Chapter Seven

Emma cleared urgent care as she had expected. They returned to the house afterwards, where she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. By the time she woke, it was mid-morning, and the circus had arrived. Ring one was the state police and dive team, and ring two, the local police with a noticeably absent Sheriff Preston. Ring three, the family: namely Wesley Vaughn and his wife Audrey. Presiding over them all was a cranky Jake Meyer.

It took a few hours to get everyone coordinated, and the entire time Emma felt naked and on display. She stood at the sidelines, observing, while Sam talked with the Mayor and the dive team. It was clear to her from the mix of furtive and outright curious looks from all assembled, they knew to some extent the tip came from her, and that she was a psychic. Not anyone of credible origin.

Frigid wind blasted across the wide rock ledge that stretched over Holloway Lake. Emma shivered and tried to burrow deeper into the warm folds of Sam’s anorak. Her meager coat was no protection against the arctic weather that had rolled in last night on the heels of the latest departing storm. Sam had insisted she wear one of his, and she was glad this was one thing she didn’t fight him on. The unique scent of him, clean male with a spicy hint of aftershave, gave her an illusion of protection that held her doubts at bay while she underwent the scrutiny and silent judgment of those around her.

Not that she wasn’t used to this kind of thing. If her vision proved false, if she’d read it wrong somehow, she’d have to endure a lot more than simple stares. The ridicule. Innuendo. Even though most of these people meant nothing to her, the jabs still hurt. She bristled in anticipation, hoping she wasn’t wrong. Hoping that she was here and connecting for a reason, and that her keys would open the right doors.

The book didn’t even matter at this point. That was furthest from her mind. Emma needed to prove to Sam she could do this. Prove he could trust her psychic skills. It shouldn’t be important to her, but it was. And because it was important it made her even more vulnerable to him. She hated that. Hated herself. Because she wasn’t strong enough to stop wanting Sam anyway, even if being around him made her so uncertain.

Sam finished up with the state police and the Mayor. That part of the team took a four wheeler down to shore where a boat waited. Soon, those divers would break the water’s surface, twenty five feet below the overhang’s jagged edge. What would they find? She reached out her senses and hit a wall. Emma retreated further into herself and the warmth of the coat.

He joined her as the crowd began to disperse. “Anything?” The concern was evident in the soft tone of his voice and the way he gently took her arm and stood so close. Like they were already lovers. The intimate proximity and the familiarity of his touch brought heat to life in her.

“I expected to feel something when we passed the burned remains of the guest annex. I certainly thought I’d get a hit up here. But nothing. Sorry. I’ll keep trying.”

“If bodies turn up on the dive, that’s good enough for a day’s work.”

The lightness in Sam’s words put her more on edge and reinforced the doubts she had about his ability to accept her and what she did. She sighed and turned towards the path. “I’m cold. Can we wait this out inside?”

“Sure.” He stayed close as they started walking the winding path through the woods that led back to the lodge.

“What were they saying earlier, when Jake kept looking my way?”

“I took care of setting everyone straight. No one’s going to give you a hard time.”

“I’m used to this, Sam. I can take care of myself.”

He was about to speak, then stopped. Up ahead Wesley Vaughn leaned against a large pine, waiting. His long legs were crossed and his body language was very casual for a man at the scene of at least one murder, and potentially more. With his boyish good looks and rugged outfitting, he appeared more like a model from an LL Bean catalog than a famous psychiatrist.

“Looks like we get a chance at interviewing Wes a little earlier than planned,” Sam said. “You ready for him?”

“Should be interesting.” They’d been introduced earlier that day, but it was quick and public, with no chance to interact beyond superficial greetings. In the brief moments she had the impression that Wesley was easy to talk to, difficult to get to talk. The years in his field made him a formidable opponent. She had the sense she’d need to go with her gut on him and not the normal tells that she relied on when interviewing the average person. Emma pulled herself together and braced for impact.

“Just like the old days,” Wesley said when she and Sam reached him on the trail. “I had hoped they were behind us.”

“They are,” said Sam. “This time it’s different. This time we’re checking the lake.”

Wesley smiled blandly. Nothing in his manner suggested that Sam’s comment riled him. He appeared calm, yet distant, like a man watching a play who had no stake in the performance or the outcome, only an interest in the process. “We had no need to last time. Jen died in the fire. We didn’t expect anyone went into the lake. It was only natural the police turned attention elsewhere. Though I wonder what they’d have found if they looked back then. And I wonder what they’ll find now, after so much time has passed.”

With that comment he turned his attention to Emma. His clear blue eyes were bright with intelligence and contained not a hint of guile or malice. “Heath in the lake. That’s quite an intuitive leap.”

Emma knew it was a challenge, yet it was issued in such a passive manner. She matched his bland smile and relaxed posture, mirroring him in a subtle attempt to build alliance. She doubted he’d fall for it, since it was a tool he himself probably used daily in his practice when counseling patients. She did it more so he didn’t see her as a threat. Anything to open a door to his particular truth, she thought. “This must be hard on you, after so many years to have to face the uncertainty again.”

“It’s harder on my wife,” he said, joining them on the path. “I wanted her to stay home but she insisted on coming. She had to see for herself. In fact, she was insistent to the point of being frantic.” He shoved his hands in his pockets, and looked down. “Maybe it will help her get closure. Sam, you know how hard it’s been on her since that night.”

Sam nodded, and they started the trek back to the lodge. “I take it things are the same?”

“We’re trying a new medication. Post traumatic stress disorder is a tricky thing. No one really understands how to treat it effectively, so you keep trying until you find the magic combination of therapy and medical intervention. Audrey has that along with several other issues that make treatment a challenge.”

Emma picked up an underlying current of anxiety. She wanted to think this was over his wife’s condition, but she realized it started when the burned out building that was Jen’s grave came into view. It wasn’t damning evidence, but it was a thread. She decided to see what the anxiety related back to: Jen’s death or Audrey’s problems. “You’re worried about her.”

“I guess I’m transparent. Yes. I’m worried.” The forest ended at the foundation of the ruins. Wesley abruptly stopped walking. “I was hoping not to get into this, but under the circumstances, I can’t pretend any longer. Audrey has been acting strange lately, even for her. Ever since Sam moved back here.”

Beside her, Sam tensed. “What are you getting at Wes? Strange how? And how does it tie back to what’s going on now?”

Instead of facing Wesley, Sam flanked him. Avoiding a confrontational pose often allowed people to open up more. She’d used the same technique herself many times in interview. She’d learned it from her father, a master at the art of getting people to spill their guts along with the contents of their wallets, bank accounts and family fortunes.

“Since you purchased the lodge and moved in, Audrey’s been furtive. Paranoid. I thought it was medications, but we changed them a few times, and still she kept it up. I have a practice to maintain. I can’t sit on her night and day, and she won’t have an aide around.” Wes reached into his olive colored barn coat and pulled out a medium sized envelope, which he handed to Sam. “I’m not proud to say it, but I hired a private eye to follow her. At first to make sure she wasn’t doing anything illegal, like buying street drugs or something of that nature. Jen got her hooked on coke and it was hell rehabbing her. It’s the real reason she lost the baby.”

Sam took the envelope and removed its contents. There were grainy pictures of Audrey, taken from a distance. Emma looked on as Sam thumbed through them, and Wesley continued to talk.

“She’s been meeting secretly with Mike Foyle. I believe they’re having an affair. When I asked her, she denied it. I didn’t show her the pictures, of course. Then, the day after Eric Savitch came to meet with you, she went to Albany and paid for a small storage locker. I have no idea what she keeps there.”

Emma searched for anything to hang onto with emotion and energy, but other than the anxiety, Wesley was a cipher. “Do you know where she has the key?”

“No. She must keep it on her at all times, though, because I’ve searched the house for it and can’t find it anywhere.”

Sam handed him the packet. “She and Mike go way back. This doesn’t look good, but it doesn’t prove anything either.”

“There’s more.” Wesley turned his back to them and gazed out at the lake’s murky surface. “In your voice mail message you asked me about the night Jen died. I know you read my statement. There’s something I need to clear up. Five years ago, I misspoke. Audrey and I did not go to bed together that night. I went up before her. She stayed with Mike, Lora and Jen. When I woke, she was in bed with me, and Jake Meyer was raising hell downstairs. But when I went to bed that night, I was alone. I have no idea what my wife was doing when Jen was killed.”

~ * * * ~

Anger boiled up inside Sam. Lies. It always came down to lies.

“You gave each other an alibi.” He grabbed Wes and spun him round. “What happened, Wes. Try the truth this time.”

“I gave the truth in my statement. All except the fact I went to bed before Audrey. I didn’t want it coming out about the recent drug abuse, or the issues we were having in our marriage.”

Sam took a few calming breaths. Processed the information. He wondered why Keith’s kid brother would implicate himself so obviously. He tried to decide if it was worth believing anything Wes said, and decided probably not. He glanced at Emma who watched them both with a guarded expression. “That means one of you could have killed Jen. You get that, don’t you Wes?”

“I didn’t think Audrey was capable of that kind of deception at the time.” He held up the envelope of photos. “I thought I was doing the right thing as her husband. Why would she kill Jen? She had no reason. They were friends.”

“Your brother died trying to figure out who killed his wife. While you were protecting yours.”

“I know,” was all the other man said in his defense. “I was wrong. I see that now. I need to set the record straight.”

Sam forced himself to get a grip. Wesley was an idiot, at best obstructing justice, and at worst, a potential killer. Before he could say anything else, Emma spoke up.

“You were having problems in your marriage?” she asked softly.

Wesley appeared to jump at the opportunity to talk. “I couldn’t get her pregnant. Many of the Vaughn men are sterile. We were in counseling, but it wasn’t helping. She started using coke with Jen, then had an affair. It wasn’t her first, another reason we were in counseling. I don’t know who with the man was, but she turned up pregnant. Then she lost the baby because of her drug use. We were trying to work things out. That night was supposed to be a new beginning.”

The information blew Sam away. This was not the picture he remembered from the past. But he’d fallen out of touch with the group. Maybe he’d let his perceptions cloud this investigation. Emma, with a fresh set of eyes, could see things he took for granted, or missed because of false assumptions.

He refocused his approach. “Do me a favor, take me through that night. What really happened. Step by step, as best you can recall.”

Wind chased around them. Even after all these years the ruins smelled smoky and disturbing. It wasn’t the perfect place for an interrogation, but it would do.

The younger Vaughn brother took him through the facts as he remembered, matching the statement with the only noted exception of the time Audrey came to bed. He could only confirm it was after he’d fallen asleep.

“Or passed out,” Wes added at the end.

“Passed out? What do you mean?”

“I felt weird. It’s why I went up early. I thought I caught a bug, but it came fast. I don’t remember falling asleep. Things are sketchy after I washed my face. It goes blank after that.”

Not too different from what happened to Mike. Details, then a black out, then waking with no memory. “Do you remember how many bottles of brandy were consumed?”

“That I know. Two. We drank both. I remember thinking I’d need to call the store to have more delivered as it was a staple of the bar.”

“And Jen?”

“She had mineral water, as always. Pellegrino.”

“The last place you saw her?”

“On the way to the den.”

“You never indicated the black out in your statement.”

“No one asked me. The deputy who took my statement seemed interested only in the bald facts, not how I felt about anything. It was all so chaotic that night.”

“It’s about to get more chaotic.” Sam saw Wes in a new light. And the case. There were more holes than he thought, and more chances that it a web of lies hid the truth of who killed Jen and why. More chances, too, that it was one of the five people present on the grounds the night she died. “Anything else you want to come clean with, Wes?”

“It was wrong, I know. I’m not asking forgiveness. Put yourself in my place. What would you do to protect the woman you loved?”

Without thinking, Sam looked at Emma. The reaction shocked him to his core. What would he do? Whatever necessary. Including breaking the law. He swallowed hard. “We should get back to the house. See if they found anything yet.”

“You seem to think they will,” Wesley said soberly.

“I do.”

The other man tucked his hands back in his pockets and rounded his shoulders against the elements. “Keith was right all these years, wasn’t he? To keep searching.”

“He was.” Sam’s Blackberry rang. He answered before it could ring again. Jake was on the other end.

“You need to get back here pronto, Tyler. Divers found something.”

“Any idea what?”

“Heath’s jeep, with remains of two bodies. Emma was dead right in her instructions. Get ready, you’ll both need to give statements.”

“I take it the case is no longer cold?”

“If those bones turn out to belong to Heath, the case gets reopened. If not, a new one starts because there’s way more going on here than a single missing handyman turning up dead in the water. No matter what it ends up being, your lake is now a crime scene.”

“We’re on our way.” Sam disconnected the line. Emma and Wes looked at him with morbid curiosity. Sam related the information from the call.

“This is starting all over again, isn’t it? Audrey won’t handle it well,” Wesley replied, visibly shaken. “I’ll need to break the news to her.”

It was strange to Sam, how a man could show such devotion to a woman who betrayed him. With all this new information, and finding the missing handyman’s body, he was seeing the case, and all the players from a new angle. As fantastic as Emma’s discovery, unless a killer confessed, they’d still need hard evidence and real facts for an arrest and conviction.

Knowing what he did now, Audrey’s role and her actions in the photos with Mike took on an ominous cast. Maybe this was the break he needed to finally get some real evidence, develop a real case, instead of all this skulking about and fooling with things that went bump in the night. “Do what you think you need to do. It’s going to be a long day for all of us.”

The Blackberry rang again. Sam glanced at the screen. Caller ID showed it was Jake. “What’s up?”

“Get Wes down here right now. We found Audrey unconscious on the great room floor. Had an empty pill bottle in her hand. I think she tried to overdose. Ambulance is on the way.”