Seal All Exits (Tangled Web #3) Read online

  Heather had spent a life being forced to appreciate manufactured beauty. Art—that was something entirely different. But Heather had spent her entire childhood living in homes whose landscape was completely architecture—as much as the building itself—and cared for seven days a week. The neighborhoods were exactly the same—trees planted in the medians of the parkways that routed traffic through residential areas with wide expanses of lawn, lovely bunches of flowers and plants, bordered by stone and brick walkways.

  She’d loved those sights as a child—until she’d discovered they were fake. Much like her family. Definitely like her stepmother’s boobs.

  Her family had as much artificial nature as her father could afford to buy, not unlike all the other people in her neighborhood.

  And when Heather realized she was different, she’d tried to hide it from everyone, until no one could deny it any longer. If Heather had grown to despise any one thing in her life, it was falsity.

  She knew it was laughable that she still engaged in unhealthy behaviors, ones she had to hide. She shook her head, still surprised that she’d called herself Angelica.

  She took a deep breath as she turned the key in the ignition to shut off the engine. She was not here to engage in more self-loathing. She had plenty of opportunity to do that after the week was up.

  She took a deep breath, remembering her drive up here. She could see why Katie had loved her hometown so much. Heather was originally from Castle Rock, and it was a beautiful community, but she felt like she didn’t belong there anymore. Hell, she didn’t feel like she belonged anywhere anymore. She’d felt disconnected from community and people for a while, but she knew Katie could change all that. Katie was one of the few people in Heather’s adult life that she’d always felt comfortable with, someone she could relate to.

  That, and she could definitely see the charm in the town of Winchester. Maybe she’d browse along the shops on historic Main Street before she left.

  In the meantime, though, she took in the cabin. Ha. Cabin. That was a laugh. The rustic-looking building she was taking in could be described as a cabin provided the Vatican be described as a cozy little chapel. The place Heather was viewing was huge and opulent for something built in a forest setting. She hoped that meant that they had good Wi-fi. She had to check in with her students in case they had questions or needed help. She could do it with her phone, but the computer was easier to work with, and if she could access the internet with her computer, she’d even be able to grade papers instead of waiting until next week.

  More than anything, she was looking forward to seeing Katie. When they’d been roommates, Heather had called her friend Kate until Johnny was back in the woman’s life. It wasn’t until then that Heather had found her friend was known as Katie to her close friends, and she’d called her that ever since.

  Heather got out of her Camaro and grabbed her bags out of the trunk. Dusk was beginning to settle in, and she wanted to get inside before she had to start worrying about bears and mountain lions and whatever else might be out there. She followed the stone path to the entrance—a massive wooden door that seemed almost out of place next to the Lincoln Logs look of this—well, it was nearly a mansion. Why Katie had insisted upon calling it a cabin, she’d never know.

  She rang the doorbell and, after a longer wait than she would have expected, Johnny answered the door. At least she thought it was Johnny. She hadn’t seen him in a while, and this guy’s hair was short. His eyes, though—she was sure it was him. She’d never know until he confirmed, though. “Johnny?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Hi.” There was no recognition in the man’s eyes, either. “Heather. Katie’s friend.”

  “Oh, shit, yeah. Heather? You look so different.”

  She grinned. “I could say the same about you. Who took the scissors to your hair?”

  He smiled and rubbed his hand on his neck. “Yeah, well…let’s just say nature’s a bitch and I’m trying to hide it.”

  Heather frowned until she realized that he was probably talking about losing some hair. So she nodded, and then Katie showed up behind her boyfriend, shoving him aside once she saw who was at the door. “Heather!” She paused and then said, “Holy shit. You’ve lost a ton of weight!”

  Heather grinned again. “Well, not a ton…”

  “You look fantastic!” Katie grabbed her in a big hug. “Come on in. Oh, hand me one of those.” Heather handed her one of her rolling bags and Johnny insisted upon taking the other and the three of them walked inside.

  Just as it had seemed from the outside, the place was huge—vaulted ceilings and wide open space. There was no real foyer, just a great room with several different areas of interest. Heather’s eyes wandered to just the side of Katie’s shoulder, where she could see a huge stone fireplace. In front of it were two loveseats and a couple of overstuffed chairs surrounding a large square coffee table. There were several people too. Great—all couples. Yeah, this was going to be a really fun vacation.

  She followed Katie until they got to where all the people were. Heather looked from one person to the next and saw that they had a Monopoly game spread out over the coffee table, and it looked like they’d been playing for a while, because there were little green houses and red hotels on all sides. Katie said, “Everyone, this is Heather, one of my very best friends. If it wasn’t for this woman, my master’s thesis would have sucked hard.” Heather grinned and rolled her eyes. Sure, she loved getting credit for helping her friend, but she hadn’t been that instrumental in her friend’s pursuit of a grad degree. Katie kept talking. “Okay, Heather, you might not remember everyone until you’ve been here a while, but I gotta introduce them anyway. Here on the right are Stone and Kory. Stone was an original member of Spawn when they first hit big.” The guy named Stone nodded. “Kory’s his girlfriend.” The dark haired girl with piercings waved and smiled as Heather’s eyes moved to the next. “You know Johnny.”

  Johnny straightened his back. “What? No big introduction for me?”

  Katie sighed. “Trust me. She doesn’t want to know you.”

  Heather laughed. “I practically didn’t recognize him at first.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Rub it in.”

  Katie then said, “This is Riley. He was part of the original Spawn.”

  She was glad Katie was introducing everyone, because she didn’t recognize them, famous or not. “Nice to meet you. You’re in another band now, aren’t you?”

  Riley nodded, his trademark cocky grin covering his face. “Undue Influence.”

  Heather nodded. “That’s right. You guys are good.”

  “Of course.”

  Katie cleared her throat, grinning, indicating the pretty blonde sitting beside the smirking vocalist. “And this is Erin, Riley’s girlfriend.”

  “Nice to meet you.”

  Heather smiled. “You as well.” They all seemed like nice people, but she could tell already that this so-called vacation was going to feel awkward as hell. She had nothing in common with any of these people. Well, save Katie. They were all tattooed and pierced to the hilt, and while they seemed nice (and she loved their music), she doubted she’d have anything to talk with any of them about. In fact, the only one who seemed halfway normal was Erin. That woman didn’t have any tattoos that Heather could see.

  She wasn’t judging. She knew these were good people or else Katie wouldn’t associate with them. Heather simply felt the usual awkwardness she often did in life. She would try, though. Katie said, “Let me show you to your room so you can settle in a bit.”

  The people behind them began talking again, and Heather took her bag from Johnny as they walked away. “How was your drive here?”

  “Uneventful. Traffic wasn’t too bad.”

  “Oh, this is the dining room area and the kitchen’s there,” Katie said, and Heather almost laughed, because her friend was pointing out the obvious. Katie veered off to the left and began walking down a hall. Heather managed to keep up with her.
Then Katie said, “The rest of the Shock Treatment will be here tonight. We’re having pizza delivered a little later and I told them no beer…so they went to town to get their drink on and they’ll be back in time for dinner.”

  Heather felt her brows furrow. She’d never known Katie to decline a drink, even though she wasn’t much of a drinker. “Why no beer?”

  Katie lowered her voice a little, even though they were plenty far away from the other guests. In fact, they were getting ready to turn a corner so that their voices would be even more distant. “Riley’s a recovering alcoholic. Hasn’t touched the stuff in years. Johnny thought it would be best to not even have it around.”

  Heather nodded. “Not a bad idea.” Heather was now afraid of getting lost in this cabin. She lost count of how many doors they’d passed, but she noticed that Katie’s gait began to slow.

  “Oh, and tomorrow some of Johnny’s other friends are gonna be here—guys from the Riley/ Stone days. I’m hoping to talk them into jamming a little. That’d be cool, wouldn’t it?” Katie stopped in front of a door that looked just like the other two on that side of the hall—large, wooden, majestic. The metal knob looked heavy as she turned it and pushed the door open.

  Cool…that wasn’t the word Heather would have used. No. Hell, no. That meant more people that she’d feel awkward around. She liked these people—was sure she’d love them, in fact, but she felt more at home with academics, people who accepted and even loved her for her mind. She didn’t know that any of these folks would appreciate her brain.

  Well, Katie would. And if they loved and accepted her, surely they’d welcome Heather with open arms.

  And then Heather let herself remember that Katie had said that Kiefer would be there. Oh, Kiefer. She’d only ever met him in person once—a couple of years earlier when she and Katie had gone to a Shock Treatment concert. She was pretty sure he’d been baked, but they’d hit it off and were like old friends by the end of the evening. In fact, they’d struck up such a friendship that they’d remained online buddies ever since reconnecting via email a few months later.

  In spite of the fact that the idea made her nervous, she was also excited. She’d spent the last two years struggling with demons, traveling through some dark places, but she’d also been teaching and writing. She hadn’t been online much in all that time. The only thing she’d done, aside from teaching courses, was send and receive emails, because that was all she had time for or interest in. And the two people she’d emailed the most were Katie and Kiefer.

  Heather would have thought that becoming famous and living a dream would have made someone like Kiefer happy, and it had, but—after they’d been emailing each other for a while—he’d admitted in their email exchanges that it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Sure, it was better than what he’d been doing before, but he felt like he wasn’t always equipped for it. Worse, though, was the sense of isolation he often felt, and he’d told Heather more than once that her emails were his lifeline. After that, no matter how busy she was with her own life, she made sure she emailed him at least once every other day and more often if she could. In spite of how she felt about herself, Heather had supreme confidence in her writing abilities and never once hesitated in continuing their friendship that way.

  Meeting him in person, though…that was nerve wracking and now she was starting to feel like she was going to throw up. She supposed she was a bit of an idiot, too, because they hadn’t ever Skyped, nor had she watched any videos or looked him up. Unless he started singing, she doubted she’d even recognize his voice.

  She knew it would all come back to her, though. If only she could lose the fluttery feeling in the pit of her gut before then…

  The two women walked in the door to the bedroom. Holy shit. It was a hell of a bedroom for a log cabin in the middle of the woods. It was a big room with a queen-sized bed and she had her own little bathroom. It didn’t get much better than that.

  “I’m sure you’re tired after your trip. The pizza should be here around eight-thirty, so if you wanted to unpack and unwind, just come join us whenever you’re ready.”

  Heather glanced around and saw the digital clock on the nightstand next to the bed. That gave her about twenty minutes. Time for a quick shower for sure and maybe time to unpack. “Sounds great.” She hugged Katie. “Thanks for inviting me, Katie.”

  Katie grinned. “Of course. You’re my best friend. Why wouldn’t I?”

  Heather hoped the shock didn’t show on her face. She’d considered Katie one of her best friends but had no idea she was the ultimate for Katie. It made her feel warm and fuzzy, but she didn’t want to freak her friend out. Instead, she just hugged her again. “Thank you.”

  Katie’s smile was huge. “Anyway, hurry up. I guarantee I won’t be able to save any slices from this crazy crowd, so join us later for dinner, and tomorrow morning I’ll give you the grand tour.”

  Heather promised to be there soon. As she closed the door, she shook her head, because she felt like she’d already had the grand tour. This cabin was the kind of place her rich daddy would have bought, just so he could tell his friends he was alpha enough to rough it.

  Ugh. She couldn’t believe she’d given that man a single thought.

  She needed to shower. She wanted to feel refreshed, and as much as she’d relished the extremely naughty time she’d had with that stranger in the bar—not to mention how much it had helped her focus and blow off steam—she needed to bathe so she could forget about it and tend to friend matters.

  She unpacked her bags, hanging some of her clothes in the closet and putting the smaller things in one of the dresser drawers. She took out her toiletries and hair items and found a spot on the bathroom counter for them. Then she threw off her clothes and pulled her hair up into a bun for a quick shower. She wound up standing in the tub longer than she’d planned. The warm water felt soothing on her skin and she closed her eyes, remembering the hot stranger in the bar.

  Oh, God, it was getting bad again. She’d finally gotten her eating problems back under control and now here was her other internal monster rearing its ugly head. Jesus Christ. She was going to keep her therapist in business until he retired. Heather took another deep breath, intent upon not beating herself up, because that was often where the problems began.

  As she toweled herself off, she could feel how tightly her jaw was clenched. She just had to make it through this week. Then she would call her therapist and confess to him that she was going off the rails again. He’d be back from his vacation by then—perfect timing.

  She’d noticed when Katie had introduced her to the group that they seemed pretty laid back. The blonde—Erin, she thought her name was—seemed to be dressed a little less casually, because she was wearing a white sundress, but even so, she wasn’t wearing anything that seemed out of place compared to the group. The rest of them were casual to the extreme—jeans and t-shirts mainly. The other female, Kory, was dressed like the guys, wearing not only jeans and a tee but also boots that looked appropriate for hopping on a Harley. That told Heather that she’d chosen correctly. She’d packed some nice blouses and a couple of pairs of slacks, but she’d also brought shorts, a couple of casual skirts, and other easygoing attire. She’d packed a couple pairs of jeans, and she was grateful she’d thought to do that, because Katie and crew no doubt planned to value comfort over appearance, at least while they were out in the middle of nowhere taking it easy.

  She put on a pair of jeans and sandals but wasn’t sure what top to wear. She flipped through the blouses she had hung in the closet, finally settling on a short-sleeved cream-colored blouse with brown trim and brown designs in the fabric itself. It was understated and there was nothing flashy about it, so Heather hoped she could kind of fade into the woodwork. Maybe tomorrow she’d feel more like being sociable. If nothing else, maybe Heather and Katie could have a little alone time sometime during the next day. She’d missed her so much. Her friend had no idea how much she’d done for Heather
while they’d been friends. Katie was the most down-to-earth person she knew, and Heather always felt better after being around her.

  With that thought in mind, she knew she needed to head back to the part of the house where the people were gathered. No one said she had to be outgoing or obnoxious. She merely had to be there, and Katie and Johnny could do the rest, playing host and hostess to all their friends.

  Heather walked out of her room into the hallway, closing the door behind her. There were so many voices floating down the hall that she would have thought they were having a party out there if she hadn’t known any better. She heard Johnny say, “Pizza’s not here yet, guys.”

  Another voice said, “I drank so much, I don’t think I should try eating any pizza right now.”

  “Yeah, Sage, why don’t you go sit down for a few minutes?”

  “I think I will.”

  Heather wondered if Katie and Johnny had invited the entire city of Winchester, and she didn’t quite know what to expect when she walked into the great room, but she was surprised that there weren’t many more people than she’d seen when she’d first arrived. There were more people standing, but the place wasn’t packed like it had sounded.

  There was laughter as well, and that made her feel more at ease, but she wanted to see if maybe Katie needed her help getting things ready for dinner. She walked to the dining area but noticed that Katie was standing closer to the spot where everyone had been playing a game earlier. Heather started walking toward her friend to see if she could help her with anything, but then she stopped cold, dead in her tracks.

  Holy Mary, Mother of God.

  It was the guy. The guy. The one she fucked at the bar not three hours earlier. What the hell was he doing here?