15. Willow

Martha is tired today,so she snoozes in an armchair by her bedroom window. She has a great view of a pond with ducks bobbing about atop it. Large willow trees are dotted around the embankment. Benches for the residents to enjoy the fresh air are placed spasmodically around the pond. It"s pretty and relaxes my soul. I know this from experience. It"s one of my happy places since I"ve been here.

I don"t relish the thought of heading home to Louisville for any reason. The town is about a thirty-minute drive West of Baton Rouge. But then again. I have a sudden thought—if Marcus and Sarah are here in Boston, then that means they"re not in the house in Louisville. Which means I will have some time to search for my brother.

My belly fills with nerves at the thought. It could work though. Something at the house would surely tell me where Gabe is. No one would expect me to go there.

I wince as I turn and face a sleeping Martha. I care for her and have second thoughts about leaving. It would only be temporary, but even so. Then there is Nikoli. I can"t tell him what I"m planning to do. He has a game tonight, and he does not need the distraction of worrying about me.

A thought comes to me. Rosie and Levi, or Dodge as he prefers. They could come with me. Oh, maybe not Rosie. She"ll be at the game. Dodge though. He gave me his card yesterday. I hunt through my jean pockets, but of course the pair I wear are fresh, the others need laundered. Then I remember, I peel off the cover on my cheap phone.I hold the card and look at the crisp black ink of his number. There is no name. No business. Just black digits.

I check on Martha who snoozes away and leave the room. The door closes softly behind me. Waiting for me in the hallway is Isobel. She hooks my arm and tugs me further along away from resident doorways. I go with her because she doesn"t scare me and I"m curious as to what she wants.

"What is going on?" she asks coming to a stop. She faces me. "That man from yesterday accused me of things."

"I saw you and Laura slip the envelope beneath my door. That is why Dodge was here asking questions. You facilitated someone threatening me."

Her complexion pales. "I"m sorry. We should have realized it was something bad." She glances away and then holds my gaze. "We didn"t know. Will you tell that man as well. I don"t want him back here. He wasn"t very friendly. He was easy on the eyes until he started questioning us."

"That"s his job, Isobel." I sigh. "Forget about all that, do you know anything about Harold? Has anyone said anything?"

"Are you accusing?—"

"No," I rush out. "I haven"t been around, so I wondered if there is any scuttlebutt."

"Nothing much. Susan said he paid his own fees each month for being here, but she has no idea how much money he actually has." Isobel shrugs. "I can"t see it being about money. I mean, how would they get it from him? It"s not like he has it all stashed in his room."

My eyes pop wide. "What if he did? Did Susan say whether he paid cash or check or something else?"

Isobel rolls her eyes. "Willow, this is so diagnoses murder." She smirks. It"s a show we have watched over and over again when in the TV room with residents. I"d often find myself the only one awake by the end of an episode.

"Well, someone hit him on the head and tried to make it look like I was responsible. Luckily for me I wasn"t here otherwise I may have had a hard time getting the cops to believe me."

"I did hear that." Isobel steps close and whispers, "There were no visitors checked in before he was found. In fact, that guy you sent to talk to me and Laura was the first visitor of the day."

"Which means it was someone here who killed him."

"Yes. I"d watch your back Willow. This person obviously wanted to set you up, but that didn"t work. They might try again." Pause. "And before you ask, no it wasn"t me. I know nothing about what happened to Harold." She shudders. "I liked him. He"d talk to me about the 50s. He was a big Elvis Presley fan you know. Saw him live before the King made it big time."

"I believe you." I look about. "We better get back to work."

She nods and runs off. I take my time moving along the hallway. I don"t relish having a conversation with Susan, but I don"t have much choice if I don"t want to lose my job. I need to take off for a day or two and find my brother.

* * *

The private jetcomes to a screeching halt on the runway. I don"t mind flying, but I don"t think Levi Dodge is thrilled about it. He has a steel grip on the armrests. I quickly turn and look out the small window.

When I"d called Dodge and explained what I wanted to do, the man had been all business. That"s how we ended up in Ellison Security"s private jet. The man has worked the entire three-hour flight with only the odd answer needed from me.

Dodge clears his throat in a way that I know he"s trying to get my attention. "We"re here. I think I know where Gabe is." He winces. "The problem may be getting to him."

"What do you mean?"

"From the research I"ve already done, and taking the words in the letter literally, I think your brother is being held in one of two facilities. Neither has a good reputation."

I press a hand to my stomach and nod slowly. "I"ll get him out of wherever he is. Then we"ll go to the police."

Dodge gives me a long, hard look before nodding. "Let"s go." He gets up and leaves me to follow. As I do, I worry, wondering how Nikoli will react to my disappearance.