Depart the Darkness Read online

  “He’s been married a long time,” I noted. “In this day and age, that says something. What do you know about his relationship with his family?”

  “His wife, children, and extended family on both sides are supportive and standing by him.”

  “Does he seem like the kind of guy who would sell classified information to a foreign government?” I asked.

  I knew Jackson well enough to know he would balk at giving an opinion. I wanted one, anyway!

  “I hesitate to say, not having met Mr. Fellows personally,” Jackson answered slowly. “I will say that Mr. Fellows’ current manager, workmates, family, friends, and acquaintances, find the accusation to be incompatible.”

  “Alright. Thanks, Jackson. Go ahead and email what you have, and Anika and I’ll look over it.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Have you discovered any link between Pineview Hospital and Intersect’s medical research and development project?”

  “I’m not ready to say for certain that there is no link. I have not, however, located one as of yet.”

  “Let me know immediately, if you do. Thanks, Jackson. We’ll be in touch.”

  Miles tapped the screen to end their call, then checked his email.

  “How far away is Aaron Fellows?” I wondered, watching his expression as he read. It didn’t tell me anything.

  “Far. If we’re going to talk to him, we’ll have to fly. Either that, or take a two-day road trip.”

  “I don’t like the thought of leaving the puppies even for a few hours, but we have to talk to him,” I said.

  “My thoughts exactly. We could wait for Jackson to track down the answers to our questions. Or, we could wait even longer for the DOD to do it. We’d never be sure either one uncovered the truth, though. With the answer to a simple question, you will.”

  “As long as Aaron lies,” I said.

  “And if he tells the truth,” Miles reminded me. “You’re the only one who’s infallible at determining whether someone is, or isn’t.”

  “It doesn’t come from me though,” I said honestly.

  “You do allow it to work through you,” Miles said. “You’re scrupulous about being truthful out of respect for this ability, and the One who entrusted it to you. For the girl who was a pro at redirecting and using the truth to support what’s false, that hasn’t been easy.”

  “Ug, I know,” I said. “That’s what was easy.”

  “It’s not going to be easy getting out of this chair if we sit here much longer,” Miles said, and I laughed.

  “You’re telling the truth!” I hopped up and gave him my hands, then helped pull him to his feet. “For your sake and the rest of the husbands, what do you say we acquire a couple of coordinating, but slightly larger and manlier chairs to go with these two?”

  “Now you’re talking,” Miles smiled.

  * * *

  The room was dark, lit only by the flames which flickered softly in the fireplace. Glowing red coals shifted, then crumbled. A few sparks escaped, crackling as they rose into the smoke scented air.

  In spite of the king-size mattress and ample space, Miles and I were sandwiched snugly between Night and Pandora. We might as well have a twin bed, no more room than our cats allowed us. Those two bookends would be sure to keep us in place and off the floor, regardless.

  Chip and Trixie shared the rug in front of the fire. My chocolate dog groaned as he stretched, then relaxed again.

  On the other side of the nursery room door, I heard the hungry squeak of a puppy.

  Then I heard another.

  And another.

  The complaints grew louder as more puppies woke and joined in.

  Where was their mother? They were awake now, and hungry! Would she ever come again? Their little voices rose to a fever pitch, and I smiled as I heard Ed give a tiny howl.

  Then their mother arrived, and one by one the little voices were silenced as they each found a feeding spot, and mealtime began. Ed paused to tell his mother how horrible the wait had been, then his tiny howl was muffled as she licked him.

  I was in the nursery often enough during mealtimes. I didn’t have to see, to know.

  Ed settled in with the rest of the pups. Mealtime was serious business, and eventually even the satisfied grunts and squeaks ceased. Once again, the only sound was the soft plunk of settling coals and the comforting purr of a cat.

  I reached behind me to give Night a pet, and his purr joined Pandora’s. I smiled and tucked my arm back under the covers. Miles stirred slightly and pulled me closer, then was still again.

  The scent of his aftershave and the juniper-fed fire, listening to the familiar sounds of home, lying warm in bed with his arms around me, I felt completely content.

  All was right with my world. Especially since my fear of losing out on having kids was put to rest. And, we got to keep Fidget! I was married to my best friend, the most wonderful man in the world, who loves me as much as I love him, and…

  I remembered the truth about Phillip’s wife, Lorna. Her efforts to hide the truth revealed a lot more than I asked for.

  She was also once happy and content. She married her best friend, and for several years, they were happy and contented together. They started a family, went on vacations, enjoyed holidays, read to the kids before bedtime, went on dates, looked forward to the future… and then everything changed.

  In many ways, Lorna lost her husband. I imagined what that would feel like, and felt sick. I hugged Miles hard. I lost him once, but not because he was angry, out of control anxious, and shutting me out. Lorna at least had the hope of getting Phillip back, and when I lost Miles I didn’t, but…

  I quit trying to compare losses and figure out which was worse, and got back to my train of thought.

  Lorna lost her husband. The kids lost their dad. Phillip was losing his mind trying to keep them safe from… something.

  If he would just tell Lorna, then she would understand. Then she could support him. They could handle this, whatever it was, together. They’d done it before, during hard times.

  But, maybe telling her would put her in danger. She might put herself in danger. Or, she might march into Intersect and rip Dillon Graves’ head off for amusing himself at the cost of her husband and family. My blood boiled in sympathy. I’d pay for her defense attorney myself, if she did.

  I felt sad for her, and determined to see this family free of the weight that oppressed them. They might be helpless, but Miles and I weren’t. We’d get to the truth. A very large part of me hoped the truth would get Dillon locked up.

  “Haven’t you broken enough ribs, already?” Miles mumbled sleepily, and I realized how tight I was hugging him. I loosened my hold.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. Or break you,” I said, rubbing his ribs apologetically.

  “Did you have a nightmare?” he asked, waking more fully. He felt of my cheek, which would be wet with tears if I had.

  “No, but I was thinking about the nightmare Lorna is living in right now. Phillip and the kids, too. But I relate more to her, because I’m also a wife. And I learned the truth through her.”

  “It’s harder to put myself in Phillip’s place because I don’t know the source of his fear. I can’t think of a scenario in which he has no option but to take his family and disappear, yet he doesn’t believe they’ll be safe unless they have new identities and a new location.”

  “Does Phillip know Dillon Graves and Jadon Helms are the ones responsible for the guys who are following him, and watching the house? Or does he think someone else is? And if that’s the case, who? And what about Elliott. Was he murdered? If so, who did it, and why? Then there’s Aaron Fellows. Did he make classified information available to another agency or government? If he did, then to whom, and how did he benefit? Is this all related, or is any of it?”

  “We have so many puzzle pieces, but no idea how many puzzles there are,” Miles said. “As much as I enjoy speculating with you, and believe me, I do—�
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  “I do believe you, you’re telling the truth,” I said, and Miles smiled.

  “If it wasn’t so late and I wasn’t so tired, I would’ve seen that coming. And I know that’s the truth, you needn’t inform me. That’s the truth, too.”

  “Okay, fine, I’ll try to stop,” I laughed.

  “That’ll save us some time,” Miles replied. “Before we do any more speculating, we need more to work with.”

  “You’re right. We do. We could knit together a solution, then find that we’re wrong.”

  “We’re better off waiting, otherwise we’ll find ourselves trying to prove a theory and miss out on the pieces we need to solve this.”

  “I hope we have a lot more of those pieces by this time tomorrow,” I said a little anxiously.

  “There’s a good chance we will,” Miles replied reassuringly. The way he relaxed then, told me he was ready to go back to sleep. “I’m not the one who’ll be piloting the plane tomorrow, but I’d still rather get my rest now, than attempt to do so during the flight.”

  “Okay, no more speculating or breaking ribs for the rest of the night,” I said, and he laughed softly.

  Then he was asleep.

  How I envy him that ability!

  ***

  I looked down on a sea of green. Not a green sea, the sea was blue, and off in the distance. What I saw were palm trees and other tropical plants I was unfamiliar with. They were green, though. So were the yards, and parks.

  “How’s our fortress coming along?” I remembered to ask.

  Miles dragged his focus off of his laptop and whatever he was working on.

  “It’s coming. The workers are finding it interesting.”

  “In what way?” I wondered.

  “The wildlife, for one thing,” Miles replied.

  “Oh,” I said, then frowned. “What kind of wildlife?”

  “The kind one would expect to find on a small island in the South Atlantic.”

  “What, like… huge boa constrictors, and great big hairy spiders?” I asked.

  “Yes…” Miles said slowly. I must have looked as alarmed as I felt. “Honey, they’re not going to bother us.”

  “Well—what about the people building our fortress?” I wanted to know.

  “They won’t bother us either,” he said, then smiled at my indignant look.

  “You’re telling the truth, but you’re not answering my question. You’re having a lot of fun teasing me, though,” I said. I crossed my arms and looked miffed.

  “Alright, no more teasing,” he said. He put his laptop aside, then put his arm around me. “The people building our fortress are professionals. They’re familiar with the creatures inhabiting our island. They find it interesting that there’s such a variety of species, considering the size.”

  “Oh. So they’re not being treed by panthers?”

  “A tree wouldn’t stop a panther, and these guys know that. So no. Besides, there are no panthers. They have seen one or two jaguar, though.”

  “Oh my goodness, you’re telling the truth!” I exclaimed.

  “They’ve also seen peccaries, tarsiers, toucans, macaws, sun conjures, chameleons—”

  “You lost me at ‘peccaries,’” I said.

  “Considering where you grew up, maybe the name javelina is more familiar to you.”

  “Oh,” I said, and made a face. “I hope our island doesn’t smell like skunk.”

  “Only if they’re in the near vicinity,” Miles smiled. “The island’s not that small, and there aren’t that many of them.”

  “I suppose the jaguar provide herd control,” I said, feeling disturbed. I doubted they were vegetarian.

  “Probably,” Miles replied. “You’ll love the birds. I’ll show you some photos later.”

  “Of the kinds of birds found on our island, or the birds on our island?”

  “The birds on our island. I know the name’s going to make you think otherwise, but you’ll love the scale-crested pygmy tyrant.”

  I laughed at that.

  “I can just imagine a little tyrannical pygmy!”

  “It’s a bird, and when you see it you’ll say wow, oh my goodness, it’s adorable!” he said, then laughed and grabbed my hand when I tried to pinch him.

  I tried to outmaneuver him briefly, which was pointless. I gave up and kissed him instead, then settled against his shoulder and resumed my watch out the window.

  There were still palm trees, buildings, roads, and tiny cars, but they were larger than they were before. We were descending steadily now.

  “There’s the airport,” Miles pointed out.

  The stewardess walked down the aisle slowly, checking to be sure we each had our seats in an upright position, seatbelts fastened, tray tables locked, and our belongings safely stowed.

  “I’m thinking of buying a plane,” Miles said.

  “Really? You dislike wearing a seatbelt that much?”

  “I don’t have an antipathy to seatbelts, and that has nothing to do with it,” he said, as he smiled at my teasing. “But, I can imagine a plane getting a lot of use once our missing persons division is set up. Our investigative teams can’t wait for reservations every time they have a new case or a lead to follow, after all. In fact, maybe we should have more than one. We have several teams developing, and they won’t be stationed in the same location.”

  “That’s true, we’re likely to have cases that need to be investigated simultaneously. We should do that! Do that.”

  “Okay,” he smiled, then I laughed.

  “Consider it done,” I teased him, and he laughed.

  “I say that a lot?”

  “Yes, but only because you’re reliable. And sweet.”

  I squeezed his hand, and we both smiled.

  Miles glanced at his watch.

  “We’re on time, which means there’s time to check into our room before our appointment.”

  “Thank goodness!” I said, glancing out the window again. “I might spontaneously combust if I don’t have a chance to change, soon.”

  I looked down at my sweater, jeans, and boots. It was cold where we came from, but not where we were about to spend the day.

  “That won’t be necessary. We have plenty of time.”

  Our flight landed without incident, and we disembarked.

  As we walked, and rode trains, and escalators, and moving sidewalks to reach the lobby, I was thankful for the protective force field Miles kept around me. It was astonishing how many people didn’t look where they were going. It’s not like I’m the size of a pygmy tyrant, whatever that is, but I’d feel tyrannical if I got run into by all the people who didn’t pay attention, or didn’t feel the need to share what space there was.

  One guy was staring at his phone instead of where he was going, which was straight at me. What am I, a magnet? More like a polarized magnet. Instead of knocking me over, he bounced to the side and into the wall.

  He looked so stunned, it was all I could do not to laugh.

  “There’s a slim possibility he’ll watch where he’s going from now on,” Miles said quietly, and I did laugh.

  In spite of the distance and the crowd of people going every which direction, we made it to passenger pickup. Miles hailed a taxi, the driver stowed our carry-on in the trunk, and we were on our way.

  I watched the view through the taxi windows with interest. I’d never been here before, and neither had Miles. I imagined what it would be like to live in one of the tall apartment buildings we drove by as we passed through the city’s downtown area. It was quite an area, and took a while. Miles glanced at his watch again.

  “We’re doing great on time,” he reassured me, and I was relieved. In spite of the air conditioning which was on full-blast, I was overly warm in my winter weather wear. I was even more concerned that we make it to our interview on time.

  I felt a thrill of excitement as I imagined what Aaron Fellows would say and what bearing it would have on our investigation. He was will
ing to talk, and that was huge. As long as he did, we’d have the truth.

  Whether that’s what he wanted us to hear, or not.

  Chapter 11

  By the time we reached our hotel we were still on time, but not with an abundance left to spare. We checked in and hurried to our room, where we both changed into warm weather attire. I barely had a chance to glance around before we were out the door, and back in the cab.

  Traffic thinned as we reached the residential area that was our destination, and we made up some time. I no longer felt as though my intense determination to get there by one o’ clock was necessary in order to move us along, and relaxed a little.

  The houses looked like they were adobe or stucco. Many were flat roofed, and terra cotta tile covered the roofs of those which were not. Palm trees dotted the front yards, along with a variety of flowering plants. I wondered what they were, but wasn’t relaxed enough to make small talk and ask Miles, or the driver.

  “This is it,” Miles said quietly, as the cab slowed and parked in front of Aaron Fellows’ house. We both glanced at his watch, and I breathed a silent sigh of relief. As much as I hate to be kept waiting, I didn’t want to do that to anyone else. Especially someone as anxious-sounding as this guy.

  We left the taxi driver at the curb with instructions to wait, and a tip large enough to convince him it would be worth it. Then we followed the meandering path to the front door.

  I felt a thrill of excitement as Miles knocked. We heard muffled footsteps approach, and a moment later the bolt turned and the door opened.

  On the other side stood Aaron Fellows and his wife. They welcomed us with smiles, but the strain never left their eyes. They were anxious, and hopeful. They were fearful that the hope we held out would slip away, and that they’d once again be left on their own to face the impending doom that haunted them ever since the charges against Aaron were made, and the investigation began.

  “Good afternoon. I’m Miles Bannerman, and this is my wife, Anika,” Miles said, as he shook Aaron’s hand. “You must be the Fellowses.”

  “It’s great to meet you,” Aaron replied. “I’m Aaron, and this is my wife, Tia. Come in, and we’ll have a seat…”