I couldn’t say anything, just looked steadily into his eyes, trying to relay sorrow without speaking. Then I said, “You mean to tell me Ruth was ripped from Edgy’s arms and placed in the care of a man who didn’t want kids?”
Dean pressed his lips together as silence hung between us until he finally shoved his plate aside. “That’s enough grim tales. But I need you to understand Ruth puts a brave face over what’s inside. It’s hard for her to open up.”
Dean might be overprotective of his niece, but with that history, I could understand it. “You have my word. Neither Marley nor I will do anything to upset her. I feel she is already part of us like her mother was.”
Dean stood and put on his hat, “Okay. What’s first?”
“Detective Langnecker. You have to tell him what you saw.”
“Make the call.”
I retrieved the detective’s card and the cell from my bag. I tapped in the number. After the second ring, he answered, “Mrs. Cooper, what can I do for you?”
“I’m at Sykes with Dean Hyatt, and you need to hear what he just told me.”
“I’ll meet you at your home in fifteen minutes.”
“That won’t work. Edgy’s lost daughter is at my house, and she can’t hear this yet.”
“I’ll be waiting in my office.”
Detective Bruce Langnecker walked up the hallway to meet Dean Hyatt at the sign-in window of the Justice Center. He reached out to shake Dean’s hand. Their strong hands joined for the shake, and frank brown eyes met serious hazel in this meeting of the hunk rancher and the intimidating law enforcement officer.
I wanted to sit in on this interview, even though I wasn’t sure what more to tell the detective except that Edgy’s murder needed to be avenged by locking the killer away. We followed him into the small room.
Langnecker focused on me. “Tell me what this is about.”
“I’m not sure where to begin. The Blue Moon is where I first met Dean. He helped Edgy when she was hit by the pool ball. He also rescued us at the big church on the hill.”
Dean took over and told the detective about our visit in my rose garden where he had explained about his niece and the search for her birth mother. He ended by saying, “I went to Millie’s with the sole purpose of talking with Ruth’s mother. I didn’t want my niece mixed up with a drugged-out crazy woman. We knew from the court records she’d been in an institution for the mentally ill.”
Detective Langnecker peered over at me. “You helped set up this meeting without your friend’s knowledge?”
I squirmed under his look. “I did. Edgy never knew what happened to her baby, and it haunted her for years. I couldn’t let this chance slip away.” I had to answer. My vow had been broken again. My heart hurt.
“Mr. Hyatt, tell me exactly what you saw in the parking lot. No detail is too small.”
Dean sat quietly for a moment, settling in to tell a story, one that had a terrible ending, one that would haunt my dreams forever.
“It was around eight in the evening when I arrived at Millie’s. I wasn’t quite sure how to handle the meeting. Should I go inside or wait until they came out? Finally decided it didn’t matter if I made a stir, I needed to get it over with. Just as I was crossing the parking lot to go inside, Edgy shoved out the door and started pacing around, looking here and there like she was searching for someone. I was about to get her attention when she hurried around the corner of the building. Keeping out of sight, I followed her. She crossed the back-parking lot to a red Corvette sitting along the fence by a gate.”
He hadn’t told me that.
Dean continued, “The window rolled down and a guy handed her what appeared to be a small plastic baggy. She clutched it tight and stepped away from the car, shaking her head. The guy got out, and they argued. She ran from him and disappeared around the corner of the building. At that point, I decided I didn’t want my niece mixed up with what appeared to be a woman buying drugs and apparently not paying.”
I broke in, “Edgy would pay any debt she owed.”
Dean groaned, and the detective silenced me with a shake of his head.
“What else did you see?” he asked Dean.
“The guy from the Corvette walked over to a dust-covered brown Dodge truck. He had what appeared to be heated words with a guy inside. I’m pretty sure the guy yelled something like ‘you’ll get yours when I get mine.’ I saw the barrel of a rifle and heard more arguing but couldn’t make out the words. The truck peeled out of the parking lot, almost knocking the guy over. He leaned against his Corvette, just kind of slumped.”
“Anything more you can tell me about the truck?”
“Yeah, a front fender had been replaced with a lighter brown one and hadn’t been painted to match.”
“Anything else?”
“I had seen enough to know I didn’t want Ruth mixed up with a mother on drugs, so I left. That’s all I can tell you.”
“Mrs. Cooper, Mr. Hyatt needs to look at some photos to see if we can get an ID on the two men. It’ll take some time.”
I was being dismissed.
Dean nodded at me. “Tell Ruth I’ll be over soon as I can.”
Detective Langnecker stood and held the door open. I dragged my feet, unsure whether I should leave without Dean. The door closed as soon as I was out of the way. I halted dead in my tracks. Down the hallway came Theo Wood.
“Good morning, Mrs. Cooper. Langnecker had you in for more questioning?”
I could’ve hit him. “Just brought him a plate of cookies.” I grinned sweetly.
He blocked my way and said, low and menacingly, “You will answer for Mrs. Brewster’s death sooner or later.”
I jutted a shoulder and brushed by him like I hadn’t heard a word. He stepped aside and let me pass. I wanted to run but walked with grace out of the Justice Center and retreated to the quiet of my car. I was glad Dean had insisted on following me in his pickup when we left Sykes. If I would have had to wait here for him, I’d have gone nuts.
I pushed the lock button and stared at the steering wheel, trying to make sense of what Dean had seen. The man in the parking lot could not have been Randal. He couldn’t be a drug dealer. And he would never have let a drug dealer drive me home after the accident with the moose. Of course, I was jumping to conclusions that the guy in the pickup was the same one Dean saw in the parking lot. But how many brown pickups have one fender that’s a different brown than the other?
And a feeling prickled. Detective Langnecker had wanted to talk with Dean alone. Photos were his excuse. Why not just say so? An alarm struck my very core. He was probably picking Dean’s brain about me. The detective really did think I had shoved Edgy down the hill. Maybe he even thought Dean had concocted a story to cover for me. I sat in a vacuum of denial. How could he believe that?
Oh Edgy, Edgy. What on earth had you been up to?
I fired up the engine.
Randal, what have you done?
I drove away from the justice building.
And what did you get me into?
As I pulled out into traffic, I barely avoided running into the side of a passing car.
Chapter 15
W hen I arrived home from talking with Detective Langnecker, Patrick’s car blocked the entrance to the garage. I parked behind him, effectively pinning his car in place. I wasn’t in the mood for pranks but did it anyway. Force of habit. I loved making the kids suffer a wee bit. Even when worried to the core, I’d show them I could still tease.
Children and their parents need to play no matter how old they are. I still believed the rebellious, hate-filled teenagers I took care of at a juvie detention center had never known the joy of board games, ghost stories, or fishing as a family. How could that be possible? I knew this because no matter the teasing I used to give them, they couldn’t respond except with blank stares or ones that told me I was an idiot. Had no one listened to those kids?
However, I was a little closer to understanding the residue left
inside a person when the police considered them guilty. Theo Wood’s harassment in the hallway outside the interrogation room still had me cursing inwardly.
A motion caught my peripheral vision when I hurried up the front porch steps. Lester skulked from the shade of the blue spruce in the corner of the yard and hurried away down the sidewalk. The nosy bugger. This was the third time I’d caught him spying since I’d run into him and his wife in the park. I waited before going inside to make sure he hadn’t circled back.
I fumbled with the key ring and barely caught it before the keys clanged onto the porch floor. My alarm over Lester’s snooping had taken a toll—as revealed by my trembling fingers and my looking over my shoulder. This was ridiculous. I had to figure out a way to put a stop to his snooping because I sure wasn’t going to live in fear. Silently cursing Lester, I crossed the living room in search of the kids.
Their voices carried from the kitchen. Patrick was telling Ruth what Edgy had given them one Christmas when they were little kids who wanted Band-Aids on every bump, bruise or scratch, blood or not. She’d bought them the biggest boxes she could find.
Marley laughed. “Poor Mom picked up a zillion wrappers and paper tags.”
My heart ached for Edgy. She had bandaged my children’s hurts but never could cover her own. I stepped into sight, sorry to interrupt their reminiscing.
Patrick spied me first. He rose quickly, crossed the room, and gathered me in a comforting hug. His tenderness spoke of his sorrow over Edgy. A year ago, last Memorial Day, he had come home to decorate Mel’s grave. Once again, a cloud hung over his return. Where had our fun fishing trips and joyous mountain climbs gone? And where was his wife? I figured she hadn’t arrived with him, again. The one suitcase waiting to be carried upstairs told me so.
Patrick had lost a little more hair, but that allowed more of his honest face to show. Pride rested within me. I counted myself lucky to have a quiet, sincere son. He favored my side of the family, whereas Marley had inherited the strong manner of the Cooper relatives.
I hugged him extra tight, needing reassurance after Theo Wood’s questions and seeing Lester behind the blue spruce again. Both encounters had left me with self-inflicted guilt. A sense of responsibility was eating at me, and I didn’t know why.
“Mom,” Patrick said in the mellow tone I was used to. “You’re shaking.”
“I know.” My short admission let him know we’d talk later.
He took my hand. “Come share stories with us, but first, did you pin my car in?”
“Of course.”
“Good, mine is out of gas, so we’ll just use yours.” The brat smirked.
“In a minute.” I went upstairs to gather my wits and freshen up. I also needed to adjust to my surprise over the absence of Patrick’s wife. She no longer had the excuse of staying home with the boys. Their sons were grown and off to the volatile Middle East, Tom as a Marine in Afghanistan and Ted aboard a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Arabian Sea. I worried over the grandsons but not over Patrick and his wife. They would do what they would do.
I had no sooner descended the stairs when Marley said, “Mom, I caught Lester pacing in the alley next to your rose garden. I thought for a moment he was going to open the gate and come into the yard.”
I sighed. “He was behind the blue spruce when I got home. He’s becoming a real pest.”
Patrick frowned. “When did this start?”
“He used to spy on Edgy and now he’s doing it to me.” I really didn’t want to say anything in front of Ruth. I’d tell Patrick later about the scene in the church and at the park.
Ruth tilted her head, trying to understand. “May I ask, why would he spy on Edgy?”
I caved. Oh hell, just tell her. I sat down in a chair so we’d be at eye level. “Because Edgy confronted Lester about cheating on his wife. He even took his lover to church. Your mother believed in faithfulness. She’d been damaged by your natural father when he left her pregnant and alone.”
I didn’t say I thought Lester might have pushed Edgy down the hill. I needed actual proof of who and why before I’d accuse anyone.
Ruth pondered a moment before asking, “Is that why they took me from her?”
“No, it’s far more complicated. Fred will tell you her history. I’ll go see if he feels up to meeting you.”
“And while you’re gone, I’ll have a visit with Lester,” Patrick said.
Things were going too fast. “I should go with you. Wait until I get back from Fred’s.”
“I will talk with Lester alone.” Patrick’s tone left no room for argument. He unconsciously reached for his shirt pocket. He wanted a cigarette even after a year without any. I hoped he hadn’t started again and that his automatic gesture had been a reaction to dreading a confrontation. Marley would scare Lester more. I cleared the thought away, knowing Patrick was strong in his own way. He was the rock who would get me through Edgy’s service tomorrow.
I smiled at Ruth. “Dean will be here shortly. We went to see the detective who is investigating your mother’s death.”
“And?”
“They asked him to look at some mug shots.”
“I bet he was unhappy about that. We live pretty quiet on the ranch.” Her eyes told me she appreciated the humor of her staunch uncle looking at pictures of possible criminals.
“We usually live on the quiet side, too. But before we tell you about the crazy things that have happened, I would like you to talk with Fred. He loved your mother completely and knew her best and worst.”
“I’d like to see my mother’s house.”
“Let’s let Fred decide when rather than just drop in on him. I’ll go ask him to come meet you. I don’t want to put him on the spot. I need to look in his eyes to see if he can handle it yet.” I left Ruth and Marley sitting on the window seat looking at pictures of Edgy and my kids when they were little.
Edgy and Fred’s home appeared lifeless as I walked up their sidewalk. The drapes were drawn, newspapers on the porch, and roses drooping from a lack of water. I pushed the doorbell, then peered in the window. Then I knocked.
The door cracked open, letting out stale air. Fred glowered at me. He needed a shower and shave plus some fresh clothes, and the door needed to be left open to air the place out. He grabbed me by the forearm and pulled me into his house. Scared me half to death.
“Corinne, you just have to give me space. Don’t be coming over here. I’m not in any shape to see anyone or have them see me.”
“Just a minute, Fred. Edgy’s daughter is at my house.”
“What?” Fred shook his head sharply.
“Ruth Hyatt is here and is planning to attend her mother’s funeral tomorrow. You need to talk with her first. The poor girl has to know more than what I can tell her. Edgy would want you to comfort her child.”
Fred flushed crimson. “I have nothing to say, and you had no right chasing down that girl.”
His words shocked me. How could he turn his back on the one person Edgy had hungered for her whole adult life? She had driven herself crazy over it. I couldn’t yell at him because my voice would be choked by the tears now running down my face.
He sighed, drawing in calming breaths. He took my arm and guided me out the door. He secured his hand over mine, and we headed up the street. He was one upset man who was trying to calm down with each step he took. I kept my mouth shut.
We jumped at the sound of a police car screaming onto our block. Another one with flashing overheads was hot on its tail. They shrieked around the corner, and it sounded like they had entered the alley.
Marley and Ruth ran out of the house. They waved and hurried across the street to us.
“It looks like trouble behind Lester’s,” Marley said. “Come on. Patrick’s still over there.”
Fred stiffened, staring at Ruth. “Are you claiming to be Edgy’s daughter?”
Ruth gasped, drew back a step, stopped herself, and stepped right up to him. “I am,” she said as if she dared
him to doubt it.
Fred held his ground for another moment, then said, “You just might be. You have her spitfire orneriness.”
A third squad car sped up the alley from the other end, lights flashing between the houses.
We cut through a neighbor’s unfenced yard to the alley and hurried toward Lester’s house, stopping when an officer held up his hand ordering us to come no closer.
Nose bleeding and chin scraped, Patrick sat on the gravel by the chain-link fence. An officer stood over him.
Lester stood, hands on his hips just inside the gate of his backyard. His left eyebrow dripped blood, shirt torn and dirty. Two police officers were beside him. One said, “Sit down, Mr. Fitch.”
He shook his stubborn head. “The idiot came over here and picked a fight, and I finished it. Damned guy accused me of spying on his mother. Who in the hell would I want to do that?”
Angry words surged, but before I could spit them out and rat on Lester’s sneaking around, Fred stopped me with a shake of his head. “Let the cops figure it out.”
A city policeman who was talking with Patrick looked our way. I recognized Officer Sutton, who taught Sunday school at the church I attended. He nodded to me with a puzzled look before turning back to Patrick.
I had never in my life been where police were investigating a crime scene, and now this was my third one in a short period of time. First Edgy was hit with a pool ball, then she died, and now my son was in a fistfight. I huddled near Marley and Fred, Ruth hunching behind us like we were protecting her while we waited for the police to finish.
First, Patrick signed a complaint against Lester, and then Lester blustered with an exaggerated shake of the pen and signed one against him. Both were photographed at angles showing the bloody noses, and bruised faces. An officer handed each a citation for misdemeanor assault and told them to appear in City Court within ten days.
Blame the Car Ride Page 13