Thou Art With Me (15 page)

“We’ll be right in,” Cindy said, making a pretext of searching for something in her purse while Jeremiah kept an eye on the woman with the journal.

“What are you looking for?” Jeremiah asked.

“My aspirin bottle. I thought for sure I’d put it in here,” Cindy said, speaking slowly and stalling for time.

She casually glanced over at the woman behind the desk. She was wearing a deer in the headlights sort of expression and she was still holding the book.

“Maybe you left it back in the room,” Jeremiah said.

“I guess I must have.”

“Would you like me to run back and get it for you?”

“That would be wonderful, thank you.”

“Okay, I’ll be back in a couple of minutes,” he said.

“I’ll see you in the dining room,” Cindy affirmed.

Jeremiah left out the doors they had come in. Cindy lingered for another moment before proceeding inside into the dining room. She sat down at their table. “Jeremiah had to run back to the room to get some aspirin for me,” she said.

“Are you feeling alright?” Dorothea asked.

“I’ll be fine,” Cindy said with a smile.

Outside the glass doors Jeremiah had angled himself in position so he could watch the woman with the book. He had his cell phone pressed to his ear and occasionally nodded or said something to keep up the illusion that he was on a phone call. A couple more people drifted in, not even giving him a second glance.

The woman behind the desk was growing increasingly agitated. She tried to put the journal away in a cabinet beneath the counter and then almost as quickly as she shoved it there she pulled it back out.

Finally the lobby was clear with everyone who had walked in now in the dining room. She pulled a cell phone out of her pocket and called someone. Fortunately he was close enough to be able to read her lips.

It’s me. We’ve got a problem.

There was a pause and then she continued.

The couple in bungalow nine just brought in a journal they found in their room that belonged to Malcolm Griffith.

Another pause.

No, I don’t know what’s in it!

As she listened she was growing even more agitated, her free hand clenching into a fist.

No, I don’t know where they found it. I don’t think they read it, but I don’t know. What do you want me to do?

After a couple seconds she started shaking her head violently.

No, I’m not going there by myself.

Another pause.

Okay, we can meet up tonight at the storeroom after everyone’s asleep and we’ll both go. When? Fine. I gotta go.

She ended the call. She glanced around anxiously and then headed for the door with the book held tight. Jeremiah casually turned his back to the door.

“Uh huh, yeah, sure,” he said into the phone as she hurried out of the building and headed away.

He briefly considered following her, but that seemed like taking an unnecessary chance. After all, he knew where she’d be later that night.

“Bye,” he said to his imaginary caller before shoving his phone into his pocket. He pulled a small bottle of aspirin out of the other one and then headed inside and made his way to their table.

“Sorry, it took me a couple of minutes to find it,” he said, handing Cindy the bottle of aspirin.

“Well, at least you found it,” she said, taking one and putting the bottle into her purse.

“Yes, it’s all good,” he said with a meaningful glance as he took his seat.

“We were just talking about how much fun we have every year doing the horseback ride,” Flynn said.

“Yes, you simply must do it,” Dorothea chimed in. “The scenery is beautiful and it’s you, the horse, and nature in all its beauty. It really gives a person time to think.”

Jeremiah smiled. “I’m pretty sure we’re not going to get Cindy on a horse. Her last experience with that was...less than pleasant.”

Cindy rolled her eyes. “That would be putting it mildly.”

“What happened? You weren’t hurt were you?” Beth asked.

“No, but I was certainly terrified.”

“Given how many times the two of you have been here, you must know all the ins and outs of this place,” Jeremiah said, addressing Flynn and Dorothea.

“Oh, we do,” the older lady beamed.

“Anything you could want to know we could probably answer just as well, if not better than, most of the staff,” Flynn agreed.

“That’s quite a feat. You must know all the staff pretty well at this point, too,” Jeremiah said.

“Some better than others,” Flynn admitted. “There are a few new faces this year so it will be interesting to get to know them as well.”

“Like who?” Cindy asked.

“Summer, the yoga instructor is new,” Dorothea said.

“Lancaster is new, too. I’m not sure what it is he does,” Flynn added.

“He’s a masseuse,” Beth said.

“Only two new people in the last year? That’s still pretty impressive,” Jeremiah said.

“Yeah, it must be a good place to work,” Cindy said.

“It seems to be. I do miss the old yoga instructor. I wish I knew why she quit,” Dorothea said. “Oh well, hopefully she’s where she wants to be doing what she loves.”

“When did she leave?” Cindy asked.

“Arnold said she’d been gone about six months,” Flynn said. “It is a shame. She was quite good, although Summer seems nice.”

Cindy knew it was good information that they were gathering, but she was restless. She kept wanting to be out, doing. It was driving her crazy that she couldn’t ask Jeremiah what he had found out. She was so keyed up she could barely touch her food.

Later at the last session of the evening she found she couldn’t even begin to concentrate. When they were finally dismissed she grabbed Jeremiah’s hand and half-ran, half-walked back to their bungalow. When they got inside she turned to him eagerly.

“Well?”

“Well, she most certainly knew who Malcolm was and the journal freaked her out,” he told her.

“I could tell that much from her reaction when Beth gave it to her. What
else
did you learn?”

“She called someone to let them know about it. Her accomplice asked her to do something with the journal, but she refused to go wherever it was by herself. So they’re meeting tonight at the storeroom and going together.”

“When?”

“I don’t know, but it’s supposed to be late after everyone’s asleep.”

“Do you think she was the woman you saw last night?”

“I have no way of knowing at this point, but I hope so. It would certainly make things easier, less complicated.”

“I vote for that.”

“One way or another we’ll know more tonight.”

“So, what is the gameplan?”

“Get to the storage room before them and hide ourselves really well. Then follow if we can.”

She smiled, liking that he was including her in that plan. There was no way she was going to want to stay behind again, especially if there was even the slimmest chance of still saving Malcolm.

They both changed into all black clothes. The bathing suit ruse could only really work once and certainly not if they were found in a building that was for staff only. At last they set out, Jeremiah holding her hand as they walked softly past the rows of bungalows. A couple still had lights on, but most did not.

Jeremiah was like a big cat on the prowl, hunting his prey. She watched his every movement, trusting him implicitly. At last they arrived at their destination and he inspected it for a good minute before easing the door open and letting them both inside.

Once in the building they moved swiftly. On the right hand wall was a massive metal shelving unit anchored to the wall. Jeremiah quickly moved a few things and then helped her slide onto the bottom shelf. He then maneuvered various cans and jars in front of her so that her entire body was obscured. He left her a small slit that she could look out through.

She felt a little claustrophobic. It would not be a space she could slip out of easily or quietly. If she was caught there’d be no way she could escape. But that was what Jeremiah was for. And she had to admit that it was an ingenious hiding place. She never would have guessed a person would fit on the shelf along with other goods.

She took several deep breaths and told herself that the likelihood of her being found was pretty much zero unless something truly unfortunate happened like she sneezed.

Her arms were pinned to her sides and she couldn’t move. She was scarcely daring to breathe. She didn’t know where Jeremiah was hiding. All she knew was that she couldn’t see him. She had another tiny moment of panic, but kept breathing evenly and deeply until the feelings subsided. Jeremiah would be close by, watching over her, protecting her, just as he always did. That was one of the things that she could count on for an absolute certainty. As long as he had breath in his body he would always come for her, always save her. The thought warmed her through and through until she had nearly forgotten that she was trapped in a confined space with no room to move.

Just as she really started to relax and settle down to wait there was a loud crashing sound as the door to the building was thrown open.

15

Cindy tried to keep her breathing calm and even as someone walked into the building carrying a flashlight. It sounded loud to her ears, but then again, she could swear she also heard her heart beating. She knew that she just needed to keep herself calm and it would be okay.

She tried to focus instead on the person who had entered the building. Unfortunately from the angle she was at, and the way they were moving the flashlight, she couldn’t get a good look at who it might be. Hopefully Jeremiah had a better vantage point than she did.

Whoever it was seemed to settle in to wait. Five minutes later the door opened again, but quietly this time.

“You’re late,” a woman’s voice said, sounding agitated. Cindy thought it might be the woman Beth had handed the journal to.

“Keep your voice down. Show me the journal,” the newcomer said in a husky whisper. Cindy couldn’t even tell if it was a man or a woman speaking. She could see their legs, but whoever it was had on jeans and tennis shoes.

“Look,” the woman from the lobby said.

“How did they miss this?”

Cindy felt herself go cold.
They
. As in more than one and not the two people already in this room. That meant at least four people were involved.

“There’s a letter in there the guy wrote to his wife. I think he knew something was going to happen to him.”

“That’s impossible.”

“Oh, yeah? Then why’s he telling her where he hid money and a diamond? And get this, they were with him. Did they even open his briefcase?”

“I don’t know.”

“If they didn’t they missed it and if they did then they’re holding out on us.”

The second speaker swore. Paused, then swore again.

“What are we going to do?”

“This changes everything. We were just going to bury this tonight, but now we’re going to have to dig up the body.”

Cindy felt an icy cold spreading through her. Malcolm was dead. Something inside her had thought so all along, but it was awful to actually have it confirmed. She felt so sorry for his wife, his friends. Mark’s captain was going to be devastated.

“I don’t want to dig up a body,” the girl from the lobby whined.

“I need time to think. This changes nothing in the current plan. We’ll talk later. Wait two minutes and then leave.”

Cindy tensed, expecting Jeremiah to make a move at any moment. Nothing happened, though, and the unknown speaker turned and left, closing the door softly behind them. And the woman from the lobby waited barely a minute before scurrying out.

Seconds later Jeremiah was clearing a path to help Cindy out from her hiding spot.

“Did you see who the second person was?” she asked.

“I think it was Summer, the yoga instructor, but I couldn’t get a clear enough look at her face to swear to it.”

“Malcolm is dead.”

“Yes, he is,” Jeremiah confirmed.

“Why didn’t we do something? Grab them and call Mark or something?” Cindy asked, feeling a bit sick to her stomach over the whole thing. “Are we calling him now so he can come arrest them?”

“No.”

“Why not? We heard them say he was dead.”

“But we didn’t hear them confess to killing him. Even if we had, that wouldn’t be enough.”

“What? How?

“We’re on thin ice out here. We’re not going to be able to bring in police without proof that there’s been a murder. We have none. There’s no body, no motive, we don’t even know who killed him or when or where or even how. We have absolutely nothing. At this point it’s our word versus theirs that he was ever even here at the resort.”

Cindy could feel anger and frustration burning within her. As she was able to stand up and move away from her hiding spot she clenched her hands into fists so hard that her fingernails began to cut into her palms.

“They might have erased him from the reservation system on the computer, but there’s the spreadsheets with his name on them.”

“And they can say that he was a no show or canceled his reservation so they took him out of the system but never got him removed from the activities roster. They can even say that he was here but left and their system is just glitchy sometimes.”

“But the entire staff would have known he was here.”

“And how many of them are in on it? And if there are any who aren’t, how many of them are going to risk their jobs contradicting the others?”

“Mark should start tracking down the other guests who were here, someone has to remember him.”

“And in order to figure out who those other guests were, he would need to get at the resort’s records which they are not going to give up willingly, and he is almost certainly not going to be able to get a warrant for.”

“They’re going to win,” Cindy said, feeling numbness creeping over her at the realization. “The bad guys are going to win.”

Jeremiah wrapped his hands around her shoulders. “I promise you they’re not.”

“How do you know that?” she asked.

“Because I know us. We don’t give up, we don’t back down, and we always find the killer. We can do this.”

“Okay,” she said, taking a deep breath.

“Good.”

“Do you think Summer, or whoever that was, will try to bury the journal tonight? Should we be following her?”

“No,” Jeremiah said. “I’m pretty sure that she does want to think it over. She may even want to show it to some of the others or try to use it to gain some leverage over them. Either way I don’t see her destroying it tonight and she certainly won’t be digging up a grave on her own.”

“So, you think it’s safe to get some sleep?”

“Not only safe, but a very wise idea. Things are going to get crazy around here. We’ve knocked down the hornets’ nest and now we have to see which way we’re going to need to run.”

A terrible new thought occurred to her. “You don’t think they’ll hurt Tristan or Beth, do you?”

He shook his head slowly. “Not unless they suspect that they’re actually here trying to figure out what happened to Malcolm. As long as they believe that Beth and Tristan finding that journal was purely by chance they should be alright.”

“If we have to use someone else to cast suspicion away from us again, let’s use a different couple, preferably one we don’t like as much,” Cindy said.

“Agreed. Now let’s get out of here and back to our room so we can get some sleep and be ready for whatever happens tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

Jeremiah took her hand and led her silently out of the building. Even as she was trying to tiptoe quietly past the first bungalows on their way back to their own she was shocked at how silently Jeremiah could move. There wasn’t a footstep, not a whisper of fabric, nothing. Almost as though he wasn’t even there. And she might have started to doubt that he was but for the warmth of his hand around hers.

As for her, every footfall sounded like a gunshot ringing out and echoing round and round. The more quietly she tried to step the louder it seemed to get. Maybe it was just her imagination or the fact that she was revved up and probably being hyper-sensitive to sounds.

She was sure that whoever was doing security rounds was going to hear her and come investigating. She kept trying to find a plausible excuse for why they were out late this time and wearing all black to boot.

It was with a sigh of relief that she entered their bungalow and Jeremiah locked the door behind them. She was exhausted, mentally and physically. She needed sleep right now in a bad way. She kept telling herself that sleep would make everything better, but she wasn’t buying it.

“You okay?” Jeremiah asked.

She shook her head as she turned to face him.

“What do you need?” he asked.

“Hold me,” she said.

He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. Tears started to slide down her cheeks.

“This is stupid. I’m crying and I didn’t even know the guy.”

“You had a great deal of compassion for him, particularly when you thought he might have been kidnapped as you once were. Plus, you’re having a lot of empathy for those back home who’ve been so worried.”

She nodded. It all made sense. She shuddered, though, as she realized what they had to do next.

“We need to call Mark so he can let Malcolm’s widow know. She’s waited long enough for an answer. It will destroy her, but then the waiting will be over and the healing can begin.”

“You’re right. We’ll call him in a couple of minutes,” Jeremiah said, kissing the top of her head.

“Okay,” she said, holding tight to him as the tears continued to flow.

So many dark thoughts crowded her mind and she tried to push them away. Failing at it, she prayed for help. Thinking of Malcolm’s widow kept causing her to relive those hours when she’d thought Jeremiah was dead. It also reminded her that someday he truly would be and that she would lose him forever.

“We’ll catch the ones responsible for this. All of them,” he said. “They won’t get to hurt anyone else ever again.”

Mark had been back in bed after a double diaper changing for all of five minutes when his phone rang. He briefly considered throwing it against the wall in the hopes that it would stop and he wouldn’t have to deal with whoever was calling.

With a frustrated grunt he sat up, grabbed the phone, and moved into the hallway as he answered.

“Hello?”

“It’s Jeremiah.”

“Do you have something?” he asked, coming a little more awake.

“News, and it’s bad.”

“He’s dead, isn’t he?” Mark asked.

“Yes.”

“Dang it. Did you find the body?”

“No, we’re working on that. We do know that he was killed, though.”

“You got anything I could build a real case on?” Mark asked.

“Not yet, but we’re not going to let these people get away with it.”

“People, as in more than one?”

“At least four from what we can tell. And whatever their game is, it appears that murder is not the end goal but an accident. Whatever they’ve been doing it sounds like they’ve been doing it for a while and something went wrong with Malcolm.”

“Okay, what do you need from me?

“I don’t know yet, but as soon as I do believe me I’ll be calling.”

Mark hung up the phone and stood for a moment, gathering himself before calling the captain. It was always bad enough delivering this kind of news to strangers but it was nearly impossible to deliver it to people he knew. He took a deep breath and made the call.

Jeremiah got ready for bed. It had been a long, frustrating night. Their ruse had worked, but Cindy was taking the news that Malcolm was already dead pretty hard. What was worse was he didn’t know how to help her.

When he’d finished up in the bathroom he turned off the light and walked into the bedroom. She was sitting on the edge of her bed, frowning as though deep in thought. She was wearing pajamas with cavorting cats on them and she looked adorable.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, just thinking,” she said. She looked up at him and tried to force a smile. “So, what’s on the schedule for tomorrow?”

He walked over to the table and picked up the papers they’d received upon check-in. “Let’s see, tomorrow we have the same thing in the morning: breakfast, group session, and lunch. Then in the afternoon we have some free time, then ballroom dancing followed by a small group session with Jasmine.”

“The hugger?” Cindy asked.

“That would be the one.”

“And the two women said they were going ahead with their plans as scheduled. So, we need to still be watching and to figure out what they’re trying to pull people into.”

“Exactly.”

Cindy looked like she wanted to say something else, but she just shook her head. “It’s going to be a busy day, we should probably get some sleep.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked her.

“I will be,” she said.

He decided not to push. A lot had happened in the last few hours that had shaken them both. She would share when she was ready. He turned off the lights around the room and then climbed into his bed. After a minute Cindy clicked off the lamp on the nightstand, plunging the room into darkness. He could hear her as she laid down, and then she messed with her covers for a few minutes.

It was going to be an interesting day. Now that they knew that Malcolm was dead they could pursue answers a little more aggressively without worrying that he had only been kidnapped and might get hurt.

He understood why Cindy was so frustrated. Sometimes justice was a lot harder to obtain than it should be. He really wished there was more they could do and faster.

If Malcolm was an outlier then it was a good guess that whatever they were doing with these people, killing them wasn’t part of the plan. And yet even though they were on tribal land it wasn’t like the people at the resort were doing something that would cause a hue and cry from their former clientele. Which meant that whatever it was, they were getting people to do voluntarily. They seemed to be targeting people with money, or at least people they thought had money.