Authors: Dana Mentink
B
ill walked to the window and looked out to give himself a moment to find his balance again. He felt the lingering electricity shooting through him from Heather’s embrace. The touch fired sparks inside that seemed to blast away the numbing cloud that had surrounded him since she’d left.
Please don’t let her come close to me again.
He wondered who he was speaking to until it dawned on him with brutal clarity. He was speaking to God. Fingering the curtains, he gritted his teeth. Enough of that. God was not in charge. Bill would keep Heather away until his showdown with Oscar. No heavenly help required.
But what about after?
He flicked the curtain closed.
There would be no “after” for them.
He would have his vengeance and she would get her life back. End of story. He would put away the happy memories of her to be savored and enjoyed in solitude. Above all things, he would not put what was left of his heart out to be battered again.
Heather watched him, mouth drawn in concern, eyes wide. “What happened?”
“We found Charlie unconscious. He’s had some sort of medical problem. Rudley’s got an ambulance coming.”
“Are you sure Oscar didn’t get to him?”
He sighed. “Not sure of anything, but there was no sign of violence. Oscar would have no reason to go after Charlie. It appears he might have had a stroke or fallen.”
Heather sank onto the sofa. “Oh, no. Is it really bad?”
“He’s alive and breathing on his own, but we couldn’t rouse him. Doctors will have to tell us more.”
She groaned. “Charlie’s all Tina’s got. Where will she go?”
Bill considered the question that had been alive in his mind since the day Johnny died. What would happen to Tina with only an old man to care for her? Johnny had never forgotten a birthday, never skipped a chance to play in the river with Tina. He’d been mother and father to her with Charlie’s help, and his death left an old grieving man to fill the void. A swell of desperation engulfed Bill.
He was still wrestling with the problem when he felt Heather’s hand on his forearm.
“She can stay here with us. Mom and I will do our best until we can figure something else out.”
He sighed. It was a generous offer, considering Heather’s uncertain relationship with her own mother. “Thank you, but I think she’d be safer with Aunt Jean for a little while. I already phoned her.”
“Why would she be safer at Jean’s? Oscar’s been there, too.”
“Yes, but I think he’s focused more on you.” Bill turned and found himself so close that his arms seemed to encircle her of their own accord, as if his body was no longer ruled by his mind. Her eyes sought his, filled with such tender compassion that he found it hard to breathe. He desperately wanted to press his mouth to hers and drink in some of the warmth that filled her heart and soul. “I’m sorry for that, for all of it.”
She reached up and put her palm gently on his cheek. He
longed to press against it, to dive into that touch and let the world go away.
“You’re not responsible for Oscar’s craziness. You never have been.” She added softly, “And you’re not responsible for what he did to Johnny.”
He wanted to believe it, but laying down that burden of responsibility even for a moment would leave his heart open to moving on. To what? To love again? To turn back to the life he’d had before and the faith he’d left behind? It was too much.
He allowed himself to linger for another moment in the warmth of her touch and then he moved away. Tomorrow. It would all be over one way or another tomorrow.
Out the window he could see the ambulance had arrived and begun to load Charlie onto a stretcher. Heather joined him and they watched until the rescue vehicle departed.
He cleared his throat, dreading the news he would have to give Tina. He wasn’t good with kids. He could hardly even get Tank to listen. What chance did he have with a precocious six-year-old? “Would you come with me to Charlie’s? I’ve got to take her back so she can pack up a few things she’ll need. I’m not sure how she’s going to handle this.”
And I’m not sure how to handle it, either.
“Of course. I’ll go get her.”
Trying to piece together what to tell Tina, Bill waited until they entered the room.
Tina climbed up and sat next to Heather on the sofa. “Am I going home now, Uncle Bill? I’m not done sorting my treasures.”
Margot gave her a smile. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of them until you can come over again and we’ll finish.”
The girl seemed satisfied. “Is Uncle Charlie better now?”
Bill swallowed. “Honey, Uncle Charlie has to go to the hospital for a while.”
Tina stuck her fingers in her mouth. “Is he gonna come back?”
The pain knifed at him. He knew she was remembering that Johnny never returned from the hospital.
Tina’s eyes began to tear up and he took a step toward her, unable to find even a single word to comfort her.
Heather took Tina’s free hand. “The doctors are going to take very good care of him.”
Tina clutched at Heather, her words garbled from the fingers jammed into her mouth. “Is he gonna die? I don’t want him to die.”
Heather stroked Tina’s arm. “I know you feel scared. Do you know what I do when I’m really scared?”
Tina shook her head.
“I pray to God. Do you know how to do that?”
She nodded. “Aunt Jean taught me.”
“Okay. Let’s say a prayer together, then.”
Bill watched them, heads bent together as Heather guided the little girl through a simple prayer. He ached at the sight. How could she trust God after she’d lost so much? How could they both commend Charlie into His care in spite of the grief they had both experienced?
But when they looked up, both had the same childlike peace about them, as if they had put down a heavy burden. Heather’s eyes found his and he knew she could see the yearning on his face. He looked away.
“Aunt Jean is going to take care of you for a while. I’ll walk you home to pack up some things to bring along, okay?” Heather said.
Tina nodded, fingers still in her mouth, as she hopped off the sofa.
Bill cleared his throat. “Thank you,” he said to Heather. “For helping her with that.”
Heather smiled. “I’ve had a lot of experience feeling like an overwhelmed child. Still do, sometimes.”
He didn’t reply as they walked outside, checking the perimeter as they did so, nodding to the Tribal Ranger still stationed at the front. Both dogs joined them, sniffing and nosing their way along onto Charlie’s property, where they were left to explore outside.
Rudley clicked off his phone and greeted them at the door. Tina shuffled past him down the hallway, which was piled with cardboard boxes. “Got someone going to check Aunt Jean’s place again to make sure everything is normal before I transport Tina over there.”
“I’ll take her,” Bill snapped. “She needs someone familiar.”
Rudley shook his head. “Not you.”
“I …” Bill stopped. Rudley was right.
I’m a target and everywhere I go I put the people with me in danger.
Heather must have sensed his thoughts. “I’ll go with you, Agent Rudley. Tina knows me a little. I’ll help her get settled with Aunt Jean.”
Bill felt a surge of gratefulness that left him unsteady. He walked into the tiny front room, noting more boxes stacked against the wall. Moving boxes. Charlie must have found a buyer, or at least a renter, for his land and was going to follow through on his goal to get Tina out of South Dakota. Where would they go? Someplace, anyplace where memories of Johnny did not linger in every dusty canyon or under the shade of each cottonwood tree.
It wouldn’t work, he thought grimly. The memories would follow along. He thought of Leanne, chasing her through endless acres of crackling golden grass, helping her deliver pizzas to make ends meet. The birth of her daughters, his nieces,
and the joy on her face, in spite of the fact that the man who fathered them had taken off long before they were born.
Heather followed Tina down the hall, to help her pack, he imagined. Rudley began texting, leaving Bill to wander among the boxes. The house was dingy, he noticed, the paint peeling along the baseboards, the worn carpeting stained and threadbare. For Johnny it was an endless task to repair this old place, a job Bill had never once heard him complain about.
The question returned. Who would have bought this house? Or even be interested in renting it? Rockvale had suffered the full brunt of the economic downturn, in addition to the poverty that seemed an integral part of life on the nearby Eagle Rock reservation. People did not come to Rockvale, except for the lab folks, and they lived in housing constructed specifically for that purpose in Copper Springs, a nearby town with better amenities and a bigger population.
So who had bought this place?
He was still musing when Heather and Tina came into the room, Tina holding a duffel bag.
“All packed,” Heather said brightly.
A glint of metal caught Bill’s eye and he looked closer at Tina, at something she was wearing around her neck. As he got a good look, he grunted in surprise, not believing what he saw.
Heather saw Bill’s face go slack with shock as he darted toward Tina and dropped to one knee. Reflexively she grabbed the little girl’s hand. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
Bill ignored her. He reached up and put one finger on the silver heart that hung on a chain around Tina’s neck. “Where did you get that?”
Tina shrank back and put her fingers into her mouth again with a shrug of her slender shoulders.
His voice cracked as he repeated the question, causing Tina to hide behind Heather. She whispered to him.
“You’re scaring her.”
He remained on the floor for a moment before he stood again and backed away a few steps, but she could see the emotion storming through his eyes.
“The necklace. I need to know where she got it.”
Heather did not understand what was driving Bill, but she knew him well enough to know he didn’t ruffle easily. Whatever the reason for his interest in the necklace, it was serious.
“Tina,” she said. “Uncle Bill was surprised to see your pretty necklace. Can you tell him who gave it to you?”
Tina shook her head, so Heather led her to a chair and sat next to her. “It’s important. Uncle Bill isn’t mad at you. He just needs to know, okay?”
Tina had a fearful expression on her face as she looked from Bill to Heather.
“I found it,” she finally said. “On the other side of the bridge.”
Heather frowned. The other side of the bridge would be her father’s land, but the necklace was nothing she had ever seen before.
“How long ago?” Bill croaked.
Tina screwed up her face in thought. “A long time ago. The same time I started to go take art class at Aunt Jean’s.”
“Last September,” Bill said. “You found the necklace in September.”
Rudley was listening in now, having caught the tension.
Heather watched Bill take a steadying breath.
“Did you find anything else with the necklace, honey?” he asked.
She stared at her lap. Bill touched the top of her head very
gently. “It’s real important. I promise you won’t get in trouble if you tell the truth.”
Tina looked at Rudley, eyes narrowed.
Heather patted her hand. “Agent Rudley won’t punish you, either, right?”
Rudley looked bemused. “Oh, of course not. We never punish children.”
Tina seemed satisfied. “I’ll get it.” She hopped off the chair and disappeared down the hallway.
Bill remained frozen there and his strange behavior scared Heather. She wanted to grab his shoulders and shake the wild, faraway look off his face, but she didn’t dare. Instead she watched, holding her breath until Tina returned with a grimy brown purse.
It was made of cheap vinyl and one of the handles was almost severed. The outside was pocked with dings as if it had been badly treated.
She handed it to Bill. “Uncle Charlie doesn’t like me to collect treasures, so I hid it in my room.”
Bill took the purse, frowning, and carefully slid the contents out onto the table. A compact, the one Heather had seen Tina powdering her nose with before, a curved white rock, a mint container and a wallet.
The wallet was empty except for a dirty driver’s license. Heather itched to examine it, but Rudley and Bill moved in. All was quiet until Rudley let out a low whistle.
Heather couldn’t take a moment longer. “What? Tell me before I have to scream.”
Rudley was pulling out his phone. “It’s Hazel Birch’s purse.”
“Hazel? Oscar’s wife?” Suddenly the mystery of the missing purse was solved. She was right. Hazel
had
grabbed her purse before she fled, before Oscar caught up and murdered
her. “But why would Oscar dump his wife’s purse on my property?”
“There’s another mystery here,” Bill said, voice dull. They all turned to stare at him.
“That necklace. Turn it over and read the back.”
With fingers suddenly gone cold, Heather turned over the heart on the chain around Tina’s neck.
“It says, ‘To Leanne …'” She broke off.
Bill filled in the rest. “‘The new mother. Love, Bill.'”
Heather stared at him in horror. “This was your sister’s.”
He nodded. “I gave it to her on the day her girls were born. She never took it off.”
“Then how …?”
Rudley spoke softly. “It would seem that Hazel knew something about Leanne’s death. She found the necklace, some other evidence perhaps that Oscar was involved.”
“But I thought …” Heather flushed. “I thought Leanne died of a drug overdose.”
“She did,” Bill growled. “But it might not have been self-induced, after all.”
Rudley nodded. “Hazel guessed Oscar was involved and decided to run, but Oscar caught her.”
She saw from the white-hot rage kindling in Bill’s eyes that he agreed with Rudley’s theory.
“But how did the purse get here?” she finally managed.
“I think I know the answer to that, too,” he said as he stalked out the front door.
H
e didn’t have to go far. Al Crow was pulling up the gravel drive. Bill waited for him to get out, fury building to a crescendo inside him.
Al gave him a curious look. “What’s up? You look like you’re about to explode.”
Heather and Rudley jogged up next to them.
“What’s going on?” Rudley asked.
“Why don’t you tell him what you did?” Bill snapped at Crow.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, you do. Last September you found the car Hazel Birch abandoned before Oscar killed her.”
Crow shifted, arms crossed. “There’s a whole report on file about that. I don’t see why we gotta talk about it now.”
The rage overwhelmed him and he grabbed Crow by the collar. “How could you do it?”
Crow struggled in his grasp until Rudley pulled him away. Heather clamped a hand on Bill’s shoulder.
“Calm down. Calm down and tell us,” she said in a soothing voice.
Bill tried to suck in some air. His heart hammered an angry rhythm against his ribs. “Hazel found out that Oscar killed my sister.”
Crow’s face blanched. “What? But Leanne died of an O.D. I thought… .”
“That’s what we all thought, thanks to the blood tests, but now it seems like Oscar just made it look that way. Maybe somehow he overpowered her and injected her with the stuff and pushed her body off the ridge. We don’t know for sure, but we
do
know he took her necklace first.” He looked out at the distant edge of Charlie’s property, the place where he imagined Oscar had taken Leanne’s life. “Hazel had the necklace in her purse. Somehow she found it, guessed that Oscar killed Leanne and was going to tell, but he caught her.”
Crow licked his lips. “How do you know that?”
Rudley spoke up. “Tina just showed us Hazel’s purse. She found it, with the necklace inside, on the Fernandes property last September.”
“Someone,” Bill said, fighting the urge to grab Crow around the neck, “took the purse from her car and didn’t want to be caught with it, so they discarded it on Heather’s land. That someone was you, wasn’t it?”
He heard Heather gasp but he did not take his eyes off Crow. “Why did you do it, Al?” The rage suddenly drained out of him and he felt unaccountably fatigued. “Why didn’t you report the purse?”
Crow looked down at his feet. “I made a mistake.”
“Why?” Bill said, though he knew the answer already.
“I needed the money. I have some debts.”
Bill shook his head. “That’s why you sold your Falcon?”
He nodded. “It was stupid, but when I found that purse there and a wallet with a couple hundred bucks …”
“You took it?” Heather’s voice was incredulous.
“Yeah. I was first on scene sitting in my vehicle. At that time I had no idea it was a murder investigation. All I knew is it was an abandoned car, so I looked through the wallet. Then I heard Cloudman and Johnny approaching. I panicked. I hid
the purse in my car. By the time it was clear we were looking for Hazel and it wasn’t going to turn out well, I’d already told Bill and Johnny there was no purse, so I couldn’t put it back. Later I dumped the purse at Heather’s.”
Bill pushed on. “You meant to go back and get it later.”
“Yeah, but it was gone. After a few months went by, I stopped looking, but when Oscar showed up and there were all kinds of cops roaming over Heather’s land, I figured I’d better find it before they did, on the off chance it was still there.”
Heather edged closer. “So it was you on my property with the lantern? You swung a shovel at Bill?”
He looked confused. “No. That wasn’t me. I wouldn’t have done that to Bill.”
“What you did was worse.” Bill’s eyes burned. “You concealed evidence that would have told me that Oscar murdered my sister. All this time I thought she caved in and started using again. All this time—” He broke off.
Crow seemed to shrink. “I’m sorry, Bill. I had no idea there was a connection between Hazel and Leanne. I never would have kept it from you.”
“You kept it from all of us and you kept my sister from having justice. Because of you her daughters think their mother died a junkie.”
Crow’s mouth opened and then closed.
Rudley exhaled. “Crow, you’d better come with me. I’ll make arrangements with you to talk to someone at headquarters.” He turned to Bill and spoke more gently. “We can exhume your sister’s body and have a thorough postmortem. We’ll talk it out in a little while.”
Bill walked away in disgust. Talk? What good was that now? His friend, his longtime friend, had betrayed him. Crow might face the loss of his badge, his career, but Bill had lost so much more. The bitterness almost overwhelmed him. Vaguely
he noticed Tina trot out the door to play with the two dogs. He sank onto a worn bench under the shade of a scraggly pine, head reeling.
He felt rather than saw Heather sit next to him. “I’m sorry,” she said.
“I should have believed in her. She said she was clean and I should have known she was telling me the truth. I never should have believed she overdosed.”
Heather reached out and took his hand. “Speaking from experience, an addiction problem destroys trust so completely, it’s hard to win it back, no matter how much you try.”
“Her girls, her children.” The thought made his throat thicken. “They think she was a failure.”
“You can tell them the truth.”
He laughed bitterly. “I don’t even know where Rose is. She’s been in and out of trouble for so long we’ve lost track of her. It might be too late.”
“You’ll find her, I know you will. I’ll help you.”
He closed his eyes. “That day, the day I found you driving drunk. You asked me to let you off, you begged me and I wanted to. I wanted to turn my back and forget it ever happened, but I couldn’t.”
He opened his eyes and gripped her hand. “You know why I didn’t.”
Heather nodded, lips trembling. “Because you loved me and you didn’t want me to turn out like your sister.”
For a moment he could not form any words. “I wanted you to get help before it was too late. That’s why I arrested you. That’s why I called and emailed.”
She was weeping now. “But I didn’t answer because I was too ashamed. It was wrong. I know now why you did what you did and I’m sorry. I’m terribly, terribly sorry, Bill.”
Part of him wanted to comfort her, but he could summon up no gentle feelings inside to offer. He put his head in his
hands. “All this time I’ve blamed myself for Johnny’s death and now I find out my sister was murdered right under my nose, too.”
She caressed his face, her own wet with tears. “Bill, stop. You can’t shoulder all this blame.”
The words flowed out faster and faster. “The day we finally cornered Oscar, I was calling for backup but Johnny didn’t wait. He ran in when it should have been me.”
“No, Bill.”
“He went in because he knew I wasn’t at the top of my game. I wasn’t sleeping, or eating well since you left. He went in because he thought it would protect me somehow, when I should have been the one looking out for him.”
She caught hold of his other hand. “You’ve got to forgive yourself.”
“No, I don’t.” He pulled away and stood, gesturing to Tina. “Look at that little girl with no brother to watch over her. No parents. My nieces have no mother to come home to. Don’t talk to me about forgiveness.”
“When we knew each other before, you used to give your burdens to God, remember?” She moved to him, arms raised to embrace him. “Bill, He’s still there for you, if you’ll let Him in.”
He fixed his eyes on the rocky cliff that stood stalwart and alone against the brilliant sky. “I’m not going to let anyone in, Heather. Ever again.”
Heather watched in despair as an impassive mask settled into place on Bill’s face. Leanne’s murder was the final shovelful of earth that buried Bill under a massive weight of grief and guilt. He walked away, and leaned against the split rail fence. Suddenly she realized how hard it must have been for him to love her in the first place.
The moments together when he’d let his guard down, his
bumbling attempts to learn to cook for her, the places he’d shown her that were precious to him because he and his sister had played there as children. Each of those moments was an act of faith in her and in God. Now it was all gone. She realized there were tears coursing down her face and she wiped them away with her sleeve, surprised to see her mother and Dr. Egan walking over the bridge toward them.
Dr. Egan looked from Heather to Bill. “I came to deliver the water sample results to Margot. Everything’s clean. I thought it might help with the investigation in some way.”
Bill rounded on him. “What made you think my sister was using?”
Egan took a step back at the ferocity in Bill’s voice. “Why do you ask?”
“Because we’ve just uncovered evidence that suggests she was murdered by Oscar Birch,” Heather said.
Egan’s mouth dropped open and Heather would have laughed at his comical expression under different circumstances.
“Murdered? How could that be?”
“Just answer the question,” Bill barked.
Egan still did not speak, his face white. Margot patted him on the shoulder. “What kind of behaviors was she showing that made you concerned?”
Heather was grateful for her mother’s calm intervention. She was afraid to leave Bill’s side in case he went after Egan as he had Al Crow.
Egan wiped a hand over his brow. “I met her when we arranged to have pizza brought in for the lab employees one day. She was very friendly, offered to show us around the town. Pizza lunches became a regular treat at the lab, so we got to know your sister. When the custodial job came up, I recommended her. She was always on time, always cheerful until a few weeks before her death. She came in late, looked pale
and haggard.” He looked to Bill. “You must have noticed, surely.”
Bill flushed and then looked at the ground. “I didn’t.”
She saw it in his face. The terrible guilt.
“But it could be that Leanne wasn’t using at all. Oscar killed her and made it look like an overdose,” Heather suggested.
Egan shook his head and she saw moisture gleaming in his eyes. “Leanne was a sweet lady. She reminded me of my daughter. Angie lived with her mother since she was a little girl. I never saw her much.” His face fell. “But I remember her being like that, very open and full of life.” He seemed to snap out of his recollections. “Whether Leanne died from drugs or Oscar Birch, I wish I could have done something to help. Mr. Cloudman, all I can say is if there was anything I should have noticed that would have saved your sister and I missed it, I am sincerely sorry.”
Bill remained silent.
Heather spoke to her mother. “When Rudley gets back I’m going to go with him over to Aunt Jean’s and get Tina settled in there. Her uncle’s going to be in the hospital for a while.”
Margot nodded. “I’ll go, too.” She held up a bag. “I brought the rest of her treasures along. We could finish sorting them on the way.” She looked suddenly anxious. “Unless she is too worried about her uncle. Do you think that’s the right thing to do?”
Heather looked at her mother, noticing how the fully risen sun etched her face with a delicate web of wrinkles. Her heart swelled a little. “Yes, Mom. I think that’s exactly the right thing to do.”
Margot stood there for a moment, bag held up in her fingers. “Good. That’s what we’ll do, then,” she said, her gaze lingering on Heather’s face.
Heather walked Choo Choo back to her house, closing him
in securely before she returned to Charlie’s property, noticing that both Bill and the officer stationed in her front yard kept a close eye on her the entire time.
She thought of Oscar. Her skin chilled as she crossed the small bridge. Was he there now? Watching them? Waiting for the minutes to tick by? If Oscar succeeded he would have accomplished five murders; his own wife, Johnny, possibly Leanne, Mr. Brown … and Bill.
The only way Oscar could win was if he murdered Bill, too. Oscar’s words tumbled through her memory.
Tell him I’ll be seeing him soon.
The phone in Heather’s pocket vibrated and she jumped and almost dropped it.
“Honey.” The low voice rumbled through the phone. “I got the new number you left on my voice mail. Did you upgrade to one of those fancy phones?”
She blinked back tears. “Hi, Dad. Nah, just a loaner because mine … broke.” Walking away a few paces, she sought the shade of the pine while her father filled her in.
“Sorry I didn’t call sooner. One of my guys was injured and I’ve been at the hospital with him. Couldn’t use my cell much and I forgot my charger. Looks like they’ve got him all patched up. How are things there?”
How were things? With Oscar’s deadline approaching? Charlie in the hospital? And evidence of Leanne’s murder surfacing? Things couldn’t be worse, but she would not worry her father by explaining. Besides, she knew what he was really asking. “Mom got here safely. She’s doing okay.”
“I’m sorry about all that. I didn’t mean to surprise you. It just sort of came up, but it wasn’t fair to spring her on you without warning. Are you two hanging in there?”
“I don’t know, Dad. I always wanted her to come back, but now that she’s here, I’m all confused. Sometimes I am so mad at her I can’t take it another moment, and other times …”
Her father laughed. “I’ve felt that way quite often myself.”
Heather pictured his smile. “How can you take it, then?”
“Honey, I just remind myself that God’s the ultimate handyman. He can fix anything, if we let Him.”
She glanced at Bill, head bowed, anguish written in the lines of his body. Would Bill ever allow his heart to be fixed? Sorrow swirled inside her, but she forced herself to keep a cheerful tone for her father’s sake.
“Are you sure everything is all right there?” he asked. “You sound strange.”
“It’s fine, Dad. I can’t wait to see you soon.” How would things be when the three of them were together under one roof?
He promised he’d be home in another three weeks.
She said goodbye, wondering what news she’d have to give her father when he arrived.