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She accepted that with a nod. Eventually, she would probably get all of her history, but she was willing to wait.
“But you think my mother slept with her father,” Ravinia said.
“She didn’t know who he was, although he knew who she was and didn’t care. I believe he was the main reason your mother lost her mind,” Catherine said to Ravinia. “He came at me a time or two as well. That’s why we had to take care of things.”
“What did you do?” Elizabeth asked.
“Made sure he wouldn’t hurt anyone again,” Catherine said with finality. “He’s dead and his bones are burned now. He won’t come back to haunt us. But he fathered a number of children in his day, and Lost Baby Girl was one of them.”
“Nadia,” Elizabeth said.
Catherine nodded in confirmation.
An hour later, Elizabeth and Ravinia said good-bye to the clan of women and were let through the gate by the eldest cousin at the lodge, Isadora. Rex jumped out of the car at their approach and helped them into their seats.
On the road and away from the lodge, he asked, “How was it?”
“The same,” Ravinia said.
“Interesting,” Elizabeth responded as they turned onto the coast road.
Rex said, “I just got a call from my buddy, Mike Tatum. He says Nadia’s body finally floated into one of the harbors.”
“Good.” Ravinia said. “At least she’s really dead.”
Elizabeth was glad to hear it, too. She hadn’t believed anyone could survive that fall, but when Nadia’s body didn’t turn up, a terrible question had formed in the back of her mind. She still woke up shuddering most nights, remembering how close she’d come to going over the edge. It was a miracle Rex had saved her, and Nadia had tumbled over by herself. The ocean had immediately pulled her body away and it had been missing for over a week.
“She had a bite mark on her hand,” Rex added.
“Chloe,” Elizabeth said.
“And there were canine bites on her body, too.”
Elizabeth looked at him as they turned east off 101 to Highway 26, the road that led through the Coast Range to the Willamette Valley and the Portland airport. “She was bitten by a dog?”
“By a wolf,” Ravinia said, staring out the window pensively.
Epilogue
On Monday, Elizabeth showed Rex Mazie’s house and he pronounced it was where he wanted to move. The fact that it was much closer to Elizabeth’s home may have been a factor, especially since she’d decided to stay in her house for the time being as the real estate market was picking up and lo, and behold, Staffordshire had actually sold to someone who wanted the Hobbit crèche and was in serious negotiations with Elsa Stafford who was hanging onto those Hobbits for dear life.
On Tuesday, Rex came into the Suncrest offices and seated himself in Elizabeth’s client chair. While she laid out the paperwork and showed him where to sign and initial, his hand had a tendency to slide over and touch hers. When he was finished, she threaded her fingers through his and they looked at each other and smiled like idiots. Love was like that, she realized. Glorious and stupid at the same time. When she and Rex walked out hand in hand, Elizabeth sent Pat a beatific smile, causing the receptionist to frown in consternation, which just made it all that much better.
On Wednesday, Rex took Ravinia to his wireless carrier, put her on his plan, and ordered her a smartphone. She was so grateful and touched that she went silent for a full minute. She then pointed out that as sh
e was currently living at his place until she got a job, maybe he could just give her a job, too. That way she could move out and he and Elizabeth could have some time alone.
He told her he would think about it, which sounded like he was finally going to stop being a pain in the ass and actually listen to her.
On Thursday, Chloe came home from school and skipped up the steps to watch Busy Bees and Friends. Before she tuned in completely, she asked her mom if she was going to marry Rex.
Elizabeth asked whatever gave her that idea, and Chloe said she’d gotten a message. This immediately sent Elizabeth into a panic.
Chloe gave her a look. “Not that kind of message. I can just tell.” She then went on to say that it was okay if they wanted to get married as long as they could also get a dog.
On Friday, Ravinia stopped by the house ostensibly to see Elizabeth, but mostly to see Rex. Given a tiny bit of encouragement, she was relentless in her quest to get him to take her on as an investigative partner. Rex tried to fob her off, but Ravinia was damn near unfob-able. Rex then told Chloe that they didn’t really need a dog as they already had a terrier in their mix, and pointed to Ravinia. This etched a line between Chloe’s brows but didn’t slow down her begging one iota.
On Saturday, Rex and Elizabeth left Ravinia in charge of Chloe for a while. Chloe asked Ravinia if the danger was over, and Ravinia said it was, though in truth, she’d still been getting faint messages off and on, but nothing she could quite grasp. She’d certainly gotten Chloe’s messages loud and clear, so she thought they just might be some kind of aberration. In her heart of hearts, she hoped it was the wolf, somehow trying to communicate, but she thought that was probably a fool’s dream.
