Chevy Stevens - Always Watching

I startled. “You know my brother?” I wondered why he hadn’t mentioned it the first time I came up.

“When I was still on the force, I had to break up a fight he was in at the pub.”

I wrinkled my brow. “What was the fight about?”

“Don’t know. The other two guys took off. It took a couple of us to settle Robbie down, and he wouldn’t tell us what happened.” He held my gaze. “He had a pretty bad temper.”

Something about the way he said it felt like a warning, which confused, then angered me. “He was younger. He’s worked through his issues.” I had no idea if that was true or not, but he was my brother.

Steve nodded, and then smiled. “We’ve all got issues.”

I followed the men back to the main road, but they kept going straight to the village, and I turned toward my brother’s. In case it got back to him that I was in town, I wanted him to hear it from me first. I also wanted him to know about Lisa. He’d always had a soft spot for her, and if he’d had any memories of the commune that he wasn’t sharing, he might change his mind knowing she could be at risk.

He was working in the shop again. Brew gave a woof and bounded over to me, sniffing at my legs for traces of Wyatt. Robbie straightened up from the workbench where he’d been sharpening the blade on a chain saw, the tool still in his hand. He looked over my shoulder, studied the mud on the car. I watched his face, the way his jaw muscles tightened.

I said, “Hi, I wanted to let you know that Lisa might be at The River of Life Center.”

He turned back to me, his face confused. “Whatya mean?”

I told him everything, then added, “If she’s gone there, she could end up staying. So I’m hoping that the center will get shut down. Tammy, the woman I found, she might go to the police, but she’s still struggling with the decision.”

“Does Aaron know you’re talking to people?”

“I don’t know, maybe.”

“He’s not going to like this.”

I thought about the truck rushing past, the hang-ups, the feeling of being watched, wondered again if it was someone from the commune. “No, you’re right. He won’t, but there’s not much I can do about that.”

Robbie picked up on my tension. “Has he come after you?”

“I’ve been getting some strange calls and a couple of drive-bys.”

“You should just back off and forget—”

“He’s hurting people, Robbie. You wouldn’t believe the things he’s doing now. He’s got these chambers, where he basically starves people, and—”

“He’s starving them?” His face was stunned, his mouth open, eyes wide.

“Yes, in isolation chambers.” I told him everything Tammy had shared.

Now he was pacing, back and forth, like a boxer in a ring without an opponent.

“Fuck. I told you—they’re messed up.”

“That’s why I have to do this. There’s a woman, her name’s Mary. She was from the commune, and she still lives out by the river. Did you know that?”

He looked wary again. “No, but Mom used to go see some woman.”

My turn to be shocked. Mary hadn’t mentioned anything about spending time with my mother after they’d left the commune.

Robbie was studying my car again. “Where did the mud come from?”

“I met with a retired police officer out at the commune. Steve Phillips…”

Robbie turned back to the saw and began to sharpen, the tool making a rasping sound in a steady rhythm. “Yeah, I remember Steve.”

“He remembers you too.” I paused, waiting for him to inquire further, or give me some acknowledgment, but the rasping continued.

I added, “He said he busted up a fight you were in years ago.”

Now Robbie turned around, his face angry. “I told you not to talk about me to cops. Why the hell would he tell you that?”

“He’s retired, and I didn’t ask. He brought it up. He has a friend who has a cadaver dog. We searched the commune site, and—”

Before I could get the words out Robbie said, “You searched the site? What for?” His face was shocked.

“For Willow.” Then I told him about Mary’s finger.

Robbie shook his head. “I don’t know anything about that, but Willow, she got the hell out of there. Last time I saw her, she was hitchhiking on the logging road back to town—the morning she split from the commune.”

I was confused. “How did you see her? Weren’t you sleeping?”

“I’d gotten up early to go fishing at the big pool down by the bridge. I was just coming back when she was leaving.”

I paused, thinking it through. “But you still don’t know if she made it out. If she couldn’t get a ride, she might have returned and—”

“No, I saw one of the logging trucks stop for her—a red one.”

His last statement connected with a thud. I thought of Larry, of his big red truck and his leering at pretty seventeen-year-old girls. Was it possible he picked her up? Heat infused my face. All the time we’d been out there searching, and Willow was probably living somewhere with three grandkids by now.

I waited to see if Robbie would add anything, but he was quiet. I was ashamed to realize that I wanted to be right about this, wanted to believe that I hadn’t just been chasing ghosts. Now I feared I’d been wasting everyone’s time. I still had a few questions.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were friends with Willow?”

He gave me a what-are-you-talking-about look. “I was friends with everyone in the commune.”

“You were more than friends.” I didn’t really know if it was true, but something made me say it.

His face flushed, and his mouth tightened. “I was more than friends with lots of the girls. What’s your point?”

What was my point? Was I actually accusing my brother of lying to me?

“I just wondered if you knew anything else that might help me find her.”

“What’s going on with you? I didn’t know anything else about her, okay. She was just some chick at the commune. I hear from you once a year, and now you’re on me every day about this shit. Why do you care so much about her?”

I hadn’t seen Robbie this angry in years. “I’m sorry. You’re right, I’ve been pressuring you.”

Robbie’s shoulders relaxed slightly, but he still looked upset. I watched Brew, who was watching Robbie, his eyes anxious, a low whine starting from his throat. He came over and sat near Robbie’s feet, bumping against him. I wondered myself why I was so obsessed with finding Willow. Then it came to me.

“I guess because I wasn’t able to help my patient, I’ve fixated on Willow.”

He nodded. “Are we done with this? I’ll hose your car off.” I knew it was a peace offering, but I still felt frustrated. My brother was shutting me out, again.

“Thanks. That would be great.”

As he rinsed off my car, I remembered that I’d also wanted to ask him about Levi. He’d reacted badly to my previous questions, but he’d been friends with Levi, so I didn’t think it should be a problem. I said, “Steve also told me that Levi moved back here, and he runs the ski school. Did you know that?”

He kept spraying the car in swoops. “Yeah, I knew he was here.”

“I might go talk to him.”

“What do you want with Levi?”

“I told you. I’m trying to find witnesses. Why did you tell me that no one from the commune lived here anymore?”

This time it was an outright accusation: You lied to me.

He didn’t bother defending himself, just kept spraying the car. I was starting to get angry with his avoiding my questions—avoiding me. I moved around the hose, standing within his eyesight. He still didn’t look up.

“What happened? You two used to be close.”