The Night Is Forever

Aaron, but they knew him.

And now he was dead.

* * *

As she and Dustin left the diner, Malachi requested the keys to Marcus Danby’s house. Dustin must have discussed the plans with him while she was in the restroom. She found the keys in her bag; as she handed them to her cousin, she asked, “Do you think anyone’s made any attempt to get in there? Is there something they could be looking for?”

“We’ll go through whatever papers we can find. Sometimes even a greeting card can be a clue. Or he might have received some other correspondence that didn’t seem significant to him at the time,” Malachi replied.

“You don’t think you’re in any danger there, do you?”

He shrugged. “I doubt it, but it’s not impossible. Marcus doesn’t understand why anyone would kill him so there’s definitely some unknown factor here. However, Abby and I are both well trained and,” Malachi added with a grin, “we’re armed.”

When they’d all said good-night, Olivia and Dustin drove the short distance to Parsonage House. They were greeted by the director, Lance Osterly, a kindly, middle-aged man who still had the look of a pro wrestler—which he’d been at one point in his life.

“Liv, good to see you,” he greeted her as he waved them both in. He nodded at Dustin. “And you’re the FBI man, right? The boys talk a lot, you know,” he said with a wink.

Dustin offered his hand to Osterly.

“I’m sorry about Aaron,” Osterly told Olivia.

“I am, too. It’s so strange—I don’t even know how to handle this one,” she said.

Osterly shook his head. “The poor guy survives what should’ve killed him, and he still dies in a ridiculous way. The kids have talked of nothing else for the past few days. Anyway, I appreciate that you’re here. Come on —they’re outside on the patio.”

Osterly escorted them to a back door, which led to a pool and patio; the pool was covered until warmer weather returned but the patio was pretty with a rock wall fireplace and plenty of seating.

“Liv!” Joey was the first on his feet, rushing over to her. She thought of him as a boy, but he wasn’t really; he was an adolescent, taller than her—and awkward, as many young men his age were. She greeted him with a hug. By then, Matt, Sean and Nick had joined them, and she realized that although they were once-upon-a-time tough-guy addicts, now they were scared.

“You’re all doing okay?” Dustin asked them.

“We’re—we’re in an awful dilemma,” Matt said. “We know we’re okay and everything will be fine, but our parents are acting paranoid.”

“Somebody killed Aaron, right?” Nick asked. “I mean, I can’t forget that morning at the campsite. He almost drowned. And then he electrocuted himself in a bathtub? That’s what they’re saying— that’s what we’re supposed to believe. And changing our lives, going clean, is all about being honest, but there’s no honesty going on here.”

“And,” Sean muttered, “our parents have all been on the phone with Mr. Osterly. They’re questioning our safety.”

“I have another six weeks here,” Matt said. “They’re talking about pulling me out. I don’t want to go, Olivia. It’s like this place saved my life and a lot of that’s because of the horses. They taught me about boundaries and respect and they made me...they made me want a different life. A good life.”

“Some of us want to become therapists,” Joey told her. “Equine therapists.”

Olivia glanced at Dustin, grateful that he’d decided they should come here.

“Listen to me, all of you,” she said. “We will find out what happened. What they’re telling you isn’t a pack of lies—it’s just all anyone knows. But wherever you go from here, whatever you do— nothing changes the incredible strides you’ve made or the wonderful young people you are. I’m so proud of every one of you, and I’d love to see you go forward and get into therapy or working with horses, or whatever you feel is best for you.”

She felt Dustin’s hands on her shoulders. “You know we don’t believe Marcus Danby fell back into drugs,” he said. “And despite the fact that it appears Aaron was alone when he died, it’s just too ironic or coincidental—or stupid—to believe. Sometimes, though, it takes time to uncover the truth. If you are pulled out of this facility, don’t forget what you had here—your friendships, everything you learned. And you can call on us anytime.”

The boys nodded.

“Now, do any of you know anything?” Dustin asked.

They looked back at him wide-eyed.

“Like what?” Matt asked.

“Were you all around the day Marcus died?”

“Yeah—until Aaron called Mr. Osterly to have the van come and pick us up because they were all going off to look for Marcus,” Matt said.

“Do you remember anything odd about that day?” Dustin asked.

“Poor Sammy, coming back looking like he’d met up with a bear,” Sean said.

“Before that, did any of you notice if the horses were all there?” Olivia asked.

“I was playing Ping-Pong. I didn’t even see Sammy until everyone started screaming,” Nick said.

Joey frowned, then suddenly grew excited. “I didn’t see the big guy—Gargantua. I like him a lot. Olivia used him now and then, I guess to show us that the biggest, toughest animals—and people—could be the kindest if that was the choice they made.” He looked at Olivia.

“Something like that,” Olivia agreed. “Did you ask anybody about him?”

“Yeah, I did. Sandra was there, and I saw her heading for Aaron’s office. I asked her if they’d let somebody take Gangantua out. She said he was probably just hanging around by the trees and we couldn’t see him. I don’t think she was paying much attention to me. She seemed distracted,” Joey said.

“She was distracted before Sammy came back injured?” Olivia asked.

Joey nodded.

“But she was there,” Dustin said.

Joey nodded again.

“Who else do you remember being in the office right before you were sent back and everyone went riding off to find Marcus?” Dustin asked.

“I think Sandra’s the only one. And then Aaron, once Sammy showed up. And then everyone,” Joey said.

“I saw Mason.” Matt grinned. “He was fixing his hair in the mirror in back.”

“Thanks,” Dustin told them.

“You guys are great, and what you’ve accomplished is great,” Olivia said. “No matter what happens.”

They wished the boys a good night, thanking Lance Osterly.

“No, thank you. They really respect you, Liv. I’m praying that all this gets sorted out quickly. We offer the kids all kinds of stuff here—group therapy, individual therapy, art therapy, massage therapy—you name it. But there’s nothing like the Horse Farm for most of our boys.”

“We’ll keep it afloat—and we’ll get our reputation back, I promise,” Olivia said fervently.

When they reached the car, she burst out with, “What a liar I am!”

“You’re not a liar.”

“An impossible dreamer, then.”

“I keep telling you, when we discover the truth, the world will spin more smoothly on its axis.” They stopped by the Horse Farm to pick up Sammy. The stables were quiet; evidently Drew and Sydney had gone to bed for the night.

Sloan and Jane Everett were still up, though. Of course, sleeping on couches couldn’t have been conducive to going to bed early. Jane had been looking through Aaron’s correspondence. “I found an offer from a firm, sent to Aaron. He must’ve ignored it and shoved it in his desk,” Jane said.

“What kind of offer?” Olivia asked.

“An offer for the property. It’s from the offices of that Nashville attorney Delilah mentioned. Henry Whittaker.