Good Enough: A Shay James Mystery

by Brenda McCreight

“We have to get to your house, there isn’t any other choice,” Shay answered. “We aren’t safe here. Tom Jacobs will show up here for sure and we’ll have no way to get away from him.”

  “Why do you think he hasn’t shown up yet? What could he be doing that’s more important to him than finding you?” Larissa asked as she walked back into the kitchen with her arms full of clothes and towels. She handed dry jeans, warm tights, woollen socks and soft towels to Shay and Grace. The girls grabbed the towels and Shay rubbed hers hard on her legs, as if the motion alone could force the cold out of them.

  “Who knows what that guy thinks is important,” Shay answered as she reached for a woollen sock. “Maybe his car wouldn’t start. Or, if we’re lucky, he might have driven off the road and be stuck somewhere. Or, maybe he took some time to do something bad to Ginger and then he’ll come after us. More than likely, he stopped to smoke a joint or two to steady his nerves,” Shay said, recalling her parents’ behaviour whenever they were stressed or afraid. “But he’ll be here sooner or later, you can bet on that. We have to get to Grace’s house as fast as we can.” Shay stopped rubbing her legs and started to vigorously rub the towel in her snow wet hair. She was afraid that if she went out again with wet hair, it would freeze.

  “Won’t he see us on the road?” Larissa asked. “That would make it even easier for him because he could just run us over and say it was an accident because of the ice on the road.”

  “There has to be some way out of this,” Grace said. “We can’t just give up and wait to get killed.”

  Suddenly Shay stopped rubbing her head and looked at the other girls. “I know what we can do. We can use Dave’s snow plough!” she said excitedly. “It can only hold one person, but if one of use could figure out how to drive it, then two of us could hide somewhere on the property while the other went for help. We could probably stay hidden long enough for your dad to get here,” Shay said to Grace.

  “The snow plough!” Larissa echoed. “But that thing is slow, and none of us knows how to drive.”

  “I can drive a plough,” Grace said. “I do it all the time at home. I can drive ploughs, tractors--anything. I live on a farm, remember.”

  “Okay, that’s what we’re doing,” Shay said, relieved that they finally had a way to safety. “You take the plough and get to your parents house. Larissa and I will hide someplace here till your parents show up. ”

  “What if that Jacobs guy sees her on the road?” Larissa asked. “She can’t drive faster than a car.”

  “He’ll be coming from the opposite direction so he won’t see me. If he doesn’t find you here, he’s not going to keep driving to my place. Anyway, a plough can go a lot faster than a car in the snow and even if he did see the plough, he wouldn’t know it was me because he won’t be able to see inside,” Grace answered. “And I’ll have better traction on the road than that wreck he drives. Really, it’s our only hope, I have to try.”

  “Where are the keys?” Grace asked as she put on her coat. “What if Dave has them with him?”

  “He doesn’t keep the keys on him. They’ll be hanging on a nail inside the shed door,” Shay answered. She silently thanked God that the Halliwell’s never worried about thieves or foster children taking their farm equipment. The keys to all of the equipment and the truck were always in plain sight. “While you’re gone, we’ll find someplace to hide on the property. I don’t think we can stay in the house, that’s the first place they’ll look. I’ve just got to warm up a bit more so I can walk and then we’ll go out into the outbuildings. When you get back with your parents, just keep calling or honking the horn till we come out.”

  “How will we know it isn’t Tom Jacobs calling or honking?” Larissa asked.

  “Don’t worry,” Grace said, “Jacobs and Barbara Gillies aren’t going to just honk and expect you to come running out from your hiding place. If there’s honking and yelling, it’ll be my dad.”

  Grace smiled at both of the girls and then reached her arms out toward Shay and Larissa. This time Shay didn’t hesitate to join the hug. Just an hour ago, in fact for most of her life, she had felt alone and afraid, but because of these two friends Shay knew she was no longer in the world by herself. Now she was afraid for her friends as well, and she quickly ended the hug and almost pushed Grace out of the door toward the shed. She wanted her safely away before it was too late.

  “I’ll be back soon,” Grace waved as she disappeared down the driveway and into the blowing snow.

  Shay knew they didn’t have any time to waste, but her chilled body was almost at the point of hypothermia and her muscles and nerves were refusing to cooperate. She had to move slowly just to move at all. Some of her toes were still numb from the long, cold walk through the snow, and some were starting to hurt badly. It would be hard for her to walk any distance and she might have trouble getting her boots back on her swollen feet. Still, they would have to do get out of the house soon…

  Shay focused on getting enough feeling back in her feet that she could brave the snow again. Finally after a few minutes of warming her legs and feet, Shay knew they couldn’t wait any longer.

  “Get your snow gear on again,” Shay said to Larissa.

  “What about your feet!” Larissa asked. “Can you walk?”

  “I’m okay,” Shay managed to stand up despite the pain. Her balance was off, but she wobbled her way to the mudroom where she quickly looked through Jolene’s dry jackets for one that she could wear. She knew that with all the trouble they were in, Jolene wouldn’t mind if Shay took one of her warm jackets without asking. “Have you got any ideas about where we can hide,” Shay asked Larissa as she rifled through the jackets, finally choosing one that was long and heavy and looked like it would keep the wet of the snow off her body.

  The Halliwell’s had a number of outbuildings, but since they didn’t keep animals on the place most of the sheds and small structures were used for equipment and none were heated.

  “I don’t know where we should go,” Larissa said. “Should I put on my own clothes again? They’re a little wet but they’re not too bad.”

  “Put on whatever dry snow gear you can find quickly and we’ll go out into the back field and hide in the old equipment shed. It isn’t insulated but it’s a good distance from the house. Jacobs and that woman won’t go wondering around the fields in this weather, I’m sure they’ll get tired of looking for us before we freeze,” Shay hoped that she sounded more confident than she felt. She was responsible for putting Larissa in danger, and she knew she had to take care of her now. Still, Shay had some comfort knowing that Grace was far enough away by now that Jacobs wouldn’t be able to catch up with her and it wouldn’t take more than another ten or fifteen minutes before the Norton’s arrived at the Halliwell’s.

  “How about hiding in the old chicken coop?” Larissa said, tugging on her thick snow pants. “It hasn’t had chickens in it while we’ve lived here, but it was built to keep them warm so the sides of the building might have insulation. We might be okay in there.”

  Shay shook her head as she zipped up the coat. “Larissa, you amaze me. When did you grow this mighty brain?”

  Larissa beamed at Shay. “You see, I’m worth having around, aren’t I!” she exclaimed.

  “You bet you are,” Shay smiled back. “I just have to get some boots on here and I’m ready.”

  Shay turned toward the mud room door just as it opened. Her heart skipped a beat in shock as she made out the dark form of Tom Jacobs slowly stepping into the room.

  “Well, well, well. You had to go and add another one for me to get rid of,” he said, pointing his flashlight at Larissa. “You are no end of trouble, kid, you know that?” He was panting heavily and his voice was strained.

  Despite his anger, Jacob’s face was slack and his eyes were glazed, so Shay knew she’d been right, he’d stopped his search for her long enough to smoke some dope. Shay’s jaw quivered and her knees almost buckled. “Run Larissa,” Shay hissed,
but the younger girl stood as if rooted in place from fear. Shay reached out to take Larissa’s hand. She realized that even if she could move fast enough, it was too late to hide now.

  “I should just shoot you both here and get it over with, but that’s too messy. We can get you both in Barb’s boat and the lake will do the trick,” Jacob’s said. “No mess and nothing to trace back to me this time.”

  Jacobs pointed his gun at Shay. “You’ve got two seconds to start walking out the door.”

  “Just leave us Mr. Jacobs, please,” Shay pleaded. “You won’t get away with all of this now, it’s too late.”

  “Quit stalling,” the man shouted. He seemed unsteady on his feet, but the gun looked firm enough in his hand.

  “Grace Norton knows about you and she’s gone to get her parents. You can’t get away with this any longer. If we go missing, everyone will know that you did something to us.”

  Jacobs glared at Shay. “Don’t give me no bullshit girl, there’s no one coming to save you. Who cares about a couple of foster kids.”

  “Yes, there is too someone coming!” Larissa almost shouted. “Grace knows about everything and her parents know by now, too. You can’t get away with killing us--it’s too late.”

  “Well, that does change things a bit, doesn’t it,” Jacobs said slowly. “I guess instead of killing you, I’ll have to take you as hostages till I can get out of Proctor.”

  “How are you going to do that? And where would you go?” Shay asked. “The Norton’s will call the police and they’ll find you.”

  “Oh, no, they won’t find me,” Jacobs said. “I’ve been crawling all over these mountains since I was younger than you two. I know where every hunter’s cabin is on this side of the mountain. All I’ve got to do is get to a cabin before the police get here. With you two with me I can rest assured that I got something to trade if things go bad.”

  “Are you crazy?” Even as she said it, Shay knew that it was true. Tom Jacobs wasn’t sane. A lifetime of drinking and taking drugs had left him with few reasoning skills, and she knew he couldn’t think beyond the next few minutes.

  “What about Barbara and Ginger?” Shay asked, trying to stall the man. “Are you just going to leave them?”

  “I was going to drown Ginger with you anyway, and I don’t give a rat’s ass about Barb. She can take care of herself,” Jacobs replied as he shoved the gun muzzle closer to Shay’s face. “Get moving!”

  Shay looked at the boots and quickly grabbed a pair. As she put them on she realized they were Jolene’s steel toe work boots that the foster mother wore when she was working in the barn. They were heavy and would hurt, but Shay knew Jacob’s wasn’t going to give her time to find others. The sharp pains in her feet intensified from the pressure of the boots against her raw, thawing skin, but she stayed silent and only grimaced. She knew Jacobs wouldn’t hesitate to shoot her if she did anything he didn’t like. He was stupid, stoned and angry, and Shay knew that was a deadly combination.

  “Get ahead of me and walk down the road. My car’s at the bottom of the fence,” Jacobs said. “Don’t try anything because I don’t have a lot to lose.”