A Flicker of Doubt (Book 4 in the Candlemaking Mysteries) (20 page)

“
That’s the spirit” Markum
said. “Now who else is going to make our list?”

“
How much time do you have?”
I asked.

“
It sounds as though we’re
all in the perfect mood for a discussion like this,” Pearly said. .
By the time we decided to call it a night an hour later, we’d gone
through every group, organization and cluster of people who had
ever irritated or annoyed us. It would certainly be a quieter world
if we were making real decisions, and a much gentler one, too, at
least after the initial purge.

After Markum and Pearly left, I went
upstairs and found myself out of sorts, pacing around the small
apartment wondering what my next step should be. I’d managed to
alienate quite a few folks over the course of the day without
coming that much closer to the truth. I didn’t know how the police
ever solved a crime, especially given peoples tendencies to lie,
skew the truth and spin its rationale to always put themselves in
the best light possible.

At the rate I was going, all of Micah’s
Ridge would wash their hands of me before I found out what had
really happened to Becka Lane. I didn’t care if I left a wake of
hurt feelings and crumpled relationships behind me in my
questioning. What mattered most was finding the truth, and if parts
of my life suffered for it, so be it. It was the least I owed to
Becka. For now, all I could do was sleep, so I could start fresh in
the morning.

Chapter 16

I’d just opened the candleshop the next morning
when an older woman with silver hair and an upright posture came
into At Wick’s End.

“
Hello. May I help you find
anything?” I asked. I’m looking for Mr. Harrison Black. I
understand he’s the proprietor here.”

“
I’m Harrison,” I said.
“What can I do for you?” She extended a gloved hand. “I’m Ruth
Nash. We spoke on the telephone.”

“
Mrs. Nash, it’s good to
meet you. I’d offer you a cup of coffee, but we don’t have any here
at the shop. We can get some at Millie’s, though. It’s just twenty
feet away.”

“
Mr. Black, I appreciate the
offer, but I’m not here on a social call. I must say, I’m quite
alarmed about my brother. I came by to collect you as a courtesy
only. Would you care to join me?”

“
Absolutely. I’m upset, too.
Please, call me Harrison.” I figured, what could it hurt to ask her
again?

She looked at me with obvious distaste,
though I couldn’t imagine why. I had on a clean pair of jeans and a
new polo shirt.

“
If I must,” she said. “Now
are you coming, or shall I go alone?”

Eve walked in at that moment, ten minutes
late. “Harrison, I’m sorry, my car wouldn’t start.”

“
No problem. I need you to
watch the store.”

She looked at Ruth Nash, then said,
“Certainly, it’s not a problem.”

“
Would you like me to drive,
or should I ride with you? I should warn you, I’ve just got two
pickup trucks.”

“
Of course you do,” she
said. “You may ride with me, if you don’t mind.”

She started for the door, and I told Eve, “I
should be back in an hour.”

“
What’s all this about?” Eve
asked me in a hushed voice.

“
She’s Cyrus’s sister. I
convinced her to come to Micah’s Ridge to talk to him.”

“
Are you coming, Mr.
Black?”

The woman refused to call me Harrison. I
decided to let it go.

I was expecting something nice, but not a
chauffer-driven limousine. I joined her in back as the heavyset
driver held the door for me.’

“
Thanks,” I said. “I didn’t
realize there was a chauffeur service in Micah’s Ridge.”

‘
There isn’t I met the lady
at the airport in Charlotte and drove her here.”

I couldn’t imagine what that bill would look
like, but then again, I wasn’t paying it.

When Ruth saw I wasn’t getting in, she said
from the back without showing herself, “Sometime today, Mr.
Black.”

I tried to squelch my laugh, but the driver
had no reaction at all.

As the car started to pull away, Ruth Nash
said, “I debated bringing you along, Mr. Black. How can I be
certain my brother doesn’t have a very good reason not to see
you?”

“
Ma’am, you go in alone and
I’ll wait in the car. All I need to know is that he’s
okay.”

She arched one well-sculpted eyebrow. “Mr.
Black, enough of this charade. What is the real motivation behind
your actions?”

“
I told you, this started
because of a land deal, but I’m sincerely concerned about your
brother. You don’t care much for me, do you?”

“
And is that important to
you, that everyone likes you?”

“
Blast it all, I’m not going
to let you turn this around against me. I’m the one who called you,
remember? I’m worried about your brother, plain and simple. There’s
nothing sinister about my interest It’s called friendship, whether
you choose to believe it or not”

We sat in silence for the rest of the ride
to Cyrus’s place, which was just fine with me. I hadn’t cared for
two words the woman had uttered since our meeting. If I wasn’t so
worried about Cyrus, I would have told the driver to pull over and
let me out

We were nearing Cyrus’s (dace when she
finally spoke again. I may owe you an apology.”

“
Just one?” I
asked.

That finally cracked the icy exterior. “An
excellent point, that Cyrus and I were raised to be cautious of
anyone who claimed to want only friendship from us.”

“
What a sad childhood that
must have been,” I said.

She nodded. “While it was true we always had
each other, it could be rather lonely at times. If Cyrus has indeed
managed to make a friend in you this late in life, I’m
pleased.”

“
Don’t be too happy about it
He wouldn’t see me, remember? If I’ve done something to offend him,
tell him I’m sorry, would you?’

The car rolled silently to a stop, and I saw
that we’d arrived. I started to follow her out of the car when she
put a delicately gloved hand on my shoulder. “Mr. Black, would you
do me a favor and let me see Cyrus alone?”

“
Ma’am, he’s your brother.
I’m just here as a concerned friend.”

“
Yes, I’m beginning to
believe that I’ll make up the losses due to your absence at4he
candleshop when I return.”

“
You see there? You just
lost, me. I don’t want Cyrus’s money, and I don’t want yours,
either.”

She said, “Oh dear, I’m not very good at
this. I am trying, though.”

“
Your grandkids must be
scared to death of you.”

She smiled gently. “Actually they seem to be
quite taken with me. I can’t say the same for their father,
though.”

“
I don’t doubt it,” I
said

The driver stepped aside as she started for
the door. “Aren’t you going with her?” I asked.

“
It’s not part of my job
description,” the man said.

“
You don’t look like the
kind of guy who memorizes the employee handbook. Why not give her a
little moral support?”

“
If you feel that way, why
aren’t you going?”

“
She doesn’t want me,” I
said, “But she’d probably love to have you.”

As the driver and I were talking, Ruth went
to the door and rang the bell. I recognized the man who answered,
and after a brief but fierce conversation, she turned back toward
us. “They turned me away from my own home. I won’t stand for it, do
you hear me?”

“
Yes, ma’am, but I was
afraid that might happen. So what do you want to do
now?”

“
If that cretin thinks he’s
going to keep me away from my brother, he’s sadly mistaken. Mr.
Black, would you be so kind as to escort me to the local police
department? I believe it’s time to go in with force.”

“
Do you want to talk to a
lawyer first?”

She snapped, “I want the Marines, young man,
can you understand that? Now direct the driver to the nearest
police precinct”

I sat up front and led the driver to Sheriff
Morton’s office. I stuck out a hand as he drove and said, “By the
way, I’m Harrison.”

“
My name’s John,” he said as
he took it briefly, all the while shepherding the limo through what
passed for early morning traffic in Micah’s Ridge. “So she’s going
to sic the cops on them, huh?”

“
I think she’d prefer a band
of mercenaries, and after talking to her fifteen minutes, I don’t
doubt she could raise one.”

“
Should be interesting,” he
said. When we got to the police department I held Ruth’s door open
for her myself:

We found the sheriff wading through a mass
of paperwork on his desk. He grunted when he saw me, then came to
full attention the second he spotted Ruth.

“
Mrs. Nash, I didn’t know
you were in town.”

“
I just
arrived. That’s why I’m here, sheriff. I was rebuffed by some
Neanderthal at my own front door. I am still a partial owner of
that building. The question is, what are you going to
do about it?”

He scratched his head, then said, “Who’s
keeping you out? Surely it’s not Cyrus.”

“
I haven’t seen my brother
yet,” she said loudly. “That’s why we’re here.”

“
And why are you with her?”
he asked me.

“
I’m a concerned citizen,” I
said.

“
He’s here with me, Sheriff.
Now round up your men and come with me.”

I swear I thought he’d refuse her, or at
least try to stall, but the sheriff jumped three feet when she
snapped at him.

“
I’ll follow you in the
patrol car,” the sheriff said. “You need a ride?” he asked me,
obviously wanting to know how I’d managed to get myself so involved
in the situation.

Before I could reply, Ruth said, “He’s
coming with me, sheriff. I mean it, I expect reinforcements.”

He nodded. “Yes, ma’am, I’ll make it
happen.”

“
See that you do,” she said
coldly. I was beginning to wonder if there was anyone she liked
when she turned to John and said, “Young man, can you find your way
back to my ancestral home without Mr. Black’s guidance?”

“
Yes, ma’am.”

Then do so. Mr. Black, you will ride in back
with me.”

I climbed in the back of the limo, and we
left to visit Cyrus again, this time with our very own cavalry.

I wasn’t about to sit quietly by for this
round. I followed discretely behind as Ruth returned to front door
with the sheriff at her side. As we approached, half a dozen patrol
cars pulled in behind us. It would be the perfect time to rob any
business in Micah’s Ridge, since all the town’s police protection
was evidently with us.

The sheriff pounded on the front door with
his fist. “Open up.”

I saw one of the bullies who’d run me off
the property earlier swing the door back. “What’s with all the
racket?’

The sheriff started to push past him, but
the man stood his ground. Morton said, “The noise was to get your
attention. Now are you going to move, or do my men move you?”

He looked past the sheriff at all of his
eager deputies and said, “I don’t get paid enough for that. Be my
guest”

He stepped aside, and Ruth moved in, Morton
half a step behind her and me on their heels. The guard was joined
by his fellow employee, and as they started to leave, I said,
“Shouldn’t you stop them?’

Morton shot me a dirty look, then called out
“Hang around, I’m not finished with you.”

“
We’re just paid employees,”
one of the men said.

“
So who’s paying you?’ •
When neither man would answer, Morton said. That’s what I thought
Magnum, Pruitt, keep an eye on those two.”

We walked into the shadows of the house, and
Ruth called out for her brother. In a feeble voice we heard him
acknowledge our call from the heavily draped living room. “I’m
here.”

Walking into the dreary space, I saw the
ramp I’d noticed from outside.

“
Cyrus, must you play these
games? Walk out of the shadows to where we can see you.”

His voice was softer still as he answered,
‘That’s just it. I can’t walk anymore.” Cyrus Walters rolled toward
us in a wheelchair.

His eyes blazed as he focused on his sister.
“Blast it all, Ruthie, what right do you have to be here?”

“
Are you saying I need
permission to come into my own home, the place I was raised?
Nonsense, your thugs weren’t about to keep me out Now what’s all
this about? Why are you in that chair?”

“
I’ve lost the use of my
legs,” he said as he buried his head in his hands.

She was beside him in a heartbeat “Cyrus, is
that why you wouldn’t see anyone?”

“
I was afraid it was getting
worse,” he said. “I couldn’t stand to look you in the eye,
Harrison.”

Ruth asked, “So it’s true then, you two are
friends?”

Cyrus nodded. “More than I even realized.
He’s the only one who wouldn’t give up. He got you here, didn’t he?
Only there’s nothing you can do, Big Sister. I can’t walk.”

“
When did this happen?” I
asked. “The last time I saw you, you were hale and hearty and
striding down your river path.”

“
It came on me overnight,”
Cyrus said. Thankfully the new doctor came to the house to see me.
Greg Runion brought him by. He’s been giving me injections every
day, or else I’d be completely paralyzed by now.”