Murder Mountain (22 page)

“No, I haven’t lost my mind. And yes, Eric knows; he threw me out of the house a couple days ago because of it.”

“CeeCee, what is the matter with you? You’re smarter than this. You’re gonna get yourself killed down there. Haven’t you realized what these people will do? Not to mention this is what they’ve been hoping for; remember the “Visit West Virginia” postcard? They want you on their turf, and you’re playing right along.” He was beginning to sound a lot like Eric.

“This has to be done, Coop. We don’t have one shred of physical, or even circumstantial, evidence that links the Chatham County Sheriff’s Department to any of this. If I tried to get a warrant with what we have now, the judge would laugh me right out of his office. What do we have, really, is a video with two guys pumping gas using a technically-not-missing-anymore girl’s credit card, a statement from a, now dead, Roseland hillbilly, a statement from another, un-credible, Roseland hillbilly, and a postcard. Oh, and a couple dead rats. Whew! Let’s wrap it up, we’re done!”

“I’m not saying there isn’t a need to go down there. But to go down with only two of you is just plain asinine. Now is not the time. You said yourself there isn’t anything tying that department to this case. Go down when there is, and when you can take several agents with you.”

“Andrea Dean may still be alive. If she is, she won’t be for long, and it is my responsibility to find her ...”

“No, it is not!” Coop interrupted. “That little bitch concerned herself with everyone’s business and now it finally got the best of her. It is our job to investigate, and put facts together,
not
to lose your life for some little Roseland skank!”

Hearing all the commotion, Michael walked over, his face full of curiosity. I was taken back by Coop’s attitude, which was definitely out of character for him.

“Is everything okay?” Michael asked, looking at me, then at Coop.

“Was this West Virginia trip your idea, Michael?” Coop barked.

“No, it wasn’t.” Michael showed some surprise at Coop’s attitude.

“Did you, perhaps, do or say one word to try and talk her out of this, or refuse to go?”

“Coop, you’re right. I’ll refuse to go. You know what will happen then? She’ll go by herself, anyway. I didn’t try to talk her out of it, because we all know how hard-headed she is, and I didn’t want to waste my time, like you’re doing now.” He was getting angry himself.

I was angry that they were arguing back and forth like I wasn’t there. Coop glared at me.

“You’re going to tell Kincaid, aren’t you?” I snapped.

“I don’t know, yet.”

“Well, if you do, make sure you do it tomorrow when I’m already gone. I’m not going to fucking debate this with you anymore. Now, if you don’t mind, I would like to get going.” I stalked off towards his car.

Coop remained silent during the drive to the rental car lot. While Michael went inside to get a car, I unloaded our bags out of the trunk. Coop helped.

“Promise me one thing,” he said when we were finished.

“I can try,” I said suspiciously, still a little agitated.

“You call me and check in every night while you’re there. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll assume something is wrong and start the State Police that way. Not every cop in West Virginia is involved in this thing. When you call me tonight, give me the name, and room number of your hotel. I also want a list of people you are going to contact, and their addresses. If you come upon any new names, I want those also. I’m sorry I yelled at you, CeeCee. We’ve already lost one cop this summer; I can’t deal with another one, especially you. I’ll keep my mouth shut if you agree to this; is it a deal?”

“Deal,” I agreed.

Michael came out with the keys to our new rental car and Coop drove away. I stared in the direction Coop drove, still upset over our conversation.

“He’s right, you know,” Michael put in. “I guess I should’ve said it before, but I will now. I am totally against this entire trip. I don’t think it’s a good idea right now. We’ll be on our own down there. I requested some extra agents, but they’re tied up in Parkersburg for at least two days. I agreed to this because I know that if I didn’t, you’d go anyway.”

“I’m sorry you disagree, but you’re right. I would’ve gone anyway.” Still watching the direction Coop left, I felt bad.

I knew I was being difficult, and unprofessional for that matter, but this just needed to be done. At least Coop seemed to brighten up somewhat when we made our deal. Little did I know at the time, but as Coop was driving home he had a change of heart. He called Eric and Kincaid, updating them on the day’s events and on our trip.

I estimated it would take us approximately four and a half hours to drive to Tariff, West Virginia. We were getting a late start, but I expected we would be there at a reasonable hour. I did my best to ensure that we were not followed to the rental car company, but not knowing who might be following us or what they might be driving, tended to pose a problem.

Pulling out of the parking lot with Michael in the passenger seat, I drove around in circles several times, making turns at the last minute and speeding. Michael kept watch, and as far as he could tell, we weren’t being followed. It was time to go.

For the first hour of the drive, Michael and I were both on our cell phones. He was calling the Drug Enforcement Agency to ascertain what, if any, information they had on the Chatham Sheriff’s Department. He’d called several weeks before, but they’d said they would check on it and get back with him, which they’d never done. I called my dad and checked on Selina and Isabelle before trying several times to call Eric. I tried his cell phone, the house, and his parents’ house. His mother said he had left over an hour before to run errands. I left a message for him to please call me, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Michael discovered that the DEA had received several tips regarding methamphetamine labs in the area, with some unusual finger pointing at local law enforcement. According to the agent with whom Michael spoke, the investigation had fizzled before it got started. The DEA could find no one to pose as an informant to go undercover, and the area is so tight-knit that they couldn’t get an undercover agent in. All they had were the tips called in, all by anonymous persons. The agent also added that they were unaware of any connection to Ohio. Essentially, they were no help.

I called Kincaid’s voice mail and left a message. I knew she would be livid, but there wasn’t much she could do about it now. I didn’t plan on answering my cell phone.

Michael drove the last two hours of the trip. I finally gave up after almost falling asleep twice. I was asleep before he pulled back out onto the roadway.

He woke me up as he drove into the town of Tariff, since he had no idea of what arrangements I’d made for a motel. I rattled off the directions, and before we knew it, we were pulling into the parking lot of what appeared to be the Bates Motel. I swore that any minute Anthony Perkins was going to come running around the corner with his wig and knife. The place was appropriately called The Mountainside Motel. We had driven uphill on ten different winding dirt roads to get there. It jutted out of the side of one of the smaller mountains, and it was situated in the middle of the wilderness. Under any other circumstances, it may have deserved to be referred to as quaint. In our particular situation, though, it gave me goose bumps and shivers.

“This come with four stars, did it?” Michael asked with fake-innocent sarcasm as he pulled into a parking space in front of a window that said ‘Office’.

“There wasn’t a whole lot to choose from, to say the least. Let’s just get our rooms and get settled.”

I climbed out of the car and stretched. I stood in the lot and looked around while Michael was inside the office getting our room keys. It certainly was beautiful there. The sun was setting and there was a light mist around the tops of the mountains. It was hard to imagine that a place this attractive had such a criminal element infesting it.

I glanced towards the office, wondering what was taking Michael so long. He walked out five minutes later.

“What took you so long?” I asked as soon as he reached me. “Was there a problem with the reservations I made?”

“No, Norman Bates was just having a hard time finding one of the room keys.” He grabbed our suitcases.

“Very funny,” I shot back, not mentioning how I’d had the same thoughts when we’d arrived.

Our rooms were on the backside of the motel facing the woods.
How convenient,
I thought.
I could be killed in my sleep, and no one would find me for weeks.
I wished I would’ve looked harder for a better place to stay, but unless we wanted a three-hour drive each day, this was it. I called Coop and left a message with the name of the motel and our room numbers. I also gave directions to the motel from the nearest interstate. Michael had asked the office manager where the nearest places to eat were, and after we’d put our luggage in our rooms, we headed back down the mountain towards town.

We found a small café towards the bottom of the mountain, near Tariff. I was famished and the food was good. I noticed that Michael didn’t eat much, and he was unusually quiet.

“Michael, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing; I’m just tired,” he said quietly, picking at his hamburger.

“You sure? I’m all ears.” I was trying to sound upbeat.

He quit picking at his food and stared at the table. I thought that maybe I shouldn’t have said anything; maybe he was angry with me for coming here.

“My wife moved out last night,” he said softly, looking up at me, his piercing, green eyes, filling with tears.

I was stunned, and immediately felt uncomfortable. I had a million questions, all of which were none of my business. I’d never told him about Eric wanting me to move out. I kept hoping Eric will snap out of whatever funk he was in, call me back, and apologize. The way Michael was looking at me gave me the impression I had something to do with his recent separation. I hoped I was being paranoid. People, as of late, seem to be falling apart whenever they get around me. They either drop dead or wind up single. I was starting to feel like a walking terminal disease.

“Michael, I’m sorry,” I said, shaking my head. “You don’t have to be here. I think you should go home.”

“It won’t do any good; it’s been a long time coming. When I called home last night she said she had everything packed for herself and Sean, and that she would be leaving in the morning. Just like that. I only got to talk to my son for two minutes before she hung up. It’s not about her anyway, I already told you it’s been over—it’s about Sean.” His voice was shaking. He held up okay until he got to the part about his son, and for the second time, I saw Mr. Confident begin to fall apart.

I wanted to grab Michael and hold him, telling him everything would be okay, but I’ve never been good when it comes to other people’s emotions, or expressing my own. I never know how to react or what I’m supposed to say. I wound up staring at the floor for a few minutes until Michael got himself together. For two people who have only shared one kiss to date, we sure have done a fantastic job of dissolving our home lives. Maybe we should just jump in bed together and get it over with; most of the damage is done already. I thought of Eric and erased that thought immediately.

“I’m sorry,” he half-muttered. “I shouldn’t have told you that, and I shouldn’t be acting this way.”

“Its okay, Michael. Don’t apologize for something you don’t have control over. If you don’t mind me asking, why did she decide to leave now?”

“I told you before that my job has always been a problem with her. That’s why I got out of the behavioral unit, so I wasn’t traveling as much and I was home more, but it still wasn’t good enough so, like I said before, I dove back into my job. This case has taken up a lot of time over the last several months, and when I’m at home, she thinks I’m distracted.”

“Why are you distracted?” I was afraid that I already knew the answer.

“You know why, CeeCee. She knows I’ve been working closely with you, and she saw us together on the news, at the reformatory. That really bothered her. She’s also not stupid and thinks that I’m in ...” He cut himself off and put his hands in his face.

I’m glad he didn’t finish. There was nowhere to go for Michael and me. I felt bad for what he was going through, but although I acknowledged an attraction between the two of us, there was nothing to come of it. I also tried to push away any guilt I felt for Michael’s anguish. There were problems in his marriage long before I came along, and I would not feel responsible for its demise. My main priority in my personal life was to make things right with Eric and not have any more lapses in judgment, such as the kiss with Michael. I thought it was time I made that clear to him.

“Michael, it wasn’t meant to be with us.” I looked over toward a window at the gathering twilight for a moment, then back at Michael. “I went through some mixed feelings, too, and didn’t know what to do with those feelings. If I wasn’t married, things would be different, I’m sure. I know it hurts you to hear this, but I love Eric and I don’t want to hurt him. It’s hard to work with you every day, and there was a point where I thought about asking for a new partner, but I realized that I had to be stronger than that. I’ve learned, I hope, to accept that it’s okay to be attracted to somebody and just not act on it.” I paused for a deep breath. “I don’t want to hurt you, either, and I’m sorry you’re going through this. I guess what I’m trying to say is, even though my feelings are strong for you, all I can offer is my friendship, but nothing beyond that, and I hope that’s good enough for you.”

Michael stayed quiet for a while, and I prayed that he wouldn’t leave. I needed him as a partner and as a friend. I prayed I wouldn’t need him for more than that.

“I’ll take your friendship,” he decided at last. “I wish it were more, believe me. I’ve never met anyone like you before and this has been painfully difficult to deal with. I want to take you in my arms right now and never let go, but you belong to someone else. You’re a hell of a woman, CeeCee; I hope Eric sees that.”