Chevy Stevens - Always Watching

I drove out there and checked the barn, the cabins, down at the river, calling Robbie’s name, even searching the area where Willow was buried in case Aaron had decided to dig up her body, but the ground was undisturbed. I’d felt ill, seeing the dry fir needles coating the earth, knowing what was underneath that peaceful surface. I thought of Willow’s body, curled up in a forty-five-gallon drum, and backed away from the area, alert to every noise in the forest, until I was safe in my car with the doors locked.

On the way back to the village, my iPhone finally got coverage and a call came through. I recognized the number right away.

“Mary, I can’t—”

“I need to see you. I’ve been thinking about everything you said. I’m ready to talk.” She sounded upset.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t have time right now. I’m trying to find my brother. I think Aaron’s done something to him.”

“How…” She paused, like she was trying to take it all in. “How did he know he was going to the police?”

“I don’t know. But Robbie never made it to the station.”

“Come get me. We’ll look together—I might know some places. And if we have to, I’ll go to the police with you and tell them what I know.”

“Be there in ten minutes.”

When I pulled in the driveway, the dogs didn’t come running. Thinking they were just inside the house, I ran up to the front door and rapped hard. Mary whipped open the door, pulling on a coat. “Come in for a second.”

“I don’t have time—”

“I need to show you something.” Her face was anxious and pale.

I stepped in and she closed the door behind me. She quickly walked toward the kitchen, saying over her shoulder, “I remember a place they used to hide up in the mountains. I can show you, on the map.”

I hurried after her—and stopped abruptly when I saw Aaron sitting at the kitchen table, with Daniel standing behind. Mary sat down across from Aaron, tears on her face. Something cold and hard pressed into my side.

Joseph was holding a gun on me.

I put my hands up, my blood roaring loud in my head as my mind tried to make sense of what was happening. Why was Daniel here? My breath left my chest in a rush when I realized he was also holding a gun, but it was by his side and he didn’t look comfortable with it. He was staring down at his hand, his face pale, and his hair around his forehead wet with sweat.

“Daniel, what are you doing here?”

He met my eyes, then quickly looked away again, shamefaced.

My pulse hammered hard, my throat was tight with panic. My hands still in front of me, I shifted slightly, so I could keep an eye on Joseph, who’d deteriorated even further since I’d last seen him. His hair was greasy, his face pale, and his eyes bloodshot, like he hadn’t slept for days. He looked jumpy, on edge. I said to Aaron, “What do you want?”

“We need to talk.”

They’d brought me here for a reason, and I doubted it was just to talk. That shocking thought led to another. “Lisa, is she—”

“Lisa’s doing very well.” His tone was casual, almost friendly, no sense of urgency.

“What did you do with Robbie?”

“We tried to make him see why going to the police would be a mistake, but he wasn’t ready to listen. It’s up to the Light now.”

My breath caught in my throat. “What does that mean?”

“When he’s ready to surrender to his fears, he’ll be freed.”

I didn’t believe that Aaron ever planned on freeing my brother. Wherever Robbie was, he didn’t have long. I faced Daniel. Maybe I’d have better luck with him. “Please tell me where my brother is. He’s done nothing wrong.”

Sounding overwhelmed, Daniel said, “I thought we were just talking—”

Aaron said, “Enough.”

Daniel stiffened.

I said, “I told you, Daniel, they aren’t what you think.” I still didn’t know what they had planned, but I sensed that things had already gone further than Daniel had expected. “You don’t want to go to jail for anything this man has—”

Aaron said, “Daniel knows where he belongs. He’s my son.”

Shock staggered through me. I looked back and forth between the men. Could it be true? I said, “He’s your father ?”

Mary finally looked up, her eyes focused on Daniel, worry in her face. But it wasn’t worry for herself—it was a mother’s worry. Now I saw it. Yes, Daniel looked like his father, but he had his mother’s green eyes. She must’ve been the one who warned them Robbie was going to the police.

I spoke to Daniel, confused. “Did Heather know?”

Daniel shook his head. “No one knew. I was overseas working at one of the communes. I didn’t want special treatment.” His gaze slid to his father. Special treatment or not, he’d still wanted his father’s approval. I noticed that Joseph’s gaze also flicked to his brother, but then he stared slightly off to the side, his face attentive, like he was hearing or seeing something that no one else did.

I had to keep a conversation going with Daniel, in hopes of distracting Joseph, who was now starting to look agitated. His gaze moved all over the room and even up to the ceiling.

“Why did you marry Heather? For her money?”

He looked shocked. “No, of course not. I loved her.”

“But Aaron encouraged you, he matched you up. He wanted you to marry her because she was wealthy—he knew, Daniel.” I threw out another quick thought. “Did he pressure you to convince her to move back after her parents died?”

He hesitated, a look crossing his face that told me I might not be far off.

Then Joseph, speaking to the side again as though answering someone else, said, “The Light said they had to die, and I was the one chosen to release them.” His voice had an odd, fervent tone, a terrifying intensity that signaled someone no longer in check with reality.

Daniel stared at the back of his father’s head, shock in his eyes as he said, “You killed them?”

Aaron glanced behind him. “It was their time.”

Daniel was stunned—I could see the horror in his face, and the anger. I didn’t know how much longer they’d be content to talk, but I had to keep them distracted.

I spoke to Aaron. “You killed Heather’s parents when she was still vulnerable from the miscarriage—you pushed her over the edge.”

Daniel’s knuckles were white on the gun, a slight shake making the barrel tremble against his leg. He looked back and forth between me and his father. He was furious, no doubt about it, but would he do anything about it?

Aaron said, “They weren’t committed to a spiritual path. Her father was a lawyer—he worked for the logging companies.” Aaron sounded disgusted, and I remembered his long-standing hatred of logging. He added, “Heather was weak.”

Daniel jerked back, his mouth open, and in his eyes, an expression of pain. He walked around the front of the table, to face his father. “You did this? I told you Heather was still having a hard time and you kill her parents? That’s murder. ”

Aaron said, “I did it because I love you. She was hurting you. I could see your struggle—you were weakening, losing faith in our beliefs.”

Daniel looked conflicted, wanting, needing, to believe his father had good intentions and that he had cared for him.

I said, “He doesn’t love you, Daniel. If he loved you, he wouldn’t have kept you a secret all these years. He’s using you.”

Joseph shoved the gun in my side as he said, “Just shut up—shut up.”

I held my hands out. Aaron stood up, took the gun from Daniel’s hand before he had a chance to react, and headed toward me. My blood flooded with adrenaline. I backed up a step and shouted at Mary and Daniel. “Are you just going to sit there and let them hurt me?”