She swallowed. “I truly didn’t know.”
Hesitating, I gave her a small nod. She might not have known, but there was no way she wouldn’t have suspected. Not if she was any kind of mother at all.
“When your father died, I was so lost. I was afraid of raising the two of you all by myself. Scared that I wasn’t quite up to it, that I’d mess it all up somehow.” She looked away, no longer meeting my eyes, but I could see her tear-stained cheeks. “But I guess I did a pretty good of messing it up anyways.” She reached out and laid her hand on my arm. “I’m sorry.” Now her moist eyes met mine again. “For everything.”
And she turned and left.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Marina Surveillance (Colin)
Tuesday dawned cold and wet. A fitting day to bury my twin-born soul mate.
Zane didn’t give me any argument about going to school. He had no business watching them put his mother in the ground. Besides, it was far too nasty of a day for him to be out in it.
I dressed in the same black suit, and Gabe picked me up at my door. He had entered the viewing hall last night the instant they opened it to non-family members and had stayed until seven. Then he had taken Molly and Zane home and seen them safely inside.
He had even offered to take Zane to spend the night with him and Matt, but I had declined. I needed my Z-Man close to me and thought maybe he needed the same. He was all I had left.
So I locked the door behind me, Molly already at work and Zane safely in his classroom, and climbed in Gabe’s SUV.
“Thanks for taking me today,” I said.
He gave me one of his signature slow smiles. “Happy to do it,” he said. Then he seemed to pause. “I thought maybe we’d take a little drive afterward if you felt up to it.”
Swallowing, I nodded. “I’ll be up to it.” Hell, I’d be up to anything that wouldn’t make me go home to an empty house of memories after burying my sweet Becca. It never even occurred to me to ask where. It simply didn’t matter, and my mind was filled with thoughts of what was to come.
I’m really thankful that Gabe was with me. Because as I watched them lower Becca into her early grave, I was filled with the need to have Michael follow her in. He was standing on the other side of the grave and he seemed startled when he met my eyes over the lowering coffin.
I know, you asshole, I thought. And I’ll make damn sure the world knows soon, one way or another.
When the minister released us to return to our cars, Gabe threw a protective, and at the same time restraining, arm around my shoulders and we walked side by side to his car. After meeting my vicious stare, Michael didn’t even try to start anything.
Maybe the bastard was feeling guilty. I sure as hell hoped so.
Unfortunately, his father didn’t know any better.
“So, have you had enough of parenthood yet?” he asked, far too cheerful after what we all just witnessed. Apple meet tree. “Ready to let him be a part of a real family?”
Gabe tried to keep me moving, but I stopped dead and turned to him, every muscle in my battered body aching for a fight. But before I could get a single scathing word past my lips, Gabe answered for me.
“The boy is where he belongs,” Gabe said, looking my step-dad straight in the eyes. “And if I have anything to say about it, that’s where he’ll stay. Now I suggest you go back to your car now.”
I swallowed back my words, more grateful than ever for Gabe’s presence. He was saving my life here, even if he didn’t know it.
Once we got back into the SUV, I turned to him. “Thanks for handling that.”
Gabe’s jaw was still clenched. “I swear if I wasn’t wearing this badge...”
I gave him a sad smile and put my hand on his arm. “Personally, I kind of like the badge,” I said. Then I winked at him. “The uniform too, for that matter.”
He looked at me open-mouthed for a minute, then burst out laughing. “Great, another uniform junkie, just what I need.”
But he didn’t look upset about it at all. Heaven help me, but I was starting to think there might be a slim chance there.
For a short while, I basked in the glow that thought created. It was a nice change from the past few days. Then it dawned on me I had absolutely no idea where we were going.
“So, what’s the plan, Chief?” I asked.
Gabe glanced at me and then back to the road ahead. “Remember I told you that having a location meant a chance for new leads?”
I sat up straighter. “Yeah. You got something?”
He shrugged. “Maybe. Then again, maybe a whole lot of nothing.” He paused. “The very first thing we did was check out your step-dad’s boat. Unfortunately, he’s had it very skillfully detailed within the last few months. Told the people he hired that he was thinking of selling it soon and wanted to have it ready in case.”
I mulled that over for a minute. “You think he was in on it?”
All that got me was a shrug. “Too early to tell. But it is definitely a coincidence, isn’t it? If you are one of those that happen to believe in them. Personally, I don’t.” There was a moment of silence. “This is just to throw another scenario out there, but it’s also possible we’ve been looking at the wrong man.”
Chewing my lip, I thought about it. My step-dad did have very definite ideas on how to raise kids. Ideas that didn’t fall anywhere in the same spectrum as how Becca and I thought Zane should be raised.
“Zane wasn’t even his blood. Why would he care that much how he was raised, or by who?”
Gabe started to speak then paused. “Some old-timers like your step-dad are really focused on having someone to carry on their family name.”
I gave a short laugh. “Shouldn’t that be up to Michael?”
“Turns out Michael can’t have kids.” That was news to me. “He and Joan have been trying but the doctors finally gave them the bad news just last year. He’s infertile. No grandkids gonna come from him.”
“How did you find that out?”
He gave me a grin. “You think I’ve been sitting on my hands this whole time?” He tapped his badge but left it at that. So did I. Fair enough.
It took me a few minutes to process that information, but it just didn’t compute to me. Lawrence was an asshole of the highest order, but I simply couldn’t see him caring enough about anything to kill for it. I still liked Michael for that. But the sheriff did have a point.
By now I was recognizing the turns he had taken, and the roads were becoming more familiar. I hadn’t been out here for a while, but he was taking me to the lake’s marina. The one where Lawrence kept his boat.
“I thought you said the boat was a dead end?”
“I did. But we didn’t stop there.” He pulled off into the marina’s parking lot and stopped the car. Then he turned to face me. “I’ve had some men out here whenever I could spare them to question folks who might have been around that night.”
“And?”
“And we got nothing. That store over there,” he pointed to the little gas and convenience store at the end of the road, “has a surveillance camera. We asked how long they kept footage from it and found that the owner usually only kept about three weeks’ worth of data, so yet another dead end.”
“Why do I feel a but coming on?” I was starting to get excited.
“Probably because that’s where I’m heading. The owner upgraded his system almost six months ago. Went from an old VHS tape video recorder to state-of-the-art recording web cams.”
I swallowed. “And the old tapes?”
Gabe nodded. “He couldn’t remember where he had put them, but he called me this morning to say he’d found them.”
Hot damn.
“Before you get too excited, you should probably know that I’ve been having a bit of trouble finding a VHS machine to check them out on. The owner’s machine is gone.”
“Not a problem. I’ve got one.” My sister hadn’t been willing to give up her old VHS tapes. When she saw the writing on the wall, sh
e stocked up on the old technology. “In fact, we have three of them. And one of them copies and records if we need to make duplicates.”
Gabe smiled. “Now why doesn’t that surprise me?” Then he gave me a firm look. “You stay here, I’ll just be a minute.”
Without waiting for an answer, he climbed out and went inside. I stayed put. What can I say? I love it when a man gives me orders. As long as that man was Sheriff Gabriel Green.
When he came back, he was carrying a loaded down duffel bag. He stowed it in the back and then got back behind the wheel.
He gave a quick glance at the clock and then to me. It was going on two, and I realized that the boys would be coming home soon on the bus.
“I hate to get you all stoked up and then leave you, but...”
“But Matt is due home in an hour,” I finished. “Family first, Sheriff. I don’t suppose you’d let me have a crack at them while you go to meet your son?”
He laughed. “Sorry, but it’s a chain of custody thing, Colin. I’ll not be burnt by it again in this investigation.” He started the car and started backing out. “I’m off work tomorrow, so how about you and Zane coming over and spending the night at my place? You could bring one of those machines of yours and we could get a good start at going through these.” He grimaced. “The store owner wasn’t all that good about little things like dates, so we have a lot of hours of watching to do.”
“Sounds like a plan,” I said slowly, still working through the fact that Gabe had just asked me to spend the night with him. But then, he’d also included Zane and Matt in the deal, so romance probably wasn’t on his mind. It was the probably that had my heart racing.
Then the rest of what he said registered. “I’ll bring a standalone machine and one of the small televisions with the recorder built in. We can double our viewing time that way.”
He dropped me off at my place just as the bus was rounding the corner behind us. I climbed out and waved as he raced to beat them to his house, then stood there and waited as the bus pulled up and Z-Man got off. Molly had been ready for it too, and the door opened and out raced Dakky Dog to greet her boy.
Zane thought us spending the night with Matt and his dad was a great idea. Surprisingly, Molly was the one that looked uncertain.
The boy and dog raced into the house to pack, and I turned to her. “Is that okay, Molly? Will you be alright here by yourself?”
She looked down at her calloused hands, not meeting my eyes. “Are you sure you want to leave me alone here?”
“Not if you don’t feel safe,” I said. “We can always ask Gabe and Matt to come here instead if you’d rather.”
She shook her head. “No, that isn’t it. It’s just... you guys have some really nice stuff, are you sure you trust me here alone?”
I had to laugh. “Sweetie, I trust you alone with Zane, that should tell you everything you need to know.” I threw my arm around her shoulders, leading her inside. “You’re family now, remember?”
Molly hesitated, then walked along beside me. “I thought that was just for your step-brother.”
“I don’t usually say things I don’t mean, Molly,” I said, giving her shoulder a squeeze. “Like it or not, you’re linked to this crazy single parent family—at least on our part.”
“On mine, too. I love you guys. I just...” she trailed off as Zane came barreling down the stairs with a dire packing emergency that needed her immediate attention. Once he was sent back on his way, she turned back to me. I noticed her eyes were filling up with tears. “I haven’t felt like part of a family for a really long time.” She hesitated for only a second, then gave me a gentle hug. “Thank you.”
It’s hard to give a real hug with only one free arm, but I gave it my best shot. “We should be thanking you, Molly. Without you...”
She broke off the hug and looked up at me. “But that goes for me too.” Molly dashed off the lone tear that had escaped to her cheek.
Yeah, I guess it did.
“Molly, I can’t find my robot dinosaur and Matt loves dinosaurs. Can you help me? Please?” Zane was at the head of the stairs giving her his very best Puss in Boots imitation.
She gave me another quick hug and then ran up to help him pack. Leaving me in a bit of confusion as well.
How does one pack for a sleepover at the home of the man of one’s dreams?
THE ONLY PART OF GABE’S house I had seen before was the garage when we were going through the Caddy. I’m not sure what I expected, but I will say the house suited him.
It suited the current me too. It had not a single stair in the whole place.
Gabe’s home was a single-story ranch house with light gray vinyl siding and maroon colored shutters. His front porch spanned the entire length of the home and housed an old-fashioned two-seater glider and two rocking chairs. The perfect place to sit and chat with neighbors. In warmer weather, of course. The only thing it was missing was a swing.
Inside it was clean and functional. The main area was an open concept and from the front door, you could see all the living room, kitchen, and dining area. A small door off the kitchen lead to what I assumed was a utility room and then on to the garage.
The hallway to the left led to the three bedrooms. There was a single bath accessible to the hallway, the other bath was a private master bath off the larger bedroom.
I know all of this because the first thing Gabe did, while the boys checked out Matt’s room, was give me the grand tour. Which meant that now I was standing in the center of Gabe’s bedroom, looking at his bed.
To say his bedroom was decorated with a rustic flair just didn’t say enough. The bed, an over-sized King, was covered in a decorative white, brown, and black camouflage comforter that matched the window curtains. The walls were a deep tan color, and the ceiling was a stark white.
All the furniture, the bed, the chair, and even the small desk and night tables looked as though they were made from rough logs. It looked for all the world like I had stepped into a little log cabin.
But the crowning glory of the room was the full wall facing the foot of his bed. That entire wall was a mural of a country woods scene. Trees abounded in the mural, and in the center was a leaf strewn pathway leading deeper into the trees. It was both beautiful and calming, and I immediately wanted one.
I walked over and touched a tree. It felt like wallpaper, but it sure didn’t look like any wallpaper I’d ever seen.
“How on earth did you do this?”
Gabe laughed, but his stance told me he was a bit proud of that wall. “It’s a lot easier than it looks, trust me. I bought it online and put it up in a day.” He straightened a pile of books on one of the nightstands. “When Judy left us, I needed something more... well, me, I guess.” He motioned to the room at large. “This is me.”
I nodded. It was. “I like it. A lot.”
We had decided to treat the sleepover like the occasion it was for the boys and hold off on the videos until their bedtime. After all, the two of us could sleep tomorrow after they went to school. At least at the time, that was the plan.
I had stopped off and bought all the ingredients for my mini meatloaves, Zane’s favorite food on earth. At least so far. It didn’t take long to have them in the oven baking. And I’d brought extra hamburger to make patties if either of our hosts decided the loaves weren’t to their taste.
While supper was baking, we did take the time to set up the equipment we would need in the living room. Gabe hooked up the old-fashioned VCR to his main television and gave me a portable television tray to set up and put the smaller television on.
We could hear sounds of laughter and giggles coming from Matt’s room, so we knew the boys were entertained. Gabe leaned back when the hook up was done and grinned at me.
“We’ll have to do this more often. The boys are having a blast in there,” he said.
“Sounds good to me.” I still wasn’t quite sure just how much of a sleepover this was, so I stopped there. But not without
thinking just a bit about the blast the two of us could have in Gabe’s room too. And that started to create a bit of a problem for me.
“Um,” I said, eloquently, “I’d better go check on the food.” And I escaped into the kitchen. Which would have been a good plan, except for the whole open concept thing.
I took the loaves out and coated them with the sauce I’d prepared before, the secret to their tastiness. Then I put them back in to finish their baking. We were cheating on the potatoes and just making instant, so there wasn’t much to do.
When Gabe spoke behind me, I jumped. I’d been doing my best to keep my back to him while I worked, so I hadn’t seen him approach.
“I envy you, you know,” he said.
Huh? I turned to face him and cocked my head at him. I’m sorry, but right now there weren’t many things about my life that were worthy of envy.
Gabe drew a hand through his hair, leaving it gently mussed. My hand itched to reach out and straighten it. Not because I didn’t like that look, but because it wanted an excuse to touch his hair.
“How are you so brave? To show the world who you really are?”
I felt my brows crease as I looked at him. “Who I am?” Then it dawned on me. Call me slow. I shook my head. “I’m the opposite of brave,” I said, giving in and letting my hand reach out to straighten one small lock of hair. “But just to be sure I understand...”
And whatever else might have been said between us at that moment was lost as two little boys invaded the kitchen demanding food.
Gabe gave me a tiny smile. “To be continued,” he said. “The story of my life.”
Then he set the boys to work getting the table ready while he mixed up and microwaved the potatoes and I finished with the loaves. Turns out, the extra emergency hamburger wasn’t needed. The mini meatloaves were a huge hit.
After dinner, we all went for a short walk to clear our heads. Here in Indiana, the weather could change at the drop of a hat, and the day had cleared off and warmed up considerably. Zane complained once that we should have brought Dakky Dog with us, but his heart wasn’t really in it. He was having far too much fun with his new best friend.
All About Zane (Travis County Legal Book 1) Page 13