The Water Keeper(54)
“Not right now. Sometime. We need to get back to the hospital.”
She sat cross-legged, unwrapping her sub. “Eighty-seven?”
“A difficult one. Maybe the most difficult. Teenage daughter of a senator. High profile. We chased her through more states than I can remember. Then countries. The guy who bought her was wealthy beyond measure and somehow had better intel, so he was always a step ahead of us. But he was also cocky. Which is a bad combination. The trail went cold for weeks, and then one of our guys found a credit card transaction at this remote spa in Switzerland. The receipt included lemonade. We knew it wasn’t his. Guy was a health nut and didn’t consume sugar. We rented the suite next to his and extracted the girl when he brought in a masseuse.”
“How?”
“I was the masseuse.”
“And?”
“The little girl and I walked out the front door. She’s in college now. Harvard. On the rowing team. Top two or three in her class. Headed to law school. Sends me Snapchat videos.”
“And the guy?”
“Confined to a wheelchair. Drinks his meals through a straw. Does not enjoy prison from what I hear.”
She chewed silently. “And 204?”
“204 is the mother of 203. Sally Mayfair. She felt somewhat guilty for the circumstances that led to her daughter’s disappearance. Felt like she was to blame. She wasn’t, but while it’s possible to convince the mind, convincing the heart is another thing entirely.”
“Why did he suggest I ask you about those?”
“To encourage you. He can’t tell you everything will be all right because we don’t know. It might not be. It might be really bad. But he was trying, in his honest way, to lift your spirits by telling you that we have found even the most difficult ones.”
She raised an eyebrow. “And 204?”
“Most parents feel responsible. Blame themselves. Woulda, coulda, shoulda. He’s trying to silence those whispers.”
She tilted her head to the side. “You ever going to tell me your real name?”
“It’s better for you if I don’t.”
“And when this is over, will I ever see you again?”
“That’s probably more up to you than me.”
Chapter 23
We overnighted the drives to Colorado and drove the boat mechanic’s Tacoma to the hospital, where I heard laughter. Clay was sitting upright in his room. Clear fluids dripping into his left arm. A beautiful nurse taking his blood pressure. He was reclining slightly, legs crossed, a plate of hot food in his lap. Living the good life while entertaining Ellie and his new girlfriend with stories from prison. He looked better. And his laughter was not accompanied by a cough, which meant the steroids had reduced the swelling. Hopefully the antibiotics would work next.
Gunner saw me and launched himself off the ground where he’d lay in vigil next to Clay. The old man looked at the bruising on my face and the stitches on my neck and arms. He sat upright and actually set one foot on the floor as if he were going to a fight. “Looks like you been tangling with some of my friends.”
“They had definitely done time.” I patted his shoulder and he relaxed. I asked him, “You good?”
At this moment, his twentysomething nurse walked back in carrying another IV bag of fluids. “Yep, I’m about to take my nurse dancing.”
I’m not sure of the reason, but people who spend an extended amount of time—and specifically hard time—in prison have an uncanny sense of humor that makes light of even the heavy stuff. It’s a beautiful gift. And Clay had it more than any man I’d ever met. Which spoke volumes about the hardness of his time.
I spoke to Clay. “When you finish with your great-granddaughter there, get some sleep. You’ll need it. I need to check out an address, but when I return, I’m heading south. You be ready?”
He nodded, laid his head back, and patted the bed next to him where Gunner immediately appeared and curled up into a ball. “I’ll be waiting on you.”
I look at both Summer and Ellie. “Any way I can convince you two to hang here? I’d better do this alone.”
Summer stood. “Not likely.”
“How’s this going to work if you don’t ever do what I ask?”
She put a hand on her hip. “You stop asking and I’ll stop telling you no.”
Ellie stood next to Summer. “I’m with her.”
We returned to the Best Western where my lack of sleep caught up with me. I’d had no rest for a couple of days and been in a pretty good fight, and my body was feeling it. I knew I needed to check that address, but I also knew I’d be no good if I didn’t get some sleep. I spoke to the two of them. “I can’t keep my eyes open. Maybe sleep an hour or two.”
They nodded, but something told me their nodding had less to do with them and a whole lot more to do with me. I rented a second room next to the first, told them good night, and closed the door behind me. I set the thermostat on snow and lay down on the bed. My body hurt, the stitches hurt, and I’d taken more licks in that fight than I cared to admit.
I don’t know how long I’d been asleep, but somewhere in the dark someone slid under my sheet and wrapped an arm around my chest, nestled her foot around my leg, and rested her head alongside mine. I woke but didn’t stir. I was reminded of that scene in The Once and Future King where King Arthur climbs in bed with his wife to celebrate their wedding only to find out the next morning that he’d been tricked by a different woman. My fears were laid to rest when she spoke softly. “Remember how I told you there was more to my and Angel’s story?”