Beautiful Dead 03. Summer Read online

  'Your mom cal ed your cel phone three times this morning,' Jim told me when he walked into the house with a stack of groceries. 'You never answered.'

  'I guess I lost the signal,' I shrugged. 'So where were you?'

  'What is this, are we living in a police state?'

  'Laura worries about you. The least you can do is answer your phone.' 'I said I lost the signal.'

  'She works too hard. The extra stress is bad for her.' 'Read my lips I lost the signal!'

  I guess I pushed him a centimetre too far. 'Darina, think about your mom for a change. Get past your own stuff and grow up!' Jim was red in the face, slamming packages on to shelves. It was the first time he'd yel ed at me, ever, in five whole years.

  'Believe me, that's what I was doing ditching my problems, trying to

  help someone else.'

  Jim shook his head.

  'It's true. You want to know who? It's Zak Rohr, Phoenix's thirteenyear-old brother. The kid's in trouble with the cops.'

  'I didn't know he had a kid brother.' My revelation made him take the volume down a little. 'Sure, I know about the older one, Brandon - he's bad news and that's one of the reasons why Laura stresses.'

  'Because I see Brandon?'

  'Yeah. Because he gave you the car. What's that about?'

  I shrugged again. 'Why do I have to justify it? Brandon promised Phoenix he'd take care of me. What can I do?'

  'Give the car back,' he suggested.

  'And leave myself stranded? How do I get from A to B?'

  'OK, so keep the car. But now you say the kid brother is fol owing 71

  Brandon's bad example. What exactly did he do?'

  'Nothing. He was there when a couple of older kids started a fire.'

  'Jeez, Darina, that's perfect! Now the Rohrs are nurturing a crazy-boy arsonist.'

  'Zak was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I spoke to him - he swears he didn't plan it or play any part.'

  'And you believe him?'

  'I do. I want to help him. Jim, you've driven a taxi, you hang out with a lot of the older guys in El erton. Do you know a cop cal ed Henry Jardine?'

  'Maybe. What does Jardine have to do with Zak Rohr?'

  'He arrested the three kids outside the school janitor's office, where they set the fire.' Out of nowhere I was having a long conversation with my stepfather and it was going in the direction I wanted. If I played it

  careful y, I could pul off the difficult chal enge of making direct contact with the cop Dean had told me about. 'What kind of a guy is he?'

  'I hardly know him. I only met him through the fishing club we both go to.'

  'A fly-fisher?' The sport was big around here, and I knew Jim spent

  his leisure time out at Hartmann Lake. ' He's cool then?'

  'He's a regular guy and a big fisherman. Like I said, I only see him at the lake. He's there most Sundays.'

  This was good enough. 'Thanks, Jim,' I told him, heading upstairs to my room. And sorry about earlier. I'l cal Mom right away.'

  It's cool when I have a job to do, a new task to focus on, so I made a plan to drive out to Hartmann early next morning.

  I mean, seriously early.

  I was up with the dawn, creeping downstairs and out of the house before Laura and Jim were up, and I was dressed in cut-off denim shorts, Laura's two-sizes-too-big plaid shirt and her hiking boots, secretly borrowed from her closet. How cool did I look!

  The thing was - I had to appear like a regular hiker who liked to catch

  the early bird. Could I do it? Maybe, if I smoothed down my hair and 72

  rol ed up my sleeves. I refused to leave off the mascara though - I drew the line there. I drove out through Centennial, almost forgetting to take a right turn before I reached Turkey Shoot Ridge, so programmed was I into fol owing the route to Foxton.

  'Shoot!' I swung the wheel at the last moment, on to the dirt road leading to the lake. On the way I passed two Jeeps carrying groups of campers who were coming away from the National Forest camp ground.

  Neither gave way to my shiny red car and I ended up twice with two wheels in the ditch. On each occasion, my Summer Madison demo CD

  jumped out of its groove. I played it on a loop, making her the current soundtrack to my life.

  'Red sky when you say goodbye/Red sky makes me cry/Forever.' I

  was singing out loud when I final y reached Hartmann, parked the car in the campsite car park alongside half a dozen SUVs and took a smal shoulder pack from the trunk.

  If I'm honest, this is the point where my detailed plan grew less detailed. I'd come looking for fishermen, and one in particular, so it made sense to make my way down to the lake shore where I saw figures dotted along the water's edge, each with a rod and a line. Of course, they were too far away to make out clearly, and in any case I didn't know what Henry Jardine looked like. So now which way did I go?

  I was stil hesitating when footsteps approached from behind.

  ' Darina?' It was Jon Madison speaking - he owned the footsteps and stopped in fake shock. 'My God, is it you or did my eyes just play tricks on me?'

  'Funny, Mr Madison. Of course it's me.' I saw that he was carrying a big, old-time, non-digital camera, slung on a strap around his neck, and he was dressed in the same plaid shirt and hiking boots uniform as me.

  'What are you doing out here?'

  'Hiking,' I said with a frown. 'What does it look like?'

  'Alone?' Stil Summer's dad made like he couldn't believe what he

  saw. 'I didn't have you down as an outdoors kind of girl.' 73

  I ignored him and stated the obvious. 'So you're taking photographs.' 'For Heather, actual y. Hartmann is one of her favourite places.'

  'She didn't come too?'

  'No. Lately she's gone back to how she was after it first happened. We're coming up to the anniversary, so she's not strong enough to leave the house.'

  'I'm sorry, Mr Madison.'

  'Me too. Heather and Summer were the same real sensitive, creative people. You just want to protect them from al the bad stuff in life. You know you can't, but it doesn't stop you trying.'

  'I hear you.' I thought of Summer out at Foxton, the girl with the golden gifts. And of her mother, the faded, grief-stricken lady I'd seen at the party.

  'Anyways, I had the idea that showing Heather pictures of the lake in the early spring wil , you know, revive her a little. She may even use the photographs to start painting from.'

  'I hope you're right.'

  'I have another thought.' He paused uncertainly. 'How would it be if you came to visit us again?'

  'Would Heather be cool with that?' I asked, considering her response to seeing me in Summer's room during my birthday visit.

  'I'm guessing yes. She talks about you, says it makes her feel closer to our daughter. So wil you?'

  I thought for a while, then nodded.

  Jon Madison took a deep breath and forced a smile. 'Good. Cal this

  evening then.'

  'At six-thirty,' I promised.

  'Don't let me hold up your hike, Darina. See you tonight.'

  'Yeah, goodbye, Mr Madison.' I lurched off to my left, through

  bulrushes and reeds towards a wil ow thicket, not realizing that the soggy ground would suck me down.

  'Watch out!' Summer's dad warned, too late.

  Fifty metres further along the lake's edge, a fisherman flicked his line

  over his shoulder and then jerked it forwards, letting his reel unwind. I heard the whirring noise above the squelch and suck of my boots in the 74

  niud. 'Actual y, I'm out here looking for someone!' I turned to confide in Jon Madison. 'Do you know Henry Jardine?' But this time it was me who was too late - Summer's dad had taken off in the opposite direction and didn't look round.

  'You're looking for Henry?' The fisherman up ahead had overheard my question. 'You're out of luck. He's not here.'

  Shoot again! I didn't have any backup to my crappy plan. 'Are you certain?' I
checked with the old guy with the rod.

  'Trust me,' he grunted. 'I see everyone arrive and leave. He's not here.'

  So what could I do except turn around and squelch back towards the car park? My feet were already wet and the mud was oozing between my toes inside Laura's boots. When I reached dry land, I sat on a rock to unlace them, not even looking up at a newly arrived fisherman who passed close by. The boots and socks were laid out in a row to dry in the sun when I heard the old guy in the distance cal out a greeting to the newcomer. 'Hey, Henry, did you talk with the girl?'

  Now I looked up. I saw the back view of the new arrival - a middle-

  aged man in a grey T-shirt, wearing the long rubber waders that fishermen use, with a canvas pack slung from one shoulder and carrying a rod in his right hand. I sprang up from the rock and ran barefoot after

  him.

  He turned towards me, obviously expecting trouble, concentrating his disapproval on my feet. Then, as I arrived, he looked me up and down.

  ' Do I know you?' he demanded.

  'No. Yes! Wel , not exactly. I was a witness at the Summer Madison

  shooting.'

  'Honey, do you see me in uniform? Does it look like I'm on duty?' the deputy sheriff grunted, getting ready to walk right on.

  I ran to block his path. 'You're Henry Jardine, right? You knew Dean, the cop who was kil ed in a road crash?'

  This halted Henry in his tracks. He didn't let down this guard though he kept his eyes narrowed. His drooping, dark, western-style moustache hid his mouth and stopped me reading his mood. 'What's Dean Dawson 75

  got to do with anything?' he asked.

  'Nothing. He was a friend of yours?' 'So?'

  'I ... knew him. He shared a few theories with me about Summer's death. And no, before you ask, I don't have anything new to tel you about his crash.'

  'And I'm stil out of uniform,' Henry reminded me. But he hung around long enough to show he was interested in what I was doing there.

  'It's about Zak Rohr,' I told him.

  Jardine swatted a fly that buzzed around his face. 'Zak who?'

  'Rohr. You caught him setting a fire with two other kids, remember?' 'Oh, the Rohr family - they're a great addition to the El erton community.' He gave a hol ow laugh and was about to walk on again. 'What happened to your shoes?' he asked as an afterthought.

  They're on the rock back there. Listen, I talked with Zak. He had

  nothing to do with the fire.'

  'You're the girlfriend,' Jardine recal ed al of a sudden. 'Phoenix Rohr had a girlfriend. He was planning on meeting you the night he got stabbed. Wait, I got the name on the tip of my tongue ... Davina ...

  Darina. Yeah, Darina!'

  I could have praised Jardine's powers of recal , but decided against it. Instead, I let my shoulders sag at the mention of Phoenix's name.

  So now you're trying to help out the kid brother,' Jardine went on more kindly than I'd expected. But go figure maybe he doesn't deserve your help.'

  'I talked it through with him the older kids-'

  Jacob Mil er and Taylor Stafford,' Jardine interrupted. 'It was down to them. Zak was a pure spectator.'

  'But he didn't try to stop them.'

  ' It was two bigger guys against one young kid how could he?'

  'I hear you,' Jardine said, turning me around and walking me back towards my footwear. 'I already got the number of Mil er and Stafford, believe me.'

  'So Zak is off your radar?' I felt hopeful enough to press for a straight 76

  answer.

  'I'm writing a report,' was al Henry would say.

  'Including the fact that Zak wasn't directly involved?'

  'Let's say I didn't see him with the empty gas can or the lighter in his hand, and leave it at that. OK?' We stopped by the rock with my boots and socks steaming in the sun. 'I'm not handing out any promises,' Jardine added.

  Thanks,' I said anyway and let out a relieved sigh, sitting down to

  pul on my soggy socks.

  He kept a watchful eye on me and ran a hand over his moustache. 'You pop right «p in the centre of events, don't you, Darina? I'm not only talking about Zak Rohr I mean, you've had some serious bad luck over the past twelve months. Witness to a shooting. Bereaved girlfriend.

  Anything else?'

  'It's plenty,' I said quickly. ' On the Summer shooting I was actual y wondering if there are any moves to fol ow up the arrest of Scott Fichtner?'

  Whoa!' Jardine put out his hands in protest then waved his arms as if he was stopping a runaway horse.

  Sorry,' I mumbled. 'I just read about it online.' 'And you jumped to a conclusion, huh?'

  'I need to know what happened to Summer!' Suddenly I let it al hang out my feeling of horror at what I'd witnessed, my sense of loss.

  Jardine heard it in my voice and read it in my eyes. 'Come see me in my office,' he told me quietly. 'Tomorrow morning, early.'

  'It's taking me a while, but I'm getting there,' I told Summer as I drove out to her parents' house in Westra.

  She wasn't with me in the car, but I guessed the Beautiful Dead had set a spy on me, so I went ahead and talked. Somehow the message would get through.

  'I'm fol owing up the Fichtner connection,' I explained. 'Dean told me straight that you can't remember the face of the guy who shot you and I hear what he's saying. The others couldn't remember the details either I 77

  mean, Jonas and Arizona. I understand about you blocking out the actual

  event - the trauma and everything. So the photograph of Fichtner didn't help I get that.'

  I stopped at a red light, glanced left, then when I looked right again, Phoenix was sitting beside me in his halo of silver light.

  He looked straight at me, giving me his lopsided smile, saying nothing. God, he was beautiful!

  The light turned green but I was too busy gazing at Phoenix to move forward. 'So cool!' I breathed.

  He grinned at me. 'Flying visit.'

  'Ha!' The driver behind me blasted his horn. 'Wait,' I told Phoenix as I eased through the lights, then off the road. 'If they don't let you use your cel phone while driving, they sure don't let you talk to the undead!'

  'Do they al ow talking to yourself or do they pul you over for being a crazy person?' He waited until I was safely parked, then drew me over.

  'I've been watching you since you left home,' he explained between kisses.

  'How long can you stay?' There were more kisses, before, during and after my question.

  'Real y, this is a flying visit. Hunter wants an update.'

  'Tel him I spoke to Henry Jardine. I have an official meeting with him tomorrow at his office. I'm guessing he'l put Scott Fichtner into the frame for us.'

  'So we real y are getting close to an answer.' Phoenix pul ed away from me so that he could see me more clearly. 'Summer needs good news. She's having a hard time right now.'

  'So is her mom. It's the anniversary coming up - Jon Madison says she can't handle it.'

  Summer is so fragile. She's scared there'l be more violence.'

  'Heather Madison won't even leave the house.'

  'I don't know how much more Summer can take.'

  'Jon says they're the same Heather and Summer.' We spoke quickly, not giving the other the chance to finish until in the end we both stopped and sighed.

  'Summer is the last person this should happen to,' Phoenix added. 78

  I agreed. 'Remember Arizona - how tough she came across? None of us were scared she couldn't handle the stress of coming back to the far side.'

  'Summer's different. Sometimes I think it would be better if we didn't try too hard for her, just let the anniversary pass without any answers.'

  'And leave her in torment!' I felt a spark of anger. 'Don't say that, Phoenix. I already talked to Summer about it. We have to solve this thing

  - you know we do!'

  'Wait until you see her,' he warned. 'But be ready for it. And don't say I didn't prepare you.'

  Phoenix
stayed in the car with me until I arrived at the Madisons' place, then we exchanged our last, hurried kisses and he vanished.

  'Wil you be here when I come out?' I wanted to ask, but his light had fizzled and faded, and I knew I wouldn't get an answer. I walked up to the front door, trying to clear my head.

  'Come in, Darina.' Jon opened the door before I knocked. 'I heard your car. For a second back there I thought you had someone with you.'

  'No, I'm alone.' A breath of air blew from behind - a cold, creepy reminder for Phoenix and me to take more care in future.

  Summer's dad opened the door wide. 'I told Heather you were

  coming. She's in her studio, looking at the pictures I shot this morning.'

  Shaking off Hunter's warning signal, I glanced nervously across the hal . 'You want me to go ahead?'

  He nodded. 'I'l make coffee,' he said as he disappeared into the kitchen.

  So I crossed the hal and tapped on the studio door, feeling the silence in the space where there used to be music and laughter. There was no answer from inside the room but I pushed open the door anyway and was greeted by the same jumble of stacked canvases and unused paints and brushes that I'd noticed last time I was here.

  Heather didn't turn or look up. She seemed engrossed in the prints laid 79

  out on a table in front of her, running her fingers lightly over their glossy surface. I noticed again how like her daughter she was, especial y from behind, with the lines on her face and other marks of grief hidden. Her

  fair hair hung loose past her shoulders and she wore the kind of flowered top and floaty skirt that Summer liked. When she spoke, it was with the same gentle voice. ' Come look at these pictures of Hartmann,' she invited. 'See the spring flowers.'

  I went and stood beside her, struggling to find something to say to fil the long silence.

  'Summer loved the spring,' Heather told me. 'It was her favourite time of year. Look at the lake, how beautiful it is.'

  'I was there this morning. It's pretty.'

  'It's over a year now,' she sighed, stil stroking the pictures with her fingertips. 'Since Arizona drowned, I mean.'

  I shook my head in confusion and for the first time Heather glanced

  up.

  'You thought I meant my daughter?'

  No. I mean, I knew you couldn't be talking about Summer ...' I trailed off.