Holly Grove Homecoming

by Carey, Carolynn

  Picking her way slowly across the backyard, easing her way through the tall grass and the weeds, she rounded the corner of the house and bit back a scream.

  Mr. Abbott stood under her bedroom window staring up. He turned when Carly gasped aloud, and his round face took on a bright pink hue that could not be completely attributed to the heat.

  “Mr. Abbott, what are you doing?”

  His shoulders drooped and he blew his breath out in a long, slow sigh. “I’m sorry, Miss Morrison. I really am. I’m almost certain it was Marge who broke your window last night but I didn’t want her to get in trouble, so I lied to Nelson. I was afraid he’d call the sheriff and Marge would have to go to jail. You know she hasn’t been herself since Larry died, and I worry about her.”

  Carly’s anger dissipated. She’d always liked what she’d seen of Ralph Abbott, and she didn’t want to add to his troubles, but neither did she want him protecting his wife if she was unstable enough to hurt someone.

  “I don’t think Trooper would have called the sheriff, but we need to do something to ensure that Mrs. Abbott doesn’t continue to harass us. Do you have any ideas?”

  “I’ve talked to her already, Miss Morrison. She just wants Nelson to go away. She’s so afraid he’s going to make folks think bad about Larry all over again.”

  Carly chewed on her lip for a minute. What she wanted more than anything at that moment was to assure Mr. and Mrs. Abbott that she was almost certain she and Trooper could prove their son was innocent of murder and that he was, in fact, a victim himself.

  But she couldn’t afford to say anything just yet. Not when she hadn’t managed to learn what had become of Eric. So she forced a smile. “I don’t want to cause Mrs. Abbott any trouble, and I’m sure Trooper doesn’t either. Please try to explain to her that Trooper isn’t looking for information that would reflect badly on your son.”

  He nodded. “I’ll try. In the meantime, I’d like to pay for getting your window fixed.”

  “That’s not necessary, but thanks anyway. Trooper is having someone stop by this morning to take care of it.”

  Mr. Abbott nodded again. “Okay, but if you change your mind, just send me the bill. And I assure you that I’ll try to talk to Marge again before I go to work. I’ll tell her I know Larry wouldn’t want her acting this way.”

  “Okay. Thanks.” Carly watched her neighbor turn and slowly make his way back across her side yard and then onto his own property. She couldn’t help feeling sorry for the man. He’d lost his only son twenty years earlier and for all practical purposes, he’d also lost his wife.

  But if she and Trooper succeeded in proving that Larry hadn’t been a murderer, perhaps Mrs. Abbott’s condition would improve.

  Carly turned and made her way back to her front porch where she sank down onto one of the chairs and sat staring out at the street lost in thought. She really wanted to tell Trooper what she’d learned from Eric, but she’d sworn to the boy that she wouldn’t tell anyone what had happened to him.

  She’d kept her word up to this point, but she was beginning to think it was time to break her vow. If what little she knew could help Trooper learn the truth and in turn help prevent a predator from harming another boy, that surely took precedence over her promise to Eric.

  She’d done everything she could to locate the boy, and she would keep trying, but she’d come to believe that Eric would understand her reasoning for sharing information with Trooper. After all, Trooper had been damaged by that predator just as much as Eric, although in a different way.

  Okay, she’d made up her mind. She would tell Trooper this afternoon on their way to Knoxville. He might be upset because she hadn’t told him earlier, but…

  Her train of thought was interrupted when a vehicle pulled up next to the curb in front of her house. Large sheets of glass were attached to the outside of the truck bed, leaving no doubt that the glazier had arrived.

  Carly pushed herself out of her chair and moved to the edge of the porch, waiting as the man exited his truck and walked around the front.

  He carried a clipboard in one hand and raised the other in a friendly greeting. “Good morning. Are you Miss Morrison?”

  “Yes. And you must be the gentleman who’s come to repair my window.”

  “That would be me all right. Name’s Howard James. Trooper and me were in school together. I was glad to hear from him this morning. I told him I’d stop by here on my way to my first job and see what needs doing. Want to show me where the broken window is?”

  “Sure. Right this way.” Carly led him upstairs and stood back while he moved the plywood away and took some measurements. Then he put the plywood back.

  “Well, this won’t take long, but I’ve got to go to another job first. I promised Miz Marcum I’d fix her kitchen window first thing this morning. I figure I can be back here by ten o’clock.”

  Carly nodded. “That will be fine. Trooper and I are going to run to Knoxville, but we aren’t leaving until around one.”

  “I’ll have it done in plenty of time.” He stopped and rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, except for getting the caulking I need for your job.”

  “Caulking?” Carly frowned at him.

  “I’m running low on caulking and I’ll need some more for your job. I’ll have to make a trip into the hardware store to pick it up. That’ll slow me down some since it’s out of my way. I gotta go north to get to Miz Marcum’s.”

  “Are you talking about Mr. Starr’s store?” Carly asked.

  “Yep.”

  “Could I pick it up for you? I need a few things from there anyway.”

  “In that case, yes, ma’am. Here, I’ll just write down what I need and Arlis can pull it together for you and charge it to my account.” He pulled a piece of paper off the tablet attached to his clipboard and made a few notes, then handed the paper to Carly. “Here you go. Just give that to Arlis and tell him it’s for Howard James. He’ll take care of it.”

  “No problem.” Carly flashed him a smile. “And I’ll be expecting you around ten.”

  He smiled back. “That works fine for me.”

  Carly walked with Howard down the stairs, then watched from her front porch until his truck pulled away from the curb. She stepped inside and grabbed her purse and cell phone off the hall table. She really did need to talk to Mr. Starr about weed control for her lawn.

  Besides that, she welcomed an errand that would help keep her busy this morning. She couldn’t visualize settling down to do mental work when her mind insisted on dwelling on the night she’d spent with Trooper and the outing they had planned for today.

  A tiny smile of contentment lifted the corners of her lips as she hurried out to her car and backed out of the driveway.

  * * *

  Trooper had heard Howard James’ truck pull up and had watched out his bedroom window as Carly got out of a chair on her front porch and greeted him. They chatted a minute before Carly led the glazier inside.

  Although he was tempted to go across the street, Trooper decided against it. When he’d called Howard that morning, his former classmate had given every indication that he’d like to spend a good bit of time chatting with Trooper about their high school days even though they had not been close friends. Trooper had finally managed to get away by saying his aunt was calling him.

  Now, since he didn’t want to give Howard an opportunity to corner him at Carly’s, he contented himself with watching out the window. After only a few minutes, he saw Howard come out of the house, get into his truck, and head down the street.

  Trooper had started to turn away from the window when another movement caught his eye. Carly dashed out her front door and hurried to her car, not even glancing across the street toward Myrna’s house as she backed out and then drove off in the direction of downtown.

  Strange. He couldn’t imagine where Carly would be going so early and why she had appeared to be in such a hurry. He thought briefly of trying to reach her on her cell phone but th
en decided it was none of his business where she was going.

  He shrugged one shoulder and turned away from the window, then quickly turned back when he heard a vehicle. Thinking perhaps Carly had returned already, he looked out, only to see a large black SUV pull up in front of her house.

  He stepped closer to the window and watched a man climb out of the driver’s seat and look around as though he wasn’t quite sure he was at the right place. He stared for a few seconds at the house numbers tacked onto the clapboard near the front door, then bent and reached back into his car. When he pulled back and closed his car door, he held a manila envelope in his hand.

  Trooper didn’t watch any longer. Since Carly wasn’t at home and the man was a stranger, Trooper was determined to see what the fellow was up to. He dashed down the stairs and out the front door. By the time he crossed the street, the fellow was ringing Carly’s doorbell.

  “She isn’t home,” Trooper called as he started up the sidewalk toward Carly’s front porch.

  The fellow turned quickly, a frown pulling at his brow. “Where is she, do you know?”

  “Nope.” Trooper stepped up onto the porch and gave the fellow a quick once-over. The man returned Trooper’s gaze, then stuck out his hand to shake. “I’m Jeff Hearst.”

  “Nelson Myers.” Trooper shook the man’s hand. “I saw Carly drive off a few minutes ago. I don’t know where she was going, but we have plans for this afternoon so I’ll be seeing her then. Can I give her a message for you?”

  The man glanced at his watch, then shrugged. “I’d wait if I could but I’ve got an appointment in Atlanta and need to get on the road. If you don’t mind, give her this.” He held out the manila envelope. “Tell her I just got it today and had hoped to give it to her in person. She has my cell phone number if she needs to reach me.”

  Trooper took the envelope. It was thin, as though it contained no more than a sheet or two of paper. “I’ll be sure to see that she gets this.”

  “Thanks!” The man shot him a smile, then turned and hurried back to his vehicle. He looked back once before he climbed behind the wheel. Trooper watched as the fellow made a U-turn on Sugar Maple and drove away.

  “Strange,” Trooper murmured to himself. He looked at the envelope, hoping to see a return address or some other identification to tell him something about Jeff Hearst besides his name. The envelope was completely blank. And it was sealed. Glued and taped. Apparently the man wanted to make sure no one saw the contents except Carly.

  And Trooper didn’t know where Carly was. He didn’t want to take the envelope back across the street with him, and he didn’t want to risk leaving it on her front porch, so he ran his hand into his pocket, pulled out the door key, and let himself into the house.

  The best place to leave the envelope, he decided, was propped up on the table just inside the door. Surely she’d see it when she got home. In the meantime, he needed to grab his cell phone and make a quick call to his friend George in the Philadelphia office. George would grumble, but he’d run a check on the license plate of that black SUV that had just left Carly’s house, along with the man who said his name was Jeff Hearst.

  Chapter 18

  By the time Carly got back with the supplies needed to fix her window, Howard James’ truck was sitting in front of her house. She turned into her driveway, rolled to a stop, and pushed the button that opened her trunk. When she stepped around to the back of the car, Howard was there waiting for her.

  “I didn’t expect you back so soon,” Carly said.

  Howard shrugged. “I got through with my other job quicker than I figured. Did Arlis get you fixed up?”

  Carly picked up the paper bag Arlis Starr had said contained the items Howard would need. “Here you are. The ticket’s in the bag.”

  He looked inside, then nodded. “Looks like Arlis had everything I needed. I’ll get to work now.”

  Since Carly had already shown Howard the location of the broken window, she let him go upstairs by himself while she unloaded her trunk. After depositing her weed control chemicals in the storage shed, she recalled that she hadn’t mentioned the screen to Howard. She had headed upstairs when she met him coming down.

  “The window’s fixed,” he said, “but the screen’s a different story. I’ll need to take it with me if you can spare it for a day or two.”

  “That’s no problem,” Carly assured him. “I’m using my air conditioners day and night now anyway.”

  “Don’t blame you,” Howard said. “I’m doing the same at my house. I’ll go back up and take your screen out. I’ll get it fixed and bring it back in a couple of days.”

  Carly offered to pay him but he said they’d settle up when he returned with the screen.

  She had no problem with that. In fact, at this point she welcomed not having to take time to write a check. The morning was getting away from her and there were a thousand things she needed to do before she and Trooper left for Knoxville at one o’clock.

  By twelve thirty, Carly was almost ready. She’d showered, shaved her legs, blow-dried her hair so it would have more body, and rubbed lotion over her arms and legs. She’d picked out a lightweight summer dress and sandals, hoping she wouldn’t get too cool in the restaurant.

  Now all she had to do was double check to make sure her windows were locked. She didn’t want to come back this evening and wonder if Mrs. Abbott had been in her house.

  She’d just started up the stairs when the doorbell rang. She turned back, looked through the sidelight beside the front door, and smiled when she saw Trooper standing on her front porch. He was early, but maybe that meant he was as eager for their afternoon together as she was. She hurriedly opened the door, but her smile faded when she caught sight of the scowl on his face.

  “Hi Trooper.” She paused, waiting to see if he’d offer some explanation for his obvious anger, but he merely stared at her.

  She opened the door wider, then asked, “What’s going on?”

  He stepped inside but didn’t answer her question. Instead he looked toward the table beside the door. For the first time, Carly realized an envelope was propped up between a vase and the wall. An envelope she’d never seen before.

  Trooper finally spoke, biting his words off in short, bitter snippets. “You apparently haven’t looked to see what your private investigator left for you.”

  Carly felt the blood draining from her face. “What do you mean?”

  Trooper nodded toward the envelope. “He came by this morning while you were away. I heard his vehicle and came across the street to tell him you weren’t home. He wanted you to have that envelope and he was in a hurry, so I offered to see that you got it. I put it inside where I thought you’d see it.”

  Moving stiffly, Carly reached for the manila envelope. She looked at the front, then turned it over. It was still sealed, and there was no identification on the outside. “He told you who he was? He told you he was my private investigator?”

  For the first time, Trooper’s expression changed. A portion of his anger appeared to fade. “No.” A flush touched his cheeks.

  “You checked up on me.” Carly set her teeth and lifted her chin. She wasn’t angry. Well, yes, come to think of it, she was angry. But mostly she was hurt. “You could have asked me. I was planning to tell you anyway.”

  “Oh? When?” If Trooper had been feeling any sort of chagrin, it now disappeared. His eyes darkened with renewed anger.

  “This afternoon. I had intended to tell you this afternoon.”

  “Oh come on, Carly. You expect me to believe that?”

  She shook her head. “Don’t try to make this all about me. You went behind my back and checked up on me.”

  “I’ve had a feeling for some time that you’ve been hiding something from me. Why did you hire a private investigator, Carly? What were you searching for that you couldn’t tell me about?”

  She shook her head again, then nodded toward the door. “Leave, Trooper. Just leave.”

  He
stood staring at her for several seconds, but she merely returned his stare. She stared until her eyes began to burn, but she didn’t drop her gaze.

  Finally he turned and walked out, allowing the screen to slam behind him.

  She gently closed the inside door and watched through the sidelight as he strode down the sidewalk and into the street. Only then did she allow her tears to start falling.

  Carly allowed herself to cry for ten minutes. She was hurt, but she knew she had to take into account the fact that Trooper was an FBI agent. She wondered if she wouldn’t have done the same thing in his place.

  Besides, she didn’t have time for self-pity. If Jeff had made a special trip to Holly Grove to drop off information for her, it must be important.

  Dreading what she was about to see, Carly carried the envelope into the kitchen and placed it on the kitchen table while she poured herself a glass of wine. Then she grabbed a small paring knife to slit the envelope.

  Bracing herself, she pulled the picture out and stared down into Eric’s face. It was a mug shot from last December. His eyes were half closed, his lips a bit slack, his hair standing up in disarray. Obviously he’d been stoned when the picture was taken.

  Under the picture was a copy of his death certificate. He’d died on the street in Des Moines, Idaho, in the month of February, just another lost boy with no known address and no known relatives. Drug overdose was listed as his cause of death. He’d been buried by the county in an unmarked grave.

  Fresh tears rolled down Carly’s cheeks and she made no effort to halt them. Eric deserved this expression of her grief even though he was past knowing that she grieved for him.

  Still, although she hadn’t seen him, hadn’t talked to him in years, knowing he was gone left a hole in her life. She’d always imagined somehow that she’d find the man who had abused him, who had sent him on the downward spiral that ended with him living on the streets. And once she had found the man, she would see that he was locked away where he couldn’t frighten Eric ever again. And then she would somehow find Eric and bring him home and show him that he didn’t need to escape into drugs any longer.