Rock Harbor Series - 03 - Into the Deep (11 page)

“I’m sorry.” Bree wanted to feel some connection to Cassie and Bernard, but the old resentment kept rearing its head. “Um, how’s progress on your project?”

“Phil’s death set us back a bit.” Cassie shrugged. “But there have been no more calls at least.”

“Do you think the calls might be related to Phil’s murder?”

Cassie looked away and played with a strand of her hair. “No . . . yes . . . I don’t know. Some strange things have been happening at the lab.”

“Like what?” Bree leaned forward. This was more up her alley than facing the relational issues between them.

“Some environmentalists have been hanging around for one thing. Asking questions, poking around the perimeter, that kind of thing.”

“Have they threatened you?”

Cassie shook her head. “The media has been crawling all over the place. My neighbor, Marika Fleming—she’s with NAWG—has offered to help. I’m thinking of letting her. She doesn’t seem to be like the rest in her group.”

“Marika is your neighbor?”

Cassie nodded. “You know her?”

“I’ve heard the name.” Was it coincidence that Marika had moved in next door?

“Maybe she could funnel some of the media attention away from us. There is one other thing,” Cassie said. “When I was looking for Dad yesterday, I noticed my office had been searched. But it was probably just Dad.” She looked uncomfortable. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

“What could anyone want from you?”

“I have no idea. I asked Dad about what he was looking for, and he said they were looking for his notes, that he hadn’t been in my office.”

“Who are ‘they’?”

“I have no idea. I never know what Dad’s thinking anymore.” Cassie smiled through a pained look. “He’s good, but he hasn’t worked on the project in three months, and the work he did six months before that was pretty jumbled.”

“Could someone really want his notes?”

Cassie hesitated. “I think he’s just rambling. He claims he’s come up with something special, but when I question him about it, he forgets. I’m sure it’s nothing. I think both he and I are imagining things.”

“I could have Mason run a fingerprint check.”

Cassie shook her head. “I’m being silly. I didn’t ask you here to talk about that anyway. I want to talk to you about us. And Dad.”

Every muscle in Bree’s body tensed. She had been hoping to avoid this conversation.

Kade rode Moses toward the Ten Mile Peak campground. There had been reports of a marauding black bear rummaging in the trash, and he had just enough time to check it out. He carried a tranquilizer gun with him. If the reports were true, he might have to move the bear to another area of the park. Most bears would take whatever food was easy to get, and the park had installed bear-proof dumpsters a couple
of years ago to discourage the animals from coming into camping areas. It had been working so far.

He paused near the stream and let the horse catch a drink. He stretched his legs in the stirrups and listened to the water gurgle through the rocks. He sighed, thinking of his sister. If Naomi and Donovan didn’t take the baby, he didn’t know what they’d do. Whenever he tried to talk about a contingency plan with Lauri, she blew up.

Pulling Moses’s head up, he continued on toward the campground. Voices carried to his ears from just around a bend in the river. Angry voices. He tensed and rounded the bend. Two figures stood in the meadow.

Kade had seen the man talking to Marika around town, and Molly at the Suomi had introduced them earlier in the summer. Yancy Coppler’s hands were clenched at his side, and he was in Marika’s personal space. She had her arms crossed over her chest and didn’t seem inclined to back away. Kade couldn’t blame him for being mad. NAWG had caused the lab nothing but grief.

“Anything I can do to help you?” Kade asked, reining in Moses.

Yancy’s head jerked up. He shook his head as though to clear it and gave a weak imitation of a welcoming smile. “Ranger Matthews.”

Kade leaned back in the saddle. “Everything okay out here?”

“He was just ordering me off the property once again,” Marika said, smoothing her slacks. “I have a perfect right to be on park property, isn’t that right, Ranger?”

“As long as you aren’t breaking any laws.”

“I never break laws,” she said, smiling.

He smiled back at her. There was something very engaging about her. “You got a minute?” He didn’t wait for her answer but dismounted and walked toward them after tying Moses to a tree.

She glanced at her watch. “I need to get back to town by two, but I have time.” she said.

“I wondered what your group hopes to accomplish here. I tested some five-gallon buckets that had been left by the river, and they
contained traces of lawn chemicals. Your group wouldn’t have something to do with that, would they?”

She raised her delicately shaped eyebrows. “I want to save the fish, not kill them, Ranger Matthews. Have you been inside the lab yet? I still think it’s coming from there.”

“Not yet, but I will. You were near where I found the buckets.” He’d done some research on her organization, and the rumors of arson and violence had alarmed him.

“But I had nothing to do with it.”

She regarded him steadily, and he was inclined to believe her. He softened his tone. “What about your cohorts?”

“You seem determined to pin this on NAWG. The lab director is your girlfriend’s sister, you know. I can see why you’d want to believe the lab has nothing to do with it.”

Yancy scowled. “You’re way out of line, lady.”

Kade shrugged. “And she’s your neighbor.”

“True. I’d like to help them, but she won’t let me.”

Her warm smile disarmed him. “You know, the NAWG doesn’t exactly have a stellar reputation, Marika. Everywhere they’ve gone, there have been bombings or vandalism.”

She grimaced. “I’ve been trying to change that. Don’t color me with the same brush.”

If she wasn’t telling the truth, she was sure a smooth operator. “I’ll take your word for it,” he said, smiling in spite of himself.

Her smile deepened, and dimples flashed in her cheek. “Even if the lab isn’t killing the fish, it’s wrong to genetically alter things in our world. If those plants escape into the wild, it could devastate the ecology.”

Yancy shook his head. “Come on, Marika, this is the U.P. Do you honestly think tobacco can grow here? Our growing season is too short. The plants would die before they ever propagated themselves. You’re not making sense.”

That seemed to get to her, because she colored. “I have to go. I can
see you’re not at all concerned about the truth.” She walked down the path toward the parking lot.

Yancy swatted at a cloud of gnats. “You think her organization is behind the dead fish?”

“I don’t know. She seemed sincere,” Kade said.

“Our research is at a crucial point right now. Phil’s death was a devastating blow. He knew things about the process no one else knew. We can’t have any more disruptions.”

“Sounds like you need to make sure Cassie’s completely filled in, or get it down on paper just in case.”

“Oh no, no, I wouldn’t trust it to paper, not with everything that’s been happening.” He swiped at the gnats again. “Dratted bugs. Kill one and a hundred more swoop in to take its place.”

Our father wants to see you and Davy as much as he can while he’s lucid, Bree. Sunday dinner every week, just like a real family.” Cassie meant to make her half-sister agree, no matter how many objections Bree might raise. “He wants to be part of your life.”

Bree glanced at her son playing with the figurines. “Davy, why don’t you take Samson out to potty.” Once the boy obeyed, she turned back to Cassie. “I don’t think so, Cassie. We’re not ready yet. We’re here today because you insisted, but I’m not sure I’m ready for a real relationship with expectations on his part. I can stop in occasionally, but not all the time.”

“You’re not ready, or Davy isn’t ready? Don’t you think he’ll like getting close to a new grandpa before it’s too late?”

“I think Bernard gave up any rights he had to me and my son long ago.” Bree thrust out her chin. Her lips thinned to a straight line. “You can’t expect to waltz into our lives and have us be one big happy family overnight. I don’t buy this loving-me-from-a-distance stuff.”

Cassie bristled. “Why don’t you ask him about it yourself? You’re judging and condemning him without a hearing.”

“Maybe I am. But he condemned me to a rotten childhood. I couldn’t choose then, but I can choose now. And right now I choose not to put myself or Davy in a potentially painful situation. We can get together at holidays, maybe.”

Cassie curled her fingers into her palms. “I’ve noticed you have no family of your own around, Bree. Your family is your dead husband’s family, no one of your own flesh and blood. Aren’t you the least bit curious to know your own family?”

That seemed to reach Bree, because she inhaled harshly and looked away. “I always wanted a sister,” she admitted. “But I’m not sure I can trust you. You knew who I was when you first came, didn’t you? And all this time you’ve been sitting back, coming to my training sessions, watching me. Everyone in town accepted you at face value. You were just scoping me out, weren’t you?”

Heat moved up Cassie’s face. “It sounds awful when you put it like that.”

“You could have told me who you were when you first came. If your father hadn’t wandered off, would I know who you were even now?”

“Maybe. I was waiting for the right time to tell you.”

“When? Christmas? You’ve been here over two months.” Bree’s voice rose, and she looked away. “Where’s your rest room?”

Cassie told her, and Bree went down the hall. That hadn’t gone well. Bree seemed adamant about keeping them at arm’s length. Davy came back inside with Samson. The little boy sat beside her on the sofa, and she put her arm around him. The warmth of his small body seeped into her. Her nephew. It seemed surreal. All these years with no family except for her dad, and now she had a nephew. And a sister. At least Davy had no trouble accepting her affection.

She’d find a way to break through Bree’s reserve. Davy began to fidget. “Where’s Mommy?”

Bree came back into the room, and Davy ran to her. “Mommy, I want to see my new grandpa! When’s he coming?”

“Soon, sweetie.” Her gaze questioned Cassie.

“I’ll go check on him in a few minutes,” Cassie said.

“Why don’t you take Samson out in the backyard and play Frisbee?” Bree told Davy.

Her tactic to distract him worked. He called to the dog, and they both scrambled for the sliding glass door to the back.

Bree sat on the sofa and rubbed her hand through her hair. “When did you learn about us?”

“Last summer. I found the pictures and letters from your mother when I was looking for some research notes Dad had squirreled away.”

“Research notes. I’ve gathered he’s a scientist. What did he do . . . before . . . ?”

Cassie nodded. “Our present formula was his brainchild, though Phil and Yancy have refined it.” She smiled. “Poor Dad can’t let go of it. He insists he found something even more wonderful. That’s the worst thing about his disease—he can’t quite figure out what has really happened and what hasn’t.”

“Did you confront him about the pictures as soon as you found them?”

“Yes.” Cassie couldn’t help the scowl that tightened her mouth.

“I can see by your face it wasn’t a welcome revelation.”

“I couldn’t believe he would keep something like that from me.” She finally met Bree’s gaze. “I remembered you so well. I idolized you and cried for you for months after we moved away. I was angry with him when I found out you were my sister all these years and I never even knew it.”

Bree’s stony expression softened. “I remember you too. I used to pretend you were my little sister.”

Cassie couldn’t bear to look at Bree, so she picked up a picture she’d laid out and handed it to her sister. “Remember this? We were at the park by the river.”

Bree took the picture and stared at it. “I remember. You spilled Kool-Aid on your new dress.”

“You gave me one of your T-shirts to wear. I still have it.”

Bree’s head jerked up, and her eyes went wide. She swallowed. “This is hard, Cassie,” she whispered in a husky voice. “Can I see the rest of the pictures?”

The request caught her off guard. “Sure.” Cassie got the box from the closet shelf and opened it. She pulled out a packet of letters held together with a wide rubber band. “Here are the letters.” Bree needed to read the letters first. They would explain everything.

Bree just looked at them for a moment. She finally reached out to take them. Barely glancing at the top envelope, she laid them beside her.

“Don’t you want to read them?”

“I can’t just yet.”

“You won’t understand if you don’t read them.”

“I doubt I’ll understand anyway.” Bree glanced in the box. “These the pictures?”

Cassie pulled a small photo album from the shoe box. “You can tell he looked at it a lot. See how tattered the plastic is?”

Bree looked down at the album in Cassie’s hands. “Cold and neglect can do that to plastic too.”

Cassie gritted her teeth, the warmth of the moment broken. “You’re determined not to understand, aren’t you? He loves you!”

“You’ll have to forgive me if I don’t believe that,” Bree said. “I wouldn’t treat Samson the way he left me to be treated.”

“He had no choice.”

“We always have a choice. I don’t believe in the victim mentality.”

“You’re acting like a victim right now! You have the choice to give him a chance to explain himself, and you’ve already made up your mind.”

Bree withdrew, and Cassie knew she’d scored a point. Spots of color stained Bree’s cheeks. “I can’t stand any more hurt in my life,” she mumbled. “And neither can Davy.”

“Would you just look at the pictures?”

Bree looked away.

“Take them! I was so wrong about you,” Cassie burst out. “The first time I met you, I thought you were the most extraordinarily brave woman I’d ever seen. But you’re nothing but a coward.”

Bree jerked her head around. “I’m not afraid.”

“Aren’t you? Why else would you refuse to look at pictures that can’t hurt you? Why else would you deny your own father his dying request?”