Cross Council

  Chapter 1

  Audrey hefted her small overnight bag up the steep steps of the bus and set it carefully into the seat next to her. The bus wasn’t crowded, but she wanted to discourage anyone from sitting too close. She wasn’t feeling sociable. All she wanted to do was bury her nose in a book for the trip to Las Vegas.

  Las Vegas brought back bad memories that she’d rather have forgotten altogether. Still, Audrey’s daughter, Tiara, had moved there, fallen in love, and truly settled down. It was time to renew their relationship. There were things that Tiara should be able to talk to her mother about at this stage of her life, and Audrey was going to make sure she didn’t shirk her duty.

  The bus lumbered out of the Bakersfield terminal with a rocking hum. Audrey rummaged in her bag for the little cozy mystery that she hoped would keep her mind off of her destination. Instead Audrey found herself thinking of Jordan and Tiara.

  Audrey had accepted Jordan’s plane ticket to Las Vegas when Tiara and Jordan had been married in that little chapel on the Strip, but Tiara had been so aflutter with wedding jitters that Audrey hadn’t had a chance to talk of anything but idle chatter. Two weeks before the wedding, Tiara had stopped by her mother’s house out of the blue. Audrey had been caught so off guard that she’d let Tiara’s abnormal behavior slip under her radar. Tiara had only stayed overnight, ostensibly to go to her high school reunion.

  Audrey had had a chance to think a lot since then. Tiara had been acting strangely but more importantly, she’d felt different somehow. It was a type of different that set off all of Audrey’s motherly alarms. Tiara had promised that she would tell her mother everything once she got settled. Audrey had waited for the call. When it hadn’t come, Audrey had put on her “concerned mother” face and invited herself to Thanksgiving.

  Audrey worried her lower lip and stared out the window. Tiara had had plenty of time to settle down to married life. It was a family holiday, and Audrey felt justified. She’d waited almost two months. Audrey had tried to let her daughter live her own life, but Audrey wasn’t comfortable with Tiara living in Las Vegas, and it was time she told Tiara why. If Tiara wouldn’t be reasonable, then maybe Jordan would.

  Audrey had only met Jordan briefly and he’d been on his best behavior. Audrey was pretty sure that she could like the man. He seemed levelheaded and successful. Audrey only hoped that she wouldn’t sound crazy if she had to reveal the truth about her own past. Audrey’s past was why Tiara had to move away from Las Vegas. Audrey only hoped that Jordan could see reason without resorting to uncovering Audrey’s true past.

  Audrey sighed and scowled at her little book. She hadn’t read a word. There was snow on the Tehachapi Mountains. It felt like Christmas, and she wanted it to distract her from the memories that swam in her mind. Audrey had left Las Vegas behind, hoping to never return. She wanted to turn the bus around and return to the safety of Bakersfield and an anonymous existence among people who didn’t know the girl she’d been in Las Vegas.

  Tiara needed her. Audrey held to that thought. Tiara didn’t even know that she needed her mother, but she did. Tiara also hadn’t known that she shouldn’t run off to live in Las Vegas. Audrey was afraid that Tiara would end up in the same strip club that Audrey had run from. No matter how many times Tiara swore that she wasn’t a stripper, Audrey couldn’t help worrying.

  Tiara had lived in Las Vegas for years, and Audrey had stayed out of the way. It wasn’t until Tiara had come home that Audrey had sensed a change in her. Tiara might not be a stripper, but she was involved in something bigger than she was letting on. Tiara had never been able to lie to Audrey, and Tiara had been worried about secrets both when she’d visited and later at the wedding.

  The bus stopped briefly in Barstow, and Audrey got out to stretch her legs. She browsed the kitschy gift shops and treated herself to an ice cream sandwich and a can of soda. On one hand, it took too long for the bus to get going again because, now that Audrey had made the decision to go, she wanted to get it over with. On the other hand, the bus couldn’t go slow enough because the last place Audrey ever wanted to go again was Las Vegas.

  The bus whizzed past Baker and through another set of snow dappled mountains before it began it’s descent toward the Nevada state line. Audrey was surprised that she’d moped her way through the two useless hours. State line had changed. They had a large roller coaster and a huge shopping mall there now. If she’d been driving, she’d have stopped at Whiskey Pete’s for a prime rib dinner; but if she’d been driving, she’d have turned around twice by now.

  Forty-five minutes later Audrey goggled at how much Las Vegas had changed in thirty years. The Strip casinos started much sooner than she’d expected. The mirrored towers dwarfed the casinos she remembered as being the height of luxury when she’d been there last. Caesar’s Palace had been the best. It now looked like Greek ruins in comparison to the golden towers next to it. By the time she could pull her chin up off the floor, they were pulling into the bus station.

  Audrey stuffed her unread book back into her bag and shuffled off the bus as quickly as she could. The bus station, regrettably, was the only thing that looked exactly the same. Oh, there were new chairs instead of the old benches. There were loud televisions instead of the brassy radio, and there were video games and fancy vending machines. But the people looked the same, the floor had to be the same one from thirty years ago, and the smell was exactly like it had been burned into her memory. More than anything, it all felt the same; and Audrey had to fight to keep from feeling like that same lost child who had left this place so long ago.

  Audrey had meant to call Tiara from State Line to give her enough time to meet her at the station, but that thought had been lost in her wandering mind. Audrey berated herself as she held down the speed dial for her daughter. Now she would have to endure the bus station or take a cab, both of which sounded horrible.

  “Hi sweetheart,” Audrey forced herself to sound bright and cheerful. “Surprise! I’m at the bus station.”