My Sister's Fear

by T. J. Jones

  "If it turns out he did something to Lainey, wouldn't it make it more likely that he could have killed Lilly? He confuses them so often, maybe he killed them both." I could hear the soft tapping of his hammer, and imagined the haunting eyes of the figurine in Tommy's office. "I don't really believe that old man is capable of murder, but we have to follow whatever leads we have. Sometimes you find what you were afraid you'd find, but sometimes the surprises are good ones."

  "Is that what happened with my Dad? You found what you were afraid you'd find? There sure as hell weren't any good surprises there."

  The pain was hiding behind the smile she kept painted on her face, showing occasionally in the moments when she let her guard down and I caught her staring off into the distance, imagining the worst. There wasn't anything she could have imagined that was worse than the truth, and I was sure I knew only a small percentage of the carnage her father and uncle had wrought in countless young girl's lives. It was almost unbelievable that Frank Jeffries had spawned three such wonderful children, fragile and broken as two of them had been. Maggie was the strongest of them, the least broken, and the one that had suffered the least at the hands of their father. I wasn't about to let him continue hurting her from the grave, and if that meant lying to her, that's what I would do.

  "Like I said Maggie, he got in over his head with some really bad people."

  She sighed and looked at me. "I know there's more to it Slater, you don't have to protect him, or me."

  "I'm not protecting him, but I'll always protect you whenever I can, that's what people do that love each other, right?"

  "Yeah, thanks Slater." She cocked her head. "That's what Wally is doing, just protecting Lilly because he loves her. I bet he knows where she is. Maybe how he loves her is a little mixed up with the way he loved Lainey, and maybe what he feels for her is a little inappropriate, but at least it really is love."

  Not like my father, the words unsaid. Some wounds take a long time to heal, and it occurred to me that maybe I was wrong, maybe Maggie was as broken as her sister and half-brother had been.

  Being a Neanderthal, it hurt me to realize that it wasn't something I could fix for her or protect her from, that it was beyond my abilities. I could do acrobatics with an airplane or stack up bullets in a bullseye from twenty-five yards, but those talents wouldn't help my partner with this. All I could do was be there and try to be supportive. Some things can't be fixed or undone, but broken hearts are like missing legs; the pain becomes bearable and you learn to live with it. I stood and reached down for Maggie's hand.

  "Come on, let's go watch him work for a while. Maybe we can talk him into having lunch with us."

  Chapter Seven

  It was well after noon before the thought of a piece of Maryetta's apple pie managed to pry Wally away from his work. He closed the garage door and we squeezed into my pickup and made the short trip to the Diner. Heads turned when we walked into the place and took a seat in the corner. A couple people gave Wallace a nod, but most of the patrons shook their heads at us and went back to their food. I could see tongues wagging and furtive glances in our direction as the locals tried to deduce what this new development meant.

  Maggie ignored them and helped Wally into the booth, then sat beside him. "The board said the special is roasted chicken, Wally, sounds good doesn't it? Lunch is on us today."

  "Not often I get out for lunch, and I never have company pretty as you, Miss Maggie. When Lilly worked here, she'd buy me pie sometimes."

  Bonnie scurried up with three cups, slopped some coffee in their general direction, then shared some more local charm. "Here's coffee, I'll try to get back in a minute and take your orders. Why in the fuck does everybody has to eat at the same God damn time?"

  "It is lunchtime, that's what people do." I made sure she was out of earshot before sharing that. "Was Lilly a good waitress, Wally?"

  "Lilly was good at everything, and she didn't cuss like Bonnie."

  "She's outspoken, that's for sure." Maggie looked over my shoulder and frowned. "Incoming."

  I shifted in my chair slightly and looked up at Levi Davis. He wasn't smiling.

  "Wallace, you feeling all right? Looks like you took a bad fall. Best to mind where your walking. I'd be sticking close to home if I was you."

  "I'm just going to have some chicken." Wally didn't meet his eyes, and he rolled his spoon nervously in his hand.

  Levi turned his attention to Maggie and me. "So Wally Weston, he's your sick friend? Pay to be careful around him, he's accident prone. Could be what he's got is catching. If I was you, I'd head on back to Jacksonville."

  "Darn Levi, does this mean you don't want me to be your pool partner after all?" Maggie taunted him. "Maybe best if you and I don't hang around together. We wouldn't want you catching something."

  "Yeah." He leaned forward and sneered at her. "Don't guess I'd want any of the bugs you might have."

  A Diner is a poor place for an altercation, but I stood up quickly and got in his face. I had six inches and at least forty pounds on him and he stepped back quickly. "You need to walk away right now Levi, while you still can. You talk to her like that again and I will beat your hillbilly ass until they have to carry you out of here." His brother Kyle, stuck with the check again, looked over from the cash register.

  Levi backed up a step or two and glanced in Kyle's direction. "Two of us."

  "Two of us." Maggie said quickly, sliding to the edge of the booth. "But I doubt he'd need my help."

  "This isn't over, I'll be seeing you around Slater." He backed away, then turned and hurried out of the restaurant with his brother at his heels.

  "He's not likely to forget that." Bonnie said glancing around the Diner as she walked over. "He won't take kindly to you running him off like that in front of people."

  I didn't like losing my temper, it never helped and made me feel stupid. But that wouldn't have stopped me from breaking something if he hadn't left. "Tough, he would have liked the alternative a whole lot less."

  She nodded up at me. "Yeah, no doubt you're right. But he'll make trouble for you if he can, that's all I'm saying." I sat down and Bonnie took our order and headed back to the kitchen.

  Maggie grinned at me. "Wow Slater, you actually defended my honor, that was kind of hot!" Wally was still fidgeting uncomfortably, and Maggie noticed. "Wally, was Levi one of the men that hurt you the other night?"

  "Don't know, it was dark." His hand was shaking noticeably. "Don't know why they care what became of Lilly. She's fine. When I came back from 'Nam, she was gone and married off, didn't want a man with a bum leg is all."

  "Lainey missed out, Wally. She should have waited for you." Probably the stress of the near altercation or maybe it was that he was getting tired, but he started rambling on and on about Lainey and Lilly. He confused the two girls, jumping from the past to the present, Lainey to Lilly, without distinguishing one from the other until it was clear to us that they were one and the same in his mind, just a young woman that he loved deeply.

  The thing that struck me was that there was no anger. He would talk about Lilly not wanting a man with one leg, and say that he just wanted her to be happy. The fact that I was fairly sure he was talking about Lainey, was confusing. When I reminded him that it was Lainey not Lilly who had married someone else, he just smiled and shrugged, said she needed to be happy. Didn't sound like a killer, or someone who would hold a grudge and go all the way to Charleston to even a score.

  I tried again, to either jar his memory or trick him into telling me what I wanted to know. "What did Lainey say when you went to see her, Wally?"

  He gave me an odd look. "Couldn't say anything, her being dead, Mr. Slater. Besides, I told you, I never been to Charleston."

  After lunch we took Wally home. He admitted to being tired and went in to nap while Maggie and I tried to come up with a plan.

  "We need to go to Charleston and talk to the cops there. I can't imagine Wally ever hurting anyone, but he's so confu
sed sometimes it worries me. We need to be sure he wasn't involved in whatever happened to Lainey. My PI license is worthless up there, but maybe we can get someone to talk to us."

  "Much as I hate to, I could call Richie and see if he can grease some wheels for us. He did call and offer his condolences when my Dad hung himself."

  "I know he's a lawyer in Charleston, but does he have some pull with the cops up there?"

  "He's the assistant DA, so I'm guessing he probably does."

  "Wow! No doubt that would open some doors. Maybe he could even look into it, save us a trip?"

  "He and I are on speaking terms Slater, but it doesn't mean we're buddies. He did cheat on me with his twenty-year old secretary and that didn't go over so well. I'll call him, but let's not push it."

  "I don't like the idea of leaving Wallace here alone. Maybe you should just go."

  "We're a team Slater. Hard to say what kind of trouble you'd get in around here without me. He's been fine so far, and it'll only take the day. Maybe we could leave your vehicle here. I don't think Levi wants to mess with you after the thing at Maryetta's."

  "You think there's a car rental in this little town?"

  "You make sure Tommy found somebody to check on Leo, and I'll call Jasmine. She's always begging to help with a case, she can bring us my car."

  Maggie stayed at Wally's house, afraid he might be confused if he woke up and we were gone. I drove out to the edge of town, to the Shell station. Jane, the cashier Bonnie had described was behind the counter with another employee, a man in his mid-sixties with a face that sagged on the right side and an eye that didn't work quite right. He limped up to the counter and I realized he must have had a stroke at some point. Bernie, his name tag said.

  "What can I do for ya?" He mumbled.

  "Actually, I was hoping to have a word with Jane if I can. Bonnie at the Diner said she might be able to help me with some information."

  "Bonnie? I didn't even know that old bitch knew my name." The chubby little blonde offered. "She used to run me out of the restaurant if I didn't order something. That was even before they bought the place. What's the deal?"

  "Alright if we step outside?"

  Her eyes narrowed. "You a cop? How do I know you aren't a pervert, wanting to kidnap me?"

  "Not a cop, a Private Investigator. If I wanted to kidnap you, I wouldn't stand in front of this camera in the middle of the day."

  "Yeah, I guess that's true. I'm due for a cigarette anyway. Okay if I step out Bernie?" He nodded and we walked outside. She lit up right away.

  "Those things are bad for you. I bet Bernie was a smoker."

  "Jesus mister, it's bad when total a stranger thinks he can complain about your smoking. Fish with your own bobber, asshole." Outspoken young lady, but I was used to that.

  "Sorry, but my Mom died young, the cigarettes are what killed her."

  She took a long drag, then flipped the cigarette out into the grass. "Alright, happy now? What's this about? You're screwing up my break and I still don't know why."

  "I understand you were a good friend of Lilly Franklin's."

  "Were? You know something I don't?" She looked scared for a moment, then covered her tracks. "Far as I know she ran off to find herself or some shit like that. What's your deal, and what business is it of yours what happened to Lilly?"

  "Wally Weston's family hired me to try to find her, to prove that he didn't kill her or abuse her like most of the town seems to think. I don't know if you heard, but he got beat up pretty badly, and the kids all yell at him when they walk by, call him pervert and worse."

  "Most of the town are idiots if they think that. Old Wally wouldn't hurt a fly, and he loved Lilly. She told me before she left that she was thinking about going. Nothing for sure, just that she'd like to get the hell out of here and away from her Daddy. She never said goodbye, but if something bad happened to her it would be more likely it was that old man of hers. He had big plans, and she screwed them up."

  "How's that?"

  "When she started going out with Leo Davis, right away Evert had them married off in his head because then he would have it made at work, being family and all. But Leo was a dick, slapped Lilly a couple times, told her what she could do and what she couldn't do, and he didn't want to let her go. It got really ugly there for a while, and Evert was on her to get back with him all the time, wouldn't even stick up for his own kid. Lilly kept saying one day she was going to just run off and not tell anyone where she'd gone, even Wally."

  "You think she might have told him, even though she didn't tell you?"

  "Clara maybe before me, but if she told anyone, it would have been Wally."

  "She left him a note, but it didn't say where she was going. The Sherriff has it, and he said as far as he's concerned it's a done deal, she probably just wanted out of this town."

  "That's what I thought all along. I'm hoping sooner or later she'll call."

  "Any chance she's up north with Leo?"

  "No damn way! She hates that prick."

  "If he didn't want to let her go, why did he take a job up in Williston?"

  "Good money maybe. But I heard him and his brother got in one hell of a fight and Lee took a real ass kicking. Guess he ran off to lick his wounds. Didn't want any more of that shit."

  "Really? Levi must be a lot tougher than he looks."

  "Wasn't Levi did it, it was Kyle. Levi talks a lot of bull, but he'd run like a little girl if Kyle was to come after him."

  "Huh, always the quiet ones, isn't it? But no idea where Lilly might have gone?"

  "Wish I knew, but if anybody does, it would be Wally."

  "He talks a lot about her, confuses her with his childhood sweetheart sometimes."

  "Don't know if it's that." The young woman laughed. "That old guy had it bad for Lilly. Not that he would have ever tried anything, but he had it bad. They never had sex or anything, but Lilly did shit she shouldn't have; danced with him and kissed him on the lips sometimes. I'm not too damn sure she didn't sleep overnight there, like in his bed." The look on my face spoke volumes, and she continued quickly. "It wasn't like they were screwing! She probably would have if he'd wanted it bad enough or was capable, she cared that much about him. But I know for a fact, she would have told me about that." Jane's eyes teared, and she choked up a little, like she was telling me about a sad movie and this was the part where somebody had just died. "She said she would just hold onto him sometimes and sing to him like his old fiancée had done fifty years ago, and he would fall asleep thinking that it was her. It was really sweet, that's all it was."

  Tears were streaming down her face, and Bernie stuck his head out of the door.

  "Everything okay out here Jane?"

  She laughed. "I'm fine Bernie, I'm just worried about Lilly and being stupid." He gave me a dour look, but went back into the convenience store.

  "Did you tell the Sherriff any of this? Any kind of inappropriate relationship like that would make him wonder. It makes me wonder, and I really like Wally."

  "No way, I knew he would have taken it wrong, just like you're doing. I know it sounds bizarre, but Lilly told me once about Picasso, how he had Muses, and she said she was like that for Wally. Bottom line, if she contacts anybody, it will be Wally."

  "What about Clara, can you ask her if she's heard anything?"

  "You better talk to her. She might tell me, but it isn't my business to be telling you if she does."

  "I really have to thank you, this has been very helpful." I extended my hand.

  She laughed and shook it. "Are you a real Private Eye? I never met one before."

  "Private Investigator." I corrected her. "PI for short."

  When I got back to Wally's house, he was in the garage carving and Maggie was sitting on a lawn chair in the front area of the garage. Not surprisingly, several teenage boys were standing around, watching Wally carve and Maggie sit. The two boys and the girl I had seen that morning were there as well as three or four more guys that
looked younger yet. For the most part they seemed more interested in Maggie than Wally's Art, but he was smiling and talking to some of the group, thrilled not to have to dodge rocks and insults.

  As I walked up, the girl was bent down next to a figurine and Wally was telling her how he made the hair look real, or something artistic sounding. I stood aside and listened. The girl was really interested and you could see Wally was in his element, talking about Art.

  Then she brought up Lilly. "Bet you miss Lilly, huh Mr. Weston?" She asked.

  "Sure I do, but everybody has to find their share of happiness. Hers wasn't here, that's all it was."

  "Nobody in the high school thinks bad things about you. Maybe a few, but they're just jerks and everybody knows that. The younger kids, they're just being stupid."

  "I know, they're just being kids. They hear things at home and don't know any better."

  That was generous, considering the front of his house had been peppered with rocks and tomatoes, half his work had been damaged beyond repair, and his face looked like he'd returned from the war yesterday, not fifty years ago. The small group of teenagers hung around for fifteen minutes, then started wandering away. The girl and her two friends lingered, talking to Maggie and me.

  "I was talking to Bo and Jimmy, and we're going to walk over a little early the rest of the week, make sure the kids from the middle school don't throw stuff anymore."

  "That's so sweet. Thank-you guys, Wally will really appreciate that." Maggie said happily.

  "So, are you going to be around in the morning Maggie?" That was Bo, not surprisingly.

  Maggie smiled. "Not tomorrow, we have to run back to Jacksonville overnight, but we'll be back. We'll see you then."

  I was pretty sure Bo didn't care if he ever saw me again, but the main thing was that Wally would have some degree of protection from the meaner little kids, and the not so little ones. Between the high schoolers and the presence of my pickup, maybe Levi Davis and his posse would keep their distance until we got back.