"Bodies?" Kateri asked hoarsely.
Walt tried to speak, to demand his cache of murdered and mutilated woman remain untouched. But finally, he lost the power of speech, then consciousness.
Sheriff Jacobsen raised his voice. "EMTs needed here!"
Why? This killer deserved to die.
But people ran toward them, yelling. Police officers. Men and women with medical equipment.
I was so angry. I wanted to shout at them. Let. Him. Die.
Something distracted me. The faintest whisper on the wind . . .
Dearest. It sounded like Sofia.
I wrenched my head around.
Dearest, where have you been?
I looked. I couldn't believe it.
It was Sofia, mature, glorious, glowing with beauty and grace. She stood on the other side of the line of consecration, smiling.
Dearest, where have you been? I've been looking for you all my life.
Her voice. In my head. Warm, loving, exactly as I remembered it.
She extended her hand to me.
I didn't think. I didn't hesitate. I moved toward her. I reached for her hand.
I stumbled to a stop, bound by the rules that had governed me for more than seventy long years. I can't. I'm not allowed.
Take my hand, she said.
She was so confident. So sure.
I reached. I touched.
Her fingers closed around mine, warm, vibrant, alive in a way I could never have hoped or imagined. At last, at long last, I was able to step beyond the bounds of my prison and into her arms.
Love had freed me.
Sofia was so lovely. So real. So there. She glowed with happiness, glowed as she had after we made love and created our son.
She looked beyond me, toward our great-granddaughter. Areila, thank you. Thank you for finding my love. Thank you for letting me know how to locate him. From the day you were born, I knew you would be a blessing on our family.
Areila threw her a kiss. And then one to me.
Somehow, it reached me, made me feel as if I'd been hugged by a beloved child. Sofia, she reminds me of you.
Sofia laughed, a soft chime of merriment. Frank, she looks like you. Every time I gazed on her, I saw your face.
Really? I looked at Areila again, pleased to know I had left something of myself on this earth. I turned back to Sofia. But in her fierceness and determination, she is yours.
Ours, Sofia corrected. Our great-granddaughter. One of our descendants.
I cupped Sofia's face in my hands, stared into her warm brown eyes. I never meant to leave you alone.
I know that. I never doubted you.
The guilt and horror of so many lonely, helpless years slipped away from me. For all of these years, my heart was broken. At last . . . it is healed.
Time stopped. The space under the trees grew still and silent.
Kateri and Areila and Garik watched as the two ghostly forms reached, touched, combined, became one. The glow surrounding them grew to blinding proportions.
"It's love," Areila whispered. She spread her hands like a woman warming herself before a campfire. "We can see love."
The embrace of beyond enclosed the ghosts, enveloped them in warmth and welcome.
Abruptly they were gone.
Garik cleared his throat. "I guess they, um . . ."
"She never stopped looking for him." Kateri laughed a little. "She found him at last and they . . ."
"Love never dies." Areila blinked tears away. "They're together."
"Yeah." Garik pulled out his handkerchief and honked his nose.
The two women looked at each other in rueful amusement.
Then in a jarring return to the real world, action, light and noise lit up the darkness.
Cops arrived, pistols and flashlights out.
EMTs ran up with a stretcher. They shoved a breathing tube down Walt's throat, saved his life, and sent him to the hospital. They saved his life so he could face trial for murder. That's what they had been trained to do.
After briefing his men, Sheriff Jacobsen ordered them to set up strings of lights on the branches around the bare ground that Areila claimed as her great-grandfather's grave.
Garik no longer seemed to doubt they would find the body.
Because it was her right, Areila dug into the ground first. With the second shovel filled with dirt, she brought up a colorful scrap of flowered cloth.
Immediately she quit, but the deputies and curiosity-seekers continued. Before dawn broke in the now-clear sky, they uncovered five women's bodies, including Mary Lees. All the women had been murdered within the last year. The next morning, a different crew took their place and dug deeper. The people who wielded the shovels found another three bodies. Those women had died about thirty years ago, but with the same gruesome brutality.
Sheriff Jacobsen ordered an investigation into Walt's past, what he'd done, where he'd lived, whether those locations had suffered any heinous unsolved crimes.
When Walt's wife learned of his arrest and why, she was shocked and horrified — she seemed sincerely unaware — and started divorce proceedings.
Beneath all the skirts and bras and locks of hair and delicate bones and grinning skulls, the diggers found what Areila had been looking for — a broken pine coffin with an unknown man's remains. Shreds of a cheap suit styled in the forties covered the skeleton. At first the experts doubted enough DNA could be recovered to make a match. But the corpse's teeth were intact, and from those the geneticists determined that Areila was a direct descendent of this body and that he was a relative of the Seattle Montgomeries. Based on the evidence, the deceased was assumed to be disgraced World War II veteran Frank Vincent Montgomery who had been listed as a deserter.
When notified, the Seattle Montgomeries had no interest in the remains.
Whoever had cared about Frank Vincent was long dead. That left Areila free to have Frank Vincent's remains cremated. She took his ashes to her family's home in Yakima and on a gray rainy spring day, she carried the simple black crematory urn and a bouquet of orange blossoms to her great-grandmother's grave. She knelt beside the simple headstone. "Grandma Sofia, I know you're not here. Mostly because I saw you go on to the next world." In a really spectacular way. "But I wanted to tell you — I promised you I would bring Frank Vincent to rest with you. Here he is. I got the family's permission to have him placed in the ground here. We'll have a ceremony, just a few of us — my mom, my sisters and my little brother. We're working on having Frank Vincent Montgomery's name cleared with the U.S. Army . . . He doesn't deserve to be recorded as a deserter." Areila waited, somehow expecting a reply.
The rain spattered softly on the grass. The wind whispered through the trees.
"I wanted to come here by myself to say — as a child, you helped show me what love is, and I'm so happy you have found each other. I hope at last you're both . . . home." Areila felt a burst of warmth on the top of her head. She opened her eyes.
A ray of sunshine broke through the clouds, illuminating her, the urn, and the headstone.
She smiled through a sudden uprush of tears.
Yes. They were home.
THE END
Christina Dodd here: Thank you for enjoying LOVE NEVER DIES. I hope you’re a fan of the Virtue Falls series … and that you accept my invitation to explore my worlds and join my free mailing list for news, book sales and exclusive excerpts!
The Virtue Falls series in order:
#1 THE LISTENER
#2 VIRTUE FALLS
#3 THE RELATIVES
#4 OBSESSION FALLS
#5 LOVE NEVER DIES
#6 BECAUSE I’M WATCHING
On September 6, 2016 from New York Times bestselling author, Christina Dodd,
comes the third and newest Virtue Falls thriller,
BECAUSE I’M WATCHING!
Veteran Jacob Denisov lives alone in his small, darkened home, sleepless, starving,
blaming himself for the horrors of the past and waiting for the moment when he gathers enough courage to kill himself. When neighbor Madeline Hewitson drives her car through the front wall of his house, she breaks his house—and Jacob’s life—wide open. She isn’t called “Mad Maddie” for nothing. The survivor of a college dorm massacre, a woman accused of her lover’s murder, she is haunted by ghosts and tormented by a killer only she can see. Dealing with construction and forced to see the world outside his home, Jacob watches Maddie, recognizes a kindred spirit and wonders—is this truly madness, or has someone caught her in a twisted labyrinth of revenge and compassion, guilt and redemption, murder and madness?
Today
Virtue Falls, Washington
Jacob Denisov sat in his upright chair in his living room, staring into the dark. If he kept his eyes open and stared with precisely the right concentration, without movement or thought, the pain didn't break through. It took work, but for months now, he had practiced, and he had gotten pretty good.
No pain, slashing at his skull, trying to get out, to explode, to manifest itself in wild screams and violence that never stopped until he broke everything … especially himself…
No North Korea. No deaths. No fault. The world beyond the dark did not exist. He floated in bleak eternity and only the stench of guilt lingered, ceaseless…
Then the phone rang.
He jumped.
It rang again.
He jumped again. Thought returned.
Five rings and the answering machine picked up.
"Jakie." It was his mother's voice, patient, loving, but with a sprinkling of fear and a dollop of exasperation. "I know you're there. Pick up the telephone."
His mother was a morning person. That was when she did her best nagging. So the sun must be up.
She continued, "Just tell me you're all right. That's all you have to do, is tell me you haven't died sitting in the dark in that house, brooding about a past you cannot change."
A pause.
He waited.
"Jakie, are you eating right? You are a big man, like your father. You should be eating right. On Sunday, Father Ilovaiski asked about you. He said he was praying for you. Doesn't that feel good, to know he's praying for you?" As it did when she grew excited, her Russian accent strengthened. "If you came home to Everson and went to church with me, you would be healed. I would fix you your favorite meal — the black bread, the stroganoff, the pirozhki — and the family would rejoice at the return of the prodigal son."
Oh, no. She was trying her patented, Trust in God and Family routine and throwing in a food bribe. She didn't understand that being out in the sunshine with people would break him. She didn't understand he had lost his faith in God. He didn't care about his family. Food meant nothing to him. And he could never be healed. How could she comprehend? She was his mother, she remembered the boy he had been, and she would love him and believe in him forever.
That boy would never return. He had drowned in an ocean of blood and come to life only to die again. Soon, he hoped.
Her tone of voice changed, and her rising temper crackled across the wires. "Jakie, if you don't pick up the telephone soon, I will come down there and break down the door of your pitiful little hiding place. Don't think I won't!" She ended the connection so violently she cut off her own voice.
He closed his eyes. He knew she would. Nothing his father could say would stop her. His mother was a force of nature.
So next time when she called, he would answer, and he would talk to her. To relieve her mind he would pretend he was fine, that he had been outside working on some unspecified and manly project and couldn't make it to the phone … for the last week …
His parents lived in Everson, up by the Canadian border, and he had deliberately moved here, to this location on the Olympic peninsula, so he could feel at home and at the same time be far enough away from his extensive family to avoid their well-intentioned intrusions.
It worked … mostly.
He never knew when the sun rose or set; no light leaked through the black-out shades on the windows. He hadn't eaten since … he didn't remember. Yesterday sometime. How long had it been since he'd had a grocery delivery?
He groped for the lamp on the end table, found the switch and turned it on. Even the pitiful amount of light the twenty-five watt bulb produced made him blink. When his vision cleared, he looked at the marks he had scratched on the wall.
Five days since the boy rang the doorbell, took the check Jacob taped on the window, and left two grocery bags of canned soup, prepared food, and milk.
That meant every bit of food in this house was stale or rotting, or needed a can opener, a clean pan, and the will and energy to prepare it for consumption.
Only two more days until he received groceries again.
He turned off the light.
He could wait.
At the camp, he had learned to wait for the right moment. He had learned…
He pushed his spine hard against the chair, braced himself for the wave of pain—
And with a high screech of jagged wood against paint and metal, a gray Subaru Forester shot up the concrete steps of his front porch and exploded through the wall of his house, front wheels in the air, headed right for the stars — and then for him.
Pre-order BECAUSE I’M WATCHING now in hardcover for you collectors
Or in eBook for your Kindle!
THE LISTENER
If you knew someone was going to commit a murder, what would you do?
THE LISTENER: your introduction to the quaint — and deadly — town of Virtue Falls. Buy THE LISTENER for your Kindle!
VIRTUE FALLS
Twenty-three years ago, in the isolated coastal town of Virtue Falls, Washington, four year old Elizabeth Banner witnessed her mother’s brutal murder. Elizabeth’s father was convicted of killing Misty and sentenced to prison. Elizabeth grew from a solitary child to a beautiful woman with an instinctive distrust of love. Now she is back in Virtue Falls, a geologist like her father, her life guided by logic and facts. But nothing can help her through the emotional chaos that follows the return of her ex-husband, Garik Jacobsen, an FBI agent on probation and tortured by the guilt of his past deeds. Nor can it help her deal with her father, now stricken with Alzheimer’s and haunted by Misty’s ghost. When a massive earthquake reveals long-concealed secrets, Elizabeth soon discovers her father is innocent. Is the killer still at large, stalking ever closer to the one witness to Misty’s murder? To Elizabeth herself? Elizabeth and Garik investigate, stirring old dark and deadly resentments that could provoke another bloody murder— Elizabeth’s own.
"Nail-biting suspense... the novel's sexy romantic core will still please [Dodd's] longtime fans."--Booklist (starred review)
“Edge of the seat suspense and fascinating premise. Couldn’t put it down. My kind of thriller!” — Iris Johansen, #1 New York Times bestselling author
Buy it now in paperback and for your Kindle.
THE RELATIVES
What would you do when uninvited relatives drop by your home and stay … and stay … and stay?
Buy THE RELATIVES: the second Virtue Falls short story for your Kindle!
OBSESSION FALLS
Taylor Summers witnesses the death threat to a young boy, and does the only thing she can do—she sacrifices herself to distract the killers. Her reward is a life in ruins, on the run in the wilderness, barely surviving a bitter winter and the even more bitter knowledge she has lost everything: her career, her reputation, her identity. She finds refuge in Virtue Falls, and there comes face to face with the knowledge that, to live her life again, she must enlist the help of the man who does not trust her to defeat the man who would destroy her. She’s being hunted, but it’s time to turn the tables…
Buy OBSESSION FALLS in paper or for your Kindle!
* From Bookbub: Books to Read If You Love Nora Roberts. “If you’re a fan of Nora’s In Death series, you’ll delight
in this tale of suspense by another master of the genre.”
* Amazon editor's choice for Best Book of September!
* Library Journal: Best of the Year. “A remarkable mesmerizing series.”
* BookPage: Best of the Year. “A spooky, nerve-stretching read that is sure to please Dodd’s many fans.”
* Starred BookList review.”The plot’s twists and turns are handled with a positively Hitchcockian touch, while the brilliantly etched characters, polished writing, and unexpected flashes of sharp humor are pure Dodd.”
* RT Reviews Top Pick. “The evolution of this heroine from everyday individual to relentless survivor adds an intensity that will keep you on the edge of your seat.”
Go to ChristinaDodd.com to download the OBSESSION FALLS Readers' Group Discussion Questions and join her mailing list.
Want a free Christina Dodd Printable Book List organized by genre, series and in order? Get it here!
Who is Christina Dodd? http://christinadodd.com/meet-christina/
Readers become writers, and Christina has always been a reader. Ultimately she discovered she liked to read romance best because the relationship between a man and a woman is always humorous. A woman wants world peace, a clean house, and a deep and meaningful relationship based on mutual understanding and love. A man wants a Craftsman router, undisputed control of the TV remote, and a red Corvette which will make his bald spot disappear.
So when Christina’s first daughter was born, she told her husband she was going to write a book. It was a good time to start a new career, because how much trouble could one little infant be?
Quite a lot, it seemed. It took ten years, two children and three completed manuscripts before she was published. Now her over fifty New York Times and USA Today bestselling novels — paranormals, historicals, romantic suspense and suspense — have been translated into twenty-five languages, recorded on Books on Tape for the Blind, won Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Golden Heart and RITA Awards and been called the year’s best by Library Journal. Dodd herself has been a featured author at the Texas Book Festival and a clue in the Los Angeles Times crossword puzzle (11/18/05, # 13 Down: Romance Novelist named Christina.) Publishers Weekly praises her style that “showcases Dodd’s easy, addictive charm and steamy storytelling.”