Blown Away (22 page)

B
y the time Cari came out of the motor home, another half dozen police cars were in the yard, along with almost a dozen policemen, some from neighboring parishes.

Mike was waiting for her at the bottom of the steps.

“I need to go to the site of the first grave and start from there,” she said.

“Okay,
cher.
We’ll make it happen.”

Apparently the news was already spreading that Carolina North wasn’t dead, because from where Cari was standing, she could see cars lining the road up beyond the driveway, and people standing at the edge of the fence line, trying to get a glimpse of her and figure out what was happening. None of them yet knew that Bordelaise’s golden boy was on the run, but they would. The bigger shock would come when they realized why.

Hershel Porter eyed Cari carefully. He hadn’t for
gotten about her recent injuries. The last thing he wanted was to find out she had lived through the tornado only to do too much, too soon, and end up back in the hospital.

“You doin’ all right, girl?” he asked.

She shrugged as she eyed the onlookers. “Doesn’t take long for word to get out around here, does it?”

“Too many people have police scanners. I reckon most of them know we’re gathered here for a reason, because they heard us put out a call over the radio for extra help. But they don’t know why. I also know, because Lee Tullius told me, that the word is out you’re alive. Vera said someone saw you leaving the department earlier this morning, and before she knew it, the news was all over town.”

Cari shrugged. “I guess it doesn’t matter now, right, Mike?”

“No. You don’t need to keep it a secret anymore,
cher.
And I know that has to be a relief in itself.”

“Yes. I’ve been so torn about letting everyone think I was dead. Even going so far as to watch them cry at my funeral. I felt awful about everything…but I had no choice, did I?”

Hershel patted her gently on the shoulder. “No, you didn’t. And it’s all right, girl. When everyone finds out the truth of this mess, they’re going to think you’re some kind of heroine right out of a book.”

“I don’t feel very heroic,” Cari said. “And I’d give anything not to have to try to find that poor man’s
body, but I just don’t think I could live with myself if I didn’t follow through.”

“Time to get started, then,” Hershel said, and waved at a half dozen men waiting beside one of the cruisers. As they approached, he introduced them to Cari.

“Men, this here is Carolina North. The man with her is Mike Boudreaux. Miss North is a witness to the crime we believe Lance Morgan has committed. And I say ‘believe’ because at this point, he has not been officially charged, although it’s pretty damn obvious to me that he’s on the run for a reason. Anyway…she’s going to lead us to where she first saw Morgan digging a grave.”

The men eyed Cari curiously. She could tell they were hesitant to believe she knew what she was talking about, so she gave them the same once-over, then asked, “You guys planning to dig with your hands or what?”

They looked taken aback and headed for their cruisers.

“Follow me,” Cari said when the men returned with their shovels, and led the way past the piles of debris and up the slope to the woods beyond where the barn once stood.

Mike held her hand as they walked, steadying her as they moved over uneven ground, helping her as they climbed over a fence, giving her a pull as they started up a steep slope. The silence within the group
was telling—proof of the gravity of their purpose. Every so often Cari could hear the squawk of a radio as information passed back and forth from Hershel to the men he’d left behind at Lance’s house.

The scent of putrefying flesh got stronger as they approached the crest of the hill. When they passed by what was left of a cow’s rotting carcass, a black cloud of flies lifted, circled, then settled back again.

Cari quickly looked away, and finally they reached the verge of the woods. Even though the air was hot and humid beneath the trees, there were plenty of branches that had escaped the worst of the tornado and provided welcome shelter from the sun.

Mike kept a close eye on Cari, making sure she wasn’t pushing herself past her physical limits, although it soon became apparent that she was at home here in this place. He’d heard her talk about how she and Susan and the Morgan brothers had played in the woods between their properties. How they’d waded creeks and climbed trees, all without caution for life and limb, fearless from the simple fact that they were children—and mortality was a concept they didn’t know or understand. He couldn’t help but wonder, after what she’d seen, if it had ruined the magic and memories of their childhood. But it was obvious from the way Cari was focused that she was not, at the moment, worrying about that herself.

It took about ten minutes for them to reach the
place where she’d caught Lance digging. As soon as she approached the clearing, she began to slow down.

“It was just up ahead by that pair of big pines,” she told Hershel. “Lance had driven the car in from that way…see the path? It’s nothing more than a narrow lane, but it’s been in use for years, although mostly for four-wheelers.”

When they reached the area, she stopped, then pointed to a very obvious indentation in the earth.

“This is where he was digging when I walked up on him. He was more than knee deep in the hole, with his back to me. At first I didn’t know who he was, and he didn’t know I was there. The body was between us, in what I first thought was a big pile of rags, but then I figured out it was a multicolored rug.”

“What did you do?” Hershel said, eyeing the depression in the earth. It was obvious someone had been digging there recently, although the hole had been filled back in.

Cari grimaced. “At first, nothing. I couldn’t figure out what he was doing. Then the wind blew the corner of the rug aside and I saw the dead man. I couldn’t see his features…just the blood…so much blood. That’s when I screamed. And that’s when Lance turned around. It’s hard to say who was more shocked. Him or me.”

She shuddered, then wiped a shaky hand across her face as Mike tucked her close against his side.
Just the feel of his arm around her was all the reminder she needed that she wasn’t in this alone.

One of the deputies coughed, then turned away. Hershel looked up.

“This is not the time for me to find out you faint at the sight of blood, boy.”

The deputy looked taken aback but didn’t comment.

“What happened next?” Mike asked.

“When Lance saw me, he looked like he’d seen a ghost. Then, when he began climbing out of the grave to come after me, I turned and ran for home. The storm was on top of us. The wind was rising. It was starting to rain. I know he started after me, but I don’t know why he stopped.”

“Lots of people make strange decisions in moments of crisis,” Mike offered.

Hershel nodded. “Yeah, he was probably so focused on hiding what he’d done, that that became more important. And obviously, he could no longer leave the body here.” Then he asked, “Did you have your cell phone with you?”

“Yes, but I couldn’t get a signal. It was because of the storm, I guess. God. I was so scared. Then I lost the phone somewhere along the path to the house. Either when I fell…or maybe when that branch fell on me.”

Mike paled. These were details he was hearing for the first time, and the thought of what she must have endured made him sick.

“For God’s sake, Carolina, you’re stopping my heart here.”

Cari shrugged. “There’s no pretty way to explain what happened. Even after I realized I’d lost the phone, I didn’t really worry. Lance had disappeared, and I knew when I got home I would tell Mom and Dad, and they’d call Chief Porter, and everything would be okay.” Her chin quivered, as she added, “Only…it wasn’t.”

“You know these woods,” Hershel said. “You know Lance, probably better than anyone else. Put yourself in his place and think. With a storm on top of you and no time to think what to do next, where would you hide a body?”

“I’ve asked myself that same question a thousand times,” she said. “I can think of places, but I have no idea if they’re the right places. I do know he didn’t have time to get to the swamps before the storm hit, so unless he took it there later, he had to have hidden it somewhere close.”

“So what do you want to do?” Hershel asked.

Cari shrugged. “Start with the obvious places first,” she said. “There’s a kind of clearing up ahead where we used to play. The ground is soft, and there aren’t many trees.”

“Lead the way,” Hershel said.

For the next three hours they combed the area in every direction, wading creeks as they looked along
the banks, moving in an ever-widening circle until they were all hot, tired, bug-bitten and out of sorts. It took everything Cari had to put one foot in front of the other.

About two hours into the search, Aaron Lake had joined them.

When Mike saw him coming, he hoped for good news.

“I can tell you for certain, I will not bitch the next time you send me someplace cold,” Aaron said, then took out his handkerchief and swiped at the sweat running down his face.

“How’s Trent?” Mike asked.

“Got a headache and a concussion, but he’s going to be okay.”

“Did he know what happened?” Mike asked.

“Just that he heard something behind him in the woods but got coldcocked before he could turn around.”

“Lance,” Cari said, then felt sick all over again.

Mike saw the desolation in her eyes. “Hey, Chief. I think we need to rest a bit. Cari isn’t going to say so, but she’s about on her last legs.”

“Absolutely,” Hershel said. “I could use a rest myself.”

Cari was so hot she was shaking, so she didn’t argue. When Mike handed her a bottle of water, she took it gratefully and sank to the ground while he and Aaron moved away, obviously going into explanations
they didn’t want her to hear. That was fine with her. She’d seen and heard just about all she could take.

Hershel glanced at his watch, then frowned. “When did Mike say that man with the cadaver dog was due to arrive?”

“Late…probably too late to run him today.”

Hershel nodded, then took off his hat and sat down on a nearby rock as his deputies hunted their own places to rest.

“I’m sorry,” Cari said. Her voice was trembling.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, girl,” Hershel said softly.

“I know, but I’m still the one who’s dragged everyone all over the place for the past…how long?”

“Three-plus hours,” Hershel said, glancing at his watch again.

“Oh Lord,” Cari said, then pulled her knees up under her chin and rested her head on them. Moments later, she looked up. “I think you need to call Joe.”

Hershel frowned. “Why? What could he possibly do to help us find a body?”

“He might remember a place to look that I haven’t thought of.”

“Oh. Right,” Hershel said. “Give me a minute to get him on the phone,” he said and walked away.

She was watching the sheriff’s back when Mike reappeared. “Eat this,” he said.

She looked at the energy bar he was holding and tried not to gag.

He frowned. “I know you’re not hungry. But you have to keep up your strength.”

She took the bar without comment and ate, while Mike sat beside her, watching her every move. Finally she washed the last of it down with a long drink of the water he’d given her earlier; then, at his urging, she stretched out beside him and laid her head in his lap.

Her eyes closed. And in the quiet of the clearing her body relaxed, and her thoughts turned to a new plan of action.

A couple of minutes passed, and then Hershel came back. “Joe Morgan is on the phone. He wants to talk to you.”

“Thanks,” Cari said, as she took the phone. Then she got up and walked away. Other than the day she’d called the funeral home to make arrangements for her family, this had to be the worst phone conversation she would ever have.

“Joe. This is Cari.” She heard a gasp, then a choking sound, and realized he was crying. “Joe…I’m so sorry.”

“Jesus, Carolina. Tell me this isn’t happening.”

“But it is,” Cari said softly. “It’s true. All of it.”

“He killed a man?”

“I didn’t see him kill him. But I saw him trying to bury a body. It was rolled up in a big bright-colored rug.”

Joe gasped. “The missing rug from the library. Oh Lord.”

Cari started to cry. She knew exactly how he was feeling.

“Dear God,” Joe murmured. “I left him in anger. I told him that no matter what he screwed up next, he was on his own, and I never got a chance to say I’m sorry. I can only imagine how panicked he must be.”

“Don’t think like that. You have nothing to apologize for. Lance is the one who needed to be sorry, and the sad thing is…the only real thing he was sorry about was getting caught.”

“We all spoiled him,” Joe said. “All of us. And yet I would have bet my life he wasn’t the kind of man who could commit murder. Nothing is important enough to kill a man over. Not even Morgan’s Reach.”

“And yet you bought him out of trouble to make sure it stayed in the family,” Cari reminded him.

“I know. I know. Like I said, we all spoiled him. But I didn’t know about anyone being killed. You have to believe me.”

“I do. But I have something to ask you now. And it’s important that you help me as best you can. It’s the only thing we can do for the widow of the man Lance murdered.”

“Anything,” Joe said. “Just name it.”

Cari quickly told him where they were and what they’d been doing, including where Lance had begun digging the first grave.

“I need to know…where do you think he would have gone next? He didn’t drive any farther. He
couldn’t have, because the woods were too thick, and we know he didn’t take the body back to Morgan’s Reach, because he
would
have driven back there. And since Morgan’s Reach wasn’t hit bad by the tornado, but the car was, he must have left the car here, and that’s how it wound up in the trees. So Lance couldn’t have gone far from the first grave site, because the tornado came right through the woods here within ten minutes of me seeing him. What do you think? Where would he go?”