Out of the Storm (4 page)

“Thanks,” Eric said, closing the distance between them and giving his mother-in-law a hug. He’d known Louise for most of his thirty-one years. Had fallen in love with her daughter when they were twelve. After Eric’s mother died a few years later, his father was never the same. Lu had taken care of him like her own.

“I’ll get back to Bobby.” Eric held up his cell and nodded.

“And Becky called.” Louise raised her eyebrows. “Rebecca, from BCSS. She needs to talk to you.” She backed away and studied him. “Been quite a year, eh, LT?”

A lump formed in his throat. LT…Lieutenant. His rank as a Green Beret Team Leader. No one had called him that since Elaine.

“I’ve had better,” he whispered, finding her eyes.

Lu studied him, acknowledging the understatement. His wife and high school sweetheart—Louise’s only child—had been killed in a hit-and-run on the way home from her baby shower last spring. Their little girl had been born as a result of the accident, surviving for six heartbreaking hours.

Eric hadn’t taken it in the stoic way his friends expected of a hard, seasoned veteran. Alcohol became his elixir. Not all the time or every day. But an occasional balm to soothe his lonely soul and fill the long, empty evenings. Now, a girl he’d met once had descended on him with her little family. It was the last thing he needed.

“Look, I’ll go, get washed up, brush my teeth, have some of that fine-smelling coffee of yours, and make the calls.”

“Eric.” The halting quality of Lu’s voice caused him to turn. “There’s something else.” She hesitated, watching him.

“Okay. Shoot,” he whispered.

“It’s about Kylie. That’s the little girl’s name.”

Eric nodded.

“She’s not Ashley’s sister.”

Eric got a hollow feeling. He knew where this was going.

“She’s Ashley’s daughter.”

“I figured that.” He sat down heavily on a cane-back chair and shook his head. “How old is she?”

“Seven,” Louise told him. “She’s adorable. A real doll. Polite, kind.” She squeezed his shoulder.

“Seven,” he whispered.

Eric stood and walked down the hall to the bedroom door, opening it quietly. He stared at the child’s face. Her image mirrored the fourteen year-old he remembered.
Seven
, Eric thought as he closed the door.
Ashley would have been seventeen.

“And they had no bags, no clothes, or stuff with them?” he repeated his question from the night before. It made no more sense this morning.

She turned. “No,” she said, looking curious. “You’re right. I never thought about it until you mentioned it, but they didn’t.”

He headed for the stairs. The thought nagged at him. Maybe he was being too analytical, too cynical. Combat made you that way. Assess every detail, look at everything. Especially the ones that seemed trivial. They were usually the most important, the ones that could mean the difference between life and death.

No backpack, no change of clothes, toothbrush, not even a stuffed animal for the little girl. It just didn’t make sense. There had to be an explanation. But it could wait. It had too. Ashley was in the hospital, there was a seven-year-old sleeping in his guest room, and he had a business to run. He stopped. Maybe Ralph really had pushed them out the front door. If that was the case, Eric wanted to know why.

“Be back in a second,” he said as he changed directions and turned toward the living room. Eric went to the generous nook that had doubled as a home office and Elaine’s sewing room. Small but cheery, sunlight poured in through the sheer curtains from the east-facing windows. It did nothing to brighten Eric’s mood. A phone sat on the small desk, and he could close the door for privacy. He pulled a yellowed slip of paper from the bottom of the top drawer. The last number he had for Ralph.

As he was about to dial, Eric looked at the phone. The message light blinked. He never came into the room to use the phone. He always used his cell or the land-line in the kitchen. Eric picked up the handset. He had a strange premonition. Swallowing hard, Eric pressed play.

A scratchy voice spoke to him. “Eric…” his brother’s voice whispered. “I know we…we didn’t always get along. But there’s something I have to ask you. You remember Ashley, Melissa’s daughter? You don’t owe me anything, but I got a funny feeling she may show up at your place. Please, if she does, take care of her. Real good care. She’s a great kid and she’s in bad trouble.” Silence followed. “She got into something that…” Ralph started then stopped suddenly. The line went dead. He covered the receiver. Maybe Eric had misjudged his brother.

Chapter Five

Eric replayed Ralph’s voice mail three times. Nothing. Not a clue. He stared at the phone, remembering one of his professors defining stupidity as repeating the same thing with the expectation of different results. There was something in his brother’s voice, an intonation he’d never heard from Ralph—regret, fear, a plea for help? Eric tried returning the call twice. The number on caller ID was the same one he had in his drawer. A recorded message told him the number was no longer in service.

Ashley was running away from something and Ralph knew about it. He wasn’t the reason. An abusive boyfriend, the police, bad guys? What could have happened to bring her to his door. Leaving everything and dragging her daughter six hundred miles through a monsoon wasn’t a schoolgirl whim. This was something heavy. Had she brought the danger with her? What about him, Lu, and everyone she came in contact with? He needed answers.

“Eric.” Lu opened the door, holding a cup of steaming coffee. “I thought you forgot this.” She brought the mug in and stopped, studying his face. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He took a deep breath and cleared his throat. “Just an old message I missed.”

Eric took the mug.

“Could you bring your coffee into the kitchen? Please.” She gestured. Her eyebrows were raised, but she wore a soft look. “There’s someone I want you to meet.”

Eric swallowed and nodded, following his mother-in-law as he ran through his options. When they arrived in the kitchen, Eric stood facing the little girl he’d seen the night before. The child was very thin. She had Ashley’s large, dark eyes and dimples carved into her shallow cheeks. In the daylight her short hair looked dark-brown, like her mother’s. Kylie looked so frightened and alone. His throat tightened. She sat at the table, eyes downcast, wearing the same worn clothes she had the night before. She was without a doubt the most adorable little girl he had ever seen.

“Eric. This is Kylie.” The child stood and approached him slowly, her lips pushed together tightly.

“Hello, Kylie,” Eric said, holding out his hand. “It’s very nice to meet you.”

The little girl looked at Louise, then put her tiny hand in Eric’s and shook it. Her grip was so strong it caught Eric off guard. “Hello,” she whispered in a voice that mimicked her mother’s soft drawl.

“Did you sleep okay?” Eric said, unsure what to ask this sad little stranger.

“Yes, sir.” She nodded. “I did.”

Eric looked at his mother-in-law. “You rest here with Aunt Lu, today. Your mommy’s sick, but I promise she’ll be home real soon.”

“Yes, sir. I will,” Kylie repeated, her small face deadly serious as she moved behind Louise.

“Now, come on. Sit down and have some eggs and pancakes.” Louise pushed Kylie gently and pointed to the table, putting a bottle of maple syrup in front of her. The little girl glanced at Eric and sat down. She closed her eyes and mouthed a silent prayer. Louise raised her eyebrows and looked at Eric. He shrugged as a smile crossed his face.

Kylie attacked her breakfast. Eric watched, sipping his coffee and picking at a piece of cinnamon toast. He wondered how long it had been since this little girl had eaten a good meal. When she finished, Kylie inhaled a full glass of orange juice, then sat quietly, hands folded as she looked back and forth between Eric and Louise.

“Would you like some more?” Lu offered. Kylie’s face lit up.

“Yes, ma’am. If it’s okay?”

“Of course, honey.” Louise nodded and filled her plate.

Kylie hesitated. “Back home none of us ate till everyone had food.”

Eric touched her soft, silky hair and smiled. “You eat your fill.”

He motioned for Lu to join him in the hallway. “Look, I know it’s asking a lot, but could you look after her for a few hours. I have some things to check on.”

“Sure,” she said. “Do what you have to. We’ll be fine. She needs a bath and I’ll see if Cuffy’s has some clothes her size. I washed what she had on but they could still walk away on their own.” Louise shook her head.

“You’re too good to me.” Eric kissed her forehead. He went to a drawer next to the stove and pulled out two one-hundred-dollar bills. “Here. This should cover whatever you need.”

“Okay, but it may cost you. I’m feeling like Chinese take-out tonight.” She grinned at him.

Eric ran upstairs to get cleaned up. He took his cell phone and speed-dialed the marina.

“What’s happening, boss?” Bobby asked when he heard Eric’s voice.

“Some strange shit. You wouldn’t believe it if I told you. I gotta ask you to handle things today, at least for a while.” Eric knew Bobby loved being left in charge. He could imagine his friend’s wide grin.

“You got it. Call me later, and tell me what’s happenin’.”

“Thanks, Bob. Will do.” He pushed the button to end the call.

After he downed the cup of coffee and brushed his teeth, Eric ran downstairs and retrieved Rebecca Walsh’s number. He put it into his cell while he thought about Ralph and the cryptic phone message. Expecting Rebecca’s voice mail, Eric was surprised when she picked up on the first ring.

“Hi, Eric?” she asked.

“What’s up?”

“Can you bring Kylie over to my office? I’d like to talk with her.”

“I guess. Since you know her name I assume you’ve spoken to Ashley this morning?”

“First thing.” Rebecca confirmed. “She acted withdrawn. Secretive. Almost surly—like I was prying. Look, I’m no detective. But what you were saying last night about them arriving so unexpectedly got me thinking.”

“And?”

“Like I said. I wasn’t satisfied with her answers. When I asked her about the potential abuse and how she got to your house her answers were vague. She wanted to get rid of me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Said she just happened to find your address and decided to take off and find you. Does that make any sense?”

“Of course not.” Eric’s mind was working overtime. “What about that bag comment? Did you ask about that?”

“Yep.” Another short silence. “Said she had no idea what I was talking about. Claimed it was the pain-killers.”

“That’s possible.” Eric agreed. “That stuff can give you crazy dreams or hallucinations.”

“It could except for one thing.” She paused. “I asked the nurses. They told me they didn’t use any. Just an IV drip and a sedative. And when I asked about the abuse, Ashley dodged the question. When I tried to press her she stonewalled me.”

“Maybe it was something she wanted to forget. You said the injuries were old.”

“It’s possible, except for that nasty cut on her face.”

Eric remembered the fresh bruise and swelling on her face last night.

“I’ll get Kylie and bring her over when she and Louise get back.”

“Maybe she can help. I hate to use a child, but sometimes they can shed a light on a situation. Like what happened and why they appeared at your house. I’m pretty good with kids. I promise I’ll be gentle with her.

“You said last night you were willing to take them in. To let them stay with you,” Rebecca said before she hung up. “We have some paperwork you have to sign. We can do that when you bring Kylie by.”

He thought for a moment. “I did.” He
had
promised to look after them. “Okay. We can talk later.” Eric knew he sounded tentative, even reluctant. Everything he was hearing raised more doubts.

There was silence on Rebecca’s end. “You’re not changing your mind, are you?”

“No,” he told her. But Eric had so many questions. He wanted to talk to Ashley himself.

First, he had two more calls to make.

****

“Dennis Police Department, Officer Monroe. You’re being recorded,” the officer said with rehearsed precision.

“Can I speak to Detective Flaherty, please? Tell him it’s Eric Montgomery calling.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll try his line.”

Fifteen seconds of dead air was followed by a robust, “Hello. Been too damn long, buddy. You doing okay?”

“Yeah, better all the time. Thanks for asking.”

“Okay. What’s the deal? You need a parking ticket fixed?” The heavy voice at the other end gave a throaty chuckle.

“No. Wish it was that simple.”

“Well, just ask. I’m your man.”

Eric and Buzz Flaherty went back to elementary school. Both had been champion wrestlers in high school. Buzz enlisted right after 9/11 and ended up as a warrant officer assigned to the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division. Eric finished college and went the OCS route; both served multiple tours in the Middle East and had a long-standing friendship. He was one of the few Eric let inside the wall he’d built around himself after Elaine’s accident. Buzz had been a willing shoulder more than once.

“I need something that may stretch your rules, Buzz. Nothing illegal but I need info about someone who arrived at my place last night. She needs help, but before I get involved I want to make sure I’m not harboring a fugitive or God knows what else. If it’s asking too much I understand.”

Eric heard the echo of footsteps and a door close on his friend’s end.

“I believe as a decorated veteran and leading citizen you’re showing good judgment and trying to protect the public from possible risk.”

A grin worked its way across Eric’s face. “Thanks, Buzz. I couldn’t have said it better myself.”

“What’s the name you want searched?” Buzz asked.