Jesse shrugged. “Well, it’s not really great for livestock. Too muddy. You get a hurricane like Andrew or just a wet storm through here, and you’d be wading in muck for weeks, months maybe. Not that people don’t buy the land and get a few horses, cows, chickens—pigs, even. There are a lot of growers out here. The earth is actually incredibly rich in many places. My ancestors grew pumpkins, you know. Haven’t seen many pumpkin patches, but…there are a lot of berry farms. You can even do some citrus. Then again, there are those people who just want to have a huge estate. You know, lots of land. They can get it far cheaper out here than anywhere nearer the city. And you can build a huge house, tennis courts, pool, the works. Some people like to be out in the sticks. There are some incredible mansions along some of the trails.”
Jake was the silent one then, studying the landscape. From this vantage point, he could see a fair distance. Houses sat far back from the water’s edge, though for all he knew the property lines were actually under water. The water could take a man a good distance, could easily get him out of the “swamp” and into civilization.
“Two things go on out here most frequently,” Jesse said, still staring at him. “Drug running and murder. Sometimes they go hand in hand.”
Jake nodded but was silent.
“Those women who were killed out here…their ears were slashed, weren’t they?” Jesse said. “And they belonged to a cult.”
“Uh-huh.”
“The slashed ears might have meant the girls weren’t heeding the word of their master or maybe it meant they had heard too much. Their ears had betrayed them. An eye for an eye kind of a deal. Or maybe it was just something to throw the police off completely.”
Startled, Jake looked at Jesse. “That’s exactly what I’ve been thinking.”
“What made you come to that conclusion?”
“I paid a visit to Peter Bordon.”
“Oh? And he gave you something?”
“‘Smoke and mirrors,’” Jake quoted. “I just know there’s something I’m missing. It’s like I can’t see the forest for the trees.”
“Well,” Jesse said, shrugging, “look that way and you’ll see plenty of trees. Hope you can find the forest soon, ’cuz I just heard that Peter Bordon might be released.”
Ashley drove David Wharton back to the garage where his car was parked. He intended to head straight down to city hall and procure the property records.
“Small world, actually,” she murmured, thinking that it had only been that morning when Jake’s Jane Doe had been identified, and she had been involved with property, too.
“Small world?” David said.
She shrugged. “Nothing, really.” She didn’t want to talk about Jake’s case, especially not to a reporter.
“Call my cell,” she told him. “I’m going to the hospital.”
“I thought Nathan Fresia didn’t want you there?”
“He doesn’t, but…well, he’s got the police there now. I don’t have to go to Stuart’s room to find out how he’s doing. And I’ll pick up some flowers for Lucy.”
“All right. I have to hurry. I don’t know how early they’re closing these days.”
Ashley nodded and let him go. She drove straight to the hospital. As she parked in the garage, she felt the old unease creeping over her. But it was still daylight, and there were plenty of people walking from their cars to the elevators. She decided to take a minute to call Nick, having remembered on the way that he had said something about dinner. She called the bar, and Katie answered. She told her that Nick had gone out with Sharon for the day.
“Thrown over for another woman,” Ashley said.
“Nah…he’ll never throw you over. Did you actually make a date with your uncle?”
“No, we just agreed that we were going to make a date, I guess. Thanks, Katie. Hope everyone shows up—if there’s a problem, call me. I’m heading back to the hospital.”
The garage remained busy as she walked to the elevators. She went to the information desk and was given a room number for Lucy Fresia. She was relieved to find the gift shop open, and she bought her some flowers.
In contrast to Nathan’s coolness earlier, Lucy was glad to see her. She was impatient and fretful, eager to get up and see her son, but Nathan had insisted that she wasn’t to move, that she had to rest—then he could fall apart.
“Lucy, I know the girls and I couldn’t possibly have tripped over a cord and unplugged anything in that room,” Ashley said earnestly.
Lucy smiled grimly. “My dear, Nathan still believes in accidents. I don’t. It wasn’t an accident that Stuart is here, no matter how those cops look at me sometimes. And I don’t believe that plug was pulled by accident, either. Oh, and thank God you thought of hiring them. I didn’t even think of hiring security. I suppose, if the police really believed someone had been trying to kill Stuart, they would have had someone guarding him already. And I’m sure you promised to pay those men, but Nathan and I can certainly afford it, so don’t you even think about it.”
“Lucy, really, that’s something we can worry about later.”
She squeezed Lucy’s hand. “Let’s pray Stuart comes to soon, and that will solve everything.”
“Absolutely.” Lucy ran her fingers over the hospital sheet. “They won’t discharge me until the morning. Of course, the good thing is, I won’t have far to go to be with Stuart again.”
“Right.”
“Now, Nathan may give you a problem, but if you’ve got the time, go on up and see him. Tell him he must leave long enough to come give me a kiss and a hug and convince me that Stuart is doing just fine.”
“Certainly.”