The Reaping (The Reapers Book 1) (20 page)

We managed to get a gondola car to ourselves. Bruce and Angelica sat next to each other, facing me. They looked good together, both appearing to be much younger than they actually were and both of them so good-looking. I was studying them and enjoying the view when Bruce blindsided me.

“What the hell did you two do to Caleb? He looked like a kid who’d just found out Santa Claus isn’t real.”

What I wanted to say was
none of your business
, but I didn’t. I changed the subject instead. “Before I left the apartment, I got a phone call from one of the girls I work with. She’s scared to go into work, because—”

“Who? That sounds like something Allison would say. Aren’t you going to fire her?” Angelica interrupted me.

“Yeah, it was Allison, but that’s not the point. She’s afraid to go into work because—”

“Who cares? I’m sure it’s ridiculous. She is such a drama queen.”

“Because she heard that Landon was shot at the store,” I lied.

That shut Angelica up finally.

Bruce just stared at me for a long moment. “Seriously? Where’d she hear that?”

“I’m not sure. Apparently, someone is claiming they heard gunshots the night he was killed, and—”

“What are the police saying?” Bruce asked. He looked really worried, and I felt terrible for bringing this up on what should have been a fun day for all of us.

“I don’t know. Didn’t they tell you what happened? I thought you said it was a drug overdose.”

“That’s what Reid told me, but I doubt he’s exactly in the loop at the station since he’s such an idiot…” His cheeks flushed red. “I’m sorry, I forgot that you dated him.”

My mouth almost dropped open, but I clenched it shut and glared at Angelica. She shook her head and shrugged, in what I took to be a denial of guilt. Apparently, word about my pretend relationship with Reid had gotten around. I wondered what Reid thought of it. “No worries, he’s an idiot. So none of the other officers told you anything? Weren’t you helping them?”

“Yeah, sure, but they wouldn’t tell me anything. I…I’m not a cop.”

“Oh,” I said.

“So he might actually have been shot in the store?” Angelica asked. “What if whoever shot him comes back?”

“As far as I know, they didn’t take anything. I’m pretty sure Al would have told me if they had, or if he thought there was a threat to the store or the employees,” I said. “I figure Isabella is making the whole thing up for fun. Even if Landon really was shot, I’m sure it was completely personal.” Shit. “I’m sorry, Bruce.” I forced myself to meet his gaze, but he didn’t look offended, just worried.

“Yeah, no one said anything to me about anything being stolen. Maybe you should check with the cops, though, just to be sure you don’t need some sort of extra protection or alarm system,” Bruce said, his worry obviously about Angelica’s safety and not about the nature of Landon’s demise.

“I’ll talk to them.” I looked out the window and took in the view as we rose up the side of the mountain. The slope beneath us was covered with snow and groomed, but most of the surrounding slopes had grass and rocks visible through a light covering of snow. The view of the valley and the mountains that surrounded us was truly amazing. I might not be around for much longer to enjoy it, but I still felt damn lucky to be there at that moment. “It’s a beautiful day.”

Both Bruce and Angelica were facing me and the mountain, but they turned in their seats to admire the view. “Good day to be outside,” Angelica said.

I followed them off the gondola, but I didn’t expect to keep them in my sight for long. Angelica was a much better skier than me, and I assumed Bruce was, too, so I told them not to wait up. I’d meet them at the bottom at noon. We’d get lunch then and decide whether or not the skiing was worth spending the rest of the day on the slopes.

I took my time skiing down behind them, getting used to being on skis again. The sun was out and it was in the thirties, a perfect day. I hit a few patches of ice, but nothing too bad. Some days, I liked to push myself and see how fast I could go, but that day, I took my time and just enjoyed being outside and on the snow. Of course, I was also conscious of the expensive skis on my feet and I was careful to avoid anything that looked like a rock or bare earth peeking out of the snow.

Despite my leisurely pace, Bruce and Angelica were waiting for me at the lift. They were laughing so hard, they didn’t even notice I was there until I announced myself. “I told you guys not to wait for me. I’m fine on my own.”

“We know.” Angelica smiled at me. “We wanted to make sure Bruce’s skis were working okay for you before we took off.”

“Are you kidding, they’re awesome. I don’t think I’ve ever skied this well or with this little effort before in my whole two years of skiing experience.”

“Great,” Bruce said. “They’re yours.”

I laughed. “No way. If these were my skis, I’d be heading home right now. I wouldn’t risk ruining the first nice skis I’ve ever had.”

“Okay, then. I won’t give them to you, but please don’t worry about scratching them. Just have fun,” he said.

I rode up the lift with them and they took off, heading for a black diamond that I knew I wasn’t ready for yet. I took the turn for a blue slope that challenged me, but wasn’t so hard that I spent most of my run on my butt.

There weren’t enough people on the slopes to create lift lines, but I rarely had a slope all to myself. I took my time again and worked on my form, as I’d learned in a ski class. When I heard the scrape of a snowboard that meant someone was behind me, I changed my pace a bit so that I wasn’t taking up as much of the slope. I was on the downhill part of my turn when the snowboarder crossed behind me so close he ran over my skis. I lost my balance and tumbled down. It wasn’t a hard fall, but I lost both my skis and sat up, pissed and ready to start looking for them. The snowboarder had stopped a couple of feet below me, and I looked up expecting an apology. The face I saw was a familiar one, and it was furious.

“Landon, what the hell?” I asked as I pushed myself back up onto my feet.

“Who the fuck is Landon?” Reid asked. His face was red with anger or cold or drink, possibly all three. “I would hope that since you accused me of beating you up, you would recognize me.”

Shit, I had never considered that Reid might not believe he had beaten me up all on his own in a drunken blackout. I had no idea what to say to make him calm down, and my heart was starting to race with a fear that made it hard for me to breathe, much less speak. I had no idea what Reid was capable of. “You did beat me up.”

“Really, ’cause I don’t remember it. I do remember waking up in a room with you and two other guys, any one of whom could have given you those bruises. Especially since I’d never seen you before in my life.”

“You did it.” I knew I needed a better line. I needed to feed him a story that he could believe. Alice said that Landon left after Reid threw the first punch, so either Reid was lying, or his body had been on some mindless autopilot for a few moments after Landon left.

“That’s what everyone keeps saying. They also keep saying that you and I dated, but I can’t remember that, either. You going to tell me I was in a blackout state for our entire relationship.”

“We never…um…we never dated. I was working, and you started banging on the door, wanting to come in. I opened the door to tell you—”

“I don’t want to hear your bullshit story. I want you to go to the cops and say you made a mistake.” He had taken off his board while he was talking and he walked back up the slope to me. He bent over me, his hot breath smelling of vomit and beer, and shoved his finger in my face. “You do that, or I will do some permanent damage to that pretty little face of yours.”

“You’d lose your job,” I forced out, my heart in my throat.

He stood and looked at the slope and the trees around us. “You know one of the best things about being a cop? You learn exactly what sort of clues they look for to catch a killer or find a body. I want someone gone, I make sure they stay gone. You think it was just luck that I found you here, today? I’ve been watching you, waiting for my opportunity. I can get to you whenever I want. You understand what I’m saying?”

I was shaking so bad I couldn’t speak, so I guess he assumed I didn’t understand.

“What I’m saying is, you go to the cops and tell them you made a mistake, or I permanently scar your face. If you let on that I’m the one who hurt you that time, I will kill you. You understand?”

I nodded, hoping he would go away. But he smiled at me and stood his ground. After a few moments, he shook his head. “I’m not real sure you do understand…” he started, but just then someone must have crested the hill behind us, because he looked up and hurried back to his board. He was gone before I managed to get back on my feet. I made my way down the hill, heart still racing, whole body shaking, and headed for the closest open restaurant at the base of the mountain. I wanted to be around as many people as possible until it was time to meet up with Bruce and Angelica.

I got a table by a window, so I could see Angelica and Bruce when they arrived at the base of the slope. I sipped an ice water and munched on breadsticks. I was lost in thought, watching people go by, when someone sat down at my table.

“Alice sent me,” Doug said. “She told me what Reid did to you, and she wanted me to tell you that she’s sorry.”

I took out my cell phone and put it to my ear. “She couldn’t have done anything to stop him.”

“Maybe not, but she still feels like she let you down.” He looked exhausted.

“Are you okay?”

He smiled at me. “I feel old, Kelsey. I’m dead. I shouldn’t ever have to feel old again, don’t you think?”

“Feelings don’t go away just because you die. What’s making you feel old?”

He looked around at all of the people in the restaurant, and I thought he wasn’t going to answer. I was about to ask him to tell Alice that I was fine when he looked at me.

“I miss being a part of all of this. I thought that by helping you, I could feel like I had a purpose and I could forget how much I miss being alive. I haven’t been able to do anything at all to help you, other than deliver Alice’s messages.”

“You help me just being here.” It sounded like he was going to leave me soon, and I didn’t want him to go. I knew that it would be the best thing for him, but, for once, I wanted to be selfish. I had too few friends to lose him now.

He sighed. “I’m tired and I feel like I need to…but I’m going to see this out, Kelsey. I’m going to make sure you’re okay.”

“You don’t have to…” I tried to sound sincere.

He placed a ghostly hand over my own. “I want to make sure you’re okay. My wife is happy and my daughter seems to have adjusted better than I had expected. You’re the only one I still worry about, and I need to know that you’re okay.”

Tears pricked my eyes. “Thank you.”

“I’ll be back to check in with you, soon.” And he was gone. Eventually, he would leave me for good, but I didn’t have the energy to accept it at that moment. I focused on the next time I would see him and how grateful I was that he was sticking around a bit longer.

Angelica and Bruce showed up an hour late, apologetic and too happy for me to be annoyed with them. I pretended that I’d gotten there only half an hour before them. We all agreed that we were ready to call it a day and headed back to Bruce’s truck.

“Where should we go for lunch?” Angelica said, smiling at me to let me know that she was including me.

“I’m going home. I drank too much last night and I’m not ready to eat yet,” I lied.

“I guess it’s just you and me, Angelica.” Bruce made no effort to hide his happiness at that prospect, and I was reminded, for the first time that day, of how annoying I’d found him on our dinner date.

“You sure you don’t want to come just for the company, Kels?”

I looked at Angelica to make sure she wasn’t inviting me as protection from this guy she had decided she had no interest in, but her smile was open and honest. She looked happier than I’d seen her in a long time. “No, thanks. You guys are great and everything, but…”

“You’d rather find Caleb and see what his lunch plans are?” she asked.

“No, I’d just rather nurse this hangover alone for a little while.”

We reached the truck, loaded up our gear, and took our seats. Bruce started the engine as Angelica looked back at me. “You don’t feel too bad, do you? Did you have fun skiing?”

“I had a great time,” I said. “But I’ve used up whatever energy I had, and I’m starting to get a tiny headache.”

“I’m sorry you have a headache, but I’m glad you had fun skiing,” she said. She proceeded to tell me her opinion of the conditions of each of the slopes and what kind of day she and Bruce had.

I let her words flow over me as I stared out the window and continued to wonder what to do about Reid, as I’d been doing for the past few hours, with no resolution. If I did what he asked, I was pretty sure I would be in trouble with the police for lying to them. Of course, I had been hit pretty hard and could claim confusion. It might put me in a good position to ask about Landon’s death. The problem was that I didn’t believe Reid would leave me alone if I did what he asked. I had never encountered someone who carried so much rage and who was so truly frightening. When he said he could kill me and get away with it, I believed him. If I told the cops he was innocent and he was returned to good standing, he’d have no incentive to stay away from me.

“Earth to Kelsey.” Bruce was standing in front of my open door looking at me. “We’re here. You can get out of the car now.”

“Oh,” I said with a forced smile. “I’m sorry. I am so out of it. Where’s Angelica?”

“She ran in to get a quick shower before lunch. I guess she didn’t take one before we left this morning.”

I climbed out of the car and laughed. “She told you that? She must really like you.”

He was standing at the back of the Explorer, ready to open the tailgate, but he dropped his hand when I said that. “You really think so?”

“I really do. There’s something that’s still bothering me, though.”

He sat down on the curb and motioned for me to sit next to him. “Tell me about it.”