The Enemy's Son (11 page)

The current picked up and took her along at a good pace. With the wood wedged under her arms, she kicked and paddled to speed herself up. She had no way of telling how long she had before Nick woke up and saw that she wasn’t there.

His name brought on regret and sickening guilt. What she just did was horrible, even if it was necessary. She almost wished she would have let down her guard long enough for one passionate night with him. She wanted to confide in him, really confide in him, but some things are too good to be true, and Nick had to be one of them. Just like her father’s job from Keith.

Her teeth were chattering already. Her wet clothes rubbed against her while she swam, but she kept going, holding onto the log with one arm while stroking with the other and kicking her legs. She stopped every so often to listen, but only heard normal forest noises. She took one break to stop by a salmon berry bush, loaded with almost ripe berries, but she didn’t care how sour they were in her hunger.

Insects flew above the water, but that was the only sign of life. There weren’t any bridges to pass under or any roads beside the river, and so she pressed on, knowing that once out of the mountains, the river had to meet a town of some sort.

And she kept telling herself she did the right thing by running away from Nick.

 
There’s nothing out here!
The cold river didn’t numb her panic. Her endless shivering told her she needed to get onto dry land, but she also knew she’d lose a lot of time if she had to hike around the wilderness looking for a road. Cora scanned ahead for a clear spot beside the river.

A shadow caught her attention - a bridge. A road! Maybe a gas station, a town and people. She started kicking again and made it to the bottom of the bridge where she pulled herself slowly out onto the brown sandy beach. Her arms and legs ached from the cold. It’d even made her throat sore.

She crawled to the grass in the sun and threw herself down on her back, closed her eyes, and waited for her blank tank top and running shorts to dry enough to walk in. She fell right to sleep and jarred awake just as quickly. Or maybe some time had passed, she couldn’t tell.

Although there wasn’t anyone at the moment, the spot had the marks of people visiting often to swim in the shade of the bridge. She eyed the path up to the road but wasn’t ready to move yet. Although… that sounded like faint voices.

She sat up. Three teenage boys were walking along the river, laughing and joking around. They wore fairly nice clothes and had that high maintenance boy band hair with their hangs hanging down.

Before they noticed her, she tried to pull her hair back and wipe off any dirt. One of them must have spotted her then because they grew quiet.

She smiled. “Hey.”

She got three “heys” in return as they walked by.

“Are you guys headed into Eugene?” She had to guess the river had brought her back to town. All three stared at her.

“Yeah.” The middle one answered with a smile. “Do you need lift?” He looked like a sports jock – basketball probably – from a well to do family.

She pulled herself to her feet. “I’d love one. My friends took off on me.” Maybe they wouldn’t notice her wet shoes.

“Alright, sure. I’m Jace.”

“Cora. Thanks.”

He introduced his friends as they walked up. Normally she practiced good manners, but today the names went right through her ears. She wasn’t practicing good personal safety, either, but today wasn’t a normal day.

He unlocked his car at the top of the path. “Here, you can have shotgun.”

His friends didn’t complain. They all got in and he launched into a conversation with ease, and even though he curiously glanced at her, he didn’t pry. When he dropped her off at a convenience store in her father’s neighborhood, he finally did ask, “Is everything okay?”

She smiled, throwing all her charm into it. “Yes, it is. And I’m already planning my revenge on my friends.” That story had seemed to work. “Thank you so much!” She shut the door and headed off.

She had a headache and a sticky mouth, probably from dehydration, but tried to ignore it for now. Instead of going straight to Jerry’s house, she walked around the block and looked for anyone watching the place. The police had put up tape, she noticed from across the street. She slipped through the back fence and found Jerry’s hidden key under a rock in the flowerbed.

She opened the back door and stepped into the kitchen. The warm house smelled of garbage. Apparently Jerry had not been home since the evening Cora saw him at Keith’s residence. Food still sat on the stove and dirty dishes by the sink.

She opened his office door and gasped. The computer and filing cabinet were both completely gone, and the shelves were stripped. Books and papers were thrown all over the floor.

Cora bent down and began picking through everything until she found a large, hard cover Bible. Her father had always kept a backup of his computer files on a CD in a cutout in the back of this Bible. It was almost as if he had known something would happen.

The CD was inside a zip lock bag that also held a folded piece of paper and a small, unlabeled key. The paper had a personal note written in lavish handwriting that read, “Tall, dark, and handsome, meet me after the meeting tonight.” The note was unsigned, so it didn’t help her, but her father had kept it for some reason.

“That’s a strange thing to keep,” she said with the feeling that she was talking to her father as she sat in his empty house. The note wasn’t written to Jerry, because no one ever called him tall, dark, and handsome. Cora turned the key over in her hand. She didn’t see how it could be important to her since it probably unlocked a small safe or cabinet, but she left it in the bag.

Without her father’s computer, she had no way to look at the CD, so she slipped it into her back pocket.

She started digging for a phone book in the mess, hoping to compile a list of everyone in the Holloway family. In other words, she needed to start a suspect list. Just in case the burglars missed something, she glanced over the papers as she searched, and it paid off.

She found a half sheet of lined paper covered with names in very small, messy handwriting. Cora had a hard time making them out, maybe the reason it wasn’t taken. Other people probably couldn’t read her father’s messy handwriting. She didn’t need the phonebook anymore because the paper listed the Holloways. Beside each name was either a yes or no. Keith, John, Michael, and Angela had a yes while Martha was a no, and Adam had a question mark. Cora pondered the possibilities. Martha was Adam’s mom and both sounded like they weren’t like the rest.

Angela was the only wife with a yes. Cora had to find out if Angela knew why Jerry was framed. She added the paper to the bag in her pocket, deciding she needed to get somewhere safer.

In the hallway she looked at her poor appearance in the long mirror. Her long hair went every which way it wanted, and her casual clothes looked rather worn and tattered. She went to the bathroom and brushed her hair, washed the remaining dirt off, and decided that was good enough for now.

There were three twenties and some change in her father’s jacket in the closet, and she took it, knowing a little money might come in handy. So would food. The fridge had several of her dad’s favorite cheeses. There were apples and crackers in the counter but apples were long past their prime. She was in a hurry so she ate a few crackers.

After grabbing a glass of water, she headed toward the back door where she’d entered. On the way, she caught sight of the disheveled living room and pieces of seashells covering the floor.

Her dizzy, rushed world halted.

Her seashells. Her mother had left a large collection and Cora continued to add shells, leaving them displayed in Jerry’s living room. Tears gathered in her eyes, and as they slid down her face, sadness sank through her.

She needed to leave.  

If only she had a place to go. She thought of several close friends, but she couldn’t endanger them. She peeked through a couple windows before leaving. Outside, Azaleas grew along the path, and Cora stopped in front of the pretty pink flowers. Perfect flowers for a messy life.

So she had his computer files. Now what? The library? An internet café might also work if they supplied computers. She started walking since there weren’t any taxi cabs out in this residential area. This might have been easier if Nick was with her, and they had a car.

However, he kidnapped her twice and drugged her. How could she stay with him? A big part of her did trust him, despite everything, but she wouldn’t take any risks.

She stopped at a payphone and used the change to call Jerry’s cell. Nothing. With a frustrated growl, she slammed the phone down and started walking again. She could have a cab pick her up but didn’t want to wait in one place.

She wondered about the CD again. Why did her dad hide it? Most people backed up their info on a flash drive and kept it in their desk. Was it possible her father could have been stealing from his boss all along?

Jerry was a hard worker, an honest man, and someone who couldn’t get away with lying. The opportunity had been there, yes, and even the motive. She could forgive and understand if he had done it, but she didn’t think he did. Plus, why would he save evidence of his crime on a CD?

No, she decided for the last time, she didn’t have time to waste putting her father on trial. If she could find a way, she’d track him down and help him get out of this mess. Maybe he could prove his innocence, maybe they could both replace the stolen money, or maybe they could just run.

She reached a business section and hailed a cab. It felt so nice to sit down in the air conditioning.

“Where to?”

She was closer to Keith’s house than a library. What if Jerry was there right now? She gave him a street name close to the Holloway property. That would get her close enough, although she wasn’t sure why she was going there. She shouldn’t be. The best plan would be to get a look at the CD and take it straight to the police. Only, didn’t Keith have a few of them on his payroll? Maybe she would decide after reading what was on it. Because even if Keith didn’t have dirty cops in his pocket, he was a respected “citizen of the year.” People were not going to like what she insinuated.

The cab pulled over and she panicked. Maybe he could just drive her somewhere safe. But what about her dad? She paid and got out, and began walking toward Keith’s home, passing a gas station and easy mart, flower shop, a deli, and an electric bank sign that read ten after six, 87 degrees.

It was six already? Nick must have been looking for her for hours. He could be in Eugene already too.

A fierce longing rushed up her body – longing for his arms around her, his full, hot lips all over her
. Stop thinking that way!

She wanted him with her, helping her, reassuring her. Not kissing her. Maybe he had the means of learning whether or not Jerry was actually at Keith’s home. That’s why she was headed there, even though it was a long shot that she’d see anything. Still, she’d feel better that she looked. There was that tiny chance that Jerry would be coming or going.

Soon she was walking along the Holloway fence line in the shade from the trees that grew in the yard, peeking toward the house. In the light of day, she didn’t have the nerve to walk up to the front gate the way she had before. Now she knew Alexander had set that trap and left the gate unlocked.

 There weren’t any cars parked outside of the garage. No one came or went. There was no way to tell who was at the house without sneaking over the fence. Tears stung her eyes in the heat. She’d get caught for sure if she stayed here long. So she backtracked and kept walking.

Maybe she did need to find Nick, but how? And was he on her side? Her stomach churned. She wasn’t sure what emotion she was feeling, but she didn’t like it. She didn’t need Nick after all. She was the one who had run away from him, blowing any chance she had with him.