by Helen Gray
Toni went to the kitchen to replace the phone and make stew for supper, but discovered she didn’t have any carrots. And they needed milk. Again. Growing boys inhaled it.
“I need to run to Crawford’s Supermarket,” she called to Kyle.
“Not by yourself,” he called back. Then he appeared in the kitchen doorway. “Get your coat back on, and I’ll tell the boys to get theirs. We’ll all go.”
Moments later she heard grumbling, but it was quickly hushed. She assumed Kyle had given them the look.
As he drove across town, Kyle looked across the seat at Toni, his expression suspicious. “Are you really shopping or snooping?”
She raised a palm. “Shopping, I promise.”
He nodded, and then turned into the store’s parking lot. “We’ll wait out here for you.”
Toni hurried inside, grabbed a cart, and pushed it to the soda aisle. After loading a couple of cases of Cokes into it, she rolled on to the produce section, where she found herself looking at carrots next to Twila Morgan, whose sister and her husband just happened to be part of those elite eight bowling league/party couples.
“I sure wish the police would find out who killed the owner of this place,” Toni said conversationally to the reporter.
“I would think you would, since whoever did it seems to think you know too much and have to be silenced,” Twila responded. She placed her shopping list on top of her purse.
Toni faced her more fully. “You’re right. Do you have any idea who it might be?”
Twila shook her head slowly. “I wish I could help you, but I have no idea who it is.”
Toni reached into her purse and extracted a notebook. She opened it to the correct page and handed it to Twila. “That’s a list of couples who bowl and party together. I know you’re related to one of them, so I assume you know the entire group well. What can you tell me about their social life?”
Twila scanned down the list. Then she looked back at Toni. “Sure, I know them well, but I don’t socialize with them.” She grinned self-deprecatingly. “I’m not in their income bracket.”
Toni smiled. “Haven’t you heard? Teachers don’t teach for the income. Teachers teach for the outcome.”
Twila grinned again, but then her face became more solemn. “Most of those in that group have spent most or all of their lives here. I don’t know what else I can tell you.”
Toni was pleased at getting a friendly conversation initiated. “There seems to be some discord among them. Do you know why the Hewitts are divorcing?”
Twila’s face flushed. “They’ve been rocky for a long time.” She didn’t meet Toni’s eyes.
Suddenly Toni was convinced that Twila knew more than she was admitting. Sheer instinct took over, and she pressed further. “Does it have anything to do with their Friday night parties? I hear they get pretty wild. Drugs and booze flowing can lead to lowered inhibitions. Do they fool around?” she asked bluntly.
Twila’s eyes blinked in surprise. “You know about the key club?”
Key club?
If Toni had been chewing gum, she would have choked on it. She fought to keep the shock from showing on her face. She needed to keep Twila talking. “When did it start?” she asked, as if knowing exactly what she was talking about.
Twila’s composure seemed to be in jeopardy. “A little over a year ago,” she finally said in a strained near whisper. Her eyes darted side to side, checking to be sure no one was near enough to hear them. “It was the final nail in the coffin of my own marriage. Bob and I hung out with the gang, but when Bob wanted to put our house key in that hat, I told him we were done.”
A hat?
A rapidly forming picture made Toni feel sick inside. She enunciated her next words carefully, making it more of a question. “But the rest of them put their keys in the hat.”
Twila’s nod was barely discernible. Spots of color formed on her cheeks.
“Let me see if I have this straight,” Toni said, struggling with her own composure. “The men each draw a key and …” She let the sentence hang, as if reluctant to finish it.
“Draw one, sort of like drawing names at Christmas, to see who they go home with for the evening,” Twila finished for her in a harsh, angry tone.
Toni swallowed the bile that rose in her throat. The enormity of what she was hearing had her aghast. How could educated, supposedly moral, adults behave like that? Didn’t they respect God’s word? Didn’t they fear His judgment? Didn’t they fear for their marriages?
“It’s hard to believe that kind of thing has been going on in our small town,” she managed to say in what she hoped was a reasonably normal tone.
“Small towns have their dirty secrets just like big ones,” Twila said with a derisive snort. “In some ways it’s worse because everyone knows everyone.”
“That kind of thing usually leads to trouble,” Toni said. She suspected murder in this case.
Twila blinked hard. “Bob and I dropped out of the group, thank goodness. We even tried to make our marriage work for a few more weeks. But it was no good. He had been ready to toss our house key in that hat, and I couldn’t forget it. I wish others hadn’t,” she added, obviously thinking of her sister. Every trace of the elitism she had displayed in high school was gone.
Another irony occurred to Toni. Here was a big story, and the reporter couldn’t write it. “I’m sure that by now there are some people unhappy they ever got involved.”
Twila nodded, her face grim. “Yeah,” she breathed. “Last year they all partied and had a great time. But problems started this year. Some of them developed favorites. Then there were accusations of rigging the drawings. They argued over how to match up. Some wanted to stop drawing and just choose the partners they preferred. Others objected, saying that wasn’t fair.”
“You know this, even though you didn’t participate?”
She took a deep breath. “Karen never brought it up, but when I asked about it and promised confidentiality, she told me.”
Toni pictured the men all wanting the same woman and fighting over her. The other women, being jealous creatures, were probably furious at not being the favorite. She could see how quickly all that could lead to arguments, fights, and marital discord. This had to have in some way led to Jake’s death. What had happened? Who had erupted? How could she find out?
Twila glanced at her watch and did a little startled reaction. “I have to go. I’m sure you understand.”
Toni tossed the carrots and a head of lettuce in her cart, hurried to the dairy section to grab a jug of milk, and headed to check out.
When she exited the store, Kyle was striding across the parking lot toward her. “I was afraid you had run into trouble,” he said as they met.
“No, I just ran into someone and had a very revealing chat.” She didn’t resist when he tugged her hands from the cart handle, replaced them with his own, and pushed it to the truck.
“Walk slow,” she ordered. As he did so, she hurriedly told him about the key club.
“Buck has to know about this,” Kyle said, reading her thoughts.
They hopped in the truck, and he drove to the police station. When he parked, the boys didn’t ask questions, but just automatically went to the park.
“We’ve heard rumors about those parties,” Buck said after hearing Toni’s story. His shrewd gaze sliced across the desk at her.
“So you know who all is involved?” Kyle asked.
“I think so, but I have no way of tying any of them to Jake’s murder. Rumors are flying around town.”
“Criticisms?”
Buck nodded, his expression grim. “Of that group—and the police. We’re being called small town know-nothings, incompetents, and even more unflattering names.”
Toni bristled, knowing how hard Buck and his six officers worked. “You need to find the killer and prove them wrong.”
Buck shrugged. “Thanks for your input.”
She and Kyle started to leave, but another t
hought struck Toni as she stood. She resumed her seat. “There’s one more little thing. We—the Zacharys and us--,” she pointed at herself and Kyle, “had lunch out at the bowling alley last Saturday. Four men from that party group were having what looked like a very heated meeting.”
Buck leaned forward. “You don’t know what it was about?”
“No, I just know some expressions looked angry, and they were talking like they would have been shouting if they hadn’t been in a public place.”
“Is that all the information you have for me?”
“Yes, but I have a question. Did you ever get a chance to check out the storage lockers around town?”
He nodded. “That’s what I had been doing just before you arrived. We can rule those out. The owners checked the key and said it didn’t fit any of their lockers. It’s a house key, and we need to know whose. The problem is getting a search warrant. Jake’s house was different because it’s a crime scene. But I’m not sure how the judge will react when I tell him I want to go around town trying to unlock a bunch of other residential doors.”
“You’ll figure it out,” she said, rising to leave.
As Kyle drove home, Toni remembered the copy of that key she had in her possession. Could it be one of those keys that went in the hat? Did it fit the house of one of those party couples, possibly the killer?
She spent the evening alternating between moping and wanting to shout to the world that Jake’s personal life had surely gotten him killed. Unable to banish the cycle of thoughts that continued to run through her head, she called John and told him about her encounter with Twila at the supermarket and what she had learned.
He emitted a sharp whistle when she finished. “Have you told Buck about it?”
“He said that key I found doesn’t fit any of the storage lockers in town. He plans to ask the judge for a search warrant to try it at each house on that list of bowling leaguers, but he figures it’ll be a hard thing to get.”
I can do it. I have a copy of the key.
A tremor shimmied up her spine at the thought of sneaking around to each of those homes and testing that key. She thought about doing it tonight, but knew her husband wouldn’t allow her to go out alone.
*
“The keys,” the pastor said from the pulpit Sunday morning, “are prayer and love. Prayer is how we communicate with God. Out of love we serve Him with our heart and soul, rather than merely out of duty. Love flows from our deep gratitude for His love for us. Our fear and love for God enables us to walk willingly in obedience to God’s love.”
Toni absorbed his words, finding comfort in them. All weekend she had been wrestling with anger and frustration over the terrible things happening around them, and her inability to control her feelings or solve the problems.
God, it’s all in Your hands. Please help us.
When they left the service, Toni breathed the damp chill of the late autumn air outside the building, hardly able to comprehend that Thanksgiving was so near. She and Kyle paused on the sidewalk to chat a few moments with John and Jenny while Gabe and Garrett went on to the van. Their little foursome edged to one side as faster moving people filed past them to their cars.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” John said as he and Jenny walked away.
Toni and Kyle headed to their van. As he went to the driver’s side, Toni took her phone from her pocket and dropped it into her purse. When she looked back up, her attention was caught by a car sitting at the end of the parking lot with its motor idling. As she paused, it began to move. Beyond the building and the almost empty parking lot, it crept along for a few yards. Then, in a burst of speed and screeching tires, it accelerated and roared straight toward her.
Chapter 19
“Move, Toni!” Kyle’s yell rang with panic.
Frozen, she watched the scene unfolding as if in slow motion. Suddenly Kyle’s body hurtled into her, knocking her to the ground in front of the van. With his arms wrapped around her, they rolled beneath the vehicle’s front bumper. The swerving, speeding car passed within inches of them, flinging gravel and spreading the smell of burning rubber.
When their bodies rolled to a stop, their foreheads connected with a crack that made Toni see stars. For a few seconds she and her husband lay there, the sound of the fleeing car joined by those of screams and running feet.
“Are you all right?”
Toni opened her eyes and, through a dim haze, saw two pairs of feet. Then John and Jenny’s blurry faces peered below the bumper at them. Gabe and Garrett’s tennis shoe clad feet dropped onto the gravel lot beside them from inside the van.
“We’re okay,” Kyle called to them. But he didn’t move.
“We are, aren’t we?” he asked into Toni’s ear.
She nodded and then went rigid from the pain caused by the movement. “We are,” she croaked, trying to clear her pounding head.
“Speak to us, Toni.” Jenny’s voice held panic.
“I’m okay,” she said into Kyle’s neck.
“Someone tried to kill you,” Jenny said, her voice calming a tiny bit once she heard Toni’s response. She was now down on her hands and knees, peering under the van at them. “John’s calling the police. So is Gabe.”
Toni started to move away from Kyle, and bumped her head on the undercarriage of the van. A fresh jolt of pain struck her.
“Don’t move,” he ordered. “Just lie here and get your bearings.”
Tears leaked from Toni’s eyes as she closed them and tried to block out the pain. She heaved a deep breath. And then she whimpered. Then the whimper turned to a giggle. “I’m under …I’m under the van …again,” she gasped.
Kyle’s chest moved. “You are at that. But you’re not alone this time.”
At that the giggles increased. “We’re under the van together,” she repeated, her voice rising higher and making a hysterical echo.
His arms tightened around her, nearly squeezing the breath out of her. Then he rolled, taking her with him. As they cleared the bumper, he partially released her, removing one arm and pushing himself upright. Then he pulled her to a sitting position beside him.
As Toni looked around, she heard a siren in the distance. Moments later a police car with lights flashing came flying up the street and veered into the parking lot. She reached up and rubbed a hand over her forehead. There was a knot over her right eye. She hated to think what her pantsuit looked like.
Jenny knelt and cupped Toni’s cheeks between her palms to peer into her face. “You’ll have quite a headache,” she said, “but, thank God, you’re all right.”
She gave Kyle the same once-over, and then announced, “You two make a nice pair.”
The pastor and half a dozen people who had still been in the parking lot hovered around them. A deputy, Toni was too muddled to be sure which one, had taken charge and ordered everyone to back away.
He squatted before Toni and Kyle. “Should I call an ambulance?”
“No,” they said in unison.
“We’re okay,” Kyle assured the officer. As if to prove his point, he stood and assisted Toni to her feet. “A car tried to run Toni down. We didn’t notice it parked over there when we came out of the church.” He pointed to where it had been parked at the edge of the lawn near the far end of the lot.
“It started moving real slow, and then it sped up and came straight at us,” Toni said faintly.
“It came at her,” Kyle corrected. “I’m certain of that.”
“He’s right, officer.” The pastor’s expression was grim.
The officer nodded and pulled out his notepad. “What kind of car was it?”
“Dark colored,” Toni said, the vision of it bearing down on her blurring in her mind.
“Blue,” someone else said.
“Green,” another said simultaneously.
“I think it was a dark blue or green Camry,” Kyle said. “A fairly late model. It could be the same one driven by the intruder who broke into our house. I onl
y got a flash. All I could think of was getting to Toni.”
The officer asked them a few more questions and began writing notes.
“Maybe you two should stay with us, or Toni’s parents,” John said when they had finally convinced the spectators and pastor that everything was all right and that they should go on home with their families. “You shouldn’t stay at your house until the police have time to look for the driver of that car.”
Toni hated this. She hated being scared. She hated that some crazed person was after her. She couldn’t feel safe anywhere.
“There will be cars patrolling near your house,” the officer said, putting his pen and notepad in his pocket. “We know where you live. Please stay at home the rest of the day and tonight and let us guard you.”
“Thank you,” Toni said, being careful to not make any sudden moves.
Kyle placed an arm behind her back. “Let’s go home.”
Later that night, as Toni lay in bed, pictures of the incident flashed over and over through her mind, as if someone kept hitting the rewind button. Each time, the car came toward her. Closer. Closer. Then, in a flash, it was coming at her again. Each time the movie replayed, she strained to get a better look. Something about the picture was familiar, floating just beyond her grasp.
But what?
*
Monday morning Kyle followed Toni to school, and on into the parking lot. He pulled in beside her, and didn’t leave until John parked beside her three minutes later. Then he and Jenny accompanied her and the boys inside the building.
Toni wasn’t sure how she felt about such babysitting. On one hand it irritated her that it should be considered necessary. On the other hand, there was no point in arguing. And it did make her feel more secure, especially regarding the safety of her boys.
Throughout the day she was never allowed to be alone. An email from Ken to the entire high school staff had made everyone aware of the attacks on her, so somebody was always near her when she was not in her classroom—including the bathroom. Everyone knew her schedule and had apparently worked out a system for individual colleagues to be near her at the time that fit their schedule.