Jade and Max stood before him. Each of them carried a shovel.
“We thought you might need some help,” Jade said. “We want to help. I hope that’s okay.”
Matthew didn’t know what to say. It was difficult to speak past all the emotions building inside of him. He simply nodded and Jade nodded back in response. She took up a spot on the other side of Matthew and started digging vigorously into the earth. Max walked by Matthew and stopped for a moment. His voice was soft with its own kind of sorrow when he said, “I’m so sorry for your loss. If you need anything, I’m here. For all of you.”
Thickness filled Matthew’s throat. He tried to say something, but it only came out as a grunt. Max seemed to understand, though. He took up another spot nearby and began to dig. Matthew was expecting the pair of them to start speaking about David, or to share their own memories and experiences with him. He both wanted to hear them and wished that the silence would continue. Luckily for him, the silence continued, filled with the sounds of their labor, and Matthew couldn’t help but be grateful for the quiet company.
Time passed, and the hole got bigger and deeper. The task seemed easier now that there were three people tackling it. Finally, after a time, he felt as if he could speak without breaking down. He wanted to hear what Jade and Max had to say. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to hear about their memories of David, but the sound of human companionship would be welcome. Maybe, if they spoke, it would clear out the claustrophobic feeling that was creeping around him. It was a feeling composed of guilt for not spending as much time as possible with David, as well as shame for his own obsession with restoring the well. He had to try. If he kept thinking about all the things he should have done, he would drown under the regret.
He cleared his throat. “So how…”
But he trailed off, not even knowing how to start this conversation. Small talk seemed paltry. Talking about his feelings or about his father would mire him in grief. What was there to speak about in a moment of such sorrow? He felt stuck between a rock and a hard place.
“Once, when I was in the cartel,” Max said, as he tossed more dirt and chopped-up roots into a pile.
“This better not be the start of a joke,” Jade warned.
“It’s not. I promise, but it is a really dumb story. I don’t know why I’m even telling you both this.”
“Go on,” Matthew encouraged him. Anything to stop the thoughts that were currently overwhelming him.
“Okay, but don’t judge me for it. I used to work closely with this guy who was four times my size. Big beefy dude. We used to call him Smalls. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s just important for things to be confusing. For some reason, though, Smalls was given the task of transferring drugs between states, but he had to take a plane to do it.”
“Are you sure this is appropriate?” Jade hedged.
Max snorted. “Probably not. But do you want to know the rest of the story or not?”
“Yes,” Matthew said. “Keep going.”
“Well, a storm roared through, making the plane divert from Chicago into some po-dunk town way off course. Now, Smalls was freaking out. He was carting a lot of drugs, and if he didn’t get to his destination, he’d have a lot of powerful men angry at him. They most likely would have thought he planned to take the drugs and make a bunch of money off of them without giving them their due cut.”
“This is the weirdest story to tell,” Jade said.
“I’m ignoring that comment,” Max said. “So this plane lands in the middle of nowhere. But, for some reason, Smalls had been sitting next to this old woman the whole flight. This woman had never flown a day in her life and was moving to be closer to her daughter. The whole flight she was cursing up a storm and Smalls was trying to keep her from having a heart attack. She was terrified no one would come and get her because she swore once the plane landed, she wasn’t getting back on it. So Smalls comforts her and takes this elderly lady under his wing. He helps her off the plane and carries her luggage and then ushers her to the small complimentary coffee cart.”
“Oh geez,” Jade said, shoveling the dirt into the pile.
“Yeah, I know. So Smalls is there, sweating bullets because he’s carrying tons of drugs, but yet he’s suddenly the hero of the hour because this half-blind woman is now convinced he was sent to her to guide her through this trying time. Everyone one the plane thinks he’s the nicest, kindest man to ever walk the planet because he was so gentle with the woman.”
“She’s half-blind now?” Jade asked with a sharp smile.
“Swear to god,” Max said. “So Smalls, this fridge-shaped huge guy, is talking about crochet with little Nanette, when the police come a-calling.”
“Oh no,” Jade said, sounding genuinely concerned for Smalls.
“He’s arrested, but Nanette was so upset that they confiscated the drugs and then let him fly with her all the way to their original destination, where the police were waiting for him. After he escorted her off the plane and she tried to introduce him to her daughter, the police took him away. They asked him, ‘Why were you helping her?’ and he said, ‘I never got the chance to be anyone’s grandson before.’”
Jade laughed and touched her heart. “That’s...sweet, actually.”
“Smalls looked scary, but he was a gentle giant,” Max finished.
Matthew chuckled and wiped away tears. “Good story, Max.”
Max grinned, confident that his story had worked, and launched into another tale. Matthew didn’t follow this one, and instead let the comforting talk wash over him. Jade and Max started up a friendly banter that soon had Jade genuinely laughing at Max and both of them sharing grins.
“Ah, well, I know these cartel tales are funny—if the world was working, I’d write a book and sell it for a million dollars—but in all honesty, I thought my life was over when I was arrested. After I cut the deal with the DA, I was terrified I was going to be killed in prison. Every day was filled with fear. But what scared me even more was that I had lost my family. I was convinced Kathleen would never speak to me again. I managed to survive, and if I do say so myself, I think I’ve matured since then, too.”
“God forbid,” Jade joked.
“God forbid,” Max echoed. “What I did discover, though, is that just because I made a mistake that snowballed into a terrible life decision and I was paying the price for those decisions, I knew I would one day find a way to move forward.”
Jade went quiet. Matthew focused on the task at hand, knowing that Max was directing this last portion at him, but he didn’t want to look up from digging the grave.
“I just had to find a new way forward and never forget where I had come from,” Max said. “We all will. Even though something tragic happened today, we will find a way to get through it together and remember how this day shaped us. We will support each other no matter what. No one is alone.”
The heartache was back inside of Matthew, but this time it wasn’t completely full of grief. There was love in there too.
26
Matthew entered the hotel exhausted and dirt-stained, just in time to see that Kathleen and Ruth had finished preparing David for his final resting place. He watched them sew the last stitch in the shroud that once was a white sheet, before the tears made it hard for him to see. Trudging upstairs, he tried to freshen up as much as he could. He poured precious water into a bowl and used a towel to wipe away the sweat and grit from his skin. Taking a deep breath, he tried to find his nicest clothes. It wasn’t much—he had gotten rid of most of his suits, but he had a nice button-up that would go with his jeans. He wished he could look better for his father, but he knew that David wouldn’t care. Just as long as he was there…that was all that mattered to his father, both now and then.
Walking downstairs, he saw that the rest of his family had had the same idea. Kathleen wore a simple sundress that flared out at the waist. Ruth had chosen a shirtdress in one of her favored styles. Max wore some cast-off clothes from the gun club that
looked freshly laundered if a bit old. Allison and Patton both wore jeans, but Allison had a long button-up that seemed to mimic Matthew’s with a feminine slant. Her hair was up in a tidy ponytail. Tears poured down Patton’s cheeks as he pulled down on his polo shirt. Together, the Riley clan lined up around David’s body and they all helped carry him out to the tree where he would be buried.
The sun was setting, casting its light in shafts of orange, pink, and yellow. The tree looked strong and steady against the sky. Matthew’s focus was intent on the ground in front of him and when he looked up, he saw new shadows waiting around the trunk. For a moment, Matthew almost stumbled when he made out that the shadows were Wyatt, Marcus, and Shawn. Shawn held two rifles in his hand while Wyatt balanced another one on his shoulder.
Matthew couldn’t believe it. David hadn’t really been close with anyone from the gun club, so it surprised Matthew that some of the members had shown up in the first place. As soon as the Rileys arrived at the plot, they lowered David’s body beside the grave.
Matthew looked up at Wyatt. “I’m glad you’re here,” he blurted out. “How did you even know?”
Wyatt looked bashful. Matthew noticed that he was wearing his best clothes. Even Shawn was dressed in a nice shirt with a blazer. Marcus had made the effort to tame his curly beard.
“Nikki came back to the gun club crying her eyes out,” Wyatt admitted. “She told us about what had happened. We all decided to come pay our respects. David was in the Army, and it seems only right that we respect one who served like we did. We wanted to be here for him and for you and your family.”
Matthew cleared his throat, blinking back a new wash of tears. “Even after…even after what I said?” he said in a husky voice.
“Of course. We didn’t want David to go into the ground without something of a military burial. He earned it. We honor our own.”
“Thank you,” Matthew said.
“We’re so honored you’re here,” Ruth said, taking a step forward and laying a hand on Wyatt’s arm. “Thank you. Thank you to all of you for being here. I don’t know much about military burials, but I know David would have loved this. He was always so proud to have served his country.”
Marcus took a step forward and held out a triangle to her. Ruth took the offering, which Matthew realized was a folded flag. The colors were faded. He wondered if Wyatt and the others had taken down the flag from the gun club, and the gift made his heart ache. It meant so much to him that the gun club was doing this to honor David.
Ruth held the folded flag close to her chest and clutched it tightly. Her shoulders shook as she tried to hide her tears. Marcus stepped back with stiff, sharp motions and took the second rifle from Shawn. Wyatt stepped back too, and then as one, they took aim toward the sky. They shot one bullet each. The sound exploded from their guns and echoed all around them. Then, the three of them sharply moved their guns down and back against their shoulders, ending with a salute.
“It’s usually a twenty-one-gun salute,” Marcus said apologetically. “But because we’re low on bullets, we wanted to save our ammunition.”
“I completely understand,” Ruth said, even as she tried to smile through her tears. “It was wonderful. Thank you.”
“Would anyone like to say something?” Kathleen softly urged from behind them.
“I would,” Ruth said, and Matthew felt a rush of relief. He wasn’t sure he could speak just yet.
Ruth took a step forward and seemed to clutch the flag even tighter to her chest. “David was the first man I truly loved,” she said. “His friend was a friend of mine, and we met at a silly youth dance. I thought he was so kind and sweet. Later, after we began to see each other, I realized he would listen to me. When we married, I realized that his kindness and support would never waver. We had an amazing son and two wonderful grandchildren. I fell in love with him more and more each day. My life won’t be the same without him. I will miss him until the day I join him, but I know he loved all of us fiercely.”
Ruth started to cry in earnest and had to back away. Matthew swallowed hard, but he took a step forward and tried to fight past the heartache to say what he needed to say. “My father was the best man I’ve ever known,” he said. “He was a leader among men. Even though we had our differences, he was always there for me. He guided me when I was lost and was my strength when I was weak. He always had the answers for me. His wisdom and judgment will be sorely missed. When I last spoke with him, he told me he was proud of me and taught me one last lesson. What it meant to be a father. What it meant to be a leader. I will use every lesson he ever taught me.”
Matthew paused and wiped away the tears streaming from his eyes. “Thank you all for coming here,” he concluded. “It meant the world to us. It would have meant the world to my father.”
He saw Wyatt nod in sympathy and felt a pat on the back from his wife. “We’re going to take Ruth back inside,” she said softly. “I don’t think she should see this next part.”
“Okay,” Matthew said. “I’m going to stay.”
Kathleen leaned up and kissed his cheek. “I love you.”
As soon as they were gone, the men from the gun club came forward, and with their added strength, they managed to lower David into the ground. Once it was finished, Matthew looked up at Wyatt. He realized he needed to apologize to Wyatt once more for everything that he had said.
“Thank you again for being here,” he started. “All of you. It means more than I can say. Wyatt, what we discussed earlier...I should have known better. I know no one here is responsible for the sabotage or that anyone would ever do anything to jeopardize our future here. I am so sorry for jumping to conclusions. I hope you feel the same and can forgive me.”
“I do,” Wyatt said simply. “All is forgiven and water under the bridge. I know you didn’t mean it. But now we do need to figure out who could have done such a thing and who might be trying to ruin our progress in the future.”
“I think I have an idea,” Matthew said. Now that he thought about it, it all seemed so obvious.
“You do?” Wyatt asked, surprised.
“Who else would benefit from both the gun club and the hotel failing? Who else would have the stupid guts to put anyone in danger like that?”
Wyatt’s eyes hardened as realization dawned on him.
“Samuel West,” Matthew concluded.
27
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Jade asked for the third time that morning.
Matthew gave her an exasperated look, but he understood her caution. The problem they faced had been his constant companion, and he had thought on it all night following David’s funeral. In his mind, he heard his father drilling into him that he needed to figure out what was behind these so-called accidents. That they weren’t accidents at all, and if he wasn’t careful, they would lead to someone getting really hurt.
“It has to be Samuel,” he reiterated. “Who else knows this place as well as he does?” He looked around the hotel as if to encompass not just the dining room, but the whole property. “Who else would be able to sneak around the grounds under our noses and create havoc with everything we own? Who else has it in for us?”
“It does make sense,” Wyatt said as he scooted one of the dining room chairs back from the rectangular table and sat heavily in it. He ran his hands through his hair. Matthew wondered if the Marine had gotten more salt and pepper since they’d met. Wyatt eyed the guns they’d laid out on the table as if sizing them up. “No one at the gun club would dare fray the rope on the rigging. I can’t think of a single soul that would want to put Max in harm’s way like that.”
“I can’t believe he fell down the well,” Jade said and looked unusually green at the thought. “He could have died.”
“Exactly,” Matthew said and spread his hands out wide. “I know the two of you don’t really see eye to eye…”
“It’s not that,” Jade said sharply. “Your brother-in-law is a seven-layer cake of bad decisions an
d selfishness and really dumb jokes, but he doesn’t deserve to…to suffocate or drown in the bottom of a well. Max is just...” Jade sighed. “Well, he’s Max.”
“I’m glad you’re in agreement,” Matthew said, raising an eyebrow at her and biting down on a chuckle. “I don’t think anyone has ever summed up Max’s personality so well.”
Jade shot him a weak grin. “Maybe his past girlfriends.”
“Sure,” Matthew shrugged. “Although there hasn’t been one of those in a long time. For someone who is usually so gregarious, he’s strangely been the lone wolf a lot in his life.”
Jade bit her lip as if she didn’t want to find that fact interesting.
“But the fact remains,” Matthew continued, “that if our saboteur isn’t a member of the gun club, it paints us living here at the hotel in a bad light. I don’t believe that anyone at the hotel right now would be stupid enough or reckless enough—”
“I think the word you’re looking for there is ‘cruel,’ Matt,” Wyatt chimed in.
“—or cruel enough to put Max in danger. No matter how selfish or dumb his previous joke was. Not to mention destroy Allison’s garden, especially after all the hard work she put into making it grow. None of those factors add up, but one person would absolutely do all of those things.”
“Samuel West,” Wyatt answered for Matthew. “He’s wanted this property since it went up for sale. He thinks it’s his by right because of some rambling his old man used to do about how they were owed this land. And judging by what he did to Ruth and Patton, he won’t stop trying to get what he thinks is his.”
Jade sighed and took out her ponytail, shaking her dark hair loose. She rubbed her scalp as if it ached. “Okay, I get your point,” she said. “But are we really sure that sneaking into Galena to shake him down first is a good idea?”
EMP Catastrophe | Book 3 | Erupting Chaos Page 17