The Road Home

by Susan Crandall

  “Riley. It’s not—”

  “It’s not? Oh, you mean you weren’t really kissing him?” He crossed his arms over his chest and stared out the wind-shield. “Take me home.”

  “I can see we’re going to have to wait until later to talk about this.” She started the car and headed home.

  “Way later.”

  When they pulled in the driveway, he asked, “Does Dad know?”

  “Know what?”

  “That you’ve hooked up with Bud?”

  “We haven’t ‘hooked up.’ ”

  “Looked that way to me.” He got out of the car and slammed the door. He knew the house would be locked, so he walked back toward the road so he didn’t have to talk to her while he waited for her to unlock it.

  For five minutes, he paced the gravel drive. Things had been going okay at the marina. Why did Bud have to screw everything up by kissing his mother?

  Riley stomped back to the house and went inside. He headed straight for his room. He heard her moving around in the kitchen.

  “I don’t want dinner,” he yelled, and ran up the stairs two at a time. Before he went to his room and slammed the door, he snagged the cordless phone from his mom’s room.

  After a few minutes, he could breathe again. Mickey’s number was on the caller ID. He dialed it. If someone else picked it up, he was going to hang up.

  Luckily, she answered.

  Chapter 22

  Lily sat at the kitchen table, a turkey sandwich untouched before her. The television droned on in the living room. She’d turned it on because she couldn’t stand the silence.

  She told herself Riley was young and rash, and he would come around in time. But she didn’t know that she would ever manage to sew all of the pieces that made her a whole woman into one piece of fabric.

  She got up and threw the sandwich away, then went to take a shower. Riley’s door was closed but she saw his shadow pass in the space between the door and floor. He was pacing. Nothing she did now would have a positive outcome, so she went into the bathroom and closed the door. Just as she got in the shower, she realized she hadn’t picked up the cordless and brought it in with her.

  She was wrapping herself in a towel when she heard the phone ring. She yelled through the door, “Riley, can you get that?”

  It continued to ring.

  “Errr.” She hurried down the hall to her room and picked it up.

  “Mrs. Holt, this is Mickey, can I speak to Riley, please?”

  “Sure.” She carried the phone to his door. She knocked, then opened it. “Mick—”

  The room was empty.

  “Oh, shit.” Lily went to the top of the stairs and called his name. Securing the towel with her free hand, she ran down the stairs.

  She was alone. She remembered the phone in her hand.

  “Mickey, he’s not here.”

  She started to punch the off button when she heard Mickey say, “Oh, no!”

  Lily brought the phone back to her ear. “What? Why did you say that?”

  The girl hesitated.

  “Mickey, please tell me. Riley was very upset—”

  “I know…. I… I think he might have gone after my dad.”

  “What?” Lily tried to gather her thoughts; why would Riley go after Tad?

  “I had,” she sniffled, “a bruise—Riley was mad be—”

  “Oh, God! I have to hang up. Stay right where you are.” Lily disconnected and hit number one on speed dial.

  Clay’s phone rang five times. Lily was ready to give up when he answered.

  “We have to find Riley. Mickey said she thinks he went after Tad. I don’t know where he lives.”

  “What do you mean, ‘went after Tad’?”

  “He thinks he hurt Mickey. Clay, I know Tad is capable of violence. We have to find Riley!”

  “I know where he lives. I’m on my way, meet me at the end of your drive.”

  Lily threw the phone on the bed and grabbed a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. She dressed as she hopped down the stairs. Two steps from the bottom, her foot slipped and she bounced on her backside the rest of the way down. Her wet hair fell over her face. She shoved it out of the way and slipped on her tennis shoes.

  She ran out into the night.

  Clay stopped so quickly at the end of her drive that his tires squealed. Lily had the door open before the truck came to a full stop. She was barely in her seat when he hit the gas again, the thrust slamming her door shut.

  “Should I have called the sheriff?” Lily asked.

  “No. We just need to stop him before he does something stupid.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I knew something was up with him—all of those questions.”

  “What questions?”

  “He wanted to know what could be done if someone abused their child. But he didn’t seem so crazy as to go after a full-grown man on his own.” He pounded the steering wheel.

  “He wants to hurt Tad—because he hurt Mickey.”

  Clay shook his head. “He thinks he can take on a grown man?”

  The way he said it made Lily want to throw up. She cranked her window down all the way and let the humid air blow on her face. It wasn’t much help, but it kept the dry heaves away.

  They took a corner too fast. The truck slid sideways. Lily watched a utility pole hurtling in their direction. Clay worked the steering wheel and straightened the truck. A loud thud made Lily flinch. The driver’s-side mirror came flying through Clay’s open window, narrowly missing his head. It landed with a clank in the space behind the seat.

  “It won’t do any good if you kill us before we get to him!”

  He started to brake. “There, that’s Tad’s house.”

  There were no lights on inside.

  “His car’s not there.”

  “Dammit!” Clay shouted. Then he asked, “If you didn’t know where Tad lived, would Riley?”

  Panic bloomed anew in Lily’s chest. “God, I don’t know! I guess he could have asked Mickey—or looked it up in the phone book.”

  “I’m going to take a quick run around the house, just to be sure.” He was gone before she could say anything.

  He was gone long enough that Lily thought something had happened to him. The little house was surrounded by tall shrubbery, making it difficult to see anything. She was halfway out of the truck when he came trotting back into sight.

  “Nothing,” he said as they climbed back inside. “Maybe we should call Mickey and see if she knows anything else.”

  “Good idea. Bring your cell phone?”

  “Shit!”

  He started the truck and swung it in a U-turn. “We can stop at a pay phone. The Shell station—”

  He stopped talking so abruptly that Lily thought something had happened to him. Before she could ask what was wrong, he said, “The park. I have a hunch they’re at the park.”

  “A hunch? We’re supposed to go on a hunch?”

  “My hunches are usually right.”

  “Usually?”

  “Got any better suggestions?”

  The only other course of action she could think of was to call the sheriff. He wouldn’t have any better idea where to find Riley and Tad than she did.

  She said, “No. Hurry!”

  Clay slowed the truck when he entered the park gates. Then he turned off the headlights. It was pitch-dark; the park closed at sunset and had no lighting.

  “What are you doing? We can’t see,” Lily said.

  “If our eyes don’t get used to ambient light, we won’t ever be able to see anything outside the headlight beams. I doubt they’re faced off in the middle of the road.”

  “Can’t you go faster?”

  “I’m driving by feel—”

  “Let me out; I can walk faster.”

  “Just a—”

  “Look! Tad’s car.”

  There it sat, long, low and sleek, looking like a panther awaiting prey.

  Clay shut off the engine and let the truck coast until t
hey were near the Corvette. “I don’t want them to hear us coming.”

  “Why the hell not? Let’s scare the bastard off!” Lily’s voice was a squeal.

  “I don’t think Tad’s the kind of guy you want to put between a rock and a hard place.” He reached over and grabbed the back of Lily’s neck and applied pressure to get her to look at him. “We have to be quiet. If you can’t do that, you wait right here.”

  “Why?”

  “I’ve said it before, Lily. I think you underestimate your son. I think he came here to get Mickey’s father away from her.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I need to get out there.” He let her go and opened his door carefully. “Can you come quietly?”

  She nodded.

  He nodded back and they crept out of the truck. Lily left her door open—she understood.

  They moved swiftly and silently, Lily following Clay’s lead. They headed toward the stand of shrubbery where he’d found Riley a couple of nights ago. It was about thirty yards from where Tad’s Corvette sat, in the darkest corner of the playground near the woods.

  He heard voices and stopped, holding up a hand to signal Lily. The voices weren’t raised; they were normal conversational tones. That helped solidify his gut feeling—Riley had something more inventive in mind than hitting the guy over the head with a baseball bat.

  God, I hope I’m right.

  He could tell Lily was getting antsy beside him. He drew her along with him, moving sideways until they were just a little closer to Riley and Tad, but had a couple of tall white pines to hide behind.

  Once concealed, Lily whispered, “Why are we waiting? Let’s get Riley out of here.” She actually inched toward them.

  Clay held her still, but kept his eyes on Tad.

  Then it happened. Tad drew something from his pocket and handed it to Riley.

  Clay clamped a hand over Lily’s mouth when he heard her sharp intake of breath. “Just watch.” He tried to infuse as much calm confidence in his voice as he could, but Lily’s muscles were like stone under his touch. Her panicked gaze flickered to him, then back to Riley.

  She was going to bolt. He tightened his hold.

  Just as he felt Lily’s teeth on his fingers, the sheriff came out of the woods and a couple of deputies rushed from the direction of the parking lot, guns drawn, a handheld spotlight on Riley and Tad.

  Clay pulled his hand away just as Lily was about to take a huge chunk out of his ring finger. She turned on him and said in a hissing whisper, “Why did you wait? Now it’s too late.”

  Tad grabbed Riley and held the boy in front of him as a shield. Riley tried to struggle, but Tad jerked his forearm across the boy’s windpipe. Riley’s strangled yelp drew Lily’s attention.

  She scrabbled forward just as Clay was reaching to hold her in place. His fingers slipped from her arm and she was gone. She sprang from behind the trees and ran toward her son.

  Shit! Clay pressed more deeply into the shadows. He was the only one in a position to do anything to free Riley.

  From all of the shouting, Tad must be threatening to have a weapon. Even if he didn’t, these lawmen weren’t trained to shoot a handgun at a moving target holding a hostage in the dark. None of them would risk the shot.

  He couldn’t let Tad get to his car with Riley.

  Clay listened carefully to the rise and fall of agitated voices across the playground, timing his dash into the woods to his best advantage. God in heaven, he never dreamt he’d ever again need the skills he’d honed so finely. But he thanked his maker for all of the hard-learned lessons.

  Tad wasn’t thinking clearly. He was backing away from the sheriff, but not away from the tree line.

  Waiting for the moment when Tad moved into his range, Clay quietly stepped out of the woods. In two silent strides he was close enough. He hit Tad on the back of the neck and the man fell like a deflated balloon.

  Riley fell forward, away from Tad.

  Lily was with him by the time he hit the ground.

  Sheriff Clyde handcuffed Tad, then searched him. “No weapon. Plenty of cash and… oooh, lookee here, I bet he doesn’t have a prescription for these.” He handed a baggie of pills over to his deputy.

  He nodded to Clay, then turned to Riley. “You know, son, I can’t understand why you’d put yourself in this position—”

  Lily looked up at him, fear on her face. “Please, Steve, he—”

  Riley was struggling to free himself from his mother’s grip. “Did it work? Will he go to jail now?”

  “I imagine he’ll plead guilty,” the sheriff said. “If not, you may have to testify. But, yeah, one way or the other, he’s going to jail.”

  Clay could see Lily mentally connecting the dots. She got to her feet and grabbed Riley’s shoulders, giving him a shake. “You did this on purpose?”

  Sheriff Clyde looked at Lily. “I apologize for letting your son come into harm’s way. I moved as soon as he called me and told me what he was up to, but this situation was fully in play by the time I arrived.”

  Riley looked at his mom, standing tall and proud as he explained about the kids at the arcade. “They called him T-man, but I knew who he was, even before I saw him the other night.” His gaze shifted to Tad and his lips tightened. “He won’t be hitting any girls now.”

  The sheriff put a hand on Riley’s shoulder. “No, he won’t. Not only was he dealing, he was doing it in a public park. Law has special provisions for that—he’s in big trouble.” Then he paused. “And you, Mr. Holt, are forbidden from pulling this kind of stunt again. It could have turned out very differently.” His gaze carried the weight of what might have happened.

  “Yes, sir.”

  Clay noticed Riley looked the sheriff square in the eye when he said it.

  Clay kept himself to the fringes of the activity while Tad regained consciousness and was escorted to a police cruiser for his trip to the county jail. He wanted to step into the light, tell Riley that he was proud of him, but held back.

  When Tad was taken away by one of the deputies, the sheriff offered Lily and Riley a ride home. Lily looked over her shoulder at Clay.

  He nodded and took a small step backward.

  She turned to the sheriff and Riley, who was talking to the sheriff a mile a minute, gesturing with his hands.

  Clay headed toward his truck with a strange unsettled feeling in his soul. He’d been a part of this evening—yet he remained an outsider. He’d felt the gut-wrenching panic of a parent when he realized Riley was in danger; he’d fallen back on old instincts to save his son. Now that his tiny part in this drama was done, he no longer fit into the picture.

  “Hey!”

  He turned at Lily’s shout.

  She and Riley were hurrying after him. “Don’t leave us stranded here.”

  He waited in silence, keeping all of the joy he felt at seeing them run after him buried beneath his Bud Winters exterior. When they climbed into his truck, Lily sat in between him and Riley. For a brief second, Clay was able to pretend they were an ordinary family.

  The kid was still pumped from the excitement. So pumped he apparently forgot he was mad at Clay for kissing his mom. “Man, that was so cool, how you just hit the guy and he went down.” Out of the corner of his eye, Clay saw Riley lean forward and look around his mom.

  Clay just gave Riley a nod. He didn’t want to encourage any questions about where he’d acquired such talents.

  Lily must have sensed it and diverted the conversation. “If it hadn’t been for Bud, I would have blown this whole thing. He had confidence that you knew what you were doing.”

  “Bud?” Riley seemed shocked.

  “Yes, Bud.”

  Then Riley leaned forward and looked around Lily again. “You knew Tad was dealing?”

  Clay glanced at his son, who seemed much older than he’d been just this afternoon. “I’d heard a few things to make me wonder. But I didn’t know until you took off after him tonight. I knew you were too s
mart to just call him out and have a fistfight.”

  At that, Riley settled back in his seat and fell quiet.

  When they stopped in front of the lake house, Clay put the truck in park, but didn’t shut off the engine. Riley opened the door and jumped out immediately, then waited for Lily.

  She hesitated.

  Clay nudged her with his elbow and tilted his head toward Riley. She slid across the seat and got out. After seeing they were safely on the porch, Clay put the truck in reverse and started backing out of the driveway.

  A shout stopped him. Riley ran up to the side of the truck. He paused, as if he had second thoughts, then said, “Thanks.”

  Clay kept his smile tempered and nodded. “Go take care of your mother. She was really scared.”

  Riley started back to the house, then he called, “Better get that side mirror fixed. Sheriff’ll be after you.”

  Clay waved and backed out of the drive, onto Mill Run Road.

  This evening he’d choked down a horrible cocktail of fear, confusion and impotence. But there was one thing that had become resoundingly clear. He loved his son.

  Chapter 23

  A week after that awful night in the park, Lily breathed a sigh of relief when Sheriff Clyde called to tell them that Tad had pled guilty—there would be no need for Riley to testify.

  There was another reason for her spirits to lighten: Clay and Riley had worked side by side all week long and things were as normal as they ever were between the two of them. The fact that Clay believed in Riley seemed to have offset the fact that he’d kissed Riley’s mother.

  When Lily picked Riley up at work, she told him of the sheriff’s call. He seemed glad, yet she could see he was a little disappointed not to be going into a courtroom and pointing his finger at Tad Fulton.

  She then told him that his grandmother had called earlier in the day. “She wants you to come to Chicago for the Fourth of July.”

  Riley was quiet for a moment. Then he shook his head slowly. “I can’t leave Bud here on the Fourth by himself. That’s the busiest day of the year. He needs me.”

  Lily was so stunned, she had to work to keep her mind on the line of conversation. “Your grandparents really miss you.”