Depart the Darkness Read online

  “All clear,” I confirmed.

  “I’ll be nearby if you need me,” Miles said, and kissed me longer than his best guy-friend thought was reasonable.

  “He’s not going off to war,” Xander reminded us.

  “No, but she is,” Miles replied, and kissed me again for good measure. “Stay in my line of sight.”

  “If I begin to stray, stop me,” I said, and he smiled.

  “I’ll do that.”

  Jenny and I wandered casually over to the dresses and joined Julia in sorting through them.

  “Ooh, this is similar to the one in the catalog,” I said, holding up a dress for Jenny’s perusal.

  “It is… I like it,” Jenny said. “I like this one too, though. What do you think?”

  The dress was nice, but we needed an ice breaker, something to get Julia interested in our conversation.

  “Does the dress fasten with a ton of eye hooks?” I asked.

  Jenny examined the back.

  “Yes, why do you ask?”

  “Let’s just say, if we had it to do over, I would choose one that didn’t. Or else change into something else, before driving off on our honeymoon.”

  Julia’s ears perked. I’m sure she wondered why.

  “But it was so perfect,” Jenny protested. “I wasn’t the only one who said you guys looked like a prince and princess, riding off into your happily ever after.”

  “Yeah, well, there was a hitch in our happily ever after, after we got to our suite at the Lodge. Miles swears Mom must’ve used needle-nose pliers to apply the finishing touch to all those eyehooks.”

  “Are you serious?” Jenny exclaimed, and she began to laugh. Julia looked our way, and she did too.

  “I’m telling the truth,” I said. I was! I laughed along, because it was kind of funny. Now.

  “What… did you do?” Julia asked.

  “I was ready to call the front desk for a pair of scissors,” I replied.

  “But your dress was so beautiful!” Jenny said, then made a face. “Is it still?”

  We all laughed again.

  “Yeah, the dress is unharmed. We eventually got all those eyehooks unhooked. We practically needed superpowers to do it, though.”

  The three of us laughed again, especially Jenny, who totally got that.

  “I’m Anika, by the way,” I said. “And this is Jenny.”

  “I’m getting married this summer,” Jenny said. “Anika is my matron of honor.”

  “I’m Julia,” she introduced herself. “Seriously, that sounds like something my future mother-in-law would do, if the woman got half a chance. I’ll make sure she doesn’t! Did your mom have a problem with you getting married to your husband, or what?”

  Ooh, good. We’re getting personal, which is exactly what we need to do.

  “No, Mom loves Miles. I think if she had to choose, she’d pick him,” I answered. Julia laughed again, and so did Jenny. “I have no idea what she was thinking, and I’m afraid to ask. So… your future mother-in-law isn’t so easy to get along with, I take it?”

  “That’s a good way to put it,” Julia said. She held up a dress and gave it a good look, then put it back. “She’s having a hard time letting go of the number one spot in her son’s life. But I’m not going anywhere, and she’s just going to have to get used to it. How about you? Any in-law tips you want to share?”

  “Miles’ parents are both deceased,” I said. “All I have is his Grandma Polly, and she’s really wonderful.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” she said, serious now. “About his parents, I mean.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “It happened long before Miles and I got to know each other. I never had a chance to meet them.”

  “What happened to his parents? Did he lose them at the same time? If you don’t mind me asking,” she said.

  At this rate, I’d be able to ask absolutely anything without appearing to pry. I didn’t mind her asking, not at all. But I had no idea how to answer!

  “Miles’ parents were killed in a car accident,” Jenny said, saving me from the quandary I was in.

  So we were talking about Second-Miles, now. That, I could do.

  “At least that’s what everyone thought,” I added. “But it wasn’t really an accident. It was intentional. They were killed by a crazy person who thought he could inherit their estate if they died. He thought Miles would be in the car too, but he wasn’t.”

  “How awful!” Julia said, appalled. “Did they catch him?”

  “Uh, yeah,” I said, memories of that night still haunting me.

  I glanced at Miles to reassure myself that he was safe. In spite of his abilities, in spite of the force field which I knew was in place, I needed to see that he was alright. He smiled at me, and I felt better. I smiled back, then returned to the conversation.

  “Yeah, the guy came back. He showed up at my apartment shortly before our wedding, intending to kill me and Miles. We lived next door to each other, so when this guy fired a gun, Miles knew I was in trouble and rushed in. It took a miracle, but we both survived. The guy got shot by the bullet his girlfriend meant for me, and died. She’s in prison.”

  Julia’s jaw was hanging open.

  “I remember that! No wonder you look familiar! How terrifying! I’m so glad you guys are okay.”

  “Thanks, me too,” I said. “It’s awful that he succeeded in killing Miles’ parents, though.”

  “It’s good the truth came out about that,” Jenny consoled me. “At the time, their deaths were attributed to a drunk driver. There wasn’t evidence to support anything else, even though it was suspicious.”

  “Yeah… that happens,” Julia said, a faint crease appearing between her eyes. I didn’t think it had anything to do with the dress she was looking at.

  “You sound like you’re speaking from experience,” I said.

  “Oh, it’s… probably nothing,” she replied.

  “That’s not the truth,” I said automatically. But I managed to say it calmly. I don’t think it came across too weird. “You wouldn’t say it that way, if it was.”

  “What happened?” Jenny asked with concern.

  Julia frowned a little as she studied the dress and searched her memories.

  “It’s just this guy I dated once. We weren’t together long, but… he died. It was ruled a suicide, so I guess it was...”

  “You’ve never been able to accept it, though,” I stated. “So what happened?”

  “He was a major fitness nut, and was into every sport you can think of. One night he went up on Alpine Ridge. It was after the slopes closed. He tried to ski it, and… he was killed.”

  “I’m so sorry,” I said sincerely.

  “Yeah, uh… thanks,” she replied, blinking back a few tears. “Like I said, we didn’t date long. But it was awful. One minute he’s joking and laughing, looking forward to the future, and then he’s gone, and the police are saying it’s because he killed himself.”

  “His name was Elliott, wasn’t it,” Jenny said gently.

  “Yeah. It was,” Julia replied. “It got a lot of news coverage. I guess that’s how you know?”

  “My fiancé is into sports and fitness also,” Jenny answered. “He was talking about this just recently. He didn’t know Elliott, but from everything he remembered, he had a hard time believing the official conclusion.”

  “Yeah, if he did know him, it would be even harder,” Julia said.

  “Do you suspect anyone in particular as being responsible for his death?” I wondered.

  “No, if there was anyone he didn’t get along with, I didn’t know about it.”

  “Is there anyone who would benefit from his death?” I asked.

  “I don’t know,” she replied thoughtfully. “His family, I guess. I don’t know if he had life insurance or anything. It wasn’t like we were engaged, so I wasn’t exactly in the loop after he died.”

  “Okay, so maybe he didn’t have life insurance. Do you know of any other way th
at someone could benefit?” I asked.

  “I don’t know,” she replied thoughtfully. “I really have no idea. I mean… he was ambitious. I don’t think he gambled, not like real gambling, but like gambling on investments. He was expecting something to pay off. He talked like it was a sure thing. There was this snowboard he wanted. It was expensive, but he was going to buy it when the money came in. That was the last conversation we had, the day he died. Does that sound like a guy who’s so depressed he’s about to kill himself?”

  “No, it doesn’t,” Jenny replied.

  “Did the detective look into that? Did his beneficiaries, whoever they are, ever receive the benefit of this sure thing?” I wondered.

  “I have no idea,” Julia said. “I was out of the loop before that happened, if it did. I told the detective what I told you, so… I hope he looked into it. But I don’t know. I was just the short-term girlfriend, you know?”

  “That’s too bad,” I said with sympathy. “You experienced loss too, you had to wonder why. Did you know his family at all?”

  “No, that’s the thing,” Julia said. She began looking through the dresses on the rack again. “It might’ve been different if I did.”

  “How long were you together?” Jenny asked.

  “A couple of weeks. We met at a local hangout. He went there every Wednesday with the rest of the people from his office.”

  “How was his work environment?” I took the opportunity to ask. “Did he have issues with any of his coworkers?”

  “I don’t think so… he didn’t complain. Besides, he wouldn’t have gone out with them every week if he did.”

  I caught myself before I thanked her for her time. For all she knew, Jenny and I were chatting, not investigating. It would simplify everything if it stayed that way.

  I noticed Jenny studying a gown, and realized it was the same one she’d been looking at for the last five minutes.

  “Did you find the one?” I asked.

  “Maybe,” she slowly replied, then looked at me apologetically. “I’d like to try it on…”

  “Well then do, silly!” I said, then turned to Julia. “It was nice meeting you. Good luck finding what you’re looking for.”

  “I already have,” she smiled, glancing over her shoulder. I looked too, and saw Miles and Xander talking to a guy I didn’t recognize.

  “No way, that’s your fiancé?” I asked in surprise.

  “Yeah, why?” she asked.

  “Because he’s talking to my husband, and Jenny’s fiancé!”

  “How funny!” Jenny said. “So Xander isn’t the only groom-to-be at the bridal fair today.”

  “No, and I’m sure Jeff is glad of that,” Julia replied, draping a dress over her arm. “I’m going to try this on.”

  “I’ll walk with you,” Jenny said, draping her dress of choice over her own arm. “Anika, do you mind telling the guys where we are, so they don’t worry?”

  “Not at all,” I said, and we parted ways.

  Jenny was awesome. She knew Miles was the only one who would worry, but it gave me a reasonable excuse not to disappear into the bridal shop along with her and Julia.

  Miles smiled as I approached, and put his arm around me.

  “Jenny and Julia both went to try on dresses,” I said. “And you must be Jeff.”

  “Yeah, hi,” Jeff replied.

  “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Anika, his wife,” I said, giving Miles a squeeze.

  The four of us chatted briefly, then the conversation turned to winter sports. Jeff was as into that as Xander, by the sound of it.

  “Dear, I just thought of something we should let Jackson know,” I said quietly.

  “Pardon us for just a moment,” Miles told Jeff and Xander, and we stepped aside. The mall was heavily populated by now, but the majority of the shoppers were clustered around the bridal fair displays. We found as much privacy as we needed for this conversation.

  “They dated for two weeks,” I said quietly. “If he had enemies she didn’t know about it. He didn’t have a problem with his workmates. She doesn’t know his family, and doesn’t know who his beneficiaries were. She doesn’t think he gambled in anything other than investments. He was expecting something to pay off soon, he had plans for how he’d spend the money. He died that night, after their conversation. She doesn’t know if anyone benefited from that, or anything else, after his death. She isn’t trying to hide anything.”

  “Okay,” Miles said, considering that. “I’ll text Jackson and have him find out who his beneficiaries were, and to what extent they benefited. I’m also curious to know what investment he expected a return on, and if that ever came through.”

  “His death may be unrelated to our present case, but if we’ve stumbled onto a murder…”

  “We have to look into it,” Miles agreed, and he sent our PI a text. “We’ll see what Jackson turns up, and take it from there.”

  “Do you suppose Jeff knew Elliott?” I suddenly wondered.

  “What are you thinking?” Miles asked.

  “Julia met Elliott at the hangout the Intersect employees attend on Wednesdays. Maybe she met Jeff there, too.”

  Miles took his phone out again, and we looked over the list of Elliott’s friends and acquaintances.

  “There’s no ‘Jeff’ listed here, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t. I have no idea how we’re going to work Elliott into the conversation, though.”

  “That’s never stopped us before,” I replied, and he smiled. “Come on.”

  I tucked my hand in Miles’ arm, and we headed back toward Xander and Jeff. Julia and Jenny were still in the Bridal Boutique, trying on dresses. That was just as well. It would be hard enough delving into this subject, without Julia there.

  But what do you know. It wasn’t so hard after all.

  “Hey guys,” Xander said, as we came to a stop beside him. “Remember that guy I was talking about? The one who tried skiing Alpine Ridge?”

  “Yes,” Miles said. “What about him?”

  “Jeff used to work with him.”

  “No way,” I said, giving Jeff a sharp look. “Where do you work?”

  “Memorial Hospital. I’m responsible for keeping the servers up and running. At the time though, I worked at Intersect.”

  “Jeff was working there when Elliott died,” Xander volunteered.

  “That must’ve been such a shock to everyone,” I said.

  “Yeah, it was. In more ways than one.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Elliott liked attention. No way did he go up there by himself and try skiing the Ridge. If he was going to do something that stupid, he would’ve wanted people watching. Even if he was committing suicide, he would’ve wanted it taped or something, to leave behind. Besides, the guy wasn’t depressed. No one believed that.”

  “His death was ruled a suicide. Wonder why the police came to that conclusion?” Miles said.

  “They never met him, and they had to say something. Besides, he seemed to get along with everyone.”

  “Really?” I said. “I’ve heard Intersect doesn’t have the best work environment.”

  “I’ll agree with you there,” Jeff replied, and looked a little irritated. “If you don’t mind bowing down to daddy’s little boy, then it isn’t so bad. I minded very much, that’s why I left.”

  “So there’s nepotism then,” Miles said.

  “Yeah. You could say that,” Jeff practically snorted, and rolled his eyes a little. “The thing is though, Elliott got along with Dillon. That’s the director’s precious little angel child, who can do no wrong, and ruins—ahem, runs—every program he finds remotely interesting. Rules don’t apply to him. But as I was saying, he and Elliott were friendly. Friends, actually. Go figure.”

  “According to the newspaper reports, Elliott left a note,” Xander said.

  “Yeah, that… was strange,” Jeff said, making a face. “It got emailed to a bunch of people.”

  “Do you b
elieve he wrote it?” I asked.

  “I guess, I mean, what other option is there? If he didn’t, it means someone else wrote it. It means someone killed him. If they did… why? None of it makes sense. I do know it wasn’t an accident, though. The only way he would’ve tried that run at night, in the dark, alone… and see, that’s the thing. He wouldn’t. He might’ve tried the run at night, I can see him doing that. But not unlit. And not without an audience, or at least a camera set up to record. So nothing adds up.”

  “Maybe someone was with him,” Xander said. “Maybe they got scared and thought they’d be held accountable, so they wrote the note.”

  “It makes more sense than anything else, but what a coward. Whoever it was would have to have access to his email account, so they’d have to be close to him.”

  “Any idea who that person might be?” I asked.

  “None,” Jeff said. “I didn’t know Elliott outside of work though, and I worked in another group, on a different project. I knew him, but we didn’t hang out or anything. Dillon was sure upset, though, when we all got the news at work.”

  “What about him, then?” I asked. “Do you think Dillon could’ve gone with him, seen him die, then written the note?”

  “No,” Jeff said with assurance. “Dillon was as stunned as the rest of us when we found out. He was bossing one of the other guys, having a great time throwing his daddy’s weight around. Then one of the managers told us, and he went white. He looked sick. Elliot had a lot of friends at work, but no one took it as hard as Dillon. It was at least a week or two before he got back to his old, arrogant, unpleasant self.”

  I caught a glimpse of Jenny and Julia heading our way, and the guys followed my gaze. We dropped the subject of Elliott Reams and his untimely demise, and so did Jeff.

  We learned a lot from our morning’s endeavors, but not nearly enough. In fact, there were more questions now than there were before. Later, when we had a chance to talk it over, I wouldn’t be able to enlighten Miles any. Jeff and Julia weren’t trying to hide anything. My truth ability barely came into play.

  If we wanted to know the truth surrounding Elliott’s death—which of course we did—we would have to find it somewhere else.