Accused

by Janice Cantore

  They both laughed. He took her hand and held it until it was time for her to pick up Maddie and head for the mountains.

  30

  Nestled in a grove of pine trees, looking out over a lake, and covered with half a foot of snow, the cabin was a picture postcard. Many more cabins dotted the landscape, and here and there lopsided snowmen stood. But there were no people out and the area felt gloriously secluded. Carly stretched while Maddie sniffed the ground and contemplated the white stuff.

  “This is really beautiful,” Carly said to her mom.

  “It is.” Kay put an arm around Carly’s shoulder and squeezed. “Maybe this can be a makeshift vacation. I think we both need one.”

  “You’re right, Mom.” Carly smiled and returned the hug as Nick’s friends, Mark and Josh, pulled up.

  At first she’d wanted to protest the babysitters, but concern for Kay rendered her mute. Besides, the two men Nick sent intrigued Carly. When she and Nick were married, he socialized only with other cops. He always said the job they did forced them to distance themselves from civilians. The sports he played were with cop teams and the bars he went to were cop bars. Mark and Josh were participants in Nick’s new life, and Carly wanted some insight into the Christian Nick.

  “I think Maddie and I are going to take a little walk and check things out,” Carly said after the car was unloaded.

  “It’s getting dark. Don’t be long,” Kay admonished.

  Carly nodded to her mother as she and Maddie started down to the small lake. There was a trail that led away from the main road toward snow-covered trees. Carly’s hiking boots crunched through patches and piles of snow. Maddie bounded and pranced, enjoying the snow and the cold air.

  Carly’s face stung with the chill, but it felt good. The mountains and the snow reminded her of the last time she’d been skiing. Nick had surprised her with a trip to Colorado for their seventh wedding anniversary.

  “Oh, Maddie girl, I just have to stop thinking about him! This is crazy.”

  The dog merely looked up at her mistress, tail wagging.

  The trail reached a ridge and a sea of snow-covered pine trees came into view. She enjoyed the vista for a few minutes, mindful that daylight was waning. The sky was a somber dark-blue color. As her gaze wandered, she asked herself, Is Nick’s God really there? In spite of Nick’s assurances and the out-of-the-fray hideaway, hope that things would work out right was as foreign to Carly as the Russian language. Sharks were on her heels for real now, and they’d chased her out of town. She wasn’t sure she could beat them.

  I hate to admit it, but I envy what I see in Mom and Dora. They’re balanced no matter what the situation. Now I see the same thing in Nick. Carly kicked a snow-covered branch, sending clumps of the white stuff flying. I feel like screaming. Another kick cleared snow off a second branch. If you’re real, God, why don’t you just show me? Why do I have to guess? Carly battled against the urge to give in to tears. I hate to think it, but I do wish there was a God like Nick and Mom talk about, someone who does have all the answers. It’s too hard to believe that someone like that exists.

  The sun had almost set, and as the light lowered, so did the temperature. Carly hugged her arms to her chest and headed back to the cabin. When the hiding place came into view, smoke spiraling from the chimney brought on a smile. A good fireplace fire was just what the doctor ordered. Carly found the aroma almost intoxicating. Inside the cabin, another relaxing smell greeted her—comfort food cooking. Mom had whipped up a hamburger casserole, one of Carly’s favorites.

  “Need any help, Mom?”

  “No, I have everything under control. Dinner will be ready in about half an hour. Relax for a bit.”

  Maddie didn’t need any prompting. She found Mark and a place to sit and mooch attention. He vigorously scratched the dog’s back.

  Carly took her duffel into the room she and her mother were sharing. The small gym bag didn’t contain a whole lot. Since she kept getting displaced from her residences, her possessions shrank with each move. As she began to go through her bag, she felt an unfamiliar bulge. When she unfolded a sweatshirt, a small book fell out with a note. Nick’s handwriting was on the note.

  Carly,

  I know you’ll have a lot of time on your hands up there, so I thought I’d send a book along for you to read. Don’t get mad. I wouldn’t dare try to convert you; I just think the book will be a comfort. Go to the Gospel of John.

  I’ll see you later.

  Nick

  Carly picked up the small book, a New Testament. She didn’t have the energy to be angry and decided it wouldn’t hurt to take a look. Nick was right about one thing: she did have a lot of time on her hands.

  Mom called to say dinner was ready. Carly wrapped the book in her sweatshirt again. Tomorrow.

  After dinner, though Carly wanted to talk to her babysitters about Nick, she couldn’t keep her eyes open.

  “That was a great meal, Mom,” she said with a yawn.

  Mark and Josh nodded in agreement. Carly stood to help with the dishes.

  “It wasn’t anything special,” Kay said while she cleared the table. “You guys were just hungry.”

  The guys assured her it was special and then left to work on the fire while Carly and Kay finished the dishes.

  “As much as I’d like to stay up and chat, I’m exhausted. I’ll see you in the morning.” Carly kissed her mom good night and went to bed.

  For the first time in several restless nights, she slept soundly and without dreams. When she roused, her mom was already up and out, and the room was awash in bright morning sun. The clock read 10:00 a.m. Carly was amazed she’d slept so long.

  A shower brought her to full consciousness, and she found breakfast waiting in the kitchen. Pancakes and bacon were on the stove being kept warm, so Carly dug right in. Mom was in an overstuffed recliner working on some needlepoint, and the guys were in the living room playing Trivial Pursuit. In spite of the bright winter sun, there was still a chill in the air.

  “You slept like a log, Carly,” Mom called from the other room.

  “I slept great,” Carly answered with her mouth full, blissfully happy with her mother’s cooking. “Maybe it’s the mountain air.”

  Mark left the game and came into the kitchen for coffee. “Morning.”

  “Morning.” Carly studied him while he doctored his coffee. She swallowed a mouthful of food. “Mark, can I ask you a question?”

  “Sure, go ahead.”

  “What kind of work do you do that you can just take off to the mountains on a moment’s notice?”

  “I’m a roofer by trade. I own my own business. Things are slow in the winter.” He smiled. “Besides, Nick’s a good friend. I’d do my best to help him no matter what.”

  “How did you meet Nick?”

  “At church. We belong to the men’s prayer group and discovered we have a lot of similar interests.”

  Nick in a prayer group? “What exactly does a men’s prayer group do?”

  “We pray for the needs of the church or any prayers that come to people’s attention. We also do outreach in the community, volunteer our services to people who need them but who can’t afford to pay someone.”

  “Your services?” While Carly munched on her pancakes, Nick’s new life was becoming more and more intriguing.

  “Yeah. For example, at church a couple of widows needed new roofs but couldn’t afford to pay someone. I gathered a group of volunteers who donated time and money, and we put the roofs on.”

  “Nick did this?” The man who wouldn’t work a minute of overtime without filing for pay?

  “Yeah.” Mark smiled. “He’s actually pretty good manual labor.”

  “He’s changed a great deal from the Nick I remember, and we haven’t been divorced that long.”

  “God will do that.”

  “What, change people?”

  “Most definitely. Me, for example. My life before God got hold of me was radically different. I s
hot crystal meth every day and nearly ran my business into the ground. My wife left me and got a court order to keep me from seeing my daughter. I was at the very bottom, even thought about killing myself, when God touched me.”

  “What happened?” Carly finished her breakfast but sat with her coffee, interested in Mark’s story.

  “When the judge ordered me to stay away from Lindsey, my daughter, he said I was a poor example and a danger to her well-being. I was crushed. I love that little girl beyond belief. She was two at the time. Anyway, I went home, and my wife had cleaned the house out, taken every trace of her and Lindsey away.” He paused as if the memory still pained him.

  After clearing his throat, Mark continued. “I didn’t have any drugs to numb the pain, so I grabbed a revolver to blow out my brains. It was loaded, and as I tried to work up the courage to pull the trigger, the doorbell rang. When I answered the door, there stood a group of teenagers passing out Christian tracts. I took one just to get rid of the kids, but the promise of hope caught my eye.”

  “Hope?” Carly asked.

  “Yep, the hope of a second chance and a new life in Christ. The kids invited me to their church. I had nothing to lose, and more than anything I wanted to hang on to the hope that I would get to see Lindsey again. I went to church, asked Jesus into my life, and I haven’t been the same since.”

  “Are you back with your wife?”

  “No, but our relationship is better. I get Lindsey every weekend, and most of all, I do have hope. I did a lot of bad to my ex, but I can hope that someday she will see I’ve truly changed and find it in her heart to forgive me.”

  “What if she doesn’t? Will you still believe in God?”

  “Yeah, I will. I can’t imagine ever going back to the way I was, and I can’t imagine ever being without God.” He sipped his coffee and shook his head.

  * * *

  Later that morning, as Carly changed her clothes for a hike, she picked up the small New Testament and studied the cover, wondering about the impact people claimed it had. She put the book into her fanny pack, hoping it would be a good substitute for a novel.

  Carly bundled up and left the warm house with Maddie at her side. In the clear mountain sky, the sun was fighting with the clouds for space. The woodsy aroma of smoke from chimneys permeated the area. She could hear the sound of laughter and what she guessed was a sled racing through the snow, but she didn’t see anyone. Carly breathed in deep, truly enjoying the crisp, cold feeling. She and Maddie walked for about half an hour before they found a sunny rock to sit on and take in the scenery. The sun hit the rocks just right. While Carly sat on the rock, Maddie sniffed here and there, running around in circles but staying close.

  The New Testament opened to a folded page, the Gospel of John. Nick must have marked the spot for her. She wondered if it would even keep her interest and tried to imagine God but kept seeing Charlton Heston. If God really created everything, he must be huge. Here goes nothing, she thought and began to read.

  Carly wasn’t sure how long it took her, but she read the entire book of John. It kept her interest and confused her at the same time. The first part, about God being the Word, made no sense even when she went back and read it a second time. And when she read about how much God loved the world, she wanted more explanation. That was the part she pondered the most. She thumbed through the rest of the book, stopping only when she heard someone calling her name.

  “Carly!”

  “Over here, Mark.”

  Mark burst into the clearing, out of breath. “Something’s happened to Nick.”

  31

  Nick had been shot five times.

  Carly was in her Bronco and heading down the hill in spite of everyone’s warnings to stay put. Mark sat next to her and was, thankfully, staying quiet. Mom had insisted Mark accompany Carly, and there was no time to argue. She was too worried about Nick. He’d apparently stepped out of his car to answer a citizen’s complaint, and someone opened fire. His Kevlar vest stopped three of the bullets. One of the two that got past the vest hit Nick in the hip and broke his femur; the second passed through the fleshy part of his upper arm. He was in surgery to remove the slug from his hip.

  Nick had asked someone to call Nathan to get word to Carly, since he was the only other person who knew where Carly was. Nathan said Nick would be okay and that there was no proof the shooting was anything but coincidental. But something in his voice told Carly he was far from convinced.

  A handgun was recovered at the scene, but the serial number had been filed off, and the shooter was in the wind.

  Carly moved rapidly from helpless to angry. She said nothing during the two-hour drive back to Las Playas.

  When they arrived at the hospital, she finally spoke to Mark. “We need to be low-key here. I’m not going to identify myself to anyone. I just want to find out where he’s at and quietly walk up to the room like we know what we’re doing, okay?” She knew the hospital would be crawling with cops and she’d have to do her best to be invisible.

  “Sure. I’ll follow your lead.”

  They went in through the public entrance. Mark asked for Nick’s room at the admissions counter and was told the information was confidential.

  “I’m glad they’re taking precautions, but we have to get his room number.” Carly chewed on her thumbnail and tried to think. It occurred to her she should just follow the blue suits. There were lots of cops milling around, most likely here because of Nick. The catch-22 was that she didn’t want to be noticed by her colleagues.

  “If he just came out of surgery, wouldn’t he be in a special place?” Mark asked.

  Carly nodded. “Since it’s his hip, he’ll be on the orthopedic floor. They have a recovery room where he’ll stay until he can be moved to a regular room. We’ll try that floor; come on.” Carly led him to the elevator, happy to have a direction to go.

  “Do you want to make sure, maybe call Nathan?” Mark asked.

  “No, I know the third floor. I was here with my roommate when her mom had a hip replacement. I’ve been here enough times. As long as we walk around like we know where we’re going, no one will bug us.”

  Mark punched the button and they waited for the elevator to arrive. When the doors opened, Carly nearly stepped right into Alex Trejo. She gasped, but he didn’t even notice. He was deep in conversation with Captain Garrison. Both men turned for the exit while Carly slid behind Mark in an effort to hide. She didn’t take another breath until the elevator doors closed and she and Mark were headed up.

  “Who was that?”

  “A reporter and a captain. That was close.”

  “What are we going to do if there’s a bunch of people in his room or a guard outside his door?”

  “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” Carly knew there would be an officer outside the door, standard operating procedure when a cop was shot in the line of duty. They’d already dodged several uniformed officers, but her desire to see Nick overruled her common sense. I wish Andi worked up here. But her roommate would be down in the ER, and it would call too much attention to her if she pulled Andi away.

  The third floor was fairly quiet.

  “Let’s go to the right first.” Carly knew that wandering around too long would increase the chances one of the officers here would see her.

  “What if you’re wrong?”

  She ignored Mark. They walked by the nurses’ station, where three RNs were busy with various duties. As they came to the end of one hall, she looked left and saw what she’d been hoping to see. A uniformed officer was outside a door at the far end of the hallway. She couldn’t tell who it was, and of course she couldn’t see if anyone was in the room with Nick. Here and there a nurse exited one room and entered another. But in general, it was a quiet hallway.

  “Why don’t you send up a quick prayer to that God of yours?” Carly whispered to Mark. “We could use all the help we can get.”

  “What makes you think I’ve ever stopped praying?�
�

  Not certain what to say to that, Carly gestured down the hall. “Just follow me.”

  They moved toward the guarded room. It was going to work; she was sure. And when she recognized the cop sitting at the door, she breathed a sigh of relief. It was Kyle Corley, the same officer who had responded when she shot Derek Potter. They’d probably called him in early.

  “Hey, Carly, how are you doing?” He stood and smiled.

  “I’m good, Kyle. But the question is, how’s Nick?”

  “I think he’s in and out. He only just got here from surgery. They took a .45 slug out of his hip.” He frowned momentarily. “Carly, the doctor shooed all the cops away about twenty minutes ago. The captain has restricted visiting, and he didn’t put your name on the list.”

  “I don’t know why,” Carly said, doing her best to look innocent and confused. There was no way, knowing how gossip spread, that Kyle hadn’t heard she was suspended, but that in and of itself wouldn’t prohibit her from seeing Nick. “But I’ve been off work since what happened with Derek. Garrison probably forgot about me.”

  “Yeah, I heard what they did to you, and it sucks.” He commiserated with her but didn’t seem ready to let her in.

  “Does it say on there that Nick doesn’t want to see me?”

  Kyle shook his head. “No, no, not at all. Hey, look, what the captain doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Go on in.” He jerked a thumb toward the room. None of the older officers trusted the brass. “Just keep the visit short.” He cast a questioning glance at Mark.

  “He’s a friend of Nick’s,” Carly said about Mark. “He’ll wait out here with you.”

  Carly stepped tentatively into the small, dark recovery cubicle. Nick looked so pale. An IV hung on one side, and machines beeped as his heart rate and pulse were closely monitored. His right leg was suspended in a cast from hip to ankle. Carly stood for a couple minutes and watched the rise and fall of his chest. She knew, at that moment, no amount of hurt or pain would change the fact that she still loved him.