by Danni Roan
“Give me a call if you need anything,” Susan found herself reluctant to say goodbye to the man she had spent so much time with recently.
David’s warm chuckle drifted back into the Jeep. “I will,” he smiled. “You be careful and let me know if you find out anything new.”
“Promise,” Susan agreed crossing her heart as he closed the door. She would head to the courthouse again following a new path she hadn’t thought of before. If it paid off, she would let David know, and together they could follow the trail to the truth.
A short trip through town and a trip to the archives had Susan squinting at old newspapers trying to make out the names, dates, and pictures of an array of people who were active investigators at the time of Mr. Watkins disappearance.
David’s friend had narrowed down the broken taillight to a few possibilities and Susan hoped that with a little work they could match the car to the killer. She would gather information on the men involved first then head for the driver’s registration office to see if they would let her compare notes.
Pulling her phone out of her pocket, Susan began snapping pictures of men who were loosely connected with the war on moonshine, lawlessness, and graft. As she studied each image, carefully reading the names in tiny printed captions and making notes, a pattern began to emerge. A thrill of excitement poured through her as she started to put more pieces together.
If what she suspected were true, the connection between the horses her grandmother had rescued and the disappearance of Harcourt Watkins was more sinister than she would like to admit.
Switching off the brightly lit magnifying glass, Susan slipped the notes into her bag and turned to go, gasping as a dark shadow loomed over her.
“Fancy meeting you here,” Mr. Coatins smiled at her. The bulky man dwarfed her, making her cringe at his sheer size. Though old, the man was tall, broad, and thick, appearing to be strong and intimidating, despite the bright smile on his face.
“I was just leaving,” Susan smiled backing into the chair she had just pushed under a desk. “What are you doing here?”
“I come down and go over old cases now and then,” the old man smiled. “You look like you have been busy.” He nodded his gray head at her bag.
“I’m just making notes.”
“Care to share?” the old man grinned again, easing his stance so one leg was slightly bent.
“It’s nothing at the moment,” Susan hedged. “None of it really makes any sense. There doesn’t seem to be any connection between Mr. Watkins and the horses my grandmother found.”
“That always baffled me,” Mr. Coatins said. “There must be some connection, but it never showed up. I always hated leaving that case unsolved. Maybe if we had known what happened to Harcourt, it would have been better, but we didn’t have a body, or any evidence of foul play.”
“I think that is what David is hoping for. He just needs to know.” Susan felt a bead of sweat trickle down her spine. She desperately wanted to leave. She wanted to talk to David Watkins and share her new insights. The thread she had tracked down was thin, but it was all they had. Did Mr. Coatins know more than he was telling? Was he involved in Old Mr. Watkins’ disappearance?
“I hope you’ll call me if you learn anything new,” the old man said stepping aside. “Let me know if I can help.”
“Thanks,” Susan replied quickly, dodging through the space the man had made. “We’ll call you if we learn anything.”
Susan’s heart was still pounding as she slipped into her Jeep, moments before the heavens opened and rain began to pound on the vinyl roof. Hands still shaking she pulled the careful notes out of her bag, running a finger down the list. Mr. Coatins name loomed large among several others who would have known Harcourt Watkins. Whatever had happened to David’s grandfather, it was evident that the men on this list had known he would be in those hills.
“They had to know what he was doing up there.” Susan squeezed her lower lip between her teeth. “If a bad cop had been caught by Mr. Watkins with his hand in the moonshine cookie jar, would it be enough to lead to murder?”
Susan dragged a ragged breath into her lungs, trying to still her jangled nerves. If someone had silenced the old man, would they be willing to do it again? With a sudden wave of fear spreading from head to toe, Susan revved the engine, slamming the Jeep into gear and racing back the way she had come.
David could be in danger. When he had first had the accident, Susan was sure that it was just a coincidence that his journal had gone missing. Now she was positive that there was something in that book that would pinpoint the person who had silenced his grandfather forever.
“Please let him be alright,” Susan pleaded, as she screeched into a parking space and dashed into the rain headed for David’s apartment. “David! David!” she shouted racing down the hall. “David!”
David stepped into the hall, a dish rag in his hand as Susan came barreling toward him throwing herself into his arms. “What’s wrong? What happened?” He pulled her close, shocked by her panic.
“You’re okay.” Susan pulled back looking up to meet his warm brown eyes. “I was worried.”
“I’m fine,” David wrapped an arm around her pulling her into the apartment as other doors began to pop open. “Come inside before we get another visit from my nosey neighbor.”
Susan wrapped and arm around David’s waist feeling the warmth and strength of him. “Mr. Coatins was at the archives,” Susan sighed as David sat her in a chair at the table, turning to put the kettle on.
“Tell me what happened.”
Chapter 9
"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn't she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?
Luke 15:8
Susan watched David as he made coffee for the two of them, clamping her hands on her lap to keep from reaching for him again. She was being ridiculous letting fear get the best of her.
“I’m sorry,” she finally managed as David sat a steaming mug in front of her. “I don’t know why I was so frightened. I must have let my imagination get the best of me.”
“It’s better to be safe than sorry,” David spoke as he took a seat. “Something must have happened to ruffle you so badly. Besides, sometimes those feelings are God trying to warn you about something.”
Susan gaped for several seconds before she felt her soul melt. She had been thinking the same thing, but trying to second-guess everything was turning her inside out.
“Susan, I’m fine.” David reached across the table wrapping his hand around hers. “Now tell me what you found in the archives.”
Susan felt the tension ebb from her shoulders as David’s hand rested on hers, and her heart slowed its frantic beating. “I feel silly,” she said, feeling her face heat. “I’ll show you what I found.”
David withdrew his hand as Susan turned to get her bag. “It must be good.”
“It’s a little frightening.” Susan turned back placing her notes on the table then pulling her phone out and opening the gallery. “I was going through the police records and roles matching up names that appeared over and over in the investigation of your grandfather’s disappearance. Mr. Coatins’ name seemed to be everywhere.”
“He was the investigating officer, of course his name is on everything.”
“But what if it was him? Look,” Susan pushed her note book closer. “Officer Coatins was part of the task force that was trying to bring the moonshiners to heel. He had loads of arrests. See?” She pointed at the list of names. “This is the chief, he’s the man in the picture with your grandfather, but their names were never linked in any of the articles.”
David stood walking around the table to lean over Susan’s shoulder as she lifted her phone flipping through the pictures she had taken.
“Here are the four men who worked the hills trying to clear out the moonshiners. Coatins arrested your grandfather in ’65. He must have been trying to get your grandfather to split h
is profits with him. Maybe Harcourt threatened to tell the chief.” She flipped back to the picture of David’s grandfather and the man who had been in charge of the task force.
“But Grandpa wasn’t a moonshiner.” David’s stubborn statement made Susan shake her head.
“Then why was he arrested?”
“And released, they can’t have had anything on him.” David tapped the notes where the charges had been dropped. “Who are these other men?” he peered at Susan’s phone and the four men she had indicated earlier.
“Ames Barry, Jim Johnson, Dan Wellings, and of course Andrew Coatins. They were all in the task force.”
“We need to talk to the other men,” David took a turn around his small kitchen. “Maybe they’ll have some suspicion about what happened.”
“We don’t know who we can trust,” Susan said shaking her head. “We need to be careful. If Coatins is the dirty cop, we don’t want to tip him off.”
“We’ll be careful,” David agreed. “Don’t worry. For now I have to go to work. Can you dig into where the rest of these men are now? For all we know they’re not even alive.”
“I’ll do some searches today. Why don’t you come over for dinner tonight, and we’ll see what I come up with?” Susan’s blue eyes sparked with hope. She didn’t want to leave David on his own for some reason. She liked having him around. Having someone to talk to about all the strange questions bouncing around in her head.
“I’ll see you there,” the young man smiled. “Now go home and stop worrying.”
Susan collected her notes, stuffing them into her bag. “Be good.” She shot over her shoulder as she headed out the door, feeling far better than she had before.
“Hey, what’s for dinner?” David shouted as the door swung shut.
Susan was feeling much better as she drove the short trip home calling out to her grandmother as she entered the house.
“You’re home sooner than I expected,” Alana walked into the kitchen examining her granddaughter critically.
“I found some information.”
“Tea,” Gram stated. “Sit while I get it. I made shortbread. We can munch while you talk.”
“Oh, David is coming for supper,” Susan said taking a seat and pulling out her notes. This time as she looked at them more questions stirred in her brain.
“I only have salad for supper.” Alana glared at her granddaughter.
“I’ll order pizza,” Susan’s absent reply made Alana grin.
“Oh, I love pizza. Can we get some of those little hot wings too?”
Susan’s chuckle was kind. Her grandmother never ceased to amaze her.
In a matter of minutes Alana and Susan had their heads together studying the notes and pictures.
“This man looks familiar,” Gram tapped the screen indicating Mr. Coatins. “I think he might have spoken to me after I found the horses. I know an officer came out to look at them, but they didn’t know who owned them.”
“It’s all such a mess, Gram.” Susan looked up. “David and I have a theory though.”
“A theory? That sounds serious.”
“We think one of the policemen was involved in the moonshining and was getting a cut of the profits. Back then the county was dry and men could make some ready cash selling hooch. A poor farmer could be sure to make enough to pay taxes and hold on until the harvest came in with this nefarious pass time.”
“Susan, the way you talk.”
Susan grinned. Her grandmother was old school and never had a hair out of place.
“You don’t really believe that a police officer was involved in all of this do you?” Gram asked as she lifted a crisp shortbread wedge. “This is such an old case. Are you sure it is worth the fuss?”
“David thinks so,” Susan turned serious eyes on her grandmother. “It must be terrible to live with everyone thinking that your grandfather either ran off on his family, or worse was killed in some drunken brawl.”
“Well you two need to be careful. People who have worked so hard to keep a secret will not like you trying to dig them up now.”
Susan smiled. She had been thinking the same thing, and though she wanted to find the truth and solve the mystery of the painted ponies, she didn’t want to see anyone hurt. “If I think there is any real danger, I’ll stop.” Susan grasped her grandmother’s hands.
“You’re a good girl,” Gram said. “Now where are we going to get pizza tonight?”
Susan’s chuckle washed away the last of the residual anxiety from earlier that day. Perhaps tonight they would do something fun and not fuss over faded papers and old pictures. It would be good for everyone to put some distance between themselves and the case. There were so many questions, suspicious, and odd threads that the whole thing was going to drive her crazy. A night off and a nice chat might be just what they all needed.
Despite her best intentions, Susan and David spent most of dinner talking about the clues and ideas they had come up with, until Alana told them to put the notes away and pulled out an UNO deck.
“You two young people have gone over all of that at least three times. Give your brain a rest and do something fun.” She turned soft blue eyes to David and smiled. “We can all get to know each other a little better. David tell us about growing up in town.”
David smiled, shifting his eyes to Susan as she shuffled the deck. “What would you like to know?”
“Oh I don’t know,” Gram started. “How about your girlfriend? Surely a handsome young man like you has a girlfriend.”
Susan had to bite back a laugh at her grandmother’s question. The woman was shameless, but she realized that she wanted to know if David had a girlfriend as well. The memory of that brief kiss at the little falls made her stomach tremble, and she paused in her deal, losing track of her card count.
“I’m sorry,” she smiled at David, collecting the cards and starting again. “I lost count.”
Alana Holmes shook her head. “Pay better attentions. David you were about to tell us if you have a girlfriend.”
David felt his face flush as he flicked his eyes to Susan once more. “I haven’t had time to think about a girlfriend,” he finally admitted. “I have to finish my last set of classes before I can think of anything else. Then there’s the whole mystery.”
Susan felt the air fill her lungs once more as she started to breathe once more. The kiss was a simple mistake that could have happened to anyone. So why was she so happy to know that David Watkins was unattached?
Susan yawned, covering her mouth as her eyes grew heavy. She couldn’t believe it was after midnight already. After dinner, and a few rounds of UNO, her grandmother had headed for bed, leaving Susan and David to talk about the mystery they were both determined to solve. Soon, they were discussing life, childhood, and their educational and life goals, leaving Susan feeling even more drawn to the young man.
“We have a lot in common,” David said, his eyes twinkling as he covered his own yawn. “We grew up on different sides of the tracks, so to speak,” he gestured at the large home, “but our beliefs and determination are the same.”
“I think if people would stop looking at everyone’s differences and focus on what they had in common our world would be a far lovelier place.” Susan smiled seeing that David agreed. “Growing up I heard whispers about the Watkins, and the reputation of how they had earned their living walking a fine line on the law. Now I realize that you were raised with the same deep rooted respect, love, and devotion I was.”
“The greatest commonality is Christ,” David said. “My grandmother was a believer and taught me to understand God’s love, forgiveness, and grace. I don’t understand why people fight so hard against God’s gift.” The young man shook his head. “They seem to think that if they surrender they are giving up all the fun, control, or dreams they ever had, but in reality they gain a peace that passes all understanding.”
“Love,” Susan’s single word echoed in the quiet kitchen. “Love binds all of manki
nd together, but first you have to give up the selfishness, greed, and relentless drive for power. Surrendering to God’s love and peace gives more freedom than anyone can imagine.”
David felt his heart turn over in his chest. He had only known this young woman for a short time, but he was drawn to her, and his heart sang with joy that she understand surrender, love, and peace as he did. Still, he was only a Watkins, and she was a Holmes. The family in the big house that gave to charity, donated to churches, and had everything.
“When you first walked in the door of this house, I was determined not to like you.” Susan looked up into David’s eyes. “No, I wasn’t being a snob, no matter what people say about my family, I just didn’t want to share my mystery with you.”