Audra awoke the next morning alone in one of Ethan's spare bedrooms. It took her a moment to remember the failed attempt at getting intimate with Ethan the night before and she felt herself blush with embarrassment before the rush of her hangover hit.
She closed her eyes against the pain and made a mental checklist of the steps it would take to get dressed and be ready for Ethan to take her back to town. She remembered taking her clothes off and dropping them in the middle of the floor, including her bra and panties, before folding herself under the warm flannel covers. Her specter shield was still on her wrist and activated.
She opened one eye and looked in the direction of the floor. Her clothes were gone. She sat up slowly and looked around the perimeter of the bed but her clothes were nowhere to be found. Slowly, she raised her eyes and found a small stack of clothes on the dresser just past the foot of the bed. On the mirror was a scribbled note from Ethan:
Mom's robe and clothes should fit. They're clean. Got new underthings (guessed your size). The aspirin is for your headache.
-N.
Audra winced at the thought of Ethan going to the store to find underwear for her. She looked on the bedside table and, seeing her cellphone, opened it to find that it was still pretty early in the morning. She slowly stepped from the bed, shuffled over to the clothes, and took note of the drug store pack of female tighty whities and three cotton sports bras. She popped two aspirin and pulled on the robe before opening the bedroom door and peeking outside. She saw the guest bathroom just across the hall and scurried in.
She placed the activated specter shield on the bathroom counter before turning on the shower as hot as she could stand it. She forced herself to stand under the water until she felt human again then scrubbed with the drug store deodorant soap Ethan supplied and washed her hair and body with the drug store apple scented shower wash that smelled just a little too sweet. She smiled as she wondered how many bottles of wash he'd sniffed before landing on this one.
As the hot water began to go cold Audra rinsed the soap away and stepped from the shower, noticing a new drug store travel toiletry kit sat on the sink waiting for her.
"Wow. I'm impressed," she said as she refastened the specter shield to her wrist and began to brush her teeth.
Fifteen minutes later she stood in front of the dresser mirror in the guest bedroom wearing one of the sundresses Ethan had chosen from a selection of his mother's things. The dress was the right size and the feel of ill-fitting under things was ignored as she combed her hair back and twisted it into a French braid.
She gave herself a once over and, although she didn't care for the lack of makeup, she was surprised at how youthful she looked outside of her normal power suit and heels. She opened the door to the guest room and was greeted by the aroma of coffee, pancakes, and bacon.
She padded down the hall and then down the stairs barefoot. She heard Ethan rustling in the kitchen and smiled as she entered to see him leaning against the counter with a newspaper and a cup of coffee, wearing board shorts and no shirt. She wondered for a second if he had struck that nearly Michelangelo's David pose before she walked into the room just for her.
"Thank you," she said, smiling, and he looked up to smile at her.
"I love those freckles," he reminded her, folding his paper and pointing to the dining table that held the bounty he'd prepared. She took a seat and picked up a slice of bacon as he poured her a cup of coffee before joining her. "How did you sleep?"
"Once my head hit the pillow I was out. You?"
"There was a beautiful naked Audra under my roof last night. How do you think I slept?"
"How did you know I was naked?"
"I remember that much about you. Either silk or buff, no in between."
Audra smiled.
"So, where do you want to start today; Annie at the bank or Renee at the trailer park?"
Audra was still surprised that Ethan was so laid back and wasn't making a take-charge move.
"What would you suggest?" she asked.
"I think going out to the trailer park first would be best. Then coming back into town."
"Okay," Audra agreed.
"Did you want me to take you back to your car?" Ethan asked nonchalantly.
"Where did all of this polite come from?" Audra finally asked. "In New York you were…" Audra struggled to find a polite way to describe the Ethan of years before.
"A hard ass?" Ethan laughed.
"Yeah, up until you left you always had to call the shots."
"I'm older and wiser. You're way more important to me than my ego," he informed her just before filling his mouth with a fork full of pancakes.
"Wow." Audra took a sip of coffee then removed a pancake from the stack in the middle of the table. "I think I like this Ethan."
She lay the pancake out on her plate and cut it into careful triangles before swirling syrup on top. She only vaguely chastised herself for the load of carbs and sugars she was about to enjoy as the sight of shirtless Ethan across the table reminded her of what she would not be able to indulge in until much, much later.
"So, why don't you come with me?" she finally answered him. "I'll get my car after we see Annie and we can meet back at the station with the rest of the team."
"Sounds good to me." Ethan smiled and continued eating breakfast.
"I just need a pair of shoes if you've got them. I don't think my heels are a practical choice with this outfit."
"Yeah, my mom left some sandals and sneakers as well in the other guest room. I'll go up, get dressed, and bring them back down with me."
"Great." Audra smiled.
They were on the road headed outside of town to the trailer community almost half an hour later. She'd dialed Cordero and left a message of her plans to interview Renee and Annie before meeting back at the station after lunch.
As they drove in the early morning sunrise Audra enjoyed the cool, fresh, dewy country air and rolled her window down to get her lungs full of it, something she would never dream of doing in New York.
"It's nice, huh?" Ethan commented.
Audra smiled, allowing herself to completely relax and take note that Ethan was driving towards town, but had missed the turn off that would take them back to the center square. She observed the open country spaces dotted by country houses as it turned into thicker wooded areas with houses that sat next to each other and then clumped around each other until they passed by several clusters of mobile homes and trailers.
Audra grew concerned about what they would find at Renee Stevens' residence and was genuinely relieved that Ethan was there with her. To her surprise however, Ethan turned into the driveway of a doublewide that looked more or less in good condition. A small container garden with pink and red roses, as well as yellow and purple snapdragons decorated the front yard.
Audra was further surprised to see a pleasantly plump woman in a housedress open the door. As they drove up, Renee stepped out of the house with a smile.
"This might not be so bad after all," Audra said.
They got out of Ethan's truck and walked up to the house together. Audra smiled at the sight of birdfeeders with a variety of birds feeding from them; blue jays and robins, hummingbirds, and even a sparrow.
"Sheriff Cole," the woman said and extended a hand. "It's so good to finally meet you. I just wish it was under better circumstances. I've never been much of a town person and since Abigail's passing, well…"
"Ms. Stevens, this is Special Agent Wheeler. You knew we were coming?"
Renee smiled. "The old sheriff and I were good friends. He took very good care of my niece. They both came for a visit last night and told me you would be here to ask about Abigail."
Ethan and Audra exchanged concerned looks.
"Come on in. I gathered some photographs and old letters. You're more than welcome to them."
Audra stepped into the house followed by Ethan and was impressed with the pleasant conservative country style of her furniture and house décor. Renee led them to the kitchen table that contained two thick family photo albums and an old shoebox filled with letters.
"It's been nearly twenty-five years," Renee began. "Somehow I thought with Gwyn being adopted by the Sheriff and given a good life, Abigail's spirit would be able to find some sort of peace and, eventually, rest. But, now I guess whatever rest she had been able to find is gone. When the specters started appearing, I guess part of me always expected her to as well, or at least I'd hoped that at some point she would be able to come back as a ghost, like Gwyn. But she never has. I don't know if she can't or won't, but I wish she would. I do miss her."
They all took a seat around the table and Renee began the story without being asked.
"We were descendant of the original Native population. They called them Red Indians when we were kids. Our mother was beautiful."
As Renee opened the photo album to the beautiful sepia colored photograph of her Native American mother Audra felt a sudden wave of sadness and knew that while there may not be any good information from Renee there, both she and Ethan needed to hear this story.
"Abigail was my younger sister. She was the boldest, the wildest, the prettiest, and most ambitious young woman I ever knew. She never accepted what they said about us, being poor Native children with no culture or breeding. We were told that we would never be anything other than poor."
Renee turned through several pictures of her and Abigail as children. It was quite obvious that while Abigail was the younger and smaller of the two, she was also the stronger and more protective one. Abigail had no trouble posing with her shoulders back and her chest stuck out, her smile always just a bit cocky and challenging. Audra noted that the look in Abigail's eyes made her seem much older than her young years, as if she possessed an old soul.
Renee, on the other hand, rarely managed to allow her eyes to meet the camera. More often than not, she was looking away or at the ground but, every so often, a shy smile touched her face and her eyes were full of appropriate childlike hope.
"When Abigail got pregnant at sixteen, she was bound and determined to find the baby a good home." Renee turned to a picture of Abigail at sixteen in mid-eighties leggings and an oversized sweater with leg warmers and curly, permed hair.
"She brought home a packet one day from an agency that would pay for everything and find the baby a good home." Renee smiled. "When she selected the race she boldly circled Caucasian."
Audra smiled sadly and nodded. That baby had been her sister, Kendra.
"Abigail left town for the last few weeks of her pregnancy with mother and they came back with a wad of money. We thought it was all the money in the world. But it wasn't.
"When I got pregnant, Abigail did what she could to bring in more money so that I could keep my own child." Renee wiped a tear from her face. "She was a prostitute, a nobody to everyone else in this town, but she did what needed to be done until I had my baby and could go to work. Then a sailor came into town." Renee turned to the shoebox full of letters. "An Indian from India named Raj Kapure. She was so in love. He made good money. They eloped and she rode out of town with him. One day she was here, the next day she was just gone. They sent money to us and eventually I got better work in town.
"With Abigail gone, so was her reputation, I guess. With my job and the money Abigail sent back, I was able to care for my kids and our mother. I missed Abigail, but we wrote each other." Renee sniffed and wiped away another tear. "Then Desert Storm hit and, since Raj was a medical officer, he was assigned to a Red Cross station. He was one of the few who didn't come back.
"She wrote the last letter to inform us of his death." Renee handed the box of letters to Audra. "We didn't hear from her for almost a year. She wasn't pregnant when Raj died, but when she came back she was. She was also receiving Raj's death benefits and set up a bank account in town. She put my name on the account just in case."
Renee opened the next family album to show pictures of Abigail, older and less spirited. Her hand rested on her belly with a content smile.
"She never said anything about the father, only that the baby was special, very special to her. She was glad that she would finally be a real mommy." Renee let out a long-suffering sigh. "I felt so happy for her, I didn't want to question it. She was set up in a nice apartment across town. By that time, my kids were grown and loved visiting Aunt Abbey. I thought it was so good for her to be settled down and, with the money coming in from Raj's benefits, I knew she would be okay. I knew it." Renee looked at Audra with a longing for understanding. "If anyone deserved a break and to be happy…"
Audra placed an understanding hand on the woman's arm.
"What can you tell us about the hospital?" Ethan asked.
"A private physician came in to care for Abigail, but he wasn't there to deliver the baby. I remember that, like Raj, he was an Indian as well. I can't recall the last name. When Abigail was admitted she called for the doctor to come but only got an answering machine."
"Do you remember his first name?" Audra asked, feeling a chill run up her spine.
Renee shook her head. "I don't. The on call doctor at the hospital, Dr. Curtis, delivered the baby. I went to visit after the delivery and everything was fine. Everything was perfect. Then, early the next morning, I was woken up by the call."
Renee fell silent for a moment as tears rolled down her cheeks. Audra and Ethan both allowed the time in order for Renee to relive the impact of losing Abigail for a final time.
"It was unreal, like a terrible dream, for the longest time. It took me weeks to stop crying. Then, about a month later, my mother passed away. It was just too much for her.
"By the time I settled mother's estate, which was nothing more than the land here, almost six months had past since Abigail's death. Her case was closed and I was free to handle the loose ends of things. I went to close her bank account and found nearly a hundred thousand dollars in there. When I asked to see the statement, I found money was still being transferred into it, almost three thousand dollars a month."
Renee breathed deeply. "By that time, the Sheriff had adopted Gwyn so I told him about it. He figured that money was more than Raj's benefits so we split the money that came in between us. He took care of Gwyn and fixed up his house then, when she turned eighteen, we told her about the money, and her mother. She didn't want anything to do with it.
"I took care of my kids and the money kept coming. It helped them both through college. They both moved away before all of the specter business and are both married. I barely hear from my daughter, but my son keeps asking me to move closer to him. I guess now is a good time to do just that."
Renee closed the photo albums and pushed both of them closer to Audra. "The money has been adding up in Abigail's account, untouched for the last five years. The Sheriff told you to speak to Annie, right?"
"He did," Ethan confirmed and Renee smiled.
"I'll be putting this lot up for sale and leaving town by the end of the month. Please, let me know if I can be of any further assistance."
Audra could tell that Renee was happy to have unburdened herself of these strange details, and was ready to finally close the door on that chapter of her life and send it away with Audra and Ethan. "One last question. Do you know who the father of Abigail's first child was?"
Renee shook her head. "I don't know for certain, but I always suspected it was her high school math teacher, Mr. Hawthorne. He used to tutor her and a small group of other students; she loved to stay after school for that. Then, one day, she just stopped going. Soon after that she told me she was pregnant."
"Thank you Ms. Stevens," Ethan said as they stood and Audra gathered the photo albums and shoebox.
Audra and Ethan rode in silence for several miles. Audra found herself lost in thought about her sister, Abigail, and all of the other victims. What Renee said stung her as she replayed them in her mind. I knew she would be okay. I knew it. If anyone deserved a break and to be happy…
"They never even tried to find her killer, did they?" Audra said, angry at the lack of justice. "This all could have stopped twenty-five damn years ago."
Ethan nodded as he continued driving. Audra almost dreaded the thought of heading to the bank and hearing more of the story. Knowing more of the truth would not bring anyone back and, the more she thought about it, the more she doubted that it would even bring anyone to justice.
She thought about Ethan's words from the previous day. She truly wondered what difference she would be able to make. The more she thought about Ethan and Mackenzie's rationalization that specters had no motive to kill, the more she was inclined to believe that it was a real person.
However, if it were a person, there was no physical evidence that any prosecutor would be able to convince a jury to believe. Audra couldn't help feeling that it all seemed so hopeless and impossible.