Brenda Novak

by Home to Whiskey Creek

  You can do this. Just run back, open the side door and take a peek.

  But Stephen frightened her more than the rest of them. She’d never forget the expression on his face when they stripped off her jeans.

  You’re here now. Do it.

  Taking a calming breath, she slipped her phone in her pocket, found the flashlight she’d used when she was pretending to trick-or-treat and began to trudge to his place.

  There weren’t any streetlights this far from town, so she was forced to turn on her flashlight before she really wanted to. She stopped walking as she did and listened.

  She heard nothing except a few crickets and the hum of electricity passing through the transmission lines overhead. The house next to Stephen’s had the porch light on but was otherwise dark. She seemed to be out here all alone.

  Make it fast and get it over with.

  She jogged to the edge of Stephen’s property, where she stopped again to listen.

  Nothing. Thank God. She was grateful that she could see the side door she planned to use. Most homes had fenced backyards, which would have limited her access, but Stephen’s had no improvements, no landscaping. He lived on a big piece of raw land.

  Was he the one who’d slit open her screen door and threatened her with Aaron’s knife?

  Maybe she was about to find out....

  Since she didn’t have to approach the house from the front, she cut across the property at an angle. She was feeling braver now, more confident. There were no windows on this side of the house, or none that had any view of her. And he wouldn’t be expecting company.

  The main door wasn’t shut all the way, but she had trouble getting it open far enough to fit through. There was too much junk behind it.

  Stephen’s white Chevy was there, all right. She just couldn’t see the front of it. So she shoved the door, hoping it would give.

  Something scraped and fell against the wall, but it didn’t make much sound and the door swung free.

  Two more seconds and she’d be gone....

  Stepping carefully to avoid tools, boxes and baskets of random articles, she went inside and around his vehicle. Then she crouched near his washer and dryer, raised her flashlight—and blinked in surprise. There was no damage.

  “What the...” She lifted a hand to feel the smooth metal body. Not so much as a dent or a scratch marred the paint or the bumper. How could that be?

  She stood, intending to walk around the rest of it, but tripped over an obstacle she hadn’t seen. It hit something, which fell against the door she’d used, and the resulting thud...smack seemed deafening. Afraid the noise would bring Stephen to the garage, she hurried to get out even though she’d wrenched her ankle. But a set of bedrails had fallen against the door and they were now wedged behind a freestanding cabinet. She was frantically shoving other stuff out of her way so she could hoist those rails straight up when the light snapped on.

  “What are you doing here?”

  Stephen stood shirtless in the doorway leading to the house, squinting against the brightness. From the marks on his face and the state of his hair, he’d been in bed. He was still attractive, however. Fit, too.

  Addy pressed her back to the wall. Unfortunately, the button that raised the main garage door was on the other side, near him. Unless she could clear the path she’d used to get in, she wouldn’t be able to leave.

  “I—I have my phone,” she warned. “You...you’d better stay where you are, or I’m calling the police.”

  He rubbed a hand over his face as if he was half-asleep but trying to focus. “What do you want here?” His expression darkened. “Are you trying to get my DNA so you can take it to the police?”

  “I just wanted to see your truck. That’s all.”

  “Why?”

  She didn’t say anything.

  “Why?”

  “To find out if you were the one who dragged me to the mine!”

  Seeming to relax, he scowled and scratched his chest. “Wasn’t me.”

  She eyed the vehicle in question. “You’re the only one with a white truck.”

  “So? I didn’t do it.”

  “You’re saying it was one of the others?”

  “Maybe. Tom wouldn’t hurt you. Kevin would, if he thought it was in his best interest, but he’s asked us not to do anything, so I doubt he would. My guess would be Derek.”

  “Now you’re trying to be helpful?”

  He shrugged. “Why not? If you were going to come forward you would’ve done it by now. That begs the question, Why haven’t you?”

  She wanted to lift those bedrails so she could escape his garage. But she knew unblocking that door would take both hands, and she wasn’t about to put her phone in her pocket. He could be on her in a matter of seconds. “A lot of reasons.”

  “Is Cody’s death one of them?”

  Her heart jumped into her throat. “I don’t—I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Yes, you do.” He studied her rather dispassionately. “You know opening your mouth about grad night will ruin your life as well as ours, and I’m betting you’re too smart for that. The others are all shitting their pants, wondering what you’ll do next, but...revealing the past isn’t the reason you came back to Whiskey Creek.”

  She gripped her phone more tightly, even though she knew she’d never make a call, not after what he’d just said. “Then why did I come?”

  “To help your grandmother, like you’ve been telling everyone. Having you back makes for an uncomfortable situation, because it puts us all in close proximity again. But I know Milly means that much to you. And I, for one, am willing to let sleeping dogs lie,” he said, and went inside.

  * * *

  Addy wasn’t feeling so good when she woke up the next morning. Rehashing various conversations—with Clyde, with Noah, with Stephen—had kept her up the few hours she might’ve slept. So she was none too pleased when her mother waltzed into her room bright and early and raised the blinds.

  “Mom, it isn’t even eight o’clock,” she complained.

  “Rise and shine!” Helen sang out.

  “Because you’ve made breakfast?”

  “Don’t be sarcastic.”

  Addy let her fake smile wilt. “I didn’t think so.”

  “It’s time to share all the juicy details from last night.” She perched on the edge of the bed. “Noah’s cute. I mean really cute. And he comes from money. So?”

  Addy barely resisted pulling a pillow over her head. “So what?”

  “How’d it go?”

  “He’s nice. He showed me his bike shop, which is also...nice.”

  Her mother rolled her eyes. “That’s all he showed you? I take you to get your hair and nails done and bring you home so gorgeous you could turn Gandhi’s head, and that’s all you’ve got to say? He’s nice?”

  He was also good in bed. But she didn’t have a lot to compare him to, so she didn’t consider herself much of an expert. “What did you expect? We’re just friends.”

  Her mother wagged a finger at her. “Oh, no, you don’t. You don’t get to play it both ways. You said you liked him. Really liked him. And I could tell by the way you looked at him last night that it’s true.”

  Adelaide avoided her gaze. “He has commitment issues, Mom. Whatever is going on between us will be short-lived.” Even shorter than her mother thought, since she wasn’t sure she’d see Noah again.

  “You never know where it might lead.”

  “Actually, I do,” she said. That was what frightened her.

  “What are your plans for the day?” Helen asked.

  “I have to go to the restaurant.” And deal with Darlene, although she wasn’t looking forward to it.

  Clearly not excited by her answer, her mother pursed her lips. “Work, huh?”

  “That’s what most people do with their time, Mom.”

  She clapped her hands. “Okay, I’ll go with you.”

  Adelaide rose up on one elbow. “You�
��ll what?”

  “I’ll go, too, and help out. You’re not the only one who ever worked in that two-bit diner, you know.”

  “But...why?”

  “I’ve got to have something to do, don’t I?” She shrugged as she stood, but the effort required to feign interest in an activity she’d never normally be interested in was a bit too obvious.

  Adelaide kicked off the covers. “Oh, boy, you and Neal are splitting up.”

  Suddenly deflated, her mother grimaced. “He kicked me out.”

  “Right before you came here.”

  “Of course. Wouldn’t even let me take the dogs.”

  “What about the money you spent on me?”

  At this, she smiled. “He hasn’t made it to the bank yet to close our checking account.”

  Addy put a hand to her head. “I was afraid of that.”

  “Don’t worry. The bastard owes me for putting up with his son for so long. Spending a little on my daughter was the least he could do.”

  “So what are you doing next?”

  She took a deep breath. “What I always do. Move on.”

  “Have you ever really been in love?” Addy asked.

  “I’m not sure I know what love is,” she said.

  Addy was pretty sure she did. But she wasn’t convinced that made her position any better than Helen’s.

  * * *

  “You do realize what’s happening?”

  Recognizing Derek’s voice, Kevin held the door for his wife and kids as they trooped into Any Way You Slice It to order a pizza. He stayed outside so he could talk on his phone without being overheard. “What are you talking about?”

  “Adelaide’s seeing Noah.”

  “I know.” He checked to make sure he was alone before continuing. “I’ve been watching her. I’ve put a couple of notes on her car, too, reminding her to keep her mouth shut and warning her to stay away from him. But...the one telling her to stay away hasn’t done any good. I found his truck at her house last night.”

  “Maybe the other one hasn’t done any good, either. If she tells him we raped her—”

  “Kevin? Aren’t you coming in?”

  Kevin glanced up to see his wife poking her head out of the restaurant. “In a sec.”

  “Who is it?” she asked.

  “Just one of my players who can’t make practice on Monday. Go ahead and order. I’ll be right there.”

  “That’s so important you have to take the call outside in the cold?” she grumbled, but disappeared inside.

  “Addy won’t tell Noah,” he said to Derek.

  “You can’t be sure. If he’s getting in her pants—”

  “It won’t last. You know him. She’s just the flavor of the month.”

  “It doesn’t have to last. If they get too close, she might decide to tell him despite your notes and the warning you gave her when you threw her back in the mine.”

  “I told you, I didn’t throw her in the mine.”

  “Then who did?”

  “How the hell should I know? Maybe you. Or one of the others. It wasn’t me.”

  “It wasn’t me, either,” he insisted.

  “Then forget about that and listen.” He had no time to wrangle over who’d done what. If he didn’t get inside the restaurant soon, and help with the kids, his wife would be irritable for the rest of the evening. “She hasn’t said anything yet, so maybe she’s not going to.”

  “That’s leaving a lot to chance, buddy. Because if she tells him—and he believes her—we’re screwed.”

  Noah had a lot of credibility. Kevin felt the same fear, but he couldn’t go anywhere near Addy again. Not after Noah caught him there last night. And he couldn’t trust any of the others not to make the situation worse. “He won’t believe Cody was part of a rape any more than his old man believed it.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Audrey kept craning her head to look out the window at him. He waved to let her know he’d just be another minute. “Someone sent the Rackhams an anonymous letter the summer we graduated, telling them what happened.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me. I’m guessing it was Tom. Had to be. Who else would do it? But no one knows for sure. The note wasn’t signed and had no postal markings.”

  “Mr. Rackham asked you about it?”

  “He came to see me, even showed it to me.”

  “What’d you tell him?”

  “That we had sex with her at the mine, but it was voluntary.”

  “And he believed you?”

  “Of course. In his mind, someone was trying to play a cruel trick on him. His son could never be guilty of something like that, which gives the rest of us a pass, too. Anyway, I told him she’d been following us around for a year. That she wanted to do the whole team to celebrate graduation but only some of us participated.”

  “Why didn’t he contact me?”

  “I don’t think he talked to anyone else. I told him what he wanted to hear, and he accepted it. He was already suffering because his son was dead. It wasn’t as if he wanted any doubts about Cody’s integrity. Brent Rackham’s a proud man. He prefers to believe he and his family are above question.”

  “But if Noah saw that letter—”

  Kevin could see Audrey giving the kids some quarters for the video games in the corner. “He didn’t. Brent said Mrs. Rackham found it under the doormat and brought it to him. If Noah knew about it, he would’ve asked us to confirm or deny. The only other person who knows is Shania.”

  “You gotta be shitting me. How did she find out?”

  “I thought whoever wrote that letter might send others. So I told her Addy got drunk and kept coming on to us and things got out of hand.”

  “But why bring Shania into it?”

  “Because she wouldn’t believe it of Cody, either. We need to ally ourselves with whoever will work hardest to protect him, because that means they’ll protect us, too.”

  There was a slight pause as he absorbed this logic. “And? Did she buy it?”

  “That Addy wanted to have sex with us? Hook, line and sinker. What was her alternative? To think Cody didn’t really care about her? That he’d cheat on her without a second thought? It’s always easier to blame the other woman.”

  “Damn it, man. That was taking a risk. And you did it without even talking to the rest of us.”

  Kevin ignored the sulky tone that had crept into Derek’s voice. “I knew what I was doing. I think strategy for a living. That’s what football is, right?”

  “This is a little more serious than a game.”

  “I was protecting myself, protecting all of us, in case the truth ever came out.”

  “It was brilliant, actually. You’ve destroyed Addy’s reputation, at least with certain key people. Now they’ll never believe a word she says.”

  “Exactly.” It wasn’t a lot on which to hang their hope, but it would certainly give them a better chance of avoiding prison. Addy had been gone for thirteen years. He didn’t know a soul, besides Milly, who’d be on her side.

  Provided Noah stayed out of it, of course.

  26

  Addy didn’t have the heart to tell Gran about the state of her mother’s most recent marriage. She figured Gran would learn soon enough, if she hadn’t already guessed.

  After a quick shower, she took Helen to the restaurant, where she tried to deal with the tension between her and Darlene by ignoring it, as she had before. She planned to pull Gran’s manager aside eventually, but she was looking for the right time, and that wasn’t easy to find with Helen around. Addy didn’t want Darlene to feel they were ganging up on her. She just wanted to have a quiet discussion and agree on some kind of compromise so they could continue working together—at least for the immediate future.

  But it wasn’t long before Helen approached Addy, visibly upset. “What’s wrong with her?” Her mother jerked a thumb at an irritable Darlene, who stood at the other end of the breakfast bar, pouring coffee.<
br />
  Addy had just rung up some customers. She waited until they were out the door before responding. “Maybe she’s having a bad day.”

  “It’s more than that,” her mother complained. “She gives me a dirty look whenever we pass each other. She definitely doesn’t want me here.”

  “It’s not just you,” Addy said. “She doesn’t want me here, either.”

  “But she’s always liked you. You’ve worked with her before.”

  “When I was a teenager! There’s a big difference between ordering me around and taking orders from me.”

  “She thinks you shouldn’t have any say?”

  Addy gazed over the tables that had customers. Thankfully, all seemed to be going well. “I guess. Although I’ve tried to make it clear that I’m stepping in for Gran. I have some ideas for modernizing the place and getting it running more efficiently.” She didn’t admit why—that it would make the restaurant more enticing to a buyer. “But she doesn’t want anything to change, and she’s let me know it.”

  “Who does she think she is?”

  “Mom—” Addy started, but it was too late. Helen was already marching over to Darlene.

  “What’s your problem?” Helen’s voice seemed to echo through the whole dining area. It was between breakfast and lunch—not their busiest time—but Addy didn’t want a scene in the restaurant.

  “Save it for later or go out back.” She hurried after her mother, but Helen didn’t stop, and if Darlene heard Addy, she was upset enough to ignore it. She’d been dying to air her discontent, and Helen had given her the perfect opportunity.

  “My problem? What’s your problem?” she responded. “I’ve been here day in and day out for the better part of two decades. Where have you two been? In all that time, you’ve hardly stopped in long enough to eat. And Addy hasn’t walked through those doors since she graduated from high school. Now that she smells an inheritance, she wants to take charge?”

  “You’re fired!” Helen snapped. “Do you hear? Grab your coat and get your ass moving!”

  Darlene shoved the coffeepot back onto its burner. “You can’t fire me. Only Milly can do that. So we’ll just have to see what she says.”

  The bell went off over the door. Addy glanced up to see Noah’s parents come in and felt a fresh burst of alarm. She didn’t want them to witness this....