I Wish You Missed Me Read online

  He shot out of the chair. ‘What are you talking about?’ He glared at her and then at Virgie.

  ‘Someone burned up those guitars you were making straps for.’ Virgie shrugged and walked up to him. ‘Set fire to every one of them and knocked me out too. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?’

  ‘No way.’ He backed toward the door. ‘You women need to leave.’

  ‘Jonas has had a rough night,’ Kit said. ‘You shouldn’t bother him right now.’

  ‘Don’t tell me how to treat my friend.’ With his hair tangled in the breeze and his angry stance, he no longer looked like a harmless drunk.

  ‘Before he was a guy you might have seen around,’ Kit said. ‘Now he’s your friend?’

  ‘Don’t.’ He put up his hand. ‘Just don’t go there.’

  ‘Tell us about the women from the fruit stand.’ Kit followed him back inside. ‘We know that Megan was at the pub the night Farley disappeared.’

  ‘You don’t know anything!’ He pointed toward the front door.

  ‘They know what happened to him and so do you.’

  He jabbed his finger at the door again. ‘If you don’t leave right now, I will call for help.’

  ‘Let’s go, Kit.’ Virgie moved toward the door.

  ‘He can’t do anything,’ Kit said. ‘Nickel, I’m ready to stay here all night until you tell me where Farley is.’

  ‘Can’t.’ Virgie made hard eye contact with her and then softened her voice. ‘I’m almost asleep on my feet.’

  ‘I didn’t appreciate your sending your cop friend over here,’ Nickel said. ‘I don’t appreciate your invading my home tonight. We do have some enforcement out here and I will contact them.’

  Virgie made eye contact with her again. ‘I need to get out of here. My head’s about to explode.’

  Once they were in the car and Kit was backing out of the parking place, she met Virgie’s wide-eyed grin and said, ‘All right. Tell me what you did.’

  ‘Stole something.’ Virgie lifted her vest and reached into it. ‘Thought I might be out of practice but I haven’t lost my touch.’

  Kit pulled off the road and stopped the car. ‘What is it?’

  Virgie lifted a binder covered in coarse blue fabric. ‘Took it off that neatly organized little desk of his,’ she said. ‘It’s full of information about the guitars and which kids got them. That’s all I saw before I stole it.’

  Kit took the book from her. In architect-perfect printing, Nickel had labeled the yellow, lined pages with the words: Lavender Fields.

  ‘Not a school,’ Kit told Virgie. ‘It’s some kind of camp or commune.’

  It was all there. Each guitar was listed by a number, followed by the name of a child and that child’s age.

  Abigail, 9.

  Jenny Marie, 7.

  Brianna, 10.

  Cameron, 13.

  Anna, 5.

  Megan.

  No age was listed for her.

  ‘He made a guitar strap for Megan too,’ Kit told Virgie. ‘Probably the one Jonas gave her. Nickel knows where they live.’

  She nodded. ‘He’s also going to tell them we’re getting too close.’

  The truth of her words stopped Kit. ‘You’re right. We’ve got to be really careful from now on.’

  ‘Like not going back to the motel?’ Virgie made a face. ‘Not that I’d miss those sofa beds from hell.’

  ‘Maybe a different motel,’ she suggested. ‘Something closer to Mendocino.’ She started to hand the book back to Virgie and stopped.

  Farley Black.

  No date. No anything.

  ‘Virgie!’ Kit shoved the book into her hands. ‘Nickel made a guitar strap for him.’

  ‘The one we saw in the barn,’ Virgie said.

  ‘Exactly.’

  A soft breeze blew through Virgie’s open window. ‘So what do we do now?’ she asked.

  ‘Are you really as sleepy as you pretended to Nickel?’

  ‘Me? Sleepy?’ Virgie grinned. ‘That was an act. Let’s go find these people.’

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  Megan stood just inside the camp and walked slowly toward the small wooden house where Priscilla and Jonas waited. She still wasn’t certain how any of this had happened or how everything got so ugly and secretive. Before they were just private people. Now she felt like a fugitive.

  When Priscilla let her in at the front door, Megan could tell she’d been crying. Jonas stood in the kitchen in jeans and a navy blue sweater, looking as worried as Priscilla.

  The piano where he had taught Megan to play sat beside the door to the hall. She breathed in a combination of fruit smells from the jars on the table and the underlying scent of something else – pizza, maybe, or spaghetti.

  ‘Michael will be back in a moment,’ Priscilla told her. ‘He’s checking on Farley.’

  ‘Is there any improvement?’ Megan could barely say the words and Priscilla shook her head almost before she could finish.

  ‘If anything, he’s worse. Will thinks we need more time and he’s a doctor, after all.’

  ‘No.’ Megan’s voice came easier than it had before. ‘Will was pre-med but he dropped out. We need someone else to look at Farley.’

  ‘What we really need is to get him out of here,’ Jonas said. ‘I told you that, Priscilla.’

  ‘Is that so?’ The front door opened and Will stood there, his eyebrows raised.

  Megan automatically stepped back and nearly bumped into the piano bench. The others didn’t move. Will wore a white jacket over his jeans. His hair was pulled back and, in spite of the smile on his face, Megan could feel his simmering anger. The heels of his boots clicked as he marched into the room and crossed his arms.

  ‘So now you’re doubting me? Meeting in secrecy?’

  ‘We’re worried.’ In spite of Priscilla’s soft voice her meaning was clear, and for the first time Megan thought they might avoid whatever Will was planning.

  ‘Worried about what?’ He crossed the room and stood between Megan and Priscilla. ‘What’s gone wrong?’

  ‘Farley’s not improving,’ Priscilla said. ‘If anything, he’s declining. We need to get him out of here now. To a hospital.’

  Will gave Megan a look that said they’d talk about this later. ‘We’ve got a problem with that,’ he told Priscilla in the voice that to him probably seemed casual but to Megan was a reminder of how his anger could build. ‘The minute he’s out of here everyone will know where we are. We’ll have publicity, intruders – all the things we hate.’

  ‘I understand that.’ Priscilla rested her hands on her stomach. ‘I dread the thought of that as much or more than you do, but we can’t let someone die because we don’t have the knowledge to save his life.’

  ‘I have the knowledge.’ Will started toward the back bedroom where Farley had been drifting in and out of consciousness.

  ‘Wait, please.’ Priscilla put out her hand. Her voice was low but full of power. ‘When you and Megan joined us, I thought you said you were a doctor.’

  ‘I am a doctor.’ He put his arm around Megan and pinched her waist. ‘Tell them, honey.’

  ‘It’s not Megan’s place to tell us,’ Priscilla said. ‘It’s yours.’

  Will shot her that smile that won over everyone. It had won over Megan once, but not now. ‘We dropped out of the system before all the paperwork was completed,’ he said. ‘That’s why we’re here, though. We don’t want to be part of the system.’

  ‘That’s the reason we’re here as well.’ Priscilla crossed the room and stood in front of the hall that led to the room where Farley Black was. ‘But when we can’t do the work better than the system does – when someone’s life is at stake – then we have to find the right resources.’

  ‘So you’re saying you distrust me.’

  ‘I’m saying that Farley’s not improving and now we have his friends coming up here, disturbing our lives.’

  ‘Not to mention the fire in my barn.’ Jonas mo
ved closer to Megan but stopped short at the end of the sofa. Despite their distance, she had never felt closer to him. Maybe now, somehow, they could save Farley. She already knew Will either didn’t know enough or didn’t want to.

  ‘You know one of those women set the fire.’ Will glanced at Jonas and then at Megan. Then he gave Priscilla a tight smile. ‘Kit Doyle will do anything to find Farley.’

  ‘Because they’re friends,’ Jonas said. ‘They’re as close as any of us are, and in some respects probably closer.’ He looked at Megan. ‘Kit isn’t going away and we need to get some care for Farley – some real care – right now.’

  ‘You’re saying my care hasn’t been real?’ Will let go of Megan and approached Jonas just a few feet away. ‘I’m the reason he’s still alive. What don’t you understand about that?’

  ‘I guess,’ Jonas said, ‘that I’m not sure what happened to threaten his life in the first place.’

  ‘I told you that.’

  ‘You said a guy in the bar.’

  ‘His name was Chuck.’ Will turned back to Megan. ‘Do you remember his last name?’

  ‘No.’ She tried to recall and realized that Chuck had never given her anything but his first name. Yet he was a gentle man who wouldn’t have started a fight. ‘No, I don’t.’

  ‘Well, he’s the one who attacked Farley.’ Will faced Jonas now and Megan couldn’t help comparing the two of them – Jonas with his easy-going manner but quiet strength. Will with his red face, fast speech and his posturing.

  ‘You saw it?’ Jonas asked.

  ‘I came in at the end when Farley was on the ground.’ Will’s voice grew deeper, more certain, as he continued speaking. ‘I saved his life, and if you give me just another day, two at the most, I can bring him out of this.’

  ‘That’s unacceptable,’ Priscilla said. ‘You’ve had four days. Do you know what it will do to this place and to all of our plans if he dies?’

  ‘Do you know what it will do if anyone traces him to us?’ He shook his head. ‘Two more days. That’s all I ask.’

  ‘What about Kit Doyle?’ Jonas demanded. ‘She has a cop friend of theirs up here now. I’m not about to wait two more days. I’m not about to wait one more.’

  ‘Neither am I,’ Priscilla said.

  Megan knew that was what needed to happen, even if it destroyed their camp. They could move somewhere else and start up again. Will wasn’t really helping Farley with all that pain medication. She took the teapot off the stove, walked over to the table and began filling cups. It would be all right now. They would do the right thing, as she had when she hid Farley’s phone.

  The hall door opened and Michael stepped out. As always, his true emotions were hidden behind his long blond hair and beard.

  ‘He tried to talk.’ Michael put his arm around Priscilla. ‘We need to get him out of here. Tomorrow, at the latest. Maybe tonight.’

  ‘Not yet.’ Will stalked past Jonas and Megan and confronted Michael. ‘I can help him.’

  ‘He’s not a real doctor,’ Priscilla said.

  ‘Pre-med,’ he added. ‘I helped you, didn’t I, when you nearly lost Callie? Are you really going to tell me you don’t trust me to take care of a stranger?’

  ‘He’s not a stranger,’ Jonas said. ‘He’s my friend. I say we take him into town tonight.’

  ‘Which town?’ Will asked. ‘Willits? Mendocino? How much time on the road do you want to put him through? You could kill him, you know, just transporting him somewhere else.’

  ‘Then we should have someone else come out here and look at him,’ Priscilla said.

  ‘And expose our entire community? You said you dread the thought of that.’ He widened his eyes and put out his hands in the way he did that made him look genuine and concerned. ‘Priscilla, I’m one of you. Two days. That’s all I’m asking.’

  Priscilla looked over at Michael, who shook his head. ‘He’s getting weaker.’

  ‘Two days is too long then,’ Priscilla said.

  ‘One day.’ Will moved closer to the hall. ‘Twenty-four hours. Will you give me that much time?’

  ‘I don’t know.’ Priscilla glanced at Michael again. ‘We need to decide something tonight.’

  ‘I delivered your daughter.’ Will moved closer and spoke softly inches from Priscilla’s face. Her eyes filled with tears. ‘I saved Callie’s life and maybe yours. Are you really going to deny me twenty-four hours to save Farley?’

  Priscilla shook her head and stared at the floor, blonde hair scattered over her shoulders. Michael put his arm around her. As they walked out of the house, she turned back and met Will’s eyes. ‘Twenty-four hours,’ she whispered.

  Will nodded and headed down the hall.

  ‘Megan,’ he said, ‘I’ll need your help.’

  She glanced at Jonas. He shook his head but there was nothing she could do. This was the first time Will had wanted her to help him. It couldn’t be good. Nothing about handing Farley’s care over to him had helped this poor guitar player.

  ‘Megan,’ he said again. ‘Come on, will you?’

  ‘Coming.’ She took one last look at Jonas, put the teapot back down, and then turned and followed Will down the hall.

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  The smell of a campfire drifted into the car and, although the rain had stopped some time before, the trees were still dripping. Kit soon realized that Virgie hadn’t been lying to Nickel. This might be the one night she got some decent sleep. Her head tilted back in the seat, Virgie breathed evenly and looked ready to drift off.

  ‘Maybe we ought to wait until tomorrow,’ Kit said. ‘We’re not going to find anything out here tonight.’

  ‘They aren’t that far.’ She sat up with a jerk. ‘Remember when Megan called the guy on the motorcycle? He was there in a few minutes. They’re all close by, and Jonas’s place isn’t that far away from them either.’

  ‘Which will make it that much easier for us tomorrow,’ Kit said.

  ‘We’ve got to find them tonight.’

  The roads connected to numerous paths that shot off without warning. After taking a few of them, Kit realized they were only going in circles.

  ‘Tomorrow,’ she said. ‘We’ll come back here then.’

  ‘I don’t want to go back to that motel.’

  ‘Well, as I said, we can find another one farther north.’

  ‘Better let me drive,’ Virgie said.

  ‘You rest. I’m fine.’

  She was, too. Although she knew the panic could be waiting around the next curve of the road, the next steep drop, Kit felt more focused and less frightened. The serenity of the forest had played a part in that, but most of what calmed her was relief that had flooded through her from the moment Megan had told her Farley was alive.

  ‘You sure?’

  She relaxed her fingers on the wheel. ‘Just being in this place has been healing in a way.’

  ‘The Japanese have a name for it. Means forest bathing. Works on all kinds of stuff, even blood pressure, immune system, that kind of thing.’ Before Kit could ask how Virgie knew that, she added, ‘I think we ought to stay around here.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because of Monique.’ She spun around in the seat. ‘Kit, you know she’s here and she’s not about to go back until she finds Farley. She stalked you. Now, why don’t we stalk her?’

  ‘First we have to find out where she is.’

  ‘How many places could she be out here?’

  ‘Not Nickel’s,’ Kit said. ‘At least not tonight.’ Then she slowed the car as she thought about Monique before Farley’s disappearance. Monique the beautiful station owner’s daughter, buying original, pricey art for the walls, throwing catered open houses the first Wednesday of every month. Monique, with her fountain of hair and closets of clothes, was spoiled, insistent and focused on finding Farley, as if somehow that would make him love her. ‘Feel like a beer?’ she asked Virgie.

  She yawned and flashed Kit a grin. ‘If it’s at the Gas Lamp,
I do.’

  They pulled in close to ten o’clock.

  From inside the open door, the place sounded like a church revival.

  ‘Come on,’ Kit said and got out of the car.

  As they started toward the music, Virgie nudged her. A van that looked like the one that had been following Kit was parked right in front of the place. Not black, as she had thought, but dark green. It had the same strange front.

  ‘She’s in there,’ Kit told Virgie.

  They approached the front door as a guy with a trumpet playing ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’ paraded across the bar, jumped down and led a group of followers outside.

  ‘Looks like a drunk night out,’ Virgie said.

  ‘Let’s see what it looks like inside.’

  They walked up to the bar, where Mickey grinned, said, ‘Hello, ladies,’ and motioned toward his stamp pad.

  Kit placed some bills on the bar and put out her hand, even though the fading image on it was still there. Even before the stamp connected with her flesh, she spotted Monique at the first table in the back. She ran to her. Monique started toward the door but Kit blocked her path.

  ‘So you’re going to physically restrain me?’ Monique looked down at Kit from platform boots.

  ‘You won’t go far in those,’ Kit said.

  ‘Depends.’ Monique tugged at her hair again. ‘I’ve gotten farther than you have dressed like that. Some men are more willing to talk to an attractive woman.’

  So that was it. That was everything. This woman, regardless of her beauty, was intimidated by her.

  ‘Why did you stalk me?’ Kit asked.

  ‘Oh, please.’ Monique lifted the glass of water beside her untouched drink and sipped it. ‘I followed you, OK? But only because I thought you might lead me to Farley. I would hardly consider that stalking.’

  ‘What about climbing into my bedroom through the strawberry vines?’

  Monique’s fierce blush spread across her cheeks, even in the dim light of the bar.

  She pointed at her table. ‘Sit down.’

  ‘Come on, Virgie,’ Kit said.

  ‘Not sure I want to sit across from a stalker.’ Virgie moved closer to Monique. ‘Why’d you do that? Following someone you pretend to be friends with is crazy. Breaking into someone’s home is even crazier.’