Reflecting Love's Charms (Bellingwood Book 14)

by Diane Greenwood Muir

  Stu headed for the front door. "As soon as I find anything out, I'll let you know. And if you hear from Stephanie or Kayla..."

  "We’ll call," Polly said.

  He shook her hand, then Henry's and Jeff's. "Thanks for your help, Rebecca," he said and walked out the front door.

  "Are all the lights off?" Polly asked Rebecca.

  "We made sure." Rebecca moved toward the kitchen. "There's some meat and stuff in the refrigerator. Should we leave it or take it?"

  "Let's plan on coming back in a couple of days if they aren't home yet," Polly said. "We can clean out the fridge then."

  Rebecca's shoulders relaxed. "Thank you. I just can't believe this. Why would they leave without telling any of us?"

  "Because Stephanie wants everyone to be safe from whatever she's scared of," Jeff said.

  "I hope it's not her dad," Rebecca said. "He's a bad man."

  "Yes he is, honey." Henry put his arm around her shoulder. "Let's get out of here. Why don't I take the two of you up to the diner for lunch? Jeff, you're more than welcome to join us."

  He nodded and looked around the room one last time before leaving, as if the girls might just be hiding. "I'd best get back to the office. Thanks, though."

  Polly checked the front door after pulling it closed behind them, then followed Henry and Rebecca to the truck. Rebecca climbed into the back and pulled her seatbelt on. Polly hoped this was fixed before her birthday. Last year, Rebecca hadn't told anyone about the date and spent it quietly with her mother. Sarah Heater was so close to the end of her life during those days that she hadn't had the energy to ask anyone to help Rebecca celebrate. Polly wanted to do something special this year, but with Kayla gone, she wasn't sure how Rebecca would respond. Her daughter had been through so much and she was still a happy young girl. It had to work out. It just had to.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Lunch was much too quiet. Rebecca was distracted and forlorn, breaking Polly’s heart. How do you accept the fact that your best friend left town with no notice?

  "Do you want to go over to the house and see the hole I fell into?" Polly asked.

  "You fell in a hole?"

  Polly chuckled. "Yeah. A big room. There was a set of bones and..."

  Rebecca crinkled her forehead. "I don't believe it. You found a dead body at our house?"

  Henry reached across the table and put his hand down in front of Rebecca's plate. "We're pretty sure the bones are very old." He looked at Polly. "I need to pick up my truck, too."

  "That's right," she said. "I stole you from there. Do you suppose they’re still taking the scene apart?"

  "They'll be there for a while," he said with a smile. "But you can't work in that back yard until I'm sure there are no more holes for you to fall into. After that, Heath and I will clean up the rest of the concrete. I should have done that in the first place."

  "If you'd fallen down there with your bobcat, you could have seriously hurt yourself," Polly said. "I can't believe you managed to break up that floor without falling in."

  He nodded. "There but for the grace of God sometimes."

  Polly poked Rebecca. "There's a tunnel, too. I think it leads from that room back to the house. And since we found a still there, I'm betting somebody made whiskey and sold it in the hotel. How's that for a story?"

  "I can't wait to see it," Rebecca said. She pushed her plate back. "I'm done. Can we go now?"

  "Henry isn't finished yet," Polly admonished. "Be patient. We have all afternoon."

  "You mean I don't have to go back to school today?"

  "No," Polly said. "Not today. You've had enough. What did you tell them in the office, Henry?"

  "That we had a family emergency and she'd be gone for the rest of the day." He grinned at Rebecca. "I've got your back."

  She laughed at him and then slumped into her seat. "I just wish it wasn't because Kayla is gone. How could she just leave and not tell me where she was going?"

  "Something scared them pretty bad," Polly said. "All they could think about was getting away from whatever it was."

  "Will you call Deputy Decker later to find out who called Stephanie on her phone?"

  "I’ll ask. I don't know how much he'll tell me, but I promise that I'll ask." Polly pointed at Rebecca's hamburger which was only half eaten. "Do you want to eat that later or are you really done?"

  "Can I give it to Han and Obiwan?"

  "That sounds great," Henry said, and put the last few bites of his hamburger on her plate. "There, that's enough bites of burger to make the boys happy."

  Rebecca pointed to Polly's tenderloin. "You didn't eat very much of that either."

  "That's not for the dogs, though," Polly said. She'd cut the sandwich in half, knowing Heath would finish it when he got home this evening. He always came in the house ravenous and no matter what she fed him, he was also ready for dinner when it was served.

  "How was everything?" Lucy asked. She pointed at Rebecca's plate. "Your meal seems to have grown."

  "We're taking it home to Obiwan and Han," Rebecca said. "And that's for Heath. He eats everything."

  Lucy chuckled. "You have some lucky boys in your household. You take good care of them. Are you sure you don't want a sundae today?"

  Rebecca's eyes grew big. "No, we're going over to the house to see the hole that Polly fell in. She found bones and a still and a tunnel."

  "She did! I hadn't heard about that yet." Lucy smiled at Polly. "The grapevine failed me today. A whiskey still? How old do you think it is?"

  "It has to be pretty old. Nobody has been in there for decades."

  "My husband's granddaddy made moonshine back in the days of Prohibition," Lucy said. "More than a few farmers were doing that around here to keep their families fed. I'll have to ask him if he remembers any of the stories his father used to tell."

  "We were wondering if Bell House was a speakeasy," Polly said. "We can't figure out why the hotel went out of business so fast." She chuckled. "I wonder if those bones belong to Franklin Bell. Nobody knows where he went either. It would be too bad if he died down there because no one knew where he was."

  "Let me ask Greg tonight. If I find anything, I'll be sure to let you know. And maybe he can remember who some of the other families were that cooked whiskey. Who knows, there might be a really interesting story for you to tell over there." She picked up the plates. "I'll be back with your takeout in just a minute."

  As she walked away, Polly leaned across the table. "I didn't know she was married. Have I ever met Greg?"

  Henry shook his head. "No. He was in a bad accident. His lower body is paralyzed and he doesn't have much control of his arms. He also doesn't speak." His face grew soft. "But they have a good life. She's pretty wonderful to him and it doesn't seem to matter at all that he's different than the man she married."

  "That's so hard. Do they need anything?" Polly asked.

  "No, honey," Henry said with a smile. "They have a nurse that spends days with Greg when Lucy is working. And his old friends do what they can for him." He grimaced. "When he lets them."

  Polly sat back as Lucy returned to the table. She put a plastic bag filled with the takeout containers on the table in front of Rebecca and set the ticket beside it. "Joe had a screwed up hamburger that he was going to throw away. He told me to give it to your dogs, so it's in the container, too." She winked and handed Rebecca a smaller, paper bag. "I heard about your friend leaving town this morning. I'll bet your heart is hurting. You'll find some cookies in there. They won't fix it, but maybe they'll help." She reached down and gave Rebecca a quick hug. "She'll come home. I know Polly and Henry, and they'll find a way."

  "Thank you," Rebecca said, her eyes filling with tears. "I know they will. As long as we can find her, Polly and Henry will fix it."

  "Stay out of those deep holes, now, okay?" Lucy tapped Polly's shoulder as she walked to another table.

  "She's amazing," Polly said. "With all that she must have going on, she is always pos
itive and happy."

  Henry opened his wallet and put money on the table, then stood and stepped back while Polly and Rebecca got up and went ahead of him. The bell hanging on the front door clanged as they left and he took a deep breath. "I don't want to go back to work this afternoon, but I probably should."

  "You could play hooky with us," Rebecca said.

  "Let's go over to the house and show you the big hole in the ground, then we'll figure out what's happening next," Polly said.

  ~~~

  Rebecca had been suitably impressed with Polly's big hole, though they couldn't get very close. The Department of Criminal Investigation was still working in the underground room, mapping what they found and photographing everything in place before bringing it to the surface. After a short while, Rebecca grew bored.

  Henry and his father had gone back to the shop to do some brainstorming about the best way to cover the hole and protect it from storms that threatened to come through later in the week. It sounded as if Henry wanted to actually keep the room. Polly couldn't imagine what he'd do with it. She loved that man. He might not be interested in rushing through the renovations of the house, but that only meant he wanted to do it right. If the Bell House came with a tunnel leading to an old still, he was going to make sure the tunnel and room remained for years to come.

  "Can we just go home now?" Rebecca asked after they'd watched the activity for a while.

  "You don't want to do anything else today? Since you don't have to go back to school, we could do something fun."

  "I don't feel much like fun," she said. "I just want to go home and maybe hug the dogs."

  "I understand," Polly replied. "Andrew will be here in a couple of hours."

  "He doesn't know where I went either. I should have told him, but when Henry showed up, I just wanted to get out of there and see you."

  "Let's go home then. Who knows, maybe Jeff has more news."

  Rebecca drooped all the way to the truck. "This is the worst feeling ever," she said.

  "Missing your friend?"

  "I couldn't even prepare for it. I've moved before and left friends, but at least we had time to say goodbye. This is just..." Rebecca looked at Polly, her poor little face so sad. "It's too fast. And it's all wrong. They aren't going someplace better; they're running away for some terrible unknown reason."

  "I know," Polly said. "We're going to do everything we can to find out where they've gone and bring them back safely."

  "If they want to come back," Rebecca said. "Maybe they’ll find a better place and won't want to come back, not even to see me."

  "I love you, sweetie, but you're getting a little over-dramatic. You and I both know that Stephanie and Kayla wouldn't rush out of town unless it was for a drastic reason. It isn't about you."

  "It feels like it is."

  "Then you'd better check your feelings. You can be sad that Kayla's gone and you can miss her, but you don't get to make this worse just so you can get all emotional. Okay?"

  Rebecca huffed.

  Polly parked in the garage. "Go on upstairs. I want to talk to Jeff." She waited as Rebecca went inside and leaned back in the driver's seat. This was going to be a very long week. What a heck of a way to start it out. The morning had brought numerous questions and no answers. She hoped that answers started presenting themselves before more questions needed to be asked.

  Her phone buzzed with a text from Heath. "Do you mind if I go out with some friends for dinner after work tonight? I won't be late. We're just going for pizza."

  "Anybody interesting?"

  She waited for a reply and though it took longer than she expected, he responded with, "No. What do you mean?"

  "One of your girlfriends?"

  That got an immediate response. "I don't have a girlfriend. It's just a bunch of people."

  "Okay. Home by eight-thirty."

  "Thanks."

  Heath's social life had completely turned around these last few months. Last weekend was prom. She had expected him to settle on one girl as his date, but he ended up going with a large group of friends, some girls and a few boys. They'd gone to Ames for dinner, back to Boone for the prom and then when the after-prom activities were finished, many of them ended up at Sycamore House for breakfast. He and his brother had prepared the food, first asking permission to use the main kitchen downstairs. After sleeping most of the morning away, Heath had made sure everything was clean and back in place.

  He'd spent plenty of time earning their trust and Polly found she didn't worry quite so much about him. It was hard to believe he was finishing his junior year in high school. She wasn't ready for him to leave.

  Henry would scold her for thinking about those things. She should enjoy the moments they had right now and not dwell on what might happen in the future. Easier said than done.

  Polly climbed out of the truck and went inside, passing through the empty kitchen to the main office.

  "Hi there, Rachel. How are you doing in here?" she asked.

  "It's okay. Today was kind of a slow day, so this worked out," Rachel said. "I called a friend of mine and she's going to come answer phones tomorrow."

  "Thank you. Is Jeff available?" Polly nodded toward his closed door.

  Rachel nodded. "He said that I was supposed to buzz him if you showed up. He wants to talk to you."

  "No news about Stephanie and Kayla?"

  "No," Rachel said. "It's just awful. What could have made them run like that?"

  She pressed a button on the phone in front of her and Jeff answered, "Yes?"

  "Polly's here. Can I send her in?"

  "Yes, please."

  Polly smiled and opened Jeff's door, then closed it behind her when she walked inside. Before Stephanie, Rebecca’s mother had begun the task of clearing paper from Jeff’s office. Polly could easily remember being unable to find a place to sit on his sofa because of the stacks of papers he hadn't had time to file. But over the last year, he and Stephanie had redecorated the office, turning it into a comfortable space. There was even room for a round table for small meetings. A large whiteboard hung on the wall behind the table and the rest of the walls were adorned with city skyline prints from around the world.

  "Why are you hiding in here?" Polly asked.

  "I can't concentrate as it is," he replied. "It's easier not to have to listen to all of the noise out there."

  She glanced at the door. "It's quiet today. There's nobody in the building."

  He gave a half-hearted laugh. "I caught myself listening to Rachel answer the phone, wondering if one of the calls would be Stephanie. And we had some people in here working on the furnace in the basement. I didn't have to deal with them. Eliseo did, but still. I couldn't help but pay attention because I don't want to think about what is really bothering me."

  "I know," she said. "I have a girl upstairs who is just as useless."

  "I don't even want to go home tonight. What if Stephanie tries to call the office and no one is here?"

  "Now why would she do that?" Polly asked. "She's smart enough to know when the office is open. And she knows your phone number and Kayla knows mine."

  Jeff glared at her. "Do you think they really do? Or are all of those numbers programmed into her cell phone? Do you know my number? Do you even know Henry's?"

  Polly tried to come up with any of the phone numbers that she called regularly and couldn't. She shook her head. "That's terrible. I used to have everybody's phone number memorized. When did I give that up?"

  "I just keep pleading with that phone to ring," he said. "All she needs to do is tell us that they're going to be okay. No, that's not all. They need to trust us to take care of them." Jeff slammed his hand down on the desk, making Polly jump. "Damn it, she needs to trust me to take care of her. That girl is one of my best friends and she just ran off without even telling me what was going on."

  "I know," Polly said quietly. She leaned on the arm of the sofa, not knowing exactly what to say. She didn't realize that Jeff h
ad been that close to Stephanie. As far as she knew, he saw Stephanie as a younger sister, someone to guide and help. But with all that they did together, it made sense that they'd become good friends.

  He exhaled audibly. "Would you mind calling Stu?"

  "Sure? What do you want to know?"

  "I want to know what that call was that came into Stephanie's phone this morning. Who scared her?"

  Polly took her phone out and thought about the huge number of contacts she had. Losing all of these numbers would devastate her. She scrolled through the list and called the sheriff's department, asking to speak with Stu Decker. It took only a few minutes before he came on the line.

  "Hi Polly. You're asking for answers, aren't you?”

  "Just that number. Do you know whose it is?"

  "Yeah. It's not helpful. The call came from a convenience store in London, Ohio."

  "What's in London?"

  "We're still checking on a few things," Stu said.

  "What's in London, Stu?" she asked again.

  Jeff had started typing as soon as Polly mentioned the city name and turned his screen toward her.

  "I'm waiting for more information to come in," Stu replied.

  "The..." Polly leaned forward to read the screen. "Madison Correctional Institution? Did Stephanie's father escape?"

  "We're still asking questions."

  "You're being evasive. Do you think he called Stephanie and threatened her?"

  Stu took in a deep breath. "After Joey escaped from the mental facility last year, I don't want to assume it's happening again. But it looks like that could be what happened."

  "That poor girl. No wonder she ran. I can't imagine what he might have said to her."

  "We don't even know if he's coming this way," Stu said.

  "Come on," Polly replied. "If she ran, I think we can assume that she believes he's on his way to Iowa."

  "We'll talk to Chief Wallers, too."

  Polly sighed. "And damn it, he'll probably show up at Sycamore House because this is the last place she worked."

  "Aaron would tell you to stay out of this," Stu said.