Текст книги "The Lies That Bind"

Автор книги: Kate Carlisle

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“I’ve missed you, too. You’re my favorite. Don’t tell the others. By the way, you realize we’ve inherited another sister, right?”

“I know,” I said. “And I blame myself. Mom is insane about Annie, don’t you think? I guess it’s because of Abraham.”

China agreed. “I admit I’m a little protective of her myself.”

“Me, too, but don’t tell her I said so. She’s really fun to tease.”

Annie, or Anandalla, as her mother had named her, was Abraham Karastovsky’s daughter. A daughter he’d never met until the week before he died. That’s when Annie showed up, giving Abraham the shock of his life. In a good way, of course. They’d made plans and were looking forward to getting to know each other. Then he was killed and my mother took Annie under her wing.

Since Abraham hadn’t known about Annie, and hadn’t had a chance to change his will, he’d left his entire estate to me, his lifelong pupil and apprentice. I’d made some changes and now Annie had a small trust fund, and she and I were co-owners of Abraham’s palatial home in the hills overlooking Dharma. Those changes had assuaged a small part of the boatload of guilt I’d been dealing with ever since Abraham died.

Annie’s mom died shortly after that, and she moved to Dharma. The entire community had adopted her, especially my mother, who considered Annie the fifth daughter I’d never known she needed.

“We’ve got to go,” I said, hugging China. I told her we’d meet up with her at Annie’s store later. Then I grabbed Alice and we continued walking the Lane.

There was already a crowd gathered in front of Annie’s place. I was delighted when I saw what she’d named her store.

Anandalla!

It was perfect. It sounded so Dharma. Alice followed as I pushed my way into the packed store, stopping every few feet to greet old friends and introduce them to Alice. I spotted Robin on the other side of the spacious shop and we waved at each other. But I couldn’t get there from here, not through this crowd.

I couldn’t see Annie anywhere, and before I could track her down, Mom found me and wrapped me up in a major mama-bear hug.

“Blessed be, sweetie,” she said in greeting, and I was reminded of her recent Wicca training. “Let’s walk outside. It’s crazy in here.” She led the way, worming around the crowds to the door, then out to the sidewalk.

“Good job, Mom,” I said when we hit the fresh air.

She closed her eyes and raised her face to the sunshine. “It’s so nice out here.”

“It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood,” I sang.

She smiled at me. “Now, sweetie, I want you to have a good time today, but also, Robson needs to talk to you sometime while you’re here.”

Robson, also known as Guru Bob to us kids, was the spiritual leader of the pack.

“Okay, I’ll stop by his place a little later.” I turned and gestured to Alice. “Mom, this is my friend Alice I was telling you about. She’s the one who wants to get a massage today.”

“Blessed be, Alice,” Mom said. “The spa is expecting you.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Wainwright,” Alice said. “It’s so nice of you to make the arrangements for me.”

“Can you take Alice with you, Mom?”

Mom turned to me. “Sweetie, I had to cancel my usual massage to help Annie today, but I called Savannah. She’s going to the spa, so I thought she could take Alice with her.”

“Oh.” I looked at Alice. “Do you mind going with my sister? Savannah’s much nicer than I am, anyway.”

Mom frowned. “Don’t be silly. You girls are all wonderful and kind.”

“Of course we are,” I said, laughing. “Veritable paragons.”

Mom touched Alice’s arm. “Did you have a specific type of massage in mind, Alice?”

Alice shook her head. “I have no idea what—”

Mom whipped her hand away. “Oh, dear.”

“Mom, what’s wrong?”

She studied Alice’s face for a few seconds, then reached out and placed two fingers in the center of Alice’s forehead.

Alice flinched.

“Don’t be afraid,” I murmured. “She’s touching your third eye. It’ll tell her everything she needs to know.”

“Whoa,” Mom muttered, and moved her fingers away.

“Mom?”

Ignoring me, she pulled out her touch-screen phone and pressed a number. “I’m calling the spa back. Alice needs immediate attention.”

I grinned at Alice. “Mom’ll take care of you, see?”

“She’s wonderful,” Alice whispered, and looked around. “I feel so safe here.”

Mom hung up the phone and gripped Alice’s arm. “You’re to see Tantra Pangalongie. She’s a specialist. A true healer.”

“A specialist in what, Mom?” I asked. I’d heard about Tantra. The woman was fierce.

Mom took a deep breath. “Panchakarma.”

“Wait,” I said. “Are you sure that’s necessary?”

“Absolutely,” she snapped. “She needs it.”

“Why?” Alice asked, glancing back and forth. “What is it?”

The look on Mom’s face was more serious than I’d ever seen, even when we were children and behaving badly. But the look quickly disappeared and she patted Alice’s arm. “Your aura tells me you need an extraspecial treatment today.”

Alice frowned. “Really? You can see my aura?”

“Mom sees all, knows all,” I said lightly. Then I gave my mother a warning glance as Alice fished in her purse for a tissue. “Mom, Alice is a little sensitive.”

“No, no, I’m fine,” Alice insisted. “It’s just a massage, right? It’ll be fun.”

“Absolutely fun,” Mom said, smiling her Sunny Bunny smile, God help us all. When Sunny Bunny appeared, there was no room for arguments. “Here comes Savannah. You girls will have a great time getting pampered.”

I turned to greet Savannah and burst out laughing.

She’d shaved her head.

“I knew you’d love it,” she said wryly.

“God, you’re weird.” I gave her a big hug, then rubbed her smooth head. “Strangely enough, it looks good on you.”

I introduced her to Alice. “You two play nice.”

“We will,” Savannah said, and grabbed Alice’s hand. “Come on, Alice, let’s go get pampered.”

Alice turned back with a tremulous smile. “I’m excited. See you in a while.”

I waved. Once they were halfway down the block, I turned to Mom. “Are you sure the panchakarma is the way to go?”

Mom frowned as she stared off at Alice and Savannah. “Only if she wants to live.”

Chapter 10

“Okay, Mom,” I said, after catching my breath. “You’ve succeeded in scaring the bejeezus out of me, so spill.”

“Oh, sweetie.” Mom linked arms with me and we strolled slowly down the sidewalk. “I know what your feelings are when you hear me rattle on about auras and such.”

“None of us can pass up the opportunity to tease you, Mom,” I said, squeezing her arm. “But you’ve been right about these things more often than not.”

“Then you must trust me. That girl has problems. She has a gray aura. And it’s absolutely opaque.”

Gray aura? I’d never heard of it. “So what does that mean?”

“Well, depending on the shade of gray, it might simply indicate that Alice feels trapped in her life. Or, it could point toward depression.”

“She doesn’t seem depressed,” I mused.

“There’s another possibility.” Mom paused, then sighed. “She could be terminally ill.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry, dear,” she said, patting my hand. “I’m just the messenger. The good thing is that the gray wasn’t dark enough to call it black.”

“There are black auras?”

“They’re very rare.” Mom’s shoulders shook and she rubbed her arms. “Gives me chills just to think about it. Black aura is often seen in abused children, torture victims, and occasionally, heavy drug addicts.”

I thought about that. “I don’t think she does drugs.”

“No, of course not.”

“But she was raised by nuns in a Catholic boarding school. I hate to think there might’ve been some abuse going on.”

“Oh, dear, I hope not.”

“She seems ridiculously grateful for every little scrap of friendship anyone shows.”

“Maybe she was deprived of such things growing up.”

“Maybe.” Talk about depressing. I’d just met her and already considered her a friend. I didn’t want to find out she was dying.

If I could have laughed off Mom’s aura thing as a big joke, I might have been able to ignore her dire calculations. But as I’d told her, I’d seen her land right on the money too many times to blow it off.

The problem with Mom being right was that Alice was now undergoing a radical Ayurvedic treatment known as panchakarma, or cleansing, which was a really nice way of describing the purging, bloodletting, and high colonics used by practitioners of the regime. They looked for every way possible to draw out poisons and toxins in the system, basically cleaning out every bodily orifice they could find. It was a lengthy procedure normally done for terminally ill patients who’d tried everything else.

Alice wasn’t going to thank me for this.

“Keep good thoughts, sweetie,” Mom had said. “Today is a day for positive thinking. You won’t help your friend if you act depressed over her state.”

I was pretty sure she wouldn’t be grateful either way, but no point in saying that. “Don’t worry. I’ll be perky as a petunia.”

“That’s my good girl. Tell you what. I’ll crochet a healing sachet for Alice to wear.”

“Sounds attractive,” I mumbled.

“My Wicca skills improve every day,” she said. “Your father thinks I make one hell of a witch.”

“Uh, Mom, I’m not sure he meant—”

“Don’t say it.” She laughed and slapped my arm. “Let’s go help our Annie.”

I glanced around and realized we’d walked down the block, turned around, and now were back at Annie’s store. We stared through the wide plate-glass window. “Is she inside?”

“I don’t see her,” Mom said, “but she’s been swamped all morning. She might be in the back, placing orders. I’d better go help out. Are you coming in or heading to Robson’s?”

“I’ll head over to his house now and be back to help out in a little while.”

“Blessed be,” she said, and gave me another hug before I took off down the street.

Nothing was a very far walk in Dharma. Guru Bob’s lovely home was just up the hill on a piece of land that jutted out to provide magnificent views in three directions. I’d always considered it the catbird seat as far as property in Dharma went.

I approached his two-story Edwardian mansion with some trepidation. It’s not that I didn’t like him; I did, very much. But he was a man of higher consciousness, and even if you didn’t drink the commune Kool-Aid, there was something solemn about being in his presence that made you want to talk in quiet tones and behave respectfully. It was a little disconcerting.

I knocked on the front door and waited less than ten seconds before he opened the door himself.

“Brooklyn,” he said jovially. “How are you?”

“I’m fine, Robson.” I’d never dared to call him Guru Bob to his face, but he probably knew we’d nicknamed him that years ago. He seemed to know everything that went on when it came to his town and his people.

He ushered me into his well-appointed, art-filled home and led the way to a small elegant sitting room. A tea service was set up on the coffee table. Or did that make it a tea table?

A door off the tea room led to Guru Bob’s small library. I’d helped him acquire a number of rare books over the years and knew how wonderful and extensive his collection was. I could hear papers being shuffled and footsteps moving around the room. Someone was working in there.

“Please sit, gracious,” Guru Bob said, indicating the beautifully restored Regency-style sofa. He called most people gracious on the supposition that we were all filled with varying amounts of grace. I’d heard him say that when he called you gracious, he could watch you become more present to the moment.

He sat in a comfortable side chair and began to pour the tea. “How was your trip to Edinburgh?”

“Very nice,” I said politely, then added, “Well, there was an unfortunate incident or two while I was there. An old friend was killed.”

“Ah, yes. Kyle McVee.”

“You heard about Kyle? How . . . Never mind.” Why bother asking? The man knew everything.

“I have my sources.” He smiled mysteriously.

I laughed. “Right. Mom, Dad, Robin, and the forty-four conscious beings that astral travel with you wherever you go.” I gasped and slapped my hand over my mouth. I couldn’t believe I’d just said that.

But Guru Bob fell back in his chair and laughed out loud. It was a rare sound and I was inordinately pleased to be the cause of it.

“Oh, Brooklyn,” he said when he’d caught his breath. “I have missed you here in Dharma.” He took a quick sip of tea, then added, “I know your work demands that you stay in the city, but perhaps you could make it up here more often. I know your mother would enjoy seeing you.”

I frowned. “Did my mom ask you to say that?”

He laughed again. “No, of course not. I just know her well enough to tell you so.”

“I guess you do.”

We both sipped our tea for a moment. I took a petite tea cake and popped it into my mouth. The silence was not uncomfortable, but I was starting to wonder what he wanted to discuss with me.

As if he could read my mind—and he probably could—he put down his teacup. “Now, I have some business to discuss with you.”

In the past, my siblings and I had devoted hours to trying to figure out if Guru Bob could read minds. Now I wondered if maybe he was just an expert at body language. It probably didn’t take a highly evolved conscious being to figure out mine. Derek did it all the time, too. Not that Derek wasn’t a highly evolved guy. It’s just that . . . well, you’d have to meet Guru Bob to know what I was talking about.

“I have a book I would like you to work on,” he said.

I sat forward on the couch. “Oh, that’s great.”

“Yes, it is,” he said, grinning at my reaction. He stood and walked to the door of the library. “Gabriel, do you have the book for Brooklyn?”

“It’s on the desk,” Gabriel called.

Gabriel?

Guru Bob strolled to an antique escritoire on the opposite wall. He opened the desk panel and picked up a small wrapped package.

“It is Marcus Aurelius,” he said as he unwrapped it and handed it to me.

Uh, hello? Gabriel?

I stared at the book, then back at the doorway. No one was there. Maybe I’d misunderstood what Guru Bob had said. I glanced back at the book and started to turn it over, but the front cover fell off in my hands, leaving bits of thin thread dangling from its severed edge.

“Oh, dear,” I murmured.

He frowned. “As you see, it is in terrible condition. But it is a rare volume and I do not wish to give up on it just yet. The paper is excellent quality. I am confident you can bring it back to life.”

“Of course.” I carefully turned it over to see how the back had fared. Normally, the back cover would be in slightly better condition than the front because the hinges weren’t worked as much. That was the case with this book. Though faded, the original leather had been a light golden brown, with gilded borders and a raised spine. The gilding was badly rubbed.

The book was printed on pages of thick vellum. The first letter of each chapter was illuminated in red, blue, and gold, with gilt ornamentation.

“Gorgeous,” I whispered, and looked up at Guru Bob. “I’ll take good care of it.”

“I know you will, dear.”

“Would you like the cover to be similar in color to the original?”

“I think that would be the best choice.”

I was distracted by a movement at the door to the library and looked over, then blinked in disbelief.

“Gabriel?”

“Hey, babe.” He stood leaning against the doorjamb, looking as cocky and handsome as ever in a tight black T-shirt and worn black denims. God help all womankind, but the man was devastatingly handsome. Not to be trusted, ever, but devilishly good-looking, nonetheless.

I glanced at Guru Bob, then back at Gabriel, who couldn’t stop smirking. I looked at Guru Bob again, this time with purpose. “Robson, what is he doing here?”

“Gabriel needed to keep himself busy,” Guru Bob explained. “And I agree, so I have hired him to alphabetize my books and set up a computerized card catalog.”

“Keeps me off the streets,” Gabriel said.

Alarmed, I turned to Guru Bob. “Robson, can we talk privately?”

He laughed. “Gracious, I am well aware of Gabriel’s penchant for the finer things. If anything turns up missing, I know where to find him.”

“Really?” I said intently. “Because I haven’t been able to find him at all. But then he turns up when you least expect it. And in the strangest places.”

Like, for instance, in my hotel room in Edinburgh a few weeks ago. But that was a long story and I was much too sober to relive it at that moment.

“You will find him here for the foreseeable future,” Guru Bob assured me. “He is doing an excellent job.”

“Good to know.” I gave Gabriel a stern, narrow look that sent a clear warning: Don’t pull anything here. I’ll be watching you.

He winked at me, then went back to work.

Discombobulated, I picked up my teacup and finished my drink. Then I stood and slipped the book into my purse. “I’d better get back to Annie’s. Are you going to stop by today?”

“Most certainly,” Robson said. “I am so pleased that Anandalla found a home here and I am indebted to you for bringing her here.”

“I may have discovered her, but it was Mom’s influence that kept her here.”

“Your mother is a gift from the gods.”

I smiled. “Yes, and she’s probably wondering why I’m not there helping out. So I should be going.”

“See you around, babe,” Gabriel said from the doorway.

“Yeah, okay. Bye.” I was flustered. I couldn’t help it. He was a gorgeous bad boy. Who could resist that?

Guru Bob accompanied me to the front door and gave me a light hug. “You are not to worry about Gabriel, gracious. At his core, he is a good man and knows I am not someone to be taken advantage of.”

“Of course you’re not. And I don’t mean to tell you your own business, but are you sure you know him as well as you think? Don’t get me wrong. He’s helped me out of a few jams. But he’s also . . . well, I’m concerned that he might . . .”

“Your concern touches me, gracious,” he said, “but let me allay your fears.” He placed his hand on my shoulder, and instantly, waves of calm radiated from my shoulder into every muscle of my body. I took several deep breaths and leaned against the door as he told me a story.

“When I was a younger man,” he said, “I traveled to the Middle East, starting in Turkey and journeying northeastward to the Hindu Kush. My plan was to spend a year following in the footsteps of Mr. Gurdjieff, in search of the miraculous. I found it everywhere.”

George Gurdjieff was a Russian mystic whose teachings were among the many that Guru Bob encouraged the members of his fellowship to study. Gurdjieff’s idea of self-remembering was said to be a cornerstone of esoteric study.

“Then, five years ago,” he continued, “a number of my own fellowship men decided to make the same trip through the Hindu Kush. They were determined to go with or without me, so I agreed to accompany them. One of my goals for this trip was to track down my old friend Mushaf, a Yezidi holy man I had met on that earlier journey. He, too, had been in search of higher wisdom and had left his home in Kurdistan to traverse the Kush.”

“Did you find him?”

Guru Bob sighed. “We hired a reputable guide, but when we arrived in the village where I had last seen Mushaf, our guide asked too many questions and was thrown in jail. Within a day, an armed skirmish broke out among several tribes and we were trapped in the cross fire.”

“What did you do?”

He smiled ruefully. “I prayed. Several days before we arrived, there had been an American drone attack within a few miles of our location. I believe that the air strike, quickly followed by our presence in the area, is what stirred up the tribesmen.”

“I would’ve been scared silly.”

“It was a dangerous time. One of our group spoke French and a few words of Dari, and made some garbled attempts to bribe our guide out of jail.”

“Did it work?”

“No,” he said darkly, lost in the memory. “Things were about to come to a head and I was concerned for my men, as well as our jailed guide. On the third day, with gunshots ringing all around the small hut we inhabited, a light-skinned man appeared at the door. He wore the typical garb of the region and his head was wrapped in a keffiyeh, but he was different from the other men in the village. Tall. Brash. When he began to speak American English, I thought I was hallucinating.”

My eyes grew wide. “No way,” I whispered.

Guru Bob gave me one of his beatific smiles. “Yes. It was Gabriel. He had heard a rumor that there were Americans in trouble in the area and had traveled up the mountain to help us.”

“But what was he doing there?”

Guru Bob’s lips twisted in mild vexation. “I thought at the time that it was better not to ask.”

“Yeah, probably so.” But my mind was reeling with possibilities. Had Gabriel been a spy? A mercenary? A smuggler? It was all too coincidental that he happened to be in the same place as Guru Bob.

Guru Bob went on to explain that Gabriel spoke perfect Farsi as well as the various Pashto dialects. He was able to broker a deal to return their guide to them and quell the tribesmen long enough for Guru Bob and the men to escape down the mountain and find the nearest train station.

Guru Bob shook his head in wonder. “He saved our lives—of that, I have no doubt.”

“Wow, I guess so.”

“Perhaps it had been naive of me to assume we could pass through the region safely after so many years of war,” Guru Bob added with a sad sigh. “But people have done it for centuries and still do, today. And there are many trustworthy guides in the area. Added to that, the fellowship men are a stubborn lot and were determined to make the journey. I could not let them go by themselves.”

I frowned as something disturbing occurred to me. “Did my father go on that trip with you?”

“He did.”

“So he knows Gabriel?”

“He does.”

So Gabriel had saved not only Guru Bob’s life; he had also saved my dad’s life. I didn’t know how to react, except to feel grateful.

“Gabriel’s heroics do not end there,” he assured me. “Recently, once again, he saved the life of someone extremely dear to me. I owe him a great deal.”

“He’s got a strange habit of . . . Oh, you mean . . . ?”

“Yes, gracious,” he said softly. “I speak of you.”

I tried to swallow around the lump in my throat. The first time I met Gabriel was right after Abraham died. I was in a noodle shop on Fillmore Street when a lunatic kid with a gun threatened to kill me. Gabriel walked in and kicked the gun out of the kid’s hand. I’d thought at the time that he just happened to be in the neighborhood, but I’d found out later that he’d been following me.

“You knew he saved me that day?” I said.

Guru Bob tilted his head and stared at me. What was I thinking? Of course he knew. He knew everything.

“For these reasons,” Guru Bob said, “when Gabriel shows up at my door and requests sanctuary, I welcome him.”

As I walked back to the Lane, I considered, not for the first time, how very lucky I was to have grown up in Dharma. Most people laugh or look with suspicion when they hear someone was raised in a commune. Hippies, drugs, raggedy clothes, and marijuana-covered hillsides are just some of the images that come to mind. But my childhood was blissful. That’s the only word for it.

And if ever there was a place that could be considered sanctuary, Dharma was it. But why did Gabriel need sanctuary? I didn’t feel comfortable grilling Guru Bob about it, but I would be sure to ask Gabriel the next time I saw him.

I’d been gone for over an hour, so I wondered if Alice was finished with her treatment. Probably not. I wouldn’t be surprised if Tantra the healer kept her there all day.

I reached Annie’s shop and was amazed to see people out on the sidewalk, waiting to get inside. I greeted more old friends and eased my way through the door in search of Annie.

She found me first. “Brooklyn! You made it.”

She hugged me. I could tell she was thrilled with the way the day was going.

“Annie, the store’s beautiful.”

She looked around, taking in everything at once. “I know. I love it. I love this town. Your mom has been so great. And Austin and Jackson and your dad helped hang the racks and the shelves. Everybody’s been amazing.”

I was glad to hear that my brothers had warmed up to Annie. When my family first met her, they were concerned that she was lying about her connection to Abraham. My brothers had insisted she take a paternity test before I could write her into Abraham’s trust.

I looked around. They’d all done a great job setting up the place. The room was ultramodern in design with a high ceiling, industrial lighting, and exposed ducts that gave it an urban feel. Chrome wire shelving along the perimeter added to the clean, open feel of the space. In and among the shelves and rows of stock, round tables were decorated with place settings for dining, except every setting was different. It was a creative way to display all the different flatware, dishware, and accessories available in the store. Near the back, one full counter was a cooking station, and the chef in charge was handing out samples of the goodies he cooked using Annie’s pots and pans.

“This is so clever,” I said, marveling at the setup. “Who knew you were so talented?”

She laughed. “Don’t think I don’t know that’s a major compliment, coming from you. My day is officially complete.”

“Sounds like you’re happy.”

She looked at me in surprise. “I am. I really am. I’m so happy. Thank you.” Then she shocked me by hugging me again.

I had to blink back tears. “Okay. Good.”

“Okay.” She sniffled. “That’s enough of that crap.”

“No kidding. Now what can I do to help?”

She sent me back to the stockroom to help Mom, who sat at the computer checking what was selling. She would tell me what to look for, I would find the items and take them out to the store to restock the shelves. After a while, Dad joined me and I lost track of time as we ran around adding more spatulas and baskets and canisters and dishware and linens to the shelves.

I must’ve been working for over an hour and my arms were aching from stretching up to reach the higher shelves and carrying thirty-pound Dutch ovens and cappuccino machines back and forth from the stockroom. “Mom, will you tell Dad I’m just going to step outside for a quick break?”

“Okay, sweetie.”

I made my way through the store, which was still crowded but maneuverable, and stepped outside to enjoy the beautiful day. The temperature was mild and people were out taking advantage of it, strolling the wide sidewalks, chatting and window-shopping. I waved to a few of the locals and felt a wave of nostalgia sweep over me. Guru Bob was right. I really did need to get back here more often.

I glanced up the road and saw Gabriel walking into town. From two blocks away, he saw me and grinned. I could see his stunning smile from here. I had to laugh. Damn, but the man was tall, gorgeous, and incorrigible. He was wearing the black leather duster he’d been wearing the first time I saw him in that noodle shop on Fillmore Street.

I’d thought of him as the man in black that day. A mysterious stranger. My hero. And that’s what he looked like now as he moved forward inexorably, like a force of nature, the duster brushing his strong calves as he approached.

I waved and his grin broadened.

A car backfired and I jolted in surprise, then chuckled at my own foolishness. I looked at the passing cars, wondering which one was to blame for making me look silly. I gazed back at Gabriel, expecting to see his sexy eyes trained on me, but he was gone.

No. He wasn’t gone. He wasn’t grinning. Instead, he lay sprawled on the sidewalk.

I screamed and ran. As I got closer and saw the blood streaming from his head, I knew it wasn’t a car backfiring I’d heard a moment ago.

Gabriel had been shot.