He could have sent someone to fetch or hunt her down. Why involve a human? She and Nathaniel locked eyes, understood, but silently agreed now wasn’t the time to talk about it.
Becky said, “Uh, guys? I’m sorry, but we really gotta get out of here.” She nodded toward the carnage in the car, on the floor. “And we need to figure out a way to make this go away.”
“How?” Nathaniel asked.
“I’m thinking a huge fire?” She shrugged.
“Oh my God.” Sage started to shake. “Can’t we please just get out of here?”
Liberty eyed Sage, and then looked at Becky, pleaded with her silently to help.
“Sure,” Becky said. “Come on. I think we can figure out a plan when we get back to the house. I’ll just turn off the lights. We want it to look like everyone’s asleep if someone shows up before we…”
Nathaniel pulled Sage out. “C’mon, I’ll ride with you.” He looked over his shoulder at Liberty. “We’ll talk when we get back.”
Liberty nodded, put aside her questions. She’d deal with her mixed feelings later.
Chapter Sixteen
Becky and Nathaniel had staged it well. Initial reports called the fire accidental due to an abundance of flammables in the taxidermy shop that had apparently ignited from a lit cigarette left on the workbench. The flames spread quickly, and the bodies were found in the garage, but they and the house were fully engulfed by the time the volunteers arrived.
* * *
Two days passed before Katie arrived, trailing a member of the Council. Liberty was gathering a few final items when Katie called out from the vestibule.
“Nathaniel? Gabriel?”
Liberty entered the corridor from the sitting chamber. “Katie?” She hadn’t seen Deacon Flood in years, but he still looked the same. Wavy brown hair, olive skin, a little soft in the middle. “Hello, Deacon.”
He tipped his head in greeting.
“Nathaniel?” Katie looked over Liberty’s shoulder.
“I’m the only one here. Nathaniel is, uh, at the new cavern up north. Mitch died a couple of nights ago.”
“And Gabriel?”
Liberty swallowed, stepped toward Katie and proceeded to lie. “We were planning to come see you tomorrow. I’m so sorry.”
Katie’s face contorted, “Something happened to him.”
Liberty noticed she stated it, didn’t ask. “Yes. Not far from here. Nathaniel found him in a ditch on Rimrock Hill, said he didn’t think he’d suffered.” Katie allowed Liberty to hug her.
Liberty stepped back as Deacon shamelessly coddled and soothed Katie while she mourned her loss. Liberty raised her eyebrows in a questioning manner when he whispered in Katie’s ear while smoothing her hair, and he cooled his behavior a bit. After a respectable few minutes, Katie pulled herself together, but held fast to Deacon’s arm.
Sniffling, Katie said, “I suspected as much, when Adrian came home without Gabriel…told us how he’d almost gotten killed by hunters. But still. It’s hard to accept.”
Liberty nodded, “I can understand.” Could she ever.
Katie met her eyes, “You should know something, not that it does anybody any good now, but Adrian said he believes Mitch was involved in Sage’s disappearance.”
Liberty feigned surprise, gasped. “What?”
“You don’t have to believe it, but Adrian swears it’s the truth. He said he saw a truck parked on the road near the area he last saw her. Glimpsed it through the trees. It was yellow with a black stripe.”
Butterflies flitted around in Liberty’s stomach. What else had he seen? “He never told us,” she said, knowing full well it was Mitch’s truck.
“He was ashamed that he ran. He’s hated himself for it, too. All this time. He’s just a boy, Liberty. You can’t blame him for running.”
It was true. Liberty had blamed him. She dropped her eyes and said softly, “You’re right. And I’m sorry.”
Katie nodded a brief acknowledgment, “Last week, when…” she paused, giving a sideways glance to Deacon, “we visited? Adrian saw the same truck parked at the farmhouse.”
Liberty pretended to make the connection, then shrugged and said, “You’re right about one thing. There’s not much we can do about it anymore.”
Deacon spoke up, “Is Nathaniel coming back tonight?”
Liberty met his dark eyes, shook her head, “He’s already been and gone. In fact,” she glanced over her shoulder into the sitting chamber, “I should be heading back soon. But like I said, you’re welcome to stay here.”
He looked to Katie for an answer, but she didn’t respond, only leaned into him. “Thanks anyway,” he said, “but in light of the bad news,” he put an arm around Katie, “we should be getting back.”
Liberty walked them to the vestibule. “I’m really sorry about Gabriel.