Todd slid into the driver's seat. The air conditioning and the radio both blasted me the minute he turned on the ignition. "Sorry about that." He reached over to turn down the radio. "It was a good song."
I accepted the piece of gum he offered me. It had been ages since I'd had a piece of cinnamon gum.
He popped a piece into his own mouth, and turned left to head out of town, rather than right to drive past the volunteer fire department and city offices as I had expected.
"Where are we headed?" I asked casually.
He shrugged. "Just a drive. I need to talk to you about some things, and it feels more private here in the truck."
I tried to calm the butterflies in my stomach. "Worried the pugs will overhear you?" I teased.
He flashed me an amused look, and seemed to relax a little bit. "They're funny little dogs.”
I agreed. "Do you have any pets?" I asked. Generally, I wasn't good at small talk, but I assumed pets were a safe topic.
"I have a dog. A German shepherd.” He gave me a grin. "Her name is Annie."
I noticed he had said "I" and not “we.”
"Would you like to see the ranch?" he said suddenly. "It's a little bit of a drive. Way out near Cameron."
"Sure. It was a pretty slow day so far at the shop anyway." I glanced at my watch. "I’ll need to be back by 4:00 or so. My friends are taking me out to dinner for my birthday."
"Is it today?" I could feel him studying me.
I nodded. "My second birthday in Texas already. I arrived here at the beginning of July last year."
"Three years for me. I mean, that's when I came back here to live again."
"Where were you before that?"
He grimaced. "I was in the military. But I grew up here."
Was that a good thing or a bad thing?
He kept his eyes focused on the road for a long moment. I let the silence stretch, enjoying the view as we rolled past miles of cotton fields and cow pastures. “It sure is pretty out here,” I said finally.
He glanced at me. "What was your impression that first morning when you saw the victim?"
"It was so overwhelming." I closed my eyes briefly, then drew in a deep sigh. I needed to get this over with. "When I first saw him, I was hoping he was still alive. But then I turned to look at him again, and he looked so bad."
His hands tightened on the steering wheel.
"I didn't think it possible that he could be alive." I pictured again the man's face…the ants… I turned to stare at Todd. "Was he? Was he still alive when you got there?"
Todd didn't answer, but slowed down to turn into a gravel driveway. TNT Ranch was lettered in black iron on a tall arch, welcoming us onto the property.
This was Todd’s ranch? I gazed at the wooded area on my right, then the cattle grazing on the gently rolling land that spread out to my left. How many acres did he own? He pulled up in front of the house, and a beautiful German shepherd, that I assumed was Annie, came bounding up to my side door.
Kevin and I had often dreamed about getting a German shepherd puppy, but we had never ended up living in a place that was conducive to owning a large dog, so we settled on pugs. Kevin loved those little dogs. In fact, sometimes I had wondered if he loved them more than he loved me.
I sat in the truck cab, my hand on the door latch.
"Are you afraid of large dogs?" Todd asked.
I shook my head. "I love shepherds.”
His keen eyes assessed me again. What was he thinking?
"She'll want you to play ball with her," he finally said.
"It's been a long time since I've thrown a ball for a dog, but I'll give it my best shot."
I opened the door and slithered down from the tall truck, much to Annie's delight. She didn’t jump on me, but nudged my hand before giving my legs and shoes a very thorough sniffing. She had a fine bone structure; more delicate than shepherds who were bred for working. Her large ears were upright and alert, and her classic tan and black coloring was beautiful. "She's absolutely gorgeous."
He ruffled her ears. "I probably could have shown her, but I only wanted a companion dog."
She loped away from my side, then reappeared with a half-flat basketball in her mouth. She gazed at me and whined. I complied and took the ball from her. I tossed it a few feet out onto the expansive front yard, and the dog grabbed it up and brought it back to me in under ten seconds.
Todd laughed. "It's hard to throw that thing very far, but it’s her favorite for some reason."
He seemed more relaxed than he had been at the shop. This wide-open space seemed to fit him well. "Do you live here alone?" I asked.
"Most of the time.” He kicked Annie’s ball far out over the yard. "Of course, Luke stays here whenever he's not at his mom's. Do you know my son?"
I shook my head. I had seen the boy with him at church a couple of times and noticed how much the two of them looked alike. Same wavy dark hair. Same thick black eyelashes framing startlingly blue eyes.
"He's eleven," Todd said. "I'll introduce you the next time he's with me at church. I wish I could bring him all the time, but his mother—" he stopped, then looked at me. "I'm sorry. I won’t bore you with all that. Let's get in out of the heat."
Todd settled me at his kitchen table with a glass of iced tea. "No hot tea at my house today." He grinned at me. "If I'd known you were coming—"
"Iced is fine," I said, taking in the rustic cabinets and granite countertops. “This is a beautiful kitchen."
He glanced around the room, as if trying to see it through my eyes. "I grew up in this house. It's sometimes strange to be living here all by myself now, you know?"
Not really, but I nodded.
He gave me a sad smile, then turned serious. "I know you're new to Short Creek, Callie.”
Here it comes. I nodded again.
“This little town is no different than any little town. There's a lot of good folks here."
Yes, that was true. I thought of my new friends and my little church family. Short Creek had been pretty friendly to me so far. What was he getting at?
“I don't think what happened to you was an accident.”
“What do you mean?”
“It might have been an accident that the victim ended up on your doorstep instead of someone else's, but it wasn't an accident that that man was killed. And it isn't an accident that Earl is trying to cover it up.”
I tried to take in what he was telling me. “The sheriff is trying to cover up the man's death?”
He stood abruptly to pace around the kitchen. “That's all I can figure. When the other guys and I arrived at your shop that morning, the guy was alive. Barely alive. There is no way he could have made it.”
“But then—” I felt like a five-year-old trying to understand an algebra problem.
“We did what we could for him at the scene. We loaded him into the ambulance, and Jake and Vic supposedly drove him to the hospital.”
“You didn't go with them?” I thought back to that crazy day. Was it only last week? I remembered seeing the ambulance and at least a couple of fire trucks, not to mention Earl’s patrol car.
He shook his head. “We had gotten another call, and besides, it doesn't take three of us to drive a guy to the hospital.”
“Then what?”
“I don't know.” He leaned against the countertop, his arms crossed. “The next thing I heard, the news reports all said he had survived and was recovering in the hospital. I can't believe that.”
“I know. Even Houston said he saw the guy in the hospital the next day.” I frowned. None of this made sense. “Soooo—?”
“So, I tried to see him at the hospital the day you ended up there with a lump on your head. Supposedly, he had already been released.” He pulled his hand through his hair. “I’m thinking they paid someone to pose as the victim.”
Unbelievable. “What about the other EMS guys? The ones who drove him to the hospital?” I asked.
He toyed with Annie
’s collar. “They’re sticking to the story that he somehow revived on the way to the hospital. The same bunk that Earl is spreading around. They even wrote it in their reports.”
Then what...? I realized I hadn't even asked the obvious question.
“What happened to him? I mean, you said someone killed him. How did he die? I didn't see any blood.” I shuddered.
“We saw evidence that he was tased.”
“But that doesn't usually kill someone, does it?”
“It can trigger a massive heart attack. Especially if the person already has a weak heart. Or if the perpetrator overdoes it with the Taser. But I don’t think it was just that.”
My head was starting to throb. "So...he ended up dying after being tased. That doesn't mean that someone purposely tried to kill him."
"True.” He flexed his jaw. “But he presented symptoms that would be consistent with a drug overdose, too.”
What?
“You mean he was high and someone shot him with a Taser?”
He shook his head. “Other way around. I think someone shot him with a Taser, then pumped him full of heroin while he was down.”
Shock spread through my body. What kind of evil, deranged human being—Annie laid her chin on my lap, and I stroked her soft head.
“She wants to comfort you.” Todd plunked down in the seat across from me. “She can tell you’re upset.”
It was more than upset. I drew a deep breath. Could I trust Todd with my own suspicions about Earl? He knew the man better than I did. But if I told him about the way Earl had been taunting me, I’d have to tell him the whole story. About Marleigh. About the court case. About my own failures.
I couldn’t do it.
Mona picked me up from home for my birthday dinner. She reached over to give me a hug, her plethora of silver bracelets jangling. I breathed through my mouth so I didn't start to sneeze immediately from the perfume. She must have sprayed it on before she came.
“Houston’s going to meet us there. Had a late meeting or something,” she said.
“Sounds good.” I had barely had time to run home, change my clothes and brush my hair after Todd had dropped me off at C. Willikers.
"Where were you all afternoon?" she asked, deftly backing out of my narrow driveway. "I came by to eat lunch with you and you were gone."
I made sure my seat belt was buckled. One could never be too cautious when riding with Mona. "I had to talk to Todd Whitney about everything."
I knew that wouldn’t satisfy her, but I didn't feel like explaining. My relationship with Todd, if there even was such a thing, was still in the infancy stage, and I didn't care to discuss it yet.
"You spent all afternoon at the city office? Man, Callie! If I had to spend that much time in that close of proximation to the sheriff, I wouldn't have any hair left!"
Proximation? I laughed out loud, but didn’t correct her assumption that I’d met with Todd at the office. "And to think you're related to our venerable sheriff."
She groaned. "Don't remind me. At least it's only through marriage."
"Where are we going for dinner?" Maybe if I changed the topic quickly enough, she wouldn't notice that I hadn't exactly answered her question.
"T.J.'s in Temple.” She quirked her eyebrows at me. "We'll talk about Todd later."
"I'll have the Mediterranean wraps and the tomato bisque soup, please." I handed my menu to the waiter.
"No wonder you're so thin," Mona muttered, peering at the menu through her reading glasses. "It's her birthday, and she orders healthy stuff."
She turned to Houston. "Are you getting healthy stuff, too?”
"No, ma'am," he said solemnly. "And it's not even my birthday." He turned to the waiter and ordered a chocolate shake, an extremely large steak, and home-style fries.
Mona must have felt better after hearing Houston's order. She whipped her readers off, slapped the menu down, and ordered a double-bacon cheeseburger and a “real” Dr. Pepper—with a salad on the side. "It's not my birthday either," she said, "but I've lost twelve-and-a-half pounds. That calls for a celebration."
"Congratulations!" I said, and I meant it. I have always been thin, through no real effort of my own, I might add. Came with my genes, I guess. But I had witnessed my mother's constant struggle with her weight, and I knew it was a very real and unending battle. "Rob will hardly recognize you," I teased my friend gently.
"That man knows what's what." She pulled her fingers through her spiky hair. "I married one very smart dude."
Houston cleared his throat. "I believe the rest of our party is here.”
What?
I glanced up to see Lonnie, Rick and Jenna, Celia, and Karen and her husband. The twins-times-two were nowhere in sight, thankfully. Next came Harry, pushing a beaming Aunt Dot in her wheelchair.
"You guys! I can't believe you invited everyone!" No one had ever given me a surprise party before.
Mona's earrings danced. "Are you surprised?"
I was. And touched. I don't cry very easily, so the lump rising in my throat caught me off guard. I rose to give out hugs, then settled back into my seat next to Houston. "Thank you all so much," I said. "And since I'm the birthday girl, I have something to say." I looked around at the faces of those who I had come to love in these last few months. "I want y'all to know that God is using each one of you to help heal my heart. Thank you for being there for me."
Amid the choruses of ah’s, Aunt Dot caught my eye. Her love for me at that moment felt almost tangible, and I knew her innumerable prayers for me over the years were being answered, one by one.
"And she said ‘y'all,’” Mona said delightedly. "You're turning into a true Texan, Callie."
"I wouldn't go quite that far. My Buckeye roots run pretty deep." But I had to admit, it had been a long time since I had felt like I belonged.
We sat around the table for an hour after we finished eating. It felt slightly awkward that Houston had draped his arm across the back of my chair at some point during the conversation.
I leaned forward to see my prayer-group friend Karen down the long table. "I didn't know you were back from your mission trip, Karen.” She was the one with two sets of twins—all boys—under the age of six. If I were her, I think a mission trip to build an orphanage in the jungle would feel like a vacation. "How was it?"
"It was amazing." She sighed.
Her young husband nodded in agreement. "We want to go back."
I could imagine.
"But not for a while," her husband put in, glancing at her. "Our parents need at least a year to recover from the twins before they'll let us go again."
We all laughed, and Karen made a face. Then she turned to me. "Callie, I keep forgetting to ask you if you got that bag of stuff I put on your back porch?"
I furrowed my brow. "Bag of stuff?"
"Yeah, I found a box of stuff out by the dumpster at Willowbough one day after work and—" She stopped. "What's wrong?"
Mona and Houston were staring at me.
"Was it some old books and like odds and ends?" I asked.
She nodded. "I know most of it was probably junk, but the books seemed kind of nice. I thought—"
I pulled in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Karen had given me The Gift?
The table had gone silent.
Karen grimaced. "Am I in trouble?"
My mind was whirling. I was relieved to know where the bag had come from finally, but in a way, things were suddenly even more complicated than they were before.
"I guess no one's filled you in on my excitement since you've been gone."
She looked at me blankly.
"Tell the whole story from the beginning, Callie," Rick asked. "Lonnie has kept me filled in, of course, but I'd like to hear you tell it. I'm still puzzled over parts of it."
I liked Lonnie's husband, who was also the mayor of Short Creek. Rick Holloway was a thick, heavy-set man, whose keen black eyes and trained-as-a-lawyer mind didn't miss anything that we
nt on in this town. If Rick was still puzzled, then everyone else was, too. I started at the beginning, leaving nothing out. I even told about someone being in my attic on the night of the Fourth of July.
Aunt Dot gasped. "You didn't tell me that part, darlin’.”
"I didn't want to worry you."
She gave me her stern look. "I don't worry, I pray. There's a difference."
"I know, Auntie. But still—" I turned to Karen. "But if you found the box by the dumpster, why was it in a birthday bag?" The whole birthday angle had stumped me since the beginning.
Karen looked shaken. "I can't believe I was involved in a murder!"
"Well, you weren't. Only your bag of stuff," Mona said crisply. "And if that yahoo of a sheriff tries to—"
"Like I said from the beginning. Garage sale leftovers, no doubt," Houston crowed. "I was right!"
"Y'all are going to laugh. I didn't even know it was your birthday.” Karen shook her head. “And even if I had, I would have given you a real gift. Not a bunch of junk in a bag that was left over from the twins’ birthday party." She laughed. “I had to practically go past your shop on my way home, so I dug around in my car to see if I had anything to put the box in because it was kind of flimsy."
I slumped back into my chair and groaned. “I can’t believe this.” Days of puzzling over this situation, and I could have just asked Karen—except that she had been in darkest Africa for the whole time, blithely building orphanages.
We all stared at each other, then Lonnie started to giggle. Harry joined in with his booming laugh. Soon, we were all wiping tears away.
The waitress refilled tea glasses and cleared away the rest of the dinner plates.
"At least that part of the mystery is solved," I said. "Thank you for the books, Karen. I will appreciate them more, now that I know that no one died to give them to me. But I still don’t understand the ‘Give it back’ incident. Give what to whom?”
"Maybe the ding-dong who left the box by the dumpster decided he wanted it back." Mona shook her head. "But you'd think he'd just ask you for it. Not smash you in the head with a rock."
"That would have been much less painful.” I rubbed the still-tender spot on my head.
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