He got up to leave, locking the door behind him. Hopefully some fresh air would help speed up the process. Once in the parking lot he noticed that there were only a handful of cars still parked in the two parking lots. He froze when he recognized one of them as Cindy’s.

  What was she doing here?

  He stood for a moment, debating whether or not to go look for her. He really didn’t want to continue their conversation in public. He wasn’t sure though if waiting much longer would do either of them any good, though. He stood, unable to decide what to do.

  In the distance he heard sirens and he shook himself. He turned and started to walk back toward home. He definitely couldn’t continue this with her in public and at the moment he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to control what he said when he saw her. He was even less sure of what she might say.

  He registered that the sirens were getting louder and that there were multiple vehicles. Some accident somewhere maybe?

  He had gone another dozen steps when he realized that the sirens were practically right on top of him. He turned just in time to see two police cars chasing an ambulance into the church parking lot.

  A feeling of dread filled him. Cindy. Had something happened to her? He watched as the vehicles came to a stop. Paramedics and officers rushed toward the open church gate.

  Jeremiah sprinted forward, praying that nothing had happened to her. As he neared the church gate he could tell that all the activity seemed to be happening just inside it.

  He had almost reached the gate when a uniformed officer he didn’t recognize stepped in front of him and held up a hand. “Hold it right there, sir. This is a crime scene, I need you to back up.”

  “I can’t, you don’t understand. My...friend is in there.”

  “I’m sorry, you’re going to have to wait back here.”

  “I have to know if she’s okay. She’s a young woman, brown hair.”

  The officer grimaced briefly and Jeremiah’s heart plunged. “Get out of my way,” he growled, ready to tear the man apart.

  Then just over the man’s shoulder he caught sight of Liam, Mark’s new partner. Before he could call to him the man shifted a step to the side and he saw that Liam was talking to Cindy.

  He closed his eyes for a moment as relief flooded him. He had to get control of himself.

  “What happened after you found him with the body?” he clearly heard Liam ask.

  “I shouted for help and that’s when Christopher here came running. He was the one who called 911,” Cindy said, indicating a tall, well-dressed man with blond hair who was standing next to her.

  Jeremiah took a step backward, feeling as though he had been physically struck. Cindy had been shouting for help and he hadn’t heard her. Someone else had come to her rescue when it should have been him. He felt a sudden, intense hatred for Christopher, whoever he was, and imagined himself snapping the other man’s neck like it was a twig.

  “Hey, buddy, are you okay?” the uniformed officer asked him.

  Liam glanced around. “Jeremiah, how do you fit into all of this?” the detective asked.

  Jeremiah took a deep breath. “I guess I don’t,” he said.

  “Sorry. I thought the two of you were inseparable.”

  Jeremiah met Cindy’s eyes. From the sounds of things she had found another dead body and maybe even the murderer. Yet, somehow, all the drama was actually between the two of them and noone knew it.

  He was losing control, emotions roiling within him and it was just a matter of time before he did something he’d regret. For the second time in his life he felt like everything was slipping away from him.

  “I was glad I heard her shouting,” Christopher said, and he put an arm around Cindy’s shoulders. “I can’t imagine what might have happened if I hadn’t shown up.”

  “Take your hand off of her,” Jeremiah snarled.

  “Okay, settle-” the uniformed officer choked on his words as Jeremiah grabbed his hand, gave it a sharp twist, and put him on the ground.

  Jeremiah stepped over him and met Christopher’s startled eyes. The other man hastily backed away from Cindy, eyes widening in fear. He should be afraid. Christopher would regret trying to replace him.

  “Jeremiah, stop!” Cindy said sharply.

  He paused and turned to look at her. Her eyes were wide, too, but in surprise instead of fear. The others were right to fear him, but Cindy wasn’t afraid of him. She never was. Even if she should be. Her blind trust in him had always worried him. What would she say if she knew the truth about him?

  He blinked, coming slowly out of the fog that had seemed to descend over him. She did know the truth. At least, part of it. And she was still looking at him the same way. No fear. No suspicion. Just trust.

  He took a deep breath and she reached out and touched his arm. He turned to Liam. “I’m sorry. I was just so worried about her.”

  Liam was staring from Jeremiah to the officer he had put on the ground. “Remind me never to get in between you two,” he muttered.

  Jeremiah flushed. He turned and helped the officer to his feet. The man glared at him, but didn’t say anything. Jeremiah knew he was lucky the man wasn’t making an issue of it. He had, after all, just physically assaulted a police officer. In the man’s eyes, though, Jeremiah saw fear. The man was afraid to push it.

  Before anyone could do or say anything else a woman in an expensive looking blue suit hurried up, blond curls bouncing against her shoulders. “Where’s my husband?” she asked in an anguished voice. Her gaze flitted to Christopher and then quickly back to the rest of them.

  “Marjorie, I’m over here,” a distraught voice called out.

  Jeremiah tilted his head to the side. There, sitting about fifteen feet away on the ground with a police officer standing over him, was a man who looked familiar. His dark hair was cropped close and he wore suit slacks with a dress shirt and tie. The edges of the shirt as well as his hands were covered in blood.

  Marjorie took a step in his direction, but Liam grabbed her arm. “I’m sorry, ma’am, you can’t go over there right now.”

  “But that’s my husband,” she said, anger flaring in her eyes. “Don’t you know who I am?”

  “Yes, ma’am. I know who both of you are,” Liam said. “And I’m going to have to insist. I need to take your statement. Where have you been for the last half hour?”

  She looked taken aback. “As soon as the rally finished the driver took me to the hotel. I’d only just been there a couple of minutes when I got a phone call that something had happened to Henry. I came straight back as fast as I could.”

  Henry. The name clicked with the face and Jeremiah realized that the man sitting on the ground was Henry White, a politician running for governor of the state. He glanced sharply at Cindy. What exactly had she stumbled into the middle of this time?

  Cindy was struggling to keep herself focused which was turning out to be an impossible task. There had been a moment where she had been absolutely sure that Jeremiah was going to kill Christopher, the man who had come when she shouted. It seemed absurd and she couldn’t imagine why. Christopher was a stranger to her, and presumably to Jeremiah as well. What on earth could have set him off like that?

  Maybe like her he was still on edge from their earlier conversation. Their very much unfinished conversation. She tried to give him a reassuring smile to calm him down, but his attention was even more scattered than hers and she wasn’t sure if he actually saw it.

  She took a deep breath and struggled to clear her head. Jeremiah and she could hash things out later. Now, she needed to focus on what was happening around her and what Liam was saying. She was, after all, the one who had found the body and the initial suspect.

  When she had seen Henry White in the bathroom, leaning over that girl’s body she had
been sure he had murdered her. She had backed away as fast as she could, shouting to bring others so he wouldn’t just come after her to kill her, too, to keep it quiet.

  Henry hadn’t moved, though. He hadn’t come after her. He had just stared at her with the vacant, glassy eyes of someone in shock. Even when Christopher had come running up Henry hadn’t left his spot on the bathroom floor. In fact, he hadn’t left it until the officer who was now standing guard over him had arrived. The man had nearly had to pick him up physically to get him to leave the girl’s side. When the policeman had half-walked, half-carried him by Cindy she had taken a good look at the politician’s face.

  He looked like someone in a trance. She imagined that she must have looked very similar the first time she had found a body which had also been on church grounds. No, every time she glanced over at him she couldn’t believe that he was faking that reaction.

  If he had killed her, it couldn’t have been premeditated, she was certain of it. In fact, she was pretty certain he couldn’t be the killer at all. Maybe she was just empathizing with him because she’d had an experience that she viewed as similar. She needed to look at things more objectively. Politicians were notorious for being able to lie to the world and hide their true faces. Plus, after all, she had found them in the women’s room. What on earth had he been doing in there?

  Maybe when Liam questioned him, he’d find out. It seemed like Henry hadn’t said a word until calling out to his wife just a minute before. Liam was questioning her now and she seemed very agitated. Then again, who wouldn’t be?

  “Who called to tell you that something had happened to your husband?” Liam asked.

  “His campaign organizer, Geoffrey Wells,” Marjorie said.

  “And how exactly did he find out?” Liam asked.

  “Um, that would be me,” Christopher said, looking sheepish. “I’m one of the campaign staffers and after I called 911, I called Geoffrey.”

  Cindy nodded. “I know he called someone after calling 911 and told them to hurry down here because there had been an ‘incident’.” She put emphasis on the word because even at the time it had seemed far too mild a word to describe what had happened.

  Liam looked around. “So, where is Geoffrey Wells?”

  Marjorie and Christopher looked around as well. “I don’t see him,” Marjorie admitted. “I know he was on his way to a meeting after the rally.”

  “Is there a reason both of you left before Henry?” Liam asked.

  Marjorie shook her head. “Almost everyone but a couple of staffers leave these things before Henry. He insists on staying as late as possible to shake hands and answer questions. He doesn’t leave until the last voter does, sometimes hours after an event is over. By then I’ll have gotten some rest, be changed for dinner and ready to talk over the day with him. Geoffrey is busy coordinating and setting up the next event the moment one ends. None of us has time to stay as long as Henry. But that’s his job. To be accessible to the voters. At least, that’s how he sees it.”

  “You don’t agree?” Cindy asked before she could stop herself.

  Liam glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes, shaking his head slightly.

  “I think he gives too much of himself. He ends each day so exhausted he can barely stand. And there’s weeks to go before this tour is over. Even then he won’t be able to take a rest. Not until the election.”

  “Okay, so who was still here with your husband when you left?” Liam asked.

  Marjorie shrugged. “A lot of people. I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

  “We were just getting ready to leave actually,” Christopher volunteered. “It was just him, a couple other staffers, and me. I was getting ready to call the guy to come lock up after us. I always stay on site with Henry so I’m responsible for making sure buildings get locked behind us.”

  “Do you know the victim?” Liam asked.

  Cindy turned so she could look at Christopher while he was talking. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Jeremiah standing, arms folded across his chest. He looked slightly calmer, but not much.

  “No. I think I might have seen her, though.”

  “At the rally?”

  “No, a couple of days ago. Different rally, different city. I can’t be sure, though. I’m sorry.”

  “Her name was Lydia Jenkins. The name familiar?” Liam asked.

  Christopher shook his head.

  “How about you?” Liam asked, turning to Marjorie.

  “No, I’ve never heard the name,” she said.

  Liam was doing a great job, but Cindy couldn’t help but wish that Mark was there. He and Traci should be en route to Tahiti, though. Liam was a good detective from everything she had seen, but she’d feel so much better with Mark on the case.

  “She’s not a member of the church,” Cindy offered.

  Liam turned to her. “You know, I’ve got your preliminary statement. If you want to head home I can swing by later and get more details.”

  She shook her head. “That’s okay. I’ll stay.”

  She glanced at Jeremiah. “You can go if you want. I’ll be okay.”

  Cindy saw the muscle in his jaw clench and she realized in surprise that somehow what she had just said had made him angry. She couldn’t figure out how it possibly could have, but didn’t have time to fixate on it. She knew from experience that she was going to be at the heart of this murder investigation whether she wanted to be or not, and she didn’t want to miss a word of what Liam and the others were saying. The smallest thing could end up being important later.

  “I’ll stay,” Jeremiah said, his voice curt.

  “Okay,” she replied, not knowing what else she could say. That seemed to be the wrong thing, too, because she saw him scowl.

  Liam moved over to stand next to Henry and Cindy followed. “Sir, can you tell me what happened?” Liam asked.

  “I was heading to the parking lot,” Henry said, his voice shaky. “I heard...I thought I heard a woman scream. I ran, but didn’t see anyone in the parking lot. I realized maybe it was coming from somewhere else. I saw the women’s restroom. It was the closest door in the building, and I yanked it open.”

  He paused and put his head in his hands for a moment. Cindy took a step backward, wondering if he was going to be sick. When he lifted his head again, his skin was sickly colored. His hands were shaking now. “I saw her on the floor. I ran over to see if I could help. There was blood. And she was just staring...staring. I think she was dead.”

  He glanced over at Cindy. “Then she came in.”

  “How much time had passed?” Liam asked.

  “I really don’t know. A minute. Five. She was just staring...and I couldn’t wake her...and I didn’t know what to do.”

  Cindy’s heart went out to him. She remembered finding her first dead body. Time had lost meaning for her as well.

  “Did you know her?” Liam asked.

  He shook his head. “I saw her at a couple of rallies. She never came up to me or shook my hand. She always hung back. I don’t know who she was, but noone deserves...that.”

  Tears sprung to his eyes, and Cindy’s heart ached for him.

  Mark leaned his head back against his seat and squeezed Traci’s hand. They had just taken their seats in the first class cabin.

  “Tahiti,” she said excitedly.

  “Tahiti,” he breathed. “And you.”

  “It’s probably our last trip together alone for a while.”

  He squeezed her hand harder. “I still can’t believe we’re having a baby.”

  “September 18th.”

  “How often do babies arrive on their actual due date?”

  “I don’t know. That’s why I packed a few books for you to read on vacation. You know, What to Expect When You’re Expecting. That kind of thing.”

  He chuckled. “Never thought I’d say this, but I’m looking forward to reading them.”

  “We’re going to be okay.”

  “We’re going to be
better than okay,” he said. “We’re going to be great.”

  He stretched out his legs. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to fly coach again.”

  She laughed. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

  “Great minds think alike.”

  “I keep wondering what trouble everyone’s going to get into while we’re gone,” she mused.

  “I keep trying not to think about that. Whatever it is, I’m sure they can survive two weeks without us.”

  In the back of his head there was a little nagging doubt. He tried very hard not to think about the news Cindy had given him that morning that pertained to his deceased partner, the man he had known as Paul but who was really someone else entirely.

  As the plane pulled away from the gate he took a deep breath. Two weeks with just the two of them on an island. It was going to be wonderful. It was exactly what they both needed.

  “Did you remember to turn off your phone?” Traci asked as flight attendants began to do their safety spiel.

  He turned and grinned at her. “I didn’t even bring it.”

  She raised her eyebrows in mock surprise. “But, what if something important happens, someone needs to reach us?”

  “Nothing is more important than the two of us and uninterrupted quality time. Besides, if the world ends I’m sure someone on the island will let us know.”

  3

  Cindy was sitting on the ground next to Henry, talking to him occasionally while Liam finished his interviews with everyone else. The man was still in shock but doing a whole lot better. Jeremiah had glared at her when she sat down next to him. He probably didn’t think it was safe. He probably thought Henry was the murderer. She was pretty sure Liam thought that.

  Eventually Jeremiah had stalked off. She wasn’t sure where he had gone. For all she knew he was at the synagogue or even back home. Sylvia, the business manager at the church, had been called. It was her number Christopher had had. She had unlocked the facilities earlier and stayed during setup but had to leave before the rally got underway.