Mirror of Shadows (16 page)

After Ella jumped up and down like a little girl, oohed and awed, and sat in the SUV enjoying the new car smell combined with leather, she hugged Marlin again who was sitting in the passenger seat.

“I just love it. Tell Meme she has excellent taste,” Ella said.

“I tell her that all the time; after all, she did pick me to be her husband,” he said proudly, straightening his tie.

“Aw. Well, she’s pretty lucky she found you too. Speaking of finding one another, I’ve been dating this guy.”

“Oh? Who?”

“He’s not from around here. I guess his family is from up north. His name is Matt Geier. He’s very handsome, a little full of himself, but sweet.”

“How did you meet him?”

“Actually, he backed into me at the hardware store.”

“So he’s a crappy driver; keep him away from your new car.”

Ella laughed.

“When do we get to meet him?” Marlin asked.

“Soon, I hope. He dropped me off at your office today, but he had some work to take care of, so he didn’t have time for introductions.”

“What does this busy guy do?”

“He’s some kind of investor. Sounded like he owned the company or his family owns it. He was a little vague, not that I would have understood all the lingo anyway.”

“Sounds like he’s from money.”

“Yes. I believe so.”

“Well, as long as he treats you well and you are happy, I’m happy,” he said as his watch beeped.

“Oops…been playing too long, must get back to work.” He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek and a long hug.

“Be safe. Enjoy the car and I’ll let you know if I find out anything about Peter Owens or his siblings,” he said as he got out of the car.

“I will and thank you—love you!” Ella waved.

“Love you too, Sweetie. Bye.”

Chapter 16

Ella started the car, and listened to its quiet purr. She smiled from ear to ear. She acquainted herself with where all the pertinent buttons, knobs, and levers were located including lights, wipers, and of course the radio volume. The dashboard lit up like the console of an airplane. It even talked to her, which had her wondering if she could turn off that feature, thinking that it might get a little annoying. When she felt comfortable with where everything was, she put it into drive and headed home.

The SUV climbed the hill without any groaning or effort; even the bumps and potholes didn’t seem as bad as they had in her old car. She felt like she was riding in a leather-seated cloud, when she realized even her butt was getting warm…
heated seats too. This car has everything
.

She parked the car in front of Grey Manor. The house had what Ella could only describe as metal Tinker Toys built around it or some kind of metal and wood skeleton. Boards lay horizontally between metal bars for standing on, near the second story windows, the roofline, and in some areas a third story to get to the tower and the chimney tops. It looked pretty sturdy like Jeremy had said it would. She hopped out of the car, hitting the lock button one too many times, making the car flash its lights and chirp like a bird at her. She had grabbed the owner’s manual from the glove compartment for some reading time with Boo.

Jeremy’s truck was gone; she thought he must have needed something in town. With her arm itching like crazy again, she thought of Marlin’s suggestion of a bent wire hanger. She found an old wire hanger in the front coat closet and tried to bend it. She found this to be a challenge for only one hand, when she remembered Jeremy had a vise on the workbench in the shed.

Out to the shed she went and tightened a portion of the hanger into the vise.
Now all I need are some pliers
, she thought. She rifled through a nearby toolbox and suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. She slowly pulled out a tiny red cat collar that was trapped under a monkey wrench and a drywall saw. It was Boo’s. Why was it in the tool box? Jeremy surely had nothing to do with Boo’s disappearance, or did he? She puzzled over the thought and a hundred scenarios of what had happened to the tiny kitten for three days flooded all her awful thoughts and emotions.
Jeremy loves Boo; it just can’t be.

She slipped the collar over her hand and onto her wrist as she continued to look for a pair of pliers. Finally at the very bottom she found a pair and bent the wire hanger in half so only a rounded edge would go into the cast—no sharp edges.

She loosened the vise and returned the pliers to their toolbox. Still confused by what she had found and with her mind piecing together awful scenarios of what might have happened to Boo, she headed back to the house. She wasn’t paying attention as she walked under the scaffolding and she stepped on a loose rock that tripped her a little, making her bump into the scaffolding that gave way to the back porch. There was a loud metal clang and from above, the sound of moaning metal colliding with wooden boards. She raised her broken arm to shield her eyes from the glaring fog just in time to block a board from hitting her in the head. Like dominoes, boards and metal bars were raining down all around her and the last thing she saw was a board crack open the cast on her arm and then bounce over onto her head.

She didn’t know how long she had been out, but when she became aware of where she was it was Jeremy she saw frantically peeling away the rubble from on top of her. She couldn’t hear what he was saying to her, but the sound of his voice alerted her to the pain that was throbbing in her left arm and her head.

“It’s okay, Ella. You’re going to be all right,” he said in a panic and she wasn’t all that sure that HE believed what he was saying. He picked her up, cradling her in his arms, and kicked the back door open. He raced her to the couch and laid her down as he dialed 911.

He left her only for a moment to get a wet cloth for her head. Minutes later, the front door slammed open and two paramedics ran in, pushing Jeremy out of the way. The police were right behind them and they herded him out of the house bombarding him with questions—who was he, what was his relationship to her, what happened, how did it happen, where was he when it happened, and even why was he always around when an accident happened to her?

He couldn’t answer fast enough and his head swam with worried thoughts about Ella. Was she okay, why wouldn’t they let him go to the hospital with her, why did they seem bent on pinning this on him? Before the questions stopped, he found himself handcuffed, his room torn apart, his tools from the shed confiscated, and he was riding to the police station. Still they would not tell him how Ella was.

His one call was to Marlin Howard, but there was no answer and he knew there wouldn’t be, because he was probably at the hospital looking after Ella, where he should be. There he sat, in a cold, damp cell that smelled of mold, urine, and bleach. He sat on the cot and put his head in his hands and prayed that Ella would be okay.

*****

Marlin stood by the window of the hospital room staring out at the rain coming down in the triangle shaft of illumination from the streetlight, while Meme held Ella’s right hand.

Ella’s previously broken arm had been broken again and a pin had to be placed in her wrist. The cast was much larger than the previous one and much more restrictive. It now enveloped most of her hand and fingers, angled up and included her upper arm, plus she wore a restricting sling to keep her from moving a torn ligament in her shoulder.

Her head was wrapped up like a mummy and though the concussion was not terrible, having had two in such a short span of time made the doctors more cautious. They insisted she stay in the hospital for a couple of days.

“Meme. Where am I?” Ella slurred.

“You’re in the hospital, dear.”

“What happened?”

“There was an accident with the scaffolding—a bunch of it came down on you. You’re lucky to be alive, sweet-pea.”

“My head.”

“Yes, you’ve got quite a bump on your head. The doctors say you will be fine, but they want you to stay here for a bit so they can make sure there are no internal injuries.”

“Where’s Jeremy?”

“He’s not here, darling. I haven’t seen him. Was he at the house?”

“Yes. He helped me.”

“Well, he’s not here. I don’t know where he is. We haven’t heard from him. Sheriff Beck was the one who called Marlin at the office and we came right down.”

“If you see him, will you ask him to come see me?”

“Of course, dear, of course.”

Ella looked at her wrist. “There was a cat collar on my wrist.”

“Oh, that’s what it was. I thought maybe it was some new fashion you kids are into. The doctors had me take off all your jewelry, so I assumed that’s what it was. It’s with your grandmother’s necklace, bless her soul. Do you want it?”

“No. I just wanted to make sure I hadn’t lost it. Will one of you go up to the house and check on Boo? Make sure she’s safe in the house and has some food?”

“Of course, dear, we’ll go up there on our way home. You rest now. Everything will be just fine.”

“Oh, and Meme…I love the car. You have excellent taste.”

“Thanks, sweet-pea, we wanted you to have something safe. Did you try out the heated seats?”

“By accident, yes. I will never have a cold tush again.”

“Here, here,” Meme cheered. Marlin laughed and shook his head at the two girls.

*****

Like Meme promised, she and Marlin drove up the hill to check on the kitten.

On their drive up, Meme said, “It’s horrible what that poor child has been through. Not three months ago she was finishing up college and life was normal.”

“It’s a lot but she’s a tough one; she’s going to make it through this okay.”

“If she survives. Two almost fatal accidents in a matter weeks—it’s just a lot for such a young thing with no family. That darn Patricia, makes me so angry.”

“Calm down, dear. Everyone always knew Patricia was a selfish little thing, it’s just too bad she had to take it out on Ella,” Marlin said as he came to the final curve before the hill very near where Ella had gone off the road.

“Oh dear. It looks like someone’s car has broken down,” Meme said as they passed a black sedan parked and partially hidden on the side of the road.

“Looks that way,” Marlin said as he looked at the car suspiciously. “Strange though, the only thing on this road is Grey Manor, wonder what it’s doing out here.”

“Probably got lost. Maybe we should stop and see if they are close by?”

“Well, let’s get up to the house. Maybe it’s a friend of Jeremy’s and he’s already up there.”

“Why do you suppose Jeremy didn’t come to the hospital?” Meme wondered.

“I don’t know. Maybe he went to the police station to fill out a report or something.”

“You’re probably right,” she said as they made the final climb and one last bend to the house.

“Whose truck is that?”

“That’s Jeremy’s. Guess we’ll get to ask him ourselves why he didn’t make it to the hospital.”

The house was dark though and it didn’t look as if anyone was home.

“Maybe he’s asleep,” Meme whispered.

“Either way we are going in and checking on the cat.”

“Right.”

Marlin used his key and opened the door, calling out as he did, “Jeremy? You home? It’s Marlin Howard. Ella wanted us to check on the cat. Are you here?”

Meme turned on a few lights when a tiny little kitten ran up to her and did a few figure eights around her ankles.

“Aww…you must be Boo-kitty. What a little sweetheart you are,” Meme said as she cuddled the purring cat in her arms. “I’ll just bet you’re hungry, aren’t you? Let’s go find you something to eat, shall we,” she continued, talking to the kitten all the way into the kitchen while Marlin looked around.

He checked the back door and saw the remains of the debris from the accident and a large puddle of dried blood. He closed the door, locking it, and continued searching the house. “I’m going upstairs to see if Jeremy is here.”

Meme nodded and continued babying the kitten with a little bowl of fresh milk and real tuna.

Room by room, Marlin turned on the lights looking for evidence of Jeremy, but there was none to be found. Then he found what he assumed was Jeremy’s room and it looked as though it had been trashed. Drawers were emptied and tossed on the floor, the mattress flipped, and everything the man owned was on the floor.
What a mess
. Marlin turned off most of the lights upstairs and headed out to Jeremy’s truck. Everything that had probably been in the glove compartment was now on the seat,
that is, unless the lad is just a sloppy guy
, he said to himself.