Author: Christina Dodd
Category: Thriller
Go to read content：https://onlinereadfreenovel.com/christina-dodd/page,19,485077-strangers_she_knows.html
That didn’t help. Rae cried harder.
Kellen thought about the men and women she’d served with who had died in a senseless war, about her own first marriage and the gunshot to her brain. She thought about Rae’s early years without a mother, and Max’s loneliness while she was gone. None of that was fair, either, and truthfully, when life was so uncertain and unjust, she felt like crying herself. So she let Rae cry it out.
Max kept them supplied with tissues, and when most of the emotion had been exhausted, he said, “If this storm is as bad as they say, we’ll have problems. The generators and wiring are old. If we lose electricity, our water and sewage won’t work.”
Rae looked up sharply. “It would be scary to be on this island all by yourself in a storm, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes, it would,” Max said. “The Coast Guard wants us to come in.”
Rae got up, went to the desk, got another tissue and blew her nose with great volume and intensity.
Max continued, “So we need to pack up.”
“I’ve gotta go to the bathroom.” Rae sidled out of the room.
Kellen watched her leave. “Poor kid. She gets so she likes it here, and we’re leaving.”
The front screen door slammed.
Luna barked wildly, a wild canine objection.
“What the hell?” Max strode to the window and lifted it.
Kellen followed to see Rae picking her bike up and heading down the yard and into the grasses. “Rae!” she called. “Where are you going?”
“To ride my bike one last time,” Rae yelled.
Luna barked, ran into the library, and ran back toward the entry.
“Be back in thirty minutes!” Max bellowed.
God bless the Di Lucas, the loudest family in the world.
Rae waved in acknowledgment.
As she always did, Luna barked her objections at being left behind.
Kellen went to the door and called her back into the library, knelt down and scratched her head.
But Luna was desolate. She went under the coffee table and rolled onto her side, and if a dog could be said to cry, she did.
Kellen wasn’t any too happy, either. “Max, why are you letting Rae go? If Mara—”
“I looked. No sign of Mara. Or Jamie. And thirty minutes won’t take Rae far.” His voice, already worried, grew stern. “I need to talk to you.”
Kellen hugged her waist and stood. She faced Max and asked, “What? Has Mara found us?”
“Not yet.” He corrected himself. “We don’t think.”
“We? Who’s we?”
“Coast Guard. FBI. Nils Brooks. The Di Lucas who keep an eye on this stuff.” He took Kellen’s arm and led her to the couch. “In the past two days, more than a dozen times, Mara has been spotted in post offices around the country, posing with her wanted poster.”
Kellen’s knees gave way, and she sat. “She’s…showing off that she hasn’t been caught?”
“She has been caught. Twice.”
Kellen finally understood. “Neither of the women were Mara Philippi.”
“Exactly.” Max seated himself beside her. “Both looked incredibly like Mara. One was homeless. One was a housewife whose husband had left her with three young children and a house payment. Both admitted they’d taken money to play a hoax. What they did wasn’t strictly illegal.”
“Wasn’t it?” Kellen was hostile and angry.
“The homeless woman has a very limited IQ, it’s doubtful she had any idea what kind of fraud she was perpetuating, and the housewife was desperate for cash. They’ve both been released on their own recognizance, and with a warning.”
“Mara’s back in the States,” Kellen breathed.
“Exactly. But with these multiple sightings, the agencies have no idea where. What is clear is that she still has some kind of network she controls—”
“Of course she does. Until she’s dead, she’ll never be helpless.”
“And law enforcement believes she’s trying to smoke us out of hiding.”
“Could she be here on the island?” Kellen gestured toward the window where they’d watched Rae ride away.
“Why would she be trying to smoke us out if she knows where we are?”
Kellen nodded in acknowledgment.
“If she does know—how would she get here? We’re out a long way. She’d have to have a seaworthy vessel to get close, there’s no harbor, we’re surrounded by submerged rocks, and those waves are rough. An aircraft? We’d hear a helicopter, and it’s not like she could have parachuted in—the winds are too erratic, the best probability is she’d land in the ocean.”
“And drown.”
His glance acknowledged Kellen’s hopeful tone. “Then—where could she hide? It’s a sparse island with not much cover, only Paradise Cove where the intern would typically be camping, and the redwoods, and she’d be roughing it if she was out there. The Conkles’ house?” He stood and looked out the window as if rethinking his decision to let Rae go.
“Max.” Kellen didn’t know how to say what she’d seen. “So much blood. On the walls, on the furniture. Mara is crazy, but she likes her creature comforts.” Kellen remembered the exacting standards with which Mara had run the spa at Yearning Sands resort. “She would never stay there.”
“So it comes down to this—the FBI wants us to stay put. They think we’re safe here.”
“I thought we were packing up.”
“We are. The Coast Guard wants us to come in. They say the storm’s a monster, and we’ll be in trouble.”
“In danger?”
“In this broken-down old house? Yes.” He took Kellen’s fragile, still recalcitrant hand, and massaged the palm and the fingers. “But what it all comes down to is—where’s Mara Philippi? Is she trying to flush us out? We don’t want to run into her arms.”
“We also don’t want to stay and be sitting ducks.”
“Exactly. So it’s up to us whether to go or stay, but either way, we should be ready to make the jump.” He watched her face. “What’s wrong?”
Wretched, she said, “I’m sorry I brought this on our family.”
“It’s not your fault.” He was fierce in his defense. “It’s hers.”
“I do know that, but I look back at that winter at Yearning Sands Resort when I was assistant manager and Mara was the spa manager, and I try to think—what clues did I miss? She always seemed perky, shallow, competitive, but I thought she wanted to be friends. Instead, she was picking out her prime competitor.” Again Kellen heard the echo of Mara’s voice, I chose you as my opponent because I thought we were alike, that you were worthy. “She considered us sisters under the skin.”
“You’re not like her.”
“No, but I wish I could get into her head right now.”
“Me, too,” he said with heartfelt sincerity. “It would add much needed sanity to her brain.”
Kellen laughed in a sudden, unexpected (by her) gust. “There is that.”
“Since you can’t read Mara’s mind, what do you think—go or stay?”
The FBI said to stay.
The Coast Guard said to leave.
She looked around the old house. Even with its quirks and its spooks, she loved this place. But Max was right, it had weathered without upkeep. “I think in view of what happened to Dylan and Jamie, and the spooky disappearance of the firearms, and this house and the storm…we’d better go while we can, and trust law enforcement and our own good sense to protect us from Mara, if she’s waiting.”
“Okay. That’s what we’ll do.” Max trusted her judgment without question, and for someone who’d had brain surgery, that meant a lot. “As soon as Rae gets back, we’ll pack up and leave.”
34
“Miranda! Miranda!” Rae skidded down the path toward the south beach, knocking peb
bles into the sand, yelling her head off.
Mara looked up, annoyed. She had been counting the number of anemones in the designated tide pool. Now she’d have to start all over again. “What?” she asked sharply.
Rae stood astride the rocks, trying to get her breath. “Dylan Conkle…did something to Jamie. He was covered in blood.”
Mara narrowed her eyes at Rae. Shut the window in my face, will you? “Sounds like Jamie’s problem.”
“There’s blood in the house.” Rae gasped as if she’d raced all the way from the house. “We think she’s dead. You’ve never seen anything like it.”
Want to bet?
“Miranda, it’s horrible.”
Or wonderful. Depends on your point of view.
“And there’s a big storm coming in.”
“I can’t do anything about that, either.”
“No—” Rae held her side as if she had a stitch “—but I came to warn you.”
“Warn me?”
“Daddy and Mommy said Dylan drank moonshine, or smoked bad weed. You need to be careful. And you need to take shelter before the storm hits.”
Mara blinked at Rae, once, twice, three times. “Wait. Why’d you come down?”
“To warn you!”
“You ran down here to warn me?”
“Rode down. Yes. I don’t want you to get hurt.” Rae swooped in suddenly, right next to where Mara knelt, and hugged her around the waist. “I like you!”
“You like me?” Mara felt funny. Not so angry.
“Yes.” Rae scrambled to her feet again. “I gotta go. I have to be home in thirty minutes—”
That reminded Mara again about her visit last night to the big house, seeing Rae with her parents, having Rae shut the window in her face.
Rae was still talking. “—because we have to get off the island.”
“What?” Mara suddenly was back in the present with Rae. “What? Why do you have to get off of the island?”
“Because of the storm. Because Dylan Conkle did something horrible, we think to Jamie. Who would hurt Jamie? She was pretty weird. But she had a thing about the environment. She wants to save it. There’s nothing wrong with that. Everybody should want to save the planet. But they don’t. They’re not like you.” Rae took a breath. “I want to be like you.”
Rae had distracted Mara again with her…her niceness. “Like me? What do you mean like me?”
“I mean coming here, camping all the time, counting bird eggs and slimy seaweed in the tide pools.” Rae was bursting with admiration and enthusiasm. “You’re great!”
Rae admired her. Admired Mara. Or rather, who Mara was pretending to be.
Never mind that.
The Di Lucas were leaving.
Rae likes me.
They were going to the mainland.
I have run out of time.
Rae said, “There’s room in the helicopter. I’ll ask my parents to take you with us. You can’t stay here by yourself. Daddy says the storm’s going to be horrible!”
“You still call him Daddy?” Mara crowed with laughter, with mockery. “Daddy. Like you’re three years old.”
“What?” Rae looked bewildered. Hurt.
Shut up, Mara. She likes me.
I’m out of time.
I don’t want to hurt her.
I’ve got to.
She looks so much like Kellen. She’s Kellen’s daughter.
“If we can’t take you, can I tell my daddy—” Rae stumbled over the word “—my father about you.”
“You haven’t told them? Really?”
Rae looked shocked. “No. I promised I wouldn’t.”
“You must have thought about it.”
Rae’s gaze dropped. “Yes,” she said faintly. “I don’t like to keep secrets.”
“That’s really honorable of you.” Sarcasm oozed from Mara’s tones.
Tears welled in Rae’s eyes.
Don’t frighten her. Don’t upset her. Not now, Mara.
Rae took a few steps back. “I’ve got to go. If I don’t, I won’t get back in time.”
Mara had to do this. She regretted it, but she’d make it up to the kid later. She hoped. “Listen, I want to give you something.” Opening her backpack, she dug through, found the bottle of pills and shook one out in her palm. “Here. Take this. It’ll make you feel good.”
Rae froze and stared at the pill. “I don’t take drugs.”
“What?” Mara hadn’t imagined that twist. Everybody she knew took drugs. Guys she slept with, girls she slept with, prisoners, smugglers, antiquity experts, museum directors, rich assholes with illegal collections, street people. They liked drugs. Everyone except her. She didn’t like them. They made her sane. And rational.
Now Rae didn’t like drugs, either.
That made the kid seem even more like…like her own kid.
“It’s not a drug. It’s a pill so you won’t be worried about telling your folks that I’m here.” Mara was making it up on the fly.
“So I can tell them?” Rae asked eagerly.
“After you take the pill.”
“No, thank you. I don’t take drugs.”
The kid was polite, Mara had that to say about her.
“How about you take half and I take half?” Mara simply wouldn’t swallow her half. “That way you know it’s safe.”
“No, thank you.” Rae edged toward the path that led up the cliffs. She didn’t look so trusting now.
Mara didn’t want to jump her and shove it down her throat. She would, but she didn’t want to. “There has to be something of mine you’d like before you go.”
“You don’t have to give me anything. I… I like you anyway.”
Mara thought hard. “I know. I’ll go up the cliff with you. At my campsite, I’ve got this cupcake I’ve been saving. It’s special. Would you like that?”
Rae surrendered. “Okay, but hurry. I’m late!” Now she ran up the path, all gangly legs and arms.
Mara ran after her, not awkward like the kid but not as fit, either. She was panting when she hit the top of the cliff. That irked her, returned her to her initial surly reaction to Rae’s appearance. “Come on.” She grabbed Rae’s arm and dragged her toward the rocky overhang where she kept her equipment. “The cupcake is here.” Mara found the paper bag with the cupcakes she’d rescued from the Conkles’ cottage. “It’s really good, and there’s candy on top.” Quickly, Mara smashed the pill between two stones, scooped up the shards and sprinkled them on the cinnamon sugar cupcake top. She thrust the cupcake at Rae. “Here. It’s good. Eat it!”
Rae looked at the cupcake as if she’d seen it before, looked at Mara, looked at the cupcake, looked at Mara. “I’ll take it with me.”
“Eat it now.” Mara stepped closer to Rae, making Rae feel the difference in their heights, subtly threatening the kid.
“Does it have blood on it?” Rae blurted.
“No. It was in the oven.” Mara answered before she thought—hey, the kid has been in the Conkles’ house. She has seen the cupcakes before!
“I’ll take a bite.” Rae tore off a piece of cupcake, crammed it into her mouth, chewed, then ran for her bike. “Come to the house if you want to go in the helicopter,” she said with her mouth full. “I’ve got to go. I’m late!” She crumpled the remains of the cupcake as she ran, and as she rode away, Mara thought she spit out the rest.
But that pill was powerful, and Rae was a child. Whatever Rae had ingested…would have an effect.
Rae rode like a maniac, and Mara didn’t even try to chase her. She simply gathered her weapons: the rifle she’d confiscated from the yacht, her sidearm and her hunting knife in their holsters. She screwed her silencer on her automatic handgun. She contemplated the Taser she’d brought along in the hopes she’d get to use it on som
eone. Not Rae, because those bastards really hurt, but man, how she’d like to dig it into Max’s ribs and watch him fall!
She grinned at the thought, and strapped it on, too. Then followed Rae’s path through the grass, followed until the bike tracks started wobbling. They straightened up again, then once again they staggered, went in circles—and Mara stumbled over Rae’s bike, sideways in the grass.
Right. Good. Really good.
Mara tracked Rae north toward the big house. The kid was going the right way. She hoped Rae made it. She really did.
Abruptly she abandoned the trail. She didn’t want to encounter Max or Kellen. Not yet.
Plus—she needed to take care of the helicopter.
The Di Lucas were not leaving tonight.
35
“Where’s Rae? It’s been thirty minutes. This is no time to make us stew.” Max was irate, irrationally so, the way a father is when he’s worried and hovering on the verge of panic.
Kellen tried to soothe him. “She doesn’t want to make us worry. She probably went too far and is headed back right now.” But her mind leaped to Rae as she had been once before, hurt from the jump, limping toward the house and crying.
They went out on the front porch and looked for her.
Luna went with them, sat beside Kellen, thumped her tail hard on the boards and growled softly.
Kellen smoothed Luna’s head. “You can’t go out there. You’ll hurt your paws.”
The dog strained, looking out as if she knew something they did not.
Kellen had to ask. “Do you think Rae found Jamie?”
Max swiveled to face Kellen. “What a horrible thought.”
“That would scar her for life. I was surprised she wanted to leave the house. Do you think she went looking for her?” Kellen ran through all her concerns, her fears. “Is there a chance Jamie is alive?”
Max shook his head. “Dylan is too frightened.”