In the Arms of Stone Angels

chapter seventeen


“Your uncle is the sheriff, Derek. Buy a vowel and get a clue. After we renovated the Nash place last night, I don’t think a surprise visit from him is a good thing. His timing sucks.” Talking to Derek on her cell phone, Jade DeLuca couldn’t believe he was so clueless. “This can’t be good.”

After she locked her bedroom door, Jade kicked off her shoes and flopped on her bed.

“I don’t know. He acted all casual and stuff,” Derek argued. “Maybe it’s nothin’.”

“And maybe you need to avoid him for a few days, just to be on the safe side.” She raised her voice. Derek was too laid-back and it pissed her off.

“I can’t. We’ve got a family deal this weekend. At my house. And Mom says he’s comin’.”

“Can’t you tell your mom you made other plans? This isn’t exactly complicated.” She crammed a pillow under her head. Beef boy was giving her a headache. “And stay clear of that skank Brenna. No more following her.”

“You act like that was my brilliant idea. You’re the one who likes screwin’ with people.”

From the tension in his voice, she knew Derek wouldn’t take her usual abuse.

“Okay, okay. Chill. Gawd!” She shut her eyes and breathed deep. “Maybe we both need to relax and kick back a little.”

“What are you sayin’?”

“Chloe’s got a new stash and I could seriously use a hit right now.”

“What about her parents?”

“They’re MIA. She said she’d have the house to herself tonight. You want to meet me there in twenty?”

“Yeah, sure. But you know weed makes me horny.” His mood had changed.

Derek’s idea of foreplay was talking dirty. And if she looked up the word crude on Wikipedia, his picture would be staring back. Playing along, Jade teased him back, using her sexy voice.

“Yeah, me, too.”

She ended the call, not waiting to hear what he’d say. The guy was the original horn dawg. His boy toy was like 7-Eleven, open 24/7, three hundred sixty-five days a year. Absolutely everything made him horny, even the crack of dawn.

But Jade had another reason for getting the three of them together tonight. All of them had a hand in what happened to Heather, even precious little Chloe. And she wanted to remind them that they had as much to lose as she did.

Of course, only she knew that wasn’t exactly true. Jade had much more at stake, but that choice tidbit would stay her little secret. It had to.



After Matt Logan had heard Will Tate’s call to the dispatch operator over his radio, he’d cut off all communications and didn’t tell Jolene where he was now. His deputy was looking for him and he had a bad feeling the call was about the watch that he’d taken from the evidence locker. He should have put the damned thing back. Taking evidence went against everything he’d stood for, but family was important, too. And his interference wasn’t just about his nephew. If the kid did something wrong, he should pay for it like everyone else, but this was about more than protecting Derek.

He’d spent his whole life taking care of his little sister. And she didn’t need the shit storm that would rain down on her if Derek had anything to do with Heather’s death. Newspeople would have a field day at her expense, simply because she was related to the sheriff. He’d been called “the preacher” before and some folks might like to see him taken down a notch.

Now he was wedged in a corner of his own making and had no one to blame but himself. That’s why he was parked down the street from his sister’s house, waiting in the shadows. He was deciding his next step. He still had time to fix things, as long as he stayed clear of Will Tate. He could put that damned watch back without anyone being the wiser.

But he had to talk to Derek. He had to know the truth, man-to-man.

When Derek got into his truck and pulled out of his driveway, Matt knew what he had to do. He followed the boy from a safe distance so the kid wouldn’t see him in his rearview mirror. When the time was right, he flashed his lights and pulled him over. He felt like a traitor, but his sister needed his help more than Derek would.

The boy rolled down his window and looked relieved to see his face, but that lasted only until Matt opened his mouth.

“Park it and give me the keys, Derek. Now!”

“What’s wrong, Uncle Matt?”

“And you can drop the Uncle Matt. Tonight, I’m Sheriff Logan.”

Having had a long career in law enforcement, Matt knew how to intimidate anyone. And this time, he’d be playing hardball with his nephew.

“You’re coming with me. And don’t you dare argue, son.”



Joe came home with us and Mom made him dinner. Even before we got done eating, we were talking about what I’d written and what everything meant.

He told me that when I pictured White Bird at the start of my journey, that triggered the link between us. I listened to what he had to say. Seeing my vision through his eyes was like watching The Matrix a second time, seeing cool things I’d missed before.

He said that the sea of white at the beginning of my vision represented my spiritual nature and my willingness to accept mystical stuff. And the weird, lime-green Jell-O forest was my last refuge before I ventured into the charred trees and stinky blood flowers, the danger part.

When we got to the bear and the mutant animals, I noticed Mom went to do the dishes and she got really quiet. At first, she’d been interested in what I told Joe, but when I got into the creepy part, I knew it scared her.

I scared her.

I knew all of this vision tripping would be hard for her to believe. That’s why I’d never brought up that I was a card-carrying member of the “I see dead people” club. Mom was rooted too firmly in reality. And my “gift,” as Joe called it, was probably some other bizarre quirk that I’d gotten from my father’s side of the family.

At some point, when both of us were ready to deal with the questions I had about my dad, I would ask Mom about him, but she looked tired. Eventually Mom went upstairs to take a long bath and left us to work. I thought if I looked at my jumbled notes that I’d see a pattern. I really wanted an “Aha” moment when everything would become crystal clear, but that didn’t happen.

I had something else on my mind. And it had zapped my brain energy.

“I can tell, something is blocking you. What’s the matter?” Joe had a weird way of talking, but he knew how to get to the point.

“He hates me, Joe. He thinks I was working with the sheriff, this whole time. What happened two years ago is old news to us, but to him it’s a fresh wound.”

“That boy is smart. He’ll figure it out.” Joe’s easy way of talking felt like a hot cup of cocoa on a wintry day. “You’re a good girl, Brenna.” He nodded his head and winked. “He’ll notice.”

“Not if he’s in jail for the rest of his life.” I took a deep breath and shut my eyes, fighting off the sting of tears. “And all because of me.”

I couldn’t forget the look of real anger on White Bird’s face when he thought I’d betrayed him to the sheriff.

“You forget. He played a part, too. You’re taking way too much credit for how things went down.” He shoved aside his notepad and leaned across the kitchen table. “Remember what I said about tests in your life?”

“Not…exactly.”

I seriously wished I had remembered what he told me. Things that came from Joe always seemed important. Like White Bird, the man didn’t waste words.

“Stop questioning the tests that are put in your path. You’re given only what you can handle. And those tests—making mistakes and figuring stuff out—that’s what makes you stronger.” He locked his eyes on mine. “Quit looking back, Brenna. The only thing you can change is what’s ahead of you.”

“Yeah, I guess so. But I wanted for us to be…” Even as close as I felt with Joe at this very moment, I still didn’t want to share my feelings for White Bird. They were too personal and I hadn’t even talked to him about how I felt.

“You love him. I get that, but there are no guarantees in life. Open your heart and see what fills it,” Joe said. “Help him because it’s the right thing to do, not because you want him to feel the same way you do.”

“But I didn’t do any of this because…”

Joe didn’t let me finish. He put a finger to my mouth and got me to shut up, a trick Mom would have loved to learn.

“You don’t have to explain.” He narrowed his eyes. “From what you told me about your vision, both of you are here because you did a selfless thing. You risked your life to save his. That’s what brought you back.”

I hadn’t thought about how or why we made it back until now. What Joe said gave me goose bumps.

“You’re strong, you have good instincts when it comes to people and you have a big heart,” he said. “And if that boy can’t see it, then he doesn’t deserve to be your friend.”

I took in what he said and let it simmer in my brain. Joe was the first man that I could see as the father I never really had. A part of me was sad that once we got Grams’s house sold, we’d go back to North Carolina. I’d miss Joe…and one very special person. But if Mom hadn’t dragged my butt here, I never would have met him—or seen White Bird again.

I guess Joe’s Zen way of thinking was rubbing off on me.

“So I never heard. What kind of bet did you make with Dr. Ridgeway?” I asked.

“I bet him a dollar,” Joe said with a straight face.

“Oh, big spender.” I laughed. “You sort of had an edge. Why didn’t you use it?”

“That would’ve been too easy. By him betting on that boy, it told me how desperate he was to make things happen, when in actuality there was no amount of money that would have made him take that bet under normal circumstances. He knew he had nothing to lose by letting us try to reach White Bird.” Joe smiled. “That doctor may not have believed in superstition before, but now he’s not so sure. I kind of like that.”

“Yeah, me, too.” But after I thought about what he said, I scrunched my face. “So you only bet a buck on me? That wasn’t exactly a big show of faith.”

Joe shrugged. “What can I say? You’re a rookie.”

We got back to work. And I’d never done so much talking. Joe said that if I kept yammering, I’d find the answer on my own, that he was only a listener. Searching for the answer in my brain was as lame as playing Where’s Waldo.



“I thought Derek was coming right over. Where is he?” Chloe peeked through the drapes in her living room one more time.

Jade was getting more edgy, just watching her. And she didn’t like it.

“He’ll be here. Relax.” She sprawled on a sofa and kept her voice calm, even though that wasn’t how she felt.

After talking to Derek about his uncle, Jade had a bad feeling. Ever since Brenna came back to town, things had gone to shit. Now the sheriff might be snooping around. She wasn’t worried about the vandalism. The only ones who could point a finger at her had done the deed. If they talked, they’d be in as much trouble as she was. Messing with Brenna and her mom had been intended as a punishment as well as a distraction. She figured Brenna’s mother might step in and stop her daughter from sticking her nose where it didn’t belong.

But maybe she’d figured wrong about the Nashes. Until now, Derek had been her safety net, but things had been different since Brenna came back.

“You trashed her grandmother’s house, didn’t you? You and Derek and his a*shole friends,” Chloe mumbled as she stared out the window. She didn’t wait to hear what Jade would say. “You shouldn’t have done that. That was mean.”

Jade gritted her teeth. Mousy Chloe, the loser, was growing a backbone.

“Oh, shut up! You’re pathetic,” she yelled and pushed off the couch. “And you don’t know what you’re talking about. I had nothing to do with that.”

“Yeah, right.” Chloe laughed. “You’re always innocent.”

“And you’re predictable. You’re a damned follower, Chloe. You always have been.”

“You remind me of Heather. You’re even beginning to look like her.” Chloe turned with a strange smile on her face. “Maybe you’re possessed. She was too nasty to die and she’s taken over your body. You ever think about that?”

“Don’t say that. Now who’s being mean?” Jade acted hurt. “And quit talking about Heather. She’s dead.”

Chloe had been a fellow lab rat when they’d both been subject to Heather’s whims and moods and social experiments. But now that she’d stepped into Heather’s shoes, Jade saw that Chloe was seriously weak and flawed. When this was over, she would cut her loose and recruit someone new, someone more worthy. Nothing of Heather’s old circle would remain. Nothing!

“Come to think of it, wasn’t it your idea to spy on that cute Indian boy?” Chloe reminded her. “You were a little Heather in the making, even back then, weren’t you?”

The bitch wasn’t letting it go. And her trip down memory lane was a little twisted.

“I said shut up, Chloe!”

“You should have left Isaac Henry alone. He wasn’t hurting anyone. But you had to show Heather that you were worthy, didn’t you?” Chloe pushed and got in her face. “So what if Brenna liked him. Why did you have to mess with her, too? She hadn’t done anything to you. She wasn’t a threat to any of us.”

“Us? You’re not one of us. You never were.” Jade lashed out with anything that would sting, but Chloe was on a roll. She wasn’t listening.

“You heard someone sold him peyote. And you told Heather he’d be naked in that sweat lodge he was building. You knew she had the hots for him.” Chloe glared. “Hell, she had the hots for any guy someone else wanted.”

“So that’s it.” Jade laughed. “I always wondered if you knew.”

“What are you talking about?” Chloe’s eyes got watery. “Knew about what?”

“You found out that Heather screwed your precious Lucas, didn’t you?”

“What?” Chloe grimaced and walked away, but Jade followed. “Don’t…say that.”

“As I recall, she said he was a really good lay, too, but you wouldn’t know about that, would you? He doesn’t even know you exist.” Jade went on the offensive to get control and hit Chloe where she’d hurt the most.

“That’s not true.” Chloe shook her head and kept her nose to the wall. She was too much of a coward to turn around. “And Lucas wouldn’t have done that. He was too good for her.”

“No, you knew about them. That’s why you can’t look me in the eye.”

When the blonde didn’t say anything, Jade knew she was right. It was hard for her to understand a girl like Chloe, except that if the girl admitted to knowing Heather had screwed Lucas, she’d have to admit that Lucas had “betrayed” her, too, her twisted version of betrayal, that is. And that was something Chloe would never do.

“You are in serious denial.” Jade softened her tone, all part of the Chloe game. “The minute she found out how you felt about Lucas, that put a target on his sweet ass. As far as Heather was concerned, he had ‘Fair Game’ written on his forehead. Didn’t you get that? She did that to me, too. You remember Ethan?”

Talking about Ethan brought back bad memories. Jade still hated Heather for what she did. Any chance she’d had with Ethan had been ruined. And Heather had done the same with Chloe, who had gotten real quiet, the way she always did when she didn’t like what she heard. The blonde stuck a finger in her mouth and chewed a nail.

“That’s why we have to stick together, Chloe.” Jade closed the gap between them and rubbed her hands on the girl’s shoulders, pretending to be sympathetic. “Heather did that to both of us. That’s why I hate talking about her.”

Chloe turned around and hugged her. The move took Jade by surprise. She rolled her eyes and hugged her back until the girl quit crying.

“Why don’t you light up? That’ll chill you out. You’ll feel better.”

Grass had become a crutch for Chloe. And Jade knew how to use it. The girl nodded and slumped on the couch to light up a joint. When the smell of marijuana filled the room, Jade waited until Chloe got real mellow before she grabbed her purse.

“I’ve gotta pee. And I’m calling Derek again.” Jade made a show of grabbing her cell phone and heading for the bathroom, but when she was down the hall, she went up the back stairs near the kitchen. She wanted a closer look at Chloe’s secret drawer—and that damned journal.

She’d never thought about it before, but what if that idiot Chloe had stuff in her diary about the night Heather died. The girl was stupid like that.

And Jade had too much at stake not to find out what Chloe had written.



Without saying a word, Matt Logan drove his nephew out to the trailhead that led to the old bridge over Cry Baby Creek. Derek didn’t say anything, especially after he saw where they were going. Matt parked the cruiser and turned off his headlights.

“Get out.” He glared at his nephew.

The boy did as he was told. He looked scared, but he kept his mouth shut. An innocent kid would have protested real loud by now. Matt kept his face stern, but inside he ached for his sister—and for Derek.

He took the kid to the bridge, where Heather’s body had been found. It was pitch black, except for the bluish haze of the moon. But even in the dark, Matt knew Derek was crying.

“This is where Heather died, Derek. I’m telling you this, but I think you already know.”

Derek kept his head down. He didn’t bother to hide his sobs now. The grating chirp of crickets and the darkness closed in on both of them—and the truth could no longer be denied.

“Did you kill that girl, Derek?”

“What? Why’d you say that? No!” When his nephew raised his voice, the crickets stopped.

Matt had finally gotten a reaction from the kid.

“They found your watch at the crime scene. You know, the one I bought you. They’re gonna trace it back to me. And too many people know I gave that damned thing to you. You’ll be linked to the murder. You’re a damned suspect now, Derek.”

His nephew had plenty of opportunity to deny that his watch had been found at a crime scene, but when he didn’t, Matt knew he’d been right. And Will Tate might already know it, too.

“But I didn’t do anything. Not really.”

The minute the kid said, “Not really,” he knew he’d said the wrong thing. He got real quiet.

“Don’t you get it? You’re about to be hauled in as a suspect in a murder. Your momma is gonna freak out. And the media and this whole damned town will tar and feather me, so I can’t protect you.” Matt had his hands on his hips, yelling at the boy, who couldn’t look him in the eye. “You’ve gotta tell me everything, so we can figure out what to do before all this goes down. This is your last chance to make things right.”

When Derek hesitated, Matt didn’t hold anything back.

“Didn’t that poor girl mean anything to you? She died right here, drowning in her own blood.” He grabbed the kid by his arm and hauled him to the spot where Heather took her last breath. “Someone stabbed her to death and I gotta know everything about that night. For your mother’s sake, do the right thing now, boy, before it’s out of our hands. You owe your mother that much.”

Derek finally broke down. He didn’t admit to killing Heather. He didn’t go that far, but he did tell his uncle about the others. He had gone with Heather, Jade and Chloe to track Isaac Henry into the woods to his sweat lodge. They had heard the Indian had bought peyote for some ritual he was doing. The whole thing had been Jade’s idea. At first, they only intended to scare the kid and mess with him by stealing his peyote, but when Heather took over, things got nasty and out of control.

They had attacked the Indian kid while he was under the influence. He was stronger than Derek figured and they’d scuffled by the fire pit. That’s where Derek lost his watch, although he’d never been sure. He had his hands full with Isaac Henry, who was beating the crap out of him. And afterward they all split up and ran.

“What happened to Heather?” Matt demanded. He grabbed Derek’s arm and shook him. “Who was with Heather, damn it?”

“I don’t know. Ask Brenna. She was the one that called you, right? She saw that Indian kill Heather, didn’t she?”

Not exactly, Matt thought. With what Derek told him, he had more pieces to the puzzle, but something was still missing. He needed everyone who was there that night to tell what they saw.

“Where’s Jade and Chloe?”

“They’re at Chloe’s house. I was gonna meet them when you pulled me over.” Derek wiped his face. “What’s gonna happen now, Uncle Matt?”

It hadn’t been an accident that Derek now called him uncle. The kid was already playing on his sympathies, but it was too little too late.

“We’re going to the Seavers’ place. And I’m taking all three of you in for questioning,” he said. “We’re getting to the bottom of this. Now get going.” He grabbed Derek by the shoulder and hauled him back up the trail.

Matt had a pretty good idea what would happen now. Soon it would be out of his hands and he’d have no say. But getting at the truth was the right thing to do—for all of them. And when his nephew’s back was turned, he made the sign of the cross and prayed for Heather.

The girl had deserved better.



Jade crept down the dark hallway to Chloe’s bedroom. She hadn’t flipped the lights on. She was afraid Chloe would notice. When she got to the room, Jade turned the knob and slowly closed the door so she wouldn’t make a sound. Once she got inside, she grabbed a jacket Chloe had hanging over a chair and stuffed it at the base of the door. She didn’t want light shining through, a dead giveaway that she was snooping.

Jade flicked on a lamp and a pale glow washed over the room. It was bright enough for her to see. She knelt at the base of the armoire and felt in the back for the little key. When she found it, she unlocked the drawer and looked over Chloe’s prized possessions.

Everything was exactly as she had seen it before. Lucas Quinn’s number one fan had been stalking him for years. Jade smiled as she knelt in front of the glitter-filled drawer. A stalker’s tribute to a boy Chloe would never have. But Jade’s smile faded fast when she didn’t see the journal.

What the hell? She fumbled through the bags of hair, old ticket stubs and sparkling pictures of Lucas’s smiling face. Jade was losing it. She knew that stupid Chloe had written everything down in her damned journal. That idiot was the weak link. And dumb, lovesick Chloe would tell. She should have taken the journal the first time—and burned the damned thing, sight unseen. Now it might be too late. Chloe would ruin everything.

Jade was so obsessed with rummaging through the drawer that she didn’t hear the bedroom door open.

“Is this what you’re looking for?”

Jade yelped at the sound of a voice behind her. When she turned, she saw Chloe holding the journal in her hand. Lucas’s smiling face was on the cover that was trimmed in absurd lace. The blonde cocked her head and blinked her blue eyes. Her pink glossed lips curved into a faint smile.

Jade thought about denying she’d been looking for the damned thing, but that was before Chloe made it easy. Before Jade could say anything, Chloe held out her diary and walked it over to her.

“I would’ve let you read it if you’d asked me. I’ve got nothing to hide.”

Jade reached for the journal with trembling fingers. Her heart was still racing and her breathing was shallow and fast. She didn’t want Chloe to see how scared she’d been after she got caught.

“I was just curious what you wrote about the night Heather died. That’s all.” Jade grabbed the diary and flipped through the pages, looking for the date she’d never forget. She didn’t hear Chloe inch closer.

“How did you know I kept a journal…especially in that drawer?”

She realized too late that Chloe had figured out that she’d been in her secret drawer before. The bitch had set her up.

“You shouldn’t have looked in there,” Chloe whispered in her ear.

It was the last thing Jade heard. She never even got a chance to look up. A jolt of pain shot through her skull and dark splatter hit the armoire. Again and again. When she hit the carpet, she felt her body spasm and she couldn’t move. She wanted to scream, but she couldn’t do that, either.

Chloe leaned over her and whispered, “Now look what you made me do.”

That’s all Jade remembered before everything went black.