“That’s strange,” Cynthia mused. “The farmhands usually stay out there all day. They even eat their lunch out there on most days. Only Tom and Jackson come in at noon, then head out again.” Cynthia pondered that for a moment, then added, “If you saw them there every day, then Tom and Jackson must be working on something at the house. I’ll find out what it is and how long before they’re finished.”
“Look, I’m not going to hang around here forever. I’ll do what I have to do, whether anyone else is there or not.”
Cynthia suddenly became alarmed. “You can’t do anything that would harm Jackson. You promised me.”
“Then get rid of him if you care so much. Because I don’t give a damn what happens to Jackson Coley.”
“That might take me a while. Maybe if I tell her again that there’s someone still looking for her and make it sound even more threatening, she’ll leave on her own,” Cynthia suggested.
“You told her someone’s here looking for her?” he asked incredulously.
“Well, y-yes,” Cynthia stammered. “I thought she’d pack and run out of there immediately. And I figured you’d be waiting for her.”
“God, you really are stupid,” he growled. He banged his fist on the table and glared at her with menacing eyes. “No wonder Tom and Jackson are always hanging around there now. If I didn’t still need your help, I’d break your idiotic little neck.”
“I’ll get rid of them, I promise. Just give me a little more time,” Cynthia pleaded, unconsciously placing a hand to her neck.
“The truth is, I would rather get her when she’s alone. It’ll be much easier that way. I’ll give you till the end of the week. After that, I’m going after her, and I don’t care if she’s got a freakin’ army of men out there. I’ll do what I have to. She owes me and she’s going to pay up.”
“I’ve already put a plan into motion, a way to get both Tom and Jackson away from the house,” Cynthia spurted out, nodding her head nervously. “I can do it.”
He rose from his chair and walked over to where she sat. He stood beside her and ran his hand through her hair, twirling the blonde ends in his fingers. He leaned his face next to hers and whispered hoarsely in her ear, “Just make sure you do, sweetheart.” He yanked on the strands of hair still grasped in his fingers. “Because I’m getting sick of hanging around this one-horse town. The ‘toilet bowl of America,’” he laughed, remembering, and had to agree with the assessment still. “The longer I’m here, the more impatient I get.” He straightened and jerked her hair again, bringing her face into his midsection. He held it there, her teeth grinding against his belt buckle. “And you wouldn’t want me to lose my patience, would you?”
Cynthia shook her head as he released her. “N-no,” she stuttered. “I’ll bring her to you myself if I have to. I almost had her the other night.”
“What do you mean?”
“She asked me to pick her up and take her to the bus station.. I went over there to get her. I was going to bring her back here and lock her in that old packhouse nobody uses anymore and leave her there until you showed up again. But Jackson refused to let her go. If I can’t get Jackson and Tom away from the house soon, I’ll do what I have to convince her to let me take her to the bus station. Then she’ll be all yours. I promise, one way or another, I’ll get her for you.”
“That’s a good girl.” He walked to the door and opened it.
Cynthia stood and backed toward the entrance to the hallway, wanting to secure a safe exit for herself if she had to, though she doubted she could escape him by running through the house. “Give me your cell phone number,” she said weakly, “and I’ll let you know when she’s over there alone or if I’ve got her in the packhouse.”
“No,” he said over his shoulder as he walked through the back door, “I’ll call you.” He paused then and turned to grin at her. “Or maybe I’ll just stop by here more often, see how you’re progressing. I’ve grown fond of our little visits.” With that, he shut the door and lumbered down the back steps.
Cynthia ran to the door, making sure the catch had locked when he shut it, then turned the deadbolt, as well. She watched him through the window as he climbed into his car. Ten minutes later, long after he had driven away, she still stood at the door, the tremor of panic that had exploded at her every nerve ending finally subsiding to a mere, frightened shiver.
≈≈≈
On Wednesday morning, Lan Bullard, Chief of Police of Logan City, South Carolina, emerged from his patrol car and hitched the waist of his pants up over his belly. He walked to the back porch of the Coley house, but before he could knock, Jackson opened the screen door and extended his hand.
“Good to see you, Lan. Come on in.”
Chief Bullard shook Jackson’s hand and ambled up the steps and on into the kitchen. He saw that Casey Anne, Tom and the new girl, Kendall, had already seated themselves around the dining table. He took a chair at one end of the table, while Jackson sat down at the other.
“Well, I haven’t got too much to tell y’all at this point.” Chief Bullard propped his elbow on the table and ran his hand back and forth across his chin. The stubble there bristled in his palm like the sound of brick on sandpaper. “Since you called me, Jackson, I’ve been able to make a few inquiries, but haven’t learned much yet. I’ve asked around town. Nobody’s seen a stranger anywhere around here. Not since Kendall came to town, anyway. I talked to Dottie at the Rest Inn and Howard and Darlene Griffin at the café, and every clerk at Thompson’s Grocery. If there’s anyone lurking about, he ain’t eatin’ or sleepin’ here.”
Jackson leaned forward in his chair. “Did you talk to Cynthia yet?”
“Yep, sure did. I asked her to describe the man that came to her door, and wouldn’t you know it, she can’t seem to remember a thing he looked like.”
Casey rolled her eyes. “I didn’t expect she’d be any help.”
“Funny thing is,” Chief Bullard said, “she seemed to remember all of a sudden that he was a reporter doing some kind of human interest story on Kendall. That’s all it was, she said.”
“You believe her?” Jackson asked.
“Don’t know. I’ve got Gail checking on that now. She’s calling the Athens Daily News first to see if there’s anyone there on an assignment like that. Then she’ll call the other papers around the state if she can’t find out anything in Athens.”
“Gail?” Kendall spoke for the first time since Chief Bullard’s arrival.
He turned and looked her square in the face and smiled. “My secretary. And don’t you worry, little lady, we’ll get this squared away soon enough. I’m startin’ to think maybe Cynthia blew this all out of proportion. Maybe it was just a reporter, and she wanted to scare you a little bit.” He turned and looked at Jackson. “Cynthia can be like that some times, can’t she?”
Jackson snorted. “Well, what about the name Ted Kendall? Have you come up with anything yet?”
“No, not yet, son. But Gail’s working on that, too. She’s got a girlfriend works with the Athens Police and she’s promised Gail she’ll do some research as discreetly as she can. If there’s anything to find out, we should know in a day or two.” Chief Bullard wiped his palm across his chin again and leaned back in his chair. “Sometimes, I wonder if I shouldn’t just go ahead and make Gail the chief. Maybe she’d let me answer the phones for her.” He laughed and rubbed his belly.
“Thanks for doing this, Lan,” Jackson said.
Chief Bullard hefted his weight out of his chair and stood. “In the meantime, I agree that it would be a good idea, Jackson, for you and Tom to stay near the house for a while. And you let me know if anything else comes up.”
“Of course.” Jackson stood and walked over to the chief and shook his hand again. “Thanks for coming out.”
Kendall reached out and touched Chief Bullard’s arm. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your handling things this way. But I have to ask, why are you doing this?”
Chief Bullard looked down at her as she sat, looking meekly up at him. “Little lady, I’ve known the Coley family my whole life. Jonathan Coley was best man at my wedding. I’ve known Jackson and Casey Anne here since the day they were born. They’re good people. I suspect you’ve come to find that out yourself. They need something, all they got to do is ask.”
Chief Bullard nodded his head at all of them, turned and walked out the door onto the porch. As he pushed through the screen door, he called over his shoulder, “I’ll be in touch.”
≈≈≈
Jackson hung up the phone and stood silently for a moment, a grim look on his face. Casey watched him as she sat at the kitchen table.
“Well?” she asked.
“The doctor’s appointment is Friday morning at eleven-fifteen. Cynthia insisted on meeting me there, which is all well and good. I don’t know that I could stand her banal babbling all the way to Athens and back,” Jackson said.
“You don’t really think she’s pregnant, do you?” Casey asked. The two of them were in the kitchen alone. It was Wednesday afternoon and Tom was out at the barn unloading bales of hay, Kendall in her room reading. Both Jackson and Tom maintained their vigil at the house, still wary of a prospective stranger showing up intending harm to either Kendall or Casey, or both.
“I don’t know what to think anymore,” Jackson answered. “I can’t say it’s not possible. But she’s not exactly the most trustworthy person I’ve ever known.”
“Well, I won’t ask the obvious, then.”
“You mean, then why did I sleep with her in the first place?” Jackson uttered a low, derisive laugh. “Sometimes I have to ask myself why I did anything I’ve done in the last six years.”
Casey hesitated, not sure this was the right time to ask the more important question, but she wanted to know. “If she’s pregnant, what are you going to do?”
“If she’s pregnant,” Jackson sighed heavily and sat down at the table next to Casey, “I guess I’m going to marry her.”
Casey’s mouth fell open. “Have you lost your mind? There are other ways to remedy the situation, Jackson. I don’t think marrying Cynthia is the more desirable one.”
“Well, what would you have me do?” Jackson stared at her, feeling a little annoyed. “I’m certainly not going to ask her to have an abortion. I would never ask her to do that. I wouldn’t want her to do that. And I’m not going to father a child and have it born out of wedlock. This child will have my name, will be born into a family, not to a single, unwed mother.”
“You can be a good father to a child without marrying Cynthia. This child, if there is one, will have Tom and me, as well as you, and for crying out loud, Cynthia lives on the farm right next to ours. It’s not as if you wouldn’t be able to spend all the time you wanted with your child.”
Jackson continued staring indignantly at Casey. “You think I’m going to allow this child to grow up with everyone in the community saying, ‘there goes Jackson Coley’s bastard child’ while I just go about my business as if it doesn’t matter?”
Casey lowered her face then and said quietly, “I know. You’re right. It’s the right thing to do.” She hesitated, then asked, “But what about Kendall?”
“I think I’ve always known she wasn’t my future,” he said faintly, staring out of the window above the kitchen table. “I always knew that was a dangerous road I was going down. Even if Cynthia’s not pregnant, there are so many unanswered questions with Kendall, so many things or people who could draw her back to where she belongs.”
“She belongs here.”
Jackson turned and smiled at Casey. “You’ll miss her, won’t you?”
“Of course. Won’t you?”
The smile faded from his lips as he turned once again to gaze out the window. “More than you’ll ever know.”
“Don’t marry Cynthia,” Casey said, almost in a whisper. “We’ll think of some other way to work it out.”
“There is no other way, Case. I’m going to marry Cynthia and there’s no need for any further discussion about it.”
He caught a movement out of the corner of his eye then and slowly turned his head toward the back hallway. Kendall stood there in the doorway to the kitchen. He saw in her face an expression of sadness, but also one of resignation. It was as if she had known all along that it would come to this, had expected that Jackson would make no other decision than to marry Cynthia. There was really nothing he could say to her, nothing that would make it all right. He sat and watched her as she slowly turned around and retreated to her room.
≈≈≈
Friday morning came all too soon for Kendall. She knew Jackson was anxious to find out if Cynthia truly was carrying his child, but for Kendall it seemed like the beginning of an end she didn’t want to face. She didn’t know what she’d do with the rest of her life if her memory didn’t return. She only knew she couldn’t possibly stay here any longer if Jackson and Cynthia married. The thought of his marrying Cynthia sent a sad and tormenting shudder through Kendall’s heart. She paced from one end of the kitchen to the other, looking at the wall clock every few minutes. It was now ten thirty-five in the morning. Jackson had only left about five minutes earlier for the drive to the doctor’s office in Athens. Cynthia, of course, had called that morning to remind him of the appointment.
Casey had gone into town to do her usual weekly grocery shopping, which she always did on Friday morning. She would be home again before noon, in plenty of time to be here when Jackson returned from Athens. Kendall had considered going with her, if only for the distraction. She couldn’t bear the thought of waiting idly to hear of the pending outcome of Cynthia’s examination. But in the end, she had decided to remain at home. Her mood had been somber all morning, bordering on gloomy, and she thought it best to refrain from spreading this special joy of hers to Casey or the citizens of Logan City.
Tom was out in the barn, having insisted on staying close to the house, even though Kendall had protested. It had been over a week since Cynthia had informed them of the strange man who had asked questions of Kendall’s whereabouts, and Kendall was convinced that all of it had been a ploy on Cynthia’s part to encourage Kendall to leave. It had almost worked, too, Kendall thought, as she remembered the night Cynthia had waited in the car to take her to the bus station and how Jackson had refused to let her go. She almost wished now that he hadn’t stopped her. If she had left that night, all of this would be behind her now. She wouldn’t have to stand by and watch Jackson go through his own private torment, knowing there was nothing she could do to help him or ease his anguish.
She knew now that he didn’t love Cynthia, didn’t want to marry her, but that he would do what he felt was necessary for the child. The child. Kendall shook her head. She really didn’t believe there was a child. But even if there weren’t, would it make any difference? It wasn’t as if Jackson would marry Kendall instead. He couldn’t, even if he wanted to. She already had a husband, although God only knew who or where he was. She had a sudden, desperate need to find this ‘husband’ of hers, divorce him and then return to Logan City as quickly as possible. Of course, that wouldn’t make any sense, either, if Cynthia truly were pregnant. God, how did things get so messed up? She should have left long ago, before this ache for Jackson began burning inside of her.
The wall phone in the kitchen rang and Kendall nearly jumped out of her skin, though it was much too early for a call from Jackson. He probably wasn’t even halfway to Athens yet. She hurried over to the phone, anyway, and answered breathlessly, “Hello?”
The voice on the other end sent a quick shudder through her. She couldn’t understand why his voice seemed to bother her, but she didn’t give it much thought as he relayed his message. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her face turned pale as she nearly screamed, “Where did they take her?” Then, “I’ll tell him. He’s on his way.”
Kendall grabbed the car keys from the wall hook by the phone and raced out of the kitchen, a
cross the porch and down the steps. She nearly stumbled in her haste, but managed to right herself and sped across the yard, shouting Tom’s name as she went. Tom emerged from the barn and hurried toward her.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
Kendall shoved the car keys at him. “It’s Casey. There’s been an accident. They’ve taken her to Athens General Hospital.”
Tom’s face immediately became ashen as he turned and fled toward the car, shouting to her, “Go inside and grab the cell phone! We’ll call Jackson on the way. I’ll pull the car around front and meet you there!” He reached the driver’s door and realized that Kendall was not moving.
She stood in the yard, trembling, and shouted to him, “Jackson took the cell phone with him, in case we needed him. I’ll stay here and call him, then follow you in the truck!”
Tom hesitated. “I don’t want to leave you here alone.”
“Go!” Kendall shouted. “I’ll be fine!”
“But—”
“Don’t worry about me! Just go! I’m right behind you!”
With that, Tom practically dove into the car and sped down the gravel drive. Kendall watched him go, still trembling, fearful that Casey was seriously hurt, or worse. This couldn’t be happening. What more could possibly happen to this family? They had already been through so much. Jackson and Casey had lost their parents at such a young age, their older brother, James Lee, then running off. They probably figured that he, too, was dead after all these years. Then Jackson had lost his wife. The only family they had left was each other. She didn’t want to think about what would become of Jackson if he also lost his sister. She knew he wouldn’t be able to bear it. Kendall erased the terrifying thoughts from her mind and raced to the back porch. She entered the kitchen, jerked the handset from its cradle and dialed Jackson’s cell phone number. He answered on the first ring.
“Jackson, it’s Kendall,” she said as she tried to conceal the panic in her voice. “I don’t want you to do anything crazy like drive a hundred miles an hour, but I’ve just received a call that Casey’s been in an accident and has been taken to Athens General. Tom just left, and I’m following soon in the truck.”
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