The River and the Roses (Veronica Barry Book 1) Read online

  The River and the Roses

  Sophia Martin

  Copyright 2011 Sophia Martin

  2nd Edition, 2015

  The Veronica Barry Series by Sophia Martin

  The River and the Roses

  The Fire and the Veil

  The Plane and the Parade

  The Gamble and the Grave

  Veronica in Paris (prequel)

  Other books by Sophia Martin

  The City Darkens

  Broken Ones

  Many, many thanks to everyone who helped make this novel the best it could be: Jeff, Kathryn, Katharine, Will, Cat, and everyone at WSE and AbsoluteWrite. You’re the best!

  ~~***~~

  Chapter 1

  Veronica saw the bleeding man first, then the city bus barreling toward him. The man stood in the middle of the crosswalk, blood staining the front of his flannel shirt, holding a beat up denim jacket. The ragged hems of his jeans brushed the tops of his bare feet. He turned and looked directly at her.

  The bus had to stop. The driver must see him. But it rumbled as it picked up speed at the changing of the traffic light to yellow.

  “Hey!” Veronica shouted at the man as her Australian Shepherd, Harry, tugged on his leash. “Get out of the way!” The man just stood staring. It crossed her mind to run out and push him, but she hung back, paralyzed, clutching Harry’s leash up high against her chest.

  The bus charged on.

  “No!” she screamed at the moment of impact. But then it rolled on, and the bleeding man had disappeared. It was as if he never existed. Nothing marked his presence there—no blood stains on the ground. And around her, people stared—not at where he had been. At her.

  Veronica looked back at them, twisting the leash. Seven thirty on a Friday morning, and plenty of Sacramento’s workforce hurried along the sidewalks or rode their bikes. Her cheeks grew hot despite the chill in the air. Plenty of people to see her acting like a lunatic. They had not seen the man with the bloody shirt. Why did this keep happening to her? Now these people thought she was crazy. The burning in Veronica’s cheeks spread to her ears and neck.

  Looking down to avoid their eyes, she dug her phone out of her pocket and checked the time. It came as a relief to realize she had to get home with Harry now if she hoped to make it on time to work. See, she thought at them all, I’m just like you. I have a dog to walk and a job to go to.

  With a quick pat on Harry’s head she led him away from the intersection, back toward her duplex. What a crappy way to start a morning. Well, she could put it behind her—forget all about it. Besides, she had plenty to do today without getting distracted by embarrassing herself in front of strangers.

  ~~~

  The chill never left the air, even by that afternoon. The whole month of February had been cold, at least by California standards. As Veronica jogged through the school parking lot toward her little blue car, she could feel the bite in the air putting a rosy glow into her pale cheeks. She could see her breath, too. She fumbled with the keys, her fingers clumsy both from cold and hurry. No time to lose: she had shopping and decorating to do to prepare for her best friend Melanie’s surprise birthday party.

  The engine made a noise like a grinding cough when she turned the key, but the car cruised without fuss all the way to the grocery store, so Veronica chose to forget she ever heard it. On her part-time teacher’s salary, no way could she afford major repairs—much less a new car. The 1996 Honda Civic had over a hundred thousand miles. She knew—knew, she willed the car—that it would go for at least another fifty thousand. Bad noises notwithstanding.

  She pulled into the lot of the hulking Safeway supermarket and hopped out. Her list in one hand and denim purse in the other, she grabbed a cart and trotted into the store. Luckily, Melanie’s mother had insisted on giving Veronica a fifty as a contribution to the party prep, or Veronica might have spent some time fretting over how this party would affect her budget. She hated when she did that. It seemed so petty to worry over spending money on a friend. Next it was down the pet aisle to add canned cat and dog food to the cart. She took a step back and bumped into someone.

  “Oh! Sorry,” she said.

  An Asian man was pushing the cart. His skin was smooth and his eyes shone with intelligence. Veronica sucked in her breath. An intense feeling of recognition washed over her. It was so strong, she felt dizzy. She leaned against her own cart’s handle, blinking at him. Where did she know him from?

  “It’s okay,” he said. He frowned a little, taking in her expression. She felt like she knew him. Had she seen him in the store before? But she felt like she should know everything about him—like meeting a brother or boyfriend unexpectedly—but she couldn’t think of where she knew him from. She couldn’t think of his name. “Are you alright?” he asked. He didn’t seem to know her.

  Veronica blinked some more. It was so odd. “Um. Yes,” she managed. He wheeled by her and turned at the end of the aisle, disappearing. She stared after him. Her heart was pounding. She knew him. She knew she knew him. But she didn’t know from where, or how, or anything else about him.

  Veronica closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Okay, just let it go. But the weirdness stayed with her as she hurried through the store and pulled some more groceries from the shelves. Have to get home and decorate. No sense obsessing over the handsome Asian guy. But she knew him. Oh, it was just too strange.

  At home—a small duplex next to the train tracks whose chief attraction was that it was within walking distance to the library at McKinley Park—the two cats greeted her with concerted attempts to trip her, as if she might drop open cans of food in the process. Blossom was a long-haired eight-year-old white cat and Binky was a handsome, if chubby, three-year-old seal-point Birman. She sang to them an altered version of the “Pinky and the Brain” theme song from the old Animaniacs cartoons as she went to the kitchen to put away the groceries and pour them some dry kibble.

  “The Binky and the Bloss, the Binky and the Bloss,” she sang. Blossom sniffed the kibble and walked away, unimpressed, but Binky tucked in. “One likes to eat, the other likes to fuss.”

  Veronica stroked Blossom a few times to show no hard feelings and then opened the door to the tiny backyard where Harry spent the day when Veronica was at work. Harry barreled over and licked Veronica’s hand, dancing around her and wagging his stub of a tail. Like all of Veronica’s pets, Harry was a rescue. This show of affection and enthusiasm warmed Veronica’s heart doubly, because she could still remember a time when the dog was afraid to be touched.

  “Mommy almost got you a raw hide bone today, bud,” she told him. “Sorry I didn’t.” The encounter with the Asian man had so rattled her she’d moved on without selecting a treat. “I’ll get you one tomorrow. You can hold me to that.” Harry ran to his squeaky ball in the living room and barreled back to the kitchen, squeaking all the way.

  “Okay, maybe in a while. Mommy has to decorate the living room first.”

  The living room was small, with few items of furniture. One corner of the room was devoted to painting, with a drop cloth, easel, stool and canvas. She had a framed poster of Audrey Hepburn as Sabrina on one wall, and on another, her prized autographed photo of Sophia Loren at the Romanoff, taken in 1958, a gift from Veronica’s Aunt Cybele. That and some rugs were about it for décor.

  The first thing Veronica did was take the large canvas she was working on off its easel, and then she took the easel and the drop cloth and carried them into her room. After carefully carrying the half-finished painting to her bedroom, she stopped for a moment to look at it. It was an angel. She had completed the face. A co-worker was goi
ng to buy it when it was completed. It would be Veronica’s first real sale, but she didn’t know how she felt about that. She had been painting variations of this angel for as long as she could remember. Her personal attachment to each picture showed in that they were getting so populous that they crowded ever square foot of her bedroom walls. The new painting was going well, and she wasn’t sure she was going to be okay with parting with it.

  Veronica grimaced. This was not the time for thinking about her painting. She had so much to do for the party! Going back into the main room, she blew up five balloons before she started to feel light-headed and tied them together with ribbons and pinned the ribbon to the wall. Pink, green and blue streamers she taped across the room, standing on a chair to make sure they were high enough not to make people duck under them. Bloss decided to help and started wrestling with the green streamer roll until she’d gotten herself tangled, then chased around the duplex with Binky in hot pursuit while Harry watched, looking concerned and puzzled. Veronica laughed at them and finally rescued Blossom from the streamer monster. The cat jumped onto the window sill and set about taking a bath and pretending nothing had happened.

  Ten minutes later the first guests arrived. Harry went nuts barking at the door. She took the dog to the back door and put him out.

  Guests came in a steady stream. Veronica put out refreshments and made small talk. A few minutes before three she got a text from Angie, Melanie’s teenage daughter, who was in on the surprise.

  “They’re here! Okay everybody!” Veronica said.

  A cacophony of shushing and shuffling made Veronica worry that they would give everything away, but she could hear Angie’s voice coming and then suddenly everyone inside went quiet. Veronica hurried to the doorway of the kitchen.

  The knock came.

  “Come in!” she called.

  She could hear Melanie muttering something and Angie say, “Just open it, okay? I have to be home by three thirty so Grant can call me.” Which made no sense since she had a cell phone but worked perfectly as teenager logic. The door swung open.

  “Veronica, since when do you leave your door unl—”

  “SURPRISE!”

  Melanie yelped and stumbled back from the doorway. Angie caught her mother’s arm before she could fall.

  “Mom, happy birthday,” Angie said, laughing as she helped Melanie right herself.

  “Oh my god,” Melanie managed. She stepped hesitantly into the duplex. Everyone smiled and waved and some clapped. “You guys are nuts.”

  Melanie was dressed in a plain navy blue suit since she worked mornings for the DA as a part-time legal assistant. Her curly, golden hair was in a twist and she wore simple make-up.

  “Happy birthday, Mel,” Veronica said and hugged her. “Come on in. Want a drink? We have sodas but there’s beer or wine if you’d rather.”

  “Ha,” Melanie gasped. “After that shock I’ll take a glass of wine. Wow, just look at this place. Did the cats help?”

  “Blossom did have an epic battle with one of the streamers,” Veronica said, handing Melanie her glass.

  After a little while, they all had cake. Angie, sitting on the floor, her dark blonde hair pulled into a high ponytail, commandeered the music and put on The Police while she searched through the rest of Veronica’s CD shoe boxes.

  “Ange,” said Melanie. “I take it showing V that test was just a big set up, then?”

  “Yep,” Angie said. “I got it back days ago, too.”

  “I thought it was weird she was so proud of that A. She just had to show it to you,” Melanie said to Veronica. “So how long have you and my little rapscallion been plotting this ambush?”

  “Well, we started thinking about it a month ago, but last week is when the true scheming occurred,” Veronica confessed. “She figured out she could use the French test as an excuse and we settled on today after school for the ‘when’ since I get out early and tomorrow’s your real birthday. It seemed close enough but not obvious, you know?”

  Melanie grinned.

  “I did almost all my shopping just today,” Veronica said. “It was all so last minute. I was worried I’d forget something. Well, I did forget to get Harry a treat.”

  Melanie made a sympathetic face. “Poor Harry.”

  Veronica frowned. “The strangest thing happened at the store.”

  “What?”

  “I ran into this man. I mean, literally. And it was so weird. When I looked at his face I felt so sure I recognized him. But I can’t figure out from where.”

  “Well, that happens,” Mel said.

  “No, this was different. It was like, I really knew this guy. Like I should know everything about him. But I couldn’t think of anything specific. Not his name, not where I knew him from. He was Asian, maybe a few years older than me. Good-looking, dressed nice, I guess, professional, but not like a suit… I just looked at his face and I just felt like I knew him. It was really strange.”

  Mel shrugged. “Maybe you were in the same first grade class or something.”

  Veronica's frown deepened. “Maybe…”

  One of the guests called for dance music. Angie threw Veronica a panicked look.

  “Okay, I think I can find something,” Veronica said, and joined her on the floor. “Hey,” she whispered to her, “How’s it going with that new boy you were crushing on?”

  Angie blushed scarlet. “Okay,” she shrugged, and then her face split with a grin. “He talked to me.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah,” Angie said. “For a while, I thought I really blew it with him. I kind of got him in trouble… but I think it’s okay now.”

  Veronica nodded and selected Sly and the Family Stone.

  “Oh, no,” Angie said when she saw it.

  “Do you even know Sly and the Family Stone?”

  “No,” Angie said. “But look how they’re dressed! Is this some sixties stuff?”

  “It’s funk.”

  Angie paled. “I think I’ll go play with Harry out back.”

  ~~~

  The last guest left, except for Angie and Mel. “Let me help clean up,” Mel insisted.

  “Tell you what,” Veronica said. “Let’s take Harry for a spin around McKinley and then you can help me. The poor dog’s been out back all day. He must be losing his puppy mind.”

  “I could use some exercise after all that cake,” Mel agreed. Angie was busy texting. “You coming with, kiddo?”

  “Huh? Oh,” Angie tuned back in. “Where are we going?”

  “To take Harry to the park for a walk,” Veronica said.

  “Oh,” Angie said, and cast a glance at her phone. “Okay.”

  Melanie sighed. “It’s so nice that she still likes the park enough to tear herself away from that thing for a few minutes.”

  “I like Harry, too,” Angie said. “And it’s not like I won’t have the phone with me.” Melanie gave her a smirk, which she returned.

  “Okay, let’s get him suited up, then,” Veronica said, taking his harness and leash from where they hung on the wall. “You want to do the honors?” she offered them to Angie.

  “Cool!” Angie cried and grabbed them, jogging to the back door. “Hey Harry! You want to go for a walk?” Those seven words were music to Harry’s ears. He started to pant and dance around Angie as she tried to put on the harness. She laughed and Veronica smiled as she watched them.

  “She’s a good kid,” she whispered to Melanie.

  Melanie grinned. “Yeah, she is.”

  McKinley Park was only a few blocks away. One of the largest city parks in Sacramento. it extended 32 acres. McKinley Library dominated the center, and it also had a public pool, tennis courts, and a pond with frogs and ducks.

  While Veronica and Melanie walked around McKinley, Angie ran into the center with Harry loping beside her. Veronica turned to Melanie. “I know it hasn’t been easy, raising her alone. But sometimes I envy you.”

  “Well, I wasn’t totally alone, you know. I had
Mom and then pretty soon I met you. How old was she?”

  “She was three,” Veronica said.

  “And I have to be fair. Ryan has sent money every month without fail since he left. I couldn’t survive on a part-time salary without that, and I want to be able to pick Angie up from school. I think it’s really important for me to be home when she is.”

  “When’s the last time he visited?”

  “I was just thinking about that. It was Christmas two years ago. Can you believe that? Angie was thirteen. The man hasn’t seen his daughter in two years.”

  “Well, like you said, at least he’s good with the child support.”

  “Yeah,” Melanie sighed, gazing at Angie and the dog. “Anyway, what are you talking about, you envy me? She’s like your daughter too.”

  “Oh, well. Niece maybe.”

  “Fine, niece. But I mean, you know, you’re family.”

  “Thanks, hon,” Veronica said. As they passed the rose garden, Veronica couldn’t resist stepping off the sidewalk to wind through the rosebushes. The sweet, warm scent of roses and their bright, velvety petals always drew her to them. Melanie followed suit.

  As she brushed against the leaves of a red rosebush, Veronica hesitated. A wave of dizziness followed by nausea hit her. She blinked and looked around. The colors were wrong. The leaves of the bushes darkened to a pine green, but patches of a strange orange light lit them. The roses shifted their pinks, reds, and yellows to deeper tones. And then she saw stains in the grass—patches of blackness that looked wet. She came to a halt. The ground seemed to be moving under her feet, as if tilting at an angle.

  Melanie clutched her arm. “Hey! Are you alright?”

  Veronica looked at the bushes and grass. Everything was sunlit. The stains had disappeared. Inhaling deeply, she felt the nausea pass.