FORTY-TWO
Three days later
Mercy hated funerals.
She’d been to only two in her lifetime, but this third one would be filed in her memory forever. She watched them lower Levi’s casket and gave up trying to hold in her tears. All day she’d held them in, trying to be strong for the rest of her family, but the finality of watching her brother disappear below the earth was too much. She looked up, past the mourners and acres of trees. Familiar white mountain peaks stood against the blue sky, and the dusty dry smell of the pines soothed her.
Central Oregon was still her home; her roots here were deeper than she’d realized. The fifteen-year absence seemed to dissolve, and she drew strength from the physical beauty around her.
Rose’s grip on her hand tightened.
She was the reason Mercy had tried so hard to be stoic. Rose had suffered at the hands of her kidnapper and lost her brother, yet Rose was the one who’d shown strength. Scabs had formed over the long slashes on Rose’s face, chest, and arms. Remnants of how Craig had made her scream . . . to torment Mercy.
It’d worked. She heard Rose’s screams in her dreams every night.
The wounds were superficial. Rose might have some scarring, but every time Mercy looked at her sister, Craig Rafferty came to the forefront of her thoughts. Rose didn’t care about the scabs; she held up her head. Men stared at her injuries. Children backed away. Women teared up. Rose ignored their reactions and offered support and thanks to everyone who talked to her about Levi.
“It’s about Levi today,” she’d told Mercy. “Marks on my face don’t matter.”
At the house Mercy had seen her gently trace the marks on her cheeks, her expression blank. Then she’d touched her stomach, a look of wonder on her face.
Mercy had begged her to get the morning-after pill.
Rose refused.
“I won’t do that,” she said. “If there’s a baby, I want it.”
“But Rose,” Mercy started, a dozen reasons crowding her mind. The child of a rapist. What will you tell the child? Will another man take on that child one day? Then she realized that if anyone could handle the situation, it was her sister. Her heart was enormous, and she possessed a true gift of forgiveness.
Even blind, she was more resolute than Mercy.
Rose didn’t know if she was pregnant. But her introspective expression told Mercy she hoped she was.
Their second big conversation had been about the death of Kenny, the first attacker.
They and Truman had agreed to keep it quiet. The only two other people who had known about Kenny were dead.
The police had found Jennifer’s and Gwen’s prom pictures in Craig’s apartment. They’d also found his fingerprints on the stolen weapons at Owlie Lake. In her interview, Rose had stated that Craig had told her he’d killed the preppers and the two girls. Craig Rafferty would probably take all the blame for what both men had done.
It’d been enough to start the wrapping up of the cases and offer healing to long-grieving families.
David Aguirre started a final prayer over Levi’s grave. Around her, heads bowed. Mercy stared at the gaping hole and struggled to pull up more memories of her brother. Why did I let fifteen years go by? His final moments in the dirt outside the Fahey home haunted her, and she hated that they would be a prominent memory for the rest of her life.
Around her everyone stood, and she stiffly moved to her feet, feeling decades older. Placing Rose’s hand on her arm, she followed her siblings and parents out of the first row of seats, blindly walking behind Pearl. Her family started to form a receiving line, and Mercy begged off, transferring Rose’s hand to Pearl and escaping to stand under a towering ponderosa pine between old gravestones fifty feet away. Her father still wouldn’t look her in the eye, but her mother had assured her he didn’t fully blame her for Levi’s death. Mercy had been stunned at her mother’s words. Blaming me is an option?
She carried her own minor guilt over Levi’s death, but she hadn’t placed him outside that house, and she wasn’t the one who had hid the identity of a possible killer for fifteen years. She, Truman, and Rose had agreed not to share Levi’s involvement with Craig. There was no gain for anyone in knowing what her brother had done.
The distance between her and her father might never be bridged. Her mother was coming around, but only as far as she was comfortable under her husband’s watchful eye. Pearl was similar, acting stiff around Mercy when her husband was present. Owen wouldn’t let his family acknowledge her, and Rose had admitted he was angry about Levi’s death.
I don’t care how my family feels. Not much, anyway.
She inhaled the baked scent of the pines, refusing to feel shame that she couldn’t stand in a line and listen to the mourners spout their banalities.
Today is about Levi. I said my good-bye.
She’d come to terms with what Levi had done to her and Rose. She hadn’t forgiven him. Yet. But she refused to harbor any hatred. What was done was done. Allowing anger to fester against her dead brother would only hurt her.
In a few weeks she’d ask a few people to share happy memories of her brother. Just not today.
“Aunt Mercy?” Kaylie appeared beside her. “I don’t want to stand in that line.”
The sight of her niece lifted her spirits. Levi was always present in Kaylie’s face and in her gestures. The more time Mercy spent with the teen, the more she saw the young Levi she remembered. It was comforting.
Two days ago Mercy told Kaylie her name had been the last word on Levi’s lips. The girl had fallen apart at the revelation, but Mercy had known it would comfort her later.
Now Mercy put an arm around her shoulders. “I can’t do it either. I think it’s okay if we stand back here and watch.” Kaylie’s mother hadn’t attended, and Mercy’s heart hurt for the teenager.
So alone.
“Your daddy loved you very much,” Mercy whispered, knowing the girl had heard the phrase a thousand times in the last few days. Mercy’s mother had brought Kaylie to stay in her home and fussed over her in a way Mercy suspected the teen had never experienced.
“I know,” Kaylie said. She took a deep breath. “I have a big favor to ask you.”
“Anything.”
“I want to come live with you in Portland.”
Mercy started. That she hadn’t expected. Levi’s last request rang in her head, and she shut it away. She hadn’t told anyone what he’d asked of her. “You have another year of school left. You should finish it here. Grandma and Aunt Pearl will take good care of you.” Her voice shook.
Kaylie shook her head. “They don’t get me. It’s always just been my dad and me. I don’t know how to fit in with a family.”
“Oh, Kaylie—”
“You don’t have to make up your mind yet,” she said quickly. “Think about it. I clean up after myself and I don’t need to be entertained.”
Can I take on a teenager?
She pulled the girl tight to her side, remembering how abandoned she’d felt as a teenager. She wouldn’t let that happen to Kaylie.
But she had her own life to straighten out first.
“Trust me,” Mercy said. “I won’t leave you alone. But I have some things to do, and then I’ll tell you what I decide.”
Kaylie looked her in the eye. “Promise?”
“Absolutely.”
Truman watched Mercy hug her niece as he waited his turn in the receiving line.
He wanted to skip it and escape like Mercy, but the chief of police had a duty. He took his turn, shaking hands, hugging the women and repeating his “I’m sorry for your loss” line until he felt blue in the face. He shook the last hand and stepped away.
“Hey, Truman.” Mike Bevins fell into step with him, and he stopped to shake another hand.
No escape yet.
“I know this is the wrong time to bring it up, but I’m hearing some rumors and I thought I’d run them by you.”
“What’d you hear?” Truman asked cautiously. He’d been interviewed several times about the shooting at Ned Fahey’s home, but the public still asked him questions.
Mike looked down at his boots. “Did Craig really say that he killed those men because he wanted to be next in line for my father’s business?” His shoulders slumped.
Truman took a breath. “Yeah, he told Rose that. That was news to you?”
“In a way.” Mike finally met his gaze. “He was always a half step behind me, you know? Craig wasn’t a talker, but when he did, he often asked about my future plans and encouraged me to move to Portland and start teaching those survival classes. I didn’t realize it was because he wanted me out of the way.”
“Is your father here?” Truman asked.
“No. His health has taken a turn for the worse.”
“I’m sorry, Mike. What are you going to do?”
Mike turned to look at the receiving line, where Owen Kilpatrick stood next to his father. “For now I’m going to be what my father needs me to be. But I won’t let it rule my life.”
“You could do both. Run the ranch and teach.”
“I know,” he said. “But I’d hoped for a clean break.” His blue eyes met Truman’s. “There will be some changes at the ranch when my father dies. There are some aspects of his philosophy that I don’t care to continue.”
No more preparing for the end of the world at the Bevins ranch?
Truman wondered how the loss of that pillar would rock the rest of the town. “Good luck. I’m here if you need me.” He held out his hand.
Mike was solemn as he took the hand. “I know. Thank you, Truman.” He left to join a circle of men waiting for him. Truman watched him go, wondering how heavily those men leaned on Mike Bevins. They might have a few changes coming.
Mercy was now alone under the pine, and he headed in her direction. He’d been sitting two rows behind her at the service, watching as she held Rose’s hand and feeling oddly disconnected. He and Mercy had been together almost nonstop since the shooting. He liked it that way.
He approached, admiring her green eyes that’d watched him walk across the graveyard. Her mouth turned up in a smile as he got closer, and he was stunned at how attracted he was to her. They still hadn’t spoken about their situation.
Do we have a situation?
They did. But neither of them had been ready to address it. Instead they’d been silent, leaning on each other as she grieved, rarely leaving each other’s side. He’d wanted to show he would always be there when needed. Even though there’d been no words, he’d seen the understanding dawn in her eyes. He’d spotted the knowing looks from her mother and the other women in town: Truman Daly was off the market.
He’d known it for a while, but Mercy was just catching on.
He held out his hand as he approached, and she took it.
“Can you get me out of here?” she asked.
“Where to?”
“I want to climb a mountain.”
It wasn’t really a mountain, Mercy admitted. But the hike up the peak behind Owlie Lake was exactly what she needed.
She and Truman spent the next two hours hunting for bones.
They found nothing.
On a rock overlooking the vast view, they finally took a break.
“I guess we’ll never know the location of Kenny’s body,” Mercy said, turning her face up to soak in the sun.
“Or his last name,” Truman said. “I’ve searched missing person records in the western half of the United States, but short of asking Mike Bevins for employment records from fifteen years ago, I don’t know what else to do.”
“Both of the guilty parties have paid the price.”
“I agree.”
“Thank you for keeping my and Rose’s secret.”
He shrugged. “Does it go against my grain? Yes. But more people will be hurt if I speak up. Especially now.” He took her hand. “I don’t mind doing this for you.”
She squeezed his hand and studied his eyes. He was sincere. An old weight slowly lifted from her shoulders, one she’d been carrying for a long time. Was it because Craig was dead? Or from confiding in Truman? Now he carried half her burden.
“What will you do with Jefferson’s house?” she asked.
“I’ll hang on to it for now. I’m not ready to sell.”
“You had your uncle’s killer in your hands at the Fahey house.”
“I did,” Truman admitted. “Looking back, I’m proud I didn’t simply watch him bleed to death. I suspect if I’d had time to think about it, I might have let it happen.”
“That’s not who you are,” Mercy stated.
“No, it’s not,” he agreed. “I’ve changed my mind about a few things over the past week. I even want to take a closer look at my uncle’s backup power system and water supply. Maybe there’s a tiny bit of sense in being prepared in case of an emergency.”
She punched him lightly on the upper arm and he winced. “Watch the ribs!”
“I forgot. Sorry.” She leaned closer and pressed her lips on his, loving the heady rush that ran through her at the touch of his skin. There’d been several intimate moments over the last few days. Enough to make her question her future. He’d become important to her, and now her heart was vulnerable. A feeling she hadn’t experienced in years.
But she wasn’t scared. It felt good.
“When do you go back to Portland?” he finally asked. The question had been floating over both their heads for three days. Her case was done. She’d requested a week’s leave, which had been immediately granted, but its end was near.
“Saturday.”
“I’ll come visit the following weekend. The drive isn’t that bad.”
“It’ll begin to suck if we’re doing it several times a month,” she pointed out.
“It’s worth it.”
“Jeff told me his Bend office got a budget approval to let him bring on three more agents.” She waited for his reaction.
Truman froze. “Are you serious?” His smile started to widen. “What will you do about that?”
“I’ve already applied.” The joy on his face made her heart happy. “But there’s a catch.”
“What? I don’t care. Just name it.” He took both her hands and pulled her up to stand on the rock, where he hugged her tight.
“Kaylie might be living with me.”
“That’s fantastic. She needs a home and you’re perfect for her.”
“You think so?” Is he joking? “I know nothing about raising a teen.”
“Weren’t you a teenage girl?”
“Well, yes, but my situation—”
“Then you have more experience than half the population.” He grinned at her. “You’ll do great. You’ll be good for each other.”
“I think I might buy a house in Bend.” She looked at their view of the spreading valley. “I need this. I need the wide-open skies and less gray rain. I need to look up and see a long row of white mountains. It speaks to my soul. I’d forgotten until I came back.” She met his gaze. “I want to be closer to you . . . see what develops.” She whispered the last word.
“Just don’t ask me to inspect your crawl space.” His grin made her heart beat faster.
“Never! I swear on my life I’ll never force you into a small space.”
“Then we have a deal.”
He swung her into a dramatic dip and kissed her again.