Authors: Kristen James
“Cora?”
He sat down next to her and touched her leg. That made her
jump. Still, he didn’t move his hand.
“You should eat something.” He took her hand and tried to
pull her up. She fought at first, but couldn’t find a reason for it so she gave
in. He pulled her up so quickly that she bumped into his chest. His arm came up
around her back.
It’d feel so good to lean into him and cry some more. He
wiped her wet cheek and began soothingly rubbing her back. There was a
desperate feel to his caresses that revealed his guilt.
She needed someone to reassure her, but not him, not now.
“Don’t.” She pushed off the bed and walked to the table. He had set just one
metal camping plate and a full glass of water.
“Sit down,” he said, pulling the chair out.
It would feel very strange to sit down and eat with him, but
she felt uneasy about the single plate too. She glanced toward the stove and
then up at him.
“Your candle lit dinner,” he said, trying to smile. When he
stepped back to the stove, she finally spotted the other plate full of food.
She was staring. Did he know what she was thinking? He took a bite of his food
and raised his fork in her direction. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”
That wasn’t what she was worried about…
She smelled rice and her mouth watered. Saying a prayer, she
took a bite.
The plate contained a cooked, boxed dinner and some canned
vegetables. She could barely taste it because she was so hungry. She was a
little surprised by his polite gesture, letting her use the table by herself.
It was now clear that he was nice enough not to poison her as well.
He rinsed their plates and boiled them in a large pot, due
to the lack of any dish soap. She walked around the wall and laid down on one of
the beds. She was surprised by how tired she felt.
Nick came in and sighed as he sat on the other bed. He set
the lamp down on the ground and its glow spread up into the room. It sounded a
bit like a campfire when she closed her eyes. She could still feel him looking
at her.
“Your father isn’t completely alone,” he said. “I’m not the
only one in the family that disagrees with what they’re doing. My cousin is
trying to keep tabs on Jerry.”
“If you think this is wrong, and you want to help, why won’t
you and this cousin grab Jerry and me and run? We could get away and go to the
police.”
“We can’t get you and Jerry at the same time. Keith might do
something awful if…”
“If what?” She wasn’t going to let it go.
“Alright. If one of you gets away, Keith might hurt the
other one. It won’t keep him at up night to have Alexander kill someone.”
“Have you ever killed anyone?” she asked without opening her
eyes. She wanted distance, and maybe to hurt him, and that’s why she asked. A
part of her also wondered if he’d admit to hurting anyone before.
“What?” He asked slowly, sounding hurt and insulted. “I
really scare you?”
She opened her eyes.
“Cora…I’ve never purposely hurt anyone in my life. I’ve
never done anything like this before.” He sat on the edge of his bed, leaning
over and resting his elbows on his knees. The pleading look in his eyes made
her want to believe him.
“Then why start now?”
“To fix all this. I didn’t plan on having anything to do
with my family, but I couldn’t stay out of it.”
“You could have called the police,” she accused. “Or told me
what was going on when you stopped me at the restaurant.”
“I wanted to go straight to the police with all this, but I
can’t be certain Keith doesn’t have some of them on his payroll. Or, Alexander
might have been watching me. I couldn’t figure out a way to get help without
putting Jerry or you in more danger. This bought us time.”
But was it enough time?
She closed her eyes and willed her body and mind to relax,
remembering a day long ago spent on the beach with both her parents. Like
always, the memory brought tears to her eyes. She soon remembered that Nick was
watching her; she rolled the other way and wiped her eyes. She pretended to be
asleep for so long she actually started to drift off.
***
She woke with a start in complete darkness. Nick must have
turned the lamp off.
He was asleep!
She jumped up and felt her way to the door. It creaked as
she opened it, and the entire cabin complained at any movement. Nick didn’t
wake up. She stepped outside into more darkness and took a deep breath of fresh
night air. It could have been midnight, or two, or four. She had no idea.
The frogs and crickets were even louder out here. The moon
had set. There was millions of endless stars suspended above, amazing her with
their brightness. Staring straight up, she felt as if she could reach up and
touch them. After a minute spent in awe, she looked down and found herself in
complete darkness. Her breathing sounded very loud. She heard soft footsteps
coming toward her.
She froze.
“Cora?” His soft whisper caused her to jump. “Cora? You’ll
scare yourself silly. Come on, let’s get inside.”
Nick guided her through the door so quickly that she didn’t
speak until they were inside. “Why are you sneaking around like that?”
He shut the door behind them and said, “Someone else could
be sneaking around out there, besides the two of us.”
She felt his hand on her arm as he guided her back to the
beds.
“Let’s get some rest.” That’s all he said as he sat her on
the bed. She lay down, feeling relieved that she didn’t have to make a run for
it into the black night. She needed to escape… but she knew she wouldn’t be
able to find her way under a moonless sky, through the forest.
Her relief quickly turned into irritation. She wasn’t doing
anything to get away from Nick, and back to her father.
She felt a blanket fall over her and realized he was pulling
her blanket up. A strange guilt hit her when she thought about her plan to
sneak away from him. His bed creaked when he sat down.
“Goodnight…And Cora, somehow I’ll fix this.”
***
The breeze brushed the outside of the cabin walls, gently
waking Cora in the morning. The room appeared out of focus and dark. Only after
a confusing minute did she remember where she was. The night before rushed into
her memory like a pounding migraine.
The dark room became incredibly warm as the sun shone on its
weathered walls. Reaching above her head, she stretched for a long minute to
relieve some of the tightness in her body. She felt as if she’d slept too hard,
but cold water from the bathroom sink helped clear her mind. She rubbed her
temples and ran her fingers through her hair. So last night wasn’t a nightmare
after all.
She opened the front door to let some light in. It was so
dark and depressing in here, as if the situation itself wasn’t enough to make
her want to curl up and cry.
Nick had left several cans of food and a can opener on the
table, but there wasn’t a note or any sign of him. This was her chance… but she
looked back at the cans and decided she needed to eat something first.
“Canned peaches, canned nectarines, or canned pears for
breakfast?” Settling on canned peaches, she opened and ate the entire can.
After eating she slowly walked to the front door, planning
to look around for Nick before darting out. The aged wood of the cabin creaked
and groaned with each step. The brightness outside blinded her at first.
It looked clear but she swore she heard footsteps
approaching along the cabin. She stepped back, wondering if it was Nick or her
imagination. If he wasn’t right there, she was going to run for it.
Alexander, and not Nick, stepped into view and sent her back
several feet as she gasped. He smirked and tilted his head in greeting, looking
her up and down.
“Cora, what are you doing sneaking around?” He blocked her
way, his hands on his hips and wet spots on his T-shirt under each arm.
“I’m not.”
His hair, slicked to one side, annoyed her. She didn’t like
his over-kept look, and really didn’t like the way he looked at her.
She felt offended and let it show before saying, “Where’s
Nick?”
Even with all the anger she felt for Nick, she preferred him
any day over Alexander. The smirk fell from Alexander’s face.
Ha!
“So the two of you got better acquainted last night?”
Alexander, though not a huge man, had a hard face and curt way of saying each
word. He tried to bully her into the house. She felt the overwhelming need to
defy him and win this one tiny battle. She crossed her arms and stayed put.
“You must be one lonely and desperate man.” She felt a
little too smug when saying the words.
Immediately, Alexander’s eyes narrowed and his nostrils
flared. He stood so close that she could see sweat beading up on his face.
For a horrifying second, it looked like he would hit her.
She stepped away, and a fever-like shiver ran down her back. They both heard
footsteps, behind Alexander, running toward them.
Between Alexander and the door, she could see Nick. He was
dressed in a dark green T-shirt, khaki shorts, and hiking boots. Alexander
followed her gaze back to Nick; while his head was turned, she darted back
behind the wall and sat on the bed.
Seeing Alexander that close to Cora made Nick’s skin crawl.
He was glad she went inside and Alexander walked to meet him.
He didn’t waste any pleasantries. “Did Jerry find the money
this soon?”
Alexander snorted. “Hardly.”
Nick had to play his role and pretend they were on the same
team. “So what’s the news?”
“He still claims someone else stole it. He’s investigating,
he says. My guess is he’ll get himself killed.”
Nick held a straight face even though he felt like punching
Alexander right in that straight, pointed nose of his.
“Did I ruin your plans by showing up?” Alexander’s mouth
twisted. “I hope you won’t bother pretending you’re not trying to get her into
bed.”
Alexander’s crude words pushed Nick’s buttons. Still, he
only shrugged.
“I’m just doing what my father needs me to.” Nick tried to
take a non defensive stance to avoid a conflict. “Keith wants her up here for a
while, so this is where we’re staying.”
“I don’t buy it, and I don’t know why Keith does.”
Alexander wanted a fight, and a reason to grab Cora and take
off with her. “Guess it’s a family thing,” Nick said, abandoning his plans for
avoiding a conflict. That had to piss Alexander off.
“Keith doesn’t need a lawyer around,” Alexander said. “You
know that, don’t you? You walked away and you’re not getting back in.”
It was obvious why Alexander felt so strongly. He was
Keith’s number one man, and he got there because Nick chose to leave his
family.
“Don’t be so sure.” Nick took a new line of defense. “Maybe
a lawyer in the family could prove useful.”
Alexander was so stunned that he took a step backwards. Nick
immediately regretted his words because now Alexander had another reason to
watch him closely.
“What do you want with Cora?” Nick asked. He knew it was a
dangerous question, but he hoped Alexander might let something slip. “Why did
you really get her involved?”
Alexander laughed. “You know it was the only way to get
Jerry to find the money while trusting that he wouldn’t go to the police. We
can’t let information like this reach the press.”
Alexander’s story remained the same but his actions said
otherwise. Nick couldn’t imagine Alexander sacrificing his job, but his
instincts told him that Alexander wanted Cora for something more. Nick stepped
back. “We don’t need to get in each other’s way. You do your job and I’ll do
mine.”
“That’s right. You do what you’re told.” Alexander turned
and stalked off to the path leading to the shed.
Nick glanced toward the cabin, wondering if Cora heard the
conversation.
***
Cora couldn’t imagine what the two men had to talk about.
She had been able to hear parts of the conversation, and it sounded like they
were just trying to insult each other. A pissing contest, nice. Maybe it would
help her that they weren’t working together.
Nick entered the cabin alone. “Alexander’s leaving now, but
I doubt he’ll stay away long. He might have one of the guys check on us too.”
That didn’t help her plan.
“Want to get out of here? We could walk down to the stream,
it’s not far. I found a great spot.” He walked over to her and extended his
hand. “The mountain air will be good for you.”
“Aren’t you worried about Alexander?”
“He has work to do in Eugene. He can’t stay out here spying
on us all day.”
She glanced at his hand, accidentally letting her look
linger, and stood by herself, too afraid of what touching him might do to her.
“I’ll walk to the stream with you, but it doesn’t mean I
trust you.” She wasn’t sure why she felt the need to say that and throw another
jab.
He exhaled and looked hurt for a tiny second. “Fair enough.”
She had to pause outside the door to let her eyes adjust
again. He waited and then led the way across the grass to the forest.
“Do you know how my father’s doing?” she asked, thinking
maybe Alexander had brought news.
“He thinks he can find whoever actually stole the money.”
She followed him on a deer path through low-laying ivy and
short holly trees that grew between large tree trunks. The soft forest floor
hardly made a noise as she walked on it and became a part of the large
landscape.
If she timed it right, she could make an escape when he
wasn’t looking. Alexander might be watching though, and that thought chilled
her.
The sound of the rushing stream grew louder as they neared.
The path ended after just a few more steps, and the ground sloped down to the
water’s edge. She sat on a large, flat boulder and pulled off her shoes, and
placed her bare feet in the cold water. The coolness seeped up through the air,
giving her tangible relief from the tension she had been carrying. Cora could
breathe again.