The Road Home

by Patrick E. Craig

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Answers

  “I MUST START WITH THE SECRET PARTS,” Jerusha said out loud again. She looked at the corner she had torn open. The batting inside was shredded, and a large piece was missing, the piece she had used to start the kindling on fire that first night in the cabin. With her rotary scissors, she began to carefully trim away the matted and torn parts until the batting was ready to splice.

  She had used a double layer of soft batting to make the quilt warm and heavy, so she had to use a double piece basted together to patch the tear. The original quilt had been difficult to sew, but the finished product had been a masterpiece. Now she placed the square piece of double batting on the corner and arranged it so that it made a new corner but overlapped the old batting. Carefully she cut through the four layers of batting in a serpentine pattern. When she was finished, she butted the two pieces together and, using a whipstitch, began to join them. She had learned about using a curved cut when splicing batting years before, and she knew that the serpentine line would distract the eye and render the splice almost invisible. When she was finished she would hardly be able to tell the corner had been torn.

  As she worked she began to pray, and soon she realized the Lord was leading her in a conversation. It had been a long time since she had heard the trusted voice within her spirit.

  When I finished creating Jenny in the secret place of her mother’s innermost parts, she was perfect. But after she was born, things happened to her that were not My plan for her, and she was torn inside, just as this batting was torn. The hidden parts of her were damaged when she saw things a little girl should not have to see. I have been waiting to heal those torn parts all these years, and now the time has come.

  Jerusha then knew that she had been given an awesome responsibility when Jenny came into their lives, and yet as the years had gone by, she had forgotten that Jenny was not her birth child and that there was a part of her that Jerusha knew nothing about.

  “I should have prayed more. I should have asked You about Jenny’s past. Reuben and I should have understood that the missing part of her is a big part of who she is. O Lord, will You forgive me for being so blind?”

  Tears began to course down Jerusha’s cheeks as she laid the quilt down, knelt, and humbled herself before her God.

  Bobby sat at his desk. Johnny Hershberger sat across from him. It was dark outside, and the streetlights were on. It had started raining, and Bobby could hear the hissing of car tires in the water as they drove by. It had been two hours since they found Johnny, and Bobby could see that he was exhausted.

  Bobby watched him. He wouldn’t be a bad-looking kid if he’d lose the ponytail. Bobby noticed there was a tiny gash on his earlobe where the bullet from his rifle had nicked it on its way to Sal’s hand. Bobby smiled. I cut that one pretty close. Guess I need to get back on the range and practice a little.

  Bobby cleared his throat. “So tell me the story one more time, son. I want to make sure I have all the details.”

  “But, Sheriff! Jenny’s out there with those drug dealers. She’s in danger. If Sal doesn’t contact the rest of the gang soon they’ll—” He stopped cold at the thought.

  Bobby looked at the young man sternly. “Look, John—”

  “Jonathan. My name is Jonathan.”

  “Okay, Jonathan,” Bobby said. “I want to point some things out to you. You’re in a lot of trouble. First of all, you’re wanted back in San Francisco in connection with a murder.”

  “I already told you, I was just the driver,” Johnny said. “I needed some money to leave town, and it seemed like an easy way to make it. I didn’t know Shub was going to rip them off.”

  “Be that as it may,” Bobby said, “you are an accessory and a witness. Some folks back in Frisco have some questions for you. Then there’s the little matter of the fifty grand. If you weren’t part of the shakedown, how did you end up with the money?”

  “Look, I didn’t know I had the money. Shub threw the briefcase in the car when he got shot. I took off and left town that night. I didn’t even know what was in there until a couple of days later. After they almost caught up with me in Cleveland, I got scared and hid the money.”

  “That’s all well and good, and we’ll sort that out later. Now here’s the biggest part of my problem with you,” Bobby said quietly. “You have put Jenny in grave danger with your foolishness. Because of you, she’s in the hands of bad men. If anything happens to her, you’ll wish you’d never come to Wooster. I can promise you that.”

  Johnny shrank under Bobby’s gaze. “Sheriff, I’m truly sorry. I know what I’ve done was incredibly stupid, but I love Jenny and was just trying to help her. She needs to find out about her past, and it’s tearing her up inside. It seemed like nobody in her family was willing to help her. I mean, she helped me find out about my past, and when she did, I started to understand things about my life that have always puzzled me. It was like a door opened and I was able to walk into a place that I always longed for but never understood why. When she asked me to help her, I couldn’t turn her down. Later I realized that instead of helping her, I had put her in danger. I was telling her the truth about why I left San Francisco when Sal and his men caught up with us. I’m so afraid for her. You’ve got to do something. You can put me in jail, I don’t care, just find her.”

  Bobby looked at Johnny for a few moments without saying anything. Then he spoke.

  “Jonathan, I want to find Jenny, but I need to get these guys to cooperate. I’ve booked them and sent their information to San Francisco and New York, and I’m just waiting to get a response. This Sal character is a tough bird, and I don’t think we can crack him, so I want to work on Maxie. If I can tie him into the killing in Frisco, I may be able to shake him loose. We’ve still got a little time before the gang gets suspicious. Just settle down and let me handle this.”

  Bobby made his voice sound confident, and he could see Johnny begin to relax a little. But inside, Bobby wasn’t so sure it would work out. He reached for the intercom button and punched Bull’s extension.

  “Yeah, Boss.”

  “Bull, have you got any info back from San Francisco or New York?”

  “Something’s just coming over the wire now, Bobby. I’ll check it out and bring it in.”

  “Good,” Bobby said and clicked off.

  In a few minutes the door opened, and Bull walked in. He laid a couple of sheets of paper on Bobby’s desk. “Nothing from New York, but we got something on the LDX from the guys in San Francisco that may help us. It seems that a thirty-eight-caliber bullet killed Johnny-boy’s friend. I noticed that Maxie carried a thirty-eight snub nose. If we can make him think we’ve linked his gun to the killing, we might get him to talk.”

  “We can try it,” Bobby said. “Maxie might crack. Get him in the interview room.”

  Just then the intercom buzzed. “Boss, Reuben Springer is here.”

  “Send him in, Jill.”

  In a moment the door opened, and Reuben walked in. When he saw Johnny, he walked over and stood in front of him, towering over the boy.

  “Take it easy, Reuben,” Bobby said. “I’ve been talking to Jonathan here, and I’m pretty sure he’s an innocent party in all this. Stupid, but innocent.”

  “I’m not going to do anything, Bobby,” Reuben said quietly. “I just wanted to take a look at the person who has put my daughter in such danger.”

  “Mr. Springer, I’m really sorry,” Johnny said. “I didn’t think about what I was doing. Jenny asked me for help, and I couldn’t say no. She was really hurt that you had her shunned, and she felt like her family didn’t understand what she was going through. I should have kept my nose out, but I couldn’t. I…I love her.”

  “If you put her in such danger, you don’t know the meaning of that word,” Reuben said.

  The boy stood up and faced Reuben.“Maybe you don’t know what that word means either, Mr. Springer,” he said. “You’re the one who punished her f
or wanting to find out about her birth mother. At least I thought I was helping her find out about the things that mean the most to her. You sure weren’t!”

  Reuben jerked as though an invisible hand had slapped him. He reached out and took Johnny by the lapels of his jacket and pulled him up close.

  Bobby got up. He had seen that look in Reuben’s eyes twice before—once a long time ago when Reuben had taken on the biggest bully in Wooster and knocked him cold, and again in a trench on a steaming tropical island.

  “Careful, Reuben,” Bobby said. “That’s my prisoner you have your hands on.”

  Reuben and Johnny stared into each other’s eyes. This time Johnny held Reuben’s gaze. Reuben was breathing hard, and his hands held Johnny in an iron grip. Then his grip loosened and he let go as he turned away.

  Then he said, “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I failed her. I was doing what I thought best.”

  Bobby looked at Reuben’s back with surprise. It wasn’t often he had heard Reuben offer up anything remotely like an apology.

  Bobby clicked the intercom. “Bull, is Maxie in the interview room?”

  “All nice and comfy,” Bull answered.

  Bobby walked over to the case in his bookshelf and opened it. He took out the picture of the three soldiers and put it in his pocket. Then he turned to Reuben.

  “Reuben, I may need your help. This Maxie is a tough case, but we may be able to crack him. If I ask you to come in the room I want you to do exactly as I say and don’t say anything, okay?”

  Reuben looked surprised. “If you think I can help, I’ll do anything you want.”

  “Okay, I want you to wait in the hall, and if I need you, I’ll call you.”

  “What about me?” Johnny asked. “Can I help?”

  “Well, if you believe in God, you might try praying,” Bobby said. “In the meantime, stay here and try to stay out of trouble.”

  Bobby picked up the papers on his desk, and he and Reuben went down the hall to the interview room. He left Reuben outside and went in. Bull was standing in the corner with his sunglasses on, doing his best impersonation of a bad cop. Maxie sat looking at the wall, his face impassive. Bobby slid into the chair across from him.

  “Well, Maxie, are you ready to tell us where the girl is?”

  “I ain’t saying nothing,” Maxie said. “I want a lawyer.”

  “Well, unfortunately, we’re a small town. Not too many lawyers to choose from,” Bobby lied. “Besides, I haven’t charged you yet, so I have seventy-two hours before I have to do anything to you.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Bull grin.

  Bobby placed the sheets of paper on the table in front of him. “These reports are from San Francisco. They implicate you in the murder of a drug dealer about a week ago. The man was killed with thirty-eight-caliber slugs, a special type with an exploding tip. Actually, just like the bullets we found in your gun.”

  “Lots of people use a thirty-eight,” Maxie said.

  “Yes, that’s true,” Bobby said. “You know, Maxie, I’m not much of a betting man, but I’m guessing when we run tests on your gun, we’ll match the bullets with the ones they took out of Shub Jackson’s body. What do you think? Want to take the bet?”

  Maxie kept his mouth shut.

  “I also think if you start talking and give us the location of the girl, I could speak on your behalf when they’re considering whether they should put you in the gas chamber at San Quentin or just give you life,” Bobby said.

  “You can’t pin that on me,” Maxie said. “I wasn’t the only guy shooting.”

  Bobby saw that he had gotten into Maxie’s head, and he pushed the point. “I’m going on the assumption that we’re going to match your gun to the killing. It will go better for you if you tell us where you’ve hidden the girl.”

  Maxie stayed silent, so Bobby went on. “Well, I wasn’t going to do this, but you leave me no choice, Maxie.”

  Bobby looked at Bull.

  “Bull, will you bring Mr. Springer in?”

  Bull played along. “You sure you want to do that, Boss?”

  “I’m sure, Bull. Bring him in.”

  Bull opened the door and motioned for Reuben to come in. When Reuben walked through the door, his broad shoulders almost touched the frame on either side, and he had to remove his hat to keep it from being knocked off. He stood silently at Bobby’s side, towering over the table and glaring at Maxie with cold steel in his eyes.

  “This is my friend, Reuben Springer, Maxie. He is the girl’s father, and he’s not happy with you.”

  “So what?” Maxie asked. “I’ve seen these guys before. They’re wimps.”

  “Well, I want to show you something,” Bobby said.

  He reached in his pocket, pulled out the picture, and placed it in front of Maxie. He pointed to Reuben in the photo.

  “Actually, my friend here wasn’t always what you call a wimp,” Bobby said. “In fact, he won the Congressional Medal of Honor on Guadalcanal.”

  Maxie looked at the picture and then at Reuben. “Why’s he dressed like that, then?” Maxie asked, pointing at Reuben’s hat and overalls.

  “Reuben joined the Amish church so they could help him keep his temper under control,” Bobby said with a straight face. “Don’t you want to know how he won the medal?”

  Maxie hesitated.

  “He killed fifteen Japanese soldiers with his bare hands. He gutted them with bayonets, knocked their brains out with a rifle butt, and choked the life out of some of them. I watched the whole thing from my side of the trench. I had been hit with shrapnel and couldn’t move. Reuben saved us. I never saw anything like it in my life. Reuben went…well, I guess berserk would be the best word.”

  Maxie looked at Reuben. Reuben stared back.

  Bobby turned back to Maxie and spoke in a calm voice that belied the tension in the room. “You see, Maxie, I have a personal connection to all this. I want to see Reuben get his daughter back. His daughter is very dear to me too, so I’m not going to worry about bending a few rules to get the information I want.”

  He looked over at Bull.

  “Got a problem with that, Bull?”

  “Not me, Boss. Jenny’s my friend too.”

  “What do you mean by bend a few rules?” Maxie asked.

  “Well,” Bobby said slowly, “I was thinking that Bull and I would go get some of that coffee he just made and take a little break. Meanwhile, I thought I’d leave Reuben here to ask you a few questions.”

  “Hey, you can’t do that! I got my rights!” Maxie said.

  “I don’t think we’re going to worry about that right now, Maxie. What do you say, Bull? Up for some coffee?”

  Bobby got up and headed toward the door with Bull close behind him. Reuben started to move around the table toward Maxie, his hands clenched into fists.

  “Hey! Hey! What is this? You can’t leave me here with him!”

  Bobby heard the chair screech on the concrete floor as Maxie got up. Bobby put his hand on the doorknob and looked back. Maxie was backing away from Reuben.

  “Wait! Don’t go!” Maxie shouted. “I’ll talk. I know where she is. I’ll talk. Just don’t leave me in here with him.”

  Bobby smiled to himself and then turned around.

  “Okay, Maxie, sit back down and compose yourself. I’ll talk to Reuben for a minute.”

  They stepped out into the hall. Reuben was shaking. “It’s a good thing he broke,” he said. “Good for him and good for me.”

  Bobby looked at his friend. “Why’s that?” he asked.

  “I might have killed him,” Reuben said quietly.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Darkness

  JENNY SAT ON THE GRUBBY MATTRESS with her legs tucked under her, thinking about what to do. She started cataloging everything she knew about her situation, looking for any way of escape. The room itself seemed secure, and it would be hard for her to find a way to get out unless she could get a key. She knew she was in the
Pocono Mountains at a remote cabin. If she did escape, she would have to stay off the road and find her way out through the woods until she got back to civilization. She suspected she was north of the Interstate, but she didn’t know the exact direction back.

  The one bright spot was that for some reason, Jorge seemed protective of her. Maybe he had ulterior motives of his own, but when she had looked in his eyes, he seemed to be sincerely concerned for her.

  It must be that we’re close in age. He can’t be over twenty or twenty-one.

  Just then she heard the key in the lock, and the door opened. It was Jorge. In his hand he had a bowl, and a blanket was folded over his arm.

  “I brought you something to keep you warmer. There will be some snow on the ground in the morning. I brought you some stew. Are you hungry?”

  Jenny nodded. She realized the room had gotten chilly. She took the blanket and put it around her shoulders.

  “What are you doing with that goofy hippie?” Jorge asked. “You know him from San Francisco?”

  “I’m not from San Francisco. I’m from Apple Creek, Ohio. I just met Jonathan a few days ago. He was helping me. I was going to New York to try to find my birth mother. I lost her when I was little, and then an Amish couple adopted me. I’ve been living with them ever since.”

  “Amish?” Jorge seemed genuinely surprised. “Aren’t they the guys with beards who ride around in buggies?”

  “Yes, but there’s more to it than that,” Jenny said. “Being Amish is about having a relationship with God. Not associating with the world helps us to stay focused on our faith.”

  Her own words cut her to the quick. She realized with regret that the last thing she had been doing was staying focused on her faith. And now, because of that, she was in danger.

  “I know what it’s like…not to have a mother,” Jorge said. “I never knew mine. Uncle Luis told me she was a prostitute who got killed by her pimp. He’s taken care of me ever since.”

  “Is that why you’re with these men?” Jenny asked. “You don’t seem like you’re really one of them.”