Stirred (48 page)

“The news said it was an unidentified woman. I asked Detective Reed who she was and if she was connected to Declan’s case, but he wouldn’t tell me anything. Not even my attorney could scrape up any information.”

“Yeah, ‘cause they’re sitting on it, waiting to spring it on you at just the right moment.”

“Why would they do that?” she asked.

I sighed heavily. “Because I know who the dead girl is. And I think they know I know.”

Eden’s face went white, even with the steamy heat. I tried to help her relax by washing her hair and soaping her body. During that time, I explained what the cops said they’d found at Trinitee’s apartment and that I’d been there only hours before that with no memory of what came right before or after I left. When Eden started to shake all over, I rinsed myself off quickly. I turned off the water, wrapped her in one of the thick, over-sized bath towels, and sat her down on the upholstered vanity chair.

“And they still haven’t found her?” she asked with a tremulous voice.

I pressed my lips together for a moment. “No, I…I think they have. I think…I believe the body in that grave was Trinitee’s. The face was burned or…something, but…the streaked hair, the boots with the charm, the ring, that was Trin. I’ve no doubt in my mind. It was her. And the cops are gonna come after me hard now since she’s not connected to you in any way.”

“But she is. She’s connected to me through you, Sean. They could say…I don’t know…I killed her in a jealous rage or something ridiculous like that, just like they can say you killed Declan and Aurelia over me. The police are going to try to wrap all this around
both
of us.”

“Which is why I suggested we marry. I mean, not the
only
reason, of course, but…like I said, we can’t be forced to testify against each other now.”

“But who killed your friend? And why? What does all this have to do with us, with Declan and Aurelia?”

“I don’t know. I thought Trin might’ve had something to do with all this before, but then she shows up dead, so who the fuck knows.”

“What do you mean, you
thought
she had something to do with all this? In what way?” Eden pushed.

I just shook my head, at a complete loss how to explain it all now that Trin was dead. How could I tell Eden that I thought Trinitee had had an affair with her dead husband, that she was the girl in the photo, and that the girl in the photo was likely her supposedly dead daughter, Ivy? There was absolutely no way I could, not until I unraveled who was behind all this and why, and I would, as soon as we got back. But we had this weekend first, and I didn’t want to spoil it any further by dredging up all the pain and anxiety over the murders.

I rubbed Eden’s shoulders and gave her a gentle kiss. “Neither one of us killed anyone. The truth will come out.”

“You don’t know that, Sean. Jesus, why didn’t you tell me about all this before?”

“I
do
know that, Eden, because I’ll
make
it come out. I won’t rest until it does. And I’m sorry. I know I should’ve said something earlier, but it wouldn’t have made a difference. There’s nothing either of us can do until we hear what the cops have to say. And I didn’t want to wait. We need to take a break from all this shit. Enjoy these two days as much as we possibly can. All right?”

She shook her head. “How am I supposed to do that knowing about your friend?”

“Go down to the spa, get a massage, relax and take your mind off things. That’s why I bought those packages for you. Meanwhile, I’ll run to North Bend. We’ll meet back here in an hour or so. But there’s no hurry, okay? We can catch the falls tomorrow if the day gets away from us. We have time, Eden. Don’t worry.”

The little crease above her nose eased, but only slightly, and her smile was more of a pout. “Okay. I’ll try.”

I dried off and dressed in my clothes from yesterday, without the tie, then grabbed my wallet and phone and left with one last, very long kiss to my wife. I asked the front desk for help with a ride over to the mall, and they were happy to oblige, providing me with a black Escalade and a driver, a burly but chatty fellow named Augustus. While Gus waited in the car, I raced from shop to shop in the cold and pouring rain, grabbing bras, panties, and socks at one store, jeans, sweater, and a tee from another, khakis and a blouse from a third, and fashionably sturdy hiking shoes from the last.

Thinking I had a  decent selection of everything she might need for the next day or two, I hopped back into the SUV and ordered Gus homeward, which he did without so much as a break in the one-way conversation. It wasn’t until we pulled into the entry roundabout that I remembered I hadn’t bought anything more practical for myself, or a coat for Eden, which she’d need in this weather if she wanted to go see the falls again. I explained my predicament to Gus, and he suggested I drop off what I’d already bought, then he could swing me back for another round.

So that’s what I did. Eden wasn’t in the room, and she didn’t answer her cell. Assuming she was getting pampered downstairs, I spread my clothing selections on the bed and left a note that I’d be back soon with a warm coat. Gus took me to the Eddie Bauer store, where I outfitted myself with jeans, a sweatshirt, socks, boots, and stylish, but weatherproof coats for both of us, excited that we were now fully equipped to stand in the frigid downpour and watch the thundering Snoqualmie Falls as the river raged at a record high.

We were almost back to The Lodge for the second time when my phone chirped in my pocket. As Eden had done, I’d set Google alerts on both our names, wanting a heads-up should a breaking story hit the Internet or airwaves, and damn if one hadn’t. I just hoped Eden’s phone was still off or out of reach, because there was a news story about us, speculating that we’d gotten married on Friday. There were two pics, one of each of us in our wedding finery and captioned, “
Dressed to Kill!
”

“Goddamn assholes!” I fumed, now worried someone might find us at The Lodge. I called Eden’s cell, but she still wasn’t answering. Frustrated, I leaned toward Gus. “Any way you can drop me off at a service entrance downstairs?” I held up my phone. “Just got word the media might be milling around out front, and I really don’t want the hassle.”

“Sure thing, boss,” Gus assured me and pulled into a gravel driveway upstream from The Lodge. He followed the short, riverside lane to a narrow asphalt lot where deliveries were received. He stopped and pointed to the open door to my right. “That’s the laundry right there. Just keep left and you’ll see the service elevator up the backside. Shouldn’t be too hard to find your way from there. Jus’ tell ‘em Gus sent you and will bust their ass if they give you any trouble,” he said with a fist to his palm.

“You’re a prince, Gus. Thanks for all your help,” I offered with a smile and a couple Benjamin’s rolled tightly into a straw.

He shook his head. “No, thank you, boss. The Lodge pays me nicely, and it was my pleasure anyway. I don’t get to talk too much with most of the folk around here, you know.” He offered me his hand to shake.

I took it in my right and stuffed the roll into his breast pocket with my left. In the time it took for him to glance down at what I was doing, I let go of his hand and opened the car door to get out.

“Here, let me get that for you, boss. It’s mighty wet and windy out there,” he said and was out the door before I could refuse the offer.

I pushed hard against the roaring wind and nearly tumbled out when Gus pulled from the outside. He stood out of the way behind the door, his cap pulled low against the exceptionally foul weather. As I stepped out of the SUV, a blue plastic tarp blew off a stack of wood neatly arranged on a pallet set up against the lowest level of The Lodge. It sailed across the lot and wrapped around my legs, knocking me off balance and sending me tipping forward to the pavement, where I clunked my forehead against the outer edge of the open SUV door.

A flash of blinding light and sharp pain sliced through my head. And just like that—
snap
—a memory of the night I fell in the woods rushed through me, accompanied by all the feelings I had that night. The pain of betrayal. The anger and rage. The nausea it all brought on. I felt it all. I saw the tall pines towering over me. Felt the rain on my face. The mud beneath my hands as I pounded my fist into the earth.

Then something else I hadn’t recalled before suddenly came into sharp focus. I hadn’t just slipped in the mud as I first thought. I tripped over a raised section of freshly turned soil, where the corner of a blue plastic tarp peeked out and flopped in the pelting rain. And damn if it wasn’t the same exact spot Monroe took me four days earlier, where the shallow grave had been dug up and Trinitee’s mutilated body lay exposed on a sheet of blue plastic. But that couldn’t be, could it? Because I’d visited Trin
after
my spill in the woods, and she was fine, alive and well, and returning home at the ungodly hour of four in the morning. So her body couldn’t possibly be the one in that shallow grave. But whoever it was had been made to
look
like her

Everything, the memory and the fear, all of it flashed through me in an instant.

My God, I have to find Eden! I have to tell her…

“Oh Lord, Mr. Bennett,” Gus exclaimed as he pulled me to my feet. “I am so sorry. Oh my, look at your head. Here…” He handed me a linen handkerchief. “You’re bleedin’. Not badly, but… Oh my good Lord, I’m gonna lose my job over this. I am so very, very sorry, Mr. Bennett.”

I gave Gus a pained smile and grabbed his fisted hands. “Gus, please, no worries. I’m fine. It was totally my fault anyway. We don’t have to mention this to anyone. Your job is safe. But right now, I
have
to find my wife.” I turned and started backing away in reverse.

“But, boss, you probably need a stitch or two on that cut or it’s gonna keep bleedin’ and scar.”

I shook my head. “I’m fine, Gus. Really. I just…I remembered some urgent business and have to get to my wife immediately. This way, right?” I asked, standing in the open laundry door and pointing left.

He nodded. “Yeah, boss. Just keep left.”

I was off before he’d even finished, shouting, “Thanks, Gus!” over my shoulder.

The service area was very dark with no lights burning whatsoever. Strange, I thought. The power must’ve been knocked out by the high winds. Typical during storms this time of year. But the elevator was no longer an option. I stumbled through the dim hallway, swiping at the blood trickling over my forehead and into my right eye.

“Where’re the goddamn stairs?” I growled. A minute later, the lights came back on, but at reduced power, probably from a generator. “Is there anybody down here?” I called out, and was startled by an older man no taller than five-foot-six. “Where are the stairs?” I asked, but the man just shook his head, then started talking rapid-fire in Spanish. I edged around him and waved as I walked backwards down the still-darkened hallway. “Gracias,” I said in practically the only Spanish I knew. I continued down the hall until I came to a dead end. “God dammit!” I cursed and pulled out my phone to call Eden.

I spun around and returned the way I’d come in, when, just up ahead, I saw someone. A dark silhouette.

“Excuse me, please, I need your help,” I pleaded, but whoever it was didn’t answer. I closed the last ten feet. “Please,” I begged again, and stopped cold when the shadow raised something long and narrow in the air. I sucked in a shocked breath right before cold metal cracked down over my head and I tumbled into blackness.

I couldn’t open my eyes or move my body. A cloyingly sweet odor wafted all around me, keeping me confused and disoriented. My woozy head pounded along with the thunder outside, wherever that was. I could feel it as it reverberated through my bones and down into the floor beneath my feet. That’s when I realized my feet were flat on the floor, though I couldn’t move them either.

I heard voices, two of them, one in front, the other behind me. They were muffled and garbled, and I couldn’t understand what they were saying at first, but slowly, the words became clearer, and the voice before me recognizable.