Crystalline Crypt

by Mary Coley

  “No. It’s only… I’m scared to make the drive back out to Jandafar. If someone was after Mike, they might be after me. I’ve already been run off the road once on the way out there.”

  The sheriff sighed. “Okay. Deputy Caldwell will escort you if that will make you feel better.”

  “Yes, it would.”

  But it wouldn’t help her to sleep in the cabin, all alone.

  ~ Chapter 41 ~

  Will

  Will refocused his attention on the final speaker for the umpteenth time since he’d returned to the evening seminar. He was mad at himself for letting Mandy distract him. He’d used the one evening break to call her, expecting her voice to cheer him, even though he did not agree with where she was and what she was doing. He’d realized he was fighting a losing battle over Jenna. He couldn’t leave here; he wasn’t willing to throw away his career.

  How had she determined he wasn’t at the Rex? He hadn’t covered his tracks, but then, he hadn’t thought he needed to. It was unlike Mandy to check up on him. He should have taken that precaution. Was he losing his edge?

  He focused on the front of the room and the demonstration under way. Cybersecurity was an evolving area he had to get up to speed on. The current seminar and tomorrow’s morning seminar were crucial to the field work he was often assigned. He had to put Mandy out of his head.

  He couldn’t be the only person in the room who had a loved one to get back to. He’d been dead serious when he had talked with Mandy about moving in together. He wanted to cement their relationship. He wanted to marry her.

  She’d never say yes in her current state of mind.

  He’d worry about fixing that later, when they were both back in Tulsa. He’d have to tell her a few more things about his current work to regain her trust. She had to come to an understanding that secrets were necessary, both for his survival and hers.

  Maybe he should quit.

  The thought shocked him. He’d never considered it before.

  Thinking it told him that his emotional connection to Mandy was stronger than he’d realized. Their future was a growing presence in his mind.

  He was still here even though she needed him there. What did that say about him?

  ~ Chapter 42 ~

  Mandy

  The deputy agreed to follow her to the ranch. Mandy drove a mile or two under the speed limit and took the curves slowly. It helped to know the deputy was behind her, but she repeatedly checked her rearview mirror for headlights to make sure he was still there, and no one had cut between the two vehicles.

  The deputy turned around at the gate.

  Mandy drove on to the ranch house. The floodlight between the staff cabins revealed no vehicles parked nearby.

  Lamar wasn’t here. Mandy wasn’t sure she could get out of her vehicle until he returned. Her shaking hands gripped the steering wheel.

  Dale and Max were in the main house. She could see lamp light through the curtains and a glow—most likely a television. She slipped out of the SUV and ran for the house.

  The moon had not yet risen. Stars twinkled above, much brighter than in Tulsa. Had the moon been full and the night brighter, she might not have felt so scared. As it was, the hair on the back of her neck prickled and she was sure someone was watching her from the shadows.

  Mandy knocked on the door.

  Max opened it wide. Holding a beer bottle in one hand, he stood in his stocking feet and looked at her. “Hi, Mandy. Can I get you a beer?” His voice was slurred.

  “Is Dale awake?”

  Max nodded. “She’s in the office finishing book work.” He took a swig of beer. “Managing this place takes it out of both of us. She gets these headaches…”

  Dale came down the hall. “Oh, Mandy. I heard your knock. Everything all right? You look upset.”

  Dale turned into the living room and Mandy followed. Dale and Max would hear the news tomorrow if she didn’t tell them tonight. There were no secrets in this town, and the death of a stranger, particularly one who had followed her here, would be a hot topic.

  “Something horrible happened in town tonight,” she said, her throat dry.

  “Oh? Come and sit down. Tell us.” Dale used the remote to turn down the television volume. She tucked her legs under her as she sat on the sofa.

  Mandy sunk into an overstuffed chair a few feet away.

  “What happened?” Dale tucked an afghan over her legs.

  “A friend who followed me here was murdered in Medicine Park tonight.” Mandy picked at a piece of lint on her jeans. Her hand shook.

  Dale leaned toward her. “Not your boyfriend, I hope.”

  “No. A friend. But he wouldn’t have come here if not for me. And somebody killed him outside Mrs. Childers’ boarding house.” She grabbed a tissue from a dispenser on the coffee table and swabbed at her eyes and nose.

  “How horrible. You must be shaken. Can I get you something?” Dale’s expression was full of compassion.

  “Here’s a glass of water,” Max said as he entered the room from the kitchen. “You look like you need something stronger.”

  He handed her the glass and settled into the leather recliner.

  “Did you hear what she said, Max? A friend of hers was murdered tonight in town. Someone who followed her from Tulsa.”

  “Really.” Max glanced at Mandy before shifting his look to the television. “What happened?”

  Mandy told them about the sheriff’s investigation but left out the part about Jenna and Sean and the pictures they’d found in Mike’s belongings. The unease she had felt since learning about the photographs grew. Mike had been stalking Jenna and using her to get information.

  She closed her eyes and rested her head on the back of the sofa.

  “You sure you’re all right, Mandy?” Dale asked.

  “Actually, no.”

  “Do you have any idea why someone would want to shoot your friend?” Max asked. He glanced at the television again.

  “His name was Mike. And I’m not sure he was my friend. It’s complicated.”

  Dale nodded grimly. “We don’t want to pry, but I’m concerned about you.”

  “Someone ran me off the road the first time I tried to come here. And scary things happened in Tulsa before I left. My life might be in danger. And now Mike’s dead.”

  Dale rubbed the back of her neck and looked at Max. He shrugged. An unspoken signal passed between the two of them, and a cold finger touched the back of Mandy’s neck.

  “You think I’m being paranoid,” Mandy said.

  “We think you’re upset. There’s more to this than you’re saying. Neither of us think you came here to find a job. I wish you’d trust us. Maybe we can help.” Dale looked worried.

  Trust them. She was short on trust right now. She had trusted Mike, and she had trusted Will. Now she had no idea who she could trust. She’d been getting close to trusting Lamar before Mike had interrupted them, but she had been willing to talk to him only because of what Jenna had said to her. Find Lamar. And she thought she had. She’d told him about Molly, and chances were that Max would hear all about that conversation from Lamar tomorrow. She might as well explain.

  “It’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s that I’m in the dark about so much. I’m following blindly wherever I’m led. And I was led here.”

  “Maybe you better start at the beginning,” Dale suggested softly. “And if it makes you feel any better, you can sleep in the main house tonight, upstairs. No charge. Now, tell us.”

  Mandy prayed she wasn’t making a mistake by confiding in them.

  “My best friend in Tulsa, Jenna Wade, disappeared earlier this week. I’ve been trying to figure out where she went, and Mike, a friend from work, was helping.” They didn’t need the details, only the essence. And yes, it did help to know she could sleep upstairs rather than in the little cabin, all alone. Then she remembered Moby. Surely no one would break into the cabin with the big dog inside.

  “Okay. Go on,”
Dale encouraged.

  “Jenna’s secretive about her past. When I started investigating, clues led me here because of the name Jandafar. Jenna might be someone who disappeared from here years ago. One of the girls who disappeared after the fire: Molly Bergen.”

  Max choked on a swallow of beer.

  “You all right, honey?” Dale asked him. He nodded. “Molly Bergen. The name rings a bell. Was Bergen the name of that family in the cabin fire way back when Chad and Lamar worked here?”

  Max coughed again and nodded.

  “So, you think your friend Jenna was one of the girls. Molly. But if she came here, where is she? We haven’t seen her, and we don’t get that many visitors this late in the season.”

  “Mrs. Childers has a couple of non-resident boarders, but neither of them was there when Mike was murdered,” Mandy said.

  “You think one of them might be your friend, Jenna?” Dale asked.

  She’d been so focused on what had happened to Mike that she hadn’t considered that possibility. Could that be true?

  “Seems farfetched to believe Jenna is one of the Bergen girls,” Max said. “Folks around here think those girls are long dead. Or that the crazy one set the fire and talked the other into running off. No good would have come of her. And my little brother Chad can vouch for that. She was bad news. And if your friend is Molly, she’s got a story to tell and it ain’t likely she wants to tell it.”

  Dale frowned at her husband. “We’ve never talked about this. Did you know those girls, too?”

  “It’s all over and done and better forgotten.” He waved one hand in the air and focused his look on Mandy. “Have you told Lamar the truth?”

  Mandy watched Dale rub her temples. The blood had drained from her face. Something felt off.

  “Have you?” Max repeated.

  She nodded. “Lamar told me what happened.”

  “The little bitch would have wrecked Chad’s life if she hadn’t disappeared. He was crazy about her. Hasn’t been the same since. Lives in that cabin by himself. Like a hermit or something.” Max drained the rest of his beer and dropped the bottle onto the floor next to the chair.

  Dale stood, poked Max in the arm, and picked up the bottle. She swayed and grabbed the back of the chair. “Your brother is what he chooses to be. Don’t go blaming it on anybody—especially somebody who’s been gone for twenty years.”

  Max looked up at his wife and shook his head. “It’s a waste of a man. And he’s my little brother.”

  Dale put one hand on her husband’s shoulder and turned back to Mandy. “So, the Bergen fire brought you here. But why would you be in danger? It happened twenty years ago, and you weren’t here.” She looked confused.

  “You’ve forgotten about the man whose wife died that day,” Lamar said from where he stood by the door. “He was suspected of starting the fire. And I wouldn’t hesitate to think he might have killed both the girls, whether on purpose or by accident. He could have come back here.”

  “But this man who was murdered tonight had nothing to do with the fire or those women,” Max grumbled. “That’s ridiculous.”

  “Murdered? Who?” Lamar’s green eyes widened.

  “My friend Mike.” Tears threatened to spill, but Mandy kept them in check. “Somebody killed him, Lamar, after we saw him at the bar.”

  Lamar blinked. Suddenly, he looked at Max. “Have you talked to Chad lately? Is he all right?”

  “I guess so. Been awhile since I’ve seen him.”

  “Maybe you should send the sheriff to do a welfare check,” Dale suggested in a whisper. She disappeared into the kitchen.

  “We should check on Chad. Will you go with me in the morning, Max?” Lamar asked.

  “We got that fence to rewire on the south pasture, one that butts up to the wildlife refuge. How we gonna get that done if we’re up checking on Chad?” Max grumbled.

  “One of us should go work on the fence and the other go to Chad. I’m serious, Max. You want to work on the fence, great. I’ll make a quick drive up in the morning. Be back by 11 to help wrap up the fence work. I could meet you at the line shack,” Lamar offered.

  “Damn it. You’ll go out there and find him drunk, more ’n likely. Don’t say I didn’t tell you. Waste of your time and mine.”

  “I’ll leave at first light and be back mid-morning.”

  “Look for me on the east side. I’ll be long done with that spot by the line shack by the time you get back.”

  Dale reappeared in the kitchen doorway.

  “I’ve got some leftovers you could take. Last time we saw him he was nothing but skin and bones. Old bachelors aren’t good at caring for themselves.” Dale turned back to the kitchen.

  “I’m off to bed. I’ll be up early as usual, Lamar. Stop in for coffee, ’fore you leave. Night, Mandy.” Max headed for the stairway. “Oh, and I’m sorry about your friend.”

  Lamar and Mandy were left alone in the living room.

  “Am I missing something?” she asked. “What’s wrong with Chad?”

  ~ Chapter 43 ~

  Jenna

  Jenna startled awake, the nightmare fresh. The darkness, the weight of his body, and the pain.

  She’d thought making love would feel wonderful. Wasn’t it the ultimate expression of love between a man and a woman? She’d been jealous of friends who talked about their first time and how they wanted to do it again and again after that. She’d thought she wanted it to happen. But the time had not been right.

  That night, he’d raped her. She relived it weekly, if not nightly.

  Jenna shifted in the pile of linens she was using as a makeshift mattress. This was the first bit of deep sleep she’d grabbed in the past four days. Life on the run, as she remembered, was not conducive to sleep.

  Why had she come back here?

  She closed her eyes, and the memory was imprinted on the back of her eyelids.

  She loved Sean, but often the nightmare returned when she and her husband were making love. She’d clench her teeth and stiffen, and Sean would stop kissing her, stop moving, and pull back to look at her face. “Jenna,” he’d say. “Where are you?”

  But she couldn’t tell him. It was a horrible memory, and what had happened was her fault. Her parents were dead and her sister probably was, too, and there was nothing she could do about it.

  She never stopped wishing and hoping she could change the past, that she could pick up the phone and call her parents, talk to them about Sean, tell them the two of them were going to start a family, tell them life was normal.

  She thought about inviting her sister to visit, asking her to bring along her husband and the kids. But that wasn’t going to happen.

  Her sister was long gone.

  Her sister might be dead.

  She could never forgive herself. And she could never forgive that man.

  ~ Chapter 44 ~

  Mandy

  Lamar studied her face for a minute before he answered. “Chad wasn’t the same after that summer. Wouldn’t come back to work after the fire. Didn’t want to set foot on this place or have anything to do with horses or ranches. Max came back here from Texas ten years ago thinking he’d have Chad’s help with this place. Instead, he has to make do with mine.”

  “Why was Chad so upset? I mean, what happened was horrible, but… Did he care that much, so fast, about Sharon Bergen?”

  Lamar splayed the fingers of his right hand and stared at them. “He couldn’t put her behind him. Started drinking way more than usual. Tried to find her. He didn’t want to believe she’d had anything to do with setting the fire. He kept talking about how much she’d cared about him and what their life together could have been like. He was obsessed.”

  “Did he search for her?”

  “Weekend after weekend. All the little towns around here, and in the Texas Panhandle all the way to Amarillo. Dropped plans to go to Texas Tech with me. When the police stopped searching for the girls, he became obsessed. He’s never stopped believi
ng she is alive and would come back.”

  “Does he have a job?”

  “He’s a mechanic, takes online courses in his spare time. He’s gotten several degrees. Not sure what in. He works at Sparks Garage. On the highway south of town.”

  “That’s where they took my car after someone ran me off the road the first time I tried to come out here.”

  “You checked on your car lately?”

  “Guess I should tomorrow.”

  “Why don’t you go with me to Chad’s? We can ask about your car.”

  Mandy considered his offer for only a second. “Great idea. Maybe he’d talk about Molly. I’d like to be certain Molly and my friend Jenna are one and the same.”

  “Do you have a picture of Jenna? Even after twenty years, I might recognize her.”

  Mandy thought about Mike’s photos of Sean and Jenna and the two boarding house guests absent yesterday evening. Could one of them be Jenna?

  Mike had used her to get information. Someone had hired him to follow Jenna. His employment at Empire was probably a ruse.

  “Mandy?”

  She came back to the present. “Sorry, I was thinking about Mike.”

  “Understandable. I was asking about a picture.”

  “I don’t have one with me. Odd to go searching for someone without even a picture.”

  “If you’re telling me the truth, you didn’t have a lot of time to pack for this trip. I get that. What about pictures on your phone?”

  Mandy shook her head. “She never wanted anyone to take a photo of her. She didn’t do social media.” She covered a yawn with her hand. “Sorry, I haven’t slept much the last several nights.”

  “Are you sure you want to drive up to Chad’s with me? I’ll leave early. Before dawn. Maybe you’d rather sleep in and help Dale.”

  “I want to go. If we can get him to talk, I might learn something.”

  “Maybe. I’ve always wondered why he was so torn up about Sharon Bergen. Why he took it so personally. Maybe enough time has passed he’ll be willing to talk about it.” Lamar stretched. “Can I walk you back to your cabin, or are you staying here?”