Starlight Dunes (11 page)

“Technically, it’s my damn house. And the way you’re going on, you could wake the
dead out at Eternal Gardens,” Scott pointed out. “That chocolate addiction of yours is a bad habit. You know you’ll have to brush your teeth again before going to bed, right?”

With
one hand still resting on her stuttering heart, she fast-tracked her recovery enough to mumble, “Okay,
Dad
, thanks for the reminder even though you don’t have to worry about such things. I’ll have you know my dental appointments have been stellar,” she added as she made her feet move to the cabinet, got down a glass. She went over to the fridge, poured the milk.

“
By the way, you’re right to think Hilda Patton is the key to finding your son.”

A
t those words, the glass almost slipped out of her hand. “I knew it! Hilda’s protected him all this time. Gil has to be there when she slips up. And she will. Slip up that is. She’s got to. I have to hope for that,” River said, peeling the wrapper off the candy. She took a huge bite before sipping the milk and did her best to maintain a calm demeanor. “I appreciate knowing that. It’s a shame you can’t tell me where to look for him.”

“
I wish I could. Your secret’s safe with me, River,” Scott assured her. “No one here ever has to know until you decide to unload.”

“Thanks for that.
Julian and Laura know, of course, but I don’t share everything with them. It’s too painful, especially because it’s always the status quo.”

“
I know you keep things to yourself. You also keep your gift hidden from them, too. Is it because kids made fun of you at school?”

“Something like that,”
she uttered, letting the sugar and caramel combo kick in. “I wish you wouldn’t harsh my chocolate high right this minute with painful memories, especially when I haven’t set eyes on my baby since he was six months old.”

“You have a special gift, River.”

“Really? If that’s true, if it’s so special, then why doesn’t it help me find my little boy?”

“
I know exactly how you feel.” When he saw the face she made, he added, “I do. Even though I can’t wrap my arms around my child, I at least get to see her, make sure every day that she’s okay. I can’t imagine what it’s like for you not being able to do that.”

River softened knowing how difficult it must be for him around his child without being able to touch her. But then, she grew angry.
“I’ll tell you what it’s like. It’s pure hell. I want my baby back. I’d give up my job, I’d do anything to have my child back, to be able to see him, hold him, tuck him into bed at night, sing him a song. If I got the call right now that Gil had found him, I’d be there in a heartbeat anywhere in the world.”

“I know that, too.”

“Luke won’t know me. It’s been two long years. I missed everything, Scott. I missed Luke’s first steps, his teething, his first words. He was only six months old when Wes took off with him.” Tears streamed down her face. She suddenly lost the taste for the chocolate. Instead she felt like throwing up. At the loud sigh from Scott, she looked up into his face. “I want my baby back. Please, if you see anything, if you could tell me anything, anything at all. Please.”

Scott rubbed his chin, cleared his throat
to stall for time. “You tug at my heartstrings, River, you really do. You know it doesn’t work like that. Why do I always have to remind people about that one thing?”

She let out the breath that had backed up in her lungs
. “I don’t know. Why doesn’t it work differently? Why does it have to be like this? I didn’t deserve this. And Luke damn sure didn’t. Couldn’t you make an exception, just this one time?”

Scott began to pace back and forth in front of the island. “
Listen to me. You know Wes’s mother is hiding something, has been since Wes went on the run. Your private investigator needs to stay on her. She sends him money, River. His parents are in on this and they both help him move around, stay hidden.”

River eyed Scott and said, “You know that for a fact?
Because I tried to get the cop in charge of Luke’s case to see that and he never acted like it mattered.”

Scott was tempted to tell her. But it wasn’t his place.
“Use your intuition, River, or whatever it is you call what you do.”

“You think I haven’t tried that? I’ve tried everything.
I see the past. That doesn’t help me find my baby. I’ve consulted psychics. I’ve spent time with shamans from every tribe across North America willing to give me an audience.”

“It’s because you’re too close. Go with your gut. Where do you think your ex would’ve taken him? Didn’t he have some favorite spot he’d always talked about seeing?”

“I hate these subtle hints of yours. I already told Gil to check out what you told me on Tuesday—the ski areas from Northern California to Idaho because Wes loves the sport. I’m still waiting to hear back. If I don’t hear from Gil by tomorrow, I’ll bug him over the phone.”

After considering
Scott’s question for several seconds, she said, “Wes always wanted to live in the mountains, a region similar to his beloved New Mexico. He especially loved the Aspen area though, used to go skiing there every spring break he got from school.”

“Then have Gil look there.
You’re going to find Luke, River. You will find your son.”

“
God, I hope you’re right. Maybe I should take another leave of absence, check out the Denver area on my own?”

“Is that what you want to do? I’m telling you, confide in Brent
Cody. He can help with this.”

Since
she wasn’t so sure about that, she changed the subject. “How do you know so much about my gift anyway?”

Scott sent her a withering stare
without bothering to reply.

“Okay. So you must know that I felt d
ifferent growing up. The kids let me know it on a daily basis.”

“You hated school. It’s a wonder you did as well as you did.
Look at you now, smart as a whip. Just goes to show that a person can overcome adversity, overcome feeling different.”

“
Smart as a whip doesn’t help me locate my son.”

“I
n the long run it will, trust me.”

“I wish I could. It’s
a stubborn streak a mile-wide and the fact that I refused to buckle under the pressure to give up. I think Wes exploited my childhood when we met. In fact, I’m sure of it. He knew about the gaping hole in my self-confidence and knew that was my weakness.”

“I’m sure that’s true.”

“I studied hard and got the tag as a nerd early on, maybe because I spent most of my time alone. When I met Wes…”

“I know something about being different. All the kids at school had their moms and dads. I had grandparents. Not that they weren’t great but…”

“It wasn’t the same thing. I get it. The fact your parents were dead made you different. But you still loved it here. I can see why. It’s a beautiful place. You made a connection to the land, the cove, the town, long before you ever did with your grandparents.”

“
See, right there, that insightful nature of yours has to pay off in the long run. I’m curious about something. How long do you intend to make Brent Cody suffer?”

“
What? Hmm, let’s see, how about till hell freezes over?”

“That’s pretty steep for a simple invitation to dinner that went awry.”

Her shields went up. “What’s it to you anyway?”

“
He’s a cop, River, and a damn good one. Think about it. He has connections that might help you find Luke. Did he ever mention that his father located a little missing girl up in Oregon? Miracles like that don’t happen often. Take advantage of every inroad that might lead to success.”

River stared at Scott, opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. Her mind raced with hope.
Then she came back down to earth. “I don’t think Marcus likes me very much. I’m not exactly sure why.”

Scott
lifted one shoulder. “Doesn’t matter. He’ll help if you ask him. I hate to see you and Brent get off on the wrong foot because the guy listened to bad advice. I hate to see you miss out on a chance to find your son.”

River’s brow furrowed at that.
“But I’d have to level with him about everything. Besides, there’s no wrong foot here because there was never any foothold to begin with. Brent did mention that it was his brother’s lame idea. But that hardly matters…and I emphasize the word
but
here. Brent did not have to act on it. I’m curious about something though. Does Brent have the same kind of ability as his father?”

“If
Brent does, he’s never used it before, not outwardly anyway. It’s widely known in these parts that Ethan has the greater gift.”

“
Hmm, what about asking the brother?”

“Go for it. Either one will help if you let it be known you need it.”

“I take it you’ve known them for quite a while?”

“
Ethan and Brent’s grandmother used to live there in the same house where Brent lives now. Whenever they’d come over to Pelican Pointe to visit, we’d see each other around town. Ethan was the pesky little brother who tagged after us.”

“
No doubt fond memories.”

“You bet.
I’d be getting a haircut at the barber shop, the one old man Sanderson owned before it became the Snip N Curl. Or my grandpa might take me into the Diner to treat me to an ice cream cone. Brent and Ethan might be there doing the same. Brent was the very first guy in town who befriended me.”

“
Really. When was this?”

He scratched his head.
“After I lost my parents in the car accident, I’d been living here about a year. It was summertime, I remember that. I couldn’t have been more than six at the time. That would make Brent about eight. Like typical boys do, we played with our matchbox cars outside Ferguson’s Hardware, went for a swim in the bay, and ran around town like heathens. It was then I guess Brent started coming out here to the cove. Here we got to play pirates without Ethan hanging around. With the age difference I guess I looked up to Brent, like a big brother. Now some bastard is out to do him in. Some days I think the world is unraveling on so many levels. There’s so much meanness out there.”

“
That must be why you’re looking out for Brent now and trying to fix the two of us up. It isn’t a good idea, Scott. I’m not a good bet when it comes to relationships. I’m too obsessed on finding Luke.”

“
No one could blame you for that, River.”

“
I’m not in the market for anything long-term, not ever again. I do kinda feel sorry for Brent though. I mean someone wants him dead. But that’s never a good way to start a friendship much less a relationship. Besides, he seems a little lost right now. And I’ve got way too much on my plate.”

Scott shook his head at that.
“And you’ve never known what it felt like to be lost, River? Come on.”

“Of course
, I have but—”

“Then get to know him. He’s at a crossroads right now and could use a friend.
That’s all I’m saying. Maybe the two of you could help each other.”

“He has his family. They care about him.”

“It isn’t the same and you know it. He needs an ear. Lend an ear, River. What can it hurt? Be a friend. Ask for help. You want me to help you? I’m trying the only way I can.”

She bit into the last part of her Snickers, drained the glass of milk.
“Okay, but I’m no fixer of lost souls. I need major help in that regard myself.”

Scott
was tempted to argue with that. But then he knew River would never believe how things were about to change—in a huge way—and there was nothing she could do about it.

T
he next day along the dunes, Marcus Cody made it official. He gave River the all-clear to start work on the dig.

T
he first order of business was to erect a barrier to keep the tides from coming in. River assigned the interns to that job. Heavy-duty plastic tarps went down first and then enough sandbags were stacked two-feet high to create a dam-like wall to keep the work area as dry as possible.

“Make sure
the seal is as tight as you can get it,” River emphasized as she surveyed the barrier. “Otherwise this close to the ocean, we’ll plot the grid only to have to bail water again and again.”

When it came to
defining and measuring out the range of beach, everyone pitched in to do the grunt work. They did north to south units first horizontally and then east to west, vertically. But even with that, it took them all morning to section off the measly strip of earth allotted them. Because of the narrow slit of landscape, they dug the hole in a rectangular contour, the same shape as the stretch of shore.

“Walker, this is t
he reason the Pelican Pointe Project is no ordinary dig. For one, the mudslide hollowed out a space that’s no more than twelve feet long.”

Though the cliff above them stood sturdy and rugged, the area around the base looked like a mini crater. “Th
is slender strip of sand is all we have to mine so get used to bumping elbows with each other.”

“But that’s crazy,” Walker said.
“We’re practically on top of one another.”

River rolled her eyes. “
I just said that. It is what it is and no amount of grumbling will change the measurements. You might as well make the best of it. We’ll have to be extra cautious in excavating down to even the initial four inches around the circumference. Because of that it won’t be easy. Now it’s time to brush away the topsoil and get to work, see what’s underneath besides that canoe.”

“
It’d be a lot easier to bore holes in the soil,” Walker groused.

“
You want to bore holes, you’ll need to find another dig,” River said matter-of-factly. It wouldn’t take much more of Walker’s bitchy attitude before she booted him off. “We utilize GPS coordinates, ground sonar and magnetometers. No boring holes, no invasive procedures. Not on my site.”

H
ands on hips, River decided it was time to remind the newbies of the rules, namely Walker. “Here’s the order of things. All dirt goes through the sifter, no exceptions. Just because you don’t eyeball anything, that doesn’t mean something significant isn’t hiding in there. We then log
everything
that surfaces into a database for accuracy. Everything gets bagged and tagged. Anything that looks like bone or fragments, anything that requires testing, we put in a separate container. Again, bag it and tag it. Take pictures with your phones if that will make it easier. We keep track of even the smallest piece of bone. You got that, Walker?” she snapped. “Because if you don’t, tell me now. It isn’t too late in the semester to switch sites. I’ll gladly see that you’re reassigned.”

“
No, I didn’t mean anything by it,” Walker backtracked. “I just thought drilling the holes would get us where we want to go a lot sooner.”

“This isn’t a race. You want fast results, you’re in the wrong line of work,” River
continued testily. “Look around you. This is a delicate operation, probably unlike any I’ve encountered before. There are a lot of ecological things to consider here.”

She ticked each
one off by the fingers of her hand. “First, we had to conquer the tidal flow which we’ve done. Second, we have unstable ground here. Those two things won’t change. Third, we’re working with an incline, which doesn’t help matters at all. That’s why the plan is to utilize the natural stratigraphy. Fourth, we’ve established that we’re dealing with a limited amount of space, fourteen feet is paltry. We have less than forty feet of shoreline to set up the workspace. Usually we get a much larger plot of ground. A farmer’s field would be ideal. But we don’t get to choose where the goods are, now do we? Fifth, we get any more rain it could weaken the side of the bluff even more. That happens, we’re underwater again and starting from scratch.”

She raised her
other hand in the air for emphasis, stuck out her thumb. “And finally, you start boring holes in the ground around here even with decent sonar data and we could have damaged artifacts or worse, human remains in smaller pieces than what we bargained for. You destroy human remains, next thing you know I’ve got a pissed off Marcus Cody AKA tribe elder just looking for a reason to kick us outta here for good. That isn’t happening on my site. Are we clear, people?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Sandra
wasted no time piping up.

That was fine by
River, but Sandra wasn’t the problem and neither were Julian and Laura. She waited for Walker to nod in agreement. When the man finally did, she added, “Good. Now quit standing around all of you and get your butts to work. And don’t forget to charge your laptops at night. You do not want a dead battery forcing you to make manual entries out here that you later will have to re-enter into the database anyway. That’s double the work.”

An hour later inside the hole
they’d allotted, River stood ankle-deep in muddy sand studying the remains of the canoe lodged at a forty-five degree angle.

“This is redwood,” River
muttered to Julian who stood up on the lip taking pictures with the zoom lens. “It’s definitely Chumash, amazingly well-preserved. See the markings, here, here and here. Note the planks used on the sides, exactly the way the Chumash were known to carve out their boats and shore them up to make them seaworthy.”

“What do you estimate the length to be?”

“Ten feet, maybe more. They were known to build tomols, some as long as thirty feet. It’s a shame this one isn’t that large.”

B
efore reaching out to touch, River took off her latex gloves. She braced for the sensations she knew would bombard her. Running a bare hand over the brittle wood, her body went rigid as she stared straight ahead.

As if her eyes pierced the veil of time, she saw an active
settlement, its people going about their daily lives. Several canoes were pulled up on the beach where fishermen unloaded their catch for the day. Other members of the tribe were still hard at work at their task out on the bay, their canoes bobbing in the swell of the harbor.

All at once the villagers began pointing to the
horizon and shouting a warning of sorts. A storm loomed, River decided and watched as the skies darkened.

She shook off the vision, looked up at Julian to see
his intent stare. Not for the first time River picked up the conversation where they’d ended it.

“
What are the chances of getting this sucker out intact, Julian? How can we keep it from breaking apart in chunks? I can already feel how dried-out and delicate the wood is. I know it’s asking a lot…”

“
More like a miracle, River. Of course, intact would be preferable. But you have to realize we probably still have another four feet of layers to go through before we can even think about removing it. Not only that, but it looks like it goes back into the cliff. We’ll have to extend the grid. There’s no other way. And anything during that process could cause the planks to snap,” Julian pointed out. “That’s why we’ll need to document what it looks like now in case it splits and we have to reassemble it later. Hell, it could already be in pieces underneath all this mud and we’re not able to see it.”

“I don’t think so.
We should start applying the preservation sealant today though, get it covered with plastic since the wood’s been exposed to the air. We don’t want it drying out more than it already has.”

“
Sure, I’ll start the process now with what’s sticking out of the ground. Is it okay to come on down there?”

“
You bet. While you’re at it bring the bucket of tools with you.” With that, Julian dropped down into the hole, a space barely large enough for two people to work.

As they b
egan to brush away the first precious layers of grit, River grinned, elbow to elbow with him. “We really are crazy for playing in the mud like this, aren’t we?”

“
We started out like this in Selenge, only not as coastal, but right next to a river as I recall. Do you ever wonder what would’ve happened between us if the site in Turkey hadn’t come up?”

River studied her friend’s face for any signs of linger
ing hostility about their brief time together, a matter of months really. Deciding he was just making conversation, she finally said, “We were just kids then on our very first dig. You and I both know we were all wrong for each other.”

“
That we were,” he agreed with a grin. “At the time I really resented the fact you left me high and dry in Mongolia and headed to Turkey though.” He lifted one shoulder. “I was so immature. Can you believe it’s been fifteen years since then? A lot has happened. I wish you’d never taken that anthropology class and met Wes Patton.”

She sighed.
“That makes two of us. As far as leaving you high and dry in Mongolia, just remember, when I got to Ankara I did major grunt work just like Walker and Sandra are doing now,” River reminded him. “And it wasn’t pretty.”

“It never is. Glad you put Walker in his place this morning. The guy’s a major pain in the ass.
He drove us nuts during the summer.”

“I know. Keep a tight rein on him, will
ya? If he slacks off, I want to know about it.”

“Sure thing.”

Cocking a brow, River proceeded to wiggle her eyebrows up and down. “Want me to have Laura come down here in the hole? That way you two could roll around in the mud together. Just don’t damage my canoe in the process.”

Julian
laughed. “Nah, we did a lot of rolling around last night in that queen-sized bed we had at the inn. Laura really is lobbying to stay there instead of the RV.”

“I’ve decided
I don’t want to spend the next two months feeling like a third-wheel most nights in the camper with you two. I don’t want a repeat of Alabama when I was forced to bunk with you guys. It’s time you two had your privacy and I had mine.”

“That’s appreciated
but what about your budget? Can you do that
and
keep your detective looking for Luke? I know our grant doesn’t cover lodging and the foundation’s per diem is meager.”

“I’ll sleep in a tent right here on the beach before I give up the private eye
.” As she turned to climb the ladder up, she stopped and glanced back at her longtime friend. “Julian, you don’t resent the fact that I’m heading this dig, do you?”

“Nope.
You call the shots. I discovered years ago on that site in the Midwest that I don’t like being in charge. I’ll leave bossing people around up to you. You’re good at it. Who’s doing security around here anyway? You want us to take shifts for the time being?”

“
If that falls to us and the crew is forced to do both, it will extend the dig well into next year. I’m sure the tribal council won’t want us here any longer than we have to be. Besides, Marcus says he’s handing the job off to his son, the recuperating sheriff.”

“Really?
So you intend to make nice then?”

“Sure. Why not? It beats the hell out of the alternative.”