Glancing up and down the dirt road from her hiding spot, she left the bike behind some brush and walked to their tree. She had so many fond memories of times spent next to the tall oak. It had been their spot. They’d shared each other’s hopes and dreams under the tree. They’d hidden things in the hollowed out knothole. Watched each other grow up. Experienced their first kiss and discovered they didn’t have a bit of romantic feeling toward each other.
She’d spent many a night with her grandmother while her mother and the man she had thought was her father fought out their deep differences. Her time spent at her grandmother’s house had been some of the happiest times of her life. It had been the only refuge from the dysfunction of her family.
Would she ever stop thinking of Carl Jepson as her father? Probably not. She didn’t want to be Fred Haskins’s daughter. The bile rose from her empty stomach. It grumbled to remind her it needed food to keep the walls from sticking together.
With a sigh, she stuffed the packet and a note into the knothole. Maybe Josh would find it when he was able to come out to the tree. She didn’t trust Cooley’s records on her person any longer. It was a risk, but she had to take the chance no one would look in the hole besides Josh.
The whine of passing cars crawled up between the hills from the highway below. The overhanging limbs of the trees muffled the sound. Surely, no one took this dirt road back onto the forest-covered ridge any longer. Her grandmother’s old farmhouse was the last place that had still been inhabited. After she had died, the road led to nothing but a few deserted patches of ground that a handful of brave souls had cleared and tried to farm decades ago. The land had once again taken over her grandmother’s place. Courtney couldn’t live there even if she had wanted to.
The breeze caught a few tendrils of her hair as she dawdled by the tree. She’d finally reached the decision point. Should she stay or should she go? Without any money, it seemed her decision had been made for her. What had she been thinking anyway? Josh had promised her two hundred dollars. That much wouldn’t get her very far.
She patted her pocket. The card the state cop had given her must have fallen out somewhere along the way. There was nothing left for her. With no other choices, she started the bike and headed toward the highway into town. Tonight, she would turn herself in to Gray, beg him to contact Shaw Bennett for her, and accept the consequences of what seemed like a stupid action.
She might not have killed Jared Crenshaw, but she’d stabbed him with a screwdriver. That might mean jail time. Even if that infraction were overlooked, she had still watched the fight inside Victoria Hamilton’s bedroom. She’d beg Bennett to place her in state custody away from Hill County. If he arrested her, then maybe she would at least have three meals a day and a place to sleep.
Chapter Eleven
Jordan Clark’s cell phone went directly to voice mail. Shaw stared at the screen a moment before disconnecting the call. No use leaving yet one more message. Aggravation crawled all over him. Reluctantly, he dialed Dickerson’s number. The man answered on the first ring.
“Can’t I have one night off, Bennett?”
Shaw paused, counted to five. “I promise you there have been no new bodies discovered.” True, there hadn’t. Not that he knew of.
He had been back out to Laurel Heights with Grayson, Downing, and McCord as well as the owner of the property, Laurel Standridge, and her boyfriend, Chase Peterson. An interesting experience. Laurel had lifted the diary from the floor of her bedroom, but nothing unusual had happened. It was just a book, until Tori Downing had touched it. That’s when strange and mystical stuff had started to happen.
But Dickerson wasn’t interested in that aspect of the investigation.
“Oh, so I guess you want to drag me to another haunted house then?” Dickerson’s caustic reply took a bite at him.
Well, maybe Dickerson was interested in the paranormal stuff after all.
Shaw adopted a patient attitude. “Noooo. Although, that’s tempting. There’s a full moon tonight, I think.”
Dickerson made a disgusted noise. “You only think you’re funny.”
Shaw turned on his serious voice. He needed Dickerson to focus on what was most important. “I’ve been trying to get Clark on the phone all day.” It had been over twenty-four hours since they’d left Clark at Laurel Heights to wrap up the scene. “I went out to Laurel Heights last night. The back door was unlocked.”
Dickerson sputtered, “Why did you go back out there without one of us?” He sounded as if he was about to go on another rant about proper protocol.
Really, the guy should teach it at the training academy. Tall and thin, he had the look of a middle-aged history professor who had traveled the world and seen everything. He could imagine Dickerson pushing wire-framed glasses up the bridge of his nose.
Shaw drummed his fingers on the steering wheel of his SUV as he waited at a red light. “Do you really want to know? I think the more pressing issue here is that Clark is missing.”
“The back door was unlocked, huh? So do you think he went back out to the house without us…just like you did.”
Dickerson wasn’t going to let Shaw’s lapse in protocol go easily.
Time to talk straight. “Matt…” Had he ever called the man by his first name? “I haven’t told you everything because I didn’t think you’d want to know. The less you know, the less likely it is that you will have to lie. I was trying to spare you the ethical dilemma of being honest or keeping your mouth shut. Which would you prefer? We can handle this either way. Do you want full disclosure and potential liability and public ridicule? Or do you want to be able to honestly protest your ignorance of the details and claim that I’m out-of-control and did things behind your back? I’m flexible.”
Dickerson grumbled a sentence or two that Shaw was certain contained several expletives as well as a couple of phrases demeaning of Shaw’s character. “You are not flexible.”
Shaw wanted to chuckle, but that would not have been a good idea. Dickerson could be as serious as a TSA checkpoint guard. Shaw’s amusement at Dickerson’s expense would have gone over like a bomb joke at an airport.
“I can keep a secret.”
Interesting. Dickerson wanted full disclosure. Life was full of surprises.
“Okay, then. Still want the night off?”
“What do you have in mind?” The anticipation in Dickerson’s voice jiggled up and down.
“I want to search Cooley’s place.”
A crash boomed from the other end of the call. “Put that down. Terry, come get this kid. She’s getting into my things again.”
“This kid? You call your daughter this kid?”
“You don’t have children, Bennett, so keep your judgments to yourself.” Another bang and a crash. “Okay, I’ll meet you somewhere. We can go out there together.”
Shaw finally allowed a burst of laughter to escape him. “A night off doesn’t seem so special anymore, huh?”
“What? Oh, don’t even. She’s a great kid. She’s just…everywhere. Aren’t you, princess?” Sounds of giggling. “Why are we focusing on Cooley? I would think finding Clark would be our first priority.”
“I think it’s connected. What if Clark went back out to the house before I did?” He let that sink in. “There is a system of tunnels and caves under the ridge behind Laurel Heights. When I interviewed Laurel Standridge today, she told me that she and Cooley were in the caves right before the cooker blew. She got there through a tunnel that starts in her basement, but Cooley didn’t follow her down the tunnel. She said he came out of the dark, like he’d just walked through a wall or something. I think there’s another tunnel down there, and I think it leads to Cooley’s place.”
Dickerson laughed and Shaw could imagine the smirk that surely went with his expression of amusement. “You’ve thought about this a lot.”
“When I’m traveling between Fairview and Little Rock, I have a lot of time to think.”
“So you think t
he two places are somehow connected?” An obvious prompt to continue his thoughts. Dickerson was hooked.
“Suppose Clark went back to do his own investigation, for whatever reason. Suppose he found the tunnel in the basement and followed it. Maybe he found a branch that led to Cooley’s place. So… This is what concerns me: What if we haven’t even started identifying everyone in Cooley’s operation? What if Clark ran into someone down there? He could be in serious trouble.”
The sound of Dickerson starting his car rumbled in the background of the call. It would be at least an hour before Dickerson made it all the way to Fairview.
“Call me when you get to town.” He disconnected. What to do for an hour? Drive around Fairview? That wouldn’t look suspicious. Not a bit.
He took a right, intending to make a block, and headed into a residential neighborhood. That’s when he observed Courtney Crenshaw run across the street and slip between two houses, headed toward someone’s backyard.
He slowed as he passed. She’d already disappeared out of sight. Josh McCord’s truck was parked in front of one of them, but it wasn’t his house.
****
A dog barked several houses down the street, and Courtney wondered how long she could go undetected before one of Gray’s neighbors called the Fairview city cops on her. That bunch was far less understanding about personal dilemmas like the one she faced than the county cops. She’d tangled with Fairview police before and had no desire to do that again.
To Courtney’s surprise, she’d watched as Josh had used a key to let himself into Gray’s house. Ashley Rivers had followed him inside without any hesitation. The two of them acted as if they had every right to be there. Obviously invited guests.
She’d never liked Ashley. In Courtney’s opinion, the tangled mix of conflicting vibes the woman sent Josh’s way did nothing but keep him confused, hurting, and lonely. And inebriated.
Thankfully, night had arrived so Courtney could once again hide in the shadows. She was getting tired of all the clandestine activities. Waiting was tedious and being in the dark made her nervous. Any moment, one of Gray’s neighbors could come home from work or stick their head out their front door, and Courtney would be busted. After another hour of waiting for Gray to arrive, Courtney surmised that Gray wasn’t going to meet Josh and Ashley. Why were they in his house without him, and where was Gray?
Her curiosity demanded that she find out what was going on, so she slipped out from behind the large Azalea bush in front of a neighbor’s house, walked in a wide circle around the front so she wouldn’t be seen through the large plate glass window, and crept along the side until she came to the gate. The latch creaked as she lifted it and pushed the gate open. The house had probably been built in the sixties, and the cyclone fence that contained the backyard was no doubt from the same era.
Sneaking up on the double sliding glass doors, she peeked through a slit in the floor-to-ceiling curtains. Ashley and Josh seemed deep in conversation. The various emotions crossing their faces gave Courtney the impression their discussion was intense. Regret flickered across Ashley’s face as anger clouded Josh’s. Then it was Ashley’s turn to get mad.
Courtney strained to hear them, but their words didn’t penetrate the glass as more than a muffled bunch of mumbling. How many times recently had she hidden in the shadows while she watched other people live their lives? She’d seen it all. Good. Bad. Ugly. Deadly. For some reason, she remained on the periphery of mainstream living. Being with Jared had thrown her so far out of normal that she wondered if she would ever find her way back to a familiar state of abnormal.
She should feel bad for eavesdropping on a private conversation once again, but the circumstances of her life had pushed her past minor ethical concerns. She had long ago wandered into the land of doing what she needed to do to survive.
Josh turned and headed toward the sliding door. Courtney rushed to hide behind a metal shed. He slid open the glass and walked through to the center of the backyard.
Ashley followed him, her face a contorted mix of pain, anger, and confusion. “I’m sorry, Josh. I know I should have told you all this years ago—”
“You should have told me when it happened.”
They were talking loud enough Courtney heard every word they said, the emotion in their voices carrying on the slight spring breeze. Weren’t they concerned about the neighbors hearing them? Obviously not.
Ashley made an irritated noise. “I’m trying to be fair here, Josh, but you seem to forget I wouldn’t have been in that situation if you hadn’t left me alone in the Hot Spot that night so that Jeremy Haskins could make me his next victim.”
She was one of Jeremy’s victims? That explained a lot. Jeremy used girls and discarded them like soiled tissues. The day he disappeared had been a good day for the women of Hill County. Jeremy was in the same grade in school as Josh, Ashley, Gray, and Courtney, all of them within twelve months of each other, all of them graduating from the same high school.
Courtney knew of several girls who weren’t allowed to name Jeremy as their baby’s father. She cringed at the memory of her own encounter with Jeremy. She had come so close to being Jeremy’s next victim, but Josh had gotten into the middle of their conversation, and Jeremy had never shown any interest in asking her out again. That might have been the best thing that had ever happened to her in her whole ill-fated life.
Discomfort assaulted what little remaining conscience Courtney still had as Josh and Ashley worked through the horrible events that had torn them apart years before. In the end, she was happy for Josh that Ashley was willing to start over and try again, but she couldn’t be happy for Ashley. The woman had hurt the only real friend Courtney had ever had, and she couldn’t forgive and forget too easily.
Their next words were lost on a series of strong gusts from the rising wind.
The sliding door into the kitchen opened again and Gray stuck his head out. Courtney tensed a little, wondering how Josh would react to the sudden intrusion of Gray on his and Ashley’s intense moment. Josh actually seemed relieved that Gray had arrived.
“Hey, Josh. I just found your messages about Cherish Duncan. Tell me what’s happened on the case so far.”
Cherish Duncan? Courtney jerked at the shock of hearing the name. Had something happened to Cherish after she’d left Cooley’s place?
The three of them went back into the house and whatever they were going to say would be hard for her to hear, so she eased out from behind the shed, rushed through the gate, and ran straight into Shaw Bennett’s arms. Instinct kicked in and she twisted to escape his embrace.
The skin where his fingers curled around her upper arms tingled, and a shot of fire raced through her veins. She glanced up into his eyes, and she was completely lost in his direct gaze. The moment seemed to lock in time and space. Everything that had happened before that moment was insignificant. Everything that would happen afterwards would define the rest of her life. She knew this. Deep in her gut. Something primal and basic flashed between them. An understanding. A soul-to-soul communication.
“What are you doing here? Whose house is this?” he whispered as if they were conspirators.
She hesitated. Her heart said she could trust this man, but her head told her she couldn’t trust anyone. Her head should win the debate. She didn’t know the man. She’d only met him once before, and it was obvious the two of them were on opposite sides of the law. Her past associations had put her in bad places doing things for which this man arrested people. He should feel like the enemy. Instead, he felt like a friend, a really good friend. The kind of friend that could turn into something more than a friend.
She had come to Gray’s house, hoping Gray could tell her where to find Shaw Bennett so that she could beg this perfect stranger for his help. So why was she fighting him?
To Courtney, trusting him seemed downright crazy.
She should be running, but she had no place to go, so she stopped struggling. “I lost your card, so I
was going to ask Gray to call you for me. This is his house, in case you didn’t know.”
He lifted his eyebrows. “You were?” He smiled. “I knew you would. Eventually.”
He didn’t have to act cocky. She hadn’t known that she’d call him until a few hours ago. How could he know what she’d do? She knew herself well enough to know she could be unpredictable.
She pushed back from him and held out her arms.
His eyebrows drew together across the bridge of his nose. “What are you doing?”
“Arrest me, please.”
He put a hand over his mouth, obviously stifling laughter. “Now, why would I do that? Have you broken any laws?”
A surge of anger, wrapped in a natty blanket of bitterness, swelled inside her. “Yes, I have, and I think you know that.”
He lowered his arm and studied her. “Were you the one who stabbed Jared Crenshaw?”
Wow, the guy could get right to the point. “With a screwdriver.” No need to lie. He obviously had the evidence or he wouldn’t have made the accusation.
His amusement vanished completely, replaced with a dead serious expression. “Self-defense?”
She blinked back an unexpected tear. “He was hitting me.”
“Did you kill him?”
His question shocked her. So unexpected. She laughed, and her laughter sounded forced and filled with apprehension. “You know I didn’t.”
He nodded. “No, you didn’t, did you? But I bet you felt like you wanted to often enough. Am I right?”
What should she say to that? It was true. She’d dreamed of doing Jared bodily harm a kajillion times.
“I was tired of him hitting me.”
“Why did you stay with him then?” The question blazed from his eyes. The query seemed to go beyond a professional interest.
For a split second, Courtney almost believed the man cared about her. But that was a stupid feeling. He didn’t know her. And feelings lied.
Before she could answer, he glanced toward Gray’s house. “Come on, let’s get out of here and go somewhere to talk before they see us. There’s a diner down the highway.”
Shaw's Landing (Haunted Hearts Series Book 4) Page 11