Until Dark - Mariah Stewart [103]
She ran up the stairs to the second floor and grabbed an overnight bag from her closet. She had just finished stuffing it with the few things she thought she might need for a few days and had started back down the steps when the phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Kendra, where the hell have you been?”
“Adam, hi. I was at the Mission. Father Tim’s . . .”
“Has Will’s replacement arrived yet?”
“He just did. I came in to pack a few things to take to Selena’s. He’s waiting outside. Did you need to speak with him?”
“Not really. I just wanted to make certain that he’d gotten there and that everything was all right.”
“Everything is as all right as it’s going to be, I suppose.” Noting the tension in his voice, she asked, “Is something going on that I need to know about?”
“Yes. But first of all, I’m in Tucson, at the airport. My plane will be taking off any minute now, so listen carefully.”
“What are you doing in Tucson?”
“I’m about to tell you. But I need for you to sit down.”
“I’m sitting.” Her forehead creased with concern. “What’s happened?”
“I got a call from Sheriff Gamble early this morning.” Adam began to reiterate his earlier conversation with the sheriff.
“Wait. What we thought was because could mean bee caves?”
“That’s what Gamble suspected, but someone was going to have to search the caves.”
“And that would explain why you’re in Tucson. You wanted to be the one to search the caves.”
“Yes. Well, Gamble and I searched. I brought some beekeepers gear from Quantico and we went from cave to cave. There were millions of bees, Kendra. Millions, in these caves. God only knows how long these colonies have been there. Several of the caves were simply giant hives.” He hesitated, then said, “We found some remains.”
“Remains?”
“Remains of someone who’d apparently gone into the cave and was stung to death. The scraps of his clothing were literally covered with thousands of dead bees.”
“Oh, my God, that’s horrible. What a horrible way to die,” she whispered.
“Kendra, there was a backpack found near the mouth of the cave.”
“A backpack?”
“Zach’s wallet was inside.”
“The body . . . do they think the body is Zach’s?” Kendra’s mind scrambled to process the news.
“The possibility is being considered.” Adam appeared to be choosing his words carefully.
“And Ian?” she asked.
“There was no sign of a second body.”
“But maybe in another one of those caves, but that wouldn’t make any sense. Why would they have gone into different caves?” Her head began to spin. “Farther back, then, in that cave where they found Zach. Maybe Ian had wandered back there.”
“Kendra, there is no way anyone could have gotten any farther into those caves without being stung to death. And all of the caves have been checked out. I’m sorry, Kendra, but there’s only one body, and we won’t know for certain if it’s your cousin until the ME is finished.”
“But if that’s Zach,” she said as if she hadn’t heard him, “then where’s my brother?”
“We’re trying to figure that out. In the meantime, I’ll be there as soon as I can. Where will you be later tonight?”
“Try Selena’s first. She left word at the Mission that she’d meet me here, but she hasn’t arrived yet. Here, write down her phone number.” Kendra gave him Selena’s number.
“I’ll give you a call when I’m on my way back.”
“Okay.” She didn’t protest. All of a sudden she missed him terribly. “Any thoughts on what time you expect to arrive?”
“It all depends on when they allow the plane to leave. Can you keep safe until then?”
“I’ll do my best.”
She rested the receiver down, reflecting on Adam’s news. A body had been found, but only one. A backpack had been found. Again, only one. Zach’s. If the body in the cave was Zach’s, then where was Ian’s? And if he hadn’t died in the cave with Zach, where was he now? Where had he been for the past ten years?
She was sitting with her elbows on the desktop, her chin in her hands, wondering what to think, what to believe, when