The Trees Beyond the Grass (A Cole Mouzon Thriller) (26 page)

CHAPTER 77

CASH HAD WAITED
around in the station while Cole talked to his sister. Cole stabilized, they agreed to go where it all started. Twenty minutes later they pulled into the driveway of Mount Pleasant Academy after their meeting at the station and slowly exited the car as though dread had seeped into their thoughts. The school was a long cinderblock structure that appeared to end only because the marsh behind it would let it go no further. Several baseball and football fields ran along the depth of the school, though they were void of users. The sweet straw scent of asters filled the otherwise damp, salty air, and the sounds of sandy ground crunched as they passed through the corridor formed between the school and fence of the adjacent fields.

The green marsh could be seen from the front of the building, consuming more and more of the view as they continued toward the back. The hammock was still there, a thick tuft of trees, bush, and palmettos standing alone like an island amongst the green grass. Somewhere in the trees beyond the grass he had been hidden by his mother with Cash’s brother. That past had been forgotten except for the memory that only appeared in the night, crippling him as a child.

The trees were dark, with thick branches that fought to forbid entry. Surrounding the island lay tides of green and brown grass, in serpentine waves, ebbing and flowing against the weedy, graded field. Cole looked over to Cash. “Are you okay?” There had been no words spoken since they exited the car.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I mean… I’ve never been here. Even though you can see the peninsula from here, we never crossed the river much unless it was to hit the Isles.” Cole nodded; he knew all too well the bubble effects of Charleston, Mount Pleasant, and Summerville, another historic suburb of Charleston just north of the city.

With each step the marsh trees got more luring. The storm clouds darkened the sky, adding to the tension. The tingle along Cole’s shoulders told him he had been here before though he had no memory of such a visit. Just yards from the island they stopped and paused. Cole took a deep breath. “I’m going in.”

“Like that?” Cash looked down at Cole’s bare legs and sandaled feet. “That grass will peel you like a paring knife. Have you ever walked through saw grass before?”

“I don’t really care, Cash. I’ve walked sawgrass before, it isn’t anything that’s going to keep me from getting to that hammock, got me?”

Cash threw his hands up against the verbal assault. “I got you. I was just saying…”

“I know. But, no amount of stinky mud or sawgrass is keeping me off that island.” Just then a lightning bolt cracked through the sky over the marsh.

Cole smiled. “Well, that might.” Andrea was moving in from Georgia; they needed to move it if they wanted to do this. Cole continued dredging his way into the marsh as Cash slipped off his boat shoes to follow.

“You didn’t think you were going alone, did you?”

No, I don’t want to be alone.

The grass gripped at their legs with every step, drawing blood from bare skin. They looked at each other as if to say, “Should we go in?”

THE GROUPING OF
trees was actually less dense than it looked when perceived from a distance. Small scrub and bush created a thin barrier to the heart of the island. Several layers of canopy prevented a clear picture of its contents from the outside. At its base were small clumps of saw palmetto and golden grass. Higher up were oak and wind-stunted pines, bent from the constant coastal winds and occasional hurricane. Highest were the palmettos, standing like frilled green pompoms atop weathered wood light poles.

Cole stepped in, pressing his weight against the resistant island. Branches broke or slipped with a
whip
as he mined through. At six-three, he had to dip and sway to keep from colliding into a branch. Deeper he went, with the world behind him going silent. At the only reasonably-sized clearing he stopped, looking up through the branches to the aubergine sky above. The clouds swirled slowly in anticipation of the impending storm. The only sound to be heard was the heavy tunneled wind sound racing through the trees. Looking down to the detritus and leaf-covered ground, he swept his feet until the tan sand below was revealed. And then he sat.

Moments turned into minutes before any thought came to Cole’s mind. He turned to see that Cash had joined him and for a brief second he wondered if this was what it was like those years ago when it was Mark, not Cash, who sat beside him looking into the woods and the school beyond. “I’m sorry that I don’t remember your brother.”

“Don’t be. Though I have no doubt that you were there for each other, I saw just how powerful that memory could be played out day after day in my brother. I would never,
never
want that for you.” Cash looked Cole in the eyes as he spoke those last few words. “I expect that he is up there somewhere now, looking down on us and proud that we’re fighting back. I…I think that was the issue. He just wanted a chance to fight back, to take back control of the destiny that had been yanked from you both. That was denied to him. But somehow, that mind of yours. It figured a way to start anew, to deprive whoever did this of the power over you. Be grateful for that, Cole.” It could have been a raindrop, but the slightest of tears appeared to enter Cash’s speckled blue eyes before he looked away.

The sky unloaded with fat, cool drops landing on the hodgepodge umbrella formed by the canopy. The palmettos sounded like wind-beaten tarp as Cole and Cash absconded back to their entrance and into the marsh grass again. Drenched, they approached the car and looked at each other and their muddy, blood-caked legs. Cole raised his shoulders, “Whatever, it’s a rental,” and they jumped in. Cole drove in silence, grateful that the man beside him, like his brother before, was there in this dark time.

CHAPTER 78

IT WAS NINE
p.m. by the time he dropped Cash off back at the station and then returned to his parents’ home. “Hey, Officer.” From across the lawn, Cole waved at his detail for the night, but he clearly was having no part in of being cordial and refused to respond. As Cole walked into the back door of the house with its single lamp on, his phone vibrated with a text. “Had a great time.” He responded back with the same and put his phone on its charger in the kitchen. It was truly a great time, but time for bed.

As he was placing his phone on its charger, he looked up and saw in the window’s reflection a figure behind him.
Janet!
It appeared she had moved too fast for their plan.

Cole spoke calmly. “Janet, what are you doing here?” Playing coy in his question, Cole’s finger slid across his phone and pressed the emergency 911 button while keeping his eyes on her.

She looked rabid as she spoke. “Oh, Cole… Let’s not pretend. You know why I’m here. And let the police come. You’ll be dead long before they arrive.”

“They are right outside…”

She cut him off. “Ha. That officer in the car? Yeah, no. He’s been dead for about an hour while I waited on you. I’ve been waiting on you for a while. Nice date? He is a looker from what I’ve seen. I might have to visit him by the end of the night.” Janet smirked as though she could see how she was going to kill Cash.

Panicked words escaped. “He has nothing to do with this. This is between you and me. I’m what you’ve come for, like the others.”

“You really are clueless, aren’t you? I don’t understand why you were ever worth all this trouble.” Halfway through her words, Cole hit the light switch and the house went dark. He was halfway to the front door when something solid caught him across the chest, throwing him on his back to the floor. He groaned as a second blow landed across his left shoulder.

“Why are you special? Why are you worth all this grief?” Her voice had come from behind him, full of anger and rage.

He yelled. “
What do you want?
”

“
Answer me
! Why are you worthy?” The voice was now in front of him.

Feeling around the floor, Cole shouted. “I don’t know what you want! Worthy of what?”

“Exactly! You aren’t worthy. That’s why I’m going to kill you.”

“
No!
” Cole twisted, sweeping his legs in the dark until they landed against something hard. He heard Janet fall while he tried to get up. She was on him again before he could regain his balance, now slashing his forearm with knife. Grabbing in the dark, he felt the sting of the blade as his hand wrapped around it; he refused to let go, kicking into the dark until it landed against her chest. The knife slipped through his palms as Janet was thrown across the room. A groan in the dark told him that she was somewhere in the corner.

Reeling with pain, he reached for anything that could be used as a weapon, until his hand landed on the leg of the hallway shelf. Janet was charging when he pulled the shelf oak over, capturing Janet underneath. He got to his feet and ran across the room to turn the lights back on. Up and slashing the air as she charged, a shot rang out from behind Cole. Janet could be heard falling to the ground, howling in pain. Cole’s turn was met by Jackie’s shadow sweeping by him to pin Janet to the ground and handcuff her.

COLE HAD NEVER
seen his sister as a cop. He understood she was one, but there had never been a thought or image of her actually acting like a cop until this moment. “Are you okay? Oh my God, Cole! You’re cut! That fucking bitch!” Jackie looked back and was preparing to wield revenge on Janet when three other officers rushed in and discouraged her. “What happened?”

“She was in the house when I got home.”

“What? Wait until I get a hold of Jameson.”

“I think he’s dead, sis.” Janet’s rage was deflated by the news. “She said she killed him.” Jackie looked over at Janet again, now being carried out the front door by other officers, clearly pissed at the news and longing to act.

Another officer Cole had never met approached Janet. “Her name is Janet Christie. I met her like three days ago. I think she’s been following me.” Looking at his sister, he continued, speaking worrisome words. “Call Daniel Page, please. Make sure he is okay. She flirted with him the other night and then showed up with him when I had dinner with Ann. Please Jackie, make sure he’s okay.”

“I will. Promise. But you’re the one I’m worried about right now. You’re cut, Cole, bad.”

Janet barked orders to one of the officers to get the EMT in the house, right away.

Cole’s shoulder was almost bandaged up by the time Agent Leas arrived. The stench of whiskey and cigarettes wafted off of him like sulfur off a paper mill, making Cole hold his breath until he could escape the olfactory assault. His speech was slightly slurred as he attempted to catch up with the night’s events.

Panicked, he said, “Shit, she moved too fast, Cole. Sorry about that. How did she learn where you were?” Cole wanted to shout at Leas, tell him that he was worthless for going on a drinking binge while he was being attacked. But he held it back, just staring at him with distain.

“I’ve said several times, I didn’t know her. She was the date of a friend of mine the other night. He met her when we were having drinks. I’d bet money she attached herself to him to get closer to me. Maybe she figured it out when he visited the other day. Jackie, did you talk to Daniel?”

Jackie was in the living kitchen with other officers, but yelled out, “Yes, he’s fine and can’t say sorry enough. He said she flaked after that night y’all had dinner and he hasn’t spoken to her since.”

Cole threw his hand in the air. “So, there you go. That crazy was stalking me. She kept saying I wasn’t worthy? Is that it, is that what this is all about? This Poinsett person is killing us based on some idea that we aren’t worthy? Is that why the others died?”

“It’s a bit early to say right now, Cole, but it’s looking that way. Did she say anything else?”

“No…no, just that craziness about not being worthy, that I needed to die. So, you got her, right? It’s over?”

“We got her Cole. You’re safe now.” The captain walked in and responded. “If your sister hadn’t gotten here when she did, well… let’s just say we’re happy she did.”

“Yeah, Sis. How did you know?”

“I didn’t. I tried to call Jameson and he never picked up. I figured he was just ignoring me until the surveillance tail said they had lost him on the radio. So, I booked it over here. “Damn good work. We got her.” The captain was going in for a pat on Jackie’s back when Leas interrupted.

“Captain, I will agree it certainly looks like it’s Poinsett, but where’s the poison?” Leas looked around the room for a syringe or other item.

The captain wasn’t buying the opinion. “Well, clearly she had to change her MO. We have had Cole here locked down like Fort Knox. It wasn’t like she was going to be able to keep poisoning these boys with all that security. We will learn more once we get her back to the station and interrogate her properly. Don’t you worry Cole, we will put her so far under a prison that the last thing she will be thinking about is trying to get after you again.”

“I appreciate that, Captain.”

Leas left the room to attempt to talk to Janet. Within an hour the house would be clear of everyone but Jackie. Cole, bandaged and wounded, started to pick up. “Cole, leave that. We can get that in the morning. Seriously, you’ve been cut. You’re going to pop those wrappings they just put on you. And why are you insisting on staying here tonight? Please, just come back with me?”

“Jackie, I appreciate the offer. I really do. But we got her, Jackie. We got Poinsett. She isn’t going to be coming after me tonight or any other night. I’d just like to have some peace and quiet. See that bottle over there, Tylenol PM. They and I are going to have a party tonight and I am going to sleep this off. I love you, sis, but I would really just like to be alone tonight.”

“Okay, Cole. But please text me first thing in the morning so I know you’re okay. Killer or not, you’re still hurt. You hear me, mister?”

“Yeah, yeah. I hear you, you old nag. I love you, too.”

Within minutes of Jackie leaving Cole was asleep in bed, feeling safe for the first time since returning to Charleston. The nightmare would not come tonight, in his dreams or in real life.