Rearview Mirror

Chapter 5

Chapter One

Ten Years Later

“Zach, your stroke is all wrong for this painting,” Amber said as she tried to help her fellow painter and best friend.

“It’s an original work. How can the stroke be wrong?”

“The aesthetics are off. Here, let me show you.” Amber took the brush he was using and with a few strokes changed the whole scope of the painting. “There, how’s that?”

“How is it that you aren’t a famous painter yet? How is it you’re still a grunt painter like me? I can’t create anything original like you can.”

“Lucky for you, I guess,” Amber said, laughing.

The pair were still laughing when the gallery curator came by. “Amber, I’d like to see you in my office when you’re done today.”

“Yes, Ms. Baer.”

Amber looked at Zach, trying to gauge if he had any idea.

“Do you want me to wait for you after work?”

“Please! I feel like I’m being called to the principal’s office, and I have no clue what I did wrong.”

“Well, you kinda are,” Zach said, amused. “Seriously, though, I’m sure it’s nothing bad. You and Lucinda have a good relationship. She probably just wants to talk about your art or the job you’re doing here in the gallery.”

“I hope so. I just don’t know what I’d do if I lost this job.”

“You aren’t losing your job. They’ll get rid of me long before they get rid of you.”

“Well, I’m done with my painting. I’m going to go check with the supervisor and see if I can clean up and head to Lucinda’s office.”

“Good luck! I’ll be waiting out back for you,” Zach said as Amber walked away.

Amber cleaned up her paint station, grabbed a clean coat, and headed upstairs to the management offices to speak with Lucinda. Amber took the stairs to give herself a few minutes to compose herself. Once she reached the office, she knocked on the door and heard a muffled “come in” from the other side of the door.

Amber opened the door and started to walk in. “Y-you wanted to see me, Ms. Baer?”

“Yes, Amber, please, have a seat.” Lucinda motioned to the chairs in front of her desk. Amber grabbed one and sat, placing her hands in her lap. “You’ve been working here for what—ten years now?” Amber nodded her agreement. “And we’ve talked about your portfolio before, and your artwork is really coming along. The work you’ve done in the past couple of months has been some of the best I’ve ever seen out of you. I’d like to put you into our next ‘Up and Coming Artists’ show.”

“Wow,” Amber replied, stunned. “I don’t know what to say. It means a lot that you’ve even looked at my work.”

“Well, you’re one of the few female artists we have, and that alone made me keep a close eye on you. But your work has really been improving. Your portfolio is well rounded between paintings and photographs. I’ve seen some of the freelance work you’ve been doing.”

“Thank you, Ms. Baer. I’ve been working hard on my portfolio.”

“Well, I’ve chosen four photographs and four paintings that I’d like to use in your show. There’s just one problem.”

“What’s that?” Amber asked, her heart sinking a little.

“We need to get release forms signed by the people in the pictures. Now, two of the four are older, but I still need you to get the forms signed. I know this could pose an issue, but I have faith that you’ll make it happen.”

“Which pictures?”

Lucinda pulled out a contact sheet and showed the pictures to Amber. What she thankfully didn’t hear was the internal groan that Amber let out seeing that two of the pictures were more than ten years earlier.

“I’m going to need to take some time off to get these signed. Two of the pictures are from my high school years, and I’ll have to go out of town for those.”

“Do what you need to, just make it happen,” Lucinda said, not realizing the hardship she was putting Amber in.

“Thank you. Was there anything else?”

“Nope. Oh, here’s a copy of the contact sheet for you. I’m certain you’ll want to show Zach which pieces of your portfolio I’ve chosen.”

“Thank you again. I really appreciate the opportunity.” Amber grabbed the contact sheet and made her way out of the office and back down to the painting area. It was after hours now, so there was nobody around. Amber placed her coat at her station, then made her way to the employee exit to meet Zach.

As Amber walked out, she could see Zach pacing.

“Well?” Zach asked eagerly.

“She wants to put me in the next ‘Up and Coming Artists’ show.” The disbelief in her voice was evident, but so was the excitement.

“Oh, my god, that’s amazing,” Zach gushed as he picked her up and swung her around. “Why aren’t you happier?”

“Part of it is because I’m in shock. Part of it is because she chose two photos from my youth, and I have to get release forms signed.”

“Oh, are these people you’ve kept in touch with?”

“Not in the past ten years. I don’t even know if they still live in the area I grew up in.”

“We’ll figure it out. Come on, let’s get a cab and go to your place and see if we can track any of the people down. Then, you’ll at least have a starting point.”

“Thank you for being the voice of reason.” Amber wasn’t sure what to do. She couldn’t go back to her old town, could she? It’d been ten years since she up and disappeared one night. Were her parents still around? What about Jeffrey? Could she risk seeing them? Risk being seen by them?

Zach and Amber took a cab to the brownstone she was renting an apartment in. They ordered a pizza and camped out on the couch in Amber’s living room.

“Okay, who’s the first person we need to look up?” Zach took Amber’s laptop from her.

Amber let out a loud sigh before responding. “Heather Woods.”

“Okay, so, let’s see here.” Zach started surfing the internet. “And Google says…we have a winner. There is a Heather Woods in Eagle Peak. Next…”

“Erik Harrison.”

“Google says…we don’t have anyone with that name there. Maybe he’s listed under his wife’s name. Or maybe one of the others knows where to find him. Who’s the last one we need to find?”

Amber took a deep breath as she looked at the contact sheet in her hand and at the picture of the third and final person. “Nicole Brooks.”

“Is this the Nicole?”

“Yes, that Nicole.”

“We have another winner. So, now what do you need to do? Do you call them, or do you have to go there?”

“I have to go there to get the forms signed.”

“Should you call and warn them that you’re on your way?”

“I don’t even know what I’d say. ‘Hey, remember me? Yeah, ten years ago, we used to be friends until I left’ or…”

“Or you just show up on their doorstep and hope the element of surprise works to your advantage.”

“Let’s just schedule the flight and call it a night,” Amber suggested. The fear of going back to that place overwhelmed her.

Amber pulled into Eagle Peak and headed down Main Street. The smell of the old tire factory made her sick to her stomach. She could remember her father and Jeffrey coming home smelling like rubber. Amber gave a full-body shiver at the thought. She had reserved a room at the one hotel in town. As she drove along, she was reminded of her time here and the fear she felt.

Amber parked her car in front of the hotel, grabbed her bags, and went to check in.

“Welcome to the Woods Retreat. My name is Sidney. How can I help you?” the front desk clerk said.

“I have a room reserved. Amber Pellot.”

Sidney played around with the computer and got the room and the keycards settled. “You’re in our Bonsai Suite on the fourth floor.”

“I didn’t reserve a suite…”

“No, but it’s available, and I hate to see it just sitting there, so I upgraded your room for you, but the cost is still the same. Plus, you have the most unique eye color I’ve ever seen. It’s captivating.”

“Thank you, but I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

“The manager and I go way back from school, don’t worry about it. Enjoy your stay.”

“Thank you again.” Amber smiled and walked toward the glass elevator. Once she reached the fourth floor, she turned left out of the elevator, and straight ahead was the Bonsai Suite. Amber smiled as she opened the door. The suite did its name justice. It was decorated in an Asian flair, right down to the platform bed and bonsai tree decorations.

Well, at least it’s a nice room. Amber set her bags on the bed.

After settling in, Amber decided to go for a walk. After being cooped up on the plane and then in the car, the last thing she wanted was to just sit in the hotel room. Amber grabbed the keycard and put it in her back pocket and headed out the door. When she got to the lobby, she saw Sidney talking to a tall slender brunette. As the elevator dinged and announced its arrival, both women looked toward Amber.

“Amber?” the brunette asked. “Amber Knight?” The woman walked toward her, and as she got closer, Amber thought she looked familiar, but she didn’t know how she was recognized. She’d changed her hair color, her hairstyle was different, she now wore glasses, even her body shape was different.

“Do I know you?” Amber asked hesitantly.

“Oh, my god, it is you.” The woman raced over and engulfed Amber in a hug.

Amber felt very awkward and just patted the woman on the back. She had no clue who this was, but apparently, she knew her. “Do I know you?” she asked again.

“I suppose it has been a while and everything. It’s me, Heather Woods.”

“Heather? Wow, you grew up,” Amber said, laughing at the stupidity of her statement. “I don’t know what to say. How did you recognize me?”

“You never forget the first crush you ever had…”

“I was your first crush? Wow.”

“What are you doing back here? Where’ve you been for the last ten years? Hasn’t Nicole been through enough?”

“I’m only back to get some release forms signed, then I’m out of here again. I’m not here to cause any trouble. I wouldn’t be here if this wasn’t important.”

“What kind of release forms?”

“I’m going to be in an art show in a couple of months at the gallery I work with, and in order to use the photographs in my portfolio, I need to get permission from the people in the pictures. Two of the pictures include people from here.”

“Who are you here to see?” Heather’s tone became serious. “Wait, let’s go into my office.” Heather led them to the manager’s office. “Now who exactly are you here to see?”

“Well, you, actually. And Nicole Brooks and Erik Harrison. Although when I was looking up people, I couldn’t find Erik.”

“He’s still around. He lives mostly at the firehouse now.”

“The firehouse?”

“Erik is an EMT.”

“Oh, okay, I understand.”

“Do you know anything that has gone on here since you left?” Heather asked.

“No, I haven’t had any contact with anyone.”

“Not even your family?”

“Especially not my family.”

“Well, a lot has gone on…” Heather started before the door to her office was ripped open and in stormed a redheaded woman. “Shit.”

“Well, look what the cat dragged in,” she spat, looking directly at Amber.

“Nicole, relax. You know it isn’t good for you to get upset.” Heather started to get up from her desk but stopped before moving from behind it.

“Oh, I’m far from upset.” Nicole looked from Heather to Amber and glared. “What gives you the right to come back here? After all this time.”

“Nicole, I’m just here to get some signatures and then I’m gone again. I’m not here to cause any trouble. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important. I just need signatures from you, Heather, and Erik.”

“Like hell are you getting anything from me.”

“Nicole, how did you know Amber was here?”

“Sidney told me you were meeting in your office with someone named Amber who had the most gorgeous turquoise blue eyes she’d ever seen.” With that, Nicole turned and stormed out of the office and out of the hotel.

“I’m going to kill Sidney.” Heather pinched the bridge of her nose. “Well, that went better than I expected.”

Nicole burst out of the hotel, her anger overtaking her. She needed to get as far away from there as she could and quick.

She has no right to be back here. She left, she abandoned us and never looked back. No, she cannot have a stupid signature from me. Like I will do anything for her. Who the f**k does she think she is? What gives her the right to come back here? Nicole rushed through the streets toward her home, her sanctuary.

Nicole opened the door to her house and closed and locked it. There were three locks on the door, three locks that daily reminded her of Amber, of the fallout of her leaving. Staggering, her mind so jumbled, Nicole made her way to the recliner and sat, burying her face in her hands, trying to fend off the memories.

“Open this door now,” David Knight screamed. “I want in, and I want my wife back.”

“David, it’s over. You signed the papers, please just go away,” Karen cried.

“I’ll break down this door if you don’t open it this minute!”

“I’m calling the police.” Nicole had positioned herself between Karen and the door where on the other side was Karen’s ex-husband. He had beaten Karen almost to death after Amber left, beaten her because she hadn’t tried to stop Amber, beaten her because he felt he had the right to do so. Nicole was sick to her stomach. She could still hear Erik’s voice on the phone when he called and said they had responded to a disturbance at the Knight house and that he was in the ambulance heading to the hospital with Amber’s mom in critical condition, and it didn’t look good.

Nicole had helped Karen heal. She had taken care of her, made sure she was never lonely, made sure she knew she was loved and needed and wanted somewhere. After Karen was well enough to go home, she moved in with Nicole and had filed for a restraining order and for divorce. The divorce would take three years to get finalized, but it had finally happened. Now here was the maniac pounding on Nicole’s door, trying to get to Karen.

“911, what is your emergency?” the male voice on the other end of the phone asked.

“Yes, there’s an angry and violent man pounding on my door and trying to break into my house,” Nicole said.

“What is your address?”

“Eleven eighteen seventy-second street,” Nicole said.

“Police are on the way. Please stay on the line with me until they arrive.”

Then it happened. The lock gave way on the door, and in came David Knight. He made his way toward Nicole, grabbing the phone out of her hand. He screamed, “Time to pay, b***h,” and tossed the phone aside.

Karen was cowering in the corner. She knew what he was capable of, knew she was the one who could stop him from hurting Nicole, but she couldn’t move. Fear paralyzed her.

“The police are on their way,” Nicole said as David reached for her.

“Like I care. You’ll be dead long before they get here,” he said with a sneer. He reached out and grabbed her forearm and pulled her toward him just as the police arrived.

“Let her go, sir,” one of the officers said.

“f**k you,” David said as he made a fist with his other hand and pulled back, readying to hit Nicole.

“Sir, let…her…go.” The other officer drew his weapon and aimed it at David.

“I don’t think so,” he said as his fist moved toward Nicole’s face but never connected.

Nicole heard the loud noise, felt a warm liquid on her face, felt herself being pulled to the ground, and then she heard Karen scream. It was a piercing scream, one of complete and utter terror. Nicole tried to twist herself so she could see Karen, but she couldn’t. She hit the ground hard, hitting her head and was knocked unconscious.

After being checked out and cleared by the paramedics, Karen took Nicole and helped her get cleaned up, and they held on to each other that night and several nights after.

The memory felt like it happened yesterday, though it had been almost seven years earlier. Seeing Amber had brought it all back. Nicole didn’t feel safe, she didn’t know where to go or what to do. She sat in the recliner rocking anxiously.

“Heather, why is she so upset?” Amber was confused about why Nicole had such a strong reaction to her being there. It had been ten years since they’d last had any contact.

“Gee, part of it may be because she was your girlfriend for two years and you walked out on her ten years ago without so much as a word or a letter. Anything further is her story to tell.”

“I had my reasons for going. It isn’t something I want to talk about.”

“Well, I’ll call Erik and have him stop by the hotel if you’d like. I don’t know if he’ll be willing to sign, but you can talk to him.”

“That’d be great. Are you willing to sign?”

“I want to see what photographs we’re talking about. You took a lot of pictures when we were in school.”

“I have a contact sheet up in my room. It shows all the artwork that’s going in the show. You’re welcome to come and see it, or I can bring it down later…I was going to go for a walk, but after that visit from Nicole, I think I’m going to go lay down for a while.”

“Okay, I’ll bring Erik up when he gets here.”

“Thanks again.” Amber rose and left the office and headed toward the elevator.

“Is everything okay?” Sidney asked as Amber passed the front desk.

“I’m honestly not sure what’s going on.” Amber continued her way upstairs. Once she arrived in her room, she decided to call Zach. He always made things better.

Heather waited for the door to click closed before she picked up the phone and dialed.

“Heather, what’s up?” the voice on the other end said.

“Hey, Erik, we have a problem,” Heather said.

“Okay, that sounds serious.”

“Amber is back in town, staying here at the hotel, and to top it off, Nicole knows.”

“That’s a big problem! How did Nicole find out?”

“She stopped by to see me, and Sid told her I was meeting with someone named Amber, then described her. Nicole came bursting into my office. She snapped at Amber and left.”

“Have you called her yet?”

“Not yet,” Heather said.

“I’ll swing by her house in a few minutes, then I’ll come by the hotel. I’d like to have a few choice words with Amber.”

“She needs to talk to you, as well. She needs you to sign a release form for some photographs she’s going to be putting in an art show.”

“Okay, I’ll see you in about fifteen or twenty minutes.” Erik hung up the phone, grabbed his keys, and headed to Nicole’s house.

“Hey, beautiful,” Zach said when he answered Amber’s call.

“Hey,” Amber replied, her voice distant.

“So, how’s it going?”

“Not well. I’m seriously not sure that using those pictures are worth this.”

“What happened?”

Amber told Zach about what had transpired since she arrived in Eagle Peak.

“Sounds horrible. What would you say if I told you I was on my way there?”

“I’d say you had better not be lying to me.” Amber felt hopeful for the first time since she arrived in Eagle Peak.

“I would never lie about that.”

“How are you on your way?”

“I figured this was going to be hard on you, and I decided to catch the next plane out. I’ll text you when I get there.”

“I love you, you know that.”

“Yeah, I’m a pretty great guy.” They both laughed, then Zach told her to get some rest and hopefully he’d be there soon.

What could have happened to Nicole for Heather to be so cautious and for her to freak out the way she did? How am I going to convince her to sign the form? That photo of her is one of the most important pictures I’ve ever taken. Amber sat in her room after she hung up with Zach.

Nicole was pacing the room when she heard the doorbell ring. She froze until she heard Erik call her through the door. She quickly made her way over and opened the door.

“Hey, Nic.”

“Hi,” Nicole said softly.

“I heard you had a little shock today. I wanted to see how you were doing.” Erik moved into the living room and sat.

“Amber’s in town,” Nicole whispered, staring at the ground.

“I heard. That doesn’t tell me how you’re doing, though.”

“I had an episode after I got home.” Nicole started to cry.

“Come here.” Erik wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close.

“I…she…” Nicole stammered.

“Shh, Heather said she just wants us to sign some stupid form and then she’ll be gone.”

“I don’t want her gone, I want to know why!” Nicole cried harder.

“Well, you can ask her that if you want. You just need to calm down and talk to her.”

“Yeah, that goes so well.” Nicole pulled back and wiped the tears from her face. “I burst into the office and yelled and told her I wasn’t giving her the damn signature.”

“You were in shock, it was an understandable reaction. Now you need to figure out if you can handle finding out why and being in the same room as her.”

“Will you and Heather be there with me?” Nicole asked timidly.

“If you want us there, we’ll do what you want and need.”

“I need you guys there.” Her tone was desperate. “I don’t think I can be alone with her.”

“Do you need time, or would you like to come with me now? I’m heading over there to meet with Heather and Amber, but I wanted to check on you first. You take priority in my book.”

“I don’t know. Do you think it’d be okay?”

“I don’t care if it’s okay or not. If you want to come with, then you’re coming with.” Erik smiled.

“And you won’t leave me alone with her?”

“Nope. Not unless you tell me to.”

“Then I want to go with,” Nicole said.

“Great, you go wash your face and get ready, then we’ll leave. I’m going to text Heather to let her know you’re coming with me.”

Nicole smiled at him and then hurried upstairs to freshen up and prepare herself to see Amber again.

Erik sent a text to Heather letting her know that Nicole was coming along and they may want to move the meeting to a different place. Heather said she would move it to Amber’s room. She told him to come up to the Bonsai Suite when they got there.

Nicole came back downstairs, smiled at Erik as he stood, and they made their way to the hotel.