Silver Sparks (19 page)

“No idea.” He dipped his head close to her ear, but still had to speak loudly. “Did you try Sophie’s phone?”

“Went to voice mail. I’m sure she never heard it ring.”

He kept his hand on her back as they skirted the crowd at the bar, scanning faces there before looking at the tables and booths to their left. If Sophie and Amber were in some dark corner, this could take quite a while.

They were halfway through the room when Cal suddenly exclaimed, “Shit!” He tugged her into the mass of people around the bar, pushing through a gap until Maggie stood wedged between two occupied stools. Putting his mouth near her ear, he said, “Look at the very end of the bar.”

She let her gaze follow the curving bar to its end. She spotted Cal’s sister easily. With her back turned toward them, Amber’s blue-streaked hair stood out, even in the dim light around the bar. She nodded for Cal’s benefit as she peered past Amber to see the person she was talking to, expecting it to be Sophie. Amber laughed, ducking her head slightly and giving Maggie a clear view of the person next to her.

Maggie froze. Bare inches from Amber, Rafe De Luca flashed a broad smile, aiming it at both Amber and a taller blond girl standing next to her. Maggie didn’t have to hear them to recognize what was happening. The girls were flirting with Rafe, and not in a subtle way.

As she watched, Amber said something to the other girl, touching her arm as if she knew her, then repeated it to Rafe. He answered and gestured with his hand, taking in both girls. Whatever he said made Amber smile and lean close to reply. When Rafe’s arm went around her shoulder, she didn’t resist.

Cal swore furiously. Maggie caught his hand before he could move, tugging him closer. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to get her. Someone might recognize us, and I don’t want to create another scene with Amber in the middle. If Rafe’s here, so are the paparazzi.”

Cal’s glare never left his sister, but he nodded curtly at Maggie’s words. She watched his jaw tense as he thought it over. Seconds later, he raised a hand and motioned to one of the bartenders. The young man nodded, finished an order, then came over to them. “Evening. What can I get you?” he asked loudly.

Cal tucked a folded bill in his hand. “See that girl down there with the blue hair? I want you to card her.”

The young man took a long look at Amber, then glanced down at the bill, turning it until the twenty showed. He hesitated. “She hasn’t ordered anything,” he said.

“Your sign says you have to be twenty-one to be in here,” Cal pointed out.

“She’s with Rafe De Luca.”

“She’s sixteen.”

“Shit.” The bartender nodded and pocketed the bill. They watched him make his way to the end of the bar and exchange a few words with Rafe, looking apologetic and nodding at Amber. Amber stiffened and appeared to do her best not to look annoyed when the bartender nodded toward the door. Rafe smiled at her and shrugged, as if to say it was too bad she got caught.

Cal tugged on Maggie’s hand and she followed him back through the crowd to intercept Amber. When she saw them, she stuck her hands on her hips. “It was you!”

“Damn right,” Cal growled. “And you’re getting out of here right now.” Not waiting for an answer, he ushered her toward the door. “Where’s Sophie?”

Amber simply glared in return, but they didn’t need her reply. Sophie appeared at Maggie’s elbow. “What’s going on?”

Her expression was altogether too innocent. “You’re leaving,” Maggie informed her curtly. She led the way to the door, then turned back to make sure they were behind her. As she did, her gaze caught on Rafe as he turned their way. He paused, lifting one side of his mouth in a smile that was more like a snarl. Then his gaze shifted and he watched Amber stalk past her, securely tucked next to Cal. Maggie knew he’d recognize her even from the back—that blue streak stood out.

Rafe’s smile disappeared, replaced by a cold stare. His gaze shifted back to Maggie as he made the obvious connection. The blonde latched onto his arm, saying something, but he ignored her, pinning Maggie with a look that promised retribution.

She shivered and turned away quickly, following Cal into the relative quiet of the hallway that connected to the lobby.

Cal had released Amber and was already laying into her. “You don’t go after killers when you have no idea what you’re doing! Do you have a death wish, or are you just crazy?”

Amber narrowed her eyes. “I knew exactly what I was doing. And I wasn’t alone.”

“What, you thought that little blond piranha would save you? She doesn’t give a damn about you. She was on the make and probably glad you’re gone.”

Amber gave him a look that said exactly how stupid she thought he was. “I don’t even know her, we just met. But Sophie was watching me. If you hadn’t butted in, I could have gotten Rafe to break at least a couple laws with no trouble at all. I don’t know about you, but I want to put his ass in jail where it belongs!”

“So do I! But not because I catch him killing another young woman, even if she was foolish enough to practically dare him to do it!”

Amber curled her lip in disgust. “You know, for a cop, you’re pretty dense. Sophie wouldn’t have let him touch me.”

Sophie didn’t seem to have any more desire to get involved in the family dispute than Maggie did. She stood off to the side, but offered a weak smile at the mention of her backup role. Cal speared her with a glance that wiped the smile off her face before returning to his main target.

He barely had a chance to utter the first profanity when Rick Grady burst out of The Aerie and into the center of their small gathering. “Cal! I thought that was you. Hey, Maggie.” He cast a frankly curious stare at Sophie and Amber. “What are you all doing here?”

“Where have
you
been?” Cal countered, apparently no more pleased with Rick than he had been with Amber.

“Watching Rafe, like we agreed.” He looked from Amber to Cal. “What’s going on?”

“What’s going on is a sixteen-year-old girl trying to lure Rafe into committing God knows what crimes so she can have him arrested.”

“I’ll be seventeen in two weeks,” Amber muttered.

Rick directed his answer at Cal. “I know. I was watching her and that girl next to her.”

Cal paused, squinting at Rick. “And you didn’t stop it?”

“Hell, no. That’s what I’ve been waiting for him to do. I was ready to follow them if he took one of them out of there.”

“See?” Amber said. “I was perfectly safe!”

Cal pinned Rick with a cold stare. “She’s my sister. She’s not involved in this.”

“Okay,” Rick said. “Sorry, man.”

Amber rolled her eyes and muttered something about control freaks.

Cal looked at Maggie. “I’m taking Amber back to the lodge.”

She nodded. “I’ll catch a ride with Sophie.”

“Come on.” Cal urged Amber forward with a hand on her arm. Fortunately she didn’t do more than huff her annoyance and throw a quick “Thanks for today” at Sophie before following his command. Rick shifted uncomfortably, then muttered a quick excuse about needing to watch Rafe and sidled back into the bar, leaving Maggie and Sophie alone in the hall.

Sophie broke the awkward silence with a soft snort of derision. “Geez, Maggie, I can see why you aren’t sleeping with him. He might be a hunk, but he’s also an ass. What a controlling jerk.”

Maggie turned on her. “Were you part of that plan? Because you were supposed to keep yourself away from Rafe, and keep Amber safe, neither of which you did.”

“Excuse me, I was supposed to keep her occupied. And she’s fine. Besides, I kind of liked her idea about tempting Rafe into doing something.”

“Well, I don’t. Don’t do it again. I’m trying my best to keep this whole mess from touching you, and you’re jumping right into the middle of it.”

She looked as disgusted as Amber had. “Now you’re telling me how to live my life? Cal must be rubbing off on you.”

Maggie bit her lip and tried not to picture Cal rubbing on her. “I don’t want to argue with you, Sophie. Stay away from Rafe, and keep Amber away from him, too.”

Sophie held her hands up. “Fine. But that girl’s got one goal in life—to make Rafe pay for her sister’s death. She’s going to find a way to do it, and you can’t watch her every minute.”

Maggie knew Sophie was right. What’s more, she couldn’t blame Amber for wanting revenge. But she also couldn’t stand by and let her do it. After the look Rafe had given them, she had no doubt Amber was now in as much danger as she and Cal were.

They needed to get Amber out of his reach. And just possibly, Maggie knew how to do it.

It really didn’t matter that Amber wouldn’t like it.

Chapter
Eleven

M
aggie laid it out neatly in a phone call to Cal the next morning. “You need a safe place to stash Amber where she can’t hit on older guys or turn vigilante and go after Rafe.”

“Right. Also for that other important reason.”

Privacy. She felt her whole body grow warm. “Yes, well. I know of a place that will work.”

“You know she’ll sneak off and do what she wants as soon as no one’s looking.”

“She won’t be able to do that.”

“You got her a cell at the county jail?”

Maggie gave a short laugh. “She might think so, but I promise she’ll have plenty of room to roam, things to do, and people who treat her well. In fact, they’d love to have her.”

“I’m sold. What is this wondrous place?”

“The People’s Free Earth Commune. We’d better take your truck, the road gets pretty rough.”

Amber held a tight grip on the handle above the passenger door as the truck jolted over another rock. “Are you sure people live up here?”

“
I
used to live up here.” Maggie braced herself against Cal’s leg for the fourth time to keep from bumping against Amber on her other side, and wondered from his smug look if he was hitting all the rough spots on purpose. “There are probably ten or twelve people living permanently at the commune. Most of them have been there since it started almost forty years ago.”

“They’re crazy,” Amber decided. “There’s nothing up here but trees and rocks.”

“But look at the view!” Cal exclaimed. “It’s fantastic.”

Amber snorted her disgust. “You live in
Ok-la-ho-ma
,” she reminded him. “Probably anything looks better.” Squinting at a rocky bluff, she asked, “Are those ugly dogs?”

“Goats. They belong to the commune.” Maggie nodded at the curve ahead. “The house is right around that bend.”

They all watched as a large log-and-stone house came into view. Several smaller buildings and a fenced corral lay behind it.

Cal gave a low whistle. “Nicer than I expected.”

“The commune’s done pretty well over the years.” As three dogs ran toward them, barking, she reached across and leaned on the horn, giving one long blast of noise that echoed off the distant peaks. “They’re probably working, but they’ll be here in a minute. Let’s wait outside.”

He stepped out and took her hand to help her out, looking around as he did. “I’m surprised they have a phone all the way out here.”

“Cell phones. There are towers all over the mountains. They’re hippies, not Amish farmers. They like technology.”

They were petting the dogs when a woman rounded the corner of the house at a fast trot. She grinned when she spotted them, and sped up, long hair flying behind her.

Amber took in the calf-length flowered dress, denim vest, and sandals. “Whoa. Retro.”

Maggie braced herself, but was still staggered by the encompassing hug that nearly lifted her off her feet, along with the enthusiastic greeting, “Baby!”

“Hi, Mom.”

She stood still while her mother framed her face between callused palms, beamed at her daughter, and kissed her cheek. “You look wonderful, Maggie! Introduce me to your friends.”

“Mom, this is Cal Drummond. Cal, my mother, Kate Larkin.”

Cal already had a huge smile on his face as he stuck out his hand. “Nice to meet—” He broke off with a startled look as Kate wrapped him in a warm hug, then set him back with an admiring gaze.

“How lovely to meet you, Cal. I hope you’ll make yourself right at home.” Kate’s sparkling gaze shifted to Amber. “And this must be the young woman we’ve been looking forward to having as a guest. Welcome, sweetie!” Amber stiffened slightly, allowing Kate’s hug but shooting a suspicious look at Maggie.

Maggie had never seen the girl at a loss for words before, and tried to imagine what she must think of Kate. Her mother was still a pretty woman at fifty-five despite a few lines beside her eyes and silver streaks in her faded red hair. Kate’s joyous welcome had been genuine, but it wasn’t enough to crack Amber’s sullen reserve.

Frankly, Maggie couldn’t blame her. Getting passed from an indifferent mother to a dutiful but unenthusiastic half brother would have made her cynical, too. The girl hadn’t objected to moving out of Cal’s tiny cabin and the extra cot that was her bed, but she hadn’t shown much enthusiasm for visiting the People’s Free Earth Commune, either.

“We’re so excited to have you here!” Kate told her.

Amber was still taking in Kate’s hippie clothes with a wide-eyed stare. Her eyes settled on the pendant Kate wore on a leather thong around her neck, an intricately wrought peace sign with small doves perched on the silver bars. “Hey, cool necklace.”

“Would you like to have it?” Before Amber could close her startled mouth, Kate slipped it off and settled it over her head. “Pete makes them. He’s quite a good silversmith.”

“Uh, I didn’t mean . . .” Amber fingered the delicate peace sign, obviously taken with it.

“Maybe you can watch him make one. We have a lot going on here, and Maggie said you might be able to stay for a while. You’ll have time to try everything.”

Amber shot a resentful look their way. “Yeah, well, I guess they don’t want me to be in their way.”

“Oh, no, they just wanted to give you something fun to do. I’m sure you weren’t in anyone’s way.”

Amber shrugged. “Maybe they just didn’t tell you everything. Cal and Maggie are sleeping together, you know. They’ll probably be screwing like bunnies now that I’m gone.”

Beside her, Cal swore under his breath. Amber darted a satisfied look at each of them, confident she’d taken her revenge for getting dumped in the remote reaches of the Rockies.

“Oh! Are they?” Kate clapped her hands together and turned a bright look on Cal and Maggie. “How wonderful for them!” She smiled benevolently at Amber’s suddenly blank face. “And so mature of you to understand their need for privacy in the early stages of a sexual relationship. Come on, let’s find you a room before I show you around.”

Kate slipped her arm around Amber’s shoulder and led her away. Amber threw a confused look back at them, then stumbled on a stone and started paying attention to where she was going.

Maggie tucked her arm through Cal’s. “Want to see where I grew up?”

“Hell, yeah.”

Cal stared at everything, fascinated. Beyond the grandeur of the land, the commune was a glimpse into Maggie’s past. Despite his best intentions, she had become important to him, and he found himself intensely curious about her unorthodox beginnings.

They followed Kate and Amber to the house, where he submitted to exuberant welcomes from two women introduced as Marcy and Feather. It was like being mobbed by two overly enthusiastic grandmothers. Hippie grandmothers—he couldn’t think of any other word to describe the patched jeans, loose, lacy tops, and granny glasses.

“Feather’s the official housekeeper,” Maggie told him. “That includes plumbing repairs and basic carpentry, when needed.”

Cal looked around the great room and the connecting kitchen, then back at Feather and her long gray braids. She looked a good decade older than Kate. “That’s a lot of work.”

Feather beamed. “It’s what I like best. We all do what we’re best at.”

“Marcy keeps the books for the commune, and takes care of shipments.”

“Shipments?”

“Pottery, jewelry, whatever orders we’re filling,” Marcy told him.

“The commune supports itself by selling crafts,” Maggie explained. “Very good crafts. Their pottery and jewelry get shipped to stores all over the country. I carry some at Fortune’s Folly.”

He looked up as Amber came downstairs with Kate. His sister didn’t look happy. When the three women started questioning Maggie about recent events with Rafe, she tugged on his sleeve and pulled him aside.

Standing on tiptoe, Amber hissed in his ear. “Cal, they don’t have Internet service here. Not even TV!”

“My God, you might die.”

She slapped his arm. “This is serious! You’re stranding me here. You’d think they’d at least have a horse to ride, but no, all they have is chickens and goats.” She leaned closer. “And you’ll never guess what they do with the goats.”

He thought he could, but he enjoyed her horrified expression, so he tried to look alarmed. “What?”

“They drink their milk!” From the revulsion on her face, she might have said “blood” instead of “milk”
—
it was priceless. “They only eat
natural
food, like it’s unnatural to eat fast food or something. And they all have
jobs
. No TV, no computers—what am I supposed to do all the frickin’ time, milk their goats and roll their joints?”

He didn’t know for sure about the joints, but with the amount of work they did every day, he figured no one had that kind of downtime. And if drugs were an issue, Maggie wouldn’t have brought her here. “Maybe you could help them with something,” he suggested. “You didn’t mind helping Maggie with her store.”

“Maggie had cool stuff. And customers I could have talked to.” Her voice dropped to a whisper as she peered around him at Kate, Feather, and Marcy. “There’s no regular people here. Just
them
.”

You’d think he was dumping her at the Bates Motel. “Maggie lived here full-time until she was eight, and every summer after that, and she seems perfectly normal to me.” He didn’t bother adding that her grandmother had hauled her back to civilization, along with her sisters. “She said there were other kids, too, and I’m pretty sure they survived. I think you’ll find something to do.” At her mutinous stare, he said, “Look, give it a week. If you still hate it, I’ll take you back to my crummy little cabin, where you can be bored with trees instead of goats.”

“Three days.”

“Five.”

“Four.”

“Five.”

She ground her teeth. “We stop for a bucket of KFC on the way back.”

“Deal.”

She might have pushed it further, but Kate appeared at her other side. “Amber, honey, let me show you around our work buildings. The others are dying to meet you.”

Amber trudged off beside Kate as he and Maggie followed at a distance, going outside and crossing toward a small barn. “Is she pissed off?” Maggie asked.

“She’ll get over it. This is a great place.”

“I guess so.” She stuck her hands in her pockets, pausing to scan the various buildings set among towering pines and huge outcroppings of pink granite. The trees blocked his view of the snow-covered peak of Two Bears, but the cool wind reminded him it was there. It whipped over snowfields before curling down to the dense forests and sun-drenched meadows of the commune. Maggie turned her face toward the wind, letting it toss her hair into a fiery mane. Cal watched, mesmerized. This was how he’d always think of her, he realized. Not standing up to Rafe, or working happily in her store. Not even naked and hot beneath him. He’d see her here, touched by the wild freedom of the mountain. It was part of her.

“It’s a different world,” she said, pulling him back to earth. “Especially for a kid. Creeks to wade in, fields to run through. I had about a dozen parents watching over me. It wasn’t all play—they taught me to be industrious from the time I could walk, to accomplish something with my life.” She smiled at him. “You’d like the commune’s philosophy, they’re heavily into teamwork.”

He gave her a sidelong glance. “Not the same kind, I think.”

“You have a dirty mind, Cal Drummond. I like that about you.”

“I plan to take advantage of that weakness very soon.”

She laughed and took his hand. They checked out the barn and chicken coop, then a small stone building where a man and woman were firing pottery in a kiln, and another one where they found a man named Pete making jewelry.

Pete looked up when they came in. Cal had a fast impression of a gray ponytail, bushy beard, and faded Grateful Dead T-shirt. Two seconds later Pete jumped to his feet with an excited whoop and wrapped Maggie in a bear hug. She disappeared in his arms, dwarfed by Pete’s large body, her head nearly buried beneath the shaggy beard.

When Amber got the same treatment, Cal stood his ground warily. Thankfully, Pete merely shook his hand and gave him a hearty slap on the shoulder.

With a satisfied chuckle, Pete gestured at the leather thong around Amber’s neck. “I see Kate’s already pushing our products.”

Amber clasped the silver circle. “Did you really make this?”

“Sure.” Pete shrugged. “Make ’em all the time. Peace signs are making a comeback. That’s one of the fancier ones, with the little doves on it.”

“I love it,” Amber admitted.

He nodded. “That’s cool. Hey, why don’t you watch us work, maybe try your hand at making something?”

Amber looked stunned. “Can I?”

“Yeah, why not?”

“But I . . . I’m not an artist.”

A smile split the untamed hairs of his beard. “How do you know? Can’t know if you’re any good at a thing if you don’t try it.” While Amber struggled to absorb her sudden apprenticeship, Pete said, “If you don’t like pendants, maybe you’ll like some of Kate’s stuff. She’s into rings.”