Mirror of Shadows (20 page)

Marlin came over and sat in the chair next to her. “There, there, sweet girl, everyone makes mistakes. I’ve certainly made my share of them. Give him a little time; I think he’s rather partial to you. You’ll see,” he said as he patted her back and held her.

“You think so,” she said wiping her eyes and sniffing.

“Yes. I think so,” he said, handing her a box of tissues which she gratefully accepted.

“If he’s so partial towards me, why didn’t he come to the hospital? Why didn’t he come visit?”

“He was in jail, dear.”

“What?”

“They wouldn’t let him go to the hospital with you because the police threw him in jail. He was sick about it. His one call was to me, but I was at the hospital with you and didn’t figure out he was in jail until Meme and I went to the house to check on Boo. His truck was there, but he wasn’t and the house was trashed.”

“Trashed—what do you mean?”

“The police searched the house, destroyed his room, tossed his work-shed, and tore up his truck. I’m guessing it took him the whole time you were in the hospital to get the house back in order.

“You should have seen him when I got to the police station; he was pulling his hair out. The police wouldn’t tell him how you were doing and as soon as he saw me he bombarded me with questions about you. Were you okay? What happened? Poor guy was really worried. He wanted to go that night to see you, but I told him he should go home and get some rest,” Marlin admitted.

“And then he did come to see me and I ignored him during his whole visit because Matt had me persuaded he was responsible for Boo and the accidents. I’m so stupid. I should have seen through all the double talk. I should have known that something had happened or Jeremy would have been there; he always has,” she said, not as much to Marlin as to herself.

After she wiped her nose and eyes and got a hold of her emotions she asked, seeing the portrait of Peter, Anna, and Zachary on his desk, “Have you found anything on the Owens children?”

“I found a death certificate for Anna and Zachary—they died soon after Willow died, but I can’t find anything on Peter, not even in any of the surrounding states. It’s the darnedest thing. It’s like he fell off the face of the earth. I mean he was a kid with no money who couldn’t have gone far on foot.”

“You wouldn’t think so, would you,” Ella agreed. “I had another one of those visions again last night.”

Marlin squirmed in his seat a little; this whole vision thing obviously made him a bit uncomfortable.

“I saw Willow using her necklace to open a secret compartment in the hearth of her home. There was some kind of document hidden in there, but I couldn’t tell what it was,” Ella continued.

“Well, that’s interesting. Too bad we don’t know where that necklace is now,” Marlin said.

“I know where the necklace is; I just don’t want to dig up her grave to get it,” she answered.

Marlin scrunched up his face at the idea of digging up someone’s bones.

“The weird thing is that the necklace looks an awful lot like Grandma Rose’s,” she said, reaching for the pendant around her neck.

“That is weird. Do you know where Rose got it?”

“
She got it from her grandfather. He had it made for her. It’s supposed to be like the one his mother wore,” Ella told him.

“How strange, hmm, but it does give me a thought I might have to check into. Oh, and here is that box of your grandmother’s things. It’s nothing much. A notebook, a lone glove, a nail file, and a jar of Vaseline,” he said, handing it to her.

“Thanks, Marlin.”

“Let me walk you out to your car. Are you parked out front or in back?”

“In front,” she said as they walked by the receptionist.

He held the box as she unlocked her door, “Oh, look. It’s Matt.” She waved at a good-looking blond-haired young man walking across the street and then away from them. “I guess he didn’t see me or maybe he’s mad at me because I’ve been avoiding his calls.”

“Why’s that?” Marlin asked as he watched the young, somewhat familiar-looking man walking away from them.

“After what happened with Jeremy, I feel like I just need to be away from him—clear my head,” she said, putting the box in the car.

“And how did you meet him again?”

“Matt? I told you, he backed into my car at the hardware store.”

“Right. I do remember now,” Marlin said distractedly.

“Why do you ask?”

“He just looks familiar. I could have sworn I saw him at Morton’s funeral,” Marlin explained.

“I suppose it’s possible. Practically the whole town went to it. It was hard to avoid even for a vacationer,” she told him.

“A vacationer? No, this young man was a relative of Morton’s —his grandson to be exact.”

“Then it must be a mistake. Matt’s last name is Geier, not Morton, and I’m sure he would have told me if he were related to that creepy man since I had told him he scared me a couple of times.”

“I’m sure you’re right, dear. Now off you go. I’ll call the dealership and make arrangements to have the car fixed; you go do something nice for yourself. It’s been a pretty rotten day for you so far. I hope it gets better.”

“Thanks, Marlin,” she said and hugged him through the window.

“Bye,” he said as she drove off.

*****

“
Hello...” Meme answered.

“Sweetheart, it’s me. I was wondering if you could answer me a quick question,” Marlin said.

“Of course dear, what is it?”

“I spoke with Cynthia Morton at the funeral and it’s been driving me crazy ever since. You know how bad I am with names. Do you recall her married name?”

“Umm…hmm. Gosh, it’s on the tip of my tongue. It starts with a G. Umm…Gerber? No, that’s not it. Gardner? That doesn’t sound right.”

“It wouldn’t happen to be Geier, would it?”

“Geier, that sounds…yes, I think that is it. Of course I can double check on my computer address book, but I’m quite sure that’s it,” she surmised. “Why do you ask?”

“And her son, M.J.? Do you remember what that stands for?”

“He is a handsome one, isn’t he? He didn’t spend much time at the funeral though. I always thought he and Harold were quite close, but…”

“Do you recall his name?”

“Of course, dear. It’s Matthew Jordan after his father. That’s why they call him M.J. Too confusing having two Matthews in the house,” she told him.

“That’s what I was afraid of,” Marlin confessed.

“What’s that, dear?”

“I may be awful with names but I know a familiar face when I see one. I was so hoping I was wrong,” Marlin said.

“Are you going to fill me on the mystery?” Meme asked.

“I will, dear. I’ll explain everything when I get home. Love you.”

Click.

“Love you too, dear.”

*****

Back at the house, Ella decided to take a walk to Willow’s house ruins and put her grandmother’s necklace into the indentation.
What could it hurt
, she thought. But not fifty feet from the house, she heard the roar of a truck coming up the hill. It was Matt. She supposed he was tired of her ignoring his calls and wanted to find out what was up. Truthfully, she didn’t blame him. He did deserve an explanation.

She didn’t really want to have to deal with him after the morning she’d had, but she might as well get it over with. She turned toward the driveway and headed for the truck that was now parked next to her new SUV.

“Whose car?”

“Mine. It was a gift from Marlin and Meme. They wanted me to have something safe for going up and down the hill after the accident.”

“Sweet! I don’t suppose they added the keying?”

“No, that happened this morning. My mother of all people. She’s a bit peeved that she didn’t get anything out of the inheritance and that I won’t give her all mine.”

“She’s got some issues, huh?”

“You could say that,” Ella said with her hands in her jean pockets. “It’s been a couple of bad days actually,” she added.

“Is that why you haven’t been answering my calls?” he asked, leaning back against the shiny clean truck, looking devilishly handsome.

“I’m sorry about that. I just needed some time alone,” she answered.

“You could have just told me that, instead of not answering. A text would have been fine. With all the accidents you’ve had lately I was worried something had happened to you.” He seemed rather miffed.

“You’re right, I’m sorry. I should have told you. I’m just not thinking straight. I didn’t mean to worry you. I did see you this morning. I waved, but you were pretty focused on where you were going. I was leaving Marlin’s. I was hoping to have you meet him,” she said.

“That is a shame. I had some errands in town to take care of. So this ‘I want to be alone’ thing—are you over that now?”

“I’m not sure,” she admitted.

“Is there anything you wanted to talk about? I mean, what’s got you in such a mood?” he asked.

She decided to ignore his rudeness and answered, “It’s just everything’s upside down for me right now. Jeremy and I had a horrible fight and he moved out; my mom, the accidents—it’s all just a lot to take in.”

“Jeremy moved out, huh? Well, that’s probably a good thing,” he said, chortling.

“Why is that a good thing?”

“Well, given his involvement with the accidents and …”

“He wasn’t involved in the accident,” she corrected.

“Technically, yes, he was. The police…”

“Stop. Just stop. I don’t want to hear your version of what’s been happening.”

“My version? It’s the world’s version; you just don’t want to accept reality. His tools have been found at the scene of every accident you’ve been in. Your cat’s collar was found in his toolbox. He’s a moody introvert. He’s got psycho killer written all over him. I’m sorry if you don’t like hearing the truth, but I worry about you being here with him. He’s tried to kill you more than once.”

“He SAVED me. He didn’t try and kill me. If he hadn’t shown up when he did I would have died, not once but twice,” she said angrily.

“Convenient, wasn’t it, that he just happened to be there?” Matt argued.

“Matt, you need to stop now,” she said.

“I’m just telling you what everyone else sees and you refuse to acknowledge,” he continued.

“You need to leave,” she proclaimed.

“What? Why?”

“Because I don’t want you here anymore.”

“You’re joking, right?”

“Do I look like I’m joking? Leave—now,” she said as she headed up the stairs.

“This is so stupid,” he said, throwing up his arms.

That was the last straw. She turned and added, “And don’t bother coming back, Matt. We’re done.”

“Whatever,” he said and mumbled something else that she couldn’t hear. She slammed the front door to the roar of his engine and the loose gravel that sprayed when he stomped on the accelerator.

Chapter 21

Distraught and in tears, Ella called Meme for support.

“Hello,” Meme answered.

“Meme? It’s Ella,” Ella said.

“What’s the matter, dear? Have you been crying?”

“Practically all day. I don’t know what to do. Meme, I’ve made such a huge mistake and I don’t know how to fix it or if I can!”

“What is it, sweet-pea?”

“It’s Jeremy. We had a huge fight and I accused him of some things I shouldn’t have and now he’s left. And then my mom keyed my car this morning. And Matt came by because I had been ignoring his calls and we had a huge fight and I broke things off with him. Oh, Meme, it’s just been an awful few days.”

“Aw, Sweetie. I’m so sorry you’ve had such a bad time of it. I’m sorry about your fights with Jeremy and Matt. I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think.”

“It is, Meme. It really is,” Ella sobbed.

“Sweetheart, if you feel this bad about it, go talk to the boys.”

“Truthfully, I don’t really feel that sad about breaking up with Matt. Somehow I knew it wouldn’t work out from the beginning almost, but it’s Jeremy. He was my very best friend and I’ve hurt him so badly. Marlin said I should just give it some time.”

“Well now, time is a great healer, but if you are feeling like this, I think you should talk to him. It might make you both feel better.”

“That’s just it. I would if I could, but I don’t know where he is!”

“I see, well I may be breaking some husband-wife confidentiality I might have to pay for later, but I can tell you that Jeremy is staying with us.”