Black Water Tales: The Secret Keepers (31 page)

“Whoever buried her on Glen DeFrank’s property knows what happened.”

“What are we gonna do?” Nikki asked.

“I’m not sure yet, but whatever it is we have to do it quick.”

“Quick?” Nikki questioned.

“Sheriff Handow came by my house this morning. He said that Mrs. Landcaster saw you bringing me home on the night of Lola’s death at 2:00 a.m.”

Nikki’s face mutated into a mask of horrific surprise. “… But that’s hours after we told everyone we were home.”

“I’m aware of that, Nikki. I told him that Mrs. Landcaster is crazy and that she was mistaken.”

“Crap!” Nikki spit.

“Just stick to the story for now, Nikki, and we’ll be fine. We just have to figure this out before Sheriff Handow and before any of us get hurt.” Regina said as they felt the glass doors began to push against them.

Everyone filed out of the funeral home and began communing in small groups before finding their cars and beginning the procession to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Rusher. The weather had become icy and uncaring and it terrorized the guests. Regina was holding Nikki’s hand when their parents walked out of the funeral home.

“Nikki, would you like to ride with us?” Mrs. Dean asked. Both girls looked at one another, and then Nikki looked to her father.

“Why don’t you ride with them? I will meet you there.” Nikki’s father said rubbing her arm. As they walked toward the car, the girls embraced one another around the waist and snuggled their heads together as they made a way through the crowd. Approaching her mother’s car, Regina saw a piece of canary yellow paper stuck to her mother’s windshield. Regina looked at the other cars in the lot to see if they had received a similar flyer or ticket, but they had not and she felt the nausea instantly. She loosened herself from Nikki and trotted up to the front of the car. Regina got close before she realized that what she saw was not a ticket at all, but a note. She ripped the piece of paper from under the windshield wiper and unfolded it, struggling to keep it still enough despite the forceful winds long enough to read the short scribbled message.

STOP DIGGING!

She pulled the brilliantly colored paper to her chest as she looked around searching for the offender that was long gone.

“What?” Nikki called out nervously as she rushed forward and grabbed the note from her friend. Nikki searched the parking lot full of people, trying desperately to see beyond the guise that the guilty perpetrated in front of others and searched deep within their souls, but in this place, everyone was very good at keeping their secrets hidden.

Mrs. Dean tried hard to get her daughter to eat something once everyone had made it to the Rusher family home, but Regina was unable to stomach anything. Her mother removed the plate of lasagna when she saw that Regina could barely stand looking at it.

“Is Natalie OK?” Regina looked up to see that Mrs. Rusher had entered the room.

“Yes, of course, Mrs. Rusher. She’s OK. She was just a little freaked out by everything, but she did tell me to apologize to you for her.” Regina lied; she had already lost count of how many lies she had told since she had been home.

“It’s OK,” Mrs. Rusher said, collapsing into an armchair. “We’re all a little
freaked out
, I suppose. I was happy to see her though. I haven’t seen her in so long, it was nice to see her there, real nice.” She stared at Regina. Mrs. Rusher began to speak, stopped short, sighed, and began again, “I just hate that Lola’s disappearance seemed to come between you girls.” Regina’s breath held in her throat. Mrs. Dean was nodding her head in solemn agreement. Mrs. Rusher started again, “Lola would have hated to see what this whole thing did to you girls. If anything, I think that it should have brought you closer together. You have to stick together, you know? I don’t know, I suppose I just wish things could be the same is all,” she finished. Regina allowed her eyes to wander up and meet Nikki’s.

“So do we, Mrs. Rusher, so do we.” Nikki’s voice trailed off as she put her hand on Regina’s shoulder.

The harsh air dried Regina’s lips and they burned as the girls stood on the porch finally alone after thirty minutes of waiting for all of the migrating parties to move into the house.

“I need to talk to Natalie.” Regina said to Nikki as they stood alone together.

“Why? Do you think that she is doing this?”

“I don’t know, but I have to talk to her.”

“Ladies.”

Both women were startled by the interruption of their conversation.

“Sheriff Handow,” Nikki spoke first in a voice that was obviously too tense for her normal character, but could easily be passed off as a result of being in their current location.

“Hi, Sheriff” Regina greeted him with two personalities, the one that prayed that he was not here to grill her with more secret facts and haul her numb body off to the penitentiary, but the other Regina just wished he would pull out the handcuffs already. Sometimes
it was hard for her to determine which one she was from one moment to the next.

“I would ask how you all are doing, but that would be a stupid question, huh?” He said, the rhythm of his voice oozing out in a compassionate flow.

Both girls forced an enigmatic grin.

“Yeah,” Nikki said.

“I’ve been working day and night trying to find new information on this case, you know? And it’s just a mystery. So many questions,” he stated.

“Let us know if we can do anything to help in any way.” Nikki glowed.

“Well there is something.” Sheriff said.

Regina’s stomach fell out, she was sure of it, so much so that she was afraid to look down because surely all of her innards would be laying there on the cold porch. Finally she looked down, but there was nothing, her stomach was still inside of her but she felt her hand move up to massage the wound at the back of her neck that suddenly gave her pain.

“What is it?” Nikki asked cautiously.

“I’m sure it’s not important, but I just have to ask every question even if it doesn’t seem relevant,” he explained.

“Sure,” Nikki agreed.

“For some reason I just remembered Grayson’s father mentioning to me that you had a fire going the morning after Lola disappeared and of course, I didn’t think much of it then, but something has just been gnawing at me about it and I have to ask. You were burning a fire? In that warm weather? Is that right?” His head was now cocked and his eyes were strained in disbelief.

Regina saw Nikki’s chest swell and her mouth gape open as if she prepared to send words through it, but it continued to serve only as an empty gathering space for air. Nikki was a bad liar and Regina hated to do it, but was much better at the task.

“Yes, she did.” Regina stepped in swiftly. Sheriff Handow’s eyes settled on her.

“You remember.” Regina stated to Nikki. “You weren’t feeling well that morning. You said that you were coming down with a cold or something and had an unreasonable case of the chills.”

“Oh yeah, I remember…and I wanted to build a fire.” Nikki inserted carefully, watching Regina for approval.

“I told you it was silly.” Regina released a laugh that spread to Nikki, but not to the sheriff. The laughter faded and the three stood in a thick pool of tension, trying to move but getting nowhere.

“You have a good memory, Regina.” Sheriff Handow stated as a matter of fact.

And Regina countered him with a strong reply that held honesty in every word.

“It was the most memorable event of my life. I will never forget it.”

“I imagine you won’t.” He said as he tipped his hat and disappeared inside the door of the Rusher home.

Nikki’s body collapsed against the porch railing.

“Do you think he knows?” she whispered.

“No, but if he talked to me and now you, that only leaves one more …” Regina answered.

“Natalie.”

Both women leapt off the porch running directly into the last set of arms they expected.

“C
arter!” Nikki was startled with his sudden presence in front of them like a wall.

“Hey, where are you going?” He asked.

“We’re going to check on Natalie.” Regina told him. “Yeah, she kinda freaked at the wake,” Nikki added.

“I saw you talking to Sheriff Handow.” Carter said. Regina was not sure if he was making a statement or asking a question.

“He just had a few questions.” Nikki added.

“Like what?” Carter pushed.

“Just stuff, Carter. Why weren’t you at the wake?” Regina asked changing the subject.

“I was there, but I was in and out, you know. Those kinds of things give me the creeps,” he told them.

“Where is Barron?” Regina asked.

“Home, he was out cold when I left.” Carter answered. “I just wanted to tell you guys that I’m really sorry about Lola. I know how much she meant to you and this has got to be really hard.” Carter told them.

“Thank you.” Regina responded expressionlessly.

“Well she was your friend too, Carter. There’s no reason to apologize. We were all hurt by everything that happened, not just us.” Nikki told him. “I know. I really cared for her and I still miss her even today.” Carter said.

“Ok” Regina said. She made a swift move to maneuver around the man when he grabbed her wrist tightly.

“I’m…really…sorry.” He murmured; his grip on her wrist so tight now that the webbed skin between his thumb and index finger was going white from the drain of the blood. Regina winced and leaned forward in order to whisper to Carter.

“Carter, do you know something?” She asked, feeling a morbid excitement rising within her at the thought of possibly bringing this ordeal full circle without taking one more step.

“No!” Carter immediately released her wrist almost throwing it away from him. All three of them stood back in order to inspect one another. Regina pushed past him and began jogging toward Nikki’s car. Nikki shrugged her shoulders at Carter and hurried after her friend.

“Regina? Wait!” Nikki called out as she ran down the tree-lined street with golden yellow leaves crunching angrily under each footfall.

“Regina! Regina!” Nikki spoke loudly to her friend who was now only several feet in front of her. Regina came to an abrupt halt and turned to face Nikki.

“I just don’t know who to trust anymore!” Raising her arms and then throwing them down once again in an expression of frustration.

“I don’t know who to trust and it is just driving me crazy. I feel like I am losing my mind.” She confessed feeling the edge of sanity inching toward her.

“I understand. We are in this together and we’re gonna figure it out,” Nikki promised.

“I don’t know about this one, Nikki. I just have a bad feeling.”

Natalie’s street was decorated with thin trees whose branches canopied into one another blocking out the sun with the imitation fire of flaming orange leaves that fluttered to the ground with every strong gust of wind. Despite the brilliance of her community, Natalie’s home was dark. The two girls seemed tiny standing in front of the intimidating home. Desperately, the walls needed to be power washed and the front lawn was even more choked with weeds than it had been the day before.

“You’re dead!” Someone yelled. Regina turned at once to see two costumed children, one chasing the other down the street in a spirited game of some sort.

Regina shielded her eyes from the cold rays of the sun as she turned back to the house.

“Do you think she’s home?” Nikki asked.

“Only one way to find out.” Regina responded. The cement walkway that led from the street to the front door was broken and lifted in places as if an earthquake had disturbed the once new and perfect workmanship. They stepped onto the porch that was bare except for an old chair with a broken leg and a beat up tackle box. Regina knocked hard on the front door. Nikki walked over to one of the draped windows and peered inside, there was a gap and she could make out a shadow on the couch in the living room.

“She’s in there.” Nikki said.

“You see her?”

“Yes.”

Regina knocked again.

“She’s not moving.” Nikki said. Regina made her way over to the window; she put her hand on the glass and placed her head up against it in order to shield her eyes from the reflection of the sunlight as she looked in through the window. Regina knocked on the pane of glass, but the figure still failed to move.

“Natalie! We are not leaving until you talk to us. So come over here and open the door.” Regina yelled. After a few moments, the body shifted almost unnoticeably. The figure placed something down, got up from the sofa, and came over to the door. Regina and Nikki walked back to the front of the door where they heard locks clicking and suddenly the door flung open wide, revealing a visibly depressed Natalie standing there, still in her wake dress.

“What do you want?” she asked.

“Are you OK? We were worried,” Nikki said.

“Can we come in?” Regina asked. Natalie could put up a fight no longer. When the girls walked in they saw her laptop, open, on the couch where she had been sitting.

“Natalie, we need your help. Has Sheriff Handow come by here?” she asked.

“No.” Natalie responded. “Why would he come here?”

“He’s just been asking a lot of questions is all.” Regina began. “Someone attacked me twice and someone has been following us.
Have you noticed anything strange?” Regina asked. Natalie’s chest sank for a brief moment before she looked back to the girls.

“No,” she responded.

“Do you know anything about what’s going on?” Regina asked more directly without quite accusing her.

Natalie snickered maliciously.

“No, I didn’t attack you. No, I didn’t go back and cut Lola up and no, I did not bury her on the DeFrank estate, but even if I did do those things, what does it matter Detective Dean?” Natalie asked resolutely.

Nikki sat looking nervously back and forth at each girl as if she were watching a brutal tennis match.

“What do you mean?” Regina asked.

“Does it really matter Regina? I killed her. Who cares who cut her up and put where she was found. In case you haven’t noticed, the major point of this story is that she is dead!” Natalie told her. Regina’s eyes lit up.