Софи Келли - Paws Аnd Effect

“I should be out of here in about ten minutes and you can—” John opened the door as he stuffed papers into his messenger bag. He looked up, surprised to see Marcus and me instead of the maid he’d probably been expecting. “Hi,” he said. He looked at us and his expression grew serious. “What did Travis do?” he asked. “Is he all right? I swear I’m going to kick him when I see him. He didn’t come back last night and I had to rent a car this morning so I can get everything done. Lucky for me I found a place that opened at seven thirty.”

I felt my chest tighten as though a giant hand were squeezing me. This was part of Marcus’s job and I wondered how he did it over and over again.

“Marcus, is Travis all right?” John asked a lot more insistently.

“As far as we know,” Marcus said. He was in police officer mode. His voice was strong and steady.

“What do you mean as far as you know?”

Marcus ignored the question. “John, it’s Dani.”

John grinned. “Let me guess. She got nabbed for speeding again.” He looked at me. “Dani has a lead foot.”

“Could we sit down for a minute?” Marcus asked.

“Sure.” John took a couple of steps back. “C’mon in.”

I followed Marcus into the room. It looked just like any other motel room I’d ever been in: bed, nightstand, dresser, flat-screen TV above the desk. There was a large duffel bag on the end of the bed.

John gave Marcus a puzzled smile. “So what’s up?”

“Dani was out looking at the land around Long Lake,” Marcus said.

“Yeah, I know. I talked to her yesterday afternoon. She said she might stay in town last night. She didn’t want to run into Travis out here.”

“John, she had an accident,” Marcus said. I could see the tension in his shoulders and the stiff way he held his body.

John’s gaze darted between the two of us. I stuffed my hands in my pockets because they suddenly felt huge and clumsy. “What kind of an accident?” he asked slowly.

“She fell. There was an embankment not that far from the lake. It looks like she was taking core samples.”

John swore. “Is she in a hospital here or back in Minneapolis?”

For a moment Marcus didn’t say anything, and when he did it was just a single word: “Johnnie.”

John closed his eyes. I could see from the set of his jaw that his teeth were tightly clenched together. He let out a shuddering breath. “When?”

“Last night,” Marcus said. His right hand moved sideways and I caught it, giving it what I hoped was a comforting squeeze before letting go again.

John opened his eyes again. “This wasn’t supposed to happen,” he said. “Not to Dani.” He looked at me. “You didn’t know her, Kathleen, and I know this is the kind of thing people always say when someone dies, but she was special.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t get to know her,” I said, feeling more than a little helpless in the face of both his and Marcus’s grief. “I liked what I did know. I’m so sorry.”

He gave me what passed for a smile for him right now. “Thank you.” Then he turned to Marcus. “We have to find Travis. He can’t hear about this from a news report or from some stranger.”

“I’m working on that,” Marcus said. “Do you know where he is?”

John shook his head. “Like I said, he didn’t come back here last night. I got the maid to check his room. The bed hadn’t been slept in. I just assumed he’d stayed in town . . . like I thought Dani did.”

Marcus’s phone buzzed then. He pulled it out. “It’s Hope,” he said. “She might have something.” He stepped just outside the door.

“Hope is Marcus’s partner,” I explained to John. “She’ll be in charge of the investigation. Don’t worry. She’ll find Travis.”

John put a hand over his mouth for a moment. “I know what a jerk he was yesterday but he shouldn’t have to hear this from a police officer, a stranger .”

I shook my head. “He won’t.”

“I should go with him.” He meant go with Marcus to give Travis the news, I realized.

“I think you probably can.” I hesitated, and then laid my hand on his arm for a moment, hoping there would be some comfort in the gesture.

“It wasn’t supposed to end like this,” John said, glancing toward the door. “We were supposed to be friends again. Why don’t things work out the way they’re supposed to?”

He was talking to himself, not me, which was good, because I didn’t have any answers.

Marcus came back in with the news that Travis was in Red Wing.

“I’m going with you,” John said. He looked at me. “Kathleen, could you . . . explain to Maggie. Please tell her I’m sorry. And I was going to call Rebecca.” He made a helpless gesture with one hand.

“I’ll take care of all of that,” I said. “Don’t even think about it.”

Marcus put a hand on my shoulder and leaned down to kiss me. “I’ll call you or I’ll come in to the library when we get back. I don’t know how long this is going to take.”

I nodded. “I wish this hadn’t happened.”

“Me too,” he said.

I’d driven my truck up to the Bluebird Motel. Marcus and John got into his SUV and turned in the direction of Red Wing and I headed back to town. I had my things so I just went to the library even though it was early. I parked at the far end of the lot, the way I usually did, and as I walked across the pavement to the front entrance I couldn’t help thinking that it felt wrong somehow that it was such a beautiful day given what had happened to Dani. Once I got inside I put on a pot of coffee and while I waited for it I called Maggie. This wasn’t something I could do in a text.

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “Is John okay? And Marcus?”

I leaned against the counter. “They’re all right. Sad. Shocked.”

“What can I do?”

I sighed. “I don’t know. I have to call Rebecca, but other than that, I don’t think there is anything we can do. She was out there by herself, so there’ll be an investigation. Hope’s in charge given that Marcus knew Dani.”

“What if Brady and I went out to Wisteria Hill? I could try to find that plant again. Brady knows that whole area, too.”

“That’s a good idea,” I said. I had no idea what effect Dani’s death would have on the work of the coalition of environmental groups. I wasn’t sure how John and Travis would feel about staying in the area and continuing their work without her. I knew they felt strongly about stopping the development.

Maggie promised to take pictures of anything that seemed promising and we said good-bye. I knew she was right about Brady. He and his brothers had grown up in the woods in and around Wisteria Hill. His father, Burtis Chapman, had worked for Idris Blackthorne, Ruby’s grandfather and the one-time area bootlegger. A lot of things had happened at the old man’s cabin on his stretch of land adjacent to Wisteria Hill, but the trees told no tales.

I called Rebecca and explained what had happened to her as well. She expressed her sympathy and I promised to be in touch if she could help in any way. “John was out here last night after supper,” she said. “I’d found two more of my mother’s books. He spoke about his friend. It sounded like she was a nice person.”

“I think she was,” I said.

* * *

Marcus came into the library just after eleven. He’d been home to shower and change. He was wearing a white shirt with dark trousers, he’d shaved, and the ends of his hair were still damp.

“C’mon up to my office,” I said. Susan was at the circulation desk. “I need a few minutes,” I said to her.

“Take your time,” she said. As usual, there had been a reporter from the Mayville Heights Chronicle out at the scene of Dani’s accident. The story was already online at the paper’s website.