The Seeker by Carolyn Haines

Author:Carolyn Haines [Haines, Carolyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: KaliOka Press

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Joe showed up at the cabin, Chinese takeout in hand. The relief on his face when he saw me dressed and sitting at my desk made me smile.

“I’m too tough to let a bit of snow take me out.”

“I was worried.” He put the food on the kitchen counter. “You were really sick, Aine. The doctor was flummoxed. You didn’t have pneumonia, but you had such a high fever and were so disoriented.”

I stood up and went to him. I’d developed my own theory about my illness: it had come compliments of Mischa. She’d held me in the cabin for hours, filling my mind with lies and probing for my secrets. She’d infected me like some kind of virus. But I couldn’t tell Joe. I couldn’t tell anyone. “Whatever it was, I’m fine now. When I was a child, I would sometimes get sick, like a wave encompassed me. Then it would pass. Like now.” I kissed his neck. “I assure you, I’m healed.”

Joe held me, his hand stroking my hair. “Chief McKinney told you about Karla.”

“He did.” I spoke with my cheek pressed to his chest. “I’m so sorry, Joe. McKinney wants you to call him.”

“I stopped by before I came here.” He eased away from me.

“What happened?”

“They’re still investigating. She was at Walden. You know the place where the two big black oaks make a natural place to sit?”

I knew it well, because I often sat there daydreaming about Bonnie and Thoreau. While Joe unbagged the takeout, I arranged the chairs so we could sit together. “She shouldn’t have come back.”

“No, she shouldn’t have. From the brutality of the murder, the chief thinks it was drug-related. Karla always thought she could lie and cheat and never face the consequences. McKinney figures she was trying to make a buy from someone she already owed money to.”

“I told him she’d attacked me, but he already knew. He was a little upset we didn’t call and report the incident, but I think I explained everything—how it would drag you back into the limelight, reopen old wounds. I told him she’d promised to leave town if I didn’t press charges.”

Joe put his elbows on his knees and lowered his head into his hands. “You were right. We should have reported it when it happened. If she’d been locked up, she’d be alive today.”

I stood and massaged the tight muscles of his shoulders. “If she’d gone to Nebraska, she’d be alive.” My anger boiled to the surface. “She’s put you in a terrible place, and me too. Now we’re both involved in a murder investigation for a freaking meth head!”

Joe eased out from under my hands. “I’m sorry, Aine. I am.” Pain touched his features. “When Mischa disappeared, it was such a blow. I was fond of her, as a teacher is often connected to a student who shows curiosity and a love of learning. She was a special child. Gifted. And the way she disappeared, going into the woods. I felt responsible.

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