Galen's Gemma Read online

  “I’m hoping to,” she said. “I’d like at least four days, but I haven’t been able to get it to work. It keeps glitching out when I try to save the new settings.”

  “Mind if I try?” he asked.

  She hopped up and took a step back. “Be my guest.”

  “What is this?” Rebecca asked, coming out of the bigger bedroom and up behind them. “That’s my house,” she snapped. She turned to glare at her sister. “Have you been watching me?”

  “Oh, for God’s sake,” Gemma said, “I set it up so we could see if anybody goes through the house now that we’re gone.”

  “Well, somebody did,” Galen said, pointing out the cops.

  “I know, but that was before. And then Zack went through. And that’s how you called me, I presume?” she said to him.

  Zack nodded. “But I didn’t see the cameras, so that was a nice job, Gemma.”

  “You weren’t looking for them,” she said.

  “You’re right. I wasn’t. And, once I realized that Rebecca’s personal cell phone was still there, I knew something bad had happened.”

  “Of course.” Rebecca turned on her sister. “I told you that he would.”

  “I was counting on it,” Gemma said calmly. “I hope you came armed?”

  “We both are,” Zack said with understanding. “So you wanted us to follow you?”

  “Just like you wanted Galen for backup,” she said, “I needed backup too.”

  Just then a faint cry came from the bedroom. “Mommy?”

  Chapter 4

  Gemma smiled when she heard Becky’s voice. Rebecca headed toward the bedroom, calling out, “It’s okay, sweetie. Mom’s here.”

  Gemma looked at Zack to see his gaze following her sister. “You never did find out, did you?”

  He shrugged. “Not for certain. No.”

  “You may want to,” she said. “At least then you could possibly cut that tie.”

  “No,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s probably better if I don’t.”

  Gemma left it at that, but Rebecca had always refused to say who Becky’s father was. Gemma had assumed Zack stayed in contact, wondering if he was. She wasn’t sure she wanted to make it an issue. Some things had to be left to her sister to sort out for herself. Although, for the most part, that never seemed to happen.

  Just then Rebecca came out with Becky in her arms, wrapped up in a blanket. Becky was small framed and more doll-like than most girls. The minute Becky saw Zack, she curled deeper into her mother’s arms. When she saw Gemma, she grinned, opening her arms. Gemma walked over, took her niece from her mother’s arms, and cuddled her close.

  Rebecca sighed and stared at the two of them. “I still don’t understand that,” she said, throwing the blanket over her arm, while she pouted and headed back into the bedroom. “She doesn’t see you for months. Then the two of you are like that.” And she snapped her fingers.

  “Hey, how’s my girl?” Gemma murmured.

  “I’m fine,” she said. “Mom said you made us come here.”

  Gemma chuckled. “You could say that,” she said, “but we’re heading to a farm next. We’re leaving here any minute.”

  “A farm?” Becky said, sitting up to look at her aunt. “What kind of farm?”

  “With big gardens, chickens and ducks, dogs, kitties and all kinds of things,” she promised.

  Becky beamed, her arms wrapped around her aunt. “Okay.” And then, as if suddenly aware of another person in the room, she turned and stared at Galen. “Who are you?” she asked bluntly.

  “Zack’s friend,” he said.

  “And,” Gemma added quietly, “a friend of mine.”

  Becky immediately let her emotions be known. “Good,” she said. “Then you’re fine.”

  *

  Galen watched the interaction between the little girl and Gemma. Becky seemed almost more comfortable with Gemma than with her own mother. But her mother appeared to be a spoiled brat, so he could certainly understand preferring the calm, level-headed, unflappable aunt Becky could depend on. He certainly did. And the fact that her aunt had given him the stamp of approval made it all okay in the little girl’s eyes.

  He wondered what kind of a life Becky had with her mother. Obviously Joe had been a great influence, so how had his death affected her? Had she been allowed to grieve and to still talk about her father, or was she supposed to keep him out of her life now that he was gone? People handled death differently, but little children especially processed things in a very different way than adults. Sometimes they needed to constantly talk about the father, or the deceased one, in order to still be comfortably connected with them.

  As it was, Gemma was already making a move to pack up the few things they’d unpacked, even with the little girl in her arms.

  “I’m hungry,” Becky said.

  “Of course you are,” Gemma said affectionately. “You’re always hungry.”

  “I’m growing,” she said. “Soon I’ll be as big as you.”

  “I hope not,” Gemma said. “Maybe you’ll be somewhere between your mom and me.”

  But the little girl was having nothing to do with it. “Nope. I’ll be tall. Daddy was tall, so I’ll be tall.”

  Gemma nodded nonchalantly as Galen watched. This was either a conversation she’d had many times or else she was completely comfortable with the discussion. He looked over at Zack, who studied the little girl, and Galen wondered if Zack, Joe, and Rebecca had been in some sort of a love triangle, if that’s what was going on. It would be sad if it was. Or maybe not, if Zack decided to take a step forward now. But it didn’t look like that’s where his heart lay.

  Galen looked to Gemma. “Did you want to do food now?” he asked.

  She nodded. “Yeah, I was hoping to get moved on first, but that won’t happen now.”

  Immediately Becky shook her head. “Nope. I’m starving now.”

  Gemma put her niece down on the top of the counter and dug into the box of food sitting beside Becky. “I brought eggs and bread for toast. How about an egg sandwich?”

  “Okay,” she said. “Do you have ham or bacon?”

  “I have ham, but we need it for sandwiches later.”

  The little girl’s face wrinkled up as she thought about it; then she nodded. “Eggs will do.”

  Gemma chuckled. “Thank you for that royal decree, little princess.”

  And, with that, the little girl went off in peals of laughter.

  While Gemma settled Becky on the floor, so Gemma could make sandwiches—enough for everybody it seemed—Galen walked outside to check the layout of the land. He’d already brought up on his phone the next place she had booked and approved of it in many ways. They would blend in nicely, as long as nobody there said anything. He wondered if she had friends at the compound or if this was a connection that came through her other friends, like those who had arranged for the electronics or the car. How else would anybody know the compound was there?

  Zack came up beside him. “I don’t know how long we’ll stay in the next place.”

  “What we don’t want to do is keep running,” Galen said. “There’s got to be another answer.”

  “Yeah, find out who killed Joe.”

  “I get that,” he said. “I’m surprised she thinks they’ll come here though.”

  “Well, Joe talked about this cabin quite a bit.”

  “So then she’s thinking they probably already checked it out?”

  “I would have,” he said, “and you know you would have too.”

  While she continued to make sandwiches, the guys packed up the rest of the stuff, loading the trunk again. When they walked back inside, he noted a big platter full of sandwiches. She must have made at least a dozen of them. He looked at her, surprised.

  She shrugged. “It’s much easier to make them with scrambled eggs if you have to do a lot of them. Eat up.”

  He nodded and reached for a half sandwich and was surprised at how good it tasted. By the tim
e they’d eaten, and she’d washed everything and put away the kitchenware, the place looked like nobody had been here. But he also knew that anybody remotely like himself would find signs otherwise.

  She walked through to the single bedroom and then the bigger bedroom on the first floor, checked both over, before walking upstairs to the master suite.

  He followed, keeping an eye on her until she returned to the first floor. “Where did you learn to do this?”

  She gave him a shuttered look and shrugged. “Let’s just say I have friends.”

  “Sounds like you have a lot of interesting friends.”

  “I do,” she said, “but that doesn’t change the fact that they aren’t necessarily people you call on all the time.”

  He nodded. “Have they helped you out in the past?”

  “Sometimes, yes. I met them in school, and years ago a group of them went one way, and the rest of the world went the other,” she said with a laugh. “They’ve always stayed on the fringe side.” She looked around again. “Come on. Let’s go.”

  Galen let her lead the way outside. They all got into the two vehicles, Galen and Zack following her and Rebecca and Becky to the next place Gemma had booked. This one was a bit farther than a few miles down the road, and he was glad to see the route also went onto the main highway. So any tracks they left behind would blend in with the rest of the traffic.

  She took a turn up ahead onto a long gravel road with no signage. She drove slowly, and they followed it as she missed a bunch of the potholes, and yet continued into the rutted driveway that got worse the farther in they went.

  Zack looked at him in surprise. “Wonder how the hell she found out about this place.”

  “She said something about having friends.”

  “Mysterious.”

  “You’ve obviously known her for a long time,” Galen said.

  “Not her. She’s never been one anybody got to know,” he said. “She has always been mysterious.”

  “I kind of like that,” Galen said with a laugh.

  “Maybe,” Zack said. “Sounds like she likes you better than me anyway.”

  “Any reason for that?”

  “No, I don’t think so,” Zack said, settling back. “I haven’t had too much to do with the family for the last eight years.”

  “Is Becky yours?”

  A strange silence filled in the vehicle, and finally Zack looked at him. “No.”

  “Good enough,” Galen said, wondering at the slowness of his partner’s response.

  “Why would you ask me that?” Zack asked.

  “A definite undercurrent was going on around the place.”

  “Let’s just say, Rebecca and I had a relationship when she had an affair with Joe,” he said.

  “Ouch,” Galen said. “So then, for a while, you wouldn’t have known who the father was.”

  “I knew it wasn’t me,” Zack said. “Every once in a while though I look at Becky and wonder,” he admitted.

  “And did you want more?”

  “Back then, yes, when I was young and idealistic, and Rebecca was pretty, but I didn’t know she was seeing someone else at the same time. Now, not so much.”

  “She seems like the kind who needs to have a guy around her,” Galen said. “If not multiples.”

  “Yep, and she doesn’t understand her sister for not having that,” Zack said.

  “Interesting.”

  Just then, the vehicle in front of them took a sharp turn onto what was barely a road. But Galen was driving this time, and he took the same turn. “You know something? If it were anybody else, no way we would go down this road alone.”

  “I was just thinking that,” Zack said, sitting forward. “Why don’t you stop here, and I’ll get out.”

  Galen eased off to the side slightly and slowed down. Zack quickly bailed, and Galen kept on going, hoping that the two women in front hadn’t seen Zack’s disappearance. Galen wasn’t sure what was going on, but, as they came around the corner, he saw a homestead with multiple houses and buildings, plus outbuildings and animals. All the animals Gemma had promised Becky. He knew the little girl would love it.

  Her vehicle pulled up to one side where a large SUV was parked. Even though she hadn’t driven that far, Gemma got out and stretched like a feline. Becky bailed out the other side, running to find the animals.

  “Stop!” Gemma called out to her.

  The little girl struggled to comply, but she did stop.

  Galen had to wonder what the child’s response would have been if her mother had called out instead. It was like Gemma’s word was law.

  Gemma walked over and reached out her hand. Putting hers in it, Becky peppered Gemma with a million questions.

  Rebecca got out and stood behind them, resentful as always.

  Galen wondered at the relationship between the three of them, but he quickly caught up with Rebecca, who glared at him and asked, “Where’s Zack?”

  “He’s coming,” he replied. “Don’t you want to catch up with the other two?”

  “I just want to go home,” she snapped. “I’m not the countrified bumpkin that my sister is.”

  “Is she country?” He turned to look at the tall woman in front of them, walking with calm, sure strides toward a long low building, as if she knew exactly where she was going.

  “She’s everything she always wanted to be, and she changes like a chameleon,” Rebecca whined.

  “Are the two of you very different?”

  “Yes, we are. Very different. It’s as if we had different parents, yet didn’t.”

  He nodded. “Genetics are wondrous things.”

  “Or not. She’s always been on my case,” Rebecca said. “I know sometimes I sound ungrateful and unappreciative of all she’s done, but it’s been really hard having her as an older sister.”

  He wasn’t sure if this was just normal bitching and whining or if Rebecca had some actual beef with some merit from their past. “Has she ever done anything to hurt you?”

  “No,” Rebecca said. “It would be nice if she had. But, no, she’s always been so uber-responsible that it’s sickening.”

  “And you, of course, you’ve been the uber-rebellious one, huh?”

  At that, she laughed and smiled. “Well, I always felt like there should be more to life than simply duty.” She pointed at Gemma. “She’s always been the one who did the right thing. And sometimes I just got so tired of it that I felt I had to rebel just to be me.”

  “That’s understandable,” he said. “Do you know the people here?”

  “God, no,” she said. “How would I?”

  “I don’t know,” Galen said. “I just wondered if maybe they were family friends or something.”

  “No. I can assure you that I wouldn’t know anybody who lived in a place like this. The lifestyle I had with Joe was perfect. We had a lot of evenings out, were on a lot of committees and boards,” she said. “Sunday brunches out with the ladies’ golf group, not that I could play, but I could certainly sit there afterward and have a drink or two.”

  “So, you were all set, settled into the perfect life.”

  “We were well on our way to it,” she said resentfully. “I still can’t believe Joe’s dead.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “It must have been tough.”

  She stared at him. “I don’t think it’s really sunk in, actually.” Her words came out quietly, for once losing the resentful-child outer image that she seemed to wear like a mantle. “He was also uber-responsible.”

  “So next time you find somebody,” he said, “maybe you’ll pick someone who will actually spend time with you and not just look after you.”

  She stared at him in surprise.

  He gave her a half smile. “Choose someone you want, not someone you think you should have.” When he heard a call, he turned to see Gemma standing on the front deck of a nearby building, motioning them to come over. He reached down and gently nudged Rebecca’s elbow. “Come on. They wa
nt us to join them.”

  “Of course they do,” she said with an unhappy sigh. Then she announced, “I’ll be absolutely miserable here for a few days.”

  “If you want to be miserable, you will be,” he said.

  She turned and glared at him.

  He shrugged. “Or you could choose something different and make this a fun time for your daughter to enjoy.”

  “She’ll enjoy it anyway because she’ll be with her favorite perfect person,” she snapped.

  With that, she strode off ahead, leaving him with an ugly impression of much worse than just resentment in the family. He hoped it was only on the surface and didn’t impact the safety of the three of them because that would be hard to forgive. But he had to wonder just how deep Rebecca’s resentment went.

  Chapter 5

  Gemma studied her sister’s face as she approached. Rebecca looked the same as always—put upon and upset. Like everything was a grand inconvenience. Hopefully Rebecca was hiding deeper feelings of worry over Joe’s demise, but Gemma never could be sure. Her sister had always seemed very superficial. Gemma knew there had to be feelings deep inside, but it appeared that Rebecca neither took the time nor allowed herself to feel them.

  Finally she hopped up onto the deck beside them. Gemma smiled and said, “We’ll go in and say hello, and then I’ll take you to the rooms. I’m sure everybody could use a break by now.”

  Immediately Becky shook her head. “I want to see the animals!”

  “Maybe,” Gemma temporized. “But don’t forget we need permission first, so you have to be on your best behavior.”

  Becky immediately nodded and smiled. “I will be.”

  Gemma looked at her sister. “You too.”

  She shot her look. “I’m not a child.”

  Frustrated, Gemma didn’t say anything as Galen approached just then. Gemma walked into what appeared to be an office, and everybody followed.

  There, a single man stood behind a small desk doing some paperwork. He looked up and smiled. “You must be our guests.”

  Gemma smiled and nodded. “We’re here for a couple days.”

  “Welcome.” He looked at Becky. “Was it you I heard who wanted to see the animals?”