Cameron's Quest (14 page)

“I felt sorry for him. He only wanted to party
and have fun.”

Abby was the quietest and most compassionate of
the girls, so Lacey wasn’t surprised that she sympathized with Walt.

“Maybe so, but you have to admit, the rest of
the evening was much nicer without worrying about him making a grab for one of
us.”

Abby nodded. “Yes, that’s true.”

A thump at the back of the house had Rena
rushing to see out the door. “Oh, no! Daddy’s shoveling the back step.”

“As he should, dear. He has to keep the exits
clear in case of fire.” Lacey tried to remain calm for Rena’s sake, but she
couldn’t help wondering if her daughter’s dream had some kind of hidden
meaning. She went to stand beside her.
Cam
looked up, waved at them, and resumed shoveling. He had a lot of snow to get
through before he made it to the door. They could barely see out, it had
drifted so high.

“But, Mama, I need to warn him.”

“We can’t open the door, Rena. All that snow
would tumble into the house.”

“I’ll get my coat and go tell him,” Rena said,
already backing away from the door.

Lacey grabbed her by the shoulders and looked
straight into her eyes. “Rena, listen to yourself. It was only a dream.” She
spoke more harshly than she’d intended, but she had to get through to the girl.
“Understand?”

Rena collapsed against her, and Lacey enveloped
her in a comforting hug. She rubbed her back and talked soothingly to her, much
as she had when she was a little girl. “It’s going to be all right, honey. You’ll
see.”

“I hope so, Mama. I really hope so.” She
straightened up, wiped the tears away, and returned to her vigil at the door.
Lacey stayed with her.

Abby refilled their coffee mugs and brought them
over. “It’s barely warm, but I thought it might help.”

“Thank you, dear.” Lacey held the cup to her
lips and took a sip. “Now that
Cam
has the
generator working, we should go around and turn the lights off, save energy. It’s
hard to say how long the electricity will be off.”

“I’ll do it, Mama. I need to go upstairs for a
sweater anyway, so I’ll turn off the lights as I go.” Abby left the room, and
silence became their companion as they waited for
Cam
to finish shoveling. Lynne sat at the table, concentrating on a crossword
puzzle.

Lacey could feel Rena’s tension as if it were a
living thing surrounding them in gloom.

“Dad’s not clearing the whole deck, Mama. He’s
just shoveling a path to the door.”

“I’m sure he’ll shovel off the entire deck if it
will put your mind at ease.”

Rena shivered. With cold or dread, Lacey didn’t
know.

“No, that’s okay. Like you said, it was only a
dream, albeit an eerie one.”

“Very eerie. Can we sit down now?” Lacey asked.

“Yeah, sure. Want some breakfast? Dad has quite
a selection of dry cereal.”

“That sounds quick and easy, but maybe I should
cook something for
Cam
. He’s bound to be cold
when he comes in.”

“On the wood stove?”

“Yep, it’s a cook stove. I wonder if he’s got a
kettle we can put on to boil?”

“I’ll get it.” Rena walked unerringly to the
cupboard and pulled open the door to the lazy Susan. On it was the kettle. She
filled it and set it on the stove to heat. “I guess we’ll have to take it easy
on the water, so we don’t keep the pump running.”

“Good idea. I hadn’t thought of that.”

“I can cook breakfast if you want,” Lynne
offered, still mulling over the crossword she’d been working on. “Hmmm, six
letters, criminal intent. Blank, U-R, blank, blank, R. Any ideas?”

Rena dropped the box of cereal she was bringing
to the table. Lynne and Lacey both glanced her way.

“Murder.”

“What?” Lacey asked.

“The word Lynne is looking for…murder.”

“Yes! It fits. Thanks.” Suddenly, Lynne’s grin
turned to a frown, and she searched her sister’s face. “You really believe that
dream was some kind of premonition, don’t you?”

Rena nodded. “Yes, I think that’s exactly what
it was.”

“Oh, wow!” Lynne sat back in her chair, seeming
dazed. She glanced out toward the deck where
Cam
was still working to clear the snow away. He was nearing the door. “I think we
should check it out, Mama. What if she’s right?”

“Nonsense. There are six-foot drifts out there.”

“We could help,” Lynne insisted.

“Mama, what if he’s out there and covered in
snow, but still alive? Lynne’s right. We need to check it out.”

Lacey threw up her hands in defeat. “All right.
Get your coats and boots on. I’ll tell Abby.”

“Tell me what?” Abby said, entering the kitchen.

“We’re going out to shovel off the back deck.
Want to help?”

Abby threw a curious glance Rena’s way. “Sure,
but are there enough shovels?”

Rena shook her head. “There’s only two more and
a scoop.”

“Then we’ll take turns. Come along. Let’s get
this over with.” Lacey led the way outside. They grabbed shovels and followed
the path
Cam
had made to the back of the
house. When they reached the back steps, she called out to
Cam
,
“We’ve come to give you a hand.”

He turned toward them covered in snow wearing a
smile of genuine pleasure. “Thanks, but you’re a little late. I’m almost
finished.”

“Yeah, well, we thought we’d clear the deck
instead of just a path to the door.”

“Why would you want to do that?” he asked.

Lacey shrugged her shoulders, trying to message
him with a look. “Better view.”

“Have at ’er then.”

He continued shoveling near the house as Rena
and Lynne cleared the bottom steps of snow. At the third step, Lynne’s shovel
hit something solid.

“Dad, is there a planter or something on this
step?” she asked.

“Nope, just snow. Why?”

“Because my shovel hit something.”

Rena gasped and
Cam
darted a concerned glance her way. Then he came down the steps. Using his
hands, he pushed the snow away from the area. “Damn! That’s a boot. There’s
someone under here. Hurry! Help me clear the snow away.”

They waded hip deep in snow and dug furiously with
their hands to clear off the body, exposing the man from Rena’s dream, Walt
Carson. Lacey ran to comfort Rena, who hadn’t moved since they’d started
digging out the body.

“What the hell?” said
Cam
.

The man was definitely dead. The knife sticking
out of his chest attested to that, but Lacey saw
Cam
strip off one glove to check his pulse anyway.

He stepped away from the body. “I have to call
Michael. Don’t touch anything.”

“We can’t just leave him here,” Rena cried.

“Honey, there’s nothing we can do for him. Come
inside and get warm while we wait for the police to arrive.”
Cam
wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her in through the patio doors. Then
he stopped and looked back. “Thanks for unlocking the door before you came
outside.”

“Uh,
Cam
, we
didn’t unlock the door.” Lacey glanced at her three daughters who were all
shaking their heads.

“Damn! I was afraid you were going to say that.”

His frowning countenance concerned her. So did
the unlocked door. Someone had been in the house. Might still be there.

“You girls stay together here in the kitchen
while I search the rest of the house,”
Cam
said on his way out of the room.

Lacey waited with her daughters, nervous and
tense, wondering who had been in the house and if he or she was still there. It
came as a great relief when
Cam
reentered the
kitchen.

“All clear. I’m going to make that call.”

****

The house was silent except for Rena’s quiet
sobs. It just about broke
Cam
’s heart to hear
her crying and not be able to do something for her. He’d ushered them into the
living room, away from the ghastly frozen corpse, to await Michael and the
Crime Scene Unit. The phone lines were down due to the storm, and cell phone
reception back here was sketchy at the best of times, but
Cam
kept his satellite phone charged for emergencies and he’d called the station,
requesting that they patch him through to Constable Grayson. Michael would need
to commandeer a road plow in order to get his team to the ranch. A quick call
to Luke assured him that he’d send the tractor to break a path to
Cam
’s place. Now they waited.

So much for Michael’s day off. With something
this big going on, he’d be in charge and leading the investigation.
Cam
couldn’t think of anyone better. After working
homicide in
Vancouver
for several years, Michael had come home for his brother’s trial and decided to
stay.
Cam
rose to put another log on the fire.

Such a difference in the brothers. One was a
devoted cop, the other a convicted felon.
Roy
’s
trial was finally over. He’d been convicted on enough counts to put him away
for the rest of his life. All that was left was the sentencing. Would the judge
show
Roy
leniency
for turning state’s evidence? His testimony had enabled them to round up the
rest of the crew
Roy
had worked with to capture and terrorize his nephew’s wife. Zakia had borne it alone
for quite a while, but
Cam
figured returning
to Luke for protection was the smartest thing she’d ever done. It was plain to
anyone who saw them together that she and Luke were still very much in love.

Like him and Lacey. He glanced over at her. Rena
was cuddled close by her side as they sat on the sofa. How was it that Rena had
dreamed of this exact scenario? The blizzard, the dead man buried in snow? Had
the patio door been unlocked today or had it been unlocked all night? He was
certain he’d locked up before heading to bed last night, but with Lacey in his
arms, he could’ve forgotten.

The far-off rumble of an engine signaled that
the tractor was on its way. Glad to have something to do,
Cam
rose to put on his outdoor gear. “I’m going out front to clear the path again.
The way this snow is coming down, it might be an all day job. You girls gonna be
okay in here?”

“We’ll be fine,
Cam
.
Go do what you have to do,” said Lacey.

He nodded and went into the foyer to grab his
jacket, boots, and a fresh pair of gloves. The wind had picked up again, and
snow swirled and danced before his eyes, making it difficult to see as he
stepped outside. As fast as he shoveled it away, fresh snow took its place,
drifted almost to his shoulders in places where he hadn’t shoveled yet. This
was one humdinger of a storm.

Cam
rested his arms on the D-handle of the shovel
and watched as the tractor made slow progress up his driveway. He sure was glad
they’d invested in the blower attachment. The plow would never have been able
to punch a hole through the drifts that easy.

Luke brought the tractor to a stop and jumped
down, leaving it running.

“Hey, Unc. I managed to get a path through so
you don’t feel stranded out here, but what’s going on? Why is Michael coming
out in this storm?”

Cam
filled him in and Luke was horrified.

“Walt Carson? Why would he even be on our
property?”

“I don’t know, but I’m hoping Michael and his
team of experts can figure out what happened.”

“Do you need anything?”

“No, just the driveway plowed.”

“You got it. I’ll widen it on my way back out.
Take care and keep me posted.”

“Will do.”

Luke climbed back on the tractor, widened the
yard for a turn-around spot and enough room to park a few extra vehicles, and headed
back to the ranch proper.
Cam
turned to
retrace his steps to the house and groaned, realizing he’d have to scoop more
snow out of the way first. That fire was gonna feel real nice when he got back
inside.

****

Lacey heard the front door open and left Rena’s
side to go meet
Cam
. “My Lord, you must be
frozen stiff.”

“I am cold.”

She helped him off with his coat and hung it to
dry in the downstairs bathroom along with his hat and gloves. The boots he
propped against a heater in the kitchen. Then he held his hands over the wood
stove to warm them.

“How are the girls holding up?”

“Rena’s a basket case. She’s blaming herself.
Thinks she should’ve warned him somehow.”

“How could she? It was a dream,” he said.