Craig stepped into the bathroom and snatched the bag out of the sink before Quintana could get a hand on his arm. He moved into the bedroom while opening the bag and pulling out the note. He unfolded it and scanned it. “Oh my God!”

  “Read it to me,” Lee said.

  Craig took a deep breath, glanced at his parents, then read.

  Mom and Dad,

  When you find this, I’ll be long gone. I’ll have finally escaped the hell hole I’ve been living in for the past weeks. Uncle Howie won’t be able to paw me anymore with his grubby hands—and worse. I can’t believe you let him do this to me, even told me to hang out with him! You won’t help me. And nobody else will believe me. I can’t stand to live in fear another day.

  Goodbye,

  Faith

  Aghast, Mandy stared at Craig, blood rushing to her head. Was this a farewell note from someone who was running away from home or a suicide note?

  “When did you find this?” Craig asked his mother. “And why did you keep it from us?”

  Brenda slowly raised her head from Lee’s shoulder and looked at him then her son, defeat and utter surrender making both her expression and her body droop.

  Lee stared at his wife. “Brenda?”

  She heaved a great sigh. “I found it the Sunday morning after Faith disappeared. On the kitchen table when I went down to make coffee. That’s what made me run upstairs and check her bed, only to find it hadn’t been slept in. Then I woke you both up, remember?”

  Lee and Craig nodded.

  “I was shocked by what she said about Howie, and that she thought we condoned it. I thought she might have made it all up. I didn’t want you to see her ugly lies, so I stuffed the note in my pocket.” Brenda closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead.

  “While you two went out to search for her and I called her friends and the neighbors,” Brenda continued, “that note was burning a hole in my pocket. I kept remembering little clues about Howie’s and her behavior. I was horrified that I didn’t see what was happening, but finally I had to admit it to myself. I knew my little girl was telling the truth, and she’d been afraid to come to us with it. God, I feel so guilty.” The last words came out in a choked voice and tears ran down her face.

  Lee stroked her arm. “It wasn’t your fault.”

  “But I pushed her at Howie. By asking him to teach her fly fishing and show her the river, I set her up to be abused by him. And she thought I condoned it, Lee!”

  “Howie probably lied to her, twisted the truth all around so it seemed that way to Faith,” Lee said quietly. “So after you read the note, you confronted Howie?”

  Quintana held up a hand. “Hold it right there. Brenda, you know I’m an officer of the law. You sure you want to answer that question?”

  “I can’t hold in the lie any longer. It’s driving me crazy,” Brenda said to him, then looked at Lee. “I started out toward the Vallie Bridge campground planning to confront Howie. But when I saw him lying there snoring on his sleeping bag, the same bag that we found out later he raped Faith in, I lost it.”

  She clutched Lee’s hand. “He was a monster, Lee, a monster who was preying on our daughter. He wasn’t my brother anymore, and I wasn’t his sister. But I was still Faith’s mother, and I had to protect her.”

  “I didn’t know that she was already dead,” she wailed and buried her face in Lee’s shoulder again.

  Craig stared at his mother, horror stiffening his hands into claws. “You killed him? You killed Uncle Howie?”

  Brenda lifted her head. “Somehow I found the strength to pick up that ax and swing it into his neck, where it stuck. Then when he rose up with a roar like he was going to come after me, I got scared. I saw the bear spray and sprayed him with it. That made him fall back down.”

  “What about the ring?” Lee asked.

  “I stumbled away a few steps, then sat down and watched him die. I was glad at first, because I’d killed the beast who was mauling our daughter. But after he died, the rage just flowed right out of me, and I was staring at my brother again. The brother I’d just killed. I sat there and cried and cried.

  “Finally a squirrel made a noise, and I was afraid again. Afraid that someone would see what I’d done and lock me up before I could help Faith heal. I had to get out of there. I stood up and walked over to Howie to have one last look, and that’s when I saw his ring. It reminded me of our good years, when we were both children, so I took it.”

  She looked at Mandy for the first time since she’d started talking. “I thought I was safe. That no jury would convict poor Cynthia. If they had, I would have come forward. Believe me, I wouldn’t have let her go to prison. She’s blameless in this whole mess. If I was in her shoes, I probably would have done the same thing. Buried the memories of what that monster did. But you, you ruined everything. You and your meddling.”

  Quintana gave a nod of satisfaction and walked forward to face Brenda. “I’m going to have to take you into custody now for the murder of your brother.” He began the slow recital of her Miranda rights while Lee and Craig stared at the floor, shoulders slumped.

  After getting Brenda’s acknowledgement that she understood her rights, he turned to Craig. “I’ll need to take the note and ring with me.”

  Craig folded the note, returned it to the bag, and silently handed the bag to Quintana, who put it in his suit coat pocket.

  With Lee’s help, Quintana lifted Brenda from the chair. At the same time, Rob helped Mandy to her feet so she could hobble out of the master bathroom.

  As Quintana escorted Brenda out of the bedroom, with Lee assisting at her other elbow, Mandy asked him. “Do you think the note was a suicide note? Did Faith kill herself ?”

  His reply was solemn. “We may never know.”

  _____

  Rob drove Mandy to the emergency room to get an x-ray of her ribs. When the emergency room doctor came in the examining room with the x-ray film, he stopped dead. “You two again? Next time, get a padded room.”

  Mandy looked at Rob’s swollen nose and started laughing. She quickly grabbed her sore side. “Very funny, Doc.”

  The doctor grinned. “You’ve got to admit this looks suspicious.”

  “We didn’t do this to each other,” Rob said. “Other people decided to use us as punching bags.”

  When the doctor raised an eyebrow, Mandy said, “It’s a long story—two long stories. Maybe once we’re healed we’ll buy you a beer and tell you.”

  “I’ll look forward to it. In the meantime, look at this.” The doctor held up the x-ray film and pointed out a hairline crack in one rib on her left side. “It looks like it might be incomplete, that the crack doesn’t go all the way through the bone. Unfortunately, there isn’t much I can do about it, other than tell you to take over-the-counter painkillers for the pain, up to twice the recommended dose, if needed. And take it easy for at least six weeks to give it time to heal.”

  Mandy dreaded not being able to work. “What about paddling? I’m a river ranger and part-owner of a rafting business.”

  The doctor raised an eyebrow. “The only thing I suggest you paddle in the next few weeks is a pen, at a desk.”

  “Shit.” The only good thing was that the rafting season was winding down. There was paperwork both at AHRA and at RM Outdoor Adventures that she could catch up on, but that didn’t mean she wanted to do it. “Do I need to wear an ACE bandage?”

  “We don’t recommend compression wraps for broken ribs anymore because they can keep you from taking deep breaths, which can increase the risk of pneumonia. So, even though they’ll hurt, I want you to make an effort to take a few deep breaths every day.” He peered at her until she promised to do so.

  After they came out into the reception area, Rob said, “We make quite a pair, don’t we, with my broken nose and your cracked rib.” He went to give her a hug, then modified it into a gentle caress. “We’ll get through it, mi querida, by taking care of each other.”

  They drove to the pharmacy to pick up some more painkillers. On the way, Mandy popped a couple of Advil and washed them down with a swig from a water bottle. Then Rob dropped her off by her car at the church.

  “You’re sure you can drive?” he asked. “I can take you home.”

  Mandy waved him off. “I’m fine. You’ve got to get going and run that afternoon shuttle.”

  “I’ll come by your house after.” Rob gave a wave and drove off.

  As Mandy eased herself into the driver’s seat of her Subaru, her cell phone rang.

  It was Quintana. “After I booked Brenda, I filled out all the paperwork to release your friend Cynthia. She’s being checked out of the jail now. I thought you’d like to know.”

  “Thanks,” Mandy said. “I’ll go over there now. She’ll need a ride home. Can you get a message to her that I’m coming?”

  After Quintana promised he would, he cleared his throat. “You know, I’m sure, about the legal term, ‘fruit of the poisonous tree’.”

  Mandy was aghast. “You mean the ring can’t be used as evidence, even though I found it by accident?”

  “No, that was what saved us. If you had been deliberately searching without a warrant and found it, we couldn’t have used it, or the note, or Brenda’s confession. None of it.”

  So maybe she hadn’t screwed up. “But now we can.”

  “Yes. However, the DA may ask you to testify under oath about finding the bag in the toilet by accident. Can you do that?”

  Did Quintana not believe her? Did he think she was snooping in Brenda’s bathroom? Mandy’s cheeks flamed with anger and embarrassment. “Of course I can. It’s the truth.”

  Quintana’s voice softened. “Just making sure. I realize you haven’t been trained in all the legal ramifications of investigating cases. We have another piece of physical evidence, too, to back up what you found. The technician just matched two of the small partials on the pepper spray can found at the campsite to Brenda’s fingerprints.”

  “Ah ha! Too bad that didn’t happen before you put Cynthia in jail, and before Brenda beat me up.”

  “I know, I know. Look, I’ll treat you both to brunch at Laughing Ladies, and I’ll apologize to Cynthia then.”

  “The apology will be the most important part for Cynthia, but I’m sure we’ll both enjoy the brunch, too, so I’ll hold you to it.”

  “Good. Anyway, our case is now solid enough that I hope Brenda’s lawyer will advise her to plead guilty and save us all the cost of a trial. The DA will probably allow the plea to be downgraded to second-degree murder or manslaughter, given Brenda’s state of mind.”

  “You know, even though she broke one of my ribs,” Mandy replied. “I can’t help feeling sorry for her. The real villain in all this was Howie. It’s too bad Brenda has to go to prison at all.”

  “Not all cases end happily,” Quintana said. “I hope this doesn’t discourage you from applying to be a river ranger again next year. You’re still learning, but your instincts are good. I wouldn’t mind working with you again on a case.”

  After Mandy thanked him and hung up, she took a deep breath. Ouch. She’d forgotten about her rib. She held her side until the pain diminished, and that gave her time to process what Quintana had said. He seemed to believe her, he actually complimented her, and he wanted to work with her again. Her mood lightening, she drove to the Chaffee County Detentions Center.

  Before she could pull into a parking spot, she spied Cynthia standing outside waiting for her and holding a large bag labeled “Personal Effects.” Mandy pulled up in front of Cynthia and waited while she tossed her bag in the back seat and got in the passenger seat.

  “Thanks for picking me up, Mandy.”

  When Cynthia reached for her to give her a hug, Mandy yelled, “Don’t!” That and her involuntary cringe brought on a rib pain and she winced.

  Cynthia stopped with her arms in mid-air and looked confused.

  “I’ve got a cracked rib,” Mandy said, “It’s related to why you’re being released. Did they tell you?”

  Cynthia’s eyes got even wider, and she dropped her arms. “They only said they had new evidence that led them to arrest Brenda instead. What’s with these guys? I can’t believe she would kill her own brother.”

  “Let me explain.” Mandy turned off her car engine and described everything that had happened at the reception at the Ellis home. By the time she finished, Cynthia had tears in her eyes.

  “Oh God,” Cynthia said while laying a hand on Mandy’s arm. “I hope you won’t take this the wrong way, because she hurt you, but I feel so sorry for Aunt Brenda.”

  Mandy nodded. “I understand. I feel the same way, really, and maybe that’s why it took me so long to fight back.”

  “That poor woman lost her daughter, was driven to murder, and is now going to probably spend the rest of her life in prison. And it’s all my fault.”

  Mandy’s jaw dropped. “What? How can this possibly be your fault?”

  “Don’t you see? If I’d told any of the Ellises about how Uncle Howie had abused me, then they would have protected Faith. She wouldn’t have committed suicide, and Brenda wouldn’t have been driven to kill him.”

  Mandy shifted in her seat to face Cynthia, sucking in her breath against the pain. She grabbed Cynthia’s hands in hers. “Girlfriend, you listen to me and you listen hard. None of this, none of it, is your fault. It’s Howie’s fault. You are a victim here, as much as Faith is, as much as Brenda is.”

  When Cynthia shook her head, Mandy tightened her grip. “Didn’t you hear me tell you what Brenda said? She said you were blameless in this whole mess. That she probably would have done the same thing. And at Howie’s funeral, Craig told me that he was going to apologize to you for what he said, that it was cruel and Howie’s abuse of you and Faith was his fault and his alone.”

  Cynthia heaved out a great sigh as if she wasn’t convinced yet, so Mandy plowed on. “In fact, I bet Lee and Craig are beating themselves up as much as you are, or more. I mean, they were living in the same house with Faith and couldn’t read the signs, didn’t figure out how depressed she was. And you know what the guilt did to Brenda. You can’t claim responsibility for this mess, Cynthia. You’re just not that powerful. And if you say you are, I’ll make it my job to knock you down off that pedestal.”

  That drew a grin out of Cynthia.

  Relieved, Mandy let go of Cynthia’s hands. “If you don’t believe me, maybe you should talk to a counselor. I’m sure they’d agree with everything I’m saying.”

  Cynthia stared out the windshield. “Maybe I should get some counseling. If there’s one thing I learned from this, it’s that I still have some unresolved issues from Uncle Howie’s abuse.”

  “But first,” Mandy said as she turned the ignition key. “We are going to get blind stinking drunk to celebrate your release from jail.”

  “No, first I’m going to take a long, hot shower.” Cynthia smiled at Mandy. “Then we’ll get blind stinking drunk.”

  “Now you’re talking.” Mandy put the car in gear.

  “Speaking of talking,” Cynthia said with a sly quirk to her lips, “did I ever tell you the one about two blondes living in Oklahoma sitting on a bench talking?”

  Mandy didn’t care if she’d heard the blonde joke before or not. She was just glad that Cynthia was willing to share one with her again. She stepped on the accelerator. “No, I haven’t heard that one.”

  “Well,” Cynthia said while fastening her seat belt. “The one

  blonde says to the other, ‘Which do you think is farther away …

  Florida or the moon?’ and the other blonde turns to her friend and says ‘Hellooooooo, can you see Florida?’”

  Mandy slapped the steering wheel and laughed and laughed with her best friend, even though it hurt as they drove off into the brilliant sunlight of a perfect blue-sky Colorado afternoon.

  Twenty

  When you fish for love, bait with your heart, not your brain.

  —MARK TWAIN

  Later that evening, Rob and Mandy were in his car, leaving Cynthia’s apartment, where a flotilla of rafting guides, river rangers, and Victoria Tavern’s regulars had gathered for an impromptu celebration. The party had spilled out onto her deck and the yard, but the retired couple who owned the property hadn’t minded and had joined in the festivities.

  Mandy sat in the passenger seat with her head back and eyes closed while Rob drove. She hummed to herself, enjoying the glow of happiness she felt. She hadn’t gotten blind stinking drunk, but she was mostly pain-free, with the combination of Advil and three beers. Life was good.

  When the car stopped, she opened her eyes and looked around with surprise. They weren’t at either her place or Rob’s, but were parked next to the downtown Salida Riverside Park. Through the open car window, she could hear a soft wind rustling the cottonwoods draped over the darkened walkways.

  She looked at Rob. “What are we doing here?”

  He opened his car door. “It’s such a nice night, I thought we’d talk a walk along the river.” While she processed that, he came around the car, opened her door, and held out a hand to her.

  Moving gingerly so as not to stress her cracked rib, Mandy slid out of the seat and into Rob’s arms. He nuzzled her nose, then released her to lock the car. He led her by the hand into the cool archways under the huge trees. In the gaps between branches overhead, bright stars in the clear night sky winked at them conspiratorially.

  Still trying to puzzle out why Rob had chosen to visit the park

  at night, something he’d never shown an inclination to do before, Mandy let the peaceful scene work its magic on her. Her steps slowed along with his and she breathed in the fresh breeze. Thankfully, she wore her AHRA fleece jacket, so she was comfortably warm. Especially her hand, which was encased in Rob’s strong, yet gentle fingers.

  He turned onto the pathway beside the river, and they moved downstream with the gurgling water until Rob stopped and draped an arm over her shoulder. Mandy nestled her head against his chest while they both looked out across the undulating liquid silver glistening in the moonlight, then up at the Milky Way streaked across the sky.