The Summerland (6 page)

Samantha shivered, holding her arms into her body and slowly rocking. She was fucked, literally and figuratively.

* * * *

She is magnificent. I knew from the moment that I saw her that she was the Chosen One. The Goddess would only cloak herself in a strong woman. When will she know, when will that cunning I can see in her eyes change to awareness? When will she realize her freedom lies in education? That our freedom lies within her?

Chapter Six

The Sheriff heard Wiley Goltree’s raised voice before he even entered the room. As usual, the man was pontificating on his favorite subject, those kooks over by the river. It had become almost a weekly ritual in the squad room.

“
I’m telling you now,” the old man screeched, “it’s them damn witches that’s the cause of this. Them over by the river. It ain’t right, them practicin’ that voodoo-hoodoo. They probly sacrificed them girls to the devil.” As he entered Wiley wheeled around to face him. “Sheriff, what are you gonna do ‘bout them damn witches?” Drops of spittle flew from between his few remaining teeth, coating Bill in a fine mist.

Taking a handkerchief out of his pocket, he quickly wiped at his chin, keeping his eye on the grizzled old goat stooped before him. Wiley was the local doomsayer and the keeper of every hideous thing that had occurred within the county in the last sixty years. He had an opinion on everything from the coming apocalypse to the taxation practices of the state of California, and he made sure everyone knew it.

Of late his favorite subject had been the Wiccan coven which met for its worship services in one of the old commune houses across the river. His frequent and vehement declarations on the fact that they were teaching the young people of Mariposa the ways of the devil had made him a favorite among the local churchgoers.

His grandson Stumpy was also one of the Department’s deputies. Bill casually scanned the room, noting that the deputy in question was conspicuously absent.

He replaced his handkerchief, taking a deep mental breath as he did so. “Good morning Wiley. How are you this morning?” Then he stood back and waited for the coming storm.

He was not disappointed. “Sheriff, you’re a good boy and come from a fine family. We ain’t always seen eye to eye on some things, but that’s water under the bridge. What I can’t understand is why you won’t kick those no good witches out on their asses. How many more of our younguns have to be took before you see the light? If you don’t do something right now, I will. I’ll go tell them TV people that them women had candle wax all around them, just like those agents of Satan use. Don’t think I won’t.” With that declaration he turned to the door, smiling a secret smile as the impact of the bombshell he’d dropped began to hit Bill and the other officers in the room.

“
Wiley, wait just a damned…” Bill’s response was cut off by the scandalized voice of Gail. He watched in barely disguised glee as his secretary tore into the old man.

“
Wiley Goltree, you ought to be ashamed. I know you’re all aflutter over those folks down by the river, but don’t you dare come in here and threaten the Sheriff like that. If you went to those darn TV people you’d never be able to hold your head up in this county again and you very well know it, so don’t you start tossing around threats in here. Do you hear me?” Wiley nodded, hanging his head as he shuffled to the door. “Wiley Goltree, you look at me.” Wiley turned, looking at Gail with a sheepish expression. Gail looked at him long and hard, then jerked her matronly head in a curt nod. With her approval Wiley pulled open the doors to the outside, and safety.

“
Phew, Gail.” Bill swiped imaginary sweat from his brow. “Once again you save our butts. Find Stumpy and tell him that I want to see him in my office in fifteen minutes.“ He began to move toward his office, vacillating between his admiration of Gail and being purely pissed off at Stumpy. Stumpy Goltree was huge pain in the ass. He was one of the few remaining old-school peace officers in Mariposa, and even though he’d only been on the force a year when Bill had come home and pinned on a deputy’s badge, he’d latched onto the old ways with the voracity of a pit bull. He could almost guarantee that Stumpy had been the source of the leak on the candle wax, just as he was sure something would surface on the money before the end of the day was out. The problem was, Stumpy may be a bitter holdout of days gone by, but he’d been educated by the best. He was smart and never left tracks.

Ruminating over yet another complication, Bill was almost to his inner sanctum, more than ready for his first cup of office coffee when the outer doors opened and his life went even further to hell.

He recognized the deep timbre of her voice from yesterday’s conversation, recognized that touch of arrogance endemic to a military officer, and recognized the undertone of fear. He smoothly pivoted on the heel of his boot and walked to the desk.

He took his first look at Arden Jones and knew he was in a heap of trouble. She was striking. Not beautiful in any conventional sense, but she had a presence about her that you recognized from the get-go and wore like a shield. Her long, lean body fairly screamed tension, and he could almost feel it radiating off her in waves. Ash blonde hair was swept up in a ruthless military-style twist, and even though she wasn’t in uniform, Bill doubted anyone would mistake her for anything but a take-charge person. What makeup she did have on was tasteful and discreet and the navy blue suit she wore radiated quiet authority and a no-shit attitude. The only thing that saved her from looking like a full-on bitch was the genuine distress in and around her changeable hazel eyes and full, bottom-heavy mouth.

That first, all encompassing look cemented her image in his mind, and he had the distinct impression he wouldn’t be shaking it loose anytime soon. He’d been a choosy man most of his life, and right now the mix of iron maiden and distressed female that Arden Jones projected looked entirely too intriguing for his peace of mind. That and the fact that he’d always liked tall women. It was probably a good thing for both of them that she was married. He could feel his body’s response to her as clearly as his mind’s.

“
Ma’am, I’m Sheriff Ashton, we spoke on the phone yesterday. Why don’t you come on back to my office? Gail, can you get Captain Jones some coffee or tea?” He tilted his head slightly to one side, questioning her preference.

“
Um, coffee please, black.” She tried not to stare at the broad back preceding her. Her first thought was,
wow, the cowboy sheriff lives
.

He filled the space around him, seeming to touch everyone and everything at once without even moving. It was intimidating and soothing at the same time, and, oddly enough, it made her feel safe.

Arden was surprised that a man in his thirties would hold such a powerful position, even in a town as small as this one. He moved with a graceful solidity she hadn’t seen since her technical instructors at basic training. It was almost catlike, and told any interested observer that the Sheriff could and would take care of business with a minimum of fuss.

And that voice, it rumbled and tumbled through her like thunder coming, flipping on every nerve ending in her body.

Her thoughts were immediately colored by chagrin
. I’m looking at this guy’s butt when I should be worried about my sister. What the hell am I thinking
, Arden chastised herself. She might not have seen Samantha in years, but she was still her sister.

She took the seat he politely held out to her, then looked slowly around his office while he took his own. The place was a disaster area. Arden inwardly cringed. The Sheriff may be a hunk, but how could he effectively investigate any crime in this jumble? Even the coat rack occupying one corner of the office looked chaotic, a seething mass of ball caps, cowboy hats, and windbreakers hanging on by one desperate arm. Muffled country-western music issued from one of the piles, but there were so many she couldn’t quite pinpoint the source. Her circuit of the room completed as Gail brought both of them coffee then closed the door behind her. The Sheriff was looking at her with amusement dancing in his eyes.

“
Really, I know where everything is.” Then he laced his fingers together, leaning forward on his desk. His eyes focused on her, refreshed her, made her feel like the only person in the whole world. That kind of intensity and presence was comforting, unnerving and more than a little compelling.

“
Captain Jones,” he began earnestly, “I really don’t know what else I can tell you that we didn’t speak of on the telephone yesterday. I realize this involves your sister, but I don’t think there’s much you can do here. We have no real evidence of foul play, just a sports bag and her cell phone. Our garage even diagnosed the breakdown as a matter of circumstance.”

Arden dropped her eyes to her lap and rolled the Styrofoam coffee cup between her palms, warming her clammy hands. Taking a deep mental breath, she looked up back up, capturing his gaze. “Listen, Sheriff Ashton, right?” At his nod she continued, “I haven’t seen Samantha in over fifteen years, since before I joined the military. While I’ve never kept my whereabouts secret, we certainly weren’t in contact when my car was stolen. The fact that Samantha’s name even enters in this confuses me and worries me. She wouldn’t have hesitated to contact me if she needed something.”

Ashton looked at her thoughtfully, leaning back in the creaky office chair. “Tell me something, Captain Jones. If you haven’t seen your sister in fifteen years, what makes you so sure she’d come to see you? It doesn’t sound like the two of you have a particularly close relationship.”

His query, while fair, shook her nonetheless. “Good question.” She began, wondering how to even begin to paraphrase her on-again, off-again relationship with Sam. “I’ve been bailing Samantha out of trouble for what seems like forever. After we graduated from high school she went her way and I went mine.”

Arden paused, nervously blowing her bangs off of her forehead with a quick burst of breath. “I hear from her whenever she decides to surface. The last time she found me overseas. She needed cash and needed it fast. I wired it to her somewhere in Dallas and haven’t seen or heard from her since. That was three, maybe four years ago.

“
Bottom line, Sheriff, my sister is a user, and she wouldn’t have missed the opportunity to hit me up for something besides my car.” The voice she delivered her speech in was hollow, missing even the basest emotion. What she didn’t know was that her eyes said it all, conveying embarrassment, confusion, and most of all, hurt. “I heard on the radio that you’ve got a serial killer on the loose. Could this connect to Samantha in any way?”

More than a little curious, he answered candidly. “To be honest with you, I don’t know. The discovery of your car and the circumstances surrounding it are certainly unusual. With what you’ve just told me, who knows? We’ll definitely be on the lookout for your sister though. I don’t suppose you brought a picture with you, did you?” He asked hopefully.

“
I brought one, but I don’t know how much good it will do you. Like I said, I haven’t seen her in years, so I don’t know how accurate this one is. I only got this one when my folks passed away, they saw her more than I did.” She passed him one of those Glamour Shots that usually looked nothing like the person in question. He looked down at it, struck by the similarity between the two sisters. He could also see, even in this enhanced photo, that Samantha Henning had possessed that indefinable quality that made her something special, made her one of those women men would do just about anything for. He couldn’t really picture the woman looking up at him begging for money from her sister. No, she would demand it.

He was surprised that Captain Arden Jones gave it to her. He glanced up and saw Arden looking at him with a sad smile in her eyes. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she? She always has been.”

Bill carefully put the picture down, framing it between his hands and thought of the best way to answer. “Yes, she is. But if you don’t mind my saying, she’s also got that look that says ‘I could chew you up and spit you out.’ I was on LAPD long enough to see that look, that attitude on a hundred different women. Did you know your sister’s telephone was registered to an address in Hollywood?”

Arden couldn’t disguise the surprise that flickered through her eyes, just as she couldn’t control the mask that descended mere seconds later. She’d been doing it for far too long.

“
No, I didn’t. Maybe I misjudged Samantha. She knew I was in L.A., and she knew I worked with entertainment types in my job. I’m surprised she didn’t show up the day I transferred in.” She looked down at her hands, grimacing at the way they compulsively clutched at the coffee cup. Enough of this. She looked back up at him, her back straightening. “Well, Sheriff, I guess that’s neither here nor there, is it? What else can you tell me? Can I turn my rental in and collect my car or is it still impounded?”

Ashton shrugged, squirming a little in his chair. “I’m sorry you came all the way up here from L.A. for nothing, Captain Jones. I’m afraid we’ll need to keep your car for at least another day just to have the lab go over it. Then I can release it, but it’ll still need to be repaired. The folks down at the Chevron station said it blew a radiator hose.” He shifted again, uncomfortable with what he was about to say.

“
I’m sure you’re concerned about your sister, but as I said before, we found absolutely nothing that would indicate any foul play with the exception of the discovery of her cell phone and the sports bag.” He’d always been a terrible liar, but he just wasn’t ready to broach the subject of the money, at least not yet.